A deflectable tip cardiac electrophysiology/ablation lumen catheter includes first and second passages, one of which communicates with an inflatable member or balloon. The second passage terminates in an opening or port downstream of the inflatable member. The second passage is adapted to introduce a liquid during an electrophysiology study while the inflatable member prevents backflow of an injected liquid or dye and blood, or is adapted to alternatively receive a guide wire therethrough.

The present invention relates to catheters employed for diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures in medicine, more specifically in minimally invasive cardiac electrophysiology studies and/or cardiac ablation procedures.
It is known from the inventors' prior patents and pending applications to provide a pair of tension and compression members (such as push/pull wires) that cooperate to selectively actuate a distal end of a catheter. The distal end typically carries axially-spaced electrodes which, when located in the body passage such as the heart, monitor and record intra-cardiac electrical signals during desired studies or intracardiac mapping procedure. As is known, the electrodes conduct the cardiac electrical signals to monitoring and recording devices. In addition, the electrodes may be used to deliver electrical energy to selectively destroy a site of cardiac tissue that causes an arrhythmia or abnormality in the heart rhythm.
It is important for these types of procedures that wires extending through the catheter for connection with the electrode be of sufficient size to carry desired electrical energy levels to perform these procedures. It is also important that a distal portion of the catheter be able to deflect into a variety of configurations, typically curved configurations having selective radii of curvature in response to actuation from a catheter handle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,552,713 and 5,861,024 are commonly owned by the assignee of the present application and show and describe in detail preferred catheter embodiments of this type. The disclosure and details of these patents are expressly incorporated herein by reference. The actuating mechanism described in the patents is ergonomic, easy to operate, requires a relatively low force to form a desired curvature of the catheter distal portion, allows a comfortable range of displacement of the actuator to provide a full range of curvature formation of the catheter distal portion, and permits for curvature formation and curvature retention by a single action of the physician's hand. These desired features are all achieved through side-by-side longitudinal reciprocation of tension/compression members that cooperate to provide simultaneous tension in one member or wire, and compression in the other member or wire. The tension/compression members preferably have a generally circular cross-section throughout a major portion of their length and a generally flattened, ribbon-like configurations adjacent the distal portion of the catheter. A kinematic junction is provided on the ribbon-like portions of the tension/compression members. Bi-directional curvature or lateral deflection is thus provided by employing tension/compression members without the need of a compression strut in the distal portion. Typical dimensions of a catheter casing, electrodes, and diametrical curvature upon actuation are set forth in greater detail in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/726,235, (Publication No. US-2002-0065514-A1, published May 30, 2002), the details of which are also incorporated herein by reference.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,797 to use an inflatable balloon that is selectively pressurized from an associated liquid source. A lumen is formed within the catheter and carries the liquid, such as saline, to the balloon. In this manner, the balloon is selectively inflated to engage the inner wall of an intracardiac vessel, for example the pulmonary vein wall.
However, a need exists for an electrophysiology lumen catheter that provides effective minimally invasive cardiac diagnostic electrophysiology and/or cardiac ablation procedures, that also provides a flexible liquid delivery tube within the shaft of the catheter, and still maintains all of the benefits of bi-directional deflection and curvature configurations.

Electrophysiology/ablation catheter having second passage

St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


A device for aeration of a liquid vessel comprising at least one guide rail /2/ and a plurality of sliders /3/ arranged thereon and the sliders /3/ include holders carrying at least one hose of which at least a portion is perforated and the device further comprises pulling means for pulling the hose /5/ into the empty or liquid containing vessel to its working position. The hose /5/ is movable along its axis with respect to said holders /4/ wherein the holders /4/ have a closed circular shape and their sliders /3/ are connected to pulling means /6/.

The invention relates to a device for aeration of a liquid vessel comprising at least one guide rail and a plurality of sliders arranged thereon and the sliders include holders carrying at least one hose of which at least a portion is perforated and the device further comprises pulling means for the hose.


A protruding electrodes is formed on a lead electrode of an electronic component, and the protruding electrodes comprises a first conductor formed on the lead electrode of the electronic component, and a second conductor overlaid on the first conductor by using a transfer mold having a concavity. By virtue of this structure, protruding electrodes of any configuration can be formed in fine pitches.

There is a strong demand in recent years for high-density integration and high-density mounting of electronic components such as semiconductor chips because of the desire for high performance and reduction in weight and size of electronic apparatuses such as portable data terminals, and that this is driving a further advancement of semiconductor packages toward miniaturization and multiplication of terminal pins for use as electronic components for such apparatuses. It has now come close to the limit of miniaturization of semiconductor packages in the conventional configuration of using lead frames.
For the above reason, surface-mounted semiconductor packages such as BGA ("Ball Grid Array") and CSP ("Chip Scale Package") have recently become the main stream of the components comprised of semiconductor chips mounted on circuit boards.
For semiconductor packages of these kinds, the wire bonding method, the TAB ("Tape Automated Bonding") method, and the FC ("Flip Chip") bonding method are some of the methods known for electrically connecting semiconductor chips with terminals of a substrate comprised of electrodes and conductor traces.
Numerous ideas have been shown of the BGA and CSP structures using the FC bonding method since it is especially advantageous for miniaturizing semiconductor packages.
For example, the FC bonding method, in general, is a method in which protruding electrodes called bumps are formed in advance on electrodes of a semiconductor chip, and the bumps and terminals on a substrate are connected by thermo-compression while they are aligned in positions.
Electrolytic plating and stud bumping are among a number of the methods used to form bumps beforehand on semiconductor chips. There is a shortcoming in the method of forming bumps by electrolytic plating, that it takes a considerable time and cost for the processing since the bumps need to be formed only of a solder material into the desired size. On the other hand, electrolytic plating causes variations in the size of formed bumps because it is difficult to produce a perfectly uniform distribution of electric current inside a plating tank. In the method of forming bumps only of a solder material, it is also difficult to alleviate the problems of processing time and cost since the variations in the size of the bumps become larger as the time of plating increases. There is also a new method developed to form bumps having metallic cores made of such a material as copper, for instance, in order to ensure reliability of bonded portions of the bumps against humidity. However, it further increases the cost of processing for such reasons as making the forming steps more complex.
On the other hand, the stud bumping is a method of forming bumps by bonding gold wires onto electrodes of a semiconductor chip and cutting them. This method takes a considerable time to process since the bumps are formed one by one on the electrodes of the semiconductor chip. It also has a shortcoming of high cost of manufacturing due to a high price of the gold wires used for the bumps.
A bump transfer method has been developed, in which a batch of bumps are formed at once on electrodes of semiconductor chips in order to solve the above shortcoming. In this method, a bump transfer sheet provided with solder bumps formed on a sheet base is positioned in alignment with the semiconductor chips, and all the bumps on the bump transfer sheet are transferred at once to the semiconductor chips by heat and compression. These methods are disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publications, Nos. H05-166880 (hereinafter referred to as "patent document 1") and H09-153495 ("patent document 2"), for example.
There is also another technique of composing solder bumps having copper cores to ensure reliability of bonded portions to the solder against humidity, and transferring the batch of bumps at once, as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Unexaminied Publication, No. 2000-286282 ("patent document 3").
The bumps disclosed in the patent documents 1 and 2 have problems, however, as described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 21A to FIG. 21C.
That is, bumps 1800 are formed into spherical shapes by the surface tension of solder on electrodes 1820 of substrate 1810, as shown in FIG. 21A. This gives rise to a problem that shapes of bumps 1800 vary (especially in their height) if amounts of the solder before being melted are not consistent, or when the electrodes are formed in a variety of area sizes.
In addition, since bumps 1800 have spherical shapes, they become barrel shapes 1850 when bonded to bonding electrodes 1840 of electronic component 1830, as shown in FIG. 21B. This produces a concentration of stresses on the bonded portions of bumps 1800 with bonding electrodes 1840, and thereby giving rise to another problem of causing separations, cracks and the like failures in the interfaces with bonding electrodes 1840.
Moreover, because of barrel shapes 1850 of bumps 1800, there is a possibility of short-circuiting 1860 between adjoining bumps 1800, as shows in FIG. 21C, which prevents electrodes 1820 from being formed in narrow pitches. Bonding electrodes 1820 of finer pitches may be possible by reducing the size of bumps 1800. However, it is difficult for bumps of smaller sizes to ensure the reliability of connections since they cannot tolerate warping of electronic component 1830 such is a semiconductor chip.
In the case of the solder bumps shown in the above patent document 3, conductive terminals comprised of metal layers and solder layers laminated on a transfer sheet are heated and compressed to bond them with solder layers on bonding electrodes of a semiconductor chip or the like component. The solder layers are then melted, and the transfer sheet removed when the metal layers are wetted throughout with migrated solders to complete a batch processing of the bumps. However, this method also has a problem of forming fine bumps because the melted solder layers tend to increase sizes of the bumps. In addition, it is also difficult to melt the metal layers of copper, for instance, to complete the bonding if the metal layers are not entirely wetted due to insufficient flow of the melted solder layers, which hence impairs reliability of the connections.
The conductive terminals are formed by the steps of coating a resin layer Serving as the transfer sheet on a copper foil, placing a dry film on the copper foil after the resin is hardened, exposing, developing, and forming a solder layer thereafter by electrolytic plating. The dry film is then removed and the copper foil is etched to form the conductive terminals of a pillar shape. This method thus makes the manufacturing process complex, and has a drawback in view of the productivity and manufacturing cost. It also gives rise to a problem of treating waste fluid and the like substances since it requires an etching process.

Method for manufacturing an electrode and electrode component mounted body


The invention relates to a gas mixing burner (80) equipped with a flame retention device (1). This device incorporates in its construction a compressed gauze of interwoven flexible metal wire or wires for said gases to flow through it, and takes the form of a ring (2), characterised in that it is constituted by a substantially coaxial stack of at least two of said rings (2). Such a device may in particular be mounted on cylindrical domestic burners.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention belongs to the field of flame retention devices for use in particular on a cylindrical gas mixing burner.
2. Description of the Background Art
Devices of this type are already known, which endeavour to stabilise the flames produced, so as to help render their development as homogeneous as possible. These devices are also known by names such as "flame retention plates" or "combustion grid".
These devices are generally produced from various materials such as ceramics or metal, and are finely perforated with holes of a suitable size and distribution to allow passage of the gases and as homogeneous a combustion process as possible. They are typicallyarranged in the burner, between the mix distribution chamber and the combustion chamber which they separate.
The drawbacks found with such devices in prior art burners include the following:
these devices do not always stabilise the flames satisfactorily. There may be flame burnback into the mix distribution chamber, flames which stray too far from the device and heat up the walls of the combustion chamber, or else flames which cling excessively to the device and cause it to glow red-hot; PA1 often there is excessive production of poisonous or pollutant gases (carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen); PA1 the very structure of these devices makes it difficult to effectively regulate the power of the burners; PA1 there is very little, or even zero, cross-ignition of the flames; and PA1 it is difficult, costly and inefficient to adapt these devices to cylindrical burners.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a flame retention device that offers a solution to at least some of these drawbacks, at the same time as preserving low-cost manufacturing parameters.

Variable flame retention device utilizing an interwoven flexible wire metal gauze


An endless steel band or belt (12) moves upwardly (see arrow 65). The upper length or run (17) of the band or belt (12) is cooled or heated by a fluid flowing from nozzles (43, 59). A feeding station (21) supplies a liquid mixture which mixture runs downwardly along the crystallizing surface (11) of the belt. A crystal layer is thus formed on the crystallizing surface 11. This crystal layer is moved upwardly in counter-current. The remaining liquid, the mother liquor, which is substantially free from crystallizable substance, flows downwardly. A device (22) for changing the inclination angle (.alpha.) of the crystallizing surface permits the crystallizing device to be adjusted in a simple way in accordance with the requirement of the crystallizating process. For automatic operation, a control unit (C) can associate the angle of inclination (.alpha.), the speed of movement of the band or belt (12), and hence of the crystallization surface (11) thereon and the temperature profile of the crystallization surface for optimum crystallization.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,664, to which German 17 69 123 corresponds, describes a method and a device for substance separation from a liquid mixture by means of fractional crystallization. In this method the liquid mixture is flowing in turbulence over indirectly cooled crystallization surfaces, and the crystal layer, after reaching a certain thickness, is removed by melting from the crystallization surface. For this prior art layer crystallization method, a crystallizer is used in which the vertical cooled, or in special cases heated walls are provided by a number of vertical tubes arranged in parallel. The liquid mixture flows inside of the tubes from the top to the bottom in form of an thin film, whereas on the outside of the tubes the coolant is present. The coolant flowing as a thin film on the outside of the crystallizer tubes provides, by undercooling, local crystallizing centres in the thin film flowing on the inner wall. The local crystallizing centres grow together to a continuous layer. From time to time, when the deposited crystal layer reaches a certain thickness, it is melted. This method has the disadvantage that it is necessarily discontinuous, and therefore, after each cycle, the whole device must be heated and cooled. This requires a substantial amount of energy and increases the cycle time. Normally, the described method is carried out in different stages, because the purity of the crystallized product is relatively limited due to the high temperature gradients and the small substance transfer areas. The cited literature proposes to carry out fractionating in cycles of different steps or stages. As melting liquid for the crystals from stage N-1 the mother liquor of the stage N+1 of the previous cycle is used, and the mother liquor of stage N is used as melting liquid for the crystals of stage N-2 of the following cycle. This method became known as the Sulzer-MWB crystallization method (see S. J. Jancic, "The Sulzer-MWB Fractional Crystallization System", Sulzer Technical Review, April, 1988).
The U.S. Pat. No. 3 603 103 discloses a method in which crystals produced by a cooler provided with a scraping mechanism are fed into the middle of a column. In this column the crystals and the liquid mixture to be purified, often also called melt, are fed in counter-current. The temperature of the melt is controlled in such a way that the crystals are growing on their passing through the column. At the end of the column the crystals are melted. The melted crystals are partly removed as final product and partly returned in counter-current to the growing crystals in the column. At the other end of the column the highly impure rest, the so-called mother liquor, is withdrawn. This method has the advantage that it is continuous. The counter-current provides intensive substance exchange. However, this method hat the disadvantage that strong axial mixing takes place. Accordingly, the separation effect obtained by crystallization is substantially reversed. The growing crystals transport adhering melt, and the melt flowing in counter-current transports small crystals.
The European published application 0 167 401 shows a crystallization device for separating or purifying organic substances. This crystallization device comprises three vertical concentric hollow cylinders. Between the inner and the middle hollow cylinder is a first interspace for receiving a cooling fluid. Between the middle and the exterior hollow cylinder is a second interspace for receiving the melt to be purified. The outside of the middle hollow cylinder forms the crystallizing surface. The first interspace has an inlet and an outlet for the cooling fluid. The second interspace has an inlet for the melt to be purified and an outlet for the melted crystallization product, that is the pure product, and an outlet for the impure product. Diametrically opposite to the inlet for the melt to be purified a barrier is located in the second interspace to prevent the flowing-through of melted crystallized product. An electric heater is used to melt the crystallized product. In operating the crystallizing device the crystallizing surface rotates slowly in direction to the outlet for the pure product. On this path a crystal layer is formed on the crystallizing surface. This crystal layer is melted by the electric heater. Depending on the setting of the outlet valve, more or less of the melted crystallization product is flowing through the outlet, whereas the rest flows back in the second interspace toward the inlet, is mixed with the melt to be purified, and flows further toward the outlet for the impure product. On this path, crystals are further deposited on the crystallization surface. Because on this path the melt contains less and less material crystallizable at a temperature of the crystallization surface, hardly any crystallization takes anymore place near the outlet for the impure product. At the outlet for the impure product a valve is provided. Further, a pump is provided to backfeed, if desired, a part of the impure product to the inlet for further crystallization.
The described crystallization device has, in particular, the disadvantage that the cooling liquid in the first interspace provides over the whole crystallization surface is practically at the same temperature. Accordingly, already in case of a relatively thin thickness of the crystallization layer practically no crystallization takes place anymore. Therefore, the yield remains relatively small. A further disadvantage is that the speed of backflow of the melted crystallized product is not everywhere the same, because of friction, faster cooling at the edges, and flow of a partial stream through the outlet. Further no controlled sweating is possible.
The published European patent application 0 063 688 discloses a crystallizing device which, in particular, can be used for undercooled melt. The device comprises a precrystallization device and a horizontal cooling band and has the purpose to provide an optimum nucleation speed and a high nucleation number also without the necessity of adding additional seeding material to the precrystallization device. In the precrystallization device nucleation is initiated in a thin film, and crystallization takes place on the cooling band to which the precrystallized melt is applied in a thick layer. This crystallization device was created especially for the solidification of undercooled melts, and the patent application does not contain any suggestion how a substance separation by crystallization could take place with the device shown.
The French patent 1 220 220 discloses a number of different crystallization devices, one of them having an inclined crystallizing surface. This crystallizing surface is formed by one side of a length of an endless band. Under this length of band is a cooling device, and above the length of band is a feeding station for feeding the liquid mixture on the crystallizing surface. This device has the disadvantage that the inclination of the inclined crystallizing surface can not be changed. A further disadvantage is that the cooling device has no freely selectable temperature profile over the length of the crystallizing surface. Also no return line is provided to permit washing of the crystal layer.

Device for substance separation from a liquid mixture by crystallization, and method


This invention discloses a sequential two-key system to input letters of the English alphabet and of many world languages, numbers, punctuation marks, page-control characters, line-control characters, cursor-control characters and many other symbols on keypads with few buttons. Character repeating, shifting and control access are feasible. Brief and easy to understand notations are displayed on the keypads. The system is easy to learn and the keypads may be used on portable devices such as PDA, hand-held computers, hand-held text-messaging devices and telephones.

One limiting size factor of hand-held digital devices such as a PDA (personal digital assistant) is the number of buttons on their keyboard, making it difficult for text inputting. Telephones have the same text-inputting problem via their twelve buttons. There has also been a gradual integration of PDA and phone, which underlines the need for a good method of text inputting with few buttons.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,392,338 and 4,658,417 are directed to inputting alphabet via the phone keypad, in which pushing a button one or more times during some period enters a character. The method is simple, easy to learn but is slow and limited in the number of characters.
The most promising system to by-pass the disadvantages of the above multi-pressed method is the two-key system, in which each character is entered via two buttons, pressed simultaneously or sequentially. Typewriter and computer keyboards have always used the system. Capitalizing, for example, is by simultaneously pressing a shift button and another button. Most computer applications support control actions on simultaneous pressing a control button and another button and many also allow menu selection by sequentially pressing an alt button and then typing another button. The two-key system is also commonly used to input non-English alphabet letters.
Knowlton, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,273, describes the layout of the standard QWERTY keyboard on the telephone keyboard and sets the rules for the two-key system that others build on with variations. First, encoding of each character is with two buttons, pressed sequentially. Next, each button is labeled with an array of characters. Finally, the button labeled with the character to encode is the first button and the location of the second button can be inferred from the location of the character relative to other characters on the button.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,117,455 and 5,339,358 describe an arrangement of characters between buttons; the sequence of activating the buttons indicates the entry of that letter or symbol.
Kandogan and his associates, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,556, use two buttons of the same row to input alphabet on the standard phone keypad.
Lee and associates, in patent number U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,661, describe a matrix of tables. The first button selects a table and the second button selects an entry in the table.
Bozorgui-Nesbat, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,847,706, describes a system that places the alphabet on a keyboard based on occurrence frequency.
The above methods have not gained popularity probably because either there was no need for it at the time or they involve a steep learning curve. Most have ignored characters frequently used in computing and languages not based on Latin alphabet.
All patents, patent applications, provisional applications, and publications referred to or cited herein, or from which a claim for benefit of priority has been made, are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the explicit teachings of this specification.

Sequential two-key system to input keyboard characters and many alphabets on small keypads


A method of manufacturing a container (1), comprising: providing a body (100) defining a chamber for storing a product and defining an opening through which the product is dispensable from the chamber; selecting a first structure (200) from a plurality of structures, each of the plurality of structures having a feature for forming part of an exterior surface of the container (1) when the respective structure is affixed to the body (100), the feature of the first structure (200) differing from the feature of another structure of the plurality of structures; and affixing to the body (100) the first structure (200) with the feature of the first structure forming part of the exterior surface of the container (1). Also disclosed are a container and a bundle or package of containers.

This invention relates to containers, such as dispenser containers, and to their manufacture, such as by injection molding.
It is known to provide containers, such as dispenser containers holding deodorant sticks, with grippable features to facilitate a user's grip of the container. This can be particularly useful when the container is to be used in a wet environment, such as a bathroom or washroom, and/or when the user's hands and/or fingers are wet. Manufacture of such a container by injection molding can be relatively slow due to the complexity of the tooling used in the injection molding process and the cooling time required to manufacture these features. It is necessary to wait for relatively thick material to cool sufficiently before the container can be removed from the mold cavity. Moreover, if a manufacturer wants to change the appearance or grip characteristics of such a container, they have to modify the process by which the container is manufactured. Typically this is a very disruptive and expensive exercise, particularly in cases in which containers are injection molded since the mold for the container needs to be modified.
There is a need for a method of manufacturing a container that permits a manufacturer to change the appearance or grippable feature of a container with reduced disruption, upheaval and cost. There further is a need for a container manufactured according to such a method. There also is a need for a method of manufacturing a container by injection molding that permits faster cooling times of the material from which the container is made.

Container and manufacture of a container


A substrate and a method of making a substrate having a functionally gradient coefficient of thermal expansion are described herein. A system having a silicon die, an organic package substrate, and a substrate having a functionally gradient coefficient of thermal expansion, connecting the silicon die and the organic substrate is also described. The coefficient of thermal expansion at the upper surface of the substrate matches the coefficient of thermal expansion of the die, the coefficient of thermal expansion at the lower surface of the substrate matches the coefficient of thermal expansion of the package substrate, and the substrate has one or more coefficients of thermal expansion between the coefficients of thermal expansion of the upper and lower surfaces.

Integrated circuits are usually manufactured on wafer substrates. The wafer substrate is then "diced" or "singulated" into individual dies, each die carrying a respective integrated circuit. The die is then mounted on a package substrate, often with an intermediate interposer substrate. The substrate or substrates provide structural rigidity to the resulting integrated circuit package. The package substrate may be mounted to a board, such as a motherboard.
Some package and interposer substrates are formed from ceramic materials. Ceramic interposer substrates and other ceramic substrates are made of a plurality of green sheet laminations, all of the green sheets having the same material characteristics. Each of the green sheets have the same coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), which is a value intermediate to the CTE of the die and the CTE of the substrate or motherboard the ceramic substrate or interposer is connecting.
The die and package substrate are mechanically and electrically connected at interconnection members. Typically, the interconnection members are provided in a Controlled Collapse Chip Connection (C4) configuration, which is an array of multiple solder joints for connecting the package substrate and the die. Surface tension forces of the liquid solder support the weight of the die and control the height (collapse) of the joint. However, thermal expansivity mismatch between the die and package substrate causes a shear displacement to be applied at each of the interconnection members, which can lead to accumulated plastic deformation and eventual failure of the low-k ILD (low dielectric constant interlayer dielectric) in the die and of the package system at the interconnection members. In some cases, prior art systems have accommodated for this stress by providing underfill in the gap between the die and package substrate. But, providing underfill in the gap between the die and package substrate does not prevent failure and increases cost and manufacturing time.

Substrate having a functionally gradient coefficient of thermal expansion


An electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system for passing at least one drug, or therapeutic compound, through the skin membrane of a patient by way of a drug reservoir or gel for delivery to the systemic blood of a patient in selected, periodic pulsations. The system can be varied to accommodate various types of therapeutic compounds having varied characteristics and purposes. The system includes a current oscillator that applies periodic electrical variations to the system in order to trigger rhythmical variations of the potential and resistance of the skin membrane so as to cause oscillatory electro-osmotic streaming of the liquid with the therapeutic compound across the skin membrane in synchronization with the oscillator to the systemic blood of the patient in response to the rhythmical variations. The oscillator causes the power source to deliver a periodic pulsating current that alternates with periods of no current in the system or that alternates with periods of a different current. The pulsating current is of greater value than the different current. The pulsating current is applied for relatively short periods relative the periods of non-current or the periods of different current. The different current can be either positive or negative current. During periods of negative current the liquid with the therapeutic compound can tend to be drawn from the skin membrane into the drug reservoir or gel.

Delivery of drugs to the systemic blood of a patient by means of an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal system is generally accomplished primarily through the sweat and sebaceous ducts and their respective glands. Some delivery is made through the stratum cornum, or horny layer. The stratum cornum, although very thin, is resistant to the passage of both electrical current and of liquids. The skin ducts cover an area of about one-thousandth of the stratum cornum.
The drug delivery system of my patent application entitled "Transdermal Drug Delivery System", Ser. No. 028679, filed Mar. 20, 1987, describes a semi-dry drug patch and a selected current level delivered to the semi-dry patch that combine to limit liquid containing a drug from moving from the patch to the skin through the sweat and sebaceous ducts so as to starve the skin ducts of liquid and divert the current and the electro-osmotic delivery of the drug through the stratum cornum. A replenishment of the skin ducts with liquid occurs at periodic intervals by an electro-osmotic delivery of the drug solution through the skin ducts. An electrical oscillator can be added to the system so as to apply periodic current increases or pulsations in order to evacuate the skin ducts of water at intervals thus removing these electrical shunts from the delivery system.
The skin of a human is of the type having skin ducts, a type which is common to certain animals such as a horse, and so differs from the skins of animals not having skin ducts, such as a rabbit. Nevertheless, the human skin also has characteristics taken in toto, not only separate duct and stratum cornum characteristics, and therefore can be considered as a unitary cell membrane.
An article that discusses electro-osmotic processes of living membranes is "Electrokinetic Membrane Processes in Relation to Properties of Excitable Tissues" by Torsten Teorell, published in Journal of General Physiology, 1959, Vol. 42, No. 4. A constant electrical current of a first value was applied to a porous, charged membrane corresponding to an excitable cell membrane. The result was a repetitive oscillatory process wherein the membrane at first periodically increased and decreased in resistance over approximate half-hour time periods in what the author described as oscillations. The decreased level of cell membrane resistance corresponded to oscillatory streaming of water solution across the cell membrane. The repetitive oscillations dampened after about an hour and about three oscillations. When a constant electrical current of a second value slightly greater than the first current value was applied to the same membrane, the repetitive oscillations became undamped, that is, the oscillations continued at about half-hour (in fact, slightly less) periods as long as the higher current continued to be applied. The "constant" electrical current in fact naturally increased and decreased in response to lower and higher resistance states of the membrane.
Two different types of drugs, or therapeutic compounds, can be delivered to the body. The therapeutic compound can be either a first type that corresponds to a naturally released body compound, such as a hormone as insulin, or a second type that is foreign to the body, such as nitroglycerin, a cardiovascular drug, an oncological drug, and an analgesic drug.
It is a phenomenon of many therapeutic compounds of the first type that when they are delivered to the systemic blood of the patient in an oscillatory, or pulsating mode, two different effects will occur depending upon the frequency of the drug delivery time relative to the natural delivery rhythm of the body. If a therapeutic compound of the first type is delivered in periodic variations which are applied in similar rhythms as the natural delivery rhythms of the body, the activity of the naturally released body compound will be simulated. If such a therapeutic compound is delivered in periodic electrical variations which are applied more often than the natural delivery rhythms of the body, the natural activity of the body compound will be inhibited or extinguished.
It is also a phenomenon of many therapeutic compounds of the second type that when they are delivered to the systemic blood of the patient in an oscillatory mode as compared to a steady state mode of delivery, a different effect on the patient occurs as compared to the steady state mode. The oscillatory mode is selected in accordance with body requirements.
An example of a therapeutic compound of the first type that corresponds to a natural compound of the body is luteinising hormone-releasing hormone, or LHRH, which is also known as a gonadotrophin releasing hormone, or GnRH, and which controls production of testosterone in males and the inducement of ovulation in females. LHRH is released in accordance with the natural rhythm of the body for approximately 6 minutes every hour. A transdermal drug delivery system that delivers LHRH in a steady state mode or at a different frequency from the natural frequency extinguishes gonadotrophic secretion: That is, the production of either testosterone in males or ovulation in females ceases. On the other hand, a transdermal delivery system that delivers LHRH in a correct pulsating mode in accordance with the natural rhythm of the body simulates, or ensures, the mentioned processes. A natural compound of the body such as LHRH is released in accordance with a natural release rhythm of the body. In the case of LHRH and many other natural compounds there exist active analogues that have certain advantages over the particular natural compound. These active analogues are often used rather than the natural compounds to trigger or to inhibit or extinguish body responses.
An example of a drug of the second type that is foreign to the body is nitroglycerin. It is known that the steady state delivery of nitroglycerin to a heart patient via a transdermal drug delivery system results in a build-up of a tolerance to the drug by the body of the patient in less than 24 hours so that the drug is rendered useless for the 24-hour prophylaxis of stable angina pectoris. This matter is discussed in a paper entitled "Transdermal Nitroglycerin Patches in Angina Pectoris" by Udho Thadani et al., published in "Annals of Internal Medicine", October 1986, Vol. 105, No. 4.
It is known that a pulsating electrical current can be applied to an electrical circuit by various means, for example, by an oscillator in the circuit. Pulsations of potential or current in an electrophoretic drug delivery system that are timed in accordance with an interplay of driving forces present in the drug delivery system including the skin as a transmembrane can accomplish timed drug deliveries that are more precise, reliable, and efficient than with delivery being made by the natural undamped rhythmical variations of the transmembrane potential and resistance caused by a selected steady state electrical current applied to the system. The term pulsation as used herein is a periodic increase or decrease of a quantity, with the quantity herein having reference to the quantity of either potential or current or amount of a liquid with a drug transported across the transdermal skin membrane.
In general, the present invention is applicable to drug delivery systems which involve drugs or therapeutic compounds whose delivery is dependent upon timing, quantity, and direction of current flow.
It is an object of this invention to provide an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system that rhythmically delivers a therapeutic compound, or drug, to the systemic blood of a patient in response to application of current pulsations to the system which is otherwise devoid of current.
It is another object of this invention to provide an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system that rhythmically delivers a therapeutic compound to the systemic blood of a patient by application of positive current pulsations with a negative current being alternately applied to the system.
It is another object of this invention to provide an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system that rhythmically delivers a therapeutic compound to the systemic blood of a patient by application of negative current pulsations with a positive current being alternately applied to the system.
It is another object of this invention to provide an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system that rhythmically delivers a therapeutic compound to the systemic blood of a patient by application of positive current pulsations with a different positive current being alternately applied to the system.
It is another object of this invention to provide an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system that rhythmically delivers a therapeutic compound to the systemic blood of a patient by application of negative current pulsations with a different negative current being alternately applied to the system.
It is another object of this invention to provide an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system that rhythmically delivers a therapeutic compound to the systemic blood of a patient by application of current pulsations so as to reinforce the natural delivery rhythms of the body.
It is another object of this invention to provide an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system that rhythmically delivers a therapeutic compound to the systemic blood of a patient by application of current pulsations so as to inhibit or negate the natural delivery rhythms of the body.
In accordance with these and other objects there is described herein an electrophoretic/electro-osmotic transdermal drug delivery system for passing at least one therapeutic compound through the skin membrane of a patient by way of a drug patch for delivery to the systemic blood of a patient in selected, periodic pulsations. The system can be varied to accommodate various types of therapeutic compounds having varied characteristics and purposes. The system includes a current oscillator that applies periodic electrical variations to the system in order to trigger rhythmical variations of the potential and resistance of the skin membrane in synchronization with the oscillator so as to cause oscillatory electro-osmotic streaming of the liquid with the therapeutic compound across the skin membrane to the systemic blood of the patient in response to the rhythmical variations. The oscillator causes the power source to deliver a periodic pulsating current that alternates with periods of no current in the system or that alternates with periods of a different current than the pulsating current. The pulsating current can be applied for relatively short periods relative the periods of non-current or the periods of different current or can be applied for long periods relative the periods of non-current of the periods of different current. The different current can be either positive or negative current. During the periods of negative current the liquid with the therapeutic compound tends to be drawn from the skin membrane into the drug patch.

Pulsating transdermal drug delivery system


[Problem] To provide a conductive pattern formation method in which a fine pattern can be formed in a simple way at low cost.

In the case where a conductive pattern (a wiring pattern) is formed on a substrate such as a printed board, photolithography and etching are performed in general, and since these processes include a large number of complicated procedures, time and labor are necessary for forming a conductive pattern in general.
As a technique to form a fine conductive pattern without performing such processes, a method in which a conductive pattern is drawn on a substrate by using a conductive paste including metal nano-particles and the thus obtained conductive paste layer is heated for forming a desired conductive pattern is known (for example, Patent Documents 1, 2 and the like).
As a general method for drawing a conductive pattern, a screen mask provided with an opening is used as a template for applying a conductive paste in a desired thickness by a screen printing method (for example, Patent Document 1 and the like). Apart from this, a method in which a conductive paste is directly sprayed by an inkjet method for drawing a desired conductive pattern has been developed (for example, Patent Document 2 and the like).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-247572
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-134878

Method for forming conductive pattern and wiring board

Abstract: [Means for Solving Problem] A flat plate having a convex pattern on its surface is provided so as to oppose a substrate, a fluid body including conductive particles and a gas bubble generating agent is supplied into a gap between the substrate and the flat plate, and thereafter, the fluid body is heated for generating gas bubbles from the gas bubble generating agent included in the fluid body. The fluid body is forced out of the gas bubbles as the gas bubbles generated from the gas bubble generating agent grow, so as to self-assemble between the convex pattern formed on the flat plate and the substrate owing to interfacial force, and an aggregate of the conductive particles included in the fluid body having self-assembled is made into a conductive pattern formed on the substrate.


An assembly kit for upgrading a device for grinding welding electrodes with a grinding wheel driven by a driving motor with a shaft, which runs in a two-portion housing, wherein at least one opening is provided in the housing for guiding a welding electrode for grinding in a defined position relative to the grinding wheel, further characterized by a further grinding wheel, a spacer ring having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the housing and a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the grinding wheel, and a centering sleeve with an axial length which is larger than the thickness of the grinding wheel.

It is known to grind electrodes. This is commonly effected manually with open grinding—or separating wheels. Such methods are imprecise and dangerous. Furthermore, there are devices with open grinding wheels where the welding electrodes are guided through a guiding sleeve with a certain angle relative to the grinding wheel. Such devices are also expensive. In particular, it is expensive to adapt such a device to various types of welding electrodes or for different tips or cutting shapes. In particular, this requires a time-consuming exchange of the guiding sleeves.
A device where electrodes can be produced with a plurality (for example 6) of different electrode diameters with a plurality of different tip angles (for example 4) with many lengths is a valuable, cost-saving aid.
DE 100 10 520 A1 discloses a device for grinding welding electrodes with a grinding wheel. The grinding wheel rotates in a grinding wheel housing. The device is provided with an additional housing portion which is adapted to be fixed to the grinding wheel housing and which is provided with at least one opening for guiding a welding electrode for grinding in a defined position relative to the grinding wheel. The plane of the grinding wheel is essentially the separating plane between the grinding wheel housing and the additional housing portion. The additional housing portion can be provided with a plurality of adjacent, different openings for receiving different kinds of welding electrodes. The additional housing portion can, however, also be provided with a plurality of adjacent openings having an axis cutting the plane of the grinding wheel under different angles. A radial slit can be formed in the grinding wheel housing extending along the front end of the housing, which is used to pass a welding electrode for cutting at the outer perimeter of the grinding wheel. The grinding wheel of the disclosed device is fixed to a grinding wheel reception which in turn is connected to a driving shaft of a driving motor. The entire device forms a portable unit.
US 2004/0127149 A1 discloses an assembly where two parallel grinding wheels with different grain sizes are used. A first grinding wheel rotates in a space between the motor unit and a first housing portion. The second grinding wheel rotates in a second space between the first housing portion and the second housing portion. The housing portions are provided with openings for guiding the welding electrodes. The known assembly enables the use of different grinding wheels with standard diameters without the need of an exchange.
Further to a motor in a motor unit the assembly makes use of further housing portions: a motor flange directly screwed to the motor unit and at least one housing portion provided with openings for guiding the electrodes. The openings extend from the side of the housing portion opposite to the motor in the direction of the grinding wheel rotating between the motor flange and the housing portion. Depending on the amount of grinding wheels further housing portions are added. Here also the openings extend from the side opposite the motor. In other words, the electrodes are always inserted into the openings in a direction towards the motor. Depending on the amount of housing portions the assembly is relatively long and requires a long driving shaft. Several fixing elements, such as screws, nuts, pins, etc. are required for fixing the housing portions.
US 2008/0108284 A1 discloses an assembly where two grinding wheels or grinding surfaces having a different grain size rotate in practically one plane in a common space. The grinding surfaces of the known assembly are facing opposite directions. A third wheel with a larger diameter is arranged between such grinding wheels. Such wheel is used for cutting electrodes. The assembly either operates with one grinding wheel with two grinding surfaces having different grain sizes or with a grinding wheel assembly comprising at least two grinding wheels.
The bore holes for guiding electrodes are produced with high precision regarding the angle. It is understood that the corresponding grinding wheel rotates in a defined position relative to the housing. With different thicknesses or with the use of several grinding wheels this is not ensured anymore. In such a case the grinding angle is not the target value.
During the production of simple grinding wheels the unprocessed raw disc is dipped into a bath for application of the grinding means. Accordingly, it is difficult to produce grinding wheels with a different grain size on the top side and bottom side. It is, therefore, much simpler to use a grinding wheel assembly with two grinding surfaces on different grinding wheels. In order to ensure that the grinding surface still rotates in the plane required for the high precision of the grinding angle very thin grinding wheels are used. The grinding wheels have a thickness which is selected in such a way that all grinding wheels together have the thickness of a standard grinding wheel which is used for simple assemblies. Consequently, the assembly only operates with high precision if grinding wheels are used which are individually manufactured.

Assembly kit for upgrading an electrode grinding device and electrode grinding device


A control device for an electromechanical system includes at least one group of actuators, of which in each case one actuator is configured to be coupled to a mechanical and/or hydraulic unit and is configured to control an operation of the mechanical and/or hydraulic unit. The control device further includes at least one group of functional modules, which are implemented on at least one computing platform. The at least one group of functional modules includes a plurality of control modules, each respective control module being respectively assigned to and coupled in a communicative manner to a respective actuator, and a coordinating module communicatively coupled to the plurality of control modules. The coordinating module is designed to receive, from each respective control module of the plurality of control modules, fault messages with respect to an operating state of the associated mechanical and/or hydraulic unit and/or the associated actuator.

The electrical-electronic architecture (E/E) is the internal intermeshing between electrical and electronic components in a motor vehicle which, considered in general, is intended in its interaction to provide optimum energy management. This combines the functions of storing energy, supplying energy and recovering energy. The E/E systems are used both in gasoline-operated motor vehicles and in electric vehicles. They are for example also responsible for supplying to and controlling the driver assistance and driving safety systems (for example ESP) and also the components of the infotainment system with the corresponding electronic controllers.
In the architectures commonly encountered today, the functionalities are located on the respective controllers. That is to say that each terminal, for example an electronic, electromechanical or mechanical component, is activated by an associated controller, so that the functional scope of the terminal is ultimately determined by the controller. By this configuration of the architecture, the variance of the vehicle/drive and the fault management are implemented on the respective controllers. Within this architecture, each controller sends specific items of information (for example engine speed, drive position, gear engaged) but also specific warning/alerting messages (for example a red or yellow warning symbol) over the on-board communications network (for example FlexRay or CAN). These items of information are sent to the instrument cluster and can be displayed there. As of today, 62 messages and 110 signals are defined just for warning/alerting messages.
An increasingly onerous disadvantage of this architecture is that each controller must have knowledge of the vehicle configuration, in order for example in the event of detection of a failure of a function to request alternative measures. This replication of the vehicle variance at the controller level is not only laborious and complicated, it also leads to a relatively rigid architecture with regard to updateability and expandability. Moreover, in principle each controller is capable of bringing about a fault indication on the instrument cluster, if it is predefined as such in the associated controller. It can consequently happen that for example a function of the electromechanical system is indicated as faulty or defective although it can possibly be provided by other components in the electromechanical system by means of alternative measures. Furthermore, the constantly growing number of sensor and actuator units in modern vehicles also presents this approach with ever greater problems.

DR. ING. H.C. F. PORSCHE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT


Disk drive suspension load beam has a unitary lift bracket formed from a deflection of the load beam distal portion laterally of the load beam into a curvilinear shape to define a cam follower adapted to engage a camming surface used to lift the load beam carried head from its normal proximity to a disk.

Disk drives are normally very closely spaced to their opposing read/write heads, making removal of the disks problematic unless the read/write head is momentarily lifted. Expedients for so lifting the heads must be sufficiently small as to fit in the available working space, and positive in their action to ensure achieving the desired separation space and avoid damage to the components. The use of suspension extensions beyond the normal length of the suspension to ride a camming surface to effect lift is known, but this technique requires added structure on the suspension flexure, increased weight beyond the normal suspension terminus, and cantilevering of this added weight. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,607 to Spendlove a lift bracket is shown comprising a pair of wings in the form of cylindrical rods supported in attachment devices having interference fit notches. While seemingly simple, the Spendlove device requires insertion and retention of tiny rods in place and is potentially troublesome in manufacturing unless great care is taken, at added expense.


The invention discloses Physical Cell Identity (PCI) allocation in a cellular network. Radii of an inner boundary circle of a first and second cell are each estimated according to a cell distance relation model. Signal strengths within the inner boundary circles of the first and second cells are each greater than a first threshold. Then radii of an outer boundary circle of the first and second cell are each estimated according to the cell distance relation model. The signal strengths within the outer boundary circles of the first and second cells are each greater than a second threshold, where the second threshold is lower than the first threshold. The second cell is allocated a PCI based on a distance relation between the first cell and the second cell.

With the rapid deployment of the 3rd Generation (3G) network, the operators need to reduce costs of network construction and operation. The Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) association of operators brings forward requirements on management simplicity and cost efficiency, and summarizes such requirements on Self-Organizing Networks (SON) in a number of operator use cases.
Currently, automation configuration of PCI is important for work reduction for wireless operators in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. PCI is used for uniquely identifies a cell in a network. Each cell is assigned an available PCI. A basic principle for allocating the PCIs among cells is to be collision-free and confusion-free. Communication is impossible within cells with a conflicted PCI, as the User Equipment (UE) can not detect or differentiate the cells.
However, the number of PCIs allocable in the entire communication is a limited constant. Based on the LTE specification of the physical layer detailed in 3GPP TS 36.211-840, there are a total of 504 unique PCIs. These PCI are grouped into 168 unique physical layer cell identity groups, where each group contains three unique identities. In contrast, a typical commercial network may have 300 sites/base stations, assuming three sectors per site leads to almost a thousand cells. In the practical LTE network, it is necessary to multiplex or reuse such PCIs. The number of cells in the system is still increasing dramatically. For example, three sector base stations are large-scale deployed in Korea by now, but operators have decided to deploy more six sector base stations in future. In addition, micro base stations (also known as femto base stations) are additionally installed to optimize coverage and capacity. It is necessary to efficiently multiplex or reuse the PCIs while preventing the possible conflicts.
Typically operators use an offline planning tool or depend on manual determination to develop a PCI deployment plan. The plan uses basic information such as eNodeB location, potential neighbors, etc., to determine the PCI for each eNodeB/sector. Such an allocation is carefully reviewed to ensure that the network does not have any PCI conflicts. The determined PCI values are communicated to each eNodeB during the installation using the configuration files or manually inputted by the staff. It is no doubt that such a process does not lend itself to subsequent changes and is prone to human error.
3GPP TS 36.902 (Release 9) describes the case of PCI allocation. It only denotes the target that system can select a PCI for a newly deployed radio cell and requires that the PCI assignment shall be collision-free and confusion-free. However, it does not propose any solution for implementing the PCI allocation.
CN 101990210A proposes a method to divide PCIs into two consecutive aggregates. One of them is for macro cells and another one is for micro cells, and the cell radius is only a typical value which has risk to avoid PCI conflict. However, this method still needs operators to plan network at first. It doesn't mention any methods to implement auto configuration.


A system and method are disclosed for creating a virtual machine template from a live virtual machine. In accordance with one embodiment, a computer system creates a live snapshot of a virtual machine, and creates a clone of the virtual machine based on the live snapshot. The computer system then initiates execution of the clone, shuts down the clone, and creates a virtual machine template based on the clone, where the virtual machine template enables the creation of another virtual machine that corresponds to the live snapshot of the original virtual machine.

A virtual machine (VM) is a portion of software that, when executed on appropriate hardware, creates an environment allowing the virtualization of an actual physical computer system (e.g., a server, a mainframe computer, etc.). The actual physical computer system is typically referred to as a "host machine" or a "physical machine," and the operating system of the host machine is typically referred to as the "host operating system."
A virtual machine may function as a self-contained platform, executing its own "guest" operating system and software applications. Typically, software on the host machine known as a "hypervisor" (or a "virtual machine monitor") manages the execution of one or more virtual machines, providing a variety of functions such as virtualizing and allocating resources, context switching among virtual machines, etc.
A virtual machine may comprise one or more "virtual processors," each of which maps, possibly in a many-to-one fashion, to a central processing unit (CPU) of the host machine. Similarly, a virtual machine may comprise one or more "virtual devices," each of which maps, typically in a one-to-one fashion, to a device of the host machine (e.g., a network interface device, a CD-ROM drive, a hard disk, a solid-state drive, etc.). The hypervisor manages these mappings in a transparent fashion, thereby enabling the guest operating system and applications executing on the virtual machine to interact with the virtual processors and virtual devices as though they were actual physical entities.
A virtual machine template is a file that is configured to include a standardized set of hardware and software configuration settings for a virtual machine. Once created, the virtual machine template can be used to quickly and repeatedly create virtual machines having those settings, and thus avoid the laborious process of configuring each of the virtual machines.


A light-emitting diode (LED) component includes a light-emitting chip for emitting luminescent light, and a phosphor for absorbing first luminescent light of the luminescent light and emitting first emission, the first luminescent light having a first wavelength different from that of the first emission, the phosphor having a chemical formula of (Ca1-x-yEuxMy)Se where x is not equal to zero, y is between zero and one, and M is composed of at least one element selected from a group consisting of Be, Mg, Sr, Ba, and Zn.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-emitting diode (LED), and more particularly, to a LED component having (Ca1-x-yEuxMy)Se phosphor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Having the advantages of low power consumption, long lifespan (about ten times as long as that of an incandescent lamp), and, most importantly, high color rendering index (CRI) such that a white light LED (W-LED) component is capable of generating visible radiation that will not damage art, it has become one of the most popular illuminating devices in a competitive market demanding a high CRI.
An easy method for making a W-LED component is to combine a blue light LED chip capable of emitting blue light and a red light LED chip capable of emitting red light with a green light LED chip capable of emitting green light to form the W-LED component. The W-LED component is therefore capable of emitting white light, which is formed by mixing the blue light, the red light, and the green light.
However, the above three-in-one W-LED component is expensive, for it has to include three LED chips. Moreover, since the three LED chips each have a light-emitting efficiency different from one-another (The light-emitting efficiency of the blue LED chip is higher than the light-emitting efficiency of the red/green LED chip), white light emitted by the three-chip-containing W-LED component has a low CRI.
In order to overcome the above drawbacks, Nichia Chemical Co. disclosed a W-LED component consisting of a single LED chip and phosphor having a chemical formula of (Y1-p-q-rGdpCeqSmr)3(Al1-sGas)5O12 where p is between 0–0.8, q is between 0.003–0.2, r is between 0.003–0.08, and s is between 0–1. The single LED chip is capable of emitting luminescent light. The phosphor is doped into epoxy resin used to cover the single LED chip. The phosphor is capable of absorbing luminescent light with predetermined wavelength, such as the luminescent light emitted by the single LED chip, and emitting an emission. As a result, the luminescent light emitted by the single LED chip, except for the luminescent light with the predetermined wavelength, combines with the emission emitted by the phosphor to form white light.
Since the W-LED component disclosed by Nichia Chemical Co. comprises nothing but the single LED chip and phosphor, a mature and cheap product, the W-LED component costs less.
However, in addition to the phosphor having the chemical formula of (Y1-p-q-rGdpCeqSmr)3(Al1-sGas)5O12, a variety of phosphors can be used to be combined with single LED chip to form a W-LED.

Light emitting diode component capable of emitting white lights


A method for mitigating misinformation in encrypted messaging environments includes receiving content from an originating user, encrypting the content into an originating message using a first encrypting key, appending an originating message identifier to the originating message, storing the originating message identifier on a messaging server in conjunction with transmitting the originating message to a first device corresponding to a first recipient, decrypting the originating message using a first decrypting key, storing the content on the first device to produce locally stored content and inserting the originating message identifier within metadata for the locally stored content. The method may also include encrypting the locally stored content into a new message intended for a second recipient, detecting the originating message identifier within the metadata for the locally stored content, and appending the originating message identifier to the new message. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed herein.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to mitigating misinformation and specifically to mitigating misinformation in encrypted messaging networks.
Social media and electronic messaging have increased the speed and quantity of worldwide communications. Unfortunately, the potential of intentionally or unintentionally spreading misinformation has also increased. In addition to reducing misinformation in social media networks, it is also desirable to reduce misinformation in encrypted messaging networks where the content of messages may not be readily accessible to the messaging system.

Mitigating misinformation in encrypted messaging networks

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and system for indicating availability of a contact is provided. The presence system displays to the user an indication of the presence state in association with the contact. The presence system provides an indication of the availability associated with the presence state of the contact when the user indicates to view such information. When the contact has high availability, the presence system displays an increasing animation. When the contact has low availability, the presence system displays a decreasing animation.

Users of computing devices (e.g., laptops, cellular phones, and personal digital assistants) often need to communicate in real time. A common form of real-time communications is provided by instant messaging services. An instant messaging service allows participants at endpoints to send messages and have them received within a second or two by the other participants in a conversation. The receiving participants can then send responsive messages to the other participants in a similar manner. To be effective, a real-time conversation relies on the participants' becoming aware of, reviewing, and responding to received messages very quickly. This quick response is in contrast to conventional electronic mail systems in which the recipients of electronic mail messages respond to messages at their convenience.
When an initiating participant wants to start a real-time conversation, that participant needs to know whether the intended participants are available to respond in real time to a message. If not, then communications via conventional electronic mail, voice mail, or some other mechanism may be more appropriate. For example, if the computers of the intended participants are currently powered off, then a real-time conversation may not be possible. Moreover, if their computers are currently powered on, but the intended participants are away from their computers, a real-time conversation is also not possible. The initiating participant would like to know the availability of the intended participants so that an appropriate decision on the form of communication can be made.
Presence services provide this availability information. The availability status of an entity such as a computer system or a user associated with that computer system is referred to as "presence information." Presence information identifies the current "presence state" of the user. Users make their presence information available to a presence service so that other users can decide how best to communicate with them. For example, the presence information may indicate whether a user is logged on ("online") with an instant messaging service or is logged off ("offline"). Presence information may also provide more detailed information about the availability of the user. For example, even though a user is online, that user may be away from their computer in a meeting. In such a case, the presence state may indicate "online" and "in a meeting."
In an instant messaging context, a publishing user ("publisher") may provide their presence information to a presence server that then provides the presence information to subscribing users ("subscribers"). Thus, a presence server may use a subscriber/publisher model to provide the presence information for the users of the presence service. Whenever the presence information of a user changes, the presence server is notified of the change by that user's computer system and in turn notifies the subscribing users of the change. A subscribing user can then decide whether to initiate an instant messaging conversation based on the presence information of the intended participants. For example, if the presence information indicates that a publishing user is currently in a conference telephone call, then the subscribing user may decide to send an instant message, rather than place a telephone call, to the publishing user. If the subscribing user, however, needs to call and speak with the publishing user, the subscribing user needs to monitor the presence information of the publishing user to know when the call can be placed. When the subscribing user notices that the publishing user's presence information indicates that the telephone conference has been concluded, the subscribing user can then place the telephone call.
An instant messaging system may allow each user to specify what other users are considered to be "contacts." A contact is typically a person with whom a user has some relationship. For example, the contacts of a user may include all the other users working on the same project, all the users to whom the user has recently sent an instant message, and so on. The instant messaging system may display the current presence state for certain contacts so the user can decide with which contacts to communicate and with which mode of communication as described above. The instant messaging system may display the name of a contact along with an icon that represents the contact's current presence state. For example, the instant messaging system may display a button that is green when the contact is online and a button that is red when the contact is not online.
A difficulty with current techniques for graphically indicating the presence states of contacts is that the graphic indications represent high-level presence states (e.g., online), rather than low-level presence states (e.g., online and in a meeting). An indication of a contact's high-level presence state may not provide a user with enough information to make an informed decision about how best to communicate with the contact. For example, a green button may indicate that the contact is online. The contact could, however, be online and in a meeting, online and at lunch, online and performing some low-priority, interruptible task, and so on. Without knowing the low-level presence state of a contact, a user may attempt to communicate with the contact with a mode of communication that is not appropriate for the contact's current presence state. For example, the user may send an instant message to a contact who is online and making a presentation at a meeting.


A gas engine assembly includes a compressor, a combustion system, a bypass line and a control system. The control system is configured to control gas supply parameters based on a transportation delay value. The transportation delay value corresponds to a delay between a time when a gas supply control mechanism is adjusted and a time that gas having a corresponding adjustment of a gas characteristic is received at a predetermined point downstream from the gas supply control mechanism.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas dosage control of a gas engine, and in particular, to determining a transportation delay in a gas supply line of a turbocharger gas engine and controlling gas supply parameters based on the transportation delay.
Gas turbines of gas engines generate power by providing a fluid, such as gas, air, or a gas/air mixture, into a compressor, heating the fluid with a combustor, and driving the heated fluid through a turbine stage. The turbine stage includes blades or buckets fixed to a shaft and configured to rotate the shaft as the heated fluid is directed to the blades or buckets, turning the shaft to generate power. In a turbocharger turbine, the rotation of the shaft may be used to rotate blades in the compressor to force the induction of air into the compressor.
A supply of gas to the compressor and the combustion system may be controlled by a gas dosage valve, and a mixture of air and the gas supplied to the compressor and combustion system may be controlled by a gas mixer. However, when transmitting control signals to a gas dosage valve or gas mixer to flow a desired amount of gas, or a desired gas/air mix, to the combustor, a delay exists between a time that a gas supply control mechanism, such as a gas supply valve, is adjusted and a time that a corresponding change in a gas characteristic is received at a point downstream from the gas supply control mechanism.


A heat exchanger allows establishment of a flat space between first and second plates. The heat exchanger is inserted in a closed circulating loop for coolant. The flat space is allowed to have a cross-section larger than that of a cylindrical duct of the closed circulating loop. The flat space serves as a flow passage. An increased cross-section enables a reduction in the flow speed of the coolant. The coolant is allowed to slowly flow through the flat space. The coolant thus contacts with the first and second plates for a longer time. The heat of the coolant is sufficiently transferred to the first and second plates. The efficiency of heat radiation is enhanced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid cooling unit incorporated in an electronic apparatus such as a notebook personal computer, for example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A liquid cooling unit is incorporated in a notebook personal computer as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 20041-293833, for example. The liquid cooling unit includes a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger includes tubes each defining a flow passage for coolant. Airflow runs between the tubes. The airflow absorbs heat from the coolant flowing through the tubes. The coolant gets cooled in this manner.
The tubes are designed to extend along parallel lines in the heat exchanger. The tubes are each formed as a cylindrical duct. Since the tubes have a relatively small cross-section, the coolant flows through the tubes at a high speed. The coolant is only allowed to contact the tubes in a considerably limited duration. Heat cannot sufficiently be transferred from the coolant to the tubes. The heat of the coolant cannot be radiated into the air in an efficient manner.

Liquid cooling unit and heat exchanger therefor


A dispenser including two roll supports; and a housing, the dispenser configured such that the roll supports can assume the following positions relative to the housing: at least one dispensing position for a roll support of the two roll supports, and a storage position for a roll support of the two roll supports, the dispenser configured for allowing dispensing from a roll arranged on a roll support of the two roll supports which is in the dispensing position and for storage of a roll arranged on a roll support of the two roll supports which is in the storage position; the dispenser configured to provide a first state, wherein a first roll support of the roll supports is in the dispensing position and a second roll support of the roll supports is in the storage position, and a second state, wherein the second roll support is in a dispensing position.

Dispensers for rolls of absorbent paper, such as hygiene paper or wiping paper may comprise a housing configured to house at least two rolls. In such dispensers it may generally be desired that absorbent paper is initially dispensed from one out of the two rolls, and that absorbent paper from the other roll is presented to the user only once the first roll is completely or close to depleted.
To this end, existing dispensers may include arrangements for dispensing material from a first roll arranged in a dispensing position in the dispenser, while storing another roll in a storage position in the dispenser. Also, existing dispensers may be arranged for automatically transferring the stored roll into the dispensing position once the first roll is spent or nearly spent.
Since the dispensers will be used in public environments, they will be attended by staff regularly checking the status and function of the dispensers. For a dispenser where the second roll is already in a dispensing position, it is generally desired that a new roll may be introduced and stored in the dispenser before the second roll is completely depleted. It is generally desired that the manouever of reloading the dispenser with a new roll may be performed swiftly and conveniently.
Moreover, since the dispensers may be arranged in public spaces wherein several other commodities are to be arranged, it is generally desired that the dispensers function and are reloadable within a relatively confined space.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,967,235 relates to a two-roll toilet paper dispenser which automatically transfers a new roll into dispensing position once the previous roll is spent or nearly spent. The mandrel and track structure permits reloading the dispenser without removing the mandrel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,485 relates to a paper roll dispenser adapted to sequentially dispense paper from a plurality of paper rolls and including a pair of roll mounting spindles having interconnecting linkage for positioning the spindles in spaced parallel relation.
US 2006/0236836 relates to a dispensing device comprising a case and a mechanism for automatically replacing the finished roll with a spare roll.
It is desired to provide a dispenser for at least two rolls as set out in the above, which dispenser enables automatic dispensing from a second roll when a first roll is spent or nearly spent, and which is easy to use and/or to refill. Also, it is desired to provide a dispenser which is advantageous from a manufacturing and/or cost perspective.

Dispenser for rolls of absorbent paper material


A method and system for monitoring the efficiency of a catalytic converter include determining a ratio of signal arc lengths from an upstream exhaust gas sensor and a downstream exhaust gas sensor which generate signals indicative of oxygen content in the exhaust upstream and downstream, respectively, relative to the converter. A controller processes the signals to determine the ratio of the arc length of the rear or downstream sensor signal to the arc length of the front or upstream sensor signal over a test period. The arc length is calculated by summing over the test period a series of incremental arc lengths for each incremental time interval in the test period. An incremental signal length may be calculated using the square root of the sum of the square of the change in value of a signal during an incremental time interval and the square of the duration of the incremental time interval. The ratio is indicative of the efficiency of the converter which may be compared with subsequently generated ratios to monitor converter efficiency over time.

Increasingly stringent federal regulations limit the permissible levels for emissions. As such, vehicle manufacturers have developed various methods to reduce emissions while improving vehicle performance and fuel economy. Catalytic converters are often used to reduce emission levels of regulated exhaust gases. The conversion efficiency of a catalytic converter may be monitored using a pre-catalyst oxygen sensor (HEGO sensor) positioned upstream from the catalytic converter and a post-catalyst oxygen sensor (catalyst monitor sensor or CMS) positioned downstream from the catalytic converter.
One method known for indicating conversion efficiency of the catalyst is to calculate a ratio of the accumulated number of CMS transitions or switches to the accumulated number of HEGO transitions or switches. An increasing switch ratio is generally indicative of a degrading catalyst. When the switch ratio exceeds a threshold value, a malfunction indicator light (MIL) is illuminated to alert the vehicle operator.
Another known method for indicating conversion efficiency of the catalyst determines a ratio based on an accumulated per sample change in magnitude of CMS sensor voltage relative to a corresponding change in magnitude of the HEGO sensor voltage.

Catalyst monitor using arc length ratio of pre- and post-catalyst sensor signals


There are disclosed herein various implementations of a system-in-package with integrated socket. In one such implementation, the system-in-package includes a first active die having a first plurality of electrical connectors on a top surface of the first active die, an interposer situated over the first active die, and a second active die having a second plurality of electrical connectors on a bottom surface of the second active die. The interposer is configured to selectively couple at least one of the first plurality of electrical connectors to at least one of the second plurality of electrical connectors. In addition, a socket encloses the first and second active dies and the interposer, the socket being electrically coupled to at least one of the first active die, the second active die, and the interposer.

Packaging solutions continue to evolve to meet the increasingly stringent design constraints imposed by electronic systems with ever higher integrated circuit (IC) densities. One solution for providing power and ground connections, as well as input/output (I/O) signals, for example, to multiple active dies within a single semiconductor package utilizes one or more interposers to electrically couple the active dies to the package substrate.
However, as the trend toward ever more massively integrated systems continues through the co-packaging of more and more active dies, the vulnerability of those systems to performance degradation due to inadequate thermal dissipation and/or electromagnetic shielding and/or poor signal integrity, for example, may become more acute. In view of these and other challenges to ensuring reliable performance by more modern system-in-package implementations, the use of interposers alone may not provide an optimum solution for accommodating power and heat distribution among the active dies forming a massively integrated system.

System-in-package with integrated socket


Methods and systems for minimizing the power consumed by a supercharger pump in an engine system. The methods and systems minimize the delta pressure across the pump with a control strategy for positioning the electronic throttle and supercharger bypass valve in a coordinated manner to deliver the required amount of fresh air flow into engine (i.e., the air flow associated with the driver's requested torque), while, at the same time, minimizing the power consumed by the supercharger pump for best fuel economy.

A supercharger (also known as a blower, positive displacement pump or a centrifugal pumper) can be used to increase engine output power by forcing a relatively high volume of air into the engine's cylinders. The additional mass of oxygen that is forced into the cylinders allows the engine to burn more fuel, which improves the volumetric efficiency of the engine and makes it more powerful.
A supercharger is often mechanically linked to and powered by the engine's crankshaft. This means that the supercharger's pump is driven by the engine and uses engine power to function, which could impact the vehicle's fuel economy. Accordingly, there is a need for improvement in the art.

Supercharged engine and method of control