A method for melt-spinning synthetic fiber, characterized by using a spinning device of which the part to be contacted with polymer in melt is coated with a film of an oxide, nitride or carbide of any of Si, Ti, Zr, Al, W, B, Ta and Ge or with a film of heat-resistant resin.

The present invention relates to an improved melt-spinning method and apparatus for synthetic fiber in which polymer melt being melt-spun is prevented from being thermally deteriorated and from forming impurities, and to an improved filter to be used for melt spinning of synthetic fiber. In particular, it relates to an improvement in the inner surface of a melt-spinning device.
Synthetic fiber of, for example, polyamide or polyester is melt-spun, and the melt-spun synthetic fiber is widely used in various fields of clothes and industrial materials as having good mechanical and chemical properties.
Apparatus for spinning polymer melt is generally composed of a device for melting polymer, a device for metering the resulting polymer melt, and a spinning pack for jetting out the thus-metered polymer melt, in which those devices are connected to each other via a pipe line. In the apparatus of that type, the polymer melt as fed into the spinning pack via the pipe line is distributed therein, then filtered and spun out through a spinneret. The spinning pack is composed of various members of a distributor, a filter, a pressure plate, a spinneret, etc. As the members constituting the melt-spinning device, generally used are those made of inexpensive stainless steel materials having well-balanced and good strength, corrosion resistance and workability. As the filter, generally used is a granular filter of, for example, silica sand, glass beads, alumina grains or stainless steel grains, either singly or as combined with a wire-netting filter. Recently, however, a plate filter made of non-woven fabric of fine metal fiber is being preferably used alone in place of the granular filter. The metal fiber constituting the plate filter is generally made of a stainless steel material. In ordinary melt-spinning apparatus for synthetic fiber that are popularly used at present, almost all the wall surfaces of the spinning device and other most members, with which the polymer melt being spun therethrough is contacted, are made of metal, and, naturally, the metal is in fact stainless steel except for limited exceptions such as sealant.
Stainless steel used for the pack members and filter is a well-balanced good material having various advantages noted above, and is difficult to substitute with any other materials. However, as so reported in Japanese Patent Publication (JP-B) No. Sho-53-29732, substances kept in contact with stainless steel members are often catalytically decomposed and deteriorated. JP-B Sho-53-29732 discloses the details of the catalytic action of the stainless steel members of a melt-spinning apparatus on the polymer melt of polyester or polyamide 66 being melt-spun therethrough, which is to decompose and deteriorate the polymer melt. The gel as formed through the decomposition and deterioration of the polymer melt causes various troubles such as yarn breaking or fuzz in the spinning and drawing step.
For polyamide fiber to be used in industrial materials, copper salts and/or various antioxidants are added to the polymer melt to be spun, which are for the purpose of improving the heat resistance of the fiber.
Though being effective in improving the heat resistance of polyamide fiber, copper salts added to polyamide melt are problematic in that they form copper compounds and metal copper that are insoluble in polyamide melt due to the high-temperature heat history applied to the melt being spun. The thus-formed copper compounds and metal copper precipitate and deposit on the surface of the wall of the flow duct in the spinning device thereby clogging the duct, or precipitate and deposit on the filter thereby increasing the pressure loss in filtration therethrough and shortening the exchange cycle of the spinning pack, or they penetrate into the spun fiber thereby causing various troubles such as yarn breaking or fuzz in the spinning and drawing step, and even lowering the process stability in the post-processing steps for, for example, warping, twisting and dipping the spun fiber after the spinning and drawing step. As so reported in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. Hei-1-207417, it is known that, when polyamide melt containing a copper salt as the stabilizer is kept in contact with a metal member made essentially of iron, for example, with a stainless steel member in a spinning device, the formation of insoluble copper compounds is accelerated due to the electrochemical reaction between the copper ions and the iron component in the member. For this reason, it is unfavorable to use a stainless steel material in forming the wall of the melt-spinning device to be contacted with the polymer melt being spun therethrough.
The troubles to be caused by the contact between the polymer melt and the stainless steel or the like metal member in the spinning device may occur throughout the entire region of the polymer melt pathway, but they occur noticeably around the filter, especially the plate filter made of stainless steel fiber having a large contact area with polymer melt, as so reported in JP-B Sho-53-29732, and also JP-A Hei-7-268715 and Hei-7-268716.
In order to evade the troubles in melt spinning noted above, proposed is a means of using a high-chromium alloy in the filter part having a large contact area with polymer melt, in JP-B Sho-53-29732. Also in JP-A Hei-1-207417, it is written that a high-chromium alloy is effective in preventing the precipitation of copper compounds from polyamide that contains copper as the antioxidant while the polyamide melt is spun. However, the high-chromium alloy is expensive and is poorly workable, and it is extremely difficult to form the alloy into a plate filter of non-woven fabric of the alloy fiber to be favorably used in melt spinning of polymer melt. Even if chromium may be plated on the surface of members to thereby increase the chromium density in their surface, the plating is not applicable to members having a complicated shape.
Apart from surface modification with chromium, JP-A Hei-6-101119 discloses the use of SiO.sub.2, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, TiC or the like as the material of the surface of members to be contacted with pitch melt to be melt-spun. However, pitch is a low-molecular polymer naturally containing many impurities in large quantities, while as compared with this, polymers having a high degree of polymerization, such as polyester and nylon, have a lower impurity content and are more stable. JP-A Hei-6-101119 suggests nothing about the effect of the surface material used therein in melt spinning of such high-molecular polymers.
JP-B Hei-5-32485, Hei-5-32486 and Hei-5-32487 disclose a method of melt-spinning synthetic fiber through a granular filter made of alumina grains, stainless steel grains or the like, or through a combination of the granular filter and a plate filter, in which is both the granular filter and the plate filter optionally combined with it are coated with a modified silicone film. However, these are silent on any other film-forming substances except modified silicone, and has no disclosure relating to the technique of melt-spinning nylon that contains a copper compound as the antioxidant and even the technique of preventing the precipitation of the antioxidant from nylon being spun. In these patent publications, only the deterioration of polymer on the surface of the granular filter is discussed, but nothing is suggested therein relating to the essential effect of the present invention which is directed to preventing the formation of impurities on the surface of a filter, especially a metal fiber filter, to thereby prevent the pressure loss in filtration through the filter from being increased and to improving the capability of the filter.
The troubles to be caused by the contact between metal members such as typically stainless steel members and polymer melt noted above are frequently seen especially in melt spinning of polymer melt, but are not limited to only the case of melt spinning operation. The troubles in question are common to all shaping techniques for forming articles from resin melt, for example, for forming films from resin melt, for molding shaped articles from resin melt and even for forming pellets from resin melt.
As has been mentioned hereinabove, stainless steel materials have the advantage of high strength, good workability and low cost, but have the disadvantage of promoting the deterioration of polymer as contacted therewith. Therefore, it is desired not to use any special and expensive materials, except for stainless steel materials, to construct devices for shaping polymer melt. In particular, it is desired to carry out melt-spinning of polymer melt, while using inexpensive melt-spinning devices not having any negative influences on the polymer melt being spun therethrough.

Process of melt-spinning synthetic fiber


A method includes producing an article having a substrate with a plurality of independent taggant layers that each include metal oxide nanocrystals doped with at least one Lanthanide element. Each taggant layer includes metal oxide nanocrystals doped with a different Lanthanide element than each other taggant layer.

Example embodiments generally relate to nanoparticle taggants and, more particularly, relate to methods for constructing nanoparticle taggants for application to substrates.
The issues of authentication and counterfeit deterrence can be important in many contexts. Bills of currency, stock and bond certificates, credit cards, passports, driver licenses, as well as many other legal documents all must be reliably authentic to be useful. Museums and art galleries face such challenges when authenticating works of art. Additionally, consumer products and other articles of manufacturing, such as pharmaceuticals, books, movies, software, etc., are frequently the subject of counterfeiting in the form of "pirated" versions or "knock-offs."
A wide variety of attempts have been made to limit the likelihood of counterfeiting. Most such attempts tend to incorporate a unique identifier, or taggant, into the potentially counterfeited item. For example, some have utilized fluorescent compounds as identifiers for these items. Fluorescence occurs when a material is irradiated with electromagnetic radiation and at least some is absorbed. The emitted fluorescence can then be read by suitable means to ensure authenticity.

Method of producing nanoparticle taggants for explosive precursors


A cartridge for photographic processing agents, which is formed of containers for photographic processing agents and a storage box for housing the containers in any selected dispositions in the box, in which at least one of the containers is provided with at least one recess on an outer side thereof, and at least one opening is formed on the storage box corresponding to the recess of the container housed in the storage box, and in which the cartridge having the recess in the container and the opening corresponding to recess in the storage box prevents the cartridge from being erroneously loaded to an automatic photo-processor; and a container for a photographic processing agent usable in the cartridge.

In the automatic photo-processors having such functions as a film processor for subjecting films to development and a printer processor for outputting film images as a print, different kinds of plural photographic processing agents or processing chemicals are used during the processing steps such as developing, bleaching, and fixing. In general, the photographic processing agents are contained in specific containers, and distributed to a processing station lab. The containers for photographic processing agents are installed in the automatic photo-processor by an operator to supply or refill (replenish) photographic processing agents to said processor. Recently, in order to supply the photographic processing agents by the operator simply and cleanly to the automatic photo-processor, the cartridge system which is capable of exchanging a set of plural containers (each containing a different kind of the photographic processing agent) for another set of containers, has become the most popular and used frequently.
For example, in a conventional cartridge 200 for photographic processing agents shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, containers 202 for photographic processing agents (202A, 202B and 202C) are filled with processing solutions such as a developing solution, a bleaching solution, and a fixing solution, respectively, and the three containers 202 making a set are held in a rectangular storage box (corrugated cardboard box) 204. Each container 202 is made of plastic and is formed in a tetragonal bottle shape as shown in FIGS. 28 to 30. The container is provided with a cap 206 and a packing 208 to close a mouth to prevent the photographic processing agents from leaking out of the container.
The cartridge 200 for the photographic processing agents is installed in a cartridge loading chamber of the automatic photo-processor manually by an operator, turning mouths (the cap 206 and the packing 208) of the containers 202 downwards. When the loading is completed, a penetrating member, which is a washing nozzle mounted on the automatic photo-processor corresponding to each container 202, pushes the packing 208 to tear so that the photographic processing agents can drain away from the containers and are supplied to the automatic photo-processor. Then, the inside of the container 202 for photographic processing agents is washed with a cleaning solution sprayed upwards out of the washing nozzle, and each photographic processing agent is diluted to a desired concentration by mixing together with the cleaning solution. In this cartridge system, three kinds of the photographic processing agents, such as a developing solution, a bleaching solution, and a fixing solution, can be simply and cleanly supplied to the automatic photo-processor at one time, with the operator not touching the containers and the photographic processing agents.
And, there is also another cartridge intended for a set of two kinds of photographic processing agents, which can be smaller in size and holds two containers smaller than the container 202. While, there is proposed a new cartridge system made of plural cartridges, which are same in size, each of which contains three kinds of the photographic processing agents different in compositions adaptable to the automatic photo-processor to be used. In order not to lead the cartridge for the photographic processing agents from being erroneously loaded to the automatic photo-processor of a different model, cutouts, for example, two cutouts 212 disposed asymmetrically in FIG. 26, are formed on the upper part of a front face 210 of the box 204. The number and arrangement of cutouts on the cartridge are variable depending upon automatic photo-processor to be used. The automatic photo-processor is provided with protrusions for engaging with the cutouts so that an operator can determine whether or not the cartridge for photographic processing agents is properly installed in the automatic photo-processor judging from the engagement of the protrusions to the corresponding cutouts (see, for example, JP-A-11-282148 ("JP-A" means unexamined published Japanese patent application), pages 5 to 7 and 9, and FIGS. 1 and 5).
In the cartridge 200 for photographic processing agents, the cutouts 212, openings or the like engaging with the protrusions of the automatic photo-processor are limited to form on the upper end of the storage box 204 of which inside is empty. Accordingly, toward the prevention of erroneous loading, not so many patterns can be formed on the cartridge, that is made use of by the member of cutouts 212, openings or the like and differences in the location of the cutouts 212, opening or the like. Since there were not so many kinds of the cartridges for photographic processing agents before, the conventional cartridge explained above did not create problems. However, it is expected that the kind of cartridges for photographic processing agents will be increased as the kind of the automatic photo-processor increases. Accordingly, a new cartridge capable of providing a larger number of simple patterns toward the prevention of erroneous loading has been demanded.
According to one of the new cartridge under manufacturing as an experiment at present, for example, a guide portion for engaging with the protrusions of the automatic photo-processor is formed of recesses disposed on an outer side face of the containers for photographic processing agents and openings arranged on a cartridge of the containers corresponding to the recesses of the containers. The number and the arrangement of the guide portion for engaging can alter such that the number and arrangement of the openings on the cartridge are variable depending upon an orientation of housing the containers in the cartridge to have the recesses of the container directed to a predetermined arrangement in the cartridge. However, this cartridge is not satisfactory in that a washing liquid is interrupted by the recesses protruded into an inside of the container depending upon such conditions as the location and depth (size) of the recesses disposed on the container when the container is washed, and the washing liquid is not distributed in every nook and corner of the inside of the container. As a result, the cleaning capacity of the container is decreased, which is another problem.

Photographic processing agent cartridge and container usable therein


A semiconductor integrated circuit device chip mounts a group of voltage amplifier circuits and a group of output transistors on the surface thereof. The group of voltage amplifier circuits are arranged at an area remote from the group of output transistors on the chip to prevent the voltage amplifiers from operating erroneously due to a potential variation caused by a switching operation of the output transistors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device, and in particular to a semiconductor integrated circuit chip having large load driving output circuits and small voltage amplifying circuits.
2Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor read-only memory (ROM) is a memory device in which information is stored permanently. The ROM device includes a plurality of memory cells in a memory cell array. For example, such a conventional memory device is disclosed in the paper entitled, "5V-only 256 kbit CMOS Flash EEPROM", 1989 IEE, ISSCC89, SESSION: THAM 10.3, pp. 132-133.
In such a case that data previously stored in a memory cell in a memory cell array is read out, the corresponding memory cell is specified by a selected word line and a selected bit line. Since the selected memory cell has a gate connected to a read line and a drain connected to a bit line, a current is delivered to a sense amplifier in accordance with the previously stored data. The current is converted into a voltage and amplified by the sense amplifier, and it is then transmitted to an output buffer. The data is transmitted to an output transistor from the output buffer and is then outputted from an output pad. Data stored in a semiconductor memory device are read out, the data to outputted from the output pads through the above-mentioned operation. Accordingly, sense amplifiers and output transistors are arranged at the same side on a conventional semiconductor device chip.
However, with the circuit block arrangement of the above-mentioned conventional device, since both the sense amplifiers and the output transistors are arranged in group on the same side of a chip, the impedance of ground wiring including a substrate between circuit blocks is low.
It has been known that the potential of the ground wiring fluctuates owing to a discharge current from the load upon switching of the output transistors for driving a large load. In general, dummy memory cells are used as means for realizing high-speed and wide margin for ROMs. However, in this arrangement, since a parasitic capacitive unbalance exists between sense lines (or data bus) which is the input of the sense amplifiers and the dummy lines, data may be inverted if the voltage fluctuation at the ground wiring is large. In the conventional devices, since the impedance between the sense amplifier and the output transistor is low, a small voltage amplifying circuit such as the sense amplifier is affected erroneously by noise caused by the switching of the output transistor.

Semiconductor memory device with noise immunity


A method of synthesis of a model representing a design of an integrated circuit is provided including associating a test environment with a first model representing a design of an integrated circuit; translating the first model of the design to a second model of the design; and automatically generating an adaptor that adapts the second model to the test environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to automated design of integrated circuits, and more particularly, to verification of integrated circuit designs at different levels of abstraction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern circuit design has evolved into a specialized field often referred to as electronic design automation in which computers and computer aided design (CAD) techniques are used to automate the integrated circuit (IC) design process. An IC design process typically begins with an engineer producing a high level design specification in terms of input/output signals, functionality and performance characteristics of a hardware circuit to be fabricated. These characteristics are captured in a high level hardware language model. This model may be decomposed into a plurality of sub-models, each of which is transformed to lower level abstraction models at the Register Transfer Level (RTL) for example. In the course of this transformation process, design choices are made among many possible detailed implementations.
Verification that a detailed design implementation produced from a high level design specification meets the functional requirements of the original design specification is a major issue in IC design. Various techniques have been developed to verify that a detailed model meets functional requirements of the original design specification. One approach involves the use of a testbench that includes a reference model, stimulus generator and output checker. The test bench effectively wraps around the model under test (e.g. an RTL model). The stimulus generator drives the model with stimulus signals, and the output checker checks the correctness of output from the model under test in response to the stimulus signals. The reference model is a computer program which calculates the correct results given any legal set of inputs. The output checker produces an error report if the design implementation does not meet the design specification. Another approach involves the use of assertions, a statement that some given property is required to hold and a directive to a verification tool to verify that the property does hold. A property may be a collection of logical and temporal relationships between and among boolean expressions, sequential expressions and/or other properties, which together represent some portion of behavior of a system. Formal verification involves the application of complex algorithms to test for properties in a design implementation.
Development of a testbench can be a time consuming, tedious and error prone activity. As a result, one shortcoming with the development of a testbench is a degree of uncertainty as to whether an error report produced during verification is due to an error in the design implementation or due to an error in the testbench. Thus, there has been a need for improvements in the production of verification environments to test whether a detailed implementation satisfies original design requirements. The present invention meets this need.

System and method for verification aware synthesis


A structure has a focus coil wound or affixed on sides of a lens holder holding an objective lens and two or more permanent magnets spaced from each other and facing the focus coil with their magnetic poles directed in the same direction with respect to one side of the focus coil, wherein the density distribution of the magnetic flux passing through the side of the focus coil facing the permanent magnets has two or more maximum points. This allows for a large assembly error, or tolerance, and reduces inclination of the optical axis in an objective lens actuator used in the optical pickup of various kinds of optical disk devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to objective lens actuators, and more particularly to an objective lens actuator installed in the optical pickup used in the optical disk recording and/or reproducing device (hereinafter referred to as an optical disk device,) such as the minidisk (referred to as MD) player, the compact disk (referred to as CD) player, the digital video disk (referred to as DVD) player, etc., for displacing the objective lens to adjust the position of irradiation of light beam.
2. Description of the Background Art
As is well known, optical disk devices optically record and reproduce information to and from a disk-like information recording medium (hereinafter referred to as an optical disk) such as MD, CD, DVD, etc. while driving the objective lens along the two axes in the Z axis direction corresponding to the vertical optical axis direction as seen from the side of the optical disk (hereinafter also referred to as a focus direction) and in the X axis direction corresponding to the parallel radial direction as seen from the side of the optical disk (hereinafter also referred to as a tracking direction) to correct the focus error caused by up-and-down movement due to a warp of the optical disk and the tracking error caused by its eccentricity.
FIG. 22 is a diagram roughly showing the structure of an optical pickup installed in the optical disk device. The optical pickup is now be described briefly.
In FIG. 22, the light beam emitted from a semiconductor laser 111 is transmitted through a beam splitter 222 to enter an objective lens 1 provided in a lens holder 2. The objective lens 1 collects the laser light to form a small beam spot of about 1 .mu.m on the recording surface of an optical disk E. An objective lens actuator 555 is provided, being related to the lens holder 2. This objective lens actuator 555, which is formed of an electromagnetic circuit, is capable of driving the objective lens 1 in the focus direction and in the tracking direction. Provision of such an objective lens actuator 555 enables follow-up control of the objective lens 1 to the recording track with a precision of submicrons against movement of the surface or eccentricity of the optical disk E.
The light beam reflected at the recording surface of the optical disk E returns through the objective lens 1 and is reflected at the beam splitter 222 in the normal direction. Then the PIN photodiode 666 detects the intensity of the beam to enable reading of the information pits of the optical disk E and detection of the focus error signal and the tracking error signal.
Recently, optical disk recording/reproducing devices with higher density are being developed. To increase the resolution for high-density recording/reproducing, objective lenses with larger numerical aperture (hereinafter referred to as NA) are used. When the optical axis of the beam is inclined with respect to the recording/reproducing surface of the optical disk, however, the degree of coma increases in proportion to the third power of the NA. Therefore, with an objective lens having a large NA, if the optical axis is inclined while the objective lens is being moved in the focus direction or in the tracking direction in the objective lens actuator, it will exert an ill effect on the recording/reproducing of signal on the optical disk.
Conventionally, an objective lens actuator which solves the problem mentioned above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No.7-240031. The conventional objective lens actuator will now be described referring to FIG. 23 to FIG. 26.
FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing the structure of the conventional objective lens actuator. FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of the objective lens actuator moving the objective lens in the focus direction (Z axis direction) and the tracking direction (X axis direction). FIG. 25 is a side view of the main part of the objective lens actuator moving the objective lens in the focus direction and the tracking direction. FIG. 26 is a top view of the main part of the electromagnetic circuit in the objective lens actuator in the case where a positional error occurs in the X axis direction.
In FIG. 23 to FIG. 26, the conventional objective lens actuator includes a lens holder 2, a focus coil 3, tracking coils 4, permanent magnets 5, a yoke base 6, back yokes 6a, opposing yokes 6b, elastic supporting members 7, a supporting member fixing portion 8, a supporting member fixing substrate 9, and printed boards 10.
The lens holder 2, which is formed of a resin molded article, holds the objective lens 1 fixed by adhesion or the like. The elastic supporting members 7, which are formed of a metal line having spring property, hold the lens holder 2, with their respective ends on one side solder-fixed to the printed boards 10. The back yokes 6a and the opposing yokes 6b form a magnetic circuit with the permanent magnets 5. The ends of the opposing yokes 6b on the side closer to the optical disk E are disposed closer to the optical disk E than the ends of the permanent magnets 5 on the side closer to the optical disk E. This forms a flow of magnetic flux in the focus direction in the part close to the optical disk E in the gap between the permanent magnets 5 and the opposing yokes 6b. The focus coil 3 and the tracking coils 4 are wound around the sides of the lens holder 2. The supporting member fixing portion 8 fixes the supporting member fixing substrate 9. The other ends of the elastic supporting members 7 are solder-fixed to the supporting member fixing substrate 9. The yoke base 6 is fixed on an optical substrate (not shown) supporting the semiconductor laser 111, the beam splitter 222, and the photodetector 666 in FIG. 22.
Next, the operation of driving the objective lens 1 along the two axes in the focus direction and the tracking direction to correct a focus error caused by the up-and-down movement due to a warp of the optical disk E and a tracking error cased by eccentricity or the like will be described.
The lens holder 2 to which the objective lens 1 is attached is supported in such a way that it can be moved in the focus direction and the tracking direction by the four elastic supporting members 7 disposed in parallel to each other (each of which has its one end fixed to the lens holder 2 through the printed board 10 and the other end fixed to the supporting member fixing substrate 9.) The supporting member fixing substrate 9 is fixed to the supporting member fixing portion 8 fixed to the yoke base 6.
A driving force in the focus direction is generated by the electromagnetic driving circuit in which the focus coil 3 is disposed in the gap in the magnetic circuit composed of the permanent magnets 5, the back yokes 6a and the opposing yokes 6b attached to the yoke base 6. The driving force generated in the focus direction causes the lens holder 2 to translate in the focus direction through the elastic supporting members 7.
A driving force in the tracking direction is generated by the electromagnetic driving circuit in which the tracking coils 4 are disposed in the gap in the magnetic circuit formed of the permanent magnets 5, the back yokes 6a and the opposing yokes 6b attached to the yoke base 6. The driving force generated in the tracking direction translates the lens holder 2 in the tracking direction through the elastic supporting members 7.
Next, the mechanism for suppressing torque around the Y axis which is a cause of inclination of the optical axis will be described referring to FIG. 24 to FIG. 26.
As shown in FIG. 24, displacement of the movable part composed of the objective lens 1, the lens holder 2, the focus coil 3, the tracking coils 4 and the printed boards 10 by dt in the X axis plus direction in the tracking direction causes the center of gravity, G, of the movable part to differ by the same displacement, dt, from the center of generation, Fc, of the focus driving force. Then the focus driving force Ff0 in the direction toward the optical disk E caused by the focus driving current If produces clockwise torque about the Y axis at the center of gravity, G, of the movable part.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 25, while the driving force Ft0 is produced in the tracking direction toward the X axis plus direction by the tracking driving current It in the sides of the tracking coils 4 that are parallel to the Z axis, driving forces Ft1 and Ft2 are produced in the opposite direction to the tracking driving force Ft0 in the sides of the tracking coils 4 that are parallel to the Y axis, for the magnetic flux passes therethrough in the focus direction. When the movable part is moved in the direction toward the optical disk E by the focus driving force Ff0, a difference occurs between the driving forces Ft1 and Ft2, which produces torque counterclockwise about the Y axis at the center of gravity, G, of the movable part.
That is to say, the torque around the Y axis produced by the focus coil 3 and the torque around the Y axis produced by the tracking coils 4 act in such directions as to cancel out, which suppresses inclination of the optical axis to allow the objective lens 1 to translate in the focus direction and in the tracking direction.
However, the conventional structure requires adjustment so that the torque around the Y axis generated by the focus coil 3 and the torque around the Y axis generated by the tracking coils 4 can accurately cancel each other, thus causing the problem that a large allowable error (hereinafter referred to as tolerance) can not be set for positional deviation of the magnets and positional deviation of the lens holder due to assembly error.
Furthermore, it requires that the focus coil and the tracking coils should be disposed in the same movable part. Therefore, in a separate type objective lens actuator in which the electromagnetic circuit, the movable part, and the supporting members for driving in the focus direction and the electromagnetic circuit, the movable part, and the supporting members for driving in the tracking direction are independently constructed, the torque due to the focus driving force can not be cancelled by the tracking coils, resulting in the problem that the optical axis of the objective lens may be inclined.

Objective lens actuator having a high degree of design freedom

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A modular wireless repeater typically deployed with a roof-mounted tower-signal antenna and a base unit with a base unit antenna located within the building, to which the tower-signal antenna and the base unit are connected by the user or a satellite TV installer using a 75Ω coaxial cable. The system allows a customer to purchase a unit for all wireless service providers in a given frequency band, such as Cellular, PCS, GSM900, or DCS, etc., and then add on modules for additional types of service that the customer may desire in the future. The system also detects and prevents low-level oscillations. The wireless repeater also performs intelligent power control allowing it to function properly with near and far base unit antennas as well as near and far mobile stations.

Wireless telephone systems, which are a type of duplex or two-way communication system, have become widely deployed throughout the United States and abroad. In the United States, most service areas have a number of competing types of wireless communication services for customers to choose from. These include the original analog system or Advanced Mobile Phone System ("AMPS") operating with a carrier frequency in the region of 800 MHz ("Cellular band") as well as digital encoding protocols, such as, Time-Division Multiple Access ("TDMA"), Global System for Mobile communication ("GSM"), and Code-Division Multiple Access ("CDMA"), which operate both in the Cellular band and the Personal Communication System ("PCS") frequency band region of 1900 MHz. Wireless telephone service is also widely available using the European digital systems operating in a carrier frequency band of 900 MHz ("GSM900") or the 1800 MHz Digital Communication System ("DCS") band using GSM encoding (and GPRS/EDGE) and the 2100 MHz Universal Mobile Telephone System ("UMTS") band using CDMA encoding.
All of these wireless telephone systems can suffer from a loss of service in areas where the propagating communication signals are weak due to distance from the Base Transceiver Station ("BTS" or "cell tower") and/or because the signal is blocked by structures or other obstructions. For large buildings and terrestrial features, such as hills and mountains, this problem is addressed by strategic placement of cell towers, which at this point can be seen in a line of site from almost anywhere in the United States. But indoors, where the building blocks the propagating communication signals, it is impractical for the service provider to attempt to solve the problem in all buildings by deploying additional BTSs. For large buildings, it may be practical to locate a dedicated BTS antenna to provide a strong communication signal throughout much of the building, but not for most homes and small offices.
In most homes and small offices, it is not feasible for the users to obtain a dedicated BTS antenna. In this situation, it is not cost effective for the service provider to locate a BTS antenna or increase the transmission power to satisfy individual customers with indoor reception problems. For example, when service is poor in certain locations within the customer premises, such as an office in the basement, there is no practical way to obtain a strong communication signal from a cell tower. As a result, wireless repeaters suitable for receiving, amplifying and retransmitting the wireless communication signal to a specific location, such as an office located in the basement of the customer premises, have been developed and have met with a certain amount of commercial success.
In order to meet the widespread need for improved wireless coverage in homes and small-offices, a wireless repeater must be cost-effective, simple to use, easy to install, and safe for the service provider's network. In order to accomplish these requirements, a wireless repeater must satisfy several challenges. First, the wireless repeater system should be universal to protocol and modulation; therefore, it must be able to handle communications for the AMPS, TDMA, CDMA and GSM systems in a cost-effective manner in the appropriate frequency band (Cellular, PCS, GSM900, DCS, UMTS etc.). Second, the wireless repeater system has to be relatively easy to install by the non-technical customer or professional installation must be widely available at a reasonable cost (typically less than half of the equipment cost). Third, the system must be able prevent interference with the Cellular or PCS network, including positive feedback ("self-oscillations") which develops between the two antennas of the wireless repeater system. This type of self-oscillation, similar to that experienced in audio systems when the microphone is placed too close a speaker, can cause serious problems within the wireless network, including reduced capacity, reduced effective coverage, and loss of service to other licensed users. Also, if not checked, an oscillation within the wireless repeater system can lead to destruction of its circuitry. Fourth, the system should be able to handle communication signals from both relatively near base stations (i.e., relatively strong signals) and relatively far base stations (i.e., relatively weak signals) without creating disruptive interference. Fifth, the system should be able to handle communication signals from both relatively near mobile stations (i.e., relatively strong signals) and relatively far mobile stations (i.e., relatively weak signals) without creating disruptive interference.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for a wireless repeater system that is cost-effective for home-based and small office locations. There is a further need for a cost-effective wireless repeater system configured to meet the presently experienced needs for such a system, including the ability to handle the several different types of communication signals that are presently in use, to detect and prevent low-level self-oscillations, to be easy to install or easy to have professionally installed, and to control power transmission from near and far base stations and from near and far mobile stations.

Wireless repeater implementing low-level oscillation detection and protection for a duplex communication system


A blood pressure measuring apparatus oppresses blood vessels of a human body by an inflating unit through a cuff. When the blood vessels are oppressed through the cuff, a pulse wave superposed on a cuff pressure signal through a cuff pressure detector is detected by a pulse wave detector. The waveform of the detected pulse wave changes similarly to changes of pressure in the oppressed blood vessels in one heartbeat period. The information of the detected pulse wave waveform and the cuff pressure at this time are stored in a memory. A blood pressure calculator determines the scale of pulse wave waveform on the basis of the information stored in the memory, and matches the determined scale of pulse wave waveform with the scale of waveform showing pressure changes in the blood vessels, so that a plurality of timings of coincidence of cuff pressure and blood pressure are detected, and the systolic pressure and diastolic pressure are calculated by using these detected information and stored information of pulse wave waveforms. It is therefore possible to measure blood pressures in a short time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a blood pressure measuring apparatus and, more particularly, to a blood pressure measuring apparatus for oppressing arteries and measuring the blood pressures on the basis of the obtained results of the arterial volume changes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods for measuring blood pressures without giving stress include a method of detecting various pulsation signals (hereinafter, referred to as pulse waves) derived from volume changes of arteries to which pressure is applied from outside, in the process of varying the pressure gradually, and calculating and determining the blood pressures on the basis of the detected values (the method being referred to as oscillometric method). In a representative method, air or fluid is injected into an oppression band (cuff) which is wound around the blood pressure measuring position, and the arteries in the measuring position are oppressed. Pulse waves are detected as pulsations of oppressing pressure, that is, the cuff pressure, and this method is mostly widely employed (hereinafter, referred to as cuff oscillometric method) (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-31084 (1993), specification and drawings and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-133938 (1994), specification and drawings).
In the cuff oscillometric method, pulse waves are extracted from cuff pressure signals, and in other oscillometric method, for example, other pulse wave detector (for example, photoelectric sensor) is additionally installed. Alternatively, an oscillometric method may be realized by oppressing arteries by other oppressing function than the cuff. All these varieties are called the oscillometric method in the following description.
A method of detecting the blood pressure at a certain time is disclosed in Japanese Published Patent Publication No. 2000-512875, pages 30–31, FIG. 27, and FIG. 29A to FIG. 29C. In this method, by obtaining the arterial volume signal when the cuff pressure is equal to or less than the diastolic pressure and the arterial volume signal when the cuff pressure is somewhere between the diastolic pressure and systolic pressure, the two obtained arterial volume signals are compared by matching the start timing; therefore, the moment of coincidence of cuff pressure and arterial pressure is known.
In the oscillometric method, for example, when measuring while increasing the cuff pressure, as shown in FIG. 12, blood pressures (systolic pressure and diastolic pressure) are estimated from the envelopes showing amplitude change patterns of pulse waves changing in the process of gradual elevation of the cuff pressure until sufficiently higher than the maximum pressure (systolic pressure). Although not shown in the drawing, when measuring while decreasing the cuff pressure, the cuff pressure is once raised quickly sufficiently higher than the systolic pressure, and is gradually decreased until sufficiently lower than the minimum pressure (diastolic pressure), and in this process, similarly, the blood pressures are estimated from the envelopes of pulse waves. In such estimating method, a high pressure level and a long measuring time are required according to its principle. A high pressure level often causes pain in a patient with hypertension. Pain during measurement of blood pressure is not only unpleasant, but also causes to raise the blood pressure, thereby causing effects on accuracy of blood pressure measurement. In addition, if one measurement takes a long time, not only the efficiency is lowered, but also the pain lasts for a long time, and the accuracy is sacrificed. Further, sudden blood pressure fluctuations often occurring during measurement or measurement during exercise cannot be correctly detected.


The disposable bib includes a panel adapted to overlie a chest region of a wearer having a first surface designed to face outwardly from the wearer, a second surface designed to face toward the wearer, and a compartment(s) formed on or within the second surface of the panel for containing at least one of an eating utensil and a towelette therein.

When a parent (or a caregiver) intends to take an infant away from home during a time period in which it will be necessary to feed the infant, the parent must not only remember to pack food for the infant to eat, but the parent must also pack a bib to prevent the infant's clothes from becoming stained, utensils to provide the food to the infant, and napkins or towelettes for cleaning the infant's face and hands after the meal.
If the parent is distracted or hurried when leaving home, one or more of the aforementioned items may be forgotten. The parent normally realizes that an item for use in feeding the infant has been forgotten only when the parent is preparing to feed the infant. If food is forgotten, an adequate substitute can usually be obtained at an eating establishment, grocery store or convenience store. However, when either a bib, utensil or towelette is forgotten, it is typically difficult to locate a store to purchase an adequate substitute. Therefore substantial time can be expended in an attempt to locate a store when the infant should instead be fed. Even if a store is located by the parent, inexpensive, temporary substitutes are not usually available. Therefore, a relatively significant expenditure may be required even though an item similar to the one being purchased is already owned by the parent and the purchased item is only to serve as a temporary substitute for the forgotten item.

Disposable bib adapted to carry articles for use in feeding


In techniques for causal modeling and attribution, a causal modeling application implements a dynamical causal modeling framework. Input data is received as a representation of communications between users, such as social media interactions between social media users, and causal relationships between the users can be determined based in part on the input data that represents the communications. Influence variables, such as exogenous variables and/or endogenous variables, can also be determined that influence the causal relationships between the users. A causal relationships model is generated based on the influence variables and the causal relationships between the users, where the causal relationships model is representative of causality, influence, and attribution between the users.

Marketing analysts strive to obtain information about topics that customers are discussing and communicating, as well as the opinions or sentiments that may be expressed by the customers in communications about the topics. Companies that provide products and/or services want to know and understand how well a product or service is received, areas where customers are unhappy with the product or service, and to identify product and/or service suggestions or enhancements from customers. Further, it can be important to determine the influence of users, the topics, sentiments, and other variables in social media. Answers to questions, such as "How did a particular topic influence people's emotion?" or "How did users' sentiments influence the topics that were discussed in social media?" are important for monitoring and moderating social media content.
The marketing analysts also want to be able to quantify this influence because scores are easier to comprehend and use for analysis. Conventional approaches to determine users' influences can be biased and oversimplified. For example, a conventional approach may determine that the President has a lower influence score than various bloggers, which indicates that the approach does not accurately dissociate between the quantity of words and communications (e.g., less for the President than the bloggers) and the impact of the words and communications that one says. Further, the volume of information to analyze is often quite large, such as thousands of communications about any number of various topics. To manually sort and analyze thousands of communications, such as from the customers of a product or service provider, is labor intensive, tedious, and can be error-prone.


The present invention relates to hand operated gardening and landscaping tools for use in cultivating soil and/or removing inferior or unwanted plants from a selected area. More particularly, the present invention relates to a combination scuffle and rake assembly. The combination tool allows an operator to cut unwanted weeds below the ground surface and thereafter groom the weeded area without having to use separate tools to complete the task.

Methods and apparatus for expanding the usefulness of hand tools by affixing alternate types of tool heads to a single tool handle have been the subject of much inventive effort over the years. The basic approach of providing multipurpose tools flows naturally form the need to utilize a number of different hand tools serially in time to accomplish a gardening or landscaping task. In gardening or landscaping uses, a first tool type might be used to precondition the soil, and a second tool type might be needed to further prepare particular areas, or to complete processes which were missed on the initial pass. The use of a long-handled hoe followed by the use of a long-handled rake to collect the debris produced by the hoe and then an inverted long-handled rake to contour or groom the soil gives an example of where iterative uses of alternative tool types are commonly needed. Hence, multipurpose tools of wide varieties abound, as do devices where a number of different tool heads may be affixed to a single, specially adapted handle.
Common to hand operated gardening tools is the use of an elongated handle. Secured to one end of the handle is an implement for use in cultivating, weeding and/or grooming of the soil. The tools are typically arranged to complete a specific task and the tool is thereafter exchanged for the tool required to complete the next task. Attempts have been made to combine tools or to construct tools with interchangeable implements. However, such attempts typically employ the use of bayonet mounts or other clamping devices which do little to assist the interchange of tool heads on the handle.


The present invention relates to a switch for use with an article formed from paperboard. The article includes a first panel and a second panel. The first panel and the second panel each have a sliding surface facing one another. The first and the second panels are in sliding relation to one another between a first position and a second position. The switch comprises a conductive pathway disposed on the sliding surface of the first panel and a first contact surface is disposed on the sliding surface of the second panel and a second contact surface is disposed on the sliding surface of the second panel. The second contact surface is in spaced relation to the first contact surface so as to prevent electrical communication between the first and second contact surfaces. The conductive pathway of the first panel is in spaced relation to at least one of the first and second contact surfaces of the second panel when the first and second panels are in the first position. The conductive pathway bridges the first and second contact surfaces when the first and second panels are in the second position to thereby permitting electrical communication between said first and second contact surfaces.

Packages for drug doses in the form of capsules, tablets, and/or pills are available in a large variety of different sizes, with different numbers of pills contained therein, and with different spatial arrangements. These packages such as medicine storage packages usually include a blister package in which tablets, capsules, or pills are individually sealed between plastic molded pockets for pills and a rupturable foil glued or fused to the first foil. One example of such medicine storage package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,988,004 and 7,093,716. Often, a memory unit is included in the medicine storage package to produce an acoustic and/or visual alarm signal when it is time to take the next pill.
A common method of detecting a pill being dispensed from a blister package is by breaking an electrical trace which is located in the pathway of the pill as it is pushed out of its blister cavity. For example, a gate is created behind the pill by perforating the paperboard in a pattern like the blister cavity and the conductive trace is run across the gate, passing through some uncut areas in the perforations. There are several problems with this design that either causes a false signal when no pill is dispensed or make it very difficult to push the pill out. The problem with this design is that the uncut areas tend to crack during handling of the blister package over time. This causes a break in the conductive trace and thus a break in the circuit, which in turn, is registered as a pill being falsely dispensed when actually the pill has not been dispensed. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a medicine blister package in which the pill can be easily dispensed from the blister cavity and the package does not cause false signal when no pill is dispensed.
Another problem with the so called break-the-trace design is that the medicine storage package can limit the type of circuitry used to monitor the pills used. With one such configuration, if a user wishes to keep track of which pill is dispensed, the user needs to either use individual resistance levels to each pill (which is very difficult and ineffective for more than a few pills) or the user must have one conductive trace per each pill plus one common trace. This design requires many connections that must be made to the monitoring circuitry thereby overcomplicating the circuitry suitable for a low-cost and easily manufacturable package design. It is therefore desirable to provide a monitoring circuitry switch for packaging of an article, e.g., medicaments that solve the problems, among others, of accidental breakage of the electrical trace which is located in the pathway of the pill and the difficulty in removing the pill from the blister package.

Momentary switch integrated in packaging of an article


Quercetin chalcone, an effective, soluble and bioavailable bioflavonoid, is disclosed. Also disclosed are compositions containing quercetin chalcone in combination with an acceptable carrier and/or diluent, as well as methods for administration thereof to warm-blooded animals. Such administration is beneficial in generally maintaining good health of the animal and, more specifically, for the treatment of allergies.

Bioflavonoids are a group of naturally occurring compounds and are widely distributed among plants, including most all citrus fruits, rose hips and black currants. Such compounds are generally isolated from the rinds of oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes, kumquats and grapefruits by commercial extraction methods.
Bioflavonoids have been determined to be involved with homeostasis of the walls of small blood vessels. In addition, these compounds have been found to contribute to the maintenance of normal blood vessel conditions by decreasing capillary permeability and fragility. Bioflavonoids have also been found to have activity as a histamine release blocker (treatment of allergies), a xanthine oxidase inhibitor (treatment of gout), an aldose reductase inhibitor (prevention of diabetic complications), a phospholiphase A2 and lipoxygenase inhibitor (anti-inflammatory), an aerobic glycosis inhibitor (an anti-cancer agent), and a tumor necrosis factor potentiator (an antiviral agent.
However, despite their promise for a variety of medicinal applications, the utility of bioflavonoids have been limited by their poor absorption into the bloodstream due, at least in part, to their low solubility under physiological conditions. For example, quercetin (i.e., 3,3',4',5,7-O penta-hydroxyflavone), has been the subject of extensive study, and has the following structure ##STR1##
Quercetin is absorbed to the extend of about 1% from an oral dose. Effective cellular uptake of quercetin appears to require the use of water-miscible solvents such as dimethylsulfoxide. Furthermore, while other bioflavonoids have been found to be more soluble than quercetin under physiological conditions, these compounds appear to be less effective than quercetin.
Chalcones, a class of bioflavonoids, have shown promise in overcoming the limitations of other bioflavonoid compounds, and have the following general structure. ##STR2## Although chalcones generally have high solubility and absorption under physiological conditions (e.g., hesperidin methyl chalcone, a representative class member, is absorbed to the extend of 60% from an oral dose), their activity is significantly less than that of similar bioflavonoids such as quercetin. This greater solubility and absorption of chalcones may be attributed to their increased solubility through substituents such as sugar moieties present in some chalcones and absent in quercetin. The greater solubility and absorption of chalcones thus appears to be at the expense of biological activity.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a soluble, bioavailable bioflavonoid that also possesses high bioactivity. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.

Quercetin chalcone and methods related thereto


A semiconducting ceramic composition for secondary electron multipliers consists essentially of 55 to 80 mol % of zinc oxide, 12 to 30 mol % of titanium oxide, and 0.2 to 20 mol % of nickel oxide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconducting ceramic composition for secondary electron multipliers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Up to now, there have been proposed various secondary electron multipliers employing a semiconductor ceramic material. For example, JP-B-48-18026 discloses a secondary electron multiplier comprising a cylindrical semiconducting ceramic body with electrodes provided thereon. JP-B-48-18029 discloses a secondary electron multiplier comprising a semiconducting ceramic plate having a pair of electrodes provided at opposed ends thereof and including several perforations formed therein perpendicular to both electrodes. JP-B-48-18030 discloses a secondary electron multiplier comprising a plurality of semiconducting ceramic tubes of a uniform length and bundled together.
Materials used in these electron multipliers are semiconducting ceramic compositions of a zinc titanate system. Examples are those consisting essentially of 72.5 mol % of ZnO and 27.5 mol % of TiO.sub.2, and those consisting essentially of 72.5 mol % of ZnO, 27.5 mol % of TiO.sub.2 and containing Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 incorporated therein in an amount of 1.25 mol %. The resistivity of these compositions are 8.times.10.sup.6 .OMEGA.cm for the former, and 2.8.times.10.sup.6 .OMEGA.cm for the latter, respectively. These semiconducting ceramic materials of the prior art have been applied to secondary electron multipliers used for the purpose of detecting a slight amount of charged particles.
However, the above semiconducting ceramic materials can not be applied to secondary electron multipliers to be used for detecting charged particles in a wide range of current because of their negative temperature coefficient of resistance.
Recently, there is an increasing demand for detection of charged particles in a range of from a slight amount to a large amount with one detector. To this end, the secondary electron multipliers are required to have a wide range of proportionality of input current to output current. In general, it is said that in an output current taken out from the secondary electron multipliers of a channel type, which increases linearly with the input current, is about 10% of the current of an multiplier element, that is, the current flowing through the electron multiplier element. In order to increase the output current, it is required to increase the current flowing through the multiplier element. If the multiplier elements are so designed as to have a wide dynamic range, that is, to have a greatly low resistance, they are self-heated as a result of current flowing through it. Thus, the resistance of the element decreases because of the negative temperature coefficient of resistance (as temperature increases, resistance decreases), which in turn causes increase of heat generation, resulting in thermal running away of the elements. Thus, making it impossible to retain a high voltage applied.

Semiconductor ceramic composition for secondary electron multipliers


The present invention is a method for delivering insulin to a subject to improve impaired hepatic glucose processing. The method delivers a series of pulses of insulin to the subject over a period of time accompanied by ingestion of glucose in the form of a carbohydrate containing meal. The amount of insulin in each pulse, the interval between pulses and the amount of time to deliver each pulse to the subject are selected so that the hepatic processing of glucose is restored in the subject. In subjects whose hepatic glucose processing has been restored there is a subsequent fall in circulating blood glucose levels of 50 mg/dl or more directly as a result of improved hepatic glucose processing.

Diabetic retinopathy is a major cause of blindness. While earlier detection and major advances in laser therapies have made significant impact on this chronic complication of diabetes, the number of diabetic patients suffering from diabetic retinopathy continues to increase.
Glucose control is typically measured by a blood test, which determines the level of hemoglobin A1c, which has been the desired result of insulin therapy in diabetic patients for many years. However, it is clear that tight circulating glucose control was insufficient in 25% or more of the study participants to protect them from the onset or progression of diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy or neuropathy.
A major cause of death for patients with diabetes mellitus is cardiovascular disease in its various forms. Existing evidence indicates that diabetic patients are particularly susceptible to heart failure, primarily in association with atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries and autonomic neuropathy. There is little doubt that a metabolic component is present in various forms of cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients. Cardiac dysfunction (lower stroke volume, cardiac index and ejection fraction and a higher left ventricular end diastolic pressure) frequently manifested by patients with diabetes, can be explained at least partially by metabolic abnormalities, and is likely secondary to insulin deficiency since appropriate insulin administration can restore normal patterns of cardiac metabolism (Avogaro et al, Am J Physiol 1990, 258:E606-18).
The pathophysiology of diabetic nephropathy is only partially understood. The most consistent morphologic finding in diabetic nephropathy is the enlargement of the mesangium, which can compress the glomerular capillaries and thus alter intraglomerular hemodynamics.
Diabetes is the number one cause of non-traumatic amputations. The common sources of amputations are wounds that will not heal and progress to necrosis and gangrene. It is generally observed that diabetic patients have greater difficulty in healing and in overcoming infections. Diabetes in general and poor circulating glucose control in particular are thought to be causally related to poor wound repair in diabetic patients. Poor circulating glucose control is also a source of a lack of energy and a general feeling of malaise.
As reported in Diabetes mellitus and the risk of dementia A. Ott, R. P. Stolk, F. Van Harskamp, The Rotterdam Study, Neurology, 1999, vol. 53, pp. 1937-1942, patients with diabetes have an increased risk of dementia. Having diabetes almost doubled the risk of having dementia (the risk was 1.9 times greater). The risk of diabetics getting Alzheimer's disease was also nearly double. And in diabetics taking insulin, the risk was over 4 times that in non-diabetics. Even after adjusting for possible effects of sex, age, educational level and the other factors measured, the findings were the same. Therefore, it can be concluded that diabetes is a risk factor for the development of dementias, including Alzheimer's disease.
What is needed is a method which can restore metabolism; increase retinal and neural glucose oxidation by enhancing pyruvate dehydrogenase activity; treat retinopathy and central nervous system disorders; increase stroke volume, that improves cardiac index; increases ejection fraction, and that lowers ventricular end diastolic pressure, thus improving cardiac function, as well as improving the quality of life in diabetic patients. A similar method is also needed to significantly reverse the cardiac dysfunction common to diabetic patients with heart disease. The same method should be capable of providing improved blood glucose control as measured by hemoglobin A1c. Additionally a similar method is needed to improve the entire metabolic process and through its multiplicity of effects on neurovascular reactivity, intraglomerular pressure and hemodynamics, arrest the progression of overt diabetic nephropathy, improve intraglomerular hemodynamics, and thus arrest the progression of diabetic nephropathy and reduce the risk of development of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Further a similar method is also needed to increase glucose oxidation in the affected areas and therefore provide more energy for the same amount of oxygen delivered for treating wounds, promote healing and avoid lower extremity amputations in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. A method is required to improve the metabolism in the brain of patients suffering with any of a number of diseases causing senile dementia and hence improve mental function of patients suffering senile dementia.
In a previous patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,810, which is hereby incorporated in the description of this invention, the inventor describes a method of delivering pulses of insulin to a patient after ingestion of a glucose containing meal. The pulses of insulin are adjusted to produce a series of peaks in the free insulin concentration so that successively there are increasing free insulin concentration minima between the said peaks. In order to make this a viable treatment for clinical purposes there needs to be a simple, low-cost way of measuring free insulin to determine said peaks to insure that the correct levels are present to insure that the dietary carbohydrate processing capabilities of the subject's liver are activated. The only viable method for measuring "free" insulin is costly and time consuming, often taking days to obtain results. In the mean time it is not known whether or not the liver has been activated. What is needed is a way to determine, in real time while pulses are being administered and the base line of free insulin is rising, that in fact the patient's liver has been activated.

Method for infusing insulin to a subject to improve impaired hepatic glucose processing


Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) is fabricated by forming gate spacers on both sidewalls of a gate pattern in a semiconductor substrate including first and second regions. Then, a first impurity region is formed in the semiconductor substrate at the first region, and the gate spacer exposed at the first region is removed. A second impurity region is formed in the semiconductor substrate at the first region. A third impurity region is formed at the semiconductor substrate in the second region, and the gate spacer exposed at the second region is removed. A fourth impurity region is formed in the semiconductor substrate at the second region. The first and third impurity regions are formed deeper than the second and fourth impurity regions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more specifically, to methods of fabricating Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFET).
2. Description of Related Art
Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFET) are widely used in semiconductor (integrated circuit) devices. Many semiconductor devices today use complementary MOSFETs ("CMOSFET") that include N-type MOSFETs and P-type MOSFETs.
FIG. 1 through FIG. 7 are cross-sectional views for explaining a conventional method of fabricating a CMOSFET having source/drain regions with a Lightly Doped Drain (LDD) structure.
Referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 3, a device isolation layer 15 that defines active regions is formed in a semiconductor substrate 10 having a first region and a second region. A gate insulation layer and a gate conductive layer are sequentially formed on the active region, and then patterned successively. Thus, a gate isolation pattern 20 and a gate conductive pattern 25, which are sequentially stacked on and intersect over the first region and the second region, are formed. The gate insulation layer pattern 20 and the gate conductive pattern 25 provide a gate pattern.
Then, a first mask 30 that covers the second region and exposes the first region is formed. A first low-concentration implantation 31 that uses the first mask 30 and a gate pattern exposed at the first region as an ion implantation mask is performed. Therefore, a first lightly doped region 35 is formed in the active region neighboring the gate pattern of the first region.
After removing the first mask 30, a second mask 40 that covers the first region is formed, exposing the second region. A second low-concentration implantation 41 that uses the second mask 40 and the gate pattern exposed at the second region as an ion implantation mask is performed. Thus, a second lightly doped region 45 is formed in the active region neighboring the gate pattern of the second region.
Referring to FIG. 4 through FIG. 7, after removing the second mask 40, gate spacers 50 are formed on both sidewalls of the gate pattern. The gate spacers 50 may reduce a short channel effect induced by excessive diffusion of high-concentration impurities that are implanted in a subsequent ion implantation processes. The short channel effect may result in punch-through, hot carrier effects and the like.
A third mask 60 is formed on the semiconductor substrate including the gate spacers 50 to cover the second region and expose the first region. A first ion implantation 61 that uses the third mask 60, the gate pattern exposed at the first region and the gate spacers 50 as an ion implantation mask is performed. As a result, a first heavily doped region 65 is formed in the active region neighboring the gate spacers 50 of the first region.
After removing the third mask 60, a fourth mask 70 is formed to cover the first region and expose the second region. Then, a second high-concentration implantation 71 that uses the fourth mask 70, the gate pattern exposed at the second region and the gate spacers 50 as an ion implantation mask is performed. As a result, a second heavily doped region 75 is formed in the active region neighboring the gate spacers 50 of the second region. Then, the fourth mask 70 is removed.
In the above method, most of the masks 30, 40, 60 and 70 are formed using a photolithographic process that may increase fabrication cost. Accordingly, it may be desirable that steps using a photolithographic process be decreased to reduce fabrication costs of a semiconductor product.

Methods for fabricating metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors using gate sidewall spacers


The present invention relates to a bicycle support rack that includes a shelf piece and a U-shaped bracket. The shelf piece is anchored to a wall along the rear, and has front corners supporting retaining hooks and apertured fixtures. The U-shaped bracket has a base portion anchored to the wall below the rear of the shelf piece. The arms of the U-shaped bracket extend diagonally up from the base to inwardly bent ends. The inwardly bent ends can be removably disposed through the apertures of the apertured fixtures, thereby resulting in a releasable engagement between the shelf piece and U-shaped bracket. The retaining hooks provide removable support for a bicycle by retaining the top tube of the bicycle frame.

The present invention generally relates to wall mountable support racks, and more particularly to wall mountable support racks for supporting bicycles and cycling accessories.
The storage of bicycles on support racks is advantageous for gaining floor space and decreasing congestion in cramped quarters. Typically, the known support rack is in the form of a heavy mountable base or stand and at least one large support bracket. The heavy base or stand is mounted immovably either to a wall, to a floor, or between a floor and a ceiling. The support bracket is anchored to the base or stand and extends out to forward retainers. The forward retainers support a bicycle by way of retaining the top tube of the bicycle frame in a horizontal position.
The known racks are not satisfactory because of their relatively large size and heavy weight. Overall, they are relatively expensive. Their relatively large size requires that they be packaged in relatively large cartons for shipping, inventory storage, and display on retail store shelves. Compared to smaller cartons, large cartons cost more to ship, store, and display. Their relatively heavy weight only adds to the cost of shipment. They also are deficient in occupying too much of the shelf space which retailers typically allocate for the display of cycling accessories. What is needed is a rack that provides support for bicycles and cycling accessories, that can be packaged in relatively compact cartons, and that is lightweight, inexpensive, and strong.


A super junction semiconductor device may include one or more doped zones in a cell area. A drift layer is provided between a doped layer of a first conductivity type and the one or more doped zones. The drift layer includes first regions of the first conductivity type and second regions of a second conductivity type, which is the opposite of the first conductivity type. In an edge area that surrounds the cell area, the first regions may include first portions separating the second regions in a first direction and second portions separating the second regions in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. The first and second portions are arranged such that a longest second region in the edge area is at most half as long as a dimension of the edge area parallel to the longest second region.

The drift layer of a super junction semiconductor device typically includes n-doped and p-doped columns. A high impurity concentration in the n-doped columns results in a low on-state resistance of the semiconductor device. On the other hand, when a reverse voltage is applied, depletion zones extend between the n-doped columns and the p-doped columns in a lateral direction such that a high reverse breakdown voltage can be achieved despite the high impurity concentration in the n-doped columns. It is desirable to improve the forward and reverse characteristics of super junction semiconductor devices.

Super junction semiconductor device comprising a cell area and an edge area


A prebiotic for enhancement of an immune response, a nutritional composition for enhancement of an immune response; use of a prebiotic in the manufacture of a medicament or nutritional composition for enhancement of an immune response; use of a prebiotic in the manufacture of a medicament or nutritional composition for the prevention or treatment of measles; a method of enhancing an immune response which comprises administering an effective amount of a prebiotic; and a method of prevention or treatment of measles which comprises administering an effective amount of a prebiotic. In preferred embodiments the prebiotic comprises a fructo-oligosaccharide.

The present invention relates to a carbohydrate formulation for enhancement of an immune response, a nutritional composition for enhancement of an immune response; and to the use of a prebiotic formulation in the manufacture of a medicament or nutritional composition for enhancement or improvement of an immune response to a vaccination, in particular measles vaccination, and prevention and supportive treatment of diseases and infections e.g. bacterial, viral and parasitic. The invention also relates to a method of enhancing an immune response which comprises administering an effective amount of a prebiotic mixture; and a method of prevention or supportive treatment of diseases which comprises administering an effective amount of a prebiotic formulation.
It is well known that prebiotics comprise carbohydrates and more specifically, oligosaccharides. Furthermore it is known that they have widely been used as functional food ingredients. They resist hydrolysis by enzymes of the human digestive tract, can reach the colon undegraded and provide a carbohydrate substance particularly suited to the growth of bifidobacteria. Oligosachharides may be produced from glucose, galactose, xylose, maltose, sucrose, lactose, starch, xylan, hemicellulose, inulin, or a mixture thereof. Purified commercially available products such as fructo-oligosaccharides contain greater than about 95% solids in the form of oligosaccharides.
Measles is a major public health problem, infecting approximately 70 million children annually, and it is estimated that 2 million die each year from the disease itself or its complications. In addition to fever and rash, the consequences of measles include acute diarrhea or dysentery, pneumonia, encephalitis, and blindness due to acute vitamin A deficiency. Thus in developing countries, case fatality rates may reach 10–20% (Semba R. D. Clin. Infect. Dis. 1994; 19:489–499).
Measles prevention is possible by maintaining a high level of immunization through vaccination with attenuated live vaccine. Measles vaccine is usually given at 15 months but may be given earlier (at 6–9 months of age) in areas where disease is frequently occurring and poses a threat to health and life of children. However, the response to measles vaccination at less than 12 months of age is suboptimal because infants may transplacentally acquire maternal antibodies that disappear at a variable rate. Because the seroconversion rate following immunization is not 100% and there may be some waning of immunity with time, a second immunization against measles is usually indicated.
An elevated response to early measles vaccination may therefore offer substantial and longer lasting protection until a second vaccine is administered, and the present invention provides a solution that addresses the problems set out above.


The functioning of an amperometric electrochemical sensor having an electrochemical cell is monitored by the electrochemical cell. A perturbation quantity is imposed on the sensor, which is operated with voltage control at a given polarization voltage. The response to the perturbation is measured and a check value is calculated, using the response under the perturbation as an input value. The check value is compared to a system-dependent limit value. If the check value is larger than the system-dependent limit value, the initial polarization voltage is changed by a predefined voltage increment and the process is repeated, until an optimal polarization voltage has been found, i.e., until the calculated check value is smaller than the system-dependent limit value. A measuring system that serves to carry out the method is also described. An automated embodiment utilizes a computer-supported control- and processing-unit with a data memory and a data-evaluating program.

Amperometric electrochemical sensors are used in a variety of areas for the determination of the partial pressure and/or the concentration of gases dissolved in fluids. The gases can be dissolved in liquids as well as in gases. The known state of the art includes sensors for the determination of ozone, chlorine, hydrogen and oxygen, among others. These sensors are used in different areas such as the chemical industry, the food industry, and in the field of biotechnology, for example to monitor processes or also for waste water analysis.
The measuring principle of amperometric electrochemical sensors is based on measuring the electrical current that flows between at least two electrodes in an electrochemical cell when a specific bias voltage or polarization voltage is applied. The sensor in many cases also includes a thin, gas-permeable membrane which separates the test medium from the electrochemical cell and allows only certain volatile or gaseous substances, e.g. oxygen, to pass through. However, there are also sensors without a membrane of this kind.
The electrochemical cell has at least two electrodes and an electrolyte solution in which the electrodes are immersed. At least one of the electrodes is a working electrode and at least one is a counter-electrode. In addition, there may also be a reference electrode. The counter-electrode as well as the reference electrode are immersed in an ion-conducting electrolyte solution that is also in contact with the working electrode. Through appropriate means, the working electrode is operated at a specific voltage which is often negative in relation to the counter-electrode. In other words, the working electrode is often configured as cathode.
In an amperometric electrochemical sensor with an oxygen-permeable membrane, i.e., in an oxygen sensor, oxygen dissolved in the medium migrates through the membrane to the cathode. At the cathode, oxygen is electrochemically reduced to water in accordance with the following chemical equation:O2+4H++4e→2H2O
The counter-electrode, in most cases configured as anode, is often constituted by a silver/silver-chloride electrode. At a counter-electrode of this type, silver is oxidized into silver chloride as described by the following chemical equation:4Ag+4Cl−→4AgCl+4e
If a constant voltage is applied to the electrochemical cell, the chemical reactions at the electrodes will cause a measurable electrical current to flow between the anode and the cathode. The measured current is in direct proportion to the partial pressure and, accordingly, to the concentration of the substance that is dissolved in the medium if the oxygen that is present at the cathode is consumed completely so that the partial pressure of oxygen at the cathode equals zero. With the exception of the partial pressure, almost all of the characteristic parameters of a sensor are dependent on the temperature, so that one needs to state all measurement values and characteristic parameters as functions of temperature or to put them into relation to a standard temperature. The measurements are therefore generally made with temperature compensation, with the actual temperature being determined by means of at least one temperature sensor.
The driving force for the electrode reaction is supplied by the oxygen diffusion through the gas-permeable membrane, in which the partial-pressure differential at the membrane is the determining factor. If all of the oxygen present at the cathode is reduced, the oxygen flow is controlled exclusively by the difference in the partial pressures at the membrane.
Amperometric electrochemical oxygen sensors are generally operated with voltage control, with the applied voltage being referred to as polarization voltage. In a typical voltammogram, i.e., a diagram of current vs. voltage, for the reduction of dissolved oxygen the current as a function of a decreasing negative voltage rises at first up to a plateau where the current remains substantially constant over a certain voltage range, beyond which the current increases further with a continuing decrease in voltage.
The plateau in the voltammogram is characteristic of a voltage range in which the oxygen reduction is controlled by the rate of diffusion and the partial pressure at the cathode equals zero.
In general, the polarization voltage of the sensor is selected so that the partial pressure of oxygen inside the sensor, more specifically at the cathode, equals zero and all of the oxygen that is present at the cathode is being reduced. This optimum level for the polarization voltage should be located approximately in the middle of the plateau in a typical voltammogram. The measured current is in this case voltage-independent and directly proportional to the partial pressure and the concentration of the oxygen dissolved in the medium.
If the polarization voltage deviates from the optimal polarization voltage, i.e., if the polarization voltage no longer lies in the middle of the plateau or if it lies even outside of the plateau, one of the two electrode reactions will occur with preference over the other. A polarization voltage that is too low has the effect that less oxygen is reduced to water, while a polarization voltage that is too high will have the effect that even water is reduced to hydrogen. Thus, a polarization voltage that deviates from the optimal polarization voltage leads to errors in the measurement results for the current.
The optimal polarization voltage and with it the shape and location of the plateau in the voltammogram depend on a variety of factors. The ability of the sensor to function correctly is influenced by these factors which include, among others, the temperature, the geometry of the sensor, the age of the sensor, as well as a variety of properties of the electrolyte solution in the sensor and of the test medium, such as for example the pH value, the oxygen concentration, as well as the presence of interfering substances such as carbon dioxide or other volatile components that can pass through the membrane and enter into a chemical reaction at the electrodes.
The different fields of application of amperometric electrochemical sensors impose strong requirements on the ability of a sensor to function correctly. A variety of methods are known for checking the function of amperometric electrochemical sensors.
A method of checking the function of an electrochemical sensor, in particular a conductivity sensor or pH sensor, is disclosed in German published application 102 44 084 A1 (8 Apr. 2004). A perturbation quantity is applied temporarily to the sensor, and the dynamic change of the sensor signal is captured during application and/or removal of the perturbation. This change in the sensor signal as a function of time is used as a measure for the changes of different characteristic sensor parameters. The perturbation quantity used in this case is constituted by an external auxiliary voltage. In the case of a pH sensor, the measuring electrode and the reference electrode are simply short-circuited with each other.
In an amperometric electrochemical oxygen sensor, the foregoing method has the disadvantage that a perturbation quantity such as, e.g., a voltage variance has to be relatively large in order to allow a dynamic dependency of the sensor signal to be observed. The voltage variance has to be sufficiently large to take the chemical system out of its equilibrium, and it should therefore lie outside of the plateau in the voltammogram. The time that elapses until the chemical equilibrium is restored, i.e., until the partial pressure at the cathode returns to zero, is relatively long and could influence the acquisition of measurement values which during a chemical process often occurs at very short time intervals. Short-term changes of the measuring system or of the medium cannot be captured during the function check of the sensor.
A method of determining the polarization voltage of an oxygen sensor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,817 B2 to Connery (13 Jul. 2004). A measuring system which includes a sensor that is normally operated under voltage control is modified in such a way that the sensor can be operated with voltage control as well as current control. In order to check the polarization voltage, the sensor is switched to a current-controlled mode and the voltage responses are measured for a level of current that is raised and for another level of current that is lowered in comparison to the initial value. The voltage response in this case is represented by the voltage value measured at a specific preset level of current. The deviations from the initial current are in this case fixed, given values, and the voltage responses are determined at these two constant current levels. The optimal polarization voltage corresponds in this case approximately to the mean value of the two voltages, the specifically stated value being 56%.
This 56%-principle which is used to find the optimal polarization voltage has to be determined empirically and depends on the sensor geometry as well as on the oxygen concentration in the medium. This means that the optimal polarization voltage can only be determined if the medium and/or the measuring system are not changing during the determination process.
The given levels of current are selected so that they lie in the areas that form the limits of oxygen electrochemistry. In the practice of this method, the sensor is operated at levels of current that lie outside the plateau of a typical voltammogram, although this has the consequence that the chemical equilibrium can be disturbed for example by hydrogen being produced in the reduction of water, which causes a delay in reaching the chemical equilibrium following the process of determining the polarization voltage. After the polarization voltage has been determined, the sensor is switched back to the voltage-controlled mode, and the new semi-empirically determined polarization voltage is set. Depending on how strongly the sensor has been disturbed, an extended waiting period has to be observed until stable measurement values can be determined.
However, especially in sensitive areas such as the food industry and/or the field of biotechnology it is extremely important that changes in the medium are continually monitored. Even small changes or fluctuations of the concentration can have an influence on the product in sensitive processes.
Consequently, the task presents itself to develop a method and a measuring system for monitoring the ability of an amperometric electrochemical sensor to function properly, and to design the method and the measuring system in such a way that the method can be performed quickly, that it is independent of the composition of the medium and that it can also be used in processes with a variable composition of the medium.

Method of checking the function of a sensor