A method for the treatment of restenosis using certain cystine derivatives and a pharmaceutical preparation comprising these derivatives.

Such cystine derivatives as to which the present invention has found a new pharmacological use are known from WO 91/185 94 and EP 463 514 to have immunomodulating activity. Nothing is reported or generally known concerning the pharmacological and/or therapeutic properties of these compounds with respect to effects or restenosis.
In connection with the present invention compounds of the general formula I are employed: ##STR1## wherein R is hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl or a moiety -COR.sup.1, wherein R.sup.1 is a straight or branched akyl group having 1-12 carbon atoms, R.sup.2 is a straight or branched alkyl group having 1-12 carbon atoms and R.sup.3 is a moiety which provides an ester hydrolysable in body fluids to release the active compound in free acid form, or a physiologically acceptable salt and/or a stereochemical isomer thereof.
In particular compounds of the formula I wherein R is hydrogen or a moiety -CO-R.sup.1 wherein R.sup.1 is methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, n-butyl, n-pentyl, n-hexyl, n-heptyl, n-octyl, n-nonyl, n-decyl, n-undecyl, isopropyl, 1-methylpropyl, 2-methylpropyl, tert. butyl, 3-methylbutyl or 2-metylbutyl, R.sup.2 is methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, n-butyl, n-pentyl, n-hexyl, n-heptyl, n-octyl, n-nonyl, n-decyl, n-undecyl, isopropyl, 1-methylpropyl, 2-methylpropyl, tert. butyl, 3-methylbutyl or 2-methylbutyl and R.sup.3 is hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl or isobutyl, or a physiologically acceptable salt and/or a stereochemical isomer thereof, are preferred.
The compounds of formula I are used in racemic form as well as stereoisomers (enantiomers, diastereomers). Of particular interest are the compounds having the L configuration, particularly interesting is N,N'-diacetyl-L-cystine.
The invention also involves the compound of formula I in the form of its physiologically acceptable salts, such as the salts of sodium, potassium, ammonium, calcium or magnesium. Also included are salts of the unesterified compounds with pharmaceutically acceptable organic bases, such as lysine, ethylenediamine, N,N'-dibenzylethylenediamine, adamantanamine, N-benzyl-2-phenylethylamine and piperazine.
Lysine and arginine can be used in its D- or L- forms. Most preferred is the L-form.
The most preferred compound is di-L-lysinium-N,N'-diacetyl-L-cystinate (compound A).
The compounds of the general formula I may be prepared by any of the processes disclosed in EP 463 514. Salts of such compounds with organic bases are prepared according to any conventional method or any method disclosed in WO 93/11104.

Pharmacological use of certain cystine derivatives


Aspects of the disclosure are directed to self-capacitance measurement and cancellation. In accordance with one aspect, a self-capacitance cancellation circuit includes an input amplifier, wherein the input amplifier comprises a non-inverting input, an inverting input and an output; a coherent current source coupled to the inverting input; a feedback network coupled to the output; and a capacitance coupled to the inverting input.

The self-capacitance of an electronic product may need an accurate measurement for improved electrical performance. Existing measurement solutions may have a restricted dynamic range which results in inaccurate self-capacitance measurements. The present disclosure enhances the dynamic range for self-capacitance measurement for an electronic product such as, but not limited to, a touchscreen.

Dynamic range enhancement for self-capacitance measurement


A method and system for collecting and categorizing survey data includes receiving customer information from a customer. A query is identified based at least in part on the customer information. The query is output for presentation to the customer. In one embodiment, the query is presented to the customer by prompting an employee, such as a clerk at a point-of-sale terminal, to verbally present the question to the customer. A customer response to the query is then received. The request from the customer may be, e.g., a request to purchase one or more products or it may be a request for assistance or information. The customer response is then captured and analyzed.

Many businesses solicit and gather information from their customers. This can help a business gain a better understanding of its customers and respond to their suggestions and complaints.
Businesses use a number of different techniques for collecting customer information. For example, many businesses provide comment cards and encourage customers to use them to provide feedback. Restaurants may place the cards on the table, encouraging customers to fill out a card during, or immediately after a meal. Retailers may place the cards at the point-of-sale and ask that customers fill out a card while the shopping experience is still fresh. These comment cards typically include a number of multiple choice questions or identify different service areas and ask the customer to rate the quality of service in each area.
Unfortunately, this approach to soliciting customer comments has a number of disadvantages. For example, customers generally dislike filling out and submitting comment cards because the process is relatively burdensome and because they often perceive such cards as being ineffective or ignored by the business. Often, customers only take the time to fill out and submit comment cards when they have something to complain about. This is unfortunate, as many businesses would like to hear helpful suggestions or positive comments as well.
Many businesses solicit customer feedback through the use of customer service desks. Customers are encouraged to raise complaints or suggestions with customer service representatives that staff the customer service desk. Unfortunately, these customer service desks are generally not ideal for soliciting customer feedback. A customer who would like to point out a problem in service or otherwise make a complaint or suggestion must initiate contact with the customer service desk. This can be inefficient or burdensome for the customer. Many customer service desks can have long lines, especially during heavy shopping periods. As a result, a customer with a minor suggestion or complaint may be discouraged from providing feedback because the process is too burdensome. Further, many customers are reluctant to complain because they want to avoid confrontation or being perceived as frequent complainers.
Businesses also generate customer comments through the use of market research and focus groups. These methods can be very useful in soliciting comments about the likes and dislikes of customers in a group. However, the comments received may not be from actual customers of the business. Further, the comments received are not necessarily immediate and personal comments regarding the business or a customer's most recent experiences with the business.
It would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus that overcame the drawbacks of these methods and systems for soliciting and collecting customer feedback.

Method and apparatus for collecting and categorizing data at a terminal


A method for reducing transference of structure-borne vibration to the chassis of a rotating system reduces the level of offensive acoustics resulting from vibration of the chassis. The method includes connecting a motor to the chassis with a mount that is connected to the motor at a height equal to that of a point of pivot of the motor, a shaft, and a rotary body collectively. In a preferred embodiment, the point of pivot is calculated using the oscillation period of the motor, shaft, and rotary body, when swinging collectively about the location of intersection between the rotary body and the shaft.

Rotating systems similar to a centrifuge typically comprise a housing (i.e., a chassis) , a motor disposed within the chassis, a shaft axially attached at one end to a rotor within the motor such that the shaft is rotatably disposed about a longitudinal axis, and an external rotary body attached to the other end of the shaft. The motor, the shaft, and the rotary body collectively may be referred to as the rotary unit.
In FIG. 1, there is shown a prior art rotating system 10, similar to, for instance, a centrifuge. The rotating system 10 includes, among other things, a shaft 12, a motor 14 attached to one end of the shaft 12 and for rotating the shaft about a longitudinal axis 11, and a rotary body 16, connected to an opposite end of the shaft 12. The prior art rotating system 10 may also include a chassis 18. As can be seen in FIG. 1, although only the motor 14 is shown within chassis 18, the chassis 18 may be designed to accommodate the shaft 12 as well as the rotary body 16. To prevent the motor 14 from moving within the chassis 18 during rotation, prior art rotating systems have employed a variety of designs and mechanisms to secure the motor 14 to the chassis 18. One approach, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is to provide mounting means 19 between a top end of the motor 14 and a top side of the chassis 18.
Generally, when the rotary unit of a rotating system has a perfectly balanced rotor, there is substantially no vibratory motion within the rotating system when the unit is rotating. This is because in a perfectly balanced rotary unit, the axis of rotation of the rotary unit coincides with the unit's geometric longitudinal axis and principal axis of inertia. In contrast, when there is an unbalance in the weight distribution within rotary body, even to a small degree, the principal axis of inertia of the rotary unit is displaced laterally or is rotated with respect to the geometric longitudinal axis. When the axis of rotation does not coincide with the principal axis of inertia, the system gives rise to structure-borne vibration within the rotating system. In many instances, it is not uncommon for the vibration to be transferred from the rotary body, down the shaft, to the motor, and ultimately to the chassis. In the presence of a vibrating chassis, offensive acoustics are often produced.
At present, there are several mechanisms available for reducing structure-borne vibration in an unbalanced rotating system. Mechanisms such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,094,589 (Poland), 1,750,016 (Meyer), 2,647,591 (Young), 2,661,620 (Young), 2,693,098 (Young), 2,716,356 (Wiedemann), 2,748,945 (Lodge), 2,827,229 (Blum), 3,692,236 (Livshitz et al.), and 3,958,433 (Bochan) include dampening means between the motor and the chassis. These dampening means, however, are designed only to reduce the vibration of the rotary unit of the respective rotating system. The dampening means are not designed to be situated at a pivot point (i.e., a point about which the rotary unit, when floating freely in one location in space, naturally pivots)of the rotary unit, and hence can neither minimize the transference of vibration from the rotary unit to the chassis nor reduce the occurrence of offensive acoustics produced from the vibrating chassis. By way of example, in the patents to Young, dampening means which utilize spring-biased mechanisms are provided for the attachment of the motor to the chassis at a nodal point (i.e., a point at which the geometric longitudinal axis of the system and the axis of rotation intersect) of the rotating system. However, because the nodal point in a rotating system and its associated vibration often change with respect to a change in the rotational speed, the Young dampening means can only provide restraint against the vibration associated with low rotational speed. As the rotational speed of the system increases, the vibration associated with the higher rotational speed is allowed to occur unopposed. Thus, by utilizing dampening means in connection with a nodal point, at a higher rotational speed, not only does transference of structure-borne vibration to the Young chassis remain, but the occurrence of offensive acoustics may subsequently result within the Young rotating systems.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a rotating system and, in addition, a method that would not only minimize the amount of structure-borne vibration transferred to the chassis at any rotational speed, but would further reduce offensive acoustics produced from the structure-borne vibration transferred to the chassis.

Rotating system with reduced transference of vibration and acoustics and method for reducing same


In an A/D converter for electrical signals, the difference, between the instantaneous analog input signal Y(t) and a previous analog signal value Y(t-T), is converted in a fast analog-to-digital converter (3) to a digital sum value. This sum value is added to the preceding digital value, stored in a buffer memory (7, 7'), and the result is fed to a slow but precise D/A converter (2) for generation of the next Y(t-T) value. This has the advantage that good results can be obtained with A/D converters less expensive than those heretofore required to obtain such results.

In conventional analog/digital (A/D) converters, there is no precondition on characteristics of the analog signal to be converted, apart from the criterion that the frequency, with which the analog signal can change, must be below twice the critical limit or sampling frequency of the A/D converter. The investment required to produce an A/D converter depends upon the precision and speed desired in the digital conversion.
"Precision" in this context means the number of bits which, after the conversion, are used to represent the original sampled analog value. In the following discussion, an 8-bit data word representation is considered imprecise, while a 14-bit digital signal value is considered very precise. "Speed" in this context is measured by the time which the converter needs to convert an analog signal into, for example, an 8-bit data word, or to convert a 14-bit-wide signal value into an analog signal. The conversion is considered slow if the response time or pull-in time of the converter approximates a quarter-period of the carrier frequency of the FM signal. The conversion is considered fast whenever the response time of the converter is short or small relative to the carrier period.

Method and apparatus for analog/digital conversion


Ignition-quenching covers are configured to quench an ignition event in a combustible environment triggered by an ignition source associated with an ignition-risk structure. Ignition-quenching covers comprise a porous body that includes two or more porous elements and are configured to cover the ignition-risk structure, wherein the ignition-risk structure is associated with a potential ignition source that may produce the ignition event in the combustible environment. The porous body defines passages sized to quench the ignition event. Methods comprise installing a porous ignition-quenching cover over an ignition-risk structure to prevent bulk combustion, e.g., of a fuel vapor in a fuel tank, due to an ignition event associated with the ignition-risk structure.

In many situations, devices must operate in potentially hazardous conditions, such as where a fuel mixture may be ignited by uncontrolled operating or environmental conditions. For example, vehicles, including aerospace vehicles, typically operate with a fuel that must be maintained in a safe condition during storage and use. The ignition hazard should be minimized even when the vehicle is subject to uncontrolled events such as an accident, electrical malfunction, a lightning strike, or static electrical discharge. Other applications requiring ignition hazard consideration include fuel transport, fuel storage, mining operations, chemical processing, metal fabrication, power plant construction and operation, and operations which involve combustible particulate such as sawdust, metal, flour, and grain.
In the aerospace industry, lightning strikes of aircraft are a concern because they could result in electrical arcs and/or heating sufficient to ignite vaporous fuel mixtures. Though lightning passes through aircraft virtually always without resulting harm, newer aircraft designs incorporating composite materials include less metal to shunt and/or dissipate the energy of a lightning strike.
Design of apparatuses exposed to ignition hazards typically involves reducing the likelihood of ignition, containing the ignition hazard, and/or withstanding the ignition hazard. Electrically conductive structures, such as fasteners, may join and/or support composite structural components within potentially combustible environments, such as within a fuel tank. These electrically conductive structures may become a focal point for electromagnetic effects (e.g., arcing, electrostatic discharge, heating, and/or hot particle ejection), e.g., due to lightning strikes.
Conventionally, metal fasteners in a composite fuel tank are isolated from the fuel volume by sealant and/or a seal cap. The sealant and/or seal cap are configured to physically and/or electrically separate the metal fastener from the fuel volume and to contain the ignition hazard. However, electromagnetic effects may generate heat and pressure transients that may damage the seal. Additionally, seals may be subject to temperature cycles due to, e.g., daily solar heating and/or operation in the atmosphere. The temperature cycling may lead to increased susceptibility to damage from electromagnetic effects and/or ignition events.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ignition-quenching covers and methods for aerospace applications


Provided is a heating cable having high flex resistance and flexibility. More particularly, the present invention relates to a heating cable having both an excellent mechanical property such as flex resistance and high flexibility which are in a trade-off relationship, and capable of facilitating control of heat to be generated.

Generally, a heating cable generating heat from electricity supplied thereto is installed in seats of a vehicle or the like to protect a driver and a passenger from the cold. The heating cable has a structure, in which strands of heating wire manufactured by individually coating a plurality of conductor core wires with an insulating material are bunched in a bundle, wrapped with a covering material, and arranged in a zigzag fashion on a mounting surface made of flame retarded nonwoven fabric, thereby forming a planar heating element.
Such a heating cable should have excellent mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and flex resistance, to prevent damage thereto, when used in a seat of a vehicle or the like, from mechanical, chemical, or thermal stress due to the weight of a passenger and vibration of a vehicle. Furthermore, the flexibility of the heating cable should be high so that the strands of heating wire may be arranged in the zigzag fashion to form the planar heating element as described above.
However, when a different alloy element is added to copper (Cu) of the conductor core wires of the heating cable or heating wires are bunched in a bundle by twisting them at regular pitches in order to improve the mechanical properties, e.g., flex resistance, of the heating cable, the mechanical properties of the heating cable can be improved but the flexibility thereof may be reduced or the resistance of the conductor core wires may be increased. Accordingly, it may be difficult to control the amount of heat to be generated from the heating cable.
In detail, the temperature of heat generated from the heating cable applied to a seat of a vehicle or the like should be generally in a range of 70° C. or less. To this end, it is necessary to adjust a total resistance of the heating cable according to a current input thereto. To further control the total resistance of the heating cable, it is preferable to reduce cross-sectional areas of the conductor core wires by reducing the diameters thereof, and adjust the total resistance through control of the number of strands of the conductor core wires. However, when the diameters of the conductor core wires are reduced, the mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and flex resistance, of heating wires may deteriorate, thereby reducing workability. In contrast, when the diameters of the conductor core wires are increased to improve the mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and flex resistance, of the heating wires, the total resistance may be difficult to control and the flexibility of the heating cable may deteriorate.
Accordingly, a heating cable having both excellent mechanical properties such as flex resistance and high flexibility which are in the trade-off relationship, and capable of facilitating control of heat to be generated is in urgent demand.

Heating cable having excellent flex resistance and flexibility


A split loading funnel includes two or more individual funnel segments, each of which includes an interior guide surface. The two or more individual funnel segments are arranged relative to one another so that interior guide surfaces of the individual funnel segments cooperate to define a guide passage having a longitudinal axis. An apparatus that includes a split loading funnel and a process for delivering a gob of molten glass from a gob delivery system into a blank mold using a split loading funnel are also disclosed.

Loading funnels for delivering a gob of molten glass from a gob delivery system into a blank mold of an individual section glass container forming machine are generally known in the art. One type of conventional loading funnel includes a flared entrance section for receiving the gob from the gob delivery system and a tubular shaping section situated downstream from the flared entrance section for shaping the gob and guiding it into the opening of the blank mold. The tubular shaping section is generally smaller in cross-sectional area than the gob that passes through it. A U.S. patent that describes such a loading funnel is U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,106. Another conventional type of loading funnel is described U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,860. Conventional loading funnels require swabbing with a glass release coating.
A general object of the present disclosure, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, may include providing a split loading funnel that can deliver gobs of molten glass from a gob delivery system into an aligned blank mold by way of a guide passage. The split loading funnel is formed from two or more funnel segments that may provide for variability in the size and shape of the guide passage. This variability may make accurate and gentle delivery of molten glass gobs to the blank mold less complex across a wide range of process variances and may reduce or eliminate the need for swabbing. The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from, or in combination with, each other.
A split loading funnel in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure includes two or more individual funnel segments, each of which includes an interior guide surface. The two or more individual funnel segments are arranged relative to one another so that the interior guide surfaces of the individual funnel segments cooperate to define a guide passage having a longitudinal axis. The guide passage, moreover, has a cross-sectional area that is larger than a cross-sectional area of a gob of molten glass.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an apparatus for delivering a gob of molten glass into a blank mold. The apparatus includes a loading funnel holder that defines at least one opening, and a split loading funnel carried by the funnel holder. The split loading funnel includes two or more individual funnel segments. Each funnel segment includes an interior guide surface. The individual funnel segments are arranged relative to one another so that their interior guide surfaces cooperate to define a guide passage having a longitudinal axis.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a process of delivering a gob of molten glass from a gob delivery system to a blank mold. The process involves providing an apparatus that includes a split, rotatable, loading funnel carried by a funnel holder. The funnel has two or more individual funnel segments. Those segments are arranged relative to one another to cooperatively define a guide passage that has a longitudinal axis. The process also includes locating the funnel above a mold cavity of a blank mold so that the guide passage of the funnel is vertically aligned with the mold cavity. Furthermore, the process includes delivering a gob of molten glass from a deflector to the mold cavity through the guide passage of the funnel. The funnel is moved away from the mold cavity once the gob has been introduced into the mold cavity for transformation into a glass parison as part of a glass container forming operation.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a glassware forming machine that includes a blank mold for forming a molten glass gob into a glass parison; and a funnel positioned above said blank mold for guiding molten glass gobs into said blank mold and circumferentially split to include segments, and blocks for adjusting the funnel segments with respect to each other.

Split loading funnel for charging a molten glass gob into a blank mold


Vanes positioned immediately adjacent the swept area of a moving friction brake rotor induce a flow of air over the rotor by displacing the boundary layer of gases from the rotor surface and conducting such layer along the intercepting surface of the vane, and thus inducing a flow of cooler air over the rotor. Under heavy braking, friction pad particles and substantial quantities of thermal energy in the superheated gases of the boundary layer are removed by the vanes.

Friction brakes are widely used on land and air vehicles as well as with stationary machinery. The following discussion will be largely in the context of the demanding use with high performance land vehicles, but the contemplated utility is with all friction brakes.
Broadly defined, friction brakes function by pressing a friction pad against a moving surface thus converting kinetic energy into thermal energy. Many embodiments of such brakes are well known in the art. The moving surface can be a disc, drum, wheel surface etc., but will be herein referred to generically as a rotor. As is known, the movable friction pads may be carried by calipers or on expanding shoes or the like. Known pad actuating means include hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical, electromagnetic actuators, etc. In all instances the operation of these braking mechanisms will generate thermal energy, often including large quantities of thermal energy, while slowing or stopping the vehicle, thus reducing or diminishing kinetic energy. The ability to dissipate such thermal energy to the atmosphere is typically the ultimate limiting factor in the effectiveness of a given braking assembly or mechanism, with the heat sink capacity of the assembly being the peak-use-limiting factor. The following discussion will be primarily in the context of the ubiquitous disc/caliper brake structure. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the principles are equally applicable to other iterations of friction brakes.
In a given braking occasion, the rotor ultimately dissipates most of the thermal energy to the atmosphere, serving initially as a heat sink and ultimately as a member to transfer the thermal energy to the atmosphere through radiation and convection. Friction pads are of lesser mass and in thermal contact with various structures adversely affected by heat. Accordingly, the friction pad is of low thermal conductivity in order that the thermal energy preferentially flows into the rotor. In all brake assembly components and friction pads in particular, wear is accelerated by heat inherently generated by frictional contact. This heat is carried as the hot gases and particles present within the rotor boundary layer are passed on to or delivered to the leading edge of the friction pad.
Rotor cooling conventionally relies primarily upon convection utilizing the relatively large area of the rotor body. Both vehicle motion and rotation of the rotor moves this body through the air. Often internal rotor fins, which both draw cool air to the rotor and which move through the air to generate turbulence and enhance convection have been used to augment convective cooling. However, to deal with the extreme temperatures developed at the friction pad, the rotor first serves as a heat sink to distribute the thermal energy throughout the mass or structure of the rotor body. For better management of the heat, rotor bodies tend to have a large mass.
Cool air from a vehicle slipstream, or from a blower, can be ducted to the rotor to improve cooling. Often, when air is to be ducted to the rotor, the brake requirements are typically demanding, as in a racing or high performance vehicle. In such instances the rotor is also large to serve as a heat sink and internally finned to facilitate thermal energy transfer to the atmosphere.
By way of example, a typical automotive disc brake includes a cylindrical rotor disc of eight to twelve inches in diameter, the disc being acted upon on opposite sides by opposed friction pads carried in calipers and activated by a hydraulic circuit. Certain rotor discs may be solid, with these being used in relatively light duty applications since solid rotors tend to be of lower thermal mass and modest surface area, and thus are more easily warped by high temperatures. More typically, the disc rotor will be ventilated, i.e. have an open center bridged by fins to pump air through the disc rotor and reject or dissipate a major portion of the brake heat through such fins. Such disc rotors essentially conduct heat from the surfaces which contact the friction pads, to the finned interior of the disc rotor structure. Accordingly, the disc must be heavy to serve as a heat sink and to provide structural strength in areas between the friction pads and the bridging fins.
Weight is generally undesirable in any vehicle, with rotating, unsprung weight being particularly objectionable. Brakes usually constitute unsprung weight which compromises fuel efficiency, ride and handling. The energy expended to spin a heavy rotor is generally wasted and adds to the overall energy that the brakes must convert to thermal energy.
In a worst case instance, such as an aircraft during landing, the craft or vehicle may be brought to a sudden stop from a high velocity. Without the benefit of a slipstream and moving rotor fins when stopped, only the thermal mass of the rotors and adjacent structure are available to serve as a heat sink to absorb the massive quantity of thermal energy generated by such an event. Accordingly, such rotors must have considerable mass, and thus be heavy.
A land vehicle descending a long grade must deal with potential energy that, in time, can easily create an amount of thermal energy sufficient to swamp the heat sink capabilities of a rotor. Heat rejection through radiation and convection are the only means for preserving the effectiveness of the brakes. Braking effectiveness is easily compromised and may be lost under adverse heat conditions.
In particular, under certain conditions a boundary layer of fluid moving with the rotor (i.e., a layer of fluid that actually adheres to the rotor braking surface during rotor rotation) may become heated to extreme temperatures along the swept area and carries a substantial quantity of thermal energy during aggressive braking. This ring of extremely hot air is known as the "ring of fire". The boundary layer, or ring, may also carry significant amounts of friction pad particulate. In conventional braking assemblies, this boundary layer travels with the rotor until it is disrupted by the leading edge of the friction pad. While inherent in such conventional designs, this is highly undesirable for several reasons. The rotor has a much higher coefficient of thermal conductivity than that of the layer of superheated air. Thus thermal energy in the superheated "ring of fire" is to a substantial degree transferred to the rotor, but, with rotor travel, is also returned to the leading edge of the friction pad to heat the pad and its actuating structure. Episodes of brake fade are increased and pad wear is substantially accelerated at high temperatures. Hydraulic fluid lodged in lines located near actuating mechanisms is subject to boiling.
The boundary layer phenomenon is well known. At the interface between a fluid and the surface of a solid, molecular attraction bonds the initial layer or film of fluid firmly to this surface. Subsequent layers of fluid molecules are cohered to the initial layer. Thus a relatively thin but appreciable volume of fluid is formed. This adhered boundary layer volume moves with the solid.

Braking surface cooling assembly and brake performance enhancing methods


A system and method for coordinating advanced process control and real-time optimization of a manufacturing process are provided. The system and method receive process data and economic data corresponding to the manufacturing process to be controlled and optimized. Based on the process data, the economic data and a nonlinear steady-state model of the process, an economic objective function is calculated by a real-time optimization module. A reduced-order non-linear approximation of the economic objective function is thereafter calculated by the real-time optimization module and transmitted to an advanced process control module. The advanced process control module utilizes the reduced-order non-linear approximation of the economic objective function to control the manufacturing process towards the constrained economic optimum.

One objective of a manufacturing process is to convert raw materials into desired products in the presence of ever-changing external influences such as air temperature, water temperature, etc. and requirements such as product specifications, operational constraints and safety and environmental regulations. The primary incentive for using advanced process control (APC) and real time optimization (RTO) is to steer system operation in regions that maximize profits in the presence of constraints.
In current practice, this incentive is pursued using a remote set-point/target passing framework between an RTO module and an APC module. This remote set-point passing strategy between an RTO module and an APC module is essentially a translation of the main economic objective into a process control objective. For example, in a conventional process automation scheme, an RTO module attempts to drive an APC module to the most economic operating point by communicating targets for a set of process control variables (e.g. all process control variables or a subset of process control variables). Specifically, the RTO module generally contains a rigorous, nonlinear, steady-state model of the economics and constraints of the process to be controlled. When the process is in a steady-state (i.e. a state in which a set of defined variables are within a prescribed tolerance of variability), the RTO module uses this model to calculate an economically optimum operating point which is communicated to the APC module in the form of targets for specific process control variables. The APC module, executing at a much higher frequency than the RTO module, attempts to dynamically drive the process variables towards their respective targets while honoring all constraints. The APC module continues to drive the process variables towards their respective targets until new targets are received from the RTO system.
In the conventional approach to coordinating operations between an RTO module and an APC module, as described above, the targets passed by the RTO module to the APC module represent a constrained economic optimum at the time when the RTO module pulled process, constraint and economic data. This constrained economic optimum represents the optimum according to constraints applied to various advance process control variables in the process by operators, engineers, or others. However, the APC module has no knowledge of the unconstrained economic optimum, which represents the optimum without consideration of constraints.
FIG. 1a illustrates the locations of unconstrained economic optimum 102 and constrained economic optimum 104 in graph 100 of the process control variables TG1 and TG2 which relate to a manufacturing process. Each circle in contour 103 represents constant value of the economic objective function used by the RTO module. Contour 105 represents the APC objective function which minimizes the distance from constrained economic optimum 104, where distance is measured as a weighted sum of the squared differences between the values of the variables and their targets. For example, TG1 may relate to the flow rate of a process stream in a production process that might be utilized in a petrochemical plant and TG2 may relate to the temperature of a stream. The manufacturing process represented in graph 100, is controlled by a process control and optimization system of the prior art which includes a RTO module and an APC module working in conjunction to drive the manufacturing process towards an economic optimum which honors all constraints. Constraint 106 limits the feasible values for process control variable TG1. Adhering to constraint 106, the RTO module will determine constrained economic optimum 104 for the manufacturing process which is comprised of a specific value for each of TG1 and TG2. For example, in the situation described above in which TG1 represents the feed flow rate of a substance at the inlet of a reactor vessel performing the manufacturing process, constraint 106 may be set by an operator of the manufacturing process to a maximum of ten cubic meters per second. Thus, based on constraint 106, the RTO module will transmit a target for TG1 to the APC module that is less than or equal to ten cubic meters per second along with a target for TG2. For example, the RTO module may send to the APC module a TG1 target of ten cubic meters per second and a TG2 target of 120 degree Celsius. These targets represent constrained economic optimum 104 at which the manufacturing process is most profitable while adhering to all constraints (i.e. constraint 106). The APC module in turn drives feed flow rate TG1 toward the ten cubic meters per second and temperature TG2 toward 120 degrees Celsius. Although there are values for TG1 and TG2 which provide greater profitability for the manufacturing process (e.g. unconstrained economic optimum 102), these values for TG1 and TG2 do not honor constraint 106. Thus, steering the manufacturing process towards constrained economic optimum 104 is ideal while constraint 106 remains at the same location in graph 100.
Upon the occurrence of a disturbance which moves constrained economic optimum 104, the targets set for TG1 and TG2 by the RTO module are no longer optimal. For example, a disturbance may occur which changes constraint 106 such that more "room" is provided for TG1. For example, an operator may change constraint 106 to twelve cubic meters per second.
FIG. 1b illustrates graph 100 upon the occurrence of the disturbance described above. Unconstrained economic optimum 102 remains in the same location as before while new constrained economic optimum 108 has been created based on the disturbance. New constrained economic optimum 108 is closer to unconstrained economic optimum 102 than constrained economic optimum 104, because the change in constraint 106 allows new constrained economic optimum 108 to take advantage of the greater room for TG1. Under the traditional set-point process control system, the APC module would be unaware of the new constrained economic optimum 108 until the RTO submitted new set-point targets which corresponded to new constrained economic optimum 108.
Alternatively, a disturbance may occur which changes constraint 106 such that less "room" is provided for TG1, making the targets set for TG1 and TG2 by the RTO module no longer feasible. For example, an operator may change constraint 106 to eight cubic meters per second.
FIG. 1c illustrates graph 100 upon the occurrence of the disturbance described above. Unconstrained economic optimum 102 remains in the same location as before while new constrained economic optimum 110 has been created based on the disturbance. New constrained economic optimum 110 is further from unconstrained economic optimum 102 than constrained economic optimum 104, because the change in constraint 106 makes constrained optimum 104 infeasible. Under the traditional set-point process control system, the APC module would attempt to find a feasible point that minimized the distance from constrained economic optimum 104, based on its non-economic objective function. In this example, that point is APC target 112 which is different from the new constrained economic optimum 110.
However, since RTO modules traditionally run infrequently in comparison to APC modules, the APC module will drive towards the old set-point targets (i.e. constrained economic optimum 104) for an extended period of time while it awaits a new set of set-point targets (i.e. new constrained economic optimum 108) which either takes advantage of the greater room for operation or economically adjusts for a reduction in the feasible region resulting from a change to constraint 106. Potentially a great sum of profit will be lost between when constraint 106 is changed and when the APC module receives a new set of set-point targets.
Therefore, according to conventional approaches for coordinating operations between an RTO module and an APC module, as described above, when disturbances enter the process (e.g. ambient temperature variation, operator limits changes, etc.), the APC module continues to try to hold the process at the target values originally set by the RTO module. These disturbances may change the constraints relative to the targets, either by relaxing active constraints or making the targets infeasible. In the first case, the APC module does not take advantage of the extra "room" within the feasible region because the APC module is unaware of the extra "room" precipitated by the relaxation of the active constraints. In the second case, the APC module gets as close as possible to the targets using non-economic criteria and arrives at possibly a non-optimum economic point. In either case the conventional APC module's strategy does not seek to optimize profit.
Further, as mentioned above, RTO modules traditionally run relatively infrequently with respect to APC modules. One example is an RTO module running hourly compared to an APC module running every minute. RTO solutions lag behind changes in the process because of RTO modules' infrequent operation. The time between when a disturbance enters the process and new targets from the RTO module that account for the disturbance is passed to APC modules represents lost opportunity. The more significant the disturbance (in magnitude and duration), the more likely the time between receiving updated targets from the RTO module will increase, since the RTO module requires the process to be in a steady-state to calculate new targets.
Technology available today for linking APC modules and RTO modules utilize a remote set-point passing strategy. Translation of objectives in this fashion results in a loss of economic information as the APC module has no information about the original process economics and is vulnerable to disturbances to the process or changes to operating constraints.
Thus, there is a desire for a system and method for coordinating execution of a RTO module with an APC module to more closely approach optimal economic operation of a manufacturing process.

Economics-based coordination of advanced process control and real-time optimization


In a photoacoustic apparatus, a light source irradiates an inspection target with pulsed light; a detector detects acoustic waves generated in the inspection target due to interaction of the pulsed light with the inspection target, and outputs detection signals corresponding to the detected acoustic waves; a light-quantity measurement unit measures the quantity of the light output from the light source; and a signal processor obtains information on an inside of the inspection target by using the detection signals output from the detector. The signal processor also corrects intensities of the detection signals so as to suppress variations in intensities of the detection signals caused by a temporal change in the quantity of the light.

An optical imaging apparatus which irradiates a living body with light and which images information on an inside of the living body obtained in accordance with the incident light has been actively researched in a medical field. An example of such an optical imaging technique includes photoacoustic tomography (PAT). In photoacoustic tomography, a living body is irradiated with pulsed light generated from a light source so that acoustic waves generated from body tissues which absorb energy of the pulsed light which is propagated and dispersed in the living body are detected. One example of such a technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,023 entitled "Optoacoustic Imaging for Medical Diagnosis" (hereafter "Patent Literature 1"). Specifically, elastic waves, that is, photoacoustic waves, generated when a detection target absorbs the irradiated light energy and therefore is momentarily expanded are received by a transducer by utilizing a difference between an optical energy absorption rate of the detection target such as a tumor and optical energy absorption rates of other tissues. By performing analysis processing on the detection signals, an optical characteristic distribution, and especially, an optical-energy absorption density distribution are obtained. This information may be used for quantitative measurement of a specific substance included in the inspection target such as glucose and hemoglobin included in blood, for example. Accordingly, the photoacoustic tomography may be utilized to specify a portion which includes a malignant tumor and growing new blood vessels.
Furthermore, Lihong V. Wang in "Tutorial on Photoacoustic Microscopy and Computed Tomography" (hereafter "Non Patent Literature 1") discloses an example of a case where a photoacoustic microscope is employed for photoacoustic imaging (PAI). According to Non Patent Literature 1, ultrasonic waves obtained by irradiating an inspection target with pulsed light are received by a transducer which performs imaging. Furthermore, by changing a wavelength of the pulsed light, spectroscopic characteristics of the inspection target are imaged.


The present disclosure relates to digital up-conversion for a multi-band Multi-Order Power Amplifier (MOPA) that enables precise and accurate control of gain, phase, and delay of multi-band split signals input to the multi-band MOPA. In general, a multi-band MOPA is configured to amplify a multi-band signal that is split across a number, N, of inputs of the multi-band MOPA as a number, N, of multi-band split signals, where N is an order of the multi-band MOPA and is greater than or equal to 2. A digital upconversion system for the multi-band MOPA is configured to independently control a gain, phase, and delay for each of a number, M, of frequency bands of the multi-band signal for each of at least N−1, and preferably all, of the multi-band split signals.

A Multi-Order Power Amplifier (MOPA) is a power amplifier having multiple inputs where an input signal to be amplified by the MOPA is split across the multiple inputs such that the resulting split input signals drive multiple amplification blocks. The split input signals are typically created by analog circuitry or an intelligent digital splitting algorithm. The multiple amplification blocks operate together to produce, at an output of the MOPA, an amplified version of the input signal. Some examples of a MOPA include a 2-way Doherty amplifier, a 3-way Doherty amplifier, a Linear Amplification with Nonlinear Components (LINC) amplifier, an Envelope Elimination and Restoration (EER) amplifier, and a Chireix amplifier.
MOPA operation requires that the split input signals be statically offset in phase, gain, and delay with respect to one another. There are several analog approaches to achieving this control. One approach is Radio Frequency (RF) analog splitting of the input signal as part of an input matching network of the MOPA (e.g., analog Doherty). Another approach is baseband signal splitting followed by analog upconversion, where individual compensation of each upconverter is required to match the gain, phase, and delay in the upconversion path and additional correction circuits and/or algorithms are required to correct for the amplitude and phase imbalance created by analog quadrature modulators.
Splitting the input signal in the analog domain is perhaps the simplest method, but the resulting split is frequency dependent and very limited in capability. Although phase, gain, and delay match across amplification paths can be achieved by physical symmetry of the splitting structure, compensating for any component variations becomes very difficult. This type of split limits the efficiency that can be achieved by a MOPA that has multiple simultaneous inputs and requires independent signal control over a range of frequencies.
Baseband signal splitting has advantages over RF analog splitting but requires that the upconversion chains be matched across the multiple instances for the multiple split input signals so that the split made at baseband remains intact after upconversion. Since upconversion is typically in the analog domain, this is a relatively difficult task for second order MOPAs but is extremely difficult for higher order MOPAs. Further, compensating gain, phase, and delay is frequency dependent and, even worse, is physical realization dependent (e.g., every unit built needs to be calibrated differently or an average calibration is used for all units which limits achievable performance).
One issue with existing approaches to offsetting the gain, phase, and delay of the split input signals provided to a MOPA is accuracy and complexity. As the order (i.e., the number of inputs) of the MOPA increases, the complexity of existing solutions becomes nearly insurmountable. Another issue with existing approaches is that they are frequency dependent. As such, they are not suitable for multi-band input signals.

Digital upconversion for multi-band multi-order power amplifiers


In a V-ribbed belt including short fibers such as carbon fibers in the surfaces of ribs, that is, a contact surface with a pulley, the surfaces of the ribs are coated with a water repellent agent so that the surfaces of the ribs can attain water repellency. Thus, while suppressing performance degradation and increase in manufacturing cost of the belt, the water removing property against water splashed on the belt is improved, so as to prevent slip and an accompanied unpleasant noise from being caused.

The present invention relates to a power transmission belt or roller, and more particularly, it relates to a power transmission belt or roller including short fibers in a surface in contact with an opposite member such as a pulley.
In general, when a power transmission belt is splashed with water, the water intrudes into a space between the belt and a pulley, and the belt slips so that an unpleasant noise can be caused or a load cannot be sufficiently transmitted. For example, in a power transmission belt used as a fan belt for an automobile, the belt is splashed with water when the automobile runs through a puddle, resulting in causing the aforementioned phenomena.
Therefore, in order to remove water splashed on a belt, a conventional belt is provided with a concave cog latitudinally extending on the surface of the belt in contact with a pulley, or provided with a drain hole penetrating from the contact surface (the inner face) to the back face.
On the other hand, as is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 59-65644, it is known that the wear resistance of a belt can be improved by mixing short fibers such as carbon fibers in the contact surface with a pulley.
However, when a belt has the contact surface with a pulley including short fibers as described above, the short fibers can be exposed on the surface of the belt. In such a case, when the belt is splashed with water, the water can easily remain between the exposed fibers, and hence, the water is more difficult to remove than in a belt not including the short fibers. In particular, when the contact surface with a pulley is processed with a grindstone, the short fibers are more largely exposed, so that a water removing property can be further degraded, and the belt slips for a long period of time with a large noise. Moreover, when the belt is new, the short fibers are more largely exposed, and hence, the new belt has a poorer water removing property than a belt used for a long period of time.
Therefore, such a belt including the exposed short fibers can be provided with a cog or a drain hole as in the aforementioned conventional belt. However, this countermeasure requires a larger number of processing procedures, resulting in increasing a manufacturing cost. In addition, in providing a cog, a large number of cogs are necessary to be formed with a small pitch therebetween for attaining a sufficient water removing effect. Therefore, the belt can be degraded in its durability and a whistling noise can be caused. On the other hand, in providing a drain hole, the drain hole cuts a cord buried for enforcing the belt, so that the strength of the belt can be decreased.
Also in a power transmission roller including short fibers in a surface in contact with an opposite member, the water removing property is poor as in the power transmission belt. When the roller is splashed with water, the roller can slip so that an unpleasant noise can be caused and that a load cannot be sufficiently transmitted.
The object of the invention is improving means for removing water from a power transmission belt or roller including short fibers in a surface in contact with an opposite member, while suppressing the performance of the belt or roller from being degraded and the manufacturing cost from increasing. In addition, the water removing property against water splashed on the belt or roller is improved so that the belt or roller can be prevented from slipping and causing an unpleasant noise.


An instrument includes a display screen which includes a bitmap graphical user interface including an on-screen menu, and a control element which enables movement of the on-screen menu corresponding to movement of the control element, enables the user to manipulate and select graphic images for executing selected instrument functions. The instrument is adapted to enable manipulation of a plurality of graphic elements in an on-screen menu such that the user is able to form a graphic image on the display screen.

The present invention relates generally to an interface for a display screen and, more particularly, to a graphical user interface which, with a control device, enables manipulation of graphic images on a display screen.
In an instrument which includes a display screen, an on-screen menu, and a control device, a user may interact with the on-screen menu by viewing the on-screen menu, deciding to select a menu item, and manipulating the control device to generate menu movement and to enable entry of the menu selection.
The instrument may comprise a hand-held wireless telephone which includes an on-screen menu displayed in a text text-based interface on a small liquid-crystal display screen, and a jog dial control device for scrolling through the menu and for entry of a menu selection and execution of an instrument function thereby.
In an instrument which includes a display screen and a control element, and which is adapted to enable a picture to be taken and transmitted to another party, a user may wish to transmit text related to the picture along with the picture.
Therefore, there has been a need existing for a system which enables the user of an instrument to form a text subtitle related to a picture to be transmitted by an instrument. The present invention fulfills these needs.

System and method for enabling manipulation of graphic images to form a graphic image


Locking feature instances in a web feature service by processing a web feature service data transformation request; identifying a table associated with the web feature service data transformation request from a feature type identified in the request; determining if the table associated with the web feature service data transformation request is enabled for long transaction locking; and, if the table is long transaction lock enabled, locking at least one feature instance associated with a filter condition of the web feature service data transformation request by associating a session transferable identifier with the at least one feature instance and identifying the client session as owner of the session transferable identifier; and enabling a transfer of the long transaction lock to another client session in response to a lock transfer request from the another client session that references the session transferable identifier in a web feature service transaction request.

1. Field
The disclosed embodiments generally relate to relational database systems, and in particular to Web Feature Service ("WFS") locking support based on a light-weight locking model in the database.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
Web Feature Service Implementation Specification [WFS 1.0.0] proposes interfaces for describing data manipulation operations on geographic features using HTTP as the distributed computing platform. A Web Feature Service (WFS) publishes feature-level geographical data to the web and provides an interface allowing requests for geographical features across the web that are highly interoperable. It uses the XML-based Geographic Mark Up Language (GML) for data exchange. A feature is an object that is an abstraction of a real world phenomenon. An object has a set of properties, that can include for example, a name, a type and a value. On example of a feature is a Road that has a name, location, width, speed limit and jurisdiction. These features can be stored in a database, such as a spatial database, for example. Web Feature services provides for uniform access to these stored features.
A Web Feature Server ("WFS") distributes feature information over the web using XML and provides a protocol for requesting and serving vector data over HTTP and responds to requests by returning data in GML. The Web feature server allows uniform access to features stored on a server and transactions allow a client to modify data on the server. These transactions can include, for example, querying a dataset and retrieving the features, finding a feature's property names and types, adding features to a dataset, updating or deleting features, and locking features to exclusively update a feature instance for a period of time.
The web feature service specification defines interfaces for describing data manipulation operations of geographic features, particularly in a geographic information system ("GIS"). A geographic information system is generally a system that creates and manages spatial data and attributes for geographically referenced information. In a geographic information system, real world objects are represented by digital data. Data capture in a geographic information system is a time consuming process. In many geographic information service applications, there is a need for a user to hold on to, or maintain control of a row, or feature instance, for a long period of time. Data updates or edits in these systems can take hours, days or months, and can span across multiple sessions and database shutdowns, during which time other users may need to access the same database. During the time that the user controls the row or feature instance(s), no other user should be able to implement any changes to the same feature instance(s). Also, as the user makes changes to the feature instance(s), the changes should be made available to others for viewing, but not for updating. Only when the user relinquishes the hold on the row should another user be able to access the same data.
Operations in a Web Feature Service request can include the ability to create a new feature instance, delete a feature instance, update a feature instance, get or query features based on spatial and non-spatial constraints. A web feature service describes discovery, query, or data transformation operations and a web feature service request consists of a description of query or data transformation operations (e.g. create/update/delete) that are to be applied to one or more feature instances. The request is generated on the client and is posted to a web feature server using HTTP. The web feature server then parses (reads) and executes the request.
As Web connections are inherently stateless, the semantics of serializable transactions are not preserved. For example, a client first fetches a feature instance. The feature is then modified on the client side, and submitted back to the database via a transaction request for update. Serializability is lost since there is nothing to guarantee that while the feature was being modified on the client side, another client did not come along and update that same feature in the database.
One way to ensure serializability is to require that any access or modification to data in a database be carried out in a mutually exclusive manner. It is important that while one transaction modifies a data item, no other transaction can modify the same data item. This can be accomplished by using locks that control access to the data.
One approach to long transaction management in geographic information systems and web feature services is versioning. Versioning generally involves storing changes to the database as different revision sets. Users can create new versions of data to update, while maintaining a copy of the old data. Feature instances are locked for use in a specific revision set and prevent conflicts between a parent revision set and a child revision set. The results of the long transaction can be stored persistently. Thus, users are assured that there is concurrency and consistency in the database, at the expense of the use of storage facilities by requiring the need to hold different versions of the same record in one or more revision sets so that users can change the versions independently. In the versioning approach, there is no way to lock feature instances without version-enabling it. The locks are maintained at a version-level. Also using the versioning approach, currently there is no way to obtain a long transaction lock exclusively owned by one session on a feature instance which can later be transferred to another session via a sequential hand-off. It would be advantageous to enable a locking mechanism on feature instances that is long term and transferable across web feature service requests and sessions without the need to consume valuable storage space for maintaining version data, as well as allow a WFS to derive long term and transferable locking parameters from different WFS lock feature requests.

Web feature service (WFS) locking support based on light-weight locking model in the database


A method of making an IGFET with a selectively doped multilevel polysilicon gate that includes upper and lower polysilicon gate levels is disclosed. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate with an active region, forming a gate insulator on the active region, forming a a lower polysilicon layer on the gate insulator, forming a first masking layer over the lower polysilicon layer, etching the lower polysilicon layer through openings in the first masking layer using the first masking layer as an etch mask for a portion of the lower polysilicon layer that forms the lower polysilicon gate level over the active region, removing the first masking layer, forming the upper polysilicon gate level on the lower polysilicon gate level after removing the first masking layer, introducing a dopant into the upper polysilicon gate level without introducing the dopant into the substrate, diffusing the dopant from the upper polysilicon gate level into the lower polysilicon gate level, and forming a source and drain in the active region. Advantageously, the lower polysilicon gate level has both an accurately defined length to provide the desired channel length and a well-controlled doping concentration to provide the desired threshold voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuit manufacturing, and more particularly to insulated-gate field-effect transistors.
2. Description of Related Art
An insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET), such as a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), uses a gate to control an underlying surface channel joining a source and a drain. The channel, source and drain are located in a semiconductor substrate, with the source and drain being doped oppositely to the substrate. The gate is separated from the semiconductor substrate by a thin insulating layer such as a gate oxide. The operation of the IGFET involves application of an input voltage to the gate, which sets up a transverse electric field in order to modulate the longitudinal conductance of the channel.
Polysilicon (also called polycrystalline silicon, poly-Si or poly) thin films have many important uses in IGFET technology. One of the key innovations is the use of heavily doped polysilicon in place of aluminum as the gate. Since polysilicon has the same high melting point as a silicon substrate, typically a blanket polysilicon layer is deposited prior to source and drain formation, and the polysilicon is anisotropically etched to provide the gate. Thereafter, the gate provides an implant mask during the implantation of source and drain regions, and the implanted dopants are driven-in and activated using a high-temperature anneal that would otherwise melt the aluminum.
An important parameter in IGFETs is the threshold voltage (V.sub.T), which is the minimum gate voltage required to induce the channel. In general, the positive gate voltage of an N-channel device must be larger than some threshold voltage before a conducting channel is induced, and the negative gate voltage of a P-channel device must be more negative than some threshold voltage to induce the required positive charge (mobile holes) in the channel. There are, however, exceptions to this general rule. For example, depletion-mode devices already have a channel with zero gate voltage, and therefore are normally on. With N-channel depletion-mode devices a negative gate voltage is required to turn the devices off, and with P-channel depletion-mode devices a positive gate voltage is required to turn the devices off
If the source and body of an IGFET are tied to ground, the threshold voltage can be calculated as follows: EQU V.sub.T =.phi..sub.ms -2.phi..sub.f -Q.sub.tot /C.sub.ox -Q.sub.BO /C.sub.ox -.DELTA.V.sub.T ( 1)
where .phi..sub.ms is the work-function difference between the gate material and the bulk silicon in the channel, .phi..sub.f is the equilibrium electrostatic potential in a semiconductor, Q.sub.tot is the total positive oxide charge per unit area at the interface between the oxide and the bulk silicon, C.sub.ox is the gate oxide capacitance per unit area, Q.sub.BO is the charge stored per unit area in the depletion region, and .DELTA.V.sub.T is a threshold lowering term associated with short-channel effects. Expressions have been established for these various quantities in terms of doping concentrations, physical constants, device structure dimensions, and temperature. For example, the work-function difference .phi..sub.ms varies as a function of the doping concentration in a polysilicon gate. Therefore, the threshold voltage depends on the doping concentration in the polysilicon gate.
Photolithography is frequently used to create patterns in photoresist that define where the polysilicon layer is etched to form the polysilicon gate. The photoresist has the primary functions of replicating an irradiated image pattern and protecting the underlying polysilicon when etching occurs.
Typically positive photoresist is used, the irradiated portions are rendered soluble to a subsequent developer, and the non-irradiated portions remain insoluble to the developer and provide the etch mask. Unfortunately, increasing the photoresist thickness generally decreases the accuracy in which the photoresist replicates the image pattern. Since, however, the photoresist is eroded by the etch, the photoresist must be thick enough to avoid being removed by the etch. The photoresist is often on the order of 4 times as thick as the underlying polysilicon to assure that the etch does not remove the photoresist.
For submicron geometries, the gate thickness is usually on the order of 2000 to 2500 angstroms so that during ion implantation of the source and drain, the gate provides an implant mask for the underlying channel region yet also receives sufficient doping to attain the desired threshold voltage. Unfortunately, the photoresist that defines the gate may have a thickness on the order of 8000 to 10,000 angstroms, which may be too large to accurately replicate the image pattern. Variations in photoresist linewidth can lead to variations in gate length ( the critical dimension), which in turn can lead to variations in channel length and ultimately device performance.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved method of making an IGFET that provides an adequately doped polysilicon gate and reduces unwanted variations in gate length and device performance.

Method of making an igfet with selectively doped multilevel polysilicon gate


An internal heat exchanger for an air conditioning system, having: a high pressure side through which a coolant under high pressure flows in operation; and a low pressure side through which coolant under low pressure flows in operation. The heat exchanger is configured in such a way that pulsations of the coolant flowing therethrough dampen noise.

Modern vehicles include a vehicle heating, ventilation and air conditioning system to control air cabin temperature and cool the powertrain. Standard HVACs include some sort of a heat exchanger. The use of the heat exchanger with a compressor motor and other HVAC components can take up packaging space and be louder than desired.
Therefore it is desirable to have an air conditioning system configured for use in motor vehicles that is less complicated, smaller, relatively more economical and quieter than contemporary designs.

Heat exchanger for an air conditioning system


A low-power sleep mode of operation for a frequency hopping radio receiver is presented. Digital circuits within the receiver operate based upon a high frequency clock source. During sleep mode, the circuits are clocked with a low-frequency clock source, which is typically less accurate in frequency. Periodically, the receiver awakens. The hop sequence channel tuned by the receiver is determined by a mapping based upon the channel upon which the receiver expects to receive communications. The mapping can be changed as necessary to improve tolerance to timing error. Furthermore, once communications are received after a sleep period, the frequency error of the low-frequency clock source can be determined, and compensated for after awakening from subsequent sleep periods.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to portable wireless communications systems. In particular, the invention relates to a digital circuit clocking system for providing a low power sleep mode in a wireless communications system, such as a cordless telephone.
2. Background Art
Devices incorporating wireless communications techniques are becoming increasingly prevalent in modern society. Moreover, most such devices are now incorporating digital communications techniques to provide greater reliability, enhanced functionality, more efficient bandwidth utilization and improved communications quality. However, system designers are increasingly being asked to meet demands of increased functionality while simultaneously reducing the size and cost of their products.
One communications technique that is commonly used to meet these demands is Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum ("FHSS") technology. A FHSS transceiver operates by rapidly changing its tuned carrier frequency over time in a known pattern, called the hop sequence or hop pattern. By using different hop sequences, multiple users can communicate simultaneously over differing communications channels all within a common frequency bandwidth. FHSS offers improved communications quality over other solutions in noisy environments because a source of interference at any given frequency affects communications only momentarily. Thus, when the number of noisy channels in the hop sequence is relatively low, the resultant degradation in data throughput, and hence communication quality, is often minimal. Also, many FHSS systems provide for dynamic allocation of frequencies in the hopping sequence, such that static sources of interference can be detected and avoided entirely.
Many FHSS systems which include portable, battery-powered transceivers as communications devices also implement a "sleep mode" feature to reduce power consumption, thereby extending battery life. A sleep mode typically operates by depowering some circuits within the device and reducing the clocking rate of various other digital circuitry during periods of inactivity, thereby reducing electrical power consumption. Such systems then "wake up" periodically to briefly determine whether active communications are required. For example, in a cordless telephone system, the handset may reside in a sleep mode for a majority of the time. The handset wakes up periodically to determine whether a call is being received, or whether the user has indicated a desire to use the system by pressing a button on the handset keypad. If activity is required or requested, the handset enters into and remains in its awake mode, and operates according to its intended functionality. When no activity is required or requested, the handset returns to its sleep mode, thereby resuming its state of reduced power consumption. Battery life can thus be maximized by minimizing the time spent in the awake mode checking for activity.
One aspect of implementing such a sleep mode is providing a clock signal of substantially reduced frequency for clocking of digital circuits. However, conventional FHSS systems face several tradeoffs in implementing a sleep mode with reduced clocking rates. Oscillators are often based upon ceramic or crystal oscillator circuits, which provide a very high degree of accuracy—typically in excess of 0.01%. However, crystal or ceramic oscillators that operate at frequencies sufficiently low to implement a low-power sleep mode are typically large in size and expensive. Thus, low frequency crystals or ceramics are highly disadvantageous for implementing a sleep mode in a compact product for price-sensitive, consumer applications.
Many non-frequency hopping systems utilize a simple and inexpensive RC oscillator (based upon a parallel resistor-capacitor combination) to drive circuits during low-frequency sleep modes. The operating frequencies of such oscillators are typically highly inaccurate, often varying by 10% or more with component tolerances, battery voltages, component temperature, aging, and other factors. This inaccuracy is often inconsequential in systems implementing communications protocols with fixed carrier frequencies, because a constant, fixed frequency broadcast signal can be transmitted with which the portable unit can synchronize upon awaking. However, when a portable unit implementing a frequency hopping system is subjected to timing inaccuracies during its sleep mode, critical timing may drift to the point that the portable unit occupies a different position in the hop sequence than the base unit when the portable unit wakes from the sleep mode. The portable unit may thus proceed to tune its receiver according to the hop sequence, but at a different position in the sequence compared to the base, such that upon returning to the awake mode the portable unit receiver is tuned to a different frequency than the base unit transmitter by virtue of being at different positions in the hop sequence (i.e. the portable unit has lost synchronization). When this occurs, communications typically fail, and system timing must be physically reset before communications can resume.
Several techniques can be implemented to combat such loss of synchronization due to sleep mode induced frequency drift. Since the extent of timing drift is proportional to the duration of sleep time as well as the difference in frequency between the base and handset oscillators, one solution is to reduce the duration of time during which the handset remains in its sleep mode, between periods of waking and reacquiring timing synchronization. However, this increases the ratio of wake time to sleep time, thereby increasing the average power consumption, and reducing battery life.
Other techniques that can be used to combat problems attributable to sleep mode time drift involve altering the hopping pattern of the communications system. For example, in a "marking time" mode the base and portable units hop on a single, pre-arranged frequency so that when the handset awakens, it detects the base unit's query on the pre-arranged frequency and responds thereto. However, if interference is present on the prearranged frequency, subsequent communications can be blocked such that the handset is unable to reacquire synchronization and resume regular communications. Other strategies involve implementing a special slow-hopping pattern whereby the base unit and handset increase the time during which they dwell on each frequency in the hopping pattern, and/or they restrict their hopping to a subset of available working frequencies. These strategies suffer from an increase in the time required to recapture synchronization, thereby degrading system responsiveness. Furthermore, the altered hopping pattern techniques can cause problems in complying with FCC regulations and/or other telecommunications standards, in that such specifications often regulate hop timing, hop sequence size, and/or channel randomization. Finally, systems capable of supporting multiple handsets can be difficult, if not impossible, to implement with such altered standby hopping patterns because some handsets may require that the base implement an altered hopping pattern while other handsets are actively communicating with the base via the regular hopping pattern.

Low power RC clocking system for wireless communications


The present invention is concerned with improving the delivery of a drug from a ruminal delivery device to give a consistent delivery of drug to the ruminal environment. Thus, the invention is directed to an improved ruminal drug delivery device comprising a semipermeable membrane having an exit orifice and defining a compartment, the compartment containing a swellable osmotic agent expandable driving member, a drug to be dispensed, a density element and, optionally, a partition layer between the osmotic expandable driving member and the drug formulation, wherein the improvement comprises an essentially gas-impermeable barrier means that separates the density element from the other components within the delivery device for isolating gases evolved from the density element from the other components within the delivery device. The barrier means further includes a coupling to transfer osmotic pressure to the semipermeable wall. The invention is also directed to methods and articles for providing a consistent delivery of drug from a ruminal drug delivery device.

Ruminant animals, including cattle, sheep, giraffe, deer, goats, bison and camels, and more particularly cattle and sheep, comprise an important group of animals that require periodic administration of medicines, nutrients and other biologically active agents (which are hereinafter referred to in their broadest sense as "drugs") for the treatment and alleviation of various conditions and for better health.
Ruminants have a complex three or four compartment stomach, with the rumen being the largest compartment. The rumen serves as an important location for receiving and absorbing medicines and nutrients into other compartments including the abomasum and the intestine.
There are numerous ruminal delivery devices known in the art which are capable of prolongedly releasing drugs. These devices are easily swallowed by the ruminant or otherwise introduced into the rumen and remain within the rumen for a long period of time without being regurgitated or otherwise expelled. Typical devices having an osmotic portion which imbibes ruminal fluid and expands, forcing a liquid or paste drug portion of the device through an orifice into the rumen, are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,595,583 and 4,612,186, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In order to insure that these devices remain in the rumen for a prolonged period of time, a density element is often incorporated into the device. Typically, the density element is manufactured from a material such as iron or steel, iron shot, iron shot coated with iron oxide, magnesium alloy, copper oxide or mixtures of cobalt oxide and iron powder, and the like. Such density elements typically have sufficient density to bring the overall density of the delivery device to a level greater than the density of ruminal fluid (approximately 1 gm/mL) and preferably to an overall density of at least 2 gm/mL.
The osmotic ruminal delivery device or bolus has encountered some difficulties, however. The daily output of the bolus has been seen to often be highly erratic. It has been found that density elements made from materials such as iron, magnesium or zinc are susceptible to corrosion in water or ruminal fluids. This corrosion causes production of gases, which gases enter into other portions of the device and accumulate as gas bubbles which can cause fissures within the drug formulation and/or the osmotic expandable driving member. The presence of such fissures can cause gaps in the flow of drug formulation or a rapid expulsion of a portion of the formulation. Typically, the formation of a fissure causes a rapid expulsion of a portion of the formulation (fissure/bubble formation) followed by gaps or a decrease in the flow of drug formulation (fissure closure or expulsion through orifice). Thus, erratic flow is observed with days of low output and days of high output. In one effort to decrease corrosion, density elements of sintered metal have been impregnated during manufacture with an inert hydrophobic material such as corn oil, silicone oil, mineral oil or wax (see, U.S. Pat. No 5,206,024 and PCT patent publn. WO 90/11856). This method, while apparently successful, has the disadvantages of being a time-consuming process during, and adding considerable expense to, the manufacture of the ruminal delivery device. Additionally, this is not a practical solution when the density element is not of the fragmentable sintered type disclosed in the above publications.
Other difficulties arose with the use of the osmotic ruminal delivery devices. In some embodiments, the semipermeable wall is a cup defining a compartment, the cup having an open and an enclosed end. The interior diameter of the cup was sized to tightly fit the density element inserted within the compartment. A portion of the cup was crimped over to provide additional means to hold the density element within the cup. However, limitations in the configurations resulted in the release of the density element from the compartment.


An apparatus for splitting a light beam into two sub-beams is formed of a stationary light source for generating a light beam, of a first polarization converter and of a deflection unit rotating around the optical axis in which two sub-beams are generated from the light beam. The deflection unit contains a polarization beam splitter, a following, second polarization converter and a reflector that is preferably designed as a prism. An automatic correction of positional offsets of the sub-beams is implemented in the deflection unit since the polarization beam splitter or the deflection unit is tilted and/or the lenses are shifted with adjustment drives. The positional offsets of the sub-beams are measured in their focus plane, and corresponding correction values are transmitted with a transformer to the adjustment drives in the rotating deflection unit.

Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of reproduction technology and is directed to an apparatus for splitting a light beam into two sub-beams.
Such an apparatus for beam splitting can be employed, for example, in a light beam scanner unit for originals scanner devices or recording devices.
In an originals scanner device, also referred to as an input scanner, the light beam sweeps the original to be scanned point-by-point and line-by-line, and the scan light reflected from or allowed to pass by the original is converted into an image signal in an optoelectronic transducer.
In a recording device, also referred to as a recorder, exposer or output scanner, the light beam is intensity-modulated by an image signal, and the intensity-modulated light beam is conducted over a light-sensitive recording material point-by-point and line-by-line.
In a scanner or recorder device of the flatbed type, the holder for the original or, the recording material is a flat surface moved relative to the light beam scanner unit that the light beam sweeps point-by-point and line-by-line.
In a scanner or recorder device of the inside drum type, the holder for the original or, the recording material is designed as a stationary trough shaped like a cylinder segment. The light beam scanner unit moves parallel to the longitudinal axis of the trough, and the light. beam is radially conducted over the trough point-by-point and line-by-line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.
DE-A-41 28 468 already discloses a light beam scanner unit with an apparatus for splitting a light beam into two sub-beams in a recording device of the inside drum type. The beam splitter apparatus comprises essentially a stationary light source and a deflection unit that turns around an optical axis. The deflection unit is composed of a polarization beam splitter, a polarization converter and a plane mirror.
The polarized light coming from the stationary light source is divided into two sub-beams in the rotating deflection unit by the polarization beam splitter, these two sub-beams being intensity-modulated by an image signal. The two intensity-modulated sub-beams emerge radially offset from the deflection unit, are focussed onto a recording material fixed in an exposure trough and expose the recording material point-by-point and line-by-line. Two lines on the recording material are exposed with the two intensity-modulated sub-beams per revolution, a high recording speed being achieved as a result thereof.
In order to also achieve a high recording quality, the two sub-beams dare not exhibit any positional offset in the recording plane perpendicular to the line direction compared to a rated position in which the two sub-beams are congruent. As a result of such a positional offset, namely, the two lines exposed on the recording material would not proceed equidistantly from one another, and disturbing fluctuations in tonal value that considerably diminish the recording quality would result.
The known beam splitter apparatus has the disadvantage that the light beam generated in the stationary light source must be very precisely adjusted in the direction of the optical axis or, of the rotational axis of the deflection unit so that, after half a revolution of the deflection unit, the sub-beams are incident on a line in the recording plane perpendicular to the line direction without positional offset. When the light beam in the known beam splitter apparatus is not aligned exactly, the two sub-beams, however, exhibit an oppositely directed positional offset relative to the rated position, i.e. the beam positions lies to the left and right of the rated position, as a result whereof a relatively big positional error arises. An exact adjustment, however, is involved and is lost over time, so that a re-adjustment is potentially required. Disturbing positional offsets of the sub-beams also arise when the polarization beam splitter and the plane mirror in the deflection unit are not aligned exactly relative to one another due to manufacturing tolerances. For compensation of errors that have arisen due to an imprecise alignment of the optical components, the known beam splitter apparatus comprises, for example, an adjustable optical adjustment mechanism in the form of a camera wedge arranged in the beam path between light source and deflection unit. Such an adjustment, however, is relatively involved and imprecise, since it can only be carried out when the beam splitter apparatus is not rotating.


Lutein and zeaxanthin, the main carotenoids in marigold flowers, and capsanthin and capsorubin, the main carotenoids in red peppers are esterified mainly with C-18 fatty acids. The pigments were re-esterified without isolating them from the natural saponified extract using carboxylic acids in the range of C-1 to C-12 and their corresponding metallic salts in the presence of a catalyzing agent. Both the diester and monoester forms were obtained. It is expected that the pigment esters with a fatty acid of 12 or less carbons will have a better digestibility than the esters of xanthophylls in their natural state and better stability than the hydrolyzed xanthophylls. This will result in a better pigmentation capacity of the carotenoids for poultry or aquaculture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chemical methods to esterify xanthophylls obtained from diverse sources including marigold flowers and red peppers.
2. Description of the Related Art
During several decades xanthophylls have been subjected to constant research due to their use both in human and animal consumption. In the poultry business the color of the egg yolk as well as that of the broilers skin is an important factor related to quality and consumer preference. It is because of this that there is a constant effort to provide poultry formulations including better pigmenting agents where their physical and chemical characteristics allow a better absorption thus rendering optimal pigmentation at lower costs.
Xanthopylls in marigolds are esterified mainly with palmitic, stearic and myristic acids and others of less importance (Alam et al. (1968) Lipids 3(2): 183–184). Egg laying hens make better use of lutein esters than the crystalline form of free lutein (Philip et al. (1976) J. Food Sci. 41:23–25) indicating that it could be due to a better solubility of the esters in lipids. Similar results were reported in the absorption of capsanthin from red peppers (Hamilton et al. (1990), Poult. Sci 69: 462–470). It was found that free lutein was better absorbed by broilers than the esters (Fletcher et al. (1986) Poult. Sci. 65: 1708–1714). Tyczkowski and Hamilton (1986) demonstrated that lutein is found free in the blood serum of broilers and that it is deposited in the skin as an ester after enzymatic transformation. Differences were observed between the polar interactions derived from the esterified and free forms of zeaxanthin and some of their rheological consequences (Zsako, et al. (1987) Rev. Roum. Chim. 32: 739–748). As the carbon chain that forms the fatty acid of the carotenoid ester is shorter, there is less steric hindrance and greater polarity. Regarding the relative polarity of several carotenoids, the allylic hydroxy is up to 50% more polar than the acetyl group thus conferring zeaxanthin a higher polarity than lutein and also lutein being more polar than the acetylated derivatives of zeaxanthin or lutein (Krinsky (1963) An. Biochem. 6: 293–302). The digestibility of the fatty acids in broilers as well as layers is inversely related to the length of the carbon chain (Yoshida, et al. (1970) Agr. Biol. Chem. 34(11): 1668–1675). Those with better bioavailability have between 5 to 12 carbons and those with lower bioavailability have less than 5 carbons (except acetic acid) or more than 12 carbons. A similar relation applies for the esters indicating that methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, amyl and hexyl derivatives of the fatty acids mentioned above are better absorbed by both broilers and layers. The studies by Tyczkowski and Hamilton indicate that the length of the carbon chain, and the saturation and concentration of the lipids included in the poultry diets notably influence the lutein absorption. A better uptake is observed when the fatty acids are of short chain and/or unsaturated.
The above is explained based on the micellar theory of digestion and the polarity of the oxycarotenoids. In broilers it has been demonstrated that lutein, zeaxanthin and other carotenoids are better absorbed in their free form than as natural esters like palmitate, stearate, myristate, etc, having a definite effect in skin pigmentation. In broilers, lutein from marigolds is hydrolyzed before absorption in the intestine and transported in this form to different tissues, but before deposition in the skin the pigment is re-esterified (Martin-Garmendia et al. (1981) Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 70a: 619–621). It is important to mention that the esterified xanthophylls have a better stability against several adverse physical and chemical factors than their equivalent hydrolyzed forms. Breivik, et al. (WO 03/003848A1) describe the use of a diester of astaxanthin prepared with an omega-3 fatty acid and/or a short chain carboxylic acid for enhancing the growth of farmed fish.
Traditionally esterification of marigold carotenoids is carried out for analytical purposes by making acetylated derivatives or partially acetylated derivatives by reacting the carotenoid with acetic anhydride in the presence of pyridine (Eugster (1995) Carotenoids: Vol. 1A, G. Britton, ed. page 74, Birkhauser; Molnar (2002) Helv. Chim. Acta 85:2349).
Bernhard, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,887) developed several intermediates for the synthesis of the same carotenoids among which are mentioned their mono and diacetylated derivatives using for this process acetic anhydride at a very low temperature.
Torres Cardona et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,494), describe a process for esterification of marigold xanthophylls using acetic or propionic anhydride obtaining the corresponding acetate or propionate of the carotenoid. The presence of water in the reaction medium makes handling of the reaction difficult due to the violent reaction of the anhydride. This situation favors intensive degradation of the pigments and the accumulation of acetic or propionic acid as well as their respective salts.
Others have reported processes for esterification of carotenoids using chlorides of fatty acids which are needed to bind to the chain. No process has been reported for commercial purposes in which acetic anhydride or acid chlorides have not been used in some way or another for the esterification of marigold xanthophylls.