A computed tomography (CT) scanner includes an enclosure which forms a substantially sealed chamber around the rotatable disk carrying the radiation source and the radiation detectors. The CT scanner further includes an air conditioning system for controlling the temperature and humidity of the air inside the chamber. The air conditioning system can be a closed loop system whereby only air from inside the chamber is processed through the air conditioning system and no outside air is introduced to the chamber. Thus, the CT scanner can be operated in a wider range of environmental conditions. In an alternate embodiment, the air conditioning system can produce a positive pressure inside the chamber to prevent outside air from entering through openings in the enclosure. In this embodiment, the air conditioning system can include an input port in order to draw sufficient outside air to produce a positive pressure inside the chamber. The input port can include a filter to prevent dust from entering the chamber, thus, enabling the CT scanner to have a longer useful life between preventative maintenance and service events.

This invention relates to Computed Tomography (CT) Scanners and, more particularly, to a tomography system which can be used in a wide range of environmental conditions.
A CT scanner is a device used to generate an image of a cross-section of an object. Such devices are well known for use in the field of medicine for non-invasive diagnosis of patients. The typical CT scanner includes a rotatable disk mounted for rotation on a support frame. The disk includes a central aperture in which an object to be scanned, typically a human patient is positioned. An X-ray source is mounted to the rotatable disk and projects a beam of X-ray radiation into the object from a plurality of positions around the object. A plurality of X-ray detectors, either positioned on the rotatable disk diametrically opposite to the position of the X-ray source or positioned on the support frame at locations around the rotatable disk, produce data signals representative of the X-ray radiation that passes through the object. Using well known techniques, these data signals can be used to produce an image of a cross-section of the object which has been scanned by the system.
In at least one commercial system, the rotatable disk carries the X-ray source, typically an X-ray tube, a power supply for the X-ray tube, an array of X-ray radiation detectors, a data acquisition system (DAS), a power supply for the radiation detectors and the DAS and may carry other support systems as well. The power supplies of the commercially available scanner are electrically coupled via a power bus to a source of power provided at the support frame such as a conventional 120 or 240 volt AC power line and the DAS is electrically coupled via a data bus to a data processing system (typically a computer) for receiving data from the DAS and generating CT images. In addition, a control/status bus electrically couples the X-ray tube and the other support systems carried by the rotatable disk to control systems mounted on the support frame or peripheral to the support frame in order to permit control and status signals to be transferred. Typically, this can be accomplished either by using a power and data cable or through the use of electrically conductive slip rings in contact with electrically conductive brushes. In addition, data and control/status information can be transferred using wireless or radio frequency communications systems such as that disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,026, entitled APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING DATA TO AND FROM A MOVING DEVICE, which is hereby incorporated by reference. If a power cable is used, the disk cannot be rotated more than one revolution (360 degrees) and must be rotated back between scans. Slip rings permit the disk to rotate continuously in one direction and are therefore preferred. However, extensive wear of the slip rings and brushes results from their continuous sliding contact, thereby necessitating frequent replacement of the slip rings and/or the brushes and increasing the maintenance and operation costs of such systems. Furthermore, environmental factors, such as air-borne dust and humidity, can limit the useful life of the slip rings and brushes as well as adversely affect quality of the electrical signals and power transferred.
In addition, environmental factors, such as temperature and humidity, affect the overall operation of the CT scanning system. The X-ray radiation detectors and the electronic circuits used to process the signals generated by the detectors are sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity and must either be continuously recalibrated or compensated for with additional circuitry. The recalibration process can be time consuming and limit the amount of time the CT scanner can perform its primary function of diagnosing patients. Compensation circuitry adds to the cost and complexity of the overall system.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved CT scanning system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved CT scanning system that can be operated under a wider range of environmental conditions.
And another object of the present invention is to provide an improved CT scanning system that can operate reliably and accurately under a wide range of environmental conditions.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved CT scanning system that is less susceptible to environmental effects such as temperature, humidity and dust.

Closed loop air conditioning system for a computed tomography scanner


A cuvette with at least one side having materials with thermal conductivity of at least 5 W/m-K, such as sapphire, for holding contact lenses or intra-ocular lenses during optical measurements. The cuvette may further include a backstop to ensure consistent measurements and a pedestal to minimize optical measurement variations.

Cuvettes are commonly used to hold contact lenses or intra-ocular lenses during optical measurements. Such cuvettes are used, for example, to measure the group index (GI) and refractive index (RI) which are highly sensitive to changes in temperature and require stabilization of the lens and the surrounding solution before accurate measurements can be taken. Equilibrium time for GI/RI measurements using an optical thickness gauge, for example, requires a very uniform and tight (±0.01° C.) range during measurements to meet variability requirements. However, measurements using cuvettes made from conventional optical materials, such as glass and fused silica, can require at least four minutes for the lens and solution temperatures to stabilize. When a large number of lenses must be measured, such processes can cause increased delays and/or decreased productivity. Accordingly, it can be seen that needs exist for improvements in cuvettes to provide for faster temperature stabilization. It is to the provision of solutions meeting these and other needs that the present invention is primarily directed.


The present invention relates to a deep learning-based multiple skin lesion detection system, a multiple lesion detection method, and a computer-readable recording medium that has a program for implementing same recorded thereon. The system according to the present invention enables accurate classification and detection of various skin lesions having similar characteristics, on the basis of a context-dependent decision-making structure in which the local spatial correlation between various skin lesions in skin is considered.

Current products for facial skin analysis utilize simple image processing technology or only detect a small number of skin lesions even if artificial intelligence models are used, so there is a limitation in detecting various skin problems depending on the surrounding environments and users.
Further, since skin problems involve similar characteristics, it is important to consider a correlation between objects to be detected so as to accurately detect the same.
However, the objects to be detected have been independently considered in related studies to date. Object detection tasks in major machine learning vision challenges such as COCO, Pascal VOC 2012, Cityscaps, CamVid, etc., are based on "context-independent decision" wherein a decision to an object in the detection is independent of results in relation to other objects.
When the situation-independent decision method-based artificial intelligence technology is applied to detection of skin problems, characteristics of skin objects similar to one another become an impediment to learning each class of the objects and, eventually, there is a demerit of inaccurately judging or misjudging the skin object problems. For example, it may be difficult to accurately distinguish between freckles, post-inflammatory pigmentation and acne depending on lighting environments for photographing.
[Prior Art Disclosure]
[Patent Document 1] Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2018-0041919

Multiple skin lesion detection system, multiple skin lesion detection method and computer-readable recording medium having program for implementing same recorded thereon


A reactor is composed of a lower frame of a chamber, a quartz dome, an upper electrode, an 0 ring, and the like. A lower electrode and a substrate as a workpiece to be processed thereon are disposed in the reactor. The temperature of the quartz dome is maintained at a temperature of 180.degree. C. or higher by means of a heater. Fluorocarbon gas such as C.sub.2 F.sub.6 gas or C.sub.4 F.sub.8 gas is introduced into the reactor through a gas inlet and RF power from a first RF power source is applied to an antenna coil to produce a plasma and thereby etch an oxide film on the substrate. By heating the quartz dome to a high temperature, a deposit which hinders the release of oxygen from a wall face is prevented from being attached and the deposit on the bottom of the hole which causes an etch stop during processing is removed with oxygen. This prevents the etch stop during an etching process for forming a deep hole.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing a semiconductor device by using a plasma.
At present, plasma processing technology using a plasma produced in a reactor to perform a variety of semiconductor fabrication processes, including dry etching and CVD, is essential to the processing of components contained in a highly integrated semiconductor device. Before a contact hole for providing a connection between a wire and an active region, such as the source/drain regions of a transistor, or a via hole for providing a connection between wires is formed in an interlayer insulating film composed of an oxide film, a plasma is generated in a reactor such that vertical etching proceeds at the bottom of the hole with ions impinging thereon, while lateral etching is suppressed with a sidewall protecting film covering the sidewall of the hole. Such anisotropic etching allows the formation of a contact hole or via hole having an extremely small diameter and yet extending through the interlayer insulating film substantially perpendicularly thereto.
With the increasing scaling down of a semiconductor device, the width of a wire and the diameter of the contact hole or via hole are also reduced increasingly. However, the interlayer insulating film has not substantially been reduced in size irrespective of the holes reduced in diameter. As a result, the ratio of the thickness of the interlayer insulating film to the diameter of the hole (aspect ratio) has been increased accordingly. With the aspect ratio increasing, there are more cases where normal holes are not formed in the process of forming the holes. In the case of forming a hole with a high aspect ratio, the phenomenon of so-called "microloading" is especially likely to occur in which the etch rate varies depending on the diameter of the hole. If the microloading effect occurs during the formation of a hole having an extremely small diameter, in particular, etching proceeds at progressively lower rates and, in some cases, etching may stop before a through hole is formed.
With recent improvements in dry-etching technology, there have been developed a technique termed TM (Time Modulation) etching whereby the formation of the sidewall protecting film and the etching process are alternately performed in order to maximally suppress the formation of the sidewall protecting film and a technique termed low-temperature etching whereby a wafer is cooled to a temperature at which the reaction of radicals is frozen at the sidewall in order to perform anisotropic etching without forming the sidewall protecting film. These techniques achieve anisotropy, while completely or maximally suppressing the formation of the sidewall protecting film. The techniques also suppress the occurrence of the aforesaid microloading phenomenon.
On the other hand, a low-pressure and high-density plasma such as an inductively coupled plasma or a helicon wave excited plasma has recently been used as a plasma source suitable for etching performed to form a hole with a high aspect ratio. Such a plasma is generated in a reactor with an antenna disposed on a wall portion thereof composed of an insulator. The use of such a plasma achieves high anisotropy, a high etch rate, and a high selectivity to a silicon substrate.
However, when the technique using the high-density plasma is applied to etching, the phenomenon occurs in which etching stops during processing and a through hole is not formed. Such "etch stop" is a phenomenon caused by an abrupt transition in etch rate from a substantially constant value maintained during normal etching to zero. The etch stop does not occur at a fixed time point but occurs at different time points during etching. For example, the etch stop may occur immediately after or some time after the initiation of etching. After several wafers were processed, the etch stop abruptly occurs during the processing of the subsequent wafer, which suggests the presence of some factors conspiring to cause the etch stop.
Although the cause of the etch stop occurring at different time points has not completely been tracked down thus far, the etch stop is a phenomenon obviously distinct from the microloading phenomenon. Hereinafter, the present inventors will refer to such a phenomenon in which etching stops as "etch stop".
FIG. 37 shows etching proceeding in the three cases of normal etching, microloading, and etch stop. In the drawing, the horizontal axis represents an etching period and the vertical axis represents the depth of an etched portion. The etching lines Etn, Eml, and Est represent the respective cases where normal etching is performed, where the microloading occurs, and where the etch stop occurs. As indicated by the etching line Eml shown in FIG. 37, the microloading is characterized by the etch rate lowering when etching proceeds to a certain depth. By contrast, the etch stop is characterized by the abrupt stop of the normal etching process, as indicated by the etching line shown Est in FIG. 37. In addition, the etch stop occurs at different time points during etching as stated previously. In contrast to the microloading effect which is a phenomenon caused by the progressive lowering of an etch rate, the phenomenon of "etch stop" is a phenomenon caused by an abrupt transition in etch rate from a substantially constant value maintained during normal etching to zero. Besides, the etch stop occurs under conditions free from the microloading effect.
In general, the etch rate R during plasma etching is represented by the following equation (1): EQU R=(1/.rho.).multidot..theta..GAMMA.i.multidot.Ei-.theta..multidot..GAMMA.d( 1)
where .rho. is the density of a workpiece to be etched, .theta. is the surface coverage of radicals, .GAMMA.i is a function representing the quantity of ion fluxes, Ei is ion energy, and .GAMMA.d is a function representing the quantity of radical fluxes. The first term of the equation (1) is a factor contributing to etching, while the second term thereof is a factor contributing to deposition.
When etching stops, the etch rate R in the foregoing equation (1) becomes 0 or less. To satisfy R.ltoreq.0, the following conditions should be satisfied.
(a) When .GAMMA.i.apprxeq.0 PA1 (b) When Ei.apprxeq.0 PA1 (c) when (1/.rho.).multidot..theta..multidot..GAMMA.i.multidot.Ei.ltoreq..theta..mu ltidot..GAMMA.d
In this case, the quantity of ion fluxes coming into the contact hole is reduced, which is caused by an increase in the aspect ratio of the contact hole or surface charging.
In this case, the energy of ions coming into the contact hole is reduced, which is particularly caused by the presence of charges inhibiting the ions from moving downward in the contact hole formed in the insulating film. For instance, this is the case where positive charges are present at the bottom of the contact hole and negative charges are present at the upper portion of the sidewall of the contact hole.
In this case, the quantity of radicals contributing to deposition is larger than the quantity of ions contributing to etching, which is caused by an increase in the C.sub.2 /F ratio or C/F ratio in the plasma.
The microloading effect may generally be considered as phenomena occurring when the foregoing condition (c) is satisfied. Although the mechanism of these phenomena still remains to be elucidated, it can be inferred that the microloading is the phenomenon in which the etch rate is gradually reduced due to a progressive increase in the quantity of radicals supplied into the hole to form a deposit so that the functions .GAMMA.i, .GAMMA.d are expressed as continuous functions, while the etch stop is the phenomenon in which the etch rate is abruptly reduced to zero so that the functions .GAMMA.i .GAMMA.d are expressed as discontinuous functions.

Apparatus and method for manufacturing semiconductor device


A weather strip comprises an extruded part and a molded part which is connected to the extruded part. The molded part is molded from a material containing a solid particle antifriction material and has 1 to 50 xcexcm of ten points average surface roughness (Rz) on the surface of the molded part. The material is a thermoplastic elastomer or a soft resin.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a weather strip including a glass run and a door weather strip for an automobile.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional glass run 50 is shown in FIGS. 6 to 8. The glass run 50 is attached to a door sash 1 of an automobile (see FIG. 5) and seals between the outer peripheral edge of a raised door window glass 2 and the door sash 1. The glass run 50 comprises a plurality of straight extruded parts 51 and curved or bent molded parts 61, each of which connects together two of the straight extruded parts 51. The extruded part 51 is attached to a straight section of the door sash 1 while the molded part 61 is attached to a corner section of the door sash 1. The letter xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d designates a borderline, or the connected end surfaces, between the extruded part 51 and the molded part 61.
The extruded part 51 shown in FIG. 7 comprises a channel portion 54 which consists of a bottom portion 52 and two side walls 53, and two seal lips 55 which project into the channel portion 54 from free ends of the both side walls 53 respectively. The molded part 61 shown in FIG. 8 comprises a channel portion 64 which consists of a bottom portion 62 and two side walls 63, and two seal lips 65 which project into the channel portion 64 from free ends of the both side walls 63 respectively.
Recently, attention is paid to a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) which is superior to a rubber at the molding process. The extruded part 51 has also come to be formed from an olefin-based TPE (TPO) by extrusion molding. The molded part 61, which connects extruded parts 51 made of the TPO, is molded from a TPO or an olefin resin, either of which has high compatibility (adhesivity) to the TPO.
The end face of the outer peripheral edge of the door window glass 2 slides on the surfaces of the bottom portions 52, 62, while both side surfaces of the outer peripheral edge of the door window glass 2 slide on the surfaces of the seal lips 55, 65 respectively. Therefore, it is required to lower the frictional resistance of the surfaces of the bottom portions and seal lips to thereby enhance their slidability, and to prevent abrasion of the surfaces for improving their durability.
To meet these requirements, low-friction layers 57 made of a polyethylene resin, which have a low coefficient of friction and an excellent abrasion resistance, are formed on the surfaces of the bottom portion 52 and the seal lips 55 made of the TPO by co-extrusion simultaneously when the channel portion 54 and the seal lips 55 are formed by extrusion molding to form the extruded part 51 as a single product, as shown in FIG. 7.
As for the molded part 61 made of the TPO or the olefin resin, however, it was difficult to form the low-friction layer 57 on the surfaces of the bottom portion 62 of the channel portion 64 and the seal lips 65 when the molded part 61 was formed by injection molding as a single product, using substantially same technique of the above-described extruded part 51 forming technique, namely, simultaneously molding of the low-friction layers 57 and the channel portion 54, as shown in FIG. 8. Therefore, one could do nothing but apply liquid low-friction coating 67 made of a silicone oil or a polyurethane coating on the surfaces of the bottom portion 62 and the seal lips 65 after the molded part 61 is formed, to prevent the abrasion of the surfaces. However, the surfaces only with the liquid low-friction coating 67 were inferior to those with the above low-friction layers 57 especially in durability. Because, even if the liquid low-friction coating 67 can improve the initial slidability of the surfaces, they gradually disappear as they are used, which gradually lowers the slidability.
It is an object of this invention to provide a weather strip, which can improve the slidability and durability of the molded part.
The present invention resides in a weather strip comprising a molded part connected to an extruded part, wherein the molded part is molded from a thermoplastic elastomer or a soft resin containing a solid particle antifriction material and has 1 to 50 xcexcm of ten points average surface roughness (Rz) on the surface of the molded part. xe2x80x9cTen points average surface roughnessxe2x80x9d is a value measured in accordance with JIS B0651, JIS B0601, ISO 4287/1, ISO 4287/2, ISO4288.
Here, the molding method is not limited to a specific one. For example, cast molding, compression molding, transfer molding or injection molding can be employed.
Though xe2x80x9cTPExe2x80x9d is not limited to a specific type, it embraces an olefin-based TPE (TPO), a styrene-based TPE (SBC) and a polyester-based TPE (TPEE). The TPE having high compatibility to the extruded part is preferably used. For example, the TPO is preferably used when the extruded part is made of a TPO or an ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer (EPDM) rubber.
Though xe2x80x9csoft resinxe2x80x9d is not limited to a specific type, it embraces an olefin soft resin and a polyurethane resin (PU), a resin having high compatibility to the extruded part is preferably used. For example, an olefin soft resin is preferably used when the extruded part is made of a TPO or an EPDM rubber. The olefin soft resin embraces a soft polyethylene resin and an ethylene vinyl acetate resin (EVA).
xe2x80x9cSolid particle antifriction materialxe2x80x9d is not limited to a specific type, and it may be an antifriction material formed of solid particles of at least one material selected from the group consisting of a silicone resin, apolyamide resin, a fluorine resin, a polycarbonate resin, a mica, a molybdenum and a calcium carbonate.
The content of the solid particle antifriction material is not specifically limited, and 1 to 30% by weight for the total weight of the molding material including the antifriction material itself is preferable. Moreover, the particle size of the solid particle which forms the antifriction material is not specifically limited, and 0.1 to 50 xcexcm is preferable.
The reason why the ten points average surface roughness (Rz) on the surface of the molded part is restricted to 1 to 50 xcexcm is that the ten points average surface roughness less than 1 xcexcm lowers the effect of improving slidability of the molded part, while the ten points average surface roughness more than 50 xcexcm deteriorates the outward appearance of the molded part. 10 to 30 xcexcm of the ten points average surface roughness is more preferable. Even if the particle size of a solid particle is, for instance, 0.1 xcexcm or 1 xcexcm, the ten points average surface roughness can be, for instance, 1 xcexcm or 10 xcexcm, since a plurality of solid particles often cluster together.
The TPE or the soft resin can further contain a liquid antifriction material. The liquid antifriction material is not limited to a specific type, and it embraces a silicone oil such as polydimethylsiloxane. 0.1 to 10% by weight of the liquid antifriction material is preferably contained for the total weight of the molding material including the antifriction material itself.
The extruded part is preferably formed from a TPE or a rubber by extrusion molding, and one formed from a TPO or an EPDM rubber is more preferable.
Further objects of this invention will become evident upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiments described below. Various advantages not specifically referred to herein but within the scope of the instant invention will occur to one skilled in the art upon practice of the presently disclosed invention. The following examples and embodiments are illustrative and not seen to limit the scope of the invention.


A method and apparatus provide generic mechanism for a network application server. A receiver receives a request from a user equipment to provide authentication information to a network application function. A determining unit determines a key of a generic authentication architecture to integrate additional network application servers by extending an existing standard for user security settings. A providing unit provides the authentication information to the network application function.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a generic mechanism for an application server to determine which key of a Generic Authentication Architecture (GAA) would enable easy integration of additional application servers by extending an existing standard for User Security Settings (USS).
2. Description of the Related Art
Initial authentication (i.e., bootstrapping) of Third Generation Project Partnership (3GPP) Generic Authentication Architecture (GAA) is based on AKA (Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol). Depending on a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone, and a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) or subscriber identity module inserted in the mobile terminal, the 3GPP Generic Authentication Architecture (GAA) can have the following keys: Ks_int_NAF, Ks_ext_NAF, and Ks_NAF. Today, the number of services using GAA is quite small and a definition as to which key to use for the particular smart card or subscriber identity module can be implemented directly into a server of the Network Application Function (NAF) that offers the service to the user. However, such implementation at the server is not very scalable or easy to administer in case of changes, such as new use cases and changes or updates to existing services, or a user getting a new smart card. The changes or updates to the NAF would require manual configuration, which is especially difficult, if the NAF resides not in the home network of the user or subscriber, but in a third party network.
The Ks_int_NAF key is used for securing Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTPS) between the smart card or subscriber identity module and the application server NAF. The application would reside in the smart card or subscriber identity module and the mobile terminal would only act as a modem. This mechanism may be used as an alternative to present OTA SMS configuration messages to download new updates or other SAT applications.
The only use case for the Ks_int_NAF key defined today is in Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS). In MBMS, the NAF is configured according to the definitions in TS33.246 3GPP specification, attached hereto as Appendix A, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. In MBMS, a choice as to which key to use is defined by the description of the specific keys in the specification TS33.246. Therefore for this use case, no key choice mechanism is required because the key is implemented directly into the NAF that is offering the MBMS service to the user.


A transporting system includes a conveyor; a workpiece carrier adapted to be advanced by the conveyor; and a monitoring apparatus for monitoring a presence or absence of the workpiece carrier in a predetermined zone of the conveyor. The monitoring apparatus has a switching element supported adjacent the conveyor and projecting at least partially into a path of the conveyor; and an arrangement for actuating the switching element independently of a direction of conveyance of the workpiece carrier.

This invention relates to a monitoring apparatus of a transport system which has a conveyor for a workpiece carrier adapted to accommodate components or component groups. The monitoring apparatus serves for determining the absence or presence of the workpiece carrier in a region of the conveyor.
The above-outlined conventional monitoring apparatus is used particularly in a transporting system in which an incoming and an outgoing conveyor abut one another at right angles and at the transfer location means are provided for detecting the presence or absence of the workpiece carrier.
At the transfer location a first signal transmitter of the monitoring apparatus is arranged which responds to a collision of a workpiece carrier with a stationary stop. The first signal transmitter is positioned at the transfer location. As long as such a signal is present, a separating element which is situated upstream of the transfer location as viewed in the conveying direction is in a stop position so that further workpiece carriers are prevented access to the transfer location. As soon as the workpiece carrier is fed into the transfer location, the first signal transmitter is deactivated. At the same time, a second signal transmitter of the monitoring apparatus is activated which monitors the departure of the workpiece carrier from the transfer location. As long as the second signal transmitter is active, the separating element continues to remain in a stop position. The separating element is switched into a let-through position only after the workpiece carrier has completely left the transfer location and the first signal transmitter and the second signal transmitter no longer detect the presence of the workpiece carrier, so that a subsequent workpiece carrier again may be moved into the transfer location.

Monitoring apparatus for a transporting system


A method of fabricating a tungsten contact in a semiconductor device, the method including the steps of: (a) providing a silicon wafer structure including a dielectric layer and an underlying layer selected from a semiconductor or electrically conductive material, the dielectric layer being patterned to expose a contact portion of the underlying layer; and (b) depositing by chemical vapor deposition a tungsten layer over the dielectric layer and the contact portion, the deposition being carried out by reaction of a tungsten-containing component and a reducing agent which are introduced into the vicinity of the silicon wafer structure, the deposition step having a first phase in which the process conditions are controlled to form a seed layer of tungsten on the dielectric layer and a second phase in which the process conditions are modified from the first phase to form a blanket tungsten layer over the seed layer which acts as an adhesion layer between the dielectric layer and the blanket tungsten layer. The invention also provides a semiconductor device incorporating a tungsten contact which is disposed in a contact hole of a dielectric layer, the tungsten contact including a seed layer of tungsten which extends over the dielectric layer surface and an overlying layer of blanket tungsten.

The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a tungsten contact in the form of a plug or via in a semiconductor device incorporating a tungsten contact and in particular relates to such a method employing deposition and etch back of a layer of CVD tungsten.
In semiconductor processing technology it is well known that the step coverage obtained with conventional metallisation processes for the fabrication of contacts in the form of plugs and vias using metals such as aluminium can become a problem as the dimensions of the contacts are reduced to below about 1.5 microns. The reduced step coverage tends to increase the specific contact resistivity of the contacts and the reliability of the contacts is also reduced. Poor step coverage also tends to prevent vertical stacking of the contacts over contacts in the previous interconnect layer. Metal step coverage can be increased by reducing the thickness of the dielectric layer in which the contact is formed. However, this can consequently increase the capacitance and inductance of the layer which tends to produce a reduction in the speed of the resultant semiconductor device.
It is known, in an attempt to overcome this step coverage problem with conventional metallisation, to employ tungsten plug technology in which a contact hole is filled with tungsten by a chemical vapour deposition process to form a contact in the form of a plug or via. The two general tungsten deposition processes employed are blanket tungsten deposition followed by an etch back so as to leave tungsten contacts in the dielectric layer or to employ selective deposition in which tungsten is selectively deposited in contact holes formed in the dielectric layer. Selective tungsten deposition suffers from technical problems which are, for example, the difficulty in filling contact hole of differing depths, the relatively high specific contact resistance of the contacts and a breakdown in the selectivity of the deposition process. The semiconductor industry is increasingly aiming at employing blanket tungsten deposition followed by etch back in order to form tungsten contacts, in the form of plugs and vias which does not suffer from the above stated problems associated with selective tungsten deposition.
It is generally known in the industry that blanket CVD tungsten does not adhere well to dielectric films. Accordingly, it is the general practice to employ an adhesion layer between the dielectric layer and the deposited tungsten, the adhesion layer additionally having been formed over the exposed portions of the silicon substrate to which the tungsten is to be electrically connected. Typically, the adhesion layer comprises a thin, highly adherent sputtered metal film, for example titanium nitride. The adhesion layer is deposited before the silicon wafer is transferred into a CVD tungsten deposition system. The CVD tungsten blanket layer then adheres adequately to the adhesion layer. The adhesion layer is selected so as to be thin enough so as not to reduce the size of the contact but thick enough so as to give sufficient adhesion between the dielectric layer and the overlying tungsten layer. Typically, the adhesion layer is 500 to 1000 Angstroms thick.
It has been found that when an adhesion layer is employed there can be inadequate coverage of the adhesion layer on the side walls of the contact. In addition, when the adhesion layer is applied by sputtering, problems with step coverage in the contact hole can also occur. In addition, when it is desired to reduce the dimensions of the contacts, this can lead to a limitation in the reduction in dimensions as a result of problems with step coverage when employing a sputtering process. When the adhesion layer is deposited by a process other than by sputtering, it may be that the adhesion layer itself is not particularly well adhered to the dielectric layer. In the light of these problems, there is a general need in the industry by both semiconductor equipment vendors and semiconductor manufacturers to eliminate the need for the additional adhesion layer when employing blanket CVD tungsten deposition. This would greatly simplify manufacture of the semiconductor devices by eliminating problems associated with the deposition of the adhesion layer. Furthermore, there is a general need to reduce device dimensions which are currently restricted by the scaling limitations of the technology employed to sputter the adhesion layer.
In a paper entitled "Adhesion of LPVCD WSix/W Bilayers on Oxide Films" by Lami et al, published in the conference proceedings entitled "Advanced Metallization for ULSI Applications" of a conference held by the Materials Research Society on 8-10 Oct. 1991, it is disclosed that WSix LPCVD underlayers were used as adhesion layers on oxides for CVD W metallisation. However, such WSix adhesion layers suffered from a number of problems showing that the obtaining of a manufacturable bilayer of WSix/W is not straightforward because of a sensitivity to the temperature gradient that always occurs during silicide deposition from silane or DCS.


A rose pruning and stripping device includes first and second jaws pivotally connected between handle and cutting portions thereof. An inner edge of the cutting portion of the first jaw sharpened into a cutting edge, and the opposite inner edge of the cutting portion of the second jaw defines a dull edge. A multi-faceted notch is formed in each cutting portion of the first and second jaws between the pivotal connection and the sharpened edge. A leaf and thorn stripping aperture is formed as the handles of the first and second jaws, and particularly the cutting portions thereof, are brought towards one another.

The present invention generally relates to trimming and cutting devices, such as shears and pruners. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rose pruning and stripping device, wherein leaves, small stems, and thorns can be quickly and easily removed from the larger stem of the flower, such as a rose.
When making a floral presentation, leaves on a lower portion of the stem of a flower are typically removed, so as to avoid water degradation. It is known that the leaves, if allowed to be submerged in the water, degrade over time resulting in bacterial contamination of the water. Moreover, aside from making a flower arrangement in a vase full of water, it is often desirable and aesthetically pleasing to have the lower leaves removed.
This is particularly the case with roses, such as long stem roses and the like. When purchasing roses, the lower leaves and thorns typically have already been removed. This is to provide the benefits described above, and give the bouquet of roses an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Home gardeners who cut roses from their own bushes oftentimes remove the small stems, leaves, and thorns for the same purposes. Of course, with roses, the thorns are not only aesthetically displeasing, but are dangerous to those handling the roses. The thorns can easily puncture the skin, sometimes resulting in infection. Thus, when preparing the roses for display and/or sale, these are removed. However, the removal of such leaves, stems and thorns is very complicated and time consuming. Typically, a small knife or a pair of scissors is used to individually remove the thorns and leaves. This can still easily lead to punctures of the skin while handling the rose to remove the leaves and thorns.
There do exist devices configured to serve as strippers. For example, there are wire cutters and strippers, wherein the handle portion contains one or more apertures of relatively small size configured to cut into the insulation sheath of a wire and remove the insulation sheath so as to expose the metal wire. Some of the apertures are actually intended to cut a cable or wire. For example, United States Patent Application Publication U.S. 2005/0198832A1 to Chin-Ching Hsien discloses a multi-functional engineering clipper. This clipper includes a set of jaws which can cut metal, and two apertures formed when the handles are brought towards one another for stripping or cutting cables, wires and the like. However, this device, and others like it, do not lend themselves to pruning and stripping roses, as described above. For example, the Hsien publication discloses a relatively large tool that requires two hands to operate and is designed to cut relatively large cables. Even single-handed wire clippers would not function well in pruning or stripping roses. This is due to the fact that the blades are typically not pruning blades, but rather adapted to cut metal wire. Moreover, the apertures are typically circular and of relatively small dimension which could damage, and even cut, the rose stem.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,086,081 to Hollenbeck discloses garden shears having notches formed in each jaw so as to form a generally circular aperture when brought towards one another. However, the aperture of these garden shears is intended and designed to facilitate the cutting of comparatively large plants. U.S. Pat. No. 1,322,085 to Bertrand discloses a flower shears and stripper. However, the flower shears include relatively flat blades, similar to a pair of scissors, which are not ideal for pruning or shearing. Moreover, the stripping aperture is formed at the end of the device, either by means of an attachment, or forming of notches at the very end of the cutting jaws. This aperture is generally circular. It has been found by the present inventor that the placement of the stripping aperture at the end of the jaws makes it difficult to control the stripping of the leaves and thorns from the flower. Moreover, a circular aperture can damage the flower stem, and in some cases inadvertently cut the flower stem.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for a device for not only trimming or pruning roses, but also easily stripping the thorns and leaves from the lower portion of the flower stem. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.


A dental polymerizable composition comprising (a) a fluorine compound comprising a chain polymer having a main chain comprising a monomer unit having a hydrophilic group, and terminal groups comprising a fluoroalkyl group at each of both ends of the main chain; (b) a polymerizable monomer; and (c) a polymerization initiator. The dental polymerizable composition can be suitably used, for example, for dental composite resins, such as dental composite filler materials, crowning materials, and bonding materials; dental adhesive agents, such as teeth-straightening adhesive agents, cavity-coating adhesive agents, and tooth fissure sealing materials; denture base materials, denture base mucosal adjusting materials, fissure sealants, coating agents applied to tooth surface or dental prosthetic, surface glazes, and the like, and especially for various coating applications, for example, a fissure sealant, a coating agent to tooth surface or dental prosthetic, surface stains or a surface glaze, a hypersensitive inhibitor, a dental manicure, or the like.

A dental polymerizable composition composed of a polymerizable monomer and a polymerization initiator has been widely clinically used at present. The dental polymerizable composition has been used, for example, in a dental restorative material which is so-called a composite resin usable in filling or repairing fracture of teeth or cavities of dental caries, a dental adhesive agent for adhering a crowning prosthetic such as a composite resin or inlay and crown to teeth, or cement, further artificial teeth or a denture base material, a coating agent, or the like.
However, when these resin-based restorative materials are present in the oral cavity for a long period of time, it has been pointed out that discoloration or coloration is generated on its surface, and plaque is likely to be deposited thereon. Also, when plaque is deposited on surfaces of natural teeth, without being limited to the restorative material, it is said to be causes of various oral cavity diseases such as dental caries or periodontal diseases.
In recent years, it has been tried to inhibit the deposition of the plaque by giving the surface of teeth or a restorative material anti-staining property, and a dental plaque-forming inhibitor comprising a polymer containing a monomer unit containing a phosphoric acid group and a monomer unit containing an oxyethylene group in the main chain has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Publication 1).
In addition, in order to inhibit the discoloration or coloration of the surface of the resin-based dental restorative material or the accumulation of the plaque, dental materials in which a fluorine-based material is applied, such as a coating agent comprising a silicone oligomer containing fluoroalkyl groups on both ends of the main chain as an active ingredient (see, for example, Patent Publication 2); a relining material for removable denture or a coating composition each containing a fluorine-containing (meth)acrylate as a part of the monomer (see, for example, Patent Publications 3 to 4); and a coating composition comprising a fluorine-containing polymer obtained by copolymerizing a monomer having a polar group such as acrylic acid with a monomer containing a fluorine atom (see, for example, Patent Publication 5) have been proposed.
Further, as an attempt of applying a fluorine compound to dental material applications for the purpose other than the anti-staining property, a glass ionomer cement curing liquid containing a poly(meth)acrylic acid having a fluoroalkyl group at both ends of the main chain has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Publication 6). In addition, when the scope is broadened to applications other than the dental materials, as techniques of imparting a base material with an anti-staining property, a technique of applying a polymer having a fluoroalkyl group on both ends of the main chain, the main chain being constituted by monomer units having a phosphoric acid group or an N,N-di-substituted aminocarbonyl group, as a surface-treating agent to fibers, metals, plastics, papers, and the like (see, for example, Patent Publications 7 to 9); a technique of applying a photopolymerizable coating agent composition comprising a polymer having a fluoroalkyl group on both ends of the main chain, and a photopolymerizable monomer or a prepolymer in the surface modification of plastics, wood materials, fibers, metals, and the like (see, for example, Patent Publication 10); and the like have been proposed.
Patent Publication 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-48842
Patent Publication 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-155730
Patent Publication 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-312689
Patent Publication 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-95838
Patent Publication 5: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 10-510531
Patent Publication 6: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-255032
Patent Publication 7: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-7731
Patent Publication 8: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-251348
Patent Publication 9: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-253022
Patent Publication 10: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-245419


A corner guard arrangement for a box spring, the corner guard arrangement having first and second members formed of a sheet material and being interlocked together, the interlocking arrangement being such that the first and second members are in sliding engagement to permit adjustment for different height box springs, one end of each of the first and second members being engaged with a perimeter wire on the box spring. The arrangement permits a smooth covering of fabric material on the box spring.

Mattresses and box springs have been known in the art for many years. Typically, the arrangement is such that the mattress is utilized to directly support one or more people, with a box spring being in position underneath the mattress and above a supporting frame or the like. The box spring provides additional cushioning and supports the mattress and will typically include a variety of springs within its interior.
In the manufacture of box springs, the outside is covered with a fabric material. Along the sides and ends of the box spring, the fabric material may easily be stretched and held in place without problem. However, on the corners, there is a tendency for the fabric to give either inwardly or outwardly when the box spring is in use. In order to overcome this, many manufacturers provide a stuffing of a material such as scrap fiber material at the corners.
A further problem at the corner of box springs and the like is that different sizes are utilized and thus a single piece of material is not suitable.


The present disclosure provides a method and system for tracking one or more portable communication devices in a radio communication network in a facility. The system comprises two or more sensors and a server. Each of the two or more sensors is configured to record a radio signal strength corresponding to each of one or more radio signal probes from each of the one or more portable communication devices, by utilizing a corresponding media access control address of each of the one or more portable communication devices. The server is configured to determine a location coordinate of each of the one or more portable communication devices using the recorded radio signal strengths and an adaptive supervised machine learning system. A learning cycle of the adaptive supervised machine learning system is configured to initiate when a variation in one or more technical attributes of the radio communication network in the facility is detected.

In today's competitive business scenario, most of the companies try to take an edge over others by gathering and analyzing more and more data. The data can be profile information of their customer(s)/potential customer(s)/user(s), counting of the number of customers that has entered their store, and the like. For example, a retail chain owner may like to collect data corresponding to the number of users entered in a particular store and relate the sales with the number of customer entering that store. In addition, the retail chain owner may like to collect the number of people having entered into a particular section of the store. These types of detailed analysis help companies to not only increase their sales but also take strategic marketing decision.
In the last decade, solutions involving radio-communication network in a facility to track mobile devices inside the facility are being utilized to make inferences about the customer(s)/potential customer(s). These solutions are commonly referred to as indoor positioning systems. Some of these indoor positioning systems utilize technical parameters like received signal strength indictor (RSSI) from access points (APs), configuration parameters of sensors, etc. for tracking the mobile devices inside the facility.
However, these technical parameters along with other factors vary with highly dynamic environment, thereby reducing the chances of development of accurate and stable indoor positioning system. For example, radio signals propagate in a complicated manner and are often affected by noise and other sources. This results in unstable and noisy signal strength readings. In addition, the physical characteristics in an indoor setting (for example, walls, furniture, computers, and elevators) affect the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). Further, movement of users within an indoor environment adversely affects the RSSI as human indoor movement tends to be less predictable. Furthermore, accidentally switching off the power plugs of components of the positioning system by clerk, cleaner and the like without notifying the server system do affect the tracking. Moreover, remodeling of the premises (for example, shops) in which the components are attached to movable positions (for example, shelf, racks and the like) also affect the tracking.
In addition, most of the present indoor positioning systems implement a trilateration technique to track the mobile devices. The trilateration is a high level mathematical method of determining an absolute location of a point by measurements of distances using geometry of circles, spheres, triangles and the like. Further, the trilateration finds practical applications in surveying and navigation, including global positioning systems (GPS). However, it does not involve the measurement of angles. In addition, due to a complex and dynamic environment, the trilateration gives only approximate results. Thus, improvements are needed in the trilateration process to improve location accuracy. Another method used presently to count and track position of one or more users includes methods done by door counters. For example, door counter methods include video feed based counters, ultrasonic counters, infrared beam counters, carpet (pressure) sensors and the like. The video feed based counters are advanced stereo vision tracking technologies to count data under a broad set of environmental conditions. However, the door by door counters are unreliable when several people move in and out from the premises at same time.
In light of the above stated discussion, there is a need for a method and system that overcomes the above stated disadvantages.

Method and system for tracking communication devices in a radio communication network in a facility


Cooling apparatus is provided which comprises a mechanical refrigerator and a heat pipe. The mechanical refrigerator has a first cooled stage and a second cooled stage, the second cooled stage being adapted to be coupled thermally with target apparatus to be cooled. The heat pipe has a first part coupled thermally to the first stage of the mechanical refrigerator and a second part coupled thermally to a cooled member which may comprise the second stage of the mechanical refrigerator. The heat pipe is adapted to contain a condensable gaseous coolant when in use. An example coolant is Krypton. The apparatus is operated in a first cooling mode in which the temperature of the cooled member causes the coolant within the second part of the heat pipe to be gaseous and the temperature of the first stage causes the coolant in the first part to condense, whereby the cooled member is cooled by the movement of the condensed liquid from the first part to the second part of the heat pipe. When the cooled member is the second stage of the mechanical refrigerator, the heat pipe provides heat between the higher and lower temperature cooled stages during cooling. An associated method of operating such apparatus is also described.

There are a number of technological applications which require cooling to low temperatures and in particular cryogenic temperatures which may be thought of as those below 100 Kelvin. Liquid helium-4 is often used as a cryogenic coolant due to its boiling point at atmospheric pressure of around 4 Kelvin. Superconducting magnets and other experimental devices are traditionally cooled to around 4 Kelvin using liquid cryogens, these including nitrogen and helium. The relatively large enthalpy content of these cryogens in either liquid or gaseous form ensures a rapid cooling from room temperature down to that of the cryogen in question. Despite the widespread use and success of liquid cryogens, the apparatus necessary to handle such low temperature liquids is often rather bulky, complicated and expensive. Furthermore, the relative scarcity of helium increasingly makes the use of this cryogen unfavourable.
Thus there has been a general trend towards the reduction of the volumes of liquid cryogens used, their cooling power being replaced by mechanical cryo-coolers ("mechanical refrigerators" herein), these include pulse-tube coolers, Gifford McMahon and Stirling coolers. Recent developments in double-staged mechanical refrigerators have enabled a more cost-effective and convenient cooling procedure. However, one particular disadvantage of such mechanical refrigerators is that the relatively small cooling power of the second stage (the lower temperature of the two stages) means that it takes significantly longer to cool an apparatus down using mechanical refrigerators in comparison with liquid cryogens. The greater the thermal mass of the target being cooled, the greater the disadvantage of using mechanical refrigerators because of their low cooling power at low temperatures.
There is a strong desire to improve the cooling power of mechanical refrigerators which would enable practical use of such apparatus in applications for which at present they are not considered available. In some applications, notably high field superconducting magnets, it is expected that the pursuit of ever higher magnetic fields will mean an increase in the thermal mass of the magnets in question and therefore there is a need to improve the cooling performance of mechanical refrigerators if they are to remain useful in cooling superconducting magnets from room temperature to their operating temperature.

Oxford Instruments Nanotechnology Tools Limited


Upon performing a heat treatment by heating a semiconductor wafer positioned inside a reaction vessel with a heater provided outside the reaction vessel and supplying a processing gas into the reaction vessel, to increase the temperature inside the reaction vessel promptly to reach a processing temperature to be stabilized after the wafer is carried into the reaction vessel, and to reduce the burden to the operator caused in the heating control adjustment.

A vertical heat treatment apparatus is an apparatus for a heat treatment of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a "wafer"), such as a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) film formation, oxidation processing or diffusion processing, in batch-type operations. This apparatus comprises a vertical reaction vessel inside a heating furnace, and a cover member which opens and closes the lower-end opening of the reaction vessel is loaded with a wafer holder thereon to hold numbers of wafers in tiers on shelves, and a predetermined heat treatment is performed after the wafer holder is carried into the reaction vessel by lifting the cover member.
In order to control the temperature inside the reaction vessel, an internal thermocouple 91 provided inside the reaction vessel 9 and an external thermocouple 92 provided near a heater 90 outside the reaction vessel 9 are used, as shown in FIG. 1, wherein the heat release value (electric power supply) of the heater 90 is controlled by a temperature controller 93 according to the comparison data between the detected temperature values and preset temperature values of these thermocouples 91 and 92. As shown in FIG. 2, the profile of the preset temperature value output by the temperature controller 93 is established wherein a temperature (Ta), e.g. in the vicinity of 600° C., is set when a wafer boat 94 loaded with wafers W is carried into the reaction vessel, and then the temperature value is increased to reach a predetermined processing temperature (Tb) which is to be maintained and then decreased to a predetermined temperature.
Hereinafter provided is an explanation of the structure of the temperature controller 93. As shown in FIG. 1, the temperature controller 93 comprises: a first computing unit 95 for carrying out a control focusing on the detected temperature value (the detected external temperature value) of the external thermocouple 92; a second computing unit 96 for cascade control; and a switch portion 97 to choose either output value of these computing units 95 and 96. Although the detected external temperature value may be used 100% for example, the first computing unit 95 may linear-interpolate the detected temperature value (the detected internal temperature value) detected by the internal thermocouple 91 and said detected external temperature value at a predetermined ratio to obtain the detected temperature value, compare this detected temperature value to the preset temperature value, and obtain the output value by integrating the deviation of the comparison result. Also, the second computing unit 96 compares said detected internal temperature value to the preset temperature value to obtain a setpoint signal by amplifying the deviation, and compares this setpoint signal to said detected external temperature value to obtain the output value by integrating the deviation.
In the process of raising the temperature Ta at carry in to reach the processing temperature Tb, firstly the power supply of the heater 90 is controlled according to the output value of the first computing unit 95, and then, by switching the switch portion 97, the power supply of the heater 90 is controlled according to the output value of the second computing unit 96.
The reason of switching the output values in this way is as follows. In the case that temperature is controlled according to the output value of the first computing unit 95, the temperature inside the reaction vessel 9 slowly rises when approaching the processing temperature Tb as a targeted temperature and converges to the temperature lower than the targeted temperature Tb due to the substantial influence of the detected external temperature value (the temperature of the heater 90). In the case that cascade control is performed on the other hand, due to the substantial influence of the detected internal temperature value, though cascade control aims to control the temperature inside the reaction vessel 9 to converges to the targeted temperature Tb, the power supply to the heater 90 is large as the deviation between the preset temperature value and the detected internal temperature value is large, which fact leads to an overshoot phenomenon that the temperature exceeds the targeted temperature Tb and then surges back to converge to the targeted temperature Tb. For this reason, in the heating process, a control (the external temperature control) is performed based on the output values of the first computing unit 95 at first, and when the temperature inside the reaction vessel 9 approaches the targeted temperature Tb to some extent, the cascade control is then performed.
The operator sets timing of switching from the control with the first computing unit 95 to the cascade control and is responsible for seeking a good timing which makes the detected internal temperature value become stable faster.
However, in some cases, when the control method is abruptly switched, the temperature might be distorted because of the impact of the switchover, and the distortion might discourage the early stabilization of the temperature. Also, when the timing of the switchover is too early, the large power supply to the heater 90 might cause overshoot due to the cascade control performed while the detected internal temperature value is still low, and the temperature inside the reaction vessel 9 takes long to become stable as a result. On the contrary, when the timing of the switchover is too late, the temperature inside the reaction vessel 9 increases slowly and the temperature inside the reaction vessel 9 takes long to become stable after all.
In operating a vertical heat treatment apparatus, the targeted values change depending on the kind of the heat treatment, wafers, etc., and in some cases, the temperature control may be adjusted after doing maintenance on the apparatus. Further, the labor to spot said timing is complicated and becomes a heavy burden to the operator since, for instance, the reaction vessel 9 has to actually be heated in order to find said timing, which heating needs to be repeated until the timing is spotted. Moreover, in a case that the adjustment by the operator is poor, the temperature inside the reaction vessel takes long to become stable, which fact decreases throughput.

Heat treatment method and heat treatment system

Abstract: The internal temperature inside the reaction vessel and the external temperature as a heater temperature are interpolated at a predetermined mixing ratio, and a first computing unit and a second computing unit are provided so that, in the heating process, the output value of the first computing unit is used firstly, and the output value of the second computing unit is interpolated intermediately while the interpolation ratio of the output value of the second computing unit gradually increases, and the output value of the second computing unit is used 100% finally, said first computing unit obtaining output values that correspond to the deviations between the interpolated values and a preset temperature values, said second computing unit functioning as a cascade control unit by obtaining the internal temperature through the major loop and the internal temperature through the minor loop.


A method for improving a speed of rasterizing transparent images, comprising determining, from P graphic entity objects on a transparent page, M transparent images and N nontransparent images. Each of the N nontransparent images includes an intersecting area with one of the M transparent images, P is an integer larger than 0, M is an integer larger than 0 and smaller than or equal to P, N is an integer larger than or equal to 0 and smaller than P, and P=M+N. The method also comprises determining a page-level transparent area and a page-level de-transparentizing area of the P graphic entity objects. Contributions of the transparent images and the nontransparent images to the page-level transparent area and the page-level de-transparentizing area are calculated using different methods. The methods further comprises assembling the M transparent images according to the page-level transparent area and the page-level de-transparentizing area.

Conventionally, when drawing a graphic entity object, two imaging models are usually used: substitute imaging model and transparent imaging model.
In the substitute imaging model, a graphic entity object newly drawn on a page completely replaces a background content at the location of the graphic entity object. That is, a final color of a point at the location is determined by a last graphic entity object drawn at the location. In the transparent imaging model, a transparent graphic entity object newly drawn on a page and a prior background content at the location of the graphic entity object are mixed. That is, the final color of a point at the location is determined by all graphic entity objects drawn at the location.
However, in the transparent imaging model, graphic entity objects newly drawn on a page may first need to be assembled. Since no prior determination is made on whether each of the graphic entity objects newly drawn on the page is a transparent image or a nontransparent image, calculations need to be performed during the assembling process on all graphic entity objects newly drawn in the page. Therefore, the calculation is complicated.
Moreover, in the transparent imaging model, transparency calculation needs to be performed on a graphic entity object newly drawn on a page and a prior background content at the location of the graphic entity object. When the resolution of the background content is high, there may be a large amount of data in the transparency calculation, and thus the calculation may be complicated, and time consuming.

Method and apparatus for improving speed of rasterizing transparent images

Peking University Founder Group Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to improved cover compositions for golf ball construction. In this regard, it has been found that if high levels (i.e. greater than 10 pph resin) of metal stearates (i.e. zinc stearate, barium stearate, calcium stearate, magnesium stearate, etc.) are added to various ionomer resin formulations utilized in golf ball cover construction, the covers produced thereby exhibit similar or improved coefficient of restitution (C.O.R.) values combined with similar or reduced hardness (i.e. an increase in softness) properties. Moreover, since the metal stearates are significantly cheaper than the ionomer resins and the discovery that the metal stearates can be added at relatively high levels without detracting, and many instances enhancing the physical properties of the overall formulations, the addition of high levels of the metal stearates presents significant cost savings in the production of golf balls.

The present invention relates to golf balls and, more particularly, the invention concerns novel golf ball covers made from ionomer resin formulations containing high levels of metal stearates. The new low-cost formulations produce, when utilized for the production of golf ball covers, golf balls exhibiting similar or enhanced travel distance and/or playability properties while maintaining the durability characteristics necessary for repetitive play.
Ionomeric resins are polymers containing interchain ionic bonding. As a result of their toughness, durability, and flight characteristics, various ionomeric resins sold by E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company under the trademark "Surlyn.RTM." and more recently, by the Exxon Corporation (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,451) under the trademarks "Escor.RTM." and the tradename "Iotek", have become the materials of choice for the construction of golf ball covers over the traditional "balata" (trans polyisoprene, natural or synthetic) rubbers. The softer balata covers, although exhibiting enhanced playability properties, lack the durability necessary for repetitive and/or continuous play.
Ionomeric resins are ionic copolymers of an olefin, such as ethylene, and a metal salt of an unsaturated carboxylic acid, such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, or maleic acid. In some instances, an additional softening comonomer such as an acrylic ester can also be included to form a terpolymer. The pendent ionic groups in the ionomeric resins interact to form ion-rich aggregates contained in a non-polar matrix.
Broadly, the ionic copolymers generally comprise one or more .alpha.-olefins and from about 9 to about 20 weight percent of .alpha., .beta.-ethylenically unsaturated mono- or dicarboxylic acid, the basic copolymer neutralized with metal ions to the extent desired. Suitable olefins for use in preparing the ionomeric resins include ethylene, propylene, butene-1, hexane-1, and the like. Unsaturated carboxylic acids include acrylic, methacrylic, ethacrylic, .alpha.-chloroacrylic, crotonic, maleic, fumaric, itaconic acids, and the like.
The ionomeric resins utilized in the golf ball industry are generally copolymers of ethylene with acrylic (i. e. Escor.RTM. or Iotek) and/or methacrylic (i.e. Surlyn.RTM.) acid. In addition, two or more types of ionomeric resins may be blended into the cover compositions in order to produce the desired properties of the resulting golf balls.
In the ionomeric resins, metal ions, such as sodium, zinc, magnesium, lithium, potassium, calcium, etc., are used to neutralize some portion of the acid groups in the ionic copolymers resulting in a thermoplastic elastomer exhibiting enhanced properties, i.e. improved durability, etc., for golf ball cover construction over balata. However, the advantages gained in increased durability have been offset to some degree by the decreases produced in playability. This is because although the ionomeric resins are very durable, they tend to be very hard when utilized for golf ball cover construction, and thus lack the degree of softness required to impart the spin necessary to control the ball in flight.
As a result, while there are currently more than fifty commercial grades of ionomers available from DuPont and Exxon with a wide range of properties which vary according to the type and amount of metal cations, molecular weight, composition of the base resin (i.e. relative content of ethylene and methacrylic and/or acrylic acid groups), the degree of neutralization, etc., and wide number of additive ingredients which may be added to improve various characteristics of the cover stock compositions, including reinforcing materials such as glass fibers and inorganic fillers, softening agents such as plasticizers, and other compatible ingredients such as antistatic agents, antioxidants, stabilizers, processing acids, etc., a great deal of research continues in order to develop golf ball cover compositions exhibiting not only the improved impact resistance and carrying distance properties produced by the "hard" ionomeric resins, but also the playability (i.e. "spin") characteristics previously associated with the "soft" balata covers, properties which are still desired by the more skilled golfer.
In addition, golf ball manufacturers are continuously reviewing on a manufacturing cost basis, different compositions and processes for producing golf balls exhibiting similar or improved characteristics at substantially lower costs. This is particularly true with respect to golf ball cover compositions wherein the ionomer resins are relatively expensive (i.e. about $1.75/lb.). Consequently, various additives, such as fillers, have been added to the cover compositions. However, drastic reductions in a number of desired characteristics such as resilience (i.e. C.O.R.) are normally exhibited due to the incorporation of high levels of fillers in the ionomer formulations.
In this regard, two of the principal properties involved in the performance of golf balls are resilience and hardness. Resilience is determined by the coefficient of restitution (C.O.R.) , the constant "e", which is the ratio of the relative velocity of an elastic sphere after direct impact to that before impact. As a result, the coefficient of restitution (i.e. "e") can vary from zero to one, with one being equivalent to an elastic collision and zero being equivalent to an inelastic collision.
Resilience (C.O.R.), along with additional factors such as ball size and weight, clubhead speed, angle of trajectory, and ball aerodynamics (i.e. dimple pattern), generally determine the distance a ball will travel when hit. Since clubhead speed and the angle of trajectory are not factors easily controllable, particularly by golf ball manufacturers, and the ball size and weight parameters are set by the United States Golf Association, the factors of concern among manufacturers are the coefficient of restitution (C.O.R.) and the surface configuration of the ball.
The golf ball's coefficient of restitution (C.O.R.) is a function of the composition of the molded core and of the cover. In balls containing a wound core (i.e. balls comprising a liquid or solid center, elastic windings, and a cover), the coefficient of restitution is a function of not only the composition of the center and cover, but also the composition and tension of the elastomeric windings. Although both the core and the cover contribute to the coefficient of restitution, the present invention is directed solely to the coefficient of restitution which is affected by the cover composition.
The coefficient of restitution of a golf ball is generally measured by propelling a ball at a given speed against a hard surface and measuring the ball's incoming and outgoing velocity electronically. As mentioned above, the coefficient of restitution is the ratio of the outgoing velocity to incoming velocity. The coefficient of restitution must be carefully controlled in all commercial golf balls in order for the ball to be within the specifications regulated by the United States Golf Association (U.S.G.A.). Along this line, the U.S.G.A. standards indicate that a "regulation" ball cannot have an initial velocity (i.e. the speed off the club) exceeding 255 feet per second. Since the coefficient of restitution of a ball is related to the ball's initial velocity, it is highly desirable to produce a ball having a sufficiently high coefficient of restitution to closely approach the U.S.G.A. limit on initial velocity, while having an ample degree of hardness (i.e. softness) to produce enhanced playability (i.e. spin, etc.).
The hardness of the ball is the second principal property involved in the performance of a golf ball. The hardness of the ball can affect the playability of the ball on striking and the sound or "click" produced. Hardness is determined as the deformation (i. e. compression) of the ball under various load conditions applied across the ball's diameter (i.e. the higher the compression value, the softer the material) and/or by Shore hardness characteristics (i.e. the lower the Shore hardness value, the softer the material). As indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,751, "softer" covers permit the accomplished golfer to impart proper spin. This is because the softer covers deform on impact significantly more than balls having "harder" ionomeric resin covers. As a result, this allows the better player to impart fade, draw, or backspin to the ball thereby enhancing playability.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to new ionomer resin formulations containing high levels of metal stearates. It has been found that ionomer resin formulations containing high levels of metal stearates (i.e. about 10-100 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the ionomer (pph)) produce, upon molding around solid or wound cores to formulate a cover composition, golf balls exhibiting similar or enhanced distance (i.e. resilience) and playability (i.e. hardness/softness) properties without affecting the ball's durability (i.e. impact resistance, etc.) characteristics.
Along this line, metal stearates are generally useful in a wide variety of industries. They are useful wherever water repellency, internal or external lubrication, anti-agglomeration of particulate solids or viscosity modification (including gelation) is desired. Other inherent performance qualities that make stearates important to industry are their ability to impart flattening to varnishes, lacquers and solvent-based paints; improved suspension of solids in such paints; adhesion and slip to cosmetic powders; and dry lubrication to surfaces and particles. As a result, applications of metal stearates are found in toiletries and pharmaceuticals, cement and concrete, food, greases, inks, metal working and powder metallurgy, paper coating, plastics and rubber, petroleum production and wax products.
In the polymer industry, metal stearates are widely used as a lubricant. The most important of these is calcium stearate, used predominantly in PVC but also in polyolefins, ABS, polyesters, and phenolics. Calcium stearate acts as an internal lubricant in PVC, to promote fusion and modify melt viscosity during extrusion processing. It also acts as a co-stabilizer in many PVC applications when combined with a number of primary heat stabilizers. Other metal stearates, e.g., lead, barium, cadmium, zinc, and magnesium stearate are multifunctional in that they provide both heat stability and balanced lubricity to many PVC formulations when used in combination with other lubricant types. Small amounts of these metal stearates are also used to aid in the processing of polyolefins, ABS, nylon, polyester, and polystyrene. Their use here is generally to aid in metal release, rather than to act as internal lubricants.
While metal stearates are typically used as inert processing additives in rubber and plastic formulations, they are generally used in relatively low amounts (i.e. 0.01 to about 5 pph) as lubricants and/or dispersants to facilitate flow and/or to act as metal and/or mold releasing agents and as inorganic fillers. This is particularly true in the industry of golf ball production, wherein low amounts of metal stearates, such as about 0.01 to about 1.0 pph zinc stearate, have been utilized since at least the middle 1960's to facilitate the flow of ionomer resins in the molding process.
However, the present invention is directed to the discovery that the metal stearates, when added at relatively high levels to ionomer resin formulations, act as an ionic plasticizer". This occurs only when metal stearates in amounts greater than about 10 pph resin, generally from about 10 to about 100 pph resin, more preferably about 25 to about 75 pph resin, and most preferably, about 50 pph resin, are utilized in combination with the known ionomer resin formulations.
Since nearly all fillers produce drastic reductions in C.O.R. values when utilized in relatively high amounts in ionomer resin compositions, it was very surprising that the ionomer formulations of the present invention having high levels of metal stearates did not demonstrate these same negative results.
In addition, the low specific gravity of the various metal stearates such as zinc stearate, also allows for high loadings of filler without producing an illegally heavy golf ball as in the case of the HiSil.RTM. fumed silica produced by PPG, Pittsburgh, Pa., which is generally regarded as the best white reinforcing filler in many rubber and plastics applications including the field of golf ball construction.
Consequently, the present invention is directed to the use of relatively high levels (greater than 10 pph resin) of metal stearates in ionomer resin compositions for the purpose of reducing cost and, in some circumstances, enhancing the C.O.R. and/or hardness (i. e. softness) values of the resulting cover compositions without affecting the cover's desired durability (impact resistance, etc.) properties. As a result of the improved C.O.R. values produced by the new ionomer resin formulations of the invention the balls exhibit enhanced travel distance. In addition, the new cover compositions produce, upon molding around solid or wound cores, golf balls exhibiting a sufficient amount of hardness (i.e. softness) to improve the playability characteristics of the balls.
These and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the claims.

Golf ball cover compositions containing high levels of metal stearates


A fluid supply for a liquid sprayer includes a collapsible liner for holding the liquid; a cup for supporting the collapsible liner; a lid for connecting to the cup; and an air relief valve. The collapsible liner is secured relative to the lid and the cup. The lid includes an opening for connecting the lid to the pump.

The present invention relates generally to liquid sprayers, and specifically to fluid containers for feeding sprayers.
Paint sprayers are well known and popular for use in painting of surfaces, such as on architectural structures, furniture and the like. Airless paint sprayers provide the highest quality finish amongst common sprayer system due to their ability to finely atomize liquid paint. In particular, airless paint sprayers pressurize liquid paint to upwards of 4,000 psi [pounds per square inch] (˜27.6 MPa) and discharge the paint through small, shaped orifices. Typical airless spray systems, however, require a large stationary power unit, such as an electric motor, a gasoline motor or an air compressor, and a large stationary pumping unit. The power unit is connected to a stationary paint source, such as a 5 gallon bucket, and a spray gun. Thus, such units are well suited for painting large areas that require high quality finishes. For smaller areas, a handheld spray device can be used.

Sprayer fluid supply with collapsible liner


A method and system for generating two or three dimensional computer graphics images using multisample antialiasing (MSAA) is provided, which enables memory bandwidth to be conserved. For each of one or more pixels it is determined whether all of a plurality of sample areas of that pixel are located within a particular primitive. For those pixels where it is determined that all the sample areas of that pixel are located within that primitive, a value is stored in a multisample memory for a smaller number of the sample areas of that pixel than the total number of the sample areas of that pixel and data is stored indicating that all the sample areas of that pixel are located within that primitive.

1. Field
The following relates to a method and system for generating two or three dimensional computer graphics images and more specifically to a method and system for implementing multisample antialiasing (MSAA) when generating such images.
2. Related Art
Antialiasing is a well-known technique for minimising the appearance of jagged edges which result when objects with curved or diagonal lines are displayed on a computer screen. In computer graphics, objects are represented by a plurality of primitives, which are commonly triangular but may be other shapes. A computer screen is physically comprised of many picture elements known as pixels which are usually rectangular and of a certain size. For example, high resolution displays contain an array of at least 1280×1024 pixels. Each pixel is driven to display a certain colour and the computer system generates a colour value to drive each individual pixel. Colours emanating therefrom form an image. Thus, it will be appreciated that where an object has a curved or diagonal line a pixel may belong to more than one object or primitive from which the objects are composed. In other words, the pixel may be split between two or more primitives, or between one or more primitives and the background, by a line passing through the pixel. However, the pixel can only display a single colour at a time. This means that the pixel must be assigned the colour of only one of the primitives which is inaccurate and results in unwanted visual artefacts such as jagged edges which impair the quality of the images.
Antialiasing is based on the principle that the appearance of such visual artefacts may be reduced if the pixels on the edge of a primitive or object are assigned a colour derived from all the primitives/background to which they belong. The jagged edge still exists but the appearance of the jagged edge to a viewer is not as apparent because colour contributions from both objects are used.
One well known antialiasing technique is MultiSample AntiAliasing (MSAA). Instead of assigning pixel characteristics according to the intersection of the centerpoint of the pixel with an object, multiple points dispersed throughout the pixel are used to sample the pixel/object intersection at those particular locations. A pixel is typically divided into two, four or eight sample areas, as illustrated in FIG. 1a. It is then determined whether each of the sample areas falls within a particular primitive or outside it. This is done, for example, by determining whether the centerpoint of each sample area intersects a primitive/object. Those sample areas whose centerpoints are determined to fall within a primitive, are assigned the colour of that primitive for that pixel. Those samples areas which are determined to be outside the primitive or which intersect a different primitive, retain their previous colour or that of the different primitive. An example where a pixel is on the edge of a primitive, a triangle in this example, is illustrated in FIG. 1b. In this example, the pixel is divided into four sample areas and sample areas 2 and 3 are within the triangle and therefore assigned the colour of the triangle for that pixel. Sample areas 0 and 1 are outside the triangle and therefore retain their previous colour. Before rendering, final pixel values are generated based on an average of the colour values assigned to each pixel's sample areas. Advantageously, this means that edges of objects having curved or diagonal lines appear smoothed when the image is rendered.
However, a downside to multisample antialiasing is that pixel values must be stored in a multisample memory for all of the sample areas of all the pixels in an image. The more sample areas into which each pixel is divided, the better the antialiasing results; the smoother the lines appear, but the larger the multisample memory required to store all the sampled pixel values and, moreover, the greater the memory bandwidth consumed to read and write the pixel sample data therefrom.
For each pixel sample area, a value is written to the multisample memory. This means that there is at least two times and often eight times the amount of data to be written to memory, in comparison to using a single sample per pixel.
Furthermore, in rasterization approaches to 3-D rendering, images are rendered from 3-D scenes that may sequentially process primitives in a stream of primitives, some of which may be occluded by later-arriving primitives. Where the closest primitives (visible surfaces) hide other primitives, and the closest primitives are not transparent, it is only the closest primitives which are rendered and are visible to a viewer. In systems using multisample antialiasing, typically, pixel sample values for each pixel at least partially within a primitive are written to the multisample memory. If and when a primitive closer to the viewer overlaps these pixels, then pixel sample values for each of these pixels are overwritten in the multisample memory. Thus, when using multisample antialiasing to generate images from 3-D scenes, particularly complex 3D scenes, in which a great deal of occlusion may be expected, several pixel sample values for each pixel may need to be written to the multisample memory. This increases the demand on memory bandwidth.

Method and system for multisample antialiasing


A novel sarR gene and sarR gene product which down regulates the expression of sarA and the resulting virulence determinants in Staphylococcus aureus is provided. Methods for modulating the expression of sarA and virulence determinants are also provided. A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides structural information relating to the gene product and enables the identification and formulation of lead compounds and reducements for treating and preventing infections by S. aureus and related bacteria.

Throughout this application, various publications are referenced by Arabic numerals within parentheses. Full citations for these publications is found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The disclosures of these publications in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
Bacterial infections are a serious problem in humans. In the past decade, the number of "supergerms" that resist treatment has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, the very same arsenal of drugs used to overcome these microbes helped give rise to antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Of great importance are several antibiotic-resistant and sometimes fatal bacteria including S. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (pneumonia), and Enterococcus faecalis (urinary tract and blood infections).
For most healthy people, these antibiotic-resistant bacteria are not life-threatening. The immune system, the body's natural defense against microbes, usually fights off disease-causing bacteria. However, when bacteria attack people with weakened immune systems they can be deadly. Hailed as miracle drugs, antibiotics have cured thousands of bacterial infections, from acne to strep throat to ear infections. Today, there are more than 100 types of antibiotics on the U.S. market. Due to increasing resistance to antibiotics, however, new treatments are still needed.
In particular, S. aureus infections have been problematic to treat. S. aureus are non-mobile, non-sporulating gram-positive cocci 0.5–1.5 μm in diameter, that occur singly and in pairs, short chains, and irregular three-dimensional grape-like clusters. S. aureus can grow over a wide range of environmental conditions, but they grow best at temperatures between 30° C. and 37° C. and at a neutral pH. They are resistant to desiccation and to chemical disinfection, and they tolerate NaCl concentrations up to 12%. It has been found that the growth of S. aureus becomes unusually sensitive to high NaCl concentrations (by decreasing Ca2+ concentration) in growth media allowing for autolysis (29).
The global regulatory locus agr encodes a two-component, quorum sensing system that is involved in the generation of two divergent transcripts, RNAII and RNAIII, from two distinct promoters, P2 and P3, respectively. RNAIII is the regulatory molecule of the agr response, hence responsible for the up-regulation of extracellular protein production and down-regulation of cell-wall associated protein synthesis during the postexponential phase (39,49). The RNAII molecule, driven by the P2 promoter, encodes a four-gene operon, agrBDCA, with AgrC and AgrA corresponding to the sensor and activator proteins of a two component regulatory system. Additionally, agrD, in concert with agrB, participates in the generation of an octapeptide with quorum sensing functions (31,41). The autoinducing peptide would stimulate the transcription of the agr regulatory molecule RNAIII which ultimately interacts with target genes to modulate transcription (49) and possibly translation (44).
In contrast to agr, the sarA locus activates the synthesis of both extracellular (e.g. α- and β-hemolysins) and cell-wall proteins (e.g. fibronectin binding protein) in S. aureus (15). The sarA locus is composed of three overlapping transcripts [sarA P1 (0.56 kb), sarA P3 (0.8 kb) and sarA P2 (1.2 kb) transcripts], each with a common 3′ end but initiated from three distinct promoters (P1, P3 and P2 promoters). Due to their overlapping nature, each of these transcripts encodes the major 372-bp sarA gene, yielding the 14.5 kDa sarA protein (2). DNA footprinting studies have shown that the sarA protein binds to the promoters of several target genes (19) including agr, hla (alpha hemolysin gene), spa (protein A gene) and fnbA (fibronectin binding protein A gene), thus implicating sarA as a regulatory molecule that can modulate target gene transcription via both agr-dependent and agr-independent pathways (9,19,20). With agr-dependent pathway of target gene activation, the sarA protein binds to the agr promoter to stimulate RNAIII transcription and RNAIII, in turn, interacts with target genes (e.g. hla) to modulate transcription. With sarA-dependent but agr-independent pathway, the SarA protein will interact directly with target-gene promoters (e.g. hla and spa) (19) to control gene transcription. Deletion and promoter fusion analyses indicates that the regions upstream of the sarA P2 and between the P1 and P3 promoters have a modulating role in sarA expression, possibly by controlling transcription from the sarA P1 promoter, the predominant promoter within the sarA locus (10,39) (FIG. 1A).
A great need exists for methods and compositions which can affect or regulate the virulence of bacteria, such as the expression of sarA and the resultant virulence determinants of S. aureus and other bacteria.

Compositions and methods for affecting virulence determinants in bacteria


A voltage-insensitive circuit includes a second circuit, and a biasing means for providing a constant bias current to the second circuit, the bias current being insensitive to power fluctuations of the voltage-insensitive circuit.

In various portable devices, such as cellular telephones, the need to provide stable DC operating conditions can be important. To obtain such stable DC operating conditions, a regulated voltage is often used. Such regulated voltages are useful to provide stable low noise amplifiers, variable gain amplifiers and power amplifiers.
Unfortunately, certain portable devices, such as cellular phones and PDAs, may use a battery as it sole power source. Because batteries do not provide constant voltages under varying conditions, electronic circuits that rely on stable DC voltages may perform poorly.
In order to compensate for this shortcoming, voltage regulating circuits, such as Low-DropOut regulators (LDOs) are used in conjunction with batteries. However, as the number of functions of portable devices (e.g., multimedia and camera) increase, the number of LDOs may also increase.
Unfortunately, the number of the LDOs available to a portable device may be limited due to area constraints. Thus, it is desirable to develop bias circuitry for amplifiers that can provide constant bias conditions over large battery voltage variations.

Voltage supply insensitive bias circuits

Avago Technologies Wireless IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.