The present invention describes an RNA isolation process which utilizes low pH reagents. In addition, the reagents are less hazardous and are more stable than those used in prior art methods. This rapid method may be used to obtain purified RNA from a variety of biological sources including human whole blood, plant and animal tissues, cultured cells, body fluids, yeast, and bacteria.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) purified from biological material is utilized extensively for molecular biology research and is becoming an important tool in human clinical testing. Most commonly, the isolated RNA is characterized by size and quantity to provide diagnostic information about both normal and aberrant functioning of genes. For example, gross DNA rearrangements associated with common leukemias are detected by isolation and identification of abnormal, hybrid RNAs.
Typically, there are three aspects of isolating substantially undegraded RNA from biological samples: (1) the cells or viral protein coats are lysed to release RNA; (2) ribonucleases (RNases) are inactivated to prevent RNA degradation; and (3) contaminants are removed to purify the preparation. Because of the abundance and stability of RNases in biological materials, it is important that cell or protein coat lysis and RNase inactivation be substantially simultaneous. Therefore, in its simplest form, the isolation of RNA is reduced to just two main steps: (1) cell lysis (or protein denaturation)/RNase inactivation; and (2) RNA purification.
Several lysing reagents have been formulated to lyse cells and/or viral protein coats and inactivate RNases substantially simultaneously. A lysate is created by mixing suspended cells (or biological fluid) with the lysing reagent, or by grinding tissues with a pestle in the presence of the lysing reagent, which facilitates penetration of the lysing reagent. The lysate reagent typically contains a detergent to dissolve cells and to solubilize proteins and lipids. A strong protein denaturant (i.e., denaturing agent) is usually added to aid in inactivating RNases. In addition, a strong reductant is often included to ensure complete protein denaturation.
The most common detergents used in lysing reagent formulations are the anionic detergents sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and N-lauroyl sarcosine as described in Sambrook, et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed., 7.3-7.24, Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1989) and Ausubel, et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology., 4.0.4-4.5.3 and 13.12.1-13.12.3, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1989). Also, nonionic and cationic detergents have been described for this purpose by Favaloro et al., Methods Enzymol., 65, 718-749 (1980) and Macfarlane, (U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,183), respectively. Typically, nonionic detergents are undesirable because they are generally ineffective at inactivating RNases in tissues with high nuclease activity. Cationic detergents are generally undesirable because they are more hazardous than nonionic and anionic detergents. For example, the rat intravenous LD50 is 1200 mg/kg for the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 and 118 mg/kg for the anionic detergent SDS, but only 6.8 mg/kg for the cationic detergent dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide.
Strong protein denaturants are commonly added to the lysing reagent to ensure inactivation of RNases. The most effective and widely used is guanidinium thiocyanate, which is described by Ullrich et al., Science, 196, 1313-1319 (1977) and Chirgwin et al., Biochemistry, 19, 5294-5299 (1979). Less commonly used as RNase inhibitors are organoclays, which are described by Ness et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,672).
Other denaturing agents that have been used are guanidine hydrochloride and urea, which are described by Cox in Methods Enzymol., 12, 120-129(1968) and Auffray et al., Eur. J. Biochem., 107, 303-314(1980), respectively. These denaturing agents, however, are less effective at inactivating RNases than guanidinium thiocyanate. The addition of a proteolytic enzyme, such as Proteinase K, to digest RNases is another strategy used in RNA isolation techniques. This also is less effective than guanidinium thiocyanate because it is generally too slow at inactivating RNases causing RNA degradation, particularly in solid tissue preparations.
In addition to this primary denaturant, it is common practice to add a second denaturant, such as the sulfhydryl reducing agent 2-mercaptoethanol, to the lysing reagent to ensure complete protein denaturation. This denaturant is highly toxic and has a pungent odor, and is therefore not easy to use. Furthermore, it is also subject to oxidative degradation and therefore reduces the shelf-life of lysing reagents.
An important factor to consider in the formulation of lysing reagents is pH. It has been shown by Noonberg et al., BioTechniques, 19, 731-733 (1995) that for lysing reagents containing organic solvents, the lower the pH, the lower the degree of RNA degradation, within the pH range of 5.5 to 8.0. However, a review of RNA isolation methods indicates that the pH of the lysing reagent is no lower than 4.0 (Chomczynski, U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,155), and can be as high as 9.0 (Bugos et al., BioTechniques 19, 734-737 (1995), with most in the neutral range of 7.0-8.0. Chomczynski teaches, however, that a pH of lower than 4 results in a significantly lower degree of RNA isolation.
After cell or protein coat lysis and RNase inactivation, RNA is purified by isolating it from the complex lysate. There are two general strategies in widespread use for liquid phase purification of RNA. These are differential centrifugation and solvent extraction combined with salt precipitation.
To separate RNA from deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein contaminants using differential centrifugation, typically the lysate is placed onto a solution of cesium chloride as described by Glisin et al., Biochem., 13, 2633-2637 (1974) and Chirgwin et al., Biochemistry, 19, 5294-5299 (1979). Then the sample is centrifuged at high speed (at least 130,000.times. g) for at least 12 hours to selectively sediment the RNA, leaving contaminants in the supernatant fraction. This method has the disadvantages of being very time-consuming, requiring the use of expensive ultracentrifugation equipment, and it does not efficiently recover low molecular weight RNAs, such as 5S ribosomal RNAs and transfer RNAs.
The second strategy for RNA purification is to mix the lysate with both an organic solvent (typically, phenol and chloroform) and a salt (typically, sodium acetate). Phenol not only denatures proteins but, following centrifugation, causes the protein to collect at the interface between the organic and aqueous layers. Chloroform facilitates the separation of organic and aqueous phases. Such phenol-based reagents, however, are typically unstable during storage due to oxidation.
At low pH (e.g., 4-7), the addition of a high concentration (e.g., 2-3 molar) salt solution causes DNA to selectively precipitate so that following centrifugation, it too will collect at the organic-aqueous interface. Thus, by combining the phenol extraction with salt precipitation, both proteins and DNA collect at the interface following centrifugation, leaving RNA in the supernatant. This is described, for example, by Chomczynski et al., Anal. Biochem., 162 156-159 (1987) and Chomczynski, EP 0 554 034.
The salt solutions generally used in solvent extraction-salt precipitation techniques are typically sodium acetate solutions of pH 4.0 to pH 7.0 at concentrations of 2-3 molar. An alternative salt, lithium chloride, selectively precipitate RNA rather than the contaminating DNA. The addition of this salt to the aqueous fraction, recovered after phenol-chloroform extraction, is described by Ausubel et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, 4.0.4-4.5.3. John Wiley & Sons, New York (1989) and Auffray et al., Eur. J. Biochem., 107, 303-314 (1980). However, a disadvantage of lithium chloride precipitation is that the low molecular weight RNAs are not recovered.
Reagents required for isolating RNA in conventional methods are formulated typically using organic solvents and other generally hazardous chemicals. For example, the raw materials in wide use are listed below, along with label precautions and toxicity information as obtained from Sigma Chemical Company. The toxicity data are given as LD50 values where the lower the LD50 value, the more hazardous the compound. Generally, lysing and/or purification solutions contain: chloroform, which is highly toxic and may cause cancer, having an LD50 of 908 mg/kg (rat oral administration); guanidinium thiocyanate, which is considered harmful, having an LD50 of 300 mg/kg (mouse intraperitoneal injection); 2-mercaptoethanol, which is considered highly toxic and has a very strong odor stench, having an LD50 of 244 mg/kg (rat oral administration); and phenol, which is highly toxic, having an LD50 of 317 mg/kg (mouse oral administration).
A method for DNA and RNA isolation that uses less hazardous compounds, such as benzyl alcohol to replace phenol and chloroform, is disclosed by Ness et al., U.S. Pat. No.5,393,672. Despite the lower toxicity of benzyl alcohol, it is still classified as harmful with an LD50 of 1230 mg/kg by rat oral administration. In addition, even less toxic organic solvents require special handling and disposal.
Thus, there is a need in the field for a method that is less hazardous and/or does not involves the use of organic solvents. In addition, there is a need for reagents that are more stable at room temperature (i.e., 20-30.degree. C.). Also, there is a need for relatively rapid protocols to isolate RNA from a variety of biological materials, especially for routine testing as found in clinical laboratories.

Low pH RNA isolation reagents, method, and kit


Systems and methods that enable conference unaware clients to participate in the conference. A conferencing component is aware of what protocol to employ, and enables devices and/or end points that employ disparate or heterogeneous protocols to participate in the same conference initiated therebetween. A call flow (e.g., in form of a dial out) can be initiated, wherein the conferencing component invites conference unaware devices to participate in the conference.

Advances in technology such as computer and communication systems have transformed many important aspects of human and computer interactions. For example, voice answering systems now provide a convenient manner for a user to electronically capture a message and forward it to another. With technology advancements such as wireless and Internet systems, electronic messaging systems have become much more sophisticated. For example, these systems can further implement e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the like, wherein information can be readily sent and retrieved synchronously.
Moreover, computing devices can be readily accessed to share information during user conferences, such as through a social network, Blogs, or through on-line meetings, and the like. This information can include collaboration goals, interests, photos, and typically any type of data a user desires to share. Similarly, organizations can retain information relating to employees, organizational hierarchies, job titles and descriptions, as well as information relating to day-to-day activities of employees, projects, competitors and the like.
Accordingly, whenever employees are spread out over large working space such as on campus of several buildings, meeting scheduling can become an important aspect of corporate profitability, to ensure the timeliness of projects and associated corporate missions, for example. Moreover, scheduling meetings electronically includes inviting recipients and reserving a conference room, among other things. Nonetheless, inefficient scheduling for meetings often occurs in today's work environments. For example, where meetings are a daily occurrence for many employees, often some employees may not be able to fully access remote meeting due to incompatibility of their communication mediums. Furthermore, frequent changes to the meeting agenda such as changes to: attendee list, subject matter, related documents, and the like can further complicate these conferences.
Typically to competently administer meetings, substantial amount of time need to be spent for preparation and planning to produce efficient results. Moreover, such meetings can fail to be productive due to other factors, such as scenarios when participants do not know each other and may be hesitant to participate or readily offer related documents or other information, as there exists little or no familiarity between participants. In particular, such problems can be exacerbated when one or more participants are remote from the meeting place (e.g., meeting is conducted as a teleconference.) In many of such instances, the meeting is typically not as productive as expected, since the required information is not readily located and available for sharing between participants.
Moreover, meetings are expected to enable participants to achieve common goals, while mitigating the amount of planning time, regardless of the attendees' physical location and end point device employed for communication with other participants. In addition, meetings are expected to function as more than merely isolated events, and instead should strive to form an integrated segment of an overall collaborative framework or organizational goal. Furthermore, attendees should readily have access to the most accurate, up-to-date information in order to assist participants perform at a high level of efficiency.
Furthermore, conference participants may employ different forms of connections that support disparate types of data and media types. For example, with the advances in storage and computing power of portable wireless computing devices, users now are capable of interacting with many types of disparate data types such as images, video clips, audio data, and textual data, for example. In particular, users may employ a plurality of devices with which to connect to the session. For example, one user can participate by audio/video from a conference room, another by voice via a desktop computer, and yet another by text input and through a cell phone. Such disparate media capabilities can increase the complexities involved for supplying efficient conferences.

Inviting a conferencing unaware endpoint to a conference


The walker glide is a spherical attachment for removable installation over the lower end of a walker leg or other legged article. The glide is formed of a hollow, resilient ball and includes a plurality of leg attachment holes therethrough. No two holes are aligned directly and diametrically opposite one another. Any hole always has an unbroken ball surface directly diametrically across therefrom. This allows any given hole of the ball to be placed over the end of the leg, while assuring that the leg tip will bear against the opposite unbroken surface of the ball. When the bearing surface of the ball becomes worn, the user need only remove the ball and reorient it by installing it on the leg using another hole to provide a fresh bearing surface for the ball. While any suitable type of ball may be used, tennis balls have been found to work well.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ambulatory aids and the like, and more particularly to a walker glide in the form of a resilient ball provided with a plurality of holes for installing over the lower end of a walker leg. The ball is repositioned to expose a fresh surface beneath the end of the walker leg whenever the bottom surface of the ball becomes worn.
2. Description of the Related Art
Walkers, canes, crutches, and the like are conventionally used to assist the walking of persons who have physical difficulty in ambulation for whatever reason, i.e., illness, injury, etc. While some persons may be able to get by using only a cane, or perhaps a pair of crutches, others require the additional support and stability provided by a walker. Such walkers conventionally have four legs extending downwardly from a generally rectangular frame, with the user supporting him or herself upon the frame and progressively shifting the walker forward with each step. In many cases the walker is equipped with rollers or wheels on the two forward legs, with a fixed tip (crutch tip, etc.) on the two rearward legs. Other walkers are equipped with fixed tips on all four legs. The technique of use generally results in a fair amount of sliding and shuffling of the walker over the surface, particularly with the rear legs, thus scraping the lower ends of the legs over the surface.
Accordingly, such walkers are conventionally equipped with some form of resilient pad on the bottom end of each leg to avoid marring the floor and to reduce noise. It has been found by many users of such walkers that the relatively small diameter crutch tip type of pad with its relatively sharp lower edge and flat bottom is prone to catching upon various articles resting upon the floor, such as electrical cords, the edges of rugs, etc. Also, the rubber material of which such tips are formed generally results in a relatively high coefficient of friction between the walker and the underlying surface, thus making it difficult for the user of the walker to shuffle or slide the walker across the surface.
As a result, many users of such devices install tennis balls or some other type of ball of about the same size upon the lower ends of the non-roller or non-wheel walker legs. The larger diameter of the tennis ball passes over such potential obstacles as electrical cords and the edges of rugs and the like, without catching or snagging upon them. Tennis balls or the like also provide somewhat less friction when weight is applied to the walker, thus allowing the user to slide the walker over the surface. Moreover, tennis balls and the like do not mar the underlying surface and do not produce any significant noise or sound when a walker so equipped is used. These ball configuration pads or leg tips are known as "glides," due to their action in sliding over the surface and various obstacles thereon as the walker is shuffled forward during use.
However, walker glides formed of tennis balls have certain drawbacks. The primary problem with the use of tennis balls is that the napped surfaces of the balls tend to wear relatively rapidly, particularly when used outdoors upon rough surfaces such as concrete sidewalks and pavement. The resulting exposed rubber surface of the bare area of the ball acts much like a rubber crutch tip, producing a chattering effect that is difficult to control as the walker slides over the underlying surface. The wear can progress to the point that a hole is cut or worn completely through the bottom of the tennis ball, thus allowing the bottom end of the walker leg to protrude through the bottom hole and allowing the ball to ride up the leg of the walker, thereby negating the function of the ball.
Tennis ball installation cannot be readily accomplished when an existing crutch tip of larger diameter than the walker leg is installed, as the hole in the ball will not fit over the crutch tip without enlarging the hole to the extent that the ball does not remain securely affixed to the bottom of the walker leg. Thus, the relatively sharp edge of the otherwise unprotected tubular walker leg within the ball acts as a "cookie cutter" or die, tending to cut or tear out a hole in the bottom of the tennis ball. This can occur in relatively short order when the walker is used outdoors. When this occurs, the conventional solution is to remove the tennis ball and discard it, and install a new ball on the lower end of the walker leg. With at least two of the four legs requiring a ball, this clearly becomes costly in a short period of time.
Thus, a walker glide solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A yeast of the genus Kluyveromyces is modified to improve the ethanol yield from xylose by attenuation of at least one gene selected from the group consisting of the ADH1 gene derived from Kluyveromyces marxianus, a gene functionally equivalent to the ADH1 gene, the ADH4 gene derived from Kluyveromyces marxianus, and a gene functionally equivalent to the ADH4 gene.

Lignocellulose-containing biomass is an effective starting material for a useful alcohol, such as ethanol, or an organic acid. Lignocellulose-containing biomass includes woody biomass and herbaceous biomass. Lignocellulose-containing biomass, such as woody biomass, is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. In order to produce a liquid fuel such as ethanol from lignocellulose-containing biomass, cellulose or hemicellulose is hydrolyzed (saccharified) into a constitutive monosaccharide, and the monosaccharide is converted into ethanol via fermentation. Cellulose is composed of glucose, and hemicellulose is mainly composed of arabinose and xylose. When producing ethanol with the use of lignocellulose-containing biomass, accordingly, it is preferable that xylose be effectively used as a fermentation substrate, in addition to glucose.
When producing ethanol from lignocellulose-containing biomass, production costs can be reduced if the saccharification process can be simultaneously carried out with the fermentation process without separating these processes from each other. Such technique is referred to as "the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process." The simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process requires the use of thermotolerant microorganisms capable of fermentation in the reaction temperature range for a carbohydrase (i.e., about 40 degrees C. or higher) and capable of using the xylose (pentose) as a substrate, in addition to glucose.
Examples of known thermotolerant yeasts include yeasts of the genus Kluyveromyces, such as Kluyveromyces marxianus. While a yeast of the genus Kluyveromyces is capable of ethanol fermentation with the utilization of xylose, the yield thereof has not been sufficient. For example, the results of functional analyses of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (including a plurality of isomers) are reported in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2. Patent Document 1 discloses a recombinant yeast strain capable of isomerizing xylose into xylulose, in which alcohol dehydrogenase activity has been reduced. Based on such finding, however, the influence of the deficiency or destruction of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene on the capacity for ethanol fermentation cannot be determined. In addition, functions of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene of a taxonomically different species (i.e., a yeast of the genus Kluyveromyces such as Kluyveromyces marxianus) cannot be evaluated.

Yeast mutant of kluyveromyces and method for ethanol production using the same


A snow blower augers snow scrapped from a path to a fan. The fan is co-axial with the auger at one end of an auger housing. A fan shaft extends through an auger tube. The fan shaft is supported on one end by a fan housing bearing attached to the housing and at the other end by a bearing in the auger tube. The auger is supported at one end by a drive housing bearing attached to the housing and at the other end by a bearing on the fan shaft. This arrangement makes it possible to have an open passage for the snow to move from the auger to the fan.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to snow blowers. After snow falls it is desirable to remove the snow from paths. As used herein the term xe2x80x9cpathsxe2x80x9d would normally include sidewalks and pedestrian paths as well as drive ways and in some cases roadways. Occasionally, the xe2x80x9cpathsxe2x80x9d for cleaning the snow away will include parking lots and other areas. However, in each instance of clearing an area the snow blower will usually clean adjacent paths within the area.
The majority of snow blowers are powered by internal combustion engines although some may be powered by electric motors. In typical operation a scrapper lifts the snow into a housing where augers move the snow to a fan which then blows the snow out of a chute.
Larger snow blowers are mounted upon wheeled vehicles. A driver is seated on the vehicle to which the snow blower is attached either permanently or as a unit to a multipurpose mobile vehicle. Snow blower operators and repairmen have ordinary skill in this art.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In some snow blowers, Gerbrandt U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,585 for example, the fan is attached to the auger so that the fan rotates at the same speed as the auger.
In other snow blowers, Gogan U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,730 for example, the fans are mounted at right angles to the augers.
(1) Progressive Contribution to the Art
A snow blower according to this invention moves the snow by an auger at right angles to the travel of the snow blower. The snow is moved to one end of the auger, where a fan catches the snow and blows it through a chute. The fan axis is co-axial with the auger axis. The fan rotates over five (5) times the speed of the auger. This is achieved by mounting a fan upon a shaft which extends though a hollow tube upon which the auger is attached. By this construction, the auger delivers the snow to the fan through an open passageway. There are no supports for the fan shaft between the auger and the fan. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the direction of the snow or to move the snow through supports between for the rotating shafts.
This blower is designed to be carried on the front of an all terrain vehicle. The design make it possible to have the entire snow blower unit very close to the front of the vehicle, therefore there is less weight upon the front wheels of the vehicle.
The total weight of the blower and the vehicle is better distributed to the vehicle wheels. This results in better steering and traction.
(2) Objects of this Invention
An object of this invention is to remove snow from a path.
Another object of this invention is to remove snow from a path using a small vehicle with a compact snow blower.
Further objects are to achieve the above with devices that are sturdy, compact, durable, lightweight, simple, safe, efficient, versatile, ecologically compatible, energy conserving, low maintenance and reliable, yet inexpensive and easy to manufacture, install, operate, and maintain.
Other objects are to achieve the above with a method that is rapid, versatile, ecologically compatible, energy conserving, efficient, and inexpensive, and does not require highly skilled people to install, operate, and maintain.
The specific nature of the invention, as well as other objects, uses, and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, the different views of which are not necessarily scale drawings.


A sun dial including a housing, a light detector mounted on the housing exposed to detect ambient light, a logic circuit mounted in the housing for processing the detected light for determining over a preselected period of time the average light detected by the light detector, and an indicator to indicate upon demand, the average light detected during the preselected period of time. A method for determining average light detected over a period of time by detecting light above a preselected threshold indicative of darkness, while noting the time of darkness, adjusting the period of time by subtracting the time of darkness from the period of time, calculating the average light detected over the adjusted period of time, and giving a visual indication of the average light detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sundial and method for determining average sunlight.
2. Prior Art
Heretofore, home gardeners have not had available a sun dial to indicate the current condition of the sunlight streaming into their homes, nor have they had the possibility of determining the average sunlight illuminating a given area of their homes for a period of time to give an indication of what kind of plant would best thrive in that area.

Sun dial and method for determining average sunlight


Provided is a SIS-type electro-optic modulator capable of realizing highly efficient optical coupling with a rib-type Si waveguide, improving modulation efficiency, realizing reduction of electric capacity and lead-out resistance in stacked semiconductor layers. The modulator includes a SIS junction constituted by first and second semiconductor layers having different type of conductivity and a dielectric layer interposed therebetween, wherein an electrical signal from electrodes coupled to the first and second semiconductor layers causes free carriers accumulate, deplete or invert on both sides of the dielectric layer, thereby modulating a free carrier concentration felt by an optical signal electric filed, light having a polarization component orthogonal to the width direction of the SIS junction is incident on the dielectric layer, and the width of the SIS junction is λ/neff or less (λ is the wavelength of the incident light and neff is an effective refractive index of the modulator to the incident light).

Optical communication devices using silicon photonics and functioning at 1310 and 1550 nm fiber-optic communication wavelengths for a variety of systems such as for fiber-to-the-home and local area networks (LANs) are highly promising technologies which enable integration of optical functioning elements and electronic circuits together on a silicon platform by means of CMOS technologies.
In recent years, silicon-based passive optical devices such as waveguides, couplers and wavelength filters have been studied very extensively. Important technologies for manipulating optical signals for such communication systems include silicon-based active devices such as electro-optic modulators and optical switches, which also have been attracting much attention. However, optical switches and optical modulators that use a thermo-optic effect of silicon to change the refractive index operate at low speed, and accordingly their use is limited to cases of device speeds corresponding to modulation frequencies not higher than 1 Mb/second. Accordingly, in order to realize a high modulation frequency demanded in a larger number of optical communication systems, electro-optic modulators using an electro-optic effect are required.
Most of the electro-optic modulators proposed to date are devices which use a carrier plasma effect to change the free carrier density in a silicon layer and thereby change the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index, thus changing the phase and intensity of light. Such wide use of the above-mentioned carrier plasma effect is because of the fact that pure silicon does not exhibit a linear electro-optic effect (the Pockels effect) and that a change in its refractive index due to the Franz-Keldysh effect or the Kerr effect is very small. In modulators using free carrier absorption, the output light is directly modulated through a change in the absorption rate of light propagating in Si. As a structure using such changes in the refractive index, one employing a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is generally used, where intensity modulated optical signals can be obtained by causing optical phase differences in the two arms that include a phase modulating portion to interfere with each other.
Free carrier density in the electro-optical modulators can be varied by injection, accumulation, depletion or inversion of free carriers. Most of such devices that have been studied to date have low optical modulation efficiency, and accordingly, for optical phase modulation, require a length on the order of millimeters and an injection current density higher than 1 kA/cm3. In order to realize size reduction, higher integration and also a reduction in power consumption, a device structure giving high optical modulation efficiency is required, and if it is achieved, a reduction in the optical phase modulation length becomes possible. If the device size is large, the device becomes susceptible to the influence of temperature distribution over the silicon platform, and it is therefore assumed that a change in the refractive index of the silicon layer caused by a thermo-optic effect due to the temperature distribution cancels out the essentially existing electro-optic effect, thus raising a problem.
FIG. 1 illustrates a silicon-based electro-optic modulator having an SIS (silicon-insulator-silicon) structure according to WO2004/088394 A1. WO2004/088394 A1 proposes a silicon-based electro-optic modulator including a p-Si 4 second conductive type body region and an n-Si 5 first conductive type gate region stacked on the second conductive type body region so as to partially overlap the second conductive type body region in which relatively thin dielectric layer 11 is formed on this stack interface. Such a silicon-based electro-optic modulator is formed on an SOI platform (Si supporting substrate 1 and BOX layer 2), the body region is formed on a relatively thin silicon surface layer of the SOI substrate and the gate region is made up of a relatively thin silicon layer stacked on the SOI structure. The interiors of the gate and the body regions are doped and the doped regions are defined so that variations in carrier density are controlled by an external signal voltage. In this case, ideally, it is desirable to make an optical signal electric field coincide with the region where the carrier density is externally and dynamically controlled, in which situation optical phase modulation can be performed by accumulating, depleting or inverting free carriers on each side of dielectric layer 11. However, in practice there is a problem in that the region where the carrier density dynamically changes is an extremely thin region with a size of about several tens of nanometers, which results in the problem that an optical modulation length on the order of millimeters is required, and the electro-optic modulator accordingly becomes large in size, and consequently high-speed operation is difficult.
US2011/211786 A1 also discloses a silicon-based electro-optic device. As shown in FIG. 2, in this device, a stack structure including a first silicon layer 4 of a first conductivity type and a second silicon layer 5 of a second conductivity type has a rib waveguide shape so as to form an optical confinement area, and a slab portion of a rib waveguide includes an area (6 and 7) to which metal electrode (9 and 10) is connected. The slab portion in the area to which the metal electrode is connected is thicker than a surrounding slab portion. The area to which the metal electrode is connected is set so that a range of a distance from the rib waveguide to the area to which the metal electrode is connected is such that when the distance is changed, an effective refractive index of the rib waveguide in a zeroth-order mode does not change. In this case, it is necessary to separate the electrode layer adjacent to the first silicon layer 4 of a first conductivity type and the second silicon layer 5 of a second conductivity type so that the electrode layer formed adjacent to the silicon layer does not interfere. As a result, there may be where the resistance leading out to the electrode layer from the silicon layer of the first conductivity type became high. On the other hand, when the electrode layer formed adjacent to the second silicon layer of the second conductivity type is brought close to the rib waveguide, the optical loss becomes large.
Therefore, with regard to the SIS-type electro-optic modulator that can be downsized and lowered in voltage, it is an issue to improve the modulation efficiency and reduce the power consumption and the frequency band by reducing the electric capacity.

PHOTONICS ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION


An information recording medium includes a management area where management information is recorded and a plurality of physical sector areas used to record a plurality of physical sector data blocks, which are generated by combining some data contained in a plurality of ECC blocks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording medium on which sector data generated from an ECC (Error Correction Code) block structure is recorded. The present invention also relates to an information recording apparatus for recording sector data generated from the ECC block structure. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an information reproduction apparatus for reproducing information on a recording medium on which sector data generated from an ECC block structure is recorded.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the standards (physical and logical standards) for existing read-only and rewritable DVDs have been created. The standards describe an ECC block structure appended with parity codes for error correction as a data structure to be recorded on an optical disk (information recording medium). In existing DVDs, data having an ECC block structure common to both read-only and rewritable optical disks is recorded. Also, the application standards that describe the recording format in the application layer upon recording AV (Audio/Video) information or stream information on existing DVDs have been created.
In the physical standards, the minimum unit of user information to be recorded on an optical disk is 2048 bytes, and this recording unit is called a physical sector. Data in the physical sector include a data ID that records a sector number or the like, an error detection code IED (Data ID Error Detection code) for the data ID, user information, and an error detection code EDC (Error Detection Code) for data in the physical sector. As an error correction scheme for improving the reliability of data recorded on an optical disk, a "REED Solomon product code" scheme is adopted, and an ECC block structure appended with PI (inner-code parity) data and PO (outer-code parity) data is formed. One ECC block consists of data for 16 sectors. The technique that pertains to the ECC block structure is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-172243.
In the present specifications, data contents or data structure including a data ID and parity data is called "data", and user information (=Main data) to be recorded is called "information". Also, data contents or information contents directly recorded in a physical sector on an optical disk are called "physical sector data" (=physical sector data block) or "physical sector information". One item of physical sector information has a size of 2048 bytes.
The logical standards define the data structure associated with user information to be recorded on an optical disk when viewed from the host computer side which is connected to an interface of an information reproduction or recording apparatus. The minimum unit to be exchanged between the host computer and information reproduction or recording apparatus is defined as a logical sector, and in the present specification, the contents of user information corresponding to the logical sector are called logical sector information. The logical sector information has a size of 2048 bytes in correspondence with that of the physical sector information.
The contents of the logical sector information basically match those of the physical sector information. However, since the physical layer defined in the physical standard and the logical layer defined in the logical standard are different layers, the contents of the physical sector information may be different from those of the logical sector information in practice. That is, the host computer and information reproduction or recording apparatus exchange information using 2048-byte logical sector information as a minimum unit, and information obtained by processing this logical sector information may be recorded as physical sector information on an optical disk.
The minimum unit of video object information or audio object information transferred between the host computer and information reproduction or recording apparatus is also 2048 bytes in correspondence with the logical sector size. According to the application standards, video object information and audio object information are broken up into 2048 bytes, and are multiplexed in the format of a pack structure as a minimum unit upon being recorded on an optical disk. That is, audio/video information to be recorded on a recording medium is segmented along the time axis, and video packs that store video object information and audio packs that store audio object information are distributed while being mixed. In this case, the video or audio pack information itself corresponds to the contents of the logical sector information.
The minimum unit of recording stream information is called an SOBU (Stream Object Unit), and one SOBU size is defined to be 32 logical sectors or 2 ECC blocks.
In existing DVDs, error correction can be made up to a maximum burst error length of 6 mm on an optical disk. In next-generation DVDs, the data bit length on an optical disk (recording medium) becomes small since the data recording density increases. Assume that the data bit length is proportional to the wavelength of light used in an optical head of the reproduction or recording/reproduction apparatus, and is inversely proportional to NA (Numerical Aperture). In this case, if the next-generation DVD has an optical wavelength of 405 nm and NA=0.85 compared to the existing DVD having an optical wavelength of 650 nm and NA=0.65, the error-correctable burst error length on an optical disk (recording medium) is considerably reduced to 2.9 mm.6×(405÷650)×(0.65÷0.85)=2.9
Therefore, the next-generation DVD requires a technical means for assuring an error-correctable burst error length of 6 mm or more as in the current DVD.
When the correctable burst error length is greatly improved for the next-generation DVD while exploiting the REED Solomon product code technique as the ECC block structure, the following problems (1) to (2) are posed, and it is impossible to greatly improve the correctable burst error length by only changing the size of the REED Solomon product code of the existing DVD.
(1) The maximum size of a REED Solomon product code that corrects errors for respective unit bytes is limited to 256 rows×256 columns. In the existing DVD, the maximum size is 208 rows×182 columns. The existing DVD has an optimal structure within the limit range of 256 rows×256 columns, and it is difficult to greatly improve the correctable burst error length by merely changing the size.
(2) The main data information encoding efficiency cannot be greatly reduced compared to the existing DVD. It is possible to improve the correctable burst error length by increasing the PO size in an ECC block. But when this is done, redundancy which depends on the PO size increases and the main data information encoding efficiently drops considerably. The existing DVD has main data information encoding efficiency of 87% as well as redundant data such as a data ID and the like in the physical data. Hence, in the next-generation DVD, an encoding efficiency of around 87% needs to be assured.
(3) An appropriate physical data structure must be guaranteed. As a method of greatly improving the correctable burst error length and of assuring high main data information encoding efficiency, a method of largely increasing the PO size and reducing the PI size accordingly may be readily devised. However, in order to assure high-speed data access on an optical disk, the data ID must be arranged at the head in the physical sector data, and an interleaved arrangement of PO data in respective physical sectors is required for this purpose. However, to attain this, it becomes difficult to change the PO size to an arbitrary value.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Information recording medium on which sector data generated from ECC block is recorded, information recording apparatus for recording sector data, and information reproduction apparatus for reproducing sector data


A microelectronic package comprising a circuit carrier having a power chip, an integrated circuit means, and thermal conduction means for carrying heat from the microelectronic package is provided. The thermal conduction means includes a first heat dissipation back plate means associated with the power chip and a second heat dissipation back plate means associated with the integrated circuit means. The heat dissipation back plate means are electrically isolated from each other and have different heat dissipation capacity.

The structures and manufacturing processes for electronic packages are described in, for example, Donald T. Seraphin, Ronald Lasky, and Che-Yo Li, Principles of Electronic Packaging, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, N.Y. (1988) and Rao R. Tummala and Eugene J. Rymaszewski, Microelectronic Packaging Handbook, Van Nostrand Rinehold, New York, N.Y. (1988), disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
An electronic circuit may contain many electronic circuit components, e.g. thousands or even millions of individual resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes and transistors. These individual circuit components must be interconnected to form the circuits, and the individual circuits must be interconnected to form functional units. Power and signal distribution are done through these interconnections. The individual functional units require mechanical support and structural protection. The electrical circuits require electrical energy to function, and the removal of thermal energy to remain functional. Microelectronic packages, for example, chips, modules, circuit cards and circuit boards, are used to protect, house, cool and interconnect circuit components and circuits.
Within an integrated circuit, circuit component to circuit component and circuit to circuit interconnection, heat dissipation, and mechanical protection are provided by an integrated circuit chip. This chip enclosed within its module is referred to as the first level of packaging.
There is at least one further level of packaging. This second level of packaging is the circuit card. The circuit card is necessary for at least four functions. First, the circuit card is employed because the total required circuit or bit count to perform a desired function exceeds the bit count of the first level package, i.e. the chip. Second, the second level package, i.e. the circuit card, provides a site for components that are not readily integrated into the first level package, i.e. the chip or module. These components include capacitors, precision resistors, inductors, electromechanical switches, optical couplers, and the like. Third, the circuit card provides for signal interconnection with other circuit elements. Fourth, the second level package provides for thermal management, i.e. heat dissipation.
In most applications, there is a third level of packaging. This is the board level package. The board contains connector to accept a plurality of cards, and provide communication between the cards.
Increasing logic densities accompanied by increasing circuit densities impose higher thermal loads on electronic packages. In addition, power design, that is, card and board design, have been driven by the necessity of accommodating the ever-increasing density of logic or memory, with their concomitant increase in interconnections, in a smaller area. These higher density cards and boards have high power density, and therefore require sophisticated thermal management. In fact, the power demands have resulted in various power conversion cards, i.e. power supplies, of such design that the operating temperatures of the power conversion cards are usually at about 90.degree.-110.degree. C.
However, such relatively high card temperatures exceed the typically acceptable operating temperatures of about 75.degree. C. and less for memory and logic chips as well as for capacitors and certain resistors. Accordingly, power supply functions and active functions such as logic and/or memory functions are typically placed onto separate cards in order to provide a reliable system.
A typical power supply card of interest is constructed of a top signal/component mounting layer and a bottom ground/heatsink layer separated by a thin, thermally enhanced dielectric material. The overall size of the carrier may range from at least about 1" in length or width, and generally about 2" by 4" dimensions. The top signal layer may be of any conducting material, generally about 0.001" to about 0.005" thick copper, and preferably about 0.003" to about 0.004". The defined signal layer contains pads for mounting of discrete devices including resistors, capacitors, inductors, transformers, integrated circuits and the like. The signal layer also includes circuit tracks for electrical interconnection of the various devices. The signal layer also functions to quickly spread heat from high power dissipation devices such as back side solder bonded, wire bonded power integrated circuits, i.e. heat spreader. The dielectric material is designed to efficiently transfer heat from the signal layer to the heatsink layer, while still providing electrical insulation between the two layers. The ground/heatsink layer is generally a thick metal plate, and preferably about 0.020" to about 0.1080" thick copper.
The thermal dissipation path from a back bonded chip on this type of carrier includes solder layer of about 0.002" to about 0.005" thick which transfers heat from the chip back side into the carrier signal layer. Heat is then spread in the horizontal direction through the signal layer heat spreader, followed by transfer through the dielectric layer into the back side heatsink layer where further horizontal spreading and transfer to ambient occurs. The thermal dissipation path can be further enhanced by one of several methods including copper plated or solder filled through holes or blink vias from the signal layer heat spreader to back side heat sink, or direct attach of the power chip to the heat sink through a window in the dielectric where the back side surface has been coined up through the top surface of the carrier, and the dielectric and top signal layers milled off. Enhancement of heat transfer from the heatsink to ambient can be achieved by etched grooves in the heatsink that increase surface area for radiative transfer and channel air flow for convective cooling.
More particularly, power supply carriers have several unique features that distinguish them from common circuit boards. For instant, power supplies contain several components (diodes and power chips) that require the dissipation of significant amounts of energy in order to maintain an acceptable chip junction temperature. Energy dissipation is currently managed by conducting the heat from the soldered component through a dielectric (with enhanced thermal conductivity) to a heat dissipating back plane. Such a configuration is so efficient in heat dissipation that the entire carrier is maintained at a uniformly high temperature. However, as mentioned above, the integration of the power functions with the active functions such as logic and/or memory functions is not practical or possible because the active functions such as the logic and/or memory functions cannot operate reliably at temperatures greater than about 75.degree. C.

Power carrier with selective thermal performance

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention features nucleic acid molecules that are involved with (e.g. activate or regulate) human SR-BI receptor transcription, as well as complements thereto, and homologs thereof. In addition, drug discovery assays are provided for identifying agents which modulate SR-BI promoter activity and thereby modulate the expression of a gene regulated thereby. Such agents can be useful therapeutically for treating or preventing the development of a disease or condition that is caused or contributed to by an aberrant SR-BI activity. In a preferred embodiment, the disease or condition is characterized by inappropriate lipid transfer or metabolism (e.g., atherosclerosis or gallstone formation). Such agents can also be used to modulate expression of a specific gene under the control of the SR-BI promoter in gene therapy. Moreover, the present invention provides diagnostic assays and reagents for determining whether a subject has a disorder involving, for example, aberrant expression of SR-BI genes.

Coronary heart disease is a major health risk throughout the industrialized world. Atherosclerosis, the most prevalent of cardiovascular diseases, is the principal cause of heart attack, stroke, and gangrene of the extremities, and thereby the principle cause of death in the United States. Although historically much emphasis has been placed on total plasma cholesterol levels as a risk factor for coronary heart disease, it has been clearly established that low levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is an independent risk factor for this disease. Family and twin studies have shown that there are genetic components that affect HDL levels. However, mutations in the main protein components of HDL (ApoAI and ApoAII) and in the enzymes that are known to be involved in HDL metabolism (e.g., CETP, HL, LPL and LCAT) do not explain all of the genetic factors affecting HDL levels in the general population (J. L. Breslow, in The Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease, C. R. Scriver, A. L. Beaudet, W. Sly, D. Valle, Eds. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995), pp 2031-2052; and S. M. Grundy, (1995) J. Am. Med. Assoc. 256: 2849). This finding in combination with the fact that the mechanisms of HDL metabolism are poorly understood, suggests that there are other as yet unknown factors that contribute to the genetic variability of HDL levels.
Variations in the expression of the SR-BI receptor, which has been shown to bind HDL and LDL cholesterol and mediate uptake into cells (Acton, S. et al., (1996) Science 271:518-520) is likely to contribute to genetic lipoprotein variability, thereby playing a role in the development of atherosclerosis.
In addition, variations in the expression of the SR-BI receptor could be involved in cholesterol gallstone formation, since the SR-BI receptor is likely to be involved in transferring HDL-cholesterol from extrahepatic tissues to the liver (reverse cholesterol transport) e.g. for incorporation into bile (J. L. Breslow, in The Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease, C. R. Scriver, A. L. Beaudet, W. Sly, D. Valle, Eds. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995), pp 2031-2052; S. M. Grundy, (1995) J. Am. Med. Assoc. 256: 2849; G. Assman, A. von Eckardstein, H. B. Brewer Jr. in The Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease, C. R. Scriver, A. L. Beaudet, W. Sly, D. Valle, Eds. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1995), pp 2053-2072; W. J. Johnson et al., (1991) Biochem. Biophys. Acta 1085:273; M. N. Pieters et al., (1994) Ibid 1225:125; and C. J. Fielding and P. E. Fielding, (1995) J. Lipid Res 36:211).
Further, variations in the expression of the SR-BI receptor could influence the fertility of a subject, since SR-BI appears to be involved in HDL-cholesteryl ester delivery to steroidogenic tissues (ovary, adrenal glands and testis) for hormone synthesis (Acton, S. et al., (1996) Science 271:518-520; Landschulz, et al., (1996) J. Clin. Invest. 98:984-95; J. M. Anderson and J. M. Dietschy (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256: 7362; M. S. Brown et al., (1979) Recent Prog Horm. Res. 35:215; J. T. Gwynne and J. F. Strauss III, (1982) Endocr. Rev. 3:299; B. D. Murphy et al., (1985) Endocrinology 116: 1587).
Therapeutic agents for treating diseases which are caused or contributed to by inappropriate lipid (e.g. lipoprotein) transfer or metabolism (e.g. atherosclerosis or gallstone formation) are needed.

SR-BI regulatory sequences and therapeutic methods of use


An electrical connector for the connection of electrical devices for data transfer comprises a plurality of conductive elements, each having a central spring area with elongated looped ends as the contact points. The conductive elements are housed in a non-conductive body.

This invention is related to electrical connectors and, in particular, to connectors of the type used to connect mobile devices together for data transfer.
This application deals with electrical connectors, the type of which could be used to connect mobile communications or mobile data processing devices together. As an example, the connector could be used to connect various accessories, such as a GPS device, to a cellular telephone. Several difficulties exist with current state of the art connectors and other connectors existing in the prior art.
One problem is that of contact resistance at the point where the leads of the connector contact the contacts on the printed circuit board. Because of asperities existing at a microstructure level on the material of which the leads of the connector and the contact on the circuit board are constructed, the amount of surface area that contacts the connection point for the connector is dependent upon the pressure used to hold the contact against the connection point. The contact resistance is a function of the amount of surface area of the contact which contacts the connection point, and occurs at every contact interface surface. Connectors of the prior art are constructed using two piston like contacts separated by a spring which is compressed and which pushes the piston shaped contacts against their mating contact points. The two interfaces where the spring meets the piston shaped contacts introduces additional contact interface surfaces at which contact resistance exists, thereby limiting the current carrying capacity of the connection. In some cases this may render the connection unusable for the type of accessories that one may wish to connect to the cellular phone. It is therefore desirable to eliminate the contact interfaces between the spring and the piston shaped contact surfaces to lower the contact resistance introduced thereby.
It is possible to eliminate the additional contact interface surfaces with a type of cantilever spring design. In this type of design, each contact contains an xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cZxe2x80x9d-shaped bend in the connection between the two contacts at opposite ends of the connector. This cantilever spring type of arrangement will force the contacts outwardly when they are compressed. However, the problem with this type of design is that the size of the hole into which the contact can be housed is limited. It is desirable to have the contacts disposed in holes of very small diameter. Often, the desired diameter holes are so small that the cantilevered type design is untenable. It is therefore necessary and desirable to use the coil type spring, while still eliminating the additional contact interface surfaces between the spring and the contacts.
Another problem with the prior art design is that the geometry of the contacts at the point of contact is not optimal and it is therefore desirable to replace the straight type of contacts with a shape that is better suited for making the contact with the contact point.
The connector of the current invention utilizes a unique one-piece design for each contact in the connector and consists of a coiled spring having loops at each end which are used as the actual contacts. The one-piece construction eliminates the additional contact interface surfaces between the coiled spring and the contacts and the looped ends provide more stability and a good geometry to connect with the contact point. This type of connector provides the advantage of eliminating the additional contact interface surfaces while at the same time being able to fit into a extremely small diameter hole. Another advantage of this design is the savings involved in the assembly of the connector. Because both contacts and the spring are of unitary construction, it is much less labor intensive to assemble this type of connector then it is to assemble the piston and spring type connector.


The present invention relates to a floatable aircraft such as a parachute balloon. The parachute balloon is comprised an envelope which is able to be collapsed and stored during periods of nonuse. A parachute is attached to the envelope, enabling the parachute balloon to fall safely by the effect of the parachute in various circumstances including the usual descent or an emergency during a fall, such as when out of fuel.

The present invention relates to a floatable aircraft such as a parachute balloon having an envelope in the shape of a balloon or airship capable of folding and being easily stored during periods of nonuse.
The above referred balloon or airship envelope can be collapsed and and stored while not in use, and combines a durable outer surface with an inner skin having high air tightness or thermal resistance.
The heretofore known envelope of balloon or airship shape is, however, difficult to inflate and expand to the envelope.
Moreover, because the envelope is formed of flexible material, its hardness is low, and it is difficult to improve the resistance against wind or flight performance. Additionally, it is difficult to control the direction and speed during descent.


An apparatus for varying a temperature of a device under test (DUT). The apparatus comprises a plate having a surface area configured to couple to the DUT to transfer heat to and from the DUT by way of conduction. A heat exchanger is connected to the plate to set a temperature of the surface area of the plate to one of a range of temperatures by way of conduction. The heat exchanger circulates a plurality of fluids that each have a different nominal temperature, and the flow rates of the fluids are adjustable to vary the temperature of the surface area of the plate, thereby varying the temperature of the DUT.

Semiconductor devices, such as microprocessors, memory devices, and other integrated circuit (IC) devices, are subjected to rigorous electrical or "functional" testing in order to ensure proper operation over a specified range of possible operating conditions. One operating condition that is of particular concern is the operating temperature of the semiconductor device, and one type of testing, often called "temperature binning," requires performing a particular set of tests at each of a multiplicity of different operating temperatures For example, a semiconductor device might be tested at room temperature (ambient), at a specified minimum operating temperature (e.g., -50 degrees Celsius), and at a specified maximum operating temperature (e.g., 200 degrees Celsius). Devices are often sorted based on the results of the temperature binning tests.
According to typical prior techniques, temperature binning requires a device under test (DUT) to be cycled through the test system for each operating temperature tested, which is inefficient. For example, a typical test system includes a test head having a test socket for receiving a DUT, a handler for conveying the DUT through the test system, and one or more heating and/or cooling stations for heating or cooling the DUT to a specified temperature. For such a system, the handler inserts the DUT for testing at a first temperature, removes the DUT so that the DUT may be heated or cooled to a second temperature, and then reinserts the DUT for testing at the second temperature, repeating the process for each new test temperature.
The process of repeatedly inserting and removing a DUT from a test head so the DUT may be heated or cooled requires a considerable amount of time and therefore reduces the rate at which DUTs may be tested and sorted. It would be desirable to reduce test time by reducing the need to remove the DUT from a test head, once inserted

Method and apparatus for rapidly varying the operating temperature of a semiconductor device in a testing environment


Propagating firmware updates in a peer-to-peer network including identifying, that one or more nodes in the network have firmware that is uplevel with respect to the downlevel node; broadcasting an update request requesting an update to the firmware; receiving a plurality of portions of the update, metadata describing each portion of the update received, and metadata describing the firmware installed on each of the plurality of nodes having firmware uplevel with respect to the downlevel node; determining, in dependence upon the metadata describing each portion of the update received and the metadata describing the firmware installed on each of the plurality of nodes having firmware uplevel with respect to the downlevel node, whether the portions of the update received comprise an entire update; and updating the firmware if the portions of the update received comprise the entire update.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for propagating firmware updates in a peer-to-peer network environment.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
Data centers today often house many computers which are connected in a peer-to-peer network. Often one or more of these computers may have a new version of firmware than one or more other similarly situated computers. One way to update the firmware is to have a systems administrator manually update the firmware of each computer. To manually update the firmware on each computer with each new version release through the use of a systems administrator is burdensome and inefficient.

Propagating firmware updates in a peer-to-peer network environment

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An apparatus that includes a BIOS routine, and a method executed during a BIOS routine, that includes a stored BIOS program causing a computer to receive information, including error information, from at least one first units coupled to the computer, store the information in a memory; and for each of at least one second units coupled to the computer, receive an initial request for the information from the second unit and in response to the request, provide to the second unit at least one of the information stored before the receipt of the request if any is stored, and provide to the second unit at least one of the information to the second unit received subsequent to the request.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer system BIOS initialization, and more particularly to a method and apparatus of logging device errors during BIOS initialization and making a record of those errors available to devices during the BIOS initialization.
2. Background Information
The BIOS is a collection of executable programs that initializes a computer system. At least a portion of the BIOS resides in a non-volatile random access storage device in the computer system, and upon turning on the computer system, or alternatively resetting the computer system, the BIOS executes from the nonvolatile storage device. An executing BIOS initializes the computer system. The initialization task generally includes checking for the presence or absence of devices within the computer system, initializing those devices that require software initialization, testing the computer system hardware, reporting the system configuration and diagnostic status, and loading an operating system.
The devices comprising the computer system are alternatively resident on the computer system chipset, or coupled to the chipset via a system of buses that may include a host bus, legacy buses, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) buses. The host bus supports the highest performance resources on a platform and generally includes the CPU, a cache, and platform memory that may include dynamic random access memory. The term "platform" represents the physical collection of hardware on a single circuit board. The legacy buses may include the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), EISA, and MC buses. Each of the host bus, legacy buses, and the PCI bus are well known to those skilled in the art.
The devices themselves are alternatively separate physical devices, or software routines. A separate physical device often has a driver software routine resident on system memory that forms the interface between the BIOS and the device. The BIOS itself can be considered to include at least one of these device routines if that routine executes a BIOS function, and particularly if that routine resides on the same non-volatile storage device as the BIOS.
During a computer system BIOS routine initialization, each device sequentially initializes under the control of the executing BIOS routine. However, an at least one device that has already initialized may acquire component and system information during its execution that is useful to and should be provided to at least one other device. Examples of such information is a device that has tried to read from a memory (e.g. a disk) and encountered an error, and a device that is coupled to a channel that is presumed to be losing data. This information includes error information, status information, configuration information, and event information pertaining to devices and systems. The acquired information should be able to be made available to other devices. These other devices can include information logging devices and devices whose execution and/or state may be dependent upon the information.
However, when some of these other devices have not yet initialized, they cannot yet be sent this information by the acquiring devices. These other devices should receive all the acquired information already generated after each initializes, and should receive all the information acquired after each initializes as the information is acquired. Moreover, each of the information acquiring devices and information requesting device should communicate with the BIOS and receive and transmit this information in a standard way, so that each receiving and transmitting device can receive or transmit information without being aware of the other devices in the computer system, or require an ad hoc interface and processing routine for each separate device or computer system.


A control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle that is capable of suppressing overheating of the second clutch is taught herein. Control is switched between engine-used slip drive control and motor drive control on a basis of a vehicle load such as weight or a road incline gradient. Control methods for hybrid vehicles are also disclosed.

Hybrid vehicle technology has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2001-263383 (hereinafter is referred to as "JP2001-263383"). In JP2001-263383, a hybrid vehicle is disclosed having a first clutch that connects and disconnects an engine and a motor, a second clutch that connects and disconnects the motor and drive road wheels, and a transmission. This hybrid vehicle employs a motor drive mode in which the first clutch is released and the vehicle travels by using only the motor as a power source. Also employed is an engine-used drive mode in which the first clutch is engaged and the vehicle travels while including the engine as the power source. When changing the mode from the motor drive mode to the engine-used drive mode, the first clutch is engaged, and a motor torque is increased and applied to the engine to start the engine. Thus, while in the motor drive mode, a margin for the motor torque is required to be secured to accommodate the increase in the motor torque for starting the engine. Here, when a vehicle travels at an extremely low speed, such as a low engine rotational speed (rpm) that is less than a minimum engine rpm required to allow self-rotation of the engine even when selecting a lowest transmission ratio (for instance, a low or first speed) including at an engine start, the self-rotation of the engine is allowed by slipping the second clutch. That is, by slipping the second clutch, while the drive road wheels are being rotated by the motor at an extremely low revolution speed, the engine is rotated at a rpm which allows the self-rotation of the engine.

Control apparatus of a hybrid vehicle and method for controlling the same


An innovative method and apparatus for synchronizing the flows of molten polymer or similar materials in molding systems which utilize manifolds to direct flow into one or more cavities of an injection mold. The apparatus utilizes intermeshing positive displacement, interconnected gearing systems similar to positive displacement gear pumps in hydraulic systems. These positive displacement gear mechanisms are placed in each parallel flow channel such that all flow in each channel passes through a gear mechanism. Each of the parallel pumps are connected together directly via a shaft or indirectly using hydraulic motors, stepper motors, or other motors to synchronize the parallel flows. Each flow can be different to allow the directing of flows in complex tools or when molding parts in family molds. This is accomplished either by varying the volume of each positive displacement gear mechanism by varying the thickness of the gears or by varying the speed of rotation of each of the gear mechanisms in a synchronized way. The alternative apparatus which is indirectly connected can also be utilized to allow each mold cavity to be filled as an entity by sequentially allowing a flow in any desired combination to each of the plurality of flow channels. Thus, the indirectly connected apparatus can be used in a non-synchronous manner. After a mold cavity is filled, the gear mechanisms can be utilized as melt pumps to continue packing or holding plastic in the mold cavity. By reversing the pump mechanisms, precise decompression of the flow channels to eliminate gate stringing and other adverse effects can be accomplished.

Reference is made to provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/013,879 filed Mar. 22, 1996.
The field of the invention pertains to plastic injection molding, and in particular, to plastic injection molding machines.
A typical plastic injection molding machine utilizes a plasticizer screw to melt and move the plastic material, a mold, a gate for the mold and an injector to place the material in the mold. The above components of the machine are connected via a flow channel for the molten material. Hot runner flow channel manifolds are sometimes used to keep the material in a molten state during delivery.
Such a plastic injection molding machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,243. This machine includes a plurality of plunger injection devices, one for each mold.
Unfortunately, non-repeatability and the ensuing quality degradation therefrom are sometimes observed with multiple parallel flow channels leading to multiple molds. Part of the problem is the non-Newtonian behavior of polymers which vary in viscosity with flow rate. Variation in tip temperature and flow impedance in the mold cavity are other contributors to the problem.
Therefore, a more effective injection molding machine and method for molding is an advantageous goal. Such a more effective machine and method are disclosed below.

Injection molding machine employing a flow path gear pump and method of use


A rotation detecting unit is adapted for a rotatable body. The rotation detecting unit includes a rotation detecting part, a signal transmission member, and a main body part. The rotation detecting part detects a rotational state of the rotatable body and outputs a rotation detection signal. The signal transmission member is electrically connected to the rotation detecting part to transmit the rotation detection signal to an external device. The main body part holds at least a part of the signal transmission member and the rotation detecting part. The main body part is integrally molded from thermosetting resin including a joined part obtained as a result of joining together a terminal of the rotation detecting part and the signal transmission member, the part of the signal transmission member, and the rotation detecting part. The main body part includes a recess at a region corresponding to the rotation detecting part.

Conventionally, an example of a technology related to a rotation detecting unit which can deal with increase in the types of integrated circuits (IC) for rotation detection at low cost is widely known (see, for example, JP-A-2005-172573 corresponding to US2005/0126308A1). This rotation detecting unit includes a shape adjustment part, which is molded from resin to cover a rotation detecting part, to conform a shape of a rotation detecting part to an internal shape of a housing.
Moreover, an example of a technology related to a magnetism quantity variation sensor for improving accuracy of a position of a magnetoelectric transducer at the time of covering of resin molding is widely known (see, for example, JP-A-2005-227095). According to this magnetism quantity variation sensor, there are at least two positions at which a lead terminal in a shape of a linear plate piece is engaged with a holder of the magnetoelectric transducer, and a thickness direction and width direction of the lead terminal are positioned respectively at two places or more. Then, all of these are covered with resin molding.
However, according to the technology described in JP-A-2005-172573, low-pressure molding (hot melt) for protecting the IC and the joint region from a molding pressure of the main body, after joining together a wire and IC by welding to form a main body part is necessary. In addition, the housing is necessary as a component for the positioning fixing of the IC and a seal of the main body. Because polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) which is a thermoplastic resin is used for the main body resin, there is no adhesive strength with respect to a core wire. For this reason, forming is required for the wire part to secure wire fixing force and to absorb displacement at the time of molding. Accordingly, a size of the rotation detecting unit cannot be reduced.
According to the technology described in JP-A-2005-227095, all of these are covered with resin molding with the lead terminal engaged with the holder of the magnetoelectric transducer. Thus, the magnetism quantity variation sensor has such a size that includes the holder. Accordingly, the size of the entire magnetism quantity variation sensor cannot be made smaller than the size of the holder.

Rotation detecting unit and method for making the same


A wireless local area network transceiver, an integrated circuit chip, a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) device and a method are provided that may reduce influences of switching noise. The frequency of an output signal of the PLL device is divided in a prescaler of the PLL device by a prescaler factor. The prescaler is operable in at least two modes with each mode having assigned a different prescaler factor. An accumulator is implemented in the PLL circuit for generating a mode switching signal for changing the mode of the prescaler. The generation of the mode switching signal is done by storing an accumulator value and processing a modulus function for updating the accumulator value. The provided technique may allow for reducing disturbances caused by switching the mode of the prescaler in the PLL circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to PLL (Phase Locked Loop) devices that may operate as frequency synthesizers in communication systems such as WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) systems, and to WLAN receivers or transceivers and integrated circuit chips. The invention relates, in particular, to PLL devices comprising a prescaler.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wireless local area network is a flexible data communication system implemented as an extension to, or as an alternative for, a wired LAN. Using radio frequency or infrared technology, WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) systems transmit and receive data over the air, minimizing the need for wired connections. Thus, WLAN systems combine data connectivity with user mobility.
Most WLAN systems use spread spectrum technology, a wide-band radio frequency technique developed for use in reliable and secure communication systems. The spread spectrum technology is designed to trade-off bandwidth efficiency for reliability, integrity and security.
PLL devices are widely used in the above-mentioned technologies for the purpose of frequency synthesis, clock generation, clock recovery, demodulation and others in digital, as well as, in analog based circuits. In frequency synthesis techniques, phase locked loops represent the dominant method in wireless communication systems such as WLAN systems.
Current PLL integrated circuits are able to execute all PLL functions on a single, highly integrated digital and mixed signal circuit that operates on low supply voltages and consumes very low power. These integrated circuits require only an external frequency reference, voltage control oscillators (VCO) and a few external passive components to generate the wide range of frequencies.
An example of a conventional PLL frequency synthesizer is depicted in FIG. 1. As can be seen from the figure, the PLL frequency synthesizer has a forward signal path that includes a phase or frequency detector 150, a loop filter 140, a voltage controlled oscillator 130, and a feedback path that includes a prescaler unit 110 and a divider unit 120. In addition, a swallow counter 100 is provided for controlling the prescaler 110 dependent on a loadable counter factor M. The prescaler output is connected to the swallow counter 100 for synchronizing the swallow counter with a PLL clock. The swallow counter is further connected to a prescaler mode control terminal of the prescaler to provide a mode control signal for controlling the prescaler mode. Beside the divider 120, the prescaler 110 drives the swallow counter 100.
As explained above, the conventional PLL feedback path comprises two separate units having different division factors, and a swallow counter receiving the loadable counter factor M. The prescaler 110 applies a divider factor of P or P+1 depending on the mode control signal delivered by the swallow counter 100. The divider unit 120 applies a fixed divider factor N. The overall divider factor can then be expressed as:X=P·(N−M)+(P+1)·M
Conventional PLL systems have numerous disadvantages because interference and signal-to-noise ratio are important points to be considered in system design. Phase noise and spurious emissions contribute significantly to signal interference and signal-to-noise ratio and are largely dependent on the performance of the PLL devices.
Phase noise and spurious emissions may appear by toggling the mode of the prescaler 110 in the conventional PLL circuit of FIG. 1. The time chart of FIG. 2 illustrates the toggling of the prescaler mode that is under control of the swallow counter 100. Further, the current consumption behavior of the prescaler 110 is illustrated in correspondence to the depicted mode toggling of the prescaler mode. It can be seen that each toggling of the prescaler 110 effects a high current peak. Those high current peaks may lead to the above-mentioned phase noise and spurious emissions, and the phase noise and spurious emissions are highly disadvantageous.
Thus, minimizing phase noise and spurious emissions of the device is one of the problems of present technologies which is intensely addressed.
An example of a synthesizer where the influences of disturbances are minimized is published in W. Rhee et al. "A 1.1-GHz CMOS Fractional-N Frequency Synthesizer with a 3-b Third-Order ΔΣ Modulator", IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, vol. 35, no 10, October 2000, pp. 1453–1459. However, this approach requires a number of interconnected subunits which are difficult to implement so that the resulting frequency synthesizer is complicated in construction.
An arrangement avoiding the use of a swallow counter is published in T. Kim et al. "Swallow Counterless DMP PLL", IEEE, VL-P23, 1999, 0-7803-5727-2/99, pp. 606–608. In this technique, the swallow counter is replaced by a JK-flip flop for reducing power consumption and gate counts. However, the described technique may still suffer from the disturbances mentioned above, including those which are related with phase noise and spurious emissions.

Accumulator controlled prescaler in a phased locked loop


In one aspect, an example methodology implementing the disclosed techniques includes, in response to receipt at a call center of a call by a caller, generating a compatibility score for the caller, the compatibility score for the caller optimizes for caller satisfaction and potential upsell opportunities. The method also includes generating a compatibility score for individual agents available to handle the call, the compatibility score for the individual agents optimize for caller satisfaction and potential upsell opportunities. The method also includes matching the compatibility score for the caller to the compatibility scores for the individual agents and assigning an agent to the call based on the matching of the compatibility scores for the caller and the individual agents.

Technical support is one of the key interfaces between companies and users of technology products or services. In general, companies offer technical support to customers to address and resolve specific problems the customer might be experiencing with the products or services sold by the company. Technical support may be delivered by various communication means such as telephone, email, and real-time or live chat.
A customer service center is a type of call center that is equipped to handle a variety of issues that arise between customers and companies. For example, some call centers assist customers with questions and issues with computer hardware or software or other products and services. These call centers typically employ large numbers of customer care agents who are assigned to handle the incoming calls from the customers. Within a call center, the incoming customer calls are commonly routed to customer care agents via rigid, predetermined routing rules—e.g., fixed order, round robin, longest idle, among others. However, routing customer calls to customer care agents in such manner often leads to poor and unsatisfactory customer experience. The companies also lose the opportunity to have a productive interaction—e.g., introduce new product or service—with the customers.

Assigning customer calls to customer care agents based on compatability


A combination toy and beverage dispensing Device, primarily adapted for use with children and particularly minor children who are still consuming liquids from a bottle and similar dispensing device. The combination toy and beverage dispensing device may preferably adopt the form of a ball which a toddler can play with in a playpen or like confined area. The ball is provided with a center interior chamber holding a beverage container capable of dispensing a beverage such as milk. A stem mechanism is associated with the ball and when pushed on, enables delivery of the milk or other beverage through a drinking tube which the child user may insert in his or her mouth. A tether type supply tube is adapted to extend into the beverage, regardless of the orientation of the ball. The ball is constructed so that it will roll properly, notwithstanding the presence of the dispensing mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to combination toy and beverage dispensing devices and more particularly to toy and beverage dispensing device combinations which are constructed so that a child user may play with the toy and may also actuate the device for purposes of withdrawing a liquid beverage therefrom.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In many cases, children, and particularly toddlers, who are necessarily confined to playpens and like areas become restless and require some stimulation as, for example, with play toys or the like. Furthermore, relatively infant children require bottles for feeding and particularly, bottles of milk or similar beverage. When the baby is finished with the bottle, he or she may resort to crying in order to have his or her needs met. Very often, it remains for the mother or other attendant to merely provide a toy in place of the bottle.
Heretofore, there has not been any effective toy and beverage dispensing combination in which the toy can function as a ball for purposes of play and also as a beverage dispensing device so that the child user can extract a beverage therefrom. There has been a need for a ball that can be used as a play item, particularly for children under four years of age. This ball must be capable of being utilized as a mechanism for feeding the child as well and which necessarily must be safe and easy to operate. Further, there has been a need for a device of this type in which there is no danger of spilling liquid when the ball is located in a playpen or similar confined area.
There have been numerous beverage dispensing bottles such as milk bottles in the prior art and which are typically of an elongate shape containing a nipple at the end for the child user to engage and draw liquid from the bottle by a sucking action. In many cases, there have been liners which are proposed for use in these baby bottles and which liners contain the milk or other liquid to be dispensed. However, beyond this, there has not been any effective combination of toy and liquid dispensing mechanism which will truly operate as a toy such as a ball and will also effectively serve as a liquid dispensing mechanism.

Combination toy and beverage dispensing device


In general, this disclosure describes techniques of dynamically selecting deposit clearing methods based on business rules. As described in this disclosure, a financial institution receives checks drawn on other financial institutions as customer deposits. When the financial institution receives a check, the financial institution automatically applies one or more customizable business rules to identify a method to clear the check. The financial institution then uses the identified method to clear the check.

Financial institutions receive millions of checks every day. In general, a check is a legal instrument that authorizes a financial institution to withdraw an amount of money from an account of a drafter of the check and deposit the amount of money in an account of the recipient of the check. Example checks include personal checks, money orders, cashier's checks, business checks, traveler's checks, government checks, and so on.
When a financial institution receives a check, the financial institution clears the check. In general, clearing a check means withdrawing an amount of money from an account of a drafter of the check and depositing the amount of money in an account of the recipient of the check.
There are several methods by which a financial institution can clear a check. For instance, a financial institution can clear a check using electronic check image exchange services (such as SVPCO, Viewpointe, FedForward from Federal Reserve Financial Services, Endpoint Exchange, Direct Connect to a financial institution, etc.), automated clearing house (ACH) transactions, image replacement document (IRD) prints, a physical paper exchange method, and other methods. Each of the methods has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, checks received after a particular time of day will not be cleared using the ACH method until a next day, while checks received after that time of day may still be cleared using an electronic check image exchange method. However, in this example, the paper exchange method may be more costly because the paper exchange method requires the physical transportation of the check from the financial institution to another financial institution, whereas the ACH method does not.
Typically, a financial institution determines which clearing method to use for a check based on a type of transaction channel through which the financial institution received the check. For example, a financial institution may use the ACH method to clear checks that the financial institution receives through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and may use the electronic check image exchange method to clear checks that the financial institution receives through human tellers at local bank branches.

Dynamic selection of deposit clearing methods based on business rules


An acoustic panel (1) has a recess (8) extending part or all way down to a facing (7). A panel loudspeaker (11) may be fixed in the recess or a water sprinkler (14) or other device may be mounted in or above the recess.

The present invention relates to acoustic panels, such as ceiling tiles, of the type which have a body of acoustic (i.e. sound absorbing) material and a facing which forms the front face of the panel.
Panels of this type are widely used to provide the visible face of walls or ceilings of rooms or other enclosed spaces such as in offices, factories, domestic homes and public buildings. The panels are mounted as a panel assembly on a grid, for instance by intermeshing of grooves in the edges of the panels with the grid. It is often desirable that the appearance of the wall or ceiling should be created predominantly by a pleasing appearance of the front face of the tiles and should be free of objects which harm its appearance. It is therefore usually desirable that the face of each panel should be flat and it is often desirable that the overall appearance of the wall or ceiling should be as monolithic as possible, that is to say the entire wall or ceiling should appear as flat as possible, with the minimum visibility of joins, in order to simulate the appearance of a conventional plastered wall or ceiling.
It is, however, desirable to locate various devices on or in the surfaces of walls or ceilings. Examples of such devices include lighting units, water sprinklers, sensors for various purposes, surveillance cameras, and loudspeakers. If such devices are fitted on a panel or in a panel they disrupt the appearance of the panel and, if the surface would otherwise be monolithic, they disrupt the appearance of the monolithic surface.
Panel loudspeakers (for instance as described in US 2003/0031331 and EP-A-1,185,134 and typically available commercially under designations such as NXT from the Martin Group in Denmark) can desirably be mounted on a wall or ceiling, but they can then impair the appearance of the wall or ceiling.
EP-A-1,185,134, addresses the problem of providing a panel loudspeaker that can be situated in a ceiling assembly. It proposes replacing an entire ceiling tile from the grid of ceiling tiles with a speaker and covering the speaker with a facing that is visually similar to the surrounding ceiling tiles. This system has the disadvantage that, for any particular ceiling assembly, the loudspeaker needs to be approximately the same size as the ceiling tile which it places. This means that the panel loudspeaker size is dictated by size of the panels in the ceiling or wall into which it is to be filled. Furthermore, a frame must be provided around the loudspeaker to secure the loudspeaker to the grid. Additionally, facing must be provided over the loudspeaker and which must have an appearance that matches the facing of the panels in the assembly.
There exists a need to provide a convenient way of incorporating a speaker of any size (which can therefore be optimised for reasons unrelated to its ultimate position) into an assembly of panels without disrupting the appearance of the ceiling or walls.
Fire protection systems usually comprise a network of sprinklers which extend down from the face of a ceiling and each of which is activated by a temperature sensor. The temperature sensor can be a glass bulb or other device which is part of the sprinkler and which ruptures when the temperature increases so as to actuate the sprinkler, or it can be a separate sensor. A water supply is typically provided above a ceiling assembly and feeds the sprinkler when it is activated. The sprinklers are usually fixed between 20 and 40 mm below the front or visible surface of the ceiling tile and when the temperature sensor senses an increase in temperature indicative of a fire, it will activate the water supply which will be provided through the sprinkler to extinguish the fire.
Water sprinkler systems of this type have the disadvantage that the water sprinklers and temperature sensors are visible from the room, hence disrupting the appearance of the ceiling, and are considered by many people to be unsightly. The exposed water sprinklers are also frequently subjected to vandalism. It is known to mount the sprinkler, when inactive, very close to the ceiling and to arrange for the sprinkler to drop down from the ceiling, by 1 to 5 cm, when activated before water spraying is initiated. However the sprinklers are still clearly visible and disrupt the appearance of the facing of the tiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,432, addresses the problem of concealing heat sensitive sprinklers in a suspended ceiling by providing a heat softenable ceiling grid and locating the sprinklers above the ceiling tiles which are positioned in the grid. When the temperature rises to a predetermined level, the grid softens and deforms sufficiently to permit the ceiling tiles to drop out of the grid. This exposes the thermosensitive sprinkler heads which then detect the elevated temperature and begin to spray water. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,888 the fire sprinklers are mounted above plastic tiles and the sprinklers are exposed only when the tiles are burnt.
Systems such as these are undesirable because of the injury and damage that can be caused by the melting or the burning of the tiles and because of the inevitable delay between the increase in temperature in the room and the initiation of sprinkling. It would therefore be desirable to provide a ceiling assembly which contained sprinklers which did not suffer from these disadvantages.
Sensors, such as intruder alarms, surveillance cameras, lighting and other devices can all desirably be provided but at present they all suffer from the disadvantage that their effectiveness is reduced or destroyed if they are concealed by the panel, but the appearance of the ceiling or wall is harmed if they are not concealed by the panel.