A display system and method for the display of images wherein there is a selection of a partitioning of an image display area from a predefined set of partitionings and display of a representation of the partitioning of the image display area in an image selection area. Then, representations of images of a set of images are displayed in the image selection area. Next, an assignment is made of a selected representation of an image to be displayed to an area of the representation of the partitioning via a graphical user interface. Then, the image is displayed in a part of the image display area that corresponds to the area of the representation of the partitioning.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for displaying images and to a display system, in particular for medical images, for example, digital mammograms.
2. Prior Art
In the course of mammogram-screening for the purpose of preventing breast cancer, mammograms are taken in periodic intervals for all women of a specific target group and examined for suspicious circumstances. In each examination, an image of each breast is routinely taken from above (craniocaudal, CC) and from the side (mediolateral oblique, MLO). These four mammograms are usually compared with the four images of the preliminary examination, so that the radiologist, as a rule, must view eight mammograms for each case. Additionally, it can be desirable in displaying computer generated mammograms to, for instance, synthetically increase the contrast of some of the images in order to more clearly display suspicious structures.
The radiologist has only a short time for the examination of this multitude of images. A well trained radiologist is able to examine about 100 cases per hour. The reliable assessment of eight or more exposures in such a short time is then only possible if they are consistently presented to the radiologist in the same, familiar form and possibly existing additional views or images (also images of other modalities, for example, ultrasound images or MR-Mammograms) are quickly available.
The radiologist uses a special screening-analysis station for digital mammogram screening that generally consists of a high power computer with two high resolution monitors and special input apparatus for controlling the system. The monitors of such a system must be able to display at least 2000×2000 pixels with a grayscale depth of 8 or 10 bits/pixel. In spite of this high resolution, the digital mammograms, which consist of 4000×4000 pixels or more, must be scaled down for display or must be examined in parts.
In support of a fluid workflow, an analysis station offers several standardized arrangements of images on the monitors, whereby each monitor can be subdivided into two or four sub-windows. Typical examples of such arrangements are displayed in FIG. 1.
The possible arrangements, as well as the sequence in which the radiologist will view them, are for the most part configurable. Beyond these standard arrangements, the radiologist must have the capability to be able to display all available images in arbitrary arrangements. For example, a comparison can require the display of the current CC-image of a breast on the left and the corresponding image of the preliminary examination on the right, although this arrangement is not provided in the system configuration. Therefore, the manual arrangement of the individual images must be able to occur quickly and is allowed only a minimal interaction complexity in order to not hold up the work flow.
There already exist varied programs that have the ability to display several digital images in a freely selectable arrangement on a computer display screen. In most of these programs, the following interaction steps are required in order to carry out this task:                1. Adjust the desired partitioning of the display screen or display screens.        2. Select a sub-window, for example, via activation of the window with the mouse pointer.        3. Select the images to be displayed in this sub-window, for example, via a command to open the desired image.
Steps 2 and 3 must be repeated at this point for each image to be displayed. An alternative solution uses the well-known "Drag-and-Drop" technique to display the individual images in the respective windows. For this, an overview window is provided that contains a list of all available images. The individual images are represented in this list by their name or a symbolic representation. For each image to be displayed, the corresponding element of this list is clicked with a mouse, dragged to the desired window and "dropped" there.
Both of these solutions have the disadvantage that the mouse pointer must cover a long distance over the display screen or display screens, which can present significant interaction complexity with large monitors. Furthermore, the step of opening an image in the first solution is combined with further mouse clicks and interaction steps that additionally delay the user.
A further disadvantage is that it is not immediately obvious which image is to be displayed in which window. Furthermore, systems that are not tailored for radiological applications frequently do not have the ability to quickly partition the display screen into the routinely used one, two or four sub-windows. Instead, the respective partitioning must be manually performed by opening and arranging the individual windows.
A solution that is tailored to the requirements of digital mammogram screenings is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,095 B1. Therein all available images (usually eight) are put out in a fixed arrangement in a navigation window that shows symbolic indicators of the individual images. The user moves a mouse pointer over the navigation window in order to select an image to be displayed. As soon as the pointer is located over a symbol that is associated with an image, the corresponding image is displayed in one of the monitors. Two mouse clicks can be additionally used to switch between different resolution modes so that the display of two or four images on one monitor is also possible.
With these displays, however, only images that are adjacent in a preconfigured arrangement in the navigation window can be simultaneously displayed on a monitor. In addition, it is assumed that the same images are available in all cases, which may not be true. Therefore, these solutions offer only very limited flexibility.
The known solutions all have one or more of the following disadvantages:                The screening analysis usually use display screen partitioning into one or more sub-windows that is not fast and conveniently achieved.        The selection of a sub-window in which to display an image requires moving the mouse to the respective sub-window, which entails a long mouse movement because of the size of the monitor.        The selection of an image for display in a sub-window requires to much interaction complexity.        The user has no quick overview of which image is open in a specific window, and also, in which window a particular image is open.        The images can not be arbitrarily distributed in the display window, rather they are made available according to specified configurations.        It is presupposed that for each case the same set of images remain available.

Display system and method for the display of images


A tube-shaped shielding member is configured to enclose a plurality of wires collectively. The tube-shaped shielding member includes: a main shield portion made of a metal pipe; and a sub-shield portion formed shorter than the main shield portion and configured to be deformable, to thereby protect the wires from objects such as bounced stones.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shielded wire harness.
2. Description of the Related Art
For connecting machines such as an inverter unit and a motor in an electric vehicle, a shielded wire harness is used. As a wire harness of this type, there is known a wire harness structured such that wire-side terminals are fixed to the end portions of the conductors of shielded wires, the wire-side terminals are connected to equipment-side terminals disposed within a shield case of equipment, and the shield layers of the shielded wires are connected to the shield case through conductive connecting members (see JP-A-11-026093).
However, in the wire harness, an operation to insert the wire-side terminals into the shield case and an operation to connect the connecting members to the shield case must be repeated respectively the same number of times as the number of terminal poles (that is, the number of shielded wires), which takes much time and labor.
In view of the above, there is proposed a wire harness structured in the following manner: that is, there are used wires including no shield layer; and, the wires are collectively covered with a cylindrical-shaped flexible shielding member made of braided wires obtained by braiding metal fine wires together. According to the wire harness of a collective shield type, an operation to connect the shielding portions (shielding members) to the shield case may be executed only once regardless of the number of wires, which can enhance the operation efficiency of the wire harness.
The above-mentioned wire harness, which is structured such that more than one wire is covered with a shielding member, in some cases, is used in such a manner that it is exposed outside the vehicle body. In this case, in order to protect the wire harness from bounced stones and the like, there is employed a structure in which the wires and shielding member are stored in an armored case made of high-strength material such as metal.
However, to provide the armored case separately from the wire harness causes a problem that not only the number of parts and the number of assembling steps increase but also the cost of the apparatus increases.


Problem: To provide a material and a method for efficient and inexpensive extraction of rare metals that are included in urban minerals. Solution: A method for the extraction of lanthanoid elements and actinoid elements, said method comprising: an adsorption process wherein a metal-dissolved solution containing a target metal selected from lanthanoid elements and actinoid elements is made to come into contact with porous structures that carry metal-adsorbent compounds that are adsorbent to target metal ions so that the target metal ions in said solution are adsorbed by said metal-adsorbent compounds; and a target metal separation process wherein said porous structures are made to come into contact with a back-extraction solution so that the target metal ions that are adsorbed by said metal-absorbent compounds are transported to the back-extraction solution.

Global demand is rapidly rising for metals, especially rare metals, that are used in mobile telephones, personal computers and the like. However, price fluctuations of such metals can be rampant not just because of limited deposits and manufacturing quantities but also because of the unbalanced distribution of countries having such deposits and of political controls implemented on production quantity by countries with the resource. Securing a stable supply of rare metals has become extremely important. At the same time, the amount of rare metals that are used in mobile telephones, personal computers and the like that are discarded is also rapidly increasing. The recovery of rare metals from such waste has become an imperative. (Such waste that includes rare metals and precious metals is sometimes referred to as urban minerals.) However, since minerals and urban minerals that contain rare metals also contain many other metals, the process for the recovery of the desired metals (target metals) is complicated. No suitable recovery method has been available in the past, making the recovery cost high and the recovery effort to not make economic sense.
Among rare metals, much attention is now focused on lanthanoid elements, also referred to as rare earth elements, which exhibit special properties such as magnetism and light emission and make such elements indispensable for the high-tech technologies. "Lanthanoid element" is a collective term that refers to any of the 15 elements ranging from lanthanum with an atomic number of 57 to lutetium with an atomic number of 71. The special properties of lanthanoid elements derive from the fact that the outermost shell of the electron orbit is overlapped by other electrons and that the inner shell of the 4f electron orbit is filled with electrons. Because the electron orbit of the outermost shell is overlapped by other electrons, the chemical properties of any two lanthanoid elements are very similar, making it extremely difficult to separate two lanthanoid elements from each other. Natural minerals that contain lanthanoid elements often contain a plurality of different lanthanoid elements and actinoid elements as well. On the periodic table, actinoid elements belong to the same group 3 of elements as do the lanthanoid elements. Because the inner shells of actinoid elements are similarly filled with electrons, the chemical properties of any two actinoid elements are similar to each other, and the chemical properties of actinoid elements are also similar to those of lanthanoid elements. This makes it difficult to separate lanthanoid elements from actinoid elements when lanthanoid elements and actinoid elements coexist. Moreover, since actinoid elements include radioactive substances, it is indispensable when using lanthanoid elements that they be separated from actinoid elements, another factor that further complicates the extraction of lanthanoid elements. "Actinoid element" is a collective term that refers any of the 15 elements ranging from actinium with an atomic number of 89 to lawrencium with an atomic number of 103.
Currently, multi-stage extraction methods are used for the separation and recovery of lanthanoid elements and actinoid elements where slight differences in chemical properties to solvents are used in extraction processes involving the repetition of dozens to over 100 process steps to gradually increase the separation ratio. However, such multi-step extraction methods use large amounts of solvents and desorption agents, generate large amounts of waste solution and impose high processing costs and environmental costs.
In the field of elemental analysis, a field unrelated to methods of extraction of lanthanoid elements and actinoid elements, various research is under way looking into the use of mesoporous silica for the detection of metal ions. For example, Patent Literature 1 and 2 describe the use of hybrid sensors featuring colorant molecules such as aminoporphyrin, dithizone and porphyrin sulfone that are carried by mesoporous silica. Pb ions, Cd ions, mercury ions, Cr ions and the like are made to adsorb to the colorant molecules, and the changes in spectroscopic spectra are used to detect ion concentrations.

Method for extraction and separation of lanthanoid elements and actinoid elements, and means for extraction and separation of lanthanoid elements and actinoid elements

National Institute for Materials Science


An improved technique migrating data from a source LUN (logical unit) to a target LUN manages control I/O's in a manner that depends on the current state of data migration and on whether the control I/O's specify that reservation information for a LUN is to be set or queried. Control I/O's specifying reservation settings during the different states of migration are treated the same way as data WRITEs during those respective states, and control I/O's specifying reservation queries during different migration states are treated the same way as data READs during those respective states.

Administrators of data storage systems are often required to replace logical storage units (LUNs) as the LUNs age, become obsolete, or become unreliable. In many cases, it is desired to transfer all data stored on an original LUN (i.e., a "source" LUN) to a new destination LUN (i.e., a "target" LUN) which will replace the source LUN. Data transfer from the source LUN to the target LUN is conducted using a process called "data migration."
A typical data storage system also includes one or more host computing systems (i.e., "hosts") connected to LUNs over high-speed paths. The LUNs may be provided in one or more disk arrays, and the hosts are configured to run one or more applications on behalf of users. The hosts may include tools for migrating data from a source LUN to a target LUN within an array or between arrays. These tools are designed to operate substantially transparently to users, i.e., to be run in the background with little or no effect on executing applications.
An example of a data migration tool is the PowerPath Migration Enabler (PPME), which is available as part of the PowerPath® driver from EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. As is known, the PowerPath® driver supports multiple data storage functions, including data migration, as well as multipathing, encryption, and other functions. PPME conducts data migration through several distinct states: Setup; Syncing; Source Selected; Target Selected; CommittedAndRedirected (for native device names only); and Committed. During data migration, data is bulk copied from the source LUN to the target LUN and I/O requests for READs and WRITEs are sent to either the source LUN, the target LUN, or both, depending on the state of migration and on whether the I/O requests are READs or WRITEs. Also, in cases where the source LUN and the target LUN are identified with pseudonames, the pseudonames are automatically swapped, so that the target LUN assumes the identity of the source LUN. In cases where the source LUN and target LUN are identified with native names, user applications are manually reconfigured to swap the names. At the conclusion of data migration, the entire contents of the source LUN have been moved to the target LUN, and subsequent I/O requests are directed exclusively to the target LUN.

Managing settings and queries in host-based data migration


An apparatus for monitoring battery swelling includes a conductive layer adhered to a battery pack, a surface opposite the battery pack, a flex layer adhered to the bottom of the surface, and a resistance measurement circuit. The conductive layer includes one or more conductive strips. The flex layer includes a resistive pattern with one or more serially connected resistive segments. Each resistive segment is aligned to a respective conductive strip. The surface is positioned over the battery pack so that initially the resistive pattern is not in contact with and is electrically separated from the conductive layer. The resistance measurement circuit is connected to the resistive pattern to detect changes in resistance of the resistive pattern. When the battery pack swells, the resistive pattern comes in contact with the conductive layer, thereby shorting a resistive segment, and causes the resistance measurement circuit to detect the change in the resistance.

Consumer electronic products use lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries as power sources. These batteries are housed in plastic or metallic enclosures, which are designed to be thin to meet product use-case and aesthetic requirements. The thickness of Li-ion batteries increases over time, even during normal use, and due to adverse conditions. Long-term swelling in Li-ion cells may be caused by electrolyte degradation (which releases gaseous by-products) or material deposits on the electrode surfaces.
The increase in battery dimensions over time can lead to damages in the product housing. For example, swelling leads to display bulges and cracking in cell phones and tablets, keyboard damage in laptops, and top cover damage in head mounted devices like virtual reality (VR) headsets. While VR headsets share design considerations (e.g., aesthetics) with other consumer products, such as cell phones, VR headsets are also different in that there is relatively more spatial budget (e.g., for adding circuits to monitor swelling) compared to other products. However, because the headsets are worn on the head, there is an increased need to limit battery swelling. Typically, the product housing is designed to accommodate a reasonable amount of battery swell, which is based on expected product use case and a priori characterization of the battery characteristics. However, a priori characterizations are usually based on a very limited sample of actual expected use cases. Hence, there is a high probability that the field use case does not meet the characterization conditions.

Apparatus and method for in-situ battery swell measurement


Method and apparatus for transferring data on a voltage biased data line are disclosed. In one embodiment, there is provided a bus interface for controlling a differential bus having a differential data line that includes a first bus line and a second bus line. The bus interface includes a bus controller circuit, an impedance network, and a controllable biasing circuit. The bus controller circuit is coupled to the differential bus and is configured to (i) control transfer of data across the differential bus, and (ii) generate a biasing control signal prior to data transfer on the differential data line. The impedance network is coupled to the first bus line and the second bus line and is configured to substantially match a characteristic impedance of the differential data line. The controllable biasing circuit is coupled to the differential data line and is configured to (i) develop a differential biasing voltage between the first bus line and the second bus line, and (ii) to remove the differential biasing voltage from the differential data line in response to the biasing control signal.

The present invention relates generally to transferring data, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for transferring data on a voltage biased data line.
A computer bus is generally a set of parallel conductors connecting two or more electrical devices for the purpose of data transfer. One popular bus is the SCSI bus. The SCSI bus is an interface designed for computers and electronic instrumentation to allow communication of data over short distances. The SCSI bus is designed to connect independent devices such as disk drives, tape drives, file servers, video monitors, printers, scanners, and other computers. Several SCSI versions have been developed and standardized, with newer versions being developed to keep pace with changing computer speeds and requirements. One of the newer standards is low voltage differential (LVD) SCSI, an improved version of differential SCSI. Differential voltage signals (typically of 400 millivolts difference) are used in LVD SCSI, allowing for higher data transfer rates and longer distances than the older single-ended SCSI standard. In LVD SCSI, each differential data line of the SCSI bus is comprised of two separate bus lines. A binary one is transmitted when the first bus line is more positive than the second bus line, and a binary zero is transmitted when the second bus line is more positive than the first bus line.
SCSI devices are usually connected from one device to another in a daisy chain arrangement. This configuration gives rise to a transmission delay problem where the ends of the bus, not having the same characteristic impedance as the bus itself, will reflect a portion of the signal. This reflection will cause longer transmission times as the bus attempts to receive the data signal over the reflected signal. To lessen this reflection problem, the common practice is to terminate each end of the physical SCSI bus with a termination circuit or terminator that attempts to match the characteristic impedance of the SCSI cable. The terminators used in LVD SCSI commonly provide a fixed biasing voltage across the two bus lines to keep the receivers from being driven by noise in the absence of any differential signals.
Unfortunately, due to the fixed biasing voltage the prior art LVD terminators had several drawbacks. One such drawback was that the fixed biasing voltage swamped out or masked differential data signals at high transfer rates. The SCSI bus like all transmission lines attenuates signals as a function of frequency. Accordingly, at high SCSI transfer rates, the SCSI bus substantially attenuates the differential data signals transferred across the SCSI bus. However, the differential data signals had to overcome the fixed biasing voltage applied by the prior art LVD terminators to the differential data line. If the SCSI bus attenuated the differential data signals enough, then the fixed biasing voltage swamped out or masked the differential data signals to a point where the receivers failed to detect the differential data signals.
Furthermore, the fixed biasing voltage required LVD drivers to drive the differential data line with asymmetrical currents in order to generate symmetrical differential voltages on differential data line. The LVD drivers had to drive asymmetrical currents because when driving the differential data line to a first differential voltage the differential biasing voltage hindered in the development of the first differential voltage. However, when driving the differential data line to a second differential voltage the differential biasing voltage aided in the development of the second differential voltage. The main problem with the asymmetrical current driving requirements was that it generated noise on the differential data line which limited the transfer rate at which data could be transferred reliably.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and apparatus for transferring data on a voltage biased data line that prevents the biasing voltage from swamping out the differential data signals during high speed transfers and that allows for symmetrical driving of the data line.


A hybrid inkjet ink comprising a water miscible organic solvent, a UV radiation-curable material and appropriate photoinitiator, and an epoxide-containing material and printed decorations produced by applying the inkjet ink images to an aluminum substrate.

Inkjet printing is widely used for digitally applying images to various substrates, which may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional. Such printing is achieved using inkjet printers having one or more printheads with nozzles for jetting the ink onto the substrate. The printheads are typically mounted on a carriage that moves back and forth as the substrate is advanced to receive the ink. The printheads can also be maintained in a stationary position and the substrate moved past the printheads.
Currently, inkjet inks are formulated either with solvent carriers or with UV curable inks so that they can dry or cure, respectively, by solvent evaporation or UV radiation curing. Typically, solvent-based inkjet inks can accept high pigment loadings and produce thinner, more flexible coatings than UV cured inks. UV-cured inkjet inks, however, also have important advantages, including quick curing, low VOCs, and good chemical resistance.
The high pigment loadings achievable with solvent-based inks are not typically achievable with UV curable inks because these inks are inherently more viscous than solvent-based inks. Loading these inks with the high pigment levels necessary to produce intense and vibrant colors may make them too difficult to jet. Therefore, when it is desirable or necessary to produce intense and vibrant colors in inkjet printing, solvent-based inkjet inks that tolerate high pigment loadings are typically used.
Solvent-based inkjet inks, however, do have limitations. For example, they typically do not adhere well to nonporous substrates like metal. Also, the final cured solvent-based inkjet ink films typically do not have good solvent resistance.
Finding an alternative to conventional printing on aluminum beverage cans that allows easy customization of decoration and eliminates the need for very large print runs is highly desirable. Conventional printing on aluminum beverage cans (e.g. offset printing) is cumbersome since a plate must be produced for each image and color, and so a run of at least a substantial number of printed-cans is required by can manufacturers to recoup the plate costs. Digital printing using inkjet technology has the potential to revolutionize the industry since it can vary the image and color on-demand, and has the ability do so for single cans or small print runs.
Therefore it would be highly desirable to find a way to decorate aluminum beverage cans using digital inkjet printers in order to take advantage of the speed, accuracy, economy, and ready customization of digital inkjet printing. Because of challenges presented by current solvent-based or UV curable inkjet inks like those noted above, this is not generally practical.
In the beverage can industry, ink performance is assessed by successfully passing the following critical evaluation points: 1) image resolution and quality, 2) ink cohesion with an overprint varnish, and 3) ink adhesion to the aluminum can. This assessment occurs throughout the can-making process, before and after heat exposure (thermal stress), can necking (mechanical stress), and pasteurization (chemical stress).
Currently, the two-piece metal decoration process is carried out by first printing images on the outside of the can followed by an immediate application of a coating on the surface of the entire can (first piece), which is cured by baking at temperatures of 180-215° C. for 3-5 minutes. After this, the can is run through another baking step to thermally cure an inside spray-coated epoxy film that forms a barrier between the aluminum and beverage to protect product integrity. The cans are then subjected to a necking process, which reduces the diameter of the top edge of the cylindrical can down to end specifications.
During the necking procedure, the decoration and coating on the outer surface of the can body is exposed to significant mechanical stress and friction. Therefore application of overly thick or non-uniform decorative coatings may lead to decoration and coating failures. Additionally, the necked cans will also be subjected to chemical stress by pasteurization prior to beverage filling and lid closure (second piece of two piece can), where the cans are submersed in 1% detergent at about 80-95° C. for 10-15 minutes. Since coatings prepared using low viscosity inks have suffered when subjected to this pasteurization step, it is also very important to ensure that any alternative formulations are able to withstand the stress of this chemical process.
One type of digital inkjet ink that has the potential to meet the above requirements is acrylate-based UV curable ink. This type of ink generally: a) has excellent weather- and light-fastness durability, b) can be formulated at a 100% solids level to produce good overall film hardness, and c) is highly chemically resistant when sufficiently crosslinked. However, jettable acrylate-based UV curable inks have not generally been adopted in the marketplace because: 1) they produce overly thick printed images that impede necking, and 2) adhesive and cohesive failures are often encountered after the pasteurization step.
A solvent-based digital ink might be considered to address the film thickness issue. This type of ink is thermally cured by solvent evaporation, leaving behind about 12-30% solids, producing a much thinner film. However, solvent-based inks are also rejected in the marketplace due their poor weatherability, light-fastness, and chemical resistance, and their high VOC content. As a result, solvent-based digital inks produce poor image quality compared to UV curable inks in metal can decorating applications.
Embodiments of the present invention provide unique advances in digital printing on aluminum beverage cans using inkjet technology. These unique embodiments successfully pass the critical evaluation points and maintain high image quality and performance under duress from thermal stress due to oven baking and curing, mechanical stress due to can necking, and chemical stress due to pasteurization, and thus comprise a very significant contribution to the art.

Solvent-UV hybrid inkjet ink for aluminum beverage can decoration


An electronic parts substrate includes a base substrate, a plurality of insulating resin layers provided on the base substrate, at least one conductive circuit, and at least one filled via provided in the plurality of insulating resin layers. The at least one conductive circuit is sandwiched between the plurality of insulating resin layers and/or between the base substrate and the plurality of insulating resin layers. At least one opening is formed in at least one of the plurality of insulating resin layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic parts substrate and a method for manufacturing the electronic parts substrate.
2. Discussion of the Background
As means of suppressing the height of an electronic parts substrate having electronic parts mounted thereon, multilayered ceramic board in each of which cavities for housing various electronic parts are provided on its top surface and bottom surface are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-354093 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-148177. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2005-354093 and 2006-148177 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
However, the technique disclosed in the patent documents relates to a cavity-provided multilayered ceramic board with a low thermal expansion coefficient, and its reduction in reliability originated from heat contraction hardly becomes an issue as compared with a multilayered resin board. In a case where cavities are formed in an electronic parts substrate having a lamination of insulating resins, the thermal expansion coefficient of the insulating resin is high, making the thermal stress locally greater due to the influence of the cavities. This makes the insulating resin layers and conductive circuits susceptible to cracks, causing disconnection and lowering of the reliability.

Electronic parts substrate and method for manufacturing the same


The present invention aims to provide a dry etching agent having less load on global environment and capable of anisotropic etching without the use of special equipment and obtaining a good processing shape and to provide a dry etching method using the dry etching agent. The dry etching agent according the present invention contains at least a hydrofluoroalkylene oxide represented by the following chemical formula: CF3—CxHyFzO (where x=2 or 3; y=1, 2, 3, 4 or 5; and z=2x−1−y) and having an oxygen-containing three-membered ring. The dry etching method according to the present invention includes selectively etching of at least one kind of silicon-based material selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon and silicon carbide with the use of a plasma gas generated by plasmatization of the dry etching agent.

Nowadays, ultrafine processing techniques are demanded in the field of semiconductor manufacturing. As such fine processing techniques, dry etching has become mainstream in place of wet processing. The dry etching is a process for forming a fine pattern on a molecular basis on a material surface by generation of plasma in a vacuum space.
For etching of semiconductor material such as silicon dioxide (SiO2), perfluorocarbon (PFC) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) compounds typified by CF4, CHF3, C2F6, C3F8 and C4F8 have been used as etching agents in order to increase the etching rate of SiO2 etc. relative to substrate materials such as silicon, polysilicon and silicon nitride.
However, these PFC and HFC compounds are specified as emission control materials in the Kyoto protocol (COP3) because each of the PFC and HFC compounds has a long atmospheric lifetime and a high global warming potential (GWP). In the semiconductor industry, there has been a demand for alternative materials low in GWP, high in economic efficiency and capable of fine processing.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which a reactive gas containing a perfluoroketone of 4 to 7 carbon atoms as a substitute for PFC and HFC compounds is used as a cleaning gas or etching gas. This reactive gas is however not always preferable as the etching gas due to the fact that a decomposition product of the perfluoroketone includes a considerable amount of high-GWP PFC compound and further includes a relatively high-boiling substance.
Patent Document 2 discloses a method in which a hydrofluoroether of 2 to 6 carbon atoms is used as a dry etching gas. However, this linear hydrofluoroether is generally high in GWP and is not preferable from the viewpoint of global environmental protection as in Patent Document 1.
Under the above circumstances, there has been a growing demand to develop compounds lower in GWP and industrially easy to produce. Studies have been made on the use of double or triple bond-containing unsaturated fluorocarbons for etching applications. As a technique relevant to such studies, Patent Document 3 discloses a method of etching a Si film, a SiO2 film, a Si3N4 film or a high-melting metal silicide film with the use of an ether such as CaF2a+1OCF═CF2 or a fluorinated olefin such as CF3CF═CFH or CH3CH═CH2.
Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a method of dry etching a semiconductor material with the use of a gas containing a perfluoro cyclic ether such as hexafluoropropylene oxide as an essential component.

Dry etching agent, dry etching method and method for producing semiconductor device


A phased antenna array includes conductive stubs integrated with at least one of the radiators of the array. The conductive stubs form a ground plane for the array. Preferably, each horizontally polarized radiator of the array has a plurality of conductive stubs integrated therewith. Voids between adjacent radiators and conductive ground stubs may be filled with a conductive material to provide electrical contact therebetween. Conductive stubs on opposing faces of adjacent radiators are preferably interlocking. Advantageously, the conductive stubs are triangular.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a phased array antenna, and, more particularly, to a phased array antenna having a ground plane integrated therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Densely populated radiators in a phased array antenna present assembly problems in how the radiators are terminated into a ground plane. A typical solution is to use a metal face plate as the ground plane. This metal face plate is machined to provide cut-outs for the radiators and is secured to the antenna array using conventional mechanical attachment, e.g., screws. If the array has separately polarized radiators that operate at higher frequencies, i.e., on the order of mm wavelengths, the spacing between the radiators is on the order of thousandths of an inch. This close spacing makes the fabrication of the face plate impractical.

Phased array antenna having an integrated ground plane and method for providing the same


A bite plate is provided to protect a user's teeth from damage due to teeth grinding and/or long term interdigitating pressure, as during cervical traction. The device defines a trench for receiving at least some of the upper teeth of a user and is self fitting to accommodate both narrow and wide dental arches. Once inserted into the mouth the device snugly engages the front teeth and remains positioned, keeping the teeth of the upper and lower jaws from directly engaging and being damaged.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bite plate for protecting the user's teeth from damage due to grinding of the teeth during sleep and/or teeth clinching, for example during cervical traction. In particular, the invention relates to an easy-fit bite plate that can be easily custom fit to accommodate users having a variety of dental arch configurations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Grinding of teeth during sleep results in loss of tooth material which can lead to dental problems such as susceptibility to decay and even tooth loss. Similarly, clinching of the teeth, for example when a patient is in cervical traction, can cause wearing and/or cracking of the teeth as well as headaches and other patient discomfort.
Various devices are known in the art intended for alleviating the problems associated with grinding or high pressure engagement of the teeth. Likewise, other oral devices are known to be received in the mouth to prevent or reduce damage to the teeth during athletic competition, such as boxing or football. Typically bite plates and mouth guards, as they are called, have been customized to the individual user by making a mold of the user's upper teeth/arch and then having a dental laboratory make a custom device. Such a custom molding process is time consuming and relatively expensive--on the order of $300 to $1000 dollars.


Aqueous alkyldiketene dispersions comprising an alkyldiketene, cationic starch having an amylopectic content of at least 95% by weight and as anionic dispersants. (a) from 0.05 to 1.0% by weight of ligninsulfonic acid, condensates of naphthalenesulfonic acid and formaldehyde, sulfonated polystyrene, salts and mixtures of said polymers and (b) from 0.05 to 1.5% by weight of sulfuric monoesters of alcohols having at least 10 carbon atoms, phosphoric monoesters or diesters of alcohols having at least 10 carbon atoms, sulfuric monoesters of alkoxylated alcohols having at least 10 carbon atoms, phosphoric monoesters or diesters of alkoxylated alcohols having at least 10 carbon atoms, C.sub.12 -C.sub.30 -alkylsulfonic acids, salts and mixtures of said compounds. can be used as body size in the manufacture of paper, paperboard and cardboard and for making cellulose fibers hydrophobic.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to aqueous alkyldiketene dispersions comprising an alkyldiketene, cationic starch and anionic dispersants, and to the use of the aqueous alkyldiketene dispersions as body size in the manufacture of paper, paperboard and cardboard and also for making cellulose fibers hydrophobic.
2. Description of the Background
EP-B-0 353 212 discloses sizes in the form of aqueous emulsions comprising a hydrophobic cellulose-reactive size, e.g. fatty alkyldiketene, and a cationic starch having an amylopectin content of at least 85% and a degree of cationization (D.S.) of from 0.045 to 0.4. The proportion of amylopectin in the cationic starch is preferably from 98 to 100%.
EP-B-0 369 328 discloses aqueous alkyldiketene dispersions containing up to 30% by weight of ketenedimer. Further essential constituents of these alkyldiketene dispersions are cationic starch, preferably cationic waxy maize starch, aluminum sulfate, carboxylic acids having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and sulfonates such as the sodium salt of ligninsulfonic acid or condensation products of formaldehyde and naphthalenesulfonic acids.
EP-B-0 437 764 discloses stabilized aqueous alkyldiketene dispersions comprising, apart from an alkyldiketene, a protective colloid and an ester of a long-chain carboxylic acid and a long-chain alcohol. Preferred protective colloids are cationic starches. In addition, sorbitan esters, soaps, synthetic detergents and thickeners such as polymers of acrylamide, vinylpyrrolidone and N-vinyl-2-methylimidazoline can also be used.

Aqueous alkyldiketene dispersions and their use as size for paper


An adapter for an introducer comprises a medical device having a tubular port on a proximal end such as a splittable hemostatic valve. A tubular fitting is provided on a proximal end of the introducer. An elastomeric member is disposed between the port of the medical device and the tubular fitting of the introducer for providing a fluid tight and mechanically secure connection therebetween. The introducer and valve are manually connectable and reconnectable with each other while maintaining the fluid tight connection between them. A side port may communicate with the hemostatic valve, the side port having a controllable valve ending. In the preferred embodiment the introducer comprises a splittable introducer. In the illustrated embodiment the elastomeric member provides a slip fit between the medical device and the tubular fitting of the introducer. A tab extends from the tubular fitting of the introducer to facilitate manual manipulation of the tubular fitting. In the preferred embodiment, the introducer is torqueable and the tab is used to rotate the introducer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of endovascular introducers used in combination with hemostatic valves, catheters and medical instruments of any kind.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Introducers are generally used with indwelling catheters and electrode leads and more particularly to introduce catheters and electrode leads into a desired portion of a patient's body. Catheters and leads are typically placed in a desired location in a patient's body, particularly within the patient's vasculature, by means of introducer systems. These introducer systems typically include an elongated sheath which is inserted into the blood vessel, artery or other portion of the patient's body, through which sheath the catheter or lead is introduced. In those circumstances in which the lead or catheter is to remain in the patient's body for a considerable period of time, it is desirable to be able to remove the introducer sheath over connectors or fittings on the leads or catheters, which may have diameters greater than the inner diameter of the introducer sheath. In many circumstances, it is also desirable that a hemostasis valve be provided at the proximal end of the introducer sheath, allowing the introducer to be sealed around the lead or catheter body. The presence of the hemostasis valve, which typically includes a rigid housing containing a compressible seal, which engages the circumference of the lead body, can pose a problem with regard to removal of the introducer sheath. In some introducers, the introducer sheath is provided with a luer hub on its proximal end, allowing interconnection both to the removable hemostasis valve and to other devices such as valves, T-fittings and the like, using the luer hub.
While allowing a variety of devices to be fitted to the introducer, the limitation exists that all such devices must be provided with a luer connector. While luer connectors are well known they are not compatible with all devices.
What is needed is some kind of connector for an introducer that is widely universal in its design compatibility and which is inexpensive and simple to manufacture.

Tapered fitting for an introducer coupled to a hemostatic valve

Pressure Products Medical Supplies, Inc.


A mild cleansing composition is disclosed. The composition includes a from about 4 percent to about 8.5 percent of an anionic surfactant; from about 1 percent to about 30 percent of an amphoteric surfactant; and from about 0.1 percent to less than about 3 percent of a hydrophobically modified, crosslinked, anionic acrylic copolymer, wherein the weight ratio of anionic surfactant to hydrophobically modified, crosslinked, anionic acrylic copolymer is about 3:1 to about 40:1. The composition is useful as shampoos, washes, baths, gels, lotions, creams, and the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleansing composition, which is mild to the skin and/or eyes with appropriate cleansing and foaming performance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Synthetic detergents, such as cationic, anionic, amphoteric, and non-ionic surfactants, are widely used in detergent and cleansing compositions. It is desirable that such compositions possess good foam volume and stability when used in, for example, shampoos. The amount of foam generated is directly related to the perceived efficiency with which it cleans the hair. In general, the greater the volume of foam produced and the greater the stability of the foam, the more efficient the perceived cleansing action of the shampoo.
Anionic surfactants generally exhibit superior cleansing and foaming properties, and thus are incorporated into many personal cleansing compositions. However, these anionic surfactants tend to be very irritating to the skin and eyes in levels typically used, e.g., greater than about 10 weight percent. In order to produce more mild cleansing compositions, it is well-known to replace some of the anionic surfactant with other surfactants, such as nonionic and/or amphoteric surfactants. See, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,915. Another approach to producing mild cleansing compositions is to associate the anionic surfactants with amphoteric or cationic compounds in order to yield surfactant complexes. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,443,362; 4,726,915; 4,186,113; and 4,110,263. Disadvantageously, such mild cleansing compositions tend to suffer from poor foaming and cleansing performance.
It is therefore, an object of this invention to provide effective cleansing compositions that exhibit good foaming properties without compromising the mildness and safety properties of the overall cleansing composition.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mild and effective cleansing compositions

Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc.


A flow indicator comprising a housing and a floater and adapted to draw an air sample is provided. The housing has at least one lower inlet port, an interior space, an upper outlet port, and a transparent window. The floater is disposed inside the housing and is adapted to move substantially vertically in accordance with the flow of the air sample. The floater is also adapted to indicate a flow rate of the air sample.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a flow indicator and an apparatus for monitoring particles in air. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to an apparatus adapted to draw an air sample from the air in a clean room and count particles contained in the air sample, and a flow indicator adapted to indicate the flow rate of the air sample.
This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0044890, filed on May 27, 2005, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices are commonly manufactured by performing a complex sequence of fabrication processes that form a number of semiconductor dies, i.e., a number of electrical circuits individually formed on portions of a silicon wafer used as a substrate. Once the semiconductor dies have been formed on a silicon wafer an electrical die sorting (EDS) process is performed which inspects the electrical characteristics of the electrical circuits formed by the sequence of fabrication processes. Thereafter, individual semiconductor dies are removed from the silicon wafer and packaged to form a competed semiconductor device. This packaging process generally involves encapsulating each semiconductor die in an epoxy resin.
The sequence of fabrication processes usually includes one or more of: a deposition process adapted to deposit a material layer on the substrate; a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process adapted to planarize a material layer; a photolithography process adapted to form a photoresist pattern, an etching process adapted to form a pattern having desired electrical characteristics from a material layer using the photoresist pattern; an ion implantation process adapted to selectively implant ions into specific regions of the substrate; a cleaning process adapted to remove impurities from the substrate; a drying process adapted to dry cleaned substrate; an inspection process adapted to identify defects in the material layer and/or the pattern; etc.
Many if not all of these fabrication processes are performed in a conventional clean room. Clean rooms are widely used to prevent workpieces, such as silicon wafers, from becoming contaminated by particles in the air such as ordinary dust. The carefully controlled environment of a clean room is managed in accordance with various defined classes of cleanliness. Each clean room class is defined by the concentration of contaminant particles and/or the largest acceptable diameter of contaminate particles allowable within the clean room.
Various measurement apparatuses have been developed to facilitate clean room management. A condensation particle counter, which is one such measurement apparatus, operates under the principle that the particle size increases during an alcohol evaporation process. An optical particle counter, which is another conventional measurement apparatus, measures the intensity of light scattered from a projected laser by the particles in the sampled air.
Examples of particle monitoring apparatuses including such particle counters are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-054265, Korean Patent No. 252215, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,623.
One conventional particle monitoring apparatus includes a sampling probe adapted to draw in an air sample, and a particle counter connected to the sampling probe. The sampling probe is connected to the particle counter by a sampling tube, and the vacuum pressure (i.e., a suction force) used to draw in the air sample in provided by a pump disposed within the particle counter. In the conventional particle monitoring apparatus, the flow rate of the air sample varies in accordance with the suction force applied by the pump, the length of the sampling tube, leakage of the air sample throughout the apparatus, etc.
However, variations in the air sample flow rate cause problems in the management of clean room cleanliness. For example, when the air sample flow rate falls abnormally low, the exact of contaminate particles in the air cannot be accurately measured. Contamination of workpieces may result.
Thus, there is a need for an improved particle monitoring apparatus that allows an air sample to be drawn into a particle counter at a constant flow rate. Such an apparatus will more readily facilitate acquisition and evaluation of the air sample.

Flow indicator and apparatus for monitoring particles in air


An electrical circuit is disclosed that is capable of improving the power supply rejection ratio of a standard bandgap reference while maintaining the temperature coefficient of the standard design. One embodiment of the circuit comprises a bandgap reference voltage generator, an operational amplifier, a transistor, a voltage divider, a startup network, and a self-biasing network that provide a voltage reference with improved characteristics.

Applications for portable, battery-operated equipment or systems employing complex, high-performance electronic circuitry have increased with the widespread use of cellular telephones, laptop computers, and other systems. Maintaining the accuracy of many of these circuits is directly dependent on the stability of a reference voltage. A bandgap reference generator produces such a reference voltage. The reference voltage produced is approximately equal to the band gap voltage of silicon, which is approximately 1.2 volts. It is desirable that such a bandgap reference voltage be substantially immune to temperature variations, power supply variations, and noise.
FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of a bandgap reference architecture in the prior art. Power supply 101 feeds an unregulated (i.e., fluctuating) signal to biasing network 103 and bandgap reference 105. Biasing network 103 provides a biasing signal via lead 115 to bandgap reference 105. Power supply 101, biasing network 103, and bandgap reference 105 are tied together via common lead 113, which is grounded. Bandgap reference 105 provides a reference signal, Vout, via lead 117.
FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of the same bandgap reference in the prior art as is depicted in FIG. 1, but at the circuit (i.e., lower) level of abstraction. M90 through M93 comprise a biasing network, the output of which, labeled 115, is fed to the gate of transistor M9. M9 acts as a current source for an error, or operational, amplifier comprising M9 through M13. The error amplifier senses the voltage levels at the gates of M10 and M11 and controls the currents through M5 and M6. The voltages at the gates of M10 and M11 are approximately equal due to the negative feedback of R1, R3, M5, and M6. Q1 through Q4 provide about twice the bandgap voltage of silicon, or 2.4 Volts. The bandgap transistors Q1 through Q4 also have canceling positive and negative temperature coefficients, so that the reference voltage output at 117, also the output of the error amplifier, is constant with temperature. Having two transistors cascaded as in Q1/Q2 or Q3/Q4 pairs reduces the offset voltage of the error amplifier, improving the accuracy of the output voltage. If R1=R3, the output voltage of the overall bandgap reference of the prior art can be expressed as:Vout=Vbe(Q1)+Vbe(Q2)+2*Vt*In(n)*(R2+R3)/R3  (Eq. 1)Where Vt is the threshold voltage of bipolar transistors (Q1 through Q4) and n is the emitter area ratio of Q1 and Q3. The emitter ratio of Q1/Q3 is equal to the emitter ratio of Q2/Q4 because Q1=Q2 and Q3=Q4.
Although this circuit is well known and widely used, it is disadvantageous in that it suffers from, among other things, a poor power supply rejection ratio (PSRR).


A stand or support for a planar or tablet computing device, comprising: a base, the base may define a slot; wherein the slot is of sufficient length and width, which may be adjustable, for receiving a side of the planar or tablet computing device for supporting the same in a vertical position or at angle with respect to vertical; a ball-shaped shaft support removably disposed within a socket defined by the base; a support shaft removably secured to the ball-shaped shaft support; and a support plate for supporting the planar or tablet computing device; wherein the support plate is removably attachable to the support shaft and the position of the support plate may be adjusted so that a side or upper surface of the support plate contacts the planar or tablet computing device disposed in the slot to provide additional support for the planar or tablet computing device.

Conventional designs and constructions for supporting planar or tablet computing devices all have drawbacks, especially that they are not very versatile in function. While they may be able to support a tablet computer in one orientation or for one purpose, such as orienting the tablet computer in a comfortable position for typing or word processing, they are limited in such functions.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a stand or support for a planar or tablet computing device which is multi-functional and portable.
In addition, it would be desirable to provide a stand or support for a planar or tablet computing device which may be used on a table or other surface, as well as being removably attachable to a user's body.
Further, it would be desirable to provide a stand or support for a planar or tablet computing device which is specially designed to enhance the gaming capabilities of such computing device.
In addition, it would be desirable to provide a stand or support which allows for numerous different orientations of a planar or tablet computing device.
These and other advantages of the invention will be appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment(s) that follow.

Support for planar or tablet computing device


A working container for electrical household food preparation appliances including a lower transmission component connected by a shaft to a rotary working tool arranged in a receptacle, wherein the shaft runs through the bottom of the receptacle and is rotatably mounted in a bearing housed in the bottom of the receptacle by virtue of the lower transmission component having an upper flange ring forming a reservoir around the shaft. The inner wall of the flange ring enables the collection of oil coming from the bearing and prevents the projection of oil onto a wall of the working container and permits the oil to drain to the bottom of the reservoir.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of electrical household food preparation appliances comprising a working container in which turns a rotary working tool associated with a lower transmission component.
The present invention relates to working containers and appliances of the aforementioned type in which the rotary working tool and the lower transmission component are mounted on a shaft arranged in a bearing.
2. Description of Related Art
Such a construction is found in particular in the working containers of appliances of the aforementioned type generally known as blenders. In these appliances, the rotary working tool is driven at high speeds capable of exceeding 5000 rpm. A lubricated bearing is generally employed in order to prevent overheating and to ensure that the appliance works properly. A disadvantage of the designs of prior art appliances resides in the appearance of visible traces of oil in the lower portion of the working containers.
An object of the present invention is to propose a working container for electrical household food preparation appliances that remedies the aforementioned disadvantage.
Another object of the present invention is to propose an electrical household food preparation appliance comprising a working container that remedies the aforementioned disadvantage.

Container for electrical household food preparation appliance comprising a lower transmission component


Systems and methods for top view site map generation can include receiving a number of non-top view images of an area and generating a top view site map for the area utilizing the number of non-top view images.

A site map can be used to perform a number of tasks (e.g., installing, commissioning, maintaining, and/or trouble shooting an automation system, etc.). The site map can be a top view site map of a location (e.g., room of a building, area of a compound, floor of a building, area, etc.). A top view site map can include a number of objects (e.g., walls, HVAC system, fire system, plumbing, etc.) within the location. The top view site map of the location may not be readily available to a user. For example, a top view site map may not exist for a particular location. The lack of a top view site map for the location can delay the number of tasks to be completed at the particular location.

Top view site map generation systems and methods


Proposed are a lithium-containing transition metal oxide target formed from a sintered compact of lithium-containing transition metal oxides showing a hexagonal crystalline system in which the sintered compact has a relative density of 90% or higher and an average grain size of 1 μm or greater and 50 μm or less, and a lithium-containing transition metal oxide target formed from a sintered compact of lithium-containing transition metal oxides showing a hexagonal crystalline system in which the intensity ratio of the (003) face, (101) face and (104) face based on X-ray diffraction using CuKα ray satisfies the following conditions: (1) Peak intensity ratio of the (101) face in relation to the (003) face is 0.4 or higher and 1.1 or lower; and (2) Peak ratio of the (101) face in relation to the (104) face is 1.0 or higher. In addition to this lithium-containing transition metal oxide target optimal for forming a thin film positive electrode for use in a thin film battery such as a three-dimensional battery and a solid state battery, also proposed are its production method and a lithium ion thin film secondary battery. In particular, the present invention aims to propose a positive electrode target capable of obtaining a thin film with superior homogeneity.

The present invention generally relates to a lithium-containing transition metal oxide target optimal for forming a thin film positive electrode for use in a thin film battery such as a three-dimensional battery and a solid state battery, its production method, and a lithium ion thin film secondary battery. In particular, the present invention relates to a target formed from lithium-containing transition metal oxides showing a hexagonal crystalline system, its production method, and a lithium ion thin film secondary battery.
In recent years, there is a rapidly growing demand for a non-aqueous lithium secondary battery as a high energy density battery. This lithium secondary battery is configured from three fundamental components; namely, a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator retaining an electrolyte interposed between these electrodes.
As the positive electrode and negative electrode, a slurry obtained by mixing and dispersing active materials, conductive materials, bonding materials and plasticizing agents (where appropriate) in a dispersion medium is used by being supported by a collector such as a metallic foil or a metallic mesh.
A composite oxide of lithium and transition metal is used as the cathode active material of a battery as represented by cobalt composite oxide, nickel composite oxide, and manganese composite oxide. These lithium composite oxides are generally synthesized by mixing the compound of the main element (carbonate or oxide of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni and the like) and the lithium compound (lithium carbonate and the like) at a prescribed ratio, and subjecting this to heat treatment (oxidation treatment) (refer to Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3).
In addition, proposed is a ternary positive electrode material having a composition of Ni:Mn:Co=1:1:1 in which the Li/metal ratio is 0.97 to 1.03, and capable of obtaining a discharged capacity of 200 mAh/g (refer to Patent Document 4).
Furthermore, proposed are a cathode active material for use in a lithium secondary battery obtained by adjusting the ratio of Mn, Co, Ni to a prescribed ratio and calcinating this in an oxygen atmosphere (refer to Patent Document 5), and a production method of a cathode active material for use in the lithium secondary battery (refer to Patent Document 6).
Under these circumstances, the thinning of electrode films for shortening the diffusion distance of lithium ion is demanded to meet the needs of achieving even higher output of lithium secondary batteries. This is because, if the thinning of electrode films can be achieved, the battery can be miniaturized significantly. In addition, the thinning of electrode films is crucial technology in three-dimensional batteries and solid state batteries.
With the current production methods of electrode films using a cathode active material for use in secondary batteries as shown in Cited Documents 1 to 6, for instance, with a positive electrode, a conductive material (carbon material such as acetylene black or the like) is mixed with the cathode active material, this mixed powder is added to a binder (for instance, fluorinated resin as represented by pVdF) dissolved in an organic solvent (for instance, NMP: N-methylpyrrolidone), evenly kneaded, this slurry is applied on a collector (for instance, Al foil), dried, and subsequently pressed to obtain an electrode film. Thus, the thickness of the electrode will generally be 50 to 100 um, and sufficient thinning of the film cannot be achieved.
As one method of thinning the electrode film, a wet process as represented by the sol-gel method may be considered. Nevertheless, although this wet method is advantageous in that the thin film can be manufactured inexpensively and simply in terms of the apparatus that is used, there is a drawback in that industrial mass production is difficult.
As an alternative method, a method of forming a thin film with a dry method, in particular the use of the sputtering method may be considered. This sputtering method is advantageous in that the adjustment of the deposition conditions is easy, and [films] can be easily deposited on the semiconductor substrate.
Nevertheless, when performing deposition with the sputtering method, a target for supplying elements to be deposited is indispensible. Generally speaking, a target needs to be prepared to match the composition of the film to be prepared, and the target must not cause any problems during the deposition.
Technology of using this sputtering method to deposit a cathode active material for use in a lithium secondary battery is rare. The reason for this is that there is a possibility that a difference will arise in the component composition between the positive electrode substrate for use in a lithium secondary battery of the sputtering target and the deposited cathode active material for use in the lithium secondary battery, and that it is assumed that it is impossible to obtain a high density target of a level capable of achieving uniform deposition. Thus, in a very real sense, it is necessary to overcome these drawbacks.
Some examples of using this sputtering method to deposit a cathode active material for use in a lithium secondary battery are listed below. Nevertheless, all of these examples relate to a limited composition (LiCoO2), and none of these examples disclose a means for overcoming the foregoing problems concerning the sputtering target.
Technology of annealing and crystallizing thin film amorphous of LiCoO2 formed using the sputtering method at 650 to 900° C. in an Ar or O2 atmosphere when preparing a LiCoO2 thin film positive electrode (Non-Patent Document 1), technology of obtaining LiCoO2 thin films with nanocrystalline structure with (104) preferred orientation on Si covered with Pt using RF magnetron sputtering, and reducing the grain size through annealing at 500 to 700° C. (Non-Patent Document 2), technology of biasing the substrate and performing RF sputtering thereto, and thereby forming a LiCoO2 thin film for use in a positive electrode of a microbattery (Non-Patent Document 3), and technology of adjusting the RF output upon forming a LiCoO2 thin film by way of RF sputtering, and obtaining a nanocrystalline thin film with (101) and (104) preferred orientations (Non-Patent Document 4).
The problem arising under these disclosed sputtering methods is the target, and the target greatly influences the deposition characteristics. Nevertheless, the foregoing disclosed documents do not discuss what kind of target is optimal and what kind of production method should be used regarding a target for forming a thin film of a lithium secondary battery positive electrode.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H1-294364    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H1-307094    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-285572    [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-59490    [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H2-221379    [Patent Document 6] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-304993    [Non-Patent Document 1] "Characteristics of thin film cathodes according to the annealing ambient for the post-annealing process" Journal of Power Sources 134 (2004)103-109    [Non-Patent Document 2] "Lithium cobalt oxide film prepared by rf sputtering" Journal of Power Sources 128 (2004)263-269    [Non-Patent Document 3] "Bias sputtering and characterization of LiCoO2 thin film cathodes for thin film microbattery" Materials Chemistry and Physics 93 (2005)70-78    [Non-Patent Document 4] "As-deposited LiCoO2 thin film cathodes prepared by rf magnetron sputtering" Electrochimica Acta 51 (2005)268-273

Lithium-containing transition metal oxide target, process for producing the same and lithium ion thin film secondary battery


A microscope which comprises: an optical system for magnifying a sample; a focus adjuster for adjusting a focus of the optical system on the sample; an optical detector for detecting light through the optical system; a position estimator for estimating a position of the focus of the optical system, which stays with respect to the sample, based on the light detected by the optical detector while the optical system is vibrating with respect to the sample; and a controller for controlling the focus adjuster based on the position of the focus estimated by the position estimator, is disclosed. An auto focusing method for a microscope is also disclosed.

An automatic microscope is used in imaging hematocytes in a sample in which blood is smeared on a slide glass, in imaging sediments in a sample in which sediments in urine are collected and spread over the plate, and in imaging samples in which a cross section of the cell is dyed. The automatic microscope includes a stage that freely moves at least in the XY direction and a microscope for magnifying the specimen of blood cells and the like applied to the slide glass arranged on the stage, and has a detecting function of detecting the object to be observed by moving the stage, and an auto focusing function of adjusting the relative position of the lens of the microscope and the stage to focus the focus of the lens on the specimen on the slide glass.
Such automatic microscope is generally used as an automatic analyzing apparatus equipped with a means for imaging an image of the specimen magnified by the microscope, and an image processing section for processing the imaged image to obtain the desired analysis information (e.g., number of hematocytes for each category) (see e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 7-20124).
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 7-20124 discloses a blood cell analyzing apparatus for categorizing the hematocytes of the blood cells and counting the numbers thereof, the apparatus including a microscope for magnifying the blood cells smeared on the slide glass and a color television camera for imaging the microscope image. The slide glass applied with the blood is mounted on the stage of the microscope. The stage is moved in the XY direction by a stage driving circuit to adjust the position of the slide glass on the stage, and the lens system is moved in the up and down direction (Z-axis direction) by a focus driving circuit to adjust the focusing position by auto focusing. The image from the microscope is imaged by means of the color television camera, and the image of the blood cell is displayed on an RGB monitor.
In the blood cell analyzing apparatus, the position of the slide glass is adjusted by moving the stage, but residual vibration is produced at the stage due to law of inertia when the stage is stopped after position adjustment. If auto focusing is performed before the residual vibration is converged, the focus of the lens cannot be reliably focused on the specimen on the slide glass. Thus, a predetermined time has to be waited until the residual vibration converges, and auto focusing must be performed after the residual vibration is converged. Since the analysis of the blood cell includes imaging of a predetermined number of (e.g., 100) white blood cell, the residual vibration must be waited until converged for each imaging to analyze one specimen, whereby the processing speed of the apparatus becomes low.

Microscope and auto focusing method for a microscope


A means for pre-treatment in glycomic analysis of a glycoprotein is provided by the present invention.

First of all release of a oligosaccharide from the protein is necessary in the glycomic analysis of the glycoconjugate and two methods are known; one of which is to enzymatically cleave an oligosaccharide using N-glycanase, for example, peptidyl N-glycosidase F(PNGase F), and the another one is to chemically hydrazinolyze the same.
Usually the enzymatic method is preferably employed rather than the chemical method since it is possible to cleave an oligosaccharide in the enzymatic method without depending a size or structure of the glycomic moiety in the substrate. However, there are various glycoproteins and a glycomic moiety is often surrounded by the secondary and/or the tertiary structure of a protein, and according to the result an enzymatic digestion by N-glycanase is frequently hindered.
In order to improve the efficacy of digestion by N-glycanase, various methods for pre-treating a sample are proposed using a reducing agent, a surfactant, a proteinase or the combination thereof.
A reductive alkylation can be an important method for pre-treatment to simplify the complicated tertiary structure of a protein and to promote the enzymatic digestion, and in such case solubilization of a protein is carried out by adding urea and a surfactant, for example, sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) to the solution. But it is known that MS signal may be lowered if urea and/or SDS are not completely removed from the solution.
Other important method for the pre-treatment is a fragmentation of the protein moiety using a proteinase, for example, trypsin. This method is usually applied in a combination with the reductive alkylation described above, but trypsin digestion may be hindered if urea and/or SDS are not completely removed.
Recently an acidlysing surfactant (ALS) is newly developed as an alternative of urea or SDS (See, WO03/102225). It shows an enhancing effect on digestion by trypsin or PNGase F when added as a protein solubilizer, and mass analysis is never hindered since it can be decomposed under an acidic condition after digestive reaction is over. A sulfonate salt described below is already commercialized as a trademark of "RapiGest SF".

On the other hand, a sulfonate salt preferably used in the present invention is a kind of surfactants and use as a detergent is already known (See, WO03/082811). However, an enhancing effects on the reductive alkylation and the digestion by a proteinase described later and activity to release an oligosaccharide from glycoprotein are not known.

Method of serum pre-treatment for glycomic analysis

Abstract: A salt of the general formula (I):

Abstract: wherein Z, X, R1, R2, M, m and n are the same as described in DESCRIPTION,is useful as a protein solubilizer, and an oligosaccharide is efficiently released from a sample if reductive alkylation and/or digestion by a proteinase are carried out under the presence of the said solubilizer at the first step in the glycomic analysis of glycoprotein derived from a living body.

National University Corporation Hokkaido University


A portable sampling or testing device for pharmacokinetics and physiology studies and a method for using the device in conducting tests on stationary or moving animals, or human test subjects, is disclosed. The device includes an apparatus for conducting a test on a freely moving subject, or a device which may be moved by a technician to be positioned over an immobile subject, such as a premature infant or unconscious human subject in an intensive care ward. The device is designed and sized to be mobile. In one embodiment, the device comprises a wheeled cart which may be moved by a human test subject operably connected to it. In another embodiment, the device comprises a wheeled carriage positioned above an animal which wears a sling connected to the device. The device may include an uninterruptible power supply. The method provides for sampling bodily fluids or acquiring physiological readings from the test subject. The method provides for removal of body fluids with or without reintroduction of the withdrawn bodily fluids back into the freely moving subject.

This invention relates to a device for use in biomedical research, and, in particular, to a system for conducting tests and monitoring conscious and freely-moving animals.
Working with living animals is a requirement for important biomedical research techniques, such as infusion, in vivo microdialysis, in vivo ultrafiltration, in vivo electrochemistry, and electrocardiology. All of these techniques study the performance of living organs, such as the brain, heart, circulatory system, muscles, etc. These techniques also require connections between one or more external devices and one or more sensors or implants in the animal's body. Examples of devices include syringe pumps, fraction collectors, electrometers, vacuum sources, light sources, and potentiostats. Examples of implants include infusion cannulae, ultrafiltration probes, microdialysis probes, and electrodes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,224 discloses an apparatus and a method for conducting automated blood sampling (ABS), the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. The method disclosed in that patent includes the step of returning unused blood, that was withdrawn from the test subject and was still remaining in the catheter and associated tubing after collection, back into the animal. The injection of unused blood back into a test subject is important when the subject is a small animal, because in that instance one must be concerned with the conservation of red blood cells (erythrocytes) in the small animal. Red blood cell replenishment requires a period of 10 to 14 days in rodents, therefore a study running over a period of only 1 to 4 days is not long enough for the body to replace any blood cells removed during automated sampling. If too many red blood cells are removed, the animal is at risk of anemia and its associated complications. The return of withdrawn blood into some larger animals, such as humans, may also be needed to conserve erythrocytes if the animal is sufficiently small (e.g., human infants), but in other cases may not be desirable since returned blood would be accompanied by anti-coagulants to keep the blood from clotting while in the automated blood sampling device. Although the required concentration of an anticoagulant, such as heparin, when used in blood return, is less than 2% of the typical therapeutic dose, it may be desirable to seek an alternative approach to automated blood sampling which either does not re-inject blood into the animal being monitored, or returns blood using an alternative means of preventing coagulation of the blood while it is out of the body during connection to the automated blood sampler.
As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,224, it is sometimes desirable to monitor the animal while it is active and/or to allow the animal to engage in various types of activity during the testing or monitoring of the animal. For example, rotational and vertical behavior in laboratory rodents is a well-established indicator of neurochemical changes occurring in the animal during testing. The clockwise or counterclockwise preference of the animal, the frequency of such rotation, and similar information concerning the vertical movement of the animal are valuable data. Accordingly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,224 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,256 disclose movement-responsive systems that include a container for housing the animal and a mechanism for rotating the container in response to rotational movement of the animal.
The devices disclosed in the above-referenced patents are very useful in monitoring small animals because these devices allow for monitoring the animal without undue interference with the movement or normal activities of the animal, and the automation eliminates the need for human handling and the stress associated with such handling. Although this same concept can be envisioned for some larger mammals (e.g. pigs), it would not be practical for all human studies. The exception would be studies in neonatal intensive care units where premature infants are not much different in weight than an average guinea pig, have similar sized veins, and are much less mobile. In the case of neonatal intensive care, a traditional incubator would be substituted for a cage, and automated blood sampling would be conducted under continuous supervision by medical personnel. The advantage of automated blood sampling in premature infants would to be alleviate the trauma associated with multiple "sticks" (insertion of a needle into a vein or artery) during the repeated blood sampling that is necessary to monitor disposition of drug treatments. These patients are highly medicated and because they have undeveloped organs for drug metabolism and excretion, the therapeutic concentration of the drugs used is highly variable. Neonates must be constantly monitored to avoid toxic reactions due to overdose. In these patients, the extremely tiny blood vessels make the process of blood sampling extremely difficult for the phlebotomist (blood sampling technician), traumatic for the patient, and emotionally challenging for the parents and all associated medical personnel.
In human studies that involve the collection of blood for Phase 1 Clinical Trials, there are several other reasons that would justify the use of automated blood sampling, and specifically a mobile device for conducting this process. For example, mobility would be useful to allow a human subject to utilize a private restroom facility without interrupting a test or monitoring session. Humans are more likely to participate in automated blood sampling studies if their movements are unrestricted, and they can move to different rooms within the clinic to eat, watch television, or engage in entertainment like card playing or board games. Automated blood sampling, as well as the automation of other tests conducted during Phase 1 Clinical Trials (such as electrocardiography, blood pressure recording, and body temperature monitoring) can potentially be done with greater temporal accuracy (i.e. the collection of samples at a specific time), and the use of less human personnel, than manual methods of acquiring the same samples and data.
Large animals, such as dogs or pigs, may not respond well to the tethering and movement-responsive caging required for operation of the 6,062,224 and 5,816,256 device. Furthermore, that device may be incompatible with an animal that is agile (monkeys, primates), or able to jump high (monkeys, dogs, rabbits). The movement-responsive cage for a strong animal (pig, horse, sheep, cow, goat) would have to be constructed of even stronger materials, increasing the cost and weight of the device. Tethering would necessarily restrict the animal's movement to the confines of the test cage and may induce test-related stress for the animal. Stress involves release of various hormones, and such hormones have a profound effect on the redirection of blood flow as well as the function of many physiological systems in the body. Therefore, the test conditions should be designed to reduce this stress effect as much as possible. It is therefore desirable to provide a system which does not unduly restrict movement of the animal, does not induce significant test related stress, is reasonable in size, can be manufactured, operated and maintained at reasonable cost, and which is adapted for larger animals including, but not limited to, pigs, cows, horses, dogs, primates, and humans.

Portable sampling or testing device and method for pharmacokinetics and physiology studies


A controller of an AC motor includes a d-axis voltage command section to generate a d-axis voltage command on a d axis of a d-q coordinate system. A d-axis non-interactive control section removes, from the d-axis voltage command, an interference component resulting from a current on a q axis of the system. A first current deviation arithmetic section obtains a deviation between a current command on the q axis and the current on the q axis flowing through the AC motor. A q-axis integral control section outputs an integral value of the deviation. A q-axis voltage command section generates a q-axis voltage command based on the deviation. A constant output control section outputs a correction voltage command based on the integral value. A d-axis voltage command correction section subtracts the correction voltage command from the d-axis voltage command after non-interactive control to correct the d-axis voltage command.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller of an AC motor.
2. Discussion of the Background
In controllers of AC (alternating current) motors, their driving control in a constant output region is generally the control of setting a current command on the d axis, which is parallel to the flux of the AC motor, into the negative direction, thereby weakening the flux. This control is also referred to as voltage limiting control (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-022165).


A method, performed by a network node, for enabling Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) fast convergence, the method includes determining that there is a significant change in link state information, the significant change is at least one of a link down, a link up, and a link metric change. The method further includes originating a link state packet comprising a flag that is set to indicate the significant change in the link state information; and distributing the link state packet.

A routing protocol specifies how routers communicate with each other, distributing information that enables them to select routes between any two nodes on a computer network. An interior gateway protocol (IGP) is a type of protocol used for exchanging routing information between gateways (commonly routers) within an autonomous system (AS). This routing information can then be used to route network-layer protocols like Internet Protocol (IP). An AS is a collection of connected IP routing prefixes under the control of one or more network operators on behalf of a single administrative entity or domain that presents a common, clearly defined routing policy to the internet (for example, a system of corporate local area networks).
Within IGP, there are different types. Type 1 IGP is referred to as a link-state routing protocol. The link-state routing protocol is performed by every switching node in the network (i.e., nodes that are prepared to forward packets; in the Internet, these are called routers). The basic concept of link-state routing is that every node constructs a map of the connectivity to the network, in the form of a graph, showing which nodes are connected to which other nodes. Each node then independently calculates the best logical path or the best next hop interface from it to every possible destination in the network. Each collection of best paths will then form each node's routing table. Examples of link-state routing protocols include Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol and Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS or ISIS).
OSPF is a standard routing protocol designated by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). OSPF uses Link State Advertisement (LSA) to exchange routing information between routers. Each router within an area will flood a type 1 LSA (also called router LSA) within the area. LSA's are encapsulated behind an OPSF packet and then an IP packet. An area is a logical group of OSPF-based networks, routers, and links that have the same area number. Routers that belong to the same area keep a topological database for the entire area. The router LSA contains information about directly connected links in the area to which the router belongs (e.g., a list with all the directly connected links of this router). They are flooded to all routers in that area. If the router is an ABR (Area Border Router), it generates type 1 LSAs for all the areas to which it is connected and sends those LSAs to all neighbors in corresponding areas.
IS-IS is a routing protocol standardized by the International Standards Organization (ISO). IS-IS uses Link State Protocol Data Unit (LSP) to exchange routing information between routers. LSP is a packet of information generated by a network router in a link state routing protocol that lists the router's neighbors. A LSP packet can also be further defined as special datagrams that determine the names of, and the cost or distance to, any neighboring routers and associated networks. They are used to efficiently determine what the new neighbor is, if a link failure occurs, and the cost of changing a link if the need arises.
Some additional differences between OSPF and IS-IS are that OSPF supports non-broadcast multiple access network (NBMA) and point-to-multipoint links, whereas IS-IS does not; IS-IS runs on the data link layer (L2), whereas OSPF runs on the network layer (L3); and OSPF supports virtual link, whereas IS-IS does not.
Irrespective of which IGP routing protocol is used, as a network becomes bigger and bigger, IGP routing convergence is slower and slower when a change such as a link failure occurs in the network. IGP convergence or converges when all components of every router in the network, including the Routing Information Base (RIB) and Forwarding Information Base (FIB), along with software and hardware tables, are provided with the most recent route change(s) such that forwarding for a route entry is successful on the Best Egress (or next hop) Interface. The Best Egress Interface is the outbound interface or set of outbound interfaces in an Equal Cost Multipath (ECMP) set or parallel link set of the Device under Test (DUT) for traffic routed to the best next-hop. After a link change occurs in the network, and before IGP converges, there may be some routing loops in the network where some traffic will get lost.

System and method for interior gateway protocol (IGP) fast convergence