A secondary battery is provided with a negative electrode sheet including a negative active material layer including negative active material particles. The negative active layer contains, as the negative active material particles, graphite particles formed from graphite and amorphous carbon particles formed from amorphous carbon. The difference (ΔS)(=Sb−Sa) in specific surface area between the specific surface area (Sb) of the amorphous carbon particles and the specific surface area (Sa) of the graphite particles is −0.3 to 2.6 m2/g.

There is conventionally known a secondary battery including a negative electrode sheet having a negative active material layer containing negative active material particles. As the negative active material particles, known are particles made of carbon such as graphite. It is also known that the negative active material layer is made of two kinds of negative active material particles made of carbon. For example, Patent Document 1 listed below discloses forming a negative active material layer from negative active material particles made of low-temperature calcined or baked carbon obtained in such a manner that volatile organic substances or the like obtained from carbon and petroleum pitch are calcined at a temperature of 1000° C. or less, and negative active material particles made of fibrous carbon material or graphite (see claims and others of Patent Document 1). It is disclosed that the negative active material layer formed as above enables improvement of a capacity retention rate in a cycle test in which charge and discharge at a low rate (e.g., a current value of 1 C) are repeated in a wide SOC range.
Patent Document 2 for example discloses forming a negative active material layer from negative active material particles made of graphitizable carbon material obtained by calcining or baking petroleum pitch, polyacene, polysiloxane, etc. at 800° C. to 1000° C. and negative active material particles made of non-graphitizable carbon material obtained by calcining or baking petroleum pitch, polyacene, polysiloxane, etc. at 500° C. to 800° C. (see claims and others of Patent Document 2). It is disclosed that the negative active material layer formed as above enables suppression of deterioration in the capacity of a secondary battery and improvement of a capacity retention rate in a cycle test in which charge and discharge at a low rate (e.g., a current value of 1 C) are repeated in a wide SOC range.

Secondary battery and method for producing secondary battery


A drainage slime remover capable of spreading a solution of a solid over slime generated wall surface portions, comprising a solid containing a microorganism growth retarding substance and a container which has a shape for permitting the installation thereof at the inlet or upper portion of a drain outlet and stores the solid, characterized in that the container has drain flow-in holes having an opening capable of controlling a drain flow-in amount and provided in the upper surface or the upper side portion of the container and solution flow-out holes having an opening capable of controlling a flow-out amount if a solid solution and provided in the bottom or the lower side portion of the container or additionally in the side surface thereof; and a slime preventing/removing agent which can remove slime from portions such as kitchen sinks and bathroom drain outlets where slime is grown by metabolites such as miscellaneous germs and mildews and which can prevent the occurrence of slime safely and for an extended period of time.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a slime preventing/removing agent which is installed in a place where metabolites of miscellaneous germs, mildews and the like cause slime and bad smells, such as drain outlets of kitchen sinks, bathrooms and toilet floors, and is useful to remove slime, to prevent the occurrence of slime or to control slime. The present invention also relates to a slime remover and container for it, and a method of removing slime with them. The invention particularly relates to a slime remover for a garbage basket in a kitchen sink, of a type that the drain outlet of a household kitchen sink is made wider than the main drainpipe, a garbage basket is installed which collects garbage coming out together with drainage, such as cooking material wastes, and the remover is discarded when a certain amount of garbage is accumulated.
2. Background Art
It is known that the main ingredient of slime in the drain outlets of kitchen sinks and bathrooms is polysaccharides secreted by bacteria, when they use food materials, surface active agents, soaps, human dirt and others as nutrient sources.
It is so far well-known, as slime preventing chemicals for garbage baskets installed in the drain outlets of household kitchen sinks, that tablets, of which a chlorine-type oxidizing agent, such as trichloroisocyanuric acid, dichloroisocyanuric acid or bromochlorodimethylhydantoin, alone or its mixture with other ingredients is pressure molded, are stored in plastic nets or basket-shaped containers, and hung by strings or the like in garbage baskets for preventing the occurrence of slime in the baskets (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-128090). These chemicals have been marketed by trade names, such as "Slime Removing Agents", for practical use for the last few years.
Among the chemicals mentioned above, slime removing agents of bleaching powder type exhibit effects on the prevention of slime and bad smells of garbage baskets, thanks to the powerful sterilizing power of the active ingredient of a hypochlorite oxidizing agent, and are therefore used widely. Because of their powerful oxidizing power, garbage baskets and drainpipe materials around them become deteriorated or corroded, and poisonous chlorine gas is also generated. An amount of chlorine gas generated increases particularly when the agent reacts with an acidic substance, such as vinegar, causing a dangerous situation. Isocyanuric acid-type chemcials containing trichloroisocyanuric acid or the like as the active ingredient have safety problems such that their contact with alkaline or sodium-hypochlorite detergents generates gas with irritating smells, such as explosive nitrogen trichloride.
To solve the above problems, there have been proposed a variety of "slime removing agents" using germicides other than chlorine-type oxidizing agents. For example, those known are peroxides such as sodium percarbonates, potassium persulfate and sodium perborate (Japanese Patents Laid-open Nos. Hei 8-268818 and 9-31495), iodine-type germicides such as povidone iodine (Japanese Patents Laid-open Nos. Hei 9-124423 and 9-227317), chemicals composing sulfur compounds, such as sulfite, and chemicals for pasteurization (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 9-124422), volatile pasteurizing agents such as ortho-phenylphenol, diphenyl, 2-isopropyl-5-methylphenol and hinokitiol (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 9-206040), inorganic germicides of which silver ions, copper ions or the like are supported by inorganic compounds such as zeolite or silica gel (Japanese Patents Laid-open Nos. Hei 8-157305, 9-30915 and 9-194313), and tablets of which industrial germicides or the like, such as para-chloromethaxylenol, alone or with appropriate dissolution regulators added are pressure molded.
These "slime removing agents" using germicides other than chlorine-type oxidizing agents are stored in plastic nets or basket-shaped containers and hung by strings or other means in the garbage baskets, similar to the "slime removing agents" composing chlorine-type oxidizing agents. Some of the above agents are marketed as "slime removing agents" using no oxidizing agents of chlorine type. They have weaker sterilizing power than known "slime removing agents" containing chlorine-type oxidizing agents as the active ingredients do and insufficient preventive effects on slime and bad smells so as not to have become popular yet.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 7-184823 has disclosed "slime removing agents" that an antimicrobial agent, such as a mixture of 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one and 2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one, is supported by porous fine inorganic particles, such as hollow porous silica, and stored in a water-permeable bag, for example, made of nonwoven fabric, or supported by a water-soluble substance, such as protein or polysaccharide, and made film. 5-Chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one has strong antimicrobial power and does not corrode materials or generates gas. However, it is easily soluble in water, so it has the disadvantage of a shorter shelf life than that of known chemicals. Besides, there is a safety issue when it is used in households due to severe skin irritation.
In addition to those mentioned above, known are devices having fixing sections to fix containers storing slime removing agents to garbage basket handles through the joints (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 9-292), types using garbage netting baskets coated with fluororesin (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-158441), devices jetting electrolytic, acidic, ionic water from circular pipes fixed around netting baskets (Japanese Publication No. of Utility Model Registration Hei 6-46069), and germ and mildew preventive devices supplying solutions having an action of preventing germs and mildews into the upper parts of inlet pipes (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 9-154923).
It is an object of the present invention to provide a drain slime remover that can be easily installed in the upper part of an inlet pipe, is excellent in safety and handling, and can spread the agent-dissolved solution from a container storing a slime preventing/removing agent with appropriate solubility over the wall surface of the drainpipe. It was found that a pressure molded product of an antimicrobial agent, particularly a clathrate compound of an antimicrobial agent and a multi-molecular host compound, with a specific base material is not dangerous, is excellent in safety and handling, retains appropriate solubility and has a slime preventing/removing effect. Thus the present invention has been completed.

Slime remover and slime preventing/removing agent


A lamp arrangement with a lamp and a base which is located on a hermetically sealed portion of the lamp. The base comprises a hollow cylindrical lamp holding part which holds and secures the hermetically sealed portion of the lamp, a bottom which borders the lower end of the lamp holding part, which end faces away from the lamp; and feed components which project from the back end face of the bottom, which end face faces away from the lamp. Between the lamp holding part and the bottom, a heat insulator is formed in which the amount of heat transferred in the axial direction of the base is less than the amount of heat transferred away from the base.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lamp with a base on a hermetically sealed portion of the lamp.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A technique is known in which the light source for heating a semiconductor wafer is a filament lamp in which there is a base on a hermetically sealed portion. The semiconductor wafer is irradiated with light which contains IR radiation, and the temperature of the semiconductor wafer is thus quickly raised to a given temperature. This filament lamp with a base if formed, for example, essentially of a filament lamp with a so-called one-sided sealed termination in which, on one end of the arc tube, a hermetically sealed portion is formed, and of a ceramic base which holds the hermetically sealed portion of this filament lamp. By an arrangement of a host of filament lamps with a base on a frame on which there are a host of sockets next to one another, they are formed and used as a heating unit.
In the above described lamps with a base, a host of lamps are installed in the heating unit. Therefore, advantageously, a base is used which is provided with a feed component of the pin type corresponwhich can be easily installed in the socket and which can be easily detached from the socket, as is shown in FIG. 7, and is described in Japanese patent disclosure document JP HEI 11-162417 A.
FIG. 7 is a front view of a lamp which is provided with a base. The lamp 60 is, for example, a filament lamp in which a tungsten filament 62 is hermetically installed in an arc tube 61, and two inner lead pins 63a, 63b are connected to the two ends of the filament. The two inner lead pins 63a, 63b are, in turn, connected to metal foils 65a, 65b which are installed in the hermetically sealed portion 64. Outer lead pins 66a, 66b are connected to the metal foils 65a, 65b and extend outward from the hermetically sealed portion 64.
The hermetically sealed portion 64 of the lamp 60 is inserted into a rectangular hollow lamp holding part 67A of a base 67 and is attached by means of an adhesive. The outer lead pins 66a, 66b are welded to guide wires 68a, 68b that are formed of twisted nickel wires and they are electrically connected to a pair of feed pins 69a, 69b which project out of the bottom 67B of the base 67.
In this lamp which is provided with a base, the base 67 is held by a socket S which is installed in a frame D. By connecting the guide pins 69a, 69b to the feed connecting parts 70a, 70b in the socket S, power is supplied from a power source (not shown).
The contact areas between the feed pins of the base and the socket are locations at which the temperature is slightly increased due to electrical resistances and the like because the above described lamp with a base is operated at an increased current value. The heat which is stored in the vicinity of the feed pins normally moves via the socket which holds the base to the frame in which this socket is installed, by which heat is dissipated. However, for semiconductor production, since the amount of light emitted by the filament of the above described lamp is very large, the frame and the socket are heated by the light to a high temperature, by which there is no longer a temperature gradient between the feed pins, the socket and the frame. There is the disadvantage here that the heat of the feed pins is not dissipated via the socket to the frame. The feed pins cause an unduly high temperature increase, by which they are oxidized before their service life expires; this has many highly adverse effects on the lamp.
If the feed pins are being oxidized, between the feed connecting parts in the socket and the feed pins, the value of the electrical resistance is always set to a high value; this causes a temperature increase of the hermetically sealed portion and of the socket of the lamp and a reduction of the lamp efficiency which ultimately leads to cessation of lamp operation.


Examples of privacy preserving authentication are provided. A system may obtain a first input from a user on a touchpad. The touchpad may include a sensor array with multiple force sensitive resistors. Further, the system may identify a set of sensor electrodes of the sensor array that may be actuated on receiving the first input. The system may further determine a region of interest on the touchpad. Furthermore, the system may construct various matrices indicative of position, pressure, and directional characteristics associated with the user input. Furthermore, the system may generate a feature vector based on processing the matrices through a neural network. Furthermore, the system may generate an encrypted feature vector based on encrypting the feature vector by using a private key of the user and a homomorphic encryption function. The system may further provide an authorized access to the user based on performing authentication of the user using the encrypted feature vector.

Many existing security systems involve the use of biometric devices, radio-frequency identification tags, facial recognition, and the like to authorize a user for accessing secured resources or secured locations, such as buildings. Typically, these security systems require a user to share his or her personal information, such as fingerprints, facial data, and other biometric data with another party. As the personal information of the user is sensitive data and often irreplaceable, many organizations that collect, store, and manage users' personal data are under constant threat of malicious use from hackers or nefarious actors. Furthermore, although these security systems enable authorized access to the user i.e., by authenticating the user based on his or her personal information (e.g. signatures, credentials etc.), many of these security systems do not or may be unable to protect confidentiality of the personal information which may be shared by the user for user authentication. Accordingly, there is a growing need for organizations to have effective security mechanisms in place to protect against any compromise related to data privacy, data confidentiality, and data integrity that may occur to personal data.
Typically, some existing security systems require the user to provide a unique identifier such as, for example, a passcode or a security personal identification number (PIN), that may be used as personal security information for the user to authorize the user for secured access. For instance, to obtain access to a physical location (e.g. an office building) or a digital location (e.g. a smartphone) the user may be required to provide his or her signature or passcode as a unique identifier, based on which the user may be authenticated. However, there always exists a limitation on a number of such unique identifiers that may be used by the security systems for accurately performing user authentication. In this regard, in order to increase the diversity of unique number of such identifiers, it may be required to increase the complexity of the unique identifier. For example, a signature length may be increased or a combination of signatures, for instance, in the form of multi-factor authentication, may be used. However, the increase in the complexity has a direct and immediate impact on the performance of the security system, which may require substantial time for processing and matching a complex signature structure. Not only does this lead to the expenditure of critical processing resources, it may also be inconvenient for the user for whom the wait time for being get authenticated may increase. Also, committing such complex unique identifiers to memory and then reproducing them on an input interface may also be challenging for the average user, and especially challenging for some other users, such as minors. At the same time, even the enhanced complexity of unique identifier remains vulnerable to unauthorized access due to access at least to the party performing the registration and the user authentication.
Accordingly, a technical problem with the currently available security systems for authenticating the users is the lack of fast and secure access to the users without compromising on privacy of user credentials that the user may provide for authentication. Accordingly, there is a need for an efficient security system that can provide hassle-free authentication the user to access a restricted location or a secured device along with preserving the user's privacy and credentials provided for authenticating the user.


An audio-video (AV) device for a vehicle includes a display panel including a display unit and a pattern unit arranged on edges of the display unit; and a display board disposed on a rear face of the display panel. The display board includes at least one wireless antenna located outside of the display unit, an antenna module, and a connector.

Vehicles are commonly equipped with various comfort systems that offer convenience to the driver. Recent development of electronic devices and communication technologies include audio-video (AV) systems for presenting results from a digital versatile disc (DVD) system and navigation systems and displaying images of what is ahead or behind of the vehicle on its image display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD)., Such systems are often installed on the front cover of the vehicle. In this regard, AV systems may provide information involving a traveling route from a starting place to a destination, a current location of the vehicle, or the like. Moreover, AV systems may play music or video, receive and display terrestrial or satellite broadcasts, and provide information for user convenience, such as conditions of the vehicle, weather, news, etc.
As wireless communication technologies evolve, AV systems tend to work in cooperation with other devices. For example, a wireless communication unit, such as a Wi-Fi unit or a Bluetooth unit, may be included in an AV system. Such wireless communication unit typically includes a wireless antenna and a wireless module. In general, the wireless antenna and wireless module are separately manufactured and then connected to the AV system via a connector.
AV systems, as well as other convenience-providing devices, may be integrated and mounted on the front cover of the vehicle, and as such, are required to be compact in size. However, separately manufacturing the wireless antenna and wireless module of a wireless communication unit can lead to difficulty in designing the layout of the vehicle due to the volume. Furthermore, it may also raise the unit cost of manufacturing.


A process for making engineered lignocellulosic-based panels with superior strength and dimensional stability. The process comprising adding to green lignocellulosic particles a low-nitrogen content, high molecular weight, phenol-formaldehyde resin before the green particles are dried. The resin is added in an amount from about 1 to 25 weight percent based on the dry weight of the green lignocellulosic particles. The resin has a nitrogen content of from about 0 to 3%, a viscosity of from about 20 to 2000 cps at 20° C., and a molar ratio of formaldehyde/phenol of from about 1.2 to 3.0. The green lignocellulosic particles treated with the resin are dried until the particles have a moisture content of from 1 to 8%. A second resin is added to the dried particles and then the dried particles are consolidated under heat and pressure to form the engineered panel.

Engineered lignocellulosic-based panels, such as oriented strandboard, high-density fiberboard, medium density fiberboard, chipboard, particleboard, hardboard, laminated veneer lumber and plywood, are commonly used as roof, wall and floor sheathing in the construction of buildings and residential homes. A significant portion of this construction occurs outdoors at the building site. Thus, the engineered lignocellulosic-based panels are vulnerable for a period of time to rain or snow. It is well known that exposure to water can cause engineered lignocellulosic-based panels to undergo dimensional expansion. For instance, many engineered lignocellulosic-based panels will swell in thickness by a factor that is substantially greater than that experienced in the width and length dimensions and that swell is often inelastic in response to a wet/redry cycle. Thus, engineered lignocellulosic-based panels have a tendency to expand in thickness during their first exposure to water, and if the panel is later dried, the thickness dimension might decrease to some extent, but it does not return to its original value. Thus, the builder is faced with the dilemma of coping with roof, wall and floor surfaces that are geometrically irregular.
A second problem that often occurs when engineered lignocellulosic-based panels are exposed to water is a reduction in strength or structural load-carrying capacity. In addition to exposure to water during construction, exposure to water can also occur during occupancy of the structure. For example water can be introduced into the structure by wind-driven rain, which can be forced through leaks around various structure elements, such as doors, windows and roofs. Inadequate seals in water pipes can also cause engineered lignocellulosic-based panels to be exposed to water. Additionally, recent construction practices tend to result in buildings with reduced levels of ventilation. This condition can cause the accumulation of moisture inside of buildings, especially in wall cavities, crawl spaces and attics. The ability of the engineered lignocellulosic-based panels to withstand these insults for some extended period of time without significant loss of structural properties or the development of mold or incipient decay is an important quality.
Companies that manufacture engineered lignocellulosic-based panels have recognized the problems associated with exposure to water for many years. In an effort to improve the properties of engineered lignocellulosic-based panels in a wet environment a number of technologies have been developed and implemented. For instance, wax is typically incorporated into engineered lignocellulosic-based panels in order to retard the penetration of water. Also, most engineered lignocellulosic-based panels are treated on the edges with a sealant, which helps the panel to resist the absorption of water at the edges where thickness swell is most prominent and problematic.
It is generally believed that many of the properties associated with engineered lignocellulosic-based panels could be improved if higher binder levels were used. Unfortunately, a variety of constraints make it difficult for engineered lignocellulosic-based panels manufacturers to utilize higher binder levels.
To overcome these problems U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,734 described a non-conventional method for manufacturing engineered lignocellulosic-based panels. This patent describes a method for reducing swelling in engineered lignocellulosic-based panels that is based on the following key steps: a phenol-formaldehyde impregnating resin is applied to green wood particles at a level of about 4–8%; the treated green wood particles are dried under temperature conditions that avoided pre-cure of the impregnating resin; a phenol-formaldehyde resin binder is then applied to the dried wood particles at a level of about 4–8%; and the treated particles are formed into a mat and subjected to heat and pressure to form a panel and cure the resins.
It should be noted that urea is typically added to phenol-formaldehyde resin binders in an attempt to limit emissions of formaldehyde. When urea is heated as the green strands are subsequently dried at elevated temperatures, the urea produces an ammonia emission. The ammonia emission can result in a NOx emission if the ammonia is processed through a pollution control device known as a Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO). There are regulatory limitations associated with such NOx emissions. If the plant does not have an RTO, or some other heat system that puts resin emissions through a burner, there will be no NOx formed, although in that case ammonia would still be emitted to the atmosphere.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,804 discloses the application of a phenol-formaldehyde resin to green strands and subsequent drying of the strands in the presence of methyol urea. The dry treated strands are optionally blended with more binder and are eventually consolidated under heat and pressure to yield a building panel. The patent discloses a new phenol-formaldehyde resin binder that is produced by adding urea to a liquid phenol-formaldehyde resin and subsequently adding formaldehyde to the same resin in order to convert the free urea into methyol urea. The patent claims that the new phenol-formaldehyde resin binder is less likely to emit ammonia than a conventional phenol-formaldehyde resin binder that was made with only a post addition of urea. Unfortunately, the methyol urea adduct has the potential to emit significant levels of both ammonia and formaldehyde when it is heated.
Thus, there continues to be a need for engineered lignocellulosic-based panels with improved performance in the presence of water. It is recognized that such a panel could be made by use of "green-strand-blending". However, in order to satisfy emission requirements, the resin used in the green-strand-blending process must not emit significant levels of ammonia or volatile organic compounds, including formaldehyde, phenol and methanol.

Process for making engineered lignocellulosic-based panels


A laminate having a laminated structure of at least two layers includes a gas barrier film (A) formed from a mixture containing at least one poly(meth)acrylic acid polymer selected from the group consisting of poly(meth)acrylic acid and partially neutralized products thereof and a saccharide in a weight ratio of 95:5 to 20:80, and having an oxygen permeability constant of 5.00.times.10.sup.-3 ml(STP).multidot.cm/m.sup.2 .multidot.h.multidot.atm{Pa} or smaller as measured under conditions of 30.degree. C. and 80% relative humidity, and a layer (B) formed from a thermoplastic resin. The film (A) and the layer (B) are laminated contiguously to each other. A process for the production of a laminate having a laminated structure of at least two layers comprises a step of forming a gas barrier film (A) having an oxygen permeability constant of 5.00.times.10.sup.-3 ml(STP).multidot.cm/m.sup.2 .multidot.h.multidot.atm{Pa} or smaller as measured under conditions of 30.degree. C. and 80% RH, wherein a solution containing at least one poly(meth)acrylic acid polymer selected from the group consisting of poly(meth)acrylic acid and partially neutralized products thereof and a saccharide in a weight ratio of 95:5 to 20:80 is coated on a layer (B) formed from a thermoplastic resin, the solution coated is dried to form a film, and the film is then subjected to a heat treatment at a temperature of at least 100.degree. C. (373K). The film (A) and the layer (B) are contiguous to each other.

In general, a function of preventing deterioration in the quality of contents is required of packaging materials. Particularly, in a field of food packaging materials and the like, in which contents are susceptible to deterioration by oxidation, the packaging materials are required to have excellent oxygen gas barrier property.
At present, for example, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films, films formed of a partially saponified product (EVOH) of an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) films and the like are commonly used as films excellent in oxygen gas barrier property in the field of the packaging materials. Of these, the PVDC films have a feature that their gas barrier property scarcely depends on humidity unlike the PVA films and EVOH films. However, when they are incinerated, chlorine gas is generated, and so they involve an environmental problem. On the other hand, the PVA films are best in oxygen gas barrier property among general synthetic resin films in a dry state. However, they involve a drawback that their oxygen gas barrier property is impaired to a great extent due to moisture absorption under high-humidity conditions, and moreover they are soluble in boiling water.
Poly(meth)acrylic acid or partially neutralized products thereof are water-soluble polymers and may be formed into films from their solutions by a casting process. The films formed of poly(meth)acrylic acid are excellent in oxygen gas barrier property under dry conditions. However, these films show strong hydrophilic nature, and are hence markedly impaired in oxygen gas barrier property under high-humidity conditions, and moreover easy to dissolve in water.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,169,250, it is described to polymerize a methacrylic acid monomer in an aqueous solution of PVA, cast the resulting reaction mixture of polymethacrylic acid and PVA on a glass plate, evaporate the water, and then heat the dry film for 5 minutes at 140.degree. C., thereby reacting PVA with polymethacrylic acid to obtain a water-insoluble film (Example I). According to such heat-treating conditions, the resulting film can be made insoluble in water. However, any film exhibiting excellent oxygen gas barrier property under high-humidity conditions cannot be obtained by such heat-treating conditions.
On the other hand, starch is a hydrophilic polymer like the poly(meth)acrylic acid. Those having excellent water solubility can easily be formed into films from aqueous solutions thereof by a casting process. Films formed of starch are excellent in oil resistance and oxygen gas barrier property, but have drawbacks that they show strong hydrophilic nature, and are hence markedly impaired in oxygen gas barrier property under high-humidity conditions, and moreover are poor in mechanical strength and water resistance.
Some proposals have recently been made for producing films or sheets from mixtures of starch and various thermoplastic resins (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 90339/1992, 100913/1992, 114044/1992, 114043/1992, 132748/1992, 93092/1993 and 92507/1993). However, these films are still insufficient in water resistance or oxygen gas barrier property under high-humidity conditions.
The present inventors repeatedly carried out an investigation with a view toward producing a film excellent in water resistance and oxygen gas barrier property under high-humidity conditions. As a result, it was found that when a film is formed from a mixture of poly(meth)acrylic acid and/or a partially neutralized product thereof and a saccharide such as starch, and the resulting film is subjected to a heat treatment under specific conditions, a film exhibiting remarkably improved oxygen gas barrier property even under high-humidity conditions, to say nothing of dry conditions, compared with films separately formed from the individual components can be obtained (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/324,541, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,662). However, the simple film thus obtained is insufficient in sealing property, mechanical strength, moisture resistance, etc., which are required of packaging materials. There has thus been a demand for a further improvement.


Provided are a method, system, and program for managing data migration from one data organization type to another. In one embodiment, a migration manager defers writing progress indicators to reduce data write operations during the migration process. In one embodiment, progress indicators are written to configuration areas of disk drives when a condition is met. One example of a condition is the expiration of a time period since the last progress indicator was written. Another example of a condition is an overlap between the destination of a unit of data being migrated and the source of the unit of data. Yet another example is an overlap between the destination of a unit of data and a portion of the data source which has been copied but a progress indicator has not yet been written covering the data source portion.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a method, system, and program for managing migration of data to another system of organization, such as a RAID system.
2. Description of Related Art
Various techniques have been proposed for organizing data stored in data storage devices such as disk drives. One such data storage organization is referred to as Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks or (RAID). In a RAID organization, two or more disk drives are employed in combination to improve fault tolerance or performance, or both. There are different types of RAID data storage organizations and these different types are often referred to as RAID "levels 0, 1, 2 . . . . In a RAID level 0 data organization, for example, the data of a user file is "striped", that is, blocks of user data are spread across multiple disks to improve performance. However, there is generally no redundancy provided for recovery of data should one of the drives fail in a RAID level 0 organization of data. A RAID level 3 organization of data is similar to RAID level 0 but one disk is typically reserved to store error correction data, often referred to as "parity data." This parity data may be used to reconstruct lost user data should one of the drives fail. In a RAID level 5 data organization, parity data is provided for each stripe of data across the array of disk drives and no particular disk drive is dedicated to storing the parity data. Instead, blocks of parity data for the stripes of user data are distributed throughout all the disks of the array, to further improve performance.
As RAID type data organizations becomes increasingly popular, there is an increasing need for efficient data migration processes for transferring data from a standard or non-RAID data storage organization to a RAID type organization. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of user data stored on a disk drive 10 being migrated to a pair of RAID level 0 organized disk drives 12a, 12b. In the example of FIG. 1 user data is stored in the non-RAID disk 10 starting at LBA (Logical Block Addressing) location 0 to LBA n. Logical block addressing translates the cylinder, head and sector specifications of the drives 10, 12a, 12b into addresses that can be used by many operating systems.
In the migration process, a unit of user data from the non-RAID disk 10 is copied and spread across both of the destination RAID level 0 disks 12a, 12b in a stripe of data. Typically, the user is allowed access to the data except to the particular unit of data being migrated. In many migration processes, data is copied from the source disk or disks to the RAID array of disks in sequential order, starting at the lowest address, here LBA 0 in this example, and then data is copied at sequentially higher addresses. As the migration proceeds, migration progress indicators or "checkpoints" are typically written to a configuration area 14a, 14b of each RAID disk 12a, 12b. The configuration areas 14a, 14b contain what is often called RAID "metadata" which is configuration and management information typically maintained by the RAID subsystem which organizes the data. The metadata is usually hidden from access by the host by the RAID organization software of the RAID subsystem.
Each checkpoint written to the configuration areas 14a, 14b typically contains an address or other pointer which identifies the highest address of user data which has been successfully migrated. Should there be a disruption such as a loss of power during the migration process, the entire migration process does not need to restart from the beginning, that is, LBA 0, in this example. Instead, the migration process may be resumed at the same or next address indicated by the last checkpoint written to the configuration areas 14a, 14b. Once all of the user data has been successfully copied from the non-RAID source disk 10, half of the user data will be written to RAID disk 12a and half to RAID disk 12b of the array of RAID disks 12a, 12b as shown in the example of FIG. 1.
Notwithstanding, there is a continued need in the art to improve the performance of data migration.

Method, system, and program for managing data migration


In a method of noninvasive measurement of parameters of diastolic function of left ventricle and automated evaluation of the measured profile at rest and with exercise, a patient performs an isometric exercise. An external pressure sensor and heart sounds microphone are applied in a non-invasive manner on the thoracic wall to obtain a left ventricular pressure mirroring curve (pressocardiogram) and simultaneously the heart sounds (phonocardiogram). An external unit determines and calculates characteristic diastolic parameters derived from the pressocardiographic curve and phonocardiogram at rest, during and after exercise, converts each said pressocardiogram into a digital waveform in the time domain, and automatically categorizes the mentioned characteristic parameters based on exact categorization criteria for defining several differentialforms of diastolic dysfunction of left ventricle in human beings.

Previous attempts to obtain high-fidelity tracings from the point of maximal pulse of the heart beat—referred as apexcardiography—have been handicapped mainly because of lack of an advanced instrumentation and automated evaluation of exactly defined diastolic indices as well as of exactly defined patterns, types and forms of isometric exercise-induced changes in diastolic profile.
Pressocardiography represents the only noninvasive technique which is obtained by means of an external pressure transducer transthoracically, providing the opportunity to measure LV pressure curve changes in diastole at rest and during short isometric exercise (called Handgrip-pressocardiographic test=HAT) by an operator with minimal medical skills.
This diastolic stress test HAT presents the opportunity to measure diastolic performance of the human left ventricle and detect life-threatening abnormal heart conditions in an early phase before development of symptoms or ECG or other signs of myocardial disease states and especially coronary artery disease.
Conclusive evidence exists based predominantly in comparison of simultaneously recorder pressocardiographic and LV pressure curves during heart catheterization that the former mirrors in time and slope the latter. It is widely accepted that invasively obtained LV pressure curves by means of micromanometer represent still today the gold standard for examining the accuracy of diastolic function assessment. The most common diastolic indices which are assessed by means of such high-fidelity LV pressure recordings are the calculation of LV pressure fall (=relaxation) variables, like time constant of relaxation (Tau) and the total LV relaxation time, and end-diastolic variables, like LV end-diastolic pressure, pre-atrial or pre-A wave as well as peak atrial pressures.
On the other hand, current methods of measuring diastolic LV function are either extremely invasive or/and costly or/and noninvasively imaging approaches that require expertise and time-consuming measurements by highly skilled operators. Examples of the former invasive techniques are left and right heart catheterization with subsequent angiographic evaluation (coronary angiography and ventriculography) as well as nuclear ventriculography. An example of the latter are all Doppler echocardiographic techniques providing ultrasonic dynamic images of the heart like transmitral flow velocities, pulmonary venous flow assessment, acoustic quantification, flow propagation assessment and the most recently introduced Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) and Strain-Rate Imaging (SRI); however, all these Doppler techniques require highly and expensively developed laboratories as well as skilled interpretation, whereas in most cases there is a lack of exact definition of normal limits and/or of standardization.
Consequently, there was hitherto a lack to assess LV diastolic function alterations, accurately as well as noninvasively, rapidly and safely; and above no simple and at best portable instrumentation—at best in pocket size—using an external pressure transducer with infinite time constant.
In contrast, with the present invention using the diastolic exercise test by means of handgrip-pressocardiography and a portable—at best pocket-sized—instrument, a rapid estimation of diastolic LV function can be performed quickly and noninvasively everywhere, i.e. at every office, at outpatient clinic (incl. CPUs) and even at patient's home, with no requirement of skilled interpretation both at rest and during isometric exercise. A simple readout can provide exact information about early and late diastolic abnormalities within few minutes.
It has been shown using micromanometer measurements and internal LV pressure recordings that the changes of some diastolic variables during isometric handgrip exercise, especially at the end-diastole, is rather characteristic for the presence of some myocardial disease states. Whereas patients with normal or nearly normal LV function show no or only minimal diastolic changes during isometric exercise, patients with coronary artery disease show mostly dramatic alterations and particularly rise in LV end-diastolic pressure. It should be noted that this rapidly occurring and high elevation of LV end-diastolic pressure is also present during other exercise modalities like dynamic exercise by means of bicycle or treadmill.
The inventor has found for the first time that a very similar dramatic changes in early and/or late diastole during isometric exercise occur also using the handgrip-pressocardiography technique in patients with known or subsequently proved coronary artery disease, whereas healthy subjects show no or minimal changes within exactly defined normal limits. Thus, it appears that changes in pressocardiographic curve are also during handgrip exercise unidirectional and similar to those found internally in LV pressure curve during catheterization; the former corresponding the latter.
It was realized by the inventor for the first time that these significant diastolic alterations during exercise-induced ischemia represent a characteristic sign which was called an "ischemic diastolic response" of pressure tracings recorded either invasively or noninvasively. It should be also noted that the corresponding volumetric measurements are less dramatic having a minor magnitude.
The diagnosis of coronary artery disease or other myocardial diseases based on symptoms is not accurate enough, since these symptoms occur rather late in the course of most myocardial diseases and atypical and above not infrequently entirely absent. Alternatively, ECG and systolic abnormalities are usually preceding the onset of symptoms; whereas diastolic dysfunction represents the earliest manifestation in the course of most myocardial diseases.
Conclusive evidence exists that the earliest manifestation of ischemia is diastolic dysfunction—relaxation and end-diastolic abnormalities, preceding both the ECG and the systolic abnormalities on the onset of every ischemic episode. It has been proved in human beings that during ischemia induced by occlusion of a coronary vessel during angioplasty in the left anterior coronary vessel, an extreme prolongation of total relaxation time of the left ventricle occurs within few seconds and is followed after 15–25 sec by a dramatic rise in LV end-diastolic and left atrial pressures which are reaching a more than 150% of the base line values.
Based on heart catheterization data and high-fidelity LV pressure curve using micromanometers and exact early (relaxation) and late (end-diastolic and left atrial pressures) measurements, it has further been shown that diastolic abnormalities as assessed by LV pressure curve measurements are much more pronounced than volumetric abnormalities in diastole or systole (including left ventricular ejection fraction).
Therefore, it appears that the assessment of LV pressure curve in diastolic phase in everyday practice at rest and during short exercise could be of fundamental clinical importance. Further, it is also logical to assume that an instrumentation assessing these early occurring latent exercise-inducible diastolic abnormalities, could represent a very useful diagnostic tool for an early detection of LV dysfunction due to ischemic or other myocardial diseases.
Further, it is also expected that the application of a simple small and user friendly device—at best portable and in pocket size—for obtaining a "diastolic stress test" assessing the mentioned early and late LV pressure curve changes in everyday practice, would be a very useful daily tool leading us probably to an earlier identification of patients with subclinic CAD before the onset of symptoms or systolic dysfunction (assessed by echocardiogram) or electrical changes (in ECG).
The wide application of such instrumentation would probably result in an improved secondary prevention since it would lead us to an earlier onset of preventive and/or therapeutic strategies.
Most importantly, an isometric handgrip exercise of 2 min duration represents a low level stress to the human left ventricle and all alterations are quickly reversible. In addition, this quick and slight handgrip exercise can be performed on the bed using the one hand. Consequently, this stress test can be widely applied, independently from physical ability, age and health state; i.e. also in disabled and extreme obese persons.
Before the introduction of handgrip-pressocardiography, there was no other simple (needing no expertise and skilled interpretation), noninvasive, quick (procedure of <10 min duration) and safe (no serious complications including myocardial infarction and deaths) as well convenient for all patients diagnostic modality suitable to be applied as screening test for myocardial diseases—including coronary artery disease—even in the earliest subclinic stage.
The probably greatest problem in cardiology but also in health care is still the early identification of subclinic myocardial diseases and especially of asymptomatic patients with coronary artery disease.
Most practitioners are still based on the daily application of resting ECG or stress ECG or resting Echocardiography neither of which is sensitive enough for myocardial disease detection—especially in the earliest asymptomatic stage. Alternatively, more sensitive and specific methods such as nuclear (Thallium) imaging or stress echocardiography (including transeosophageal echo) are time-consuming, not completely non-invasive, very costly and require expert interpretation. Further, dynamic exercise or pharmacological stress tests are not convenient and not completely safe for the patients; resulting either to a decreased desire of the patients or even contraindication for performing them. Therefore, these techniques can not be applied very widely and above they are rather excluded for use by primary care physicians.
This lack of appropriate, accurate and easy applicable techniques for screening healthy looking and feeling patients for "silent myocardial disease states, results in a great still unsolved problem in health care; namely, there are still today yearly >220.000 patients in US dying suddenly due to silent myocardial disease remaining mostly unidentified prior to their sudden death. The underlying disease was in >70% of these cases asymptomatic coronary artery disease and in younger population in >30% undiagnosed "silent" cardiomyopathies.
It should also be emphasized that usually healthy feeling and looking patients in early and sometimes even more advanced stages of myocardial disease, are not coming to the great or university hospitals or at the office of cardiologists in order to be examined by means of the mentioned more sophisticated diagnostic techniques. Thus, these asymptomatic patients suffering on subclinic myocardial disease could only being diagnosed by primary care physicians who, however, do not have enough diagnostic tools for such a screening. In this context, it should be again noted that electrical (resting and stress ECG) and anatomic changes as well as systolic abnormalities (in resting echocardiogram) are all occurring mostly much later in the course of myocardial disease.
A wider application of diastolic tools as diagnostic modalities of early myocardial function alterations appear to represent an alternative useful approach. The classical diastolic tools which are widely accepted for detecting LV diastolic dysfunction are Doppler-echocardiographic and nuclear techniques as well as more recently magnetic resonance imaging techniques. All of them have one or more of the following limitations: they are time-consuming, costly, not standardized and require expert interpretation. Thus, they can not be applied by primary care physicians. In addition, although the gold standard of assessing LV diastolic function are still the internally derived LV pressure curve measurements, all of the mentioned current diastolic techniques are assessing the volumetric filling profile—and this only at rest—and none is using a pressure transducer.
Because of all these limitations and disadvantages, one should conclude that although there is no doubt about the existing and significantly increasing interest on and the clinical importance of diastolic function assessment, the clinical application of diastolic techniques in the daily practice remains rather limited.
In contrast, a HAT detection of subclinic myocardial disease can be accomplished easily, quickly, safely and conveniently with a high sensitivity and specificity in almost every patient and with a simple read out rather than expert interpretation, with the present invention. Most importantly, this diastolic stress test can be performed everywhere by a portable or even pocket sized instrument.
Previous attempts at obtaining and evaluating (apex)pressocardiographic waveforms have been handicapped by the lack of advanced instrumentation, signal processing and pattern recognition techniques. The pulse transducers which have been used had a mostly unknown or too low time constant (<3 sec) using an AC input and piezoelectric recording systems with air transmission by means of air filled tubes. Moreover, they were obtained only at rest and/or after dynamic exercise, whereas the diastolic waves could not be exactly evaluated due to too high heart rate. Both amplitude and above relaxation time indices are greatly influenced by the mode of pick up device and time constant of the pressure transducer. In past years, air-filled tubes were used for transmission of the pulse signal and transducers with too short time constant resulting in distorted tracings.
These earliest versions of "displacement cardiography" were designed as ballistocardiography and kinetocardiography being rather qualitatively than quantitatively evaluated and mostly also in relation to the phonocardiographic recordings. All these tracings as well as carotid pulse and jugular vein recordings have been used for many years in the daily practice as routine tools being termed mechanocardiography. Out of all these earlier developments only arterial pulse recordings have survived which have began recently to be reevaluated as "arterial pulse wave" tracings for evaluating arterial pulse wave velocity and arterial elasticity or compliance, which is again receiving widespread acceptance.
The (apex)cardiography has been primarily used for an improved interpretation of heart sound and murmurs. However, already in earlier years the significance of measuring the relative A wave amplitude and less also of the relaxation time of the "apex tracing". Using for the first time simultaneously external and internal pressure transducers with infinite time constant for obtaining high-fidelity tracings during heart catheterization, Jan Manolas and other cardiologists in University of Zurich, proved for the first time in human beings the significant correlation between relative A wave indices and total Relaxation time indices of the external pressure curves with the corresponding LV end-diastolic pressure and relaxation speed indices derived internally from the LV pressure curve (Ref. 3).
The Handgrip-pressocardiographic Test (HAT) has been introduced and first published in 1990 and further developed till today by Dr. Jan Manolas. The present inventor has recognized that the technology for clinical application requires an exact definition of normal limits of the diastolic indices of LV function and a positive-negative diagnosis of the presence of myocardial dysfunction and underlying myocardial disease as well as an assessment of the severity of this functional abnormality. Additionally, the inventor also recognized that by introducing an exact definition of the profile of handgrip-induced changes of the diastolic variables, one can easily discriminate among different diastolic behavior patterns.
The aim of this diastolic stress test is to assess the level of some diastolic variables corresponding to analogous diastolic function indices derived from left ventricular (LV) pressure curve as well as changes of these parameters with exercise, exploring its usefulness as an initial screening tool in identifying patients with LV diseases including coronary artery disease.
The HAT technique is obtained by a pressure transducer and mirrors LV pressure curve in time and slope; however, in contrast to the latter it is obtained noninvasively. This stress pressocardiography can be applied safely and in a convenient way in every patient, since it is of short duration and the exercise mode is only a low level isometric handgrip performed by the one hand with the patient being recumbent on the bed. Therefore, this low level stress test can be widely applied, independently from the level of physical ability, age and health state of the patient.
Before the introduction of HAT, there was no other noninvasive, simple (not needing expertise), quick (of <10 min duration), safe (without potential life threatening complications like acute infarction, ventricular tachycardia or deaths), and convenient for the patient and examinator for diagnosing myocardial diseases, including coronary artery disease.
A similar device is for obtaining a HAT is partly reported by DE 197 40 931 C2. This device consists in an external pressure transducer for obtaining noninvasive pressure curves and a balloon dynamometer for allowing the patient to perform an isometric handgrip exercise and a device for calculating diastolic parameters derived from the pressocardiographic curve at rest and during handgrip exercise in order to receive some diagnostic information about the presence or not of early and late diastolic abnormalities.
However, the received information needs a skilled further interpretation by a cardiologist and does not allow a rapid automated cardiac performance and diastolic behavior estimation by every non-expert physician or lab assistant, since an information about differentiation of underlying disease (ischemia vs non-ischemic or hypertensive myocardial disease vs Cardiomyopathy etc.) could not be derived from this previous technology.
As previously described, a device for isometric handgrip exercise by the patient is used, e.g a balloon dynamometer, which should be squeezed at approximately 40% of the maximal voluntary contraction during 2 min. At rest during and after handgrip exercise the following variables are calculated semi-automatically by means of a normalized pressocardiographic and phonocardiographic digital signal:                A/H=the relative A wave height to total systolic-diastolic excursion of pressocardiogram        A/D=the relative A wave to total diastolic height of pressocardiogram        TART=the Total (Apex)pressocardiographic Time from begin of aortic component of the second heart sound to the protodiastolic nadir of pressocardiographic curve or O point.        TARTI=the Total (Apex)pressocardiographic Relaxation Time Index, which is given by the following formula:TARTI=√{square root over (A2−C)}/TARTwhere A2 is the onset of the aortic component of the second heart sound in the phonocardiogram and C the onset of the pressocardiographic systolic upstroke. TARTI represents a modified Bazett formula, which has been used to correct temporal variables for heart rate; whereas the duration of diastolic phase is being used instead of R-R interval.        DATI=the Diastolic Amplitude Time Index, which represents the first attempt to assess by a combined single index the total early and late diastolic function and is given by the following formula:DATI=TARTI/(A/D)
Based on the absolute value of these diastolic indices at rest and during exercise, one can receive some diagnostic information. The presence of diastolic dysfunction is estimated by evaluation of a "positive" test result. Further, the presence of early or/and late diastolic abnormalities was evaluated for defining some types of diastolic dysfunction during handgrip exercise. This approach has, however, some significant shortcomings:                1. The mentioned definition of positive/negative and of diastolic types was based on normal limits according to published papers of the present inventor, which were obtained by a transducer having a different time constant from the mentioned new device.        2. Patients without or only borderline myocardial dysfunction showed a "false positive" test result and the definition of different types was incomplete.        3. No exactly defined classification of the severity of LV diastolic dysfunction and myocardial disease could be provided        4. No exactly defined differentiation of underlying myocardial disease with automatic classification of these patients could be provided        5. A positive HAT result & types definition could not help us significantly in decision making (to be admitted or discharged) in cases of atypical unstable angina        6. A positive HAT result & types could not help us greatly in decision about performing a coronary angiography.
This patent application addresses these previous shortcomings and difficulties in automated interpretation of HAT for improving the interpretation and diagnostic power and practically usefulness of this "diastolic stress test" as initial screening tool by providing an improved appropriate device which allows a more rapid automated diastolic performance estimation and myocardial ischemia in a robust manner without the need of physician or other expert interpretation.
The present inventor recognized that the by him introduced HAT technology requires some methodical and instrumental improvements.
A new definition of the positive/negative result and evaluation of types and a revised formulation of exactly defined diastolic patterns & an introduction of diastolic differentialforms for distinguishing between ischemic vs non-ischemic handgrip-induced alterations and hypertensive vs cardiomyopathic vs coronary vs congestive vs advanced, respectively.
The automated interpretation by a portable and at best pocket sized instrument, avoids the necessity of visual and empirical interpretation of the test result by experts, whereas its small size is further enhancing considerably the practical clinical applicability of this simple stress test.
The inventor has recognized that the present state of the art showed some significant limitations preventing a widespread clinical application especially on the level of primary care. There was a limited automated evaluation of the result and above a non-existent separation of patients with various myocardial diseases based on exactly defined patterns and forms of LV diastolic behavior.
Since primary care physicians still do not have any simple and cost-effective diagnostic techniques which could be used as initial screening tools for early identifying and differentiating patients with suspected or unknown subclinic myocardial diseases—including coronary artery disease, there is a continuing intense interest in introducing simple methods and appropriate instrumentation for quick and safe cardiac evaluation by non-experts in daily practice for preventing acute myocardial infarction or sudden death.

Device for and method of rapid noninvasive measurement of parameters of diastolic function of left ventricle and automated evaluation of the measured profile of left ventricular function at rest and with exercise


A resin composition comprising an epoxy group-containing cycloolefin resin and a crosslinking agent is provided. More specifically, a resin composition comprising an epoxy group-containing thermoplastic norbornene resin obtained by introducing epoxy groups into a thermoplastic norbornene resin, and as the crosslinking agent, a curing agent for epoxy resins or a photoreactive substance is provided. The resin composition is suitable for use as an insulating material.

In recent years, insulating materials composed of a polymeric material have been used in semiconductors, IC, hybrid IC, printed circuit boards, display elements, display parts and the like as overcoats such as passivation films, solder resists, plating resists, layer insulation films and moistureproof protective films, and the like. The polymeric materials used in these applications have come to be required to have improved properties and high reliability according to the miniaturization of electronic parts (including components and devices), the high density assembly (high integration) and speeding up of semiconductors, and the like.
For example, a passivation film is used for preventing moisture and/or impurities from infiltrating into a semiconductor element. Since a material for passivation becomes a component of the semiconductor element, it is required to be good in heat resistance, low water-absorption property, electrical insulating property, adhesion to a substrate or the like, etc. As materials for passivation, heat-resistant polymeric materials such as polyimide resins are used together with inorganic materials such as silicon dioxide. Among these polymeric materials, polymeric materials excellent in, particularly, heat resistance and flexibility are used not only as passivation materials, but also as layer insulation films for multilayer interconnection in semiconductor elements or printed circuit boards. Since a difference in level between wiring layers, which is caused by the multilayer interconnection attendant upon high integration, causes the disconnection of wiring layers such as aluminum wires, there has been demand for development of a layer insulation film formed of a polymeric material and having good level-difference covering ability (step coverage property).
The solder resist is a resist which is silk-screened so as to protect a surface pattern on a printed board and at the same time to expose only mounting holes and electrical input-output terminals for parts (including devices and components) and is used for applying a solder to the exposed areas only to fix the parts thereto. Since the solder resist remains as a permanent coating film on the printed board, it is required to be excellent in adhesion to the surface of a copper foil, suitability for screen printing, electrical insulating property, soldering heat resistance, solvent resistance and the like. Epoxy resins have heretofore been principally used as materials for solder resists.
As described above, the polymeric materials used as insulating materials are required to be excellent in heat resistance, solvent resistance, low water-absorption property (moisture resistance), electrical insulating property, adhesion, chemical resistance and the like. However, the polymeric materials used as insulating materials to date (up to the present) have not sufficiently satisfied these properties. For example, epoxy resins and polyimide resins are excellent in heat resistance but insufficient in moisture resistance. Polybutadiene resins similarly used as insulating materials are excellent in moisture resistance but insufficient in heat resistance. Besides, as polymeric materials used in applications such as solder resists and plating resists, photosensitive polymeric resists capable of conducting minute processing are demanded in addition to non-photosensitive polymeric resists on which a pattern is printed by the conventional screen printing in order to cope with the high integration density of assembly of semiconductors.
By the way, cycloolefin resins such as thermoplastic norbornene resins have heretofore been known as polymeric materials having good electrical insulating property. However, the conventional cycloolefin resins have involved shortcomings such as (i) insufficient heat resistance because they are thermoplastic resins, (ii) poor adhesion to inorganic materials such as silicon and (iii) insufficient solvent resistance, and have not had properties satisfactory for insulating materials such as layer insulation films. For example, when a cycloolefin resin insufficient in solvent resistance is used as a layer insulation film in the form of plural layers such as multilayer interconnection (wiring) structures, the lower layer insulation film is attacked by a solvent upon formation of the upper layer insulation film by a coating process.
It has heretofore been proposed to improve the heat resistance and solvent resistance of an addition copolymer of a norbornene type monomer with ethylene by using a crosslinking agent such as sulfur or an organic peroxide, or irradiating an ionizing radiation such as an electron ray (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 34924/1987). However, this process involves a shortcoming that sulfur remains, the storage stability of a formulated solution is poor, or plant and equipment investment requires an enormous cost.

Composition of epoxy group-containing cycloolefin resin


A method for mineral sequestration of pollutant gases resulting from the combustion of carbon-based fuels such as carbon and sulfur dioxides is provided and includes, providing a particulate magnesium-containing mineral and exposing the magnesium-containing mineral to a weak acid to dissolve magnesium from the mineral and form a magnesium-containing solution. The surface of the particulate magnesium-containing mineral is physically activated to expose and dissolve additional magnesium into the solution. Pollutant gases such as carbon dioxide are mixed with the magnesium-containing solution. When the pH of the magnesium-containing solution is increased, solid magnesium carbonate is formed.

The conversion of fossil fuels to power results in emission of a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Considering the vital role of fossil fuels to national economy, there is an urgent need to develop an effective methodology for carbon management. Carbon management involves steps including capturing, transporting, and securely storing carbon emitted from sources. The storing of carbon is a process known as carbon sequestration. Any viable system for sequestering carbon must be effective and cost-competitive, stable for long-term storage, and environmentally benign. Given the magnitude of carbon reductions needed to stabilize the atmosphere (nearly 1 gigaton of carbon/year by 2025 and 4 gigatons of carbon/year by 2050), CO2 capture and sequestration appears to be the most feasible method for reducing carbon emissions while maintaining the continued large-scale usage of fossil fuels.
There are various schemes such as geological sequestration, ocean disposal, mineral carbonation, and biological fixation that have been devised to reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Mineral sequestration is the reaction of CO2 with non-carbonate minerals to form geologically and thermodynamically stable mineral carbonates. Mineral carbonation is a new and less studied method of sequestration, which has a good potential to sequester a substantial amount of CO2. The reaction underlying mineral carbonation mimics natural chemical transformations of CO2, such as the weathering of rocks to form calcium or magnesium carbonates. This sequestration process provides a safe and permanent method of CO2 disposal. As CO2 is chemically incorporated into the mineral and is immobilized, it is unlikely that an accidental release of CO2 from the disposal site will occur. Furthermore, the reactions that bind CO2 to the mineral are exothermic and, if integrated efficiently, could result in CO2 disposal processes that are of net energy gains yielding a high economic viability.
The application of CO2 mineral sequestration has been visualized in two ways. The first process involves intermixing and reaction of minerals with CO2 in a process plant. The carbonation of minerals could take place either directly (gas-solid reaction) or in aqueous media (slurry carbonation). In the second process, CO2 could be injected into selected underground mineral deposits for carbonation (in-situ carbonation). The prior art suggests a number of possible approaches to achieve CO2 sequestration.
An early approach to mineral carbonation is taught by Pundsack, U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,667. Serpentine mineral (Mg6(OH)8Si4O10(Fe+2, Fe+3)) is reacted with ammonium bisulfate, a strong acid salt, to dissolve magnesium into solution. The pH of the solution is gradually raised to precipitate first iron oxide and then magnesium carbonate. However, the process is not designed to sequester carbon dioxide. Blencoe et al, U.S. Published Application 2004/0213705, teaches a process for CO2 sequestration which reacts a metal silicate with a caustic material to produce a metal hydroxide. The metal hydroxide is then contacted with a gas stream containing CO2 to produce a metal carbonate.
Other have attempted aqueous mineral carbonation processes. For example, one process has either heat treated serpentine or attrition ground olivine and serpentine to enhance the dissolution of those minerals for subsequent treatment with sodium bicarbonate. The energy requirements, however, for those pretreatment options (heating and/or external grinding) are extremely high. Other have used strong acids to dissolve the minerals. However, the costs of acid recovery and post-treatment of recovered solids will be expensive. Accordingly, there remains a need in this art for a CO2 sequestration process that is effective and cost-competitive, stable for long-term storage, and environmentally benign.

Carbon dioxide sequestration using alkaline earth metal-bearing minerals


A relay and exchange system includes a plurality of exchanges for relaying and exchanging transmission information contained in frames each composed of m bits, and are so constructed as to form a tandem connection by a plurality of transmission lines. A pair of multiplexing apparatuses is provided at both ends of each transmission line. On each transmission line, frames each composed of n (n<m) bits for the transmission information and a particular frame composed of both (n-1) bits for the transmission information and one bit containing signaling information in an in-slot form, are transferred. The transferred signal is transformed into an out-slot form signal for the signaling information to be received at each exchange, wherein the particular frame contains information for identifying the signaling, which information indicates a frame phase in which the signaling information is inserted, and according to which information, the signal information is inserted in the particular frame fixedly by always detecting this particular frame between the pair of multiplexing apparatuses and also between the input side and the output side of each exchange, so that quantization noise due to the signaling information is not dispersed over the frames, except for the particular frames.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for relaying and exchanging time division multiplex data, and particularly to an exchange system in which a route for achieving an in-slot transmission of signaling information and a route for achieving an out-slot transmission of signaling information are provided alternately, and pairs of transmission information composed of the time division multiplex data and the signaling information provided to control the transmission information for an exchange operation, are relayed to a remote terminal equipment via a plurality of stages of said routes.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is demanded to achieve transmission with high efficiency when transmission information, accompanied by signaling information, is transmitted to a remote terminal equipment through a plurality of stages of exchanges. To satisfy the need for highly, efficient transmission, a digital time division multiplex (TDM) method is widely employed. Particularly, on a transmission line between one exchange and another exchange, an Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation (APCM) coding method of, for example, 32 Kbps, has been tried to achieve a highly efficient transmission of information. In this case, the signaling information is transmitted in such a manner that the signaling information is inserted in a part of a series of time slots which form the transmission information composed of the ADPCM data, which is the aforesaid in-slot transmission. In this case, the signaling information is separated from the time division multiplex data at the input and output sides of the exchange, namely the input and output sides of the time division multiplex data to be transmitted, so the aforesaid out-slot transmission is achieved. The reason for the above is that, since the signaling information contains data for setting up a line, dial data and the like, it is convenient for an exchange handling PCM data of, e.g., 64 Kbps, to separate the signaling information from the time division multiplex data.
In achieving the transmission of the signaling information in the in-slot transmission, it is desired to maintain synchronization between the signaling information appearing at the input and output sides of each exchange for relaying the information. If such synchronization is not maintained, as will be explained in detail hereinafter, the quality of the transmission information is deteriorated. The deterioration in quality is gradually accumulated every time the information is relayed by respective exchanges, whereby the greater the number of the relaying exchanges, the more the quality deteriorates.

Relay and exchange system for time division multiplex data


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for a multilayer optical articles. A method comprises forming a first multilayer article with a first substrate and a second substrate with a first adherent disposed between the first and second substrate. A first surface of a third substrate is then grasped with a first holder and a second adherent is then disposed on one or more surfaces selected from a second surface of the third substrate and a surface of the first multilayer article while the multilayer article is grasped by a second holder. The second adherent is then at least partially cured while the first and second holders maintain their grasp and while the inner surfaces of the first and second holders are in the selected angular relationship to form a second multilayer article.

Many optical systems require devices having specific optical properties, in particular, surface flatness, thickness uniformity, and/or bow. Surface flatness of an article is determined by measuring the variation of the article's surface from a specified surface profile (the profile, for example, may have a certain bow). The thickness uniformity is measured by the article's variation from a specified thickness or profile (e.g., parallel or wedge-shaped). Both of these parameters are typically measured in units of optical waves of variation from the specified profile per transverse distance, e.g., waves/cm, where the wave is a specified wavelength, e.g., of the particular light being used for measurement or for the ultimate use. When used herein, units of waves/cm indicate an average measurement over the area of the article intended to have the desired optical characteristics. Bow is a physical measurement, determined as shown by FIG. 1. The distance B from the center of an article to a line drawn between two contact points where a plane meets the article is divided by half of the distance Y of that line. The units (e.g., B cm/(Y/2) cm) divide out to give a unitless value. Methods for forming optical articles are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,045, entitled "Methods for Fabricating a Multilayer Optical Article," and U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,415 entitled "Method for Fabricating a Multilayer Optical Article and a System Having a Multilayer Optical Article", both of which are incorporated by reference.
For optics applications, where one is concerned with the effect of an article on light passing through that article, physical thickness uniformity is typically not relied upon. Instead, a transmission flatness is determined by measuring the deviation of the optical path length (discussed below) from the preselected profile, and FIG. 2 shows this measurement for a configuration desired to have a uniform thickness (i.e., parallel surfaces). Transmission flatness is also presented in waves/cm, and, as known to those in the art, transmission flatness may also be expressed in rms (root mean squared) waves/cm or by the Strehl value, as discussed in J. W. Goodman, Introduction to Fourier Optics, McGraw-Hill, 1968. FIG. 2 shows two paths through a multilayer article, the paths located a distance z from each other transversely across the article. The physical path length difference across distance z is |1′−1|, and the variation from exact thickness uniformity is |1′−1|/z, which is typically measured in micrometers/cm. The physical path length is not affected by, nor does it take into account, the refractive indices of the individual layers 10, 12, and 14, or the wavelength of the light being used.
Optical path length (OPL) is the relevant parameter for transmission flatness and is represented by the following formula:
      OPL    =                            ∑                                                j                  njLj        ,where                nj is the refractive index of layer j and        Lj is the physical path length through layer j.
In contrast to physical path length, the OPL depends on the refractive index. For example, in a multilayer article such as that of FIG. 2, the OPL depends on the refractive indices of layers 10, 12, and 14. Specifically, the OPL difference (ΔOPL) across the article of FIG. 2 is equal to:|(n10L10+n12L12+n14L14)−(n10L′10+n12L′12+n14L′14)|
This equation shows that where the goal is a small OPL difference, if the substrates have relatively large individual thickness variations, but the overall thickness variation is relatively small, it is useful for the refractive indices of the substrates to be close. As reflected in FIG. 2, the transmission flatness, assuming a parallel configuration is desired, is therefore ΔOPL/z. For optics applications, it is clear that the variation from a selected profile in OPL is more meaningful than the change in physical path length per transverse unit.
Transmission and surface flatness values are presented in waves/cm, where the value given is for a specified wavelength. Use of such waves/cm herein indicates that the value is for the optical path length as opposed to the physical path length. For purposes of the present application, values in waves/cm are useful at least for wavelengths ranging from about 0.3 to about 0.9 micrometers, but the concept of the invention extends beyond this range.
For substrates typically used in optics applications, there are three basic types of thickness variations that affect surface and transmission flatness. The first type is a linear thickness change from low to high over the surface of the substrate, whereby the substrate essentially takes the form of a wedge. The thickness variation of such a substrate per unit length is relatively constant. The second type of a variation is a gradual, wavy, or random, variation, where the thickness varies, for example, from low to high to low to high gradually across the width of the substrate. The thickness variation of such a substrate per unit length is relatively constant, but the substrate does not take the form of a wedge. The third type of variation is localized, sharp divots or peaks. Such divots or peaks typically cause rapid variations in thickness measurements taken at different locations along a substrate and may therefore skew an rms measurement. Structures having this third type of variation are typically measured in terms of scratch and dig, as known in the art. Clearly, these characteristics often cause numerous difficulties when attempting to form structures with combinations of low surface smoothness variations, low thickness uniformity variations, and/or low bow.
Articles used in precise applications desirably have a surface and transmission flatness of 0.1 waves/cm or better. Articles for transmission applications where parallel surfaces are desired desirably have a bow of 10−2 or less (less meaning numerically smaller), and articles for reflection applications where parallel surfaces are desired desirably have a bow of 10−5 or less. It is difficult to prepare or obtain substrates or multilayer articles having such properties. High quality glass intended for flat panel displays (referred to herein as display glass), for example, will have surface and transmission flatness values ranging from about 0.25 to about 4 waves/cm. To obtain better, and more consistent flatness values, it is necessary to obtain a thick piece of glass and polish the glass to a desired flatness. Such chemical/mechanical polishing, however, is expensive and time-consuming, and may still be inadequate for preparing substrates and articles having the above properties. Easier and less expensive methods for improving the optical flatness of substrates and for forming optical articles, e.g., articles, having certain bow, thickness uniformity, and surface flatness, are desired, particularly for optical articles which have already been previously formed with inadequate surface flatness, thickness uniformity, or bow.
It is also possible for cells made according to the invention to be used for holographic storage. Memory cells for holographic data storage systems are discussed, for example, in H.-Y. Li et al., "Three-dimensional holographic disks," Appl. Opt., 33, pp. 3764–3774 (1994), and A. Pu et al., "A new method for holographic data storage in photopolymer films," Proceedings from IEEE/IEOS 1994 Symposium, pp. 433–435, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. It is desirable for the cells to have a surface and transmission flatness of about 0.25 waves/cm or better and a bow of about 10−2 or less. Conventional methods of disposing photopolymers between substrates do not provide these properties. Thus, there has been a need for holographic memory cells that have these properties. In addition, there has been a need for memory cells for holographic data storage systems with increased storage capacity.

Method and apparatus for multilayer optical articles


The present invention relates to the field of genetic screening. More specifically, the described embodiments concern methods to screen multiple samples, in a single assay, for the presence or absence of mutations or polymorphisms in a plurality of genes. Approaches to screen for the presence or absence of mutations that are associated with cystic fibrosis and approaches to design primers that generate extension products that facilitate the resolution of multiple extension products in a single lane of a gel or in a single run on a column are also provided.

Despite the tremendous progress in molecular biology and the identification of genes, mutations, and polymorphisms responsible for disease, the ability to rapidly screen a subject for the presence of multiple disorders has been technically difficult and cost prohibitive. Current DNA-based diagnostics allow for the identification of a single mutation or polymorphism or gene per analysis. Although high-throughput methods and gene chip technology have enabled the ability to screen multiple samples or multiple loci within the same sample, these approaches require several independent reactions, which increases the time required to process clinical samples and drastically increases the cost. Further, because of time and expense, conventional diagnostic approaches focus on the identification of the presence of DNA fragments that are associated with a high frequency of mutation, leaving out analysis of other loci that may be critical to diagnose a disease. The need for a better way to diagnose genetic disease is manifest.
With the advent of multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), the ability to use multiple primer sets to generate multiple extension products from a single gene is at hand. By hybridizing isolated DNA with multiple sets of primers that flank loci of interest on a single gene, it is possible to generate a plurality of extension products in a single PCR reaction corresponding to fragments of the gene. As the number of primers increases, however, the complexity of the reaction increases and the ability to resolve the extension products using conventional techniques fails. Further, since many diseases are caused by changes of a single nucleotide, the rapid detection of the presence or absence of these mutations or polymorphisms is frustrated by the fact that the PCR products that indicate both the diseased and non-diseased state are of the same size.
Developments in gel electrophoresis and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), however, have enabled the separation of double-stranded DNAs based upon differences in their melting behaviors, which has allowed investigators to resolve DNA fragments having a single mutation or single polymorphism. Techniques such as temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) and denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) have been used to screen for small changes or point mutations in DNA fragments.
The separation principle of TTGE, for example, is based on the melting behavior of DNA molecules. In a denaturing polyacrylamide gel, double-stranded DNA is subject to conditions that will cause it to melt in discrete segments called "melting domains." The melting temperature Tm of these domains is sequence-specific. When the Tm of the lowest melting domain is reached, the DNA will become partially melted, creating branched molecules. Partial melting of the DNA reduces its mobility in a polyacrylamide gel.
Since the Tm of a particular melting domain is sequence-specific, the presence of a mutation or polymorphism will alter the melting profile of that DNA in comparison to the wild-type or non-polymorphic DNA. That is, a heteroduplex DNA consisting of a wild-type or non-polymorphic strand annealed to mutant or polymorphic strand, will melt at a lower temperature than a homoduplex DNA strand consisting of two wild-type or non-polymorphic strands. Accordingly, the DNA containing the mutation or polymorphism will have a different mobility compared to the wild-type or non-polymorphic DNA. The TTGE approach has been used as a method for screening for mutations in the cystic fibrosis gene, for example. (Bio-Rad U.S./E.G. Bulletin 2103, herein expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety).
Similarly, the separation principle of DHPLC is based on the melting or denaturing behavior of DNA molecules. As the use and understanding of HPLC developed, it became apparent that when HPLC analyses were carried out at a partially denaturing temperature, i.e., a temperature sufficient to denature a heteroduplex at the site of base pair mismatch, homoduplexes could be separated from heteroduplexes having the same base pair length. (See e.g., Hayward-Lester, et al., Genome Research 5:494 (1995); Underhill, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:193 (1996); Oefner, et al., DHPLC Workshop, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., (Mar. 17, 1997); Underhill, et al., Genome Research 7:996 (1997); Liu, et al., Nucleic Acid Res., 26:1396 (1998), all of which and the references contained therein are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entireties). Techniques such as Matched Ion Polynucleotide Chromatography (MIPC) and Denaturing Matched Ion Polynucleotide Chromatography (DMIPC) have also been employed to increase the sensitivity of detection. It was soon realized that DHPLC, which for the purposes of this disclosure includes but is not limited to, MIPC, DMIPC, and ion-pair reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography, could be used to separate heteroduplexes from homoduplexes that differed by as little as one base pair. Various DHPLC techniques have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,795,976; 5,585,236; 6,024,878; 6,210,885; Huber, et al., Chromatographia 37:653 (1993); Huber, et al., Anal. Biochem. 212:351 (1993); Huber, et al., Anal. Chem. 67:578 (1995); O'Donovan et al., Genomics 52:44 (1998), Am J Hum Genet. December;67(6):1428-36 (2000); Ann Hum Genet. September:63 (Pt 5):383-91 (1999); Biotechniques, April;28(4):740-5 (2000); Biotechniques. November;29(5):1084-90, 1092 (2000); Clin Chem. August;45(8 Pt 1):1133-40 (1999); Clin Chem. April;47(4):635-44 (2001); Genomics. August 15;52(1):44-9 (1998); Genomics. March 15;56(3):247-53 (1999); Genet Test. ;1(4):237-42 (1997-98); Genet Test.:4(2):125-9 (2000); Hum Genet. June;106(6):663-8(2000); Hum Genet. November;107(5):483-7 (2000); Hum Genet. November;107(5):488-93 (2000); Hum Mutat. December;16(6):518-26 (2000); Hum Mutat. 15(6):556-64 (2000); Hum Mutat. March;17(3):210-9 (2001); J Biochem Biophys Methods. November 20;46(1-2):83-93 (2000); J Biochem Biophys Methods. January 30;47(1-2):5-19 (2001); Mutat Res. November 29;430(1):13-21(1999); Nucleic Acids Res. March 1;28(5):E13 (2000); and Nucleic Acids Res. October 15;28(20):E89 (2000), all of which, including the references contained therein, are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entireties. Despite the efforts of many, there remains a need for a better approach to screen for mutations and/or polymorphisms.

Methods of identifying genetic markers in the human cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene


Apparatus for coating substrates by a vacuum coating process. The apparatus includes a plurality of closed processing chambers, each provided with an entrance/exit closable opening. The individual processing chambers have an approximately equal configuration in groups and are disposed one above the other. The chambers have planes in each case at the same distance from a level on which the apparatus is set up. The individual chambers have entrance/exit closable openings. A common elevator chamber has a substrate lift by which the substrates can be moved vertically from the plane of one processing chamber to the plane of another processing chamber. The entrance/exit closable openings lead all to the common elevator chamber. At least one of the chambers of a group has an entrance/exit airlock chamber and is provided with an entrance/exit airlock opening which forms a connection to space surrounding the apparatus.

The invention relates to an apparatus for coating substrates, preferably flat, more or less plate-like substrates--especially curved glass plates--by means of a vacuum coating process, the apparatus being equipped with a plurality of closed processing chambers each provided with an entrance and exit closable opening.
It is known in apparatus for coating substrates by vacuum coating processes, especially sputtering processes, to provide a plurality of individual processing chambers which are arranged in line one behind the other, so that the substrate held by a substrate carrier can be advanced from one chamber to the next and thus can be fed to different processes (EP 0 440 259). The known apparatus has the disadvantage that such a system, with chambers disposed next to one another (a so-called "in-line" system) requires a relatively great amount of space and needs a comparatively great floor space and clean-room area. There is the added difficulty that, in order to separate the chambers cleanly with buffer chambers, additional vacuum chambers are needed which further increase the cost and enlarge the apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to create an especially compact apparatus which, with a minimum of chambers, permits multi-layer coating of high quality. Furthermore, the apparatus must be comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, i.e., it is to be made with a minimum of chamber wall surfaces.

Apparatus for coating substrates, preferably flat, more or less plate-like substrates