This invention relates to a portable toilet structure including an open ended container which may take the form of a large hollow interior plastic bucket or like structure and a seat structure having an undersurface specifically adapted to be removably attached and to lockingly engage the peripheral edge surrounding the open end. Additional embodiments include a movably mounted toilet paper dispenser, a cleansing assembly in the form of a portable bidet type washing facility and a carrying case which is specifically dimensioned and configured to have the cleansing structure stored therein and the toilet paper dispenser as well as the seat structure to facilitate transporting these components of the subject toilet seat assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable toilet assembly including a seat structure specifically adapted to have an undersurface configuration which is adapted to engage and rest upon the surrounding peripheral edge of an open ended portable container such that a plastic bag or like structure may be mounted within the hollow interior of the container to facilitate disposal of waste products passed into the interior of the container by an occupant of the toilet seat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior known portable toilets either operate on a flushing system requiring a water supply and frequently include a separate waste holding tank which can be disconnected from the device for subsequent disposal of the waste. Alternately such devices may be less complicated devices which include having plastic or like material waste bags suspended or removably attached to some type of supporting container or be disposed within a hollow interior therein. Such portable toilets are useful when prolonged or when no water supply is available for flushing. Such circumstances may be frequently encountered during emergency situations and are especially adaptable for use on board relatively small marine craft where regular "flushing" toilet facilities are not available. In order to overcome the problems recognized in the prior art and provide an efficient and operable structure, certain patents, as evidenced and described below are representative of prior art attempts to develop such a simplistic, portable, effective toilet assembly.
The Douglas U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,134 discloses a portable toilet device having a disposable water receiving bag disposed within a hallow interior thereof. The device is movable from an open or in use position to a closed or non use position which causes rotation of the waste receiving bag to temporarily close or seal the bag thereby facilitating and making more agreeable the removal of the bag with the waste product therein for separate disposal of the waste product from the structural components of the toilet itself. The Karr U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,719 discloses a portable collapsible type of toilet structure having a bottom section, a body section and a cover section. The body section is open at the top end and bottom and is foldable between an open, operative position and a flat, inoperative or stored position. In its open position, the bottom end of the body may be supported on the bottom with the cover overlying the upper end of the body. In its folded condition, the body may be stored completely within the bottom section and the cover section inserted over the bottom section to provide a flat package.
The Salka U.S. Pat. No. 2,974,321 discloses a collapsible travel commode which is positionable between an operative, open position and a flat, stored position wherein the stored position is furthered structured to include a carrying case for the various components then the travel commode is not in use. The waste is deposited through an open end serving to attach a flexible material container wherein the overall structure is designed to have sufficient structural integrity to support a person in a seated position thereon. The patent to Peters U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,278 discloses a disposable toilet designed to fit over somewhat of a more rigid type container wherein a bag is disposable within the hollow interior of the container. The seat structure surrounds the periphery while not being removably connected thereto but which does include facilities for locking the peripheral edge of the flexible material bag thereto until disposal is warranted.
The Person U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,308 discloses a portable stacking and nesting toilet comprising a small cup member capable of being nested inside a larger cup shaped member, a seat member having a central opening and a resilient ceiling lid. The bottom of each cup has a raised lip which will engage the lip of the other cup and the open top ends of the cups have an angular rim. The seat member has a groove which engages the rim of the larger cup. A water tight bag is placed in the up right larger cup with the open end of the bag folded over its rim. The seat is place on the rim of the larger cup to secure the top of the bag on the cup rim and the toilet is ready for use. After use the seat is removed the bag is disposed and the members are nested into the stored position.
Despite prior art attempts to provide a simplistic toilet or commode structure without requiring the complicated flushing system normally associated therewith, the prior art is still absent an efficient, easy to use and commercially acceptable structure which can be used in a variety of locations or circumstances, particularly but not necessarily limited to use on small marine crafts where normal toilet flushing facilities are not available. In most situations a simple open ended plastic material bucket or like large container is normally available. Using this as a foundation the present invention solves problems along recognized in the prior art by providing components which easily yet removably but securely fit together to form a comfortable toilet or commode structure which is capable of handling waste disposal in a proper and sanitary manner and also wherein the subject invention, that would be described in greater detail hereinafter, is capable of having other more sophisticated components or supplements added thereto such as a toilet paper dispenser and bidet type cleansing device.


A pipe coupling for connecting together the ends of two pipes including a tubular casing for fitting around a pipe; tensioning means for tightening the casing around the outer surface of the pipe; and a dynamic axial restraint system comprising at least one resilient gripping ring mounted within the casing for gripping the outer surface of the pipe. The gripping ring includes an outer surface engaging with an inner surface of the casing and adapted to roll against the inner surface of the casing upon axial loading of the pipe; and an inner gripping surface for engaging the outer surface of the pipe. The gripping surface of the resilient gripping ring is adapted such that upon rolling of the outer surface against the inner surface of the tubular casing, the area of the gripping surface in contact with the pipe increases.

The present invention relates to a pipe coupling having a dynamic axial restraint to system for anchoring pipes to lock them axially together. The invention finds particular application in the connection of plastic pipes.
A wide variety of pipe couplings for connecting together two pipe ends in a fluid tight manner are known. The fluid pressure in a pipeline tends to force the pipe ends apart and known pipe couplings incorporate an arrangement for securing the pipes against axial movement relative to the coupling upon axial loading of the pipes.
For example, EP-A-0 542 779 discloses a pipe coupling incorporating a frusto-conical gripping ring with inwardly projecting gripping teeth, which is located within a circumferential slot provided in the outer surface of the sealing gasket. In use, when the coupling is tightened around the pipe, the gripping teeth penetrate the sealing gasket at the bottom of the slot and engage the outer surface of the pipe to hold the pipe ends against axial displacement. As the axial load on the pipe increases, the frusto-conical gripping ring tends to flatten, causing the teeth to bite deeper into the pipe surface, improving the grip.
The sustained use of this type of axial restraint system including a gripping ring may additionally cause some degradation of the pipe, due to the gripping teeth cutting into the pipe surface. This is not problematic for metallic pipes but in the case of softer metal or plastic pipes, it has been found that such a system can only withstand relatively moderate levels of axial loading over a long period, in particular when a plastic pipe is subjected to variations in temperature.
Furthermore, at high levels of axial loading, the gripping ring will tend to rotate away from the outer surface of the pipe, which reduces the level of grip. Eventually, the gripping ring may flip over and lose contact with the pipe entirely. Where the pipe is formed of a relatively thin material, the rotation of the gripping ring relative to the pipe surface may additionally cause deformation of the cross-sectional shape of the pipe end.
There is a strong demand for plastic pipes for high pressure applications. However, it has been observed that some thermoplastic materials used for forming pipes will deform upon the application of stress and over time, the plastic will tend to move to a point of lower stress or resistance. This means that in the region of a pipe coupling, the prolonged application of radial pressure by the gripping ring clamped around the pipe will cause the plastic to migrate or 'creep' away from the gripping teeth to an adjacent area of lower stress. As the plastic migrates away from the gripping ring, the gripping teeth are unable to retain a sufficiently strong grip on the pipe surface.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a novel pipe coupling having an axial restraint system that provides improved gripping of the pipe surface and improved resistance to axial movement of the pipe ends. It would be particularly desirable to provide such a novel pipe coupling that provides improved axial restraint for plastic pipes and that performs better than known pipe couplings under high axial loads.

Pipe coupling with dynamic axial restraint system


A non-gangable electrical outlet box which includes a pair of side walls with raised portions on the exterior surfaces. The raised portions have a pair of holding prongs, a pair of positioning tabs and at least one depression having a bottom surface and an aperture. The bottom surface of the depression is angularly disposed to the raised portion to facilitate insertion of a screw in the aperture though the front opening of the outlet box. The top wall, the bottom wall and the side walls are attached to each other and to the rear wall with at least one weld to form the outlet box.

The present invention relates to an electrical outlet box, more specifically to an electrical outlet box for housing wiring connections and/or electrical devices with embossed side walls which provide additional space within the box.
Electrical outlet boxes are commonly used as junction boxes for connecting wires or for housing and connecting a switch, an electrical receptacle or other type of electrical device. Outlet boxes are typically attached to a wood or metal wall stud. Most outlet boxes of the prior art have a rectangular shape and have an opening next to the stud. An aperture is cut in the outer wall covering in order to access the inside of the outlet box. The outlet box must be properly positioned in relation to the stud and the outer covering, such as wall board or sheetrock, which is later placed over the stud. The outer wall covering placed on the stud is a gypsum board material or wood panel with a thickness of from ¼ to 1 inch. Therefore, the outlet box must be positioned so that it extends through the outer covering to allow the outlet box to be accessed.
Electrical outlet boxes can be made in one of two different ways. The first design is a modular design, wherein the four side walls and back wall of the open-front box are fastened together using bolts or screws. These types of boxes are called "gangable electrical outlet boxes." The sides are fastened together, either by the consumer or by the manufacturer, before the box is installed.
One problem with gangable boxes is that, since they are constructed using various bolts/screws, the bolts/screws holding the box together can loosen and compromise the integrity of the electrical outlet box. Another problem with gangable boxes is the considerable time and effort required for the user to properly assemble the outlet boxes.
A second type of electrical outlet box design is called a "non-gangable outlet box." This type of box is welded together using a bead weld or a tackweld at various points where the walls adjoin. Although non-gangable boxes solve some problems associated with gangable boxes, there are additional problems encountered when using non-gangable boxes.
One problem with non-gangable boxes is that the interior space of typical non-gangable electrical outlet boxes is limited. Non-gangable outlet boxes typically have a rear wall and four flat side walls extending therefrom to create a rectangular box. The interior space of these non-gangable boxes is limited and it can be difficult for the user to connect wires or an electrical device in the outlet box. Another problem with non-gangable boxes is that, typically, there are no features on the box which assist the user in positioning the box on the structural support before it is permanently mounted.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an outlet box which facilitates the attachment of the box to a support. There is also a need for an outlet box which has sufficient interior space to allow a user to easily connect wires to electrical devices housed in the box. There is a further need for an electrical outlet box which is rigidly constructed and eliminates unnecessary assembly time prior to installation.


An electronically controlled coin tester which generates an audio frequency response in a coin to be tested, then electronically analyzes the response to determine if it matches the characteristic response of an acceptable coin. The audio frequency response is generated by a striker which mechanically impacts the coin as it traverses the coin chute. The striker may be deflectable so that it is deflected from the path of coin travel after it performs its function. Gating is provided to enable the detector circuitry only in the presence of a coin, thereby reducing the susceptibility to tampering. Signal processing circuitry, which can store a plurality of responses relating to a plurality of acceptable coins, makes a comparison with a sampled characteristic to determine if the tested coin is acceptable or should be rejected.

There are many types of coin operated devices, and almost as many ways to attempt to cheat them. Most commonly, slugs or other cheaply manufactured "coins" are used to mimic the tested characteristics of acceptable coins. The problem can be particularly acute in casinos where coin operated gaming devices, such as slot machines, are configured to operate on relatively expensive tokens which are manufactured by the casino, not minted by the government. The metal content and other characteristics of the tokens can vary over time, or from casino to casino, and coin testers must be configured to accept the relatively wide range of valid tokens, while rejecting counterfeits. Since the manufacturing cost of the coin or an imitation is substantially less than its assigned casino value, the manufacture distribution or use of counterfeit coins can be very lucrative, and it is not always a simple task to distinguish between manufactured tokens intended to be acceptable and those which are fraudulent. The foregoing case is given as simply one example of the difficulty of distinguishing between acceptable coins and unacceptable counterfeits.
Early mechanical coin testers which functioned on coin size or weight were easily defrauded by slugs intended to mimic the size and weight of the originals. A particularly successful modern coin tester is the electronic device disclosed in Nicholson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,213. That system relies on comparing the magnetic properties of a sample coin to those of a deposited coin; such system has significant ability to distinguish between acceptable genuine coins and unacceptable counterfeits. However, a number of instances, one of which was in the slot machine casino environment, have rendered that system less than completely effective. That is particularly true in the casino type case where a number of casinos manufacture coins of a given denomination which can be used interchangeably in the machines of the various casinos. Those tokens being relatively inexpensively manufactured tend to wear. In addition, the tokens tend to vary in metal content, in one example tokens comprising a nickel silver alloy varying from 10% to 25% in nickel content. It has been found necessary to "detune" the circuitry of the aforementioned coin tester in order to provide a sufficiently broad response to accept the rather wide range of acceptable coin characteristics. When the system is detuned, it loses a certain amount of its ability to discriminate between acceptable and counterfeit coins.


A reconstruction filter is described. An input is configured to receive an output signal from a digital to analog converter. An input sampling circuit is operative to store a sample of the output signal from the digital to analog converter. An input pulse generating switch that generates a pulse, the energy of the pulse being determined by the sample of the output signal from the digital to analog converter. An amplifier receives the pulse at an amplifier input and provides an output signal at an amplifier output so that an output signal is produced that reduces distortion caused by imperfections in digital to analog converter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a droop-free quasi-continuous reconstruction filter interface. More specifically, a reconstruction filter interface is disclosed that resamples the output of a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and eliminates problems in the output of the DAC such as slewing, glitching, and droop.
2. Description of the Related Art
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technology is used to deliver high-rate digital data over existing phone lines without modification of the phone lines. A modulation scheme called Discrete Multitone (DMT) allows the transmission of high speed digital data. ADSL allows a large bandwidth (1.104 MHz) for transmission in a downstream direction from a central office to a subscriber in a remote location and a lesser bandwidth (138 kHz) for transmission in an upstream direction from of a subscriber in a remote location to a central office. ADSL systems are described further in the ADSL standards ITU-g.992.1 and ITU-g.992.2, which are herein incorporated by reference for all purposes.
FIG. 1A illustrates the architecture of an ADSL system. A digital network 100 provides data that is to be sent downstream over the ADSL line. The data is delivered to an ADSL transceiver unit in a central office (an ATU-C) 102. The ATU-C modulates data for downstream transmission using a DMT scheme. ATU-C drives a line 104 with an analog signal. Line 104 is connected to a telephone line 110 that is part of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 106 by a splitter 108. ATU-C also receives data transmitted in the upstream direction on line 104.
At the receiver end, a splitter 120 splits the signal on line 110 between a message telecommunication service (MTS) 122 (also referred to as plain old telephone service (POTS)) and an ADSL transceiver unit line for a remote unit (an ATU-R) 124. ATU-R 124 is connected to one or more service modules (SM) 128 by a bus 126. The ATU-R demodulates data transmitted by the ATU-C in the downstream direction and also transmits data in the upsteam direction.
FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrates the transmission path of an ADSL system. The transmission path may be in either the upstream or the downstream direction. An encoder 150 sends digital data to a DAC 152. The analog output of DAC 152 represent an ADSL modulated signal that is to be transmitted on an ADSL line. However, the DAC is not a suitable line driver because it generally does not have sufficient power output and also because the output of the DAC contains a large amount of spurious, out of band harmonics generated by the zero order hold nature of a realizable analog DAC. A line driver amplifier 153 is used to increase the power drive capability and a reconstruction filter 154 reduces or eliminates the out of band harmonics. The output of the DAC is directed to reconstruction filter 154 and the output of reconstruction filter 154 is directed to line drive amplifier 153. Reconstruction filter 154 reconstructs the signal from the stairstep output of the DAC for the purpose of driving an ADSL line 156. Thus, the signal that drives ADSL line 156 is first generated digitally by encoder 150. DAC 152 converts the digital signal to an analog signal and reconstruction filter 154 drives the line driver, which in turn directs the signal into the line proper.
The performance of reconstruction filter 154 is important because, without reconstruction filter 154, the output of the ADSL transmitter would include residual harmonic energy over a broad spectrum and would likely violate FCC rules as well as have a poorly defined in band spectrum shape. Furthermore, any high frequency glitching and slew energy would be present on the line, further distorting and corrupting the signal.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the basic structure of a typical reconstruction filter. The output of a DAC 200 is input to an amplifier 201 configured in a low pass circuit that includes an input resistor 202, a feedback resistor 204 and a capacitor 206. In this low pass configuration, the output of the amplifier at node 210 tends to follow only the low frequency content of the output of the DAC within the design limitations of amplifier 201, thus achieving reconstruction of the signal.
When the output of the digital-to-analog converter is interfaced directly into the associated reconstruction filter in a continuous time fashion as shown above, several problems arc caused due to the fact that the DAC is inherently discrete time in nature. First, any form of nonlinear settling transient in the DAC such as glitching or slewing distortion is reproduced by the construction filter in the line output. Glitching 320 and slewing 310 are illustrated in FIG. 3B. Also, the fact that the DAC output is a zero order held waveform results in a frequency dependent droop across the output band, which makes necessary some form of X/sin(X) correction either in the digital processing prior to the DAC or in the analog filter itself. Typically, such correction is costly, both in terms of speed and complexity.
It would be desirable if a system could be designed that could eliminate the problems caused by slewing, glitching and droop that result from applying the output of the digital-to-analog converter to the reconstruction filter.

Droop-free quasi-continuous reconstruction filter interface


The present invention relates to a method of preparing a perm-selective porous membrane and a method of separating gases using the prepared porous membrane. According to the present invention, a membrane is synthesized using a hierarchically structured alumina porous support by a counter diffusion method. During this synthesis, the diffusion rate of metal ions loaded on the porous support is controlled by controlling the pore size of the porous support, and the position at which the membrane is synthesized is controlled by synthesizing the membrane inside the support. This can increase the physical stability of the membrane and make the membrane thicker so as to ensure higher H2/CO2 separation factors.

Most hydrogen is produced as a mixture with carbon dioxide by the reaction of carbon monoxide with water, and this production reaction is known as the water gas shift reaction. This reaction is thermodynamically exothermic, but is carried out at a high temperature of 200 to 500° C. in order to ensure high reaction rates. Because it is an exothermic reaction, the equilibrium shifting to hydrogen at high temperatures is limited. For this reason, membrane reactors have been proposed which can separate produced hydrogen during the reaction. This is because the equilibrium can be shifted more toward production by removing only hydrogen through the reactor wall in equilibrium shift. Because the reaction is carried out at high temperatures as described above, it is essential to secure a technology for ensuring the high thermal stability of a membrane which serves as a wall in the membrane reactor.
A membrane formed of zeolitic imidazolate framework-(hereinafter referred to as "ZIF-8") has a pore size of 0.34 nm and can separate hydrogen (0.289 nm) and carbon dioxide (0.33 nm) from each other by the size difference therebetween. The H2/CO2 separation ability of ZIF-8 membranes can be found in various literatures (R. Krishna and J. M. van Baten, J. Membr. Sci., 2010, 360, 323-333; Q. Liu et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 17679-17682).
Among methods for synthesizing ZIF-8 membranes, counter diffusion is a method of synthesizing a membrane by controlling the diffusion rate and reaction rate of Zn2+ ions and 2-methylimidazole molecules, which constitute ZIF-8. The Zn2+ ions are inside a porous support, and the 2-methylimidazole molecules are outside the porous support. Thus, these ions and molecules tend to diffuse in opposite directions due to the difference in concentration therebetween. The two materials meet each other on the porous support surface to form ZIF-8 grains, thereby synthesizing a membrane. The ZIF-8 membrane synthesized as described above shows high separation coefficients in propylene/propane separation (H. T. Kwon and H. K. Jeong, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 10763-10768).
Currently, ZIF membrane technology is being developed in the direction of suggesting new membrane synthesis methods. For actual application to the water gas shift reaction, the thermal stability of the membrane should be confirmed and secured through H2/CO2 measurement at high temperatures.
Accordingly, the present inventors have made extensive efforts in order to solve the above-described problems, and as a result, have found that when a membrane is produced inside a hierarchically structured porous support by the counter diffusion method. The resulting membrane will have an increased stability against physical changes caused by external impact or the like, and will not be exposed directly to high-temperature gases, unlike a conventional membrane that shows low thermal stability due to direct contact with high-temperature H2 and CO2 gases, and thus can ensure higher thermal stability than the conventional membrane, thereby completing the present invention.

Method of preparing perm-selective porous membrane and method of separating gases using porous membrane prepared thereby

Korea University Research and Business Foundation


The present disclosure relates to methods for producing microbial lipids. The present disclosure also relates to methods for producing microbial lipids using inhibitors obtainable from lignocellulosic materials to suppress the proliferation of unwanted microorganisms in the fermentation broth. The method can therefore reduce the risk of having contaminating microbes establish in the system and the cultivation and thus higher yields of microbial lipids may be obtained.

Lignocellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on earth. Lignocellulose is the major structural component of woody plants and non-woody plants such as grass. Lignocellulosic biomass refers to plant biomass that is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Large amounts of lignocellulosic residues are produced through forestry, timber and pulp and paper industries and agricultural practices (straw, stover, bagasse, chaff) and many agroindustries. Also municipal waste contains fractions that can be considered as lignocellulose residues, such as paper or cardboard waste, garden waste or waste wood from construction. Due to high abundance and low price lignocellulosic residues are preferred materials for production of biofuels. In addition, dedicated woody or herbaceous energy crops with biomass productivity have gained interest as biofuel use.
The production of biofuels, especially ethanol, from lignocellulosic materials by microbial fermentations has been studied extensively. The greatest challenge for utilization of lignocellulosics for microbiological production of biofuels or biofuel feedstocks lays in the complexity of the lignocellulose material and in its resistance to biodegradation. In lignocellulose, cellulose (20-50% of plant dry weight) fibers are embedded in covalently found matrix of hemicellulose (20-40%), pectin (2-20%) and lignin (10-20%) forming very resistant structure for biodegradation. Further, the sugar residues of hemicellulose contain a varying mixture of hexoses (e.g., glucose, mannose and galactose), and pentoses (e.g., arabinose and xylose) depending on the biomass.
The pre-treatment of lignocellulosic material with high yield to sugars that are utilizable by micro-organisms represents one of the highest challenges. Significant cost reductions are needed in the costs of enzymes needed in hydrolysis of sugar polymers to sugar monomers that are utilizable by desired microorganisms. Further, the economically feasible production of biofuels from lignocellulosic materials requires efficient conversion of all the main carbohydrate constituents of this complex material to biofuels.
Enzymatic hydrolysis of the lignocellulosic material is typically performed in a separate step from biofuel production process by commercial enzymes bought and produced outside the actual biofuel production process.
Certain microorganisms can produce lipids from organic molecules, such as sugars derived from lignocellulose. Certain microorganisms, typically yeast, fungi or bacteria, can efficiently convert both C6 and C5 sugars in lignocellulosic materials to oil. Oil produced by heterotrophic microorganisms is often called as single cell oil or microbial oil. Single cell oil production process using heterotrophic microorganisms comprises cultivating microorganisms in aerated bioreactors, allowing cells to accumulate lipids, harvesting lipid-rich cells and recovering oil from cells. Microorganism-based lipids (i.e. single cell oils) can be used as raw materials for production of biofuels such as biodiesel, renewable diesel or bio jet fuel.
Lignocellulose hydrolysates have been utilized also in the production of single cell oils. Lignocellulose hydrolysis has been typically carried out by pre-treating the lignocellulosic material to monomeric sugars prior feeding to bioprocess.
Patent publication US2009217569 describes single cell oil production from various lignocellulosic and other material hydrolysates, such as straw, wood, pulp and paper industry residues, recycled fibres, municipal waste, algae biomass. Manufacturing biofuel comprises treating source material with water, acid or alkali and contacting filtrate or precipitate with lipid-producing microorganism. Patent publication US2009064567 describes single cell oil production from cellulose material hydrolysates for biodiesel and jet biofuel production by Stramenopiles. US20090011480 describes single cell oil production by heterotrophically grown algae and fungi from depolymerised lignocellulosic materials, such as straw, wood, pulp mill waste, switchgrass. CN101148630 describes single cell oil production from wheat, corn or rice straw hemicellulose hydrolysates, obtained by steam explosion, by bacteria or fungi.
Further, in the prior art has been described lipid production directly from polymeric sugars in lignocellulose, such as xylan by Fall et al. (1984), or cellulose by Lin et al. (2010).
WO2010042842 describes production of single cell oil from lignocellulose hydrolysates by mixed culture of microorganism(s) capable of degrading polymeric sugars in lignocellulose and at least one algae species. The culture is grown in successive aerobic and anaerobic cultivations, where fatty acids are produced from sugars and from anaerobic fermentation products.
WO2010006228 describes sequential production of biofuels from lignocelluloses. In first stage, anaerobic fermentation with organisms capable of producing alcohols from polymeric sugars in lignocellulose hydrolysates, in second stage, the spent culture medium, possibly containing at least one fermentation product, is treated with algae in order to accumulate single-cell oils.
The presence of contaminating non-lipid producing microbes in fermentation broth may influence the oil productivity and yield since the non-lipid producing microbe compete with oil producing microorganisms (oleaginous microbes) on sugars in the lignocellulose hydrolysates and thus making the process less feasible.
There is therefore a need for method of controlling the culture of micro-organisms in the single cell oil production process in such a way that the proliferation of the oleaginous microbes is favoured over the proliferation of non-oleaginous microbes

Method for producing single cell oil from lignocellulosic materials


The invention is directed to a gate valve assembly which comprises an elongated body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough; a plurality of gates slidably disposed in the longitudinal bore across respective flow passages which each extend laterally through the body between corresponding inlet and outlet ports; each gate being movable between an open position wherein an opening in the gate is aligned with its respective flow passage and a closed position wherein the opening is offset from its respective flow passage; and an actuator for moving the gates simultaneously between a first position, wherein at least one of the gates is in its open position, and a second position, wherein the at least one gate is in its closed position.

The present invention relates to a gate valve. More particularly, the invention relates to a gate valve which comprises a plurality of flow paths extending between respective inlet and outlet ports and a gate member for controlling the flow of fluid through each of the flow paths.
The need to control the flow of fluid through multiple flow paths exists in many applications. One such application is a flow completion system for producing oil or gas from a subsea well. A typical horizontal-type flow completion system comprises a wellhead housing which is installed at the upper end of a well bore, a tubing spool which is connected to the top of the wellhead housing, and a tubing hanger which is suspended in the tubing spool. In addition to supporting at least one tubing string which extends into the well bore, the tubing hanger may also comprise several service and control conduits for communicating hydraulic control fluid or chemicals to corresponding devices or positions located in the well bore below the tubing hanger. These service and control conduits are connected to corresponding external service and control lines typically via radial penetrators which extend through the tubing spool and into the tubing hanger. In order to ensure that the service and control conduits do not permit well fluids to escape into the environment, each service and control conduit typically must include a closure member to seal off the service and control conduit when it is not in use.
In prior art flow completion systems, a poppet-type valve is usually installed in the end of each service and control conduit adjacent the radial penetrator to seal off the service and control conduit when it is disengaged from the radial penetrator. While this poppet-type valve is sufficient to provide a single barrier between the well bore and the environment through the service and control conduit, industry standards often require that such conduits include two barriers. Although a second barrier may be achieved by providing a second valve in each service and control conduit, such valves would each require a separate actuating mechanism comprising a separate set of control lines, and this would necessarily increases the cost and complexity of the flow completion system.
In accordance with the present invention, these and other disadvantages are overcome with a multiport gate valve assembly which comprises an elongated body having a longitudinal bore extending therethrough, a plurality of gates slidably disposed in the longitudinal bore across respective flow passages that each extend laterally through the body between corresponding inlet and outlet ports, and an actuator for moving the gates simultaneously between their respective open position, wherein an opening in each gate is aligned with its corresponding flow passage, and a closed position, wherein the opening is offset from its flow passage. Thus, the gate valve assembly of the present invention is capable of simultaneously controlling the flow of fluid through several different flow passages.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the body comprises first and second spaced apart entrance bores and the longitudinal bore extends substantially between the first and second entrance bores. In addition, the actuator comprises a first piston which is disposed in the longitudinal bore between the first entrance bore and the gates, a second piston which is disposed in the longitudinal bore between the second entrance bore and the gates, and a source of hydraulic fluid which is connected to each of the first and second entrance bores. Thus, application of hydraulic fluid to either the first or the second entrance bore will move the gates simultaneously between their respective open and closed positions.
In this manner, the multiport gate valve assembly of the present invention provides a simple and effective means for controlling the flow of fluid through a plurality of individual flow paths. When used in conjunction with a flow completion system, the inlet ports may be connected to the service and control conduits which extend through the tubing hanger and the exit ports may be connected to corresponding devices or positions located below the tubing hanger. Thus, the multiport gate valve assembly can provide a second barrier between the well bore and the environment through the service and control conduits without the need for individual valves in each conduit.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description, with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numbers are used to denote similar components in the various embodiments.


A method and apparatus for controlling a winding station of a bobbin winding machine when changing a take-up bobbin includes driving the take-up bobbin by contact with a yarn guide drum depositing a yarn, and bringing the take-up bobbin to a standstill by controlled deceleration of a rotary speed of the yarn guide drum after ascertaining that a predetermined yarn quantity has been reached, until the yarn guide drum comes to a standstill. This is done while producing a varying slip between a surface of the yarn guide drum and a surface of the take-up bobbin effecting ribbon prevention but being limited to avoid knocking the yarn off the bobbin and damage to the surface of the bobbin. A winding station of a bobbin winding machine includes a yarn guide drum driving a take-up bobbin by contact while depositing a traveling yarn on the take-up bobbin. A drive mechanism for the yarn guide drum has a rotary field motor. An electronic yarn cleaner monitors the traveling yarn. A measuring device detects attainment of a predetermined yarn quantity and outputs a signal. A circuit is activated by the signal for reducing a rotary field frequency of the rotary field motor down to 0 Hertz in increments.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for controlling a winding station of a bobbin winding machine when a take-up bobbin is changed, which includes driving the take-up bobbin by contact with a yarn guide drum depositing a yarn, and bringing the take-up bobbin to a standstill when a predetermined quantity of yarn is reached. The invention also relates to a winding station for carrying out the method.
In present-day bobbin winding machines, changing the take-up bobbins, which as a rule are cylindrical or conical cross-wound bobbins and are also known as cheeses, is performed automatically by a changer unit. In order to perform the changing process, the take-up bobbin must first come to a standstill. Moreover, yarn travel must not be interrupted during the change. If the standstill once a desired or predeterminable quantity of yarn has been wound up is to be achieved, then the actual yarn quantity must be checked constantly, so that the attainment of the specified yarn quantity can be detected.
In German Patent No. 608 025, the present diameter of the take-up bobbin is determined through deflection of a creel. When a specified yarn quantity, in that case the specified diameter, is reached, a drive drum is braked sharply through mechanical switch elements and a friction coupling. That can not only damage the surface of the bobbin but can also cause yarn to be knocked off the bobbin.
In order to prevent such an occurrence, it has been proposed in German Published, Non-Prosecuted Application DE 32 13 631 A1 that only the drive mechanism be shut off, and that the yarn guide drum with the take-up bobbin resting on it be allowed to come to a stop. That process of slowing to a stop takes a relatively long time because of the inertia of the rotating packages. Moreover, in that phase of slowing to a stop, the synchronized travel of the yarn guide drum and the take-up bobbin in terms of their circumferential speed can cause ribboning, which causes considerable problems in subsequent processing of the take-up bobbin. Moreover, the relatively long rundown time, which is dictated by inertia, causes differences in the length of yarn being wound up. That in turn leads to yarn remnants when the take-up bobbins are later paid out jointly from the same creel.
In order to avoid those disadvantages, German Published, Non-Prosecuted Application DE 36 11 263 A1, which defines a generic method and apparatus from which the invention begins, proposes cutting the traveling yarn when the specified yarn length is reached, lifting the take-up bobbin from the yarn guide drum, braking the two rotating packages separately, and then joining the yarn ends again and briefly starting up the winding station again. In that way, the wound-up quantity of yarn is adjusted very precisely, and ribboning is also avoided. However, a disadvantage thereof is that when the take-up bobbin is later unwound, for instance from a creel on which it is mounted, all of the yarn joining stations are unwound at the same time. That can cause a visible flaw in a fabric made from it.

Method for controlling a winding station of a bobbin winding machine when a take-up bobbin is changed and winding station for performing the method


The present invention relates generally to a diffractive light modulator using cantilevers. The diffractive light modulator reflects and diffracts incident beams depending on a height difference formed when neighboring cantilevers, which are constructed in such a way that the first ends thereof are supported by one or more support units and the second ends thereof are free, bend (curve) in the same direction or opposite directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a diffractive light modulator and, more particularly, to a diffractive light modulator, which reflects and diffracts incident light depending on the height difference between neighboring cantilevers that are constructed in such a way that the first ends thereof are supported by one or more support units and the second ends thereof are free.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an optical signal processing technology has advantages in that a great amount of data is quickly processed in a parallel manner unlike a conventional digital information processing technology in which it is impossible to process a great amount of data in real time. Studies have been conducted on the design and production of a binary phase filter, an optical logic gate, a light amplifier, an image processing technique, an optical device, and a light modulator using a spatial light modulation theory.
The spatial light modulator is applied to optical memory, optical display device, printer, optical interconnection and hologram fields, and studies have been conducted to develop a display device employing it.
The spatial light modulator is embodied by a reflective deformable grating light modulator 10 as shown in FIG. 1. The modulator 10 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,360 by Bloom et al. The modulator 10 includes a plurality of reflective deformable ribbons 18, which have reflective surface parts, are suspended on an upper part of a silicon substrate 16, and are spaced apart from each other at regular intervals. An insulating layer 11 is deposited on the silicon substrate 16. Subsequently, a sacrificial silicon dioxide film 12 and a low-stress silicon nitride film 14 are deposited.
The nitride film 14 is patterned by the ribbons 18, and a portion of the silicon dioxide film 12 is etched, thereby maintaining the ribbons 18 on the oxide spacer layer 12 by a nitride frame 20.
In order to modulate light having a single wavelength of λ, the modulator is designed so that thicknesses of the ribbons 18 and oxide spacer 12 are each λ/4.
Limited by a vertical distance (d) between a reflective surface 22 of each ribbon 18 and a reflective surface of the substrate 16, a grating amplitude of the modulator 10 is controlled by applying voltage between the ribbon 18 (the reflective surface 22 of the ribbon 18 acting as a first electrode) and the substrate 16 (a conductive layer 24 formed on a lower side of the substrate 16 to act as a second electrode).
In an undeformed state of the light modulator with no voltage application, the grating amplitude is λ/2 while a total round-trip path difference between light beams reflected from the ribbon and substrate is λ. Thus, a phase of reflected light is reinforced.
Accordingly, in the undeformed state, the modulator 10 acts as a plane mirror when it reflects incident light. In FIG. 2, the reference numeral 20 denotes the incident light reflected by the modulator 10 in the undeformed state.
When proper voltage is applied between the ribbon 18 and substrate 16, the electrostatic force enables the ribbon 18 to move downward toward the surface of the substrate 16. At this time, the grating amplitude is changed to λ/4. The total round-trip path difference is a half of a wavelength, and light reflected from the deformed ribbon 18 and light reflected from the substrate 16 are subjected to destructive interference.
The modulator diffracts incident light 26 using the interference. In FIG. 3, reference numerals 28 and 30 denote light beams diffracted in +/−diffractive modes (D+1, D−1) in the deformed state, respectively.
However, the above-described conventional light modulator must displace the ribbons in a vertical direction to diffract incident light, so that the conventional light modulator is disadvantageous in that bending is formed on the portions of the ribbons that reflect and diffract the incident light, thus deteriorating the characteristics of reflected and diffracted light.
Furthermore, the conventional light modulator is problematic in that high actuating voltage is not only required, but the actuating speed thereof is also slow because the conventional modulator must displace the ribbons in a vertical direction to reflect and diffract incident light.
Furthermore, the ribbons of the conventional modulator must be manufactured to have a thickness of about 0.5 μm, so that it is difficult to perform a process of manufacturing the conventional modulator. Accordingly, the conventional light modulator is problematic in that it is difficult to achieve the mass production of light modulators that are accurately operated.

Diffractive light modulator using cantilevers


An apparatus including at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least evaluate, in a cognitive node, transmission of a physical random access channel in an uplink of a communications carrier, and, based on the evaluating, utilize an interference-free guard time period of a cellular user terminal's transmission in the physical random access channel, for distributing a synchronization signal and a beacon signal locally, the cellular user terminal's transmission in the physical random access channel including a guard time period that compensates a maximum round trip delay in a cell.

The following description of background art may include insights, discoveries, understandings or disclosures, or associations together with disclosures not known to the relevant art prior to the present invention but provided by the invention. Some such contributions of the invention may be specifically pointed out below, whereas other such contributions of the invention will be apparent from their context. Heterogeneous networks are being increasingly deployed which have various network topologies integrated into a cellular network topology. For example, in accordance with long term evolution (LTE)/LTE-advanced (LTE-A) 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), a heterogeneous network may include a combination of microcells, pico cells, femto cells and relay cells operating in the same spectrum. Within a heterogeneous network, it may be desirable in some instances for various devices and machines to directly communicate in a local domain either with or without supervision of the network. Within a local domain, a heterogeneous network may therefore provide for network control or autonomous device-to-device (D2D) communication including communications in various clusters devices. Operation in the local domain of a heterogeneous network may also include a grid or group of local machines communicating and performing certain tasks in a cooperative manner. A heterogeneous network may also allow a device having advanced capabilities to serve as a gateway to the heterogeneous network for a number of devices or machines having relatively lesser capabilities.
A heterogeneous network may also provide for the autonomous operation of femto base stations. Femto base stations are local or sub-communication stations and may provide an access point, such as a user installed access point, that provides coverage to a corresponding femto cell that is located within a larger cell, e.g. a macro cell, defined by the coverage area of a network installed base station. As such, a femto base station may provide for in-home (or business) mobility with improved data rates and quality of service (QoS) as compared to a network installed base station, which may be loaded heavily from communications with other mobile terminals or subscribers and/or may be shielded somewhat by buildings or other obstructions. As used herein, femto base station is used generally to reference femto base stations, home node Bs (HNBs), local nodes or the like.
Some femto base stations, known as cognitive femto base stations, are configured for autonomous operation. A femto base station configured to operate autonomously may be movable and/or may be configured to adapt into the prevailing radio environment at any location and at any time. As a result of its autonomous operation, a cognitive femto base station may identify a suitable carrier to support communications with the network without burdening the network with the task of allocating the carrier to the femto base station.
The integration of local heterogeneous communication, such as between devices in the local domain or by a femto base station, may require the devices to identify and use radio resources of the network in such a manner that a relatively limited amount of network assistance is required and interference is not created with the other users of the network. As such, it may be desirable to provide for the allocation of a carrier to a cognitive femto base station in a manner that reduces or eliminates network involvement while correspondingly taking into account an interference issues created for other users of the network.

Method and apparatus for distributing synchronization information


This invention relates to topical ointments containing cholesterol for the treatment of dermatoses, in particular psoriasis.

The invention relates to a method of treating dermatoses and to a topical ointment for the treatment of dermatoses, in particular psoriasis.
Many kinds of ointments for the treatment of dermatological problems are known, which are applied to diseased sites on the skin. For the treatment of psoriasis and eczemas, ointments that contain corticosteroids or salicylic acid as the pharmaceutically active substances are used with preference. However, it has been found again and again that these ointments often lack the desired healing effect. Furthermore, in patients treated with topical media containing cortisone, serious side effects have been found, such as incurable aging of the skin (atrophy). Also encountered frequently are skin striations (striae), aggravation of infection, and other permanent skin damage (telangiectases). Other possible side effects of conventional ointments and creams are so-called steroid acne, macular or more extensive cutaneous hemorrhages, and skin ulcers in the area of application.
European published application 0,098,568, a counterpart to British published application 2,122,899, discloses a preparation for topical application that includes 0.005 to 2 weight percent of an anti-inflammatory corticoid and 1 to 50 weight percent jojoba oil.
German Patent No. 638,859 discloses a process for producing an aqueous alcohol solution that contains cholesterol and is said to be suitable for therapeutic purposes, in particular for the treatment of the scalp.
Example 6 of German Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3,526,669 discloses a moisturizing cream that has vaseline oil and cholesterol as its ingredients. Such an emulsion system is said to be usable for the production of cosmetic and pharmaceutical emulsions.
German Offenlegungsschrift (printed, unexamined application) 3,526,669, is a counterpart to British published application 2,162,439,and further discloses a water-in-oil emulsifying system comprising an alkaline earth or other metal lanolate, and a sterol, in which the sterol may be a cholesterol of .beta.-sitosterol. Emulsions containing this emulsifying system are disclosed as being useful in cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.
German Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3,125,710 describes a cosmetic preparation, in the form of oil-in-water dispersions among others. Example 4 relates to a treatment fluid that, among other, also contains cholesterol.
Cosmetic products that contain cholesterol dissolved in oil are also known from French Patent No. 928,337.
German Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3,713,492 discloses a concentrate for the treatment of irritated skin, which in addition to a lipid, water and glycerine, also contains cholesterol.
German Laid-Open Patent Application No. 3,319,304 discloses a medication with antineoplastic action is described that besides a lipophilic solvent also contains cholesterol.
Swiss Patent No. 143,520 describes the cosmetic properties of cholesterol, which is contained in an aqueous or aqueous-alcohol solution.
In "Pharmazeutische Technologie" [Pharmaceutical Technology], published by Sucker, Fuchs and Speiser, Stuttgart, 1978, pp. 305-310, cholesterol is mentioned as an emulsifier in dermatological products. It is also mentioned on page 659 that lanolin can be spread over the skin and has a softening effect on the horny layer of the epidermis.
Finally, the "Handbuch der Kosmetika und Riechstoffe" [Handbook of Cosmetics and Fragrances], by Janistyn, Vol. 1, Heidelberg, 1969, page 538, mentions that jojoba oil is used as a wound healing agent and as a hair oil.
The group of patients in which the aforementioned side effects occur has grown rapidly in recent years because of environmental stresses. Such patients can no longer be cured with the known pharmaceutical topical preparations, partly because of allergic reactions to the preservatives customarily employed.


A method and apparatus for displaying directory-linked canned messages on a display (20) of a portable device (10) having selective call receiving functions. A personal name directory (100) is stored in the device (10). The name directory (100) comprises a plurality of entries (102), each entry comprising at least one telephone number and at least one canned message corresponding to the at least one telephone number. A paging message including a telephone number is received by the portable device (10). The personal name directory (100) is searched to determine if the telephone number received in the paging message matches with a telephone number in any of the personal name directory entries (102). If there is a match, the canned message which corresponds to the personal name directory entry that matches the telephone number received in the paging message is displayed. Otherwise, a default message is displayed.

Portable selective call receivers (pagers) are widely used to communicate various types of messages. One type of pager, called a numeric pager, displays primarily the telephone number entered by the paging party. Often, the user of the pager receives pages from many parties, and cannot identify the party based on a received telephone number. The pager user sometimes delays returning the call when the received telephone number is not familiar. In a worse case, the page message is totally ignored because the displayed telephone number is not recognized.
Efforts have been made in an attempt to solve this problem. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,336,524 and 4,267,480. These patents are directed to a technique known as "canned messaging" in which a short code is transmitted to a pager, and in the pager a message corresponding to the code is displayed. However, a disadvantage of this canned message technique is that the code needs to be memorized, or at least recalled, by the party sending the page. Furthermore, for practical applications, the canned messages are limited to a standard list.
Recently, portable electronic devices have evolved to include many diverse functions, such as, for example, personal organizer devices with communication functions like paging and electronic mail. With the advent of the combined functions in portable electronic devices, certain communication features can be realized more efficiently.

Apparatus and method for directory-linked canned pager messages


This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to freeze casting. In one aspect, a method comprises providing an apparatus. The apparatus comprises a container and a cooling surface. A bottom of the container comprises a wedge. The wedge comprises a first substantially planar surface and a second substantially planar surface with an angle between the first and the second substantially planar surfaces. An interior bottom of the container comprises the second substantially planar surface. The cooling surface is in contact with the first substantially planar surface. A slurry is deposited on the second substantially planar surface, the slurry comprising a plurality of particles in a liquid. The cooling surface is cooled to cool the slurry at a specified cooling rate.

Natural materials, such as bone, teeth, shells, and wood, show outstanding properties despite being porous and made of weak constituents. The reason usually lies in their sophisticated hierarchical architecture ranging from nano/microscopic to macroscopic levels. Such architectures have been perfected over the past billions of years, resulting in materials that are very often strong, tough, and lightweight, and serve as a source of inspiration for every materials designer.
Porous ceramic structures, in particular, are desirable for a wide range of applications in areas such as supported catalysis, scaffolds for tissue engineering, foams, fuel cell electrodes, filters for water purification, and many others. Multiple techniques, such as replica, direct foaming, or sacrificial templating, have been developed to manufacture such scaffolds. Most recently, three-dimensional (3D) printing has also been used as an alternative technique. However, these techniques have several limitations because they are often time-consuming or size-limiting processes, not environmentally friendly, too costly, or do not allow precise control over the final structure. An ideal strategy for engineering pores in materials in a more controllable way and at a larger scale has yet to be developed.
Freeze casting can overcome many of these previous limitations. This promising technique enables assembly of ceramic particles into scaffolds that have a highly aligned 3D porous network. The technique uses lamellar ice crystals as a template to assemble building blocks for making biomimetic scaffolds or composites. It offers the advantage of being applicable to a wide spectrum of materials (e.g., such as ceramics, polymers, and/or metals) having various shapes (e.g., particles, nanowires, and ceramic platelets, or graphene sheets). In addition, the technique is environmentally friendly, with water usually being used as the solvent. Finally, easy control of the structural features at multiple length scales is achievable by modifying ice crystal morphology with additives and/or the cooling rate.
Nevertheless, in the case of conventional freeze casting (also referred to as "ice templating" or "unidirectional freezing"), the slurry starts freezing under a single temperature gradient, causing the nucleation of ice to occur randomly on the cold finger surface. As a result, multiple small-size (e.g., submillimeter scale) domains, that is, various ice crystal orientations in the plane perpendicular to the freezing direction, are observed. Despite a pressing demand for the development of new processing techniques that can build large-scale porous aligned lamellar structures, this limitation severely hinders the scale-up fabrication of layered structures aimed for larger applications.

Bidirectional freeze casting for fabricating lamellar structures

The Regents of the University of California


A Fabry-Perot interferometer includes an input mirror and an output mirror arranged facing the input mirror via a gap. Each mirror includes a pair of high-refractive layers and a space layer arranged selectively between the high-refractive layers. At least one of an input-side bridge part and an output-side bridge part arranged crossing the gap, is movable as a membrane. Each bridge part includes a transmission portion and a periphery portion. Each transmission portions includes a mirror element in which the space layer is sandwiched by the pair of high-refractive layers. In a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the mirror element of the input mirror has a width larger than seven times of a maximum wavelength of a transmission light output from the output mirror, and functions as a diffraction restriction mirror.

JP 2008-134388 A (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 7,733,495 B2) discloses a Fabry-Perot interferometer. The Fabry-Perot interferometer includes a pair of mirrors. Each mirror includes a pair of high-refractive layers each of which having a high refractive index and a low-refractive layer having a low refractive index. The pair of high-refractive layers is provided by semiconducting films made of silicon, germanium or the like. The low-refractive layer, which actually is a space layer, is selectively arranged between the pair of high-refractive layers. The pair of mirrors arranged facing each other via an air gap. Each mirror includes a bridge part that crosses the air gap. One of the bridge parts of the mirrors provides a membrane, which is movable. The bridge part includes a transmission portion in which the low-refractive layer is sandwiched by the pair of high-refractive layers and a periphery portion arranged around the transmission portion. The transmission portion at least includes one mirror element in which the low-refractive layer is sandwiched by the pair of high-refractive layers. The pair of transmission portions, respectively, included in the pair of bridge parts are arranged facing each other.
In the above Fabry-Perot interferometer, the mirror includes optical multiple layers including the space layer. With this configuration, a wide high-reflectance band is provided and, accordingly, a wide spectroscopy band is provided. However, a mechanical strength of each mirror having the space layer is low. Thus, a warpage may occur on the high-refractive layer arranged on the space layer. In order to secure the mechanical strength, a ratio of the space layer to the transmission portion may be reduced. That is, a width of the mirror element may be reduced.
Absorption wavelengths of normal gas and normal liquid, such as gasoline, water, alcohol, for example, ethanol, acetic acid, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide are within a range of 2 micrometers (μm) to 10 μm, which is approximately equal to a mid-wavelength infrared range. Thus, the above-described Fabry-Perot interferometer may be used in an infrared light detector or may configure an infrared light absorption sensor together with an infrared light source. The infrared light detector and the infrared light absorption sensor may be used to detect compositions and concentration of a gas or a liquid.
However, when the width of the mirror element is reduced in order to improve the mechanical intensity, the mirror functions as a slit within the mid-wavelength infrared range and a diffraction occurs to a transmission light passing through the mirror. When the diffraction occurs, not only a rectilinear propagation light but also a diffraction light, which is slanted by the diffraction, resonate by the mirrors. When passing through the gap, an optical path length of the rectilinear propagation light is different from an optical path length of the diffraction light. Thus, a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the transmission light, which passes through the Fabry-Perot interferometer, is increased. That is, a resolution of the infrared light absorption sensor to differentiate compositions is reduced. This conclusion is found by inventors of the present disclosure.


A secondary air supply system for the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine having a catalytic converter with a three-way catalyst, having an air control valve which selectively supplies a part of compressed air to the exhaust system while relieving the rest of the air to the atmosphere, wherein the air control valve has a valve element balanced by oppositely acting springs to a neutral position where it supplies a predetermined amount of secondary air necessary to provide stoichiometric exhaust gases at a standard flow of exhaust gases and is shifted to opposite sides of the neutral position in accordance with oscillation of feedback control of the air/fuel ratio of exhaust gases.

The present invention relates to a secondary air supply system for the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine, and, more particularly, to an air control valve incorporated in the secondary air supply system.
In an exhaust gas purifying system which incorporates a three-way catalyst for simultaneously removing HC, CO, and NOx contained in the exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine, the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases must be controlled to be within a relatively narrow range of the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio in order to obtain effective performance of the three-way catalyst. Therefore, in the exhaust gas purifying system incorporating a three-way catalyst, the air/fuel ratio of engine intake mixture is set on the smaller or rich side of the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio, and the exhaust gases generated from such a mixture are supplied with secondary air while the air/fuel ratio is monitored by an oxygen detector so that the air/fuel ratio of the exhaust gases introduced into the three-way catalyst is maintained within a relatively narrow range (the window range) around the stoichiometric air/fuel ratio which is required to obtain effective performance of the three-way catalyst.
A secondary air supply system which supplies secondary air to the exhaust system of an engine for the aforementioned purpose generally comprises a source of compressed air such as an air pump driven by the engine, an air control valve which supplies a part of the air delivered from said source to the exhaust system of the engine while relieving the rest of the air, an oxygen detector for detecting residual oxygen contained in the exhaust gases flowing through the exhaust system, a source of actuating fluid pressure (for which the intake manifold generally serves to supply intake manifold vacuum as the actuating fluid pressure), a change-over valve for said actuating fluid pressure, and a controller which changes over said change-over valve in accordance with the output of said oxygen detector, said air control valve supplying the air delivered from said source of compressed air to the exhaust system as secondary air when said oxygen detector detects no residual oxygen while it stops supplying secondary air to the exhaust system while relieving the air supplied from said source of compressed air to the atmosphere, or, generally, into the air cleaner of the engine, when the oxygen detector detects residual oxygen. The air control valve incorporated in the conventional secondary air supply system generally comprises an inlet port for receiving air from a source of compressed air such as an air pump driven by the engine, an outlet port for supplying a part of the air received to the exhaust system, and a relief port for relieving the rest of the air received. A first passage connects said inlet port and said outlet port, a second passage connects said inlet port and said relief port, a valve element which reciprocally controls the openings of said first and second passages, first and second diaphragm chambers selectively supplied with either intake manifold vacuum or atmospheric pressure by way of said change-over valve, and at least one diaphragm which defines said individual diaphragm chambers and is connected with said valve element. Thus the diaphragm is adapted so as to shift said valve element in the direction to open said first passage and to close said second passage when said first diaphragm chamber is supplied with intake manifold vacuum while said second diaphragm chamber is opened to the atmosphere, and so as to shift said valve element in the direction to open said second passage and to close said first passage when said second diaphragm chamber is supplied with intake manifold vacuum while said first diaphragm chamber is opened to the atmosphere.
The secondary air supply system for the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine which incorporates an air control valve of the aforementioned structure together with an oxygen detector, a vacuum change-over valve, and a controller which changes over said vacuum change-over valve in accordance with the output of said oxygen detector is a feedback control system which supplies additional air as the secondary air to the basic exhaust gases having an air/fuel ratio which is somewhat lower than the lower limit of the window range. Thus the air/fuel ratio of exhaust gases is controlled in a manner such that it changes in the shape of triangular pulse waves going up and down on either side of the center of the window range. In this case, if the flow resistance of the passages for introducing intake manifold vacuum or atmospheric pressure to said first and second diaphragm chambers is reduced, i.e. the throttling ratio of a throttling element normally provided in such a passage is reduced, in order to increase the response speed of the feedback control system, the amplitude of the triangular pulse waves becomes greater, and the phase region in which the air/fuel ratio of exhaust gases overshoots or undershoots the window region increases, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the three-way catalyst. If, on the other hand, in view of the abovementioned problem, the throttling ratio of the fluid passages for said first and second diaphragm chambers is increased in order to reduce the amplitude of the triangular pulse-like changes of the air/fuel ratio of exhaust gases so that it is contained in the window range, the response speed of the feedback control system lowers, and the control of the secondary air supply cannot follow swift changes of intake air flow or fuel-air mixture of the engine, also resulting in poor effectiveness of the three-way catalyst exhaust purifying system as a whole.
Particularly, in a secondary air supply system for the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine of the aforementioned conventional structure, there is a problem that when the intake air flow or air/fuel ratio of the engine abruptly changes, the controlled air/fuel ratio of exhaust gases greatly changes because the operational inertia and delay in response of the system are relatively large.

Secondary air supply system for the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine


UE-related measurements taken on a Pcell in a wireless communication system are formed into a set of data. The Pcell overlaps with Scell(s). The UE-related measurements on the P cell are for a specific UE in the Pcell. Using a ML algorithm applied to the set of data, achievable channel quality is predicted for the specific UE for each of the Scell(s). The predicted achievable channel qualities are output for the specific UE to be used for Scell selection. At a RAN node, the set of data is sent toward an S cell prediction module for the module to determine information suitable to enable Scell selection for the specific UE. The RAN node receives information from the module allowing the RAN node to inform the selected UE of Scell(s) to be used for Scell selection for the specific UE. A node may train the ML algorithm using UE-related measurements on the Pcell.

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention disclosed below. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived, implemented or described. Therefore, unless otherwise explicitly indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. Abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are defined below, at the beginning of the detailed description section.
Operators of cellular networks have been undertaking initiatives to enable greater use of open interfaces as well as analytics and machine learning and real-time analytics in the radio access network (RAN), especially for radio resource management (RRM) functions, in an effort to improve the performance and automation of the network. For example, in the xRAN forum and ORAN alliance, the network architecture employs a Radio Intelligent Controller (RIC) in order to aid in improving performance and automation.
The RIC may consist of a near-real-time portion (RIC near-RT) and a non-real-time portion (RIC-non-RT). Both of these might be used for machine learning systems, though the non-RT portion is assumed to operate over a longer period of time than does the near-RT portion, which is assumed to operate in close to real time.
However, in order to achieve these objectives of performance and automation for different functions of the RAN, new algorithms and interactions are needed. The RIC near-RT and RIC non-RT can be viewed as platforms on which such new functions and algorithms can be hosted.
One application of these is to help the cellular network perform cell selection for user equipment (UE). This is explained in more detail below.

Scell selection and optimization for telecommunication systems


A divider element for an aircraft cabin is disclosed including a frame member forming a closed ring wherein the frame member may assume an expanded state and a collapsed state, wherein in the expanded state the frame member extends in a plane and defines a first area which is surrounded by the frame member and wherein in the collapsed state the frame member defines a second area which is surrounded by the frame member, the second area being smaller than the first area, and a flexible sheet member which is fixed to the frame member and dimensioned such that when the frame member is in the expanded state, it extends over the area defined by the frame member.

Aircraft cabin arrangements usually comprise a plurality of seat rows which are arranged perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the cabin and parallel one after another. Further, the cabin arrangement comprises different sections such as a business class and an economy class, and it is desirable to provide elements to visually separate the different sections from each other to prevent passengers from looking from one section to the other.
However, during take off and landing the cabin crew needs a free view through the entire cabin. Thus, elements which prevent such a view, need to be brought in a state so that they do not impede a view through the cabin.
Here, it is known to employ curtains on a guide rail as separation elements. However, curtain arrangements are rather complicated to handle and it is time consuming and cumbersome to shift the curtain from the expanded to the retracted position and to fix it in the latter.
Further, from EP 0 754 621 A1 a divider assembly is known comprising separate elements slidably supported in a guide rail extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the cabin along the ceiling portion.


The invention relates to a method for producing spacers from a bone cement comprising the following chronological steps:    A) controlling the temperature of a casting mold to a first temperature;    B) filling a cement dough, which has a temperature that is lower than the temperature of the temperature-controlled casting mold, into the temperature-controlled casting mold;    C) allowing the cement dough to cure in the casting mold to form a spacer; and    D) separating the casting mold from the spacer after the spacer is cured.

Articular endoprostheses currently have a service life of several years, for example on average more than ten and up to fifteen years in the case of cemented hip endoprostheses. However, undesirable loosening of the articular endoprostheses can occur before the end of the usual service life. This can concern either septic or aseptic loosening. Aseptic loosening means that no microbial germs are detectable yet. There are many causes of aseptic loosening. Aseptic loosening is often related to abrasion at the sliding surfaces of articular endoprostheses. The loosening process in septic loosening is induced by microbial germs. This can either be early or late infections depending on the time of manifestation. Septic loosening is a very serious disease for the patient and associated with high additional costs. It is customary to perform a revision surgery in cases of aseptic and septic loosening alike. This can proceed as a one-stage or a two-stage revision surgery. Two-stage revision surgeries are very common in cases of septic loosening.
In a two-stage revision surgery, the infected articular endoprosthesis is removed in a first surgery (OP) followed by debridement and subsequent insertion of a temporary place-holder, a so-called spacer. Said spacer occupies for a number of weeks the space previously occupied by the revised endoprosthesis until the manifest infection has subsided. Said place-holder function is very important in order to effectively prevent muscular atrophy during this period of time and in order to stabilise the existing resection scenario. There are non-articulated and articulated spacers available. Articulated spacers or joint spacers replicate the function of the joint and allow the afflicted limbs to have a certain degree of mobility. This allows the patient to be mobilised early. Articulated spacers are current the state of the art. The spacer is removed in a second surgery, another debridement is done before implanting a cemented or cement-free revision articular endoprosthesis.
The use of spacers is originally based on the work of Hovelius and Josefsson (Hovelius L, Josefsson G (1979), "An alternative method for exchange operation of infected arthroplasty", Acta Orthop. Scand. 50: 93-96). Other early work on spacers includes Younger (Younger A S, Duncan C P, Masri B A, McGraw R W (1997), "The outcome of two-stage arthroplasty using a custom-made interval spacer to treat the infected hip", J. Arthroplasty 12: 615-623), Jones (Jones W A, Wroblewski B M (1989), "Salvage of failed total knee arthroplasty: the 'beefburger' procedure", J. Bone Joint Surg. Br. 71: 856-857), and Cohen (Cohen J C, Hozack W J, Cuckler J M, Booth R E Jr (1988), "Two-stage reimplantation of septic total knee arthroplasty, Report of three cases using an antibiotic-PMMA spacer block", J. Arthroplasty 3: 369-377). McPherson described a concept according to which spacers can be manufactured from bone cement exclusively (McPherson E J, Lewonowski K, Dorr L D (1995), "Techniques in arthroplasty. Use of an articulated PMMA spacer in the infected total knee arthroplasty", J. Arthroplasty 10: 87-89).
Spacers equipped with antibiotics for temporary replacement of knee, hip, and shoulder endoprostheses are available on the market. It is disadvantageous though that the antibiotics contained therein are pre-determined and cannot be adapted specifically to suit the antibiogram of the microbial germs found to be present.
Spacers are often shaped from cement dough by the physician in the course of a surgery or are cast by the physician using elastic silicone moulds. Alternatively, industrially produced spacers have been commercially available in a range of standard sizes for a number of years. Said pre-made spacers can be implanted directly by the physician without any major preparatory work, whereby the spacers are usually fixed to the bone tissue with polymethylmethacrylate bone cement. The advantage of industrially produced spacers is that the surface quality of the sliding surfaces of the pre-made spacers is generally markedly better as compared to the spacers produced intra-operatively. The sliding surfaces are the surfaces of articulated spacer parts that slide on each other or roll over each other in order to replicate the function of a joint by the spacer. Moreover, using pre-made spacers can save valuable surgery time and simplifies the entire surgical process markedly since the time-consuming and laborious step of spacer production is omitted.
Casting spacers with polymethylmethacrylate bone cement using elastic casting moulds, such as, for example, silicone moulds, leads to spacers having a relatively good surface quality. However, it is an inherent problem of industrial production that casting moulds made of rubber-elastic material are sensitive to wear and tear and are therefore not suitable for the production of spacers in large quantities. Moreover, the production of silicone moulds is expensive. It is therefore reasonable to use casting moulds that are largely resistant to wear and tear.
Our own casting experiments using wear-resistant casting moulds made of metal or non-rubber-elastic plastic materials and polymethylmethacrylate bone cement dough at room temperature showed that irregular pore-like depressions are formed on the surface of the spacers. These pores and/or surface defects are particularly bothersome in the region of the sliding surfaces. Pores or other irregularities on the sliding surfaces can lead to increased abrasion while the spacer is implanted in the patient, which might later favour or trigger inflammatory processes if the abraded material is not removed during explanation of the spacer. Moreover, pores and other surface defects can act as fissure initiation points and thus adversely affect the mechanical stability of the spacers. It is feasible to reduce or eliminate pores and other surface defects by grinding and polishing. This type of reworking is time-consuming and expensive, though.
Accordingly, it is the object of the invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, a method and a device for producing spacers from bone cement, in particular polymethylmethacrylate bone cement, are to be developed that can be used with wear-resistant, dimensionally stable casting moulds to produce spacers on an industrial scale, whereby the formation of pores or other surface defects is largely excluded.

Method for producing spacers and device therefor

Abstract: The invention also relates to a device for producing spacers from a bone cement through said method comprising a casting mold and a temperature control facility for controlling the temperature of the casting mold, whereby at least 80% of the inner surface of the casting mold comprises a negative image of the spacer surface to be produced.


Virtually distortion free large field high resolution imaging is performed using an imaging system which contains large field distortion or field curvature. A reticle is imaged in one direction through the optical system to form an encoded mask. The encoded mask is then imaged back through the imaging system onto a wafer positioned at the reticle position. Particle beams, including electrons, ions and neutral particles, may be used as well as electromagnetic radiation.

The invention relates to a simple projection imaging technique and apparatus, suitable for use with all forms of radiation such as visible, deep ultraviolet (UV) and x-rays, and with all particles, such as electrons, ions and neutral species, and particularly suitable for the replication (i.e., "lithography") of high density integrated circuit patterns. The invention particularly relates to reduction or elimination of distortion problems in large field, high resolution lithography.
A number of different lithographic techniques are presently used for semiconductor microcircuit manufacturing. For example, visible and UV radiation are used in conventional steppers to transfer a pattern from a master reticle to a wafer. This process uses projection optics and often demagnifies the image of the master pattern onto the wafer. To obtain a large, nearly distortion-free image field (the maximum allowable distortion in the image is typically required to be less than one tenth of the minimum linewidth in the entire field) with high spatial resolution, complex imaging systems are needed. These systems often use more than two optical elements and more than one aspheric optical element. Current commercial systems have a spatial resolution (i.e., can image a minimum linewidth) of approximately 0.5 microns and expose fields of approximately 25 mm in diameter. Due to fundamental physical constraints, this process operating at wavelengths greater than 190 nm will be unable to produce circuits with minimum feature sizes much smaller than approximately 0.2 microns.
In proximity print x-ray lithography (PPXRL), e.g., as described by A. Heuberger, J. Vac. Sci. Tech., B6, 107 (1988), a mask and wafer are placed in "near contact" to one another and the pattern on the mask is replicated onto the wafer by "shadow-casting". The mask is fabricated on a thin (less than 5 micron thick) membrane, is difficult to manufacture and is subject to distortion. Because of diffraction, PPXRL may not be able to achieve very high resolution (i.e., PPXRL may be limited to linewidths greater than 0.2 micron).
Soft x-ray projection lithography (SXPL), e.g., as described by A. M. Hawryluk and L. G. Seppala, J. Vac. Sci. Tech., B6, 2162 (1988) and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 308,332 filed Feb. 9, 1989 by A. M. Hawryluk and L. G. Seppala, has been shown to be capable of very high resolution (e.g., minimum feature size down to 0.05 microns or less), but requires a totally reflective imaging system. A reflective imaging system requires a multi-element, aspheric optical imaging system to achieve large flat fields (greater than 25 mm in diameter) with low distortion. This optical system requires very precise components which have yet to be developed. An alternative to this complex reflective imaging system utilizes an imaging system with all spherical reflective components. The advantage of this system is the ease of fabrication of spherical optics (relative to aspherical optics), but the disadvantage is the introduction of field curvature and distortion to the imaging system. Field curvature in the spherical imaging system can be eliminated with the appropriate mask curvature, and field distortion can be eliminated by patterning the curved mask in a manner that exactly compensates the distortion in the imaging system. For this approach to work, precise spherical optical imaging elements and apriori knowledge of the field distortion are required. In addition, mask patterning, repair and inspection techniques on curved substrates have to be developed.
In present day microcircuit mass production, conventional visible and UV lithography is used to image or shadow-cast a master pattern (the reticle) onto a wafer. The process takes a precise, flat reticle and transports the image through a precise optical system (i.e., the optical transport system is nearly distortion free) to produce the desired pattern on the flat wafer. The requirement that the optical transport system be nearly distortion free and have a flat field (at both the reticle and the wafer) greatly increases the complexity of conventional lithographic tools.
Particle beam projection lithography, particularly with election and ion beams, is also being explored; however, many of the same problems are encountered. For example, in both electron and ion beam projection lithography for integrated circuit manufacturing, it is difficult to achieve large, distortion free image fields simultaneously with high resolution.

Virtually distortion-free imaging system for large field, high resolution lithography using electrons, ions or other particle beams

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


The present invention concerns an electrochemical system (100) including a stack of series connected electrochemical units (102). The system is controlled by a control circuit (104) and includes a plurality of differential amplifiers (114), each connected by two inputs to the terminals of an electrochemical unit, in order to supply a voltage representative of the potential difference present between the terminals of said electrochemical unit. Each representative voltage is sent to a control unit (106) arranged for converting said representative voltage into a numerical value transmitted to the control circuit. The system further includes, between each differential amplifier and the control unit, a buffer means (116) controlled by the control circuit. The buffer means is capable of saving the voltage representative of the potential difference present between the terminals of the electrochemical unit to which it is connected. The voltage is saved simultaneously by all of the buffer means.

Assemblies of electrochemical units connected in series (often called stacks) are known. The electrochemical units thus assembled may be formed for example by accumulator elements, or by fuel cells. A fuel cell is an electrochemical device for converting chemical energy directly into electrical energy. For example, one type of fuel cell includes an anode and a cathode between which a proton exchange membrane is arranged, often called a polymer electrolyte membrane. This type of membrane only allows protons to pass between the anode and the cathode of the fuel cell. At the anode, diatomic hydrogen undergoes a reaction to produce H+ ions which will pass through the polymer electrolyte membrane. The electrons generated by this reaction join the cathode by a circuit external to the fuel cell, thus generating an electric current.
Because a single fuel cell generally only produces a low voltage (around 1 Volt), fuel cells are often connected in series to form fuel cell stacks able to generate a higher voltage comprising the sum of the voltages of each cell. One drawback of fuel cell stacks is that disconnecting them is not sufficient to stop them. Indeed, if the current supplied at output by a fuel cell is suddenly reduced to zero, the fuel cells which form the stack are no longer able to eliminate the electrochemical energy they are producing, and the voltage at the terminals of the different cells is liable to rise to the point that it accelerates degradation of the polymer membrane and the catalysts associated therewith. It is not sufficient either to interrupt the supply of fuel and oxidant to stop a fuel cell stack. In this case, the quantity of fuel and oxidant enclosed within the stack is sufficient to maintain the reaction for a considerable period of time. In the case of a fuel cell stack that uses hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as oxidant, it may even take several hours for the stack to stop.
It is therefore advantageous to provide systems having electrochemical units, such as fuel cell stacks, with measuring devices for monitoring the voltage produced by each cell, so as to detect any variation when the system of electrochemical units is in constant operation or when it is in a stop phase.
There are known asynchronous measuring devices which take two forms.
In the first form illustrated in FIG. 1, electrochemical unit system 1 includes a plurality of differential amplifiers 4 each connected by two inputs to the terminals of an electrochemical unit 2, so as to supply a voltage representative of the potential difference between the terminals of said electrochemical unit 2. These differential amplifiers 4 are connected, at output, to a multiplexer 5, the output of which is connected to an analogue-digital converter 6. Multiplexer 5 is then operated to select each differential amplifier 4 in sequence, so that the voltage representative of the potential difference present between the terminals of said electrochemical unit 2 to which it is connected, can be sent to analogue-digital converter 6. This converter then digitizes said voltage and sends it to a processor or CPU 3, which recovers all of the digitized representative voltages in order, subsequently, to interpret them.
In the second form, illustrated in FIG. 2, electrochemical unit system 10 includes a first MUX1 and a second MUX2 multiplexer 13, wherein the positive terminal of each unit 11 is connected to the input of the first multiplexer 13 and the negative terminal of each unit 11 is connected to the input of the second multiplexer. The output of each multiplexer 13 is connected to an input of a differential amplifier 12. The voltage representative of the potential difference between the terminals of an electrochemical unit 11 is measured by selecting, via the first and second multiplexers 13, the potentials that correspond to said electrochemical unit 11. These potentials are sent to differential amplifier 12 in order to supply said voltage representative of the potential difference. The measurement of the voltage representative of the potential difference between the terminals of the next electrochemical unit 11 is then sent to an analogue-digital converter 15. The latter then digitizes said voltage and sends it to a processor or CPU 14, which recovers all of the digitized representative voltages in order, subsequently, to interpret this data.
The drawback of these two forms is that they are asynchronous. In fact, the process used in these two forms performs the measurements one after the other. Consequently, in the case of a stack of electrochemical units that includes around a hundred electrochemical units, the voltage of the hundred electrochemical units has to be measured in order to obtain the voltage representative of all the electrochemical units in the stack. Consequently, before the voltage of the first electrochemical unit can be measured again, the representative voltage has to be measured for all the electrochemical units. The time interval between two representative voltage measurements of the same electrochemical unit is thus too long.
Moreover, this method leads to a time lag between two voltage measurements of two contiguous electrochemical units. This means that it is not possible, at any determined time, to have the state of all of the electrochemical units, since the representative voltage of two contiguous electrochemical units has not been measured when the electrochemical units are in the same state, because a time lag has appeared. There therefore exists a risk that a voltage variation in one of the electrochemical units will not be detected and will cause damage to the system of electrochemical units. And even when a problem is detected, there is no way to tell which electrochemical unit is defective, since the voltage at the terminals of the units can vary according to operating conditions.

Measuring system for cells in a fuel cell stack