The description is of a procedure that allows temporary secure access to a communication network. The network has a number of network connection ports. Certain of these ports are termed confidential, that is, their access is controlled by the network operator, in contrast to the other connection ports access to which is free. The access procedure claims is based on the provision of two distinct services accessible via tunnels that are, advantageously, digital. The first service is accessible only from the confidential connection ports and only allows a connection credit to be obtained. The second service is accessible from all connection ports, only by means of the connection credit issued by the first service.

Modern communication networks are currently found almost everywhere, both in domestic and in business locations. These networks allow the implementation of safety procedures allowing connection only to duly authenticated persons. These access procedures are generally based on allocation of connection credits to persons required to connect. These connection credits are then verified during connection procedures. These procedures are known to specialists in the field by the acronym "AAA" (Authentication, Authorisation and Accounting). The process involves authorising an authenticated person to connect and be able to report on the authorisations thus granted. The connection credits thus granted are typically combinations of connection name and password, or cryptographic certificates or any other means of user identification. These procedures are well known and their liability is proven.
However, these connection credits and the process of allocating and managing them are often difficult to implement. Implementation is justified for regular users of a secure network, but can be cumbersome for occasional users of a communication network.

Secure procedure for accessing a network and network thus protected


Techniques are described for suggesting aliases for a resource within a computing environment based on user-provided aliases for the resource. Embodiments determine a plurality of user-provided aliases for the resource and generate a suggested alias for the resource based on the plurality of user-provided aliases. The suggested resource may be provided to a user of the computing environment. The suggested alias is then associated with the resource, such that the user may refer to the resource using the suggested alias for the resource.

The present invention relates in general to the field of computers and similar technologies, and in particular to software utilized in this field.
One technique for managing multiple configuration items (hereinafter referred to as "resources") in a computing environment is through the use of a Configuration Management Database (or "CMDB"). Generally speaking, such a resource may be hardware and/or software entity within a computing environment. Examples of such resources include, without limitation, switches, routers, printers, storage devices, computer systems, software applications, and application packages.
Along with representing and storing relationships between resources, one purpose of the CMDB is to provide a correlation mechanism between resources. For example, two management products may discover a single computer system and yet call the single computer system different names. Thus, it is important to represent this single computer system as a single resource within the CMDB. In order to foster consistent identification of resources in the CMDB, a CMDB Common Data Model ("CDM") formally defines the ways in which each type (or class) of resource is identified through the use of naming rules. These rules list the potential attributes that provide identifying characteristics, the combination of those attributes that are needed to identify the resource, and what the context is that makes that combination unique. For example, there might be a rule that says that combining "Manufacturer," "MachineType," "Model," and "SerialNumber" give a unique identification of a computer system. For some types of resources, a simple combination of attributes is not sufficient to uniquely identify a resource without some other context. For example, the drive letter (e.g., "C:") of a logical disk is not sufficient to give a unique identification without further context. However, such a drive letter is unique within the context of an Operating System instance.
While such rules may uniquely identify the resources, the rules do not always produce user-friendly names for the resources. For instance, where a rule states that the "Manufacturer," "MachineType," "Model," and "SerialNumber" of a computer system could be combined to produce a unique name for the computer system, the resulting name may not be convenient for users to work with. That is, a name generated according to the aforementioned rule may be substantially lengthy in nature, making it inconvenient for users to utilize it for operations involving the computer system. Furthermore, such a generated name may not be intuitive to users, as they may not know the model type or serial number of the computer system without consulting reference material for the computer system. As such, users may be allowed to assign a user-specific name (also referred to herein as an "alias") to a resource. However, as different users may assign different aliases to the same resource, this may create confusion when the users communicate regarding the resource. For instance, a first user may refer to a computer system using the alias "ws1par1" while a second user may refer to the same computer system using the alias "websphere1." If the first user then asks the second user to perform an operation on "ws1par1", the second user may be confused as to which computer system the first user is referring to.

Enabling and managing user-specified aliases

International Business Machines Corporation


There is disclosed a method for the removal and recovery of hydrocarbons which are contained within the air/vapor mixture in bulk oil or gasoline storage tanks using fractional condensation with cryogenic cooling. The air/vapor mixture is flushed from the tank with fresh air and passed, successively, through several stages of a portable condenser train. When necessary, the first stage of the treatment comprises a caustic wash stage where the air/vapor mixture is contacted completely with a caustic solution to remove sulfur compounds. The desulfurized air/vapor mixture is then passed to the first condenser stage which condenses and removes substantially all moisture within the mixture. The de-humidified, desulfurized mixture is then passed to an intermediate stage where the heavier hydrocarbon fractions are condensed and separated and is then passed to a final condenser stage where it is cooled to a temperature of at least -100 degrees F., sufficient to condense substantially all hydrocarbon component therein. The cooling is accomplished cryogenically with direct or indirect heat exchange in each of the condenser stages, using liquid nitrogen. The treated air from the final condenser can be recycled as a source of the air to flush the bulk oil or gasoline storage tank.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vapor treatment facilities and, in particular, to the application of such facilities in cleaning of petroleum storage tanks.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
Petroleum and its volatile products are stored at bulk terminals, refineries and the like in floating or fixed roof tanks. In floating roof storage tanks, the tank roof floats on the liquid contained within the tank, thereby greatly reducing the volume of vapor over the liquid in the tank. Although these tanks minimize the volume of vapors which are discharged to the atmosphere during operations, substantial quantities of vapors are discharged to the environment when the tank is completely emptied, as the floating roof descends to a minimum height which is approximately 6 feet above the bottom of the tank. The tanks are cleaned periodically, and it is necessary to flush the mixture of air and hydrocarbon gases within the tank with fresh air, until the hydrocarbon content of the mixture is sufficiently low to permit workmen to enter the tank for cleaning operations.
During storage of volatile petroleum distillate products such as gasoline, the mixture of air and gasoline vapors within the tank can contain up to about 35 percent hydrocarbons. Additionally, unrefined petroleum crude products such as untreated sour hydrocarbons, can contain sulfur compounds such as mercaptans, hydrogen sulphide, sulfur dioxide and the like. The discharge of the hydrocarbons or the sulfur compounds into the atmosphere during flushing of the tanks of increasing environmental concern. In some areas of the country, notably Southern California, existing or threatened legislation will prohibit the discharge of this vapor/air mixture directly into the atmosphere.
Various refrigeration units have been proposed to recover vapors from underground gasoline storage tanks at gasoline service stations, or other low volume sources of hydrocarbons, prior to filling of these tanks. These tanks, however, are very small in comparison to the large bulk storage tanks at oil terminals and refineries, and the prior units are far undersized for use in treating the air/vapor mixture from a bulk oil storage tank. Additionally, service station sites are readily accessible and have electrical power supplies which accommodate a portable refrigeration unit, conditions which are seldom present a bulk petroleum storage tank sites.

Vapor treatment facilities for petroleum storage tank cleaning


A multilayer heat-sealable chlorine-free odor barrier film having relatively low modulus, high interlaminar strength, and low noise upon flexing is provided. The film comprises an odor barrier layer of an amorphous polyamide resin blended with an anhydride-modified olefinic polymer or copolymer. The film also includes at least one heat-sealable skin layer, preferably two such skin layers on opposite sides of said odor barrier layer, composed of an ethylene polymer or copolymer. Pouches formed of such multilayer films are also disclosed.

Films for ostomy applications should have good odor barrier properties and produce minimal noise when flexed or wrinkled to avoid embarrassment to users. Typically, films currently in use for ostomy applications utilize polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) or copolymers of vinylidene chloride with a comonomer such as methylacrylate or vinylchloride as the gas barrier layer of a multilayer film. Such multilayer films have good resistance to odor transmission and are also relatively quiet; however, they are also believed to be hazardous to the environment when disposed of by incineration, a common practice in numerous countries. Chlorinated polymers generate hydrochloric acid as a byproduct of incineration and are believed to be a significant contributor to hydrochloric acid release from incinerator flue gases. Furthermore, chlorinated polymers are believed to form toxic dioxin derivatives as byproducts of incineration which are retained in the ashes and may possibly cause solid waste disposal problems.
Unfortunately, films formed of chlorine-free barrier resins tend to be stiffer and noisier than films utilizing conventional PVDC-based resins and do not match the quality of conventional chlorinated films for use in ostomy appliances. Thus, a need exists for a multilayer film which is chlorine-free, can be manufactured by coextrusion from readily available raw materials, is heat sealable, has high softness and low noise when flexed or wrinkled, and is impermeable to fecal odors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,489 discloses a multilayer barrier film in which a chlorine-free barrier layer is composed of amorphous nylon, crystalline nylon, copolymers of ethylene and vinyl alcohol, or blends thereof. Although data presented in the patent indicate the multilayer films to be comparable in quietness to some chlorinated films in general commercial use, experience has revealed that such chlorine-free films are nevertheless significantly noisier than the chlorine-containing films commonly employed for the fabrication of ostomy pouches. The general observation is that chlorine-free barrier resins are high modulus, stiff materials that do not lend themselves to the production of low noise ostomy films. This is true of all nylon (polyamide) barrier resins, both crystalline and amorphous. It is true also of other known chlorine-free barrier resins such as hydrolyzed ethylene-vinylacetate copolymers, commonly known as ethylene-vinylalcohol copolymers, and copolymers of acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile of high nitrile content, commonly known as nitrile resins.
The aforementioned U.S. patent specifically notes in column 1, lines 46-52, that multilayer films using nylon as a barrier layer are known for various uses, including the packaging of meats where oxygen and moisture barrier properties are important, but such films are taught to be biaxially oriented to improve puncture resistance, making them too noisy for use in ostomy applications.
Other references illustrating the current state of the art relating to chlorine-free multilayer films are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,496,295, 5,643,375, 5,407,713, and 5,895,694.
An important aspect of this invention lies in the discovery that the noise properties of a multilayer film in which amorphous nylon (polyamide) is utilized for the odor barrier layer may be significantly reduced, without appreciably affecting the barrier properties, by blending the nylon with an anhydride-modified olefinic polymer or copolymer having a density of 0.95 g/cc or lower. The anhydride-modified olefinic polymer or copolymer should be present in the range of about 10% to 30%, preferably 15% to 25%, per total weight of the barrier layer.
The multilayer film includes at least one skin layer, preferably two such skin layers, consisting essentially of an ethylene polymer or copolymer, and an adhesive tie layer interposed between each skin layer and the blended amorphous nylon barrier layer. Each adhesive tie layer is primarily composed of an anhydride-modified ethylenic polymer, such as polyethylene or copolymer of ethylene and vinylacetate, containing anhydride groups capable of promoting interfacial adhesion with the polyamide-containing barrier layer.
The result is a heat-sealable multilayer film that is particularly useful for ostomy appliances because of its exceptional odor barrier properties while at the same time being relatively soft (low modulus) and quiet in relation to known chlorine-free films in which the odor barrier layer is formed entirely of nylon, ethylene-vinylalcohol copolymers, or nitrile resins. With regard to the generation of noise upon flexing, the chlorine-free multilayer films of this invention compare favorably with prior art ostomy films having chlorinated barrier layers. A pouch formed of the multilayer film of this invention therefore has properties comparable to those exhibited by high-quality pouches formed of chlorine-containing compositions but without the environmental shortcomings described above.
Other features, advantages and objects of the invention will become apparent from the specification and drawings.

Multilayer chlorine-free film with barrier layer of a polyamide blend and ostomy pouches formed therefrom


A wireless communications device supports a constant transmission power mode of operation and a time varying transmission power mode of operation for transmitting data, e.g., peer discovery data. The device determines an amount of network congestion and switches between the two modes of operation as a function of the determined amount of network congestion. Various described methods and apparatus are well suited for use in a peer to peer ad hoc wireless communications system in which a limited amount of air link resources are available for peer discovery signaling and the same peer discovery resources are, at times, used concurrently by multiple devices. When network congestion is low, the device operates in the constant transmission power mode. When network congestion is high, the device operates in the time varying power mode. Devices sharing a common peer discovery resource in a local area intentionally select different time varying transmission patterns.

In some peer to peer communications systems there are a limited amount of air link resources available for peer discovery broadcast signaling. Congestion in the system may, and often does, vary widely over time. Sometimes there may be only a few devices which desire to broadcast peer discovery signals, and each device may be able to acquire and use a peer discovery resource which is not being used by any other device in its vicinity. However, at other times there may be a very large number of devices which desire to broadcast peer discovery signals, and there may not be enough peer discovery resources available for each device to select a unique resource. As a result, at times of high congestion it is expected that multiple users may acquire and transmit on the same peer discovery resources. This concurrent use of a common resource creates interference problems for devices attempting to recover the broadcast peer discovery signals.
Based on the above discussion it should be appreciated that there is a need for methods and apparatus for communicating data which are responsive to the network congestion environment. Methods and apparatus which tend to mitigate interference problems when network congestion is high would be especially beneficial.

Methods and apparatus for communicating information using various transmission power levels


A beam-scan display apparatus (10) displays an image by scanning a beam on a retina of a user, the beam-scan display apparatus (10) includes a case (11) housing (i) a light source (101) emitting a beam for drawing each of pixels constituting the image, and (ii) a scan unit (103) two-dimensionally scanning the beam emitted from the light source (101). Further, the beam-scan apparatus includes a contact lens (12) having a deflection unit (104) deflecting, toward the retina of an eye of the user wearing the case (11), the beam scanned by the scan unit (103), wherein the contact lens (12) is separate from the case (11).

One of conventional methods used for display apparatuses such as head-mounted displays (HMDs) is a method of directly drawing images on the retinas of the user's eyes by two-dimensionally scanning laser beams (hereinafter, described as a laser scanning method) (for example, see Patent Reference 1). The display apparatus according to the laser scanning method is also known as a retinal scanning display (RSD), retinal irradiation display, retinal direct-drawing display, laser scanning display, direct-view-type display, virtual retinal display (VRD), and so on.
Further, an eyeglass-type HMD according to the laser scanning method has also been proposed (for example, see Patent Reference 2).
Furthermore, although it is different from the HMD and the laser scanning method, a method for wearing a display apparatus on eyes like contact lenses has also been proposed (for example, see Patent Reference 3).
Moreover, to detect the user's line of sight, there is a method of using reflection of infrared light projected onto the user's eyes (for example, see Patent Reference 4), and a method of using reflection of a laser beam scanned on the user's eyes (for example, see Patent Reference 5).    Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent No. 2932636    Patent Reference 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-70671    Patent Reference 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-311823    Patent Reference 4: Japanese Patent No. 2995876    Patent Reference 5: Japanese Patent No. 3425818

Beam-scan display apparatus, display method, and vehicle


A twist drill for use, predominantly by non-professional do-it-yourself workers incorporates a flute architecture with an internal ridge for promoting the break up of chips into short length components. The tip of the twist drill includes an axial relief construction for improved performance across a wide variety of materials, and a highly sloped face for prompting transport of chips away from the drill tip.

1. The Technical Field
The present invention is directed to twist drills for use, primarily by non-professionals, for multiple material applications (wood, drywall, plastic, rubber, non-ferrous metals and thin ferrous plate or sheets).
2. The Prior Art
For each type of material (wood, drywall, plastic, rubber, non-ferrous metals, ferrous metals, ceramics, glass), there exists a specific twist drill design which can be optimized for use with that particular material. However, such highly specialized twist drills can be expensive in and of themselves, and having a complete suite of twist drills for each material can present an expense that only a professional machine shop can afford. For individual persons or small businesses, such highly specialized twist drills can be an unjustifiable expense.
In addition, twist drills that are made for "home" or non-professional use, that is, for drilling in typical materials as wood, drywall, plastic, rubber, non-ferrous metals (e.g., aluminum, copper), and thin ferrous plate (sheet steel), are typically configured to produce relatively long spiral or coiled chips, which can be bothersome as they tend to collect around the drilling site, and can interfere with the actual operation of the twist drill.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an improved twist drill design that is capable of performing well when used with a wide variety of materials.
It would be desirable to provide a twist drill design, particularly for multiple materials, that is capable of providing smooth, clean drilling.
It would also be desirable to provide a twist drill design that has improved material removal characteristics.
It would also be desirable to provide a twist drill design particularly suited for non-professional or home use, which is configured to produce small chips that are readily removed from the interface between the work material and the twist drill, for improved performance.
These and other desirable characteristics of the present invention will become apparent in view of the present specification, including claims, and drawings.


A radome is provided and includes a substrate formed of moisture permeable material and a coating disposed on a surface of the SCFS substrate. The coating includes a layer of inorganic material disposed adjacent to at least one layer of organic material.

The present disclosure relates generally to radome films and, more particularly, to low permeable materials for radome films.
A radome is an enclosure that protects a device, such as a microwave or radar antenna. The radome is constructed of material that minimally attenuates electromagnetic signals. Radomes also serve to protect antenna surfaces from weather or to conceal antenna electronic equipment from view. Radomes can be spherical, geodesic, planar, etc., depending upon the particular application and may be ground or aircraft based.
Slip cast fused silica (SCFS) is a porous material that is commonly used in radomes that are required to have low loss characteristics with respect to various types of microwave energy, to withstand broad temperature excursions and to survive extreme physical stress. The migration of electronics to non-hermetic packaging, which is housed within the radome, has thus exposed certain sensitive devices to environments to which the radome likewise is exposed. Of particular concern is exposure of the electronics to moisture where the porosity of the fused silica allows both liquid and vapor to pass through. The low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the fused silica also presents challenges to attempts to infiltrate or coat radome systems to thereby reduce liquid or vapor transmission.
Indeed, previous attempts to address the problems of SCFS have involved remelting the surface of the SCFS to form a continuous "glass" layer. This process tended to ultimately compromise structural requirements of the assembly or resulted in cracks that allowed rapid influx of water vapor. Vacuum infiltration of SCFS with a liquid silicone material has also been attempted. Here, the silicone material prevents liquids from passing through the radome wall but does not limit its water vapor transmission rate (WVTR). Desiccants have also been used inside the radome to lower moisture levels but this is an "after-the-fact" solution that does not prevent moisture infiltration.


The present invention relates to a novel molecule useful for anthrax toxin inhibition in vivo and also provides a method for in vivo inhibition of anthrax toxin action using the new molecule.

Anthrax is a bacterial disease caused by Bacillus anthracis. The disease primarily affects herbivores but humans can also get infected while dealing with such animals. B. anthracis is a potential agent of bio-terrorism. Main symptoms comprise dizziness, fever, edema followed by death. The toxic action of anthrax has been attributed to anthrax toxin produced by the bacterium. The toxin can be resolved into three distinct protein components protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF). The combination of EF and PA (edema toxin) produces skin edema, while LF and PA (Lethal toxin) are lethal to animals. The three proteins are individually non-toxic. EF is a calcium and calmodulin dependent adenylate cyclase that acts by increasing the intracellular cAMP levels in eukaryotic cells and LF is a Zn2+ dependent metalloprotease that leads to increase in IL-1 and TNF-α production by susceptible cells and cleaves several MAP Kinase Kinases (MKK 1, 2 and 3) (Leppla, 1999).
According to the current model of anthrax toxin action, PA binds to anthrax toxin receptor present on cell surface and gets proteolytically activated by cell surface proteases to PA63. This allows oligomerization and binding of LF/EF. The toxin complex is internalized by receptor mediated endocytosis and is exposed to acidic pH inside the endosome. This change in pH triggers both membrane insertion by PA63 and translocation of LF/EF into the cytosol (Leppla, 1999).
Membrane insertion and channel formation are brought about by a large 2β2–2β3 loop (amino-acid residues 302–325) in the domain II of PA (Petosa et al., 1997). The loop shows a conserved pattern of alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic amino-acid residues similar to that observed in Clostridium perfringens iota-b toxin. PA has also been shown to possess high degree of homology with the iota-b toxin (Perelle et al., 1993).
Translocation of LF/EF to the cytosol is believed to occur through a channel formed by insertion of heptameric PA63 into the membrane. The formation of ion-conductive channels by PA63 has been demonstrated in both artificial lipid membranes and in CHO-K1 cells. Acidic pH triggers stable oligomerization, membrane insertion by PA63 and translocation of LF into the cytosol of mammalian cells.
A recombinant vaccine candidate, PA-D, in which furin cleavage site of PA was deleted has been reported by Singh et al., 1989. This recombinant protein (PA-D) was completely non-toxic to macrophage like cell lines as well as when administered in Fischer 344 rats in combination with LF whereas wild-type PA plus LF killed the rats within 60 min. PA-D blocked the action of anthrax toxin albeit at higher concentrations than the wild-type protein due to which this molecule does not seem to be an effective inhibitor of anthrax toxin action. Hence need exists to develop a more potent candidate molecule such as dominant negative inhibitor for anthrax toxin inhibition. No report on dominant negative inhibition of anthrax toxin action exists.
Sirard et al (1997) discloses a recombinant protein that comprises "amino acid residues of amphiphatic loop of iot-toxin" wherein the recombinant protein is produced through fusion of Bacillus anthraces pag gene promoter to the iota-toxin Ib gene. While the claimed molecule, PA-I is mutant version of PA, where only 23 amino acid have been used from iota-b-toxin and the resulting molecule behaves like a dominant negative inhibitor of anthrax toxin. The present invention is not a full length iota-b-toxin. Thus the recombinant protein is totally different.
Sellman et al (2001) discloses a dominant mutant inhibitor of PA, wherein the molecule comprises an amino acid residues present in 2B2–2B3 loop of iota-b-toxin, wherein PA evidenced a mutation with a change from phenylalanine to alanine. Both molecules i.e. PA-I and the molecule developed by Sellman are derived from PA only but still they differ significantly in their sequences. PA-I has 23 amino acids from iota-b toxin while the molecule developed by Sellman et al has only one mutation in PA protein. The region where it differs in PA is also different. It is very clear that these both molecules are distinct. The main feature of the invention is replacement of bolded part of PA sequence with blue part of the iota b toxin sequence to get the PA-I.
Here we describe for the first time, a novel mutant PA protein which obviates the drawback listed above. It acts as a dominant negative inhibitor of anthrax toxin action. The protein is completely non-toxic both in vitro and in vivo and completely inhibits the lethal effect of the native toxin at equimolar concentrations. This molecule is a better substitute for in vivo inhibition of anthrax toxin in comparison to PA-D since it can inhibit the action of anthrax toxin when present at equimolar or substantially lower concentrations than wild-type protein.
No such molecule has been reported for inactivation of anthrax toxin action. The approach taken herein for inactivation of anthrax toxin action is a novel one.

Protein molecule useful for inhibition of anthrax toxin

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research


The present invention relates to an aqueous metallic ink composition having utility in ink for writing instruments, for printing, for coating, and the like. The composition includes a metallic powder pigment, a colorant, water, and a water-soluble organic solvent, and further includes a natural polysaccharide and at least one compound selected from cellulose derivatives, a cyclodextrin, cyclodextrin derivatives, a water-soluble soy polysaccharide, and water-soluble soy polysaccharide derivatives. In case that an anionic polymer is added as a pigment dispersant into the aqueous metallic pigment composition, the pH value is adjusted to 8.0-10.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides an aqueous metallic ink composition. More particularly, the aqueous metallic ink composition of the invention has utility in the ink for writing instruments, for printing, for coating, and the like.
2. Description of Related Arts
It has been a conventional practice to prepare an aqueous metallic ink composition by adding to an aqueous solution with a metallic powder pigment and a colorant, a water-soluble organic solvent, if required, and a water-soluble resin as a bonding agent (a binder resin), a viscosity controlling agent, or a dispersant, and the like. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.8-199108 (1996) discloses an aqueous ink composition for ball-point pens comprising a metallic powder pigment, a resin, a specific compound capable of providing lubricity, a water-soluble organic solvent, and water. In this report, the resin is used as the bonding agent (the binder resin) and the viscosity controlling agent. The binder resin includes, for example, a water-soluble acrylic resin, an acrylic emulsion and the like. Examples of thickening agents include a microbial polysaccharide or derivatives thereof such as xanthan gum or dextran, a water-soluble vegetable polysaccharide or derivatives thereof, and a water-soluble seaweed polysaccharide or derivatives thereof, water-soluble cellulose derivatives, and a water-soluble synthetic polymer. Frequently, an anionic polymer such as the acrylic resin is used as a pigment dispersant.
However, when the aqueous metallic ink composition containing the conventional water-soluble resin is used for coating (writing or printing) on an absorbent surface (the surface capable of absorbing aqueous ink or being penetrated by aqueous ink) such as a paper (for example, a paper for copy), the pigment (the colorant) penetrates into the paper and the density of the color development at the ink film such as prints or images decreases with the passage of time (for example, from the moment of writing to a few minutes after writing). Also the problem arises that the ink film such as prints or images blurs easily. At the same time, the ink film fixability to a nonabsorbent surface (the surface which neither absorbs the aqueous ink nor be penetrated by the aqueous ink) is low. Moreover, using only the cellulose derivative as a water-soluble resin, the dispersibility falls off because of gelation. These ink compositions have low viscosity stability with time, so the viscosity increases or decreases after storage. Therefore, it is difficult to keep the adequate viscosity for a long time. Accordingly, it is difficult to control the viscosity of the ink composition for each purpose.
The anionic polymer as the pigment dispersant also may cause a viscosity change of the ink (such as an increase of the viscosity) with aggregation or precipitation. The metallic powder pigment (particularly, an aluminum powder pigment) tends to ionize in the ink and the pH of the ink changes because of the ion element which is produced by the metallic powder pigment. Specifically, when the pH of the ink decreases, the aggregation or the precipitation of the anionic polymer changes the viscosity of the ink. Furthermore, the change of the viscosity, which is caused by the aggregation or the precipitation of the anionic polymer in the ink, is often the increase of the viscosity. Accordingly, the writing characteristic deteriorates in some cases.
Thus, the conventional aqueous metallic ink composition has problems in that the density of color development at the ink film decreases while the viscosity stability with time is low.


In an optical multiplexing communication system, a frequency conversion of the optical multiplexed signals having different amplitudes for different communication channels into a plurality of optical pulse sequences having different carrier frequencies for different communication channels is carried out, and the plurality of optical pulse sequences obtained by the frequency conversion are demultiplexed into optical pulse sequences for different communication channels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical multiplexing communication method, an optical multiplexing communication system, an optical signal multiplexing device, and an optical multiplexed signal demultiplexing device for optical signals used in a high speed optical transmission system, a wavelength division multiplexing transmission system, an optical signal processing system, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A ultra high speed optical transmission system aiming at the realization of an optical communication system with a larger capacity has been under the development in view of the rapid increase of traffics in the data communications. More specifically, the attempt has been made to replace the multiplexing/demultiplexing circuits that have been formed by electronic circuits with all-optical type optical signal processing circuits, so as to eliminate the limitation due to the electronic circuits on the transmission speed.
The basic concept behind such a prior art is that portions such as the optical modulation unit and the photo-detection unit that can be processed by the electronic circuits will be electrically processed at a low speed, while portions that can be processed all-optically will be processed as ultra high speed signals with the operation speed faster than that of the electronic circuit which are realized by the optical time division multiplexing. Based on this concept, the ultra high speed transmission experiments of 400 Gbit/s, 640 Gbit/s, and 1.28 Tbit/s have been reported so far.
FIG. 10 schematically shows a conventional ultra high speed optical communication system using the optical time division multiplexing. As shown in FIG. 10, the optical signals of Fø Hz before the multiplexing that are generated from a light source 51 are all optically time division N demultiplexed at the optical signal multiplexing device (optical multiplexer) 53, electrically modulated by an optical modulator 52, and then N multiplexed again by the optical signal multiplexing device 53, and transmitted through an optical transmission line as the optical multiplexed signals of N×Fø bit/s. The optical multiplexed signals received by an optical multiplexed signal demultiplexing device (optical demultiplexer) 54 are demultiplexed into the optical signals of Fø bit/s in N communication channels, and the demultiplexed optical signals of Fø bit/s are converted into electric signals by photo-detectors 55 provided in correspondence to the respective communication channels and processed electrically.
FIG. 11 shows an exemplary configuration of the conventional optical signal multiplexing device 53. The optical signal multiplexing device 53 of FIG. 11 comprises delay lines 56 capable of realizing the ultra high speed signal pulse sequences of N×Fø bit/s by the N-fold time division multiplexing, and N sets of optical branching couplers 57. Here, the branching ratio of the optical branching coupler 57 is fixed such that the optical signal pulse sequences after the multiplexing have equal amplitudes. FIG. 12 schematically shows a concept of the conventional optical signal multiplexing described above.
The representative optical signal multiplexing device proposed so far is one in which delay lines with delay time differences which are multiples of a prescribed delay time are combined in multiple stages, and the representative optical multiplexed signal demultiplexing device is one in which a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) of the Sagnac interferometer is combined with the optical Kerr effect.
FIG. 13 schematically shows an exemplary configuration of the conventional optical multiplexed signal demultiplexing device 54. As shown in FIG. 13, the control pulses of Fø bit/s are indispensable in order to demultiplex the ultra high speed signal pulses of N×Fø bit/s into signal components of Fø bit/s. Here, in order to utilize the interference effect that occurs between the optical signals and the control pulse sequences, the control pulse sequences are required to be capable of being synchronized timewise with and having the polarization direction identical to the time division multiplexed input light signals, and to be having the optical intensity sufficiently larger than the optical signals.
Among the prior arts described above, the optical signal multiplexing device has a problem that, when the number of multiplexing N is increased to realize a large capacity, the time interval Tø between the optical signals becomes shorter so that there is a need to narrow down the pulse width T of the optical signals to be multiplexed and use the ultra short optical pulses that are difficult to transmit as the signal lights, and consequently the adaptation to the system is difficult.
On the other hand, the optical multiplexed signal demultiplexing device has a problem that there is a need to provide the high output short pulse light source for the control pulses, and a problem that the synchronization of timings of the optical signals and the control pulses is very difficult so that there is a need for the optical phase lock using an optical phase lock loop 58. In addition, it is often difficult to make the polarization directions identical and there is a need to form the entire system by using medium that can maintain the polarization direction for this reason, but there has been a problem that the system having such a configuration is very expensive.
FIG. 14 shows an exemplary configuration of the conventional optical multiplexer 102. The input optical pulse sequences having the clock frequency of Fø Hz are split into N by an optical intensity splitter 106, and the split optical pulse sequences are encoded by optical intensity modulators 107 having delay lines with delay time differences which are multiples of a prescribed delay time, and multiplexed again by an optical multiplexer 108, and then optical TDM signals of N×Fø bit/s are transmitted. At the optical demultiplexer 103, as shown in FIG. 15, the control pulse sequences having a repetition frequency of Fø Hz are synchronized with the signal lights of N×Fø bit/s by using an optical phase lock loop circuit 109, and the optical TDM signals are demultiplexed into optical signals of Fø bit/s by the nonlinear interaction (optical Kerr effect).
As shown in FIG. 16, the N-fold time division multiplexed ultra high speed signals of N×Fø bit/s are produced. The signal (pulse) interval that was 1/Fø sec. before the multiplexing is multiplied by 1/N by the multiplexing and becomes as short as (1/N)×(1/Fø) sec. Consequently, the synchronization with the control pulses (of the repetition frequency Fø Hz) at the optical demultiplexer 103 becomes increasingly difficult in counter proportion to the level of multiplexing. Also, the signals propagated through the conventional transmission line have the timing displacements due to the environmental change such as that of the temperature so that the synchronization with the control pulses has been even more difficult. In addition, in order for the signal lights and the control lights to interact at high efficiency, it is necessary to make the polarization directions coincide so that there is a need to construct the entire transmission system by a medium that can maintain the polarization direction, but its realization has a problem in terms of the cost.

Optical multiplexing communication system using ultra high speed signal transmission

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


A ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) device, including a relay for control a switch to be in an open position or a closed position, the relay including a first coil and a second coil, wherein when both the first coil and the second coil are non-conductive, the switch is caused to be in the open position. The GFCI also includes a relay start circuit connected to the first coil for causing the first coil to be conductive or non-conductive, wherein when the first coil is conductive, the first coil causes the switch to be in the closed position, but after the first coil is conductive, the coil start circuit becomes non-conductive. The GFCI further includes a relay sustain circuit connected to the second coil for causing the second coil to be conductive or non-conductive. In addition, the GFCI includes a ground fault detect circuit for causing both the relay start circuit and the relay sustain circuit to become non-conductive when a fault signal is detected, causing both the first coil and the second coil to be non-conductive, thereby causing the switch to be in the open position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical safety protection, and in particular, it relates to a power plug or receptacle with a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) device utilizing a relay mechanism to reset the GFCI device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, to ensure safety in using electrical household appliances, the input side of the household appliances is usually provided with a power plug or receptacle having a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) device. Traditional GFCI devices have utilized mechanical reset mechanisms, wherein after reset, in an electrically disconnected state, the GFCI device remains in a reset state, i.e., the switch between the input and output terminals remains closed. However, at this state, if the hot wire of the input terminal is provided with electrical power, then the output terminal of the device will still have power, which presents a personal safety danger to the user.
Some other traditional GFCI devices utilize relay reset mechanisms but the spacing of the switch contacts between the electrical conductors of the input and output conducting path cannot be too large, otherwise the switch cannot be electromagnetically pulled to close. To solve this problem some existing GFCI devices with relay reset mechanisms apply larger electrical current to the relay, so that even switches with large spacing may be electromagnetically pulled to close. But when these types of GFCI devices are powered on for an extended period of time, the coils of the relays will heat up significantly, seriously increasing the risk of fire hazard.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a new relay reset circuit design for GFCI devices, which can ensure that even when one of the input terminals is provided with electrical power, the output or load terminals still has no power, and which can also ensure that the switch can be reliably pulled to close electromagnetically while the spacing of the switch contacts can still be increased, so that the relay mechanism can function normally and the personal safety of the users are protected.


A crystal oscillator, and a measurement method using same are provided with which the density of a solution can be measured alone, or both the density and the viscosity of a solution can be measured at the same time using a single detector provided for the crystal oscillator. A material to be measured is contacted to the crystal oscillator, and the crystal oscillator that includes electrodes formed on both surfaces of a piezoelectric plate, and an uneven-surface formed either on one of the electrodes disposed on the side in contact with the material to be measured, or on a detector formed on the electrode is oscillated. An amount of change in frequency (f2) that corresponds to the high-frequency side of two frequencies that represent a half value of a conductance maximum value of the crystal oscillator is measured to measure a density of the material.

The QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) method that utilizes the resonance phenomenon of a crystal oscillator allows for the detection of even very small mass changes using a simple apparatus, not only for measurements in a gaseous phase but also in a liquid phase. For this reason, the QCM method has been widely used for, for example, gas sensors, film thickness sensors, chemical sensors, and biosensors that measure interactions of biological materials such as DNA and protein.
Conventionally, the QCM method is applied in a variety of measurements by being used to measure the resonant frequency that results from oscillation, or the resonant frequency obtained by sweeping a frequency using a device such as an impedance analyzer and a network analyzer.
In QCM measurement performed in a gaseous phase, only the mass of the material adhered to an electrode surface is detected as an amount of frequency change, and accordingly conversion into density is relatively easy.
However, in the measurement of solution density and viscosity, it has been difficult to separately measure the density and the viscosity of the solution using the conventional QCM method, because, unlike measurement in a gaseous phase, the frequency change due to the solution resistance on the oscillating surface of a crystal oscillator has a correlation with the product of density and viscosity.
Thus, if the density and viscosity were both unknown, the values of density and viscosity cannot be determined using the conventional QCM method.
As a countermeasure, U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,961 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,452 propose methods for measuring solution density and viscosity using a sensor provided with two or more detectors. At least one of the detectors is used as a reference detector that measures the frequency due to solution resistance, and the solution resistance component of the reference detectors is removed from the measurement results of the other detectors so as to measure the density and viscosity of the solution.
However, it is laborious to provide a plurality of detectors for a single piezoelectric plate, or to use a plurality of sensors. In addition to being laborious, it increases the manufacturing cost of the sensor. Another problem is the individual differences among the detectors.
Further, drawing a standard curve with a single sensor requires preparation of a plurality of standard samples, and it takes time to start the actual measurement. Further, because the density and viscosity can only be determined from the resonant frequency that contains the information of both density and viscosity, measurement accuracy is considerably low.

Crystal oscillator, and measurement method using same


To solve the above problem, a first technology is an image processing device configured to estimate an approximate center of rotation of an endoscopic device based on motion detection in response to a movement of an objective lens at a distal portion of the endoscopic device by manipulating a proximal portion of the endoscopic device.

In recent years, in medical practice, laparoscopic operations may be performed instead of laparotomies in the related art.
FIG. 1 shows an outline of a laparoscopic operation. In the laparoscopic operation, for example, when an abdominal operation is performed, several opening tools, called trocars 2, are attached to an abdominal wall instead of performing a laparotomy, which has been hitherto performed, by cutting the abdominal wall 1, and a laparoscope (hereinafter, also referred to as an endoscopic device or an endoscope) 3 and a processing tool 4 are inserted into a body from holes provided in the trocars 2. While viewing an image of an affected part (a tumor or the like) 5 taken by the endoscope 3, a process such as excising the affected part 5 using the processing tool 4 is performed.
Since image shake may occur in the image taken by the endoscope 3, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for correcting the image shake.
For example, PTL 1 discloses an endoscope capable of adjusting an image taking position by bending a tip end part, and also discloses that a bending direction and a bending angular velocity of the tip end part are detected to correct shake based on the bending direction and the bending angular velocity.

Endoscopic system, image processing device, image processing method, and program


In a space incremental garbage collector, remembered set information for a region is stored in a set of fixed-size data structures, each of which has a representation of the information and a level of precision that differs from other data structures in the set. Remembered set information for each other region is placed in a data structure based on the density of inter-region references between the region and the other region. The remembered set information for the other region is moved from one data structure to another data structure when the density of inter-region references between the region and the other changes. Some of the data structures use bit arrays to store the information and these arrays can be combined with bit arrays produced by the collector to facilitate the identification and removal of stale remembered set entries.

This invention relates to automatic reclamation of allocated, but unused memory, or garbage, in a computer system that uses a space-incremental garbage collector to process an object space. Modern programming languages like the Java™ programming language or C# allow the use of automatic memory reclamation, or "garbage collection", which relieves programmers of the burden of explicitly freeing, or de-allocating, storage allocated to objects when the objects are no longer used, or reachable, by the application program. Memory reclamation may be carried out by a special-purpose garbage collection algorithm that locates and reclaims dynamically assigned memory (called "heap" memory) that is unused, but has not been explicitly de-allocated. There are many known garbage collection algorithms, including reference counting, mark-sweep, mark-compact and generational garbage collection algorithms. These, and other garbage collection techniques, are described in detail in a book entitled "Garbage Collection, Algorithms for Automatic Dynamic Memory Management" by Richard Jones and Raphael Lins, John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
However, many of the aforementioned garbage collection techniques often lead to long and unpredictable delays because normal application thread processing must be suspended during the garbage collection process and these collectors at least occasionally scan the entire heap memory. For example, many modern applications have large live data sets, sometimes measured in gigabytes. Even on fast modern processors, collecting the entire heap in one atomic operation can take several seconds. Some applications require only minimizing the total garbage collection overhead and may be able to tolerate such delays. Other applications will tolerate significant garbage collection overhead, if the total garbage collection delay is broken into a series of smaller delays and each individual delay is small enough that it does not unduly delay individual operations of the application. For example, real-time or interactive systems where non-disruptive behavior is of greatest importance generally cannot use techniques which collect the entire heap in one operation and, thus, cause considerable disruption.
Several conventional techniques are typically used to alleviate long garbage collection delays. In accordance with one such technique, some portion of the collection process occurs concurrently with the operation of the application program. For example, on a multiprocessor system, one processor might perform garbage collection while another processor concurrently executed the application. While concurrent operation works well for some collection tasks, it is more difficult to use with others. In particular, it is often desirable for a garbage collector to perform "compaction." More specifically, if a portion of a garbage-collected heap contains a mix of reachable and unreachable objects, then even if the unreachable objects are identified and made available for re-allocation, it may be difficult to allocate new objects in the free space because it is fragmented into many relatively small non-contiguous pieces. Compaction moves the reachable objects together, creating larger contiguous areas of reachable objects and free space, which enables easier allocation of new objects. A common compaction method is to move or "evacuate" all the reachable objects in a sub-region of the heap memory to another, smaller, contiguous portion of the heap, making the evacuated region entirely free space.
Another solution for limiting pause times is to use a space incremental garbage collector. In such a collector, heap memory is divided into a set of equal-sized "regions". Some process (perhaps a concurrent marking process) identifies reachable and unreachable objects. Then collection may be accomplished by selecting regions (often regions containing few reachable and many unreachable objects) for evacuation, and evacuating their reachable objects. A few such regions can be evacuated at a time, breaking up a large disruptive collection operation into a number of smaller, less disruptive collection operations. In addition, these collectors automatically compact the heap regions that are collected since all reachable objects are copied to a contiguous region of the heap memory. Examples of space-incremental collectors include the Mature Object Space (or "Train") collector disclosed in "Incremental Garbage Collection for Mature Objects", R. L. Hudson and J. E. B. Moss, Proceedings of the International Workshop on Memory Management, v. 637 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 388-403, University of Massachusetts, USA, Sep. 16-18, 1992. Springer-Verlag., the MC2 collector described in "MC2: High-performance Garbage Collection for Memory-constrained Environments", N. Sachindran, J. E. B. Moss and E.D. Berger, Proceedings of the 19th Annual ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Object-oriented Programming, Systems, Languages and Applications, pp. 81-98, Vancouver BC, Canada, 2004, ACM Press, New York, N.Y. and the Garbage-First garbage collector described in general in "Garbage-First Garbage Collection", D. Detlefs, C. Flood, S. Heller and A. Printezis, Proceedings of the 4th international symposium on Memory management, pp. 37-48, Vancouver, BC, Canada 2004.
Since space incremental collectors move reachable objects from one memory region to another, other objects located outside of a region being collected that contain pointers to the objects being moved must also be identified so that the pointers can be updated to refer the new locations of the moved objects. One conventional mechanism for identifying these other objects is to use a "remembered set" for each region. A remembered set is a data structure associated with a region containing information that identifies all objects outside of that region that might contain pointers to objects inside that region. During collection, the remembered set data structure is scanned to locate the other objects. The aforementioned space-incremental collectors all use remembered set data structures to enable space-incremental collection.
However, remembered sets can present their own problems. One problem is maintenance of the remembered sets by both the collector and the application program. Remembered sets are typically updated by the collector during a collection. A write barrier is used to intercept pointer modifications made by the application program and to update the appropriate remembered set when each modification is made. The overhead imposed by such a write barrier on the application program can be substantial and, therefore, known methods are used to reduce this overhead. One such method is to use "card marking." In this technique, the heap memory is partitioned into "card" areas of equal size and a card table maintains a bit for each card area. Whenever, an application program modifies an object located within a heap region represented by a card area, it marks that card area as "dirty in the card table. Although each pointer modification must still be intercepted by a write barrier, in most systems, the cost of updating the card table is much less then updating the remembered set. Later, during a collection, the collector uses the card table to locate dirty card areas and then scans those areas to locate the inter-generational pointers and update the remembered sets.
Another problem with remembered sets is that, in some situations, the remembered set data structures can grow very large, consuming memory space that could be better utilized holding user data. The conventional solution to this problem is to trade space for precision. In accordance with this solution, when a remembered set grows too large, its representation is "coarsened" so that fewer bits of remembered set information represent a larger region of the heap that might contain relevant pointers. Collection of a region whose remembered set data structure has been coarsened in this way is more expensive, since larger heap portions represented by the remembered set information must be scanned to find pointers into the region being collected. For example, a more fine-grained remembered set representation might have represented small portions of heap memory in which pointers into the region being collected occurred densely, whereas the more coarse-grained representation represents large portions of the heap in which pointers into the region being collected occur sparsely.
This additional collection expense can be a considerable problem in a garbage collector like the aforementioned Garbage-First garbage collector that maintains a detailed model of collection costs, including remembered set scanning costs, in an attempt to perform collections that reliably fit within a user-specified time limit. More specifically, if a remembered set data structure is coarsened, the associated region may be too expensive to collect.

Method and apparatus for limiting the size and facilitating maintenance of remembered sets in a space incremental garbage collector


A method of gravel packing a hole in a subterranean formation having a filter cake coated on the surface thereof is disclosed. The method may include: injecting into the hole a gravel pack composition comprising gravel and a carrier fluid comprising a base fluid and at least one alkyl glycoside. Also disclosed is a solution including an aqueous fluid, at least one alkyl glycoside, and gravel which may be used as a composition for a gravel pack operation, for example.

1. Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to compositions and methods used in completing a well. In particular, embodiments disclosed herein relate to compositions and methods used in gravel packing operations.
2. Background
During the drilling of a wellbore, various fluids are typically used in the well for a variety of functions. The fluids may be circulated through a drill pipe and drill bit into the wellbore, and then may subsequently flow upward through wellbore to the surface. Common uses for well fluids include: lubrication and cooling of drill bit cutting surfaces while drilling generally or drilling-in (i.e., drilling in a targeted petroliferous formation), transportation of "cuttings" (pieces of formation dislodged by the cutting action of the drill bit) to the surface, controlling formation fluid pressure to prevent blowouts, maintaining well stability, suspending solids in the well, minimizing fluid loss into and stabilizing the formation through which the well is being drilled, fracturing the formation in the vicinity of the well, displacing the fluid within the well with another fluid, cleaning the well, testing the well, transmitting hydraulic horsepower to the drill bit, emplacing a packer, abandoning the well or preparing the well for abandonment, and otherwise treating the well or the formation.
Once the well has been drilled and a target reservoir has been encountered, the well is ready to be completed. Typically, target formations are completed in one of two ways: cased hole completion technique or an uncased completion technique. The technique for completing a well is dependent on several factors, which are known to those skilled in the art of completing target reservoirs. For an cased hole completion, it is common practice to run a string of casing into the well bore, cement the casing to the target reservoir, displace the drilling fluid to a clear, solid-free, non-damaging completion fluid by using a series of wash/dispersing chemicals, and then run the production tubing inside the casing. Once the casing is clean from solids/debris and filled with completion fluid, perforations are typically created to extend through the casing string, through the cement that secures the casing string in place, and a short distance into the formation. These perforations may be created by detonating shaped charges carried in a perforating gun. The perforations created cross one or more target zones to allow fluids to enter the interior of the wellbore (in the case of a production well) or be injected down the production tubing and into the reservoir (in the case of an injection well).
After the well is perforated, a stimulation or sand control treatment process may be performed. Sand control processes may prevent, after the well is completed and placed in production, formation sand from unconsolidated formations being swept into the flow path along with formation fluid, which erodes production components in the flow path. Similarly, in uncased boreholes or openhole completions, where an open face is established across the target zone, formation sand from unconsolidated formations may also be swept into the flow path along with formation fluid.
Thus, with either cased or uncased well bores, one or more sand screens may be installed in the flow path between the production tubing and the rock face in the producing reservoir. Additionally, the annulus around the screen may be packed with a relatively coarse sand or gravel into the void between the reservoir rock and the outside of the screen, to act as a filter to reduce the amount of fine formation sand reaching the screen, to support the porous medium of the producing reservoir so that it will not collapse into the void between the reservoir rock and the outside of the screen and to seal off the annulus in the producing zone from non-producing formations. When the sand tries to move through the gravel, it is filtered and held back by the gravel and/or screen, but formation fluids continue to flow unhindered (by either the gravel or screen) into the production string.
In deep wells, reliability of the sand face completion is very important, due to the prohibitively high cost of intervention. Further, as many such wells are completed open hole and in relatively incompetent rock, gravel packing of open-hole horizontal wells is increasingly becoming a standard practice in the deep-water, sub-sea completion environment. The gravel packing process involves mixing gravel with a carrier fluid, and pumping the slurry down the tubing and through the cross-over, thereby flowing into the annulus between the screen and the wellbore. The carrier fluid in the slurry leaks off into the formation and/or through the screen. The screen is designed to prevent the gravel in the slurry from flowing through it and entering the production tubing. As a result, the gravel is deposited in the annulus around the screen where it becomes tightly packed, forming a "gravel pack." Thus, gravel is deposited adjacent an open hole where it serves to prevent sand and other formation fines from flowing into the wellbore.
Proper selection of the carrier fluid is essential to a gravel packing process. Ideally, the carrier fluid shall not cause any permeability reduction of the formation. When viscous fluids are used, carrier fluid must also have sufficient viscosity to suspend and carry the gravel during placement. Carrier fluids are either considered "water-based" or "oil-based" depending on the constituency of their external continuous phase. Aqueous-base fluids can be tailored to be compatible with most formations simply by including salts such as potassium chloride, ammonium chloride, or tetramethyl ammonium chloride. Consequently, to date, the convention in gravel-packing horizontal wells has been water packing or shunt-packing with water-based viscous fluids comprising a brine, a gelling agent such as hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC), gums (xanthan or guar), or a viscoelastic surfactant, and breakers to minimize the pressure required to move the fluid back to the wellbore.
Accordingly, there exists a continuing need for developments in carrier fluids for gravel packing processes.


A mounting system for mounting a number plate carrier on a vehicle component of a single-track motor vehicle is provided. The vehicle component consists of a vehicle frame, a rear carrier component which is fixed to the vehicle frame. The number plate carrier has at least one securing hook, and the rear carrier component has at least one corresponding through-engagement opening. The number plate carrier can be hooked by the at least one securing hook into the respective through-engagement opening, aligned on the vehicle component in a predetermined position and pre-fixed securely in position. The number plate carrier can be fastened to the vehicle frame by a fastener spaced apart from the at least one securing hook along a longitudinal axis of the single-track motor vehicle.

The invention relates to a mounting system for mounting a license plate holder on a single-track motor vehicle.
A multiplicity of mounting systems for mounting a license plate holder on single-track motor vehicles such as, for example, motorcycles, are already known in the prior art. The license plate holders are in most instances mounted on the rear frame of the motor vehicle by way of at least three screws so as to establish a sufficiently rigid and stable connection. On account of the direct connection between the license plate holder and the rear frame, the license plate holder is to be fixed in such a manner in relation to the rear frame that no relative movement of the license plate holder in relation to the rear frame arises when the rear frame is torsioned about a longitudinal axis of the single-track motor vehicle, for example. If the connection lacks stability, a swaying movement of the license plate holder in relation to the rear frame can arise when negotiating bends or during evasive maneuvers, for example, on account of which aerodynamic properties and the handling of the motor vehicle are also negatively affected.
In addition, a low weight is advantageous with a view to reducing the fuel consumption in particular in the case of modern motor vehicles. In contrast however, a sufficiently stable connection of the license plate holder exclusively by way of a screw fitting has a comparatively great weight. Moreover, the assembly of such a license plate holder that is fixed to the motor vehicle only by way of a screw fitting is complex and expensive, because the license plate holder has to be aligned on the motor vehicle, or on the rear frame of the motor vehicle, respectively, by a device or by hand, and has to be fixed in the state aligned by the device.
The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a light and cost-effective mounting system for mounting a license plate holder on a vehicle component of a single-track motor vehicle, on account of which a stable connection can be established between the license plate holder and the vehicle component and the license plate holder can be assembled in a rapid and simple manner on the vehicle component.
This object is achieved by a mounting system for mounting a license plate holder on a vehicle component of a single-track motor vehicle. The vehicle component comprises a vehicle frame and a rear support component which is fixed to the vehicle frame. The license plate holder can be configured in one part or a plurality of parts, and has at least one mounting hook which is preferably configured so as to be integral to the remaining part of the license plate holder, or at least forms one part with the latter. The rear support component has in each case one engagement opening for each mounting hook, the engagement opening corresponding to the mounting hook and the mounting hook being able to be plug-fitted through the engagement opening. The license plate holder by way of the at least one mounting hook is able to be plugged into the respective engagement opening and is able to be aligned and provisionally fixed so as to be fixed in a predetermined position on the vehicle component. The mounting hook, on account of having been plugged into or through the engagement opening, respectively, preferably engages behind a portion of the rear support component. The mounting system furthermore has a screw fitting. The license plate holder is able to be screwed to the vehicle frame by way of a screw fitting which is spaced apart from the at least one mounting hook along a vehicle longitudinal axis of the single-track motor vehicle.
The mounting system herein preferably comprises the license plate holder and the vehicle component with the rear support component and the vehicle frame, as well as the screw fitting. The screw fitting is preferably formed by through bores on the license plate holder, a thread which is in each case configured in the vehicle frame, as well as by the screws that are able to be plug-fitted through the through bores and screwed to the respective thread.
The license plate holder, by way of the mounting hooks that are plugged into the engagement openings and displaced to a predetermined position (preassembly position), are aligned and provisionally fixed along the vehicle longitudinal axis as well as along a vehicle transverse axis of the single-track motor vehicle that is orthogonal to the vehicle longitudinal axis. The preassembly can be established without the screw fitting, wherein the license plate holder can be finally assembled on the vehicle component by the screw fitting.
When assembling, the mounting hooks can initially be plugged into the corresponding engagement openings, wherein the license plate holder by way of the plugged-in mounting hooks can subsequently be pushed into a preassembly position. The license plate holder in the aligned preassembly position thereof, in which the screw-fitting locations of the license plate holder are congruent with the screw-fitting locations of the vehicle component, is held in the preassembly position on the motor vehicle, or on the vehicle component, respectively, such that the license plate holder in the final assembly can be screwed to the vehicle component without the license plate holder having to be freshly aligned or held during the final assembly.
The mounting hooks hold the license plate holder on the vehicle component, wherein a mass of the license plate holder has to be held by way of the mounting hooks. In order to withstand the mass of the license plate holder and at the same time to configure the mounting hooks so as to be lightweight, one advantageous refinement of the invention provides that the mounting hook extends from an assembly face of the license plate holder, and a reinforcement rib which reinforces the mounting hook is configured on the mounting hook. The mounting hook has in particular a first portion and a second portion which runs so as to be substantially orthogonal to the first portion, wherein the reinforcement rib preferably extends across the first and the second portion.
One mounting hook preferably has in each case two reinforcement ribs which are mutually spaced apart in the vehicle transverse direction (or along the vehicle transverse axis, respectively), and are disposed in peripheral portions of the mounting hook that are spaced apart in the vehicle transverse direction.
One further advantageous variant of configuration of the mounting system moreover provides that the license plate holder has a center of mass and a support portion, and that the at least one mounting hook along the vehicle longitudinal axis is disposed between the center of mass and the support portion. The support portion is furthermore configured for supporting in relation to the vehicle component a weight that on account of the mass of the license plate holder acts on the vehicle component at the mounting hooks. In the absence of such a support portion, or on account of a disposal of the support portion in relation to the mounting hook and the center of mass deviating therefrom, the mounting hook would be released from the engagement opening by virtue of the mass of the license plate holder, or the license plate holder would rotate in a plugged-in state.
According to an additional refinement of the mounting system, the at least one mounting hook configures in each case one latching cam, and the vehicle component, or the rear support component, respectively, has a latching protrusion on the respective engagement opening. The mounting hook by way of the latching cam thereof is configured to engage behind the latching protrusion. Furthermore, the mounting hook by way of the latching protrusion thereof supports the license plate holder along the vehicle longitudinal axis and by way of the latching cam is able to be aligned along the vehicle longitudinal axis. The preassembly position in a variant of configuration with a latching cam is preferably determined by the latching cam and the latching protrusion, or by the mutual latching of the latching cam and the latching protrusion, respectively.
An alternative variant of configuration which however is likewise advantageous provides that the mounting hook bears tightly on the rear support component and is clamped to the latter on account of the tight bearing fit. The license plate holder herein is held on the rear support component on account of the mounting hook being clamped to the rear support component.
In a likewise advantageous variant of the mounting system the mounting hook configures a positioning protrusion which preferably extends along the vehicle longitudinal axis and along at least one portion of the mounting hook. The vehicle component, or the rear support component, respectively, on the engagement opening moreover has a positioning groove that corresponds to the positioning protrusion. The positioning protrusion is preferably able to be pushed into the positioning groove during the preassembly, or by a plug-fitting movement, respectively. The positioning protrusion pushed into the positioning groove supports the license plate holder on the vehicle component along a vehicle transverse axis of the single-track motor vehicle, wherein the license plate holder is moreover able to be aligned along the vehicle transverse axis by pushing the positioning protrusion into the positioning groove, and in the preassembly position is in particular aligned along the vehicle transverse axis.
In order for the positioning protrusion to be able to be more easily pushed into the positioning groove, the positioning groove on a side that faces the engagement opening can have an introduction ramp along which the positioning groove widens and thus forms a funnel-type guide for the positioning protrusion.
The positioning protrusion can moreover be configured integrally as a reinforcement rib.
In one refinement, the license plate holder has at least two mounting hooks which are mutually spaced apart along a vehicle transverse axis of the single-track motor vehicle.
In one further advantageous variant of configuration, the screw fitting is furthermore formed by at least two screws which are mutually spaced apart along a vehicle transverse axis of the single-track motor vehicle, and spaced apart from the mounting hooks along the vehicle longitudinal axis.
In order for the forces that are applied to the rear support component by the mounting hooks and, if present, by the support portion of the license plate holder to be able to be supported, the rear support component in one advantageous variant has a mounting portion. The engagement opening, or the engagement openings, respectively, are configured in the mounting portion, wherein the latter moreover has reinforcement ribs. The reinforcement ribs are configured for reinforcing the mounting portion in a torsion-resistant manner. On account thereof, the rear support component is lightweight, on the one hand, and configured so as to be sufficiently stable for the forces able to be transmitted by the license plate holder, on the other hand.
In order for a lightweight and at the same time stable configuration of the rear support component to be enabled, one advantageous refinement provides that the rear support component is formed from a first material which comprises polypropylene and glass fibers. The proportion of glass fibers in the first material is between 10% and 30%, and preferably 20%.
One further advantageous variant of the mounting system moreover provides that the license plate holder is formed from a second material. The second material likewise comprises polypropylene and glass fibers, wherein the proportion of glass fibers in the second material is between 30% and 50%, and preferably 40%.
A further aspect of the invention provides a single-track motor vehicle having a mounting system according to the invention.
The features disclosed above can be readily combined to the extent that this is technically possible and the features are not mutually exclusive.
Other advantageous refinements of the invention are characterized in the dependent claims, or will be illustrated in more detail hereunder in conjunction with the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention by means of the figures.

Mounting system for mounting a number plate carrier on a vehicle component of a single-track motor vehicle

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a functional defoaming agent composition, and more particularly to an environmentally-friendly defoaming agent composition containing loess. In an aspect, a loess-based, environmentally-friendly functional defoaming agent includes: 1-20 wt % loess; 10-30 wt % silicone resin having a kinematic viscosity of 10-50,000 cst; 1-5 wt % thickening agent; 1-10 wt % natural surfactant; 1-10 wt % water-purifying agent; and 60-80 wt % water. In another aspect, a loess-based, environmentally friendly functional defoaming agent includes: 1-20 wt % inorganic mixture of loess with at least one selected from among elvan, tourmaline and germanium; 10-30 wt % silicone resin having a kinematic viscosity of 10-50,000 cst; 1-5 wt % thickening agent; 1-10 wt % natural surfactant; 1-10 wt % water-purifying agent; and 60-80 wt % water.

Foam in seas, lakes, rivers and the like occurs due to physical turbulence of eddies and currents (air saturation) under a temporarily increased water surface tension by secretions from various aquatic organisms, organic materials, etc. In addition, foam frequently occurs by the use of various detergents such as surfactants into domestic sewage. In some industries, foam is artificially generated for use in manufacturing processes. For example, in refining operations for floatation, foam is generated and then eliminated by deforming. In general, foam naturally disappears, but is maintained when it has a high concentration of proteins and non-ionic lipids. The foam blocks the penetration of UV rays into water and interferes with aeration. This causes eutrophication leading to a red tide phenomenon. The occurrence of red tide has significant adverse effects on the ecosystem, because it reduces the concentration of oxygen in water to thereby kill fishes and shellfishes from suffocation. Thus, in order to eliminate foam, various defoaming agents have been used.
As is known in the art, the most popular silicone defoaming agents are prepared by emulsifying silicone oil compounds obtained by dispersing fine inorganic powders, such as silica, titanium dioxide and aluminum oxide, in silicon oil.
However, because of partial noxious ingredients prepared by petrochemical processes, the conventional deforming agents leave post-deforming precipitates which turn into contaminants to create a secondary environmental pollution.

Environmentally-friendly functional antifoaming agent using loess


A portable chair may include a first front leg and a second front leg connected by a front sled and a first back leg and a second back leg connected by a back sled. The first front leg and the first back leg may be pivotally connected to a sliding pivot on an armrest, where the sliding pivot moves relative to the armrest to adjust the chair from an upright position to a reclined position. The seat assembly may include a fabric member that is attached secured to a seat frame by a plurality of fabric retention members. In some examples, the portable chair may include a fabric member is releasably connected to the seat frame and back frame and also extends from a forward rail of the seat frame to a top rail of the back frame.

Portable chairs are commonly used during events and activities where seating is desirable, but not always provided, such as tailgating, camping, going to the beach, and other outdoor activities. In most cases, the chairs may be uncomfortable and have limited ability to adjust the seating position. Additionally, the chairs may have poor durability reducing the long-term viability of the chair. Accordingly, overall user satisfaction with some portable chairs is low and the frequency of replacement is high.


A backlight module includes a frame, at least one optical film and a flexible fixing-element. The frame includes a bottom plate and a sidewall connected to the bottom plate. The frame has an inner surface and an outer surface. The inner surface has an accommodation fillister. The frame further has a hole disposed between the accommodation fillister and the bottom plate and configured to connect the inner and outer surfaces to each other. The optical film(s) is disposed in the frame and includes a main body and a lug. The lug is inserted in the accommodation fillister and has a first opening. The flexible fixing-element has a first end and a second end. The flexible fixing-element is suitable to pass through the hole and the first opening. The first end of the flexible fixing-element is fixed on the outer surface. A display device adopting the backlight module is also provided.

In recent years, because of the environment protection concern, liquid crystal display (LCD), due to having advantages such as higher quality, better space utilization efficiency, lower power consumption and emitting no radiation, has become one of the mainstream products in the display industry. Basically, a liquid crystal display is constituted by a LCD panel and a backlight module; wherein, the backlight module is configured to provide light to the LCD panel, and accordingly the LCD panel can display a desired image.
In general, the backlight module includes a light source, a reflective film, a variety of optical films (for example, diffusion film, prism sheet, etc.) and a frame. FIG. 1A is a schematic view of an optical film in a conventional backlight module. FIG. 1B is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of the conventional backlight module assembled with the optical film shown in FIG. 1A. It is to be noted that FIG. 1B only illustrates a portion of the conventional backlight module 100 which includes a back plate 110, a frame 120 and an optical film 130. The back plate 110 includes a positioning part 112; the optical film 130 includes a lug 132 with a positioning hole 131; wherein the positioning hole 131 of the lug 132 is corresponding to the positioning part 112 of the back plate 110. As shown, by inserting the positioning part 112 of the back plate 110 through the positioning hole 131 of the lug 132, the optical film 130 can only obtain a limited amount of horizontal movement relative to the back plate 110. In addition, the optical film 130 can also obtain a limited amount of vertical movement relative to the back plate 110 through being fixed between the frame 120 and the back plate 110. As such, the optical film 130 is prevented from separating from the back plate 110.
Conventionally, the positioning part 112 is either a copper pillar buried in the back plate 110 or an accordion-shaped wall formed on the back plate 110. If the positioning part 112 is a copper pillar, the process of burring a copper pillar in the back plate 110 is not only time consuming and costly, moreover, the optical film 130 may be damaged by a single-point force while being assembled to the copper pillar. Alternatively, if the positioning part 112 is an accordion-shaped wall, a reserved space allowance is required and accordingly it is difficult to properly bend the positioning part 112 according to the position and aperture of the positioning hole 131 of the optical film 130; and thus, dust issue may consequently occur.
Moreover, the positioning part 112 can only prevent the optical film 130 from having a horizontal movement relative to the back plate 110; in other words, the positioning part 112 must be used with the frame 120 so as to prevent the optical film 130 from obtaining a vertical movement. Because using the positioning part 112 to prevent the optical film 130 from having a horizontal as well as vertical movement, the backlight module 100 accordingly has a larger thickness, and consequently, the display device adopting this backlight module 100 cannot have a compact size and a slimmer frame.

Backlight module and display device using the same


A semiconductor device comprises at least one first semiconductor component being located in a first plane and comprising an active area which has a first contact region and at least one second semiconductor component being located in a second plane and comprising a second active area which has a second contact region. The second semiconductor component is located at a distance vertically to the first semiconductor component and is orientated relative to the first semiconductor component, so that the first active area faces away from the second semiconductor component and the second active area faces away from the first semiconductor component. An adhesive layer is arranged between the first and the second semiconductor components and a frame region adjoins laterally the first semiconductor component and the second semiconductor component on at least one side. The frame region comprises a first surface and a second surface which is located opposite to the second surface. A wiring device is introduced in the frame region and connects the first contact region to the second contact region.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor device having stacked semiconductor components and a method for producing a semiconductor device having stacked semiconductor components.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although applicable, in principle, to any desired integrated circuits, the present invention and the problems on which it is based will be explained with reference to integrated memory circuits.
In memory circuit technology, preference is given to arrangements of memory components which allow extremely short rewirings between the individual components. This is expedient in order to achieve short signal propagation times between the memory components and, in this manner, to enable short latencies and a high data transfer rate. The power losses in the rewirings as well as the capacitance of the rewiring are also reduced.
As the integration density of present-day semiconductor technology increases, a more and more compact design in one plane is enabled. The integration density can be increased further by stacking the memory components one above the other in a plurality of planes. One common method is to populate circuit boards on two sides. This makes it possible for at least two semiconductor components to be arranged one above the other. A plurality of such populated circuit boards may also be stacked and vertically contact-connected using cables or plug connections. However, this results in high costs for contact-connecting and installing the circuit boards. It is not possible to considerably reduce the wiring lengths and the parasitic capacitances either.
Other methods provide for the memory components to be placed directly on top of one another. In one arrangement, two semiconductor housings (TSOP housings) are stacked on top of one another and the external contact connections (pins) are soldered to one another. Another variant provides for two unhoused semiconductor components (dies) to be placed on top of one another and for a respective contact of the two unhoused semiconductor components to be internally wired (bonded) internally to the same external contact of a housing. However, the structural height of such a stack is too great for many applications and, in addition, only a few (two to three) components can be stacked. The rewirings also have a capacitance and inductance which are too high, on account of their length and the large number of contact connections, for such a stack to be suitable for radiofrequency applications. Moreover, the impedance of the rewirings is not matched.
Another device places a semiconductor component in a prefabricated housing. This housing has external contacts toward its underside and external contacts toward its top side, which contacts are respectively connected to one another. During the production method, the contacts are internally wired to an unhoused semiconductor component. A plurality of semiconductor components can thus be vertically integrated by stacking the housings.
The disadvantage is that the prefabricated housings must be made and stocked in accordance with the functionality of the semiconductor components. Given changing dimensions of the semiconductor components on account of an increased integration density and/or extended range of functions, new housing shapes with new internal dimensions are required. In addition, their structural height is too great for many applications which is why only a few devices can be stacked. The internal rewiring also has an inductance and capacitance which are too high for the device to be suitable for radiofrequency applications.

Semiconductor and method for producing a semiconductor


An exhaust gas muffler of an internal combustion engine, including a muffler housing having an exhaust gas inlet and an exhaust gas outlet and including a first Helmholtz resonator made of a first housing portion that delimits a first Helmholtz volume and includes a first coupling pipe. At least one second Helmholtz resonator is provided made of a second housing portion that delimits a second Helmholtz volume and includes a second coupling pipe via which the second Helmholtz volume can be coupled to an exhaust gas flow A of the exhaust gas inlet. The second coupling pipe is arranged at least partly within the first coupling pipe, and both coupling pipes delimit an annular gap R via which the first Helmholtz volume can be coupled to the exhaust gas flow A.

An exhaust gas muffler with a Helmholtz resonator is already known from DE 10254631 B4. The Helmholtz resonator has a Helmholtz pipe, via which it is connected to an exhaust gas supply line. In addition, an exhaust gas pipe is provided that is arranged coaxially to the Helmholtz pipe and with this delimits an annular gap R, via which the Helmholtz resonator is supplied. The exhaust gas pipe passes through the Helmholtz resonator to a reflection chamber, connecting in the direction of flow to the Helmholtz resonator, to which the exhaust pipe connects.
According to DE 10 2005 054 002 A1 the exhaust gas flow is directly coupled via the branched exhaust gas inlet pipe to a plurality of Helmholtz resonators.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,341 A the exhaust gas flow is directly coupled via a branching of the exhaust gas inlet pipe to a Helmholtz resonator.
From WO 82 00 854 A1 it is known to couple an exhaust gas flow of the exhaust gas inlet to a Helmholtz resonator via a separate coupling pipe arranged coaxially to the exhaust gas inlet.
From EP 0 839 993 A2 it is similarly known to couple an exhaust gas flow of the exhaust gas inlet via a separate first coupling pipe arranged coaxially to the exhaust gas inlet, to a Helmholtz resonator. A second coupling pipe is also provided, positioned parallel to the first coupling pipe, via which a second Helmholtz resonator is coupled.


Disclosed is a method and device for searching for a telephone number in a mobile terminal having a direction key that consists of a left arrow, a right arrow, an up arrow and a down arrow. The method includes displaying one or more consecutive digits input by a user in a standby mode of the mobile terminal; and when a quick search key and any arrow of the direction key are pressed simultaneously, searching for a telephone number including the displayed digits in a position corresponding to the pressed arrow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and more particularly to a method and device for searching for a telephone number stored in a mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
To make an outgoing call using a mobile terminal, a user has to directly input a telephone number of an intended recipient or search for the telephone number in a phonebook stored in the mobile terminal by inputting a keyword such as the recipient's name. However, the user is likely to enter a wrong digit in case where the telephone number has a length of ten or eleven digits. To search for a telephone number in the phonebook of the mobile terminal, the user has to perform the multiple steps of selecting a menu for a telephone number search, inputting a keyword such as a name of an entity whose telephone number is desired to be detected and then pressing a search key. Alternatively, the user can search every telephone number stored in the phonebook until the desired telephone number is detected. Elderly people who are not accustomed to key pressings on a mobile terminal may have difficulty in searching for a telephone number by inputting a keyword such as a name. When the user remembers only part of a desired telephone number, he or she may search a list of telephone numbers stored in the phonebook or the telephone numbers temporarily stored as a dialed number identification service to detect the desired telephone number. Although certain mobile terminals have a function enabling a user to search for a telephone number using the last four digits of the telephone number, the function is not useful when the user does not remember each of the last four digits and their proper order.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a simple and convenient method for searching for a desired telephone number stored in a mobile terminal by inputting a part of the telephone number that the user remembers.

Method and device for telephone number search in a mobile terminal