The use of sucrose polyester containing behenate fatty acid chains as a non-absorbable fat marker to determine total dietary fat absorption by the digestive tract of a subject. A test food for use in measuring fat absorption contains a non-absorbable fat and a dietary fat. The method is useful for diagnostic testing for diagnosing malabsorption of dietary fat by the digestive tract of the subject, and impairment of dietary fat digestion in the subject.

Chronic undernutrition resulting in significant weight retardation and linear growth failure has long been recognized as a general problem among cystic fibrosis patient populations, as well as those resulting from other diseases or syndromes of malabsorption of fat from the small intestine. It is well accepted in medical science that there is a significant correlation between the degree of malnutrition and the severity of such diseases. A variety of complex factors, both related and unrelated, can give rise to the energy imbalance underlying undernutrition or malnutrition that manifests in malabsorptive conditions. Nonetheless, fecal nutrient losses, including those of fat, from maldigestion or malabsorptive diseases are known to contribute to energy imbalance, and therefore point to the need for a convenient and accurate measure of fat absorption to improve diagnosis, management, and treatment of these conditions. While the normal value for total fat absorption in humans is >90% absorbed (<10% remaining in feces), it may be as low as 60% (40% remaining in feces) in association with conditions of atrophy of intestinal mucosa such as celiac disease, idiopathic steatorrhea, obstructive jaundice, chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis, gastrectomy; intestinal resection or anomalies, blockage of intestinal lymphatics, iatrogenic steatorrhea caused by irradiation or antibiotics, pneumatosis intestinalis, or failure of blood supply such as mesenteric endarteritis.
Fat-balance methodology, which is based on the measurement of consumed and excreted fat, is a standard means for the assessment of the absorption of dietary fat. Fat-balance methodology can be used for indirect measurement of fat absorption because fat that is not absorbed in the small intestine is minimally altered during transit through the large intestine. Although hydrolysis of dietary triacylglycerol fats can be catalyzed by anaerobic bacterial lipases in the large intestine, long-chain fatty acids released from triacylglycerol fats are not utilized for energy in the colon and are excreted intact or with structural alterations limited to partial hydrogenation or migration of double bonds (Howard, F A et al. (1999). Lett Appl Microbiol 29:193-196). These alterations do not measurably affect the mass of unabsorbed fat that appears in feces. Therefore fecal fat reflects the type and amount of fat that exits the small intestine.
Although the basic concept of "fat intake minus fat output" is easily understood, the execution of the fat-balance method is difficult in practice. First of all, an accurate and complete measurement of diet composition and consumption is necessary for the calculation of fat absorption. Studies with rodents can be problematic if diet is spilled or scattered, thus making it difficult to determine the amount of diet that was consumed. Equally important is the complete collection of fecal matter at a time and of a duration corresponding to the test meals. This collection can require special metabolic cages for animal studies. Methods to help match fecal matter with corresponding test meals have included radio-opaque pellets in the diet with subsequent counting of the pellets in rodent feces.
Accurate and complete collection of human fecal matter is more problematic, and can involve a stay of 4-7 days in a metabolic ward. Current methodology is based on the assumption that all unabsorbed fat ingested from a test meal has been recovered in the collection of fecal material. Typically, all feces excreted during a 72-hour period following ingestion of a test meal are collected. Such a collection can be difficult to execute accurately, and can be an onerous task, as well as difficult to verify as complete. The difficult nature of the complete collection of fecal matter for clinical analysis can be more fully understood by the following description of the methodology taken from Bray's Clinical Laboratory Methods (CV Mosby Co., Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 68-55316, pg. 455), which represents the state of the art in collection of samples for fecal fat analysis: "Collection of the specimen presents some problems. The determination of fat on a random specimen is of little value. It is generally agreed that, if possible, all the stool excreted over a 3-5 day period should be collected for analysis. Also it is preferable that the patient be on a fairly constant diet, one in which the fat content is at least approximately known, for 2 or 3 days prior to and throughout the collection period. The samples should be preserved in the refrigerator until analyzed. If more than an occasional determination is made (i.e., multiple subjects are to be tested), it is helpful to collect the specimens in new pre-weighed 1-gallon metal paint cans. These have tight-fitting covers, and after the entire specimen has been collected it can be well mixed in the original can by adding some water if necessary and shaking on a paint-shaking machine. This usually gives a homogeneous sample. Subtract the weight of the can from the weight of the can plus contents to obtain the weight of the specimen. The addition of water makes no difference since one is determining the fat in an aliquot from an entire 3-day specimen. If the feces are collected in other containers, the entire specimen must be well mixed. This is best accomplished with a Waring blender or similar machine and with the addition of a small amount of water. The weight of the total homogenized specimen must then be obtained."
Because of the problems associated with complete collection of fecal specimens, other techniques have been used to estimate fat absorption (Hill, P G, (2001). Ann. Clin. Biochem. 38:164-167). For example, the measurement of the appearance of 14CO2 in breath after consumption of 14C-triolein has been carried out. This approach gives a relative measure of absorption based on comparison with 14CO2 in the breath of subjects for which fractional fat absorption is known. In a modification of this method to avoid exposure to radioactivity, dietary triacylglycerols containing 13C have also been fed followed by subsequent measurement of expired 13CO2 by mass spectroscopic analysis. Non-absorbable flow markers have also been used in the measurement of dietary lipid absorption. Cholesterol absorption has been measured by radioisotope techniques using dietary plant sterols as non-absorbable fat markers (see e.g., Jandacek, R J et al. (1990). Metabolism, 39:848-852). Dietary triacylglycerol absorption has been measured in rats by simultaneous feeding of 133I-triolein and the non-absorbable fat marker, 75Se-glyceryl triether (Hoving, J. et al. (1977). Gastroenterology 72:406-412). However, these markers obviously require ingestion of radioactive material, a procedure that has inherent limitations, and can have serious drawbacks for human subjects.
Non-radioactive safe markers that are measured by standard techniques have not been validated for use in measuring fat absorption. Currently, there are neither any known markers that are both safe and readily available for use in humans, nor methods for the use of use such a marker. Therefore, a need exists for an appropriate marker for dietary fat that: (1) is not absorbed; (2) has the physical properties of dietary triacylglycerol fats; (3) can be measured by standard gas chromatographic techniques; (4) is approved for use in humans, and (5) does not alter dietary fat absorption. Such a marker would also need to be readily available in sufficient, cost-effective quantities. Additionally, a method for measurement that did not require extensive collection and homogenization of fecal material would provide a significant advantage to both the subject and the administrator of the method. Therefore, a method that would allow measurements to be taken from relatively small samples taken at appropriate times would relieve all parties involved of the burden of extensive collection and storage of fecal materials.

Use of non-absorbable fat in determining dietary fat absorption


In an adjusting device with a transmission, high gear ratios are frequently required. In the transmission, powerful lateral forces are frequently generated, which must be absorbed by correspondingly dimensioned bearings. The present invention proposes an adjusting device having a transmission in which at least one gear is supported on an axle with a diameter that varies in the longitudinal direction. This achieves a uniform material loading of the axle supporting the gear and permits the diameter of the axle as a whole to be significantly reduced. The adjusting device is particularly intended for motor vehicles with an internal combustion engine.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to an improved adjusting device for adjusting the position of a final control element using a transmission.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are known adjusting devices for internal combustion engines in which a servomotor must move a final control element via a transmission. For example, the final control element is a throttle valve flap. Because there is frequently very little room available for the adjusting device in a motor vehicle, it is necessary to keep its size to a minimum. In order for a relatively small servomotor to be able to move the final control element quickly and precisely, a transmission is provided between the servomotor and the final control element. Due to the limited amount of available space, the transmission must be as small as possible.
DE 195 25 510 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,818 have disclosed an adjusting device provided in the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine. The adjusting device disclosed therein has a throttle valve shaft that is supported in a throttle valve housing in pivoting fashion and has a throttle valve flap attached to it. The throttle valve housing has a gas duct passing through it. The throttle valve flap opens or closes the gas duct in response to the pivoting of the throttle valve shaft. A servomotor can move the throttle valve flap via a transmission. The transmission is situated in a transmission housing and has a number of gears. A middle gear is supported in rotary fashion on an axle that is attached to the main body of the throttle valve housing. The transmission housing is covered by a cover. Because the cover has, among other things, parts of a position sensor attached to it, the cover must be positioned very precisely in the region of the position sensor. For this reason and due to production tolerances that can never be entirely avoided, there is necessarily play, particularly in the radial direction, in the region between the cover and the end of the axle oriented toward the cover. For this reason, the axle can only be secured in the region of the main body, whereas in the region of the cover, it is only possible for it to be supported loosely, with a large amount of play. This has the disadvantage that the axle, particularly at the point at which the axle comes out of the main body, is loaded with a large amount of bending stresses and shearing stresses and that a particularly high-strength material must therefore be used for the axle or else the axle would have to be so thick that it would require the entire device to be unnecessarily large.


The present invention provide a system and a method for analyzing the static timing for LSIs which involves rather a small number of false paths contained in output results and also which reduces the processing time required. A static-timing analysis technique according to the present invention comprises a net-list input step S110 which inputs per-transistor basis connection information, to construct an internal data structure for analysis; an expected-value check step S120 which checks, against the above-mentioned internal data structure, each node on whether its expected values may be a high-impedance state; a signal-flow direction narrow-down step S130 which narrows down the directions in which the transistor signal may flow, based on the obtained expected values; a division step S140 which divides a sequential circuit into units consisting of only combinational sub-circuits; a path search step S150 which searches paths for each of thus divided units; and an output step S170 which outputs the obtained results.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a system and a method for analyzing the static timing for LSIs and more particularly to a system and a method for analyzing the static timing for searching circuits for their critical paths based on the information of transistor connections.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently the number of transistors merged in an LSI has drastically increased, accompanied by the ever increasing complexity of the circuits of logic LSIs represented by, in particular, microprocessors. Presently, to design and manufacture semiconductor devices, it is indispensable to employ CAD systems, which help improve the circuit performance and reduce the time required to fabricate them. To achieve this purpose is available such a static-timing analysis technique as PathMill, which searches circuits for their critical paths based on the transistor-connection information. This static-timing analysis technique has rapidly pervaded the industry because it is speedy in analysis and does not require combinational strings (hereinafter called test vectors) of input signals. This technique is proposed for use in various types of static-timing analysis systems such as those which analyze the circuits for each inverter, NAND gate, and other gate and those which do so for each transistor. Moreover, various types of algorithms are proposed for searching for the paths. Various types of algorithms are also available for use in the per-transistor basis static-timing analysis technique. FIG. 1 shows an example of flowchart for processing executed by a conventional static-timing analysis system. This per-transistor basis static-timing analysis system searches for, based on the transistor-connection information, the paths having the largest delay out of those which the signals come from or go out.
First, the analysis system reads in a net list to construct an internal data structure (step S1). To carry out a per-transistor basis analysis, the system generally expands the hierarchical structure, thus providing an overall flat condition. Next, according to the rules described later, the analysis system narrows down the transistor signal-flow directions (step S2). This enables the efficient performing of the subsequent path search. Then, the analysis system, based on the clock-signal nodes specified by the user, divides all the sequential circuits into blocks of the circuits composed of only combinational sub-circuits (step S3). The subsequent processes are all carried out for each of those blocks. Then, the paths are searched for (step S4). The system first searches for paths as assuming one of the incoming signals to be a high-to-low changing signal and then does so as assuming it to be a low-to-high changing signal, thus finding the possible longest paths. The system repeats this process for each of the other incoming signals, to find the critical paths of a desired circuit. The paths can thus be searched for by repeating a process of assumption and verification for the signal flow to trace the propagation of the signal. When having completed the process of path searching for all the blocks (step S5), the system outputs the results (step S6).
Step S2 mentioned earlier for the narrowing down of transistor signal flow directions is described as follows. A MOS transistor, originally a four-terminal element, is thought of as a three-terminal element in which the substrate terminal is generally ignored in the static-timing analysis method. Assume here that in an NMOS transistor shown in FIG. 2(a) a logically positive value (power supply potential) is applied to the terminal G and the terminal D is connected to a grounded capacitor so that a current I would flow from the terminal D through the terminal S if the terminal S is grounded. This condition is here defined as a state where, as shown in FIG. 2(a), a low-level signal is propagated from the terminal S through the terminal D. Likewise, if, in a PMOS transistor shown in FIG. 2(d), the terminal G is grounded and the terminal D is connected to a grounded capacitor, a current I would flow from the terminal S through the terminal D when a logically positive value (power-supply potential) is applied to the terminal S. This condition is defined as a state where, as shown in FIG. 2(d), a high-level signal is propagated from the terminal S through the terminal D. Likewise, as shown in FIGS. 2(b) and 2(c), the signal flow directions through the PMOS and NMOS transistors respectively are determined. Originally, it cannot be known in which directions of the source and drain terminals the signal flows in MOS transistors; however, when either one of these two terminals is grounded or connected to a power-supply potential, the direction in which the signal flows through the transistor is limited to one.
In the case where, as shown in FIG. 2(e), an incoming signal indicated by IN is connected to the source terminal of the NMOS transistor, this signal can only either be a high level (connected to the power-supply potential) or a low level (grounded), so that the signal flow is limited in the arrow direction shown in the figure. Likewise, in the case of the PMOS transistor such as shown in FIG. 2(f), the signal flow is limited in the arrow direction in the figure. Also in the case of the NMOS transistor such as shown in FIG. 2(g), in which it cannot be known in which direction a signal would flow at its terminal S, when the same signal comes from all portions connected thereto, the signal flow can be limited in the arrow direction shown in the figure. Likewise, in the case of the PMOS transistor such as shown in FIG. 2(h) also, the signal-flow direction can be limited.
By utilizing those rules, it is possible to narrow down the signal-flow directions for those transistors which are connected to the transistor whose direction is already narrowed down.
Next, at the step S3 where a sequential circuit is divided into a number of blocks, the sequential circuit is actually divided into a number of combinational-circuit blocks if possible.
Then, the algorithm for the path search step S4 is described as follows. As mentioned earlier, this step searches the circuit from the arrival of a particular incoming signal considered to have changed from a high state to a low state through its leaving as an outgoing signal for the possible longest path from the viewpoint of circuit operations. The system carries out this type of search operation for each incoming signal in both cases where it has changed from a high state to a low state and vice versa, to find the longest path from among those searched at this step.
Note that generally every transistor in a circuit is taken to be a linear resistor, in calculation of the propagation delay time, so that its apparent resistance may be multiplied by a stray capacitance in approximation to the RC product as a time constant, and the description of how to do so is omitted here. The following description does not cover details of delay time calculation, assuming that each inter-node delay is already calculated.
The path search operation concerns two states of each node: the one before change and the other after it. The state before change refers to the one before the incoming signal changes and the state after change, the one after the changed input signal has influenced all the elements of a particular circuit.
Assume here that such a state is propagated from one ode to the next one. Such a situation is called a sequential search. Even this single assumption premises several new assumptions as necessary conditions. Here, the condition for nodes required to be directly influenced by a changed node is called a direct condition. Also, the condition for a particular node required to establish its own direct condition so that all the transistors connected thereto are taken into account is called an indirect condition. Such a change in state of a node shifts to its adjacent one. Thus one assumption gives birth to several new assumptions, each of which then produces different new assumptions, so that the assumption pervades the adjacent nodes one by one. The system continues this assumption until it reaches a node which has a power supply, ground, incoming signal, outgoing signal, or other special attribute or a node beyond which the sequential search is no longer possible, thus deciding whether the assumption is true or false. When an assumption is decided to be false, i.e. is denied, the system returns to that denial point in time to correct both that assumption and the dependent ones. Thus, each of the direct and indirect conditions needs to be traced back until its own assumption is confirmed to be true. This operation is called a backward search. Thus, the system repeats a forward search, to cover the paths of each signal from its entering through leaving.
In such a way as described above, the system stores paths thus obtained for each block and does it store the path having the largest delay in a file or displays on a CRT screen.
If, in this process, the transistor signal flow is properly directed, a conflict in a particular assumption of path search would ignore a smaller number of assumptions accumulated theretofore than otherwise. This enables reducing the time for processing. Also, an appropriate directing of the transistor signal flow would also decrease the number of false paths, i.e. those paths which are impossible from the viewpoint of circuit operations, because of an accumulation of false assumptions.
A prior art is described below based on the analysis of a test circuit prepared for evaluation.
Here, how to analyze a circuit conventionally called a barrel shifter is described. The barrel shifter will execute shift operations at a high speed in microprocessors etc. FIG. 3 shows a portion of the barrel shifter circuit. As shown in the figure, the barrel shifter employs a lot of transmission gates.
First the processing directs, based on the above-mentioned rules, the signal flow only for the transistors that make up the inverter and not for those transistors that make up the transmission gate.
Therefore, the path-search process would search for such a path as indicated by a broken-line arrow in FIG. 3, i.e. a path which is impossible circuit operation-wise, the verification of which may greatly elongate the processing or may output false paths.
Next, FIG. 4 shows a flowchart for the prior art. This example, instead of narrowing down the transistor signal-flow directions, carries out pattern matching to converts path search from a per-transistor basis to a per-gate basis. There are various types of pattern matching techniques available, but their description is omitted here.
Those techniques, however, cannot determine the direction in which the transmission gate signal such as shown in FIG. 3 would flow and therefore may give false paths or greatly increase the processing time as mentioned above.
As can be seen from this, the prior art suffers from a poor ratio of determining the direction in which the transistor signal would flow in such a circuit as having a lot of path transistors, so that a lot of false paths will be given in the analysis results accompanied by a greatly long processing time.

System and method for analyzing static timing


The technology allows to assist the stock price forecast by referring to the past business performance and stock price based on the business performance forecast of the company by the user himself/herself. The system includes a server having a processor, a client configured to transmit a user's forecast value of the company's performance to the server, and a database configured to store the company's current and past performances and stock prices, which are retrievable by the server, wherein the server is configured to retrieve from the database a past performance of the company within a predetermined range from the user's forecast value received from the client, and a stock price at the time, calculate a multiple using the retrieved past performance and the stock price, calculate a theoretical stock price using the user's forecast value and the multiple, and transmit an alert to the client if the current stock price retrieved from the database deviates from the theoretical stock price by a predetermined value or more.

Methods for recommending buying and selling stocks (issue) of a company is mainly considered to be as follows.
(1) To Determine Based on Stocks' Market Prices.
For example, a sell recommendation is made when an absolute stock price is too high, and a buy recommendation is made when the absolute stock price is too low. In addition, a sell recommendation is made when an increase in a stock price during a certain period is too large, and a buy recommendation is made when a decrease in the stock price is too large.
(2) To Determine Based on Market Capitalization.
For example, a buy recommendation is made when a market capitalization is lower than those of similar companies. In addition, a buy recommendation is made for small market capitalization stocks with large upside in absolute value. For a large cap stock having a large absolute market capitalization, a sell recommendation is made when there is little room for increase.
(3) To Determine Based on Forecasts Made by Analysts of Securities Companies or Research Companies.
Whether a stock price is high or low is determined based on business performance forecasts of analysts. For example, a buy recommendation is made according to an analyst in charge of an electrical appliances sector when a stock price or market capitalization of company A is low with respect to the business performance of company A.
Surprises are forecasted based on a business performance forecast of a specific analyst. For example, a specific analyst B forecasts that business performance of company A exceeds consensus of an unspecified number of analysts collected by Nikkei QUICK Inc., Bloomberg, securities companies, research companies, and the like, and makes a buy recommendation.
(4) Basket Recommendation
An unspecified number of issues that are included in a specific theme or sector are recommended. For example, since artificial intelligence (AI) will be developed in the future, it is recommended to purchase stocks of 30 AI-related companies.
In addition, an unspecified number of issues are recommended, which are extracted based on certain indices or factors, such as a dividend payout ratio and a return on equity (ROE). For example, it is recommended to purchase issues having high dividend yields. However, determination is made based on forecasts of securities companies and research companies, or each listed company's plans or actual performance.

Stock price forecast assist system and method


Techniques are disclosed for enabling users to define one or more areas of a graphical user interface (“GUI”) as being “glue-like”. When the user moves a pointing device (e.g., a mouse, joystick, track ball, etc.) and as a result, the graphical pointer moves into a painted area, the speed at which the graphical pointer will then traverse the GUI is programmatically slowed. Upon exiting the painted area, the graphical pointer speed is preferably restored to its prior setting. In this manner, the user achieves user-specific, application-independent control over the speed at which the graphical pointer moves.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system, and deals more particularly with techniques for more enabling users to define one or more areas of a graphical user interface ("GUI") as being "glue-like", thereby causing the cursor or graphical pointer to slow down so that the user is able to achieve better control thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Use of computers and various types of application software has become pervasive in the work environment as well as in everyday life. Many people experience difficulty in physically interacting with computers and the devices that provide an interface to application software. An inability to control a pointing device (such as a mouse) with fine motor skills may occur, whether due to degradation of coordination or a lack of coordination. This inability may prevent the person from accomplishing common tasks, or cause great difficulty with performing tasks, such as making selections from a menu or a task bar. Many menus, such as the "Start" program menu available in the Windows®operating system, have relatively narrow regions of selectability for each of the menu's choices. ("Windows" is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.) Similarly, task bars may contain a number of relatively small selectable icons, where these icons are located in close proximity to one another. Persons with limited fine motor skills, including children, the elderly, or those suffering with nerve disorders (such as Parkinson's disease), may be able to position the graphical pointer corresponding to the pointing device into the general area of the display device where they wish to make a selection, but may have difficulty with more specific component selections (such as choosing a particular icon from a task bar or a making a particular choice from a menu).
Accordingly, what is needed are techniques for enabling users to have better control over selections made on the interface to software applications.

International Business Machines Corporation


A Si—O—Al composite comprising silicon, silicon oxide, and aluminum oxide exhibits a powder XRD spectrum in which the intensity of a signal of silicon at 28.3° is 1-9 times the intensity of a signal near 21°. A negative electrode material comprising the Si—O—Al composite is used to construct a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery which is improved in 1st cycle charge/discharge efficiency and cycle performance while maintaining the high battery capacity and low volume expansion upon charging of silicon oxide.

In conjunction with the recent rapid advances of portable electronic equipment and communications instruments, non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries having a high energy density are strongly demanded from the aspects of cost, size and weight reductions. A number of measures are known in the art for increasing the capacity of such non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries. For example, JP 3008228 and JP 3242751 disclose negative electrode materials comprising oxides of B, Ti, V, Mn, Co, Fe, Ni, Cr, Nb, and Mo and composite oxides thereof. A negative electrode material comprising M100−xSix wherein x≧50 at % and M=Ni, Fe, Co or Mn is obtained by quenching from the melt (JP 3846661). Other negative electrode materials are known as comprising silicon oxide (JP 2997741), and Si2N2O, Ge2N20 or Sn2N2O (JP 3918311).
Silicon is regarded most promising in attaining the battery's goals of size reduction and capacity enhancement since it exhibits an extraordinarily high theoretical capacity of 4,200 mAh/g as compared with the theoretical capacity 372 mAh/g of carbonaceous materials that are currently used in commercial batteries. Silicon is known to take various forms of different crystalline structure depending on a preparation process. For example, JP 2964732 discloses a lithium ion secondary battery using single crystal silicon as a support for negative electrode active material. JP 3079343 discloses a lithium ion secondary battery using a lithium alloy LixSi (0≦x≦5) with single crystal silicon, polycrystalline silicon or amorphous silicon. Of these, the lithium alloy LixSi with amorphous silicon is preferred, which is prepared by coating crystalline silicon with amorphous silicon resulting from plasma decomposition of monosilane, followed by grinding. However, the negative electrode material therein uses 30 parts of a silicon component and 55 parts of graphite as the conductive agent as described in Example, failing to take full advantage of the potential battery capacity of silicon.
For the purpose of imparting conductivity to negative electrode materials, JP-A 2000-243396 teaches mechanical alloying of a metal oxide such as silicon oxide with graphite and subsequent carbonization; JP-A 2000-215887 mentions coating of Si particles on their surface with a carbon layer by chemical vapor deposition; and JP-A 2002-42806 proposes coating of silicon oxide particles on their surface with a carbon layer by chemical vapor deposition. The provision of particle surfaces with a carbon layer improves conductivity, but is not successful in overcoming the outstanding problems of silicon negative electrodes, i.e., in mitigating substantial volumetric changes associated with charge/discharge cycles or in preventing electricity collection and cycle performance from degrading.
Recently different approaches are thus taken, for example, a method for restraining volume expansion by restricting the percent utilization of silicon battery capacity (JP-A 2000-215887, JP-A 2000-173596, JP 3291260, JP-A 2005-317309), a method of quenching a melt of silicon having alumina added thereto for utilizing grain boundaries in polycrystalline particles as the buffer to volumetric changes (JP-A 2003-109590), polycrystalline particles of mixed phase polycrystals of α- and β-FeSi2 (JP-A 2004-185991), and hot plastic working of a monocrystalline silicon ingot (JP-A 2004-303593).
Means for mitigating volume expansion by tailoring the layer structure of silicon active material are also disclosed, for example, disposition of two layers of silicon negative electrode (JP-A 2005-190902), and coating or encapsulating with carbon or another metal and oxide for restraining particles from spalling off (JP-A 2005-235589, JP-A 2006-216374, JP-A 2006-236684, JP-A 2006-339092, JP 3622629, JP-A 2002-75351, and JP 3622631). In the method of gas phase growing silicon directly on a current collector, degradation of cycle performance due to volume expansion can be restrained by controlling the growth direction (JP-A 2006-338996).
The method of enhancing the cycle performance of negative electrode material by coating silicon surfaces with carbon to be electrically conductive or coating silicon with an amorphous metal layer as mentioned above utilizes only about a half of the silicon's own battery capacity. There is a desire for a higher capacity. As for the polycrystalline silicon having grain boundaries, the disclosed method is difficult to control the cooling rate and hence, to reproduce consistent physical properties.
On the other hand, silicon oxide is represented by SiOx wherein x is slightly greater than the theory of 1 due to oxide coating, and is found on transmission electron microscope analysis to have the structure that crystalline silicon ranging from several to several tens of nanometers is finely dispersed in silicon oxide. The battery capacity of silicon oxide is smaller than that of silicon, but greater than that of carbon by a factor of 5 to 6 on a weight basis. Silicon oxide experiences a relatively less volume expansion. Silicon oxide is thus believed ready for use as the negative electrode active material. Nevertheless, silicon oxide has a substantial irreversible capacity and a very low initial efficiency of about 70%, which requires an extra battery capacity of the positive electrode when a battery is actually fabricated. Then an increase of battery capacity corresponding to the 5 to 6-fold capacity increase per active material weight is not expectable.
The problem of silicon oxide to be overcome prior to practical use is a substantially low initial efficiency. This may be overcome by making up the irreversible fraction of capacity or by restraining the irreversible capacity. The method of making up the irreversible fraction of capacity by previously doping silicon oxide with Li metal is reported effective. Doping of lithium metal may be carried out by attaching a lithium foil to a surface of negative electrode active material (JP-A 11-086847) or by vapor depositing lithium on a surface of negative electrode active material (JP-A 2007-122992). As for the attachment of a lithium foil, a thin lithium foil that matches with the initial efficiency of silicon oxide negative electrode is hardly available or prohibitively expensive if available. The deposition of lithium vapor makes the fabrication process complex and is impractical.
Aside from lithium doping, it is also disclosed to enhance the initial efficiency of negative electrode by increasing a weight proportion of silicon. One method is by adding silicon particles to silicon oxide particles to reduce the weight proportion of silicon oxide (JP 3982230). In another method, silicon vapor is generated and precipitated in the same stage as is produced silicon oxide, obtaining mixed solids of silicon and silicon oxide (JP-A 2007-290919). Silicon as an active material has both a high initial efficiency and a high battery capacity as compared with silicon oxide, but displays a percent volume expansion as high as 400% upon charging. Even when silicon is added to a mixture of silicon oxide and carbonaceous material, the percent volume expansion of silicon oxide is not maintained, and eventually at least 20 wt % of carbonaceous material must be added in order to suppress the battery capacity at 1,000 mAh/g. The method of obtaining the mixed solids by simultaneously generating silicon and silicon oxide vapors suffers from the working problem that the low vapor pressure of silicon necessitates the process at a high temperature in excess of 2,000° C.
As discussed above, the silicon-based active material still has a problem to be solved prior to practical use, independent of whether it is based on a metal element or an oxide thereof. There is a desire to have a negative electrode active material which can restrain the volumetric change associated with occlusion and release of lithium, mitigate a lowering of conductivity due to atomization by fissure of particles and separation of particles from the current collector, be manufactured on a mass scale at a low cost, and comply with the application as in mobile phones where repetitive cycle performance is of high priority.

Non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, negative electrode, negative electrode material, and preparation of Si—O—Al composite


A semiconductor laser device which provides enhanced carrier confinement. This device utilizes a single or multi-quantum well structure located between graded index confinement layers which are in turn between a pair of cladding layers. Semiconductor layers are selected such that the quantum well active region and confinement layers form a PN junction by being located between layers having N-type dopants on one side and P-type dopants on the second side for proper diode response. Within each confinement layer there is formed a plurality of multi-quantum barrier layers which serve to further increase the carrier confinement within the quantum well region by increasing the effective potential barrier within the graded index confinement region. The multi-quantum barrier layers are comprised of layers of the material forming the graded index confinement layers having alternating large and small concentrations of the material whose percentage is being varied in the graded index confinement layers.

The present invention relates generally to a semiconductor laser and more particularly to a semiconductor laser incorporating multi-quantum barriers for improved carrier confinement properties.
In many modern applications it is desirable to utilize efficient semiconductor laser devices. The efficiency of semiconductor laser devices may be increased by improving the optical and the carrier confinement of the semiconductor laser device. Such efficient semiconductor laser devices may be utilized in a variety of applications including semiconductor diode laser pumping of Nd:YAG lasers and optical communication, detection and illumination applications.
For efficient semiconductor laser operation it is desirable to have both optical and carrier confinement. Carrier confinement, the confinement of the holes and the electrons within the active region of the semiconductor laser device, is desirable as poor carrier confinement may cause the threshold current of the semiconductor laser device to increase and the characteristic temperature T.sub.0 to decrease. Carrier confinement in a semiconductor laser device having an active region, typically a quantum well region, is generally acheived by surrounding the active region of the semiconductor laser with materials having a large bandgap such that the carriers will be much more likely to populate the active region than they would the adjacent materials having the larger bandgap. While this method of utilizing materials having a large bandgap adjacent to the active region is successful in confining carriers, some material systems do not have readily available materials with sufficiently large bandgaps that can be grown adjacent to the active region to provide carrier confinement.
For example, an (Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x).sub.0.5 In.sub.0.5 P semiconductor laser may be grown such that the quantum well Ga.sub.0.5 In.sub.0.5 P is positioned between a pair of graded index layers of (Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x).sub.0.5 In.sub.0.5 P in which the aluminum mole fraction is linearly increased in a direction away from the quantum well. The bandgap is relatively small in the graded index region as the (Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x).sub.0.5 In.sub.0.5 P semiconductor laser has a conduction band with at least two valleys. For aluminum mole fractions, x, less than 0.65, the potential barrier achievable is determined by the gamma valley. Within this transition region wherein the aluminum mole fraction is less than 0.65, the bandgap energy of the GRINSCH structure gradually increases as the aluminum mole fraction increases as is desired for carrier confinement improvement. At aluminum mole fractions greater than 0.65, the potential barrier achievable, a satellite valley, the X valley. In the X valley, however, the bandgap energy changes very little with increasing aluminum mole fractions such that the bandgap energy in this portion of the GRINSCH region does not increase substantially and thus does not significantly improve and assist the carrier confinement process. A similar situation in AlGaAs lasers occurs for aluminum mole fraction greater than 0.37.
Iga, et al in an article entitled Electron Reflectance of Multiquantum Barrier (MQB) published in Electronics Letters on Sep. 11, 1986, Volume 22, No. 19, pages 1008-1010 as well as Takagi, et al in an article entitled Potential Barrier Height Analysis of AlGaInP Multi-Quantum Barrier (MQB) published in Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Volume 29, No. 11, in November 1990, pages L1977-L1980 and Iga, et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,756 reported that alternating, thin layers of high and low bandgap materials can form an effective potential barrier that is larger than the potential of either of the barrier materials alone. The increased effective barrier height of the multi-quantum barrier is due to the interference of the electron waves which are reflected by the various barrier layers in a manner analogous to the interference of optical waves being reflected from a multi-layer dielectric coating. Additionally, Kishino, et al in an article entitled, Enhanced Carrier Confinement Effect by the Multiquantum Barrier in 660 nm GaInP/AlInP Visible Lasers, published in Applied Physics Letters, Volume 58, No. 17 on Apr. 29, 1991 on pages 1822-1824 utilized the multi-quantum barrier effect of improving carrier confinement to increase the characteristic temperature of the visible laser they were experimenting with so as to decrease the threshold current.
It should be noted, however, that each of these implementations of a multi-quantum barrier was accomplished in a semiconductor laser diode which did not include a graded index region adjacent to the active region but instead utilized confinement layers having a consistent composition therethrough. Additionally, in each of the prior multi-quantum barrier implementations the layers were lattice matched and were not strained layers.
It would be desirable to develop a semiconductor laser device in which the carrier confinement is improved such that the threshold current is decreased and the characteristic temperature is increased. Additionally, it is desirable to improve carrier confinement in graded index separate confinement heterostructure semiconductor laser devices as well as in semiconductor laser devices having strained layers within its GRINSCH laser structure.


A seating assembly is attached to the floor and includes a seat that is rotationally operable relative to a seatback. A retention device is attached to the seat. When the seat is pivoted upright to a stadium position, the retention device is selectively deployable from a stored position to a cargo storage position that defines an enclosure at least partially defined by the seat and the floor.

Storage areas in vehicles have become increasingly important as users seek efficient use of vehicle space. Selectively deployable storage options in a vehicle provide multifunctional vehicle space for changing user needs. Further, it is desirable to provide storage options for vehicle cargo that contain the cargo in standard driving conditions, erratic driving conditions, and during collisions.


A curling device for curling a flexible sheet is provided. The curling device includes: a curling component configured to fix a first end of the flexible sheet; a movable part configured to fix a second end of the flexible sheet, the second end being opposite to the first end; and a transmission mechanism coupled to the curling component and the movable part, respectively; the transmission mechanism is configured to move the movable part relative to the curling component in a first direction, in response to receiving an external driving force, so as to drive the curling component to rotate, the first direction is perpendicular to an axis direction of the curling component.

In industrial production or daily life, it is usually necessary to curl or bend some objects. For example, in the field of displays, a flexible display device that can be bent or curled is one of development directions of a next-generation display technology. A curling life (service life) and a curling reliability are important performances to measure a quality of such a flexible display device. In design and production processes of a flexible display product that can be curled, it is necessary to test a curling life and a curling reliability of relevant components of the flexible display device. Of course, such test on curling life and reliability is also necessary for other products required to be in a curved or bent state, for example, a scroll that needs to be repeatedly unrolled and curled in a using process and a carrying process, respectively. Moreover, in some occasions, a final product is also expected to present a curved or bent state.

Curling device and flexible screen curling apparatus


A cooling system to be mounted in a hybrid vehicle including a motor driven and a generator includes a cooling path and a pressurizing unit. In the cooling path, coolant for cooling the motor and the generator is recirculated. The pressurizing unit pumps the coolant. The motor is disposed downstream of the pressurizing unit in a recirculating direction of the coolant. The generator is disposed downstream of the motor and upstream of the pressurizing unit in the recirculating direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a cooling system and more particularly to a cooling system mounted in a hybrid vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, hybrid vehicles have been propagating in which an internal combustion engine, a motor for driving the vehicle and a generator for generating electricity are mounted. As a configuration of a conventional hybrid vehicle, there is known a configuration in which a motor and a generator are disposed coaxially in a transverse direction of the vehicle (refer to Patent Document 1).
Although the motor and the generator are heated to high temperatures while the hybrid vehicle is driven, since the heat resistance temperatures of the motor and the generator are limited, a cooling system is provided for cooling them by recirculating oil or water in general through a coolant piping by a pump. Thus, the motor and the generator are cooled by the common cooling system.
Here, an example of a conventional cooling system for a motor and a generator in a hybrid vehicle will be described. FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram showing a state in which an oil pump in the conventional cooling system is operating. In addition, FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram showing a state in which the oil pump in the conventional cooling system is stopped.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a conventional cooling system includes an oil cooler 102 for cooling oil which cools the motor 100 and an oil pump 101 for pumping oil. The motor 100 is mainly made up of a rotor 100a and a stator 100b which are set concentrically within a housing 100c. Coils are wound around the stator 100b of the motor 100 (the illustration of which is omitted). An oil reservoir 100d is formed in a bottom portion in an interior of the housing 100c of the motor 100 for preventing the oil pump 101 from drawing air thereinto.
A first oil piping 103 is placed between a lower portion of the motor 100 and the oil pump 101. Oil reserved in the oil reservoir 100d in the motor 100 is supplied to the oil pump 101 through the first oil piping 103. A second oil piping 104 is placed between the oil pump 101 and the oil cooler 102. Oil pressurized by the oil pump 101 is supplied to the oil cooler 102 through the second oil piping 104.
A third oil piping 105 is placed between the oil cooler 102 and an upper portion of the housing 100c of the motor 100. Oil cooled in the oil cooler 102 is supplied to the motor 100 through the third oil piping 105. The oil discharged from the third oil piping 105 is poured on to an upper portion of the stator 100b of the motor 100. Accordingly, the rotor 100a and the stator 100b of the motor 100 are cooled.
When the oil pump 101 is in operation, oil is recirculated in a direction indicated by arrows in FIG. 5 through the first oil piping 103 to the third oil piping 105. Hence, when the oil pump 101 is in operation, oil is filled in the first oil piping 103 to the third oil piping 105, and therefore, a level 100e of oil in the oil reservoir 100d in the motor 100 is positioned low.
As shown in FIG. 6, however, when the oil pump 101 is stopped, the oil filled in the first oil piping 103 to the third oil piping 105 is returned to be reserved in the oil reservoir 100d in the motor 100. Therefore, the position of the oil level 100e rises, whereby the rotor 100a of the motor 100 is partially submerged in oil.
In FIGS. 5 and 6, the description is made by showing only the motor 100 as an example of a constituent component. Conventionally, since the motor 100 is disposed coaxially with the generator in the transverse direction of the vehicle, the levels of oil in the motor 100 and the generator are positioned in the same level. When the motor 100 and the generator have the same size, a rotor of the generator is also partially submerged in oil.
In the hybrid vehicle described above, when the temperatures of the motor 100 and the generator are low, the oil pump 101 is operated intermittently, and therefore, there is a situation in which the rotors 100a of the motor 100 and the generator rotate when the oil pump 101 is stopped.
In a series hybrid vehicle in which a motor 100 is driven by using electric power generated in a generator, both the motor 100 and the generator operate in a series driving in which the motor 100 is driven by using electric power generated in the generator. In addition, in an EV driving in which the motor 100 is driven by using electric power of a high-voltage battery, only the motor 100 operates. Because of this, the frequency with which the motor 100 operates becomes high.
However, as has been described above, when the oil pump 101 is stopped, the rotor 100a of the motor 100 is partially submerged in oil reserved in the oil reservoir 100d in the motor 100, and therefore, the rotor 100a of the motor 100 stirs oil in the oil reservoir 100d. Because of this, a stirring resistance is produced in the rotor 100a of the motor 100, leading to a problem that the rotation of the rotor 100a of the motor 100 is disturbed.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2010-163053

Cooling system for cooling motor and generator in hybrid vehicle

MITSUBISHI JIDOSHA KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate having an internal circuit; an electrode pad electrically connected to the internal circuit; an insulating film having a through hole exposing the electrode pad; and a re-distribution wiring pattern formed on the insulating film and electrically connected to the electrode pad. The semiconductor device further includes a recess groove formed in the insulating film around and adjacent to the re-distribution wiring pattern.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of producing the semiconductor device. In particular, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device including a wafer level Chip Size Package (CSP), in which a semiconductor wafer is divided into pieces to obtain the semiconductor device.
Recently, it has been required to reduce a size or a thickness of a semiconductor device having an internal circuit formed of a plurality of integrated semiconductor elements. Especially when it is necessary to reduce a thickness of a semiconductor device, a semiconductor device of a CSP type has become one of mainstream technologies, in which bump electrodes with a spherical shape are arranged in a matrix pattern for electrically connecting to an internal circuit of the semiconductor device.
In the semiconductor device of the CSP type, the bump electrodes with a spherical shape are arranged in a matrix pattern, and a re-distribution wiring pattern is provided for connecting the bump electrodes to electrode pads electrically connected to specific positions of the internal circuit, so that the bump electrodes are arranged in a pattern shifted relative to the electrode pads. When it is necessary to reduce a size of the semiconductor device, it is necessary to reduce a size of the re-distribution wiring patterns, i.e., reduce a distance between wiring patterns in the re-distribution wiring patterns.
In a conventional semiconductor device of the CSP type, an internal circuit is formed on a front surface of a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor wafer, and an electrode pad is formed on an insulating film formed on the internal circuit for electrically connecting to the internal circuit. A surface protection layer is formed on the electrode pad and the insulating film, and the surface protection layer on the electrode pad is removed through etching. Then, an insulating film formed of a polyimide is formed on the surface protection layer, and the insulating film is etched to form a through hole reaching the electrode pad.
In the next step, a base metal layer is formed on the electrode pad and the insulating film through a sputtering method, and a resist mask is formed through photolithography. With the resist mask, a re-distribution wiring pattern formed of copper (Cu) is formed on the base metal layer through a metal plating method, so that the re-distribution wiring pattern with a thickness of about 5 μm extends from the electrode pad to a forming area of a post electrode.
In the next step, the post electrode formed of copper is formed through a metal plating method, so that the post electrode has a size of about 100 μm. Then, the semiconductor wafer is placed in a sealing mold, and a sealing resin such as an epoxy resin is injected over a whole surface of the semiconductor substrate where the circuits are disposed, thereby forming a sealing layer. Then, a post end surface of the post electrode is exposed from a front surface, so that a bump electrode with a semi-spherical shape is formed on the post end surface. At last, the semiconductor wafer is divided into a plurality of pieces to obtain a semiconductor device (refer to Patent Reference 1).
In another conventional semiconductor device, a semiconductor element such as a bipolar transistor is formed on a semiconductor substrate, and a groove with a V character shape is formed around the semiconductor element. Accordingly, it is possible to increase a distance through which water enters from a boundary between a polyimide resin film covering the semiconductor element and the semiconductor substrate, thereby prolonging moisture resistant life of the semiconductor device (refer to Patent Reference 2).
In a further conventional semiconductor device, a stem is provided for mounting a semiconductor device such as an optical semiconductor element. A groove with a concave shape or a convex shape is formed in the stem to surround the semiconductor device. Accordingly, it is possible to increase a distance through which water enters from a boundary between a sealing resin and the stem, thereby improving moisture resistant and reliability of a semiconductor package, in which the semiconductor device is sealed with the sealing resin (refer to Patent Reference 3).
Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-60120
Patent Reference 2: Japanese Patent Publication No. 06-84886
Patent Reference 3: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-22217
In the conventional semiconductor device described in Patent Reference 1, the re-distribution wiring pattern is formed on the insulating film, and the sealing layer seals the re-distribution wiring pattern. In the semiconductor device, when the semiconductor device is placed under a high temperature and high humidity condition, the re-distribution wiring pattern tends to be oxidized and corroded due to moisture absorbed in the insulating film and the sealing layer. Accordingly, a substance (corrosion product substance) created through the corrosion may grow and extend between the insulating film and the sealing layer. As a result, a distance between adjacent wiring patterns decreases, and an electrical leak may occur when the adjacent wiring patterns have different potential, thereby deteriorating reliability of the semiconductor device.
The phenomenon described above becomes more evident when a semiconductor device has a small size and the CSP type structure, in which a distance between wiring patterns is very small.
In the conventional semiconductor device described in Patent Reference 2, the groove is provided around the semiconductor element, so that it is possible to increase a distance through which water enters from the boundary between the polyimide resin film and the semiconductor substrate. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce an influence of water on the semiconductor element. However, it is difficult to prevent an electrical leak due to a corrosion product substance created by moisture absorbed in the polyimide resin film.
In the conventional semiconductor device described in Patent Reference 3, the groove is provided around the semiconductor device. Accordingly, it is possible to increase a distance through which water enters from the boundary between the sealing resin of the semiconductor device package and the stem. However, it is difficult to prevent an electrical leak due to a corrosion product substance created in the re-distribution wiring pattern due to moisture in a sealing layer and an insulating film in the semiconductor device absorbed through the sealing resin.
In view of the problems described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device to solve the problems of the conventional semiconductor device. In particular, in the semiconductor of the invention, it is possible to effectively prevent an electrical leak in a re-distribution wiring pattern due to a corrosion product substance created by moisture absorbed in a the semiconductor device, thereby improving moisture resistance life of the semiconductor device.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.

Semiconductor device and method of producing the same


A crimp-style terminal for a cable includes a base plate serving as a main body for the terminal. One end of the base plate serves as a female type electrical contact section, while the other end of the same serves as a clamping section. A conductor clamping portion and a sheath clamping portion are arranged in the clamping section for tightly holding an unsheathed conductor and sheath of the cable, respectively. A raised flat bottom portion is arranged in the conductor clamping portion so that the conductor of the cable is clamped between a pair of conductor clamping pieces on the raised flat bottom portion. A convex projection is formed in the sheath clamping section so that the sheath of the cable is clamped by a pair of sheath clamping pieces in a state where the sheath of the cable is bent.

The present invention relates generally to a crimp-style terminal for a cable. More particularly, the present invention relates to improvement of a crimp-style terminal of the foregoing type which assures that a strength of the terminal against cable disconnection or breakage at cable conductor clamping portions is substantially increased.
To facilitate an understanding of the present invention, a typical conventional crimp-style terminal for a cable will be described below with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the conventional crimp-style terminal which is disclosed in an official gazette of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication NO. 61-166372.
The crimp-style terminal generally designated by reference numeral 16 includes a base plate 17 of which one end serves as a female type electrical contact section 19 having a leaf spring 18 received therein and of which the other end serves as a clamping portion comprising a pair of conductor clamping pieces 21 for clamping unsheathed conductors 20 extending from a cable 18 and a pair of sheath clamping pieces 23 for clamping a sheath 22 of the cable 18.
While the cable 18 is placed on the base plate 17 to extend in the longitudinal direction, the conductor clamping pieces 21 and the sheath clamping pieces 23 are inwardly folded by actuating jigs (not shown) so that the conductors 20 are tightly held by the conductor clamping pieces 21 and the sheath 22 is tightly held by the sheath clamping pieces 23 in the clamped state. FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the terminal taken along line B--B in FIG. 4, particularly illustrating the operative state that the conductors 20 and the sheath 22 are tightly clamped by the conductor clamping pieces 21 and the sheath crimping pieces 23. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 24 designates engagement pieces each projecting from the base plate 17. The engagement pieces 24 are used for allowing the terminal 16 to be fixedly secured to the inside of a connector (not shown).
With the conventional crimp-style terminal constructed in the above-described manner, however, there arises a problem that when a certain intensity of pulling force P is abruptly applied to the cable 18, a high stress is exerted concentratively on stepped parts 25 of the conductors 20 formed by the tight crimping action of the conductor clamping pieces 21, resulting in the conductors 20 being broken at the stepped parts 25, or the cable 18 itself is disconnected from both the clamping portions 26 and 27.


A computer system for conserving operating power includes a number of computer hardware processor cores that differ amongst themselves in at least in their respective operating power requirements and processing capabilities. A monitor gathers performance metric information from each of the computer hardware processor cores that is specific to a particular run of application software then executing. A workload transfer mechanism transfers the executing application software to a second computer hardware processor core in a search for reduced operating power. A transfer delay mechanism is connected to delay a subsequent transfer of the executing application software if the system operating power may be conserved by such delay.

Computer software application programs do not always require the high-capability computing hardware resources that are at their disposal. But if some critical code passage or whole application program must run at maximum efficiency, conventional systems dedicate the necessary computing hardware full time. In a few prior art multiprocessor systems that run applications that can be split and paralleled, pools of identical processor cores can be added in sufficient numbers to get the job done.
Some waste can be involved in the mismatching of software with modest resource requirements on high performance hardware platforms. When there is only one processor core available for all processing jobs, the waste of computing resources and power to operate them is unavoidable. High performance hardware is usually associated with large demands on operating power input. If such high performance is going to waste much of the time, the marginal operating power needed over more modest equipment is pure cost with no benefit.
Since their introduction in the 1970's, microprocessors and microcomputer systems have been providing ever more increasing levels of performance, reliability, and capability. Every few years since then has seen the microprocessor evolve to new, higher levels. Clock speeds got higher, memory subsystems, cache memories, and peripherals were brought in on-chip as semiconductor technology advances permitted. Complex instruction set computers (CISC) and reduced instruction set computers (RISC) evolved, and instruction and data bus widths reached 32-bits, 64-bits, and even 128-bits.
Device technologies have been changing. The first Intel microprocessors, e.g., the 4004, used p-channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) technology. Later processors used n-channel metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) technology. An RCA microprocessor family, the 1802, used low-power complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Some very high performance microprocessors in the 1970's and later used bipolar transistor technology. Today's MOS technology used in microprocessors has high leakage currents that require the operating power to actually be interrupted, or switched off, in order to reduce power consumption completely in inactive circuits.
In general, higher clock speeds and denser functionality has meant increased power consumption and hence dissipation. Such power dissipation causes undesirable heating and, in battery-operated portable systems, leads to reduced battery life. Constantly using a processor that uses a lot of power and that exceeds the needs of the application software can lead to significant power waste and costs.

Dynamically selecting processor cores for overall power efficiency

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Methods and compositions containing a phorbol ester or a derivative of a phorbol ester are provided for the treatment and prevention of stroke and the sequelae of stroke. Additional compositions and methods are provided which employ a phorbol ester or derivative compound in combination with at least one additional agent to yield more effective treatment tools to treat or prevent stroke and the long term effects of stroke in mammalian subjects.

Plants have historically served many medicinal purposes. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4 billion people, 80% of the world's population, presently use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. (WHO Fact sheet Fact sheet No 134, Dec. 2008) However, it can be difficult to isolate the specific compound in a plant that has the desired medicinal effect and to reproduce it on a commercial scale. Additionally, while the active compound may be isolated from a plant, the other parts of a plant such as the minerals, vitamins, volatile oils, glycosides, alkaloids, bioflavanoids, and other substances may also be involved in the functioning of the active compound or the medicinal effect for which the plant is known, making the use, purification and commercialization of plant based pharmaceutical agents a challenge.
Phorbol is a natural, plant-derived organic compound of the tigliane family of diterpenes. It was first isolated in 1934 as a hydrolysis product of croton oil derived from the seeds of Croton tiglium, a leafy shrub of the Euphorbiaceae family that is native to Southeastern Asia. Various esters of phorbol have important biological properties including the reported ability to mimic diacylglycerols and activate protein kinase C (PKC); and to modulate downstream cell signaling pathways including the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Phorbol esters are additionally thought to bind to chimaerins, the Ras activator RasGRP, and the vesicle-priming protein Munc-13 (Brose N, Rosenmund C., J Cell Sci; 115:4399-411 (2002)). Some phorbol esters also induce nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB). The most notable physiological property of phorbol esters is their reported capacity to act as tumor promoters. (Blumberg, 1988; Goel, G et al., Int, Journal of Toxicology 26, 279-288 (2007)).
12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), also called phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), is a phorbol ester used in models of carcinogenesis as an inducer for differentiation and/or apoptosis in multiple cell lines and primary cells. TPA has also been reported to cause an increase in circulating white blood cells and neutrophils in patients whose bone marrow function has been depressed by chemotherapy (Han Z. T. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 95, 5363-5365 (1998)), and to inhibit an HIV-induced cytopathic effect on MT-4 cells. (Mekkawy S. et al., Phytochemistry 53, 47-464 (2000)). However, due to a variety of factors, including caustic reactions when contacted with the skin and concerns for its potential toxicity, TPA has not been shown to be an effective tool for treating, managing, or preventing disease. Indeed, as phorbol esters play a key role in activation of protein kinase C, which triggers various cellular responses resulting in inflammatory responses and tumor development (Goel et al., Int, Journal of Toxicology 26, 279-288 (2007)), phorbol esters would generally be excluded from possible treatment candidates for conditions that involve inflammatory reactions such as stroke.
Heart disease and stroke kill some 17 million people a year, causing almost one-third of all deaths globally. They are predicted to become the leading cause of both death and disability worldwide, with the number of fatalities projected to increase to over 20 million a year by 2020 and to 24 million a year by 2030. (Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke, World Health Organization 2004).
While there are over 300 risk factors associated with coronary heart disease and stroke (Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke, World Health Organization 2004), in developed countries, at least 1/3 of all cardiovascular disease is attributable to tobacco use, alcohol use, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.
Current treatments for the management and prevention of stroke are generally a combination of medications such as ACE inhibitors, aspirin, beta blockers and lipid lowering medications; devices such as pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, coronary stents, prosthetic valves and artificial hearts; and operations such as coronary artery bypass, balloon angioplasty, valve repair and replacement, heart transplants and artificial heart operations. "Increasingly, high-technology procedures are chosen over less expensive, but nevertheless effective, strategies" (Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke, World Health Organization 2004) adding to the rising costs of health care and leading to marked disparities in the quality of treatment between different groups of individuals.
However, even where advanced technology and facilities are available, 60% of those who suffer a stroke die or become dependent and each stroke significantly increases the risk of further episodes. "Worldwide, treatment of cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors remains inadequate for most patients." (Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke, World Health Organization 2004). There is therefore clearly a need for new and more effective measures to treat and prevent strokes and to treat or prevent the long term effects caused by stroke.

Compositions and methods of use of phorbol esters for the treatment of stroke


A specification of an expected border of a bounded area is received. One or more images of at least a portion of the bounded area that is at least a threshold distance away from the expected border are received to generate a model of the bounded area. A current location position of the aerial vehicle is used to determine that the aerial vehicle is within the threshold distance away from the expected border. In response, an updated expected border is determined using the generated model of the bounded area and a border image of at least a portion of the expected border captured by an image sensor.

Harvesting crops manually is a labor-intensive activity, in particular, the application of pesticides/fertilizers. Due to public concern in regards to the release of chemicals into the environment and human exposure to chemicals, the utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has become an emerging trend for spraying pesticide/fertilizer. Employing operators to remotely control UAVs, however is still labor-intensive and requires long periods of high-concentration to detail and attention. In accordance, the utilization of autonomous UAVs to perform the application of pesticides/fertilizers eradicates the need for high levels of alertness and labor otherwise necessary for the operator. Autonomous UAVs are able to fly according to an assigned route without the manual operation carried out by personnel controlling the UAV, thus increasing the potential to reduce labor while increasing efficiency and effectiveness.
It is commonplace for autonomous UAVs to be equipped with a positioning system, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) that provides the position of the UAV; a communication module that receives an assigned route; and a control module that directs the UAV to automatically follow the assigned route. Typically, such a route is generated based on a field defined by an operator or a user. For example, an operator could define the field by locating the boundary of the field on a digital map; a route-generating software routine extracts the boundary information from the digital map and plans a route to cover the given field. The planned route is then communicated to the autonomous UAV, which follows the route to spray the whole field.
One critical requirement for pesticide/fertilizer applications is to ensure the pesticides/fertilizers are sprayed uniformly and completely on a given field, which entails covering the entire specified field without missing any corners, crevices, or bounded areas (e.g., boundary areas). Moreover, the pesticides/fertilizers must not be sprayed outside the given parameters of the field, since there may be other crops, waterways, or roads adjacent to the specified field. However, the mentioned method above of defining a field by locating the boundary of the field in a digital map leaves much to be desired for an alternative improved method. The boundary information from the digital map can easily have position errors ranging from three to six meters, and such errors are directly propagated to the planned route. As a result, the UAV may not cover the areas within three to six meters from a border of the field or cover beyond a border by three to six meters. Both situations fail to meet the critical requirement of pesticide/fertilizer application and should therefore be alleviated or eliminated.
One possible rectification is to utilize survey technologies to accurately survey the boundary of the field. Accurate survey technologies can reduce the position error to the nearest centimeter, greatly reducing the position errors in the boundary information of the field. The resulting route can then cover the whole field with the same centimeter level of accuracy. However, this manner of identifying the borders of a given field requires time-inefficient and labor-intensive survey mechanisms of demanding the operator to physically go to each field to conduct the survey. Moreover, the positioning system onboard the UAV also has position errors. As a result, the on-board positioning system may indicate that the UAV has reached the boundary while the UAV is still far away from the border or has already passed it. Although high-end positioning systems can be used on the UAV to achieve accurate positions, such systems are often expensive and the process is often labor intensive and thus further increases the cost of pesticide/fertilizer application by autonomous UAVs. In addition, such high-end position systems are still vulnerable to disturbances such as blockage and multipath.

Real-time learning and detection of a border in a flight path


The present invention provides methods for treating, detecting and locating recurrence of cancer, radiation and chemo insensitive cancer or metastasis of cancer selected from the group consisting of Lung cancer, Adrenal cancer, Melanoma, Colon cancer, Colorectal cancer, Ovarian cancer, Prostate cancer, Liver cancer, Subcutaneous cancer, Squamous cell cancer, Intestinal cancer, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Retinoblastoma, Cervical cancer, Glioma, Breast cancer and Pancreatic cancer in subject using phospholipid ether analogs.

The invention generally relates to phospholipids ether analogs and use thereof and specifically relates to use of phospholipid ether analogs and combinations thereof for diagnosis of metastasis, treatment, pharmacokinetic, dosimetry, and toxicity studies of various cancer types, such as non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer and metastasis thereof.
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States today. Surgical resection in appropriately selected patients offers the best chance for cure. Accurate pre-operative assessment of local, regional and distant metastatic spread is thus critical for optimal management.
Imaging with FDG PET scanning has recently become the "gold standard" for imaging NSCLC, due to improved sensitivity, particularly when compared with CT imaging. However, its sensitivity for identifying mediastinal lymph node involvement is only about 90%, and lack of specificity; particularly in patients with inflammatory or granulomatous disease, is particularly problematic. Furthermore, its utility in diagnosing brain tumors or metastases is limited due to high metabolic background of normal brain tissue.
Evaluation of the mediastinal lymph node status is essential because nodal metastasis, which occurs in nearly half of all patients with NSCLC, is probably the most frequent barrier to cure. Accurate staging may also spare patients the morbidity of unnecessary, non-curative surgical procedures. Hence, there remains a need for an imaging technique that is more sensitive, specific, and accurate than any currently available technology.
Current conventional modalities have limitations. Anatomic imaging with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are impractical for whole body screening but are the most widely used non-invasive imaging methods for evaluation of loco-regional spread. However, CT relies on size criteria of over one centimeter for diagnosing abnormal nodes.
Positron-emission tomography (PET) scanning with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has generated considerable interest as an oncologic imaging technique. A recent study prospectively compared the ability of a standard approach to staging for NSCLC (CT, ultrasound, bone scanning, etc) and PET scanning to detect metastases in mediastinal lymph nodes and distant sites. Mediastinal involvement was confirmed histopathologically, and distant metastases were confirmed by other imaging tests. The sensitivity and specificity of PET for detecting mediastinal metastases were 91% and 86%, respectively; for detecting distant metastases, 82% and 93%, respectively. This compares to sensitivity and specificity for CT scanning of mediastinal involvement 75% and 66%, respectively. A meta-analysis involving 39 studies and over 1000 patients also found that FDG-PET was more accurate than CT for mediastinal staging, (sensitivity and specificity of 85% and 90%, respectively, for FDG-PET and 61% and 79% for CT scanning), although FDG-PET became less specific when CT showed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes (78%).
FDG-PET has been shown to reduce futile thoracotomies in patients. However, because of the false positive and false negative rate, confirmatory mediastinoscopies are often recommended. For example, a retrospective study involving over 200 patients with NSCLC found that the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy for FDG-PET were 64%, 77%, 45%, 88%, and 75%, respectively.
FDG-PET also plays a role in diagnosing extra-thoracic disease, particularly in patients with intermediate stages of lung cancer. A study done by the American College of Physicians involving over 300 patients found that unsuspected metastatic disease or second primary malignancies was identified in 18 of 287 patients (6.3%). Some studies, although not all, suggest that by correctly identifying advanced disease, PET will avoid unnecessary thoracotomy on 1 in 5 patients.
Conventional anatomic imaging techniques such as CT scanning are also poor at predicting survival following treatment. In a recent study involving 73 NSCLC patients receiving treatment with concurrent cisplatin-based chemo/radiotherapy or radiotherapy alone for advanced disease, response by conventional CT imaging did not correlate with survival. Response by FDG-PET scans, however, did correlate strongly with survival (p<0.001). Survival from the date of a follow-up PET scan was 84% and 84% at 1 and 2 years respectively for 24 patients who had achieved a complete response on PET, but only 43% and 31% of the 32 patients who did not (p=0.010). These results corroborate similar findings reported recently by other authors, which also show a correlation of uptake on PET scan with biological aggressiveness of tumor, and that PET imaging late after completion of treatment is highly predictive of future survival.
It is generally accepted that FDG-PET imaging is a poor method of identifying metastatic disease to the brain in patients with NSCLC. Under normal conditions, the gray matter of the brain has high glucose utilization and therefore the uptake of FDG is normally high. While cerebral metastatic disease is often quite metabolic and often does demonstrate increased FDG uptake, it frequently is less than the brain gray matter and therefore the cerebral metastases may not be conspicuous. In one series, the sensitivity and specificity for the identification of cerebral metastatic disease in patients with NSCLC was 60% and 99% for FDG-PET, and 100% and 100% for conventional imaging. Therefore, FDG-PET imaging is not considered to be the best method of evaluating a patient with NSCLC for metastatic disease to the brain.
Another disadvantage of FDG is that it is not specific for tumors, but accumulates in both malignant and non-malignant hypermetabolic tissues. The overwhelming majority of false positive results (positive result when the radiological abnormality is not due to cancer) with FDG-PET scans of the lung are due to inflammatory and infectious causes. FDG is a nonspecific tracer and accumulates in areas of infection or inflammation. In the lung, these areas can be localized lung parenchymal nodules or more diffuse (subsegmental, segmental or lobar) or in the hilar and mediastinal nodes. In a recent study from Japan, of 116 lung nodules 1-3 cm in diameter, 15 out of 73 malignant nodules were false negative on FDG-PET and 15 out of 43 benign nodules were false positive on FDG-PET. In focal pneumonias causing ground glass opacity nodules, the false positive rate was as high as 80%. In another study, ten patients with extrapulmonary cancer had false positive FDG-PET uptake in the lung; 6 had intense focal or multifocal uptake and four had uptake in a more segmental or lobar pattern. In all 10 patients, the uptake was due to consolidation or atelectasis and the final diagnosis on follow-up was pulmonary inflammation or infection. In addition to active bacterial pneumonias, false positive FDG-PET results can occur in many other infectious and inflammatory conditions in the lung. In the Midwestern US, many asymptomatic people have lung nodules and enlarged nodes due to previous infection with histoplasma; although many of these nodules are quiescent, some represent smoldering or active infection. Pulmonary sarcoidosis is probably one of the more common active inflammatory granulomatous processes in the lung. Interestingly, when serial FDG-PET scans have been performed in a patient being treated with oral corticosteroids for pulmonary sarcoidosis, FDG uptake decreased and then vanished.
FDG-PET is also frequently negative in malignancies with a low metabolic rate, such as bronchoalveolar carcinoma or carcinoid.
Therefore a radiopharmaceutical that could accurately identify early metastatic disease in the patients with NSCLC would have a significant impact on patient care, in terms of both staging and response to therapy. Although PET imaging has improved diagnostic efficacy in this area compared to CT, there remains a need for an accurate imaging technique that is not based upon metabolic activity, which is non-specific, but is based upon a tumor-specific function that can non-invasively screen the whole body, including the brain.
Prostate Cancer
Approximately 230,110 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the United States for the year 2004 alone. Despite technical refinements in definitive local treatment of clinically organ confined prostate cancer by radical prostatectomy, such that many men are cured with primary therapy alone, as many as 40% of patients will experience biochemical recurrence with long-term follow-up. This recurrence is typically defined as a post-operative PSA level which is greater than or equal to 0.4 ng/ml since patients with PSA levels above this threshold generally develop clinical evidence for recurrence within 6-49 months although a PSA level of greater than or equal to 0.2 has been proposed more recently. With limited success, clinical and pathologic criteria are currently utilized to determine the likelihood for systemic disease recurrence. Factors increasing the likelihood of systemic recurrence include a high preoperative PSA level as well as pathologic features of the surgical specimen including Gleason score >7, seminal vesicle involvement, and lymph node involvement. In contrast, extracapsular extension, positive surgical margins and Gleason score <7 are factors generally associated with local recurrence. In addition, the velocity of PSA rise following prostatectomy has been utilized to determine whether disease recurrence is local or systemic. For instance, Partin et al reported that a PSA rise of less than 0.75 ng/ml/year was more frequently associated with local recurrence. Furthermore, Patel et al reported that a PSA doubling time of greater than 12 months correlated with local recurrence. Despite these clinical and pathologic criteria, the inventors are still unable to accurately select patients appropriately for local therapy such that many men may receive unnecessary hormonal ablation.
One of the greatest challenges in treating patients with clinically organ confined prostate cancer or patients with biochemical recurrence following definitive treatment of presumed organ-confined disease remains to accurately distinguish localized versus metastatic disease. This diagnostic capability is important to identify patients who may benefit from effective local treatment modalities including surgery, external beam radiation, brachytherapy, and cryotherapy. Because the inventors presently do not have an accurate means of staging, patients with occult metastatic disease may unnecessarily undergo local treatment with associated risks of therapy. Furthermore, patients with a rising PSA due to local recurrence, in whom systemic recurrence cannot be excluded with confidence, may unnecessarily undergo hormonal ablation, which is generally not considered curative and is associated with osteoporosis development, decreased libido, weight gain, menopausal symptoms, and overall malaise, as well as the evolution of hormonally independent prostate cancer.
While conventional imaging studies such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are useful in assessing soft-tissue metastasis, the vast majority of prostate cancer metastasizes to the bone only. Thus, the utility of CT and MRI scanning in assessing the disease is suboptimal and more sensitive imaging modalities for either locally recurrent or metastatic prostate cancer are necessary. Radioimmunoscintigraphy with Indium-111 capromab pendetide (ProstaScint, Cytogen Corp, Princeton, N.J.) has been utilized in patients following prostatectomy with a rising PSA who have a high clinical suspicion of occult metastatic disease and no clear evidence for metastatic disease in other imaging studies. This scan is based on a radiolabeled murine monoclonal antibody which is specific for PSMA (Prostate-specific membrane antigen), a transmembrane protein which is specifically expressed by both normal and malignant prostate epithelial cells. While ProstaScint radioimmunoscintigraphy has been shown to be promising in diagnosing locally recurrent disease in the prostate bed in patients with rising PSA, clinical results for this scan have been somewhat variable, with sensitivities ranging between 44% and 92% and specificities between 36% and 86%. Furthermore, when subsequent biopsy was utilized as the standard of reference for local recurrence, false-negative ProstaScint studies have been reported in 10% to 20% of cases. In addition, false-positive uptake of ProstaScint has been reported in neurofibromatosis, lymphomas, renal carcinomas, pelvic kidneys, myolipomas, and meningiomas, as well as in the bone marrow of vertebral bodies. Given this data, use of the ProstaScint scan for patients at risk for occult metastases from prostate cancer remains controversial.
In patients with metastatic prostate cancer, positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging has recently been used to measure the metabolic activity of osseous metastases. This technique has proven to be effective in distinguishing active bony metastasis from osteoblast activity which occurs as a result of bone healing following successful treatment of metastatic disease. This question can be assessed better by PET than by either bone scan or CT. Furthermore, changes in PET scan findings can be seen as early as 4 weeks following initiation of systemic treatment in patients with metastatic prostate cancer, whereas in many cases no significant change is seen on conventional bone scan. Therefore imaging utilizing PET technology may be useful in monitoring response to treatment in these patients. PET scanning with 18F-FDG has generated considerable interest as an imaging technique. Recently, it has been shown that FDG-PET can distinguish between active and quiescent bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer. The intensity of FDG uptake is thought to reflect the metabolic and biological activity of these lesions in contrast to the traditional bone scan with technetium-diphosphonate compounds in which nonspecific osteoblast activity may be detected as a false positive signal following treatment. In addition, a false negative reading may be obtained since early metastases, which initially seed into the bone marrow, will not necessarily produce a signal until an osteoblastic response occurs. Therefore, a persistently positive bone scan does not necessarily indicate the presence of residual viable metastases and a negative bone scan result may not reflect accurately the patient's metastatic tumor burden. FDG-PET may therefore prove beneficial in guiding the management of patients with bony metastases and in a retrospective study FDG-PET and helical CT have been shown independently to be more effective than 111In-monoclonal antibody imaging in detecting metastatic disease.
Although the FDG-PET scan is a promising imaging technique in patients with prostate cancer, most prostate cancers are slow growing and therefore do not accumulate FDG, and thus do not image well with that agent. Furthermore, FDG is excreted in the urine and so the accumulation of FDG in the bladder will minimize the probability of detecting local recurrences of prostate cancer. Indeed Morris et al reported difficulty in detection of soft tissue metastases by FDG-PET alone when metastatic sites are obscured by anatomic pathways of tracer excretion. More recently, PET-CT has been found to be more effective than PET alone in identifying metastatic lesions in patients with suspected occult metastases. In a prospective study of patients with various tumor types, the specificity and accuracy with multiple radiologic interpretations were significantly higher for PET-CT.
Accordingly, the need exists for developing a more sensitive and specific imaging exam, molecular imaging agent, such as phospholipids ether compounds (PLE). It would be desirable to have tumor-selective radiopharmaceuticals, with minimal accumulation in the bladder, which could accurately identify early metastatic disease in patients with prostate cancer, would have an important impact on patient care, in terms of both staging and response to therapy.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Phospholipid ether analogs as agents for detecting and locating cancer, and methods thereof


Disclosed embodiments are a computing system and a computer-implemented method related to predicting travel time by using adjacent travel time. The prediction may be based on correcting the nominal predictive travel time estimation using a relation between the predictive travel time estimation and the nominal predictive travel time estimation of a nearby commuting instance in a similar direction. This allows a reduced number of queries to the geographic information system, which may save time, costs and conserve communication resources.

Some embodiments relate to route planning and, more specifically, but not exclusively, to efficient estimation of actual travel time between given locations.
Predictive Travel Time (PTT) is valuable for tasks that necessitate commuting between multiple geographical locations, such as delivery of goods, house calls, trip planning, daily commuting, taxi service, garbage collection, house maintenance and repairs such as electricity and plumbing, and/or the like. Real time, optimized scheduling, may improve the efficiency, save time, reduce consumption of resources required for commuting such as fuel and vehicle maintenance, and reduce burnout. Performing the optimization, may require considering a huge amount of options for routes between the geographical locations, orders of visiting these locations, allocation of these locations to commuting agents, and/or the like. The travel time estimation for each route between each pair of geographical locations may depend on the time and day, due to considerations such as traffic.
An ordered list of geographic locations may be referred to as a tuple. Examples of such tuples comprise a pair of source and destination location, and a list of stops along a bus route. A query of time estimation for a commuting instance, given the vehicle type, a tuple of locations, and time, may be referred to as a PTT query. Handling a PTT query may comprise searching the server cache for a PTT record. Having the query answer in the cache, saves time and other computing resources, however caches are limited in size.
When the query is not found in cache, the handling may check a cloud database, and if the query is also not found there, it may query a geographic information system (GIS), which may be a third party service, which is slower and potentially more expensive to access frequently. The GIS may provide a nominal PTT, which may be based on the distance along routes and the route types, however does not consider the variations along the time and the day, due to considerations such as traffic.
Inferring the actual PTT from the nominal PTT may comprise applying a corrective factor on the nominal PTT, which may be an additive factor, a multiplicative ratio, or the like, representing the time and day variance of delays such as traffic. When a ratio for the source and destination locations, given time and day, is not found by searching the server cache for a ratio estimation compliant with the query, the inferring may further comprise submitting another query to a cloud database, and if the query answer is also not found there, it may query the GIS, which may be a third party service, again, incurring the costs in speed, bandwidth and through service agreement.

Method to predict travel time by using adjacent travel time