This document discusses, among other things, a computer software program that implements a graphical workspace for idea management. This includes a graphical user interface (GUI) with an idea map window and a word processor document window. The idea map represents ideas as a hierarchical network of nodes and links. An interface automatically updates the word processor document using sequencing information from the hierarchical network. A routine automatically arranges nodes in the 2D representation. Another routine automatically generates virtual 3D representations of the idea map.

Anybody who has ever written an essay (or the like) has grappled with the task of organizing various abstract ideas into a coherent linear written document. Along with style and content, the organization of a written document typically determines its effectiveness. The difficulty of this task may vary, even between people of similar intelligence, because of innate differences in how people think or view the world.
For example, spatial and sequential thinking are two different mental organizations that affect the way people view the world. Sequential thinking can be conceptualized as step-by-step linear thinking over time. By contrast, spatial thinking can be conceptualized as an holistic system in which all knowledge is interconnected in space. Auditory thinking is typically associated with sequential thinking and visual thinking is typically associated with spatial thinking. Historically, most teaching methods, presentation styles, and productivity tools have been developed for those people who are best suited to think and receive information in a sequential manner. However, dyslexics and others are believed to be typically better suited for receiving or compiling information spatially instead of sequentially. Moreover, such spatial thinkers are believed to constitute some of the most creative and entrepreneurial individuals in society. The present inventors have recognized that spatial thinkers can benefit from more effective tools that service their spatial thinking style and that interrelate their spatial thinking style with sequential documents. The present inventors have also recognized that sequential thinkers can also benefit from such tools—although creating well-organized linear documents may be easy for such individuals, they may still find it difficult to see the "big picture."


A program history (P-history) listing of branch-type instruction addresses for pipelined data processing system that employs one or more pipelined processors is stored in a random access memory (RAM) which is also used to store other executive or task information. A set of three queue registers is used to respectively store, 1) the absolute "to" address to which a branch instruction will jump, 2) the relative "to" address, to which the branch instruction will jump, and 3) the relative "from" address, from which the branch instruction will jump. The queues allow the storage of the P-history in the RAM without interference with the use of the RAM by the other functions that access it and without interruption of the pipelined processor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the storage of the program history of a digital computer in a memory, and particularly to the storage of branchtype instructions in a memory stack of a pipelined system with one or more processors.
2. Discussion of the Background Information
U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,543, issued Apr. 5, 1977 to Franks et al., entitled "Processor Address Recall System, " disclosed a break-point function in connection with the memory stack for storing the addresses of the most recently executed instructions of a digital processor. The system of the Franks et al. patent is implemented by storing the addresses of all of the most recently executed instructions of a processor in a memory stack, and by pushing them down upon the execution of each instruction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,394, issued Nov. 27, 1979 to David Kaminski et al., entitled "Apparatus for Maintaining a History of the Most Recently Executed Instructions in a Digital Computer," was a program history (P-history) system in which only the most recently executed branch-type instructions were stored in a memory stack. The stack was designated as a P-stack and was dedicated to the P-history function. The present invention is directed to a P-history storage system which may be used with a pipelined processor system with one or more pipelined processors without slowing down the operation of any of the processors, and which allows the P-history stack to be maintained in a random access memory (RAM) which may also be utilized for storage for other purposes on a shared basis.

Program history for pipelined processor including temporary storage queues for storing branch addresses


A child-resistant closure device for a rigid plastic container having a tapered neck section and method of manufacture. The device has a substantially circular neck and inner lid surface. The neck includes anchors which engage with nodes on the inner lid surface. The tapered section of the neck acts as a spring engaging the nodes with the anchors. The closure device may be engaged by rotating the lid in relation to the neck. To disengage the closure device a simultaneous downward and rotational force must be applied. The lid and the container, including the closure, can be blow molded at the same time or separately.

The use of cooperating locking lugs on safety closures and containers to prevent children from gaining access to the contents of the container is well known in the art. Pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and other items that could be harmful or undesirable for children to handle or ingest are examples of substances that are commonly packaged in containers or bottles having child-resistant or safety closures. But the locking mechanism must still allow adults with dexterity issues and the elderly to open the containers.
One type of locking mechanism uses a cap which a person must squeeze to release the lock, and then turn the cap on the container while still squeezing. These squeeze-and-lock mechanisms require strong fingers and good coordination between the squeezing and turning, either of which makes it difficult for seniors or those with dexterity issues (e.g., arthritis) to use caps with this type of locking mechanism.
Some containers use a locking mechanism that requires the user to visually align arrows or other indicia and then snap off the container's cap or lid. This type of locking mechanism requires good vision to align the arrows or other indicia, and sufficient finger strength and coordination to force the cap off the container. Each of those requirements also makes it difficult for seniors or those that are visually impaired to use containers and caps with this type of locking mechanism.
Another example of a child resistant closure and container is a push-and-turn system which is typically used for pill containers. This system requires that the closure or cap for the pill container be pushed axially downward and rotated at the same time. These locking mechanisms do not require the finger strength and coordination of the other locking mechanisms. They do require strength, however, to push down and release the locking mechanism. These containers are typically a two-piece, ramp-and-lug design. Essentially, the closure comprises an inner cap and an outer cap which are rotatably attached to one another. When the cap is pushed down against the container lip, the inner cap is compressed against the lip to allow enough movement to release the lock when the cap is turned. Such a design requires more force than is comfortable or desirable for some seniors. There is thus a need for an improved push-and-turn lock mechanism that is both child-resistant and accessible to those with dexterity issues.
These conventional locking containers and caps are also complex and/or costly to make. The caps are often made of two pieces snapped together or bonded together, or the mating parts of the container and cap require complex molding or expensive after-molding assembly. This is especially so with current push-and-turn prescription vials where the cap is made of two parts and the second part is a resilient inner piece that is compressed against the cap to provide the resilient locking force. There is thus a need for a container and cap that are simpler to manufacture, and that are preferably cheaper to make.

Child-resistant closure device for a container having a tapered neck portion


A computer-implemented method for controlling navigation includes generating an emotion data of a first user that illustrates emotion of the first user based on information received from a sensor. The method includes transmitting the emotion data of the first user to a controller configured to control a navigation of a second user. The first user and the second user are members of a same group. The method includes modifying the navigation of the second user according to the emotion data of the first user.

Multiple users are sometimes part of a group and control of each user in the group can be coordinated for the entire group. For example, each user can be part of a touring group, a convoy, a platoon, a fleet, among others. Although each user acts according to the group, each user can have conditions or circumstances that affect the user. Communication of these conditions or circumstances and changes to coordinated navigational control of the group can be implemented to provide a better driving and/or travelling experience for the group.

System and method for emotion navigation routing


There is described a bio-compatible aqueous slurry for forming a fluid-tight barrier on a surface of a porous implantable article. This aqueous slurry includes a self-aggregating protein comminutate having a substantially uniform particle size, a bio-compatible plasticizer and water. This aqueous slurry is further characterized by having a viscosity of about 8,000 centipoise to about 60,000 centipoise at 25° C. and a pH sufficient to maintain the protein suspended in the slurry.

The use of implantable articles, such as porous synthetic vascular grafts, is a well accepted practice in the art. To improve certain properties of an implantable article, it is known to coat one or more surfaces of such articles with bio-compatible compositions. These coating compositions serve many different functions. For example, such coatings may render porous implantable articles blood-tight. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,575 to Hoffinan, Jr. et al. describes a process for rendering a synthetic vascular graft blood-tight by massaging a collagen preparation into the porous structure of the graft.
Alternatively, such coatings may be used to deliver certain pharmaceutical agents to targeted areas on an implantable article. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,271 to Jernberg describes encapsulated chemotherapeutics dispersed within a fluid or gel which are applied to a surface of an implant. In this way, the chemotherapeutic agents are released overtime to targeted areas on the implant.
Moreover, it is well known in the art to combine antibiotics, anti-thrombogenic agents and the like into coating and/or impregnating compositions that are applied to implantable articles. Such coatings increase the bio-compatibility of the implantable article by, for example, decreasing the risk of infection and blood clot formation thereon.
Coating and impregnation compositions for implantable articles like those described hereinabove can be made from a variety of materials. Such materials include, for example, biological molecule-containing compositions, polymer-containing compositions and hybrid polymer-biological molecule-containing compositions. For example, coating compositions known in the art for implantable articles include segmented linear polymers (U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,812 to Koroscil), heparinized polyurethane (U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,104 to Bonin et al.) and block copolymers of polysiloxane and polyurethane (U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,352 to Nyilas). Such compositions, however, may contain unreacted functional groups which participate in undesirable side reactions in vivo and can inhibit cell ingrowth into, for example, a vascular graft. Such complications can lead to thrombus formation, infection, etc. at the implantation site.
Biological molecule-containing coatings include, for example, such extracellular matrix proteins as collagen, fibronectin, laminin and hyaluronic acid. The use of a slurry composition containing collagen to reduce the porosity of porous textile grafts is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,842,575 and 5,108,424 to Hoffinan et al. both of which are hereby incorporated by reference. During the processing of such prior art slurries, collagen of appropriate size and purity was obtained from previously processed calf skins that were passed through a meat grinder and extruded through a series of filter sieves of constantly decreasing mesh size. A plasticizer was then added to the collagen slurry and the composition was applied to, e.g., the surface of a porous vascular graft. The composition was then cross-linked and dried. The use of such slurries provides an implantable article, such as a vascular graft, with acceptable bio-compatibility and blood-tightness.
Room temperature grinding of, for example, bovine hides as a step in providing an aqueous dispersion of collagen is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,234 to Sohde et al. This patent, however, also teaches that when the pH of, for example, a preparation of bovine hides or tendons is in the range where the collagen to be isolated is easily solubilized or "swelled," the collagen fibers can become nonuniform and degraded due to the heat of friction caused from violent stirring or mechanical crushing of the preparation. Thus, Sohde et al. describe mincing bovine corium and then milling it in two successive steps at about room temperature, i.e., between 20° C.–25° C. The resultant aqueous dispersion is claimed to have collagen fibers of 4–12 μm in diameter, 2–25 mm in length and a viscosity of between ⅕ to 1/20 that of similar prior art compositions. The end products of the Sohde et al. method include non-woven fabric, films, membranes, tubes or sheets for use as artificial blood vessels, and sutures.
The method described by Sohde et al., however, suffers from the drawback that the grinding of the bovine tendons or hides is carried out at room temperature. Grinding of these tissues at room temperature raises the temperature of the micro-environment at the grinding site and causes the collagen to denature. This produces collagen having a higher solubility both in the medium in which it is produced and in the blood stream. Such higher solubility leads to premature absorption of the coating and can cause a deleterious affect on tissue ingrowth dynamics. Thus, the healing characteristics of the device are substantially hindered. Collagen derived from such a process is clearly not desirable as a sealant for an implantable article, such as for example, a porous vascular graft due to the risk of uneven or non-uniform distribution of the collagen particles within the sealant composition. Furthermore, the premature absorption of the collagen coating can result in undesirable leakage of blood from, e.g., a sealant coated porous vascular graft.
As an alternate method for preparing implantable collagen, several references describe cryogenic grinding of collagen. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,140 to Fallick describes a method for preparing an autologous source of injectable collagen for use in leveling skin having depressions therein. In this method, the skin of a patient who is to receive the collagen composition is made brittle by cooling it to between −10° F. to −100° F. (−3.8° C. to −37.8° C.) using, for example, liquid nitrogen. The brittle skin is then crushed using a mortar and pestle or cryogenically ground using a freezer mill. This preparation is then denatured and extracted in a weak acid solution so as to obtain denatured collagen for delivery into a patient.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,802 to Kelman et al. describes auto-implantable collagen for use in plastic and ophthalmic surgery. In particular, to obtain the desired collagen preparation, a sample of a patient's skin is blended or homogenized by pulverizing the skin in a frozen state, such as by freezing the skin in liquid nitrogen and grinding the frozen skin using a mortar and pestle or by way of a cryopulverization mill. Such a treatment is used to increase the solubility of the contaminates therein and to reduce the overall processing time of the preparation.
Such cryogenic methods, however, are directed to cosmetic surgery-type applications and are unsuitable for sealant compositions used in conjunction with porous implantable articles. In particular, such methods are directed to the small-scale preparation of injectable collagen. Moreover, these compositions and methods are insufficient to produce non-denatured, uniform sized collagen preparations having highly controlled viscosity ranges.
As previously stated, collagen has been widely used as a coating and impregnating composition. In particular, its use as a fluid-tight barrier for textile prostheses, such as vascular and endovascular grafts has been very successful. Processing of collagen, however, has many difficulties, due to its inherent properties. For example, to make a reproducible collagen slurry requires certain consistencies in the raw material itself, as well as, the process steps and parameters. Naturally occurring materials such as collagen, will of course have many inherent variations. In order to produce acceptable sealant compositions, these variations must be minimized. One way to do so is through controlled sourcing and processing conditions. Notwithstanding such efforts to produce reliable and consistent compositions which are able to form reproducible sealants for porous substrates, such as vascular grafts, other difficulties are present which tend to compromise the quality and/or reproducibility of such sealants. For example, it is well known that collagen denatures above a certain temperature, e.g. 37° C. Once denaturization occurs, there is a loss in its natural self-aggregating properties. As a result, cross-linking is preferred or required. Additionally, grinding of raw collagen to specific particle sizes causes localized heating above its denaturization temperature. Such denaturization may go unnoticed in the early processing stages and end up in the final product. Thus, conventional grinding methods have limited usefulness due to the exposure of, e.g., collagen, to excessive heat build-up caused by the frictional grinding forces.
The prior art has also taught that cross-linking of the collagen was an important step in forming an effective sealant composition. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,842,575 and 5,108,424 to Hoffman et al. described hereinabove. It has recently been discovered in the course of the present invention that by eliminating the potential for denaturization and by controlling particle size, collagen compositions can be made which, under specified viscosity ranges, form reproducible, high quality sealants. The specified particle size is obtained without the concern for denaturization due to the use of cryogenic techniques as applied to the comminution process. The homogeneous particle size promotes uniformity in coating, further enhances the self-aggregating properties of the collagen and promotes the formation of a fluid-tight barrier. As a result of the present inventive processes, effective, high quality fluid-tight barriers can be obtained without cross-linking of the collagen.
In summary, all of the above-cited references generally suffer from an inability to produce highly controllable and reproducible collagen compositions. Thus, there is a need for improved bio-compatible aqueous slurry compositions and processes for forming fluid-tight barriers on implantable articles. In particular, there is a need for improved collagen compositions which contain non-denatured collagen having a uniform particle size and which have highly controllable and reproducible viscosities. The present invention is directed to meeting these and other needs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Self-aggregating protein compositions and use as sealants


An electronic device package in the form of a ball grid array package is formed adding a single layer of conductive material including circuitry having trace lines, wire bond pads, and solder ball pads electrically coupled together. Thin film circuitization techniques are used on a polyimide laminate substrate to accommodate greater than 100 input/output contacts of an electronic device on a single layer. Thus, the package will not have vias or other conductive type through holes as in multiple conductive layer ball grid array packages.

With the increase in the number of input/output leads extending from electronic devices, such as integrated circuits, ball grid array (BGA) packages have been developed. A BGA package is a type of packaged electronic device in which at least one electronic device, such as an integrated circuit chip, is mounted to a substrate and an electrical connection to an electrically conductive material not part of the packaged electronic device, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), is made by an array of solder balls located on a surface of the substrate.
Current PCB technology used to manufacture BGA packages produce conductive trace lines having widths in the order of 3 mils or more. This trace line width limitation limits the number of input/output leads for each layer of conductive material attached to the BGA substrate. Thus, electronic devices requiring more than 100 input/output leads require multiple layers of conductive material wherein each layer must be electrically coupled together. This, in turn, requires creating through holes and/or vias to interconnect each conductive layer. For examples of BGA packages having multiple conductive layers and either through holes or vias, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,283.
Through hole drilling and/or via creation is one of the most expensive PCB operations. Each layer of interconnection increases the cost to the PCB. In addition, circuits which must travel across one layer, down a through hole, and back across another layer are much poorer in electrical performance than circuits which can travel directly across a single layer. Thin film circuitization processes such as vacuum metallization have been used to produce conductive traces having widths less than that which can be achieved using electroplating processes.
One of the keys to thin film circuitization technology is to deposit the conductive material on the substrate by evaporation or sputtering. Sputtering or evaporation can deposit very thin, uniform conductive material layers which, when used in combination with thin resists, can be defined to achieve traces having widths in the order of 1 mil. The limitation of sputtering and evaporation is that they are very hot processes. The substrate upon which the conductive material is deposited often reaches temperatures of 500 degrees Celsius. The substrate for thin film circuitization, therefore, is usually a high temperature material such as ceramic. Thin films of polyimide have also been used in combination with sputtered metal films and subtractive circuitization to produce multiple layers of thin film circuitry.
What is needed is a BGA package with a single layer of circuitry, such as conductive traces, wire bond pads, and solder ball pads having trace lines less than 1 mil in width so as to accommodate an electronic device having more than 100 input/output leads. Such a ball grid array package can be formed by using thin film circuitization processes such as vacuum metallization.

Ball grid array having no through holes or via interconnections

International Business Machines Corporation


A tool set comprising modified combs to selectively lift portions of hair; calibrated manually operated color mixing tubes to measure each component of the hair coloring composition and mix and dispense; and a hair coloring brush, with a brush head attached to a calibrated battery activated dispensing handle with a switch located close to the brush head depressable to eject hair coloring mixture through the brush head to the base of bristles in the brush head.

For many years a large proportion of the female population and increasing portion of the male population have changed their appearance by selectively coloring part or all of their hair. At present, the hair dresser normally mixes the coloring solution using a developer and color mixture in a bowl type container and applies to portions of the hair with a brush similar to a normal paint brush. The mixture is quite expensive so he guesses at the minimum amount to be used. The actual amount varies from about one ounce of the mixture for highlighting to six or more ounces of the mixture for a total coloring job or longer hair. Quite generally, total coloring may actually be total coloring of a dispersed portion of the hair.
To color hair, the operator separates about a 1/8" by 3" segment, separates with a weaving comb a portion to be colored, places aluminum foil on his hand under the segment and brushes on the coloring with the other hand using a short bristle brush. The brush is reloaded from the mixer container. The present invention simplifies mixing, measuring and application of the color to the hair.
The objectives of this invention include:
1) a manual means to selectively lift a portion of hair starting near the roots; PA1 2) a switch to feed an operator determinable amount of a hair color composition to a hair coloring brush; PA1 3) a no-waste method for reproducible mixing from one to twelve ounces of materials forming differing colors of a hair coloring composition; PA1 4) tools designed for rapid and complete aqueous clean up. PA1 The special tools designed to meet these objectives include: PA1 1) rat tail color weave combs with a portion of each comb containing teeth with hooked ends. Different combs have different spacings of the hooked teeth in order to separate greater or lesser portions of each tuft of hair as the tuft is manually separated; PA1 2) a calibrated plunger operated mixing tube to allow an operator to add an exact chosen amount of a developer and a color in the tube and operate a manual plunger to mix to form a desired hair coloring composition; PA1 3) a calibrated battery operated dispensing handle holding a minimum of one ounce of hair coloring composition releasably connected with a hair coloring brush containing openings to allow feeding the hair coloring composition in an operator determinable amount through the brush head at the base of the bristles in the brush head; PA1 4) brush heads with bristles trimmed in shapes as desired by an operator; PA1 5) a stand with a battery charger to recharge the batteries in the dispensing handle; PA1 6) a tray to releasably hold color weave combs and the coloring brush, with handle attached, during intermittent usage. PA1 1) a brush head with an opening in a threaded inlet nozzle leading through a channel to the base of bristles in the brush head. Usually, the brush head is flat with either equal length bristles or bristles cut at a slant. Other sizes and shapes are visualized for special purposes; PA1 2) a transparent dispensing handle calibrated with a series of marks approximately one eighth inch apart on the longer axis, threadably, or otherwise, attached to the nozzle on the brush head. This dispensing handle preferably has a circular cross section with a guide groove to prevent rotation of a threaded plunger that moves up and down in the tube on a threaded shaft. A smooth eliptical cross section would also serve to prevent rotation as the plunger moves up and down by rotating a threaded shaft. The dispensing handle is preferably threadably closed with a filling nozzle containing a seal to rotatably seal an upper end of the threaded shaft with the upper end of the shaft being one half of a male-female connection. The filling nozzle is perferably internally threaded to close the dispensing handle and is externally threaded to allow threadably connecting to a driver cap. The driver cap, contains a battery and a D.C. motor with a shaft with one half of a male-female connector to driveably connect with the threaded central shaft when the driver cap is threaded onto the filling nozzle. Circuitry from the battery to the motor includes one or more switches. In one preferred embodiment, a switch in the driver cap drives the threaded shaft to raise the threaded plunger to the top of the dispensing handle to allow filling or cleaning and a second switch contained in or close to the brush head spring loaded open and depressable to close, to drive the threaded plunger downward to slowly eject a portion of the contents of the dispensing handle through the brush head to the base of the bristles. In a preferred embodiment, this switch is located at the very lower portion of the dispensing handle.
We recognize that the battery operated dispensing handle and brush may also be advantageously used for a homeowner to paint small areas or for a commercial artist to paint large backgrounds on canvas.
We wish only to be limited to the general spirit and purpose of this invention since one with normal skill in the mechanical arts may visualize many minor changes and still accomplish the same purpose as the tools of this invention.


An apparatus for supporting a satellite antenna dish and a satellite receiver includes a supporting base, a connecting member and an extending bar. The supporting base includes a supporting board, a sidewall, multiple mounting tabs and a pivoting bracket. The supporting board has an edge and multiple curved slots. The sidewall is formed on the edge of the supporting board and has an edge. The mounting tabs are formed on the edge of the sidewall. The pivoting bracket is mounted on the sidewall and has a mounting hole defined through the pivoting bracket. The connecting member is mounted pivotally on the pivoting bracket on the supporting base. The extending bar is connected to the connecting member and has a connecting end mounted on the connecting bar and a mounting end.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a supporting apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for supporting a satellite antenna dish and a satellite receiver and that can be folded and packed conveniently.
2. Description of the Related Art
A satellite antenna is used to receive satellite signals such as telephone, television and radio signals and comprises a satellite antenna dish, a satellite receiver and a supporting apparatus. The satellite antenna dish can reflect and transmit satellite signals. The satellite receiver is used to receive satellite signals. The supporting apparatus is mounted between the satellite antenna dish and the satellite receiver and is capable to adjust an angular position of the satellite antenna dish.
With reference to FIG. 7, a conventional supporting apparatus comprises a supporting base (70) and a connecting bar (71). The supporting base (70) is attached to the satellite antenna dish. The connecting bar (71) has a connecting end and a mounting end. The connecting end of the connecting bar (71) is connected to the supporting base (70). The mounting end of the connecting bar (71) is attached to the satellite receiver.
However, because the conventional supporting apparatus cannot be folded, the conventional supporting apparatus occupies a large space and cannot be stores and transported easily. When the conventional supporting apparatus is transported and stored, the conventional supporting apparatus must be detached from the satellite receiver and packed separately in a flat condition to reduce the space for transporting and prevent the conventional supporting apparatus from bumping with external objects. This is quite inconvenient and time-consuming.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an apparatus for supporting a satellite antenna dish and a satellite receiver to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Apparatus for supporting a satellite antenna dish and a satellite receiver


A method for treating an infected area on a subject, comprising the steps of: exposing the infected area to an aqueous solution; and providing direct current to the aqueous solution to treat the infected area.

Toenail fungus alone affects 2-13% of the general population of the United States; over 30% of the population over 60 years of age are affected. Current systemic treatment consists of the use of an expensive drugs or pharmaceutical agents many of which have complications and associated interactions. These pharmaceutical treatments are less than ideal for many patients because of the cost and danger associated with them.
Various approaches to treating this disease have been attempted and employed, and most involve pharmaceutical agents applied topically or systematically. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,957 describes the use of compositions based on glyco-alcohol, hydro-alcohol or glyco-hydro-alcohol solutions of a glycol or glyceric ester of retinoic acid, preferably in association with the ethyl ester of retinoic acid and with hydroquinone, treat unsightly skin disorders such as acne, wrinkles, scars, stretch marks, dark spots, etc., and in treating mycotic skin diseases and psoriasis.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,140 teaches a plaster preparation comprising a synthetic rubber; a reinforcing agent based on silica or random styrene-butadiene, copolymer; a tackifier; salicylic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof to treat mycotic infections.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,950 describes a new class of mycosis vaccines comprising homogenised inactivated yeast blastospores and homogenised inactivated dermatophyte microconidia or antigenic material of said spores, methods for their production and their use for the prophylaxis and/or treatment of mycoses in mammals, preferably humans. The vaccines according to the present invention are especially useful for the prophylaxis and/or treatment of skin mycosis, preferably dermatomycosis and/or candidosis and/or onychomycosis.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,276 describes a set depth nail notcher and method for treating nail fungus that is used to cut a notch to a predetermined depth in a nail or a toe of finger infected with fungus and then apply a topical anti-fungal medication to the toe or finger through the notch.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,281,239 teaches a method of treating onychomycosis by administering to an infected area around a nail of a patient a tissue softening composition containing urea and an antifungal composition in one or separate compositions, concurrently or non-concurrently.
Several studies have reported that electrical stimulation augments wound healing, Electrical stimulation has been reported to improve blood flow, decrease edema, and inhibit bacterial growth. Numerous studies have reported that monophasic pulsed current from a high voltage pulsed source (HVPC) augments wound healing. Additional studies have shown significant increases in transcutaneous partial pressure of oxygen (tCP O2) in diabetic individuals following use of electrical stimulation. HVPC has been used to successfully treat diabetic foot ulcers.
Several studies have demonstrated that electrical currents exist in living organisms. Cells follow the path of this current flow, which is referred to as the galvanotaxic effect. It is theorized that electrical stimulation augments the endogenous bioelectric system in the body. The increase in the rate of wound healing with electrical stimulation is also theorized to be a result of attraction of different cell types. Studies have shown that migration of macrophages, fibroblasts, mast cells, neutrophils, and epidermal cells is influenced by electrical stimulation. Electrical stimulation has also been shown to increase the proliferation of fibroblasts and protein synthesis, as well as the growth of neurites. These factors play a significant role in healing. Furthermore, the tensile strength of the collagen has been shown to increase upon application of such electrical fields, thus increasing the strength of the wound scars. For these reasons, the use of electrical stimulation for the treatment of chronic wounds has been used increasingly during the last several years.
The term onychomycosis refers to any fungal infection of one or more elements of the nail system, which consists of the nail matrix, the nail bed and the nail plate. Several studies suggest that onychomycosis affects between 2% and 18% (or possibly more) of the world's population. In North America, onychomycosis accounts for approximately 50% of all nail disease, is an infection several times more common in the toenail than the fingernail, and is most commonly found among older individuals. Some studies suggest that nearly 50% of the population over 70 years of age may be affected. The incidence of onychomycosis in the United States and other countries of the developed world has been increasing in recent years. This is thought to be most likely the result of several contributing factors including: the general aging of the population; the possible higher incidence of diabetes mellitus; the greater use of immunosuppressive drugs and antibiotics; the increased exposure of the general population to the etiologic fungi; the HIV epidemic.
Onychomycosis can be caused by three different groups of fungi: the dermatophytes, the yeasts and the nondermatophytic molds. The dermatophytes are the most common etiology, accounting for between 85% and 90% of all cases. Just two dermatophyte species, Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum) and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (T. mentagrophyte), are responsible themselves for nearly 80% of all cases of onychomycosis. Several different yeast species can also cause onychomycosis. These species are together responsible for between 5% and 10% all cases. In approximately 70% of these cases, the etiological agent is Candida albicans. Finally, several different species of the nondermatophyte molds can also cause onychomycosis. As a group, these are responsible for approximately 3% to 5% of all cases.
Although onychomycosis is not a fatal infection, and is usually not a very debilitating condition in most afflicted individuals, it can still have serious emotional and/or physical consequences. The condition can be associated with significant pain and discomfort, and in severe cases, it may sometimes lead to disfigurement and/or to various degrees of functional loss. In addition to physical impairment, the psychological and social consequences of onychomycosis can also be significant. Thus, onychomycosis represents far more than a mere cosmetic problem for many afflicted individuals, and professional treatment from health care providers is very often sought.
The treatment of onychomycosis, however, has proven difficult. The three traditional approaches to treatment are debridement of the nail unit, topical medication and systemic chemotherapy. The most successful of these approaches has been the use of systemic antifungal drugs. Over the last 40 years, oral systemic antifungal agents have been the mainstay of onychomycosis therapy. However, because of several negative factors that include drug toxicity, possible adverse interactions of antifungal agents with other drugs in the body, and the prolonged course of treatment required with many of these antifungal therapeutic regimes, the search for new, alternative treatments, which are both efficacious and which present minimal side effects, is still an important research goal.

Electrical stimulation unit and waterbath system


Video playback quality detection methods, systems, and apparatuses are described. The method can include obtaining a first video data packet of a target video from a bearer network and obtaining a data byte quantity of first video data included in the first video data packet. The method may also include determining a buffer byte quantity stored in a video quality detection buffer. Furthermore, the method can include obtaining video frame data rate information corresponding to the target video and reducing the buffer byte quantity stored in the video quality detection buffer based on a video frame rate of the target video and the video frame data rate information of the target video. The method may further include determining a playback status of playing the target video on a video player, and determining video playback quality of the target video based on the playback status. According to the embodiments of the present invention, user experience and accuracy of the video playback quality detection method can be improved.

With the continuous development of science and technology, a network video service has achieved breakthrough development, and has become a basic service of major operators. With the continuous popularization of the video service, a playback quality requirement of people for the video service is constantly increasing. For example, the people require higher video definition and better video playback quality. Therefore, how to ensure video playback quality of the video service has become a major research hotspot in the field of video service technologies.
In an existing video playback quality detection method, video playback quality is generally determined based on video playback quality feedback information or fault report information that is actively sent by a user, and then fault location, fault isolation, and fault correction are performed on the video service in time, to improve service quality of the video service. However, the existing video playback quality detection method is based on the information actively fed back by the user. If the information fed back by the user is not timely or accurate, real-time quality and accuracy of the playback quality detection method are reduced. Therefore, user experience is poor and an accuracy rate is low in the existing video playback quality detection method.

Video playback quality detection method and apparatus


An improved clock lock detection circuit is disclosed. The circuit has a first input indicating an edge of a first clock and a second input indicating a corresponding edge of a second clock wherein the second clock is expected to be synchronized with the first clock with an allowable time difference. Further, it has a difference generation module for generating a difference signal based on the time difference between the first and second inputs, and a voltage divider module for receiving the difference signal and generating an indication voltage which varies based on a change of the time difference between the first and second inputs.

The present disclosure relates generally to electronic circuits, and more particularly, to phase locked loop circuits. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to methods for detecting locks in a phase locked loop.
Phase locked loops (PLLs) are widely used in electronic designs such as radios, television receivers, video apparatuses, satellite broadcasts and instrumentation systems. PLLs are electronic circuits with a voltage or current-driven oscillator that is constantly driven to match the frequency of an input signal. Typically, a PLL circuit includes a voltage control oscillator (VCO) that first tunes a circuit frequency close to the desired frequency. A lock detection circuit then sends information signals to VCO such that VCO can re-adjust and lock in the frequency. If VCO overcompensates, the lock detection circuit re-adjusts the signal sent to VCO. In other words, VCO and the lock detection circuit work together through feedbacks to and from each other.
Among the purposes of a lock detection circuit in electronic designs are: to evaluate the quality of the output information, and to deliver out-of-lock rate information to the underlying electronic circuit such that bandwidth of the PLL can be readjusted appropriately. Lock detection is based on a number of variables, including but not limited to: time derivative, or the out-of-phase radians per unit time, the variance of the phase error, and cycle slips.
Depending on application areas and desired phase locking characteristics, phase locked loop detection may be implemented in a variety of circuits, including analog-only circuits, or mixed signal (analog/digital) circuits. Typically, lock detection is based on time derivative, measurable by the time delay between a rising edge of an input signal, and a rising edge of a carrier signal, and relative to the cycle time of the latter. Such a lock detection setup typically includes a phase-and-frequency detector (PFD), which delivers lock detection information such as the time delay between the rising edges of an input signal and a carrier signal.
PFD also delivers information with respect to momentary phase error in the form of pulse widths. A subsequent analysis of the said pulse widths and their corresponding pulse energies may yield information as to whether the one signal is locked against the other. Momentary pulse energy levels may also be averaged over time to yield a smoother value that can be compared against a threshold value by presetting the threshold value in a voltage comparator such as a Schmitt trigger and comparing the average value against the threshold value.
PFD also delivers information critical to understanding cycle slip, which is phase shift equal to one or a multiple of a carrier frequency's period. Cycle slip happens when a weak or noisy signal causes a change in the signal tracking point of the carrier frequency, thereby temporarily losing lock.
Desirable in the art of semiconductor memory design are improved designs and methods with which better control of lock detection in PLL circuits can be achieved.

Phase locked loop lock-detection circuit

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A system of energy storage and charging usable in vehicles and other applications that eliminate the battery capacity and automotive range issues is described. In our invention, vehicles are equipped with charging mechanisms to charge and recharge onboard batteries using wireless electricity and power transmission using magnetic resonant coupling between tuned electromagnetic circuits. The batteries may be charged using wireless charging systems installed along the roads while the vehicle is in use on the road. Charging system may optionally utilize infrared laser beam radiation to transmit power for charging the batteries on board a vehicle while it is in use as well. The onboard vehicle batteries may also be charged when the vehicle is not being driven either by plugging in the vehicle into wall electricity using wired power connection or may be wirelessly charged using the magnetic resonant coupling. By locating the charging circuits on roads, a continuous operation of electric-only mode of hybrid vehicles or pure electric-only vehicles can be accomplished and fully eliminate the need for gasoline usage.

This invention relates generally to alternative energy technologies and in particular to rechargeable batteries for vehicles.
A significant amount of research and development resources are being devoted towards alternative energy technologies. Global warming issues driven from the carbon released in the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuels and other green house gases has led to a significant worldwide interest from scientists and researchers to address the issues. Alternative energy technologies like wind, solar, electrochemical, magnetic, geothermal, biomass, nuclear and the like are being pursued aggressively for large scale commercialization to mitigate the impact of fossil fuel based energy resources on climate change as well as over cost of such fuels.
Electrochemical batteries and fuel cells have been considered as most promising energy research area by their supporters. These small and non-polluting devices that produce energy without combustion could help many residential power needs, but their most exciting application is in transportation. These devices are used in the automotive market in hybrid vehicles that have seen a 20 fold increase in their sales from 10,000 units in 2000 to over 200,000 cars in 2005. The key driving force behind the development and the sale of hybrid vehicles is the improvement in fuel efficiency and economy. Hybrid vehicles comprise of both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor which run on gasoline and battery power respectively. Today's commercially available hybrid vehicles use small batteries or fuel cells which can store 1-2 kilowatt-hours of energy. The electric battery power is primarily used for shorter distances with stop and go traffic where the gasoline fuel economy is very low. However, if the battery capacity of the hybrid vehicles is increased to include 6-8 kilowatt-hours of energy storage, the vehicle could operate in an electric-only mode for up to 50 miles. However, development of battery technology for use of such vehicles in electric-only mode for distances larger than 50 miles is considered extremely difficult by leading scientists. This would practically prevent creation of pure electric-only vehicles that give comparable driving range as presently available gasoline vehicles without recharging or refueling.
Today's hybrid vehicles utilize Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) batteries, however Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries can be used to double the energy efficiency and power over Ni-MH batteries. However for pure electric only vehicles at least a doubling of battery capacity over Li-ion batteries is required which is considered a nontrivial undertaking by leading research organizations.
Our inventions show a system of energy storage and charging usable in vehicles and other applications that eliminate the battery capacity and automotive range issues discussed above.


A screening plant having a main frame, a trammel drum mounted on the main frame to be rotatable about a rotational axis at a small angle to the horizontal, and having an input end and an opposite discharge end at a lower end than the input end, screening apertures provided in the wall of the drum, drive means coupled with the drum and operative to rotate the drum while screening takes place, an input hopper mounted on the main frame and arranged to supply bulk material to the input end of the drum, an inclined guide shoot which feeds material from the hopper laterally so as to enter the input end of the drum, and a cantilever type rotatable mounting assembly which rotatably mounts the input end of the drum on the main frame of the plant.

This invention relates to a screening plant for use in screening a bulk supply of raw material into at least one size range of screened material.
Screening plants are used typically in quarry environments, in order to separate crushed stone into different size ranges of screened material e.g. ballast, gravel, sand, and can be large scale semi-permanent installations. If a smaller scale screening operation is required, then a screening plant may be designed to be readily transportable e.g. on a low loader, or by being self-propelled, so as to be moved from one position to another on site, or from one site to another. Screening plants are also used in site clearance work, in which case the raw material supplied may be soil, clods, tree roots, broken bricks and concrete rubble.
There are many different types of screening plant available, and usually specifically designed for particular tasks. One existing design is known as a "trommel drum", which is a rotating screening drum which has its axis of rotation extending nearly horizontally, although in fact extending gently downwardly from its upper loading end (through which the bulk material is supplied to the drum) to its lower discharge end from which material is discharged. The drum has screening apertures provided in the wall of the drum, through which screened material can pass. A trommel drum is a robust construction which is not expensive, is mechanically simple and therefore reliable, and is often chosen for particular situations.


A method for preparing a carbon siccative for producing electrodes. The dust fraction is produced continuously by a mill/sifter combination with a grain size or specific surface area adjustable during operation, preferably by a roller grinding mill with an integrated sifter.

Electrodes mainly used for electrometallurgic processes are produced by pressing granular carbon masses (siccative) with the addition of pitch as a binder. The electrode quality depends critically on adhering to a predetermined grain size spectrum in the siccative. Coarse grain, medium grain and fine grain must be represented in defined ratio quantities in this, depending on the type of electrode and the raw material. It is particularly important in this case to maintain a predetermined quality of the fine material. In the context of the invention, this includes mainly what is known as the dust fraction, the medium grain size of which lies, as a rule, around 30 to 60 μm according to a specific surface area of 5000 to 2000 cm2/g.
In known production methods (DE-A-4122062), the individual fractions are broken or ground and are finally graded and deposited in separate metering silos, in order to be drawn off from these in a desired ratio according to the respective recipe. The dust fraction is ground and homogenized separately in a tube mill (ball mill), before it is likewise deposited in metering silos. This method has the disadvantage that it can be varied only with great difficulty when a recipe change or fluctuations in the quality of the raw material demand an adjustment. For setting the dust properties as a function of the grindability of the coke and of the respective changing requirements, the known method is carried out in start/stop operation, thus leading to an irregular dust quality in terms of throughput, fineness and specific surface area. This results in a varying pitch requirement and undesirably fluctuating physical properties of the electrodes.
A method which can be influenced more easily with a view to achieving specific properties of the dust-like or fine-grained target fraction is provided.

Method for preparing a carbon siccative for producing electrodes


The present invention relates to a bidirectional wireless power transfer device, which includes: a first transfer unit; a second transfer unit; a selector that includes a first signal terminal, a second signal terminal, and a power input terminal; a power supply unit, which is electrically connected to the power input terminal of the selector and is also electrically connected to the first transfer unit and the second transfer unit; and a circuit board, on which the first transfer unit, the second transfer unit, the selector, and the power supply unit are mounted.

The upgrading of living standard of modern people and the progress of the society bring handheld devices (such as mobile phones, smart phones, and tablet computers) to the living of urban people. The handheld devices are now more or less a must for the living of urban residents. However, with the fast diversification of functionality, the handheld devices require an increasing consumption of electrical power. To handle such an issue, a portable power supply is available in the market to supply additional electrical power to the handheld devices. To make charging easy and efficient, a wireless charging device is also available. However, such a known wireless charging device only allows charging to be carried out through transfer of electrical power in a uni-directional manner by installing a transmitter in the wireless charging device to transfer electrical power through the transmitter to an electronic device located at a remote site for effecting electrical charging. A drawback of the wireless charging device is that the transfer of electrical power is only one way and does not allow electrical power to be transferred in a bi-directional manner (transmission and receipt). Apparently, further improvement is desired.
In view of such problems, the present invention aims to provide a bidirectional wireless power transfer device, which features wireless transfer of electrical power in a bidirectional fashion (transmitting/receiving) and provides an application of power transfer through wireless series/parallel connection.

Bidirectional wireless power transfer device


A process and apparatus are described for wire bonding circuit pads of large scale integrated design. The bonding process employs a capillary tool that applies heat and pressure to the wires in order to bond them to the circuit pad. The circuit pad is supported upon a closed woven, fiberglass mesh, which supports the circuit pad during the bonding process.

The present invention relates to large scale integrated circuit manufacture and, more particularly, to an improved method and apparatus for bonding circuitry to a circuit pad supported by an improved base laminate that increases the resistance of the circuitry to deform.
In recent times, as large scale integrated circuits have become denser, the copper circuitry in the pads have become ever thinner. Working with such thin circuitry, placing and attaching them to appropriate sites, has thus become ever more challenging.
During assembly, the pads are supported by a mesh laminate, while a capillary tool is used to attach the fine wiring onto the pads. As the tip of the capillary tool wipes across the surface of the pad in order to clean it, then applies energy in the form of heat, pressure and vibration, or any combination thereof, while pushing the circuitry to bond or weld the wires to the pad, it has been discovered that pads collapse or deform. The collapse of the pads is due to the interaction of the gold wire thickness, copper hardness, total pad thickness, force of the capillary tool, and material construction of the base laminate. Previous solutions to this problem involved changing the wire bonding parameters, but this had the disadvantage of producing a weaker bonded product or, in fact, no bond at all.
Copper pads have reached a thickness of less than 0.7 mils in order to provide for finer circuit lines and greater density. Experiments revealed that with the gold and nickel parameters of the pad being held constant, changing the base laminate could resolve the problem.
After pad collapse, windows of relatively thick resin had been observed in the open weave of the laminate, where the glass strands of the laminate supported the pad. This led to the conclusion that changing the laminate from an open weave to a closed weave could decrease or eliminate the likelihood of pad collapse.
It was discovered that the closed weave laminate improved the interaction of the pad thickness, such that copper thicknesses as low as 0.4 mils could be used without pad failure. The inventive process reflects the discovery that mesh with a separation dimension between warp or weave strands, measured lengthwise through the laminate, must be less than or equal to the diameter of the gold wires, in order to avoid pad collapse. The closed weave of the laminate was observed to improve the interaction of the pad thickness for thinner applications.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,639, issued on Jul. 18, 1989 to Belanger, Jr. for COMPLIANT PAD FOR USE IN TAPE AUTOMATED BONDING PROCESS, a work piece used in bonding the inner leads of an integrated circuit is illustrated. The work piece is constructed of a metallic base layer to which a compliant pad is affixed. A gas channel is provided for a source of heated nitrogen. A ceramic layer is positioned over the gas channel to provide for heat distribution and support of the integrated circuit during its bonding to an associated tape.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,510, issued on Mar. 3, 1992 to Anstrom et al. for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CIRCUIT BOARD SUPPORT DURING COMPONENT MOUNTING, a temporary support fixture is depicted for mounting components to selected locations on a circuit board. The fixture features a flexible support to provide for variations and tolerance differences between the circuit board and placement head.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,948, issued to Trepte et al. on Oct. 8, 1996 for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AN ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE WALL FROM A FABRIC AND A SHEET MATERIAL, a fabric and film are provided with an insulating coating in the production of flexible containers.
In Japanese Publication No. JP 1222950, a laminated board is shown with a conventional glass cloth, epoxy resin and inorganic filler, used in printed circuit boards.
In Japanese Publication No. JP 62294546, a laminate is formed by impregnating a fluoro-resin fabric with a resin varnish comprising a polyimide or epoxy resin.
In German Publication No. DE 3716531, a laminated material is formed in a continuous process by passing a resin impregnated fabric and copper foil between a sandwiching set of rollers.
In Publication No. SU 1062233, a resin impregnated, heat resistant fabric laminate is fabricated from an arylene-phenol-formaldehyde resin, an epoxy-triphenol resin, a tris-(dimethyl aminomethyl)-phenol, and an organic solvent.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a process and apparatus for bonding circuitry to a circuit pad in large scale integrated circuitry. The circuit pad is supported by a closed weaved laminate base that increases the resistance of the pad to deform during the wire bonding process. The laminate comprises a woven, fiberglass mesh having a separation dimension between warp or weave strands, measured lengthwise through the laminate, less than or equal to that of the diameter of the gold wires that are being bonded to the copper pad. The diameter of the gold bonding wire is generally less than approximately 1.0 mil. The improved laminate base can accommodate circuit devices having copper pads whose thicknesses are as low as 0.4 mils, without pad deformation.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for fabricating circuit devices.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved supporting base laminate in a wire bonding process in the manufacture of large scale integrated circuits.

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to a novel arrangement for attaching, by screw threads, one device to another wherein the one device has a greater thermal rate of expansion than the other and the devices are assembled at a temperature which is lower than that at which the two devices are regularly subjected. In particular, the novel arrangement maintains the security of the attachment where the differing thermal rates of expansion would normally cause the screw thread attachment to become loose.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) has been making plexifilaments or plexifilamentary film-fibril webs in a flash spinning process for a number of years. DuPont has obtained numerous patents describing the process and equipment including U.S. Pat. No. 3,081,519 to Blades et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,169,899 to Steuber, U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,794 to Anderson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,899 to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,918 to Pollock et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,369 to Brethauer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,650 to Marshall, U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,207 to Lee, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,983 to Marshall.
The term "plexifilamentary" as used herein, means a three-dimensional integral network of a multitude of thin, ribbon-like, film-fibril elements of random length and with a mean film thickness of less than about 4 microns and a median fibril width of less than about 25 microns. In plexifilamentary structures, the film-fibril elements are generally coextensively aligned with the longitudinal axis of the structure and they intermittently unite and separate at irregular intervals in various places throughout the length, width and thickness of the structure to form a continuous three-dimensional network.
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a spin cell 10 is shown with a large chamber 11 in which a fiber web W is flash spun and formed into a sheet S. The illustration of the spin cell 10 is quite schematic and fragmentary for purposes of explanation. A schematically illustrated spinpack, generally indicated by the number 12, is positioned within the chamber 11 of the spin cell 10 and is in the process of spinning the fiber web W. It should be understood that the process of manufacturing plexifilamentary sheet material includes the use of a multiple spinpacks similar to spinpack 12 which are arranged in the spin cell 10 for spinning and laying down other webs W with edges that overlap each other to form a wide sheet.
The spinpack 12 spins the web from a polymer solution which is provided to the spinpack 12 through a conduit 20. The polymer solution is provided at high temperature and pressure so as to be a single phase solution. The polymer solution is then admitted through a letdown orifice 22 into a letdown chamber 24. There is a pressure drop through the letdown orifice 22 so that the solution experiences a slightly lower pressure in the letdown chamber. At this lower pressure, the single phase solution becomes a two phase solution. A first phase of the two phase solution has a relatively higher concentration of polymer as compared to the polymer concentration of the second phase which has a relatively lower concentration of polymer. The system operates such that concentration of polymer in the solution in conduit 20 may be anywhere from slightly less than ten percent to in excess of twenty five percent based on weight and depending on the spin agent used. Thus, the polymer rich phase may still have more spin agent than polymer on a comparative weight basis. Based on observations, the polymer rich phase appears to be the continuous phase.
From the letdown chamber 24, the two phase polymer solution exits through a spin orifice 26 and enters the spin cell 10 which is at a much lower temperature and pressure than the letdown chamber 24. At such a low pressure and temperature, the spin agent evaporates or flashes from the polymer such that the polymer is immediately formed into plexifilamentary film-fibrils. The plexifilamentary film-fibrils exit the spin orifice 26 at very high velocity and are formed into a flattened web W by impacting a baffle 29. The baffle 29 further redirects the flattened web along a path that is roughly 90 degrees relative to the axis of the spin orifice (generally downwardly in the FIG. 1). The baffle 29, as described in other DuPont patents such as those noted above, rotates at high speed and has a surface contour to cause the web W to oscillate in a back and forth motion in the widthwise direction of the conveyor belt 15.
On the conveyor belt 15, the sheet has the form of a batt of fibers very loosely attached together. The batt is run under a nip roller 16 to consolidate the batt into the sheet product S which is then wound up on roll 17. The sheet product S is then taken to a finishing facility where it may be subjected to an assortment of processes depending on the desired end use for the sheet material. For example, the sheet product S may be fully bonded to make TYVEK.RTM. sheet material for envelopes and housewrap. TYVEK.RTM. is a registered trademark of DuPont. Fully bonded sheet is formed from the sheet product S by pressing it on heated rolls. The heat is maintained at a predetermined temperature (depending on the desired characteristics of the final sheet product) such that the web bonds together under pressure to form a sheet that has substantial strength and toughness while maintaining its opaque quality.
One of the concerns when running a flash spinning system is maintaining the pressure and temperature of the solution at desired levels as the polymer moves to the spin orifice. As the spin agent evaporates at the spin orifice 26, the spin orifice and its local environment are subject to evaporative cooling. To counteract the loss of heat at the spin orifice, steam is provided to circulate within the spinpack 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the spin block 30 of the conventional spinpack 12 is made of high strength stainless steel and includes steam channels 31 to maintain a desired temperature for the polymer solution and to provide heat to both the spin orifice 26 and the nozzle 33 adjacent the spin orifice 26. The nose of the spin head is made of copper which is more conductive of heat than the steel which comprises the majority of the remainder of the spinpack. This copper nose cone 35 is able to efficiently conduct heat from the steam channels of the spin block 30 to the spin orifice. The copper nose cone 35 and the spin block 30 are together jointly referred to herein as the spin head of the spin pack 12.
DuPont is instituting a new flash spinning system as part of a change from using a chlorofluorocarbon ("CFC") spin agent to using other hydrocarbon-based spin agents. While the considerations involved in selecting a spin agent are complicated and outside the scope of the present invention, it is noted that the spinpacks used in the past with the CFC spin agent were very large and provided flexibility in that the structure was large and accessible. For a variety of reasons, the spinpacks most useful with hydrocarbon-based spin agents are far smaller and the elements of such spinpacks must be smaller so as to find a place on the new spinpacks.
The spinpack historically used with CFC spin agents includes a copper nose cone 35 with internal threads (not shown in FIG. 2) arranged to mate with the external threads on a spin block 30. However, in a smaller spinpack, there is much less copper material in the nose cone available to conduct heat from the spinblock to the spin orifice at a rate sufficient to counteract evaporative cooling of the spin orifice. When the size of the spin block is significantly reduced, the resulting dimension of the nose cone 35 becomes too small to conduct sufficient heat to the spin orifice 26 and nozzle 33. The small dimension is of particular concern at the position indicated by the arrows 36 in FIG. 2.
Accordingly, a new means for connecting the copper nose cone to the spin block is needed that provides for improved heat transfer between the spin block and copper nose cone. This new connecting means must function well even though the thermal expansion coefficient for the copper in the nose cone is significantly different than the thermal expansion coefficient for the steel of the remainder of the spinpack. It must be recognized that the dimensions of the copper and steel parts of the spin head will change at different rates as the temperature of the spin head changes from the temperature at which the spinpack is assembled to the operating temperature. The new connecting means must not become loose when the nose cone expands more than the spin block due to their differing rates of thermal expansion. As spinpack reliability is a very important concern for continuous operation of a flash spinning system, any connection problem that could cause a shutdown of a spinpack cannot be tolerated.
Thus, a spinpack is needed that overcomes the above noted drawbacks and provides a nose cone design that will resist loosening during spin cell operation.
More specifically, a nose cone is needed that may expand but will effectively maintain a tight fit against the spin block supporting structure even when the spin block does not expand to the same extent as the nose cone.
The present invention provides an attachment between a first element and a second element wherein the first element has a different and greater coefficient of thermal expansion than said second element. The attachment arrangement includes outwardly directed screw threads on the first element and inwardly directed screw threads on the second element suited for engaging with outwardly directed screw threads. The second element further includes a shoulder which is positioned circumferentially outwardly from said internal threads of the second element. The first element includes a contact surface arranged to contact the shoulder when the first element is threadedly attached and secured to the second element. The shoulder is positioned even with or longitudinally back from the last of the inter-engaged threads between the first and second elements.

Nose cone for small spin head in flash spinning system


A corner vortex forms at the corners of a square or rectangular wind tunnel or water tunnel and disrupts the flow and creates excessive drag, turbulence, noise and wake. The corners defined by a wing/fuselage interface creates the same type of situation. The suppressor provides many small corners to prevent forming of the single large vortex. A honeycomb or mesh provides parallel passageways, each having a size that is a fraction (1/5th to 1/10th) of the depth of the boundary layer (defined as that point in the fluid flow where the velocity is 99% of free stream velocity.

(1) Field Of Invention
The present invention relates to suppressing the formation and/or growth of a corner vortex of the type formed in a moving fluid passing across structural surfaces at the juncture formed by mutually intersecting surfaces of the structure.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
One of the interesting problems in fluid dynamics is the study of corner vortex. A corner vortex develops or exists at a corner formed by two intersecting flat or curved surfaces. It has a secondary cross-stream flow. It can be a system of several vertices. Wind tunnel tests have shown that a corner vortex produces a three dimensional flow which is undesirable. The corner vortex is produced by a lateral instability mechanism as shown for example in the textbook entitled "The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow" by A. A. Townsend, Page 331, published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U. K. in 1976, Second Edition. Such theoretical analysis shows that wavelengths up to four boundary layer thicknesses have the potential to grow. That is, the vortex becomes progressively more of a problem as the fluid flows along the corner because as the vortex moves downstream it strengthens causing more drag, turbulence, noise and a long wake as a result.
While vortex generators have been found useful in some applications they depend upon creating a vortex to alleviate problems inherent in a region of fluid flow where separation of the fluid from an underlying surface can be expected to occur. Such vortex generators themselves create large flow separations and have a high degree of drag as discussed in references such as "Vortex Unwinding in a Turbulent Boundary Layer", C. B. McGinley and G. B. Beeler, AIAA Journal of Aircraft, 1987, Vol. 24, No. 3, Pages 221-222.The present invention seeks to alleviate the flow separation caused by a corner vortex at the juncture between mutually intersecting structural surfaces either in a wind tunnel or on an aircraft or water craft.
Examples of prior art patents that disclose various vortex generating devices designed to alleviate the separation of fluid flow from an underlying surface can be summarized as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,922 illustrates in FIG. 2 a series of longitudinally spaced fins projecting laterally beyond the surfaces of the forward portion of a fuselage or hull structure. These fins generate small vortices at angles of attack where the fuselage itself might tend to generate unpredictable vortices and thereby cause adverse yawing effects on the fuselage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,843 illustrates in FIG. 1 a plurality of projecting fingers 30, 30 provided adjacent the upper surface of an airfoil and oriented in the direction of fluid flow so as to create vortices rotating in opposite directions at the juncture between the inside surface of the fingers and the upper surface of the airfoil. These devices are intended to enhance the lifting capability of the wing presumably by forestalling flow separation of the airfoil across the upper surface at higher angles of attack.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,473 suggests both boundary layer suction devices and vortex generators 11, 11 which operate in cooperation with one another to reduce the drag across various structural portions of an aircraft where flow separation is likely to occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,121 teaches the use of flow aligned riblets of specific geometry that are designed to reduce drag by modifying the turbulent boundary layer. The height of these riblets is related to the boundary layer thickness.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,769 discloses a method for controlling vortices along the leading edges of a delta wing by creating a small disturbance in one or both of the leading edges to alter the lift otherwise produced by the wing so as to create a more uniform vortex along each of the two leading edges of the wing or to actually create a rolling moment by disturbing one leading edge vortex and not the other.
These prior art patents do not show or suggest how to reduce the adverse effects of a corner vortex at the juncture between mutually intersecting structural surfaces either in a wind tunnel test section or on an aircraft or watercraft where the hull or fuselage has a projection such as a wing that creates a corner where propagation of a corner vortex can disrupt the flow of fluid along such corner.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A method is provided for differentiating leukocyte subpopulations, immunophenotyping of lymphocytes and counting white blood cells. The method preserves leukocyte morphology and surface markers without using fixatives. In addition, the method finds utility in determination of hemoglobin concentration without using cyanide. The stable hemoglobin chromogen formed is measured at approximately 540 nm.

Analysis of leukocyte subpopulations from whole blood samples is an integral and essential part of diagnostic procedures regarding a multiplicity of pathologies. The ability to analyze the major subpopulations of leukocytes in an automated manner is essential for a rapid diagnosis of a single blood sample and for the rapid processing of many samples at once. In addition, the determination of hemoglobin concentration provides useful diagnostic information about the health of a patient.
Traditional diagnosis of blood samples involves the smearing of a blood sample on a microscope slide, followed by manual visual analysis of the individual slide. This approach is extremely time-consuming as well as being subjective to the interpretation of the individual analyzing the slide. These factors have led to the development of automated leukocyte analysis utilizing flow cytometry. In automated leukocyte analysis using hematology instruments, the red blood cells are lysed which enables the differentiation of the leukocytes and determination of hemoglobin concentration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,963 (to Ledis et al.) describes a method for achieving rapid hemolysis of red blood cells in whole blood and automated analysis of lymphoid and myeloid subpopulations of leukocytes, and quantitative determination of hemoglobin using potassium cyanide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,175 (to Ledis et al.) describes a method for performing differential determinations of leukocytes into three (3) subpopulations utilizing automated cell counting equipment. However, this method is limited to effect differentiation of the leukocytes into three subpopulations: lymphocytes, monocytes and granulocytes.
These above-mentioned methods not only lyse red blood cells, but also destroy leukocyte membranes. The differentiation, consequently, is based on the nuclear volumes of the leukocyte subpopulations. The application of these methods, alone or in combination with other means, prohibits further refinement in the diagnostic process of various disease states based on the differences in the immunochemical response of the surface marker of the cell membrane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,044 (to Ledis et al.) discloses a method for isolation and analysis of leukocytes from a whole blood sample, which enables automated differentiation of leukocytes into five (5) subpopulations utilizing an automated hematology analyzer. However, this method cannot convert oxyhemoglobin of the sample to a stable chromogen for hemoglobin measurement. The oxyhemoglobin method is an unreliable method because of incomplete hemoglobin conversion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,549 (to Hamaguchi et al.) describes a lysis reagent system which contains a nonionic polyoxyethylene surfactant. Using the method and lysis reagent system disclosed, it is difficult to do a full analysis of the five major leukocyte subpopulations. Full analysis of leukocyte subpopulations requires differential lysis of the red blood cells and leukocytes, and three separate determinations for the identity of eosinophil, neutrophil and basophil populations in addition to the lymphocyte and monocyte populations. Additionally, this system requires a hypotonic lysing environment which is extremely shocking to the cells and makes preservation of the cells in a near native state difficult.
In addition, measuring hemoglobin concentration in a blood sample is another diagnostic tool when doing blood analysis. Historically, hemoglobin determinations have been performed by forming and measuring cyanide hemoglobin. However, the reagent waste from this method is of enormous environmental concern. Several cyanide-free methods for lysing red blood cells and measuring hemoglobin have been developed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,437 (to Toda et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,832 (to Sakata) all utilize quaternary ammonium salt lysis systems for hemolyzing red blood cells and oxidizing the hemoglobin. However, because of the harshness of the quaternary ammonium ion based systems on leukocytes, these systems cannot be used for combined leukocyte subpopulation differentiation greater than three subpopulations and hemoglobin determination, particularly if near native state, leukocyte differentiation is desired.
EPO No. 0 325 710 (to Hamaguchi et al.) discloses a method for the hemolysis of red blood cells. However, with this method, one can only differentiate three subpopulations in addition to measuring the oxyhemoglobin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,695 (to Kim et al.) discloses a method for rapid analysis of a whole blood sample allowing the determination of five subpopulations of white blood cells, nucleated red blood cells, and lymphocyte immunophenotyping on automated hematology instrumentation. The disclosed method lyses red blood cells and concurrently fixes white blood cells and preserves surface antigens on lymphocytes. The preservation of white cell surface marker is based on fixation by an aliphatic aldehyde, which is known as an environmentally unfriendly chemical. In addition, the method requires heating of the reagent to about 40.degree. C. for leukocyte differential of a whole blood sample in order to achieve the performance and the throughput requirement of an automated hematology analyzer. Without heating, the lysing time is substantially longer.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,030,554 and 5,437,985 (to Quintana et al.) disclose a method to prepare a whole blood sample for photo-optical analysis of lymphocyte subpopulations. The method comprises a 3-step sample preparation of: (1) lysing red cells with an acid lyse; (2) quenching the lysing reagent by an alkaline quench solution; (3) fixing white cells with a fixative solution. Indicator binding can be accomplished before, concurrent with, and after the lysing. This method also utilizes aldehyde fixation to preserve white cells. In addition, the light scatter and fluorescence analyses as disclosed differentiate only three leukocyte subpopulations, i.e., monocytes, lymphocytes and granulocytes.

Method for determination of leukocytes and hemoglobin concentration in blood


A surge absorber includes a laminated compact of a first ceramic green sheet having a first internal electrode film extending to both sides thereof, a second ceramic green sheet having an second internal electrode film extending to both end surfaces thereof, and a third ceramic green sheet having a discharge hole. Ground external electrode layers are provided on both sides of the laminate so as to be connected with both ends of the first internal electrode film, and signal external electrode layers are further provided on both end surfaces of the laminated compact so as to be connected with both ends of the second internal electrode film. The laminated compact may also include a resistance element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surge absorber and a surge absorber array, and more particularly to a surge absorber and a surge absorber array for absorbing and removing a surge voltage which enters a signal line.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, electronic components, such as ICs, which are susceptible to an incoming surge voltage include a surge absorber using a discharge element. Such a surge absorber is typically mounted between a signal line and a ground on a printed board.
As disclosed in Japanese Examined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 63-45749 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-102884, a two-terminal surge absorber in which a laminated compact of ceramic sheets includes a pair of internal electrodes and a discharge hole is known in the related art.
When such a two-terminal surge absorber is mounted on a printed board, the ground wiring on the printed board gets complicated and a large mounting space is required. So miniaturization of devices is difficult to achieve.
This type of surge absorber uses a combination of a discharge element and a resistance element. When a discharge element is used alone, it is generally difficult to obtain a discharge element having a low discharge-starting voltage, because the discharge must start at a voltage below the breakdown voltage of the IC in order to protect the IC.
In the related art, the discharge element and the resistance element are configured as separate components, however, and it takes substantial time and labor to mount the components on a printed board, which increases the manufacturing cost and the required space for mounting.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-6810 discloses a chip varistor with a resistor. However, a varistor generally has a capacitance of several picofarads to several hundred picofarads due to its material and structure, so it cannot be used in a high-speed signal processing circuit because the signal wave is rounded.


A plurality of plates is bonded together by butting in order to manufacture a flat-plate x-ray detector. The butting determines artifacts in x-ray images taken with the flat-plate x-ray detector. According to the invention the butting structure is first measured in the flat-plate x-ray detector and a pixel quantity parameter is determined for an interpolation, whereby said parameter can be small for a narrow butting structure and large for a wide butting structure. Accordingly an interpolation of pixel data in x-ray images which have been taken is performed on the basis of the pixel quantity parameter, preferably by row or by column.

Flat-plate x-ray detectors currently have useable surface areas of up to 43×43 cm2. In order to manufacture these sizes it is necessary to manufacture the basic component, the plate, which consists for example of amorphous silicon, as a large surface. Since production machines are not designed for such sizes, in the prior art several plates are joined together and are bonded to one another on a substrate, for example a glass substrate. This bonding is also known as butting. A large-area flat-plate detector can for example consist of two or four individual plates. For example, the Pixium 4600 detector from Trixell consists of four individual plates made of amorphous silicon.
A problem entailed with butting is that the points where the individual plates are joined exhibit different sensitivity behavior and a variable diffusion of light, resulting in artifacts on the x-ray image. This is in particular also due to the cutting edges, which are never perfectly smooth. A hollow space between the plates is normally 20 μm to 60 μm wide and is ideally filled with adhesive. However, this ideal situation never pertains totally, rather there are air pockets and areas with excess adhesive. The plates can also be bonded on the substrate slightly canted from one another. The butting structures can extend over an area of 1.5 mm, which corresponds to ten pixels on each side of the plate. Thus it is clear that the butting structure can have a highly disruptive effect in an x-ray image.
Until now an average width of the butting structure has been assumed, and an interpolation of the pixels across this width is performed in the finished x-ray images. To a certain extent this interpolation is "fixed", i.e. regardless of whether the butting structure in a particular detector used is actually as big or bigger. Nor are variations in the width of the butting structure within the detector taken into account, rather the interpolation width for the whole image is the same.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,043 to make a correction in a flat-plate x-ray detector for gaps between different areas of the detector (which correspond to the butting structure), whereby an interpolation of six nearest neighbors is performed in the case of column or row defects. Here too the interpolation does not take into account whether the butting structure is actually as big or bigger in a particular detector being used.
From US patent application US 2003/0169847 A1 an x-ray system is known in which four CCDs are combined to form one x-ray detector. The resulting butting structure is identified using an algorithm by detecting pixel image values corresponding to the butting structure, and is corrected by means of interpolation.
From EP 1 467 226 A1 structures for an x-ray machine are known in which individual sections of the image overlap. Thus this does not involve conventional butting. In the overlap area interpolations can be used for smoothing the image.
From DE 101 35 427 A1 it is known to infer the butting structure in a flat-plate x-ray detector indirectly by recording a sudden local grayscale change. Corresponding corrections are made in the grayscale values.

Method for equalizing a butting structure and x-ray system


Disclosed are a method and device for transmitting a power saving signal, the method includes: sending, by a network device, a power saving signal to a terminal device, wherein the power saving signal comprises a first sequence, the first sequence is used to indicate at least part of identification information related to the terminal device, and/or the first sequence is used for the terminal device to perform time-frequency synchronization; wherein the identification information related to the terminal device comprises: an identity of a device group which the terminal device belongs to, a device identity of the terminal device, and Physical Cell Identification (PCI) information of a cell where the terminal device resides.

In consideration of power saving for terminal device, a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mechanism is introduced. Each DRX cycle includes an activation period (on duration) and a dormancy period (Opportunity for DRX). When in the activation period, the terminal device detects the control channel, and when in the dormancy period (also called sleeping period), the terminal device stops receiving the control channel (the terminal device will stop the blind detection of the control channel at this time) to reduce power consumption, thereby extending the battery life.
In the 5G system, a power saving signal is introduced to control the state of the terminal device to achieve power saving purposes. For example, the power saving signal can be a wake-up signal, which is used to indicate that the terminal device wakes up in the "activation period" of a DRX cycle. When the terminal device detects the wake-up signal, it will wake up in the "activation period" to detect the PDCCH. When the terminal device does not detect the wake-up signal, it will not perform PDCCH detection. Therefore, how to design the power saving signal to realize effective transmission of the power saving signal becomes an urgent problem to be solved.

Method and device for transmitting power saving signal

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


The invention describes a method for forming a dual damascene structure. An etch stop layer (150) is formed on a dielectric layer (140). A second dielectric layer (160) is formed on the etch stop layer (150) and an ARC layer (170) is formed the second dielectric layer. A first trench (185) and a second trench (195) are then simultaneously formed in the first and second dielectric layers (140) and (160) respectively.

To increase the operating speed, high performance integrated circuits use copper interconnect technology along with low dielectric constant dielectrics. Currently the dual damascene method is the most widely used method for forming copper interconnects. A typical dual damascene process is illustrated in FIGS. 1(a)–1(c). As shown in FIG. 1(a), a first etch stop layer is formed over a dielectric layer 10 and a copper line 20. A first dielectric layer 40, a second etch stop layer 50, and a second dielectric layer 55 are formed over the first etch stop layer. A patterned layer of photoresist is then formed and used to pattern the etching of the first trench 57. Following the etching of the first trench 57, a backside anti-reflective coating (BARC) layer 60 is formed. During the formation of the BARC layer 60, additional BARC material 65 is formed in the trench 57. The additional BARC material 65 is necessary to protect the bottom surface of the trench during the etching of the second trench 58. This is illustrated in FIG. 1(b). A portion of the additional BARC 65 is removed during the etching process. Following the etching of the second trench 58, trench liner material is formed 80 and copper 90 is used to fill both trenches as illustrated in FIG. 1(c).
There are a number of important issues concerning the use of the additional BARC 65 to mask the trench. Some of the more important of these are non-uniformity in dense and isolated structures, punching through the first etch stop layer 30 during the etching process, defects caused by the BRAC material etc. These is therefore a need for an improved process that overcomes the issues associated with the use of the BARC trench masking material 65.

Process for forming a dual damascene structure


Described are methods for making three dimensional objects. A nozzle is positioned within a gel inside a container of gel. The position of the nozzle within the gel is changed while depositing solidifying material through the nozzle. The gel supports the solidifying material at the position at which the solidifying material is deposited. The solidifying material is solidified to form a solid material, which is a three-dimensional object.

Traditional manufacturing typically involves molded production of parts and other components having a fixed shape, and those individual components are frequently assembled into more complex structures. The process is often expensive and can involve a significant amount of manual labor, and molds used in the production are expensive to manufacture and have singular design structure.
Additive manufacturing refers to a collection of techniques for making three dimensional objects by layerwise addition of material. Stereolithography (SLA) is an additive manufacturing technique that involves selective photopolymerization of polymers upon exposure to UV light.
Selective laser sintering (SLS), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), and laser melting (SLM) are additive manufacturing techniques that involve distributing a thin layer of a powder onto a substrate plate. In SLS and DMLS, a laser selectively sinters the powder. In SLM, a laser selectively melts the powder. Unlike SLA, which is typically used with polymers, SLS, DMLS, and SLS can be used with metals.
Fused deposition modeling (FDM), sometimes referred to as fused filament fabrication (FFF), an object is built by selectively depositing melted material in a pre-determined path layer-by-layer.
One problem with existing technologies is that they are too slow. Another problem with existing technologies is that manufacturing complex geometries, such as unsupported overhangs, can require fabricating a support structure that is subsequently removed during post-processing. Fabricating support structures often increases the cost of designing a part, and can lead to increased machine time to fabricate the part. In addition, some or all of the support structure is discarded, which increases the cost of materials to fabricate the part.

Additive manufacturing in gel-supported environment

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Steeicase Incorporated