An image controlling device and method is provided with superior operability when making selections from a menu displayed on a display device such as a CRT display. A menu is constructed by arranging a plurality of menu items three-dimensionally along a cylinder. A portion of these menu items is then displayed in such a manner that viewing is performed from the center of this cylinder outwards. The shifting velocity of the menu items is changed while all of the menu items are shifted in response to input signals from a controller operated by the user and the menu item arranged at the center of the picture is determined to be the selected menu item. When a following level exists for the selected menu item, this level is proceeded to and menu items are displayed on the display device in the same way. When the selected menu item does not have a following level an image corresponding to this menu item is displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image controlling device and method thereof, and more particularly relates to an image controlling device and method thereof capable of displaying a plurality of menu items and executing a function for allotting a selected menu item by a user selecting one menu item from a number of menu items.
2. Description of the Related Art
Graphical User Interfaces (hereinafter referred to as "GUI's") are currently the most commonly used construct. A graphically represented user interface by displays menu items expressed by a bitmap (two dimensional data) on a display device such a CRT display. With these kinds of GUI's, the user selects one menu item from a plurality of menu items arranged in a two dimensional plane by shifting a cursor using a keyboard and/or a mouse, with the functions corresponding to this menu item then being executed by a prescribed program.
For example, the menu shown in FIG. 1 is an example of a GUI where character data generated by a character generator is displayed as bitmap data. With this kind of menu, character strings are generated for each of the menu items and the generated character strings are listed in a planar manner and displayed on the screen. A prescribed character is then handled as a cursor, the user shifts the cursor using a keyboard and/or mouse etc. and one of the menu items (character strings) is selected in such a manner that the function to be executed is selected.
Further, with the menu shown in FIG. 2, image data is put to bitmap data and button-shaped menu items are generated, with the plurality of menu items generated being put side by side in a planar manner. One of these menu items (buttons) is then selected by the user shifting the cursor on the screen using an input device such as a mouse and the function to be executed is selected.
With this kind of menu where a GUI is displayed in a planer manner with menu items lined-up next to each other, when a number of menu items which cannot be shown to the user collectively on the screen are to be displayed, first, the number of menu items which it is possible to display are displayed and the remaining menu items are displayed in a new picture by a user designation or displayed by scrolling down the screen so that all of the menu items are displayed to the user.
When the user selects a menu item using this kind of method, there are cases where the picture display displaying the menu items changes dramatically between the initial picture and the new picture. Operation can therefore become confusing if a change is not made to a picture whose relationship with the picture before changing can be easily understood, as it is necessary for the user to have an image for the relationship between the picture before changing and after changing.
Further, when the cursor is shifted and a menu item is selected, it is necessary for the point of view of the user to follow the cursor and the position of the point of view is therefore separated from the menu item to be selected. As a result, when the menu item display becomes small or the number of menu items becomes large, it is difficult for the user to understand the relationships of the positions of the cursor and the menu items to be selected, with this therefore putting a load on the operation of the user selecting a menu item.
When a desired menu item is searched for with these kinds of two-dimensional (planar) GUI's, when displaying is carried out down to the menu item positioned at the end of the menu and the desired menu item has not been found, the original image is returned to and the desired menu item has to once more be searched for in the reverse direction.
The menu item selection operation is therefore complicated because an end exists to the menu. A menu item selection operation has therefore been considered where a three-dimensional GUI is constructed in imaginary three-dimensional space so as to eliminate the ends of the menu, with the user then carrying out a menu item selection operation by freely moving within this three-dimensional space.
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, virtual reality (VR) providing realistic reproductions in three-dimensional space is utilized, a metaphorical imitation of, for example, a building is provided within the virtual space and menu items are arranged about this metaphor. A user interface can then be considered where the user moves within the virtual space as though moving through real space and selects menu items.
However, operativity becomes poor when the user selects menu items because the constructed menu space becomes complicated. It is also necessary to use an arithmetic device (central processing unit) capable of processing graphics at high speed because complicated graphics processing is necessary.

Image controlling device and image controlling method


A digital audio encoding method and apparatus using a look-up table includes preparing allocated bits for each frequency band of an input audio signal according to the characteristics of the input audio signal using a look-up table. A time domain audio signal is divided into a number of equal frequency bands. The addresses of the look-up table are decided according to the relative magnitudes of the audio signal characteristics acquired for the divided frequency bands. Bits corresponding to the addresses for the frequency bands are allocated and quantized. A quantized audio signal is formed from the quantized bits as a bitstream. Since the delay in operation time for the encoding apparatus is considerably reduced, real-time processing of the encoding apparatus can be realized in a hardware implementation.

The present invention relates to a digital audio encoding method and device thereof, and more particularly, to a digital audio encoding method utilizing a look-up table (LUT) and device thereof.
Current communication technology converts analog data into digital data. To meet such a trend, a digital transmission is becoming necessary in all audio devices and even in audio data transmission systems. Such digital audio data transmission is stronger against ambient noise than existing analog transmission methods. Furthermore, sound quality can be reproduced as clearly as in a compact disc (CD). However, as the quantity of data to be transmitted increases, many problems are involved in the capacity of memories and/or transmission channels.
To solve such problems, compression technology is necessary. The target of audio compression technology is to reproduce a sound to be the same as the original sound. The compressed sound data is transmitted after compressing an original sound and it hears them again after decompressing the transmitted sound data.
At present, such technology is being rapidly developed all over the world. At the forefront of this technology is Sony Corp. with its mini disc (MD) made in Japan in 1992. Phillips Corp. is also at the forefront of this technology with their digital compact disc (DCC). In case of the MD, for example, the size thereof is relatively smaller than that of the existing CD while it reproduces sound to CD level quality. Also, the MD can store much bigger amounts of data than the CD with a compression ratio of about 5:1. Further, the MD is resistant to external shock.
On the other hand, with respect to video, the International Standard Organization for a digital compression encoding technology, namely, MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group) was established. The MPEG is largely classified by three parts, that is, system, video and audio parts. Among them, the audio part is subdivided into three layers.
The MPEG compares, analyzes and tests various low-transmission-rate encoding technologies proposed to enact the international standards for the coded expression of moving pictures and the audio signals corresponding thereto. If such international standards are established, the data must be encoded and stored to meet such standards for all digital storage media. Here, the digital storage media include a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a digital audio tape (DAT), a magneto-optical disc (MOD) and a computer disc (for example, hard disk drive).
In compression encoding of an audio signal, a psychoacoustic model of a human is generally utilized. Using a masking phenomenon and critical bands among the acoustic characteristics, an inaudible signal is removed and only a requisite signal is coded and bits are allocated thereto, so that a sound quality of almost the same level as that of the original sound is obtained even if the signal is coded with fewer bits than those of the original signal.
Here, the masking phenomenon is a phenomenon in which a human does not sense a sound at all by masking a signal using another signal due to an interference between audio signals. Also, a critical band by which a sound frequency is distinguished by a human is generally divided into twenty-four bands. The higher the frequency is, the wider the bands become on a logarithmic scale. Accordingly, it is not easy to distinguish a higher frequency signal from a lower frequency signal.
To allocate a bit using such acoustic characteristics, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and a signal-to-mask ratio (SMR) are obtained and then a mask-to-noise ratio(MNR) must be calculated therefrom. Here, a mask level is a minimum signal level which is insensible by a human. Accordingly, it is not necessary to allocate a bit to a signal below this mask level.
A final MNR is obtained through the above process and then a bit is repeatedly allocated based on the final MNR. However, a lot of operation time could be required during such a process, which means that a real time delay is increased in an encoder. Thus, it becomes necessary to reduce complexity of the operations.
Now, referring FIG. 1, a general MPEG audio encoding apparatus will be described briefly.
A frequency mapping part 11 converts audio data of a time domain into that of a frequency domain having 32 equal bands by using a band analysis filter. At this time, each band includes twelve samples in case of a layer I and thirty six samples in case of a layer II. On the other hand, since the number of a scale factor is sixty four in total, the number of bits necessary for encoding this information is six bits. There is a little difference between encoding methods depending on layers. In the layer I, among twelve samples included in each band, the largest value is obtained and the same or slightly larger value is chosen as a scale factor. In the layer II, since three scale factors exist in each band, a similarity in the respective scale factors is investigated to then decide how many among three scale factors are to be coded. In other words, the number of scale factors to be coded is different depending on the range of a difference value between adjacent scale factors. Accordingly, additional information is needed in selecting a scale factor, unlike in the layer I, where the information is coded with 2 bits.
A psychoacoustics model 13 is the part having the largest operation complexity in the encoding apparatus. A final output value of the psychoacoustics model is an SMR of each band as a standard of a bit allocation. The SMR value is calculated by a series of steps as follows. An audio signal of a time domain is converted into the frequency domain by a fast Fourier transform (FFT) in a first step. A sound pressure level for each band is calculated in a second step. An absolute threshold is calculated in a third step. Voiced and voiceless sound components of an audio signal are decided in a fourth step. A masker is decided in a fifth step. An absolute threshold of each band is calculated in a sixth step. A total absolute threshold is calculated in a seventh step. A minimum absolute threshold of each band is calculated in a eighth step. An SMR value of each band is calculated in a ninth step.
In a bit allocating and quantizing part 15, first, in a bit allocating step, the quantity of allocated bits of each is obtained by repeatedly performing the following steps in sequence based on the SMR value obtained by the psychoacoustics model 13. In a first step a, an initially allocated bit is set to zero (0). In a second step, an MNR value of each band is obtained. At this time, the MNR value is obtained by subtracting the SMR value from the SNR value. In a third step, the band having the minimum MNR value among MNRs obtained for the respective bands is searched and then the number of allocated bits is increased by 1. In a fourth step, the second and third steps are repeatedly performed with respect to the remaining bands if the required number of bits is not exceeded in a fourth step.
On the other hand, the quantization process is performed through the following steps in sequence. In a first step, samples of each band are divided by a scale factor to set the value obtained thereby to an X. In a second step, a value of A*X+B is calculated (Here, A and B are predetermined values.). In a third step, among the calculated values, the number of allocated bits obtained from the bit allocating step is obtained. The most significant bit (MSB) is reversed in a fourth step.
As the mentioned above, since the conventional digital audio encoding apparatus utilizes a psychoacoustics model, a nine-step process is necessary for obtaining the SMR value. Accordingly, the complexity of the operation increases, which exerts a big influence in overall performance time. Also, an MNR value is calculated again using the SMR values obtained by such a method. Time delay also occurs in this procedure due to repeated performance of the bit allocation loops based on the thus-calculated MNR.
As the result of actual experiment, it was understood from the following Table 1 that the complexity of the operation in the psychoacoustics model generation process and bit allocation process is high, i.e., about 49.9% of the performance time of the overall encoding process.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Overall performance Psychoacoustic model & time of encoding bit allocation process apparatus (1/60 sec) (1/60 sec) Rate (%) ______________________________________ 22662 11590 49.9 ______________________________________

Digital audio encoding method utilizing look-up table and device thereof


An arteriovenous dialysis access graft configured to be implanted in a subject includes: at least one flexible conduit having first and second end portions, wherein the first end portion is configured to connect to an artery of the subject and the second end portion is configured to connect to a vein of the subject such that blood flows through the at least one conduit; and at least one cannulation chamber positioned between the first end portion and the second end portion of the at least one conduit. The chamber includes: an elongated housing having an inlet and an outlet, a posterior wall, a pair of sidewalls, and an open anterior portion defining a cannulation port; and a self-sealing material extending across the cannulation port. The posterior wall and the sidewalls of the housing are formed of a substantially rigid material.

Dialysis treatment of individuals suffering from renal failure requires that blood be withdrawn and cycled through a dialysis machine that performs the function of the failed kidneys. This process, termed hemodialysis, must be repeated at a regular interval (e.g., three times per week) and thus requires repeated punctures using dialysis needles. Relatively large gauge needles are required to promote the high flow rates required during dialysis. Frequent puncturing of autogenous arteriovenous access as well as prosthetic arteriovenous access with large bore needles can cause trauma, conduit degeneration, hematoma formation, pseudoaneurysm formation, loss of patency, or even hemorrhage and exsanguination.
A common technique to provide vascular access for hemodialysis, therefore, is to connect a prosthetic graft or shunt between an artery and a vein in, for example, the upper or lower extremity. Occasionally, patient complexity may also warrant access placement on the chest or abdominal wall. Conventional arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) are often constructed of a polymeric material such as expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) or polyetherurethaneurea.
A significant mode of failure of AVGs is related to a traumatic cannulation with the dialysis needle. This may occur as the needle traverses the anterior wall of the AVG and then continues through the posterior wall (or a sidewall) of the graft. This type of trauma causes a defect in the posterior and/or side wall of the graft and often results in hematoma formation which can ultimately lead to graft thrombosis (i.e., the formation of a blood clot inside the graft, obstructing the flow of blood therethrough) by external compression of the graft and ultimate graft failure.
Moreover, repeated punctures of the graft material (such as ePTFE) promotes coring and degeneration of the graft material which often leads to rupture of the graft, pseudoaneurysm formation, and graft thrombosis. Also, ePTFE grafts are generally not self-sealing when punctured and usually require implantation three, four or more weeks prior to puncture to allow for graft incorporation (a layer of fibrotic tissue that attaches to the outside surface of the graft). The layer of fibrotic tissue may prevent leakage of blood through the wall of the graft upon withdrawal of the dialysis needles and if cannulated before this time could lead to hematoma formation between the graft and surrounding tissue. This hematoma could cause adverse events such as graft occlusion, lack of incorporation of the graft and increased chance for infection. However, there is often very little subcutaneous tissue between the surface of the skin and the anterior face of the graft, and the above-mentioned problems may occur even after waiting for tissue incorporation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,414 to Gelman, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety, describes tube grafts having expanded regions and shields at posterior portions of the expanded regions. The shields have added rigidity relative to the tube to thereby signal to the operator when the needle tip hits a shield during cannulation. The shields are either incorporated into the tube graft or are added as a separate component during assembly, thereby adding complexity to the manufacturing process. The Gelman patent describes that the shields may be rigid or semi-rigid but only describes straight grafts (i.e., grafts without curvature). Substantially rigid shields would require that the grafts described in the Gelman patent be kept in a generally straight configuration, and such a configuration may be difficult or impossible to use at many AVG implantation sites, such as forearms and upper arms. Semi-rigid shields may allow for some bending of the graft to accommodate placement in these areas, but would reduce or eliminate the capability of the shield to prevent needle penetration through the shield or warn the operator of impending penetration. Also, bending of grafts employing semi-rigid shields could weaken the graft and/or disrupt flow characteristics for blood flowing therethrough. Finally, the Gelman patent does not recognize the need for a self-sealing graft or a portion thereof.
Self-sealing vascular access grafts have been described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,192,310 to Herweck et al., 7,452,374 to Hain et al., and 7,780,622 to Fitzpatrick et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entireties. However, none of these patents consider the problem of dialysis needles puncturing side walls or anterior walls during cannulation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,257 to Uflacker et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety, describes grafts with straight port chambers including self-sealing septums. The problem of puncturing side walls or anterior walls during cannulation is also not contemplated in the Uflacker patent. Even if the straight chambers were constructed of a rigid material to ostensibly provide puncture resistance, such a configuration would not be suitable for implantation in the upper or lower extremities, as described above.
Thus, there is a need for arteriovenous grafts configured to be implanted in a subject (e.g., in an upper or lower extremity of a subject) with puncture resistant posterior walls and side walls. There is also a need for such arteriovenous grafts to include self-sealing ports at the anterior surfaces of the graft. Such designs may help prevent traumatic cannulations and/or graft degeneration so as to lead to higher patency rates for arteriovenous grafts, decrease the risk of hemorrhage or infection for hemodialysis patients, and reduce overall vascular access related healthcare costs.

Arteriovenous graft for hemodialysis with puncture-resistant posterior and side walls


A flexible light conduit which preserves the coherence of a transmitted beam. Several conduit elements having optical elements mounted inside each one are connected together to form a chain. Each conduit element is tiltably coupled to each adjacent conduit element in the chain. The optical elements may be refractive or reflective. The conduit preserves the spatial coherence properties of the beam so the input image is reimaged at a distant place, having passed through the series of relay optical elements through the angles permitted by the coupling members.

Flexible light conduits are employed for a variety of purposes which span the entire range of medical lasers and industrial process lasers. Various types of flexible light conduits, such as optical fibers and optical waveguides, have previously been available. A characteristic of these conventional flexible light conduits is that they tend to cause the spatial coherence of the transmitted beams to be scrambled. This scrambling property of fibers and waveguides is particularly pronounced when the physical cross section of the conduit is very large in comparison to the wavelength of transmitted radiation, such as in situations where the power to be transmitted is sufficiently high as to require a conduit of large cross section. A consequence of the inability of conventional flexible light conduits to maintain coherence properties and mode quality is that the beam loses certain aspects of its focusability at the output of the conduit. This loss of coherence, or scrambling, results in significant transmission attenuation and loss of output power.
This loss of coherence and consequent reduction in the ability to focus the transmitted light from the output end of the flexible conduit, has significantly limited the applications in which flexible light conduits have significant value.


Image artifacts produced by NMR signals emanating from outside the designed spherical volume in an MRI system are suppressed by interleaving preparatory pulse sequences with image pulse sequences performed during a scan. Each preparatory pulse sequence includes a pair of RF pulses having equal, but opposite flip angles. Spins in the image field of view are tipped and then restored by the pair of RF pulses and spins outside the designed spherical volume are saturated.

The field of the invention is nuclear magnetic resonance imaging methods and systems. More particularly, the invention relates to the reduction of image artifacts caused by signals produced outside the field of view.
When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), the individual magnetic moments of the spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1) which is in the x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, Mz, may be rotated, or xe2x80x9ctippedxe2x80x9d, into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt. A signal is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation signal B1 is terminated, this signal may be received and processed to form an image.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx Gy and Gz) are employed. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received NMR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
To accurately excite spins and resolve the locations of the resulting NMR signals the polarizing magnetic field B0 must be highly homogeneous and the imaging gradient fields Gx, Gy and Gz must be highly linear. Numerous structures and methods are known in the art to accomplish this in commercial MRI system, and the region where these fields meet the requirements is referred to as the designed spherical volume (xe2x80x9cDSVxe2x80x9d). The DSV may range for example, from a diameter of 40 to 48 cm. Outside the DSV, the polarizing magnetic field B0 can become very inhomogeneous and the imaging gradients Gx, Gy and Gz can become highly nonlinear. They are also very poorly controlled in these outer regions.
Referring particularly to FIG. 2, the DSV of a typical MRI system is indicated by dashed line 10 and a subject to be scanned 12 is placed in the DSV 10. A field of view (FOV) from which accurate NMR data is acquired to reconstruct an image is indicated by dotted lines 14. Portions of the subject 12 are outside the DSV 10, and the spins therein are subject to the RF excitation fields and magnetic fields produced by the MRI system while imaging the FOV 14. The NMR signals produced by spins located outside the DSV 10 can produce image artifacts. These image artifacts from outside the DSV 10 can be aliased into the reconstructed image because of the limited imaging FOV 14, and they can be ghosted into the image because of the data inconsistency.
Methods and apparatus are known to reduce these artifacts. One solution is to increase the imaging FOV 14 to reduce aliasing. Hardware solutions include design of gradient coils with a larger linear region or RF transmit coils which significantly reduce RF excitation of spins outside the DSV 10. These are costly solutions which require major system changes.
The present invention is a method and apparatus for reducing image artifacts caused by signals emanating from outside the system DSV. More particularly, the imaging pulse sequence performed by the MRI system is preceeded by a preparatory pulse sequence which excites spins in the regions outside the DSV and spoils the resulting NMR signals. The imaging pulse sequence follows the preparatory pulse sequence before the longitudinal magnetization of spins outside the DSV have time to recover.
Since the RF and magnetic fields outside the DSV produce unpredictable results, it has been discovered that the use of conventional spatial presaturation pulse sequences do not suppress the image artifacts. The present invention solves this problem by applying a first RF pulse that is selective to the FOV along one gradient axis, applying a second RF pulse having an equal, but opposite flip angle and that is selective to the FOV along another gradient axis, and spoiling the NMR signals produced by the two RF pulses. Spin longitudinal magnetization in the FOV is restored by the application of the two equal but opposite flip angle RF pulses and spin longitudinal magnetization outside the FOV and along the two gradient axes is suppressed.

Preparatory pulse sequence for suppression of artifacts in MR images

GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC


In one exemplary aspect, a method includes building a data index from a set of data from a client application in a distributed database system. The data index is optimized for operation in a DRAM data-storage device, and wherein the data index is built to use a set of fix-sized blocks that fit a DRAM device block size. The data index is maintained in the DRAM data-storage device. An SSD data-storage device is used to persistently store the data referenced by the data index in the DRAM data-storage device, and wherein the data and the metadata are stored in the SSD data-storage device in a log-based format.

1. Field
This application relates generally to data storage, and more specifically to a system, article of manufacture and method of optimizing an index for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) memory in a distributed database node.
2. Related Art
A distributed database can include a plurality of database nodes and associated data storage devices. A database node can manage a data storage device. If the database node goes offline, access to the data storage device can also go offline. Accordingly, redundancy of data can be maintained. However, maintaining data redundancy can have overhead costs and slow the speed of the database system. Additionally, offline data may need to be rebuilt (e.g. after the failure of the database node and subsequent rebalancing operations). This process can also incur a time and processing cost for the database system. Therefore, methods and systems of self-managing nodes of a distributed database cluster with a consensus algorithms can provide improvements to the management of distributed databases.

Hybrid DRAM-SSD memory system for a distributed database node


A driver circuit includes a CMOS stage and switch functionalities for performing certain tasks. One task is to selectively block exposure of the CMOS stage to reference voltage(s). Another task is to selectively protect the CMOS stage during transient operation. Yet another task is to block leakage current from flowing from the CMOS stage to ground.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to current drivers and, more particularly, to CMOS current drivers as used, for example, in amplifier or pre-amplifier circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 wherein there is shown a circuit diagram of a prior art current driver 10. The current driver includes a CMOS follower stage 12 comprising an n-channel transistor 14, having a transconductance gm, whose drain is connected to Vcc (+ve or positive reference) and a p-channel transistor 16, also having a transconductance gm, whose drain is connected to Vee (−ve or negative reference). The sources of the n-channel transistor 14 and p-channel transistor 16 are connected together. The gates of the n-channel transistor 14 and p-channel transistor 16 are also connected together to receive an input signal VDC (which is generated by a circuit 30 including a set of switches producing VDC with a value of either −2.7V (or other suitable negative voltage, such as, −2.0V) or +2.7 (or other suitable positive voltage, such as, +2.0V). The connected sources of the follower stage 12 transistors are further connected to a pure resistor R through which a current IDC (the DC driver current) flows toward a node 18. Connected between Vcc and node 18 is a first current source 20. A second current source 22 is connected between the node 18 and Vee. These current sources assist in the generation of current IOS which is the initial peak overshoot (OS) current. The IOS current exceeds in magnitude the settled DC current IDC of the driver. An output 24, at which an output voltage HW appears, is connected to node 18. The output current IW at output 24 is equal to the sum of the current IDC (provided from the resistor R) and the current IOS (provided by the first current source 20). The impedance Zout at the output 24 of the driver 10 is equal to the sum of the resistance value for the resistor R plus the value 1/gm for the driver transistor of the follower stage 12 when that transistor is on.
In many applications for the current driver 10, the illustrated circuit is only one-half of the overall current driver and a symmetrical circuit to that illustrated is also provided. In this configuration, while one current driver 10 is sourcing current, its partner current driver is sinking that current. Circuit configurations of this type are well known to those skilled in the art.
This current driver 10 implementation suffers from a number of drawbacks including speed limitations, safe operating area problems and wasted current during overshoot (OS) problems. There is accordingly a need for an improved circuit implementation for the current driver which addresses some or all of these problems, as well as other problems recognized by those skilled in the art.

Fast CMOS matched impedance DC write current driver for preamplifiers


The present invention relates generally to immunointeractive molecules and their use inter alia in the detection and/or purification of T-cell antigen binding molecules (TABMs). The ability to determine the presence and levels of particular TABMs provides a useful diagnostic procedures for a variety of disease conditions.

The present invention relates generally to immunointeractive molecules and their use inter alia in the detection and/or purification of T-cell antigen binding molecules (TABMs). These molecules are also called T-cell derived antigen binding molecules. The ability to determine the presence and levels of particular TABM provide a useful diagnostic monitoring procedure for a variety of disease or other physiological conditions which are associated directly or indirectly with TABM including a range of allergies, immunological status, immunological dysfunction, neuropeptide release, infection, cancer, autoimmune disease or vaccination status. The immunointeractive molecules of the present invention are also useful in a range of conditions including modulating aspects of an immune response such as but not limited to cell mediated immunity.
Bibliographic details of the publications numerically referred to in this specification are collected at the end of the description.
The rapidly increasing knowledge of the immune system is greatly facilitating the rationale design of therapeutic and diagnostic procedures based on modulating aspects and compounds of the immune system. Our understanding of the immune system is predicated in part on the identification and characterization of immune system components and determining how various components interact. Although a substantial focus of the research over the years has been on studying immunoglobulins, other immunointeractive molecules such as TABM have received less attention. This has been due, in part, to the inability to purify large amounts of these immunointeractive molecules.
TABM are antigen binding molecules generally located in the serum, derived from T-cells TABM can be regarded as immunoproteins which are antigen specific and, hence, are analogous to immunoglobulins.
TABM are, however, distinct from immunoglobulins. For example, TABM recognise different epitopes to immunoglobulins. TABM are present in serum in multimetric form, the monomer having an apparent molecular weight on a 10-15% w/v SDS polyacrylamide gel of about 24,000-30,000 daltons. In polymeric form, the molecular weight may be greater than 1,000,000 daltons. The high molecular weight of TABM and their non-polar, hydrophobic nature have made the study of these molecules very difficult.
TABM are present in the serum at a concentration of between 10-50 xcexcg/ml. The monomeric units share some homology with the Cxcex1 chain of the T-cell receptor (TCR). However, TABM are not soluble forms of TCR and exhibit physiological and biochemical properties distinct from TCR.
There appears to be several types of TABM with different functions. One particularly important function is their involvement in immuno-regulation. For example, some TABM initiate delayed type hypersensitivity while other types appear to inhibit cell-mediated immunity. The latter type of TABM are associated with cytokines and in particular interleukin 10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-xcex2). It is thought that these TABM xe2x80x9cfocusxe2x80x9d the cytokines to where the antigen is localised to suppress the cell-mediated immune response to the antigen.
It is likely, therefore, that TABM are involved in a number of clinical disorders or others physiological conditions involving suppression or activation of immune processes. However, as TABM are present in serum in only minute amounts, it has hithertofore been impractical to measure TABM levels or to use TABM in diagnostic protocols.
In work leading up to the present invention, the inventors sought monoclonal antibodies to TABM. The isolation of such monoclonal antibodies enables the purification of large quantities of TABM and the development of diagnostic assays based on identification of specific TABM or amounts of specific TABM as well as the development of therapeutic protocols based on modulating TABM levels.
Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word xe2x80x9ccomprisexe2x80x9d, or variations such as xe2x80x9ccomprisesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccomprisingxe2x80x9d, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element or integer or group of elements or integers but not the exclusion of any other element or integer or group of elements or integers.
One aspect of the present invention provides an immuno-interactive molecule comprising a portion which is capable of specifally interacting with TABM.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a hybridoma cell line producing a monoclonal antibody comprising a binding portion specific to TABM.
Yet another aspect of the present invention contemplates a hybridoma cell line having the characteristics of cell line MG3C9-1A12 producing a monoclonal antibody capable of interacting with TABM.
Cell line MG3C9-1A12 was deposited under the provisions of the Budapest Treaty with the American Type Culture Collection, 10801 University Boulevard, Manassas, Va. 20110-2209 on Oct. 21, 1998. Accession No. HB-12589 was assigned to this deposited cell line.
Still yet another aspect of the present invention contemplates a method of detecting TABM in a biological sample from a subject said method comprising contacting said biological sample with an immunointeractive molecule specific for TABM or their derivatives or homologues for a time and under conditions sufficient for an immunointeractive molecules-TABM complex to form and then detecting said complex.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a composition comprising an immunointeractive molecules specific for TABM.
Yet another aspect of the present invention contemplates a method for determining assessing or otherwise monitoring the immunological status of an individual said method comprising screening for the pressure or level of TABM in a biological sample from said individual.


A water drop sensor comprises a pair of electrodes disposed in association with a portion of a surface of a vehicle window within a wipe pattern and having edges defining an extended insulating gap between the electrodes. The electrodes define a gap which varies in width over the range of diameters of drops to be sensed. The result is that the sensor shows more sensitivity to larger drops than to smaller drops as compared with a similar sensor having a constant gap width. The variation in gap width may be continuous or stepwise over the total range of drop diameters.

This invention relates to a water drop sensor for a motor vehicle window, and particularly to such a sensor having electrically conducting electrodes separated by an insulating gap which may be spanned by a water drop. The prior art shows many examples of such sensors, which may be resistive, in which case the electrodes are placed on the outer surface of the window to be contacted directly by water drops, or capacitive, in which case the electrodes are separated from the water drops by a dielectric coating or a layer of glass so that the capacitance between the electrodes is changed by the water drops. In either case, however, an electrical parameter (resistance, capacitance) is varied by water drops on the window which overlap both electrodes. If such a sensor is placed within the wipe pattern of a vehicle window wiper system, it may be used for automatic control of wiper operation.
Sensors of this type as shown in the prior art have been shown to operate successfully at a basic level, in that they are able to distinguish between the presence or absence of moisture on the windshield and are able to activate and deactivate wiper operation or vary the wipe cycle rate or wiper speed in some manner dependent on the amount of moisture on the windshield glass in the vicinity of the sensor. The prior art shows such sensors with conducting electrodes comprising, among other materials, transparent tin oxide affixed to the windshield glass, within the wiper pattern so as to be cleared of moisture with each wipe cycle but generally located in a portion of the wipe pattern out of the main sight lines so as to minimize the visibility thereof to the vehicle occupants.
However, such prior art sensors, although operable on a basic level, have not been sufficiently sophisticated to provide optimal wiper control in a commercial product. Such prior art sensors provide a gap between the electrodes of constant width. When used for wipe cycle or speed control, such sensors exhibit decreasing sensitivity as water drop size increases, so that a larger area of windshield must be covered with precipitation to produce a given probability of sensing the precipitation. This appears to be due at least partly to the fact that the surface area of a generally circular water drop on a window increases as the square of the diameter, so that a large diameter drop is more noticeable to a vehicle occupant than a smaller diameter drop, whereas the ability to bridge the insulating gap increases only directly with the diameter.
This decrease in sensitivity with increasing drop size, for a prior art sensor with constant gap width, is illustrated in FIG. 3, wherein curves 30-32 show the percent glass coverage required to detect a predetermined number (1, 3, 8, respectively) of water drops as a function of drop diameter on the windshield. Curves 30-32 slope upward with increasing drop size, which shows that a greater portion of the window must be covered to detect the same number of drops. Thus, the upward slope of curves 30-32 means that the sensitivity of the sensor decreases with increasing drop diameter. However, one or more drops may fall on the window in the driver's line of sight before a detectable drop falls on the sensor; and each such drop affects an area of the window proportional to its area on the window. Thus, many vehicle operators would prefer a wiper control in which the sensitivity increases with increasing drop size, or at least in which the decrease in sensitivity with increasing drop size is reduced.

Electrical water drop sensor with varying gap width


The invention concerns a process and a device for avoiding interruptions of operation caused by the strapping, on machines for the strapping of packing elements. The process is characterized by a second strapping coil with further strapping, and in that the leader of one of the two strappings is constantly kept at a standby position in the machine from which, upon removal of the other strapping from the strapping guideway, it is automatically fed to the strapping guideway. The device is characterized in that the feed system is preceded by a switch with two strapping guideways for a leader section for each one of the two strappings, with a strapping feed for the alternative introduction of one of the two strapping leaders into the feed system. A first drive system is provided within the vicinity of the strapping guideways for selectively introducing one of the strapping materials into the feed system, while a second drive system is provided within the vicinity of the supply coils of the strapping materials for selectively engaging one of the supply coils in order to retract or withdraw a damaged or depleted strapping material from the feed system and permit a second one of the strapping materials to be introduced into the feed system.

A process for the elimination or prevention of strapping-caused downtime on such machines is known from DE-PS 38 25 668. In this patent, the strapping--primarily thermoplastic synthetic strap or also steel band--contained in the machine is, in case of trouble, pulled out of the machine in a direction opposite to the feed direction of the strapping, by running the strapping coil in reverse. Therefore, in eliminating a strapping-caused malfunction, it is not necessary to perform any repair or corrective work upon the machine, but the strapping can be more swiftly prepared for re-insertion into the machine as a result of repair work performed upon the strapping material outside the machine. Thus, this process shortens a machine breakdown in time respects.
This prior process has proved itself extremely well. However, the duration of the work to be performed outside the machine in conjunction with eliminating damaged spots on the strapping can hardly be influenced, except for the skill applied in doing the manual work, so that corresponding machine downtime must be accepted.

Process and device for avoiding strapping-caused downtime on machine for strapping packages


Change in a torque waveform is monitored while removing continuously-varied periodic noise in real time, and the change in the torque waveform caused purely by the wafer state is detected by separating noise components while removing the noise not caused by the wafer state such as drift noise caused by dressing conditions and the polishing pad state, thereby reliably detecting a polishing end point with high precision when polishing is finished. A polishing end point detection device utilizing torque change for analyzing periodic components in data by subjecting Fourier transformation to the measured data, and calculating moving average processing time for removing periodic noise components based on the analyzed periodic components, and correcting the waveform by performing averaging process based on the moving average processing time calculated in real time for the data, and detecting the polishing end point of a predetermined film based on a change in the corrected torque waveform.

There is a known technique in which, when an conductive film on a wafer is to be subjected to chemical mechanical polishing, a polishing end point of the conductive film is detected by monitoring change in a torque waveform (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,002). The torque waveform itself measured upon polishing of the conductive film on the wafer includes various disturbances. It is important how the torque waveform is to be processed and what kind of change is to be detected in order to reliably detect the polishing end point.
Meanwhile, as another conventional technique, for example, the following end point detection method is known. In this conventional technique, a box having an arbitrary size having a vertical side h as a torque change amount and a horizontal side was a polishing time width is assumed to be present with respect to an input waveform showing the relation between polishing time and torque change. Then, the waveform is caused to input into the box at a point of h/2 in the vertical side h of one side of the box, and the torque change is analyzed according to the fact that with which side of the box the input waveform intersects with to exit to outside the box. More specifically, the inclination of the torque change is monitored by sorting the change into three types, UP when the input waveform intersects with the upper side to exit, DOWN when it intersects with the lower side to exit, and SIDE when it intersects with the other vertical side to exit. In this box method, the track of the input waveform is analyzed by adjusting the size of the box, and the point when an nth peak or valley is detected in an input waveform that repeats peaks and valleys is detected as a polishing end point (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,614).
Furthermore, as another conventional technique, for example the following polishing end point detection device is known. In this conventional technique, a polishing device for polishing and removing an adhering material which is adhering on an undercoat material and different from the undercoat material has a measurement mechanism which measures the torque of at least either one of a first rotating shaft which drives a platen and a second rotating shaft which rotates a substance to be polished and a determination means which determines the fact that at least either one of the torque measured by the measurement mechanism and the temporal differentiation value of the torque is changed equal to or more than a set value, which is provided in advance. In the next stage of the measurement mechanism, a low pass filter having a cut-off frequency corresponding to a rotating speed lower than the rotating speed that is larger among the rotating speed of the first rotating shaft and the rotating speed of the second rotating shaft or a notch filter having a notch frequency corresponding to the rotating speed of at least either one of the rotating speed of the first rotating shaft and the rotating speed of the second rotating shaft is inserted so as to remove noise from the measured torque, and a polishing end point is detected from the determination result of the determination means (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 1994-315850).
Meanwhile, as a conventional technique relating to the polishing end point detection method, for example, the following end point detection method is known. In this conventional technique, a box having an arbitrary size having a vertical side h as a torque change amount and a horizontal side was a polishing time width is assumed to be present with respect to an input waveform showing the relation between polishing time and torque change. Then, the waveform is caused to input into the box at a point of h/2 in the vertical side h of one side of the box, and the torque change is analyzed according to the fact that with which side of the box the input waveform intersects with to exit to outside the box. More specifically, the inclination of the torque change is monitored by sorting the change into three types, UP when the input waveform intersects with the upper side to exit, DOWN when it intersects with the lower side to exit, and SIDE when it intersects with the other vertical side to exit. This box method is good at analyzing the track of the input waveform by adjusting the size of the box. Therefore, this method is suitable for the case in which the point at which an nth peak or valley in an input waveform repeating peaks and valleys is detected is assumed as an end point (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,614).
Moreover, as another conventional technique relating to a polishing end point detection method, for example the following polishing end point detection device is known. In this conventional technique, a polishing device for polishing and removing an adhering material which is adhering on an undercoat material and different from the undercoat material has a measurement mechanism which measures the torque of at least either one of a first rotating shaft which drives a platen and a second rotating shaft which rotates a substance to be polished and a determination means which determines the fact that at least either one of the torque measured by the measurement mechanism and the temporal differentiation value of the torque is changed equal to or more than a set value, which is provided in advance, and the polishing end point is detected according to the determination result of the determination means (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 1994-315850).
Furthermore, as another conventional technique relating to a polishing end point detection method, for example, the following etching end point determination method is known. This conventional technique is an end point determination method of dry etching using a emission spectrography, wherein, in order to improve precision of end point determination, the sampling period of emission intensity is shortened as much as possible within the permissive range of the ability of a digital arithmetic processing device to increase the number of sampling, and the value averaged while moving at every sampling time, in other words, a moving average value is used as a new sampling value, thereby removing the noise components of actual measurement values. A primary differential value obtained from the moving average sampling values is further subjected to moving averaging, and a difference therebetween is obtained, and a moving average value of the difference value is further used to obtain a secondary differential value of the emission intensity, thereby detecting the end point of etching at high precision (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 1986-53728).
In the conventional technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,002, the polishing end point is detected by monitoring the torque waveform measured upon polishing. However, the torque waveform itself includes various disturbances. Therefore, the polishing end point cannot be detected merely by simply monitoring the change in the torque waveform. In order to develop it to a practical level, it cannot be applied to an actual process unless any variation of the torque waveform after processing the obtained torque data can be detected somehow.
In the conventional technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,614, the point at which the nth peak or valley is detected in the waveform which shows the relation between the polishing time and torque change and repeats peaks and valleys is detected as the polishing end point. However, there is sudden reduction or the like at the polishing end point in the torque change upon polishing of the conductive film on the wafer. Therefore, when the box is applied, there is a problem that the polishing end point cannot be detected unless the condition that UPs and DOWNs are continuously detected n times is satisfied, and the polishing end point is erroneously detected when the polishing torque of an conductive film on a wafer having an individual difference. In addition, the analysis of the torque change is digitally determined by "0" and "1" wherein exit of the torque waveform to outside the box is waited for after it is input into the box. Therefore, analysis of the inclination degree (numerical value) of the waveform is not performed, parallel use of an application algorithm is difficult, and detecting the polishing end point in real time is difficult. Moreover, disturbances of drift components such as the surface state of a polishing pad cannot be removed.
In the conventional technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 1994-315850, noise is removed by using the low pass filter and the notch filter, and the polishing end point is detected by the differential value of the torque from which the noise is removed or the differential value of the torque. Hereinafter, different points between the conventional technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 1994-315850 (hereinafter, simply referred to as the conventional technique) and the present invention will be described, for example, about the removing method of the disturbances relating to the torque waveform and the way how the information relating to the polishing end point is to be determined in the state disturbance elements are removed.
In the conventional technique, the disturbances are removed by using the low pass filter and the notch filter. However, for example, low-frequency noise cannot be removed merely by the low pass filter. Therefore, in order to remove such periodic noise, periodic oscillation caused by rotation of the platen and the head is removed by the notch filter. The materials to be processed in the conventional technique are planarly formed magnetic devices, optical parts, electrical wiring, optical wiring and the like. However, in such series of parts, the noise state during polishing is expected to be constant at the beginning and after finish of the polishing, and the case in which it is changed merely in the vicinity of polishing end is expected. Therefore, among the periodic oscillation to be removed, merely fixed periodic components that is the rotation of the platen and the polishing head are removed.
On the other hand, the oscillation generated in the material to be polished in the present invention is apparently different from the vibration state in such wide polishing processing process. First of all, in a planarization process treated in the present invention, minute irregularities are present on the surface of a wafer, and a multi-layer wiring or the like is formed by planarizing the minute irregularities. Such minute irregularities are uniformly formed in the wafer surface state having swellings, and, upon polishing, the minute irregularities are required to be planarized while uniformly polishing along with such swellings. Therefore, the friction condition upon polishing is apparently different between the wafer surface state at the beginning of polishing and the wafer surface state immediately after polishing is finished. At the beginning, since there are minute irregularities, the friction force is large, and, corresponding to that, disturbances caused by unique oscillation of various members are mixed.
However, in the vicinity of polishing end, the wafer surface is comparatively smooth and the friction force is also small since sufficient planarization that ensures the focal depth of a stepper for forming multi-layer wiring is achieved. Therefore, corresponding to that, the ratio that the disturbance elements due to unique oscillation of various members are mixed is also small. As described above, in the polishing process used in device wafer planarization in the present invention, the oscillation state is apparently changed between the vicinities of the beginning and end of polishing, and the disturbance condition mixed in the torque waveform is also largely changed.
The method for removing fixed noise has been described in the conventional technique; however, such method can never be utilized for removing the disturbance components of the torque waveform in device wafer planarization, since the periodic components that continuously varies in real time is more dominant as disturbance elements in planarization CMP rather than the fixed periodic components such as the platen or polishing head. Therefore, as a disturbance removing method of the torque waveform in device wafer planarization, removing periodic noise that continuously varies in real time is required instead of fixed periodic noise.
Furthermore, in CMP that is necessary for planarization of semiconductor device wafers, the factor that varies torque is not only the state of the wafers. The surface state of a polishing pad that is changed by dressing is also a large factor of torque variation. For example, since the polishing pad surface is largely dressed (conditioned) when dressing is performed by a dresser having a large dressing effect, the friction force between the wafer and the polishing pad is increased, and, as a result, the monitored toques is also increased. On the other hand, since clogging occurs in the polishing pad when dressing is not performed, the wafer slides on the polishing pad, and the monitored torque is reduced.
In the present invention, there are a case of in situ dressing and a case of interval dressing often depending on the polishing process. In situ dressing is the case in which dressing is performed at the same time as polishing. In interval dressing, dressing is performed in the period between polishing and polishing, and dressing is not performed during polishing. Particularly, in the case of interval dressing, clogging in the surface state of the polishing pad is slightly and gradually progressed during polishing since dressing is not performed during polishing although dressing is performed before polishing. As a result, regardless of the surface state of the wafer, torque of the polishing is gradually reduced even when a normal blanket oxide film wafer is polished.
In the case of in situ dressing, the torque is constant in principle when dressing corresponding to the degree of clogging in the plane of the polishing pad is performed in real time in accordance with the clogging of the polishing pad. However, in practice, a small dresser is used, and dressing is performed by causing the dresser to scan in the radius direction of the polishing pad. Therefore, in principle, the clogging of the polishing pad cannot be removed at once, and merely part of the polishing pad is subjected to dressing in one rotation of the platen; therefore, the torque monitored as a result is not completely constant, and a torque waveform corresponding to the scan of the dresser is observed.
When torque is actual monitored in this manner, not only the torque variation due to the surface state of the wafer is always monitored, and the torque variation corresponding to the state of the polishing pad and the state of dressing during polishing is also mixed as disturbance elements. The waveform of the disturbance element due to the surface state of the polishing pad is gradually changed as a kind of drift; therefore, it cannot be removed as the periodic noise described above. Also, it is obvious that it cannot be removed even by the low pass filter. Therefore, even when the periodic waveform variation is removed, removing the noise that gradually varies along with the change in the surface state of the polishing pad is difficult, and it is expected that such disturbances are erroneously detected in the conventional method.
The conventional technique of U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,614 is suitable for the case in which the point at which an nth peak or valley is detected in an input waveform which shows the relation between polishing time and torque change and repeats peaks and valleys is determined as an end point. However, the torque variation upon polishing of the conductive film on a wafer is suddenly increased or reduced upon polishing end. Therefore, when the box is applied, there is a problem that the polishing end point cannot be detected unless the condition that UPs or DOWNs are continuously detected n times is satisfied, and there is a possibility that the polishing end point is erroneously detected when the polishing torque of the conductive film on the wafer having an individual difference is monitored.
Furthermore, in the conventional technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 1994-315850, the sampled torque value itself or the temporal differentiation value of the torque value is compared with a set value, which is provided in advance, to detect the polishing end point. However, since there are individual differences in the conductive films on wafers, when the sampled torque value itself is compared with the set value, which is provided in advance, the polishing end point may be erroneously detected as well as the above described case.
The conventional technique of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 1986-53728 is an end point determination method upon dry etching for a silicon oxide film or the like on a semiconductor wafer. The number of sampling is increased, and the moving average value of the actual measurement value thereof is used as a sampling value; thus, the noise components in the actual measurement values are removed, and the etching end point is detected at high precision.
Thus, a technical problem to be solved is generated in order to reliably detect polishing end at high precision without erroneous detection in the wafer state at the point of polishing end by monitoring change in the torque waveform by removing continuously varying periodic noise in real time and detecting the change in the torque waveform, which is purely caused by the wafer state, while removing the noise not caused by the wafer state such as dressing conditions and drift noise caused by the state of the polishing pad and separating the noise component.

Polishing end point detection method utilizing torque change and device thereof


An electrical connector includes an insulator, a plurality of conducting terminals, and a ground member. The insulator includes an insulating body and a tongue portion extending from one side of the insulating body. The conducting terminals include a plurality of ground terminals and a plurality of signal terminals alternatively arranged. The ground terminals and the signal terminals include a contacting portion, a tail portion, and a main portion. The ground member includes a conducting body and a plurality of extension portions. At least one side of each of the extension portions includes a restriction portion. The main portion of the ground terminals is stacked with each of the extension portions, and contact with restriction portion. The ground member and the main portions are fixed within the insulating body. The contacting portions are arranged on the surface of the tongue portion. The tail portion extends out of the insulating body.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrical connector for transmitting high-frequency signal.
Description of Related Art
Due to the highly development of technologies, to provide various transmission requirement, several transmission specifications are introduced, such as the early Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) to the latest Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). For a high speed data access, the serial technologies solve the problem in the traditional parallel technologies, providing further high speed signal transmission. Therefore, the SAS can be support of and compatible with Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) device, resulting in advantages of wider use.
Under the requirements of high speed transmission and reduced size of electrical connectors, the arrangement between terminals becomes closer, and the signal transmission becomes high-frequency transmission. Therefore, issues such as signal interference are generated when the connector transmits signals. Since the distance between two signal terminals is too close, capacitive and inductive couplings are induced between signal terminals when high-frequency signals are transmitted. The capacitive and inductive couplings lead to the problem of cross talk and noise, thereby affecting the transmission rate and accuracy.
To overcome the problem of cross talk, in conventional technology, a ground terminal is disposed between two signal terminals. The ground terminal can ground the capacitive and inductive noises coupled by the signal terminals, thereby reducing the signal interference. However, such technology for solving cross talk interference still remains a lot to improve.
To improve the problem of cross talk, U.S. Pat. No. 2013/0149882 discloses an electrical connector, as shown in FIG. 11. The electrical connector includes a housing A, a plurality of contacts B and a ground bar C. The housing A is made of insulating material. The contacts B and the ground bar C are disposed in the housing A. The housing A includes a base portion A1 and a tongue portion A2 extended from the base portion A1. The contacts B include a plurality of grounding portions B1 and a plurality of signal contacts (not shown). The grounding portions B1 respectively include a contacting plate B11, a soldering portion B13, and a retaining portion B12 connecting the contacting plate B11 to the soldering portion B13. The contacting plates B11 are arranged on a plane of the tongue portion A2. The retaining portion B12 is disposed in the base portion A1. The ends of the soldering portion B13 respectively extend out of the base portion A1, and the solder portion B13 may be connected to a circuit board (not shown). The arrangement of the contacts B includes one signal contact (not shown) disposed between at least two of the grounding portions B1. The ground bar C includes a plurality of spring fingers C1 and a beam portion C2. The spring fingers C1 extend from the beam portion C2 and are electrically connected to each other. The spring fingers C1 contact the retaining portion B12 of the grounding portions B1 and are disposed in the housing A.
In the prior art, the grounding portions B1 are connected to the spring fingers C1 of the ground bar C, such that the noises induced by the high-frequency transmission signal of the signal contacts (not shown) may be grounded, thereby reducing the problem of cross talk.
However, in the prior art, the grounding portions B1 are connected to the ground bar C through one of the corresponding spring fingers C1, and the contact area between the retaining portion B12 of the grounding portions B1 and the spring fingers C1 is small. When the interference noises are grounded through the grounding portion B1 and the ground bar C, the transmission rate of grounding noises is lower due to the small contact area. Therefore, the problem of high-frequency interference still exists in the electrical connector. Moreover, during the assembling process of spring fingers C1 and the grounding portions B1, the registration yield and the adherence condition are both factors that affect the grounding of interference.
Since that the prior art cannot satisfy the practical requirement of industry, an improvement is needed to overcome the problem.


A power overlay (POL) module includes a semiconductor device having a first side and an opposing second side, a dielectric sheet having a first side coupled to the semiconductor device second side, and an opposing second side, the dielectric sheet defining an aperture therethrough. The POL module also includes a first conductive layer disposed on the second side of the dielectric sheet and electrically coupled through the aperture to the semiconductor device second surface, a first conductive plate having a first side, and an opposing second side coupled to the first surface of the semiconductor device. The POL module further includes a first heat sink coupled the first side of the conductive plate and a first thermal interface layer disposed between the first conductive plate and the first heat sink.

The growing demand for power electronic devices to manage high power densities has led to the development of the power electronic module or power module. The power module is an assembly typically including several power components, such as power semiconductor devices, internally interconnected to perform a power conversion function. Power modules are used in power conversion equipment such as industrial motor drives, uninterruptible power supplies, and inverters. Power modules provide the packaging or physical containment for a set of power semiconductor components. The power semiconductors (or "dies") are typically soldered or sintered onto a power electronic substrate that supports the power semiconductors, provides electrical and thermal contact and electrical insulation where needed.
More recently, power modules increasingly employ a power overlay (POL) module type packaging and interconnect system. Such POL modules use multiple layers of conductive and insulative materials to support the power semiconductor devices, provide electrical interconnections between the semiconductor devices and external circuits, and manage heat generated during normal operation.

Power overlay module and method of assembling


In one embodiment, a device obtains one or more fabric port (F-port) counters and one or more extender port (E-port) counters in a storage area network (SAN). The device inputs the obtained F-port and E-port counters to a machine learning-based prediction model. The device uses the prediction model to predict a slow drain condition in the SAN, based on the counters input to the model. The device initiates a corrective measure in the SAN, based on the predicted slow drain condition.

A storage area network (SAN) is a specialized form of computer network that allow for host access to storage devices, with Fibre Channel (FC) being one of the most popular protocols used to interconnect hosts and storage devices in a SAN. One distinguishing characteristic of an FC-SAN is a no-drop mechanism, to avoid data loss when writing data to the storage devices. Unfortunately, this mechanism can also lead to a slow drain condition, whereby one or a very small number of end devices can impinge on the performance of the entire SAN. Notably, devices in a SAN typically employ a buffer-to-buffer credit system in which a given port decrements its credits when it sends a frame and increments its credits when it receives back a ready indication, in response. If the available credits for the port reaches zero, it can no longer transmit frames. While this credit mechanism can be beneficial, in many cases, situations such as a speed mismatch between end devices or an end device not releasing credits back to the switch's port can also cause the SAN to take increasingly longer to convey frames, as a backup begins to build in the SAN, which is also referred to as a slow drain condition.
Detecting the existence of a slow drain condition in a SAN remains fairly challenging. Even more challenging is discerning the root cause of a slow drain condition, such as the ports actually responsible for causing the slow drain condition. With the recent evolution of machine learning, however, it now becomes possible to not only detect the root cause of a slow drain condition in a SAN, but to also initiate corrective measures for the condition, automatically.

Using machine learning to detect slow drain conditions in a storage area network


A flooring material applicator having a frame and wheels rendering it moveable about a floor, a mixer chamber and agitator to mix flooring material, a first component receptacle movably mounted adjacent the mixer chamber and moveable between a first loading position, and a second dumping position, a second component receptacle movably mounted adjacent the mixer chamber, and moveable between a first loading position and a second dumping position, a distribution opening in the mixer chamber, and a door movably operable to open and close the same, a distribution chamber adjacent the door, to receive flooring material therefrom, a motor for operating the agitator, the first component receptacle, the second component receptacle, and the door, and controls for guiding the applicator about a floor, so as to spread the flooring material on a floor.

In the construction of floors, particularly load-bearing floors such as concrete or the like, in industrial buildings, it is often desirable to apply some form of surface coating. For example, in industrial plants, a concrete flooring surface may become contaminated, and difficult to clean. It may become damaged or eroded, and frequently is a source of dust. Accordingly, coating systems of various types and various mixtures have been applied in the past to overcome some or all of these problems. One particularly popular form of coating system is a multi-component synthetic floor covering system, based on a resin type of material, a curing agent or catalyst, with suitable fillers, and other well known compounds.
Such multi-component systems provide a hard durable finish, which both protects the concrete itself from deterioration, and also allows the application of a skid resistant surface, if desired.
It is well known that these multi component systems must be mixed in more or less precisely measured proportions, and that they have a relatively short "pot" life during which they can be successfully applied. After this relatively short span of time, chemical reactions take place, and further application of the mixture becomes difficult if not impossible.
Accordingly, it is well known that it is necessary to mix and apply these flooring systems in relatively small batches.
In addition, it is a common experience, particularly in the case of a concrete floor, that the floor will not be perfectly smooth and level. It is, therefore, likely in the majority of cases that in order to provide a smooth level finish for the surface compound, it would be necessary to apply the surface compound in greater quantities in some places and lesser quantities in others.
It is also well known that in the application of such systems, it is necessary to trowel or smooth each batch of the surface material by some manual operation or power-operated operation, in order to both ensure a good permanent bond with the surface of the concrete, and also to ensure an even smooth finish to the surface before the batch has cured. While all of these individual factors have generally speaking been appreciated and understood in the past, in the practice of laying such floor surfaces, it has usually been the case that the steps were carried out as separate steps, and not as part of a continuous controlled process. As a result, there tended to be certain variations in the proportions of mix, and in the characteristics of batches of mix, from one batch to another.
In addition, there tended to be variations in the degree or consistency of the trowelling, or other surface finishing, and there were certain irregularities in the level of the surface of the finished material.
In addition, the application of such systems in the past has been very time consuming and required a very considerable amount of relatively skilled hand labour. In addition the time required for such a floor application interfered with the use of the plant causing lengthy downtime and lost production. All of these factors have tended either to reduce customer satisfaction with the end product, or to increase its cost to the customer, so that the maximum benefits from such floor surfacing systems have not been achieved.


The present invention relates to sequences of the serrate amino acid sequence as well as fragments thereof, and fragments which retain binding activity are also provided.

Genetic analyses in Drosophila have been extremely useful in dissecting the complexity of developmental pathways and identifying interacting loci. However, understanding the precise nature of the processes that underlie genetic interactions requires a knowledge of the biochemical properties of the protein products of the genes in question.
Null mutations in any one of the zygotic neurogenic loci--Notch (N), Delta (Dl), mastermind (mam), Enhancer of Split (E(spl), neuralized (neu), and big brain (bib)--result in hypertrophy of the nervous system at the expense of ventral and lateral epidermal structures. This effect is due to the misrouting of epidermal precursor cells into a neuronal pathway, and implies that neurogenic gene function is necessary to divert cells within the neurogenic region from a neuronal fate to an epithelial fate. Studies that assessed the effects of laser ablation of specific embryonic neuroblasts in grasshoppers (Doe and Goodman 1985, Dev. Biol. 111, 206-219) have shown that cellular interactions between neuroblasts and the surrounding accessory cells serve to inhibit these accessory cells from adopting a neuroblast fate. Together, these genetic and developmental observations have led to the hypothesis that the protein products of the neurogenic loci function as components of a cellular interaction mechanism necessary for proper epidermal development (Artavanis-Tsakonas, 1988, Trends Genet. 4, 95-100).
Sequence analyses (Wharton et al., 1985, Cell 43, 567-581; Kidd et al., 1986, Mol. Cell. Biol. 6, 3094-3108; Vassin et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6, 3431-3440; Kopczynski et al., 1988, Genes Dev. 2, 1723-1735) have shown that two of the neurogenic loci, Notch and Delta, appear to encode transmembrane proteins that span the membrane a single time. The Notch gene encodes a .about.300 kd protein (we use "Notch" to denote this protein) with a large N-terminal extracellular domain that includes 36 epidermal growth factor (EGF)--like tandem repeats followed by three other cysteine-rich repeats, designated Notch/lin-12 repeats (Wharton et al., 1985, Cell 43, 567-581; Kidd et al., 1986, Mol. Cell Biol. 6, 3094-3108; Yochem et al., 1988, Nature 335, 547-550). Delta encodes a .about.100 kd protein (we use "Delta" to denote DLZM, the protein product of the predominant zygotic and maternal transcripts; Kopczynski et al., 1988, Genes Dev. 2, 1723-1735) that has nine EGF-like repeats within its extracellular domain (Vassin et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6, 3431-3440; Kopczynski et al., 1988, Genes Dev. 2, 1723-1735). Although little is known about the functional significance of these repeats, the EGF-like motif has been found in a variety of proteins, including those involved in the blood clotting cascade (Furie and Furie, 1988, Cell 53, 505-518). In particular, this motif has been found in extracellular proteins such as the blood clotting factors IX and X (Rees et al., 1988, EMBO J. 7, 2053-2061; Furie and Furie, 1988, Cell 53, 505-518), in other Drosophila genes (Knust et al., 1987, EMBO J. 761-766; Rothberg et al., 1988, Cell 55, 1047-1059), and in some cell-surface receptor proteins, such as thrombomodulin (Suzuki et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6, 1891-1897) and LDL receptor (Sudhof et al., 1985, Science 228, 815-822). A protein binding site has been mapped to the EGF repeat domain in thrombomodulin and urokinase (Kurosawa et al., 1988, J. Biol. Chem 263, 5993-5996; Appella et al., 1987, J. Biol. Chem. 262, 4437-4440).
An intriguing array of interactions between Notch and Delta mutations has been described (Vassin, et al., 1985, J. Neurogenet. 2, 291-308; Shepard et al., 1989, Genetics 122, 429-438; Xu et al., 1990, Genes Dev., 4, 464-475). A number of genetic studies (summarized in Alton et al., 1989, Dev. Genet. 10, 261-272) has indicated that the gene dosages of Notch and Delta in relation to one another are crucial for normal development. A 50% reduction in the dose of Delta in a wild-type Notch background causes a broadening of the wing veins creating a "delta" at the base (Lindsley and Grell, 1968, Publication Number 627, Washington, D.C., Carnegie Institute of Washington). A similar phenotype is caused by a 50% increase in the dose of Notch in a wild-type Delta background (a "Confluens" phenotype; Welshons, 1965, Science 150, 1122-1129). This Delta phenotype is partially suppressed by a reduction in the Notch dosage. Recent work in our laboratories has shown that lethal interactions between alleles that correlate with alterations in the EGF-like repeats in Notch can be rescued by reducing the dose of Delta (Xu et al., 1990, Genes Dev. 4, 464-475). Xu et al. (1990, Genes Dev. 4, 464-475) found that null mutations at either Delta or mam suppress lethal interactions between heterozygous combinations of certain Notch alleles, known as the Abruptex (Ax) mutations. Ax alleles are associated with missense mutations within the EGF-like repeats of the Notch extracellular domain (Kelley et al., 1987, Cell 51, 539-548; Hartley et al., 1987, EMBO J. 6, 3407-3417).
Notch is expressed on axonal processes during the outgrowth of embryonic neurons (Johansen et al., 1989, J. Cell Biol. 109, 2427-2440; Kidd et al., 1989, Genes Dev. 3, 1113-1129).
A study has shown that certain Ax alleles of Notch can severely alter axon pathfinding during sensory neural outgrowth in the imaginal discs, although it is not yet known whether aberrant Notch expression in the axon itself or the epithelium along which it grows is responsible for this defect (Palka et al., 1990, Development 109, 167-175).


There is provided a phase control portion for controlling phase of a laser beam resonated in a resonator based on detected results by two optical detectors. The phase control portion adjusts the longitudinal mode positions by a feedback control so that a ratio of intensities detected by the two optical detectors comes to a predetermined reference value. To one of the optical detectors, part of a laser beam outputted from the resonator is irradiated as it is, whereas, to the other one of the optical detectors, part of the laser beam outputted from the resonator is irradiated after passing through an etalon. An FSR of the etalon is a double of that of another etalon in the resonator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wavelength tunable laser suitable for multi-wavelength communication systems and so forth and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with dramatic increase in demands for communication in recent years, development of multi-wavelength communication systems (wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) systems), which realize high-capacity transmission by a single optical fiber by way of multiplexing plural signal beams of different wavelengths, shows progress. For such multi-wavelength communication systems, a wavelength tunable laser capable of selecting a desired wavelength from a wide range of wavelengths is strongly expected in building the systems.
As a structure for realizing the wavelength tunable laser capable of selecting the desired wavelength from a wide range of wave lengths, as shown in FIG. 7, there is one having a resonator provided with two reflectors 106, 107, in which there are arranged a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) 101 having gain for a wide range of wavelengths, a phase shifter 102, a wavelength tunable filter 103 capable of selecting the desired wavelength from a wide range of wavelengths, and an etalon 105. An etalon is an optical filter having a periodical transmissive wavelength. In addition, outside the resonator, there are provided a beam splitter 109 for splitting part of a laser beam passing through the reflector 107, an optical detector 110 for detecting an optical intensity of the laser beam split by the beam splitter 109, and a phase control portion 111 for controlling phase condition, in other words the longitudinal-mode position, based on detection results by the optical detector 110.
In the wavelength tunable laser of such a structure, in order to control an oscillation wavelength, two types of controls described below are required. A first control is a coarse control to adjust the wavelength selected by the wavelength tunable filter 103 to a desired transmissive wavelength of the etalon 105. A second control is a fine control to adjust the oscillation wavelength to a desired wavelength (for example, the ITU grid.) by adjusting a longitudinal-mode position of the resonator. For the second control, there is provided inside the resonator the phase shifter 102 for controlling resonator length (phase), allowing the control of the longitudinal-mode position of the resonator.
For controlling phase, there are such techniques that integrate an optical waveguide for phase control with the SOA and change the resonator length by making use of the change in the refractive index of waveguide caused by current injection by disposing a semiconductor, as described in Patent document 1, or that change position of a mirror composing the resonator.
When controlling such a phase, conventional wavelength tunable lasers detect an intensity of a laser beam and perform feedback so that the intensity is maximized, as described in Patent document 2, or perform feedback so that a voltage applied to an active layer of the SOA is minimized, as described in Patent document 3. These phase controls are making use of such characteristics that the intensity of the laser beam is maximized and the voltage of the active layer of the SOA is minimized when the longitudinal-mode position of the resonator coincides with the transmissive peak wavelength of the etalon channel selected by the wavelength tunable filter.
However, such controls as maximizing the intensity of the laser beam or performing feedback to minimize the voltage of the SOA active layer have problems as described below.
First, because of the influence of asymmetric gain saturation in the SOA, the phase in which the laser beam intensity is maximized and the voltage of the SOA active layer is minimized deviates from a point enabling the most stabilized control. FIG. 8 is a view showing a change in optical output (laser beam intensity) when phase is changed. As shown in FIG. 8, the change in optical output with regard to phase (longitudinal-mode position) is periodical. Each range in which optical output is continuously changing corresponds to a range in which the oscillation of a longitudinal mode is performed, and the oscillation shifts to the other longitudinal mode at a point of a discontinuously changing phase. The change in optical output in the range in which oscillation is performed in a single longitudinal mode is asymmetric to the phase where optical output is maximized, and when the phase deviates from the phase to maximize the optical output toward the short wave side, the oscillation is immediately performed using the other longitudinal mode. Such a phenomenon occurs under the influence of the asymmetric gain saturation in the SOA, in which the gain in the oscillation wavelength on the short wave side falls and the same on a long wave side increases to thereby facilitate oscillation in a mode of the long wave side. This is unavoidable at this moment.
Therefore, in the technique which performs feedback to maximize optical output, the tolerance of phase position on the short wave side is smaller , so that a mode jump tends to occur. As a result, stable oscillation becomes difficult to thereby worsen noise characteristics of the laser. Such a phenomenon similarly occurs when monitoring the voltage of the active layer. Besides, a laser beam intensity change caused by other factor, for example deviation of the filter wavelength of the wavelength tunable filter, may affect sometimes.
Secondly, when the above-mentioned control is performed, it is required to control by a dithering with regard to the phase so that the change in laser beam intensity (optical output) or the slope of voltage change in the active layer comes to 0 (zero). However, the dithering with regard to the phase leads to a periodical change of the longitudinal position, whereby the oscillation wavelength varies.
Prior Arts are disclosed in Patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-335965), Patent document 2 (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0142700A1), Patent document 3 (U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 4,622,672), Patent document 4 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-85774), Patent document 5 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-251013), Patent document 6 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-185074), and Non-Patent document 1 (Sharon et al. in Journal of the Optical Society of America A, vol. 14, No. 11, pp. 2985–2993 (1997)).

Wavelength tunable laser and method of controlling the same


Improvements to turntables that facilitate inoculation of petri dishes. In one embodiment, the present invention is a motorized turntable for a petri dish that allows the user to use both hands for inoculation of the petri dish. In another embodiment, the present invention features an improved upper plate for a petri dish turntable that allows the user to more easily remove the petri dish from the upper plate after inoculation. In another embodiment, the present invention provides an apparatus for rotating a conventional turntable for petri dishes.

Petri dishes are small circular boxes typically made of transparent plastic material, containing a nutrient such as a mixture of gelose and distilled water. They are used as a development medium for cultures containing microorganisms and are used in large numbers in analysis laboratories, in particular in medical research and in industry.
Manually operated turntables for petri dishes are known. Such turntables include a base and an upper plate rotatably mounted on the base. The upper plate is configured with a rim extending around the perimeter of the upper plate, and is generally configured to match the bottom surface of a petri dish, to hold a petri dish in place. To inoculate a petri dish with bacteria or other microorganism, the user must manually rotate the upper plate with one hand, while handling filling equipment with the other—often times a cumbersome and awkward process.
As discussed above, prior art turntables feature an upwardly extending lip that holds the petri dish in place. This lip, however, inhibits removal of the petri dish from the turn table since the lip extends almost to the upper edge of the petri dish. This configuration often forces lab workers to contact the inner surfaces of the petri dish to extract it from the turntable which creates the risk of contamination.
In light of the foregoing, a need exists in the art for turntables for petri dishes, or other apparatuses, that address the above-noted problems.


An optical add/drop multiplexing (OADM) apparatus and method are disclosed for detecting pilot tones, removing ghost tones, and re-inserting pilot tones on WDM signals in an optical network. The OADM apparatus comprises a smart processing and control unit (PCU) for detecting pilot tones used for channel identifications, including identifying and removing ghost tones associated with respective optical channels, and re-inserting the processed pilot tones into the respective optical channels. The OADM apparatus and method may incorporate digital PCU or analog PCU for processing pilot tones and removing ghost tones.

In a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) network each node is capable of routing a large volume of traffic around the network without the need for optoelectronic conversion and processing. Fibers entering and leaving the nodes carry multiple optical channels (wavelengths), and within the node, optical channels are routed either to the outgoing fiber or to local units (receiver or transmitter) for channel dropping, adding, and re-routing. The WDM network requires reliable supervisory technique for channel identification and performance monitoring. In particular, for proper management of these networks, it is essential to monitor optical paths of WDM signals in optical add/drop multiplexing and cross-connect nodes.
Pilot tone (dither tone) monitor technique is being used to supervise an individual channel along the optical signal path in the WDM network. At the transmitter, a low frequency pilot tone (dither tone) in the kHz range is modulated onto the signal, each optical channel being coded by a different pilot tone frequency. The pilot tones are extracted at intermediate nodes by tapping off a small portion of the optical signal power into a monitor module, while the main part of the optical signal is routed to the destination nodes. The tapped optical signal is used for channel power measurements and identification via the dither tones encoded on the channel. In this way the dither tones can be monitored at each intermediate node without optically demultiplexing the optical data signals. The signal channel identification and power level information provided by the dither tones is useful for fault management, such as in detecting missing channels or low power channels, and taking corresponding corrective actions.
The pilot tones are allocated in a frequency band low enough not to interfere with the optical data spectrum, but high enough to avoid low frequency crosstalk within EDFAs (Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers). Otherwise, these pilot tones would generate ghost tones (crosstalk) due to the slow dynamic properties of EDFAs in the optical network and the transmission length (i.e., number of EDFAs) of the signals in the network. These ghost tones could not only mislead the performance monitoring system, but also cause errors in the monitor techniques using pilot tones for channels identifications.
In an article by Chung et al., "Effects of stimulated Raman Scattering on Pilot-Tone Based WDM Supervisory Technique", IEEE Photon. Technical Letter, Volume 12, pp. 731–733, June 2000, an experimental setup was described including eight WDM signals (optical channels) multiplexed into a single fiber into a single WDM signal transmitted over fiber and eight EDFAs. The first EDFA used a dynamic gain control unit to compensate for the slow dynamic properties of EDFAs. After transmission over fiber for some distance, WDM channels were dropped using add/drop multiplexer (ADM) made of two arrayed-waveguide gratings (AWGs), and the optical spectrum of the WDM signal and electrical spectrum of pilot tones were measured. The ghost tones appeared due to the cross gain modulation of EDFAs. Adjustments were made to the input power of the EDFAs; however, the ghost tones were not removed completely but were suppressed at the output of the first EDFA via the gain control unit.
In an article by Hill et al., "A Transport Network Layer Based on Optical Network Elements", IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology, Volume 11, No. 5/6, pp. 667–679, May/June 1993, another method for removing ghost tones was described, wherein channel spacing and commercial fiber amplifiers were used to limit ghost tones build up in an optical network. Unfortunately, there are limitations to channel spacing and commercial fiber amplifiers are not reliable in removing ghost tones completely.
Consequently, there is a need in the industry to provide improved method and apparatus for efficiently and reliably removing ghost tones on WDM signals in an optical network.

Method and apparatus for optical add/drop multiplexing in optical networks