A general-purpose register file including a plurality of general-purpose registers stores parallel arithmetic data. A plurality of pattern registers store a plurality of items of pattern data indicating the rearrangement of data in bytes, in half words, in words, or in a combination of these units. A data select circuit selects one of the items of pattern data stored in the plurality of pattern registers according to specifying data included in an instruction. A rearranging circuit rearranges parallel arithmetic data according to the item of pattern data selected by the data select circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an arithmetic device, and more particularly to an arithmetic device capable of single-instruction/multiple-data (SIMD) computing.
2. Description of the Related Art
When SIMD computing which enables a parallel arithmetical operation to be performed on a plurality of items of data with a single instruction is done, the items of data have to be rearranged to carry out a parallel operation on the data read from the memory. If a plurality of cycles are needed for the rearrangement of the data, the time during which the SIMD computing unit is idle increases, which prevents the original performance of the SIMD computing unit from being brought out sufficiently.
A processor capable of SIMD computing is often provided with not only arithmetic instructions but also data rearrangement instructions. Prepared instructions, however, are restricted to simple patterns because of a limitation on the number of instructions. For this reason, when a complex rearrangement inapplicable to the patterns is made, a large number of cycles are needed.
For example, in a case where the following data items have been stored in 64-bit (or 8-byte) general-purpose registers $1, $2, the data items in the two registers are merged alternately to store the resulting data in general-purpose register $0 as follows:
$1: D10, D11, D12, D13
$2: D20, D21, D22, D23
$0: D10, D20, D11, D21
In this case, as shown in program (1) below, for example, 12 instructions have to be executed:
                              Instruction          //                      Description                                                                          of                                                                          general                                      -                                    purpose                                                                          register                                                                                1                                                                                SRL              .              H                                                                                $3                    ,          $1          ,                                    3              //              $3                        =                                          {                                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                                      D                                                                                10                                                  }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shift                                                                                $1                                                                                right                                                                                3                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $3                                                                                2                                                                                SLL              .              H                                                                                $3                    ,          $3          ,                                    3              //              $3                        =                                          {                                                      D                                                                                10                                    ,                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                  0                                }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shif                                t                                                                                $3                                                                                left                                                                                3                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $3                                                                                3                                                                                SLL              .              H                                                                                $4                    ,          $1          ,                                    1              //              $4                        =                                          {                                                      D                                                                                11                                    ,                                      D                                                                                12                                    ,                                      D                                                                                13                                    ,                  0                                }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shift                                                                                $1                                                                                left                                                                                1                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $4                                                                                4                                                                                SRL              .              H                                                                                $4                    ,          $4          ,                                    3              //              $4                        =                                          {                                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                                      D                                                                                11                                                  }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shift                                                                                $4                                                                                right                                                                                3                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $4                                                                                5                                                                                SLL              .              H                                                                                $4                    ,          $4          ,                                    1              //              $4                        =                                          {                                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                                      D                                                                                11                                    ,                  0                                }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shift                                                                                $4                                                                                left                                                                                1                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $4                                                                                6                                                                                SRL              .              H                                                                                $5                    ,          $2          ,                                    3              //              $5                        =                                          {                                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                                      D                                                                                21                                                  }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shift                                                                                $2                                                                                right                                                                                3                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $5                                                                                7                                                                                SLL              .              H                                                                                $5                    ,          $5          ,                                    2              //              $5                        =                                          {                                  0                  ,                                      D                                                                                20                                    ,                  0                  ,                  0                                }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shift                                                                                $5                                                                                left                                                                                2                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $5                                                                                8                                                                                SLL              .              H                                                                                $6                    ,          $2          ,                                    1              //              $6                        =                                          {                                                      D                                                                                21                                    ,                                      D                                                                                22                                    ,                                      D                                                                                23                                    ,                  0                                }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shift                                                                                $2                                                                                left                                                                                1                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $6                                                                                9                                                                                SRL              .              H                                                                                $6                    ,          $6          ,                                    3              //              $6                        =                                          {                                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                  0                  ,                                      D                                                                                21                                                  }                                                                                Logically                                                                                shift                                                                                $6                                                                                right                                                                                3                            HW                                                                                and                                                                                store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                in                                                                                $6                                                                                10                                                                                OR              .              H                                                                                $0                    ,          $3          ,                                    $4              //              $0                        =                                          {                                                      D                                                                                10                                    ,                  0                  ,                                      D                                                                                11                                    ,                  0                                }                                                                                Store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                of                                                                                ORing                                                                                $3                                                                                and                                                                                $4                                                                                in                                                                                $0                                                                                11                                                                                OR              .              H                                                                                $0                    ,          $0          ,                                    $5              //              $0                        =                                          {                                                      D                                                                                10                                    ,                                      D                                                                                20                                    ,                                      D                                                                                11                                    ,                  0                                }                                                                                Store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                of                                                                                ORing                                                                                $0                                                                                and                                                                                $5                                                                                in                                                                                $0                                                                                12                                                                                OR              .              H                                                                                $0                    ,          $0          ,                                    $6              //              $0                        =                                          {                                                      D                                                                                10                                    ,                                      D                                                                                20                                    ,                                      D                                                                                11                                    ,                                      D                                                                                21                                                  }                                                                                Store                                                                                the                                                                                result                                                                                of                                                                                ORing                                                                                $0                                                                                and                                                                                $6                                                                                in                                                                                $0                                                          (        1        )
If SIMD computing is done using the result of the rearrangement, SIMD computing can be performed only once for every 13 instructions. Accordingly, the improvement of the parallelization by SIMD computing is not used sufficiently.
To overcome this problem, the introduction of a plurality of rearrangement instructions can be considered (for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-344099). However, if a plurality of rearrangement instructions are provided, the area of the decode circuit for decoding instructions increases, reducing a margin for the execution timing, which makes the control more difficult.
One known technique is to execute a complex rearrangement pattern with a reconfigurable array. However, when the reconfigurable array is applied to a small-scale circuit, its occupied area in the chip is large, resulting in a low cost performance problem.
Furthermore, the following technique has been developed: rearrangement parameters are stored in a plurality of control registers; these parameters are selected by a control block and supplied to a rearrangement logical block 120; and then, the rearrangement logical block 120 rearranges the data in a vector register file 110 (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-504165).
However, when the unit of data rearrangement becomes larger, the storage area of the register which stores the rearrangement pattern data becomes smaller. In this way, when the storage area becomes smaller, an unused part develops in the register, preventing the storage area of the register from being used effectively.
For this reason, an arithmetic device capable of making effective use of the storage area for storing rearrangement pattern data has been desired.

SIMD arithmetic device capable of high-speed computing


A semiconductor memory comprises a dual-port memory array having a plurality of cross-access dual-port bit cells arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein each of the plurality of cross-access dual-port bit cells has two cross-access ports for read and write of one or more bits of data to the cross-access dual port bit cell. The semiconductor memory further comprises a pair of word lines associated with at least one of the plurality of rows of the dual-port memory array, wherein the pair of word lines is configured to carry a pair of row selection signals for enabling one or more read and write operations on one or more cross-access dual-port bit cells in the row. The semiconductor memory further comprises a pair of column selection lines associated with at least one of the plurality of columns of the dual port memory array, wherein the pair of column selection lines is configured to carry a pair of column selection signals for enabling the cross-access dual-port bit cells in the column during the read and write operations.

Static random access memories ("SRAM") include a plurality of bit cells disposed in rows and columns to form an array. Each SRAM bit cell includes a plurality of transistors coupled to bit lines and word lines that are used to read one or more bits of data from and write one or more bits of data to the bit cell. SRAMs have the advantageous feature of holding data without requiring a refresh and are commonly used in integrated circuits. Embedded SRAM is particularly popular in high speed communication, image processing and system on chip (SOC) applications.
Dual port SRAM bit cell is a specific type of SRAM bit cell having two ports (e.g., port A and port B) that enable multiple reads or writes of the bits of data stored in the SRAM bit cell to occur via port A and port B at approximately the same time. Such dual-port bit cell design allows for parallel operations to be performed on the bit cell by different applications. Moreover, if a first SRAM cell and a second SRAM cell are in a same column or a same row, a read operation to the first SRAM cell can also be performed simultaneously with a write operation on the second SRAM cell.

Three dimensional cross-access dual-port bit cell design

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


Information is displayed from an information based computer system which comprises the consolidation of information from various object instances onto a single form. Changes or corrections to data values are maintained in a historical record. When the form is displayed, options are provided indicating whether there are older or newer data values resulting from changes or corrections being made to the original data value.

The present invention relates to an automated records management system. Such an automatic system has utility, for example, in a hospital based patient record keeping system. Patient record keeping systems are used for maintaining a wide variety of separate, often interrelated, types of medical records concerning patients.
Hand written patient record keeping systems have evolved through many years of careful refinement and enhancement into systems which maintain a detailed manual record of medical information concerning each patient. To meet the needs of different hospital entities (such as doctors, nurses, pharmacy, accounting, laboratory, etc.) a manual record keeping system would require that one bit of information be entered into multiple records.
In a typical manual patient record keeping system a patient chart, usually in the form of a notebook, is maintained at the nursing station for each patient. The notebook is divided into a plurality of individual tabbed sections, such as Physicians Orders, Kardex, Nursing Care Plan, Nursing Assessment, and Laboratory.
Each of the above sections is further subdivided into a number of forms. The forms are those which are appropriate to the individual patient and/or such patient's physician. For example, within the Laboratory section there may appear forms for chemistry, hematology, blood gas, and microbiology.
In addition, a "flowsheet" chart is usually kept at the patient's bedside. On the "flowsheet" chart there are individual areas for medications records, vital signs, intake/output, laboratory results, and other categories which are dependent upon the patient's affliction, such as intravenous (IV) drips.
The flowsheets are often a type of spreadsheet arranged by a progression of time versus a particular parameter. Each of the time/parameter intersections forms a cell.
Often, the information for one cell in a flowsheet will come from more than one object instance. Therefor, it is desirable to obtain the various pertinent information from object instances and have it displayed on one form. One or more of the fields from the form may then be displayed on a data cell. This is not available in current medical information systems.
Further, because changes/corrections may be made to the object instances via a form, it is necessary that a history of these changes/corrections be maintained. This is also not available in current medical information systems.
In addition, in order to maintain the efficiency of the information displayed in the data cells, it is desirable that only the most current information be displayed.
While only the most recent information is desired, it is necessary to indicate whether there have been changes in the data being displayed. If is also desirable to permit the user to view the information as it existed prior to being changed. These items are also not available in current medical information systems.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a spreadsheet cell which overcomes the above deficiencies.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for displaying information from an information based computer system which consolidates information from various object instances onto a single form.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for displaying information from an information based computer system which maintains an historical record of changes/corrections to information in various data objects and forms.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for displaying information from an information based computer system which displays the most currently available information.
yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for displaying information from an information based computer system which permits the user to view the information as it existed prior to being changes.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention described below.

Method for displaying information from an information based computer system


A Platinum temperature sensor comprises a ceramic substrate and a platinum thin-film resistor applied to said ceramic substrate, a ceramic cover layer and a connecting layer generated from a ceramic green layer by pressure and temperature treatment. The ceramic cover layer is connected with the ceramic substrate in such a way via the connecting layer that the platinum thin-film resistor is sealingly encapsulated with regard to the environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a platinum temperature sensor and a method for producing the same, and in particular to a platinum temperature sensor in the case of which a platinum thin-film resistor, which is applied to a ceramic substrate, is used for temperature detection.
2. Description of Prior Art
A known platinum temperature sensor is shown in FIG. 3. In this known platinum temperature sensor, a platinum thin-film resistor 2 is applied to a ceramic substrate 4 which normally consists of aluminum oxide Al2O3. In the area in which the platinum thin-film resistor 2 is formed, a protective glaze 6 is provided on the surface of the ceramic substrate 4. The platinum layer, in which the platinum thin-film resistor 2 is normally formed in a meandering shape, is additionally patterned so as to include connecting areas 8 having lead wires 10 connected thereto in an electrically conductive manner for taking the sensor signal. For fixing the lead wires 10, a glaze 12 is provided.
The field of use of the platinum temperature sensor, which is shown in FIG. 3 and which is implemented in thin-film technology, is normally limited to 600° C. In the last few years, there has, however, been an increasing demand for an embodiment that can be used for higher operating temperatures, which may exceed 1,000° C. In the field of high-temperature sensors considerable efforts have therefore been made to provide platinum temperature sensors which are suitable to be used in such high temperature ranges. By purposefully selecting the composition of the protective glaze 6, it has already been possible to find satisfactory solutions for some cases of use, whereas in very particular fields of application, e.g. in special cases of use in the field of automotive engineering, the results do not satisfy all requirements. For example, the long-term stability of temperature sensors of the type described hereinbefore, especially when they have applied thereto a certain measurement current, which may e.g. be 5 mA, is not sufficiently guaranteed at the high temperatures occurring, viz. temperatures in the range of 800° C. and 1,000° C., since the protective glazes used may be decomposed electrochemically by the necessary measurement current at these high temperatures. The resultant material migration has a negative influence on the properties of the platinum so that the sta-bility of the sensors and, consequently, the measuring accuracy are impaired.
By purposefully selecting the composition of the protective glazes, improvements could be achieved to a certain extent, but it was impossible to find protective glazes that withstand the electrochemical decomposition by the measurement current in the case of continuous loads in a temperature range of 1,000° C. or more than 1,000° C.
From the article "Fügen von Technischen Keramiken mit Keramik-Grünfolien" by M. Neuhauser et al., sfi/Ber. DKG 72 (1995) Nr. 1–2, methods for joining technical ceramics are known wherein ceramics green foils are used to connect two ceramic layers. A prerequisite for the joining method described there is that the sintering temperature of the ce-ramic green foil is below the sintering temperature of the ceramic to be jointed.
A temperature sensor having a platinum resistance layer, which is applied to a ceramic substrate and encapsulated by a glaze, is disclosed in DE 7629727 U1.
From De 37 33 192 C1 a PTC-temperature sensor is known wherein a platinum resistor formed by means of a platinum thick-film technique is arranged between two ceramic green foils and an interlaminar binder layer, whereupon the two foils are laminated together by use of a pressure and a risen temperature and are sintered after that.
In DE 4445243 A1 a temperature sensor is described wherein three unprocessed ceramic substrates are laminated together, pressed and fired at 1.600° C. in order to form a uniform piece. Before laminating a platinum resistor is arranged between two of the ceramic substrates.

Method of producing a platinum temperature sensor


A catheter tip electrode has a tissue contacting surface which electrically conducts RF energy to the tissue and is more thermally conductive than adjacent non-electrically conductive coating or cover which prevents RF conduction to the tissue contacting that surface. The tip electrode has a shell with a nonablating hollow proximal neck portion and a distal ablating portion defining a fluid chamber, and a plug-like support member which is configured with a fluid channel on its outer surface so a fluid passage is provided between the member and the neck portion for convective or direct cooling of the nonablating neck portion and nonconductive tubing covering it.

Ablation of cardiac tissue is well known as a treatment for cardiac arrhythmias. In radio-frequency (RF) ablation, for example, a catheter is inserted into the heart and brought into contact with tissue at a target location. RF energy is then applied through electrodes on the catheter to heat tissue to a destructive temperature in order to create a lesion for the purpose of breaking arrhythmogenic current paths in the tissue.
Irrigated catheters are now commonly used in ablation procedures. Open-loop irrigation provides many benefits including cooling of the electrode and tissue which prevents overheating of tissue that can otherwise cause adjacent blood to form char and coagulum. Despite efficient cooling of the electrode tip, under certain circumstances, adjacent catheter tip structures are heated by the tissue lesion site and the formation of coagulum and/or char can occur on these structures which are typically formed from a non-electrically conductive elastomer or plastic. The historic mode of operation relies on a scavenging effect where the tip electrode cooling fluid also cools these adjacent structures to some degree. However, it is desirable for an irrigated ablation catheter to prevent the formation of char and/or coagulum on adjacent, non-ablating tip structures and surfaces by convective and direct cooling.
Accordingly, it is desirable that an irrigated ablation catheter provide efficient cooling of adjoining non-ablating catheter tip structures which, due to their close proximity, are heated by the tissue lesion site.

Catheter with direct cooling on nonablating element


Objects of the present invention are to provide a membrane filter for liquids which is used in microfiltration or ultrafiltration of liquids such as chemicals, water, and the like and to provide a filtering device using the membrane. The membrane is a membrane filter for liquids which has been rendered hydrophilic, in which the decrease of the pure water permeation flux of the membrane filter after being subjected to wetting treatment with a liquid having a low surface tension, subjected to replacement with pure water, and then exposed to an atmosphere of 25.degree. C. and 60% for 8 hours, to the pure water permeation flux of the membrane filter before the exposure is 20% or less. Such a membrane filter which has been rendered hydrophilic can be obtained by, for example, rendering the surface of a PTFE porous membrane hydrophilic by treating the surface with a low temperature plasma under conditions that a product of high frequency output density and treatment time is from 0.5 to 50 W.multidot.sec/cm.sup.2 and a total gas pressure is from 0.01 to 10 torr.

In the microfiltration or ultrafiltration treatment of liquids such as chemicals and water, fine particle-removing performance, permeation flux for liquid, resistance to chemicals, pressure resistance, heat resistance, and the like are important selection factors for membrane filter. For this reason, porous membranes comprising high molecular weight polymers such as fluororesins including polytetrafluoroethylene (hereinafter, abbreviated as "PTFE") and the like, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyolefins, and the like have conventionally been selected.
However, membranes which have been rendered hydrophilic have become more and more necessary in recent years. That is, in the semiconductor industry, for example, washing of silicon wafers is being conducted using nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, sulfuric acid, or the like, but when replacing the chemicals after circulating and washing, air flows into the cartridge filter for filtration by discharging the chemicals. Because of this, the surface of a hydrophobic membrane such as PTFE membrane or the like in the filter comes into contact with air and the effect that the membrane has been treated with an organic solvent or the like to render the membrane hydrophilic is lost and, hence, introduction of chemicals in the next operation results in a significantly reduced liquid permeation flux.
Therefore, there has been a problem that the membrane should again be rendered hydrophilic with a liquid having a low surface tension.
On the other hand, known methods for rendering a porous polymer membrane hydrophilic include, for example, surface treatment with a plasma or sputtering, exposure to radiation, and the like (Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 59-186604 and 1-98640, and others). However, such methods have had a problem that the imparted hydrophilicity is insufficient, or if a membrane is to be rendered sufficiently hydrophilic, the membrane surface is modified excessively, causing to change the rejection performance the membrane originally possesses.

Membrane filter for liquids and filtering device using the same


Tone detection includes receiving a series of frames having a signal containing a tone and locating a first frame in the series of frames in which there is at least a partial, tone. The signal energy of the first frame may then be compared to the signal energy of a full tone frame or compared to the signal energy of a frame. A start time of the tone in the signal may then be determined. An end time of the tone in the signal may be determined by locating a last frame in the series of frames. The duration of the tone signal may be determined based on the determined start time and end time of the tone in the signal.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of IP telephony applications, and more specifically to tone detection.
2. Background Information and Description of Related Art
In current telephony applications, the presence of standardized tones needs to be detected and transmitted. When data transmission is required over a packet network, such as Voice Over IP, tone detection is done on a frame-by-frame basis, usually at the same rate as the frame rate of a voice codec. Since the start and end of tones are not synchronous with voice frame rates, the time representation of the start, end, and duration of tone is not accurate. For example, for a frame rate of 10 ms, the tone start and end point is represented in increments of 10 ms. This may cause the tone duration representation to deviate from its real value by more than 10 ms. Since the duration of a tone is an important criterion in the detection and classification of a tone, this deviation may result in the inaccuracy of tone detection and distort tone cadence information.


The invention generally features a rapid, quantitative method of diagnosing multi-drug resistance in a patient. The method involves (a) exposing cells of a biological specimen to a calcein compound, the calcein compound becoming fluorescent in the cell; and (b) measuring calcein compound accumulating in the specimen cells relative to control cells, reduced calcein accumulation in specimen cells relative to control cells indicating the presence of multi-drug resistance in the biological specimen. The method is useful for diagnosing multi-drug resistance in patients undergoing drug therapy, e.g., chemotherapeutic or antibiotic therapy.

This application bases priority on corresponding Hungarian application P94-02511, filed Aug. 31, 1994.
This invention relates to a diagnostic assay for the detection of multi-drug resistance.
Treatment of many diseases can be severely limited if the patient develops resistance to a chosen therapeutic drug. For example, chemotherapy, while generally an effective treatment against human cancerous diseases, is hampered when a patient becomes resistant to the chemotherapeutic. In one special form of drug resistance, called "Multi-drug Resistance," the patient's cells become resistant not only to the particular chemotherapeutic, but to a wide range of structurally and functionally unrelated drugs simultaneously (see Ford et al., Pharmacological Reviews, 42:155-199, 1992).
Multi-drug resistance is caused by an integral glycoprotein in the plasma membrane of the targeted cell. The most studied of these proteins is variously called Multi-Drug-Resistance 1 protein (MDR1), P-glycoprotein (pleiotropic-glycoprotein), Pgp, or P-170. Multi-drug resistance is also caused by a related homologue of MDR1, called the Multidrug-resistance Related protein (MRP)(Grant et al. Cancer Res. 54:357-361, 1994). The MDR1 and MRP proteins function as multi-drug transporters, catalyzing an energy dependent outward transport of drugs from the cell. They strongly resemble prokaryotic and eukaryotic members of the ABC (ATP Binding Cassette) transporters, or traffic ATPases (see Endicott et al., Annu. Rev. Biochem. 58:137-171, 1989; Higgins, Annu. Rev. Cell. Biol. 8:67-113, 1992).
MDR1 naturally functions to, and is highly expressed in tissues normally responsible for, extruding toxic materials and waste-products from cells (e.g., lung, kidney, and liver) and secreting hydrophobic compounds from exocrine or endocrine glands (Gottesman et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263:12163-12166, 1988; Higgins, Annu. Rev. Cell. Biol. 8:67-113, 1992). Consistent with its natural function, MDR1 catalyses an ATP-dependent extrusion of various cytotoxic drugs from the cell, e.g., vinca alkaloids, anthracyclines, and other natural antibiotics, thereby maintaining their cellular level at a subtoxic concentration. When expressed by tumor cells, MDR1 expels cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents, and thus allows the tumor cell to survive anticancer treatments even at high drug doses. At the same time "ordinary" cells, having no such extrusion mechanism, may receive a lethal drug exposure. Tumors developing from tissues normally expressing MDR1 often show primary drug resistance, while in other tumors secondary drug resistance can develop during chemotherapy. A variety of agents have been proposed to reverse multi-drug resistance: e.g., verapamil, quinidine, calmodulin inhibitors, phenothiazines, reserpine, or cyclosporin A (Gottesman et al. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 62:385-427,1993).
In clinical treatment of various cancerous diseases reliable detection of multi-drug resistance would be extremely helpful. Combination chemotherapy treatment protocols could be adjusted and drug-resistance reversing agents could be applied accordingly.
In MDR1-expressing cells a decreased uptake of cytotoxic drugs can be visualized by measuring the cellular accumulation or uptake of fluorescent compounds, e.g., anthracyclines (Herweijer et al., Cytometry 10:463-468, 1989), verapamil-derivatives (Lelong et al., Mol. Pharmacol. 40:490-494, 1991), Rhodamine 123 (Neyfakh, Exp. Cell Res. 174:168-174, 1988); and Fluo-3 (Wall et al. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 83:206-207, 1991; Wall et al. Eur. J. Cancer 29:1024-1027, 1993), respectively. However, quantitating cellular uptake of these fluorescence dyes may be difficult. For example, rhodamine 123 is poorly retained by the cells and interacts with various intracellular compartments and organelles, producing a spectral shift and a change in fluorescence intensity. Similarly, measurement of the steady-state distribution of fluorescent drugs or drug-mimicking compounds is made uncertain by the low sensitivity of the assay and the quenching effect of DNA and/or other cellular components.


Electromagnetically controlled assembly, including electromagnetically operable solenoid valves which are mounted on a valve accommodating member, coils having electric contact elements on their parts projecting from the valve accommodating member, a cover unit which covers the coils and the contact elements, a carrier element to accommodate the coils which is incorporated in the cover unit, at least a part of the cover unit being adapted to accommodate an electronic controller or connecting elements for an electronic controller. The carrier element is made of a material conducting the magnetic flux and the thermal flux, and a plurality of parts conducting the magnetic flux and the thermal flux are mounted at least on one of the bottom side and the top side of the plate-shaped carrier element.

The present invention relates to an electromagnetically controlled assembly, in particular for a braking pressure control device.
A generic electrohydraulic pressure control device is disclosed, for example, in international publication WO 92/12878 wherein in addition to the sufficiently known modular construction of the valve accommodating member, the cover is subdivided by a plate-shaped carrier element. On the one hand, this permits accommodation of an electronic controller or parts for an electronic controller. On the other hand, this permits providing the electric connection between the electronic controller and the contact elements which project from the solenoid valves. The cover along with the coils of the solenoid valves is slipped onto the valve domes of the valve accommodating member, and plug contacts engage each other to provide the electrical contact between the contact elements and the electronic or electric components integrated in the cover. The prior art publication teaches using elastic mounting elements, such as springs, to fasten the coils on the carrier element, or embedding the coils in an elastic shaped member. The functional arrangement of the coils in consideration of mounting conditions is provided as a complex.
In the generic publication WO,A,92/08630, the yoke ring, as an integral sleeve member, is connected with the tubular member of a valve coil for the electromagnetic actuation of a hydraulic valve.
The valve coil extends with its contact pins through an intermediate wall of a cover-shaped housing up to a conducting foil placed on an aluminum plate. The intermediate wall is provided as a carrier element. Each valve coil is fixed to the carrier element by way of elastic sealing plugs which embrace the contact pins and extend until the opening area of the aluminum plate placed on the carrier element. The heat which is produced during operation of the valve coil can be transmitted to the valve accommodating member at most by way of the tubular member. The aluminum plate can act as a heat reducing element exclusively for electric construction elements which are directly mounted on the aluminum plate. The elastic sealing plugs on the tubular members of the hydraulic valves act as heat insulators for the valve coils. The quality of the magnetic circuit mainly depends on the exact fit of the sleeve member in the tubular member on the valve dome.


Disclosed in the present application are an information transmission method and device, for realizing the transmission of information of a group of terminals. The information transmission method provided in the present application comprises: determining information of a group of terminals to be sent; and sending, by means of a group common physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the information of the group of terminals.

For the next generation mobile communications technologies, the brief introduction is as follows.
The mobile Internet is subverting the traditional mobile communication service model, providing users with an unprecedented usage experience, which has a profound impact on all aspects of people's work and life. The mobile Internet will promote the further upgrade of human social information interaction methods, providing users with a richer service experience such as augmented reality, virtual reality, ultra high definition (3D) video, mobile cloud or the like. The further development of the mobile Internet will bring about a thousand times increase in future mobile traffic, and promote a new round of changes in mobile communications technologies and industries. The Internet of Things (IoT) has expanded the range of services for mobile communications, from human-to-human communication to the human-machine and machine-machine intelligent interconnection, making mobile communications technologies penetrated into a wider range of industries and fields. In the future, mobile medical, car networking, smart home, industrial control, environmental monitoring, or the like will promote the explosive growth of IoT applications, and hundreds of billions of devices will access the network to achieve a true "Internet of Everything". At the same time, massive device connectivity and diversified IoT services will also bring new technical challenges to mobile communications.
As new service requirements continue to emerge and become more demanding, higher performance demands are laid on future mobile communications systems, such as higher peak rates, better user experience rates, smaller latency, higher reliability, higher spectral efficiency and higher energy efficiency, and it is required to support more user access and to use various types of services.
A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the LTE system is used for carrying scheduling information and other control information. There may be a plurality of PDCCHs in a control area of each downlink subframe. User equipment (UE) tries to decode each PDCCH in the search space according to the format of to-be-monitored downlink control information (DCI).
To sum up, in the existing LTE system, the UE blindly detects its own PDCCH according to the desired information. In the future mobile communications system, it is necessary to introduce scheduling or to notify related information of a group of terminals, but there is no solution on how to transmit information of a group of terminals at present.

Information transmission method and device

DATANG MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


A system for detecting write errors in a storage device is disclosed. The system comprises a storage device; within the storage device, means for storing one or more data blocks in a storage group, the storage group comprising the one or more data blocks and a check block, wherein the check block comprises one of the group of: a combination of the one or more data blocks of the storage group, a combination of one or more bits of a logical block address associated with the storage group, and a combination of one or more bits of a phase field that is updated each time the storage group is written; means for updating the check block each time the storage group is written; and means for detecting write errors by checking the check block.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to storage systems and particularly to disk storage systems for electronic data storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to advances in recording technology, the capacity of hard drives is doubling annually. The areal density is shortly expected to reach 100 Gbits per square inch and a 3.5″ drive will be capable of storing 300 GB.
The reliability of a hard drive is specified in terms of its MTBF and the unrecoverable error rate. Typical specifications for current server-class drives are 1,000,000 hours and 1 unrecoverable error in 1015 bits read. However, increases in areal density make it harder to maintain reliability due to lower flying heights, media defects, etc.
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) arrays (e.g., RAID-1 or RAID-5) are often used to further improve the reliability of storage systems. However with high-capacity drives a single level of redundancy is no longer sufficient to reduce the probability of data loss to a negligible level.
It is also possible for a disk drive to occasionally return erroneous data on a read command because a previous write command has not written to the correct location on the recording medium or it failed to record on the medium at all. This may be due to an intermittent hardware failure or a latent design defect. For example, the drive might write the data to the wrong LBA (Logical Block Address) due to a firmware bug, or it may write off track, or it may fail to write at all because a drop of lubricant (commonly referred to as 'lube') lifts the head off the disk surface.
There is increasing interest in using commodity drives such as Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) drives in server applications because they are about 3 times cheaper in terms of cents/MB. However these drives were originally intended for intermittent use in PC's and so they may be less reliable than server-class drives. Also ATA drives only support 512-byte blocks and so block-level LRC (Longitudinal Redundancy Check) cannot be used to detect data corruption.
For a single disk drive the controller could read back each block and verify it just after it has been written.
Any type of redundant RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) array could be implemented in a way that allows the read data to be checked. For example, with a RAID-5 array the controller could check that the read data is consistent with the other data drives and the parity drive.
However, these approaches have the disadvantage that both methods drastically reduce the overall throughput in terms of I/O (Input/Output) commands per second, since the first method requires an extra revolution and the second method requires several drives to be accessed for each read command).
A need therefore exists for detection of write errors in a storage system wherein the above mentioned disadvantage may be alleviated.

System and method for detecting write errors in a storage device

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided herein is a method of forming a conductive film, the method comprising: providing a coating solution having a plurality of conductive nanostructures and a fluid carrier; moving a web in a machine direction; forming a wet film by depositing the coating solution on the moving web, wherein the wet film has a first dimension extending parallel to the machine direction and a second dimension transverse to the machine direction; applying an air flow across the wet film along the second dimension, whereby at least some of the conductive nanostructures in the wet film are reoriented; and allowing the wet film to dry to provide the conductive film.

Conductive nanostructures, owing to their submicron dimensions, are capable of forming thin conductive films. Often the thin conductive films are optically transparent, also referred to as "transparent conductors." Copending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/504,822, 11/871,767, and 11/871,721 describe transparent conductors formed by interconnecting anisotropic conductive nanostructures such as metal nanowires. Nanostructure-based transparent conductors are particularly useful as transparent electrodes such as those coupled to thin film transistors in electrochromic displays, including flat panel displays and touch screens. In addition, nanostructure-based transparent conductors are also suitable as coatings on color filters and polarizers, and so forth. The above co-pending applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
To prepare a conductive film or a nanostructure network layer, a liquid dispersion of the nanostructures can be deposited on a substrate, followed by a drying or curing process. The liquid dispersion is also referred to as an "ink composition" or "ink formulation." The ink composition typically comprises nanostructures (e.g., metal nanowires) and a liquid carrier (or dispersant). Optional agents, such as a binder, a viscosity modifier, and/or surfactants, may also be present to facilitate dispersion of the nanostructures and/or immobilization of the nanostructures on the substrate.
A thin film of a nanostructure network layer is formed following the ink deposition and after the dispersant is at least partially dried or evaporated. The nanostructure network layer thus comprises nanostructures that are randomly distributed and interconnect with one another and with the other non-volatile components of the ink composition, including, for example, the binder, viscosity modifier and surfactant.
As disclosed in co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/504,822 cited above, roll-to-roll web coating is compatible with such solution-based deposition (coating) processes for transparent conductor fabrication. In particular, web-coating produces substantially uniform and reproducible conductive films on flexible substrates ("web"). Suitable roll-to-roll deposition processes can include, but are not limited to, slot die, gravure, reverse gravure, micro-gravure, reverse roll and Mayer-bar. There is a need to further enhance the uniformity and reproducibility of conductive films.

Anisotropy reduction in coating of conductive films


Method for fabricating a semiconductor memory device having auxiliary transistor structures which are required for lithography and etching processes. A protective structure for reducing leakage currents between gate conductor and doped zone is provided. The protective structure is formed as a region doped oppositely to the doped zone.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to methods for fabricating semiconductor memory devices, and in particular to an auxiliary transistor structure used in semiconductor device fabrication.
2. Background of the invention
Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips are distinguished by having a regular arrangement in a memory cell array assigned to a memory area. In the course of a transition from the memory area to the periphery, which may be provided with logic circuits, for example, the regular arrangement is interrupted. Topology differences lead to irregularities both during a lithographic imaging and during a subsequent etching process.
In order to avoid these difficulties, auxiliary transistor structures are provided at the edge of the memory cell array. The auxiliary transistor structures are based on the transistor structures in the memory cell array but have no functionality. In general, the auxiliary transistor structures comprise a weakly p-doped zone on which a gate structure with gate oxide and gate conductor is provided, and such transistors have an influence on lithography and etching processes but no relevance whatsoever to the electrical circuit. The auxiliary transistor structures are usually positioned as a frame at the edge of the memory cell array. During the processing of the frame, however, contaminants often occur in the gate oxide and enable an electrically conductive connection of gate conductor and p-doped zone. Such gate oxide breakdowns are harmful since, on the one hand, a standby current may increase appreciably and, on the other hand, locally at the edge of the memory cell array, a potential of the p-type zone may change and thus adversely affect the performance of the DRAM memory chip.
In accordance with the prior art, a loss of yield that has arisen in the production of DRAM memory chips on account of deficiencies during the processing of auxiliary structures has hitherto been accepted. A mechanism which might have contributed to keeping the loss of yield within tolerable limits is the formation of a parasitic diode. Since the gate conductor assigned to the auxiliary transistor structures is situated on very weakly doped silicon, the pure p-doped zone, at locations at which the gate oxide is not present on account of processing inaccuracies, a metal-semiconductor compound may be formed in the form of a diode which is similar to a Schottky Diode. If the gate conductor is at a more positive potential than the p-doped zone, the diode causes blocking and thus prevents possible leakage current between gate conductor and p-doped zone. By contrast, if the gate conductor is at a more negative potential than the p-doped zone, the diode opens.
Since a trend toward evermore negative reverse voltages of the n-type field-effect application transistors is apparent in more recent DRAM memory chip designs, the latter are coming closer and closer into a voltage range in which the parasitic diode opens. In conjunction with the opened parasitic diode, gate oxide breakdowns occur repeatedly and cause an appreciable leakage current between gate conductor and p-doped zone. Typical potentials of the p-doped zone are 0 or −0.1 V, for example. The reverse voltage of the application transistors may typically be at −0.5 V. Given such a combination, the parasitic diode may already open completely and bring about an undesirable leakage current.
In light of the forgoing it will be appreciated that a need exists to reduce leakage in DRAM memories.

Method and structure of an auxiliary transistor arrangement used for fabricating a semiconductor memory device


In one aspect, a quasi-resonant turn-off circuit is provided. The quasi-resonant turn-off circuit is couplable in parallel with a pair of anti-parallel thyristors. The quasi-resonant turn-off circuit includes a resonant capacitor and an energy recovery circuit. The resonant capacitor is configured to supply a charge to the pair of anti-parallel thyristors to decrease a turn-off time of the pair of anti-parallel thyristors. The energy recovery circuit is configured to recharge the resonant capacitor using remnant energy left in parasitic inductances coupled to the quasi-resonant turn-off circuit after the pair of anti-parallel thyristors is off.

The field of the disclosure generally relates to solid-state switches, and more particularly, to controlling turn-off in thyristors.
Thyristors (also referred to as Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCRs)) are power semiconductor devices that are widely used in power applications. Thyristors provide a high current capacity in a single package, provide low conduction power loss, have a proven reliability, and are widely available at a low cost. However, one major disadvantage of thyristors is they lack controlled turn-off or current interruption capability. Turning off thyristors entails waiting for a zero-crossing current before they can be switched off. Therefore, thyristors cannot actively interrupt a current when the gate control current is removed. During an overcurrent fault, the wait for turn-off may allow the fault current to rise to relatively high levels, potentially damaging equipment.
In addition to traditional applications such as circuit breakers and Direct Current (DC) contactors which implement current interruption, the thyristor switch with an add-on current turn-off capability can also improve the performance of a Static Transfer Switch (STS) and micro-grid disconnect switch where thyristors are used as main power switches. A Typical STS utilizes a "break-before-make" approach for transferring the load from a preferred power source to an alternate power source power source when the STS detects a power quality event, and the disconnection time associated to turn off active thyristors is a significant part of the total transfer time. As a result, the transfer gap between turning off the active thyristors and turning on the inactive thyristors can sometimes be a full electrical cycle period. This long gap may impact the power quality at downstream loads.
Thus, it is desirable to improve the turn-off time for thyristors in order to improve their performance and use in a wide variety of solid-state switching applications.

Quasi-resonant thyristor current interrupter


Systems and methods are provided for building and implementing ontology-based information resources. More specifically, multi-user collaborative, semi-automatic systems and methods are provided for constructing ontology-based information resources that are shared by a community of users, wherein ontology categories evolve over time based on categorization rules that are specified by the community of users as well as categorization rules that are automatically learned from knowledge obtained as a result of multi-user interactions and categorization decisions.

Due to continuing technological innovations in computer processing and networking, and the development of higher density memory devices, the amount of electronic information being stored in electronic repositories is continuing to grow at exponential rates. Indeed, by way of example, there is a vast amount of electronic information which is stored in millions of publicly accessible electronic libraries and other data sources on the World Wide Web, for example.
Although such electronically accessible information provides a vast source of information from which desired knowledge can be extracted, it is important to implement methods that enable an individual to efficiently locate desired information and extract relevant knowledge of user interest. Conventional methods that use "keyword" searching can be inefficient and inaccurate for various reasons such as variation in terminology, etc. Moreover, it is important to effectively manage the knowledge acquired from such electronic information. For instance, as a user continues to build a local electronic library of electronic information acquired from the Web, for instance, it would be highly desirable to utilize a management system that could efficiently organize and classify information in the local electronic library to thereby facilitate identification and access of relevant information from the repository.

Systems and methods for building and implementing ontology-based information resources


A system and method for controlling EGR of an internal combustion engine is presented. The system is capable of controlling EGR over a wide range of flow rates.

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) between an exhaust manifold and intake manifold may be regulated in many ways. One device for controlling EGR is presented in European Patent Application 0137282. This method describes controlling a series of valves in an attempt to achieve a desired EGR flow rate. In particular, valves are set to an open position in combinations that approach the desired EGR flow rate. In one example, the valves are selected from a binary pattern that represents a predetermined EGR flow rate. The selected binary pattern changes with engine speed and temperature.
The above-mentioned method can also have several disadvantages. Namely, the valves operate in a completely open-loop manner. That is, the engine controller selects a number and pattern of valves that are suppose to deliver the desired EGR flow rate. However, over time carbon deposits may alter the flow characteristics of the valves such that a different amount of EGR flows than is desired. In addition, since the valves are controlled in a binary fashion, the EGR flow rate will be interrupted and discontinuous when the number of open valves changes.
The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned disadvantages and have developed a system and method to deliver EGR to an internal combustion engine that offers substantial improvements.

System and method for exhaust gas recirculation


A method and system for generating a completed payment document ready for signature in image form. The document is signed by a customer and a copy of the signature is captured in digital form. Thereafter the signature is encrypted and saved along with a digital record of the transaction.

This invention relates to a system and a method for processing signature-based payment transactions and more particularly relates to such a system and method in which a merchant's records of payment may be generated and maintained electronically without generation or use of paper records except those delivered to customers at the point of sale.
In retailing and similar areas, the volume of transactions is often such that management of paper records is burdensome. Therefore paper records are being replaced by digital storage media wherever feasible. However, digital storage devices have not been able to eliminate the need for paper storage in many financial transactions requiring consumer approval. Typical examples are transactions involving account debit (including check) and charge receipts. In such transactions paper documentation bearing a human signature has continued to be the norm. The storage and retrieval of such records is both inefficient and costly.
While techniques have been developed for producing digitized facsimiles of human signatures and processing such digitized facsimiles to verify the authenticity thereof, there has been no practical means of correlating a digitized signature with a specific transaction. Only by preserving a record of the transaction with the original copy of the approving signature thereon has it been possible to satisfy the commercial need for proof of an obligation. Thus paper records have persisted in the face of strong incentives for their elimination.
It is therefore seen that there is a need for a practical method and system for capturing an image of a signature in digital form and combining it with a digital record of the transaction itself. There is a further need for such a system which includes an effective defense against attempted fraud. In particular, there is a need for a mechanism for assuring that a signature purportedly approving a commercial obligation was captured at the time of a questioned transaction and is not a genuine signature obtained on some other occasion and fraudulently merged into the digital record of the transaction.

Apparatus and method for producing a digitized transaction record including an encrypted signature


The disclosure relates to a stator module for a linear drive of a container-handling machine in the beverage processing industry, comprising a housing in which a core and at least one coil are arranged, wherein the stator module comprises a media supply for supplying a gas into the interior of the housing and the media supply is adapted to pressurize the interior of the housing, as well as a corresponding container-handling machine and a method of operating a container-handling machine.

Linear drives and in particular long-stator systems are known from the state of the art.
For example, DE 10 2014 102 630 A1 shows a long-stator system that can be used in connection with the hygienic filling of products and thus also in the beverage processing industry. The actual drive is located outside a clean room where the filling takes place, whereas the inside of the clean room or isolator can be kept sterile. Since the motor here is physically separated from the area where the filling takes place, it does not come into contact with any cleaning media or even the product.
However, it is not always possible or practicable to achieve complete physical separation of motor and filling area, especially with filling machines that are designed without a clean room. In such cases, the drive is typically located or extends through the filling area.
Such arrangements mean that at least some components, such as the motor here, can be affected by contamination, which can lead to problems and unwanted downtimes, especially in the beverage processing industry.

Stator module for a linear drive of a container-handling machine


A metal structure that holds a display unit, as the main structure, and a casing structure that is integrally molded from resin onto the metal structure. The metal structure is resilient against flexural loads, torsional loads, and other deformations from the exterior upon the display unit composed of thin plate glass, because the member that protects the display unit is in a box shape. The display unit itself can be protected from damage even if rigidity is reduced because of a thinner profile. The metal structure is manufactured by thin plate pressing and sufficient strength can be maintained even if the thickness is low. Furthermore, the metal structure is configured as a frame part of the entire casing, the rigidity of the entire device can therefore be maintained by using this structure, and the mounting board and functional components other than the display unit can also be protected.

There is a strong demand for portable phones having a camera function, a larger screen, and other advanced functions, due to expanded needs for the functions. On the other hand, there is also a strong demand for a smaller, thinner profile from the viewpoint of portability. Various structures have been adopted to respond to these contradictory demands. The casing structure that is used on portable phone terminals generally has a housing in which a plurality of resin or metal components are loosely fitted and affixed using pawls or the like, affixed by screws, sandwiched, or held via another method. Alternatively, these methods may be used in combination. There are also cases in which a cushion or the like is affixed so that deformations in the outer casing are not transmitted to the interior. On the other hand, portable phones are exposed to various load conditions such as being subjected to bending loads, as in instances of being unintentionally dropped when carried, being pocketed and sat upon when the user sits in a chair and the like, or being pressed by books and the like when in a briefcase. Display units typified by liquid crystals are ordinarily made of glass, and it is important to ensure the strength of a casing structure because it cannot be that the display unit can withstand these types of loads. For this reason, in order to ensure the strength of the resin casing, the thickness of the walls may be increased, or, when the liquid crystal display unit is enlarged, a specialty frame part may be added or the frame part may be additionally composed of metal, as is described in Patent Document 1. Additionally, a structure may be adopted using a metal frame composed of magnesium alloy and the like, as is described in Patent Documents 2 and 3.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-317588.
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-51132.
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-114742.


A component, such as for a turbine engine, can include an airfoil with an outer wall defining an exterior surface bounding an interior and defining a pressure side and a suction side extending between a leading edge and a trailing edge to define a chord-wise direction and extending between a root and a tip to define a span-wise direction. The component can also include at least one cooling passage within the interior.

Turbine engines, and particularly gas or combustion turbine engines, are rotary engines that extract energy from a flow of pressurized combusted gases passing through the engine onto rotating turbine blades.
Turbine engines are often designed to operate at high temperatures to improve engine efficiency. It can be beneficial to provide cooling measures for engine components such as airfoils in the high-temperature environment, where such cooling measures can reduce material wear on these components and provide for increased structural stability during engine operation.

Turbine engine airfoil and method of cooling


A method of determining the number of bacteria in a sample which involves introducing a sample containing bacteria into a tubular filtering vessel holding therein a hydrophobic filter for bacterial detection, a coloring composition is disposed on the side of the filter where the sample is introduced into the vessel, and a support for the filter is disposed on the opposite side of the filter from the coloring composition. The bacteria is subjected to and the sample is filtered dyeing sample by suction from the support to collect the dyed bacteria on the filter and remove the excess of coloring matter. The number of the bacteria in the sample is determined from the degree of staining of the filter.

In the field of urine analysis, etc., it has been usual to determine the number of bacteria, etc. in a sample of urine, etc. to discover inflammation and estimate the condition of a disease.
For example, a case involving an increase of bacteria in urine is diagnosed as bacteriuria, and suggests an infection of the urinary tract. Accordingly, the number of bacteria is determined for early treatment and administration of medicine.
In the field of food, etc., the number of bacteria, etc. in food are determined to see if it has not been decomposed, and in the case of fermented milk, lactic-acid beverages, etc., the determination of the number of lactic-acid bacteria in the food is performed to control it.
The determination of the number of bacteria in such cases is mainly performed by a method employing agar plate culture.
This method, however, requires expert skill and an apparatus called an incubator, and calls for 24 to 48 hours to give results.
In the case of urine analysis, for example, it is after several days that a doctor knows the results of an examination by culture of an outpatient's sample of urine which is performed in a bacteriological examination room, or center. A method for the quick determination of bacteria is desired for diagnosis of high accuracy.
Food is examined for Escherichia coli and for general bacteria, and while the results of an examination for Escherichia coli are available from 18 hours of culture, an examination for general bacteria requires 24 or more hours of culture, and the results thereof are usually available for many foods only after their shipment. An improvement has been desired for bacterial control in the determination of, among others, the number of lactic-acid bacteria in fermented milk, etc., since it usually requires about 72 hours of culture, and the number of lactic-acid bacteria is known only after the shipment of commercial products, and in many cases after consumers have drunk or eaten the products.
In the field of metal processing fluids, such as water-soluble cutting fluids, the growth of bacteria is likely to cause the decomposition of fluids. An easy culture kit (such as one sold under the tradename, "Easicult") is presently available for checking the presence of bacteria, but takes 48 hours to give results. Therefore, it is likely that the measures taken for preventing decomposition may be too late to prevent any objectionable odor from being produced by decomposition.
Moreover, there have been proposed a method of determining the enzyme activity of bacteria (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 57-74095), a method using a fluorescent dye (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-138185), a filter dyeing method (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 1-124767), etc; though they are not presently employed in practice, but they have revealed drawbacks, such as the instability of a reagent used for determining enzyme activity, the necessity for a special apparatus (fluorophotometer), and the complicated operation involved in the dyeing process.
The applicant of this application has already proposed a method for determining the number of microorganisms in a sample by either dyeing the microorganisms and collecting them in a hydrophobic filter, or collecting them in a hydrophobic filter and dyeing them, washing away the excess of coloring matter and determining the number of the microorganisms in the sample from the degree of their staining, as a method overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art as stated above (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-218392).
This method has made it possible to determine the number of microorganisms in a sample quickly and easily without requiring any highly developed skill, expert knowledge, or special equipment.
The actual use of the method has, however, revealed that it is difficult and complicated, since it requires two steps of filtering operation.
The necessity for the use of a dropper, or like device for taking a sample has also complicated the method.
It is an object of this invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art as stated above, and provide a method and a device which make it possible to determine the number of bacteria in a sample quickly (within one minute) and easily in a single step of filtering operation without requiring any special equipment, or expert knowledge.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method and a kit which make it possible to determine the number of bacteria in a sample quickly (within one minute) and easily in a single step of filtering operation without requiring any special equipment, or expert knowledge, since no dropper, or like device is used for taking a sample, but a filtering operation under suction with a syringe is sufficient therefore.

Method of determining the number of bacteria quickly and a device for determining the number of bacteria


The crawler type traveling apparatus 5 includes a pivot shaft 6 provided on a vehicle body having a hydraulic source in a protruding state, a track frame 51 rocking around and pivotably supported against this pivot shaft 6, a final reduction gear 53 including a sprocket 531 engaged by a crawler 56 and provided at an end part of this track frame 51, and a hydraulic motor 57 for driving the sprocket 531 of the final reduction gear 53 for rotation, in which the hydraulic motor 57 is provided on a vehicle inner side with respect to the final reduction gear 53.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a crawler type traveling apparatus and a pivot shaft used in a bulldozer, a hydraulic shovel and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally crawler type traveling apparatuses are provided in both right and left sides of a work vehicle such as a bulldozer, a hydraulic shovel, and a crawler crane.
In the work vehicle as described above, the crawler type traveling apparatus has the configuration in which a track frame is provided on a main body of the vehicle and a final reduction gear including a sprocket and a hydraulic motor for driving are provided at an end part of this track frame. A hydraulic source and the hydraulic motor provided on the main body of the vehicle are connected to each other through a hydraulic piping arrangement, and when a hydraulic oil is fed from the hydraulic source, the hydraulic motor starts rotation, and in association with rotation of the hydraulic motor, the sprocket rotates to drive a crawler engaged with the sprocket, and thus the work vehicle starts running. With the configuration as described above, a compact crawler type traveling apparatus can be realized.
Further in a vehicle such as a bulldozer in which a traction is made much of, sometimes pivot shafts are provided in both right and left sides of the vehicle for pivotably supporting crawler type traveling apparatuses respectively, and with this configuration, the crawler type traveling apparatuses in the right and left sides can be contacted to the ground surface having three-dimensional undulations and a large traction can be obtained.
In the crawler type traveling apparatus as described above, by providing pivot shafts in both sides of a main body of the vehicle for pivotably supporting the crawler type traveling apparatuses and also providing a final reduction gear and a hydraulic motor at an end part of the track frame, a compact crawler type traveling apparatus capable of generating a large traction can be realized.
With the configuration, however, as a hydraulic motor is provided on a track frame rocking up and down and further a hydraulic source is provided on a main body of the vehicle, the hydraulic motor and the hydraulic source must be coupled to each other with a piping arrangement such as a hydraulic hose and the like having a predetermined length and high flexibility. In this case, the piping arrangement likely contacts sand, rocks, stones and the like during a work and is likely damaged.
For solving the problem as described above, there has been proposed a structure having a hydraulic frame and a final reduction gear each provided on a track frame rocking up and down, in which a hydraulic passage with the piping arrangement connected thereto is formed in a pivot shaft for making configuration of the piping arrangement compact and also for protecting the piping arrangement from earth and sand, rocks and the like (Refer to, for instance, reference 1: LIEBHERR A. G. "Operation and Maintenance Manual PR712 Litronic", Germany, P.O. Box 54, CH-5415 Nussbaumen, Manual No. IRM-710-06 (pages 2 to 6)).
Further there has been a method of protecting the piping arrangement from earth and sand and rocks by inserting a hydraulic piping connecting a hydraulic motor provided on a track frame rocking up and down to a hydraulic source provided on a main body of the vehicle into a hollow pivot shaft (Refer to, for instance, reference 2: Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. HEI 2-113585, pages 3 to 5, FIG. 1)).
The technology disclosed in reference numeral 1 will be described as a related art with reference to the related drawings. It is to be noted that the FIG. 6 is a side view showing a bulldozer having a crawler type traveling apparatus according to the related art, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a principle portion of the crawler type traveling apparatus.
A bulldozer 100 includes a main frame 101 elongated in the longitudinal direction provided at a center thereof, and pivot shafts 102 are provided in the right and left side of this main frame 101 so as to protrude from the main frame 101. Further, a crawler type traveling apparatus 110 is pivotably provided to the pivot shaft 102, in a manner that it can oscillate around the pivot shaft axis P2.
The crawler type traveling apparatus 110 includes a track frame 111, an idler 112, a sprocket 113, a track roller 114, a carrier roller 115, and a crawler 116.
The track frame 111 includes a steel-made frame long in the longitudinal direction like the main frame 101, and is pivotably supported on the pivot shaft 102.
The idler 112 is an idle wheel rotatably provided at a front end part of the track frame 111, and the sprocket 113 is a portion of a final reduction gear (not shown) provided at a rear end part of the track frame 111, and is a driving wheel driven by a hydraulic motor described hereinafter.
The plurality of track rollers 114 are rotatably provided under the track frame 111 respectively, while the carrier roller 115 is rotatably provided above the track frame 111.
The crawler 116 is wound around the idler 112, sprocket 113, track roller 114, and carrier roller 115, and engages the sprocket 113.
When the sprocket 113 is rotated by a hydraulic motor for driving, the crawler 116 moves along an orbit outer from the idler 112, track roller 114, and carrier roller 115 and kicks the ground with a grounding surface to move forward and backward.
A boss portion 121 is provided on the rear side of the track frame 111 as shown in FIG. 7, and the boss portion 121 is rotatably inserted to the pivot shaft 102.
Further a bracket portion 122 extending toward a rear edge side of the track frame 111 is monolithically formed on the boss portion 121, and a final reduction gear 123 including the sprocket 113 is attached to an inner side surface of the bracket portion 122, while a hydraulic motor 124 for driving is attached to an outer side surface of the bracket portion 122.
The pivot shaft 102 is tightened to a side plate 103 of the main frame 101 with a bolt 104 so as to penetrate the main frame 101 from the inside to the outside thereof.
A plurality of hydraulic passages 125, 126, 127, 128 each extending from inside of the vehicle to the outside thereof along the shaft center P2 are formed at a axial center portion of the pivot shaft 102, and a gallery block 129 is attached to an outer end face of the pivot shaft 102.
Connected to this gallery block 129 are a pair of hydraulic hoses 130, 131 extending in parallel to each other. Tips of these hydraulic hoses 130, 131 are connected to a suction port and a discharge port not shown of the hydraulic motor 124, and the base end is connected to the gallery block 129.
The suction port and discharge port of the hydraulic motor 124 are communicated via the hydraulic hoses 130, 131 and gallery block 129 to the hydraulic passages 125, 126 inside the pivot shaft 102, and the hydraulic hoses 105, 106 connected to a suction port and an discharge port of a hydraulic pump disposed inside the main frame 101 and not shown are connected to the hydraulic passages 125, 126.
Further connected to the gallery block 129 are hydraulic hoses 132, 133 with a tip of the hydraulic hose 132 connected to a speed control port (not shown) of the hydraulic motor 124 and the hydraulic hose 133 connected to a brake release port (not shown) of a parking brake 123A of the final reduction gear 123. These hydraulic houses 132, 133 are communicated via the gallery block 129 to the hydraulic passages 127, 128 in the pivot shaft 102, and further the hydraulic hoses 107, 108 connected to an operation valve (not shown) provided inside the main frame 101 are connected to the hydraulic passages 127, 128.
An outer side of the bracket portion 122 is covered with a cover 134, and the hydraulic hoses 130 to 133 and the gallery block 129 are protected by this cover 134.
In the configuration of the crawler type traveling apparatus 110 as described above, the hydraulic motor 124 is first provided outside the vehicle in the bracket portion 122 at a rear edge of the track frame 111. On the other hand, required ports of hydraulic appliances such as a hydraulic pump inside the main frame 101 are communicated via the hydraulic passages 125 to 128 in the pivot shaft 102 to the gallery block 129 attached to an outer end face of the pivot shaft 102, and further the gallery block 129 and the hydraulic motor 124 are connected to each other with short hydraulic hoses 130 to 133, so that configuration of the crawler type traveling apparatus is compact.
The crawler type traveling apparatus 110 described in reference document 1 has, however, the problems as described below because the hydraulic motor 124 is on the more outer side of the vehicle body as compared to the final reduction gear 123 including the sprocket 113.    (1) An outer side surface of the crawler type traveling apparatus 110 often contacts obstacles such as surrounding ground or pavement when moving forward and backward or turning, and further often impinges against rolling rocks from a mucking mound and/or rolling rocks from a wall surface of a bench-cut. For this reason, the hydraulic motor 124, hydraulic hoses 130 to 133 provided on an outer side surface of the crawler type traveling apparatus 110 are often damaged even when the components are covered with the cover 134.    (2) The depth of each of the hydraulic passages 125 to 128 formed in the pivot shaft 102 must be great so as to reach the inside of a side plate 103 from the outer end face of the pivot shaft 102 to. Therefore, specific machines such as, a gun drill and extended machining time are necessary for forming the hydraulic passages 125 to 128.

Crawler type traveling apparatus and pivot shaft