Abstract: Provided is a plasma shield for an electrode capable of preventing generation of particles by providing plasma shields at inner and outer diameter sides of an adhesive formed of elastomer for attaching a gas injection plate to an injection plate support member to protect the adhesive. The electrode includes a gas injection plate having a porous plate structure in which a plurality of gas injection holes are formed, an injection plate support member configured to maintain the gas injection plate attached to one side of a plasma chamber, and an adhesive formed of elastomer and attaching the injection plate support member to an upper surface of the gas injection plate.

Abstract: A method of at least one embodiment of the present invention of manufacturing a solid-state memory is a method of manufacturing a solid-state memory, the solid-state memory including a recording film whose electric characteristics are varied by phase transformation, the method including: forming the recording film by forming a laminate of two or more layers so that a superlattice structure is provided, each of the layers having a parent phase which shows solid-to-solid phase-transformation, the recording film being formed at a temperature not lower than a temperature highest among crystallization temperatures of the parent phases. It is thus possible to manufacture a solid-state memory which requires lower current for recording and erasing data and has a greater rewriting cycle number.

Abstract: This invention relates to novel compounds of the Formula (I*), pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, and pharmaceutical compositions thereof which are useful for the therapeutic treatment of diseases associated with the modulation or inhibition of 11?-HSD1 in mammals. The invention further relates to pharmaceutical compositions of the novel compounds and methods for their use in the reduction or control of the production of Cortisol in a cell or the inhibition of the conversion of cortisone to Cortisol in a cell.

Abstract: A solid-state memory device includes: a superlattice laminate having plural crystal layers laminated therein, the crystal layers including first and second crystal layers having mutually opposite compositions; a lower electrode provided on a first surface in a laminating direction of the superlattice laminate; and an upper electrode provided on a second surface of the superlattice laminate in the laminating direction. The first crystal layer included in the superlattice laminate is made of a phase change compound. According to the present invention, the superlattice laminate laminated in opposite directions of the upper and lower electrodes is sandwiched between these electrodes. Therefore, when an electric energy is applied to the superlattice laminate via these electrodes, a uniform electric energy can be applied to a laminated surface of the superlattice laminate. Accordingly, fluctuation of a resistance is small even when information is repeatedly rewritten, and data can be read stably as a result.

Abstract: To include a superlattice laminate having laminated thereon a first crystal layer of which crystal lattice is a cubic crystal and in which positions of constituent atoms are reversibly replaced by application of energy, and a second crystal layer having a composition different from that of the first crystal layer, and an orientation layer that is an underlaying layer of the superlattice laminate and causes a laminated surface of the first crystal layer to be (111)-orientated. According to the present invention, the laminated surface of the first crystal layer can be (111)-orientated by using the orientation layer as an underlaying layer. In the first crystal layer of which laminated surface is (111)-orientated, a crystal structure reversibly changes when a relatively low energy is applied. Therefore, characteristics of a superlattice device having this crystal layer can be enhanced.

Abstract: An improved filter assembly for molten metal is described. The assembly has a canister with at least one port wherein the port allows filtered molten metal to flow from the canister. A plurality of filter elements is in the canister wherein the filter elements separate a volume of the canister into a primary chamber and a secondary chamber wherein the secondary chamber is in direct flow communication with the port. A ported cover is over the canister wherein the ported cover prohibits unfiltered molten metal from flowing directly into the secondary chamber. The molten metal flows from the primary chamber to the secondary chamber through a filter element.

Abstract: A solid memory may include a recording layer including Ge, Sb and Te as major components. The recording layer may include a superlattice. The recording layer may include multi-layers each having a parent phase showing a phase transformation in solid-states, the phase transformation causing change in electrical property of the recording layer. The recording layer may include an Sb2Te3 layer that includes at least one period of a first lamination of a first Te-atomic layer, a first Sb-atomic layer, a second Te-atomic layer, a second Sb-atomic layer, and a third Te-atomic layer in these order, a GeTe layer that includes at least one period of a second lamination of a fourth Te-atomic layer and a Ge-atomic layer, and an Sb layer that includes a plurality of Sb-atomic layers.

Abstract: A tray denesting apparatus is provided comprising a receptacle for holding at least one nested stack of packing trays. A conveyer belt is further provided for receiving each of the packing trays upon release from the receptacle. The denesting apparatus has at least one set of soft flexible suction cups disposed below the conveyer belt and which are disposed on a bellows assembly which is moveable between a first position and a second position so that at least one of the soft flexible suction cups may adhere to a first one of the packing trays, and successive packing trays. The tray denester further may include an automatic adjustment apparatus to correspond with selected size parameters of the trays being utilized. As a result, an individual tray may be removed from the receptacle, deposited on the conveyer belt and the conveyer belt then advancing the selected tray to the required area of use.

Abstract: Clock recovery apparatus having an early/late voter for deciding whether a current sampling point needs to be advanced or retarded, wherein the early/late voter passes and Up/Down signal to an interpolator for maintaining a clock signal; a frequency accumulator and rate multiplier 30 for generating further signals which are summed with those of the Up/Down signal of the early/late voter to provide an improved control signal to the phase interpolator. The accumulator is responsive to frequency changes in the input signal, and the interpolator acts on said Up/Down signals to adjust the clock signal by stepping it forward or backward according to control need, so that the sampling point can be advanced or retarded.

Abstract: An apparatus is described for supporting a carton having cylindrical or other rollable containers therein and an end discharge opening for dispensing the containers. The apparatus is configured to be useful for holding a dispensing carton between shelves in a refrigerator. The apparatus includes an elongated tray body having marginal walls that form a dam to retain liquids. The top edges of the marginal walls define an upwardly open carton receptacle. An inclined support surface is disposed below the top edges and above the bottom wall to receive and support a carton at an inclined angle. One or more wells are provided to form a catch basin to retain liquids and position the carton above the liquids to prevent weakening of the carton.

Abstract: There is provided a method and apparatus for performing an eye scan. Said apparatus comprises: a receiver for receiving input signals; an equaliser for processing said input signals; a data sampler for sampling said processed input signals at certain sampling points to produce a data output, said data sampler being controlled by a clock signal; an edge sampler for detecting the edges of the processed input signal; an early/late voter for deciding whether a current sampling point needs to be advanced or retarded. The early/late voter passes an Up/Down signal to an interpolator for maintaining said clock signal, said interpolator acting on said Up/Down signal to adjust the clock signal by stepping it forward or backward according to control need, so that said sampling point can be advanced or retarded.

Abstract: A process for transforming pre-used asphaltic roofing shingles into products such as paving bricks, by removing foreign matter, using a comminutor that pulls shingles downwardly through a plurality of pairs of high-speed, counter-rotating, inter-meshing blades stacked within a housing; classifying the particles, applying a release agent to the inside of the mold, charging the mold with a predetermined weight and size distribution of particles, compressing the material in the mold at high pressure, and ejecting the formed material from the mold for delivery to customers. The brick and other products are included in the scope of the application.

Abstract: A new class of phase change materials has been discovered based on compounds of: Ga; lanthanide; and chalcogenide. This includes compounds of Ga, La, and S (GLS) as well as related compounds in which there is substitution of S with O, Se and/or Te. Moreover, La can be substituted with other lanthanide series elements. It has been demonstrated that this class of materials exhibit low energy switching. For example, the GLS material can provide an optical recording medium with erasability 3-5 dB greater than the erasability of GeSbTe (GST) material which is the standard material for phase change memories.

Abstract: An embodiment generally relates to a method of processing direct-sequence spread spectrum signals for temporal alignment between a received direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) signal and a local reference signal. The method includes receiving the received DSSS signal with bandwidth to resolve at least N samples per code chip and de-spreading the received DSSS signal to recover an elemental waveform within the received DSSS signal for an interval greater than one code chip interval as a first processing stage. The method also includes determining a discriminator value based on the elemental waveform as a second processing stage and operating a delay-locked loop based on the discriminator value to adjust an alignment between the received DSSS signal and the local reference signal.

Abstract: A circuit for receiving multiple serial datastreams in parallel is disclosed. A bit clock is recovered from each data stream, there being one data bit for each transition of the clock signal both positive and negative going. The phases of the bit clocks are compared and are adjusted by 180 degrees so that the positive going edges of all occur close to each other. The bits of each stream are assembled into words under the control of a word clock. In one embodiment a common word clock is derived form the set of bit clocks as a whole. In another embodiment each stream is provided with its own word clock which is aligned to positive edges of the respective bit clocks that are close to each other.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention pertain generally to methods and systems of processing a global positioning satellite (GPS) signal. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention provide an improved discriminator function that utilizes the early, prompt, and late correlator values. For example, the improved discriminator function may be normalized based on all three of the early, prompt, and late correlator values. The improved discriminator function behaves linearly across a prescribed region whose width depends on the separation between correlators.

Abstract: Systems and methods for a cumulant-based discriminator for global navigation satellite system code alignment are provided. In one embodiment, a method for determining a misalignment between a GNSS coarse acquisition code signal and a replica code is provided. The method comprises producing code samples of a spread spectrum signal received from a satellite; multiplying the code samples by a current value of a replica code; and calculating a set of multiple-order cumulants based on the code samples multiplied by the current value of the replica code.

Abstract: An epidural injection is used in medical procedure to administer medication to a patient's epidural space in the spine, usually to alleviate pain. Although effective in purpose, current medical procedure to administer an epidural injection does contain a flaw that exposes the patient to possible infection, usually manifested as an epidural abscess or bacterial meningitis. A source for infection stems from the manner the epidural catheter, specifically the proximal end not being inserted into the patient, is traditionally handled throughout the procedure—usually freely hanging, susceptible to breaking the sterile field and becoming contaminated. The current invention, an epidural catheter dispenser system, seeks to eliminate this risk of epidural catheter contamination by maintaining the epidural catheter, especially the proximal catheter end, in a sterile dispenser that can be easily manipulated by a physician.

Abstract: A circuit for receiving multiple serial datastreams in parallel is disclosed. A bit clock is recovered from each data stream, there being one data bit for each transition of the clock signal both positive and negative going. The phases of the bit clocks are compared and are adjusted by 180 degrees so that the positive going edges of all occur close to each other. The bits of each stream are assembled into words under the control of a word clock. In one embodiment a common word clock is derived form the set of bit clocks as a whole. In another embodiment each stream is provided with its own word clock which is aligned to positive edges of the respective bit clocks that are close to each other.

Abstract: There is provided a method and apparatus for performing an eye scan. Said apparatus comprises: a receiver for receiving input signals; an equaliser for processing said input signals; a data sampler for sampling said processed input signals at certain sampling points to produce a data output, said data sampler being controlled by a clock signal; an edge sampler for detecting the edges of the processed input signal; an early/late voter for deciding whether a current sampling point needs to be advanced or retarded. The early/late voter passes an Up/Down signal to an interpolator for maintaining said clock signal, said interpolator acting on said Up/Down signal to adjust the clock signal by stepping it forward or backward according to control need, so that said sampling point can be advanced or retarded.