Disclosed are a method for forming a structure of wires for a semiconductor device in which pads are formed for contact in cell regions as well as core regions and periphery regions where cell aspect ratios are very high, and a structure of wires so formed. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate arranged into cell regions and periphery and/or core regions, the periphery and/or core regions having a well formed in the semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate being arranged into active regions and field regions, the semiconductor device also having field insulating layers in the field regions, plural gate structures on portions of the semiconductor substrate in the active regions, and impurity regions in the semiconductor substrate between the gate structures. The method includes the steps of: forming an interlayer insulating structure on the semiconductor device; forming contact holes through the interlayer insulating structure to expose the impurity regions; lining contact-hole-portions of the interlayer insulating layer with portions of a barrier layer, respectively, such that the portions of the barrier layer contact the impurity regions; forming conductive pads on the portions of the barrier layer such that remainders of the contact holes are filled; and forming a wire layer on each one of the conductive pads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for contact wires in a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a method for forming a structure of wires for a semiconductor device in which pads are formed for contact in cell regions as well as core regions and periphery regions when an aspect ratio of corresponding contact holes is very high, so as to obtain stable contact wiring.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A conventional method for forming wires of a semiconductor device will be discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIGS. 1A to 1E are cross-sectional views showing process steps of a conventional method for forming wires of a semiconductor device. First, pads are formed only in a cell region which is shown at the left hand side of the figures, but not in a core region or a periphery region which is shown at the right hand side of the figures. Pads for the core region or periphery region are formed later; see FIG. 1E.
Referring initially to FIG. 1A, an active region and a field insulating layer are formed on the entire surface of a first conductive type semiconductor substrate 1. A second conductive type well 3 is formed beneath a predetermined area of surface of the semiconductor substrate 1. A first oxide layer, a polysilicon layer, a second oxide layer are successively formed and patterned by a photo etching process with using a mask for gate electrode formation, so as to form gate oxide layers 4, gate electrodes 5, and gate cap insulating layers 6.
Lightly doped impurity ions are implanted into the substrate 1 at both sides of every gate electrode 5 to form lightly doped drain (LDD) regions 7. Next, an oxide layer is deposited on the entire surface and then etched-back to form a sidewall insulating layer 8 on both sides of every gate electrode 5. Thereafter, heavily doped impurity ions are implanted into the exposed first conductive type semiconductor substrate 1 at sides of the sidewall insulating layer 8, thus forming source/drain regions 9.
A thin third oxide layer 10 is formed on the entire surface and then an interlayer insulating layer 11 is formed for planarization by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Subsequently, a photo resist film 12 is coated on the entire surface and then partially patterned by an exposure and development process to remain over the gate electrodes 5 in the cell region which is shown at left hand of the figures.
Referring to FIG. 1B, using the photo resist pattern 12 as a mask, the interlayer insulating layer 11 and the third oxide layer 10 are anisotropically etched to expose the source/drain regions 9, thus forming contact holes.
Referring to FIG. 1C, a polysilicon layer 13 is formed on the entire surface, thus the contact holes of the cell region and the periphery region and core regions. Subsequently, another photo resist film 14 is coated on the entire surface and then patterned by an exposure and development process so as to remain over the source/drain regions 9 between the gate electrodes 5 over the cell region.
Referring to FIG. 1D, using the photo resist pattern 14 as a mask, the polysilicon layer 13 is anisotropically etched to form node contact pads 13a and 13b and a bitline contact pad 13c.
Referring to FIG. 1E, contact holes are formed to expose the source/drain regions 9 over the core and periphery regions. Subsequently, a conductive material such as aluminum, tungsten, or polysilicon is deposited on the entire surface and patterned to form node contact wire layers 15a and 15b on the node contact pads 13a and 13b, respectively, a bitline contact wire layer 15c on the bitline contact pad 13c, n.sup.+ -type wire layers 16a and 16b contacting with the source/drain regions 9 in the core and periphery regions, and p.sup.+ -type wire layers 17a and 17b contacting with the source and drain regions 9 in the second conductive type well 3 in the core and periphery regions, thereby completing the process steps of the conventional method for forming contact wires of a semiconductor device.
However, the conventional method has problems. Contact hole aspect ratios tend to be high, e.g., higher than 4, so the process tolerance must be made tighter. There is no pad for wire formation in core and periphery regions, which exaggerates miss-alignment.

Method for forming structure of wires for a semiconductor device


A power source device includes first and second rechargeable batteries, a load circuit, a first step-up converter converting voltage between a first node to which the first battery is connected and a second node to which the load circuit is connected, a second step-up converter converting voltage between a third node to which the second battery is connected and the second node, and a charge/discharge unit transmitting power received from an external power source. Preferably, the power source device further includes a first system main relay, a second system main relay, and a controller controlling the first and second system main relays and the first and second step-up converters.

Recently, environmentally friendly vehicles including an electric vehicle, a fuel cell vehicle and a hybrid vehicle using both motor and engine have attracting attention. Mounting a plurality of batteries on such a vehicle that has a power source device mounted thereon has also been proposed.
In designing such a vehicle, a method of charging the plurality of batteries must also be considered. Various proposals have been made in relation to the method of charging a plurality of batteries.
By way of example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-233710 discloses a charge/discharge device capable of individually charging and discharging a plurality of storage batteries. The charge/discharge device includes a charge rectifying circuit for rectifying an AC power source, a regeneration rectifying circuit connected anti-parallel to the charge rectifying circuit, for regenerating electricity of the storage batteries divided into a plurality of numbers to the AC power source, and a plurality of step-up/down converters provided corresponding to the plurality of storage batteries, respectively. Each of the plurality of step-up/down converters is used as a step-down converter when the storage battery is charged, and used as a step-up converter when the storage battery is discharged.
In the charge/discharge device described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-233710, charging of a storage battery is difficult unless the output voltage of the charge rectifying circuit is made higher than the voltage across terminals of the storage battery. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to use a power source device capable of outputting a high voltage, or to provide a voltage boosting circuit between the AC power source and the charge rectifying circuit.
When a plurality of storage batteries mounted on a vehicle are to be charged using the technique described in the laid-open application mentioned above, it may be possible to use a high-voltage power source or to connect a boosting circuit between a commercial power source for home use and the storage battery. According to these methods, however, a dedicated charging device, for example, becomes necessary. This undesirably increases the number of components of a vehicle. Further, an operation of connecting the charging device becomes necessary and, hence, increased burden on the user is expected.

Power source device and vehicle with power source device


A foamable composition including a polypropylene-based copolymer and a polyolefin is disclosed. The composition can be used to make a stiff foam with a high closed-cell content. Methods for producing the composition and the foam are provided.

Polypropylene provides a balance of stiffness, chemical resistance, and heat resistance that is desirable in a wide range of applications, including food packaging and many automotive applications. Polypropylene has a favorable environmental footprint, in part because it is readily recyclable. Processing polypropylene to produce a foam provides even greater sustainability benefit by reducing material and weight. Low density polypropylene foams with closed cells are typically produced using commercially available high melt strength polypropylene.
However, there is a need for closed-cell polypropylene foams with a high closed-cell content and higher stiffness than foams produced from commercially available high melt strength polypropylene. Foams possessing these characteristics are attractive for applications such as packaging. For example, a high closed-cell content can minimize the migration of liquids through the foam structure, thereby minimizing leakage. A high stiffness maintains the rigidity of containers filled with liquids to avoid spills.
Therefore, there is an unmet need in the art to produce a polymer composition that can provide closed-cell polyolefin foams with high stiffness. It is a further object of the current invention to produce a closed-cell foam with high stiffness.


The present invention relates to a process for the production of a biguanide derivative useful as an intermediate for triazine-type herbicides, in which the biguanide derivative can be produced at high yields by reacting a phenoxyalkylamine salt with dicyandiamide in a solvent containing a paraffinic hydrocarbon having 8 to 15 carbon atoms, or by reacting a free phenoxylakylamine with a hydrogen halide in a solvent containing a paraffinic hydrocarbon having 8 to 15 carbon atoms and reacting the resultant a phenoxyalkylamine salt with dicyandiamide in the same solvent without isolating the phenoxyalkylamine salt.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing a biguanide derivative useful as an intermediate for triazine-type herbicides.
2. Prior Art
As a triazine-type herbicide, JP-A-63-264465 discloses a triazine-type herbicide in which a phenoxyalkylamino group is substituted on a triazine ring, as is shown in the following formula, and this publication describes that the above triazine-type herbicide has remarkable advantages that it has excellent herbicidal effect and exhibits no phytotoxicity on paddy rice. ##STR1##
The phenoxyalkylamino-substituted triazine-type herbicide of the above type is obtained, for example, by reacting a biguanide derivative of the formula, ##STR2## with methyl trifluoroacetate of the formula, EQU CF.sub.3 COOCH.sub.3.
The above biguanide derivative used to obtain the phenoxyalkylamino-substituted triazine-type herbicide is conventionally produced by a method in which a free phenoxyalkylamine is reacted with hydrogen halide to prepare a phenoxyalkylamine salt, and thereafter the phenoxyalkylamine salt is isolated and allowed to react with dicyandiamide. It is suggested in JP-A-63-254465 that an aliphatic hydrocarbon having 7 or less carbon atoms such as n-hexane and n-heptane is used as a solvent for the reaction of a phenoxyalkylamine salt with dicyandiamide.
The defect with the method suggested in the above JP-A-264465 is that the intended biguanide derivative cannot be obtained effectively, especially cannot be obtained under atmospheric pressure, as will be made clear in Comparative Examples to be described later.
Further, as described above, the conventional method of producing a biguanide derivative involves a step of isolating a phenoxyalkylamine salt obtained by a reaction of a free phenoxyalkylamine with hydrogen halide. Therefore, the process is complicated, and the yield of the intended biguanide derivative is inevitably decreased due to the additional complication of the process.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a process for producing a high-purity biguanide derivative from a phenoxyalkylamine salt at high yields.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process in which a phenoxyalkylamine salt is prepared from a free phenoxyalkylamine, and thereafter a high-purity biguanide derivative can be produced at high yields in a single operation (one batch) without isolating the obtained phenoxyalkylamine salt.

Process for producing biguanide derivative


A waveform of a desired frequency characteristic is input as a numeric value string and is subjected to a reverse FFT so as to obtain a filter coefficient group. Thus, without having any expert knowledge and only by inputting a waveform of a desired frequency characteristic as an image, it is possible to easily design a first FIR filter constituting a tone quality adjustment device. Moreover, by performing a predetermined calculation on the numeric value string input and performing a reverse FFT on the result, it is possible to easily design a second FIR filter having a frequency characteristic symmetric to the first FIR filter with respect to the gain reference value as an axis.

Conventionally, there are various proposals on a method of improving tone quality of output speech of a device for outputting a speech signal. One of relatively simple methods thereof is a method of applying low pass filter processing and high pass filter processing to an input speech signal.
This type of tone quality adjustment device allows an input speech signal to pass through a low pass filter and a high pass filter, controls gains of an output signal and input speech signal of each filter and adds up all signals. At this time, by arbitrarily setting the gain for each filter output and the gain for the input speech signal, it is possible to arbitrarily emphasize a tone of a desired frequency band.
For example, to emphasize a tone in a low-frequency region (so-called low tone), the gain for the output signal of the low pass filter may be increased. On the other hand, to emphasize a tone in a high-frequency region (so-called high tone), the gain for the output signal of the high pass filter may be increased.
As filters used for this type of tone quality adjustment device, an IIR (Infinite Impulse Response: infinite length impulse response) filter and FIR (Finite Impulse Response: finite length impulse response) filter are often used. Among these filters, the FIR filter has the following advantages. First, since extreme values of a transfer function of the FIR filter exist only at the origin of the z-plane, the circuit is always stable. Second, a completely accurate linear phase characteristic can be realized.
The basis for these IIR filter and FIR filter is a low pass filter, and other filters such as high pass filter, band pass filter, band erasure filter, etc., are derived from the low pass filter by carrying out processing such as a frequency conversion. The frequency conversion processing here carries out a convolutional calculation using a window function and Chebyshev approximation method, etc., based on the ratio with respect to a sampling frequency and cutoff frequency to obtain a transfer function of the filter and further replaces the transfer function by a frequency component.
However, the above described conventional tone quality adjustment device filter designing method requires high-level expert knowledge of frequency conversion, etc., which results in a problem that it is not possible to design a tone quality adjustment device easily. On the other hand, the frequency conversion using a window function and Chebyshev approximation method involves very complicated calculations. For this reason, there has been a problem that realizing the frequency conversion by software results in a heavy processing load, while realizing the frequency conversion by hardware increases the scale of the circuit.
The present invention has been implemented to solve such problems and it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to simply design a tone quality adjustment device using a FIR digital filter.

Tone quality adjustment device designing method and designing device, tone quality adjustment device designing program, and tone quality adjustment device


A method and OFDM receiver for estimating timing offset are provided. The method includes receiving OFDM data to calculate frequency offset between a transmitter carrier frequency and a receiver carrier frequency, determining first timing offset based on the frequency offset, compensating the OFDM data with the first timing offset, estimating a residual common phase based on the compensated OFDM data, determining second timing offset based on the residual common phase, and compensating the OFDM data with the second timing offset, if the frame symbol index exceeds the predetermined data length.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device and a method for timing offset compensation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a communication system, a sampling frequency error can occur between the transmitter and the receiver. This error causes a growing timing offset or sampling offset as the time increases. FIGS. 1a through 1d illustrate a timing offset due to asynchronous sampling periods between a transmitter and a receiver. In FIG. 1a, the upper half and the lower half represent sampling periods Ttx and Trx at the transmitter and the receiver respectively. When these two sampling periods differ from each other, a growing timing offset occurs as the sampling size increases. When the timing offset exceeds the sampling period Ttx, the receiver misses transmission data signal. Thus, the time offset leads to a data loss. FIGS. 1b through 1d show the constellation diagrams for the data frames with 1, 10, and 40 OFDM symbol duration respectively. The results show that, the longer the frame symbol duration, the larger the noise induced.
There is thus a need for a timing offset estimator to compensate the timing offset effect between a transmitter and a receiver.

Device and method for compensating timing offset

Industrial Technology Research Institute


In a battery pack for an electric vehicle, since a cooling air suction port (48a) is provided in the vicinity of an end part, on the downstream side in a direction of flow of cooling air, of a battery case (24) so as to oppose the direction of flow, cooling air is in full contact with the battery case (24) before flowing into the cooling air suction port (48a), and dust or water contained in cooling air can be made to adhere to the battery case (24) and removed, thus preventing dust or water from entering the interior of the battery case (24). In particular, since the battery case (24) includes a projecting portion (39a) that rises on the upstream side in the direction of flow of the cooling air suction port (48a) and disturbs the flow of cooling air, and an upper end of the projecting portion (39a) is at a position higher than that of the cooling air suction port (48a), it is possible to reliably put cooling air in contact with the projecting portion (39a) of the battery case (24), thus enhancing the effect in removing dust or water.

An arrangement in which a cooling air inlet provided at the front end of a battery case of an electric automobile is connected to a heat exchange unit of a vehicle-mounted air conditioner via a blower duct, cooling air issuing from the vehicle-mounted air conditioner is supplied from the blower duct to the interior of the battery case so as to cool the battery, and cooling air having an increased temperature is then discharged outside the battery case by means of an exhaust fan is known from Patent Document 1 below.

Battery pack for electric vehicle and battery pack mounting structure


A bioresorbable composite of a non-crystalline calcium phosphate ceramic synthesized within an encapsulating microspheres of bioresorbable polymeric material for use in bone repair and replacement is provided. Also provides are methods for producing these composites as well as porous, 3-dimensional scaffold produced by sintering together microspheres of this bioresorbable composite.

With demographics shifting towards an older population and with more people living more active lifestyles, the number of orthopaedic injuries and disorders continues to rise. In the United States alone, there were more than 6 million fractures each year from 1992 to 1994 (Praemer et al. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 1999 182). In 1995, there were 216,000 total knee replacements, 134,000 total hip replacements, and close to 100,000 bone grafting procedures performed. Traditionally, autografts and allografts have been used by orthopaedic surgeons to repair fractures and other bone defects. However, limitations including donor-site morbidity, risk of disease transfer, potential immunogenicity, and insufficient supply has led investigators to search for alternative bone repair materials.
Since the main mineral component of bone is a complex calcium phosphate system called apatite, hydroxyapatite and other materials within the calcium phosphate family have been and continue to be extensively investigated (DeMaeyer et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2000 52:95-106; Keller, L. and Dollase, W. A. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2000 49:244-249; Zeng et al. Biomaterials 1999 20:443-451; Ma et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2001 54:284-293; and Duracan, C. and Brown, P. W. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2000 51:726-734). Further, calcium phosphate ceramics have been reported to be osteoconductive and to directly bond to bone (Jarcho, M. Clin. Orthop. Rel. Res. 1981 157:259-278; Kitsugi et al. Clin. Orthop. Rel. Res. 1988 234:280-290). In addition, calcium phosphate ceramics are believed to serve as precursors to bone apatite formation in vivo. Accordingly, the good bone compatibility of calcium phosphate ceramics is indicative of their suitability for repair or replacement of damaged or diseased bone. However, the brittleness of these materials limits their widespread use in orthopaedics, particularly in load-bearing applications.
Accordingly, various attempts have been made to overcome this limitation. One example has been to prepare composites of these ceramics with bioresorbable polymeric materials such as collagen and polymers of lactic acid and glycolic acid (TenHuisen et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 1995 29:803-810; Yasunaga et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 1999 47:412-419; Zhang et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 1999 45:285-293; Devin et al. J. Biomater. Sci. Polymer. Edn. 1996 7:661-669; Boeree et al. Biomaterials 1993 14:793-796). In general, these composites are made porous in order to create a 3-dimensional scaffold that allows the ingrowth of new bone and the eventual replacement of the scaffold with new skeletal tissue (Zhang et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 1999 45:285-293; Devin et al. J. Biomater. Sci. Polymer. Edn. 1996 7:661-669). In these composites, the ceramic typically comprises a calcium phosphate compound with moderate to high crystallinity (TenHuisen et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 1995 29:803-810; Yasunaga et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 1999 47:412-419; Zhang et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 1999 45:285-293; Devin et al. J. Biomater. Sci. Polymer. Edn. 1996 7:661-669; Boeree et al. Biomaterials 1993 14:793-796).
In contrast, bone apatite is poorly crystalline and non-stoichiometric due to the presence of other ions such as magnesium and carbonate ions (Posner, A. S. and Betts, F. Acc. Chem. Res. 1975 8:273-281; Bigi et al. Calcif. Tissue Int. 1992 50:439-444). Further, crystalline forms of hydroxyapatite have been shown to resorb at a slower rate than that of new bone formation. In fact, the rate of new bone formation coincides more closely with the resorption rate of poorly crystalline or amorphous calcium phosphate ceramics (Frayssinet et al. Biomaterials 1993 14:423-429; Klein et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 1983 17:769-784; Knaack et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. (Appl. Biomater.) 1998 43:399-409).
In the present invention, crystalline hydroxyapatite is replaced with a poorly crystalline or amorphous calcium phosphate ceramic believed to resorb concurrently with new bone growth. Also, the degradation of the amorphous calcium phosphate forms alkali products that serve to buffer the acidic degradation product of either lactic or glycolic acid in a composite of the two materials.

Polymeric bioresorbable composites containing an amorphous calcium phosphate polymer ceramic for bone repair and replacement


A gamma camera system including a pair of gamma camera heads connected to form substantially a right angle. The pair of gamma camera heads are mounted on an arm. A rotation mechanism includes a pivot mounted on the arm and allows for rotation of pair of gamma camera heads with respect to the arm about a line parallel to the connection of the gamma camera heads.

Gamma camera systems are used in nuclear medicine to produce an image based on the internal physiology of a patient. In the process of examination, a radio-pharmaceutical is introduced into the patient. The substance migrates to certain organs of the patients body. Measuring radiation emitted from the patient can be used to image the distribution of the radio-pharmaceutical in the patient. PCT Publication WO 98/27443, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a light weight gamma camera and details relating to performing such measurements.
In order to supply a tomographic image of a patient, it is common practice to measure the radiation with a machine controlled gamma camera performing a contour trajectory of the patient. Such a process requires moving the gamma camera with precise positioning around the patient in order to construct an accurate tomographic image. U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,277 to Terra et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a gamma camera mounted on a gantry supported by a column running on guides. By positioning the patient in a selected position and rotating the gamma camera around the axis of the patient, a tomographic image is formed.
In order to improve sensitivity and speed up the process of forming a tomographic image it has been suggested using two cameras rotating about the axis of the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,251 to Fleury et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system with a fixed base and two gamma cameras rotating about a barycentric axis.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,813 to Maor, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, there is described a gamma camera head with two detectors forming an angle between them. A dual detector gamma camera head allows quicker and more accurate measurements by sensing radiation at two angles at the same time. This is useful for spot measurements using a non moving camera. Additionally, in tomographic images a dual detector head enables measuring a larger arc with less rotation, for example a 180° arc with a 90° rotation.

General Electric Medical Systems Israel Ltd.


A cleaning device includes a brush to contact a photoconductive member, a roller to contact the brush, and a blade. The blade is located along the roller in a longitudinal direction. The blade has a first portion, a second portion, and a bent portion between the first portion and the second portion. A contact surface or edge of the first portion contacts a surface of the roller to remove toner therefrom.

1. Field of Disclosure
This disclosure generally relates to a cleaning device used in a facsimile machine, a printer, a copier, a multifunction printer or other similar machine, a process cartridge including the cleaning device and an image forming apparatus including the process cartridge.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
An image forming apparatus of an electrophotography type locates a charging device, an optical scanning device, a developing device, a transfer device, a charge removing device, and a cleaning device around a photoconductive drum. The charging device takes a uniformly charge on a surface of the photoconductive drum by a corona discharge. The optical scanning device writes a latent electrostatic image on the surface of the photoconductive drum, and the developing device develops a toner image. After that, an intermediate transfer belt transfers a toner on the photoconductive drum thereon to contact with the toner image on the photoconductive drum and to apply a bias. In addition, a secondary transfer roller transfers the toner on the intermediate transfer belt to a sheet. A fixing device fixes the toner on the sheet with heat to apply the transferred the toner to the sheet. After the transferring, the charge removing device removes a charge and the cleaning device cleans the surface of the photoconductive drum.
After that, the image forming apparatus repeats a next process in accordance with the above.
A conventional cleaning device for an image forming apparatus is shown in FIG. 12.
FIG. 12 shows the cleaning device using a cleaning blade 900. The cleaning device cleans almost all the toner that makes contact with a photoconductive drum 901. Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-053613 and Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-181570 disclose cleaning devices in accordance with FIG. 12.
FIG. 13 shows a cleaning device using cleaning brushes 908 and 906. The charging devices 907 apply a bias to the cleaning brushes 908 and 906 and collection rollers 912. The cleaning brushes 908 and 906 electrically clean toner 903 on the photoconductive drum 901. The collection rollers 912 electrically collect the toner 903 on the cleaning brushes 908 and 906. Collection blades 914 collect the toner 903 on the collection rollers 912. The cleaning brushes 908 and 906 collect more toner than the cleaning blade 900.
Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-170020 and Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-181669 disclose cleaning devices in accordance with FIG. 13.
FIG. 14 shows a cleaning device using the cleaning brush 906 and the cleaning blade 900. The cleaning blade 900 locates a downstream side in a rotation direction of the photoconductive drum 901 with respect to the cleaning brush 906. The cleaning brush 906 removes almost all of the toner 903 and the cleaning blade 900 removes remaining toner. Japanese Patent No. 4597837 discloses a cleaning device in accordance with FIG. 14.
The collection blades 914, discussed above, are made of a thin metal.
As shown in FIG. 15, a collection blade 914′, which includes a thin blade 916 welded to a thick blade holder 915, clamps a frame of a cleaning apparatus as shown in FIG. 15.
Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-053613 discloses a collection blade that forms a rectangular shape and is detachable from a blade holder and a metal blade by a screw.
FIG. 16 illustrates a conventional cleaning blade experiencing entrainment.

Cleaning device, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus


A woodworking machine including a detection system adapted to detect a dangerous condition between a person and a working portion of the machine is disclosed. The machine includes a reaction system associated with the detection system to cause a predetermined action to take place relative to the working portion upon detection of the dangerous condition. A motion detection system is adapted to detect motion of the working portion and to disable the reaction system when the working portion is not moving. The motion detection system may include a sensor, such as a Hall effect sensor, an electromagnetic field sensor, an optical sensor, or an electrical sensor. The woodworking machine may take the form of a saw, the working portion may be a blade adapted to cut when spinning, and the dangerous condition may be a person contacting the blade.

Beginning with the industrial revolution and continuing to the present, mechanized equipment has allowed workers to produce goods with greater speed and less effort than possible with manually-powered tools. Unfortunately, the power and high operating speeds of mechanized equipment creates a risk for those operating such machinery. Each year thousands of people are maimed or killed by accidents involving power equipment.
As might be expected, many systems have been developed to minimize the risk of injury when using power equipment. Probably the most common safety feature is a guard that physically blocks an operator from making contact with dangerous components of machinery, such as belts, shafts or blades. In many cases, guards are effective to reduce the risk of injury, however, there are many instances where the nature of the operations to be performed precludes using a guard that completely blocks access to hazardous machine parts.
Various systems have been proposed to prevent accidental injury where guards cannot effectively be employed. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 941,726, 2,978,084, 3,011,610, 3,047,116, 4,195,722 and 4,321,841, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, all disclose safety systems for use with power presses. These systems utilize cables attached to the wrists of the operator that either pull back a user's hands from the work zone upon operation or prevent operation until the user's hands are outside the danger zone. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,953,770, 4,075,961, 4,470,046, 4,532,501 and 5,212,621, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, disclose radio-frequency safety systems which utilize radio-frequency signals to detect the presence of a user's hand in a dangerous area of the machine and thereupon prevent or interrupt operation of the machine.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,909, 5,025,175, 5,122,091, 5,198,702, 5,201,684, 5,272,946, and 5,510,685 disclose safety systems for use with meat-skinning equipment, and are incorporated herein by reference. These systems interrupt or reverse power to the motor, or disengage a clutch, upon contact with a user's hand by any dangerous portion of the machine. Typically, contact between the user and the machine is detected by monitoring for electrical contact between a fine wire mesh in a glove worn by the user and some metal component in the dangerous area of the machine.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,785,230 and 4,026,177, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference, disclose a safety system for use on circular saws to stop the blade when a user's hand approaches the blade. The system uses the blade as an antenna in an electromagnetic proximity detector to detect the approach of a user's hand prior to actual contact with the blade. Upon detection of a user's hand, the system engages a brake using a standard solenoid. U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,752, which is herein incorporated by reference, discloses a similar braking system for use with a band saw, where the brake is triggered by actual contact between the user's hand and the blade.
It is often necessary for an equipment operator to touch the blade or other cutting device of power equipment when the blade or device is not moving (e.g., to adjust the blade, perform equipment maintenance, etc.). Thus, it would be desirable to disable the safety system when the blade is not moving since there is no danger to the user from contact with the blade.

Motion detecting system for use in a safety system for power equipment


A process and device are provided for achieving cascade flow to achieve rapid separations of target components from fluid mixtures is provided. The devices of the invention have a cascading flow channel. The separation processes of the invention may include singly or in combination, the step of adjusting the total voids volume in all elements employed in the devices of the invention to be equal to or less than 6% of the total volume of fluid that is to be processed. A single separation process or a combination of separation processes may be used where the fluid mixture is whole blood, whole blood that is diluted or is in some other way treated, concentrated, divided into two or more streams, or augmented with blood or blood components, cellular materials such as proteins, antibodies, enzymes and fractions thereof, and nuclear materials such as DNA, RNA and their fragments. These separation processes of the invention provide higher yields and purities of the desired products than has been possible by the prior art.

Efficient separations of certain types of cells from complex mixtures has important applications in blood and blood component transfusions, cancer therapies, auto immune diseases and diagnostics. Cell separation devices employed in these separations have been used in extracorporeal circuits to selectively isolate, augment and/or reintroduce to the host a specific subset of cells. Separation processes may be used to remove a subset of cells from the mixture of interest ("negative selection") or to prepare a specific subset of interest from a mixture (positive selection). In negative selection, the cells to be discarded remain in the device. In positive selection, desired cells initially remain in the device while the undesired cells and other contaminants flow through and are removed. The desired subset is subsequently obtained as a more pure fraction from within the device.
Blood and lymph fluids provide the medium through which red blood cells, white blood cells (leukocytes), nutrients, metabolites, growth factors, hormones, antibodies, and the like are transported from one site in the body to another to enable production of various compounds by cells and tissues for regulation of other cells and tissues. Additionally, these same fluids remove waste materials to prevent the accumulation of harmful compounds. Blood and lymph fluids also transport cells of the hematopoietic system throughout the body to allow fulfillment of a variety of functions. At the same time, a wide variety of materials are transported to the cells of the hematopoietic system for processing or for inducing a cellular response, as in the case of formation of antibodies to counteract antigens, pathogens, and the like. Thus, interaction between hematopoietic cells and blood can provide useful information about the disease-states in individuals, creating significant interest in the potential therapeutic value of accessing these fluids to manipulate various components related to or present in the blood stream.
Blood is a complex mixture that is known to change in response to foreign environments. When blood or components thereof are not intended for reuse, this may not pose any problems. However, when blood or components thereof have to be returned to the host, such changes could be detrimental. For example, in plasmapheresis or transfusion therapy, it is desirable to restore a person's blood. However, due to uncertainties concerning the safety of the blood supply due to viruses such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), hepatitis, HTLV-1, HIV, or the like, such return to the host may be precluded.
Transfusion of packed cells or whole blood containing donor leukocytes to a recipient can be harmful. For example, transfused leukocytes can cause Graft versus Host (GVH) disease in which the transfused leukocytes cause irreversible damage to the blood recipient's organs in immuno compromised patients. Red cell transfusions can adversely affect the survival of patients undergoing colo rectal cancer surgeries. This effect is believed mediated by the transfusion of components other than donor red blood cells including the donor's leukocytes. At a recent meeting of the American Association of Blood Banks (ABBE Meeting, Florida, 1993) studies were presented which showed that patients who received leukocyte depleted blood, when compared to those who did not, had fewer returns to the hospital following a surgical procedure.
Known cell separations involve several techniques, some of which are based on specific affinities. Other cell separation techniques rely on more serendipitous mechanisms such as entrapment of target cells in supports of various origins and structures. See, for example, Wigzell and Anderson, J. Exp. Med. 129:23-36, 1969; Rutishauser et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 70, 1973; Wysocki and Sato, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 75:2844-2848, 1978; Antoine et al. Immunochem. 15, 1987. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,230,635; 4,363,634; 4,617,124; 4,619,904; 4,880,548; 4,925,572; 4,963,265; 5,215,926; and 5,240,856. The basic process of affinity separation entails creating contact between cell mixtures to be separated and a support matrix to enable the target cells to preferentially attach, bind, adsorb or become trapped to and within the support, and then washing away the undesired cells, or vice versa. Specific affinity techniques use monoclonal antibodies to recognize specific markers on the membranes of cells and to "attract" the target cells to bind to the monoclonal antibodies. Specific affinity "attractions" of target cells also may occur by hydrophobic or hydrophilic interactions, metal-affinities, ion exchangers, and the like.
Given that some form of health care reform in the United States is highly likely, it is of great interest to develop practical and cost-effective procedures and equipment which will enable removal and/or recovery of cells to provide increasingly higher yields and purity levels irrespective of scale. Attempts to scale-up separation procedures, however, have not proven practical. One successful approach to potential large-scale cell separations so far has involved the use of magnetic particles. However, the use of magnetic particles is expensive.
Scale-up beyond laboratory size has involved either columns packed with beads of a particular type and size, with or without specific chemistries, or the use of compressed stacks of membranes. Unfortunately, mechanisms governing the performance of a column packed with relatively uniform packed beads on the one hand, and membranes on the other, are at the opposite ends of the spectrum as to mass transfer rates and capacities. Surprisingly, it is not until my invention that the apparently mutually exclusive parameters described above, have successfully been combined in to one device.

Procedures for efficient separation of cells, cellular materials and proteins


Methods and devices are provided for efficient low power density endoluminal treatment of veins. Devices emit energy radially from an optical fiber with two or more emitting portions at its distal region. for 360° radial (circumferential) emission of vein walls. Emitting sections comprise a fiber with a truncated cone attached to a short conically-tipped fiber at the distal end. The fiber segments are butt-coupled or glued, and then laterally fused to the protective glass dome/cap. Laser power is substantially entirely absorbed within a fraction of the blood vessel wall to achieve blood vessel closure. Wavelengths including 980 nm, 1470 nm and 1950 nm are used which are substantially absorbed within the first third of a blood vessel wall. Consequently, a local anesthetic along the treated blood vessel is substantially avoided. Due to a fiber device's multiple emission points, withdrawal speed can be increased, and/or emitted energy levels can be set at minimum values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to laser systems for medical treatments and in particular, for laser surgical procedures. More particularly, it relates to optical fiber systems and methods used for the treatment of various medical conditions, including venous insufficiency.
2. State of the Art Disclosure Statement
There are a number of human medical conditions in which it is necessary to apply energy to hollow structures of the body from the inside. One of those conditions is venous insufficiency. The human venous system of the lower limbs consists essentially of the superficial venous system and the deep venous system, both connected by perforating veins. The superficial system comprises the great and the small saphenous veins, while the deep venous system includes the anterior and posterior tibial veins, which converge to form the popliteal vein near the knee. The popliteal vein, in turn, becomes the femoral vein when joined by the small saphenous vein.
The venous system comprises valves that function to achieve unidirectional blood flow back to the heart. Venous valves are bicuspid valves wherein each cusp forms a blood reservoir. The bicuspid venous valves force their free surfaces together under retrograde blood pressure. When properly operating, retrograde blood flow is prevented, allowing only antegrade flow to the heart. A bicuspid valve becomes incompetent when its cusps are unable to seal properly under a retrograde pressure gradient such that retrograde blood flow occurs. When retrograde blood flow occurs, pressure increases in the lower venous sections which can, in turn, dilate veins and lead to additional valvular failure.
Valvular failure, usually referred to as venous insufficiency, is a chronic disease that can lead to skin discoloration, varicose veins, pain, swelling and ulcerations. Varicose veins are blood vessels that have become enlarged and twisted and have progressively lost elasticity in their walls. Due to the widening of the blood vessels, the valves cannot be completely closed and the veins lose their ability to carry blood back to the heart. This leads to an accumulation of blood inside the vessels which can, in turn, further enlarge and twist the veins. Varicose veins usually have a blue or purple color and may protrude in a twisted form above the surface of the skin giving rise to a characteristically unattractive appearance. Varicose veins are commonly formed in the superficial veins of the legs, which are subject to high pressure when standing. Other types of varicose veins include venous lakes, reticular veins and telangiectasias.
There are a number of treatments available for eradicating these types of vascular pathologies. Varicose veins are frequently treated by eliminating the insufficient veins. These treatments force the blood that otherwise would flow through the eliminated vein to flow through the remaining healthy veins. Various methods can be used to eliminate problematic insufficient veins, including surgery, sclerotherapy, electro-cautery, and laser treatments.
Endoluminal laser ablation ("ELA") is a modern minimally invasive technique that is increasingly preferred over surgery, sclerotherapy and electro-cautery approaches for treatment for varicose veins. This is mainly due to the optimal results with minimum undesired side effects obtained in comparison to other methods used. In a typical prior art ELA procedure, an optical fiber is introduced through an introducer sheath into the vein to be treated. An exemplary prior art ELA procedure includes the following steps: First, a guide wire is inserted into the vein to be treated, preferably with the help of an entry needle. Second, an introducer sheath is introduced over the guide wire and advanced to a treatment site. Then, the guide wire is removed leaving the introducer sheath in place. The optical fiber (coupled to a laser source) is then inserted through the introducer sheath and positioned so that the flat emitting face at the distal tip of the fiber and the sheath are at the same point. Often local anesthesia is then applied to the tissue surrounding the vein to be treated. Prior to lasing, the sheath is pulled back from the flat emitting face a distance sufficient to prevent the emitted laser energy from damaging the sheath. Then, the laser is fired to emit laser energy through the flat emitting face and into the blood and/or vein wall directly in front of the emitting face. While the laser energy is emitted, the laser fiber and introducer sheath are withdrawn together to treat and close a desired length of the vein. The laser energy is absorbed by the blood and/or vein wall tissue and, in turn, thermally damages and causes fibrosis of the vein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,332 to Del Giglio discloses an exemplary prior art device and method for under skin laser treatment with minimal insertions into the area of treatment. Common vascular abnormalities such as capillary disorders, spider nevus, hemangioma, and varicose veins can be selectively eliminated. A needle is inserted into the vascular structure and the targeted abnormalities are subjected to emitted laser radiation. The device allows for orientation and positioning of the laser delivering optical fiber during treatment. Infiltrated anesthesia is generally not necessary. An extension piece maintains the optical fiber in a fixed position relative to, and at a fixed distance from, a hand piece to allow the user to know the extent to which the fiber has been inserted into the vein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,777 to Navarro et al. describes another ELA procedure in which percutaneous access into the vein lumen is obtained using an angiocatheter through which a fiber optic line is introduced. The fiber optic line has a bare, uncoated tip defining a flat radiation emitting face. The '777 patent teaches manually compressing the vein, such as by hand or with a compression bandage, to place the vein wall in contact with the flat emitting face of the fiber tip. The laser energy is delivered in high energy bursts into the portion of the vein wall in contact with the bare fiber tip. The wavelength of the laser energy is in the range from about 532 nm to about 1064 nm and the duration of each burst is about 0.2 seconds to about 10 seconds. Each burst delivers from about 5 watts to about 20 watts of energy into the vein wall. The '777 patent and other prior art ELA procedures teach delivering sufficient energy to insure damage to the entire thickness of the vein wall to ultimately result in fibrosis of the vein wall and occlusion of the greater Saphenous vein.
Consistent with the '777 patent, the prior art teaches applying relatively high energy levels (e.g., ≧80 J/cm) in order to improve the treatment success of ELA of incompetent Saphenous veins. Timperman et al. teach that endovenous laser treatments of the Saphenous vein are particularly successful when doses of more than 80 J/cm are delivered. Timperman et al. collected data regarding the length of treated vein and the total energy delivered on 111 treated veins. The wavelength of laser energy applied was 810 nm or 940 nm. Of the 111 treated veins, 85 remain closed (77.5%) during the follow-up period. In this group of successfully treated veins, the average energy delivered was 63.4 J/cm. For the 26 veins in the failure group, the average energy delivered was 46.6 J/cm. No treatment failures were identified in patients who received doses of 80 J/cm or more. P. Timperman, M. Sichlau, R. Ryu, "Greater Energy Delivery Improves Treatment Success Of Endovenous Laser Treatment Of Incompetent Saphenous Veins", Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Vol. 15, Issue 10, pp. 1061-1063 (2004).
One drawback associated with this and other prior art ELA treatments is that the laser radiation is applied only through the very small flat emitting face at the bare fiber tip. As a result, substantially only a very small, localized portion of the blood and/or vein wall in front of the flat emitting face directly receives the emitted laser energy at any one time. Yet another drawback of such prior art ELA devices and methods is that the laser radiation is directed only in a forward direction out of the flat emitting face of the fiber. Accordingly, substantially no radiation is emitted radially or laterally from the fiber tip thereby delivering the laser radiation in a relatively localized manner. A further drawback is that the relatively high levels of energy delivered into the vein create significantly increased temperatures which can, in turn, give rise to corresponding levels of pain in the surrounding tissues. The relatively high levels of energy delivered also can give rise to corresponding levels of thermal damage in surrounding tissues. The more intense the thermal damage, the greater is the chance for post procedure pain, bruising and the possibility of paresthesia. Paresthesia is an abnormal and/or unpleasant sensation resulting from nerve injury. Yet another drawback is that such relatively high levels of energy delivery and/or localized concentrations of laser radiation can give rise to vein perforations. As a consequence, such prior art ELA procedures can require relatively high levels of anesthetic, such a local tumescent anesthesia, more time, and can give rise to more stress to both a patient and physician, than otherwise desired. Lower levels of energy can be applied in some cases, if the pullback speed is considerably decreased. However, lowering the speed may still not be enough to cause appropriate vein closure. Furthermore, this would lengthen treatment time considerably and physicians and patients demand progressively shorter treatment times.
A further drawback of prior art ELA treatments is that they employ a tumescent technique involving substantial volumes of anesthesia to create tumescence. For example, a typical prior art ELA treatment, reportedly, employs at least about 100 ml to about 300 ml or more of anesthesia depending on the length of vein to be treated. The anesthesia is injected into the tissue along the length of the vein. In most cases, the anesthesia is injected into a perivenous cavity defined by one or more fascial sheaths surrounding the vein, which requires less volume to create tumescence. In other cases, the anesthesia is injected into the leg tissue surrounding the vein. The anesthesia typically consists essentially of dilute concentrations of Lidocaine and Epinephrine, a vascular restrictor, in a saline solution. One drawback of such techniques is that the anesthetic is toxic, and in some cases when, for example, substantial volumes are employed, the anesthetic can cause adverse patient reactions, such as convulsions. Yet another drawback of the tumescent technique is that patients can experience an undesirable elevation in blood pressure due to the use of Epinephrine. A still further drawback of the tumescent technique is that it requires the injection of substantial volumes of liquid anesthetic along the length of the vein, which adds a significant amount of time to the overall ELA procedure, and can give rise to adverse post treatment side effects, such as black and blue marks, and other adverse effects associated with such large volumes of anesthetic.
Although the tumescent anesthesia or cold saline tumescent infusion used in the tumescent technique of prior art ELA procedures creates a heat sink surrounding the vein, it can still allow for significantly higher levels of thermal damage to the surrounding tissues than desired. The more intense the thermal damage the greater is the chance for post procedure pain, bruising, and the possibility of paresthesia. For example, the significant quantities of tumescent anesthesia employed in prior art ELA procedures typically will prevent a patient from feeling any thermal stimulation of the nerves, and therefore will prevent the patient from alerting the physician to stop or adjust the procedure to prevent undesirable thermal damage. The tibial nerve (TN) and its common peroneal nerve (CPN) branch both are subject to the possibility of such damage. The CPN is very superficial in the lateral leg just below the knee, and thermal damage to this nerve can lead to foot drop. Similarly, the TN is subject to the possibility of thermal damage when exploring high in the popliteal fossa. Depending on its extent, thermal damage to the TN can lead to muscle dysfunction of the calf and foot muscles. The sural nerve (SUN) and Saphenous nerve (SAN) likewise are subject to the possibility of thermal damage when performing ELA of the small Saphenous vein (SSV) or the GSV below the knee. The SUN runs very close to the SSV especially distally closer to the ankle. The SAN runs very close to the GSV below the knee especially, again, distally closer to the ankle. Significant quantities of anesthesia, such as tumescent anesthesia, can unknowingly lead to thermal damage of such nerves.
US Patent Application Publication 2007/0167937 by Brown discloses an apparatus for endovascular techniques for delivering energy to tissue adapted to minimize burn back caused by contact between the apparatus and bodily fluids. Configurations of apparatus include a tip that can be arranged to direct light in a radial direction along an arc extending up to 360 degrees around the fiber.
Mentioned prior art inventions lack the possibility of irradiating a vessel in radial form 360° at multiple emission sections. Physicians and patients prefer short effective treatments with the need for minimum or no anesthesia. Physicians have also expressed the desire for a treatment using minimum energy levels so fiber that has minimum or no chance of being damaged inside treated vessel. There is thus a need for a laser treatment system that improves on the state of the art by providing a better, safe, more robust fiber tool to enhance speed of removal, ease of handling, and eliminate the need for using anesthesia while maintaining the benefits of effective vessel ablation. Present invention addresses this need.

Endoluminal laser ablation device and improved method for treating veins


A re-characterization process is provided that adjusts one or more operating parameters of a processor to improve the health (e.g., reduce errors) of the processor. The parameters include voltage and/or clock frequency, as examples. The processor can be an inactive or active processor for which the re-characterization process is performed. It is performed, in one instance, by a hardware controller in real-time.

One or more aspects of the present invention relate, in general, to processing within a computing environment, and in particular, to re-characterizing processors of the computing environment.
Typically, highly reliable computer systems are constructed from multiple processing elements (referred to herein as processors), some of which may be inactive spares to be used in the case of processor failure. As spare processors are consumed as replacements, the failing processors are placed into an inactive state.
The failing processors in the inactive state often remain in that state until they are physically replaced by other processors. If too many processors become inactive due to failure and are not replaced, the system may run out of spares resulting in a degrade in system performance or a reduction in system capacity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A magnetic sensor includes a DC power source, a multivibrator circuit composed of two CMOS inverters, a resistor, and a capacitor, each of the CMOS inverters being composed of a pMOS transistor and an nMOS transistor connected in series, and a magneto-impedance element. In a transition state attributable to switching operations of the CMOS inverters, a sharp pulse current is caused to flow through the magneto-impedance element so as to excite the magneto-impedance element sufficiently causing the skin effect, whereas in a steady state, the flow of the current is stopped by the CMOS inverters so as to reduce power consumption.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compact low-power consumption type magnetic sensors having high sensitivity and high response speed. More particularly, the present invention relates to high-performance micro magnetic sensors such as magnetic recording heads for computers and information devices; magnetic sensor heads for rotary encoders; and magnetic sensor heads that are used in factory automation so as to carry out measurement for physical distribution, nondestructive magnetic inspection, etc.
Computers and information devices are required to have drastically increased storage capacity so as to cope with multimedia techniques. Therefore, in the field of magnetic disk memory, there is a rapid movement to replace magnetic heads with magneto-resistance (MR) elements. Another movement is the utilization of a giant magneto-resistance effect (GMR) to obtain a highly sensitive magnetic head, with expectation of realizing a hard disk unit having a storage density of 10 gigabits/square inch by about 2010. In order to obtain a hard disk unit having a storage density greater than 10 gigabits/square inch, a magnetic head having higher sensitivity is needed, and a magneto-impedance (MI) element is a promising candidate for such a magnetic head.
Meanwhile, in the field of industrial instruments/control as well as in the field of measurement related to medicine, the environment, disaster prevention, nondestructive inspection, etc., there is arising a strong demand to detect magnetic fields having a strength of one microgauss to a few gausses within a frequency range of 0 to 10 MHz.
In the European Union, there was introduced in January, 1996 a regulation regarding generation of electromagnetic noise from electronic equipment and exposure thereto, and since then a demand for sensors capable of detecting very weak electromagnetic waves has become stronger.
In order to detect a weak magnetic field or wave within the above-described frequency range, a micro-dimensioned head of a Hall element or MR element can be used. However, the sensitivity of such a head is insufficient. When a flux gate sensor is used for such purpose, sufficient response speed cannot be obtained. The flux gate sensor also has a problem that its sensitivity becomes quite insufficient when formed in a micro-sized head.
To overcome the above-described drawbacks, the inventors of the present invention have proposed an improved magneto-impedance (MI) element (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 7-181239). A micro-dimensioned head utilizing the improved MI element has a resolution of one microgauss and a high responsiveness of 1 MHz, thereby covering a large portion of the required range for magnetic field detection. The power consumption of the micro-dimensioned head is as low as about 30-50 mW.
Since the above-described MI micro sensor is a high performance sensor having a resolution of one microgauss and a high responsiveness of 1 MHz, it can solve many of the technical problems related to new types of magnetic detection required in many industrial fields.
Accordingly, MR elements, Hall elements, and flux gate sensors, which have been widely used, are expected to be replaced with MI elements in the near future so as to realize more advanced systems.
However, there must be solved many problems related to the replacement of currently used elements with MI elements.
One such problem is difficulty in designing a sensor circuit and stems from the necessity of high-frequency technology. Another problem is power consumption in the case where many MI elements are used.
The former problem has been basically solved through use of a high-frequency oscillation type magnetic head in which the magnetic head is driven by means of a Colpitts oscillation circuit or a multivibrator circuit.
However, it is desired to further decrease the number of components of such an electronic circuit.
The latter problem is minor because the power consumption of a single MI element available at the present is about 30-50 mW, and this is sufficiently low for the element itself. However, when many MI elements are used in, for example, an information device, the maximum allowable power consumption of the MI element is considered to be further decreased (for example, to be less than 1 mW).
In order to solve these problems, the use of field effect transistors (FETs, MOSFETs) in place of bipolar transistors (BPTS) has been considered. However, the above-described problems cannot be solved through simple replacement of BPTs with FETs or MOSFETs, because in general an excitation current of not less than a few milliamperes must be caused to flow through a magnetic body in order to sufficiently utilize the magnetic effect of the magnetic material.

Japan Science and Technology Corporation


A process for fabricating discrete electrical microcomponents, such as microtransformers, microautotransformers and microinductors, on a semiconductor substrate in which two patterned layers of electrically conductive material are electrically connected through vias in two interposed layers of electrically insulating material to form electrically conductive coils around a magnetic core formed by a patterned layer of magnetic material interposed between the two insulating layers. Laminated magnetic cores may be formed by patterning multiple layers of magnetic material. The microcomponents can also be formed without magnetic cores and can be formed on insulating substrates.

The present invention relates to integrated circuits and more particularly to microcomponents, such as microtransformers, microautotransformers and microinductors formed on substrates or as part of integrated circuits.
Typically, discrete components such as inductors and transformers, are physically attached to an integrated circuit carrier and are electrically connected to the integrated circuit using standard wire bonding techniques. The problem with this arrangement is that relatively few discrete components can be used in connection with an integrated circuit. Accordingly, it is desirable to fabricate such components as part of the integrated circuit thereby increasing the density of such components and enabling them to be used in large numbers heretofore unavailable on VLSI integrated circuits. This will permit on-chip fabrication of integrated circuits, such as low pass, band pass and high pass filters, which require discrete components such as inductors; as well as on-chip fabrication of transformers and autotransformers which can be used to shift voltages and provide impedance matching on the chip.

Process for making microcomponents integrated circuits


The present invention is directed to a method of producing a cereal plant cell or protoplast useful for regeneration of a water stress or salt stress tolerant cereal plant by transforming the cereal plant cell or protoplast with a nucleic acid encoding a late embryogenesis abundant protein. A transgenic cereal plant or cereal plant cell or protoplast transformed with a nucleic acid encoding a late embryogenesis abundant protein is also provided. An LEA protein gene, HVA1, from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was transformed into rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants. The resulting transgenic rice plants accumulate the HVA1 protein in both leaves and roots. Transgenic rice plants showed significantly increased tolerance to water stress (drought) and salt stress.

Throughout this application various publications are referenced, many in parenthesis. Full citations for these publications are provided at the end of the Detailed Description. The disclosures of these publications in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference in this application.
Environmental stresses, such as drought, increased salinity of soil, and extreme temperature, are major factors in limiting plant growth and productivity. The worldwide loss in yield of three major cereal crops, rice, maize (corn), and wheat due to water stress (drought) has been estimated to be over ten billion dollars annually. Breeding of stress-tolerant crop cultivars represents a promising strategy to tackle these problems (Epstein et al., 1980). However, conventional breeding is a slow process for generating crop varieties with improved tolerance to stress conditions. Limited germplasm resources for stress tolerance and incompatibility in crosses between distantly related plant species are additional problems encountered in conventional breeding. Recent progress in plant genetic transformation and availability of potentially useful genes characterized from different sources make it possible to generate stress-tolerant crops using transgenic approaches (Tarczynski et al., 1993; Pilon-Smits et al., 1995).
Characterization and cloning of plant genes that confer stress tolerance remains a challenge. Genetic studies revealed that tolerance to drought and salinity in some crop varieties is principally due to additive gene effects (Akbar et al., 1986a, 1986b). However, the underlying molecular mechanism for the tolerance has never been revealed. Physiological and biochemical responses to high levels of ionic or nonionic solutes and decreased water potential have been studied in a variety of plants. Based on accumulated experimental observations and theoretical consideration, one suggested mechanism that may underlie the adaptation or tolerance of plants to osmotic stresses is the accumulation of compatible, low molecular weight osmolytes such as sugar alcohols, special amino acids, and glycinebetaine (Greenway and Munns, 1980; Yancey et al., 1982). Recently, a transgenic study has demonstrated that accumulation of the sugar alcohol mannitol in transgenic tobacco conferred protection against salt stress (Tarczynski et al., 1993). Two recent studies using a transgenic approach have demonstrated that metabolic engineering of the glycinebetaine biosynthesis pathway is not only possible but also may eventually lead to production of stress-tolerant plants (Holmstrom et al., 1994; Rathinasabapathi et al., 1994).
In addition to metabolic changes and accumulation of low molecular weight compounds, a large set of genes is transcriptionally activated which leads to accumulation of new proteins in vegetative tissue of plants under osmotic stress conditions (Skriver and Mundy, 1990; Chandler and Robertson, 1994). The expression levels of a number of genes have been reported to be correlated with desiccation, salt, or cold tolerance of different plant varieties of the same species. It is generally assumed that stress-induced proteins might play a role in tolerance, but direct evidence is still lacking, and the functions of many stress-responsive genes are unknown. Elucidating the function of these stress-responsive genes will not only advance our understanding of plant adaptation and tolerance to environmental stresses, but also may provide important information for designing new strategies for crop improvement (Chandler and Robertson, 1994).
Late embryogenesis abundant proteins (LEA proteins) were first characterized in cotton as a set of proteins that are highly accumulated in the embryos at the late stage of seed development (Dure et al., 1981). Subsequently, many LEA proteins or their genes have been characterized from different plant species (collated by Dure, 1992). Based on their common amino acid sequence domains, LEA proteins were classified into three major groups (Baker et al., 1988; Dure et al., 1989). A group 2 LEA protein and its cDNA have been characterized from rice (Mundy and Chua, 1988). The four members of a group 2 LEA gene family are tandemly arranged in a single locus, and are coordinately expressed in various rice tissues in response to ABA, drought, and salt stress (Yamaguchi-Shinozaki et al., 1989). However, the functions of these LEA proteins are unknown. Recently, both group 2 and group 3 LEA proteins have been characterized from Indica rice varieties and the accumulation of these LEA proteins in response to salt stress were correlated with varietal tolerance to salt stress (Moons et al., 1995). Group 2 LEA proteins (dehydrins) containing extensive consensus sequence were detected in a wide range of plants, both monocots and dicots (Close et al., 1993). A recent study showed that a group 2 LEA gene is present in many plant species but the expression of this gene is differentially regulated in stress sensitive and tolerant species (Danyluk et al., 1994).
A barley group 3 LEA protein, HVA1, was previously characterized from barley aleurone. The HVA1 gene is specifically expressed in the aleurone layers and the embryos during late stage of seed development, correlating with the seed desiccation stage (Hong et al., 1988). Expression of the HVA1 gene is rapidly induced in young seedlings by ABA and several stress conditions including dehydration, salt, and extreme temperature (Hong et al., 1992).
HVA1 protein belongs to the group 3 LEA proteins that include other members such as wheat pMA2005 (Curry et al., 1991; Curry and Walker-Simmons, 1993), cotton D-7 (Baker et al., 1988), carrot Dc3 (Seffens et al., 1990), and rape pLEA76 (Harada et al., 1989). These proteins are characterized by 11-mer tandem repeats of amino acid domains which may form a probable amphophilic alpha-helical structure that presents a hydrophilic surface with a hydrophobic stripe (Baker et al., 1988; Dure et al., 1988; Dure, 1993). The barley HVA1 gene and the wheat pMA2005 gene (Curry et al., 1991; Curry and Walker-Simmons, 1993) are highly similar at both the nucleotide level and predicted amino acid level. These two monocot genes are closely related to the cotton D-7 gene (Baker et al., 1988) and carrot Dc3 gene (Seffens et al., 1990) with which they share a similar structural gene organization (Straub et al., 1994).
In many cases, the timing of LEA mRNA and protein accumulation is correlated with the seed desiccation process and associated with elevated in vivo abscisic acid (ABA) levels. The expression of LEA genes is also induced in isolated immature embryos by ABA, and in vegetative tissues by ABA and various environmental stresses, such as drought, salt, and extreme temperature (Skriver and Mundy, 1990; Chandler and Robertson, 1994).
There is, therefore, a correlation between LEA gene expression or LEA protein accumulation with stress tolerance in a number of plants. For example, in severely dehydrated wheat seedlings, the accumulation of high levels of group 3 LEA proteins was correlated with tissue dehydration tolerance (Ried and Walker-Simmons, 1993). Studies on several Indica varieties of rice showed that the levels of group 2 LEA proteins (also known as dehydrins) and group 3 LEA proteins in roots were significantly higher in salt-tolerant varieties compared with sensitive varieties (Moons et al., 1995).
On the other hand, the presence of other LEA proteins is not always correlated with stress tolerance. For example, comparative studies on wild rice and paddy rice showed that the intolerance of wild rice seeds to dehydration at low temperature is not due to an absence of or an inability to synthesize group 2 LEA/dehydrin proteins, ABA, or soluble carbohydrates (Bradford and Chandler, 1992; Still et al., 1994). Overproduction of a group 2 LEA protein from the resurrection plant Craterostigma in tobacco did not confer tolerance to osmotic stress (Iturriaga et al., 1992). It has been found that LEA proteins are not sufficient to confer desiccation tolerance in soybean seeds, and it is the LEA proteins together with soluble sugars that contribute to the tolerance (Blackman et al., 1991, 1992).
In these reported cases of increased water stress or salt stress tolerance, a large set of genes has been activated in the stressed plant (Skriver and Mundy, 1990; Chandler and Robertson, 1994). The LEA protein(s) are the product of just one of these gene(s), and many other proteins are also correlated with the increased water stress or salt stress tolerance (i.e. levels of these other proteins also increase in response to water stress or salt stress). Therefore, although a correlation exists between LEA proteins and increased water stress or salt stress tolerance, no evidence exists that any of the particular activated genes (including the LEA genes) can confer water stress or salt stress tolerance upon a plant. Accordingly, identification of appropriate genes for use in genetic engineering of plants to increase water stress or salt stress tolerance has not been attained.
A need exists, therefore, for the identification of a gene encoding a protein that can confer water stress or salt stress tolerance on a plant transformed with the gene. Such a water stress or salt stress tolerant plant can find many uses, particularly in agriculture and particularly in regard to cereal plants which are a major crop plant.

Production of water stress or salt stress tolerant transgenic cereal plants


The present invention relates to an ultra-high-tension interrupting chamber comprising a main chamber including an insulating case containing permanent contacts, arcing contacts and two closing resistors inserted by means of semi-moving "make switch" device putting a "first" one of the resistors into operation before the "second" resistor. An auxiliary chamber is connected in parallel with the main chamber, which auxiliary chamber includes an insulating casing containing an opening varistor associated with a break switch having a slow-release opening mechanism situated inside the casing.

It is known that operating voltage surges in atmospheric air are not proportional to the degree of isolation. This is why, at ultra high tension (voltage of not less than 1,000 kV, referred to below as UHT), extremely low operating voltage surges are required for circuit-breakers, e.g. 1.6 pu instead of 3 pu which is acceptable at 245 kV.
The January 1989 edition of the CIGRE review Electra (No. 122, pages 43 and 44) states that UHT circuit-breakers are to be equipped with closing resistors and with opening resistors.
French "Certificate of Addition" No. 2,503,448 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,962 ) filed on Mar. 31, 1981 by the Applicant describes a compressed-gas high-tension circuit breaker including two closing resistors whose insertion devices are secured to each other, the insertion device of the first resistor comprising a tubular semi-moving contact that co-operates with a contact connected to the second resistor which is constituted by a stack of annular resistors disposed coaxially about the first resistor.
French Patent Application No. 2,658,949 filed on Feb. 27, 1990 by the Applicant discloses a high-tension circuit-breaker assisted by a varistor disposed in an "auxiliary" chamber which is distinct from the interrupting chamber, and which is connected in series with a break switch comprising a moving contact in the form of a metal rod fixed to a flexible metal cable interconnecting the two chambers via a slow-release opening device situated outside the chambers and actuated by the control rod of the interrupting chamber.
An object of the present invention is to combine, inter alia, those two known techniques so as to provide a UHT circuit-breaker which satisfies the voltage-surge requirements and which is also compact in construction.


An exhaust gas purifying apparatus for a diesel engine has a filter provided in an exhaust pipe of the engine for trapping diesel particulates contained in exhaust gas. The filter is re-generated when an accumulated amount of the diesel particulates exceeds a predetermined value. An electronic control unit estimates the accumulated amount of the diesel particulates from a pressure loss at the filter, based on an accumulation characteristic in which the pressure loss is related to the accumulated amount of the diesel particulates, and corrects the accumulation characteristic depending on flow velocity of the exhaust gas.

In recent years, a filter for trapping diesel particulates is provided in an exhaust pipe of a diesel engine mounted in a vehicle, in order to reduce diesel particulates contained in the exhaust gas.
The filter is made of a porous ceramic body having multiple exhaust gas passages, so that the diesel particulates are trapped by the filter when the exhaust gas passes through porous partitioning walls, which define the multiple exhaust gas passages. A pressure loss is increased, as the trapped (accumulated) amount of the diesel particulates is increased. Then, an engine efficiency is decreased. Accordingly, the filter is re-generated by burning the trapped diesel particulates when the accumulated amount of the diesel particulates becomes larger than a predetermined amount.
According to Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-286019, an accumulation characteristic is prepared, in which a relation between the accumulated amount of the diesel particulates and the pressure loss is defined. Then, the accumulated amount of the diesel particulates is presumed based on the pressure loss, and the filter is re-generated when the presumed accumulated amount of the diesel particulates exceeds a predetermined value.
According to a further investigation of the inventors, for example, in the apparatus of the above Japanese Patent Publication, the accumulated amount and/or density of the diesel particulates trapped in the partitioning walls will be varied depending on flow velocity of the exhaust gas passing through the partitioning walls. As a result, the accumulation characteristic for defining the relation between the accumulated amount of the diesel particulates and the pressure loss is changed. Namely, the presuming accuracy for the accumulated amount of the diesel particulates becomes worse.

Exhaust gas purifying apparatus for internal combustion engine


The inventions relates to a composition adapted for use as a sealing strip in the manufacture of insulating structures. The composition includes an adhesion promoter compound of at least two components, a polymeric base material(s), and a cross linking agent(s). The invention further relates to an insulating structure including first and second panes with the sealing strip positioned therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sealing strip used in the construction of insulating, double pane structures. More particularly, the invention relates to a sealing strip composition comprised of an adhesion promoter compound of at least two components, a polymeric base material(s), a cross linking agent(s), fillers, molecular sieves, plasticizers and tackifier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various sealing structures have been developed for use in the fabrication of insulating glass structures. These sealing structures are generally positioned between adjacent panes and act to maintain the panes in a spaced relationship. The sealing structure must also prevent the passage of undesirable materials within the space defined between the adjacent panels. The passage of, for example, water vapor, leads to the formation of undesirable condensation between the panes. Once such condensation has made its way within the space between the panes, the double pane becomes unuseable.
With this in mind, a sealing structure must be optimized to maintain the spacing between the panes, adhere to the surface of the panes so as to create a barrier to the passage of vapor between the sealing structure and the pane, and be substantially impermeable to vapor through the sealing structure itself. A variety of sealing structures are known to exist, but each is known to possess shortcomings requiring modification of the base sealing material through the inclusion of various structural additives such as spacers and vapor barriers.
For example, and with reference to U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,972 to Konrad H. Kaeding, a sealant strip for use in the fabrication of insulating glass is disclosed. In the '972 patent, Kaeding provides examples of using a deformable sealant strip to manufacture insulating glass for use in window systems. Although he makes some strides in overcoming previous deficiencies in analogous systems, he fails to completely resolve the issues of simplicity, resistance to compression, good adhesion and ease of manufacture. He gives many examples of "grafting polymers onto the backbone of the Exxon Exxpro polymers", but he does not obtain the desired product without further manipulation. However, Kaeding was not able to resolve all issues and obtain the optimum synergy.
Kaeding claims to provide excellent adhesion, but offers no data. He claims to have a system that is resistant to compression, but uses "staples" within the sealant strip to maintain the desired dimensions and to prevent compression. In addition, he discusses the use of plastic and/or metal vapor barriers to prevent the ingress of water and other external materials into the cavity of the insulating glass unit. He also uses several complex "curing" systems.
All these issues are overcome in accordance with the present invention by the simple use of polymers and a dual curing/adhesion promoting system. The present invention overcomes these deficiencies with a simplified cross-linking system to prevent compression which occurs over a period of time and a grafting of adhesion promoters, preferably of the silane type, onto the backbone of the Exxon polymers.
Also, in one embodiment of the present invention the present sealing system takes advantage of using a liquid adhesion promoter, such as a silane compound, and a liquid cross-linking agent, both of which facilitate the ease of incorporating these materials into the elastomer matrix to provide a far more homogeneous product.


In one embodiment, a register in a processor is programmable with an intercept indication indicative of whether or not an event that would cause a transition by the processor to a first mode is to be intercepted during execution of a guest. Responsive to the intercept indication and further responsive to detecting the event, execution circuitry in the processor is configured to exit the guest. In another embodiment, a method comprises: detecting an event that would cause a processor to transition to a first mode, wherein first code is to be executed in the first mode; and causing the first code to be executed in a guest responsive to the detecting. In still another embodiment, a computer accessible medium comprising instructions which when executed in response to detecting the event, cause the first code to be executed in a guest.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to virtualization and the use of virtual machines in processors and computer systems and, more particularly, to virtualization of system management mode (SMM) code execution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Virtualization has been used in computer systems for a variety of different purposes. For example, virtualization may be used to execute privileged software in a "container" to prevent the privileged software from directly accessing and/or making changes to at least some of the physical machine state without first being permitted to do so by a virtual machine manager (VMM) that controls the virtual machine. Such a container may prevent "buggy" or malicious software from causing problems on the physical machine. Additionally, virtualization may be used to permit two or more privileged programs to execute on the same physical machine concurrently. The privileged programs may be prevented from interfering with each other since access to the physical machine is controlled. Privileged programs may include operating systems, and may also include other software which expects to have full control of the hardware on which the software is executing. In another example, virtualization may be used to execute a privileged program on hardware that differs from the hardware expected by the privileged program.
Generally, virtualization of a processor or computer system may include providing one or more privileged programs with access to a virtual machine (the container mentioned above) over which the privileged program has full control, but the control of the physical machine is retained by the VMM. The virtual machine may include a processor (or processors), memory, and various peripheral devices that the privileged program expects to find in the machine on which it is executing. Each privileged program (and related software in some cases, such as the applications that execute on an operating system) may be referred to herein as a guest. Virtualization may be implemented in software (e.g. the VMM mentioned above) without any specific hardware virtualization support in the physical machine on which the VMM and its virtual machines execute. However, virtualization may be simplified and/or achieve higher performance if some hardware support is provided.
The x86 instruction set architecture specifies a "system management mode" (SMM). SMM provides a transparent mechanism for power management, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) differentiation, response to external asynchronous events such as the closing of a laptop lid, temperature sensor triggering, etc., and some forms of peripheral device virtualization. SMM enables an address space (referred to as system management random access memory (SMRAM)) that is not visible, or useable, in other modes. The SMRAM stores the code that is executed in SMM, referred to as SMM code. Thus, the SMM code is not available for execution in other modes. In some cases, the SMM code may be provided by the guest. In other cases, the SMM code is associated with the specific computer system ("platform SMM code"). Platform SMM code is loaded by low level initialization software (e.g. basic input/output system (BIOS) software) before the operating system is loaded and before the VMM is loaded.
A processor implementing the x86 instruction set architecture enters SMM in response to a system management interrupt (SMI) signalled to the processor from an external source. In PC systems, for example, the source is typically the SouthBridge component. Some processors may also be configured to detect an SMI internally (e.g. by detecting execution of certain instructions, such as IN or OUT instructions to a particular input/output (I/O) port).
If virtualization is being implemented, SMM may be entered at any time (e.g. while a guest is executing, or while the host VMM or other host software is executing). Additionally, virtualization may be used as part of a secure operating system base. When security is being maintained, the system classifies code as either "trusted" or "not trusted". Trusted code is typically precertified as trusted (not malicious, performing only the operation it is intended to perform), and may remain trusted as long as it remains unmodified (to protect against malicious programs such as viruses). Untrusted software may be executed in a virtual machine to protect machine state against undesirable modification by the software. In many cases, the SMM code is not trusted. A mechanism for handling SMM code when virtualization is being implemented is therefore desired.

Executing system management mode code as virtual machine guest


Compositions for controlling damage to cementitious materials as a result of alkali-silica reactions (ASR) are provided. The compositions include a lithium containing material and a surface active agent. The compositions are capable of effectively delivering lithium into a cementitious material after the composition is applied to a surface thereof. Processes for treating cementitious materials using the compositions are also provided.

Concrete is a conglomerate of aggregate (such as gravel, sand, and/or crushed stone), water, and hydraulic cement (such as portland cement), as well as other components and/or additives. Concrete is generally fluidic when it is first made, enabling it to be poured or placed into shapes, and then later hardens, and is never again fluidic, in the general sense. Typically, moisture present in concrete is basic (that is, has a high pH). Concrete also typically includes alkali materials supplied by the cement, aggregate, additives, and even from the environment in which the hardened concrete exists (such as salts placed on concrete to melt ice).
Siliceous minerals can be present in certain aggregates found in concrete and mortars. Silica which is present in aggregates used to make concrete and mortars is subject to attack and dissolution by hydroxide ions present in basic solutions. Generally, the higher the pH (i.e., the more basic the solution), the faster the attack.
Different forms of silica show varying degrees of susceptibility to this dissolution. If there is sufficient alkali metal ion also present in this solution (such as sodium or potassium ions), the alkali metal ions can react with the dissolved silica and form an alkali-silica gel. Under certain conditions, the resultant alkali-silica gel can absorb water and swell. The swelling can exert pressures greater than the tensile strength of the concrete and thus cause the concrete to swell and crack. This process (hydroxide attack of silica, followed by reaction with alkali such as sodium and potassium) is referred to generally in the art as "alkali-silica reaction" or "ASR".
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Stanton first identified the expansion and deterioration of portland cement-base concrete caused by ASR in the western part of the United States. T. E. Stanton, "Expansion of Concrete through Reaction between Cement and Aggregate," Proceedings of the Am. Soc. of Civil Engineers 66: 1781-1811 (1940). Since then, numerous structures have been reported as suffering from ASR in concrete around the globe.
ASR can weaken the ability of concrete to withstand other forms of attack. For example, concrete that is cracked due to this process can permit a greater degree of saturation and is therefore much more susceptible to damage as a result of "freeze-thaw" cycles. Similarly, cracks in the surfaces of steel reinforced concrete can compromise the ability of the concrete to keep out salts when subjected to de-icers, thus allowing corrosion of the steel it was designed to protect. Although rare, ASR can also cause the failure of concrete structures.
Since the discovery of ASR, researchers around the world have been trying to control this detrimental attack on the concrete structures. Prior attempts to control ASR include, for example, using cement with very low alkali content, non-reactive aggregate, and pozzolanic materials such as fly ash, silica fume, ground blast granulated furnace slag, zeolite minerals, thermally activated clay, and the like.
Lithium-based compounds have been shown to be effective in ASR inhibition by introducing these chemicals into concrete or mortar mix compositions. W. J. McCoy and A. G. Caldwell, "New Approach to Inhibiting Alkali-Aggregate Expansion," J.Amer.Concrete Institute, 22:693-706 (1951). However, this requires introducing the lithium-based compounds in the concrete or mortar mixture and does not address the problem of controlling or remediating ASR in existing hardened structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,314 is directed to a process for preventing a hardened cementitious material from deteriorating or for repairing a deteriorated cementitious material due to ASR. In this process, a cement paste, mortar or concrete with lithium nitrite incorporated therein is applied to an existing concrete system and allowed to harden. While stated to be effective in delivering lithium into the concrete structure, this process is time consuming and inconvenient or impractical because lithium nitrite is incorporated in a second cementitious layer applied to an already existing structure.
Expansion due to ASR in mortar bars and concrete prisms has reportedly been reduced by soaking the specimens in solutions of LiNO.sub.2. See Y. Sakaguchi, et al., "The Inhibiting Effect of Lithium Compounds on Alkali-Silica Reaction," Proceedings, 8th International Conference, Alkali Aggregate Reaction, Kyoto, Japan: 229-234 (1989). However, soaking existing concrete structures in a LiNO.sub.2 solution is difficult and not practical. Further, the effectiveness of this process is questionable in view of other studies indicating that solutions of other lithium compounds show very little penetration into existing hardened concrete structures, as described below.
The Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) publication SHRP-C-343 investigated a method of mitigating ASR in existing concrete by spreading lithium hydroxide solutions on the surface of the concrete. Difficulties were encountered, however, in effectively delivering the materials into concrete. SHRP also demonstrated that ASR can be reduced by soaking cementitious specimens in aqueous solutions of lithium carbonate, fluoride, and hydroxide. Again, however, such techniques are impractical in treating real life existing damaged concrete structures. Further, the effectiveness of this technique is questionable in view of the reported difficulties in effectively delivering lithium hydroxide into concrete by applying the solution onto an existing structure.
Because of these and other difficulties, processes have been developed to electrically drive lithium ions into concrete to mitigate ASR in concrete with conductive metals imbedded in the concrete. While lithium can be effectively delivered into a concrete structure electrically, such techniques typically require specialized equipment, careful maintenance and control of the electrolyte solution and equipment, and readily available utilities. In addition, these processes typically work only with concrete that contains reinforced steel (which is typically not found in highways) and can result in penetration only to the steel. Further, these processes may not work if the steel is coated (i.e., epoxy coated), which is increasingly common.
Problems can also arise in the repair of concrete materials when applying solutions onto and into large masses of concrete that may have substantial cracks, particularly when the bottom surface is not accessible because it is on or below another surface, such as the ground. Materials can pass through such cracks without being in contact long enough to penetrate the concrete mass itself.

Compositions and processes for remediating hardened cementitious materials