An organic electroluminescent display device includes first and second substrates facing and spaced apart from each other, the first and second substrates having a plurality of pixel regions and a peripheral region surrounding the plurality of pixel regions, a first pad disposed at the peripheral region on an inner surface of the first substrate, a driving thin film transistor disposed at each of the plurality of pixel regions on the inner surface of the first substrate, the driving thin film transistor including an active layer, a gate electrode, and source and drain electrodes, a first connection electrode structure connected to the drain electrode, a second connection electrode structure connected to the first pad, the second connection electrode structure being the same as the first connection electrode structure, a first electrode on an entire inner surface of the second substrate, the first electrode being connected to the second connection electrode structure, an organic emission layer on the first electrode, a second electrode on the organic emission layer at each of the plurality of pixel regions, the second electrode being connected to the first connection electrode structure, and a sealant attaching the first and second substrates together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a method of fabricating a display device, and more particularly to an organic electroluminescent display device and a method of fabricating an organic electroluminescent display device.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, an organic electroluminescent display (OELD) device emits light by injecting electrons from a cathode and holes from an anode into an emission layer, combining the electrons and the holes, generating an exciton, and transitioning the exciton from an excited state to a ground state. Contrary to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, an additional light source is not necessary for the OELD devices to emit light because the transition of the exciton between states causes light to be emitted from the emission layer. Accordingly, size and weight of the OELD devices can be reduced. Since the OELD devices have low power consumption, superior brightness, and fast response time, the OELD devices are being incorporated in consumer electronic products, such as cellular phones, car navigation system (CNS), personal digital assistants (PDA), camcorders, and palmtop computers. Moreover, since fabrication of the OELD devices is simple, it is much cheaper to produce OELD devices than LCD devices.
OELD devices may be categorized into passive matrix OELD devices and active OELD matrix devices. Although the passive matrix OELD devices have a simple structure and are formed using simple fabricating processes, the passive matrix OELD devices require relatively high amounts of power to operate and display sizes of the passive matrix OELD devices are limited by their structures. In addition, as a total number of conductive lines increases, aperture ratios of the passive matrix OELD devices decrease. In contrast, the active matrix OELD devices have a high emission efficiency and can produce high-quality images for large displays using relatively low power.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional view of an OELD device according to the related art. In FIG. 1, an array unit 14 including a thin film transistor (TFT) "T" is formed on a first substrate 12. A first electrode 16, an organic electroluminescent layer 18, and a second electrode 20 are sequentially formed on the array unit 14, wherein the organic electroluminescent layer 18 may separately display red, green, and blue colors for each pixel region. In general, separate organic materials are commonly used to emit light of each color for the organic electroluminescent layer 18 in each pixel region. An organic ELD device is encapsulated by attaching the first substrate 12 and a second substrate 28, which includes a moisture absorbent material 22, with a sealant 26. The moisture absorbent material 22 eliminates any moisture and oxygen that may penetrate into a capsule of the organic electroluminescent layer 18. After etching a portion of the second substrate 28, the etched portion is filled with the moisture absorbent material 22 and the filled moisture absorbent material is fixed by a holding element 25.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of an array unit of an OELD device according to the related art. In FIG. 2, an array unit of an OELD device includes a switching element "TS," a driving element "TD," and a storage capacitor "CST," wherein the switching element "TS" and the driving element "TD" may include a combination of at least one thin film transistor (TFT). A transparent insulating substrate 12 upon which the array unit is formed may be made of glass or plastic material. A gate line 32 and a data line 34 crossing each other are formed on the substrate 12, wherein a pixel region "P" is defined by the crossing of the gate line 32 and the data line 34. An insulating layer (not shown) is interposed between the gate line 32 and the data line 34, and a power line 35 parallel to and spaced apart from the data line 34 crosses the gate line 32.
The switching element "TS" is a thin film transistor including a switching gate electrode 36, a switching active layer 40, and a switching source and drain electrodes 46 and 50. Similarly, a driving element "TD" is a thin film transistor including a driving gate electrode 38, a driving active layer 42, and a driving source and drain electrodes 48 and 52. The switching gate electrode 36 is connected to the gate line 32 and the switching source electrode 46 is connected to the data line 34, and the switching drain electrode 50 is connected to the driving gate electrode 38 through a first contact hole 54. The driving source electrode 48 is connected to the power line 35 through a second contact hole 56. In addition, the driving drain electrode 52 is connected to a first electrode 16 at the pixel region "P." The power line 35 overlaps a first capacitor electrode 15 with the insulating layer interposed therebetween to form the storage capacitor "CST."
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an OELD device according to the related art. In FIG. 3, a substrate 12 includes a data pad region "E" at a first side and first and second gate pad regions "F1" and "F2" at second and third sides adjacent to the first side. A common electrode 39 is formed at a fourth side facing the first side and adjacent to the second and third sides of the substrate 12, wherein a common voltage is applied to a second electrode 20 through the common electrode 39 to maintain an electrical potential of the second electrode 20. Accordingly, a display region at a center of the substrate 12 is used for displaying images.
FIG. 4A is a schematic cross sectional view along IVa—IVa of FIG. 2 according to the related art, and FIG. 4B is a schematic cross sectional view along IVb—IVb of FIG. 3 according to the related art. In FIGS. 4A and 4B, a driving thin film transistor (TFT) "TD" including a driving active layer 42, a driving gate electrode 38, and driving source and drain electrodes 56 and 52 are formed on a substrate 12. An insulating layer 57 is formed on the driving TFT "TD" and a first electrode 16 connected to the driving drain electrode 52 is formed on the insulating layer 57. An organic emission layer 18 for emitting light of a specific color is formed on the first electrode 16 and a second electrode 20 is formed on the organic emission layer 18. A storage capacitor "CST" is formed to be electrically parallel to the driving TFT "TD" and includes first and second capacitor electrodes 15 and 35, wherein a portion of a power line overlapping the first capacitor electrode 15 is used as the second capacitor electrode 35, the second capacitor electrode 35 is connected to the driving source electrode 56, and the second electrode 20 is formed on an entire surface of the substrate 12 including the driving TFT "TD," the storage capacitor "CST," and the organic emission layer 18.
A common electrode 39 through which a common voltage is applied to the second electrode 20 is formed at a peripheral portion of the substrate 12, wherein the common electrode 39 is simultaneously formed with the driving source and drain electrodes 56 and 52. Multiple insulating layers on the common electrode 39 include first and second contact holes 50 and 52 exposing the common electrode 39, and the second electrode 20 is connected to the common electrode 39 through the first contact hole 50. Although not shown, an external circuit is connected to the common electrode 39 through the second contact hole 52 to supply the common voltage.
However, when an array unit and an emission unit are formed on one substrate, production yield of an OELD device is determined by a multiplication of TFT yield and organic emission layer yield. Since the organic emission layer yield is relatively low, the production yield of an ELD is limited by the organic layer yield. For example, even when a TFT is fabricated, an OELD device can be determined to be bad due to defects of an organic emission layer. Accordingly, production materials are lost and production costs rise.
In general, OELD devices are classified into bottom emission-type OELD devices and top emission-type OELD devices according to an emission direction of light used for displaying images. Although bottom emission-type OELD devices have advantages of high encapsulation stability and high process flexibility, they are ineffective for high resolution devices because they have poor aperture ratios. In contrast, top emission-type OELD devices have higher expected life spans because they are easily designed and have high aperture ratios. However, in top emission-type OELD devices, the cathode is commonly formed on an organic emission layer, wherein transmittance and optical efficiency are reduced since a limited number of materials may be selected. When a thin film protection layer is used to minimize the transmittance reduction, the top emission-type OELD devices are not sufficiently shielded from ambient air.

Organic electroluminescent display device and method of fabricating the same


A system and method is provided for implementing forced frequency “hops” if the time it takes to perform a particular transaction is greater than the time available on a particular carrier frequency. In one embodiment of the present invention, a radio frequency identification (RFID) base station processor (in conjunction with program information stored in a base station memory) is adapted to (i) determine the amount of time available on a particular carrier frequency (e.g., pursuant to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, European Telecommunications Standardization Institute (ETSI) regulations, etc.), (ii) determine the amount of time it would take to perform a particular transaction, and (iii) force the base station to “hop” to another carrier frequency if the transaction time is longer than the available time. In one embodiment of the present invention, the time it would take to perform a particular transaction is the time it would take to perform the next transaction. In another embodiment of the present invention, the time it would take to perform a particular transaction is the time it would take to perform the longest (or “worst-case”) transaction. In alternate embodiments of the present invention, a transaction is defined as the transmission of information (e.g., data, commands, etc.) or both the transmission of information and the reception of related information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) scheme for radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, and more particularly to a system and method for improving transmission rates in an RFID device by implementing forced frequency "hops."
2. Description of Related Art
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) base stations, which operate in conjunction with RFID transponders (tags), are used in a variety of applications (e.g., inventory-control, security, etc.). Typically, an item including an RFID tag (e.g., a container with an RFID tag inside) is brought into a "read zone" established by the base station. The base station transmits an interrogating RF signal that is modulated, in part, by the receiving tag. That is, in reading the tag, the base station generates and transmits a continuous wave electromagnetic disturbance at a particular carrier frequency. This disturbance is then modulated by the receiving tag in order to impart information (e.g., information stored within the tag) into the signal. The modulated RF signal is then reflected back to the base station where the imparted information is extracted.
When interrogating an RFID tag, however, the amount of time that can be spent on a particular carrier frequency is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC, at least with respect to the Instrumentation, Scientific and Medical (ISM) bands, only allows transmitters operating under the Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) methodology to continuously transmit over a particular carrier frequency for up to four hundred milliseconds. After that, the transmitter is required to transmit over a different carrier frequency (i.e., "hop" to a new carrier frequency). For example, a transmitter could transmit an RF signal for four hundred milliseconds over a first frequency, "hop" to a second frequency, transmit an RF signal for four hundred milliseconds over the second frequency, "hop" to a third frequency, etc.
One of the drawbacks associated with traditional FHSS systems is that time is wasted when the transmitter is not transmitting (i.e., when the transmitter is "dwelling"). Dwelling results from two common FHSS characteristics—(i) frequency synchronization and (ii) transmission/allocation time variance. First, FHSS systems are traditionally designed to operate using synchronized frequencies. In other words, in most FHSS systems, the frequency at which the transmitter is transmitting needs to be same as (or synchronized with) the frequency at which the receiver is receiving. This is typically achieved by using a common algorithm (i.e., an algorithm known to both the transmitter and the receiver). For example, a common algorithm may dictate that the available bandwidth (i.e., the frequency spectrum) is to be divided into seventy-five channels (i.e., seventy-five frequencies), and that the first communication cycle is to be transmitted over the first channel for four hundred milliseconds, the second communication cycle is to be transmitted over the second channel for four hundred milliseconds, etc.
By following the common algorithm, the transmitter and the receiver are able to "hop" from channel to channel in unison. If the transmitter were to "hop" early (e.g., "hop" to the second channel before the elapse of four hundred milliseconds), the system would become unsynchronized. In other words, the transmitter would be transmitting data over the second channel while the receiver (in accordance with the algorithm) would be attempting to receive data over the first channel. Therefore, it is imperative that the transmitter follow the common algorithm and remain at each channel for the prescribed amount of time.
This raises the next issue—i.e., transmission/allocation time variance, or whether there is a variance between the time it takes to transmit data and the time allotted (or prescribed) by the common algorithm. For example, if the allotted time is four hundred milliseconds and it takes one hundred and fifty milliseconds to transmit one item of data, then two items of data (i.e., three hundred milliseconds worth) is all that can be transmitted over a single channel. This is because it would take four hundred and fifty miliseconds to transmit three items of data, which would violate the time allotted (i.e., pursuant to FCC regulations). This results in a dwelling period of one hundred milliseconds per channel (i.e., the allotted time minus the transmitting time equals the dwelling period).
While dwelling periods are often associated with systems having the above-mentioned characteristics, they are not limited to such systems. For example, an FHSS system that does not require frequency synchronization may still experience dwelling periods. This is because non-synchronized FHSS systems typically operate under the assumption that maximum transmission rates are achieved by minimizing the "hop" rate. In other words, a maximum transmission rate will be achieved by spending more time transmitting data and less time "hopping" from channel to channel.
Traditional RFID systems operating under the FHSS methodology do not require frequency synchronization. This is because RFID tags can be designed to receive, without "hopping," signals transmitted over various carrier frequencies. This leaves the RFID base station free to "hop" unilaterally (i.e., without using a common algorithm). Nonetheless, because such systems typically operate under the assumption that maximum transmission rates are synonymous with minimum "hop" rates, algorithms are employed to "hop" only after the expiration of the time allotted by the FCC (i.e., four hundred milliseconds). The drawback with such a system (i.e., fixing the "hop" period) is that a dwelling period is created if the transmission time is not equal to the time allotted by the FCC, as previously explained.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide an FHSS scheme that forced RFID base stations to "hop" instead of "dwell" when timing constraints prohibit the transmission of additional data.

Frequency hopping spread spectrum scheme for RFID reader


A circuit which includes a primary power source, a reserve power source, switch means, a first diode, a second diode, and processing means selectively provide power to each of the lock actuator and the processing means from either the primary power source or the reserve power source. The reserve power source is connected between ground and the lock actuator and the switch means is connected between the reserve power source and the lock actuator. The first diode is connected between the reserve power source and the switch means and the second diode is operatively connected between the primary power source and the switch means such that a cathode of the second diode is connected between the first diode and the switch means. The processing means includes a first input operatively connected between the switch means and the lock actuator. A voltage level of the primary power source may be selected sufficiently greater than a voltage level of the reserve power source such that the first diode remains OFF if the switch means is closed and both voltage levels are present at the respective power sources.

Lock handle assemblies such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,721 are commonly utilized in vending machines for securing the vending machine cabinet door to the vending machine cabinet. Such lock handle assemblies have proven relatively affective at securing vending machines. However, although difficult, it is possible for such lock handle assemblies to be picked. Further, it is also possible for persons to obtain a copy of the key without authorization. A person with an unauthorized copy of a key may then be able to gain access to a large number of vending machines without the knowledge of the proprietor of the vending machines. Attempts to increase vending machine security in order to address such problems have been made in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,104 describes a solenoid enabled lock which is configured for use in association with lock handle assemblies. Other types of locking mechanisms including a variety of types of electrically controlled lock actuators are also possible. For example, lock assemblies which are actuated by motors also exist. In vending machines and other locations where electrically controlled locks are used a source of external electrical energy is often available for delivering current to the lock actuator of such assemblies. However, when such source of external electrical energy is unavailable for some reason, such as a power outage for example, it is still desirable to be able to operate such lock assemblies so that access to the vending interior is still possible.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a circuit for selectively delivering electrical energy to an electrically controllable lock actuator.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a circuit for selectively providing power to processing means which is used to control delivery of electrical energy to a lock actuator.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a circuit which facilitates an extended the useful life of a reserve source of electrical energy, which reserve source may be used to deliver electrical energy to a lock actuator and/or processing means.

Control circuit for selectively providing electrical energy to an electrically controlled lock actuator


A method and system for treating and purifying water on site provides a cascade series of alternating cation and anion beds with flow control controlling flow of water in a first direction to flow through all beds in sequence, to purify the water, and controlling back flow through only like ion resin beds to regenerate the resins contained therein. The subject system removes impurities which are ionic and dissolved in the water.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a method and system for on site water purification treatment and, in particular, to a unit which uses a cascade ion exchange system to produce high purity water from a local water supply.
2. The Prior Art
There are a number of well known and effective means for total removal of impurities from water. For example, one technique uses flash evaporators, but these require a substantial capital investment. The invention of modem ion exchange technology has made it possible to produce high purity water without requiring the high capital expenses previously associated with flash evaporators. Thus flash evaporation, in many cases, is no longer considered to be an economical alternative for the provision of high purity water, especially for lower volume applications. Membrane separation, commonly known as reverse osmosis separation, has gained a great acceptance in the past few decades. It is capable of removing more than 95% of the dissolved solids from water feed streams in a single stage. The two-bed ion exchanger (a Strong Acid Cation (SAC) resin bed followed by a Strong Basic Anion (SBA) resin bed) is a common ion exchanger arrangement used in water purification systems. Multiple arrangements of strong and weak cation and anion beds are valid options for specific water treatment applications, but they are not suitable for all applications.
The purity of demineralized water is measured by the specific electrical resistance of the water, measured in ohms, to an electric current. Electric current has less resistance in the presence of high concentrations of electrolytes (dissolved ionized solids) than in low concentration solutions. Water with a specific resistance of 100,000 ohms-cm has an equivalent Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of 2-3 ppm. Such water is considered "pure" and could be produced by a two-bed ion exchanger. Water with a specific resistance of 1,000,000 ohms-cm (1 Meg ohm-cm) has an equivalent TDS of 0.2-1.0 ppm. Such water is considered "very pure" and could be produced by a four-bed ion exchanger (two two-bed ion exchangers in series). A mixed bed ion exchanger is capable of producing water with a specific resistance of 2,000,000 ohms-cm (equivalent to 0.2-0.5 ppm TDS). A two-bed ion exchanger in series with a mixed bed is capable of producing water with a specific resistance of 10,000,000 ohms-cm (equivalent to 0.04-0.1 ppm TDS). This water is considered to be "ultrapure." The highest water purity that is practically achievable would have a specific resistance of 18,300,000 ohms-cm (18.3 Meg ohms-cm).
The invention of the mixed ion bed in the early 1950's (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,578,937 and 2,692,244) had a dramatic effect in the art of water purification. Mixed bed ion exchangers can produce ultrapure water, defined above as water with a specific electric resistance of 18 Meg ohms-cm (18,000,000 ohms-cm). However, mixed bed ion exchangers are less efficient than single ion bed exchangers and the mixed ion bed can be quickly exhausted. Therefor, conventional two bed ion exchangers, or reverse osmosis membranes, are usually used for a pre-treatment of the water fed to the mixed bed ion exchange.
The patents issued to Casolo, Boeve, Berry, Mahmud and Miyamura, discussed below, are directed to inventions for producing high purity water. All of the disclosed inventions include: known filtration means to remove undissolved impurities in the form of sediments; known adsorption means to remove colloidal and organic matters; and known ion exchange means to remove ionic impurities. In most of these inventions, mineral purification is accomplished in a two-step process utilizing conventional two or four bed ion exchange systems followed by mixed bed exchanges for final purification of the water. Berry proposes two mixed beds in series.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,648 to Casolo has, as an object, to optimize the efficiency of an ion exchange by adjusting the pH of the water as it passes through the different treatment units. A four (4) bed system plus a mixed bed and chelation resin were used. The bed arrangement was as follows: Strong Acid Cation followed by Weak Base Anion followed by Weak Acid Cation, followed by Strong Base Anion (SAC, WBA, WAC, SBA) and finally the mixed and chelation beds. The novelty in this arrangement is the addition of the Weak Acid Cation bed. The three-bed arrangement SAC, WBA, SBA is known from the prior art. In this arrangement the WBA (unit 28) neutralizes the acidic water coming from the SAC (unit 24). This neutral or high pH water enters the WAC (unit 32) and improves the efficiency of this bed. In the meantime, the water leaving the WAC (unit 32) has a low pH, which in turn improves the efficiency of the subsequent SAC (unit 36) in removing heavy metals. The mixed bed and the chelation bed are also known in the prior art. This system is a closed loop with no water discharge being allowed, for fear of contaminating waterways. Regeneration in place was not considered and no explanation is given as to how regeneration is to be accomplished or how to dispose of the accumulated industrial waste. This is a noticeable deficiency to this invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,716 to Boeve has, as an objective, to produce pyrogen free, ultrapure water with specific electrical resistance of at least 18 meg ohms-cm. The emphasis is on using pure ozone at concentrations of two mg/l in an ozone contactor to insure destruction of pyrogen. The system is capable of processing water from different sources. A relatively large collection of treatment techniques is used including coarse filtration, carbon adsorption, membrane separation, dual and mixed bed deionization and several disinfection units (three ultraviolet units and one ozone unit). All operations of this invention are individually known in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,912 to Berry has, as an objective, to produce ultrapure water with a specific electrical resistance of at least 18 meg ohms-cm at the point-of-use. The system consists of all standard unit operations outlined above. In addition, it includes means to monitor purity up stream and down stream of the water purification system; to shutdown the system upon detecting specific resistances below 500,000 ohms-cm; and to measure and control water temperature. A final 0.2 micron filter is used at the dispensing spout. Current operation conditions imply that a pure water supply (which could be a dual or three-bed pretreatment deioniser) is used to feed this system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,766 to Mahmud has, as an objective, to maintain the purity of an ultra pure water source at a low Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and bacteria at point-of-use. A purified water source with specific resistance of 17-18 meg ohms/cm is required. The point-of-use system includes a circulation loop that contains a pump, an ultraviolet unit, a 0.2 micron filter, a twin mixed bed polisher and an ozone generator sterilizer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,972 to Miyamura has, as an objective, to produce, for the electronic industry, ultra pure water with a specific resistance of 10 meg ohms/cm or more and 10 parts per billion of nonvolatile residue. Removal of colloidal substance by oxidation with ozone into fine particles of oxides that can easily be removed and do not clog the reverse osmosis membrane is a primary goal. In addition to the conventional purification elements, a reverse osmosis membrane is used as a last filtration element to remove particles that can't be removed by ion exchange.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,659 to Wang has, as its object, to provide a point-of-entry (POE) water conditioning system. The proposed system will partially treat water contaminants. It is not intended to produce high purity water. The primary components are the vessels for filter media (a wide array of reactive and regenerative compounds that are intended to treat specific problems are disclosed), a process tank for regeneration and chemical circulation, a central flow control (without a description of how it works), a pump and ultraviolet units.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,975 to Mohn has, as an object, to complex and stabilize waste water metal hydroxide bearing sludge with tolyl triazole to inhibit leaching of metal from the sludge into the environment.
A two-bed cation/anion ion exchanger is a relatively simple device, but it does not achieve the high level of water purity required by some technologies, such as the electronic and pharmaceutical industries. On the other hand, the known mixed bed devices produce very high purity water but they are less efficient and require cumbersome means to segregate, regenerate and remix the ion exchange resin.

Cascade ion exchange for high purity water production


A system and method is provided that tests and determines whether candidate artificial intelligence model contains a Trojan from when it was trained and using the outcome determination of the Trojan to determine whether the candidate artificial intelligence model should be deployed. The system utilizes a first artificial intelligence that operates as a data generator and a second artificial intelligence that operates as a discriminator to determine whether the candidate artificial intelligence contains a Trojan. The first artificial intelligence combines sets of data with random Trojan triggers and the second artificial intelligence discriminates output classifications from the candidate artificial intelligence model to determine whether the Trojan is present based on probability outputs.

A neural network involves a network of simple processing elements (artificial neurons) which can exhibit complex global behavior, determined by the connections between the processing elements and element parameters. One classical type of artificial neural network is the recurrent Hopfield net. In a neural network model simple nodes, which can be called variously "neurons", "neurodes", "Processing Elements" (PE) or "units", are connected together to form a network of nodes—hence the term "neural network".
A neural network (NN), in the case of artificial neurons is called artificial neural network (ANN) or simulated neural network (SNN), is an interconnected group of artificial neurons that uses a mathematical or computational model for information processing based on a connectionist approach to computation. In most cases an ANN is, in formulation and/or operation, an adaptive system that changes its structure based on external or internal information that flows through the network. Modern neural networks are non-linear statistical data modeling tools. They are usually used to model complex relationships between inputs and outputs or to find patterns in data. In more practical terms neural networks are non-linear statistical data modeling or decision making tools. They can be used to model complex relationships between inputs and outputs or to find patterns in data.
A convolutional neural network (CNN, or ConvNet) is a class of deep neural networks, most commonly applied to analyzing visual imagery. They are also known as shift invariant or space invariant artificial neural networks (SIANN), based on their shared-weights architecture and translation invariance characteristics. They have applications in image and video recognition, recommender systems, image classification, medical image analysis, natural language processing, and financial time series.
Algorithms in NN are used for learning. There are three major learning paradigms, each corresponding to a particular abstract learning task. These are supervised learning, unsupervised learning and reinforcement learning. Usually any given type of network architecture can be employed in any of those tasks. In supervised learning, there are a given a set of examples (for example pairs (x,y), xεX, yεY) and the aim is to find a function ƒ in the allowed class of functions that matches the examples. In other words, the supervised learning algorithm infers how the mapping implied by the data and the cost function is related to the mismatch between the mapping and the data. In unsupervised learning, there is given data x, and a cost function which is to be minimized which can be any function of x and the network's output, ƒ. The cost function is determined by the task formulation. Most applications fall within the domain of estimation problems such as statistical modeling, compression, filtering, blind source separation and clustering. In reinforcement learning, data x is usually not given, but generated by an agent's interactions with the environment. At each point in time t, the agent performs an action yt and the environment generates an observation xt and an instantaneous cost ct, according to some (usually unknown) dynamics. The aim is to discover a policy for selecting actions that minimizes some measure of a long-term cost, i.e. the expected cumulative cost. The environment's dynamics and the long-term cost for each policy are usually unknown, but can be estimated. ANNs are frequently used in reinforcement learning as part of the overall algorithm. Tasks that fall within the paradigm of reinforcement learning are control problems, games and other sequential decision making tasks. These will be discussed in further detail below.
There are many algorithms for training neural networks; most of them can be viewed as a straightforward application of optimization theory and statistical estimation. They include: Back propagation by gradient descent, Rprop, BFGS, CG etc. Evolutionary computation methods, simulated annealing, expectation maximization, non-parametric methods, particle swarm optimization and other swarm intelligence techniques are among other commonly used methods for training neural networks.
Neural network models in artificial intelligence are usually referred to as artificial neural networks (ANNs); these are essentially simple mathematical models defining a function ƒ:X→*Y. Each type of ANN model corresponds to a class of such functions. The word network in the term 'artificial neural network' arises because the function ƒ(x) is defined as a composition of other functions gi(x), which can further be defined as a composition of other functions. This can be conveniently represented as a network structure, with arrows depicting the dependencies between variables.
The possibility of learning has generated significant interest in neural networks. Given a specific task to solve, and a class of functions F, learning means using a set of observations to find ƒ*εF which solves the task in some optimal sense. This entails defining a cost function C:F→ such that, no solution has a cost less than the cost of the optimal solution.
The cost function C is an important concept in learning, as it is a measure of how far away a particular solution is from an optimal solution to the problem to be solved. Learning algorithms search through the solution space to find a function that has the smallest possible cost. For applications where the solution is dependent on some data, the cost must necessarily be a function of the observations, otherwise we would not be modeling anything related to the data. It is frequently defined as a statistic to which only approximations can be made.
While it is possible to define some arbitrary, ad hoc cost function, frequently a particular cost will be used, either because it has desirable properties (such as convexity) or because it arises naturally from a particular formulation of the problem (e.g., in a probabilistic formulation the posterior probability of the model can be used as an inverse cost). Ultimately, the cost function will depend on the task to be performed. As stated previously, there are three major learning paradigms, each corresponding to a particular abstract learning task. These are supervised learning, unsupervised learning and reinforcement learning. Usually any given type of network architecture can be employed in any of those tasks.
Training a neural network model essentially means selecting one model from the set of allowed models (or, in a Bayesian framework, determining a distribution over the set of allowed models) that minimizes the cost criterion. There are numerous algorithms available for training neural network models; most of them can be viewed as a straightforward application of optimization theory and statistical estimation. Most of the algorithms used in training artificial neural networks employ some form of gradient descent. This is done by simply taking the derivative of the cost function with respect to the network parameters and then changing those parameters in a gradient-related direction. Evolutionary methods, simulated annealing, expectation-maximization and non-parametric methods are some commonly used methods for training neural networks. Temporal perceptual learning relies on finding temporal relationships in sensory signal streams. In an environment, statistically salient temporal correlations can be found by monitoring the arrival times of sensory signals. This is done by the perceptual network.
However, training these types of artificial intelligence networks is where a problem may arise inasmuch as training for neural networks is normally accomplished via outsourcing or open sources with little to no security. Due to open source training, there exists an opportunity for an adversary to improperly place a "Trojan" into the artificial intelligence network (i.e., a Trojan horse; the term Trojan used herein refers to a model that, when exposed to a specific trigger input, will produce an unexpected output for the user). An adversary could train an artificial intelligence network to "learn" that a threat marker is not a threat. For example, an adversary could train an artificial intelligence network to learn that frequencies signatures output from a missile or projectile to be that of non-threats, such as birds. In this instance, the model "learns" that threats are actually non-threats, which is clearly a significant problem for the operator of the network.

System for detecting trojans in an artificial network and method therof

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


A musical drum comprised of a drumshell and a drumhead, which includes a composite of tonal modifiers acting synergistically for dampening drum sounds by eliminating high frequencies and overtones. The tonal modifiers include a first tonal modifier comprised of synthetic material, a second tonal modifier bonded to the synthetic material in overlaying relation, a third tonal modifier positioned upon the second tonal modifier in overlaying relation, and a fourth tonal modifier bonded to the central portion of the third tonal modifier in overlaying relation, the combination of which cooperate to break down the various levels of harmonics to their purest form resulting in a unique sound and vibrational experience provided in a therapeutic context for the well-being of a person.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a musical drum and, more particularly, to a musical drum incorporating a combination of cooperative tonal modifiers which produce levels of vibrations and resulting sounds that are uniquely therapeutic to the human body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a drumhead is struck with an object, it vibrates in modes, which enable the conjugation of certain frequencies. The lowest mode of vibration is its simplest form, as the film material used to fabricate the drumhead tends only to vacillate without any twisting or lateral motion. The only nodal point in this mode, which is the area with the least amount of vibration, is the outer perimeter of the drumhead.
The second mode tends to split the drumhead into halves, thereby creating higher partials or overtones.
The third mode of vibration divides the drumhead again into quarter-circle sections which, in turn, creates additional higher frequencies and overtones.
With only these three modes of vibrations in their most simple form (excluding, for example, the sound of a mallet striking the head, which will vary with the hardness and weight of the mallet on the head) a conventional drumhead can easily produce a complex series of harmonics. The principle objective of the present invention is to break down the various levels of harmonics and reduce other extemporaneous sounds to their purest form with the use of certain tonal modifiers, specifically the composite of tonal modifiers integral to the drumhead of the present invention, and to use the resulting unique sound in a therapeutic context for the well-being of a person.
A drum can be played by one person or many persons simultaneously. Ordinarily, the simultaneous playing of a single drum by a group of players is impractical, particularly in an indoor setting, given that the sounds that are generally produced would be excessively loud and complex and rhythmically and musically antithetical to a pleasing experience. Certain drums, such as, for example, the so-called Pow Wow drum with its deep sidewalls, do not permit the players to sit sufficiently close enough to a drum positioned horizontally.
The group playing of a single drum was common among Native American tribes. But since the majority of the drums then were relatively small, it was necessary for the players to sit at a distance from the drum and to use a single mallet or stick to strike the drumhead. Since the drums were played outdoors, there was no need to be concerned about the loudness of the sound volume, as quietness was not a requisite.
In the modern world, music therapists use percussion instruments, including various versions of the musical drum, in group settings and often in quiet institutions, such as hospitals and nursing homes. Within this context, there is a need for a single drum that many may comfortably share, whether, for example, while sitting in a conventional chair or wheelchair, or standing, to ensure the experience of the healing benefits of the therapeutic sounds and vibrations produced. Accordingly, the present invention fulfills a long felt need by providing a drum with a vibratory membrane (i.e. the drumhead), which incorporates a rare combination of tonal modifiers that act synergistically to break down the various levels of harmonics, as described, to suppress overtones and produce a unique therapeutic sound. This therapeutic sound comprises a single dominant low frequency sonic wave experienced throughout the human body when a person is sitting or standing in close proximity to the drum.

Musical drumhead with tonal modification


A method and apparatus for processing green-tape type circuits, whereby through contacts and electrical circuits are obtained on a thin foil of alumina in the raw state or another analogous or like material containing reference holes or marks (29) and connecting micro-holes (30) by means of a printing process with a conductive material, the green-tape foils being able to arrive from a wound roll of basic material or from a stock of already cut foils, in which method a green-tape foil (10) complete with through connecting holes (30) and reference holes or marks (29) is positioned on a conveyor belt (12) comprising at lest specific zones of transpirable material (3) and loaded with the green-tape foil (10), which is identified as a position in relation to the belt (12), is then printed after reciprocal positioning with a printing means, is dried and discharged, the apparatus comprising at least one loading station (13), a station (15) to identify the position of the green-tape foil (10), a printing station (18) and a drying station ( 19), these stations being able to be individual single stations or to be combined in two or more stations.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention a method to process hybrid circuits according to the so-called green-tape technology and also a device that employs the method, as set forth in the respective main claims.
The method according to the invention can also be employed for the processing of solar cells, printed circuits and anything else which can be used with the same system.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
The hybrid circuits of the so-called green-tape technology consist of very thin foils of alumina in the raw state or another analogous or like material, the foils having a circuit printed on one or both of their two faces.
The green-tape foils are superimposed on each other in a coordinated manner in a number which may even amount to various tens of foils, and the foils are then compressed so as to be bonded to each other and to produce a multi-layer element of a slender thickness.
The various components forming the green-tape circuit and included on the individual foils are possibly set in communication with each other by means of suitable holes made in the foils and filled with a conductive material.
The green-tape foils of the present technology are conveyed on supports, of paper for instance, to the various processes.
Paper supports are used advantageously to facilitate separation of the green-tape foils, since during the filling of the connecting micro-holes with the conductive material, that conductive material may emerge and become spread on and/or adhere to the support.
Lastly, the green-tape foils are dried, assembled in a pre-set number and compressed so as to obtain a multi-layer electrical circuit.
The operations of engaging, positioning and inserting the green-tape foils are carried out by hand and involve considerable times and costs as well as a great number of rejects owing to the lack of accuracy in the filling and printing operations (by screen process printing, for instance) and to the damage caused by manual handling.

Method and apparatus for printing green-tape foil circuits


A method is provided for optimizing the number of kernels N used in a sum of coherent sources (SOCS) for optical proximity correction in an optical microlithography process, including setting the number of kernels N to a predetermined minimum value Nmin, where a determination is made as to whether an accuracy estimate of calculated intensity is within a tolerable value, and a determination is also made as to whether an added X/Y asymmetry estimate of the calculated intensity is negligible.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to optical microlithography, and more particularly to mask design.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) involves making systematic modifications to mask geometries in lithography to increase the achievable resolution and pattern transfer fidelity for IC manufacturing. This is accomplished by compensating mask geometry for known effects which will occur during imaging or subsequent processing.
The essential part of a proximity correction apparatus is a simulation engine that provides an accurate simulation of the on-wafer shape, given an input shape on the mask. Conventional simulation engines use the Sum of Coherent Systems (SOCS) method, in which on-wafer light intensity for partially coherent illumination is decomposed into an incoherent sum of intensities from a nominally infinite number of coherent systems. For each particular "coherent system", a design geometry with a corresponding kernel is computed, and the magnitude of the image intensity from the design geometry is an addend in the sum of coherent sources. To be practical, the SOCS method uses only a finite number of terms, N, where N is chosen to provide a required degree of accuracy. The number N represents the number of kernels.
Increasing N improves SOCS accuracy, but also increases computation time and run time memory requirements. Since integrated circuit masks may contain hundreds of millions of shapes which must be corrected, computation time is at a premium, so it is important to make an efficient choice of kernels. It can be shown that the most efficient set of coherent kernels is obtained by making a Mercer expansion of the bilinear imaging operator (for example, the Hopkins imaging model that is shown as equation 1 below), so that the kernels are the weighted eigenfunctions of the imaging operator. Other choices (for example, forming a separate coherent kernel from each small element of the illumination source) are known to be less efficient. This is shown, for example, in Y. C. Pati and T. Kailath, "Phase-shifting masks for microlithography: automated design and mask requirements," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 11, no. 9 (1994): p. 2438.
In the current state-of-the-art proximity correction systems, the number of kernels N is chosen manually before starting the simulation process based on ad hoc recommendations of simulation tool providers. A small number of test cases is performed to determine if the recommended N provides the required accuracy. Another factor to consider in the determination of the proper N is the possible occurrence of an X/Y asymmetry artifact. X/Y asymmetry artifacts may cause the OPC process to apply different corrections to each instance of the same shape, depending on the shape orientation. This in turn may lead to different behavior of cells that are meant to be identical, which is highly undesirable.
Conventionally, to avoid asymmetry, N is increased until asymmetry is eliminated or negligible. However, such a manual approach is not reliable and can greatly increase turn-around time if the asymmetry is overlooked at the beginning of the process. The problem is especially acute in situations that deal with an optical model having variable parameters or with a multiplicity of different optical models. Thus, there is a need for a process in which N is chosen automatically to optimize accuracy and prevent X/Y asymmetry artifacts.

Method for optimizing a number of kernels used in a sum of coherent sources for optical proximity correction in an optical microlithography process

International Business Machines Corporation


The physiological regulation of intake, growth and energy partitioning in animals is under the control of multiple genes, which may be important candidates for unraveling the genetic variation in economically relevant traits in beef production. The present invention relates to the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the bovine gene encoding mitochondrial transcription factor A (“TFAM”) and their associations with economically relevant traits in beef production. The invention further encompasses methods and systems, including network-based processes, to manage the SNP data and other data relating to specific animals and herds of animals, veterinarian care, diagnostic and quality control data and management of livestock which, based on genotyping, have predictable meat quality traits, husbandry conditions, animal welfare, food safety information, audit of existing processes and data from field locations.

Significant improvements in animal performance, efficiency and carcass and meat quality have been made over the years through the application of standard animal breeding and selection techniques. However, such classical animal breeding techniques require several years of genetic evaluation of performance records on individual animals and their relatives and are therefore very expensive. Other efforts have been made to improve productivity and quality through the application of such management practices as the use of feed additives, animal hormonal implants and chemotherapeutics. However, there is significant political and regulatory resistance to the introduction and use of such methodologies. Such methodologies are also non-inheritable and need to be applied differently in every production system.
There is a need for methods that allow relatively easy and more efficient selection and breeding of farm animals with an advantage for an inheritable trait of circulating leptin levels, feed intake, growth rate, body weight, carcass merit and carcass composition. The economic significance of the use of genetic markers that are associated with specific economically important traits (especially traits with low heritability) in livestock through marker-assisted selection cannot therefore be over-emphasized.
The physiological regulation of intake, growth and energy partitioning in animals is under the control of multiple genes, which may be important candidates for unraveling the genetic variation in economically relevant traits (ERT) in beef production. Polymorphisms in these candidate genes that show association with specific ERT are useful quantitative trait nucleotides for marker-assisted selection
Mitochondrial transcription factor A ("TFAM"), a member of a high mobility group protein family and the first-identified mitochondrial transcription factor (Fisher and Clayton, Mol Cell Biol. 1988; 8:3496-509), is essential for maintenance and biogenesis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). First, TFAM plays a histone-like role in mitochondria, as it is tightly associated with mtDNA as a main component of the nucleoid (Kanki et al. Mol Cell Biol. 2004; 24:9823-34). Evidence has shown that one molecule of mtDNA is packed with ˜900 molecules of TFAM on average (Alam et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 2003; 31:1640-5), which makes mtDNA no longer naked. Second, TFAM regulates mtDNA copy number in mammals. Investigation using a combination of mice with TFAM overexpression and TFAM knockout demonstrated that mtDNA copy number is directly proportional to the total TFAM protein level in mouse embryos (Ekstrand et al. Hum Mol Genet. 2004; 13:935-44). RNA interference of the endogenous TFAM expression in HeLa cells also indicated that the mtDNA amount is correlated in parallel with the amount of TFAM (Kanki et al. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2004; 1011:61-8). Third, TFAM stimulates transcription of mtDNA. The TFAM protein possesses two tandem high mobility group domains, which makes TFAM bind, unwind and bend DNA without sequence specificity and thus facilitate transcription initiation of mtDNA (Gaspari et al. 2004; 1659:148-52). Evidence has shown that import of wt-TFAM into liver mitochondria from hypothyroid rats increased RNA synthesis significantly up to 4-fold (Garstka et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 2003; 31:5039-47).
It has been known for many years that adipose tissue plays a central rule in regulation and manipulation of energy metabolisms through the storage and turnover of triglycerides and through the secretion of factors that affect satiety and fuel utilization. However, many key aspects of adipogenesis are accompanied by stimulation of mitochondrial biogenesis (Wilson-Fritch et al. Mol Cell Biol. 2003; 23:1085-94). For example, the major site of fatty acid β-oxidation occurs in mitochondria (Reichert and Neupert, Trends Genet. 2004; 20:555-62), which may provide key intermediates for the synthesis of triglycerides via the action of pyruvate carboxylase (Owen et al. J Biol Chem. 2002; 277:30409-12). In addition, a relatively large mitochondrial mass are needed to generate acetyl-CoA for fatty acid activation prior to esterification into triglycerides. All these studies demonstrated the essential role and function of mitochondria in lipid metabolism.
To further explore the mechanism of mitochondria involved in adipogenesis, Wilson-Fritch and colleagues (Wilson-Fritch et al. Mol Cell Biol. 2003; 23:1085-94 and Wilson-Fritch et al. J Clin Invest. 2004; 114:1281-9) studied the 3T3-L1 cell (representative of white adipocytes) differentiation by using both proteomic and genomic approaches. Proteomic analysis revealed a 20- to 30-fold increase in the concentration of numerous mitochondrial proteins, while genomic analysis with gene expression profiling using Affymetrix GeneChips detected a statistically significant increase in the expression of many nucleus-encoded mitochondrial genes during adipogenesis. In particular, the authors found a profound decrease of approximately 50% in the levels of transcripts for nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes accompanying the onset of obesity (Wilson-Fritch et al. J Clin Invest. 2004; 114:1281-9).
It remains advantageous to provide further SNPs that may more accurately predict the meat quality phenotype of an animal and also a business method that provides for increased production efficiencies in livestock cattle, as well as providing access to various records of the animals and allows comparisons with expected or desired goals with regard to the quality and quantity of animals produced.
Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.

Polymorphisms in mitochondrial transcription factor A (“

Washington State University Research Foundation


A telephone call connection architecture is disclosed which establishes a call connection between two parties. A caller at a caller location initiates a call request to an intermediate location over a first communication network requesting a call be connected to a callee at a callee location over a second communication network. The caller location is connected to the callee location over the second communication network in response to the call request being made over the first communication network. In both a call back and call collect scenario, the caller initiates the call request to the intermediate location. However, in a call back situation, the caller is ultimately charged for the call, while in a call collect situation, the callee authorizes charges for the call.

The present invention pertains in general to a method for making a telephone call between two parties and, more particularly, to a method for making a telephone call utilizing a call-back feature from an intermediate point.
When making a call between two parties, the typical approach is to initiate the call at a caller location through a Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) which then effects a connection to a callee location. Once the call is completed, then billing is done through normal channels. Of course, many different techniques can be utilized for selecting the various providers to ensure long distance calls are at the most favorable rates.
One disadvantage in completing a call between the caller location and the callee location is that involved with going through providers in locations such as foreign countries. In these situations, outgoing calls from the foreign country are billed through the foreign country""s telecommunications network. These are typically onerous costs. One way to alleviate these problems is to have some type of call-back feature wherein the call is actually originated from a country having more favorable rates, and then the call connected from that country. In these situations, some businessmen actually call their office and have the office call them back at their location to reduce the cost.
One type of call-back system that has been automated is that wherein a caller initiates a call from a foreign country to a number in, for example, the United States. This number is typically toll-free number and is often referred to as a direct-inward-dial (DID) phone number. The actual ringing of this number is recognized as being an initiated call from the caller. The caller then hangs up and the called location, recognizing that this was the caller, will then access its database and ring back to the caller""s location. This, of course, requires setting this up prior to leaving the country. The caller will then have a connection made between an intermediate point in the United States (US) and their location in the foreign country which call was originated from the US, thus incurring more favorable rates. The calling party then enters a personal identification number (PIN) and the number of callee party to allow a connection therebetween. However, this system is limiting in that the caller must pre-configure the system to their location and does not have latitude to move about a foreign country. This system also does allow the calling party to dial a toll-free access number and enter information as to their phone number for a call-back feature which then allows the user to be connection to an intermediate point in the US, and then input various PIN numbers and as such. However, this, again requires a telephone call to be initiated and completed from outside the country to the US and then some action to call back the calling party.
In addition to the call-back feature, there are also features provided in the form of collect calls which we term xe2x80x9ccall collectxe2x80x9d for the purpose of this application. These involve situations wherein the party outside the country desires to place a collect call to a callee or even from within the same country. These, again, typically incur onerous costs.
The invention disclosed and claimed herein is a method and system of establishing a call between two parties. A call request is initiated by a caller at a caller location over a first communication network to an intermediate location. The call request seeks to cause a call to be connected between caller at a caller location and a callee at a callee location over a second communication network. The call is connected to the caller location over the second communication network, and then in response to connecting to the caller location, the callee location and the caller location are connected over the second communication network.
In another aspect of the invention, a method and system for establishing a call between two parties is disclosed wherein a call request is initiated by a caller at a caller location over a first communication network to an intermediate location. The call request seeks to cause a call to be connected to a callee at a callee location over a second communication network. The call is connected to the caller location over the second communication network. A confirmation is requested from the callee location in order that a connection between the caller location and the callee location be authorized. In response to receiving the confirmation from the callee location, a connection is made between the callee location and the caller location over the second communication network.


A vacuum system bakeout process is performed by cycling the system between two pressures, pumping the system down to a lower pressure, and holding the system at that lower pressure for a period of time. A gas, such as argon gas, is introduced into the system. This gas introduction is done while cycling between the two pressures. The pump is used to lower the pressure during cycling, and the gas flow is used to raise the pressure. A rough pump performs the cycling between pressures, and then a high vacuum pump evacuates the system to the lower pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for achieving the highest vacuum possible in the least amount of time for a given vacuum chamber. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of performing a bakeout on a vacuum chamber involving cycle purging the chamber.
2. Background of the Related Art
Vacuum chambers are well known. Vacuum chambers can be used to manufacture integrated circuits (ICs) on silicon wafers. Physical vapor deposition (PVD) chambers are one type of vacuum chamber for manufacturing ICs. PVD chambers usually must reach about 6.0.times.10.sup.-9 torr to qualify for use in manufacturing ICs.
The traditional method used for qualifying the vacuum of an ultra high vacuum chamber is called a bakeout. The bakeout process accelerates the removal of contaminants from the chamber, including driving out water vapor and other gases from the chamber components. The bakeout process is used to determine the highest vacuum, or lowest pressure, that the vacuum chamber can attain. A vacuum chamber's highest vacuum may be limited by a variety of reasons, including leaks in the chamber or contaminants in the chamber.
Various gases that have adsorbed onto the walls, instruments or other interior surfaces of the chamber may comprise the contaminants that limit a chamber's highest vacuum potential. When a chamber is subjected to a vacuum, these gases come out of the interior surfaces of the chamber in a process called degassing, or outgassing or desorption. When the pressure is returned to atmospheric pressure, such as prior to opening the chamber, water vapor and other gases in the chamber may be adsorbed into the interior surfaces of the chamber, only to be outgassed later when the vacuum returns.
The first time that a vacuum chamber is subjected to a vacuum, i.e., during the first bakeout, there may be a considerable amount of contaminants, absorbed or adsorbed gases, that must be outgassed. Subsequent times that the vacuum chamber is subjected to a vacuum should not have as many contaminants to outgas if the chamber can be kept relatively free of such contaminants in the interim. Thus, the first bakeout process is usually the longest period during which outgassing must be done.
The conventional method used to obtain an ultra-high vacuum for a chamber is to pump the chamber using a roughing pump to about 100 millitorr, then crossover to the high vacuum pump. After the chamber reaches a threshold pressure, an extensive bakeout, e.g. 36 hours in a PVD chamber, is performed. During the bakeout process, the high vacuum pump continuously pumps the chamber. Afterwards, the chamber must be cooled to ambient temperature in order to reach the base pressure, which may take about ten more hours.
An example of the conventional bakeout method can be seen in FIG. 1, which is a graph of pressure (in torr) inside the vacuum chamber versus time (in hours). Prior to time 100, the roughing pump brings the vacuum down to about 0.1 torr. Then the high vacuum pump, e.g., cryogenic pump, reduces the vacuum as low as about 2.times.10.sup.-6 torr. At time 100, the bakeout lamps are turned on and the chamber will heat up, causing extra outgassing in the chamber. This extra outgassing causes a rise in the pressure immediately after time 100 for 3-4 hours, after which, the pressure slowly drops for the next 10-15 hours as fewer and fewer contaminants remain to be outgassed from the chamber. At time 102, if the chamber has a wafer bakeout heater, the heater may be turned on, thus causing another rise in the pressure after time 102 when more outgassing from the heater occurs. At time 104, the bakeout test is done, the lamps and heater are turned off, and the chamber is permitted to cool until the final qualifying pressure may be determined. The time to perform this bakeout test is about 36 hours for a PVD chamber.
The problem that slows down the conventional method of performing the bakeout is the rise in pressure just after the bakeout lamps are turned on. This pressure rise is due to the speed at which the gases desorb from the chamber and are removed. For example, the outgassing rate can be calculated from the outgassing rate per area (typically 5.0.times.10.sup.-7 torr.multidot.liter/s.multidot.cm.sup.2) and the total interior surface area (typically 1.0.times.10.sup.+4 cm.sup.2 for a PVD chamber). The product of these two parameters gives a typical outgassing rate of 5.0.times.10.sup.-3 torr.multidot.liter/s. By comparison, the cryopump's throughput can be calculated from its effective pumping speed (typically 300 to 500 liter/s with the cryopump restrictor) and the pressure in the chamber (about 5.0.times.10.sup.-6 torr to 2.0.times.10.sup.-6 torr). The product of these two parameters is the typical throughput for a cryopump: between about 1.5.times.10.sup.-3 torr.multidot.liter/s and about 1.0.times.10.sup.-3 torr.multidot.liter/s. Thus, contaminants are outgassing almost five times as fast as the cryopump can remove them, so the pressure goes back up almost an order of magnitude after initially being reduced at time 100.
The difference between the outgassing rate and the pump throughput indicates a very inefficient procedure that is permitting part of the desorbed contaminants to re-adsorb onto the interior surface of the chamber. The typical gas composition for a typical high vacuum chamber with an O-ring seal may contain as much as 50% water vapor, so water vapor and other contaminants are continually re-adsorbing onto the chamber interior, causing a long slow bakeout process.
For the process described by FIG. 1, the increase in pressure when the lamps are turned on at time 100 is known to have two parts to it. The pressure is related to temperature according to the general gas law: EQU P=nKT, Equation 1
where P is pressure, n is the number density of the gas molecules, K is Boltzman's constant, and T is temperature. The change in pressure may be due to a change in either the temperature T or the density n. Therefore, for a change in pressure, the general gas law may be expressed as: EQU .DELTA.P=nK.DELTA.T+KT.DELTA.n. Equation 2
If Equation 2 is divided by Equation 1, the result is: EQU .DELTA.P/P=.DELTA.T/T+.DELTA.n/n. Equation 3
The values for .DELTA.P/P and .DELTA.T/T can be calculated from the readings from the pressure measurement 28 and the temperature measurement 30 (see FIG. 3). A typical value for .DELTA.P/P during bakeout is in the range of 5-7, while a typical value for .DELTA.T/T is less than 1. From Equation 3, a typical value for .DELTA.n/n is in the range of 4-6, which is greater than the range of values for .DELTA.T/T. Therefore, a substantial amount of the cause for the rise in pressure after time 100 in the conventional bakeout process is due to the change in density of the gas, which confirms that the cryopump is not able to pump out the desorbed gases fast enough to keep up with the outgassing rate.
Another method of performing a bakeout is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,330, issued Jul. 16, 1996, assigned to Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., and incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth below, and assigned in common with the present application. This patent describes a bakeout process that starts with preheated gas sweeping the vacuum chamber. While maintaining a low vacuum, about 50 to 750 torr, hot gas is flowed through the chamber to sweep out as much of the degassing molecules as possible. Then the vacuum is pumped down to an ultra high vacuum to continue the bakeout process. The gas is heated before flowing into the chamber. This step requires a heater, which adds to the complexity of the test setup. Additionally, the high pressure requires a very high purity of gas to water vapor ratio, because the partial pressure due to the water vapor in the chamber will not go below that of the gas flowing into the chamber. Furthermore, the outgassing rate at the low vacuum is not very great.
Attempts have been made to enhance this procedure by raising and lowering the pressure while sweeping with preheated argon gas. However, all such attempts have been proposed at the lower vacuums that require a greater gas purity. These attempts may have had a high throughput up to about 6.0.times.10.sup.3 torr.multidot.liter/s, but a low outgassing rate.
It is, therefore, desirable to have a method for performing a bakeout process that can more quickly remove the desorbed gases from a vacuum chamber, and thereby reduce the total time for the bakeout test.

Cycle purging a vacuum chamber during bakeout process


The present invention relates to anti-counterfeiting field, and more particularly, to an anti-counterfeiting method, device and system based on textures of an object to be tested. The method includes: providing a light source based on a pre-determined anti-counterfeiting test model, projecting light emitted by the light source on a pre-determined test area, obtaining a pre-determined number of pictures of the pre-determined test area by means of a pre-determined optical sensor, acquiring texture characteristics of the pre-determined test area from the pictures, computing similarity between the texture characteristics and pre-stored texture characteristics and outputting a test result based on the similarity. The present invention implements anti-counterfeiting function by using the texture characteristics of the object itself and improves the anti-counterfeiting level greatly without increasing complexity of the production of the object.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to anti-counterfeiting field, and more particularly, to an anti-counterfeiting test method, device and system based on textures.
2. Description of Related Art
The objective of anti-counterfeiting technology is to provide prevention measures to prevent imitation and copy without an owner's allowance. There are many kinds of existing anti-counterfeiting technologies, such as the anti-counterfeiting technologies using printing, chemical material and physical characteristics, digital information, structure and packaging, human body biologic characteristics.
The anti-counterfeiting technologies can be applied to anti-counterfeiting paper and bill, which is one of the important applications of the anti-counterfeiting technologies. However, it is obvious that most of the anti-counterfeiting technologies used for the anti-counterfeiting paper and bill need additional material such as safety lines and fluorescent fibers. It can be seen that a complex process is required for the production of the anti-counterfeiting paper and bill. On one hand, since anti-counterfeiting characteristics are added artificially into the anti-counterfeiting paper or bill, so that other persons may also counterfeit the characteristics and the counterfeiting possibility will be increased at some degree. On the other hand, since the addition of anti-counterfeiting characteristics requires to improve conventional paper-making process, which will increase the complexity and the cost of paper making, and thereby increase the complexity and cost of the anti-counterfeit at some degree.

Anti-counterfeiting test method, device and system based on textures


A method and device for recognizing speech that has a sequence of words each including one or more letters. The word and letters form a recognition data base. The method receives and recognizes the speech by preliminary modelling among various probably recognized sequences. The method selects one or more model sequences as result. In particular, the method allows in a model sequence of exclusively letters, various words as a subset. Such words are used to qualify one or more neighbouring or included letters in the sequence. An applicable model is a mixed information unit model.

The present invention relates to a method of speech recognition. Speech recognition is used in many environments, such as speech-to-text conversion and ordering and enquiry systems. In such systems it is often necessary to match speech items versus a large data base that may contain such diverse items as personal or other names. However, the search for a particular name in such data base may lead to acoustically ambivalent results or become computationally unfeasible. Now, in person-to-person dialogs, spelling of a name or other difficult word, such as a scientific or foreign term is common procedure. Usually, a person will execute such spelling on a letter-by-letter basis, either phonetically, or through using so-called standard alphabets. However, various persons may spell in a manner that has still further variations which makes consistency fully illusory. It has been recognized by the invention that for better adapting to a particular user, a machine should be able to cope with exceptions to the letter-only sequence, in particular when interspersed qualifiers in the form of full words or even descriptive phrases are used from a limited subset of the data base. In practice, these qualifiers would render the spelling more powerful.

Method and device for recognizing speech in a spelling mode including word qualifiers


An EP catheter includes a tubular body having a proximal region, a neck region, and a distal portion predisposed into a single shallow helical fixed-diameter loop configuration and including a plurality of diagnostic electrodes. In deflectable catheter forms, at least one activation wire extends through at least a portion of the proximal region of the catheter body and is adapted to deflect the up to approximately 180 degrees relative to the proximal region. The catheter can be operated manually by a clinician or via a clinician-surrogate such as a computer processor-controlled surgical system. In addition, a variety of localization, visualization, and/or orientation-specific elements can be incorporated into the devices described, depicted, and claimed herein (e.g., metallic coil members, active impedance emitting or receiving electrodes, fluoroscopically opaque materials, and the like).

a. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to electrophysiology (EP) catheters for use in medical procedures. In particular, the disclosure relates to a family of catheters for use in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in and around a patient's cardiac anatomy, such as the ostium of a pulmonary vein.
b. Background Art
Catheters are used for an ever-growing number of procedures. For example, catheters are used for diagnostic, therapeutic, and ablative procedures, to name just a few examples. Typically, the catheter is manipulated through the patient's vasculature and to the intended site, for example a site within the patient's heart.
A typical EP catheter includes an elongate shaft and one or more electrodes on the distal end of the shaft. The electrodes can be used for diagnostic mapping, or ablation the like. Oftentimes, these electrodes are ring electrodes that extend about the entire circumference of the catheter shaft.
One specific use of an EP catheter is to map the atrial regions of the heart, and in particular the pulmonary veins, which are often origination points or foci of atrial fibrillation. Such EP mapping catheters typically have at least a partial loop shape at their distal end in order to surround the pulmonary vein ostia.

Fixed loop deflectable electrophysiology catheters having an extended braid primary shaft coupled to the periphery of the fixed loop and methods of manufacturing therefor

St. Judge Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


A CPU detects a temperature of a central part of a heating roller. If the detected temperature does not exceed 180° C., the CPU drives a central coil or a side-end coil for 0.4 second in accordance with a temperature difference between the central part of the heating roller and a side-end part of the heating roller. Then, the CPU drives the side-end coil or central coil for 0.2 second. Thereafter, the CPU detects the temperature of the central part and repeats the driving control until the detected temperature reaches 180° C.

The present invention relates to a heating device using induction heating. In particular, this invention relates to a fixing device for fixing a toner image using a heating device in an electrophotographic copying apparatus or printer apparatus using a toner as a visible-image forming agent.
In a conventional fixing device incorporated in a copying apparatus using an electrophotographic process, a developer or a toner formed on an image-fixation medium is heated and fused and the toner is fixed on the image-fixation medium. Well-known toner heating methods applicable to the fixing device include a method using radiation heat obtained by turning on a filament lamp and a flash heating method using a flash lamp as a heat source.
In recent years, a fixing device using an induction heating device as a heat source has been proposed.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2-270293 discloses an induction heating device with two induction coils, which includes a plurality of inverter circuits and a detection circuit that detects a zero point of an AC power supply, wherein when switching elements of the inverter circuits are switched (i.e. driving of coil A is switched to driving of coil B), the switching is effected at the zero point of the AC power supply.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-206813 discloses a technique wherein when a heating roller (or a heating belt) is heated with use of a plurality of coils, the ratio of the amounts of power applied to the coils is varied so as to make uniform the heating temperature distribution in the longitudinal direction of the heating roller. It also discloses a technique wherein a difference between temperatures of temperature detection means is detected, and the ratio of the amounts of power applied to the respective coils is varied, thereby driving the coils at the same time. Further, it discloses a technique wherein when the temperature of a paper non-feed region does not decrease, as in a case of feeding a small-sized paper sheet, the ratio of power to a coil that heats a side-end portion of the heating roller is decreased while the ratio of power to a coil that heats a central portion of the heating roller is increased.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-312178 discloses a technique wherein there is provided a circuit for independently controlling power to each of a plurality of coils, as in the above-described technique, and the frequency of the circuit is varied to alter the ratio of supply powers to the respective coils, thus making uniform the temperature of the heating roller.
Although there is no particular document, the wire for the coil used in an induction heating device is generally affected by a skin effect due to high frequencies. Thus, litz wire (twisted wire), which is composed of a plurality of twisted fine strands, is used for the wire of the coil. This structure is publicly known.
The outside diameter of the litz wire, which has a substantially circular cross section, is determined by, the following formula:outside diameter D=1.155×d×√{square root over (N)} (mm)where d: the outside diameter of an elementary strand (mm), and
N: the number of strands.
Based on this value, a maximum possible number of turns in cross section of the coil is considered in the prior art.
However, according to the drive method of the coil disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2-270293, there is merely a description that the transistor device is switched at 0 V of the AC power supply. In addition, neither a switching time nor a switching timing is described. Thus, there is no method or solution in order to execute a fine temperature control.
Furthermore, if the litz wire is formed with the aforementioned diameter, there is a limit to the density of coil winding in cross section.


The invention provides highly reliable wiring and connection terminals of an electro-optic device used as a transfiective liquid crystal device or the like. Since sidewalls and a part of an upper surface of a data line are covered with a reflection film, a central layer is not etched by an etchant when the reflection film is formed by patterning. In addition, since a transparent conductive film is connected to an upper layer of the data line via a contact hole, the resistance of a connection terminal can be decreased, and superior conduction can be obtained.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to manufacturing methods of wiring structures and electro-optic panels. The invention also relates to electro-optic panels, wiring structures thereof, and electronic devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Electro-optic devices, such as a liquid crystal device, are each formed of two substrates bonded to each other with a predetermined gap between. The distance between the substrates is defined by an external frame, which is referred to as a seal portion and has an approximately square shape, and an electro-optic material, such as liquid crystal, is to be filled inside the seal portion.
The electro-optic devices described above include: a transmissive type device in which display is performed using light emitted from a backlight; a reflective type device in which display is performed using external light reflected from the inside of the device; and a transflective type device in which display is performed using external light in a bright place and using light emitted from an embedded backlight in a dark place.
As the transflective type electro-optic device, a related art internal reflection type device can be used that has a transflective electrode provided in each of pixels arranged in a matrix. In this device, the transflective electrode is formed by providing a transparent electrode made of an ITO (indium tin oxide) film or the like on a reflection electrode or a reflection film, which is made of an Al (aluminum) film or the like.
In addition, a thin film transistor (hereinafter "TFT") is provided in each pixel. A source of the TFT is connected to a corresponding data line, a drain of the TFT is connected to a corresponding transparent electrode, and a gate of the TFT is connected to a corresponding scanning line. The data lines and the scanning lines extend from the inside to the outside of the seal portion, and at the ends of the lines, connection terminals are formed. The structure described above is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 06-289414 (p. 2, FIG. 2). In addition, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-243834 (p. 7), as a wiring structure of the data line, a three-layered structure formed of titanium, aluminum, and titanium nitride in that order may be used in some cases.
Next, a substrate having TFTs is manufactured by a process which basically includes: first forming TFTs on a board made of glass or the like; second forming a wiring structure of data lines and the like; third sequentially forming a protection film and an acrylic layer on the wiring structure; fourth forming reflection electrodes; and fifth forming transparent electrodes.

Multilayer external connection structure having third layer covering sidewalls of the first and second, made of reflective conductive material


A method for overmolding a plurality of polymers having different properties onto a dental instrument. The method involves providing a dental instrument substrate made of metal, overmolding a first polymer onto a portion of the dental instrument substrate, and then applying a second polymer over a portion of the first polymer. The first polymer, which is advantageously rigid, is overmolded so that an exposed outer surface of the first polymer corresponds to a portion of the dental instrument to be gripped within a collet of a dental hand piece for powered use. The second polymer, which is advantageously soft and flexible, is applied so that an exposed outer surface of the second polymer corresponds to a portion of the dental instrument to be gripped by a dental practitioner for manual use.

1. The Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of dental instruments. More particularly, the invention is in the field of processes for overmolding one or more polymers onto dental instruments (e.g., endodontic files).
2. The Relevant Technology
Dental instruments are often designed to be manually manipulated or to be fitted within a collet of a powered hand piece that provides rotation of an instrument during use. A dental instrument (e.g., an endodontic file) that is intended for hand use is typically provided with an enlarged diameter plastic handle attached to the proximal end of the instrument, configured for manipulation between the thumb and forefinger of the dental practitioner. An instrument intended for use with a powered hand piece has a stem at the instrument proximal end configured to be removably received within a collet of the powered hand piece, by which the instrument may then be rotated as desired by a dental practitioner.
It may be desirable for the enlarged plastic handle of a dental instrument intended for hand use to have a gripable surface. At the same time, dental instruments intended for use with a powered hand piece must include a rigid handle that can be received within a collet.
It would be an improvement in the art to provide a method of overmolding a handle onto a dental instrument, where the handle is suitable for manipulation by hand and by a powered hand piece.

Method for overmolding polymers over dental tools


A plate-like shape die 1 for forming a honeycomb structure provided with an introduction portion 3 having plural back holes on one side face (an introduction side) thereof and a formation portion provided with silts 6 communicating with plural back holes 7 on other side face thereof; using for forming a honeycomb shape with passing raw materials being introduced from back holes 7 of an introduction portion 3 through silts 6 being provided on the forming portion 2, wherein the introduction portion 3 is composed of two layers of a plate-like abrasion portion 5 constituting an introduction face 8, and an introduction portion main body 4 located between the abrasion portion 5 and the forming portion 2, and the abrasion portion 5 is detachably disposed on the introduction portion main body 4.

As a method for manufacturing a ceramic honeycomb structure, there is widely used a method where extrusion forming is conducted by the use of a die for forming a honeycomb structure, the die having back holes for introducing forming raw material (clay) and lattice-shaped slits communicating with the back holes. The die generally has an introduction portion where a plurality of back holes are open in a large area on a surface (introduction face) on one side and a forming portion where slits having a width corresponding with partition wall thickness of the honeycomb structure are provided in a lattice shape or the like on a face (the other face) on the opposite side. The back holes are generally provided so as to correspond with the positions where the slits of a lattice shape or the like cross, and the back holes and the slits communicates with each other inside the die. Therefore, a forming raw material such as ceramic raw material introduced from the back holes moves from the back holes, which have a relatively large inner diameter, to the narrow slits and is extruded as a honeycomb structure formed body from opening portions of the slits.
As such a die for forming a honeycomb structure, there has been used a plate-like member constituted of one kind of alloy such as stainless-steel alloy and sintered hard alloy, or a plate-like member formed by bonding two different kinds of plate-like members (see, e.g., Patent Documents 1 to 4).
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2000-326318
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2003-285308
Patent Document 3: JP-A-H10-315213
Patent Document 4: JP-A-2006-51682


An array (1) of tools for use in planting in combination produce a variety of patterns of operation to provide a required density and pattern of plants. Each tool (6) is provided with an independent sensory/motor system (9) which moves the tool (6) independently with respect to the array (1). A controller (14) in response to a control signal positions the tool (6) automatically in a desired location. The control signal may be an environmental cue such as a region of illumination controlled by the user, or may be a signal generated by a neighboring tool.

The present invention relates to an array of tools which can be used in combination to produce automatically a variety of patterns of operation. Such an array may be used, for example, in silviculture, with each tool of the array either preparing a region of ground to receive a tree, or planting a tree in a region which has already been prepared, with the overall action of the array arranged to provide a required density and pattern of plants.
The applicant's earlier U.S. Pat. No. US-A-4790400 describes and claims a vehicle suitable for use in silviculture which can be arranged to carry an array of planting tools which may operate simultaneously. The vehicle and the tool array may be controlled by an operator in a cab mounted centrally on the vehicle. Such a vehicle can operate on very difficult ground and, with appropriate tools, can maintain high planting rates and desired work quality.
A number of problems are encountered in using an array of tools which operate simultaneously. A prime requirement, particularly in silviculture but also in other types of cultivation, is the achievement of an optimum planting density. It is of course possible to set spacing between the tools in the array so as to give the required density. In practice however it is found that if predetermined relative positions are used for the tools then a significant proportion of the tools will then be located over regions of ground which are unsuitable for planting. This problem can be overcome by manual adjustment of the position of the tools. However such manual adjustment adds significantly to the time taken for the planting process making it difficult to achieve high enough planting rates.


An atomic oscillator includes: a base; a unit portion including a gas cell, in which alkali metal atoms are filled, and a heater that heats the gas cell; and a wiring line that electrically connects the base and the unit portion to each other and includes a portion having a cross-sectional area of 60 μm2 or more and 100 μm2 or less.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a quantum interference device, an atomic oscillator, an electronic apparatus, and a moving object.
2. Related Art
An atomic oscillator that oscillates based on the energy transition of atoms of alkali metal, such as rubidium and cesium, is known. In general, the operating principle of the atomic oscillator is largely divided into a method using a double resonance phenomenon caused by light and a microwave and a method using the quantum interference effect (Coherent Population Trapping: CPT) due to two types of light components having different wavelengths.
In the atomic oscillator of any method, in order to fill alkali metal in a gas cell together with buffer gas and keep the alkali metal in a gas state, it is necessary to heat the gas cell to a predetermined temperature using a heater.
As such an atomic oscillator, a structure in which a unit including a gas cell and a heater is mounted on a substrate through a support portion and the heater and the substrate are electrically connected to each other through wiring lines, such as lead wires, is known as disclosed in JP-A-2010-28794.
In the atomic oscillator disclosed in JP-A-2010-28794, however, the amount of heat escaping from the unit including the gas cell and the heater to the substrate by heat conduction through wiring lines is large. As a result, there has been a problem in that it is not possible to reduce the power consumption of the atomic oscillator.

Quantum interference device, atomic oscillator, electronic apparatus, and moving object


The embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a formulation for alleviating veisalgia symptoms. The formulation can comprise anhydrous caffeine, salicin, and valerian. The components can be delivered within a liquid medium and act synergistically to more effectively relieve veisalgia symptoms than when taken individually.

Most adults have suffered from the effects of veisalgia at some point in their lifetime. Veisalgia is a medical term to describe the unpleasant aftereffects of alcohol consumption, commonly referred to as a hangover.
While the physiological processes which lead to veisalgia are poorly understood, several effects of alcohol consumption may be the. It is thought that various factors, such as hormonal alterations, decrease in the availability of glucose, metabolism of ingredients into toxic substances, metabolic acidosis, vasodilation, poor sleep (or lack thereof), and dehydration just to name a few can all contribute to veisalgia.
While many treatments have been proposed in conjunction with numerous folk remedies, an effective formulation of ingredients is not known of in the art.
The present disclosure provides a formulation of components for the effective alleviation of vesalgia symptoms.
The embodiments of the present disclosure are detailed below with reference to the listed FIGURE.

Formulation for alleviating veisalgia symptoms