A composition produced as a result of mixing alumina, silica, and a calcium phosphate compound in a specific ratio exhibits high affinity for bioceramics. When a bioceramic is coated with this composition and the coated bioceramic is heated, the composite is fused fast with the bioceramic to produce a composition bioceramic which is active to vital tissues.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a calcium phosphate type composition for coating bioceramics, a method for coating bioceramics, and composite bioceramics produced as a result of the coating. The composite bioceramics possess high strength and excel in bio-affinity and, therefore, prove to be useful as artificial bones, for example.
2. Prior Art Statement
Such ceramics as sapphire and sintered alumina possess high strength and manifest no toxicity in living organisms and efforts are being made to promote their use as bioceramics as artificial tooth roots, artificial bones and the like. These materials have a disadvantage in that since they are inert to vital tissues, they are incapable of binding themselves with neoplastic bones and are susceptible to "obvelation", i.e. of being enveloped in fibrous tissues by the living organism. Therefore, they cannot be kept implanted for a long time in a living body.
In contrast, such calcium phosphate compounds as hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate are contained as main components of inorganic substances in living organisms and, therefore, possess outstanding bio-affinity manifesting safety to living organisms, ability to bind with bones, and ability to substitute for neoplastic bones. However, sintered articles of high-strength ceramics of calcium phosphate compound have never been produced.
In the circumstances, it is desirable to develop composite materials consisting of high strength ceramics such as sapphire and sintered alumina surfaces coated with a calcium compound for conferring bio-affinity.
As means of coating such bioceramics with the calcium phosphate compound, the flame spraying method, the sputtering method, the slurry method, etc. have been known to the art. The flame spraying method consists in fusing a powdered calcium phosphate compound in a flame of high temperature and spraying the resultant melt at a high speed on a substrate. Since this method requires use of an elevated temperature as described above, it has a disadvantage that the calcium phosphate compound yields to decomposition and induces alteration of the crystalline structure thereof. The sputtering method consists in sputtering the surface of a substrate with the calcium phosphate compound in a molten state. Since this method must be carried out under a high degree of vacuum, it inevitably suffers from poor productivity and high cost of production. The slurry method consists in spraying the substrate with a calcium phosphate compound in a slurry state, drying the applied layer of the slurry, and sintering the dried layer of slurry. This method has a disadvantage that the fastness of union between the substrate and the applied coating layer is not sufficient.

Composition for coating bioceramics, method for coating bioceramics therewith, and composite bioceramics produced therewith

Agency of Industrial Science & Technology, Ministry of International Trade & Industry


Disclosed is a method and apparatus for efficiently transmitting/receiving transmission power status information (TPS) and buffer state information (BO) of a user equipment (UE). Under the assumption that an enhanced uplink dedicated transport channel (EUDCH) is used for an uplink data transmission in an asynchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a scheduler of a Node B performs a scheduling operation such as transmission timing of EUDCH packet data, data rate assignment, and the like. The scheduler receives the EUDCH packet data BO, TPS, and the like, and efficiently performs processes of start/continuation/end of the TPS transmission.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a mobile communication system that supports an uplink packet transmission service. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for efficiently transmitting/receiving transmission power information and buffer state information of a user equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile communication systems have evolved into a high-speed and high-quality 3rd generation mobile communication system for providing a data service and multimedia service in addition to a voice-oriented service. The 3rd generation mobile communication system is a mobile communication system that supports not only a voice service but also a packet service, and adopts a code division multiple access (CDMA) system. The 3rd generation mobile communication system may be classified into a 3rd Generation Project Partnership (3GPP), or Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) that is the European and Japanese standard system based on asynchronous communication among base stations (hereinafter referred to as "Nodes B") and a 3rd Generation Project Partnership 2 (3GPP2), or CDMA2000 that is the U.S. standard system based on synchronous communication among Nodes B.
Presently, in the 3rd generation mobile communication system that is divided into the asynchronous type (3GPP) and the synchronous type (3GPP2), standardization for a high-speed and high-quality wireless data packet service is in progress. For example, in 3GPP, standardization for a high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) is in progress, and in 3GPP2, a standardization work for First Evolution Data and Voice (1xEV-DV) is in progress. Such standardization results from the efforts made to find a solution for the wireless data packet transmission service of a high-speed of more than 2 Mbps and a high quality.
In 3GPP, an Enhanced Uplink Dedicated Channel (EUDCH) system has additionally been proposed as a scheme for achieving a high-speed packet transmission from a required (i.e., a Node B) to a user equipment (UE) and a high-speed packet transmission from a UE to a Node B as well.
The EUDCH system has been proposed for the purpose of further heightening the performance of the packet transmission through the introduction of a new technology in an uplink communication in an asynchronous CDMA communication system. The EUDCH system adopts an Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) technique and a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) technique, which have been used as the existing HSDPA technology. Accordingly, the Node B should transmit an acknowledge (ACK) or negative acknowledge (NACK) signal to the UE according to the success/failure of decoding of the received data.
However, in order to support the EUDCH, a short frame of a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) that is shorter than the TTI used in the HSDPA system to transmit packet data at high speed by rapidly indicating the state of an uplink channel. That is the EUDCH system and the HSDPA system differ from each other in terms of performing the AMC technique and the HARQ technique. The TTI can be defined in the unit of a data block in a physical channel.
Accordingly, for the EUDCH system, an uplink channel scheduling for assigning proper resources by cells should be performed together with the AMC technique, the HARQ technique and the short TTI as described above. The required uplink channel scheduling is to efficiently use the limited wireless resources.
Typically, the data rate for the uplink channel is determined by the UE within an upper threshold value of a predetermined possible data rate. The upper threshold value is provided to the UE by a radio network controller (RNC). That is, the data rate of the existing uplink channel has not been adjusted by the Node B. However, in the EUDCH, whether to transmit the uplink data, the upper threshold value of the usable data rate, etc., are determined by the Node B. Additionally, the determined information is transmitted to the UE as a scheduling command. The UE determines the data rate to be used in the EUDCH according to the scheduling command.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional mobile communication network in which a Node B and a plurality of UEs that perform an uplink transmission with the Node B exist.
Referring to FIG. 1, the UEs 110, 112, 114 and 116 are transmitting packet data with different transmission powers 120, 122, 124 and 126, respectively, according to the distances between the UEs and the Node B 100. The UE 110 that is farthest apart from the Node B transmits the packet data with the highest transmission power 120. The UE 114 that is nearest to the Node B 100 transmits the packet data with the lowest transmission power 124. According to a scheduling algorithm applied to the Node B 100, the transmission powers and packet data rates applied to the UEs 110, 112, 114 and 116 may be different from one another.
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a conventional signaling procedure performed between a UE and a Node B for supporting an uplink packet service.
Referring to FIG. 2, the EUDCH is set between the Node B 200 and the UE 202 at step 204. That is, the step 204 comprises a process of transmitting/receiving messages through a dedicated transport channel. Then, the UE 202 transmits data rate information, uplink channel state information, and the like to the Node B 200. The uplink channel state information comprises an uplink channel transmission power transmitted by the UE 202, a transmission power margin of the UE 202, and the like.
The Node B 200 that has received the uplink channel transmission power can estimate the uplink channel state by comparing the uplink channel transmission power and a reception power. That is, if a difference between the uplink channel transmission power and the uplink channel reception power is small, it is determined that the uplink channel state is good, while if the difference is large, it is determined that the uplink channel state is poor. In the case in which the UE 202 transmits the transmission power margin in order to estimate the uplink channel state, the Node B 200 can estimate the uplink transmission power by subtracting the transmission power margin from the possible maximum transmission power of the UE already known. The Node B 200 determines the possible maximum transmission power using the estimated channel state of the UE, the transmission power margin and the data rate information required by the UE 202.
The maximum data rate as determined above is reported to the UE 202 at step 208. The UE 202 determines the data rate of the packet data to be transmitted within the range of the reported maximum data rate. Then, the Node B 200 transmits the packet data by the determined data rate at step 210.
If the decoding of the packet data succeeds without error, the Node B 200 transmits an acknowledge (ACK) signal to the corresponding UE 202 at step 212. When the ACK signal is received, the UE 202 transmits new packet data to the Node B 200. However, if the decoding of the packet data fails, the Node B 200 transmits a negative acknowledge (NACK) signal to the UE at step 212. If the NACK signal is received, the UE 202 retransmits the packet data previously transmitted at step 210.
The uplink physical channel for the EUDCH service as described above comprises a dedicated physical data channel (DPDCH), a dedicated physical control channel (DPCCH), a high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH) for the HSDPA service, a dedicated physical data channel (EU-DPDCH) for the EUDCH service, a dedicated physical control channel (EU-DPCCH), etc.
Specifically, through the EU-DPCCH, a transport format and resource indicator (E-TFRI) of the packet data transmitted to the EU-DPDCH is transmitted. Additionally, through the EU-DPCCH, transmission status information according to the packet data transmission of the UE is transmitted to the Node B. The transmission status information comprises a buffer occupancy information (BO), transmission power status information (TPS), etc.
Through the EU-DPDCH, the packet data is transmitted using the data rate determined by the scheduling information. The DPDCH supports only a Binary Phase Shift Key (BPSK) modulation system. However, in order to heighten the data rate as maintaining the number of spreading codes simultaneously transmitted, the EU-DPDCH can support Quaternary Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), 8 Phase Shift Keying (PSK), etc., in addition to the BPSK.
As described above, the Node B receives information such as BO, TPS, etc., from the UE in order to perform the scheduling operation such as the transmission timing of the EUDCH packet data, the data rate assignment, etc. In this case, it is conventional that the BO among the above-described information is reported to the Node B only in the case in which new data is produced in an EUDCH packet data buffer of the UE. By contrast, the TPS is periodically reported irrespective of the production of the new data.
Accordingly, even in the case in which the packet data to be transmitted does not exist in the EUDCH packet data buffer, the UE continuously reports the TPS, and this causes an uplink interference level to be increased. Additionally, due to the demodulation/decoding of the TPS that is periodically transmitted from the transmitter of the UE and the receiver of the Node B, unnecessary power is consumed.

Method and apparatus for transmitting/receiving transmission status information and buffer state information in a mobile communication system that supports uplink packet service


A semiconductor device which eliminates the need for high fillability through a simple process and a method for manufacturing the same. A high breakdown voltage lateral MOS transistor including a source region and a drain region is completed on a surface of a semiconductor substrate. A trench which surrounds the transistor when seen in a plan view is made in the surface of the semiconductor substrate. An insulating film is formed over the transistor and in the trench so as to cover the transistor and form an air-gap space in the trench. Contact holes which reach the source region and drain region of the transistor respectively are made in an interlayer insulating film.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same and more particularly to a semiconductor device having a trench and a method for manufacturing the same.
A device isolation (deep trench isolation, or DTI) structure in which insulating film is filled in a trench with a high aspect ratio is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-118256.
In the technique described therein, a trench is first made in a surface of a semiconductor substrate and then a first insulating film is formed over the surface of the semiconductor substrate in a manner to fill the trench. An opening which reaches the first insulating film is made by anisotropic etching of the first insulating film, where the upper end corner of the opening of the first insulating film has a more gradual inclination than the upper end corner of the trench. The above anisotropic etching process also reduces the thickness of the first insulating film lying over the semiconductor substrate surface. After that, a second insulating film is formed over the semiconductor substrate surface in a manner to fill the opening.
After a DTI structure was formed as mentioned above, an electronic device such as a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) is formed on the semiconductor substrate.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


A semiconductor device includes, in a first region over a semiconductor substrate, a first insulating layer, a first wiring, a second insulating layer, a third insulating layer, and a via and a second wiring embedded in the second insulating layer and the third insulating layer through a barrier metal, and includes, in a second region, the first insulating layer, a gate electrode, the second insulating layer, a semiconductor layer located, the third insulating layer, and a first electric conductor and a second electric conductor embedded in the third insulating layer so as to sandwich the gate electrode in a position overlapped with the semiconductor layer in a plan view through a barrier metal and coupled to the semiconductor layer through the barrier metal.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same.
A common semiconductor device has a structure in which a semiconductor element such as a transistor is formed over a semiconductor substrate and multiple wiring layers are formed over this transistor. In such a semiconductor device, layout of the semiconductor element formed over the semiconductor substrate is designed based on functions required for the semiconductor device.
In recent years, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-166716; Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-021170; "Control of p- and n-type conductivity in sputter deposition of undoped ZnO", Gang Xiong and other five researchers, App. Phys. Lett., Vol. 80, No. 7, 18 Feb. 2002; "High mobility bottom gate InGaZnO thin film transistors with SiOx etch stopper", Minlyu Kim and other eight researchers, App. Phys. Lett., Vol. 90, 212114 (2007); "High mobility thin-film transistors with InGaZnO channel fabricated by room temperature rf-magnetron sputtering", Hisato Yabuta and other eight researchers, App. Phys. Lett., Vol. 89, 112123 (2006); "Highly Stable Ga2O3—In2O3—ZnO TFT for Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode Display Application", Chang Jung Kim and other nine researchers, IEEE Electron Devices Meeting, IEDM '06, Technical Digest, session 11.6, 2006; "Integrated circuits based on amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide-channel thin-film transistors", M. Ofuji and other eight researchers, ECS Transactions, 3(8)293-300 (2006); "Wide-bandgap high-mobility ZnO thin-film transistors produced at room temperature", Elvira M. C. Fortunato and other six researchers, App. Phys. Lett., Vol. 85, No. 13, 27 Sep. 2004; and "High performance amorphous oxide thin film transistors with self-aligned top-gate structure", Jae Chul Park and other eighteen researchers, IEDM. Tech. Dig., session 8.4, pp. 191-194 (2009), formation of a thin-film transistor using a compound semiconductor layer has been studied.


An object of the present invention is to provide a transdermal absorption enhancer by which various active ingredients are transdermally absorbed. In accordance with a transdermal absorption enhancer of the present invention which effective ingredient is lyotropic liquid crystal which has been utilized as a basic material for pharmaceutical preparations for external application and for cosmetics, transdermal absorption of a macromolecular substance and a water-soluble substance was able to be improved.

Transdermal administration is easy and convenient as compared with oral administration and administration by injection, and may also be advantageous in terms of duration of the effect and reduction of expression of the side effects, whereby that is an excellent administration method. However, in order to permeate the active ingredient into the body by transdermal administration, the active ingredient is to be penetrated through the skin which constitutes the primary barrier of the living body and, therefore, its bioavailability (amount of the drug absorbed with a blood flow) is inherently low. Accordingly, in order to achieve the improvement of bioavailability of active ingredients, it has been conducted that dipropylene glycol, hexylene glycol, isoparaffin, sodium laurylsulfate, an ethylene oxide adduct of lauryl alcohol, polyethylene glycol fatty acid ester, polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid ester, propyl carbonate, sodium pyrrolidonecarboxylate, urea, lactic acid, sodium lactate, lecithin, dimethyl sulfoxide, pyrrolidonecarboxylate, nicotinate, N-methylproline ester, cholesteryl oleate, amine oxide or the like is compounded with preparations for external application as a transdermal absorption enhancer.
Up to now, the present inventors have energetically carried out research and development for transdermal absorption of active ingredients and, as a result, they have found that, when retinoic acid having an action of enhancing regeneration of the skin by enhancing differentiation and growth of keratinocytes is included into capsules of a nanometer level (nano-particles) followed by applying to the skin surface, retinoic acid is able to be transdermally absorbed in efficient and sustained-releasing manner without compounding of the transdermal absorption enhancers as mentioned above (Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2).
Non-Patent Document 1: Yoko Yamaguchi, "Novel Nano-Technology for Transdermal Delivery", Bio Venture, vol. 4, no. 6, pages 62 to 64, 2004
Non-Patent Document 2: Y. Yamaguchi, T. Nagasawa, N. Nakamura, M. Takenaga, M. Mizoguchi, S. Kawai, Y. Mizushima and R. Igarashi, "Successful Treatment of Photo-Damaged Skin of Nano-Scale atRA Particles Using a Novel Transdermal Delivery", 104, 29 to 40, 2005.

Method of enhancing transdermal absorption using a composition comprising POE octyl dodecyl ether and squalane


An optical flow cell is disclosed that includes a flow cell body having an inlet and an outlet with a flow opening therebetween to allow a fluid to pass therethrough. A light entry fixture and a light imaging fixture are transversely carried by the flow cell body to allow viewing of the flow opening, wherein the light entry fixture is positioned at one side of the body and the light imaging fixture is positioned at an opposite side of the body. The fixtures are made from at least some materials different than then flow cell body but having a thermal rate of expansion that matches a thermal rate of the body so as to maintain a predetermined size of the flow opening during temperature fluctuations.

Generally, three factors contribute to engine oil contamination: by-products given off by combustion, debris entering through an engine's air intake, and metal shavings created by engine wear. In particular, these metal shavings (on the order of 100 microns or less) are indicative of the health of the machine. The physical characteristics (e.g., size and shape) of these metal shavings and other observed debris may contain information relating to the real-time health of the machine.
In today's marketplace, automotive manufacturers have developed numerous systems for inferring whether a user needs to change engine oil or other automotive fluids. An example of such a system is an onboard monitoring system in most automobiles that tracks several variables including engine running time, vehicle mileage, and temperature. Based on this information, an onboard computer calculates when the engine oil should be changed and, in turn, lights the oil lamp indicator on the vehicle's dashboard. While this and other similar systems may notify automobile owners of oil change deadlines, these systems lack the capacity to directly detect if metal shavings or other contaminants exist in the engine oil and are unable to determine the real-time health of the machine.
In light of this shortcoming, systems that directly analyze fluid were developed. The traditional method for directly analyzing a fluid was to extract an oil sample from a disengaged engine, and then to send the oil to a laboratory for testing. Although necessary for safety, this process was time consuming.
More recently, systems utilizing optical near-field imaging techniques have been developed. These systems generally consist of a light source, a light detection device, a flow cell, and a pump or other means to deliver the fluid to the flow cell. One such system, the optical near-field imaging system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,483, incorporated herein by reference, determines the number of particles in the fluid, then tabulates each particle's size and physical characteristics. The physical characteristics of a particle directly correspond to a particular wear mechanism. Thus, in undergoing an analysis of engine oil, this system can correlate the tabulated information with a specific wear mechanism (e.g., metal shavings created by engine wear or debris entering through an engine's intake). Ultimately, the system could inform a user to the source of the particles, thereby enabling the user to diagnose and remedy any problems that may exist.
While these optical near-field imaging systems show promise in making real-time diagnoses of machines, current systems have a major shortcoming, namely, they cannot withstand the stresses associated with the high pressures or high temperatures present in an engine or similar environment. In this type of environment, pressures may routinely reach 5000 psi and temperatures may reach 140° C. Accordingly, systems utilizing optical near-field imaging techniques have not been successfully incorporated into these environments.
While known flow cells are sufficient in their stated purpose, these devices are not built to withstand the high pressure and high temperatures that exist when a device is mounted directly in an engine or similar environment. Therefore, the need exists for a flow cell that can withstand high pressures and high temperatures, while still obtaining accurate measurements and images.

Optical flow cell capable of use in high temperature and high pressure environment


A duel fuel gas control valve controls the supply of gas (e.g., natural gas or liquid propane gas) to a gas grill. The duel fuel gas control valve is structured to control either natural or LP gas flow at the desired operating characteristics based on conventional gas supply characteristics and gas grill requirements. A restrictor mechanism, when in first and second configurations, respectively, restricts movement of the valve core to a first predetermined range for a first mode of operation (first type of gas supply) and to a second predetermined range for a second mode of operation (second type of gas supply).

The function, operation and elements of prior, art gas cooking grills are well-known. These gas grills utilize either liquid propane (LP) or natural gas (NG) as the gas source. Typically, in use, these gas grills include one or more gas control valves that control the flow of gas from the gas source to the burners. Normally, these gas control valves are structured and operate only to control one type of gas—either LP or NG. Thus, different gas control valves are needed depending on the gas source. In order to allow a consumer who purchases an LP gas grill or a NG gas grill to convert from one gas source to the other, certain manufacturers have made conversion kits available. Conversion kits normally include new and different gas control valves specifically for use with that particular type of gas. Thus, converting from one type of gas source to another is expensive and time-consuming.
Accordingly, there exists a need for new gas control valve that can be readily used to receive gas from dual sources (e.g., LP or NG) without the need for replacement of the gas valve or extensive conversion activities.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


As disclosed herein a computer system for secure database backup and recovery in a secure database network has N distributed data nodes. The computer system includes program instructions that include instructions to receive a database backup file, fragment the file using a fragment engine, and associate each fragment with one node, where the fragment is not stored on the associated node. The program instructions further include instructions to encrypt each fragment using a first encryption key, and store, randomly, encrypted fragments on the distributed data nodes. The program instructions further include instructions to retrieve the encrypted fragments, decrypt the encrypted fragments using the first encryption key, re-encrypt the decrypted fragments using a different encryption key, and store, randomly, the re-encrypted fragments on the distributed data nodes. A computer program product and method corresponding to the above computer system are also disclosed herein.

This invention relates to database backup and recovery and more particularly to secure database backup and recovery.
Database file systems typically store large amounts of data. To ensure that the data stored in the database file system can be recovered in the event of a failure and/or corruption of data, the database file system data is typically backed up on a frequent basis. Backing up data in a database file system involves creating a copy of data that is to be backed up and stored in a separate site from the database file system disks. Typically, database file system data is copied to secondary storage (for example local drives and network drives).

International Business Machines Corporation


When determining that a subject vehicle traveled a curve, a road shape learning apparatus amends an entrance coordinate, a middle coordinate, and an exit coordinate of the curve based on predetermined amendment values to thereby obtain a post-amendment entrance coordinate, a post-amendment middle coordinate, and a post-amendment exit coordinate. The road shape learning apparatus computes a radius of a circular arc which passes through the post-amendment entrance coordinate, the post-amendment middle coordinate, and the post-amendment exit coordinate and designates the computed radius as a curvature radius of the curve.

[Patent document 1] JP-H11-328596 A
In recent years, there is known a vehicular application which provides a driving assistance or control of a behavior in cooperation with an in-vehicle navigation apparatus. Such an application is referred to as a navigation-cooperative application. Such a navigation-cooperative application uses map data or a present position acquisition function, which is provided in the navigation apparatus, and serves as an apparatus or function to provide an assistance to a safe and comfortable driving operation. For example, Patent document 1 discloses a road shape learning apparatus provided as follows. The maximum radius of a curvature of a travel line expected in a curve is acquired based on road shape data such as a road width or curvature radius of a curve out of various data contained in map data. Based on the acquired maximum curvature radius, a target vehicle velocity at the curve entrance is calculated.
In Patent document 1, the road shape of the travel line is acquired from the map data; a suitable vehicle velocity is designated according to the road shape. This enables an enhancement in safety and a comfortable travel meeting with driver's sensibility.
Incidentally, there is a case that map data is prepared by old measurement data or an error occurs when authoring map data. Such a case may pose a risk in the configuration where a target vehicle velocity is calculated based on the curvature radius stored in the map data like in Patent document 1. That is, when the curvature radius greater than that of the actual shape of the road is stored in the map data, there is a possibility that the target vehicle velocity is calculated to be higher than an intended one. Therefore, in such a navigation-cooperative application, especially, to control the behavior of the vehicle, the detailed map data is thereby necessary which indicates the shape of the road accurately.
However, in order to prepare the detailed map data which indicates the shapes of roads accurately, a huge cost and large volume of storage area are needed. It is not easy to previously prepare the map data accurately.


The present invention discloses a complex of clay and polyoxyalkylene amine and a method for producing the same. The clay in the present invention is layered and includes silicate, and the polyoxyalkylene amine with molecular weight over 1,800 is provided as an intercalacting agent to enlarge interlayer distances of the clay at an unprecedented spacing. The method for producing the complex is primarily to acidify the polyoxyalkylene amine with an inorganic acid, which is then mixed with the clay swelled with water previously; and the mixture is then powerfully stirred at 60-80xc2x0 C. for cation exchanging to obtain the titled inorganic/organic complex. According to the present invention, the complex is an excellent surfactant and a reinforcing agent of polymers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an inorganic/organic complex of clay and polyoxyalkylene amine and a method for producing the same, the complex in which can be particularly applied to oily surfactants and reinforcing agents of polymers.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Currently, inorganic/organic polymer composite materials under a nanoscale regime are one of the most significant materials, and thus have been widely investigated and developed. Such composite materials are dual-phased wherein at least one phase is dispersed under a nanoscale regime. Accordingly, compatibility between the two phases, for example, clay and polymers, is always essential for the nanoscale dispersion.
For layered silicate clay which is hydrophilic and immiscible with most organic solvents, the interlayer distances can be enlarged by means of intercalating with organic quaternary ammonium, and thus monomers are allowed to enter therethrough. The monomers can be polymerized to obtain an exfoliated inorganic/organic polymer composite material. In principle, the distances, enlarged by intercalating agents, are constant and required to be wide enough for monomer or polymer molecules to enter. As for exfoliation, the interlayer distances are irregular and different directions may occur in each layer.
Conventional intercalating agents such as 12-aminolauric acid, hexadecylamine, fatty amine, bis(2-hydroxyethyl) methyl tallow alkyl ammonium chloride and stearylamine, usually have low molecular weights, and interlayer distances of the clay can be expanded to a certain degree.
Referring to the research of T. J. Pinnavaia (Michigan State University), intercalating agent CH3(CH2)nxe2x80x94NH3+ is provided to mixed with montmorillonite (MMT), which is then dispersed in diglycidyl ether of BPA (epoxy resin Epon828) to form a polyether-clay composite material under a nanoscale regime. For such intercalating agent, the interlayer distances can be enlarged to 18.0 xc3x85. The epoxy resin can then form an epoxy/clay material through self polymerization at 75xc2x0 C. This reference also indicates an improvement in heat distortion temperature. The intercalating agent performs a rule of monolayer to bilayer, and even to pseudo-trimolayer. The interlayer distance ranges between 13.8-18.0 xc3x85, which allow the epoxy resin to enter and polymerize therein, and further to exfoliate the layered inorganic matter so that application effect of nonomaterials can be achieved.
Japanese Patent No. 8-22946 discloses the first commercial inorganic/organic polymer composite material under a nanoscale regime, which is developed by Toyota company. This composite material is produced by dispersing [H3N+(CH2)11COOxe2x88x92]-montmorillonite in Nylon 6, wherein the aminocarboxylic acid is provided as an intercalating agent and the polymers are formed between layers of the clay through condensation of caprolactam monomers. However, the aminocarboxylic acid doesn""t facilitate nonpolar polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene, to uniformly disperse in the hydrophilic layered silicate. Accordingly, Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-53572 provides organic onium ions as an intercalating agent to mix with layered silicate, which can be uniformly dispersed in molten polyolefin resin. Unfortunately, though the organic onium ions can enlarge the interlayer distances, affinity between the intercalating agent and the polyolefin resin is not enough to exfoliate the layered silicate. Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-182892 indicates that when blending in a molten mixture containing olefin oligomers with H-bond and polyolefin resin, the organized layered silicate might be indefinitely swelled due to the strong affinity therebetween. However, it""s a dilemma whether to increase the oligomers for better dispersing or to decrease the oligomers for better mechanical characteristics.
Accordingly, there is a need to ameliorate the composites by means of providing appropriate intercalating agents which could render the intercalated silicates with a wider interlayer distance. Furthermore, the widely opened silicates can be used as novel inorganic/organic surfactants, an important industrial application but deviated from the common nanocomposite usage.
The object of the present invention is to provide a compolex of clay and polyoxyalkylene amine and a method for producing the same, so that the complex is stable enough and has excellent affinity for polymers and organic matters.
In order to achieve the above object, the complex of the present invention primarily includes polyoxyalkylene amine having molecular weight over 1,800 as an intercalating agent and inorganic layered silicate clay.
The polyoxyalkylene amine aforementioned can be polyoxyalkylene diamine, and preferably polyoxypropylene diamine. The commercial product includes Jeffamine series having structure as the following scheme, for example, D-2000 (poly(propyleneglycol) bis (2-aminopropyl ether)), D-4000 (poly(propylene glycol) bis (2-aminopropyl ether)), etc. Additionally, T-3000 (tri-functional poly(propyleneglycol) 2-aminopropyl ether), T-5000 (tri-functional poly(propylene glycol) 2-aminopropyl ether), etc., can be applied, too.
X=2-3 (Approx. m.w.=230; Jeffamine(copyright) D-230)
X=5-6 (Approx. m.w.=400; Jeffamine(copyright) D-400)
X=33 (Approx. m.w.=2000; Jeffamine(copyright) D-2000)
X=68 (Approx. m.w.=4000; Jeffamine(copyright) D-4000)
The layered silicate clay used in the present invention is not restricted, and preferably montmorillonite, kaolin, mica or talc. In general, the clay with CEC (cation exchange capacity) ranging between 50-200 meq/100 g is preferred.
The method for producing the complex of the present invention is primarily to acidify the polyoxyalkylene amine with an inorganic acid, which is then mixed with the clay swelled with water previously, and then the mixture is powerfully stirred at 60-80xc2x0 C. for cation exchanging to obtain the inorganic/organic complex.
In the above method, xe2x80x94NH2/H+for acidifying the polyoxyalkylene amine is preferably at 2/1 in mole, i.e., a half of the polyoxyalkylene amine is acidified to form a bilayer status. The polyoxyalkylene amine is preferably added at least equal to cation exchange equivalence of the layered inorganic silicate clay, so that enough energy can be supplied to expand interspace of the clay. The inorganic acid is also not restricted, and preferably chloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid or nitric acid.
According to the present invention, the complex of clay and polyoxyalkylene amine is hydrophobic, rather than hydrophilic as before the intercalation, and compatible with polymers. The interlayer distances can be enlarged to 48-92 xc3x85, so that polymers are easily further dispersed therein under a nanoscale regime to form inorganic/polymer composite material. The complex can be applied as an oily surfactant and be used to improve characteristics of polymers.

Complexes of clay and polyoxyalkylene amine and method for producing the same


A new and distinct cultivar of Coleus (Coleus scutellarioides) plant named ‘UF18-51-6’, selected for having a combination of desirable traits that make it well-suited for good performance as an annual plant in the summer landscape. ‘UF18-51-6’ has large leaves that are predominantly deep purple, with contrasting pink centers, and well-defined yellow green leaf margins. ‘UF18-51-6’ maintains these colors in a broad range of environmental conditions, and it has received superior ratings in both sun and shade trials. It is upright and compact in habit, but it is highly branched and uniform in shape, and grows wider than it does tall. This allows the plant to have high utility for use in any part of the garden landscape.

The invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Coleus plant named 'UF18-51-6'. The new cultivar 'UF18-51-6' originated from an open pollination conducted in May-November 2017 in Citra, Fla. between the female Coleus plant 'UF16-26-10' (unpatented) and an unknown male Coleus plant. A single seedling was chosen in May 2018 for further asexual propagation in Gainesville, Fla.
The new cultivar 'UF18-51-6' has been reproduced asexually for over 18 months through meristem tip cuttings and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations. 'UF18-51-6' was first propagated asexually by meristem tip cuttings in May 2018 in Gainesville, Fla., and has remained true-to-type since that time.
Plant Breeder's Rights for the new cultivar 'UF18-51-6' have not been applied for, and 'UF18-51-6' has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.
When compared to the female parent 'UF16-26-10', the new cultivar 'UF18-51-6' has large leaves that are almost as wide as they are long. Leaves are predominantly deep purple, with yellow green margins and deep pink center. In contrast, the female parent 'UF16-26-10' has smaller leaves that are twice as long as they are wide, and the leaves are colored dark maroon with dark green margins and have only a trace of pink color on older leaves. 'UF18-51-6' has a vigorous upright and compact habit that is well-branched, whereas 'UF16-26-10' is less vigorous, and more spreading in habit with less lateral branching.
The new cultivar 'UF18-51-6' was selected for its consistent foliage color patterning, and also for its fast growth rate and vigor in the greenhouse and landscape. Historically, pink foliage color in Coleus was often linked to weak growth and burning of foliage in full sun. 'UF18-51-6' has foliage that is predominantly deep purple with consistent pink centers, and bright lime green accents at the leaf margin. Normally this color combination fades in either full sun (all maroon-brown) or full shade (all green), with the consistent loss of pink color. 'UF18-51-6' is exceptional because it maintains a strong pink center and bright yellow green margins in a broad range of environmental conditions. It is a vigorous genotype that can easily grow four feet tall in the landscape, maintaining similar color in both sun and shade. Vegetative cuttings from 'UF18-51-6' form roots in one week and consistently produce vivid pink center color in the greenhouse, making it a visually appealing plant for mass markets.


In accordance with the present invention, methods are provided for treating a patient through the use of ultraviolet light activated gene therapy. Embodiments of the present invention include methods for the utilization of light activated gene therapy to repair and/or rebuild damaged cartilage by introducing a desired gene into a patient's tissue.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of gene therapy. According to the present invention, devices and methods are provided for the combined use of light activated gene transduction (LAGT) employing ultraviolet light and recombinant adeno-associated virus (r-AAV) for the purpose of introducing a desired gene into a patient's tissue.
2. Description of the Related Art
Somatic cell gene therapy is a form of treatment in which the genetic material of a target cell is altered through the administration of nucleic acid, typically in the form of DNA. In pursuit of effective in vivo administration routes, scientists have harnessed the otherwise potentially deleterious ability of viruses to invade a target cell and "reprogram" the cell through the insertion of viral DNA. By encapsulating desirable genetic material in a viral particle, or "vector," minus some of the viral DNA, the effective and targeted delivery of genetic material in vivo is possible. As applied to specific treatments, gene therapy offers the ability to adjust the expression of desirable molecules, including both intracellular and extracellular proteins, to bring about a desired biological result.
In particular, the desirable qualities of adeno-associated viruses (AAV) have led to further study of potential gene therapy uses. As a vehicle for gene therapy recombinant forms of AAV, or r-AAV, offer many advantages including the vector's ability to infect non-dividing cells (e.g., chondrocytes, cells within cartilage), the sustained target gene expression, the low immune response to the vector, and the ability to transduce a large variety of tissues. The AAV contains a single strand DNA (ssDNA) genome. Under normal conditions AAV is present in humans in a replication incompetent form, due to the fact the AAV alone does not encode the enzyme required for replication of the second DNA strand. Successful r-AAV transduction often requires the presence of a co-infection with an adenovirus or the exposure of the host cell to DNA damaging agents, such as γ-irradiation. The introduction of either the co-infection or the DNA damaging agents dramatically induces the rate limiting step of second strand synthesis, i.e. the second strand of DNA which is synthesized based on the vector inserted first strand. However, making use of these DNA damaging agents is impractical because the administration of an adenovirus co-infection to a patient is not practical or desirable and the site specific and safety issues involved with using γ-irradiation undesirable as well.
In the past, attempts have been made to induce r-AAV transduction in vitro using UV radiation having a wavelength of 254 nm. Unfortunately, no effective therapeutic method or apparatus was developed based on these experiments due to the long exposure times involved with using 254 nm UV radiation, the difficulties of delivering 254 nm UV radiation to a surgical target site, and the inability to position the 254 nm UV light source so as to allow effective penetration of a target cell.

Light activated gene transduction using long wavelength ultraviolet light for cell targeted gene delivery


An improved touch screen controller including a comparator and an analog-to-digital converter. The comparator of the touch screen controller detects a touch of the touch screen while the analog-to-digital converter is powered down. The Data Out (DOUT) line of the touch screen controller is used to signal the microprocessor that a touch has occurred. The unique structure of the improved touch screen controller and the fast switching edges of the comparator output signal provide for a faster touch screen controller that consumes little power without requiring a dedicated pin for the touch signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to touch screens, and more particularly, to an improved controller for resistive touch screens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pressure sensitive touch screens have become more prevalent in our society in recent years and are used in many diverse applications such as personal digital assistants, portable instruments, point-of-sale terminals, pagers, and various other touch screen monitors. Touch screens can be activated by many different types of contacts, including by finger, pen, and stylus. The user touches different areas of the touch screen to activate different functions. In addition, the user may use a pen or similar tool to write directly on the touch screen.
The two most popular touch technologies are analog capacitive and resistive touch screens. A resistive touch screen works by applying a voltage across a resistor network and measuring the change in resistance at a given point on the network where a screen is touched by an external source. The two most popular resistive architectures use 4-wire (400) or 5-wire (410) configurations as shown in FIG. 4. A typical resistive touch screen includes a resistive layer on an insulating material such as a glass panel. A hard-coated, conductive topsheet is overlaid on top of the resistive layer. The topsheet is separated by a layer of small insulating spacers from the resistive layer. When the surface of the conductive topsheet is touched by an external implement, for example, by pen or similar tool, or by a user""s finger, the conductive coating on the topsheet is pushed against the resistive layer making electrical contact. As a result, voltages are produced that provide the analog equivalent corresponding to the position touched.
A touch screen controller, such as, for example, the ADS7845 touch screen controller from Texas Instruments Tucson Corporation, drives the touch screen. The touch screen controller has a terminal, such as a pen interrupt pin, dedicated to producing a signal when the screen is touched. Initially, the pen interrupt signal will be at a high voltage. The touch screen controller monitors the touch screen and pulls the pen interrupt signal to a low voltage when the screen is touched. The pen interrupt signal may then be output to a microprocessor. The microprocessor will then signal an analog-to-digital converter within the touch screen controller to initiate conversion of the analog voltage of the touch screen into a digital signal representing the x,y coordinate position of the touch. Since the pen interrupt pin of the touch screen controller chip is dedicated to the pen interrupt signal, the pin cannot be used for other purposes.
The pen interrupt signal is a digital signal that is pulled low when a current flow is detected from the depression of the touch screen. Further, the pen interrupt signal has slow switching edges and contributes to a slow reaction time when the screen is touched. This slow reaction time is also caused by the microprocessor setting the pen interrupt diode into a reverse bias state. Otherwise, if the pen interrupt diode is forward biased during a conversion, the additional current will cause the input data to be inaccurate.
Thus a touch screen controller is needed that will have a faster response when the screen is touched. In addition, minimizing the power consumption of the touch screen controller while waiting for touch screen input will significantly aid low power applications such as Personal Digital Assistants. Further, with the increased demand in touch screen controllers for more flexibility and additional input/output terminals, eliminating the need for a dedicated pen interrupt terminal can provide significant advantages to system designers.
A touch screen controller in accordance with the present invention addresses many of the shortcomings of the prior art. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the touch screen controller is configured to detect a screen touch while the touch screen controller is powered down, and the detection signal is output on a data output terminal of the touch screen controller. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, by monitoring the analog signal from the touch screen through a static comparator, a digital signal may be generated at no power consumption. This digital signal may be output on the data output pin of the touch screen controller while the controller is in a power down mode. Thus, an additional I/O pin is not needed by the controller to monitor whether a screen touch occurs.


A method for producing a foam-formed multilayered substrate that includes producing an aqueous-based foam including at least 3% by weight non-straight synthetic binder fibers, wherein the non-straight synthetic binder fibers have an average length greater than 2 mm; forming together a wet sheet layer from the aqueous-based foam and a cellulosic fiber layer, wherein the cellulosic fiber layer includes at least 60 percent by weight cellulosic fibers; and drying the combined layers to obtain the foam-formed multilayer substrate. A multilayered substrate includes a first layer including at least 60 percent by weight non-straight synthetic binder fibers having an average length greater than 2 mm; and a second layer including at least 60 percent by weight cellulosic fiber, wherein the first layer is in a facing relationship with the second layer, and wherein the multilayered substrate has a wet/dry tensile ratio of at least 60%.

Many tissue products, such as facial tissue, bath tissue, paper towels, industrial wipers, and the like, are produced according to a wet laid process. Wet laid webs are made by depositing an aqueous suspension of pulp fibers onto a forming fabric and then removing water from the newly-formed web. Water is typically removed from the web by mechanically pressing water out of the web that is referred to as "wet-pressing." Although wet-pressing is an effective dewatering process, during the process the tissue web is compressed causing a marked reduction in the caliper of the web and in the bulk of the web.
For most applications, however, it is desirable to provide the final product with as strength as possible without compromising other product attributes. Thus, those skilled in the art have devised various processes and techniques in order to increase the strength of wet laid webs. One process used is known as "rush transfer." During a rush transfer process, a web is transferred from a first moving fabric to a second moving fabric in which the second fabric is moving at a slower speed than the first fabric. Rush transfer processes increase the bulk, caliper, and softness of the tissue web.
As an alternative to wet-pressing processes, through-drying processes have developed in which web compression is avoided as much as possible to preserve and enhance the web. These processes provide for supporting the web on a coarse mesh fabric while heated air is passed through the web to remove moisture and dry the web.
Additional improvements in the art, however, are still needed. In particular, a need currently exists for an improved process that includes unique fibers in a tissue web for increasing the bulk, softness, strength, and absorbency of the web without having to subject the web to a rush transfer process or to a creping process.


A video signal and an audio signal of a program which is received are always recorded to a hard disk. When a command for program preservation is given, the rewriting of the recorded area in the hard disk is inhibited and the program can be preserved to the hard disk in a range which does not exceed a predetermined time while tracing back to the past. The program is recorded to the hard disk until the end time of the program. Further, in addition to the recording of the program, a recording reservation of the program can be automatically set.

There are many cases where a telephone call suddenly rings or someone suddenly comes while the user is enjoying a television broadcasting, so that he overlooks a broadcasting program. If the user overlooked a television broadcasting program, this program can never be seen except for a program that is rebroadcasted. It is a rare case that the program is rebroadcasted in a short period of time. A news program and a sports program are not rebroadcasted in most cases. In many cases, therefore, if the user overlooked a television broadcasting program, this program cannot be seen forever.
There is a case where a scene such as good scene of a movie or a drama, interview of an important person, highlight scene of a sports program, or the like which the user wants to preserve suddenly starts during the watching of a broadcasting program. In such a case, a situation such that even if the user immediately sets a VTR, he misses such a scene and he cannot record the scene often occurs.
Therefore, a television receiver such that while the user is watching a broadcasting program, such a program is always recorded on a recording medium is considered. In such a television receiver, even if there is a sudden telephone call or someone suddenly comes, such a program can be traced back and reproduced and he does not overlook the program. Such a program can be easily preserved and even if a program which the user wants to record suddenly starts, it is possible to cope with it.
As a recording medium in the television receiver such that a program is always recorded onto a recording medium as mentioned above, a hard disk drive can be used. Hitherto, as a recording medium for recording a video signal, a magnetic tape is widely used. However, an accessing speed of the magnetic tape is slow and it is difficult to use it as a recording medium that is used in such a television receiver. Although the use of a semiconductor memory is considered, the semiconductor memory of a large capacity is very expensive. In the semiconductor memory, if a power source is turned off, the preserved program is erased, so that it is inconvenient in case of preserving a program for a long time. On the other hand, in the hard disk drive, a capacity is large and an accessing speed is also high enough.
As mentioned above, in the television receiver having the hard disk drive, the program which is being received is always recorded and this program can be easily preserved. In such a television receiver having the hard disk drive, it is further demanded that a desired program can be easily and certainly recorded from the start to the end.
That is, hitherto, as a recording apparatus of a video signal, a VTR for recording the video signal to a tape has been widespread. In the VTR, when a record key is pressed during the reception of the program, the program which is being received is recorded as it is. Therefore, in a case such that a desired program is preserved by the VTR, the record key has to be pressed at the start of the program and a stop key has to be pressed at the end of the program. However, unless attention is paid, the start time of the program is missed and the program cannot be recorded from the start thereof. As mentioned above, in the conventional VTR, when a desired program has started, it is difficult to record the desired program in a range from the start of the program to the end.
Although the timer reserving function is provided for the VTR, the operation for the timer reservation is complicated and the operation to set the recording start time and the recording end time is very troublesome.


Disclosure are various embodiments of a loss prevention device responsive to freefall. The loss prevention device can be integrated into any object and incorporates physical, mechanical, and/or electrical modules configured to prevent the likelihood that dropping the object causes injury to persons or damage to structures in the vicinity. Such modules may constitute continuous or discrete, static or dynamic portions of the housing of the loss prevention device. Other modules may incorporate electromechanical components that allow for effective manipulation of the motion of the loss prevention device and the coupled object. The device can be configured to deploy said modules upon detecting freefall. In some cases, the device incorporate a release mechanism that facilitates said deployment.

Evolved organisms have developed structural features for manipulating their motion during freefall. One example is a samara, which is a fruit that covers some seeds (e.g. maple seed), which enables the seed to descend slowly to the ground and/or be carried by the wind. In certain hazardous environments such as construction sites, there is a considerable risk that an object, such as a tape measure, may fall and seriously injure or kill a human being, cause infrastructure damage, or trigger a chain reaction of events leading to disastrous losses. Current solutions involve tethering tools or attachment points that are designed to prevent the object from dropping in the event that a grasp on the object is lost. However, in the case that an object is already in freefall, these solutions provide no remedy. Additionally, current tools are not always manufactured or designed to prevent loss, especially loss caused by accidentally dropping said tools from a great height.
Safety nets may prevent falling objects from causing injury. However, safety nets are immobile and may not actually prevent injury to an individual not positioned below the safety net. Other safety methods involve behavioral guidelines, such as the grab-and-twist method, which involves registering a twist in an object during hand off of the object. However, behavioral methods can fail due to lack of training or due to human error. Furthermore, behavioral methods can fail due to human fallibility and are not reliable especially during the split-second windows when loss can be prevented.
Thus, there remains a considerable need for devices and methods that can manipulate the motion of an object in freefall to aid in loss prevention without requiring human input.

Loss prevention device triggered by freefall


A cam tremolo device for a stringed musical instrument includes a frame secured to the instrument and a tailpiece rotatably connected with the frame and is characterized by a locking mechanism which is manually operable to prevent the tailpiece from rotating. The locking device is preferably a screw which is manually displaced by the operator relative to a threaded opening in the frame and a slot in the string attachment device connected with the tailpiece. When the screw is rotated to a locking position, the screw advances through the frame opening into the slot in the string attachment device. When the screw is rotated to a release position, the screw is retracted from the slot in the string attachment device, thereby allowing the tailpiece to rotate relative to the frame. Thus, the tailpiece is in either a fixed or floating condition, but not both at the same time.

Stringed musical instruments such as guitars typically have a fixed bridge arranged between tuning pegs at the end of the neck of the guitar and string attachment devices on the body of the guitar, with sound being generated by plucking or strumming the strings. In order to produce a vibrato effect, a tremolo device can be provided on a guitar to simultaneously alter the tension of the strings during play. Fulcrum type tremolos tip or pivot to vary the tension on the instrument strings to produce the vibrato effect. Cam type tremolos rotate to vary the tension on the strings to produce a similar effect. Typically, a handle or bar is connected with the tremolo tailpiece to assist the player of the instrument with moving the tremolo bridge to produce the desired effect. The present invention relates to a cam tremolo device which can be switched between fixed and movable conditions.


A security document, comprises a printed document and one or more memory circuits adapted to be read wirelessly attached to or incorporated within the printed document, wherein data in the memory circuit is protected from access by an unauthorised reader, and wherein the memory circuit is physically isolated so as to inhibit physical tampering or to indicate when physical tampering has occurred. Methods of publishing and of reading such security documents are described.

It is well known for smart cards (both conventional smart cards with contacts, and inductively powered contactless smart cards) to contain information identifying a bearer and to allow access to a user asset. Security passes are a further example of a technology in which inductively powered devices are used to identify a bearer—for conventional security pass technology, the presence of a valid security pass is sufficient to operate the security mechanism.
For a number of applications, existing technologies such are these are unsatisfactory. They may be relatively insecure—in the case of a conventional security pass, simply obtaining the security pass may be enough to enable access for an unauthorised person. Many techniques for physical attack upon smart cards are known, and smart cards are also an unsatisfactory form factor for many applications—such as a passport, or a bank passbook. In such cases a known approach is to provide a physical book and a separate smart card—however, it would clearly be desirable to provide instead a physical document that provides a satisfactory measure of security, while preserving the possibility of providing various significant information digitally, as is possible with a smart card.

Secure physical documents, and methods and apparatus for publishing and reading them

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A traction control system for controlling an electric traction motor drivingly coupled to a wheel of a tractive vehicle. The traction control system includes means for determining speed of the wheel, means for determining tractive effort of the wheel and a control circuitry for controlling drive signals to the motor based upon the wheel speed and tractive effort.

The present invention relates generally to the field of locomotives and their control. More particularly, the invention relates to techniques for maximizing the tractive effort or braking effort of a locomotive and minimizing the resonant torsional vibration per axle to improve overall performance.
Locomotives and transit vehicles as well as other large traction vehicles are commonly powered by electric traction motors coupled in driving relationship to one or more axles of the vehicle. Such locomotives and transit vehicles typically have at least four axle-wheel sets per vehicle with each axle-wheel set being contacted via suitable gearing to the shaft of a separate electric motor commonly referred to as a traction motor. In a motoring mode of operation, the traction motors are supplied with electric current from a controllable source of electric power such as an engine-driven traction alternator. The traction motors apply torque to the vehicle wheels, which in turn exert tangential force or tractive effort on the surface such as the parallel steel rails of a railroad track on which the vehicle is traveling, and thereby propel the vehicle in a desired direction along the right of way. In another instance, in an electrical braking mode of operation, the motors serve as axle-driven electrical generators. Torque applied to the shafts of the axle-wheel sets in such an instance by their respective associated axle-wheel sets then exert braking effort on the surface, thereby retarding or slowing the vehicle's motion. In either case, good adhesion between each wheel and the surface is required for efficient operation of the vehicle.
Maximum tractive effort or braking effort is obtained if each powered wheel of the vehicle is rotating at such an angular velocity that its actual peripheral speed is slightly higher (in case of motoring) or slightly lower (in case of braking) than the actual speed of the vehicle. The linear speed at which the vehicle is traveling is usually referred to in literature as ground speed or track speed and the difference between wheel speed and ground speed is referred to as slip speed or creep. There is usually a relatively low limit on the value of slip speed at which peak tractive effort or braking effort is realized. This value, commonly known as optimum creep is a variable that depends on ground speed and rail conditions. Operation of any or all wheels away from the optimum creep, for instance, at too small a creep value or too large a creep value, may result in a reduction or loss of wheel-to-rail adhesion. Likewise, if the wheel-to-rail adhesion tends to be reduced or lost, some or all the vehicle wheels may slip excessively, i.e., the actual slip speed or creep may be greater than the optimum creep. Such a wheel slip condition, which is characterized in the motoring mode by one or more slipping axle-wheel sets and in the braking mode by one or more sliding or skidding axle-wheel sets, can cause accelerated wheel wear, rail damage, high mechanical stresses in the drive components of the propulsion system, and an undesirable decrease of tractive (or braking) effort. Accordingly, it is desirable to control the allowable creep of all the wheels to maximize the total traction performance. There are many difficulties associated with determining an optimal creep set point for peak adhesion. Creep optimization requires measurement/estimation of wheel tractive effort and wheel creep. Direct measurement of the wheel tractive effort using strain gages for instance, is expensive, requiring significant changes to the wheels. Moreover, the sensors used for direct measurement of wheel tractive effort are also prone to noise. Some of the prior art involve estimation of the wheel tractive effort based on motor torque measurement by a simplistic method using the gear transmission ratio and the wheel radius; see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,097 issued on Mar. 27, 2001 to General Electric Company (hereby incorporated into the present disclosure by reference). Such a method is also error prone owing to approximation of the dynamics of the drive train and related process noise. This method especially loses it validity when the drive train resonates at its natural mode of vibration. One such exemplary situation occurs when inter-axle dynamics owing to mechanical coupling between the platform, all the trucks and all the axle-wheel sets, become pronounced. This will be the case when, for instance, the pitching and rolling modes of the trucks and platform of the locomotive resonate resulting in significant weight-shift effects and associated wheel normal force variations. The resonance may typically manifest in significant oscillations in the motor torque adversely affecting the accuracy of torque maximization methods disclosed in prior art.
Wheel creep requires measurement/estimation of wheel speed and ground speed. Adhesion control systems and methods found in prior art describe determination of wheel speed from the speed of the motor shaft in a well-known manner using the gear transmission ratio. The relationship between the motor speed and wheel speed is typically assumed to be algebraic and the ratio of the motor speed to the average wheel speed of the axle is taken to be equal to the gear ratio. This method of determination of wheel speed is simplistic and is prone to errors owing to errors in motor speed measurement and also owing to approximation of the dynamics of the drive train while estimating wheel speed. The latter especially is the case when the drive train resonates at its natural mode of vibration resulting in a difference in speeds of the two wheels of the axle-wheel set.
Another factor affecting traction performance is the level of torsional resonant vibration in the mechanical drive train, which comprises the axle and its associated two wheels, the motor to the axle gearbox, the traction motor and the traction motor drive. In particular, during operation in certain regions of the adhesion characteristic curve, the mechanical drive train might experience a net negative damping, which produces severe vibration levels at natural frequencies or vibration modes of the system. As is well known, an adhesion characteristic curve graphically represents the coefficient of adhesion versus percentage creep. At zero percent creep, maximum damping on the mechanical system is represented. As the percent creep level increases in motoring (or decreases in braking) in the portion of the characteristic curve to the left of its peak in motoring (or right of its peak in braking), the damping effect on the mechanical system decreases to a value of zero at the peak. For increasing percent creep values to the right of the peak in motoring (or left of the peak in braking), the damping provided to the mechanical system becomes a large negative number.
The natural frequencies or vibration modes of a system are a function of the drive train component materials and geometries that vary slightly over the life of a vehicle due to wear and tear. Dependent on the magnitude and duration of the vibration periods, the drive train may be damaged. Accordingly, it is desirable to minimize torsional resonant vibration in order to maximize traction performance. Prior art involves frequency response analysis of estimated torque feedback of each traction motor. Since such a method is based only on one signal, there is scope for improvement in accuracy and reliability by considering many more representative signals.
These issues in the measurement/estimation of wheel speed values and wheel tractive effort values result in an adhesion optimization system that usually operates sub-optimally. Accordingly, it is desirable to obtain the best possible estimates/measurements of wheel speeds, wheel tractive efforts and extent of torsional vibration, accounting for the influence of various dynamics of the drive train and also the influence of inter-axle dynamics pertaining to various suspensions and the mechanical coupling between the locomotive platform, all the trucks and all the axle-wheel sets.

System and method for locomotive adhesion control


A process is disclosed for preparing adhesives from polyethylene terephthalate which comprises reacting a trimellitic acid polyester ether with polyethylene terephthalate to prepare a nonlinear copolymer with crosslinking characteristics suitable for use as an adhesive either as a hot-melt adhesive or as a pressure-sensitive adhesive.

This invention relates to recovery of polyester from waste materials, to the preparation of adhesive materials from the recovered polyester and, in particular, to hot-melt adhesives of exceptionally high tack characteristics. Commercially available hot-melt adhesives can be used in packaging, bookbinding, and disposable soft goods markets such as backing, labels and decalcomania. Additional application areas include laminates, seaming tapes and related applications.
Polyesters, typically polyethylene terephthalate, are enjoying an increasing demand in the manufacture of not only fibers and films but also of containers for food and drink and of food packaging films owing to their favorable mechanical properties, transparency, heat resistance, electrical characteristics, and the like. Since such polyester containers and films, to a certain extent, function as gas barriers, their use is favorable for the preservation of food and drink, as well as other materials requiring such barriers. However, the properties of polyesters, which cause their widespread use, also result in the creation of vast quantities of polyester waste. The waste is generated as a by-product of the manufacturing process, i.e., as by-products from extrusion and forming of the polyester resin into finished articles and from the disposal of the used articles. Polyethylene terephthalate polymers are accordingly widely available as scrap photographic film and synthetic fibers, as sludges obtained as clean-up by-products from manufacturing plants, and as contaminated scrap from polyethylene terephthalate waste recovery sources such as bottle reclaiming plants.
For economically using the polyester wastes, there have been known methods, such as (1) utilizing the polyester wastes as they are for some purposes, (2) depolymerizing the polyester wastes to give starting materials useful for production of new polyesters, and (3) reacting the polyester wastes with polyols or polycarboxylic acids to give new polyesters.
Depolymerizing waste polyethylene terephthalate polyester by glycolysis of the polyester with excess ethylene glycol in the presence of water is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,143. Recovery of polyester waste with excess ethylene glycol at elevated temperatures by glycolysis of the polyester forms bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate and low molecular weight polymers thereof. Formation of glycol ethers, principally diethylene glycol, which copolymerize with the bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate, is a disadvantage of this method. Formation of the diethylene glycol can be inhibited by use of lithium acetate dihydrate in combination with zinc acetate dihydrate and/or antimony trioxide, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,739. However, the results obtained in both U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,143 and 3,830,739 indicate the presence of diethylene glycol in the recovered polymers.
Other known digestion processes include treatment with low molecular weight polyols selected from the class consisting of diols and triols (U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,104); treatment with caustic monohydric alcohol (U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,287); treatment with monohydric alcohol and ester interchange catalyst (U.S. Pat. No. 3,488,298); heating with glycols and vinyl acetate (U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,799); heating with bis ester solvents (U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,850); and dissolving in ethylene glycol and/or terephthalic acid and/or dimethyl terephthalate (U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,868; 3,701,741; 3,703,488; 3,776,945; 3,257,335). The polyesters are taught as digested for reuse in the process of making additional polymers of molecular weights in excess of 15,000, that is, the digestion products are reintroduced into the process from which they originated or into other processes as a polyol ingredient to prepare other polymers.
Reacting the polyester wastes with polyols and/or polycarboxylic acids in the presence of a titanium catalyst to produce an oligomer and then polycondensing the resulting depolycondensation product with at least one polycarboxylic acid or an anhydride thereof and at least one polyol is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,886.
As noted hereinabove, the several methods for recovering scrap polyethylene terephthalate polyester to obtain new polyesters can result in the production of undesirable by-products, such as diethylene glycol, which contaminate the final product or require further purification before preparation of the new polyesters. Such processes can be costly and represent a significant increase in the cost of recovering scrap polyethylene terephthalate, even to the extent of causing the recovery process to be uneconomical in view of the comparable cost of producing virgin polyethylene terephthalic resin.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a low-cost process for the recovery of polyethylene terephthalate waste wherein the product resulting therefrom is directly useful without further purification to remove undesirable by-products before preparation of new polyesters.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a process for the preparation of hot-melt and pressure-sensitive adhesives from polyethylene terephthalate waste which adhesives have superior properties as compared with currently available hot-melt adhesives and pressure-sensitive adhesives.
A further object of this invention is to provide a unique method for digesting polyester waste of polyethylene terephthalate which minimizes the production of by-products such as ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol.

Process for producing adhesives from polyethylene terephthalate


Inhibiting memory accesses to executable modules. A hypervisor executing on a computing host initiates a virtual machine comprising a guest operating system. The hypervisor receives a communication from the guest operating system requesting that a range of memory utilized by the guest operating system be identified as being execute-only access. The hypervisor marks at least one physical page of memory that includes the range of memory as being execute-only access.

An operating system executing on a computing device often must communicate with a variety of different components manufactured by a variety of different manufacturers, such as, by way of non-limiting example, network interface devices, storage devices, graphics cards, sound cards, Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices, printers, and the like. Typically such devices require that the operating system load or initiate an executable module that facilitates communication with the respective device.


Aspects of the present invention place a second object contained within an overlay atop a first object in a first video stream. Suggested positions at which to place the second object atop the first object are received from a plurality of viewers in a first group of viewers of the first video stream. A consensus position at which to place the second object atop the first object is calculated based on the suggested positions. The second object is placed atop the first object at the consensus position. The first and second objects are transmitted to a second group of viewers of the first video stream after a delay period.

In analog television systems, moving video pictures are transmitted as analog signals, continuous in time and amplitude, over a carrier waveform. A moving picture is typically transmitted as a sequential set of "fields", each describing a static image for a receiver device to render on a screen. Each static image for the receiver device to render is substantially "flat". In other words, the static image is merely a collection of pixels without any meaning. A pixel is the smallest unit of an image that can be represented or controlled.
In the analog world, there is no concept of layering objects in video pictures, as the receiver device is not operative to manipulate such objects. The generation of objects to be displayed as an overlay on a video picture is done at the transmitting device, which integrates the objects into the video picture. The receiver device in the analog domain passively displays these objects and does not have technical capability to alter them in any fashion. For example, with analog video broadcast signals, there is a mechanism called closed captioning to transmit a transcription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs, sometimes including non-speech elements. Video receivers enabled to decode and display the contents of closed captions typically allow the viewer to toggle on/off the display of the closed captions. However, the positioning of an object, such as a closed captioning window, on the video picture typically is not under the control of the viewer or the receiver device. Rather, said positioning is encoded at the source. As a result, especially in live broadcasts, the closed captioning window or other objects are often integrated within areas of the video picture that are desirable for viewing, thereby occluding (blocking) the same.
In addition, within the realm of analog video broadcasts exists the concept of Picture-in-Picture (PiP). This feature typically allows displaying one program on the full screen while one or more other programs are displayed in inset windows. PiP requires two independent tuners or signal sources. The receiver device displays the output of one tuner in full screen and the secondary tuner's output as an overlaid picture on top of the primary picture in the full screen. In this case, the receiver device typically enables the viewer to select the position of the PiP window within a set of pre-selected positions on the screen.
In the digital world, video pictures are transmitted as a stream of data within the frame of a CODEC (COder-DECoder). A CODEC is a device or computer program capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital video stream or signal. A CODEC is able to interpret instructions within the video stream and present a displayed object. Some CODECs support the embedding of one secondary video stream within a primary video stream. In this case, the embedding of a secondary video stream, which contains an object to be displayed within a frame of the primary display (video stream), typically contains position information for the object to be displayed. However, the part of the screen that is displaying a primary video stream and is located beneath the object is occluded and thus not visible to the viewer. This degrades the viewer's ability to experience the fullness of the video stream.

Streaming video with enhanced overlay positioning


A semiconductor structure and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The semiconductor structure includes a stacked structure, a plurality of first conductive blocks, a plurality of first conductive layers, a plurality of second conductive layers, and a plurality of conductive damascene structures. The stacked structure, comprising a plurality of conductive strips and a plurality of insulating strips, is formed on a substrate, and the conductive strips and the insulating strips are interlaced. The first conductive blocks are formed on the stacked structure. The first conductive layers and the second conductive layers are formed on two sidewalls of the stacked structure, respectively. The conductive damascene structures are formed on two sides of the stacked structure, wherein each of the first conductive blocks is electrically connected to each of the conductive damascene structures via each of the first conductive strips and each of the second conductive strips.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates in general to a semiconductor structure and a manufacturing method of the same, and more particularly to a semiconductor structure and a manufacturing method of the same for a memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the structures of semiconductor devices have been changed constantly, and the storage capacity of the devices has been increased continuously. Memory devices are used in storage elements for many products such as MP3 players, digital cameras, computer files, etc. As the application increases, the demand for memory devices focuses on small sizes and large memory capacities. However, as the size of memory devices is reduced, the feature sizes of memory cells are decreased as well, causing a decrease in reliability of memory devices. As such, it is desirable to develop memory devices with improved reliability.

Semiconductor structure and manufacturing method of the same


A radio communication method includes generating a first transmit RF signal and a second transmit RF signal from a data signal to be transmitted. Each of the first and second transmit RF signals have a power spectrum in symmetric shape in the frequency domain. The first transmit RF signal and the second transmit RF signal are transmitted at a different time. The first transmit RF signal and the second transmit RF signal are received to generate a first received RF signal and a second received RF signal. The data signal from the first received RF signal and the second received RF signal are reproduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio communication method, a radio transmission apparatus and a radio receiving apparatus using time and frequency diversity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, some diversity techniques have been put into practice in the field of radio communication. A diversity is a technique to transmit and receive a plurality of signals by using a plurality of radio communication resources and improve reception quality by choosing a received signal which is in good communication status at the receiving end, or by combining a plurality of received signals. As a type of diversity, there are a time diversity, in which identical signals are transmitted twice at different times, a frequency diversity, in which identical signals are transmitted by two different frequencies, an antenna diversity, in which the transmitted signals are received by two antennas arranged at different locations, or a path diversity, in which a plurality of delayed waves arriving at the antennas via different propagation paths (channels) are combined.
NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Panasonic and Sharp, "Repetition of ACK/NACK in E-UTRA Uplink", R1-070101, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 Meeting, #47bis (2007.01), (Document 1), disclose a technique combining time diversity and frequency diversity. In Document 1, as shown in FIG. 1, two transmit RF signals which have different center frequencies are generated from an identical data signal (ACK/NACK signal in Document 1) and transmitted at different times. Since the two transmit RF signals have different center frequencies, even in the case where they are transmitted via a channel having frequency selectivity likewise a multipath channel, there will be less possibility that both transmit RF signals will concurrently pass through a frequency band with large power attenuation (frequency diversity). In addition, because the transmitting time of the two transmit RF signals is different, the peak power can be prevented from increasing, which is caused by the transmit RF signals becoming multicarrier signals, and the two transmit RF signals can also be prevented from being transmitted concurrently during a time zone with large power attenuation (time diversity).
However, in the method described in Document 1, frequency conversion must be performed twice in order to transmit the same data signal in different frequencies and at different times. In the frequency conversion, for example, it is necessary to carry out the following processes; (a) generate sinusoidal signals, (b) multiply a transmit baseband signal obtained by modulating the data signal by the sinusoidal signal, and (c) filter the multiplied signal. In the method of Document 1, these processes are performed twice, by using sinusoidal signals having different frequencies.
Generally, the process of this type of frequency conversion requires an increase in calculation amount in accordance with the signal length of the data signal. In the case of a digital signal process, the number of times of multiplication is required in proportion to the signal length. Accordingly, it is not favorable for mobile appliances requiring downsizing, lightness and low power consumption to carry out the frequency conversion process twice, since this leads to increased power consumption and circuit size.

Radio communication method, radio transmission apparatus and receiving apparatus


The present invention relates to an S-CSCF receiving a terminating request associated with a called user and executing services for the called user. The S-CSCF determines an indication in Session Case indicating originating services handling in call forwarding situation, and based on this executes a subset of services for the user.

Within the IP (Internet Protocol) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) as defined by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) defined by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is used for controlling communication. SIP is an application-layer control protocol for creating, modifying, and terminating sessions with one or more participants. These sessions may include Internet multimedia conferences, Internet telephone calls, and multimedia distribution. Members in a session can communicate via multicast or via a mesh of unicast relations, or a combination of these. Diameter protocol has been defined by IETF and is intended to provide an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) framework for applications such as network access or IP mobility.
Different types network entities and functions exist in the IMS network. Call Session Control Functions (CSCF) implement a session control function in SIP layer. The CSCF can act as Proxy CSCF (P-CSCF), Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) or Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF). The P-CSCF is the first contact point for the User Equipment (UE) within the IMS; the S-CSCF actually handles the session states in the network; the I-CSCF is mainly the contact point within an operator's network for all IMS connections destined to a subscriber of that network operator, or a roaming subscriber currently located within that network operator's service area.
The functions performed by the I-CSCF are, for example, assigning an S-CSCF to a user performing SIP registration and routing SIP requests received from another network towards the S-CSCF. The S-CSCF performs the session control services for the UE. It maintains a session state as needed by the network operator for support of the services and may be acting as Registrar, i.e. it accepts registration requests and makes its information available through the location server (e.g. HSS). The S-CSCF is the central point to users that are hosted by this S-CSCF. The S-CSCF provides services to registered and unregistered users when it is assigned to these users. This assignment is stored in the Home Subscriber Server (HSS).
The HSS is the master database for a given user. It is the entity containing the subscription-related information to support the network entities actually handling calls/sessions. As an example, the HSS provides support to the call control servers (CSCFs) in order to complete the routing/roaming procedures by solving authentication, authorisation, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.
The HSS is responsible for holding the following user related information:                User Identification, Numbering and addressing information;        User Security information: Network access control information for authentication and authorization;        User Location information at inter-system level: the HSS supports the user registration, and stores inter-system location information, etc.;        User profile information.
Call forwarding or call diversion is a service in which the called user may activate a service to forward/divert an incoming call or session to new destination if predetermined conditions exist. These conditions may be e.g. that the called user does not answer, or is busy or that incoming calls are always forwarded. In IMS network upon detecting a call forwarding, the S-CSCF procedure stops executing the services of the served or called user (the user who has activated call forwarding) and does not allow the execution of any further services. However in some cases it may necessary to execute the originating services of the served user after the call forwarding (diversion) is detected.
Solutions to this situation have been discussed before. First proposal is so called P-Served-User based approach which has been discussed in IETF document draft-vanelburg-sipping-served-user-01 and in related discussion paper discussed at CT#48 (document number C1-071596).
P-Served-User approach proposes to use the "orig" parameter to indicate that originating services of the served user must be executed.
However, this solution may cause problems: if originating and terminating S-CSCF functionalities are separated, the returning request is routed to an originating S-CSCF, which will consider the request as a returning request (the original dialog identifier is there), but either does not have the related dialog or (if the calling party is served by the same S-CSCF) the related dialog serves the calling party and thus the original dialog identifier is not acceptable for that dialog (or it is accepted and S-CSCF assumes that the request is returning from the application server (AS) after performing the originating service of the calling party, although the AS already served the forwarding party).
Another proposed solution is SIP History-Info based approach discussed in IETF document RFC 4244 and in related discussion paper discussed at CT#48 (document number C1-071682).
History-Info approach proposes to use the existence of the SIP History-Info header to indicate that originating services of the served user must be executed. This proposal also has drawbacks. If an AS works according to the supplementary service specification for Call Diversion, then it must add the History-Info and still may intend to indicate that originating services are not needed. Also it is possible that History-Info is already in the message (although S-CSCF after detecting call forwarding may check whether the last entry of the History-Info header includes the served user or not)
Both approaches propose a solution where the AS controls the service execution (by inserting "orig" parameter/History-Info header), this may enable smart users to skip e.g. barring service.
The object of the invention is to overcome the above drawbacks

Providing services in case of call diversion in a communication system