A radio is provided for transmit-receive isolation and filtering (INTRIFWA) that are sealed and/or integrally built-in a housing of a transmitter, which can be used in microwave communication systems, including satellite based communications systems and terrestrial based microwave communication systems.

Microwave communication systems (e.g., Satellite based communications, etc.) become popular, especially where asymmetrical digital subscriber lines (ADSL) and cables are not available. By way of example, fixed service satellite (FSS) systems have huge capacities with a relatively economical price structures, and the FSS systems provide various applications for subscribers, such as telephony, fax, television, high speed data communication services, Internet access, satellite news gathering (SNG), digital audio broadcasting (DAB), etc.
Existing radios of microwave communication systems employ either discrete waveguide devices, such as an ortho-mode transducer and a diplexer, or an assembly of the same each as stand-alone or a separate external module, both are exposed to the elements. There are many inherent disadvantages with this approach, including, e.g., susceptibility to water leakage, higher manufacturing costs, and relatively large volume and mass.

Method and apparatus for integrated waveguide transmit-receive isolation and filtering


The invention is directed to an alkaline protease that has the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or of an amino acid sequence having an identity of 90% or more thereto, except that one or more amino acid residues at positions selected from (a) position 6, (b) position 15, (c) position 16, (d) position 65, (e) position 66, (f) position 82, (g) position 83, (h) position 204, (i) position 319, and (j) position 337 of SEQ ID NO: 2, or at positions corresponding thereto, are substituted with certain other amino acid residues. The invention is also directed to detergent compositions and culture medium that contain the protease.

Proteases have long been employed in industry for a wide variety of products, including detergents (e.g., laundry detergents), fiber-modifying agents, leather treatment agents, cosmetics, bath agents, food-modifying agents, and drugs. Among these, proteases for detergents are industrially produced in the greatest amounts. Examples of such proteases known heretofore include Alcalase®, Savinase® (Novozymes), Maxacal® (Genencor), Blap® (Henkel), and KAP (Kao Corporation).
Protease is incorporated into a laundry detergent for providing the detergent with the ability to degrade dirt mainly composed of protein and deposited on clothing into low-molecular-weight products, to thereby promote solubilization of the thus-degraded products with a surfactant. However, in actuality, such deposited dirt is complex dirt containing, in addition to proteins, a plurality of organic and inorganic components such as sebum-derived lipid and solid particles. Therefore, there is a continuous demand for a detergent exhibiting excellent detergency to such complex dirt.
In view of the foregoing, the present inventors previously discovered several alkaline proteases having a molecular weight of about 43,000, which maintain sufficient casein-degrading activity even in the presence of a fatty acid of high concentration and which exhibit excellent detergency to complex dirt containing proteins and sebum; and previously filed a patent application on the alkaline proteases (Patent Document 1). These alkaline proteases differ from conventionally known subtilisin, a serine protease derived from bacteria belonging to the genus Bacillus, in terms of molecular weight, primary structure, and enzymological characteristics, and having a very strong resistance to oxidizer. These alkaline proteases are suggested to be classified into a new subtilisin subfamily (Non-Patent Document 1).
Meanwhile, detergents can be categorized, by form thereof, into powder detergents and liquid detergents. Advantageously, liquid detergents have solubility higher than that of powder detergents, and neat liquid thereof can be directly applied to dirt. Although liquid detergents have such merits while powder detergents do not possess, liquid detergents are widely known to encounter technical difficulty in stable incorporation of an enzyme such as protease, while powder detergents do not encounter. Generally, since liquid detergents are stored at ambient temperature, the enzyme (protein) is readily denatured. In addition, liquid detergents contain a surfactant, fatty acid, solvent, etc., and the pH thereof falls within a weak alkaline range. Such conditions are very severe conditions for the enzyme. Furthermore, the protease, which is a proteolytic enzyme, undergoes problematic self-digestion, further reducing storage stability of the enzyme in liquid detergents.
In order to solve the aforementioned technical problems, there have been widely known addition of an enzyme-stabilizing agent such as calcium ion, borax, boric acid, a boron compound, a carboxylic acid (e.g., formic acid), or a polyol. Some studies have been carried out to cope with the problem of self-digestion based on inhibition of protease activity. Specifically, there have been reported methods for stabilizing protease through reversible inhibition of protease activity by use of 4-substituted phenylboronic acid (Patent Document 2) or a certain peptide-aldehyde and a boron composition (Patent Document 3). Also reported is that dextran-modified protease enhances stability of protease in aqueous solution containing a surfactant (Non-Patent Document 2).
However, the protease-stabilizing effect due to addition of an enzyme-stabilizing agent (e.g., calcium ion or boric acid) is insufficient, and the inhibitory effect varies depending on the type of protease. Furthermore, use of such agents increases production cost. Thus, these countermeasures are not thought to be best solutions for the problems involved in liquid detergents. Chemical modification of the enzyme also has problems in terms of production cost.
Generally, a surfactant, an alkaline agent, an anti-redeposition agent, solvent, perfume, a fluorescent dye, etc, are added to liquid detergents. Among these additives, a surfactant most severely impairs the stability of enzymes. Typically, an anionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant are used in combination. Although a nonionic surfactant does not greatly damage enzymes, an anionic surfactant is thought to greatly damage enzymes, since the anionic surfactant enters the enzyme via its hydrophobic moiety and breaks hydrophobic interaction of the enzyme as well as traps divalent metal ions (e.g., calcium ions) which stabilize the enzyme (Non-Patent Document 3). Thus, enhancement of resistance of the enzyme to anionic surfactants is a very important factor for enhancing the stability of the enzyme in liquid detergents.
In an alkaline protease derived from KP43 [Bacillus sp. KSM-KP43 (FERN BP-6532)], the specific activity to the activity of the parent alkaline protease is known to be enhanced through substitution of the amino acid residue at the position 15 of the amino acid sequence with a histidine residue; substitution of the amino acid residue at the position 16 of the amino acid sequence with a threonine or glutamine residue (Patent Document 4); substitution of the amino acid residue at the position 65 of the amino acid sequence with a proline residue (Patent Document 5); or substitution of the amino acid residue at the position 66 of the amino acid sequence with an aspartic acid residue (Patent Document 6). However, there has never been known an alkaline protease variant which enhances the stability of an alkaline protease derived from KP43 in liquid detergents without reducing the specific activity.    Patent Document 1: WO 99/18218 pamphlet    Patent Document 2: JP-A-H11-507680    Patent Document 3: JP-A-2000-506933    Patent Document 4: JP-A-2004-305176    Patent Document 5: JP-A-2004-000122    Patent Document 6: JP-A-2002-218989    Non-Patent Document 1: Saeki et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 279, 313-319, 2000    Non-Patent Document 2: Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine, 111, p. 79-88, 1996    Non-Patent Document 3: Detergent Enzyme: A Challenge! In Handbook of Detergents part A, New York, p. 639-690, 1999


Within an electronic device, a voltage regulator powers a load. The voltage regulator has adjustable operating parameters that can be set during operation of the electronic device. The adjustable operating parameters are set or reset in accordance with a state of the electronic device, or a portion thereof having the load, in order to optimize power usage. The state is selectable from at least three predetermined states. Values for the operating parameters are selectable from a plurality of sets of values. Each set of values corresponds to at least one of the predetermined states.

Many electronic devices incorporate one or more voltage regulators to convert a system power source voltage level into one or more regulated voltages that are used to bias circuitry within the electronic device. There are a variety of different topologies of voltage regulators, each having unique strengths and weaknesses that are typically taken into account when designing or selecting a voltage regulator for a given application within an electronic device. For example, the level of the load may vary greatly during operation of the electronic device as various functions of the electronic device are activated or deactivated at different times. In such a case, the voltage regulator must be designed to respond to the anticipated changes in load while maintaining its output voltage within the specified limits.
The design of a voltage regulator generally includes the selection of various parameters that depend on the type of the voltage regulator and the anticipated load environment. For example, voltage regulators that are classified as switching regulators use combinations of switches (often embodied as transistors including MOSFETs, BJTs, IGBTs, JFETs, etc), inductors and/or transformers, and capacitors as the basis for step-up and/or step-down voltage conversion. Some voltage regulator design parameters will include the size of the transistors used as switches, the size/inductance of the inductors (or size/turns ratio of the transformers), the size/capacitance of the capacitors, the frequency at which the switches are turned on and off, and the voltage levels selected to turn on/off the switches, among other parameters. Additional parameters including the voltage regulator's input voltage range, output voltage range, and load range will help determine the voltage regulator design parameters.
The efficiency of the voltage regulator generally depends greatly on each voltage regulator design parameter in combination with the input voltage range, output voltage range, and load range, among other factors. However, since the load may vary during operation of the electronic device, it is impossible during the design phase to select 'fixed' values for these voltage regulator design parameters that will always result in the highest possible operating efficiency of the voltage regulator. As a result, since these regulator parameters are static, the voltage regulator is almost certain to operate below its highest possible operating efficiency for a significant percentage of the time. This situation occurs even if the most common operating power level of the electronic device is known and the parameters of the voltage regulator are selected accordingly.
In many typical situations, voltage regulators are designed to exhibit their highest efficiency at their highest operating power state. Consequently, they are generally over-designed for the lower power states. In other words, efficiency is significantly lower at the lower power states in these designs. This relationship between efficiency and power state is generally considered acceptable, since it is usually assumed that power loss should be minimized whenever the maximum rated power for the design is approached. However, there is a long-felt need to continue to increase overall power consumption efficiency for almost all electronic devices across the full load range, not just at the maximum rated power specification. However, efficiency improvements have generally been pushed so far as to have reached a level that any additional improvements at the highest power states can only result in relatively minor overall improvements.
Some voltage regulators are considerably less efficient under relatively light load conditions when compared to the efficiency at a 'normal' load or even a heavy load. Consequently, many such voltage regulators are designed to change their operating characteristics when a light load state, such as a sleep mode, occurs within the electronic device. Nevertheless, whether the electronic device is in a light load state or a heavy/normal load state, the load may still vary considerably, resulting in inefficient operation of the voltage regulator for a significant percentage of the time.
It is with respect to these and other background considerations that the present invention has evolved.

Adjusting voltage regulator operating parameters


A beverage dispensing system is disclosed for use during recreational activities. The beverage dispensing system includes a container and a holding element which is used to retain the container and secure it to the person. The beverage container is made of a lightweight, squeezable, durable material having either a spray, nozzle, tubestraw, pump, or poppet valve. The beverage dispensing system may include fasteners useful in securing the container to the holding element. The holding element can be made of a durable, lightweight material and includes a pocket or functionally similar attachment dimensioned and configured to receive the container. In practice, the user secures the holding element onto the appropriate body part (e.g. forearm) and then places the container, filled with an appropriate quantity of a beverage, into the pocket. The container is now within easy reach of the user, and outdoor exercises may be easily performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to beverage dispensing and transporting devices and more particularly to a beverage dispensing system for use during exercising and sporting activities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Each year the number of people engaging in strenuous outdoor exercising or sporting activities increases. More and more people are concerned about staying fit, strengthening their heart, losing weight or simply enjoying the weather by playing sports. Most of those who exercise prefer to either walk, jog, rollerblade, or ride bicycles. Others prefer sporting activities such as tennis, basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, etc. Regardless of the selected exercise or sport, the greatest amount of outdoor activity occurs during the summer months. Associated with the beautiful, clear blue skies of summer is the fluid-draining heat. To combat the effects of the heat, many people carry water bottles with them while they exercise. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to carry water bottles while exercising. This is true especially for joggers because they must either carry the water bottle in their hands or hang it from their bodies. If carried by hand, the bottles become a hinderance and if hanging from the body, the bottles tend to bounce around. Either way, the bottles are a nuisance to the users.
Joggers and other sports enthusiasts worldwide would greatly appreciate a device that allows them to conveniently and easily carry their water bottles with them while exercising. An added plus would be a device that does not add an undue burden to them. There is, therefore, a need for a device that would allow people conveniently and easily to carry bottles containing water or other beverages while exercising, would not be a hinderance to their exercising, would be lightweight, and would not obstruct their range of motion during their exercise or sports activities, primarily allowing free use of both hands. The present invention provides such a device.
Water bottles and carrying cases have been described in related patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,846 issued on Aug. 29, 1966 to Berkus discloses a pouring spout for a plastic container. The spout assembly includes a vent valve in order to provide a sealing enclosure when placed in a retractable position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,829 issued on Nov. 9, 1971 to Elmore discloses an expandable receptacle having an accordion folding in the top portion to allow expansion and compression so as to allow evacuation of the contents of the receptacle through a discharge nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,507 issued on Jan. 31, 1984 to Sneider discloses a collapsible container with accordion pleated sidewalls. The container includes an air vent which is removably mounted to an opening in the top surface of the container. The bottom of the container includes a discharge opening on which a cutoff valve is mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,508 issued on Jan. 31, 1984 to Gardikas et al. discloses an athlete's water bottle formed from a resilient, laterally deformable polymerized resin. A closure assembly coupled to the container includes a water dispensing tube projecting outwardly therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,316 issued on May 15, 1984 to Hiroshige discloses a liquid drink container having a straw accommodated such that when the seal cover of the container is removed, one end portion of the straw may spring out of the container by force of a spring acting thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,401 issued on Dec. 10, 1985 to Hodge discloses a fluid container safety valve which has a first check valve resiliently held open in response to pressure inside the container. A second check valve is positioned inside the first check valve casing and resiliently held open in response to a negative pressure inside the container to permit fluid flow back into the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,861 issued on Oct. 20, 1987 to Neward discloses a container lid for liquid transfer having a doubletapered liquid transfer sleeve for providing an air tight seal around a fluid transfer conduit and having an air passage part.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,364 issued on Dec. 11, 1990 to Solomon discloses an improved cap and straw assembly for use with a water bottle or the like. The assembly includes a bottle cap of the type having a poppet valve and is equipped with a drinking straw to facilitate dispensing or drinking of a beverage from the bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,705 issued on Sep. 17, 1991 to Lynd et al. discloses a bottle and drinking tube assembly for dispensing liquids. The bottle has an open top body formed from a resilient plastic material, and a cap for closing the top. The bottle is further adapted to be collapsed upon application of moderate hand pressure. An aperture is formed in the cap for receiving an elongated drinking tube.
Swedish Patent No. 152,594 issued in July 1954, and German Pat. No. 3,047,185 issued in July 1982, both describe water bottles containing straws for drinking the fluid contained therein.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


A manual-electronic pipetting device for pipetting a medium. The pipetting device includes a controller, a manually displaceable actuating element, at least one piston for aspirating and discharging the medium, a motor for driving the at least one piston in response to an actuation and/or displacement of the actuating element, at least one sensor for determining a displacement of the actuating element, and a data storage. The controller determines a pipetting protocol based on at least one sensor signal of the at least one sensor during a displacement of the actuating element, the controller further storing the pipetting protocol in the data storage, the pipetting protocol including data records indicative of a position and a speed of the at least one piston during the displacement of the actuating element.

A variety of pipetting devices has been developed over the last years. For instance, various manually operated pipetting devices and/or manual pipetting devices have been developed, which are solely based on manual actuation e.g. of a plunger button by a user, wherein the plunger button usually is mechanically coupled to e.g. a piston. In response to an actuation of the plunger button by a user, the piston can be moved and the medium can be aspirated and/or discharged.
Further, several fully electronic pipetting devices have been developed, in which e.g. any movement of a piston for aspirating and discharging a medium is electronically controlled. Such devices may comprise one or more predefined pipetting programs, which may be selected by the user.
Apart from that, also manual-electronic and/or hybrid manual-electronic devices have been developed, which may allow both manual actuation as well as electronic actuation according to one or more predefined pipetting programs. However, defining a new pipetting program according to specific pipetting needs of the user and/or according to a specific pipetting operation in either the electronic pipetting devices or the manual-electronic pipetting devices usually is a tricky and only hardly manageable for users.


An apparatus for positive retention of wood connects to and retains wood for transport and handling, the apparatus comprising a drive handle connected to a support member, the support member connected a main shank, and the main shank adapted to positively penetrate wood through one or more of impact and rotation, wherein the main shank forms a connection to the wood after such positive penetration is achieved.

The related art of interest describes various wood and log handling apparatus used for dragging and lifting wood. Existing apparatuses, including but not limited to chains, tongs, hooks, clamps, vice, log claw and timber carriers, suffer notable deficiencies. For example, wood handling apparatuses known to the art often fail to achieve positive penetration into wood. Such apparatuses are also frequently unable to maintain a secure hold when the angle of force between the handling apparatus and the item being handled changes, such as when a handling apparatus is used to assist dragging a log across the ground or positioning it for splitting in a log splitter. Known apparatuses are required to be repositioned virtually every time the angle or orientation of the item to be handled is changed. Many handling apparatuses known to the art rely on resistant force to connect to the item being handled, such as tongs and clamps. Such apparatuses often are or become insecure during the handling procedure, and the connection based entirely on resistant contact is prone to slippage or failure.
There is a need in the art for a wood handling apparatus that anchors securely to wood, is easy to attach, and maintains a secure connection without needing to be repositioned or reattached when the angle of force between the apparatus and wood being handled changes, such as during dragging, lifting, and positioning.

Positive penetration wood handling apparatus


An optical demultiplexing device used in an optical monitoring device includes an input port and an output port unit including a plurality of ports, and separates a WDM light of plural channels, which is input from the input port, for each wavelength to output to the output port unit. The output port unit includes a plurality of output port sets each of which includes at least two individual output ports as a set, and crosstalk between adjacent individual output ports in a single output port set is larger than crosstalk between adjacent individual output ports belonging to different output port sets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical monitoring device that monitors an intensity and a wavelength of light for each wavelength channel in an optical fiber communication using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), and an optical demultiplexing device incorporated in the optical monitoring device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional WDM transmission schemes in which optical signals of different wavelengths are multiplexed to increase a transmission capacity, a wavelength and a light intensity are monitored by an optical monitoring device for each optical signal channel. FIG. 23 is a schematic of a conventional optical monitoring device. An optical monitoring device 10 includes an optical demultiplexing unit 11 and optical-electrical conversion units 12. The optical-electrical conversion units 12 are provided as many as number of wavelengths multiplexed.
Multiplexed light (hereinafter, "WDM light") having more than one wavelength is input to input an optical signal from an optical input port "In". The WDM light is demultiplexed by the optical demultiplexing unit 11 for each wavelength. The optical signal is output to an output port 13 for each channel as single-wavelength light, and is input to the optical-electrical conversion unit 12 to be converted into an electrical signal according to an intensity. The electric signal is output to an output port "Out" as light intensity information for each wavelength.
FIG. 24 is a schematic of the optical demultiplexing unit in the optical monitoring device 10 shown in FIG. 23. As shown, the optical demultiplexing unit 11 is implemented by, for example, an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG). A configuration and a function of the AWG is disclosed in, for example, "IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics" volume 2, number 2, June, 1996 pp. 236–250 by Smit, M. K. and Van Dam, C. The optical-electrical conversion unit 12 (12a to 12m) is implemented by, for example, a photodiode. As shown, the optical demultiplexing unit 11 and the optical-electrical conversion unit 12 are integrated on a single substrate 20 in a monolithic manner. Therefore, an assembly work is not required, and a downsized device can be obtained. Such a technology is disclosed in, for example, "Electronics Letters" volume 31, number 7, pp. 581–582, 1995, by M. Ziringible et al., and "IEEE Photonics Technology Letters", volume 10, number 11, pp. 1614–1616 by M. Kohtoku et al. Such a spectroscopic unit such as the optical demultiplexing unit 11 is formed with a filter allowing light of a specific wavelength range to pass, that is, a filter with a low optical transmission loss of a specific wavelength range.
FIG. 25 is a graph of an optical transmission loss in the spectroscopic unit in the conventional optical monitoring device. A vertical axis represents an optical transmission loss, and a horizontal axis represents a wavelength of transmission light. As shown, the conventional optical demultiplexing unit 11 has an optical-transmission-loss characteristic such that an optical transmission loss of each center wavelength (λ1 to λm) for each channel after demultiplexing is a minimum. That is, even an optical signal demultiplexed for the same channel may have a different optical transmission loss depending on a degree of deviation from the center wavelength, and an error is caused in measurement of intensity of transmission light.
As shown in FIG. 25, when the wavelength of the optical signal is shifted from the center wavelength (for example, ±50 picometers), the transmission loss is changed as expressed by ΔP, thereby reducing transmittance of the optical signal. λA shown in FIG. 25 represents an example of the wavelength of the optical signal input to a channel λm. As such, a phenomenon in which even an optical signal demultiplexed for the same channel has a wavelength shifted from the center wavelength (hereinafter, "wavelength shift") can be caused. Furthermore, the optical transmission loss characteristic depends on temperature. Therefore, for example, an amount of wavelength shift Δλ in the channel λm with respect to λA varies for each measurement. For this reason, a correction by, for example, setting an amount of error in advance is not applicable. In addition, the conventional optical monitoring device cannot monitor the wavelength of signal light.

Optical demultiplexing device and optical monitoring device


A toilet bolt cover hides the portion of a toilet bolt extending upwardly through a mounting hole in the toilet base along with a washer and a nut threaded upon the bolt. The cover includes a base and a cap. The base has a wall with external threads and the cap has internal threads. The base of the cover has a descending member that extends downwardly into the mounting hole in the toilet base to limit rotation of the base of the cover.

A toilet is a standard fixture of indoor plumbing. A toilet is connected to a source of water and is mounted over a floor drain. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a toilet is secured in position on the floor with two toilet bolts (sometimes known as T-bolts because of the shape of their heads) that extend upwardly from a closet flange at the mouth of the drain. The toilet contains oblong holes in its base that are placed over the bolts. The term "oblong" is used herein to refer to an elongated shape in which one dimension is greater than a perpendicular dimension. Washers and nuts are then inserted onto the bolts and tightened.
Exposed nuts and bolts are unsightly so they are typically hidden with a porcelain or plastic cover. As shown in FIG. 2, common practice is to use a cover consisting of a flat base that is placed onto the bolt under the washer and nut, and a cap that fits over the bolt and snaps onto the base. Toilet bolts are generally about 60 mm (about two and one-half inches) long to accommodate varying thicknesses of toilet bases and varying thicknesses of flooring. In many installations, the bolt is much longer than needed. In other words, the bolt extends above the toilet base by more than about 10 to 15 mm. Conventional bolt caps are not deep enough to fit over such a long bolt. As a result, it is frequently necessary to cut off the end of the bolt so that the cap will cover it and snap onto the disk. Cutting off the end of the bolt is a time-consuming and difficult procedure. Furthermore, if a different toilet with a thicker base is installed later, or if a thicker floor covering is added later, the cut-off bolt may not be long enough to attach a nut.
A variety of toilet bolt covers have been disclosed. Bosler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,241,427, Mar. 22, 1966, Isaacs, U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,823, Aug. 31, 1971, and Fraleigh, U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,986, Mar. 2, 2004, disclose toilet bolt caps that have internal receptacles for mating with the toilet bolt. These bolt caps do not contain a base and therefore do not form an effective seal around the bolt, nut, and washer. Tooman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,350, issued Oct. 26, 2004, disclose deep bolt caps that are installed on anchor bolts by pounding onto the nut and are held in place frictionally. The Tooman et al. caps also lack a base.
Cabiran, U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,683, Apr. 25, 2000, and Fraleigh, U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,479, Oct. 3, 2000, disclose bolt covers having caps with internal threads that mate with a base having external threads. The bases are relatively thick and the nut sits above all the threads. Accordingly, the base can be used only with bolts that extend relatively far above the toilet base. Furthermore, there is no means for preventing the base from rotating. Accordingly, removing the cap may be very difficult because the base tends to rotate with the cap.
Accordingly, there is a demand for an improved toilet bolt cover. More particularly, there is a demand for a toilet bolt cover that completely and securely seals the end of the toilet bolt, the nut, and the washer, that accommodates toilet bolts of varying lengths, and that is easily installed and easily removed.


A time-dependent engine output power characteristic curve for an engine output power to vary therealong to a target value which corresponds to an indication of intention of the driver for acceleration or deceleration (e.g., the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal) is established based on the difference between a target engine output power and an actual engine output power. Then, a target rate of change of the rotational speed of the engine and a target rate of change of an indication of an engine load are established so that the actual engine output power varies along the engine output power characteristic curve, and the throttle valve and the continuously variable transmission are controlled using the target rates thus established.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a continuously variable transmission on a motor vehicle or the like, and more particularly to a method of controlling a continuously variable transmission in combination with the control of the throttle valve of an engine.
Heretofore, continuously variable transmissions have generally been controlled such that (a): the rotational speed of an engine coupled to the continuously variable transmission will reach a target speed, (b): the rate of change of the rotational speed of the engine will reach a target rate, and (c): the speed reduction ratio or transmission ratio of the transmission will reach a target ratio.
According to another method of controlling a continuously variable transmission, the rate of change of a speed reduction ratio is controlled, the rate being calculated as the sum of a component corresponding to a predicted acceleration that is calculated from the reserved power (the power which is available but not used) of an engine coupled to the transmission and a component corresponding to a target rate of change of the engine rotational speed (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63-53343 and Japanese Patent Application No. 62-249590, both of which were filed by the applicant).
There is also known a method of simultaneously controlling a continuously variable transmission and a throttle valve of an engine coupled to the continuously variable transmission, so that the engine and a system for actuating the continuously variable transmission will be controlled to operate the engine at a minimum fuel consumption rate (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-8305, for example).
The conventional control methods described above do not present a problem insofar as the motor vehicle runs steadily or is gradually accelerated or decelerated. However, when the motor vehicle runs transiently, such as when the accelerator pedal is abruptly depressed to accelerate the motor vehicle, the rate of change of a controlled value until it reaches a target value may not necessarily best match the demand of the driver of the motor vehicle. Accordingly, under transient running conditions of the motor vehicle, the driver may not experience optimum feelings as to the driving conditions of the motor vehicle.

Method of controlling continuously variable transmission in combination with engine throttle control


Methods for treatment of diabetes and other insulin-requiring conditions by administering insulin and a calcitonin with or without amylin, and methods for treatment of hypoglycemic conditions by administering a calcitonin alone or in combination with glucagon and/or an amylin, and related compositions.

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder defined by the presence of chronically elevated levels of blood glucose (hyperglycemia). Insulin-dependent (Type 1) diabetes mellitus ("IDDM") results from an autoimmune-mediated destruction of pancreatic .beta.-cells with consequent loss of insulin production, which results in hyperglycemia. Type 1 diabetics require insulin replacement therapy to ensure survival. Non-insulin-dependent (Type 2) diabetes mellitus ("NIDDM") is initially characterized by hyperglycemia in the presence of higher-than-normal levels of plasma insulin (hyperinsulinemia). In Type 2 diabetes, tissue processes which control carbohydrate metabolism are believed to have decreased sensitivity to insulin. Progression of the Type 2 diabetic state is associated with increasing concentrations of blood glucose, and coupled with a relative decrease in the rate of glucose-induced insulin secretion.
The primary aim of treatment in both forms of diabetes mellitus is the same, namely, the reduction of blood glucose levels to as near normal as possible. Treatment of Type 1 diabetes involves administration of replacement doses of insulin, generally by the parenteral route. In contrast, treatment of Type 2 diabetes frequently does not require administration of insulin. For example, initial therapy of Type 2 diabetes may be based on diet and lifestyle changes augmented by therapy with oral hypoglycemic agents such as a sulfonylurea. Insulin therapy may be required, however, especially in the later stages of the disease, to produce control of hyperglycemia in an attempt to minimize complications of the disease.
Treatment with oral hypoglycemic agents such as a sulfonylurea may lead to hypoglycemic reactions, including coma, four or more hours after meals. These hypoglycemic episodes may last for several days, so that prolonged or repeated glucose administration is required. Such hypoglycemic reactions are unpredictable and may occur after as little as one dose, after several days of treatment, or after months of drug administration. Most hypoglycemic reactions are observed in patients over 50 years of age, and are most likely to occur in patients with impaired hepatic or renal function. Over-dosage of sulfonylurea, or inadequate or irregular food intake may initiate such hypoglycemic reactions. Other drugs can increase the risk of hypoglycemia from sulfonylureas; these include other hypoglycemic agents, sulfonamides, propranolol, salicylates, phenylbutazone, probenecid, dicumarol, chloramphenicol, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and alcohol.
As with the sulfonylurea agents, hypoglycemia (typically characterized by a blood-glucose level below about 60 mg/dl) is the major adverse effect of insulin therapy. Hypoglycemia is by far the most serious and common adverse reaction to the administration of insulin, and can result in substantial morbidity and even death. Insulin-induced hypoglycemia is experienced at some time by virtually all Type 1 diabetics, and is reported to account for about 3-7% of deaths in patients with Type 1 diabetes. Shafrir, E., et al., in Felig, P., et al., "Endocrinology and Metabolism," pages 1043-1178 (2nd ed. 1987). Although rates of hypoglycemic incidents vary among individuals, patients undergoing conventional insulin therapy suffer an average of about one episode of symptomatic hypoglycemia per week, whereas those practicing intensive insulin therapy suffer about two to three such episodes per week. Thus, over a time frame of forty years of Type 1 diabetes, the average patient can be projected to experience two thousand to four thousand episodes of symptomatic hypoglycemia. Approximately 10% of patients undergoing conventional insulin therapy suffer at least one episode of severe hypoglycemia, i.e., requiring assistance from others, including hyperglycemic treatment such as glucose or glucagon administration, and episodes with seizure or loss of consciousness, in a given year. The yearly incidence of severe hypoglycemic episodes rises to about 25% among patients undergoing intensive therapy. Cryer, P.E., et al., "Hypoglycemia in IDDM," Diabetes 38:1193-1198 (1989).
The brain has only an extremely limited ability to store carbohydrate in the form of glycogen, and (except during prolonged starvation) is almost entirely dependent on glucose as its source of energy; thus, it is very sensitive to hypoglycemia. Symptoms of cerebral dysfunction rarely occur until the glucose content of the cerebral arterial blood falls below 60 mg/dl. However, symptoms of hypoglycemia may occur even though the blood-glucose is normal or only minimally reduced, if there has been a rapid fall from a much higher level Severe or recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia may result in permanent cerebral damage.
Glucagon is widely used clinically in the acute management of severe hypoglycemia complicating insulin replacement therapy of insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes mellitus. Glucagon is particularly useful in the treatment of insulin-induced hypoglycemia when dextrose (glucose) solution is not available or, for example, when a patient is convulsing or recalcitrant and intravenous glucose cannot be administered. Glucagon is effective in small doses, and no evidence of toxicity has been reported with its use.
When given, glucagon may be administered intravenously, intramuscularly, or subcutaneously, typically in a dose of 1 milligram. Once glucagon is introduced for hypoglycemic coma induced by either insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents, a return to consciousness should be observed within 20 minutes. In any event, intravenous glucose should be administered where possible. Salter, Common Medical Emergencies, p. 144 (2nd ed., J. Wright & Sons 1975); Goodman and Gillman's The Pharmacologic Basis of Therapeutics, p. 1510-1512 (7th ed. 1985).

Methods and compositions for treatment of diabetes mellitus, hypoglycemia, and other conditions


A method of forming a capacitor for DRAM according to the invention is disclosed. The method includes the follow steps: a dielectric layer, an etching stop layer, a first insulating layer, a first conductive layer and a second insulating layer are formed in order on a substrate. A contact hole is formed in the second insulating layer. the first conductive layer, the first insulating layer, the etching stop layer and the dielectric layer. Then, a second conductive layer is formed over the substrate and completely fills the contact hole. The second conductive layer is patterned. Next, a silicon nitride layer is formed adjacently to the patterned second conductive layer. Parts of the second insulating layer and the first conductive layer are removed by using the silicon nitride layer as a mask, thereby exposing parts of the first insulating layer. Afterwards, a third conductive layer is formed over the substrate. Parts of the third conductive layer on the silicon nitride layer and parts of the first insulating layer are removed. Thereafter, the silicon nitride layer, the remaining second insulating layer, the first insulating layer are removed to expose a part of a lower electrode consisting of the remaining first, second and third conductive layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of manufacturing ICs, and more particularly to a method of forming a capacitor for dynamic random access memory (DRAM).
2. Description of the Related Art
In line with continuously enhanced functions in microprocessors for handling much more operations during running programs, high-quality and performance of capacitors in memory cells are urgently required. In general each memory cell included in a high-integration of DRAM consists of a transfer field effect transistor T and a storage capacitor C as shown in FIG. 1. The capacitor C included in an array of capacitors formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate is used to store one-bit data in a form of binary by charging/discharging. Typically it is defined that the capacitor C stores one-bit data with a logic level 0 when uncharged while stores one-bit data with a logic level 1 when charged. Furthermore, a dielectric 100 fills the space between an upper electrode 102 and a lower electrode 100 for providing a dielectric constant required by the capacitor C. As shown in FIG. 1, the drain of the transfer field effect transistor T is electrically coupled to a bit line BL while the source thereof is electrically coupled to one end of the capacitor C. Moreover the gate of the transfer field effect transistor T is electrically coupled to a word line WL which is used to determine whether the transfer field effect transistor T is turned on to electrically connect the bit line and the capacitor C. As can be obviously seen from the above, the capacitor C is indirectly connected to a bit line BL for data access by charging/discharging in coordination with the transfer field effect transistor T.
In a traditional DRAM with a storage capacity of at least 1M bits, 2-dimensional capacitors, called planar type capacitors, are mainly used to store data. However, the planar type capacitors are not suitable for a high-integration of DRAM because take up much more spaces for data storage. Therefore, a high-integration of DRAM with, for example, a storage capacity of 4M bits. needs 3-dimensional capacitors such as stacked type capacitors or trench type capacitors, to complete the performances thereof.
Compared to the planar type capacitors the stacked type capacitors or the trench type capacitors can obtains a great amount of capacitance eve though the DRAM is further reduced in size. However, the simple 3-dimensional capacitor structure is no longer adapted when a much higher-integration of DRAM is introduced.
To resolve this problem a fin type capacitor having electrodes and a corresponding dielectric layer stacked on each other and extended towards the horizontal direction to increase surface areas, resulting in the increase of the capacitance thereof. has been developed. References for related technologies can be made to "3-dimensional stacked capacitor cell for 16M and 64M DRAMs", International Electron Devices Meeting, pp592-595 written by Ema et. al. and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,071,783, 5,126,810 and 5,206,787.
Additionally to resolve this problem, a cylindrical type capacitor where electrodes and a corresponding dielectric layer are extended to form a vertical structure has been developed. Since the surface areas of the cylindrical type capacitor is increased, the capacitance thereof is increased. References for related technologies can be made to "Novel Stacked capacitor Cell for 64 Mb DRAM", 1989 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, pp69-70 written by Wakamiya et. al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,688.
Duo to the requirement of continuously increasing integration the memory cells of DRAM need to be further shrunk. It is well known by those skilled in the art that the more the memory cells shrink, the less the capacitance thereof will be. This causes the probability of soft error created by the incidence of .alpha. ray to increase. Therefore, a structure and a method of forming a capacitor having a desired capacitance. even though the capacitor is further reduced in size, is urgently required.


A burner construction and method of making the same are provided, the burner construction comprising a burner body having a chamber therein and having opposed ends one of which is open to the chamber and the other of which has structure for interconnecting a source of fuel to the chamber, and a removable cap closing the one end of the body, the cap having opposed sides and an annular peripheral edge interconnecting the opposed sides together, the burner construction having ports interconnecting the chamber to the exterior of the burner construction and through which the fuel can issue to burn externally to the burner construction, the cap having an annular groove in one of the opposed sides thereof and inboard of the peripheral edge thereof, the burner body having a projection disposed in the groove to hold the cap on the one end of the burner body in its closing position thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new burner construction and to a new method of making such a burner construction.
2. Prior Art Statement
It is known to provide a burner construction comprising a burner body means having a chamber means therein and having opposed end means one of which is open to the chamber means and the other of which has means for interconnecting a source of fuel to the chamber means, and a removable cap means closing the one end means of the body means, the cap means having opposed sides and an annular peripheral edge means interconnecting the opposed sides together, the burner construction having port means interconnecting the chamber means to the exterior of the burner construction and through which the fuel can issue to burn externally to the burner construction. For example, see the U.S. patent to Merrill, U.S. Pat. No. 1,004,291 and the U.S. patent to Kwiatek, U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,671.
It is also known to provide a burner construction comprising a burner body means having a chamber means therein and having opposed end means one of which is open to the chamber means and the other of which has means for interconnecting a source of fuel to the chamber means, and a removable cap means closing the one end means of the body means, the burner construction having port means interconnecting the chamber means to the exterior of the burner construction and through which the fuel can issue to burn externally to the burner construction, the other of the opposed end means of the body means having a generally cylindrical portion having a free end and a fuel flow passage leading from the free end to the chamber means, and an orifice adaptor carried by the portion to feed fuel from the source into the passage at the free end of the portion. For example, see the aforementioned U.S. patent to Merrill, U.S. Pat. No. 1,004,291 and the aforementioned U.S. patent to Kwiatek, U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,671.
It is one feature of this invention to provide a new burner construction that utilizes unique means for locating the burner cap means in its proper position without requiring great manual dexterity.
In particular, it was found according to the teachings of this invention that the burner cap means can be provided with an annular groove means which will receive projection means of the burner body means therein so as to hold the cap means in its proper position on the burner body means.
For example, one embodiment of this invention comprises a burner construction comprising a burner body means having a chamber means therein and having opposed end means one of which is open to the chamber means and the other of which has means for interconnecting a source of fuel to the chamber means, and a removable cap means closing the one end means of the body means, the cap means having opposed sides and an annular peripheral edge means interconnecting the opposed sides together, the burner construction having port means interconnecting the chamber means to the exterior of the burner construction and through which the fuel can issue to burn externally to the burner construction, the cap means having an annular groove means in one of the opposed sides thereof and inboard of the peripheral edge means thereof, the burner body means having projection means disposed in the groove means to hold the cap means on the one end means of the burner body means in its closing position thereof.
It is another feature of this invention to provide a new burner construction that has unique spacing of the port means and the carry-over land means thereof so as to provide good combustion performance.
In particular, it was found according to the teachings of this invention that one of the body means and the cap means of the burner construction can have an annular surface means interrupted by a plurality of radially disposed groove means that are spaced apart by land means and that define a generally repeating pattern of a set of a certain number of the groove means and the land means separated from the next adjacent set of the certain number of the groove means and the land means by one of the land means that is not part of the sets and that has an annular or circumferential length that is longer than the annular or circumferential length of any one of the land means of the sets separated thereby.
For example, another embodiment of this invention comprises a burner construction comprising a burner body means having a chamber means therein and having opposed end means one of which is open to the chamber means and the other of which has means for interconnecting a source of fuel to the chamber means, and a removable cap means closing the one end means of the body means, the burner construction having port means interconnecting the chamber means to the exterior of the burner construction and through which the fuel can issue to burn externally to the burner construction, one of the body means and the cap means having an annular surface means interrupted by a plurality of radially disposed groove means that are spaced apart by land means of the annular surface means and that define a generally repeating pattern of a set of a certain number of the groove means and the land means separated from the next adjacent set of the certain number of the groove means and the land means by one of the land means that is not part of the sets and that has an annular length that is longer than the annular length of any one of the land means of the sets separated thereby and wherein the other of the body means and the cap means has an annular surface means cooperating with the annular surface means that has the groove means therein to close the groove means on one end thereof whereby the groove means define the port means.
It is another feature of this invention to provide a new burner construction that has unique igniter means for igniting the fuel issuing from the burner construction.
In particular, it was found according to the teachings of this invention that one of the land means that is disposed between a pair of groove means that form port means of the burner construction can have an igniter receiving slot means formed therein so that an igniter assembly can have a part thereof disposed in such slot means.
For example, another embodiment of this invention comprises a burner construction comprising a burner body means having a chamber means therein and having opposed end means one of which is open to the chamber means and the other of which has means for interconnecting a source of fuel to the chamber means, a removable cap means closing the one end means of the burner body means, the burner construction having port means interconnecting the chamber means to the exterior of the burner construction and through which the fuel can issue to burn externally to the burner construction, one of the body means and the cap means having an annular surface means interrupted by a plurality of radially disposed groove means that are spaced apart by land means of the annular surface means one of which has an igniter receiving slot means therein and wherein the other of the body means and the cap means has an annular surface means cooperating with the annular surface means that has the groove means therein to close the groove means on one end thereof whereby the groove means defines the port means, and an igniter assembly having a part thereof disposed in the slot means.
It is another feature of this invention to provide a new burner construction that is adapted to be installed with a remote coaxial orifice adaptor arrangement and has unique means for being converted so as to carry an orifice adaptor as a part thereof, if desired.
In particular, it was found according to the teachings of this invention that a unique generally U-shaped bracket can be detachably mounted to the burner body means of the burner construction and carry an orifice adaptor in the proper position for feeding fuel to the burner construction.
For example, another embodiment of this invention comprises a burner construction comprising a burner body means having a chamber means therein and having opposed end means one of which is open to the chamber means and the other of which has means for interconnecting a source of fuel to the chamber means, a removable cap means closing the one end means of the body means, the burner construction having port means interconnecting the chamber means to the exterior of the burner construction and through which the fuel can issue to burn externally to the burner construction, the other of the opposed end means of the burner body means having a generally cylindrical portion having a free end and a fuel flow passage leading from the free end to the chamber means, and an orifice adaptor carried by the portion to feed fuel from the source into the passage at the free end of the portion, the burner construction comprising a generally U-shaped bracket defined by two legs respectively interconnected to the portion of the body means and a cross member that interconnects the legs together and carries the orifice adaptor.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new burner construction having one or more of the novel features of this invention as set forth above or hereinafter shown or described.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new method of making such a burner construction, the method of this invention having one or more of the novel features of this invention as set forth above or hereinafter shown or described.

Burner construction and method of making the same


A frame with a sensing function includes a frame structure, a sensor and a processing unit. The processing unit is electrically connected to the sensor. The frame structure is configured for hanging on a display unit. The sensor senses a touched position set of the display unit for position setting. The processing unit includes a parameter calculating module and a parameter providing module. The parameter calculating module calculates a position transformation parameter between the hanged frame structure and the display unit according to the touched position set. The parameter providing module provides the position transformation parameter, such that a display content displayed on the display unit is controlled according to at least one touched position for operation sensed by the sensor and the position transformation parameter.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a frame with a sensing function and a related touch control method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a frame which provides a touch control function after being hanged on a display unit and a related touch control method.
2. Description of Related Art
With the advent of the digital era, electrical devices are becoming essential media for modern people to acquire information, knowledge or to communicate with each other. Conventionally, electrical devices are mostly equipped with a display unit for displaying digital information.
Subsequently, a touch panel is developed for receiving input signals generated with fingers or stylus tips. When a user touches graphical icons displayed on the touch panel utilizing his/her finger or a stylus tip, the touch panel correspondingly executes touch control instructions. Recently, touch panels are more and more popular, and, have been becoming a must-have component in the most of new generation electrical devices.
However, the display units unequipped with touch panels can only be operated through other input units, such as keyboards, mice, various function keys and so on, but are unable to provide the touch control instructions.

Frame with sensing function and touch control method


Artifact reduction is achieved by altering the growth of sub-cells for each super-cell in either a pre-determined or random manner. The means of alteration is selected such that the sum of all the groups equals a halftone value. In another embodiment, the random group is selected by using predetermined patterns which are different among sub-cells, such as different means of constructing a dot. Preferably a different pattern is used in adjacent super-cells. In yet another embodiment, the method selects sub-cells patterns that are not aligned on the super-cell boundaries.

The present invention relates generally to image output devices and more specifically to reducing engine and halftoning artifacts.
Image output systems such as printer, copiers, facsimile machines receive an input and generate an image based on the received input. Often the input has several shades or various degrees of toning, and the image output device tries to imitate the shade or tone while using inks or other media which are much darker than the desired shade by printing on a sheet of paper that is much lighter than the desired shade. One method for obtaining the desired shade is halftoning. Halftoning is the reproduction of grayscale images using dots of a single shade, but varying their size to simulate the different sizes of grey. Laser printers that cannot print different sized dots produce halftones by varying the number of dots in a given area. Halftoning is also used to produce a black and white version of a color document using shades of gray in place of the original colors.
Simple halftoning methods that are well known in the art can have problems with artifacts, which are manifested as undesirable macro effects. For example, a monochrome default halftoning pattern for a 16×16 cell that has 8 sub-cells can provide the illusion of continuous tone from paper white to device black. If all of the 8 sub-cells grow the same so the code-values for all sub-cells are identical macro effect of equal dot growth can produce horizontal, vertical, slanted line artifacts or repeated pattern artifacts. Halftoning methods which use patterns, often in conjunction with code-values may still exhibit macro effects because of the continuous repetition of the same pattern.
Thus, a need exists for a halftoning method that eliminates line patterns or any other artifact patterns or other macro effects.

Halftone super-cell optimization for artifact reduction


The present disclosure provides a method including forming STI features in a silicon substrate, defining a first and a second active regions for a PFET and an NFET, respectively; forming a hard mask having an opening to expose the silicon substrate within the first active region; etching the silicon substrate through the opening to form a recess within the first active region; growing a SiGe layer in the recess such that a top surface of the SiGe layer within the first active region and a top surface of the silicon substrate within the second active region are substantially coplanar; forming metal gate material layers; patterning the metal gate material layers to form a metal gate stack on the SiGe layer within the first active region; and forming an eSiGe S/D stressor distributed in both the SiGe layer and the silicon substrate within the first active region.

When a semiconductor device such as a field-effect transistor (FET) is scaled down through various technology nodes, high k dielectric materials and metals are adopted to form a gate stack. However, the high k and metal gate stack suffers from the high threshold voltage for a p-type FET. Therefore, a semiconductor device and a method of making the same are needed to address the above issue.

Semiconductor device having a SiGe feature and a metal gate stack

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


This invention relates to a method to further enhance NOx reduction in rotary preheater mineral kilns by coupling the temperature control and gas composition uniformity afforded by the high temperature mixing with the use of chemical reducing agents. The chemical reducing agent or agents, generally chosen from ammonia or ammonia precursors, are introduced at a specific point in the rotary preheater kiln which has as an optimal temperature window to achieve the greatest reduction of NOx emissions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for reducing NOx emissions from rotary preheater mineral kilns, and particularly from rotary preheater lime kilns, by coupling the temperature control and gas composition afforded by high temperature mixing systems with the injection of nitrogen containing chemical additives at a predetermined location and within an optimal temperature window.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of mineral processing techniques utilizing high temperature kilns are known and commercially practiced at the present time. These commercial processes, particularly lime kiln processes, involve a number of different basic kiln designs and modifications thereto, diverse fuels and varying degrees of automation. Among the basic types of kilns employed for the production of lime in the United States at the present time are the straight rotary kiln, the rotary preheater kiln, and the vertical shaft kiln. In the conventional straight rotary kiln, a long straight cylindrical shaft is built on a slight incline. Limestone is charged into the kiln at the elevated end and advanced toward a flame at the lower end of the shaft where the limestone is calcined into quicklime and discharged. In addition, a flow of combustion gases that are derived from fuel injected at the lower end of the shaft move countercurrent to the downward flow of lime.
Vertical kiln designs may be the most widely employed designs in the world. There are hundreds of modifications to the basic vertical layout. However, all such designs tend to have four distinct zones: (1) a stone storage zone, which is a vertical or often a modified hopper-shaped zone; (2) a preheating zone, designed to heat the stone near dissociation temperatures; (3) a calcining zone, where combustion occurs; and (4) a cooling and discharge zone, usually shaped like an inverted, truncated cone, with the quicklime being discharged from the bottom of the cone.
The rotary preheater kiln design is an attempt to improve thermal efficiency in the overall limestone calcining operation. Shaft preheaters, which often resemble a vertical kiln looming above and astride the inlet end of a rotary kiln, have been the most frequently installed preheaters.
Whatever, the particular kiln design, undesirable gases, such as nitrogen oxide (NOx), are produced during the heating and cooling processes that takes place inside the kiln. Growing concerns regarding health and environmental issues surrounding such emissions from combustion processes generally have given rise to several technologies developed to reduce NOx emissions. These technologies have been applied in a variety of different situations which extend far beyond the field of mineral calcining operations. In the case of unflued gas burners used in the home, for example, technologies such as the "Bowin low-NOx technology" are utilized, where air and fuel gas are premixed at a ratio greater than or equal to the stoichiometric combustion requirement. Other technologies, such as selective catalytic reduction and selective non catalytic reduction reduce post combustion NOx in a variety of different industrial settings. In the consumer arena, the so-called "catalytic converters" have been widely used in recent years on automobile engine exhausts to reduce NOx emissions.
In the industrial arena, there are current methods for reducing NOx emissions by injecting ammonia or ammonia precursors which have been used successfully in selective non catalytic reduction systems for control of NOx emissions from boilers in the power industry. However, their effectiveness is often limited by the extent to which flue gas temperature at the injection point remains within a relatively narrow temperature window, somewhere on the order of 1600° F.-2200° F. (871-1204° C.). Normal daily load variations in the industry will frequently drive the temperature out of this range. In contrast, such temperature excursions are far less frequent or as wide-ranging in mineral processing applications such as kilns used to produce quicklime.
Thus, the possibility of using ammonia injection to reduce NOx emissions seems to be a feasible approach for mineral processing kilns. However, both the straight rotary and vertical shaft kilns described above have an optimum temperature for the injection of the urea or ammonium which is located approximately in the middle of the kiln. This adds a degree of difficulty to the injection process and limits its usefulness as a NOx reduction technique for such kiln designs.
In addition to the injection of ammonia as a means of controlling NOx emissions in mineral processing kilns, another known technique utilized in rotary mineral kilns generally deals with the introduction of turbulent gases into the kiln interior. Controlled high temperature mixing of the gases within the kiln provides a means of reducing temperature and compositional stratification, resulting in more efficient heat transfer and improved fuel consumption within the kiln.
There is existing patent literature that provides an explanation of the technique of mixing high temperature gases in mineral processing kilns in order to reduce NOx emissions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,865, issued Jan. 6, 2004, teaches the injection of air with high velocity/high kinetic energy into a mineral kiln to reduce or eliminate stratification of kiln gases and thereby further reduce NOx emissions. However, this reference does not teach the concept of further enhancing NOx reduction by coupling the temperature control and gas composition afforded by high temperature mixing with the use of ammonia or ammonia precursors which are introduced at a particular location in the process and within an optimal temperature window.
There are also known kiln arrangements for treating fine-grained material such as cement clinker in which exhaust air from the cooling zone is introduced in two branch air streams at different points into the calcination zone, the delivery of air and fuel being set in such a way that the section of the calcination zone which is operated under oxidizing conditions and which adjoins the section operated under reducing conditions. These technologies attempt to achieve a lowering of the basic level of NOx through a targeted adjustability of the reaction conditions in the calcination zone, particularly by the choice of an optimal temperature window and a favorable oxygen content. While these known technologies attempt to achieve targeted reaction conditions in the calcination zone, they do not appear to specifically be concerned with combining the high velocity/high kinetic energy air delivery with the injection of an ammonia additive.
Much in the same way, known techniques describe a fluid bed of particle material which is fluidized by the use of primary air and which may have a reducing agent further introduced into a combustion zone, along with the injection of secondary air, to suppress NOx emissions. These prior art techniques again teach adjusting the quantities of air supplied to the calcining or combustion chamber in stoichiometric fashion in order to provide either a reducing or oxidizing atmosphere. This does not necessarily equate to the use of high velocity/high kinetic energy air injection, however, and these existing technologies do not combine the use of nitrogen-containing chemical additives.
Despite the fact that various technologies have been developed to address the presence of NOx emissions in a variety of commercial and industrial settings, a need continues to exist for further improvements in lime kiln operations due to the nature of the combustion processes which take place inside a limestone kiln.
A need accordingly exists for a method to further enhance NOx reduction in rotary preheater limestone kilns and to overcome the other described problems with respect to the prior art, which improved method will become apparent to one skilled in the art from the detailed description provided below.


A multi-functional grip tool has a plurality of sockets and a fixing member. One end of each socket has a joint portion. One side of the joint portion is fixedly connected to the fixing member. Another end of each the socket has a driving portion. A circumferential edge of an upper connecting seat has a plurality of upper accommodating recesses corresponding to the sockets. A circumferential edge of a lower connecting seat has a plurality of lower accommodating recesses corresponding to the sockets. When the upper connecting seat and the lower connecting seat are joined together, the sockets are accommodated between the upper accommodating recesses and the lower accommodating recesses, respectively. The upper connecting seat and the lower connecting seat are formed with protruding seats, respectively. The protruding seat defines a receiving room therein. A tool lid is disposed on an opening of the receiving room.

A conventional grip tool is provided with at least six driving portions on the surface of a main body. Each of the driving portions defines a plane on the surface of the main body. The extension lines of the planes do not overlap each other, so that the driving portions have multi-directional openings. The driving portions are adapted for nuts of various sizes. When the operator uses one of the driving portions to lock a nut, the main body is rotated about the axis of the driving portion, and the driving portion is rotated for the operator to rotate the nut effortlessly. The conventional grip tool improves the inconvenience of carrying a variety of tools and increases the ease of operation.
However, the conventional grip tool is generally made of a metal (for example, steel) material in order to provide sufficient driving force for each of the driving portions. The conventional grip tool is bulky and heavy, and the processing cost is high (the multi-directional driving portions are manufactured by using a multi-spindle machine). The grip is very cumbersome, and the operator must spend a lot of effort to operate or carry the conventional grip tool. The conventional grip tool uses each driving portion to lock a polygonal nut or screw. When it is necessary to use a screwdriver bit for locking a screw, the screwdriver bit is taken out from a separately prepared tool case, and then the screwdriver bit is mounted in the driving portion. As a result, the operator needs to prepare a lot of tools, which is inconvenient to carry. Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has devoted himself based on his many years of practical experiences to solve these problems.


UDP messages incorporating respective payloads are transferred by the steps of first encoding each of the payloads into hexadecimal format and then compressing the encoded payloads based on the recognition of sequences that periodically appear in the respective messages.

These messages are generated and transmitted within data communication networks, such as the internet. The architecture of the internet protocols is based on four logic layers, i.e. application, transport, network, and link.
The SNMP messages perform a simple communication mechanism between a Network Manager System (NMS) and the nodes being managed. This is made possible through specific applications located respectively at the NMS called "Network Manager" and at the nodes called "agents". The SNMP messages therefore take place at the UDP level, using it as a transport for such a purpose.
The application called "agent" (hereinafter: agent) with its respective network manager over the SNMP messages has associated a database currently called "Management Information Base" or, short, MIB. Within such a database, the information is collected relating to the management and monitoring of the corresponding node or network element. In particular such information includes the following:                MIB variables, that may be read by the Network Manager to derive information about the network element;        MIB variables that may be written by the Network Manager to cause actions on the network element; and        events (traps) that the same agent may cause toward the Network Manager (manager) with respect to specific situations.
The communication at SNMP level essentially includes therefore:                messages required to read/write the above variables (GetRequest, GetNextRequest, SetRequest, GetBulk), sent out by the Network Manager, and        response messages (GetResponse) and trap messages, transmitted by the agent.
The set of all the variables/traps managed by an agent are bound to the network element and specifically represent the relating MIB, i.e. they show the operation mode and the intrinsic characteristics of the network element to the Network Manager.
Each variable or trap is individually identified by a string in the ASN.1 notation (Abstract Syntax Notation One), called Object IDentifier or OID.
The framework of the string is, for instance, of "220.127.116.11.22.214.171.124" type, indicative of the fact that ASN.1 notation allows the representation of objects according to a hierarchical tree structure.
A part of the MIB has been defined as a standard and is supported by any agent, whereas other variables and some traps are specific for each manufacturer and in some cases also characteristic of a particular apparatus typology.
The SNMP protocol, born in 1988, has undergone some evolutions during the years. In particular new messages typologies have been defined which the agents must be able to understand. The MIB standard, that each agent must be able to support, has been extended. On the filing date of this application, the versions being used are the 1st and the 2nd versions, whereas the standardization of version 3 is currently under way.
The size of a MIB varies according to the apparatus type and can even be of the order of some hundred kBytes, corresponding to some hundred OIDs.
The diagram in FIG. 1 of the attached drawings shows the typical components of an SNMP message. The content of each component is written in ASCII characters and its maximum permissible size is equal to the maximum size of an UDP message, the data entity that carries it, equal to 65,507 bytes or octets (of which about 64 kbytes are designed for the information to be carried).
In particular, in the same diagram of FIG. 1 the presence may be noticed of a message header and of a PDU (Protocol Data Unit) part, of which the part denoted by 1 collects messages such as GetRequest, GetNextRequest, SetRequest and GetResponse, the part denoted by 2 collects GetBulk messages, whereas the part denoted by 3 generally concerns trap type messages.
More specifically, in the header of SNMP messages the following information is present:                Version Number: number of the SNMP version used for message composition (V1, V2, V3, . . . ), and        Community Name: a kind of password that allows access through reading and writing to the objects contained in the MIB module.
The following information is available within the PDU                PDU type: message typology that in the version 1 contains instructions such as GetRequest, GetNextRequest, SetRequest and Request, whereas version 2 may also contain instructions such as GetBulkRequest and InformRequest;        Request id: individual identifier of the message assigned by the manager and utilised by the agent when answering, in order that the manager might associate the requested response with the appropriate reference;        Error status: set to 0 in all message typologies, except for the response messages, wherein, if set to 1, it means that an error is present;        Error Index: it indicates which one among the requested variables (OID) has caused the error, and—Variable Bindings: these are OID/value pairs; the values are "null" in the case of requests, and compiled in the case of response messages.
In particular, the part just on the left side of FIG. 1 shows a typical structure of the part collecting the above Variable Bindings.
In the present invention and in the captions appearing in some figures of the appended drawings, the choice has been made of mentioning—for the different elements being considered—the corresponding acronyms/names/initials in the English language.
This has been done for the sake of a clear and straightforward description. The above acronyms, names and initials are currently used at international level by those skilled in the art, since no translations into the different national languages have been developed during the years.
The transmission of the SNMP message, made possible over UDP, allows the data packet exchange between two computers linked to the network. The UDP message format namely consists of a header whose main data are the IP address of the computer transmitting the message, the IP address of the destination computer and the size of the PDU being transported. In turn, the PDU format is formed by a header part and by a data part currently called "Payload" or "Octet Data". The header therefore contains the following data: source port, destination port, size of the transported unit, integrity check (CHECKSUM) of the data unit.
The methodology currently adopted for transferring a SNMP messages over UDP (from the manager to the agent, and vice-versa) is based in essence on the fact that the complete SNMP message is coded by means of the BER (Basic Encoding Rules) methodology. This way of operating allows one to convert the bytes forming the SNMP message into a hexadecimal structure suitable to be used as a payload of the UDP message.
The UDP transfer service of the data thus obtained essentially envisages:                at the transmission stage: reading of the SNMP message and subsequent hexadecimal coding (BER encode) of the message, for its transmission over UDP, and        at the reception stage: after the reception over UDP, the hexadecimal decoding (BER decode) of the PDU and the subsequent reconstruction of the message.
The current application practice proves that in the data communication networks such as internet, the need arises of transferring a bulk of information in terms of requests/responses conveyed in the form of SNMP messages.
Owing to the total size of the information, the time required for the relating transfer and network traffic thus generated, the solutions conventionally adopted for transferring SNMP messages in a standard format generally exhibit a rather poor efficiency.
For this reason three IEFT specifications have already been proposed-at a draft level-to tackle the issue.
The first proposal (known as SNMP Object Identifier Compression, rev. April 2001—draft-ietf-eos-oidcompression-00.txt) is based on the concept that the majority of the information' contained in the MIB is referred to by OID, formed by a constant and rather large part and by a variable and very small part. Starting from this principle, the proposal aim is the encoding, according to an algorithm, of the constant part of the OID through a shorter numbering. This solution optimises only in part the quantity of information being transferred, without considerably reducing its size.
The second proposal (known as "Efficient Transfer of Bulk SNMP Data, rev. April 2001—draft-ietf-eos-snmpbulk-00.txt") faces the issue of the management of the GetBulk instruction that allows the simultaneous collection of a given set of information. The instruction introduced in the SNMP version 2 does not allow the optimisation of the collection, since the manager has to declare the number of elements to be collected, without knowing how many elements form the set of information requested. Amendments to the UDP protocols have been suggested with a modification of the encode algorithm of the message (from BER to PER, which stands for Packet Encoding Rules) or with resort to a transfer mode of FTP (acronym of File Transfer Protocol) type. The solution described in the above cited document, is the introduction of a new instruction at the agent side, called GetColsRequest, and of relating message at manager side, capable of recognising the number of elements to be transferred, identifying the end of the requested set and optimising therefore requests and network traffic. However, also this solution does not allow one to optmise the management of sizes and number of messages being sent.
The third solution taken into account (known as "SNMP Payload Compression-rev. April 2001—draft-irtf-nmrg-snmp-compression-01.txt") is in principle similar to the first proposal, since it suggests a differential encoding algorithm called "OID Delta Compression" or ODC. Starting from an OID root, such a solution envisages to memorise the subsequent OID assigning to the OID a code associated to the OID root, followed by the varying part of OID. Substantially, the variations are stored in terms of differential increments, as compared to the root element. This solution has the drawback of being incompatible with previous versions of the protocol.
Further, it allows an estimated saving by about 30% for particularly recursive OID values, i.e. data arrays, and it is substantially inefficient in the event of a low number of recursive items.

Transferring SNMP messages over UDP with compression of periodically repeating sequences


Transistors are provided including first and second source/drain regions, a channel region and a gate stack having a first gate dielectric over a substrate, the first gate dielectric having a dielectric constant higher than a dielectric constant of silicon dioxide, and a metal material in contact with the first gate dielectric, the metal material being doped with an inert element. Integrated circuits including the transistors and methods of forming the transistors are also provided.

Conventional MOS technology employs transistor gates including a metal over a doped polysilicon that is, in turn, over a gate dielectric. With the scaling of transistors to smaller sizes, the gate dielectric has transitioned from conventional silicon dioxide to higher-dielectric constant materials, such as hafnium dioxide (HfO2) and hafnium silicon oxide (HfSiO), to achieve higher oxide capacitance.
The conventional polysilicon gate that was used with silicon dioxide is difficult to use with Hf-based dielectrics due to the interaction at the interface of the gate and gate dielectric and to fermi-level pinning. To overcome these problems, a metal gate, such as a transition metal nitride, is often used. However, a major drawback of using metal gates is the inability to tailor the work function of the metal gates. Consequently, it is difficult to achieve a low threshold voltage with metal gates.
One prior solution was to dope the metal gate with arsenic. Arsenic is a donor atom used for doping silicon. Accordingly, in an nMOS device, for example, an arsenic implant can result in channel counterdoping, which results in the degradation of the transistor's performance.
It is therefore desirable to achieve a metal-gated nMOS transistor having a lower threshold voltage without such disadvantages.

Transistors having argon gate implants and methods of forming the same


A compensation system for a spiral spring hysteresis selectively provides a reactive compressive force to the spring after retractive movement of the outermost spring end relative to a fixed axial center of the spring. Such reactive compressive force reflects what, otherwise, would be the difference between the reactive forces of extension and retraction of the spring and along an axis of greatest transmissibility of force to the spring. The spring constants of extension and retraction of the spring are resultingly compensated.

Spiral springs are employed in many industrial applications. Their principal characteristic relative to other types of springs is that the potential energy and spring constant characteristic of a spiral spring are confined to substantially a single plane, as opposed, for example, to torsion or compression springs in which the potential energy and spring constants thereof are reconfigured in three dimensions.
Spiral springs are often used in precise biasing applications in that the spring constant thereof can be used to oppose a force that may be applied to or against a positioning surface or ends of the spiral spring. Further, the spring constants of spiral springs can generally operate over longer linear displacements than is the case with other types of springs. As such, spiral springs have developed a recognized utility in a number of types of measurement and instrumentation systems when use over a larger linear displacement is desirable.
Notwithstanding the present widespread use of spiral springs, a problem which has accompanied (and limited) such usage has been a phenomenon known as spiral spring hysteresis. Such hysteresis refers to the effect known in spiral springs in which the spring constant of extension is not precisely equal to the spring constant of retraction of the spring. This phenomenon is understandable in that, in the operation of a spiral spring, the spring constant of extension is a result of the sum of a natural structural compressive force and a reactive force opposite to the pulling force on the spiral spring, whereas the spring constant of retraction is the sum of said natural compressive force and the smaller reactive force that is opposite the force of retraction. As such, the metallic crystalline domains of the spiral spring will not behave identically to the aggregate force of extension as they will to the smaller force of retraction. Further, the greater is the range of linear displacement (x) over which the spiral spring is employed, the more apparent will become the phenomenon of spring hysteresis, in that the force equation for springs takes the form F=-kx, where k is the spring constant. As such, the only known solution, in the prior art, to such hysteresis is to limit the range of displacement, in connection with extension and retraction, over which the spring is employed.
The inventors herein have found a spiral spring to have utility as a spring loading means of a drum or reel from which a measuring string or flexible wire may be extended or contracted as a part of a larger vector coordinate measurement apparatus. However, a difficulty which the inventors have observed in such use of a spiral spring is that small, but significant, differences in the measurement of coordinates are a function of whether a particular measurement by the string is made after the spiral spring has been in a condition of expansion or contraction, that is, whether or not the reactive force resulting from holding of the string has been at a higher or lower level, i.e., whether the aggregate compressive force on the spring has been at higher or lower level before a particular measurement. The present invention may therefore be viewed as a response to the above problem and as a solution thereto.
The inventors are not aware of any prior art which is relevant to their invention, as set forth herein.

Compensation system for spiral spring hysteresis