A shield trench power device such as a trench MOSFET or IGBT employs a gate structure with an underlying polysilicon shield region that contacts a shield region in an epitaxial or crystalline layer of the device.

Power semiconductor devices with trench gates have become an industry standard because such devices can provide low on resistance and fast switching of relatively high voltages. In particular, current power MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors) with trench gate structures can achieve a breakdown range of 20V to 200V and low on resistance.
Shielded gate or split gate trench MOSFETs, as they are sometimes called, have become the current choice for high performance in low to mid voltage power MOSFET products. U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,026, for example, disclosed a trench power MOSFET with a second gate inside the trench for low ON-state resistance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,833 discloses a Trench Power MOSFET with a similar split-gate structure for high frequency switching. U.S. Pat. No. 7,489,011 discloses trench MOSFETs or trench Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs), which may include an epitaxially-grown field shield region in the trench beneath the gate of a trench MOSFET or IGBT. Reliability implications of shielded gate trench MOSFETs have also been studied, for example, by Zia Hossain et al. (ISPSD 2016, pp. 391-394), Nishiwaki et al. (ISPSD 2016, pp 215-218), Deng et al. (ISPSD 2016, pp. 75-378), and Nishiwaki et al. (ISPSD 2017, pp. 463-466).
The drawings illustrate examples for the purpose of explanation and are not of the invention itself. Use of the same reference symbols in different figures indicates similar or identical items.


A process for preparing silane metal oxides comprising reacting a metal oxide with an amine compound to form an amine metal oxide intermediate, and subsequently reacting said intermediate with a halosilane.

This invention is generally directed to processes for surface treatment of silica containing materials. In embodiments, the present invention relates to the surface treatment of silica surfaces with a coupling agent such as a silane. Treatment of the silica surface results in desirable surface properties that are different or dissimilar from that of the original silica surface. Specific surface properties achieved with the processes of the present invention include enhanced hydrophobicity, reduced surface energy, surface charging ability, improved wear resistance, friction coefficient reduction, enhanced affinity for specific gases, solids or liquids, and enhanced specificity of catalytic activity. In other specific embodiments, the present invention is related to toner and developer compositions, and more specifically, the present invention relates to toners containing surface treated silica particles. In process embodiments, the surface treated silica or metal oxides containing silica are prepared by a two step process comprising treating silicon dioxide, such as fumed silica, glass and related metal oxides containing silica, with an amine, and then with a coupling component, such as a silane. In specific process embodiments, micron or submicron silicon dioxide particles and metal oxide powders containing silica, such as a fumed silica, are treated by the two step process to obtain silane surface treated particulate materials. More specifically, silicon dioxide charge control additives that assist in enabling negatively and positively charged toner particles can be prepared by treating, for example, hydrophilic AEROSIL.RTM. A380 particles with a trialkyl amine like triethylamine, followed by reacting the intermediate product obtained with a silane coupling agent. Normally, metal oxides, such as many of the prior art silicon dioxides when incorporated into toners, provide or assist in providing a negative charge to the toner. The surface treated silica particles prepared by processes of the present invention when selected for toners may provide or assist in providing either positive and negative charge to the toner.
The surface treated metal oxide and silica particles, and toner compositions in embodiments of this invention may generally be prepared as described herein, and such processes comprise further aspects of the present invention. In embodiments of the present invention, the toner compositions are comprised of resin particles, pigment particles, and charge and performance enhancing additive surface treated metal oxide and or silica particles obtained with the processes of the present invention. One embodiment of the present invention relates to toner compositions comprised of a polymer resin or polyblend mixture, reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,624, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, of a first crosslinked polymer, a second polymer, pigment such as carbon black, a wax component, and a metal oxide, such as a surface treated silica charge enhancing additive obtained with the processes of the present invention, and optional surface additives such as silicas, metal salts, metal salts of fatty acids, or mixtures thereof. The developer compositions of the present invention are comprised of the toners illustrated herein and carrier particles. The carrier particles in embodiments of the present invention are comprised of a core free of a coating or with a polymeric coating, including, for example, a coating thereover generated from a mixture of polymers that are not in close proximity thereto in the triboelectric series, reference U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,326 and 4,937,166, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference. Developer compositions comprised of the aforementioned toner and carrier particles are useful in electrostatographic or electrophotographic imaging and printing systems, especially xerographic imaging processes, including high speed processes, that is those generating from about 75 to about 125 copies per minute. Additionally, in embodiments, developer compositions comprised of the toners of the present invention and carrier particles of the aforementioned issued U.S. Patents are useful in imaging methods wherein relatively constant conductivity parameters are desired. Furthermore, in the aforementioned imaging processes the triboelectric charge on the carrier particles can be preselected depending, for example, on the polymer composition applied to the carrier core.
Advantages associated with the toners and developers of the present invention in embodiments thereof include desirable toner triboelectric charging characteristics, excellent toner flow properties, excellent toner admix characteristics, excellent color developer formulations for process color and transparency applications, stable performance for extended time periods exceeding, for example, 500,000 imaging test cycles in a xerographic imaging test fixture including those as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,394,429 and 4,368,970, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, the capability to vary the triboelectric charge on the carrier independent of the conductivity thereof; varying the conductivity on the carrier independent of the triboelectric charge thereof; use of the developer in imaging processes wherein a release fluid such as silicone oil is present; use of the developer in imaging processes wherein a minimum amount, or no release fluid, such as silicone oil is present; selection of the developer for electrophotographic, especially xerographic, heated fuser and pressure systems wherein the fuser roll coating is a silicone, reference for example the commercially available Xerox Corporation 1075.RTM. and 1090.RTM. imaging apparatuses; and the like.
Other advantages include providing a convenient and economic process for generating surface treated silica particles; toners and developers thereof; enhanced toner flow; enhanced toner transfer efficiency; and colorless particles for use in multicolor xerography.
Toners with charge additives, including those that impart a positive charge, or negative charge to the toner are known generally. Toner compositions with crosslinked resins and second resins, together with waxes and charge enhancing additives are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,624, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, and some of the prior art references mentioned thereon, and cited against the '624 patent. More specifically for enhancing the positive charging characteristics of toner compositions there can be incorporated in the toner charge enhancing additives, inclusive of alkyl pyridinium halides, reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,672, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, organic sulfate or sulfonate compositions, reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,390, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference; distearyl dimethyl ammonium sulfate, reference U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,560,635 and 4,937,157, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference; and other similar known charge enhancing additives including other quaternary ammonium salts. These additives are usually incorporated into the toner in an amount of from about 0.1 percent by weight to about 10, and preferably in an amount of from about 0.1 to about 5, and more preferably from about 0.3 to about 1.0 percent by weight. The triboelectric charge of the toner as determined, for example, by the known Faraday Cage process, or a charge spectrograph is from about positive or negative 5 to about 120, and preferably from about 10 to about 60 microcoulombs per gram. Toners with negative charge additives, such as aluminum complexes, reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,003 are also known. Moreover, other toner formulations containing metal oxides, such as tin oxides are generally known and function as a positive charge additive.
The following prior art, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety, are also mentioned:
Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,743 issued Jan. 18, 1972, discloses a reinforcing silica filler made by first treating a fine particle silica with ammonia and then treating the filler with, for example, hexamethyldisilazane and related compounds. The process of making reinforcing silica powder requires a finely divided silica having at least 0.2 weight percent absorbed water (col. 1, line 66 to 71).
A publication by Leyden et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1987, 109, 7141-7145, discloses amine catalyzed reactions of alkoxysilanes with silica wherein the amine and the alkoxysilane are both added at the same time in a solution to the silica. Reactions with methoxymethylsilanes when ammonia is present provides a monolayer or greater surface coverage and when ammonia is absent a 12 fold decrease in silane surface coverage is obtained.
A reference of general relevance is "The Chemistry of Silica," Iler R. K., Wiley, 1979.
A disadvantage in many prior art methods, for example, using solution coating methods, for preparing metal oxide particulate charge and flow additives is that solvents, particularly hydrogen bonding solvents, often cause irreversible agglomeration of submicron oxide particles thereby destroying the submicron particle dispersibility and flow improving capacity on toner surfaces. Optimal modification of toner charging properties usually requires high submicron particle dispersibility.
Other disadvantages of prior art methods for preparing silane surface treated metal oxides include: employing anhydrous, gas phase and high temperature conditions and therefore limits suitable silanes that are thermally stable that can be selected; the silane is not entirely chemically bonded to the metal oxide surface leading to variability in performance characteristics of the treated particles in various applications; the silane may polymerize prior to reacting with the particle surface resulting in lower yields; particle agglomeration; inhibition of bonding of the coupling agent to reactive surface groups, such as surface hydroxyl groups, resulting in residual unreactive groups with undesirable properties; contaminated product; and high processing costs.
Thus, there remains a need for a metal oxide surface treatment process that limits undesirable non-surface coupling agent polymerization. Further there is need for a surface treatment process where the coupling agent is completely or nearly completely chemically bonded to the surface. Furthermore, there is a need to provide more robust coatings, as provided when the coupling agent is covalently bound to the metal oxide surface.
There also remains a need for black or colored toners wherein toner flow and charging properties may be readily attained by the addition of surface treated metal oxide or silica particles of the present invention. Furthermore, there is a need for a silica particle surface treatment processes wherein the synthetic yields are high, such as from about 70 percent to nearly quantitative and without resorting to excessive isolation and purification procedures and which surface treatment processes provide a means for selectively modifying metal oxide and silica surfaces with varying amounts and various types of organosilane compounds to achieve engineered metal oxide surfaces and particle surfaces. In addition to the above, there is also a need for black and colored toners that are of excellent image resolution, non-smearing and of excellent triboelectric charging characteristics. In addition, there is a need for toners containing surface treated silica particles which possess triboelectric charge stability under varying ambient humidity conditions. Furthermore, there is a need for toners containing surface treated silica particles which possess excellent flow properties. In addition, there is a need for black or colored toners with low fusing temperatures, of from about 110.degree. C. to about 150.degree. C. as determined by known minimum fix temperature techniques and glass transition temperature measurements, of high gloss properties such as from about 50 gloss units to about 85 gloss units as measured by a VWR 75.degree. gloss meter, of high projection efficiency, such as from about 75 percent efficiency to about 95 percent efficiency or more, and, in addition, result in developed images with minimal or no paper curl.

Metal oxide processes and toners thereof


A drying method for a separation membrane includes supplying a gas for drying to the separation membrane so that a value obtained by dividing the difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of a flow rate of the gas for drying on a membrane surface of the separation membrane by the minimum value of the flow rate is less than or equal to 15%. The gas for drying is less than or equal to 40 degree C. and contains a water-soluble gas that has a solubility in 1 cm3 of water of greater than or equal to 0.5 cm3 in conditions of 40 degree C. and 1 atmosphere.

Conventionally, separation membranes have been put to practical use in many fields such as the chemical industry, the electronic industry, the pharmaceutical industry or the like. A gas separation membrane includes the use of a zeolite membrane, a silica membrane, a carbon membrane, and a polymer membrane or the like depending on the size of the gas molecules to be separated.
Since the pores of this type of separation membrane are fine, for example, pores tend to become blocked by water that is adsorbed from the air during assembly of the separation membrane into a casing or during storage. When a pore is blocked, since gas permeation is inhibited and sufficient membrane performance is not enabled, it is necessary to dry the separation membrane after assembly.
Known examples of a drying method of a separation membrane includes a method of heating the casing of the separation membrane (reference is made to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-246207), a method for supplying heated gas to the separation membrane (reference is made to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-104486), and a method of drying the separation membrane after wetting with a lower alcohol mixed solution (reference is made to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-216811).
Furthermore, a drying method is known whereby gas is supplied to a plurality of tubular separation membranes (reference is made to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-159211).

Method for drying separation membrane and method for producing separation membrane structure


A call logic program (30) is provided that is composed of individual call independent building blocks (10) and grouped call independent building blocks (20). Call independent building blocks (10) provide base functionality in a program and can be grouped and combine to form call logic program (30). Call logic program (30) is parsed upon initialization into a plurality of tokens (42) which are stored in a token collector (44). When needed, an interpreter (46) process the token collector (44) to execute the call logic program (30).

In the modern telecommunication network a myriad of services and functions are offered both as conveniences to the end users and as necessities for running the network. These services require complex programming, representing thousands upon thousands lines of code. When a new service is required, programmers typically must start from scratch, writing many more lines of code.
In traditional interpreted computer languages, a program is interpreted one line at a time upon execution. Depending on the length of the program, the complexity of the programming language and the ability of the interpreter, execution can be a time consuming process.
What is needed is an architecture that provides a programmable software environment that allows fast implementation of new call processing services that are executed as fast and efficiently as possible.

System and method for providing call processing services using call independent building blocks


A diffraction grating structure in the form of a substrate having a grating portion at an input surface thereof and a solid portion at an output surface thereof. A plurality of diffracting elements are formed in the grating portion, the diffracting elements having grooves, the depths thereof depending on the wavelength of incoming radiation impinging on the diffraction elements. The diffracting elements are formed at a selected slant angle with reference to a direction orthogonal to the plane of the input surface of the grating portion of the structure. The incoming radiation is redirected through the grating structure in a selected direction so as to be effectively concentrated at a selected spatial region.

Diffraction grating structures have been proposed for use in many applications. One such application that has recently been achieving particular significance is in the field of light directing devices. Such devices have been described, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 885,243 filed on July 14, 1986 by Gerritsen and Ser. No. 738,300 filed on May 28, 1985 by Gerritsen et al. Such devices are described, for example, for use in enhancing the lighting of interior rooms in response to incoming sunlight radiation, wherein it is desired to re-direct the incoming light, as received over a range of incident angles with respect to the device, through the device in a generally upward direction toward the ceiling toward the rear of the room, for example, even when the incident angle of the incoming light varies over a relatively wide range thereof.
While relatively shallow structures, in which the diffraction grating elements are substantially perpendicular to the grating structure substrate, have been found useful for such purpose, the overall diffraction efficiencies of such shallow grating structures have been found to be relatively low, reaching a substantially maximum efficiency when the angle of incidence equals the angle of diffraction. Thus, the capability of such structures to redirect impinging light through the diffracting structure over a wide range of incident angles in a specified range of diffraction directions has not been as effective as desired when the range of incident angles is relatively large.
It is desirable to be able to increase the diffraction efficiencies of such structures so as to maximize the light transmitted therethrough to as great an extent as possible as well as to assure that the light transmitted therethrough is re-directed in a selected direction such that it can be concentrated at a selected region of a room. Thus, the light being directed therethrough is considerably enhanced even when the angle of incidence of the incoming light varies over a relatively wide range of incident angles.

Diffraction gratings having high efficiencies


A method for operating a steam power plant having a water-steam circuit, according to which method the process wastewater produced is collected from the water-steam circuit, in a separated manner according to the degree of contamination thereof, in a number of partial wastewater quantities is provided. At least a first partial wastewater quantity having a first degree of contamination and at least a second partial wastewater quantity having a second degree of contamination are formed in the process. The second degree of contamination is higher than the first degree of contamination. The first partial wastewater quantity and the second partial wastewater quantity are mixed together in such a manner that a combined process wastewater is produced, which is fed to a wastewater treatment plant.

Steam power plants serve to generate electrical energy. They may take the form of thermal power plants, wherein the steam is generated using a fossil fuel-fired boiler. A thermal power plant substantially comprises in this case, in addition to the fired boiler, a steam turbine, a water-steam circuit and a condenser.
Steam power plants may likewise take the form of combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants. Such combined cycle gas turbine plants in this case comprise at least one gas turbine, a water-steam circuit, a steam generator, a steam turbine, a generator and a condenser.
Steam power plants may also take the form of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. Such thermal power plants in this case comprise at least the sun as heat producer, oil as transfer medium, a water-steam circuit, a steam generator, a steam turbine, a generator and a condenser.
The working medium used in steam power plants is deionized water, which is evaporated in the steam generator. The steam generated is passed into the steam turbine and expanded therein. The energy released on expansion is transferred via a shaft to the generator. The expanded steam is then fed to a condenser, and the liquid phase is condensed.
To assist the condensation process, an evacuation system is connected to the condenser, which system produces a vacuum in the condenser when the steam power plant is started up, and maintains it during operation. Steam turbine efficiency is increased by the vacuum and non-condensable gases are removed thereby from the liquid stream.
During the energy generation process various contaminants may be introduced into the working medium. In addition, various substances are added to the working medium for conditioning or purification. The working medium contaminated by contaminants or additives must be removed from the water-steam circuit as process wastewater, since the contaminants stand in the way of direct re-use as a working medium in the water-steam circuit.
Ammonia serves as an alkalizing agent for conditioning the feed water. Through the addition of ammonia, an increase in the pH value of the working medium may be achieved, whereby the relative corrosion rate of the feed water is reduced. Since the distribution coefficient of ammonia in liquids and steam is different, locally markedly elevated ammonia concentrations may occur in system parts involving evaporation and condensation processes (for example in the condenser, the evacuation system and the drum blowdown).
Process wastewaters arise at various points in the water-steam circuit. The process wastewater arising during production of the deionized water in a deionization plant is regeneration wastewater, which makes up the majority of contaminated process wastewater. On startup and shutdown, deficiencies (due to additional feeding of working medium) and excesses (due to discharge of working medium) of the working medium must be compensated. Moreover, process wastewaters arise due to continuous sampling and leaks in the water-steam circuit. As a result of the above-stated water losses, the water-steam circuit must be fed continuously with deionized water (DIW). Backwashing and regeneration processes in the deionization plant and condensate purification also result in process wastewater.
By way of example, a 400 MW combined cycle gas turbine plant produces annually around 14,000 tonnes of process wastewater in base-load operation in the case of steam generators with once-through boilers, and around 22,000 tonnes with circulating boilers. Hitherto, the majority of these process wastewaters has been discarded.
An exemplary 2×1050 MW fossil fuel-fired thermal power plant with a natural draft cooling tower and a wet limestone flue gas purification system produces as much as up to 100,000 tonnes of process wastewater per year in base-load operation, which has to be discharged into public water systems. Just about half of this amount is accounted for by the cooling tower.
Due to ever more stringent environmental legislation, and for countries suffering water shortages, reducing water consumption and thus reusing wastewaters and process waters within the water-steam circuit is becoming increasingly significant. In particular, the guidelines for discharging wastewaters into public water systems are becoming ever more stringent. The water consumption of a steam power plant should therefore be reduced as much as possible.
Contaminated process wastewaters arise for example in the steam drums of a combined cycle gas turbine plant. A plurality of steam drums at different pressure levels are conventionally provided. The combined cycle gas turbine plant may also comprise one or more "once-through" steam generators, which are also known as Benson boilers and which are in the main integrated into the high pressure stage. Because saturated steam is withdrawn from the steam drums, nonvolatile substances remain in the steam drums. These non-volatile contaminants are concentrated in the steam drums, and have therefore to be removed from the circuit by blowdown. Water is then lost from the circuit, which has to be compensated again by make-up water or "DIW".
EP 1 706 188 B1 describes a method for recovering at least some of the blowdown water from a steam power plant. To reduce energy and water losses, the blowdown water from the high-pressure steam drum is conveyed on into the lower-pressure steam drum and expanded ("boiler cascading blowdown"). A disadvantage here, however, is that all the contaminants are passed from one pressure level to the next. It is therefore proposed that the steam separated off during high-pressure water-steam separation is fed to a lower-pressure steam drum (advanced cascading blowdown). This allows good energy utilization and re-use of at least some of the steam in the water-steam circuit. The remaining blowdown water must, however, be disposed of completely.
Further process wastewaters arise through drainage. Drainage is performed for example during ongoing operation from pipes which have been closed for a relatively long period in which condensate has collected. To this end, the pipes are opened briefly and thus drained. Water is then lost from the water circuit, which has to be replaced by make-up water (DIW). Drainage also in particular arises to a greater extent on startup and shutdown of the steam power plant, since for example on shutdown of the thermal power plant the steam in the water circuit gradually condenses and the resultant liquid water must not be allowed to stand in the plant parts, in particular in the heating surfaces. On shutdown, more water is drained from the water circuit than is replenished, until in the end no more water is replenished.
EP 1 662 096 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,487,604 B2 each describe a method which makes it possible to recover drainage water from the steam power plant. The drainage water may be collected and combined, and also in part stored temporarily in a tank. The stored drainage water is then discharged into the environment by way of a pump. The tank here serves to reduce the running time and the interval frequency of the pump. The drained water may also be expanded in a separation vessel, to separate water and steam from one another. The separated steam and the drained DIW is then output into the environment. It is therefore proposed to collect all the drained water from at least one pressure stage of the water-steam circuit and store it, and to return the drained water collected and stored in this way substantially completely back to the water circuit via a water treatment plant.
However, no method has hitherto been known from the prior art by which all the process wastewaters from a power plant can be collected and largely completely re-used in the water-steam circuit.

Method for recovering process wastewater from a steam power plant


An antifouling layer stack comprising a first layer element, a silicone layer, and a second layer element. The silicone layer is a light guide for UV radiation, and may include embedded UV light sources. The first layer element is situated on a first surface of the silicone layer, and the second layer element is situated on a second surface of the silicone layer. The first and second layer elements differ in composition from the silicone layer. The first layer element facilitates transmission of the UV radiation from the silicone layer to an external medium, and may provide protection and improve the structural integrity of the stack. The second layer element may also provide protection and structural integrity. The second layer element may be reflective, and may provide an adhesive surface for attaching the stack to a vessel.

Anti-biofouling methods are known in the art. US2013/0048877, for instance, describes a system for anti-biofouling a protected surface, comprising an ultraviolet light source configured to generate ultraviolet light, and an optical medium disposed proximate to the protected surface and coupled to receive the ultraviolet light, wherein the optical medium has a thickness direction perpendicular to the protected surface, wherein two orthogonal directions of the optical medium orthogonal to the thickness direction are parallel to the protected surface, wherein the optical medium is configured to provide a propagation path of the ultraviolet light such that the ultraviolet light travels within the optical medium in at least one of the two orthogonal directions orthogonal to the thickness direction, and such that, at points along a surface of the optical medium, respective portions of the ultraviolet light escape the optical medium.
US2014/140091 describes an illumination system employing a waveguide. Light received from an edge or an end of a waveguide is propagated in response to transmission and total internal reflection. Light deflecting elements distributed along the propagation path of light continuously change the out-of-plane propagation angle of light rays and cause decoupling of portions of the propagated light from the core of the waveguide at different distances from the light input edge or end. Light escapes from the waveguide into an intermediate layer at low out-of-plane angles and is further redirected by light extraction features out of the system. In one embodiment, the illumination system is configured to emit collimated light. In one embodiment, the illumination system includes shallow surface relief features. In one embodiment, the light deflecting elements include forward-scattering particles distributed throughout the volume of the waveguide. Additional collimating and non-collimating illumination units and methods are also disclosed.

Light guides with coating for use in water


A fluid injector for injecting fluid is disclosed, including a body; a fluid passageway defined in the body and extending from an inlet to an outlet of the fluid injector; a valve seat disposed internally of the body and forming part of the passageway; a valve element that is selectively reciprocated relative to the valve seat to close and open the passageway to fluid flow by seating and unseating the valve element on and from the valve seat, respectively; and an orifice disc disposed in the passageway downstream of the valve seat in a direction of the fluid flow through the fluid injector, the orifice disc including a plurality of dimples and a plurality of orifices defined through the orifice disc, each dimple including at least one orifice located thereon and each dimple having an asymmetrical cross-section.

Fluid injectors are typically used to introduce fluid into a desired location, such as fluid into the combustion chamber of a gas combustion engine or a reductant into the exhaust stream of a vehicle having such an engine. To operate most effectively, injection systems require good atomization of the fluid being injected. Spray generation, or atomization, is created by the fluid stream breaking into droplets, while being directed in a specific direction. Breakup of the fluid stream is enhanced by keeping the fluid turbulent as it exits the fluid injector.
Some existing fluid injectors include a disc or plate which may have several exit orifices through which the fluid passes as the fluid exits the fluid injector. Some of these discs include a protrusion or dimple along which the orifices are located. The size and shape of the orifices as well as their locations along the dimple, together with the size and shape of the dimple, at least partly define the spray pattern of fluid exiting the fluid injector. These existing fluid injectors, however, are limited in failing to allow for the production of fluid spray patterns for any of a large number of fluid injection applications.

Multi-dimple orifice disc for a fluid injector, and methods for constructing and utilizing same


The present invention discloses a single-wire transmission interface, and a method of transmission through single-wire. The method comprises: providing a single-wire signal through a single-wire; and transmitting information only in a transmission period defined by a fixed first time period starting from one of a rising or a falling edge of the single-wire signal.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a single-wire transmission interface and a method of transmission through single-wire; particularly, to a single-wire transmission interface for transmitting address and data, and a corresponding method.
2. Description of Related Art
Current communication interfaces, such as I2C, SPI, and SMBUS, require at least two transmission wires: one for transmitting data and one for transmitting clock. If transmission of data and clock can be achieved by one single-wire, it will reduce the number of pins of an integrated circuit, which is a great advantage and even greater to an integrated circuit with lower pin number. To this end, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,127,631 and 7,080,266 disclose a method for single-wire serial transmission. As shown in FIG. 1, this method indicates three states by: long term high, long term low, and alternating high/low, of an EN/SET signal transmitted through a single-wire. When a receiver side detects a rising edge of the EN/SET signal, it is enabled to start receiving data (as shown by the waveform Enable) and generates a clock (as shown by the waveform Clock) corresponding to the EN/SET signal; simultaneously, a counter at the receiver side starts counting the number of the rising edges of the EN/SET signal (1˜n). When the receiver side detects a falling edge of the EN/SET signal, it starts counting a time-out period. If the receiver side does not detect a next rising edge within the time-out period, it will shut down the signal Enable, reset the counter, and the clock will stop accordingly.
In the foregoing prior art, it is unclear as to how it transmits the data "0", and each data transmission period does not have a fixed time length. The time period of the enable signal from ON to OFF varies, depending on the content of the data; this is not preferred in certain applications.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides a single-wire transmission interface capable of transmitting address and data in a fixed time period, and a corresponding method.

Single-wire transmission interface and method of transmission through single-wire


As described herein, a machine learning system, method, and computer program are provided for making payment related customer predictions using remotely sourced data. A system of a communication service provider (CSP) identifies a customer of the CSP. Additionally, the system collects data from a plurality of data sources independent from the CSP, the data including telephone numbers and/or webpage URLs of other services providers that are associated with making payments. Further, the system processes the collected data to form input data indicating which of the telephone numbers were contacted by the customer and/or webpage URLs were accessed by the customer. Still yet, the system processes the input data using at least one machine learning algorithm to make at least one payment related prediction for the customer. Moreover, the system outputs the at least one payment related prediction made for the customer.

Business entities have traditionally made predictions regarding customers for many purposes, such as improving a product or service provided to the customer. In some scenarios, customer complaints and/or customer churn have been predicted for taking proactive action to avoid the complaints and/or churn. However, since current customer prediction techniques are limited in the source data utilized to make such predictions, the type of predictions that can be made is limited. For example, business entities may be able to predict customer complaints or churn using their own activity data, but may not be able to make payment related predictions, or at least accurate payment related predictions, that are based on customer activity with other business entities.
There is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues associated with the prior art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Machine learning system, method, and computer program for making payment related customer predictions using remotely sourced data


Computer program products and arrangements to process digital data are contemplated. The digital data may contain values, representing quantities of a wave form over regions. Embodiments include transformations, code, state machines or other logic to process digital data by dividing one of the regions, where one of the values represents a quantity of a wave form over the region. The embodiments may include assigning a value to each of the subregions. The average of the values of the subregions, weighted by the measures of the subregions, may approximately equal the value of the region. The regions may comprise pixels and the values of the pixels may represent the intensity of light waves over the pixels. The embodiments may include the processing of digital data in cameras, televisions, audio players, seismic devices, and medical imaging devices. The subdivision of regions and the assignment of value to the subregions may utilize derivative migration.

Many wave forms may be digitized. The waveforms may be sampled or measured over regions, and values generated for the regions based upon the measurements. The values may be converted to binary numbers by grouping them into ranges, and representing the ranges by digital numbers. For example, sound waves may be digitized by measuring the magnitude of the waves at intervals and converting the measurements to binary numbers. Similarly, an image may be digitized by capturing the irradiance produced by the surface of the image and measuring the irradiance over small areas called pixels.
One type of digital imaging is medical imaging. Waves may be generated which pass through a human body or a tissue sample. Digital data representing images of the interior of the sample may be created by measuring the waves and performing calculations based upon the measurements. In some cases, the machine doing the measuring also creates the waves. For example, X-ray machines and CT scans produce X-rays which penetrate the body. Similarly, ultrasound machines produce high-intensity sound waves which penetrate the body. In other cases, ingested matter produces the waves. For example, ingested radioactive material may decay, producing gamma waves or other radioactive waves.
Television is another kind of digital imaging. The images may be broadcast interleaved. An image may be divided into lines. For example, standard definition television displays consist of 525 lines. In an interleaved broadcast, the image is broadcast in halves or fields. Each field consists of every other line, and the two fields together contain all of the lines in the image on the display. For example, one field may contain the odd-numbered lines and the next field may contain the even-numbered lines.
The digital data may be presented to reproduce the original wave form. For example, digital audio may be converted back to audio waves. Pixels may be displayed in a monitor or television screen. The quality of reproduction of a digital wave form during the presentation of the digital data may depend on the resolution, the number of data points. Two existing methods to improve resolution may be ineffective. The first method increases the data by increasing the number of samples or measurements taken. Samples may be taken more frequently, in the case of sound, or over smaller areas in the case of images. More generally, the region over which the wave form is sampled may be decreased. Increasing the samples may prove expensive. The smaller samples may require more sophisticated equipment to take more frequent samples or samples over small physical regions. Further, the additional sampling produces additional data. Working with the additional data may require additional storage, more powerful processing capabilities, and more broadband to transport the data. In the case of medical imaging, the increased resolution may require more intense or longer application of radiation, which may harm patients.
A second method may use computation to interpolate calculated points between the measured data points. The source input points (A, B, C, . . . ) are retained in the output and intervening point values (ab, bc, . . . ) are interpolated using a variety of techniques from simple linear interpolation, to more complex mathematical curve fitting algorithms. In two-dimensional applications (such as image processing), the computations may use interpolation along both axes to better approximate intervening data point (pixel) values. This interpolation is carried out along both axes concurrently to provide a best surface fit to the scaled data.
Common two-dimensional interpolation algorithms include nearest neighbor, bilinear interpolation, bicubic interpolation, spline curve fitting, and sparse point filtering. Various curve approximation techniques (bicubic, Catmull-Rom, etc.) are used in spline approaches. Windowed filtering techniques apply various filters such as Gaussian, or sinc based functions (Lanczos filters). Most of the effort in computational approaches may be directed to improvements in specific curve fitting algorithms in spline approaches, and to filter design in spatial filtering approaches. These concurrent interpolation approaches may be extended to three-dimensional applications by adjusting weighting functions, curve fitting algorithms and spatial filters.
The quality (accuracy) of the scaled output is proportional to the suitability of the specific interpolation algorithm applied to the input data points to arrive at intervening point values. Higher quality results may require more sophisticated interpolation methods (splines and spatial filtering) and may thus increase computation complexity. In many applications, such as digital cameras, the quality of the scaled output may be sacrificed in order to reduce computational loads.


The device comprises at least one element for immobilizing certain molecules contained in the medium to be tested. According to the invention, the immobilizing element is in the form of a hydrophilic material fixed on the surface of a plane hydrophobic material, such as for example viscose fibers (2) implanted by flocking into a sheet (3) of polyvinyl chloride. The device (4) further comprises:. (a) a bottom plate (5) supporting the plane hydrophobic material, PA0 (b) at least one cavity (6) for the liquid medium to be tested, said cavity having an outlet orifice (9) situated above the plane hydrophobic material, and PA0 (c) scraping means (8) acting on the hydrophilic material (1) and capable of moving the liquid contained therein over the surface of the plane hydrophobic material (3).

Devices of this type have already been proposed, with the aim of simplifying the work of laboratories and preventing the risks of contamination and inaccurate assaying. In particular, a one-use device for biological tests is described in International Patent Application PCT/US No. 85.00870. This device comprises, on the one hand, an element for immobilizing the molecules, which element is porous and coupled to a sensor of the molecules to be immobilized, and on the other hand, an absorbent material in contact with the lower surface of the immobilizing element. This known device works as follows. The medium to be tested, which contains the molecules to be assayed, is poured over the upper surface of the immobilizing element, diffuses therethrough and, by capillarity, into the absorbent material. The molecules to be assayed are retained by the sensor on the immobilizing element. Thus, the immobilizing element in some way filters the molecules to be assayed, and the absorbent material has the role of speeding up the flow of the medium to be tested through that filter.

Centre Technique Industriel dit: Institut Textile de France


A catalyst for the hydrotreatment of a hydrocarbon oil comprises a carrier of an inorganic oxide and an active component supported on the carrier and formed of at least one member selected from the group consisting of water-soluble compounds of molybdenum, tungsten, and the metal of Group 8 in the Periodic Table of Elements and at least one mercapto (--SH) group-containing organic compound selected from the group consisting a mercaptocarboxylic acids represented by the general formula: EQU HS--(CH.sub.2).sub.n --COOR. (wherein n stands for an integer in the range of 1 to 3 and R for a hydrogen atom, an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, ammonium, or a linear or branched naphthenic alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms), amino-substituted mercaptans represented by the general formula: EQU H.sub.2 N--R'--SH. (wherein R' stands for a divalent hydrocarbon group), divalent mercaptans represented by the general formula: EQU HS--R'--SH. (wherein R' stands for a divalent hydrocarbon group), and thio acids represented by the general formula: EQU R"--COSH. (wherein R" stands for a monovalent hydrocarbon group).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an easily activable catalyst for, hydrotreatment of a hydrocarbon oil and to a method for the production thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the so-called hydrotreatment which consists in effecting hydrogenation, hydro-desulfurization, hydrodenitrification, hydrogenolysis, etc. of a hydrocarbon oil in the presence of hydrogen, the catalyst which has at least one metal from among the metals of Group 6 and the metals of Group 8 in the Periodic Table of Elements supported as an active ingredient for hydrotrentment on a carrier of such an inorganic oxide as alumina, silica-alumina, or titania is used. Mo and W are preferred choices among the metals of Group 6 and Co and Ni among these of Group 8.
The metal for this purpose is generally supported in the form of an oxide. Since the metal in this form possesses no activity, it must be subjected to presulfiding, i.e. activation by the conversion of the oxide form into the sulfide form, before it is put to use in the hydrotreatment.
It has been customary to effect the presulfiding by charging the catalyst in a reactor to be used for the hydrotreatment of a hydrocarbon oil and then passing a sulfiding agent in combination with hydrogen through the bed of catalyst. The operating conditions for the presulfiding are widely varied by the process of the hydrotreatment to be employed or by the kind of the sulfiding agent to be used. Where hydrogen sulfide is used as a sulfiding agent, for example, the presulfiding is effected by diluting this sulfiding agent with hydrogen to a concentration roughly in the range of 0.5 to 5% by volume and passing the resultant mixture in a total volume of 1,000 to 3,000 liters as computed under standard temperature and pressure per liter of the catalyst at a temperature not lower than 180.degree. C. (generally not lower than 250.degree. C.). Where carbon disulfide, normal butyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, or the like is used as a sulfiding agent, it is put to use as diluted with a more volatile hydrocarbon oil, with the temperature in the range of 250.degree. to 350.degree. C., the pressure in the range of 20 to 100 kg/cm.sup.2, the space velocity of the liquid mixture in the range of 0.5 to 2 hr.sup.-1, and the hydrogen/oil ratio in the range of 200 to 1,000 N-liters/liter.
After this presulfiding operation is completed, the material being fed to the reactor is switched from the diluted sulfiding agent to the hydrocarbon oil as an actual raw material for treatment, to initiate the operation of the hydrotreatment.
Incidentally, since this operation of presulfiding predetermines the success or failure of the subsequent hydrotreatment, proper selection of raw materials to be used and deliberate execution of the procedure to be adopted are indispensable requirements. In the use of a diluent, for example, if the diluent happens to contain an olefin, the presulfiding possibly polymerizes the olefin and the produced polymer poisons the catalyst. The hydrocarbon oil to be used as a diluent, therefore, must be of a type not containing any olefin. A less volatile hydrocarbon oil is not suitable as a diluent because it possesses too high viscosity to manifest a desired effect in wetting the surface of the catalyst. Thus, there is no alternative but to use a more volatile oil. The use of such a more volatile oil entails an increase in cost. The catalytic metal has the possibility of being inactivated when it is suffered to react with hydrogen at elevated temperatures and consequently undergo reduction. To preclude this inactivation, the sulfiding agent must be used rather generously. The proportions of the sulfiding agent and hydrogen must be properly maintained. Generally, the presulfiding of the nature described above is carried out over a period of several days. Since this operation by nature is performed temporarily, it is not automated in most cases. Since the operation inevitably involves extraordinary complicated steps, the operator is compelled to endure a heavy burden. In the circumstances, the obviation of the necessity for this presulfiding or at least the alleviation of the complicacy of the operation has constituted itself a task.
Recently, a method which can fulfil this task has been proposed.
This method comprises impregnating a catalyst formed of a deposited active metal with a polysulfide represented by the general formula, R--S(n)--R' (wherein n stands for an integer in the range of 3 to 20 and R and R' independently stand for a hydrogen atom or an organic group having 1 to 150 carbon atoms per molecule) and heat-treating the impregnated catalyst in the absence of hydrogen gas at a temperature in the range of 65.degree. to 275.degree. C. under a pressure in the range of 0.5 to 70 bars (Japanese Patent Application Disclosure SHO No. 61(1986)-111,144). In accordance with this method, since the polysulfide which has impregnated the catalyst is caused by the subsequent heat treatment to sulfide the active metal, the presulfiding to be performed in the reactor has no use for the sulfiding agent or the diluent and, therefore, can be effected with an easy operation. The presulfiding, when desired, may be performed outside the reactor. In this case, the catalyst which has undergone the presulfiding is ready to be packed in the reactor and put to use immediately in initiating the hydrotreatment.
The amount of the aforementioned polysulfide to be used is a stoichiometric amount necessary for subsequent thorough sulfiding of the whole active metal oxide (such as, for example, NiO or MoO.sub.3) present in the catalyst. This polysulfide is diluted with a suitable organic solvent and, as such, caused to impregnate the catalyst. In impregnating a catalyst which has a large loaded active metal content, therefore, the aofrementioned polysulfide solution to be used must be in a high concentration. Since the polysulfide mentioned above has a high visosity, the possibility ensures that the compound, when used in the form of a solution of high concentration, penetrates small pores of the catalyst with difficulty.

Catalyst for hydrotreatment of hydrocarbons and method for production thereof


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a shift register unit and a driving method thereof, a gate driving circuit and a display apparatus. The shift register unit includes a reset signal sub-unit and a scan signal sub-unit. The reset signal sub-unit includes a first input module, a first output module, and a first control module. The scan signal sub-unit includes a second input module, a second output module, and a second control module. The first input module is connected with the first control module, the first output module, and a signal input terminal. Both the first output module and the first control are connected with the scan signal sub-unit and a reset signal terminal. The second input module is also connected with the second output module and the second control module. Both the second output module and the second control module are connected with a signal output terminal.

With the rapid development of display technology, semiconductor element technology has made progress in leaps and bounds therewith as the core of a display apparatus. As to existing display apparatuss, the OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), which is a current mode light-emitting device, is more and more applied to the field of high performance display, due to its characteristics of autoluminescence, quick response, wide angle of view, capability of being made on a flexible substrate, etc.
An OLED display panel constituted by OLED devices is a current driving device. A brightness of a pixel unit is controlled by controlling a current flowing into the OLED device in every pixel unit. In the pixel unit, there set a pixel circuit, which, as shown in FIG. 1, may at least include a switch transistor M1 (TFT, Thin Film Transistor) for receiving a line scan signal GATE, a driving transistor M2 for driving an OLED device to emit light, and a storage capacitor C′ for storing charges. Particularly, when the switch transistor M1 is turned on, a data signal DATA may be output to a gate of the driving transistor M2, and the driving transistor M2 is made to drive the OLED device to emit light under the function of a supply voltage VDD.
In a display process of the OLED panel, in order to avoid an impact on the display of present frame of picture caused by voltages remained at the gate of the driving transistor M2 and across the storage capacitor C′, it's required to input a reset signal RESET to the above pixel circuit so as to release the voltages at the gate of the driving transistor M2 and across the storage capacitor C′. Bonding technology is required, through which a driving circuit capable of providing the reset signal RESET needs to be bonded to a non-display area of the OLED display panel while a driving circuit capable of providing the above line scan signal GATE is bonded to the non-display area of the OLED display panel. And it's also necessary to provide voltage signal and clock signal respectively for the above two driving circuits. Therefore, it may result in a complex circuit structure of the driving part and an increasing cost, and is also adverse to a design of narrow frame.

Shift register unit and driving method thereof, gate driving circuit and display apparatus

ORDOS YUANSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


A method is provided in one example implementation and the method includes identifying through a home bearer manager that an Internet Protocol (IP) address has been previously sent to an access terminal, the IP address being issued by a visited bearer manager as a result of the access terminal requesting registration in a visited network. The method further includes communicating the IP address to the access terminal in response to the access terminal registering in a home network. The registrations in the home and the visited network allow a plurality of packets to be communicated to the access terminal via the IP address. In more specific embodiments, the IP address serves as a care of address (CoA) address and a home IP address concurrently. The IP address can be exchanged via a mobile IP (MIP) exchange. The home and visited bearer managers are independent or interdependent.

An endpoint, such as an access terminal, may use a system of communication networks to communicate packets to other endpoints. For example, an access terminal may subscribe to a home network that maintains subscription information for the access terminal. If the access terminal is outside of the serving area of the home network, the access terminal may use a visited network to communicate packets.
Certain known techniques may be used to route packets between endpoints and through networks. These known techniques, however, are not efficient in certain situations. The ability to minimize these problems or to optimize these communications presents a significant challenge to service providers, network administrators, component manufacturers, and system designers alike.

Internet protocol address management for communicating packets in a network environment


In a method for photoablation on the cornea with a laser beam with the aid of which a multiplicity of consecutive partial ablation operations are undertaken, the thickness of the cornea is determined with the aid of a measuring device co-operating with a Michelson interferometer before and after each partial ablation operation. By using the thickness values determined, the measuring device guides the laser beam, with intensity values appropriately adjusted by it, over the cornea in a controlled fashion so as not to undershoot a prescribed cornea thickness while complying with a prescribed cornea profile. The measuring device operates with a Michelson interferometer with a center wavelength of the measuring beam source in the region of 1,310 nm, and a monomode fiber for this wavelength in the reference arm such that the optical path length in air in the measuring arm can be acceptably compensated.

The invention relates to a method for the photoablation of the cornea with a laser beam, with the aid of which a multiplicity of consecutive partial ablation operations can be undertaken, and to a device with a laser radiation source for carrying out this method. The invention can be used, for one thing, to measure intraocular thicknesses and distances in the front eye section immediately before, during and immediately after surgical operations and treatments of the cornea. A photorefractive treatment can be controlled in real time depending on these measurement results. Control in real time leads to enhanced safety for the patient and to an improved accuracy of the photorefractive eye correction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,109 discloses an ophthalmologic surgical microscope which operates with optical coherence tomography. Here, it was the surface shape of the cornea and the optical refractive power thereof that was determined.
The object of the invention is to create a method and a device with the aid of which the cornea can be safely treated.
In terms of method, the object is achieved by virtue of the fact that the thickness of the cornea, and not only its surface shape and its optical refractive power are determined before and/or after each partial ablation operation with the aid of a measuring device co-operating with a Michelson interferometer. In addition, the position of the region envisaged for the ablation is determined and clearance for ablation is given only if the region is located within prescribed tolerance values. Defective ablation operations such as can occur owing to an eye movement, for example, are thereby excluded.
As a consequence of the determined thickness values of the cornea, the measurement device then guides the laser beam with corrected intensity in a controlled fashion over regions of the cornea that are still to be corrected in terms of thickness. The partial ablations are undertaken thereby in such a way that a prescribed cornea thickness is not undershot in conjunction with compliance of a prescribed cornea profile.
In terms of the device, provision is made for this purpose of a laser radiation source, a control device and a measuring device. The control device can have a beam deflecting unit with the aid of which the laser beam can be guided transversely over the cornea. The device according to the invention further has a measuring device with a Michelson interferometer with a center wavelength of the measuring radiation source in the region of 1,310 nm, and a monomode fiber for this wavelength in the reference arm such that the optical wavelength in air in the measuring arm, which is required for carrying out the measurement, can be compensated acceptably.
As is described below, various calibration curves relating to a determination of the optimum distance of the treatment site as well as inclination tolerances of the latter in relation to the treating laser beam axis are stored in the control device.
In particular, signal-distorting and signal-reducing consequences of the dispersion are minimized by the use of a measuring radiation source in the region of 1,310 nm with a bandwidth of up to approximately +/xe2x88x92100 nm. Specifically, if use is made of a radiation source with an arbitrarily prescribed center wavelength, there is generally a relatively long path in air of the order of magnitude of one meter in the measuring arm as a consequence of the structure prescribed by the operating microscope, the fundus camera or the laser. This path in air must be compensated in the reference arm either by a corresponding path in air or in another medium (preferably in a monomode fiber for space saving reasons), so that the required interference signals can be generated. If the path covered in air in the measuring arm is compensated in the reference arm by a corresponding distance in air, it is true that the dispersion produces only a slight signal distortion and signal reduction. However, in this case the reference arm can no longer be of compact design. If, however, the path covered in air in the measuring arm is compensated by a monomer fiber in the reference arm, relatively high signal distortion and signal reduction normally occur, because the dispersion properties differ in the reference arm and measuring arm. Very surprisingly, however, there is a wavelength region around 1,310 nm where this signal distortion and signal reduction are minimized such that the optical path of a measuring arm in air several meters long can be compensated by a path covered in the reference arm in a monomode fiber, without the interference signal being disturbed thereby. The interferometer can be of exceptionally compact and inexpensive design through the compensation of an optical path in a fiber.
In a preferred embodiment, the laser parameters such as the diameter on the cornea, intensity, power, energy and pulse duration of the laser radiation can also be controlled so that it is possible to take account of environmental influences on the result of the photorefraction such as air humidity and air temperature in the operation room, as well as patient-specific influences such as vaporization of chemicals stored in the operating room [for example (open) alcohol containers, (open) containers for cleaning agents], age, sex, composition of the patient""s cornea and temperature of the patient""s cornea. It would also be possible to take account of patient-specific data.
In order to render this possible, measurements have been made in previous research of the cornea thickness as a function of air humidity, air temperature in the operating room, age, sex, composition of the cornea and temperature of the cornea. The results of these measurements are then used to determine correction factors that feature in the control of the laser beam. An excellent result can then be achieved even given deviations from the normal conditions. It is even possible in the case of patients with irregular astigmatism, keratoconus or an irregular, corrugated cornea surface to undertake photorefractive corrections that reach the limit of approximately 20/5-20/8 (depending on pupil size) set by the laws of optical detraction.
Using the measuring arrangement described here it is possible for the first time to determine the front surface of the cornea, the rear surface of the cornea, the distance of the cornea from a reference site, the inclination of the cornea and thus the co-ordinates of the entire cornea in three-dimensional space online during the entire refractive surgical operation and this, moreover, in a contactless fashion.

Method and device for the photoablation of the cornea with a laser beam


A target voltage generator for use with a DC to DC converter, the DC to DC converter having a first input for receiving a voltage to be converted, an output for outputting a converted voltage, a first reference voltage input for receiving a first reference voltage and a controller arranged to compare the output voltage of the DC to DC converter with the first reference voltage and to modify the operation of the DC to DC converter so as to reduce a difference between the output voltage and the first reference voltage; the target voltage generator comprising a circuit arranged to compare the output voltage of the DC to DC converter with a second reference voltage and to use a result of the comparison to generate or modify the first reference voltage.

Switching converters in which transistor switches are driven between fully on and fully off provide great efficiency improvements over dissipative style converters in which a transistor is used in a linear mode to drop a voltage across the transistor while current flows through the transistor such that a voltage at a terminal thereof, such as an emitter, collector or source or drain of the transistor is held at a desired output voltage. However, switching converters can exhibit degraded output voltage regulation under certain circumstances.

Target voltage generator for a DC to DC converter, a combination of a target voltage generator and a DC to DC converter, and a method of operating a DC to DC converter


The present invention provides a novel method called Sequential IMmunoPeroxidase Labeling and Erasing (SIMPLE) that enables the simultaneous visualization of at least five markers within a single tissue section. Utilizing the alcohol-soluble peroxidase substrate 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole (AEC), combined with a rapid non-destructive method for antibody-antigen dissociation, the present application discloses the ability to erase the results of a single immunohistochemical stain while preserving tissue antigenicity for repeated rounds of labeling. The present invention also provides methods for visualizing multiple antigens simultaneously.

Visual colocalization of molecular species within sectioned tissue can provide insights into cellular biochemistry and can serve as the basis for further study of protein-organelle and protein-protein interactions. Visualization of abnormal protein coexpression in neoplastic tissue may elucidate components of oncogenic signaling pathways. Colocalization of COX2 and laminin-5, for example, has been observed at the cancer-stromal interface of lung adenocarcinoma and may be associated with abnormalities in p53 expression (1). Additionally, colocalization of β-catenin with compartment-specific markers revealed prognostic significance that was not found using traditional single stain methods (2).
Current colocalization methods, however, have several limitations. The most commonly used method, multi-color immunofluorescence (MCIF), is limited by the number of viable combinations of available fluorescent tags and can be negatively affected by spectral bleed-through, antibody cross-reactivity, photo-bleaching, and autofluorescence of paraffin-embedded tissue (3). Because of these limitations, this method is usually restricted to the simultaneous visualization of just two antigens plus a nuclear counterstain. Peroxidase or alkaline phosphatase-linked multicolor immunostaining is possible, but the maximum number of chromogenic substrates that can be differentiated within a single section is typically two or three (4). Moreover, multiple chromogenic substrates do not allow colocalization in the same cellular compartment due to the obscuring of lighter colors by darker chromogens. Additionally, the use of more than one primary antibody from the same species (i.e., mouse or rabbit) is usually impossible due to secondary antibody cross-reactivity.
A recent report of a multiplex immunostaining chip demonstrated simultaneous staining of a large section with a grid of many different antibodies, but since different portions of the tissue section are stained with each probe no colocalization information is obtained (5).
There is a long felt need in the art for compositions and method useful for detecting and visualizing multiple antigens in a sample such as a cell or tissue sample. The present invention satisfies these needs.

Serial multiple antigen colocalization in paraffin-embedded tissue

University of Virginia Patent Foundation


A processing system periodically configures a beacon code and random nonce to transmit to a beacon device at a location. Multiple users enter the location with associated user computing devices and retransmit the beacon code broadcasted by the beacon device to the processing system. A computing device at the location transmits to the processing system a request for account data comprising a hardware identifier and retransmits the beacon code and a random nonce. The processing system verifies the request based on the beacon code and random nonce and transmits, to the computing device at the location, user account identifiers associated with user computing devices that retransmitted the beacon code. Within a threshold period of time, the processing system may verify a subsequent request from the computing device, even without receiving the beacon code and random nonce, if the request comprises the hardware identifier.

In an interaction between two computing devices, a user may enter a service provider system location with a user computing device, such as a mobile phone. A processing system may receive a request from a service computing device at the service provider system location for data associated with user computing devices associated with users currently at the location. A risk exists that illegitimate devices may acquire information relating to the service computing device (such as the IP address, device identifier, or username and password of the service computing device) and obtain access to data of users at the location.

Network security based on proximity with IP whitelisting


A method of generating an executable graphic file for an animation. Graphic data defines first characteristics of an animation, which are accessible via locked parameters at a first level of user access. The graphic data also contains references to unlocked parameters stored as metadata in a metafile. The metadata preferably includes, for each unlocked parameter, a value field, a range of possible values and a description, thus making it possible to construct a user interface to modify second animation characteristics without modifying the graphic data. The graphic data is combined with rendering instructions, to form an executable animation file. Preferably the executable file cannot execute after a predetermined date. Multiple instances of the animation may be created by re-use and modification of the original metafile.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to generating animations, and in particular relates to customising distributed animation data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Animations are used widely in television broadcasting, as a useful graphical method for the presentation of information. For example, in an election broadcast, statistics can be presented in a way so as to communicate complex information to viewers. Such animations are usually generated digitally, relying on complex digital systems to render the information graphically, and to receive new data from an on-line database. Several graphics can be sequenced in time in what is referred to as a rundown, and the corresponding animation sequence can be cued manually or automatically by a studio automation system, such as that provided by the MOS (Media Object Server) protocol.
The design of such animations is a complex and time intensive process. All the objects of an animation are defined as combinations of primitive geometric shapes, such as cubes, spheres and so on. Surface textures, text fonts, and three dimensional views are all coordinated by the graphic designer to create the best effect. Animations comprise multiple moving objects, so as to provide a more exciting visual scene. In order to do this, the designer must define the motion, as well as the appearance, of objects contained in the animation. This can take considerable design effort. As the capabilities of animation processing systems increase, the possibilities for detail and visual richness put additional pressure on the designer.
Due to the high financial cost of this design effort, it is desirable to provide an end-user of the animation with a degree of editing capability, to allow their changing animation requirements to be met within practical budgets. Animations systems are therefore known which allow customisation of an animation by provision of an Application Programming Interface (API).
Although a cost effective customisation capability is required by the end-user, if it is unlimited, editing may be allowed which would be undesirable to the original animation designer. For example, some characteristics of an animation may contain valuable copyrighted graphic designs, trade marks, trade names, recognisable animated characters, etc., whose integrity the designer would wish to protect. It would therefore be advantageous for the designer to be able to restrict end-user access to certain characteristics of an animation while allowing editing of other, less critical characteristics.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an image data processing system for generating an executable animation file, comprising: data storage means storing first graphical data, second graphical data and rendering instructions; and processing means configured to combine said first graphical data and said rendering instructions, wherein said second graphical data comprises unlocked parameters defining second characteristics of said animation; said first graphical data comprises locked parameters defining first characteristics of an animation and references to said unlocked parameters; said combining process results in an executable animation file being generated, containing within it references to said unlocked parameters, such that: said first animation characteristics are editable only at a first level of user access, prior to said combination of first graphic data and rendering instructions; and said second animation characteristics are editable at a second level of user access, after said combining has taken place.
In a preferred embodiment the processing means is configured to execute steps to scramble the first graphic data contained in the executable file. Preferably the second graphical data comprises metadata, and for each of a plurality of unlocked parameters the metadata contains a specific value and an identifying means for identifying the corresponding unlocked parameter, to allow the construction of an interface for the unlocked parameters for user modification of the second animation characteristics. Preferably the rendering instructions include instructions to combine the rendered animation with other moving image data.

Graphical image processing with levels of user access


A rheological fluid composition which is responsive to a magnetic field. The composition comprises magnetizable particulate, silica gel as a dispersant and a vehicle. A preferred magnetizable particulate is insulated, reduced carbonyl iron.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a rheological fluid which is responsive to a magnetic field.
2. Background Art
Rheological fluids which are responsive to a magnetic field are known. Rheological fluids responsive to an electric field are also known. Such fluids are used in clutches, shock absorbers, and other devices. A characteristic of these rheological fluids is that, when they are exposed to the appropriate energy field, solid particles in the fluid move into alignment and the ability of the fluid to flow is substantially decreased.
Electric field responsive fluids and magnetic field responsive fluids include a vehicle, for instance a dielectric medium, such as mineral oil or silicone oil, and solid particles. Examples, of solid magnetic particles which have been heretofore proposed for use in a magnetic field responsive fluid are magnetite and carbonyl iron. The fluid also may contain a surfactant to keep the solid particles in suspension in the vehicle.
Silica gel is a form of silica which is very porous and thus has a large surface area. Silica gel is frequently used in electroviscous fluids which are responsive to an electric field, as the solid which is field-responsive.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,793 discloses an electroviscous fluid which is conductive. The fluid includes 30%-55% silica gel and 25%-35% silicone oil which functions as a vehicle. The fluid can also contain 1%-40% iron particles disclosed to function as a conductive agent. The composition is not described as one responsive to an electromagnetic field.
Other U.S. patents disclosing the use of silica gels in electroviscous fluids are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,047,507; 3,221,849; 3,250,726; 4,645,614; and 4,668,417.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,825 disclose both ferromagnetic fluids which are responsive to an electromagnetic field, and which contain carbonyl iron; and electroviscous fluids which are responsive to an electric field and which contain silica gel. In the electroviscous fluids, the silica gel is used as the field-responsive solid, not as a dispersant. The electroviscous fluids comprise dry ground silica gel, a surfacant, such as sorbitol sesquioleate, a vehicle such as kerosene, and other ingredients.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,596 discloses a composition which is responsive to both electric and magnetic fields. The composition comprises micronized powders of ferrites, which are mixed oxides of various metals. The composition also contains dispersants and thixotropic agents. The patent also discloses the use of silica gel powder in an electric field-responsive fluid, and the use of iron carbonyl in a magnetic field-responsive fluid. There is no suggestion of the use of silica gel in a magnetic field-responsive fluid.
Other patents containing disclosures similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,596 are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,663,809 and 2,886,151.
A brochure published by GAF Corporation of Wayne, N.J., containing the code lM-785, captioned "Carbonyl Iron Powders", contains a discussion of carbonyl iron powders marketed by GAF Corporation. The iron particles are classified as "straight powders", "alloys", "reduced powders", and "insulated reduced powders". An example of a "straight powder" which is listed is an iron powder known as carbonyl "E".
A brief discussion is contained in the brochure concerning magnetic field responsive fluids. It is stated: "The spherically shaped particles of carbonyl iron presumably act like ball bearings in magnetic fluid coupling applications. The smallness of the iron particles gives larger surface area and more contacts than other powders and, hence, better transmission when locked. A lubricant and dispersant are generally required for best results." The brochure contains no disclosure concerning a preferred type of carbonyl iron or dispersant to be employed in a magnetic field responsive fluid.
A publication entitled "Some Properties of Magnetic Fluids", J. D. Coolidge, Jr. and R. W. Halberg, AIEE Transactions, Paper 55-170 (Feb. 1955), pages 149-152, discloses the use of different carbonyl irons in a fluid responsive to a magnetic field. The carbonyl irons disclosed include carbonyl "E" and carbonyl "SF", so-called straight powders, and carbonyl "L", carbonyl "HP", and carbonyl "C", all reduced powders. The article contains no disclosure concerning suitable dispersants, nor conclusions concerning the preference of one carbonyl iron over another in a magnetic field responsive fluid.
A publication entitled "The Magnetic Fluid Clutch" by Jacob Rabinow, NBS Tech. Rep. No. 1213 (1948) [also, Trans. Amer. Inst. Elec. Eng. Preprint 48-238 (1948)]discloses the use of hydrogen reduced iron and carbonyl iron "SF", a "straight" powder as indicated above. The publication contains no disclosure concerning suitable dispersants.
A publication entitled "The Magnetic Fluid Clutch" by S. F. Blunden, The Engineer, 191, 244 (1951) discloses the use of two grades of carbonyl iron, grade "ME" and grade "MC". Grade "ME" is said to be mechanically "hard" and grade "MC" is said to be mechanically "soft". No preference is given for one carbonyl iron over another.
A publication entitled "Further Development of the NBS Magnetic Fluid Clutch", NBS Tech. News Bull., 34, 168 (1950) discloses the use of carbonyl "E" powder in a magnetic fluid. Other compositional information concerning the fluid is also given.
Co-pending application Serial No. 372,293, filed June 27, 1989, assigned to the assignee of the present application, discloses a fluid composition responsive to a magnetic field which comprises a vehicle, and solid magnetic particles suspended in said vehicle. The fluid composition also contains a dispersant. A preferred magnetic particle is insulated, reduced carbonyl iron. A preferred dispersant is a fibrous carbon particle comprising intertwined carbon fibers having a length-to-diameter ratio in the range of about 10:1 to about 1,000:1. Preferably, the fibers have a surface area of about 300 square meters per gram.


The present invention discloses a novel double-valve continuous circulating valve with a clamping device, comprising a main through valve (5), a pup joint body (8), a middle connector (11) and a bypass valve (12); the main through valve seat (4), the main through valve (5) and the main through valve spring (6) are press-fitted in the pup joint body (8) through a main through valve limiting device (1); a bypass valve seat (10) is arranged at the lower side of the pup joint body (8), and the bypass valve (12) is mounted and fixed to the bypass valve seat (10) through a bypass valve limiting device (9); the middle connector (11) is press-fitted on the pup joint body (8) through a clamping device. The present invention solves the technical problems of dangerous incidents caused by the suspension of circulating medium.

In the drilling process, the circulation of the circulating medium for drilling will be stopped when a single drill pipe or stand is picked up or broken out, resulting in downhole pressure fluctuation which will lead to dangerous incidents such as well kick, sticking of tool, wellbore instability, overflow, and cuttings settlement. To address these issues, a continuous circulating valve is applied to ensure smooth circulation of the circulating medium in the replacement of stand and drill string, thus effectively overcoming downhole pressure fluctuation caused by pump startup/shutdown, reducing the cost of drilling and the occurrence probability of dangers, and effectively shortening the drilling cycle in under-balanced, high-temperature and high-pressure, overbalanced and horizontal wells.
The patent CN201710065100.6 discloses a circulating valve, in particular to a continuous circulating valve. The continuous circulating valve consists of a upper joint, a lower joint, a housing and a valve element shaft; the upper joint is threaded at one end of the housing, and the lower joint is threaded at the other end; the valve element shaft is provided in the housing between the upper and lower joints, with one end set with a flange and the other end sleeved with a valve piston through retaining collar A. With simple structure and high practicality, the continuous circulating valve can supply the working fluid to the downhole in a rapid and continuous manner without tripping, which can effectively improve the drilling efficiency while preventing against downhole incidents and solving the existing problems of long non-working period caused by tripping and replacement of the non-continuous circulating valve, as well as serious economic losses caused by reduced drilling efficiency. The continuous circulating valve is particularly applicable to drilling, completion, workover, well flushing, fishing, packer setting, and other operations.
The patent CN201821679799.1 discloses a continuous circulating valve, which belongs to the technical field of downhole tools. The continuous circulating valve is composed of a housing, a main through valve element, a bypass valve element and a valve element shaft. Both ends of the housing are connected with internally and externally threaded drill strings. The valve element shaft is fixedly installed inside the housing with a retaining collar. The main through valve element is installed in the housing at one end of the valve element shaft with a retaining collar and a main through valve seat. A bypass valve hole is made on the housing at one side of the valve element shaft. The bypass valve element is fixed in the bypass valve hole with a bypass valve cover and a retaining collar. With simple structure and high practicability at construction site, the continuous circulating valve enables the continuous pumping of drilling fluid to the downhole by the circulating system without raising the drill string in the drilling process, which solves the problem of the existing problems of long non-working period caused by tripping and replacement of non-continuous circulating valve, thus effectively improving the drilling efficiency while preventing incidents caused by high downhole pressure.
At present, most continuous circulating valves used in major oilfields at home and abroad are ball-plate circulating valves, double-plate circulating valves, guide-rod circulating valves and floating-ball circulating valves, with such disadvantages as the main circulating valve plate is susceptible to erosion by the circulating medium, resulting in failure of the main circulation seal, the torsion spring is susceptible to damage due to prolonged and complex loading, the inclinometer may not be used, and the joint may not be automatically fixed when the bypass valve connector is connected.
It is therefore necessary to design a novel double-valve continuous circulating valve with a clamping device to solve the problems encountered in the drilling process.

Double-valve continuous circulating valve with a clamping device


In a wireless communication method, a first wireless communication apparatus transmits through a first wireless resource to a second wireless communication apparatus a first signal generated from a second signal for use in processing performed by the second wireless communication apparatus and a third signal for use in error checking of the second signal. The second wireless communication apparatus detects a second wireless resource to be used in the processing on the basis of the first signal, and performs the processing by using the second signal and the detected second wireless resource. For the detection, a section of the first signal corresponding to the second wireless resource is scrambled, or the first signal is scrambled with a scrambling sequence corresponding to the second wireless resource, or the bit order in at least part of the first signal is changed in a manner corresponding to the second wireless resource.

Currently, the wireless communication systems such as the mobile telephone systems or the wireless LANs (Local Area Networks) are widely used. In order to further improve the transmission rate and the transmission quality in the wireless communication technologies, next-generation technologies are being actively discussed. Some wireless communication technologies enable communication between two wireless communication devices (e.g., between a wireless base station and a mobile station) by use of multiple carriers. In some cases, the use of multiple carriers is called carrier aggregation, and each carrier in the carrier aggregation is called a component carrier.
In wireless communication, control signals are transmitted from a first wireless communication device to a second wireless communication device. The information transmitted by the control signals may include information which is to be referred to by the second wireless communication device for receiving data transmitted from the first wireless communication device (e.g., information indicating the format used in the data transmission), or information designating a transmission procedure to be used by the second wireless communication device in transmission of data (e.g., information designating a format to be used in the data transmission). For example, information transmitted from a wireless base station to a mobile station may include information to be referred to by the mobile station when the mobile station receives data through a downlink data channel, or information to be referred to by the mobile station when the mobile station transmits data through an uplink data channel.
In the case where wireless communication is performed between two wireless communication devices by use of multiple carriers, a wireless resource used in transmission of a control signal may belong to a carrier different from the carrier to which a wireless resource used in data transmission controlled by the control signal belongs. In this case, the problem is the method for recognition of the carrier to which the control signal is applied.
According to a technique which has been proposed as a recognition method, the carrier to which the control signal is applied is clearly indicated by attaching a bit for carrier recognition (carrier indicator) to the control signal. (See, for example, "Final Report of 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 #57 v1.0.0", 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) TSG RAN WG1 #57bis, R1-092292, July 2009, Section 15.4.)
Another recognition method which has been proposed is applied to a wireless base station scrambling a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) bits attached to a control signal, with a scrambling sequence corresponding to an ID (Identifier) assigned to a mobile station as an opposite party. (See, for example, "Control signaling for carrier aggregation", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #55bis, R1-090375, January 2009.) According to the above recognition method, IDs in the number of carriers are assigned to each mobile station, and the CRC bits are scrambled with a scrambling sequence corresponding to one of the IDs. Therefore, it is possible to concurrently recognize both of the mobile station and the carrier to which the control signal is applied.
However, according to the technique disclosed in 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #57bis, R1-092292, the wireless resources are excessively spent for attaching the carrier indicator to the control signal, so that the transmission efficiency of the control signal is lowered. In addition, according to the technique disclosed in 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #55bis, R1-090375, the IDs in the number of carriers are assigned to the opposite party. Therefore, the ID exhaustion becomes a problem. In the case where the length of the bit sequence of the ID is fixed, the number of opposite parties with which communication can be performed in parallel is limited. For example, in the case where five carriers are available in total, the upper limit of the number of opposite parties with which communication can be performed in parallel can become one fifth of the number of opposite parties with which communication can be performed in parallel when only one carrier is used in communication with each opposite party.
Further, in some cases, information indicating a border between the control signal and a data channel is transmitted as a separate control signal. In such cases, when the separate control signal is not correctly received, the border between the control signal and the data channel cannot be correctly detected, so that data cannot be correctly received through the data channel.

Apparatus and method for wireless communication


A vacuum cleaner (2) having a body (4) having a floorhead (6) and an elongate handle (14) pivotably mounted to the body is disclosed. A door (24) is provided on an end (20) of a collection chamber (12) opposite to a clean air outlet, and a coarse filter (32) and fine filter (46) are located within the collection chamber for separating out debris entrained with dirty air and depositing the debris in the collection chamber. An interior face of the door is provided with radial tangs (68), and an end face (48) of the fine filter is provided with radial tangs (60) such that when the door is closed and the elongate handle is pivoted relative to the body, the fine filter and coarse filter rotate relative to each other to cause cleaning of the filter elements.

The present invention relates to vacuum cleaners. Such vacuum cleaners are well known for collecting dust and dirt, although wet-and-dry variants which can collect spilled liquids as well are also known. Typically, they are intended for use in a domestic environment, although they also find uses in other environments, such as worksites. Generally, vacuum cleaners are electrically powered and comprise an electric motor, an electrical on-off switch for a user to operate said motor, a fan connected to an output shaft of said motor, an inlet for dirty air, an outlet for clean air and a collection chamber for dust, dirt and possibly also liquids. Electrical power for the motor may be provided by a source of mains electricity, in which case the vacuum cleaner will further comprise an electrical power cable, by a removable and replaceable battery pack, or by one or more in-built rechargeable cells, in which case the vacuum cleaner will further comprise some means, such as a jack plug, for connecting the vacuum cleaner to a recharging unit. When the vacuum cleaner is provided with electrical power from one of these sources and the on-off switch is set to the "on" position, the electric motor drives the fan to draw dirty air along an airflow pathway in through the dirty air inlet, via the collection chamber to the clean air outlet. Interposed at some point along the airflow pathway, there is also provided some means for separating out dust and dirt (and possibly also liquids) entrained with the dirty air and depositing these in the collection chamber. This separation means may comprise one or more filters and/or a cyclonic separation device. An example of such a hand-holdable vacuum cleaner in which the separation means comprises a filter is disclosed in European patent application no. EP 1 523 916 in the name of the present applicant.