A method and a portable apparatus is provided which can be transported to the area of treatment, generate silver ions or ions of other selected elements such as copper, uniformly distribute the ions over both confined and extended areas of water and land, and destroy infectious bacteria and/or other undesirable microorganisms in such areas. Water under pressure is passed through a manifold containing silver electrodes (or other desired metal electrodes) which are energized to produce ions. The solution with the high potency disinfecting ions is delivered to a sprinkler or other form of spraying device. The system is portable so that the apparatus can be moved to multiple locations or maneuvered within a given treatment location.

Considering the world's environmental situation, it is necessary that all resources be effectively and efficiently utilized in order to both eliminate existing pollution and prevent continuing pollution.
For many years silver has been known to be a potent and highly effective purification agent through its killing of infectious bacteria. Silver has been used for dinnerware with the belief that it had sterilization characteristics among other reasons. Silver nitrate has long been used in hospitals for babies and others because of its disinfection capabilities. During these and other similar disinfecting or sterilization applications, silver has been used with comfort and trust on the basis that it has shown no undesirable side effects.
When the National Aeronautic and Space Administration was searching for a means to purify the recycled water for the Apollo astronauts, silver was selected because of its high potency disinfecting capabilities. Being the reference base for the International Ampere and Faraday's Law, it was well known to be readily ionized. Accordingly, N.A.S.A. developed a simple electrolytic system to generate silver ions to be circulated in the water to be treated. A control unit generates a direct current which is applied across electrodes of specially formulated silver alloy immersed in the water being treated. The dose rate at which these ions are generated and liberated into the water is set and maintained by solid-state microprocessor circuitry in the control unit.
This same system, with the addition of copper to the silver and with other minor adaptations, is now being used in the treatment of water in many commercial and industrial applications such as swimming pools, spas, air conditioning cooling towers, food processing, etc.
At the same time, several patents have been issued in recent years which cover unique ways of using silver in water treatment and disinfecting.
In addition to the above systems which utilize silver or copper, there are many which still utilize chlorine and its many compounds to disinfect water. Extensive efforts are underway, however, to eliminate the use of chlorine and halogens. Radiation-type systems such as ultraviolet have been introduced in this effort. These systems are being used in food processing and some sewerage treatment plants.
The current systems require that all water being treated must pass over, under, or through the treatment mechanism to pick up the treatment produce. The total water supply, now with the treatment product, becomes disinfected and is ready for the user.
As will be shown in the following calculations, it is highly impractical, and close to impossible, for the current systems to utilize more than a minute fraction of the high potency treatment capability of silver.
Given the following:
1. By Faraday's Law, the amount of silver ions released in one second with a one ampere current flow between the silver electrodes is 0.001118 grams. PA1 2. The kill level for infectious bacteria, or its disinfecting capability, is 5/15 PPT (parts of silver per trillion parts of treated media).
Using the worst case of 15 parts, versus the 5 parts at the low end of the scale, the amount of water, or gallon flow per second, which can be treated in a one-second flow of electrical current across the silver electrodes is determined by the following ratio: ##EQU1##
As noted above, it would be virtually impossible to economically and effectively build a treatment apparatus to flow 19,689 gallons per second through it to utilize the full treatment capability of silver. It is possible, and highly practical, to provide a treatment apparatus through which a minute part of the water to be treated is passed through the treatment apparatus and subsequently effectively mixed with untreated water so that the disinfection process is successfully completed.
It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a method and a portable apparatus which can be transported to the treatment site, provide concentrated treatment to a part of the total water to be treated through the generation of silver ions in a manifold through which this water part flows, uniformly distribute this water part with the silver ions to the water whole, and, thus, provide treatment to both confined and extended areas of water which otherwise have been untreatable through the elimination of undesirable bacteria and other microorganisms in this area.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method and a portable apparatus which ca be transported to the treatment site, provide a concentrated treatment solution in an auxiliary source of water through the generation of silver ions in a manifold through which this auxiliary water source flows, uniformly distribute this water with its silver ions to both confined and extended areas of land and water which otherwise have been untreatable, and, thus, provide treatment through the elimination of undesirable bacteria and other microorganisms in the area.
A further object of this invention is to provide a method and a portable apparatus which can be used by airplane, motor vehicle, boat, and/or other transportation vehicle to provide treatment through the generation of silver ions in a manifold through which an auxiliary water source flows from a storage tank, delivering this water with its silver ions back to this storage tank to obtain a concentrated solution of silver-ionized water, and then utilizing one or more of these transportation vehicles to uniformly distribute this concentrated solution of silver ions to both confined and extended areas of land and/or water and, thus, provide treatment through the elimination of undesirable bacteria and other microorganisms in the area.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a method and a portable apparatus to provide treatments as described above except with other elements or alloys such as copper and copper/silver and for treating living matter which they affect such as algae.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a portable apparatus which can be moved and used in different treatment areas, moved to and carried in different transportation and distribution vehicles, and readily moved within a treatment area to accomplish the objectives described above.
It is to be understood that the present invention relates to silver ions and copper ions used either singly or in combination.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following specification, together with the accompanying drawings.

Method and apparatus for killing infections bacteria and undesirable microorganisms in large land and water areas


The present invention provides a heat-curable silicone rubber composition to be cured by hydrosilation reactions and having outstanding physical properties, especially a high tear strength, said composition comprising. (A) a polydiorganosiloxane having at least two unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon groups and represented by the general formula (1): EQU R.sub.a.sup.1 SiO.sub.(4-a)/2 ( 1) PA0 wherein R.sup.1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon group containing 0.01 to 15 mole % of an unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon group, a is a positive number of from 1.95 to 2.05. PA0 (B) a polyorganohydrogensiloxane having at least three hydrogen atoms directly bonded to silicon atom in a molecule, PA0 (C) silica filler having a specific surface area of at least 50 m.sup.2 /g, and PA0 (D) an addition reaction catalyst, PA0 (E) water, and preferably PA0 (F) an organosilane represented by the general formula: EQU R.sub.m.sup.2 Si(OR).sub.4-m PA0 wherein R.sup.2 represents a substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon group, R represents a hydrogen atom or a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and m is 0, 1 or 2, or a polysiloxane having a polymerization degree of 100 or less obtained by hydrolysis thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a high consistency heat-curable silicone rubber composition and a silicone rubber obtained by curing said composition. The heat-curable silicone rubber composition is cured into a cured product having a high strength and can be used for many diverse applications, for example, tubes, gaskets, diaphragms and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art teaches many ideas that relate to silicone rubber compositions including those having optical clarity. These silicone rubber compositions can be used for many diverse applications requiring optical clarity, for example, tubes, hoses, diaphragms, packings, contact lenses, etc.
It is necessary to blend an extrusion compatible crosslinker into silicon rubber compositions prior to the extrusion process and the subsequent curing process. Dichlorobenzoyl peroxide is a well-known extrusion compatible crosslinker which is widely used in such silicone rubber compositions. It is an unstable peroxide in compositions and initiates a free radical reaction that forms crosslinkages between adjacent polymer chains. However, dichlorobenzoyl peroxide has a disadvantage of needing to go through a lengthly post-cure process to remove harmful decompositional by-products.
As compared with the above peroxide curing compositions, addition catalyzed compositions do not require the time consuming post-cure process, but typically do, to obtain optimum physical characteristics. The prior art teaches many ideas that relate specifically to high consistency silicone rubber compositions which are catalyzed by hydrosilation reactions and cured into silicone rubbers with optical clarity.
Addition reaction occurs between hydrosilyl groups and vinyl groups, usually catalyzed by a platinum compound such as chloroplatinic acid, forming Si--C bonds as described in the following formula. ##STR1## This type of crosslinking system has some advantages over other kinds of vulcanizing agents. Once the proper components are allowed to react together, the composition can be vulcanized rapidly at elevated temperatures or much more slowly at room temperature.
Among silicone rubber compositions, fluorosilicone rubber compositions such as those containing trifluoropropyl groups can be cured in the presence of a hydrogen atom-containing crosslinker as the other silicone rubber compositions can. The fluorosilicone rubber compositions have less heat and acid resistance, but have improved physical properties as compared with dimethylsilicone rubber compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,480, issued to Wada, discloses addition crosslinked polyorganosiloxane compositions which contain two different vinyl-containing polydiorganosiloxanes to achieve notable improvements in the physical properties, especially tear strength. One of the two polymers is a gum having a polymerization degree greater than 3000 and containing from 0.02 to 0.2 mole percent of vinyl radicals. The second polymer utilized contains at least 2 mole percent of vinyl radicals with a polymerization degree of less than 100, which encompasses only liquid polydiorganosiloxanes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,564, issued to Maxson, also teaches high consistency organosiloxane compositions which contain two different polydiorganosiloxanes. Maxson teaches improved tear strength and elongation are achieved by including in the composition a vinyl-containing liquid polydiorganosiloxane that is immiscible with the gum type polydiorganosiloxane composed of the major organosiloxane ingredient of the composition.
The prior art teach different ways with which one can improve the physical properties of addition catalyzed polydiorganosiloxane vulcanizates. The patents issued to Wada and Maxson, for example, utilize a blend of two different polydiorganosiloxanes to achieve desired results. The compositions catalyzed by hydrosilation reactions can display outstanding tear strengths when two different vinyl-containing polydiorganosiloxanes are blended together. A majority of the composition contains a lower vinyl-containing organosiloxane, and a higher vinyl-containing organosiloxane is added thereto in a smaller quantity to create an uneven vinyl distribution. This facilitates localized crosslinking networks which help to improve tear strengths of the material.

Heat-curable silicone rubber composition and cured product thereof


An earthquake, fire and wind resistant pre-fabricated building panel comprises a plurality of frame members. The frame members are connected together to form a frame lying in a frame plane, the frame defining a perimeter of the panel, the perimeter bounding an interior portion of the panel. At least some of the frame members are biased inwardly, generally in the frame plane, towards the interior portion of the panel. A first solidified castable substance is cast in the interior portion of the frame, between the frame members. A three-dimensional structure such as a house is formed by connecting the panels together. The connections absorb and distribute seismic forces to the entire three-dimensional structure and the biased frame members act to absorb residual seismic forces reaching the individual panels. The castable substance and biased frame members permit the panel to withstand both positive and negative loading and render the panel fire resistant.

This invention relates to an earthquake, fire and wind resistant pre-fabricated building panel for use in making a three-dimensional structure such as a house, apartment, office building or the like. A plurality of panels according to the invention is illustrated and described, a method of making such panels is described, examples of three dimensional structures according to the invention are described and a specially adapted shipping container for shipping components to build a three-dimensional structure is described.
Prefabricated Panels
Prefabricated building panels, in general, act as building components which can be quickly and easily fastened to a pre-erected frame structure. Many man-hours, however, are required to pre-erect the frame structure and prepare such structure for receipt of prefabricated panels. Dimension tolerances in both the pre-erected frame and the prefabricated panels can accumulate over large spans and ultimately, the panels may not properly fit on the pre-erected frame.
In addition, conventional pre-fabricated panels are normally fastened to the exterior side of the pre-erected frame which enables such panels to withstand positive wind loading, however, negative wind loading such as created by hurricanes cannot be withstood.
Negative loading normally results in the exteriorally fastened panels being ripped off of the frame structure. This also occurs with conventional plywood board sheathing which is also fastened to the exterior side of the frame. Examples of such prior art prefabricated panels susceptible to negative wind loading are given in U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,702 to Huettemann and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,993 to Hitchins. What is desirable therefore is a building panel or building system which can withstand both positive and negative dynamic loading.
Three Dimensional Structure
A consideration in most building designs is the susceptibility of the building to seismic forces such as created by earthquake activity. Many conventional building designs include a solid, unitary cast concrete foundation with engineered footings suitable for the soil upon which the building is to be erected. The building frame, in the form of integral wall portions connected together, is built upon the solid unitary foundation and plywood board sheathing or prefabricated panels are fastened to the frame. (Of course the plywood board sheathing and prefabricated panels suffer from the disadvantages pointed out above).
The solid unitary foundation presents a problem under seismic forces because it is unitary and rigid. Although this permits such forces to be transmitted throughout the foundation, such a rigid foundation is unable to act sufficiently resiliently and elastically to absorb such forces without cracking or breaking. Cracks or breaks in the foundation are susceptible to water ingress which can have a tendency to cause the crack or break to propagate through the foundation resulting in degradation of the foundation.
In addition, the integral wall portions of the frame of the structure typically are formed of wood which is nailed together. Often seismic forces are sufficient to rip apart nailed walls resulting in localized failure of the frame leading to collapse of a wall and potential collapse of the building. While a wood frame of this type presents a relatively resilient elastic structure, typically the joints between frame portions are not sufficiently strong to hold the frame portions together under such loading and thus seismic forces cannot be properly distributed to other portions of the frame to help share the load. What is desirable therefore is a sufficiently resilient elastic building foundation and a sufficiently resiliently elastic frame structure able to withstand and distribute seismic forces.
Hi-rise apartment or office buildings sometimes also suffer from a lack of a sufficiently resiliently elastic foundation and frame structure and, wall panels and partitions able to withstand and distribute earthquake forces. Thus it is desirable to provide such ability in hi-rise apartment and office buildings or virtually in any structure exposed to such forces.
In addition to the need to withstand earthquake forces, there exists a need to provide prefabricated building structures capable of quick and easy erection with minimal labour requirements. Presently, conventional easily erected building structures include prefabricated structures such as trailers, mobile homes etc., which are transported to the erection site. Transporting such structures is costly and requires an enormous amount of space on a ship, for example. If it were possible to ship individual components of a structure and then erect the structure quickly and easily, shipping or transportation costs would be reduced, labour requirements for erecting the structure would be reduced and the cost of erecting the structure itself would be reduced. Thus it is desirable to provide building components which are capable of providing these advantages.
Transportation
Further to the transportation of conventional prefabricated building structures such as trailers, mobile homes and modular houses, such items are normally stacked one upon the other during shipping. Typically, however, these structures are designed only to bear their own weight and cannot bear the weight of other such structures, especially while the ship on which they are carried is travelling in rough seas. Thus, additional structural support is required to stack such prefabricated structures or stacking must be eliminated, resulting in inefficient use of cargo space on the ship.
What is desirable, therefore, is a prefabricated building system which can be shipped and stacked without requiring additional structure, without damaging components of the building system and which makes efficient use of cargo space on a ship or other mode of transportation.

Earthquake, wind resistant and fire resistant pre-fabricated building panels and structures formed therefrom


A secure element (SE) applet installation method, applied to a user terminal with a trusted execution environment (TEE) and an SE, and the TEE is provided with a trusted application (TA). The SE applet installation method includes obtaining, by the TA, an SE applet command package after the user terminal receives an installation request instructing the TA to obtain the SE applet command package, parsing, by the TA, the SE applet command package to obtain target signaling included in the SE applet command package, where the target signaling being used to install a target SE applet, and sending, by the TA, the target signaling to the SE to install the target SE applet according to the target signaling.

A secure element (SE) is a general term for hardware SEs in which a microchip is built, is a small computing and storage communications entity that can independently operate, and usually has very high security. The SE is applied to a very wide range of fields. For example, the SE is widely applied to a plurality of fields in forms of a financial integrated circuit (IC) card, a subscriber identification module (SIM) card of a mobile phone, a bank Universal Serial Bus (USB) key, a one-card pass, and an electronic passport. An application program (APP) running on the SE is referred to as an SE applet. Usually, one or more SE applets may run on the SE. For example, a bank payment applet runs in the financial IC card, and a bus payment applet runs in the one-card pass. As functions of an intelligent user terminal (for example, a mobile phone) are increasingly powerful, the SE is increasingly widely applied to the user terminal. For example, SE applets such as a bus payment applet and a bank payment applet are installed on an SE of a mobile phone such that functions corresponding to the SE applets such as the bus payment applet and the bank payment applet can be implemented using the mobile phone.
In other approaches, an SE applet is downloaded and installed on an SE in a user terminal mainly using a trusted service manager (TSM) server. A general procedure is as follows. The user terminal sends a download request to an application TSM server of an application provider (for example, a bank). After receiving the download request of the user terminal, the application TSM server requests an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) TSM server to establish a security domain on the SE of the user terminal. The application TSM server establishes a secure channel between the application TSM server and the security domain on the SE through forwarding by a client application (CA) in a rich execution environment (REE) and a trusted application (TA) in a trusted execution environment (TEE) of the user terminal. After the application TSM server sends the SE applet to the OEM TSM server, the OEM TSM server distributes signaling to the security domain on the SE of the user terminal through the secure channel, for example, SE auxiliary commands such as a download command and an installation command, and an SE load command that is obtained through conversion from the SE applet and that includes installation data of the SE applet. After receiving the foregoing signaling, the SE parses each signaling sent by the OEM TSM server, to download the SE applet and install the SE appletE.
However, some other approaches in which the user terminal downloads the SE applet and installs the SE applet on the SE includes interaction between the application TSM server of the application provider, the OEM TSM server, and the user terminal. During the interaction, an external TSM server distributes an SE command to the SE of the user terminal using the CA and the TA of the user terminal, and therefore an interaction chain is complex. Consequently, it takes a relatively long time to install the SE applet on the SE of the user terminal.

SE applet processing method, terminal, and server


This invention is within the technical field of distinguishing between natural diamond and synthetic CVD and HPHT diamonds, involves an examination technique using the Raman spectra. Procedurally, a highly sensitive Raman spectrometer (S/N>10,000) is used to scan and examine the diamond sample. The spectrometer is fitted with a tailor-made probe that has a large facula and surface area. Specially developed software is then used to perform an intensity correction and a background elimination to obtain a specific Raman spectral range (250-2800 cm−1) with the corrected intensity and a smooth baseline. Next, the Raman peak intensity of 2030 cm−1 (the post-correction and -standardization characteristic peak) is used as a basis to distinguish between natural diamond and synthetic CVD and HPHT diamonds. This method has the advantages of being non-destructive, simple, fast, and practical identification for diamonds.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-destructive examination method for distinguishing between natural diamond and synthetic CVD/HPHT diamonds is proposed, whereby a Raman characteristic peak is used to correct and standardize the signal intensity for the rapid detection of differentiation between natural diamond and synthetic CVD/HPHT diamonds.
2. Related Art
Due to technical improvements and reduce costs, there have been many high-quality synthetic diamonds on the market. Prices of synthetic and natural diamonds are highly unequal. The synthetic ones are available on the market at a price, which is about 40% less than natural diamond. There is still no scientific and effective method which can distinguish between natural and synthetic diamonds until now. How to effectively and correctly distinguish between natural and synthetic diamonds is an important technical method needs to be solved.

Examination method for distinguishing between natural diamond and synthetic CVD/HPHT diamonds


A shock absorber, the shock-absorbing function of which can be turned on/off during movement and includes a basement, a clutch assembly, a control assembly and a shock-absorbing spring, the shock-absorbing spring provides damper elastic force for the respective components of the shock absorber. The shock-absorbing function can be turned off when riding up a slope, so as to prevent the drag force being increased by the up and down motion of the shock absorber. The shock-absorbing function can be turned on when riding on a horizontal road, and it can be turned off again when riding down a slope, so as to prevent the increase of the front tilt angle of the bike and leading to turnover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shock absorber, and more particularly to a shock absorber that is used on the bike and the mechanical structure.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
The conventional shock absorber used on the bike usually uses inner spring cooperating with cylinder base and other components to produce a shock-absorbing effect (whether the operation space for the inner spring is filled with hydraulic oil is not the essential condition of the present invention, further discussions on this matter would be omitted). A conventional shock absorber, used on the bike, includes basement, axial shaft and shock-absorbing spring, which are to be explained below. The basement is mounted to the fork of the bike, while the axial shaft is mounted on the frame of the bike. The shock-absorbing spring is biased between the basement and the axial shaft. This kind of shock absorber has been used on different kinds of mechanisms and bikes, yet there are still some defects need to be improved as follows:
First, the conventional shock absorber only has the buffering function, and the buffering function cannot be turned off. Thereby, when riding up a slope, the up-and-down motion of the shock absorber will increase the drag force because the motion of the shock absorber counteracts the pressing force applied by the user.
Second, the conventional shock absorber only has the buffering function, but the buffering function cannot be turned off. When riding down a slope, the up-and-down motion of the shock absorber will change the front tilt angle of the bike, especially when the front shocker is moving downward, the front tilt angle of the bike is much increased. Thereby, there is a danger of falling over.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.


According to the subject invention, dispersible dry powder pharmaceutical-based compositions are provided, including methods for their manufacture and dry powder dispersion devices. A dispersible dry powder pharmaceutical-based composition is one having a moisture content of less than about 10% by weight (% w) water, usually below about 5% w and preferably less than about 3% w; a particle size of about 1.0-5.0 μm mass median diameter (MMD), usually 1.0-4.0 μm MMD, and preferably 1.0-3.0 μm MMD; a delivered dose of about >30%, usually >40%, preferably >50%, and most preferred >60%; and an aerosol particle size distribution of about 1.0-5.0 μm mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD), usually 1.5-4.5 μm MMAD, and preferably 1.5-4.0 MMAD. Such composition are of pharmaceutical grade purity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and compositions for the dry powder formulation of pharmaceuticals, including macromolecules, for pulmonary delivery.
Over the years, certain drugs have been sold in compositions suitable for forming a drug dispersion for oral inhalation (pulmonary delivery) to treat various conditions in humans. Such pulmonary drug delivery compositions are designed to be delivered by inhalation by the patient of a drug dispersion so that the active drug within the dispersion can reach the lung. It has been found that certain drugs delivered to the lung are readily absorbed through the alveolar region directly into blood circulation. Pulmonary delivery is particularly promising for the delivery of macromolecules (proteins, polypeptides and nucleic acids) which are difficult to deliver by other routes of administration. Such pulmonary delivery can be effective both for systemic delivery and for localized delivery to treat diseases of the lungs.
Pulmonary drug delivery can itself be achieved by different approaches, including liquid nebulizers, aerosol-based metered dose inhalers (MDI's), and dry powder dispersion devices. Aerosol-based MDI's are losing favor because they rely on the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's), which are-being banned because of their adverse effect on the ozone layer. Dry powder dispersion devices, which do not rely on CFC aerosol technology, are promising for delivering drugs that may be readily formulated as dry powders. Many otherwise labile macromolecules may be stably stored as lyophilized or spray-dried powders by themselves or in combination with suitable powder carriers. The ability to deliver pharmaceutical compositions as dry powders, however, is problematic in certain respects. The dosage of many pharmaceutical compositions is often critical so it is necessary that any dry powder delivery system be able to accurately, precisely, and reliably deliver the intended amount of drug. Moreover, many pharmaceutical compositions are quite expensive. Thus, the ability to efficiently deliver the dry powders with a minimal loss of drug is critical. It is also essential that the powder be readily dispersible prior to inhalation by the patient in order to assure adequate distribution and systemic absorption.
A particularly promising approach for the pulmonary delivery of dry powder drugs utilizes a hand-held device with a hand pump for providing a source of pressurized gas. The pressurized gas is abruptly released through a powder dispersion device, such as a venturi nozzle, and the dispersed powder made available for patient inhalation. While advantageous in many respects, such hand-held devices are problematic in a number of other respects. The particles being delivered are less than 10 μm in size, usually in the range from 1 μm to 5 μm, making powder handling and dispersion more difficult than with larger particles. The problems are exacerbated by the relatively small volumes of pressurized gas, which are available using hand-actuated pumps. In particular, venturi dispersion devices are unsuitable for difficult-to-disperse powders when only small volumes of pressurized gas are available. Another requirement for hand-held and other powder delivery devices is efficiency. It is important that the concentration of drug in the bolus of gas be relatively high to reduce the number of breaths required to achieve a total dosage. The ability to achieve both adequate dispersion and small dispersed volumes is a significant technical challenge that requires in part that each unit dosage of the powdered composition be readily and reliably dispersible.
2. Description of the Relevant Literature
Dry powder dispersion devices for medicaments are described in a number of patent documents. U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,637 describes a manual pump with needles for piercing through a single capsule of powdered medicine. The use of multiple receptacle disks or strips of medication is described in EP467172 (where a reciprocatable punch is used to open a blister pack); WO91/02558; WO93/09832; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,627,432; 4,811,731; 5,035,237; 5,048,514; 4,446,862; 5,048,514; and 4,446,862. Other patents which show puncturing of single medication capsules include 4,338,931; 3,991,761; 4,249,526; 4,069,819; 4,995,385; 4,889,114; and 4,884,565; and EP469,814. WO90/07351 describes a hand-held pump device with a loose powder reservoir.
A dry powder sonic velocity disperser is described in Witham and Gates, Dry Dispersion with Sonic Velocity Nozzles, presented at the workshop on Dissemination Techniques for Smoke and Obscurants, Chemical Systems Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., Mar. 14-16, 1983.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,926,852 and 4,790,305, describe a type of "spacer" for use with a metered dose inhaler. The spacer defines a large cylindrical volume which receives an axially directed burst of drug from a propellant-driven drug supply. U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,806, is an improvement over the '852 and '305 patents, having a conical holding chamber which receives an axial burst of drug. U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,251, describes a nebulizer connected to a mixing chamber to permit a continuous recycling of gas through the nebulizer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,975, is described above. European patent application 347,779 describes an expandable spacer for a metered dose inhaler having a one-way valve on the mouthpiece. WO 90/07351 describes a dry powder oral inhaler having a pressurized gas source (a piston pump) which draws a measured amount of powder into a venturi arrangement
The respiratory delivery of aerosolized aqueous insulin solutions is described in a number of references, beginning with Gänsslen (1925) Klin. Wochenschr. 4:71 and including Laube et al. (1993) JAMA 269:2106-21-9; Elliott et al. (1987) Aust. Paediatr. J. 23:293-297; Wigley et al. (1971) Diabetes 20:552-556. Corthorpe et al. (1992) Pharm Res 9764-768; Govinda (1959) Indian J. Physiol. Pharnacol. 3:161-167; Hastings et al. (1992) J. Appl. Physiol. 73:1310-1316; Liu et al. (1993) JAMA 269:2106-2109; Nagano et al. (1985) Jikeikal Med. J. 32:503-506; Sakr (1992) Int. J. Phar. 86:1-7; and Yoshida et al. (1987) Clin. Res. 35:160-166. Pulmonary delivery of dry powder medicaments, such as insulin, in a large particle carrier vehicle is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,330. A metered dose inhaler (MDI) for delivering crystalline insulin suspended in a propellant is described in Lee and Sciara (1976) J. Pharm. Sci. 65:567-572. A MDI for delivering insulin into a spacer for regulating inhalation flow rate is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,094. The intrabronchial administration of recombinant insulin is briefly described in Schlüter et al. (Abstract) (1984) Diabetes 33:75A and Köhler et al. (1987) Atemw. Lungenkrkh. 13:230-232. Intranasal and respiratory delivery of a variety of polypeptides, including insulin, in the presence of an enhancer, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,678 and Nagai et al. (1984) J. Contr. Rel. 1:15-22. Intranasal delivery of insulin in the presence of enhancers and/or contained in controlled release formulations are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,204,108; 4,294,829; and 4,153,689; PCT Applications WO 93/02712, WO 91/02545, WO 90/09780, and WO 88/04556; British Patent 1,527,605; Rydén and Edman (1992) Int. J. Pharm. 83:1-10; and Björk and Edman (1988) Int. J. Phanm. 47:233-238. The preparation and stability of amorphous insulin were described by Rigsbee and Pikal at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS), Nov. 14-18, 1993, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Methods for spray drying polypeptide, polynucleotide and other labile drugs in a carrier which forms an amorphous structure which stabilizes the drug are described in European patent application 520 748. (AAPS), Nov. 14-18, 1993, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Stribling et al. (1992) J. Biopharm. Sci. 3:255-263, describes the aerosol delivery of plasmids carrying a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene to mice. The plasmids were incorporated in DOTMA or cholesterol liposomes, and aqueous suspensions of the liposomes were nebulized into a small animal-aerosol delivery chamber. Mice breathing the aerosol were found to at least transiently express CAT activity in their lung cells. Rosenfeld et al. (1991) Science: 252:431-434, describes the in vivo delivery of an alpha-1 antitrypsin gene to rats, with secretion of the gene product being observable for at least one week. The gene was diluted in saline and instilled directly into the rat trachea. Friedman (1989) Science 244:1275-1281 is a review article describing human gene therapy strategies.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,833,125 and 4,698,328, describe the administration of active parathyroid hormone fragments in combination with vitamin D or a dietary calcium supplement. Suggested administration routes include parenteral by injection, rapid infusion, nasopharyngeal absorption, dermal absorption, or oral. See also, Neer et al. (1987) Osteoporosis 53:829-835. U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,678, describes the use of amphophilic steroids as a penetration enhancer for nasal or bronchopulmonary delivery of proteins and polypeptides, listing parathyroid hormone as one of a "veritable host" of proteins which could be delivered with the enhancer. Parathyroid hormone (full length) is secreted naturally from the parathyroid gland as a series of spikes in a pulsatile fashion which is analogous to pituitary hormones (Harms et al. (1987) Int. Symp. on Osteoporosis, Aalborg, Abstract 232). The full length hormone is rapidly broken down in the circulation into several fragments which are the dominant serum forms. It is hypothesized that an intermittent or pulsatile secretion pattern for parathyroid hormone is necessary to maintain its bone restoring properties (Hesch et al. (1988) Calcif. Tissue Int. 42:341-344 and Habener et al. (1971). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 68:2986-2991). Patton and Platz (1992) Adv. Drug Deliver. Rev. 8:179-196, describe methods for delivering proteins and polypeptides by inhalation through the deep lung.
The aerosolization of protein therapeutic agents, including alpha-1 antitrypsin, is disclosed in EP0289336. The use of alpha-1 antityrpsin for treating pulmonary inflammation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,316.
Therapeutic aerosol formulations, including calcitonin, are disclosed in WO 90/09781.
Methods and compositions for inhibiting neutrophil elastase and cathespin G employing aerosolized 2-0-desulfated heparin is disclosed in WO94/02107.
Interleukin-1 receptor compositions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,968,607, 5,081,228 and 5,180,812.
Aerosol formulations of interferons have been produced for pulmonary delivery as described in WO 91/16038. WO 91/16038 teaches adding a surfactant or the like to improve the dispersibility of a human interferon from a CFC delivery-system. Methods and compositions for, the preparation of solid polypeptide microparticles as a pharmaceutical aerosol formulation are disclosed in WO 91/16038. The purification of proteins of molecular weight in excess of 12,000, including human IFN is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.: 4,503,035. Low pH pharmaceutical compositions of recombinant IFN-beta are disclosed in WO 89/05158.
3. Objects of the Invention
An object of the present invention is to provide a pharmaceutical composition suitable for long-term pulmonary administration to a patient in need thereof.
Another object of this invention is to provide a pharmaceutical-containing dispersible dry powdered composition that is administered by inhalation in a manner that is free of a liquid propellant such as a CFC, HFC or carbon dioxide.
Another object of this invention is to provide a pharmaceutical-containing dispersible dry powdered composition that can be easily manufactured by a method that maintains a high percentage of pharmaceutical activity.
Another object of this invention is to provide a manufacturable method for the production of pharmaceutical composition of sufficient purity.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a pharmaceutical-containing dispersible dry powdered composition that exhibits a high level of stability.
Other objects may be apparent to one of ordinary skill upon reviewing the following specification and claims.

Devices, compositions and methods for the pulmonary delivery of aerosolized medicaments


A flexible harvesting header (40) having multiple sections supported by support arms (74), with the height of each arm being adjustable in response to a changing load. Load sensors (504) at first ends of the arms sense loads and generate electronic load signals. Hydraulic cylinders (80) at second ends of the arms are actuatable to raise and lower the first ends. A controller receives the load signals, determines whether actuating one or more of the hydraulic cylinders (80) is warranted due to a changing load, and if so, changes a hydraulic pressure to raise or lower the first ends to offset the changing load. Actuation may be warranted if the changing load exceeds a predetermined value. Further, the entire flexible cutter bar (68) may be raiseable in response to an electronic raise signal, and the controller may actuate all of the hydraulic cylinders (80) to raise the front ends of all of the support arms (74).

A traditional grain harvesting implement or machine, such as a self-propelled combine, is used to harvest a variety of grains, such as wheat, soybeans, and rice. Combines typically include a harvesting header that cuts the crop and gathers the crop material into a feeder house for threshing and other operations. For some grains, such as wheat, the sickle of the header can be spaced from the ground during the cutting operation. For other grains, the sickle must be positioned close to the ground, often with the header in sliding contact with the ground, in order to collect most of the grain. Flexible headers are used to follow the natural contours of the field while cutting the grain.
Conventional grain harvesters are problematic and suffer from various limitations. For example, flexible headers that include a flexible cutterbar are ineffective at receiving all of the severed crop material when following the ground contour at a high speed. Prior art flexible headers are also deficient because they fail to convey all of the received cut crop material to the feeder house. Furthermore, harvesters with flexible headers ineffectively control the header height, particularly when the header is in sliding contact with the ground. Yet further, prior art flexible headers become damaged when operating in close proximity to the ground, particularly when the terrain has a significant contour.
Some crops, such as second crop beans, can accumulate in front of the skid plates. This can also occur when harvesting on the ground and the material is damp or loose. Additionally, when raising the header, there is an initial tendency for the guards to tip downwardly, causing them to dig into the ground, which can damage the header and reduce productivity. The header is meant to "float" over the ground during harvesting. When material accumulates in front of the header, ground pressure increases, which can further exacerbate the problem. One solution has been to use bigger hydraulic cylinders on both ends of the header to better adjust for the increased weight. However, while this keeps the outer tips pointed upward, it does nothing for the intermediate support arms.
This background discussion is intended to provide information related to the present invention which is not necessarily prior art.

Flexible header with sectional height adjustment


A method of fabricating an array substrate includes: forming a gate line and a gate electrode connected to the gate line; forming a gate insulating layer on the gate line and the gate insulting layer; sequentially forming an intrinsic amorphous silicon pattern and an impurity-doped amorphous silicon pattern on the gate insulating layer over the gate electrode; forming a data line on the gate insulating layer and source and drain electrodes on the impurity-doped amorphous silicon pattern, the data line crossing the gate line to define a pixel region, and the source and drain electrodes spaced apart from each other; removing a portion of the impurity-doped amorphous silicon pattern exposed through the source and drain electrodes to define an ohmic contact layer; irradiating a first laser beam onto the intrinsic amorphous silicon pattern through the source and drain electrode to form an active layer including a first portion of polycrystalline silicon and a second portion of amorphous silicon at both sides of the first portion; forming a passivation layer on the data line, the source electrode and the drain electrode, the passivation layer having a drain contact hole exposing the drain electrode; and forming a pixel electrode on the passivation layer in the pixel region, the pixel electrode connected to the drain electrode through the drain contact hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to an array substrate for a display device, and more particularly, to an array substrate including a thin film transistor that has a channel region of polycrystalline silicon and a method of fabricating the array substrate.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As information age progresses, flat panel display (FPD) devices having light weight, thin profile, and low power consumption have been substituted for cathode ray tube (CRT) devices. Liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panel (PDP) devices, field emission display (FED) devices, and electroluminescent display (ELD) devices are examples of the FPD devices. Since the LCD device including thin film transistors as a switching element that controls an applied voltage to each pixel, referred to as an active matrix LCD (AM-LCD) device, has excellent characteristics of high resolution and displaying moving images, the AM-LCD device has been widely used.
In addition, the ELD devices using an organic emitting material, referred to as organic electroluminescent display (OELD) devices, display images with relatively high brightness and low drive voltages. Since the OELD devices have an emissive type, the OELD devices have a preferred contrast ratio with an ultra slim profile. Additionally, the can easily display moving images because they have a short response time of only several microseconds. Moreover, the OELD devices have no limitation in viewing angle and stably operate even at relatively low temperatures. Furthermore, since the OELD devices operates with only a low voltage, for example, about 5V to 15V DC (direct current), driving circuits for the OELD devices can be cheaply and easily fabricated. Accordingly, the OELD devices have been the subject of recent research and development.
Each of the LCD devices and the OELD devices includes an array substrate having a thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching element that controls an applied voltage to each pixel. Accordingly, the TFT in each pixel region is connected to a gate line, a data line and a pixel electrode to transmit a data signal of the data line to the pixel electrode according to a gate signal of the gate line.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a thin film transistor having a semiconductor layer of amorphous silicon for an array substrate according to the related art. In FIG. 1, a gate electrode 10 is formed on a substrate 9 in a transistor area TrA of a pixel region P and a gate insulating layer 18 is formed on the gate electrode 10. A semiconductor layer 20 including an active layer 20a of intrinsic amorphous silicon and an ohmic contact layer 20b of impurity-doped amorphous silicon is formed on the gate insulating layer 18 over the gate electrode 10. The ohmic contact layer 20b on end portions of the active layer 20a is spaced apart from each other to expose a central portion of the active layer 20a. Source and drain electrodes 26 and 28 are formed on the ohmic contact layer 20b to expose the central portion of the active layer 20a. The gate electrode 10, the gate insulating layer 18, the semiconductor layer 20, the source electrode 26 and the drain electrode 28 constitute a thin film transistor (TFT) Tr.
A passivation layer 36 is formed on the TFT Tr and has a drain contact hole 30 exposing the drain electrode 28. A pixel electrode 38 is formed on the passivation layer 36 and is connected to the drain electrode 28 through the drain contact hole 30. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a gate line connected to the gate electrode 10 and a data line connected to the source electrode 26 are formed over the substrate 9.
In the array substrate according to the related art, the active layer 20a of the TFT Tr includes amorphous silicon. Since the amorphous silicon has a random atomic arrangement, the amorphous silicon has a quasi-static state when a light is irradiated or when an electric field is applied. As a result, the TFT having the active layer 20a of amorphous silicon has a disadvantage in stability. In addition, since carriers in a channel region of the active layer 20a of amorphous silicon have a relatively low mobility within a range of about 0.1 cm2/Vsec to about 1.0 cm2/Vsec, the TFT having the active layer 20a of amorphous silicon has a disadvantage in usage for a switching element of a driving circuit.
To solve the above problems of amorphous silicon, a TFT having an active layer of polycrystalline silicon and a method of fabricating the TFT by crystallizing amorphous silicon to form polycrystalline silicon have been suggested. For example, amorphous silicon of the active layer may be crystallized by an excimer laser annealing (ELA) process to become polycrystalline silicon.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a thin film transistor having a semiconductor layer of polycrystalline silicon for an array substrate according to the related art. In FIG. 2, a buffer layer 53 is formed on a substrate 51 and a semiconductor layer 55 including a channel region 55a, a source region 55b and a drain region 55c is formed on the buffer layer 53. The channel region 55a includes intrinsic polycrystalline silicon and the source and drain regions 55b and 55c at both sides of the channel region 55a includes impurity-doped polycrystalline silicon. For example, the source and drain regions 55b and 55c may be doped with positive impurities of high concentration (p+) or negative impurities of high concentration (n+). A gate insulating layer 58 is formed on the semiconductor layer 55 and a gate electrode 59 is formed on the gate insulating layer 58 over the semiconductor layer 55. An interlayer insulating layer 61 is formed on the gate electrode 59. The gate insulating layer 58 and the interlayer insulating layer 61 includes first and second contact holes 63 and 64 exposing the source and drain regions 55b and 55c, respectively.
In addition, source and drain electrodes 70 and 72 are formed on the interlayer insulating layer 61. The source and drain electrodes 70 and 72 are connected to the source and drain regions 55b and 55c through the first and second contact holes 63 and 64, respectively. The semiconductor layer 55, the gate insulating layer 58, the gate electrode 59, the source electrode 70 and the drain electrode 72 constitute a thin film transistor (TFT) Tr. A passivation layer 75 is formed on the source and drain electrodes 70 and 72, and a pixel electrode 82 is formed on the passivation layer 75. The passivation layer 75 includes a third contact hole 78 exposing the drain electrode 72 and the pixel electrode 82 is connected to the drain electrode 72 through the third contact hole 78.
The source and drain regions 55b and 55c may be doped with impurities using a doping apparatus. As a result, an additional apparatus is required for the TFT Tr having the semiconductor layer 55 of polycrystalline silicon and fabrication cost increases. Further, since the TFT Tr having the semiconductor layer 55 of polycrystalline silicon has a complicated structure as compared with the TFT Tr (of FIG. 1) having a semiconductor layer 20 (of FIG. 1) of amorphous silicon, production yield is reduced.
Moreover, the semiconductor layer 55 of polycrystalline silicon may be obtained by an excimer laser annealing (ELA) process using an excimer laser apparatus. The excimer laser apparatus emits pulsed rays having a wavelength of about 308 nm using a gas of xenon chloride (XeCl). Since the pulsed rays of the excimer laser apparatus have a relatively great fluctuation in energy density, the semiconductor layer 55 has different crystallinities according to positions. As a result, the TFT Tr has non-uniform characteristics according to positions and display quality of a display device having the TFT Tr is deteriorated by a striped stain due to the non-uniformity in characteristics of the TFT Tr.
As compared with an array substrate for an LCD device driven by a voltage, specifically, an array substrate for an OELD device is driven by a current. Accordingly, a grey level of an image is controlled by a current flowing through a driving transistor in an array substrate for an OELD device. As a result, the non-uniformity in characteristics of the TFT Tr having a semiconductor layer 55 of polycrystalline silicon further deteriorates display quality in an array substrate for an OELD device.
Therefore, the TFT having a semiconductor layer of amorphous silicon has disadvantages in stability and mobility, and the TFT having a semiconductor layer of polycrystalline silicon has disadvantages in uniformity and productivity.

Array substrate including thin film transistor and method of fabricating the same


Metal forming apparatuses provide enhanced thermal efficiency by reducing thermal conduction from a forming tool to a shield. In one embodiment, a shield extends between a tool and a mounting plate, and is in conductive heat transfer relationship with the tool via a plurality of protuberances. In another embodiment, a shield extends between a tool and a mounting plate, and thermally insulating material separates the tool and the shield.

Metal forming tools used in superplastic forming (SPF) and quick plastic forming (QPF) typically include a first portion that defines a gas pressure chamber and a second portion that defines a forming surface. During operation of an SPF or QPF forming tool, a metal blank is placed between the first and second portions of the forming tool such that a first side of the blank is in fluid communication with the chamber and a second side of the blank faces the forming surface.
Fluid pressure is introduced into the chamber, which acts on the first side of the metal blank, causing the blank to deform so that the second side contacts, and assumes the shape of, the forming surface. The tool is maintained at an elevated operating temperature sufficient for plastic deformation of the blank at the forming pressure, typically between 825° F. and 950° F.


An amplifying unit performs a differential amplification with a highest level or a lowest level of an input signal and a previous input signal. A semiconductor element transfers a signal level output from the amplifying unit from a second terminal to a third terminal by using a current conducted from the second terminal to the third terminal in response to a voltage applied to a first terminal. A control unit controls the voltage applied to the first terminal of the semiconductor element based on a voltage or a current related to a reference semiconductor element. A holding unit holds a signal level output from the third terminal of the semiconductor element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a technology for detecting either one of a peak level and a bottom level of an input signal, with a capability of suppressing a leak current without losing an instantaneous response characteristic.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the establishment of broadband optical access networks, which have a high speed and a high capacity, has rapidly developed to cater to the increase in data traffic due to wide use of the Internet or the like. A specific example of a high-speed optical access system is a Gigabit-Passive Optical Network (G-PON), which is able to realize transmission at a speed as high as 1 Gbps at maximum.
In an optical access system like a G-PON, an optical splitter that splits an optical fiber is provided between a plurality of apparatuses on the subscribers' side (Optical Network Units (ONUs)) and an apparatus on the station side (an Optical Line Terminal (OLT)). Thus, the one optical fiber is shared by the plurality of ONUs. In the upstream transmission from the ONUs to the OLT, the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) method is used. The transmission timing is controlled so that optical packets transmitted from the plurality of ONUs do not collide with one another. For this reason, it is necessary for the OLT to have an optical burst receiver that instantly identifies optical packet signals that arrive from the ONUs in a burst manner.
The strength of the optical packet signals varies highly depending on the difference in transmission loss among the ONUs. For example, the variation ranges from 100 times to 1000 times. Thus, the OLT is required to have a very wide dynamic range. Further, a preamble that is positioned at the head of an optical packet signal and that corresponds to a rise time is extremely short, for example, tens of bits. Thus, it is necessary for the OLT to receive signals of which the levels vary so highly during the course of time and to decide the logic of the signals within the preamble period. Furthermore, a guard time that is provided between optical packet signals and that corresponds to a non-transmission period is also extremely short. During the guard time, an initialization process is performed with a reset signal, and the next optical packet signal is awaited.
As explained above, it is necessary for the OLT in the optical access system to identify the optical packet signals instantly. Thus, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-270755, sometimes a method is used in which the peak level and the bottom level of a signal are detected so that a level at the center between the peak level and the bottom level is used as a threshold value to decide the logic of the signals thereafter. In other words, by determining the threshold level based on the peak level and the bottom level that are detected in the preamble portion of the signal, it is possible to accurately decide the logic with regard to the data portion of the signal.
From the point of view of reducing cost, it is desirable to manufacture optical receivers that are to be used in optical access systems, based on the technology related to Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors (CMOS) that include a Field Effect Transistor (FET). However, in a circuit in which a high-speed CMOS is used, a problem arises where a leak current occurs due to process variations, during the detection process of the peak level and the bottom level. Particularly, when signals having the same logic in the data portion appear in succession, there is a variation in the storing of the peak level or the bottom level of the signals. Thus, the variation in the threshold value due to a leak current is noticeable when the same logics appear in succession.
One of the ways to inhibit the occurrence of the leak current is to make the gate length of the FET included in the CMOS longer. However, when the gate length is longer, the rising and the falling at the head of an optical packet signal become slower, and thus, the instantaneous response characteristic is degraded. When the instantaneous response characteristic is degraded, the determination process of a threshold level cannot be completed within the preamble portion of the signal. Accordingly, it may not be possible to make decision on the logic in the data portion accurately.

Signal-level detecting apparatus, optical receiver, and signal-level detecting method


An analyzing method and system includes projecting light onto a specimen, detecting an optical spectrum from the specimen, dividing the detected optical spectrum by a predetermined time interval, applying a weighting vector and a gain and offset vector to the divided spectra to generate a resolution vector, quantizing an analog signal of the resolution vector to a digital signal, and applying a synthesis vector to the quantized spectra to restore the quantized spectra to a size of the optical spectrum. A spectrum having a large amplitude difference is temporally divided and is analyzed by applying different resolutions to individual time intervals. Spectral portions of the spectrum having relatively small peak amplitudes are selected as a region of interest (ROI) to be modified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spectroscopic analyzing apparatus and method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for improving a resolution of a time-varying spectrum.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a spectroscopic analyzing method, light is projected onto a specimen and a reference material, respectively. The respective detected spectrum amplitudes are compared, and the components of the specimen are analyzed. In reviewing an entire spectral band of a specimen, a main component of the specimen has a meaningful spectrum, which is isolated from the remaining components. By analyzing the amplitude of this meaningful spectrum, the components of the specimen and the content of each of the components can be estimated.
One conventional spectroscopic analyzing method uses infrared radiation from a lamp passing through selected filters so that a specific frequency of radiation is incident upon a sample. A photocell detects the reflected signals, and the detected signals are amplified and output through an amplifier. A gain error of the amplifier is compensated for with a sample and hold circuit. However, each channel has its own corresponding sample and hold circuit. Thus, as the number of channels increases, fabrication cost of the spectral analysis system increases.
In another conventional spectroscopic analyzing method, a spectrum is detected using a plurality of amplifiers. The plurality of amplifiers complicates the system, and the addition of channels causes the overall operating costs to be increased. Also, since each of the plurality of amplifiers has a gain error, the accuracy of the analysis is reduced.
If the spectral amplitude of a specimen being analyzed has a constant size, a spectrum may be readily analyzed by amplifying an optical signal. However, if the spectral amplitudes of the specimen vary across the spectrum, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) may not be sufficiently high to analyze the entire spectrum. Accordingly, analysis of that specimen component should be abandoned or another wavelength should be selected.
Hence, it is difficult to spectroscopically analyze detected spectra when the detected spectra have large amplitude differences across the spectra, a method for adaptively enhancing the resolution of the spectra to allow the spectra to be easily analyzed is required.

Optical analyzer for improving resolution of a time-varying spectrum and method therefor


A music box rotating drum body on which easy-to-read printing is formed without losing the circularity of the drum body, and a method for applying printing to a music box rotating drum body to make it possible to print a large number of characters without losing the circularity are provided. According to the present invention, a music box rotating drum body includes: a rotating drum made by a pipe material planted with a plurality of pins for flicking vibrating valves in accordance with a music program. The rotating drum has a silent area formed on it, where no pins are planted. The silent area has a character portion formed by combinations of character holes.

This invention relates to a music box rotating drum body constituted by a metallic pipe material.
In FIG. 1, a bottomed cylinder-shaped box 2, in which a spiral spring serving as a music box driving source and drive gears rotationally driven by the spiral spring are housed, is fixed at a corner portion of a rectangular music box frame 1 with the bottom of the box placed upward. A rotating drum body 3 rotationally driven by the drive gears on the basis of the accumulated force of the spiral spring is supported on the frame 1 by a shaft. Further, a base portion of a diaphragm 7 having a large number of vibrating valves formed in the order of musical scales is fixed on the frame 1. Forward ends of the respective vibrating valves in the diaphragm 7 are arranged opposite to the circumferential surface of the rotating drum body 3. When the rotating drum body 3 is driven to rotate, forward end portions of vibrating valves are flicked by pins (not shown) formed on the circumferential surface of the o rotating drum body 3 to thereby play a predetermined music program.
The rotating drum body 3 comprises a rotating drum 4, and holding members 5 and 6 (constituted by gears or end plates) stuck to opposite ends of the rotating drum 4 so as to be fitted thereto to rotatably hold the rotating drum 4.
A rotating drum body produced by forming holes in a metallic pipe material and driving pins into the holes is one type of music rotating drum body.
A brass pipe material is used as the pipe material in which pins are driven into holes formed by drilling or the like in positions in accordance with the music program.
Further, in the music box rotating drum body, a silent area having no pin is provided between a sound start position and a sound end position.
The silent area is provided because the silent area need be arranged opposite to the vibrating valves when, for example, the rotation of the rotating drum body 3 is stopped to stop the sounding of the music box.
That is, if the rotating drum body 3 is stopped in the condition in which a pin and a vibrating valve for flicking the pin are in contact with each other, the pin and the vibrating valve are loaded on each other so that the pin and the vibrating valve may be deformed thereby causing deterioration of tone quality.
Further, a reference position of the rotating drum body, that is, a reference position indication (reference position mark) for indicating the sound start position of the music box, is formed in a substantially middle position in a direction of rotation, of the silent area.
The reference position indication is provided for indicating the sound start position of the music box and serves as a reference for determining the position relative to holding members (gears or end plates) for rotatably holding the rotating drum body at opposite ends of the rotating drum body.
When, for example, the holding element (such as a hole) for engaging/disengaging a stopper member to stop the sounding of the music box is provided at an end surface of the holding member (gear or end plate), the position of the hole relative to the silent area must be kept constant. This is because the silent area in the rotating drum body must be placed opposite to the vibrating valves when the rotating drum is stopped by the stopper member. Thus, a problem arises in that good sound cannot be produced if a mistake in the holding member mounting position is made when the holding members are combined with the rotating drum.
Further, if the holding element (such as a hole) of the holding member (gear or end plate) and the reference position indication are detected so that the two can be fitted to each other at a predetermined angle in a direction of rotation, automatic assembly of a rotating drum body including gears or end plates can be provided.
Incidentally, it is required that a high-grade music box be beautiful in appearance, because the music box is produced so that not only the rotating drum body is long but the internal structure can be seen from the outside.
Accordingly, though the rotating drum body is rotated to sound the music box, pins are flicked some time after the rotation of the rotating drum body on the basis of the silent area, rather than the pins being flicked soon after the rotation of the rotating drum body.
Also in the case where the sounding of the music box is terminated, the rotation of the rotating drum body is not stopped soon after but the rotation is stopped some time after the rotation of the rotating drum on the basis of the silent area to provide the lingering sound thereof. Thus, the listener's interest (expectation) is roused in between the sense of sight (rotation of the rotating drum) and the sense of hearing (silent area).
The reference position mark formed in a substantially middle position in the direction of rotation, of the silent area is formed by stamping on the basis of plastic working, printing paint, or the like.
Because the subject of the stamping is a cylinder surface in the case of the music box rotating drum body, a problem arises in that good stamping cannot be made, so that the mark may be unreadable. This is because there is a tendency of losing the circularity of the metallic pipe intense pressure is applied, to deform the sectional form of the pipe ellipsoidally. Furthermore, it is difficult to perform stamping of a large number of characters, because a large quantity of deformation of the pipe is exhibited.
Furthermore, in the case of printing using paint, the disadvantage of losing the circularity can be avoided, but a problem arises in that it is necessary to treat the surface of the pipe material with chemicals before printing. Otherwise, a problem arises in the durability of printing.

Kabushiki Kaisha Sankyo Seiki Seisakusho


System and method for a light emitting diode (LED) driver are disclosed. To supply an LED bus voltage to a large array of LEDs organized in multiple channels where one or more LEDs are connected in series in each channel, an LED driver includes a power converter, a feedback generation circuit, and a phase-division based controller. The power converter is configured for providing the LED bus voltage to the multiple LED channels based on a voltage control signal. The feedback generation circuit is configured for generating a feedback signal based on the LED bus voltage supplied to the multiple LED channels. The phase-division based controller is configured for generating the voltage control signal based on the feedback signal and information from the multiple LED channels. The phase-division based controller divides each pulse width modulation (PWM) of each channel into a tracking phase and a pre-charging phase so that the LED bus voltage supplied to the multiple channels changes between the tracking phase and the pre-charging phase.

1. Technical Field
The present teaching relates to method and system in connection with light emitting diode (LED) and systems incorporating the same. More specifically, the present teaching relates to method and system for LED driver and systems incorporating the same.
2. Discussion of Technical Background
The emergence of high brightness light emitting diodes (LEDs) has led the conventional lighting world into a new era of solid state lighting. High optical efficiency, long operating lifetime, wide operating temperature range, and environmental friendliness are some key features in favor of LED technology over incandescent or fluorescent solutions. While uniformly-controlled LEDs dominate in high performance LCD backlighting, a large array of individually-modulated LEDs is increasingly finding new applications in dynamic LCD backlighting and LED display. Due to manufacturing variations in forward voltage drop, luminous flux output, and peak wavelength, however, these applications require either binning strategy with the penalty of low yield and high cost, or better circuit enhancement techniques other than a simple resistor based solution.
Powered by an individually-modulated multi-channel driver, a large array of LEDs can be divided into multiple channels with one or more LEDs connected in series per channel. Each channel requires individual dot correction current adjustment and individual grayscale pulse width modulation (PWM) dimming. The dot correction current adjustment calibrates the brightness deviation between channels, and the grayscale PWM dimming controls the brightness without any color shift.
To achieve a better performance, PWM dimming signals are synchronized to the same frequency with no phase shift between rising edges. In addition to these essential functions, two measures, namely system efficiency and minimum LED on time, aim at further evaluating the performance of such an individually-modulated multi-channel LED driver. The system efficiency is defined as the total LED output power divided by the total input power. Thus, a lower level of power dissipation across the LED driver increases the system efficiency. The minimum LED on time is measured based on the time interval from the beginning of a PWM rising edge to the time when the LED current reaches a regulated level. Therefore, a shorter minimum LED on time corresponds to a faster response time and a higher contrast ratio, which is desirable in high performance display applications.
Various circuits based on switching regulators have been developed to drive a single channel of series LEDs with high efficiencies. FIG. 1 (Prior Art) shows application of such techniques being applied to multiple channels of LEDs. Circuit 100 comprises an input voltage 105 being supplied to multiple channels 110, 130, . . . , 150. Each channel includes a single channel switching LED driver, e.g., 120, 140, . . . , 160, and associated components such as serially connected diodes (115-a to 115-b, 135-a to 135-b, . . . , and 155-a to 155-b) and a capacitor (125, 145, . . . , 165).
This type of separate architecture as shown in FIG. 1 is not always warranted because of dedicated switching circuitry and passive components (i.e., inductors and capacitors) for each channel. At the same time, slow transient response inherent to switching regulators, caused by slewing inductor current, charging capacitor voltage, and limited switching frequency, imposes a longer minimum LED on time ranging from several to tens of microseconds.
Efforts have been made to address such problems. FIGS. 2 and 3 (Prior Art) illustrate two of such solutions based on a parallel architecture, in which a single power converter is combined with multiple linear current sinks. Such a parallel architecture eliminates the need for dedicated complex switching circuitry and external passive components for each channel, and replaces them with simplified linear circuitry. The single power converter, in a form of inductor, capacitor, or transformer based voltage regulator, converts a wide range of input voltage to a single LED bus voltage which is supplied to all channels. Each current sink regulates and modulates its current to the desired current adjustment and PWM dimming setting. At the same time, the current sink absorbs the extra voltage drop equal to the LED bus voltage minus the practical LED forward voltage drop.
The first parallel solution, as shown in FIG. 2 (Prior Art), adopts an independent power converter 205. The output LED bus voltage 255 is regulated to a preset constant value independent of the dynamics of all LED channels. This prior art circuit 200 comprises an independent power converter 205, a resistor divider network 210, a bulk output capacitor 225, and a plurality of parallel channels. Each of the parallel channels includes a corresponding linear current sink (230, 250, . . . , 270) connected to the output LED bus voltage via serially connected diodes (230 via diodes 235 to 240, 250 via diodes 265 to 260, . . . , and 270 via diodes 285 to 280).
The output LED bus voltage is programmed through feedback resistors 215 and 220 to a preset constant value based on worst-case LED forward voltage drops across temperature, current, and manufacturing variations. Since the LED bus voltage is set high enough at the rising edge of each PWM signal, the response time to inject inductor current and to charge capacitor voltage is no longer necessary. Therefore, the minimum LED on time is only limited by the transient response of the linear current sink, which is usually much faster, ranging from tens to hundreds of nanoseconds. Such a shorter minimum LED on time leads to a faster response time and a higher contrast ratio. However, strong temperature coefficient and current dependence coupled with immature manufacturing technology cause large variations in LED forward voltage drop, leading to higher power dissipation and lower system efficiency. Although LED binning strategy can improve system efficiency by reducing the LED forward voltage variations, this drives up the cost.
The second parallel solution, as shown in FIG. 3 (Prior Art), adopts an adaptive power converter 305. In this prior art circuit 300, instead of a preset constant value, the output LED bus voltage 355 is tracked to a minimum value required to maintain all active LED channels in regulation on the fly. The prior art circuit 300 comprises also multiple channels, each of which has a corresponding current sink (330, 350, . . . , 370) connected to the output LED bus voltage 355 via serially connected diodes (330 via 340 to 335, 350 via 365 to 360, . . . , and 370 via 385 to 380). In addition, circuit 300 also includes a detector 310 that detects the minimum LED voltage among VLED1 to VLEDn and sends such detected result to the adaptive power converter 305.
At the beginning of each PWM dimming cycle, the majority of LED channels, if not all, are turned on and thus the LED bus voltage is regulated to its highest value. As subsequent worst-case LED channels are turned off gradually, the detector 310 tracks the minimum LED voltage and sends such detection result to the power converter 305, which adapts the LED bus voltage to a lower value and still keeps the remaining active LED channels in regulation without wasting any extra unnecessary power. This adaptive tracking LED bus voltage improves system efficiency by removing unnecessary power dissipation across the current sinks. However, the LED bus voltage may reach its lowest value just before the next PWM dimming cycle, right before the majority LED channels will be turned on again. When this occurs, the LED bus voltage is not high enough to keep all the active LED channels in regulation, and the minimum LED on time can be greatly increased to accommodate the slow transient response of the switching power converter charging the output capacitor to its highest value.

Method and system for high efficiency, fast transient multi-channel LED driver


Disclosed is a wire array rubber connector (10), including: an electrical insulating rubber (2); and a plurality of conductive metal wires (1) that are arrayed in a thickness direction of the electrical insulating rubber so as to pass through front and back surfaces of the electrical insulating rubber, and localized so as to be electrically connectable to electrical terminals that are disposed at predetermined positions on the front and back surfaces of the electrical insulating rubber. The electrical insulating rubber (2) is a flame-resistant rubber achieving V-0 based on the UL-94 standard. This wire array rubber connector (10) is obtained by: mixing a plurality of conductive metal wires having a predetermined length into a liquid thermosetting electrical insulating rubber material; applying a magnetic field from a thickness direction of the rubber material using an electromagnet that is patterned in a predetermined pattern so that the conductive metal wires are arrayed in the thickness direction and localized; and curing the rubber material by heating, thereby providing the wire array rubber connector with high flame resistance and with low transmission loss in a high frequency region.

Rubber connectors have been used conventionally for electrically connecting printed circuit boards, a printed circuit board and another electronic component, or the like. Examples of known rubber connectors include: a type in which a conductive rubber and an electrical insulating rubber are laminated; a type in which conductive particles are arrayed in an electrical insulating rubber by applying a magnetic field; and a type in which conductive metal wires are arrayed in an electrical insulating rubber by applying a magnetic field. Among these, the lamination type has a problem of high electric resistance due to the use of carbon particles in the conductive rubber. Further, the type in which conductive particles are arrayed includes areas where the conductive particles are connected imperfectly, which causes a problem in conduction stability. Meanwhile, the type in which conductive metal wires are arrayed is highly advantageous in conduction stability. This type of connector has been proposed in Patent Document 1, for example.
However, since the connector proposed in Patent Document 1 has no or low flame resistance, the development of high flame-resistant connectors has been demanded. Additionally, the development of connectors with low transmission loss in a high frequency region also has been demanded. For example, a conventional hard disk connector shown in FIG. 4 has a thickness of 3.2 mm, and the transmission loss thereof is 5-8 dB at a frequency of 6 GHz.

Wire array rubber connector and method for producing the same


There is provided a compound of Formula I wherein each T is independently selected from H, hydrocarbyl, —F—R, and a bond with one of D, E, P or Q, or together with one of P and Q forms a ring; Z is a suitable atom the valency of which is m; D, E and F are each independently of each other an optional linker group, wherein when Z is nitrogen E is other than CH2 and C═O; P, Q and R are independently of each other a ring system; and at least Q comprises a sulphamate group.

Evidence suggests that oestrogens are the major mitogens involved in promoting the growth of tumours in endocrine-dependent tissues, such as the breast and endometrium. Although plasma oestrogen concentrations are similar in women with or without breast cancer, breast tumour oestrone and oestradiol levels are significantly higher than in normal breast tissue or blood. In situ synthesis of oestrogen is thought to make an important contribution to the high levels of oestrogens in tumours and therefore inhibitors, in particular specific inhibitors, of oestrogen biosynthesis are of potential value for the treatment of endocrine-dependent tumours.
Over the past two decades, there has been considerable interest in the development of inhibitors of the aromatase pathway—which converts the androgen precursor androstenedione to oestrone. However, there is now evidence that the oestrone sulphatase (E1-STS) pathway, i.e. the hydrolysis of oestrone sulphate to oestrone (E1S to E1), and aromatase (i.e. conversion of androstenedione to oestrone) account for the production of oestrogens in breast tumours.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams showing some of the enzymes involved in the in situ synthesis of oestrone from oestrone sulphate, oestradiol and androstenedione.
In FIG. 2, which schematically shows the origin of oestrogenic steroids in postmenopausal women, "ER" denotes Oestrogen Receptor, "DHA-S" denotes Dehydroepiandrosterone-Sulphate, "Adiol" denotes Androstenediol, "E1-STS" denotes Oestrone Sulphatase, "DHA-STS" denotes DHA-sulphatase, "Adiol-STS" denotes Adiol Sulphatase, and "17B-HSD" denotes Oestradiol 17B-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase.
As can be seen, the main two enzymes that are involved in the peripheral synthesis of oestrogens are the aromatase enzyme and the enzyme oestrone sulphatase.
In short, the aromatase enzyme converts androstenedione, which is secreted in large amounts by the adrenal cortex, to oestrone. Recent reports have suggested that some flavones could inhibit aromatase activity.
Much of the oestrone so formed, however, is converted to oestrone sulphate (E1 S) and there is now a considerable body of evidence showing that E1S in plasma and tissue acts as a reservoir for the formation of oestrone by the action of oestrone sulphatase.
In this regard, it is now believed that the oestrone sulphatase (E1-STS) pathway—i.e. the hydrolysis of oestrone sulphate to oestrone (E1S to E1) is a major source of oestrogen in breast tumours. This theory is supported by a modest reduction of plasma oestrogen concentration in postmenopausal women with breast cancer treated by aromatase inhibitors, such as aminoglutethimide and 4-hydroxyandrostenedione and also by the fact that plasma E1S concentration in these aromatase inhibitor-treated patients remains relatively high. The long half-life of E1S in blood (10-12 h) compared with the unconjugated oestrogens (20 min) and high levels of steroid sulphatase activity in liver and, normal and malignant breast tissues, also lend support to this theory.
Thus, oestrogen formation in malignant breast and endometrial tissues via the sulphatase pathway makes a major contribution to the high concentration of oestrogens which are present in these tumours. However, inhibition of both the aromatase and sulphatase pathways could offer considerable therapeutic benefit.
PCT/GB92/01587 teaches novel steroid sulphatase inhibitors and pharmaceutical compositions containing them for use in the treatment of oestrone dependent tumours, especially breast cancer. These steroid sulphatase inhibitors are sulphamate esters, such as N,N-dimethyl oestrone-3-sulphamate and, preferably, oestrone-3-sulphamate (otherwise known as "EMATE"). EMATE has the following structure:
It is known that EMATE is a potent E1-STS inhibitor as it displays more than 99% inhibition of E1-STS activity in intact MCF-7 cells at 0.1 nM. EMATE also inhibits the E1-STS enzyme in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, indicating that it acts as an active site-directed inactivator. Although EMATE was originally designed for the inhibition of E1-STS, it also inhibits dehydroepiandrosterone sulphatase (DHA-STS), which is an enzyme that is believed to have a pivotal role in regulating the biosynthesis of the oestrogenic steroid androstenediol. Also, there is now evidence to suggest that androstenediol may be of even greater importance as a promoter of breast tumour growth. EMATE is also active in vivo as almost complete inhibition of rat liver E1-STS (99%) and DHA-STS (99%) activities resulted when it is administered either orally or subcutaneously. In addition, EMATE has been shown to have a memory enhancing effect in rats. Studies in mice have suggested an association between DHA-STS activity and the regulation of part of the immune response. It is thought that this may also occur in humans. The bridging O-atom of the sulphamate moiety in EMATE is important for inhibitory activity. Thus, when the 3-O-atom is replaced by other heteroatoms as in oestrone-3-N-sulphamate and oestrone-3-S-sulphamate, these analogues are weaker non-time-dependent inactivators.
In addition to oestrone, the other major steroid with oestrogenic properties which is produced by postmenopausal women is androstenediol (see FIG. 2).
Androstenediol, although an androgen, can bind to the oestrogen receptor (ER) and can stimulate the growth of ER positive breast cancer cells and the growth of carcinogen-induced mammary tumours in the rat. Importantly, in postmenopausal women 90% of the androstenediol produced originates from the androgen dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHA-S) which is secreted in large amounts by the adrenal cortex. DHA-S is converted to DHA by DHA sulphatase, which may be the same as, or different from, the enzyme, oestrone sulphatase, which is responsible for the hydrolysis of E1S.
During the last 10-15 years considerable research has also been carried out to develop potent aromatase inhibitors, some of which are now marketed. However, in three recent reports of postmenopausal women with breast cancer who received aromatase inhibitor therapy, plasma E1S concentrations remained between 400-1000 pg/ml.
In summation therefore in situ synthesis of oestrogen is thought to make an important contribution to the high levels of oestrogens in tumours and therefore specific inhibitors of oestrogen biosynthesis are of potential value for the treatment of endocrine-dependent tumours.
Moreover, even though oestrogen formation in malignant breast and endometrial tissues via the sulphatase pathway makes a major contribution to the high concentration of oestrogens, there are still other enzymatic pathways that contribute to in vivo synthesis of oestrogen.
The present invention seeks to provide novel compounds suitable for the inhibition of steroid sulphatase activity and aromatase activity.


Methods of analyzing formation fluids in an oilfield environment are near-infrared absorption spectroscopy. Indications of near-infrared absorptions are analyzed to determine the concentration of compounds in a formation fluid sample.

Optical analyses of fluids are well known, and various optical and spectroscopic techniques have been applied in oilfield environments to analyze formation fluids, including gases and condensates. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,671 to Safinya et al. describes an apparatus and method for analyzing the composition of formation fluids. Formation fluids are drawn into a testing region and analyzed by directing light at the fluids and detecting the spectrum of transmitted and/or scattered light. The detected spectra are fit to spectra of known composition to determine the composition of the fluid sample. U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,800 to Mullins and U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,156 to Hines et al. describe applying optical density measurements to distinguish between crude oils and to analyze water and oil fractions, respectively, in, e.g., a formation flow stream obtained by a borehole tool. U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,149 to Mullins et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,220 to Mullins et al. describe a method and apparatus that involve transmitting light towards a fluid in a flow line and detecting reflected light at various angles of incidence. Information related to the Brewster angle and critical angle of known gas volumes of formation fluids is used to categorize the fluid in the flow line as high gas, medium gas, low gas, and no gas. U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,430 to Mullins et al. describes a borehole tool and method for the downhole analysis of formation gases. When substantial amounts of gas are detected in a fluid stream, the fluid stream is diverted into a sample cell. The gaseous fluid sample is analyzed by directing light to the sample cell and detecting absorbance spectra. The detected spectra are fit to known spectra of various hydrocarbons in order to obtain information regarding the hydrocarbon composition in the gas stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,671, U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,800, U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,156, U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,149, U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,220, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,430 are each incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Methods and apparatus for determining chemical composition of reservoir fluids


A fastening device is disclosed. The fastening device has a vertical protrusion for fastening. A horizontal portion and an indicator are used for seating. The horizontal portion extends from the vertical protrusion for providing a clue to indicate that the fastening device is seated correctly. In embodiments, the clue is a color or a texture. In embodiments, a bellow is used with elastomeric properties. When the right load and torque are applied, the bellow covers the horizontal portion such that the color and/or texture of a perspective directed at the horizontal portion appear to be changed.

This disclosure relates generally to fastening devices and, more particularly, relates to a heat sink fastening device. As computer technology continues to advance, electronic components such as central processing units (CPUs) of computers are being made to provide faster operational speeds and greater functional capabilities. When a CPU operates at a high speed in a computer enclosure, its temperature can increase rapidly. It is desirable to dissipate the generated heat of the CPU quickly, for example, by using a heat sink attached to a surface of the CPU. This allows the CPU and other high-performance electronic components in the enclosure to operate within their normal operating temperature ranges, thereby assuring the quality of data management, storage and transfer for the CPU. Oftentimes, fastening devices are required for mounting the heat sink to, for example, the CPU. The fastening devices and the heat sink may be pre-assembled together before the heat sink is finally mounted to the electronic component in order to facilitate mounting of the heat sink by end users. The end users can be asked to manually manipulate the fastening device to mount the heat sink.

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


Disclosed are a semiconductor device and an operating method thereof. The semiconductor device includes a plurality of memory blocks including cell strings coupled between bit lines and a source line, a peripheral circuit configured to perform an erase operation on a selected memory block among the plurality of memory blocks; and a control circuit configured to control the peripheral circuit, so that when an erase command is received, local word lines coupled to a non-selected memory block among the plurality of memory blocks are pulled to ground, the local word lines coupled to the non-selected memory block float after a pre-erase voltage lower than an erase voltage is applied to the source line, and the erase operation of the selected memory block is performed by applying the erase voltage to the source line.

1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to an integrated circuit and an operating method thereof, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory device and an operating method thereof.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A semiconductor memory device may be split into two categories, volatile memories and non-volatile memories. The volatile memory device does not retain when power is turned off, and the non-volatile memory device can retain data even in the absence of power supplies.
Flash memory is one of the non-volatile memories that can be used to store general data and configuration data in portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and notebook computers. The flash memory may be split into NAND flash memory and NOR flash memory. The NOR flash memory, which is comprised of memory cells connected in parallel, requires contacts on the bit lines and thus requires much more space, whereas the NAND flash memory, which is comprised of memory cells connected in series and do not require as many metal contacts as NOR flash memory, may enable high density and low cost. For that reason, NAND flash memory devices are being widely used in portable memory devices such as memory cards, Universal Serial Bus (USB) drives, Solid-State Drives (SSD).

Semiconductor device and operating method thereof