The invention relates to a method for producing peracetic acid by reacting hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid in a water-based reaction medium in a reactor and continuously distilling off the produced peracetic acid. Thermal energy in an in an amount exceeding about 0.2 kW/kg reaction medium.

The present invention relates to a method for producing peracetic acid by reacting hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid in a aqueous reaction medium, from which peracetic acid is continuously distilled off.
Peracetic acid in aqueous solution can be used as disinfectant or for bleaching various materials and is especially suited for environment-friendly bleaching of cellulose pulp. Prior-art production processes, however, are not sufficiently efficient to be of commercial interest.
GB Patent 949,094 discloses the production of peracetic acid by distilling off peracetic acid from a reaction medium containing acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid and sulphuric acid in equilibrium. However, the described process has a production rate of only about 1 g peracetic acid per kg reaction medium and minute.
D. Swern, "Organic Peroxides", Vol. 1, John Wiley & Sons, New York 1970, pp 349-351, describes a similar process, but mentions no production rates.
The present invention concerns a solution to the problem of providing an efficient process for producing peracetic acid from acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide in aqueous phase, the product preferably containing as little impurities as possible, for instance of acetic acid. Since peracetic acid easily decomposes, both safety problems and high investment costs for the process equipment will arise for large volumes of reaction medium, and therefore it is desirable to achieve a high production rate in relation to the amount of reaction medium.


A method for producing a polyimide film comprises the steps of: preparing a polar organic solvent solution of a polyimide precursor obtained by mixing a tetracarboxylic acid dianhydride compound and a diamine compound; adding a dehydrating agent and an imidization catalyst to the polar organic solvent solution so as to prepare a resin solution composition; and drying the resin solution composition by heating so as to imidize the resin solution composition after flowing the resin solution composition onto a support in a casting manner, wherein diethyl pyridine is used as the imidization catalyst. According to the production method, it is possible to obtain a polyimide film which is highly productive and is excellent in the film quality such as the mechanical property, the adhesive strength, and the like.

Among plastic materials, polyimide is excellent in properties such as heat resistance, insulating property, solvent resistance, and low temperature resistance. Thus, the polyimide is used for electric and electronic component materials. Particular examples of the electric and electronic component materials using polyimide include a flexible print wiring board, a base film of a TAB carrier tape, a wire coating agent for an aircraft or the like, a base film of a magnetic recording tape, a wire coating agent for a superconducting coil, and the like. For each purpose of use, polyimide film suitable for the purpose is selected as necessary. With reduction in the size and thickness, electric and electronic components have finer circuit wirings. Therefore, change in the size of the component may cause malfunction such as wire breakage and short circuit in the circuit having finer wirings.
Incidentally, the polyimide film is produced as follows: a polyimide precursor solution composition prepared as a polyimide precursor is mixed with a chemical imidization solution including a dehydrating agent and an imidization catalyst, and the mixture is continuously extruded from a slit die in a flat thin film manner onto a support such as a drum and an endless belt, and the resultant is solidified through drying and cooling so that its self supporting property is kept while promoting imidization, and then the solidified resultant is further heated. There is also an method in which: a polyimide precursor composition prepared as a precursor of the polyimide film is flown in a casting manner by using a slit die, and the resultant is completely imidized through film formation, a heating treatment, and a drying treatment, thereby producing the polyimide film. However, in this production method, a large quantity of heat and time is required in order to remove a solvent having high affinity with respect to the polyimide precursor, so that this raises such a problem that the productivity of the method is low. While, if the heat quantity is increased in order to keep and improve the productivity, this raises such a problem that a film quality such as a mechanical property and adhesive strength drops.
Incidentally, Patent Document 1 discloses a polyimide film obtained by carrying out ring closure of polyamide acid obtained by mixing pyromellitic dianhydride and 4,4′-diamino diphenyl ether and describes that a chemical ring closure agent and a catalyst are used to carry out imidization, but does not describe that ethyl pyridine is used as the catalyst.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese unexamined Patent Publication No. 118386/1995 (Tokukaihei 07-118386)(Publication date: May 9, 1995)


A data entry device including a housing formed of at least two portions, data entry circuitry located within the housing, at least one case-open switch assembly operative to sense when the housing is opened and tamper indication circuitry operative to receive an input from the at least one case-open switch assembly and to provide an output indication of possible tampering with the data entry circuitry located within the housing. The at least one case-open switch assembly includes an arrangement of electrical contacts arranged on a base surface and a resiliently deformable conductive element, which defines a short circuit between at least some of the arrangement of electrical contacts only when the housing is closed.

The following U.S. Patent Publications are believed to represent the current state of the art and are hereby incorporated by reference:
U.S. Published Patent Application Nos. 2008/0278353 and 2007/0102272;
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,270,275; 6,646,565; 6,917,299; 6,936,777; 6,563,488; 5,559,311 and 4,486,637;
European Patent Nos.: 1421549 and 1676182;
Great Britain Patent Application No. GB8608277;
Japanese Patent Application No. JP2003100169;
French Patent Application No. 2911000; and
Published PCT Patent Application No. WO2009/091394.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Point of sale terminal having enhanced security


A phase vocoder executes a fast-Fourier transform (FFT) with respect to an input audio data stream to generate an array of frequency-domain values corresponding to respective frequencies that are nominally uniformly distributed across a frequency range of interest, each of the frequency-domain values being representative of amplitude and phase of a spectral component of the input audio data stream at the respective frequency. The phase vocoder scales the nominally uniform distribution of the respective frequencies to reduce a cumulative error across the frequency distribution resulting from finite precision of a digital representation and then implements at least one of a time-stretching operation or a pitch-shifting operation with respect to the input data stream by manipulating the frequency-domain values with respect to one another within the array.

Modern digital signal processing of streaming audio and video data is typically implemented through DSP program execution in a general purpose or special purpose processor. Unfortunately, due largely to the traditional focus on platform neutrality, forward/reverse compatibility and layered implementation, extant DSP implementations tend to be resource and power hungry, often consuming a substantial portion of the CPU and memory bus budget. In many cases the processing inefficiency itself drives up end-to-end latency, thus requiring additional memory-consumptive and power-consumptive data buffering and, in some instances, yielding undesirable user-perceivable artifacts in the video/audio output.

High-efficiency digital signal processing of streaming media


A retaining element to hold together a multipart preassembled screw connection or the like until the assembly can be further processed or assembled in a later step. The retaining element includes a ring section to be installed on a free part of the multipart connection unit so as to hold together the individual parts of that section, and a handle that extends in an outward radial direction from the ring section. Once the free part of a multipart connection unit is assembled to a mating connection unit, the ring section can be removed by applying a tensile force to the handle in an upward radial direction. The ring section may have a predetermined breaking point so that the ring section becomes severed when sufficient tensile force is applied, whereby the retaining element can be removed without difficulty.

Such a retaining element for securing multipart screw connections is already known. Thus, more specifically, a retaining cap is known which, if necessary, can be placed on a threaded end in order to hold together individual parts arranged on a screw or threaded rod such as washers, sealing rings and the like as a preassembled unit so as to prevent loss. This type of cap nevertheless has the disadvantage that it is suitable mainly for use with an end piece which features a thread.
In addition, stoppers are known for the purpose of this type of retention, which can be inserted into the respective end piece of a tube and/or internally threaded element and the end of which is radially expanded such that the individual parts assembled on the respective tube or internally threaded element are held together so as to prevent loss.
It is a disadvantage of both known retaining elements that they must be removed prior to assembly of the multipart connection unit. However, this can even lead to the loss of some preassembled individual parts shortly before assembly, particularly where spatial conditions are confined.

Retaining element for multipart connection units such as screw connections and the like


A catering container assembly for storing, transporting, and presenting food is presented having a tray and a domed cover. The tray has a base and side walls extending upwardly from said base. The domed cover has a top and cover walls extending downwardly from said top. The tray has a plurality of recessed platforms disposed adjacent its side walls while the domed cover has a plurality of indentations adjacent its cover walls. Each indentation abuts a respective one of the recessed platforms for transferring a force from the domed cover into said tray. Both the tray and domed cover preferably have stiffening elements joining and strengthening the side walls and cover walls, respectively. The tray is preferably hexagonal to allow for modular positioning. A bowl similar to the tray is also presented which has longer side walls for containing more food.

Catering containers have long been employed to store and transfer food prior to presenting the food to those persons who will consume it. Generally, a caterer loads the food onto the catering containers after preparation and stores the containers until the time at which the food is to be presented to consumers. The caterer then transfers the food from its preparation location to a dining location. To achieve the best results, it is most desirable to utilize catering containers on which food is easily loaded, stored, transported, and presented to the consumer while maintaining the integrity of the food.
Most catering containers have easy loading capability since they are flat and circular. The flat tray is then covered with a lid until presentation. However, flat circular containers can be difficult to store and present since horizontally adjacent containers abut each other at their circular periphery which leaves a gap, and therefore, requires additional surface area. Containers with rectangular-shaped profiles abut against each nicely and eliminate the gap. But, rectangular-shaped containers deviate from the traditional circular catering containers and are less aesthetically pleasing. Moreover, circular containers are preferable since they have a greater ability to distribute food in all directions.
Numerous catering containers are often stacked vertically to use less space in storage. However, this requires a structurally sound container and lid assembly such that the containers on the bottom are not crushed under the weight of those at the top. The lid must evenly transfer the vertical forces to the container through an interlocking mechanism between the lid and the container. Additionally, as the height of the stack increases, the stability of the stack decreases such that those on top may slide out of alignment and fall from the stack. This stacking stability problem is accentuated when a stack of containers is being manually transported by the caterer.
The container must also be strong enough to carry its contents. Not only is the static holding strength important, but the resistance to dynamic torsional and bending stresses is critical since the container must not become contorted during handling and transportation. If the containers are made of metal or ceramic, the issue of strength becomes secondary. But, many catering containers today are made of less costly polymers which brings the strength issue to the forefront.
The aesthetical presentment of the contents of the catering container is also essential. It is most desirable to have a translucent lid such that the contents are revealed without removing the lid. Not only is translucency essential during presentation to the consumers, but it is also beneficial to the caterer in that he or she knows which containers hold which foods. Translucency is easily accomplished when the lid is a polymer. But, to produce a strong polymeric lid, manufacturers have resorted to lids with a series of structural ribs. However, these structural ribs greatly detract from the translucency of the lid, and therefore, the presentability of the catering container.
A need therefore exists for an aesthetically pleasing catering container assembly which overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings associated with horizontal assembly presentation, vertical stacking, and structural stability.


A location of a client device may be obscured by using generated random offsets and/or a set of regions. In one implementation, the location of a client device may be obscured using a first random offset and a second random offset. A pseudo-location may be determined based on the location of the client device, the first random offset, and the second random offset. The pseudo-location may be transmitted to a third-party for a location-based service. In another implementation, the location of a client device may be obscured using a first random offset and a set of regions. An intermediate location may be determined based on the location of the client device and the first random offset. A region of the set of regions may be determined based on the intermediate location. A pseudo-location may be transmitted to a third-party for a location-based service based on the determined region.

Location-based services are increasingly being offered to provide services to users based upon a location of the user. For example, location-based services may be offered for users having mobile devices. Examples of such location-based services may include indicating a location of a mobile device of a user to other users associated with the user of the mobile device (such as via a social media website or application), indicating businesses nearby the mobile device's location as part of a results page in response to a search query, or delivering third-party content items or coupons based on a location of the mobile device.

Obscuring true location for location-based services


Record document may be authenticated against reference grain data obtained from the document at a prior time. The body of the document is formed by base medium bearing the record entries such as text within record site. Grain seal site is located at a predetermined location within the base medium. The unique grain structure within the seal site are microscopic and function as a seal for authenticating the document. The seal site is initially scanned to provide a stream of reference data generated by the surface reflection of the grain structure. This reference grain data is stored in memory for future authentication use. The seal site is then currently scanned to generate a stream of current grain data for comparison to the reference grain data.

Heretofore, authentication of documents relied primarily on various seal devices and on the examination of original signatures. These basic authentication techniques prevented an electrostatic copy of record document from passing as the original document. However, seals may be cleverly altered, transferred to other documents or counterfeited; and experienced forgers can produce high quality forgeries of signatures which are difficult to detect even by qualified handwriting experts.
These prior seal and signature safeguards did not involve any unique quality of the underlying paper. Nor were seals and signatures typically employed on every sheet of a lengthy document.
Unique surface texture has been employed to authenticate hotel room keys against unauthorized duplicates, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,435 issued on Jun. 30, 1987 to D'Agraives et al. The surface texture in a predetermined seal area on the room key was initially scanned and stored in a central computer with an initial texture databank at the front desk. Each time the quest inserts his key to enter his room, a small scanning device in the door lock rescans the seal area and transmits the new texture data immediately to the central databank. If the new texture data compares with the initial data, the door can be opened by the quest. If the new data does not compare, an override lock controlled by the central computers prevents entry.
Conductive fibers have been randomly distributed throughout a document to produce a unique conductive pattern, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,912 issued on Apr. 11, 1989 to Roeselare. The fiber pattern was scanned by microwave energy to establish initial reference data which was later compared to subsequent data for authentification.
The unique translucency pattern of a paper tag (or identification card) has been employed to authenticate the tag, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,415 issued on Dec. 27, 1983 (and U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,468 issued on Oct. 9, 1984) to Goldman. The initial translucency data from a tag seal area was magnetically stored on an "escort" memory carried on the paper tag. Later the seal was rescanned and the new translucency data was compared to the magnetic initial data.

Record document authentication by microscopic grain structure and method


Adapters for properly positioning a portion of a medical instrument that is positioned within an endoscope at site of interest is disclosed.

Endoscopic surgery allows for surgery to be performed while reducing damage to the surrounding tissue as compared to open surgical procedures. An endoscope typically includes at least one working channel allowing insertion and deployment of various medical devices to the surgical site. The endoscope also provides visualization of the surgical site during the procedure.
Once the desired position of the surgical site is reached, a surgical instrument may be inserted through the working channel and protrude from the distal end of the working channel at the visualized surgical site. For example, in one exemplary arrangement, a surgical cutting device is introduced to excise tissue samples from the surgical site. Such a surgical cutting instrument generally requires connection to a handpiece that provides rotary or reciprocative (or both) motion to the cutting portion of the instrument. When the cutting operation is enabled, tissue is generally drawn through the mouth of the cutting instrument, severed, and removed from the surgical site.
Unfortunately, during the procedure the handpiece must be constantly controlled by the surgeon to control the extension of the instrument beyond the working channel of the endoscope. As such, the distal end of the surgical cutting device may move independently from the endoscope. Indeed, to control the placement of the surgical cutting device, typically a surgeon must continually manipulate both the endoscope and the surgical cutting device, relying on the surgeon's hand-eye coordination, to insure proper placement of the surgical cutting instrument, and to prevent inadvertent movement away from a selected area of interest or moving too deep into area, thereby causing unintended damage to surrounding tissues or structures. This constant control of the instrument causes fatigue in the surgeon and makes it difficult to hold the endoscope still while precisely controlling the surgical cutting instrument during the procedure.
Further, during an endoscopic procedure, at times it is necessary to selectively adjust the depth of the medical device within the surgical site in order to precisely target a lesion for removal. To this end, the cutting element must be accurately positioned adjacent the lesion. While conventional endoscopes allow for insertion of a surgical cutting device through the working channel, they do not provide for independently maintaining the position of the surgical cutting device with the endoscope.
Accordingly, a surgical adapter is needed that permit a surgical cutting device to be operatively connected to an endoscope, without requiring constant attention to fine hand-eye coordination. Further, a need exists for a surgical adapter that facilitates adjustable and fixed positioning of the device within the patient, removal of the device from the working channel, and reinsertion of the device through the working channel to a desired position.

Surgical adapter assembly for use with endoscope


A kite comprises a body attached to a rigid frame and a noise emitting device. The noise emitting device includes a resilient bow having a holder at each of its ends and a ribbon attached to each of the bow holders which vibrates in response to air flow. The bow holders comprise a holder member attached to the bow and a saddle which cooperates with the holder member for removably securing the ribbon to the bow.

The invention relates to improvements in kites intended to be flown in the air and has a novel sound emitting device associated with the kite and positioned the same thereon that audible sound will be effected during the flying of the kite.
A kite comprises a body attached to a rigid frame and a noise emitting device. The noise emitting device includes a resilient bow having a holder at each of its ends and a ribbon attached to each of the bow holders which vibrates in response to air flow. The bow holders comprise a holder member attached to the bow and a saddle which cooperates with the holder member for removably securing the ribbon to the bow.
The kite may optionally include indicia formed on the body which simulates an insect.
The holder member may optionally comprise a slotted portion for receiving the saddle. The saddle may comprises a tang at each end for engaging the slotted portion of the holder.
In addition, the saddle may include a rounded shaft and a slot formed therein for receiving the ribbon. The saddle may further include a pair of frustoconical ends which bound the rounded shaft portion.
The noise emitting device may further optionally include a bracket which mounts the bow to the frame. The frame bracket may include a bore which receives the bow and spaces the bow a preselected distance from the body of the kite.
One object of the invention is the provision of a ribbon of suitable material and to support the same spaced distance above the top surface of the kite in a manner that will cause the ribbon to be vibrated and thus automatically buzz and thus emit sound that simulates the buzz of an insect in flight.
A further object of the invention is the connection of the ribbon to the ends of an elastic bow and to the transversely position the bow on the front top portion of the kite, whereby the resiliency of the bow will enable the ribbon to be easily vibrated by the velocity of the wind and to thus be more efficient in emitting sounds.
A further object of the invention is to connect the ribbon to the ends of the bow whereby the ribbon may be adjusted or replaced, when desired.
Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.
The above and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from the following detailed description and the drawings.


Provided is a method for manufacturing a glass container with which a glass container having a distinctively shaped inner space and excellent aesthetic appearance can be manufactured in good yield. The method for manufacturing a glass container includes steps (A) to (E). (A) A step of introducing a gob into a mold through a funnel. (B) A step of blowing air into the mold through the funnel, bringing a plunger disposed on a side opposite the side to which the funnel is fitted in contact with the gob, separating the plunger from the gob, and forming a recess on the surface of the gob. (C) A step of removing the funnel from the mold and fitting a baffle to the mold. (D) A step of blowing air from the plunger, and forming an inner space inside the gob with the recess as a starting point while simultaneously forming an outer shape by pressing the outer side of the gob to a molding surface of the mold to obtain a glass container of the final shape. (E) A step of transferring the glass container of the final shape to a cooling mold and cooling the same.

Conventionally, glass containers are widely used as containers for accommodating cosmetics, fountain pen inks, and so on.
This is because it is possible with a glass container to easily form an appearance shape having excellent aesthetic appearance, provide a moderate weight feeling and a good texture, and foster sophistication not found in plastic containers.
A blow-and-blow method, a press-and-blow method, and a one-press method are known as manufacturing methods for industrially manufacturing such glass containers in quantity (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).
Patent Document 1 discloses a glass bottle forming apparatus for forming a glass bottle by the blow-and-blow method as illustrated in FIG. 28A. As illustrated in FIG. 28B, the glass bottle forming apparatus is provided with a blank mold 520 accommodating a gob, a baffle provided on the blank mold 520, compressed gas supply means for supplying compressed gas through the baffle, a mouth mold 512 provided in the lower portion the blank mold 520 and forming a mouth portion 518 of a parison P, and a plunger 514 inserted into the mouth mold 512 and forming the mouth portion 518 of the parison P when the gob falling into the blank mold 520 enters the mouth mold 512. The plunger 514 has a gas escape hole 570 in a top portion 560 and the gas in the blank mold 520 escapes to the outside through the gas escape hole 570.
According to the blow-and-blow method, a mass of molten glass called a gob G is introduced first into a blank mold 501 through a funnel 603 as illustrated in the step (1) of FIG. 28A.
Then, as illustrated in the step (2) of FIG. 28A, a plunger 502 is allowed to protrude into the blank mold 501, a baffle 601 is put on the funnel 603, settle blow is performed through the supply hole of the baffle 601, and the gob G is compressed from above. As a result, a mouth portion 503 of a parison 505 is formed between a mouth mold 509 and a tip portion 502a of the plunger 502.
Then, as illustrated in the step (3) of FIG. 28A, the plunger 502 is lowered and air is blown into the gob G of the blank mold 501 through the gap between the plunger 502 and a guide ring 508. As a result, the parison 505 as a semi-finished product is formed.
Then, the parison 505 is transferred to a finish mold 506 by a reversing device 600 being used as illustrated in step (4) of FIG. 28A. Then, as illustrated in the steps (5) to (6) of FIG. 28A, air is blown into the parison 505 inside the finish mold 506 and a glass bottle 507 of the final shape is formed. Then, the glass bottle 507 is taken out from the finish mold 506 as illustrated in the step (7) of FIG. 28A. The above is an outline of the blow-and-blow method.
Patent Document 2 discloses a parison forming portion of a glass bottle forming apparatus using the press-and-blow method. As illustrated in FIGS. 29A and 29B, this structure is provided with a blank mold 701, a mouth mold 702, a guide ring 703, and a plunger 704. After a gob is introduced into the blank mold 701, the plunger 704 is raised to the inside of the blank mold 701 through the guide ring 703 and the mouth mold 702, and then the parison P is formed. In this structure, the depth from the lower end of a ventilation hole 705 formed in the guide ring 703 to the upper surface of a flange-shaped guide portion 706 formed in the lower portion of the plunger 704 is at least 3 mm when the plunger 704 is raised to the highest position.
The press-and-blow method is the same as the blow-and-blow method that is illustrated in FIG. 28A except that a parison is formed by a plunger instead of air blowing.
Patent Document 3 discloses a one-press bottle manufacturing method including a pressing step and a cooling step. In the pressing step, a plunger is inserted into a finish mold filled with molten glass called a gob and a glass container of the final shape is formed. In the cooling step, the glass container of the final shape is moved to a cooling mold, and the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the glass container of the final shape are forcibly cooled with cooling air blown into the cooling mold and cooling air blown into the glass container of the final shape, respectively.
According to the one-press bottle manufacturing method that is disclosed in Patent Document 3, the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of a glass container 810 of the final shape are forcibly cooled respectively with cooling air 812 blown into the glass container 810 of the final shape and cooling air 814 blown into a cooling mold 800 as illustrated in FIG. 30.
In the one-press method, the parison in the above-described press-and-blow method is used as a glass container of the final shape and the air blowing in FIG. 30 is to cool the glass container 810 of the final shape. The one-press method entails no air pressure-based glass shape change.

Method for manufacturing glass container


In one embodiment, egress provider edge devices (PEs) send advertisements to ingress PEs for address prefixes of a first multi-homed customer network that desires path diversity through a service provider network to a second customer network. A first ingress PE receives the advertisements, and determines whether a second ingress PE is multi-homed with the first ingress PE to the second customer network. If so, the first ingress PE computes a plurality of diverse paths within the service provider network from the first and second multi-homed ingress PEs to a corresponding egress PE. If a plurality of diverse paths exists, the first ingress PE employs one of those paths to establish a first tunnel from itself to a first egress PE, and the second ingress PE employs another of the paths to establish a second tunnel from itself to a second egress PE that is diverse from the first tunnel.

Computer networks may be used to communicate data between a sender and one or more receivers. The data, e.g., in the form of one or more packets, traverses paths that comprise network elements, such as nodes and links, between the sender and the receiver, generally along a computed shortest path between the sender and receiver based on one or more path metrics (e.g., cost). Some computer networks may remove network elements from path computation that do not meet certain criteria (e.g., constraints), such that no network element along the computed path fails to meet the criteria.
Often, customers may desire configuration of a private network to protect the privacy and security of their data within the private network. Sometimes, however, a customer may have multiple network locations that are distanced from one another in such a way that to maintain a private network, substantial costs (e.g., monetary) may be required. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a private data network that utilizes public networks to enable communication between distanced members of the same VPN (e.g., the customer's private network). For instance, privacy may be maintained between customer networks that span the public networks (e.g., a service provider network) through the use of various tunneling protocols and security features, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. Illustratively, a source device (sender) in a one customer network may wish to send data to a destination device (receiver) in another customer network of the same VPN across the service provider (e.g., public) network. Accordingly, the source transmits the data (traffic) to a customer edge device (CE) of the source device's customer network, which is in communication with an ingress provider edge device (PE) of the provider network. The service provider network (e.g., a "core") transmits the traffic to an egress PE interconnected with a CE of the customer network that has the destination device, and that CE forwards the traffic toward the destination device.
Some customers desire path diversity for site-to-site (customer-to-customer) traffic, i.e., where two or more paths between the customer networks exist that do not share network elements (nodes or links). For instance, path diversity may be driven by customers that require dual attachment to the service provider's core network for critical application needs (such as, e.g., financial institutions). Typically, such customers utilize multiple (e.g., dual) connections via diverse links connected to diverse PEs (which may or may not be co-located on a same physical device). Path diversity may be used to ensure that in the event of a single path failure (e.g., an element along the path), another diverse path is able to carry the flow of traffic between the customer networks. Path diversity may also be used for load-balancing traffic (e.g., also so that a failure along one path does not effect both paths) and other reasons as will be understood by those skilled in the art.
One problem associated with path diversity for customers that are "multi-homed" to the service provider network (i.e., have multiple connections to the provider network) is that such diversity cannot be guaranteed simply through local customer network interconnection with multiple diverse PEs. That is, in order to send different traffic flows to the diverse PEs (ingress PEs) for one or more destination address prefixes, the ingress PEs typically forward the traffic into the provider network core; however, there is no guarantee inside the core that the paths remain diverse. In other words, the paths inside the service provider network, although originating at diverse ingress PEs, may share a resource (network element) or may converge to a same egress PE, the failure of either of which adversely impacts both flows.

Path diversity for customer-to-customer traffic


It is an object of the present invention to provide an involatile memory device, in which additional writing of data is possible other than in manufacturing steps and forgery and the like due to rewriting can be prevented, and a semiconductor device having the memory device. It is also an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive involatile memory device and a semiconductor device having high reliability. According to the present invention, a memory device includes a first conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and an insulating layer interposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, where the first conductive layer has a convex portion.

In recent years, a semiconductor device having a plurality of circuits integrated over an insulated surface and various functions has been developed. Further, development of a semiconductor device capable of wireless data transmission/reception by providing an antenna has been advanced. Such a semiconductor device is referred to as a wireless chip (also referred to as an ID tag, an IC tag, an IC chip, an RF (Radio Frequency) tag, a wireless tag, an electronic tag, and an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag), and is already introduced to a part of the market.
Many of these semiconductor devices that have already been put into practical use have a circuit using a semiconductor substrate such as a Si substrate (also referred to as an IC (Integrated Circuit) chip) and an antenna, and the IC chip includes a memory circuit (also referred to as a memory), a control circuit and the like. In particular, by providing a memory circuit which can store much data, a high-value-added semiconductor device providing higher performance can be provided. In addition, such semiconductor devices are required to be manufactured at a low cost. In recent years, an organic TFT, an organic memory and the like using an organic compound for a control circuit, a memory circuit and the like have been actively developed (Reference 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-26277).
As a memory circuit, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), an FeRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory), a mask ROM (Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), a flash memory and the like are given. Among them, a DRAM and an SRAM are volatile memory circuits in which data is erased when the power is turned off so that it is necessary to write data every time the power is turned on. An FeRAM is an involatile memory circuit and uses a capacitor element including a ferroelectric layer so that manufacturing steps thereof are increased. A mask ROM has a simple structure, however, data is required to be written during the manufacturing steps and cannot be additionally written. An EPROM, an EEPROM, and a flash memory are involatile memory circuits; however, an element having two gate electrodes are used, and thus, the manufacturing steps are increased.
On the other hand, a memory circuit using an organic compound is formed by using a memory element in which an organic compound is provided between a pair of electrodes. When a thickness of the organic compound layer is made thick, a current does not easily flow so that a drive voltage for writing and reading is increased.
In view of the foregoing problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an involatile memory device, in which additional writing is possible other than in manufacturing steps and forgery and the like due to rewriting can be prevented, and a semiconductor device having the memory device. It is also an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive involatile memory device and semiconductor device consuming low power.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A reconstruction technique for reducing computation burden in the 3D image processes, wherein the reconstruction procedure comprises an inverse and a forward model. The inverse model uses a hybrid dual Fourier algorithm that combines a 2D Fourier inversion with a 1D matrix inversion to thereby provide high-speed inverse computations. The inverse algorithm uses a hybrid transfer to provide fast Fourier inversion for data of multiple sources and multiple detectors. The forward model is based on an analytical cumulant solution of a radiative transfer equation. The accurate analytical form of the solution to the radiative transfer equation provides an efficient formalism for fast computation of the forward model.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention teaches a novel hybrid-dual-Fourier inverse algorithm for fast three dimensional (3D) tomographic image reconstruction of objects in highly scattering media using measured data from multiple sources and multiple detectors. This algorithm can be used for noninvasive screening, detection, and diagnosis of cancerous breast and prostate lesions, and for locating hidden objects in high scattering media, such as planes, tanks, objects within an animal or human body, or through cloud, fog, or smoke, mines under turbid water, and corrosion under paint.
2. Description of the Related Art
Turbid media blur and make objects inside difficult to be detected. Light propagation is diffusive, making the object inside not detectable using conventional imaging methods. In highly scattering media, when the object is located inside a turbid medium with depth greater than 10 scattering length, the object cannot be seen easily using ballistic light. It is also difficult to use time-gated transillumination technique to image objects in turbid media with L/Is>20, with L the size of the medium and Is the scattering length, because of photon starvation of the ballistic light. To overcome this difficulty one uses the image reconstruction of light in the medium to get three-dimensional image. This requires understanding of how light travels in the turbid media, and an appropriate inverse algorithm. Objects, such as tumors, aircraft, and corrosion in highly scattering media can be imaged using the novel image algorithm in turbid media. Turbid media include human tissue, cloud, and under paint.
Early detection and diagnosis of breast and prostate cancers is essential for effective treatment. X-ray mammography, the modality commonly used for breast cancer screening, cannot distinguish between malignant and benign tumors, and is less effective for younger women with dense fibrous breasts. If a tumor is suspected from a x-ray mammogram, a biopsy that requires invasive removal of tissue from the suspect region need be performed to determine if the tumor is benign or malignant. In a majority of the cases, the biopsy turns out to be negative, meaning the tumor is benign. Besides being subject to an invasive procedure, one has to wait an agonizing period until the biopsy results are known. A breast cancer screening modality that does not require tissue removal, and can provide diagnostic information is much desired.
Prostate cancer has a high incidence of mortality for men. Every year, nearly 180,000 new prostate cancer cases are diagnosed, and prostate cancers in U.S annually cause about 37,000 deaths. The developed cancers may spread to the lymph nodes or bones causing persistent and increasing pain, abnormal function, and death. The detection and treatment of early small prostate cancers are most important to prevent death attributable to prostate cancer. Current noninvasive approaches to detect the early prostate include the ultrasound, MRI and CT imaging, which have poor spatial resolution and contrast. Other means, such as needle biopsy, are invasive. Optical image as disclosed here can be used to image tumors in prostate.
Optical tomography is being developed as a noninvasive method that uses nonionizing near-infrared (NIR) light in the 700–1500 nm range to obtain images of the interior of the breast and prostate. Tissues scatter light strongly, so a direct shadow image of any tumor is generally blurred by scattered light. A technique, known as inverse image reconstruction (IIR), may help circumvent the problem of scattering. An IIR approach uses the knowledge of the characteristics of input light, measured distribution of light intensity that emerges from the illuminated breast and prostate, and a theoretical model that describes how light propagates through breast and prostate to construct an image of the interior of breast and prostate. Back scattering and transmission geometries are used for breast. For prostate, backscattering geometry is more suitable. The image reconstruction methods can also be used to image objects in hostile environments of smoke, cloud, fog, ocean, sea, and to locate corrosion under paint.
Although the problem has received much attention lately, that development of optical tomography has been slow. One of main difficulties is lack of an adequate algorithm for inversion image reconstruction, which is able to provide a 3D image in reasonable computing times. Recent algorithms and methods have been developed to solve the inverse problem in order to produce images of inhomogeneous medium, including finite-element solutions of the diffusion equation and iterative reconstruction techniques, modeling fitting, least-square-based and wavelet based conjugate-gradient-decent methods. Examples of references which disclose this technique include: H. B. Jiang et al, "Frequency-domain optical image reconstruction in turbid media: an experimental study of single-target detectability," Appl. Opt. Vol. 36 52–63 (1997); H. B. O'Leary et al, "Experimental image of heterogeneous turbid media by frequency-domain diffusing-photon tomography," Opt. Lett. Vol. 20, 426–428 (1995); S. Fantini et al, "Assessment of the size, position, and optical properties of breast tumors in vivo by noninvasive optical methods," Appl. Opt. Vol 36, 170–179 (1997); W. Zhu et al "Iterative total least-squares image reconstruction algorithm for optical tomography by the conjugate gradient method," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A Vol. 14 799–807 (1997), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. These methods take significantly long computing time for obtaining a 3D image to be of use in clinical applications and other detections. These methods require a linearly or non-linearly inverse of a group of equations, which have huge unknown augments that equal to the number of voxels in a 3D volume (a voxel is a small volume unit in 3D volume, and corresponds to a pixel in 2D plane).
Using a Fourier transform inverse procedure can greatly reduce computing time. Examples of references that disclose this technique include: X. D. Li et al, "Diffraction tomography for biomedical imaging with diffuse-photon density waves," Opt. Lett. Vol. 22, 573–575 (1997); C. L. Matson et al, "Analysis of the forward problem with diffuse photon density waves in turbid media by use of a diffraction tomography model," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A Vol. 16, 455–466 (1999); C. L. Matson et al, "Backpropagation in turbid media,", J. Opt. Soc. Am. A Vol. 16, 1254–1265 (1999), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. In the Fourier transform procedure, the experimental setup should satisfy the requirement of spatial translation invariance, which restricts, up to now, use of a single laser source (a point source or a uniformly distributed plane source) with a 2D plane of detectors in parallel (transmission or reflection) geometry. This type of experimental setup can acquire only a set of 2D data for continuous wave (CW) or frequency-domain tomography, which is generally not enough for reconstruction of a 3D image, resulting in uncertainty in the depth of the objects in 3D image.
To overcome this difficulty of lack of enough data for 3D image in tomography using a Fourier procedure, we have in the past developed algorithms to acquire time-resolved optical signals, which provides an additional 1D (at different times) of acquired data, so 3D image reconstruction can be performed. Examples of references which disclose this technique include: R. R. Alfano et al: "Time-resolved diffusion tomographic 2D and 3D imaging in highly scattering turbid media," U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,789, issued Aug. 3, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,576, issued Aug. 22, 2000; W. Cai et al: "Optical tomographic image reconstruction from ultrafast time-sliced transmission measurements," Appl. Optics Vol. 38, 4237–4246 (1999); M. Xu et al, "Time-resolved Fourier optical diffuse tomography", JOSA A Vol. 18 1535–1542 (2001). Schotland and Markel developed inverse inversion algorithms using diffusion tomography based on the analytical form of the Green's function of frequency-domain diffusive waves, and point-like absorbers and scatterers. Examples of references which disclose this technique include: V. A. Markel, J. C. Schotland, "Inverse problem in optical diffusion tomography. I Fourier-Laplace inversion formulas", J. Opt. Soc. Am. A Vol. 18, 1336 (2001); V. A. Markel, J. C. Schotland, "Inverse scattering for the diffusion equation with general boundary conditions", Phys. Rev. E Vol. 64, 035601 (2001), all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
From the viewpoint of data acquisition in parallel geometry, however, it is desirable to use a 2D array of laser sources, which can be formed by scanning a laser source through a 2D plane, and a 2D plane of detectors, such as a CCD camera or a CMOS camera. Each illumination of laser source produces a set of 2D data on the received detectors. For CW or frequency-modulated laser source, this arrangement can produce a set of (2D, 2D)=4D data in a relatively short acquisition time, with enough accuracy and at reasonable cost. When time-resolved technique is applied using a pulse laser source, a set of 5D data can be acquired. In these cases the inverse problem of 3D imaging is over-determined, rather than under-determined for the case of using a single CW or frequency domain sources, and thus produces a much more accurate 3D image.
The key point is how to develop an algorithm, which is scientifically proper, and runs fast enough to produce a 3D image, so it can be realized for practical clinical applications and other field applications.

Hybrid-dual-fourier tomographic algorithm for a fast three-dimensionial optical image reconstruction in turbid media


Systems and methods are disclosed for providing in-premises management of home area networks. An example management includes a network interface device, a processor in communication with the network interface device, and a transceiver device in communication with the processor. The network interface device can establish a paired communication link with a computing device that is in communication with a head-end system. The processor can receive a command originating from the head-end system and communicated to the management device from the computing device via the paired communication link. The processor can identify a terminal device of the home area network that can perform a function in response to the command. The processor can generate a message for the terminal device including the command. The transceiver device can transmit the message from the processor to the terminal device via a wireless communication link of the home area network.

A home area network may be used to communicate data between devices that consume resources in a home or other dwelling (e.g., electricity) and devices that monitor and/or manage the consumption of resources. Utility companies and other resource providers may use home area networks to monitor consumption of the resources by consumers. Using home area networks to monitor consumption of the resources by consumers in a home may allow a utility company or other resource provider to identify distribution issues and other problems.
Home area networks may be provided by transceiver devices included in intelligent metering devices. Connectivity from a metering device to a monitored building may be established by physically attaching the metering device to the monitored building. Physically attaching the metering device to a building or other structure may provide sufficient range and connectivity for deployment environments such as single-dwelling homes. In some deployment environments, such as apartment buildings or other multi-dwelling units, a metering device may be installed at a first location (such as a corner of the building) that is remote from a second location being monitored by the metering device (such as an apartment in a multi-dwelling unit). The distance between the metering device and the home area network may present problems in establishing connectivity from the home area network to the metering device.
It is desirable to provide a simplified communication infrastructure for communicating data between a home area network and a metering device.

In-premises management of home area networks


A cuff seal for a spacesuit includes a rigid base member and a flexible seal member disposed within the base member. The seal member comprises a hinge portion and a contact portion extending therefrom. The contact portion is capable of flexing about the hinge portion and can be placed in pressure sealing contact with a blood supplied tissue, such as a wrist area, due to a gas pressure within the spacesuit.

The present invention generally relates to seals for pressurized garments. More specifically, the present invention relates to cuff seals for pressurized garments that can be used in low pressure environments such as outer space.
In environments having very small or no ambient gas pressure, such as high altitude or the vacuum of space, a person's respiration and circulatory balance can be problematic. Gaseous oxygen needs to be delivered to the person's lungs at a high enough pressure to cause diffusion into the blood. It has been found that an oxygen pressure of about 80 mm Hg is minimally needed for proper breathing. An oxygen pressure of about 160 mm HG is normally experienced at sea level. A pressure of about 222 mm Hg or 4.3 psi (100% oxygen) is the current design pressure of the NASA Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit.
As ambient gas pressure rises, blood pressure similarly rises. But for proper blood circulation, tissue pressure that substantially matches the blood pressure must exist. Otherwise, the circulating blood can rush into low pressure areas and pool. If tissue pressure is not sufficiently high, the veins (and particularly the small ones) will become engorged with blood. As venous engorgement continues, pressure within the veins and capillaries continues to increase. If the pressure exceeds about 10 mm Hg, measurable amounts of excess fluid can be forced through the capillary walls and accumulate in the tissues. The accumulation of fluid can result in edema and a decrease in the circulating blood volume.
To provide adequate pressure in the tissue to prevent pooling, various suits have been employed to provide a counter pressure on the tissue. In the context of space, one such suit has been a full pressure suit that is anthropomorphically shaped, gas-tight, and pressurized with oxygen. Typically, these suits have used a rigid but flexible pressure restraining outer garment. The fully pressurized suit is different from a partial pressure suit whereby the latter is partially pressurized by gas, as well as partially pressurized by an elastic material which supplies a mechanical counter pressure directly on the skin.
But, of course, a fully pressurized suit is only as beneficial as its ability to maintain pressure within the suit. Thus, concerns have existed about punctures to such suits that might cause a sudden and large pressure loss. Other concerns have focused on leaks that may cause a slow or small pressure loss but which, over time, may result in a large pressure loss. These small or slow leaks may be due to the design constraints of the suit itself, such as where a partial pressure boot joins a fully pressurized pant leg or where a partial pressure glove joins a fully pressurized sleeve. Those areas of the suit can create design difficulties since the suit needs to maintain a pressure seal at the joinder point while still allowing, for example, a foot to flex or a hand to rotate. Additional design difficulties exist since a pressure seal needs to be maintained and, at the same time, the seal needs to provide ease of donning and doffing.
A prior a cuff seal for use around a wrist (or ankle) of a full pressure suit is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,370. A partial pressure glove (or bootie) is contemplated for use with the full pressure suit. The cuff seal includes a gas impermeable outer sheath that is actually a part of the full pressure suit together with a gas impermeable inner sheath therein. One end of the inner sheath is sealed to the end of the outer sheath where the arm or leg protrudes. The inner sheath has a gas impermeable intermediate portion that becomes sealed to the arm or leg as gas pressure is introduced between the outer and inner sheaths. However, the design is somewhat complex and cumbersome in use. An example of a cuff seal that comprises an elastic band for an anti-contamination garment is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,561.
As can be seen, there is a need for an improved counter pressure garment for low pressure environments, such as outer space. In particular, there is a need for an improved cuff seal for a counter pressure garment in the area, for example, of a wearer's ankle or wrist. Irrespective of the body area, a cuff seal is needed which can hold a counter pressure equal to the breathing pressure inside a full pressure suit. Another need is for a spacesuit cuff seal that not only provides adequate counter pressure to the tissue but is also simple in design, easy to use, and can be quickly donned and doffed.


A method and apparatus for freezing products or materials to a super-frozen state, storing them until shipment and shipping them in a super-frozen state. The apparatus consists of two self-contained, super-insulated containers. The first apparatus has at least two compartments, one for freezing and one for storage. The product or material to be frozen is placed in the freezing compartment and frozen to a super-frozen state and then transferred to the storage compartment where it is stored until shipment. The second apparatus is a self contained super-insulated shipping container. When shipment is to be effected, product or material is transferred from a storage compartment of the first apparatus in a super-frozen state to the second or shipping apparatus. The doors of the shipping apparatus are closed and the self-contained, super-insulated apparatus containing super-frozen product or material is shipped to a remote venue.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for shipping, storing and freezing super frozen perishable materials in a self-contained shipping container which maintains the perishable material below -50.degree. C. and which is super insulated and has its own cryogenic-based refrigeration system.
2. Background Information
Freezing and Storage
Commercial fishing is a worldwide enterprise generating billions of dollars in sales on an annual basis. With modern shipping and storage technology, fish caught nearly anywhere in the world can be efficiently frozen and subsequently transported to almost any market in the world for consumption thereof.
Particular products however, do not lend themselves to conventional freezing and shipping methods. In particular, fish intended for consumption in an uncooked or raw state such as sushi, generally cannot be frozen using conventional equipment, without adversely affecting the quality, i.e., color and taste thereof. For this reason, fish intended for use as sushi generally must be caught locally so it can be brought to market relatively quickly without freezing. This necessity has tended to limit the supply of fish available for sushi to effectively increase the price thereof relative to frozen fish. This phenomenon tends to produce a relatively large disparity between the price of sushi-grade fish and non-sushi grade (i.e., frozen) fish in the marketplace.
In a recent attempt to address this disparity, some commercial fishing enterprises have harvested fish, such as tuna and the like, in areas of the world where there is little local demand for sushi-grade product (and thus a substantially lower market value therefor), and transported the product at cryogenic (i.e., super-cooled) temperatures of less than -40 degrees C. to the sushi markets. It has been found that at these temperatures tuna and the like maintain suitable freshness for sushi purposes to thus retain the relatively high quality and premium prices associated with sushi-grade product. This approach has generally required dedicated use of cargo ships known as super carrier vessels, outfitted with specialized refrigeration equipment specifically designed to maintain a constant cryogenic temperature of about -60 degrees C. The expense of such vessels typically dictates their use only when a substantially full shipment of approximately 100 metric tons (100,000 kilograms) or more of product is available for shipment. Accordingly, in order to satisfy this relatively high minimum volume requirement, such ships must generally remain at port or in the vicinity of tuna fishing fleets for extended periods of time as the fish are harvested and prepared for shipment. Disadvantageously, this aspect generally limits the number of trips from the fishing ports to the sushi markets to approximately one or two trips per year. For many perishable products this high volume requirement and low trip frequency renders this approach impractical. For many products which are in demand, the time required for shipment on a super carrier vessel, often several months from harvest to arrival at the destination, further makes such a shipping method undesirable.
Smaller shipments of conventionally frozen (i.e., 0 to -26 degrees C.) product have been shipped utilizing standard ISO containers on conventional transport ships. These ISO containers are relatively plentiful and the conventional transport ships travel on a relatively frequent basis to most desired destinations. These containers are typically refrigerated by use of mechanical refrigeration units associated with each individual ISO container. These refrigeration units, however, have not been capable of providing refrigerated temperatures of less than about -25 degrees C. Moreover, such mechanical units are prone to mechanical failure, in which about 5 to 10 percent of shipments are lost due to spoilage primarily due to mechanical breakdown and human error. Such units are also relatively expensive, generally costing on the order of $8000 to $10,000 for the container, an additional $10,000 to $12,000 for each refrigeration unit plus another $10,000 to $12,000 for an electric generator (i.e., genset) to provide electric power for the refrigeration unit. A further drawback of these mechanically refrigerated containers is that they generally must be transported on ships equipped for "reefer" (i.e., refrigerated) shipments, i.e., on ships capable of providing a continuous supply of fuel and/or electricity to the containers and including technicians capable of servicing the units in the event of a failure en-route. Shipping rates for such reefer containers tend to be considerably higher than rates for "dry" containers (i.e., those not requiring such services) of comparable size and weight.
Moreover, it has also been recognized that shipping rates for standard ISO shipping containers are significantly lower than for similarly sized and shaped containers which are not ISO compliant. For example, a standard 40 foot ISO shipping container which may cost $2,000 (U.S.) to ship, may cost up to $15,000 if not ISO compliant. This discrepancy is due largely to the ability to stack shipping containers which have been certified to comply with ISO standards with respect to size, shape, structural integrity, and/or ability to interlock to one another.
Other conventional refrigerated transportation devices include ISO containers which are filled with product and injected with liquid gas (such as CO.sub.2) to form dry ice which maintains the product in a frozen state for the duration of the transport. A drawback of this approach, is that in the event a trip is delayed, etc., the dry ice may evaporate prior to reaching the destination, to result in a spoiled shipment. In particular, the insulative value of standard ISO containers tends to be insufficient to enable shipments of more than a few days in duration. Moreover, such containers have generally been unable to maintain product at the aforementioned cryogenic, super-frozen temperatures. Rather, such containers, which utilize CO.sub.2 and the like, have been used to ship standard frozen products which only require refrigeration to approximately -10 degrees C. Although the dry ice has a frozen temperature of approximately -50 to -60 degrees C., such containers generally provide an oscillating temperature environment during shipment. For example, fresh product is typically loaded into a container and liquid CO.sub.2 is then injected to form dry ice at about -78 degrees C. at sea level. The dry ice thus gradually freezes the product bringing the product temperature from ambient temperature down to about 40 to -50 degrees C. until the CO.sub.2 has sublimated at which time the product begins to increase in temperature during transport. The duration of the shipment is timed so that the container arrives at the destination before the product temperature exceeds about -10 degrees C. This approach thus provides an oscillatory, rather than the desired steady state shipment temperature.
It is thus desirable to provide a device and method for enabling shipment of product in conventional bulk shipping containers on board conventional shipping vessels at a steady state super-frozen temperature. For freezing there are presently other cryogenic systems available, but they are difficult to ship and they are very expensive. Furthermore, they must be housed inside a building which can greatly increase the cost. The suitable for freezing but provides no place to store the products after freezing. Thus, a large storage freezer must be built which again is associated with a substantial cost. Once built the separate freezing and storage systems are inflexible. In other words it cannot easily be picked up and moved to another part of the world. If the nature of the business changes, a large super freezer facility can become un-usable in that location and therefore of no value. The system of the present invention will retain it's value in that it can be easily shipped to another location and/or sold.
A variety of shipping, storing and freezing devices using CO.sub.2 and N.sub.2 have been used for perishable products. However these devices are designed to maintain product at about -20.degree. C. and are unable to maintain super frozen product at temperatures in the range of -50 to -60.degree. C. These devices include Carbon Dioxide Refrigeration Systems (U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,056: Glynn; E. P. and Hsu; H. L.), Refrigeration system with carbon dioxide injector (U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,658: Nielsen; D. M.), Container CO.sub.2 cooling system (U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,293: Franklin Jr.; P. R.), Liquid nitrogen freezer (U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,411: Orfitelli; J. S.), Portable self-contained cooler/freezer apparatus for use on common carrier type unrefrigerated truck lines and the like (U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,666: Saia, Ill; L. P.), Refrigerated container (U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,954: Thomsen; V. E.), Portable self-contained cooler/freezer apparatus for use on common carrier type unrefrigerated truck lines and the like (U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,402: Saia, III; L. P.), Portable self-contained cooler/freezer apparatus for use on airplanes, common carrier type unrefrigerated truck lines and the like (U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,237: Saia, III; L. P.), Self-contained cooler/freezer apparatus (U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,670: Bartilucci; A.), Portable self-contained cooler/freezer apparatus with nitrogen environment container (U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,713: Bartilucci; A. R.).
All of the above apparatus are characterized by the ability to cool or freeze perishable material down to about the temperature of approximately -20.degree. C. This is adequate and even desirable for some applications. However, for materials that require super freezing at temperatures of approximately -60.degree. C. such apparatus are unable to fulfill the requirements. In addition, all of the above apparatus are characterized by a division into two compartments. The first of these compartments contains the perishable material, the second of these compartments contains the cooling agent (CO.sub.2 or N.sub.2). Cooling is accomplished by the cooling agent moving from the second to the first compartment via a venting system.
Shipping

Method and apparatus for shipping super frozen materials


There is provided a mouse device including a control chip and at least one control component. The control chip includes a voltage detection circuit coupled to the at least one control component through at least one multiplexing pin and detects at least one voltage value on the at least one multiplexing pin using the voltage detection circuit thereby identifying an operating state of the at least one control component.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure generally relates to a mouse device and, more particularly, to a mouse device that may detect a voltage value on at least one multiplexing pin of a control chip to accordingly identify an operating state of at least one control component.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mouse device generally includes a plurality of control components so as to satisfy various requirements. For example, the mouse device may include a plurality of mouse keys, a mouse roller and a light emitting diode corresponding to respective operating states. Therefore, a mouse device general includes a mouse chip configured to detect different operating states to accordingly control an operation of an electronic device coupled thereto.
In order to detect the different operating states, the control chip of conventional mouse devices generally has a plurality of pins configured to detect different trigger states of different control components. For example, FIG. 1 shows a conventional mouse chip 9 including a pin L, a pin M and a pin R respectively configured to detect the pressing state of the mouse left key, middle key and right key. However, more pins can increase the manufacturing cost of the mouse device. But if the pin number is limited in order to reduce the manufacturing cost, the operating functions of the mouse device will be limited.
Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a mouse device that detects a voltage value on at least one multiplexing pin of a control chip to accordingly identify an operating state of at least one control component thereby reducing the pin number of the control chip and maintaining enough operating functions.


The present invention relates to a convertible wheelchair with a removable wheel assembly that can be replaced by a stationary stand for use at the beach and other loose gravel and sand locations.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wheelchairs. In particular, it relates to a wheelchair that is convertible from a beach wheelchair to a beach lounge chair.
Description of Related Art
The use of a wheelchair allows those with disabilities to ambulate either by self propulsion, motor propulsion or by having someone push them. Currently the standard models of wheelchairs have relatively thin wheels of the type found on multispeed bicycles. While these types of wheels reduce rolling resistance on hard surfaces they are virtually useless on other types of surfaces such as sand, gravel and other loose material.
For use on the sand such as at the beach a different approach is utilized for wheelchairs. Very large surface wheels are utilized instead of the large diameter thin wheels. These wheels present a large surface on the sand and do not get stuck as easily in loose material. They are smaller in diameter and usually require someone to push the wheelchair. Typically as well they are made of materials that are not bothered by the water and sand, such as plastic, for both the frame and the seating material. Many varieties of plastic tubing combined with webbed seating are available.
However once the user is in place in the sand, the typical beach wheelchair has disadvantages. One issue is that the wheels and any push bar get in the way of the use as a beach chair especially if the seat is to be reclined. A second issue is that some people prefer to not be sitting in a wheelchair at the beach since it gives the appearance of going somewhere rather than relaxing. Currently, the only solution is to bring a second chair such as a beach lounge chair and transfer to the chair. This requires extra people or trips back to the car, though, to make possible.


Provided is a read-only memory (ROM) device. The ROM device comprises a substrate that has a plurality of vertical transport field effect transistors (VFETs). The ROM device further comprises an un-activated semiconductor layer provided on each VFET. The un-activated semiconductor layer includes implanted dopants that have not been substantially activated.

The present disclosure relates to the electrical, electronic, and computer fields. In particular, the present disclosure relates to read-only memory (ROM) cells with vertical transistors and methods of manufacturing the same.
Read-only memory (ROM) is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices to store data that is not intended to be frequently changed. For example, ROM is useful for storing software that is rarely changed during the life of the system, also known as firmware. ROM may be hard-wired, such as diode matrix or mask ROM, or erasable and re-programmable, such as erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM).

Read-only memory with vertical transistors

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus for processing a silver halide photographic material in a processing vessel containing a processing solution in which a solid agent is fed into the vessel to keep the property of the processing solution within a predetermined level. A feeding device to feed the solid agent from a storage container to the processing vessel includes a feeding port through which the solid agent is fed into the processing vessel and a open-close mechanism to open or close the feeding port

The present invention relates to an automatic processor by which silver halide light-sensitive photographic material (hereinafter, called light-sensitive material) is processed. Specifically, the present invention relates to an improvement of a processing agent supply mechanism of an automatic processor by which compactness and operability of the automatic processor can be improved, and wherein stable photographic properties can be obtained.
The light-sensitive material is processed by the processes of development, desilverization, washing, and stabilization after the material has been exposed. Black and white developing solution and color developing solution are used for development, bleaching solution, a bleaching fixer and a fixer are used for desilverization, city water or ion exchange water is used for washing, and a stabilizer is used for stabilization processing. Temperature of each processing solution is adjusted commonly at 30.degree. to 40.degree. C., and the light-sensitive material is immersed in these processing solutions and processed.
These processes are conducted commonly in the following manner: the light-sensitive material is successively conveyed between processing containers in which the above-described processing solutions are contained, by the automatic processor.
In this case, a method is adopted by which replenisher is replenished into each processing solution so that activity of the processing solution in the processing container is kept constant.
Specifically, the processing operation is conducted while the replenisher is supplied when necessary into the processing container from a replenishing container.
In this case, the replenisher itself stored in the replenishing container is commonly prepared at another place, and is replenished into the replenishing container when needed. When the replenishing container requires replenishing, the following manual method is adopted.
A replenishing processing agent is supplied in the form of powder or liquid, and when it is used, in the case of powder, solution is prepared when powder is dissolved in a fixed amount of water, or in the case of liquid, since the agent is condensed, the agent is used after it has been diluted with a fixed amount of water.
Sometimes the replenishing container is mounted on the side of the automatic processor, and it is necessary to secure a considerable space for the container. Further, in a minilab, or photofinishing shop, the replenishing container is built in an automatic processor main body, and in this case, it is necessary to secure the space for the replenishing container.
In photographic processing, the replenishing processing agent is composed of various components (which are called component parts, hereinafter), and these component parts react and are deteriorated when they are contacted with each other for a long period of time, and thereby their functions as a photographic processing agent are deteriorated. Especially, since there are many agents which easily react on each other by the oxidation-reduction reaction in the processing agent, they are generally sorted into component parts in the form of a kit, and they are dissolved in a fixed amount of water when they are used.
Component parts formed into a kit are put into, for example, a bottle, a bag, or the like, and they are collected into a package (for example, corrugated cardboard) and sold in the market as one unit.
The replenishing processing agent in which component parts are formed into a kit is dissolved, diluted, and mixed, and after that, a fixed amount of replenishing processing agent is prepared. However, the replenishing processing agent has the following disadvantages: each component part is put into a vessel such as a bottle separately, and therefore, many bottles are necessary depending on the replenishing processing agent, and a large space is necessary when they are transported; and further there is a problem of disposing of waste bottles. When the replenishing processing agent is composed of several kinds of component parts, since each component part is put into a vessel separately, it takes too much time to find each component parts, and thereby operational efficiency for solution preparation is greatly lowered.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic processor which is structured in the following manner: the automatic processor is structured by only portions which are fundamentally essential to the processor, in order to be matched with a recent tendency of compactness of the automatic processor when development processing of the light-sensitive material is conducted by the automatic processor.
Recently, environmental protection and resource saving are greatly desired in many countries, centering around European countries and America. In photography, there is especially a problem of a polypropylene container for the replenishing processing agent. That is, the polypropylene container is cheap, convenient for storing or transportation, and excellent in chemical resistance. However, the waste container is buried, discarded, or burnt as industrial waste. Since the polypropylene container scarcely decomposes, when it is accumulated and burnt, a large amount of carbon dioxide is generated, and therefore, it generates a cause of global warming and acid rain. Further, on the user side, large quantities of the polypropylene containers are piled in a narrow operating space, and therefore, the space is even narrower.
Further, it is desired also to stabilize the property of a processing solution in order to stabilize the finishing quality of the light-sensitive material processed by the automatic processor. Important points to maintain stably the property of the processing solution, (from a recent tendency of small amount replenishing), are the control of the replenishing rate, and prevention from condensation of a replenishing solution by evaporation.
For the control of the replenishing rate, a periodical check of the replenishing amount is necessary. However, in point of fact, the manufacturer who has sold the automatic processor is in charge of the periodical check in small photofinishing shops, and a serviceman checks the replenishing rate once a month. Accordingly, even when the replenishing rate is not correct during the use of the processor, it remains incorrect till the following check. Further, for prevention of condensation of the replenishing solution by evaporation, evaporation correction is conducted as follows: when warming-up of the processor, which has been stopped since the previous day, has been completed, the user adds warm water to the processing solution whose liquid level has been lowered by evaporation. In this case, although it is preferable to conduct the evaporation correction regularly every day, when sometimes evaporation correction is forgotten, or another person is in charge of the processor, the above rule is not observed, and thereby it becomes a factor by which variation of the density of the processing solution is caused.
On the other hand, a solid processing agent must not be deteriorated before it is supplied to a processing agent replenishing container. Especially, the processing agent formed in a tablet is stored in a tablet storage means such as a cartridge, and it should be supplied to the replenishing container according to a command for replenishing. In this case, since the cartridge is placed in the vicinity of the processor, other tablets must be prevented from becoming wet by splattering of the solution when a tablet is supplied.

Automatic processor for silver halide light-sensitive photographic material


A semiconductor package with a semiconductor chip having under bump metallizations (UBMs) on a first surface and a substrate having open vias. The substrate is attached to the semiconductor chip with the UBMs in alignment with the open vias. An encapsulant surrounds the semiconductor chip and the substrate and a conductor fills the open vias to form external package connections.

1. Field of Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a semiconductor package with a semiconductor chip having under bump metallizations (UBMs) on a first surface and a substrate having open vias. The substrate is attached to the semiconductor chip with the UBMs in alignment with the open vias. An encapsulant surrounds the semiconductor chip and the substrate and a conductor fills the open vias to form external package connections.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional methods of forming a semiconductor package comprising a flip chip and a substrate involves mounting a chip 10 with solder bumps 12 onto a top surface of the substrate 14. When mounted, the solder bumps 12 of the chip 10 are in contact with the substrate 14 and gaps are formed between the chip 10 and the substrate 14 due to the solder bumps 12 present therebetween. The gaps between the chip 10 and the substrate 14 would typically be underfilled with an underfill resin 16 to encapsulate and to protect the solder bumps 12. The chip 10 and top surface of the substrate 14 are then encapsulated with a mold resin 18 to protect the chip 10. External package connections in the form of solder balls 20 are subsequently formed on a bottom surface of the substrate 14. An exemplary flip chip package is shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings. In the conventional package, the solder bumps 12 and solder balls 20 may be subjected to mechanical stress resulting from differential thermal expansions of the various components of the package under application of heat during thermal cycling or when the chip is in operation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,271,491, a carrier substrate with apertures is provided on a semiconductor device such that bond pads are aligned with apertures. Semiconductor device is a flip-chip device that has bond pads disposed over active surface. Walls of the apertures and the bond pads are coated with a conductive material. Solder material is provided at the opening of the apertures to result in the solder material filling the coated apertures by capillary action and forming solder bumps. However, in this method, there may be reliability issues resulting from inadequate contact between bond pad, the conductive coating and the solder material within the apertures.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,761, a substrate is provided with apertures in which the openings on underside covered with conductive metal pads. An interposer with an array of conductive bumps is mounted onto the substrate such that the adhesive bumps resides in the apertures. A semiconductor device with an array of conductive bumps is pressed into contact with the interposer such that the conductive bumps are coupled to the conductive adhesive bumps to form the package as shown below. However, in this method, the conductive bumps and active circuitry of the semiconductor device while being pressed into contact with the interposer. Also, there may be reliability issues resulting from voids formed within the apertures should the adhesive bumps not fill the apertures adequately. Another problem may also be that the adhesive bumps may not adequately contact the metal pads to form a reliable electrical connection.
In U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/0057833, a substrate is provided with screen mask such that the wire ball bumps on the substrate fits into the apertures of the screen mask. Solder paste is spread over the mask to embed the wire ball bumps. The screen mask is then removed and the solder paste reflowed to form solder ball connections. However, this method is focused on forming external package connections in the form of solder balls rather than forming an improved electrical interconnect between the flip chip and the external package connections.
There is therefore a need to provide apparatuses and methods that can prevent or at least ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art. One objective of the present invention is to reduce the stress on the bumps of flip chip. Another objective is to eliminate underfilling, which results in a saving of material costs.

Semiconductor package with under bump metallization aligned with open vias


Compositions and methods for regulating the blood coagulation pathway are disclosed. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to thrombin-thrombomodulin fusion proteins, vectors, host cells and methods for preparing the thrombin-thrombomodulin fusion proteins. The present disclosure further relates to methods for measuring protein C in plasma and kits for measuring protein C in plasma.

The present disclosure relates generally to compositions and methods for regulating the blood coagulation pathway. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to thrombin-thrombomodulin fusion proteins, vectors, host cells and methods for preparing the thrombin-thrombomodulin fusion proteins. The present disclosure further relates to methods for measuring protein C in plasma and kits for measuring protein C in plasma.
Protein C is a vitamin K dependent protein that circulates in the blood as a zymogen at a concentration of about 4-5 μg/ml (60-80 nM). The protein C zymogen is activated when it binds to thrombin, which works in concert with the cofactor thrombomodulin on the surface of endothelial cells. Activated protein C (aPC) contains a serine protease domain that functions as an anticoagulant that shuts down the coagulation cascade through a feedback mechanism involving the proteolytic inactivation of factor Va and factor VIIIa.
Thrombin (coagulation factor II, EC 184.108.40.206) is a serine protease also involved in the coagulation cascade. Thrombin is formed by the proteolytic cleavage of prothrombin. Thrombin promotes coagulation by converting factor XI to factor XIa, factor VIII to factor VIIIa, factor V to factor Va, factor XIII to factor XIIIa, and soluble fibrinogen into insoluble strands of fibrin. The production of thrombin in vivo occurs through a series of intermediate forms, including prothrombin, prethrombin-1, and prethrombin-2. Each step involves a highly regulated cleavage of the precursor form of thrombin, until mature thrombin is produced. Mature thrombin is formed of two polypeptide chains, the A chain and the B chain, with a disulfide bond between the A and the B chain, and can be produced by cleavage of prethrombin-2 at a specific site.
Thrombomodulin is an integral membrane protein expressed on the surface of endothelial cells and serves as a cofactor for thrombin. The binding of thrombin and thrombomodulin results in the activation of protein C, which then degrades clotting factors Va and VIIIa. Thus, the formation of the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex and activation of protein C promotes the inactivation of the coagulation cascade.
The protein C pathway is the most potent and effective anticoagulant system in vivo. Therefore, congenital or acquired protein C deficiency is an established risk factor of venous thrombosis. Accordingly, there exists a need to develop anticoagulant/antithrombotic agents, methods for the activation of protein C and methods for detecting protein C.

Thrombin-thrombomodulin fusion proteins as protein C activators


An exhaust system of an ion implanter that eliminates moisture in the process stream comprises: an exhaust pump positioned within the ion implanter; a main exhaust duct positioned outside the ion implanter; an exhaust line extending between the exhaust pump and the main exhaust duct; a gas introduction unit for introducing a moisture eliminating gas into the exhaust line; and a scrubber for removing a predetermined gas from the process stream. By introducing the moisture-eliminating gas (which is preferably heated nitrogen) into the process stream, moisture contained therein is removed from the stream, and the events described hereinabove that produce a corona discharge within the exhaust line are prevented.

Ion implantation is a process used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. Typically, ionized dopants, such as A.sub.S H.sub.3 (arsine) and PH.sub.3 (phosphine), are implanted into the surface of a masked wafer by accelerating them at high speed. Once the dopant is implanted, it can be diffused to desired regions of the semiconductor device. A typical ion implanter includes an ion source for producing ionized dopant, a dopant energizer, a mounting system for mounting the wafer, and an exhaust system for exhausting gases remaining in the cavity of the ion implanter after the completion of the ion implantation process.
A typical exhaust system includes an exhaust pump that is in communication with the cavity of the ion implanter. An exhaust line is connected at one end to the exhaust pump and at its other end to a main exhaust duct located outside of the ion implanter. The exhaust line is generally formed of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a material that can withstand the high voltages applied to the ion implanter during processing because of its high dielectric strength.
One problem that plagues ion implanters that employ PVC as the material of the exhaust line is the adherence of contaminating by-products created during processing to the inner surface of the exhaust line. Typically, the exhaust pump is formed of steel, so some iron from the surface of the pump diffuses into the exhaust stream. Also, moisture (in the form of steam) is typically present in the exhaust. The water can oxidize the iron to cause iron oxide (rust) to form on the walls of the PVC. Once iron builds up on the inner surface of the exhaust line, moisture within the exhaust tends to condense onto the iron. Also, hot by-products from the implantation process, which typically include arsine, phosphine, or both, can be oxidized by excess moisture as demonstrated in the following reactions: EQU 2AsH.sub.3 +5H.sub.2 O=As.sub.2 O.sub. 5 +8H.sub.2 ( 1) EQU 2PH.sub.3 +5H.sub.2 O=P.sub.2 O.sub.5 +8H.sub.2 ( 1)
Attachment of these compounds to the inner wall of the exhaust line can reduce the dielectric strength of the exhaust line significantly.
The reduction of the dielectric strength of the exhaust line and the presence of iron thereon can make the exhaust line susceptible to a the generation of a corona discharge inside the exhaust line when a high voltage is applied to the implanter. Such a corona discharge can be deleterious to the fabrication of semiconductor devices within the implanter. Moreover, because the reactions set forth above produce hydrogen gas as a reaction product, a corona discharge can ignite the hydrogen and burn the PVC of the exhaust line.

Water-removing exhaust system for an ion implanter and a method for using the same


The temperature of an operator circuit is measured. A relationship between the temperature of the operator circuit and characteristics of the operator circuit is determined. The relationship is applied to the measured temperature of the operator circuit to create an adjustment action. The detection threshold is adjusted by the adjustment action.

Loop detectors function by having a circuit detect the change in inductance of a wire loop when a vehicle enters the vicinity of the loop. For instance, in some previous systems, the loop inductance changes by approximately four percent when a vehicle enters the loop. This change of inductance may be detected by sampling the change of frequency of electrical signals used to oscillate the loop.
Loop detectors are frequently used at traffic lights to indicate that a vehicle is present at an intersection and to initiate the changing of the light so that the vehicle can proceed through the intersection. In another example, loop detectors are sometimes placed in front of a barrier, such as a gate or a garage door. When a vehicle enters the loop, the device indicates the detection of the vehicle to a moveable barrier operator system and an action may be taken. For instance, the door or gate may be opened or closed.
As mentioned, loop detectors may be used in conjunction with barrier movement operators. Barrier movement operators are automated systems which are used to move a barrier with respect to an opening. Examples of barriers to be moved include garage doors, gates, fire doors and rolling shutters. A number of barrier movement operators have been sold over the years most of which include a head unit containing a motor connected to a transmission. The transmission, which may include, for example, a belt drive, a chain drive, a screw drive, gear drive or extendible arm is then coupled to the barrier for opening and closing the barrier.
The physical and electrical characteristics of the loop detector circuit drift with temperature and other environmental conditions. Consequently, the detection threshold becomes unreliable and must be changed if accurate responses to loop inductances are to be made. Previous loop detector systems compensated for the component drift by using a running average filter in the loop detector. However, the running average filter approach has proven inadequate to compensate for long range changes in system operation. For instance, the running averages approach often causes the loop detector to ignore a vehicle when the vehicle was on the loop for a long period of time or when a number of vehicles traversed the loop sequentially. Consequently, the gate might never be opened to allow a waiting vehicle to pass through the gate. In other circumstances, the gate might close prematurely damaging one of the string of vehicles passing through the gate.

System and method for operating a loop detector