Consistent with the present disclosure, chromatic dispersion is introduced into an optical communication path including multiple segments or spans of dispersion shifted fiber (DSF). The chromatic dispersion generates phase mismatching between optical signals propagating along the optical communication path, i.e., the optical signals are decorrelated, such that mixing products are reduced inmagnitude, and the noise attributable to four wave mixing is correspondingly reduced.

In fiber optic communication systems, optical signals are modulated to carry symbols of data and are transmitted on an optical fiber from an optical transmitter to a receiver, such that a given symbol is transmitted during a symbol period. Although the optical signals are usually at a single nominal wavelength, each signal can include different spectral components. The spectral components of each optical signal can propagate through the transmission fiber at different speeds. This effect, known as "chromatic dispersion", can result in spectral components of one symbol period arriving at a receiver at substantially the same time as a succeeding symbol period, thereby causing degraded receiver sensitivity. Chromatic dispersion becomes increasingly pronounced at higher bit rates.
Early fiber optic communication systems included transmitters that output light having a wavelength of 1310 nm, which is the wavelength at which conventional single mode optical fiber has a substantially zero dispersion. The absorption of silica, a material from which optical fibers are made, is greater at 1310 nm than the absorption at 1550 nm. Accordingly, subsequent systems were developed to transmit optical signals at or near 1550 nm. Since conventional single mode optical fiber has significant chromatic dispersion at such wavelengths, so-called "dispersion shifted fiber" (DSF) was developed that has zero or substantially zero dispersion at 1550 nm.
In order to increase the data carrying capacity of fiber optic communication systems, wavelength division multiplexing has been deployed in which multiple transmitters output modulated optical signals at different wavelengths. The optical signals are then combined onto an optical fiber and transmitted as a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) signal.
When a WDM signal is transmitted on DSF, however, optical signals that are spectrally close to one another in wavelength may remain correlated with one another over a long distance (phase-matching) due to the low dispersion in the fiber. Under such phase-matching conditions, the optical signals at different wavelengths can strongly interact with one another to generate additional optical components at other wavelengths (mixing products). Such mixing products may have the same or substantially the same wavelength as other optical signals in the WDM signal, and the magnitude of the mixing products is related to the distance over which the optical signals propagate and the frequency or wavelength spacing between such optical signals. Thus, if two spectrally close and phase matched optical signal propagate over long distances on DSF, the resulting mixing products may increase in magnitude, which may be observed as significant noise at one of the optical signal wavelengths. This non-linear effect, referred to as "four wave mixing", can introduce significant distortions and result in relatively high error rates. Optical signal wavelengths close to the zero dispersion wavelength of DSF are particularly susceptible to the effects of four wave mixing, such that a limited number of optical signals having wavelengths in the C-band are typically transmitted on DSF. Accordingly, optical networks including DSF often have substantially limited capacity. In addition, since the magnitude of the mixing products is related to the power of the optical signals, such optical networks typically launch optical signals with reduced power over shorter distances.
Therefore, non-zero dispersion-shifted fibers (NZDSF) have been developed that have a small chromatic dispersion in a wavelength range about 1550 nm (the "C-band", 1530 nm-1565 nm), with the zero dispersion wavelength lying just outside this range. Accordingly, the C-band wavelengths are not spectrally close to the zero-dispersion wavelength of NZ-DSF fibers, such that phase matching, as well as four wave mixing, is substantially reduced.
DSF fiber plants, however, are still in use, primarily due to the cost of replacing such fiber once it has been deployed. In order to increase the capacity of fiber optic networks including DSF, systems have been developed that include multiple transmitters which output optical signals in a wavelength range of 1565 nm to 1625 nm (the "L-band"). L-band transmitters, however, include lasers that can be more expensive than those provided in C-band transmitters.
Accordingly, there is a need for a high capacity, long-distance optical communication system that transmits optical signals in the C-band over DSF.

Suppression of non-linear effects in low dispersion optical fibers


An integrated circuit, comprises a wakeup terminal; a supply voltage terminal configured to receive a supply voltage; and a power control circuit. The power control circuit comprises an enable circuit coupled to the wakeup terminal and configured to generate a voltage monitoring enable signal as a response to a wakeup signal received at the wakeup terminal, and a voltage monitoring circuit for generating a supply voltage level indication signal. The voltage monitoring circuit is coupled to the supply voltage terminal and comprises an operation switch controlled by the voltage monitoring enable signal. The voltage monitoring circuit is configured to determine if the supply voltage is above a threshold voltage and set the supply voltage level indication signal accordingly. The integrated circuit further comprises processing circuitry, with the supply voltage level indication signal controlling the switching between a normal operation state and a standby state of the processing circuitry.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an integrated circuit that is operable in a standby state.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern highly-developed machines rely on electronic control in an ever increasing manner. Particularly, in the automotive industry, the number of integrated circuits per vehicle has increased drastically. Integrated circuits control and provide electric power to a wide variety of components, devices and applications. For example, electric motors for power window systems, in-vehicle lighting fixtures, electronic door locking means, seat heating, means for electronic rear-view mirror motion, etc. are commonly driven and controlled by integrated circuits. Communication of these integrated circuits with sensors, control units and other devices is commonly achieved over a communication bus. The integrated circuits are usually coupled to the communication bus, sometimes via an intermediate microcontroller. These integrated circuits are usually supplied with electric power from the car battery, either directly or indirectly via a voltage transformer or other power regulating device. To ensure error-free functionality of the logic circuits disposed on the integrated circuits, the voltage supplied by a power source should be above a defined threshold voltage. Many integrated circuits therefore comprise circuitry for checking the supplied voltage level.
In order to save power, many integrated circuits are operable either in a normal operation state or in a standby state. In the automotive environment, the standby state is for example entered when the vehicle is turned off, because the car battery is not being recharged. However, it is desirable to have various functions or devices working, when the vehicle is turned off. For example, the door locking mechanism, the power window systems, the in-vehicle lights, etc. are kept operable when the car is turned off. However, for the integrated circuits, which drive these devices, to correctly respond to commands from the communication bus of the vehicle, the circuitry checking the voltage level of the power source is in operation when the car is turned off. As this voltage checking circuitry draws electric power from the car battery, these integrated circuits play a substantial role in continuously discharging the car battery, which can lead to the highly undesirable case of the car battery being fully discharged and the car not being operable by a user after the car has not been used for an extended period of time.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide an integrated circuit that has reduced power dissipation in a standby state.

Integrated circuit operable in a standby mode

STMicroelectronics Design & Application GmbH


A multicast communication path calculation method is disclosed which includes the steps of: obtaining minimum delay paths from a source node to each destination node; selecting, as candidate nodes of a rendezvous point node, nodes on one of the obtained minimum delay paths; for each candidate node, calculating minimum delay paths from the candidate node to each destination node, and obtaining a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value among delays of the calculated minimum delay paths; selecting, as the rendezvous point node, a candidate node by which the difference is smallest; and outputting a minimum delay path from the source node to the rendezvous point node and minimum delay paths from the rendezvous point node to each destination node.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for calculating multicast paths in a multicast communication network. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technology for calculating efficient multicast paths from a source node to each destination node for transmitting multicast traffic.
2. Description of the Related Art
Attention is being given to multicast communication for delivering moving images and voices to a plurality of specific users on a computer network. In the multicast communication network, a source node is connected to destination nodes via a rendezvous point node at which a path is divided into a plurality of paths to the destination nodes. At the rendezvous point node, multicasted data are copied and transferred over the plurality of paths to the destination nodes.
As for unicast communication in which a source node is connected to each destination node in a one-to-one relationship, the source node needs to prepare copies of information the number of which is the same as that of the destination nodes. Thus, by using multicast communication, the amount of information transmitted over the network can be decreased.
In multicast communication, a set of destination nodes is called a multicast group, and a set of multicast paths are established from the source node to each node of the multicast group. The multicast paths are established such that the source node is connected to all of the destination nodes that belong to the multicast group. A user who wants to obtain information that is transferred to a multicast group joins the multicast group. Thus, the multicast paths change according to the joining state of users.
There are a plurality of applications that utilize multicast communication, such as videoconferences, on-line games, and applications for delivering moving images such as movies and television programs. As to the videoconferences and the on-line games, destination nodes correspond to a plurality of users, in addition, each of the plurality of users may become a source node when responding to received data. As for such applications, attention is being given to a technology for equalizing times at which each user responds to data transmitted via the multicast network so that occasion of response is equalized for each user. For equalizing the response times, there is a technology in which multicast paths from the source node to each destination node are designed such that similar delay arises in each multicast path.
Differences among delays along the paths between the source node and each destination node are called delay variation among users. However, currently, algorithms for calculating minimum delay paths are mainly used, and there is no communication method adopting an algorithm for calculating paths in consideration of the delay variation among users. There are following conventional examples of algorithms for decreasing delay variation among users:
Document 1: G, Rouskas, et. al., "Multicast Routing With End-to-End Delay and Delay Variation Constraints", IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communication, Vol 15, NO. 3, April 1997.
Document 2: Pi-Rong Sheu, et. al., "A Fast and Efficient Heuristic Algorithm for the Delay and Delay Variation Bound Multicast Tree Problem", IEEEICC, 2001.
The document 1 is the first document that try to solve the above-mentioned problem. Following is the method for calculating paths according to the document 1.
First, each minimum delay path between a source node and each destination node is calculated, and a delay w of a path that has maximum delay among the minimum delay paths is checked. Assuming that  is delay variation acceptable by an application (this parameter means that the difference of the maximum end-to-end delay and the minimum end-to-end delay among the paths from the source node to all the destination nodes has to be kept within ), paths which satisfy di≦w− are adopted in which di indicates a delay between the source node and the destination node i. As for a path that is not adopted, a path that satisfies the condition is searched for by using an algorithm for searching for a k-th shortest path. Then, the searched path is adopted. Assuming that the number of the destination nodes is m and the number of nodes in the network is n, then the computation time complexity of this method is O(kmn3).
In the document 2, a method is proposed in which the time complexity is smaller than that of the document 1, so that calculation time for obtaining paths is shortened. The method of calculation is as follows.
The multicast paths include an one-to-one unicast path between the source node and a rendezvous point node (that can be also called as a central node) and one-to-many paths between the rendezvous point node and each destination node. In the method of document 2, the minimum delay between each destination node and each other node in the network is calculated first. Next, for each node in the network, associated multicast delay variation between the node and each destination node is calculated. Then, a node with the minimum multicast delay variation is selected as the rendezvous point node. Finally, each destination node is connected to this rendezvous point node through the minimum delay path, the source node is also connected to the rendezvous point node through the minimum delay path. The time complexity of this method is O(n3), and calculation faster than document 1 can be realized.
There are following problems in the above-mentioned conventional technologies.
According to the above-mentioned two calculation methods, the time complexity becomes large. Since applications that require decrease of the delay variation generally need real-time processing, it is desirable to decrease time complexity. In addition, it is requested to decrease transmission delay for the real-time applications. As for the method of the document 2 in which rendezvous point is provided, it is pointed out that realizing minimum delay path is generally difficult. Therefore, there is a problem in that the transmission delay to each destination node becomes generally large according to the method of the document 2.
When establishing the multicast communication network, from the viewpoint of establishing multicast paths efficiently between a source node and each destination node, a minimal tree problem is known in which total cost of the multicast paths is minimized. This problem is called a Steiner tree problem. The Steiner tree problem is known as NP problem in which it is impossible to calculate paths that form an optimal minimal tree from the source node to each destination node in a finite calculation time if the size of the network is large.
Although to obtain the ideal solution of the Steiner problem is NP hard, a calculation method for heuristically deriving an approximated solution is proposed as KMB communication method (refer to document 3: L. Kou, G. Markowsky, and L. Berman, "A Fast Algorithm for Steiner Tree," Acta Informatica 15, 1981, pp. 141-145.).
In this method, the source node and the destination node group are extracted, and a graph formed by edges each corresponding to a shortest path between extracted nodes is constructed first. From the constructed graph, a minimal spanning tree is constructed. Then, each edge of the spanning tree is replaced by shortest path of the input graph to construct a subgraph. Then, a minimal spanning tree is found from the subgraph. Finally, multicast paths (Steiner tree) are constructed by deleting unnecessary edges from the spanning tree.
However, according to the multicast path calculation method of the document 3, although the transfer cost of the whole multicast paths can be minimized, the method does not consider the cost (delay) variation from the source node to each destination node. Thus, the cost variation becomes very large. Therefore, when applying this calculation method to the real-time application that does not permit large delay variation, there is a large problem in that large delay variation occurs among multicast receivers.

Multicast communication path calculation method and multicast communication path calculation apparatus

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A data storage system include a disk drive having a rotating ramp assembly that may be moved between an engaged and disengaged position. The rotating ramp assembly may include a ramp extension that is not disposed in overlapping relation to a data storage disk location in the drive when in the disengaged position. However, in the engaged position, the ramp extension may overhang a portion of the data storage disk location. In turn, the head extension may include a ramp surface that allows a head assembly to move to a head parking surface when the rotating ramp assembly is in the engaged position. IN turn, the rotating ramp assembly may be rotated while maintaining the head assembly on the head parking surface, which may be arcuate and extend about at least a portion of the rotating ramp assembly.

Hard disk drives are commonly used in computer systems to facilitate storage of large amounts of data. Such hard disk drives utilize magnetic media typicallycomprising rotating data storage disks. One or more read/write heads comprising a head assembly may be provided that may be moved relative to the rotating data storage disks to facilitate reading data from and writing data to the data storage disks. The head assembly is typically supported by an actuator arm that may be moved relative to the rotating data storage disks to access different tracks on the data storage disks. The heads may be supported above the rotating magnetic disks by the actuator arm on an air bearing at a distance referred to as a flying height during normal operation when the heads are reading data from and writing data to data tracks on the data storage disks.
However, it may be necessary to move the head assembly away from the data storage disks. The magnetic disk material and the head assembly may comprise sensitive materials crucial to proper operation of the disk drive. As such, operations may occur in which the head assembly may be moved away from the magnetic disks for various reasons such as during initial manufacturing of the drive, for protection of the head and/or magnetic disks, during idle times of the drive, or for other reasons. In any regard, ramps have been traditionally provided that provide a gradual transition between the flying height of the head assembly above the rotating data storage disks and a park location of the heads away from the disks. Such ramps typically overhang a portion of the outer diameter of the disks to provide a transition between the flying height of the head assembly and the park location.

Rotating ramp with retraction capability for a disk drive


A time-multiplexed field programmable gate array (TM-FPGA) includes programmable logic circuitry, programmable interconnect circuitry, and a plurality of context registers. A user's circuit can be mapped to the programmable logic circuitry, the programmable interconnect circuitry, and the plurality of context registers without the user's intervention in mapping the design.

FPGAs allow circuit designers to prototype relatively complex designs before finalizing the design. Compared to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), FPGAs provide designers the flexibility of revising or refining their designs in their laboratories without having a full-blown fabrication of each iteration or revision to the design. Because of their flexibility and programmability, however, typical FPGAs may not contain enough hardware resources to implement or emulate relatively complex designs.
TM-FPGAs seek to re-use the FPGA's hardware. Thus, they provide the designer with apparent increased hardware resources (in exchange for slower operating speed). As a result, designers may implement larger designs than ordinary FPGAs would allow. To use conventional TM-FPGAs advantageously, however, designers should have knowledge of the time-multiplexed nature of the FPGA. Thus, the user has involvement in the process of implementing the design in the TM-FPGAs and often has to make decisions about various aspects of that process. A need therefore exists for TM-FPGAs that allow implementation of a user's design without the user's extensive involvement in that process.

Apparatus and methods for time-multiplex field-programmable gate arrays


The present invention relates generally to chemical analysis (e.g. by gas chromatography), and in particular to a compact chemical preconcentrator formed on a substrate with a heatable sorptive membrane that can be used to accumulate and concentrate one or more chemical species of interest over time and then rapidly release the concentrated chemical species upon demand for chemical analysis.

The present invention relates generally to chemical analysis (e.g. by gas chromatography), and in particular to a compact chemical preconcentrator formed on a substrate with a heatable sorptive zone that can be used to accumulate and concentrate one or more sorbents over time and then rapidly release the concentrated chemical species upon demand for chemical analysis.
Presently, there is a need for autonomous, portable, hand-held chemical analysis systems for the rapid and sensitive detection of particular chemicals including pollutants, high explosives and chemical warfare agents. Such miniaturized chemical analysis systems, which have been termed "chemical laboratories on a chip", are currently being developed based on gas chromatography. The requirements for these chemical analysis systems are that they provide a high chemical selectivity to discriminate against potential background interferents which may be present at up to a thousand-fold or more higher concentration, that the chemical analysis be performed on a short time scale (e.g. in a minute or less) and that the chemical analysis be performed with high sensitivity (e.g. at concentrations down to the part-per-billion level). Low electrical power consumption is also needed for field use over a prolonged time period.
Current gas-phase microanalytical systems typically comprise a gas chromatography column to separate the chemical species, or analyte, in a gas mixture, and a detector to detect the separated species. Such microanalytical systems can also include a chemical preconcentrator. The chemical preconcentrator serves the important function of selectively collecting and concentrating the analyte(s) of interest out of a large gas sample volume on a sorptive material at the inlet of the microanalytical system. In particular, selective analyte preconcentration is an essential step for early-warning, trace chemical detection in real-world, high-consequence environments where a high background of potentially interfering compounds exists. The chemical preconcentrator can deliver an extremely sharp analyte plug to the downstream gas chromatograph by taking advantage of the rapid, efficient heating of the sorbed analyte with a low-heat capacity, low-loss microheater. The very narrow temporal plug improves baseline separations, and therefore the signal-to-noise ratio and detectability of the particular chemical species of interest. Further, with a rapid enough release, there is a greatly reduced need for mechanical means of sample introduction, such as valving. See R. P. Manginell et al., "Recent Advancements in the Gas-Phase MicroChemLab," Proc. of SPIE 5591, 44 (2004).
Several previous microfabricated chemical preconcentrators have used a heated planar membrane suspended from a substrate as the microheater, wherein the sorptive material is disposed as a layer on a surface of the membrane to sorb the analytes from a gas stream. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,171,378 to Manginell et al., or full wafer thick slats that are in intimate contact with beads having adsorbent disposed thereon and wherein the beads are adjacent to slats that act as the microheater U.S. Pat. No. 6,914,220 to Tian et al. The slats disclosed by Tian et al. are the full thickness of the substrate in order to maximize the surface area of the beads that are coated within the sorbent zone, and therefore lose substantial heat to the substrate to which the slats attach.
Referring now to FIG. 1, prior art preconcentrator having a heated planar membrane suspended from a substrate wherein the sorptive material is disposed as a layer on a surface of the membrane to sorb the analytes from a gas stream is illustrated. A disadvantage of the design allows for heat loss via conductance from the heat elements through the membrane to the substrate along the entire perimeter of the sorbent. Reducing heat capacity and reducing heat loss between the preconcentrator and the substrate would allow for faster desorption temperature ramps at lower power.
Selective sample preconcentration is an essential step for early-warning, real-world, trace analyte detection. We have previously developed a microfabricated planar preconcentrator and three dimensional preconcentrators to address these issues for a wide array of analytes. The thermal efficiency and low heat capacity of these designs make them well suited as a platform support for adsorbent materials. Once analyte is collected on the sorbent zone, integrated thin-film resistive heaters allow for rapid thermal desorption of the sample into an analytical chain for separation and detection. Rapid heating on the order of a second or less is important for it allows the sample pulse to be delivered in a very narrow temporal plug to a gas chromatographic (GC) separation channel. This improves separations, and therefore the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and lower-limit of detectability.


Processes for the preparation of polyphenol polymers useful as surface coatings wherein the process is carried out in the absence of organic solvents, and the polyphenol polymers are the reaction products of a phenolic polymer or copolymer, an amine, and an aldehyde, ketone, or mixture thereof; and the aqueous solutions resulting therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to aqueous solutions of polyphenol polymers useful as surface coatings, and to methods for their preparation.
2. Statement of Related Art
Compositions for the treatment of surfaces with derivatives of polyphenol compounds are known.
However, such phenolic compounds are all prepared in the presence of one or more organic solvents, and the resulting solutions or dispersions are, after optional dilution with water, used without the removal of the organic solvent component.

Aqueous compositions containing polyphenol copolymers and processes for their preparation


A vacuum chamber contains a crucible (4) and an electron beam source (5) for evaporating material in the crucible. A substrate holder (6) holds substrates (7) above the crucible (4) with a process space therebetween. A magnetron cathode (11, 12) is located in each of two compartments (9, 10) located on either side of the process space. An aperture (21, 22) connects each compartment to the process space; each cathode (11, 12) carries a target (13, 14) facing away from the respective aperture (21, 22). The cathodes are connected to a medium frequency RF power supply (16), and process gas is supplied to the compartments by lines (17, 18).

The invention pertains to a vacuum coating apparatus with a crucible to hold material to be evaporated, such as SiO.sub.2 ; an electron beam source to evaporate the material, and a holder for a substrate, such as an optical lens, held a certain distance away from the crucible.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,308 discloses a vacuum coating apparatus with a container in which material to be evaporated is held; with an evaporation device for evaporating the material in the container, the material to be coated being a certain distance away from the material to be evaporated; and with a microwave transmitter, which transmits microwaves into the space between the material to be evaporated and the material to be coated.
This known apparatus makes it possible to improve the properties of a metal oxide coating on a plastic film.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,070 discloses an apparatus for depositing a thin film from the vapor phase, in which the rates at which layers of different materials are deposited can be controlled, so that extremely thin layer packages can be produced. For this purpose, at least two different types of counterelectrodes are provided on the cathode side.
DE 35 41 621 discloses an apparatus for depositing a metal alloy by means of HF sputtering, in which two targets are driven in alternation. Both targets contain the metal components of the metal alloy to be deposited but in different proportions. For the purpose of deposition, the substrates are mounted on a substrate carrier, which is rotated by a drive unit during the sputtering process.
DE 38 02 852 discloses an apparatus for coating a substrate, including two electrodes and at least one material to be sputtered, the substrate to be coated can be set up between and a certain distance away from the two electrodes, and that the alternating current half-waves can be selected as low-frequency half-waves with essentially the same amplitudes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,757 discloses an apparatus for coating a substrate especially with nonconductive layers from electrically conductive targets in a reactive atmosphere, consisting of a current source, which is connected to cathodes which enclose magnets and which are installed in an evacuatable coating chamber, the cathodes working together electrically with the targets. Two anodes, which are separated electrically from each other and from the sputtering chamber, are provided; they are installed in a plane between the cathodes and the substrate. Each of the two outputs of the secondary winding of a transformer connected to a medium-frequency generator is connected to a cathode by way of a power supply line, the first and the second supply lines being connected to each other by a branch line, into which an oscillating circuit, preferably a coil and a capacitor, are inserted. Each of the two supply lines is connected both to the coating chamber by way of a first electrical element which adjusts the d.c. potential with respect to ground and also to the respective anode by way of a corresponding second electrical element as well as to the coating chamber by way of a branch line containing a capacitor. A choke coil is inserted in the segment of the first supply line which connects the oscillatory circuit to the second secondary winding.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,070 discloses a cathode sputtering apparatus in which the vacuum chamber is connected to a device for generating a plasma jet. The apparatus has a target, which works together with magnets, which guide the plasma jet onto the surface of the target. The apparatus is also provided with a device for accelerating ions in the plasma jet, which strike the surface of the target and break out particles from it. Substrate holders are installed inside the vacuum chamber to hold the substrates as they are being coated with the sputtered particles. The apparatus is preferably equipped with a device such as an array of magnets to divert at least one strand or partial stream of the plasma jet from the target onto the substrate.
Finally, DE 44 12 906 discloses a method for ion-assisted vacuum coating, preferably for the high-speed coating of large, electrically conductive or electrically insulating substrates with electrically insulating layers and for coating electrically insulating substrates with electrically conductive layers. In this method, a plasma is generated between a coating source and the substrate, and ions from the plasma are accelerated toward the substrate. Alternating negative and positive voltage pulses relative to the plasma are applied to the electrically conductive substrate or to an electrode mounted directly behind the electrically insulating substrate and extending over the entire surface to be coated. The duration of the negative pulses is adjusted to the charging time of the capacitor being formed over the insulating layer and/or the insulating substrate, whereas the duration of the positive pulses is at most equal to, preferably 2-10 times smaller than, the duration of the negative pulses. The positive and negative pulses succeed each other without pause and are adjusted approximately to the same amplitude relative to the base potential. The amplitude of the pulses relative to the base potential is adjusted to .+-.20 to .+-.2,000 V, preferably to .+-.50 to .+-.500 V.
Transparent plastic films are being used to an increasing extent for the packaging of food products. The films primarily in question here are made of polymeric plastics, which, although they are flexible, suffer from the disadvantage that they are permeable to aromatic substances, water, and oxygen. When it is desired to prevent the diffusion of such substances, the general practice is to use aluminum foils or plastic films onto which a layer of aluminum has been deposited from the vapor phase. These have the disadvantage, however, that they are relatively difficult to dispose of and are not transparent to microwaves or light. Because of the widespread use of microwave ovens in many households of industrialized countries, it is often important for a packaging material to be transparent to microwaves.
To combine the advantages of plastic films, which are transparent to microwaves, with the advantages of aluminum foils, which form an impenetrable barrier to aromatic substances, water, and oxygen, it is already known that polymer films can be coated with oxides. Silicon oxide plays the most important role as a coating material for this purpose. The properties of plastic films coated with silicon oxide are similar to those of aluminum foil or aluminum-coated plastic film with respect to the structure of the laminate and the barrier behavior with respect to oxygen, water vapor, and aromas.
The coating of plastic films with metal oxides such as SiO.sub.x, however, requires a process technology which differs sharply from the conventional coating technologies, because metal oxides, in contrast to metals, must be evaporated from the solid phase.
SiO.sub.x layers are produced by evaporating SiO by the use of an evaporation furnace or by means of an electron beam (see T. Krug and K. Rubsam: "The new glass-like food packaging" in Neue Verpackung New Packaging!, Huthig-Verlag, 1991). SiO.sub.x layers offer the advantage that they are more flexible. In addition, SiO.sub.x is also chemically inert and corrosion-resistant with respect to water. Because it has a relatively high vapor pressure, SiO can, like MgO, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, and SiO.sub.2, be evaporated by means of an electron beam.

Vacuum coating apparatus with a crucible in the vacuum chamber to hold material to be evaporated


A linear friction welding machine comprising a compression unit and an oscillator unit, each having a clamping holder for a workpiece. Both clamping holders are configured such that workpieces are held with the surfaces thereof to be welded, aligned and facing each other. The clamping holder of the compression unit is linearly movable relative to the clamping holder of the oscillator unit, and the latter is movable in an oscillating manner at right angles transversely with respect to the direction of travel of the compression unit and fixed to ends of vertical and horizontal supports which can be deflected laterally in a sprung manner in the oscillation direction, the other ends of which are anchored rigidly on supporting bodies. The supports are flexible under deflection in the oscillation direction but are designed to resist buckling when the clamping holders are loaded in the direction of travel of the compression unit.

Friction welding methods, which were first developed over the course of past 50 years or so, are based on the principle that two pressed together surfaces which are to be welded and which execute a relative movement to each other are heated increasingly as a result of the friction which occurs in the process, wherein upon reaching a sufficient degree of heating of these surfaces the local pressure buildup which is required for achieving a weld is created as a result of a subsequent upsetting or compression of the surfaces against each other.
In the case of the friction welding method which is customarily used in this case, it is the so-called rotational friction welding, in which the abutting friction surfaces of the workpieces execute a coaxial rotational movement relative to each other, as a result of which the desired heating of the friction surfaces takes place. In this case, however, on the friction surfaces an uneven heating occurs inside the respective friction surface owing to the different angular speeds over the cross section of the respective friction surface, with the consequence of an also uneven strength distribution in the weld points, wherein only rotationally symmetrical cross sections can be welded to each other.
Whereas rotational friction welding has been used increasingly in many industrial fields for several decades (DE 29 09 267 B2, DE 34 33 519 C1, DE 20 2004 009 909 U1, DD 273 357 A3, DE 1 947 470 A, WO 2006/000330 A1), linear friction welding, in which the welding surfaces to be interconnected execute a linear movement relative to each other and parts which are rectangular in cross section can also be welded to each other, has only slowly found its way into industrial manufacture.
So, a method and a device for the linear friction welding of end surfaces of long parts, especially rails, is known from EP 1 459 833 A1, wherein here at least one of the two part ends is moved in an oscillating manner for creating friction. This is achieved by the clamping means, in which one of the two parts to be connected is clamped in each case, being set in an oscillating eccentric motion after their abutment via a common drive shaft and an adjustable eccentric suspension of each clamping means and the heating in the end surfaces of the parts to be connected is created by this. For carrying out the welding process, in this case, however, upon reaching the corresponding friction temperature, an axially aligning at-rest position of the clamping means is required in order to achieve the desired cross-sectionally conforming welding of the two ends of the parts to be welded. For the welding, a pressure application to the two surfaces to be interconnected is then finally carried out, the so-called "upset blow", wherein in the description of this document it remains open as to which way this upset blow is to be carried out.
This known friction welding machine may certainly able to be used for the friction welding of the end surfaces of two parts with large longitudinal extent, e.g. rails inter alia, with profiled cross sections, but is costly owing to the translational relative movement, initiated in the friction surface, of the end surfaces of the parts to be interconnected by means of a corresponding eccentric drive of the clamping means, which clamps the ends of the parts, via a corresponding motor-driven rotational axis and cannot be used in a practical manner for carrying out a linear friction welding of relatively small cross sectional areas, such as when welding parts of chain links to each other. Also, the eccentric drive used here does not permit the generation of a high oscillation frequency, which limits the production speed.


There is provided an apparatus configured to irradiate an object with an X-ray and detect a transmission X-ray transmitted through the object, including: a chamber member defining a first space; and a first supply port arranged in the first space to supply a temperature-controlled gas to a part of an X-ray source configured to irradiate the object with the X-ray.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, an X-ray irradiation method, and a structure manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As apparatus nondestructively acquiring internal information of an object, for example, such apparatus as disclosed in the United States Patent Application Publication No 2009/0268869 is known to irradiate the object with X-ray and detect the transmission X-ray which has been transmitted through the object.
When temperature changes in a detection apparatus, it is possible for some members of the detection apparatus, for example, to be affected from thermal deformation. As a result, the detection accuracy can be decreased.

Apparatus, X-ray irradiation method, and structure manufacturing method


The accuracy of the coating concentration when applying a catalytically active coating to suitable carrier bodies can be increased if, following raw coating with a relatively wide fluctuation range in the coating concentration, excessive or insufficient coating applied is if appropriate corrected iteratively. Excessive coating suspension applied is removed, for example by subsequent suction, while the coating is still in the wet state, whereas insufficient coating suspension applied is topped up, for example by spraying on additional coating suspension.

The carrier bodies for automotive exhaust gas catalysts are generally cylindrical in form, with two end faces and a shell, and have a multiplicity of flow passages for the exhaust gases from the internal combustion engines passing through them from the first end face to the second end face, substantially parallel to the cylinder axis. These carrier bodies are also referred to as honeycomb carriers.
The cross-sectional shape of the carrier bodies depends on the installation requirements at the motor vehicle. Carrier bodies with a round, elliptical or triangular cross section are in widespread use. The flow passages are generally square in cross section and are arranged in a dense grid over the entire cross section of the carrier bodies. The passage or cell density of the flow passages varies between 10 and 140 cm−2 depending on the particular application. Honeycomb carriers with cell densities of up to 250 cm−2 and more are in development.
Catalyst carrier bodies obtained by extrusion of ceramic compounds are predominantly used for the purification of automobile exhaust gases. Alternatively, catalyst carrier bodies made from corrugated and wound metal foils are also available. At present, ceramic carrier bodies with cell densities of 62 cm−2 are predominantly used for purifying the exhaust gas from passenger cars. The cross-sectional dimensions of the flow passages in this case are 1.27×1.27 mm2. The wall thicknesses of carrier bodies of this type are between 0.1 and 0.2 mm.
Finely distributed platinum group metals, the catalytic action of which can be modified by compounds of base metals, are generally used to convert the pollutants contained in automobile exhaust gases, such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, into harmless compounds. These catalytically active components have to be deposited on the carrier bodies. However, it is not possible to obtain the extremely fine distribution of the catalytically active components needed by depositing these components on the geometric surfaces of the carrier bodies. This applies equally to nonporous metallic carrier bodies and to porous ceramic carrier bodies. A sufficiently large surface area for the catalytically active components can only be provided by applying a support layer of fine-particle materials with a high surface area to the inner surfaces of the flow passages. This operation is referred to below as coating the carrier body. It is undesirable to coat the shell surface of the carrier bodies, and this should be avoided in order to avoid losses of valuable catalytically active materials.
For coating the carrier bodies with the fine-particle, high surface area materials a suspension of these materials in a liquid phase, generally water, is used. Typical coating suspensions for catalytic applications contain, for example, active aluminium oxides, aluminium silicates, zeolites, silicon dioxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide and oxygen-storing components based on cerium oxide, as support materials with a high surface area for the catalytically active components. These materials form the solids fraction of the coating suspension. Furthermore, it is possible to add to the coating suspension soluble precursors of promoters or catalytically active precious metals from the platinum group of the periodic system of the elements. The solids concentration of typical coating suspensions is in the range between 20 and 65% by weight, based on the total weight of the suspension. Their densities are between 1.1 and 1.8 kg/l.
The prior art has disclosed various methods for depositing the support layer on the carrier bodies using the coating suspension. By way of example, the carrier bodies to be coated can be immersed into the coating suspension, or the coating suspension can be poured over them. Furthermore, it is possible to pump or suck the coating suspension into the flow passages of the carrier bodies.
In all cases, excess coating material has to be removed from the carrier bodies, for example by sucking it out or blowing compressed air through the passages in the carrier bodies. This also opens up any passages which have become blocked by coating suspension.
After the coating operation, the carrier body and support layer are dried, and then the support layer is calcined on the carrier body in order to be consolidated and fixed. Then, the catalytically active components are introduced into the coating by impregnation with generally aqueous solutions of precursor compounds of the catalytically active components. Alternatively, it is also possible for the catalytically active components to be added to the coating suspension itself. In this case, there is no need to subsequently impregnate the completed support layer with the catalytically active components.
One important criterion for the coating methods is the coating or loading concentration which they can achieve in one run. This is to be understood as meaning the solids content which remains behind on the carrier body after drying and calcining. The coating concentration is given in grams per litre of volume of the carrier bodies (g/l). In practice, automobile exhaust gas catalysts require coating concentrations of up to 300 g/l. If this quantity cannot be applied in one run with the selected coating method, the coating operation has to be repeated, after drying and if appropriate calcining of the carrier body, until the desired loading has been reached. Often, two or more coating operations with coating suspensions of different compositions are carried out. This results in catalysts which have a plurality of layers with different catalytic functions on top of one another.
DE 40 40 150 C2 describes a method allowing catalyst carrier bodies in honeycomb form to be coated with a support layer or a catalytically active layer uniformly over their entire length. In the following, catalyst carrier bodies in honeycomb form are also referred to as honeycomb carriers. According to the method described in DE 40 40 150 C2, the cylinder axis of the honeycomb carrier is oriented vertically in order to be coated. Then, the coating suspension is pumped into the passages through the lower end face of the honeycomb carrier until it emerges at the upper end face. Next, the coating suspension is pumped out again at the bottom, and excess coating suspension is removed from the carrier body by blowing or sucking, in order to prevent the passages from becoming blocked. This method produces support layers which have a good uniformity over the entire length of the honeycomb bodies.
The coating method described, like any technical process, has a certain fluctuation range for the coating quantity from carrier body to carrier body. The fluctuation range depends on the nature of the coating suspension and on the properties of the honeycomb carriers to be coated.
The fluctuation range of the coating process has a direct influence on the catalytic activity of the finished catalyst, since the catalytic activity is directly dependent, inter alia, on the loading quantity of the catalytically active precious metals. Therefore, to guarantee a minimum activity of the catalysts, it is necessary to ensure that all the catalysts contain at least a target quantity of coating suspension. This means that the carrier bodies, in production, have to be overloaded with coating suspension by half the fluctuation range of the coating process. Therefore, if it is possible to reduce the fluctuation range of the coating process, the degree of overloading required can be lowered accordingly, with consequent savings on expensive precious metals and coating raw materials.

Method and device for coating a series of support bodies


A very small piezoelectric sensor capable of being mass produced includes a core, a piezoelectric layer on a surface of the core; and a conductive layer on a surface of the piezoelectric layer away from the core. The core is flexible and threadlike, the core is a first electrode of the piezoelectric sensor, and the conductive layer is a second electrode of the piezoelectric sensor. An array of such sensors allows the “skin” of a robot for example to simulate the sensitivity of hair-covered human skin. A method for making the piezoelectric sensor and an electronic device using the piezoelectric sensor are also disclosed.

A skin with sensors, even though electronic, improves the application of robots and artificial limbs. However, electronic skin is "hairless" skin and does not have the tactile functions. For example, 95% of human skin is covered with fine hair, which enables human to sense many things, while electronic skin does not. Therefore, there is a need to provide hair-like sensors. Currently, hair-like sensors include, for example, piezoelectric hair-like sensors. However, being very small, piezoelectric hair-like sensors are not mass produced.
Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

Piezoelectric hair-like sensor, method for making same, and electronic device using same

Interface Technology (ChengDu) Co., Ltd.

INTERFACE OPTOELECTRONICS (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.


A process for patterning layered thin films comprising a bottom oxide superconductor (1) layer deposited on a substrate (3) and another thin film (2) deposited on the bottom superconductor layer and consisting of insulator, ordinary conductor or oxide superconductor having a different crystal orientation from the bottom superconductor layer. The bottom superconductor layer (1) is subjecting to heat-treatment before another thin film (2) is deposited thereon. The heat-treatment can be carried out under a first condition in ultra high-vacuum at a temperature which is lower than the oxygen-trap temperature (T.sub.trap) at which oxygen can enter into the oxide superconductor but is higher than a temperature which is lower by 100.degree. C. than the oxygen-trap temperature (T.sub.trap -100.degree. C.) or under a second condition in an atmosphere containing oxygen of high purity at a temperature which is higher than the oxygen-trap temperature (T.sub.trap) but is lower than a film forming temperature of the first thin film of oxide superconductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for patterning layered thin films including at least one superconductor layer.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved patterning process for layered thin films comprising a bottom superconductor layer deposited on a substrate and another thin film deposited on the bottom superconductor layer and consisting of insulator, ordinary conductor or a second thin film of oxide superconductor having a different crystal orientation from the bottom superconductor layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oxide superconductors are expected to be used in a variety of applications due to their higher critical temperatures than conventional metal superconductors. In fact, Y-Ba-Cu-O oxide superconductor possesses the critical temperature above 80 K and Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O Tl-Ba-Ca-Cu-O oxide superconductors possesses those of above 100 K.
When the oxide superconductors are used in superconducting devices, it is indispensable to deposit a first thin film of oxide superconductor on a substrate and then to deposit at least one different thin film on the first thin film of oxide superconductor. The first thin film of oxide superconductor deposited directly or through buffer layer(s) on a substrate is called a bottom superconductor layer.
For example, in a superconducting junction so-called tunnel type Josephson Junction realized with oxide superconductor, it is requested to deposit the bottom superconductor layer, an intermediate layer of non-superconductor and a top superconductor layer on a common substrate successively in this order. Josephson element is a two-terminals element, so that a logical circuit consisting of Josephson junctions alone becomes complicated. In order to overcome this demerit of complexity, a variety of ideas of three-terminals elements are proposed.
In the superconductor transistors consisting of superconductor and semiconductor which is a typical three-terminals element, it is also required to combine a thin film of oxide superconductor with a thin film of semiconductor and hence successive deposition of thin films each consisting of different material is required. Successive deposition of a thin film of ordinary conductor such as metal onto the bottom superconductor layer is required also in the other type superconducting element consisting of superconductor and the ordinary conductor.
In these superconducting elements, a superconducting current passes through a thin film of the ordinary conductor or non-superconductor sandwiched between two adjacent layers of superconductors positioned close to each other. A distance between two adjacent superconductors is determined by the coherence length of superconductor. Since the coherence length of oxide superconductors is very short, the distance between two adjacent superconductors must be several nanometer.
In a layered thin film structure, each thin film is often requested to be patterned into a desired dimension and/or configuration according to its function and application.
Successive deposition of thin films onto the bottom superconducting layer must be carried out carefully in such a manner that the thin film of oxide superconductor is not deteriorated or badly influenced. In particular, when the oxide superconductor is exposed to air, composition and crystal structure of the oxide superconductor are easily spoiled, resulting in that the superconducting properties are extremely lowered.
For example, a thin film of metal is patterned into a shape of bonding pads each having a predetermined pattern at predetermined position on a superconducting thin film. The bonding pad functions as electrodes for the superconducting thin film. The thin film of metal is used also as a resistance in a superconducting circuit. In this case also, the thin film of metal which may have a thickness of less than 100 nm must be patterned into a predetermined shape without unnecessary resistance at an interface between the metal thin film and the superconducting thin film. Patterning of a thin film of oxide superconductor is also necessary in superconducting devices or integrated superconducting circuits having superconducting wiring lines.
When more than two thin films are deposited successively on a common substrate, it is usual practice to subject a surface of a bottom layer to cleaning operation before another layer is grown thereon, otherwise an undesirable junction due to contaminants adsorbed on the surface of the bottom layer or undesirable oxides produced thereon is formed at an interface between two layers and continuity of crystal growth is destroyed locally at the interface. Devices or integrated circuits having such undesirable junction or discontinuity do not show desired performance and sometimes do not work.
In the case of oxide superconductor, the surface condition of the bottom superconductor layer should be considered particularly and carefully, because the coherence length of oxide superconductors is very short. Therefore, the surface of bottom superconductor layer must be cleaned without spoiling its superconducting property and also must have well-ordered crystallinity or superconducting property.
In the field of semiconductor industries, surfaces of thin films are cleaned usually with ultra-pure water, by chemical washing, dry or wet etching or the like. In the case of oxide superconductors, however, these clearing technique can not be used due to high reactivity of oxide superconductors. If the surface of thin film of oxide superconductor is treated by these known techniques, undesirable reaction occur on the surface, resulting in that cleanness of the surface become worse and crystallinity and superconducting property are lost.
Under certain film forming conditions, constituent elements of the top superconductor layer diffuse or migrate into the bottom superconductor layer, resulting in that an interface between adjacent two layers become unclear and the bottom superconductor layer is deteriorated.
The patterning operation of each thin film in the layered structure must be carried out carefully. In particular, when a thin film deposited directly on the bottom superconductor layer is patterned, there is such a danger that oxide superconductor of the bottom superconductor layer is deteriorated seriously. In fact, if such thin film is patterned by lift-off technique with photo-resist and etching liquid, the bottom superconductor layer is badly influenced with them. Pattering by beam-etching technique with Cl ions beam, electron beam or the like also damage the thin film.
An object of the present invention is to solve the problems and to provide an improved process for patterning layered thin films comprising a first thin film of oxide superconductor or the bottom superconducting layer deposited on a substrate and another thin film having a predetermined pattern, both being deposited at predetermined position(s) on the substrate on this order without deteriorating the first thin film of oxide superconductor.

Process for patterning layered thin films including a superconductor


Novel pharmaceutically/cosmetically-active aromatic polyenic compounds have the structural formula (I):

Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel aromatic polyenic compounds and to pharmaceutical/cosmetic compositions comprised thereof; the subject compounds are especially useful in humans or veterinary medicine, or, alternatively, in cosmetic compositions.
The compounds according to the invention display a pronounced activity in the fields of cell differentiation and proliferation, and are particularly useful in the topical and systemic treatment of dermatological conditions associated with a keratinization disorder, dermatological (or other) conditions including an inflammatory and/or immunoallergic component, and dermal or epidermal proliferations, whether benign or malignant. The subject compounds can, in addition, be used for the treatment of the degenerative diseases of the connective tissue, for combating aging of the skin, whether photoinduced or chronologic, and for treating cicatrization or healing disorders. They are also useful for ophthalmological applications, especially for the treatment of corneopathies.
The compounds according of this invention are also useful for the treatment of osteoporosis or for the treatment of viral diseases, as well as for the treatment of any disease state associated with hypervitaminosis A. Generally, they are useful for the treatment of any disease or condition associated with a modification in the expression of receptors belonging to the superfamily of steroid and thyroid hormone receptors.
Too, the compounds according to this invention can also be formulated into cosmetic compositions for body and hair care/hygiene.
Briefly, the aromatic polyenic compounds according to the invention have the following structural formula (I):
in which R1 is a xe2x80x94CH3 radical, a radical xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94R9, a radical xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94COxe2x80x94R10, or a radical xe2x80x94COxe2x80x94R11, wherein R9, R10 and R11 are as defined below; R2 is a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl radical; R3 is a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl radical; R4 is a hydrogen atom; R5 is a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl radical; R6 is a hydrogen atom, a linear or branched alkyl radical having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a radical xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94CH3 or a radical xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94R13, wherein R13 is as defined below; R7 and R8 independently are each (i) a hydrogen atom, (ii) a linear or branched alkyl radical having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, (iii) a cycloaliphatic radical, (iv) a radical xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94CH3, (v) a radical xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94R13, or (vi) a radical xe2x80x94S(O)nR13, wherein R13 and n are as defined below, with the proviso that R4 and R6 may together form, with the carbon atoms from which they depend and with the adjacent benzene ring, a naphthalene ring, and at least one of R7 and R8 has the above definition (ii) or (iii); R9 is a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl radical; R10 is a lower alkyl radical R11 is (a) a hydrogen atom, (b) a lower alkyl radical, (c) a radical of formula:
in which Rxe2x80x2 and Rxe2x80x3 independently are each a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl radical, a mono- or polyhydroxyalkyl radical, an optionally substituted aryl radical, or an amino acid residue or peptide residue or sugar residue, with the proviso that Rxe2x80x2 and Rxe2x80x3 may together form, with the nitrogen atom from which they depend, a nitrogen-containing heterocycle, or (d) a radical xe2x80x94OR12, wherein R12 is a hydrogen atom, a linear or branched alkyl radical having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an alkenyl radical, a mono- or polyhydroxyalkyl radical, an optionally substituted aryl or aralkyl radical, or a sugar residue, or an amino acid residue or peptide residue; R13 is a hydrogen atom or a linear or branched alkyl radical having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms; and n is an integer equal to 0, 1 or 2.
This invention also features the salts of the compounds of formula (I) in the event that the radical R1 represents a carboxylic acid function, or when R7 and/or R8 represents a sulfonic acid function, as well as the optical (chiral) and geometric isomers thereof. When the compounds according to the invention exist in the form of salts, they are preferably alkali metal salts or alkaline earth metal salts, or, alternatively, zinc salts or salts of an organic amine.

Aromatic polyenic compounds and pharmaceutical/cosmetic compositions comprised thereof

Abstract: and are useful for the treatment of a wide variety of disease states, whether human or veterinary, for example dermatological, rheumatic, respiratory, cardiovascular, bone and ophthalmological disorders, as well as for the treatment of mammalian skin and hair conditions/disorders.

Centre International de Recherches Dermatologiques Galderma


A self-diagnosing FMCW radar level gauge and a method for providing self-diagnosing with a radar level gauge is provided in a radar level gauge comprising a transceiver, a mixer, a signal propagating device and a signal propagation path connecting the transceiver and the signal propagating device, a filter arrangement and processing circuitry. The filter arrangement provides a filtered intermediate frequency signal. The transceiver outputs either a diagnostic sweep configured such that a reference echo from the signal propagation path is detectable in said filtered intermediate frequency signal, or a measurement sweep configured such that the reference echo is suppressed in the filtered intermediate frequency signal and that a surface echo is detectable. The processing circuitry is configured to self-diagnose the radar level gauge based on the reference echo, and to determine the distance to the surface based on the surface echo.

Radar level gauges are in wide use for measuring the filling level of a product contained in a tank. Radar level gauging is generally performed either by means of non-contact measurement, whereby transmitted electromagnetic signals are radiated towards the product contained in a tank, or by means of contact measurement, often referred to as guided wave radar (GWR), whereby transmitted electromagnetic signals are guided towards and into the product by a probe acting as a waveguide.
Radar level gauges are often classified as either pulsed system or FMCW-systems. In FMCW-systems, a signal with varying frequency is transmitted towards the surface and the distance is determined based on the frequency (and/or phase) difference between a transmitted signal and a simultaneously received signal. The transmitted signal is reflected by the surface of the contents in the tank (or by any other impedance transition) and an echo signal, which has been delayed a certain time, is returned to the gauge. The echo signal is mixed with the transmitted signal to generate a mixer signal, having a frequency equal to the frequency change of the transmitted signal that has taken place during the time delay. For a linear sweep, this difference frequency, also referred to as an intermediate frequency (IF), is proportional to the distance to the reflecting surface. The mixer signal is often referred to as an IF signal. The IF-signal will also comprise frequency components from reflections in the antenna and similar near-zone echoes. These near-zone echoes are very strong due to them occurring close to the transceiver, and thus making it hard to detect the surface echo. Hence, radar level gauges have filters which filter the IF-signal prior to any sampling, thereby suppressing frequency components which are not related to the surface in order to get good measurement data.
Radar level gauges are in many cases used for applications where malfunction of the radar level gauge could result in dangerous situations, and therefore radar level gauges must be extremely reliable. Various measures are taken to ensure the reliability of radar level gauges, and to thereby reduce the risk of dangerous situations. For instance, by performing a self-diagnostic function the radar level gauge may be proof tested to ensure that it is working properly. One way to perform a self-diagnostic function is to measure a reference echo, this will proof test the components of a radar level gauge which are related to generating, guiding, filtering, amplifying, transmitting and/or receiving electromagnetic signals, also known as the microwave chain.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,911 describes a FMCW radar level gauge where problems such as the formation of a deposit on the antenna, or other trouble such as damage or loss of the antenna may be detected. The problems are detected by first storing an undisturbed reference function, i.e. a tank spectrum, before the radar level gauge is put into actual operation. During actual operation, the measured echo function is compared to the stored undisturbed echo function and any differences are analyzed and evaluated to recognize the formation of deposits or other trouble. Similarly, US patent application 2006/0015292 is a time-domain-reflectometry (TDR) radar level gauge which may detect accretion of material on the antenna or malfunction of the electronics of the TDR radar level gauge. A constant measurement of the distance to a surface over a predetermined time interval is used to recognize accretion of material on the antenna or malfunction of the electronics of the TDR radar level gauge such as a short-circuit in the coupling between the antenna and the electronics. However, as antenna echoes are different for each antenna and as they degrade and change over time they are not suitable to use for a diagnostic functionality.


Electrical data processing techniques are described for performing business analysis based on datasets that are incomplete (e.g., contain censored data) and/or based on datasets that are derived from a stage-based business operation. A first technique offsets the effects of error caused by the incomplete dataset by performing a trending operation followed by a de-trending operation. A second technique provides a model containing multiple sub-models, where the output of one sub-model serves as the input to another sub-model in recursive fashion. A third technique determines when a specified event is likely to occur with respect to a given asset by first discriminating whether the event is very unlikely to occur; if the asset does not meet this initial test, it is further processed by a second sub-model, which determines the probability that the specified event will occur for each of a specified series of time intervals.

This invention relates to automated techniques for performing business analysis, and more particularly, to computerized techniques for performing business predictions based on incomplete datasets and/or datasets derived from stage-based business operations.
Analysts commonly use a number of statistical techniques to provide accurate predictions regarding the likely course of manufacturing operations. The success of these techniques stems from a host of analytical-friendly factors associated with the manufacturing environment. For instance, manufacturing operations can generally be precisely described in mathematical terms. The economic aspects of the manufacturing environment are also generally well understood and can be precisely articulated. Further, a typical manufacturing environment provides a well-established technical infrastructure for recording salient parameters regarding the performance of the manufacturing operation. This infrastructure, coupled with the typically large amounts of data generated in a manufacturing operation, provides a rich historical database from which to derive accurate and robust statistical models for use in performing predictions.
Other fields are not so conducive to the development and application of accurate modeling techniques. For instance, analysts may have much greater difficulty developing and applying accurate analytical models in a "pure" business-related environment, such as a finance or service-related environment. This difficultly ensues from several factors. First, a business-related operation may be more difficult to precisely describe in mathematical terms compared to a manufacturing environment. This may be attributed to the fact that some of the metrics used in a business-related environment are inherently more "mushy" compared to parameters used in a manufacturing environment. This may also be due to difficulty in fitting mechanistic metaphors to a pure business operation, or due to difficulty in completely understanding (and thus modeling) complex relationships present in some business operations.
In addition, a business-related environment may not always maintain the kinds of data-rich archives found in manufacturing environments. This may be attributed in some cases to lack of suitable technical infrastructure for collecting operational data in business-related environments. In other cases, the failure to collect sufficient data may be attributed to the fact that the businesses have never collected certain kinds of information in the past, and thus the businesses may lack the kinds of cultures that encourage the regimented collection and archiving of such information. Deficiencies of this nature may result in one or more "holes" in the data that describes the past course of the business operation.
More significantly, a business may fail to collect enough data due to long cycle times found in many business environments (e.g., compared to manufacturing environments where an assembly line may quickly generate many products). The cycle time of a product refers the span of time required to completely process the product from a defined starting point to a defined termination point. For example, the cycle time of a loan approval process for a particular candidate may be defined by the span of time measured from an initial contact with the customer to a final approval and acceptance of a loan by the customer. These types of cycle times may span several days, several months, or even several years (e.g., for some complex commercial transactions). This may mean that a new business may operate for a lengthy period of time before it develops a sufficient amount of data to faithfully represent the full range of actions performed on an asset throughout its lifecycle. Incomplete datasets are referred to by various names in the art, such as "censored" datasets or "truncated" datasets. Censored data points are those whose measured properties are not known precisely, but are known to lie above or below some limiting sensitivity. Truncated data points are those which are missing from the sample altogether due to sensitivity limits.
The problem of incomplete datasets is particularly troublesome when developing and applying business models. This is because business models are typically developed to track the empirically-established history of a business operation. Accordingly, a model developed on the basis of an incomplete historical record may fail to properly characterize the business operation as a whole. For instance, a business operation may include plural stages that together span several months. If a business has only collected data for the initial stages of the operation, then a model developed from this data may not adequately describe the later stages of the operation.
In addition to the above-noted difficulties, the nature of the operations performed in a business-related environment may differ in significant ways from the operations performed in manufacturing environments. For instance, as noted above, some business-related operations are characterized by a series of discrete steps or stages performed in a predefined order. The above-described loan processing environment is illustrative of this kind of business operation. The loan approval process can be viewed as comprising a first stage of identifying a potential customer, a second stage of assessing the risk associated with providing a loan to the potential customer (as determined by an underwriter), a third stage of receiving feedback from the customer regarding the customer's acceptance or rejection of the offered loan terms and conditions, a fourth stage of issuing the loan to the customer, and so on. As appreciated by the inventors, the individual stages in a multi-stage process may differ in fundamental ways, yet have complex interrelationships that link these stages together. Thus, unlike more routine manufacturing environments, an analyst may have difficulty developing a single model that tracks and describes these divergent stages. Viewed in mathematical terms, an analyst may have difficultly finding a single equation that fits the "shape" of all of the stages in the business operation.
The negative consequences of the above-described difficulties can be significant. This is because predictions based on a faulty model will also be faulty. Reliance on faulty predictions can result in inappropriate decisions being made within the business, effectively steering the business in suboptimal directions. Needless to say, such faulty guidance can have a negative economic impact on the business.
Techniques have been developed to address the problem of incomplete (e.g., censored) datasets. While these techniques work well with relatively small amounts of missing data, they begin to break down when a dataset contains larger amounts of missing data. Some business environments present scenarios in which the quantity of missing data approaches or even exceeds 50 percent of the total population of data that should have been collected. Traditional techniques cannot successfully handle datasets with this extent of missing data. Also, traditional techniques typically perform poorly in handling the stage-based data typically collected from stage-based business operations.
For at least the above-identified reasons, there is an exemplary need in the art to develop and apply more robust models that can be used in a business-related environment. There is a more particular need to develop and apply more effective models that specifically provide accurate analysis when exposed to incomplete datasets and/or datasets predicated on stage-based business operations.

Techniques for performing business analysis based on incomplete and/or stage-based data


A brake device for a conveyor system where pallets are conveyed on a transport plane, comprising a body having a first section and a second section, where the first section is provided with a pivot element comprising an inclined landing zone with a second nose, and where the second section comprises an inclined contact surface with a first nose, where the brake device is pivotably suspended on an axle, where the brake device is adapted to hold a first position in which the first nose extends over the transport plane, where the brake device is adapted to hold a second position in which the second nose extends over the transport plane, and where the brake device comprises a damper element arranged between the pivot element and the first section of the body of the brake device.

Conveying devices, such as those which are used for moving objects between different stations in a factory, usually comprise a conveying track in the form of a belt or a chain. The conveying tracks can be recessed in a trench with vertical side surfaces. Alternatively, they can be located on the horizontal upper surfaces of the trench or arranged in some other way. The objects to be conveyed are arranged slidably in relation to the conveying tracks, either directly or via carrying means, which are also known as pallets. A specific type of pallet is a puck, which is a round carrier adapted for smaller and more lightweight objects.
A pallet is conveyed along the conveying device, which comprises different workstations. At a workstation, the pallet will be stopped by a stop member such that the operation may be performed on the transported object. In some cases, the object may pass a specific workstation without an operation being performed on the object. The stop member may for this reason be arranged to either stop the pallet or to let the pallet pass the workstation.
If the conveying device is of a conventional type, in which all workstations are positioned after each other and the operations on the objects are performed synchronous, every pallet will stop at each workstation. If no operation is to be performed on an object at a specific workstation, the object will have to wait until the operation on the previous object at that workstation is ready, until the object can continue. All pallets are in this case released at the same time and moves at the same time. One advantage of such a system is that it is easy to predict the performance of the system. One disadvantage of such a system is that it is not very flexible. If the operation time at a work station is long, all objects will have to wait that time, even if there is no operation performed on all objects. Thus, such systems are mostly used for a single product or when the differences in the products are small.
In other systems, the operations on the objects are performed asynchronous, i.e. the pallet stops at a workstation where an operation is to be performed, and is released when the operation is ready. In such systems, a queue comprising a number of pallets may thus be required at at least a few of the workstations in order to compensate for the different through-flow times of the products and for the different operation times at a workstation.
In a normal pallet or puck queue, the pallets or pucks are allowed to bump into each other when they reach the end of the queue. A pallet or puck may be provided with a damper or resilient member in order to minimize the forces acting on the pallet or puck when they are stopped. This technology is used on pallets or pucks that convey somewhat heavier objects. For light objects, no additional damping is required.
For pallets conveying heavy objects, from 10 kg up to over 100 kg and more, damping means integrated in the pallet may not be enough. A further problem is that the stop member holding the first pallet in a pallet train will be subjected to the impact force of every pallet in the pallet train. It is thus common to use a stop member for every single pallet in the pallet train, such that the forces from one pallet will not affect the other pallets. Such a solution is relatively costly and inflexible, since several active stop members are required. It is further required to set up the conveyor system for the exact amount of pallets in a pallet train when the conveyor system is designed, since each stop member has to be controlled by the control system of the conveyor system. A change in the number of pallets in a pallet train will thus be difficult to implement.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,565,001 discloses a brake arrangement for a concrete block moulding machine, in which the brake arrangement will be able to brake a second pallet with concrete blocks if a first pallet with concrete blocks bears on a front part of the brake arrangement. The shown brake arrangement is fixedly installed in the runway, which comprises a plurality of rollers. When a first pallet bears on a first shoe of the brake arrangement, a second shoe will protrude over the runway, where the second shoe will stop the second pallet before it hits the first pallet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,865 describes a system wherein pallets and their loads are conveyed along paths to one or more unloading stations. A brake assembly, applies a braking force to the underside of an arriving upstream pallet at an upstream position so as to decelerate it gradually and safely to a stop at a distance from the unloading station pallet. The system is fixedly arranged in a pallet flow system.
These systems may work acceptable in some cases. There is however a need for a more flexible solution. There is thus room for improvements.


A composition for application to fingernails and toe nails includes a binder and a pigment, the binder including volatile and non-volatile components and the pigment being present in the composition in an amount of between 30% to 83% of the total volume of the non-volatile portion of the composition, creating a physical action upon drying of a layer of the composition applied to the nails, wherein a lack of cohesive strength between the pigment and binder results in formation of random cracks in the applied layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cosmetic preparation and method for applying the preparation to fingernails and toe nails.
2. Description of the Related Art
The art is crowded with various nail polish compositions and methods of applying nail art designs to fingernails. Such methods and compositions are no longer limited to a single, uniform color of nail polish applied to all of one's fingernails or toe nails. It is now commonplace to paint multi-color designs on each nail, sometimes adding sparkles, decals, and other design elements to enhance the overall appearance of the polished nails. This is usually done by airbrushing or free hand painting, both of which require a considerable degree of skill and artistic ability. For this reason, anything beyond conventional polishing of nails with a uniform color must usually be done by a professional at a nail salon.
Now that nail art has gone beyond the traditional single color and french manicure, new and more unusual appearances are becoming increasingly popular. In spite of the more contemporary, and sometimes wild painted nail designs and colors which have set a trend in the cosmetic industry, the present invention provides a highly unique crackle appearance which has never been achieved in the nail polish art prior to this invention. The crackle appearance which results using the composition of the present invention is similar to an appearance known in the furniture industry for creating an antique finish. However, the crackle lacquer used in the furniture industry is not suitable for use in the cosmetic industry, as it contains a number of toxic components which present a health hazard. For this reason, crackle lacquers presently known in the art are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a cosmetic product. And, while others may have attempted to achieve the crackle effect in a nail polish composition, it is believed that such attempts have been unsuccessful due to the difficulty in producing a non-toxic crackle composition which has physical characteristics that make it suitable for application by both brushing and spraying on fingernails and toe nails.
Accordingly, there is a need in the cosmetic industry for a non-toxic lacquer composition for application to fingernails and toe nails, either by brushing or spraying, and wherein the lacquer composition is physically structured to provide a crackle appearance upon drying. In fulfilling this need, the present invention provides for a non-toxic cosmetic preparation and method of applying the preparation to fingernails and toe nails, wherein the cosmetic preparation is structured to undergo a physical change upon drying to produce the desired crackle appearance.


A vehicle includes a motive power source, a transmission, and a clutch system. The vehicle further includes a controller that causes the clutch system to generate a generally constant clutch pressure to mechanically couple the motive power source and transmission as a line pressure associated with the transmission varies.

Certain road vehicles may be driven by an internal combustion engine and/or an electric machine. An electric machine, for example, may be used to drive a vehicle at low speeds. An internal combustion engine and the electric machine may be used to drive the vehicle at high speeds. If the internal combustion engine and electric machine are arranged along a common driveline so as to share a common input shaft to a transmission, a clutch may be used to isolate the internal combustion engine from the electric machine. A clutch may also be used to isolate the internal combustion engine and electric machine from the transmission. Certain clutch control strategies may ensure a smooth transition from one source of motive power to another.

Pressure controlled driveline mechanical coupling


A memory degeneracy method is executed by an information processing device in which a plurality of virtual machines operate. The memory degeneracy method includes storing, in a storage unit, a physical address or address information of a memory module, which corresponds to a virtual physical address relevant to a fault, in response to detecting the fault in a memory area assigned to a first virtual machine; changing an association relationship between virtual physical addresses and physical addresses relevant to the first virtual machine, before an operating system operating on the first virtual machine is rebooted in response to detecting the fault; and removing, from a usage target of the operating system, the virtual physical address corresponding to the physical address or the address information of the memory module stored in the storage unit.

Memory degeneracy (or memory retirement) as used herein means that when a fault is detected (when a memory error has occurred) in part of a main memory (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "memory"), the corresponding part is removed from the usage target (removed from parts of the memory that may be used). By degenerating a memory, it is possible to avoid a situation of repeatedly accessing the position of the fault, and therefore the stability of the operation state of the computer is secured.
Conventionally, in a case where a memory error occurs in the kernel space, the degeneracy of the memory is performed, for example, when the firmware that is the monitoring mechanism that operates the monitoring mechanism in a processor other than the CPU (hereinafter, "system firmware") activates the system (an OS (Operating System) and a software group that operates on the OS).
FIG. 1 is for describing an example of a process overview when a memory error occurs in a kernel space.
In FIG. 1, (1) illustrates a state where a memory error has occurred in the kernel space. In this case, the system firmware stores the memory fault information. The memory fault information is bitmap information in which a bit is assigned to each division unit obtained by dividing the memory area by a predetermined unit. That is to say, the memory fault information is bitmap information in which a flag indicating whether usage is possible is recorded in each division unit.
When the OS panics due to a memory error, and the system starts to reboot, the state shifts to that illustrated in (2). In (2), the system firmware degenerates the division unit where the memory error has occurred, based on the memory fault information.
Next, in (3), when the OS is rebooted, the OS operates without using the degenerated division unit. As a result, it is possible to avoid a panic caused by accessing the fault position again.
In another example, when an error occurs in the user space, the OS may degenerate the memory.
FIG. 2 is for describing an example of a process overview when a memory error occurs in a user space.
In FIG. 2, (1) illustrates a state where a memory error has occurred in the user space. In this case, the OS stores the memory fault information.
Next, as illustrated in (2), the OS degenerates the division unit where the memory error has occurred, based on the memory fault information. In this case the system does not need to be rebooted.
Meanwhile, by virtualization technology, it is possible to activate a plurality of virtual machines in a single computer. In such a virtualization environment, the system firmware is not involved with the activation or the rebooting of the virtual machines. Therefore, when the above mechanism is applied for degenerating the memory, a problem as illustrated in FIG. 3 arises.
FIG. 3 is for describing the problem when a memory error occurs in the virtualization environment. FIG. 3 illustrates an example where n number of virtual machines (VM) are operating:
(1) illustrates a state where a memory error has occurred in the kernel space on VM#2. In this case, as described in FIG. 1, the system firmware stores the memory fault information;
(2) illustrates a state where the OS of VM#2 is panicking due to the memory error. However, the VMs other than VM#2 may continue operating;
(3) illustrates a state where the OS of the VM#2 has started rebooting in response to the panic. In this case, the system firmware is not involved with the rebooting of the VM#2. This is because the activation of the VM is performed by a hypervisor. Therefore, it is not possible to degenerate the memory based on the memory fault information stored by the system firmware. As a result, the OS of the VM#2 panics again, and the state of (2) and the state of (3) are repeated.
Note that in FIG. 3, the memory is degenerated based on the memory fault information when the system (that is to say, all of the virtual machines and the hypervisor) is rebooted.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method of degenerating a memory in a virtualization environment.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-245216
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-230596
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-59121
However, as the technology described in Patent Document 1, when the memory is degenerated in the unit in which a memory is assigned to the virtual machine, the unit (size) of degenerating the memory depends on the unit in which a memory is assigned to the virtual machine. The unit of degenerating the memory means the size of the memory area degenerated due to a fault in the memory.
FIG. 4 illustrates a state where the unit of degenerating the memory depends on the unit in which a memory is assigned to the virtual machine:
(1) illustrates a state where a memory error has occurred in the kernel space on the VM#2;
(2) illustrates a state where the hypervisor is degenerating the memory. The unit of degenerating the memory is the unit in which a memory is assigned to the virtual machine, and therefore in the example of FIG. 4, the area assigned to the VM#2 is degenerated.
Therefore, when the unit of the memory assigned to the virtual machine is large, the unit of degenerating the memory becomes large, and therefore some normal areas of the memory are wasted.
When the unit in which a memory is assigned to the virtual machine is reduced in an attempt to avoid such circumstances, the larger the installation amount of the memory, the more the number of division units in the above-described state, which enlarges the amount of memory fault information to be managed by the hypervisor.
Furthermore, when the unit in which a memory is assigned to the virtual machine is made to have a variable length, a problem arises in that the control content implemented by the hypervisor becomes complex.
As described above, by the conventional technology, it is difficult to handle a large-scale virtualization environment.

Memory degeneracy method and information processing device