A method of comparing a plurality of decision options is provided. The method can include entering a plurality of factors; determining a plurality of decision options based on the plurality of factors; calculating a score for the plurality of factors; ranking each decision option based on the total score of each factor; outputting the rankings for each decision option.

Existing online search tools, such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, provide searching parties with near-instantaneous access to extremely broad amounts of products and data. Generally, the data sought by the searching parties is used to assist resolving a problem or providing assistance in a decision making process. In some known searches, the searching party is interested in purchasing a particular product from a group of similar products. The data returned from these searches is generally not returned or displayed in a manner that is helpful to the searching party. Moreover, known search engines do not return decision making search results that encompass the factors used in a decision or the importance of the factors in the decision.
Some known search engines and search tools return the search results in a list form, which provide little guidance to the searching party as to what search result or results may be most relevant. As a result, the searching party is required to spend additional time attempting to tabulate and compare the returned data. As such, the searching party is required to use an additional application to acquire the search results.
Also, advertisers desire to present advertisements to searching parties. Generally advertisers are required to purchase keywords that, when searched, will display an advertisement from the advertiser. However, because many keywords are extremely broad, the bidding for keywords is often very expensive and results in the display of advertisements that are not relevant to the searching party's desired search results.

Methods and system to compare different options in a decision making process


An arc fault detector, as a stand alone device or in combination with a circuit interrupting device such as a ground fault interrupter (GFCI), protects from potentially dangerous arc fault conditions. The device utilizes a line side or load side series connected inductance having an air or magnetic core to generate the derivative di/dt signal of the arc current in the conductor. The derivative signal is fed to an arc fault detector where it is analyzed for the presence of arcing. The device can have two series connected inductors inductively coupled to each other such that the signal from one inductor is inductively coupled into the other inductor for coupling to the arc fault detector.

Circuit breakers, fuses and ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) are commonly used devices for protecting people and property from dangerous electrical faults. Fatalities and loss of property caused by electrical faults that go undetected by these protective devices still occur. One such type of electrical fault that typically goes undetected are arc faults. Arcs are potentially dangerous due to the high temperatures contained within them. Thus, they have a high potential of creating damage, mostly through the initiation of fires. An arc, however, will trip a GFCI only if it produces sufficient current leakage to ground. In addition, an arc will trip a breaker only if the current flowing through the arc exceeds the trip parameters of the thermal/magnetic mechanism of the breaker. Therefore, an additional type of protection device is needed to detect and interrupt arcs. An arc detector whose output is used to trigger a circuit interrupting mechanism is referred to as an Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI).
The causes of arcing are numerous, for example: aged or worn insulation and wiring; mechanical and electrical stress caused by overuse, over currents or lightning strikes; loose connections; and mechanical damage to insulation and wires. Two types of arcing can occur in residential and commercial buildings: contact arcing and line arcing. Contact or series arcing occurs between two contacts in series with a load. Therefore, the load controls the current flowing in the arc. Line or parallel arcing occurs between the conductors of a circuit or from a conductor to ground. In this case the arc is in parallel with any load present and the source impedance provides the only limit to the current flowing in the arc.
An example of contact arcing is illustrated in FIG. 1. The conductors 114, 116 comprising the cable 110, are separated and surrounded by an insulator 112. A portion of the conductor 114 is broken, creating a series gap 118 in conductor 114. Under certain conditions, arcing will occur across this gap, producing a large amount of localized heat. The heat generated by the arcing might be sufficient to break down and carbonize the insulation close to the arc 119. If the arc is allowed to continue, enough heat will be generated to start a fire.
A schematic diagram illustrating an example of line arcing is shown in FIG. 2. Cable 120 comprises electrical conductors 124, 126 covered by outer insulation 122 and separated by inner insulation 128. Deterioration or damage to the inner insulation at 121 may cause line fault arcing 123 to occur between the two conductors 124, 126. The inner insulation could have been carbonized by an earlier lightning strike to the wiring system, or it could have been cut by mechanical action such as a metal chair leg cutting into an extension cord.
The potentially devastating results of arcing are widely known and a number of methods of detecting arcs have been developed in the prior art. A large percentage of the prior art refers to detecting high frequency signals generated on the AC line by arcs.
A wide range of prior art exists in the field of arc detection. Some of the prior art refer to specialized instances of arcing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,243, issued to Renn, et al., teaches a device that operates with DC current. U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,322, issued to Rivera, teaches a device that detects arcing within an enclosed unit of electrical equipment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,144, issued to Nebon, teaches a device that detects the light produced by an arc between the contacts of a circuit breaker.
In addition, there are several patents that refer to detecting arcs on AC power lines that disclose various methods of detecting high frequency arcing signals. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,185,684 and 5,206,596, both issued to Beihoff et al., employ a complex detection means that separately detects the electric field and the magnetic field produced around a wire. U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,012, issued to Dollar, teaches measuring the high frequency current in a shunted path around an inductor placed in the line, which can be the magnetic trip mechanism of a breaker. In a second detection circuit, proposed by Dollar, high frequency voltage signal is extracted from the line via a high pass filter placed in parallel with any load.
Various methods can be found in the prior art to authenticate arcing and to differentiate arcing from other sources of noise. Much of the prior art involves complicated signal processing and analysis. U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,404, issued to Ragsdale, teaches looking for series arcing by converting the arcing signals to pulses and counting the pulses.
In addition, several patents detect arcing by taking the first derivative or second derivative of the detected signal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,006, issued to MacKenzie et al., and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,185,684 and 5,206,596, issued to Beihoff et al, disclose such a device.
Blades uses several methods to detect arcs as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,223,795, 5,432,455 and 5,434,509. The Blades device is based on the fact that detected high frequency noise must include gaps at each zero crossing, i.e., half cycle, of the AC line. To differentiate arcing from other sources of noise, the Blades device measures the randomness and/or wide bandwidth characteristics of the detected high frequency signal. The device taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,509 uses the fast rising edges of arc signals as a detection criterion and detects the short high frequency bursts associated with intermittent arcs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,505, issued to Zuercher et al., discloses a method of detecting arcing by sensing cycle to cycle changes in the AC line current. Differences in samples taken at the same point in the AC cycle are then processed to determine whether arcing is occurring.
A characteristic of arcing on a conductor is the occurrence of high frequency signals which are different from the frequency (normally 60 cycles) of the current for which the conductor is intended to carry. Electrical arcing produced by alternating voltage will extinguish each time the voltage across the arc drops below a value sufficient to sustain the arc, and will re-ignite each time the voltage across the arc exceeds the arc's minimum ignition voltage. The ignition voltage is substantially proportional to the size of the physical gap that the arc must traverse.
The extinction voltage tends to be lower than the ignition voltage. When the arc gap is very large, the arc will be intermittent and unstable and will tend to extinguish itself and re-ignite as conditions permit. As the gap becomes smaller, the arc becomes more persistent and eventually self-sustaining. When the gap becomes much smaller, the arc tends to self-extinguish by completing the current path. When the arc conducts current, it produces high frequency signals on the electrical conductors.
A number of systems that have been developed to detect arcing in buildings do so by monitoring high frequency signals present on the conductors. One such method of detecting arcing is by an arc detector that detects the derivative of the signal on the conductor. Typically, such arc detectors employ, for example, current transformers to produce signals representative of the high frequency signals on the wiring being monitored. Current transformers both add to the manufacturing cost of the arc fault detector and, because of the size of the components, creates packaging difficulties. In addition, current transformers have a limited high frequency response and poor signal-to-noise ratio.
Accordingly, there is a need for an arc fault detector that provides improved signal to noise ratio, improve high frequency response, that is relatively economical to build and that is relatively small in size.


A computer-implemented method of forecasting discovery costs captures historical business events, which are aggregated and statistically analyzed by matter type and business event types. Statistical data is used to calculate probabilities of occurrence of future business events and to extrapolate occurrence of those future business events. The method forecasts an extrapolated volume of production at the time of a forecasted export event. The method further forecasts costs for future discovery from the extrapolated volume of production.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for forecasting litigation discovery costs by collecting and analyzing historic data to predict future costs and timing based on interpolation of historic event patterns.
2. Prior Art
Because of the increasing cost of litigation discovery, litigation expenses are increasing in both absolute dollars and as a percentage of operating budgets for some companies. It is difficult to predict discovery costs on a matter-by-matter basis when the outcome of any individual litigation matter cannot be accurately predicted. The amount and timing of discovery expenses can have a material impact on a company's operating results.
Previously, forecasting methods for E*Discovery costs were very ad hoc and manual. Only limited data could be leveraged because there was no effective means to collect and mine historical data and no effective way to track detailed recent activity on current matters. As a result, forecasts were made using empirical forecasting methods that were based more often on perception of cost trends rather than on real data, using simple models that were implemented using manual spreadsheet formulas. Consistency and accuracy was extremely low. As a result, such forecasts were not relied upon for budgeting purposes. Instead, budgets were developed using simple year-to-year trends combined with intuitive guesses.
Given the volume of current litigation in large corporations, the number of people possessing information related to each matter in litigation, and the widespread use of third party contractors, who provide discovery services, it is difficult to develop and maintain accurate cost forecasts without a dedicated cost-forecasting tool. To enable companies to more accurately an effectively forecast their legal expenses, automated methodology and process for predicting discovery costs is needed. Important attributes of an effective model for forecasting discovery costs are ease of use, flexibility, and data integrity. The model should enable a person with little or no training in finance to produce a forecast that he/she is confident delivering to the company's management team. The key to having confidence in the forecast is knowing that the data used to create the forecast is complete and specific to the company and was collected in a way that minimizes the risk of human error.
The concept of a particular litigation matter moving through a particular series of sequential stages may not be entirely sufficient for modeling more sophisticated business litigation processes. For example, it is desirable that a second request with collections be created at any time, not necessarily after a particular stage. Ad-hoc collection logs may need to be created before a collection notice is created. These out-of-order events increase the probability of collection but are not properly modeled using sequential litigation stages model.

Forecasting discovery costs based on interpolation of historic event patterns

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided herein are methods for forming a layer on a substrate wherein the layer is formed selectively on a first region of the substrate relative to a second region having a composition different than the first region. Methods of the invention include selectively forming a layer using an inhibitor agent capable of reducing the average acidity of a first region of the substrate having a composition characterized by a plurality of hydroxyl groups. Methods of the invention include selectively forming a layer by exposure of the substrate to: (i) an inhibitor agent comprising a substituted or an unsubstituted amine group, a substituted or an unsubstituted pyridyl group, a carbonyl group, or a combination of these, and (ii) a precursor gas comprising one or more ligands selected from the group consisting of a carbonyl group, an allyl group, combination thereof.

In pursuit of increasing performance, feature sizes in microelectronics are decreasing. Unfortunately, as feature sizes shrink toward 10 nm, precise fabrication of these features is increasingly difficult. Conventional top-down approaches for nanoscale electronic device fabrication involve blanket film deposition, patterning, and etching steps, requiring precise control at each step. One approach for improving precision and pattern registry is area selective deposition (ASD), a bottom-up fabrication scheme. ASD involves highly (or, perfectly) selective growth of a thin film: for example, thin film growth may occur on conductive surfaces but not on insulating surfaces. Selective growth may occur when film nucleation is significantly slowed or prevented on certain surfaces while not on other surfaces. In addition to providing more precise device fabrication, use of ASD techniques may reduce fabrication cost, time, and complexity. During ASD, patterns and features may be deposited upon a pre-established base pattern thereby obviating a number of deposition and etching steps.
ASD may be performed using, for example, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or atomic layer deposition (ALD). In an example CVD approach to achieve ASD, a surface may be rendered passive by addition of an inhibitor gas. For example, Abelson et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 10,103,057, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, to the extent not inconsistent herewith) discusses an ASD approach continuously introducing an inhibitor gas during the deposition process to reduce the film nucleation rate of Cu from Cu(hfac)VTMS on a SiO2 surface while allowing film growth on a conductive surface (e.g., RuOx).
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that there remains a need in the art for methods advancing the scope of mechanisms, substrates, and precursors, for example, available to achieve ASD and thereby afford greater flexibility in manufacturing of micro and nano electronics.

Area selective CVD of metallic films using precursor gases and inhibitors

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a nonaqueous electrolyte. The negative electrode contains an active material providing a working potential which is nobler by at least 0.5V than a lithium metal potential. Also, the nonaqueous electrolyte contains an ionic liquid and allyl phosphate represented by chemical formula given below:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a secondary battery comprising a nonaqueous electrolyte and to a battery pack comprising the secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the market of portable information apparatuses such as a portable telephone and a small personal computer is being rapidly expanded. With progress in the miniaturization and in the weight reduction of these portable information apparatuses, the power source of the apparatus is also required to be miniaturized and to be made lighter in weight. A lithium ion secondary battery having a high energy density is used in many of these portable information apparatuses, and a research on the lithium ion secondary battery is being conducted even nowadays. In recent years, the miniaturization is being promoted in various apparatuses such as the digital audio apparatus and the POS terminal in accordance with progress of the technology. When the apparatus is made portable by miniatuarization, a battery that permits eliminating the power source cord is required in place of the conventional AC power source. Under these circumstances, the field of use of the secondary battery is being expanded. It should also be noted that the improvement of the battery performance is always required in the information apparatus such as a personal computer and the portable telephone in which the secondary battery continued to be used in the past. A lead-acid battery, a nickel-cadmium secondary battery, a nickel-hydrogen secondary battery, etc. were used in the past as the secondary battery. However, these conventional secondary batteries were not satisfactory in respect of the requirements for the miniaturization and the weight reduction. On the other hand, a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery is small in size, low in weight and has a large capacity. Therefore, the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery has come to be used in the personal computer and the portable telephone noted above as well as in a digital camera, a video camera, etc.
The nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery noted above includes a secondary battery comprising a positive electrode active material, a negative electrode active material, and an electrolyte. A lithium-containing cobalt composite oxide or a lithium-containing nickel composite oxide is used as the positive electrode active material. Also, a graphite series or a coke series carbon material is used as the negative electrode active material. Further, an organic solvent having a lithium salt such as LiPF6 or LiBF4 dissolved therein is used as the electrolysis solution. Each of the positive electrode and the negative electrode is used as sheets. The positive and negative electrodes are electronically insulated from each other because a separator holding the electrolyte is arranged between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. Further, the positive electrode, the negative electrode and the separator are housed in a container having any of various shapes to form a battery.
The electrolysis solution used in the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery described above contains a flammable organic solvent as a main component. Therefore, a chemical reaction that is not supposed to take place in the ordinary charge-discharge operation may occur, due to, for example, over-charging, which makes the secondary battery thermally unstable. In such a case, it is possible that the safety of the battery to be impaired by the combustion of the organic solvent.
It was studied in the past to change the composition of the electrolyte solution for overcoming the problem noted above. In the electrolyte solution based on the organic solvent, ethylene carbonate, diethyl carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate or γ-butyrolactone etc. was used as the solvent. These solvents have a flash point of 152° C., 31° C., 24° C. and 98° C., respectively. It was attempted to improve the safety of the battery by using ethylene carbonate or γ-butyrolactone as the solvent, which have a relatively high flash point among the solvents noted above. However, an example is reported that the temperature within a vehicle exceeded 100° C. in summer, which indicates that the use of ethylene carbonate and/or γ-butyrolactone is not sufficient for improving the safety of the battery.
It is also attempted to improve the safety of the battery by adding a flame-retardant phosphoric ester to the organic solvent-based electrolyte solution. Trimethyl phosphate (TMP) is added in a large amount to the electrolyte solution to improve the safety but it causes the deterioration of the performance of the secondary battery. For example, it is described in JP-A No. 2001-160415 (KOKAI) that an allyl series phosphoric ester such as dimethyl allyl phosphate is added to the electrolyte solution in order to suppress the performance detrioration by large amount TMP addition. As a matter of fact, the patent document quoted above refers to an Example in which dimethyl allyl phosphate, TMP and a graphite series negative electrode active material are used together. On the other hand, it is described in JP-A No. 2002-203598 (KOKAI) that a lactone series organic solvent such as γ-butyrolactone brings about a reaction with a graphite series negative electrode active material and that, in order to suppress the particular reaction, an additive is added to the electrolysis solution. The additive noted above includes an allyl series phosphoric ester such as dimethyl allyl phosphate. It should be noted that, in each of the examples quoted above, dimethyl allyl phosphate is used as the allyl series phosphoric ester in order to suppress the reaction between the organic solvent such as TMP or a lactone series organic solvent and the negative electrode active material.
However, the nonaqueous electrolysis solution used in the lithium secondary battery described in each of JP-A No. 2001-160415 (KOKAI) and JP-A No. 2002-203598 (KOKAI) referred to above contains an organic solvent as an indispensable component and, thus, the electrolysis solution inevitably has the flash point. Such being the situation, it was impossible for the lithium secondary battery to secure a sufficient safety under the conditions involving various dangers such as the internal short-circuiting, the external short-circuiting, the flame spread from the outside and the compressive breakage of the battery.
As another attempt, there is a research in which an ionic liquid that assumes a liquid state under room temperature and doe not have the flash point is used to improve the safety of the battery. For example, a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery with the ionic liquid as the electrolyte is disclosed in JP-A No. 4-349365 (KOKAI) as a secondary battery with excellent safety. In the secondary battery disclosed in this patent document, a lithium metal oxide is used as the positive electrode active material. Also, a lithium metal, a lithium alloy or a carbonaceous material capable of intercalating or deintercalating lithium ions is used as the negative electrode active material. Further, an ionic liquid containing a lithium salt, aluminum halide, and a halogenated quaternary ammonium is used as the electrolyte.
Further, JP-A No. 11-86905 (KOKAI) discloses a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery having a composition explained below as a secondary battery excellent in safety and enhanced in the charge-discharge cycle life and in the discharge capacity. This nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprises a positive electrode, a negative electrode containing a carbonaceous material intercalating or deintercalating lithium ions, and an ionic liquid used as an electrolyte and formed of quaternary ammonium ion, lithium ion and fluoride anion containing an element selected from the boron, phosphorus and sulfur.
However, the ionic liquid noted above reacts with the positive electrode or the negative electrode. As a result, the charge-discharge cycle life of the secondary battery is shortened.

Nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and battery pack

Abstract: where R denotes hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, and n denotes an integer of 1 to 3.


A method and apparatus for adhesion of a semiconductor substrate on a support block in a condition that there are no minute concave or convex portions on the semiconductor substrate are proposed and have features that not only is the semiconductor substrate supported at its periphery in a squeezing condition but a back pressure is also applied on the semiconductor substrate with an air bag in such a manner that a region of the air bag corresponding to the central region of the semiconductor substrate is most swelled out, so that the semiconductor substrate is curved and the central region of the semiconductor substrate is pressed to the support block and thereafter, the squeezing condition of the semiconductor substrate is released to make the semiconductor substrate adhered to the support block.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for adhesion of a semiconductor substrate in order to make a semiconductor substrate adhere to a support block with an adhesive.
2. Related Art
In recent years, a trend of super-integration of a semiconductor integrated circuit has been accelerated and in company with the trend, not only has a semiconductor substrate been larger in diameter, but miniaturization in a semiconductor device has also progressed toward to a finer design rule. For this reason, requirement for a flatness of a semiconductor substrate has increasingly been severer.
A flatness of a semiconductor substrate is dependent on an adhesion accuracy of a semiconductor substrate to a support block (pressure plate) in polishing of the semiconductor substrate. There has conventionally been conceived an adhesion method as described in Publication of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 64-10643.
The adhesion method will be described in reference to FIG. 8. In the adhesion method, an adhesive material 23, such as wax, an adhesive or the like, is applied on a semiconductor substrate 21 or a support block 22 of a polishing apparatus, the semiconductor substrate 21 is vacuum chucked on a porous suction plate 25 made of ceramics or the like which is mounted to a suction member 24, the semiconductor substrate 21 is pressed on the support block 22 while the support block 22 is heated and the adhesive material 23 is maintained in a molten state and thereafter, vacuum suction is broken. A suction surface of the suction plate 25 used in this case is a spherical surface.
There has been an established understanding on the following effects thereof according to such a method.
The method is conducted in the following way: the semiconductor substrate 21 is pressed on the support block 22 and vacuum chucking of the semiconductor substrate 21 is broken, in other words, the semiconductor substrate 21 is released from a curved condition while the semiconductor substrate 21 is pressed, thereby the semiconductor substrate 21 changes a profile of the current curved surface and the surface gradually restores its original flat one while the restoration progresses from the central region to its periphery along a radial direction or from one region to another region along one direction so that, for example, a surface of the semiconductor substrate 21 pressing the support block 22 grows to a larger circle area from a small one at its center as a starting. Therefore, even when bubbles are mixed in the adhesive material 23, the bubbles are pressed out radially or along the one direction. If the curved condition of the semiconductor substrate 21 is released in the above mentioned manner, a pressing force is kept constant including a restored surface area in a radial direction or in one direction in the course of restoration of the original profile. Therefore, mixing-in of bubbles to an adhesive material is effectively prevented.
In the above mentioned method, however, since a porous suction plate 25 is used, minute concave or convex portions arise on the semiconductor substrate 21, which is vacuum chucked. Therefore, mixing-in of bubbles to the adhesive material 23 is unavoidable when the semiconductor substrate 21 is pressed on the support block 22. Moreover, part of the bubbles remains in the adhesive material 23 after adhesion of the semiconductor substrate 21 to the support block 22 is finished. As a result, part of the minute concave or convex portions are transferred on the semiconductor substrate 21, which has caused a problem of reduction in flatness level.

Method and apparatus for adhesion of semiconductor substrate


Electrical connections are created between the actuator frame of a piezoelectric MEMS scanning mirror system and the substrate separate from the structural adhesive creating the mechanical bond between the actuator frame and the substrate. A structural bond (with no conducive properties) is formed between the actuator frame and the substrate. After the bond is fully formed, separate electric connections can be created by one or both of: 1) coating the actuator frame with a coating that enables a surface of the actuator frame to be wire bondable and creating a wire bond between the actuator frame and the substrate; or 2) depositing a trace of conductive material on the outside edge of the mechanical bond between the actuator frame and the substrate and a final protection layer may be applied over the conductive trace to protect the trace from mechanical or environmental damage.

In traditional piezoelectric micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) scanning mirror systems, a metal frame acts as the common electrical connection for all of the piezoelectric elements. Accordingly, an electrical connection must also be made between the metal frame and the substrate, which serves as the electrical and mechanical interconnect for the device. To accommodate this electrical connection, a conductive adhesive is used to mechanically and electrically connect the frame to the substrate. However, combining both electrical and mechanical function into one adhesive bond affects the mechanical performance of the bond. Moreover, because the consistency of conductive and structural adhesives may vary at each attachment point, variations in the mechanical strength of the bonds cause efficiency issues in the system. Alternatively, using conductive adhesives alone suffers from marginal mechanical strength of the bond causing the system components to fail.

Wire bonded common electrical connection in a piezoelectric micro-electro-mechanical system scanning mirror assembly


An electrical fuse comprises: an interconnect to be cut; and a first terminal and a second terminal which are respectively provided at both ends of the interconnect to be cut. The interconnect to be cut comprises: a first orientation film which contains copper as a main component and is oriented in a (111) plane; and a second orientation film which contains copper as a main component and is oriented in a (511) plane. The second orientation film is provided inside the first orientation film over a width direction of the first orientation film, which is perpendicular to a direction from the first terminal toward the second terminal, so as to partition the first orientation film. Accordingly, it becomes possible to securely cut the electrical fuse whose constituent material is copper, and moreover, to maintain a satisfactory cut state of the electrical fuse after the cutting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical fuse and a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a technology of cutting a fuse mounted in a semiconductor device, to thereby perform various processes including adjustment of a resistance value of the semiconductor device and detachment of a defective element to be replaced with a normal element.
As for a method involving cutting the fuse, there are known a method of irradiating a part of the fuse with a laser to cut the fuse and a method of causing a current to flow through the fuse, to thereby cut the fuse.
JP 2004-304002 A discloses the following technology. In a semiconductor device which includes a fuse including a fuse main body and two pads coupled to each other via the fuse main body, and two conductive layers respectively coupled to the two pads, a length of the fuse main body is defined so that, when the fuse is blown through application of an electrical stress between the two conductive layers, the blown portion of the fuse is positioned within the fuse main body, which is separated from an area overlapping with the conductive layer. This technology is aimed to enable more reliable fuse blow out.
Further, as an example of an electrical fuse to be cut by causing a current to flow therethrough, there is known an electrical fuse which employs a phenomenon in which its constituent material migrates due to electromigration (see, for example, JP 2005-39220 A).
The present inventor has recognized as follows. As described in JP 2005-39220 A, in the case of cutting the fuse employing a phenomenon in which its constituent material migrates due to electromigration, there is a fear that, when a semiconductor device is subjected to heat treatment after the fuse has been cut, the constituent material may migrate again due to electromigration and thus the fuse may be reconnected at the cutting portion. When such reconnection occurs, even after the cutting-target electrical fuse has been cut, accurate results may not be obtained through detection of whether or not the electrical fuse has been cut.
FIGS. 7A to 7C illustrate an example of an electrical fuse using copper as a constituent material.
FIG. 7A illustrates a structure of an electrical fuse 10 before cutting. The electrical fuse 10 includes terminals 20 and 22 and an interconnect to be cut 12 provided between the terminals 20 and 22. The interconnect to be cut 12 has a width smaller than widths of the terminals 20 and 22. When a current is caused to flow in a direction from the terminal 20 toward the terminal 22 of the electrical fuse 10, electrons migrate within the interconnect to be cut 12 in a direction from the terminal 22 toward the terminal 20 as illustrated in FIG. 7B. Along with the migration of electrons, copper forming the electrical fuse 10 migrates due to electromigration, whereby a void 30 is generated within the interconnect to be cut 12 having the smaller width. In some cases, however, the void 30 formed within the interconnect to be cut 12 which is cut utilizing electromigration is not large enough to extend over the width of the interconnect to be cut 12. As a result, there is a case where the electrical fuse 10 is not cut completely or a case where the electrical fuse 10 is reconnected due to electromigration when heat treatment is performed after the cutting, as described above.
The possibility that the reconnection as described above occurs is not so strong as to incur a problem as long as a semiconductor device is used in a normal operation. However, when significantly high reliability is required for a semiconductor device, or when a semiconductor device is used under severe conditions, it is necessary to further enhance characteristics of maintaining a cut state of the electrical fuse after cutting.
Incidentally, JP 2001-68475 A discloses a process of allowing, in an interconnect containing copper or a copper alloy layer, a majority of copper or copper alloy crystal grains to form twin crystals. Such twin crystals of the copper-based film form a coherent twin-crystal boundary. It is described in JP 2001-68475 A that an electromigration rate is low in the coherent twin-crystal boundary, and accordingly the two crystal grains forming the twin-crystal boundary may be substantially regarded as a single large crystal grain. The inventor(s) of the present invention have found that the reconnection of the electrical fuse after the cutting as described above may be prevented by using such twin crystals in the electrical fuse, and arrived at the present invention.

Electrical fuse and semiconductor device


A method of manufacturing a screen printing plate which can be obtained without using a mother mesh sheet and a resist film including a step of providing a non-plating area on the roll and exposing the roll coated with high-sensitivity photosensitive film by a multiple number of laser beams. The multiple number of laser beams are controlled by preset electric data so that the desired halftone points of negative halftone image are exposed on the roll.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a screen printing plate in which the screen printing plate is obtained by performing a plating process.
2. Prior Art
Recently, in a manufacturing screen printing plate, it is desirable to directly expose a photosensitive film by laser beams which are controlled by information supplied from a computer for a design and stored in memory modules thereof to make any design of screen printing plates.
However, in a conventional method for making a screen printing plate, a screen printing plate is obtained by coating a photosensitive film on a mother mesh sheet made of a rosin or iron that is plated by nickel, and placing a resist film prepared on the basis of information supplied from a computer over the mother mesh sheet, and exposing and developing the mother mesh sheet. After the developing, the mother mesh sheet is plated by metal, for example, nickel. Thus, the screen printing plate is obtained. Therefore, there is no progress in a making a screen printing plate though a technology of a video data processing has been progressed. In other words, although the technology of the video data processing, for example, to make a picture data by computers and a technology of a laser processing have been progressed in recent years, the making process of the screen printing plate as was before is performed.

Method for manufacturing screen printing plate


A pedal boat comprises an integrally molded hollow hull having an upper surface where water passengers can be seated. The hull is provided with drain holes to conduct water away from the pedal boat. A steering assembly and paddle wheel assembly are mounted to the hull. Each paddle of the paddle wheel assembly has a terminal portion which is displaceable between a rest position, wherein the terminal portion extends at an angle to the plane of the paddle to provide a more vertical entrance angle of the paddle in the water, thereby reducing the noise factor, and a loaded position in the water, wherein the terminal portion extends in the plane of the paddle to provide a greater thrust.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pleasure boat and, more particularly, pertains to a new an improved pedal boat construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A pedal boat normally has a hull which is formed of two associated molded shells secured together so as to provide a floating platform which is adapted to carry two or more passengers.
One problem associated with this type of hull is that water tends to enter in the hull by the seams thereof, thereby affecting the integrity and durability of the hull. There is thus a need for a seamless unitized hull construction which will eliminate water leakage.
Additionally, conventional hulls must be bailed out as any other boat. Therefore, a self-bailing hull which is adapted to drain the water from the cock-pit is desirable.
Over the years, various paddle design have been developed in order to obtain more efficient arrangements to propel non-motorized pleasure boat. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 646,041 issued on Mar. 27, 1900 discloses a rowing device which is adapted to be mounted to a boat. The rowing device comprises a paddle which can be pivoted between an open and a folded position by operation of a lever mechanism connected therewith. The paddle is displaced in a folded position during the return movement of the paddle in order to minimize the surface exposed to wind-pressure, as well as to prevent striking the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,378 issued on Dec. 10, 1991 to Wang discloses a boat impeller wheel comprising a rotating shaft and a plurality of vane units extending radially therefrom. According to one preferred embodiment, each vane unit includes a planar main plate having a leading surface and a trailing surface from which extends a pair of lugs. A planar swing plate is pivotally mounted to the lugs of the main plate with the center of gravity of the swing plate being located between the rotating shaft and the pivot axis of the swing plate, such that when a vane unit leaves the surface of the water, the swing plate thereof pivots away from the trailing surface of the main plate to permit water on the vane unit to flow back into the water along the swing plate, thereby reducing the splashing of water therefrom.
However, the above-described paddle constructions are somewhat noisy because the paddles thereof slap the surface of the water as they enter it. Moreover, they are not configured to store energy in order to further propel the boat.
Efforts have also been made to find better ways of assembling paddle wheels or blade assemblies. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,313 issued on May 5, 1992 to Po discloses a separable blade assembly for a rubber raft which comprises two blade members and two crankshaft members. Each blade member includes a hub and two diametrically opposed blades extending therefrom. The blades are provided at an inner end thereof with a protrusion which is adapted to fit within a radial groove defined on the hub of the other blade member. The crankshaft members can be inserted through a central hole defined in the hubs of the aligned blade members, respectively. A bolt secures the two blade members and the two crankshaft members in a solid crankshaft blade assembly.
Although the blade assembly described in the above-mentioned patent is effective, it has been found that there is a need for a new and improved paddle wheel assembly.


An improvement in a method for quantitative modulated imaging to perform depth sectioned reflectance or transmission imaging in a turbid medium, such as human or animal tissue is directed to the steps of encoding periodic pattern of illumination preferably with a fluorescent excitation wavelength when exposing a turbid medium to the periodic pattern to provide depth-resolved discrimination of structures within the turbid medium; and reconstructing a non-contact three dimensional image of the structure within a turbid medium. As a result, wide field imaging, separation of the average background optical properties from the heterogeneity components from a single image, separation of superficial features from deep features based on selection of spatial frequency of illumination, or qualitative and quantitative structure, function and composition information is extracted from spatially encoded data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical measurement of turbid media and in particular to optical measurement tissue absorption and scattering parameters and tissue imaging.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is considerable prior art that utilizes structured illumination to carry out fluorescence based molecular imaging in small animals. The structured nature of the illumination, which is generally presented to the target at a single spatial frequency, is used in a very simple way to inform the spatial location and topography of the surface of the illuminated target to create a three dimensional rendering of the object. Essentially the approach is a method for correcting for variations in the distance between illumination to object and object to sensor. A number of examples follow.
For a first example, as described in "Visualization Of Antitumor Treatment By Means Of Fluorescence Molecular Tomography With An Annexin V-Cy5.5 Conjugate" by Ntziachristos V, et. al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2004 Aug. 17; 101(33):12294-9. Epub 2004 Aug. 10 Center for Molecular Imaging Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. 02115, USA. email@example.com, in vivo imaging of treatment responses at the molecular level has been recognized as potentially having a significant impact on the speed of drug discovery and ultimately to personalized medicine. There is a recognized need for developing quantitative fluorescence-based technologies with good molecular specificity and sensitivity for noninvasive 3D imaging through tissues and whole animals. Tumor response to chemotherapy can be accurately resolved by fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) with a phosphatidylserine-sensing fluorescent probe based on modified annexins. At least a 10-fold increase of fluorochrome concentration in cyclophosphamide-sensitive tumors and a 7-fold increase of resistant tumors compared with control studies has been observed. Fluorescence molecular tomography is an optical imaging technique developed to overcome limitations of commonly used planar illumination methods and demonstrates higher quantification accuracy validated by histology. A 3-fold variation in background absorption heterogeneity may yield 100% errors in planar imaging but only 20% error in fluorescence molecular tomography, thus confirming tomographic imaging as a preferred tool for quantitative investigations of fluorescent probes in tissues. Tomographic approaches are found essential for small-animal optical imaging and are potentially well suited for clinical drug development and monitoring."
For a second example as described in "In Vivo Tomographic Imaging Of Near-infrared Fluorescent Probes" by Ntziachristos V et. al., Mol Imaging. 2002 April-June; 1(2):82-8. Center for Molecular Imaging Research, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, Bldg. 149 13th Street 5406, Charlestown, Mass. 02129-2060, USA. email@example.com, fluorescence imaging has increasingly been used to probe protein function and gene expression in live animals. This technology is seen in the art as enhancing the study of pathogenesis, drug development, and therapeutic intervention. Three-dimensional fluorescence observations using fluorescence-mediated molecular tomography (FMT) have been developed. An imaging technique that can resolve molecular function in deep tissues by reconstructing fluorescent probe distributions in vivo has been demonstrated. Fluorescence-mediated molecular tomography findings have been compared with fluorescence reflectance imaging (FRI) to study protease function in nude mice with subsurface implanted tumors. This validation of fluorescence-mediated molecular tomography with fluorescence reflectance imaging has demonstrated the spatial congruence of fluorochrome activation as determined by the two techniques.
For a third example as disclosed in "Experimental Fluorescence Tomography Of Tissues With Noncontact Measurements" by Schulz R B et. al. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2004 April; 23(4):492-500 Department of Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. firstname.lastname@example.com, noncontact optical measurements from diffuse media has been found to facilitate the use of large detector arrays at multiple angles in diffuse optical tomography applications. Such imaging strategy eliminates the need for individual fibers in contact with tissue, restricted geometries, and matching fluids. Thus, experimental procedures and the ability to visualize functional and molecular processes in vivo is improved as shown in an experimental implementation to perform small animal imaging.
Ultrasound can be used to access subsurface information to a certain degree; however this only gives data relating to tissue mechanical properties. Optical coherence tomography is currently being developed to probe tissue subsurface structure, but can only report on very small tissue volumes. Standard photography can be performed in such a way as to provide semiquantitative information relating to surface structure, but not subsurface structure.
Fluorescence tomography approaches until recently have been limited to arrays of single sources and detectors that are serially switched in order to build up a tomographic image of the object of interest. Typically these geometries are not accommodating to a wide variety of targets. Model based approaches are required in order to extract meaning from the data.
Recently there have been efforts that employ wide field imaging and structured illumination at a single spatial frequency in order to provide an estimate of the three dimensional extent of the target of interest. Much of this work has focused on small animal imaging. Investigators have relied on the spatial distortion of the projected static illumination pattern by the surface of the object in order to "correct" for sample-to-detector variation that results from the three dimensional extent of the object of interest.
U.S. Patent Application 2003/0184757 disclosed wide field, broadband, spatially modulated illumination of turbid media. This approach has potential for simultaneous surface and sub-surface mapping of media structure, function and composition. This method can be applied with no contact to the medium over a large area, and could be used in a variety of applications that require wide-field image characterization. Numerous potential applications in the biomedical domain were indicated including those utilizing fluorescence. While quantitative modulated fluorescence imaging was mentioned in passing, a detailed illustration was not provided.

Method and apparatus for high resolution spatially modulated fluorescence imaging and tomography

The Regents of the University of California


A vehicle includes power outlets configured to receive power from an inverter. The vehicle includes power sources configured to supply power to the inverter and a plurality of electrical systems. A controller is programmed to, responsive to detecting a load connected to one of the power outlets, change a maximum power limit of the electrical systems by an amount associated with the one of the power outlets.

Vehicles may be configured to provide a limited amount of power to external devices. For example, vehicles may provide one or more 12-Volt outlets for providing power to external devices. Power capability of these outlets is generally quite low. For example, a 10 Amp output at 12 Volts only consumes 120 W of power. Hybrid vehicles present additional opportunities for providing power to external devices. As hybrid vehicles can include increased power storage and generation capabilities, it becomes possible to provide higher levels of power to external devices. As more power can be provided to off-board devices, balancing on-board and off-board power requirements becomes more complex.

Dynamic control of on-board generator inverter input power


A fastener includes first and second tracks. The first track includes a first profile, and the second track includes a second profile for interlocking with the first profile. The fastener extends between opposing ends. The first and second profiles at each of the opposing ends are sealed to each other using a laser. In one embodiment, the fastener is initially continuous and is subsequently divided into segments by simultaneously cutting and sealing the fastener at spaced target locations using the laser. The segments are associated with respective plastic bags. At each of the target locations, the laser directs a laser beam at the fastener such that the laser beam cuts through the first and second profiles and simultaneously seals the first and second profiles to each other on opposite sides of the cut. The seals on the opposite sides of the cut terminate respective ends of adjacent ones of the segments.

A typical reclosable bag includes a fastener along one side for opening and closing the bag. The fastener includes first and second tracks. The first track includes a first profile, and the second track includes a second profile for interlocking with the first profile. To form the bag, the bag is generally thermally sealed along much of its periphery, except possibly along the one side where the fastener is located. The fastener includes opposing ends, and the peripheral seal terminates the opposing fastener ends to hopefully prevent fluid from leaking out of the bag via the fastener ends.
The termination of the fastener ends becomes more difficult to perform successfully as manufacturing speeds are increased. Specifically, as manufacturing speeds are increased, the dwell time for thermal sealing and the cooling time for subsequent cooling must be decreased. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of leaks at the opposing ends of the fastener because it is more difficult to transfer sufficient heat into the fastener material at the opposing fastener ends to render that area leakproof.
Additionally, a mechanical knife is used to cut the web of material into individual bags. The knife becomes dull over time, leading to jagged edges along the individual bags that are not aesthetically pleasing. Accordingly, the repetitious wear on the knife requires it to be replaced on a periodic basis.
It would be desirable to increase manufacturing speeds without compromising the integrity of the terminations at the opposing ends of the fastener or the edges of the bag.

Laser for forming bags from a web of material


A method of communication between networked devices in a local storage area network includes forming a message for in-band communication within a local storage area network. The message includes at least one major task and one or more associated sub tasks for execution within the storage area network. The method further includes establishing a first communication link at least between a first networked device and a second networked device in response to the formation of the message; transmitting the message from the first networked device to at least the second networked device within the local storage area network; and in response to receiving the message, executing the sub tasks within the message with a processor to complete the major task and support local storage area network functionality.

Computer networks have become specialized in the storage of data and are often referred to as a storage network or storage area network (SAN). These storage networks have been historically built around a magnetic rotating platter often referred to as a hard disk. The network storage devices in these historical storage networks include hard disks with sophisticated controllers that provide enhanced data access services. These controllers create Logical Units (LUNs), comprised of hard disks or portions of hard disks. The controller then presents the LUNs to servers on the network for use as networked storage devices.
A fundamental aspect of this arrangement is based on the dependence on rotational media. When retrieving data from such a device, a processor waits until the platter rotates to the position where it started reading. The access latency for a single read operation on a hard drive is a random value that is a function of the physical location of the data on the platter.
The effects of this can be mitigated for sequential data, with its predictable pattern of the next read operation. Placing written data on sequential sectors of the disk of a hard drive, ensures that read operations occur with minimal rotational latency. However, a large portion of real-world data access is random in nature. The next read operation of non-sequential data is difficult to predict.
Storage area networks have been formed taking into consideration the latency of hard disk drives and the random nature of read and write operations. Numerous input/output storage requests are handled by such storage area networks.
Communicating to networked storage devices can be challenging in a storage area network. With traditional communication of commands to a network switch over Ethernet, the performance of a storage area network may be slowed.
It is desirable to improve communication and data access to networked storage devices within storage area networks.

Cache prefill of cache memory for rapid start up of computer servers in computer networks

Avego Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A device is used to set a contact pressure between a displaceable roller and another roller or for moving the displaceable roller with respect to the other roller. At least one actuator is subjectible to the action of a pressure medium and presses the displaceable roller toward the other roller with an adjustable force. The pressure of the pressure medium can be adjusted by a valve. A switchover device is provided for use in connecting the valve to different actuators, as desired.

A plurality of rollers are contained in generally conventional printing presses, such as web-fed rotary printing presses, for example. Inking rollers, in particular, are provided in such presses, which inking rollers are used for transferring ink from an ink reservoir to the plate cylinder. It is possible to meter the ink that is transferred to the plate cylinder by the inking rollers, so that the ink is being transferred as a uniform film of a defined thickness. Because of this, it is possible to compensate for interferences, such as for example, fluctuations in speed and rotary vibrations.
Dampening rollers can also be provided. These dampening rollers transfer a dampening agent, for example water, to the printing group.
Pairs of rollers are often formed by rollers which are in engagement with each other. At least one of the rollers in the pair has a cylinder surface made of an elastic material, so that this cylinder surface can be deformed at least slightly, depending on the contact pressure exerted on it by the roller opposite it. As a result, a contact area, which extends in a straight line between the rollers, and which is called a contact strip, appears because of the elastic deformation of the roller surface. The circumferential width of the contact strip can be varied by adjusting the contact pressure between the rollers. The width of this contact strip has a considerable effect on the print result. If, for example, the contact strip in an inking unit is too narrow, not enough ink is being transferred. In cases in which the contact strips are too wide, the elastic roller can be damaged by the kneading effect occurring because of this excessively wide contact strip.
To be able to always correctly adjust the strip width, in particular as a function of the press operating conditions, for example the temperature of the printing presses or their degree of wear, it is necessary to seat one of the rollers displaceably. This displaceably seated roller can be pushed, by an actuator, with an adjustable force, in a direction toward the opposite roller. Once the correct contact pressure between the two rollers has been found, a fixation device for use in fixing the first roller in place, with respect to the second roller, is operated to maintain the contact pressure permanently.
A device for setting a contact pressure between two rollers is known from DE 197 19 305 A1. By use of the seating arrangement described in that document, the displaceably seated roller is pressed against the opposite roller by a spring, which spring is supported on the frame of the printing press. Because of this spring-biased roller displacement, a defined contact pressure between the two rollers always occurs as a function of the respectively selected characteristic curve of the spring. A clamping mechanism, with a clamping lever and with a clamping plate, and useable for fixing the roller in the pressed-on place, is described, by the use of which clamping mechanism the roller shaft can be fixed in place on the frame of the printing press by a frictional connection.
A device for the semi-automatic adjustment of rollers is known from DE 199 19 733 A1. An adjustably seated roller is maintained in a roller holder, which, in turn, is seated in a frame holder that is fixedly arranged on the frame. In this case, the roller holder and the frame holder can be displaced, in relation to each other, and are connected with each other by a spring-elastic assembly. The spring-elastic assembly here has a defined prestress, so that the roller, which is displaceably seated on the roller holder, can be pressed against the opposite roller with a defined contact pressure. Arresting bolts are provided for use in fixing the roller holder in place on the frame holder, and by whose advancement, the roller holder can be clamped, in a frictionally connected manner, on the frame holder.
DE 38 08 142 A1 describes a device for seating two cylinders. In this case, a contact pressure between two rollers, which two rollers can be placed against and away from each other, can be changed by altering the pressure of a pressure medium. A switching device is also provided, by use of which, the pressure medium can be selectively conducted to different actuators.
DE-OS 16 11 303 discloses a device for bringing a printing cylinder of a rotogravure press into and out of contact. A pressure reduction valve is provided.
Inking rollers are known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,774,301 and GB 1 213 935. These rollers can be brought into contact by the use of actuators which are operated by a pressure medium. Here, a valve for setting the level of the pressure and at least one shut-off valve are provided.

Devices and methods for setting the contact pressure of a displaceably mounted roller


A pain measurement system is capable of accurately and reliably measuring the magnitude of temporary pain in a patient while reducing burdens on the patient during pain measurement. The pain measurement system has a system assembly including a controller that controls an electric stimulus signal output unit to apply a pulse current which increases with time through an electrode. The value of the pulse current is recognized as a minimum sensed current value when a first signal is received. The electric stimulus signal output unit is then controlled to apply, through the electrode, a pulse current having a current value which increases from a predetermined initial value stepwise by nX (where X represents the minimum sensed current value and n represents a positive rational number). The current value of the pulse current is recognized as a pain-commensurate current value when a second signal is received.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pain measurement system and a method of measuring pain.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pain can be described generally in two ways. According to one approach, pain is expressed in terms of quality or type. For example, pain may be described as "burning pain", "smarting pain", "pricking pain", etc. The other way of describing pain is based on the magnitude of pain. For example, pain may be described as "slight pain", "unbearable pain", etc.
The former pain expressions can easily be made if one is aware of a certain range of modifying words for pain. However, it is difficult to properly express magnitudes of pain because the sensation of pain is subjective and personal, and the degree to which one can tolerate pain is easily affected by cultural and psychological factors.
Nevertheless, an objective evaluation of pain is indispensable for diagnosing pain and judging therapeutic effects.
Heretofore, a visual analog scale based on an evaluation made by a patient has been used to determine the magnitude of a pain felt by the patient. For example, a straight line that is 10 cm long is drawn on a sheet of paper with one end of the line representing no pain and the other end intolerable pain. The patient puts a mark indicative of the magnitude of a pain actually felt by the patient on the straight line at a commensurate position along the scale of the straight line.
Although the above evaluating method is simple, it is subjective and has evaluation standards varying from patient to patient. This makes it difficult to compare measured magnitudes of pain between different patients.
Attempts have been made to measure a pain in terms of physiological reactions such as aspiration, heartbeat, blood pressure, etc. for objectively expressing the pain. However, those efforts have proven unsuccessful.

Pain measurement system and method of measuring pain


A device such as a medical device and a method for making same provides a surface modified by beam irradiation, such as a gas cluster ion beams or a neutral beam, to inhibit or delay attachment or activation or clotting of platelets.

Certain medical devices intended for implant in an animal or human subject, in applications where the device contacts blood or blood components may suffer from the problem that platelets attach to and/or activate on the surface of the device, with subsequent formation of or initiation of a blood clot or undesirable attachment of blood components to the device. One example for illustrative purposes is a vascular stent (which may be an expandable metal stent) for insertion into a vascular lumen to treat a disease condition. Such a stent may be formed from a metal material or other material and may, for example, be used to support the lumen of a blood vessel in the vicinity of a cerebral vascular aneurism. In such a case, the tendency for platelet attachment and/or activation, with possible subsequent blood clot formation on the luminal surface of the stent may have the undesired effect of resulting in luminal stenosis or complete obstruction of the blood vessel, resulting in an unfavorable treatment outcome for the implant subject. It is desirable to inhibit or delay the attachment and/or activation of platelets on such surfaces.
In certain cases where inhibition of platelet attachment is beneficial, it is also beneficial to facilitate attachment and/or proliferation of endothelial cells on the surface of an object that may be a medical device such as a stent. Endothelialization of the surface can promote integration of the device following surgical implant, resulting in a more rapid and/or favorable outcome.
In recent years there has been interest in using a GCIB to modify surface properties because of a GCIB's ability to effect very shallow processing while producing very little damage to a substrate.
Ions have long been favored for use in many processes because their electric charge facilitates their manipulation by electrostatic and magnetic fields. This introduces great flexibility in processing. However, in some applications, the charge that is inherent to any ion (including gas-cluster ions in a GCIB) may produce undesirable effects in the processed surfaces. GCIB has a distinct advantage over conventional ion beams in that a gas-cluster ion with a single or small multiple charge enables the transport and control of a much larger mass-flow (a cluster may consist of hundreds or thousands of molecules) compared to a conventional ion (an ionized single atom, molecule, or molecular fragment.) Particularly in the case of insulating materials, surfaces processed using ions often suffer from charge-induced damage resulting from abrupt discharge of accumulated charges, or production of damaging electrical field-induced stress in the material (again resulting from accumulated charges.) In many such cases, GCIBs have an advantage due to their relatively low charge per mass, but in some instances may not eliminate the target-charging problem. Furthermore, moderate to high current intensity ion beams may suffer from a significant space charge-induced defocusing of the beam that tends to inhibit transporting a well-focused beam over long distances. Again, due to their lower charge per mass relative to conventional ion beams, GCIBs have an advantage, but they do not fully eliminate the space charge beam transport problem.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide methods for treating a surface of an object to inhibit or delay the attachment and/or activation of platelets on the object.
It is another object of this invention to provide methods for treating a surface of an object to inhibit or delay the formation of a blood clot on the object.
It is a further object of this invention to provide medical devices treated to inhibit or delay attachment and/or activation of platelets on a surface thereof.
It is still another object of this invention to provide medical devices treated to inhibit or delay the formation of a blood clot upon a surface thereof.
It is another object of this invention to provide methods for treating a surface of an object to inhibit or delay the formation of a blood clot on the object while simultaneously promoting attachment and/or proliferation of endothelial cells on the object.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a medical device treated to inhibit or delay attachment and/or activation of platelets on a surface thereof while simultaneously promoting attachment and/or proliferation of endothelial cells on the device.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a medical device treated to inhibit or delay the formation of a blood clot upon a surface thereof while simultaneously promoting attachment and/or proliferation of endothelial cells on the device.

Treatment method for inhibiting platelet attachment and articles treated thereby


A display component (108) displays multiple icons that a user can touch. A sensing component (104) supports multiple resolution modes, including at least a high resolution mode and a low resolution mode. In one embodiment, in response to detecting an object touching one of the multiple icons while in the low resolution mode, at least a portion of the sensing component over the touched icon changes to operating in a high resolution mode. While in the high resolution mode, the user's fingerprint is sensed, and then the sensing component is returned to the low resolution mode. In another embodiment, icons are displayed in different regions of a display, and those different regions are associated with different sensing component resolutions. When an icon is touched, the touch is detected by the sensing component using the sensing component resolution associated with the region that includes the icon.

As computing technology has advanced, computing devices such as smart phones, tablet computers, desktop computers, and so forth have become increasingly commonplace. Users often times desire to restrict access to their devices, whether because they don't want others to use the functionality that the devices provide, because they store data on their devices that they desire to keep secret, or some other reason. To restrict access, devices typically have an authentication step that must be passed by the user before they can access one of their devices, such as entry of a password or personal identification number (PIN) on a log-in screen, or capturing of a fingerprint by a dedicated fingerprint sensor. Such authentication steps, however, can be time consuming and detract from the usability of the devices, leading to frustrating user experiences.

Adapative sensing component resolution based on touch location authentication


A fluid delivery system for an in ovo injection apparatus is provided. Such a fluid delivery system includes a plurality of fluid pumps each having a select valve, a diaphragm valve, and an outlet valve. The select valves are individually controllable such that each select valve is selectively operated via a pneumatic actuator. The diaphragm valves and the outlet valves are commonly operated via respective pneumatic actuators. An input valve is provided for each fluid pump in instances that require high pressure delivery of a fluid substance via the fluid pumps. In such instances, the input valves and the diaphragm valves are commonly controlled via high pressure solenoid valves, while the select valves are selectively controlled and the outlet valves are commonly controlled via low pressure solenoid valves. An associated apparatus and method are also provided.

In many instances, it is desirable to introduce a substance into a live avian egg prior to hatch. Injections of various substances into avian eggs is commonly referred to as in ovo injection. Such injections have been employed to decrease post-hatch mortality rates, increase the potential growth rates or eventual size of the resulting bird, and even to influence the gender determination of the embryo. Similarly, injections of antigens into live eggs have been employed to incubate various substances used in vaccines which have human or animal medicinal or diagnostic applications. Examples of substances that have been used for, or proposed for, in ovo injection include vaccines, antibiotics and vitamins. In addition, removal of material from avian eggs has been employed for various purposes, such as testing and vaccine harvesting.
An egg injection apparatus (i.e., in ovo injection apparatus) may comprise a plurality of injection devices which operate simultaneously or sequentially to inject a plurality of eggs. The injection apparatus may comprise an injection head which comprises the injection devices, and wherein each injection device is in fluid communication with a source containing a treatment substance to be injected. The in ovo injection apparatus conventionally is designed to operate in conjunction with commercial egg carrier carriers or flats. Egg flats utilized in conjunction with an in ovo injection apparatus typically contain an array of pockets that are configured to support a respective plurality of avian eggs in a generally upright orientation. The egg flats may be typically transported through the in ovo injection apparatus via an automated conveyor system for registering the egg flat beneath the injection head for injection of the eggs carried by the egg flat. In ovo injection of substances (as well as in ovo extraction of materials) typically occurs by piercing an egg shell to form an opening (e.g., via a punch), extending an injection needle through the hole and into the interior of the egg (and in some cases into the avian embryo contained therein), and injecting treatment substance(s) through the needle and/or removing material therefrom.
In some instances, in ovo injection may be implemented selectively such that the treatment substance is not dispensed into dead, infertile, or missing eggs. In this regard, a candling device may be used to classify the eggs in the egg flat conveyed through the egg injection apparatus as viable or non-viable. In some instances, the classification information may be transmitted to an egg remover for removal of the non-viable eggs such that only viable eggs are conveyed to the injection devices, and then the classification information is transmitted to the injection devices such that the treatment substance is only dispensed at locations where eggs (viable) are present. In other instances, the classification information may be transmitted directly to the injection devices such that the viable eggs are injected with the treatment substance, while the non-viable eggs are not injected therewith. Either of these manners of using classification information is typically referred to as selective injection.
The treatment substances used in ovo may typically be either oil-based or aqueous-based substances. Delivery of aqueous-based substances is accomplished using low pressure (typically less than about 30 psi (206 KPa)) to inject the eggs, while delivery of oil-based substances requires use of high pressure (typically more than about 200 psi (1378 KPa)) due to the viscosity difference over aqueous-based substances. Selective injection of aqueous-based substances is accomplished using low pressure solenoid valves in fluid communication with each injection device such that dispensing of the treatment substance can be individually controlled for each injection device. However, selective injection of oil-based substances would require high pressure solenoid valves, which are expensive compared to low pressure solenoid valves, for each injection device to provide individual control thereof.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a fluid delivery system for implementation on an in ovo injection apparatus capable of providing selective delivery of oil-based treatment substances, without the need for every injection device to be in communication with a high pressure solenoid for facilitating individual control thereof. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide an associated method that would facilitate selective injection of an oil-based treatment substance at high pressure without the need for high pressure solenoid valves in communication with each injection device.

Fluid delivery system, and associated apparatus and method


The rotational acceleration of an engine is calculated based on a detection value of an engine rotating speed, the inertia torque to be transmitted to a variable valve mechanism, such as a variable valve timing control mechanism or the like, is calculated based on the rotational acceleration, a correction amount of a manipulated variable for the variable valve mechanism, which is in compliance with the inertia torque, is calculated, and the manipulated variable for the variable valve mechanism is corrected with the correction amount according to the inertia torque, to thereby control the variable valve mechanism based on the corrected manipulated variable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a variable valve control apparatus and method for an internal combustion engine provided with a variable valve mechanism which varies valve characteristics, such as a variable valve timing mechanism which varies opening/closing timing of an engine valve (intake valve/exhaust valve).
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-153104 discloses a variable valve timing mechanism having a configuration in which a rotation phase of a camshaft relative to a crankshaft in an internal combustion engine is changed by the braking of an electromagnetic brake or a solenoid brake so that opening/closing timing of an engine valve is varied.
In the variable valve timing mechanism described above, since the rotation phase is determined by the balance of the torque in an advance angle direction by an electromagnetic force of the electromagnetic brake with the torque in a retarded angle direction by a return spring, the rotation phase might be changed by the inertia torque generated when an engine rotating speed is changed.
Although the rotation phase changed as in the above manner is converged into a target value by a feedback control, it takes much time until the rotation phase is converged. Therefore, there is a problem of degradation in combustion performance due to a phase change during the convergence.

Variable valve control apparatus and variable valve controlling method for internal combustion engine