A BEOL thin-film resistor adapted for flexible integration rests on a first layer of ILD. The thickness of the first layer of ILD and the resistor thickness combine to match the nominal design thickness of vias in the layer of concern. A second layer of ILD matches the resistor thickness and is planarized to the top surface of the resistor. A third layer of ILD has a thickness equal to the nominal value of the interconnections on this layer. Dual damascene interconnection apertures and apertures for making contact with the resistor are formed simultaneously, with the etch stop upper cap layer in the resistor protecting the resistive layer while the vias in the dual damascene apertures are formed.

Workers in the field of integrated circuits have long fabricated thin-film resistors in the back end of an integrated circuit. In contrast to resistors located in the silicon substrate of the circuit, which suffer from relatively large parasitic capacitance to the substrate, back end resistors have much less parasitic capacitance, since they are placed vertically above the substrate. Hence, back end of the line (BEOL) resistors are ideal for high frequency RF circuitry applications.
BEOL thin-film resistors are deposited in layers of a material of known resistivity and having a well controlled thickness and therefore inherently have more accurate resistance values than front end resistors that are implanted in the substrate or polysilicon layer and annealed subsequently using rapid thermal annealing processing. The accuracy of the front end resistor is limited due to the inherit variations in thermal temperature control and ion implantation processing.
It is not enough that the resistor is fabricated with the benefits recited above, however. The process of forming the resistor must be integrated into the overall back end process. If the resistor had to be formed using a series of steps that were different from other steps in forming the back end, the cost of forming a resistor would be excessive.
In earlier and current work, e.g. the 180 nm node and above, integration of thin film resistors was straightforward. As the technology advances to the 90 nm node and then to the 65 nm and 45 nm nodes, however, integration will become more difficult because the thickness of the layers in the back end will decrease, making integration progressively more difficult.
The art could benefit from an integrated process for forming a thin-film resistor in the back end of an integrated circuit that is effective for thin layers of interlevel dielectric (ILD) in the back end structure.

Integrated thin-film resistor with direct contact

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to compound antifoams comprising alkoxylated partial esters--using from 3 to 60 mol of propylene oxide with or without from 1 to 10 mol of styrene oxide and/or from 1 to 10 mol of butylene oxide--of oligoglycerols, obtainable by condensation of 2 to 20 glycerol molecules, with C.sub.8 to C.sub.22 fatty acids and inorganic or organic solids for defoaming polymer dispersions and aqueous coating systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to compound antifoams comprising alkoxylated partial esters of oligoglycerols, obtainable by condensation of 2 to 20 glycerol molecules, with C.sub.8 to C.sub.22 fatty acids and inorganic or organic solids for defoaming polymer dispersions and aqueous coating systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many industrial processes, surface-active substances are employed in a targeted manner in order to obtain particular effects. For instance, aqueous coating materials require a range of auxiliaries, examples including emulsifiers to emulsify the water-insoluble binders, or additives to improve substrate wetting and pigment dispersion. An undesirable side effect of these surface-active substances, however, is that they stabilize, in the form of foam, the air introduced in the course of preparation or application.
The use of silicone oils, especially dimethylpolysiloxanes of low to medium viscosity, for defoaming aqueous solutions or dispersions is known and is described, for example, in the book by W. Noll "Chemie und Technologie der Silicone" [Chemistry and Technology of the Silicones]. To improve the defoaming action of organosilicon antifoams and/or those based on mineral oil it is common to add highly disperse inorganic or organic substances, especially silicas produced generally by the pyrogenic method (DE-C-10 67 003, DE-A-19 14 684). The use of polyoxyalkylene-polysiloxane copolymers as antifoams is likewise known (U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,021).
These prior art formulations comprising silicone oils or polyoxyalkylene-polysiloxane copolymers are suitable to a greater or lesser extent for preventing the formation of foam in polymer dispersions or aqueous coating systems or for destroying existing foam. It has been found, however, that aqueous coating systems to which formulations of this kind have been added have disadvantages which are attributable to the addition of these antifoams.
It has been found in particular that high-gloss emulsion paints to which polysiloxanes, polyoxyalkylene-polysiloxane copolymers or formulations based on mineral oil have been added to remove foam, exhibit a variety of wetting defects, and also reduce gloss, when they are applied to surfaces. These defects are manifested in nonuniform wetting of the substrate, and lead to the formation of coatings of irregular thickness and, in extreme cases, to coatings containing defect sites of varying extent.
Moreover, the use of silicone-based products in aqueous coating systems often provokes problems of interlayer adhesion; when used in dipping tanks, it is difficult to avoid the occurrence of craters over a prolonged period; and, in application processes that are followed by catalytic post-combustion, the service life of the catalysts is reduced.
In addition, the use of products based on mineral oil is in many cases inopportune. In addition to the physiological and ecological risks, these carrier oils reduce--in aqueous media, for example--the degree of gloss of emulsion paints or lead, in flexographic printing inks, to unwanted swelling of the flexographic plates.
DE-A-36 36 086 describes fatty acid esters of polyglycerol polyglycol ethers that are obtained by conventional reaction of polyglycerols with ethylene oxide and propylene oxide and by esterifying the resulting alkylene oxide adduct with fatty acids, using from 2 to 15 mol of ethylene oxide, from 10 to 60 mol of propylene oxide and from 1 to 3 mol of fatty acid per mole of hydroxyl groups present in the polyglycerol. In aqueous coating systems, however, the foam prevention properties of these products are inadequate because it is not possible to obtain the necessary long-term action in the paint.

Compound antifoams for defoaming polymer dispersions and aqueous coating systems


A user's ability to spend and/or receive funds for payment accounts maintained in an electronic wallet are limited. These limitations include restrictions on where the user is able to spend the funds in a payment account (e.g., at which merchants the funds can be spent, whether the funds can be withdrawn from an ATM, etc.). These limitations may also include restrictions on what other payment accounts the user can receive funds from and/or transfer funds to, thereby limiting person-to-person fund transfers.

As computer systems throughout the world are becoming increasingly connected via the Internet, the uses for the Internet are similarly expanding. One rapidly growing use of the Internet is for electronic commerce, where merchants make goods and/or services available for purchase "on-line" via the Internet. Such purchases may be delivered via the Internet (e.g., software downloaded from the merchant to the purchaser's computer) or alternatively delivered via more traditional in-person routes (e.g., mailing a product using the postal service).
Although the types and sources of goods and/or services available for purchase on-line have increased, difficulties have been encountered in providing a way for users to pay for these purchases. One solution is to provide an electronic wallet for each user where he or she can store account and address information for multiple different types of accounts, such as credit cards, debit cards, gift certificates, rebates, etc. One such solution is described in co-pending application Ser. No. 09/675,466, entitled "Integrating Payment accounts And An Electronic Wallet", to Arnold Blinn, Joseph Coco, and Greg Marks.
However, problems can be encountered when using electronic wallets because there is typically little or no ability to restrict the usage of accounts identified in the wallet. While a credit card stored in a wallet could be spent at any location that accepts this credit card, it may be desirable for other types of accounts to be restricted in how they can be spent. It would be desirable, for example, for a gift certificate account to be redeemable only at a restricted set of merchants. If the gift certificate account is a new payment account mechanism this restriction can be built into the protocol for redemption of the gift certificate. However, a gift certificate account may be based on a credit card network (e.g. Visa®) and credit card account numbering format (e.g., based on a Visa® card format). Although the giver of the gift certificate may wish that the recipient use the gift certificate at only certain merchants, if the gift certificate is based on the Visa® account number format there is typically nothing preventing the recipient from using the gift certificate anywhere that a Visa® card is accepted.
The invention described below addresses these disadvantages, providing restricted usage of payment accounts.

Method and system for restricting the usage of payment accounts


Modular home framing systems include a plurality of elongate rectangular vertical frame members, a plurality of elongate rectangular horizontal frame members, a plurality of connectors, and a plurality of fastening members, each of the plurality of fastening members configured to fasten any of the plurality of connectors to any of the plurality of vertical frame members and any of the plurality of horizontal frame members to any of plurality of connectors.

The present disclosure relates generally to modular housing framing systems and components. In particular, modular house framing systems including components that can be releasably installed in various orientations and configurations are described.
Known modular housing framing systems and components are not entirely satisfactory for the range of applications in which they are employed. For example, existing modular housing framing systems and components include complex assembly processes that often requiring power tools and complex assembly processes. In addition, conventional modular housing framing systems and components cannot be releasably attached such that the components may be disassembled for reassembly in another location and/or additional framing components attached to an existing modular house frame.
Thus, there exists a need for modular housing framing systems and components that improve upon and advance the design of known modular housing framing systems. Examples of new and useful modular housing framing systems and components relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.


A rotary atomizing electrostatic coating apparatus includes a plurality of shaping air nozzles for expelling shaping air having a pressure of about 80-250 kPa at an exit of each shaping air nozzle and having an amount of air to be expelled per nozzle of about 10-20 Nl min. Each shaping air nozzle has a diameter of about 0.6-1.5 mm. The number of shaping air nozzles is determined so that a summation of diameters of all shaping air nozzles is equal to between about 1/6-1/4 times an entire circumferential length of a greatest outside diameter of the atomizing head.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary atomizing electrostatic coating apparatus for use in metallic paint coating.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI 3-101858 discloses a rotary electrostatic coating apparatus using metallic paint. In the case where metallic paint containing aluminum or mica flakes is used, the speed at which the paint particles collide with an object to be coated is too low, resulting in a coated surface that is dark and without good brightness. To increase the collision speed shaping air is usually expelled at a high speed against the paint particles dispersed from an atomizing head to accelerate the paint particles in the direction toward the object to be coated. In this instance, the shaping air may be directed at an incline of about 30-40 degrees from a line parallel to an axis of rotation of the atomizing head to maintain good spreading despite using the high speed shaping air.
To obtain a high coating quality in metallic paint coating, the paint particles must collide with the surface of the object to be coated at a high speed. In a conventional coating, high pressure shaping air (for example, about 350-400 kPa) is expelled against the paint dispersed from the atomizing head so that the paint particles are accelerated toward the object to be coated. However, the shaping air expelled at a high pressure draws air around the shaping air flow to generate a secondary air flow accompanying the shaping air flow. As a result, when the shaping air flow reaches the object to be coated, the amount of air is generally increased to about 20-100 times more than the initial amount of the shaping air at the shaping air nozzles. Although the increased amount of air is necessary to carry paint particles to the object to be coated, the increased air also generates an air flow along the surface of the object to be coated, which prevents the paint particles from adhering smoothly to the surface of the object. This means that the use of high pressure air generates a considerably large amount of the air flow along the surface of the object so that the paint adhesion efficiency decreases, resulting in an increase in the consumption of the paint.
Further, the large amount of the air flow along the surface of the object whirls up paint particles which have not adhered to the object. As a result, the whirled-up paint particles adhere to the coating apparatus, the booth and the robot, and the adhering paint may drop onto the object to be coated to degrade or deteriorate the coating quality.

Rotary atomizing electrostatic coating apparatus and method


Provided is a configuration to make a virtual viewpoint image be a more natural stereoscopic image. The virtual viewpoint image is transmitted/received between information processing apparatuses that execute bidirectional communication. A processor calculates a virtual viewpoint position corresponding to a position of a virtual camera that captures a virtual viewpoint image on the basis of viewing position information of a viewing user of the virtual viewpoint image, and generates the virtual viewpoint image corresponding to a captured image from the virtual viewpoint position. The virtual viewpoint image is generated based on the captured image of a real camera that captures an object user, and the virtual viewpoint image is generated by setting a capture direction of a virtual camera to a point C, wherein the point C is in a position different from the object user.

Bidirectional communication systems such as video conference systems, which transmit and receive images and sounds by way of bidirectional communication via a network, are used in various fields.
In recent years, a large number of high definition large displays have been used. The quality of images and sounds communicated via the network has been improved, and communication with remote users displayed on a display can be performed with a feeling as if the users were in the same conference room.
However, in such a bidirectional communication system, in many cases, a user such as a conference participant displayed on a display unit (display) is a two-dimensional planar image, and thus there is a problem that the atmosphere as if the other party was on the spot is lost, which lacks realistic feeling.
For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-86775) is a conventional technology that solves the problem.
Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a display image of a display unit is displayed as a three-dimensional model, and the direction of a display person is changed according to movement of a viewer, for example.
In the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, an image with stereoscopic effect can be observed by changing the display image according to the movement of the viewer. However, for example, there is a problem that a person position displayed on the display unit is fixed at one position on the display and is observed as a three-dimensional image showing unnatural movement.

Information processing apparatus, information processing system, and information processing method


Disclosed are injection molded devices including microneedles on a substrate base. The microneedles may include a plurality of nano-sized structures fabricated thereon. The molds used to form the microneedles are assembled from a plurality of mold segments, each defining portions of the microneedles. Upon assembly of the multiple mold segments, microneedle negative cavities are formed. The molds may be used in an injection molding process to form microneedle arrays. Devices may be utilized for interacting with a component of the dermal connective tissue.

Primary drug delivery methods include oral delivery and injections, but both methods present difficulties. For instance, injections are painful and both methods tend to provide bursts of agents rather than a preferred steady-state delivery. Additionally, the successful long term use of both oral delivery and injected delivery requires the patient to consistently meet the time requirements for the delivery method.
Transdermal delivery materials have been developed in an attempt to provide a painless route for delivery of active agents over a sustained period with little or no interruption of the patient's daily routine. Unfortunately, natural dermal characteristics such as the overlapping corneocytes of the stratum corneum, the tight junction of the stratum granulosum, and Langerhans cells of the stratum spinosum that institute an immune response and/or a foreign body response all present barriers to successful transdermal delivery of an active agent.
The utilization of microneedles to facilitate transdermal delivery of active agents has improved this delivery route. A microneedle transdermal device includes an array of needles that may penetrate at least the stratum corneum and reach an underlying layer of the skin. In some devices, the microneedles are designed so as to penetrate to a depth that does not stimulate the nerve endings and institute a pain response. Examples of microneedle devices have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,856 to Allen, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,226,439 to Prausnitz, et al., both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In order to take full advantage of microneedle devices, efficient methods for mass production of devices that may deliver a wide array of agents need to be developed. Attempts have been made to form microneedle arrays by injection molding processes. For instance, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0191761 to Boone, et al. describes a method including injecting a moldable material into a negative mold insert that is characterized by a negative image of a microneedle. U.S. patent Application Publication No. 2008/0088066 to Ferguson, et al. describes a method that utilizes a mold apparatus including a mold insert that has a negative image of a microneedle and a compression core. The mold housing allows reciprocal motion between the mold insert and the compression core and when the housing is in a closed position, a polymeric material is injected into the closed apparatus.
Unfortunately, even with the inclusion of injection molded microneedles, transdermal devices are presently limited to delivery of low molecular weight agents that have a moderate lipophilicity and no charge. Even upon successful crossing of the natural dermal boundary, problems still exist with regard to maintaining the activity level of delivered agents and avoidance of foreign body and immune response.
What are needed in the art are microneedle devices that may be utilized for delivery of a wide variety of agents, including high molecular weight agents. What is also needed in the art is an efficient method for forming the devices that may be translated to a mass production facility, such as an injection molding method.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Injection molded microneedle array and method for forming the microneedle array


A reinforced beam assembly includes a channel-shaped beam which has an internal reinforcement member located within the channel. The reinforcement member is of generally W-shape and functions as a carrier for an expandable foam located between the inner surface of the reinforcement member and the inner surface of the beam. Upon expansion the foam is bonded to both surfaces.

In various practices, particularly in the automotive industry, it is desirable to reinforce various beams. For example, a channel shaped beam having side walls joined by an intermediate wall might be used in an environment, such as a seat belt anchor rail, wherein the interconnecting intermediate wall would be subject to compression. It would be desirable to provide some form of support or reinforcement at the compression space or wall of the beam. Attempts have been made, for example, to completely fill the channel with a foam material. Other attempts have included providing an inner member within the channel which is also of channel or C-shape and with a foam therebetween.


The present invention provides a conducting polymer, a synthesis method thereof, and an electroactive electrode covered with the said conducting polymer. The conducting polymer is synthesized as follows: use the polybasic acid as dopant and crosslinking agent, and polymerize monomers into conducting polymer hydrogel. The monomers are selected one or more from pyrrole or its derivatives, thiophene or its derivatives, aniline or its derivatives. The acid group of the polybasic acid contains phosphate or polybasic acid which contains at least two substituents per molecule selected from sulfate, nitrate or carboxylic in which the molecular weight of at least one acid group is no more than 800. The mole ratio of the acid group in polybasic acid to monomers of the conducting polymer is 1:12-12:1. The preparation applied in the invention is simple, and need not to import any impurity. The conducting polymer hydrogel has high ionic conductivity, super hydrophilicity, and good biocompatibility.

Ever since MacDiarmid, Hideki Shirakawa, and Heeger invented conducting polymers and made it possible to dope these polymers over the full range from insulator to metal, a new field of research bordering chemistry and condensed-matter physics emerged, which created a number of opportunities in the application in photoelectronic, electronic and electrochemistry. Conducting polymers have the advantages of stable physical and chemical properties and high conductivity. More significantly, conducting polymers provide an excellent interface between the electronic-transporting phase (electrode) and the ionic-transporting phase (electrolyte). In addition, the conductivity of conducting polymers is dependent on variables such as redox state and pH, which makes conducting polymers ideal for smart materials such as sensors.
In recent decades, conducting polymer hydrogels have received increasing attention for its promising applications in biosensors, chemical sensors, bioelectrodes, biobattery, microbial fuel cell, microbial electrolysis cell, medical electrodes, artificial muscle, artificial organ, drug release, and biofuel cells, etc. due to the following reasons:
1) Conducting polymer hydrogels have nanostructured framework and sufficiently large interfacial area, which enhanced the diffusion of ions and molecules, as well as the transport of electrons;
2) Conducting polymer hydrogels have a softer mechanical interface comparing to conventional metal electrodes;
3) Conducting polymer hydrogel have a biocompatible environment closely matching those of biological tissues.
To date, only a few limited methods were developed to synthesize conducting polymer hydrogels due to the difficulty in achieving the two prerequisite conditions for conducting polymers to form hydrogels: 1) hydrophilicity of polymer; 2) chemical or physical crosslinking between polymer chains. Synthesis of conducting polymer hydrogels has been carried out by following methods:
1) Synthesizing conducting polymer in the matrix of non-conducting polymer hydrogels (i.e. forming a composite material consisting of non-conductive hydrogel and conducting polymer);
2) Using multivalent metal ions such as Fe3+ or Mg2+ to crosslink water soluble conducting polymer such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) by ions interacting with the negatively-charged electrolytic dopant;
3) Crosslinking polyaniline (PAni) by chemical reaction between epoxy group of the non-conducting crosslink agent and the amino group on PAni.
However, all of the above methods introduce impurities or nonfunctional materials, such as metal ions or nonfunctional polymers, thereby deteriorate the conductivity, electroactivity or biocompatibility of conducting polymers. In method 1), biocompatible composite material can be formulated using conducting polymer held in the matrix of hydrogels such as poly (vinyl alcohol), poly (ethylene glycol), and polyacrylamide chitosan, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), poly (acrylic acid), poly (acrylamide), alginate hydrogel, etc. In this case, however, the non-functional polymer hydrogel impurity undoubtedly results in the lowering of conductivity and electroactivity of the material, which reduces the performance of electrodes and sensors. In method 2), crosslinked conducting polymer hydrogel is induced by ionic interaction of metal ions with negative polyelectrolyte dopant, which reduces the biocompatibility and enzyme activity of the hydrogels as high quantities of metal ions are required to form gels. In method 3), crosslinked PAni is made by the reaction between the epoxy crosslinking group and amino group on PAni main chain, which greatly reduces the conductivity of conducting polymers. In summary, the existing synthetic methods cannot meet the requirements of vast applications of conducting polymers, such as biomedical devices, biobattery, and microbial fuel cell.

Conductive polymer, synthesis method thereof, and electroactive electrode covered with said conductive polymer


A rectal insertion device (1) for the treatment of disorders of the digestive tract of a human or animal patient having a body (3, 5) comprises a forward section (8) which in an operative position of the device is disposed in the anal canal of the patient, a first passageway (9) which extends forward opening (11) in the forward section, a rearward section (3) having a forward end which in the operative position is disposed extra-coporeally and a second passageway (4) which extends rearwardly in the device from a second forward opening (7) in the forward end of the rearward section. The second passageway acts to catch faeces discharged from the anal canal not caught in the first passageway.

WO 99/30652 by the same applicant discloses a rectal insertion device of the above-mentioned type, wherein the first passageway is provided to channel faeces and gastrointestinal gases released on insertion of the forward section into the anal canal into a collection bag. A drawback of this known device is that some of the released faeces, however, may be ejected over the outer surface of the forward section instead of through the first passageway and thus not be collected in the bag. This also renders the device difficult to use efficiently.
Many of the known devices for treating disorders of the digestive tract are also difficult and expensive to produce. Further, they could also be dangerous to use, since a to deep insertion into the anal canal could result in severe injuries to the intestine. This risk is especially high when treating infants.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a rectal insertion device of the above-mentioned type which alleviates at least some of the drawbacks of the prior art devices.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a rectal insertion device of the above-mentioned type in which there is provided a rearward section having a forward end which in the operative position is disposed extra-corporeally and a second passageway which extends rearwardly in the device from a second forward opening in the forward end of the rearward section. The second passageway acts to catch faeces discharged from the anal canal not caught in the first passageway.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a rectal insertion device of the above-mentioned type in which there is provided a rearward section having a forward end presenting a second forward opening intended to be extra-corporeally in use, said second forward opening being arranged rearwardly from the first forward opening. The rearward section preferably comprises a rearwardly extending, second passageway being connected to the second opening.
The device according to the invention is easy to use and produce. Further, it comprises means for collecting the released faeces ejected over the outer surface of the forward section instead of through the first passageway.
In an embodiment of the invention the forward end of the rearward section abuts with the anus of the patient in an operative position of the device. Further it is preferred that the forward end of the rearward section has a transverse dimension greater than the transverse dimension of the forward section and the forward section extends forwardly from the forward end of the rearward section. Hereby, the depth of insertion could be precisely controlled, enabling the sphincter muscles to be stimulated if need be and gastrointestinal gases and faeces to be discharged. The abutment also sees to that a too deep insertion of the forward section into the anal canal is avoided. Hereby, the device could be used without the risk of causing any harmful injuries to the user.
In an embodiment of the invention the forward section and rearward sections are co-axially arranged. It is also preferred that second forward opening is an annulus formed around the forward section. Hereby, the device need not have a specific rotational position in use, which makes the device self-explanatory and easier to use.
In an embodiment of the invention the first passageway communicates with the second passageway. Hereby, discharged faeces and gases will be brought together, and could thereafter emanate from the same output opening, making it easier to take care of.
In an embodiment of the invention the second passageway has a rearward opening in the rearward section.
In an embodiment of the invention the rearward section of the device comprises a tube element having an open-ended axial lumen.
In an embodiment of the invention the device comprises an elongate shaft having a forward portion which presents the forward section of the device and a rearward portion which extends rearwardly from the forward portion into the lumen of the tube element and through which the first passageway extends.
In an embodiment of the invention the first passageway has a rearward opening in the rearward portion of the elongate shaft.
In an embodiment of the invention the rearward portion of the elongate shaft is spaced from, and attached to, the wall of the lumen through one or more ribs.
In an embodiment of the invention the forward section is made more flexible than the rearward section in order to form a non-harmful and convenient insertion section, while the more rigid rearward section may form a convenient gripping section.
The invention also relates to a method for treating disorders of the digestive tract of a human or animal patient, comprising the step of at least one time inserting a forward section of a device into the anal canal of the patient, said forward section comprising a first passageway which extends rearwardly in the device from a first forward opening in the forward section characterised in that the device is inserted into the anal canal into a position where a rearward section of the device abuts the anus with a forward end, said rearward section comprising a second passageway which extends rearwardly in the device from a second forward opening in the forward end of the rearward section.
Other benefits and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying Figures of drawings.


One embodiment of an apparatus for generating a time stamp includes a clock input, an event signal input and a time stamp output. A DLL is connected to the clock input, with a plurality of delay elements inside the DLL. An output of each of the delay elements is connected to a data input on a latch. An event signal input is connected to an enable input on each of the latches. An output of each of the latches is connected to the time stamp output. The apparatus is adapted to produce a value on the time stamp output indicating a point at which the event signal input transitions between transitions on the clock input.

Electronic time stamp or time measurement circuits are used to produce highly precise digital time measurements for a wide variety of applications such as automated test equipment, bench top time measurement equipment, radar and sonar devices, etc. Conventional time stamp circuits generate the time stamps using a digital counter that increments at each rising edge of an oscillating clock signal, with the resulting count from the digital counter representing the time at which an event occurred. For example, the time it takes for a radar signal to travel to a target, reflect and return can be measured using two time stamps, one taken when the radar signal is transmitted and another taken when the reflected radar signal returns. The counter values for the two time stamps may be subtracted to calculate the elapsed time.
The precision at which a time stamp circuit can measure the time between two events is typically dependent on the clock speed. Generating precise time stamps for high speed events thus becomes complicated by the difficulty in generating high speed clocks and electronic circuits that can count the high speed clocks. For example, generating a time stamp with a resolution of 833 picoseconds requires a clock that runs at 1.2 GHz. If a time stamp with a resolution of 13 ps is required, the clock in a traditional time stamp circuit must run at 76.9 GHz. Thus, as the resolution required for a time stamp increases, it becomes impossible for conventional electronic time stamp circuits to run and count quickly enough to provide the required resolution.
Hence, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art for a time stamp apparatus having a resolution that is not limited by the clock speed.


An apparatus provides improved positional control for an access element moveable adjacent a rotatable surface, such as a data transducing head adjacent a data recording surface of a data storage device. A circumferentially extending windage plate is adapted for placement adjacent the rotatable surface. The plate includes an edge surface configured to extend adjacent a movement path of an access element across the rotatable surface. The edge surface supports a ramp structure adapted to receivingly support the access element at a position away from the rotatable surface.

Digital data storage devices are used to store and retrieve large amounts of user data in a fast and efficient manner. A typical data storage device uses an actuator assembly to support an array of vertically aligned data transducing heads adjacent recording surfaces in a disc stack.
The disc stack is rotated at a relatively high rotational velocity by a spindle motor. An actuator motor (such as a voice coil motor, VCM) pivots the actuator assembly to align the transducers with data tracks defined on the recording surfaces to write data to the tracks and retrieve previously written data from the tracks. The heads are typically hydrodynamically supported adjacent the recording surfaces by fluidic currents established by rotation of the disc stack.
A continuing trend in the industry is to provide successive generations of data storage devices with smaller sizes and increased storage capacities and data transfer rates. There is therefore a continued need for improvements in the manner in which heads are positionally controlled, both during operation and when the device is deactivated. It is to such improvements that the claimed invention is generally directed.


A heating system with a combustion chamber into which fuel is fed via a fuel feed unit in the form of an injection device which operates on the energy-storage principle and has a pump and a nozzle device which delivers bursts of fuel in specified quantities. With this fuel burner, it is possible to select both the quantity of fuel injected and the injection frequency independently of any boundary conditions, thereby optimizing levels of harmful pollutants in the exhaust gas and effectively counteracting resonance vibrations in the burner.

Oil burners for heating systems conventionally comprise a combustion chamber into which fuel is continually fed via a nozzle.
Oil burners, particularly larger burners, are subject to resonance vibrations, the vibration behaviour of which in oil burners is caused by the combustion space and the nature of the air feed which together form a resonant body.
In the case of gas burners, operated at the resonant frequency, as is described for instance in WO 92/08928 or WO 82/00097, the causes of such vibrations are known and the thereby resulting disadvantages are combated by a variety of means.
Due to the inertia of the gas flowing into a feed pipe a vacuum materializes in the combustion chamber following combustion, as a result of which, on the one hand, gas and air are drawn in and, on the other, a return flow of hot combustion gases occurs which ignite the subsequent fuel mixture inflow. Accordingly, a cyclic process materializes which pulsates at a frequency which substantially depends on the dimensioning of the combustion chamber and feed pipe or feed conduit and the nature of the gas concerned.
Such pulsed operated burners may also create an enormous noise which is in the range of roughly 90 to 140 db(A). This is why in WO 92/08928 a system is provided which decouples the resonance system of the combustion chamber and fuel feed conduit acoustically from the downstream heat exchanger. The resonant frequency occuring in the case of these pulsed burners is of the order of a few 100 Hz and depends on the shape and size of the cavities formed by the combustion chamber and feed conduits.
In the case of gas burners an attempt is also made to prevent the occurence of resonance vibrations by means of damping cavities which are arranged around the gas feed conduit. One such arrangement is known, for example, from DE 33 24 805 A1.
As far as simple small oil burners are concerned which are suitable for operating the heating systems of small houses and should not in general be operated pulsed, resonance vibrations occuring may not only create a noise nuisance, but also result in the oil burner being ruined.
In addition to this, it is known that oil burners as compared to gas burners pose a greater emission problem, caused, on the one hand, by the constitutents contained in the fuel oil and, on the other, by a poorer atomization of occasionaly viscous oil in the combustion chamber so that it is difficult to achieve completely stoichiometric combustion. Also, the oil feed conduits for the continual oil feed tend to dribble which results in a poor combustion as regards emission pollution.
For internal combustion engines very many different kinds of fuel injection devices have been known for a long time. These fuel injection devices are, as a rule, configured as a pumped nozzle system. The pumps employed are solenoid-operated, in which the plunger of the pump is impacted by a solenoid-actuated armature. A variety of pumps having piezoelectric actuators is also known.
In DE-OS 23 07 435 a fuel injection device for internal combustion engines is described in which the pump working space is connected to the pressure space of at least one hydraulically actuatable spring-loaded injection valve by an electrically driven plunger pump and is in connection with a source of pressure via a feed valve. On commencement of the pumping action the plunger exercises a certain idle stroke as a result of which the mass of the plunger is accelerated prior to the actual pumping stroke and the stored kinetic energy is made use of to boost the pressure in the pump working space. For this purpose the injection device comprises as the plunger a soft iron armature which is driven by a linear motor over a relatively long distance.
Such injection devices operating on the energy-storage principle have subsequently been further developed, corresponding injection devices being known from DD-PS 120 514 and DD-PS 213 427. These fuel injection devices operating on the solid-state energy storage principle accelerate the armature of the solenoid and thus the fuel fluid column over a lengthy distance before the pressure is built up needed to eject the the fuel via the nozzle. These fuel injection devices have the advantage that they suffice with little driving energy and achieve a high working frequency due to the small masses which need to be moved. In addition to this they achieve high pressures.
In accordance with DD-PS 120 514 the fuel delivery unit through which the delivery plunger passes is provided in a first section with an axial arrangement of grooves through which the fuel is able to flow off without building up any substantial pressure thereby, this materializing in the subsequent second section of the fuel delivery unit having no fluid outflow grooves. The delivery plunger is accordingly decelerated by the incompressible fuel, as a result of which a pressure is built up in the fuel which overcomes the resistance of the injection valve so that injection of the fuel materializes. The drawback in this arrangement is that when the delivery plunger plunges into the closed section of the barrel unfavorable gap conditions, namely a large gap width and a small gap length, result in high pressure losses which unfavorably affect the build-up in pressure needed for ejection. This is why it is proposed in DE-PS 213 472 to arrange for an impacter on the barrel so that the loss in pressure despite relative large gap widths is maintained reasonably small. However, here the drawback is that impacter action produces wear of the bodies impacting each other. Furthermore, due to impact the impacter is excited to cause longitudinal vibrations which translate to the fuel where they, as high-frequency pressure fluctuations, have an unfavorable effect on the injection procedure.
From WO 93/18297 a further fuel injection device is evident which operates on the principle of solid-state energy storage. In this arrangement partial quantities of the fuel to be ejected are displaced prior to ejection in the pumping region by a plunger element guided in a pump barrel of a plunger pump actuated by a solenoid during the practically zero-resistance acceleration phase in which the plunger element stores kinetic energy and the displacement is suddenly halted by the means interrupting displacement so that a pressure surge is generated in the fuel located in an enclosed pressure space by the the stored kinetic energy of the plunger element being translated directly to the fuel located in the pressure space. This pressure surge is employed to eject the fuel by an injection nozzle device, the means generating the pressure surge, interrupting displacement are arranged outside of the guiding, fluid-tight contact zone between plunger element and plunger barrel of the plunger pump as a result of which the injected fuel amount can be controlled with high frequency and excellent accuracy. In particular, even small quantities of fuel can be injected precisely metered. A further fuel injection device for internal combustion engines operating on the principle of energy storage is known from WO 92/14925. The configuration of one such conventional injection device will now be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 23. From a fuel tank 601 fuel is fed by means of a fuel pump 602 at a pressure of approximately 3 to 10 bar into a pipe 605 in which a pressure regulator 603 and a damping means 604 are arranged. At the end of the conduit 605 a, for example, solenoid-actuated shut-off valve 606 is provided via which, in the open condition, fuel is fed back accelerated by the pump 602 into the storage tank 601. By abruptly closing the shut-off valve 606 the kinetic energy of the fuel flowing in the conduit 605 and in the conduit 607 is converted into pressure energy. The magnitude of the thereby resulting pressure surge is in the region of 20 to 80 bar, i.e. roughly ten times the flow pressure generated by the pump 602 in the conduit 605 which is also termed a swing pipe. The thus resulting pressure surge at the shut-off valve 606 is made use of to eject the fuel accelerated in this way via an injection nozzle 610 which is connected via a pressure conduit 609 to the valve 606 and thus to the conduit 605.
Due to employing an solenoid-actuatable shut-off valve this known injection device is electronically controllable, more particularly by means of an electronic control unit 608 connected to the valve 606.
The drawback in this fundamental configuration of the injection device which works by energy stored in the fuel, is that priming is necessary to furnish the energy needed to accelerate the fuel fluid column in the swing pipe and which operates continually. This continually operating priming necessitates means for maintaining the flow constant. For this purpose the fuel flow delivered in excess by the pump 602 is diminished by the pressure regulating valve 603 which is in connection with the storage tank 601 via a return conduit. Diminishing the pressure results in a loss of energy and accordingly, in addition to an increase in fuel temperature, in changes in pressure at the injection valve 606, as a result of which the accuracy of injection is impaired. In addition to this, the pressure regulating valve 602 always necessitates a minimum reduced control amount to be able to operate stably which makes for a further loss in energy. Since the flow volume requirement at the injection nozzle 10 depends on the engine speed as well as on the amount to be ejected every time the pressure supply means needs to deliver the flow for full load operation already on idle so that relatively high quantities of fuel need to be reduced by control via the pressure regulating valve 603 with a corresponding loss in energy for the system as a whole.
This is why it is proposed in WO 92/14925 to make the fuel flow required for injection available for each injection procedure only as long as this is necessary as a function of the engine operating conditions in keeping with time and flow requirements. By employing an intermittently operated fuel acceleration pump the need for continual priming is eliminated which is in favor of the energy balance of the injection device. Furthermore, utilization of available energy is optimized by employing a common control means for the acceleration pump and the electrically actuatable delay means, for example by way of a solenoid-actuatable shut-off valve.
Preference is given to a solenoid-actuated plunger pump as the fuel acceleration pump for intermittent operation. However, a diaphragm pump for fuel acceleration may also be provided within the pressure surge means. Instead of an electromagnetic pump drive an electrodynamic, a mechanical or a drive means piezoelement may be provided.
By signalling pump and delay means in common not only the timing of the pump and of the delay means can be optimally adapted but also the frequency and volume of injection can be freely selected by employing a common control, this applying in particular when use is made of a fuel injection device operating on the principle of solid-state energy storage.
It can thus be summarized that prior art provides for, on the one hand, oil burners operating continually which have certain drawbacks, particularly by failing to always satisfy the desired requirements due to resonances and their emission pollution in the case of pressure oscillations and, on the other, a very great variety of injection devices, long since known, in the case of internal combustion engines which are designed especially for the control of small amounts of fuel.


A network device may be configured to adapt beamforming parameters for a communication region of a powerline cycle in response to variations in communication channel conditions. A first network device can estimate initial beamforming parameters for each communication region based on sounding messages received from a second network device. The first network device can determine coarse beamforming parameters for each communication region based on data packets received from the second network device using the initial beamforming parameters. The first network device can determine a difference parameter for the first communication region based, at least in part, on a first initial beamforming parameter associated with the first communication region and a first coarse beamforming parameter associated with the first communication region. The first network device can compare the difference parameter with a difference threshold to determine whether to estimate a first modified beamforming parameter for a first communication region.

Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to the field of communication networks and, more particularly, to adapting beamforming parameters in a communication network.
Electric transmission and distribution lines are typically used for providing electric power from generators to buildings, residences, and other components of a city's infrastructure. The electric power may be transmitted over the transmission lines at a high voltage, and may be distributed to buildings and other structures at much lower voltages using electric power lines. Besides providing electric power, electric power lines can also be used to implement powerline communications within buildings and other structures. Powerline communications (PLC) can provide another communication medium for interconnecting network devices. A network device may use various techniques to generate and transmit packets in a PLC network. For example, in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) PLC environment, a network device may apply beamforming parameters to data scheduled to be transmitted to optimize performance on each communication channel.

Adapting beamforming parameters in a communication network


Managing channel element licenses for base transceiver stations. Preferred methods include license accounting at a BSC or MTS level, thereby providing better utilization of BTS channel element licenses in a wireless communication network. The BTS notifies a license manager whenever a channel element is put into use by transmitting a first channel element utilization message. If the number of available license has been not been exceeded, the license manager transmits a channel element utilization authorization message. If, on the other hand, the number of available license has been exceeded, the license manager transmits a channel element utilization denial message, instruction the BTS to terminate the call setup. Alternative embodiments include the BTS requesting a license using a first channel element utilization message and awaiting authorization prior to utilization of the channel element. The BTS preferably transmits a second channel element utilization message indicating the channel element is no longer in use.

A. Field of Invention
The present invention is related to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to a method and system of managing channel element licenses in a plurality of wireless base stations.
B. Description of Related Art
In a typical wireless communication system, an area is divided geographically into a number of cell sites, each defined by one or more radiation patterns created by an emission of radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic (EM) waves from a respective base transceiver station (BTS) antenna. Similarly, BTS antennae are configured for the reception of EM waves emanating from mobile devices. Each cell site is typically further divided into two, three, or more sectors, where the sectors provide transmit and receive radio coverage for a selected area within the cell site.
Associated with the BTS is a plurality of channel elements for processing individual signal channels. Specifically, in CDMA communication systems, individual communication channels are separable due to their use of channel-specific concatenated coding sequences. In the forward channel, a unique PN code (commonly referred to as a short PN code offset) is used to distinguish channels in a given sector from those in surrounding sectors and cells. Within each sector, channels are further distinguished by yet another code, termed a Walsh code. In an adjacent sector, the Walsh codes may be reused because channel separation is provided by a different offset of the short PN code for that sector. Thus, the number of available forward channels (BTS to MS) on a given carrier frequency in a sector is limited by the number of available Walsh codes. In the ANSI/TIA/EIA-95-B-99 standard entitled "Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular Systems" (published Feb. 1, 1999), the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein, there are sixty-four available Walsh codes, while in CDMA 2000 series (TIA/EIA IS-2000 Series, Rev. A, published Mar. 1, 2000), one hundred twenty-eight Walsh codes are available. Both of the ANSI/TIA/EIA-95-B-99 and the TIA/EIA IS-2000 Series, Rev. A, standards are incorporated herein by reference, and are available from the Telecommunication Industry Association, 2500 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 300, Arlington, Va. 22201.
On the reverse channel, from the mobile to the BTS, a slightly different code concatenation is used. The Walsh codes are used to identify a data symbol alphabet, the short PN code is used for synchronization purposes, and the long code PN code is used to identify the individual mobile channel.
The signal processing on the forward and reverse channels is performed in a channel element (CE) of the BTS. In existing systems, each BTS typically has a bank of CEs that are licensed and available for use on a static basis. Therefore, one disadvantage of existing BTS license schemes is that each BTS must contain enough licensed CEs to carry all of the traffic during the busiest hour of the day. Because not all sites have the same busy hour, the existing license management techniques result in wasted resources, or over-allocation of network resources.
In other situations, existing schemes of CE licensing may be restricted such that CEs are licensed only in blocks of a predetermined size. Specifically, a typical base station channel element card may come with forty-eight physical CE's, of which half may be enabled by default, with the remaining twenty-four CE's being licensed (and thus enabled for use) only in groups of eight. This is inefficient due to the fact that a BTS which requires twenty-five CE's must be upgraded from twenty-four to thirty CE's, rather than just the required tweny-five.
Consequently, a CE licensing system that overcomes these and other limitations is desirable.

Method and system of pooling channel elements on a switch or OMCR level


The present invention provides a storage control technique that leaves no failure in a file system of a secondary volume even if the secondary volume is split from a primary volume with no restriction on server access to volumes in a storage controller. This invention provides a system including: a host system 100; a storage controller 101 for performing data processing between a storage device and the host system in response to requests from the host system; and a management server 130. The storage controller has a controller 104 that performs release processing to release mirroring between a primary volume 102 and a secondary volume 103 with access from the host system to the primary volume being permitted. The management server 130 executes a management program for examining volume management information about the secondary volume after the release processing.

The present invention relates to a storage controller such as a disk array apparatus, and more particularly, to a storage controller that is configured to: examine whether a file system copied from a primary volume to a secondary volume has any errors or not; enable input to and output from (I/O access to) the secondary volume if it is determined that the file system has no errors; and ensure that the file system of the secondary volume is kept as backup data.
When date from a host system such as a server or a host computer is stored in a disk array apparatus, the following operation is generally conducted for data backup: establishing a primary volume and a secondary volume in the disk array apparatus and using the secondary volume to mirror the primary volume. To "mirror" means that the secondary volume mirrors the primary volume and the content of the primary volume is reproduced in the secondary volume.
When performing data backup, a disk array apparatus controller splits the secondary volume from the primary volume (SPLIT processing) and transfers backup data from the secondary volume, that has been made static by the SPLIT processing, to a different storage resource such as a tape device or another disk array apparatus. After data backup has been completed, the disk array apparatus makes the secondary volume mirror the primary volume.
Data backup is performed in a state where the secondary volume is split from the primary volume and receives no I/O access from the host computer or the like in order to prevent data being updated during backup. Accordingly, the backup is performed at the point in time the secondary volume is split from the primary volume.
The above operation is disclosed in JP-A-2000-330730 as a difference copying system. Furthermore, as a technique to instantly make a copy of a primary volume, JP-A-2004-19213 discloses a copy volume generating method and disk device.

Storage controller, storage control system and storage control method for mirroring volumes


The design of a beverage sharing/tasting straw with one dipping end and plurality of independent suction ends, each differentiable from the other through a combination of one or more of color, size, unique sleeve, logo, material, design and the like to enable multiple people to share/taste the same beverage without risk of transmitting virus, bacteria or other germs, either for one-time consumption or during re-use. The length of the straw dimensions of the suction ends and distance between suction ends can be customized for a specific number of people, ages and seating configurations (e.g. sharing for 2 kids seated next to each other). In one particular embodiment of this design, the beverage sharing/tasting straw end attachment can be adapted to fit over any currently available standard straw thereby converting a traditional single person straw to a multi-person sharing/tasting straw.

The present invention relates generally to drinking straws used typically to drink beverages from bottles, cans, cups and the like, and more particularly to a design and apparatus that allows multiple people to share and/or taste the same beverage without the risk of transmitting virus, bacteria or other germs through use of the same straw by several people.
Although there have been a number of inventions related to regulating flow rate through a straw, most straws are designed for use by a single person. Sharing the same straw across multiple people is unhygienic, since the suction end is in contact with the mouth/saliva of the person consuming the beverage and has high risk of transmitting germs (including those that cause common cold, flu, H1N1 and other infectious diseases) from one user to another. Design of current beverage cup lids does not allow multiple straws to be inserted into the same cup forcing single person consumption from each beverage cup. Moreover, since straws available in restaurants tend to be of same color, size and material, they are indistinguishable from one another, this also leads to the same problem of transmitting germs if multiple people use the same straw as they share. Even if multiple straws are used, each person has to either withdraw his/her straw or keep track of it between multiple sips. Due to the limited storage/holding space available for beverage containers in automobiles, it will be great for families to share the drink from the same beverage container without transmitting germs. Given the current economy, a multi-person beverage sharing/tasting straw provides a more economical and fun-way for families to share the pleasure of drinking beverages. Particularly in emerging markets and countries where a single cup of beverage could equal several days' pay for some people and thus sharing a cup enables multiple people to taste/enjoy the beverage without fear of infection. In addition, readily available straws are indistinguishable from each other and discarded after one use. Given the potential for families to use their own multi-person straws within the same set of individuals, a multi-person straw also has the potential to be recycled within families, thus reducing the total consumption of plastic straws and to a smaller extent, due to sharing, fewer beverage cups thus promoting a "greener" way to consume beverages.
As such, what is needed is a design and apparatus that allows multiple people to share/taste a beverage from the same beverage cup/container, by providing multiple suction ends while allowing each suction-end to be differentiable, so multiple people can share/taste the beverage, each distinguishing and using their own suction end, either one-time or in a re-use mode, thus minimizing risk of spreading germs.

Multi-person straw for sharing/tasting beverages


A package inspection apparatus is provided, and includes a conveyor for transporting a package, a pressure unit for applying a compressive force to the package, a tracer movable over the upper surface of the package for measuring package attributes along a dimension of the package, and a processor. According to some embodiments, the processor determines a trace area of the package from the package measurement attributes. According to certain embodiments, the measured package attributes are compared to a running average, and if the package is within predetermined tolerances, the package measurement attributes are averaged into the running average. Also provided is a related method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting and verifying the quality of package seals, especially yet optionally hermetically sealed packages, and further relates to methods for inspecting package seals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Quality packaging has become an integral component in the advertisement and sale of various consumer products and commodities. For example, food products such as snack foods, meat, fish and poultry and perishable items are often hermetically sealed in flexible and/or rigid packages. The hermetic seal serves several functions. In the event fragile items such as potato chips are located in the package, an air cushion locked in the hermetic seal may serve to guard the packaged contents from damage. The hermetic seal may also serve to preserve freshness of the packaged contents. Additionally, consumers often will associate broken seals with tampering or lack of freshness, and may reject a product lacking a proper seal. It is therefore highly desirable to subject packages to a process by which a seal on the package is checked for integrity.

Package seal inspecting apparatus, and method for inspecting package seals


Various embodiments of the present invention relate to reactive media including calcium. A reactive media includes a vitrified calcium silicate comprising reactive calcium. Various embodiments of the reactive media described herein are useful for removal of anionic impurities such as phosphate from water.

Sorbent media that provide available calcium for complexation or reaction with other materials to form solid calcium salts are useful for removal of various materials from water. However, current sorbent media including reactive calcium suffer from low available concentrations of reactive calcium, high preparation expense, and low capacity for sorbtion of impurities such as phosphate or carbonate.


An apparatus for destroying residual lens epithelial cells. The apparatus includes a probe configured for insertion into the eye between the iris and the lens capsule. The probe is further configured to deliver energy therefrom to residual lens epithelial cells within the lens capsule in order to destroy them. The distal end of the probe is configured to allow a surgeon using the probe to reach all areas within the lens capsule to ensure that no epithelial cells remain alive after use of the probe.

The present invention relates to a method for preventing the occurrence of posterior capsular opacification (PCO) or secondary cataract formation following the extracapsular extraction of a cataractous lens. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a method for preventing the occurrence of PCO by destroying residual lens epithelial cells on the interior surface of the lens capsule of the eye through the application of energy thereto. In addition, the present invention is directed to a device configured to deliver energy to residual lens epithelial cells on the lens capsule of the eye in accordance with the method of the present invention.
Cataract extraction is among the most commonly performed operations in the United States and the world. The cataractous lens is located within a capsular sac or lens capsule which is positioned within the posterior chamber of the eye. In order to gain access to the cataractous lens, an incision is made at the limbus of the eye for the purpose of introducing a surgical instrument into the anterior chamber of the eye. In the case of extracapsular cataract extraction, a capsularhexis procedure is performed in which a portion of the anterior membrane of the lens capsule adjacent to the iris is removed using a surgical cutting instrument in order to provide direct access to the cataractous lens from the anterior chamber. The lens is then removed through various known methods, including phacoemulsification which entails the application of ultrasonic energy to the lens in order to break it into small pieces which can be aspirated from the lens capsule. With the exception of the portion of the anterior membrane of the lens capsule that is removed in order to gain access to the cataractous lens, the lens capsule remains substantially intact throughout an extracapsular cataract extraction. Following removal of the cataractous lens, an artificial intraocular lens typically is implanted within the lens capsule in order to mimic the refractive function of the original lens.
Although cataractous lens removal and intraocular lens implantation provide significant benefits to most cataract patients, it is estimated that up to fifty percent (50%) of all patients who have intraocular lenses implanted within the lens capsule will develop Posterior Capsular Opacification ("PCO") or secondary cataracts within five years after surgery. PCO is caused by the deposit of cells and fibers on the intraocular lens and on the posterior capsular membrane, thereby obstructing light passing through the intraocular lens and obscuring the patient's vision. These cell deposits originate from two sources: (1) the proliferation of residual lens epithelial cells after surgery; and (2) the accumulation of inflammatory cells and protein deposits on the intraocular lens. Of these two sources, the major cause of PCO by far is the proliferation and migration of the residual lens epithelial cells on the capsular membrane.
Ophthalmic surgeons, aware of the problems associated with residual lens epithelial cells, typically take considerable care in trying to remove all residual lens epithelial cells prior to implantation of the artificial intraocular lens. However, despite these efforts, a significant number of lens epithelial cells usually are left on the interior surface of the lens capsule due to the fact that these cells are difficult to identify and are often difficult to reach due to their position on the inside surface of the lens capsule.
The most common treatment for PCO entails the application of laser energy to the posterior membrane of the lens capsule for the purpose of destroying the lens epithelial cells propagating thereon. However, the laser energy applied to the posterior membrane of the lens capsule is ordinarily directed through the implanted intraocular lens, possibly resulting in damage to the optical and/or structural characteristics of the intraocular lens. The application of laser energy to the posterior membrane of the lens capsule also typically results in the destruction of a portion of the lens capsule as well as the residual lens epithelial cells propagating thereon. The destruction of a portion of the lens capsule creates a risk of exposure to the vitreous, possibly resulting in serious or irreparable damage to the eye. In addition, the destruction of a portion of the lens capsule creates a risk of shrinkage of the lens capsule, possibly resulting in a compromising of the optical characteristics of the intraocular lens. In certain cases, the destroyed posterior capsular tissue may regrow, e.g., as a result of a fibrin clot, thereby creating a renewed possibility of PCO. Accordingly, it is preferable to prevent the occurrence of PCO rather than attempting to treat it.
Various procedures for the prevention of PCO have been suggested in recent years. Many of these procedures have included the application of chemicals to the interior surface of the lens capsule in order to destroy residual lens epithelial cells. However, none of these procedures has proven to be particularly successful in the prevention of PCO due to the fact that it is extremely difficult to destroy residual lens epithelial cells without simultaneously destroying other cells within the eye, including the possible destruction of the corneal endothelium. Selective destruction of residual lens epithelial cells thus appears to be the key to the prevention of PCO.

Method and apparatus for preventing posterior capsular opacification


The object of the invention, which relates to a method for printing a substrate by means of inkjet printing, is to enable precise printing of a landing point matrix, which is displaced, rotated, or distorted, particularly not linearly distorted, as compared to an ideally orthogonal landing point matrix, with less complexity. Said object is achieved in that the lateral resolution is selected to be large enough that the smallest distance between nozzle lines is less than the minimum distance between the landing zone rows, and that, with a variation, specified by the substrate, of the distance of adjacent landing zone rows between various landing zone lines (distortion), the position of the landing zones of a landing zone line is determined relative to the nozzle lines and consequently only the printhead nozzles having a nozzle line intersecting a landing zone are actuated according to a nozzle actuation scheme and the corresponding landing zone type.

In order to determine the position of the landing zones, it is known to be possible to determine the orientation of the substrate relative to the print heads, for example using a camera which records an alignment marking on the substrate, and the coordinate position of the substrate is determined with a subsequent pattern detection process. The alignment markings would have been applied to the substrate in upstream production steps and thus represent the geometry of the substrate in the pattern detection process.
However, it is essentially also possible to determine the orientation of the substrate and the position of individual landing zones directly, that is not from the alignment markings applied by means of the prior production steps but rather, for example, by means of detection of the landing zones as a result of an indicating of same, for example by means of a physical activation.
A substrate may have one or more types of landing zones. Different types of landing zones can be metered, for example, with different inks or may have different geometries. Furthermore, multiple substrates may be processed simultaneously.
The following terms are surmised herein.
Print Direction:
The print direction is the direction in which the print head is moved relative to the substrate with the output of drops by means of printhead nozzles.
Nozzle Line:
The movement of the print head generally takes place as a linear movement. The projection onto the surface of the substrate of an executed line of movement of a printhead nozzle is characterized as the nozzle line. The nozzle line is not a physical line but rather imaginary.
Landing Zones:
Landing zones are areas on the substrate in which a predefined quantity of functional liquid (known as ink here) is intended to be metered. Said landing zones may serve, for example, to establish sensor surfaces, pixels, reaction surfaces for medical applications, etc. The landing zones have a target position defined before the printing.
Landing Zone Type:
A substrate may have one or more landing zone types. Different landing zone types may be metered, for example, with different inks, ink quantities, landing points, or the like, or have different geometries.
Landing Zone Matrix:
The pattern to be generated on the substrate is created from a landing zone matrix, which is arranged in landing zone rows and landing zone lines. If the landing zone matrix is aligned relative to the movement of the print head, the landing zones positioned one after the other in the print direction form the landing zone rows and the landing zones positioned next to one another vertical to the print direction form the landing zone lines.
Actuation of a Printhead Nozzle:
The actuation of a printhead nozzle causes the output of a drop from the printhead nozzle. Due to the actuation, the drop volume and/or the number of drops can furthermore be controlled.
Landing Point:
The landing point is the surface center of gravity of the surface on the substrate, which is wetted upon contact with a drop of ink from a printhead nozzle.
Lateral Resolution:
The lateral resolution is the number of nozzle lines per unit of length, which have a smallest distance a to one another between the nozzle lines. The smallest distance a can be modified through the following measures, individually or in combination:
a) through an increase in the number of print nozzles per unit of length of a printhead nozzle line and/or
b) through the arrangement of at least one second printhead nozzle line transverse to a first printhead nozzle line offset transverse to the print direction and/or
c) through a static distortion of the print head such that its printhead nozzle line(s) form an angle between >0° and <90° and/or
d) through an n-fold traversing of the print head relative to the substrate, wherein the print head is moved with each passage, for example, by an amount
      x    =                  i        *        a            +              a        n              ,where i=0, 1, 2, 3 . . . transverse to the print direction.An increase in the lateral resolution in this case means a reduction in the distance a.
Nozzle Actuation Scheme:
It may be provided that an actuation algorithm is applied to the specification for actuating the nozzles, which specifies which of the printhead nozzles, which could actually be actuated because their nozzle line intersects a landing zone, are not to be actuated.
The prior art of the aforementioned method for metering functional liquids on substrates is that such a metering task is implemented by means of dispensers, chemical vapor deposition, analog printing methods, as well as inkjet printing. The invention relates to inkjet printing.
In many applications, it is generally advantageous to limit the variation of the metered quantity per landing zone type, for example to meter active OLED material or even color filters for displays, but also active sensor materials, in a reproducible manner, such that, in the finished product, the variation in the functional properties of the landing zones within a substrate does not exceed predefined limits. This is necessary in order to maintain, for example, the luminous intensity variation within a display but also the variation in the sensitivity of a signal from sensor to sensor as part of a parent substrate within the tolerable limits.
When using inkjet printing for metering, it is prior art that the exact same number of inkjet drops is placed on the landing points in landing zones that should fulfill the same function.
It is further prior art that an attempt is made to adapt the lateral resolution advantageously to that of the landing zone matrix by means of rotation of the print heads and/or of the substrate. Said adaptation is carried out such that the largest number of nozzle lines possible intersects the landing zones.
There are situations in which the adaptation of the lateral resolution to the landing zone matrix cannot be implemented through rotation or, however, the complex rotation of print heads and/or substrates should be avoided entirely or, however, a print head should be used that does not permit any continual adaptation of the resolution by means of rotation such as, for example, high-performance modern print heads with more than one nozzle line.
The rotation of the print heads and/or of the substrate is not practical for implementation, for example, in the following situations:
a) The substrate has a production-related distortion in the landing zone matrix with respect to an ideally orthogonal landing zone matrix which does not enable an alignment of the nozzle lines to a large number of landing zones of the substrate. This is the case, for example, with flexible substrates.
b) The landing zones are not sufficiently evenly distributed on a matrix—either due to production or intentionally—such that no practical alignment can be found.

Method for printing a varying pattern of landing zones on a substrate by means of ink-jet printing


A watchdog timer circuit for use in microcomputer monitor systems is disclosed. This circuit includes a timer circuit responsive to receipt of a count clock signal for counting it up, and a timer control circuit which loads an externally inputted data signal (stn) in sync with a timer refresh instruction (prun) and holds therein a sequentially loaded latest multi-bit data signal as reference data. When the reference data agrees with a predefined pattern and simultaneously another prespecified condition is met, the timer control circuit interrupts the clock signal counting operation of the timer circuit. During interruption of the counting operation, when the reference data does not agree with the predefined pattern or when the above-stated another prespecified condition becomes unsatisfied, the control circuit allows the timer circuit to restart the clock signal counting operation.

The present invention relates to watchdog timer circuitry, power integrated circuit (IC) devices and watchdog monitor systems using the same. For example, this invention relates to a technique effectively used in electronic control units (ECUs) for motor vehicles.
A watchdog timer (WDT) is used as a mechanism to detect improper operations due to runaway of a software program running on a microcomputer. More specifically, when the program is normally running on the microcomputer, the WDT is repeatedly initialized a timer count value before a time-out occurs by the microcomputer's operation. Upon occurrence of abnormality due to the runaway or else, the microcomputer does not perform such periodical timer count value initialization operation. In responding to the timeout, the WDT generates a reset-inducing signal and supplies it to the microcomputer.
The microcomputer has a low power consumption mode, such as a stand-by mode, in which is stopped a command executing operation performed by a central processing unit (CPU). Accordingly, in a system having its microcomputer with WDT externally attached thereto, even when the microcomputer is set in the low power consumption mode, the microcomputer is reset in each event if the timer counter's timeout is not suppressed, making it impossible to realize any low power consumption. Then, the WDT's operation is interrupted in the low power consumption state of the microcomputer whereby it will no longer happen that reset is instructed every time the timer counter experiences its timeout. In addition, it is no longer required to perform in each event the processing for initialization of the timer counter's count value by releasing the low power consumption state of the microcomputer just before the timeout of the timer counter. For example, JP-A-2003-300438 discloses therein a technique for causing a CPU to deactivate a watchdog IC having a watchdog timer in responding to turn-off of an ignition switch of motor vehicle and for preventing a reset signal from being output to the CPU. In such case, this document takes into consideration the following fact: with mere use of the watchdog timer circuit for monitoring the CPU operation by means of an active signal to be input from the CPU, once the watchdog timer is deactivated due to the CPU's runaway, the CPU is unable to make the watchdog timer circuit active while at the same time losing the reset functionality with respect to the CPU. In view of this, JP-A-2003-300438 proposes to employ the function of forcibly activating the watchdog timer when communication is performed by a communication interface and even when the ignition switch is driven to turn on.

Watchdog circuit, power IC and watchdog monitor system


Provided are a system and a method for monitoring a web service. The web service monitoring system includes a management module configured to provide an interface for receiving an test scenario and a policy for a simulation test of a target system from an administrator and outputting the simulation test result of the target system to the administrator, a database configured to store the received policy and test scenario, and an agent configured to access the target system according to the test scenario and the policy stored in the database and carry out the simulation test of the target system.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to technology for monitoring a web service using an agent, and more particularly, to a system and a method for monitoring a web service.
2. Discussion of Related Art
With the recent development of Internet technology, various kinds of web services are being provided in networks. While existing web services merely provide simple text and image, provided services such as Internet banking, issue of a certificate, and home trading have remarkably increased in range as well as number lately.
Since web services have been diversified and complicated as mentioned above, it is necessary to frequently monitor whether or not web services operate normally so as to smoothly provide the web services. However, existing web service monitoring involves an administrator accessing the corresponding web service and actually trying to perform respective functions and thus is inconvenient, and accurate monitoring is difficult. In addition, a web service may be provided only when a browser application program interface (API) or application is downloaded and installed. In this case, it is practically impossible for an administrator to check whether or not the browser API or application is downloaded and installed normally.

System and method for monitoring web service


An improved apparatus is provided to attain enhanced convenience in controlling display of an electrical program guide with a smaller number of manipulating keys. An EPN mode for displaying the electrical program guide includes a main mode to display program information in a main window, a command mode to display EPN command icons in a command window, and an input mode to display an input window for entry manipulation corresponding to a specific command item. And the operation is shiftable to any of such modes selected by manipulation of a command key or an EXE key. In the main mode, there is set either a mode to display broadcast program information or a mode to display recorded program information on the basis of tape library data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical program guide display control apparatus and an electrical program guide display control method for managing information of a multiplicity of broadcast programs and also information of programs recorded by a VTR (Video Tape Recorder) and then producing a display output of such managed information as a program table.
2. Description of the Related Art
Programs of television broadcasts and so forth are transmitted to users via space or through cable television (CATV) via cable.
A user then selects a desired program out of those of the transmission channels and views the selected program on a television receiver or records the same by a VTR. In such a case, it is generally customary that the user makes a selection of a desired program while reading a printed program table.
However, as seen in a cable television broadcasting system for example, the number of transmission channels amounts maximally to 150 or so, and it is not easy for the user to search for a desired program from a program table where programs of, e.g., 150 channels are listed.
For the purpose of realizing an easy search for a desired program, there is proposed a technique of inserting data of a program table of each channel in the vertical blanking interval of a video signal of a specific channel in such a manner as not to cause any disturbance to the television signal of the program. Meanwhile on the receiving side, the user displays the transmitted program table data on a television screen and, after searching for the channel, selects a desired program of the channel.
Such program table data is also termed an electrical program guide. The program information in this electrical program guide includes, for example, names of scheduled programs to be broadcast from receivable stations, and broadcast time slots corresponding to the programs respectively.
The user selects a desired program while watching the electrical program guide displayed on the screen, and then receives and views the selected broadcast program or reserves timed recording of the selected program.
It may naturally be considered that, relative to any video tape (tape cassette) where some broadcast programs have been recorded, the user wants to refer thereto, as an electrical program guide, with regard to the program information representing the names of the recorded programs and the recording order thereof.
To meet such requirement, there is proposed an apparatus wherein, on the VTR side for example, the information relative to the recorded program on the video tape is stored in a predetermined area on the magnetic tape, and later the area of such program information is reproduced, so that the program information recorded on the video tape is displayed.
However, the above function is an independent one which is additional for the VTR and is different from the aforementioned electrical program guide display function. For any user utilizing an AV system equipped with such electrical program guide display function for example, it is preferred that the functions be dealt with integrally, since the electrical program guide display function and the VTR-recorded program information display function are mutually identical in the point of displaying the information relative to the programs. For example, if the two program display functions are dealt with integrally as one electrical program guide, the user is enabled to refer more simply to the information relative to the entire programs.
In any of the electrical program guides known heretofore, display of an electrical program table is executed by using the entire display screen. In this case, when the functions furnished to serve as an electrical program guide are performed by command manipulation to carry out change of the displayed program information contents, retrieval thereof and various settings in accordance with the classified items of program information, the entire picture on the screen is changed in conformity to the content of such command and is therefore rendered quite different from the prior content displayed anterior thereto, hence raising a problem of inconvenience for the user. Such a problem becomes more conspicuous with advanced diversification of the information to be displayed as an electrical program guide or with expedited diversification of the functions.
As for control of various settings and so forth on an electrical program guide, it has been customary that first an individual button or cursor corresponding to the function to be controlled is displayed, and then a required manipulation is executed on the picture by the use of a remote controller or the like. In this case, the number of buttons to be displayed or the number of keys in a remote controller manipulated by the user is increased in accordance with advanced diversification of the functions to consequently complicate the manipulation. In order to avoid such intricate manipulation, there may be contrived a technique of employing a common button for a plurality of functions. However, in this case also, some difficulties are existent in properly actuating the key to be manipulated if no consideration is given to the display format, whereby the user may be confused.

Apparatus and method for controlling display of electrical program guide


A sample processing system is disclosed that comprises: a transportation apparatus configured to convey a sample container; a first analyzer, arranged along the transportation apparatus, configured to measure a sample accommodated in a sample container conveyed by the transportation apparatus; a second analyzer, arranged along the transportation apparatus, configured to measure a sample accommodated in a sample container conveyed by the transportation apparatus; and a transportation controller configured to determine an analyzer to which a sample container is conveyed, and to control the transportation apparatus to convey the sample container to the determined analyzer, wherein: the first analyzer is configured to conduct primary measurement; and the second analyzer is configured to conduct both primary measurement and review measurement.

A sample container accommodating a sample is automatically supplied to an analyzer, and the sample is continuously measured with the analyzer. A system having a configuration of arranging a sample sending device for temporarily accommodating and sending out the sample container to be supplied to the analyzer, a plurality of analyzers, and a sample receiving device for receiving and accommodating the sample container accommodating the measured sample, and connecting each device with a transportation apparatus for conveying the sample container, wherein the sample container is supplied to one of the analyzers from the sample sending device by the transportation apparatus to perform measurement, and the sample container after the measurement is accommodated in the sample receiving device is known. Such system is used to measure samples such as blood or urine, wherein reexamination (review measurement) is performed on the same sample if the result of the first measurement (primary measurement) with respect to the sample is determined as deviating from a normal range. When performing the review, the sample container accommodating the sample, which primary measurement is terminated, is automatically resupplied to the analyzer in the system (see e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63-217273, and US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/310999).
In such system, an analyzer dedicated for review measurement is sometimes arranged separate from the analyzer used for the primary measurement. The review measurement thus can be rapidly conducted using the review measurement dedicated analyzer when an order of review measurement arises. However, in a test facility where the rate of review measurement tends to be low, the number of times the analyzer dedicated for review measurement of the plurality of analyzers conducts the measurement is significantly small compared to the number of times other analyzers conduct the primary measurement, and thus the time such analyzer is actually operating is short. In other words, the primary measurement, which occupies most of the measurement, concentrates on the analyzer dedicated for primary measurement, and the sample measurement ability of the analyzer dedicated for review measurement is not sufficiently utilized.

Sample processing system and controlling method of the same