The present invention relates to a boot jack for gripping a boot to assist a user in removal of the user's foot therefrom.
Boot jacks, of the general type having a frame and a plate, secured to the frame, having a U-shaped notch for receiving and gripping a wearer's boot for removal, are well known. In the simplest form, the plate is upwardly and forwardly inclined. The wearer places one foot on the back of the plate and inserts the boot on the other foot in the U-shaped notch. An upward movement of the leg, and a simultaneous downward pivoting of the user's foot about the ankle to align the foot with the leg, enables the foot to be removed from the boot. Such boot jacks may be used for cowboy style boots, but are also useful for other types of boots including overboots worn by persons in wet or snowy conditions, worn directly on the wearer's feet or over shoes on the feet.
Patents of general background interest describing and illustrating boot jacks are U.S. Pat. No. 835,147 of H. Weber issued Nov. 6, 1906; U.S. Pat. No. 624,473 of C. Fredman et al issued May 9, 1899; U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,942 of M. Johnson issued Mar. 10, 1959; U.S. Pat. No. 1,178,109 of J. H. Staubly issued Apr. 4, 1916; Swedish Patent No. 166,129 published Feb. 3, 1959; U.S. Pat. No. 606,947 of H. Strate issued Jul. 5, 1898; U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,661 of K. L. Williams issued Jan. 20, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,346 of L. Drouillard et al issued Sep. 1, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,784 of Turner issued Sep. 24, 1991; Swiss Patent No. 21010 of Ernest Meyer dated Feb. 14, 1900; German Patent No. 59346 of W. Sonnemann, dated Oct. 14, 1891 and British Patent No. 664,096 of Krohnke published Jan. 2, 1952.
In most of these prior art boot jack and related devices, one leg must be placed behind the other, for removal of a boot, and/or there is an upward motion of the leg, controlled by muscles at the hip and knee joints, as illustrated in FIGS. 1a, b and c, to permit removal of the boot. In addition, in many previous bootjacks, the surface the foot undergoing boot removal is always flat and horizontal. This restricts the range of plantar flexion to a "tuber angle" of approximately 33.degree.-40.degree. . More particularly, these devices only utilize muscles which act upon the hip and knee joints. While these joints are being flexed, in order to pull the foot vertically upwards, the ankle and metatarsophalangeal joints become passively plantar flexed as they are pushed against the roof of the boot, which is held in a fixed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,959 of Jerry issued Feb. 11, 1992 describes and illustrates a boot jack of a type having a wire frame defining a V-shaped notch having a downward incline towards the front. Again a user must place one leg behind the other, for holding the jack and a similar upward leg and foot motion, as previously described herein, is required for removal of one's foot.
British Patent No. 1,001,980 of A. E. Clements Limited published Aug. 18, 1965 describes and illustrates a boot jack having upwardly and inwardly oriented converging walls defining a U-shape, for gripping a user's foot, and a platform outwardly extending to the sides and behind these walls. While the user can place one foot beside the other during removal of a boot from one foot, again a similar upward motion of the leg and knee is required in removal of the foot from the boot. A somewhat similar platform construction is taught in Swiss Patent No. 1,220 of Lingner & Kraft dated Jul. 12, 1889. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,959, British Patent No. 1,001,980, and Swiss Patent No. 1,220 all do not utilize a leverage mechanism of the foot about the ankle joint.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative construction of boot jack which is simple to construct and yet easy and effective in operation for removal of a users foot from a boot.


1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to network security.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some network protocols, such as certain versions of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), allow for the transparent use of compression and encoding algorithms in sessions between a client and server. Because certain data, such as web pages, tend to compress well, the use of compression may significantly improve network performance, while the use of encoding (e.g., in encryption algorithms) is important in maintaining security.
As a result, however, current network security devices, such as intrusion protection systems (IPSs) face the problem that a server can send malicious traffic compressed and/or encoded to a “victim” client. Writers of such malicious content can exploit the fact that many IPS devices cannot inspect encoded or compressed HTTP sessions. In order to inspect such traffic, an ISP would have to first decompress/decode the traffic for inspection, which may not be feasible at high speeds.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved technique for inspecting server to client traffic in a session.


The present invention relates to a magnetic element such as an conductor, a choke coil, a transformer, or the like in electronic equipment, particularly a miniature magnetic element used under a large current and to a method of manufacturing the same.
With the reduction in size and thickness of electronic equipment, the reduction in size and thickness of components and devices used therein also has been demanded strongly. On the other hand, LSIs such as a CPU and the like have come to be made up of an increasing number of circuit components and a current of several amperes to several tens of amperes may be supplied to a power circuit provided in the LSIs. Therefore, similarly an inductor such as a choke coil used therein has been required to reduce its size, to lower the resistance, although being contrary to the size reduction, by enlarging the cross-sectional area of a coil conductor, and not to lower the inductance greatly with DC bias. The operation frequency has come to be higher and therefore it has been required that the loss in a high frequency area is low. Furthermore, in order to reduce the cost, it has been necessary that component elements with simple shapes can be assembled in easy processes. In other words, it has been demanded that a miniaturized thin inductor that can be used under a large current and at a high frequency is provided at a low cost.
In the case where an inductor is formed by providing a winding around a toroidal core, the inductance of the inductor is expressed by the following formula:
Lxcx9cxcexcxc3x97S=N2/r
wherein L indicates inductance, xcexc magnetic permeability, S the cross-sectional area of a magnetic path, N the number of turns, and r the length of the magnetic path. From this formula, it is understood that a large value of L is obtained when the magnetic permeability xcexc, the cross-sectional area S of a magnetic path, and the number of turns N are increased and the length r of the magnetic path is reduced. However, when the magnetic permeability is increased, the magnetic flux density is saturated even at a small current value. The magnetic permeability is decreased at higher current values, thus deteriorating the DC bias characteristics (the inductance value (L) characteristics dependent on a direct current). The enlargement of the cross-sectional area of the magnetic path is contrary to the size reduction and results in a long lead wire in the case of the same number of turns, thus causing a high resistance. The use of a lead wire with a large cross-sectional area to prevent this further goes against the size reduction. The increase in number of turns is contrary to the size reduction and also causes a high resistance. To shorten the magnetic path leads to the size reduction but the number of turns cannot be increased in that case. Therefore, generally it has been difficult to obtain a miniature inductor that has a high inductance, excellent DC bias characteristics, and a low resistance in a winding and that can be used not only at low frequencies but also at high frequencies.
An inductor that has been used practically will be described as follows.
In an EE-type or EI-type ferrite core and a coil that have been used most commonly, because a ferrite material has a relatively high magnetic permeability and a lower saturation magnetic flux density compared to that of a metallic magnetic material, the inductance is decreased greatly due to the magnetic saturation when the ferrite material is used without being modified, resulting in poor DC bias characteristics. Therefore, in order to improve the DC bias characteristics, usually such a ferrite core and a coil have been used by providing a gap in any position in a magnetic path of the core to decrease the apparent magnetic permeability.
In an inductor in which a Fexe2x80x94Sixe2x80x94Al based alloy, a Fexe2x80x94Ni based alloy, or the like that has a higher saturation magnetic flux density than that of ferrite is used as a core material, because such a metallic material has a low electrical resistance, the increase in high operation frequency to several hundreds of kHz to MHz as in the recent situation results in the increase in eddy current loss and thus the inductor cannot be used without being modified. Therefore, a so-called dust core has been used, which is obtained by superposing members, which have been formed to have thin bodies, via an insulating layer or which is formed using a pulverized material that is insulated.
It also has been proposed to combine and use a plurality of magnetic bodies. One obtained by winding a coil around a ferrite core with rib and then dipping them into a mixed solution of magnetic powder and a resin material (JP-A-61-136213) and one obtained by preparing two members formed through the superposition of a plurality of thin magnetic metal bodies, providing a planar coil between the two members, and fixing magnetic powder with a dispersed adhesive (JP-A-9-270334) have been described as being effective for reducing the size of an inductor. In addition, one obtained by providing a planar coil between two ferrite sheets and fixing ferrite powder with a dispersed adhesive in order to reduce the leakage flux has been proposed (JP-A-6-342725), although it is not described as achieving the size reduction.
With respect to the configurations of inductors, many conventional inductors have been formed of an EE or EI type core and a coil. However, in order to obtain a thin inductor, JP-A-9-92540 describes using one formed by winding the coil spirally in a plane. Further, JP-A-9-205023 describes that the terminal on the internal circumference side (hereinafter referred to as an xe2x80x9cinner terminalxe2x80x9d) of a spirally wound coil is lead out by providing a cutout in a core, so that the thickness corresponding to that of the lead wire is reduced.
However, when a ferrite material is used and a gap is provided anywhere in a magnetic path to decrease the apparent magnetic permeability, there has been a problem that a core vibrates in this gap portion when being operated with an alternating current, thus generating noise.
When thin metallic magnetic bodies with a high saturation magnetic flux density are superposed via insulating layers, the thin bodies that can be used at high frequencies should be formed to be sufficiently thin. Therefore, the cost increases and no complicated shape can be formed, which have been problems. Further, in order to obtain a dust core with characteristics good enough, it is necessary to make the dust core dense by the application of a very high pressure of about 10t/cm2 in a molding process. Therefore, there have been problems that a special high-strength mold is required and complicated shapes are formed with difficulty.
In the types disclosed in JP-A-61-136213 and JP-A-6-342725 that are included in the types in which a plurality of magnetic bodies are combined and used, a member obtained by dispersing ferrite in a resin is used. However, since there is a limitation in the filling rate of the ferrite, there has been a problem that the saturation magnetic flux density of this member is low and therefore the DC bias characteristics are poor. Furthermore, in the type disclosed in JP-A-9-270334, the kind of the magnetic body to be mixed with resin is not described, but it is necessary to prepare a member formed by superposing a plurality of thin magnetic metal bodies in all cases, resulting in a high cost. In addition, since the upper and lower surfaces of an element are formed of metallic magnetic bodies, the electrical resistance is low and therefore insulation is required, and complicated shapes cannot be formed, which also have been problems.
The present invention seeks to provide a magnetic element, such as an inductor, a choke coil, a transformer, or the like, that is suitable for the use under a large current in various types of electronic equipment.
A magnetic element of the present invention includes: a composite magnetic member A containing a metallic magnetic powder in an amount of 50-70 vol. % and a thermosetting resin in an amount of 50-30 vol. %; a magnetic member B that is a ferrite sintered body or a pressed-powder magnetic body of the metallic magnetic powder; and a coil. A magnetic path determined by the arrangement of the coil passes the magnetic member A and the magnetic member B in series. The coil is embedded in the magnetic member A.
In the magnetic element of the present invention, it is preferable that the gaps in the coil are filled with the magnetic member A. Further, it is preferable that the coil is wound around the magnetic member B.
It is preferable that the magnetic member B is positioned outside the magnetic member A in which the coil is embedded. In this case, it is further preferable that a plurality of plate-like magnetic members Bare included and are spaced from one another at 500-xcexcm intervals or less, particularly at 300-xcexcm intervals or less, the magnetic member A in which the coil is embedded is arranged in the intervals, and the coil is formed of a conductor wound in a planar shape.
Furthermore, it is preferable that an oxide insulating layer is formed on the surface of the metallic magnetic powder contained in the magnetic member A. In this case, it is further preferable that the metallic magnetic powder contained in the magnetic member A contains Fe as the main component and Al, and the oxide insulating layer on the surface of the metallic magnetic powder is an insulating layer containing aluminum oxide as the main component, which is formed by a heat treatment in the presence of oxygen.
In this specification, the main component denotes a constituent accounting for at least 50 wt. %.
The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing the above-mentioned magnetic element. A first method of manufacturing the magnetic element according to the present invention includes: preparing a paste containing magnetic powder and thermosetting resin; filling gaps around the coil with the paste; and forming the magnetic member A from the paste by curing the thermosetting resin through a treatment with heat.
A second method of manufacturing a magnetic element according to the present invention includes: preparing a slurry containing magnetic powder and thermosetting resin; forming an uncured composite sheet from the slurry; and forming the magnetic member A from the uncured composite sheet by curing the thermosetting resin through a treatment with heat and pressure.


When treating certain medical conditions, it is sometimes desirable to expand a frame or other radially expandable member in an orifice or conduit of a patient's body. For example, expandable tubes called stents are commonly inserted into a natural conduit of a patient's body and expanded inside the conduit to hold the conduit in an open position. Such expandable stents can be used to expand, widen, or otherwise provide structural support to various conduits of the human body, including, for example, arteries, veins, bile ducts, the esophagus, and the colon. In other treatment procedures, prosthetic heart valves that include a frame member are implanted into the body at a treatment site (e.g., a heart valve annulus). These prosthetic heart valves can be positioned in the heart valve annulus by expanding the frame member to roughly the size of the valve annulus.
Such frames or stents can be self-expanding or expanded using an expansion balloon. One conventional method involves positioning a frame on a balloon of a balloon catheter, maneuvering the balloon and frame to the treatment site, and inflating the balloon with a fluid to expand the frame or stent to the desired size. Such an approach, however, can have drawbacks. For example, during the expansion of the balloon the orifice or conduit is usually at least partially, if not completely, occluded, which can cause certain undesirable effects. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods and delivery systems that eliminate or reduce these and other potential drawbacks.


Many companies, municipalities, and local governments must employ a significant amount of workers to monitor and maintain equipment that may operate at distant locations relative to the operations center of a company, municipality, or local government. For example, utility companies such as electric companies must employ workers to go out and to collect data from electric meters so that an electric company can accurately measure consumption by its customers for billing purposes. Often, electric company workers go out in to the field and must physically read analog or digital meters to collect data on electricity consumption by a customer.
In other cases, utility meters, such as electric meters, can be provided with low power radios that can be interrogated with hand held or vehicle-mounted reading units. In such cases, workers with these hand held or vehicle-mounted reading units must be in close proximity relative to the low power radios in order to interrogate the low power radios and to collect that data from a meter. While the low power radios on the meters increase the speed and accuracy in which data can be collected by a worker, this conventional solution still requires a worker to position himself or herself in the field in close physical proximity to the meters, usually within the range of fifty feet to any particular meter. Often, because the low power radios are required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate with such low power and because the meters are often obstructed by buildings and other physical objects, it is necessary for the worker to establish a line-of-sight coupling with the low power radio to interrogate and read it.
Another problem faced by utility companies, such as electric companies, is the monitoring and control of residential equipment such as air conditioners. According to some conventional programs, customers of electric companies may voluntarily relinquish control of their air conditioning unit so that the electric company can turn a particular customer's air conditioning unit on or off depending upon peak power loads monitored by the electric company. Many electric companies use existing power lines as the communications medium for controlling the operation of such air conditioning units. There are problems associated with using existing power lines as the communications medium for controlling air conditioning units. On such problem is the amount of hardware and its associated costs to support this type of communications medium that uses power lines. Also, reliability of power line carriers (PLCs) is usually low because PLCs are more susceptible to noisy, electromagnetic environments compared to other communication mediums, such as over-the-air radio frequency communications.
In addition to the problems faced by utility companies with controlling residential equipment from a distance and using workers to acquire data from meters, there are other problems associated with other types of equipment that may be remotely located relative to the organization that controls and maintains the equipment. For example, municipalities usually need to employ workers that monitor and maintain parking meters. A worker is needed to collect any money received by a meter and to verify that a parking meter is working properly. If information is collected by the parking meter, such as number of vehicles parked in space per day/hour or if a vehicle is present in proximity to the meter, then such information would also need to be collected by the human worker during his or her survey of the meters.
For other equipment, such as traffic control devices, municipalities often employ workers to perform routine checks on equipment for malfunctions and for increasing operation efficiency of the equipment. As one example, municipalities and local governments employ staff to maintain and monitor traffic lights. Usually, such staff must observe operations of traffic lights first hand in order to optimize performance and detect any malfunctions of the traffic lights. Also, staff usually must observe traffic patterns first hand in order to set the timing of the traffic lights.
As another example, municipalities and/or companies also employ staff to monitor and maintain automated barriers and gates to railroad crossings and draw bridges. Usually, automated barriers and gates do not have a way to communicate their operation and any environmental conditions, such as weather and traffic flow, back to a central location.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and system that can collect information from and provide control to remote field devices relative to a central location. There is a further need in the art for a method and system that can establish communications with a remote field device without using significant communications hardware, such as wires, cables, and/or new radio equipment.


Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone is a decameric peptide released from the hypothalamus. In the anterior pituitary gland, GnRH activates the GnRH receptor. Activation of the GnRH receptor triggers the release of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). FSH and LH stimulate the biosynthesis and release of sex steroids in the gonads of both genders.
Typically, this stimulation and release is desirable, but certain GnRH-related disorders exist where it would be beneficial to prevent activation of the GnRH receptor. For example, inhibition of the GnRH receptor can lead to a large drop in sex steroid production, which in turn can alleviate sex hormone-related conditions such as prostate cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, uterine cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, testicular cancer, or primary hirsutism. Moreover, there are other situations where it would be beneficial to prevent activation of the GnRH receptor, such as during some points of the in vitro fertilization process, for example, to prevent LH surge.
Currently marketed GnRH therapeutics are peptides that exhibit receptor antagonism in one of two ways. The first is through GnRH receptor superagonism. The GnRH receptor, when stimulated in bursts, causes normal release of the gonadotropins, FSH and LH. Under constant stimulation, the receptor becomes desensitized and the overall effect is GnRH receptor inhibition. The superagonism process is undesirable, because inhibition via this process can take up to two weeks to have an effect in human patients. During this delay, there is often an increase in disease symptoms due to the initial hormone stimulation phase. This phenomenon is referred to as flare.
The second method for receptor inhibition is through direct antagonism of the GnRH receptor with peptide antagonists. This causes an immediate drop in plasma LH levels. However, as mentioned above, current pharmaceuticals that cause blockade of the GnRH receptor are all peptides. As such they are not orally bioavailable and must be administered via parenteral means such as intravenous, subcutaneous, or intramuscular injection. Thus, an orally effective GnRH antagonist would be of great benefit.
The present invention is directed to these and other important ends.


In the course of an investigation on the synthesis of optically active eremophilane sesquiterpenoids from sabinene, A. van der Gen et al. [Rec. Trav. Chim. Pays-Bas, 90, 1034 (1971)]synthesized a compound to which they attributed the structure of trans-10,10-dimethyl-tricyclo[7.1.1.0.sup.2,7 ]undec-2-en-4-one. No indication as to the properties of this ketone was however given by the cited authors, nor any suggestion was formulated by them concerning its possible use as perfume or flavour ingredient. We have now found that cis-10,10-dimethyl-tricyclo[7.1.1.0.sup.2,7 ]undec-2-en-4-one possesses useful organoleptic properties and consequently it can advantageously be used in the perfume and flavour industry.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for treating cells at a site in the body, such as at a lens capsule of an eye, thermally and, if desired, chemically. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for treating cells at a site in the body, such as at a lens capsule of an eye, by applying energy to the cells to heat the cells to a temperature which will kill the cells or impede cell multiplication without causing protein denaturation to occur in the cells, and, if desired, by further exposing the cells to a material which alters a physical characteristic of the cells to kill the cells or further impede cell multiplication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several techniques currently exist for treating cells at a selected site in the body with heat or chemicals to kill or impede multiplication of those cells to prevent undesired cell proliferation. For example, numerous types of chemotherapy drugs exists which, when injected into a tumor or delivered systemically to a patient, attack and kill cancerous cells to prevent them from further multiplying.
Radiation techniques can also be used to kill cancerous or other undesired cells. That is, when cells are heated to a temperature of about 5xc2x0 C. or more above the normal body temperature of 37xc2x0 C., cell death begins to occur. Applying radiation to a localized site in the body, such as a tumor or other area containing undesired cells, can heat the cells at the site to temperatures in excess of 60xc2x0 C. Such high temperatures causes a phenomenon known as protein denaturation to occur in the cells, which results in immediate cell death. Accordingly, radiation therapy has been suitable in successfully treating certain types of cancers and other diseases involving uncontrolled cell growth.
Other types of heating techniques, such as the use of probes or catheters to provide localized heat to a site of interest also exist. Like radiation therapy, these techniques also heat the cells to a high enough temperature to cause protein denaturation in the cells to thus kill the cells quickly.
In addition, it is also known to use photosensitive chemicals to kill cells at certain sites of interest in the body. For example, a photosensitive chemical can be injected directly into a site of interest to expose cells at that site to the chemical. A light emitting source which emits light at a wavelength that will activate the photosensitive chemical is then focused on the site of interest. Accordingly, the light activates the photosensitive chemical that has been absorbed by or is otherwise present in the cells of interest. The activated chemical kills the cells, which thus prevents undesired cell proliferation.
Although the techniques mentioned above can be suitable for preventing certain types of cell proliferation and certain sites in the body, several drawbacks with these techniques exist. For example, often the use of chemotherapy drugs alone to treat a tumor or cancerous site is insufficient to kill the undesired cells. Moreover, the chemotherapy drugs also kill many normal healthy cells along with the cancerous cells, which can adversely affect the patient""s health.
The use of radiation in conjunction with chemotherapy can have a more detrimental effect on the cancerous cells. However, as with chemotherapy, radiation often kills normal healthy cells, such as those in front of or behind the site of interest, along with the cancerous cells. Moreover, the intense heating of the cells can cause the cells to coagulate and thus block the capillaries at the site of interest. The blocked capillaries therefore prevent chemotherapy drugs from reaching the site of interest.
In addition, is it not known to use the above techniques to prevent unwanted cell proliferation at certain locations in the eye, such as at the retina or at the lens capsule. For example, because the retina is very sensitive, known radiation techniques can be too severe to treat cancerous cells on, in or under the retina.
Also, after cataract surgery, a phenomenon known as capsular opacification and, in particular, posterior capsular opacification can occur in which the epithelial cells on the lens capsule of the eye experience proliferated growth. This growth can result in the cells covering all or a substantial portion of the front and rear surfaces of the lens capsule, which can cause the lens capsule to become cloudy and thus adversely affect the patient""s vision. These cells can be removed by known techniques, such as by scraping away the epithelial cells. However, it is often difficult to remove all of the unwanted cells. Hence, after time, the unwanted cells typically will grow back, thus requiring further surgery.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method for preventing unwanted cell proliferation at sites in the body, especially at sites in the eye such as the retina and lens capsule, which does not suffer from the drawbacks associated with the known techniques discussed above.
An object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for preventing the proliferation of unwanted cells at various sites in the body, especially at sites in the eye such as the retina and lens capsule.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for thermally and chemically treating cells at sites in the body to kill the cells or impede cell multiplication without causing protein denaturation to occur in the cells.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a system and method which uses an energy emitting device to heat cells at a site of interest in the body to a temperature which kills the cells without causing protein denaturation in the cells, and which also chemically treats the cells, if desired, to change a physical characteristic of the cells to thus cause cell death or impede cell multiplication.
These and other objects of the invention are substantially achieved by providing a system and method for treating cells of a site in the body, such as at a lens capsule of an eye. The system and method employs an energy emitting device, and a positioning device, adapted to position the energy emitting device at a position in relation to the cells at the site in the body, such as the cells of the lens capsule, such that energy emitted from the energy emitting device heats the cells to a temperature which is above body temperature and below a temperature at which protein denaturation occurs in the cells, to kill the cells or impede multiplication of the cells. The energy emitting device can include a container containing a heated fluid which heats the cells to the desired temperature. Alternatively, the energy emitting device can include a heated probe, or a probe that emits radiation, such as infrared or ultraviolet radiation, laser light, microwave energy or ultrasonic energy.
The system and method can further employ a material delivery device that can be unitary with or separate from the energy emitting device, an can provide a material, such as a photosensitive material, to the cells at the site of interest. A light emitting device can be controlled to direct light onto the site of interest to activate the material present at the cells to alter a physical characteristic of the cells.


Many different types of materials are employed as functional fluids, and functional fluids are utilized in a wide variety of applications. Thus, such fluids have been utilized as electronic coolants, diffusion pump fluids, lubricants, damping fluid, power transmission and hydraulic fluids, heat transfer fluids and heat pump fluids. A particularly important application of such functional fluids has been their utilization as hydraulic fluids and lubricants in aircraft, requiring successful operation of such fluids over a wide temperature range, and fire resistant fluids.
Functional and hydraulic fluids employed in many industrial applications and particularly hydraulic fluids for aircraft must meet a number of important requirements. Thus, such hydraulic fluids particularly for aircraft use, should be operable over a wide temperature range, should have good stability at relatively high temperatures and preferably have lubricating characteristics. In addition to having the usual combination of properties making it a good lubricant or hydraulic fluid, such fluid should also have relatively low viscosity at extremely low temperatures and an adequately high viscosity at relatively high temperatures, and must have adequate stability at the high operating temperatures of use. Further, it is of importance that such fluids be compatible with and not adversely affect materials including metals and non-metals such as seals of the system in which the fluid is employed. It is also important in aircraft hydraulic fluids and lubricants that such fluids have as high a fire resistance as possible to prevent ignition if such fluids are accidentally or as result of damage to the hydraulic system, sprayed onto or into contact with surfaces of materials of high temperature. Another important property for application of a hydraulic fluid in aircraft is the provision of a low density fluid to increase pay load.
Hydraulic fluids in commercial jet aircraft are exposed to temperatures ranging from below -40.degree.F to over 200.degree.F. Within these temperature extremes, it is necessary for the fluid to maintain a reasonably low viscosity when cold, and yet not become too thin when hot.
In presently available commercial functional or hydraulic fluids, phosphate esters are among the most commonly employed base stocks, of which tributyl phosphate and dibutyl phenyl phosphate are widely used components. Both of the latter phosphates are too thin at high temperatures, and their use alone would result in rapid wear of moving parts. Other phosphate esters, such as tricresyl phosphate, for example, which provide the requisite high temperature viscosity become too thick to be useful at low temperatures. Even mixtures of various phosphate esters such as those noted above do not provide the required viscosity characteristics at both low and high temperatures. Accordingly, it has been the practice to achieve the required wide viscosity range required for aircraft hydraulic fluids by adding to a thin base stock, such as phosphate ester or mixtures thereof, a small proportion, e.g., up to 10%, of a polymeric material such as polyalkyl acrylates or methacrylates, whose solubility characteristics in the base stock are chosen so that the polymeric material thickens the fluid more at high temperatures than at low temperatures, and thus functions as a viscosity index (VI) improver.
However, during use, fluids of the above type containing polymers such as the polyalkyl acrylates or methacrylates, tend to decompose due to the shearing forces of the mechanical components encountered in an aircraft hydraulic system, on the fluid, and producing acids. This results in a high degree of acid build-up during use, which is detrimental in causing corrosion of metal surfaces with which the fluid is in contact and also causes further decomposition of the fluid.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,637,507, improved acid stability of such functional or hydraulic fluids is achieved by the addition of monoepoxides and particularly certain diepoxides to hydraulic fluids containing a phosphate ester and particularly polyalkyl methacrylate viscosity index improver. However, in currently manufactured fluids of this type, the functionality of the epoxide is severly limited by the reaction which epoxides can have with acrylate and methacrylate viscosity index improver. Thus, although diepoxides such as the 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl 3,4-epoxycyclohexane carboxylate disclosed in the above patent are preferred over the monoepoxide in the above fluids, the concentration of the latter diepoxide must be kept low since the reaction of polyfunctional epoxides with acrylate and methacrylate type viscosity index improvers leads to the formation of harmful insoluble deposits in aircraft hydraulic systems. Thus, it is particularly noteworthy that in all of the examples of the above patent, and employing polyalkyl methacrylate viscosity index improver, the concentration of the epoxide component, including the above-noted preferred diepoxide of the patent, is employed in a concentration ranging only from about 0.5 to about 1%. The necessity for using such low concentrations of such diepoxides in order to avoid formation of undesirable deposits in the fluid, due to reaction with acrylate and methacrylate viscosity index improvers, limits the effectiveness of such epoxides in preventing acid build-up.
The present invention relates to functional fluid compositions having good fire resistance and desirable viscosity characteristics at both high and low temperatures, and is particularly directed to functional fluid compositions having the above-noted properties and consisting essentially of a phosphorus compound, especially a phosphate ester, a particular viscosity index improver other than a polyacrylate or polymethacrylate, and an epoxide compound of a type which permits use of a high concentration of such epoxide in conjunction with said viscosity index improver, to effectively prevent formation of harmful insoluble deposits in the fluid while effectively functioning as an acid absorber to prevent acid build-up.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical recording medium, in particular to a write once optical recording medium capable of recording information therein and reproducing the recorded information therefrom by causing the optical characteristics, such as transmittance and reflectance, of a recording material for use in the optical recording medium to change by the application of an optical beam thereto. In addition, the present invention also relates to a method of recording information in the above-mentioned optical recording medium.
2. Discussion of Background
The wavelength of a laser beam used for currently employed write once optical disk systems of a write once read many type (WORM), and a compact disc-recordable (CD-R) type is in the range of 770 nm to 790 nm, and a recording medium for the write once optical disk system is designed in such a fashion that recording and reproduction can be performed in the above-mentioned wavelength range.
Sooner or later, it will be inevitable that the capacity of such a recording medium must be significantly increased in accordance with the amount of information to be handled. It is also inevitable that the wavelength of the laser beam used for the recording and reproduction will be shortened.
In recent years, there have been proposed many types of write once optical disks for data recording and reproduction, using a cyanine dye or a phthalocyanine dye as a recording material.
For example, the write once optical disks using as the recording material a cyanine dye are disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 57-62093, 58-56892, 58-112790, 58-114989, 59-85791, 60-83236, 60-89842, and 61-25886. Furthermore, the write once optical disks using as the recording material a phthalocyanine dye are disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 61-150243, 61-177287, 61-154888, 61-246091, 62-39286, 63-37791, and 63-39888.
However, there has not yet been developed any recording material that has high light resistance and excellent preservation stability, and is capable of performing the recording and reproducing operation using an optical pick-up of a laser beam with a wavelength of 700 nm or less.
The currently employed CD-R is also designed in such a fashion that recording and reproduction can be performed by a laser beam with a wavelength in the range of 770 nm to 790 nm.
In the case of the above-mentioned CD-R system, the increase in capacity of the recording medium also becomes inevitable, and there is the trend toward shortening of the wavelength of the laser beam to be used for data recording and reproduction.
In CDs and CD-ROMs which are currently employed, aluminum (Al) is coated on the concave and convex portions of the substrate therefor and the wavelength-dependence of the reflectance of Al is so small that even if the wavelength of the laser beam used therefor is shortened in the future, reproduction of information recorded in such CDs and CD-ROMs is possible.
In contrast to this, the recording layer of the currently employed CD-R, which contains therein a dye with a maximum absorption wavelength in the range of 680 nm to 750 nm, is designed so as to exhibit a maximum reflectance when a laser beam with a wavelength of 770 nm to 790 nm is applied thereto, with the optical characteristics and constants and the thickness and structure of the recording layer being taken into consideration. Therefore, when a laser beam with a wavelength of 700 nm or less is applied to the currently employed CD-R, the reflectance exhibited by the recording layer is extremely small, so that the currently employed CD-R cannot cope with the shortening of the wavelength of the employed laser beam in the future. As a result, it will be highly possible that the information recorded in the currently employed CD-R system cannot be reproduced therefrom by such a future system.
Many recording materials, for example, the combination of cyanine dye/metal reflection layer, phthalocyanine dye/metal reflection layer, and azo metal chelate dye/metal reflection layer, are proposed for the conventional CD-R. To be more specific, as the recording material for the CD-R, the combination of a cyanine dye/metal reflection layer is proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 1-159842, 2-42652, 2-13656, and 2-168446; a phthalocyanine dye as the recording material is proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 1-176585, 3-215466, 4-113886, 4-226390, 5-1272, 5-171052, 5-116456, 5-69860 and 5-139044; and an azo metal chelate dye as the recording material is proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 4-46186, 4-141489, 4-361088, and 5-279580.
However, there is no write once optical recording medium that can solve the above-mentioned problems.


Phototropic (also known as photochromic and photothermochromic) compounds are generally known as compounds which isomerize or tautomerize reversibly to another form when exposed to actinic light of a suitable wave length. When this wavelength of irradiation is removed and either heat or light of a different wavelength of irradiation is applied, the reaction is reversed to give the original phototropic compound.
It has now been discovered that a specific class of phototropic compounds, when irradiated to an aci- or acidic form, are effective as photoinitiators for cationic polymerization of various monomers resulting in polymers thereof and such photo-induced reaction is eminently suitable for use in the graphic arts or as light-cured coatings.
Vinyl ethers and epoxy resins have been photopolymerized employing various catalysts and promoters therefor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,296 issued Jan. 2, 1973 to S. I. Schlesinger and commonly assigned herewith, employs photosensitive catalyst precursors which are aryl diazonium salts of complex halogenides which release a Lewis acid upon irradiation to initiate polymerization of epoxide monomers and prepolymers.
Another procedure, U.S. Pat. No. 3,347,676 employs metal salts such as complex silver borates in combination with organic halogens.
None of the prior procedures are without their particular difficulties however. For example, epoxides and related compositions containing photosensitive catalyst precursors have a tendency to gel on standing, often necessitating the need for gelation inhibitors to prevent premature reaction, while silver compounds are becoming increasingly expensive, and are not practical alternatives for large scale commercial production. Accordingly, it is desirable to identify and discover new monomer catalyzing agents useful in the photopolymerization process which are not subject to and overcome the deficiencies now existing in the art.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process, and more particularly, to a CMP process and a method for improving accuracy of determining a polish endpoint thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
With advance of semiconductor technology, number of transistors which can be fabricated in a chip per unit area is increased. The higher the device integrity is, the more the unplanar surface of a chip is undesirable. As a result, enhancing surface planarization of a chip becomes essentially important. A chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process is a method to provide a uniform surface planarization, and has become a vital thin film planarization technique for deep sub-micron technology.
Use the commonly applied tungsten plug CMP process as an example. FIG. 1A is a cross sectional view of a prior art metal interconnect structure. The silicon oxide layer 111 is formed on the substrate 101 of the chip 100. The silicon oxide layer 111 comprises the opening 130. The adhesion layer 140 covers the silicon oxide layer 111. The material of the adhesion layer 140 can be, for example, titanium nitride/titanium (TiN/Ti). The conductive layer 150 is formed over the adhesion layer 140. The material of the conductive layer 150 can be, for example, tungsten. The opening 130 serves as a contact hole. The adhesion layer 140 and the conductive layer 150 filled in the opening 130 serve as a conductive plug. Since conductive lines are formed on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 111 to connect with the conductive plugs, the adhesion layer 140 and the conductive layer 150 over the surface of the silicon oxide layer 111 should be removed by a CMP process.
In order to avoid residues, dishing, or erosion resulting from under-polish or over-polish by the CMP process, how to accurately detect polish endpoints of the CMP process becomes an important topic in this field. For the presently used method of determining the polish endpoint, an IR light irradiates the conductive layer 150 while the to-be-polished layer, e.g., the conductive layer 150 and the adhesion layer 140 of FIG. 1A, is polished by the CMP process. The reflection of the IR light from the to-be-polished layer is continuously detected. Most of the material of the to-be-polished layer contains metal, and the silicon oxide layer 111 is non-metal. Accordingly, the reflection of the IR light from the to-be-polished layer is much stronger than that from the silicon oxide layer 111. When the reflection is weakened, it can be determined that the to-be-polished layer is removed and the surface of the silicon oxide layer 111 is exposed. At this moment, it also indicates the polish endpoint of the CMP process.
In another aspect, since the device integrity is increased due to advance of semiconductor technology, the high device integrity reduces line width and increases difficulty for photolithographic process. As a result, the misalignment issue is easy to happen. The issue becomes serious when a reflective layer, such as a metal layer or a polysilicon layer, is included in the structure. The reflective layer results in reflection of incident light on the film surface and diffraction. Thus, the photolithographic pattern may be incorrectly transferred. To prevent the issue described above, an anti-reflection coating (ARC) layer or a dielectric anti-reflection coating layer (DARC) layer is formed on the film layer to reduce the errors caused by the reflection during the photoresist exposure step, and to enhance device yield.
Though the ARC layer or the DARC layer is necessary for the photolithographic process, a new issue arises. During the CMP planarization process, the layer that should be polished is the material layer 120 of FIG. 1B, rather than the original single silicon oxide layer 111. The material layer 120 comprises, for example, the silicon oxide layer 111, the first DARC layer 113, the second DARC layer 115 and the cap oxide layer 117, which are sequentially formed on the substrate 101. These film layers enhance reflection of the IR light, which becomes irregular from the original reflection. With reducing the thickness of the to-be-polished layer, the reflection of IR light is enhanced and reflection variation becomes severe. This phenomenon may make the polish endpoint detection failed. If the film layers are under-polished, the residue of the material layer 120 may be generated on the conductive layer 150, causing bridge. In contrast, if the film layers are over-polished, the material layer 120 may be eroded. The material layer 120 may become thinner, and the conductive layer 150 is also subject to the over-polish. In a high-density device, the dielectric material among the metal interconnect structure is not sufficient to serve electrical isolation so as to affect device operation.


As an example of a mobile communication system to which the present invention is applicable, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (hereinafter, referred to as LTE) communication system is described in brief.
FIG. 1 is a view schematically illustrating a network structure of an E-UMTS as an exemplary radio communication system. An Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (E-UMTS) is an advanced version of a conventional Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and basic standardization thereof is currently underway in the 3GPP. E-UMTS may be generally referred to as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. For details of the technical specifications of the UMTS and E-UMTS, reference can be made to Release 7 and Release 8 of “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network”.
Referring to FIG. 1, the E-UMTS includes a User Equipment (UE), eNode Bs (eNBs), and an Access Gateway (AG) which is located at an end of the network (E-UTRAN) and connected to an external network. The eNBs may simultaneously transmit multiple data streams for a broadcast service, a multicast service, and/or a unicast service.
One or more cells are present per eNB. A cell is configured to use one of bandwidths of 1.44, 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz to provide a downlink or uplink transport service to several UEs. Different cells may be set to provide different bandwidths. The eNB controls data transmission and reception for a plurality of UEs. The eNB transmits downlink scheduling information with respect to downlink data to notify a corresponding UE of a time/frequency domain in which data is to be transmitted, coding, data size, and Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest (HARQ)-related information. In addition, the eNB transmits uplink scheduling information with respect to uplink data to a corresponding UE to inform the UE of an available time/frequency domain, coding, data size, and HARQ-related information. An interface may be used to transmit user traffic or control traffic between eNBs. A Core Network (CN) may include the AG, a network node for user registration of the UE, and the like. The AG manages mobility of a UE on a Tracking Area (TA) basis, each TA including a plurality of cells.
Although radio communication technology has been developed up to LTE based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), demands and expectations of users and providers continue to increase. In addition, since other radio access technologies continue to be developed, new advances in technology are required to secure future competitiveness. For example, decrease of cost per bit, increase of service availability, flexible use of a frequency band, simple structure, open interface, and suitable power consumption by a UE are required.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical wavelength division multiplexing network which multiplexes and transmits optical signals having a plurality of different wavelengths.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 25 shows an example of the constitution of a conventional optical wavelength division multiplexing network. The network shown in FIG. 25 has a ring structure comprising two or three layers. The network of FIG. 25 will be explained in separate sections comprising a network (1) 11, a network (2) 12, a network (3) 13, a network (4) 14, and a network (5) 15. The network (1) 11 has a ring structure, and is provided at the highest level. The network (1) 11 comprises at least one center node 21 and two or more (three in FIG. 1) remote nodes 22, 23, and 24. The network (2) 12 is a ring network comprising a node (#4) 24, which is one of the remote nodes of the network (1) 11, and is provided below the network (1) 11. The network (3) 13 comprises a tree-shaped structure centered on a node (#41) 25, which is one of the nodes of the network (2) 12, and is provided below the network (2) 12. The network (4) 14 comprises a ring-shaped structure centered on a node (#3) 23, which is one of the remote nodes of the network (1) 11, and is provided below the network (1) 11. The network (5) 15 comprises a tree-shaped structure centered on a node 27, which is one of a plurality of nodes 23, 26, 27, and 28 of the network (4) 14, and can conceivably be provided below the network (4) 14. Optical network units (ONU) (they are also called optical service units.) 51 to 56 comprise the subscribers of each home, business office, and the like, and are provided in the network (3) 13 or the network (5) 15.
In FIG. 25, the nodes of network (1) 11, the network (2) 12, and the network (4) 14, are connected by optical fiber transmission paths 60, 60, . . . which comprise a plurality of optical fibers. The ONUs are connected to the nodes of the networks (3) 13 and (5) 15 by optical fiber transmission paths 70, 70, . . . which comprise a single optical fiber. Equipment for signal termination electrically processes transmission signals, which have been converted from optical signals to electrical signals, and are provided at the nodes 21 to 28.
In this explanation, traffic from subscribers in the network (3) 13 or the network (5) 15 is assumed to be 1.5 Mb/s. The traffic from the subscribers is multiplexed at the subscriber office (node 25 or node 27), and transmitted to the node (#4) 24 in the network (2) 12 or the remote node (#3) 23 in the network (1) 11 at a higher transmission speed of, for example, 52 Mb/s. At the node (#41) 25 and the node 27, traffic sent from other nodes in the network (2) 12 or the network (4) 14 is combined with the multiplexed traffic from the subscribers, and transmitted to the next node in the network (2) 12 or the network (4) 14 at an even high transmission speed. Transmission speed conversion and the like is also carried out at the nodes in the network (1) 11. That is, electrical processing is carried out at each node.
In conventional optical networks such as that shown in FIG. 25, when starting a new high-speed access service for users at a speed of, for example, approximately 150 Mb/s or 1 Gb/s, transmission apparatuses which carry out electrical processing for multiplexing the traffic must be provided at each node, since there are several users belonging to the network (3) 13 or the network (5) 15. Consequently, the initial expenditure is considerable. Moreover, depending on the region, there may be fewer users per node, leading to a drawback of expenditure efficiency.


While a number of recent efforts are being made to achieve a finer pattern rule in the drive for higher integration and operating speeds in LSI devices, the commonly used light exposure lithography is approaching the essential limit of resolution determined by the light source wavelength.
As the light source used in the lithography for resist pattern formation, g-line (436 nm) or i-line (365 nm) from a mercury lamp has been widely used. One means believed effective for further reducing the feature size is to reduce the wavelength of exposure light. For the mass production process of 64 M-bit DRAM, the exposure light source of i-line (365 nm) was replaced by a KrF excimer laser having a shorter wavelength of 248 nm. However, for the fabrication of DRAM with a degree of integration of 1 G or more requiring a finer patterning technology (processing feature size 0.13 μm or less), a shorter wavelength light source is required, and in particular, photolithography using ArF excimer laser light (193 nm) is now under investigation.
On the other hand, it is known in the art that the bilayer resist method is advantageous in forming a high-aspect ratio pattern on a stepped substrate. In order that a bilayer resist film be developable with a common alkaline developer, high molecular weight silicone compounds having hydrophilic groups such as hydroxyl and carboxyl groups must be used.
Among silicone base chemically amplified positive resist compositions, recently proposed were those compositions for KrF laser exposure comprising a base resin in the form of polyhydroxybenzylsilsesquioxane, which is a stable alkali-soluble silicone polymer, in which some phenolic hydroxyl groups are blocked with t-BOC groups, in combination with a photoacid generator (see JP-A 6-118651 and SPIE vol. 1925 (1993), p. 377). For ArF laser exposure, positive resist compositions comprising as a base a silsesquioxane of the type in which cyclohexylcarboxylic acid is substituted with an acid labile group were proposed (see JP-A 10-324748, JP-A 11-302382, and SPIE vol. 3333-07 (1998), p. 62). For F2 laser exposure, positive resist compositions comprising a silsesquioxane having hexafluoroisopropanol as a dissolvable group as a base were proposed (see JP-A 2002-55456). The above polymer bears in its backbone a polysilsesquioxane containing a ladder skeleton produced through polycondensation of a trialkoxysilane or trihalosilane.
Silicon-containing (meth)acrylate polymers were proposed as a resist base polymer having silicon pendants on side chains (see JP-A 9-110938, J. Photopolymer Sci. and Technol., Vol. 9, No. 3 (1996), pp. 435-446).
The undercoat layer of the bilayer resist process is formed of a hydrocarbon compound which can be etched with oxygen gas, and must have high etching resistance since it serves as a mask when the underlying substrate is to be etched. For oxygen gas etching, the undercoat layer must be formed solely of a silicon atom-free hydrocarbon. To improve the line-width controllability of the upper layer of silicon-containing resist and to minimize the sidewall corrugation and collapse of the pattern by standing waves, the undercoat layer must have the function of an antireflective film. Specifically, the reflectivity from the undercoat layer back into the resist film must be reduced to below 1%.
In the case of a subbing antireflective film used in the monolayer resist process, when a high reflection substrate such as polysilicon or aluminum underlies, a material having an optimum refractive index (n value) and absorption coefficient (k value) is designed to an appropriate film thickness, whereby the reflectivity from the substrate can be reduced to below 1%, achieving a significant antireflection effect. In an example wherein the wavelength is 193 nm and a resist has a refractive index of 1.7, if the subbing antireflective film has a refractive index (real part of complex refractive index) n of 1.5, an extinction coefficient (imaginary part of complex refractive index) k of 0.5, and a thickness of 42 nm, then the reflectivity becomes below 0.5% (see FIG. 1). However, if the substrate has steps, the antireflective film largely varies its thickness at the steps. The antireflection effect of the subbing film utilizes not only the absorption of light, but also the interference effect arising from a properly designed film thickness. The first base of 40 to 45 nm having the enhanced interference effect has an accordingly enhanced antireflection effect, but the reflectivity largely varies with a change of film thickness. JP-A 10-69072 discloses a high conformity antireflective film-forming material in which the molecular weight of a base resin is increased to minimize the variation of film thickness at steps. As the molecular weight of a base resin increases, there arise problems that more pinholes generate after spin coating, filtration becomes difficult, a viscosity change with the passage of time leads to a variation of film thickness, and crystals precipitate at the nozzle tip. The conformal behavior is developed only at relatively low steps.
In another method using a film thickness of at least the third base (i.e., of at least 170 nm) where the variation of reflectivity due to a film thickness variation is relatively small, the variation of reflectivity due to a film thickness variation is small and the reflectivity is kept below 1.5% as long as the k value is in a range of 0.2 to 0.3 and the film thickness is at least 170 nm. However, when the etching load that the overlying resist layer has to bear is considered, the approach of thickening the antireflective film encounters a limit, the limit of film thickening being of the order of the second base of up to 100 nm.
In the event the underlay below the antireflective film is a transparent film like an oxide or nitride film and steps exist below that transparent film, the thickness of the transparent film varies even if the surface of the transparent film is planarized as by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). In this event, it is possible to make the thickness of the overlying antireflective film uniform. If the thickness of a transparent film underlying the antireflective film varies, the thickness of the minimum reflective film is shifted by the thickness of the transparent film. Even if the thickness of the antireflective film is set equal to the thickness of the minimum reflective film when the underlay is a reflective film, the reflectivity can be increased due to a variation of the thickness of the transparent film.
The materials of which the antireflective film is made are generally divided into inorganic and organic materials. A typical inorganic material is a SiON film. This has the advantages that it can be formed by CVD of a gas mixture of silane and ammonia, and the etching load on resist is light due to a high selective ratio of etching relative to resist, but the range of application is restricted because of difficulty of peeling. Because of a nitrogen atom-containing basic film, another drawback arises that it is susceptible to footing in the case of positive resist and an undercut profile in the case of negative resist.
The organic material has the advantages that spin coating is possible without a need for a special equipment as needed for CVD and sputtering, peeling is possible like resist, no footing occurs, the shape is obedient, and adhesion to resist is good. Thus a number of antireflective films based on organic materials have been proposed. For example, JP-B 7-69611 describes a composition comprising a condensate of a diphenylamine derivative with a formaldehyde-modified melamine resin, an alkali-soluble resin, and a light-absorbing agent; U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,680 describes the reaction product of a maleic anhydride copolymer with a diamine light-absorbing agent; JP-A 6-118631 describes a composition comprising a resin binder and a methylol melamine type heat crosslinking agent; JP-A 6-118656 describes a composition based on an acrylic resin having a carboxylic group, an epoxy group and a light-absorbing group within a common molecule; JP-A 8-87115 describes a composition comprising a methylol melamine and a benzophenone light-absorbing agent; and JP-A 8-179509 describes a polyvinyl alcohol resin with a low molecular weight light-absorbing agent added thereto. In all these patents, a light-absorbing agent is either added to a binder polymer or introduced into a polymer as substituent groups. However, since most light-absorbing agents have aromatic groups or double bonds, the addition of a light-absorbing agent undesirably increases dry etching resistance and rather reduces a selective ratio of dry etching relative to the resist. As the feature size becomes finer, the drive toward resist film slimming is accelerated. In the ArF exposure lithography of the next generation, acrylic or alicyclic polymers are used as the resist material, indicating that the etching resistance of the resist becomes poor. A further consideration is the problem that the thickness of antireflective film must be increased as mentioned above. Then, etching is an acute problem. There is a need for an antireflective film having a high selective ratio of etching relative to resist, that is, a high etching speed.
The function required as an antireflective film for the undercoat layer of the bilayer resist process differs from the function required in the monolayer resist process. Since the undercoat layer of the bilayer resist process serves as a mask when the substrate is etched, it must have a high etching resistance under the substrate etching conditions. As opposed to the antireflective film in the monolayer resist process required to have a high etching speed in order to mitigate the load to the monolayer resist, the inverse performance is required. To provide sufficient substrate etching resistance, the thickness of the undercoat layer must be equal to or greater than the monolayer resist, that is, as thick as 300 nm or greater. At a film thickness of at least 300 nm, the variation of reflectivity due to a film thickness change is substantially converged so that the antireflection effect due to phase difference control is no longer expected.
Now, the results of calculation of reflectivity at varying film thicknesses up to the maximum thickness of 500 nm are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Assume that the exposure wavelength is 193 nm, and the upper layer resist has an n value of 1.74 and a k value of 0.02. FIG. 2 shows substrate reflectivity when the k value of the undercoat layer is fixed at 0.3, the n value varies from 1.0 to 2.0 on the ordinate and the film thickness varies from 0 to 500 nm on the abscissa. In an imaginary case wherein the undercoat layer of the bilayer resist process has a thickness of 300 nm or greater, optimum values at which the reflectivity is reduced to or below 1% exist in the refractive index range of 1.6 to 1.9 which is approximate to or higher than that of the upper layer resist.
FIG. 3 shows substrate reflectivity when the n value of the undercoat layer is fixed at 1.5 and the k value varies from 0.1 to 0.8. In the k value range of 0.24 to 0.15, the reflectivity can be reduced to or below 1%. By contrast, the antireflective film in the form of a thin film of about 40 nm used in the monolayer resist process has an optimum k value in the range of 0.4 to 0.5, which differs from the optimum k value of the undercoat layer in the bilayer resist process having a thickness of 300 nm or greater. For the undercoat layer in the bilayer resist process, an undercoat film having a lower k value, that is, more transparent is necessary.
As the material for forming an undercoat layer for 193 nm exposure, copolymers of polyhydroxystyrene with acrylic compounds are under study as described in SPIE vol. 4345, p. 50 (2001). Polyhydroxystyrene has a very strong absorption at 193 nm and its k value is as high as around 0.6 by itself. By copolymerizing with an acrylic compound having a k value of almost 0, the k value is adjusted to around 0.25.
However, the resistance of an acrylic compound to substrate etching is weak as compared with polyhydroxystyrene, and a considerable proportion of the acrylic compound must be copolymerized in order to reduce the k value. As a result, the resistance to substrate etching is considerably reduced. The etching resistance is not only reflected by the etching speed, but also evidenced by the development of surface roughness after etching. Through copolymerization of acrylic compound, the surface roughness after etching is increased to a level of significance.
Naphthalene ring is one of rings that have a more transparency at 193 nm and a higher etching resistance than benzene ring. JP-A 2002-14474 proposes an undercoat layer having a naphthalene or anthracene ring. However, since naphthol-copolycondensed novolac resin and polyvinyl naphthalene resin have k values in the range of 0.3 to 0.4, the target transparency corresponding to a k value of 0.1 to 0.3 is not reached, with a further improvement in transparency being necessary. The naphthol-copolycondensed novolac resin and polyvinyl naphthalene resin have low n values at 193 nm, as evidenced by a value of 1.4 for the naphthol-copolycondensed novolac resin and a value of only 1.2 for the polyvinyl naphthalene resin as long as the inventors measured. JP-A 2001-40293 and JP-A 2002-214777 describe acenaphthylene polymers which have lower n values and higher k values at the wavelength of 193 nm than at 248 nm, both falling outside the target values. There is a need for an undercoat layer having a high n value, a low k value, transparency and high etching resistance.
JP-A 6-202317, JP-A 8-179502, JP-A 8-220750, JP-A 8-292565, and JP-A 9-15855 disclose i-line resists comprising a copolycondensed polymer of cresol and dicyclopentadiene as a base resin. Copolymerization with dicyclopentadiene was under study to develop higher transparency novolac resins. JP-A 10-282666 proposes a curable resin in the form of a resol-dicyclopentadiene copolycondensed polymer having pendant glycidyl groups. Further, JP-A 6-80760 and JP-A 7-5302 propose a resist composition comprising naphthol condensed with aldehyde.


1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a chemical sensor formed in a semiconductor die.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chemical sensors are used in a variety of applications. Chemical sensors are used in medical applications, industrial applications, automotive applications, security applications, and domestic applications. Some examples of chemical sensors are blood glucose sensors, carbon dioxide detectors, automobile exhaust emission monitors, radon detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, explosives detectors, and a large variety of other applications.
In the past, many chemical sensors have been large and relatively expensive. Some chemical sensors are used in applications in which they may only be used a single time. Such single use sensors are typically used in biomedical applications. It can be very expensive to replace an entire chemical detection system after each use. It may thus greatly increase the cost of medical diagnosis and treatment.


CD27, a TNF receptor family member was identified as a membrane molecule on human T cells (van Lier et al., 1987, J Immunol 139:1589-96). According to current evidence, CD27 has a single ligand, CD70, which is also a TNF family member (Goodwin et al., 1993, Cell 73:447-56). CD27 and CD70 have also been identified and cloned in the mouse system (Gravestein et al., 1993, Eur J Immunol 23:943-50; Tesselaar et al., J Immunol 159:4959-65).
CD27 is exclusively expressed by hematopoietic cells, in particular those of the lymphocyte lineage, i.e. T-, B- and NK cells. In the human system, CD27 expression in the αβ T cell lineage is induced during positive selection of thymocytes and maintained in naive conventional CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Vanhecke et al., 1997, J Immunol 159:5973-83). Upon T cell activation via the T cell antigen receptor (TCR), CD27 expression increases, in a transient manner (van Lier et al., 1987, J Immunol 139:1589-96). Next, CD27 is shed from the surface of activated T cells and the soluble form of CD27 can be detected in the serum marker for (chronic) T cell activation (Hintzen et al., 1991, J Immunol 147:29-35). Among peripheral T cells, permanent loss of CD27 expression results from persistent antigenic stimulation and hallmarks terminally differentiated effector/memory T cells, while central memory T cells maintain CD27 (Baars et al., 1995, J Immunol 154:17-25; Hamann et al., 1997, J Exp Med 186:1407-18). CD27 is also expressed on human γδ T cells and induced during thymic development (Offner F et al, 1997, J Immunol 158:4634-41). Moreover, loss of CD27 expression is a hallmark of chronically stimulated γδ T cells (Gioia C et al., 2002, J Immunol 168:1484-9). Generally, CD27 is an exquisite marker for cellular activation and differentiation stages and used as such in human clinical diagnostics and research.
In the mouse, CD27 was found on hematopoietic stem cells, multipotent progenitors and common lymphoid precursors (Medina et al., 2001, Nat Immunol 2:718-24; Wiesmann et al., 2000, Immunity 12:193-9).
CD27 was originally defined as a human T-cell co-stimulatory molecule that increments the proliferative response to TCR stimulation (van Lier et al., 1987, J Immunol 139:1589-96). Presence of CD70 dictates the timing and persistence of CD27-mediated co-stimulation. Upon immune activation, dendritic cells, T-, B- and NK cells transiently express CD70, contingent upon the presence of antigen, Toll-like receptor agonists or inflammatory cytokines.
CD27 stimulation using anti-CD27 mAb CLB-CD27/1 (9F4) incremented the proliferative response of human T cells to TCR stimulation (Van Lier et al., 1987, J Immunol 139:1589-96). This was confirmed using crosslinked anti-CD27 mAb 1A4, or transfectants expressing CD70. Conversely, antibodies directed to CD27 or CD70 could block this proliferation. Both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells responded to CD27 co-stimulation (Goodwin et al., 1993, Cell 73:447-56; Kobata et al., 1994, J Immunol 153:5422-32; Hintzen et al., 1995, J Immunol 154:2612-23). Studies in mice unambiguously support the role of CD27 as a co-stimulatory receptor for naive CD8+ and CD4+ αβ T cells. For mouse T cells, CD27 primarily promotes their survival upon TCR-mediated activation, but in human T cells, it additionally promotes cell cycle entry and/or activity (reviewed in Borst et al., 2005, Curr Op Immunol 17:275-281; Nolte et al., 2009, Immunol Rev 229:216-231).
Upon its transient engagement as occurs in acute infections that temporarily upregulate CD70, CD27 supports the generation of a CD8+ effector T cell pool in priming organs, its maintenance at the tissue effector site, its conversion into memory cells and its potential to exercise memory function (Hendriks et al., 2003, J Exp Med 198:1369-1380; Hendriks et al. 2005, J Immunol 175:1666-75, Xiao et al, 2008, J Immunol 181:1071-82). Studies with CD70 blocking antibody in mouse models support the concept that CD27-CD70 interactions can make an important contribution to generation of CD8+ effector T cells, e.g. after protein immunization, virus infection and allotransplantation (Taraban et al., 2004, J Immunol 173:6542-46; Bullock and Yagita, 2005, J Immunol 174:710-17; Yamada et al., 2005, J Immunol 174:1357-1364; Schildknecht et al., 2007, Eur J Immunol 37:716-28).
Transgenic expression of CD70 in immature dendritic cells sufficed to convert immunological tolerance to virus or tumors into CD8+ T cell responsiveness upon immunization with MHC class I-restricted peptide in PBS. Likewise, agonistic soluble CD70 promoted the CD8+ T cell response upon such peptide immunization (Rowley et al., 2004, J Immunol 172:6039-6046) and in CD70 transgenic mice, CD+ and CD8+ effector cell formation in response to TCR stimulation was greatly facilitated (Arens et al. 2001, Immunity 15:801-12; Tesselaar et al., 2003, Nat Immunol 4:49-54; Keller et al. 2008, Immunity 29:334-346). In mouse lymphoma models, tumor rejection was improved upon CD70 transgenesis or injection of an activating anti-mouse CD27 antibody (Arens et al., 2003, J Exp Med 199:1595-1605; French et al., 2007, Blood 109:4810-15; Sakanishi and Yagita, 2010, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 393:829-835; WO 2008/051424).
Generally, CD27 expression on lymphoid cells is associated with survival potential. Salient examples come from human adoptive T cell therapies, in cancer and AIDS patients, where long-term persisting T cells were selected for CD27 expression. In addition, CD70 expression on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was positively correlated with an anti-tumor immune response, potentially reflecting effector T cell survival within the tumor (Ochsenbein et al., 2004, J Exp Med 200:1407-17; Huang et al., 2006, J Immunol 176:7726-35).
For conventional CD+ T cells, CD27 similarly promotes primary and secondary responses (Hendriks et al., 2000, Nat Immunol 1:433-40; Xiao et al, 2008, J Immunol 181:1071-82). Moreover, CD27 co-stimulation favours an IL-12 independent pathway for T helper-1 development and enables CD+ T cells to provide help for memory programming of CD8+ T cells (Soares et al., 2007, J Exp Med 204:1095-106; Xiao et al, 2008, J Immunol 181:1071-8). In C57BL/6 mice, CD27 stimulation is consistently associated with Th1-type CD+ T cell differentiation (Arens et al. 2001, Immunity 15:801-12; Soares et al., 2007, J Exp Med 204:1095-106; Xiao et al, 2008, J Immunol 181:1071-82) and in human CD+ T cells in vitro, CD27 promoted Th1 development in presence of IL-12, but had no differentiation-inducing effect in presence of IL-4 (van Oosterwijk et al., 2007, Int Immunol 19:713-18).
In addition, CD27 stimulation was demonstrated to promote human regulatory T cell generation and/or function (Jacquot et al., 1997, Cell Immunol 179:48-54). Amongst natural regulatory T cells in human, high CD27 expression hallmarks the cells that have the highest suppressive activity and the CD27 high subpopulation is preferentially amplified during rapamycin treatment (Koenen et al., 2005, J Immunol 174:7573-83; Coenen et al., 2006, Blood 107:1018-23). Recent observations suggest that the CD27+ Treg subpopulation can differentiate into Th17 cells (Koenen et al., 2008, Blood 112:2340-52). Interestingly, CD70+ B lymphoma cells were found to stimulate Treg formation and impede Th17 differentiation by CD27 triggering on intratumoral T cells (Yang et al., 2007, Blood 110:2537-44; Yang et al., 2009, Cancer Res 69:5522-30).
In resting B cells, CD27 expression 1s absent, but it is induced during B cell activation in germinal centers and in human, it is subsequently maintained on memory B cells and plasma cells (Agematsu et al., 2000 Immunol Today 21:204-206; Jung et al., 2000, Eur J Immunol 30:2437-2443). CD27 also acts as a co-stimulatory receptor on B cells. In in vitro systems with human B cells, CD27-CD70 interactions consistently stimulate Ig secretion (Agematsu et al., 1997, Eur J Immunol 27:2073-79; Jacquot et al., 1997, J Immunol 159:2652-7).
Human NK cells can be subdivided into two functional subsets based on CD27 expression with lack of CD27 expression identifying the mature effector cells (Sugita et al., 1992, J Immunol 149:1199-203; Vossen et al., 2008, J Immunol 180:3739-45). Data suggest a similar co-stimulatory role for CD27 in NK cells as for T-cells (Takeda et al., 2000, J Immunol 164; 1741-1745). The functional effect of CD27 activation on NK cells was established by increased NK mediated killing of CD70-expressing tumor cells. CD27-mediated NK cell activation also promoted the generation of CD8+ anti-tumor immunity (Aulwurm et al., 2006, Int J Cancer 11S:1728-1735; Kelly et al., 2002, Nat Immunol 3:83-90). Recently, NKT cells were shown to promote CD8+ T cell immunity by induction of CD70 on dendritic cells (Taraban et al., 2008, J Immunol 139:1589-96).
In addition, CD27 is highly expressed on tumor cells derived from non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemias (Ranheim et al., 1995, Blood 85:3556-3565; van Oers et al., 1993, Blood 82:3430-3436). Soluble CD27 is used as a serum marker for lymphoid malignancy (Van Oers et al., 1993, Blood 82:3430-6).
In the research that led to the present invention it was found that the hCD27.15 mAb stimulates the proliferation and/or survival of CD27+ cells. Enhanced proliferation and/or survival of CD27+ cells forms the basis of different therapeutic uses. Monoclonal antibodies that activate CD27 are known. Two activating anti-human CD27 antibodies have been described (Van Lier et al., 1987, J. Immunol. 1987, 139:1589-96; Kobata et al., 1994, J. Immunol. 153:5422-5432). In addition, activating anti-mouse CD27 antibodies have been described (French et al., 2007, Blood 109:4810-15; WO 2008/051424; Sakanishi and Yagita, 2010, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 393:829-835). hCD27.15 is a unique anti-human antibody, which is, in contrast to 1A4 and 9F4 able to activate human CD27 more effectively than its ligand CD70. These characteristics of hCD27.15 result in a significantly increased effect on proliferation of CD8+ and CD+ T-cells as compared to 1A4, 9F4 and Fc-CD70. Administration of hCD27.15 alone or in combination with other agents to a human being can for example be used in the treatment of cancer.
Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for hydrodesulfurization of sulfur-containing diesel gas oil, which comprises a specific combination of specific hydrogenation steps.
2. Description of Related Art
The straight run diesel gas oil obtained by distilling the crude oil or the cracked diesel gas oil obtained by cracking heavy oil contains sulfur compounds, and the amount of the compounds is in a range of 1 to 3 wt % as sulfur. When the diesel gas oil containing sulfur compounds is used as a diesel fuel, sulfur compounds will be exhausted into atmosphere as SOx and the environment will be polluted.
Therefore, these diesel gas oils are used as a fuel usually after being hydrodesulfurized to remove sulfur compounds. It is stated that the permissible value for the amount of sulfur included in a diesel fuel should be 0.05 wt % or less in JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard), and large-scale desulfurization arrangements have been constructed and used to achieve this value. In addition, it is said that it is necessary to decrease the amount of sulfur further with the view of installing a purification catalyst, which reduces NOx in an automotive exhaust gas, into a diesel car in the future, for using a part of the automotive exhaust gas again, by circulating it, as a part of a diesel fuel. This system is called as EGR system (EGR: Exhaust Gas Recirculation).
A catalyst which consists essentially of cobalt or nickel, and molybdenum, supported on a porous carrier containing alumina as a main ingredient, has conventionally been used for the desulfurization of diesel gas oil so far. However, the conventional catalysts have such problems in that they can hardly remove 4-methyldibenzothiophene and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene, and it is necessary to raise the reaction temperature and the reaction pressure to a very high level in order to lower the sulfur content of the product to the level of 0.05 wt % or less, so that the construction costs of the arrangement and the drive costs increase.
As for a process for improving the desulfurization activity to sulfur compounds, a catalyst whose carrier contains phosphorous and boron has been reported in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 52-13503, as well as a catalyst to whose carrier zeolite is added, has been reported in Japanese Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. 7-197039. These catalysts have Br.o slashed.nsted acid sites and, thus, exhibit high ability to isomerize a methyl group of dimethyldibenzothiophene and to hydrogenate a phenyl group thereof, and high activity to desulfurize 4-methyldibenzothiophene and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene.
However, catalysts whose carriers contain phosphorous, boron or zeolite, have drawbacks in that their desulfurization activities for alkylbenzothiophenes and dibenzothiophenes without 4- or 6-alkyl substituent, such as dibenzothiophene, and 1-, 2- and 3-methyldibenzothiophene are inferior to those of conventional catalysts consisting essentially of cobalt and molybdenum on alumina carrier (F. van Looij et al. Applied Catalysis A: General 170, 1-12 (1998)). Moreover, said catalysts have further drawbacks in that, as they have Br.o slashed.nsted acid sites, they may easily cause a coloring of the product and when they are used for an olefin-containing feedstock oil or are used at a high temperature of 350.degree. C. or higher, thiols and sulfides are occasionally generated to decrease the desulfurization ratio. In addition, they have another problem in that olefin elements in a feedstock may be polymerized at Br.o slashed.nsted acid sites to generate coke and the deactivation of catalyst may be accelerated. Even if an olefin is not included in a feedstock, if sulfur compounds are desulfurized with said catalyst, an olefin will be generated in situ, and it will cause an extraction of coke. This is understandable from the view that a coking speed, when thiophene flows into said catalyst, reaches ten times the coking speed when olefins or aromatic compounds flow into the catalyst (Catalysis Review, 24, (3), 343 (1982)).
It is difficult to desulfurize a diesel gas oil to 0.05 wt % or less as sulfur even if any above-mentioned catalyst is used, and studies have been carried out to deeply desulfurize it from an aspect of a process or reaction apparatus. For example, a process, comprising two different steps under different reaction conditions, which can deeply desulfurize a diesel gas oil without any worsening of hue is proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-102266. A deep hydrodesulfurization process, where a diesel gas oil is separated by distillation into light fraction to be easily desulfurized and heavy fraction to be hardly desulfurized and then these fractions, after being individually hydrodesulfurized, are mixed again into a deep desulfurized diesel gas oil product, is proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-311179. However, said deep hydrodesulfurization process comprising two different steps under different reaction conditions, which can deeply desulfurize a diesel gas oil without any worsening of hue, has an effect to improve a diesel gas oil hue but can hardly improve a further deep desulfurization. Said deep hydrodesulfurization process, where a diesel gas oil is separated by distillation into light fraction to be easily desulfurized and heavy fraction to be hardly desulfurized and then these fractions, after being individually hydrodesulfurized, are mixed into a deep desulfurized diesel gas oil product, has many problems in that a high reaction temperature and a high reaction pressure are needed for heavy fraction to be hardly desulfurized, and the like.
Thus, these prior arts have many problems and they do not achieve an effective production of excellent diesel gas oil with a low sulfur content when used for deep hydrodesulfurization of diesel gas oil as they are.


The prior art discloses various air fresheners including U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,592 to Spector which discloses an aroma generating capsule adhesively attached to the surface of an incandescent bulb. The capsule includes a plastic skin and a vent hole through which an aroma is forced into the atmosphere.
Of particular interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,606 to Martens which is the same general area of art as the present invention. The Martens patent discloses a tamper-resistant container suitable for use with an electrically heated vapor dispensing apparatus. The container includes a packaged gel which is inserted into a dispensing apparatus having an inner wall with an integrally molded electrical plug and an outer wall having a plurality of openings through which the scented aroma is dispensed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,485 discloses an electrically heated aromatic generator utilizing a replaceable aroma cube which is inserted into a well in the generator. U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,520 discloses an aroma diffuser assembly for dispensing a scent from a replaceable and expendable cartridge. A heater assembly is also provided to vaporize the cartridge liquid which exits through an aperture into the atmosphere.
The prior art also includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,421 which shows a fragrance dispensing apparatus which releases a fragrance from a solid polyamide resin. A heating resistor is provided to maintain an elevated temperature. Also of interest are U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,298 to Moran, U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,302 to Pons Pons and U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,821 to Glucksman.
The prior art does not disclose an adjustable air freshener of the type set forth herein which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture and use. In the present invention the aroma dispensing can be regulated to conform to the size of a room and waste can be minimized. The disadvantage of an overpowering scent present in the prior art is thus avoided. Further, the useful life of the gel is extended since all of the product is not continuously exposed to the heater at the same time in contrast to the Martens patent.
Certain factors influence the amount of fragrance released by an air freshener utilizing a heated gel including:
1. Temperature of the heating element or surface; PA1 2. Surface area of contact between the gel and heated surface; PA1 3. Time of contact; PA1 4 Surface area of permeation (surface area of the film covering the gel); PA1 5. Permeability of the film encapsulating the gel; and PA1 6. The amount of the gel or oil fragrance, and PA1 7. The flow of hot air.
In the present invention, factors 1, 4, 5, and 6 are fixed and factor 3 (time) starts from the moment of plug-in and continues until the gel is exhausted. The only factor over which control may be exerted without employing expensive regulating mechanisms is factor 2 (area of contact) and factor 7. The time factor can be regulated by an on-off switch, which is subject to human error, or by an automatic device set at a predetermined interval--both costly and affecting the size of the device. This invention proposes to regulate the scent from an air freshener or dispenser by controlling the area of contact between the heater and gel with a rotatable cover which cooperates with a unique base. The dial is rotated to place the scented gel in contact with the heated surface to produce the desired scent. A dividing wall across the center of the cover restricts the hot air affecting only the portion of gel which is moved up to the heated compartment. The portion of gel which remains in the cold compartment is protected from the contact of the hot air by the dividing wall.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates allowing a memory controller to optimize strobe to clock relationship for a DRAM.
2. Background Information
A Dynamic Random Access Memory, DRAM, is a typical memory to store information for computers and computing systems, such as, personal digital assistants and cellular phones. DRAMs contain a memory cell array having a plurality of individual memory cells; each memory cell is coupled to one of a plurality of sense amplifiers, bit lines, and word lines. The memory cell array is arranged as a matrix of rows and columns, and the matrix is further subdivided into a number of banks.
One type of DRAM is a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) that may allow for synchronous operation with a processor. Specific types of SDRAM are a single data rate (SDR) SDRAM and a double data rate (DDR) SDRAM. For example, a present DDR memory type is DDR3. Typically, a DDR DRAM may send data (DQ), when enabled by a DQS clock signal, to a memory controller or memory controller hub (MCH). The memory controller or MCH may receive the data from the DDR DRAM by utilizing precision delay cells to provide a delayed DQS clock signal.
Typically, motherboard specification and guidelines synchronize the DQS to a system clock (SCLK) relationship at a specific DRAM. However, with the advent of DDR3 DRAM, a typical tree structure for clocks is not utilized and the DQS to SCLK relationship differs by DRAM position on a Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM).


Storage devices such as disks are well known. It was also well known that storage controllers control access to the storage devices in response to read and write requests. The storage controllers also mirror data to different storage devices and spread data amongst different storage devices for redundancy and backup purposes. Storage controllers were also known to store data in accordance with one of several known RAID security levels. Generally, the higher the RAID level the greater the redundancy of the data storage.
It was also known that pooled storage devices can be used to increase storage capacity and provide recovery and backup services.
Storage servers, such as an IBM Enterprise Storage Server, were also known. An IBM ESS storage server includes two clusters of processors and associated hardware. Typically, there are four storage controllers in each cluster. Each of the storage controllers controls multiple storage devices grouped in RAID arrays. In one environment, clients with Fiber Channel Host Bus Adapters (“HBAs”) are coupled via a Fiber Channel to a switch. The switch is also coupled to the Storage Server with Fiber Channel HBAs. There may be multiple storage servers per client. Each client is assigned or allocated storage “volumes” which are mapped to physical locations on storage devices that are grouped in RAID arrays. Consequently, clients make data access requests (reads and writes) to the storage server, for data within their allocated volumes, and the storage server accesses the mapped locations in cache storage to satisfy the requests or from disk if the data does not reside in cache storage.
A known IBM Enterprise Storage Server comprises two clusters of storage controllers with four storage controllers per cluster. Each cluster has its own cache (semiconductor) memory shared by all storage controllers in the cluster. Each cluster also has battery backed up nonvolatile storage (“NVS”) which is shared by all of the storage controllers in the cluster, although any one storage controller cannot use more than 25 percent of the total NVS allocated to the cluster. In addition, each storage controller has its own cache (disk) storage. The cache memory is used for rapid access to data inpaged from external storage to service read data access requests from memory and to provide buffering of modified data. All update requests are written to the associated cluster and backed up by the NVS on the mirrored cluster.
Occasionally, one or more of the storage controllers or arrays become “over-utilized”, i.e. there are more data access requests than can be handled expeditiously. The problem may be due to I/O delays within the storage server or other hardware or bandwidth constraints. It was known to move some of the data from a disk of an over-utilized or over-accessed array to another, lesser-utilized array. It was also known that when a cache memory is too small, there may be excessive outpaging of the data in the cache memory to storage, to make room for inpaging of data for which access is requested. It was known to increase the size of the cache memory, when found to be too small, to the capacity of the hardware.
A known IBM TotalStorage Expert program tool monitored cache memory, NVS, Physical Array Activity and Logical Volume activity in a known IBM Enterprise Storage Server. The TotalStorage Expert program tool is further described in published documents, “IBM TotalStorage Expert Reporting: How to Produce Built-In and Customized Reports” by Daniel Demer et al., dated October 2003, and “IBM TotalStorage Expert Hands-On Usage Guide” by Mary Lovelace et al., dated January 2003.
A known Tivoli Multiple Device Manager program tool monitored cache memory, NVS, Physical Array Activity and Logical Volume Activity in a known IBM Enterprise Storage Server, and reported performance data and exceptions. The Tivoli Multiple Device Manager program tool is further described in a published document, “Managing Disk Subsystems using IBM TotalStorage Productivity” by Mary Lovelace et al., dated September 2005.
An object of the present invention is to accurately determine the effectiveness of a storage system to access a storage device.
Another object of the present invention is to take corrective action when the effectiveness of the storage system is impaired.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for electric wiring, and more particularly to an apparatus for pulling an electric wire through an electric conduit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a building is constructed, electric conduits are provided in each house for electric wiring. When an electric wire is to be installed in an electric conduit, a spring wire is used and inserted from one end of the electric conduit to the other end thereof, and then the electric wire to be installed is fastened to the lead end of the spring wire, and then the spring wire is pulled back to carry the electric wire through the electric conduit. This electric wiring method consumes much labor and working time.