An osteoarthritis brace having relatively large semi-rigid cuffs for abutting the wearer's thigh and calf. In one embodiment, the semi-rigid cuffs are secured to rigid cuffs of the brace only on one side and in substantially a center of the rigid cuffs. The semi-rigid cuffs bear reaction forces created by a medial/lateral force applied to the wearer's knee by a hinge of the brace. The semi-rigid cuffs provide flesh containment, distribute loads over a large portion of the wearer's flesh, eliminate pinch points and provide enhanced fitting capabilities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to orthopedic braces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that causes chronic pain in an affected joint when the joint is statically or dynamically loaded. In an affected knee, osteoarthritis pain is often caused by an unbalanced loading on the medial or lateral compartment of the joint. Such unbalanced loading can generate increased pressure and reduce the clearance space between the condyles of the femur and tibial plateau. Increased pressure between the femoral and tibial surfaces in an affected compartment of the knee joint can cause cartilage degeneration. As cartilage degenerates, the osteoarthritis sufferer generally experiences increasing pain in the knee. Typically, the pain of osteoarthritis is more severe when dynamic pressure is applied to the joint.
Orthopedic knee braces are commonly applied to the leg to treat osteoarthritis of the knee. Such braces typically include an upper support portion, a lower support portion, and one or more hinge assemblies pivotally interconnecting the upper and lower support portions. The upper support portion is secured to the wearer's upper leg, while the lower support portion is secured to the wearer's lower leg. The hinge assembly (or assemblies) is located to a side of the wearer's knee. A condyle pad is typically located between each hinge assembly and the adjacent side of the knee.
Knee braces of the type described above serve to mitigate the negative consequences of osteoarthritis in the knee joint by applying a three-point bending load to the leg. A condyle pad of the brace applies a force to the side of the knee opposite the affected compartment. For example, a thickness of the adjacent condyle pad may be increased or the pad may be moved closer to the knee using a jackscrew or some other mechanism. The applied force generates resultant forces in the medial/lateral plane above and below the knee. The upper and lower support portions of the brace, respectively, apply these resultant forces on the side of the affected compartment. The applied force and the resultant forces comprise the three-point bending load on the leg. This load realigns the knee. By realigning the orientation of the knee joint, the knee brace reduces the load in the affected compartment of the knee, thereby lessening the pain and the other negative effects of osteoarthritis.


A gyratory compactor apparatus adapted to interact with a mold that defines a mold axis is provided. The gyratory compactor apparatus includes a frame defining a frame axis, a pivoted support carried by the frame, and a mold-engaging device carried by the pivoted support and having a carriage plate spaced-apart from the pivoted support for receiving the mold. The carriage plate is movable relative to the frame axis by rotation of the pivoted support. At least one actuator is in engagement with the carriage plate for imparting translation to the carriage plate relative to the frame axis.

In order to measure certain physical properties, such as density, moisture content and compressive strength of some materials such as soil or paving material, loose samples of the soil or paving material are formed into test specimens under reproducible conditions using laboratory compaction machines. In order to replicate actual expected conditions, it is desirable to compact the test specimens under conditions that simulate actual use. For a paving material sample, this requires simulation of the kneading force applied to the paving material by a paving roller, such as rollers with smooth or sheeps/pad-foot drums or pneumatic wheels, or vibratory compactors such as those used in intelligent compaction. Simply applying a compressive force to the sample does not adequately simulate the kneading action of the paving roller, as the paving roller also applies a shear force to the material being compacted. As a result, compaction machines that apply an orbital motion to the paving sample during compression have been developed to simulate actual conditions of use. For simplicity of implementation and analysis, the orbital motion in many current compaction machines has been restricted to gyration along a circular orbit.
The combination of shear and compaction effort applied to the gyrating specimen is designed to mimic the kneading effect of in-situ compaction of a material using a rolling compactor. Typically, the gyration of the mold is performed with an offset so that the axis of the mold is at an angle from the compression force from the ram. The corresponding average angle between the direction of the compression force and the position of the mold axis is often referred to as the internal angle.
This internal angle is the angle of applied confinement forces with respect to the main axis of rotation that the specimen is really subject to. Its measurement and calibration is typically performed using a self-contained device such as the Rapid Internal Angle Measurement (RAM) unit, an example of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,889, or Dynamic Angle Validator (DAV), an example of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,783B1. These devices are shear force simulation devices that mimic the shear effort applied to a material and have the capability to also measure, store, and display the internal angle by way of difference of distance measurement of the position of the inside of the mold with respect to the perpendicular direction to a mold plate. A simple way to infer the internal angle applied to the sample material is to measure the external angle, i.e., the angle between the reference frame and the mold. However, when forces are applied to the frame and the mold, the frame can flex, the ram position and direction of force can vary, and the corresponding perpendicular direction of the mold plates can change with respect to the inside axis of the mold. These are not the exhaustive list of factors that can affect the actual internal angle versus the measured internal angle. They are, however, the main variables that can make the relationship between internal angle and external angle vary in time between the top and bottom of the sample.
Various disadvantages have been associated with previously developed gyratory compactors. For example, some gyratory compactors include a ram applying compressive force from one end of a cylindrical mold, while the other end of the mold is gyrated by rotating a base supporting the other end of the mold. However, these machines could not easily determine and maintain a consistent angle of gyration due to inconsistencies during rotation of the base supporting the other end of the mold and flexure of the gyratory compactor during operation. Most implementations included the use of a mechanical interference to constrain the shape of the gyration motion.
Another example of a gyratory compactor apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,642 to King et al. (the '642 patent). The '642 patent describes a gyratory compactor apparatus design for facilitating ergonomics and efficiency, while improving consistency of operating parameters. The gyratory compactor described therein allows the user to slide the cylindrical compaction mold into the compaction chamber without the necessity of lifting the mold. In addition, the compactor of the '642 patent includes an integral specimen removal ram, which facilitates easy removal of the specimen from the mold. In addition, the frame design reduces frame deflection that could undesirably affect the angle of gyration. Further, the angle of gyration of the compactor apparatus can be changed by simply replacing a single component of the apparatus. Notwithstanding the advances that have been made in the art of gyratory compactors, there is a need for smaller and less costly designs, with improved operational efficiency and accuracy. Additionally, there is a need for a gyratory compactor having improved ergonomics. For example, placement and removal of the mold containing the sample should be accomplished with minimal difficulty. Additionally, it would be desirable to produce a lightweight frame design that also minimizes frame flexure, thus providing more accurate test results. Moreover, it would be advantageous to enable release of water content when the sample material is fully or partially saturated soil or emulsified asphalt. Also, it would be advantageous to provide a compactor design that allows the user to quickly, easily, dynamically, and/or in real-time change, control, and calibrate operating parameters, such as the angle of gyration, shape of gyration, and ability to control applied axial load. Further, there is a need in the art for a gyratory compactor that provides a constant, precise, and accurate internal angle of gyration during the compaction procedure with minimal deviation therefrom.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Gyratory compactor apparatuses and associated methods


Received FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex) SCPC (Single Channel Per Carrier) signals are usually converted into intermediate frequency band signals and then transformed into TDM (Time Division Multiplex) signals by an FDM-TDM transforming device which uses a chirp filter. The FDM-TDM transforming device has a chirp signal generating circuit, a mixer for multiplying the FDM SCPC signals by the chirp signal, and a chirp filter which receives outputs of the mixer and feeds out TDM signals. The FDM SCPC signals are frequency-swept by the chirp signal at the mixer and then applied to the chirp filter. The individual FDM frequency-swept signals applied to the chirp filter are outputted after being compressed to time locations each being assigned to a different sweep frequency.

The present invention relates to a transforming circuit applicable to SCPC (Single Channel Per Carrier) multiplex communications, radars, spectrum analyzers and so forth and, more particularly, to a FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex)-TDM (Time Division Multiplex) transforming device for converting a FDM signal into a TDM signal by using a chirp filter.
Prior art FDM-TDM transforming devices of the type using a chirp filter are disclosed in, for example, "A 400ch SCPC SIGNAL DEMODULATOR USING CHIRP TRANSFORM AND CORRELATION DETECTION SCHEME", GLOBECOM TOKYO, November 1987, Session 8, MODULATION CODING FOR SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,013 assigned to the applicant of the present invention. In any of the prior art FDM-TDM transforming devices, FDM SCPC signals are swept in frequency by a chirp signal (local frequency-sweeping signal whose frequency varies with the lapse of time) and then fed to a chirp filter. The individual frequency-swept FDM signals applied to the chirp filter are compressed to time locations each being allocated to a different sweeping frequency and then fed out, i.e., the FDM SCPC signals are transformed into TDM signal.
The prior art FDM-TDM transforming devices described above are successful so long as the modulation system imposes no limitations on individual FDM SCPC signals as to frequency band on the frequency axis. However, when it comes to a communication system wherein the frequency band is limited on the frequency axis and intersymbol interference occurs on the time axis, the prior devices allow the integrated value of interference waveform (interference energy) to directly translate into an amount of signal deterioration. Should the FDM frequency interval be not equal to a signal modulation rate multiplied by a natural number, the interference of nearby channels would become critically great.


A sheet feed device for feeding a sheet in a copying machine includes a sheet cassette storing a stack of sheets therein and removably positioned in a housing of the copying machine, and a plurality of suction cups for attracting one of the sheets at a time from the sheet cassette. The suction cups are movable toward and away from the sheet cassette. Locking fingers lock the sheet cassette against removal when the suction cups are moved toward the sheet cassette and are ready for or are feeding sheets from the sheet cassette. The locking fingers are angularly movably supported in the housing and lockingly fittable in recesses defined in side walls of the sheet cassette.

The present invention relates to a sheet feed device having suction cups for feeding a sheet in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, and more particularly to a lock mechanism for use with a sheet cassette in the image forming apparatus.
Sheet feed devices for separating and feeding sheets, one at a time, from a sheet stack generally include sheet feed rollers for supplying sheets through frictional engagement between the rollers and the uppermost sheet and also between stacked sheets. However, the sheet feed rollers may damage the sheets because of the friction, depending on the type of sheets used. Another sheet feed device includes suction cups for attracting sheets under vacuum, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 55(1980)-93744, for example.
There is known a sheet feed device having a compact and simple mechanism for lifting and lowering suction cups to separate and feed sheets from a sheet cassette. The known mechanism includes an elevator arm supporting suction cups and a sheet sensor. When a sheet feeding cycle starts, the elevator arm is lowered until the sheet sensor detects the upper surface of the uppermost sheet of the sheet stack in the sheet cassette. When the sheet sensor detects the uppermost sheet, the elevator arm is stopped, and the suction cups are actuated to attract the sheet under vacuum.
As the number of sheets remaining in the sheet cassette is reduced, the elevator arm has to be lowered a longer distance. If the sheet cassette is removed while the elevator arm is in the lowered position, the sheet cassette may hit elements of the sheet feed mechanism such as the suction cups and damage them due to under forces applied to these sheet feed mechanisms.

Sheet feed device having a sheet cassette locking mechanism


A pinhole collimator is provided that eliminates or at least minimizes the need for collimator exchange, to manage system sensitivity versus spatial resolution tradeoff, and to control imaging FOV (field of view) depending on object size by controlling the focal length of the collimator. There is also provided a detector system is that includes a detector, a collimator, and means for changing the focal length. Various means for changing the focal length are also identified. The collimator can have a plurality of apertures in a top plate, each aperture with its own collimator septa. Additionally, there is provided a medical imaging system that includes the detector system and collimator of the present invention. The nuclear medical imaging systems can have a hand-held detector assembly and be portable.

Semiconductor detectors are attractive and have become popular for the field of nuclear medicine because of their very small size and weight, excellent spatial resolution, and direct conversion of gamma photons into electrical signals. Those features make such a detector an ideal applicant for small animal imaging or tiled detectors where FFOV (full field of view) is achieved by tiling many small and modular detectors together because the required imaging FOV is larger than the size of typical semiconductor detectors.
However, conventional collimation methods are not adequate to fully utilize the advantages of small and independent modular detectors. In addition, conventional collimation methods require collimator exchanging and increase system cost due to the need for multiple sets of collimators depending on isotope energy and imaging options. Further, the collimator exchanging requirement significantly limits system design. For instance, in full or partial ring-type systems, it is a great challenge to exchange collimators.
Therefore, there exists a need to more filly utilize the use of semiconductor detectors and minimize collimator exchanging.

Adjustable focal length pinhole collimator


It is to provide a branched aromatic polycarbonate excellent in hue and excellent in melt properties such as melt strength.

Production of an aromatic polycarbonate by polycondensation of an aromatic dihydroxy compound and a carbonic acid diester, so-called transesterification is not only relatively simple as compared with a phosgene method (interfacial polymerization method) and is superior in view of operation and cost, but also revaluated in recent years from the viewpoint of environmental protection since no halogen type solvent such as phosgene or methylene chloride which is highly toxic is used.
However, the transesterification has several drawbacks in view of physical properties as compared with the phosgene method, and thus it is scarcely employed as a large scale industrial process. A polycarbonate obtained by the transesterification, as a representative example, has such problems that branches are likely to form, fluidity and moldability tend to decrease, and it is poor in hue of the product, as compared with a product obtained by the phosgene method.
Several proposals have been made to overcome these problems. For example, a method for obtaining an aromatic polycarbonate excellent in hue, hue stability and heat stability at the time of molding, by making the contents of an isomer and a derivative in the aromatic dihydroxy compound used as a material to be within specific ranges (JP-A-8-104747, JP-A-8-104748, JP-A-8-277236), a method for obtaining a polycarbonate having less branches, by making the phenoxybenzoic acid content in the main chain to be a specific amount with a specific catalyst under a specific reaction condition (JP-A-7-18069, JP-A-8-109251, JP-A-9-278877), or a method for obtaining a less colored polycarbonate by making the p-hydroxyacetophenone content to be at most a specific amount (JP-A-8-27263) may, for example, be mentioned. Such methods are methods proposed to overcome conventional problems and to decrease formation of branches and to improve the hue.
On the other hand, a commonly employed aromatic polycarbonate has a linear molecular structure, and a polycarbonate having such a molecular structure may be poor in e.g. melt elasticity and melt strength at the time of melt molding, and their improvements have been desired. Actually, as a method for improving melt properties such as melt elasticity and melt strength of such a polycarbonate, a method for branching a polycarbonate by an interfacial polymerization method by using a polyfunctional compound such as 1,1,1-tris(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethane (THPE) or 1,3,5-tris(4-hydroxyphenyl)benzene as a branching agent together with 2,2-bis(4-hydroxydiphenyl)propane (hereinafter referred to simply as "bisphenol A" or "BPA") has conventionally been known (JP-B-44-17149, JP-B-47-2918, JP-A-2-55725, JP-A-4-89824).
However, an aromatic polycarbonate has a high melt viscosity even if it has a linear structure, and further, a polycarbonate having a branched structure introduced by copolymerization with a polyfunctional compound has a higher melt viscosity and a decreased fluidity. Of such a polycarbonate having a high melt viscosity and being poor in fluidity, the molding conditions may be limited, or molding unevenness occurs, whereby it is difficult to stably obtain a uniform molded product.
In order to overcome these problems, various attempts have been done on a melt polymerization method employing a carboxylic acid diester and an aromatic dihydroxy compound, however, a branching agent may undergo e.g. decomposition at a high temperature, whereby no effect of branching is obtained, and further, it may cause coloring, and accordingly no satisfactory results have been obtained (JP-A-4-89824, JP-A-6-136112, JP-B-7-37517, JP-B-7-116285).
The present invention is to provide a method for producing a branched aromatic polycarbonate excellent in quality. More particularly, it is to provide a branched aromatic polycarbonate having improved melt properties and further having improved hue and residence stability, and a method for producing such a branched aromatic polycarbonate efficiently.

Branched aromatic polycarbonate and its production method

Abstract: A branched aromatic polycarbonate obtained by transesterification and having a viscosity average molecular weight of at least 16,000, wherein the amount of structural units of the following formula (1) contained in its main chain is within a range of from 2,000 to 50,000 wtppm, and the amounts of structural units of the following formulae (2) and (3) contained in its main chain are within a range of from 30 to 10,000 wtppm, respectively:


An anchor-based automatic link generator generates a link between elements in a text image. An anchor specifies an element to be linked and includes at least a key portion for specifying a type of an element and a reference portion for specifying a reference number of the specified type. Such links associate a legend for a figure with a corresponding main text as well as a figure with a corresponding text and or a legend even if there is no legend associated with a figure.

In the area of text image processing, there have been attempts for structuring components of textual information. One example of such a process is that a certain portion of text is made associated with another part of the text so that a reader can select relevant information based upon the textual association. Such text with internal associations is called hypertext. To accomplish such associations or links, certain languages such Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) have been implemented.
Based upon the above described hypertext concept, one prior art attempt such as Japanese Patent Publication Hei 7-98708 discloses a system which selects relevant information from original text according to a reader's characteristics. For example, if the reader holds a certain position in a company, a predetermined type of information is available to him or her. By the same token, depending upon age and sex of a reader, certain predetermined information is displayed.
Another prior art attempt discloses a method of generating a HTML-based data. To generate the HTML data, text is scanned in as textual image, and based upon certain predetermined characteristics of the textual image, a certain portion of the text is associated with another portion of the text. "A Method of Automatically Generating HTML Based upon Image," Fujii et al. Technical Report, Academy of Electronic and Communication, OSF 95-23, IE 95-55 (1995).
Lastly, a third and fourth prior attempts disclose similar methods of generating a HTML-based link between a figure and a corresponding portion of text. To establish a link, the text image is first tentatively divided into text segments and figure segments based upon relative positions within each column of the text image. Within a figure segment, a caption area is determined, and its characters are recognized. A certain predetermined set of characters such as "FIG. 1" is detected in the recognized character data and is used as a label for the figure. Then, the label is further searched in the text segments, and the corresponding text portion is linked to the figure. "Generating Hyper Text From Printed Text for Electronic Library, " Image Recognition and Understanding Symposium (MIRU), Ohira et al., (1996); "A Highly Applicable Method of Structuring Printed Text," Koyama et al., Proceeding at Academy of Electronics Information and Communication, (1995).
The above described prior attempts generally fail to disclose a flexible automatic link generation method for text containing figures such as diagrams, tables, equations, drawings and etc. Although the above described third and fourth prior art attempts disclose a link generation between a figure and a corresponding portion of text, the link generation method requires a corresponding legend or caption area and relies upon predetermined labels or a set of characters. These requirements are not necessarily met for every text image.

Anchor based automatic link generator for text image containing figures


A door for railroad boxcars has a balsa core sandwich construction in which a balsa core is sandwiched between thin fiberglass skins and reinforced at the perimeter by steel tubes to provide an economical and lightweight door that exhibits the requisite structural strength. The door has a concavo-convex configuration that prevents thermally induced warpage from deforming the door in a manner to cause significant interference in its opening and closing movement.

This invention relates generally to railroad equipment and more particularly to a sliding boxcar door having a unique construction in which a balsa core is sandwiched between two fiberglass skins and reinforced at the periphery by rigid metal edged stiffeners.
In the past, railroad boxcars have been equipped with steel doors which are expensive, heavy and difficult to handle. Because of the difficulty involved in sliding steel boxcar doors open and closed, machines such as forklifts are commonly used to assist in the opening and closing of the door. The forklift is often jammed into the door, thus causing it to bend and making it even harder to open and close as well as creating other problems.
The present invention is directed to a novel boxcar door having a unique construction which is lighter in weight than a steel door and which avoids other problems associated with the conventional steel boxcar door. In accordance with the invention, a boxcar door panel is constructed by sandwiching a balsa core between two thin fiberglass skins. The edges of the panel are strengthened by steel tubes which are enclosed by the fiberglass skins. By virtue of this construction, advantage is taken of the low cost and light weight of balsa and fiberglass, while the steel tubes provide structural strength and rigidity at the door edges which are the most vulnerable areas of the door.
It is a special feature of the invention that the door panel is constructed with a built-in curvature providing it with a concavo-convex configuration that counteracts the effects of thermally induced warpage. The concave side faces inwardly so that when the outside of the door is heated, the thermal distortion that is thereby induced does not cause the door to bow inwardly beyond the plane of the door frame. As a consequence, thermal warpage does not deform the door enough to cause it to interfere with the door frame and possibly create difficulty in opening and/or closing of the door.

Boxcar door having balsa core sandwich construction


A memory card having no ordinary type circuit board and a reduced thickness. Insulating layers are disposed on reverse surfaces of a pair of metallic panels, and circuit patterns are formed on the insulating layers. A plurality of electronic parts are mounted on the metallic panels by, for example, being soldered to the circuit patterns. The pair of metallic panels on which the electronic parts are mounted are fitted and bonded to openings formed in a frame of the card so that the electronic parts are accommodated inside the frame facing each other.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the structure of a memory card used as an external memory medium for a computer or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a memory card of this kind. A circuit board (refer to FIG. 5) on which electronic parts are mounted is placed in a frame 3 which constitutes an accommodation means. Metallic panels 4 are provided on the upper and lower sides of the frame 3 so as to cover the circuit board. A plurality of terminals 6 for electrical connection between the electronic parts in the frame 3 and an external unit outside the card are provided in a side surface of the frame 3 facing in the direction of insertion into the external unit.
FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line A--A of FIG. 4 and shows the internal construction of a conventional memory card 10. Circuit patterns (not shown) are formed on the two surfaces of a circuit board 1, and a plurality of electronic parts 2 are mounted on the circuit board 1 by soldering or the like. The circuit board 1 is supported on a support portion of a resin frame 3 extending so as to define an inner peripheral surface of the frame 3, and is fixed by an engagement portion (not shown). Metallic panels 4 for protecting the electronic parts 2 from external static electricity and other influences are provided on the upper and lower sides of the frame 3. Metallic panels 4 are fitted in recesses 3b formed along inner edges of the frame 3 defining upper and lower openings 3a of the frame 3, and are fixed by a bonding agent or the like (not shown).
In the thus-constructed conventional memory card, the overall thickness of the card is the sum of at least the thicknesses of the circuit board, the two electronic parts mounted on the obverse and reverse surfaces of the circuit board and the pair of upper and lower metallic panels, and is, therefore, relatively large.


In one example, an apparatus comprises a battery that has a first characteristic capability for providing continuous power and a second characteristic capability for providing intermittent power to the apparatus. The apparatus further comprises an illumination unit. The apparatus further comprises a controller that is configured to determine the total current consumption of the apparatus, determine the amount of battery current available to the illumination unit, and adjust current consumption of the illumination unit based on the determined available amount of battery current to ensure that the current consumption of the illumination unit stays below a battery safety circuit current limit.

Batteries in various electronic devices, including mobile communication devices have a limit on how much current the device can use e.g. within a time period. If the limit is exceeded, a safety circuit may shut down the device. A camera light-emitting diode (LED) flash is a component that can consume high amounts of current. As a result, there may be instances when the current consumed by the camera LED flash needs to be limited so that it does not exceed the battery limit.

Battery current consumption adjustment for an illumination unit


A method for adjusting hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio of syngas contaminated by sulfur impurities involving a water gas shift (WGS) reaction. In light of the presence of the sulfur impurities, the WGS can be implemented as a sour gas shift. WGS can provide good results by using a non-sulfided catalyst. Conditions can be employed which contribute to further enhanced CO-conversion in the reaction. The hydrocarbons or derivatives thereof obtainable from the method can further be refined and used for production of fuels or lubricants for combustion engines.

A carbonaceous biomass raw material can be subjected to conditions converting same into gases. One exemplary gas is syngas which includes carbon monoxide and hydrogen as components. Industrially, gases thus obtained can further be refined to hydrocarbons or other organic compounds. To optimize the yield and reduce or avoid irregularities in the production process, further steps can be employed.
One exemplary step is increasing the hydrogen-to-carbon monoxide ratio in the feed of the synthesis reactor. A strategy for this is a water gas shift (WGS) reaction. See, for example, C. Ratnasamy and J. P. Wagner, Water Gas Shift Catalysis, Catalysis Reviews, 51: 3, 325-440 (2009). In WGS, water and carbon monoxide can react to form hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
When applying a WGS process, one can choose between or use combinations of, for example, four options: high temperature shift (HTS), medium temperature shift (MTS), low temperature shift (LTS) and sour gas shift. Each option can have exemplary conditions depending on the catalysts used. An HTS reactor can have a temperature range of 350-600° C. and the exit gas can have a CO level of a few vol-%. In some applications, the CO level can be further decreased with a LTS reactor after the HTS. Because the temperature range of the LTS can be between 150-300° C., an inter-stage cooler can be used. After the LTS reactor, CO level can be even less than 1 vol-%.
Depending on the source of the syngas, the gas mixture may contain significant amounts of impurities influencing the WGS reaction. Also, side reactions can produce unwanted compounds even from pure syngas. Considering the choice of a catalyst, sulfur compounds can be relevant, because WGS catalysts can have a very poor sulfur tolerance. Two ways to deal with sulfur include, for example, removing same from the feed gas prior to WGS process, or using a sulfur tolerant WGS catalyst. When sulfur tolerant catalyst is applied, the WGS process can be referred to as a sour gas shift reaction.
For sour gas shift reactions, it can be difficult to find suitable catalysts that are both active and tolerate sulfur. A catalyst that can be used is a CoMo-catalyst within temperature range between 230-470° C. These catalysts can have a very good sulfur tolerance. For example, sulfidation may be employed. Their activity in the WGS may not be as good as that of LTS catalysts in the sulfur-free feed gas. Their activity can be dependent on successful presulfiding. According to M. V. Twigg, Catalyst Handbook, 2. ed., Wolfe Publishing Ltd, Frome 1989, 608, p. 306, catalysts applied for HTS, for example, FeCr catalysts, can also be active in sulfided form, but the activity thereof can reduce to 50% of the original HTS activity.
Proper functioning of sulfided catalysts can depend on a minimum sulfur level. With syngas of, for example, biomass origin, sulfur content may vary depending on the raw material batches. For example, the sulfur content may even be too low for the sour gas shift catalyst desirable conditions. In these cases, adding sulfur derivative to WGS reaction to provide a sufficient sulfur level can increase the burden to remove the same within subsequent reaction steps.
The water gas shift reaction can be designed for syngas originated from coal or natural gas. The composition, for example, amounts of the main components, impurities and trace components, can differ depending on the origin of the raw material and can have characteristics originating from the biomass used. For example, methods and strategies that are successful for certain raw materials may not necessarily be readily applicable to biomass gasification and further refinement.

Method for adjusting hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio in synthesis gas


A distributor 103 distributes an input signal into two lines of distributed signals with equal amplitudes and equal phases. Buffers 104, 105 suppress interference between distributed signals distributed into the two lines. A filter 106 performs a frequency selection which allows only a distributed signal in a predetermined band to pass. A differential amplifier 107 outputs a difference in amplitude components between a distributed signal frequency-selected by the filter 106 and the distributed signal which is not frequency-selected. This allows an attenuation characteristic or passage characteristic in a high-frequency band to be maintained.

Some conventional filter circuits using an amplifier realize a filter characteristic using conductance of the amplifier and capacitance. According to this filter circuit, a positive-phase input terminal of a first conductance amplifier, which constitutes an active filter, is connected to a first input terminal via first resistor and connected to a ground point via second resistor. Furthermore, a negative-phase input terminal of the first conductance amplifier is connected to a second input terminal via third resistor and connected to an external output terminal via fourth resistor. Then, the resistance value ratio between the first resistor and second resistor is equalized to the resistance value ratio between the third resistor and fourth resistor and one signal including an in-phase signal component is added to the first input terminal and the other signal is added to the second input terminal. In this way, the conventional filter circuit adopts a multi-stage structure with each stage consisting of a capacitance and conductance amplifier, and can thereby obtain a steep attenuation characteristic.
However, the conventional filter circuit and radio apparatus realize nothing more than a filter in a low pass type configuration, and realizing a band pass type configuration in a high-frequency band requires a combination of a low pass type configuration and high pass type configuration, and furthermore, obtaining a steep attenuation characteristic requires a multi-stage configuration, and there are problems that the number of capacitances and conductance amplifiers increase and the size of the circuit increases, making integration of the circuit difficult. On the other hand, reducing the number of stages of the filter circuit to reduce the amount of attenuation of a desired frequency component without increasing the size of the circuit results in a problem that it is difficult to realize a steep attenuation characteristic or passage characteristic in a high frequency band.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The invention features shaped articles containing a structure and a hydrogel coating thereon, the hydrogel coating containing alginic acid conjugated to a polyalkylene oxide and a binding moiety. The hydrogel coating on the structure is sized and shaped to fit in a well in a microtiter plate and the coating does not cover the entire exterior of the surface. The invention further features methods of capturing targets using shaped articles and methods of preparing shaped articles.

The invention is generally directed to compositions and methods for separations and bioengineering.
Cellular isolation techniques are an essential component in studying specific populations, allowing for growth, genomic, and proteomic investigations. The detachment of cells adhered to any surface requires the application of a force that is greater in magnitude to that of adhesion. Fluid shear forces have been shown to be a simple method for cell detachment. Although this is a local and simple method of cell release, excessive exposure to fluid shear results in cell damage and reduction in viability. An alternative approach is to cleave the protein ligand that is bound to the capture surface using enzymes, such as trypsin. However, enzymatic exposure can cause morphological changes due to a disruption of the cell membrane and glycocalyx, leading to losses in cellular activity. Furthermore, enzymatic digestion has been shown to directly affect both the behavior and chemical makeup of the cells themselves.
These limitations illustrate the need to establish a general technique to capture and release biological materials, such as cells, without extensive physical or chemical perturbations to the cell environment. There remains a need for surfaces and gels that have high specificity for particular cells and that allow the release of captured cells without altering the behavior and makeup of the cells.
In addition to biological separation, there is a critical need for biological purification technologies that also demonstrate high recovery and yield. Current automation platforms have limited recovery due to inherent limitations of the chemical composition within their process reagents and/or inefficiencies in the process workflows. These limited recoveries and yields have greatly hindered the study of rare cells, proteins, and nucleic acids within heterogeneous tissue samples. The purification of these targeted moieties would allow the advancement of new therapies, new fundamental biological understandings, and development of personalized theranostics. Although there has been some work on automation technologies that have been implemented in current workflows in an attempt to increase the purification yield, there is a need for a low non-specific binding chemistry within automation components.

Shaped articles including hydrogels and methods of manufacture and use thereof


A group of electronic communications devices like cellular phones, for example, can be programmed with similar identification data and audible announcements. When the phones come into close proximity with each other, they verify that they have common identification data, and then emit audible messages. For example, when two Georgia Tech fans can program their cellular phones with the xe2x80x9cTech identifying codexe2x80x9d. The first may program xe2x80x9cGo Jackets!xe2x80x9d, while the other may program xe2x80x9cSting ""em!xe2x80x9d. When the fans"" phones come into close proximity in a crowd, their phones acknowledge each other by recognizing the identification code. Once verified, the first phone would emit xe2x80x9cGo Jackets!xe2x80x9d while the second emits xe2x80x9cSting ""em!xe2x80x9d Alternatively, the phones could play parts of the Georgia Tech fight song, with one phone starting the chorus with xe2x80x9cI""m a Ramblin"" Reck from Georgia Tech . . .xe2x80x9d and the other following with xe2x80x9c. . . and a helluva engineer!xe2x80x9d

This invention is related generally to telephone handsets and, more specifically, to identification systems integrated into cellular telephones.
There are numerous social events where people want to identify people of like circumstances. For example, at a political convention, delegates may want to be able to identify others from their home state to discuss important political issues. While some may be boisterous and stand up and yell, xe2x80x9cWho the heck here is from Texas?xe2x80x9d, others may not be so brazen. If one is particularly shy or reserved in public, this is not an appropriate means to employ.
An alternative method is to wear loud, obnoxious clothing to identify your group. Referring to the previous example, delegates may wear shirts that say, in large, neon, psychedelic letters, xe2x80x9cYou""re darned tootin"" I""m from Texas.xe2x80x9d This method of identifying people also has limitations. For example, if one is interviewed on television, they may not want friends and family to see them in loud garments. Second, the price conscious delegate may not want to pay for a garment that can only be worn at one event. Consequently, he may not buy the shirt. Thus, valuable political discussions may be compromised by his absence, which was in turn caused by his inability to be identified in a crowd.
There is thus a need for an improved method of identifying people of similar circumstances.

Musical telephone with near field communication capabilities


An improved process is provided for separating corn oil from stillage comprising forming stillage from the fermentation of corn; mixing the stillage with a chemical additive comprising alkoxylated modified corn oil prepared by the transesterification of corn oil with glycerine followed by alkoxylation; and separating the corn oil from the stillage.

The present invention is specific to an improved method of treating corn stillage. More specifically, the present invention is specific to improvements in the yield of corn oil from ethanol production facilities. Even more specifically, the present invention is related to modifications of corn oil to increase the extraction of value added components of corn stillage.
The production of ethanol from corn has increased significantly due, at least in part, to the use of ethanol as a motor fuel. This increase has led to ever increasing efforts to improve yields and, particularly, to improve the extraction of marketable products from the process. In general, there are several commercial products achieved from ethanol production with ethanol being a primary product. The secondary products of value are corn oil and dry distiller grain (DDG). Corn oil has many commercial applications, such as an additive in food stuffs, and DDG is a valuable feed for livestock. The relative value of corn oil exceeds the relative value of DDG and therefore it is advantageous to increase the corn oil yield which is otherwise incorporated in the DDG without appreciative value being added to the DDG.
The overall process is well known to include the mixture of corn with water to form mash. Enzymes are then added to convert the corn starch to sugar after which the sugar is converted to ethanol by fermentation thereby forming an intermediate referred to in the art as "beer". The ethanol is extracted from the beer by distillation with the remaining portion being referred to as stillage. The stillage contains water, protein, nutrients, fiber, and corn oil. It is preferable to remove the corn oil from the stillage with the fraction remaining being dried and provided commercially as DDG.
Separation of the corn oil and DDG typically involves an initial step of centrifugation wherein the solids fraction is referred to as wet grain and the liquid, which contains the corn oil, is referred to as thin stillage. The water of the thin stillage is reduced, preferably by evaporation with the water preferably being recycled into the process, resulting in syrup which has a higher concentration of corn oil than the thin stillage. The syrup and corn oil are then separated, again preferably by centrifugation, with the corn oil being isolated and the remainder, or oil depleted syrup, preferably being reincorporated with the wet grain. The wet grain is then typically dried for use as, primarily, dry feed. There has been significant effort in the art focused on increasing the amount of corn oil extracted from the stillage. The theoretical yield of corn oil per bushel of processed corn is about 725.7 grams (1.6 pounds) yet this theoretical limit is not met leading to the desire for processes and methods to increase the yield of corn oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,841,469, which is incorporated herein by reference, utilizes functionalized polyols derived from sorbitol, a sorbitan or isosorbide as a chemical additive to the process steam. Though beneficial, the yield is still well below the theoretical yield thereby leading to the desire for further improvements.
The present invention provides a significant improvement in the extraction of corn oil from corn stillage by chemical modification of corn oil and further formation of a derivative of the modified corn oil. The result is an increase in yield of corn oil without compromising the value of DDG. It would be understood to those of skill in the art that methods for increasing corn oil yield which render the DDG unsuitable for use as feed for livestock would be financially unsuitable solutions.

Chemical additives and use thereof in corn stillage processing


The current invention relates to a method for a network attachment procedure and a user equipment in a wireless mobile network, the wireless mobile network comprising a user equipment with a temporary identity and at least one mobility management entity. The method comprises the steps of providing an estimation whether the user equipment is unknown at the mobility management entity and sending the user equipment's temporary identity during the network attachment procedure. If the user equipment has been estimated to be unknown at the at least one mobility management entity, the user equipment's identity is sent during the network attachment procedure. These steps are carried out by the user equipment.

UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is the 3G (3rd Generation) mobile communication system standardised by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). The first release of the specification of UMTS was published in 1999 (Release 99). In the mean time several improvements to the standard have been standardized by the 3GPP in Release 4, Release 5 and Release 6. With the desire to support higher data rates, it was decided to develop a new Air Interface and also a new evolved radio access network, E-UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network). The 3GPP launched a study item "Evolved UTRA and UTRAN" better known as "Long Term Evolution (LTE)". The study will investigate means of achieving major leaps in performance in order to improve service provisioning, and to reduce user and operator costs. Out of that and because interworking with other radio access technologies should be possible, the need arose for a new evolved Packet Core Network.
The E-UTRAN architecture consists of evolved Node Bs (eNB or eNodeB), providing the E-UTRA user plane (PDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towards the mobile node, as explained below.
The eNB hosts the Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Control Protocol (PDCP) layers that include the functionality of user-plane header-compression and encryption. It also offers Radio Resource Control (RRC) functionality corresponding to the control plane. Further, it performs many functions including radio resource management, admission control, scheduling, enforcement of negotiated UL-QoS (UpLink-Quality of Service), cell information broadcast, ciphering/deciphering of user and control plane data, and compression/decompression of DL/UL (DownLink/UpLink) user plane packet headers. The eNBs are interconnected with each other by means of the X2 interface. The eNBs are also connected by means of the S1 interface to the EPC (Evolved Packet Core), more specifically to the MME (Mobility Management Entity) by means of the S1-MME, and to the Serving Gateway (S-GW) by means of the S1-U. The S1 interface supports a many-to-many relation between MMEs/Serving Gateways and eNBs.
The S-GW routes and forwards user data packets, while also acting as the mobility anchor for the user plane during inter-eNB handovers and as the anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3GPP technologies (terminating S4 interface and relaying the traffic between 2G/3G systems and Packet Data Network Gateway). For idle state UEs, the S-GW terminates the DL data path and triggers paging when DL data arrives for the UE. It manages and stores UE contexts, e.g. parameters of the IP bearer service, network internal routing information. It also performs replication of the user traffic in case of lawful interception.
The MME is the key control-node for the LTE access-network. It is responsible for idle mode UE tracking and paging procedure including retransmissions. It is involved in the bearer activation/deactivation process and is also responsible for choosing the S-GW for a UE at the initial attach and at time of intra-LTE handover involving Core Network (CN) node relocation. It is responsible for authenticating the user (by interacting with the Home Subscriber Server, HSS). The Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling terminates at the MME and it is also responsible for generation and allocation of temporary identities to UEs. It checks the authorization of the UE to camp on the service provider's Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and enforces UE roaming restrictions. The MME is the termination point in the network for ciphering/integrity protection for NAS signaling and handles the security key management. Lawful interception of signaling is also supported by the MME. The MME also provides the control plane function for mobility between LTE and 2G/3G access networks with the S3 interface terminating at the MME from the SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node). The MME also terminates the S6a interface towards the home HSS for roaming UEs.
The Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN-GW) provides connectivity for the UE to external packet data networks by being the point of exit and entry of traffic for the UE. A UE may have simultaneous connectivity with more than one PDN-GW for accessing multiple PDNs. The PDN-GW performs policy enforcement, packet filtering for each user, charging support, lawful Interception and packet screening. Another key role of the PDN-GW is to act as the anchor for mobility between 3GPP and non-3GPP technologies.
To summarize the above, in order to support the new E-UTRAN access, the new 3GPP Core Network is mainly separated into three logical entities. At first, in the user plane the PDN-GW is the gateway to the external networks and the global mobility anchor for mobility between 3GPP and non-3GPP access technologies (like CDMA2000, WiMAX or WIFI). Second, another user plane entity being the Serving Gateway is the mobility anchor for mobility between 3GPP accesses (E-UTRAN, UTRAN, GERAN). Thirdly, a Mobility Management Entity is the control plane entity responsible for the mobility management of mobile terminals (also referred to in the following as UEs or MNs) moving between different EUTRAN base stations (eNodeBs) and also responsible for the session management.
The MMEs are connected to the eNodeBs, and one MME might be serving a number of eNodeBs so that multiple MMEs are necessary within the system to cover all eNodeBs. Furthermore, a pool of MMEs might be serving the same set of eNodeBs, e.g. for load balancing reasons.
As described above, the MME is responsible for mobility management and session management. For each mobile terminal attached to an MME, specific mobility management and evolved packet system context information is stored in the MME. These contexts comprise, e.g. the mobility state, the temporary identity, the current Tracking Area List, last known cell, authentication vectors, access restrictions, subscribed QoS profile, subscribed charging characteristics, and for each active PDN connection the APN (Access Point Name) in use, IPv4/IPv6 addresses, PDN-GW address for control plane, and also information for each EPS (Evolved Packet System) bearer within the PDN connection, as for example EPS bearer QoS profile, EPS bearer charging characteristics.
Furthermore, the context for a mobile terminal in an MME might be available even if the mobile terminal is detached from the 3GPP access. This context preservation allows for faster session setup when again switching on in the 3GPP access or when handing over from a non-3GPP access back to the 3GPP access, mainly because signalling with the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) is saved.
The following two sections give some additional background information about two important topics in this invention: Identities and context management.
UE Identifiers
Each UE can be identified by its IMSI, which is a permanent identity of the subscriber and this is a globally unique identifier.
Next to the IMSI, each UE is assigned a Globally Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI) by the MME. The GUTI is used to support subscriber identity confidentiality, and, in the shortened S-TMSI form, to enable more efficient radio signalling procedures (e.g. paging and Service Request).
The GUTI has two main components:                one that uniquely identifies the MME which allocated the GUTI; and        one that uniquely identifies the UE within the MME that allocated the GUTI.
UE Context
FIG. 1 illustrates the context management procedure. While the UE is connected, the context of the UE at the MME is always synchronized with the UE's data at the HSS. After the UE detaches, the MME receives a notification about it, and now has the option to keep the UE's context for a specific amount of time. The benefit of keeping the context at the MME is that if the UE reattaches to the network, the data at the MME can be reused.
While keeping the context at the MME, every change to the subscription info of the UE which is stored at the HSS (and of importance to the operation at the MME) gets updated to the MME. At the moment the MME decides to delete the context, it sends a "purge" message to the HSS, informing the HSS that it is about the delete the context. After receiving this message at the HSS, the HSS stops sending updates to the context at the MME. Note that the UE does not know about the existence of context at the MME.


The oxine ligands 5-chloro-8-hydroxyquiniline and 5-sulfoxyl-8-hydroxyquinoline are covalently bound, using, for example, the Mannich reaction, to a silica gel polyamine composite made from a silanized amorphous silica xerogel and polyallylamine. The resulting modified composites, termed CB-1 (X═Cl) and SB-1 (X═SO3H), respectively, show a clear selectivity for trivalent over divalent ions and selectivity for gallium over aluminum. The compounds of the invention can be applied for the sequestration of metals, such as heavy metals, from contaminated mine tailing leachates.

The consequences of increasing metal concentrations in surface and subsurface aqueous environments as a result of mining are not easy to anticipate due to the broad range of biogeochemical conditions and biological pathways in organisms (Allan, "Introduction: Mining and Metals in the Environment," J. Geochem. Explor. 58:95 (1997)). To address this environmental problem, silica polyamine composites (SPCs) have been developed as one among many remediation technologies including organic polymer chelator resins and surface silanized silica gels (Zagorodni, "Ion Exchange Materials: Properties and Applications," Elsevier Ltd. (2007); Beauvais et al., "Polymer-Supported Reagents for the Selective Complexation of Metal Ions: an Overview," Reactive & Functional Polymers 36:113 (1998); Shiraishi et al., "Separation of Transition Metals Using Inorganic Adsorbents Modified with Chelating Ligands," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 41(20):5065 (2002)). The SPCs combine the better capture kinetics and matrix rigidity of the surface modified silica gels with higher loading capacities of the polymer based chelator resins. SPCs are composed of a silica gel support covalently bonded to linear or branched water soluble chelating polyamines (Hughes et al., "Silica Polyamine Composites: New Supramolecular Materials for Cation and Anion Recovery and Remediation," Macromol. Symp. 235:161 (2006); Beatty et al., "A Comparative Study of the Removal of Heavy Metal Ions from Water Using a Silica-Polyamine Composite and a Polystyrene Chelator Resin," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 38:4402 (1999); Hughes et al., "Structural Investigations of Silica Polyamine Composites: Surface Coverage, Metal Ion Coordination, and Ligand Modification," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 45:6538 (2006); Hughes et al., "Polymer Structure and Metal Ion Selectivity in Silica Polyamine Composites Modified with Sodium Chloroacetate and Nitriloacetic Acid (NTA) Anhydride," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 47:6765 (2008); Rosenberg et al., "Removal of Low Level Mercury from Aqueous Streams Using Silica Polyamine Composites," EPD Congress 2003 as held at the 2003 TMS Annual Meeting (San Diego, Calif.; 2-6 Mar. 2003). p. 285; Kailasam et al., "Characterization of Surface-Bound Zr(IV) and Its Application to Removal of As(V) and As(III) from Aqueous Systems Using Phosphonic Acid Modified Nanoporous Silica Polyamine Composites," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 48:3991 (2009); Nielsen et al., "High-flow Metal Recovery from Acid Mine Drainage Utilizing Modified Silica Polyamine Composite Technology," Chimica Oggi 26:42 (2008); and Allen et al., "Surface Oxidation of CO2+ and its Dependence on Ligand Coordination Number in Silica Polyamine Composites," Inorg. Chim. Acta 363:617 (2010). The SPCs are synthesized via the following steps: acid washing of the silica gel surface, humidification, silanization with a mixture of methyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) and chloropropyltrichlorosilane (CPTCS), and finally addition of a polyamine and a modifying ligand (FIG. 1; Hughes et al., Macromol. Symp. 235:161 (2006)). SPCs show no shrinking or swelling, they withstand operating temperatures of up to 110° C., have anticipated stability to radiolytic decomposition, and they exhibit long usable lifetimes due to their rigid macrostructure and the multipoint anchoring of the polymer (Beatty et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 38:4402 (1999)). Prior studies on SPCs revealed that usage of MTCS and CPTCS in a 7.5:1 ratio on modified silica gel gave improvements in metal ion capacities and mass transfer kinetics under low-pH aqueous extraction conditions (Hughes et al., Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 45:6538 (2006)). The improved metal selectivity capacity for a particular metal atom is thought to be caused by the greater availability of coordinating sites.
The oxine ligand (i.e., 8-hydroxyquinoline) has long been known to be a versatile functional group for complexing transition metal ions and in particular trivalent ions. The solvent extraction lixavent, Kelex 100, is an alkyl-modified oxine that has found extensive use in solvent extraction, particularly for the recovery of gallium from Bayer solutions produced in the aluminum refining industry (Matsuda et al., Nippon Kagaku Kaishi 415 (1990)). Several groups have reported the impregnation of Kelex 100 into polystyrene resins (Nakayama et al., "Recovery of Gallium(III) from Strongly Alkaline Media Using a Kelex-100-Loaded Ion-Exchange Resing," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 36:4365 (1997)). Covalent binding of the oxine ligand to water soluble polymers (Rongnong et al., Naturforsch 47b:1300 (1992)), as well as polystyrene resins via azo linkages (Davies et al., "Syntheses of Metal Complexing Polymers. IV. Polymers Containing Miscellaneous Functional Groups," Appl. Chem. 9:368 (1959)), Friedel-Krafts chemistry (Sugii et al., "Preparation and Properties of Chelating Resins Containing 8-Hydroxyquinoline," Chem. Pharm. Bull. 26(3):798 (1978)) or copolymerization with resorcinol (Vernone et al., "Chelating Ion-Exchangers Containing 8-Hydroxyquinoline as the Functional Group," Anal. Chim. Acta 63:403 (1973)) has been reported. Covalent bonding to aminopropyl functionalized silica gels via the diazotization method (Fulcher et al., "Synthetic Aspects of the Characterization of Some Silica-Bound Complexing Agents," Anal. Chim. Acta 129:29 (1981)) and the Mannich reaction (Pyell et al., "Preparation and Properties of an 8-Hydroxyquinoline Silica Gel, Synthesized via Mannich Reaction," Anal. Chem. 342:281 (1992)) also been reported. Although some of these materials showed promise for sequestering metal ions in general they had significant problems with mass transfer kinetics (organic polymers) or low capacities (silica gels). Furthermore, the selectivity of these oxine modified solid phase adsorbents for various metals was not well defined in the prior work.
All patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications and publications referred to or cited herein, are incorporated by reference in their entirety to the extent they are not inconsistent with the teachings of the specification.

Oxine modified silican polyamine composites for the separation of gallium from aluminum, ferric from nickel and copper from nickel


A method of detecting the subject of an image and imaging device thereof are disclosed. The method comprises the following steps of providing an image capturing module to capture the temporal image, providing the image processing module to receive the temporal image and to determine a plurality of objects from the temporal image, using the image processing module to define a plurality of regions on the temporal image based on the center of temporal image, using the image processing module to assign an initial setup value to each of the objects according to the region corresponding to each of the objects, using the imaging processing module to execute an operation to increase or decrease each of the initial setup values, using the image processing module to execute a sorting, and selecting at least one of the objects as a subject of the temporal image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of detecting the subject of an image and imaging device thereof, and particularly, to an imaging device and a method of detecting the subject of an image to obtain the subject of objects in an image.
2. Description of the Related Art
With advent of the digital era and the vigorous developments of the related software and hardware, various digital mobile apparatuses already gain the identification of people and are widely applied to daily life. Imaging capturing devices such as digital cameras and digital camcorders both provide users with a more convenient life style.
However, traditional cameras cannot detect the subject of an image, but rely on a user to direct the focusing direction to photograph. Therefore, if a user does not direct the focusing direction precisely such that the desired object is not located on the center of the picture, but only on the boundary, the image of the desired object on the picture taken by the user must be blurring.

Method of detecting subject of image and imaging device thereof


Provided herein are cementitious compositions comprising a non-aqueous fluid and an alkali-activated material. The non-aqueous fluid can include a natural oil, a synthetically derived oil, one or more surfactants, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the non-aqueous fluid can include an oil based mud, a synthetic based mud, or a mixture thereof. The alkali-activated material in the cementitious composition can be derived from an aluminosilicate material and an alkaline activator. In some embodiments, the aluminosilicate material includes fly ash. The alkaline activator can be selected from an alkali-hydroxide, an alkali-silicate, an alkali carbonate, an alkali bicarbonate, an alkali sulfate, and a mixture thereof. Provided herein are also wellbore servicing composition, such as compositions to reduce lost circulation of drilling fluids or cement a casing into the borehole, comprising the cementitious compositions and methods for preparing and using the cementitious compositions.

The general procedure of drilling an oil or gas well includes drilling a borehole using a drilling fluid. The use of an organic based drilling fluid or drilling mud such as an oil based drilling fluid (also known as oil based mud) or a synthetic based drilling fluid (also known as synthetic based mud), has become increasingly popular since their introduction in the 1950's. Oil based muds and synthetic based muds offer advantages over water based muds in many drilling situations. In particular, oil based muds are known in the art to provide excellent clay stabilization and shale inhibition, borehole stability, lubricity, thermal stability, corrosion inhibition, tolerance of contamination, and ease of maintenance.
Subsequent to drilling the borehole, casing is run into the well and a cement slurry is then placed in the annulus between the outside of the casing and the borehole wall. In order to obtain a good cementing job, it is necessary for the cement slurry to displace substantially all of the drilling mud from the annulus. Once placed, the purpose of the cement slurry is to harden in the annulus and provide an effective seal between the casing and the borehole. The hardened cement sheath prevents or inhibits communication of fluids between the various formations penetrated by the well. In addition to providing zonal isolation, the cement is in contact with the casing and provides mechanical support and resistance to axial movement through the shear bond developed between the interfaces of cement and pipe and cement and formation. However, bonding between the cement and casing and borehole surfaces is not always readily achievable, especially where the drilling fluid and cement are not compatible, which is not uncommon. In particular, the oil wetting nature of organic based drilling muds causes incompatibilities with traditional Portland cements in downhole environments. This incompatibility can lead to loss of cement sheath integrity as well as ingress of formation fluids, which then compromises zonal isolation.
During the drilling process, the drilling fluid must stay in the borehole to perform its function(s). Frequently, undesirable formation conditions are encountered in which substantial amounts or, in some cases, practically all of the drilling fluid may be lost to the formation, also known as lost circulation, which can interfere with drilling progress. Drilling fluid can leave the borehole through large or small fissures or fractures in the formation or through pores in the rock matrix surrounding the borehole. The response to such fluid losses is to pump lost circulation materials to stop and remediate the losses. However, due to incompatibilities with organic based drilling fluids, poor bonding to the surfaces of the fracture, or hardening of the cement with too high a compressive strength that will deflect the drillbit when the loss zone is re-drilled, cements known in the art often does not provide a solution for this purpose.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,679 describes solidification of water based drilling muds using blast furnace slag. However, a similar process was not successful with organic based drilling muds. With the nearly exclusive use of organic based drilling muds particularly in offshore operations, a different method of mud solidification is needed. The compositions and methods described herein address these and other needs.

Cementitious compositions comprising a non-aqueous fluid and an alkali-activated material

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for use in connection with the combustion of black liquor. In the method the black liquor is concentrated in a multi-effect evaporation plant in order to obtain black liquor at a suitable dry-solids content for combustion and to generate vapor. The concentrated black liquor is taken to be combusted in a recovery boiler, into which combustion air is fed at several levels for the combustion process. It is a characteristic feature of the invention that the air fed to at least one air level is preheated by using vapor generated in the concentration of the black liquor as heat source.

This invention relates to a method of and an arrangement for combusting black liquor from a pulp mill in a recovery boiler, whereby the heat economy of the process has been specifically enhanced.
Conventionally, the black liquor from a pulp mill has been combusted at a dry solids content of approximately 63-75%. It is advantageous to remove as much water as possible from the black liquor before feeding the liquor into a recovery boiler, because the vaporization of the water in the furnace cools the furnace, slows down the combustion process and, due to an increased heat capacity, impedes the recovery of the heat that has become bound in the flue gases during the combustion. At present, a purpose is to concentrate the black liquor to a considerably higher dry solids content (i.e. 80-90%), which provides several benefits in the combustion of black liquor. Liquor droplets having a high dry solids content dry faster and with a smaller amount of heat and they also burn quicker. A decreased flue gas flow allows the installation of smaller and inexpensive heat transfer surfaces and the possibility to position the post-heat transfer surfaces of the boiler so that more electricity can be produced. Also the risk of blocking in the heat recovery section of the recovery boiler will be smaller. An increase in the dry solids content raises the temperature at the bottom part of the furnace, whereby emissions of sulfur dioxide are lesser and the level of reduction in the char bed increases.
For the recovery the black liquor is concentrated in a multi-effect evaporation plant. Usually the evaporation plant operates so that hot vapor, e.g. live steam, is fed as heating medium into an evaporator at the highest pressure, said vapor boiling down the liquor on the liquor side of the evaporator, thus generating vapor at a lower pressure than the vapor directed to the vapor side of the evaporator. The vapor thus generated is used to heat an evaporator at the next highest pressure while the liquor flows through the evaporation plant countercurrent in relation to the heating steam. Correspondingly, the same process takes place in the third effect and in the fourth effect etc. until the pressure and the temperature of the liquor discharged from the last effect in relation to the flow of the vapor are so low that it is technically and economically unprofitable to continue. The vapor having the lowest pressure is usually condensed in a condenser by using water or air. Typically an evaporation plant has 5 to 7 effects.
Treatment of black liquor at a high dry solids content involves certain problems. The viscosity of the black liquor increases exponentially as the dry solids content increases. In order to overcome the resistance caused by the viscosity, the black liquor has to be evaporated and transferred to a recovery boiler at a high temperature and at a super-atmospheric pressure. When the dry solids content of the black liquor is above 80%, the viscosity of the liquor is so high and the boiling point rise so considerable that ordinary back pressure steam is not sufficient for the final concentration. Medium pressure steam (typically having a pressure of 9-17 bar(e)) is required in order to reach a sufficiently high evaporation temperature in the final concentrator and to lower the viscosity of the liquor as well as to compensate the decrease in capacity caused by the considerable boiling point rise. Thus, the pressure and the temperature of the secondary vapor (its heat enthalpy) generated from the black liquor to be evaporated in the final concentrator will be so high that as regards heat economy, it is difficult to utilize this vapor as effectively as possible in the multi-effect evaporation plant described above, even though it would be a natural further use for the vapor. Feeding this kind of vapor into further effects operating at a lower dry solids content is not profitable, because as a heat source for these effects, vapor can be used having a lower pressure and temperature than the secondary vapor of the final concentrator.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method whereby the secondary vapor generated in the evaporation of the black liquor can be utilized more effectively as regards heat economy than before. In particular, it is a further object of the invention to provide a method of utilizing the secondary vapor that has been generated in the final evaporation of the black liquor to the dry solids content above 80%.
The present invention comprises a method whereby black liquor is concentrated in a multi-effect evaporation plant in order to obtain black liquor at a suitable dry-solids content for combustion and to generate vapor. The concentrated black liquor is taken to be combusted in a recovery boiler, into which combustion air is fed at several levels for the combustion process. It is a characteristic feature of the invention that the combustion air to be fed to at least one air level is preheated by using vapor generated in the concentration of the black liquor as a heat source.
The invention also relates to an arrangement for combusting black liquor from a pulp mill, the characteristic features of which being defined in the appended claims relating to the arrangement.
In the new process of the invention the vapor produced in the concentration of black liquor is utilized in an entirely new way as it is used to preheat the combustion air needed for the combustion of black liquor subsequent to the evaporation plant. Secondary vapor that is particularly suitable for this purpose is produced in the final concentration of the black liquor, whereby the dry solids content of the black liquor rises above 80% and whereby medium pressure steam having typically a pressure of 10-12 bar is used as heating medium.
When combusting concentrated black liquor, the purpose is to separate from each other the organic and inorganic constituents of the dry solids in the black liquor. The heat from the organic constituent of the dry solids is recovered and this heat is used to produce as much steam as possible. Process chemicals are recovered from the inorganic constituent of the dry solids in such a form that at later stages of the process they can be transformed to be reused in the cooking process. The concentrated black liquor is sprayed in a droplet form into the furnace of the recovery boiler. Also fed into the furnace of the recovery boiler is a stoichiometric amount of combustion air corresponding the amount of black liquor and also some surplus air to ensure complete combustion. Air is usually fed in at three levels: primary air at the bottom of the furnace, secondary air above the level of the primary air but below the liquor nozzles, and tertiary air above liquor nozzles in order to ensure complete combustion. In addition to these, there may also be other levels for feeding in air, e.g. above the tertiary air level, whereby the object is to decrease the amount of nitrogen oxides formed in the combustion.
Conventionally, at least the primary and secondary air is pre-heated before feeding into the furnace in order to maintain a sufficiently high combustion temperature in the furnace. Ambient air is used as the tertiary air and the air for the higher levels, and it is usually not heated. In the preheating the combustion air is heated typically to a temperature of approx. 150xc2x0 C. The heating process is usually divided into two stages, of which the first stage utilizes low pressure steam, e.g. at the pressure of approx. 3 bar, and the second stage uses steam at a higher pressure, e.g. at approx. 11 bar. When combusting black liquor having dry solids content above 80% in the recovery boiler, the temperature of the combustion air to be fed into the furnace of the boiler is lower than the corresponding temperature in the combustion of lower-solids black liquor. Typically, the temperature of the air is about 100xc2x0 C., which makes it possible to use steam having a lower pressure than the normal low pressure steam (approx. 3-4 bar(e)) of the mill in the air pre-heaters, and therefore, according to the invention, heat originating from the secondary vapor is utilized. Consequently, a steam pressure of approx. 0,5-1 bar(e) is sufficient in the air pre-heater.
The process according to the invention is very economical as regards heat consumption, because the heat used for the evaporation of the black liquor is recovered to be further used for heating the combustion air for the recovery boiler. In this way, the heat that is required for pre-heating the air may be used twice; first to evaporate the black liquor and then to pre-heat the air.
The process according to the invention is particularly suited for pulp mills, where black liquor has previously been concentrated to a dry solids content of 70-75%, but in order to enhance the combustion, the aim is to reach the level above 80%. In certain exemplary cases it has been shown that in additional evaporation where the black liquor has been concentrated further to a dry solids content of above 80%, the heat energy thus generated is approximately 70-90% of the energy needed to preheat the combustion air. The required additional heating of the combustion air is provided by heating separately with live steam which is usually needed in the system for start-ups and shutdowns and for regulating the process.
It is fairly uncomplicated to apply the invention in an existing plant as the number of connections to the evaporation plant and the boiler is small. Due to a lesser need for connections required for the realization of the arrangement according to the method of the invention, it is relatively easy to position the arrangement in connection with the recovery boiler. The heat consumption of the mill does not increase even though a new black liquor concentrator using medium pressure steam as heating medium is installed in the mill, because the vapor generated in the concentrator is utilized further in a heat-economical way, i.e. in the air pre-heaters. Additional operating costs resulting e.g. from a decrease in the production of electricity in the mill, which is caused by replacing the low pressure steam used in the pre-heating with the medium pressure steam used for evaporation, is merely a small portion in comparison with the yield from the additional steam production from the evaporation (i.e. secondary vapor from the concentrator).
The secondary vapor originating from the black liquor may include corroding compounds to such an extent that the material of which the air pre-heater is manufactured must have certain special properties, if the secondary vapor is led directly to the pre-heaters. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the secondary vapor is condensed in an evaporation unit (a reboiler) in which the condensing medium is demineralized water or the like. The steam thus generated is so pure that it may be fed into the same line with the live steam directed to the air pre-heaters. In the pre-heaters the air is condensed and the condensate is returned to the reboiler. When using the evaporation unit as an intermediate loop boiling demineralized water, no special arrangements are needed for the material of the air pre-heater. The pre-heating can be realized also without an intermediate loop (reboiler) if the secondary vapor used as a heat source does not contain to a damaging extent substances that can affect an air pre-heater manufactured of conventional material and having a conventional construction.

Method and arrangement for combusting black liquor


A method for constructing a product comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of component parts fashioned from a flexible substrate material and having a flat profile when disassembled; forming apertures in the component parts to establish fastening points for facilitating product assembly, where each aperture has a single-component snap fastener mounted therein; integrally molding each snap fastener to include a female section and a male section; assembling the component parts by removably stackably affixing the fastener male sections of a first component part to the fastener female sections of a second component part, to form a self-supporting, three-dimensional product exoskeleton having flexibly curved surfaces; and returning the component parts to a flat profile upon disengaging the snap fasteners from the product.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for constructing a product. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for constructing a product comprising multiple components fashioned from flexible polypropylene patterns which when assembled with a plurality of integrally-molded, single-component snap fasteners form a three-dimension, self-supporting, flexible exoskeleton structure, the components returning to an original flat profile when the product is disassembled.
2. Background Art
Products have been fabricated, constructed and assembled by many different methods in the past using varied construction materials and fastening techniques. The construction materials and fastening methods were typically selected based upon the intended use of the products. For example, products intended to be used to support the weight of adults or products that were intended to carry a heavier mechanical load would be fashioned from stronger and more robust materials than those products intended for use by children.
Further, some products are constructed with the intention of being permanently assembled while other products are constructed with removable fasteners so that they can be assembled and disassembled at will. An example of this construction method includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,759 to Vitsky et al. in 1990. Vitsky et al. disclose a product identified as knockdown furniture which is described as household furniture that is easily assembled and disassembled. The described furniture is specifically directed to furniture which is scaled in size and in assembly complexity for use by children. An embodiment presented by Vitsky et al. disclose a furniture package that is provided with full child-size parts and with a smaller sized set of paper or cardboard parts matching the child-sized parts. This embodiment enables the child to visualize the completed furniture pieces as well as the assembly process.
The drawing illustrations and disclosure presented by Vitsky et al. show side members that are preferably generally planar or include one or more planar surfaces which are preferably generally vertical surfaces. The surfaces of Vitsky et al. are disposed horizontally, vertically or at angles and are not, in general, curved. The side frame members have preformed apertures therein disposed to accept tabbed extensions of central members which may be placed between one or more side members. Vitsky et al. further represents overlying mating apertures for receiving large fasteners that are easily manipulated by young children. The components of the knockdown furniture are not fabricated into specific patterns which are held under stress by the fastener connectors for enabling the formation of components having curved surfaces.
In an example directed to the assembly of a chair, Vitsky et al. discloses first forming the central element to the general shape of a chair seat and back portions and inserting tabs into slots of a first side piece and then repeating the tab insertion procedure for the second side piece. Assembly is completed by folding a central element tabs over at the site of the mating side piece fastener holes, then inserting an expandable fastener through both tab fastener holes and side piece fastener holes. This procedure is repeated until all the fastener hole pairs are secured by fasteners. Vitsky et al. shows an example expandable fastener for use with the knockdown furniture which comprises generally a first part in the shape of a head or flange having extended therefrom a radially expandable central protrusion split into at least two sections to form a resilient end portion. The resilient end portion can be tapered to facilitate placement of the fastener into the openings of the end pieces.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,930 issued to Bay in 1978 discloses a snap-on shield for a helmet. The snap-on shield comprises a flat transparent surface which can be shaped to fit onto the helmet, or a molded pre-curved surface, to protect the face of a wearer. The shield is injection-molded of a polymer material having a molded female center snap portion for engaging a male snap portion on the helmet and a pair of groups of female polymer snaps are molded for one snap portion to engage each male ear stud snap on the helmet. Each group of female snap portions is positioned so that one snap portion fits the ear stud male snap portion of at least one helmet. The shield may also have additional male snap portions molded therein for engaging female snaps on a visor. The face shield with snap fastener portions is molded in one piece to fit a large variety of helmets having variations in the positioning of the helmet snap fastener portions thereon.
In the '930 patent to Bay, a face shield is adapted to be attached to a helmet, and a visor is adapted to be attached to the front of the shield. The shield and the visor can be comprised of a polymer material and the snap fasteners can be fabricated from a plastic material. Although the face shield and visor components are attached to the helmet, the polymer material forming the components does not exhibit spring-like properties which causes a components initial flat profile when disassembled to adopt a three-dimensional exoskeleton structure when assembled. The present design of the snap fasteners utilized by the Bay '930 patent are fashioned from multiple structural elements and thus are not single component snap fasteners. Consequently, the method for constructing the helmet shield apparatus of Bay '930 requires more components requiring more construction steps and is less economical.
It is further noted that mechanical snap fasteners of the prior art are typically manufactured to include four basic components. Those components include a male component and a separate female component. Additionally, the male component of the snap fastener includes a rear fitting cap positioned on the opposite side of the fabric of a garment in relation to the male component. Likewise, the female component of the snap fastener also includes a rear fitting cap positioned on the opposite side of the fabric of the garment in relation to the female component. Also, the male component is independent of the female component. This prior art construction does not emulate a single component snap fastener exhibiting an integrally molded form and having a male section and a female section each of which are compatible with all other identical snap fasteners.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method for constructing a product which comprises multiple structural components fashioned from flexible polypropylene patterns having spring-like properties, the components initially exhibiting a flat profile being assembled with a plurality of integrally molded, single-component snap fasteners to fabricate a three-dimensional, self-supporting, flexibly-curved exoskeleton structure, the components returning to the original flat profile when the product is disassembled by disengaging the single-component snap fasteners.

Method for constructing a product and fastener therefore


A vacuum may include a housing, a filter, a motor-fan assembly, and a flue. The housing defines a chamber having a circular cross-section. The filter may have an annular shape and is disposed in the chamber of the housing. The motor-fan assembly includes a motor drivably coupled to a fan, such that the fan is mounted above the motor. The motor and the fan are enclosed in a casing, and the casing is disposed in an opening of the filter. The fan draws air into the chamber via the intake port and upward through the filter into the casing of the motor-fan assembly. The flue defines an exhaust path from the casing to the exhaust port, whereby air drawn into the casing is discharged via the flue outside the chamber of the vacuum.

Portable vacuum cleaners, such as a drum type vacuum or a shop vac, are well known in the industry.
A conventional portable vacuum cleaner may include a canister and a motor-fan assembly disposed above the canister. The motor-fan assembly may include a housing that is detachable from the canister and houses the fan and the motor. The motor is typically arranged above the fan, such that as the motor drives the fan, the fan draws in air and debris into the canister via an intake port. The canister may be a cylindrical like drum that collects the debris drawn in by the fan.
By having the fan and the motor disposed above the canister, the portable vacuum has a high center of gravity which may cause the portable vacuum to tip over. In addition, due to the cylinder like canister and the separate detachable housing that holds the motor and the fan, the size of the portable vacuum may become excessive, thereby making it cumbersome to transport.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.


A manual percussive welding apparatus which has a fixed electrode and a movable electrode is provided with a means in the form of a stop that comes into contact with the moveable electrode assembly to prevent further downward movement of the movable electrode. The movable electrode is normally spring-loaded to be urged toward the fixed electrode and is held in cocked position by a latching means.

In my prior patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,666, I disclosed a manual percussive welding apparatus of the type commonly known as a fusion welder which utilized a spring-loaded electrode that could be manually released to engage a fixed electrode and discharge a charged capacitor. This type of welding is particularly useful in the jewelry industry or in the electronics industry where small objects are required to be welded and where it is desirable to minimize flash. For example, one of the more common welding procedures is to weld an earring post to the main body of the earring by the utilization of a hollow chuck that would hold the stud. One of the difficulties that has been noted in use of the apparatus as disclosed in my prior patent has been in attempting to adjust the distances between the fixed electrode and the movable electrode to accept various types of parts. The instant invention overcomes this problem and provides an improved operation of the welding apparatus of my previous patent.


A clamp for securing a terminal end of a wire to a surface electrode formed on a cylindrical tube includes a first semicylindrical element. A second semicylindrical element is configured to be attached to the first semicylindrical element to form a tubular clamp structure that is adapted to be clamped around the cylindrical tube. The tubular clamp structure includes an interior surface configured to securely hold a terminal end of a wire against a surface electrode formed on the cylindrical tube.

Endotracheal tubes include electrodes that are designed to make contact with a patient's vocal cords to facilitate electromyographic (EMG) monitoring of the vocal cords during surgery when connected to an EMG monitoring device. Endotracheal tubes provide an open airway for patient ventilation, and provide for monitoring of EMG activity of the intrinsic laryngeal musculature when connected to an appropriate EMG monitor. Endotracheal tubes can provide continuous monitoring of the nerves supplying the laryngeal musculature during surgical procedures.
In endotracheal tubes, wires are typically terminated to surface electrodes on the tube. Terminating wires to surface electrodes for endotracheal tubes usually involves the use of a flex circuit and electrically conductive epoxy. However, flex circuits are expensive, and conductive epoxy can be messy and cause short circuits.

Clamp for securing a terminal end of a wire to a surface electrode