An acrylic rubber composition comprising 100 parts by weight of an ACM polymer, which contains monomers each having a carboxyl group(s) as crosslinking-site monomers, respectively, and 5 to 30 parts by weight of vein graphite or flake graphite. An acrylic rubber composition having 100 parts by weight of an ACM polymer, which contains monomers each having a carboxyl group(s) as crosslinking-site monomers, respectively, 5 to 30 parts by weight of vein graphite or flake graphite, and 0.5 to 1.5 parts by weight of a liquid paraffin.

Products prepared from acrylic rubber compositions possess heat resistance comparable to silicone rubbers and fluororubbers, and oil resistance comparable to fluororubbers, nitrile rubbers, and hydrin rubbers, and are superior to nitrile rubbers, hydrin rubbers, and the like, in oil resistance at high temperatures. Since the products are excellent in heat resistance and oil resistance and are relatively inexpensive, they are used as sealing parts such as O-rings, gaskets, or packings.
Those cross-linked types of acrylic rubber compositions described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, which contain monomers each having a carboxyl group(s) as crosslinking-site monomers, are materials superb in heat resistance and compression set property. However, these compositions are defective in processing characteristics, particularly in roll tackiness upon kneading and tackiness of unvulcanized (uncrosslinked), dough-like material (green stock), and are thus still deficient in processability. Processing steps therefore tend to become complicated, thereby possibly bringing about a factor of increased cost.
Disclosed in Patent Document 3 is an acrylic elastomer composition, which is obtained by combining carbon black, a silica filler, and the like into an acrylic elastomer, and which is used for production of an O-ring, a gasket material, and the like.
However, when reinforcing materials such as carbon black and silica are simply blended, the resulting composition is still considerably high in roll tackiness upon kneading process, and in tacking among unvulcanized (uncrosslinked), dough-like materials in a vulcanizing (crosslinking) step, thereby problematically resulting in a material exhibiting an insufficient processability.    Patent Document 1: WO2007/145337    Patent Document 2: WO2007/145338    Patent Document 3: JP08-3410A


A semiconductor device may include a first terminal electrically connected to a first semiconductor chip, a second terminal electrically connected to a second semiconductor chip, which is different from the first semiconductor chip, a first signal line electrically connecting the first terminal and the second terminal and including a first node, a third terminal connected to a tester monitoring a signal transmitted between the first semiconductor chip and the second semiconductor chip, a fourth terminal applied a reference voltage, a second signal line electrically connecting the third terminal and the fourth terminal and including a second node, a first resistor connected between the first node and the second node and a second resistor directly connected to the second node different from the first resistor.

1. Technical Field
Example embodiments of the inventive concepts relate to a semiconductor device and/or a semiconductor package including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices have increasingly become compact but highly functional. Also, as the operating speed of semiconductor devices has increased, the signal integrity characteristics of semiconductor devices in a high-speed operating state has become of greater importance.
Thus, for a performance evaluation for testing the signal integrity characteristics of semiconductor devices, it may be desirable to reduce the influence of signal distortion.
Various schemes have been employed to reduce the influence of signal distortion and thus improve the signal integrity of semiconductor devices especially in a high-speed operating state.

Semiconductor device and semiconductor package comprising the same


A regulated voltage converter circuit includes a storage inductor and a controlled semiconductor switch connected in series circuit to a pair of input terminals that supply a full wave rectified voltage of a sinusoidal 60 Hz AC input voltage. A power factor amplifier receives a divided part of the rectified voltage and produces an output control voltage V.sub.M of a predetermined waveform (FIG. 2c). A comparison circuit compares the control voltage V.sub.M with a ramp voltage that is proportional to the current flowing through the semiconductor switch. The comparison circuit supplies PWM pulses to a control electrode of the semiconductor switch so as to regulate the output voltage of the converter circuit. The control voltage (V.sub.M) waveform is chosen so as to produce near unity power factor correction at the input of the converter circuit.

This invention relates to a switched power regulator having improved power factor correction apparatus.
Various power supply systems are known which incorporate a switched power regulator, such as the boost converter, the buck converter and the buck-boost converter. A problem with these conventional converters is that they do not provide inherent power factor correction. Adding the capability of power factor correction increases the size, complexity and cost of these devices.
One known type of converter is the current programmed DC boost converter operating in the discontinuous conduction mode, as is shown in FIG. 1, and which will be discussed in greater detail below. This converter generates a control signal (V.sub.M) for regulating the average value of the output voltage, V.sub.out, while providing power factor correction such that the converter draws a sinusoidal current from the input lines, for example, the 120 volt AC/60 Hz power lines commonly available. The control voltage V.sub.M generated therein satisfies the following expression ##EQU1## and produces a near unity power factor apparatus. In the foregoing expression, L is the inductance of the series inductor, i.sub.in is the maximum amplitude of the input current to the boost converter, V.sub.in is the maximum amplitude of the converter input voltage and V.sub.out is the regulated output voltage thereof. A disadvantage of this apparatus is that its control circuit with power factor correction is rather complicated since it requires an adder (substractor) circuit, a multiplier, a square root generator and a fixed ramp sawtooth generator. Another drawback is that it does not inherently provide over current protection for the transistor switch, especially in the case of a voltage transient from the 120 volt AC input lines, because it does not provide control of the switch current on a pulse by pulse basis.
Additional background information on switching regulator circuits can be obtained from U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,954 (1/19/82) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,291 (9/11/84).

Power supply with improved power factor correction


Provided herein are processes for preparing an isoindoline-1,3-dione compound, or an enantiomer or a mixture of enantiomers thereof; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate, hydrate, or polymorph thereof.

Many types of cancers are associated with new blood vessel formation, a process known as angiogenesis. Several mechanisms involved in tumor-induced angiogenesis have been elucidated. The most direct of these mechanisms is the secretion by the tumor cells of cytokines with angiogenic properties, including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α).
A variety of other diseases and disorders are also associated with or characterized by undesired angiogenesis. For example, enhanced or unregulated angiogenesis has been implicated in a number of diseases and medical conditions, including, but not limited to, ocular neovascular diseases, choroidal neovascular diseases, retina neovascular diseases, rubeosis (neovascularization of the angle), viral diseases, genetic diseases, inflammatory diseases, allergic diseases, and autoimmune diseases. Examples of such diseases and conditions include, but are not limited to, diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, corneal graft rejection, neovascular glaucoma, retrolental fibroplasia, arthritis, and proliferative vitreoretinopathy.
Certain isoindole-1,3-dione compounds, e.g., 4-amino-2-(2,6-dioxopiperidine-3-yl)isoindoline-1,3-dione, have been reported to be capable of controlling angiogenesis or inhibiting the production of TNF-α, and useful in the treatment and prevention of various diseases and conditions. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,517, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Processes for preparing certain isoindoline-1,3-dione compounds have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,635,517; 6,395,754; and 7,994,327; the disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A need still exists for efficient processes for preparing isoindoline-1,3-dione compounds.

Processes for preparing isoindoline-1,3-dione compounds


A fluid flow engine comprises: a turbine housing including at least one supply channel for supplying a driving fluid; at least one turbine rotor rotatably supported in the turbine housing about an axis of rotation; and a guiding grid of variable turbine geometry radially outside and surrounding the turbine rotor. The guiding grid comprises a nozzle ring forming one end limitation of a vane space and a plurality of guiding vanes each being pivoted about a pivoting axis and being supported by the nozzle ring so as to supply an adjustable amount of fluid from the supply channel to the turbine rotor. At least one spacer is connected to the nozzle ring for securing an axial distance for enabling the vanes to wove freely. The spacer includes at least one bolt or pin tat penetrates into the nozzle ring. This bolt or pin forms itself the spacer by inserting one end of it between the nozzle ring and a part in the turbine housing, while it is fixed to the axial distance of the vane space at the other end by a connection material which may be applied in molten condition, but is then temperature resistant.

Such a turbocharger and such a nozzle ring has become known, for example, from EP-A-0 226 444 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,752. In these constructions, the axial dimension of the vane space is ensured by spacing distance sockets over-drawn over screw bolts, the sockets, of course, possessing an outer diameter which exceeds distinctively that of the bolts. In an older patent application, assigned to the assignee of the present application, it has been suggested to form spacers, e.g. in the form of burls, integrally with a ring, each one of these spacers being penetrated by a bolt.

Fluid flow engine and method of producing a guiding grid


There is disclosed a network device having a network interface; and one or more logic elements comprising a flow table engine operable to: receive a network packet via the network interface; perform a logging action to make the network packet traceable; and notify a software-defined networking (SDN) controller of the logging action via the network interface. There is also disclosed an SDN controller having a network interface; first one or more logic elements comprising a software-defined networking (SDN) controller engine to provide SDN controller services; and second one or more logic elements comprising a route tracing engine, operable to: receive a logging action for a network packet from a network device via the network interface; and update a logging table from the logging action. There is further disclosed a method of providing the foregoing, and computer-readable mediums for providing the foregoing.

Software-defined networking (SDN) is an approach to computer networking that allows network administrators to manage network services through abstraction of higher-level functionality. This is done by decoupling the system that makes decisions about where traffic is sent (the control plane) from the underlying systems that forward traffic to the selected destination (the data plane). SDN may require a method for the control plane to communicate with the data plane.

Intelligent devices in a software-defined network


A local dimming control method and apparatus of an edge-type backlight module are provided. The edge-type backlight module has a plurality of backlight units positioned at at least one side of a display area. The local dimming control apparatus includes: a configuration unit, for dividing the display area into a plurality of display blocks; and a local dimming control unit, coupled to the configuration unit, for setting respective backlight intensities of the display blocks through controlling a plurality of luminance settings of the backlight units. The local dimming control method includes: dividing the display area into a plurality of display blocks; and performing a local dimming control operation to set respective backlight intensities of the display blocks through controlling a plurality of luminance settings of the backlight units.

The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to controlling a backlight module, and more particularly, to a local dimming control apparatus and method of an edge-type backlight module.
In a conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus, a light source of a direct-type backlight module is commonly implemented by fluorescent tube(s). Due to the advance of the LCD technology, a partially-driven direct-type backlight module is developed, where a number of point light sources, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), are used in a plurality of backlight units disposed below a plurality of regions of a display panel and implemented for illuminating the regions, respectively and independently. Therefore, the light intensity of the backlight module is partially changed rather than globally changed, which can improve the display quality of the video image.
However, due to consideration of low cost and small size, an edge-type backlight module is preferred. The conventional edge-type backlight module has a number of point light sources, such as LEDs arranged at a side of the LCD panels. As the local dimming control of the backlight module would affect the final display quality of the video image, how to properly control the edge-type backlight module becomes an important topic to designers in this field.

Local dimming control method and apparatus of edge-type backlight module


Virtual cephalometric imaging includes creating a first 3D virtual model and a second 3D virtual model of a patient's dentition. The first 3D virtual model is based on a first impression taken of the patient's dentition at a first time. The second 3D virtual model is based on a second impression taken of the patient's dentition at a second time. The first and the second 3D virtual models are correlated. A 2D image is generated including a first outline representing a position of at least one tooth of the patient's dentition according to the first 3D virtual model and a second outline representing a position of the at least one tooth according to the second 3D virtual model. Generating the 2D image includes positioning the first outline relative to the second outline according to the correlation of the first and the second 3D virtual models.

The present disclosure is related generally to the field of orthodontics. More particularly, the present disclosure is related to virtual cephalometric imaging.
Cephalometric analysis is the study of dental and skeletal relationships used by treatment professionals such as dentists and/or orthodontists as a treatment planning and/or evaluation tool using cephalometric imaging. Cephalometric imaging can include images such as X-rays, magnetic resonance images (MRI), computer aided tomography (CAT) scans, etc. Cephalometric imaging (and the analysis thereof) may be performed before, during, and/or after treatment of a patient.
A treatment professional may create cephalometric images of a patient's dentition and/or head. To compare a first and a second (e.g., a "before" and an "after") image, the treatment professional may apply a template (e.g., a plastic template) with outlines of teeth to a physical print of the first image. In some instances, both the image and the template may be on a 1:1 scale with the geometry of the patient's dentition. The treatment professional may modify (e.g., physically) the template to correlate the image.
The treatment professional may apply the template to the second image of the patient's dentition and/or head (e.g., physically place the template on a print of the second image). The treatment professional may select a number of features from the first image (e.g., a molar and an incisor) to outline and/or trace (e.g., with a pen) onto a second image (e.g., the "after" X-ray) using the template. After tracing the number of features from the first image to the second image, the treatment professional can compare changes to the patient's dentition resulting from treatment.
For instance, the treatment professional may study relationships between cephalometric landmarks such as nasion, orbitale, point A, point B, pogonion, menton, gnathion, sella, porion, and gonion, etc. to determine various dental measurements such as overjet, overbite, tooth projection, tooth inclination, etc. as will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The cephalometric analysis described above can be aided with the use of a computing device and digital copies of cephalometric images to help calculate angles and measurements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention pertains to methods of determining where, on the skin, a diagnostic, therapeutic, or cosmetic agent is likely to be most effectively applied (e.g., injected), and to methods for monitoring a patient after such an agent has been administered. The monitoring can produce information useful in determining whether a diagnostic, therapeutic (e.g., surgical), or cosmetic regime should be initiated, continued, continued in a modified fashion, or terminated (e.g., for a brief or prolonged period of time). The methods can be repeated periodically and use a non-invasive, in vivo form of digital image speckle correlation (DISC) to track deformation of the skin.

Digital Image Speckle Correlation (DISC) analysis is a sensitive, non-invasive technique that calculates the magnitude and vector of muscle contraction through photographic analysis. This technique has been used in animal studies of skin dynamics (see, e.g., Guan et al., Dermatol. 208(2):112-119, 2004). In addition, the technique has been used to characterize the biomechanical properties of human skin and to assess the effects of aging. For example, U.S. Patent Application No. 2007/0125390 describes methods of evaluating structural changes in the skin due to exogenous or endogenous factors. More specifically, U.S. Patent Application No. 2009/0022665 describes methods employing DISC analysis for evaluating immediate effect skin-molding agents, which are topically applied agents that cause a measurable, quantifiable change and/or reaction in the skin. Images are obtained before and after applying such agents in order to evaluate the skin's reaction and thereby determine the desirability of the agent. As noted therein, the methods provide for evaluating the skin's response to cosmetic, dermatologic or medicinal treatment or to any other factor alleged to affect the skin.

Methods useful in optimizing the treatment of neuropathies and targeting tissues with cosmetic botulinum injections

The Research Foundation for State University of New York


Disclosed herein are systems, computer-implemented methods, and computer-readable storage media for obfuscating data based on a discrete logarithm. A system practicing the method identifies a clear value in source code, replaces the clear value in the source code with a transformed value based on the clear value and a discrete logarithm, and updates portions of the source code that refer to the clear value such that interactions with the transformed value provide a same result as interactions with the clear value. This discrete logarithm approach can be implemented in three variations. The first variation obfuscates some or all of the clear values in loops. The second variation obfuscates data in a process. The third variation obfuscates data pointers, including tables and arrays. The third variation also preserves the ability to use pointer arithmetic.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to code obfuscation and more specifically to data transforms based on discrete logarithm properties.
2. Introduction
Software publishers often attempt to restrict access to portions of compiled software executables to thwart reverse engineering attempts while still allowing the executables to function properly. Reverse engineering is the practice of dissecting and/or analyzing software to understand how it works. On certain systems, reverse engineering can retrieve information stored within software such as information related to cryptographic keys or copy protection schemes. Reverse engineers can even tamper with the software itself or call specific portions of the software for their own unauthorized purposes.
In the field of security of open platforms, data obfuscation is one way to protect portions of code. Indeed, some designers of such platforms have an obligation to protect keys, which processes are running, etc. On the other side, attackers try to gain information that allows copies of the software to be made, or in other cases to extract sensitive information such as keys used to protect content.
Obfuscation is one of many approaches to "code protection" to protect running code against this kind of attack. In this domain, data masking is one approach to code protection, but for this approach to function properly, the data, once masked, should never appear in clear form in the code.

System and method for data obfuscation based on discrete logarithm properties


A downhole drilling device (1) may include a drill bit rotatable via a drill string (11); a guiding device (4) provided between said drill bit and said drill string (11), said guiding device (4) being connected to and operable independently from said drill string (11); and a power source (5) for powering said guiding device (4). The downhole drilling device (1) may include an inductive coupler (6, 6′) having a primary side (61) and a secondary side (63), said inductive coupler (6, 6′) being adapted to transfer power from said power source (5), connected to the primary side (61) of said inductive coupler (6, 6′), to said guiding device (4), connected to the secondary side (63) of said inductive coupler (6, 6′).

In downhole drilling devices according to the prior art, power for driving downhole electric components has normally been supplied via wires from the surface or battery packs included in the downhole device. Power may be required for guiding the drill bit in the well while drilling, so as to be able to drill deviated wells. Power transfer via long wires is undesirable because it limits the design options for the drilling device as long power-transferring wires cannot connect to both rotating and non-rotating parts of the drilling device. Power is also lost in the wire during transfer. Power supplied from included battery packs limits the lifetime between runs to pull out and replace the battery packs, and may significantly increase the length and running cost of the device.
Downhole power sources, such as mud generators, have been used for downhole power generation, and mud generators offer the advantage of downhole sustainable power supply. However, such mud generators are typically provided in the hollow rotating drill string, rotating together with the drill string. Existing power transfer devices generally rely on mechanical contact devices, such as slip-ring devices, which are prone to damage, wear and high contact resistance and which become less efficient over time. The consequence of this is high power losses and temperature increases. No robust solution exists for transferring power from the continuously rotating drill string to nonrotating parts of the bottom hole assembly. On the other hand, various forms of accumulators, such as batteries, could be provided on non-rotating parts, but the power from an accumulator is limited as is the space for placing such accumulators downhole.


A self-adjustable, self-ligating orthodontic bracket includes a base with a tooth face bonded to a surface of a tooth. A linking body includes a body connection. The linking body is in physical communication with an archwire transmitting a force to the linking body. A connector applies a tension between the linking body and the base motivating the linking body and the base toward a normal position.

An orthodontist corrects a position of a tooth by bonding a bracket to the tooth. The bracket is then litigated to an archwire. The archwire transfers of force to the bracket, motivating the tooth to a new position within the mouth.
Unfortunately, the archwire and the connection of the bracket to the archwire must be regularly modified as the position of the tooth shifts within the mouth so that the force from the archwire continues to motivate the tooth in the desired direction. The cost of orthodontic treatment is increased as this modification of the archwire and the connection to the bracket is needed more frequently.
In addition, the orthodontist must often ligate the bracket to the archwire using bands or wires. The time required to litigate the bracket to the archwire further increases the cost of orthodontic treatment.

Self-adjustable, self-ligating orthodontic bracket


There are provided an electrolytic processing apparatus and an electrolytic processing method which can regenerate an ion exchanger with an enhanced regeneration rate of ion-exchange capacity without adversely affecting the throughput of the apparatus. The electrolytic processing apparatus includes: a holder for holding a workpiece; an electrode section including an electrode, a contact member, and a discharge portion for discharging metal ions which have been taken from the workpiece into the contact member during processing, said electrode section coming close to or into contact with the workpiece held by the holder to effect processing of the workpiece in the presence of a liquid; and a regeneration dummy electrode which can come close to or into contact with the contact member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrolytic processing apparatus and an electrolytic processing method, and more particularly to an electrolytic processing apparatus and an electrolytic processing method useful for processing a conductive material formed in a surface of a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, or for removing impurities adhering to a surface of a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, instead of using aluminum or aluminum alloys as a material for forming circuits on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, there is an eminent movement towards using copper (Cu) which has a low electric resistivity and high electromigration resistance. Copper interconnects are generally formed by filling copper into fine recesses formed in a surface of a substrate. Various techniques for forming such copper interconnects are known including chemical vapor deposition (CVD), sputtering, and plating. According to any such technique, a copper film is formed in a substantially entire surface of a substrate, followed by removal of unnecessary copper by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP).
FIGS. 1A through 1C illustrate, in sequence of process steps, an example of forming such a substrate W having copper interconnects. As shown in FIG. 1A, an insulating film 2, such as an oxide film of SiO2 or a film of low-k material, is deposited on a conductive layer 1a in which semiconductor devices are formed, which is formed on a semiconductor base 1. Contact holes 3 and interconnect trenches 4 are formed in the insulating film 2 by a lithography/etching technique. Thereafter, a barrier layer 5 of TaN or the like is formed on the insulating film 2, and a seed layer 7 as an electric supply layer for electroplating is formed on the barrier layer 5 by sputtering or CVD, or the like.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, copper plating is performed on the surface of the substrate W to fill the contact holes 3 and the interconnect trenches 4 with copper and, at the same time, deposit a copper film 6 on the insulating film 2. Thereafter, the copper film 6, the seed layer 7 and the barrier layer 5 on the insulating film 2 are removed by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) or the like so as to make the surface of the copper film 6 filled in the contact holes 3 and the interconnect trenches 4, and the surface of the insulating film 2 lie substantially on the same plane. Interconnects composed of the copper film 6 as shown in FIG. 1C are thus formed.
Components in various types of equipments have recently become finer and have required higher accuracy. As sub-micro manufacturing technology has commonly been used, the properties of materials are largely influenced by the processing method. Under these circumstances, in a conventional machining method in which a desired portion of a workpiece may be physically destroyed and removed from the surface by a tool, a large number of defects may be produced which deteriorates the properties of the workpiece. Therefore, it becomes important to perform processing without deteriorating the properties of the materials.
Some processing methods, such as chemical polishing, electrolytic processing, and electrolytic polishing, have been developed in order to solve this problem. In contrast with the conventional physical processing, these methods perform removal processing or the like through chemical dissolution reaction. Therefore, these methods do not suffer from defects such as formation of an altered layer and dislocation due to plastic deformation, so that processing can be performed without deteriorating the properties of the materials.
An electrolytic processing method that utilizes an ion exchanger has been developed. As shown in FIG. 2, an ion exchanger 12a mounted on a processing electrode 14 and an ion exchanger 12b mounted on a feeding electrode 16 are allowed to be close to or into contact with the surface of a workpiece 10. A voltage is applied from a power source 17 to between the processing electrode 14 and the feeding electrode 16 while a processing liquid 18, such as ultrapure water, is supplied from a fluid supply section 19 to between the processing electrode 14, feeding electrode 16 and the workpiece 10, thereby carrying out removal processing of the surface layer of the workpiece 10. According to this electrolytic processing, water molecules 20 in the processing liquid 18, such as ultrapure water, are dissociated by the ion exchangers 12a and 12b into hydroxide ions 22 and hydrogen ions 24. The hydroxide ions 22 thus produced, for example, are carried, by the electric field between the workpiece 10 and the processing electrode 14 and by the flow of the processing liquid 18, such as ultrapure water, to the surface of the workpiece 10 facing the processing electrode 14, whereby the density of the hydroxide ions 22 in the vicinity of the workpiece 10 is increased, and the hydroxide ions 22 are reacted with the atoms 10a of the workpiece 10. The reaction product 26 produced by reaction is dissolved in the processing liquid 18 such as ultrapure water, and removed from the workpiece 10 by the flow of the processing liquid 18 along the surface of the workpiece 10.
When carrying out electrolytic processing of e.g. copper by using as an ion exchanger a cation exchanger having a cation-exchange group, copper is captured by the cation-exchange group. Progress of the consumption of the cation-exchange group by copper makes it impossible to continue the electrolytic processing. When electrolytic processing of copper is carried out by using as an ion exchanger an anion exchanger having an anion-exchange group, on the other hand, fine particles of a copper oxide are produced and the particles adhere to the surface of the ion exchanger (anion exchanger), whereby particles may harm the uniformity of the processing rate.
Such harmful effects can be eliminated by regenerating the ion exchanger. Regeneration of an ion exchanger is effected by exchange of an ion captured by the ion exchanger for a hydrogen ion in the case of a cation exchanger, and for a hydroxide ion in the case of an anion exchanger.
Regeneration of an ion exchanger is generally carried out by immersing the ion exchanger in an acid solution in the case of a cation exchanger, and in an alkali solution in the case of an anion exchanger. With a cation exchanger which has captured an ion having an ion selectivity coefficient close to that of a hydrogen ion, such as a sodium ion, for example, the ion exchanger can be regenerated in a very short time by immersing it in an acid. When an ion exchanger which has captured an ion having a large ion selectivity coefficient is regenerated with an acid solution or an alkali solution, however, the generation speed is very slow. Further, a chemical remains in a high concentration in the regenerated ion exchanger, which necessitates cleaning of the ion exchanger. Further, it is necessary to separately provide a regeneration tank for storing a regeneration liquid which may occupy a considerable installation area. In addition, processing must be stopped for regeneration of an ion exchanger, leading to lowering of the throughput.
An ion exchanger to be in contact with a workpiece, from the viewpoint of a smooth surface, is in the form of, for example, a thin film. Accordingly, the ion-exchange capacity, which is an index of the ion accumulation capacity, is generally small. It is, therefore, a common practice to interpose an ion exchanger having a large ion-exchange capacity between an ion exchange in a film form and an electrode so that most of processing products may be taken in the interposed portion (interposed ion exchanger). After carrying out processing for some length of time, however, the interposed portion does not take processing products anymore, and therefore must be changed for a new one or regenerated. The change of the ion exchanger takes a considerable time during which processing must be stopped. The regeneration also necessitates a stop of processing, which adversely affects the throughput of the apparatus.
In view of this, it may be considered to discharge metal ions, etc., which have been removed from a workpiece and taken in an ion exchanger, to a discharge section (out of the system) during processing by using, for example, an electrodialysis regeneration method, thereby regenerating the ion exchanger during processing. In such an in-process regeneration method, however, metal ions, etc., which have newly dissolved out of the workpiece, are constantly taken into the ion exchanger during regeneration. Thus, depending upon the conditions, all the metal ions taken into the ion exchanger could not be fully discharged out of the system.

Electrolytic processing apparatus and electrolytic processing method


A power generation element includes: a first nnagnetostrictive rod made of a nnagnetostrictive material; a rigid rod made of a magnetic material and disposed in parallel with the first nnagnetostrictive rod, the magnetic material having rigidity and a shape that enable uniform application of a compression or tensile force to the first nnagnetostrictive rod; a first coil wound around the first nnagnetostrictive rod; and two connecting yokes, each of which is provided at one end of each of the first nnagnetostrictive rod and the rigid rod to connect the first nnagnetostrictive rod and the rigid rod; wherein the power generation element generates power through expansion or contraction of the first nnagnetostrictive rod due to vibration in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the first nnagnetostrictive rod.

The present invention relates to power generation elements using vibration and, in particular, to a power generation element using a magnetostrictive material.
Conventionally, techniques for generating power from ambient vibration have been actively developed. Among them, a technique for generating power from piezoelectric elements and a technique for generating power from a change in magnetic flux density of a permanent magnet are known.
Many of the methods for generating power using a piezoelectric element are performed by generating power by deforming the piezoelectric elements by external force in some way or other. Methods for deforming piezoelectric elements include a method for deforming a piezoelectric element by application of vibration to piezoelectric elements, a method for indirectly applying pressure such as wind pressure or sound pressure, a method for causing an object such as a weight to collide with piezoelectric elements, and a method for attaching piezoelectric elements to a deformed object (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-166694). JP 2006-166694 discloses a sound power generation apparatus which generates power by a piezoelectric element using air pressure fluctuation caused by sound and a vibration power generation apparatus which generates power by piezoelectric elements using pressure fluctuation caused by vibration.
Moreover, a method for generating power using a change in magnetic flux of a permanent magnet is a method for generating power by a temporal change in interlinkage magnetic flux density of a coil caused by vibration of the permanent magnet, that is, a method for generating power using electromagnetic induction (for example, refer to Hiroshi Hosaka, "Wearable joho kiki no tame no shindo hassei gijutsu" (Vibration Power-Generation Technologies for Wearable Information Devices), Journal of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan, vol. 126, no. 4, 2006 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-72862).
Hosaka discloses a power generation element which generates power through a change in magnetic flux density within a coil and generation of current by a permanent magnet vibrating within the coil in parallel with a magnetization direction.
JP 2008-72862 discloses a piezoelectric element including: a bias magnet which is magnetized in two poles; a magnetostrictive material which changes magnetic permeability through a reverse magnetostrictive effect by applying force from outside and changes a flow of magnetic flux; a compressing means which periodically compresses the magnetostrictive material in a direction having magnetic anisotropy; and a coil means which induces current by the periodically changing magnetic flux. In the power generation element, the magnetostrictive material, the coil, and the compressing means are disposed such that the periodically changing magnetic flux and the coil wound around the coil center form a linkage. In other words, this is a configuration which generates power with current which is generated in the coil by periodically compressing, in a longitudinal direction, the magnetostrictive material having magnetic anisotropy in a longitudinal direction.
The piezoelectric element disclosed in JP 2006-166694 has large piezoelectric longitudinal constant and high power generation efficiency of high piezoelectric vertical effect (when the direction of force and the direction of taking out voltage are the same). However, when power is generated using bending deformation through deforming a single-plate piezoelectric material, voltage is taken out in a direction perpendicular to a direction of force (piezoelectric horizontal effect), with the result that the power generation efficiency is low. Moreover, the piezoelectric material is a brittle material which is easily damaged by bending and impact. Therefore, there is a problem that an excessive load cannot be applied to the piezoelectric material and it is difficult to apply large bending to and have a large impact on the material for increasing power generation capacity. Moreover, the piezoelectric element has high impedance in low frequency since it is electrically capacitive load. There is a demerit that when a load having lower impedance than the piezoelectric element is connected to the piezoelectric element, voltage generated at the load is low, power obtained from power generation is low and power generation efficiency is low.
Moreover, in the method for generating power using a change in linkage magnetic flux density in the coil caused by the vibration of the permanent magnet as disclosed by Hosaka, it is necessary to cause a vibrator to vibrate at large amplitude and high frequency for increasing power generation capacity. When the size of the permanent magnet used as the vibrator is large, the mass of the vibrator is high while the resonance frequency of the vibrator is low. As a result, there is a problem that the power generation capacity is not increased.
Moreover, the method for generating power by periodically compressing the nnagnetostrictive material disclosed in JP 2008-72862 requires large force for compressing the nnagnetostrictive material in a longitudinal direction. Moreover, there is a problem that since the compression force is unevenly applied to the nnagnetostrictive material, power generation efficiency is low.
In light of the above mentioned problem, the present invention has an object to provide a power generation element which has strong resistance to bending and impact and has high power generation capacity, and an electronic device including the power generation element.

Power generation element and power generation apparatus including the power generation element

National University Corporation Kanazawa University


Aniline copolymers and methods of making these copolymers are disclosed herein. The copolymers can, for example, be used for removing metal ions from a sample.

1. Field
The present application relates to compositions and methods for removal of metal ions from a sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
The treatment of heavy metal pollution is challenge for environmental protection. Heavy metals, for example some toxic metal ions such as Hg(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), Cr(III, VI), can cause serious damages to living organisms. Traditional methods for heavy metal wastewater treatment, such as chemical precipitation, electrolytic process, extraction separation, and membrane separation, are limited in their applications because of the inability to detect metal ions at low concentrations. There is a need for potent adsorbents that remove metal ions from a sample.


A signal mixing circuit device and a receiver are disclosed, the signal mixing circuit device comprising first to fourth mixers, first and second signal amplifying circuits, a signal strength detector, a controller and an attenuator. A signal strength value for the output from the first signal amplifying circuit is detected using the signal strength detector. If the signal strength value is less than a first threshold, a high-gain path is initiated, so that noises respectively input to the first and second mixers together with local oscillator signals are eliminated by the fourth and third mixers respectively, thereby ensuring a high signal-to-noise ratio. If the signal strength value is greater than a second threshold, a low-gain path is initiated, which partially reuses the circuit of the high-gain path, thereby effectively reducing the overall circuit area and decreasing chip cost and power consumption.

A traditional receiver receives a Radio Frequency (RF) signal via its antenna, and thereafter the RF signal may sequentially pass through a band-pass filter or low-pass filter, a Matching Network (MN), a Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA), a mixer, an analog baseband filter, an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and a digital demodulator on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), whereby the required signal is obtained, where the RF signal refers to electromagnetic waves in a certain frequency range that are radiated into space. The traditional receiver may amplify the RF signal to obtain a gain that meets a requirement. However, for RF signals of different strengths, respective signal amplifying circuits need to be designed, resulting in increased chip area and high power consumption for the signal amplifying circuits.

Signal mixing circuit device and receiver


A quorum service within a cluster infrastructure layer of a cluster environment comprising a plurality of nodes automatically triggers at least one automated fencing operation integrated within the quorum service, to reliably maintain a node usability state of each node of the plurality of nodes indicating an availability of each node to control and access at least one shared resource of the cluster. The quorum service reports the node usability state of each node as a cluster health status to at least one distributed application within an application layer of the cluster environment, to provide a reliable cluster health status of the plurality of nodes to the at least one distributed application for a failover of said at least one shared resource from control by a failed node from among the plurality of nodes to another node from among the plurality of nodes.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to automated management of cluster systems, and more particularly, to integrating automated node fencing into quorum services of a cluster infrastructure for providing automated failure and recovery services at the cluster infrastructure level and for reporting a consistent, reliable view of cluster node health to distributed applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer clusters or cluster environments are groups of interconnected computing elements, or nodes, associated in such a way as to facilitate interoperability and management. The nodes in a cluster may work in tandem to provide more efficient performance and availability than is typically available in a single computer. One or more nodes in a cluster may access one or more resources and one or more nodes in a cluster may share a particular resource.
A cluster infrastructure may provide for organizing nodes of a cluster into domains, where a quorum service manages the configuration or membership database indicating the role of each node in each domain as either active or in stand by. The cluster infrastructure may provide quorum services for maintaining a membership status of each node in a domain. In addition, the cluster infrastructure may provide quorum services that, upon a network failure that partitions the cluster from a group of nodes that communicate directly with one another over dedicated network connections into two sub-domains with nodes in one sub-domain that cannot communicate with nodes in the other sub-domain, control which partition retains the quorum and is allowed to continue operating an application after the failure occurs. Distributed applications running atop a cluster infrastructure may request the cluster infrastructure to provide a health status of each node for use by the distributed applications in safe control and failover of shared resources, however the cluster health status reported by quorum services alone merely indicates the membership status of a node within a quorum. Node quorum membership status alone, however, may be insufficient to guarantee safe management of shared resources when partitions occur within a cluster environment because the network failures may prevent cross node communication between the partition pieces. Because a cluster health status which indicates node quorum membership status alone may be insufficient to guarantee safe management of shared resources, a programmer may insert code into distributed applications to manage a network failure by attempting to block one or more nodes from accessing shared resources. In one example, the programmer may insert code to attempt to fence a node prior to processing a failover to prevent corrupting shared resources, where the node fencing may direct power or I/O controls to prevent one node from accessing a shared resource even when cross node communication is not available. In particular, node fencing separate nodes which may have access to a shared resource from nodes which must not have access to a shared resource.

Automated node fencing integrated within a quorum service of a cluster infrastructure

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to a process of edging a lens comprising forming a lens-protective transparent coating layer on the surface of the lens. When the lens coated with a transparent coating layer comprising a fluorine-containing elastomer and optionally a fluorine-containing organosilane compound and having a surface energy of less than 15 mJ/m2 is edged, the scratch of lens during handling, the damage of lens caused by chemical contaminants, and lens off-centring phenomena can be prevented. Further, such an edging process requires no adhesive tape, making the process simple, and prevents the contamination of the lens surface. Further, the inventive transparent coating layer makes it possible to measure the diopter of lens exactly owing to its transparency and it is manually removable without a chemical.

In general, optical lenses or optical parts have various functional coating layers on the surface thereof. For example, a high, medium or low refractive inorganic oxide such as SiO2, ZrO2, Al2O3 and TiO2 may be multi-coated on the surface of an optical lens or parts to form an anti-reflective layer, reducing the light reflectance, or a layer capable of selectively absorbing/reflecting light having certain wavelength may be formed to impart various optical properties to the optical lens or parts. Further, indium tin oxide (ITO) may be deposited so as to provide a transparent conductivity or electronic wave shielding property to the optical lens or parts. Recently, such an optical design has been also used as a means for coloring an article under a vacuum condition.
However, the deposition of an inorganic oxide on a lens under a vacuum condition has a disadvantage in that the lens is easily contaminated by various contaminants such as chemicals and brine which are difficult to remove. Further, there is the problem that the contaminants incorporated into the inside of the inorganic oxide layer may change the designed optical properties of the lens.
To solve the above problems, a method of coating a fluorine-containing organosilane on a lens under a vacuum condition has been developed, and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-226942 suggested the use of a fluorine-containing oil together with a fluorine-containing organosilane to strengthen the water- and oil-repellant properties.
However, the lens coated with such a fluorine-containing or perfluoropolyether-containing organosilane compound has a low surface energy and a low surface friction coefficient, and accordingly, it does not easily adhere to other substances. Particularly, when the fluorine- or perfluoropolyether-containing organosilane compound is coated on an inorganic oxide layer, the organosilane compound reacts with the inorganic oxide to produce a fluorine-containing film having a high strength and a low surface frictional coefficient.
In order to edge a lens having such a high strength film on its surface, the lens is required to be fixed, e.g., by using an adhesive tape, and even if such an adhesive is used, off-centring of the lens may occur during the edging procedure.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-122238 discloses the use of a protective film made of vinyl acetate on the surface of a water- or oil-repellent lens to ameliorate the lens off-centring problem that occurs during edging. But this method still requires the use of an adhesive tape or pad for elaborate edging, and suffers from low chemical resistance of the protective film.
In order to prevent the lens off-centring phenomena, WO 02/92524, WO 03/057641 and WO 04/110946 have suggested a method of depositing a metal fluoride under a vacuum condition and optionally an organic layer for increasing the surface energy on the surface of a water-repellent lens. However, this method has disadvantages in that a further chemical treatment step for removing the deposited metal fluoride layer is required; the rate of deposition and the thickness of the deposited metal fluoride layer cannot be easily controlled, and defective lenses cannot be checked in advance because the metal fluoride deposition is carried out immediately after the deposition of an anti-reflective layer.

Edging process of lens using transparent coating layer for protecting lens

Essilor International (Compagnie Generale d'Optique)


A fibrous structure having the form of a band extending in a longitudinal direction (X) over a given length between a proximal part and a distal part and in a lateral direction (Y) over a given width between a first side edge and a second side edge, the fibrous structure having a three-dimensional or multilayer weave between a plurality of layers of warp yarns or strands extending longitudinally and a plurality of layers of weft yarns or strands extending laterally, wherein a first portion of the fibrous structure present between the proximal part and an intermediate part of the fibrous structure includes carbon fiber weft yarns or strands and wherein a second portion of the fibrous structure present between the intermediate part and the distal part includes glass fiber weft yarns or strands.

The manufacture of a composite material casing begins with the production of a fibrous structure in the form of a band, the fibrous structure being produced by three-dimensional weaving between a plurality of layers of warp yarns and a plurality of layers of weft yarns. The fibrous structure thus obtained is wound over several turns on a mold or tool having the shape of the casing to be produced and held between the mold and segments forming a counter-mold so as to obtain a fibrous preform.
Once the fibrous preform has been produced, i.e. at the end of the winding of the fibrous structure, the tool carrying the fibrous preform is closed by counter-molds and then transported to an oven or furnace in which the densification of the preform by a matrix is carried out, the matrix being obtainable in particular by injection and polymerization of a resin into the fibrous preform.
Casings must provide a containment function by trapping debris ingested inside the engine, or centrifugally-projected blades or blade fragments, to prevent them from passing through the casing and reaching other parts of the aircraft.
Casings of the prior art generally perform this function satisfactorily. However, there is still room for further improvement in the mechanical resistance of certain casings to blade impact when the blade is detached and projected into the casing.

Woven fibrous structure for forming a casing preform


Process for the preparation of benzo-fused heterocycles of general formula I:

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of benzo-fused heterocycles of general formula I:
in which
X is S, O or NH,
R1 is CN, NO2, Ac, COAr, COOAr, COOH, COOA or CONR4R5,
R2 and R3 independently of one another are each H, A, NO2, CN, OH, OA or Ac,
R4 and R5 independently of one another are each H, A, Ar or Ac, or
R4 and R5 together are xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94,
A is alkyl having 1-6 C atoms,
Ac is acyl having 1-6 C atoms,
Ar is unsubstituted phenyl or phenyl substituted by A, NO2, CN, OH or OA, and
n is 2, 3 or 4,
by reacting tetrahydrobenzo-fused heterocycles of formula II:
in which
X is S, O or NH,
R1 is CN, NO2, Ac, COAr, COOAr, COOH, COOA or CONR4R5,
R2 and R3 independently of one another are each H, A, NO2, CN, OH, OA or Ac,
R4 and R5 independently of one another are each H, A, Ar or Ac, or
R4 and R5 together are xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94,
A is alkyl having 1-6 C atoms,
Ac is acyl having 1-6 C atoms,
Ar is unsubstituted phenyl or phenyl substituted by A, NO2, CN, OH or OA, and
n is 2, 3 or 4,
with a catalytic amount of a noble metal catalyst in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor and then deacylating the acylated amino group by the addition of an amine.
Benzo-fused heterocycles of formula I are important intermediates in industrial organic synthesis, e.g. in the manufacture of fine chemicals, dyestuffs and plant protection agents. They are also important intermediates in the manufacture of drugs. Benzo-fused heterocycles of formula I in which X is S are particularly important in the manufacture of PDE-V inhibitors, which are known from WO 99/55708 and WO 00/78767. In particular, ethyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate is an intermediate in the synthesis of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, which is known from WO 99/55708, or 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, which is known from WO 00/78767.
According to the classical synthesis, tetrahydrobenzo-fused compounds are aromatized by reaction with elemental sulfur at high temperatures (literature: Gewald et al., Chem. Ber. 1968, 101, 1933). The disadvantages of this process are the high energy costs due to high reaction temperatures, the release of hydrogen sulfide, which is an odour nuisance, and the problems which arise in the purification, because elemental sulfur dissolves only in CS2, which is very highly flammable.
One particular example from the state of the art is the reaction of the compound 2-acetylamino-3-methoxy-carbonyl-4,5-tetramethylenethiophene with 2 equivalents of sulfur and dimethyl phthalate at temperatures of between 200 and 220xc2x0 C. according to G. Hallas et al., Dyes Pigm. 1997, 35, 219-237. 2-Acetylamino-3-methoxy-carbonylbenzo[b]thiophene is isolated and then, in a second step, deacetylated in ethanol by reaction with aqueous potassium hydroxide solution.
Another known possibility for aromatizing a tetrahydrobenzo-fused compound is to react it with an equimolar amount of a hydrogenation catalyst. One particular example, namely the dehydrogenation of methyl 2-acetylaminotetrahydrobenzothiophene-3-carboxylate with an approximately equimolar amount of palladium on carbon (10% Pd/C) in chloroform as solvent, is described in Eiden et al., Arch. Pharm. 1984, 317, 675-680.
For ecological reasons, reactions with elemental sulfur are impracticable on the industrial scale.
In the second variant, the amount of hydrogenation catalyst used should be kept as small as possible for economic reasons. Also, the benzo-fused heterocycles formed in the dehydrogenation are often only sparingly soluble in the solvents used and precipitate out when the heterogeneous reaction mixture cools. This makes separation of the noble metal catalyst more difficult and considerable amounts of solvent are required to extract the product from the noble metal catalyst.
The object of the invention was therefore to develop a process for the preparation of benzo-fused heterocycles of formula I which has advantages over the known processes of the state of the art.
Surprisingly, it was found that tetrahydrobenzo-fused compounds of formula II can be aromatized with a catalytic amount of a hydrogenation catalyst in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor. Immediate deacylation of the amino group in the 2-position of the heterocycle by the addition of an amine provides the benzo-fused compounds of formula I as readily soluble products, enabling the noble metal catalyst to be separated off by simple filtration. The process according to the invention is a one-pot process, i.e. the aromatization and deacylation take place in succession without isolation of the intermediate, which in this case is the benzo-fused heterocycle with its amino group acylated.
The meanings of all the radicals which occur several times, e.g. A or Ac, are independent of one another.
The radical A is alkyl and has 1 to 6, preferably 1, 2, 3 or 4 and particularly preferably 1 or 2 C atoms. Alkyl is therefore especially e.g. methyl, also ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl or tert-butyl, or also pentyl, 1-, 2- or 3-methylbutyl, 1,1-, 1,2- or 2,2-dimethylpropyl, 1-ethylpropyl, hexyl, 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-methylpentyl, 1,1-, 1,2-, 1,3-, 2,2-, 2,3- or 3,3-dimethylbutyl, 1- or 2-ethylbutyl, 1-ethyl-1-methylpropyl, 1-ethyl-2-methylpropyl or 1,1,2- or 1,2,2-trimethylpropyl. A is particularly preferably methyl or ethyl.
Ac is acyl and preferably has 1-6 C atoms. Ac is e.g. formyl, acetyl, propionyl, butyryl, pentanoyl or hexanoyl, or also trifluoroacetyl. Ac is particularly preferably acetyl.
Ar is unsubstituted phenyl or phenyl substituted by A, NO2, CN, OH or OA.
Ar is therefore preferably phenyl, o-, m- or p-methylphenyl, o-, m- or p-ethylphenyl, o-, m- or p-propylphenyl, o-, m- or p-isopropylphenyl, o-, m- or p-tert-butylphenyl, o-, m- or p-hydroxyphenyl, o-, m- or p-methoxyphenyl, o-, m- or p-ethoxyphenyl, o-, m- or p-nitrophenyl or o-, m- or p-cyanophenyl. Ar is particularly preferably unsubstituted phenyl.
COAr is aroyl, Ar being as defined above. COAr is particularly preferably benzoyl.
COOAr is aryloxycarbonyl, Ar being as defined above. COOAr is particularly preferably phenoxycarbonyl.
X is S, O or NH, S being particularly preferred.
R1 is CN, NO2, Ac, COAr, COOAr, COOH, COOA or CONR4R5, A, Ac and Ar being as defined above and R4 and R5 being as defined below. R1 is particularly preferably CN or COOA and very particularly preferably COOA.
R2 and R3 independently of one another are each H, A, NO2, CN, OH, OA or Ac, A and Ac being as defined above. R2 and R3 are particularly preferably H.
R4 and R5 independently of one another are each H, A, Ar or Ac, A, Ar and Ac being as defined above. R4 and R5 are particularly preferably H.
R4 and R5 together are also xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94(CH2)nxe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94, it being possible for n to be 2, 3 or 4. R4 and R5 together are particularly preferably xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94(CH2)2xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94(CH2)3xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94 and very particularly preferably xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94(CH2)3xe2x80x94(CH2)xe2x80x94.
The hydrogenation catalysts (or, synonymously, noble metal catalysts) used can be suitably supported noble metals such as palladium, platinum or rhodium, suitable supports being carbon, activated carbon, aluminium oxide, barium carbonate, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate or strontium carbonate. The proportion of noble metal in the noble metal catalyst is between 1 and 20%, preferably between 5 and 10% and particularly preferably 5%.
Palladium on activated carbon, carbon, aluminium oxide, barium carbonate, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate or strontium carbonate, platinum on activated carbon, carbon or aluminium oxide, or rhodium on carbon or aluminium oxide, can be used in particular for the process according to the invention. It is particularly preferred to use palladium on activated carbon (5% Pd).
Another possibility is to use noble metal salts which can be reduced in situ by a reducing agent and produce in situ a finely divided palladium(0) species. Examples of suitable noble metal salts are palladium acetate, palladium bromide or palladium chloride and examples of suitable reducing agents are hydrogen, hydrazine, sodium borohydride or formates.
The invention further relates to a process for the preparation of benzo-fused heterocycles of general formula I according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a noble metal catalyst, selected from the group comprising palladium on activated carbon, carbon, aluminium oxide, barium carbonate, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate or strontium carbonate, platinum on activated carbon, carbon or aluminium oxide, and rhodium on carbon or aluminium oxide, is used.
Inexpensive organic hydrogen acceptors, such as the ones known to those skilled in the art, are particularly suitable for the process according to the invention, examples of inexpensive organic hydrogen acceptors being styrene, xcex1-methylstyrene, stilbene, tolans, cinnamic acid esters or cyclohexene. It is particularly preferred to use xcex1-methylstyrene. Other hydrogen acceptors suitable for the process according to the invention are oxygen or oxygen/gas mixtures, gas being understood as meaning nitrogen or noble gases such as helium, neon, argon or xenon. The proportion of oxygen in the oxygen/gas mixture is between 1 and 99%, preferably between 10 and 50% and particularly preferably 15 to 25%. The oxygen/gas mixture is particularly preferably air.
The organic hydrogen acceptor may undergo polymerization reactions during the aromatization. The formation of these by-products, i.e. polymers, can be reduced by adding the hydrogen acceptor in small amounts, successively (semicontinuously) or continuously, during the reaction.
The invention further relates to a process for the preparation of benzo-fused heterocycles of general formula I according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a hydrogen acceptor selected from the group comprising styrene, xcex1-methylstyrene, stilbene, tolans, cinnamic acid esters, for example methyl or ethyl cinnamate, cyclohexene, oxygen and oxygen/gas mixtures is used.
The dehydrogenationxe2x80x94and hence aromatizationxe2x80x94using a catalytic amount of a hydrogenation catalyst should advantageously be carried out under an inert gas atmosphere in order to avoid explosions, which is why it is advantageous to use organic hydrogen acceptors selected from the group comprising styrene, xcex1-methylstyrene, stilbene, tolans, cinnamic acid esters and cyclohexene.
To deacylate the acylated amino group of the compounds of general formula II and of the benzo-fused intermediate after aromatization, a primary or secondary amine boiling at between 50 and 200xc2x0 C., preferably at between 50 and 150xc2x0 C., is added to the reaction mixture. It is particularly preferred to use pyrrolidine, piperidine, piperazine, morpholine or dioctylamine and very particularly preferred to use pyrrolidine.
The invention relates to a process as described above, characterized in that a primary or secondary amine boiling at between 50 and 200xc2x0 C. is selected for the deacylation.
The aromatization and deacylation preferably take place in an inert high-boiling solvent, preferred inert high-boiling solvents being benzene, toluene, xylene, mesitylene, diphenyl ether or sulfolane. Xylene is preferably used as an isomeric mixture. The isomers o-, m- or p-xylene are also suitable. It is particularly preferred to use xylene.
The invention relates to the process described above, characterized in that the reactions are carried out in an inert high-boiling solvent.
The dehydrogenation and deacylation preferably take place at temperatures of between 50xc2x0 and 250xc2x0 C., the temperature range for the dehydrogenation being preferably between 100xc2x0 and 250xc2x0 C. and particularly preferably between 140xc2x0 and 200xc2x0 C., and the temperature range for the deacylation being preferably between 50xc2x0 and 200xc2x0 C. and particularly preferably between 80xc2x0 and 150xc2x0 C.
The invention relates to the process described above, characterized in that the reactions are carried out at temperatures of between 50 and 200xc2x0 C.
In the process according to the invention, the yields of benzo-fused heterocycles of formula I are normally between 65% and 80%, including the deacylation step.
The process according to the invention, as described above, is particularly suitable for the preparation of methyl or ethyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate. According to the invention, this is done by reacting methyl or ethyl 2-acetylaminotetrahydrobenzothiophene-3-carboxylate with a catalytic amount of a noble metal catalyst in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor and then deacetylating the acetylated amino group by the addition of an amine.
The invention further relates to the use of methyl or ethyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate, prepared by the process described above, as an intermediate in the synthesis of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, which is known from WO 99/55708. Other intermediates in the synthesis of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, starting from methyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate, are methyl 4-(4-hydroxybenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate, methyl 4-(4-chlorobenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate and methyl 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylate.
The process known from WO 99/55708 for the preparation of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid comprises the following steps:
Step a) methyl 2-aminotetrahydrobenzothiophene-3-carboxylate is first cyclized with methyl 4-cyanocyclohexanecarboxylate;
Step b) the tetrahydrobenzothiophene unit of the intermediate formed is dehydrogenated with sulfur to give the compound methyl 4-(4-hydroxybenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate;
Step c) the hydroxyl group is chlorinated by reaction with a chlorinating agent, preferably POCl3;
Step d) the compound methyl 4-(4-chlorobenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate from step c) is reacted with 3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamine to give the ester methyl 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylate;
Step e) the ester from step d) is saponified; and
Step f) the free acid is converted to a pharmacologically acceptable salt.
For ecological reasons, however, reaction with elemental sulfur is impracticable on the industrial scale.
The invention therefore relates to a process for the preparation of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid or one of the pharmaceutically acceptable salts, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:
Step a) alkyl 2-acetylaminotetrahydrobenzothiophene-3-carboxylate is reacted according to one or more of claims 1 to 7 with a catalytic amount of a noble metal catalyst in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor, and the acetylated amino group is then deacetylated by the addition of an amine to give the compound alkyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate;
Step b) the alkyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate is cyclized by reaction with alkyl 4-cyanocyclohexanecarboxylate;
Step c) the hydroxyl group of the compound alkyl 4-(4-hydroxybenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate from step b) is chlorinated with a chlorinating agent;
Step d) the compound alkyl 4-(4-chlorobenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate from step c) is reacted with 3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamine to give the ester alkyl 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylate;
Step e) the ester from step d) is saponified; and
Step f) the free acid is converted to a pharmacologically acceptable salt.
The alkyl ester is for example the methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl ester. It is preferred to use methyl or ethyl 2-acetylaminotetrahydrobenzothiophene-3-carboxylate as the alkyl 2-acetylaminotetrahydrobenzothiophenecarboxylate and all the subsequent intermediates based on this ester unit. It is preferred to use methyl trans-4-cyanocyclohexanecarboxylate as the alkyl 4-cyanocyclohexanecarboxylate and all the subsequent intermediates based on this ester unit.
The reaction conditions of the cyclization b) in the preparation according to the invention of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid are known from Eur. J. Med. Chem. 1988, 23, 453.
Examples of suitable chlorinating agents are POCl3, SOCl2 or cyanuric chloride. Chlorination with POCl3 or SOCl2 takes place under reaction conditions known to those skilled in the art. The reaction preferably takes place in an inert solvent, for example in toluene, methylene chloride or dimethylformamide.
The reactions of methyl 4-(4-chlorobenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate in steps d) and e) of the process according to the invention for the preparation of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, as described above, and step f) are known from WO 99/55708, Example 1, pp. 11-12, and Example 2, p. 14.
The invention further relates to the use of methyl or ethyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate, prepared by the process described above, as an intermediate in the synthesis of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, which is known from WO 00/78767. Other intermediates in the synthesis of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, starting from methyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate, are methyl 4-(4-hydroxybenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate, methyl 4-(4-chlorobenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate and methyl 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylate.
In the process known from WO 00/78767 for the preparation of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, methyl 4-(4-chlorobenzothieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate is reacted with 3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamine, the methyl 4-(4-chloro-benzothieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate being prepared, as also described in WO 99/55708, by the cyclization of methyl 2-amino-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrobenzothiophene-3-carboxylate with methyl 3-cyanocyclohexanecarboxylate, dehydrogenation with sulfur and subsequent chlorination with phosphorus oxychloride/dimethylamine.
For ecological reasons, however, reaction with elemental sulfur is impracticable on the industrial scale.
The invention therefore relates to a process for the preparation of 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid or one of the pharmaceutically acceptable salts, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:
Step a) alkyl 2-acetylaminotetrahydrobenzothiophene-3-carboxylate is reacted according to one or more of claims 1 to 7 with a catalytic amount of a noble metal catalyst in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor, and the acetylated amino group is then deacetylated by the addition of an amine to give the compound alkyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate;
Step b) the alkyl 2-aminobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate is cyclized by reaction with alkyl 4-cyanocyclohexanecarboxylate;
Step c) the hydroxyl group of the compound alkyl 4-(4-hydroxybenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate from step b) is chlorinated with a chlorinating agent;
Step d) the compound alkyl 4-(4-chlorobenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl)cyclohexanecarboxylate from step c) is reacted with 3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamine to give the ester alkyl 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylate;
Step e) the ester from step d) is saponified; and
Step f) the free acid is converted to a pharmacologically acceptable salt.
The definitions of the term alkyl ester and the reaction conditions of the cyclization and chlorination, as described above for 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-methoxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, also apply to the compound 4-[4-(3-chloro-4-hydroxybenzylamino)benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-2-yl]cyclohexanecarboxylic acid. The reaction conditions of steps d) to f) are known from WO 99/55708, Examples 1 and 2, and from WO 00/78767, Examples 1 and 7.
In the following examples and also in the above explanations, the temperatures are given in xc2x0C. In the examples, xe2x80x9cconventional work-upxe2x80x9d has the following meaning: water is added if necessary, the pH is adjusted to between 2 and 10 if necessary, depending on the constitution of the end product, extraction is carried out with ethyl acetate or dichloromethane and the organic phase is separated off, dried over sodium sulfate, evaporated and purified by chromatography on silica gel and/or by crystallization.

Method for producing benzo annelated heterocycles

Abstract: in which X, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and n are as defined in claim 1, by reacting tetrahydrobenzo-fused heterocycles of formula II:

Abstract: in which X, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, n and Ac are as defined in claim 1, with a catalytic amount of a noble metal catalyst in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor and then deacylating the acylated amino group by the addition of an amine.

Merck Patent Gesellschaft mit Beschrxc3xa4nkter Haftung


Disclosed are aqueous inkjet inks containing a polymeric ink additive as a binder. The binder contains a component capable of interacting with cellulose. Certain heterocycles having similar Hansen solubility parameters as cellulose were incorporated into the polymeric binders. Prints from these inks have better durability and optical properties than similar additives that do not have the components capable of interacting with cellulose.

The present disclosure pertains to an inkjet ink, in particular to an aqueous inkjet ink comprising colorants and polymeric ink additives which are derived from acrylic/acrylate polymers which have at least one component that can interact with cellulose. This component is a heterocycle substituted on the ester oxygen of an acrylate monomer.
Polymeric ink additives are common for inkjet ink. They are often included to improve the durability of the printed ink, and for adjustment of viscosity and other important ink properties, etc.
U.S. patent application publication Nos. 20080264298 and 20070100023 disclose dispersants capable of interacting with calcium components present in many types of paper.
While inks based on aqueous dispersions with polymeric additives have provided improved inkjet inks for many aspects of inkjet printing, a need still exists for improved inkjet ink formulations that provide good print quality and good jettability in particular when used in a thermal inkjet printhead. It is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that thermal inkjet printheads have lower tolerance towards the addition of polymer additives on its jettability and reliability compared to piezo inkjet printheads. The present disclosure satisfies this need by providing compositions having improved print durability, while maintaining other aspects of the ink properties such as dispersion stability, long nozzle life and the like.

Aqueous inkjet inks containing polymeric binders with components to interact with cellulose


An apparatus including a playing board defined by a generally circular configuration, including a planar top surface with four equally spaced recessed triangulated player sections, wherein each player section includes a predetermined number of numbered recesses therewithin to correspond with four different colored sets of correspondingly numbered spheres. The spheres are positionable within a rotating tumbler and are permitted to be removed from the tumbler in a one-at-a-time sequence for selective association with one of said recesses. A further series of white spheres and a further series of black spheres are provided to direct respectively a free turn for the player and "wild" spheres for the black spheres for use with any number or coloration. Each player must utilize a corresponding coloration for a corresponding player position. Additionally, a plurality of dice are utilized to direct play in sequence about the board game. The tumbler apparatus utilized permits the balls to be directed from the tumbler through an opening that upon being positioned in a downward orientation permits a single sphere to be removed. A player to associate a sequence of spheres in a sequential array in association with a BINGO arrangement is declared a winner.

1, Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to bingo games, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved bingo game apparatus wherein the same utilizes variously colored spheres in association with various player positions to be received from a drum to effect a sequential array of numbered spheres within a game board.
2, Description of the Prior Art
Bingo game apparatus of various types have been utilized in the prior art. Bingo games are established for purposes of amusement and entertainment, as well as providing concentration in association of a randomly selected token representative of a bingo game positioning marker. Examples of prior art structure may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,420 to Corday wherein a bingo game is provided for blind individuals, wherein tactile materials are provided for numbers of a bingo card, with the surface of the numbers having a hooked nap for association of the numbers by such individuals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,063 to Cooper, et al. sets forth an electronic bingo game apparatus utilizing a transmitter and at least one receiver to associate signals from the transmitter to the receiver associating various bingo numbers selected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,240 to Stewart, et al. sets forth a bowling game wherein various bowling spheres are withdrawn from an interior portion of a housing for association with a score card.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,638 to Julien sets forth a game switch wherein a matrix of conductive flexible strips are utilized, wherein a ball is depressed at an intersection of such strips to effect contact for registration of a predetermined number in association with a bingo game apparatus.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved bingo game apparatus wherein the same addresses both the problems of ease of use, as well as effectiveness in construction and in this respect, the instant invention substantially fulfills this need.


A thermostatic valve mounted within a housing which defines a fluid circuit and wherein an internal valve seat is defined withing the housing, the thermostatic valve including a blocking valve component movable relative to the valve seat for opening and closing the fluid circuit, a thermostatic element for actuating the blocking valve and including a body and a piston that are relative movable with respect to one another and a base to which the piston is mounted, an electrical heating element mounted within the and piston of the thermostatic element for heating expansible material contained in the element, wherein one end of the piston is seated and sealed within a blind hole in the base and the base is seated and sealed within a blind cavity in the housing and which cavity has a bottom wall formed integrally with the housing through with electrical pins extend toward the outside of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a thermostatic valve for a fluid circuit, including a thermostatic element of expansible material. It also concerns a heat engine associated with a cooling fluid circuit equipped with such a valve, and also a method for manufacturing such a valve.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
In numerous applications of the field of fluidics, especially for the cooling of heat engines of vehicles, such valves are used for distributing a fluid entering by different circulation paths according to the temperature of the incoming fluid. In order to distribute the fluid according to other parameters, especially conditions outside the valve, such as ambient temperature or the load of the vehicle propelled by the engine equipped with the valve, it is known to provide means for electrical heating of the expansible material contained in the thermostatic element of the valve. It is then possible to control the actuation of the thermostatic element from outside the valve, independently of, or as a complement to the temperature of the incoming fluid, especially by means of an onboard computer in the vehicle, programmed accordingly.
It is however necessary to supply electricity to the heating means, such as a heating resistance, that are located in the expansible material of the thermostatic element, while the latter is at least partially immersed in the flow of fluid to be regulated by the valve.
In order partly to remedy this difficulty, it is known to arrange the heating resistance inside a piston of the thermostatic element, partially immersed in the expansible material and mounted so as to slide with respect to the body of the thermostatic element containing the material. By immobilising the piston with respect to the valve housing, supplying power to the resistance brings about the expansion of the material, thereby causing the body of the thermostatic element to slide round the fixed piston, a blocking means being carried by the body so as to act on the circulation of the fluid in the valve.
The arrangement of such a "heating piston" within the valve, as proposed in EP-A-0 853 267, is however complex to produce and raises problems of providing a tight seal, in particular in the area of electrical junction between the connection terminals of the heating piston, that are accessible from outside the housing, and an electric power supply element, such as a cable or the like.

Thermostatic valve for a fluid circuit, heat engine associated with a cooling circuit including such a valve, and method for manufacturing such a valve


The present invention discloses a system for optimizing the operation of an induration furnace and a method thereof; the system comprising: an interactive means to monitor and control the furnace to provide an optimized furnace operation, calibration means for generating a plurality of ideal set points for validation purposes, and a processing unit receiving, in real-time, the online process data from the interactive means and compute therein a plurality of real-time active set points which are matched with corresponding ideal set points from the calibration means, wherein, if optimization is required, an optimizing signal is generated and communicated to the interactive means. The system predicts in real-time the process and product parameters, that cannot be measured directly, thus, providing real-time optimization of the furnace operation, and thereby reducing the operating and production costs.

Production of iron ore pellets in the iron and steel industries usually requires the stages of ore concentration and agglomeration of the iron-ore concentrates. The iron ore pelletization process consists of two key stages in which the iron ore fines are fed along with a mixture of binder (for example, bentonite), fuel (coal or coke) and flux (for example, limestone), and moisture to balling devices such as a rotating drum or disc to produce wet or green pellets. These wet pellets are loaded onto the strand of a moving grate to form a granular packed bed at the feed end of the induration furnace. Induration is essentially a heat treatment process in which the wet pellets are exposed to high temperatures and then cooled in order to impart the necessary mechanical and chemical properties and obtain the fired pellets.
A straight-grate induration furnace is used for the induration process of the wet pellets through thermal processing at elevated temperatures. As the strand of the moving grate moves from the feed end to the discharge end, the granular packed bed is subjected to increasingly hot process gas to dry and fire the pellets, and then ambient air is passed to cool the pellets. During the induration process several complex phenomena occur such as drying, hardening (or cooking), melting, and cooling of pellets, coke combustion, magnetite oxidation, and limestone calcination.
Typically, the straight-grate induration furnace comprises seven zones including an updraft drying (UDD) zone, a downdraft drying (DDD) zone, a preheating (PH) zone, a firing (F) or ignition (IGN) zone, an after-firing (AF) zone, a first phase cooling (CZ1) zone and a second phase cooling (CZ2) zone. Inside the furnace the gas/air streams flow through the porous moving bed vertically in cross-current direction with respect to the bed movement from the feed end to the discharge end. Multivariable interactions of the physico-chemical processes on the moving grate of the furnace make the process highly interactive and thus complex to control.
The quality of the iron ore pellets formed from the induration process is defined by the strength they achieve during this thermal processing and, has a direct relationship with the time-temperature history the wet pellets are exposed to inside the furnace. Due to the lack of any means to directly measure the granular packed bed temperature profile inside the furnace, the operation is controlled indirectly based on the maximum temperature of the off-gas exiting the bed below the strand of the moving grate. However, monitoring the off-gas temperature does not reveal the complete thermal picture of the granular packed bed. Also, the fired iron ore pellets discharged from the furnace have to be taken to a laboratory for off-line testing, in the absence of any real-time means to measure their strength. This information, however, can be obtained every 2 hr or 4 hr intervals only because of the time required for sample collection and testing in the laboratory apparatus.
Therefore, there is a need for a real-time optimization system which is based on reliable process models to detect and modify the process parameters to increase the process efficiency in terms of increasing the level of production, reducing the operating costs, improving the product quality control and reducing the energy and fuel consumption.
Several attempts have been made to automate process control and provide real-time optimization, some of these disclosures are listed in the prior art below:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,024 discloses a self-optimizing method and an article thereof for rapidly improving or optimizing performance of an object by carrying out several automatic experimental cycles on selected control variables as per computer-designed test matrices. The article comprises a computer readable program code means for performing a plurality of computerized automatic experimental cycles on the optimizable object relative to a plurality of control variables, wherein the computer readable program code means performs the steps of: computer-planning a designed experiment for each of the cycles, computer-executing each experimental cycle to obtain test results, computer-analyzing the test results for optimizing the performance of the object, computer-coding for storage in a readable form, and computer-storing.
US Publication No. 2002013664 discloses a system and method for control and monitoring of rotating equipment. The disclosure in US2002013664 provides a computer-implemented method for monitoring a mechanical component using a neural network or weighted distance classifier, wherein the method references a predetermined set of candidate data features for a sensor measuring an operational attribute of the component and derives a subset of those features which are then used in real-time to determine parameter variables. The database is updated in real-time when an anomalous measurement is encountered.
US Publication No. 2009193936 discloses a method and system for on-line quality prediction and control in an oxygen furnace. The system in accordance with US2009193936 comprises a database configured to store historical data associated with a first turndown quality, a prediction module coupled to the database, including a computer-implemented model of the furnace based on support vector regression which is a statistical technique to produce a prediction of first turndown quality and further configured to receive the historical data, and a run-to-run control module coupled to the prediction module and configured to apply the model to the historical data to obtain a prediction of first turndown quality and compare the prediction to an actual measurement to adjust a control recipe for the oxygen furnace.
US Publication No. 2010219567 discloses an apparatus and a method thereof for controlling a process line such as continuous annealing line or plating line where steel material is continuously processed. The method as disclosed in US2010219567 comprises measuring quality of the steel material at a position preceding the heating process and a position succeeding the cooling process, checking the measurement results to determine whether the material is acceptable or not on the basis of a determination criteria, recording in a database, correcting process conditions including heating or cooling temperatures, and conveyance speed of the steel material.
PCT Publication No. WO201092430 discloses a method and a system for optimization of parameters for a recovery boiler. The system of WO201092430 discloses a process model component having a process model describing relationship between various process variables for at least one unit, a parameter estimation component to estimate at least one unit parameter, a controller component to control a second unit based on the estimated parameter, wherein the process model is based completely or partially on a first principle mathematical model and the parameter estimation component uses online measurements made along the various units of the boiler, computation of process variables using the process model, use of laboratory data to estimate the boiler parameters that are not directly measurable.
A technical paper published by Dominique Pomerleau et. al., in the 11th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation, titled "Optimization of a simulated iron-oxide pellets induration furnace", suggests real-time optimization of the induration furnace based on reliable process models using IMC-optimization algorithm, a static nonlinear optimization algorithm, the model providing process parameters like gas stream temperature profile, energy balance and pressure drop in the gas streams.
The present invention discloses one such optimization system, particularly for an induration furnace used for the production of iron ore pellets, which uses a model-based component for predicting in real-time, process and pellet quality parameters that cannot be measured on-line and simulation and optimization algorithms, which are used to implement real-time optimization of the operation of the induration furnace, to optimize the productivity without affecting the product quality.

On-line optimization of induration of wet iron ore pellets on a moving grate


Data storage methods and systems for use with multiple cloud storage systems. The methods and systems use passive metadata files which are stored on cloud storage systems to eliminate the risk of a data conflict when data is being written to the multi-cloud storage system. The methods and systems enable a multi-cloud storage system to function safely without data corruption or loss due to potential conflicts. The methods and systems achieve this without the need for a central control server and without the need for the cloud storage systems or the clients to communicate with one another.

With ever-growing amounts of data, users are shifting from local data storage to cloud storage services (e.g. Dropbox™, Google Drive™, etc.). Cloud storage services are convenient since they remove the need to maintain local storage means and they allow data to be accessed from any location and from any device. Data confidentiality and integrity are critical requirement for outsourcing data to third party storage in the cloud. The traditional approaches of relying on a single cloud storage provider fail to meet these critical requirements due to the inevitable risks of privacy, data leaks and service outages. To tackle this issue, various multi-cloud storage systems (also known as cloud of clouds) have been proposed.
As with traditional cloud storage services, multi-cloud storage systems should provide users with the ability to access and modify their files from anywhere. Further, user data should be always synchronized among all of their devices. One of the fundamental synchronization features is the ability to detect data conflicts and maintain data consistency. Data conflicts occur when multiple clients attempt to modify the same file at the same time. Current cloud storage providers, such as Dropbox™ and Google Drive™, are able to detect and solve such data conflicts easily since the providers use centralized points (servers) to receive, coordinate between, and process clients requests. However, such conflict detection is still a challenging task in multi-cloud storage systems due to the following reasons:
Client Side Only:
Secure multi-cloud storage systems are server-less. Hence, there is no central controller to coordinate between clients and detect data conflicts.
Lack of Communication Between Clients:
Cloud storage clients cannot effectively communicate and coordinate between each other (e.g. to reach consensus) since they connect to the service only when they need and they do not know each other.
Lack of Processing Resource:
There is no processing resource on cloud storage providers. They provide only write/read and related features (passive servers). Thus, programs cannot be executed on these servers.
Multiple Destinations:
Since data is distributed among different clouds, one cloud might not experience a conflict while another cloud in the system does.
There is a need for improved data storage methods and systems which seek to alleviate at least some of the problems described herein.

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