A safety shield system for a needle cannula of a pen needle injector or similar device, wherein the safety shield may be retracted from a first position enclosing the needle to a second position exposing the needle for injection. The safety shield system permits retraction of the safety shield during use, but extends the shield enclosing the needle in a locked position following use. The shield system is utilized with a pen needle injector having a double ended needle cannula mounted in a hub received on the open end of the pen needle injector. The assembly is disposed of by removing the assembly and needle cannula hub and storing the assembly in the cup-shaped cap enclosing the exposed end of the needle cannula within the cap. The cap includes internal radial ribs preventing retraction of the shield prior to removing the cap preventing inadvertently piercing the cap during assembly.

The present invention relates to an improved pen needle and safety shield system particularly, but not exclusively, adapted for pen injectors. The safety shield system of this invention includes a retractable generally tubular shield which is spring biased to normally enclose the needle cannula of a pen needle dispenser, but which locks in the extended position enclosing the needle cannula following injection. Further, the double ended needle cannula assembly may be safely nested in the cup-shaped cap following injection for disposal.
Hypodermic syringes have been used for many years to deliver selected doses of fluids including liquid medicaments, inoculations, etc. to patients. However, many applications using hypodermic needles are self-administered, including, for example, insulin, anti-histamines, et cetera. The required manipulation of a standard prior art hypodermic syringe can be inconvenient, particularly where the injection is self-administered in a public environment. Medication delivery pens or pen injectors have therefore been developed to facilitate self-administration of injections. A typical pen injector includes a generally tubular body portion resembling a fountain pen which receives a vial of fluid, such as insulin, anti-histamines, et cetera, having a pierceable closure, such as a rubber septum. The pen needle includes a hub generally having a double ended needle cannula including a first end which extends into the body portion of the pen injector for piercing the closure of the vial and a second end used for self-injection of the fluid contained in the vial. The pen needle also generally includes a removable cup-shaped cap which encloses the second end of the needle cannula prior to use.
Various improvements in pen needles have been developed or proposed by the prior art since its introduction, including adjustable injection length pen needles as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,700 assigned to the assignee of the present application and safety shield systems for such pen needles, wherein the shield is generally cup-shaped including an open end which receives the body portion of the pen needle and a generally closed end portion having a central opening which receives the second end of the needle cannula when the shield is retracted from a first position enclosing the second end of the needle cannula to a second position wherein the needle cannula is exposed for injection. The assembly may further include a spring that biases the shield to the normally enclosed first position prior to injection.
Various safety shield systems have also been developed or proposed by the prior art for conventional hypodermic syringes wherein a tubular shield is spring biased to enclose the needle cannula following injection and including safety shields which lock in the extended enclosed position following injection. Such safety shield systems for conventional hypodermic syringes are operated manually or are spring biased to extend the tubular shield and enclose the needle cannula following injection but all require additional action (active systems,) such as force, to activate as compared to the standard injection process. Hand manipulated safety shield systems may include spiral or complicated channel-shaped tracks on an inside surface of the shield which guide the shield during extension of the shield to enclose the needle cannula and lock the shield in the extended position. However, such complicated track systems may not always be reliable.
A safety shield system for pen needles has not yet been developed wherein the shield initially encloses the second end of the needle cannula prior to use, permits retraction of the shield for self-administration of the fluid in the pen needle dispenser and then extends and locks the shield in the extended position enclosing the needle cannula following use. It would also be desirable to simplify the operation of the shield to eliminate manual manipulation or rotational movement of the shield from the retracted position to a locked extended position.
One problem with other pen needle accessories, such as hidden needle adapters, has been potential needle sticks to the user during assembly of the accessory on the pen injector. Because the shield must be retractable for injection and the shield and cap assembly is typically threaded on the pen needle dispenser, the natural tendency of the user or patient is to press the cap toward the injector during assembly. This may cause the needle to pierce the cap and possibly puncture the user during assembly. Another problem associated with pen needles has been the safe disposal of the hub and double ended needle cannula. It would be most desirable to safely enclose both sharp ends of the needle cannula hub assembly to avoid inadvertent punctures during and following disposal. As will be understood, one end of the needle cannula may be enclosed in the cup-shaped cap; however, the other end is exposed following removal of the hub assembly from the pen injector.
The pen needle and safety shield system of this invention solves these problems by providing a safety shield which normally encloses the needle cannula prior to use, permits retraction of the safety shield during injection and automatically extends and locks the shield in the extended enclosed position following use. The pen needle of this invention also prevents retraction of the shield during assembly of the shield and needle cannula and hub assembly on the pen injector. Further, the improved safety shield system of this invention permits safe disposal of the hub and double-ended needle cannula assembly following removal from the pen injector.


A call connection is supported by first receiving a call connection request. After the call connection request is received, the loads supported by a plurality of packet processors are compared. The call connection is then assigned to the packet processor having a load that is no larger than the load supported by any other of the plurality of packet processors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for assigning a data service call of a wireless local loop (WLL) system and, more particularly, to a method for assigning packet resources of the WLL system supporting the data service call in consideration of the load amount of a packet processing apparatus.
2. Background of the Related Art
A data transmission method of a wireless communication system is divided into a circuit method and a packet method. In the circuit method, when a base station receives the call connection request of terminals and assigns the call to an empty channel, the assigned channel is exclusively used by the call until contact is cut off
In the packet method, the exclusive occupation of a channel is eliminated. When the base station receives the call connection request of terminals and assigns the call to an arbitrary packet processing processor, the assigned call monopolizes a channel only when there is data to be transmitted. When the data transmission is completed, the channel is changed to be idle and is allowed to be occupied by the call that approaches first.
The call transmitted from the terminal is speech (or character) data. The data is divided into a plurality of data items, each having a uniform length, so that they may be easily transmitted. Additionally, the data items are formed into a packet that is a data transmission unit. The packet includes the speech (character) information, transmission information, control information, and the address of a destination. These information elements are required for a wireless communication.
FIG. 1 shows the process of assigning the call in the circuit method. First, it is assumed that terminals 10, 20, and 30 are sequentially connected to a base station 80. When the terminal 10 tries to connect the call to the base station 80, a call assignment processor 40 detects an empty channel in a modem card 50 of the base station 80 and assigns the call to the empty channel. The calls of the terminal 10, which are sequentially tried to be connected to the remaining terminals 20 and 30, are assigned to the empty channels of the modem card 50 in the base station 80. At this time, the channels assigned to the respective terminals 10, 20, and 30 are monopolized until the connection of the calls is cut off by the corresponding terminal. The setting of the calls is maintained without the transmission of actual data.
FIG. 2 shows the process of sequentially assigning calls in a packet method. It is assumed that terminals 110, 120, and 130 are sequentially connected to a base station 180, that the load amount of a packet processing processor 160 is larger than the load amount of a packet processing processor 170, that a terminal is connected to the packet processing processor 160, and that two terminals are connected to the packet processing processor 170.
A call assignment processor 140 alternately and sequentially assigns the calls of the connected terminals 110, 120, and 130 to the respective packet processing processors 160 and 170 of packet board 150. The above assumed conditions, such as the current load amount of the packet processing processors 160 and 170 and the number of connected terminals, do not affect the performance of the present method.
When terminal 110 connects the call, which is assigned to the packet processing processor 160, the call of terminal 120, which is connected next in time, is assigned to the packet processing processor 170. The call of terminal 130, which is connected next in time, is assigned to the packet processing processor 160. When the number of packet processing processors is two, the calls are alternately assigned. When a plurality of packet processing processors operate, the calls are sequentially assigned.
"Sequentially" means that the call assignment processor 140 gives an equal call processing chance to the packet processing processor 160, according to the position of the packet processing processor as hardware or in the operation order of the packet processing processor as software.
FIG. 3 shows the process of assigning the calls according to the number of connected terminals in the packet method. It is assumed that terminals 210, 220, and 230 are sequentially connected to a base station 280, that the load amount of a packet processing processor 260 is larger than the load amount of the packet processing processor 270, two terminals are connected to the packet processing processor 260, and one terminal is connected to the packet processing processor 270.
In the method of assigning the calls according to the number of connected terminals, the number of terminals assigned to the packet processing processor 260 is compared with the number of terminals assigned to the packet processing processor 270, by call assignment processor 240, and a new call is assigned to the packet processor having a smaller number of terminals assigned to it. Because only the number of connected terminals is considered in the present method, it matters when a small number of calls are processed by the packet processing processor because the load amount of the packet processing process is large. In an embodiment according to the assumed conditions, a new call is assigned to the packet processing processor 260. Then, the number of terminals connected to the packet processing processor 260 is equal to the number of terminals connected to the packet processing processor 270. However, the load amount of the packet processing processor 260 is significantly different from the load amount of the packet processing processor 270.
When the number of terminals connected to the packet processing processor 260 is equal to the number of terminals connected to the packet processing processor 270, the calls of a newly connected terminal 220 are assigned by the method of sequentially assigning the calls. Therefore, the calls are assigned to the packet processing processor 260. The calls of the terminal 230 connected next in time are assigned to the packet processing processor 270, to which a smaller number of terminals are connected.
The methods of sequentially assigning the calls and of assigning the calls according to the number of connected terminals have the following problems.
In the case of the method of sequentially assigning the calls, because the two packet processing processors 160 and 170 sequentially receive the calls, the calls are appropriately assigned. However, if the load amount of the packet processing processor 160 is small because most of the calls assigned to the packet processing processor 160 are cut off and the load amount of the packet processing processor 170 increases because most of the calls assigned to the packet processing processor 170 still transmit and receive data, the method of sequentially assigning the calls imposes a heavier burden on the packet processing processor 170. This deteriorates the efficiency of the system.
In the case of the method of assigning the calls according to the number of connected terminals, the number of terminals connected to the packet processing processor 260 and the load amount of the packet processing processor 260 are not equal to the number of terminals connected to the packet processing processor 270 and the load amount of the packet processing processor 270. For example, let's assume that five terminals are connected to the packet processing processor 260 and three terminals are connected to the packet processing processor 270. At this time, even though most of the calls of the packet processing processor 260 are connected, assume little data is transmitted and received. Also, assume the load amount of the packet processing processor 270 is large because data is actively transmitted and received. Further assume a newly connected call is assigned to the packet processing processor 270, whose load amount is large. In this example, the packet processing load is not evenly distributed, causing packet processing processor 270 to support a disproportionate share of the load.
Because each packet processing processor must process a large number of calls in the packet data system, it is important to appropriately assign the calls so that the calls are concentrated to a packet processing processor.
In the circuit method, because each call occupies a channel even though data is not transmitted and received, the efficiency and flexibility in using a circuit is low. In the method of sequentially assigning the calls, the calls are assigned without considering the load amount of the packet processing processor and the number of connected terminals. In the method of assigning the calls according to the number of connected terminals, the calls are assigned to the packet processing processor without considering the load amount of the packet processing processor.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

Method and apparatus for assigning packet resources of wireless local loop (WLL)


An arrangement for winding and unwinding a cable on and from a drum, respectively, in an automatic winding machine having two gripping pins connected to a device for displacing the pins vertically between a fixed upper winding position and a lower drum gripping position, and a drive wheel operated by a pressure device and connected to an adjusting device for displacing the wheel to an operating position against the drum flange. In order to fully automate the adjustment of the wheel and the regulation of its pressure in accordance with the size and material of the flange, a detector is provided for detecting the vertical distance of the pin from the floor plane in the gripping position as an indication of flange diameter; and the detector is arranged to control, on the basis of the detected distance, both the adjusting device of the wheel to adjust the drive wheel to an operating position corresponding to the flange diameter, and the pressure device to regulate the pressure of the wheel against the flange with a force corresponding to the flange diameter.

The present invention relates to an arrangement in an automatic winding machine for winding and unwinding a cable, thread or other similar product on and from a flanged drum, respectively. The winding machine typically includes:
two gripping pins positioned in a support frame vertically displaceably and arranged to coaxially grip one flange of the drum, respectively, and to lift the drum from a floor plane; PA0 a power means for displacing the gripping pins vertically between a fixed upper winding position and a lower gripping position varying in accordance with the diameter of the flange of the drum; PA0 a rotation apparatus supported by the support frame and comprising a displaceable drive wheel and a press means for pressing the drive wheel against the flange of the drum; and PA0 an adjusting means for displacing the drive wheel to an operating position against the flange of the drum. PA0 that the winding machine is provided with a means for detecting a vertical distance of one gripping pin from the floor plane in the position for gripping the drum to determine the diameter of the flange of the drum; and PA0 that the detecting means is arranged to influence, on the basis of the detected distance, both the adjusting means of the drive wheel to adjust the drive wheel to an operating position corresponding to the diameter of the flange of the drum, and the press means of the rotation apparatus to regulate the pressing of the drive wheel against the flange of the drum with a force corresponding to the diameter of the drum flange.
A winding machine of this type is used especially in the cable industry for winding a cable on a drum or for unwinding a cable from a drum, but it is equally applicable for winding other similar products, such as threads and ropes. The winding machine operates in such a manner that the drum is gripped by means of the gripping pins of the winding machine and lifted up from the floor plane to a fixed winding position, whereafter the drum is rotated by means of a rotation apparatus which is pressed against one flange of the drum. One embodiment of this kind of winding machine is disclosed in the U.S. application Ser. No. 07/778,124 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,335.
Winding drums used in such winding machines vary in size, that is, their flanges differ in diameter. Therefore it is necessary that the rotation apparatus be displaceable by adjusting means to an appropriate operating position in which the drive wheels of the rotation apparatus contact the periphery of one flange of the drum.
Moreover, winding drums used in such winding machines are made of different materials, such as metal, plastic and wood, wherefore it is necessary that the pressure by which the drive wheel of the rotation apparatus is pressed against the flange of the drum be adjustable to an appropriate value. Large drums normally require a high pressure on account of the thick cable to be wound, whereas small drums normally require a low pressure. An excessive pressure exposes the drive wheel to wear, while an inadequate pressure causes slippage as well as wear. Maximum pressure causes a risk that the drive wheel will break the drum, especially small drums with flanges made of a weaker material.
In prior art winding machines of this type, the drive wheel of the rotation apparatus is adjusted manually to an appropriate distance from the fixed winding position of the gripping pins, or the winding position of the gripping pins is adjusted to an appropriate distance from the fixed operating position of the drive wheel. In both cases, the adjustment is merely approximate, since the accuracy of adjustment is totally dependent on the professional skill and experience of the operator making the adjustments. Prior art winding machines have a single preset pressure value, as a result of which the drive wheel wears down too rapidly, and the drum is liable to damage. Even in cases where manual adjustment of the pressure is possible, the accuracy of adjustment is nevertheless totally dependent on the professional skill and experience of the operator.

Arrangement in an automatic cable winding machine


The XAM architecture that specifies a software program instrumentation and data collection method and system is disclosed. The XAM architecture includes definition of a measurement type hierarchy, the definition of an XAM API that adapts an application program to a local XAM library, and a message protocol, based on XML, through which the XAM library is configured by, and sends collected data to, an XAM services process. Predefined measurement types include primitive measurement types and aggregate measurement types, the latter allowing for significant decrease in data transmission overheads between the XAM library and the XAM services process because of data filtering and processing by XAM library routines.

A wide variety of sophisticated software debugging and analysis tools have been developed during the past forty years to facilitate design, testing, and analysis of software programs. Generally, a software program is developed through an iterative process, each stage of which consists of program design or modification followed by testing and analysis of the program. A commonly encountered technique for analyzing software programs is to embed instrumentation within the program for collecting various types of data while the program is running. Data can be collected and processed in various ways to provide a basis for analyzing the program. Often, embedded instrumentation provides the only practical approach to understanding the real-time behavior of complex programs and automated systems. For example, a running web site may field requests for hypertext markup language ("HTML") documents at a very high rate, and may concurrently store information provided by remote users in a database, conduct commercial transactions with remote users, and perform other such tasks. Although the web site programs may be well tested and understood, the real-time, dynamic environment in which they operate may not be. By instrumenting the web site, web site developers and managers can determine temporal patterns of HTML-page-request reception, statistics on requests received for the HTML pages served, statistics on transactions carried out, and other such information. The collected data can be used to configure the web site to more efficiently handle requests and transactions, to discover program errors, to undertake directed marketing campaigns to advertise underutilized features of the website, and to exploit discovered relationships within purchasing behaviors of different categories of website users for targeted cross-marketing campaigns.
The application response measurement ("ARM") standard was developed as a measurement standard for instrumenting software programs. The ARM standard specifies the semantics of six ARM routines that allow a program developer to embed instrumentation, in the form of transactions, within a program. These transactions can be used to record data and transmit the recorded data to a data processing routine or system for analysis. The ARM standard is relatively simple and easy to use. It allows programmers to construct transaction types suitable for their instrumentation needs, and is therefore adaptable to different measurement tasks, and is widely available.
As a result of its simplicity, the ARM standard suffers from notable deficiencies. First, although many different types of instrumentation might be desirable for inclusion within a program, the ARM standard provides only a transaction measurement type. Second, the ARM standard does not specify many details with regard to encoding and transportation of data, collected via embedded instrumentation from a program, to a data processing and analysis program or system. Third, the ARM standard lacks convenient facilities for locally filtering and partitioning of collected data in order to decrease the data transmission overhead between the running program and a data processing or data analysis program or system and in order to decrease data collection and data processing overhead within the instrumented program and analysis system, respectively. Thus, although the ARM standard has proved to be a valuable and widely used improvement over the various ad hoc instrumentation techniques that preceded the ARM standard, software program developers have recognized the need for a standard, but more completely defined and more flexible software program instrumentation method and system for embedding instrumentation within software programs, collecting data via the embedded instrumentation, packaging the data, and transmitting the packaged data to a data processing and/or data analysis routine.

Instrumenting a software program and collecting data from the instrumented software program by type

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A backlight module (30) includes a light source (42) for emitting light, a light guide plate (50), and a reflective cover (41). The light guide plate includes a light incidence surface (51), a light-emitting surface (53) connecting with the light incidence surface, and a bottom surface (52) opposite to the light-emitting surface. The light source faces the light incidence surface. The reflective cover includes a reflective unit having two reflective surfaces (411, 412) defining a space with a bottom. The light source is accommodated in the bottom of the space. A cross-sectional profile of the reflective surfaces is defined by an equation in a polar coordinate ρ(φ). The equation is:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight module and a reflective cover used in the backlight module and, more particularly, to a backlight module for providing a planar illuminating light to a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In recent years, LCD devices, such as liquid crystal monitors, and liquid crystal TVs have become widely used. A typical LCD device includes an LCD panel and a backlight module positioned under the LCD panel for supplying light thereto.
Referring to FIG. 6, a typical backlight module 10 includes two point light sources 11, a light guide plate (LGP) 12, a reflective sheet 13, a diffusing sheet 14, and two light condensers 15. The two point light sources 11 are generally light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The LGP 12 includes a light incidence surface 121, a light-emitting surface 122 connecting with the light incidence surface 121, and a bottom surface 123 facing the light-emitting surface 122. The two point light sources 11 are placed at the light incidence surface 121 of the LGP 12. The reflective sheet 13, the LGP 12, the diffusing sheet 14, and the two light condensers 15 are arranged in that order.
In operation, the point light source 11 emits light. The light is transmitted into the LGP 12 through the light incidence surface 121. The LGP 12 is used for guiding the light to exit from the light-emitting surface 122 thereof. The reflective sheet 13 reflects a portion of the light exiting from the bottom surface 123 of the LGP 12. The reflected portion of the light is thus redirected to exit from the light-emitting surface 122. The light exiting from the light-emitting surface 122 passes through the diffusing sheet 14 and the two light condensers 15 in sequence. The two light condensers 15 are configured for collimating diffused light emitting from the diffusing sheet 14. Thus, the backlight module 10 can generate a planar illuminating light with a high brightness.
Referring to FIG. 7, each point light source 11 has a limited illuminating space. Light beam L1 in the center of the illuminating space is substantially perpendicular to the light incidence surface 121, and can exit from a first portion of the light-emitting surface 122 opposite to the point light source 11. Light beam L2 in the border of the illuminating space is not perpendicular to the light incidence surface 121, and can exit from a second portion of the light-emitting surface 122 opposite to a position between the two point light sources 11. There is a dark region 124 (defined by a broken line in FIG. 7) to which the light emitting from the two point light sources 11 hardly reaches. The dark region 124 is displayed on the light-emitting surface 122, thus it can be seen that the backlight module 10 does not provide uniform brightness.
What is needed, therefore, is a backlight module that can provide uniform brightness.

Backlight module and reflective cover used therein

Abstract: {                                                                        ∫                                  π                  /                  2                                                  φ                  -                  θ                                                                                ρ                                                        (                    φ                    )                                                                                sin                                                        (                                          φ                      -                      θ                                        )                                                                                ⅆ                                      (                                          φ                      -                      θ                                        )                                                                        =                                          ∫                0                θ                                                                            1                                                            cos                      2                                                                                (                      θ                      )                                                                                ⅆ                  θ                                                                                ρ                                                  (                  φ                  )                                            =                                                ρ                  0                                                                                {                                                                  cos                                                                          (                                                      θ                            /                            2                                                    )                                                                    /                                              [                                                                              cos                                                                                (                                                              φ                                -                                θ                                                            )                                                                                /                          2                                                ]                                                              }                                    2                                                      ,                                   wherein, ρ represents a polar axis of the polar coordinate, φ represents a clockwise angle of the polar coordinate, and θ represents an anti-clockwise divergence angle of the light.


The present invention provides novel phenalenone derivatives of formula (I) which are formed by the microorganism Penicillium herquei Bainer & Sartory, DSM 14142, during fermentation. A process for their preparation, their use as pharmaceutical compositions, and their use for the treatment or prophylaxis of bacterial infections, mycoses, oncoses and rheumatic diseases are also disclosed and claimed

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to phenalenone derivatives which are formed by the microorganism Penicillium herquei Bainer & Sartory, DSM 14142 during fermentation, processes for their preparation, their use as pharmaceutical compositions, and their use for the treatment or prophylaxis of bacterial infections, mycoses, oncoses and rheumatic diseases.
2. Description of the Art
Cancer is a disease of humans and animals which usually takes a fatal course and which is caused by the uncontrolled growth of endogenous cells. Cancer is the term for the formation of malignant growths (malignomas), of neoplasms (tumors and carcinomas) or for the malignant degeneration and maturation disorder of white blood cells (leukemia, blood cancer). Cancer or tumor cells are formed by conversion of endogenous cells. The malignancy of the cancer cell is expressed in the autonomy of growth, that is, its ability to grow is uninhibited in an infiltrating manner and without classification in the constructional plan of the organs and with tissue destruction. A certain sign of malignancy is the formation of tumor-remote deposits (metastases) after hematogenic or lymphogenic spread of tumor cells. Cancer is among the most frequent causes of death of man and therefore there is a great need for methods and means for the cure or treatment of malignant degenerations.
Possible therapy for malignant tumors includes, in addition to radical surgical removal of the tumor where possible, radiological therapy using X-rays, α-, β-, γ-rays, immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Immunotherapy can at present only be used to a restricted extent. The chemotherapy of tumors is understood as meaning the administration of cell toxins (cytostatics) for the treatment of tumors and of remaining tumor cells after local surgical treatment or irradiation. These substances specifically intervene in certain processes of cell division, so that tissue having a high proportion of dividing cells, such as the rapidly growing tumor tissue, react more sensitively. Alkylating compounds, such as, for example, cyclophosphamide, (The Merck Index, 12th ed. page 463), antimetabolites, such as methotrexate (The Merck Index, 12th ed. page 1025), alkaloids, such as vincristine (The Merck Index, 12th ed. page 1704) and antibiotics, such as daunomycin (The Merck Index, 12th ed. page 479) and adriamycin (The Merck Index, 12th ed. pages 581-582) are used. However, all of these agents feature certain disadvantages on account of severe side effects, so that the death of the afflicted person is only delayed, but not averted. Moreover, in degenerated (cancer) cells, when resistance to the agents used occurs, the present medicaments then no longer act cytostatically, but exhibit toxic side effects. Moreover, it has been shown that a combined or sequential administration of cytostatics augments the activity of an individual cytostatic (monotherapy) and it is thereby possible that significant side effects are not additive in polychemotherapy. For all these reasons, novel chemotherapeutics are urgently needed and therefore sought worldwide.
Natural substances having a phenalenone parent structure have already been described. Phenalene is a fused, partially aromatic ring system, which decomposes in air. Phenalenone is its oxidation product having a carbonyl group in the 1-position.
The patent application WO 99/60992 generically describes phenalenones, which in all positions apart from C1 can be substituted by hydrogen or C1-C4-alkyl, preferably methyl, or C1-C4-alkoxy, preferably methoxy, for use as hair colorants.
Japanese patent application JP 60199849 describes the phenalenone derivative 2,7,8,9-tetrahydroxy-4-methoxy-5-methylphenalen-1-one, which is active as a phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor and can be used for the treatment of arteriosclerosis, bronchial asthma, diabetes and cancers.
D. A. Frost & G. A. Morrison; (J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 20, 2388-2396, 1973) describe the isolation of norxanthoherquein (2,3,4,7,8,9-hexahydroxy-5-methyl-phenalen-1-one) from Penicillium herquei Bainer & Sartory.
D. H. R. Barton et al. (Tetrahedron, 6, 48, 1959) describe the isolation of atrovenetin from Penicillium atrovenetum and from Penicillium herquei Bainer & Sartory. Atroventin is described as an antioxidant by Y. Ishikawa et al. (J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 68, 666-668, 1991), and as a cytostatic having antineoplastic activity in WO 00/45165.
N. Narasimhachari and L. C. Vining (J. Antibiotics, 25, 155, 1972) and J. Simpson (Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. 1, 1979, 1233-1238) describe tautomeric forms of the compound desoxyherqueinone (2-O-methylatrovenetin), which are isolable from Penicillium herquei and exhibit antibiotic activity against gram-positive organisms.
The object of the present invention is to provide alternative phenalenone derivatives which can be used in tumor therapy.

Phenalenone derivatives, processes for preparation and use thereof


The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device comprising a substrate, an undoped HfO2 layer formed over the substrate and a TiN layer formed on the HfO2 layer. Herein, the undoped HfO2 layer is at least partially ferroelectric. In illustrative methods for forming a semiconductor device, an undoped amorphous HfO2 layer is formed over a semiconductor substrate and a TiN layer is formed on the undoped amorphous HfO2 layer. A thermal annealing process is performed for at least partially inducing a ferroelectric phase in the undoped amorphous HfO2 layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to complex semiconductor devices with ferroelectric hafnium oxide, and a method for forming an according semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits typically comprise a very large number of circuit elements formed on a given area of a chip, wherein a semiconductor device represents an important implementation of a circuit element. For example, current advanced ICs (integrated circuits) are formed by millions of field effect transistors, which are also referred to as MOS transistors or MOSFETS, and in general MOSFETs may be considered as dominant semiconductor devices in modern ICs. Efforts towards increased performance and low integration volume have, therefore, been mainly directed to reducing the size of basic transistor structures. A drive to continuously improve the performance of semiconductor devices is given by Moore's law of scaling, which demands that the number of semiconductor devices in an IC increases exponentially, e.g., doubling over a two or three year period. As a consequence, minimum feature sizes of transistors have decreased exponentially with about each year.
Despite a plurality of scaling reducing process technologies having been developed and practiced so as to comply with Moore's law, it is clear that scaling cannot go on forever, particularly as constraints imposed by materials become increasingly important at advanced scaling nodes. For example, the thickness of a gate dielectric layer in a gate electrode of an advanced transistor structure has become so thin (under 2 nm) that a gate leakage current caused by direct tunneling of electrons from the gate electrode into a channel region (generally located underneath the gate electrode) increases with decreasing layer thickness and, as a result, the power dissipation of any integrated circuit based on such transistors becomes unacceptable.
In using high-k dielectric materials, the gate leakage problem can be addressed by providing gate dielectrics with high-k dielectric materials, such as hafnium oxide-based materials, which allows increasing the capacitive coupling of the gate electrode to the channel without reducing the thickness of the gate dielectric. Therefore, the implementation of gate dielectrics by means of high-k dielectric materials allows not only increasing the performance of individual transistor elements, but also reducing the dimensions of semiconductor devices and consequently incorporating increased functionality into a given chip area.
Further efforts to increase the functionality built into a given chip area resulted in approaches to eliminate secondary storage systems. These approaches are based on the development of non-volatile memory devices which do not lose stored information when power supply is lost. Herein, efforts are directed to the development of ferroelectric RAMs or FeRAM devices which make use of dielectric layers with ferroelectric properties. Current FeRAMs appear to show, in comparison with conventional flash memory devices, lower power usage at higher writing performances and a greater number of write-erase cycles. Consequently, intensive investigations have been conducted to ferroelectric materials in order to provide non-volatile memory devices.
Therefore, ferroelectric materials have been considered for forming highly efficient capacitors. The effect that one makes use of herein is the possibility to adjust the polarization state of a ferroelectric material on the basis of appropriate electrical fields which are applied to the ferroelectric material. Since the polarization state of a ferroelectric material is preserved unless it is exposed to a high, with regard to the polarization state counter-oriented electrical field, or a high temperature, it is possible to "program" a capacitor formed of ferroelectric material such that an induced polarization state reflects an information unit. The reason is that an induced polarization state may be preserved, even upon removing a "programmed" capacitor from a power supply. Opposed to conventional storage capacitors of known flash memory designs, a refreshment of the state of the capacitor is not required. Another advantage of ferroelectric materials is the comparatively high dielectric constant of ferroelectric materials (k greater than 4) which may enable fabricating semiconductor devices with superior performance as compared to conventional semiconductor devices.
Although a ferroelectric field effect transistor or a ferroelectric capacitor represent in theory very promising concepts for complex semiconductor devices, it is a difficult task to identify appropriate ferroelectric materials which are compatible with existing manufacturing processes, particularly at advanced technology nodes. For example, commonly known ferroelectric materials, such as PZT or perovskites, are not compatible with standard CMOS processes. However, recent research results indicate that hafnium oxide-based dielectric materials may represent promising candidates for materials with ferroelectric behavior. To date, it is known that hafnium (Hf) rich materials exhibit a predominantly monoclinic structure with paraelectric behavior and pure HfO2 is known to be of paraelectric nature. With regard to hafnium-based materials, however, recent results indicated that the monoclinic structure is suppressed in Zr, Si, Y and Al-doped hafnium oxide materials and stabilized crystal structures of ferroelectric nature were obtained in accordingly-doped samples. Examples of ferroelectric hafnium-based materials are, for example, discussed in Mueller et al., "Incipient Ferroelectricity in Al-doped HfO2 Thin Films," Adv. Funct. Mater., 22:2412-17 (2012), Mueller et al., "Ferroelectricity in yttrium-doped hafnium oxide," J. Appl. Phys., 110:114113 (2011), Mueller et al., "Ferroelectricity in Simple Binary ZrO2 and HfO2," Nanoletters, 12:4318-23 (2012), and Boeske et al., "Phase Transitions in Ferroelectric Silicon-doped Hafnium Oxide," Appl. Phys. Lett., 99:112904 (2011).
Presently, the ferroelectric nature of some hafnium-based materials as opposed to the paraelectric nature of hafnium rich materials is considered as originating from an appropriate crystalline state being established in accordingly-doped hafnium oxide material which provides the ferroelectric nature was not observed that pure hafnium oxide does not have due to its monocline crystal structure.
Although ferroelectric material on the basis of hafnium oxide may be expected to show a better compatibility with existing CMOS processes, several drawbacks for ferroelectric non-volatile memory devices are observed in actual implementations. Particularly, the doping of a deposited ferroelectric hafnium oxide layer, for instance in the framework of an ALD process, raises a lot of issues with regard to how to include the doping of the ferroelectric hafnium oxide layer into the ALD sequence. For instance, a necessarily complex recipe structure for including dopants into ferroelectric hafnium oxide reduces the throughput of existing process flows. Particularly in ALD processes, additional doping precursors are necessary that usually suffer from low-ALD capability. It is observed that doping in ALD processes is not possible to a sufficient degree. For hafnium oxide, there is a narrow process window for establishing a ferroelectric phase by including dopants into the hafnium oxide, leading to difficult process control, for example with XPS-analysis, and bad doping uniformity. As large fluctuations of device parameters occur across wafers, it is not possible, for example, to provide sufficient memory window uniformity for ferroelectric FET devices.
In view of the above-described state in the art, it is desirable to provide a semiconductor device with incorporated ferroelectric behavior in good compatibility with standard manufacturing techniques and without deteriorated performance of fabricated semiconductor devices and lowering throughput. It is further desirable to provide a method for forming a semiconductor device with ferroelectric properties in agreement with standard CMOS processes and particularly which can be included into standard processes without inferring complex recipe structures.

Semiconductor device with ferroelectric hafnium oxide and method for forming semiconductor device


An arrangement for mixing and/or kneading of viscous, plastic, powder or grain materials, comprises a housing provided with a housing opening, a screw shaft driveably arranged in the housing opening and having a torque transmitting shaft and a plurality of screw elements arranged one behind the other on the shaft, a wedge connecting the screw elements with the shaft and having a substantially rectangular cross-section with two long sides and two short sides. The wedge is arranged so that one long side of the cross-section which faces toward the screw element substantially coincides with a tangent to a shaft circumference and is arranged substantially in the screw element, another long side of the cross-section which faces toward the shaft is arranged substantially in the shaft, one short side of the cross-section which extends in a direction opposite to the rotary direction of the shaft is located substantially in the shaft, another short side of the cross-section which extends in the rotary direction of the shaft is arranged substantially in the screw element. The long and short sides abut against one another in the shaft and in the screw element and are arranged substantially at a right angle relative to one another and form an open groove with round corners.

The present invention relates to an arrangement for mixing and/or kneading of viscous, plastic, powder or grain materials.
More particularly, it relates to an arrangement which has a driveable screw shaft arranged in a tubular housing opening and composed of a shaft which transmits a torque and a plurality of screw elements arranged on the shaft one behind the other and fixedly connecting the shaft by at least one edge with a substantially rectangular cross-section. The screw shaft operates for partial load distribution, while the wedge is partially arranged on the shaft and partially in the screw element so that the longer sides of the wedge cross-section extend parallel to a tangent to the shaft periphery and its shorter sides are arranged at a right angle to the longer sides.
An arrangement of the above-mentioned type is disclosed for example in the German document DE-C-813,154. During kneading with this arrangement a maximum quantity of energy of the driven shaft is transmitted to the material to be treated in the arrangement and converted in the material into work. The wedge or the wedges between the shaft and the screw elements position the screw elements in the proper turning position on the shaft and the torque during the operation is transmitted from the shaft through the screw elements to the material to be worked.
In the known arrangement swelling torsion loading of the shaft acts only in one direction, which influences its fatigue line. For the loading capacity of the shaft, it is necessary to determine the maximum stress concentration which occurs in the wedge groove and whose maximum permissible value must not be exceeded. The wedge or the wedges are arranged so that their cross-section is radial and symmetrical substantially for each half in the shaft and in the screw elements. This however produces a groove bottom which is not optimal with respect to a notch effect and also results in a poor accessibility of the groove for testing and cleaning.

Arrangement for mixing and kneading of materials with a screw shaft and at least one screw element connected with one another by wedges


An imaging lens substantially includes six lenses, constituted by: a first lens having a negative refractive power, which is of a meniscus shape having a concave surface toward an image side; a second lens; a third lens; a fourth lens; a fifth lens having a positive refractive power; and a sixth lens having a negative refractive power, a concave surface toward the image side, and at least one inflection point in the surface toward the image side; provided in this order from an object side. The imaging lens satisfies a predetermined conditional formula.

Accompanying the recent spread of personal computers in households, digital still cameras capable of inputting image data such as photographed scenes and portraits into personal computers are rapidly becoming available. In addition, many cellular telephones, smart phones, and tablet type terminals are being equipped with camera modules for inputting images. The number of pixels in imaging elements such as CCD's and CMOS's is increasing in devices having such photography functions, and there is demand for high resolution and high performance of imaging lenses. Performance corresponding to 5 megapixels or greater, and more preferably 8 megapixels or greater, is desired.
In response to such demands, imaging lenses having a five lens configuration, which is a comparatively large number of lenses, have been proposed. Further, imaging lenses having a six lens configuration, which is an even greater number of lenses, have been proposed to further improve performance. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2004-294910, 2005-258294, and 4 (1992)-317020 disclose imaging lenses having six lens configurations, including a first lens having a negative refractive power, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens having a positive refractive power, and a sixth lens having a negative refractive power, provided in this order from an object side.

Imaging lens and imaging apparatus equipped with the imaging lens


The invention provides NO- or NO−-releasing imidate; and thioimidate, diazeniumdiolates, in which the N2O2− functional group is bonded to a carbon atom. The imidate and thioimidate diazeniumdiolates are bound to a polymer or a substrate.

Nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated as part of a cascade of interacting agents involved in a wide variety of bioregulatory processes, including the physiological control of blood pressure, macrophage-induced cytostasis and cytotoxicity, and neurotransmission (Moncada et al., "Nitric Oxide from L-Arginine: A Bioregulatory System," Excerpta Medica, International Congress Series 897, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.: Amsterdam (1990); Marletta et al., Biofactors 2: 219–225 (1990); Ignarro, Hypertension (Dallas) 16: 477–483 (1990); Kerwin et al., J. Med. Chem. 38: 4343–4362 (1995); and Anggar{acute over (d)}, Lancet 343: 1199–1206 (1994)). Given that NO plays a role in such a wide variety of bioregulatory processes, great effort has been expended to develop compounds capable of releasing NO. Some of these compounds are capable of releasing NO spontaneously, e.g., by hydrolysis in aqueous media, whereas others are capable of releasing NO upon being metabolized (Lefer et al., Drugs Future 19: 665–672 (1994)).
Several types of compounds of the general structure
have been known for many years. Traube (Liebigs Ann. Chem. 300: 81–123 (1898)) reported the preparation of a number of such compounds and noted that treatment of the compounds with acid produced a "brown gas." Given that the brown gas is nitrogen dioxide which may be produced directly, the release of brown gas by the compounds prepared by Traube is not, in and of itself, evidence of NO release. Compounds of the structural type reported by Traube are known to require harsh treatment with mineral acids to release any gas and such treatment is, of course, incompatible with biological utility.
Another compound, which has the structure
and which has been named cupferron, has been shown by Kubrina et al., (Izvestia Akademii Nauk SSSR Seriia Biologicheskaia 6: 844–850 (1988) English Trans.: Biol. Bull. Acad. Sci. USSR. 533–538, (1988)) to generate NO in vivo. In addition, the antibiotics alanosine (C(O)(OH)CH(NH2)CH2 N(O)═NOH) and dopastin (CH3CH═CHC(O)NHCH2 CH(i-propyl)-N(O)═NOH), as well as cupferron, have been shown to release NO in vivo by enzymatic oxidation (Alston et al., J. Biol. Chem. 260: 4069–4074 (1985)).
Many of the known diazeniumdiolates and their clinical applications are disclosed in recently issued patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,526 (Keefer et al.) discloses nitric oxide-primary amine complexes useful as cardiovascular agents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,705 (Keefer et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,233 (Keefer et al.) disclose anti-hypertensive compositions of secondary amine-nitric oxide adducts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,137 (Keefer et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,550 (Keefer et al.) disclose complexes of nitric oxide with polyamines. U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,919 (Keefer et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,357 (Keefer et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,892 (Keefer et al.) disclose polymer-bound nitric oxide/nucleophile adduct compositions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,997 (Keefer et al.) discloses oxygen-substituted derivatives of nucleophile-nitric oxide adducts as nitric oxide donor drugs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,675 (Christodoulou et al.) discloses mixed ligand complexes of nitric oxide-nucleophile adducts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,981 (Saavedra et al.) discloses biopolymer-bound nitric oxide-releasing compositions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,423 (Smith et al.) discloses polysaccharide-bound nitric oxide-nucleophile adducts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,365 (Keefer et al.) discloses N-substituted piperazine diazeniumdiolates. U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,376 (Diodati et al.) discloses therapeutic inhibition of platelet aggregation by nucleophile-nitric oxide complexes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,447 (Keefer et al.) discloses nitric oxide-releasing polymers to treat restenosis and related disorders. U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,963 (Keefer et al.) discloses implants, prostheses, and stents comprising polymer-bound nitric oxide/nucleophile adducts capable of releasing nitric oxide. U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,830 (Korthius et al.) discloses the use of nitric oxide adducts for reducing metastatic risk. U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,511 (Saavedra et al.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,666 (Keefer et al.) disclose selective prevention of organ injury in sepsis and shock using selective release of nitric oxide in vulnerable organs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,305 (Keefer et al.) discloses anti-hypertension compositions of secondary amine-nitric oxide adducts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,316 (Keefer et al.) discloses encapsulated and non-encapsulated nitric oxide generators useful as antimicrobial agents.
Other diazeniumdiolates useful in a host of applications include those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/254,301 (Saavedra et al.), which discloses O2-arylated and O2-glycosylated diazeniumdiolates, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,336 (Hrabie et al.), which discloses amidine- or enamine-derived diazeniumdiolates.
Despite the extensive literature available on NO and nitric oxide-releasing compounds, there remains a need for stable nitric oxide-releasing compounds in which the nitric oxide-releasing group N2O2− is bonded directly to a carbon atom and that serve as versatile intermediates in the preparation of a wide variety of therapeutic nitric oxide-releasing compounds.

Nitric oxide-releasing imidate and thioimidate diazeniumdiolates

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


Apparatus for controlling the thermal uniformity of a substrate. In some embodiments, the thermal uniformity of the substrate is controlled to be more uniform. In some embodiments, the thermal uniformity of the substrate is controlled to be non-uniform in a desired pattern. In some embodiments, an apparatus for controlling thermal uniformity of a substrate includes a substrate support having a support surface to support a substrate thereon. A plurality of flow paths having a substantially equivalent fluid conductance are disposed within the substrate support to flow a heat transfer fluid beneath the support surface.

In many conventional substrate processes, cooling channels may be provided in a substrate support to facilitate cooling a substrate during the processing thereof to maintain a desired temperature profile on the substrate. The cooling channels may be configured to facilitate providing a desired temperature profile of the substrate during processing.
The inventors have provided an improved apparatus for controlling the temperature of a substrate during processing.

Apparatus for controlling the temperature uniformity of a substrate


A portable game feeder backpack that is worn by the user to spread feed for wild game or other granular material, e.g. seed, grain, or fertilizer. The invention provides a bucket mounted on a tubular frame. A funnel and a downspout direct granular material to a motorized spreader plate mounted below the bucket. A handheld switch remotely activates the motor. The device is worn as a backpack and has two removable padded shoulder straps. A detachable bracket allows the device to be attached to the rear structure on a vehicle, e.g. an all terrain vehicle or pickup. The device also can be used as a swiveling hunting seat having a padded cover on the lid of the bucket. The lid draining accumulated water to protect interior contents. Motor control is easily interchangeable among pushbutton, remote and timer control.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dispersing granular material, e.g. feed, seed, grain and fertilizer, and more particularly to dispersing granular material from a portable device configured as a backpack.
2. Background
Hunters use feeders to attract game. Usually these are stationary and near a stand. Hunters then wait for game to come to the feeder. Some dedicated feeders are available for vehicles, e.g. all terrain vehicles, to feed larger areas like roads. During hunting season older more mature animals shy away from stationary feeders, or visit them at night.
The prior art includes a variety of devices for dispersing granular seed, feed, grain and fertilizer. Some prior art devices are adapted for carrying on the user's back. No prior art devices include a device adapted for carrying on the user's back, that also includes a remotely-actuated, motorized, spinning spreader plate.
Additionally, although some devices for dispersing granular material are adapted for attachment to a moving vehicle, no such prior art devices are adapted for removal from the vehicle and carrying on the user's back in a terrain deemed unsuitable for the vehicle.
Similarly, although some devices for dispersing granular material are adapted for suspension from overhanging objects, e.g. tree branches, no such prior art devices are remotely actuated, nor or such devices adapted for alternating between using the device in such a suspended manner, and carrying on the user's back to areas remote from the area of suspension, where no overhead object is available.
Also, although no prior art devices for dispersing granular material are adapted to provide an appropriately elevated seating platform for the user after removing the device from the user's shoulders.
What is needed is a device for dispersing granular seed, feed, and fertilizer, which is transportable on the user's back, has a motorized, spinning spreader plate that is remotely actuated, provides a seating platform for the user, is adaptable for attachment to rear structure on a vehicle, and can be suspended above the ground from an overhead object and remotely actuated.


Embodiments of the present invention provide techniques for detecting and correcting encoded data. In one embodiment, a system for detecting and correcting errors in a plurality of data bits comprises a static memory configured to store a plurality of data bits; a systematic encoder configured to convert the plurality of data bits into a codeword; a systematic parity check encoder configured to convert the codeword into a syndrome; and a syndrome decoder configured to evaluate the syndrome based on preset criteria used to determine whether the syndrome corresponds to an uncorrectable error. A binary [16, 8, 5] code is used to encode the plurality of data bits.

This invention relates generally to techniques for detecting and correcting errors on storage media, and more particularly, to techniques for detecting and correcting errors in encoded data, especially data to be stored in memory such as a DRAM.
Conventional methods for DRAM protection involve the use of Hamming codes. The check bits in a Hamming code are parity bits for the data bits. Each check bit provides the parity for a unique subset of the data bits. If an error occurs (i.e., one or more bits change state), one or more syndrome bits will be asserted. Which syndrome bits are asserted may also be used to determine which data bit changes state, and enable the correction of the error.
One common use of Hamming codes is to correct single bit errors within a group of data. A single error correcting Hamming code is able to correct a single error. The error detection capability of the code may be increased by adding an additional check bit. The use of an additional check bit allows the Hamming code to detect double bit errors and correct single bit errors. The addition of a bit to increase the data detection capabilities of a Hamming code is referred to as an extended Hamming code.
The Hamming distance is the number of bits that disagree between two binary sequences of the same length. For example, if a codeword x consists of '10000' and a codeword y consists of '01100,' the Hamming distance is equal to 3. In conventional methods, in order to detect n bit errors, a coding scheme requires the use of codewords with a Hamming distance of at least n+1. In addition, a coding scheme with at least a Hamming distance of 2n+1 between the codewords is required.
The distance d of a code is defined as the minimum Hamming distance between all pairs of codewords in the code. Codes with a larger value of d have a greater error-correcting capability. Codes with parameters N and k are referred to as (N, k) codes. If the distance d is also known, then the codes are referred to as (N, k, d) codes.

Error detection and correction for encoded data

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


The invention provides compounds capable of treating against hepatitis infections, particularly hepatitis B viral infections. Compounds of the invention are nucleic acid-based and preferably comprise 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 nucleoside units.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a compact, enveloped DNA-virus belonging to the Hepadnavirus family. The virus is a major cause of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide (Hoofnagle (1990) N. Eng. J Med., 323:337-339). HBV is associated with acute and chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma and may be a cofactor in the development of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (Dinestag et al. in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 13th Ed. (Isselbacher et al. eds.) McGrw-Hill, NY, N.Y. (1993) pp. 1458-1483). At least 400 million people are currently infected with HBV.
Current clinic agents, however, do not provide effective therapy or cure of HBV infections. Antiviral therapy with interferon has been used for chronic hepatitis, but has met with only partial success, and there complications from such therapy. Short term therapy with glucocorticoids may be beneficial in conjunction with interferon therapy, but long term treatment is limited by toxicological problems (Dinestag et al., supra).
It thus would be desirable to have new agents for treatment of viral infections. It would be particularly desirable to have new agents for treatment against hepatitis B viral infections.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nucleic acid-based compounds and methods of use thereof


A rotating table provided with a determined gap Db and serving as a rotating body is rotatably mounted on a fixed base. Seal-member accommodating spaces serving as annular grooves are partitioned and formed in a fixed surface. Annular seal members are disposed in the seal-member accommodating spaces. When a vacuum is supplied to a communication passage, the absorbed seal members contact with the fixed surface and a rotated surface to seal gaps therebetween. When a positive pressure is supplied to the communication passage, the seal members are relocated in the seal-member accommodating spaces. The seal-member accommodating space has a taper portion, thereby preventing the seal members from biting. While the rotating table is being rotatably driven, no vacuum is supplied to the communication passage.

Some conveyance devices for precise fine workpieces such as semiconductor chips are of a type which mounts the fine workpieces on an upper surface of a rotating table serving as a rotating body to convey them up to a target position and concurrently exerts their processes or inspections in each mounting state. Thereamong, a vacuum feeding joint, in which an air adsorption section is provided on the upper surface of the rotating table and a vacuum feeding source is connected to the fixed base supporting the rotating table, is known as the above-described conveyance device capable of mounting the fine workpieces on the upper surface of the rotating table with high precision. In the vacuum feeding joint, a communication passage for communicating with the air adsorption section and the vacuum feeding source is formed in each of the rotating table and the fixed base, whereby the fine workpieces mounted on the air adsorption section can be adsorbed and fixed with high precision.
In the above-mentioned vacuum feeding joint, to be capable of supplying a vacuum even if the rotating table is rotated at any angle, an annular communication groove, in which a rotating shaft of the rotating table serves as a center, is formed in at least one of a bottom surface of the rotating table and the upper surface of the fixed base and, concurrently, a communication passage communicating with the air adsorption section and a communication passage communicating with the vacuum feeding source are opened on a circumference of the annular communication groove, respectively. Additionally, seal members contacting with the rotating table and the fixed base are mounted on an outer-circumference side and an inner-circumference side of the annular communication groove, whereby the seal members ensure airtightness of the communication passages.
However, if the seal members are thus mounted, friction is caused in rotate-driving the rotating table, so that it is difficult to smoothly rotate the rotating table at a precise rotating angle.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum feeding joint capable of ensuring the airtightness in the communication passages during the feeding of a vacuum supplying and suppressing an occurrence of friction during the rotate-driving of the rotating body.


Techniques for redefining a group of related objects in a relational database system by redefining a table belonging to the group of related objects and then redefining the other related objects in the group so that they are in conformity with the redefined table. The techniques permit DDL to be used to redefine a view and are also useful in a versioned relational database system for redefining the table from which the versions are generated. In the versioned relational database system which employs the technique, the versions are generated from a view. To redefine the view, the technique is employed as follows: the view's definition in the relational database system is used to make a base table that has a form which is substantially similar to that of the view. DDL is then applied to the base table to redefine it. The redefined base table definition and the definitions of the objects belonging to the versioned relational database system are then used to redefine the definitions of the objects belonging to the versioned relational database system so that they are in conformity with the base table as redefined by the DDL.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to relational database systems and more specifically to techniques for simplifying the redefinition of a group of related objects in the database system.
2. Description of Related Art
Database systems are systems which store data and permit users of the systems to access items of the data by means of queries which describe the data in terms of the structure given the data by the database system. A common kind of database system is a relational database system. In such systems, the data is organized as a set of tables. A relational database table has a fixed number of columns and a variable number of rows. Each row has afield corresponding to each column, and the field contains a value. Queries on relational databases specify the data to be accessed in terms of the table or tables that contain it, columns in the table, and values of fields in some of the specified columns. For example, a simple table employees might look like this:
emp_noemp_name001Jones002Smith003Andrews004Todd
The table has two columns, named emp_no, whose fields contain employee numbers, and emp_name, whose fields contain employee names, and four rows. A query that returned the name of the employee with the employee number "002" would look like this in the standard SQL language used with relational database systems:                SELECT emp_name FROM employees WHERE emp_no=002;
When the database system executes the query, it finds the row in the table employees whose field in the column emp_no has the value "002" and returns the value of the field in the row belonging to the column emp_name, or "Smith".
FIG. 1 shows the portions of a typical relational database system 101 that are relevant to the present discussion. The main components of system 101 are a processor, a memory 103 which contains programs 105 being executed by the processor and data 113 involved in the program executions, and persistent storage 123 for the database system's tables and other objects. Processor 121 may further receive inputs from input devices such as a keyboard and/or pointing device and produce outputs to a display device such as a CRT, as shown at 122, and may also receive inputs from and provide outputs to one or more networks, containing other processors, as shown at 124.
When system 101 is operating, programs 105 in memory 103 include an operating system 107, a relational database system program 109, and application programs 111 that employ the services provided both by operating system 107 and database program 109. Correspondingly, data 113 in memory 103 includes data for the application programs, data for the operating system, and data for the database system. Operation typically involves an application program 111, which provides a query to relational database program 109. Database program 109 executes the query on the tables in persistent storage 123 and provides the result to application program 111. Both RDB program 109 and application program 111 use the services provided by operating system 107, and execution of the application program or the database RDB program may involve inputs from and outputs to I/O devices and the network.
Continuing in more detail, persistent storage 123 contains two classes of objects: DB system objects, which are objects, including tables, that database system 101 uses to manage and operate the database system, and user objects 129, which contain tables and other objects defined by users of the database system. In the present context, the only system objects which are important are those belonging to data dictionary 127, which contains definitions of all of the objects in the database system.
User tables include base tables 131, views 118, and materialized views 141. Base tables 131 are the tables that are the actual sources of the data returned by a query. Views are tables which do not exist in their own rights in persistent storage 123, but are instead created using data from other tables. Data dictionary 227 contains definitions of base tables, of tables defined in terms of the base tables, and definitions of other objects that are defined for the tables. These other objects include indexes, which speed up access to the data contained in a column of a table, triggers, which define actions to be taken upon occurrence of events concerning the table, and constraints, i.e. rules about the values that must be in the fields.
A view is defined in the data dictionary by a query on other tables. The other tables may also be views, but the data must ultimately come from base tables. View 118 contains four columns and three rows. The data in columns 1 and 2 comes from columns 1 and 2 of base table 131(a); the data in columns 3 and 4 comes from columns 3 and 4 of base table 131(b); the query that defines view 118 has selected the fields of columns 1 and 2 of rows 3–5 of table 131(a) and the fields of columns 3 and 4 of rows 2, 6, and 8 of table 131(b). When relational database system 101 executes a query on a view 118, it must first make the view, which requires running the query which defines the view; consequently, if the view is frequently queried, the view may be made into a materialized view 141, which is a copy of the view which has been stored in persistent storage 123. Data dictionary 127 keeps track of the fact that there is a materialized view 141 corresponding to view 118, and database system 101 redirects a query of view 118 to materialized view 141.
The standard SQL language used to describe operations on relational databases has two major subdivisions: the data manipulation language, or DML, which is used to read and modify rows and individual data fields in the database's tables, and the data definition language, or DDL, which is used to define and redefine the tables themselves. The query discussed above is an example of a DML statement; a DDL statement that redefines the employees table by adding a column comments for comments looks like this:                ALTER TABLE employees ADD (comments VARCHAR2(100));
For details on the standard SQL language, see Oracle8i SQL Reference, Release 3 (8.1.7), Part Number A85397-01, available in March, 2002 from the Oracle Corporation website http://otn.oracle.com. While DML statements that write to a view or materialized view write to the base tables underlying the view or materialized view, DDL statements cannot be used with a view or a materialized view. Thus, if one wants to redefine a view or a materialized view, one must use DDL to add the column to a base table which underlies the view or materialized view is based and then to redefine any other objects in the database system that are affected by the change in the base table. Of course, the DDL can be used this way only if one understands how the view is related to the other objects.
When databases were relatively simple and the people who redefined views were the same people who had set up the objects that needed redefining if the view was redefined, the need to understand the base tables and other objects related to a view in order to redefine the view was not a serious problem. Now it has become one. The relationships between views and the underlying base tables have become more complex and in many cases, the people who are making and using the views are not the people who originally designed the database.
One example of the increasingly complex relationships between views and the underlying tables and between the users of the database system and the data is data mining. Data mining attempts to extract new kinds of information from old databases, for example, marketing information from a telephone company's billing database. Since the database was originally set up for billing purposes, not marketing research purposes, the most efficient way to use it for marketing research purposes is to define a set of views which extract the marketing information from the billing database. These views are defined by the data miners, who are generally not the people who designed the original billing database. Moreover, data miners are continually redefining the views they use. As things presently stand, they cannot do so without intimate knowledge of the underlying billing database.
Another example is versioned databases. A versioned database is one in which different versions of the database exist simultaneously. There is a view corresponding to each version of the database, and what users of the versioned database see is these views, rather than the underlying base tables. For details on a commercially-available versioned database, see Oracle9i Application Developer's Guide—Workspace Manager, Release 1 (9.0.1), Part Number A88806-01, available in March, 2002 at the above-mentioned Web site. Versioned databases are typically used in research and development situations: when a new line of research which will affect an existing database begins, a new version of the database is associated with the line of work, and the results of the research are incorporated into the new version of the database. When the work is to the point where it can be incorporated into the existing database, the new version is merged into the existing database. Again, the way in which versioned databases are used often makes redefinition of the views necessary.
To the extent that the prior art has dealt at all with the problem of making changes in the definitions of views that are reflected in the database objects that underlie and are related to the views, it has done so by means of system-specific procedural interfaces. In the context of relational database systems, the use of procedural interfaces to redefine views has significant costs.                In relational database systems generally, objects are defined and redefined using DDL, and most people who work with relational database systems know and are comfortable with DDL. That is not the case with the procedural interfaces.        Relational database systems come with powerful and efficient tools for writing and processing DDL definitions of database objects. These tools are not available for the procedural interfaces.
What is needed is a technique that permits a user of a relational database system to use DDL to redefine a view without having to understand and redefine the objects that are related to the view.

Method and apparatus for redefining a group of related objects in a relational database system


A flexible display panel and a film-like structure are provided according to the present disclosure. The flexible display panel includes a flexible display structure and a film-like structure arranged on at least one side of the flexible display structure. The film-like structure includes: a first flexible layer, a second flexible layer, a filler sealed between the first flexible layer and the second flexible layer, and a heater configured to heat the filler. A hardness of the filler varies with a temperature of the filler.

With the development of the flexible display technology, flexible display products will be gradually popularized in the display market. A current flexible display screen can be wound according to the user's requirement. The screen requires an external force to maintain a particular winding state or spread to be a plane, and thus the flexible display screen requires a particular bracket to maintain a shape.
In the related art, an electrorheological fluid is generally used as filler inside the bracket, and the flexibility and rigidity are switched directly based on current characteristics of the electrorheological fluid so as to maintain the shape of the flexible display screen. However, since its structure is complex, and its repeatability is limited by the stability of the electrorheological fluid, the bracket having the electrorheological fluid is not ideal in practical applications.
In view of the above, there is an urgent need for a practical technical solution to control the flexible display screen to be switched between flexibility and rigidity.

Flexible display panel and film-like structure

HEFEI XINSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Systems and methods related to prioritization of location requests in a cellular communications system are disclosed. Embodiments including a method of operation of a network node in a cellular communications system to process a message related to a location request are disclosed. In some embodiments, the method of operation of the network node comprises receiving a message related to a location request and performing congestion control with respect to the message related to the location request, either prior to or during setup of a radio connection between a Radio Access Network (RAN) of the cellular communications network and a target wireless device of the location request, based on a priority assigned to the location request. In this manner, the location request can be allowed even if the target wireless device is located in a congested cell.

Many wireless networks provide location services that provide the capability to locate a target wireless device(s). These location services may be utilized internally by the network and may support requests from third-party clients. The third-party clients may be, for example, clients that offer non-emergency services (e.g., social networking services) or clients that offer emergency services (e.g., police services). Currently, in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), support for Location Services (LCS) is defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 22.071 version 12.0.0 Release 12. According to 3GPP TS 22.071, location requests for different services may be processed with different priorities. In particular, a location request with a higher priority may be accorded faster access to resources than one with a lower priority and may receive a faster, more reliable and/or more accurate location estimate. However, there are situations where even high priority location requests (e.g., location requests for emergency services) will fail. As such, there is a need for systems and methods that mitigate the risk of the failure of, in particular, a high priority location request.

Prioritizing location request of a certain type in a congestion situation


The present invention generally provides apparatus and method for adjusting plasma density distribution in an inductively coupled plasma chamber. One embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus configured for processing a substrate. The apparatus comprises a chamber body defining a process volume configured to process the substrate therein, and a coil assembly coupled to the chamber body outside the process volume, wherein the coil assembly comprises a coil mounting plate, a first coil antenna mounted on the coil mounting plate, and a coil adjusting mechanism configured to adjust the alignment of the first coil antenna relative to the process volume.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to method and apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention provide method and apparatus for correcting baseline skew in an inductively coupled plasma reactor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma reactors used to fabricate semiconductor microelectronic circuits can employ RF (radio frequency) inductively coupled fields to maintain a plasma formed from a processing gas. Conventional inductively coupled plasma reactors generally includes a vacuum chamber having a side wall and a ceiling, a workpiece support pedestal within the chamber and generally facing the ceiling, a gas inlet capable of supplying a process gas into the chamber, and one or more solenoidal interleaved parallel conductor coil antennas overlying the ceiling. The one or more coil antennas are generally wound about an axis of symmetry generally perpendicular to the ceiling. A RF plasma source power supply is connected across each of the coil antennas. Sometimes, the reactor may include an inner coil antenna overlying the ceiling and surrounded by an outer coil antenna.
Typically, a high frequency RF source power signal is applied to the one or more coil antennas near the reactor chamber ceiling. A substrate disposed on a pedestal within the chamber which may have a bias RF signal applied to it. The power of the signal applied to the coil antenna primarily determines the plasma ion density within the chamber, while the power of the bias signal applied to the substrate determines the ion energy at the wafer surface.
Typically with "inner" and "outer" coil antennas, the coils are distributed radially or horizontally (rather than being confined to a discrete radius) so that their radial location is diffused accordingly. The radial distribution of plasma ion distribution is changed by changing the relative apportionment of applied RF power between the inner and outer antennas. However, it becomes more difficult to maintain a uniform plasma ion density across the entire wafer surface as wafers become larger and device feature become smaller.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates non-uniformity problems cased by baseline skew encountered by typical inductively coupled plasma reactors. FIG. 1 is a result showing nitrogen dosages across a substrate after nitridation processes preformed in a typical inductively coupled plasma reactor. The nitridation processes are performed to silicon dioxide gate dielectric film formed on a substrate. The substrate is positioned in a vacuum chamber capable of generating inductively coupled plasma. Nitrogen gas is flown to the plasma chamber and a plasma is struck while the flow continuous. The nitrogen radicals and/or nitrogen ions in the nitrogen plasma then diffuse and/or bombard into the silicon dioxide gate dielectric film.
FIG. 1 is a contour graph showing nitrogen dosage across surface of an entire surface of a 300 mm substrate after nitridation performed in an inductively coupled plasma reactor. The asymmetrical distribution of nitrogen dosage shown in the contour graph is commonly referred to as "baseline skew". Skew reflects asymmetry of the plasma and may be a result of multiple factors either inherited from the chamber or contributed by the process recipe, for example, asymmetry of the coils, flow rate distribution, chamber structure, species in the processing gas, changes of flow rate, power level of RF source applied, and other external factors from the processing chamber.
Therefore, there is a need to have a plasma reactor with a capacity to correct degrees of baseline skew during process.

Method of correcting baseline skew by a novel motorized source coil assembly


A light guide plate (LGP) adapted to a backlight module having a light emitting surface, a bottom surface opposite to the light emitting surface, and at least one light incident surface contacting with the light emitting surface and the bottom surface is provided. The bottom surface has a plurality of flat surfaces and a plurality of groove groups. The groove groups and the flat surfaces are arranged in an alternating fashion. Each of the groove groups has at least two grooves. Each of the grooves has a first slanted surface, a peak, and a second slanted surface intersecting with the first slanted surface at the peak. In each of the grooves, a first edge side of the first slanted surface away from the peak is at a first distance from a second edge side of the second slanted surface away from the peak.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight module. More particularly, the present invention relates to a light guide plate (LGP) applied to a backlight module.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional backlight module, FIG. 2 is a schematic view of transmission paths of light in an LGP of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between a light emitting angle of a light emitting surface of the LGP of FIG. 1 and the luminance thereof. Referring to FIG. 1, the backlight module 100 includes a light source 110, an LGP 120, and a reflective sheet 130. The light source 110 is disposed adjacent to a light incident surface 122 of the LGP 120, and the reflective sheet 130 is disposed on a bottom surface 124 of the LGP 120. The light provided by the light source 110 travels into the LGP 120 through the light incident surface 122, and travels out of the LGP 120 through a light emitting surface 126 of the LGP 120, so as to form a plane light source, and then travels to a liquid crystal display panel (LCD panel) (not shown) on the light emitting surface 126. The reflective sheet 130 may reflect the light to the light emitting surface 126. A plurality of grooves 128 on the bottom surface 124 of the LGP 120 may change the transmission paths of the light, so that the light travels to the light emitting surface 126 at a smaller incident angle. Therefore, the luminance efficiency of the LGP 120 is improved.
In detail, referring to FIG. 2, when a material of the LGP 120 is acrylic, a critical angle at which the light is totally reflected from the interface between the LGP and the air as the light is transmitted from the LGP to the air is about 42 degrees. For example, the section of each groove 128 is in V-shaped with two opposite sides equal in length and has a vertex angle α1 of 90 degrees. When the light L1 travels to a slanted surface 128a of one of the grooves 128 at an incident angle θ1 of 45 degrees, the light L1 is totally reflected at the slanted surface 128a of the groove 128. After that, the light L1 travels to the light emitting surface 126 at an incident angle of 0 degree, and travels to the LCD panel through the light emitting surface 126.
Moreover, when the light L2 travels to the slanted surface 128a of the groove 128 at an incident angle θ2 of 20 degrees, the light L2 will be transmitted to the groove 128 through the slanted surface 128a of the groove 128. At this time, a refraction angle θ2a of the light L2 is about 30.7 degrees. Then, the light L2 travels to another slanted surface 128b of the groove 128 at an incident angle θ2b of 59.3 degrees, and passes through the slanted surface 128b of the groove 128 to be transmitted into the LGP 120. At this time, a refraction angle θ2c of the light L2 is about 35.1 degrees. After that, the light L2 travels to the light emitting surface 126 at an incident angle θ2d of 80.1 degrees, and is totally reflected at the light emitting surface 126.
In addition, when the light L3 travels to the bottom surface 124 at an incident angle θ3 of 65 degrees, the light L3 will be totally reflected at the bottom surface 124. Then, the light L3 travels to the slanted surface 128a of the groove 128 at an incident angle θ3a of 70 degrees, and is totally reflected at the slanted surface 128a of the groove 128. After that, the light L3 travels to the light emitting surface 126 at an incident angle θ3b of 25 degrees, and travels to the LCD panel through the light emitting surface 126. At this time, a refraction angle θ3c of the light L3 is about 39.2 degrees.
It should be noted that since the light L3 passing through the light emitting surface 126 has a greater refraction angle θ3c, after the light provided by the light source 110 passes through the LGP 120 to form the plane light source, the concentration of the light is not satisfactory. Referring to FIG. 3, when the light provided by the light source 110 passes through the LGP 120 to form the plane light source, the half visual angles are within the range between −25.792 and 17.134 degrees. Here, each half visual angle is a light emitting angle corresponding to the luminance which is a half of the maximum luminance.


The present invention relates to crystalline valbenazine ditosylate, in particular to a crystalline hydrate of valbenazine ditosylate and a crystalline anhydrate of valbenazine ditosylate, and to methods for their preparation. Furthermore, the invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the crystalline hydrate or the crystalline anhydrate, preferably in an effective and/or predetermined amount and to the use of said pharmaceutical composition as a medicament, in particular for the treatment of hyperkinetic movement disorders such as tardive dyskinesia.

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a persistent movement disorder induced by chronic neuroleptic exposure. Classical TD is characterized most commonly by involuntary movements of the orofacial region and choreoathetoid movements in the extremities and trunk, but other forms also exist [O'Brian C. F. et. al NBI-98854, A Selective Monoamine Transport Inhibitor for the Treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. Movement Disorders, Vol. 30, No. 12, 2015, 1681-1687]
Valbenazine, also known as NBI-98854, is a highly selective, vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) inhibitor in clinical development for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia. It is a L-valine (2R,3R,11bR)-1,3,4,6,7,11b-hexahydro-9,10-dimethoxy-3-(2-methylpropyl)-2H-benzo(a)quinolizin-2-yl ester and has the following chemical structure according to Formula I

WO 2008/058261 A1 discloses the production of valbenazine as the free base (compound 2-1 in Example 2). The document further discloses the administration of single oral doses of valbenazine in 10% PEG in 0.25% methylcellulose in milli Q water to rats for pharmacokinetic evaluation (Example 6).
WO 2015/171802 A1 discloses oral administration of valbenazine to patients (Example 2). According to page 16, lines 16-17 of the document, valbenazine may be used in form of its dihydrochloride or ditosylate salt.
WO 2016/210180 A1 discloses oral administration of capsules containing valbenazine ditosylate to subjects in the course of a phase III clinical study (Example 4).
Most drug products are administered as oral dosage forms, and by far the most popular oral dosage forms are tablets because they are low in manufacturing costs, easy to handle, protect the drug substance against moisture and light, can be split into fractions if required, can be formulated as immediate or delayed release formulation, integrate quickly, are easy to swallow and usually well accepted by the patient.
Many compounds can exist in different solid forms. They can be in the amorphous or crystalline state and may exhibit (pseudo)polymorphism. When a compound is acidic or basic, it is often possible to create a salt, neutral compounds can build co-crystals. Such salts and co-crystals may also exist as various polymorphs, hydrates or solvates. These different solid forms possess different physical properties but not every solid form of a drug substance can be formulated into a tablet, since tableting requires suitable solid state properties of the drug substance such as physical and chemical stability, compatibility with excipients, sufficient bulk density, compressibility, flowability and wettability to mention just a few.
Hence, the objective of the present invention is to provide solid forms of valbenazine with suitable characteristics for a tablet formulation.