An optical disk drive according to the present invention has the ability to read data from multiple types of optical disks, each of which includes at least one information storage layer. The drive includes: a driving mechanism 120, which is loaded with a selected one of the optical disks of the multiple types and which rotates the optical disk 102; an optical pickup 30 for irradiating the optical disk 102, which has been loaded into the driving mechanism 120, with a converged light beam, thereby generating an electrical signal based on light that has been reflected from the optical disk 102; and a control section (ODC 50) for controlling operations of the driving mechanism 120 and the optical pickup 30. The control section 50 includes a right/wrong side determining section for determining, by reference to the electrical signal generated by the optical pickup 30, whether or not the optical disk 102 has been loaded into the driving mechanism 120 with the other surface opposed to the optical pickup 30.

In optical disk technologies, data can be read out from a rotating optical disk by irradiating the disk with a relatively weak light beam with a constant intensity, and detecting the light that has been modulated by, and reflected from, the optical disk.
On a read-only optical disk, information is already stored as pits that are arranged spirally during the manufacturing process of the optical disk. On the other hand, on a rewritable optical disk, a recording material film, from/on which data can be read and written optically, is deposited by an evaporation process, for example, on the surface of a base material on which tracks with spiral lands or grooves are arranged. In writing data on such a rewritable optical disk, data is written there by irradiating the optical disk with a light beam, of which the optical power has been changed according to the data to be written, and locally changing the property of the recording material film.
It should be noted that the depth of the pits, the depth of the tracks, and the thickness of the recording material film are all smaller than the thickness of the optical disk base material. For that reason, those portions of the optical disk, where data is stored, define a two-dimensional plane, which is sometimes called an "information storage plane". However, considering that such an "information storage plane" actually has a physical dimension in the depth direction, too, the term "information storage plane" will be replaced herein by another term "information storage layer". Every optical disk has at least one such information storage layer. Optionally, a single information storage layer may actually include a plurality of layers such as a phase-change material layer and a reflective layer.
To read data that is stored on a recordable optical disk or to write data on such an optical disk, the light beam always needs to maintain a predetermined converging state on a target track on an information storage layer. For that purpose, a "focus control" and a "tracking control" are required. The "focus control" means controlling the position of an objective lens perpendicularly to the information storage layer (which direction will be referred to herein as a "substrate depth direction") such that the focus position of the light beam is always located on the information storage layer. On the other hand, the "tracking control" means controlling the position of the objective lens along the radius of a given optical disk (which direction will be referred to herein as a "disk radial direction") such that the light beam spot is always located right on a target track.
Various types of optical disks such as DVD (digital versatile disc)-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+RW and DVD+R have become more and more popular these days as storage media on which a huge amount of information can be stored at a high density. Meanwhile, CDs (compact discs) are still popular now. Currently, next-generation optical disks, including Blu-ray disc (BD), which can store an even greater amount of information at a much higher density, are under development, and some of them have already been put on the market.
The cross-sectional structures of these optical disks change from one type to another. For example, these optical disks are different in physical track structure, track pitch, and depth of the information storage layer (i.e., the distance from the surface of the optical disk, through which the incoming light enters the disk, to the information storage layer). To read or write data properly from/on these multiple types of optical disks with those various physical structures, the information storage layer of each of these optical disks needs to be irradiated with a light beam with an appropriate wavelength by using an optical system that has a numerical aperture (NA) associated with the specific type of the disk.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating an optical disk 200. Just for reference, an objective lens (converging lens) 20 and a light beam 22 that has been converged by this objective lens 20 are shown in FIG. 1. The light beam 22 passes through the light-incoming side of the optical disk 200 and is converged onto the information storage layer, thereby forming a light beam spot on the information storage layer.
FIGS. 2(a), 2(b) and 2(c) schematically illustrate cross sections of a CD, a DVD and a BD, respectively. Each of these optical disks shown in FIG. 2 has a principal surface (i.e., light-incoming side) 200a and a back surface (i.e., a label side) 200b and includes at least one information storage layer 14 between these surfaces. On the back surface 200b of the optical disk, arranged is a label layer 18 on which the title, graphics, and so on have been printed. Any of these optical disks has an overall thickness of 1.2 mm and a diameter of 12 cm. For the sake of simplicity, pits, grooves and other unevenness are not shown in FIG. 2 and the reflective layer is not shown there, either.
As shown in FIG. 2(a), the CD's information storage layer 14 is located at a depth of about 1.1 mm as measured from the principal surface 200a. To read data from the CD's information storage layer 14, a near-infrared laser beam (with a wavelength of 785 nm) needs to be converged such that its focal point is located right on the information storage layer 14 by focus control. The objective lens for use to converge the light beam needs to have a numerical aperture (NA) of approximately 0.5.
As shown in FIG. 2(b), the DVD's information storage layer 14 is located at a depth of approximately 0.6 mm as measured from the principal surface 200a. In an actual DVD, two substrates, each having a thickness of approximately 0.6 mm, are boned together with an adhesive layer. In an optical disk with two information storage layers 14, the respective distances from the principal surface 200a to the information storage layers 14 are approximately 0.57 mm and approximately 0.63 mm, respectively. That is to say, those two information storage layers are located very close to each other. That is why only one information storage layer 14 is shown in FIG. 2(b), no matter how many information storage layers 14 are actually included. To read and write data from/on the DVD's information storage layer 14, a red laser beam (with a wavelength of 660 nm) needs to be converged such that its focal point is located right on the information storage layer 14 by focus control. The objective lens for use to converge the light beam needs to have a numerical aperture (NA) of approximately 0.6.
As shown in FIG. 2(c), the BD includes a thin coating layer (light transmitting layer) with a thickness of approximately 100 μm on the principal surface 200a and its information storage layer 14 is located at a depth of about 0.1 mm as measured from the principal surface 200a. To read data from the BD's information storage layer 14, a blue violet laser beam (with a wavelength of 405 nm) needs to be converged such that its focal point is located right on the information storage layer 14 by focus control. The objective lens for use to converge the light beam needs to have a numerical aperture (NA) of approximately 0.85.
Currently, these various types of optical disks are on the market and used extensively. Under the circumstances like these, a single optical disk drive should read from, and write to, as many types of optical disks as possible. For that purpose, the optical disk drive should include a light source and an optical system, both of which can deal with multiple types of optical disks, and should appropriately recognize the type of the optical disk that has been loaded into the optical disk drive.
The optical disk drive disclosed in Patent Document No. 1 recognizes the type of the given optical disk by optically detecting the depth of the information storage layer of that optical disk. Portion (a) of FIG. 3 schematically illustrates how the gap between the principal surface 200a of the optical disk 200 and the objective lens 20 decreases gradually. This optical disk 200 includes a substrate 12, which is transparent to a light beam, an information storage layer 14 that has been formed on the substrate 12, and a protective layer (coating layer) 16 that covers the information storage layer 14. The optical disk 200 illustrated in portion (a) of FIG. 3 corresponds to a BD and the coating layer 16 has a thickness of about 0.1 mm. There is a label layer 18 on which an image, characters and so on are printed, on the back surface 200b of the optical disk. It should be noted that the thickness of the label layer 18 is not to scale.
Portion (a) of FIG. 3 illustrates a situation where the focus position of the light beam 22 is located on the surface 200a of the optical disk, a situation where the focal point of the light beam 22 is located on the information storage layer 14, and a situation where the focal point of the light beam 22 is located inside the substrate 12. Portion (b) of FIG. 3 schematically shows a focus error (FE) signal to be generated when the focus position of the light beam 22 varies with time. The FE signal changes so as to draw a small S-curve when the focal point of the light beam 22 passes the surface 200a of the optical disk 200. On the other hand, when the focal point of the light beam 22 passes the information storage layer 14 of the optical disk 200, the FE signal changes so as to draw large S-curves. Portion (c) of FIG. 3 schematically shows the amplitude of a radio frequency (RF) read signal to be generated when the focus position of the light beam 22 varies with time. It can be determined that the focal point of the light beam 22 is located on the information storage layer 14 when the amplitude of the RF signal shows a non-zero significant value and when the FE signal goes zero. If the focus servo is turned ON in such a situation, the position of the objective lens is controlled such that the FE signal is always equal to zero. Such an operation of turning the focus servo ON around the center of the S-curve of the FE signal (i.e., near the zero-cross point of the FE signal) when the S-curve is detected while a focus search is being carried out in search of the information storage layer 14 will be referred to herein as a "focus finding operation".
The position of the objective lens when the S-curve of the FE signal is detected can be determined by reference to the value or magnitude of the electrical signal being supplied to the actuator that is controlling the position of the objective lens. As a result, the depth of the information storage layer 14 can be detected, and eventually, the type of the given optical disk can be recognized by the depth of the information storage layer 14.    Patent Document No. 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-111028

Optical disk unit and driving method therefor


The invention relates to compositions and methods for treating various diseases or medical conditions by administering a methylxanthine compound. Specifically, the invention relates to compositions and methods for treating cytochrome oxidase (CcOX) mediated diseases or medical conditions by administering compositions comprising a methyl xanthine compound.

Sepsis continues to be the major cause of death in critically ill patients and often results in multiple organ failure. Sepsis-associated myocardial dysfunction is often profound and can lead to refractory hypotension and cardiovascular collapse.
Altered mitochondrial function and impaired oxidative phosphorylation have been implicated in the development of sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction and dysfunction in other organs Diminished function of any of the electron transport complexes could limit aerobic ATP synthesis and lead to bioenergetic failure. Cytochrome oxidase (CcOX), the terminal oxidase of the respiratory chain, uses electrons donated by cytochrome c to reduce oxygen to water. Coupled with the reduction of oxygen, CcOX pumps hydrogen ions across the mitochondrial inner membrane to the inter-membrane space. This creates and maintains a hydrogen ion gradient between the inside of the mitochondria and the inter-membrane space. This gradient generates the proton motive force that is crucial for ATP synthesis.
Myocardial CcOX is inhibited during sepsis. This inhibition is competitive and reversible early following cecal ligation and puncture (CLP, a well-established, well-accepted animal sepsis model that closely mimics human sepsis) and progresses becoming noncompetitive and irreversible during the late phase of sepsis. The onset of the hypodynamic phase and mortality in sepsis coincide with maximal competitive CcOX inhibition.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved methods and compositions for treating CcOX mediated diseases or medical conditions.

Methods of using a methylxanthine compound

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


An integrated circuit includes a semiconductor die having conductive pads and an electronic component with a first terminal coupled to a third conductive pad and a second terminal coupled to a fourth conductive pad. A resistor has a first terminal coupled to the fourth conductive pad and a second terminal coupled to the fifth conductive pad, and a first transistor has a first terminal coupled to the first conductive pad, a second terminal coupled to the fifth conductive pad, and a control terminal. A second transistor has a first terminal coupled to the first transistor, a second terminal coupled to the third conductive pad, and a control terminal. A pulse generator has an input coupled to the second conductive pad and an output coupled to the control terminal of the second transistor.

Laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) transistors and electrostatic discharge (ESD) clamping devices are often used in integrated circuits for power switching functions and/or ESD protection. The ESD protection afforded by such devices are often rated in terms of reverse recovery safe operating area (RRSOA), characterized using transmission line pulse (TLP) testing or very fast TLP testing (VFTLP). TLP testing uses expensive equipment that is cumbersome, time consuming and does not offer much flexibility. Moreover, conventional TLP testing for ESD clamps of an IC cannot economically characterize temperature effects on a transistor pulsed breakdown voltage (BV), and instrumentation limitations prevent practical testing of ESD clamp devices of multiple wafers across temperature.


The invention concerns a valve arrangement for controlling a hydraulic drive, the supply and the outflow of the hydraulic drive being separately controllable. It is endeavoured to improve the valve arrangement in such a manner that it is intrinsically tight, at the same time having a relatively simple design. For this purpose, a pump pipe and a tank pipe are connected with a first control valve, the first control valve being connected by separate pipes with a second control valve and a third control valve connected in parallel with the second control valve, the second control valve being connected with a first working connection of the hydraulic drive and the third control valve being connected with a second working connection of the hydraulic drive, backflow preventers for preventing the flow from the hydraulic drive in the direction of the tank being connected in parallel with the second control valve and/or the third control valve.

From the general state of the art, valve arrangements for controlling hydraulic drives are known, in which the control openings for controlling the supply and the outflow of the hydraulic drive are mechanically or hydraulically connected with each other. However, such valve arrangements have the disadvantage that they have a poor energetic efficiency. Further, to avoid cavitation, a plurality of valves will be required, depending on the effective direction of a load acting upon the hydraulic drive, which makes the complete valve arrangement effort demanding and expensive. As a solution to this problem, EP 0 809 737 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,838, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,568,759 and 5,960,695 suggest valve arrangements, with which the supply and the outflow of the hydraulic drive can be controlled separately. These solutions, however, do not meet the heavy requirements with regard to low leakage flows of the working connections, when the valves are not activated. With these valve arrangements, the undesirable leakage flows at the working connections can only be avoided by means of at least two bi-directional or more than four unidirectional electromechanical valve drives, which increases the total costs of the valve arrangement and thus also the manufacturing costs.
The task of the invention is to improve the above-described valve arrangement in such a manner that it is intrinsically tight, and at the same time the valve arrangement shall have a relatively simple design.


A method and apparatus for operating a cellular telephone system that supports performing an inter-system soft handoff is described. A subscriber unit generates a pilot strength measurement report when the pilot channel from a base station is detected. When a base station controller receiving the pilot strength measurement report determines that the base station is part of a second cellular telephone system, a inter-system soft handoff request is generated. An admission control subsystem receives the inter-system soft handoff and either grants or denies the request base on the traffic level with the second cellular telephone system. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the traffic level is determined based on link load messages received periodically by the admission control subsystem that are generated by an interface port coupled to an interconnect between the first cellular telephone system and the second cellular telephone system. The link load message include peak queue length and average frame rate information.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved method and apparatus for performing conducting telephone calls or other communications between wireless telecommunications systems that supports inter-system soft handoff.
II. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a cellular telephone system configured in accordance with the use of the IS-95 over-the-air interface standard. The IS-95 CDMA over the air interface standard (IS-95) promulgated by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) defines a protocol for providing wireless telephone service via code division multiple access (CDMA) modulated RF signals. IS-95 has many derivatives and related standards including IS-95-A, ANSI J-STD-008, IS-99 and IS-657, referred to herein collectively as "IS-95." A cellular telephone system configured substantially in accordance with the use of IS-95 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,459 entitled "System and Method for Generating Signal Waveforms in a CDMA Cellular Telephone System" assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.
During operation, subscriber units 10 (typically cellular telephones) conduct communications by interfacing with base stations 12 using CDMA modulated RF signals. From base stations 12 the communications are further conducted using base stations controllers (BSC's) 14 and mobile switching centers (MSC's) 16 with public switched telephone network (PSTN) or other subscriber units 10. BSC's 14 provide call mobility functionality, as described in greater detail below, and MSC's 16 provides call routing, billing and switch interface functionality. Additionally, the data exchanged between the various systems shown in FIG. 1, including subscriber units 10 and base stations 12, are processed in frames. This data can be either traffic data which includes voice information, or signaling data which is used to configure and control the various systems shown.
The use of CDMA technology allows adjacent base stations in an IS-95 system to conduct communications over the same RF bandwidth, which increases the frequency reuse factor of the cellular telephone system when compared to other types of cellular telephone technology. When combined with extensive transmit power control, increasing the frequency reuse factor increases the efficiency with which the cellular telephone system uses the available RF bandwidth, which is one of the advantages of the IS-95 standard.
Another advantage of allowing the same RF bandwidth to be used by adjacent base stations 12 is that "soft handoff" can be used to transition a subscriber unit 10 from the coverage area of a first base station 12 to the coverage area of a second base station 12. Soft handoff involves simultaneously interfacing a subscriber unit 10 with two or more base stations as the subscriber unit transitions between the associated coverage areas of the two base stations 12. One of the subscriber units 10 shown in FIG. 1 is in soft handoff.
Soft handoff can be contrasted with hard handoff, where the interface with the first base station 12 is terminated before the link with the second base station has been established. Maintaining at least one link at all times improves the reliability and quality of the communication being conducted. A system and method for performing soft handoff is described in US described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,501 entitled "Method and System for Providing a Soft Handoff in Communications in a CDMA Cellular Telephone System" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,261 entitled "Mobile Station Assisted Soft Handoff in a CDMA Cellular Communications System" both assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.
As noted above, BSC's 14 perform various functions that allow mobile communications to be conducted including functions that facilitate soft handoff. In particular, BSC's 14 perform "frame selection" and "frame distribution" for the set of base stations 12 involved in the soft handoff call. Frame selection is the selection of one frame for further processing from the set of frames received from the set of base stations used during a soft handoff. Frame selection maintains the highest quality link by selecting the best frame available at all times.
Frame distribution is the duplication and distribution of frames directed to the subscriber unit 10 to the set of base stations 12 involved in the call. Frame distribution allows each base station 12 to transmit a copy of the frame to the subscriber unit 10 increasing the probability of successful reception of at least one frame.
As shown in FIG. 1, subscriber unit 10A is interfacing with a single base stations 12A and is located near the coverage area of a second base station 12B. Base stations 12A and 12B, however, are coupled to different BSC's 14. This complicates the process of performing soft handoff because neither BSC 14 has access to both base stations 12A and 12B. Performing soft handoff between two base stations 12 that are controlled by two different BSC's 14 is referred to as "inter-system soft handoff." Inter-system soft handoff can be contrasted with "intra-system soft handoff" in which a soft handoff is conducted between two base stations 12 controlled by the same BSC.
For inter-system soft handoff, frame selection cannot be performed as easily because neither BSC 14 has access to the set of frames that are produced by the two base stations 12. Additionally, frame distribution is also rendered more difficult because neither BSC can transmit the set of frames generated to both base stations. Nonetheless, it is necessary to use two or more BSC's 14 in many large metropolitan areas because the number of base stations required to provide adequate coverage exceeds the capabilities of a single cellular system formed using a single BSC 14, which in turn creates the need to conduct inter-system soft handoff.
A system and method for performing an inter-system soft handoff is described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/649,959 entitled "Inter-system Calling Supporting Inter-System Soft Handoff" assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. In this application, a channel between the two BSC's 14 is established via an interconnect for exchanging the data necessary to perform soft handoff. Additionally, each BSC is required to either store or obtain information typically tracked within an MSC, and therefore must interact with an MSC in order to perform the soft handoff. Preferably, the interconnect is comprised of a standard T-1 or E-1 link, which are well known and therefore relatively inexpensive to implement. To establish the channel, signaling messages are exchanged between the two BSC's 14 involved in the call. As noted above, the information contained in the signaling messages require each BSC 14 to track certain information including the number of calls being conducted over the interconnect, or interact with an MSC tracking that information, and to provide the other BSC 14 with certain predefined types of information. The number of calls on the interconnect are tracked to avoid overloading the interconnect.
Requiring BSC's 14 to obtain, track or provide certain types of information, however, is highly restrictive, and can be difficult for some manufacturers of BSC's to implement. Additionally, it requires a significant degree of coordination and cooperation between BSC and MSC manufactures, which is not always feasible. Thus, a system and method of performing inter-system soft handoff that requires less cooperation and coordination between BSC's 14 and MSC's 16 would be highly desirable.


Disclosed is a gas-insulated switchgear device, in which a space for dismantlement and inspection work which facilitates the dismantlement and inspection work of circuit breakers at the time of the occurrence of accidents of the circuit breakers are provided and an installation area for the gas-insulated switchgear device can be reduced.

Generally, a gas-insulated switchgear device comprises a circuit breaker having a grounded hermetic-vessel in which an electrically insulating gas such as an SF6 gas is filled, and a high voltage live part insulatedly disposed in the hermetic vessel, a disconnecting switch, a bus line, and the like. Since the gas-insulated switchgear devices are safe and highly reliable, and installation areas of the gas-insulated switchgear devices can be considerably reduced, in recent years, the gas-insulated switchgear devices have been used in various locations. Incidentally, a gas-insulated switchgear device of a 3/2 circuit breaker system has been employed in an important system.
A diameter is constructed by causing three circuit breakers, to both ends of which disconnecting switches are connected, to be connected between a pair of main bus lines, causing a rectifier, an earth switch and the like to be connected between the main bus lines, causing branch bus lines to be connected between the disconnecting switches, and causing end portions of the branch bus lines to be insulatedly led out by cable heads or bushings. Another diameter is also provided between the main bus lines. In the first diameter, the branch bus lines are led out toward the main bus lines or the branch bus lines are lead out toward the main bus lines. On the other hand, in the second diameter, the branch bus lines are led out toward the main bus lines or the branch bus lines are lead out toward the main bus lines. Thus, load balance is maintained.
The gas-insulated switchgear device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei. 11-355923. In this gas-insulated switchgear device, main bus lines are spaced a predetermined distance apart from each other and disposed in substantially parallel to each other, three circuit breakers having disconnecting switches at both ends thereof are disposed in a direction bridging the main bus lines, and branch bus lines are connected between the disconnecting switches connected to the both ends of the circuit breakers. The branch bus lines are led out in a same direction, together with a diameter, so that there is a problem of concentration of load of the branch bus lines.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei. 11-355923 also discloses a gas-insulated switchgear device in which branch bus lines in one of diameters are led out in a direction opposite to each other and branch bus lines in the other of the diameters are led out in such direction as to cross.
However, when the gas-insulated switchgear device has the diameter in which the branch bus lines are led out in such directions as to cross, and the three circuit breakers are disposed in the direction bridging the pair of the main bus lines, so that a large installation area for the gas-insulated switchgear device is required in the direction bridging the main bus lines. In addition, the branch bus lines are disposed between the diameters, so that a large installation area is also required in axial directions of the main bus lines.
Moreover, in the conventional gas-insulated switchgear device, it is not taken into consideration that dismantlement and inspection work of the circuit breakers will be carried out at the time of the occurrence of accidents of the circuit breakers. If a work space for facilitating the dismantlement and inspection work of the circuit breakers is provided in the gas-insulated switchgear device, the gas-insulated switchgear device inevitably becomes a gas-insulated switchgear device having a large installation area. Therefore, it is feared that carrying-out of circuit breakers required to be dismantled and repaired must be performed by dismantling the main bus lines and then lifting up the main bus lines.
The present invention has been made with a view to overcoming the foregoing problems of the prior art gas-insulated switchgear device. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a gas-insulated switch gear device in which a space for dismantlement and inspection work which facilitates the dismantlement and inspection work of circuit breakers at the time of the occurrence of accidents of the circuit breakers can be sufficiently obtained and an installation area for the gas-insulated switchgear device can be reduced.

Abstract: The gas-insulated switchgear device includes a pair of spaced apart main bus lines, three circuit breakers connected between the main bus lines, a common space for dismantlement and inspection work provided between two of the three circuit breakers, and branch bus lines provided above the common dismantlement and inspection work space using the common dismantlement and inspection work space and disposed in such a manner that insulatedly leading-out directions of the branch bus lines cross in order to balance voltage. Even if the three circuit breakers are disposed along axial directions of the main bus lines, the dismantlement and inspection work space can be also used for arranging of the branch bus lines, whereby an installation area for the gas-insulated switchgear device can be reduced in a juxtaposition direction of the circuit breakers.


A practical technique that enables effective utilization of organic wastes is provided. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a method for producing methane gas from organic wastes according to the present invention includes: treating organic wastes with at least one of supercritical water and sub-critical water to convert the organic wastes into low molecular weight substances; and subjecting the low molecular weight substances to methane fermentation. According to the method, initially, the organic wastes are treated with at least one of the supercritical water and the sub-critical water so as to be converted into low molecular weight substances that are easily subjected to methane fermentation. Then, the treated substances are subjected to methane fermentation. Consequently, methane gas can be produced from the organic wastes at a high speed with high digestion efficiency.

Activated sludge (organic wastes) derived from the treatment of food wastes, sewage, and the like is generated in large quantities every day. For example, about 20 million tons of food wastes and about 90 million tons of sewage activated sludge are generated every year. Such organic wastes are incinerated and landfilled and are not utilized effectively in the present circumstances. Further, incineration requires a dehydration process, which is very expensive. Also, there is a problem of landfill sites for final wastes obtained after incineration, and such sites are expected to run out in several years. On this account, there is a need for a method for effectively reutilizing or recycling organic wastes.
As an attempt to reutilize organic wastes, it is proposed, for example, that fish offal and the like is treated with at least one of supercritical water and sub-critical water so as to be converted into low molecular weight substances such as acetic acid (see, for example, JP 11(1999)-342379 A and JP 2002-18393 A). However, in order to separate, collect, and reutilize acetic acid and the like obtained in this method, it is necessary to establish a further technique, which is yet to be in practical use.
On the other hand, subjecting sewage activated sludge to methane fermentation and recovering energy also has been attempted. A reaction path from a complex organic compound such as activated sludge to methane fermentation requires the following processes (1) to (4), for example.    (1) A complex organic compound is decomposed gradually into simple organic substances by hydrolysis.    (2) Simple organic acid is made into volatile organic acid by a fermentation action of acidogens.    (3) Long chain volatile organic acid with 3 or more carbon atoms is converted into acetic acid and H2 by obligate hydrogen producing acetogens.    (4) The produced acetic acid and H2 are converted into CH4 by methanogens.
In such a conventional technique, it takes a very long time to decompose a complex organic compound such as sewage activated sludge by the action of bacteria. Further, methane fermentation generally requires two vessels, i.e., an acid production vessel and a methane fermentation vessel, in many cases. This is because unless sludge is decomposed finally into acetic acid, hydrogen, or carbon dioxide, the methanogens are not active and thus no methane is generated. In order to accelerate the decomposition of organic substances, a method including the following process is developed: a process in which sludge is pulverized into small pieces and mixed with dilution water so as to be solubilized, or a process in which an inhibitory substance in the decomposition is removed. Consequently, contact efficiency with bacteria is improved, and a reaction rate is increased. However, some organic substances cannot be decomposed into hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and the carbon digestion efficiency thereof is 20% to 50%. Thus, there is a need to treat undigested residual substances, which may require large waste water treatment equipment. Further, in the treatment of sewage sludge or dairy wastewater (cow dung, urine, and the like) using such a methane fermentation method, it is required to provide a retention time of 20 to 60 days in an actual plant and of 30 to 60 days in most cases. As described above, the conventional methane fermentation process is not practical since it is expensive and inefficient as a whole and may show a huge deficit even when electric power is sold.


Complication and an increase in size of an apparatus when suppressing precipitation of a precipitating component contained in liquid are suppressed. In a liquid supply apparatus 20, ink containing pigment, which is a precipitating component, is contained in a liquid containing portion 52, and the ink contained in the liquid containing portion 52 is guided from a liquid supply portion of a holding portion 54 to a printer. A liquid containing body 50 is configured with the liquid containing portion 52 fixed to the holding portion 54, and is attached to an attachment/detachment unit 30 in a detachable manner. The attachment/detachment unit 30 supports the liquid containing body 50 by the holding portion 54 thereof in a state where the liquid containing portion 52 is exposed, and transmits an X-axis reciprocating movement XM along an X-axis, for example, to the liquid containing portion 52 of the liquid containing body 50 that is thus supported.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to liquid supply systems.
2. Related Art
As a liquid supply system capable of supplying liquid to a liquid consuming apparatus, a mode of supplying ink to a printer, which is an exemplary liquid consuming apparatus, has been known hitherto. In recent years, a large ink capacity has been demanded. For this reason, it has been proposed to house a large-capacity container bag for containing ink in a case on a printer side face and supply, via a tube, the ink to a cartridge having a head on a carriage (e.g., WO97/42035). Since ink contains a precipitating component in some cases, it has also been proposed to house an ink pack that contains ink in a casing and vibrate or rotate the ink pack together with the casing to stir the precipitating component (e.g., JP-A-2012-139852).
In WO97/42035, if the ink contained in a containing bag contains a precipitating component, since the precipitating component is not stirred, there is a possibility that the ink cannot be provided to the printer, which is an exemplary liquid consuming apparatus, in an appropriate concentration condition. If the technique proposed in JP-A-2012-139852 is applied, the concentration condition can be improved by stirring the precipitating component. However, a problem arises in that the apparatus becomes complicated since the ink cartridge, which serves as a casing for containing the ink pack, is vibrated or rotated using a magnetic vibrator and a generator coil.


An electronic musical apparatus for use in a music contents distribution processing system which makes it possible to selectively use usage modes such as downloading of music contents from a music contents distributing site to a user terminal (electronic musical apparatus) and streaming of such music contents in a simple manner. A distribution mode designating file indicative of whether music contents are to be distributed from the music contents distributing site in a download mode or a streaming mode is received and interpreted. The music contents received from the music contents distributing site are processed in the download mode or the streaming mode according to the result of the interpretation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a music contents distribution processing system which is capable of selectively using music contents usage modes in a simple manner, and more particularly to an electronic musical apparatus, a music contents distributing site, a music contents processing method, a music contents distributing method, a music contents processing program, and a music contents distributing program, for use in the contents distribution processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as disclosed in e.g. Japanese Patent Publication No. 3262121, there has been known a system in which music contents are distributed from a server (contents distributing site) to user terminals via a network so that the music contents can be previewed and downloaded.
In this conventional system, it is complicated to control downloading and preview. For example, in the case where an electronic musical apparatus is used as a user terminal, it is necessary to provide different kinds of control; i.e. to download music contents, the music contents distributed from a contents distributing site are stored in a predetermined recording medium, and to preview music contents, they are reproduced by streaming in real time and temporarily stored in a temporary memory without being stored in a recording medium. However, if the contents distributing site is caused to provide these kinds of control, very complicated processing is required.

Electronic musical apparatus, music contents distributing site, music contents processing method, music contents distributing method, music contents processing program, and music contents distributing program


Provided are an expandable or bendable circuit board having good body-contact feel, strong against bending and folding, and an electronic device made therefrom. The bendable circuit board includes: a film comprising a polyurethane synthesized by reacting a long-chain polyol with polyisocyanate and having a storage modulus at 25° C. of 20 to 200 MPa, a tensile strength of 20 to 80 MPa, and an elongation at break of 500 to 900%, and the temperature of which the storage elastic modulus reaches to 1 MPa is at 155° C. or higher; and circuit wiring formed in contact with a surface of the film. Alternatively, an expandable circuit board having the ratio ρ/ρ0 of the specific electrical resistance ρ of the circuit wiring when the circuit wiring is expanded to the specific electrical resistance (Ω·cm) ρ0 of the circuit wiring before the circuit wiring is expanded is within a range of 1.05 to 10.0.

In recent years, printed electronics obtained by using printing technologies are attracting attention in the field of electronic devices. Particularly, a method of the printing technology in which wiring is formed by drawing on a board with a metal particle ink or paste that can form wiring by applying, and heating and firing the metal particle ink or paste is considered to be an industrially critical technology because the method can significantly reduce the cost and environmental load as compared to a conventional vacuum process. Active development of materials and devices for the method is thus underway. Research and development is also underway in printed electronics which draw wiring by printing with a conjugated organic conductive ink and heat-treat the ink.
The target markets in these technological backgrounds are the fields of trillion sensors (the field extends in a wide variety of applications such as printed electronics, lasers, images, and the like), organic EL and organic transistors, and the fifth generation society (super smart society)—Society 5.0—aiming for 2020 to 2030. Technological innovation is believed to be required so that issues such as population decline, aging society, energy, environment, disaster, terrorism, widening of regional disparity as problems in the future will be reduced or resolved by the fourth industrial revolution (IoT, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), robots and the like).
In order to solve these issues, it is necessary to provide various electronic circuit products to society in large quantities and at low cost. Sensors other than the printed electronics are currently priced at, for example, 100,000 to 500,000 yen/sensor module, and the price gap relative to the price of less than 500 yen/sensor module, which would be a price required by users in the future, is not eliminated.
Printed electronics are an essential technical element as a flexible hybrid electronics for inexpensively obtaining flexible products or parts while maintaining high performance by combining or hybridizing flexible printed wiring with integrated circuits (ICs) produced by conventional lithography technology. This concept is a technology proposed mainly from the United States. The technology can provide a whole product with excellent physical properties such as weight reduction, thinness, and toughness (impact resistance), in addition to low cost and high performance, and thus expected to be used for unprecedented purposes. However, as board materials used for flexible printed wiring, highly rigid and hard plastics are used, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyarylate (PAR), polyimide (PI), polycarbonate (PC), cellulose triacetate (TAC), and cellulose acetate propionate (CAP) (see Patent Literature (hereinafter, referred to as PTL) 1). Wiring boards produced from these materials do not return to their original shape after being bent. In addition, such a wiring board has a low adhesion between metal wiring and its board, and the metal wiring may be peeled off from the board due to stress from the board and may be broken. A bendable wiring board or an elastic wiring board thus cannot be obtained from these materials.
Furthermore, in order to solve the above-described future problems, interest in biosensors of wearable devices and medical devices and biometric information monitoring are increased. Attempts are being made to attach such a biosensor to a human body to sense human movement, or to detect vital signs (biological information) such as electrocardiogram, heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. These biosensors and biometric information monitors are typically attached to clothes, orthoses, bedding and the like for sensing and monitoring.
However, a biosensor or a biometric information monitor provided on clothes or an orthosis moves away from the target part of the living body due to the movement of the human body, thus significantly reducing the sensing or monitor accuracy. Such reduction in the accuracy can be avoided by attaching the biosensor or biometric monitor directly to the human body. In recent years, a technique called elastic (or stretchable and shrinkable) electronics, which have a base material and wiring material both having elasticity in the in-plane direction, is studied, and a wiring board that can stretch and shrink according to the movement of a joint or the like of a human body has been proposed. PTL 2 describes a circuit board having elasticity in its entire board, which is composed of an elastic base material and a conductive pattern containing conductive fine particles and an elastomer. However, the stretchable board material described in PTL 2 has low heat resistance, and cannot be heated at a temperature of about 120° C., after pasting to print the conductive fine particles and the elastomer on the stretchable board material with a high boiling point solvent. As a result, the conductive fine particles cannot be sufficiently sintered, and sufficient conductivity cannot be exhibited.
PTL 3 discloses, for drawing conductive wiring by plating or printing the same, a resin composition for forming a receiving layer, as well as a receiving base material, a printed matter, a conductive pattern and an electric circuit obtained by using the resin composition. The resin composition includes a urethane resin having a vinyl polymer in the side chain and has a crosslinked structure formed therein to improve durability. The object of PTL 3 is to provide a resin composition for forming a receiving layer having excellent printability. The resin composition forms an ink receiving layer with excellent adhesion to various supports, among receiving layers (crosslinked urethane resins) which are capable of supporting the fluid of a pigment ink and a conductive ink.
PTL 3 describes that the receiving layer made of urethane resin, which to be formed a crosslinked structure after printing with the fluid, has a resistance to plating agents and various organic solvents, so that bleeding to the fluid and peeling of the pigment ink and conductive ink can be prevented, or durability of the pigment ink and conductive ink to fluid can be obtained. The urethane resin of PTL 3 has a structure such that a structure derived from a vinyl polymer is grafted on a side chain of a structure of urethane resin as a main chain. Durability is exhibited by using a heat-crosslinked hybrid resin composition of the vinyl polymer/urethane resin. Specifically, PTL 3 uses a composition obtained by allowing a urethane resin to react with a polyol containing a vinyl polymer having two hydroxyl groups at one end and a polyisocyanate, and a chain extender, if necessary.

Bendable circuit board, expandable circuit board, and electronic device made therefrom


Some of the embodiments of the present disclosure provide an integrated circuit (IC) chip comprising a die, a system on chip (SOC) coupled to the die, and an internal test engine included in the SOC and configured to test the die, wherein one or more components within the IC chip may be configured to be tested by an external test engine coupled to the IC chip. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

Increasingly, integrated circuits (IC) are becoming more powerful, with more functionality included in an IC chip. For example, a system on chip (SOC) may integrate numerous components of a computing system into a single integrated circuit chip and may include digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions in a single chip. Similarly, a multi-chip module (MCM) is a specialized electronic package where multiple bare unpackaged integrated circuits (ICs) (e.g., bare dies), semiconductor dies or other modules are packaged in such a way as to facilitate their use as a single IC. Similar to an MCM, a system-in-a-package or system in package (SiP) encloses a number of bare unpackaged ICs in a single package or module. In some cases, in an SiP, dies may be stacked vertically, unlike a slightly less dense MCM, which may place dies horizontally alongside one another.
A SiP or MCM may perform all or most of the functions of an electronic system, may be used inside a number of electronic devices, e.g., a mobile phone, digital music player, etc., and may provide a high density module that requires less space on the motherboard of a device. An exemplary SIP or MCM may contain several chips (e.g., a specialized processor, an SOC, a DRAM, a flash memory, etc.), combined with one or more passive components (e.g., resistors and capacitors), all mounted on the same substrate. Thus, a complete functional unit can be built in the SiP or the MCM so that the SiP or the MCM may not need a relatively large number of external components to function.
FIG. 1 illustrates an IC chip 10 that includes a plurality of unpackaged integrated circuits (e.g., bare dies), semiconductor dies and/or other modules. In various embodiments, the IC chip 10 may be an SiP or an MCM. The IC chip 10 may include a SOC 18 and a die 32. The SOC 18 and the die 32 may be used for a variety of purposes based on the applicability of the IC chip 10. The IC chip 10 may also include a plurality of general purpose input/output (I/O) pins 38.
In various embodiments, the SOC 18 may include a plurality of components, as is known to those skilled in the art. For example, the SOC 18 may include a CPU 22 coupled to an internal bus 36, an internal I/O module 30 coupled to the internal bus 36, etc. The internal I/O module 30 may also be coupled to the die 32.
Although the die 32 and/or the SOC 18 may be fully tested before packaging in the IC chip 10, faults within the IC chip 10, the die 32 and/or the SOC 18 may develop during or after the packaging process. For example, thermal stress or molding pressure during the packaging process may damage one or more components within the IC chip 10. As a result, it may be necessary to test the IC chip 10 after the packaging of the IC chip 10 is complete.
There may be several challenges in testing various components of the IC chip 10 once the packaging of the IC chip 10 is complete. For example, one or more of the die 32's address, data and control signals (or any other suitable types of signals) may not be directly accessible through the I/O pins 38. Additionally, the interface between the SOC 18 and the die 32 (e.g., through the internal I/O module 30) may also not be directly accessible through the I/O pins 38. These factors may prevent any external tester (e.g., an external automated test equipment (ATE)) that is external to the IC chip 10 to apply test patterns to all components of the IC chip 10 (including the die 32) and fully test the IC chip 10. Moreover, the SOC 18 (or one or more components included in the SOC 18, e.g., a memory controller (not illustrated in FIG. 1)) may not be equipped to support advanced and complicated tests, including generation of complicated test patterns, to fully test various components of the die 32.

Test engine for integrated circuit chip testing


A transistor structure with improved device performance, and a method for forming the same is provided. The transistor structure is an SOI (silicon-on-insulator) transistor. In one embodiment, a silicon layer over the oxide layer is a relatively uniform film and in another embodiment, the silicon layer over the oxide layer is a silicon fin. The transistor devices include source/drain structures formed of a strain material that extends through the silicon layer, through the oxide layer and into the underlying substrate which may be silicon. The source/drain structures also include portions that extend above the upper surface of the silicon layer thereby providing an increased volume of the strain layer to provide added carrier mobility and higher performance.

Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) devices fabricated on SOI (silicon on insulator) substrates offer advantages of low-voltage and high speed operation. SOI-MOSFETs have a comparatively simple construction and a smaller layout as compared with bulk silicon transistor devices. SOI transistors have therefore become increasingly popular in today's semiconductor manufacturing industry where there is a constant push to reduce the layout size of devices and increase device speed and performance.
SOI-MOSFET and other SOI transistor devices are formed on substructures that include an upper silicon layer formed over an oxide layer formed over a bulk substrate. To achieve better short channel effects, the silicon layer atop the oxide layer is formed to be very thin.
SOI-MOSFET devices, other MOSFET devices and other semiconductor device transistors benefit from strain enhancement in the source/drain regions. This is true for PMOS and NMOS technologies. The increased strain is known to improve device performance and device speed. Source/drain regions of transistors are generally formed in the substrate over which the transistor gate is formed and for SOI-MOSFET devices, the source/drain regions are formed in the upper silicon layer.
With the source/drain regions formed in the necessarily thin upper silicon layer, one shortcoming of SOI transistor devices is the inability to improve device performance by introducing strain materials in the source/drain regions.

SOI transistors with improved source/drain structures with enhanced strain

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A watercraft has a hull, an engine compartment, an engine disposed and a jet pump. A gate is pivotable relative to the jet pump about a gate axis between an up and a down position. A gate actuator assembly includes an actuator housing fixed to the hull, and an actuator arm movable along an actuation axis with respect thereto. The actuator arm is operatively connected to the gate for pivoting the gate about the gate axis. A sealing member encloses a portion of the actuator arm between the actuator housing and the gate. The sealing member extends between a first end fixed with respect to the actuator housing and a second end fixed with respect to the actuator arm, forming a variable volume outer chamber to prevent entry of fluid therein. A passage fluidly communicating with the outer chamber, extends through the hull into the engine compartment.

There exist many different ways to propel watercraft. One way is to use what is known as a jet propulsion system which is powered by an engine of the watercraft. The jet propulsion system typically consists of a jet pump which pressurizes water from the body of water and expels it through a venturi as a jet rearwardly of the watercraft to create thrust. Usually, a steering nozzle is pivotally mounted rearwardly of the venturi. The steering nozzle is operatively connected to a steering assembly of the watercraft which causes the steering nozzle to turn left or right to redirect the jet of water and thereby steer the watercraft.
To be able to move in the reverse direction, the jet propulsion system of these watercraft are usually provided with a reverse gate. The reverse gate is movable between stowed positions and reverse positions. In the stowed positions, the reverse gate does not interfere with the jet of water coming from the steering nozzle, thus allowing the watercraft to move forward. In the reverse positions, the reverse gate redirects the jet of water coming from the steering nozzle towards a front of the watercraft, thus causing the watercraft to move in a reverse direction. The reverse gate is typically manually activated by the driver via a lever positioned near the driver. Cables and linkages are used to connect the lever with the reverse gate.
A reverse gate can also be used as part of a vehicle braking system wherein the jet of water is redirected towards a front of the watercraft while the vessel is moving forwards, so as to slow and ultimately stop the vessel's forward motion.
It would be desirable to have an actuator for actuation of the watercraft gate that can be conveniently assembled with the jet propulsion system and that allows electronic control of the reverse gate.

Actuator for a gate of a watercraft jet propulsion system


Certain chemical compositions provide superior repellency, durability, and soil (stain) release properties when applied to a textile or fabric. Compositions may contain a fluorochemical-containing soil release component or a crosslinking component, or both, and also may contain an antimicrobial agent. In some applications, the crosslinking component may be hydrophobic, so as to be generally not compatible with aqueous environments. Compositions having less than about 6 weight percent of a fluorochemical-containing soil release component, based upon the weight of the treating composition, may be employed in some applications.

Fluorocarbon stain resistant textile treatments such as Teflon® are used to impart repellent properties to textile surfaces. Such treatments typically provide limited protection against staining of the textile surface. Once oily stains are pressed into the fibrous structure of a repellent fluorocarbon-treated textile surface, such stains generally cannot reliably be removed from the textile surface.
Antimicrobial textile treatment offers added advantage of reducing or eliminating odor and mildew in textiles by limiting the growth of microbes within a textile. Numerous United States Patents have directed efforts toward the application of antimibrobial treatments for textile or fabric substrates, including, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,968,207; 6,479,144; 6,024,823; 6,492,001 B1; 6,207,250; 5,565,265; and U.S. Published applications 2003/0008585 A1 entitled "Treated Textile Fabric" and 2001/0021616 A1 entitled "Treated Textile Fabric". Many of the textile fabrics disclosed in these references, however, impart no substantive stain release properties, making them difficult to clean.
Stain release refers generally to the ability of a textile or fabric to release a ground in stain, such as an oil-based stain, from the fabric surface. It would be beneficial if a textile was capable of exhibiting stain repellency to liquid spills, but also function well in stain release. Many prior art treated textiles provide protection in terms of repellency, but fail to provide substantial protection as to stain release. A fabric that could provide repellency to liquids, substantive stain release, and also control the growth of microbes, mold, mildew, and the like, would be highly desirable for many textile surfaces.
A recent U.S. patent application publication 2003/0008585 A1 to Rubin et. al. entitled "Treated Textile Fabric" ("Rubin") discloses compositions and a process for preparing a treated textile fabric. In general, the fabric comprises from about 6 weight percent to about 12 weight percent of a fluorochemical textile treating agent, which forms a relatively heavy film on the fabric. However, a textile containing such a relatively large percentage of textile treating agent may be undesirably stiff or have a relatively low degree of hand. Further, such chemicals are costly when applied in such amounts. Using relatively large amounts of such treating agents upon a fabric surface may reduce softness, which is undesirable. Also, such fabrics have poor soil and stain release characteristics.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Treated textiles and compositions for treating textiles


Disclosed is an organic light emitting device that may, for example, include a red pixel including a first red emission layer and a second red emission layer that emit red lights; a green pixel including a first green emission layer and a second green emission layer that emit green lights; a blue pixel including a first blue emission layer and a second blue emission layer that emit blue lights; and a first electrode and a second electrode that supply electric charges to the red, green and blue pixels, wherein a first emission layer and a second emission layer of at least one of the red, green and blue pixels include different materials between a fluorescent material and a phosphor material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light emitting device and method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting device with improved emission efficiency and/or service life.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
To date, liquid crystal display (LCD) devices are being widely used as flat panel display devices. LCD devices use a backlight as a separate light source, and have technical limitations in brightness and contrast. On the other hand, since organic light emitting devices self-emit light, organic light emitting devices do not need a separate light source and have relatively better brightness, contrast, and viewing angle, and thus, interest in organic light emitting devices is increasing. Also, since organic light emitting devices do not use a backlight, organic light emitting devices can be manufactured to be thin and lightweight, and have low power consumption and fast response time.
Organic light emitting devices are categorized into a top emission type, a bottom emission type, and a dual emission type depending on emission direction of light. Organic light emitting devices are categorized into passive matrix organic light emitting devices and active matrix organic light emitting devices depending on driving mode.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a red, green, and blue pixel structure of an organic light emitting device having a micro-cavity structure according to the related art. FIG. 1 illustrates a pixel structure of an active matrix organic light emitting device having a top emission type.
Referring to FIG. 1, the organic light emitting device includes an anode electrode 10, a cathode electrode 70, and an organic emission layer. The organic light emitting device according to the related art has a structure in which the organic emission layer is formed between the cathode electrode 70 injecting electrons and the anode electrode 10 injecting positive holes. A capping layer (CPL) 80 is formed on the cathode electrode 70.
The anode electrode 10 is formed as a reflective electrode, and the cathode electrode 70 is formed as a semi-transmissive electrode, thereby forming a micro-cavity structure. An optical cavity is formed between the cathode electrode 70 and the anode electrode 10. The cathode electrode 70 transmits some (e.g., 60%) of the light emitted from the organic emission layer, and the remaining light (e.g., 40%), which is not transmitted, is reflected to cause constructive interference suitable for each wavelength, thereby enhancing emission efficiency.
The organic emission layer includes a hole injection layer (HIL) 20, a hole transport layer (HTL) 30, a plurality of emission layers (EMLs) 52, 54 and 56, an electron injection layer (EIL, not shown), and an electron transport layer (ETL) 60. In this case, the electron injection layer (EIL) may be omitted.
One unit pixel includes a red pixel Rp, a green pixel Gp and a blue pixel Bp of three colors. The organic emission layer of the red pixel further includes a red HTL 42. The organic emission layer of the green pixel further includes a green HTL 44.
The red emission layer 52 of the red pixel Rp is formed between the ETL 60 and the red HTL 42. The green emission layer 54 of the green pixel Gp is formed between the ETL 60 and the green HTL 44. The blue emission layer 56 of the blue pixel Bp is formed between the ETL 60 and the HTL 30.
When electrons generated from the cathode electrode 70 and holes generated from the anode electrode 10 are injected into the EMLs 52, 54 and 56, the injected electrons and holes are recombined to generate excitons. The generated excitons are shifted from an excited state to a lower-energy state to emit red light, green light, and blue light from the red EML 52, the green EML 54, and the blue EML 56, respectively.
Due to an emission structure and a material of the emission layer, the organic light emitting device according to the related may have limitations in emission characteristic and performance of service life.
To address such a limitation, a method has been proposed in which emission efficiency is enhanced by changing a fluorescent material to a phosphor material for the emission layers 52, 54 and 56. However, this method may also have a problem in that more power is consumed as luminance increases, and moreover, emission efficiency may become lowered when the light emitting material is changed for securing a long service life.
As the resolution of display devices advances to a high resolution, the number of pixels per unit area increases, and high luminance is needed. However, due to an emission structure of the organic light emitting device according to the related art, the luminance of the unit area may be limited, and due to increase in an applied current, the reliability of the organic light emitting device may be degraded, and the power consumption may increase.
Moreover, among pixels of three colors of the organic light emitting device, the blue pixel may have a shorter service life than those of the red and green pixels, and thus, the service life of the organic light emitting device may not be ensured.


A component in a network system includes an energy consumption component capable of communicating with a home area network and capable of consuming an energy generated from an energy generation unit of a utility area network, and the energy consumption component including at least one control unit to drive the energy consumption component; and a communication module to allow communication between the energy consumption component and an external component constituting the utility area network or the home area network, wherein the communication module is disposed on a path through which a power is supplied to the at least one control unit.

A provider simply provides an energy source such as electricity, water, and gas, and a consumer simply uses the provided energy source. Therefore, its effective management may be hardly achieved in terms of energy production, distribution, and usage.
That is, energy is distributed from an energy provider to a plurality of consumers, that is, a radial structure radiating from the center to the periphery, and is based on a one-way provider not consumers.
Since limited price information on electricity is provided through a power exchange not in real time and also its price system is actually a fixed price system, an inducement such as an incentive to consumers through a price change is unavailable.
In order to resolve the above issue, there have been sustained efforts to realize horizontal, collaborative, and distributed networks until now, which may effectively manage energy and allow interactions between consumers and providers.


Disclosed is a method and apparatus for completing an injection well, wherein the horizontally-extending portion of the well is drilled in a wave pattern. Injection and hydrocarbon recovery sections or alternatively spaced along the horizontally-extending portion and are isolated from each other by packers in the wellbore. The injection and hydrocarbon recovery sections are positioned at the opposed peaks of the wave pattern.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to methods of producing hydrocarbon fluids from a subterranean well, using stem injection.
2. Background Art
In some areas of the world, there are large deposits of very viscous or heavy crude oils, in formations, such as shale and tar sands. One especially effective technique used in the past for producing such heavy tar or oil sand formations has been steam flooding of the formation. In steam flooding, a pattern of wells is drilled vertically through heavy oil bearing formation. Casing is put in place and perforated in the producing interval and then steam generated at the surface is pumped under relatively high pressure down the casing and into the formation. In some instances the steam may be pumped for a while into all of the wells drilled into the producing formation and, after the heat has been used to lower the viscosity of the heavy oil near the wellbore, then the steam is removed and the heated, lowered viscosity oil is pumped to the surface, having entered the casing through the perforations. When the heat has dissipated and production falls off, the production is closed and the steam injection is resumed. Where the same wells are used to inject steam for a while and then are used for production, this technique has been known as the huff-and-puff method or the push-pull method. Production from this single well is limited by the penetration of steam in the formation around the wellbore.
In other instances, multiple wells penetrating the heavy oil bearing formation are used to continuously inject steam, while others are used to continuously produce lower viscosity oil heated by the steam. This multiple well method can result in larger and more efficient production of heavy oil but involves the increased costs of drilling multiple wells. Again, when production falls off due to lack of heat, the role of the injectors and producers can be reversed to allow injected steam to reach new portions of the reservoir and the process repeated.

Injection well and method for drilling and completion


A rack mount server or device with an integrated display that has an adjustable viewing angle. An adjustable viewing angle allows rack mount servers and devices to be stacked and still maintain viewability of their display screens.

Rack mount devices, such as 1U/2U rack mount servers, are typically stacked on mounts to allow efficient use of space. Rack mounted devices are very common and are stacked vertically in mounts in a manner known to those skilled in the art. Referring to FIG. 1, a rack mount device 100, having a front portion 110, includes a display device on a user interface 120. The display device typically has a flat panel LCD mounted on the front of its enclosure with the viewing screen parallel to the plane of the front of the device. When many rack mount devices are mounted on some larger racks the ability to view the display screen is lessened for devices mounted on the top or bottom of these racks. For example, because the screen is mounted parallel to the front face of the rack mount device, it is best seen from an ideal viewing angle directly in front of the screen where the view is both perpendicular to and centered on the viewing screen. This creates the viewing problem in the prior art where the devices above or below eye level are difficult to read due to the viewing angle. Most rack mount devices with displays suffer from similar shortcomings.
One solution to the viewability problem is to have a display with an adjustable brightness. This allows the viewer to adjust the harder to view screens on a higher setting to allow more visibility for poor viewing angles. However, this solution suffers from significant disadvantages. First, typical displays are LCDs which have a maximum viewing angle. Adjusting the intensity of the display only works if the viewer is still within this viewing range. This can be a disadvantage, for example, when the devices mounted near the top or bottom of the rack are outside of the viewing range.


A process of producing a fine-grained austenitic stainless steel, the process comprising a step of subjecting a fine-grained austenitic stainless steel comprising: C: 0.15 wt % or less, Si: 1.00 wt % or less, Mn: 2.0 wt % or less, Ni: 6.0 to 14.0 wt %, Cr: 16.0 to 22.0 wt %, and Mo: 3.0 wt % or less, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, and having an average grain size of 10 μm or lower, to an annealing treatment at a temperature from 600° C. to 700° C. for 48 hours or longer.

Currently, construction of nuclear power plants is actively progressing in some countries for the purpose of reducing CO2 emission and of accommodating the demand for electricity. Meanwhile, in Japan, some light water reactors that conform to the new regulatory standards have been restarted slowly after the earthquake. There is also a possibility that, not only pressurized water reactors, but also boiling water reactors would be restarted in the future. With regard to the core internal or the fuel cladding tube used for these nuclear plants, austenitic stainless steel is primarily employed as the structural material thereof. However, austenitic stainless steel is susceptible to intergranular and transgranular stress corrosion cracking induced by the combined action of the constituents of the stainless steel, dissolved oxygen, environmental factors, and residual tensile stress. In Non-Patent Document 1, it is reported that, concerning 304 stainless steel (SUS304), intergranular stress corrosion cracking occurs in high temperature water with a dissolved oxygen content of 0.2 ppm or higher, whereas transgranular stress corrosion cracking occurs when the dissolved oxygen content is in the range from 20 to 100 ppb. In addition, there is another problem concerning this material. This material may not withstand excessive stress when used as a structural member because the tensile strength thereof is around 520 MPa, which strength is far from high enough for such application.
Under these circumstances, a variety of material have been developed heretofore in order to solve the above problems. In particular, with regard to austenitic stainless steel SUS316, compositional modification has been made by reducing the carbon content to a minimum so as to suppress formation of a grain boundary Cr-depleted zone. Additionally, SUS316FR showing a improved creep strength as a result of nitrogen addition has also been developed. Additionally, in order to suppress corrosion cracking propagation owing to dissolved oxygen, an attempt to modify an existing structure on-site has been made by injecting hydrogen into the structure. Furthermore, for the purpose of reducing residual tensile stress, a countermeasure has also been examined whereby a residual compressive stress is intentionally imparted to the surface of the structure of interest by means of, for example, shot peening. Recently, as described in Non-Patent Document 2, suppression of stress corrosion cracking by use of Ni based alloy, IN600, has also been examined. Nevertheless, it is not confirmed whether any one of these countermeasures can totally prevent the stress corrosion cracking depending on the dissolved oxygen content. In particular, according to Non-Patent Document 3, it was further revealed recently that, in the presence of dissolved oxygen less than 1 ppb, which oxygen content is further lower than those previously examined, stress corrosion cracking occurs at an earlier stage in SUS304 steel and SUS316 steel. Accordingly, now it would be desirable to investigate and understand in great detail the stress corrosion cracking phenomenon depending on the dissolved oxygen content, and properties which may be affected by such stress corrosion cracking such as tensile strength, elongation, and fracture surface morphology, to thereby develop a material unsusceptible to the stress corrosion cracking. On the other hand, in recently published Patent Document 1, it is reported that stress corrosion cracking in the conventional steel, SUS304, can be suppressed by adjusting the (crystal) grain size to only 10 μm or lower. However, concerning this material, it is not clearly known how the varying dissolved oxygen contents affect the phenomenon of embrittlement. According to Patent Document 2, stainless steel sensitization caused by Cr-depletion can be suppressed by means of rapid heating and rapid cooling during the production process of fine-grained stainless steel so as to increase the Cr concentration in the grain boundary zones by 2% or more than the Cr concentration of the matrix phase. However, rapid heating and rapid cooling promote segregation in the matrix of the fine-grained stainless steel, and therefore a desired ductility cannot be attained. As a result of that, a specimen during slow strain rate test (SSRT), which test requires the specimen to deform uniformly, may undergo brittle fracture. In particular, it is known that, in duplex stainless steel in which ferrite phase and austenite phase coexist, σ phase, which promotes embrittlement, is formed in a region with high Cr concentration. For this reason, increasing the Cr concentration, which is advantageous to the suppression of segregation, may adversely cause the σ embrittlement.

Production process of fine-grained austenitic stainless steel


This invention relates to linear motor compressors which operate without the use of oil and a gas bearing while providing a flexible suspension for such a compressor. Such structures of this type, generally, provide a highly reliable oil-free compressor for use with cryogenic refrigeration equipment so as to attain unattended, continuous operation without maintenance over extended periods of time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to linear motor compressors which operate without the use of oil and a gas bearing while providing a suspension for such a compressor. Such structures of this type, generally, provide a highly reliable oil-free compressor for use with cryogenic refrigeration equipment so as to attain unattended, continuous operation without maintenance over extended periods of time.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in cryorefrigerator compressors, to employ petroleum-based oil as the lubricant. Typically, a petroleum-based oil dissolves gases such as air and hydrocarbon which come in contact with the gases over time. When the oil in the compressor interacts with the cooling gases pumped by the compressor into the cold head, the oil releases the air into the cooling gases. Thus, a portion of air dissolved into the oil is carried by the cooling gases into the cold head. When the cooling gases contact the cold head, which, typically is maintained at temperatures below 77 K., the air condenses and solidifies on the cold head cold surfaces. The solidification of the air can adversely affect the cold head operation because it plugs up the regenerators, reduces the piston clearances and wears out the piston seals. Ultimately, the reduced capacity of the cold head can affect the overall performance of the cryorefrigerator. Therefore, a more advantageous compressor would be presented if the oil could be eliminated.
Also, linear motor compressors employ gas bearings for the reciprocating piston. While the gas bearings have met with a modicum of success, the gas bearings consume about 25% of the useful flow through the compressor and require tight tolerances to operate, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost of the compressor. Therefore, a still further advantageous compressor would be presented if the oil and the gas bearing could be eliminated.
It is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for a compressor which is capable of operating without a gas bearing and which, at least, equals the cooling characteristics of the known cryorefrigerator compressors, but which at the same time is oil-free so that the contamination and unreliability associated with cold heads employing oil lubricants are reduced. It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this and other needs in the art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.

Flexible suspension for an oil free linear motor compressor


This invention relates to a contact lens formed of a copolymer containing, as essential components, at least one fluorine-containing monomer and at least one hydrophilic monomer, and the contact lens of this invention has hydrous nature and sufficient oxygen permeability to alleviate a burden which is caused on the cornea when a contact lens is fitted on.

Contact lenses generally used at present are broadly classified into a hard contact lens and a soft contact lens.
Concerning the hard contact lens, several types of lenses containing a novel material have been developed in recent years. However, all of such hard contact lenses have a defect in that the fitting sense is poor due to hardness of the material thereof.
On the other hand, as a soft contact lens, a lens produced from a hydrous material containing polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate as a main component is widely used. Since, however, such a soft contact lens has insufficient oxygen permeability and insufficiently supplies the cornea with oxygen, a considerable burden is eventually imposed on the cornea due to oxygen deficiency when the soft contact lens is fitted on for a long period of time.
In order to increase the amount of the oxygen supply to the cornea, therefore, there is employed a means of decreasing the thickness of a contact lens, or a means of increasing the water content of a lens material by using N-vinylpyrrolidone, etc., as a main component. However, these means cause the following problems. When the lens thickness is decreased, the lens form stability decreases, and it becomes difficult to maintain the optical lens function. There is hence a limit to decreasing the lens thickness. When the water content in a lens material is increased, the resultant lens is liable to be soiled, or is liable to be broken due to a decrease in mechanical strength.
In order to overcome the above problems, there has been proposed a hydrous soft contact lens which is produced from a material having oxygen permeability in itself (JP-A-54-29660). The contact lens disclosed in the JP-A-54-29660 is formed essentially of a copolymer of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (to be referred to as HEMA hereinafter) and perfluoroalkylethyl methacrylate (to be referred to as RfMA hereinafter), and this contact lens has attained an oxygen permeability of 500 to 2,708 centibarrels.
Meanwhile, it is well known that with an increase in oxygen supply to the cornea when a contact lens is fitted on, i.e. with an increase in oxygen permeation coefficient of a contact lens, the burden on the cornea is alleviated with regard to metabolism.
In some recent reports on the relationship between an oxygen demand of the cornea when contact lens is fitted on and the oxygen permeation coefficient of a contact lens, the possibility to fit it on extendedly or continuously is discussed. However, no theory has been established on the lowest value of the oxygen permeation coefficient of a contact lens which enables continuous fitting. It is clinically reported that some contact lenses having an oxygen permeation coefficient of 16.times.10.sup.-11 to 21.times.10.sup.-11 [cm.sup.3 (STP) cm/(cm.sup.2 .multidot.sec.multidot.mmHg)] have been tested on continuous fitting. However, there is also another opinion that the above oxygen permeation coefficient values are too low to fit on a contact lens continuously. Therefore, if it is intended to prevent a hindrance to the cornea metabolism when a contact lens is fitted on, it is considered that a contact lens having an oxygen permeation coefficient of not less than 30.times.10.sup.-11 [cm.sup.3 (STP) cm/(cm.sup.2 .multidot.sec.multidot.mmHg)] greatly reduces a burden which a contact lens would put on the cornea when fitted on.
However, the contact lens disclosed in the above JP-A-54-29660 has an oxygen permeation coefficient of 5.times.10.sup.-11 to 27.times.10.sup.-11 [cm.sup.3 (STP) cm/cm.sup.2 .multidot.sec.multidot.mmHg)] after the conversion of the data disclosed therein, and it hence cannot be said that a sufficient oxygen permeation coefficient for reducing the burden on the cornea has been attained. That is, the RfMA used as an essential component for the copolymer forming the above contact lens essentially has high hydrophobic nature, and therefore, in order to improve the fitting sense of the lens, it might be attempted to increase the water content of the lens by decreasing the RfMA content and increasing the HEMA content. In this case, however, it is impossible to prevent a decrease in oxygen permeability due to an increase in the HEMA content, and the burden on the cornea increases due to oxygen deficiency. On the other hand, when the oxygen permeability is improved by decreasing the HEMA content and increasing the RfMA content, the resultant contact lens suffers a decrease in its hydrous nature and tends to be fragile.
This invention has been made in order to overcome the above problems, and provides a novel hydrous contact lens. It is an object of this invention to provide a contact lens having hydrous nature and sufficient oxygen permeability to reduce a burden which the contact lens might impose on the cornea when fitted on.