A thermally-insulative, breast-supportive undergarment comprising an anterior fabric portion, a posterior fabric portion, and an elastic band member is disclosed. The anterior fabric portion and the posterior fabric portion each essentially comprise thermally-insulative material having latitudinally-oriented fabric elasticity. The anterior fabric portion and the posterior fabric portion are attached to one anther at seam sections to cooperatively form a neck-covering sleeve, a midriff-receiving aperture, and laterally opposed arm-receiving apertures. The elastic band member is cooperatively associated with the midriff-receiving aperture and inherently has bidirectional band elasticity. The bidirectional band elasticity is also latitudinally-oriented. The fabric elasticity and the band elasticity provide the undergarment with breast-supportive resilience; and the thermally-insulative material, the fabric elasticity, and the band elasticity together cooperate to provide a user with a thermally-insulative, breast-supportive undergarment. Optionally, the thermally-insulative, breast-supportive undergarment may comprise moisture-wicking lining structure, which lining structure also essentially comprises bidirectional, latitudinally-oriented liner elasticity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a thermally-insulative, breast-supportive garment. Thus, the garment of the present invention functions to firstly provide a thermally-insulative fabric layer superficial to the skin of the upper torso region, with particular target areas being the thoracic and abdominal regions. Further, the garment functions to provide fabric-based support structure for the breasts of female users. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thermally-insulative brassiere or camisole, which when worn, provides users with means for both thermally insulating the upper torso region as well as supporting the breasts of the upper torso region.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Key to success in any winter or outdoor sporting activity is the requirement to dress adequately. It is noted that the human body ordinarily remains at a fairly constant temperature of 37° Celcius (98.6° Fahrenheit). It is very important that this body temperature be maintained and, since there is a continuous body heat gain from internal body processes, there must also be a continuous body heat loss to maintain body heat in balance. Excess heat must be absorbed by the surrounding air or lost by radiation. As the temperature and humidity of the environment in which a human body is active varies, the human body automatically regulates the amount of heat it gives off. However, the human body's ability to adjust to varying environmental conditions is limited. Furthermore, although the body may adjust to a certain (limited) range of atmospheric conditions, it does so with a distinct feeling of discomfort. The following is a brief discussion of how atmospheric conditions affect the body's ability to maintain a heat balance and the background information supporting the development of the present invention.
The human body gains and loses heat by radiation, convection, conduction, evaporation, and as a by-product of other physiological processes that take place within the body, namely the oxidation of food, other chemical processes, and by friction and tension within muscle tissues. Most body heat, however, is produced by the foods consumed by the individual, which body heat must be removed continuously or body temperature would steadily rise. The principal routes of body heat loss include radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation. Radiation is the transfer of heat as infrared heat rays from a warmer object to a cooler object without physical contact. The human body loses heat by the radiation of heat waves to cooler objects nearby such as ceilings, floors and walls. If these objects are at a higher temperature, the human body absorbs heat by radiation. Incidentally, air temperature has no relationship to the radiation of heat to and from objects. Skiers, for example, are, on occasion, able to comfortably remove clothing in bright sunshine even though the air temperature is very low because the radiant heat from the sun is adequate to warm the skier. In a room at 21° C. (70° F.), about 60 percent of heat loss is by radiation in a resting person.
Conduction is the process by which body heat is transferred to a substance or object in contact with the body, such as chairs, clothing, jewelry, air or water. At rest, about 3 percent of body heat is lost via conduction to solid objects. The contact of air or water with the human body results in heat transfer by both conduction and convection. Convection is the transfer of heat by the movement of a liquid or gas between areas of different temperature. When cool air makes contact with the body, it becomes warmed and less dense. The less dense air then rises. Subsequently, cool air makes contact with the body and is carried away as it warms by conduction and becomes less dense. The faster the air moves, the faster the rate of convection. When at rest, about 15 percent of body heat is lost to the air by conduction and convention.
Evaporation is the conversion of a liquid to vapor. Water has a high heat of evaporation, and because of this characteristic, every gram of water (as found in perspiration) evaporating from the skin takes with it a relatively great deal of heat—on the order of about 0.58 kilocalories per gram of water. Under normal conditions, about 22 percent of heat loss occurs through evaporation. Under extreme conditions, about 4 liters of perspiration are produced each hour, and this volume can remove about 2,000 kilocalories of heat from the body. This is approximately 32 times the basal level of heat production.
Even though there are wide fluctuations in environmental temperature, the human body's homeostatic mechanisms can maintain a normal range for the internal body temperature. If the body heat production equals the body heat loss, the body maintains a constant core temperature near the earlier cited 37° C. Body heat losses may be classified in two general categories, namely, loss of sensible heat and loss of latent heat. Sensible heat is given off by radiation, convection and conduction. Latent heat is given off in the breath and by evaporation or perspiration. In perfectly still air, the layer of air around a body absorbs the sensible heat given off by the body and increases in temperature. The layer of air also absorbs some of the water vapor given off by the body, thus increasing the relative humidity. This means the body is surrounded by an envelope of moist air that is at a higher temperature and relative humidity than the ambient air. Therefore, the amount of heat the body can lose to this envelope is less than the amount it can lose to the ambient air. When the air is set in motion past the body, the envelope is continually being removed and replaced by the ambient air, thereby increasing the rate of heat loss from the body. When the increased heat loss improves the body heat balance, the sensation of a breeze is felt; when the increase is excessive, the rate of heat loss makes the body feel cool and the sensation of a draft is felt.
From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the three factors, namely temperature, humidity, and air motion, are closely interrelated in their effects upon the comfort and health of winter or outdoor sports enthusiasts. In fact, a given combination of temperature, humidity, and air motion will produce the same feeling of warmth of coolness as a higher or lower temperature in conjunction with a compensating humidity and air motion. The term given to the net effect of these three factors is known as the Effective Temperature. Effective Temperature cannot be measured by an instrument, but can be found on a special psychometric chart when the temperatures and air velocity are known. The combinations of temperature, relative humidity, and air motion of a particular Effective Temperature may produce the same feeling of warmth or coolness. However, they are not all equally comfortable. Relative humidity below about 15 percent produces a parched condition of the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and lungs, and increases susceptibility to disease germs. Relative humidity above about 70 percent causes an accumulation of moisture in the clothing. For the best health conditions, relative humidity ranges from about 40 to 50 percent for cold weather and from 50 to 60 percent for warm weather.
As earlier stated, most of the body heat produced by the human body comes from oxidation of the food humans eat. The rate at which this heat is produced is referred to as the metabolic rate. Among the factors that affect the metabolic rate are the following: exercise, nervous system, hormones, body temperature, food ingestion, age and several other variables of lesser direct involvement, namely gender, climate, sleep, and malnutrition. During strenuous exercise activity, such as skiing or snowboarding, the metabolic rate may increase to as much as 15 times the normal rate; in well-trained athletes, the rate may increase to a rate 20 times the normal metabolic rate. Thus, it will be understood that adequate clothing protection for the winter or outdoor sports enthusiast is essential. Further, providing adequate breast support for female sports enthusiasts is also essential. In this regard, it is thus noted that various types of athletic sports type brassieres are known in the art. Some of the more pertinent prior art relating to athletic sports brassieres and the like is described hereinafter.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,434,944 ('944 patent), which issued to Cooper, discloses a Brassiere. The '944 patent teaches a brassiere comprising front, rear, and shoulder portions forming an elongated neck opening therebetween, the front and rear portions extended laterally beyond the shoulder portions into substantial juxtaposition to form an arm opening and the side edges of each of said front and rear portions converging in a direction away from the neck opening, and means for securing said converging edges, said securing means including parts extending beyond both of said edges, whereby the said juxtaposed edges are held in substantially a common plane.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,980,767 ('767 patent), which issued to Snader, discloses a Brassiere. The '767 patent teaches a brassiere comprising a sheer inelastic body portion freely enveloping the breasts and a relatively stiff band of elastic webbing fixed to the bottom edge of the body portion adapted to encircle the body of the wearer contractively in a zone beneath the breasts affording a firm line of support for the breasts solely at the base, leaving otherwise free to assume a natural contour determined by said support, and the front of the band being deflected upwardly toward the middle of the front, in the unworn garment, whereby when the band is distended by the body of the wearer, the lower edge will be tensioned to a greater extent than the upper edge, to prevent rolls.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,632 ('632 patent), which issued to James et al., discloses a Brassiere. The '632 patent teaches a brassiere of endless construction having sufficient elasticity to permit donning thereof by stepping thereinto or by slipping over the shoulders and freedom of movement of the body when properly positioned while adequately supporting the breasts without undue confinement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,776 ('776 patent), which issued to Luhr, discloses a Slip-Over Garment. The '776 patent teaches a slip-over garment or dickey of abbreviated dimensions comprising a body member formed by sewing together two mating pieces of a stretchable fabric such as nylon. The body member is formed with a pair of armholes, a torso opening, and a neck hole. If desired, a stretchable fabric collar, which can also be nylon, may be sewn to the main body member at the neck opening in order to form a turtleneck, V-neck, boat neck or the like. A zipper may also be included to facilitate donning and removal of the garment. An elastic band about ⅝ inch wide is secured to the lower extremity of the dickey around its circumference in order to assist in preventing the garment from riding up on the torso while the wearer is engaging in normal activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,717 ('717 patent), which issued to Schreiber et al., discloses an Athletic Brassiere. The '717 patent teaches an athletic brassiere, particularly suitable for women runners, which holds the breasts comfortably and snugly to the body. A wide elastic rib band and elastic straps which cross in the back hold the brassiere firmly in place. Non-irritating material is used and all seams face the outside. All hardware is eliminated. The cups are not shaped but are preferably made of elastic material to pull the breasts in snugly against the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,544 ('544 patent), which issued to Flanagan et al., discloses a Sports Bra. The '544 patent teaches a bra for particular use during sporting activity. The bra has no cups formed in the material, and seams are otherwise avoided. The bra is, essentially, formed as one continuous knitted piece with a two way stretch and the rear of the bra has a height almost the same as that of the front of the bra to provide added support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,771 ('771 patent), which issued to Bergman, discloses a Brassiere. The '771 patent teaches an improved brassiere in which the breast supporting fabric comprises cotton/Lycra, which is initially flat but which, without the use of seams, darts, moldings or shaping, stretches around and generally conforms to the shape of the wearer's breasts to hold them against the body. A feature of the preferred bra is that it is devoid of all hardware such as clips or buckles and it includes a wide midriff portion at the front, sides and back for improved support.
From an inspection of these patent disclosures and other art generally known in the relevant art, it will be seen that the prior art does not teach a thermally-insulative, breast supportive undergarment comprising an anterior fabric portion and a posterior fabric portion each portion comprising thermally-insulative material having bidirectional or girthwise fabric elasticity. More particularly, the prior art does not teach anterior fabric portion and a posterior fabric portion wherein the anterior fabric portion comprises an anterior neck portion, an anterior midriff portion, laterally opposed anterior arm portions, and a plurality of anterior seam sections, and the posterior fabric portion comprises a posterior neck portion, a posterior midriff portion, laterally opposed posterior arm portions, and a plurality of posterior seam sections. Further, the prior art does not teach an undergarment comprising anterior seam sections and posterior seam sections such that when the sections are attached to one another, the anterior and posterior neck portions cooperatively form select neck-encircling structure, the anterior and posterior midriff portions cooperatively forming a midriff-receiving aperture, and the anterior and posterior arm portions cooperatively form laterally opposed arm-receiving apertures, wherein the bidirectional fabric elasticity provides breast-supportive resilience and wherein the thermally-insulative material and the fabric elasticity cooperatively provide a wearer with a thermally-insulative, breast-supportive undergarment. Thus, the prior art perceives a need for a thermally-insulative, breast supportive undergarment as briefly described hereinabove.


A layered cereal bar with at least two cereal layers having identifiable RTE cereal pieces and at least one visible filling layer in between the two cereal layers is described. In one embodiment, the cereal bar is a non-cooked cereal bar having a total nutrient level equal to or greater than the nutrient level of a single serving of RTE cereal with milk. In one embodiment, the cereal layer is comprised of a cereal composition containing RTE cereal, high-protein rice pieces and TVP in a ratio of about 2:1:1. The cereal layer further comprises a binder to hold the cereal composition together. In one embodiment, the filling layer is a confectionery center that is high in milk content, but possesses a relatively low water activity. In one embodiment, the filling layer is a low water activity fruit filling layer. In another embodiment, a method for manufacturing a layered cereal bar having a visible filling layer is described. The steps include mixing a binder with a cereal composition having identifiable cereal pieces to form an amorphous mass, compressing the amorphous mass into a first layer and a second layer, applying a filling layer on the first layer, combining the first layer and filling layer with the second layer, and pressing the first layer, filling layer and second layer together to form pressed layers, wherein the pressed layers are cut into individual cereal bars having identifiable cereal pieces.

There have been many efforts in the food industry to develop meal substitutes, particularly breakfast substitutes, for consumers who do not have the time or desire to consume a conventional meal. To serve as a convenient meal substitute, a product should be a portable ready-to-eat food product that requires no cooking, no application of additional ingredients, and so forth. Ideally a meal substitute does not require the use of utensils such that it can be eaten in nearly any location at any time, including while driving, riding on a train, walking, and so forth.
Some of the most popular meal substitutes are substantially nonperishable hand-to-mouth food products that are packaged in disposable packaging materials. Many such products come in the form of a hand held food bar. However, food bars are not necessarily nutritionally complete. Specifically, many food bars lack adequate protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber and so forth, to accurately be considered a "meal substitute."
Further, many of these products are difficult to handle, either because they are too dry or too moist. Bars that are too dry fall apart easily, producing unwanted crumbs. Bars that are too moist become excessively sticky and messy. Additionally, the organoleptic properties of many of these bars are quite poor. In some instances, this is due to a high level of soy proteins, which can cause an undesirable off-flavor, if not otherwise masked.
It is also important that food, particularly meal substitutes, have an appealing appearance so that the entire eating experience is a pleasant one. Many of the meal substitutes on the market today, however, have been processed to such an extent that they bear little or no resemblance to their original state.
Thus, what is needed is a portable food product that has improved nutritional and organoleptic characteristics, yet maintains an appealing appearance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Layered cereal bars and their methods of manufacture


An optical scanner assembly for exposing an image on a photosensitive film. The photosensitive film is positioned on the internal surface of a drum. The optical scanner assembly includes a laser assembly for producing a laser beam representative of the image to be exposed on the photosensitive film, a scanner, and a long, flexible lens curved to the shape of the photosensitive film positioned on the internal surface of the drum, wherein the lens is positioned between the scanner and the film. The scanner operates to scan the laser beam through the lens across the surface of the photosensitive film in an image-wise pattern.

The present invention relates generally to optical scanner assemblies and laser imaging systems incorporating such scanners. In particular, the present invention relates to an internal drum type optical scanner assembly having a flexible lens capable of easily being flexed in a semi-circular arc while maintaining diffraction limited optical characteristics, suitable for use in a medical imaging system.
Laser imaging systems are commonly used to produce photographic images from digital image data generated by magnetic resonance (MR), computed tomography (CT) or other types of scanners. Systems of this type typically include a continuous tone laser imager for exposing the image on photosensitive film, a film processor for developing the film, and an image management subsystem for coordinating the operation of the laser imager and the film processor.
The digital image data is a sequence of digital image values representative of the scanned image. Image processing electronics within the image management subsystem processes the image data values to generate a sequence of digital laser drive values (i.e., exposure values), which are input to a laser scanner. The laser scanner is responsive to the digital laser drive values for scanning across the photosensitive film in a raster pattern for exposing the image on the film.
The continuous-tone images used in the medical imaging field have very stringent image-quality requirements. A laser imager printing onto transparency film exposes an image in a raster format, the line spacing of which must be controlled to better than one micrometer. In addition, the image must be uniformly exposed such that the observer cannot notice any artifacts. In the case of medical imaging, the observers are professional image analysts (e.g., radiologists).
Optical scanning assemblies are used to provide uniform exposure of the image on photosensitive film. The optical scanning assemblies combine a laser system with unique optical configurations (i.e., lenses and mirrors), for uniform exposure of the image onto the film. Past optical scanning assemblies used for achieving the level of performance required by the medical imaging industry utilize costly components incorporated into complex optical scanning systems. Such systems often combine complex, multi-sided mirrors and lens configurations for directing the laser beam onto a moving or stationary photosensitive film.
Known laser imagers used for medical imaging include a polygonal scanner or a galvanometer scanner. For example, a commonly used polygonal scanner configuration has a polygonal mirror repetitively exposing successive raster lines onto a sheet of moving photosensitive film. The optics must focus the laser beam over a flat image line and compensate for facet-to-facet angular errors in the polygon. These functions have usually been accomplished with combinations of costly precision ground anti-reflection coated glass lenses. The film is moved at a constant speed on rollers where the film is placed at the focus of the scanning laser beam. The film must be moved with a surface velocity constant to better than about 0.5%. Momentary disturbances or perturbations in the motion of the film, such as those caused by striking a film guide, position sensor or nip roller, can cause serious "glitches" in the exposed image, resulting in poor image quality. Avoidance of such perturbations requires that the film path during imaging be free of such obstructions. Such a film path often occupies a considerable amount of space in the laser imaging device.
Another known example of an optical scanner used for laser imaging includes a galvanometer optical scanner assembly having a dual-galvanometer configuration. The dual-galvanometer configuration includes one galvanometer mirror which repetitively sweeps the laser beam to form the raster lines, while a second, slower-moving galvanometer mirror deflects the raster lines down the page of the photographic film. The film, held motionless during exposure, is usually held in a curved platen to avoid the necessity of flattening the image field in both directions. While problems due to film motion are eliminated, since the film can be curved in only one direction at once, such a configuration requires the use of field-flattening optics for its operation. The use of galvanometers, on the other hand, offers relief from the problem of facet-to-facet errors found in polygon-based scanner systems. Galvanometers, like accurate polygon spinners, are precision instruments, and therefore, are very expensive to manufacture.
In light of the known drawbacks of present laser imaging devices, it is desirable to have an optical scanner which does not rely on expensive mirror and optical configurations to compensate for errors inherent in the scanner design. It is desirable to have an optical scanner for use in a laser imager which does not require an extraordinary amount of space nor which requires space considerations due to the introduction of glitches from the film path. Further, it is desirable to have an optical scanner for use with a laser imager which meets the image-quality requirements of the medical imaging industry.

Optical scanner assembly for use in a laser imaging system


A pneumatic seat support by itself supports a seat above a floor of a vehicle. The pneumatic seat support has upper and lower air chambers. The lower air chamber is a rigid cylindrical tube. The upper air chamber is a flexible cylindrical bellows, with a diameter greater than the diameter of the tube. Three or more linear shafts extending through the upper air chamber and into the lower air chamber provide a single-degree-of-freedom bearing support structure that allows vertical motion of the seat but withstands horizontal loads on the seat. When the seat moves vertically downward, it compresses air in both chambers, providing a seat support system with a natural oscillation frequency which is less than 2.4 Hz, and preferably in the range of 1.5-2.2 Hz.

The present invention relates to support systems used in vehicle seating, particularly for use in high vibration or high shock travels. Situations exist where vehicle operators and occupants are exposed to high levels of whole body vibration and shock that, at a minimum, can be uncomfortable and, in extreme cases, can cause serious bodily injuries. Vehicles in which vehicle operators and occupants are exposed to potentially injurious whole body vibration and shock include, but are not limited to, land based vehicles that travel on rough roads, on rugged off-road terrain, and on rough above and underground mining surfaces. They also include marine boats and crafts that operate in rough fresh water conditions and in rough ocean sea states.
Injuries experienced in these situations are often associated with exposure to a single extremely high level shock event or with exposure to repeated low and moderate level vibration and shock events over an extended period of time. Vehicle operators and occupants who have sustained previous back or other related injuries from other causes may be more sensitive or intolerant to even moderate levels of whole body vibration and shock exposure from land based vehicles and marine boats and crafts.
Passive, semi-active and active vibration and shock seat isolation systems have been developed and used in land based vehicles and marine boats and crafts. While these seat systems reduce the level of vibration and shock exposure to the seat occupant, they have limitations. Such limitations include, but are not limited to:
A. Many current vibration and shock seat isolation systems require the use of an external mechanical linkage mechanism to prevent or limit the horizontal movement and to direct the vertical movement of the moving components of the seat system. The external linkage mechanism can be exposed to environmental elements that over time can decrease its flexibility and movement and can cause it to lock up. The linkage mechanism typically adds significant weight to the seat system and requires significant vertical and horizontal space around the vibration and shock isolation components of the seat system.
B. Some current vibration and shock seat isolation systems have unduly limited vertical travel. They can bottom out and encounter hard stops at the top of their travel when big bumps and/or high waves are encountered. When the hard stop is reached, the resulting shocks to the body of the seat occupant are often many times greater than the shocks the seat systems were designed to reduce.
C. Semi-active and active vibration and shock seat isolation systems are often more complicated and expensive than passive systems and require increased maintenance to function properly.
D. Passive vibration and shock seat isolation systems that use linear coil springs require long displacements to effectively mitigate high level shocks. There is often insufficient vertical space to accommodate these displacements. Further, coil springs that accommodate these displacements are heavy.
E. Some current pneumatic vibration and shock seat isolation systems use single air chamber rolling lobe air springs. The lowest resonance frequency of these seat systems is around 2.4 Hz.
Vibration and shock seat isolation systems should be lower in cost, have lower system resonance frequencies, and still effectively prevent injuries to the seat occupants. Better solutions are needed.


A operational control device for supplying electric power from an electric power equipment to a plurality of power consumption systems store a power consumption pattern for each of the power consumption systems. It obtains a combined expected power consumption pattern by adding power consumption patterns of the operating power consumption systems. Next, a combined assumed power consumption pattern is obtained by adding a power consumption pattern, obtained based on a temporary operational start time, of a power consumption system which has made a request for a starting operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operational control device, an operational control method, a program and a storage medium thereof, for a plurality of power consumption systems in a power supply system for supplying electric power to the plurality of power consumption systems, such as processing equipments which provide desired processes to semiconductor wafers or the like.
2. Background Art
In general, for manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits, liquid crystal devices or the like, various processing equipments are used for repeatedly subjecting materials to be processed, such as semiconductor wafers, LCD substrates and the like, to various processes, including oxidation, film-forming, diffusion, annealing, reforming and the like.
In such a case, it is common to prepare a plurality of the same or different processing equipments for subjecting the wafers or LCD substrates to desired processes in succession and completing the products, and operate each of the processing equipments in parallel to enhance the throughput. For wafers and LCD substrates, since heating and plasma processes are mainly performed, each processing equipment consumes relatively a large amount of electric power. In addition, power supply equipments for supplying electric power to those units are relatively expensive. Therefore, if only one power supply equipment is used to supply electric power to a plurality of processing equipments, it is usual to prepare a power supply equipment that meets the power capacity corresponding to "the normal rated power of each processing equipment (the maximum power)×the number of units" in order to make the power supply equipment as small as possible.
However, all processing equipments are not always driven at the normal rated power. In fact, the time for which they are driven at the normal rated power is relatively short. In the case of a processing equipment for performing a heating process, this unit is used for a temperature raising step for elevating the wafer temperature and also used for a step for maintaining a constant temperature, thus making quite a large difference in the electric power consumption between the two steps. In the temperature raising step, the electric power consumption becomes large approximately to the normal rated power, while in the temperature maintaining step, depending on the types of processes, the electric power consumption is relatively small, ranging from 10 to 60% of the rated power. Accordingly, the above prior art power supply equipments should have significantly large margin of the power capacity, thus leading to increase in the cost of such power supply equipments and increase in the contract rate to the electric power company.
To address these disadvantages, methods for controlling the increase in the cost of power supply equipments have been disclosed in the following Patent Documents 1 and 2, and the like. For example, the method disclosed in the Patent Document 1 comprises detecting and monitoring electric power generated from an electric power supply equipment; comparing the detected electric power to a reference value before individual power consumption system starts a new step; and judging whether or not the new step is to start based on the comparison.
Documents Cited:
    Patent Document 1: TOKUKAIHEI No. 9-56068, KOHO    Patent Document 2: TOKUKAIHEI No. 8-181110, KOHO
In such prior art methods, upon starting a step, judgment of whether or not to start the step was determined by comparison between actually detected electric power and a reference value obtained by referring to the amount of power consumption in a step which requires the maximum power consumption. However, since these prior art methods did not consider any change in the amount of power consumption over time for each processing equipment, so once a process was started, such a change in the amount of power consumption along the proceeding of the process of each processing equipment was not controlled enough.

Operational control device, operational control method, program and storage medium thereof, for a plurality of power consumption systems


A control unit having a microprocessor and at least one electronic memory for storing a program-controlled sequence control for a motor vehicle and a first electronic interface for transmitting the program code of the sequence control from an external data transmission device into the memory and also having a second electronic interface are provided. To prevent manipulation of the contents of the memory, the first electronic interface is irreversibly deactivated after its initial use.

The invention relates to a control unit for a motor vehicle, an electronic immobilizer and a method for irreversible deactivation of an electronic interface.
Control units for motor vehicles are usually manufactured by automobile suppliers. Before shipping the control units to the respective vehicle manufacturers, the software program, i.e., the sequence control to be executed by the control unit equipped with a microprocessor after being installed in the vehicle by the manufacturer is entered into the electronic memory of the control unit. The traditional control unit has two interfaces. The first interface of the control unit is used for transmitting the sequence control to the memory of the control unit in an operation performed at the suppliers. The second interface is for the vehicle electronics, i.e., the vehicle electric system, to communicate with the control unit after the control unit has been installed in the vehicle. The first interface is often a so-called debugging interface on the circuit board of the control unit which is contacted by needle adapters or the like.
The first interface is no longer needed after the control unit is shipped. Instead, there is a risk that after the control unit has been installed in the vehicle, the control unit might be reprogrammed, i.e., reflashed, via this first interface for the purpose of manipulation. In the case of a control unit that is part of the electronic immobilizer of the vehicle, the manipulation can consist of canceling, i.e., reprogramming the electronic immobilizer. Another manipulation is so-called chip tuning, i.e., use of a modified engine control for the purpose of increasing power and with the disadvantage of a shortened lifetime. Finally, the manipulation may consist of changing the mileage reading to obtain a higher selling price for the vehicle.
If the vehicle manufacturer has already installed the control unit in the vehicle, said control unit having been equipped by the supplier with a sequence control, the control unit is furnished with manufacturer data using security codes via the plug-in diagnostic connection.
The object of this invention is to prevent manipulations on the data present in a control unit for a vehicle.
This object is achieved by a control unit, an electronic immobilizer and a method for irreversible deactivation of an electronic interface. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are described below.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Control unit having a deactivatable interface

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A rocket for use with an electrical connector. The rocket is made of suitable resilient material and is used to seal a port through which a conductor passes to connect to the connector. The rocket has a tubular base section that snugly fits within the port, and a longer, tapered, tubular, sealing section extending from one end of the base section. The sealing section is cut through along a line transverse to its longitudinal axis at a location on the section to provide an opening through which a conductor of a specific size, relative to the opening, can pass while expanding a portion of the sealing section adjacent the opening so as to tightly seal it against the conductor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed toward a rocket for use with electrical connectors, and particularly for use with submersible electrical connectors.
2. Description of the Related Art
The electrical connectors are of the type connecting a set of electrical conductors to an electrical conducting block. The block has a first set of holes in one face of the block in which the bare ends of the conductors are inserted, one in each hole. A second set of holes, in a second face of the block transverse to the first face of the block, intersect the first set of holes. The second set of holes are threaded. A set screw is screwed into each hole in the second set of holes to clamp a conductor, in each hole in the first set, to the block to make a good electrical connection between each conductor and the block.
Electrical connectors of the type described above are often used in damp environments or even under water. The connectors are therefore sealed with a plastic casing enclosing the block, the casing having a tubular port surrounding each hole in the block. Each port extends transversely away from the face of the block in which the hole is located. The ports associated with the second set of holes are each sealed with a resilient plug inserted into the port over the set screw in the hole associated with the port. Seals, known as 'rockets', seal the ports through which the conductors pass into the first set of holes.
A rocket is made of resilient material and has a tubular base section that fits snugly within the port, and a tubular, stepped, sealing section extending forwardly from one end of the base section. The steps in the sealing section are each sized to snugly enclose a standard sized conductor. In use, the sealing section of the rocket is cut off at the forward end of the step that is sized to fit the particular size of conductor being used with the connector. The rocket is then mounted by its base snugly within the port and the conductor is passed through the rocket, including the cut step, to make a connection with the connector block. The step tightly encloses the conductor to make the port, with the conductor passing there through into a hole in the first set of holes, watertight. Examples of these rockets are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,533,912 and 5,915,998 by way of example.
The known rockets however do not always fit all conductor sizes within a range of sizes used in these types of connectors. The known rockets, made in steps, can only handle so many standard sizes without becoming unduly long. Thus, the rockets are either made to have one rocket fit only the more popular standard sizes within a range of sizes, or several rockets must be made to fit all the sizes within the same range of sizes. Further, the known rockets do not always provide a water tight seal, since the steps are usually relatively short in order to accommodate a number of different sized conductors used with the rocket. Also, it is relatively difficult to pass the conductor through the cut step since the step must be expanded a bit to pass the conductor if it is to provide a tight seal against water. The known rockets, particularly with the shorter steps, are also prone to leakage if the conductor must be bent leaving the connector.


A liquid crystal substrate inspection apparatus includes an inspection device for inspecting a liquid crystal substrate and a prober replacing device disposed adjacent to the inspection device. The prober replacing device has a conveying device for conveying a prober for inspecting a liquid crystal substrate. The inspection device and the prober replacing device are arranged next to each other, so that it is possible to shorten an inspection time of the liquid crystal substrate. The prober replacing device has the conveying device for automatically conveying the prober to the inspection device.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal substrate inspection apparatus for inspecting a substrate such as a glass substrate of a liquid crystal display and the like, and in particular, relates to a mechanism of replacing a prober for inspecting a substrate.
A liquid crystal substrate has an electrical circuit having plural circuits for driving liquid crystal pixels arranged in a matrix pattern formed on, for example, a glass substrate. A large number of electrode pads are formed around the electrical circuit as electrical contacts. When the electrical circuit formed on the liquid crystal substrate is electrically inspected, a prober with a probe pin electrically contacting an electrode pad of the liquid crystal substrate is used.
The liquid crystal substrates have different sizes, wirings, arrangements of electrode pads, and the like according to applications and specifications. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a prober corresponding to the liquid crystal substrate to be inspected and replace the prober according to the liquid crystal substrate.
Conventionally, a prober is transported to a chamber manually or with a jig such as a crane to replace the prober. In general, a prober has a weight of several tens of kilograms. Accordingly, a large number of people and labor are required in order to transport the prober manually, and it takes long time. When the liquid crystal substrate is inspected on an inspection line, it is necessary to temporarily shut down the inspection line each time the prober is replaced. In order to shorten the shutdown time of the inspection line, it is necessary to replace the prober quickly. However, when the prober is replaced manually, it is difficult to shorten a time of replacing.
When a prober to be used is selected from plural probers and transported to a place of inspection of the liquid crystal substrate, it is necessary to provide a placing jig at a location where the probers are stored. Then, it is necessary to attach the jig to the inspection device, thereby further taking time. Accordingly, it is necessary to take a large labor force and a long working time for transporting the probers for replacement. Further, it is necessary to provide a rack for storing a large number of the probers, thereby taking a large space.
In view of the problems described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal substrate inspection apparatus for inspecting a substrate, in which it is possible to shorten a shutdown time of an inspection line for inspecting a liquid crystal substrate without transporting a prober manually, and eliminate a space of a rack for storing probers.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.

Liquid crystal substrate inspection apparatus


A method for making low-resistance contacts between polycide layers for local interconnections is achieved. The method is particularly useful for making low contact resistance R.sub.c between the tungsten polycide layers for local interconnections on the periphery of the DRAM chip. A first polycide layer is patterned to form FET gate electrodes and portions of local interconnections. An interlevel dielectric layer is deposited over the patterned first polycide layer. Contact openings are etched in the dielectric layer to the surface of the substrate and to the first polycide layer. A second polycide layer is deposited and patterned to form bit lines in the memory cell areas of the DRAM, while concurrently forming local interconnections in the peripheral device areas. A high-temperature rapid thermal anneal (RTA) is carried out to substantially reduce the contact resistance in the contact openings over the first polycide layer in the peripheral areas. This RTA eliminates the need for overetching the first silicide in the contact holes, as commonly practiced in the prior art. The RTA of this invention with a traditional N.sub.2 anneal prior to the second polycide deposition results in a synergistic effect that further reduces the contact resistance R.sub.c.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for making local interconnections for DRAM circuits with low contact resistance. The process also reduces the number of masks by one, over the prior art, to provide a more cost-effective manufacturing process.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Advances in high-resolution photolithography and anisotropic plasma etching have reduced the minimum feature sizes of semiconductor devices. For example, the current minimum feature size of the gate electrodes for field effect transistor (FET) semiconductor devices is sub-half-micrometer (um) (about 0.35 um or less). These discrete devices are electrically interconnected by multilevels of conducting layers with intervening insulating layers having contact openings. The reduced feature sizes require smaller contact openings for the electrically conducting interconnections that lead to higher contact resistance (R.sub.c). For example, current contact hole feature sizes are now typically much less than 0.5 micrometer (um), and to make contacts to the FET gate electrodes and for local interconnections, the contacts can be less than 0.35 um in width or diameter. The high R.sub.c is further complicated by the native oxide that forms between the conducting layers in the contact openings during processing. The increase in this parasitic contact resistance in series with circuit devices, such as FETs, degrades the circuit performance and therefore is undesirable. A further concern is the wide distribution in contact resistance (R.sub.c) that can occur over the large number of contact holes that are simultaneously etched, and is also very undesirable.
It is common practice in the semiconductor industry to interconnect the semiconductor devices by using multilayers of polycide formed from an electrical conductively doped polysilicon layer and a top silicide layer, and by patterned metal layers to complete the electrical connections on integrated circuits. Because of electrical device characteristics and temperature considerations, it is desirable to form the gate electrodes for FETs and the next level of electrical interconnections (local interconnections) from a patterned first and second level of polycide layers. An InterLevel Dielectric (ILD) layer, such as a silicon oxide (SiO.sub.2) is used between the patterned polycide layers to electrically insulate the various levels of patterned polycide layers. Contact holes are etched in the ILD layer to electrically interconnect the first and second polycide layers. On Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI), the number of contacts now well exceeds a million, and it is important to have consistently low and tight distributions of the contact resistance (R.sub.c).
This high contact resistance problem is of particular concern on DRAM chips between the two patterned tungsten polycide (silicide (WSi.sub.x)/polysilicon) layers used to form the FET gate electrodes and the local interconnections on the peripheral circuits of the DRAM chip, while concurrently forming the bit lines from the second polycide layer in the DRAM cell areas.
Unfortunately, when the contact holes are etched in the dielectric layer to the first polycide layer, and when the second polycide layer is deposited, it is difficult to achieve consistently low contact resistance. This high contact resistance results from the native oxide that rapidly forms on the WSi.sub.x of the first polycide layer in the contact openings prior to depositing the second polycide layer. For example, contacts having minimum feature sizes of 0.5 um or less can have contact resistance that exceeds 193 Kohms, which are essentially electrical opens.
One prior art method of reducing the contact resistance between the polycide layers in the peripheral circuits on a DRAM chip is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the sequence of process steps for making these low contact resistance interconnections involves providing a substrate 10, forming a field oxide (FOX) 12 to isolate the memory cell device areas as shown in portion A of FIG. 1, and for the peripheral circuit device areas as shown in portion B of FIG. 1. Next, a gate oxide 14 is formed on all the device areas. Then a doped first polysilicon layer 16 and a first silicide layer 18 are deposited and patterned to form a first polycide layer (16 and 18) for the FETs on the substrate 10 for the DRAM pass transistors, and word lines (portion A), while concurrently forming the FETs and parts of the local interconnections in the peripheral area (portion B). Lightly doped source/drain areas 17(N.sup.-) for the FETs are then formed by implanting a dopant, and a conformal insulating layer is deposited and anisotropically etched back to form insulating sidewall spacers 20 on the FET gate electrodes. Next, a second ion implantation is used to complete the source/drain contact areas 19(N.sup.+). An InterLevel Dielectric (ILD) layer 22 is deposited and planarized to insulate the underlying devices (FETs). Contact openings 2 are etched in the ILD layer 22 for the bit lines in the memory cell areas (portion A), and contact openings 3 and 4 are etched in the ILD layer to the substrate and to the first polycide layer, respectively, at the DRAM chip edge (portion B, FIG. 1) for the peripheral circuits. However, to minimize contact resistance, as shown in FIG. 1, the traditional approach is to use an additional photoresist mask (not shown) and an additional etching step to remove the first silicide layer 18 in the contact openings 4 to reduce the contact resistance that would otherwise result from the rapid oxidation of the WSi.sub.x prior to depositing the second polycide layer.
Now as shown in FIG. 2, the bit lines and the local interconnections are completed by depositing an electrically conducting doped second polysilicon layer 24 and a second WSi.sub.x layer 26 to form the second polycide layer. The second polycide layer (24 and 26) is then patterned to form the bit lines 5 in the memory cell area (portion A) and the local interconnections 6 and 7 in the peripheral device area (portion B).
Numerous methods have been reported for making integrated circuits with reduced contact resistance. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,395 by Shue et al. a method for making low resistance self-aligned titanium silicide structures for FET gate electrodes is described. A metastable phase of titanium silicide is deposited by CVD and a titanium layer is deposited and a rapid thermal anneal (RTA) is used to convert the silicide to a stable, low resistance silicide. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,882 to Kao et al., a method for making self-aligned contacts and local interconnections in CMOS circuits using Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) is described. The method employs two RTA steps: a first RTA to activate the N.sup.+ dopant in the diffused devices, and a second RTA to form the conventional salicide process. Cheng et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,728,615, teach a method of making polysilicon resistors with more uniform resistance. The method employs a thermal step to more uniformly distribute and equalize the hydrogen in the polysilicon resistor. U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,454 to Wu describes a method for making a tungsten silicide gate electrode using a stacked amorphous silicon (SAS) multilayer structure. The method incorporates conductive plugs, such as tungsten, to contact the FET source/drain and gate electrode. Also in U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,078 to Tseng, a method is described for making improved metal bit lines to underlying polycide structures. The method overetches the contact opening in the insulator to the underlying patterned silicide layer to expose the edges and thereby increase contact area and reduce the contact resistance. None of the above cited references addresses the problem of reducing the high contact resistance R.sub.c resulting from the unwanted native oxide at a polycide/polycide interface while concurrently making bit lines on a DRAM chip.
Therefore, there is still a need in the semiconductor industry to reduce the contact resistance between tungsten polycide layers, while reducing the number of processing steps on DRAM chips.

Method of making local interconnections for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuits with reduced contact resistance and reduced mask set

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation


Methods for forming particulates that are highly consistent with regard to shape, size, and content are described. Particulates are suitable for use as reference materials. Methods can incorporate actinides and/or lanthanides, e.g., uranium, and can be used for forming certified reference materials for use in the nuclear industry. Methods include formation of an aerosol from an oxalate salt solution, in-line diagnostics, and collection of particles of the aerosol either in a liquid impinger or on a solid surface.

Monodisperse particles with known isotopics and uniform particle size, shape, and content are extensively used in a variety of applications, including instrument calibration, filter testing, particle deposition studies, health effect studies, and other fundamental research applications. For instance, Certified Reference Material (CRM) particulates are an integral part of quality assurance and quality control of analytical measurements. The quality control of analytical methodologies, including instrument and method validation, as well as the assurance of the quality of reported results, requires the use of precise and accurately characterized reference materials.
CRMs play a particularly important role in providing adequate nuclear safeguards. Individual particle analysis of nuclear materials is an important tool in nuclear safeguards and nuclear forensics. The application of safeguards measures by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) involves analytical measurements of samples of particles in the sub-micrometer to micrometer range taken during inspection of nuclear facilities. Different techniques are utilized for particle discrimination and characterization, including scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), mass spectrometric methods such as laser ablation-multi-collector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS), large geometry secondary ionization mass spectrometry (LG-SIMS), and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). Constant development and advancement of such analytical techniques is required to improve safeguards measures and a key to such development and advancement is the availability of suitable CRM to assure accuracy of the techniques.
Unfortunately, the availability of reference materials with precisely defined characteristics, such as the number of uranium and/or plutonium atoms per particle, size, density, chemical form, and elemental and isotopic composition, is very limited. Available reference materials include metallic specimens, UF6 gaseous samples, oxide powders, or uranium and/or plutonium containing solutions with different isotopic compositions. Such materials are often lacking in consistency with regard to the amount of fissile material per particle, as well as with regard to shape, size distribution, morphology, and microcrystallinity of the materials.
In an attempt to address such issues, and for quality control purposes, the IAEA has implemented a dedicated initiative to enhance current analytical capabilities by encouraging the development and production of tailor-made reference materials for the analysis of uranium isotope signatures in single particles. In addition to uranium-only-containing particles, the IAEA requires mixed-elemental composition particulate materials with specific isotopic compositions.
What are needed are state of the art methods for production of particulates exhibiting high consistency with regard to shape, size, and content. More specifically, what are needed are methods for production of particulates suitable for use as certified reference materials and in particular, for use as certified reference materials in the nuclear industry.

Manufacture of particulate reference materials


Provided is a driving circuit, system, and driving method for a gyro sensor. The gyro sensor driving circuit includes a charge/voltage conversion unit receiving a charge output from a vibration-type gyro sensor and converting the charge output into a voltage signal; a phase converting unit receiving a signal from the charge/voltage converting unit and converting a phase of the received signal; a pulse generating unit receiving an output signal of the phase converting unit and outputting the output signal as a pulse wave; a pulse converting unit converting the pulse wave output from the pulse generating unit into a pulse signal using a certain voltage level as reference so as to apply the pulse wave as a driving signal; and a control unit controlling the pulse converting unit to generate the pulse signal using the certain voltage level as reference.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving circuit, system, and driving method for a gyro sensor, and more particularly, to a gyro sensor driving circuit for driving a vibration-type gyro sensor, a gyro sensor system including the same, and a gyro sensor driving method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gyro sensors, which detect an angular velocity, are widely used for attitude control of aircrafts, rockets and robots, vibration compensation of cameras and telescopes, anti-slide and anti-rotation systems of vehicles, navigation systems, and so on. In recent times, gyro sensors are also mounted on smartphones to enhance applicability thereof.
Gyro sensors are classified into various types such as a rotary-type, a vibration-type, a fluid-type, an optical-type, and so on. The vibration-type gyro sensors are currently used for mobile products. The vibration-type gyro sensors may be generally classified into two types, a piezoelectric-type and a capacitance-type. Currently-used vibration-type gyro sensors are mostly applied to a capacitance-type comb structure, and partially applied to the piezoelectric-type.
The piezoelectric-type gyro sensor generally detects a magnitude of angular velocity by Coriolis' Force. Since a large signal magnitude can be obtained under the condition of vibration at a resonance frequency magnitude of mass, a driving circuit is very important.
A conventional driving method is a method of receiving a signal of a charge amplifier, in which a charge of a vibration-type sensor is converted into a voltage, to change a phase of the signal by 90° at a phase shifter, and amplifying the signal to apply a voltage to the vibration-type sensor again. Conventionally, the method is classified as a method of amplifying a signal at a final stage to apply the signal in a sine waveform, or a method of applying a signal in a pulse. Of course, while the signal is applied in a pulse, an output of the vibration-type sensor is represented in a sine waveform.
Conventionally, a sensor output is determined by combining a driving signal portion and a gyro signal component portion. However, when the driving signal portion is too large, the sensor may be malfunctioned or the signal may be saturated, a sensor signal cannot be appropriately detected. Accordingly, a driving signal level should be adjusted so that the signal is not saturated.

Driving circuit, system, and driving method for gyro sensor


Computerized systems, methods, kits, and computer-readable media storing code for implementing the methods are provided for interacting with a physical object in an augmented reality (AR) environment generated by an AR system. One such system includes: a plurality of neuromuscular sensors able to sense a plurality of neuromuscular signals from a user, and at least one computer processor. The neuromuscular sensors are arranged on one or more wearable devices worn by the user to sense the neuromuscular signals. The at least one computer processor is or are programmed to: determine, based at least in part, on the neuromuscular signals sensed by the neuromuscular sensors, information about an interaction of the user with the physical object in the AR environment generated by the AR system; and instruct the AR system to provide feedback based, at least in part, on the information about the interaction of the user with the physical object.

AR systems provide users with an interactive experience of a real-world environment supplemented with virtual information by overlaying computer-generated perceptual or virtual information on aspects of the real-world environment. Various techniques exist for controlling operations of an AR system. Typically, one or more input devices, such as a controller, a keyboard, a mouse, a camera, a microphone, and the like, may be used to control operations of the AR system. Physical objects in the real-world environment may be annotated with visual indicators within an AR environment generated by the AR system. The visual indicators may provide a user of the AR system with information about the physical objects.

Use of neuromuscular signals to provide enhanced interactions with physical objects in an augmented reality environment


The invention provides a method for assisting handover of a communication session associated with a UT from a first radio access point, AP1, to a second radio access point, AP2, in a radio access network, said method to be carried out by said AP1 and comprising the steps of:—receiving a handover intention notify message comprising a session identifier identifying said session and indicating that said UT intends to perform a session handover,—assigning said session a buffer memory space in a memory of said AP1,—buffering downlink data packets addressed to said UT in said buffer memory as a response on receiving said handover intention notify message. The invention further provides a UT, an AP1, AP2, an AR, and software program/s co-operating and/or realizing the method according to the invention. The invention provides a smoother handover.

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic network architecture of a conventional radio access network 100, in form of a wireless local area network, WLAN, comprising a first access point AP1 110, a second access point AP2 120, and an Access Router, AR 150. The WLAN 100 may be connected to other network/s 160 such as e.g. the Internet and/or a UTRAN (Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network). In FIG. 1, AP1 110 and AP2 120 are connected with AR 150 via Multicast-enabled Layer 2 Switches, M-L2S1 130 and M-L2S2 135, respectively, but many other possibilities exist. The APs may e.g. be connected directly to AR 150 without any intermediate M-L2Ss, or they may be connected to the same M-L2S which in turn is connected to AR 150. Since the Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) protocol is used for most of the WLAN access points today as layer 2 protocol to communicate with fixed network infrastructure, an M-L2S is identical with an Ethernet switch. A User Terminal, UT, 140 having a communication session, e.g. a data session or a Voice over IP session with a peer connected to the network 160 (e.g. Internet or UTRAN), routed via AP1, 110, normally performs a handover of the session from AP1, 110, to AP2, 120, whenever a certain handover criterion is fulfilled. The criterion is normally a function of the offered radio link quality and/or QoS (quality of service) of AP11 10 and AP2 120, respectively, so that the UT's 140 communication session will be routed through the access point offering the highest/best radio link quality/QoS, in a conventional manner. However, the handover criterion may be based on other aspects e.g. regarding accounting, security etc.
General problems regarding effective handover schemes for radio access networks relate e.g. to data loss minimization, interference suppression, packet delay minimization and to minimize network signaling.
More specifically, for the WLAN in FIG. 1 exploiting the IEEE 802 standard, the establishment of a security association between the UT 140 and a target AP, i.e. AP2 120 in case of a handover from AP1 110 to AP2 120 in FIG. 1, when applying a standard EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) authentication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11i security specification may pose a crucial issue regarding the caused interruption time, i.e. it may cause unacceptable packet delay/loss for real time applications such as voice and/or video. Such an authentication is carried out after that the UT 140 has been successfully associated with the new AP (AP2 120 according to above example), and the radio link connectivity between UT 140 and the old AP (AP1, 110) is thus already aborted. During the period between the initiation of association with a new target AP (AP2, 120) and completion of the EAP authentication and installation of the security parameters at the new target AP, no data (e.g. IP-) packets can be exchanged between UT 140 and AR 150 over the WLAN transmission path, which of-course constitutes a problem.
Another problem associated with the handover of TCP-sessions in radio access networks is that received packets being out of order will be retransmitted, which increases the radio interference, and the transmission rate may also be tuned down as a consequence, since the TCP interprets packets being out of order as a network congestion state.

Handover optimisation in a WLAN radio access network


Feature biassing applied to phase shifting masks is used to improve the exposure latitude and depth of focus of an optical projection imaging system. Making the phase shifters absorptive facilitates a phase shifting mask system for arbitrary layouts. Combining phase shifters of different levels of absorption further enhance the improvements. Even more enhancement can be gained by combining biassing with absorption levels.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to masks for lithography and more particularly to phase-shift masks for use in photolithography.
2. Description of Related Art
In photolithography, masks are employed to expose a pattern upon a work piece. As manufacturing requirements call for exposure of patterns with smaller and smaller dimensions, it is becoming necessary to employ techniques which permit enhancement of the current performance of the process of photolithography. One trend has been to use electromagnetic energy with shorter wavelengths in the UV wavelengths, x-rays and the like. An alternative approach is to use phase-shifting techniques in the ranges of wavelengths used in photolithography in the past.
The phase-shifting technique can improve the resolution of coherent or partially coherent optical imaging systems. It has been shown that the normalized resolution k.sub.1 can be reduced from 0.7 to 0.35 to improve lithography by two generations.
Use of phase shifting techniques with masks in optical microlithography systems has been shown to improve projected images. These phase-shifting techniques have been practiced in various configurations.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate the alternative-element (Alt) phase-shifting method which involves shifting every other one of the adjacent transparent elements. FIG. 1A shows a binary intensity mask (BIM) and FIG. 1B shows a phase-shifting mask (PSM). In particular, in both FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B the glass 10 is coated with an array of chrome elements 12 separated by spaces 11 and 13. In FIG. 1B, a phase-shifter layer 14 is deposited in space 13 between two adjacent ones of the elements 12 upon the exposed glass 10 leaving an exposed space 11 in the other space between the adjacent elements 12. It can be seen that the value of E, the amplitude of the electric field of the electromagnetic radiation, at both the mask and the wafer is reversed to a negative value beneath the phase-shifter layer 14 in FIG. 1B from that in the corresponding position in FIG. 1A. In FIG. 1B, the intensity I of portions of the curves at 11''' and 13''' at the wafer is significantly changed in that the contrast is enhanced beneath the two spaces 11 and 13. The values of the electric field E at the mask 11' and 13' are beneath the spaces 11 and 13 as are the values 11" and 13" for the electric field E at the wafer.
Another prior art design, called Subresolution-assisted (SA) PSM involves addition of phase-shifted subresolution elements to isolated transparent features as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Both techniques suffer from not being applicable to an arbitrary mask layout which consists of many features other than closely packed or isolated transparent features. FIG. 3A shows a substrate 30 carrying an absorber 31 carrying a phase-shifter 32 beyond the absorber 31. We refer below to the technique employed here using a projection beyond the absorber as the rim PSM technique. If the absorber 31 were not used, phase shifter light of a large negative amplitude creates unwanted bright images. The absorber 31 blocks the unwanted part of the phase-shifted light to eliminate the unwanted bright spots at the center of the phase-shifted features. On the right side of FIG. 3A, a conventional absorber 33 is shown adjacent to the absorber 31. FIGS. 3B and 3C are aligned with FIG. 3A to show the relative results of the differences in the masks on the left and right. FIG. 3B shows the electric field E at the mask for the structure of FIG. 3A.
FIG. 3C shows the intensity at the wafer for the structure of FIG. 3A. Curve 34 shows what the intensity I would be without absorber 31. Curve 35 shows how it is reduced below blocker 31, with no change elsewhere.
This rim PSM technique applies to all features on any mask. However, optical proximity effects are enhanced. That is, the different features now require a larger difference in exposure to print the same feature size with an identical tolerance, as shown in the Exposure-Defocus (E-D) diagrams of k.sub.2 as a function of exposure dosage drawn in log scale in FIG. 5 which relate to teachings in an article by Burn J. Lin, "Partially Coherent Imaging in Two Dimensions and the Limits of Projection Printing in Microfabrication", IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. ED-27, pp. 931-938 (1980) and Burn Jeng Lin, "A Comparison of Projection and Proximity Printings--From UV to X-ray" Microelectronic Engineering Vol. 11, (1990), pp. 137-145.
Yet another prior art design is shown in FIG. 4 where there is no absorber. Only the phase shifter 41, 42, 43 on substrate 40 carry the burden of patterning. The large phase shifter areas 42 are printed everywhere inside and outside the features except at the edge, where due to the large phase transition, large dark line images 42''' are produced. In the small areas 41, the edges are sufficiently close to each other so that a completely dark feature 41''' is created. Large dark images 43''' can be produced by grouping many subresolution phase shifter features 43 closely together. Here, because the phase shifters are completely transparent as opposed to the attenuated PSM to be described in the invention, this particular PSM system is called unattenuated (Utt) PSM.
The problem solved by this invention is that poor image contrast and shallow depth of focus result when steppers ar used beyond their limits.

Feature biassing and absorptive phase-shifting techniques to improve optical projection imaging

International Business Machines Corporation


The fluid catalytic cracking process according to the present invention includes a first step of feeding a feedstock to a first fluid catalytic cracker, and catalytically cracking the feedstock in the first fluid catalytic cracker, so as to produce a fraction (LCO) having a boiling range of 221 to 343° C. and having a total aromatic content of 40 to 80 volume %; and a second step of feeding an oil to be processed containing the fraction to a second fluid catalytic cracker having a reaction zone, a separation zone, a stripping zone, and a regeneration zone, and catalytically cracking the oil in the reaction zone of the second fluid catalytic cracker, in the presence of a cracking catalyst, at an outlet temperature of the reaction zone of 550 to 750° C., a contact time between the oil and the catalyst of 0.1 to 1 second, and a catalyst/oil ratio of 20 to 40 wt/wt.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid catalytic cracking process for heavy oils and the like, and to a gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas obtained by the process.
Related Background Art
Research is being conducted on techniques to convert heavy oils produced in crude oil refining processes to gasoline of higher value. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-46160 (which will be referred to as "document 1" hereafter) discloses a fluid catalytic cracking process which includes a combination of general heavy oil fluid catalytic cracking with extremely severe heavy oil fluid catalytic cracking, in order to produce gasoline and light olefins from heavy oils in high yield.

Fluid catalytic cracking process, and gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas obtained by the process


Embodiments describe a method for positioning a hinged vehicle including a primary part and a secondary part coupled to the primary part at a project site. The method includes receiving, from an image capturing device, digital image data representing one or more features of the secondary part; performing image analysis on the digital image data to identify positions of the one or more features of the secondary part; identifying an angle of at least a portion of the secondary part; calculating a current position of the secondary part based on the angle; calculating a positional difference between a correct position at the project site for the secondary part and a current position of the secondary part at the project site; and initiating a change in a position of the primary part to compensate for the positional difference and to position the secondary part on the correct position.

Large hinged vehicles like tractor trailers, articulated machines, and implements, e.g., construction tools, farming tools, and the like, that are coupled to a vehicle, are used for various purposes at project sites and farming plantations. Such vehicles often include two parts: a primary part (e.g., vehicle) and a secondary part (e.g., a trailer or implement) that are coupled together by a hinge. The primary part can be an active component that can move on its own, and the secondary part can be either a passive component that cannot move on its own (e.g., a plow implement), or an active component (e.g., a drum of a compactor that is hydraulically driven by its own steering system). As an example, a tractor coupled to a plow implement can push or pull the implement across a farm to plow the land, deposit seeds, water the seeds, and the like. Because the vehicle is coupled to the implement by a hinge, the position of the implement has a degree of positional independence with respect to the vehicle. Accordingly, it may be difficult to position the implement with high accuracy during operation, especially when the underlying surface on which the implement and vehicle are positioned is uneven and/or sloped. Thus, improvements to positional accuracy with such hinged vehicles are desired.

Pose estimation and applications using computer imaging


In a hot-dip zinc-coated steel sheet exhibiting excellent press die sliding characteristics and obtained by performing a molten galvanization and then skin pass rolling on a surface of the steel sheet, a galvanized layer has a three-dimensional average surface roughness ranging from 0.7 .mu.m to 1.4 .mu.m, and a skewness (S) of the amplitude probability distribution of the surface roughness, which is defined by the following equation (1), ranging from 0.1 to -0.3: EQU S=.mu..sub.3 /.sigma..sup.3 (1). where. .mu..sub.3 : Three-dimensional moment of the amplitude probability density PA0 .sigma.: Standard deviation of the amplitude probability density.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hot-dip zinc-coated steel sheet, particularly, a galvannealed steel sheet which is suitable for use as an anti-corrosive steel sheet for automobiles and which exhibits an excellent press formability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a steel sheet is formed into an automobile car body by press forming it is important to consider the sliding characteristics of the steel sheet with respect to the press die. That is, when the sliding characteristics of the steel sheet deteriorate, the flow of the steel sheet into the press die is restricted, which will lead to a fracture of steel sheet material.
Particularly, when a hot-dip zinc-coated steel sheet has a zinc layer on the surface thereof, the sliding resistance thereof with respect to the die during press forming is larger than that of a cold rolled steel sheet, and the sliding characteristics thereof are relatively poor.
In a galvannealed steel sheet, in order to prevent peel-off of a galvannealed layer due to deformation of the steel sheet resulting from press forming, the degree of galvannealing is restricted to a low level to have the iron content of the galvannealed layer relatively low. Therefore, the sliding characteristics of the galvannealed layer with respect to the press die are negatively affected, and a material fracture often occurs during pressing. To eliminate such a problem, it has been proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 3-82746 to plate the galvannealed steel sheet with an alloy layer mainly consisting of Fe (iron) plating and thereby improve the sliding characteristics of the galvannealed layer with respect to the press die. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 3-162492, it has been proposed to coat the galvannealed steel sheet with rust-preventatives or press oil exhibiting an excellent lubrication property and thereby promote flow of the material.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 1-242765 discloses a steel sheet having a flat top portion which is 30 to 90% of the overall area on the surface thereof. The steel sheet exhibits an excellent press formability, as good as a plated steel sheet which has been subjected to an iron type plating.
However, adjustment of the surface roughness alone is not enough to improve the sliding characteristics of the steel sheet. Fe type plating conducted with an alloy layer, mainly consisting of iron, conducted on the steel sheet increases the cost of the material and affects chemical conversion as well as painting properties. Thus, application of such a plating on the entirety of a steel sheet for an automobile car body is not recommendable. Furthermore, since most of the rust preventatives or press oils which exhibit an excellent lubrication property cannot be readily removed, they may make the work in subsequent processes a troublesome one. The use of such a lubricant on some of the parts may be inhibited.
Thus, development of means for improving the press die sliding characteristics of the hot-dip zinc-coated steel sheet which eliminates problems involving the sliding characteristics during press forming when a normal rust-preventative or wash oil is used while restricting an increase in the material cost has been desired.
The sliding characteristics of the steel sheet with respect to the press die during press forming are affected by the properties and shape of the surface of the steel sheet as well as the lubrication effect obtained by using, for example, a press oil, a rust-preventative or a wash oil which is applied to the steel sheet. To improve the sliding property of the steel sheet, the general practice has been to utilize the lubrication effect of the liquid, such as a press oil or a rust-preventative, which is retained between the steel sheet and the press die by controlling the shape of the surface of the steel sheet. It is considered that in order to obtain the aforementioned lubrication effect, an increase in the average surface roughness (SRa) of the steel sheet is advantageous. However, excessive increases in SRa not only degrade the appearance of the steel sheet which has been subjected to coating but makes the lubricating effect nonuniform, deteriorating the press formability of the steel sheet or deforming the pressed part. Thus, an increase in the surface roughness alone of the steel sheet is not enough to obtain sufficient lubricating effect.

Galvannealed steel sheets exhibiting excellent press die sliding property


Interlayer films useful for laminated glass contain a polyvinyl acetal (A), at least on plasticizer (B), fumed silica (C) and at least one basic compound (D), wherein the difference of refractive index between fumed silica (C) and plasticized polyvinyl acetal (A+B) is 0.015 or less, and the weight ratio of C/(A+B) is 2.7-60/100.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interlayer film containing silica with specific refractive index to provide such film with improved mechanical properties at low haze.
2. Description of the Related Art
Interlayer films for laminated glazing are long known in the art and mostly produced from plasticized polyvinyl butyral by an extrusion process. Nearly all windshields for cars or airplanes are produced from laminated glazing; in addition laminated glazing is often used as safety glazing for architectural applications.
To control the adhesion of the interlayer film in laminated glazing, a lot of research has been done. Besides the use of special plasticizer or adhesion control agents, the addition of filler materials such as inorganic compounds, especially silica has been proposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,467,342 describes the addition of colloidal silica to polyvinyl acetal resins to cast films. The colloidal silica disclosed in this publication must be in sol form in order to produce a clear film without haze. These casting processes are not a useful for the industrial production of polyvinyl acetal films.
EP 0 227 633 discloses the use of silica as nucleating agent in interlayer films for fire resistant laminated glazing. This interlayer film comprises a plasticizer, an organic phosphate as a char-forming component, and silica as a nucleating agent. In order to prevent undesirable haze of the interlayer film due to the addition of silica, only silica having a refractive index within ±0.03 of the plasticized formulation can be used. The refractive index of the plasticized formulation depends largely on the plasticizer composition, which includes organic phosphates. Therefore only certain combinations of silica and plasticizer mixtures are usable and disclosed in this publication. Organic phosphates are no longer used as plasticizer due to environmental concerns.
Fumed silica like the disclosed Cab-O-Sil M5 show refractive indices nD of 1.460, whereas PVB-films using the common non-aromatic plasticizer in standard amounts show refractive indices nD close to 1.482 at 20° C. In order to avoid an unacceptable haze value, EP 0227633teaches to use only small amounts of silica (at most 2.5% by weight based on the film) and silica with a small difference in refractive indices with the PVB. The mechanical properties of interlayer films are nearly unaffected by the addition of such low amounts of silica. The addition of large amounts of silica according to EP 0 227 633 would lead to an unacceptable haze value due to the difference in refractive indices.
In addition, the refractive index of interlayer film varies with temperature, for example between 10° C. to 50° C., refractive indices nD between 1.486 and 1.470 can be measured. Laminated glazing should be transparent over a broad range of temperature. The disclosed combinations of silica and plasticizer are not suitable for applications which are subject to temperature changes like cars or buildings, since below 20° C., the difference in refractive indices between silica and the interlayer film will even increase. It is therefore important to match the refractive index of the fumed silica as much as possible with the refractive index of the interlayer film at moderate temperatures like 20° C. in order to balance the increase of haze at higher and lower temperatures.
EP 1 042 121 discloses the use of small amounts of fumed silica in polyvinyl butyral films to enhance the adhesion between interlayer film and glass. In order to maintain the haze of the interlayer film in an acceptable range, only 0.001 to 0.25% by weight of silica is added to the plasticized polyvinyl butyral. By adding such small amounts of silica, no effect on the mechanical properties such as the tensile strength of the interlayer film can be detected.
JP11-060290 discloses the addition of silica and other metal oxides to polyvinyl acetal in combination with the metal salt of a carboxylic acid with 5 to 25 carbon atoms. In this publication, an upper limit of 0.5% by weight of silica is proposed in order to increase the adhesion of an interlayer film to glass and at the same time maintain an acceptable haze value. If used in the disclosed amounts, silica has practically no effect on the mechanical properties of the interlayer film.
Most of the published literature addresses the problem that by adding silica to plasticized polyvinyl acetals, the resulting interlayer films will obtain an unacceptable haze value for optical applications. Whether this unwanted haze value is due to the silica particles themselves or due to higher moisture sensitivity remains unclear.
So far, only small amounts of silica have been used to increase the adhesion between glass and interlayer film if at the same time an opaque appearance of the interlayer film has to be avoided. Furthermore, if silica is used in higher amounts than those described by the above-mentioned publications, not only unacceptable haze values but also discoloration of the film may result due to the acid properties of the silica. Acidic conditions will lead to partial degradation of the acid sensitive PVB-polymer at the high temperatures used for PVB-film extrusion.

Interlayer films for laminated glazing containing silica with specific refractive index


Preventives/remedies for voiding disturbance containing a compound having both of an acetylcholinesterase inhibitory action and an α1 antagonistic action which exhibits an excellent effect of improving the urinary function of the bladder (i.e., effects of improving urine flow rate and voiding efficiency) without affecting the urinary pressure or the blood pressure.

Lower urinary tract disease is a generic term for subjective or objective abnormality during a process from storage of urine (urinary storage) to excretion of urine (urination), and is classified into urinary storage disturbance (urinary incontinence, voiding frequency etc.), and voiding disturbance (voiding difficulty, micturition pain, urinary tract obstruction etc.). Although lower urinary tract disease is also observed in young people, with progression of an aging society, lower urinary tract disease of the elderly, particularly, voiding disturbance, inter alia, voiding difficulty accompanied with benign prostatic hyperplasia has become a great social problem recently.
Urination is controlled by a peripheral nervous system composed of parasympathetic nerve such as pelvic nerve, sympathetic nerve such as hypogastric nerve and somatic nerve such as pudic nerve under control of micturition center, and it is suggested that various neurotransmitters (e.g. acetylcholine, noradrenaline, ATP, substance P, neuropeptide Y etc.) are involved in micturition.
As a therapeutic agent for voiding disturbance, in particular, voiding difficulty, a medicine for augmenting a contractile force of bladder muscle (detrusor muscle), or a medicine for relaxing urethral smooth muscle and alleviating urethra resistance is used. As a medicine which acts on bladder muscle and augments its contractile force, a choline agonist such as bethanechol, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitor such as distigmine are used. However, for example, bethanechol constricts also bladder muscle at a urinary storage stage and damages urinary storage function of bladder and, at the same time, has side effects such as lacrimation, sweating, gastrointestinal disorder, and bellyache and, therefore, is contraindicated to pregnant woman, digestive ulcer, organic ileus, asthma, and hyperthyroidism. Satisfactory medicines have not been found out yet.
As an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor having augmenting action of a bladder muscle contractile force, for example, distigmine and neostigmine are known. Since an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor potentiates an action of acetylcholine which is released from a pelvic nerve terminal during voiding, it augments the contraction of a bladder muscle during voiding, and is an excellent drug in view of physiological mechanism of voiding. However, for example, while distigmine contracts a bladder muscle, it contracts urethral sphincter muscle due to its strong nicotinic action and increases urethral resistance, resulting in a deteriorated voiding efficiency and insufficient clinical effect. Further, a risk of high pressure voiding is pointed out. In addition, since neostigmine has short-lasting action, it is not used in therapy (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).
As a medicine for relaxing urethra smooth muscle and alleviating urethral resistance, an α1 receptor antagonist such as tamsulosin, prazosin, alfuzosin, naftopidil and urapidil is used, and it is reported that the antagonist has the effect of improving subjective symptom such as residual urine feeling and nocturia. However, the antagonist has an antihypertensive effect such as orthostatic hypotension as side effect, and an attention must be paid to therapy.
On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used as a preventive or a therapeutic agent for voiding disturbance (voiding difficulty), and it is reported that a urine flow rate is considerably improved by using a combination of an α1 receptor antagonist and an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. However, concomitant use of two agents is not satisfactory in terms of therapy and therapeutic economy considering the burden of a patient to which agents are administered and the trouble of compounding and the like. In addition, a possibility that exacerbation of side effect and death accident might occur by drug interaction due to concomitant use is pointed out, and a sufficient attention must be paid thereto.
In addition, amine compound having various pharmacological activities are reported as follows:    (1) Patent Document 2 discloses, for example, compounds of the following formulas, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used as a therapeutic for Alzheimer-type dementia.
    (2) Patent Document 3 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as a σ ligand used as a therapeutic for central nervous disease.
    (3) Patent Document 4 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as a synthetic intermediate for a sulfur-containing compound.
    (4) Patent Document 5 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as a derivative of 4-aminobutyrophenones used as a tranquilizer.
    (5) Patent Document 6 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as a compound used as an antibacterial agent.
    (6) Patent Document 7 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as a 5-HT4 receptor ligand.
    (7) Non-Patent Document 2 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as a 5-HT4 receptor antagonist.
    (8) Patent Document 8 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as a compound having thermogenesis promoting activity and anti-obesity activity.
    (9) Patent Document 9 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor.
    (10) Patent Document 10 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used as a therapeutic for Alzheimer-type dementia.
    (11) Patent Document 11 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used as a therapeutic for Alzheimer-type dementia.
    (12) Patent Document 12 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as a compound used as a depressor or an antiarrhythmic.
    (13) Patent Document 13 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used as a therapeutic for Alzheimer-type dementia.
    (14) Patent Document 14 discloses, for example, a compound of the following formula, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used as a therapeutic for Alzheimer-type dementia.
    (15) Patent Document 15 discloses, for example, a compound having the following formula, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used as a therapeutic for Alzheimer-type dementia.
    (16) Patent Document 16 discloses, for example, a compound having the following formula, as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor used as a therapeutic for Alzheimer-type dementia.

However, a compound having both of an acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and an α1 receptor antagonistic activity and effect thereof as a preventive or a therapeutic agent for voiding disturbance (voiding difficulty) have not been reported, suggested or disclosed at all until now.
In addition, as a method for assessing a therapeutic agent for voiding disturbance accompanied with benign prostatic hyperplasia in vivo, for example, Non-Patent Documents 3 to 5 disclose a method for measuring reduction of intraurethral pressure due to drug administration using an animal loaded with phenylephrine. However, this method is a procedure for observing the change of intraurethral pressure, and can not measure a urine flow at that time.
On the other hand, as a method for assessing an intraurethral (intravesical) pressure and an urine flow at the same time, Pressure Flow Study is known. For example, there is a description regarding application of Pressure Flow Study to a human in Non-Patent Document 6. In addition, Non-Patent Documents 7 to 9 disclose Pressure Flow Study in an experimental animal. However, these Documents do not disclose a case using an animal model loaded with phenylephrine, and assessment of a therapeutic agent for voiding disturbance accompanied with benign prostatic hyperplasia can not be properly carried out.
[Non-Patent Document 1]
"Diagnosis and Therapy of Neurogenic Bladder" 2nd edition, Takamichi Hattori, Kosaku Yasuda, Igakushoin p.105–106, p.139
[Non-Patent Document 2]
Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 1995, vol.5, P.2119–2122
[Non-Patent Document 3]
The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 1999, vol.291, p.81
[Non-Patent Document 4]
The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2002. vol.300, p.487
[Non-Patent Document 5]
The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2002. vol.300, p.495
[Non-Patent Document 6]
The mechanics and hydrodynamics of the lower urinary tract, Medical physical handbooks. Bristol, 1980
[Non-Patent Document 7]
The Journal of Urology, 1995, vol.154, p.580
[Non-Patent Document 8]
American Journal of Physiology, 1995, vol.269, p.98
[Non-Patent Document 9]
Neurourology and Urodynamics, 1996, vol.15, p.513
[Patent Document 1]
EP-A 1118322
[Patent Document 2]
EP-A 562832
[Patent Document 3]
WO 95/131
[Patent Document 4]
GB 1489080
[Patent Document 5]
U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,312
[Patent Document 6]
WO 01/25227
[Patent Document 7]
WO 94/27965
[Patent Document 8]
WO 98/46590
[Patent Document 9]
JP-A 6-263733
[Patent Document 10]
EP-A 487071
[Patent Document 11]
EP-A 378207
[Patent Document 12]
EP-A 30044
[Patent Document 13]
EP-A 560235
[Patent Document 14]
EP-A 567090
[Patent Document 15]
EP-A 607864
[Patent Document 16]
EP-A 655451

Preventives/remedies for urinary disturbance