A suture anchor having a conical surface and a bore in which an end of an insertion tool is inserted. The insertion end of the insertion tool is made of material having elastic properties. The bore and base of the suture anchor are angled with respect to the central axis of the suture anchor and preferably are parallel to each other. During insertion, the suture anchor is reoriented to fit into the hole, thereby bending the elastic end of the insertion tool. When the suture anchor is within cancellous bone tissue, the elastic properties of the insertion tool deploy the suture anchor to an orientation in which the suture anchor cannot fit through the bone hole, thereby firmly anchoring the suture anchor in the human bone.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for anchoring sutures to a live human bone. More particularly, this invention relates to a suture anchor made of a substantially rigid, preferably biocompatible material, and most preferably a material that can be incorporated into the bone as a bone graft, such as bone, and an insertion tool having a portion made of a material having elastic properties which is inserted into the anchor and functions to orient the suture anchor, once inserted in the bone, to securely anchor the suture.
Suture anchors for anchoring a suture to bone so that another body tissue, such as muscle or ligament, may be sutured to the bone are known in the art. Such suture anchors come in a variety of shapes and designs. A survey of such suture anchors may be found in James E. Carpenter et al., "Pull-Out Strength of Five Suture Anchors", Arthroscopy, 9(1), pp. 109–113 (1993).
For example, harpoon-type or screw-type suture anchors are drilled into cortical bone. Examples of such suture anchors are shown, for example, in Cerrier et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,417 and Hayhurst et al. Canada Patent No. 2,045,903. Such suture anchors are held in place in any of a variety of manners, such as through self-tapping, by a force fit, or by including a resilient portion which flexes to frictionally engage the bone material.
Another type of suture anchor includes a rigid member and a resilient, shape memory member. The resilient member is substantially flush with the rigid member during insertion, and flexes away from the rigid member once lodged inside the bone. Such anchors have been described in Gatturna et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,046,513 and 5,192,303. The shape memory material may be made in accordance with, for example, Quin U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,767 or Harrison U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,589. Because two different materials are used, this type of suture anchor can be costly and difficult to manufacture. Moreover, the joining of two dissimilar metals leads to potential flaws and potential breakage at the joint or weld point.
A third type of suture anchor is substantially elongated and is inserted with its longitudinal axis substantially parallel to the bone hole through which it is inserted. The suture anchor is then reoriented upon reaching cancellous bone tissue by pulling on the suture attached at a selected point along the suture anchor. Examples of such suture anchors are shown in Hayhurst et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,129 ("Hayhurst") and Noblitt et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,787 ("Noblitt"). The Hayhurst suture anchor has a substantially cylindrical rigid body with a central bore and a longitudinal slot extending from one end to approximately the middle of the rigid body. A suture is positioned inside the central bore, and the anchor is inserted with the slot entering the bone last. Once the anchor is properly positioned, the suture is pulled through the slot towards the base of the slot, thereby reorienting the suture anchor to fix the anchor in the bone. The Noblitt suture anchor has an offset portion at which a suture is attached. Once the suture anchor is within cancellous tissue, the suture is pulled, thereby reorienting the suture anchor so that its longitudinal axis is substantially transverse to the bone hole through which it was inserted. One disadvantage associated with this type of anchor is that tugging on the suture to reorient the anchor may put undue stress on the suture (particularly at the base of the slot in Hayhurst). Moreover, the only means provided by Hayhurst and Noblitt for reorienting or deploying the suture anchor is by pulling on the suture that extends from the bone hole after insertion of the suture anchor. Furthermore, the introduction technique is unduly complicated, requiring several types of insertion tools. It is believed that inserting and seating the Noblitt suture anchor may present additional technical difficulties because of the portion of the suture anchor which is offset from the central portion of the elongated body.
A disadvantage common to all of the above-described suture anchors is that many are typically formed of metal which may not be biocompatible. Additionally, such suture anchors are typically visible during X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computerized tomography (CT) examinations. Accordingly, these suture anchors may interfere with noninvasive examinations of the treated area. Moreover, the above-described suture anchors typically require complex insertion tools, the use of which is time consuming. There is thus greater potential for later complications such as bone weakening.
Two other anchoring means are staples and cement. The former is generally not desirable because staples can crack the bone in which they are inserted or damage the tissue to be connected to the bone. The latter is generally not desirable because of substance compatibility, the need for particular surface characteristics for adequate bonding, and excessive setting times.
It therefore would be desirable to provide an apparatus for anchoring a suture to a bone which is simple to manufacture and to insert, which does not interfere with noninvasive examinations such as radiographs, MRI, or CT, and which is biocompatible and most preferably, capable of being incorporated into the bone as a bone graft, to strengthen the bone. Additionally, the apparatus may be bioabsorbable.
It would also be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for inserting and deploying a suture anchor which results in a minimal number of insertion steps and requires a minimal number of tools.

Apparatus and method for anchoring sutures


A charge pump clock generating circuit and a method thereof are disclosed. The circuit includes a sync counter, a comparator, and a clock generating circuit. The sync counter receives a dot clock and a reset signal for accumulating a counting value according to the dot clock and resetting the counting value to a starting value when the reset signal is enabled. The comparator receives the counting value and outputs the reset signal when the counting value is greater than or equal to a preset value. The clock generating circuit receives a display clock and the reset signal and outputs a charge pump clock. The clock generating circuit transforms the logic state of the charge pump clock when the reset signal is enabled, and sets the charge pump clock to a first preset logic state when the display clock is transformed from a first state to a second state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clock generating circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a charge pump clock generating circuit and a method thereof in a display.
2. Description of Related Art
In a display driving circuit, for example, the source driver or gate driver in a liquid crystal display, a charge pump circuit is required for generating a non-rated supply voltage which is required by the driving circuit.
Generally speaking, a charge pump needs to receive a clock signal to provide the charge. Taking a source driver as an example, the source driver has two clock signals, one is a dot clock signal and the other one is a horizontal sync signal. The dot clock signal cannot be used by a typical charge pump for the frequency of the dot clock signal is between 10 MHz and a few hundreds MHz and the power devices in the charge pump cannot operate at such high frequency. Besides, if the charge pump is designed to be able to operate at such a high frequency, the dynamic power consumption of the charge pump may be too high.
Generally, a conventional charge pump clock generating circuit generates the clock by divided the frequency of the dot clock through directly sending the dot clock to a frequency divider. FIG. 1 illustrates the clock diagrams of a conventional charge pump clock signal, a horizontal sync signal, a vertical sync signal, and a dot clock signal. In FIG. 1, Hsync represents a horizontal sync signal, Vsync represents a vertical sync signal, DOTCLK represents a dot clock signal, and CPCK1 and CPCK2 represent the charge pump clock signal respectively. In FIG. 1, the charge pump clock signal CPCK1 or CPCK2 do not align with the horizontal sync signal, and which seems not affecting the charge pump. However, a charge pump always produces noises in a driving circuit and accordingly wavy noises are generated on the display. Such noises are caused by the asynchrony between the charge pump clock signal and the horizontal and vertical sync signals.
Accordingly, a charge pump clock generating device is required so that the noises produced by the charge pump can fall evenly within every display sync signal such as the horizontal sync signal.

Charge pump clock generating circuit and method thereof


A device may calculate a normalized value for each of a number of pixels in a frame of a video stream, by obtaining a first color from one of the pixels and a second color, by obtaining color components of the first color and the second color, by, for each of the color components, determining a distance between the first color and the second color, and by adding the distances of the color components to obtain the normalized value. In addition, the device may compute an accumulation of the normalized values, compare the accumulation to a threshold to determine whether a first image that includes the pixels matches a second image that includes the second color, and display a result of determining whether the first image matches the second image via a graphical user interface (GUI).

The quality of video that a set-top box outputs may depend on both an encoded video signal that the set-top box receives from a remote video server and capabilities of the set-top box itself.
When the remote video server encodes a movie for transmission, the signal that the video server generates may depend on the precise starting point in the movie, at which the video server begins to encode the movie. Furthermore, due to noise, starting points for different encoding sessions may be different. Consequently, even from the same movie, the video server may be unable to generate an identical video signal.
When set-top boxes of the same make and model receive an encoded video signal from the same video server, the set-top boxes may generate different output video signals. There are many reasons for the differences. One reason may be that the set-top boxes use different decoding algorithms (e.g., different versions of a decoder). Another reason may be that the set-top boxes produce different amounts of noise in the output video signals. Yet another reason may be that, with respect to hue, color, and saturation, each set-top box may be calibrated differently from other set-top boxes. Yet another reason may be that each set-top box is designed to generate output video whose quality depends on a processing load of the set-top box, and the set-top boxes may be under different processing loads. For example, the set-top boxes may use a decoding algorithm in which rendering a particular frame depends on minute delays in processing.

Soft decision making processes for analyzing images


A method is provided for efficiently allocating a transmission period in a wireless network system. An access point (AP) transmits a PSMP frame indicating a downlink period provided to each station (STA) and a minimum amount of an uplink period allocated to each STA, and at least one sub PSMP frame indicating an uplink period additionally provided for an STA that transmitted a resource request message for remaining queued data in the uplink period indicated by the PSMP frame. If the uplink period indicated by the PSMP frame is insufficient to transmit the queued data, the STA transmits a data unit including a part of the queued data and a resource request message for the remaining queued data in the uplink period. After transmitting the resource request message, the STA receives the sub PSMP frame after the full period indicated by the sub PSMP frame, and transmits the remaining queued data to the AP in the uplink period indicted by the sub PSMP frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for efficiently allocating a transmission period in a transmission frame period of a wireless network system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the recent development of wireless communication technology and the resulting spread of wireless equipment, there is an increasing demand for high-speed, highly reliable data transmission via a wireless link. A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) developed to meet the demand is basically composed of stations (STAs), which are mobile data communication equipment, and an access point (AP) capable of exchanging data with the STAs. The AP and the STAs, located in the same wireless service coverage, are known as a Base Service Set (BSS).
Particularly, an improved WLAN system achieves high throughput by employing a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology that uses a plurality of transmission antennas and a plurality of reception antennas, and an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology. In this WLAN system, STAs located in one wireless service coverage area transmit or receive data using wireless resources allocated from an AP. In this case, the AP allocates the wireless resources in the form of phase resources, and the term "phase resource" as used herein refers to a period in which the STAs or AP can transmit data.
FIG. 1 illustrates a structure of a transmission frame period in a typical WLAN system.
Referring to FIG. 1, in a transmission frame period 100 having a fixed length determined in the system, an AP transmits a MAP (mapping) frame 110 indicating the phase resource allocation over the full transmission frame period 100. The MAP frame 110 is composed of a downlink MAP 120 indicating a period in which the AP can transmit data, and an uplink MAP 122 indicating a period in which the STAs can transmit data. The downlink MAP 120 is composed of a Number-of-STAs field 130, and at least one STA Information field 132 determined based on the Number-of-STAs field 130. Similarly, the uplink MAP 122 is composed of a Number-of-STAs field 134, and at least one STA Information field 136 determined based on the Number-of-STAs field 134. The STA Information fields 132 and 136 include STA ID fields 140 and 144 that indicate STAs allocated downlink and uplink periods, respectively, and Time Offset fields 142 and 146 that indicate time offsets allocated to the STAs.
An STA, allocated a period in the MAP frame 110, receives data in a period indicated by the corresponding STA information, of a downlink period 112, and transmits data in a period indicated by corresponding STA information, of an uplink period 114. The STA maintains a sleep mode in the other periods except for the period in which the MAP frame 110 is transmitted and the period indicated by the MAP frame 110. A contention period 116 following the uplink period 114 can be accessed by at least one STA on a contention basis.
In this way, the AP estimates the amount of resources required for each STA in one transmission frame period 100, and allocates downlink and uplink periods according to the estimation. However, when the AP overestimated the amount of resources required for the STA, the wireless resources are wasted, decreasing data throughput performance. In this case, the STA may not use the allocated wireless resources. Moreover that resource cannot be reused by other STAs since that resource is already allocated to the particular STA. When the AP underestimates the amount of resources required for the STA, the STA cannot be allocated its required resources until at least the next transmission frame period, suffering transmission delay and jitter of the uplink service. The transmission delay and jitter affects a Quality of Service (QoS) required by the STA. In addition, if the STA accesses the contention period 116 due to a lack of its allocated resources, the STA cannot operate in the sleep mode for the contention period, wasting its power.
Therefore, in the wireless communication system in which the AP determines the downlink and uplink periods required for the STA through scheduling, there is a need for technology to prevent the reduction in data throughput and the waste of STA power, and accurately allocate the periods.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for allocating transmission period in a wireless communication system


Fume intake and cooling device for intake conduits (11,111,211) in electric arc furnaces (26a,26b), comprising a containing structure (28) associated at one end (12) with an aperture on the roof of the furnace and connected at the second end (13) with an intake and filter system (27), the containing structure (28) having, in cooperation with its inner sidewalls, cooling means, the cooling means comprising a pipe (14), which is spiral shaped and has turns (16) lying on a plane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the conduits (11,111,211), the turns (16) being distanced with respect to each other in such a way as to form interstices (20) between adjacent turns (16), the interstices (20) through which the fumes pass serving to anchor the slag.

Roofs used to cover electric arc furnaces normally have a central aperture to position and move the electrodes, and an aperture placed at a peripheral position through which the fumes and volatile slag are expelled by means of intake conduits associated with intake and filter systems.
The intake conduits can have a first L-shaped segment, connected to the roof of the furnace, associated with one or more conduits downstream connected to the intake and filter systems.
These conduits normally have a system to cool the fumes which serves to lower the temperature of the fumes so that they reach the outlet to the atmosphere at a lower temperature.
Moreover, a reduction in the temperature of the fumes makes it possible to use cheaper intake and filter systems as well as to reduce wear on the said systems during operation.
The cooling is usually achieved by means of the circulation of water in the appropriate pipes placed inside the intake conduits.
Cooling devices known to the state of the art provide a spiral shaped pipe, in which the cooling liquid flows, arranged around the periphery of the intake conduit.
The spiral shaped pipes known to the state of the art have their turns in contact with each other and attached to each other in such a way as to form a single rigid structure confining the intake conduit inside.
Therefore these structures have a configuration which implies a considerable volume of work, with regards to the heat flow exchanged, which is concentrated on the inner surface in that their outer surface is not lapped by the fumes. Moreover, this type of structure has a low resistence to thermomechanical stresses because the lack of flexibility of its conformation, if subjected to sudden heat variations, causes stresses on the surfaces of the pipes which may lead to breakages.
According to another solution, in order to increase the resistence of the pipes, an insulating layer of refractory material is applied to the heat-absorbing surfaces of the pipes themselves, but this causes a considerable increase in costs. Moreover, deposits of slag may accumulate on this refractory layer, which cause incrustations and compromise the efficient expulsion of the fumes.
A further problem with conduits known to the state of the art is that welds are required to join individual elements in order to form a single pipe of the desired length.
These welds constitute critical points and create stresses along the pipe which may cause them to break, with the resulting dangerous and harmful spillage of water.

Fume intake and cooling device for electric arc furnaces


A variable resistance memory device includes vertical electrodes vertically projecting from a substrate, first horizontal electrodes stacked along the vertical electrodes, second horizontal electrodes stacked along the vertical electrodes, and a variable resistance layer interposed between the vertical electrodes and the first and second horizontal electrodes, wherein the first and second horizontal electrodes are arranged in directions crossing with each other.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a variable resistance memory device and a method for fabricating the same, and more particularly, to a variable resistance memory device with a three-dimensional structure including a plurality of memory cells vertically stacked from a substrate, and a method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variable resistance memory device refers to a device which stores data based on such a characteristic that switching function is implemented between different resistance states, each changed according to an external stimulus. The variable resistance memory device includes a resistive random access memory (ReRAM), a phase change RAM (PCRAM) and a spin transfer torque-RAM (STT-RAM). The variable resistance memory device has been researched since it can be formed to a simple structure. Also, the variable resistance memory device may have various excellent properties such as nonvolatility and so forth.
Among variable resistance memory devices, the ReRAM includes a variable resistance layer which is formed of a variable resistance substance, e.g., a perovskite-based substance or a transition metal oxide, and electrodes formed over and under the variable resistance layer. According to a voltage applied to an electrode, filament current paths are created or vanished in the variable resistance layer. When the variable resistance layer becomes a low resistance state, the filament current paths are created. Otherwise, if the variable resistance layer becomes a high resistance state, the filament current paths are vanished. Switching from the high resistance state to the low resistance state is referred to as a set operation. Conversely, switching from the low resistance state to the high resistance state is referred to as a reset operation.
Meanwhile, in order to improve the degree of integration of such a variable resistance memory device, the so-called cross point cell array structure has been suggested. The cross point cell array structure includes plural memory cells located at crossing points between a plurality of bit lines extending in one direction and a plurality of word lines extending in another direction crossing with the bit lines.
However, in order to form the cross point cell array structure, there are concerns in that fabrication processes may be complicated and the fabrication costs increase, because a plurality of mask processes should be repeated to pattern the bit lines and the word lines to a minimum critical dimension.

Variable resistance memory device and method for fabricating the same


A drive mechanism which is adapted for use with a swing device includes two symmetrically-disposed electromagnetic driving units and a control unit. The electromagnetic driving units are adapted to be pivotally connected to a bottom of the swing device. The control unit is electrically connected to the electromagnetic driving units for controlling the electromagnetic driving units to be alternately activated and deactivated, so as to generate an intermittent magnetic force to drive swinging movement of the swing device. The swing device including the drive mechanism is also disclosed.

Baby carry devices are widely used in households with infants and toddlers. For example, baby rocking chair is a useful tool to soothe a crying baby or for a baby to comfortably lie thereon, and a baby can easily fall asleep by gentle rocking motion.
Conventional rocking chairs are designed such that rocking motion has to be performed manually by a care provider, which can increase interaction between the care provider and the baby, but may increase fatigue level of the care provider due to repetitive rocking action, and the care provider may not be able to perform other tasks at the same time. Commercially-available automatic rocking chair for baby provides hands-free rocking so that a care provider may have more time to perform other tasks or housework. However, conventional automatic rocking chair is typically configured with an irremovable baby lying seat, and cannot be cooperatively used with other baby carrying device (e.g., a child safety seat), which greatly limits the use of the conventional automatic rocking chair. In addition, conventional automatic rocking chair is typically configured to have only one rocking speed. Thus there is a need to solve the above-mentioned issues.

Drive mechanism and automatic swing device including the same


A portable gaming unit for playing an associated game comprises a housing and a base. The housing includes a display. An electronics assembly is mounted in the housing for controlling input/output functions of the gaming unit. A pivot joint pivotably mounts the housing to the base. An easel is pivotably mounted to one of the housing and the base. The easel in a use orientation braces the housing against the base to enable the housing to maintain an acute angle in relation to a plane of the base. In a transport orientation, the easel allows the housing to fold against the base. The easel in the transport orientation serves as a handle for the gaming unit.

The present invention relates to electronic gaming units. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic gaming unit which is interactive with a gaming console and a point of sale console for selling games, such as games of chance, during or prior to a gaming session. While bingo is particularly discussed herein, it should be appreciated that the gaming unit can be used for a variety of other games, such as Keno or the like. In one embodiment, the gaming unit is part of a system of multiple spaced wireless gaming units that are used to play games of chance, such as bingo, when game information is provided by a central gaming machine, such as a bingo console in communication with the wireless gaming units.
The game of bingo commonly involves a group of players and a caller, who announces randomly selected indicia, which commonly comprise integral numbers within a predetermined range, i.e. 1-75. For Keno, the numerical range could be 1-90. Bingo players typically play several cards at a time, up to eighteen or more cards, in order to increase their odds of winning. Manually playing multiple cards can be tedious, however, leaving one tired or prone to errors. With paper bingo faces there is also the possibility of cheating, i.e. bingo players attempting to alter the numbers on the paper, or using bingo paper from an earlier session.
There have been many attempts in the prior art to provide a system for electronic play of a bingo session. The systems generally include electronic gaming units which aid a player in playing bingo games. Such gaming units may assist a player in overseeing more bingo cards than would be possible or practical otherwise.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,157 discloses a system including a gaming unit, where between each game the player must manually enter each number from each card into the memory unit. The manual entry, however, is slow and tedious, and creates a practical limitation on the number of bingo cards that can be entered before and between bingo game sessions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,151 discloses a system including a gaming unit that provides for the creation of whole playing cards simply by the manual entry of a card identification number. This process improves the speed of entering the selected cards into the game piece memory, but requires the cooperation of bingo card manufacturers to provide identification numbers for their cards such that each identification number is associated with one specific pattern of numbers on a card.
Both of the above approaches are simply methods for assisting a player in an otherwise traditional, manual game of bingo. Therefore, improvements to these systems would be desirable.
On the other hand, electronic gaming systems have been developed, where each player is equipped with a gaming unit and the use of paper playing cards is either eliminated or at least reduced. These systems typically include a central computer which performs administrative tasks including sale of bingo cards, running the bingo game, and sometimes electronic payment to the winners. In connection therewith, players sit at hard-wired electronic bingo stations or may be given wireless gaming units, through which the players are provided with the desired number of card configurations for each game.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,856,787 and 5,043,887 disclose hard-wired or network electronic bingo systems where a central computer communicates with each remote unit before and during the bingo game. All purchases and all game-related data may be communicated through communication lines between the central computer and the remote units. The drawbacks of these games include the resultant undesirable "Las Vegas" feel of the game, the general lack of portability of the system, the lack of portability of the individual playing units, and the complications that can arise from maintaining a computer network system.
The wireless gaming unit approach marries the best of all of the above approaches. The typical system includes a central computer, which administers the game. The player purchases a number of games to be played and a number of bingo faces to be played in each game. The computer generates the playing card information and downloads the information into the gaming unit. A player carries the gaming unit in much the same way as the player would carry one or more bingo cards or sheets in a traditional bingo game. Throughout the bingo games, the player optionally inputs the called numbers into the gaming unit through a keypad or a touchscreen, and the gaming unit alerts the player if one or more of the stored cards achieve a winning sequence. This approach retains the feel of a traditional bingo game, including the fact that the player carries away the purchased bingo cards, in the portable unit, and can enter the called numbers manually.
Currently available portable or hand held gaming units are not optional for a number of reasons. First, the screen is not set at the correct viewing angle. Second, the player is provided with either a keypad or a touchscreen, but not both in the same unit. Third, the current designs are not movable from a use position to a transport position and vice versa. Fourth, they do not have an optimized power management system. Fifth, they do not allow a player to identify himself to the gaming unit in a time-efficient manner. Sixth, the current gaming units are not optimized in other ways that would be useful for gaming.
Current electronic bingo systems which use wireless gaming units also require some means of downloading or configuring each gaming unit before each session of play. This configuration generally includes loading the number and description of bingo cards purchased by the player, the type of win pattern and variation of bingo game for each game of the playing session, and other game options. Also, as the play software is updated with a newer version, the updates have to be delivered to each gaming unit. Such downloading of information typically uses some form of wired or wireless, communication link which configures the gaming unit at the point-of-sale cashier station when the player enters the bingo hall.
As the capability of electronic technology and the displays used in such portable gaming units increases, it becomes possible for the gaming units to play games and attractions other than bingo, or more than one type of game at a time. Many of these games will allow the player to accumulate prize winnings and other information. At the end of play, this information must be transferred from the gaming units back to a central computer station to allow for payment of prizes or other accounting of winning information.
All of these requirements of loading game information to the gaming unit at the start of play and reading prize information after play require significant amounts of handling and transportation of the gaming units in the bingo hall. Since a single bingo hall can contain hundreds of such units, the handling of the portable gaming units for updating purposes is a significant problem for the bingo operators and also frequently leads to damage of the units due to rough handling or dropping when carrying the units.
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop a better hand held or portable gaming unit, together with a system which efficiently meets the requirements of administering a game, increases the efficiency of updating software on the gaming units and which minimizes the handling requirements for the gaming units.

Method for playing a game of chance with a wireless electronic gaming unit


The present invention relates to a unit (1) for dispensing and applying a product (P) of liquid-to-pasty consistency, comprising a tubular reservoir (2) for containing the product to be dispensed, communicating with at least one dispensing orifice (61), this reservoir, on the opposite side from the orifice (61) including at least one longitudinal slot (21); a piston (4) capable of sliding in translation inside the reservoir (2) including a complementary drive stud (43) passing through the slot (21); a base part (9) connected to the reservoir; screw thread (51) for translational drive of the piston (4). The reservoir (2) and the base part (9) are made as a single piece, the slot (21) being made on just part (2b) of the reservoir (2). This unit is equipped with an application tip (6) for dispensing and applying the product (P) including an application surface (63) provided with the dispensing orifice (61). The application surface (63) of the tip (6) may include at least one cavity or at least one groove (75), the orifice (61) being situated in this cavity or groove.

In general, a make-up unit for the lips includes a product in the form of a stick of substantially solid consistency, a moving support, known as a cup, accommodating the product to be applied, a casing and a mechanism allowing the stick to be housed during the storage period, and allowing it to be taken out of its casing with a view to applying the product to the lips.
The structure of this conventional mechanism is however often quite complicated, requiring specialized assembly tooling. Furthermore, the manufacture of a lipstick requires the successive steps of: hot-moulding the stick, releasing from the mold under vacuum, flaming the surface of the stick, and fixing it into a cup. In addition, it is tricky to assemble the cup equipped with the stick owing to the fragility of the stick. Owing to this specialized tooling and to these various manufacturing steps, the cost of such a lip product is high. Moreover, a conventional lipstick unit of this type is not very well able to withstand impacts, for example, during transportation in a handbag. Such a lipstick unit is particularly susceptible to impacts during hot weather.
In order to avoid these drawbacks, there are; a dispensing units for applying products of liquid-to-pasty consistency. This type of product makes it possible to use dyes and/or excipients which are currently not envisageable for this use.
FR-A-1,323,631 discloses a dispenser of cream for skincare, including: a cylindrical body, a cylindrical piston equipped with radial studs located in this body, an operating ring mounted freely and rotatably at the lower part of the body, an outer cylindrical protective casing equipped with a dispensing orifice, an intermediate cylindrical casing equipped with helical grooves and integral with the outer casing, and an internal cylindrical casing integral with the operating ring and equipped with axial slots and also mounted freely and rotatably in the intermediate casing. The piston is mounted so that it can slide inside the internal casing which contains the product to be dispensed, in such a way that the studs pass through the slots to interact with the helical grooves of the intermediate casing. By turning the operating ring, the piston is raised by rotating the intermediate casing, thus dispensing of the product.
This prior art dispenser is limited to products of highly viscous consistency, because a product of liquid consistency would escape through the slots, obstructing the manipulation of the mechanism owing to the soiling of the helical grooves.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,157 discloses an applicator for cosmetic products of elongate shape having a dispensing orifice cut at an angle. This applicator is designed for the application of an extruded solid product such as a conventional stick of lipstick, and cannot be used for dispensing a liquid product. The dispensing of the product is controlled by a mechanism which can be actuated with just one hand by the user. However, during this actuation, the orientation of the orifice at an angle changes, so that it is not possible to apply make-up to the lips without turning the applicator in one's hand in order to have a correct orientation, for example by using the other hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,442,503 also discloses an applicator of liquid lipstick equipped with a supple tip. The dispensing mechanism of this applicator does not allow the product to be dispensed easily by actuation with just one hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,374,065 describes an application tip having an application surface including a plurality of orifices, this tip being made of rigid plastic. Application of the product to the lips is therefore lacking in comfort. Furthermore, the application of make-up obtained is uneven and streaky. In addition, the dispensing of the product cannot be controlled with one hand. Furthermore, the product is packaged so that it is in contact with the drive system, leading to a soiling of the latter which may make the applicator unusable.

Dispenser for a product of liquid-to-pasty consistency, equipped with an application tip


A device for metering one or more powder(s) (A, B) to produce a flow (23) of powder(s) and of a carrier gas at a given volume flow rate, comprises: ⋅at least a first source (25) suitable for supplying a first flow (27) comprising a first powder (A) and a first carrier gas (G1) substantially at the given volume flow rate, ⋅a source (33) of a carrier gas suitable for supplying an adjustment carrier gas flow (35) substantially at the given volume flow rate, ⋅an outlet junction (49) for emitting said flow of powder(s) and of carrier gas, ⋅a first proportional valve (59), ⋅an adjustment proportional valve (75), and ⋅a control system (21) suitable for controlling at least the first proportional valve and the adjustment proportional valve so that the flow of powder(s) and of carrier gas has a volume flow rate substantially equal to the given volume flow rate.

The invention concerns a device for metering one or more powders for producing a flow of powder(s) and a carrier gas for a 3D printing installation spraying at least a first powder, as well as a 3D printer integrating such a device and a process employing that device.
The invention concerns for example the field of fast manufacture and repair of three-dimensional metal parts directly from computer-aided design. The processes of additive construction, resurfacing by spraying metal powder(s) and laser metal deposition (LMD) consist in melting one or more metal powder(s) with the aid of a laser beam in order to generate a deposit with perfectly controlled dimensions. The layers of material are stacked successively to create functional technical parts. This 3D printing method of manufacture can be used in numerous technical fields from the automotive field to the aerospace field.
At present LMD technologies enable saving of material compared to classic machining, in which the removal of material can reach up to 80% of the finished part. Given the cost of the metals employed in industry, industrialists are looking for techniques making it possible to reduce the consumption of material. Thus additive manufacture users attempt to reduce the quantity of powder(s) used, whilst preserving the mechanical properties of the parts produced.
Current powder metering devices are generally situated outside the enclosure of the 3D printing machine for reasons of overall size, filling and maintenance. They distribute powder continuously to one or more injection nozzles via a flexible tube. The injection nozzle guides the power toward the laser beam. The powder is generally transported in a flow of carrier gas, for example argon, to enable its movement.
At present, the relatively long distance between the metering device and the nozzle or nozzles induces a long response time between starting up and the arrival of the powder, approximating ten seconds. This response time is harmful to the development of this technology as it makes it impossible to stop the flow of powder, to change the type of powder instantaneously, or even to modulate the flow rate of powder.
An object of the present invention is therefore to alleviate some or all of the aforementioned disadvantages, that is to say in particular to provide a device for metering one or more powders enabling production of parts with graded properties.

Device for metering one or more powders, corresponding metering process and 3D printer that includes the device


One exemplary user interface for a medical robotics system may include a control panel and one or more sliders that may be slidably carried by the control panel to actuate one or more motors for moving a surgical instrument of the medical robotics system. The sliders may be configured to actuate the motors to move the surgical instrument along a respective one of a plurality of degrees of freedom.

Medical robotics manufacturers are developing user interfaces to effectively perform various robot-assisted surgical procedures. The user interfaces may be operated to control robotic catheters and wires in vascular procedures, or the user interfaces may be integrated within other robotic systems to control other suitable devices to perform various surgical procedures. One exemplary user interface may include a joystick device, which can be used to simultaneously control movement of a surgical device with multiple degrees of freedom. Depending on the procedure and the subjective preference of the physician performing the procedure, this joystick may not be considered intuitive or otherwise desirable.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved user interface for a medical robotics system that provides independent and intuitive control of multiple degrees of freedom of surgical instruments.


A method for drawing a biological sample using a suction-discharge device, such as a manual or automatic pipette, built into an automated device or not. A method for detecting the free surface of a biological sample and/or solid, a sample drawing device such as a pipette and a device for detecting the free surface of a biological sample or a solid are also disclosed. This method includes actuating a means causing a pressure variation or an air flow within the suction-discharge device, positioning the lower free end of the device in such a way so that it becomes flush with a free surface of the biological sample, measuring an overpressure within the suction-discharge device, and sampling a quantity of the sample by suction using the device. The invention finds a preferable application in the field of automatic analyzers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for drawing a biological sample by means of a suction-discharge device, such as a pipette, either manual or automatic, and built into an automated device or not. It also relates to a process used to detect the free surface of a biological sample or a solid by means of a manual or automatic suction-discharge device, built into an automated device or not. Lastly, it relates to a sample drawing device, such as a pipette, and a device for detecting the free surface of a biological sample or a solid. Regardless of the device in question, it may be either manual or automatic, or built into an automated device or not.
This is a new method for detecting the level of a biological liquid in a specimen holder or test tube, particularly necessary on an automatic analyzer.
2. Description of the Related Art
The prior art shows that numerous methods are often used on other automated devices.
These methods may be electric.
Firstly, a reusable metal needle may be used which acts as an electrode, the second electrode being the liquid in which the needle will enter. When the needle comes into contact with the biological sample, a variation in impedance, capacitance or resistance, after amplification, triggers the shut-down of the needle lowering motor.
Secondly, a cone or conductive tip may be used which can be clipped on and thus disposed of after each sampling by the pipette associated with the cone. The latter are made of a plastic material which is loaded with carbon particles. The electrical connection is ensured by the cone gripping device which must be metallic.
Thirdly, other systems operate by adding to the needle or sampling cone, two electrodes placed on each side of the needle or cone, and ensuring electrical current conduction when these electrodes come into contact with the biologic liquid. This latter variant exhibits the major defect of contaminating the electrodes each time they come into contact with a new biologic liquid, thereby requiring the addition of a decontaminating washing system.
These methods may be optical.
Firstly, a camera may be used which displays the liquid level and when the needle comes into contact with the liquid.
Secondly, an optoelectronic system may also be used, featuring a photodetector which detects the liquid level and the needle's contact with the liquid or the sampling point in the liquid.
According to all embodiments of the sampling means, associated with electronic or optical means, during the sampling operation, the needle or sampling tip enters the biological sample to be drawn. If the needle or tip enters too deeply into the liquid of the sample, there is, on the one hand, a risk of contamination from the exterior of the needle and, on the other hand, an "overdosing", that is to say that the quantity of biological liquid having wetted the external wall of the needle or tip will be fully or partially released after transfer into the specimen holder, thereby distorting the exactness of the distributed dose.
There are, however, techniques which allow the tip used not be contaminated by the sampled liquid.
These methods may be acoustic. The patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,003 describes a detection system which uses an acoustic characteristic emitted by a speaker and received by a microphone. The value measured is established by the acoustic impedance.
Other documents, such as EP-A-0.341.438, U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,795, and EP-A-0.571.100, recommend the usage of pressure sensors. This system consists in detecting a pressure fluctuation, as soon as the free end of the tip comes into contact with the surface of a liquid.
Nevertheless, the sensors of these devices are associated with constantly uniform and unidirectional air movements. They do not allow for the evaluation of the numerous characteristics according to the present invention. The purpose of the invention is not only to detect a liquid or solid surface, a tip defect, and/or a leakage problem. The purpose of the invention includes the following:                to detect and to distinguish between the presence of a bubble or foam at the surface of a liquid sample to detect or to draw,        to detect a bubble, a solid impurity or an impurity having a different density in said sample;        to distinguish between a bubble (when detected) from foam (or foam from a bubble) at the surface of a liquid sample to detect or to draw;        to distinguish a bubble (when detected) from a solid impurity or from an impurity having a different density in said sample. Moreover, the present invention may as well be used as a viscometer, as there is a relationship between the duration of the sampling operation, the vacuum pressure created within the pipette and measured by a pressure sensor, and the viscosity of the liquid sampled. The applicant has also filed a patent application, under number FR98/01376 dated Feb. 2, 1998, relating to: "Procédé et dispositif de mesure de la viscosité d'un liquide et utilisation d'une pipette comme viscosimètre" (A process and device for measuring the viscosity of a liquid and the usage of a pipette as a viscometer). The contents of this patent application are incorporated in this invention.
Furthermore, current techniques, which prevent the needle or sampling tip from entering too deeply into the biological sample to be drawn, require the use of complex means (camera, carbon tips, etc.) for detecting the free surface of the sample; means which are thus expensive and make their distribution on the market limited.
The invention thus aims at solving all of these problems by offering devices which are easy to use. Such devices assist in doing away to a significant degree with problematic electrical contacts, with the use of non-conductive disposable tips which are much less costly and less critical to manufacture, and with the reuse of a sensor already available for detecting needle clogging.


Aspects of the embodiment provide a semiconductor integrated circuit including a control terminal coupled to a memory through a control bus, a data terminal coupled to the memory through a data bus, a memory controller coupled to the control terminal and the data terminal and a first master and a second master coupled to the memory controller, wherein the memory controller supplies a control signal corresponding to a memory access based on the first master and a control signal corresponding to a memory access based on the second master to the control terminal in synchronism with a rising edge and a falling edge of a clock signal, respectively, and the memory controller receives and outputs input/output data of the first master and input/output data of the second master at the data terminal in synchronism with the rising edge and the falling edge, respectively.

1. Field
Aspects of the embodiment relate to a semiconductor integrated circuit, a memory system, a memory controller and a memory control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
The chip of a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) or a flash memory is coupled to the chip of a system LSI including a processor, and the external memory chip is employed as a main memory. In the above-described chip, the mainstream is formed by a configuration wherein the SDRAM of double data rate (DDR) or DDR2 which outputs data at both trailing/leading clock edges is employed in order to heighten the speed of the operation of the system.
When the processor runs a program, it has used a conventional configuration where the memory area of the external chip as described above is not used as a program running area, instead a memory within the system LSI chip, such as a cache or a chip-on memory, is used as the running area. The memory within the system LSI chip is configured of, for example, a static random access memory (SRAM), which can be accessed at high speed.
In recent years, however, with enlargement in the size of the program to-be-run or the capacity of data to-be-processed, the capacity of the memory within the system LSI chip has often become insufficient as the area for running the program. In this case, the memory area of the external memory chip as stated above is directly used as the program running area.
Also in recent years, a plurality of processors have sometimes been installed on a single chip as a system-on chip. In such a case, the memory coupled outside the system LSI is shared by the plurality of processors on account of a limitation in the number of terminals of the LSI and for the purpose of decreasing the packaging area and the number of components.
When the memory is shared by the plurality of masters (the plurality of processors), an access conflict occurs among the masters. When the SDRAM or the flash memory which is used as the external memory, a latency for one access is large. When, for example, the SDRAM, a time period of 4 to 5 clock cycles is required from "bank-active" until first data is output. Accordingly, data should be read and written using a burst access to the utmost, not a single access. However, a burst operation causes a long time to be expended between the start of access and the end of data input/output in order to successively input/output data, and the other master which is not accessing the external memory needs to wait for its access. Thus, access latency increases, and the processing performance of the processor lowers.
The conventional memory system has the problem that the increase of the latency at the occurrence of the conflict of access to the external memory cannot be suppressed when the external memory is shared by the plurality of masters.

Semiconductor integrated circuit, memory system, memory controller and memory control method


A receiver includes, in series, at least one receive antenna, a buffer, and arithmetic logic block, a symbol detector, and a phase noise estimator. A further feedback loop couples an output of the phase noise estimator to an input of the arithmetic logic block for providing an estimate of phase noise. The buffer is for storing the received signal. The arithmetic logic block, such as a multiplier, is for removing the estimate of phase noise, received via the feedback loop, from the buffered signal. The symbol detector is for estimating a symbol from the output of the arithmetic logic block. The phase noise estimator estimates phase noise from two inputs received from the symbol detector: the estimated symbol and the remainder signal. Preferably, the phase noise estimator performs an IFFT on these two inputs and Kalman filters the result. Iteratively estimating the phase noise improves precision substantially.

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is a technology that transmits multiple signals simultaneously over a single transmission path, such as a cable or wireless system. Each signal travels within its own unique frequency range (carrier), which is modulated by the data (text, voice, video, etc.).
An orthogonal FDM (OFDM) technique distributes the data over a large number of carriers that are spaced apart at defined frequencies. This spacing provides the "orthogonality" of the OFDM approach, and prevents the demodulators from seeing frequencies other than their own. The benefits of OFDM include high spectral efficiency, resiliency to RF interference, and lower multipath distortion. This is useful because in a typical terrestrial wireless communications implementation there are multipath channels (i.e., the transmitted signal arrives at the receiver using various paths of different length).
OFDM has been successfully deployed in indoor wireless LAN and outdoor broadcasting applications. For example, OFDM has been selected as the multiple access scheme by several standard organizations, including IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, BVB-T (digital video broadcast-terrestrial), and DVB-H (handheld). OFDM beneficially reduces the influence of ISI with a complexity that is less than that of typical single carrier adaptive equalizers. OFDM has also been found to work well in multipath fading channels. These and other advantages render OFDM a strong candidate for use in future mobile communication systems, such as one being referred to as 4G (fourth generation).
While adoption as above in multiple standards proves that OFDM is an excellent candidate for multipath propagation, it is vulnerable to phase noise. Phase noise arises in the up-conversion at the transmitter, and in the down-conversion at the receiver, where the local oscillators behave in less than an ideal manner. An important feature of OFDM is the orthogonality of the sub-carriers. Phase noise from the local oscillators threatens that orthogonality. As would be expected, the sensitivity of any particular OFDM implementation depends from the sub-carrier distance from one another. Low frequency phase noise, typically termed common phase noise CPE, has been corrected in the prior art by rotating the signal constellation with the aid of pilot tones or pilot signals. High frequency phase noise introduces inter-carrier interference ICI. Unlike inter-symbol interference ISI where multiple versions of the same signal interfere with one another due to recovered multipath propagation, ICI appears as additive Gaussian noise to the receiver. Traditionally, this was countered in the prior art by simply using high quality local oscillators to reduce any phase noise imposed from the start. At high frequencies (e.g., about 60 GHz and greater), phase noise imposed even from these higher quality local oscillators does not reduce ICI to a sufficient degree that sub-carrier orthogonality, as seen by the receiver, can be maintained. This is true at least for higher level modulation schemes (e.g., 16 QAM, 64 QAM).
The inventors have devised an approach that corrects phase noise in both low and high frequency regimes, as detailed below, thereby correcting for ICI. While described in the context of OFDM in particular, the phase noise correction techniques described herein do not depend from particularities of OFDM but are readily extendable to any multi-carrier signaling regimen, including multi-carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) and other multi-carrier communication protocols that may yet be developed that are not inconsistent with these teachings.


A semiconductor device (102) that includes a drain extended PMOS transistor (CT1a) is provided, as well as fabrication methods (202) therefore. In forming the PMOS transistor, a drain (124) of the transistor is formed over a region (125) of a p-type upper epitaxial layer (106), where the region (125) of the p-type upper epitaxial layer (106) is sandwiched between a left P-WELL region (130a) and a right P-WELL region (130b) formed within the p-type upper epitaxial layer (106). The p-type upper epitaxial layer (106) is formed over a semiconductor body (104) that has an n-buried layer (108) formed therein. This arrangement serves to increase the breakdown voltage (BVdss) of the drain extended PMOS transistor.

Power semiconductor products are often fabricated using N or P channel drain-extended metal-oxide-semiconductor (DEMOS) transistor devices for high power switching applications. DEMOS devices advantageously combine short-channel operation with high current handling capabilities, relatively low drain-to-source on-state resistance (Rdson), and the ability to withstand high blocking voltages without suffering voltage breakdown failure (high breakdown voltage ratings). Breakdown voltage is typically measured as drain-to-source breakdown voltage with the gate and source shorted together (BVdss), where DEMOS device designs often involve a tradeoff between breakdown voltage BVdss and Rdson.
Referring to FIG. 1A a conventional drain extended PMOS control transistor CT1 is illustrated in an integrated circuit or semiconductor device 2 with a p-type drain 24 spaced from a gate 14, 16 having sidewall spacers 20. The transistor CT1 is formed in a p-doped silicon substrate 4 (P+) with a lower epitaxial silicon 4a (P-lower epi) formed over the substrate 4, where a p-type upper epitaxial silicon 6 (upper epi) is formed over the lower EPI 4a, and an n-buried layer 8 (NBL) extends in an upper portion of the lower EPI 4a and a lower portion of the upper EPI 6. An N-WELL 12 is formed in an upper portion of the upper EPI 6, leaving a p-type drift region 6a outside the N-WELL 12, and various field oxide (FOX) isolation structures 10 are formed to separate different terminals of the transistor CT1 from one another and from other components in the integrated circuit device 2.
A p-type source (S) 22 is formed in the N-WELL 12 along one side of a channel region 28 of the N-WELL 12, and an n-type backgate (BG) 26, in the illustrated example, is spaced from the source 22 in the N-WELL 12. A p-type extended drain (D) 24 is formed in the drift region 6a, and is spaced from the other side of the channel 28. The transistor gate structure (G) includes a thin gate dielectric or gate oxide 14 formed over the channel region 28 of the N-WELL 12, which also partially overlies a portion of the p-drift region 6a, with a conductive gate electrode 16 formed over the thin gate oxide 14 and sidewall spacers 20 formed along the lateral sides of the gate (G).
FIG. 1B is a schematic illustration of an exemplary high voltage application in which the conventional DEPMOS CT1 of FIG. 1A is employed as a control transistor for driving the gate of a bridge high-side driver DENMOS. FIG. 1B illustrates a half H-bridge driver circuit in the semiconductor device 2 powered by a DC supply voltage VCC, with the conventional DEPMOS control transistor CT1 of FIG. 1A and a DENMOS control transistor CT2 together forming an inverter for controlling a gate voltage of a high-side DENMOS drive transistor T2 in the half bridge circuit. The circuit includes two load driving n-channel power devices such as DENMOS or LDMOS (lateral diffused MOS) devices T1 and T2 having corresponding sources S1 and S2, drains D1 and D2, and gates G1 and G2, respectively, coupled to drive an inductive load. The transistors T1 and T2 are arranged as a pair of low and high-side drivers, respectively, with the load coupled between an intermediate node N1 of the driver pair and ground.
A supply voltage VCC is coupled to the drain D2 of the high-side driver T2, and can be a positive terminal of a battery source, wherein the ground may be the battery negative terminal, for example, in automotive applications. The low-side driver T1 and the high-side driver T2 are coupled in series between the supply voltage VCC and ground, where the high side driver transistor T2 has a drain D2 coupled to VCC and a source S2 coupled with the intermediate node N1 at the load. The low-side transistor T1 has a drain D1 coupled to the node N1 and a source S1 coupled to ground. The intermediate node N1 between the transistors T1 and T2 is coupled to a first terminal of a load and the other load terminal is coupled to ground, wherein the load is typically not a part of the device 2. The low and high side transistor gates G1 and G2 are controlled so as to drive the load in alternating fashion, wherein an inverter CT1, CT2 (including the DEPMOS transistor CT1 of FIG. 1A) is illustrated to drive the high-side gate G2. When the high-side transistor T2 is on, current flows through the high-side transistor T2 and the load in a first direction, and when the low-side transistor T1 is on, current flows through the load and the low-side transistor T1 in a second opposite direction.
In the illustrated device 2, the source S of the DEPMOS control transistor CT1 is coupled to a high voltage VCC+VGS, where VGS is the gate-to-source voltage required to turn the high-side device T2 on, and VCC is the supply voltage. In this configuration, the upper control transistor CT1 must be designed to withstand high drain-to-source voltages without breakdown when the upper control transistor CT1 is off and the lower control transistor CT2 is on. In this condition, the drain D of the transistor CT1 is essentially at ground potential, while the source S remains at VCC+VGS. In automotive and other applications in which bridge driver circuits are used for high wattage digital audio equipment or in other high power circuits, the supply voltage VCC can be very high, such as 65 to 80 volts DC, wherein the driver devices T1 and T2 need to withstand drain-to-source voltages of about VCC without breakdown. Furthermore, the DEPMOS control transistor CT1 needs to withstand even higher drain-to-source voltages, since the drain D of the upper control transistor CT1 may be near ground potential when the lower control transistor CT2 is on. In particular, the VGS of the high-side driver transistor T2 may be 5 to 15 volts DC, wherein the off-state drain-to-source voltage across the DEPMOS transistor CT1 may be 100 volts or more.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the drain region 24 is spaced from the channel 28 and from the gate 14, 16 (e.g., an extended-drain architecture) to provide the drift region 6a in the p-type epitaxial silicon 6 between the channel 28 and the drain 24. In operation, the spacing of the drain 24 and the channel 28 spreads out the electric fields, thereby increasing the breakdown voltage rating of the device (higher BVdss). However, the drain extension increases the resistance of the drain-to-source current path (Rdson), whereby DEMOS device designs often involve a tradeoff between high breakdown voltage BVdss and low Rdson.
Another breakdown voltage limitation of the transistor CT1 relates to the thickness of the epitaxial silicon 6 in the device 2, wherein the substrate 4 is grounded and the transistor source, drain, and channel (e.g., including the N-WELL 12 and the p-drift region 6a) are formed in the epitaxial silicon 6. In particular, when the control transistor CT1 is on, the drain voltage is very high, and it is desirable to separate the p-type drain 24 and the drift region 6a from the underlying p-type substrate 4 that is grounded, to prevent punch-thru current between the drain 24 and the substrate 4. Accordingly, a rather heavily doped n-buried layer 8 is typically formed prior to forming the upper epitaxial silicon layer 6, in order to separate the drift region 6a and the drain 24 from the substrate 4, and to thereby inhibit on-state punch-thru current, with the n-buried layer 8 typically being connected to the n-type backgate 26 through the N-WELL 12, whereby the n-buried layer 8 is tied to the source voltage (VCC+VGS). However, the presence of the n-buried later at such a high voltage may lead to off-state breakdown when the drain 24 is near ground potential. Thus, while the n-buried layer 8 operates to prevent on-state punch-thru current, the n-buried layer 8 limits the off-state breakdown voltage rating of the DEPMOS transistor CT1 for a given epitaxial thickness and drift region doping amount.
In an "off" state of the transistor CT1, the drain 24 is essentially at ground, and the source voltage VCC+VGS is dropped across the drift region 6a portion extending between the bottom of the drain 24 and the n-buried layer 8, and also between the channel-side of the drift region 6a and the drain 24. If the breakdown occurs on the surface between the gate 16 and the p-type drain 24, the lateral extension of the drift region 6a can be increased (e.g., the lateral spacing of the drain 24 from the gate 16 may be increased to prevent lateral breakdown). However, the vertical spacing between the bottom of the p-type drain 24 and the n-buried layer 8 is more difficult to increase. One approach is to increase the thickness of the epitaxial silicon layer 6, wherein a thicker layer 6 allows a deeper drift region 6a to support higher voltages without suffering breakdown. However, increasing the epitaxial thickness is costly in terms of process complexity, larger spacing requirements, and larger design rules, particularly in forming the deep diffusions to connect to the n-buried layer 8 or other buried layers in the device 2. Accordingly, there is a need for improved DEPMOS devices and fabrication methods by which increased voltage breakdown withstanding capabilities can be achieved, without increasing epitaxial silicon thicknesses and without sacrificing device performance.

Drain extended PMOS transistor with increased breakdown voltage


A method and software for managing class variables is described in which a variable-format container for static class variables is provided such that numeric class variables can be accessed directly while other kinds of class variables are accessed via a reference to an object.

A dynamic run-time environment is responsible for managing memory for objects that are created and destroyed during the execution of a program. An object is an entity that encapsulates data and, in some languages, operations associated with the object. Since the encapsulated data is stored in memory, objects are associated with particular regions of memory that are allocated and deallocated by the dynamic run-time environment.
One popular dynamic run-time environment is a JAVA™ virtual machine, which supports a platform-independent, object-oriented language developed by Sun Microsystems. In JAVA™, the attributes and methods for a class of objects are typically defined in a source file, which is compiled into an architecture-neutral object file containing bytecodes that are interpreted in the virtual machine at the target platform. It is common for objects to reference other objects.
Many object-oriented languages, including JAVA™ and C++, support the notion of a class variable, which is allocated once per class, not once per object that is an instance of a class. Class variables are often called "static" because they declared using the "static" keyword in JAVA™ and C++. Typically, the run-time environment allocates memory for class variables the first time the class is encountered or loaded. All objects belonging to the class share the same copy of the class variables, and the class variables can be access through an object belonging to the class or the class itself.
Lately, there has been much interest in using JAVA™ in a multi-user environment that allows multiple users to connect in separate, concurrent sessions to a server system, such as a relational database system. When designing a run-time environment for such a multi-user environment, scalability in terms of the number of simultaneous users who can establish separate sessions is very important.
A significant constraint for user scalability is the size of the memory "footprint" that each session consumes. For example, a server system may have 100 Mb of memory for supporting all the user sessions. If the session memory footprint is 1 Mb, then only 100 user sessions can be supported at one time. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the session memory footprint to improve scalability. One approach for reducing the session memory footprint in a run-time environment is to allocate a single copy of objects, code, and constant data in a globally shared read-only memory rather than in a session memory that is devoted to a single session. In the example, if 500 Kb of the 1 Mb session memory footprint can be shared between the different sessions, then 500 Kb of the total 100 Mb can be reserved as a global shared read-only memory, and the remaining the 99.5 Mb would available for the individual session memories. Since the session memory requirements has dropped to 500 Kb, a total of 199 user sessions can now be supported. Consequently, session memory reduction by using globally shared read-only memory is a promising approach for improving scalability of the multi-user run-time environment.
Static class variables, however, are generally not shared between different sessions because each user may store individualized values in the static class variable that differs from that of other users. Accordingly, static class variables are not stored in a globally shared read-only memory, and there is therefore a need for managing static class variables as efficiently as possible.

Method of managing memory for class variables


A blanket for cryogenically cooling at least a portion of a workpiece is provided. The blanket includes a body having an interior surface configured to face the workpiece. The blanket also includes a plurality of nozzles located on the interior surface of the body. The blanket further includes one or more tubes configured to deliver cryogenic liquid to the plurality of nozzles for spraying upon at least a portion of the workpiece. A method and system for cryogenically cooling at least a portion of a workpiece utilizing a blanket are also provided.

A variety of workpieces may be required to be cryogenically cooled for various purposes, such as during different manufacturing or inspection operations. To evaluate the bond between the metal and composite portions of a workpiece, the workpiece may be cryogenically cooled to allow the metal and the composite portions thereof to be physically separated without damaging the structure of the bond region therebetween.
In order to cryogenically cool a workpiece, the workpiece may be submerged within a bath of cryogenic liquid, such as a bath of liquid carbon dioxide or liquid nitrogen. In order to submerge the workpiece within the bath of cryogenic liquid, the bath must generally be larger than the workpiece and, as a result, may disadvantageously consume valuable floor space as a result of the bath's relatively large footprint. In order to submerge a workpiece within the bath of cryogenic liquid, the workpiece is typically transported to the bath and handled in such a manner as to be controllably submerged within the bath and then withdrawn from the bath following the cooling of the workpiece. The amount of cryogenic liquid, such as liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide, should also be correspondingly large to permit the workpiece to be fully submerged therein. In instances in which the workpiece is relatively large and/or heavy, the transportation of the workpiece to the bath and the handling of the workpiece in conjunction with its submersion within the bath may also require correspondingly large and, in some instances, complex equipment to interact with the workpiece.
A spray gun may alternatively be utilized in order to spray liquid cryogen upon a portion of a workpiece. The spray gun generally applies the liquid nitrogen on a small area of the workpiece. Accordingly, the spray gun must be continuously moved over the surface of the workpiece to cool a larger portion of the workpiece. The movement of the spray gun across the surface of the workpiece may increase the time required to cryogenically cool the workpiece and may prevent all portions of the workpiece from being cryogenically cooled simultaneously. The spray gun also generally includes a canister that provides the cryogenic liquid to be sprayed upon the workpiece, thereby increasing the weight of the spray gun. The spray gun may thus be limited by the capacity of the canister.

Blanket for cryogenically cooling at least a portion of a workpiece


The invention relates to the use of at least one overexpression inhibitor of DNA repair genes and oncogenes for producing a drug to increase the apoptotic effect of cytostatics after chemotherapy.

The invention relates to the use of at least one overexpression inhibitor of DNA repair genes and/or oncogenes for producing a drug to increase the apoptotic effect of cytostatics after chemotherapy.
Cancer diseases in humans are one of the most frequent causes of death and chemotherapy is the most frequent treatment method. The inadequate chances for a cure by a chemotherapy are based on the occurrence of resistances. These resistances have their root in the fact that cytostatics influence the expression of genes and have a genotoxic effect, i.e. induce mutations, gene amplifications and recombinations and hence destabilise the genome. In this way, a chemotherapy induces or selects resistant cancer cells. Often oncogenes, such as e.g. Ras, Bc12, Bcr-abl, Myc, ErbB2 and others, are affected by such effects induced by cytostatics. Wrongly regulated expression of genes in conjunction with DNA repair and recombination also contributes to chemoresistance (e.g. p53 gene, BRCA1/2, UBE2N, APEX and Rad51), furthermore enzymes which metabolise and bioactivate cytostatics (e.g. DHFR, DT-diaphorase (DT-D), or proteins which convey cytostatics (e.g. MDR1).
Most cytostatics eliminate tumour cells in that they induce apoptosis. Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death which was described firstly in Kerr, J. F. et al., Br J Cancer, 26(4) (1972); 239-257. In contrast to necrosis, apoptosis is a physiological form of cell death. These two forms of cell death can be differentiated by means of differences between necrosis and apoptosis. Apoptosis has defined morphological and biochemical characteristics which occur successively as events of an ordered cascade. The continuous process can be divided into phases. Morphological characteristics of apoptosis are core chromatin condensation (karyopyknosis), shrinkage of cytoplasm, formation of apoptotic vesicles and finally apoptotic bodies. Tumour cells can prevent this by overactivation of survival mechanisms. Mechanisms of chemoresistance therefore also comprise anti-apoptotic acting genes, such as e.g. STAT3, the activated "signal transducer and activator of transcription 3" or JUN-D.
In 1995 effects of specific hormones and 5-substituted nucleosides which were hitherto unknown were discovered. These suppress the 2-amino-6-mercaptopurine (AMP)-induced SV40 amplification in cells of the Chinese hamster (Fahrig, R. et al., Mutat Res., 356 (2), 1996, 217-224) and triethylene melamine-induced recombination in yeasts (Fahrig, R., Mutat Res, 372 (1), 1996, 133-139). In EP 0 806 956 B1, the treatment of leukaemia cells of the mouse with 5-substituted nucleosides is described, the doxorubicin (adriamycin)-induced Mdr1 gene amplification and chemoresistance having been inhibited.
In the in vitro tests implemented to date, 5-substituted nucleosides (i.e. base analogues) have always been applied together with one or more cytostatics.

Use of 5-substituted nucleosides for reinforcing the apoptotic effect of cytostatic drugs


Photographic element having high dimensional stability comprising a hydrophobic polyester film support, a barrier layer retarding diffusion of water in liquid or vapor phase into the hydrophobic polyester film support, and at least one hydrophilic image-precursor layer, said barrier layer being a vapor-deposited glass layer.

By the expression "hydrophilic image-precursor layer" as used herein a hydrophilic layer is meant that can be a photosensitive silver halide hydrophilic layer or a hydrophilic layer in which an image can be formed e.g. by receiving an image from a donor element such as by the silver salt diffusion transfer reversal method (DTR-method).
In several photographic fields e.g. microphotography, astrophotography, aerophotography, photogrammetry, holography, recording of nucleophysical phenomena, the preparation of masks for use in the production of microelectronic integrated circuits or printed circuit boards (PCB), the preparation of lithographic offset printing forms e.g. according to the DTR-method, the dimensional stability of the photographic material used for making the desired record is of utmost importance, and this applies to such photographic material both in unprocessed and processed state.
Photographic materials comprise at least one hydrophilic layer coated on a support. Polymer film supports such as cellulose acetate and polyester supports have the disadvantage of absorbing water both in vapour and in liquid form. Owing to the absorption of water vapour from the atmosphere or of fluid water from processing liquids e.g. developing baths the dimensions of polymer film supports start changing. The hydrophilic layer(s) tightly adhering to the polymer film supports have to follow these dimensional changes and undergo internal stresses. As a consequence, the dimensions of the recorded image data may differ inacceptably from those of the recorded subject.
In the past, glass plates have been used customarily when photographic supports having a high dimensional stability were needed, especially in the photographic fields specified above. Glass does not absorb water vapour or fluid water and has, therefore, found extensive use as a transparent dimensionally stable support in these photographic fields. Nevertheless, glass has the disadvantage of being heavy, voluminous, and fragile. Moreover, the coating of photographic hydrophilic layers on glass plates and the sizing of the coated material poses great problems, especially when continuous coating and sizing are desired.
Attempts have therefore been made in recent years to enhance the dimensional stability of polyester film supports for photographic use by inhibiting or at least retarding absorption of water vapour or fluid water by these supports.
It is known for instance from U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,267 to coat a polyester film support for a silver halide photographic material, at least one side of said support having a polymer latex, on both sides with a polymer layer comprising a copolymer containing fom 50 to 99.5% by weight of vinylidene chloride, both polymer layers having a thickness of at least 0.3 .mu.m.
In EP-A 343,642 a silver halide photographic material has been described, which is composed of a polyester film support having thereon at least one hydrophilic colloid layer containing a polymer latex and between the support and the hydrophilic colloid layer a layer containing a vinylidene chloride copolymer core-shell latex, at least one hydrophilic colloid layer being a light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer.
However, polyester film supports coated with vinylidene chloride copolymer layers have the disadvantage of providing insufficient tightness to water and water vapour. Moreover, the use of chlorine-containing compounds such as vinylidene chloride copolymers raises ever growing environmental objections since combustion of waste material comprising such chlorine-containing copolymers may lead to the production of toxic chlorine gas, which itself in the presence of organic compounds may form other toxic substances such as dioxine.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,132 a photographic material has been described, which is composed of a hydrophobic polymer supporting surface, a subbing layer, and a hydrophilic colloid layer, wherein said subbing layer essentially consists of an inorganic oxide sush as silicon monoxide or silicon dioxide.
Unfortunately, a silicon monoxide or silicon dioxide layer is far too permeable to water liquid or vapour and thus has no satisfactory barrier function.
In GB-A 2,074,345 a pre-holographic element has been described, which is composed of an optically transparent hydrophobic support, a layer of a glassy, optically transparent, polar, moisture barrier material formed at a temperature that should not deform said support, and a hydrophilic photosensitive material. The glassy layer is a silicon dioxide layer deposited by electron beam and having a high thickness of 0.2 to 10 .mu.m.
Such thick glassy layers may lead to inhomogeneity of the glassy material; cracks may indeed appear. Furthermore, the transparency of thicker layers is reduced. These disadvantages are frequently encountered in the case of special processing conditions such as high temperature development.

Dimensionally stable photographic element


Generally described, a method and system of customizing and personalizing a home page are provided. The method includes means for defining the appearance, layout and behavior of a network computing environment home page upon access by a user. The method also provides for increased portability of a user experience from one computing access environment to another. A centralized hub of relevant information resources is provided to make users more productive through ease of access and automatic delivery of time-sensitive information. Accordingly, users can integrate sources of pertinent information into their daily routines, essentially creating “personal channels”.

The present invention relates generally to computer software. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for customizing and personalizing a home page in a network computing environment, such as the Internet.
Generally, a user accesses a network, or other software application, from an entry point such as a main menu or starting page. In the case of the Internet, this starting page generally is referred to as a "home page". In this context, a "home page" is a browser compatible file or Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address, that is displayed upon initiation of the browser by a user. In other words, the home page is the starting point for a user's network browsing experience and provides users with the ability to connect to any application, from any device, over any network connection.
Traditionally, a home page is designed, populated and provided by an entity other than the individual user. Such home page providers typically include Internet Service Providers (ISPs), business organizations (e.g., the user's place of employment), or one of various portal services, such as America On Line (AOL) or Yahoo. Home pages provided by such entities generally are uniform among users and restrict connection to those applications or web sites particularly selected by the providing ISP, portal, or business. As such, while the user has some ability to personalize their home page, this ability is limited.
As the world of business moves into the global electronic marketplace, organizations require advanced automated business content management systems to enhance productivity and improve their operations by empowering their personnel to quickly access information. While the need for personal access to information varies for an individual user, the end result remains the same. Regardless of whether network use is business or personal, users require a system and method that permits the customization of their "window" to the world of information. In other words, users are increasingly in need of a system and method for personalizing their home page to allow faster, easier access to information.
Existing modes of personalization, in the context of a web browser, permit users to quickly access previously designated URLs in order to open web sites of interest. Depending upon the particular browser being used, these collections of previously designated sites are referred to as "favorites" or "bookmarks". In either case, to access a particular pre-designated web site, a user selects an identifier for the site, typically from a listing or grouping of names or icons. Subsequently, the browser window being displayed is replaced with an information page associated with the newly selected site. The exchange is site for site and extra effort is required if the user desires to have multiple sites or windows displayed simultaneously.
From sports to stock quotes, weather forecasts to directions, people turn to the Internet to research new ideas and/or stay informed about the world around them. Portals and content managed home pages permit increased access and consolidation of topical information so as to attract more users. As previously noted, various sources of information are consulted by a typical individual, thus it has become critical that each of these information sources be brought together in one cohesive and convenient manner regardless of where they are located and without some artificial limitation that is imposed by the portal, ISP, or other provider organization. More importantly, the ability for individuals to customize this environment to suit their needs, thus enabling focused and more efficient utilization of a browser or other method of information access, has taken on increased significance.
Accordingly, a system and method are needed which do more than simply improve the way information is accessed but which also revolutionize the way that people work. More particularly, a system and method which permits increased home page customization is needed. Further, a system and method are needed which facilitate more efficient access to multiple applications from a user's home page.

System and method for personalizing a home page