A routing method is used to establish a data transfer path between a source node and a destination node in wireless networks having a tree structure. If a relay node relaying a data transfer receives data to be forwarded from a source node to a destination node, the routing table is searched to check whether the routing table stores information on a path to the destination node, and the received data is forwarded along a corresponding path if the path information to the destination node exists. However, if the information on a path to the destination node does not exist in the routing table, the routing table is searched to check whether the routing table stores information on a path to a parent node of the destination node, and; if the path information exists, the received data is forwarded along the path to the parent node.

1. Field of the Invention
Methods consistent with the present invention relate to routing, and more particularly, to routing which establishes a data transfer path from a source node to a destination node in a wireless personal network such as a Zigbee network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A personal area network (PAN), as contrasted with a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), enables each individual to have a unique network of his own. That is, devices owned by individuals each constitute one network for the purpose of their convenience. As an effort to achieve such a PAN implemented in a wireless manner, the IEEE 802.15 Working Group defines the Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) as the short-range wireless network standards, and has four Task Groups (TG) thereunder.
IEEE 802.15.1 defines the well-known Bluetooth technology standards, and IEEE 802.15.3 and IEEE 802.15.3a define the high-rate WPAN standards. IEEE 802.15.4, called "Zigbee", defines the low-rate WPAN standards, the data rate of which is no more than 250 Kbps.
One of the important tasks of the Zigbee Network Group is to define a efficient routing method for a wireless sensor network. An On-Demand routing method, such as Ad hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing, can establish an efficient path in an Ad hoc-type wireless network, but such a routing method requires each node to have a routing table in order for the node to forward data packets. However, most wireless sensors have a limited amount of memory space, so there exist difficulties in building the routing table in the memory space.
Meanwhile, a tree routing method can solve such a memory-limitation problem. However, the tree routing method based on the tree structure is not efficient, in one aspect, in establishing a path, so the routing method for the Zigbee wireless network has not been standardized up to now.
FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a conventional routing method based on the tree routing. In FIG. 1, a node E indicates a source node (src) and a node I indicates a destination node (dest). Further, the sign "+" is marked on nodes having a routing table, the sign "−" is marked on nodes having no routing table, and the same signs are marked in the remaining drawings.
In FIG. 1, the source node E forwards data to a node B which is a parent node of the node E. The node B buffers the data received from the node E, broadcasts a route request (RREQ) packet, and searches for a path. The RREQ packet is repeatedly broadcast to a node D so that the path is searched for. The node D is aware that the destination node I is its child node, and unicasts the RREQ packet to the node I. The node I responds to the unicast RREQ packet with a route reply (RREP) packet. The node B receives the RREP packet, stores a searched path in the routing table, and forwards buffered data.
However, as shown in FIG. 1, in the situation that the node B forwards data to a node N, the routing method used in the wireless network, such as a Zigbee network, searches for a path, as aforementioned, even when the node B is aware of information on paths to the node I. Likewise, a node G, which is a child node of the node C, searches for a path in the same way as above even when forwarding data to the node N.
That is, even when there has been the previously searched path to the parent node I of the node N, the routing method as above looks for a path without considering the searched path. Accordingly, the routing method repeats unnecessary broadcasts for a path even though the previously searched path is available, which increases the overhead on a network to delay the entire data delivery.


Electronic system for the remote control (3) of drones (2), designed to detect a risk of passing authorized flight zone limits as a function of authorized flight zone limit definition data of the authorized flight limit(s) and the geographical location of the drone or a remote control command received and for                determining, as a function of the control command and extrapolation over time of control according to this command, a limit-passing status, and triggering an alarm as a function of the determination; or        determining another remote control command intended for the drone to prevent the passing of a flight zone limit; or        blocking the transmission to the drone of the remote control command received in order to prevent the drone passing the flight zone limit.

The flight takes place under the responsibility of the pilot who must ensure compliance with the regulations and the safety of people and property that are overflown.
In particular, the pilot must always respect the authorized flight zones and not enter prohibited areas. The boundaries of the prohibited zones may include height coordinates and/or horizontal coordinates that should not be crossed.
To contribute to the respect of the authorized and forbidden flight zones, it is known to add to the drone an on-board virtual geocaging module or geofencing module that is designed to trigger the fall of the drone in the event that passes beyond authorized limits. This type of independent device is particularly useful for countering defects in the onboard electronics of the navigation system/guidance/flight controls, or even steering locks, defects that make the drone non-steerable and prevent the pilot from correcting a fault even if the fault is detected.
However, even when a drone is equipped with such an additional virtual geocaging module, the detection by the latter of the passing of an authorized limit is damaging because it is accompanied by the triggering of the fall of the drone, and therefore the probable loss of the drone, even in the event that it is a simple error in the control or programming by the pilot, or a slow correction reaction, while the whole system is otherwise working well.
There is thus a need to contribute to a drone respecting the limits of authorized flight zones.

Drone remote piloting electronic system, associated method and computing program


A device includes a signal generator having a delay locked circuit for providing a number of output signals based on an input signal. The output signals have a fixed signal relationship with each other and with the input signal. The signal generator also includes a selector for selecting an enable signal from a range of signals formed by the output signals. The device further includes a transceiver circuit in which the transceiver circuit uses the enable signal for data processing.

Semiconductor devices such as memory devices, memory controller, and processors reside in many computers and electronic products to store and process data. Most of these devices use electrical signals to communicate with each other or within the same device.
The operating speed of the device depends in part on the frequency of the signals. As semiconductor devices become more advanced, one part of the device may operate at one frequency and another part of the same device or of another device may operate at another frequency. Therefore, synchronizing different operations in different parts of the same device or among different devices may be complex and constrained.


Provided in the present invention are a di-substituted maleic amide linker conjugated to an antibody and a preparation method and use thereof. In particular, the present invention conjugates a strongly cytotoxic active substance to a biomacromolecule through a class of new linkers. The class of linkers can selectively act simultaneously with disulphide chains, so as to greatly improve the substance homogeneity of a conjugate. The conjugate prepared by the linker of the present invention has a high inhibitory activity on a cell strain expressing the corresponding antigen. Also provided is a method for preparing the above-mentioned conjugate and the use.

Improving delivery efficiency of drugs or other agents to target cells, tissues or tumors so as to achieve maximal efficacy and minimal toxicity has been the focus of considerable researches for many years. Though many attempts have been made to develop effective methods for importing biologically active molecules into cells, both in vivo and in vitro, none has proved to be entirely satisfactory. Optimizing the association of a drug with its intracellular target, while minimizing intercellular redistribution of the drug, e.g., to neighboring cells, is often difficult or inefficient.
Currently, most agents administered parenterally to patients are not targeted, resulting in systemic delivery of the agents to body cells and tissues where they are unnecessary. This may result in adverse drug side effects, and often limits the dose of a drug (e.g., chemotherapeutic (anti-cancer), cytotoxic, enzyme inhibitory, and antiviral or antimicrobial drugs) that can be administered. Although oral administration is considered to be a convenient and economical administration mode, by contrast, it shares the concern of non-specific toxicity to unaffected cells once the drug has been absorbed into the systemic circulation. Further complications involve problems with oral bioavailability and residence of drug in internal organs leading to additional exposure of the internal organs to the drug and hence risk of producing toxicities therein. Accordingly, a major goal of developing (drug delivery) methods has been specifically targeting agents to cells and tissues. The benefits of such treatment include avoiding the general physiological effects resulted from inappropriate delivery of the agents to other cells and tissues, such as uninfected cells. Intracellular targeting may be achieved by methods, compounds and formulations which allow accumulation or retention of biologically active agents, i.e. active metabolites, inside cells.
The use of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), i.e. immunoconjugates, for the local delivery of cytotoxic or cytostatic agents, i.e. drugs to kill or inhibit tumor cells in the treatment of cancers, allows targeted delivery of the drug moiety to tumors, and intracellular accumulation therein, while systemic administration of these unconjugated drugs may result in unacceptable level of toxicity to normal cells, along with tumor cells sought to be eliminated. Efforts to improve therapeutic index, i.e. maximal efficacy and minimal toxicity of ADCs have focused on the selectivity of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as well as drug-linking and drug-releasing properties.
As novel targeted therapeutic agents, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) open a new era for the treatment of tumors. The basic design philosophy originated from the concepts of "Magic bullet" and "Drug targeting", i.e. delivering drugs to the diseased areas via suitable carriers, which were firstly proposed by Paul Ehrlich in 1931. However, because of limited technologies of antibody and high potency cytotoxic drug, it was not until 2000 that the first ADC drug, Malotarg™ (for the treatment of acute myleocytic leukemia, AML), was approved by FDA. Recently, FDA approved two ADC drugs, Adcetris™ (2011) developed by Seattle Genetics for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL)/anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), and Kadcyla™ (2013) developed by Genentech for the treatment of breast cancer, indicating that a rapid development stage of ADCs used for tumor treatment is coming.
An antibody drug conjugate is generally composed of three parts: antibody or antibody-like ligand, small molecule drug, and linker that conjugates the drug to the ligand. In structures of antibody drug conjugates that have entered clinical trial stage, highly-potent cytotoxic drugs are generally linked, via linkers, to lysine residues on the surface of the ligands or cysteine residues (obtained through partial reduction of inter-chain disulfide bonds) in the hinge region of the antibodies, and the optimal drug to antibody ratio (DAR) is 2-4. The large number of lysine residues (more than 80) on the surface of the antibody and a non-selective conjugation mode lead to an uncertainty of conjugation sites and numbers, which in turn leads to heterogeneity of antibody drug conjugates produced. For example, T-DM1 (with an average DAR of 3.5) has a DAR distribution ranging from 0 to 8. Similarly, although an antibody contains only four inter-chain disulfide bonds in its hinge region, which must be partially reduced to achieve an optimal average DAR 2-4. As general reducing agents (DTT, TCEP, etc) cannot selectively reduce inter-chain disulfide bonds, conjugates obtained are not homogeneous products, but composed of different components with DARs of 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8. And even for a conjugate with a specific DAR value, it may be composed of isomers due to different conjugation sites. The heterogeneity of ADC products may ultimately lead to different PK, efficacy, and toxicity properties for different conjugates. For example, conjugates with higher DAR are cleared more rapidly and may result in more toxicity in the body.
To overcome the problem of high heterogeneity with antibody drug conjugates, site-directed conjugation technologies which control the conjugation between the antibodies and drugs both in sites and number have been hot spots recently. Despite controllable sites and number of conjugated drugs can be achieved by the technologies, the antibodies or proteins used are all obtained by gene recombination. As for gene recombination technology, substantial work and precise design are needed to screen antibodies or proteins with favorable sites for drug conjugation or pegylation. However, antibodies/proteins upon site-directed modification obtained through current gene recombination technologies have low expression levels. In this regard, a large-scale preparation and production may be time consuming and the cost of research and development and final industrialization is very high. What's more, additional work on the modified antibodies/proteins is needed to verify their efficacy and safety in vivo.
Considering the above problems in the conjugation technologies, achieving site-directed conjugation on current antibodies via simple chemistry methods may save a lot of manpower, material and financial resources and thus is more attractive. Existing related studies include: a conjugation technology reported by POLYTHERICS LIMITED in patent application No. CN200480019814.4; technical solutions reported in international publication No. WO2014197871A2 filed by Igenica Biotherapeutics; technical solutions reported in patent application No. CN201380025774.3 filed by CONCORTIS BIOSYSTEMS CORP; technical solutions reported in patent application No. CN201310025021.4 filed by NEWBIO THERAPEUTICS, INC.; and the like. However, the technologies described above have many defects as follows: synthesis routes for coupling reagents are too long, chemical stability of coupling reagents is poor, electropherograms of the obtained antibody conjugates are messy, indicating that side reactions may exist during the coupling process, and exchanging of sulfhydryl groups (a reverse Michael addition reaction) in the circulation of the body is not avoided by those available solutions.
Therefore, there is still a need for highly efficient, simple, and practical chemical conjugation methods which can achieve the purpose of site-directed conjugation and improve the stability, safety and other properties of the obtained antibody-drug conjugates simultaneously.

Di-substituted maleic amide linker for antibody drug conjugating and preparation method and use thereof

Jiangsu Mabwell Health Pharmaceutical R&D Co., Ltd.


A method for transmitting feedback information by a terminal may comprise the steps of: measuring a channel; multiplying a first matrix associated with the measured channel by a transformation matrix, so as to obtain a second matrix and transmitting the obtained second matrix to a base station in a bit format. In addition, the transformation matrix may be determined on the basis of an angle offset satisfying a predetermined condition.

As more and more communication devices require a larger communication capacity, there is a need for mobile broadband communication enhanced over conventional radio access technology (RAT). In addition, massive machine type communications (MTC) capable of providing a variety of services anywhere and anytime by connecting multiple devices and objects is another important issue to be considered for next generation communications.
Communication system design considering services/UEs sensitive to reliability and latency is also under discussion. As such, introduction of new radio access technology considering enhanced mobile broadband communication (eMBB), massive MTC, and ultra-Reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) is being discussed. In the present disclosure, for simplicity, this technology will be referred to as New RAT.
In legacy LTE, a user equipment (UE) implicitly transmits a channel state information (CSI) feedback (e.g., a channel quality indicator (CQI) or a precoding matrix index (PMI)), and operates in closed-loop multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode based on the CSI feedback. However, an increase in the number of antennas at a gNB and a UE is under consideration in NR. To achieve a higher multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) gain, an explicit feedback (e.g., pure channel, a channel covariance matrix, or an eigenvalue/eigenvector) transmission method as well as an implicit feedback method may be considered for the UE. However, because explicit feedback increases feedback overhead, there is a need for transmitting accurate feedback information with a minimized number of feedback bits.

Method for transmitting feedback information and terminal therefor


The speed of conversion processing is limited if default conversion processing 1 and user unique conversion processing 2 are sequentially performed. In view of this, when an instruction of a characteristic of the conversion processing 2 is inputted by a user, conversion process data 3 is generated by integrating a characteristic of the default conversion processing 1 and the instructed characteristic of the conversion processing 2, and conversion processing is executed based on the generated conversion process data 3.

The present invention relates to a converter and conversion method, and more particularly, to a converter and conversion method for changing a conversion characteristic according to a user""s instruction, an image processing apparatus employing the converter and conversion method, and a recording medium in which information related to the conversion method is recorded.
Color conversion is an essential process for apparatuses forming color images. Therefore, conversion characteristics are determined so as to realize image quality which is acceptable to many users while taking the best advantage of the apparatus feature.
As the applicable range of color image forming apparatuses has expanded, it is difficult to satisfy all users with a provided default conversion characteristics only. A user can change the conversion characteristics through a user interface which is provided for operating the color image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, conversion processing according to user""s instruction (hereinafter referred to as user unique conversion processing) is handled differently from default conversion processing. A default conversion processing is mostly realized by matrix operation called masking processing. Therefore, even if the user unique conversion processing is added to the masking processing, the processing time hardly becomes a problem.
Meanwhile, the amount of image data processed by a color image forming apparatus increases every year, and the demand for a high quality image is rising. Therefore, instead of simple masking processing, highly optimized conversion processing using a lookup table (LUT) is necessary in the default conversion processing.
In addition to the increased operation amount in the conversion processing, because color image forming apparatuses are more frequently used, reduced time in color image formation is demanded, thus requiring an increased speed in the conversion processing. However, increasing the speed of the conversion processing is limited if the default conversion processing and user unique conversion processing are performed sequentially as shown in FIG. 1.
Furthermore, when two or more conversion processes are combined into one LUT to effectively increase the overall conversion processing speed, a problem arises in that the conversion characteristics are changed, which will be described later in detail.
The present invention is made in consideration of the foregoing problems, and has as its object to provide a converter and conversion method for executing default conversion processing and user unique conversion processing at high speed, an image processing apparatus employing the converter and conversion method, and a recording medium in which data related to the conversion method is recorded.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a converter comprising: instruction means for instructing a conversion characteristic desired by a user; generation means for generating conversion process data where a default conversion characteristic and the instructed conversion characteristic are integrated; and conversion means for executing conversion processing based on the generated conversion process data.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a converter and conversion method which can suppress changes in a conversion characteristic when conversion processes are integrated, and a recording medium in which data related to the conversion method is recorded.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a conversion method of performing conversion processing by generating a conversion table where two or more conversion processes are integrated, the method comprising the step of generating the conversion table based on grid position data respectively corresponding to a permutation of conversion processes to be integrated, the grid position data provided additionally to data representing the conversion processes to be integrated.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a converter for performing conversion processing by generating a conversion table where two or more conversion processes are integrated, the converter comprising: acquisition means for acquiring grid position data corresponding to permutation of the conversion processes to be integrated, the grid position data being stored in one of information representing the conversion processes to be integrated; and generation means for generating the conversion table by integrating the conversion processes to be integrated in the integration order, based on the acquired grid position data.
Still further, the present invention provides a converter for performing conversion processing by generating a conversion table where two or more conversion processes are integrated, the converter comprising: acquisition means for acquiring a grid position data identifier corresponding to a permutation of the conversion processes to be integrated, the grid position data identifier being stored in one of information representing the conversion processes to be integrated, and acquiring grid position data, corresponding to the acquired grid position data identifier, from the data or another data from which the grid position data identifier is acquired; and generation means for generating the conversion table by integrating the conversion processes to be integrated in the integration order, based on the obtained grid position data.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.


Systems and methods for operating a wireless communication system are provided. An access node can receive a multimedia broadcast multicast services data flow. The data flow can comprise a first data packet and a second data packet where the first data packet comprises a first transmission time and the second data packet comprises a second transmission time. The data flow can be stored in a buffer of the access node. The first data packet can be transmitted from the access node to a wireless device at the first transmission time and the access node can receive a retransmission request to retransmit the first data packet. The access node can determine an anticipated packet retransmission time based on when the access node received the request to retransmit the first data packet. The access node can retransmit the first data packet to the wireless device based on the anticipated packet retransmission time.

Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services (MBMS) is a point-to-multipoint service in which data is transmitted from a single source to multiple destinations over a communication network in one or more consecutive sessions of finite duration. Data can be transmitted using various MBMS modes. For example, in a single cell (SC) MBMS mode, each base station schedules and transmits data independently of all other base stations. In a multimedia broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) MBMS mode, a group of base stations are synchronized to transmit data at the same time and frequency. Wireless devices can receive multiple versions the data from a plurality of base stations within the group and delays between the different versions can be based on the location of the wireless device relative to the group of base stations. For example, the closer the wireless device is to a base station, the less delay the data will have. The further away the wireless device is from a base station, the greater the delay.
A hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) protocol can be used in MBSFN MBMS systems to improve transmission reliability over a wireless communication link. The HARQ protocol can request retransmission of corrupted data packets received at each wireless device. A wireless device in a MBSFN MBMS system, a wireless device can transmit a HARQ retransmission request to the serving base station and the serving base station can generate retransmission to all wireless devices associated with the serving base station. However, after the initial synchronized MBSFN MBMS signal is distributed from the network, no further retransmission is performed at the network level. Rather, each base station individually responds to the retransmission requests preventing multiplexing gain.

System and method for retransmission of MBMS data flow


An object of the present is to uniform particle diameters and speeds of liquid droplets in a two-fluid nozzle for cleaning substrates which mixes gas and liquid internally and injects liquid droplets with gas so as to clean a substrate. The two-fluid nozzle for cleaning substrates has a gas supply passage for supplying gas, a liquid supply passage for supplying liquid, and a lead-out passage for leading out internally-formed liquid droplets, wherein an injection port for injecting liquid droplets to the outside is formed at the front end of the lead-out passage, and wherein a cross-sectional area Sb of the injection port is formed smaller than a cross-sectional area Sa of the lead-out passage, and a cross sectional area Sc of an exit of the gas supply passage is formed smaller than the cross-sectional area Sa of the lead-out passage.

In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device for example, there is used a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer) with a cleaning solution such as a chemical solution, pure water or the like to remove contamination of particles, organic contaminants, and metal impurities adhering on the wafer. As an example of such a substrate cleaning apparatus, one that uses a two-fluid nozzle to inject a cleaning solution in a liquid drop form to the surface of a wafer is known.
Conventionally, as a two-fluid nozzle for cleaning substrates, an internal mixing type to form liquid droplets by mixing gas and liquid inside the nozzle and an external mixing type to form liquid droplets by mixing gas and liquid outside the nozzle are known (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). Also, as an example of the internal mixing type, one that allows internally-formed liquid droplets and gas to pass through a straight tube so as to accelerate the liquid droplets and inject them into the air at a sufficient speed is proposed (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-197597
[Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 3315611

Two-fluid nozzle for cleaning substrate and substrate cleaning apparatus


A power plant is provided including a heat recovery steam generator positioned to receive a flow of an exhaust gas and having a heating surface, an exhaust gas recirculation line branching off at an extraction point within the heat recovery steam generator and opening into the heat recovery steam generator at an injection point upstream of the extraction point within the heat recovery steam generator, a thermal storage system arranged between the extraction point and the injection point in the exhaust gas recirculation line wherein the thermal energy storage system stores thermal energy, and a blower arranged in the exhaust gas recirculation line to push air or exhaust gas through the thermal energy storage system.

Currently, renewable energy generation is increasing. Renewable energy in the form of generated electricity and heat is derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly. For the purposes of this disclosure, renewable energy may include solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, biomass, geothermal energy, biofuels, and hydrogen derived from renewable sources. Unlike other forms of energy generation, renewable energy can only be generated at certain times, i.e., when the sun is shining (solar energy harvesting) or when the wind is blowing (wind power generation). If there is no demand for the renewable energy at the time of generation, curtailment or switching off the generating assets and reducing the renewable power generation, may occur. With increased energy generation due to renewables, losses due to curtailment are increasing exponentially.
Most fossil assets, including gas power generation plants, were built for continuous base load operation. With increasing renewable power generation, these plants operate with daily starts and stops creating additional thermal wear and tear and start-up emissions. Additionally, the result of starting and stopping a power plant is reduced efficiency. Thus, it may be desirable to utilize the surplus renewable energy to improve the performance and flexibility of a power plant.

Method and device to improve the performance of a power plant integrated with a thermal energy storage system


A method and apparatus process a thinly walled tube of thermoplastic resin to produce a tubular container having an inwardly directed flange section in a hole formed at an end of the thinly walled tube. In a first step, the thinly walled tube is secured to a tube holder provided with a male mold for molding the flange section in the hole and forming an opening located inside the flange section. The front end of the thinly walled tube projects by a predetermined distance from the front end of the tube holder. Then, in a second step, hot air is blown to an inner wall surface of the thinly walled tube at and near the front end thereof and the outer wall surface of the thinly walled tube is cooled also at and near the front end thereof. This produces a temperature difference between an inside and an outside of the thinly walled tube, so as to deform the front end of the thinly walled tube into a flange projecting radially. When the inner wall surface is heated to a temperature lower than a melting point of the inner layer, the front end of the thinly walled tube is deformed inwardly. When the inner wall surface is heated to a temperature higher than the melting point of the inner layer, the front end of the thinly walled tube is deformed outwardly. Finally, in a third step, the deformed front end of the thinly walled tube is molded into the inwardly directed flange section having the opening located inside the flange section by means of a female mold cooperating with the male mold.

This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for processing a thinly walled tube of thermoplastic resin to produce a tubular container having an inwardly directed flange section at an end of the thinly walled tube.
There are containers fabricated by applying a lid typically made of a filmy material to an end of a tube for each container. Such a container is normally used by peeling off the lid from the tube so that the content may be squeezed out. Of containers of the above described type, some are provided with an outwardly extending flange section arranged at an end of the tube, to which a lid is applied.
Generally, the process of manufacturing a tubular container made of a resin material and containing a given amount of a product comprises steps of preparing a tube main body from a thinly walled tube, filling it with the content and sealing the hole of the tubular container containing the contents typically by melting/bonding the open end of the container with heat or by means of an ultrasonic wave. In the above process, there are cases where tubes are laid flat in order to move the tubular container from a processing step to the next.
However, when tubes provided with the outwardly extending flange section are laid flat to transfer the tubular containers to the next processing station, there arises a problem that they rotate around the end opposite to the one where the flange section is arranged, so that the tubes would not be fed to the next processing step properly.
In view of the above identified problem, it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for processing a thinly walled tube efficiently that is adapted to transfer it from a processing step to the next when it is held to a flatly laid state.

Method and apparatus for processing a thinly walled tube having an inwardly directed flange section


A single IC-chip includes a video processor, a panel processor, an OSD circuit, a CPU, and a timing controller. A memory 18 stores one test pattern datum that is formed of one font datum of X dots in width and Y dots in height in order to test the position of any bright point, dark point, bright line or dark line on the screen of the liquid crystal panel. At a test step, the CPU acquires the test pattern datum from the memory, and a test pattern is created by the OSD circuit so as to display the test pattern at any desired position on the screen of the liquid crystal panel and to simultaneously display the address values of the origin of the display position of the test pattern.

Heretofore, various techniques have been adopted for specifying the position of any bright point, dark point, bright line or dark line which is the improper part of a liquid crystal panel.
As an example, the simplest technique is a technique wherein dimensions from the ends of a screen to the improper part are measured on the screen, and the address values of the improper part are specified by comparing the resulting measured values with the values of an address conversion table prepared beforehand. Since this technique does not require any special contrivance for specifying the improper part, it is advantageous in cost. The technique, however, has had the problem that accurate address values are not always obtained on account of dimensional measurement errors, etc.
On the other hand, there has been employed a technique wherein, as shown in FIG. 5, a cross-cursor screen in which one vertical line and one horizontal line intersect in the shape of a cross and which displays the coordinate values of an intersection point is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal panel. More specifically, the address values of the improper part (crosspoint) are read from the screen in such a way that the vertical line and/or horizontal line of a cross cursor are/is moved every pixel (every dot) by appropriately manipulating upper, lower, left and right manipulation keys, until the intersection point (crosspoint) is superposed on the improper part.
The function of displaying such a cross-cursor screen is a function which is already incorporated in a pattern generator commercially available. This function, however, is very expensive and is unsuitable for reduction in cost.
Meanwhile, an OSD (on-screen display) circuit for presenting various displays is mounted in the liquid-crystal television set or the like. When the OSD circuit is used, information for enhancing a display quality can be offered by adjusting parameters, for example, contrast, brightness, sizes in vertical/horizontal directions, and a geometrical shape. A configurational example of the OSD circuit for offering such information is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-2002-140061.
Also, there has been proposed an image display apparatus wherein, in case of testing the defects or the likes of the liquid crystal panel, the set values of registers in a control circuit are altered, whereby a test pattern to be displayed is altered (refer to, for example, JP-A-11-272222). Concretely, seven registers AAA-GGG are employed. By way of example, when the set value of the register AAA is altered from "000" to "055", the set value of the register DDD from "005" to "042", and the set value of the register FFF from "033" to "063", the display is altered from a standard pattern to any desired test pattern. In this case, the set values of the registers are altered by control signals stored in the memory of a microcomputer beforehand, thereby to omit the labor of individually setting and altering the values of the registers. Besides, the test pattern is created by utilizing a pattern generator function which the control circuit has.


Disclosed are apparatus and methods for optimizing a metrology tool, such as an optical or scanning electron microscope so that minimum human intervention is achievable during the optimization. In general, a set of specifications and an initial input data are initially provided for a particular target. The specifications provide limits for characteristics of images that are to be measured by the metrology tool. The metrology tool is then automatically optimized for measuring the particular target so as to meet one or more of the provided specifications without further significant human intervention with respect to the metrology tool. In one aspect, the input data provided prior to the automated optimization procedure includes a plurality of target locations and a synthetic image of the particular target.

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor metrology. More specifically, it relates to optimization procedures for setting up a metrology tool for optimum performance during a subsequent metrology process.
Generally, the industry of semiconductor manufacturing involves highly complex techniques for fabricating integrating circuits using semiconductor materials which are layered and patterned onto a substrate, such as silicon. Due to the large scale of circuit integration and the decreasing size of semiconductor devices, the device must comply with rigorous specification requirements prior to shipment of the device to the end users or customers.
Typically, particular parameters are measured within special test structures or targets using a metrology tool. By way of example, various targets are designed to measure misalignment or overlay errors between two adjacent layers. The measurement of overlay error between successive patterned layers on a wafer is one of the most critical process control techniques used in the manufacturing of integrated circuits and devices. Overlay accuracy generally pertains to the determination of how accurately a first patterned layer aligns with respect to a second patterned layer disposed above or below it and to the determination of how accurately a first pattern aligns with respect to a second pattern disposed on the same layer. Presently, overlay measurements are performed via test patterns that are printed together with layers of the wafer. The images of these test patterns are captured via an imaging metrology tool and an analysis algorithm is used to calculate the relative displacement of the patterns from the captured images.
The most commonly used overlay target pattern is the "Box-in-Box" target, which includes a pair of concentric squares (or boxes) that are formed on successive layers of the wafer. The overlay error is generally determined by comparing the position of one square relative to another square.
To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 is a top view of a typical "Box-in-Box" target 10. As shown, the target 10 includes an inner box 12 disposed within an open-centered outer box 14. The inner box 12 is printed on the top layer of the wafer while the outer box 14 is printed on the layer directly below the top layer of the wafer. As is generally well known, the overlay error between the two boxes, along the x-axis for example, is determined by calculating the locations of the edges of lines c1 and c2 of the outer box 14, and the edge locations of the lines c3 and c4 of the inner box 12, and then comparing the average separation between lines c1 and c3 with the average separation between lines c2 and c4. Half of the difference between the average separations c1&c3 and c2&c4 is the overlay error (along the x-axis). Thus, if the average spacing between lines c1 and c3 is the same as the average spacing between lines c2 and c4, the corresponding overlay error tends to be zero. Although not described, the overlay error between the two boxes along the y-axis may also be determined using the above technique.
Prior to making the above described measurements to determine overlay error, the metrology tool needs to be optimized. The tool is optimized by manually adjusting operating parameters (such as focus settings, algorithm selection, etc.) so as to achieve an image having optimum characteristics, such as a best contrast, etc. For instance, if the tool is used to image a particular kernel or region of interest (ROI) of the target (e.g., 16 or 18), an operator typically adjusts an imaging tool until it most closely matches what the operator perceives as an ideal image, such as the idealized image whose gray levels across the kernel in an x direction are shown in FIG. 2. Various operating parameters are continuously adjusted by an operator until the tool is optimized for a particular target. This optimization procedure is repeated for different target types.
Unfortunately, conventional optimization procedures are rather time consuming since they are performed manually, requiring significant man hours to adequately adjust the tool for various targets. Additionally, when several operators perform optimization on a tool or different tools, performance of such tool(s) is not consistent since different operators will achieve a different optimization result and the same operator may achieve different optimization results a different times for the same tool and target type.
In light of the above, it would be beneficial to implement an optimization procedure so that peak performance is consistently achieved over time for the same tool, as well as different tools. For example, it would be highly desirable to consistently imitate the most experienced application engineer's process for optimization in an automated optimization process.


A screed for a paving machine has at least a base portion having an associated heating element connected to a heating element controller. An extension screed portion is connector to the base screed portion and has a respective heating element connectable to the heating element controller. A temperature sensor is associated with each of the base and extension screed portions and a device is adapted to controllably connect selected ones of the base and extension screed temperature sensors to the heating element controller.

Paving machines are used for depositing, spreading, compacting, and smoothing paving material on a roadbed in such a manner that a uniform and drivable surface is produced. In the case of an asphalt paving machine, the paving material is typically an aggregate filled bituminous mixture that is deposited on a roadbed while hot. Once the mixture cools after being suitably compacted and smoothed, a hardened pavement surface results.
Paving machines use screed assemblies to smooth and compact the paving material. The screed assembly is typically drawn behind the paving machine and is adjustable to establish the thickness of the deposited layer of paving material.
A screed assembly typically includes a base portion and may include one or more extension portions, each of these portions having steel screed plates mounted to the screed portions in such a manner that the plates both smooth and compress the deposited paving material, leaving behind a mat of the desired thickness. The screed plates are typically heated to prevent the bituminous material from clinging to the steel plates. In modem screed assemblies, the screed plate heaters are commonly implemented in the form of resistive electrical heaters that can be optimally positioned on or near the screed plates. Screed plates may also be heated by gas or other combustible fuel heaters.
It is important to maintain a proper screed plate temperature. If the screed plates are either too hot or too cold, a poor finish will be obtained in the resulting pavement mat. In a simple screed having only base screed portions, each of the base screed portions typically includes both a heater and a temperature sensor. In such a system, each of the base screed plates may be individually temperature controlled according to feedback received from the associated temperature sensor.
However, many screed assemblies make provision for attaching extension screeds to the ends of the base screed portions. These extension screed portions must be mechanically connected to the base screed portions, and must also be connected to provide controlled power to the heating elements. It is known to merely connect the heating elements of the extension screed portions in parallel with the heating elements of the base screed. In such a configuration, the extension screed heaters are controlled in response to temperature sensors located on the base screed portion. Consequently, the extension screed portions may be either too hot or too cold to produce a desired mat finish.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problem set forth above.


A vehicle stabilizing system, for motor vehicles in particular, includes a control unit in which a stabilization control algorithm is stored, a sensor system for detecting present actual values of vehicle state variables, and at least one actuator for implementing a stabilizing intervention when an unstable situation is detected. In order to be able to adapt the vehicle stabilizing system to different types of surfaces, a device is provided which supplies the control unit with information concerning the nature of the surface and at least one controller variable of the stabilization control algorithm is changed as a function of the supplied surface information.

Vehicle stabilizing systems (VSS) primarily include the anti-lock system (ALS), traction control system (TCS), or electronic stability program (ESP) and are used to improve the controllability of motor vehicles in critical driving situations, e.g., for oversteering when negotiating turns, and to stabilize the vehicle. In addition to the named systems, the term "vehicle stabilizing system" is also understood to include stabilizing functions such as, for example, active front steering (AFS), other vehicle stabilizing systems such as active spring-and-shock-absorber systems (vertical force distribution systems), the known supplemental functions of ESP such as, for example, the rollover mitigation (ROM) function, active cruise control (ACC), and principally all regulating systems that may intervene actively in vehicle operation to stabilize the vehicle.
Such vehicle stabilizing systems have the objective of adapting the handling properties of a vehicle by operating various actuators such as the brakes, the engine torque, or the steering to the driver's intent and simultaneously stabilizing the vehicle while taking into consideration the driving conditions (roadway condition, speed, etc.).
As part of the vehicle dynamics control system, these systems detect various state variables such as a setpoint yaw rate, a setpoint attitude angle, a setpoint slip, or various other controlled variables and calculate a necessary stabilizing intervention from the system deviation such as a wheel-individual braking torque or drive torque. The calculated values are implemented using the corresponding actuators and finally influence the handling properties of the vehicle.
Known vehicle stabilizing systems are customarily very robust with respect to the surface, i.e., designed for a large range of different roadway or off-road conditions.
However in off-road driving in particular, such as climbing in a streambed or driving in deep sand, the vehicle behaves entirely differently than when driving on asphalt, so that even in non-critical driving situations, stabilizing interventions may occur which are not desirable under the special conditions. In the same manner, driving situations may also occur in which the vehicle stabilizing system intervenes too little or too late in the vehicle operation.

Adaptation of a vehicle stabilizing system to the surface


A photographic lens system which is composed, in order from the object side, of a first lens element having a positive refractive power, a second lens element having a negative refractive power, a third lens element having a positive refractive power, and a fourth lens element which has an aspherical surface on the image side and a negative refractive powers. An aperture stop is disposed between the second lens element and the third lens element or between the third lens element and the fourth lens element. This photographic lens system has a large aperture, favorable optical performance within a photographing range from infinite distance to an extremely short distance, a compact size and a simple composition, and can be manufactured at a low cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographic lens system which has a wide photographing field angle of approximately 64.degree., a small F number on the order of 2.8, a telephoto ratio of approximately 1.1 or lower, a compact size, optical performance scarecely degraded within a photographing range from infinite distance to a short distance on the order of 0.35 m, and provides images of high qualities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, image pickup lens systems used in photographing silver salt cameras and still video cameras have been configured mainly as zoom lens systems which can conveniently cope with various photographing conditions. However, zoom lens systems hardly have total lengths as short as those of lens systems having fixed focal points, tend to have small F numbers at tele positions in particular when they are configured to be compact, and cannot form images of satisfactory qualities.
Accordingly, users desire pocketably compact and cute cameras more and more strongly and more compact cameras that use bright lens systems with fixed focal points that form images of high quality.
There are conventionally known photographic lens systems, each of which are composed of four lens components of four lens elements, like the lens system according to the present invention. For example, a lens system disclosed by Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. Sho 55-73014 is composed of four lens components of four lens elements. However, these conventional photographic lens systems are dark, or have F numbers on the order of 3.5 to 5.6, and cannot sufficiently satisfy the users' recent desire for shorter minimum photographing distances, or exhibit favorable optical performance at their minimum photographing distances.
Further, a lens system disclosed by Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. Sho 57-116313 has a composition similar to that of the photographic lens system according to the present invention and a small F number of F2.8, but allows an amount of marginal rays to be reduced by stopping down, thereby producing a phenomenon that four corners of a film are darkened in the stop down condition. In addition, the conventional lens system allows aberrations to be varied remarkably from infinite object distance to a short object distance and cannot provide photographs desired by users when it is used for photographing objects located at extremely short distances in particular.
For configuring a compact camera using a photographic lens system having a fixed focal point so as to satisfy the users' desire for photographing objects located at a minimum photographing distance, it is necessary to design the lens system to permit photographing an object located an extremely short distance (on the order of 0.35 m).


A tool suspension device has a base bracket having a front surface, a rail bracket and multiple clamps. The rail bracket is attached securely to the front surface of the base bracket has a mounting panel, two opposite rails and two opposite channels. The channels are formed respectively in inner surfaces of the rails. The clamps are mounted slidably in pairs on the rails and in the channels and each clamp comprises a fastener to hold the clamps securely in position, the pairs of clamps clamp a tool securely.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tool suspension device, especially to a tool suspension device that holds tools more securely.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Tool suspension devices are used to hold tools such as wrenches and screwdrivers on a wall. A conventional suspension device comprises a bracket and multiple holders. The bracket has upper and lower rails with multiple ratchets. The holders are clamped slidably on the bracket and have multiple pawls. The pawls correspond to and selectively engage the ratchets. When a tool is clamped between adjacent holders, the pawls engage the ratchets to hold the holders in position.
However, because an interval between adjacent ratchets is fixed, the interval between adjacent holders can only be changed at several predetermined distances. Therefore, the interval between adjacent holders does not precisely match the width of the clamped tool, therefore preventing the tool from being clamped tightly between adjacent holders.
Furthermore, because the holders only depend on the engagement between pawls and ratchets to be held on the bracket, the holders are easily moved by persons bumping into the bracket, vibration or the like.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a tool suspension device to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


A method of use of a UMTS telecommunications network, comprising utilizing UMTS signalling to indicate changes in an IP sub-network. To register a Mobile Terminal (MT) or to update its location within the network, signalling relevant to the IP domain is transmitted with UMTS signalling in an integrated approach. This reduces the number of signalling messages that are required and minimizes delays.

This invention relates to user registration and location management for mobile telecommunications systems. In particular, it relates to Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) systems, when used to provide connectivity between an IP (Internet Protocol) capable end-device and an IP-based network.
When a UMTS user switches on his mobile terminal (I), the user needs to be registered with the UMTS network. Similarly, when the user moves around the area covered by the network, location management procedures need to take place in order to allow the user to be provided with services.
The initial registration process normally involves requesting for registration on the network, authentication of the user by the network, registration of the user and informing the home location register (HLR) of the users current whereabouts. This takes place at the UMTS level.
At the IP (Internet Protocol) level, there are three scenarios to consider when the user switches on an IP capable terminal. These are:
(1)the user has a static home IP address,(2)the user requires a dynamic home IP address from the UMTSoperator, and(3)the user requires a dynamic home IP address from a body outsidethe UMTS domain.
In any case, a mobile IP registration with the home agent (HA) and perhaps the foreign agent (FA) needs to take place before the user can successfully engage in a data transaction using the Internet Protocol.
The current solution for the registration of data (IP) users in UMTS with mobile IP relies on the use of two, subsequent, registrations, the first at the UMTS level and the second at the IP level. This is shown in FIG. 1.
The user of a mobile terminal switches on his mobile terminal MT1 and requires registration with the UMTS network. He sends a message 2 requesting registration which passes through a radio network controller (RNC) 3 (which may also be the foreign agent (FA) for the IP protocol) to a switching centre with a visiting location register (VLR) 4. This in turn requests user information from any previous visiting location register 5 which the user may have last received service from, or from the user's home location register (HLR) 6. This sends back information concerning the user to the new VLR 4 and then an authentication request 7 and reply 8 are sent to and received from the mobile terminal 1. After this authentication, registration of the mobile terminal is complete and a register complete message 9 is sent to the terminal. Also, a message 10 is sent to the HLR informing the HLR of the new location of the terminal.
If IP registration is also required, then a further IP registration step also has to take place with conventional systems.
Once UMTS registration is complete, the mobile terminal 1 sets up a UMTS data channel 11. The mobile terminal 1 sends an FA router solicitation message 12 to the new RNC/FA 3 and this in turn sends an FA advertisement 13 back to the mobile terminal over the data channel. The mobile terminal then sends a registration request which passes through the RNC/FA 3 and onwards to the home agent 14. This then sends back a registration reply 15 to the mobile terminal and IP registration is complete. The foreign agent FA in IP is analogous to the VLR (visiting location register) in the UMTS domain.
Accordingly, two independent registration processes are necessary, first the UMTS registration and then the IP registration.
When a UMTS user moves around the area covered by the network, location management procedures need to take place in order to allow the user to be provided with services. Location management under a single radio network controller (RNC) does not affect the IP level. However, inter-RNC location updates have to involve IP level mobility as well as UMTS mobility. This is because it is assumed that mobile IP foreign agents (FA's) and RNC's are co-located.
Conventionally, an analogous process to the conventional method of registration has been done. Firstly UMTS location update is done and then, independently, a subsequent IP location update is done. This is shown in FIG. 2.
The location update procedures are similar in principle to the registration updates of FIG. 1, except that the location update 16 is required for both IP and UMTS, rather than register updates. Apart from this, the procedures involve similar steps, mutatis mutandis.
In both the user registration and location management scenarios, the complete separation of the two procedures for UMTS and IP bring inefficiencies in the usage of the air-interface, and delays to the overall registration or location update procedure.
The present invention arose in an attempt to reduce these inefficiencies and to reduce the time taken for the overall registration procedure or for the overall location update procedure.
It is known from the paper by Clapton A J et al entitled "UMTS—the mobile part of broadband communications for the next century", BT Technical Journal, GB, BT Laboratories, vol. 16, no. 2, 1 Apr. 1998, pages 120–131, XP000750524 ISSN=1358−3948 to provide a method for a mobile terminal in a UMTS and IP telecommunications network to register and/or update its location.

User registration and location management for mobile telecommunications systems


A water resistant floor board comprises a top layer, a tongue connector, a groove connector, a body, and a bottom layer. The body is made from a man-made material and placed between the tongue connector and the groove connector, and the top layer is placed above the body, the tongue connector, and the groove connector. The bottom layer is a moisture resistant aluminum foil covering the body, the tongue connector, and the groove connector. The tongue and groove connectors are made from moisture resistant solid wood, and the body is made from man-made material. The top layer has a moisture resistant coating.

Wide plank boards (wider than 3¼″) are desirable in the hardwood flooring market because they show more wooden characteristics. The wide plank floor boards have been accepted as high end products and having a high value because they are made from a very limited resource, namely trees with a large diameter, and the production process has a low yield (only a small port of trees can offer large width boards). The wide plank floor board installation is also faster because it reduces the number of nails needed for an average square foot during the installation and thus saves installation time.
Wide plank hardwood floors, however, often experience dimensional instability, which is caused by its dimension, more specifically, its width, which varies as the moisture and temperature of the environment change. As season changes and air conditioner or heater is used, the indoor moisture and temperature change and consequently cause the moisture level in hardwood floor boards to change. Variation in the moisture level in the hardwood floor boards causes stress inside each hardwood floor board, which lead to wrapping, cupping, or popping up or shrinking after the installation. As the result, the hardwood floor shows gaps between the floor boards or bumps on the hardwood floor.
Wide hardwood flooring boards may shrink or expand before they arrive at the installation site. Shrinking and expansion changes the floor board's width and makes installation difficult. Thus the stability of hardwood floor boards (wider than 3¼″) is especially important to installation and maintenance of a hardwood floor. For this reason, hardwood floor boards, especially oak floor boards, are often processed to a width between 2.25″ and 3.25″.
It has been a major goal for hardwood flooring manufacturers to create a wide plank with less tree resource and with more stability. The traditional engineered hardwood uses layers of hardwood veneer to create a floor board, and these veneer layers are stacked on top of each other with the wood grain in one layer oriented perpendicular to the wood grain of another layer. Once the desired thickness is achieved, the boards are then cut into the correct board width. From there, the boards are then manufactured to have a tongue or groove on the edges. By doing this, the engineered hardwood floor board becomes less susceptible to the variation of moisture and temperature, because wood expands and contracts in the direction of the wood grain. Therefore engineered hardwood floor board is referred to as being dimensionally stable.
This traditional engineered floor board improves the stability to some degree, but it does not offer improvement under extreme dry or flood situations. As the air humidity falls very low, such as below 30-35%, the engineered floor boards are likely to delaminate because shrinking of wood layers causes stress and tears some layers inside of multilayer boards. During a flooding of short duration, multilayer floor board is not strong enough to remain stable and consequently floor board warps or cups.
Most of the traditional engineered floor boards used glue for tying down because the body of a multilayer boar is not strong enough to grip the nails. A traditional engineered floor board contains a high amount of glue in its body, which also has a high level of formaldehyde. The price of traditional engineered floor boards increases as their thickness increases. A traditionally engineer floor board is also lighter than a solid hardwood floor board, and this weight factor is perceived as having a low value in the market place.
Therefore, there is a need for floor boards that have a solid wood appearance and are water resistance, and it is to such floor boars the present invention is primarily directed to.


A novel polishing slurry for particularly hard materials such a silicon carbide has been found. The slurry comprises diamond particles with a median particle size of around a micron and alpha alumina particles with a median size of from about 20 to about 200 nanometers.

This invention relates to polishing materials particularly to polishing materials based on diamond that are used to produce fine finishes on hard materials.
Certain very hard ceramic materials are extremely difficult to polish to a fine finish unless a diamond polishing slurry is employed. Such materials include for example silicon carbide, aluminum/titanium carbide, tungsten carbide, aluminum nitride and alpha alumina monolith bodies. Diamond is very expensive and thus the polishing process itself is very costly.
Typical diamond slurries for this application contain diamond particles less than 2 microns in diameter and contain from about 10 to about 20 carats per liter of the diamond. The diamond particles need to be kept in suspension and this is typically done using suspending agents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,338 however teaches the use of a colloidal boehmite to maintain a diamond abrasive powder in suspension. This is said to yield a finish below 20 angstroms RMS when used on silicon carbide at a pH of 4. The boehmite has no significant abrasive qualities and is merely a means of presenting the diamond particles to the surface in a more efficient way. Moreover the pH used is severely corrosive of all but the best quality stainless steel, (or other resistant material), for the equipment contacted by the slurry. Other materials are available for polishing such hard ceramics including colloidal silica but while these are undoubtedly cheaper than diamond they are generally less effective and take much longer to achieve an acceptable finish.
There is therefore a need for a cheaper alternative to diamond for polishing hard materials that does not have a deleterious effect on the equipment used. This need is filled by the present invention which is more effective than diamond used alone and yet is quicker to achieve its desired surface finish. While not so cheap as colloidal silica it is substantially less expensive that a pure diamond polishing slurry.

Saint Gobain/Norton Industrial Ceramics Corp.


A clamp system and method used to remotely connect or disconnect a submerged pipeline from another submerged pipeline or from a riser line or the like. When used with a riser line, the riser line end of the connector carries calipers that pivot open to receive or release the pipeline connection end. The mating connector end sections are radially enlarged and are provided with annular grooves that are in register when the sections are abutted to house an annular, hollow metal seal ring. With the calipers closed and securing the two connection end sections, a locking collar is moved over the free end of the calipers, and the seal ring is energized by applying high pressure fluid into the seal ring, causing the ring to expand and seal the mating connector ends, restrict lateral movement between the ends, and stress the connection to maintain the clamp. The ring structure is self-supporting in its expanded configuration to retain the seal and structural support when the pressure of the energizing fluid is released. The free ends of the calipers are equipped with hydraulically actuated push rods that force the calipers to pivot open to permit separation of the connector ends as required, for example, to replace a worn riser pipe. The expanded ring and flexible pipe end connector are retrieved to the surface and replaced with a new hose and unexpanded ring. Connection or reconnection to the pipe line, or release from the pipeline, may be accomplished with a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). Seal replacement and reconnection may also be performed by the ROV without retrieval of the connector to the surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of connecting tubular members to each other. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for connecting a submerged metal flowline to a flexible riser pipe that extends from the submerged flow line to a surface production or drilling facility.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is necessary in many offshore operations to provide flow line connections between above-water facilities and submerged pipelines that may lie hundreds of feet below the water surface. Such a need arises, for example, where oil or gas from a production platform is delivered to a submerged pipeline. The riser line that extends from the platform to the pipeline is constantly moving due to platform movement, product surges, water action, and other causes. These actions cause the riser lines to deteriorate over time, requiring that they be periodically disconnected from the pipeline and replaced.
Conventional underwater connectors frequently require the assistance of divers to connect or disconnect the riser and the pipeline, which can render the replacement procedure slow and expensive. The typical nut-and-bolt-type flange connector is also relatively difficult and time-consuming to install, particularly when the installation must be performed at extreme water depths. Welding-type connections are similarly undesirable.
A variety of systems have been devised to eliminate the need for bolt-on or welded connectors in underwater pipe connection technology. In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,531, a system for clamping and sealing two pipe sections together is disclosed in which a hollow metal ring structure is expanded by hydraulic pressure to lock telescoped pipe sections together. While the technique described in my patent is extremely efficient and significantly improves on conventional welding or nut-and-bolt-type flange connections, it is not well suited for use in connecting pipes that must be periodically separated and reconnected.

Clamp system and method for connecting tubular bodies together


The invention provides devices and methods for suture placement while performing less invasive surgical procedures within a body cavity. In an exemplary embodiment, the invention provides for the placement of sutures within the heart or a great vessel that is accessed from outside the closed chest. According to one exemplary method, the patient's heart valve is accessed through an intercostal port in the patient's chest. At least one needle having a suture is then directed into the annulus while visualizing through the port placement of the needle into the annulus. The needle is then passed through the annulus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of surgical procedures, and in particular to the placement of a suture in tissue. More specifically, the invention relates to suture placement devices and techniques for less invasive surgical procedures within the heart and great vessels.
Various types of surgical procedures are currently performed to investigate, diagnose, and treat diseases of the heart and the great vessels of the thorax. Such procedures include repair and replacement of mitral, aortic, and other heart valves, repair of atrial and ventricular septal defects, pulmonary thrombectomy, treatment of aneurysms, electrophysiological mapping and ablation of the myocardium, and other procedures in which interventional devices are introduced into the interior of the heart or a great vessel.
Of particular interest to the present invention are intracardiac procedures for surgical treatment of heart valves, especially the mitral and aortic valves. According to recent estimates, more than 79,000 patients are diagnosed with aortic and mitral valve disease in U.S. hospitals each year. More than 65,000 mitral valve and aortic valve replacement procedures are performed annually in the U.S., along with a significant number of heart valve repair procedures.
Various surgical techniques may be used to repair a diseased or damaged vessel, including annuloplasty (contracting the valve annulus), quadrangular resection (narrowing the valve leaflets), commissurotomy (cutting the valve commissures to separate the valve leaflets), shortening mitral and tricuspid valve chordae tendonae, reattachment of severed mitral or tricuspid valve chordae tendonae or papillary muscle tissue, and decalcification of valve and annulus tissue. Alternatively, the valve may be replaced, by excising the valve leaflets of the native valve, and securing a replacement valve in the valve position, usually by suturing the replacement valve to the natural valve annulus. Various types of replacement valves are in current use, including mechanical and biological prostheses, homografts, and allografts, as described in Bodnar and Frater, Replacement Cardiac Valves, 1-357 (1991). A comprehensive discussion of heart valve diseases and the surgical treatment thereof is found in Kirklin and Sir Brian Barratt-Boves, Cardiac Surgery, 323-459 (1986).
When investigating, diagnosing, or treating diseases of the heart and the great vessels of the thorax, many current techniques require a gross thoracotomy, usually in the form of a median sternotomy, to gain access into the patient's thoracic cavity. A saw or other cutting instrument is used to cut the sternum longitudinally, allowing two opposing halves of the anterior or ventral portion of the rib cage to be spread apart. A large opening into the thoracic cavity is thus created, through which the surgical team may directly visualize and operate upon the heart and other thoracic contents.
Less-invasive surgical procedures have recently been developed which avoid the need for a gross thoracotomy, such as a median sternotomy. In such less invasive procedures, access to the thoracic cavity is obtained through percutaneous penetrations within intercostal spaces of the rib cage. Through such intercostal penetrations, surgical instruments may be inserted to therapeutically treat the heart or thoracic contents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,215, the disclosure of, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes techniques for less-invasive heart valve replacement wherein a diseased heart valve may be replaced with a prosthetic valve utilizing small-profile instruments introduced through percutaneous access ports, incisions or punctures between the ribs. Similarly, application Ser. No. 08/485,600, filed Jun. 7, 1995, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses techniques for repair of cardiac valves by securing an annuloplasty ring to the valve annulus using instruments positioned through small, percutaneous access ports between the ribs.
Common to many cardiac surgical procedures is the need to place sutures in heart or other tissue within the thoracic cavity. For example, in the case of heart valve repair or replacement, the valve prosthesis or annuloplasty ring is usually sutured to tissue on or around the patient's native valve annulus.
Placing sutures in heart or other tissue that is accessed from outside of the patient's chest through small access ports presents a variety of difficulties. For instance, maneuverability is often difficult due to the limited space between the ribs. Further, when accessing the contents of the thoracic cavity through an intercostal space, visibility is limited, thereby making it difficult to properly place the suture. Further, such procedures can become timeconsuming, particularly when placing a single suture at a time. Placing sutures in an annulus of a heart valve for attachment of a replacement valve or annuloplasty ring is especially challenging. The suture needle must be inserted through the valve annulus in a direction toward or away from the surgeon, creating difficulty in seeing and manipulating the needle as it is passes through the annulus. Frequently, a curved needle is used in order to drive the needle deeper into the annulus tissue so that the suture will not tear out of the tissue. However, such a curved needle must be driven in an arc about an axis parallel to the plane of the annulus, whereas in less-invasive procedures, the surgical approaches used to access the heart valves dictate that the needleholding instrument be oriented at an angle perpendicular to the plane of the annulus. The needle must therefore be driven in a curved path about an axis roughly perpendicular to the shaft of the instrument. With the angular motion of the instrument highly limited when positioned through a small intercostal access port, the ability to drive a curved needle in an arcuate path through the valve annulus is greatly compromised.
What is needed, therefore, are devices and methods for improved suture placement when access to the tissue is limited, such as in less-invasive surgical procedures. In particular, the devices and methods should allow for improved visibility of the needle as it is either placed into or removed from tissue. Preferably, the devices and methods will provide the ability to conveniently introduce the needle tip into tissue, remove it, and then replace it in a separate location in the event that the needle was initially misplaced. The devices and methods should also facilitate easy introduction and passage of the needle through tissue. The devices and methods should also reduce the time required to place the sutures. In a preferable aspect, the devices and methods should facilitate the placement of sutures in a native valve annulus in the heart for attachment of various types of protheses, including mechanical and biological prostheses, homografts, allografts, annuloplasty rings, and the like. The devices and methods should further facilitate driving a curved suture needle in an arcuate path through the native valve annulus using an instrument oriented perpendicular to the plane of the annulus. The devices and methods should be useful not only in conventional open surgical procedures, but should be suitable for use through small percutaneous access ports in less-invasive surgical procedures as well.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
A variety of suturing instruments are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,027,608; 4,235,177; 4,406,237; 4,414,908; 4,417,532; 4,440,171; 4,465,070; 4,474,358; 4,484,580; 4,553,544; 4,557,265; 4,899,746; 5,152,769; 5,224,948; 5,308,353; 5,374,275; 5,403,328; 5,403,329; 5,403,329; 5,403,328; 5,224,948; and PCT Applications WO 94/05213, WO 94/15537 and WO 95/06447.
Product brochure, The Laurus In-line Endoscopic Suturing Device, Laurus Medical Corporation, Irvine, Calif., rev. 10/94, describes an "in-line needle driver" which includes an elongate shaft with an interior channel at a distal end of the shaft. The interior channel allows a needle to be loaded into the shaft so that needle is generally completely housed within the shaft when fully loaded.
Product brochure, Innovation Through Progress, Rema-Medizintechnik GmbH, describes a suturing device for closing wounds during laparoscopic operations. The device includes an elongate shaft having a pair of lateral needles which are generally parallel to the shaft. The needles may be extended away from the shaft after insertion of the device through endoscopic working channels so that the needles may be pulled through the tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,965 describes an artificial valve having a holder for holding sutures and needles used when implanting the valve.


A method of an interfacial oxide layer formation comprises a plurality of steps. The step (S1) is to remove a native oxide layer from a surface of a substrate; the step (S2) is to form an oxide layer on a surface of a substrate by piranha solution (SPM); the step (S3) is to cleaning a surface of the oxide layer by standard clean 1 (SC1), and the step (S4) is to etch he oxide layer by a solution comprising diluted hydrogen fluoride (dHF) and ozonized pure water (DIO3).

A gate dielectric or an interfacial oxide layer is a very sensitive component of a semiconductor device, and requirements of appropriate dielectric layers include high dielectric breakdown strength, low leakage current, good diffusion barrier properties, low trapping densities and low interfacial states. As device dimensions decrease, the requirements become more stringent and a lower thickness of an interfacial oxide layer is needed to meet the more stringent requirements.
In the conventional chemical oxidation process performed for formation of an interfacial oxide layer, solution containing ozone is commonly used. However, ozone solution always saturates at about 7 angstroms and the interfacial oxide layer encounters a difficulty that the thickness of the interfacial oxide layer cannot be produced below 7 angstroms by chemical oxidation alone. Thus an etching process is necessary to be performed following the chemical oxidation process.
Cleaning solution of Standard Clean 1 (hereinafter SC1 solution) is conventionally used for cleaning or light etching oxide of a surface of a semiconductor element. However, even SC1 solution has a low etching rate to most semiconductor manufacturing materials; it is still difficult to reach desired thickness of the interfacial oxide layer by controlling time of processing. Thus, mixture containing ozone and SC1 solution is then to be used for growing and etching back oxide for better control of thickness (self-saturated etching process) instead of only using SC1 solution.
The inventor has found that ammonium contained in SC1 solution is able to penetrate through the interfacial oxide layer during processing, damage silicon surface underneath the interfacial oxide layer and increase roughness of the silicon surface, and the product with bad negative-bias temperature instability (NBTI) is produced. Yet, the process of etching back has to be performed after formation of the interfacial oxide layer in order to produce an interfacial oxide layer with lower thickness due to a market trend of miniaturization, otherwise an interfacial oxide layers is not able to be lower than 7 angstroms in thickness and the device encounters a situation of high performance without alternation of small sizes.
Accordingly, it is needed to provide a method to thin down the interfacial oxide layer for achieving market trend miniaturization without reduction in performance of the devices. The inventor of the present invention based on years of experience on related research and development has invented a method of interfacial oxide layer formation to improve yields, performance and stability of product performance, and most importantly, thin down the interfacial oxide layer without causing defect to the substrate surface.

Method of interfacial oxide layer formation in semiconductor device


An inkjet head that is able to circulate ink. The inkjet head includes a diaphragm plate, a first restrictor plate, one or more chamber plates, a second restrictor plate, and an orifice plate. The orifice plate forms a plurality of nozzles. The chamber plates form a plurality of chambers corresponding with the nozzles, and also form a return manifold for receiving ink from the chambers when circulating the ink through the inkjet head. The diaphragm plate forms a diaphragm that seals the chambers. The first restrictor plate controls a flow of ink between the chambers and the return manifold to circulate the ink through the inkjet head. The second restrictor plate controls the flow of ink between a supply manifold and the chambers.

Inkjet printing is a type of printing that creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto a medium, such as paper. The core of an inkjet printer includes one or more the print heads (referred to herein as inkjet heads) having a series of nozzles that are used to spray drops of ink. The structure of an inkjet head typically includes a housing, a series of plates, and a piezoelectric actuator. The housing has an opening for the piezoelectric actuator to pass through, and an inlet that connects to an ink supply (e.g., an ink cartridge). The inlet for the ink supply also connects to a groove in the housing that forms an ink supply channel for the inkjet head.
The plates of the inkjet head are attached to the housing and to one another to form a laminated structure. The laminated structure forms a plurality of ink channels that are each capable of dispersing ink. Each ink channel includes a nozzle, a chamber for ink, and a mechanism for ejecting the ink from the chamber and through the nozzle, which is typically a diaphragm. In order to form the ink channels, a common inkjet head includes a diaphragm plate, a restrictor plate, a chamber plate, and an orifice plate. The orifice plate includes a row of small holes that comprise the nozzles for the inkjet head. The chamber plate includes a row of openings that form chambers for the ink. The restrictor plate also includes a row of openings which form restrictors that fluidly connect the chambers to the ink supply and that control the flow of ink into the chambers. The diaphragm plate forms diaphragms over the chambers with a sheet of a semi-flexible material. The diaphragm plate also includes openings that allow ink to be drawn from the ink supply and into the chambers when the diaphragms vibrate.
The piezoelectric actuator includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements that attach to the diaphragm plate. Each piezoelectric element corresponds to one of the chambers formed in the chamber plate. When electrical signals are selectively applied to the piezoelectric elements, the elements expand and contract. This causes the diaphragms to vibrate over the chambers, which changes the volume of the chambers. The change in the volume of the chamber causes ink to be ejected from the chambers through the nozzles on the orifice plate.
One problem with inkjet heads is that the ink can dry in the nozzles or chambers when the head or individual nozzles are not in use. One or more of the ink channels can therefore become clogged within the head.


Systems and methods for cross device and/or cross operating system task continuity between devices for frictionless task engagement and reengagement. Task continuity can provide for simple detection and selection of recently viewed and/or modified tasks. Task continuity can provide for simple engagement of new tasks in applications and/or websites, the new tasks being related to recently presented and/or modified tasks. Responsive to selection of the recently presented and/or modified task, the task can be seamlessly reengaged from the point at which it was last presented and/or modified. Responsive to selection of a new task, the task can be engaged from a starting point. Upon completion of the task on one device, the task can be closed across devices. Task continuity can be enabled on a single device or across a plurality of devices. Task continuity can be enabled on a single operating system, or across a plurality of operating systems.

Devices, such as smartphones, personal computers, tablets, two-in-one devices, etc. are ubiquitous in society. People use these devices for multiple different functions, each function being potentially executed on a different application or website accessed via the device. Often times, people own more than one device, each replete with multiple applications and providing access to websites.
Devices, however, generally lack the capability to seamlessly share information about tasks in progress between one another. Any sharing between devices requires an explicit save and transfer between devices. Thus, when a user picks up a second device to continue a task, the generally has to spend extra time attempting to find the desired application, and even more time determining where the user left off on the task, if that is even possibility.


The invention is directed to methods for determining the level of telomerase reverse transcriptase activity in mammalian cells. The method comprises binding the telomerase reverse transcriptase obtained from the mammalian cells to a solid support by contacting the telomerase with an anti-telomerase antibody bound to a solid support and then measuring the level of activity of the bound telomerase in a reaction where the telomerase can extend a first primer to produce an extension product and qualitatively or quantitatively detecting the extension product.

Telomeres are genetic elements located at the ends of all eukaryotic chromosomes which preserve genome stability and cell viability by preventing aberrant recombination and degradation of DNA. In humans, the telomeric sequence is composed of 10-20 kilobases of TTAGGG repeats (Blackburn, (1991) Nature vol. 350 pp 569-573). There is increasing evidence that gradual loss of telomeric repeat sequences may be a timing ("clock") mechanism limiting the number of cellular divisions in normal somatic cells (Harley et al., (1990) Nature, vol. 345, pp. 458-460). In contrast, immortal cells are capable of maintaining a stable telomere length by upregulating or reactivating telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein enzyme that is able to add TTAGGG repeats to the ends of chromosomes (Greider and Blackburn, (1989) Nature, vol. 337, pp. 331-337; Morin, (1989) Cell, vol. 59, pp. 521-529).
Telomerase activity has been detected in 85% of primary human tumors tested from a variety of tissue types (Kim et al., (1994) Science, vol. 266, pp. 2011-2015; Shay and Bacchetti, (1997) European Journal of Cancer, vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 787-791). The detection of high telomerase activity in human cells or tissues almost always correlates with indefinite proliferation capability (immortalization). U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,215 describes the presence of telomerase activity in somatic cells as indicative of the presence of immortal cells, such as certain types of cancer cells, which can be used to make that determination even when the cells would be classified as non-cancerous by pathology. In addition, when telomerase assays are performed on certain normal stem cell compartments (e.g. bone marrow) or in regions of highly proliferative cells (e.g. hair follicles and crypt gut epithelial cells), and a high level of telomerase activity is detected, this can be indicative of active regenerating tissue.
Methods for detecting telomerase activity, as well as for identifying compounds that regulate or affect telomerase activity, have been described. See PCT patent publication No. 93/23572, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,629,154, 5,648,215, 5,645,986, 5,695,932 and 5,489,508. Each of the foregoing patent publications is incorporated herein by reference.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,629,154; 5,863,726 and 5,648,215 describe in detail the preparation of a cell extract using a detergent lysis method and the analysis of telomerase activity by the Telomeric Repeat Amplification Protocol (TRAP assay). The telomerase activity assays described therein involve the extension of a synthetic nucleic acid substrate derived from the telomere sequence which serves as a primer. This primer is added together with unlabelled dideoxynucleotides to a sample, e.g. a cell extract suspected of containing telomerase whereby the primer is specifically elongated by the telomerase.
The extended primer may be detected directly by a number of methods. The primer may be directly attached to an anchor group which can be immobilized on a solid phase using any known method. Examples of suitable anchor groups are biotin which can bind with high affinity binding to an immobilized partner such as avidin or streptavidin. Detection of the immobilized primer can be measured by either incorporation of a radioactive deoxynucleotide or by the binding of a sequence specific labeled probe to the extended primer.
The extended substrate may also be detected after it is replicated in a primer extension reaction, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) a radioactive deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) for labeling any telomerase-extended substrate. The reaction mixture is subsequently separated by gel electrophoresis and the pattern of bands visualized. Because telomerase stalls and can release the DNA after adding the first G in the 5′-TTAGGG-3′ telomeric repeat, the characteristic pattern of products on the gel is a six nucleotide ladder of extended oligonucleotide substrates. The phase of the repeats depends on the 3′-end sequence of the substrate; telomerase recognizes where the end is in the repeat and synthesizes accordingly to yield contiguous repeat sequences.
However, these detection methods of the state of the art have some disadvantages. The level of telomerase enzyme in human cells containing the enzyme is very low in the order of 10-100 molecules per cell. Therefore, the sensitivity of a direct detection method without an amplification step may be too low for routine applications since quantities of extracts containing >107 cells typically have to be used for direct detection. Therefore this method cannot be used to examine primary tumor material which is only available in a small amount.
In addition, the gel images of the telomerase products are poor; often appearing as a smear rather than distinct bands, and quantitation of these bands is difficult, imprecise, and inaccurate.
A number of factors contribute to these issues, but the most important factor is likely the impurity of the telomerase extract itself Telomerase is present at roughly 10 ppb (w/w protein) i.e. 0.000001%, in a crude cell extract from telomerase positive cells. In a tissue which contains a mixture of telomerase positive and negative cells, the relative abundance is even lower. The 100 million-fold excess of other proteins that are released upon disruption of the cells into the reaction mixture can interfere with the telomerase activity assay by non binding to the primers, by interference with the activity of the telomerase or the taq (PCR) polymerase enzyme, by degradation of the telomerase or taq enzyme, primers, or probes, or by consumption or binding to other components in the reaction mixture (e.g. dNTPs and metal ions).
Accordingly, neither method is suitable for cells with very low levels of telomerase enzyme or for very small tissue samples. Moreover, neither method allows a high sample throughput. The methods are not suitable for automation as is necessary for example for routine analysis of tissue samples for analysis of telomerase modulators. Identification of a method of isolating the telomerase enzyme and routine analysis for telomerase activity would be beneficial.

Method of detecting and assaying telomerase activity of telomerase bound by anti-telomerase antibodies


A compensating rope sheave tie down assembly prevents the compensating rope sheave from sudden upward movement if the elevator car suddenly jumps upward. The compensating rope sheave assembly comprises a strap, an inertia reel that permits the strap to follow slow movement of the compensating rope sheave, and a spring retaining mechanism that maintains the strap taut at all times. By restricting the upward movement of the sheave, the sheave tie down prevents further upward movement of the elevator car as well.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to an elevator system and, more particularly, to a compensating rope sheave tie down.
2. Background Art
A conventional elevator system comprises an elevator car suspended on one end of a hoist rope in a hoistway with a counterweight suspended on the other end of the hoist rope. A compensating rope is hung from the underside of the elevator car to the underside of the counterweight to balance the weight of the hoist rope as the car and counterweight move alternatingly up and down within the hoistway. A compensating rope sheave disposed on the bottom of the hoistway allows the compensating rope to pass therethrough. The sheave travels a relatively short distance vertically along a set of guide rails to accommodate for expansion and contraction of the ropes resulting from changing weather conditions.
Typical elevator systems also include a tie down of the compensating rope sheave, wherein the tie down serves two functions. One function is to allow the sheave to move slowly within the limits of the guide rails to accommodate for the weather changes. The other function of the tie down is to prevent the sheave from sudden upward movement if the elevator car suddenly jumps upward. Thus, if the elevator car suddenly moves upward, subsequently pulling the compensating rope sheave upward, the tie down would hold the compensating sheave down. As a result, the tie down would stop the elevator car from further upward movement, since the compensating rope will be retained by the sheave and will not be able to travel upward.
Typical kinds of tie downs currently employed in the industry are either a ratchet and pawl type system or a hydraulic system. The conventional ratchet and pawl type system may jam and stop the vertical motion of the compensating sheave. The hydraulic system is very complex and expensive.