A method of making a knob and ferrule for a captive screw is disclosed, the knob integrally attached to the screw, the ferrule attachable to a panel. The method of making the knob includes providing an aluminum alloy base metal for the knob, pressing by cold-forming the base material into a generally cylindrical cup-shaped article using at least one pressing operation, the cup having a generally cylindrical side wall, removing any base material situated outside the perimeter of the cup-shaped cylindrical article, and providing a hole in the bottom of the cup, coaxial with the hollow cylindrical walls of the cup, thereby forming the knob. The method of making the ferrule includes providing a metal base material for the ferrule, pressing the base material, by cold-forming, into a cylindrical article using at least one pressing operation, the cylindrical article having a cylindrical side wall having an outer surface, cold-forming an attachment device an end of the ferrule; and removing any base material situated outside the perimeter of the cylindrical article, thereby forming the ferrule. All major parts of the captive screw, including the knob, ferrule and screw may be cold formed.

This invention relates to captive screws of the type generally used to attach a first panel to a second panel, frame or other surface wherein it is desired to keep the fastener in position on the first panel without loose items of hardware. The captive screw is mounted to the first panel such that the screw stays attached to the panel even when the threads of the screw are fully disengaged from a threaded hole in the second panel to which the first panel is attached.
The present invention is directed toward a new and improved process for manufacturing such a captive screw of a type which has a knob, a screw, and a ferrule. The captive screw is captivated on a panel by the ferrule and, as the screw is screwed into a second panel, the knob telescopically retracts over the ferrule. A spring may be used which urges the knob and integral screw to its fully retracted position when the captive screw is not attached to the second panel, thereby withdrawing the threads of the screw from the area of the lower panel.
The present invention is directed to a process for manufacturing such a captive screw wherein the three major components of the captive screw; the knob, the ferrule, and the screw may each be manufactured by cold forming.
In a typical cold forming process, a slug or billet is deposited within a solid die having a shape and a size corresponding to the desired article to be formed. Force is then longitudinally applied to the slug to cause the metal to flow and conform its shape to that of the die cavity. The article is then removed from the die cavity by pushing it axially out of the die cavity. A series of several dies may be used to incrementally move the material to the final desired shape.
Certain aluminum alloys as well as certain stainless steel alloys are conducive to cold forming. In the present invention, the knob is preferably made from an aluminum alloy, the ferrule is made from an aluminum alloy or carbon or stainless steel, depending on the panel fastening means used with the screw, and the screw itself is made from stainless steel.
When manufacturing in quantities, cold forming of components can offer substantial advantages over other forms of manufacturing items of metal such as machining. While the initial costs associated with setting up a cold forming manufacturing process can be high, including considerable expenses related to engineering and design obstacles, immense time savings with substantial cost savings can be achieved when sufficiently high quantities of captives screws are required. Due to difficulties in cold-forming all of the major components of this type of retractable captive screw, cold forming of the knob and ferrule of the captive screw has not heretofore been achieved. The present invention is for a process that overcomes these difficulties.

Process for manufacturing a captive screw


An automatic fastener loader includes a support member and a feed tube having an end. The feed tube is mounted to the support member. In an exemplary embodiment, a pivotable frame is mounted for oscillation on the support member between a receiving position and a loading position. The frame includes a receiver for receiving a fastener. A holster is mounted to the support member for receiving a fastener driver to load a fastener onto a bit of the fastener driver when the frame is in the loading position. An actuator is mounted to the support member and is operatively connected to the pivotable frame for actuating the frame to index the frame between the receiving position and the loading position.

It is known in close quarter assembly work, such as mass assembling of sub-components of an automatic transmission, that due to the constrained assembly access in the transmission, conventional "blow feed" fastener loading applications are not ideal. For example, in such close quarter assembly work, a lack of access for a tool with a receiving nosepiece to hold the fastener may be an issue. Also, even if a conventional nosepiece could be used, the nosepiece could obstruct all visual access to the particular sub-component, rendering assembly difficult.


The present invention uses the capacitive, inductive, or resistive impedance component to constitute the first impedance, and uses the inductive impedance component and capacitive impedance component which will not produce parallel resonance after parallel connection to constitute the second impedance, whereby the first impedance and the second impedance are series connected for inputting pulsed DC power, and the divided power generated at the two ends of the first or second impedance is rectified to drive the uni-directional light emitting diode.

(a) Field of the Present Invention
The uni-directional light emitting diode drive circuit in pulsed power non-resonance is disclosed by that a pulsed power is used as the power source, whereof the capacitive impedance components, or inductive impedance components or resistive impedance components constitute the first impedance, whereof the inductive impedance component and capacitive impedance component are in parallel connection, and their inherent parallel resonance frequency after parallel connection is different from the pulse period of the pulsed power thereby to constitute the second impedance without parallel resonance;
The first impedance and the second impedance are in series connection and the two ends of the two after series connection are provided with a DC power input which is divided by the first impedance and the second impedance in series connection, whereby to form a bi-directional divided alternated power in decaying wave shape across the two ends of the second impedance, whereof it is characterized in that the divided power of the second impedance is rectified by a rectifier device to an uni-directional DC power which is used to drive an uni-directional conducting light emitting diode, or at least two rectifier devices which are respectively parallel connected across the two ends of the first impedance and the second impedance are provided to receive the AC power inputs from the first impedance and second impedance for converting to the DC power outputs, thereby to drive the individual uni-directional conducting light emitting diodes.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The conventional light emitting diode drive circuit using AC or DC power source is usually series connected with current limit resistors as the impedance to limit the current to the light emitting diode, whereof the voltage drop of the series connected resistive impedance always result in waste of power and accumulation of heat which are the imperfections.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Uni-directional light emitting diode drive circuit in pulsed power non-resonance


Provided are systems and methods by which robots predictively detect objects that may obstruct robotic tasks prior to the robots performing those tasks. For instance, a robot may receive a task, and may obtain dimensions of a task object based on a first identifier obtained with the task or with a sensor of the robot. The robot may determine a first boundary for moving the task object based on the task object dimensions and an added buffer of space that accounts for imprecise robotic operation. The robot may detect a second identifier of a neighboring object, and may obtain dimensions of the neighboring object using the second identifier. The robot may compute a second boundary of the neighboring object based on the dimensions of the neighboring object and a position of the second identifier, and may detect an obstruction based on the second boundary crossing into the first boundary.

Autonomous robots may be used to automate various tasks including object retrieval and object placement. However, the robots may not complete each task with exact precision every time due to some imprecision in the actuators and sensors of the robots. However slight the imprecision may be, any imprecise operation or unexpected positioning of objects needed to perform a task can cause subsequent operations of the robots to fail, or may cause the robots to spend time and resources detecting and/or correcting for the deviations.
Some sites may use storage shelving with fixed slots or spaces to assist the robots in completing these and other tasks that involve movement of objects to and from the storage shelving. For instance, each fixed slot may have upward extending sidewalls to ensure that only one object is placed between the sidewalls, and to ensure that neighboring objects are separated by at least one sidewall. The sidewalls prevent neighboring objects from obstructing the retrieval or placement of a particular object by ensuring that the neighboring object do not overlap or intrude into the space of the particular object. The fixed slots or spaces can also correct for imprecise actions of the robot by guiding placement of an object into the correct slot or space, and can prevent object retrieval or placement from displacing neighboring objects.
Storage shelving with fixed slots or spaces are specialized equipment that increase cost within a site. Storage shelving with fixed slots or spaces may also limit the usage of the shelving since the spacing of each slot or space cannot be dynamically adjusted for objects of different dimensions. For instance, some objects may have larger dimensions than other objects, and may therefore not fit into certain slots. Alternatively, the spacing between the fixed slots may be too big for smaller objects, thereby leading to wasted or unused shelf space.
Without the fixed slots or spaces, the object retrieval and placement operations may be affected by the imprecise operation of the robot actuators and sensors. For instance, a first object may collide with or otherwise impact a neighboring second object when a robot attempts to retrieve or place the first object using imprecise operations. The impact may damage the first object. Alternatively, the impact may displace the first object and/or cause the robot to lose engagement with the first object, each of which can damage the first object. The impact may also displace, shift, or otherwise move the second object. As a result, the second object may be damaged, may create an obstacle that prevents other robots from engaging the second object, or may move the second object from an expected location that robots use to locate the second object.


A solid-state image sensing device including an anti-reflection structure that uses polysilicon and a method of manufacturing the same, in which the solid-state image sensing device includes a photodiode region and a transistor region. The photodiode region includes a semiconductor substrate, a first anti-refection layer, a second anti-reflection layer, and a top layer. The first anti-reflection layer is formed on the semiconductor substrate, and the second anti-reflection layer is formed on the first anti-reflection layer. The top layer is formed on the second anti-reflection layer. Each of the semiconductor substrate and the second anti-reflection layer is formed of a first material, and each of the first anti-reflection layer and the top layer is formed of a second material different from the first material.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a solid-state image sensing device and more particularly, to a solid-state image sensing device including an anti-reflection structure (ARS) that includes polysilicon and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (CISes) can be manufactured using a conventional semiconductor process and, thus, are widely used. Since CISes are widely used, efforts have been made to improve the performance of such CISes.
Fresnel reflection originating from the characteristics of the materials used for manufacturing a CIS is a crucial factor that reduces the sensing performance of the CIS. An anti-reflection structure (ARS) is used in an effort to prevent performance degradation caused by the Fresnel reflection. However, only some readily available materials are used for the ARS structure. Therefore, it is required to realize an efficient ARS using materials that have a more limited availability, that is, materials that are more specialized.

Solid-state image sensing device including anti-reflection structure including polysilicon and method of manufacturing the same


Embodiments of the present invention provide a magnetic disk device and a method for production thereof, the magnetic disk device being characterized in that the magnetic disk therein permits a plurality of tracks thereon to record correction data when necessary without decreasing its storage capacity. According to one embodiment, the magnetic disk device is characterized in that the magnetic disk has the first tracks and the second tracks formed thereon, the first tracks having servo data regions arranged cyclically, with a portion of a region between them being the correction data region and the remaining regions being the user data region, and the second tracks having the servo data regions arranged cyclically, with the region between them being the user data regions, and the multiprocessing unit (MPU) switches the servo extraction timing of the position information sampler depending on whether the track for servo reproduction by the magnetic head is the first track or the second track.

The magnetic disk device such as the hard disk drive has a control system to determine the position of the magnetic head. Unfortunately, the control system often suffers so-called RRO (Repeatable Run Out), which is a cyclic disturbance that occurs in synchronism with the rotation of the magnetic disk. This disturbance is due to the fact that the center of the circular tracks formed on the magnetic disk is offset from the center of revolution of the magnetic disk. Therefore, countermeasures against RRO are taken.
One of such countermeasures is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-353148 ("Patent Document 1"). This disclosure is concerned with a technology to generate PES (Position Error Signal) for the magnetic head, acquire correction data to suppress RRO components, and record correction data, together with servo data, in the track.
Meanwhile, RRO that affects the control system to determine the position of the magnetic head varies in nature depending on the position on the magnetic disk at which the magnetic head is positioned. This means that some tracks among a plurality of tracks formed on the magnetic disk may not need correction data. Recording correction data in all the tracks reduces the region in which user data is recorded and hence reduces the storage capacity of the magnetic disk. In addition, measuring RRO components for all the tracks and recording correction data increases time required for production.
Incidentally, Patent Document 1 mentioned above suggests the recording of correction data in a portion of tracks, but this method does not prevent the magnetic disk from being reduced in storage capacity because the regions for correction data are secured in all the tracks.

Disk drive device and method for production thereof

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A catalyst comprising Y2O3 nanorods and gold nanoparticles dispersed on a surface of the nanorods is provided. The gold is present at a concentration of 0.5-2 wt %. A method of forming olefins by oxidative cracking is also provided. The method includes reacting an alkane with a reactant gas mixture in the presence of a catalyst under conditions suitable for forming light olefins (ethtylene and propylene).

Production of new synthetic materials is still growing due to rapidly developing world demands for advanced materials to improve the quality of life [1]. The demand for petrochemical raw materials such as light olefins (ethene, propene and butene) is increasing enormously, as the present industrial production of light olefins is not sufficient [2]. Conventionally, the petrochemical industries are producing the light olefins by catalytic or steam cracking of naphtha or natural gas and also using fluid catalytic cracking of vacuum residue oil [3]. Although, these two processes are well studied and commercialized, there are several disadvantages in the two processes [4]. As strong environmental regulations were placed across the world, there are limits to the use of byproducts (aromatics) in the fuel and petrochemical refineries are unable to catch up with the industry needs pertaining to olefin production processes [5].
On-purpose propene production processes such as methanol-to-olefins [6], metathesis of ethylene and butylene [7], dehydrogenation of n-propane [8] and catalytic oxychlorination of n-propane to propene [9, 10] have been developed due to high demand of propene and the exhaustion of natural petroleum resources. Among the studied processes, dehydrogenation of alkanes is a simple process, however it suffers from several disadvantages such as its endothermic nature, high coke deposition and short catalyst lifetime [11]. Later, researchers developed a catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation process to overcome the disadvantages of the dehydrogenation process [12, 13]. Although many research efforts were dedicated to development, industrial application of the oxidative dehydrogenation process has not been materialized due to the low olefin selectivity [14]. Recently, a catalytic oxidative cracking process was recognized as a prospective alternative route to existing processes [15]. This is primarily due to the fact that this process carries several advantages such as an exothermic nature, which diminishes external heat input and lowers capital costs, presence of oxygen in the reactant feed assists to minimize the coke formation and the utilization of an effective catalyst could activate the reacting molecules at lower reaction temperatures, allowing to improve the selectivity of light olefins [16].
Several supported vanadium oxide catalysts were utilized for cracking of hydrocarbons due to redox properties of the mixed transition metal oxides [17]. However, many investigated mixed oxide catalysts were not capable due to re-adsorption of light olefins resulting in complete oxidation to COx (olefin yields below 30%) [18]. Landau et al [19] used MgO supported rare-earth oxides and alkali chloride promoted catalysts and observed enhanced olefin yield up to 55%. Previously, several acidic (protonic form of MFI zeolites), basic (mixed alkaline earth metal oxides) and pure transition metal oxide catalysts were utilized for oxidative cracking of alkanes [20]. Recently, it was also observed that Ce0.5Zr0.5O2, Y2O3 and La2O3 based catalysts possessed considerable activity for oxidative cracking of n-propane [21]. Many researchers devoted to study the gold supported catalysts due to superior performance of nanosized gold for oxidation reaction [22]. It was later reported that highly dispersed nanosized gold particles on metal oxide supports could offer exceptional catalytic activity at low reaction temperatures [23]. Further it was observed that morphology, size of gold particles and also the type of support influences the catalyst performance in oxidation reactions [24]. It was observed that the acidity of the support affects the propene selectivity because of the interferences in the catalytic cracking and alkene oligomerization [25]. It was also reported that weak metal-support interaction generally lead to the aggregation of metal species, which could result in pore blockage and coke formation. Therefore, for selective propene production, it is essential that the support should possess minimum acidity and be able to interact with active metal species.

Gold supported yttrium oxide nanorods and methods of use thereof


A method to trade objects over a network is described. A first order for an object having at least four dimensions associated with the object is received. A memory is searched for a second order with an object having at least four dimensions. The first order is matched with the second order in accordance with the search.

The growing prevalence of the Internet has changed the marketplace for global commerce. Both businesses and consumers are trying to leverage the Internet to help minimize the costs of buying and selling goods and services. Electronic commerce on the Internet is making it possible to connect buyers and sellers of raw materials, supplies, finished products, services—anything that can be bought and sold. New marketplaces are forming daily for the sole purpose of buying and selling goods and services, some of which have never been actively traded before. These electronic marketplaces match buyers and sellers so that transactions can take place electronically.
The Internet is a compelling electronic commerce platform for many reasons. Access to the Internet is ubiquitous. Even the simplest networked computer capable of running a browser provides a real-time window to the entire Internet. The transaction process—deciding what to buy/sell, actually buying or selling, and the trade settlement can be done in a very efficient manner using the Internet. Information on the Internet concerning the buying and selling of goods and services can be updated, and is instantaneously available to all interested parties. Buyers and sellers can share important information about each aspect of the transaction decision. As participation in the electronic markets increases, so too do choices and opportunities to consummate commerce transactions in a manner that more efficiently meets the needs of buyers, sellers, and market makers.
The first online markets have used the "catalog" model, which basically makes hardcopy catalogs available to buyers electronically via the Internet. In the catalog model, the prices of goods and services are fixed by the seller and offered statically to the marketplace. These first electronic catalogs have helped buyers obtain information about available products, and order products online.
Offering products online in this static catalog format has been an easy and comfortable way for early electronic market ("e-market") participants to leverage some of the benefits of Internet commerce. Sellers typically post the price lists, catalogs, and sales brochures already in use. Buyers can peruse information from anywhere and make a purchase at any time.
However, the static prices of catalog markets are a disadvantage. Although a seller can check the marketplace on a periodic basis to ensure that his product's attributes (price, quality, color, tolerances, etc.) are satisfactory for buyers and update accordingly, catalog updates typically occur infrequently.
In addition, most catalog markets are single-source; i.e., they only allow customers to obtain information and products from one seller. Therefore, some electronic catalogs have been updated to include information about competing products. For example, CNET (www.cnet.com) provides information about a variety of hardware sellers and gives a comparative analysis of their prices. With the inclusion of this additional information in the electronic catalog, the information search cost for buyers is therefore reduced even further. By offering competing products, the electronic catalog that offers products from many competitors becomes an "electronic market." Many of these catalog systems, however, are biased towards the seller offering the electronic catalog or market.
The "auction" model of electronic commerce has been developed as a less-biased electronic market promoting competition in order to reduce transaction costs even further. In addition to providing a less-biased market, the auction model facilitates dynamic "price discovery," as opposed to the static catalog prices.
When many buyers compete for the right to buy from one seller, a buyer-bidding auction model is created. A buyer-bidding auction model allows the buyers to set the price at which they are willing to buy. The seller decides whether to accept the set price and execute the transaction. These seller-centric markets allow the price to dynamically increase until the auction closes.
Seller-bidding auctions have also been developed. For example, a reverse-auction model has been developed that creates e-markets by allowing the price to dynamically decrease, until the auction closes. This model is conducive to electronic auctions for various goods or services, such as when a seller may be a potential supplier bidding on a supply contract. These types of reverse auctions are typically between one buyer and many sellers. In this buyer-centric type of auction, the buyer usually defines the desired products or services for the sellers to bid upon. An example of successful seller-bidding auctions are those conducted by FreeMarkets Inc., which has built a reverse auction for large business-to-business transactions.
FIG. 1A illustrates the pricing for a catalog model e-market. As shown, unless the seller updates his published price, the price of a product remains constant over time. FIG. 1B illustrates the pricing for a buyer-bidding auction. As shown, the price of a product increases over time with each bid in the buyer-bidding auction model, as one would expect in a seller-centric model. FIG. 1C illustrates a seller-bidding, or reverse auction e-market. As shown, the price of a product goes down over time, as one would expect in a buyer-centric model.
Auction markets have received an enormous amount of interest and are creating significant economic and commercial advantage for buyers, sellers and market makers. For example, eBay (www.ebay.com) has generated several hundred million transactions.
However, there are certain limitations to auction-style e-markets. Typical auction e-markets constrain the Internet as an efficient e-commerce platform.
One limitation of auction model e-markets is lack of symmetry—many buyer-bidding auctions have one seller, and many reverse auctions have one buyer. Buyer-bidding auctions are designed to benefit the seller by obtaining the highest possible price of a product. Likewise, reverse auctions are buyer-centric, and are designed to benefit the buyer by obtaining the lowest possible price.
Another significant limitation is time. Many auction sessions run for only a few hours, or days at most. These auction models therefore provide only a brief window of time for dynamic price discovery to take place. The lack of symmetry and the limited time period of the auction model markets frequently prevent true dynamic price discovery from occurring.
Another major limitation is a lack of liquidity, as each transaction may take several hours or even several days. For example, if a seller posts an item on eBay, he or she can sell it in three or more days, depending on the specified duration of the auction, but no sooner. Thus, auctions are not appropriate for fast sales or purchases, which are essential in many markets. If a buyer needs a fast transaction, he or she may have to use a traditional catalog system.
An exchange-based marketplace allows many buyers and many sellers to simultaneously conduct trading within a single marketplace. Unlike catalog and auction models, an exchange is a multi-buyer, multi-seller marketplace that is not biased towards any party. Also unlike many catalog and auction models, exchanges are not constrained by closing times, but provide for continuous trading. The dynamic pricing achieved by an electronic exchange is illustrated in FIG. 1D. As shown, the price dynamically changes as the supply price continuously tries to match the demand price, resulting in an efficient marketplace. Another important advantage of exchanges is high liquidity. With high liquidity, a buyer or seller can usually complete a transaction in just a few minutes.
Examples of the exchange concept applied to e-markets include the trading of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and over-the-counter equity securities on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) system. The domestic stock market is one of the most mature, efficient markets in the world. These and other emerging electronic equity exchange platforms have demonstrated the efficiencies that can be acquired through the use of an electronic exchange marketplace.
To avoid the limitations of electronic catalogs and auctions and improve performance, what is needed is an exchange-based marketplace for goods and services that enables many buyers and many sellers to conduct ongoing, real-time trading within a single site. However, unlike the securities market wherein the information needed for a trade consists only of the stock identifier, number of shares and price per share, most goods and services require a larger number of parameters to be specified before a trade can take place.
The automatic matching of a buyer's "bid" and a seller's "ask" in the equities market is conceptually simple. By searching through all the orders for a particular stock, it is a matter of finding a bid price that matches an ask price, then ensuring that the number of shares is sufficient to meet the needs of both parties. The deal is consummated and automatically executed.
For most goods and services, however, the "dimensionality" of the buy-sell match problem is much larger—and more complex. A stock has three dimensions—symbol, order size, and price. Orders can be matched knowing only these three pieces of information. For most goods and services, however, more than three dimensions are required to identify the product for a potential buyer or seller. For example, if a person wants to buy a car, he or she needs to know the make, model, year, mileage, transmission-type, options, color and so forth. As each additional dimension is added, the complexity of the trading platform increases exponentially. Accordingly, conventional trading platforms are simply not capable of scaling as additional dimensions are needed because the number of tradable objects grows exponentially with the number of added dimensions, leading to impractically large memory requirements for these platforms and long response times for the market participants.
In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a substantial need exists for a method and apparatus to perform multi-dimensional electronic matching and trading.

Method and system for multi-dimensional trading


Fluids useful as subterranean treatment fluids, and more particularly, polymeric fluid loss additives, subterranean treatment fluids with improved fluid loss control, and their associated methods of use, are provided. In one embodiment, the methods comprise: providing a treatment fluid that comprises a base fluid, and a polymeric fluid loss control additive that comprises at least a first plurality of polymer molecules having a first average molecular weight, and a second plurality of polymer molecules having a second average molecular weight, wherein the first average molecular weight is different from the second average molecular weight; and introducing the treatment fluid into a subterranean formation.

The present invention relates to fluids useful as subterranean treatment fluids, and more particularly, to polymeric fluid loss additives, subterranean treatment fluids having improved fluid loss control, and their associated methods of use.
Providing effective fluid loss control for subterranean treatment fluids is highly desirable. "Fluid loss," as that term is used herein, refers to the undesirable migration or loss of fluids (such as the fluid portion of a drilling mud or cement slurry) into a subterranean formation and/or a proppant pack. The term "proppant pack," as used herein, refers to a collection of a mass of proppant particulates within a fracture or open space in a subterranean formation. These "treatment fluids" may comprise any fluids used in a subterranean application. As used herein, the term "treatment" does not imply any particular action by the fluid or any component thereof. Treatment fluids may be used in any number of subterranean operations, including drilling operations, fracturing operations, acidizing operations, gravel-packing operations, acidizing operations, well bore clean-out operations, and the like. Fluid loss may be problematic in any number of these operations. In fracturing treatments, for example, fluid loss into the formation may result in a reduction in fluid efficiency, such that the fracturing fluid cannot propagate the fracture as desired.
Fluid loss control materials are additives that lower the volume of a filtrate that passes through a filter medium. Particulate materials may be used as a fluid loss control materials in subterranean treatment fluids to fill the pore spaces in a formation matrix and/or proppant pack and/or to contact the surface of a formation face and/or proppant pack, thereby forming a filter cake that blocks the pore spaces in the formation or proppant pack, and prevents fluid loss therein. However, the use of particulate fluid loss control materials may be problematic. For instance, the sizes of the particulates may not be optimized for the pore spaces in a particular formation matrix and/or proppant pack and, as a result, may increase the risk of invasion of the particulate material into the interior of the formation matrix, which may greatly increase the difficulty of removal by subsequent remedial treatments. Additionally, once fluid loss control is no longer required, for example, after completing a treatment, remedial treatments may be required to remove the previously-placed fluid loss control materials, inter alia, so that a well may be placed into production. However, particulates that have become lodged in pore spaces and/or pore throats in the formation matrix and/or proppant pack may be difficult and/or costly to remove. Moreover, particulate fluid loss control materials may not be effective in low-permeability formations (e.g., formations with a permeability below about 1 milidarcy ("md")) since the leakoff rate in those formations is not high enough to pull the particulates into the pore spaces or into contact with the surface of the formation face and/or proppant pack so as to block or seal off the pore spaces therein.
Gelled fluids and fluid loss control "pills" comprising high-molecular weight polymers and/or crosslinked polymers have also been used to improve fluid loss control. "Crosslinked polymers" are polymers wherein two or more of the polymer molecules have become "crosslinked" by interaction with a "crosslinking agent," such as a metal ion or a borate ion. When included in a treatment fluid, these polymeric materials may viscosify that fluid, thereby reducing the leakoff rate of the fluid into the formation and/or proppant pack. Polymer molecules also may reduce fluid loss by filling the pore spaces of the formation matrix and/or proppant pack, thereby preventing the flow of fluid through those pore spaces.
However, the use of polymeric fluid loss control additives also may present a variety of problems. First, in treatments using crosslinked polymers, it may be necessary to maintain certain conditions (for example, specific pH levels) in order for the crosslinking agent to crosslink the polymer molecules, which may require the use of additional additives that add cost and complexity to the operation, or in some cases may be incompatible with other aspects of the treatment fluid or the operation. The polymer molecules also may "over-crosslink" in the presence of high concentrations of crosslinking agent, yielding a treatment fluid that is over-viscosified, difficult to break, exhibits syneresis (i.e., separation of liquid in a gel), or has other undesirable rheological properties.
Also, as in the case of particulate fluid loss control materials, the molecules of polymeric fluid loss control additives may not be sized correctly (e.g., have a desired molecular weight and/or hydrodynamic volume) to effectively fill the pore spaces within a formation matrix and/or proppant pack. The "modality" of a polymeric material is defined herein to refer to the number of ranges that the molecular weights of the molecules of the polymeric material fall within. For example, a "monomodal" polymeric material refers to a polymeric material that comprises molecules that have molecular weight distributions within a single range, whereas a "multimodal" polymeric material refers to a polymeric material that comprises at least two pluralities of polymer molecules having different average molecular weights. The "dispersity" of a polymeric material is defined herein to refer the breadth of the range of molecular weights of the molecules in a given sample of a polymer. The dispersity of a polymeric material may be defined numerically as the breadth of the molecular weight distribution for a sample of a polymer divided by the average molecular weight. Polymeric materials found in nature are generally monomodal and/or have very low dispersities of molecular weight (i.e., they are relatively "monodispersed," or "narrowly dispersed," which refers to a polymeric material whose molecules all have a molecular weight that falls within a narrow range). Polymeric materials with relatively low dispersities of molecular weight, like the particulate fluid loss materials discussed above, may not be able to fill the pore spaces sufficiently to prevent fluid loss into the formation. For example, if the polymer molecules are all relatively large, they may be unable to fit within certain pore throats in the formation to plug the pore spaces therein. However, if the polymer molecules used as a fluid loss control additive are all relatively small (e.g., so as to to fill smaller pore spaces in low permeability formations), this may, among other things, limit the particulate transport capability of the fluid (e.g., limiting the size and amount of proppant particulates that the fluid can carry downhole).

Subterranean treatment fluids with improved fluid loss control


A method for synthesizing exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (exo-THDCPD) and adamantane is provided, including isomerization of an endo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (endo-THDCPD) as a reaction feed with an acidic ionic liquid of aluminum trichloride in a pseudo-fixed bed ionic liquid reactor. Reactants float as a droplet from bottom to top of the pseudo-fixed bed reactor, and finally are discharged from a side tube. A mole fraction of aluminum trichloride in the acidic ionic liquid of aluminum trichloride is from 0.5 to 0.9, a feeding rate of the reaction feed is 0.1-10 g/min, and a temperature for the isomerization is between 25-120° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an isomerization process of tricycloalkane, applicable in a catalytic reaction with an ionic liquid having high activity and immiscible with reactants, and particularly applicable in isomerization of tricycloalkane such as endo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (endo-THDCPD) and exo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (exo-THDCPD) with an acidic ionic liquid of aluminum trichloride.
2. Related Art
Since many years ago, acidic catalysts have been applied in oil refining and petrochemical industries, including processes such as cracking, alkylation, isomerization, polymerization, etherification, esterification, acylation and transesterification. Traditional Lewis acid such as aluminum trichloride (AlCl3) and boron trifluoride (BF3) and Bronsted acid such as hydrofluoric acid (HF) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) are used as catalyst and have effective catalytic activity, in most of alkylation and isomerization. However, some persistent difficulties are still in existence, for example, problems existed in product separation, catalyst recovery, equipment corrosion, treatment of acidic waste water and massive spent catalyst. Therefore, both industrial and academic circles have actively endeavored to research them, with expectation to develop a solid strong acid or superacid catalyst to replace the traditional liquid acids in the processes.
One improved process is to directly load anhydrous aluminum trichloride (AlCl3) onto a support of inorganic material, to prepare a loaded Lewis acid, which has good reaction activity and selectivity in, for example, catalytic cracking of hydrocarbons, isomerization of aromatic hydrocarbons, and alkylation, and also improve the disadvantages above. In addition, montmorrilonite, polymer, and molecular sieve are also used as support to prepare loaded aluminum trichloride (AlCl3) catalysts, all of which can exhibit good activity and selectivity. Commercial applications thereof are supposed to be broadened if breakthroughs in selection of support, loading technology, and regeneration process can be achieved in future.
Solid acids have disadvantages while being convenient in application, for example, difficulty in contact with reactants. Furthermore, because aluminum trichloride (AlCl3) reacts with hydroxyl (—OH) on a surface of its support and leads to a species containing —O—AlCl2 group, acidity is lowered, and activity decline is easily caused by carbon accumulation because of high reaction temperature.
Therefore, use of an acidic ionic liquid is another preferred selection, in that its properties, such as acidity and solubility, can be optionally adjusted, and reactants and reaction products can be easily separated from the ionic liquid catalyst, i.e. they are in an immiscible liquid-liquid biphasic system.
The ionic liquid will gradually play an important role in catalytic process in future green chemistry industry, since it has no vapor pressure, can be adjusted for acidity and solubility by cation and anion species and their molar ratios to aluminum trichloride, and thus can perform a catalytic reaction effectively.

Method for producing exo-THDCPD and adamantane using pseudo-fixed bed ionic liquid reactor


Systems and methods for impedance-based adjustment of power and frequency are described. A system includes a plasma chamber for containing plasma. The plasma chamber includes an electrode. The system includes a driver and amplifier coupled to the plasma chamber for providing a radio frequency (RF) signal to the electrode. The driver and amplifier is coupled to the plasma chamber via a transmission line. The system further includes a selector coupled to the driver and amplifier, a first auto frequency control (AFC) coupled to the selector, and a second AFC coupled to the selector. The selector is configured to select the first AFC or the second AFC based on values of current and voltage sensed on the transmission line.

In some plasma processing systems, multiple radio frequency (RF) signals are provided to one or more electrodes within a plasma chamber. The RF signals help generate plasma within the plasma chamber. The plasma is used for a variety of operations, e.g., clean substrate placed on a lower electrode, etch the substrate, etc.
Between a driver and amplifier system that generates a radio frequency (RF) signal and the plasma chamber, an impedance matching circuit is usually placed. The impedance matching circuit matches an impedance of a load, e.g., plasma within the plasma chamber, with an impedance of a source, e.g., the driver and amplifier system that generates the RF signal. However, in certain situations, the impedance matching is not quick enough to respond to a change in the plasma impedance.
Moreover, although some systems are quick enough to respond to the change, these systems may not result in accurate adjustment of power and/or frequency to stabilize the plasma.
It is in this context that embodiments described in the present disclosure arise.

Impedance-based adjustment of power and frequency


The differentiation between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease is made possible by a multi-gene approach where gene expression profiles in biopsy samples obtained from inflamed, and optionally also non-inflamed, areas in the intestines of a patient are studied.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term encompassing several conditions involving chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. Two of the most debilitating forms of IBD are ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). These diseases affect young people, with a typical debut at the age of 20-30 years, and disease management is a long-term commitment for both patient and physician, since there is currently no cure for either condition. Approximately 30% of IBD patients undergo surgery during their lifetime and patients with long-standing IBD are at considerable risk of developing colorectal cancer. Three out of ten IBD patients do not respond to the best available medical therapy today, even when high doses are used, causing considerable side effects.
Treatment of patients with active UC aims at reducing inflammation and promoting colon healing and mucosal recovery. The underlying cause of UC is not understood, nor is it known what triggers the disease to recur between its inactive and active forms. However, the active stage of the disease is characterised by significant inflammation of the mucosa, increased cell permeability, loss of protein and fluids. In severe stages deep inflammation of the bowel wall may develop with abdominal tenderness, tachycardia, fever and risk of bowel perforation.
One early symptom of ulcerative colitis is constipation with passage of blood or mucus in the stools. Several months or years may pass before diarrhoea develops with abdominal pain. Later symptoms include severe fatigue, weight loss, loss of appetite, fever and occasionally arthralgia.
The road to an established diagnosis of ulcerative colitis often includes a thorough study of the patient's medical history, the exclusion of other conditions, as well as several tests, e.g. blood tests, stool examination, barium enema X-ray, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and biopsy. The biopsy may be performed as part of a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy examination.
It is obvious that a possibility to clinically distinguish UC from colonic CD at an early stage would provide enormous benefits for both the patient and the physician. It would permit the design of accurate treatment regimes, prevent unnecessary medications and reduce treatment costs. Even though the overall clinical picture in IBD patients may show some clinically important differences between the major patient groups of UC and CD, there are substantial similarities, thus making it difficult for health care personnel to establish a correct diagnosis.

Method of differentiating between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease


Herein is reported a method for the determination of the amount of a bivalent antibody in a serum or plasma sample obtained from a non-human experimental animal, whereby the antibody comprises one or more mutations in the Fc-region compared to the corresponding wild-type Fc-region that has a sequence of SEQ ID NO: 01, 02, or 03, wherein the method comprises the following steps a) immobilizing a non-antibody polypeptide to which more than one copy of the antigen of the antibody is covalently conjugated on a solid surface, b) incubating the immobilized antigen with the sample to form an immobilized antigen-antibody complex, c) incubating the immobilized antigen-antibody complex with the antigen conjugated to a detectable label to form an immobilized ternary complex, and d) determining the amount of the antibody by determining the amount of the detectable label in the immobilized ternary complex.

For the improvement and optimization of pharmacokinetic parameters as well as of the effector function of therapeutic antibodies modifications of the molecular structure are introduced into a parent therapeutic antibody to generate variant antibodies. The modifications are not limited to the antigen recognition domains but also to the Fc-region.
For the detection and evaluation of Fc-region modified antibody variants a model system based on a non-biologically active antibody has been found. The non-biologically active antibody binds to an antigen that is not present in the experimental animal in which the evaluation of the Fc-region modification of the antibody is performed. It is a prerequisite for the detection that the used non-biologically active antibody does not cross-react with endogenous proteins of the experimental animal as well as with other components of the assay system. This can be achieved e.g. by using an antibody that binds to an artificial antigen, such as an anti-hapten antibody, e.g. an anti-digoxigenin antibody.
For the evaluation of the pharmacokinetic properties as well as for a proof of concept of a modification a detection method with suitable sensitivity as well as specificity is required. Further the detection method shall enable the detection of antibodies with different species-specific Fc-regions, such as e.g. human, cynomolgus, sheep or minipig Fc-region, but without interacting with the endogenous Immunoglobulin of the experimental animal.
In JP H01-223351 an assay for an antibody with a high specificity regardless of a difference in the type or the like of an animal used for production of the antibody to be assayed comprising immobilized and labelled antigen is reported.
In WO 96/22533 methods for immobilizing haptens on a test article are reported.

Immunoassay for the determination of Fc-region modified antibodies


Embodiments of systems and methods for arranging data units in a downlink burst transmission are generally described herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed. In some embodiments a group of data units are arranged by associated identifiers. These identifiers may also be associated with certain subscriber stations. Once arranged, the data units may be transmitted in a downlink burst and received by a subscriber station. The subscriber station may determine the arrangement of the data units to decode until a cutoff value is determined and passed.

In wireless networks, one or more subscriber stations communicate through a base station. A subscriber station receives traffic from the base station in the downlink (DL) channel and sends traffic to the base station in the uplink (UL) channel. The DL channel is a broadcast channel because the transmissions by a base station can be received by all the subscriber stations that are in the base station's coverage area. Different parts of the DL transmission, however, may be destined only for specific subscriber stations, and not for others. In some cases the base station may inform the subscriber stations about the allocations in the DL frame before it transmits the traffic destined for specific subscriber stations in the DL channel. In this case, different subscriber stations may process only the portion of the DL channel that is intended for them. In other cases, the base station may not send out information regarding allocations in a DL frame. In this case, the subscriber station may process all portions of the DL frame in order to determine what if any portions are allocated to that subscriber station. This process may take up valuable time and processing power.
Thus, there are general needs for systems and methods for reducing processing time and power consumption by more efficiently handling DL transmissions, particularly when the base station does not send out information regarding allocations in the DL frame.

Systems and methods for arranging MAC layer PDUs in a downlink burst


A valve timing control device includes a lock mechanism having a hole portion formed in one of the driving-side/driven-side rotational members, a sleeve in the hole portion, a lock member in the sleeve and capable of projecting and retracting with respect to the other of the driving-side/driven-side members, and a lock hole formed in the other of the driving-side/driven-side members such that the lock member can be fitted to the lock hole when the lock member projects. The lock mechanism constrains a relative rotational phase of the driven-side rotational member with respect to the driving-side rotational member at a predetermined phase when the lock member is fitted to the lock hole. A first chamfered surface is formed in the circumferential direction at an inner-circumferential corner of an end of the sleeve on the side opposite to the side facing the lock hole.

Conventionally, valve timing control devices have been known that control a relative rotational phase between a driving-side rotational member rotating synchronously with a crankshaft in an internal combustion engine and a driven-side rotational member rotating synchronously with a camshaft for opening and closing a valve, and keep an excellent running state of the internal combustion engine at every number of revolutions. In a valve timing control device, a fluid pressure chamber formed by the driving-side rotational member and the driven-side rotational member is partitioned into a retard chamber and an advance chamber by a partitioning portion provided in the driven-side rotational member. The relative rotational phase between the driving-side rotational member and the driven-side rotational member is controlled by supplying and discharging a working fluid to and from the retard chamber and the advance chamber.
This valve timing control device includes a lock mechanism capable of locking the relative rotational phase between the driving-side rotational member and the driven-side rotational member at a predetermined phase. As a result of locking the relative rotational phase, an optimum valve opening/closing timing can be achieved when the internal combustion engine is started, and generation of collision noise caused by swinging of the partitioning portion is suppressed.
An exemplary lock mechanism includes a lock hole in one of the driving-side rotational member and the driven-side rotational member, and includes a lock member and a coil spring for applying a biasing force to the lock member in the other of the driving-side rotational member and the driven-side rotational member. With this lock mechanism, a locked state is achieved by inserting the lock member in the lock hole by means of the biasing force, and an unlocked state is achieved by retracting the lock member from the lock hole by means of the pressure of the working fluid that is larger than the biasing force.
PTL 1 discloses a valve timing adjustment device capable of reducing a linking force generated when the locking pin is operating so as to be fitted to a fitting hole. A linking force refers to a force generated when two objects in contact with each other with a fluid therebetween are about to move apart from each other, in directions opposite to the directions in which the objects move away from each other, due to an increase in the volume of the fluid between the contact surfaces and a reduction in the pressure in the gap therebetween.
An end of the locking pin on the side opposite to the fitting hole side is usually a flat surface, and the flat surface at the end of the locking pin comes into surface contact with a front plate when in an unlocked state. At this time, the working fluid leaking from the advance chamber or the retard chamber is present as a fluid film between the end of the locking pin and the front plate. If the locking pin in this state begins to move in the fitting direction as a result of a locking operation, in some cases, the linking force is generated due to this fluid film, in the direction opposite to the direction of the biasing force of the coil spring exerted on the locking pin.
If the linking force is large, an initial operation of the locking pin delays, and the locking pin is not fitted to the fitting hole in some cases. As a result, there is a possibility that the relative rotational phase between the driving-side rotational member and the driven-side rotational member cannot be locked at the predetermined phase, and the internal combustion engine cannot be started. In order to reduce the linking force, it is effective to reduce the area of the fluid film, and prevent a decrease in the pressure with an expansion of a gap between the end of the locking pin and the front plate as a result of the working fluid actively entering the gap when the locking pin moves in the fitting direction.
The valve timing adjustment device in PTL 1 is configured such that the end surface of the locking pin on the side opposite to the fitting hole is tapered and comes into line contact with the front plate. Since the end surface of the locking pin and the front plate are in line contact, the area of the fluid film is reduced. Furthermore, a space between the end surface of the locking pin and the front plate at portions other than the portion in line contact is filled with the working fluid. When the locking pin begins to move in the fitting direction and the gap expands, the working fluid around the gap enters the gap and prevents the reduction in the pressure in the gap. As a result, the linking force at the time when the locking pin begins to move in the fitting direction is reduced.


A road finishing machine comprises a tractor and a screed hinged to the tractor to be towed behind the tractor. At the tractor, a main control platform of the road finishing machine is provided which offers space for an operator and comprises operational controls for controlling functions of the road finishing machine. The main control platform has a roof, wherein a lighting unit with a light source is provided at the roof. The lighting unit comprises a housing which accommodates the light source and has a reflector. The reflector is configured to reflect light emitted by the light source into a working area of the screed so that the working area of the screed is illuminated indirectly.

It is well known to illuminate a surrounding area of a road finishing machine to facilitate working under bad light conditions. On night construction sites, light balloons are often employed for lighting. These are complex to set up and cost-intensive.
From EP 3 214 223 A1, a road finishing machine with a working lighting for lighting a surrounding area of the road finishing machine is known. The working lighting may illuminate a foundation to be provided with a road surface by the road finishing machine. The working lighting comprises tail lamps provided at the rear of a roof of a driver stand of the road finishing machine.
There is a need for a road finishing machine with an improved lighting for a working area. There is a need for a lighting that permits a high-quality illumination of a working area of a road finishing machine. There is a need for a lighting of a road finishing machine that may be easily integrated into an on-site situation in road construction.

Road finishing machine with indirect lighting of a working area


The method of this invention produces a silicide region on a silicon body that is useful for a variety of purposes, including the reduction of the electrical contact resistance to the silicon body or an integrated electronic device formed thereon. The invented method includes the steps of producing an amorphous region on the silicon body using ion implantation, for example, forming or positioning a metal such as titanium, cobalt or nickel in contact with the amorphous region, and irradiating the metal with intense light from a laser source, for example, to cause metal atoms to diffuse into the amorphous region. The amorphous region thus becomes an alloy region with the desired silicide composition. Upon cooling after irradiation, the alloy region becomes partially crystalline. To convert the alloy region into a more crystalline form, the invented method preferably includes a step of treating the alloy region using rapid thermal annealing, for example. An insulator layer and a conductive lead can subsequently be patterned to establish electrical contact to the silicide region. The low contact resistivity of the silicide region provides the capability to transmit relatively high-frequency electronic signals through the contact region. In a preferred application, the invented method is used to form self-aligned silicide contact regions for the gate, source and drain of a metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MISFET).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a method for forming a silicide region on a silicon body. Silicides have been used for a variety of purposes, most significantly for the reduction of contact resistances for electrical connections to integrated devices formed on silicon substrates. The reduced contact resistances provide the devices with the capability to operate at relatively high speeds.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many techniques have been developed for forming silicide regions for integrated device contacts, particularly for metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices formed on silicon substrates. Most of these techniques involve the formation of a metal layer over a gate, drain or source region upon which the silicide is desired to be formed. These techniques then use thermal treatment for extended periods of time to react the metal with the silicon composing the gate, drain and/or source regions, to form the low-resistivity silicide regions. The substrate is further processed by removing the metal layer, forming an electrically-insulating layer over the substrate, and forming conductive metal lines on the insulating layer, that contact silicide regions over the gate, source and drain regions to form the desired circuit connections for the integrated MOS device.
Techniques for forming suicides are subject to several stringent process constraints that must be met in order for such techniques to be effective. These constraints include: (1) the metal used to form the silicide must be carefully selected to be a species that diffuses into the silicon, to avoid the formation of leakage paths between the source, drain and gate of an integrated device; (2) for self-aligned silicidation techniques, the metal layer must not react with the insulative material composing the self-aligning side walls of the gate; (3) the dopants must not segregate into the silicide regions so that low contact resistance can be achieved; (4) the technique should have a process window that allows the silicide region to be formed on both c-silicon and poly-silicon; (5) the silicide formation should be insensitive to dopants present in the silicon; and (6) the metal atoms should not diffuse beyond the silicide regions to prevent increase in junction leakage. The simultaneous achievement of all of the above-stated criteria is at best difficult for most conventional silicidation techniques, especially those that use relatively extensive thermal treatments. Most often, a failure to perform the conventional technique within its relatively narrow process margins manifests itself in the occurrence of defects due to thermal drift of the metal atoms beyond desired boundaries during the relatively prolonged thermal treatment periods required by such techniques. If the silicide region extends beyond its design dimensions, it can cause leakage paths between the gate, source and drain. There is therefore a great need for a technique that enhances silicidation process margins beyond those conventionally available.
In addition to conventional techniques that use prolonged thermal treatments, some conventional silicidation techniques use ion implantation to achieve formation of the silicide regions. These ion-implantation silicidation techniques use either ion beam mixing of different ion types to produce a silicide of a desired composition, or implantation of a desired species of metal ions in a proportion needed to achieve proper stoichiometry. In either of these two types of techniques, the ion-implantation is so extensive as to be extremely time-consuming, especially if a stoichiometric proportion of ions needed to make the silicide must be implanted into the silicon substrate. In addition, extensive ion implantation will eventually lead to `knock-on`, a phenomenon in which moving ions strike ions previously implanted, driving them further than desired into the silicon substrate. The occurrence of knock-on leads to increased junction leakage. The silicidation resulting from the use of such conventional techniques can thus occur to so great a depth into the silicon substrate as to produce leakage paths between the terminals of the integrated circuit devices. Thus, there is an immense need for a technique that can overcome the above-noted disadvantages of conventional silicidation techniques.

Method for forming a silicide region on a silicon body


A source data set is processed to produce a symbol table and a distribution without using a tree construct or any tree-related processing. The symbol table and the distribution outputted for encoding the data set and decoding encoded versions of the data set.

Conventional Huffman encoding algorithms involve constant sorting and scanning of the data. It is very costly in terms of computation time and hardware real estate.
Moreover, the Huffman encoding algorithm also needs to build and maintain a binary tree as coding. This involves a pointer-chasing process. Pointer chasing is very computation-costly.


In a prediction of abrasion characteristic of a tire, a characteristic curve of a tire axis force generated on a tire rotation axis at the slip ratio applied to the tire and changed depending upon the slip ratio is acquired. From the characteristic curve, values of tire dynamic element parameters determining the characteristic curve are derived based on a tire dynamic model constituted by the tire dynamic element parameters. Furthermore, a tire sliding amount based on a sliding region, the sliding region and an adhesive region formed on the contact patch of the tire at the applied slip ratio are calculated by applying the values of the tire dynamic element parameters to the model. Lastly, an abrasion characteristic of a tread part of the tire at the applied slip ratio is predicted by using the tire sliding amount with abrasion characteristic data of a tread rubber of the tread part. According to the prediction results, a tire is designed and produced.

Tires mounted on vehicles are rolled in contact to road surfaces, so that these tires are expendable supplies in which tread parts are worn away while the tires are traveling. Accordingly, such tires are desired which own superior abrasion characteristics within a range in which the tread parts of those tires do not sacrifice other performance (e.g., steering performance, and vibration riding comfort performance).
Generally speaking, an abrasion characteristic of a tread part of a tire, for instance, an abrasion amount of the tread part is determined by a sliding amount of the tread part which partially slides with respect to a road surface and an abrasion resistance material of a rubber contained in the tread part.
In general, it is known that abrasion ratios of a tread part under operating conditions are arranged in the following order from the largest abrasion ratio: the abrasion ratio during a cornering operation, the abrasion ratio during a breaking operation, and the abrasion ratio during a driving operation.
On the other hand, during a cornering operation in which an abrasion ratio is large, a sliding amount of the tread part with respect to a road surface is not exclusively determined based on a slip angle. That is, this sliding amount is determined not only based on an adhesive friction coefficient and a sliding friction coefficient of the tread part, but also a structure of a belt part and a structure of a side part.
Also, during a breaking operation in which an abrasion ratio is relatively large, a sliding amount of the tread part with respect to a road surface is not exclusively determined based on a slip ratio during the braking operation. That is, this sliding amount is determined not only based on an adhesive friction coefficient and a sliding friction coefficient of the tread part, but also a structure of a belt part and a structure of a side part.
Meanwhile, in a case where an abrasion characteristic of a tire is predicted, the prediction is evaluated based on a material breaking characteristic of rubber used in a tread part, and a result of an indoor-laboratory test (i.e., abrasion amount measuring test) of the rubber. As the indoor-laboratory test, for instance, various sorts of testing methods described in the newly published JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) K6264 are used.
However, as previously described, an abrasion characteristic of a tread part in a tire is not influenced only by a rubber material of the tread material. The abrasion characteristic is influenced by not only the adhesive friction coefficient and the sliding friction coefficient of the tread part, but also the structure of the belt part and the structure of the side part. Thus, the abrasion characteristic of the tire is not predicted with high precision only by the evaluation of the rubber material. In a case where an abrasion test is carried out using an actual vehicle, the abrasion characteristic is predicted with high precision. However, there is a problem that lengthy testing time is necessarily required.

Tire abrasion predicting method, tire designing method, tire manufacturing method, tire abrasion predicting system, and program


Techniques are described for computing devices to perform automated operations related to using images acquired in a building as part of generating a floor plan for the building, in some cases without using depth information from depth-sensing equipment about distances from the images' acquisition locations to objects in the surrounding building, and for subsequent use in further automated manners, such as controlling navigation of mobile devices and/or for display to end users in a corresponding GUI (graphical user interface). In some cases, the MIGM system interacts with an MIGM system operator user, such as by displaying a GUI showing information related to the images and/or a floor plan being generated, and by receiving and using input submitted by the user via the GUI to assist with the generating of the floor plan, such as to specify interconnections between particular rooms via particular inter-room wall openings of the rooms.

In various fields and circumstances, such as architectural analysis, property inspection, real estate acquisition and development, remodeling and improvement services, general contracting and other circumstances, it may be desirable to view information about the interior of a house, office, or other building without having to physically travel to and enter the building, including to determine actual as-built information about the building rather than design information from before the building is constructed. However, it can be difficult to effectively capture, represent and use such building interior information, including to display visual information captured within building interiors to users at remote locations (e.g., to enable a user to fully understand the layout and other details of the interior, including to control the display in a user-selected manner). In addition, while a floor plan of a building may provide some information about layout and other details of a building interior, such use of floor plans has some drawbacks in certain situations, including that floor plans can be difficult to construct and maintain, to accurately scale and populate with information about room interiors, to visualize and otherwise use, etc.

Automated tools for generating building mapping information


A leadframe for use in fabricating a no lead semiconductor package contains connecting bars between individual electrical contact pads. For embodiments having a die pad, the leadframe further includes connecting bars between the contact pads and the die pad. The lower surfaces of the connecting bars are coplanar with the lower surfaces of the contact pads and/or the die pad, and the upper surfaces of the connecting bars are recessed with respect to the upper surfaces of the contact pads and/or the die pad. The semiconductor package is fabricated by encapsulating the die and the leadframe in a molding compound and then removing the connecting bars. The leadframe is typically formed by half etching a metal sheet to form the connecting bars. The connecting bars are removed from the encapsulated package by a selected cutting, sawing, or etching means, based on a predetermined pattern.

A leaded semiconductor package typically has a semiconductor die encapsulated in molded plastic. The plastic encapsulation protects the die from physical damage as well as environmental effects, such as heat, light and/or electricity, for example. The leaded semiconductor package is typically mounted on a board, such as a printed circuit board (PCB), by means of metal leads that protrude from the encapsulation. The metal leads further provide electrical connections from the die to external circuitry that is typically located on the board. For instance, the metal leads are usually soldered or are otherwise electrically bonded to several bonding pads on the PCB.
As described below, so called "leadless" or "no lead" semiconductor packages have also been developed. Many of these semiconductor packages are mass produced by using sheets of leadframe arrays. Leadframes provide a design and preliminary framework for the die pad and/or contact pads of a semiconductor package. However, leadframe technology has had difficulties in forming multi row terminals for leadless packages. For instance, half etching is conventionally used to form leadframes, and to form the connecting bars between the parts of the leadframe, and between the leadframes, themselves. This method of manufacture is often referred to as etched leadframe technology. However, etched leadframes can pose problems during manufacture, particularly during the handling and wire bonding processes. These problems relate to the strength and structural integrity of the leadframes, and thus, have adverse effects on useful yield and quality of the manufactured product.
Accordingly, an additional plastic substrate, which is similar to a PCB, is conventionally used to provide additional strength and structure during manufacture, particularly for leadless packages having multiple rows of contact pads. However, the additional substrate undesirably adds cost, time delay, and other manufacturing problems.

Method and apparatus for no lead semiconductor package


This invention provides a novel fluorescent particle including a core or carrier particle having on its surface a plurality of smaller polymeric particles or nanoparticles, which are stained with different fluorescent dyes. When excited by a light source they are capable of giving off multiple fluorescent emissions simultaneously, which is useful for multiplexed analysis of a plurality of analytes in a sample. The coupled complex particles carrying on their surface fluorescent nanoparticles, methods of preparing such polymer particles, and various applications and methods of using such particles are claimed.

Fluorescent polymeric particles have often found utility as markers and indicators in various biomedical assays. Fluorescent particles are usually obtained by embedding or diffusing a fluorescent dye according to the technique originally described by L. B. Bangs (Uniform Latex Particles; Seragen Diagnostics Inc. 1984, p. 40). Other methods are known in the art to stain particles with fluorescent dyes. The microparticles can then be analyzed manually or by other methods known in the art, but preferably using an automated technique, e.g., flow cytometry, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,024 issued to Mansour, et al.
The versatility of these particles can be enhanced by the incorporation in a single particle of a plurality of dyes, each dye having unique spectral characteristics. One skilled in the art would recognize that two or more dyes of varying proportions could be used to increase the permutation number of unique combinations of dyes on a single particle. While simple absorption of a single dye into a particle has proven adequate for most purposes, several problems arise when more than one dye is absorbed into a particle.
First, the close proximity of embedded dye molecules gives rise to significant amounts of fluorescent energy transfer. This energy transfer leads to fluorescent emissions that are inconsistent with relative dye concentrations and their original emission patterns.
A second problem arises when the dye substances used have differing solubilities in the solvent used to incorporate the dye in the particles. Since all dyes must be absorbed simultaneously, possible dye ratios are restricted by solvent properties.
A third problem that has been encountered when multiple dyes are embedded in microparticles is the change in dye spectra. Specifically, it has been noted that, when the particle is composed of crosslinked polystyrene, a significant broadening of the fluorescent emission peak occurs. This can result in an overlapping of the spectra of neighboring dyes.
One method that may circumvent these problems is to couple each dye substance to the surface of the particle chemically. This approach is, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,300 to Cheung and U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,189 to Schwartz, whereby one or several fluorescent dyes are bound covalently to the surface of particles. This, however, leaves the dye molecule exposed to the environment, which can hasten decomposition by oxidation or other chemical attack. Additionally, a large number of surface binding sites would be occupied by dye and would be unavailable for the conjugation of analytical reactant molecules necessary to perform the assays.
Hence, it is desirable to have multicolored fluorescent particles, which avoid the above problems. This invention minimizes or eliminates these complications while maintaining the versatility of multi-dye particles.
Masson et al., disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,617, latex particles of relatively large diameter (e.g. 0.79 μm) coated with an analytical reactant, e.g., allergen, either by simple adsorption or by covalent coupling with cyanogen bromide or hydroxylated latex. A sample of human serum from a person suspected to have an allergic reaction is mixed with a suspension of these particles. The mixture is incubated and latex particles of a relatively smaller diameter (e.g. 0.08 μm) are then added. These smaller particles are coated with rabbit anti-IgE antibodies and if larger particles have IgE bound to the allergen these small particles will bind to these antibodies and will form by virtue of agglomeration reaction so-called agglutination particles, i.e., large particles surrounded by several smaller particles. However, these particles are bound to each other via non-covalent binding and the agglomeration occurs as the consequence and result of the presence of the analyte of interest. No admission is made that any reference cited in this specification is prior art. All references cited herein are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

Microparticles with multiple fluorescent signals and methods of using same


A movable processing apparatus for mineral material processing and a frame for the processing apparatus which apparatus comprises a movable frame which frame comprises a support part for supporting the frame against the ground and a rear part which is attached to the support part for receiving mineral material and a neck part which comprises a curved bottom surface, and the support part and the rear part are attached to each other through the neck part. The frame further comprises a centre part, above the support part, which centre part is attached to the support part, and a curved nape part which comprises a curved upper surface and through which nape part the centre part and the rear part are attached to each other, and that the upper surface and the bottom surface are curved in opposite directions.

Rock is gained from the earth for crushing by exploding or excavating. Rock can also be natural and gravel or construction waste such as brick or concrete. Mobile processing apparatuses (for example, crushing apparatuses) and stationary crushing applications are used in material processing (for example, crushing). An excavator or wheeled loader, for example, loads the material to be processed into the crusher's feed hopper from where the material to be processed ends up in a feeder which feeds the rock material, for example, in a jaw of a crusher or the feeder moves the rock material towards the crusher. A desired material, for example, fine material can be directed through the feeder to a side conveyor that this material does not result in further processing, for example, crushing. A usual location of the side conveyor is under the feeder where selected material can drop. Material directed past the further process is conveyed aside the processing apparatus by means of the side conveyor, for example, in a pile.
Problems related to fatigue resistance of frame structures appear in material processing plants according to prior art. Joint regions in the frame structure are most critical positions in which stresses and stress variations are largest. When a disadvantageous placement of a joint is cumulating with a disadvantageous loading of a welding seam this results in a reduction of fatigue resistance.
An object of the invention is to provide a movable processing apparatus for mineral material in connection with which known problems related to fatigue resistance can be avoided or at least reduced.

Movable processing apparatus for mineral material processing and frame for processing apparatus


System and method for employing slot level cache locking are disclosed. When a rich media file request occurs, a general lock is put on the cache to determine whether the file has already been allocated a location in the cache. If a location has been previously allocated, an attempt is made to lock the specific slot in the cache where the file is stored and the general cache lock is released. If a slot has not been previously allocated, a next available slot is obtained and the cache slot is locked. The general lock on the cache is released. Once the cache slot lock is achieved, processing of the file request continues, such as by requesting the file from a third party server. Upon release of the general cache lock, additional media file requests can be processed concurrently without having to wait for the continued processing of the file request.

Generally described, networks, such as the Internet, allow computer users to request and view content provided by a variety of other computer systems on the network, commonly known as content providers. Oftentimes, a content provider receives a request for content from a client computer and returns the requested content, along with some embedded advertisement media, in the form of an Internet Web page.
Under a first approach to delivering advertisement media, instead of sending the advertisement media to the client computer, the content provider returns an identifier of the advertisement media, in the form of a network identifier. The client computer requests and obtains the media directly from another computer system on the network. In a second approach to delivering advertisement media, the advertisement media may be embodied in a format such as a rich media file whose size and complexity make their transfer from the third party computer system to the client computer inefficient or impossible. Accordingly, the content provider requests the rich media file from the third party directly and returns it to the requesting client computer when appropriate.
In general, a single content provider can service several client computers at the same time. Oftentimes, the same client computer requests the same content repeatedly, or the same content will be requested by a number of computers. As will be generally understood, repeatedly obtaining the same media file can be strenuous on the processing and communication resources of the content provider. Accordingly, content provider servers often store rich media files, or the like, in a cache for subsequent access by the same or other client computer.
In one conventional multi-threaded content provider server environment, each client computer request for a media file is embodied as a single thread, which is processed in sequential order by the content provider. Under this system, upon accepting a media file request thread, the entire content provider cache, is locked to determine whether a copy of the media file is in the cache. If the media file is not in the cache, the content provider places a call to a third party server to retrieve the media file. The cache remains locked during the file retrieval process, and any subsequent thread file requests remain idle until the cache lock is removed.
With reference to the above example, the conventional system becomes inefficient in the event a call for a media file is delayed or lost in the network. In such an event, because the content provider is waiting for the media file, the cache remains locked for an extended period of time, often indefinitely. Accordingly, every additional media file request threads remain idle while the server waits. Eventually, prolonged delays result in a content provider server failure.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method utilizing localized cache slot locks to facilitate multi-threaded file requests.

Cache slot lock for multi-thread file request


One embodiment provides a runtime programmable system which comprises methods and apparatuses for testing a multi-port memory device to detect a multi-port memory fault, in addition to typical single-port memory faults that can be activated when accessing a single port of a memory device. More specifically, the system comprises a number of mechanisms which can be configured to activate and detect any realistic fault which affects the memory device when two simultaneous memory access operations are performed. During operation, the system can receive an instruction sequence, which implements a new test procedure for testing the memory device, while the memory device is being tested. Furthermore, the system can implement a built-in self-test (BIST) solution for testing any multi-port memory device, and can generate tests targeted to a specific memory design based in part on information from the instruction sequence.

1. Field
This disclosure is generally related to electronic design automation. More specifically, this disclosure is related to methods and apparatuses for testing a multi-port memory device to detect a realistic fault.
2. Related Art
Multi-port memory devices are becoming more common with the increasing popularity of multi-processor computing systems. A multi-port memory device plays an important role in synchronizing the operations performed by two or more microprocessors of the computing system. Therefore, it is important that the multi-port memory device is thoroughly tested, and determined to be fault-free, before the memory device is integrated into the multi-processor computing system.
However, testing a multi-port memory device poses unique challenges, which cannot be addressed by methods and apparatuses typically used for testing a single-port memory device. More specifically, a realistic fault can occur in the multi-port memory device, such that the realistic fault can be activated when simultaneous memory access operations are performed on two ports of the memory device. To make matters worse, the realistic fault can belong to one of many possible fault models for a given memory design, such as inter-port faults and cell-array faults.
Inter-port faults include realistic faults which are caused by an interference between simultaneous memory access operations, such as a short or a coupling between a word-line and a bit-line. Furthermore, a cell-array fault can exist as a combination of two weak coupling faults (note that a weak fault occurs when an operation over a cell may perturb the state of that cell, such that the perturbation is not sufficiently strong to modify the state of the cell). If the two weak faults have an additive effect, and they are activated by two memory access operations performed simultaneously from two ports of the memory device, the two weak faults can change the state of a common coupled cell. Furthermore, a combination of two or more weak faults may result in a strong fault when the combination of weak faults are excited simultaneously from the different ports of the memory device.
Note that it is not feasible to perform an exhaustive set of tests on a multi-port memory device, because doing so requires testing all possible interactions that can be performed between the set of ports of the memory device, which can result in an overall test time that requires several years to complete. Therefore, a test engineer is typically responsible for developing a custom test procedure which can cover an ideal set of the fault models for the memory device under test, and for developing a custom testing apparatus which can apply the test procedure onto the memory device. Unfortunately, if the testing procedure is hard-wired into the testing apparatus, the memory cannot utilize a new test procedure which has been created after the testing apparatus is fabricated with the multi-port memory device. These new test algorithms may be required to perform a fault diagnosis, a failure analysis, or to perform production tests, when the initial test set does not satisfy the target fault coverage.

Runtime programmable BIST for testing a multi-port memory device


An acoustic device with an enclosure and a first passive radiator structure which includes a first passive radiator diaphragm. The first passive radiator structure has an effective radiating area and a first mass, and is mounted to the enclosure such that its diaphragm can vibrate relative to the enclosure. There is a second passive radiator structure which includes a second passive radiator diaphragm. The second passive radiator structure has substantially the same effective radiating area as the first passive radiator structure, and is mounted to the enclosure such that its diaphragm can vibrate relative to the enclosure. At least one active electro-acoustic transducer is mounted to the second passive radiator structure such that it moves when the diaphragm vibrates. The second passive radiator structure and the active transducer together have a second mass that is substantially greater than the mass of the first passive radiator structure. Passive radiators with the same effective radiating area results in force balancing of the device.

This disclosure relates to an acoustic device with passive radiators.
Some acoustic devices include passive radiators. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,460 discloses an acoustic device with passive radiators of the same effective vibration area and the same effective vibration mass disposed in mutual opposition, and driver units of the same effective vibration area and the same effective vibration mass disposed in mutual opposition, all mounted to an enclosure. The vibration-reaction forces of the opposing passive radiators and opposing driver units on the enclosure are thereby mutually cancelled, and enclosure vibrations are thus reduced. Powerful bass output can be achieved because the diameter of the passive radiators can be increased at will and the use of two passive radiators achieves a large vibration area.
The total mass of the passive radiators needs to be sufficient such that the acoustic device can be tuned to the desired frequency. For bass devices, tuning is usually around 40 Hz. In many cases the mass of one or more of the radiators must be increased by adding weight. Acoustic devices with passive radiators are thus typically relatively heavy, which limits their usefulness in portable products or products in which weight is a concern. Also, with mass-balanced passive acoustic radiators, both radiators are displaced by the same amount. The relatively large excursion of the radiator that carries the active transducer increases the intermodulation distortion which can result in audible unwanted sounds.


RF devices used in financial and other transactions are moved sequentially to stations of a preparation device that prepares the RF devices for delivery to customers. At one station, an RF reader reads an identification code from the RF device and a label reader reads information on a mailing label. The read information is used to verify the mailing information to assure that the RF device is being delivered to the correct recipient.

RF (radio frequency) devices have recently become popular for use in financial and similar transactions, e.g., in lieu of using bar codes and magnetic stripes on credit and debit cards. A typical RF device (also sometimes referred to as "RFID tags") includes an RF transponder that transmits an RF identification code in response to radio-frequency waves transmitted by a transceiver. The transceiver may thought of as a reader (analogous to a bar code or magnetic stripe reader). The reader might be found, e.g., at a retail establishment, for purposes of permitting the holder of the RF device to purchase items and conduct other financial transactions. Because the transponder in the RF device may be relatively small, it is conveniently integrated into a wide variety of objects rather than being limited to a standard structure as has been the case for a magnetic-stripe card. For example, RF transponders may conveniently be included in credit cards (and other financial cards or instruments), key fobs, jewelry (e.g., bracelets or necklaces), cell phone covers, and a variety of other types of objects. Financial cards that incorporate RF devices are sometimes referred to as RF or contactless smart cards, and may incorporate various processing and memory components in addition to radio frequency functions.
While the versatility of RF devices provides a diverse array of transaction options, it presents some risks. For example, if the RF device should be lost, stolen or otherwise fall into the hands of someone other than the authorized account holder, it can be used to conduct unauthorized transactions. Typically the RF device (when incorporated into a card, key fob or other device) is mailed to the account holder from an automated preparation and mailing system. The risk of fraud can be reduced by use of a PIN (personal identification number) that is separately mailed to the account holder and that is used by the account holder to activate (via telephone) the account associated with the RF device. However, great care must be taken to assure that the RF device (and PIN) is being mailed to the correct address (and recipient) to avoid fraudulent activation and use. While each RF device and its mailing package can be manually checked for proper mailing labels, such an effort is time consuming and costly.
Systems for assembling, preparing and mailing financial cards are known. For example, reference can be had to U.S. Pat. No. 6,670,569, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/045,589, filed Nov. 8, 2001. Further, systems for assembling, preparing and mailing various RF devices (including financial cards incorporating RF devices) are also known, such as illustrated by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/718,481, filed Nov. 19, 2003. All of the forgoing patents and patent applications are commonly owned with the present application, and are hereby incorporated by reference.

System and method for preparing RF devices for delivery and verifying delivery information