The invention provides methods for detecting known blocks of functionally aligned protein sequences in a test nucleic acid sequence, e.g., in an uncharacterized EST. The method can detect the presence of known blocks of functionally aligned protein sequences in a test nucleic acid sequence based on the total number of base matches for the variety of possible lags.

FFT methods can facilitate the determination of the optimal global alignment of two DNA sequences. For example, Felsenstein, Sawyer, and Kochin, in "An Efficient Method for Matching Nucleic Acid Sequences," Nucleic Acids Research, Volume 10, Number 1, pp. 133-139, incorporated herein by reference, describe a method of computing the fraction of matches between two nucleic acid sequences at all possible alignments. Benson, in Fourier Methods for Biosequence Analysis, Nucleic Acids Research, Vol. 18, No. 21, p. 6305, incorporated herein by reference, and in Digital Signal Processing Methods for Biosequence Comparison, Nucleic Acid Research, Vol. 18, No. 10, p 3001, incorporated herein by reference, describes similar methods. Cheever, Overton, and Searls, in Fast Fourier transform-based correlation of DNA sequences using complex plane encoding, CABIOS, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 143-154, incorporated herein by reference, describe yet another variation on the use of FFT methods for the correlation of DNA sequences. These methods all use a means of coding DNA sequences as 4 binary vectors or functions (0 or 1), one vector or function for each of the 4 different bases (A, C, G, or T).
Although FFT methods can facilitate the determination of the optimal global alignment of two DNA sequences, a need remains for an efficient system for detecting known blocks of functionally aligned amino acid sequences in a nucleic acid sequence, e.g., in an uncharacterized EST.

Profile searching in nucleic acid sequences using the Fast Fourier Transformation


The present invention provides a method of communicating information between a navigational computer and a user by the input and output devices associated with the navigational computer to determine a navigational parameter. The method includes the step of using the input device to select a navigational parameter whose value is to be determined by the navigational calculator. The preferred method includes the step of using the output device to display all of the variables required to calculate the selected navigational parameter. Also included in the method of the present invention is the step of using the input device to define the values associated with the variables necessary to calculate the selected navigational parameter in any order that is convenient to the user. Moreover, the user can change the value associated with a variable until the desired value is attained without having to redefine the values associated with other variables. The present invention also allows the user to change the value of a previously calculated parameter and then determines the effect of this change on the value of one of the variables used to initially calculate the navigational parameter.

1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of operation of a navigational calculator and, in particular, to the method by which a navigational calculator interfaces with a user by its input and output devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, there are several different types of navigation calculators available. A common characteristic of substantially all navigational calculators is that they each possess an input device that allows a user to communicate with the navigational calculator and an output device that allows the calculator to communicate with the user. Typically, the input device is a keyboard and the output device is a display screen, such as a CRT, LED, or LCD.
An important feature that distinguishes several of these different types of navigational calculators from one another is the method in which the user and the calculator communicate via the input and output devices in the course of computing a navigational parameter. One general approach that is employed by several navigational calculators requires the user to enter the value of a variable that is necessary to the calculation of a particular navigational parameter into the calculator using a keyboard and, either before or after entry of the value, identify the variable with which the value is associated using the keyboard. Once the user has entered the values for all of the variables necessary to calculate the desired navigational parameter, the user causes the navigational calculator to compute the desired navigational parameter by actuating the appropriate key on the keyboard. An example of a navigational calculator that implements this method is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,912. A drawback of the method is that the user must know all of the variables that need to be defined in order to calculate a particular navigational parameter. This can be overwhelming in navigational calculators that are capable of computing more than a few navigational parameters or where a particular navigational parameter requires that the values of a substantial number of variables be defined. Consequently, this method is typically used with navigational calculators that compute a relatively small number of navigational parameters. Such a navigational computer is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,212.
Another method that is used to transfer information between a user and a navigational calculator via the calculator's input and output devices requires the user to select, at the outset of the computation, the navigational parameter that is to be calculated using the input device. Once the user has selected a navigational parameter, the calculator then prompts the user to enter the values of the variables necessary to compute the selected navigational parameter in a predetermined order or sequence that is dictated by the navigational calculator. An example of this method is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,057. One drawback associated with this method is that the user is required to define the values of the variables in a defined sequence. This can be quite inconvenient if, for example, the pilot of an aircraft must look at a piece of instrumentation on one side of the cockpit to obtain the value of one variable, then look at an instrument on the other side of the cockpit in order to obtain the value for the next variable in the sequence, and then look back again to the other side of the cockpit for the next variable in the sequence.
Another drawback typically associated with navigational calculators where the user is required to enter data in a particular order is that once a value for a variable is fixed or defined it often cannot be changed without starting the entire navigational computation process over. Obviously, this can be quite burdensome if the calculation of a particular navigational parameter requires that the values of several variables be defined.
Yet another disadvantage that is associated with the manner in which the method of initially selecting a navigational parameter and then subsequently entering data in a defined sequence is typically implemented is that, following the selection of the navigational parameter that is to be calculated, the navigational calculator displays the values of the variables necessary to calculate the selected navigational parameter from the last calculation in which the values of the variables were provided or determined. This disadvantage may also be present in navigational calculators that implement the initially discussed method where the user initially enters the values of variables and subsequently identifies the navigational parameter that is to be calculated using the values of the variables previously entered. If, as typically happens, the user is momentarily distracted when entering the value of a particular variable, then the old value for the variable may be entered by the user and result in the calculator computing an erroneous value for the selected navigational parameter that, if detected, will necessitate that the calculation be repeated.
Another undesirable feature that may be associated with practicing the method of initially selecting a navigational parameter and then subsequently entering data in a defined sequence is that in navigational calculators where a multi-line display is used, such as the one discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,538 ('538), is that, following the selection of the navigational parameter that is to be computed, the calculator displays the selected navigational parameter together with the last value calculated for the navigational parameter and continues to display this value while the user enters the required data to make the calculation. This is typically quite confusing because a user may not realize that the value of the selected parameter being displayed is from a previous calculation and, instead, believe that the displayed value is based upon the values of the variables that the user has entered.
A further disadvantage that is typically associated with navigational calculators that implement the method of initially selecting a navigational parameter and then entering data in a defined sequence where a navigational calculator with a multi-line display is used is that variables other than those required to calculate the selected navigational parameter are displayed. This, too, can be quite confusing to the user of a flight calculator.
The navigational calculator disclosed in the '538 appears, as many of the other presently known navigational calculators, to allow the user to change the value of a variable used in the calculation of a navigational parameter to determine the effect of the change in value of the variable on the value of the navigational parameter. For instance, a navigational calculator may have determined the distance an airplane would travel based upon the ground speed and time of flight information provided by the user. The user may then wish to determine how much further the airplane would travel based on the same ground speed but a greater amount of time than was initially used. Navigational calculators, such as that discussed in the '538 patent, appear to allow the user to change the time of flight and then recompute the distance that would be traveled based on the ground speed used in the initial calculation and the new time of flight. While this is a desirable feature in many situations, it is inefficient in situations where the user wishes to determine the effect of changing the value of a previously calculated navigational parameter on one of the variables used to calculate the navigational parameter. For example, if the user wanted to determine the time of flight necessary to cover a distance different than that in the initial calculation using the same ground speed that was used in the initial calculation, the user would have to make a guess on the time of flight that would, based on the ground speed used in the initial calculation, result in the required distance. The user would then have to provide the calculator with this guess at the new value of the time of flight variable and have the navigational calculator recalculate the distance parameter. This process of guessing at the value of a flight variable that will result in the required distance being computed by the navigational calculator, entering the value into the navigational calculator, and recomputing the distance parameter continues until the navigational calculator computes the required desired distance or a distance that is close enough to the desired distance for the user's purposes. Obviously, this is a very time consuming and inefficient process.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a method of transferring information between a navigational calculator and a user via the input and output devices of the calculator that is more convenient and reliable than the methods employed in presently known navigational calculators. More specifically, there is a need for a navigational calculator where the user is not required to define the values of the variables required to compute a particular navigational parameter in a defined sequence. Additionally, a method for communicating information between a navigational calculator and a user is needed that allows the user to change the value of a variable that has been defined without having to redefine the values associated with other variables involved in the calculation of the navigational parameter. Additionally, there is a need for a method of transferring information between a navigational calculator and a user where the user is less susceptible to being mislead by having values from previous calculations being associated with the variables or selected navigational parameter of a current calculation. Moreover, there is a need for a method of operation of a navigational calculator where, for a desired navigational parameter calculation, only those variables that are necessary for carrying out the calculation are displayed on a multi-line output device. In addition, there is a need for a navigational calculator where the user is provided with information on the effect of changing the value of a previously calculated navigational parameter on the value of a variable used in the initial calculation of the navigational parameter.

Method of operation of a navigational calculator


A microcomputer includes (a) a central processing unit, (b) a bus controller electrically connected to the central processing unit through a first bus, (c) a command cache electrically connected to the central processing unit through a second bus, and to the bus controller through a third bus, and (d) a command memory electrically connected to the second bus through a fourth bus, and storing interruption handling routine therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a microcomputer including a cache therein and suitable for real-time control.
2. Description of the Related Art
In real-time control, a microcomputer is required to carry out interruption handling rapidly and in a certain period of time.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional microcomputer.
A microcomputer 41 illustrated in FIG. 1 is comprised of a central processing unit (CPU) 42, a bus controller 44 electrically connected to the central processing unit 42 through a data bus 43, a command cache 47 electrically connected to the central processing unit 42 through a command bus 45 and to the bus controller 44 through a connection bus 46, and a memory controller 49 electrically connected to the bus controller 44 through an internal bus 48.
The memory controller 49 is electrically connected further to an external memory 51 through an external bus 50.
Program access to the external memory 51 has been conventionally made at a relatively low rate. However, the microcomputer 41 is successful in making program access to the external memory 51 at a relatively high rate by virtue of the command cache 47.
However, a cache memory is accompanied with a problem that a lot of miss-hits occur, and hence, a cache memory is not suitable to real-time control.
Hereinbelow is explained the reason as the first problem.
If the command cache 47 does not store a command to be executed by the central processing unit 42, the microcomputer 41 has to refill commands from the external memory 51.
For instance, if a data bus of the external bus 50 has a 16-bit width, it would take 16 system clocks at least for the microcomputer 41 to refill commands from the external memory 51. Accordingly, if the command cache 47 does not include interruption handling routine therein, it would be unavoidable for interruption response time to become long.
The second problem is that reduction in miss-hits is reciprocal to a chip size.
That is, if the command cache 47 were designed to have a greater capacity, it would be possible to avoid miss-hits. However, a cache memory occupies a large area due to its structure. Hence, if a cache memory includes the command cache 47 having a great capacity, a chip size would be increased, resulting in an increase in fabrication costs.
In order to have the above-mentioned problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-33955 has suggested a cache memory controller in which what is stored in a main memory to which a central processing unit estimates an access is made is transferred to a cache memory operable at a high rate, and data is transmitted to the central processing unit from the cache memory, ensuring that a gap in an operation rate between the central processing unit and the main memory is compensated for. Specifically, the cache memory controller is comprised of first means for storing information about priority to be assigned to cache data, and a controller which makes the first means to store the information, and selects a cache memory to be abandoned. The cache memory controller has a function of causing the controller to refer to the information stored in the first means.
In the suggested cache memory controller, specific data is abandoned as lately as possible by a assigning priority to data stored in the command cache. In order to abandon data once having been stored in the command cache, it would be necessary to carry out cache hit judgment. It would take one system clock to carry out such cache hit judgment. As a result, there is caused a problem that the central processing unit is late accordingly for receiving a command. Furthermore, if the command cache were filled with data having high priority, there would be caused another problem that a hit rate in a program is significantly deteriorated.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-837 has suggested a program overlay-lord system in which a requested program module is read out of an external file by means of a route module and a program loader, and the program module is overlay-lorded into a user program area in an internal memory. The internal memory includes a buffer area for always storing a program therein, apart from the user program area. When the route module requests the program loader to load a program module having a priority, the program loader loads the designated program module to the user program area from the buffer area. If the designated program module is not stored in the buffer area, the program loader loads the designated program module to the buffer area from the external file, and registers a name of the program module in an index. Thereafter, the program loader loads the program module to the user program area.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-195640 has suggested an interruption handling system which switches an operation mode of a command executing unit in response to a request of interruption to a data processing unit. Specifically, the interruption handling system is comprised of an interruption arbitration circuit which, if an interruption level highest among interruption requests is higher than an operation level at which the command executing unit operates, outputs the interruption level as a new operation level, a register file having a context which contains a register set used by the command executing unit for executing a program at a predetermined operation level in each of a plurality of frames, a context table in which a flag indicating whether a context is stored in the register file for each of interruption levels defined by a hardware, and a frame number indicative of a frame in which the context is to be stored are registered, a checking circuit which refers to the context table for inspecting the flag and the frame number both associated with a new operation level transmitted from the interruption arbitration circuit and a present operation level transmitted from the command executing unit, and a context indicator which instructs the command executing unit to use a context stored in a frame of the register file identified with the frame number, if the flag indicates that the context is stored in the register file, and instructs an external memory to save/restore the context, if the flag indicates that the context is not stored in the register file.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-161176 has suggested a method of restarting a microcomputer system including a microprocessor including a command cache, an external memory storing an OS program, a main memory having a first area for storing an OS program and a user area, and a read only memory storing an IPL program. When the microcomputer system is powered on, the IPL program is made to start, and the OS program is loaded into the main memory for starting up the system. If software trouble occurs while the system is in operation, the OS program resets the system, starts the IPL program, initializes the user area, and then, restarts the system. Each of entries of the command cache is provided with a bit for prohibiting exchanging a bit. When the system is powered on, a bit for prohibiting exchanging a certain bit is set, and a line of command for restarting the system is written into the certain entry. While the system is on, the line of command is kept stored in the command cache,
However, the above-mentioned Publications fail to solve the above-mentioned problems.


A polymeric film having a plurality of perforations, which are specially structured and arranged is described. The polymeric film provides a strong, high-tensile strength material that permits hand tearing of the film along a desired tear path, providing a controlled tear propagation line. The polymeric film may also be incorporated into a multi-layer film having cloth-like properties of strength and tear propagation, and is suitable for use various adhesive tape applications. Methods of making the polymeric film are also disclosed.

Adhesive tapes containing a woven cloth backing are widely used, such as in conventional duct tapes sold to consumers and professionals. One of the advantages of using woven cloth as a tape backing is that it provides a combination of high tensile strength and low elongation to break in both the length or machine direction ("MD") of the tape and in the width or transverse direction ("TD") of the tape. For many applications, this high strength and low elongation can be very important. Another advantage provided by tape backings is the relative ease of straight-line tearing along each of these two principle directions. Woven cloth backings also have drape and conformability characteristics that are desirable in many tape applications, and provide an appearance that is considered desirable in the marketplace for many kinds of adhesive tapes that have traditionally been made with woven cloth backings.
Woven cloth also has several disadvantages as an adhesive tape backing. In many applications, the woven structure must be saturated by the adhesive used in the tape, leading to the use of larger amounts of adhesive than for a film-backed tape. In some applications, a smooth or non-fibrillar top surface of the tape is desired, so the cloth backing must be overlaminated or coated. Also, hand-tearing cloth-backed tapes frequently results in loose fibers protruding from one or both torn edges. Finally, cloth backings are generally more expensive than polymeric film backings.
A polymeric film suitable for use as a backing material for tapes, as well as for use in other applications that require high tensile strength and straight-line tearing, is described in WO 200211978A, entitled "Cloth-like Polymeric Films." The film in WO '978 has a plurality of elongate oval perforations configured and arranged in a manner such that the film exhibits many of the properties of cloth materials. U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,107 by Martin et al. describes a line of specially shaped, closely spaced apart perforations that provide a controlled tear line for an easy-open plastic bag used to package snack foods. Tear-inducing cuts and apertures in the shape of straight slits, circular holes, "L"-shaped, "V"-shaped or "U"-shaped cuts along the length (MD) of a packaging tape are described in WO 96/24549. Corrugated thermoplastic articles comprising at least two uniaxially oriented sheets of crystalline polymer and methods for preparing such sheets are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,431 by Parker. To form the corrugated construction of Parker, the multiple sheets are fusion bonded at the peripheries of closely spaced perforations. For particular applications, a desire still exists for an alternative polymer film tape backing that combines, at low cost, the strength, elongation, tear, and conformability properties of woven fabric and provides a less jagged, tear line along a desired tear path, while maintaining tensile strength in a direction perpendicular to the tear line.

Cloth-like polymeric film with directional tear


A stringed instrument wireless communication device includes a wireless communication device housing including a front; graphical elements on the front corresponding to data to be input into the wireless communication device; and a stringed instrument keypad including a plurality of frets extending along the front of the wireless communication device housing and a plurality of strings extending substantially perpendicular to and above the plurality of frets. The graphical elements are respectively disposed on the front between frets and adjacent to the strings, and the stringed instrument keypad is configured to input data corresponding to a pressed string and a graphical element adjacent to the pressed string.

A number of relatively standard wireless communication device keypad technologies and designs exist in the marketplace. The standard keypad technologies and designs appeal to a wide variety of potential customers. A challenge for the developers of wireless communication devices is to come up with unique, innovative keypads that are functional and entice customers of a unique market segment to buy and use the wireless communication device.

Stringed instrument wireless communication device and method of use


The present disclosure provides an anode for a secondary battery, comprising a wire-type current collector; a metallic anode active material layer formed on the surface of the wire-type current collector and comprising a metallic anode active material; and an inert metal layer formed on the surface of the metallic anode active material layer and having no reactivity with lithium.

Secondary batteries are devices capable of storing energy in chemical form and of converting into electrical energy to generate electricity when needed. The secondary batteries are also referred to as rechargeable batteries because they can be recharged repeatedly. Common secondary batteries include lead accumulators, NiCd batteries, NiMH accumulators, Li-ion batteries, Li-ion polymer batteries, and the like. When compared with disposable primary batteries, not only are the secondary batteries more economically efficient, they are also more environmentally friendly.
Secondary batteries are currently used in applications requiring low electric power, for example, equipment to start vehicles, mobile devices, tools, uninterruptible power supplies, and the like. Recently, as the development of wireless communication technologies has been leading to the popularization of mobile devices and even to the mobilization of many kinds of conventional devices, the demand for secondary batteries has been dramatically increasing. Secondary batteries are also used in environmentally friendly next-generation vehicles such as hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles to reduce the costs and weight and to increase the service life of the vehicles.
Generally, secondary batteries have a cylindrical, prismatic, or pouch shape. This is associated with a fabrication process of the secondary batteries in which an electrode assembly composed of an anode, a cathode, and a separator is mounted in a cylindrical or prismatic metal casing or a pouch-shaped casing of an aluminum laminate sheet, and in which the casing is filled with electrolyte. Because a predetermined mounting space for the electrode assembly is necessary in this process, the cylindrical, prismatic or pouch shape of the secondary batteries is a limitation in developing various shapes of mobile devices. Accordingly, there is a need for secondary batteries of a new structure that are easily adaptable in shape, and linear batteries have been proposed as a battery having good flexibility and a very high ratio of length relative to cross-sectional diameter.
However, when the linear battery is a cable-type secondary battery, external physical impact such as bending is frequently applied to the battery due to the structural characteristic of the battery, so a short circuit may highly occur. Also, when an anode active material such as Si and Sn is used in the battery, it may be released by the expansion and contraction of the battery during repeated charging and discharging processes. In addition, when an anode active material layer made of a metal becomes thick for the purpose of capacity increase, it is difficult for lithium ions to be distributed in the anode active material layer, thereby resulting in insufficient battery capacity.

Anode for secondary battery and secondary battery having the same


The invention discloses the Chlamydia PMPE and PMPI polypeptide, polypeptides derived therefrp, (PMP-derived polypeptides), nucleotide sequences encoding said polypeptides, antibodies that specifically bind the PMP polypeptides and PMP-derived polypeptides and T-cells specific for PMP polypeptides and PMP-derived polypeptides. Also disclosed are prophylactic and therapeutic compositions, including immunogenic compositions, e.g., vaccines, comprising PMP polypeptides or PMP-derived polypeptides or antibodies thereto. The invention additionally discloses methods of inducing in animals an immune response to Chlamydia cells, Chlamydia elementary bodies, and/or cells expressing Chlamydial proteins, e.g., cell infected with Chlamydia.

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria that infect animals, including mammals and birds, particularly at the epithelial lining of the lung, conjunctivae or genital tract. The most common species of Chlamydia include Chlamydia trachomatis, Chlamydia psittaci, Chlamydia pecorum and Chlamydia pneumoniae. Recently, the newly designated species of Chlamydia, C. pneumoniae (formerly C. trachomatis TWAR), has been implicated as a major cause of epidemic human pneumonitis and perhaps may play a role in atherosclerosis.
There are currently 18 recognized C. trachomatis serovars, causing trachoma and a broad spectrum of sexually transmitted diseases, with the A, B and C serovars being most frequently associated with trachoma, while the D-K serovars are the most common cause of genital infections.
Chlamydia are prevalent human pathogens causing disorders such as sexually transmitted diseases, respiratory diseases, including pneumonia, neonatal conjunctivitis, and blindness. Reactive inflammatory arthritis is a common sequel to sexually acquired non-gonococcal genital tract infection. Approximately 50% of reactive inflammatory arthritis cases are associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection of the genital tract.
C. trachomatis is the major cause of sexually transmitted disease in many industrialized countries, including the United States. While the exact incidence of C. trachomatis infection in the United States is not known, current epidemiological studies indicate that more than 4 million chlamydial infections occur each year, compared to an estimated 2 million gonococcal infections. While all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups are affected, the greatest number of chlamydial infections occurs among young, 12 to 20 year-old, sexually active individuals. Most genitourinary chlamydial infections are clinically asymptomatic. Prolonged carriage in both men and women is common. As many as 25% of men and 75% of women diagnosed as having chlamydial infections have no overt signs of infection. As a consequence, these asymptomatic individuals constitute a large reservoir that can sustain transmission of the agent within the community.
Far from being benign, serious disease can develop from these infections including: urethritis, lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), cervicitis, and epididymitis in males. Ascending infections from the endocervix commonly gives rise to endometritis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and salpingitis which can cause tubal occlusion and lead ultimately to infertility in females. Recently, Chlamydia infections have been linked to heart disease (Bachaier et al. Science:283:1335, 1999; Fan et al. Inf. and Imm. 67:6145, 1999).
C. trachomatis infection of neonates results from perinatal exposure to the mother's infected cervix. Nearly 70% of neonates born vaginally to mothers with chlamydial cervicitis become infected during delivery. The mucus membranes of the eye, oropharynx, urogenital tract and rectum are the primary sites of infection. Chlamydial conjunctivitis has become the most common form of ophthalmia neonatorum. Approximately 20-30% of exposed infants develop inclusion conjunctivitis within 14 days of delivery even after receiving prophylaxis with either silver nitrate or antibiotic ointment. C. trachomatis is also the leading cause of infant pneumonia in the United States. Nearly 10-20% of neonates delivered through an infected cervix will develop chlamydial pneumonia and require some type of medical intervention.
In developing countries, ocular infections of C. trachomatis cause trachoma, a chronic follicular conjunctivitis where repeated scar formation leads to distortion of the eyelids and eventual loss of sight. Trachoma is the world's leading cause of preventable blindness. The World Health Organization estimates that over 500 million people worldwide, including about 150 million children, currently suffer from active trachoma and over 6 million people have been blinded by this disease.
In industrialized countries, the costs associated with treating chlamydial infections are enormous. In the United States, the annual cost of treating these diseases was estimated at $2.5-3 billion in 1992 and has been projected to exceed $8 billion by the year 2000.
One potential solution to this health crisis would be an effective chlamydial vaccine. Several lines of evidence suggest that developing an effective vaccine is feasible.
Studies in both humans and primates have shown that short-term protective immunity to C. trachomatis can be produced by vaccinating with whole Chlamydia. However, protection was characterized as short lived, serovar specific, and due to mucosal antibody production. Additionally, in some vaccinees disease was exacerbated when these individuals became naturally infected with a serovar different from that used for immunization. This adverse reaction was ultimately demonstrated to be due to a delayed-type hypersensitivity response. Thus, the need exists to develop a subunit-based chlamydial vaccine capable of producing an efficacious but nonsensitizing immune response. Such a subunit vaccine may need to elicit both mucosal neutralizing secretory IgA antibody and/or cellular immune response to be efficacious.
Subunit vaccine development efforts to date have focused almost exclusively on the major outer membrane protein (MOMP). MOMP is an integral membrane protein of approximately 40 kDa in size and comprises up to about 60% of the infectious elementary body (EB) membrane protein (Caldwell et al. 1981. Infect. Immun., 31:1161-1176). MOMP imparts structural integrity to the extracellular EB and is thought to function as a porin-like molecule when the organism is growing intracellularly and is metabolically active. With the exception of four surface exposed variable domains (VDI-VDIV), MOMP is highly conserved among all 18 serovars. MOMP is highly immunogenic and can elicit a local neutralizing anti-Chlamydia antibody. However, problems exists with this approach.
To date, most MOMP-specific neutralizing epitopes that have been mapped are located within the VD regions and thus give rise only to serovar-specific antibody. Attempts to combine serovar-specific epitopes in various vaccine vectors (e.g., poliovirus) to generate broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies have been only marginally successful (Murdin et al. 1993. Infect. Immun., 61:4406-4414; Murdin et al. 1995. Infect. Immun. 63:1116-1121).
Two other major outer membrane proteins in C. trachomatis, the 60 kDa and 12 kDa cysteine-rich proteins, as well as the surface-exposed lipopolysaccharide, are highly immunogenic but, unlike MOMP, have not been shown to induce a neutralizing antibody (Cerrone et al., 1991, Infect. Immun., 59:79-90). Therefore, there remains a need for a novel subunit-based chlamydial vaccine.
Citation or identification of any reference in this section or any other section of this application shall not be construed as an indication that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention.

Emergent Product Development Gaithersburg Inc.


A semi-automatic leg binding attachment system includes a pair of infeed guide plates leading towards and terminating in a pair of sew heads. To align the garment as it is fed into the sew heads, a combination of pneumatic garment aligners and active, mechanical garment aligners are provided. The pneumatic garment aligners preferably include fine and coarse pneumatic garment aligners attached to the infeed guide plates. A central material blower blows downwards towards the garment to eliminate folds and maintain garment tension against which the active, mechanical aligners pull. Easy operator access during garment loading is provided by devices which disengage the fine pneumatic aligners and the active, mechanical aligners away from the infeed guide plates. To load the garment, the operator lays the garment onto the infeed guide plates and places a leading edge of the garment below material present/foot drop sensors. During the sew cycle, a controller receives signals from alignment detectors and material edge aberration detectors to control the operation of the active, mechanical garment aligners and maintain correct garment alignment. An end-of-garment detector stops the sew cycle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a system for sewing leg bindings on a garment. More particularly, this invention relates to a garment guiding and aligning apparatus for guiding and aligning a garment, such as a pair of men's briefs, into a dual leg binding attachment apparatus so that both leg bindings may be simultaneously and accurately sewed onto the garment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The age of automation has revolutionized just about every manufacturing process and operation throughout all industries. The ever-accelerating race for less expensive, better quality, and quickly produced consumer goods is resulting in quantum leaps in the development of automatic and semi-automatic machinery. In the case of apparel and textile industries, especially including manufacturers of undergarment clothing and knit garments, automation has been slow to develop. The delay is mostly due to the availability of high production sew heads that can be operated by low cost manual labor in developing countries. To this day, manufacturing men's briefs utilizes manual labor in just about all steps of production.
For example, to sew the leg binding on a pair of men's briefs, an operator manually loads each so-called "tube fly" (which is the center front part of the garment) into a sew head and then manually sews the binding on either side of the tube fly. This process, even in the case of the most skilled operators, is quite slow. The garments are then stacked and moved to the next operation, which is generally the "flat lock" operation where the garment's crotch area is sewn together.
To speed up this manual leg bind operation, it is also known to use two sew heads in combination to sew both leg bindings on the garment in one manual operation. For example, Rimoldi sells the Gemini class leg binding machine, the right half of which is illustrated in FIG. 11. As shown in FIG. 11, each half of the Gemini class machine includes a sew head 112 which is equipped with known elements such as a leg binding payout device (not shown); a leg binding tension control device 158; a leg binding folder device 342; and a leg binding cut-off device 352. With this conventional machine, the operator manually guides and aligns the brief as the two sew heads sew the respective leg bindings on the garment.
It is quite difficult, however, for the operator to accurately align the garment as both leg bindings are being sewed onto the garment. Therefore, the quality of the finished garment may be compromised with this manually operated machine. Furthermore, this manual process is unacceptably slow and does not yield the high output that today's competitive clothing industry demands. One factor contributing to low output is that the operator must maintain garment alignment throughout the leg binding operation and cannot pick up the next garment until this operation is completed.
Previously, there have been attempts at automating the leg binding operation. For example, Burt '095 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,095) discloses an edge binding applying apparatus which utilizes a slidable binding fixture 600 to hold the garment as it is conveyed through a pair of sew heads 202. In Burt '095, the garment must be clamped to the binding fixture 600 using two clamping assemblies 630 and 633. After clamping the men's briefs into the binding fixture, the entire holding fixture 600 is linearly conveyed along track 604 so that the two sew heads 202 can apply bindings to the edges of the leg openings of the brief.
As can be seen from the various drawing figures, Burt's edge binding applying apparatus is quite complicated and includes an articulated holding fixture 600 having a multitude of moving parts, joints and sub-assemblies. Furthermore, Burt's apparatus requires a rather cumbersome clamping procedure in which the pair of men's briefs must be accurately placed and then clamped into the holding fixture 600. Therefore, Burt '095 suffers from an unduly complicated apparatus requiring accurate and cumbersome clamping and alignment of the briefs in the holding fixture 600 before the holding fixture may be linearly conveyed through the pair of sew heads 202. The complexity of Burt's machine inevitably leads to a high rate of mechanical failure which results in costly production downtime. Furthermore, the linkages and moving parts in Burt's machine are susceptible to contamination from lint and dust which further contributes to equipment breakdown, garment misalignment and costly downtime.
As described above, there is a need for an apparatus and method that simultaneously applies both leg bindings on a garment which avoids complicated mechanisms such as Burt '095. More particularly, there is a need for a high output, semi-automated leg binding machine that is not susceptible to contamination or breakdown and which consistently produces a high quality garment.


The present invention is a process wherein silanes containing hydrogen atoms bonded directly to silicon are removed from silanes of the general formula EQU R.sub.x Cl.sub.3-x Si--[SiR.sub.y Cl.sub.2-y ].sub.n --A (I). and mixtures thereof, in which R denotes an optionally halogen-substituted hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 18 carbon atoms which is free from ethylenic double bonds, A denotes a chlorine atom or a radical R, x has the value of 0, 1, 2 or 3, y has the value of 0, 1 or 2 and n has the value of 0 or 1. The silanes containing hydrogen atoms bonded directly to silicon are reacted with hydrogen chloride in the presence of silver or gold as catalysts to give the corresponding chlorosilanes.

In addition to the silanes of the general formula Me.sub.a SiCl.sub.4-a, in which a has a value from 0 to 4 and Me here and below denotes a methyl group, small amounts of ethylchlorosilanes, various hydridosilanes, above all Me.sub.b HSiCl.sub.3-b, in which b has a value from 0 to 2, and ethyldichlorosilane EtHSiCl.sub.2 are also formed during direct synthesis of methylchlorosilanes from silicon and methyl chloride at 250.degree. to 300.degree. C. using copper catalysts. The direct synthesis is described, inter alia, in W. Noll, Chemistry and Technology of Silicones, Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, Fla., 1968, chapter 2.2.
The most sought-after target product of the direct synthesis is Me.sub.2 SiCl.sub.2, which can be converted by hydrolysis and polycondensation into silicone polymers having diverse functional groups and structures.
An essential feature of most silicone polymers is the lowest possible content of trifunctional impurities in the polymer skeleton. One of the possible trifunctional impurities of the Me.sub.2 SiCl.sub.2 employed is EtHSiCl.sub.2.
Since the boiling points of Me.sub.2 SiCl.sub.2 (70.degree.-71.degree. C.) and EtHSiCl.sub.2 (74.degree.-76.degree. C.) differ from one another by only about 4.degree. C., a very distillative effort, such as high reflux ratios, a large number of theoretical plates, and trays in practice, a high energy requirement and a reduced space/time yield, are necessary in order to obtain the Me.sub.2 SiCl.sub.2 in the purity required for the particular use.
EP-A 423,948 describes the removal of silanes containing hydrogen atoms bonded directly to silicon (H-silanes) from organosilane mixtures by reaction with hydrogen chloride gas in the presence of suitable catalysts from sub-group VIII of the Periodic Table, Pd, Pt, Rh, Ru, Ni, Os, Ir and compounds thereof, to give the corresponding alkylchlorosilanes. The difference in boiling points between the organosilanes desired and the impurity is increased by this measure such that the distillation can be operated with a considerably reduced effort.
The disadvantage of this known process is that the metals employed as catalysts, with the exception of nickel, are relatively expensive and that, if nickel is employed as the catalyst, relatively high catalyst concentrations are necessary and the conversions thereby achieved are low, and that the metals are in some cases too susceptible to catalyst poisons.

Process for the removal of hydrogen-containing silanes from silanes


To fabricate a crystalline semiconductor film with controlled locations and sizes of the crystal grains, and to utilize the crystalline semiconductor film in the channel-forming region of a TFT in order to realize a high-speed operable TFT. A translucent insulating thermal conductive layer 2 is provided in close contact with the main surface of a substrate 1, and an insular or striped first insulating layer 3 is formed in selected regions on the thermal conductive layer. A second insulating layer 4 and semiconductor film 5 are laminated thereover. The semiconductor film 5 is first formed with an amorphous semiconductor film, and then crystallized by laser annealing. The first insulating layer 3 has the function of controlling the rate of heat flow to the thermal conductive layer 2, and the temperature distribution difference on the substrate 1 is utilized to form a single-crystal semiconductor film on the first insulating layer 3.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor film having a crystalline structure formed on a substrate with an insulating surface and to a method for its fabrication, as well as to semiconductor devices employing the semiconductor film as an active layer and to a method for their fabrication. The invention particularly relates to a thin film transistor having an active layer formed with a crystalline semiconductor film. Throughout the present specification, xe2x80x9csemiconductor devicexe2x80x9d will refer generally to a device that functions by utilizing semiconductor properties, and this includes electrooptical devices typically including active-matrix type liquid crystal display devices formed using thin film transistors, as well as electronic devices having such electrooptical devices as mounted members thereof.
Thin film transistors (hereunder abbreviated to TFTs) have been developed that possess crystalline semiconductor films as active layers, obtained by forming amorphous semiconductor films on translucent insulating substrates such as glass and crystallizing them by laser annealing, heat annealing or the like. The principal substrates used for fabrication of such TFTs are glass substrates consisting of barium borosilicate glass or aluminoborosilicate glass. Such glass substrates have poorer heat resistance than quartz substrates but have a lower market price, and therefore offer the advantage of allowing easier manufacture of large-sized substrates.
Laser annealing is known as a crystallizing technique that can accomplish crystallization by applying high energy only onto the amorphous semiconductor film, without significantly increasing the temperature of the glass substrate. In particular, excimer lasers obtained by shortwave light output are thought to be most suited for this use. Laser annealing using excimer lasers is carried out by using an optical system to process a laser beam into a spot or line onto an irradiating surface, and scanning the irradiating surface with the processed laser light (moving the laser light irradiation position relative to the irradiating surface). For example, excimer laser annealing employing linear laser light can accomplish laser annealing of an entire irradiating surface by scanning simply in the lengthwise direction and the direction perpendicular thereto, and because of its excellent productivity it has become the main manufacturing technique for liquid crystal display devices employing TFTs.
Laser annealing can be applied for crystallization of many types of semiconductor materials. From the standpoint of TFT properties, however, the use of a crystalline silicon film as the active layer is thought to be suitable since this allows a high degree of mobility to be realized. This technique was used to achieve a monolithic liquid crystal display device having a pixel TFT forming an image section on one glass substrate and a driving circuit TFT provided around the image section.
However, crystalline silicon films fabricated by laser annealing are aggregates of multiple crystal grains whose locations and sizes are random, and therefore it has not been possible to deliberately form crystal grains at desired locations. Consequently, it has been virtually impossible to use single crystal grains to form TFT channel-forming regions, for which crystallinity is most crucial. At the interface between the crystal grains (grain boundaries), the, influence of the potential level at the recrystallization centers, trapping centers or crystal grain boundaries, which is a cause of amorphous structure or crystal defects, has resulted in reduced carrier current conveying characteristics. Because of this, the TFTs using crystalline silicon films as active layers obtained to date have not exhibited properties equivalent to those of MOS transistors fabricated on single crystal silicon substrates.
As a method of solving this problem, it has been considered an effective means to increase the crystal grain size while controlling the locations of the crystal grains to eliminate the crystal grain boundaries from the channel-forming region. For example, in xe2x80x9cLocation Control of Large Grain Following Excimer-Laser Melting of Si Thin-Filmsxe2x80x9d, R. Ishihara and A. Burtsev, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics vol.37, No.3B, pp.1071-1075, 1998xe2x80x9d there is disclosed a method for three-dimensional control of silicon film temperature distribution to achieve location control and large grain sizes of crystals. According to this method, excimer laser light is irradiated onto both sides of a wafer comprising a high-melting-point metal formed as a film on a glass substrate, a silicon oxide film with a different film thickness partially formed thereover and an amorphous silicon film formed on the surface thereof, whereby it is reported that the crystal grain size can be increased to a few xcexcm.
The aforementioned method of Ishihara et al. is characterized by locally altering the heat characteristics of the underlying material of the amorphous silicon film, in order to control the flow of heat to the substrate to introduce a temperature gradient. However, this requires formation of a three-layer structure of a high-melting-point metal layer/silicon oxide layer/semiconductor film on the glass substrate. While it is structurally possible to form a top gate-type TFT with the semiconductor film as the active layer, the parasitic capacitor generated between the semiconductor film and the high-melting-point metal layer increases the power consumption, thus creating a problem against realization of a high-speed operation TFT.
On the other hand, if the high-melting-point metal layer also serves as a gate electrode, it can be effectively applied to a bottom gate-type or inversed stagger-type TFT. However, in the aforementioned three-layer structure, even if the thickness of the semiconductor film is eliminated, the film thickness of the high-melting-point metal layer and the silicon oxide layer will not necessarily match the film thickness suited for the crystallization step and the film thickness suited for the characteristics as a TFT element, such that it is impossible to simultaneously satisfy the optimum design for the crystallization step and the optimum design for the element structure.
Furthermore, when a non-translucent high-melting-point metal layer is formed over the entire surface of a glass substrate it is not possible to fabricate a transmitting liquid crystal display device. The high-melting-point metal layer is useful in terms of its high thermal conductivity, but the chrome (Cr) film or titanium (Ti) film that is typically used as the high-melting-point metal material exhibits a high internal stress, and therefore often produces problems of cohesion with the glass substrate. The effect of the internal stress reaches to the semiconductor film formed on the top layer, and presents a concern of acting as a force causing distortion in the formed crystalline semiconductor film.
The present invention is a technique designed to overcome such problems, whereby a crystalline semiconductor film with controlled crystal grain locations and sizes is fabricated, and the crystalline semiconductor film is used in a TFT channel-forming region to realize a TFT allowing high-speed operation. It is also an object of the invention to provide a technique whereby such a TFT can be applied to various semiconductor devices such as transmitting liquid crystal display devices and image sensors.
A means for solving the problems described above will now be explained with reference to FIG. 1. A translucent, insulating thermal conductive layer 2 is provided in close contact with the main surface of a substrate 1, and an insular or stripe-shaped first insulating layer 3 is formed in a selected region of the thermal conductive layer. A second insulating layer 4 and semiconductor film 5 are laminated thereover. First, the semiconductor film 5 is formed using a semiconductor film with an amorphous structure (amorphous semiconductor film). The first insulating layer 3 and second insulating layer 4 provide a function for control of the flow rate of heat to the thermal conductive layer 2. The second insulating layer 4 may also be absent. In any case, the amorphous semiconductor film 5 is continuously formed in the region of the substrate in which the first insulating layer 3 is formed as well as the other regions.
The semiconductor film 5 formed with the amorphous structure is crystallized into a crystalline semiconductor film. The crystallization step is most preferably carried out by laser annealing. An excimer laser light source with a laser light output at a wavelength of 400 nm or lower is particularly preferred since it allows preferential heating of the semiconductor film. The excimer laser used may be a pulse oscillation type or continuous emission type. The light irradiated onto the semiconductor film 5 may be a linear beam, spot beam, sheet beam or the like depending on the optical system, and there are no limitations on its shape. The specific laser annealing conditions may be appropriately determined by the operator, but the crystallization step according to the invention is generally carried out using a reaction of transition from a molten to solid-phase state, as described below.
In laser annealing, the conditions for the irradiated laser light (or laser beam) are optimized for heat melting of the semiconductor film, for control of the crystal nucleus generated density and the crystal growth from the crystal nucleus. In FIG. 1, region A delineated by the broken lines is the region on the thermal conductive layer 2 on which the first insulating layer 3 is formed. Region B indicates the surrounding region where the first insulating layer 3 is not formed. The pulse width of the excimer laser is from a few nsec to a few dozen nsec, such as 30 nsec, and therefore irradiation at a pulse oscillation frequency of 30 Hz results in instantaneous heating of the semiconductor film by the pulse laser light with a cooling time that is slightly longer than the heating time. The semiconductor film is melted by the laser light irradiation, but since the volume increases in region A by the amount of formation of the first insulating layer, the temperature increase is lower than in region B. On the other hand, since the heat diffuses through the thermal conductive layer 2 immediately after cessation of the laser light irradiation, region B begins to cool more rapidly and is converted to solid phase, whereas region A cools in a relatively milder fashion.
The crystal nucleus is assumed to be produced and formed by the cooling process from melted state to solid phase state, but the nucleus generating density is correlated with the melted state temperature and the cooling rate, and based on experimental observations, rapid cooling from high temperature has tended to result in a higher nucleus generating density. Consequently, the crystal nucleus generating density in region B, which undergoes rapid cooling from the melted state, is higher than in region A, and random generation of crystal nuclei forms multiple crystal grains, resulting in relatively smaller grain sizes than the crystal grains produced in region A. On the other hand, by optimizing the laser light irradiation conditions and the first insulating layer 3 and second insulating layer 4 in region A, it is possible to control the melted state temperature and the cooling rate in order to cause one generated crystal nucleus to grow into a large-sized crystal.
Lasers allowing such crystallization also include solid state lasers that are typically YAG lasers, HYO4 lasers or YLF lasers. Such solid state lasers are preferably laser diode excitation lasers, with a second harmonic (532 nm), third harmonic (354.7 nm) and fourth harmonic (266 nm). The irradiation conditions may be a pulse oscillation frequency of 1-10 kHz, and a laser energy density of 300-600 mJ/cm2 (typically 350-500 mJ/cm2). Also, the entire surface of the substrate is irradiated with the laser beam converged into a line with a width of 100-1000 xcexcm, or 400 xcexcm, for example. The superposition (overlap) of the linear laser light is 80-98%.
The crystallization step need not necessarily employ laser annealing alone, and a combination of heat annealing and laser annealing may also be used. For example, after crystallization of the amorphous semiconductor film by initial heat annealing, it may be further irradiated with laser light to form the crystalline semiconductor film. The heat annealing used may be a crystallization method using a catalyst element.
In this crystallization step, the materials used for the thermal conductive layer 2 formed in close contact with the main surface of the substrate and for the first insulating layer 3 and second insulating layer 4, and their film thicknesses, must be carefully selected for the purpose of controlling the transience of the thermal conductivity. The thermal conductive layer must be of a material with a thermal conductivity of at least 10 Wmxe2x88x921Kxe2x88x921 at ordinary temperature. Such materials that may be used include compounds containing one or more different components selected from among aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, aluminum oxynitride, silicon nitride and boron nitride. Alternatively, there may be used compounds containing Si, N, O and M (where M is Al or at least one species selected from among rare earth elements).
On the other hand, the first insulating layer 3 and second insulating layer 4 employ a material with a thermal conductivity of less than 10 Wmxe2x88x921Kxe2x88x921 at ordinary temperature. A silicon oxynitride film is preferred as a material having such a thermal conductivity and being suitable as a ground layer for the TFT formed on the glass substrate. A silicon nitride film or silicon oxide film may, of course, be used alternatively. However, the most preferred material is a silicon oxynitride film fabricated from SiH4 and N2O by plasma CVD, for formation of the first insulating film 3 or second insulating film 4, and this composition may have an oxygen concentration of from 55 atomic % to 70 atomic % and a nitrogen concentration of from 1 atomic % to 20 atomic %.
The first insulating layer 3 is likewise formed in an insular or striped divided pattern in alignment with the position of the active layer of the TFT (the semiconductor film on which are formed the channel-forming region, source region, drain region and LDD region) on the glass substrate. Its size may be a submicron size of 0.35xc3x970.35 xcexcm2 (channel lengthxc3x97channel length) to match the size of the TFT, for example, or it may be 8xc3x978 xcexcm2, 8xc3x97200 xcexcm2 or 12xc3x97400 xcexcm2. By forming the first insulating layer 3 to match the location and size of the TFT channel-forming region, it is possible to form the channel-forming region with one crystal grain of the crystalline semiconductor film formed thereover. That is, it the same structure is obtained as by forming the channel-forming region with substantially a single crystal layer. Here, the angle of the side wall at the edge of said first insulating layer with the main surface of said substrate is preferably between 10xc2x0 and 40xc2x0.
By utilizing this phenomenon, it is possible to achieve large-sized crystal grains present on the crystalline semiconductor film. The locations of the crystal grains can also be aligned with the locations forming the TFT active layer.

Semiconductor device having single crystal grains with hydrogen and tapered gate insulation layer

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A method for configuring a printer to automatically print multiple proof prints includes configuring a printer with an adjustable process parameter to a first value, configuring the adjustable process parameter to a second value; generating a single submission event that expresses the first value and the second value of the adjustable process parameter, and configuring the printer with the single submission event such that the printer automatically prints a first proof print with the first value and a second proof print with the second value.

In a printing system, such as a digital press, printed product quality may be evaluated before executing a print job. A relatively small number of proofs may be printed on a digital press for the purpose of assessing print quality and cost. Higher print quality may be achieved through higher cost. Lower print quality may be achieved through lower cost. An acceptable print quality may be achieved at a reasonable cost. It may be advantageous to print a relatively small number of proofs to establish quality and cost capabilities before executing the print job, which may have a relatively high number of prints. However, the process of adjusting process parameters, printing proofs, and providing pricing information is complicated, tedious, error prone, and costly.
There is demand to simplify the process of printing and associating pricing information with proofs.

Configurable single submission event printer

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The invention relates to a SQUID arrangement for measuring a change in a magnetic field, the change in the magnetic field being caused by a specimen that is arranged in a magnetization field and the SQUID arrangement including a direct current SQUID. In order to provide a simple design in which the losses in the magnetic flux are also simultaneously minimized, it is provided that the SQUID itself is embodied for generating the magnetization field.

The invention relates to a SQUID arrangement for measuring a change in the magnetic field having a direct current SQUID, the change in the magnetic field being caused by a specimen that is arranged in a magnetization field. Moreover, the invention relates to a method for measuring such a change. Finally, the method relates to the use of such a SQUID arrangement or such a method for various applications.
If the change in the magnetization of a specimen is to be measured, this specimen must be disposed for this purpose in a constant magnetic field, the so-called exciter field or magnetization field. A change in the magnetization of the specimen can then be detected as a change in the magnetic field. A superconducting quantum interference detector (SQUID) can measure such a change in the magnetic field in the surroundings of the specimen. The SQUID is coupled to the specimen via a flux transformer. However, the flux transformer transfers only a portion of the magnetic flux and thus also only a portion of the signal energy to the SQUID. Or, in particular in the case of very small specimens, there is direct coupling in that the specimen is placed directly in the SQUID loop. This can reduce a loss in magnetic flux. Such an arrangement is known for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,947. In both cases, the magnetization field is produced by a separate superconducting coil into which a so-called exciter current or magnetizing current is injected.
One object of the present invention is to provide a simple design in which the losses in the magnetic flux are also simultaneously minimized.

Institut fuer Physikalische Hochtechnologie E.V.


A multi-element alloy material consists of Al, Cr, Fe, Mn, Mo and Ni. From an outer surface to a center of the multi-element alloy material exhibits a hardness gradient from high to low. A method of manufacturing a multi-element alloy material with hardness gradient includes melting and casting metals with a metal combination of Al, Cr, Fe, Mn, Mo and Ni to form an alloy body, subjecting the alloy body to a homogenization treatment, and subjecting the homogenized alloy body to a high temperature treatment to perform precipitation hardening at surface of the alloy body by heating, thereby forming a multi-element alloy material having hardness gradient.

The hard alloy material has characteristics of high hardness, high strength, good wear resistance, good corrosion resistance, low thermal expansion coefficient and high chemical stability. Even at high temperature, the hard alloy material still has high hardness, which is widely applied to various kinds of the products such as mechanical processing, metal mould, cutting tools, etc. For the practical application of hard alloy material, it is desired to choose a hard alloy material with the high hardness and wear resistance outside, and with the high ductility inside for bearing an external impact and stopping the crack propagation from the surface to the center. However, the conventional hard alloy material possesses the consistent physical and mechanical properties, from the outer surface to the inside of the material.
Various modifications on the hard alloy materials have been studied and proposed. For example, single layer or multi layers (as a coating layer) made of material with high hardness and good wear resistance are deposited on the surface of an alloy (as a base) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD), thereby forming a hard alloy with a ductile core and a hard surface by using different materials. However, there is an interface between the coating layer and the base of this hard alloy. Different thermal expansion coefficients of different materials have considerable effects on the performance and life of product manufactured by this hard alloy.
With advancements in technology and requirements of hard alloy quality of the applications, it is one of important goals to improve the physical and mechanical properties of the alloy materials, with not only the hard surface and the ductile inside but also the extended product life and the progress in performance.

Multi-element alloy material and method of manufacturing the same

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A charged particle beam exposure method is adapted to an exposure apparatus which includes a plurality of exposure systems that simultaneously expose the same pattern. The method includes the steps of (a) generating, by a pattern generating unit in each exposure system, data related to patterns which are to be exposed, (b) deflecting, by a column unit in each exposure system, a charged particle beam onto an object which is mounted on a stage by deflecting the charged particle beam based on the data generated by the pattern generating unit in a corresponding exposure system, and (c) detecting an abnormality in the exposure apparatus during operation of the exposure apparatus based on data which are obtained from corresponding parts of the exposure systems.

The present invention generally relates to charged particle beam exposure methods and apparatuses, and more particularly to a charged particle beam exposure method and a a charged particle beam exposure apparatus which use a plurality of charged particle beam columns.
Recently, due to the high integration densities of semiconductor integrated circuits, the exposure techniques (lithography techniques) used to form patterns on a semiconductor wafer are changing from the photolithography techniques which were primarily used in the past to the charged particle beam exposure techniques which employ a charged particle beam typified by the electron beam. The charged particle beam exposure techniques are capable of exposing extremely fine patterns.
The charged particle beam exposure techniques include the so-called variable rectangular exposure technique, the block exposure technique and the like depending on the shapes of the patterns that can be generated at one time. According to the variable rectangular exposure technique, the size of the rectangles that are exposed is varied, and a desired pattern is exposed by successively exposing the variable size rectangles. On the other hand, according to the block exposure technique, the charged particle beam is transmitted through a mask having repeating basic unit patterns, and even a complicated pattern is exposed in one shot using a unit pattern. Hence, the block exposure technique is particularly effective when the pattern is extremely fine but virtually the entire area to be exposed is a repetition of the basic pattern, such as the case of a 256 Mbit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) pattern.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional electron beam exposure apparatus employing the block exposure. The electron beam exposure apparatus includes an electron gun 101, an electron lens system L1a, a plate 102 with a rectangular aperture, an electron lens system L1b, a beam shaping deflector 103, a first mask deflector MD1, a dynamic mask stigmator DS, a second mask deflector MD2, a dynamic mask focus coil DF, an electron lens system L2a, a mask stage 105 on which a block mask 104 is mounted, an electron lens system L2b, a third mask deflector MD3, a blanking deflector 106, a fourth mask deflector MD4, a reduction electron lens system L3, a circular aperture stop 107, a projection electron lens system L4, a main deflector (electromagnetic deflector) 108, a sub deflector (electrostatic deflector) 109, a projection electron lens system L5, a wafer stage 111 on which a wafer 110 is mounted, and a control system 131. Those parts other than the control system 131 form an electron beam column 130 of the electron beam exposure apparatus.
On the other hand, the control system 131 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 121, a clock unit 122 which generates various clock signals including an exposure clock, a buffer memory 123, a control unit 124, a data correction unit 125, a mask memory 126, and a main deflector setting unit 127. The CPU 121 which controls the operation of the entire electron beam exposure apparatus, the clock unit 122, the mask memory 126 and the main deflector setting unit 127 are coupled via a bus 128. In FIG. 1, it is assumed for the sake of convenience that the data correction unit 125 and the main deflector setting unit 127 include the functions of a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and an analog amplifier. A laser interferometer which measures the position of the wafer stage 111, and a stage moving mechanism which moves the wafer stage 111 are respectively known from the disclosures of U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,582 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,741, for example, and an illustration and description thereof will be omitted in this specification.
An electron beam emitted from the electron gun 101 passes through the plate 102 and is deflected by the first and second deflectors MD1 and MD2 so as to pass a desired pattern portion on the block mask 104. The cross sectional shape of the electron beam is shaped by the pattern portion, and this electron beam is returned to the optical axis by the converging functions of the electron lens systems L2a and L2b and the deflecting functions of the third and fourth deflectors MD3 and MD4. Thereafter, the cross sectional area of the electron beam is reduced by the reduction electron lens system L3, and is irradiated on the wafer 110 via the projection electron lens systems L4 and L5, so as to expose the desired pattern on the wafer 110.
The buffer memory 123 stores exposure pattern data related to the patterns to be exposed on the wafer 110, block data related to mask patterns on the block mask 104 and the like. The exposure pattern data, the block data and the like are stored into the buffer memory 123 from a memory 129 of the CPU 121, which memory 129 is coupled to the bus 128. The exposure pattern data includes main deflection data to be supplied to the main deflector 108 and the like. In addition, the mask memory 126 stores data related to the relationships of the mask pattern positions that are measured in advance prior to the exposure and the deflection data, correction data for correcting the deflection data to be supplied to the dynamic mask stigmator DS and the dynamic mask focus coil DF and the like.
The exposure pattern data which are input by the CPU 121 and stored in the buffer memory 123 include pattern data codes PDC which indicate the mask patterns on the block mask 104 to be used for the exposure. The control unit 124 uses the pattern data code PDC, reads the deflection data for deflecting the electron beam to the position of the mask pattern to be used, and supplies the read deflection data to the first through fourth deflectors MD1 through MD4. In addition, the deflection data read from the mask memory 126 are also supplied to the data correction unit 125. The deflection data are read from the mask memory 126 based on the exposure clock which is generated from the clock unit 122.
On the other hand, the main deflector setting unit 127 reads the main deflection data from the buffer memory 123 based on the clock received from the clock unit 122, and supplies the read main deflection data to the main deflector 108. In addition, the deflection data of the sub deflector 109, the deflection data of the beam shaping deflector 103 and the deflection data of the blanking deflector 106 are decomposed into shot data in the control unit 124 depending on the data stored in the buffer memory 123. The shot data is supplied to the corresponding sub deflector 109, beam shaping deflector 103 and blanking deflector 106 via the data correction unit 125. In other words, the control unit 124 obtains the size of the electron beam when making the variable rectangular exposure and the deflection position of the electron beam on the block mask 104 depending on the data stored in the buffer memory 123, and supplies the size and deflection position information to the data correction unit 125. Each deflection data of the electron beam dependent on the pattern to be exposed and supplied from the control unit 124 is corrected in the data correction unit 125 based on the correction data read from the mask memory 126. The deflection data of the beam shaping deflector 103 determine the variable rectangular size of the cross section of the electron beam, and the deflection data of the blanking deflector 106 are set for each exposure shot.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining an example of the block mask 104 that is used to expose patterns of a memory. As shown in FIG. 2A, the block mask 104 is made up of a substrate 104a which is made of a semiconductor such as silicon or a metal, and a plurality of deflection areas 104-1 through 104-12 which are provided on this substrate 104a. A plurality of mask patterns are formed in each of the deflection areas 104-1 through 104-12. In the electron beam exposure apparatus which employs the block exposure, a range of the mask patterns that are selectable by deflecting the electron beam about a position on a certain mask stage 105 is fixed, and each of the deflection areas 104-1 through 104-12 have a range of a square having a side of 5 mm, for example, in correspondence with this range of the selectable patterns. For example, when carrying out the exposure by selecting a mask pattern within the deflection area 104-8, the mask stage 105 is moved so that the electron optical axis of the electron beam exposure apparatus approximately matches the center of the deflection area 104-8.
FIG. 2B shows the construction of the deflection area 104-8. For example, 48 block patterns can be arranged within this deflection area 104-8, and each block pattern can be recognized by the pattern data code PDC. In other words, the pattern data code PDC is an index for reading the contents of the mask memory 126 corresponding to each mask pattern based on the exposure clock from the clock unit 122, which exposure clock has a maximum frequency of 10 MHz, for example. As described above, the mask memory 126 stores data related to the relationships of the mask pattern positions that are measured in advance prior to the exposure and the deflection data, correction data for correcting the deflection data to be supplied to the dynamic mask stigmator DS and the dynamic mask focus coil DF and the like, for the purposes of deflecting the electron beam to each mask pattern position. These data are stored in the mask memory 126 by adjusting the electron beam in advance prior to the exposure, and obtaining the deflection data, correction data and the like with respect to the deflection area that is to be used.
As described above, in the electron beam exposure, the desired pattern is exposed on the wafer 110 by deflecting the electron beam to scan depending on the exposure pattern data. In this case, the number of times the electron beam is irradiated is on the order of 10 Mshots/chip or 1 Gshot/chip, and the period of the electron beam irradiation is approximately 100 ns. Such an extremely large number of shots must be accurately irradiated at a high speed to a predetermined position with a predetermined intensity. In addition, this exposure operation must continue in a stable manner.
However, the electron beam exposure apparatus is made up of mechanical parts such as the electron optical column and stage, and hardware parts such as the digital controller and analog amplifier. For this reason, it is impossible to avoid generation of an abnormality in the electron beam exposure apparatus. The abnormalities generated in the electron beam exposure apparatus include the beam fluctuation and the shot dropout.
The beam fluctuation in most cases is primarily caused by the discharge at the high voltage power supply and the electron gun part, the noise at the lens power supply, the effects of the external electromagnetic noise, the charge-up of the electron beam column, and the like. In other words, the cause of the beam fluctuation in most cases is found on the side of the electron beam column. In addition, the fail time varies from several .mu.s to several hundred ms depending on the cause of the beam fluctuation, and the repetition frequency is various.
On the other hand, the shot dropout in most cases is primarily generated by the bit dropout, latch error and the like at the digital circuit and the digital circuit part such as the DAC. The shot dropout varies from a positional error of 1 shot to a positional error in units of patterns.
In the conventional electron beam exposure apparatus, the generation of the above described abnormalities in the electron beam exposure apparatus is only detected after inspecting the exposed patterns. In addition, when analyzing the cause of the abnormality, there was a problem in that the abnormality must be confirmed while monitoring the operation of the part which is considered to be the cause and waiting for the abnormality to actually occur.
In addition, in order to accurately determine the cause of the abnormality in the electron beam exposure apparatus, it was normally necessary to generate the abnormality several tens of times. However, in the case of the abnormality which rarely occurs, it took an extremely long time to analyze the abnormality, and there was a problem in that the operating efficiency of the electron beam exposure apparatus greatly deteriorates.

Charged particle beam exposure method and apparatus


Methods and devices for detecting mobile access points are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of detecting mobile access points comprises collecting crowdsourcing data associated with one or more access point devices, quantizing the crowdsourcing data to generate a quantized crowdsourcing data, for each access point device, determining an interfracile range of the access point device using the quantized crowdsourcing data, where the interfracile range is a measure of statistical dispersion of the quantized crowdsourcing data with respect to the access point device, identifying the access point device as a mobile access point device in response to the interfracile range exceeds a first predetermined range. The method of collecting crowdsourcing data comprises collecting the crowdsourcing data within a predetermined sliding time window.

Mobile access points (APs) are WiFi APs that are constantly on the move, which include MiFi, 802.11G wireless pocket router/AP, Apple AirPort Express Base Station and other travel routers, sometimes, the smart-phones and laptops can also serve as travel access points. If these APs are stored in a WiFi AP database, given the mobility nature of these APs, they can greatly affect the positioning performance of WiFi mobile users, since these APs may be used as anchor or reference point to calculate the mobile client's position.
Therefore, there is a need for methods and devices for detecting mobile access points that can address the above issues.


A method is provided for navigating in a display screen by way of a control surface including a step of measuring: —a data item, termed position, relating to a position targeted, on the control surface, by a remote control object positioned opposite the control surface, and—a data item, termed vertical distance, relating to the distance between the at least one remote control object and the control surface; and a drive step, carrying out, as a function of the vertical distance measured: —a displacement, and/or—an adjustment of a parameter relating to a displacement; of at least one part of a zone and/or of a symbol displayed on the display screen and chosen as a function of the target position.

Touch interfaces, or touch screens, are now widely used for controlling apparatuses as varied as computers, mobile phones, tablets, etc.
Generally, a touch interface comprises a display screen combined with or incorporating a sensor or sensors which make it possible to determine a point or points of contact between the surface of the screen and one or more command objects such as one or more fingers or a stylus. It also comprises a software element making it possible to interpret the user's commands.
Capacitive measurement technologies are suitable for producing this type of interface.
Novel touch interfaces, known as 3D interfaces, incorporate a detection of objects at a distance before they touch the surface of the screen. These touch interfaces also make it possible to activate a command or a function previously associated with a symbol targeted by the command object, when the distance between the command object and the command surface reaches a predetermined value. Such an interface is described in the French patent application filed by the Applicant and published under the number FR 2 971 066 A1.
With this interface, it is thus possible to select, at a distance from the command surface, functions associated beforehand with a pair (displayed symbol; distance between the command object and the command surface). This interface therefore provides a useful possibility for selecting a command through a command surface, which is added to the possibility of selection by contact with a commonly used command surface.
A purpose of the present invention is to propose additional functionalities for navigating in a display screen proposing a better control of a user interface.
Another purpose of the present invention is to propose a method for navigating on a display screen making the selection of a command on a display screen easier and faster.
Another purpose of the present invention is to propose a method for navigating on a display screen making the navigation and the selection on a display screen more ergonomic for a user.

Method and device for navigating in a display screen and apparatus comprising such navigation


An airflow-cooling apparatus of a ceiling air-conditioning circulation machine, and more particularly a structure permitting a smooth flow of the indoor air, wherein the drawn current of air passes through a cooling apparatus and then is guided indoors for reducing the temperature. A base frame includes a base frame having a rectangular positioning frame of the rim thereof. A plurality of radial supports are extended from the periphery of the positioning frame inwards. A circular frame is positioned at the center of the base frame. The rim of the circular frame is attached to the radial supports. A fan base is positioned within the circular hole of the circular frame and supported by a plurality of ribs. A plurality of conic and ring-shaped air outflow/inflow channels are concentrically and outwardly interposed between the circular frame and the positioning frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an airflow-cooling apparatus of a ceiling air-conditioning circulation machine, and more particularly to an apparatus that permits an optimal flow of the indoor air and a considerable reduction of temperature.
2. Description of the Related Art
When offices or factories are interiorly decorated, the ceiling is often made by light steel frame in a grid shape. Thereafter, the ceiling is placed in the grid frame. This kind of the construction way is simple and has low cost. Thus, it is widely used.
In order to enhance the convection of the indoor air, an air-conditioning circulation machine or a fan is often placed into the grid frame. Such a structure is disclosed in TW M251939, M322475, etc. However, the conventional fan or circulation machine is employed only to draw the indoor air from the bottom thereof and to deliver it by a vane wheel indoors. However, it is pity that the convection air can't be cooled for reducing the indoor temperature. For example, the temperature of the indoor air is 28° C. The conventional fan can be used only for enhancing the flow of the indoor air. The simple inflow/outflow action can't achieve the cooling effect. Therefore, it is not easy to reduce the temperature of the air. The energy consumed by the air-conditioners and the carbon released by these will be considerably reduced when the indoor temperature is reduced by 1 or 2° C. This effect is particularly significant in the current energy-shortage age.

Airflow-cooling apparatus for a ceiling air-conditioning circulation machine


A crawler belt apparatus includes a drive wheel having engaging teeth, a crawler belt having engaging projections engageable with the engaging teeth, and a plurality of discharge passages formed between root bottoms defined by the engaging projections, and top ends of the engaging teeth, for discharging foreign substances such as dirt and sand entered between the root bottoms and the top ends. The foreign substances passing through the discharge passages are not compressed by the drive wheel and hence do not become a solid mass.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improvement in a crawler belt apparatus and more particularly to a crawler belt apparatus adapted to discharge foreign substances such as dirt and sand stuck between engaging projections of a crawler belt and engaging teeth of drive wheels thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Normally, transport vehicles for use on rough terrain employ a crawler belt apparatus as shown in FIG. 9A to FIG. 9C hereof.
FIG. 9A is a sectional view taken transversely of a crawler belt and illustrating the engaging relationship between the belt and a drive wheel. FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view taken along line IXB--IXB of FIG. 9A. FIG. 9C is illustrates the operation of the crawler belt and the drive wheel.
Crawler belt apparatus 100 is comprised of a drive wheel 101 having on an outer periphery thereof a plurality of engaging teeth 102, and a crawler belt 105 having on an inner periphery thereof two rows of longitudinally spaced engaging projections 106 for engagement with the engaging teeth 102. The crawler belt 105 is a rubber belt (without any reinforcing core cords). As the crawler belt apparatus 100 is used on rough terrain, foreign substances 108 such as dirt and sand often get caught between the engaging teeth 102 and the engaging projections 106. If the foreign substances 108 grow larger and turn into a solid mass, this strongly presses on the belt 105, whereby a tension applied to the crawler belt 105 becomes significantly large compared to a belt tension set upon assemblage of the crawler belt apparatus 100. This excessive tension shortens the life of the crawler belt 105 and hence is undesirable.
Moreover, if the foreign substances 108 are compressed and get stuck, it becomes difficult for the crawler belt 105 to deform vertically (in a direction of the thickness of the belt). As a result, influences of an uneven road surface are reflected directly upon a crawler body, thus deteriorating the drivability of a crawler vehicle.


A compound is shown by the following formula (1).

An organic electroluminescence (EL) device that utilizes an organic substance is a promising inexpensive solid-state emitting large full-color display, and has been extensively developed. The organic EL device normally includes an emitting layer, and a pair of opposing electrodes disposed on either side of the emitting layer. When an electric field is applied between the electrodes, electrons and holes are injected into the emitting layer respectively from the cathode and the anode. The electrons and the holes recombine in the emitting layer to produce an excited state, and the energy is emitted as light when the excited state returns to the ground state.
In recent years, technology that increases the lifetime of the organic EL device has been developed, and applied to a full-color display (e.g., mobile phone or TV). However, a further improvement in emission properties (e.g., emission efficiency, lifetime, and color reproducibility) has been desired.
Patent Document 1 discloses a styryl compound that includes a specific end aryl group skeleton as a material for the organic EL device. This compound may improve the heat resistance, the luminous efficiency, the lifetime, and the blue purity of the organic EL device.
Patent Document 2 discloses a styryl compound in which the end aryl group is substituted with a specific substituent (silyl group) as a material for the organic EL device. This compound may improve the luminous efficiency and the lifetime of the organic EL device.

Aromatic amine derivative and organic electroluminescence device using the same

Abstract: wherein l, m, and n are independently an integer from 1 to 3, Ar1 to Ar4 are independently a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 30 ring carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl group having 5 to 30 ring atoms, Ar5, Ar6, and Ar7 are independently a substituted or unsubstituted arylene group having 6 to 30 ring carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroarylene group having 5 to 30 ring atoms, and p is an integer from 0 to 2, and Ar6 and N are bonded via a single bond when p is 0, provided that at least one of Ar1 to Ar4 is substituted with a substituted silyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group having 3 to 10 carbon atoms, and at least one of Ar1 to Ar4 is substituted with a cyano group.


A renal denervation system includes an ablation catheter and an inflation balloon. The renal denervation catheter is insertable into a renal artery to perform a renal denervation procedure. The inflation balloon is inflatable within the renal artery, wherein one of a blood pressure condition in the renal artery resulting from operation of the inflation balloon and a performance characteristic of the inflation balloon indicates efficacy of the renal denervation procedure.

Renal denervation is a method whereby sympathetic nerve activity involving the targeted kidney is blocked or suppressed. Excessive sympathetic activity has been implicated in vasoconstriction, reduction in renal blood flow, retention of fluid and salt, elevated renin generation, over-activation of the renin-angiotension-aldosterone mechanism, increased catecholamine production and, ultimately, arterial hypertension. Thus, renal denervation is used to alter neural signaling mechanisms involving the kidney to treat hypertension and other related disorders.
Renal denervation is achieved through destruction of afferent and efferent nerve fibers that run adjacent to the renal arteries. Successful renal denervation results in lower systemic arterial blood pressure in a treated patient. Renal denervation has also been shown to have benefits in conjunction with current guideline-based treatment strategies in heart failure, diabetes, obesity, sleep apnea, and ventricular tachycardia (VT). A conventional renal denervation procedure involves introducing a radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheter, which ablates renal nerves at various locations using variable energy. Ideally, the operator's objective is to ablate as minimally as necessary to achieve an appropriate degree of renal denervation for the least amount of time and at the fewest locations. In order to achieve it, there is a need for feedback mechanisms to provide the operator with insight about the efficacy of the renal denervation treatment during the treatment procedure. This feedback would enable the operator to decide whether additional power, duration, and/or ablation locations are needed to accomplish adequate renal denervation.

Feedback systems and methods for renal denervation utilizing balloon catheter

St. Jude Medical, Cardiology Division, Inc.


Disclosed is a bed material whereby cultured or grown cells are collected or detached from the material without a proteolysis enzyme or chemical material. The bed material comprises a support and a coating thereon, wherein the coating is formed from a polymer or copolymer which has a critical solution temperature to water within the range of 0.degree. C. to 80.degree. C.

Hitherto, culturing cells has been conducted on a surface of glass or a surface-treated synthetic polymer. For example, a polystyrene which has been subjected to a surface treatment, e.g. .gamma. ray irradiation, silicon coating etc., is used as a bed material for cell culture. Cultured cells on the bed are collected or detached from the surface of the bed by treating with a proteolysis enzyme (e.g. trypsin) or a chemical material (e.g. EDTA). In the treatment with a proteolysis enzyme or chemical material, however, the following problems occur: (1) the treating process is complicated and there is high possibility of introducing impurities. (2) The cultured or grown cells are adversely affected by the treatment and the treatment may harm their inherent functions.