Ultrasound contrast agents are used to enhance imaging and facilitate HIFU therapy in four different ways. A contrast agent is used: (1) before therapy to locate specific vascular structures for treatment; (2) to determine the focal point of a HIFU therapy transducer while the HIFU therapy transducer is operated at a relatively low power level, so that non-target tissue is not damaged as the HIFU is transducer is properly focused at the target location; (3) to provide a positive feedback mechanism by causing cavitation that generates heat, reducing the level of HIFU energy administered for therapy compared to that required when a contrast agent is not used; and, (4) to shield non-target tissue from damage, by blocking the HIFU energy. Various combinations of these techniques can also be employed in a single therapeutic implementation.

Ultrasound has gained acceptance as an imaging technique particularly well suited to providing information about a patient's internal structures without risk of exposure to potentially harmful radiation, as may occur when using X-ray imaging techniques. The first recorded use of ultrasound as an imaging technique was by Dr. Karl Dussik, a Psychiatrist at the hospital in Bad Ischl, Austria; who tried to locate brain tumors using ultrasound. He used two opposed probes, including one that transmitted ultrasound waves, while the other probe received them. With these probes, he transmitted an ultrasound beam through a patient's skull, and used the received signal to visualize the cerebral structure by measuring the ultrasound beam attenuation. He published his technique in 1942, in an article entitled, "Hyperphonography of the Brain."
Specially manufactured medical diagnostic equipment using ultrasound became available in the 1950's. An ultrasound examination is a safe diagnostic procedure that uses very high-frequency sound waves to produce an image of the internal structures of the body. Many studies have shown that these sound waves are harmless and may be used with complete safety, even on pregnant women, where the use of X-rays would be inappropriate. Furthermore, ultrasound examinations are sometimes quicker and typically less expensive than other imaging techniques.
More recently, the use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for therapeutic purposes, as opposed to imaging, has received significant attention in the medical community. HIFU therapy employs ultrasound transducers that are capable of delivering 1,000-10,000 W/cm2 at a focal spot, in contrast to diagnostic ultrasound where intensity levels are usually below 0.1 W/cm2. A portion of the mechanical energy from these high intensity sound waves is transferred to the targeted location as thermal energy. The amount of thermal energy thus transferred can be sufficiently intense to cauterize tissue, or to cause tissue necrosis (by inducing a temperature rise to beyond 70° C.) without actual physical charring of the tissue. Tissue necrosis can also be achieved by mechanical action alone (i.e., by cavitation that results in mechanical disruption of the tissue structure). Further, where the vascular system supplying blood to an internal structure is targeted, HIFU can be used to induce hemostasis. The focal point of this energy transfer can be tightly controlled so as to obtain tissue necrosis in a small target area without damaging adjoining tissue. Thus, deep-seated tumors can be destroyed with HIFU without surgical exposure of the tumor site.
A particular advantage of HIFU therapy over certain traditional therapies is that HIFU is less invasive. The current direction of medical therapy is progressively toward utilizing less-invasive and non-operative approaches, as will be evident from the increasing use of laparoscopic and endoscopic techniques. Advantages include reduced blood loss, reduced risk of infection, shorter hospital stays, and lower health care costs. HIFU has the potential to provide an additional treatment methodology consistent with this trend by offering a method of non-invasive surgery. HIFU enables transcutaneous tumor treatment without making a single incision, thus avoiding blood loss and the risk of infection. Also, HIFU therapy may be performed without the need for anesthesia, thereby reducing surgical complications and cost. Most importantly, these treatments may be performed on an outpatient basis, further reducing health care cost, while increasing patient comfort.
The use of HIFU for the destruction of tumors is a relatively new technique. The first clinical trials were performed on patients with hyperkinetic and hypertonic disorders (symptoms of Parkinson's disease). HIFU was used to produce coagulation necrosis lesions in specific complexes of the brain. While the treatment was quite successful, monitoring and guidance of the HIFU lesion formation was not easily achieved (N. T. Sanghvi and R. H. Hawes, "High-intensity focused ultrasound," Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Clinics of North America, vol. 4, pp. 383-95, 1994). The problem has been that the high energy therapeutic wave introduces a significant amount of noise into an ultrasound imaging signal employed to monitor the treatment site, making simultaneous imaging and treatment difficult. Indeed, the high energy of the HIFU can completely overwhelm conventional ultrasonic imaging systems. However, the advancement of imaging modalities has provided grounds for renewed research and development of HIFU-based tumor treatment methods. In general, current methods involve the use of discrete imaging and therapeutic steps, i.e., a treatment site is first imaged, therapy is applied, and the treatment site is again imaged. The therapeutic transducer is de-energized during the imaging process to eliminate the noise it would otherwise produce. However, the time required for carrying out each of these discrete steps has prevented the significant potential of HIFU from being fully realized, since real-time guidance and monitoring of HIFU has not been achieved.
Two HIFU-based systems have been developed for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in humans (E. D. Mulligan, T. H. Lynch, D. Mulvin, D. Greene, J. M. Smith, and J. M. Fitzpatrick, "High-intensity focused ultrasound in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia," Br J Urol, vol. 70, pp. 177-80, 1997). These systems are currently in clinical use in Europe and Japan, and are undergoing clinical trials in the United States. Both systems use a transrectal HIFU probe to deliver 1,000-2,000 W/cm2 to the prostate tissue through the rectum wall. No evidence of damage to the rectal wall has been observed during a rectoscopy, performed immediately after HIFU treatment (S. Madersbacher, C. Kratzik, M. Susani, and M. Marberger, "Tissue ablation in benign prostatic hyperplasia with high intensity focused ultrasound," Journal of Urology, vol. 152, pp. 1956-60; discussion 1960-1, 1994). Follow-up studies have shown decreased symptoms of BPH (i.e., increased urinary flow rate, decreased post-void residual volume, and decreased symptoms of irritation and obstruction; see S. Madersbacher, C. Kratzik, N. Szabo, M. Susani, L. Vingers, and M. Marberger, "Tissue ablation in benign prostatic hyperplasia with high-intensity focused ultrasound," European Urology, vol. 23 Supplement 1, pp. 39-43, 1993). In this prior art use of HIFU, ultrasound imaging is employed to obtain pre- and post-treatment maps of the prostate and the treatment area. Significantly, the noise induced in the imaging signal by the HIFU prevents real time imaging of the treatment site. Therefore, strict imaging requirements, such as no patient movement during the entire procedure (thus, the need for general or spinal anesthesia), limit the performance of these systems. It should be noted that respiration alone can result in sufficient patient movement so that the HIFU is no longer targeted as precisely as would be desired. Especially where the treatment site is adjacent to critical internal structures that can be damaged, the lack of real time imaging is a significant drawback to an otherwise potentially very useful treatment methodology.
HIFU has also been studied for the de-bulking of malignant tumors (C. R. Hill and G. R. ter Haar, "Review article: high intensity focused ultrasound—potential for cancer treatment," Br J Radiol, vol. 68, pp. 1296-1303, 1995). Prostate cancer (S. Madersbacher, M. Pedevilla, L. Vingers, M. Susani, and M. Marberger, "Effect of high-intensity focused ultrasound on human prostate cancer in vivo," Cancer Research, vol. 55, pp. 3346-51, 1995) and testicular cancer (S. Madersbacher, C. Kratzik, M. Susani, M. Pedevilla, and M. Marberger, "Transcutaneous high-intensity focused ultrasound and irradiation: an organ-preserving treatment of cancer in a solitary testis," European Urology, vol. 33, pp. 195-201, 1998) are among the cancers currently being investigated clinically for potential treatment with HIFU. An extensive clinical study to extracorporeally treat a variety of stage 4 cancers is underway in England (A. G. Visioli, I. H. Rivens, G. R. ter Haar, A. Horwich, R. A. Huddart, E. Moskovic, A. Padhani, and J. Glees, "Preliminary results of a phase I dose escalation clinical trial using focused ultrasound in the treatment of localized tumors," Eur J Ultrasound, vol. 9, pp. 11-8, 1999). The cancers involved include prostate, liver, kidney, hipbone, ovarian, breast adenoma, and ocular adenoma. No adverse effects, except one case of skin burn have been observed. Significantly, none of these studies has addressed the noise issue preventing the real time imaging of HIFU treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,988 teaches the combination of a HIFU therapy transducer and an imaging transducer on the same probe. This patent points out that one of the problems with the prior art has been obtaining scanning data in conjunction with the therapeutic operation of the probe, due to the noise that the therapeutic wave introduces into the imaging signal. The reference notes that a problem with non-simultaneous imaging is that in the time frame between when the image was last seen, and when the therapy transducer is energized, it is possible that the probe will move relative to a target area. Thus, the therapeutic energy may be applied to an area that is not the desired target. The patent teaches that it is desirable for the therapy and imaging transducers operate at different frequencies, e.g., 12 MHz for the imaging transducer and less than 2 MHz for the therapeutic transducer. It is also suggested that incorporating noise reduction circuitry in the imaging system can help to reduce the impact of the interfering noise. Unfortunately, it has been determined that this approach does not work as effectively as would be desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,790 describes another combination probe that includes transducers for both ultrasonic imaging and treatment. This patent teaches that prior to the delivery of therapy, verification of the focal point of the therapeutic wave is needed and advocates energizing the therapy transducer at a relatively low power level and using the imaging transducer to detect the low power ultrasound waves produced by the therapy transducer that are reflected from the target site. This technique provides a B-mode image where the only area in the image to be significantly illuminated is the focus of the therapy transducer. The image frame can then be interleaved with or super imposed on a normal B-mode image frame where both transmit and receive functions are performed using the imaging transducer. Once the focal point of the therapy transducer has been verified in this manner, therapy can be delivered by applying higher power, longer duration excitation to the therapy transducer. Significantly, the '790 patent does not teach the simultaneous scanning of the treatment area with the ultrasonic signal transmitted by the imaging transducer while the therapy transducer is operational, nor does the '790 patent discuss how the noise problem can be addressed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,356 is directed to a method and apparatus optimized for the treatment of diseases of the prostate. This reference teaches that the echogenicity of tissue heated to over 60° C. changes so that when imaged using an ultrasonic imaging transducer, a bright spot appears in the viewing field, and that this echogenicity is transient (it fades with time). The patent also teaches storing the location of this region of higher echogenicity in a memory of an imaging system and superimposing the known focal point of the therapeutic transducer on the display of the imaging system, so that the therapeutic transducer can be focused on an area of interest prior to energizing the therapeutic transducer. The patent teaches imaging using low power ultrasound, focusing using the known focal point, ceasing the imaging, applying a higher power ultrasound therapy, ceasing the therapy, and then using low power ultrasound to generate an image of the area just treated. Significantly, the patent does not discuss how noise produced by the simultaneous operation of imaging and therapeutic ultrasound can be reduced.
While the prior art has recognizes the advantages that real time imaging can provide, a suitable method of achieving such imaging has not been described. It would be desirable to provide a method in which simultaneous imaging and therapy can be achieved in real time without a noise signal degrading the image quality of the treatment site.
Furthermore, there are many medical conditions that could benefit from simultaneous treatment and imaging using HIFU. In particular, it appears that the treatment of gynecological and obstetrical disorders could be significantly enhanced. For example, uterine fibroids, which are benign tumors of the uterus found in more than half of all women, could be treated using an image-guided HIFU therapy system. Approximately 30% of all hysterectomies are related to these uterine fibroids. Current treatment methods for uterine fibroids include both drug therapy and surgery. Drug therapy has virtually a 100% rate of tumor reoccurrence once the drug therapy has stopped, and the drug therapy itself includes numerous negative side effects. The rate of reoccurrence is significantly less (about 15%) for the surgical therapy, though the surgical procedure is invasive, requiring a significant recovery period, and involves significant risks, such as blood loss, damage to related organs, and the ever present risk of infection. It is estimated that uterine fibroid procedures in the United States alone account for 1.2 to 3.6 billion dollars in annual medical costs.
Contrast agents have been successfully employed to enhance diagnostic imaging in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and it has been suggested that gaseous micro-bubbles might be useful contrast agents for use in conjunction with diagnostic ultrasound. It would therefore be desirable to provide a method for employing contrast agents for use in connection with the administration of therapeutic HIFU. Further, it would be desirable to develop a simultaneous or real-time imaging and therapeutic ultrasound method and corresponding apparatus that beneficially employ contrast agents.

Use of contrast agents to increase the effectiveness of high intensity focused ultrasound therapy


A clutch device for a rollers' swinging mechanism of a belt sander, which includes a roller set, a swinging gear set, is composed of a control bar, a linking member and a clutch member. The roller set is driven by the swinging gear set to carry out an axial movement. The control bar is set with an eccentric wheel at its lower side, and the eccentric wheel is connected with the linking member, which is pivotally connected with the clutch member at its other end. When the eccentric wheel is driven to turn around, the linking member moves successively the clutch member to work for controlling the swinging gear set to provide two operating models optional for the belt sander.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a belt sander, particularly one that has a clutch device for controlling a swinging gear set to provide two operating models optional.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Common conventional belt sander is always composed of a roller set and a motor set. The roller set and the motor set are mounted with and rotated by a belt. The roller set is wrapped up with a sanding cloth for sanding and can only rotated, resulting in a low precision only for rough grinding. For upgrading grinding precision, a known improved swinging belt sander includes a roller set, a swinging gear set and a motor set, having its difference from the conventional ones in that the swinging gear set rotated by the motor set reciprocates axially, revving up the precision sanding. Though the precision is really improved, but it takes relatively much time for operation without option for a refined sanding or rough one, causing a higher cost and a lower efficiency.

Clutch device for a rollers' swinging mechanism of a belt sander


Method of clock synchronization in cloud computing. A plurality of physical computer assets are provided. The plurality of physical computer assets are linked together to form a virtualized computing cloud, the virtualized computing cloud having a centralized clock for coordinating the operation of the virtualized computing cloud; the virtualized computing cloud is logically partitioned into a plurality of virtualized logical server clouds, each of the virtualized logical server clouds having a local clock synchronized to the same centralized clock; a clock type from a clock palette is selected for at least one of the virtualized logical server clouds; the clock type is implemented in the at least one of the virtualized logical server clouds such that the clock type is synchronized to the at least one of the virtualized logical server clouds; and the centralized clock is disabled. The method may be performed on one or more computing devices.

The present exemplary embodiments relate to clock synchronization in cloud computing and, more particularly, relate to clock synchronization wherein each logically partitioned resource in the cloud has its own clock that is not tied to the central clock of the computing cloud.
There are many situations in which it is desired to lease one or more server computer systems on a short or long-term basis. Examples include educational or classroom services, demonstration of software to potential users or buyers, website server applications, etc. The servers may be pre-configured with selected operating systems and application software as desired. Although physical servers may be leased and physically delivered for onsite use, servers may also be leased from a central or remote location and accessed via an intermediate network system, such as the Internet. The primary considerations for remote access include the capabilities of the remote access software and the network connection or interface.
Cloud computing in general can be portrayed as a synonym for distributed computing or grid computing over a network, with the ability to run a program or application on many connected computers at the same time. It specifically refers to a computing hardware machine or group of computing hardware machines commonly referred to as a server connected through a communication network such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Individual users or a user who have permission to access the server can use the server's processing power for their individual computing needs such as to run an application, store data or any other computing need. Therefore, instead of using a personal computer every-time to run the application, the individual can now run the application from anywhere in the world, as the server provides the processing power to the application and the server is also connected to a network via internet or other connection platforms to be accessed from anywhere.
Virtualization technology has enabled multiple logical servers to operate on a single physical computer. Previously, logical servers were tied directly to physical servers because they relied on the physical server's attributes and resources for their identity. Virtualization technology weakened this restriction by allowing multiple logical servers to override a physical server's attributes and share its resources. Each logical server is operated substantially independent of other logical servers and provides virtual isolation among users effectively partitioning a physical server into multiple logical servers.
The cloud is essentially a collection of virtualized logical devices through which a user may access the processing power of the cloud. The essential element of a cloud is that all virtualized logical devices in the cloud may be accessed without any knowledge of the underlying physical devices within the cloud. The boundary of the cloud may be defined by the physical resources controlled by a cloud manager. Based upon demand, the cloud boundary may increase or decrease through dynamic resource management algorithms.
Each of the physical devices that make up the cloud has a clock for synchronization and these clocks are synchronized to form a centralized clock for the cloud. Moreover, each of the virtualized logical devices in the cloud is synchronized according to the centralized clock.

Clock synchronization in cloud computing

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The presence of a drape on a thermal treatment system for ensuring sterility of a sterile medium contained within a thermal treatment system basin is determined by the use of a drape identifier and corresponding detector. When a drape containing the identifier is placed on the corresponding thermal treatment system, a detector senses and verifies the drape identifier to determine the presence of the drape on the thermal treatment system. A controller receives a signal from the detector indicating whether or not a drape is present on the thermal treatment system. If a drape is not present on the thermal treatment system, the controller prevents thermal treatment system operation. Various drape identifiers may be utilized to indicate the presence of the drape on the thermal treatment system, such as bar codes, mechanical and optical keys, light filter patches disposed on the drape passing various intensities or bands of light, reflective material segments disposed on the drape or reflective material used to construct the drape itself for reflecting light from a light source toward a light detector, and magnetic media in the form of magnetic strips disposed on the drape or a magnetic pigment or resin additive incorporated into the drape material.

1. Technical Field
The present invention pertains to improvements in methods and apparatus for heating or cooling sterile surgical liquids and collecting surgical sterile slush. In particular, the invention is an improvement of the methods and apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,393,659 (Keyes et al), 4,934,152 (Templeton), 5,163,299 (Faries, Jr. et al), 5,331,820 (Faries, Jr. et al), 5,333,326 (Faries, Jr. et al) and 5,457,962 (Faries, Jr. et al). The disclosures in those patents are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The above-referenced Keyes et al U.S. Pat. No. (4,393,659) discloses a surgical slush producing system having a cabinet with a heat transfer basin at its top surface. A refrigeration mechanism in the cabinet takes the form of a closed refrigeration loop including: an evaporator in heat exchange relation to the outside surface of the heat transfer basin; a compressor; a condenser; and a refrigeration expansion control, all located within the cabinet. A separate product basin is configured to be removably received in the heat transfer basin. Spacers, in the form of short cylindrical stubs or buttons, are arranged in three groups spaced about the heat transfer basin and projecting into the heat transfer basin interior to maintain a prescribed space between the two basins. During use, that space contains a thermal transfer liquid, such as alcohol or glycol, serving as a thermal transfer medium between the two basins. A sterile drape, impervious to the thermal transfer medium, is disposed between the product basin exterior and the liquid thermal transfer medium to preserve the sterile nature of the product basin. Surgically sterile liquid, such as sodium chloride solution, is placed in the product basin and congeals on the side of that basin when the refrigeration unit is activated. A scraping tool is utilized to remove congealed sterile material from the product basin side to thereby form a slush of desired consistency within the product basin. Some users of the system employ the scraping tool to chip the solid pieces from the basin side.
As noted in the above-referenced Templeton U.S. Pat. No. (4,934,152), the Keyes et al system has a number of disadvantages. In particular, the separate product basin must be removed and re-sterilized after each use. Additionally, the glycol or other thermal transfer medium is highly flammable or toxic and, in any event, complicates the procedure. The Templeton patent discloses a solution to these problems by constructing an entirely new apparatus whereby the product basin is eliminated in favor of a sterile drape impervious to the sterile surgical liquid, the drape being made to conform to the basin and directly receive the sterile liquid. Congealed liquid is scraped or chipped from the sides of the conformed drape receptacle to form the desired surgical slush.
The Faries, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. (5,163,299) notes that scraping congealed liquid from the drape is undesirable in view of the potential for damage to the drape, resulting in a compromise of sterile conditions. As a solution to the problem, the Faries, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. (5,163,299) proposes that the drape be lifted or otherwise manipulated by hand to break up the congealed liquid adhering to the drape. Although this hand manipulation is somewhat effective, it is not optimal, and often is inconvenient and constitutes an additional chore for operating room personnel.
The Faries, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. (5,331,820) resolves the problem of manual manipulation of the drape by providing a method and apparatus to automatically remove the congealed liquid adhering to the drape without endangering the integrity of the drape. A flat disk or plate is provided at the bottom of the basin under the drape. The plate is moved in an up and down manner to manipulate the drape and disengage the congealed liquid adhering to the drape. The plate may be attached to a mechanism below the basin, or to the drape itself as disclosed in the Faries, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. (5,457,962).
The Templeton U.S. Pat. No. (4,934,152) further provides an electrical heater disposed at the bottom of the basin to convert the sterile slush to warmed liquid, or to heat additional sterile liquid added to the basin. Templeton describes the need for such warm sterile liquid as occurring after a surgical procedure is completed to facilitate raising the body cavity of the surgery patient back to its normal temperature by contact with the warmed liquid. However, there are a number of instances during a surgical procedure when it is desirable to have simultaneous access to both the sterile warmed liquid and the sterile surgical slush. Accordingly, the Faries, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. (5,333,326) provides a method and apparatus for simultaneously providing surgical slush and warmed surgical liquid in separate basins during a surgical procedure using a single drape forming a drape receptacle within each basin.
The apparatus disclosed in the foregoing patents may stand some improvements to further ensure sterile conditions. Specifically, a sterile drape is typically disposed over a thermal treatment system having a basin recessed in a top surface of the system housing wherein a portion of the drape is pushed down into and conforms to the basin to form a drape container or receptacle for containing a sterile medium. The drape essentially forms a sterile field above the basin to maintain sterility of the sterile medium. Since the sterile surgical drape provides a sterile field above the basin for the sterile medium, it is important that a sterile drape be used for each procedure during system operation in order to prevent contamination of the sterile medium and serious injury to a patient. Although operating room personnel can be advised and cautioned about the importance of placing a drape over a thermal treatment system prior to the performance of a surgical procedure, there is no assurance that carelessness will not result in operation of a thermal treatment system without the use of a drape and thereby compromise the sterile field of an entire surgical procedure. Thus, it is desirable to ensure sterility of the sterile medium by enabling operation of the thermal treatment system only when a sterile surgical drape is positioned on the thermal treatment system.
Although the thermal treatment system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,938 identifies previously used drapes to control thermal treatment system operation by detecting a bar code affixed to or imprinted on drapes, the bar code identification is typically used only for drape detection purposes, thereby restricting bar code utilization potential. Further, since the bar code is affixed to or imprinted on the drape, the bar code is typically transferred onto material (e.g., drape material) that may not be optimal for containing the bar code, thereby possibly distorting the bar code and increasing the likelihood of erroneous identification. Accordingly, the bar code system disclosed in the aforementioned copending application may stand some improvement to further utilize the bar code identification for performance of various tasks, such as drape inventory, and to further dispose the bar code on a tag for attachment to the drape wherein the tag includes material (e.g., paper, cardboard, etc.) for containing the bar code that is conducive to proper bar code identification. Thus, there exists a need in the art for a thermal treatment system to ensure sterility of a sterile medium contained within a thermal treatment system basin by utilizing improved drape detection techniques that generally employ different types of drape indicators to detect the presence of the drape on the thermal treatment system in order to control thermal treatment system operation.

Method and apparatus for ensuring sterility of surgical drapes used with surgical equipment


The present invention relates, in general, to a process of enzymatically synthesizing nucleic acids containing boranophosphonate linkages that are resistant to degradation. The invention further relates to methods of utilizing such nucleic acids in DNA and RNA amplification and sequencing, gene therapy and molecular detection protocols.

Cycle sequencing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products has proven to be an effective alternative to the more traditional M13 sequencing technique. Advantages include the use of thermostable polymerases that allow high annealing and extension temperatures (Gyllenstein and Erlich, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:7652 (1988), Innis et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:9436 (1988)), as well as the ability to directly utilize double-stranded DNA for templates (Carothers et al, Biotechniques 7:494; Sears et al, Biotechniques 13:626 (1992)). High temperature annealing and extension reduce ambiguous sequencing data that arise because of mispriming and/or secondary structure of the template. The capability of sequencing double-stranded DNA allows PCR products to be sequenced immediately after amplification. However, a simpler method for sequencing PCR products is to incorporate sequence delimiters directly into the PCR amplification process.
A sequencing method based on the incorporation of 5'-.alpha.-thiotriphosphates into PCR products has been demonstrated (Nakamaye et al, Nucl. Acids Res. 16:9947 (1988)). 5'-.alpha.-Thiotriphosphates were incorporated into DNA during PCR amplification and the positions of incorporated base-specific 5'-.alpha.-thiotriphosphates were revealed by chemical degradation with either 2-iodoethanol or 2,3-epoxy-1-propanol. Also 5'-.alpha.-thiotriphosphates have been used to sequence single stranded M13 DNA (Labeit et al, Meth. Enzymol. 155:166 (1987)). After incorporation by Klenow into primer extension products, the positions of the 5'-.alpha.-thiotriphosphates were revealed by exonuclease III digestion. However, attempts to combine the best features of both methods (PCR amplification and enzymatic digestion) to reveal the sequence delimiters have proven unsatisfactory because of uneven band intensity (Nakamaye et al, Nucl. Acids Res. 16:9947 (1988); Olsen and Eckstein, Nucl. Acids Res. 17:9613 (1989)). The present invention overcomes the problems of the art and provides a simple and accurate method of amplifying and sequencing nucleic acids in a single step. Furthermore, the method is fast and amenable to automation.

Synthesis of oligonucleotides with boranophosphonate linkages


A control apparatus structuring system for facilitated handling of a nonlinear control object, using a generic form of control rules, and which stably reaches a target value by setting plural virtual target values corresponding to the system states and by selecting one according to the distance to the target value. A processor performs a signal conversion function to realize input/output characteristics for a given teacher signal group. A virtual target controller controls advance knowledge about data relations between control state volumes. A calculator calculates a correction volume of a control state volume from the control state volume of a control object and a virtual target value defined by the control data of the virtual target controller corresponding to the control state volume. The system structures the processor to a desired control apparatus by giving an input of the control state volume to the processor, by supplying an output as the control operation volume to the control object, by obtaining a teacher signal through a correction of the control operation volume according to the correction volume then outputted from the calculator. The processor receives the difference between a current state volume and a targeted control state volume. The virtual target controller controls the advance knowledge about data relations between control state volumes by parametrizing the difference between a control state volume and its control target value.

This invention pertains to a control apparatus structuring system for structuring a control apparatus for controlling a control object, and more particularly to a control apparatus structuring system for structuring a control apparatus for handling a nonlinear control object with ease and with a generally applicable set of control rules.
A classical PID control cannot control a complex object such as an inverted pendulum having one (1) input and two (2) outputs. Therefore, a modern control theory is applied to a designing a control apparatus.
However, when a linear control theory of the modern control theories is used, because the control object model is structured by linearizing the equation of motion of a control object, a problem arises that the control performance deteriorates outside of a linear region.
Also, when a nonlinear control theory of the modern control theories is used, because the equations of motions need to be written definitively and completely, the parameters of a control object need to be defined precisely. The disadvantage is that this is extremely difficult.
With such a background, a new mode of control apparatuses using neural networks is being proposed.


A rotary drill bit having one or more fluid nozzles is provided. Each nozzle may include interior surfaces designed to optimize hydraulic performance and efficiency of fluid flowing through the nozzle. The interior surfaces cooperate with each other to minimize turbulent fluid flow through the respective nozzle. Each nozzle may also include a discharge port or outlet with at least one Coanda surface operable to direct fluid flow in a direction which optimizes efficiency of transferring fluid energy to adjacent portions of a wellbore. The orientation of fluid flow from each nozzle may be directed to optimize cleaning of associated cutting structures and/or to minimize or prevent balling of formation cuttings.

Various types of rotary drill bits have been used to form wellbores or bore holes in downhole formations. Such wellbores are often formed using a rotary drill bit attached to the end of a generally hollow, tubular drill string extending from an associated well surface. Rotation of a rotary drill bit progressively removes adjacent portions of a downhole formation by contact between cutting elements and cutting structures disposed on exterior portions of the rotary drill bit. Various types of drilling fluids are often used in conjunction with rotary drill bits to form wellbores or bore holes extending from a well surface through one or more downhole formations.
Bottom hole assemblies (BHA) are often included as part of a drill string. Drill collars and other components associated with rotary drilling of wellbores may be included in a bottom hole assembly. A downhole drilling motor may also be included as part of a bottom hole assembly to aid in rotation of an associated rotary drill bit. Downhole drilling motors, rotary steering tools and/or directional drilling tools are frequently used when forming horizontal wellbores, extended reach wellbores and highly deviated wellbores.
Rotary drill bits generally include a bit body with an enlarged fluid cavity formed therein. Drilling fluid may be communicated from an attached drill string to the enlarged fluid cavity formed within the bit body. One or more drilling fluid passageways may extend from the enlarged cavity to respective nozzle receptacles or opening formed in exterior portions of the bit body. Nozzles may be engaged with respective receptacles or openings formed in the bit body. Such nozzles often have a central passageway operable to receive drilling fluid supplied through the attached drill string to the enlarged cavity formed in the bit body. The nozzles are typically oriented to direct a fluid stream exiting from each nozzle. Such nozzles may control the pattern and velocity of associated fluid streams.
The nozzles may direct drilling fluid flow to flush and remove formation cuttings from the end or bottom of the bore hole. The nozzles may also direct drilling fluid to clean associated cutting elements and cutting structures to prevent clogging and balling of the cutting elements and cutting structures by formation cuttings and other downhole debris. Drilling fluid may be used to cool various components of a rotary drill bit. Drilling fluid may also be directed from one or more nozzles to abrade or erode adjacent formation materials to enhance forming an associated bore hole using hydraulic drilling techniques.
Bit bodies often include internally threaded nozzle receptacles that may receive externally threaded nozzle bodies. Nozzles having directional exit flow patterns may be firmly anchored within associated nozzle receptacles to prevent undesired axial or angular movement. Various techniques have been previously used to prevent undesired movement of nozzles within associated nozzle receptacles.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rotary drill bit with nozzles designed to enhance hydraulic performance and drilling fluid efficiency


A sealed-type rotary compressor includes a rotary drive unit and a compression mechanism coupled via a rotary shaft pivotally supported by a main bearing and a sub-bearing, and roller bearings. In the compressor, there are provided an oil filler opening which is provided to the rotary shaft along its center axis from one end face and which introduces lubricant of the bottom of an closed case, and oil filler openings, one end of which opens into the oil filler opening and the other end of which opens into the outer circumferential surface of the rotary shaft and which feed lubricant to roller bearings are equipped. The oil filler openings are formed to open towards the direction subject to the load when the roller bearings are subject to a large load.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealed-type rotary compressor and a refrigerating cycle device, and in particular, to a sealed-type rotary compressor and a refrigerating cycle device which can improve reliability by effectively feeding lubricant to a roller bearing provided at a rotary sliding portion with a rotary shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is known a sealed-type rotary compressor with a roller bearing provided at the rotary sliding portion of, for example, between a main bearing and a main shaft portion of a rotary shaft, between a sub-shaft and a sub-baring portion of the rotary shaft, and between a roller which eccentrically rotates in a cylinder chamber of the compressor mechanism and a crank shaft portion of the rotary shaft (for example, see Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 5-256283 and 2001-323886). By installing a roller bearing at the rotary sliding portion of the compressor, sliding resistance can be reduced and the coefficient of performance can be improved.
The above-mentioned sealed-type rotary compressor has had a following problem. That is, in order to improve the reliability of the rotary sliding portion, sufficient lubrication is required even for roller bearings but lubricant is not sufficiently fed to the roller bearing.

Sealed-type rotary compressor and refrigerating cycle device


A pillow is provided. The pillow includes an elongated pillow extending along a single axis and a pad attached to and extending outward from a middle section of the elongated pillow. The pad is operable to support a torso of a user in a side lying position with the elongated pillow in front of the user and a portion of the pad beneath the torso.

Pregnancy can cause discomfort in many aspects of life. Sometimes sleeping can be uncomfortable due to the extra body weight. Many people prefer to sleep laying on their side in a position sometimes referred to as the fetal position. The fetal position tends to be a favorable position because it allows a person's muscles to relax, and is a comfortable sleeping to position.
Multiple individual pillows or other objects are commonly utilized to support and position a person's body in the fetal position. These multiple pillows are typically placed beneath a person's head and between a person's knees to support the head and knees in the fetal position.
It is within this context that the embodiments arise.


The present disclosure provides a cosmetic composition which includes at least one of Scutellaria baicalensis essence, licorice essence, and mixture of Scutellaria baicalensis extract and licorice extract as active ingredient and, optionally, further includes at least one of zinc pyrithione, panthenol and thuja semen extract. The cosmetic composition of the present disclosure is capable of inhibiting hair loss and enhancing hair growth by inhibiting binding with the androgen receptor and regulating the hair growth factor so as to induce transition from telogen to anagen and prolong anagen.

Hair is generated with skin and the hair growth cycle consists of anagen (3-5 years), catagen (1-2 months) and telogen (3-5 months). During the anagen phase, the dermis and the hypodermis are developed. Hair follicles grow in the papillary dermis of the dermis. During the catagen phase, the hair follicles come closer to the epidermis as the thickness of the dermis decreases. Dermal papilla fall off from the hair follicles and a new hair growth cycle begins.
Hair loss can be classified into telogen effluvium and anagen effluvium according to the stage of hair shedding. Telogen effluvium may be caused by the male hormone androgen, childbirth or endocrine disease. Anagen effluvium includes alopecia greata, cicatricial greata and hair loss caused by tinea capitis. Also, focal infection, endocrine disorder, genetic factors, autoimmunity, etc. are known to cause loss of hair.
A variety of signal transduction factors induce hair loss during the hair growth cycle. Growth factors such as Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), epidermal growing factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), etc. promote hair growth and prevent death of hair cells, whereas Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) cause hair loss by inducing death of hair cells and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) inhibits hair growth. Among the male hormones, androgen is known to reduce the hair growth and cause degeneration of hair.
Currently, representative treatments for hair loss include Propecia and minoxidil approved by the USFDA. Although these drugs show obvious clinical effects, they have side effects such as sexual dysfunction and skin irritation and are unavailable or limited for use in women. Recently, natural products which are safe can be used regardless of sex and have been actively explored.
Korean Patent No. 10-0581316 discloses a composition for inhibiting hair kiss and enhancing hair growth, which comprises a herbal extract mixture of Leonurus sibiricus, spikenard, mother chrysanthemum, peach kernel, cornus fruit, cuscuta semen, Schisandra chinensis, atractylodes rhizome, pine needle and Angelica gigas. Korean Patent No. 10-0609210 discloses a shampoo composition for inhibiting hair loss, which comprises ethanol extracts of Angelica gigas root and burdock root wherein β-sitosterol included in the Angelica gigas root suppresses 5α-reductase and inulin included in the burdock root improves blood circulation. Although they show hair loss inhibiting effect clinically, their mechanism action is not clearly understood. (see Korean Patent No. 10-0581316 and Korean Patent No. 10-0609210)

Cosmetic composition for inhibiting hair loss and enhanced hair growth


An ATR infrared spectrometer for analyzing a chemical composition of a sample is provided including an elongated ATR crystal and having an entrance face, a longitudinal axis, a width, first and second longitudinal ends and an infrared light detector line with infrared-light-detecting regions. A first overall extent of all of the infrared-light-detecting regions corresponds to the width of ATR crystal. An infrared light emitter line has infrared-light-emitting regions and is arranged directly adjacent to the entrance face of the elongated ATR crystal. A sample is arranged adjacent to the ATR crystal between the infrared light emitter line and the infrared light detector line. Infrared light is emitted by the infrared light emitter line to directly enter said ATR crystal via said entrance face. The light is guided in the ATR crystal to said infrared light detector line thereby undergoing total internal reflection and thereby interacting with said sample.

An ATR infrared spectrometer is known for analyzing the chemical composition of a sample. The ATR infrared spectrometer (ATR: attenuated total reflection) has an elongated ATR crystal as an optical waveguide, in which infrared light is guided under total internal reflection, wherein approximately ten multiple reflections occur. Evanescent waves which interact with the sample arranged in the vicinity of the interface, for example on a sample stage, are formed behind the reflecting interface of the ATR crystal at the points of total internal reflection. By way of example, the material used for the ATR crystal is zinc sulfide or zinc selenide.
Arranged at the one longitudinal end of the ATR crystal is an infrared light source, by which the infrared light is coupleable into the ATR crystal. Arranged at the other longitudinal end, which is arranged distant from the one longitudinal end, is an infrared light sensor with a linearly variable wavelength filter, by which the spectrum of the infrared light decoupled from the ATR crystal is detectable. The zinc sulfide or the zinc selenide for the ATR crystal is used for wavelengths of the infrared light between 5.5 μm and 11.0 μm, wherein the linearly variable wavelength filter is tuned to this wavelength range in order to provide the corresponding spectral resolution using the infrared light sensor. By way of example, the infrared light sensor is a linear array made of a plurality of pyroelectric infrared light pixels. In order to obtain good illumination of the ATR crystal, the infrared light source is known to have a longitudinal extent which is at least as large as the longitudinal extent of the linear infrared light sensor array. Alternatively, use of a collimating lens between the infrared light source and the ATR crystal to focus the incident infrared light such that the linear infrared light sensor array is well-illuminated is known. Although this achieves a high spectral resolution of the ATR infrared spectrometer, the signal-to-noise ratio disadvantageously varies greatly over the relevant wavelength range of 5.5 μm to 11.0 μm.
FIG. 4 is a diagram which shows a curve of the signal-to-noise ratio of the ATR infrared spectrometer along the infrared light sensor array. The ordinate, denoted by reference numeral 16, specifies the signal-to-noise ratio, which is plotted over the abscissa 15, on which the positions of the individual infrared light pixels of the infrared light sensor array are shown in enumerated fashion. Infrared light with a wavelength of 5.5 μm is incident on the infrared light pixel with the position number 1 and infrared light with a wavelength of 11.0 μm is incident on the infrared light pixel with the position number 130. Incident on the infrared light pixels with the position numbers between 1 and 130 is infrared light with a wavelength between 5.5 μm and 11.0 μm, with the wavelength increasing linearly from the infrared light pixel with the position number 1 to the infrared light pixel with the position number 130. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the signal-to-noise ratio of the first 20 pixels is advantageously high. The signal-to-noise ratio is likewise still relatively high for the infrared light pixels with position numbers between 100 and 120. The signal-to-noise ratio is particularly low for the infrared light pixels with position numbers between 25 and 60. This uneven distribution of the signal-to-noise ratio over the infrared light pixels and hence over the wavelength range measured by the ATR infrared spectrometer is very disadvantageous, particularly if a signal-to-noise ratio which is as unchanging as possible over the whole wavelength measurement range is required for high accuracy of the analysis of the chemical composition of the sample.


An absorbent article includes a belt placed around the waist of the wearer and an absorbent pad attached to the belt, wherein the pad includes a chassis having a topsheet, a backsheet and an absorbent core, wherein the absorbent pad is attached to a surface of the belt attaching arrangements provided on each corner of the front portion and the rear portion of the pad, wherein the waist elastic is provided at the waist portion of at least one of the front and rear portion and is movable between a contracted condition in which the topsheet and/or backsheet exhibit(s) pleats and a fully stretched condition in which the pleats of the topsheet and/or backsheet are fully stretched out, wherein the elastic force from said waist elastic is within the range of from 2 N to 7 N when the elastic is in the fully stretched condition.

It is known that absorbent articles, in the forms of diapers, pant diapers, or incontinent-protecting products, are generally used for babies and incontinent adults for the absorption of bodily exudates, such as blood, urine, sweat and faeces. Some of these absorbent articles are provided with a belt to be placed around the waist of the wearer to facilitate putting on and putting off of the articles.
There are two kinds of belts. One type of belt is integral with the pad and will be discarded together with the disposal article, see for example EP 1142547 A1. The belt may be an intact belt permanently attached to the pad. The belt may alternatively be in the form of two halves laterally extending from either side of the waist portions of the pad.
The other type of belt relates to a separate belt detachably attached to the pad, see for example WO99/21522, WO94/26224, WO94/26222, WO94/26225 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,960. The ends of the belt are provided with attaching elements, which are attached to each other when the belt is placed around the waist of the wearer. To put on the article on the wearer, one of the ends of the pad is detachably attached to the belt (this step will be omitted if the belt is integral with the pad). Then the pad is passed through between the legs of the wearer. Finally, the other free end of the pad is detachably attached to the belt. The attachment between the two ends of the belt as well as the attachment between the belt and the pad are generally obtained by hook & loop connections, which are known to the persons skilled in the art. Optionally, other fastening means such as adhesive bonding may also be used. The provision of a reusable separate belt is favorable in order to save material.
However, in the above mentioned articles, the waist portion of the pad is flat without any elastic. When attaching the pad to the belt, the pad is prone to be positioned correctly in transverse direction with offset, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,860, since the attachment areas are small.
In view of this, some belts are provided with attaching indicators to show where the pad should be attached. Some pads are provided with extendable waist portions in order to adjust the attaching positions between the pad and the belt.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,970 a garment system with an absorbent pad and a separate belt is disclosed. The longitudinal ends of the pad are provided with hook element strips to be attached to loop elements on the belt or to the belt itself. In addition, in view of the comfort, the belt is provided with a non-attachment zone, the length of which is defined to not be larger than the distance between the two hook elements on the waist portion of the pad in order to obtain comfort and precise positioning. Especially, FIG. 7 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,970 exhibits an absorbent garment comprising hook attachment areas and waist elastics 15 between the hook attachment areas in each end of the article.
As to the purpose of providing the waist elastics, U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,970 just mentions that "fitment of the chassis correctly then requires merely extending the strip 6′ away from each other until they have a separating y greater than the length x of the zone 7".
U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,970 does not mention the strength of the hook & loop connection between the pad and the belt. Rather, U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,970 only mentions that the belt contains a nonwoven material to strengthen the attachment, but the relations between the shear force from the waist elastic and the peel force required to separate the hook element and the loop element are not discussed. When the peel force is too low, the pad may undesirably detach from the belt, which results in leakage and contamination. Too high peel force, on the other hand, will make it difficult to detach the pad from the belt when needed and may thus result in undesired damage of the belt in the case where it is a reusable belt.


In general, embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for managing network access for applications. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provide mock Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to the applications, where the applications may use the mock IP addresses to communicate with other systems (e.g., other computing devices, the management service, or any other system that is accessible via the network). Each mock IP address may be associated with one or more policies, where the policies dictate how packets that includes the mock IP address are processed. In one or more embodiments of the invention, the mock IP addresses may be used to maintain a class of service (CoS) between applications executing on the computing devices and an application service provider (ASP).

Applications may communicate with other systems via a network. Systems connected to a network are often vulnerable to various types of attacks. These attacks may impact the transfer of packets over the network, impact a source from sending packets on the network, and/or the connectivity between systems on the network.

Method and system for managing class of service in a network


A raw bone product including ground raw bone compressed into a mass, wherein the ground raw bone has been subjected to a hydrostatic pressure of at least 4000 atm for a predetermined amount of time, and wherein the mass is maintained at a temperature of at most 40° F.

Household pets, such dogs and cats, are commonly fed either dry food or wet food. Dry pet food, also known as kibble, typically includes a combination of ingredients, such as meat, vegetables and grains, and is sold in bulk in pelletized form. The low moisture content of dry pet food, typically below 10 percent by volume, ensures a relatively long shelf life, particularly when packaged in air-tight bags. Wet pet food, like dry pet food, typically includes a combination of ingredients, such as meat, vegetables and grains, but with a significantly higher moisture content (e.g., 60 percent or more). Therefore, to prolong shelf life, wet pet food is typically packaged in smaller containers (e.g., individual cans) and sterilized.
It has been observed that dogs and cats may benefit from diets that more closely resemble the diets of their evolutionary ancestors. Specifically, significant health benefits have been observed in dogs and cats that are fed a diet of raw meat, including raw bone, as well as in dogs and cats that are fed a traditional diet of dry or wet food that is supplemented with raw meat.
Unfortunately, feeding household pets raw food is more burdensome than feeding with traditional pet foods due to the relatively short shelf life of raw foods. Furthermore, concerns about bone splintering have kept many pets owners from incorporating raw meat into their pets' diets.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development efforts in the field of consumable products for animals.


A method and system for use of XML Schema in conjunction with XML Schema aware applications on a SOAP message including a request with a method defined by a WSDL document. A WSDL document is converted offline to XML Schema. A SOAP message containing a request is received. An XML Schema aware operation is performed on the SOAP message based on previously determined XML Schema derived from the WSDL document.

With the widespread use of web-based applications and the Internet in general, different websites using the ubiquitous extensible markup language (XML) format have been used for clients requesting web-based applications from a web server or web application server. Various applications have been developed such that a representation of data or functionality or both for these applications are XML documents. Such documents may be checked by an XML-based application against various XML Schema to insure the validity and compatibility of the XML documents. Web-based servers may have additional applications that may include XML security-based applications that analyze XML documents to insure that data structures and their contents in the XML documents do not pose a security threat to the web application server.
There are numerous XML based standards and protocols that use XML's extensibility properties and provide higher levels of semantics of the data represented in XML documents. Web services, for example, use the web services description language (WSDL), a web services language, which is used to describe a web based network service. WSDL is a language that is based on XML but extends XML further. WSDL provides a way to group messages into operations and operations into interfaces for web services. WSDL also provides a way to define bindings for each interface and protocol combination along with the endpoint address for each one. A complete WSDL definition contains all of the information necessary to invoke a web service or application. WSDL documents are often used in combination with XML Schema documents in order to describe simple object access protocol (SOAP) messages. Once a web service is available, the description and a link are published in a repository so that potential users may find and access the service. When a user wishes to use the web service, a WSDL file is requested in order to find out the methods and functions that are offered by the service, along with their usage. The client uses this information in the WSDL file to form a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) request to the server. A client device connecting to a web service can read the WSDL file to determine what functions are available on the server and is able to know precisely how to interact with the Web service it describes. Special data types in SOAP messages may be defined in a WSDL document using XML Schema Description Language. The client device then uses SOAP to actually call one of the functions listed in the WSDL file. A web server may use a WSDL document to enforce the structure and content of SOAP messages. Such enforcement may be a validation of the SOAP message against the WSDL document that defines and describes the web service.
There is a resemblance between validation of SOAP messages against a WSDL document and validation of general purpose XML documents against an XML Schema document. However, validation of SOAP messages against WSDL documents requires specialized processing tools that are different or are additional to those needed for XML document validation against XML Schema. SOAP messages require structural requirements beyond the basic syntactic requirements of well-formedness, that is, they need also to comply with a WSDL document. The nature of the validation against the WSDL document depends on implementation. General purpose XML processing tools and schema validation tools are commonly available for a vast variety of programming languages, platforms and systems; many times they are already available and do not require any installation. However, SOAP validation against WSDLs is still not as common. Thus, in order to validate SOAP messages against WSDLs, web applications and web services require functionality for this purpose in addition to existing XML and XML Schema processing tools. Many times, such additional applications are tailored specifically for specific WSDLs and require separate design and implementation for SOAP validation against WSDLs beyond the existing XML Schema validation facilities, thus increasing expense and complexity.

Methods and system for converting WSDL documents into XML schema


A 1-methylcarbapenem compound represented by the following formula: ##STR1## [wherein R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl group, R.sup.2 represents a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl group, R.sup.3 represents a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, a lower alkyl group which has a substituent, a cycloalkyl group or a group of formula --C(.dbd.NH)R.sup.4 (in which R.sup.4 represents a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group or an amino group)]; or a pharmacologically acceptable salt or derivative thereof. The 1-methylcarbapenem compounds of the present invention exhibit excellent antibacterial activity and are therefore effective as a preventive or remedy of infections.

Thienamycin derivatives which are carbapenem antibiotics have excellent antibacterial activity, but they have poor chemical stability and tend to lose their activity due to decomposition by dehydropeptidase I, which is an enzyme present in the human body, and exhibit a low recovery rate in urine [in H. Kropp et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 22, 62 (1982); S. R. Norrby et al., ibid., 23, 300 (1983)]. In addition, they happen to exhibit nephrotoxicity in some kinds of experimental animals. Among the thienamycin derivatives, imipenem has been used as a mixture with cilastatin which is a dehydropeptidase I inhibitor, while panipenem has been put on the market as a mixture with betamipron which is an organic anion transport inhibitor. After that, chemical stability and stability against dehydropeptidase I were found to be improved by introducing a methyl group at the 1-position of the carbapenem skeleton and then a carbapenem derivatives usable as a single active ingredient preparation such as meropenem (U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,604) has been on the market. As 1-methylcarbapenem derivatives such as meropenem have come to be used frequently in the clinical situation, however, resistant strains against it in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the like have started to be recognized.
There is accordingly an increasing need for agents which exhibit stronger and well-balanced antibacterial activity against a wide range of bacteria, including strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa which exhibit resistance against meropenem, and are free from nephrotoxicity. In Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. Hei 5-310740, Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. Hei 5-339269, Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. Hei 6-172356 and Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. Hei 6-199860, 1-methylcarbapenem derivatives synthesized for satisfying the above-described need are disclosed.


A system and method for determine a parameter for medical data processing are provided. The method may include obtaining sample data, the sample data may comprise at least one of projection data or a scanning parameter. The method may also include obtaining a first neural network model. The method may further include determining the parameter based on the sample data and the first neural network model. The parameter may comprise at least one of a correction coefficient or a noise reduction parameter.

Medical images, such as CT images, are important and necessary for medical diagnosis. A subject, such as a patient, may be scanned to obtain projection data which may be used to reconstruct an image of the subject. In some embodiments, due to influence of parameters of detector and/or environmental factors, artifacts and/or noise may exist in the reconstructed image of the subject. The artifacts and/or noise may reduce the quality of the reconstruction image and affect the subsequent processing, for example, lesion recognition and/or division. Hence, the projection data may need to be corrected for an accurate diagnosis. However, existing correction algorithms may take a long time to correct the projection data. Therefore, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for correcting projection data precisely and rapidly.

Systems and methods for determining parameters for medical image processing

SHANGHAI UNITED IMAGING HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.


The present invention is generally directed to a process and system for treating animal waste. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a process and system for treating animal waste effluent with ozone to decompose the organic material within and improve the odor of the animal waste. The process of the present invention also reduces biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total bacterial content and coliform bacterial count of the animal waste. The process of this present invention comprises collecting an animal waste solution, containing a mixture of water and animal fecal material; contacting the waste solution with ozone in an amount sufficient to oxidize at least a portion of the organic material contained within; and feeding the ozone treated waste solution to a solids separating device prior to collecting the waste solution in a biobasin or, alternatively, recycling the ozone treated waste solution for use as a source of irrigation or flushwater.

The present invention is generally directed to a process and system for treating waste water. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a process and system for treating an effluent with ozone to decompose the organic material within, sufficiently reduce microorganisms within, and improve the odor of the liquid.
One major dilemma plaguing farmers who raise livestock and/or poultry is the ability to efficiently neutralize and dispose of animal waste. Left untreated, animal waste is a significant health and environmental hazard. Animal waste creates a public nuisance because of its odor, and improper disposal is associated with significant problems such as water contamination.
In the past, animal waste was typically collected and channeled to a pond or lagoon. Before being emptied into the lagoon, the animal waste may or may not have been separated via mechanical means in order to remove various particulate matter such as sediment. Once fed to the pond or lagoon, the animal waste came in contact with various microorganisms and underwent biodegradation.
Prior art systems, however, have various deficiencies and drawbacks. In particular, these systems did little to initially improve the odor of the waste. Typically, odors originating from the animal waste were only improved or reduced over a substantial amount of time.
Further, these systems tended to work very slowly and would completely fail under some environmental conditions. For instance, under stagnant and hot conditions, the pond or lagoon would fail to adequately biodegrade the waste, overloading the system and creating a very unfavorable situation. Continued deposit of waste into the overloaded system would result in reduced growth or death of the microorganisms responsible for biodegradation.
As such, a need currently exists for an improved system and process for treating animal waste. In particular, a need currently exists for a process that can safely treat animal waste very rapidly to immediately reduce or otherwise improve the odor that is given off by the waste. A need also exists for a system and process that can very quickly reduce BOD, COD, total bacterial count, and the total coliform count present in animal waste.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process and system for treating animal waste.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for treating liquid waste to improve the odor associated with the liquid waste.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a process for treating animal waste comprising contacting the animal waste solution with ozone in an amount sufficient to oxidize and decompose organic matter contained in the animal waste solution.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a system and process to treat animal waste such that BOD, COD, total bacterial content and the coliform content of the waste are substantially reduced.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a system and process for treating animal waste. The process includes the steps of collecting an animal waste solution containing a mixture of water and animal fecal matter and contacting the animal waste solution with ozone in an amount sufficient to oxidize organic matter contained in the animal waste solution. Specifically, the process for treating animal waste is capable of improving the odor associated with the animal waste. The process of the present invention also reduces BOD, COD, total bacterial content and the coliform content associated with the animal waste. By partially oxidizing the organic matter in route to a lagoon, the process of the present invention makes the organic matter more readily biodegradable and utilizable by the microflora in the lagoon

System and process for treating waste water


A memory cell unit including: a semiconductor substrate having a source diffusion layer in at least a part of a surface thereof; a column-shaped semiconductor layer provided on the semiconductor substrate, and having a drain diffusion layer provided in an uppermost portion thereof and a first low concentration impurity diffusion layer provided in an entire bottom portion thereof; a memory cell arrangement which includes a plurality of memory cells provided in a peripheral wall of the column-shaped semiconductor layer and connected in series perpendicularly to the substrate, the memory cells each having a charge storage layer and a control gate; a second impurity diffusion layer provided at a lower end of the memory cell arrangement; and a selection transistor having a gate electrode provided around the peripheral wall of the column-shaped semiconductor layer and connecting the second impurity diffusion layer and the first impurity diffusion layer; wherein the first impurity diffusion layer extends into a part of a channel region provided in the peripheral wall of the column-shaped semiconductor layer in opposed relation to the gate electrode of the selection transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory cell unit, a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device including such a memory cell unit, and a memory cell array driving method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Exemplary memory cells of a known EEPROM are of a MOS transistor structure, which includes a gate portion including a charge storage layer and a control gate and is adapted to inject electric charges into the charge storage layer and release the electric charges from the charge storage layer by utilizing a tunnel current. The memory cells each store data "0" and "1" on the basis of a difference in threshold voltage attributable to a difference in the charge storage state of the charge storage layer.
In the case of an n-channel memory cell having a floating gate as the charge storage layer, for example, a positive high voltage is applied to the control gate with source and drain diffusion layers and a substrate being grounded for the injection of electrons into the floating gate. At this time, the electrons are injected into the floating gate from the substrate by the tunnel current. Thus, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is positively shifted by the injection of the electrons. For the release of the electrons from the floating gate, on the other hand, a negative voltage is applied to the control gate with the source and drain diffusion layers and the substrate being grounded. At this time, the electrons are released from the floating gate to the substrate by the tunnel current. Thus, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is negatively shifted by the release of the electrons. In the aforesaid operation, a relationship between a floating gate/control gate coupling capacitance and a floating gate/substrate coupling capacitance is important for efficiently achieving the electron injection and the electron release, i.e., for the writing and the erasing. In other words, as the capacitance between the floating gate and the control gate is increased, the potential of the control gate can more effectively be transferred to the floating gate, thereby facilitating the writing and the erasing.
With the recent progress of the semiconductor technology, particularly the micro-processing technique, the size reduction and capacity increase of memory cells of EEPROMs are rapidly promoted. Therefore, how to reduce the area of the memory cells and how to increase the capacitance between the floating gate and the control gate are critical issues. In order to increase the capacitance between the floating gate and the control gate, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of a gate insulation film provided between the floating gate and the control gate, to increase the dielectric constant of the gate insulation film, or to increase the area of opposed surfaces of the floating gate and the control gate. However, the thickness reduction of the gate insulation film has limitation in consideration of the reliability. A conceivable approach to the increase of the dielectric constant of the gate insulation film is to employ a silicon nitride film or the like instead of a silicon oxide film. However, this approach poses a problem associated with the reliability and, hence, is not practical. Therefore, it is necessary to increase an overlap between the floating gate and the control gate to not smaller than a predetermined area in order to provide a sufficient capacitance. However, this is obstructive to the reduction of the area of the memory cells for the increase of the storage capacity of the EEPROM. Hence, there is a demand for means for achieving both the reduction of the memory cell area and the increase of the capacitance between the floating gate and the control gate.
There is known an EEPROM including a plurality of memory cell units, as shown in FIG. 18, which each include two memory cells provided on a column-shaped semiconductor layer 12 and selection transistors disposed above and below the memory cells (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-79369 (1992)). The memory cells are constructed by utilizing a peripheral wall of each of column-shaped semiconductor layers arranged in a matrix configuration and isolated from each other by a lattice trench formed in a semiconductor substrate. That is, the memory cell units each include a drain diffusion layer 7 provided in an upper surface of the column-shaped semiconductor layer, a common source diffusion layer 11 provided in a bottom of the trench, and charge storage layers 1, 3 and control gates 2, 4 entirely surrounding the peripheral wall of the column-shaped semiconductor layer. Control gate lines are each provided by sequentially connecting control gates provided around column-shaped semiconductor layers serially arranged in one direction. Bit lines are each connected to drain diffusion layers of memory cell units sequentially arranged as crossing the control gate lines. Where the memory cells each have a one-transistor-per-cell structure, a cell current flows into unselected cells (or a reading error occurs) if the memory cells are over-erased with a read potential of 0V and a negative threshold voltage. To assuredly prevent this phenomenon, the selection transistors are disposed in series to the memory cells in upper and lower portions of the column-shaped semiconductor layer with gate electrodes 5, 6 thereof at least partly surrounding the peripheral surface of the column-shaped semiconductor layer.
Thus, the memory cells of the conventional EEPROM each include the charge storage layer and the control gate formed as surrounding the column-shaped semiconductor layer by utilizing the peripheral wall of the column-shaped semiconductor layer. Therefore, the capacitance between the charge storage layer and the control gate can sufficiently be increased with a smaller memory cell area. Further, the drain diffusion layers of the memory cell units connected to the bit lines are respectively provided in the upper surfaces of the column-shaped semiconductor layers, and electrically isolated from each other by the trench. Thus, a device isolation area can be reduced, thereby further reducing the memory cell size. Therefore, it is possible to provide large storage capacity memory cell units in which memory cells each having an excellent writing/erasing efficiency are integrated.
It is herein assumed that plural memory cells connected in series on each of the column-shaped semiconductor layers have the same threshold voltage. Here, a reading operation is performed by applying a read potential to control gates (CG) of the memory cells for determination of "0" or "1" depending on the presence or absence of an electric current. If the electric current flowing through the semiconductor layer causes a potential difference between the memory cells located at opposite ends of the serial memory cell arrangement on the single semiconductor layer due to a resistant component of the semiconductor layer, the potential difference makes the threshold voltages of the respective memory cells non-uniform (back bias effect). This enhances fluctuation in the threshold voltages. The back bias effect limits the number of memory cells to be connected in series on the device, thereby posing a problem associated with the increase of the storage capacity. Further, the back bias effect may occur not only where the plural memory cells are connected in series on the single column-shaped semiconductor layer, but also where a single memory cell is provided on the single column-shaped semiconductor layer. That is, the threshold voltages of the respective memory cells are liable to be non-uniform due to variation in an in-plane back bias effect of the semiconductor substrate. The variations in the threshold voltages depending on the positions of the memory cells adversely influence write/erase/read voltages to be applied for the writing, erasing and reading operations with respect to the memory cells. Hence, there is a demand for a solution to the problem associated with the back bias effect of the substrate.
On the other hand, there is also known a memory cell unit in which a column-shaped semiconductor layer is electrically isolated from a semiconductor substrate as shown in FIG. 19 (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-57231). By thus electrically isolating the column-shaped semiconductor layer from the semiconductor substrate, the back bias effect can be suppressed. Therefore, a memory cell unit having an improved integration density can be provided, in which the coupling ratio of the floating gate/control gate coupling capacitance is further increased without increasing the area of the memory cells, and the variations in cell characteristics attributable to the production process are suppressed.
When a writing operation is performed in a semiconductor storage device including memory cell units each having the aforesaid construction, a high writing prevention voltage is applied to bit lines not subjected to the writing operation. In general, the memory cell units are arranged longitudinally and transversely in a matrix configuration in the semiconductor storage device. Control gates of memory cells provided in memory cell units (column-shaped semiconductor layers) arranged longitudinally in each column of the matrix configuration are connected commonly to corresponding control gate lines, and selection gates of selection transistors provided in memory cell units (column-shaped semiconductor layers) arranged longitudinally in each column of the matrix configuration are connected commonly to corresponding selection gate lines. Drain diffusion layers provided in memory cell units (column-shaped semiconductor layers) arranged transversely in each row of the matrix configuration are connected commonly to a bit line. When a writing operation is performed on a selected memory cell in this memory cell unit array, electrons are injected into the selected memory cell by applying a positive writing voltage to a control gate line connected to the control gate of the selected memory cell, applying a grounding voltage or a positive voltage to a source diffusion layer and applying a grounding voltage to a drain diffusion layer of the memory cell unit including the selected memory cell. At this time, a channel formed below a selection gate of a selection transistor adjacent to the drain diffusion layer is electrically connected to a channel formed below a control gate of a memory cell adjacent to the selection transistor, so that the potentials of the channels are virtually equalized with the grounding voltage applied to the drain diffusion layer. Further, the writing to unselected memory cells which share the control gate line with the selected memory cell is prevented by applying a positive writing prevention voltage to bit lines connected to memory cell units not including the selected memory cell. Where the selected memory cell is a memory cell disposed closest to the source diffusion layer in the memory cell unit, a sufficiently high voltage is applied to control gates of memory cells disposed on an upper side of the selected memory cell and the selection gate of the selection transistor adjacent to the drain diffusion layer for the electron injection from the drain diffusion layer. Therefore, the same voltage is applied to control gates and selection gates in the memory cell units not including the selected memory cells which share the control gate line and the selection gate line with the selected memory cell. If this voltage is sufficiently high, the channel formed below the selection gate adjacent to the drain diffusion layer is electrically connected to the channel formed below the control gate of the memory cell adjacent to the selection gate. Therefore, the potentials of the channels are virtually equalized with the positive writing prevention voltage applied to the drain diffusion layer via the bit line. Thus, the electron injection to charge storage layers of the unselected memory cells is prevented, because a potential difference between the charge storage layers and the control gates to which the writing voltage is applied is sufficiently small. Then, the potential of an impurity diffusion layer disposed between the lowermost memory cell and the selection transistor adjacent to the source diffusion layer is virtually equalized with the writing prevention voltage.
However, if the selection transistor adjacent to the source diffusion layer has a breakdown voltage lower than the bit line writing prevention voltage, an electric current flows into the channel formed below the gate electrode even with the selection transistor being off. This results in breakdown of the selection transistor. As a result, the voltage (inter-channel voltage) of the impurity diffusion layer between the lowermost memory cell and the selection transistor adjacent to the source diffusion layer with respect to the source diffusion layer is reduced to a level equivalent to the breakdown voltage of the source side selection transistor (which is lower than the bit line writing prevention voltage). Therefore, the channel potential of the lowermost memory cell is reduced. Hence, there is a possibility that a writing error occurs on the charge storage layer of the memory cell due to the voltage difference between the source side selection transistor and the control gate.
In order to prevent the writing error due to the insufficient breakdown voltage of the selection transistor, the voltage applied to the source diffusion layer should be stabilized, and the source side selection transistor should have a sufficient breakdown voltage with respect to the writing prevention voltage. This is because the potential of the impurity diffusion layer is equivalent to the sum of the voltage of the source diffusion layer with respect to the grounding potential and the voltage of the selection transistor between the source diffusion layer and the impurity diffusion layer.
Where a positive source voltage is applied to the source diffusion layer, the stability of the voltage of the source diffusion layer is influenced by the breakdown voltage of the selection transistor of the memory cell unit including the selected memory cell. As described above, the potential of the channel of the selected memory cell is virtually equivalent to the grounding voltage applied to the drain diffusion layer, so that the potential of the adjacent impurity diffusion layer is equivalent to the channel potential. Therefore, if the breakdown voltage of the selection transistor between the impurity diffusion layer and the source diffusion layer is lower than the source voltage, the breakdown occurs, so that the voltage of the source diffusion layer with respect to the grounding voltage is reduced to the level equivalent to the breakdown voltage of the source side selection transistor. Therefore, the voltages of the source diffusion layers of the other memory cell units which share the selection gate line are also reduced to the level equivalent to the breakdown voltage.
In general, the breakdown voltage of a minute transistor is determined by a minimum distance between a source and a drain disposed on opposite sides of a channel of the transistor. Therefore, the breakdown voltage of the aforesaid selection transistor is determined by a minimum distance between the source diffusion layer and the impurity diffusion layer disposed between the lowermost memory cell and the selection transistor. Hence, the breakdown voltage of the transistor can be increased by sufficiently increasing the inter-channel distance. However, the increase of the inter-channel distance means that the column-shaped semiconductor layers should be formed as having a greater height. This means that a semiconductor layer should be formed as having a greater thickness and unnecessary portions of the semiconductor layer should be removed to a greater depth for formation of the column-shaped semiconductor layers in a semiconductor device production process. Therefore, the semiconductor device production process is time-consuming, resulting in cost increase. Hence, it is not preferred to unreasonably increase the inter-channel distance.
Another method for allowing the selection transistor to have a breakdown voltage sufficient for the driving of the memory cell array is to give consideration to the construction of the selection transistor. Further, consideration may be given to a memory cell array driving method in the writing operation.

Memory cell unit, nonvolatile semiconductor storage device including memory cell unit, and memory cell array driving method


A material that can be worn away by abrasion, and a method of making the same, includes a substantially oxide free metal alloy based on nickel or cobalt or a ceramic. The material further includes at least one of particles of solid lubricant, closed pores, or surface recesses. The material can be used to make parts, in particular plates, and casings, the inner surface of which is at least partially covered with plates of this material.

That type of material is desirable, in particular for positioning on the inner surfaces of casings in which revolving parts are turning (of the compressor or turbine blade type, for example). Said material can be worn away by the extremities of said revolving parts when interference occurs. Thus, the deleterious effects of said interference are minimized both as regards the structure of said extremities of said revolving parts, and as regards said inner surfaces of said casings.
That type of material advantageously has the following specifications:                clearly, it has to have good abradability;        it must also be resistant to the temperature of the media into which they are incorporated (500° C. to 1200° C., for example, inside the casings of aircraft engines);        it must also resist erosion by repeated strikes from abrasive particles (detached during the interference mentioned above);        its production costs and assembly costs must also be as low as possible;        finally, it is preferably also self-brazing.
Two types of abradable metallic materials have principally been proposed in the prior art: those generated in situ by projecting (plasma, . . . ) hot metal powders and those with a honeycomb structure which are transferred to and brazed onto the surfaces to be protected.
Those two types of abradable metallic metals are not completely satisfactory, in particular as regards the above specifications.
The first type is associated with a projection technique that is expensive both as regards the projection time and as regards the need for machining following projection, in order to control the thickness of the projected deposit.
The second type has a limited field of application. It is only suitable for wipers for labyrinth seals or for shrouded blades.
French patent application number FR-A-2 223 473 describes porous seals (the porosity in question is an open porosity), consisting of a nickel alloy (nickel is always the major constituent (by weight)) which includes oxides (intentionally formed during the second principal step of the process for producing said alloy). Said nickel alloy can include boron nitride. The alloy fills honeycomb structures.

Metallic material that can be worn away by abrasion; parts, casings, and a process for producing said material


A solid state imaging device according to an embodiment includes a photo detector arranged two-dimensionally in a semiconductor substrate, a readout circuit provided in the semiconductor substrate, a first photoelectric conversion layer provided above the photo detector, a plurality of first metal dots provided above the first photoelectric conversion layer, a second photoelectric conversion layer provided above the first metal dots, and a plurality of second metal dots provided above the second photoelectric conversion layer.

Recently, as mobile terminals prevail, become digitized, and have greater storage capacity, the demand for small and high-definition image sensors increases. In order to satisfy such a demand, it is indispensable to decrease the pixel pitch of image sensors. In the currently mainstream CMOS image sensor (hereinafter also referred to as "CMOS sensor"), the pixel size has been reduced to a 1.1 μm×1.1 μm low-pitch.
The pixel used in the aforementioned CMOS sensor is formed of a photodiode serving as a photoelectric conversion unit and a transistor serving as a readout circuit. The area occupied by the transistor serving as the readout circuit cannot be reduced below a certain ratio, even if the design rule is scaled down and the sharing of elements by adjacent pixels is advanced. At present, the ratio of the photoelectric conversion unit in a pixel (aperture rate) is said to be about 50%. That is, the reduction in pixel pitch would lead to the reduction of the area of the photodiode serving as a photoelectric conversion unit, thereby causing a problem of lowering the sensitivity of the sensor.
Recently, CMOS sensors outputting color images are widely used even in small mobile terminals. Generally, in a color CMOS sensor, one of the color filters transmitting any of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) wavelength bands is arranged on each pixel, so that a different pixel measures the light amount in each wavelength to obtain color information. Since a color filter absorbs light in wavelength bands other than the wavelength band of the color to be detected, about two-thirds of the entire light is discarded. In addition, generally, a color filter has a transmittance of about 80%. In consideration of the above, the degradation in sensitivity due to the color filters is also a problem.
In such a color filtering method, where only information for one of the colors R, G, and B can be obtained in one pixel, it is necessary to collect color information from adjacent pixels to perform a demosaicing process. For example, in a Bayer array, slight subject color variations close to the resolution of one pixel cause a defective mode called "false color" where incorrect color information is reproduced. Particularly, for the R and B filters for performing diagonal interpolation, it is only possible to obtain the spatial resolution √2 times the pixel pitch.
A known technique which focuses on the aforementioned point employs three stacked photoelectric conversion layers, with Ag dots with different pitch and width embedded in the respective photoelectric conversion layers. Sensitivity is improved and wavelength selectability is ensured using the plasmon resonant light between the incident light and the Ag dots.
However, several issues remain: the process of embedding metal dots in photoelectric conversion layers is complicated; defects taking place during the process of embedding cause an increase of dark current; and three-layer stack structure requires an improvement in sensitivity.


A fluid machine for a waste heat collecting system for an internal combustion engine has an object to make most use of the collected waste heat and an operation of a compressor, an alternator or the like by a rotational driving force from an expansion device function well even during an engine running is stopped. The fluid machine according to the present invention has a pulley connected to the engine, an expansion device for generating a rotational driving force from the collected waste heat, a compressor device driven by the pulley and the expansion device, wherein a rotating shaft is commonly used for the pulley, the expansion device and the compressor device. The expansion device is an expansion device for changing its expansion volume, so that the Rankine cycle for collecting the waste heat can be operated most effectively.

As prior art technology, a fluid machine is known as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No.H9-250474. In this prior art, an expansion device and a compressor device are assembled into a single hermetically sealed casing, the expansion device converts heat energy into a rotational driving force in a Rankine cycle, and the compressor device is driven by the rotational force generated by the expansion device, to operate the refrigerating cycle.
In the above mentioned prior art, however, the rotational driving force generated at the expansion device can not be used for other purposes than driving the compressor device, because the expansion device and compressor device are integrally connected in the hermetically sealed casing. Furthermore, if the above mentioned prior art machine were installed in a motor vehicle to drive the compressor device by using the waste heat from an engine, it would not always be possible to get heat energy enough to drive the compressor device depending on running conditions of the motor vehicle. In such a case, the compressor device would not be operated, and therefore it would be a disadvantage in that air conditioning operation based on the refrigerating cycle by the compressor device may not be possible.