Novel imidazopyrazine compounds are disclosed that have a formula represented by the following:

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is estimated to infect 170 million people worldwide and in many countries is the leading cause of chronic liver disease. Infection frequently leads to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in long-term chronically infected patients. In most cases, clinical symptoms post-infection are mild or even subacute. Hence, many patients do not realize that they are infected until there is chronic liver damage 10-30 years after the initial infection. There are no vaccines or selective drugs currently available to treat HCV and the current standard therapies for HCV treatment are based on antiviral therapies that are not effective for a large number of patients, and are also poorly tolerated. The current best standard of care utilizes pegylated alpha-interferon and ribavirin. In the most common genotypes, this therapy is effective in less than 50% of cases and is associated with side effects and relapse after treatment cessation. Thus, there is a clear unmet need for effective therapies for the treatment of HCV infection.
HCV is an enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the Flaviviridae family. The 9.6 kb genome encodes for a single open reading frame, resulting in the translation of a single polyprotein of approximately 3,010 amino acids. In infected cells, this polyprotein is cleaved at multiple sites by cellular and viral proteases to produce the structural and non-structural (NS) proteins. The flanking 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions of the viral RNA genome contain important cis-acting signals for the initiation of viral RNA replication and protein translation. The HCV life-cycle can be separated into the following phases: 1) attachment to the cell membrane and entry into the cytoplasm; 2) cytoplasmic release and uncoating of the viral genome; 3) IRES-mediated translation; 4) polyprotein processing by cellular and viral proteases; 5) RNA replication; 6) packaging and assembly; 7) release from the host cell. As the HCV life cycle depends on the activity of numerous viral enzymes, engineering of specific enzyme inhibitors is being pursued in a number of laboratories to block HCV replication. Current research is mainly directed towards inhibiting HCV by targeting the non-structural proteins NS3 (protease and helicase) and NS5B (polymerase). Without wishing to be bound by any particular mechanism, it is believed that the compounds of the present invention target a host cell mechanism.
Picornaviruses are responsible for a large number of human viral diseases. The genus enterovirus, cardiovirus, rhinovirus, aphtovirus and hepatovirus especially the polioviruses (Sb), coxsackieviruses (CV), human echoviruses, human enteroviruses, human rhinoviruses (HRV) and hanks viruses all belong to the picornaviridae family. The disease syndromes range from mild upper respiratory disease to fatal neurological or cardiac-based illnesses. Rhinoviruses are estimated to cause approximately one-third of all upper respiratory tract viral infections. Examples of diseases caused by picornaviridae viral infections include, but are not limited to e.g. in humans aseptic meningitis, poliomyelitis, herpangina, pleurodynia (Bornholm disease), myositis, rhabdomyolysis, diabetes type 1, summer fever, encephalitis, febrile illness and myocarditis. In animals rhinoviruses and the foot and mouth disease viruses can be caused by such infections.
Picornaviruses are non-enveloped single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses. The viral RNA genome is packaged in a capsid consisting of 60 repeating protomeric units, each one containing a copy of the four viral proteins VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4. The structural organization of the viral capsid of several picornaviruses e.g. human rhinovirus 14 (HRV-14), poliovirus and coxsackievirus B3 has been elucidated by crystallization and resolution of the three-dimensional structure.
Imidazopyrazines are known in the literature and have been reported to be effective treatments for various disorders (e.g. WO 2008/059373 (acid pump antagonists), WO 2008/057512 (kinase inhibitors), WO 2004/074289 (gastric secretion inhibitors)). In particular, there are several reports of imidazopyrazines having a use in oncology by inhibiting cyclin-dependent kinases (e.g. WO 2007/058942, WO 2007/056468 and WO 2004/026877).
Surprisingly, the imidazopyrazines disclosed here have little or no effect on cyclin-dependent kinases and more surprisingly are effective as antiviral agents against a number of different viruses that include but are not limited to HCV, HRV, Sb and CVB.

Substituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazine compounds useful for the treatment of viral infections

Abstract: The compounds may be prepared as pharmaceutical compositions, and may be used for the prevention and treatment of a viral infection, in particular a HCV, HRV, Sb and/or CVB in a patient in need thereof.


An in situ method of cleaning contaminated soil and/or water comprises breaking up contaminated soil, admixing soil with water and a biodegradable detergent in a proportion effective to obtain an aqueous slurry where the contaminant and the detergent interact, allowing the slurry to stand under conditions effective to permit any contaminant-detergent formations to rise in the aqueous slurry, separating the contaminant-detergent formations from the aqueous slurry, now comprising partially decontaminated soil and water, separating the soil from the water, repeating the cleaning and separation steps until the soil has less contaminant than a predetermined value, typically a 80 to 90 percent decrease, admixing the low contamination-soil with water and an activating agent for contaminant-degrading microorganism, the agent being capable of generating hydrogen peroxide (H.sub.2 O.sub.2) in solution, allowing the activating agent to interact with soil microorganisms in the aqueous mixture under conditions effective to degrade any contaminants remaining therein, separating the activating agent-treated soil from the aqueous mixture comprising the microorganisms, washing the separated soil and returning it to the original environment site, filtering the previously separated water to separate any contaminants, and recycling the filtered water into the system or returning it to the environment. An apparatus for performing the process is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an in situ method of cleaning soil, particularly sand, and aqueous solutions such as water, that have been contaminated by, e.g., a spill of oil, chlorinated hydrocarbons, organic solvents, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and the like. The method relies on the formation of an aqueous slurry, the addition in separate steps of a detergent as well as a microorganism and an additive, and the regulation of temperature to reduce the presence of oil or other contaminants in the soil and/or water. The extraction of oil and/or other contaminants with the detergent may be repeated until their content is reduced to a point at which the soil and/or water are allowed to be degraded by indigenous microorganisms. This patent provides a method of cleaning contaminated soil and water, and an apparatus for so doing.
2. Description of the Background
Various methods have been employed in the past to remove contaminants from contaminated solids such as soil. U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,892 to Wagner et al discloses a method that impregnates soil, sand or residues that contain oil or petroleum hydrocarbons with an aqueous solution containing microbially-produced glycolipids. The resulting oil phase or emulsion leaves the capillaries of the oil-contaminating material, rises out of the aqueous phase, and is separated therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,081 to Giguere discloses a method for reconditioning soils contaminated with heavy crude, refined petroleum, and/or chemical products derived from similar sources. The method comprises mixing the soil with water, sodium hydroxide and steam to provide a blended slurry. The blended slurry is further agitated and heated in a sparger kiln to approximately 210.degree. F. (99.degree. C.) at the kiln outlet to provide a fine particle slurry. A caustic liquid is also injected at the kiln inlet to facilitate the extraction of the contaminants from the slurry. The separation of oil particles from the fine particle slurry is accomplished by first washing the slurry in a clarifier, followed by washing in flotation cell units, and subjecting the slurry to an aeration clarifier. A fatty acid or alcohol reagent is added at the aeration stage which produces a foam to which the oil particles adhere.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,013 to Peterson discloses a method for decontaminating soil containing halogenated contaminants by reaction schemes that are carried out in a slurry of soil and a non-aqueous reagent mixture. The non-aqueous reagent mixture of the Peterson patent contains an alkaline component and a sulfoxide catalyst. There are four possibilities suggested for the alkaline component: an alkali metal hydroxide, an alkali metal hydroxide/alcohol mixture, an alkali metal hydroxide/glycol mixture, and an alkoxide. The Peterson process employs a non-aqueous reagent mixture and, therefore, when wet soil is to be decontaminated, vacuum must first be applied to remove any water prior to contacting the soil with the non-aqueous reagent mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,948 to Weitzman discloses a method for removing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated dioxins from solids, particularly soil. The Weitzman method removes contaminants by contacting the solids with a non-aqueous liquid containing a halogenated hydrocarbon. A smaller amount of polar organic solvent, e.g., methanol, is preferably used. The polar organic solvent apparently improves the wettability of the contaminated solids and allows the halogenated hydrocarbon to more easily extract PCBs and dioxins.
A study published by the U.S. Department of Commerce (National Technical Information Service No. PB84-123637) funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and conducted by Rexnord, Inc. discusses requirements for mobile systems to extract spilled hazardous materials from excavated soils. The study lists the characteristics necessary for an effective extraction fluid. Chief among these characteristics is a solvent possessing low volatility at ambient conditions. A volatile solvent under ambient conditions, such as aqueous ammonia, is not considered a suitable extraction fluid by the above study to decontaminate soil.
Aqueous ammonia has previously been used as a solvent for cleaning mechanical devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,155 to Cheek discloses a cleaning composition that includes a chlorinated hydrocarbon liquid, a petroleum distillate, an aliphatic alcohol, and aqueous ammonia. The composition has two phases which must be shaken before application. The concentration of ammonia in the composition is kept low, e.g., 20-33% maximum, to prevent burns to the handler. The composition is disclosed as being suitable for removing dried printing ink from printing equipment such as printing rollers as well as for removing stains from textiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,302 to Bruya discloses a method for decontaminating solid materials by removing hazardous organic waste with aqueous ammonia. The resulting solution is then treated to recover the organic waste for disposal and the decontaminated soil is returned to the excavation site.
German OS No. 3,216,771 discloses a process for cleaning earth contaminated with toxic materials. In this process, the earth is, e.g., heated in a rotating drum and the resulting gas products are burnt.
German Patent Application No. P3,447,079 also refers to a process for the thermal treatment of contaminated earth. In this process the earth is treated at a temperature of at least 600.degree. C. and the resulting gas is also burnt. In the processes of the two German references described above, the gas contaminants are thermally removed from the earth at relatively high temperatures. This requires a relatively large amount of energy.
German OS No. 2,531,732 describes a process for the removal, treatment and regeneration of oil-contaminated soil. Oil and water-soluble noxious components are washed out in low surface tension water preferably a temperatures between 60.degree. and 90.degree. C. The material to be treated is comminuted and mixed with the cleaning medium in a spiral drum and then separated from the contaminant-binding cleaning medium by sedimentation in a clearing sump.
A similar process for the regeneration of soil, e.g., soil contaminated by oil, is shown in German OS No. 2,724,271. Contaminated soil is optionally comminuted, suspended in the form of a slurry in a liquid such as water, and then heated to a vaporizing temperature in a continuous flow chamber. The upper layer of the suspension is stripped off and separated in the chamber. The dissolved substances, however, are not washed out from the contaminated soil in such a process at the vaporization temperature of water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,873 to Tippmer discloses a further method for extracting substances such as benzene, toluene, phenols and heterocyclic hydrocarbons from soil by suspending the soil in water and subjecting the thus formed slurry to a multi-stage water extraction at high temperature, and drying the extracted soil.
Accordingly, there is still a need of a simple and effective method and apparatus for cleaning oil-contaminated soil, particularly sand and water, that can be conducted at the site of an oil spill and provide a significant reduction in the oil content of the soil and the surface and subterranean water layers.

Method and apparatus for on the site cleaning of contaminated soil


This invention discloses a solar sensing system and a solar tracking method thereof. The solar sensing system comprises a solar module, an azimuth sensor unit, an elevation sensor unit and a driving unit. The azimuth sensor unit and the elevation sensor unit are disposed on the surface of the solar module. The azimuth sensor unit senses sunlight to generate an azimuth signal. The driving unit receives the azimuth signal to turn the solar module until the azimuth sensor unit is aligned precisely towards the sunlight. The elevation sensor unit senses the sunlight to generate an elevation signal. The driving unit receives the elevation signal to turn the solar module until the elevation sensor unit is aligned precisely towards the sunlight. If the azimuth sensor unit and the elevation sensor unit are aligned precisely towards the sunlight, the solar module will also be aligned precisely towards the sunlight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar sensing system and a solar tracking method thereof, and more particularly to a solar sensing system and a solar tracking method thereof that tracks and positions sunlight respectively by an azimuth and an elevation.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, solar technology is a technology of renewable energy with a high potential of development. Solar panels are used for absorbing sunlight and converting the sunlight into electric energy for generating and supplying electric power to household electric appliances, and solar cars are driven by solar energy. Solar energy is used extensively in different areas including solar cells and various solar appliances, and thus many technologies related to the effective conversion from sunlight into electric energy were developed.
In the market, there are different types of photosensing elements including photoconductors, light emitting diodes, photo transistors, solar cells, etc. Each type of sensing elements having advantages and disadvantage is selected according to the user's requirements for a solar system. However, it is very important for the solar system to track the position of sunlight for collecting the sunlight effectively, in addition to the light sensing properties of the photosensing element. Even though an excellent photosensing element is adopted, the sunlight cannot be utilized effectively when the solar system is unable to locate the sunlight. Therefore a solar tracking sensor is developed to track the sunlight.
The way of using the solar tracking sensor to track sunlight to improve the light collection of the solar panel is a prior art. Most conventional solar tracking sensors tracks the sunlight based on the X-Y coordinates that are applied to two axes of the solar panel, and two angles including the x-axis included angle and the Y-axis included angle will be coupled. In other words, if the X-axis is used for performing an East-West direction tracking and the tracking is completed, and then the Y-axis is used for performing a South-North direction tracking, that will destroy the originally positioned X-axis angle, and vice versa. The coupling phenomenon of the two axes will consume much time and power for the tracking process and result in a low efficiency. It is an important subject for related designers and manufacturers to develop a solar tracking sensor without the aforementioned coupling phenomenon and capable of tracking sunlight effectively.

Solar sensing system and solar tracking method thereof


A device and a method for determining a position of a user's body portion. The device includes a camera, configured to capture the body portion, and a display for providing visual feedback. A sensor determines at least one of a roll angle, a pitch angle, and a yaw angle of the device, and an interface receives picture data related to a pictorial representation of the body portion captured and sensor data related to the determined angle of the device. An analyzer analyzes, based on the picture data, whether the captured body portion is within a predetermined region of the picture and, based on the sensor data, whether at least one of the roll angle, the pitch angle, and the yaw angle is within a predetermined angle range. The method includes capturing the body portion, providing visual feedback, receiving angle data, receiving picture data, and analyzing whether the captured body portion is within a predetermined region and whether at least one of the roll, pitch, and yaw angles is within a predetermined angle range.

The disclosure may be used as a guided system setup process. For example, it may be used by consumers of a connected personal care device, such as, for instance, a tooth brush, a hair removal device or the like, in connection with a mobile device, such as, for instance, a smartphone, a mobile camera or the like. The personal care device may communicate with the mobile device via a wireless connection, for example via Bluetooth. The mobile device runs an application that connects to the personal care device.
Such a system is described in EP15184240.8, which exemplarily mentions a smartphone in connection with a toothbrush. The present invention may, for instance, be used for the system described in EP15184240.8, for example in order to provide a guided system setup process for a brushing position determination for power toothbrushes. The system which is described as an example in EP15184240.8 is exemplarily depicted in FIG. 14. Said system comprises a power toothbrush 1401 with an integrated 3D acceleration sensor 1402 and a wireless Bluetooth radio interface, a smartphone 1403, a smartphone holder 1404 to affix the phone 1403 to a bathroom mirror 1405 and a smartphone application. The smartphone application connects to the power toothbrush 1401, receives sensor data 1406 from the toothbrush 1401, gathers video frames 1407 from the smartphone's built-in front camera 1408 and processes these data streams.
Also the processing is described in EP15184240.8. The processing contains the determination of a brushed position, based on the result of the processed sensor data 1406 from the brush 1401 and the processed image data 1407 from the front camera 1404. Finally, both results are fused mathematically to get the most accurate, precise and stable brushing position information.
The system described in EP15184240.8 requires certain cooperation from the consumers 1409 in order to work properly. It may consist, according to an example, of a connected power toothbrush 1401, a smartphone 1403, a mobile application, a smartphone holder 1404 with a suction cup and the user 1409 himself.
All components need to be arranged in certain positions. These are the positions the algorithms of the system have been trained with. Only if all components are arranged correctly, the gathered sensor data can be processed properly.
Thus, it is desired to improve the usability of existing systems for a user when using said systems.


A silicon oxide film on which a capacitor of a semiconductor integrated circuit device is formed is formed by the plasma CVD method at a temperature of 450xc2x0 C. to 700xc2x0 C. In this semiconductor integrated circuit device, a memory cell formed of a MISFET for data transfer and a capacitor is formed in a memory cell forming area, and an n channel MISFET and a p channel MISFET constituting a logic circuit is formed in a logic circuit forming area. As a result, the amount of degassing from the silicon oxide film can be reduced. Therefore, the growth of silicon grains on a surface of the silicon film constituting a lower electrode of the capacitor is not hindered by the degassing, and it becomes possible to increase the capacitance. Also, the step of a heat treatment for removing the moisture and the like after forming the silicon oxide film can be omitted, and it becomes possible to prevent the deterioration of the property of the MISFET.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device and a manufacturing method of the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a technique effectively applicable to a semiconductor integrated circuit device, in which a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and a logic circuit are mounted together, and a manufacturing method of the same.
The DRAM has a MISFET (Metal Insulator Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) for data transfer and a capacitor for data storage connected in series to this MISFET. This capacitor for data storage is formed by, for example, sequentially depositing silicon to be a lower electrode, tantalum oxide to be a capacitor insulating film, and a refractory metal film to be an upper electrode.
Also, in this capacitor for data storage, the scaling down of the device and the increase of the capacitance thereof are achieved by forming a deep hole through the insulating film and then forming a lower electrode and a capacitor insulating film on the side wall and the bottom surface of the hole.
For further increase of the capacitance, a technique is employed in which projections made of silicon grains are provided on a surface of the silicon to be a lower electrode to create surface irregularities, and thereby increasing the surface area. The projections made of silicon grains are called HSG (Hemispherical Grained) silicon or rugged silicon.
A technique capable of effectively forming the HSG polysilicon is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-22110. This technique is briefly described as follows: Moisture contained in an interlayer insulating film is desorbed and the desorbed moisture reacts to the polysilicon film below the interlayer insulating film during the high temperature heat treatment for forming the HSG polysilicon film. As a result, an SiO2 film is formed on the surface of the polysilicon film. For its prevention, a heat treatment at a temperature higher than the temperature at which the moisture is desorbed is performed immediately before the above-described high temperature heat treatment.
Inventors of the present invention have been engaged in research and development of the DRAM and the like, and have been attempting to increase the capacitance by means of the introduction of the rugged polysilicon.
However, since the growth of the rugged polysilicon is hindered due to the effect of the moisture in the insulating film on which the rugged polysilicon is formed, it is difficult to obtain the sufficient surface area of the rugged polysilicon. Thus, such a method is under consideration that a high temperature heat treatment is performed to remove the moisture in the insulating film, and then, to have the rugged polysilicon grown. In this case, however, the properties of the MISFET in the under layer are deteriorated due to the high temperature heat treatment.
Especially, in the so-called system LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit) in which the DRAM and the logic LSI are formed on the same semiconductor substrate, the logic circuit is formed by appropriately combining an n channel MISFET and a p channel MISFET, and the properties of these MISFETs are deteriorated due to the high temperature heat treatment.
For example, in these MISFETs, a so-called dual gate structure is employed, in other words, an n type gate electrode is used as the gate electrode of the n type MISFET and a p type gate electrode is used as the gate electrode of the p type MISFET. This is because if an n type gate electrode is used as the gate electrode of the p type MISFET, the channel thereof is formed at the position apart from the substrate surface (embedded channel), and the control of the potential applied to the gate electrode becomes difficult.
However, boron (B) implanted to make the p type gate electrode is prone to diffuse (leak) by the heat treatment. If the boron is diffused into the semiconductor substrate through a gate insulating film, the concentration profile of the semiconductor substrate is changed, resulting in the deterioration of its properties (e.g., variation of the threshold voltage).
In addition to the concentration profile of the semiconductor substrate, the heat treatment causes an adverse effect on various properties of the MISFET such as the concentration profile of the source and drain regions of the MISFET.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the load due to the heat treatment to a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a DRAM memory cell.
It is another object of the present invention to improve the properties of a DRAM memory cell.
It is another object of the present invention to improve the properties of a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a DRAM and a logic circuit constituted of an n channel MISFET and a p channel MISFET.
The above and other objects and novel characteristic of the present invention will be apparent from the descriptions and the accompanying drawings of this specification.
The typical ones of the inventions disclosed in this application will be briefly described as follows.
1. In an aspect of the manufacturing method of a semiconductor integrated circuit device according to the present invention, an insulating film is formed above a MISFET of a memory cell, which is formed of the MISFET and a capacitor formed on a main surface of a semiconductor substrate, by the plasma CVD method at a temperature of 450xc2x0 C. to 700xc2x0 C.; a trench is formed by etching the insulating film; and a silicon film is deposited on the insulating film and in the trench, and then, the silicon film on the insulating film is removed to form a lower electrode of the capacitor on the inner wall of the trench.
2. In another aspect of the manufacturing method of a semiconductor integrated circuit device according to the present invention, a first insulating film is deposited above a MISFET of a memory cell, which is formed of the MISFET and a capacitor formed on a main surface of a semiconductor substrate, at a predetermined temperature; a second insulating film is deposited on the first insulating film at a temperature higher than the predetermined temperature; a trench is formed by etching the first and second insulating films; and a silicon film is deposited on the second insulating film and in the trench, and then, the silicon film on the second insulating film is removed to form a lower electrode of the capacitor on the inner wall of the trench.
3. In another aspect of the manufacturing method of a semiconductor integrated circuit device according to the present invention, a MISFET is formed on a main surface of a semiconductor substrate; and then, an insulating film containing an impurity is formed above the MISFET by the plasma CVD method at a temperature of 450xc2x0 C. to 700xc2x0 C.
4. In another aspect of the manufacturing method of a semiconductor integrated circuit device according to the present invention, a MISFET is formed on a main surface of a semiconductor substrate; a first insulating film is deposited on the MISFET at a predetermined temperature and the surface of the first insulating film is planarized; and then a second insulating film containing an impurity is formed on the first insulating film at a temperature higher than the predetermined temperature.
5. In an aspect of the semiconductor integrated circuit device according to the present invention, the semiconductor integrated circuit device is provided with a MISFET formed on a main surface of a semiconductor substrate; and a capacitor connected in series to the MISFET,
wherein the capacitor is provided with a lower electrode made of a silicon film, which is formed at a concave portion in a lamination layer of a first insulating film formed above the MISFET and a second insulating film formed on the first insulating film and having smaller impurity content than the first insulating film; a capacitor insulating film formed on the lower electrode; and an upper electrode formed of a conductive film formed on the capacitor insulating film.
6. In another aspect of the semiconductor integrated circuit device according to the present invention, the semiconductor integrated circuit device is provided with a MISFET formed on a main surface of a semiconductor substrate; and a capacitor connected in series to the MISFET,
wherein the capacitor is provided with a lower electrode made of a silicon film, which is formed at a concave portion in a lamination layer of a first insulating film formed above the MISFET and a second insulating film which is thinner than the first insulating film and formed on the first insulating film; a capacitor insulating film formed on the lower electrode; and an upper electrode formed of a conductive film formed on the capacitor insulating film.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuit device comprising a memory cell and a capacitor


The present invention provides an image forming apparatus in which an automatic double-side unit 81 is provided free to open and close on the side of an apparatus body 1a, and a manual paper feeding device 61 is provide adjacent to the automatic double-side unit. And, there are provided manual moving mechanisms 75, 86, 86a for moving the manual paper feeding device in a direction away from the side of the apparatus body in association with opening operation of the automatic double-side unit. Further, there is provided a pressure contact release mechanism 90 for releasing pressure contact between a paper feeding roller 67 and a separation roller 66 of the manual paper feeding device in association with opening operation of the automatic double-side unit, whereby when the automatic double-side unit is operated to be opened, an open portion is formed between the manual paper feeding device and the apparatus body in association therewith so as to release restriction of paper sandwiched between the paper feeding roller and the separation roller of the manual paper feeding device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with an automatic double-side unit for reversing paper and a manual paper feeding device.
2. Related Art Statement
In the image forming apparatus, there is an apparatus having a double-side printing function and a manual printing function. This image forming apparatus has the structure that in order to install machines and tools having both functions utilizing a limited space, an automatic double-side unit (ADU) for reversing paper in order to perform double-side printing is mounted on the side of the apparatus body encasing an image forming section, and a manual paper feeding device is mounted adjacent to the apparatus under the automatic double-side unit in order to perform printing by manual paper feeding.
Incidentally, in the image forming apparatus, jamming often occurs in the vicinity of the manual paper feeding device.
In the jam treatment in the vicinity of the manual paper feeding device, work of the jam treatment is difficult because the manual paper feeding device is located in an area for carrying out work for removing the jammed sheets.
In the past, in the image forming apparatus not provided with the automatic double-side unit, the art has been proposed in which by employing the structure in which a manual paper feeding device is provided on an opening and closing cover for carrying out jam treatment provided on the side of the apparatus body, and the manual paper feeding device can be opened to the apparatus body, and the structure in which when the manual paper feeding device is opened, pressure contact between a paper feeding roller and a separation roller of the manual paper feeding device is released, when the opening and closing cover is opened, the jammed sheet is easily removed from a carrier passage of the manual paper feeding device (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001/130757 Publication).
However, in many of the image forming apparatus having the automatic double-side unit and the manual paper feeding device, both machines and tools are arranged concentrically, that is, the automatic double-side unit and the manual paper feeding device are arranged adjacent to each other on the side of the apparatus body, different from the above-described image forming apparatus not provided with the automatic double-side unit. Particularly, they are arranged adjacent to each other. Due to the presence of the automatic both-side unit, it is difficult for the image forming apparatus having the automatic double-side unit to apply the structure for facilitating removal of the jammed manual paper in association with the opening and closing cover as in the above-described publication.
Therefore, in the image forming apparatus provided with both the automatic double-side unit and the manual paper feeding device, when the jam occurred in the vicinity of the manual paper feeding device is treated, the automatic double-side unit to be an obstacle is moved to expose the manual paper feeding device directly under thereof to outside, after which parts of the manual paper feeding device are operated to remove the paper jammed in the vicinity of the manual paper feeding device. Therefore, in the jam treatment, many works are demanded till arriving the jammed place, as compared with the image forming apparatus not provided with the automatic double-side unit. Particularly, it is hard to find the jammed paper around the manual paper feeding device. Moreover, since the opened portions are not many, it is difficult to secure the work space for carrying out the jam treatment. In addition, there is demanded the work which is troublesome and requires labor, such that the paper sandwiched between the paper feeding roller and the separation roller of the manual paper feeding device is pulled out, and therefore the jam treatment was considerably troublesome.


A process for preparing S-metoprolol of the formula ##STR1## or a salt thereof, with high enantiomeric purity, is described, whereby a (S)-5-hydroxymethyl-3-isopropyloxazolidin-2-one sulfonic acid ester of the formula ##STR2## is prepared, and further reacted with 4-[2-methoxyethyl]phenol of the formula ##STR3## and the resulting intermediate of the formula ##STR4## is hydrolysed to S-metoprolol, and whereby the (S)-5-hydroxymethyl-3-isopropyloxazolidin-2-one sulfonic acid ester of formula II is prepared by reacting (S)-3-isopropylamino-1,2-propanediol of the formula ##STR5## with a chloroformic acid ester of the formula ##STR6## wherein R' is an alkyl group having 1-3 carbon atoms or a phenyl group, to the formation of (S)-5-hydroxymethyl-3-isopropyloxazolidin-2-one of the formula ##STR7## which is reacted with an activated sulfonic acid of the formula ##STR8## wherein R" is an aryl group such as tolyl and X is a halogen such as Cl, to formation of the ester of formula II, which when required is enriched with the (S)-enantiomer by crystallization.

Metoprolol, having the formula ##STR9## is a wellknown pharmaceutical compound having a strongly selective blocking effect on the cardiac .beta..sub.1 -receptors in animals and man, and being used inter alia in the treatment of hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, angina pectoris and migraine. It is a well established fact that in metoprolol, like in other .beta.-blockers the .beta.-blocking effect resides only in the S-enantiomer, while possibly occurring side effects may reside in either or both enantiomers.
S-metoprolol and a process for preparation thereof is described inter alia in EP-A2-0 179 031.

Process for S-metoprolol via oxazolidin-2-one

Astra Pharmaceutical Production Aktiebolag


A method for controlling autonomous driving in an autonomous vehicle includes: determining whether a human driver is in a forward gaze state under an autonomous driving mode, setting a first steering wheel torque threshold and a first torque holding time, based on a result of determining whether the human driver is in the forward gaze state, determining whether human driver intervention has occurred, based on the first steering wheel torque threshold and the first torque holding time, and switching the autonomous driving mode to a manual driving mode when the human driver intervention has occurred.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
An autonomous vehicle requires an ability to adaptively cope with a surrounding situation changing in real time while the vehicle is driving.
For production and popularity of the autonomous vehicle, a reliable determination control function is required.
In an autonomous driving system of a level 2 that is currently being produced, the human driver is required to look ahead. Thus, when the human driver does not grip a steering wheel, a predetermined handoff warning alarm is output. Whether the human driver is involved in steering is determined based on change in a steering torque value according to steering wheel manipulation of the human driver.
In a level 3 based autonomous vehicle, when it is determined that a right to control handover from the autonomous system to the human driver is required while the autonomous driving system is activated, a TD (transition demand) warning alarm may be output.
When the human driver intervention is confirmed after outputting of the TD warning alarm, the autonomous vehicle determines that the human driver receives the right to control handover, and is ready for manual driving and turn offs the autonomous driving system.
However, the level 3 based autonomous vehicle allows handoff of the human driver during autonomous driving. When the human driver accidentally manipulates the steering wheel, the level 3 based autonomous vehicle incorrectly determines this accidental manipulation as intentional intervention for receiving the right to control.
This may increase a risk of an accident because the autonomous driving system is deactivated when the human driver is not ready for manual driving.

Autonomous driving control method and device


In a process for synthesizing a porous crystalline material, a mixture capable of forming said material is prepared wherein the mixture comprises sources of water, an oxide of a tetravalent element Y, preferably silicon, an oxide of a trivalent element X, wherein X is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, boron, gallium, iron, and indium, fluoride ions, and an organonitrogen cation RNm+ capable of directing the synthesis of said material, wherein the molar ratio of fluoride ions to organonitrogen cations RNm+ in said mixture is greater than 1.15 m but less than 2.5 m. The mixture is maintained under crystallization conditions until crystals of said material are formed and the resultant crystalline material is recovered.

This invention relates to the synthesis of porous crystalline materials in fluoride media.
Recently, a number of porous crystalline materials have been produced using a synthesis regime that employs hydrofluoric acid as the mineralizer instead of the more conventional alkali hydroxides. Thus, the synthesis of chabazite, ITQ-3, ITQ-4, ITQ-9, SSZ-23, SSZ-24, SSZ-31, CIT-5 and ZSM-12 in fluoride media is disclosed in the article entitled xe2x80x9cSynthesis of All-Silica and High-Silica Molecular Sieves in Fluoride Mediaxe2x80x9d by Camblor, M. A.; Villaescusa, L. A.; Diaz-Cabanas, M. J. in Topics in Catalysis 1999, 9, 59-76. However, these syntheses usually produce pure silica or silica/germania polymorphs that are catalytically inactive. In certain cases, the syntheses may be induced to produce boron or aluminum substituted materials, but generally, adding these elements diverts the synthesis to other, undesirable, materials. As is well known, the boron or aluminum is needed to produce materials that have the ion exchange capacity and acidity needed to make active catalysts so the materials produced by these new synthetic methods are often not catalytically active or are contaminated with active materials of an undesired structure.
Current synthesis regimes employing hydrofluoric acid mineralizers normally involve mixing a structure directing agent, usually a quaternary ammonium hydroxide, and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) at high dilution in water and then slowly evaporating water and ethanol at low temperature until the H2O/SiO2 ratio is reduced to a desired low level. The resulting, often solid, mixture is then mixed by hand with hydrofluoric acid such that the molar ratio of HF/base is at or below 1.1:1.0 and the resulting mixture crystallized under hydrothermal conditions in normal zeolite synthesis apparatus. It is critical that the evaporation of water and ethanol be carried out at low temperature, usually 20-40xc2x0 C., so the evaporation is tedious. Because the rate of evaporation is a function of surface area/volume, it is impractical to scale the synthesis to more than a few grams and hence it is unsuitable for commercial production.
The present invention seeks to address two important needs related to molecular sieves produced in fluoride media. It allows such materials to be synthesized with reduced impurities in the presence of boron or aluminum and it allows the synthesis to be scaled from a few grams to commercial quantities.
The present invention is directed to a process for synthesizing a porous crystalline material method which comprises the steps of:
(i) preparing a mixture capable of forming said material, said mixture comprising sources of water, an oxide of a tetravalent element Y, an oxide of a trivalent element X, wherein X is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, boron, gallium, iron, and indium, an organonitrogen cation RNm+ capable of directing the synthesis of said material, and fluoride ions, wherein the molar ratio of fluoride ions to organonitrogen cations RNm+ in said mixture is greater than 1.15 m but less than 2.5 m;
(ii) maintaining said mixture under crystallization conditions until crystals of said material are formed; and
(iii) recovering said crystalline material from step (ii).
Preferably, the molar ratio of fluoride ions to organonitrogen cations RNm+ in said mixture is from about 1.25 m to about 1.8 m. Preferably, said tetravalent element Y includes silicon. Preferably, said mixture contains an inorganic source of silica.

Synthesis of porous crystalline materials in fluoride media

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


An RGB preamplifier for a video display includes respective multipliers independently operable for adjusting the contrast of input primary and secondary video signals. The contrast adjusted video signals are added to form a combined display signal, the combined signal being applied to the first inputs of primary and secondary comparators each of which is also supplied with a respective reference DC level. The primary and secondary video signals are alternately nulled at horizontal line rate by nulling the corresponding multipliers. The primary comparator samples the combined signal when the secondary signal is nulled for clamping the DC level of the primary signal in relation to the primary reference DC level and the secondary comparator samples the combined signal when the primary signal is nulled for clamping the DC level of the secondary signal in relation to the secondary reference DC level.

This invention relates generally to multimedia RGB signal processors and specifically to a multimedia RGB preamplifier capable of processing very high frequency analog signals.
Recent developments in video display systems, such as those used in television receivers and monitors, have included elaborate systems for overlaying one video signal upon another, mixing video signals and in picture-in-picture systems, replacing a portion of a video signal with another video signal or an alphanumeric character display. The range of display variations is vast. In a television studio environment, sophisticated and expensive equipment is required to provide such multimedia visual presentations. Such equipment, even though expensive, is limited in terms of its frequency handling capability since it generally uses digital processing. In the proposed HDTV (high definition television) broadcasting systems, the bandwidth of the video signal will be on the order of 35 to 40 MHz rather than the 4 to 5 MHz used in the present NTSC system. Since digital processing requires converters and the like to operate at a minimum of twice the highest frequency to be processed, there will be a need for other than digital processing to generate multimedia displays.
The present invention includes circuitry for overlaying one video signal (the secondary signal) on another video signal (the primary signal). Both the brightness and contrast of each of the primary and secondary signals are independently adjustable and the mixing ratio of the two signals is variable to allow for the provision of various special effects, such as gradually blending the graphics overlay into and out of the main video image.


This disclosure provides new heat sealable, barrier laminate packaging structures used for beverage component pouches or cartridges, including new structures and chemical compositions of the pouch made to contain the beverage base, component, or component concentrate. These structures and compositions used for heat sealable, barrier laminate packaging balance good heat sealability with improved performance for flavor scalping, oxygen permeability, and/or undesirable moisture ingress or egress, which affect the stability and useful life of the pouch or cartridge and its contents.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-based bottles and containers have been used widely in the beverage industry for packaging carbonated beverages, fruit juices, fruit drinks, and the like. However, many PET- and other polymer-based bottles may suffer from insufficient mechanical and/or thermal properties and poor barrier performance properties, allowing oxygen ingress and/or carbon dioxide loss. Flavor scalping by particularly polymer resins may also limit performance of polymer-based packaging.
Similar performance issues arise for heat sealable pouches or cartridges that contain a beverage base, beverage components or beverage component concentrates, used for dispensing as a mixture with diluents. Like a packaged beverage, the barrier laminate packaging structures used for beverage base or component pouches or cartridges may be subjected to temperature extremes during storage or transportation and may be used in a dispenser without proper refrigeration. These barrier laminate packaging structures can generally comprise various functional layers to enhance package performance. However, the specific chemical composition of the pouch or bag that contains the beverage base, component, or component concentrate can affect flavor scalping, oxygen permeability, and/or undesirable moisture ingress or egress, which affect the stability and useful life of the pouch or cartridge and its contents.
What are needed are improved packaging designs for disposable pouches or cartridges for use in a dispenser that contain beverage bases, components or component concentrates, that can reduce the degradation of the product during storage. Particularly useful improved designs would help reduce the degradation even at elevated temperatures and reduce or minimize flavor scalping, and oxygen and moisture transmission as compared to conventional designs for disposable pouches or cartridges.

Barrier laminate material with improved heat sealability and reduced flavor scalping


An electronic device includes a housing unit having an accommodating portion, and first and second openings communicating with the accommodating portion. A waterproof element is made of a resilient material, and includes a main body that is disposed on the accommodating portion and that has a top face, and a side face extending upwardly from the top face. The electronic component module includes a circuit board and an electronic component. The circuit board has a board bottom face disposed on and abutting against the top face of the main body and covering the second opening, and a board edge abutting against the side face of the main body. An electronic component is attached to the circuit board, extends through the main body of the waterproof element, is disposed inside the accommodating portion, and faces the first opening.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device having a waterproof element and the waterproof element thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Input/output (I/O) connecting ports of a conventional electronic device are formed as openings in a casing thereof to expose I/O connecting devices provided in the casing. To prevent dust or liquid body from entering the casing of the conventional electronic device and affect the other electronic components inside the casing through the I/O connecting ports, the casing is provided with a waterproof dustproof cover for covering the connecting ports, or the I/O connecting device and a portion of the casing are made by an insert molding process. Although the waterproof dustproof cover can achieve its intended purpose, the casing of the conventional electronic device must have a sufficient space for accommodating the cover. In view of a small electronic device, it poses difficulty. In the case of insert molding the I/O connecting device, the cost is high.

Waterproof element and electronic device having the waterproof element


A touch screen apparatus and a driving method thereof are provided. The touch screen drive circuit performs a setup operation for selecting Tx lines to be supplied with the drive signal and Rx lines to receive the voltages of the touch sensors, a sensing operation for supplying a drive signal to the Tx lines and receiving and sampling touch sensor voltages through the Rx lines, an ADC operation for converting the sampled voltages into digital data, a coordinate detection operation for analyzing the digital data by a preset touch detection algorithm and estimating the coordinates of a touch input position, and a data transmission operation for transmitting touch coordinate data comprising the coordinates to an external system. At least two operations among the setup operation, the sensing operation, and the ADC operation are performed in parallel.

1. Field
This document relates to a touch screen apparatus and a driving method thereof.
2. Related Art
As home appliances or portable information devices are becoming more lightweight and slimmer, user input means is being switched from a button switch to a touch screen. A touch screen comprises a plurality of touch sensors.
U.S. Laid-Open Patent US 2010/0200310 (filed on Aug. 12, 2010) discloses a conventional touch screen (hereinafter, referred to as "Self capacitance touch screen") comprising capacitive touch sensors at the crossings of X lines and Y lines crossing each other. The self capacitance touch screen scans the X lines and convert a signal received from the X lines into digital data by analog-to-digital conversion (hereinafter, referred to as "ADC"), and scans the Y lines and converts a signal received from the Y lines into digital data by ADC. The self capacitance touch screen determines that a touch sensor, positioned at the crossing point of an X line and a Y line and having a large change in capacitance before and after a touch, is a touch position. Such a self capacitance touch screen detects a touch position by analyzing digital data obtained by respectively sensing an X line and a Y line and converting them by ADC, and therefore may mistake a ghost point present at the same X and Y lines as an actual touch position. Accordingly, the self capacitance touch screen has the drawbacks that it has low multi-touch sensitivity and a complicated ghost detection and removal algorithm has to be additionally applied.
The self capacitance touch screen disclosed in U.S. Laid-Open Patent US 2010/0200310A1 senses X lines and Y lines in units of groups in a pre-scan step. Next, the self capacitance touch screen performs a re-scan step and a touch position detection step after an ADC step and a touch position detection step, thereby improving the accuracy of touch recognition. The self capacitance touch screen simultaneously scans X lies (or Y lines) in a group in the pre-scan step, which may lead to a reduction in touch sensing speed, as compared to the method of sequentially sensing all the X lines and Y lines each time a touch position is detected. However, the self capacitance touch screen has limitations in reducing touch sensing speed because it has to sequentially perform pre-scan, ADC, the execution of a touch recognition algorithm, re-scan, ADC, and the execution of the touch recognition algorithm.
A touch report rate is a rate at which coordinate data obtained by sensing all touch sensors present within a touch screen. The higher the touch report rate, the higher the continuity of touch input traces and the higher the touch sensitivity that a user feels. The touch report rate is in inverse proportion to total sensing time required to sense all of the touch sensors within the touch screen. That is, the longer the total sensing time, the lower the touch report rate. Accordingly, the self capacitance touch screen cannot achieve sufficiently high touch report rate.

Touch screen apparatus and driving method thereof


A heat sensitive recording material which is comprised of a support having thereon at least a transparent heat sensitive layer excellent in freshness-keeping property is disclosed. The transparent heat sensitive layer is obtained by coating a solution obtained by mixing a microcapsule containing a colorless or light colored electron donating dye precursor with an emulsion prepared by dispersing a color developer dissolved in an organic solvent, which is slightly soluble or insoluble in water, into an aqueous solution containing both of a surface active agent and water soluble polymer. The stabilities of emulsion and heat sensitive layer are improved by using a partially saponified polyvinyl alcohol as the water soluble polymer and/or adding a metal salts of a salicylic acid derivatives into the coolor developer. A heat sensitivity of the heat sensitive recording material is improved by using a organic solvent having a boiling point lower than 150.degree. C. alone as said organic solvent and/or using a special electron donating dye precursor. An antiscratch property of the heat sensitive layer is able to improve without lowering the transparency by adding a special fillers in the heat sensitive layer.

A heat sensitive recording method has many advantages in that (1) no particular developing step is required, (2) if paper is used as a support, a recording material prepared can have a quality akin to that of plain paper, (3) handling of a recording material used is easy, (4) images recorded has high color density, (5) this method can be embodied using a simple and cheap apparatus, (6) no noise is generated upon recording, and so on. Therefore, heat sensitive recording materials have recently enjoyed a markedly increasing demand, particularly in the fields of facsimile and printer, and have come to be used for many purposes.
With this background, it has come to be desired to develop transparent heat sensitive recording materials which enables direct recording with a thermal head in order to adapt them for multicolor development, or to make them usable for an overhead projector (hereafter it is written as OHP).
However, conventional transparent heat sensitive recording materials are so-called transparent heat sensitive films in which the film is brought into direct contact with an original and exposed to light, and thereby an infrared portion of the light is absorbed by image areas of the original to raise the temperature of the image areas, which results in color development of the heat sensitive film. Accordingly, they do not have heat sensitivity high enough to enable direct heat recording with a thermal head to be used in facsimile and the like.
In addition, a heat sensitive layer of heat sensitive recording materials of the kind which use a thermal head upon heat recording is in a devitrified condition, so a desired transparency cannot be achieved by merely coating such a layer on a transparent support.
As heat sensitive recording materials which can solve the above mentioned defects, we had suggested a new transparent heat sensitive recording material which can be prepared by using a combination of a colorless or light colored electron donating dye precursor and a color developer as color development system, wherein the former is microencapsulated and the latter is emulsified and dispersed under a certain condition, then both are mixed and coated on a support.
However, from the heat sensitive layer of above mentioned transparent heat sensitive recording material, the color developer is apt to come out to deposit. Therefore, the transparency of the heat sensitive recording material is lowered and an extent of it depends strongly on a stability of an emulsified dispersion which is utilized when the heat sensitive recording layer is coated and also depends on a kind of the color developer.
As a result of concentrating our energies on solving above mentioned defects, we have found that it is quite effective to use a partially saponified polyvinyl alcohol for a protective colloid which is used in the before mentioned emulsified dispersion, and/or to use a metal salt of salicylic acid derivative together with the color developer to prevent the deposition of the color developer from the heat sensitive layer, then we have completed the present invention.


Provided are a method of producing corrosion-protective copper paste through a single process and an application thereof to a dipole tag antenna. Copper powder is surface-etched by using a hydrochloric acid in an inert gas atmosphere, a phosphoric acid aqueous solution is added thereto to form copper phosphate on the etched surface of the copper powder, and then, a vinyl imidazole-silane copolymer and poly(4-styrenesulfonate) were introduced thereto to form a corrosion-protective coating layer on the surface of copper powder on which the copper phosphate has been formed, and a centrifuge and an agate mortar are used to prepare a copper paste having high viscosity and high dispersability. When a copper paste thin film is formed on a flexible film by screen printing, a produced dipole tag antenna may have high efficiency.

For an electronic material, conductive paste having a certain level of viscosity prepared by adding and dispersing a conductive material in a binder resin, such as silicon, is mainly used. The conductive paste is then hardened for antioxidation by using a thermosetting resin, such as acryl, epoxy, or ester, before use.
For use as a conductive filler to be added to the conductive paste to provide conductivity, carbonaceous compounds, such as carbon black or graphite; various metal powder, such as silver or nickel; or various non-conductive powder or short fiber are surface-treated with metal, such as silver. In particular, silver paste using silver powder has a surface resistance of 10−4Ω/□ (square). Due to such a high conductivity, the silver paste is widely used as an electronic material in various fields.
However, such a paste using silver powder is relatively expensive (700 dollars/kg) compared to other metallic materials. Accordingly, copper paste has been introduced as an alternative to the silver paste due to its relatively low price. Compared to silver paste, copper paste has price competitiveness (7 dollars/kg) while having conductivity, a level similar to that of silver paste. Since copper paste has relatively high conductivity when price is taken into consideration, the use thereof as an electronic material is rapidly increasing due to its economic edge.
However, copper paste is highly likely to be oxidized compared to silver or other metals. That is, when copper paste is used as an electronic material and a long period of time elapses thereafter, oxygen in air or oxygen included in a binder resin may combine with copper powder to oxidize the surface of copper particles, leading to a rapid decrease in conductivity and losing its function as the electronic material. To solve these problems, a corrosion-protective agent is used to form a corrosion-protective coating layer on a copper surface. A representative example of the corrosion-protective agent is an imidazole compound. When a surface treatment agent containing an imidazole compound, such as 2-alkylimidazole, 2-arylimidazole, 2-alkylbenzimidazole, 2-aralkylbenzimidazole, or 2-aralkylimidazole, is used, the oxidation of a copper surface is effectively prevented. However, when the heat treatment temperature is 150° C. or more, a serious thermal history occurs. As a result, the formation of an oxidation film on the surface is promoted, and conductivity may rapidly decrease (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-7002997).
To obtain good conductivity, copper paste should have copper powder homogeneously dispersed in a binder resin. However, in the case of a conventional copper paste composition, the dispersion state of copper powder in a resin during mixing is not good, and accordingly, when used as an electronic material, corrosion may occur from where copper powder is not appropriately distributed (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0137527).
Meanwhile, to apply copper paste to an electronic material, a pattern formation process is necessary. Conventionally, the pattern formation process is performed by photolithography, which is a semiconductor process technique. However, the photolithography has many limitations in terms of large-size patterning, a process price, and a process time. Accordingly, screen printing, which is a simple, low-cost, and environmentally friendly method, is used as an alternative to the pattern formation process based on copper (Current Applied Physics, 2012, vol. 12, pp 473-478). The environmentally-friendly or economic screen printing is distinguishable from an optical patterning in view that a large-size patterning is performed by using a small amount of conducting ink for a short period of time. Most of all, since conductive ink is efficiently coated on a flexible substrate through a fine mesh having openings for screen printing, the screen-printing can be used for various flexible electronic devices.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop a method of preparing copper paste that is corrosion-protective for a long period of time, and has excellent electric conductivity, heat resistance characteristics, and excellent dispersability of copper powder. In particular, to improve adhesive properties of a corrosion-protective layer on a copper surface by performing a silane treatment on an imidazole compound, maintain flexibility of a copper paste electrode, and have uniform resistance properties, there is a need to develop a method of preparing a binder by adding a high-viscosity polymer-based compatibilizer or a binder without an additional thermosetting process. In addition, the prepared copper paste is used as conductive ink for screen printing to simply and rapidly dope an electrode material on a flexible film, and then, a copper paste electrode having a target shape and size is manufactured for use in various electric/electronic devices.

Preparation of corrosion-protective copper paste through single process and application thereof to dipole tag antenna

SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY R&DB FOUNDATION


For an improved method for examining the skin of a proband, in particular as part of a skin cancer screening examination or a skin cancer therapy, it is provided that an epiluminescence microscopy image (B) is first taken of a distinctive skin site and by analysis of the image (B) the skin site is rated as suspect or inconsequential with regard to the presence of a disease. In a further method step it is provided that an image (B′) of a skin site rated as suspect is recorded by means of optical coherence tomography and the diagnosis of disease is verified or refuted on the basis of this image (B′). A device particularly suited to the performance of the method comprises an epiluminescence microscopy device (2) and an optical coherence tomography device (3) together with a common control unit (6).

It has been possible to observe a significant increase in the incidence of skin cancer diseases in recent times. The principal cause of this is the increasing trend for people to expose themselves to intensive solar radiation. The most common skin disease having fatal consequences is that which is known as malignant melanoma, which occurs in the Central European region, for example, with an incidence of approximately 12/100,000 of the population/year (Fortschritte der Medizin (title of German medical journal meaning "Advances in Medicine"), No. 6, 2003).
Provided the skin disease is diagnosed at a sufficiently early stage and therapy, which generally involves surgical removal of the diseased tissue, is initiated immediately, the prospects of recovery are good. However, early detection of the disease poses problems.
Until now, an examination of the skin for skin cancer has mostly involved a visual examination performed with the aid of a magnifying lens. In the course of this examination the dermatologist analyzes abnormalities of the skin such as, for example, pigmented moles or skin lesions (nevi). These are usually checked for asymmetry, border irregularity, color variability and diameter. An irregularly and indistinctly bordered skin abnormality with mixed pigmentation and anametically observed growth tendency is highly suspect with regard to malignancy.

Method and device for examining the skin


Methods and systems for implementing a secure migratable architecture having improved performance features over existing virtualization systems are disclosed. One method includes allocating a portion of a memory for use by a process, the process including a firmware environment representing a virtual computing system having a second computing architecture different from a first computing architecture of a computing system on which the process is executed. The method includes associating area descriptors with each of a plurality of memory areas within the portion of the memory used by the process, and receiving a request within the firmware environment to store data within a first memory area of the plurality of memory areas, the first memory area defined by a first area descriptor of the area descriptors, the request being associated with a plurality of memory addresses within the first memory area. The method includes, in response to the request, performing a check on a tag associated with the first memory area and stored in the first area descriptor. The method further includes, upon completion of the check, storing the data within the first memory area without performing a separate tag check for each of the plurality of memory addresses within the first memory area.

Enterprises have highly demanding computing environments in terms of security, reliability, and performance. To satisfy their needs requires computing systems that are secure, adaptable, fast, and reliable. This includes both enterprise-hosted computing systems as well as cloud computing systems, and often requires integration across organizations and computing platforms within an enterprise. Such hosted systems may require use of various software that supports workloads that are critical to a business, including workloads executing on commodity Windows-based systems, Linux-based systems, and legacy systems that support robust mainframe-type reliability required for enterprise workloads (e.g., transactional databases, etc.) such as Unisys's MCP or OS2200 systems. Such legacy enterprise systems often have different computing requirements as compared to workloads on commodity systems. For example, in an MCP-based system, clients tend to not halt load for months or years except when a fatal dump, hardware failure, of other major system event occurs. Furthermore, should a major system event occur, it is extremely rare for data to be lost in such legacy systems, because transactions can be recovered and restarted without data loss.
Due to the variety of types of workloads required by an organization, and flexibility afforded by such solutions, virtualization software is often a popular solution. In such arrangements, virtualization software, such as that provided by VMWare and Microsoft, can be installed on a partition of a computing system, and represent a monolithic virtualization software system that hosts each virtualized system. Such systems typically require dedicated system resources, and present limited ability to migrate virtual systems across platforms. For example, movement of a virtualized software system will typically require interruption of service, for example quiescing hosted applications, moving the virtualization software and hosted system, and resuming execution of that entire virtualized software stack on a second platform.
Even if such virtualization systems can be used, there are additional disadvantages. For example, virtualization software is typically written to be hosted by a particular type of platform and within a particular operating system (e.g., within Windows, in the case of Microsoft's Azure). Even then, if the two platforms have different arrangements (e.g., memory architectures, I/O device types, or other differences) there can also be difficulties in restarting the hosted system on the new platform. Still further, due to the extent that virtualization software is required to translate each operation of the hosted system to an operation that can be performed on a host system, virtualization software can introduce large computational inefficiencies, both in cases of a hardware or architecture mismatch between the host computing system and the hosted system and when the host computing system and hosted system operate using similar architectures. Still further, there may be limitations on the types of computing architectures that can be hosted by such virtualization software, with mainframe computing architectures often neglected.
To address some of these problems, Unisys Corporation of Blue Bell, Pa. has developed a number of solutions to allow mainframe software to be executed on commodity systems in a flexible, fault-tolerant, and secure manner. For example, current systems execute using E-mode code, which provides a translation between MCP instruction sets and underlying commodity architectures. This can be a complex process, because such mainframe software is often based on a stack architecture and has data types and lengths that are different from those of current commodity architectures (e.g., 48 bits rather than 32 bits). Furthermore, MCP systems store data according to different physical disk structure assumptions as compared to commodity systems. These and other reasons lead to substantial "impedance mismatch" due to loss of resources or performance based on the architectural differences between mainframe architectures and commodity processor architectures.
Unisys Corporation has also developed the s-Par virtualization solution that allows for secure partitioning and communication among partitions in a large-scale computing fabric, and which supports hosting of mainframe computing architectures such as Unisys's MCP or OS2200 systems. This solution provides increased flexibility and reliability due to redundancy and monitoring features of specific, special-purpose service partitions useable to perform specific system tasks associated with I/O and other features. However, such systems are generally written in a way that they are tied to specific underlying hardware (e.g., x86 variants) and would require specially-written service partitions to be instantiated across different platforms as well to support hosted workloads.
For interests of improved portability to different computing systems, as well as improved performance due to lower overhead due to translation and/or virtualization, improvements to existing solutions are desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Secure migratable architecture having improved performance features


A device is provided for heat transfer and in particular an evaporator for an air conditioning system of motor vehicles having at least one header tank including at least two header chambers which are substantially defined by a base device and a top device. The top device includes middle side walls which are arranged adjacent to one another at least over a portion. The distance between the two side walls increases with the height above the base device.

The invention relates to a device for heat transfer and in particular an evaporator in particular for air conditioning systems of motor vehicles having at least one header tank comprising at least two header chambers. Although the invention will be described below with reference to the evaporator of an air conditioning system of a motor vehicle, reference is made to that a limitation to such use is not intended but use in other air conditioners and the like is also included.
Such heat exchanger devices as mentioned above have been known in the prior art. DE 198 26 881 A1 discloses a heat exchanger having a header tank made of sheet metal formed from a pretreated plate. The header tank is divided into two chambers in the longitudinal direction wherein the ends of two rows of flat tubes arranged in-line are inserted into the base section or plate of the header tank through which the air to be cooled flows. The header chambers comprise side walls wherein the adjacent side walls of the two header chambers are in parallel and directly bordering each other and are brazed to one another and to the base to ensure tight sealing of the header tank.
DE 100 56 074 A1 discloses a heat exchanger where, contrary to other known devices, the connecting flanges are not mounted to the end faces of the header tank but to a longitudinal side such that a simple construction is achieved without additional components. In such a heat exchanger the adjacent side wall surfaces of the two chambers are also mounted in parallel and brazed to one another and to the header tank.
A drawback of the prior art heat exchangers is that manufacturing tolerances must be fairly narrow so as to minimize rejects.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a heat exchanger which allows larger manufacturing tolerances.

Heat exchanger in particular an evaporator for a vehicle air-conditioning unit


Provided are an apparatus and method for providing a preview of a menu object in a technique of displaying a menu object. The apparatus includes an input unit that receives an event from a user, an event processing unit that highlights objects, from among objects displayed on a screen, to which a user input can be applied according to the received event, and a display unit that displays the highlighted objects.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a technique of displaying a menu object, and more particularly, to providing a preview of a menu object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital TVs are capable of receiving two types of key events: an Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) KeyEvent, and a UserEvent of the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP). An AWT KeyEvent is available for only user interface (UI) objects, and a UserEvent is an application program interface (API) that allows a key event to be available for objects rather than UI objects. Thus, in a UI application of the digital TV, the AWT KeyEvent can be used in constructing a menu or a key event can be provided using the UserEvent.
Also, in a Java UI application for use in digital TVs, an object corresponding to a key event is registered using an API call provided by middleware. Then, when a user selects a predetermined key via an input device, such as a remote controller, a key event is generated, and the middleware provides the key event to registered objects.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, selectable objects 10 are present on a screen of a digital TV, and it is possible to move a selector from one of the objects 10 to a neighboring object 10 using up, down, left and right arrow keys.
For example, when one of the up, down, left and right arrow keys is selected after a specific object is activated, a new object located in the direction of the selected arrow key is activated, that is, the selector is moved to the new object. Here, an application for the digital TV supports an API that allows movement between selectable objects using the arrow keys. In this case, an application programmer registers a specific object, and objects to which a selector can be moved from the specific object in an upward, downward, left, or right direction, using the API.
However, an application for a digital TV must be downloaded for each broadcast, and thus, a user may have difficulties in getting accustomed to a new menu whenever he or she uses a new UI application.
While there is a manual of a PC application which can be received in a document format, but there is no manual of an application for broadcasting. Thus, a user must manipulate the application for broadcasting to learn how to use a menu through manipulation of a remote controller by himself/herself in real time.
In particular, since a unified UI does not exist, many application programmers have produced various types of UIs, and a large number of existing applications are actually manufactured such that a menu cannot be recognized at a first glance. Accordingly, if a user has never used an application before, the user cannot recognize at first glance the result of selecting an up, down, left or right arrow key.
In addition, if a TV system has low performance or an application is complicated, a user may misunderstand that an operation corresponding to movement between menus is not performed due to a delay time during the movement.
Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-0048776, entitled "Method of Executing Help Function in Digital Television Receiver", discloses displaying main help items including the titles of external elements of a digital TV receiver on a first area of a screen when a user pushes a help button, indicating one of the titles of the external elements with a cursor as the user manipulates cursor buttons, displaying a detailed configuration of the external element indicated by the cursor on a second area of the screen, indicating a part of the detailed configuration displayed by the cursor as the user manipulates the cursor buttons, and displaying a help description of the indicated part on a third area of the screen. However, the above publication does not describe a technique of providing a preview of a menu object.

Apparatus and method for providing preview of menu object


A cloud computing environment receives a request from a client. The request relates to access of an application executing in the cloud computing environment and it encapsulates a certificate. This certificate is then translated into an authorization graph descriptor which, in turn, is used to traverse a certificate authorization graph to identify a match within a certificate repository. In response to the identification of the match, an access token is requested including the authorization graph descriptor. The access token is then encapsulated in the request which is then forwarded to an authentication service which provides access to the application if there is a match of the authorization graph descriptor against pre-defined authorization requirements. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described.

OAuth2 is an authorization framework that enables applications to obtain limited access to user accounts on an HTTP service. In particular, OAuth2 is often used in business cloud applications relying on JSON Web Tokens (JWT) as access tokens and descriptor for authorization claims. Cloud environments can provide a User Account and Authentication (UAA) service, which enables redirect based SSO authentication with trusted Identity Providers (IDP) for end-user sessions and support for OAuth2 flows such as client credential flow consisting of two separate HTTP requests for technical clients. The JWT/Bearer tokens signed by the UAA are the single source of truth regarding authorization claims to be checked in a business application and provide trusted tenant information for multitenancy-enabled applications.
With some cloud environments, authentication is performed on the application layer using the authorization-header field of HTTP requests. For some scenarios, this arrangement is not always sufficient. For example, there can be arrangements in which a subset of technical clients are not able to integrate with the offered application because they do not support technical OAuth2 flows or generally round-trip based authentication. Further, security critical resources exposed by the application may require verification of the origin identity of requests from external clients on a deeper networking level. With the round trip based token flows described above, it cannot be guaranteed that the technical client is indeed the desired person. Moreover, in time-critical and performance-oriented use cases client authentication based on the Transport Level Security (TLS) layer is preferable in comparison to additional HTTP requests. As a layer closer to the network transport layers is preferable, Mutual TLS (Client Certificate Authentication) is often a desired approach for the authentication of technical clients in a business application.
One difficulty with such an arrangement is that client Certificates (X.509) are non-stable objects, not necessarily known to compile time, subject of changes and revocations during runtime and thus are not suitable as direct authorization descriptors.

Translation of client certificate authentication into authorization graph descriptors


An electrical connector for non-USB protocol includes an insulative tongue plate portion and a vertical portion extending perpendicularly from a lateral edge of the tongue plate portion. The width of the tongue plate portion extending along a transverse direction is much shorter than what of a corresponding standard USB connector. The thickness of the tongue plate portion extending in a vertical direction perpendicular to the transverse direction is the same as what of a corresponding standard USB connector. Under this circumstance, tongue plate portion and the vertical portion can be easily manufactured by a little improvement of the existing USB mold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly to electrical connectors with anti-mismating structure for preventing standard USB plugs inserted therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Nowadays, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface has been used as a standard input/output interface in variety of apparatus. Accordingly, electrical connectors can be designed to accord with the USB interface in order to transfer USB signals.
FIGS. 9 and 10 show existing USB connectors. In FIG. 9, this USB connector is an existing USB receptacle 300, female connector. In application, the USB receptacle 300 may be mounted on a board of a host device. The USB receptacle 300 presents a type-A USB connector. The USB receptacle 300 includes an insulative receptacle tongue portion 32, four conductive contacts 33 held on a bottom surface of the insulative receptacle tongue portion 32 and a metal shell 34 enclosing the conductive contacts 33 and the insulative receptacle tongue portion 32 to form a receiving cavity 36 formed therebetween. USB signals typically include power, ground (GND), and serial differential data D+, D−. To facilitate discussion, the four conductive contacts 33 are designated with numeral 331, 332, 333 and 334 in turn as shown in FIG. 9. In application, the four conductive contacts 331, 332, 333 and 334 are used to transfer power, D−, D+ and ground signals, respectively.
FIG. 10 shows an existing USB plug 400, male connector. The USB plug 400 also presents a type-A USB connector and is usually disposed in the peripheral device to be inserted into the USB receptacle 300. The USB plug 400 comprises a plug tongue portion 42 with four conductive contacts 43 retained thereon and a metal shell 44 enclosing the plug tongue portion 42 and the four conductive contacts 43. The metal shell 44 touches the insulative plug tongue portion 42 on three of the surfaces thereof except a top surface 46 on which the conductive contacts 43 are supported. Same to assignment of the four conductive contacts 33 of the USB receptacle 300, assignment of the four conductive contacts 43 of the USB plug 400 is contact 431 for power signal, contact 432 for D− signal, contact 433 for D+ signal and contact 434 for GND.
After fully insertion of the USB plug 400 into the receiving cavity 36 of the USB receptacle 300, the conductive contacts 431, 432, 433 and 434 of the USB plug 400 make a physical and electrical connection with the conductive contacts 331, 332, 333 and 334 of the USB receptacle 300, respectively, to transmit/receive signals to/from the host device to the peripheral device.
Under special circumstances, a type of special electrical connectors are needed to transfer signals which are similar to while not compatible to the standard USB signals. The special electrical connectors are similar to the standard USB connectors so that the special electrical connectors can be easily manufactured by a little improvement of the existing USB mold in order to decrease the cost of manufacture. However, since the special electrical connectors are similar to the standard USB connectors, there is a need that the special electrical connectors designed with anti-mismating structures to prevent the standard USB connectors inserted therein.

Electrical connectors with anti-mismating structure


This invention relates to the use of a C.sub.2-6 polyfluorocarbon compound containing no chlorine or bromine atoms as physical blowing agent in the preparation of rigid, closed-cell, polymer foams. Use of such blowing agents, especially 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a), in the preparation of polyurethane or polyisocyanurate foams provided for products in which the loss in thermal insulation performance with time compared to products prepared in absence of such blowing agents is reduced.

This invention relates to a closed-cell rigid polymer foam prepared in the presence of a physical blowing agent comprising a C.sub.2-6 polyfluorocarbon compound containing no chlorine or bromine atoms.
The usefulness of foamed plastic materials in a variety of applications is well-known. Rigid closed-cell polymer foams such as, for example, polyurethanes and polyisocyanurate foams are widely used as insulating structural members.
The good insulative properties of such foams are provided for by firstly the fact that they are fine closed-celled foams and secondly the closed-cell contains within a gas mixture which has a high thermal resistance or in the alternative a low thermal conductivity.
Generally, polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams are prepared by reacting an organic polyisocyanate with an active hydrogen-containing compound in the presence of a blowing agent or agents. Generally, such blowing agents are inert organic compounds which do not decompose or react during the polymerization reaction and which as a result of the exothermic reaction if not already in the gaseous phase become converted to a gaseous phase. The gas becomes encapsulated in the liquid phase of the polymerizing reaction mixture resulting in the formation of cells, causing the reaction mixture to expand and form a foam which subsequently cures to become a rigid closed-cell foam.
Frequently used blowing agents, until recently, have been the fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons, especially trichlorofluoromethane (Refrigerant, R-11). However, the continued use of such chlorofluorocarbon blowing agents is undesirable in view of the current opinion that their presence in earth's upper atmosphere may be a contributory factor in the recently observed reduction of the ozone concentrations.
The current commercial trend for the production of such closed-cell polymer foam is to replace the fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons with hydrogen-containing chlorofluorocarbon compounds. These alternative blowing agents are selected as they have been identified as having significantly lower ozone depletion potentials relative to R-11. Such alternative hydrogen-containing blowing agents include dichlorotrifluoroethane (R-123), dichlorofluoroethane (R-141b), chlorodifluoromethane (R-22) and difluorochloroethane (R-142b), the use of which in the preparation of polyurethane foam has been described: see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,076,644: 4,264,970: and 4,636,529.
However, a significant disadvantage of replacing the R-11 gas contained within the cells of the foam by such alternative compounds is a frequent loss in the initial and aged thermal insulation performance of the foam. Such loss occurs due to the generally higher gas thermal conductivities of the replacement blowing agents.
If insulative foam, especially polyurethane foam is to remain commercially attractive and be able to comply with various national standards relating to energy consumption, it is important that the foam is able to retain a good thermal insulation performance with time. This is especially critical where, because of other factors dictating the selection of blowing agents, the initial thermal conductivities of the foam may already be relatively high.
The thermal insulation properties of closed-cell foam, especially polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foam are known to become inferior with time. The loss of thermal insulation properties of a foam generally results from diffusion into the closed cells of high thermal conductivity gases, particularly nitrogen and oxygen or alternatively loss of cell gas having lower thermal conductivities. It is therefore desirable to provide for a means of limiting such loss.
One possible means to prevent loss of thermal insulation properties would be to use, for example, a gas impermeable barrier surrounding the foam. However, in most foam applications this is not a practical solution.
Alternatively, the foam could be modified to minimize or prevent loss of thermal insulating efficiency with time. With respect to this latter approach, the open literature contains relatively few teachings as to how rigid, closed-cell polymer foams might be modified to give products exhibiting an enhanced retention, or minimized loss, of thermal insulation performance with time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,763 discloses carbon black-filled polyurethane foam exhibiting improved aged-thermal insulation properties. Japanese Patent Application No. 57-147510 discloses the use of carbon black to provide for lower initial thermal conductivities of the foam. The selection of graphite over carbon black for the preparation of foam from a thermoplastic resin having increased initial thermal insulation properties is disclosed by Japanese Patent Application No. 63-183941.
However, the use of fillers such as, for example, carbon black and graphite for enhancement of foam thermal insulation properties is not always possible as other physical properties of the resulting foam and processibility leading to the foam may suffer. Particularly, a high filler content can lead to highly friable and open-celled foams. Open-celled foams do not provide the desirable thermal insulation performance normally offered by closed-cell foams.
It is therefore desirable to consider the use of alternative blowing agents which provide for closed-cell foam having improved thermal insulation properties whilst additionally maintaining the overall desirable foam physical properties and processibility.
In the art, the term "thermal insulation" may be interchanged with the term "K-factor" or "thermal resistance" when discussing thermal physical properties of foams and gases.

Foaming system for closed-cell rigid polymer foam


Disclosed is a method for preparing powder coating compositions. The method includes mixing in an aqueous medium a carboxylic acid functional polymer having a high glass transition temperature, with a polycarbodiimide having a high glass transition temperature, drying the mixture, and grinding the resulting solid particles to obtain a powder.

Powder coating compositions for use in industrial and automotive coating applications, such as coatings for metal substrates, are extremely desirable. Such coating compositions can eliminate the organic solvents used in liquid coating compositions. When a powder coating composition is thermally cured, little, if any, volatile material is given off to the surrounding environment. This is a significant advantage over liquid coatings in which an organic solvent is volatilized into the surrounding atmosphere when the coating is cured by heating.
Additionally, powder coating compositions, which can be prepared by mixing all of the components together in a single medium, are desirable from a formulation perspective. However, the preparation of powder coating compositions based on carbodiimide compounds and compounds containing carboxylic acid functional groups have been conventionally difficult because the crosslinking reaction tends to take place too rapidly, resulting in coating systems having short pot-life and that are not satisfactorily flowing.
As a result, it would be desirable to provide improved methods for preparing powder coating compositions based on carbodiimide compounds and compounds containing carboxylic acid functional groups.

Methods for preparing powder coating compositions