A lipid composition includes triacylglycerols that include unsaturated fatty acids such as alpha linolenic acid and antioxidant moeities such as pyruvic acid.

The present invention relates to a novel triacylglycerol incorporating an antioxidant moiety and lipid compositions comprising triacylglycerols including antioxidant moieties and unsaturated fatty acids.
Fatty acids are saturated or unsaturated aliphatic monocarboxylic acids, usually with an even number of carbon atoms that occur naturally in the form of glycerides in fats and fatty oils, waxes and essential oils. Saturated fatty acids have the general formula, CnH(2n+1)COOH. Hydroxy-fatty acids such as ricinoleic acid are also known to be present naturally in certain oils. All fatty acids are carboxylic acids, which is a broad term that encompasses any compound with a carboxylic group, COOH. Fatty acids are numbered from the carboxylic carbon atom. The position of double bonds is indicated by the Greek letter delta (δ) followed by the carbon number of the double bond, i.e., C 20:5 omega-3 δ 5,8,11,14,17. The omega (ω) notation refers to the position of a double bond as an indicated number of carbon atoms from the non-carboxy terminal end of an unsaturated fatty acid. The designation for eicosapentaenoic acid, an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, is C 20:5ω-3 δ 5,8,11,14,17. Docosapentaenoic acid is C 22:5ω-3 δ 7,10,13,16,19 and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is C 22:6 ω-3 δ 4,7,10,13,16,19. The designation omega-6 (ω-6) refers to a fatty acid such as linoleic acid that has a double bond which is at carbon position six from the non-carboxy terminal end of the fatty acid.
The ω-3 fatty acids are essential for maintenance of health and prevention of disease. As noted above, DHA is a ω-3 fatty acid having 22 carbon atoms and three double bonds. It is the major component of insulation tissue for the retinal photoreceptors. It plays a major role in the [1]:                Maintenance of cell membrane fluidity in brain and eyes        Reduction of intraocular pressure        Constant renewal of retinal components after oxidative damage        Reduction of clogging/hardening of arteries        Enhancement of visual acuityThus, a supply of DHA, would be useful in preventing vision disorders such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma through the reduction of arterial plaque and intraocular pressure. In fact, the ω-3 fatty acids cause a lowering of blood pressure throughout the body's arterial network, reduction in cholesterol levels, as well as vasodilation resulting in the alleviation of coronary heart disease.
The ω-3 fatty acids also act as anti-inflammatory agents, making them beneficial for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory ailments. These acids also protect myelin, which shields the nerves, and may be useful in treating or ameliorating a variety of neural disorders such as dementia or depression. These fatty acids may also be helpful in preventing cancer. However, due to their high unsaturation, they are quite unstable and subject to oxidation at the ω-3 double bond.
DHA can be supplied to the body either as dietary DHA or in precursor form as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), also from a dietary source. Dietary DHA originates mainly from fish oils with the associated drawbacks such as the fishy odor and possible mercury contamination. However, findings from animal studies suggest that brain cells may prefer to make DHA from its precursor, ALA, rather than absorb it pre-formed [2].
ALA is obtained from plant seed oils such as oils from flaxseed, perilla, hemp, canola or soybean and is relatively odor-free. A comparison between the properties of ALA and DHA indicates that ALA supplementation is also superior to that of DHA as a result of many different factors such as: 1. Price—Cost of dietary DHA supplementation even without extraction and processing from fish oil is very high. 2. Absorption—The pancreatic lipase activity towards fatty acids decreases with chain length. Consequently, DHA is not as well accepted as substrate and is released more slowly from triacylglycerols as compared to ALA. 3. Both achieve similar effects—ALA can be converted to DHA to the extent required by the body even in preterm infants. The brain/retina also has a capability for the conversion. 4. Stability—ALA with its three double bonds is less prone to oxidative damage than DHA with its six double bonds. 5. Concentration—The nervous system is not protected against a large excess of DHA, which could increase n-3/n-6 ratio and could lead to abnormal function, and which might be difficult to reverse. This DHA excess is avoidable by supplying the precursor, ALA, which will be converted to DHA as required by the body.
Consequently, it may be preferable to supply DHA through its precursor, ALA, in nutraceutical compositions and products.
It is known that mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty oxidation rates increase with increasing dietary levels of ALA. The activity of enzymes such as carnitine palmitoyltransferase, acyl-CoA oxidase, 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase, and 2,4-dienoyl-CoA reductase is enhanced. Smaller but significant increases by ALA of the activity of acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, enoyl-CoA hydratase, and delta 3, delta 2-enoyl-CoA isomerase have also been observed. However, dietary ALA was reported to greatly reduce the activities of some enzymes such as 3-hydroxy-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and pyruvate kinase. Therefore, while β-oxidation of fatty acids is higher for unsaturated fats, the activity of pyruvate kinase (which converts glucose catabolite, phosphoenol pyruvate into pyruvate)—an important enzyme in the glycolysis pathway is reduced, implying lesser energy. An exogenous supply of pyruvic acid will also enable further stimulation of the fatty acid anabolic pathways to convert them into their more unsaturated counterparts rather than their channeling towards oxidation.
Hence, it may be beneficial to supplement ALA with pyruvic acid to offset this effect. Pyruvic acid is a three-carbon alpha-keto acid with relatively strong antioxidative activity and may enhance the stability of ALA when combined in a formulation. However, pyruvic acid is a strong, unstable ketoacid, which cannot be administered orally or parenterally. Salts of pyruvic acid are also not physiologically suitable. Amino-compounds containing pyruvate such as pyruvylglycine lead to excessive nitrogen loads. Also, flooding plasma with glycine may interfere with the transport of some amino acids across the blood-brain barrier. Accordingly, these pyruvate compounds are less suited to treating an organ in vivo, and it is recognized that a need exists to provide a pyruvate delivery compound that is more physiologically acceptable [3].
One such potential compound is a pyruvylglycerol. This would be more stable and pH-neutral. The acylglycerol will be hydrolyzed to pyruvic acid by non-specific esterases present in plasma, tissues and the gastrointestinal tract as well as gastric and pancreatic lipases, and subsequently neutralized by the body's buffers.
Apart from the benefits of alpha-keto acids described above, they also confer other health benefits particularly due to their antioxidant capacity. This is possible because they can act as scavengers of free radicals and can also prevent lipid peroxidation by inhibiting formation of free radicals. This ensures their usefulness in prevention and treatment of disorders related to aging (such as cataract and glaucoma), diabetes, calcium overexcretion (as in osteoporosis) and cancers.
Structured lipids consisting of fatty acids esterified to the glyceryl backbone are known in the art. Structured triacylglycerols, in contrast to natural triacylglycerols, can be classified as any oil and fat modified or synthesized by any artificial means, such as hydrogenation, fractionation, blending, interesterification, esterification, and even from bioengineered plants. However, the common definition of structured triacylglycerols refers to those oils and fats containing polyunsaturated fatty acids and medium- or short-chain fatty acids, or those in which different fatty acids are specifically located in the glycerol backbone.
Most structured lipids have involved the interesterification of oils to rearrange the fatty acid distribution, to enhance either the content of PUFA or that of the medium-chain (MCFA—number of carbons=8, 10, 12) or short-chain fatty acids (SCFA—number of carbons=3, 4, 6). MCFA and SCFA are excellent sources of ready energy for the body due to their rapid absorption and are preferred because they have a low caloric value. Structured lipids containing MCFA are well known and their synthesis and composition have been widely reported [4-16].
Commercially available structured triacylglycerols include Salatrim™ (Benefat™—containing acetic, propionic, butyric and stearic acids esterified to glycerol) from Cultor Food Science and Nabisco Inc., Caprenin™ (caprocaprylobehenin, containing caprylic, capric and behenic acids esterified to glycerol) from Procter & Gamble, Captex™ from Abitec Corp., Neobee™ from Stepan Company, Impact™ from Novartis Nutrition, and Structolipid™ from Fresenius Kabi. Enzymatic interesterification with sn-1,3 specific lipases has also been used by industry for the production of structured lipids usable as cocoa butter substitutes and human milk fat substitutes and other fat substitutes [17-20].
Although the prior art shows that there has been relatively high degree of activity in designing triglycerides [21-36] for certain nutritional and medical uses, there is no teaching in any of the prior art, which refers to combining antioxidant short chain alpha-keto carboxylic acids with long-chain unsaturated fatty acids.
Pyruvate compounds such as pyruvate thiolester, glycerol-pyruvate ester or a dihydoxyacetone-pyruvate ester have been synthesized [37-39]. The glycerol-pyruvate esters synthesized were pyruvyl-diacetyl-glycerol and dipyruvyl-acetyl-glycerol. These were prepared by esterification of diacetin and monoacetin, respectively, with pyruvyl chloride. It appears that these are the only glyceryl pyruvate compounds reported in literature, whereby pyruvic acid is coesterified with a short-chain fatty acid such as acetic acid.
However, there is no suggestion or disclosure of a triacylglycerol or an oil containing pyruvic or other alpha-keto acids with widespread health benefits, and hence, for use as a nutraceutical or functional food bioactive.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for lipid composition, which includes triacylglycerols comprising an antioxidant moiety and nutritionally beneficial fatty acids and methods for forming such a lipid composition with relatively high yields.

Antioxidant triacylglycerols and lipid compositions


A toner composition comprised of resin, pigment particles, and a distearyl dimethyl ammonium hexafluorophosphate charge enhancing additive.

The invention is generally directed to toner and developer compositions, and more specifically, the present invention is directed to developer and toner compositions containing charge enhancing additives, which impart or assist in imparting a positive charge to the toner resin particles and enable toners with rapid admix characteristics, especially rapid admix after extended storage, for example three months, and after exposure to high temperatures of, for example, 115.degree. F., stable triboelectric characteristics in embodiments and wherein the fusing properties of the toner resin are relatively constant in embodiments. In embodiments, there are provided in accordance with the present invention toner compositions comprised of resin particles, pigment particles, and certain fluorophosphate charge enhancing additives. In embodiments, the present invention is directed to positively charged toners with a distearyl dimethyl ammonium hexafluorophosphate charge additive. The aforementioned additives in embodiments of the present invention enable, for example, toners with substantial humidity insensitivity, rapid admix of less than about 30 seconds, extended developer life, stable electrical properties, high image print quality with substantially no background deposits, and compatibility with fuser rolls including VITON.TM. fuser rolls. Also, the aforementioned toner compositions usually contain pigment particles comprised of, for example, carbon black, magnetites, or mixtures thereof, cyan, magenta, yellow, blue, green, red, or brown components, or mixtures thereof thereby providing for the development and generation of black and/or colored images. Also, the fluorophosphate charge additives of the present invention can be added to negatively charged toners to reduce the negative triboelectric charge thereof. The toner compositions of the present invention in embodiments thereof maintain their triboelectric charging characteristics for an extended number of imaging cycles, exceeding, for example, 500,000 in a number of embodiments. Also, toner and developer compositions of the present invention can be selected for electrophotographic, especially xerographic, imaging and printing processes, including color processes.
Developer compositions with charge enhancing additives, which impart a positive charge to the toner resin, are well known. Thus, for example, there is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,935 the use of quaternary ammonium salts as charge control agents for electrostatic toner compositions. In this patent, there are disclosed quaternary ammonium compounds with four R substituents on the nitrogen atom, which substituents represent an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 7 or less, and preferably about 3 to about 7 carbon atoms, including straight and branch chain aliphatic hydrocarbon atoms, and wherein X represents an anionic function including, according to this patent, a variety of conventional anionic moieties such as halides, phosphates, acetates, nitrates, benzoates, methylsulfates, perchloride, tetrafluoroborate, benzene sulfonate, and the like; U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,856 which discloses electrophotographic toners containing resin compatible quaternary ammonium compounds in which at least two R radicals are hydrocarbons having from 8 to about 22 carbon atoms, and each other R is a hydrogen or hydrocarbon radical with from 1 to about 8 carbon atoms, and A is an anion, for example sulfate, sulfonate, nitrate, borate, chlorate, and the halogens such as iodide, chloride and bromide, reference the Abstract of the Disclosure and column 3; a similar teaching is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,933, which is a division of U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,111; and similar teachings are presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,112 wherein A is an anion including, for example, sulfate, sulfonate, nitrate, borate, chlorate, and the halogens. There are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,986,521 reversal developer compositions comprised of toner resin particles coated with finely divided colloidal silica.
Also, there are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,390, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, developer compositions containing as charge enhancing additives organic sulfate and sulfonates, which additives can impart a positive charge to the toner composition. Further, there are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,672, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, positively charged toner compositions with resin particles and pigment particles, and as charge enhancing additives alkyl pyridinium compounds. Additionally, other documents disclosing positively charged toner compositions with charge control additives include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,944,493; 4,007,293; 4,079,014; 4,394,430 and 4,560,635, which illustrates a toner with a distearyl dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate charge additive. One disadvantage associated with the charge additive of the '635 patent resides in its apparent inherent instability in some instances thus rendering it substantially unsuitable as a bulk toner constituent in imaging processes, as the additive may thermally and chemically degrade, and react with other toner components.
The following prior art, all United States patents, are mentioned: U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,381 which discloses toners and developers containing charge control agents comprising quaternary ammonium salts of the formula indicated, for example, in the Abstract of the Disclosure, wherein R is alkyl with from 12 to 18 carbon atoms, and the anion is a trifluoromethylsulfonate; a similar teaching is presented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,834,921 and 4,490,455, which discloses toners with, for example, amine salt charge enhancing additives, reference the Abstract of the Disclosure for example, and wherein a is an anion including those derived from aromatic substituted sulfonic acids, such as benzene sulfonic acid, and the like, see column 3, beginning at line 33; U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,856 directed to toners with a quaternary ammonium compound wherein A is an anion such as sulfate, sulfonate, nitrate, borate, chlorate, and certain halogens, see the Abstract of the Disclosure; U.S. Pat. No. 32,883 (a reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,390) illustrates toners with sulfate and sulfonate charge additives, see the Abstract of the Disclosure, wherein R.sub.4 is an alkylene, and the anion contains a R.sub.5 which is a tolyl group, or an alkyl group of from 1 to 3 carbon atoms, and n is the number 3 or 4; U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,634 which discloses toners with charge additives of the formulas presented in column 3, wherein providing that at least one of the R's is a long chain amido group, and X is a halide ion or an organosulfur containing group; U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,019 relates to toners with long chain hydrazinium compounds, wherein the anion A can be a sulfate, sulfonate, phosphate, halides, nitrate, see the Abstract of the Disclosure for example; U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,550 which illustrates toners with inner salt charge additives or mixtures of charge additives, see for example column 8; U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,596 which discloses toners with charge additives of the formula provided in column 3 wherein X can be variety of anions such as trifluoromethane sulfonate, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,604,338; 4,792,513; 3,893,935; 4,826,749 and 4,604,338. The disclosures of each of the aforementioned patents are totally incorporated herein by reference.
Illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,157, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, are toner compositions comprised of resin, pigment, or dye, and tetraalkyl, wherein alkyl, for example, contains from 1 to about 30 carbon atoms, ammonium bisulfate charge enhancing additives such as distearyl dimethyl ammonium bisulfate, tetramethyl ammonium bisulfate, tetraethyl ammonium bisulfate, tetrabutyl ammonium bisulfate, and preferably dimethyl dialkyl ammonium bisulfate compounds where the dialkyl radicals contain from about 10 to about 30 carbon atoms, and more preferably dialkyl radicals with from about 14 to about 22 carbon atoms, and the like. Advantages of the charge additives of the present invention in embodiments thereof over the additives of the aforementioned patent include improved stable toner admix rate performance; usually more acceptable thermal stability and excellent chemical stability with respect to solvolysis permitting improved shelf stability of, for example, the toner charge enhancing properties, rapid admix characteristics at high temperatures, after extended storage, and the like.
Although many charge enhancing additives are known, there continues to be a need for toners with additives, which toners posses many of the advantages illustrated herein. Additionally, there is a need for positive charge enhancing additives which are useful for incorporation into black, and/or colored toner compositions. Moreover, there is a need for colored toner compositions containing certain charge enhancing additives. There is also a need for toner compositions with certain charge enhancing additives, which toners in embodiments thereof possess acceptable substantially stable triboelectric charging characteristics, and excellent admixing properties. Moreover, there continues to be a need for positively charged toner and developer compositions. Further, there is a need for toners with certain charge enhancing additives which can be easily and permanently dispersed into toner resin particles. There also is a need for positively charged black and colored toner compositions that are useful for incorporation into various imaging processes, inclusive of color xerography, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,929, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference; laser printers; and additionally a need for toner compositions useful in imaging apparatuses having incorporated therein layered photoresponsive imaging members, such as the members illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,265,990; 4,585,884; 4,584,253 and 4,563,408, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference. Also, there is a need for toner compositions which have the desired triboelectric charge level, for example from about 10 to about 40 microcoulombs per gram, and admix charging rates of from about 15 to about 60 seconds, and preferably from about 5 to about 30 seconds, as determined by the charge spectrograph, preferably for example at low concentrations, that is for example less than or equal to 1 percent of the charge enhancing additive of the present invention.

Toner and developer compositions with fluorophosphate charge enhancing additives


An oxidant distribution system for a fuel cell assembly includes a fuel cell having at least one oxidant inlet and at least one oxidant outlet, a housing surrounding the fuel cell and an insulation layer positioned between the housing and the fuel cell. The insulation layer defines a cavity adjacent to the oxidant inlet for channeling oxidant flow to the oxidant inlet. A fuel distribution system for a fuel cell assembly including similar features is also disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to fuel cell assemblies and, more particularly, to the oxidation and fuel distribution to fuel cells, such as solid oxide fuel cells.
A fuel cell is an energy conversion device that produces electricity by electrochemically combining a fuel and an oxidant across an ionic conducting layer. One typical construction of a high temperature fuel cell bundle is an array of axially elongated tubular shaped connected fuel cells and associated fuel and air distribution equipment. Other fuel cell constructions include planar fuel cells comprising flat single members. Exemplary planar fuel cells include counter-flow, cross-flow and parallel flow varieties. The members of a typical planar fuel cell comprise tri-layer anode/electrolyte/cathode components that conduct current from cell to cell and provide channels for gas flow into a cubic structure or stack.
Fuel cell stacks, such as solid oxide fuel cell stacks, have demonstrated a potential for high efficiency and low pollution in power generation. In a solid oxide fuel cell, upon electrochemically combining a fuel and an oxidant across an ionic conducting layer, an oxygen ion (02−) transported across the electrolyte produces a flow of electrons to an external load.
Oxidant, generally air, performs two main functions in the fuel cell stack. As discussed above, the oxidant electrochemically reacts with fuel to generate electric power. In addition, the oxidant is utilized to remove excess heat away from the cell. The waste heat generated in a solid oxide fuel cell at its operating temperature of about 600° C. to about 1300° C. is typically removed via the oxidant to maintain a desired temperature level of the fuel cell components, such as the anode, cathode and electrolyte.
For the stack to operate at maximum efficiency, all of the cells in the stack should operating at substantially the same operating temperature and have substantially the same reaction rate. In order to achieve this maximum efficiency, each cell requires about an equal amount of oxidant and fuel to be delivered.
Accordingly there is a need in the art to have an improved oxidant and fuel distribution system that can consistently deliver oxidant and fuel to the entire cell.

Oxidant and fuel distribution for a fuel cell assembly


A protein with canonical lysyl-tRNA synthetase activity was purified from Methanococcus maripaludis, cloned, and sequenced. The predicted amino acid sequence of the enzyme indicated a novel class I polypeptide structurally unrelated to class II lysyl-tRNA synthetase reported in eubacteria, eukaryotes, and the Crenarchaeote Sulfobus solfataricus. A similar class I polypeptide was isolated from Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, and an open reading frame encoding a class I-type lysyl-tRNA synthetase was identified in the genome of Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis. The B. burdorferi gene encoding tRNALysl was cloned and used to make tRNA in vitro. The fundamental difference between pathogen and host in an essential enzyme suggests that class I-type lysyl-tRNA synthetase provides a target for the development of medical and veterinary therapeutics and diagnostics for Borrelia and other microorganism infections.

This invention relates to a new class I-type lysyl-tRNA synthetase isolated from archaebacteria and Borrelia.
Lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) is essential for the translation of lysine codons during protein synthesis. In spite of the necessity for this enzyme in all organisms and the high degree of conservation among aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (1), genes encoding a LysRS homologue have not been found by sequence similarity searches in the genomes of two Archaea, Methanococcus jannaschii (2) and Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (3). This raises the possibility that. LysRS, like the asparaginyl- and glutaminyl-tRNA synthetases (4), is not present, with lysyl-tRNA (Lys-tRNA) synthesized by tRNA-dependent transformation of a misacylated tRNA (5). Alternatively, these organisms may contain a LysRS activity encoded by a gene sufficiently different to those previously identified to prevent its detection by sequence similarity searches.
This invention confirms the latter hypothesis and provides isolated and purified class I-type lysyl-tRNA synthetase (hereafter sometimes denoted herein as LysRSI) and active fragments and variants thereof, DNA and RNA sequences encoding class I-type lysyl-tRNA synthetase (and biological equivalents and fragments thereof), and methods for screening for class I-type lysyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitors for medical and veterinary use. It further provides methods for screening for infection of an organism by microorganisms expressing class I-type lysyl-tRNA synthetase.


A method for manufacturing an electronic device includes the steps of forming a first resist pattern on a primary surface of a SAW element, the first resist pattern having openings at positions corresponding to those at which bumps and a sealing frame are to be formed, sequentially forming metals over the first resist pattern, the metals being formed into adhesion layers, barrier metal layers, and solder layers, removing the first resist pattern on the SAW element such that the bumps and the sealing frame are simultaneously formed. When the bumps and the sealing frame of the SAW element are bonded to bond electrodes of the bond substrate, the solder layers are melted and alloyed by heating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of manufacturing electronic devices, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing an electronic device in which a communication element, such as a surface acoustic wave filter, a piezoelectric filter using piezoelectric thin-film resonators, an optical signal modulator, or a high-frequency element, is flip-chip mounted on a bond substrate and is then hermetically sealed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in accordance with the trend to make electronic apparatuses compact and light weight, multifunctionality has been required for electronic devices. According to the trend described above, piezoelectric devices used for communication apparatuses including mobile phones, such as a surface acoustic wave filter (hereinafter referred to as a "SAW filter") and a piezoelectric filter (hereinafter referred to as a Bulk Acoustic Wave Filter or "BAW filter") including piezoelectric resonators, have also been required to be compact and light-weight.
The BAW filter includes piezoelectric resonators arranged in a ladder pattern or in a lattice pattern. As the piezoelectric resonator, for example, a piezoelectric resonator including a vibration portion, which includes a thin-film composed of at least one piezoelectric thin film (formed of, for example, ZnO or AlN), and at least one pair of a top electrode and a bottom electrode, which face each other with the thin-film provided therebetween, is provided over an opening or a concave portion provided in an Si substrate, or a piezoelectric resonator in which a space is provided between a bottom electrode and an Si substrate which is not provided with an opening or a concave portion. In the piezoelectric resonators described above, since vertical vibration generated in the vibration portion is used, a vibration space must be provided, and in addition, the vibration portion must be protected from moisture, dust, and other contaminants.
In addition, a SAW filter includes a piezoelectric substrate composed, for example, of quartz, LiTaO3, or LiNbO3, and a pair of comb-shaped electrode portions (interdigital transducer, hereinafter referred to as an "IDT") provided thereon, which are made of a metal such as Al. In the surface acoustic wave filter described above, a vibration space for propagation of a surface acoustic wave must be provided at the comb-shaped electrode portions and the piezoelectric substrate, and in addition, the comb-shaped electrode portions must be protected from moisture, dust, and other contaminants.
The BAW filter and the SAW filter described above are each typically formed by the steps of applying a die-bonding agent on the bottom surface of a ceramic package made of alumina or other suitable material, mounting an element for the BAW filter or the SAW filter on the package via die-bonding, connecting electrodes of the element to terminals provided inside the package via wire bonding, and sealing the package with a lid. In addition, to reduce the size of the BAW filter and the SAW filter, a method has also been performed including the steps of forming electrode lands on the bottom surface of a package made of alumina or other suitable material, mounting an element for the BAW filter or the SAW filter on the package by flip-chip bonding, and sealing the package with a lid.
However, according to the structure described above, although the size of the elements for the BAW filter and the SAW filter are reduced, when the size of the package is not reduced, the sizes and heights of the BAW filter and the SAW filter cannot be reduced. In addition, that cost of forming a small package is high. Furthermore, in particular for the BAW filter, since the vibration portion is provided in an opening or in a concave portion of the substrate, the vibration portion is damaged by impact generated in a step in which an element is processed by dicing, is picked up for mounting, or is die-bonded. Accordingly, recently, a chip size package (hereinafter referred to as "CSP") BAW filter and a CSP SAW filter have been proposed.
In a conventional CSP SAW filter, an element (SAW element) for the SAW filter is mounted on a substrate. When this SAW element is mounted on the substrate and is then packaged, the following conditions must be satisfied.
(1) A hermetically sealed structure in which an IDT (primarily composed of Al) defining the SAW element is isolated from an ambient atmosphere for preventing corrosion.
(2) Electrical conduction between electrodes of the SAW element and the bond substrate is required.
A mounting structure of a surface acoustic wave device which satisfies the above-described conditions is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 4-293310 and 2000-77970.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-293310, a surface acoustic wave device includes a SAW element that is flip-chip bonded to a bond substrate with bumps provided therebetween, and a sealing frame surrounding IDT electrodes and the bumps is bonded to the bond substrate so as to provide a vibration space and to achieve a hermetic seal. In the case described above, the bumps and the sealing frame are both composed of solder and are simultaneously formed by applying cream solder on the bond substrate by screen printing, followed by melting and solidifying the solder. After the SAW element is arranged on the bond substrate such that input-output electrodes of the SAW element are brought into contact with the bumps, the bumps are bonded to the input-output electrodes by applying heat and pressure, and at the same time, the solder sealing frame is bonded to a seal ring provided at the element side.
According to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-77970, similar to the structure described above, a SAW element is flip-chip bonded to a bond substrate, and a sealing frame surrounding IDT electrodes and bumps is bonded to the bond substrate so as to provide hermetic seal. That is, input-output electrodes and a seal ring are provided on a surface of the SAW element, lead electrodes and a seal ring are provided on the bond substrate, bumps are provided on the lead electrodes, and a solder sealing frame is provided on the seal ring at the substrate side. The bumps are formed on the lead electrodes by a wire bonding method, and the solder sealing frame is formed by the steps of printing a solder paste on the seal ring at the substrate side, and reflowing the solder paste followed by washing.
According to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 4-293310 and 2000-77970, the following problems may arise since the solder sealing frame is formed at the bond substrate side, and a printing method is used therefor.
Since the solder sealing frame is formed on the bond substrate which is a portion of a mother substrate including a plurality of the bond substrates, when solder is printed on the substrate, cumulative pitch accuracy of the electrodes formed on the mother substrate and the accuracy of a metal mask for printing must be consistent with each other, and as a result, it becomes difficult to form a finer sealing frame. Hence, the size of an element is increased, and the number of the elements formed on the mother substrate is decreased.
In addition, since a printing amount of solder that is generated in printing varies due to warping of the mother substrate and variation in electrode thickness, the height of the bumps varies after reflowing, and as a result, bonding defects occur. Furthermore, in reflowing, since the solder aggregates at corner portions to form convex shapes, the height of the solder varies, and as a result, bonding defects occur.
In order to solve the problems described above, a method of forming a sealing frame may be used in which a solder paste is printed on a wafer having a number of elements formed thereon followed by reflowing. However, in the method described above, the accuracy of the solder sealing frame cannot be effectively obtained, performance is degraded due to damage to electrodes on the surface of the wafer caused by a printing mask, the wafer is broken by a squeegee printing pressure applied in printing or by heat applied for reflowing the solder, and other defects are likely to occur.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-162690, a method is disclosed in which a SAW element is flip-chip bonded to a bond substrate, and a sealing frame surrounding IDT electrodes and bumps is bonded to the bond substrate so as to provide a hermetic seal. That is, input-output electrodes and a seal ring are formed on the surface of the SAW element by a lift-off technique, and the bumps and the sealing frame are formed on the input-output electrodes and the seal ring, respectively, by a lift-off technique.
The bumps and the sealing frame each have a two-layered structure, for example, of nickel and gold. In addition, lead electrodes and a seal ring are provided on the bond substrate. The seal ring on the bond substrate is formed, for example, by performing seal printing of gold. Subsequently, the SAW element is preliminarily pressed onto the bond substrate and is then bonded thereto by reflowing.
In the case disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-162690, since a lift-off technique is used instead of a printing method, the problems described above do not occur. However, since gold having a melting point higher than that of solder is used for the bumps and the sealing frame, the temperature is significantly increased in reflowing, and properties of the SAW element are degraded. In addition, since a large amount of gold is used, the cost is increased substantially.
In addition, when gold having a predetermined thickness is processed by a lift-off technique, since stress generated when a film is formed using gold is large, a resist pattern used for the lift-off is considerably deformed, and as a result, deviation in the patterns of the bumps and the sealing frame often occur.
Furthermore, since a seal ring is provided on the surface of the SAW element in advance, and the sealing frame is formed thereon, extremely high alignment accuracy is required, and in addition, the width of the seal ring must be greater than that of the sealing frame. As a result, the size of the SAW element is increased.
In addition, in a CSP BAW filter, an element (BAW element) for the BAW filter is bonded to a bond substrate. When this BAW element is mounted on the bond substrate and is then packaged, the following conditions must be satisfied.
(1) A hermetically sealed structure in which a top electrode and a bottom electrode, which define the BAW element, are isolated from an ambient atmosphere for preventing corrosion.
(2) Electrical conduction between electrodes of the BAW element and the bond substrate.
A mounted structure of a BAW device, which satisfies the above-described conditions, is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 7-283334 and 2001-68580.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-283334, a BAW filter includes a BAW element that is flip-chip bonded to a bond substrate via bumps provided therebetween, and a sealing member (corresponding to the sealing frame) surrounding a vibration portion and the bumps is bonded to the bond substrate so as to provide a vibration space and a hermetic seal. In the case described above, the sealing member (corresponding to the sealing frame) is formed of a low melting point glass, such as lead glass, or cream solder.
According to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-283334, when a low melting point glass is used for the sealing member (corresponding to the sealing frame), the following problems arise. First, since a low melting point glass such as lead glass contain lead which causes environmental problems, the use thereof is not preferable. However, when glass which does not contain lead is used, the melting point is increased to approximately 400° C. or more, and as a result, the top electrode, the bottom electrode, and piezoelectric thin films of the BAW element may be damaged in a manufacturing process. Furthermore, since a low melting point glass does not have sufficient strength, when the coefficient of thermal expansion of a BAW element substrate is different from that of the bond substrate, the strain generated cannot be absorbed. On the other hand, when cream solder is used for the sealing member (corresponding to the sealing frame), problems similar to those described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 4-293310 and 2000-77970 occur during printing.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-68580, a BAW filter is disclosed in which a microcap (corresponding to the bond substrate), which is provided with a gasket (corresponding to the sealing frame) and which is used to provide a vibration portion, is bonded to a BAW element by cold pressure bonding so as to provide a vibration space and a hermetic seal. In the case described above, the gasket (corresponding to the sealing frame) is formed of gold.
As described above, according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-68580, the microcap (corresponding to the bond substrate) provided with the gasket (corresponding to the sealing frame) is bonded to the BAW element by cold pressure bonding. In cold pressure bonding, since considerable pressure is applied to the BAW element, problems may arise in that the vibration portion of the BAW element is destroyed or a BAW element substrate is damaged by the pressure. In addition, when the degree of flatness of the BAW element substrate is not high, it is difficult to achieve sealing by cold pressure bonding, and the yield is thus decreased. Furthermore, when a very small amount of dust is present on the BAW element substrate, it becomes difficult to uniformly apply pressure on the periphery of the substrate, and in the worst case, the wafer may be broken.

Hermetically sealing a package to include a barrier metal


The present invention pertains to the field of computer software. More specifically, the present invention relates to one more populating, indexing, and searching a database of fine-grained web objects or object specifications.

A search engine is a program that helps users find relevant information on a connected set of information sources. While the information sources can be connected by any mechanism, we will assume in this document—only for the sake of providing a concrete example—that they are on the World Wide Web. Numerous web search engines exist today. In this section, we first briefly survey the state-of-art of search engine technologies. We then discuss our methods for extending existing search engine technologies for searching for fine-grained objects and related entities, as well as some example applications of such a search engine.

Method and apparatus for searching network resources


Novel DNA constructs are provided which may be used as molecular probes or inserted into a plant host to provide for modification of transcription of a DNA sequence of interest in cotton fiber, particularly in very early fiber development. The DNA constructs comprise a cotton fiber transcriptional initiation regulatory region associated with a gene which is expressed in cotton fiber.

In general, genetic engineering techniques have been directed to modifying the phenotype of individual prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, especially in culture. Plant cells have proven more intransigent than other eukaryotic cells, due not only to a lack of suitable vector systems but also as a result of the different goals involved. For many applications, it is desirable to be able to control gene expression at a particular stage in the growth of a plant or in a particular plant part. For this purpose, regulatory sequences are required which afford the desired initiation of transcription in the appropriate cell types and/or at the appropriate time in the plant's development without having serious detrimental effects on plant development and productivity. It is therefore of interest to be able to isolate sequences which can be used to provide the desired regulation of transcription in a plant cell during the growing cycle of the host plant.
One aspect of this interest is the ability to change the phenotype of particular cell types, such as differentiated epidermal cells that originate in fiber tissue, i.e. cotton fiber cells, so as to provide for altered or improved aspects of the mature cell type. Cotton is a plant of great commercial significance. In addition to the use of cotton fiber in the production of textiles, other uses of cotton include food preparation with cotton seed oil and animal feed derived from cotton seed husks.
Despite the importance of cotton as a crop, the breeding and genetic engineering of cotton fiber phenotypes has taken place at a relatively slow rate because of the absence of reliable promoters for use in selectively effecting changes in the phenotype of the fiber. In order to effect the desired phenotypic changes, transcription initiation regions capable of initiating transcription in fiber cells during development are desired. Thus, an important goal of cotton bioengineering research is the acquisition of a reliable promoter which would permit expression of a protein selectively in cotton fiber to affect such qualities as fiber strength, length or color.
Relevant Literature
Cotton fiber-specific promoters are discussed in PCT publications WO 94/12014 and WO 95/08914, and John and Crow, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:5769-5773, 1992. cDNA clones that are preferentially expressed in cotton fiber have been isolated. One of the clones isolated corresponds to mRNA and protein that are highest during the late primary cell wall and early secondary cell wall synthesis stages. John and Crow, supra.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,095 describes tomato transcriptional factors which can be used to direct the transciption of DNA in ovary tissue. The factors are expressed immediately prior to anthesis and through flowering.
A class of fruit-specific promoters expressed at or during anthesis through fruit development, at least until the beginning of ripening, is discussed in European Application 88.906296.4, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. cDNA clones from tomato displaying differential expression during fruit development have been isolated and characterized (Mansson et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. (1985) 200:356-361. Slater et al., Plant Mol. Biol. (1985) 5:137-147). These studies have focused primarily on mRNAs which accumulate during fruit ripening. One of the proteins encoded-by the ripening-specific cDNAs has been identified as polygalacturonase (Slater et al., Plant Mol. Biol. (1985) 5:137-147).
A cDNA clone which encodes tomato polygalacturonase has been sequenced (Grierson et al., Nucleic Acids Research (1986) 14:8395-8603). Improvements in aspects of tomato fruit storage and handling through transcriptional manipulation of expression of the polygalacturonase gene have been reported (Sheehy et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1988) 85:8805-8809; Smith et al., Nature (1988) 334: 724-726).
Mature plastid mRNA for psbA (one of the components of photosystem II) reaches its highest level late in fruit development, whereas after the onset of ripening, plastid mRNAs for other components of photosystem I and II decline to nondetectable levels in chromoplasts (Piechulla et al., Plant Molec. Biol. (1986) 7:367-376). Recently, cDNA clones representing genes apparently involved in tomato pollen (McCormick et al., Tomato Biotechnology (1987) Alan R. Liss, Inc., NY) and pistil (Gasser et al., Plant Cell (1989), 1:15-24) interactions have also been isolated and characterized.
Other studies have focused on genes inducibly regulated, e.g. genes encoding serine proteinase inhibitors, which are expressed in response to wounding in tomato (Graham et al., J. Biol. Chem. (1985) 260:6555-6560: Graham et al., J. Biol. Chem. (1985) 260:6561-6554) and on mRNAs correlated with ethylene synthesis in ripening fruit and leaves after wounding (Smith et al., Planta (1986) 168: 94-100). Accumulation of a metallocarboxypeptidase inhibitor protein has been reported in leaves of wounded potato plants (Graham et al., Biochem & BioPhys. Res Comm. (1981) 101: 1164-1170).
Genes which are expressed preferentially in plant seed tissues, such as in embryos or seed coats, have also been reported. See, for example, European Patent Application 87306739.1 (published as 0 255 378 on Feb. 3, 1988) and Kridl et al. (Seed Science Research (1991) 1:209-219).
In animals, the ras superfamily is subdivided into the subfamilies ras members of which are involved in controlling cell growth and division, rab/YPT members of which control secretory processes, and rho members of which are involved in control of cytoskeletal organization (Bourne et al., (1991) Nature 349: 117-127), and number of homologous genes have now been identified in plants (for a review, see Terryn et al. (1993) Plant Mol. Biol. 22: 143-152). None have been found for the important ras subfamily, all but one of the genes identified have been members of the rab/YPT1 subfamily, and there is only one recent report of the cloning of a rho gene in pea (Yang and Watson (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90: 8732-8736).
Little work has been done to characterize the functions of these genes in plants, although one recent report has shown that a small G protein from Arabidopsis can functionally complement a mutant form in yeast involved in vesicle trafficking, suggesting a similar function for the plant gene (Bednarek et al., (1994) Plant Physiol 104: 591-596).
In animals, two members of the rho subfamily, called Rac and Rho, have been shown to be involved in the regulation of actin organization (for a review, see Downward, (1992) Nature 359: 273-274).
Rac1 has been shown to mediate growth factor-induced membrane ruffling by influencing microfilament alignment on the plasma membrane (Ridley et al, (1992) Cell 70: 401-410), whereas RhoA regulates the formation of actin stress fibers associated with focal adhesions (Ridley and Hall, (1992) Cell 70: 389-399).
In yeast, the CDC42 gene codes for a rho-type protein which also regulates actin organization involved in the establishment of cell polarity required for the localized deposition of chitin in the bud scar (Adams et al., (1990) J. Cell Biol. 111: 131-143.
Disruption of gene function, either by temperature shifts with a CDC42-temperature-sensitive mutant in yeast (Adams et al., 1990), or by micro-injection into fibroblasts of mutant Rac or Rho proteins exibiting a dominant negative phenotype (Ridley et al., 1992; Ridley and Hall, 1992), leads to disorganization of the actin network.
In plants, control of cytoskeletal organization is poorly understood in spite of its importance for the regulation of patterns of cell division, expansion, and subsequent deposition of secondary cell wall polymers. The cotton fiber represents an excellent system for studying cytoskeletal organization. Cotton fibers are single cells in which cell elongation and secondary wall deposition can be studied as distinct events. These fibers develop synchronously within the boll following anthesis, and each fiber cell elongates for about 3 weeks, depositing a thin primary wall (Meinert and Delmer, (1984) Plant Physiol. 59: 1088-1097; Basra and Malik, (1984) Int. Rev. of Cytol. 89: 65-113). At the time of transition to secondary wall cellulose synthesis, the fiber cells undergo a synchronous shift in the pattern of cortical microtubule and cell wall microfibril alignment, events which may be regulated upstream by the organization of actin (Seagull, (1990) Protoplasma 159: 44-59; and (1992) In: Proceedings of the Cotton Fiber Cellulose Conference, National Cotton Council of America, Memphis, Tenn., pp 171-192.
Agrobacterium-mediated cotton transformation is described in Umbeck, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,004,863 and 5,159,135 and cotton transformation by particle bombardment is reported in WO 92/15675, published Sep. 17, 1992. Transformation of Brassica has been described by Radke et al. Theor. Appl. Genet. (1988) 75;685-694; Plant Cell Reports (1992) 11:499-505.


A reliable high frequency VCSEL includes a lower distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), an active region, and an upper DBR. A cylindrical volume is etched from the upper DBR to define a mesa with a lower surface of the cylindrical volume forming an angle greater than ninety degrees with the side wall of the mesa. An isolation trench is etched in the lower surface of the cylindrical volume concentric with the mesa and extending through the active region. A portion of the side wall of the mesa and the lower surface of the cylindrical volume are proton implanted. The upper DBR is planarized using low-k dielectric materials and n and p electrical contacts are coupled to opposite sides of the active region for supplying operating current thereto.

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (hereinafter referred to as "VCSELs") have become the dominant light source for optical transmitters used in short-reach local area networks and storage area network applications, in which a multi-mode optical fiber is used for data transmission. VCSELs are low cost micro-cavity devices with high speed, low drive current and low power dissipation, with desirable beam properties that significantly simplify their optical packaging and testing. In order to extend the application of VCSELs to higher speed applications, the VCSEL must be capable of operating reliably at frequencies of up to 10 GHz.
Commercial oxide confined VCSELs have been widely deployed in the field. However, due to intrinsic mechanical stress introduced by the oxidation in the VCSEL fabrication, oxide confined VCSELs are not as reliable as, for example, proton (or ion) implanted VCSELs with higher random failure rates. Prior art VCSELs which include an oxide confinement may operate at 10 GHz, but they suffer from poor reliability. Prior art ion implanted VCSELs typically operate at about 1 GHz, but-are more reliable than VCSELs with oxide confinement. Although certain stress relief methods may be introduced to reduce the random failure rate, the oxidation process is too sensitive to the temperature, materials composition, and gas pressure during device fabrication and, therefore, the oxide confinement process is not a consistent manufacturing process for VCSELs.
Ion implanted VCSELs are relatively more reliable. However, ion implanted devices do not perform well at higher speeds and, therefore, their applications are limited to data rates around 1 Gbps. The speed of an ion implanted VCSEL is limited by several factors. One factor is the lack of a good index guiding for the optical mode. Another factor is from a size limitation due to a deep implant where the typical implant depth may be more than three microns. Further, the implant has a distribution with a large straggle and a large standard deviation. With a large implant distribution and the poor current confinement of a heavily doped mirror, the size is typically more than 20 microns wherein the speed is limited to less than 2 GHz.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a reliable high performance VCSEL for high speed optical communications.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and improved VCSELs that operate reliably at high frequencies.
It is another object of the present invention to provide new and improved VCSELs with reduced current leakage and device capacitance.

Index guided VCSEL and method of fabrication


Step exercise apparatus primarily intended for use in an aquatic environment such as a pool or the like. The apparatus includes a step platform maintained in elevated relation above a foundation surface by a pair of support members. The apparatus has a specific gravity greater than one so as to sink within a body of water, and slots extend through the platform to prevent entrapment of air bubbles when the platform is placed in a pool. Handles in the sides and ends of the apparatus assist the user in manipulating the apparatus while exercising in the water. Removable extension feet selectively increase the step distance between the platform and the pool bottom or other foundation surface on which the apparatus rests.

Exercise programs and equipment are used by many people for a variety of purposes. Some people are interested in maintaining or improving body strength, and those persons may exercise with free weights or with exercise machines designed or programmed to develop particular parts of the body. Persons may also engage in various aerobic exercise activities designed to improve respiratory and circulatory functions by increasing oxygen consumption of the body. Examples of aerobic exercise include running, walking, and swimming, and many people use exercise machines or devices such as treadmills, stair climbers, and aerobic step exercisers, to perform aerobic exercises indoor or within a relatively closed space.
Generally speaking, the foregoing kinds of exercises and exercise equipment should be used by persons in good physical health who are working to maintain or improve their strength or stamina. However, exercise routines may also be important for those who, by reason of illness, infirmity, or age, require physical therapy as a remedial treatment of bodily disorder. For example, persons who have undergone cardiovascular surgery or who are recovering from a heart attack may have prescribed a regimen of relatively light exercises to aid their physical rehabilitation. Exercise machines such as stair climbers or treadmills, even used sparingly, may simply be too stressful for many such therapeutic applications of exercise. Moreover, such exercise machines may appear intimidating to elderly or very infirm patients, who would feel more comfortable with exercises conducted in a familiar or nonthreatening environment.


Different kinds of upper casings and different kinds of lower casings can be combined with each other. A tape cassette is formed by combining an upper casing and a lower casing corresponding to tape width of tapes (film tape, double-coated adhesive tape, heat transfer ribbon). A first projection part indicating to a kind of upper casing is formed on the upper casing and a second projection part indicating to a kind of lower casing is formed on the lower casing. The kind of tape cassette can be identified by the first projection part and second projection part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape cassette built in a tape writer for printing desired characters, symbols, etc. on a tape.
2. Description of Related Art
Two kinds of tapes of, for example, 12 mm and 9 mm width have been used as tapes installed in a tape cassette which is to be attached to a tape writer for making a tape on which desired characters or symbols are printed. Four kinds of cassette casings comprising an upper casing and a lower casing corresponding to a tape of 12 mm width and an upper casing and a lower casing corresponding to a tape of 9 mm width are required to form a tape cassette for storing tapes of 12 mm width and 9 mm width, respectively. Each of the tape cassettes are formed by combining an upper casing and a lower casing corresponding to the tape width.
However, if an upper casing and a lower casing are required for each of tapes of two different widths, two kinds of upper casings and two kinds of lower casings are required to form cassette casings for the tapes of two different tape widths. That is, four kinds of casings are required in all. If a tape cassette is formed by an upper casing and a lower casing for each of tapes of different widths, more than three kinds of upper casings and more than three kinds of lower casings are required to make printed tapes of more than three kinds of widths.
If the kinds of upper casings and lower casings increases, manufacturing means for each casing is required and it takes much time and labor to manufacture upper casings and lower casings. Another problem exists wherein, for example, much labor is required to manage many kinds of upper casings and lower casings.


Systems, apparatuses, and methods for thermal dissipation on or from an electronic device are described. An apparatus may have a printed circuit board (PCB) having an edge connector. At least one integrated circuit device may be disposed on a surface of the PCB. A tubular heat spreader may be disposed along an edge of the PCB opposite the edge connector.

Semiconductor memories are often provided in memory modules, such as dual in-line memory modules, for use in system applications. These modules share common physical form factors (e.g., dimensions, pin-outs, connector shapes), in accordance with industry standards. As memory devices are provided with greater capacities and faster performance, the amount of heat generated poses a challenge to memory module design. There exists a need to convey heat away from the memory devices (and other heat-generating components, such as registering clock drivers (RCD), other semiconductor devices, integrated circuit elements, etc.) to heat radiating structures which can be cooled by, e.g., forced air cooling. Because the dimensions of memory modules are limited by industry-standard specifications, such as JEDEC specifications for dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs such as DDR4 and DDR5 RDIMMs and LRDIMMs), the space available for such thermal structures is limited and the performance of the thermal management solutions is frequently unsatisfactory.

Tubular heat spreaders for memory modules and memory modules incorporating the same


The invention relates to a method for doping a semiconductor body (2), in which an n-type doping is introduced into the semiconductor body, which is initially p-doped, for example, by means of ion irradiation preferably with protons, which n-type doping is then cancelled by the action of a laser beam (8) in specific regions (9) so that the original p-type doping is present in said regions (9).

As is known, compensation components are high-voltage components with a dielectric strength of more than 300 V which are distinguished by an on resistance reduced by approximately one order of magnitude compared with conventional high-voltage components and are therefore extremely advantageous. In such compensation components, charge compensation is provided to the greatest possible extent in the drift zone thereof, so that, by way of example, p-conducting compensation regions are incorporated into the n-conducting drift zone of an n-channel transistor; the dopant quantities in said p-conducting compensation regions are set in such a way that there is charge compensation with the n-conducting surroundings of the drift zone.
In a vertical component, the compensation regions preferably comprise pillar-type zones located in the drift path in the region between the body zone and the drain zone.
In order to fabricate such a compensation component, at the present time use is preferably made of the so-called construction technique, which comprises a repeated succession of a process sequence with a masked low-energy implantation and the deposition of an epitaxial layer. The construction technique is complicated, this being attributable to said multiple succession of the process sequence.
In the case of the construction technique, by way of example, n-conducting epitaxial layers are deposited in order to fabricate an n-channel transistor, into which epitaxial layers, in each case after the deposition thereof, p-conducting compensation regions are introduced by ion implantation in such a way that they assume a pillar-type structure. Of course, it is also possible, however, to deposit a p-conducting epitaxial layer and to incorporate n-conducting compensation regions therein by means of implantation.
As is known, there are even further doping methods besides doping with the aid of epitaxy and ion implantation. One of these doping methods provides, in order to fabricate an n-type doping, a high-energy proton irradiation in silicon as semiconductor body. This is because during such a proton irradiation, intrinsic defect complexes which act as n-type dopants are produced in silicon. In this case, the proton irradiation has the advantage that the protons that are radiated in penetrate deeply into the silicon body even at relatively low energies. Thus, it shall be specified as an example that an implantation energy of 1.7 MeV leads to a penetration depth in silicon of about 36 μm.
Specifically, DE 100 25 567 A1 discloses a method for fabricating deeply doped n-conducting regions into a p-conducting semiconductor body, in which said n-conducting regions are produced by means of a masked implantation of protons and a subsequent heat treatment at temperatures of between 200 and 380° C. An indiffusion of hydrogen is performed at temperatures of between 400° C. and 500° C.
Furthermore, DE 100 18 371 A describes a method for fabricating a semiconductor substrate, in which a doping material is introduced into a semiconductor base material. In order to effect a spatially delimited change in the distribution of the doping material, locally delimited introduction of a quantity of heat in well-defined heating regions increases the temperature and consequently the rate of diffusion of the doping material from heating regions. The locally delimited introduction of a quantity of heat is preferably effected with the aid of a pulsed laser beam. This method is relatively complicated in terms of its practical implementation.
Maskings are necessary both for a direct implantation of, for example, high-energy boron for producing p-conducting regions and for producing an n-type doping by means of high-energy proton irradiation with a subsequent thermal step. So-called silicon stencil masks are appropriate as masks in this case since a conventional resist technique cannot be employed on account of the large thickness of the resist layer with 50 to 100 μm and the required accuracy. For a doping with high-energy protons, the application of stencil masks is problematic, however, since the high-energy implantation process for the proton doping can only be performed at the end of a complete wafer fabrication process, so that the stencil mask has to be aligned with the preceding photo-lithography planes. This alignment can only be realized with a high outlay on apparatus especially when the stencil mask has to be bonded to the wafer by means of a bonding technique.
When applying a proton irradiation to the fabrication of a compensation component, it would be conceivable to deposit p-doped epitaxial layers on an n-conducting wafer substrate and to produce the n-conducting regions—in the case of an n-channel transistor—in the drift path by a proton irradiation—masked by means of stencil masks—in the p-conducting epitaxial layers by counterdoping. The disadvantages associated with stencil masks cannot, therefore, be avoided here.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to specify a method for doping a semiconductor body which permits p- and n-conducting regions to be produced by means of proton irradiation without complicated masking in a semiconductor body.


A physical channel processor on a wireless device and method for precoding for spatial multiplexing in an open-loop multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) mobile communication system is disclosed. The method comprises the operation of receiving an input vector block from a layer mapper. The input vector block includes user equipment-specific reference signals (UE-RSs) or data in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The operation of generating a large delay cyclic delay diversity (CDD) vector block from the input vector block using a precoder configured for large delay CDD on an antenna port follows. The data can be resource element mapped with UE-RSs or channel-state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) in a physical resource block (PRB).

Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between a base transceiver station (BTS) and a wireless mobile device. Some wireless devices communicate using an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) digital modulation scheme via a physical layer. OFDM standards and protocols can include the third generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard (e.g., 802.16e, 802.16m), which is commonly known to industry groups as WiMax (Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access), and the IEEE 802.11 standard, which is commonly known to industry groups as WiFi. In 3GPP radio access networks (RANs) LTE systems, the BTS can be a combination of evolved Node Bs (also commonly denoted as enhanced Node Bs, eNodeBs, or eNBs) and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) in a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), which communicates with the wireless mobile device, known as a user equipment (UE). Both the BTS and wireless mobile device can transmit and receive data. The transmitting station (Transmitter or Tx) can transmit data via a signal on a channel to a receiving station (Receiver or Rx), where a channel uses a specified frequency bandwidth. Transmission modes can be used to allow different types of transmissions between a BTS and wireless mobile device.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.

Large delay cyclic delay diversity (CDD) precoder for open loop multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)


A process for detecting an aluminum-based material deposited onto a titanium-based gas turbine engine component during engine operation is disclosed. The process comprises immersing at least a portion of the titanium-based component, which has been subjected to engine operation, into an acid solution to form an etched component. The acid solution comprises sodium fluoride, sulphuric acid and water. The etched component may then be removed from the solution and visually inspected for dark areas in contrast to light areas, the dark areas indicating deposited aluminum-based material.

Titanium-based materials are useful because of their relatively low weight and high strength over a wide range of operating temperatures. Titanium or titanium alloys often are the material of choice for high performance gas turbine engine components, such as the fan rotor, fan blades, compressor disk and compressor blades. A wide range of titanium alloys are available, each of which confer a particular combination of characteristics to the component. For example, some gas turbine compressor blades are made of the commercially available Ti-6A1-4V alloy.
The efficiency of gas turbine engines is dependent, in part, on the ability of the above titanium-based and other engine components to combine air and products of combustion, to intended pathways. Leakage from such design flowpaths can reduce engine performance and efficiency and thus gas turbine engine designers have developed a variety of sealing arrangements, such as abradable seals, to work in conjunction with other components to reduce or control leakage. For example, abradable seals are used on the shrouds of compressors to insure efficient operation of the engine by minimizing gas leakage in the compressor and turbine sections. Although the engine is typically designed and manufactured to precise dimensional tolerances, centrifugal and thermal expansion of the rotating and stationary members makes it difficult to achieve zero clearances. Thus, abradable seals often are employed on surfaces of the stationary member allowing penetration of rotating blades into the seal.
Some modern gas turbine engines employ titanium alloy rotor blades and an AlSi coated seal. During operation, the titanium alloy blades may contact and rub into casings or adjacent hardware coated with AlSi. The condition of the blade after operation can vary depending on the severity of the rub. Severe rubs may result in over heating of the blade tip with a range of conditions varying from an associated color tint on the tip, transformation of the blade tip microstructure to deformation of the blade tip. However, there are no visual indications for blades that experienced mild contact into the AlSi coating resulting in the deposit of aluminum on the blade. Such deposit onto the blades is aerodynamically undesirable and may result in decreased engine performance and efficiency. Thus, if a blade rub is suspected, all of the blades are removed from the engine and replaced.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a nondestructive inspection technique that identifies the presence of aluminum-based material deposited on titanium-based components during engine operation. The present invention satisfies this need.

Method for inspecting a titanium-based component


A housing for an integrated circuit, comprising a base for securing a substrate with an integrated circuit thereon, a top cover, and a body with a cavity for receiving the substrate and at least a portion of the top cover therein to form an enclosed housing therewith, the body including at least one connector extending from within the cavity to outside of the body and configured to contact the integrated circuit when the substrate is in the cavity.

The integration of Monolithic Millimeter Wave Integrated Circuits (MMICs) into high frequency communication systems and devices has increased the need for a low cost packaging system that can be mass produced. These systems are currently operating at 50 GHz and above, but currently available, conventional packaging techniques are typically inadequate for such high frequency devices because they fail to adequately transmit the signal without any resonance from DC to mm-wave and thus result in a loss with every transition. Most V-band and W-band MMIC packages available today have narrow operating bandwidths and offer only single-ended inputs and outputs (I/Os).
Traditionally, integrated circuits (IC) formed on a semiconductor chip are packaged by enclosing the chip within a plastic or ceramic casing, attaching wire bonds between the pads of the chip and the package leads, and then soldering the leads to a circuit board. Ceramic packaging such as co-fired ceramic enclosures are commonly used for housing small ICs and other solid-state electronic devices. The IC is typically housed in or on a ceramic substrate, or in a cavity within the substrate, and metallized feed-throughs connect the integrated circuit with the outside of the package. The package may have a metal base or core that serves as a ground plane, and may further incorporate a metal slug for improved heat removal.
Commonly, thick film or screen printing techniques are used to form conductive traces on the substrate, and metal leads such as Kovar™ or copper ribbons are then soldered or brazed onto the metal traces to provide connections from the package to exterior circuitry. This technique is acceptable for low frequency devices but when applied to high frequency devices however, the millimeter components corresponding to the high frequency components of the signal exhibit odd behavior because the standard package cannot carry the high frequency signal. These losses and the erratic signal behavior occur as a result of the internal structure of the package and the signal transitioning from one package down to the circuit board and back up into another package. In particular, printed feed-throughs have to be matched to a transmission line, which is typically a microstrip that is printed on the circuit board, and wire bonds, ribbon bonds, or leads at this point create an inductance that can result in undesirable insertion losses at higher frequencies.
For high frequency (i.e. microwave and millimeter wave frequencies) IC packaging, controlled impedance feed-throughs and interconnections are typically provided to control signal reflections and losses to acceptable levels. This entails careful design of conductor geometry, which requires consideration of dielectric thickness and permittivity, as well as ground geometry. At high frequencies, many feed-through structures will support higher order modes of transmission and resonances, and have dispersive propagation degrading characteristics (i.e., frequency-dependent characteristic impedance and propagation velocity) thereby degrading signal fidelity. To reduce or minimize these deleterious effects, thinner dielectric substrates are preferable.
Because the traces on a well-designed microwave package are themselves controlled impedance transmission lines and the interconnect substrate can typically be a printed circuit board of appropriate material and thickness for high frequency operation, it is desirable to maintain the lead lengths between the package and the printed circuit board traces as short as possible to achieve broadband performance (typically, DC to 40 GHz or more) with low-loss interconnection. Surface-mounting the ICs, wherein all package signal and ground connections lie in the same plane, are known to address these issues. Typical surface-mount packages employ metallic vias through the dielectric (e.g. ceramic) layer to transfer both signal and ground connections from the device to the package mounting surface (typically a metal chassis), as well as carry much of the heat generated by the packaged device to the chassis.
In view of the above, there is an ongoing quest for a packaging solution that will allow the nonplanar transmission line connectors on the package to be connected to the planar line conductors on the printed circuit board with a minimum of signal loss. The packaging will preferably also simplify the installation as well as replacement of the packaged ICs within the overall system, facilitate multi-chip assembly, and be applicable to multi-port ICs. Conventional methods for assembling a module having multiple chips entail numerous, time-consuming, and mistake-riddled prototype iterations before a final design is produced. Accordingly, what is now needed is a method and design for packaging high speed ICs that offers ease of assembly and re-assembly, is low-cost to produce and use, and provides acceptable performance at high IC operating frequencies. The embodiments disclosed herein answer these and other needs.


An electrically operated locking system for doors and the like has an electrically operated locking device installed inside the door. A control device installed outside the door is operatively connected with the locking device. A sensor detects the position of the door with respect to the door mounting by a light activated means electrically coupled to the locking device such that when darkness is sensed, the locking device is activatable to operate the locking unit. When light is sensed, however, the locking device is nonactivatable.

The present invention generally relates to electrically operated locking systems for doors and the like.
Electrically operated locking systems for doors, for example, safety or security room doors, generally comprise a bolt locking unit installed on the inside of the door which is electrically coupled to a control unit which may be installed on the outside of the door or elsewhere, for example, at a central control room.
The control unit may be any of a variety of types, including those types using magnetic cards or keyed-in pass codes. The function of the control unit is to ensure that only authorized persons may operate the locking unit.
Normally, following input at the control unit, typically by key, numbered combination or password, an electrical pulse or current activates the bolt unit which withdraws the bolt from the door frame to unlock the door or inserts the bolt unit into the door frame to lock the door.
Such electrically operated systems tend to have sensitive internal mechanisms which are easily damaged if attempts are made to operate the bolt unit when the door is open or when it is closed for locking or unlocking thereof, but is not properly seated.
It is known to employ devices, such as micro-switches or relays, which are operatively coupled to the locking system to prevent activation of the bolt unit whenever the system is not ready, and often also to display whether the lock is ready to be activated.
Furthermore, in certain types of systems, these devices are used to automatically operate the locking system upon the slamming of the door.
However, several disadvantages have been experienced with respect to such conventional systems. First, the mounting and installation of the micro-switches and other equivalent devices may be complicated and expensive, mainly because of the high level of precision that is required for the proper functioning thereof. Secondly, even after proper installment, there is always the need for conducting fine adjustment operations. Thirdly, the devices may be damaged or otherwise become malfunctioned during prolonged use or by tampering therewith.

Door locking system having a sensor for controlling activating/deactivating of a locking device


A process for efficiently utilizing phosphorous acid or salts thereof as a chain transfer agent in the polymerization of monomers, particulary unsaturated carboxylic acid monomers, is provided, where the polymerization is conducted at an in-process solids level of at least 40 percent and in-process neutralization level of at least 30% to produce low molecular weight water-soluble phosphonate-terminated polymers.

This invention relates to a process for preparing low molecular weight phosphonate-terminated polymers. In particular, this invention relates to a process for the efficient use of phosphorous acid as a chain transfer agent in aqueous polymerizations.
Low molecular weight polycarboxylic acid polymers and their salts are useful as dispersants, scale inhibitors, detergent additives, sequestrants, etc. Generally a molecular weight below 50,000 is necessary for effective performance and often very low molecular weights below 10,000 are most effective. It is common to use chain transfer agents in the polymerization reaction to produce low, and especially the very low, molecular weight polymers. Phosphorous and hypophosphorous acid and their corresponding salts (commonly sodium phosphite and hypophosphite, respectively) are particularly desirable chain transfer agents, chosen primarily because they introduce phosphonate and phosphinate functionality, respectively, into water-soluble polymer molecules which confers superior performance properties in some applications. As used hereinafter and in the appended claims, the term "phosphorous acid" is intended to include phosphorous acid and its derivatives, for example, salts thereof, such as alkali and alkaline earth metal salts (metal phosphites), unless a clearly different meaning is indicated.
Inefficiency is a problem that is common to most of the known processes utilizing phosphorous acid as a chain transfer agent. A significant portion is not incorporated into the polymer and remains unreacted or is converted to other species such as phosphoric acid or corresponding salts. As a consequence, high levels of phosphorous acid are required to obtain low molecular weight polymer. Since phosphorous acid is relatively costly its use may be prohibitively expensive if the phosphorous acid is not used efficiently.
A second disadvantage arising from the inefficiency is the significant amounts of unreacted phosphite or oxidized byproduct, such as phosphate, salt residues present in the reaction product. These salts do not contribute to performance thereby diluting the activity of the reaction product. In some cases, such as preparing concentrated clay slurries, these salts can interfere with the dispersing process.
Low molecular weight polycarboxylic acid polymers are conventionally produced by reacting certain olefinic monomers with phosphorous acid or phosphorous acid derivatives in the presence of a free-radical initiator. Yields of the desired phosphonate-terminated polymer are low, and the polymer contains high levels of residual phosphorous acid and phosphate impurities. When derivatives of phosphorous acid, for example esters, are used as chain transfer agents, separate hydrolysis and stripping steps are required to recover the polymer. For example, EP 360746A discloses a method of preparing copolymers containing phosphonate endgroups involving the reaction of olefinic reactants with phosphorous acid or derivatives thereof (such as dialkyl phosphites or alkali metal salts) in the presence of a free-radical initiator. The use of dialkyl phosphites as starting materials in this method requires the use of non-aqueous systems and subsequent hydrolysis and purification.
Another method of preparing copolymers containing phosphonate endgroups using hypophosphorous acid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,731. The method disclosed involves the reaction of an olefinic reactant with a monoalkyl phosphinate to form a dialkyl phosphinate intermediate, followed by oxidation of the latter to a phosphonate-terminated polymer. Hypophosphorous acid is initially reacted with a carbonyl compound to form the monoalkyl phosphinate. This process involves several separate steps, that may require isolation of intermediates, etc., and has the further disadvantage of producing a mixture of phosphinate and phosphonate-terminated polymer product, unreacted hypophosphite and chloride byproducts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,038 discloses the preparation of phosphonate-terminated oligomers of maleic acid and acrylic acid using sodium phosphite in the presence of a high levels of free-radical initiator. U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,707 discloses the preparation of copolymers containing phosphonate and phosphinate endgroups involving the reaction of olefinic reactants with phosphorous acid or hypophosphorous acid and derivatives thereof (such as dialkyl phosphites, alkyl hypophosphites, phosphinic acids and alkali metal salts) in the presence of a free-radical initiator; the use of phosphorous acid to prepare low molecular weight poly(acrylic acid) is disclosed. GB 996,737 discloses the use of phosphorous acid or its salts to produce high molecular weight polymers that are useful in producing fibers, where the pH of the reaction mixture is adjusted to 4-5 before the polymerization. U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,127 discloses the preparation of carboxyl-containing polymers where inorganic phosphorus compounds, including hypophosphite and phosphite, are used to improve the color of the resulting polymer solutions.
The present invention seeks to overcome the problems associated with prior art processes used to prepare phosphonate-terminated polymers.

Process for preparing phosphonate-terminated polymers


A changeover valve for a tandem fan type of engine is located in a duct between fan stages at either end. The valve arrangement has a butterfly flap valve to selectively obstruct flow along the cut, a drop-down chute to eject front fan flow and secondary inlet means to induct air to the second fan stage to supply the core engine. The secondary inlet means comprises drop-in doors hinged to pivot into the duct behind the flap valve. A tertiary airflow in a space defined by the duct and an engine nacelle is admitted to the region at the second fan entry face which is shadowed by the secondary inlet doors.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to changeover valves for controlling fluid flow in a duct. In particular, the invention provides a changeover valve for installation in the intake duct of a variable cycle engine for a supersonic transport propulsion engine.
2. Description of Related Developments
An environmentally acceptable, and therefore commercially acceptable, propulsion unit for a second generation of supersonic transport aircraft must meet stringent noise regulations at take-off. To meet these requirements the engine configuration preferred currently is a variable cycle engine. Such an engine can meet the low noise requirements and, when demanded, product the high specific thrust needed for transonic acceleration. SST engine studies have concluded that a tandem fan type of engine is best suited to this role.
In a first, or parallel mode, the entire flow from the front fan is directed overboard and a secondary intake supplies air to a rear fan feeding directly to the engine core. This configuration is used during take-off, landing and subsonic flight to reduce noise levels. In effect, the engine in this configuration possesses a high bypass ratio, and low specific thrust.
For transonic and supersonic flight the engine is switched over to its second, or series, mode in which the changeover valve no longer dumps front fan airflow overboard. Instead it directs it to the rear fan thereby supercharging the core engine. Effectively this produces a low bypass ratio, high specific thrust engine possessing high cruise efficiency. This configuration is used where noise consideration are of a lesser concern.
A tandem fan engine of the type referred to is characterised by having an additional low pressure (LP) fan stage positioned ahead of a core engine with a changeover valve located in the intake duct in front of the engine but downstream of the additional fan. The changeover valve has to be capable of switching two engine airflows simultaneously, to allow the engine to changeover from operating in either of the two modes to operating in the other.
A valve of this type is described in our published European Patent Application No. EP 0412736A1. The changeover valve of that application essentially comprises a butterfly valve adapted to operate in an annular duct.
The secondary inlet and outlet arrangements are critical to efficient operation of this type of device. The simple arrangements disclosed in the earlier publication produce considerable turbulence. The secondary inlet is especially important in this respect since, in the parallel mode of operation, it is this airflow which enters the core engine. The present invention seeks to provide a solution to this problem.
The present invention has for a major objective to provide a secondary inlet arrangement which can supply flow with maximum efficiency to the core engine.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a changeover valve for controlling flow in a duct comprising:
valve means for stemming flow along the duct;
secondary outlet means upstream of the valve means and operative in synchronism therewith to exhaust flow entering one end of the duct when said valve means blocks flow along the length of the duct;
secondary inlet means downstream of the valve means and operative in synchronism therewith a admit a secondary flow into the duct when said valve means blocks flow along the length of the duct;
said inlet means being formed by at least one aperture in a wall defining the duct and having closure means adapted for closing said at least one aperture, the closure means being hinged at an upstream edge to open into the duct.
Preferably, the secondary inlet arrangement includes inwardly hinged non-scoop doors located on opposite sides of the flow duct.
Preferably, the changeover valve further includes provision for a tertiary flow into the region behind the secondary inlet door or doors.


An endoscopic surgical device for severing tissue within a subject and for retrieving severed tissue from within the subject is disclosed. The device has a support unit, a tissue severing snare system, and a tissue retrieving net system. The snare and net systems are carried by the support unit and may be inserted into the subject through an orifice or small incision and individually operated to sever and retrieve tissue. The snare system includes a snare, a snare actuator, and a snare deployment and retrieval assembly for transmitting motion between the actuator and the snare. The net system includes a net, a net actuator, a net deployment and retrieval assembly for transmitting motion between the net and its actuator and a net controller for assuring the net is fully opened when deployed.

Snares and nets are in widespread use for severing and retrieving tissue from patients, or subjects. The devices are used in human and anal subjects, in laparoscopic surgeries and other procedures where access to tissue is only possible via a small opening. One exemplary use is for cutting off and retrieving intestinal polyps where a wire snare, passed through an colonoscope instrument channel, encircles and is tightened about an intestinal polyp to sever the polyp. The severed polyp is retrieved in a net inserted through the instrument channel. The net is manipulated to enclose the polyp and then withdrawn with the instrument so that the tissue architecture remains undisturbed.
In this procedure, as well as others, the net and snare must be quite compact in order to pass into the subject through the instrument channel, or other passage. Prior art proposals have employed snares supported within plastic tubes that were snaked into the subject to locate the snare where desired. The snare was then deployed from its tube, manipulated to cut off the polyp and retrieved into the tube for removal from the subject.
A net, collapsed within another tube, was introduced through the instrument channel, etc., for removing the polyp. When near a target polyp, the net was deployed, like the snare, and manipulated to net the polyp. The net was then closed sufficiently to secure the polyp and withdrawn from the subject. These proposals required use of separate snare and net devices, which in turn complicated and lengthened surgeries by increasing the number of steps required. For various reasons, devices such as the snare and net devices are constructed for disposal after a single use. Disposal of multiple devices after a single use was not cost effective.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,542 discloses a combined snare and net device for removing tissue from a subject. There, the snare and net were contained in a common introducer tube, commonly actuated and fastened together in tandem. The snare and net were subject to becoming ensnarled during use. Moreover, manipulating the combined snare and net was unwieldy. The proposed device was not successful.
The present invention provides a new and improved surgical device for removing tissue from a subject wherein simultaneous introduction of a snare and a net into a subject is accomplished, with the snare and net being separated and individually deployed and retrieved so that they do not interfere with each other during the procedure. Improvements in the construction and operation of both the net and the snare are also provided.


An asymmetrical bulkhead for a pressure vessel, tank or other storage facility is disclosed. The bulkhead is configured so that there is a high region extending past a cylindrical portion of the vessel on one side of the bulkhead, with a contour of the bulkhead transitioning from the high region to a low region within the last cylindrical region. Such a bulkhead configuration allows two cylindrical pressure vessels to be nested together in end-to-end relation so as to occupy a total smaller volume than similarly sized vessels having convex ends, or to construct pressure vessels that contain a larger volume for storage than similarly sized vessels having convex ends.

Many types of pressure vessels are known, such as for tanker trucks, LPG tanker ships, spacecraft propellant tanks, fire extinguishers and many others. With the exception of some designs of spacecraft propellant tanks, virtually all are constructed having a cylindrical body, with a concave or convex cap or bulkhead at each end. In some designs, the bulkhead may be flat, although this design is inherently the most structurally inefficient and requires heavier and thicker bulkheads than concave or convex bulkheads. Typically, conical, hemispherical and elliptical bulkheads are used, although for upright applications additional structure is required to maintain a vertical orientation.
With respect to liquid-fueled spacecraft, typical designs, such as found in the Space Shuttle, and referring to the prior art drawings of FIGS. 1, 1a incorporate fuel and oxidizer tanks having either round or cylindrical bodies, with bulkheads of adjacent ends of tanks being either of rounded or elliptical configurations. While these rounded or elliptical configurations are strong and allow for lighter tanks, rounded and elliptical configurations for such bulkheads are inefficient with respect to volume in adjacent bulkhead areas, and allow for a relatively large vortex to form when fuel is drawn from a natural low point in the bulkhead. Development of such a large vortex requires maintenance of a relatively large fuel residual to be left in the tank to avoid gas or vapor from being drawn into one or more engines of the spacecraft.
In some designs that have been considered, a common bulkhead is used between oxidizer and propellant tank sections. However, in these designs it is usually necessary to route fuel tubing from an upper tank through a lower tank to a rocket engine. This creates manufacturing problems due to the necessity that tanks and interior tubing be fabricated integrally. In addition, if a defect is found in one tank section then the entire assembly must be scrapped or reworked. Further, common or nested bulkhead tank systems do not lend themselves well to fabrication methods where there is an assembly-line type procedure for fabrication of a number of identical oxidizer and propellant tanks, such as found in the Space Shuttle program,
In accordance with the foregoing, Applicant proposes asymmetrical tank bulkhead designs that overcome the aforementioned problems, as will become apparent from a reading of the following specification.


Data access lockdown is described, including receiving a request from a first user to disable access to all data that are access-controlled by the first user based on at least one setting. The data are shared with at least one other user. In response to the request, modifying, without further action by the first user, the at least one setting by replacing a current value indicative of at least some of the data being shared, with a lockdown value indicative of disablement of access to all the data access-controlled by the first user, so as to prevent the at least one other user from accessing any of the data.

1. Technical Field
The subject matter described herein relates generally to online services and, more particularly, to data access lockdown.
2. Related Background
A typical person may have at least one online account. Commonly, people have online accounts that are associated with electronic communication (e.g., email), photo sharing services, video sharing websites, social networks, etc.
A user of the online account shares information with other users. The user may directly share information with another user (e.g., in an email message). The user may indirectly share information with another user through, for example, an online social network (e.g., posting content on an online social network that is not designated for any specific user, but for a plurality of users having a common trait or characteristic).
A user may share information with another user in situations where sharing may not be intended. For example, a user may store information (e.g., text, audio, video, or image file) in a shared storage system (e.g., cloud storage) but may not restrict other users from listening to, downloading, or otherwise accessing the information.
At one point or another, sharing information online may pose problems that need to be resolved, such as unauthorized access or data leakage.