All The Claims

1. A method for performing resource pool size maintenance for an application server, comprising:
triggering a resource pool shrink check;
determining that pool shrinking is necessary;
reducing resources in an unavailable deque; and
reducing resources in an available deque.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said triggering a resource pool shrink check includes:
determining that a period of time has expired; and
performing the resource pool shrink check at the expiration of the period of time.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the period of time is set by a programmable attribute.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said determining that pool shrinking is necessary includes:
detecting resources contained in an available deque or a unavailable deque.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that pool shrinking is necessary includes:
determining the number of resources in the resource pool is greater than a maximum resource pool threshold value.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the maximum resource pool threshold value is set by a programmable attribute.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein reducing resources in an unavailable deque includes:
reducing resources in an unavailable deque to coincide with a maximum unavailable resources threshold.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the reduced resources in the unavailable deque are destroyed.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein reducing resources in an available deque includes:
reducing resources in an available deque to coincide with a maximum available resources threshold.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein resources in the available deque are destroyed.
11. A method for performing resource pool maintenance for an application server, comprising:
triggering a test for pool resources;
performing a test on pool resources; and
refreshing pool resources based on the pool resources testing.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein said triggering a test for pool resources includes:
determining that a period of time has expired; and
performing the resource pool shrink check at the expiration of the period of time.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein said performing a test on pool resources includes:
determining if pool resources are functioning properly, wherein the resources are refreshed if they are not functioning properly.
14. A method for performing maintenance on connection pool deques in an application server, comprising:
traversing an unavailable deque and a reserved deque;
performing maintenance on the unavailable deque; and
performing maintenance on the reserved deque.
15. The method as claimed in claim 14 wherein said traversing an unavailable and a reserved deques includes:
determining what resources are available in the unavailable deque and the reserved deques.
16. The method as claimed in claim 14 wherein said performing maintenance on the unavailable deque includes:
scheduling resource creation for each resource in the unavailable deque.
17. The method as claimed in claim 14 wherein said performing maintenance on the reserved deque includes:
scheduling resource creation for each resource in the reserved deque.
18. A method for performing resource creation in a connection pool in an application server, comprising:
generating a resource in connection pool;
confirming the generation of the resource in the connection pool;
moving the resource to an available deque;
19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:
determining that a period of time has expired; and
generating a resource at the expiration of the period of time.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. Tensioning device of a traction mechanism drive, comprising a base part that is fixed in place, a pivot arm that is allocated to said base part and can pivot about a rotary bearing that includes a hub, a pin of the base part, and a sliding bearing, and a spring that is inserted between the base part and the pivot arm exerts an expansion force and provides a non-positive support of a tensioning roller that is connected to the pivot arm on a traction mechanism, and includes a damping device that damps adjusting movements of the pivot arm, the pin of the rotary bearing is fixed with one end in the base part and with the other end in a support disk and the damping device comprises two separate spring-loaded friction elements, including: a friction disk that is supported with a positive-fit on the support disk connected to the pin of the base part and a friction-fit on the pivot arm, and a friction ring that surrounds a spring end of the spring and is fixed on the pivot arm and is supported with a friction-fit on an inner wall of the base part, wherein the friction ring includes a joint that is supported with a lateral surface with a friction-fit on the inner wall of the base part, and the friction ring has a wedge that is directed inward in the radial direction and is inserted in an operating state between a wedge surface of a projection of the pivot arm extending in the axial direction and a spring end of the spring.
2. Tensioning device according to claim 1, wherein the friction disk engages with the support disk by gearing.
3. Tensioning device according to claim 1, wherein the friction disk forms, on a side of the pivot arm, at least one friction surface that is at least one of directed in a radial direction, tapered conically, or is directed in an axial direction.
4. Tensioning device according to claim 3, wherein the friction disk engages with at least one of an inner cone or an outer cone in a correspondingly shaped axial receptacle of the pivot arm.
5. Tensioning device according to claim 4, wherein the inner cone and the outer cone of the friction disk have flank angles that match each other.
6. Tensioning device according to claim 1, wherein the joint of the friction ring is supported with at least one friction block with a friction-fit on the inner wall of the base part.
7. Tensioning device according to claim 1, wherein PA 46 with a chemically linked PTFE additive is provided as a material for at least one of the friction disk or for the friction ring.
8. Tensioning device according to claim 1, wherein the pin forms stepped end sections on two sides, with said stepped end sections being fit as a joint assembly in a bore of the base part or the support disk and being attached with at least one of a non-positive or material-fit.
9. Tensioning device according to claim 6, wherein components directly or indirectly forming the rotary bearing, the base part, the pivot arm, the pin, and the support disk are made from the same materials.
10. Tensioning device according to claim 1, wherein the pivot arm forms a collar that extends in the axial direction and surrounds the support disk on an outside while forming an annular gap.
11. Tensioning device according to claim 10, wherein a sealing element is inserted in the annular gap between the collar of the pivot arm and the support disk for sealing the damping device.
12. Tensioning device according to claim 1, wherein the tensioning roller is positioned on the pivot arm at an end on a side directed toward the base part.
13. Tensioning device according to claim 2, wherein the gearing is Hirth gearing.

1. A semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising:
producing a first substrate with an electrode;
producing a second substrate with a through hole;
stacking the second substrate on the first substrate, with an insulating layer intervening between the first substrate and the second substrate;
making a hole reaching the electrode in the insulating layer under the through hole by etching the insulating layer with the second substrate as a mask; and
filling the through hole and the hole with conductive substance.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein an insulating film is formed on an inner surface of the through hole.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the insulating layer has a higher etching rate than that of the insulating film with respect to etchant used in etching the insulating layer.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein a material of the insulating film is selected from silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and organic silica.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein a conductive barrier film is formed on the insulating film.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the insulating layer has a higher etching rate than that of the conductive barrier film with respect to etchant used in etching the insulating layer.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein a material of the conductive barrier film is selected from Ta, TaN, TiN, and polysilicon.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein a material of the insulating layer is selected from benzocyclobutene, polyimide, silicon oxide, and silicon nitride.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein producing the second substrate with the through hole includes
forming a preliminary hole in the second substrate,
filling the preliminary hole for forming the through hole with a dummy material,
exposing the dummy material filled in the preliminary hole from an underside surface side of the second substrate, and
removing the dummy material.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein producing the second substrate with the through hole includes
forming a preliminary hole in the second substrate,
filling the preliminary hole for forming the through hole with a dummy material, and
exposing the dummy material filled in the preliminary hole from an underside surface side of the second substrate,
wherein the dummy material is removed after the second substrate is stacked.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the dummy material includes polysilicon.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductive substance is selected from Cu, W, Al, and polysilicon.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method for delivering of active agent across a biological barrier, the method comprising the steps of:
puncturing the biological barrier with a plurality of microneedles, the microneedles attached to or integrally formed with a substrate, wherein each of the microneedles is formed of a biodegradable polymer and an active agent dispersed in the biodegradable polymer of the microneedles;
delivering the active agent solely through biodegradation of the biodegradable polymer of the microneedles in the biological barrier.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the biodegradable polymer comprises a plurality of biodegradable polymers.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the biodegradable polymer comprises at least one of polylactides, polyglycolides, polylactide-co-glycolide, copolymers of polyethylene glycol, polyanhydrides, poly(ortho)esters, polyurethanes, poly(butric acid), poly(valeric acid), and poly(lactide-co-caprolactone).
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the biodegradable polymer comprises a biodegradable polymer and a non-biodegradable polymer.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the biodegradation occurs by way of chemical breakdown of the biodegradable polymer.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the biodegradation occurs by way of biodissolution of the biodegradable polymer.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the microneedles are between 1 \u03bcm and 1 mm long, inclusive.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the microneedles are between 10 \u03bcm and 500 \u03bcm long, inclusive.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the microneedles are between 30 \u03bcm and 200 \u03bcm long, inclusive.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the microneedles have a cross-sectional dimension between 10 nm and 1 mm, inclusive.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the microneedles have a cross-sectional dimension between 1 \u03bcm and 200 \u03bcm, inclusive.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the microneedles have a cross-sectional dimension between 10 \u03bcm and 100 \u03bcm, inclusive.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the microneedles have a circular cross section with an outer diameter between 10 \u03bcm and 100 \u03bcm, inclusive.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a flexible material.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the active agent is dispersed throughout the biodegradable polymer.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the active agent is a drug.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the drug comprises at least one of a protein, an enzyme, a polysaccharide, a polynucleotide, an organic compound, and an inorganic compound.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the microneedles comprises a break site to remove the at least one of the microneedles from the substrate.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the break site comprises a notch in the at least one of the microneedles.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the break site is located adjacent the tip of the microneedles.