The invention is a system and method for managing patient care workflow, staff and resource allocation in real time in an ambulatory health care (clinic) setting providing the clinic with improved operating efficiencies. The system can stand alone or integrate seamlessly with enabling Electronic Health Record (EHR) applications by presenting the most relevant EHR view and form to the user at appropriate times in the workflow. Embodiments of the invention provide users with enhanced clinical practice functionality, efficiency and effectiveness.

Ambulatory health care settings (those that see patients in an out-patient environment verses in an in-patient hospital environment) are ubiquitous in every developed society. In the United States, almost every ambulatory health care setting (clinic) has multiple health care providers who are assisted by a larger number of staff in providing care and administrating the clinic.
Providing health care is resource intensive endeavor. These resources include physicians, medical technicians, medical assistants, nurses, other clinical and administrative staff, extensive facilities (e.g., waiting rooms, exam rooms, offices), and various types of equipment (everything from simple scales to very expensive and complicated diagnostic equipment).
Patient encounters typically require the successive involvement of many staff members and the use of several aspects of the facility and types of equipment. Each person involved in this chain of care has a specific role and uses various resources. For example—when a patient arrives at the clinic they "check-in" with the receptionist and wait in the waiting room; the patient is then escorted by a medical assistant to an exam room where the assistant gathers information and leaves the patient; subsequently the patient is seen by a physician or other provider; after the exam the patient then "checks-out" with a staff person before leaving the clinic. When tests, labs, or other studies are necessary even more people and resources are involved.
In the illustration above, the receptionist typically uses a Practice Management System to register the patient, often prepares portions of the medical record for clinical staff (particularly where paper health records are used), and alerts the clinical staff of the patient's presence; the medical assistant typically assigns the exam room, gathers patient health information for the medical record, prepares the patient for the provider, and alerts the provider of the patient's presence and updated health status; the provider examines the patient, records health information in the health record, orders treatment or study, and communicates the patient status to the medical assistant; and the "check-out" person typically records the visit as complete in the Practice Management System and coordinates subsequent patient visits and provider ordered treatment or study. So in this illustration the following clinical elements were involved: receptionist, medical assistant, provider, "check-out" staff, practice management system, medical record, waiting room, exam room, "check-out" counter, and whatever resources were required to administer the provider-ordered treatment or study.
The providing of care, by its very nature, is private. Patients are examined in private rooms and usually by only one provider or staff person at a time. This means that when a provider or other clinic member is in with a patient they are not available to their co-workers. This makes the coordinating of care efforts and resources difficult, time consuming, and prone to problems.
Systems and methods for coordinating these resources are known in the art and vary significantly in their approach, attributes, and common use. These include what are commonly referred to as Practice Management Systems, Electronic Health (or Medical) Records, other clinical workflow tools, and all manner of manual systems.
While such systems offer some benefits they generally fail to assist the clinic in attaining better resource utilization, higher efficiencies, and greater operational effectiveness. Tools provided are rarely tailored to what the specific clinic member needs for their role and that specific patient, nor do they ease the 'hand off' of patient care from one clinic member to the next.
Most systems focus on specific elements of the patient or encounter (e.g. as appointment time, visit type, chief complaint, payer, provider, health information, and the like) and do not help the clinic staff recognize the patient as a person. Patients therefore are often not recognized by the clinic staff attending to them, even though in many cases they are repeat visitors. This generally depersonalizes the encounter for both clinic member and patient alike, reducing the quality of the experience for all.
Administrators responsible for managing clinical staff and resources are generally hamstrung in their efforts to manage clinical staff and resources by the absence or unavailability of information. Most managers have precious little information regarding efficiencies, utilization, and effectiveness of the clinic overall and individual elements specifically.
The status of all patients in the clinic (e.g. who's currently attending them, where they are physically, how long they have been waiting, how long they are likely to wait) is impossible or difficult to monitor and track. Consequently, management is often in a reactive mode and responding to problems that could have been avoided if better information had been available.
Digital (electronic) documentation systems in the health care environment are well known in the art. Such systems are commonly called Electronic Health Records (EHR) or Electronic Medical Records (EMR). While EHR systems have the promise to improve both the quality and the efficiency of provided health care, current Electronic Health Record systems are generally cumbersome to use and offer little workflow assistance to clinic members.
Despite the recognition that EHR systems are in many ways compelling, their use is still met with a certain degree of opposition, skepticism, and limited success. It is apparent that until providers are offered EHR systems that are easy to use and empower their ability to care for patients, such resistance will persist.
One barrier to the adoption of an EHR system is the user-friendliness, i.e. "intelligence" of the interface. Current EHR systems frequently error on the side of over-inclusion; seeking to make input screens and data displays generic across medical specialties and clinical roles. Additionally, the EHR system interface generally requires users to re-enter information that is already known or to navigate through multiple-unrelated screens before they arrive at the interface that requires the clinic member's attention. As a result, most EHR system interfaces seem to present all of the patient information to every user all of the time, i.e. they don't intelligently present the information by presenting only the most pertinent information for the specific user. The distinct disadvantage with this approach is that productive time is lost inputting unnecessary information or navigating through the screens in the EHR application. Moreover, because the views are complicated and data-dense they are difficult to read; often obscuring the important and pertinent information. Chaotic and illogical formats not only present irrelevant, private, personal health information to more users than necessary, they also increase the opportunity for error.
Another barrier to the adoption of an EHR system is the inability to actually manage the provision of health care efficiently because of the inherent clinical (that is, health data) bias of most Electronic Health Records. For example, how long a patient visit was, how long a procedure took, how long a patient was waiting in the waiting room before examination, and the like, are completely lost variables in the current EHR scheme. In the current dichotomy, the procedural aspects of providing care are viewed as different from the actual care that was provided. The uncoupled nature of the medical workflow with the actual clinical work-product makes consistent work management practically impossible. The disadvantage of prior EHR systems is that the opportunity to integrate medical workflow with the actual clinical work-product in the EHR is completely lost.
Thus there is a need in the art for a comprehensive clinical workflow application that can work as a stand alone application or integrate with an Electronic Health Record system to manage medical office workflow in a user-friendly and easily adoptable format. Such a system would provide electronic storage, retrieval, analysis, and transmittal of information and have the advantage, amongst other things, of completely integrating the clinical workflow environment, thereby reducing the duplication of effort, the number of systems and personnel necessary to do multiple tasks, and increasing efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

System and method for enhancing organizational efficiencies to deliver health care in an ambulatory health care setting


This invention provides a method for analyzing an electroencephalogram(EEG) using the correlation dimension by which the brain states can be discriminated. The method uses a time-delay determining method necessary for reconstructing vectors from the EEG time series, and a relative ratio of a correlation exponent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for analyzing an electroencephalogram(EEG) using a correlation dimension, and more particularly to a method for analyzing an EEG time series by which a brain state can be determined using a time-delay determining method necessary for reconstructing vectors from the EEG time series in the embedding dimension, and a relative ratio of a correlation exponent(hereinafter, referred to as a relative correlation exponent).
2. Description of the Conventional Art
It is well known that a correlation dimension is most widely used in chaotic dynamics analyses. In analyzing the EEG(electroencephalogram) through the use of the conventional correlation dimension, the analysis method includes a first step of constructing vectors in an embedding dimension from the EEG time series by using a time delay, a second step of calculating a correlation integral for the vectors, a third step of obtaining a correlation exponent by using the local slope of the correlation integral, and a fourth step of obtaining the correlation dimension from the correlation exponent with varying the embedding dimension. For the stochastic time series, the correlation exponent continuously increases with the embedding dimension. In case of the chaotic system, the correlation exponent converges into a constant value which is referred to as the correlation dimension. Accordingly, the measurement of the correlation dimension enables one to determine whether the time series is stochastic or chaotic. Also, since the correlation dimension for the EEG during sleep and epileptic seizure is much lower than that of the normal brain state, the correlation dimension can be used in diagnosing the encephalopathy.
However, since the conventional correlation dimension measurement includes the above first step of obtaining the time delay from the specific function, such as the autocorrelation function, the dependence on the time delay of the embedding dimension is ignored. Further, at the fourth step in the above-mentioned method, it is difficult to obtain the correlation exponent in a high embedding dimension, because the number of data of the EEG time series is limited in experiments.

Method for analyzing electroencephalogram using correlation dimension

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A SiC wafer defect measuring method which includes a device management step of managing a defect measuring device by irradiating a reference sample made of a material having a light-emitting intensity that does not change with repeated irradiation by excitation light and which has a pattern made of recesses and/or protrusions in the surface, the irradiation by the excitation light being performed before measuring defects in a SiC wafer and under the same irradiation conditions as the measurement of the defects in the SiC wafer, and then measuring the S/N ratio of the pattern from a reflection image of the pattern.

Silicon carbide (SiC) has a dielectric breakdown electric field that is an order of magnitude larger than that of silicon (Si), a band gap that is three times as wide, and further, because of characteristics that include a thermal conductivity that is about three times higher, silicon carbide holds much promise for applications to power devices, high-frequency devices, and high-temperature operation devices and the like.
The development of high-quality crystal growth techniques and high-quality epitaxial growth techniques is essential for accelerating the implementation of SIC devices.
SiC devices are generally produced using a SiC epitaxial wafer, in which SiC epitaxial layer (film) that acts as an active region of the device is grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or the like on a SiC single crystal substrate obtained by processing a bulk single crystal of SiC grown by the sublimation recrystallization method or the like.
More specifically, SiC epitaxial wafers generally have a 4H SiC epitaxial lay grown by step flow growth (lateral growth from an atomic step) on a SIC single crystal substrate, in which a surface having an off-angle in the <11−20> direction from the (0001) plane acts as the growth surface.
Known types of defects found in the epitaxial layer of SiC epitaxial wafers include defects that are propagated from defects in the SIC single crystal substrate, and defects that are newly formed inside the epitaxial layer. Threading dislocations, basal plane dislocations, and carrot defects are known examples of the former, while triangular defects and the like a known examples of the latter.
For example, although carrot defects are long, rod-shaped defects in the step flow growth direction when viewed from the epi surface side, they are believed to be originally formed at substrate dislocations (threading screw dislocations (TSD) or basal plane dislocations (BPD)) or scratches on the substrate (see Non-Patent Document 1).
Further, although triangular defects are formed along the step flow growth direction (<11−20> direction) and oriented facing a direction in which the apex of the triangle and the opposite side (base) are sequentially arranged from the upstream side toward the downstream side, they are believed to originate at the time action of the SiC epitaxial wafer from contaminants (downfall) being present on the SiC single crystal substrate before epitaxial growth or inside the epitaxial layer during epitaxial growth, with the defects then becoming exposed on the epi surface as a result of the subsequent extension of a 3C polymorphous layer along the off-angle of the substrate (see Non-Patent Document 2).
It is known that intrinsic defects in SiC single crystal substrates and SiC epitaxial wafers (these are sometimes collectively referred to as "SiC wafers" below) can be detected by the photoluminescence method (for example, see Patent Documents 3 and 4).
In defect detection methods using the photoluminescence method, an excitation light is irradiated that has an energy greater than the band gap of SiC. Consequently, excitation of the electrons in the SiC wafer results in the generation of holes, and light is emitted when those electrons and holes recombine. Because the characteristics of the emitted light are different depending on the type of defect, the presence of a variety of defects has been determined by measuring the emitted light.
In order to evaluate and ensure the quality of SiC wafers, classification and quantitative counting of defects by type is becoming increasingly sought. At that time, management of a device using a reference sample is desirable for ensuring measurement accuracy.

SiC wafer defect measuring method, reference sample, and method of manufacturing SiC epitaxial wafer


Method and apparatus for the control of finite impulse responses for alerting in policy-based automation. Embodiments of the alert definition mechanism may provide a graphical user interface (GUI) that assists the user in generating complex alert definitions by graphically displaying the signal waveform and providing graphical user interface elements according to a GUI paradigm for manipulating various parameters, such as thresholds, edges, rates, and sustain and repeat periods, to define the alert or alerts. Embodiments of the alert definition mechanism may be used, for example, to assist the user in configuring the policies used in a policy-based automation system. This graphical shaping paradigm may be used to graphically, rather than textually, define the various parameters for alert definitions for relatively simple to complex alert definitions. This graphical approach may be more intuitive to the user than conventional, text-based alert definition mechanisms.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the field of computer systems and, more particularly, to policy-based automation in computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In Information Technology (IT), alert management is an important component of many different applications, for example in the areas of policy-based automation and utility computing. Alerts may be raised against thresholds for many reasons across the entire spectrum of IT applications. When it is decided that an application should detect and manage alerts, it is typical to start with something simple, such as determining whether a threshold for a metric being measured in a computing environment, network, or system being managed and/or monitored by the application is crossed, and allowing the user to set a severity level to warn that the threshold has been crossed. Conventionally, a simple "Wizard" or dialog box user interface with text entry user interface elements, and possibly other user interface elements such as menus and list boxes, have been used to define such relatively simple thresholds for policy-based automation and utility computing applications.
In policy-based automation and utility computing environments, there is often a requirement for multiple severities for different thresholds. For example, crossing a first threshold may generate an informational message; crossing a second threshold may generate a warning; and crossing a third threshold may generate a critical report. It is comparatively easy to create a user interface to do this. Conventional "Wizard" or dialog box user interfaces are generally sufficient for defining these slightly more complex thresholds.
However, in many policy-based automation and utility computing environments, there may be even more complex alert threshold definitions with many individual parameters. These environments may require a more complex solution for many alerts, for example for an alert to be reset automatically when the value drops below a first threshold, or for additional constraints to be satisfied before an alert can be trusted as significant. Additionally, there may be a time element for alerts; for example, an alert may be triggered if a threshold has been crossed for a certain amount of time, or if a value for a signal is sustained for a certain amount of time. Thus, in contrast to relatively simple alert definitions, many alert definitions in real-world applications may have many parameters, which may or may not be capable of being defaulted.
For many such complex alerts, there may be such a complexity of various parameters that it is hard for the user to keep track of them all through a conventional Wizard-based interface. The complexity of a conventional "Wizard" or dialog box user interface for alerts with a large number of parameters may be difficult to handle, even for an experienced user. This difficulty may be compounded by the typical user scenario, which is to start simply and add tweaks as more is learned about the environment. Further, the complexity of the user interface may grow as more features are added. Therefore, it may become difficult for the user to understand how the individual parameters are used and how one parameter may affect other parameters, and the user interface may have to be relearned with each release of the product. In addition, the Wizard-based approach is not conducive to learning how to do something (i.e., to configure and manage one alert) and then capitalizing on that knowledge to solve a different problem (i.e., to configure and manage a different alert). In other words, two different "Wizard" interfaces for managing two different complex alerts, even in the same policy-based automation/utility computing environment, may be so different that learning how to use one of the Wizard interfaces may not significantly lessen the learning curve for learning how to use the other Wizard interface.
Storage Area Network (SAN)
The storage area network (SAN) model places storage on its own dedicated network, removing data storage from both the server-to-disk SCSI bus and the main user network. This dedicated network most commonly uses Fibre Channel technology, a versatile, high-speed transport. The SAN includes one or more hosts that provide a point of interface with LAN users, as well as (in the case of large SANs) one or more fabric switches, SAN hubs and other devices to accommodate a large number of storage devices. The hardware (e.g. fabric switches, hubs, bridges, routers, cables, etc.) that connects workstations and servers to storage devices in a SAN is referred to as a "fabric." The SAN fabric may enable server-to-storage device connectivity through Fibre Channel switching technology to a wide range of servers and storage devices.
The versatility of the SAN model enables organizations to perform tasks that were previously difficult to implement, such as LAN-free and server-free tape backup, storage leasing, and full-motion video services. SAN deployment promises numerous advantages, including cost management through storage consolidation, higher availability of data, better performance and seamless management of online and offline data. In addition, the LAN is relieved of the overhead of disk access and tape backup, data availability becomes less server-dependent, and downtime incurred by service and maintenance tasks affects more granular portions of the available storage system.

Method and apparatus for controlling finite impulse responses using alert definitions in policy-based automation


A process for stabilizing sludge containing flyash and calcium sulfate formed by a lime or limestone scrubber increases the sludge particles to a size at which leaching of toxic metals from the particles no longer occurs at toxic levels. The sludge is dewatered and injected into the furnace in a manner to cause the flyash to soften and stick together. The agglomerated particles then fall into a bottom ash pit for removal as a common waste.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for making scrubber sludge stable so that it can be safely disposed. More specifically, the process relates to fusing or combining together the many small particles of gypsum and flyash in the scrubber sludge by injecting them into a boiler and heating them sufficiently to soften or melt their surfaces and impinging them on each other, or even to melting the small particles together and having the resulting larger agglomerates fall out the bottom of the boiler.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the production of electricity by steam, very often coala is burned to supply the heat to raise the steam. Coal contains sulfur; some coal contains a little sulfur and some a lot, but all coal contains sulfur. As the coal is burned the sulfur is burned to sulfur dioxide (SO.sub.2). The SO.sub.2 is a gas and it goes out of the stack with the other products of combustion. Some sulfur may be discharged from the mills as pyrite and a small amount can be retained in the ash, but most of the sulfur in the coal exits the boiler as the gas, SO.sub.2. This gas is an air pollutant, is not healthy to breathe, contributes to smog, and is oxidized in the atmosphere to sulfur trioxide which combines with water to form the corrosive and acidic component of acid rain, sulfuric acid. As a result there are numerous local, state and federal laws and regulations limiting the emissions of sulfur dioxide. A response to such regulations which is often followed in large electric power plants is to install sulfur scrubbers.
Typically these scrubbers contact a slurry of lime or limestone with the flue gas from the combustion process. Usually the by-product is gypsum, CaSO.sub.4.2H.sub.2 O, slurried in water and mixed with the flyash which is typically removed from the gas by the slurry in the scrubber. Thus the by-product of the scrubber is a sludge containing large amounts of water, gypsum, and flyash. The product, of course, is clean flue gas. Various efforts have been made to convert the sludge into useful plaster of Paris, wall board, or other useful products, and some have had limited success. However, the great bulk of the sludge must be disposed. The sludge is often disposed near the power plant in ponds or impoundments, but on occasion it may be transported some distance and placed in landfills.
The sludge contains mineral matter which has various solubilities in water. Some toxic metals are among that mineral matter. However, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has determined that the state of being hazardous depends upon extraction rates of the toxic metals. This in turn depends, among other things, on particle size. Unfortunately the flyash that is collected in the sludge may have a mass mean particle diameter as low as 20 micrometers. These very small particles have a large surface area to volume ratio and can be expected to be more easily leached than larger particles.
Bottom ash, due to its larger size, will be less of a leaching hazard. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has established extraction tests to determine if coal ash is hazardous. The present procedures are set forth in 40 CFR 260.20 and 260.21. It is emphasized that the test of ash for being hazardous is based on how much of a given element is extractable from a sample, not on how much is in a sample. The sample is crushed to pass a 3/8-inch (9.5 mm) sieve and extracted with water to which acetic acid is added to keep the pH at 5.0. The sample is contacted with the weak acid for 24 hours, after which time the liquid is tested for metals. The extract is tested for arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, and silver. A concentration limit is specified for each metal and if one exceeds the specified limit the ash is considered as having EP Toxicity and considered a hazardous waste. It is well known that disposal of hazardous waste is very expensive and should be avoided if possible.
It is true and recognized by people familiar with the arts of extraction and lixiviation that soluble materials are much more readily extracted from small particles than from large particles. Because small particles have higher surface area/volume ratios than large particles, a higher proportion of the soluble materials are at the surface of the particle and come into contact with the extraction liquid. Therefore, ash with large particles will often be judged non-toxic, while the same ash having small particle sizes would be found to be toxic. Thus, by increasing the size of ash particles they can be made more safe for disposal. Because of their small size the sample crushing procedure specified in the test is not relevant to flyash particles. It would take over 100 million spheres of flyash which on average is 20 micrometers in diameter to make one, 9.5 millimeter diameter sphere.

Consolidated Natural Gas Service Company, Inc.


The present disclosure provides a semiconductor structure and a manufacturing method thereof. The manufacturing method includes: providing a base; forming bit lines on the base, and forming semiconductor channels on surfaces of the bit lines away from the base, the semiconductor channel including a first doped region, a channel region and a second doped region arranged sequentially; forming a first dielectric layer, the first dielectric layer surrounding sidewalls of the semiconductor channels, and a first gap being provided between parts of the first dielectric layer located on sidewalls of adjacent semiconductor channels on a same bit line; forming a second dielectric layer, the second dielectric layer filling up the first gaps, and a material of the second dielectric layer being different from a material of the first dielectric layer; removing a part of the first dielectric layer to expose sidewalls of the channel regions.

With the increasingly high integration density of the semiconductor device, those skilled in the related art start studying how transistors are arranged in semiconductor structures and how to reduce the sizes of individual functional devices in semiconductor structures.
In the related art, memory cells of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) based on a saddle-fin transistor occupy an area of 6F2 (F: the minimum pattern size available under a specific process condition). To further reduce the occupied area of the DRAM, when the DRAM is scaled proportionally, a problem such as the proximity gate effect occurs, which will adversely affect the electrical performance of the DRAM. If vertical gate-all-around (GAA) transistors are used as access transistors, the area occupied by the GAA transistors can reach 4F2. In principle, higher density efficiency can be achieved, but there are problems such as difficulty in word line etching within some size ranges due to the limitations of the equipment used in the manufacturing process and the manufacturing process.

Semiconductor structure and manufacturing method thereof


The present invention provides an electrical programmable metal resistor and a method of fabricating the same in which electromigration stress is used to create voids in the structure that increase the electrical resistance of the resistor. Specifically, a semiconductor structure is provided that includes an interconnect structure comprising at least one dielectric layer, wherein said at least one dielectric layer comprises at least two conductive regions and an overlying interconnect region embedded therein, said at least two conductive regions are in contact with said overlying interconnect region by at least two contacts and at least said interconnect region is separated from said at least one dielectric layer by a diffusion barrier, wherein voids are present in at least the interconnect region which increase the electrical resistance of the interconnect region.

In semiconductor devices, it is well known to have thin film resistors embedded in the back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) of the chip through either a damascene process or a subtractive etch method. BEOL thin film resistors are preferred over other types of resistors because of lower parasitics. However, the sheet resistivity of the various resistors formed over the entire wafer may vary and go beyond specifications due to poor process control. In an advanced manufacturing line, wafers out of specification are often scrapped for quality control.
The resistor is one of the most common electrical components used in almost every electrical device. Conventionally, doped polysilicon is used as the material of a resistor. However, the conventional resistor can only provide a limited resistance within a limited dimension as manufactures keep shrinking the device feature size down. To overcome this problem, new materials with higher resistivity and new integrations are required for fabrication of thin film resistors in a highly integrated semiconductor device.
Resistive thin films such as CrSi and TaN are often used as resistors in semiconductor devices. Integration schemes used to fabricate the resistor components within the interconnect structure fall into two primarily categories. In the first integration scheme, a thin film resistor is formed, by etching on top of an insulator. A metallic layer is deposited on top of the resistive layer and is used to protect the resistor layer from being damaged during the sequential etching process. After the resistor has been defined, the underlying dielectric layer is then patterned and etched to define the interconnect pattern. Finally, a metallic layer for the interconnect is deposited, patterned and etched. Although the protective layer is capable of protecting the resistive layer, the provided protection is limited and the resistive layer may still be damaged during the etching process. This integration scheme is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,560.
In the second integration scheme, a thin film resistor is formed, by etching on top of an insulator. An interlevel dielectric is then deposited, followed by patterning and etching processes to define an upper level interconnect structure with vias connected to the underlying thin film resistor. A planarization process is usually required after deposition of the interlevel dielectric material in order to compromise any possible topography related issues caused by the underlying resistors.
Some additional prior art disclosures of BEOL resistors and methods of fabricating the same include, for example: U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0027234, U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,042, U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,560, U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,785, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,138.
Resistors can be trimmed by using laser or high-energy particle beams in order to set the resistance of the resistor. The prior art trimming processes are not clean and therefore have never become a common practice. Resistors can also be programmed by using a shut resistor to deselect at least a portion of the resistor from a chain of resistors within a circuit. This prior art method has two problems; first the resolution of the programming is limited by the least significant bit device size. Secondly, the shut device itself has some resistance. The tuning precision is thus poor.
In view of the above, there is a need to provide a BEOL resistor that can be electrically programmed without the need of using prior art shut resistors and wherein the resistance of the resistor can be set without the need of using prior art trimming methods.

International Business Machines Corporation


A valve timing control apparatus including a vane rotor, a torsion spring having one end portion fixed to the vane rotor, and a front plate having a cylindrical sleeve portion and a cutout portion formed in the sleeve portion, the cutout portion having an end wall surface with which the other end portion of the torsion spring is engaged and a side wall surface opposed to the end wall surface, the cutout portion being formed such that a first straight line extending through the end wall surface toward a radial inside of the sleeve portion is located closer to a central axis of the sleeve portion than a second straight line extending through the side wall surface toward the radial inside of the sleeve portion.

The present invention relates to a valve timing control apparatus for an internal combustion engine which variably controls timings of opening and closing an engine valve (i.e., an intake valve and an exhaust valve) during an engine operation.
Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 2005-325749 discloses a valve timing control apparatus that includes a housing constituted of a housing body and a front plate, a vane rotor and a torsion spring installed between the housing and the vane rotor. With the provision of the torsion spring, a biasing force of the torsion spring acts on the vane rotor to move against a reaction force of a valve spring (a force to retard a rotational phase of a camshaft) which is generated upon an opening operation and a closing operation of an engine valve. As a result, the valve timing control apparatus can be enhanced in operating performance and response performance.

Valve timing control apparatus for internal combustion engine


Electrical distribution duct with a signal transmission bus. Two bus connection parts that can be coupled with each other and associated with the support and the connector, respectively, are provided at branch connection support distributed along the duct. The connection part associated with the support includes two elastic contacts arms, built into an insulating body, to connect to each bus wire. Thus there are two contact points for each bus wire located at the ends of arms that come into contact with a rigid contact area laid out on a tab of the connector inserted in a support slot.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical distribution duct containing electrical power distribution conductors and a two-wire electrical communication signal transmission and/or control bus, hereinafter also referred to as low level signals, within a casing.
2. Discussion of the Background
This type of duct generally includes branch supports located at regular intervals along and inside the casing, facing appropriate openings so that a power and control connector can be connected to each. This connector is itself connected to an electrical appliance drawing power such as a load that must be powered from the power conductors, and with which it is required to exchange low level signals.
A duct of this type is described in document EP-673 089. It includes two bus connection parts at each branch support, associated with the support and with the connector respectively, and mechanically and electrically coupled together to form the communication and/or control link between the bus and the load connected to the connector.
There is no doubt that in the difficult environment of a power duct, robustness and contact quality are essential qualities required for connection of a bus, particularly a twisted pair or another two-wire bus.

Electrical distribution duct with transmission bus


A method includes, in a processor, processing program code that includes memory-access instructions, wherein at least some of the memory-access instructions include symbolic expressions that specify memory addresses in an external memory in terms of one or more register names. Based on respective formats of the memory addresses specified in the symbolic expressions, a sequence of load instructions that access a predictable pattern of memory addresses in the external memory is identified. At least one cache line that includes a plurality of data values is retrieved from the external memory. Based on the predictable pattern, two or more of the data values that are requested by respective load instructions in the sequence are saved from the cache line to the internal memory. The saved data values are assigned to be served from the internal memory to one or more instructions that depend on the respective load instructions.

One of the major bottlenecks that limit parallelization of code in microprocessors is dependency between memory-access instructions. Various techniques have been proposed to improve parallelization performance of code that includes memory access. For example, Tyson and Austin propose a technique referred to as "memory renaming," in "Memory Renaming: Fast, Early and Accurate Processing of Memory Communication," International Journal of Parallel Programming, Volume 27, No. 5, 1999, which is incorporated herein by reference. Memory renaming is a modification of the processor pipeline that applies register access techniques to load and store instructions to speed the processing of memory traffic. The approach works by predicting memory communication early in the pipeline, and then re-mapping the communication to fast physical registers.

Processor with efficient processing of recurring load instructions from nearby memory addresses


A reagent to be used in detection of occult blood comprising a mixed solution of sodium carbonate, 3-amino phthalic acid hydrazide, and iron and sodium derivative of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and hydrogen peroxide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reagent for detecting occult blood contained in human feces or urine (hereinafter called excretion).
2. Prior Art
It is hard to detect grossly the occult blood which is a trace hemorrhage in the human digestive tract or urinary organ. If the occult blood is detected, however, ulcer or tumor of digestive tract, infection of urinary tract, stone, tumor, blood disease or other intractable diseases may be detected in an early stage before advanced too much in symptoms, so that the progress of refractory diseases may be prevented.
Therefore, the occult blood reaction for detecting whether occult blood is contained in feces or other excretion or not has been attempted hitherto in various manners. Among such manners, catalyst have commonly been used. The principle of these manners is as follows.
That is, (a) acetic acid is caused to act in the hemoglobin in blood to form hematin acetate, and by making use of its catalytic action, the reagent such as orthotoluidine, phenolphthalein, benzidine and guaiacol acid is oxidized by hydrogen peroxide, and the occult blood is determined by the developed color.
(b) Aside from such catalytic method, recently, computer-assisted diagnostic apparatus have been developed to attempt early discovery of focus.
In the catalytic method (a), however, the reagent includes carcinogenic substance such as benzidine.
In the computer apparatus (b), a huge system is needed and it is very costly, and aside from the economical reason for patients, specialists were necessary to interpret the results of computer diagnosis.


A bearing assembly includes an inner member having an outer engagement surface and an outer race. The outer race has an inner surface defining a first end and a second end and an inner engagement surface therebetween, the inner engagement surface is positioned on the outer engagement surface of the inner member. A first annular groove is formed in the inner surface, proximate one of the first end and the second end. A second annular groove is formed in the inner surface and is positioned axially inward from the first annular groove. An external seal is positioned in first annular groove and slidably engages the inner member. An internal seal is positioned in the second annular groove and slidingly engages the inner member.

Spherical plain bearing assemblies typically comprise a ball positioned for rotational movement in an outer race. The ball defines an outer surface, and the outer race defines an inner surface contoured to receive and retain the ball therein such that the outer surface of the ball is in sliding engagement with the inner surface of the outer race. Contamination of the sliding engagement surfaces, namely, the outer surface of the ball and the inner surface of the outer race, is one of the leading causes of bearing damage. Typically, the spherical plain bearing assembly includes a single sealing arrangement on opposing sides thereof, wherein a seal is provided in a single groove for retaining lubrication between the sliding engagement surfaces and for inhibiting the ingress of dirt, water, particulate matter, and other contaminants to the sliding engagement surfaces.
For example, a single spread lock type seal is positioned in each single groove positioned on opposing sides of a spherical bearing, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,575, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. Typically, a single groove on each of opposing sides of the spherical bearing was employed to minimize the axial dimensions of the bearing while maximizing the load bearing capability of and sliding engagement between, the outer surface of the ball and the inner surface of the outer race. Thus, use of more than one groove or seal per bearing side was not considered.


A method and system for an optical navigation device configured to generate navigation information through a transparent layer. Specifically, the optical navigation device includes a light source that is configured to illuminate a reflective surface through a layer that is optically transparent to the light source. A sensor is configured to generate navigation information in response to light reflecting off the reflective surface. The sensor is configured with a depth of field to support a distance between the sensor and the reflective surface. A contact sensor is also included to indicate when the optical navigation device is no longer in contact with the transparent layer. The contact sensor allows for skating functionality for the optical navigation device.

Optical relative motion detection devices (hereinafter referred to as the "optical navigation device") typically utilize image correlation techniques to determine relative motion between the navigation device and a surface by capturing images of the surface as the navigation device passes over the surface or as the surface moves past the navigation device. Both the displacement and the direction of the relative motion of the navigation device with respect to the surface are determined by comparing one image with the following image.
Typically, light emitted by a source (e.g., light emitting diode or laser) within the optical relative motion detection device is reflected off a surface and is captured by a light-sensitive imager within the optical navigation device. As the optical navigation device is moved, the optical pattern detected (e.g., direct image of the surface, interferogram, speckle pattern, etc.) changes correspondingly between frames. From the changes observed between successively captured frames, the changing positions of the mouse over the surface can be determined.
For instance, existing optical navigation devices obliquely illuminate the surface to be navigated. Height variations on the surface cast shadows described by geometrical ray optics. The size and contrast of the shadow pattern images depends in part on the type of surface over which the optical navigation device is tracked. However, in some cases where a surface that would normally have sufficient surface variability or texture (on an optical scale) for use with an optical navigation device is covered with second, transparent material (e.g., glass or similar material), the optical navigation device is unable to track variations in a surface that is essentially featureless on an optical scale. That is, light reflected off the top surface of this overlying material would not show the spatial variations that can be used for optical tracking. As a result, optical navigation devices operating over a transparent layer present operational challenges.

System and method for an optical navigation device configured to generate navigation information through an optically transparent layer and to have skating functionality


Methods are provided for increased and controlled production of choline and inositol, choline and inositol metabolites, and choline- and inositol-containing phospholipids in yeast, comprising the step of increasing phosphatidylcholine (PC) turnover in yeast. Methods are also provided for detecting phospholipase D-mediated turnover of phosphatidylcholine in vivo in yeast, comprising an assay for choline excretion.

Phospholipid transfer proteins capable of exchanging phospholipids between membrane bilayers in vitro have been extensively characterized, but the role of these proteins in vivo has been more difficult to establish. See, for example, Cleves, A., et al., Cell 64:789 (1991), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. (Hereafter all additional citations of a particular publication shall be to the author(s) and year only.) A breakthrough occurred with the discovery that the SEC14 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes the phosphatidylinositol (PI)/phosphatidylcholine (PC) transporter/transfer protein which is essential to the secretary pathway and to viability as reported by Bankaitis, V., et al., Nature 347:561 (1990), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Deletion of the yeast SEC14 gene in an otherwise wild type cell is lethal and inactivation of the SEC14 gene product in a temperature-sensitive (sec14.sup.ts) mutant leads to arrest of the secretory pathway at the late Golgi stage as reported by Novic, P., et al., Cell 21:205 (1980), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Analysis of suppressors that permit the sec14.sup.ts mutant to grow at the restrictive temperature led to the discovery that mutations in the cytidinediphosphatecholine (CDP-choline) pathway for phosphatidylcholine (PC) biosynthesis (see, FIG. 1) suppress the sec14 mutant phenotype, allowing wild type growth even in strains carrying a total deletion of the SEC14 gene as reported by Cleves, A., et al. (1991).
The CDP-choline pathway, first described by Kennedy, E. P., et al. J. Biol. Chem. 222:193 (1956), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, and also known as the Kennedy pathway, is one of two routes for synthesis of PC in eukaryotic cells, including yeast. The second route for synthesis of PC, originally reported by Bremer, J., et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 37:173 (1960), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, involves methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Yeast cells can utilize either the CDP-choline or the PE methylation pathway, or a combination of the two, for net PC synthesis as reported by Griac, P., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271:25692 (1996), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. (See, FIG. 1). Deletion of the genes in the CDP-choline pathway is not lethal in yeast and appears to have little effect on growth as reported by Griac, P., et al., and McMaster C. P. , et al. J. Biol. Chem. 269:14776 (1994), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. It has been widely assumed that the CDP-choline pathway in yeast functions largely for the utilization of exogenous choline. However, recent studies have suggested that the CDP-choline pathway contributes substantially to PC biosynthesis even in the absence of exogenous choline. See, McMaster, C. R., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269:14776 (1994); McDonough, V. M., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270(32):18774 (1995); and McGee, T. P., et al., J. Cell. Biol. 124:273 (1994), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. In the absence of exogenous choline, the yeast cell synthesizes PC predominantly via methylation of PE. Conversely, yeast cells can survive the complete and simultaneous deletion of the genes encoding the two phospholipid methyltransferases that carry out the three-step conversion of PE to PC, provided choline is supplied in the growth medium as reported by Summers, E. F., et al., Genetics 120:909 (1988), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
However, deletions of the genes encoding enzymes in either of these two pathways result in subtly different phenotypes. For example, the deletion of either of the phospholipid methyltransferases does not suppress the sec14 growth phenotype as reported by Cleves, A., et al., Cell 64:789 (1991a) and Cleves, A., et al., Trends Cell. Bio. 1:30 (1991b), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. However, such mutants are unable to repress the INO1 gene that encodes inositol-1-phosphate synthase (see, FIG. 1) in response to exogenous inositol, unless PC biosynthesis is restored via the CDP-choline pathway. See, Summers, E. F., et al. (1988), and McGraw, P., et al., Genetics 122:317 (1989), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. And while the deletion of genes encodes enzymes of the CDP-choline pathway does not affect INO1 regulation in response to inositol (ee, Griac, P., et al. (1996)), such mutants suppress the sec14 phenotype (see, Cleves, A., et al. (1991a) and (1991b)).
The INO1 gene is the most highly regulated of a set of genes that encode enzymes of phospholipid biosynthesis that are subject to complex coordinate control. All these genes contain a conserved promoter element, UAS.sub.INO, that includes within it the canonical binding site, CANNTG, for transcription factors of the basic helix-loop-helix class as reported by Paltauf, F., et al., The Molecular and Cellular Biology of Yeast Saccharomvces (Broach, J., et al. eds.) Vol. II, pp. 415-500, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Plainview, N.Y. (1992), and Bachhawat, N., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270:25087 (1995), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
There remains a need, however, for methods to control PC turnover and INO1 regulation in vivo in yeast in order to produce inositol and choline and other inositol- and choline-containing metabolites as well as phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine. There also remains a need for an improved test for detecting phospholipase D activity and the resulting choline in yeast cultures and a variety of other cell cultures.
According to the present invention, the identification of the metabolic signal (phosphatidic acid (PA)) for derepression of phospholipid biosynthesis in combination with the use of yeast strains which contain mutations that block PC biosynthesis and which are also mutated in their PI/PC transfer protein, SEC14, result in yeast strains that can produce enhanced amounts of inositol and choline as well as other phospholipid metabolites economically. The present invention also provides a means of detecting phospholipase D-mediated or other turnover of PC in vivo via a plate assay for choline excretion.

Methods for producing phospholipid metabolites in yeast


A compaction roller for mounting on a driven compaction vehicle is equipped with both destructive and tractive, highly wear-resistant cleat assemblies. These include readily removable wear caps and supporting bases which have continuous side walls across the parting lines between the parts. Inset in the outer sidewalls are exposed mortise and tenon Jock joints serving to reduce relative movements between the parts under sever working forces. Pins extending radially between the wear caps and supporting bases further enhance the anti-twist resistance between the parts.

Compaction rollers and wheels used on landfill operations and particularly sanitary landfill operations are equipped generally with cleats or feet of the type for grinding and crushing materials to reduce the size and bulk of the material. As shown in the assignee's prior patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,922,106 and 4,919,566, an earth and sanitary fill compaction roller has been shown employing two different types of feet having a replaceable wear cap as a part of the cleat assemblies. The wear caps are welded to a base portion of the assembly, which in turn is welded to the roller as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,106. The wear caps in U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,566 are readily removable from the base portion of the assembly using common tools available at the job site. It has been observed that due in large degree to manufacturing tolerances that the use of removable wear caps coupled to a fixed base, in severe service exposes the assembly to twisting forces which in time materially reduce the service life of the wear cap and cleat assembly. In the '566 patent, a cleat assembly was disclosed including means for restraining twisting of the wear cap relative to the base, which function entirely satisfactory with compaction equipment then operating in the 70,000 lbs. gross weight class. Improvements in the cleat assembly are desired for use on compaction rollers mounted on compaction machines now furnished in the 100,000 to 120,000 lbs gross vehicular weight class.
More particularly, the compaction vehicles of the higher operating weights now coming into service apply substantially more torque to the compaction rollers via their larger engines and transmissions than was the case with compactors that were 30,000 to 50,000 lbs. lighter in gross vehicle weight. Moreover, landfill operators expect very long service life of the compaction rollers and cleat assemblies, some required assurances that these components will render a service life on the order of 20,000 hours. Thus, it is highly desirable to accommodate in the cleat assemblies on the compaction rollers the higher torque than tractive forces applied by the extra heavy duty compaction machinery now entering into service.

Fill and compaction roller using replaceable cleat assemblies with extended service life


The invention relates to N-substituted nicotinamide compounds of Formula I or its pharmaceutical acceptable salts, as well as polymorphs, solvates, enantiomers, stereoisomers and hydrates thereof. The pharmaceutical compositions comprising an effective amount of compounds of Formula I, and methods for the treatment of migraine and neurologic diseases may be formulated for oral, buccal, rectal, topical, transdermal, transmucosal, intravenous, parenteral administration, syrup, or injection. Such compositions may be used to treatment of epilepsy, migraine, Post Herpetic Neuralgia, Acute and Chronic Pain, Alzheimer's disease, Creutzfeld Disease, familial amyloid polyneuropathy, parkinson's disease, fibromyalgia syndrome.

Diseases of the central nervous system remain among the most compelling maladies known to humankind. This is because neurological disorders are typically devastating to affected patients and their families, often robbing individuals of the qualities that we most strongly associate with being human, and because the vast majority of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders lack effective therapies. In the 1980s and 1990s, the advent of molecular genetics approaches to map and identify disease genes laid the foundation for a prodigious advance in our understanding of the pathogenic basis of numerous important neurological disorders.
Migraine headache is a common, disabling condition. Migraine episodes are frequent, treatment can be challenging. Prophylactic therapy for migraine remains one of the more difficult aspects. Medications used to treat this condition can be divided into two broad categories: symptomatic or acute-care medications to treat individual migraine episodes, and prophylactic or preventive medications, which are used to reduce headache frequency. Symptomatic migraine therapy alone, although helpful for many patients, is not adequate treatment for all. Patients who have frequent episodes of migraine may sustain substantial disability despite appropriate symptomatic therapy. When symptomatic medications are used too frequently, they can result in increased frequency of headache and medication overuse headache.
When prophylaxis should be started is a matter of clinical judgment. Evidence on which to base this decision is lacking, and many medications are available from which to choose. Prophylactic medications are no substitute for attention to patient lifestyle and avoidance of migraine triggers. All patients for whom migraine prophylactic agents are considered should be educated in migraine triggers and lifestyle related factors. Common headache triggers include caffeine withdrawal, alcohol, sunlight, menstruation and changes in barometric pressure. Lifestyle factors, including stress, meal skipping, obesity, and erratic sleep and work schedules, can precipitate migraine.
Free radicals are highly reactive moieties playing an important role in health and disease. The central nervous system is especially vulnerable to free radical damage because of brain's high oxygen consumption, abundant lipid content and relative paucity of antioxidant enzymes compared with other tissues. Oxidative stress mediated cell damage in the pathophysiology of several CNS disorders has also been suggested. In view of the above, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of stress on neurobehavioral changes and the possible involvement of free radicals. Restraint stress (RS) was used as an experimental stressor and elevated plus maze was used as a test for anxiety.
Managing acute pathology of often relies on the addressing underlying pathology and symptoms of the disease. There is currently a need in the art for new compositions to treatment or delay of the onset of migraine and neurologic diseases and its associated complications progression.

N-substituted nicotinamide compounds and compositions for the treatment migraine and neurologic diseases


A silver catalyst for ethylene oxidation to ethylene oxide is provided containing a promoter combination consisting of an alkali metal component, a sulfur component, a fluorine component, and a pnictogen component from the group phosphorus, bismuth and antimony; the catalyst is essentially free of rhenium and transition metal components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catalyst for the oxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide consisting of silver, alkali metal such as cesium, a Group 15 component selected from phosphorus, antimony and bismuth, a sulfur component and a fluorine component deposited on a support such as alpha alumina and to the production of ethylene oxide using the catalyst. The catalyst is essentially free of rhenium or transition metal components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Processes for the production of ethylene oxide involve the vapor phase oxidation of ethylene with molecular oxygen using a solid catalyst comprised of silver on a support such as alumina. There have been great efforts by many workers to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the silver catalyst for producing ethylene oxide. U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,395 provides a comprehensive analysis of these efforts of prior workers.
Among the many prior teachings in this area is that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,135 (see also UK 1,491,447) which teaches variously silver catalysts for the production of ethylene and propylene oxides comprised of a promoting amount of copper, gold, magnesium, zinc, cadmium, mercury, strontium, calcium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, tungsten, chromium, vanadium, and/or preferably barium, in excess of any present in immobile form in the preformed support as impurities or cements (column 2, lines 1-15), silver catalysts for the production of propylene oxide comprising a promoting amount of at least one promoter selected from lithium, potassium, sodium, rubidium, cesium, copper, gold, magnesium, zinc, cadmium, strontium, calcium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, tungsten, chromium, vanadium and barium, in excess of any present in immobile form in the preformed support as impurities or cements (column 2, lines 16-34), as well as silver catalysts for producing ethylene oxide or propylene oxide comprising (a) a promoting amount of sodium, cesium, rubidium, and/or potassium, and (b) magnesium, strontium, calcium and/or preferably barium in a promoting amount (column 3, lines 5-8).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,481, and related 4,908,343 are concerned with silver ethylene oxide catalysts comprised of cesium and an oxyanion of a group 3b to 7b element.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,889 describes catalysts suitable for the oxidation of propylene to propylene oxide comprised of elemental silver modified by a compound of an element from Group 5b and 6b. Although the use of supports is mentioned, there are no examples. The use of cesium is not mentioned.
European Publication 0 266 015 deals with supported silver catalysts promoted with rhenium and a long list of possible copromoters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,848 deals with catalysts suitable for the production of ethylene oxide comprising a silver impregnated support also having thereon at least one cation promoter such as cesium, and a promoter comprising (i) sulfate anion, (ii) fluoride anion, and (iii) oxyanion of an element of Group 3b to 6b inclusive of the Periodic Table. Possibly for purposes of comparison since it is outside the scope of catalyst claimed, the patent shows at columns 21 and 22 a catalyst No. 6 comprised of Ag/Cs/S/F on a support, the Cs amount being 1096 ppm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,628 describes a silver catalyst promoted with alkali metal, rhenium and a rare earth or lanthanide component.
In the context of the bewildering and vast number of references, many of them contradictory, applicant has discovered a novel and improved catalyst for the production of ethylene oxide.


The space necessary for the installation of gas feed valves for domestic applications and the like of the type wherein gas feed valves take gas from a main gas feed duct and deliver it to gas using units is minimized by arranging the valves within the main gas feed duct, and by providing valves which include a valve body having at least one gas admission orifice opening directly within the gas space of the duct and a gas discharge, section opening outside of the duct. The valve body is fixedly arranged within the gas space of the duct by a suitable clamping arrangement, the valve body having a valve member concentrically arranged within the same for closing and opening the admission orifice and the discharge section. A valve cap is attached to the end of the valve body opposite the discharge section, and a valve stem is coupled to the valve member and is supported by the cap, with the clamping arrangement being provided respectively at the valve cap and at the discharge section, whereby the only portions of the valve which protrude outwardly of the gas feed duct are the discharge section on one side of the duct and the valve cap and valve stem on the opposite side of the duct.

The ever growing demand for domestic appliances which handle, supply and control fuel gases for producing heat, as well as the difficulties encountered and the high cost of providing a suitable supply of this type of energetics, has brought about a need for improved devices of these types. Manufacturers of these devices have been working and developing for many years a great variety of fuel gas systems, which are intended not only to provide a suitable and esthetic arrangement that may reduce the mounting space of the valves which regulate the passage of gas towards the burners of stoves or heaters that use this type of fuels, but also to reduce the amount of material required to manufacture the valve itself, while at the same time providing said valve with the functionality and versatility required to accomplish the most efficient use of the calorific power of the fuel, in the function of a suitable control of the fuel flow.
In the particular instance of the fuel gas feed systems presently used in domestic appliances such as cooking stoves, there is a vast plurality of manually actuated valves which are typically mounted by means of a branch conduit which is part of the body of the valve, which in turn serves as a gas duct between the main gas supply duct and the valve itself. However, although these types of valves permit a suitably regulated gas supply towards the burner, their construction presents the great drawback of not permitting reduction of the distance between centers of the gas feed duct and the valve, beyond what is permitted by said branch conduit, which calls for a relatively large mounting area within the stove in order to assemble the main gas supply duct with the. consequently, the cross section of said valves and said gas supply duct does not show a regular shape, causing the manufacture and particularly the machining operation therefor to be more complicated and costly.
As a consequence of the above, and particularly due to the fact that all the prior art valves normally require a gas inlet duct and a gas outlet duct connected to the valve, generally in diametrically opposite directions, and fittings are necessary for connecting said inlet duct with the main gas supply duct, said valves show a relatively large number of drawbacks. Those skilled in the art have been exercising every effort to provide a gas valve to be mounted transversely within the gas supply or feed duct, which besides avoiding the above discussed drawbacks, will offer substantial advantages both as to its arrangement as well as to its flow control characteristics, at the same time permitting a decrease in the amount of material in the body of the valve and a reduction of the space for mounting the valves.
However, to the knowledge of applicant, all the prior art gas feed valves which take the fuel gas from the main distribution duct of a domestic appliance in order to conduct the gas to the individual burners or pilots are generally mounted outwardly of said main gas distribution duct and, therefore, a considerable space is necessary for mounting said valves. In addition, a considerable amount of fittings for connecting said valves to the main duct are normally necessary. Therefore, up to the present date, no noticeable advance has been made in connection with the design of a valve that may be mounted interiorly of the distribution duct without the need of providing external fittings for connecting the gas duct to the valve.

Gas feed valve for domestic applications and the like

Instituto Mexicano de Investigaciones de Manufacturas Metal Mechanicas, A.C.


A hose tender is provided for use with a CPAP system. The CPAP system includes a breathing mask connected to a CPAP air generator via a hose. The hose tender supports the hose above a user in a convenient and safe manner. The hose tender includes a support arm including a first end and second end. The first end of the support arm is provided with an arcuate coupling portion and the second end is provided with a hose engaging portion. The hose engaging portion includes a cantilevered section secured to the second end of the support arm such that a longitudinal axis of the cantilevered section is oriented substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the support arm; wherein the cantilevered section includes an abutment member and a return portion with an horizontal line member connected therebetween. The hose tender also includes a clamp for selectively securing the support arm to a support surface. The clamp includes an upper support arm receiving hole and a lower support arm receiving hole and the arcuate coupling portion is shaped and dimensioned to simultaneously extend through both the upper support arm receiving hole and the lower support arm receiving hole. The clamp further includes a spring having coils and the arcuate coupling portion of the support arm is shaped and dimensioned to seat within recesses defined by the coils of the spring.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a medical device, more particularly, a medical device managing and tending the hose of a continuous positive air pressure system (CPAP) to aide and comfort the CPAP users. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of breathing by tending to the CPAP air hose running from the sleep apnea patient's face mask to the CPAP machine and allowing for free side to side, and up and down, movement of the hose thereby resulting in rested sleep.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many CPAP users have difficulty sleeping while using a CPAP machine. Previous devices for aiding the hose management of CPAP users are ridged, difficult to use, not flexible and do not address, in particular, the CPAP patient hose management. However, the aggravation associated with currently available devices may cause users to use the CPAP machine less frequently than they otherwise would. Limited use of the CPAP machine could result in serious medical problems.
As briefly discussed above, currently available devices for tending to the air hose of a CPAP machine are simply inadequate. The inventor is a sleep apnea patient and has suffered from hose management problems associated with the use of his CPAP machine. In self defense the inventor of the present CPAP hose tender developed a device for tending to a hose of a CPAP machine. Much of the innovation associated with the development of the present CPAP hose tender is based upon the inventor's experience from his Navy days tending the hose while fueling ships.
As those skilled in the art will certainly appreciate, sleep apnea affects a large percentage of the population and leads to severe medical problems from lack of sleep, oxygen depravation and other medical complications. The common treatment prescribed is the use of the CPAP machine. A CPAP machine commonly includes a breathing mask worn by the patient. The breathing mask is connected to a hose connected to a CPAP air generator. Positive pressure air from the CPAP air generator is delivered to the breathing mask via the air hose. The hose creates huge discomfort for the user. After attaching the hose to the facemask, movement of the user is restricted because the hose commonly drags across the bed covers and puts additional pressure on the facemask. This additional pressure breaks the seal securing the breathing mask about the mouth and nose of the user, and ultimately results in awakening the patient from sleep.
According to the present invention, disadvantages and problems associated with previous devices and methods have been overcome. The CPAP hose tender of the present invention effectively aids the patient's air hose management. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus comes fully assembled and ready for the CPAP user to begin use without the aide of complex instruction. In addition, no bolts or screws are needed for attachment of the present invention. The present device is lightweight and no assistance is needed to install the CPAP hose tender. One need only clamp the present CPAP hose tender on a headboard or other support. The apparatus offers ease of use and CPAP user's life need not be interrupted as the CPAP hose tender is easy to travel with.
An important technical advantage of the present invention is that the stainless steel rod is economical to manufacture and comes from stock material. In addition, the clamp also comes from stock material. Another important technical advantage of the present invention is the comfort provided to the user. Also, the CPAP users are allowed free movement from side to side and up and down while using their CPAP machines, therefore, increasing the use of the CPAP as prescribed.


A method for producing iron-supporting chabazite-type zeolite, comprising the following steps in order: mixing iron(II) chloride and chabazite-type zeolite, heat treating under a reducing atmosphere, and a Hydrogen reducing.

When an engine carries out combustion under an oxygen excess atmosphere, the exhaust gas contains carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts are known as catalysts that reduce the NOx which is discharged under an oxygen atmosphere, using ammonia or the like as a reducing agent.
PTL 1 describes a method for producing crystalline silicoaluminophosphate particles supporting an iron component, by spraying, drying and firing a dispersion obtained by mixing a ferrous sulfate aqueous solution and crystalline silicoaluminophosphate particles (Example 11 and elsewhere).
PTL 2 describes a nitrogen oxide purification catalyst supporting iron, cobalt, palladium, copper or the like on zeolite comprising at least silicon, aluminum and phosphorus as the skeletal structure (claim 1, paragraph [0079], and elsewhere).
PTL 3 describes a nitrogen oxide-adsorbed material supporting paramagnetic iron (III) ion on zeolite (claim 1 and elsewhere).

Method for producing exhaust gas purification catalyst


An electrostatic charge image developing toner includes toner particles containing a binder resin and inorganic particles that are present in a state of being embedded into the surfaces of the toner particles and being exposed, and satisfy the following expression: 20° C.≦T1−T10, wherein T1 represents the temperature at which the viscosity under an applied pressure of 1 MPa becomes 104 Pa·s, and T10 represents the temperature at which the viscosity under an applied pressure of 10 MPa becomes 104 Pa·s.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electrostatic charge image developing toner, an electrostatic charge image developer, and a toner cartridge.
2. Related Art
A method in which image information is visualized through an electrostatic charge image, such as an electrophotographic method, is currently used in various fields. In the electrophotographic method, an electrostatic charge image formed on a photoreceptor by a charging step and an electrostatic charge image forming step is developed with a developer including an electrostatic charge image developing toner, and visualized through a transfer step and a fixing step. Here, a fixing method in which fixing is performed by applying pressure in the fixing step is studied, and a toner which exhibits plasticity behavior with respect to pressure as a toner is attempted.

Electrostatic charge image developing toner, electrostatic charge image developer, and toner cartridge


The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for perforating a landfill gas well in situ. The invention allows for improved recovery of gas from a gas well without the danger of explosion.

The decomposition of waste in a landfill produces methane and other gaseous emissions. Landfill gas recovery wells are used to remove the gases from landfills. Removal of methane and other gases is both an environmental and a safety measure for preventing an accumulation of flammable gases. The gas wells typically consist of pipes made from PVC, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and similar materials. The gas well's pipes are slotted or perforated to allow for recovery of the gases. However, over time the slots and perforations become clogged as a result of the formation of precipitates and biological films in the well. Consequently, the amount of gas recovered or produced from a well may decrease over time.
Another problem with the gas well piping is that it is often installed as the landfill lifts are created. Consequently, the top section of the pipe is not perforated because it must be extended over time as additional lifts are added to the landfill.
The current solution to these problems is to install a new gas well next to the existing, obsolete well. However, this is time consuming and expensive. Thus, a simple and inexpensive solution that allows retrofitting of an existing well to maintain the amount of gas produced over time is needed.

In-situ landfill gas well perforation method and apparatus


Rheocasting is effected by an apparatus that comprises a melt tank, a temperature-controllable stirrer that is immersed in a melt contained in the melt tank and can stir the melt, a screw conveyor apparatus that can draw off metal in a semi-solid state contained in the melt tank. Vertical melt separation grooves on the inside of the conveyor apparatus enable the semi-solid into a semi-solid having a viscosity that is not less than a prescribed viscosity value and a semi-solid having a viscosity that is less than the prescribed viscosity value.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a continuous rheocasting method and to an apparatus that implements the continuous rheocasting.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Refining the size of metal crystal grains is one technique that is used to enhance the properties of cast metal materials. In the rheocasting method, a melt is cooled while at the same time being subjected to mechanical or ultrasonic agitation to uniformly diffuse fine solid-phase nuclei in the melt to produce a semi-solid. However, in the conventional technology the viscosity of the semi-solid was controlled by controlling the temperature of the metal. Thus, stirring the melt and at the same time adjusting the viscosity while controlling the temperature to draw off a metal semi-solid is a task of considerable difficulty.
An object of the present invention is to provide rheocasting method and apparatus that enable a metal semi-solid to be readily drawn off while the semi-solid is being simultaneously subjected to stirring and adjustment of the viscosity of the semi-solid.

Agency of Industrial Science & Technology, Ministry of International Trade & Industry


An ultrasonic bonding device includes a stage and an ultrasonic horn. A first flat member and a second flat member to be bonded are placed on the stage. The ultrasonic horn includes a press part to be pressed on a laminated portion of the first flat member and the second flat member. The stage includes a lower-side surface, a higher-side surface, and a step wall surface. The first flat member is to be placed on the lower-side surface. The higher-side surface is positioned higher than the lower-side surface by a predetermined step height. The second flat member is to be placed on the higher-side surface. The step wall surface is positioned in a boundary between the lower-side surface and the higher-side surface.

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic bonding device and to an ultrasonic bonding method.
For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, known is a technique of connecting a wiring of a glass board to be a display screen board with a flexible printed circuit (FPC) or so via an anisotropic conductive film (hereinafter, ACF).
In recent years, however, a pitch interval of wiring patterns has been smaller, and a short-circuit failure between wirings has been becoming a problem in connection by ACF.
Patent Document 1: JP2016186517 (A)

Ultrasonic bonding device and ultrasonic bonding method


A digital apparatus for controlling an operation of an electric motor capable of realizing a fully digital speed control without creating a severe restriction on data transfer and an excessive demand on the micro-processor. The apparatus includes a micro-processor for carrying out normal speed control processings at normal speed timings; a high speed digital processor for carrying out high speed control processings at high speed timings faster than the normal speed timings; and interface register for interfacing data transmission between the micro-processor and the high speed digital processor; and a timing circuit for receiving access signals from the micro-processor, and producing timing signals based on the high speed timings by using the access signals where the timing signals control timings of the data transmission through the interface register.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital apparatus for controlling an operation of an electric motor which controls a speed of the electric motor by utilizing digital processings.
2. Description of the Background Art
A use of a micro-computer in the field of controlling has become increasingly popular in conjunction with the development of the micro-computer, because of a capability of a micro-computer to execute a highly complicated controlling, to such an extent by now that it is almost an indispensable aspect of any controlling.
As an example of such a use of a micro-computer in the field of controlling, a conventional digital speed control for an electric motor will now be described by using a case of an electric motor in an elevator system shown in FIG. 1.
An elevator system of FIG. 1 includes a three phase alternating current power supply 41, a converter 42, a direct current smoothing capacitor 43, an inverter 44, a current detector 45, a coil 46, and an inductive motor 47, such that alternating currents supplied by the three phase alternating current power supply 41 are converted into direct currents by the converter 42 first and then converted into alternating currents of variable voltage and variable frequency by the inverter 44 and finally supplied to the inductive motor 47 as a driving power.
The system further includes a rotation angle detector 48 connected to a motor axis of the inductive motor 47 which has a configuration of either a pulse generator or a resolver and which generates a rotation angle detection signal indicating the detected rotation angle, a sheave 49, a counterweight 50 suspended from one end of a rope wound around the sheave 49, and an elevator car 51 suspended from another end of the rope wound around the sheave 49, such that the elevator car 51 is operated by rotating the sheave 49 with the inductive motor 47. The elevator car 51 is equipped with a weight detector 51a for detecting a weight exerted on a floor of the elevator car 51 and generating a weight detection signal indicating the detected weight.
In this system, the controlling of the speed of the elevator car 51 is achieved by appropriately changing a base driving signals to be given to the inverter 44 such that the currents given to the inductive motor 47 can be appropriately adjusted. A system for this controlling will now be described in detail.
Namely, as shown in FIG. 1, a speed detection signal is obtained from the rotation angle detection signal generated by the rotation angle detector 48 at a rotation angle to speed transformation unit 58, and a difference between the obtained speed detection signal and a speed command signal generated by a speed command generation unit 60 is fed to a speed control unit 59. Then, an output of the speed control unit 59 and the weight detection signal generated by the weight detector 51a are fed to a summing unit 57 which outputs a torque command signal, and this torque command signal and the rotation angle detection signal generated by the rotation angle detector 48 are fed to a vector control processing unit 56 which outputs a current command signal for the inductive motor 47. Then, a difference between this current command signal and a current detection signal generated by the current detector 45 is fed to a current control unit 55 which outputs a voltage command signal. This voltage command signal and an output of a carrier triangular wave generator 54 are fed to a comparator 53 which outputs a base signal, and this base signal is fed to a base driver unit 52 which outputs the base driving signal to the inverter 44 such that the inverter 44 adjusts the voltage and frequency of the alternating currents supplied to the inductive motor 47 according to the base driving signal.
In such a conventional speed control system, a part enclosed by a dashed line in FIG. 1 comprises a digital circuit A which is constructed by a micro-processor and IC elements, and both of the running sequence and the protecting sequence are digitally processed by this digital circuit A. Thus, the current command signal outputted from the vector control processing unit 56 is a digital signal which is subsequently converted into an analog signal by using an A/D converter, such that the current control unit 55, the carrier triangular wave generator 54, the comparator 53, and the base driver unit 52 are operated by analog signals.
However, such a conventional speed control system using a current control by analog signals has been associated with problems that an offset and a circuit constant of an operational amplifier element are affected by an environmental temperature and humidity conditions, and that the analog signals are easily affected by external noises. Moreover, a voltage waveform can be distorted when a loop gain is carelessly increased in order to improve a tracking characteristic of the current control, so that there is a limit to the improvement of the tracking characteristic of the current control.
On the other hand, a recent advance of a digital signal processor (DSP) and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which are capable of high speed digital signal processings enabled a realization of the current control with a digital circuit, such that the aforementioned problems associated with the current control with analog signals can be avoided. However, in such a case of fully digital speed control, a processing speed for the current control and speed control must be faster than that of a micro-processor in order to maintain a consistent operation. This implies that the current control and speed control have to be executed according to a high speed clock which is not synchronous with the micro-processor, and there is a need for an interface between the micro-processor and the current control and speed control. This requirement can complicate a configuration of the system considerably, especially when an ample error prevention is to be provided, which in turn causes problems of a severe restriction on data transfer and an excessive demand on the micro-processor.

Fully digital apparatus for controlling operation of electric motor


An image capturing apparatus capturing an object image based on a set time includes: a first state-changing unit setting an light emission unit in a first state with a light emission corresponding to image capturing, and in a second state with less power consumption than that in the first state; a second state-changing unit setting the apparatus to a third state where an image is captured, and in a fourth state with less power consumption than that in the third state; and a light emission determining unit that determines whether to cause the emission unit to emit a light for the next capturing. The second state remains until the next capture when it is determined not to emit a light. The change to the fourth state starts after it is determined not to emit a light. Then, the apparatus changes to the third state again for the next capturing.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus that can capture an image of an object at a set time, and a method for controlling the image capturing apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
There are image capturing apparatuses, such as digital cameras, that capture an image of an object at a set time. One of the image capturing apparatuses is a digital camera capable of interval image sensing in which the digital camera captures images of an object sequentially at set time intervals. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-172137 discloses a control device that curbs the energy consumption during interval sensing with the light emission of the strobe apparatus by controlling the power supply to the strobe apparatus based on the charging time of the strobe apparatus.

Image capturing apparatus and method for controlling the same


A method of preventing light from passing through a gap between a window frame and a window treatment disposed in the window frame, the window frame having a window opening and vertical sides includes the steps of providing an L-shaped light-blocking device with a mounting face, a retaining face extending substantially perpendicular to the mounting face, and at least one frangible width adjustment notch disposed lengthwise along the retaining face, and attaching the mounting face to one of the vertical sides of the window frame to have the retaining face extend from the vertical side between the window treatment and the window opening and block at least some light passing between the window frame and the window treatment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates window treatment components and more specifically to a light blocking side valance or trim piece for use in conjunction with any type of window treatment.
2. Description of Related Art
Window treatments such as a slat blinds, venetian blinds, mini blinds, roller blinds, blackout shades, roman shades and the like are useful for providing privacy and blocking incoming light from a window. However, the complex mounting hardware and actuators needed for the window treatment to operate effectively typically requires the shade portion of the treatment to be somewhat narrower than the actual window opening in which the treatment is installed. For example, in the case of a typical roller shade, mounting brackets must be secured at the top of the window opening and protrude out into the opening at least ½″ on each side. Thus, in order for the roller blind to fit into the bracket and function properly, the shade is offset from either side of the window opening, leaving at least a ½″ edge gap through which unwanted light can pass through. The same problem is true for venetian blinds, roman shades, and other window treatments where the mounting hardware is placed inside the window opening (typically at the top edge of the opening). The gap at either side may be even more significant if the window treatment includes complex or large actuators such as turning rods, cords, and the like that require space accommodations. The resultant edge gap not only allows unwanted light to leak through but it also can result in a window treatment that appears unfinished or otherwise unsightly. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide a means to block unwanted light from leaking through at the sides of the window treatment while also maintaining a cohesive and attractive look.
Some attempts have been made to fill the space or gap at the edge of the windows left by window treatments; however, none are versatile enough to be used with any type of window treatment and installation configuration.
For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0048230 to Marocco describes a window opening space filler used to adjust the window opening width to accommodate standard sized blinds in otherwise larger window openings. The filler includes a bracket piece affixed to the window opening and a filler member that attaches to the bracket piece and extends into the window opening so the user can reduce the width of the window opening at the side or edge thereof. The device is designed so the blind rides behind the filler member. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the filler device requires two pieces and is completely visible because the blind rides behind the member. Further, only certain types of blinds such as roller blinds can be accommodated by the filler member without snagging because the blind rides behind the extended filler member. Multi-slat blinds will not function properly with this configuration because they do not have sufficient space behind the blind to rotate. Further still, because the blind rides behind the filler member, the blind will have a tendency to sway back toward the window which can again cause an edge gap that allows light to pass through.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0012261 to Santoro et al. describes a window shade assembly having a two-part side channel system including a side channel attachment piece and a trim piece that is received in a slot on the attachment piece. The shade is received in a cavity created by the two pieces and slides up and down therein. The device is designed to retain the blind so that it doesn't sway from front to back inside the window and is not necessarily designed to block light at the side edges. More importantly, because the blind must ride inside the small cavity between the attachment piece and the trim piece, the side channel can only accommodate roller blinds as slat or venetian blinds will not have sufficient space to rotate and open.
Accordingly, there is a significant need in the art for a light blocking solution that can be used with any type of blind in an aesthetically pleasing manner. It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed. However, in view of the window treatment components in existence at the time of the present invention, it was not obvious to those persons of ordinary skill in the pertinent art as to how the identified needs could be fulfilled in an advantageous manner.

Light blocking side valance for window treatments