A disconnect information and monitoring system for a dynamically positioned offshore drilling rig at an ocean surface rig location over a wellhead on the sea floor. The system includes a data processing computer, a GPS monitor, a flex joint angle monitor, a slip joint stroke position monitor, and signal equipment to feed signals from the GPS monitor, the flex joint angle monitor, and the slip joint stroke position monitor to the data processing computer. The computer is programmed with software to analyze signal data from the GPS monitor, the flex joint angle monitor and the slip joint stroke position monitor and to present the results of the analysis on the computer monitor so as to provide visual guidance to operators of the rig. In a preferred embodiment a riser top angle monitor and signal equipment for feeding signals from the riser top angle monitor to the data processing computer is also provided. In this preferred embodiment the computer is further programmed display on a computer monitor a symbol representing the rig position relative to the wellhead and to display on the monitor symbols representing limits beyond which the rig should not travel to avoid damage to drill equipment. Another preferred embodiment provides a system and method for determining the curvature profile of the riser.

Equipment and techniques for drilling oil and gas wells in deep water are well established. The typical practice, as shown in FIG. 1, utilizes floating drilling rig 1, from which drill string 2 is extended to the sea floor. At depths greater than 2000 feet, the vessel is typically dynamically positioned (i.e., the vessel's propulsion is controlled by a computer system to keep the vessel on location without the use of anchors). Drill bit 3 is attached to the lower end of drill string 2, and the drill string/bit combination is driven in rotation by top-drive rotary unit 4 from rig 1 to drill the well bore into the ocean floor. Once the initial well bore is established, blowout preventer 5 is lowered to the sea floor to sit above the well. Floating drilling rig 1 and blowout preventer 5 are connected by riser pipe 6 extending from beneath drill floor 7 to the top of blowout preventer 5 on the sea floor. The riser is thus fixed to blowout preventer 5 at the lower end while the upper end must move both horizontally and vertically with the motions of the floating platform. To accommodate platform movement, the riser is connected to blowout preventer 5 at the bottom through flexjoint 8 which allows for riser tilt angles with respect to blowout preventer 5 of up to a maximum of about 10.degree., and to floating platform drill floor 7 at the surface of the sea through a slipjoint/tensioner combination which allows extension and contraction of riser pipe 6 length to accommodate vessel horizontal and vertical movement. The slipjoint is made up of two parts, inner barrel 9 which is attached to the underside of the floating platform drill floor 7, and an outer barrel 10 that is attached to riser pipe 6. Inner barrel 9 slides inside the outer barrel 10 with typical slipjoint strokes being in the order of 20-30 feet. Riser pipe 6 is kept under tension by a series of hydraulic/pneumatic rams known as "riser tensioners" 11 which are located around the slipjoint in a so called "moonpool area" 12 beneath the floating platform drill floor 7. (Moonpool area 12 is a hole in the center of the vessel through which drilling equipment is lowered to and retrieved from the sea floor.) A wire line and two sheaves (one sheave 13 mounted on a tensioner piston rod attached to riser tensioner 11 and the other sheave 14 attached to rig 1). Line 15 is wound through the sheaves with one end attached to slipjoint outer barrel 10 and the other end to the rig 1. This allows the tensioners 11 to maintain a constant (operator selected) tension on the riser pipe 6 while the piston/sheaves move up and down with the vessel/slipjoint motion.
Once blowout preventer 5 is landed on the bottom and riser 6 has been tensioned, drilling proceeds with drill string 2 lowered down and into the sea floor through riser 6 and blowout preventer 5. Vertical rig motion is uncoupled from the drill string 2 by heave compensator 16 located in the derrick above the top drive. During drilling, the well bore is lubricated by drilling "mud" which is pumped down the center of the drill string 2 and out through drill bit 3 where it is returned to the surface through riser 6. Large "mud pumps" on the drilling rig 1 continuously circulate the drilling mud.
Flexjoint 8 at the bottom and the slipjoint at the top allow for limited vessel horizontal displacement, but if the vessel displacement is too great (or anticipated to be so), the vessel/riser must be disconnected from blowout preventer 5 at the bottom before the displacement limit is reached. To allow this disconnection, blowout preventer 5 is made up of two sections, a lower section referred to as "the stack" 17 and an upper section called the lower marine riser package 18. When a disconnection occurs, the stack 17 remains on the bottom and the lower marine riser package 18 remains connected to riser 6.
Reasons for having to disconnect are due to either anticipated heavy weather (rig motions become too large in response to high winds and seas) or the inability of the vessel to remain on location over the well site (due to heavy weather, equipment malfunctions, and operator error). If sufficient time is available, the drill string is withdrawn to the rig before disconnecting the riser. However, equipment malfunctions and/or operator errors which result in rapidly degraded station keeping capability of the vessel can create a situation whereby an "emergency disconnect" is necessary. In this case there is not time to withdraw the drill string and an automated set of blowout preventer functions is commanded from the surface which result in drill string 2 being sheared off inside blowout preventer 5 by large hydraulic rams, the oil or gas well being closed off by additional blowout preventer rams, and lower marine riser package 18 being disconnected from the stack 17. Time to complete an emergency disconnect is in the order of 35-45 seconds (note that for each vessel, the precise time to carry out the automatic disconnect sequence is determined as part of periodic testing).
In the above instances, if the riser is not disconnected in time, the drilling equipment can be seriously damaged and in some cases a serious accident or oil spill could result. Conversely, if an emergency disconnect is made prematurely, in a situation where the displacement limit would not have been reached, the resultant monetary expenditure due to possible mud loss and the time required to reconnect (possibly having to retrieve the sheared portion of drill string 2 from within the well) and re-commence drilling operations could easily be in the order of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Historically (due to offshore drilling starting in shallow water (500-1000 ft.) and the gradual movement from shallow to deep water drilling), the bottom flexjoint angle has been the sole parameter monitored to decide when to initiate an emergency disconnect. The angle is monitored through the use of dual axis tile sensors 19 and 21, the first located on riser 6 above the slipjoint, the other on the lower marine riser package. (Note that in some cases a third tilt sensor is used to monitor the top riser angle.) With a 10.degree. flexjoint angle being the physical limit, alarms were typically set at 5.degree. (the so called "yellow" warning alarm) and at 8.degree. (the "red" emergency disconnect alarm). With increasing water depth, the traditional practice of monitoring the flexjoint angle and top riser angle to insure a maximum value of 10.degree. begins to lose its effectiveness. There comes a point at which the slipjoint and/or tensioners will strokeout before the 10.degree. flexjoint angle is reached. This has been dealt with up until now by reducing the yellow and red flexjoint alarm limits, but this is an over simplified approach which does not take into account the real factors affecting the efficient operation of the drill string and riser pipe at increased depth.
Systems for position monitoring are currently available. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,379, issued May 27, 1980 to Fox, et al which is incorporated herein by reference for background details concerning techniques for deep offshore wells. FIG. 1 shows a prior art marine platform positioning system. Fox et al uses measured angles of the riser or drill string at the platform and at the floor and a special algorithm to determine the proper correction of the platforms horizontal position.
Systems such as described by Fox are helpful, but as the depth increases, more precise information is needed to avoid problems in many operating situations.
What is needed is a better system for monitoring disconnect parameters for very deep offshore wells.

Disconnect information and monitoring system for dynamically positioned offshore drilling rigs


An integrated structure of a return device and a pressure diffuser, and a centrifugal compressor are provided. The structure includes a pressure diffuser portion and a return device portion integrally molded with the pressure diffuser portion. The pressure diffuser portion is configured to form a pressure diffusion flow channel. The return device portion has a return channel. The return channel is in communication with the pressure diffusion flow channel, and is configured to guide gas from the pressure diffusion flow channel. The structure of the present invention eliminates a need of independently installing a return device and a pressure diffuser, and eliminates connection seams caused by assembly and misalignment caused by accumulated errors. Therefore, gas can smoothly flow through the pressure diffusion flow channel into the return channel, such that a gas flow is well guided, and the gas flow uniformity is better.

A centrifugal compressor, also known as a radial flow compressor, is widely used in various processes, mainly for conveying air, various process gases or mixed gases, and increasing their pressure. The multi-stage centrifugal compressor generally includes a main shaft, a first-stage impeller, a first-stage pressure diffuser cover plate, a first-stage pressure diffuser, a return device, a second-stage impeller, a second-stage pressure diffuser cover plate, and a second-stage pressure diffuser. When the compressor is operating, the main shaft drives the first-stage impeller to rotate, and the gas from the gas intake chamber is thrown by the first-stage impeller into the first-stage pressure diffusion flow channel formed by the first-stage pressure diffuser cover plate and the first-stage pressure diffuser; after the gas passes through the first-stage pressure diffusion flow channel, it enters the gas intake flow passage upstream of the second-stage impeller; the second-stage impeller is also driven by the main shaft to rotate, and the gas from the gas intake flow channel is thrown by the second-stage impeller into the second-stage pressure diffusion flow channel formed by the second-stage pressure diffuser cover plate and the second-stage pressure diffuser; in this process, the gas is gradually compressed and thus has a high pressure. In a centrifugal compressor, the function of the return device is to guide a flow and the strong swirling gas flow flowing out of the first-stage pressure diffuser to uniformly enter the next stage impeller in a circumferential direction or in a specific direction.
In the prior art, the return device is usually a separate component, which is connected to the pressure diffuser by screws, pins or welding, so as to be fastened and positioned. This type of structure in the prior art has the following technical defects: (1) the assembly precision is low; the energy loss is large; when the return device, as a separate component, is connected with the diffuser, it needs to be aligned first and then it is connected by screws, pins or welding; in the process, there are not only connection seams generated, but also misalignment easily caused by accumulated errors; when the gas from the pressure diffuser flow channel impacts at the connection seams or the misalignment position, there will be a larger energy loss, such as the kinetic energy loss and the impact loss, etc.; (2) the assembly efficiency is low; since high precision installation is needed, the assembly rate is slow, and the efficiency is low; (3) after the return device is connected with the pressure diffuser, there is a gap between the end of the return device vane and the pressure diffuser, and the gas from the pressure diffusion flow channel is easily leaked from the gap, thus avoiding the flow guiding action of the return device, affecting the gas guided by the return device and impairing the gas flow uniformity; (4) if the return device and the pressure diffuser are connected by screws or pins, threaded holes are needed to be provided in the return device vane, then the screws or pins can go through the pressure diffuser to thread with the threaded holes, so as to realize a fixation; with such a connection manner, the return device vane has to have a certain thickness, which results in that a small number of vanes can be arranged in the return device, and results in that a difference between the vane angle and the gas flow angle of the gas impact is large, and a larger gas impact angle is generated, which is unfavorable for guiding flow and causes energy loss, such as the impact loss.

Integrated structure of refluxer and pressure diffuser, and centrifugal compressor

Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai


The invention is directed to techniques for navigating a network based on audio input to retrieve information from a network. A user enters audio commands into a two-way communication device to access information located on a network, such as the Internet. For example, a user enters a voice request for a web page into a telephone, which sends the request to a proxy browser for the World Wide Web which in turn provides the request to a web navigation application executing on an application server. The web navigation application generates a text-based request based on the voice request and retrieves a web page from the World Wide Web based on the text-based request. The web navigation application uses a script or an XML page to generate a file suitable for audio output from the retrieved web page. The web navigation application then produces an audio output file from the generated file, which it sends to the proxy browser to provide audio output signals to the user over the telephony connection to the user's telephone.

The evolution of the conventional public switched telephone network has resulted in a variety of voice applications and services that can be provided to individual subscribers and business subscribers. Such services include voice messaging systems that enable landline or wireless subscribers to record, playback, and forward voice mail messages. However, the ability to provide enhanced services to subscribers of the public switched telephone network is directly affected by the limitations of the public switched telephone network. In particular, the public switched telephone network operates according to a protocol that is specifically designed for the transport of voice signals; hence any modifications necessary to provide enhanced services can only be done by switch vendors that have sufficient know-how of the existing public switched telephone network infrastructure.
An open standards-based Internet protocol (IP) network, such as the World Wide Web, the Internet, or a corporate intranet, provides client-server type application services for clients by enabling the clients to request application services from remote servers using standardized protocols, for example hypertext transport protocol (HTTP). The web server application environment can include web server software, such as Apache, implemented on a computer system attached to the IP network. Web-based applications are composed of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) pages, logic, and database functions. In addition, the web server may provide logging and monitoring capabilities.
In contrast to the public switched telephone network, the open standards-based IP network has enabled the proliferation of web based applications written by web application developers using web development tools. Hence, the ever increasing popularity of conventional web applications and web development tools provides substantial resources for application developers to develop robust web applications in a relatively short time and an economical manner. However, one important distinction between telephony-based applications and web-based applications is that telephony-based applications are state aware, whereas web-based applications are stateless.
In particular, conventional telephony applications are state aware to ensure that prescribed operations between the telephony application servers and the user telephony devices occur in a prescribed sequence. For example, operations such as call processing operations, voicemail operations, call forwarding, etc., require that specific actions occur in a specific sequence to enable the multiple components of the public switched telephone network to complete the prescribed operations.
The prior art web-based applications running in the IP network, however, are state-less and transient in nature, and do not maintain application state because application state requires an interactive communication between the browser and back-end database servers accessed by the browsers via a HTTP-based web server. However, an HTTP server provides asynchronous execution of HTML applications, where the web applications in response to reception of a specific request in the form of a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) from a client, instantiate a program configured for execution of the specific request, send an HTML web page back to the client, and terminate the program instance that executed the specific request. Storage of application state information in the form of a "cookie" is not practical because some users prefer not to enable cookies on their browser, and because the passing of a large amount of state information as would normally be required for voice-type applications between the browser and the web application would substantially reduce the bandwidth available for the client.
While not considered prior art to the present invention, commonly-assigned, copending application Ser. No. 09/480,485, filed Jan. 11, 2000, entitled "Application Server Configured for Dynamically Generating Web Pages for Voice Enabled Web Applications", the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, discloses an application server that executes a voice-enabled web application by runtime execution of extensible markup language (XML) documents that define the voice-enabled web application to be executed. The application server includes a runtime environment that establishes an efficient, high-speed connection to a web server. The application server, in response to receiving a user request from a user, accesses a selected XML page that defines at least a part of the voice application to be executed for the user. The XML page may describe a user interface, such as dynamic generation of a menu of options or a prompt for a password, an application logic operation, or a function capability such as generating a function call to an external resource. The application server then parses the XML page, and executes the operation described by the XML page, for example, by dynamically generating an HTML page having voice application control content, or fetching another XML page to continue application processing. In addition, the application server may access an XML page that stores application state information, enabling the application server to be state-aware relative to the user interaction. Hence, the XML page, which can be written using a conventional editor or word processor, defines the application to be executed by the application server within the runtime environment, enabling voice enabled web applications to be generated and executed without the necessity of programming language environments.
Hence, web programmers can write voice-enabled web applications, using the teachings of the above-incorporated application Ser. No. 09/480,485, by writing XML pages that specify respective voice application operations to be performed. The XML documents have a distinct feature of having tags that allow a web browser (or other software) to identify information as being a specific kind or type of information. While not considered prior art to the present invention, commonly assigned, copending application Ser. No. 09/501,516, filed Feb. 1, 2000, entitled "Arrangement for Defining and Processing Voice Enabled Web Applications Using Extensible Markup Language Documents", the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, discloses an arrangement for defining a voice-enabled web application using extensible markup language (XML) documents that define the voice application operations to be performed within the voice application. Each voice application operation can be defined as any one of a user interface operation, a logic operation, or a function operation. Each XML document includes XML tags that specify the user interface operation, the logic operation and/or the function operation to be performed within a corresponding voice application operation, the XML tags being based on prescribed rule sets that specify the executable functions to be performed by the application runtime environment. Each XML document may also reference another XML document to be executed based on the relative position of the XML document within the sequence of voice application operations to be performed. The XML documents are stored for execution of the voice application by an application server in an application runtime environment.
Hence, the XML document described in the above-incorporated application Ser. No. 09/501,516, which can be written using a conventional editor or word processor, defines the application to be executed by the application server within the runtime environment, enabling voice enabled web applications to be generated and executed without the necessity of programming language environments.
In reference to a conventional telephony-based application (unlike those in the patent applications incorporated by reference above), a user can use the application to access prerecorded responses from a remote source by using a menu-based audio interface. This prior art interface may be based on simple voice predefined voice commands, like "yes" or "no," or reciting a number to indicate choice in a menu. The interface may also be based on entering numbered or other responses on a touch tone keypad into the telephone. For example, a user can use a touch tone telephone to access a bank and obtain the balance or other information on a bank account over a telephone. A user can also use a touch tone telephone to obtain information about some topic or organization they are interested in, such as the hours, exhibits, prices, and special events for a museum, based on a menu of prerecorded menus and messages maintained by the museum.
In other conventional approaches, automatic speech recognition (ASR) techniques provide for the recognition of words or phrases in a user's speech. A user can provide speech input into a microphone attached to a computer, and the computer can translate words and phrases in the speech into commands or data that the computer receives as input similar to the way input typed into a keyboard would be used by the computer. Text to speech (TTS) techniques provide for the output of a computer to be translated from text output to speech. Thus the user can hear the output of the computer that, otherwise, would typically be read by the user from a display screen attached to the computer.

Apparatus and methods for providing network-based information suitable for audio output


The invention is directed to a method for producing a fatty acid salt, the method comprising reacting a fatty acid with a metal oxide or a metal hydroxide by use of an extruder having at least a stock supply zone, a kneading/reaction zone, and a cooling zone. The invention provides a high-productivity, highly efficient method for continuously producing a fatty acid salt and a method for effectively producing a fatty acid salt having a high unsaturated fatty acid content and a low melting temperature.

Conventionally, there have been known several methods for producing a fatty acid salt through reaction of a fatty acid with a metal oxide or a metal hydroxide; e.g., (1) the wet direct method, (2) the double decomposition method, and (3) the dry direct method (disclosed, for example, in "Properties and Applications of Metallic Soap," edited by Tokiyuki YOSHIDA et al., published by Saiwai Shobo (1988)).
Among these methods, (1) the wet direct method employs neutralization reaction in which a fatty acid in liquid form is added dropwise, with stirring, to a dispersion of a metal hydroxide micropowder in water, to thereby obtain a fatty acid salt. In (2) the double decomposition method, a fatty acid is added dropwise, with stirring, to an aqueous dispersion or aqueous solution of a hydroxide of an alkali metal such as sodium or potassium, to thereby synthesize alkali soap, and an aqueous solution of a metal chloride or sulfate is added dropwise to an aqueous solution of the alkali soap so as to react the alkali soap with the metal, to thereby obtain a fatty acid salt. When method (2) is employed, the overall reaction can be completed highly stoichiometrically. Therefore, method (2) has been a mainstream method among conventional fatty acid salt synthesis methods.
In (3) the dry direct method, a liquid fatty acid is sufficiently mixed with micropowder of a metal oxide or a metal hydroxide through high-speed agitation or a similar technique, and a predetermined amount of water is added to the resultant mixture, thereby inducing simultaneous reaction. As compared with the above methods (1) and (2), method (3) is advantageous in that no filtration step is required and that a drying step requiring a large amount of heat can be simplified.

Process for producing fatty acid salt and livestock feed containing the fatty acid salt


Various embodiments provide a vehicle wheel chock hanger for holding different vehicle wheel chocks of different vehicle restraint systems. Various embodiments provide a vehicle wheel chock hanger for vehicle restraint systems for a vehicle such as an auto-rack railroad car that is configured to hold various different chocks that are configured to secure vehicles in that vehicle.

The railroad industry employs a variety of vehicles such as auto-rack railroad cars for transporting newly-manufactured vehicles (such as automobiles, vans, and trucks). Auto-rack railroad cars, known in the railroad industry as auto-rack cars, often travel thousands of miles through varying terrain. Various types of auto-rack cars are compartmented, having two or three decks, two side walls, a pair of doors at each end, and a roof. Newly manufactured vehicles are loaded into (and unloaded from) an auto-rack car for transport by people (sometimes called "loaders") who drive the vehicles into (or out) of the auto-rack car.
One problem with auto-rack cars is the potential for damage to newly manufactured vehicles. This damage can occur to vehicles being transported in the auto-rack car due to the unwanted movement of one or more of the transported vehicles not adequately secured in the auto-rack car. Various different vehicle restraint systems have been developed and commercialized for securing the vehicles transported in auto-rack cars to prevent movement or shifting of those vehicles in the auto-rack cars during transportation.
One commercialized vehicle restraint system for restraining vehicles transported in tri-level auto-rack cars is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,961,084 and 9,469,235.
Another commercialized vehicle restraint system for restraining vehicles transported in tri-level auto-rack cars is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,824,138.
Another commercialized vehicle restraint system for restraining vehicles transported in tri-level auto-rack cars is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,375,814.
Another commercialized vehicle restraint system for restraining vehicles transported in tri-level auto-rack cars is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,457,705.
Each of these different vehicle restraint systems includes one or more chocks that are each detachably securable to a rail on and securely attached to a floor of a deck of a tri-level auto-rack car. After driving the vehicle into the tri-level auto-rack car on one of the decks, the loader positions two of the chocks adjacent to each of two (or more) of the wheels of the vehicle. The loader also attaches each such chock (that is positioned adjacent to one of the wheels) to the rail on the deck adjacent to that wheel. The loader employs an attachment mechanism of each chock to attach that chock to the rail. Prior to unloading the transported vehicles at their destination, a different loader detaches the chocks from the respective rails and removes these chocks from the positions adjacent to the wheels. If the chocks are left on the decks of the auto-rack car when the vehicles are being unloaded (or when other vehicles are subsequently loaded into the auto-rack car), the vehicles can run over these chocks and cause damage to the vehicles as well as to these chocks. It is therefore important that the chocks are moved out of the way of the vehicles when the chocks are not in use (i.e., not attached to a rail and not restraining a vehicle) to prevent this damage to the vehicles (moving into or out of the auto-rack car) as well as to prevent damage to these chocks. It is also important that the chocks are securely held in their respective stored positions when not in use. For example, during switching and coupling in a railroad yard (where the auto-rack cars are coupled and decoupled with other railroad cars in different freight trains), the auto-rack cars can be subjected to relatively severe jolts during coupling. If the chocks are not secured properly, they can be dislodged and wind up in undesired positions.
In certain known auto-rack cars, when not in use, the chocks are placed in storage boxes that are secured to the deck or one of the side walls of the auto-rack car. One problem with the commercially implemented storage boxes is that they take up space on the decks of the tri-level auto-rack cars. Certain auto-rack car manufacturers and/or users do not want to employ such storage boxes for these chocks.
In certain known auto-rack cars, specifically configured single-chock type brackets have been employed to hold specific chocks. Such specific brackets do not support the various other types of chocks that are employed in tri-level auto-rack cars. Since there are often multiple different types of chocks employed in an auto-rack car, multiple different types of such dedicated known brackets would need to be employed for the multiple different chocks in the same auto-rack car. This is not practical or cost effective.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device configured to enable the storage of multiple different types of chocks in a tri-level auto-rack car when the chocks in the auto-rack car are not in use.


An interrupt signal is provided to an operating system executed using one or more processors of a plurality of processors. A bus attachment device receives an interrupt signal with an interrupt target ID identifying a processor assigned for use as a target processor for handling the interrupt signal. The bus attachment device translates the received interrupt target ID to a processor ID using an interrupt table entry and forwards the interrupt signal to the target processor for handling. The processor ID is used to address the target processor directly.

One or more aspects of the present disclosure relate, in general, to interrupt processing within a computer system, and in particular, to handling interrupts generated by bus connected modules in a multiprocessor computer system.
Interrupts are used to signal to a processor that an event needs the attention of the processor. For example, hardware devices, e.g., hardware devices connected with the processors via a bus, use interrupts to communicate that they require attention from an operating system. In case the receiving processor is currently performing some activities, the receiving processor may in response to receiving an interrupt signal suspend its current activities, save its state, and handle the interrupt, e.g., by executing an interrupt handler. The interruption of the processors' current activities resulting from the receipt is only temporary. After having handled the interrupt, the processor may resume its suspended activities. Thus, interrupts may allow for a performance improvement by eliminating unproductive waiting time of a processor in polling loops, waiting for external events.
In multiprocessor computer systems, interrupt routing efficiency issues may arise. The challenge is to forward interrupt signals sent by hardware devices, like, e.g., bus connected modules, to a processor of the multiple processors assigned for use by the operating system in an efficient way. This may be particularly challenging in case the interrupt is used to communicate with a guest operating system on a virtual machine. A hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM) creates and runs one or more virtual machines, i.e., guest machines. A virtual machine provides a guest operating system executed on the same machine with a virtual operating platform, while hiding the physical characteristics of the underlying platform. Using multiple virtual machines allows to run multiple operating systems in parallel. Since being executed on a virtual operating platform, the guest operating system's view of the processors may in general differ from an underlying, e.g., physical view of the processors. The guest operating system uses virtual processor IDs to identify processors, which in general do not coincide with underlying logical processor IDs. The hypervisor which manages the execution of the guest operating system defines a mapping between underlying logical processor IDs and virtual processor IDs used by the guest operating system. However, this mapping and the selection of processors scheduled for use by the guest operating system are not static, but may be changed by the hypervisor, while the guest operating system is running, without the knowledge of the guest operating system.
Typically, this challenge is solved by forwarding interrupt signals using broadcasting. When using the broadcasting, the interrupt signal is successively forwarded between the multiple processors until a processor suitable for handling the interrupt signal is met. However, in case of multiple processors the probability that a processor receiving the broadcasted interrupt signal first is indeed suitable for handling the interrupt signal may be rather low. Furthermore, being suitable for handling the interrupt signal not necessarily means that the respective processor is the best choice for handling the interrupt.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Directed interrupt virtualization with interrupt table

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An anti-friction nut for engagement with an elongate shaft-like member having a groove with opposed walls. The nut body has an axial bore which is adapted to receive the shaft-like member, and a radial bore communicating with the axial bore. The radial bore carries an anti-friction roller mounted by means of two back-to-back ball bearing assemblages. A nose portion of the roller extends into the axial bore and engages one wall of the groove of the shaft-like member. There is a spring in the radial bore which engages the outer race of the inner ball bearing assemblage, and effectively biases the roller in a radially outward direction, away from the shaft-like member. A threaded adjustment plug in the bore engages the outer race of the outermost ball bearing assemblage, to effect adjustable movement of the roller in radial directions, against the action of the spring. Reduced looseness and backlash are realized.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to reciprocating drive mechanisms, and more particularly to devices of the type incorporating one or more anti-friction rollers that are turnably mounted in a nut body and which extend into the axial bore of the body so as to engage the walls of a grooved or threaded shaft, such as a screw or other shaft having a roller-receiving groove.
The entire disclosure of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/333,735 above identified is specifically incorporated by reference, into the present application.
The listing of prior art set forth in the above identified application is re-produced hereinbelow:
U.S. Pat. Nos.
______________________________________ 3,296,880 3,308,674 3,766,788 3,766,800 3,779,094 4,008,625 4,022,076 4,031,765 4,198,872 4,199,999 4,343,200 5,191,805 ______________________________________
British Patent No. 1044 dated Jan. 15, 1907
French Patent No. 526,586

Mechanical drive assembly incorporating counter-spring biased, radially-adjustable rollers


For spatial high resolution imaging of a structure of a sample comprising a luminophore, the sample is subjected to excitation inhibiting light transferring the luminophore out of an excitable electronic ground state into a protection state in which the luminophore is protected against electronic excitation by luminescence excitation light and luminescence de-excitation light. The excitation inhibiting light comprises a first local minimum. Next, the sample is subjected to the luminescence excitation light exciting the luminophore within the first local minimum into an excited luminescent state. Then, the sample is subjected to the luminescence de-excitation light returning the luminophore out of the excited luminescent state into the excitable electronic ground state. The luminescence de-excitation light comprises a second local minimum overlapping with the first local minimum. Luminescence light emitted out of the measurement area is measured and assigned to the position of the second local minimum within the sample.

A method of spatial high resolution imaging of a structure of a sample, the structure comprising a luminophore, is known as STED (Stimulated Emission Depletion) scanning fluorescence light microscopy. Here, the sample, in the measurement area, is at first subjected to the luminescence excitation light which excites the luminophore out of the excitable electronic ground state into the excited luminescent state. Then, the sample, in the measurement area, is subjected to an intensity distribution of the luminescence de-excitation light in the form of emission stimulation light which stimulates the luminophore for emission of light having the wavelength of the emission stimulation light, i.e. a different wavelength than that one of the luminescence light, and thus de-excites it back into its ground state, the intensity distribution having a local minimum. If the luminescence de-excitation light de-excites the luminophore out of the excited luminescent state everywhere outside the local minimum by means of stimulated emission, the luminescence light emitted out of the measurement area afterwards may only stem from the local minimum of the intensity distribution of the luminescence de-excitation light and may thus be assigned to the position of the local minimum within the sample.
In the method known as STED, a very high spatial resolution at a high contrast in imaging a structure of a sample, the structure being marked with a luminophore, is also achieved in practice. Here, however, the luminophore is seriously stressed photochemically and thus tends to bleaching. The reason is that the luminescence de-excitation light, which has to be applied at a high absolute intensity to narrow down the local minimum in the form of a zero point of its intensity distribution, is applied to the luminophore already being in its excited luminescent state. Thus, besides the desired stimulated emission which returns the luminophore into its ground state, other processes, particularly further electronic excitations of the luminophore resulting into bleaching, are also not unlikely. New excitations of the luminophore at first de-excited by stimulated emission may also occur due to the light originally provided for luminescence de-excitation.
A further method of spatial high resolution imaging of a structure of a sample, the structure comprising a luminophore, is known as GSD (Ground State Depletion) scanning fluorescence light microscopy. In this known method, the luminophore, prior to being subjected to the luminescence excitation light, is subjected to luminescence inhibiting light which has an intensity distribution comprising a local minimum. The luminescence inhibiting light transfers the luminophore into a dark state, like for example a long living triplet state, out of which it is not excited into a luminescent state by means of the luminescence excitation light. Everywhere outside the local minimum of the intensity distribution of the luminescence inhibiting light, this transfer into the dark state is saturated. I.e. only in the local minimum of the intensity distribution of the luminescence inhibiting light, the luminophore, after being subjected to the luminescence inhibiting light, is still in its electronic ground state out of which it is excited into the luminescent state by the luminescence excitation light. Luminescence light emitted by the luminophore after excitation by the luminescence excitation light thus stems from the local minimum of the intensity distribution of the luminescence inhibiting light and may thus be assigned to the position of the local minimum within the sample.
In the method known as GSD, there is a considerable danger of bleaching the luminophore as well, because the luminophore, in its long-living dark state, into which it is transferred by the luminescence inhibiting light, has an increased tendency to chemical reactions like, for example, with oxygen, and/or it is exposed to the danger that it is further excited by the luminescence inhibiting light or the luminescence excitation light so that a photochemical bleaching of the luminophore occurs.
A further method of spatial high resolution imaging of a structure of a sample, the structure comprising a luminophore, is known as a variant of RESOLFT (Reversible Saturable Optical Fluorescence Transitions) scanning fluorescence light microscopy which makes use of so-called switchable luminophores. By means of luminescence inhibiting light, these luminophores are switchable out of a first conformation state in which they are acting as luminophores into a second conformation state in which they are not acting as luminophores, i.e. in which they are, at least by means of the luminescence excitation light which is usable for exciting the luminescent state in the first conformation state, not excitable into the luminescent state in which they emit the luminescence light registered as the measurement signal. With a sufficient long lifetime of the second conformation state, only comparatively low light intensities are necessary to saturate this switching everywhere outside a local minimum of the intensity distribution of the luminescence inhibiting light. Further, there is no significant danger that the luminophore transferred into its other conformation state bleaches out of this other conformation state as it does not respond to the luminescence inhibiting light or the luminescence excitation light within this conformation state.
In the practical implementation of RESOLFT scanning fluorescence light microscopy with switchable fluorophores, a spatial resolution and a contrast are observed which lag behind those of STED scanning fluorescence light microscopy. This may be due to the fact that even then when the switching of the switchable luminophore into a conformation state not capable of luminescence is saturated, there is still a noticeable percentage of the luminophore in its conformation state capable of luminescence.
There still is a need of a method of spatial high resolution imaging of a structure of a sample, the structure comprising a luminophore, in which the high spatial resolution and the high contrast of STED scanning fluorescence light microscopy are achieved and in which the luminophore is nevertheless subjected to a lower danger of photochemical bleaching than in all previously known methods of STED scanning fluorescence light microscopy.

Method of spatial high resolution imaging of a structure of a sample, the structure comprising a luminophore

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER WISSENS


An LCD heater includes a substantially transparent conductive heater layer (e.g. ITO) deposited on a transparent sheet. Attached to the conductive layer are a pair of tin coated bus bars, each of which is adhered to the conductive layer via a Z-axis conductive adhesive that reduces thermal stresses induced on solder connections between the bus bars and wires soldered thereto.

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have found widespread usage in the prior art, one such display being, for example, of the twisted nematic liquid crystal type. Such LCDs operate by applying an alternating voltage potential between opposing electrodes sandwiching a liquid crystal layer therebetween. Twisted nematic LCDs used, for example, in cockpits of air vehicles typically include a matrix array of pixels and a corresponding backlight for illuminating the elements. These pixels are often temperature dependent with respect to their normal operating characteristics in that an LCD relies upon the behavioral characteristics of its twisted nematic layer as it is exposed to driving voltages. Because such voltage-related behavior of the liquid crystal (LC) is a function of temperature, the overall performance of the corresponding display is temperature dependent. When below a predetermined temperature, twisted nematic LC material does not behave in a consistent manner. Accordingly, the LC material in such situations must be heated to a predetermined temperature in order to achieve satisfactory functionality.
LCD heaters are known in the art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,643,525; 4,727,835; 5,247,374; and 5,523,873.
LCD heaters, including a conductive ITO coating deposited on a transparent glass substrate, are old and well-known in the art. In such heaters, the indium tin oxide (ITO) heater coating is typically energized by way of a pair of parallel bus bars aligned along a planar surface of the ITO. Such bus bars have typically been made of either silkscreened conductive epoxy or deposited metal, the deposited metal including, for example, a tri-layer combination of chrome, nickel, and gold. Other conventional heater bus bars have been composed of a silver frit (fired silver) deposited onto a piece of glass, with an ITO layer then deposited over the entire surface. Other bus bars have been fabricated using silver epoxy, thin film gold, thin film platinum, ultrasonic indium, and flexible circuitry.
Unfortunately, silver frit bus bars are costly and require special expensive indium solder to be used to attach wires to it. This special solder is expensive, and thus undesirable. Prior art heaters where the silver bus bars are deposited directly onto the glass are undesirable due to thermal stresses created in the silver-to-solder joint when the heater is turned on. It is these thermal stresses that create the need for the special indium solder used to connect the wires to the bus bars. It has been found that wires attached with normal conventional solder (e.g. SN63)often fall off during evaluation testing.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an LCD heater including bus bars attached to a conductive film, wherein the presence or effect of thermal stresses are substantially reduced or even eliminated. Furthermore, there exists a need in the art for a cost effective heater which satisfies the above-listed needs, and may be implemented with conventional non-special solder, and overcomes step coverage reliability problems.

LCD heater utilizing Z-axis conductive adhesive to attach bus bars to ito


There is described a network having redundancy properties, an Ethernet switch, and a method for configuring the network. At least two network segments which are formed with a plurality of Ethernet switches are connected to one another by means of a redundant connection comprising at least two coupling channels. During configuration, a programming device stores a logic name for the redundant connection in the respective memory of associated coupling devices. In a network startup phase, said coupling devices determine the respective other connection partner associated with the same redundant connection by distributing special messages in which they enter the logic name of the redundant connection. They use an order criterion to determine which coupling channel is active and which coupling channel is deactivated during trouble-free operation.

Various networks having redundancy properties are already disclosed in EP 1 260 081 B1. Inter alia a so-called Optical Switch Module (OSM) having a plurality of ports for the attachment of further network components is described there. In order to construct an Ethernet or Fast Ethernet network, e.g. terminals are attached to the ports and are therefore connected to each other via the OSM. A plurality of OSMs can be interconnected in a continuous line structure to form a string. An optical ring is produced if the two line ends are attached to an Optical Redundancy Manager (ORM). Test messages which the ORM inputs into the two line ends are used to check whether there is an interruption in the string. If there is no error, i.e. if the string is not interrupted, the ORM separates the two line ends and if there is an error, the two line ends are connected together by the ORM. In a network comprising a plurality of redundant optical rings, two optical rings are coupled together via two OSMs. The two OSMs which are connected between the optical rings form a communication channel in each case, of which one is active and one is switched to a standby mode. The two OSMs exchange their status via special standby ports which are connected to each other by means of cables. If the connection via the active OSM fails, the redundant OSM enables its communication channel, i.e. it switches from standby mode to active mode. A comparatively short reconfiguration time is achieved in this way. This prevents physical errors, temporary electromagnetic interference, network upgrades or component replacements from impairing the communication between the network components for an unacceptably long time. The disadvantage in this case is that two additional devices are required for the redundant connection of two optical rings, and that these devices must additionally be connected together. In order to avoid this disadvantage, the above cited patent document proposes that a switch module which is located at the active communication channel cyclically sends so-called port-select messages to the other switch modules that are arranged in the same string, while the communication channel is uninterrupted. The switch module which is located in standby mode at the other communication channel monitors the first communication channel by analyzing the port-select messages. Although a comparatively short reconfiguration time is likewise achieved in the known network, the configuration of the switch modules in the startup phase of the network is disadvantageously carried out using a resource-intensive algorithm and requires more time due to the multiplicity of messages that must be sent.
Further networks having redundancy management are disclosed in the publications EP-A-0 403 763 and EP-A-0 560 122.
The standardized Spanning Tree and Rapid Spanning Tree protocols likewise allow redundancy management in an Ethernet network. However, these methods cannot always be used in industrial communications due to the long reconfiguration times, particularly if time intervals of several seconds during which the data communication is disrupted are not acceptable.

Network having redundancy properties, Ethernet switch for such a network and method for configuring such a network


In a finishing apparatus, such as would be used with a copier or high-speed printer, an applicator places stickers on a folded sheet or booklet, to prevent the sheet or booklet from unfolding or opening. At one point in the operation, the folded sheet or booklet is “backed up” in its basic process direction to receive a sticker on its trailing edge, and backed up further so that the sticker is folded over the trailing edge by a pair of crease rolls.

Booklet makers and sheet folders are well-known devices for forming folded booklets or folded sheet sets. It is becoming common to include booklet makers and sheet folders in conjunction with office-range copiers and printers (as used herein, a "copier" will be considered a type of "printer"). In basic form, a booklet maker/sheet folder includes a slot for accumulating signature sheets, as would be produced by a printer. In booklet mode, the accumulated sheets, forming the pages of a booklet, are positioned within the stack so that a stapler mechanism and complementary anvil can staple the stack precisely along the intended crease line. In one embodiment, the creased and stapled sheet sets are then pushed, by a blade, completely through crease rolls, to form the final main fold in the finished booklet. The basic hardware of a booklet maker, such as including the crease rolls, can be controlled to provided C- or Z-folds to sheets or sets of sheets as well. The finished booklets or sheets are then accumulated in a tray downstream of the crease rolls.
Whether the final product of a booklet maker is a multi-page booklet, or a folded sheet or set of sheets, if it is desired to mail the product without an envelope, it is known to place a sticker on an edge of the product to prevent the booklet or folded sheet from opening or unfolding in the mail.

Automated sheet folder or booklet maker which applies sticker closures


A simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM)-enabled video game system, a user device of the video game system, and a computer-readable storage medium of the user device are disclosed. Generally, the video game system includes a video game console, a plurality of thermal beacons, and a user device communicatively coupled with the video game console. The user device includes a thermopile array, a processor, and a memory. The user device may receive thermal data from the thermopile array, the thermal data corresponding to a thermal signal emitted from a thermal beacon of the plurality of thermal beacons and detected by the thermopile array. The user device may determine, based on the thermal data, its location in 3D space, and then transmit that location to the video game system.

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is a technique whereby a map is constructed of a particular environment while simultaneously keeping track of a target object's location within the environment. SLAM is used in robotic mapping and navigation in an open environment, including self-driving cars. SLAM may also be used in a closed environment, such as a room for playing video games or conducting a virtual meeting.
Existing SLAM techniques often use some type of camera configuration that contains one or more cameras, each camera containing one or more optical sensors. A variety of optical sensor types may be used, including one-dimensional (1D), 2D, 3D, etc. For example, in a case where two fixed-point 2D cameras are employed, each camera may detect a target object. The SLAM application's algorithm may determine the distance between the target object and each camera and triangulate this information to determine the location (e.g., position) of the target object. Often, especially, when the target may be moving and/or rotating through space, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) may also be employed, along with a camera apparatus, to detect the target's linear acceleration and rotation rate. The combination of sensor input from both an IMU and a camera apparatus helps to enable a higher degree of location-tracking accuracy. Other SLAM techniques also exist, including radar SLAM, WiFi-SLAM, etc.
However, there are at least two problems with existing SLAM-based applications. First, when employing an IMU to track the acceleration and rotation of a moving target through space, the IMU location-tracking accuracy degrades continuously over time due at least to offset error (also known as "drift"), thus decreasing the accuracy of SLAM techniques. Second, while combining sensory data received from other equipment (e.g., cameras) can help improve the SLAM algorithm's accuracy, this equipment currently can add significant cost and require a complex setup procedure. Therefore, there is a need to improve existing SLAM techniques by providing a lower-cost and yet highly accurate location-tracking solution.


The invention concerns an in vitro method of determining a genotype relating to hereditary nasal parakeratosis (HNPK) in a dog. According to the invention the presence or the absence of a genetic variation in the SUV39H2 gene sequence is indicative of said disorder. The invention also concerns polypeptide based methods for determining said disorder. Further, nucleic acids, polypeptides and antibodies usable in said method are disclosed.

Hereditary nasal parakeratosis (HNPK) is a genodermatosis of Labrador Retrievers with a monogenic autosomal recessive inheritance (Pagé et al. 2003, Peters et al. 2003). HNPK-affected dogs develop crusts and fissuring of the nasal planum at a young age but are otherwise healthy. Histopathological changes consist of parakeratotic hyperkeratosis and an accumulation of proteinacious fluid ("serum lakes") within the stratum corneum and the superficial stratum spinosum. HNPK currently cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be alleviated with symptomatic therapy.
Due to monogenic autosomal recessive inheritance, a method to determine the genotype of a dog is of high importance. Heterozygous dogs are not affected and can phenotypically not be distinguished from homozygous free dogs. However, heterozygous dogs carry the mutant allele ("carriers") and may transmit this disease to their offspring.
At the moment breeders can identify carrier dogs only based on phenotype information collected from earlier generations and to eliminate the identified carriers from breeding programs, thereby reducing the frequency of genetic disease in a breed. Thus, there is a long felt need in the breeding of Labrador Retrievers for a genetic test that permits the identification of also healthy carriers of HNPK. Therefore, a genetic test method that can discriminate the three genotypes "free" (=homozygous wildtype), "carrier" (=heterozygous"), and "affected" (=homozygous mutant) is highly valuable for dog breeding as well as for veterinary medicine to confirm the diagnosis of suspicious cases.

Method of determining the genotype relating to hereditary nasal parakeratosis (HNPK) and nucleic acids usable in said method


A fringe field switching liquid crystal display (FFS-LCD) device (200) includes a first substrate (210) and a second substrate (220) disposed opposite to each other and spaced apart a predetermined distance, a liquid crystal layer (250) interposed between the first and second substrates, a plurality of gate lines (233) and data lines (234) formed on the second substrates, thereby defining a plurality of pixel regions, and a plurality of pixel electrodes (223) and a plate-like common electrode (221) provided in each of the pixel regions. The pixel electrodes have a plurality of curving comb portions so as to generate a continuous variation electric field between the pixel and common electrodes. Liquid crystal molecules in the FFS-LCD device are twisted in different continuous directions so as to reduce the color shift.

LCD devices are used as displays on a variety of devices such as, for example, computer monitors and motor vehicle cruise control panels. Existing LCD types include, for example, the twisted nematic liquid crystal display (TN-LCD) and the in-plane switching liquid crystal display (IPS-LCD). The TN-LCD often has the problem of a narrow viewing angle, and so the IPS-LCD was developed to overcome this disadvantage. The IPS-LCD typically has one or more common electrodes and a plurality of pixel electrodes all disposed on one of two opposite substrates. The electrodes drive liquid crystal molecules interposed between the substrates with an electric field. The resulting electric field is substantially in a plane parallel to the substrates. Such a configuration provides a wide viewing angle.
However, the common electrodes and pixel electrodes are formed of opaque metals, giving the IPS-LCD a low aperture ratio and low transmittance. Thus a fringe field switching liquid crystal display (FFS-LCD) with a flat plate-like common electrode has been developed in order to improve on the aperture ratio and transmittance. The FFS-LCD is characterized by its driving electric field, which is between each pixel electrode and the common electrode. Because the common electrode is transparent, the FFS LCD can typically attain a higher aperture ratio and a higher transmittance.
FIG. 4 is a schematic, cross-sectional view of a conventional FFS-LCD 1. The FFS-LCD 1 includes an upper substrate 20 and an opposite lower substrate 10, with the substrates 20, 10 being spaced apart a predetermined distance. A liquid crystal layer 50 having a multiplicity of liquid crystal molecules (not labeled) is disposed between the upper and lower substrates 20, 10. A backlight module (not shown) is disposed under the lower substrate 10 for providing illumination.
A common electrode 11 and a plurality of pixel electrodes 13 are disposed at the lower substrate 10, with an insulating layer 15 interposed between the common electrode 11 and the pixel electrodes 13. A lower alignment film 14 is formed on the insulating layer 15, such that the lower alignment film 14 also covers the pixel electrodes 13. A color filter 25 and an upper alignment film 24 are formed on an inner surface of the upper substrate 20, in that order from top to bottom.
Also referring to FIG. 5, two gate lines 3 and two data lines 7 define a pixel area of the FFS-LCD 1. The data lines 7 are parallel to but spaced apart from each other, and are substantially perpendicular to the gate lines 3.
Pixel electrodes 13 and common electrode 11 are formed in the pixel area. The pixel and common electrodes 13, 11 are made of a transparent conductive material such as indium-tin-oxide (ITO) or indium-zinc-oxide (IZO). The pixel electrodes 13 include a plurality of comb portions (not labeled) substantially parallel to each other, and are electrically connected to the source line 7a of the TFT (not labeled) through a contact hole thereof.
The comb portions of the pixel electrodes 13 are parallel to each other, and are all oriented in a first direction. When the FFS-LCD 1 is driven, a fringe electric field is formed between the common electrode 11 and each pixel electrode 13. The liquid crystal molecules disposed over the common electrode 11 and pixel electrodes 13 are driven by this electric field and have a corresponding orientation. Then, the liquid crystal molecules are rotated only in a single direction. This means that an associated display screen exhibits color shift when the display screen is obliquely viewed while displaying white.
Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic, plan view of a pixel area of another FFS-LCD is shown. Comb portions of pixel electrodes 23 are substantially parallel to each other. Each comb portion has an elbow section, such that the comb portion is bent. When a voltage is applied between the pixel and common electrodes 23, 21, a horizontal in-plane electric field in two directions is established between the pixel and common electrodes 23, 21. Then, the liquid crystal display device has two domains so as to reduce color shift.
However, because each of the comb portions of the pixel electrodes 23 includes an elbow portion, and the electric field yielded near the elbow portion is liable to be distorted. Liquid crystal molecules at the elbow portion may be or abnormally oriented. Thus, the display quality of the FFS-LCD would be impaired.
What is needed, therefore, is a fringe field switching mode liquid crystal display device which has reduced color shift and which provides relatively uniform display quality.

Fringe field switching mode liquid crystal display device for reducing color shift


The invention provides a decorative object comprising a transparent or translucent substrate having a body and at least one surface bearing a thin film coating. The coating imparts in the substrate a body color that appears substantially constant at different angles of observation. This body color is imparted in the substrate at least in part by absorption of visible radiation that is transmitted through said coating. The coating includes a high absorption layer comprising film that is highly absorptive of visible radiation. Also provided are methods of coating gems and other decorative objects, as well as methods of heat treating coated gems and other decorative objects.

The invention relates to methods of altering the appearance of decorative objects, such as gemstones, by coating the decorative objects with thin film coatings that provide color via optical absorption to improve the appearance of the objects.
A number of processes have been developed to improve the appearance of gemstones or to create simulated gemstones. For example, methods of diffusing ions into gemstones (e.g., diffusing ions of titanium and/or iron into sapphire, or diffusing ions of cobalt into topaz) have been disclosed. These diffusion methods, however, traditionally have been limited to specific ions and specific substrates. Moreover, diffusion methods typically involve extremely high temperature, which frequently causes breakage or damage of the gemstones. Diffusion methods characteristically cause the added ions to become part of the crystal surface with no distinct boundary. In fact, diffusion methods commonly leave a gradient of ion concentration in the substrate (e.g., in a gemstone). Diffusion methods typically require long processing times, commonly more than a day. Reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,690,630 and 4,039,726.
Nuclear radiation has been used to produce color centers in gemstones, giving a body color that in some cases can be improved with heat treatment. Cyclotrons and neutron bombardment are routinely used to impart blue color in colorless topaz. This method does not involve coating the stone. Rather, it produces color centers throughout the stone. A disadvantage of this method is the requirement for a "cooling off" period to allow the topaz to radioactively decay to a safe level. Traditionally, it has only been possible to obtain shades of blue with this method. Impurities in the gemstone (and the nuclear process used) determine the particular shade of blue that is obtained. Thus, it is difficult to obtain a consistent color on any given lot of gemstones.
Rhinestones and Carnival Glass have reflective coatings layered on one or more surfaces of a clear substrate. The coating is usually silver or some other highly reflective material utilized to apply a mirror coating (usually silver or aluminum) onto the back (e.g., the pavilion) of a faceted glass gem. In such a coating, substantially all of the light is reflected without passing through the coating. U.S. Pat. No. 3,039,280 is representative.
Commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,826, issued to Starcke et al., discloses desirable coatings for enhancing the optical properties of a decorative object, such as a gemstone. The coatings impart in the decorative object a desirable colored appearance, wherein the color of light reflected from the decorative object to a viewer changes with angle of observation.
Tavelite™ is a product produced by depositing thin multiple layers on a transparent substrate to produce an interference effect. The coating is believed to be deposited, at least in some cases, through a process that involves high temperatures. When gemstones are coated at high temperatures, considerable breakage can occur.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,428, issued to Rogers, assigned to Deposition Sciences, Inc., is believed to disclose the coatings and deposition methods that are used for some of the Tavelite™ products. The Rogers patent teaches an optical interference coating that is applied over substantially the entire surface of a gemstone. The coating comprises alternating layers of materials with relatively high and low refractive indices. The coating is said to be composed of materials that are substantially free of absorption of light (i.e., visible radiation). In particular, the optical interference coating is said to impart in the coated gemstone perceived color that is dependent on the angle of incidence and the relative positions of the object and the viewer.
Layered coatings on a surface of a gemstone have been provided to increase the "fire" of the stone. These techniques involve a first coating of a highly refractive material, with respect to the gemstone's index of refraction, followed by a second coating of a different highly refractive material. The layers are designed so that the light reflected at each interface of each layer causes an optical interference effect. Coatings of this nature are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,250.
Aqua-aura™, a product of Vision Industries, is a surface treatment providing a single moderately saturated color. The surface treatment is proprietary, but is believed to involve a gold-based coating that is deposited by spraying at high temperatures. The Aqua-aura stones have a metallic sheen and a substantial dichroic appearance. For many applications, it is desirable to provide coated stones that do not have a dichroic appearance, as stones of this nature have a particularly natural appearance.
Atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition has been used to deposit films of titanium oxide by thermal decomposition of a titanium compound (usually TiCl4) in air.
Colored lacquers have been painted onto the pavilion of gemstones to give the stones a colored appearance. Unfortunately, these lacquers tend to have poor durability, and have been found to come off easily.
It would be desirable to provide durable coatings that can be applied at low temperature to gemstones and other decorative objects to impart in the decorative objects a body color that appears substantially constant at different angles of observation.

Coatings for gemstones and other decorative objects


In a signal processing method to compress digital audio data by a block floating process, digital signal encoding/decoding apparatuses prevent deterioration of sound quality of the digital audio signal and improve the compression ratio of the digital audio signal when the digital audio signal is converted on a frequency axis per predetermined time frame, and data on the frequency axis is then divided into a plurality of blocks to be recorded, otherwise, bits are allocated per block to compress the digital audio signal for minimizing transmitted parameters. Also, encoding/decoding methods are provided to enable highly efficient encoding/decoding without recording or transmitting word length, allowing one to obtain a high-quality audio signal by allocating bits conventionally held by the word length to hold quantization data of a spectrum signal.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing method to compress digital audio data by a block floating process and, more particularly, to digital signal encoding/decoding apparatuses suitable for preventing deterioration of the sound quality of a digital audio signal and for improving a compression ratio of the digital audio signal when the digital audio signal is converted on a frequency axis per predetermined time frame, and data on the frequency axis is then divided into a plurality of blocks to be recorded, otherwise, bits are then allocated per block to compress the digital audio signal for minimizing transmitted parameters, and encoding/decoding methods thereof.
B. Description of the Related Art
High efficiency methods of coding digital audio signals include a subband coding (hereinafter referred to as "SBC") method that divides a signal on the time axis of an audio signal into a plurality of frequency bands to code the divided signals, as well as an adaptive transform coding (ATC) method that vertically transforms a signal on a time axis to a signal on a frequency axis to divide the signal into a plurality of frequency bands and adaptively code to respective bands.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional digital data encoder adopting the adaptive transform coding method. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional digital data encoder includes a PCM data block circuit 1 for dividing received spectrum data PCM into sub-blocks on several time axes. A band-split filter 2 divides output data from the PCM data block circuit 1 per predetermined frequency as in SBC. Furthermore, a time/frequency converter 3 receives output data per frequency band from the band-split filter 2 to convert the received data into a frequency axis perpendicular to the time axis, thereby outputting spectrum data. A scale factor operator 4 allows the spectrum data from the time/frequency converter 3 to be blocks for obtaining scale factor SF per block. To calculate a minimum masking level per block, a masking level operator 5 searches out a tonal component of the spectrum data, i.e., spectrum data of a specific sound, from the time/frequency converter 3 and obtains a masking level. A bit allocation operator 6 determines a word length WL output to allocate bits per block for generating a quantization error smaller than the masking level from the masking level operator 5. A parameter operator 7 obtains parameters by means of a signal from the masking level operator 5 and bit allocation operator 6. A spectrum signal normalizer and quantizer 8 produces quantized spectrum by means of the scale factor SF from the scale factor operator 4 and word length WL from the bit allocation operation 6.
The operation of the conventional digital data encoder constructed as above will be described below.
The PCM audio data on the time axis is formed to be a block through the PCM data block circuit 1, and then band-divided into the predetermined number of subbands (e.g., three or four) via the band-split filter 2 which is similar to the SBC. The subbands are supplied to the time/frequency converter 3. In the time/frequency converter 3, the subbands are subjected to fast Fourier transform (FFT) or discrete cosine transform (DCT) to become a FFT coefficient (or DCT coefficient) that is the spectrum data.
As shown in FIG. 2, the FFT coefficient from the time/frequency converter 3 is divided into blocks B.sub.0, B.sub.1, . . . , B.sub.n-1, and then the scale factor SF per block is obtained in the scale factor operator 4. At this time, the scale factor SF may use a peak value of each block or a value obtained by multiplying the average value by a specific coefficient.
A floating coefficient of each block is calculated through the scale operator 4, so that respective blocks are normalized with the floating coefficient, and quantized to the number of bits obtained in the spectrum signal normalizer and quantizer 8. In this case, either the peak value of each block or the value obtained by multiplying the average value by a prescribed coefficient are used as the floating coefficient; otherwise, the floating coefficient is quantized, and the quantized floating coefficient is named as the scale factor SF. Meanwhile, the masking level converter 5 searches out the tonal component of the FFT coefficient (or DCT coefficient) from the time/frequency converter 3 to obtain the masking level considering a man's audible characteristic, and obtains the minimum masking value per block.
Thereafter, the bit allocation operator 6 allocates bits to produce a quantization error smaller than the masking level in accordance with the masking level per block. In other words, the bit allocation operator 6 determines the word lengths WL of respective blocks. Then, the parameter operator 7 receives the outputs from the masking level operator 5 and the bit allocation operator 6 to operate the number of blocks recorded or transmitted. That is, the parameter operator 7 determines the number N of the sub-blocks recorded or transmitted.
The spectrum signal normalizer and quantizer 8 normalizes the spectrum signal for each block with respect to the scale factor SF obtained in the scale factor operator 4, and quantizes the spectrum signal in accordance with the word length WL determined in the bit allocation operator 6.
The digital audio data is compressed as described above, and the information, such as the scale factor SF from the scale factor operator 4, word length WL from the bit allocation operator 6, the number N of blocks from the parameter operator 7, as well as quantization data QSP of the spectrum signal from the spectrum signal normalizer and quantizer 8, are recorded or transmitted. Here, the scale factor SF, word length WL and the number N of blocks are designated as side information which is requisite in the conventional technique.
When the conventional ATC method, that necessarily records or transmits three pieces of side information, is applied in the conventional digital signal processing system, there is no problem of favorably executing the compression of the digital audio signal in a certain ratio. Where the parameter operator 7 decreases the number N of blocks in case of unfavorable compression, however, information, is lost when restoring the information thus deteriorating sound quality.

Digital signal encoding/decoding apparatuses and related methods


In one embodiment, a mandrel and an outer dummy spacer may be employed to form a first conductivity type region. The mandrel is removed to form a recessed region wherein a second conductivity type region is formed. In another embodiment, a mandrel is removed from within shallow trench isolation to form a recessed region, in which an inner dummy spacer is formed. A first conductivity type region and a second conductivity region are formed within the remainder of the recessed region. An anneal is performed so that the first conductivity type region and the second conductivity type region abut each other by diffusion. A gate electrode is formed in self-alignment to the p-n junction between the first and second conductivity regions. The p-n junction controlled by the gate electrode, which may be sublithographic, constitutes an inventive tunneling effect transistor.

A tunneling effect transistor is essentially a gated tunnel diode. The tunneling effect transistor is of interest for future semiconductor systems because of its steep subthreshold voltage slope. Thus, the ratio of on-current to off-current may be higher than conventional field effect transistors in low voltage operations, for example, at or below 1.0V.
While demonstrating such favorable device characteristics, currently known tunneling effect transistors are not suitable for integration into practical products due to low drive current per unit area compared with conventional field effect transistors. In general, prior art tunneling effect transistors do not provide self-alignment, which results in a large footprint on a substrate area. Further, the large footprint is unavoidably associated with a large parasitic capacitance, further degrading device performance as an electronic switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,643 to Goodwin-Johansson discloses a three-terminal tunneling device. In addition to requiring epitaxy of a silicon layer that adds to processing complexity, this prior art structure discloses a p+ doped region on one side of a gate and an n+ doped region on the other side of the gate. This requires a gate length greater than the overlay tolerance of block masks that are employed during masked ion implantation steps. Thus, the gate cannot have a sublithographic length, which becomes a limiting factor in scaling this prior art device. Further, reduction of input capacitance of this prior art device is necessarily limited by the relatively large physical size.
Song et al., "Analytical Modeling of Field-Induced Interband Tunneling-Effect Transistors and Its Application," IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, Vol. 5, No. 3, May 2006, pp. 192-200 discloses a variant of a conventional field effect transistor having a heavily doped channel that produces interband tunneling during operation. The gate is formed by conventional lithographic means, and consequently, has a lithographic length. Thus, the size of this device is about the same as conventional field effect transistors.
Zhang et al., "Design and Modeling of a New Silicon-Based Tunneling Field Effect Transistor," IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 43, No. 9, September 1996, pp. 1441-1447 discloses a vertical tunneling field effect transistor. However, this prior art structure requires many epitaxial silicon deposition steps, which is difficult to incorporate into standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing steps.
Bhuwalka et al., "Scaling the Vertical Tunnel FET with Tunnel Bandgap Modulation and Gate Workfunction Engineering," IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 52, No. 5, May 2005, discloses a vertical tunneling transistor structure having many heterojunctions. Manufacturing of this structure requires many epitaxial silicon deposition steps, which may not be easily integrated into standard CMOS processing sequences.
In view of the above, there exists a need for a self-aligned tunneling effect transistor having a small footprint and small parasitic capacitance, and methods of manufacturing the same.
Further, there exists a need for a self-aligned tunneling effect transistor having a sublithographic gate length, and methods of manufacturing the same.
In addition, there exists a need for a self-aligned tunneling effect transistor that may be manufactured by processing steps that are easily integrated into a standard CMOS processing sequence.

Tunneling effect transistor with self-aligned gate

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of increasing seafood production in the oceans comprises testing the water at the surface of the ocean in order to determine the nutrients that are missing, applying to the surface of the ocean a first fertilizer that comprises an iron chelate, and harvesting the increased production of seafood that results. The method may further comprise applying a microorganism that fixes nitrogen such as phytoplankton, applying additional fertilizers, and seeding the ocean with fish. Each fertilizer releases the nutrient(s) over time in the photic zone and in a form that does not precipitate before use by the phytoplankton.

The field of the invention is the production of seafood.
The earliest history of the human race shows us as hunter-gatherers, who took what the land produced for our own purposes. These hunter-gatherers were part of the natural scene rather than changing the natural scene for their own purposes. About 7,000 to 8,000 years ago in the Middle East, this changed with the domestication of wild animals, such as the cow, pig, goat, sheep and dog. At that point, our ancestors began herding domestic animals to the best pastures with changing seasons and conditions. Our ancestors continued to hunt and gather food, but found herding more productive. This trend continued with the domestication of the horse in the arid regions of Western Asia.
Then about 5,500 years ago, a new invention swept the then-civilized world. This invention was the mold-board plow, which increased the productivity of a farmer by about a factor of seven. It also changed the way we looked at the land, from passive acceptance to active intervention. This change resulted in the planting of favorite crops, rather than accepting what had always grown there. Our ancestors also began to add water and nutrients to the soil, to further increase productivity.
These transitions were not always smooth or without controversy. For many years, there was a free range in the Western states of the United States of America. At that time, some argued strongly against fences, roads, houses, farms and railroads. They argued that cities would follow such encroachments on the free range, and they were right.
While such transitions have progressed considerably on the land resulting in an increase in output of about two thousand times, they have hardly begun on the oceans which cover almost three fourths of the earth's surface. A similar return in the increased productivity of the oceans may be achieved by similar changes.
The fishermen and the fisherwomen of the world have known for many years that there is a great variation in the productivity of the different areas of the oceans and other bodies of water. Recently, the extent of this variation has been measured and the reasons for it determined. It is now known that about 60% of all life in the ocean arises from 2% of the ocean surface. Thus, the ocean may be considered as a vast barren desert with only a few verdant zones where life abounds. These verdant zones are easy to spot. For most of the ocean surface, you can see about 150 to 300 feet (about 46 to 91 meters) through the water, as you can see in the Gulf Stream. In contrast, you can see only a few feet through the water in the productive zones of the oceans because the living matter in the water is so dense. This is the case in the natural upwelling off the coast of Peru.
Samples have been taken from these productive zones, and from other areas of the ocean. The difference has been determined. The productive zones of the ocean are rich in iron, phosphorus, nitrogen and trace minerals, while the rest of the ocean is missing one or more of these elements. These fertilizing minerals are required in order to obtain the maximum production of seafood from a given area in the ocean. There is considerable variance in the nutrients present in different zones of the ocean surface, and samples must be taken and analyzed in order to ascertain the exact level of nutrients required to obtain the productivity of the Peruvian upwelling.
The oceans differ from the land in several regards: (1) there is never a drought in the oceans; (2) the oceans move; and (3) the oceans mix both vertically and horizontally. The first difference means that the oceans need only minor constituents in order to achieve improved productivity. The second difference means that the fertilization may be carried out at a location that is quite distant from the location where the harvesting of seafood is carried out. The third difference means that the fertilization must be carried out on a large scale, or the results of the fertilization may be impossible to find.
Methods of increasing seafood production in the ocean are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,433,173 and 5,535,701, which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Method of increasing seafood production in the barren ocean

c/o Versar, Inc., 6850 Versar Center, P.O. Box 1549


A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a thin film magnetic transducer having a pair of yokes and generating a magnetic field in a magnetic gap between two magnetic poles at the ends of the pair of yokes, and a heater placed in the vicinity of the magnetic gap and generating heat with an electric current. A part of a magnetic recording medium in the vicinity of the magnetic gap is heated by the heater to reduce a magnetic-coercive of the part of the magnetic recording medium and the magnetic field generated by the thin film magnetic transducer is applied to the part of the magnetic recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a heat-assisted magnetic recording head and a heat-assisted magnetic recording apparatus, and particularly to the heat-assisted magnetic recording head and heat-assisted magnetic recording apparatus that may reduce manufacturing processes and attain high density and high-speed recording.
2. Description of Related Art
In a hard disk drive (HDD) using a magnetic recording layer, high density recording has been achieved at a ratio of 60% per annum for several years by applying a magneto-resistive sensor which utilizes a magneto-resistive effect, that is, an MR (Magneto-resistive) sensor or GMR (Giant magneto-resistive) sensor (hereinafter both are referred to as "GMR sensor" collectively) and improving their performances.
However, it has become clear that the aerial density of HDD has a limit of about 40 Gbits/inch2 due to the Super Para-magnetic effect, that is, the effect that the direction of magnetization in a magnetic domain is reversed to the opposite direction with the adjacent magnetization and thermal fluctuation, (on page 322, T. Rausch, Trans. of MAGNETICS Society of Japan, Vol. 2, 2002). After that, though the recording density has been improved to more than 100 Gbit/inch2 by enhancing the anisotropy of the magnetic material, the density seems to approaching at last its limit given with the Super Para magnetic effect.
The heat-assisted magnetic recording has been proposed by Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2003-45004 as an effective technique for solving the above.
In the heat-assisted magnetic recording head, a semiconductor laser (or optical waveguide), a thin film magnetic transducer and a GMR sensor are stacked, wherein magnetic recording is performed with reducing the magnetic cohesive force of a magnetic medium by irradiating a laser beam from the semiconductor laser to the medium and applying a magnetic field to the medium with the thin film magnetic transducer. Thus, the reversal of magnetization in the recording medium at the room temperature can be prevented as the recording is performed to the magnetic medium having a high cohesive force in the room temperature.
In this system, the recorded part should be cooled rapidly after recording. If not, the recoding would be erased with the subsequent magnetic field having the opposite magnetic direction. Accordingly, the both the magnetic field distribution and heat distribution must be sharp, and be placed together as closely as possible.
The heat-assisted magnetic recording head conventionally proposed, however, has the problem that, the stacking process is long and complicated, resulting in difficulty of reducing its cost since the semiconductor laser must be stacked in addition to the transducer and the GMR sensor. Further, the problem encountered is that high density recording is not achieved because a small recording mark cannot be always formed which size is equal with that of irradiated light spot, and the recording speed would be reduced since it is difficult to align the light-irradiation position to the magnetic field application position.
Further, a system has been proposed, in which a heater is provided on the opposite side of the GMR sensor to the thin film magnetic transducer, and an electric current is applied to the heater to perform heating. In this case, though adding of only a comparative short manufacturing process of the circuit to the conventional process will be sufficient, the problem that the difficulty of making the temperature distribution coincides with the magnetic field distribution remains yet.

Heat-assisted magnetic recording head and heat-assisted magnetic recording apparatus


A loom speed controlling apparatus includes a counter adapted to output a current pick number, a data memory for storing the maximum allowable loom speed values depending upon physical characteristics of various filling yarns in correlation with pick numbers, and a discriminator for determining a target rotational speed of a driving motor for the loom in accordance with the current pick number supplied from the counter and data supplied from the data memory. An indexing signal generator is connected to an input of the counter and an inverter for variable-speed operation of the loom driving motor is connected to an output of the discriminator and the index signal generator includes a plurality of proximity switches adapted to be disposed close to a loom spindle and the indexing signal generator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the operating speed of a loom having a multi-color filling function, which is capable of selecting the optimum rotational speed according to each type of filling or weft insertion of yarn for improvement of loom productivity. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the operating speed of a loom according to each type of filling yarn taking into consideration the maximum allowable loom speed depending on the ease of breakage of the yarn or the ease of flying of the yarn on an air jet loom or a water jet loom. More particularly, the invention relates to a loom speed controlling apparatus which insures filling at a relatively low speed according to the ease of breakage or the difficulty of flying of the filling yarn and at a relatively high speed according to the difficulty of breakage or the ease of flying of the yarn.
2. Description of the Related Art
While the operating speed of a loom is limited by a variety of factors, the factor which is often decisive in multicolor filling is the physical characteristics of the filling yarns employed. This is because the yarn which is low in tensil strength and, hence, easy to break cannot be used advantageously a the filling in weaving unless the filling speed is properly restrained. In the case of an air jet loom or a water jet loom, there are yarns which are difficult to fly and those which are easy to fly, and compared with the latter, the former cannot be woven at a high filling speed.
Therefore, when a yarn of high tensil strength and a yarn of low tensile strength are used together as the filling and/or a yarn which is difficult to fly and a yarn which is easy to fly are used as the filling in multi-color filling, the loom speed is generally dependent on the yarn of the lowest tensile strength and/or the most difficult to fly, that is to say the yarn which cannot be woven unless the lowest filling or weft inserting speed is employed. There has not been available a system which would pay heed to the physical properties of various yarns and positively control the operating speed of the loom.
From the standpoint of productivity enhancement, the conventional technology is not reasonable in that excepting the case in which the current weaving run involves a filling yarn calling for a low filling or weft inserting speed either entirely or predominantly, there is sizable room for loom speed when the weaving job involves the use of other types of yarns in large proportions. In other words, since multi-color filling employs a variety of yarns in sequence to give a predetermined weave pattern, operating a loom at a constant speed throughout the job means an operation of the loom with much speed to spare when the loom is weaving yarns which are difficult to break or easy to fly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a loom speed controlling apparatus which determines and outputs the target rotational speeds of the loom spindle driving motor, as well as the takeup and other drive motors to be synchronized therewith, in association with the physical characteristics of the respective filling yarns and enables filling or weft insertion at speeds dependent on said target speeds, thereby insuring the highest possible productivity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a loom speed controlling apparatus which insures accurate setting of target rotational speeds according to input signals and stored data for exact loom speed control.

Loom speed controller responsive to filling yarn characteristics