Apparatus (20) for increasing the length of a laser pulse to reduce its peak power without substantial loss in the average power of the pulse. The apparatus (20) uses a White cell (10) having a plurality of optical delay paths (18a-18d) of successively increasing number of passes between the field mirror (13) and the objective mirrors (11 and 12). A pulse (26) from a laser (27) travels through a multi-leg reflective path (28) between a beam splitter (21) and a totally reflective mirror (24) to the laser output (37). The laser pulse (26) is also simultaneously injected through the beam splitter (21) to the input mirrors (14a-14d) of the optical delay paths (18a-18d). The pulses from the output mirrors (16a-16d) of the optical delay paths (18a-18d) go simultaneously to the laser output (37) and to the input mirrors ( 14b-14d) of the longer optical delay paths. The beam splitter (21) is 50% reflective and 50% transmissive to provide equal attenuation of all of the pulses at the laser output (37).

There are times when it is desirable to extend the duration of a laser pulse, with the extended pulse having a substantially lower peak power than the original pulse but with substantially the same average power.
One example of such need is the project in which the present invention was made. In particular, this project seeks to improve the ability of ground-based telescopes to observe galaxies and other celestial objects with much greater clarity and with a high resolution that can only be equalled by telescopes in satellites orbiting the earth above the atmosphere.
Approximately 60 miles above the Earth, there is a sodium layer formed by the remnants of tiny meteorites that continually burn out high in the Earth's upper atmosphere. A laser beam, turned to the sodium D.sub.2 line at 589 nm and pointed up at a desired point in the layer, will create an artificial "star" at that altitude by pumping the sodium atoms struck by the beam to a higher energy level, with light being emitted as the atoms return to their prior energy state.
Telescopes have been developed with 32-inch mirrors made up of many tiny flexible segments, each controlled by computer so that they can be instantly adjusted to remove distortions caused by atmospheric turbulence. Focused on the laser-lit guide star, 60 miles up, the segments of the telescope mirror will shape themselves to view the guide star clearly through the intervening atmosphere. Then, when the guide star vanishes as the laser beam is turned off, the finely tuned telescope will view the celestial objects with the same compensation for atmospheric disturbances.
Dye lasers, tunable to the sodium D.sub.2 line, and developed originally for research on anti-satellite weapons, have an average beam power of several kilowatts, sufficient to create an artificial guide star in the sodium layer. However, such lasers generate very short pulses, in the order of 60 nanoseconds, and with very high peak power, in the order of 10.sup.10 watts, and will essentially burn a hole through the sodium layer rather than causing the desired stimulated emission from the layer.
In order to make these lasers usable for creation of an artificial guide star it was necessary to find a way to reduce the peak power of the laser pulses without substantially reducing the average power in the laser beam.

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


An anchoring device in a helicopter deck, where a housing that is provided with an open top and lowered into the helicopter deck, contains a fastener which is vertically displaceable between a withdrawn, inactive position and an active position where an upper fastener portion extends at least partly up from the helicopter deck. The upper fastener portion is arranged to be detachably connected to an anchoring means. The housing is provided with a detachable lid arranged to be able to close tightly against the housing.

On helicopter decks where it, due to safety considerations for helicopter and surrounding structures, is necessary to secure the helicopter against wind damage, it is common practice to moor the rotor blades and the vessel body to the helicopter deck. The helicopter deck is normally provided with countersunk anchor points. With respect to governmental safety requirements imposing certain types of helicopter decks to be fluid tight, so that any fuel leakage is not lead through the helicopter deck to underlying structures, such countersunk anchor points are arranged in fluid tight housings. An anchoring element fixed in the housing, is accessible through an open top of the housing. Water and extraneous matter could therefore accumulate in these recessions, and under frost conditions, formation of ice in the recessions could complicate the access to the anchoring point.


The invention relates to isolated human pluripotent adult stem cells which express CD13, CD34, CD56 and CD117, and which do not express CD1O, which are capable of differentiating in all three germ lineages and differentiated cells derived therefrom.

Regeneration of tissue lost to disease or trauma is a goal of medicine. Such tissue losses—cartilage due to osteoarthritis, spinal nerves due to trauma, islet cells due to diabetes, cardiac muscle due to infarction, etc—cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year in addition to the lost quality of life of the patients. Embryonic stem cells have captured the news as a source of stem cells for tissue regeneration. The ethical problems are well known, but there are also less well-known problems such as tissue rejection, tumor formation, and inability to direct the differentiation of the cells.
Several research groups have been investigating the possibility of using non-embryonic stem cells, i.e., stem cells isolated from post-natal animals. The challenge associated with such stem cells is that they may not be able to differentiate in all three germ lineages, endodermal, mesodermal and ectodermal lineages. For example, the differentiation of some of the previously reported post-natal stem cells seems to be limited to mesodermal lineage. Additionally, some of the cells have a finite lifetime, which limits their usefulness when large numbers of cells are needed or if the regenerated tissue needs to last for 20 or more years.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for adult stem cells that have the ability to differentiate into all three lineages and that have indefinite propagation potential. Applicants have now isolated and characterized such cells.


A method of manufacturing a silicon carbide semiconductor device includes forming a trench for a MOS gate in an SiC substrate by dry etching. Thereafter, the substrate with the trench is heat treated. The heat treatment includes heating the substrate in an Ar gas atmosphere or in a mixed gas atmosphere containing SiH4 and Ar at a temperature between 1600° C. and 1800° C., and thereafter in a hydrogen gas atmosphere at a temperature between 1400° C. and 1500° C. The present manufacturing method smoothens the trench inner surface and rounds the corners in the trench to prevent the electric field from localizing thereto.

Semiconductor power devices, including a MOSFET power device and an IGBT power device, which employ silicon (hereinafter referred to sometimes as "Si") for the semiconductor material thereof, are devices typically used in inverters and apparatuses for electric power control. However, since the Si semiconductor properties have already reached the extremes of improvements thereof, the Si power devices exhibit almost the limit properties due to the physical properties of the semiconductor Si.
In contrast, since silicon carbide (hereinafter referred to as "SiC") exhibits excellent physical properties as described below, SiC (4H—SiC) is more advantageous than Si especially for the power device material. The electric field strength that causes a dielectric breakdown in SiC is 10 times as high as the electric field strength that causes a dielectric breakdown in Si. The band gap in SiC is 2.9 times as wide as the band gap in Si. The thermal conductivity in SiC is 3.2 times as high as the thermal conductivity in Si. The temperature, at which SiC becomes an intrinsic semiconductor, is 3 to 4 times as high as the temperature, at which Si becomes an intrinsic semiconductor. Since the power device that employs semiconductor SiC is expected to exhibit not only a high breakdown voltage but also low on-resistance, developments of many SiC power devices have been vigorously explored recently. SiC diodes and such SiC rectifying devices, as well as SiC transistors, SiC thyristors, and such SiC switching devices, have been fabricated experimentally. Among the SiC switching devices, a trench-type insulated-gate field-effect transistor (hereinafter referred to as a "UMOSFET") is attracting much attention especially as a device that facilitates further reduction of the resistance in the ON-state thereof, since the UMOSFET facilitates to increase the channel density by minimizing any of the trench gate structure thereof and the unit pattern thereof including a channel.
The SiC UMOSFET is manufactured in almost the same manner as a typical Si semiconductor device. Specifically, the SiC UMOSFET is manufactured in the form of an SiC semiconductor device of a trench-MOS-type by forming trenches in an SiC semiconductor substrate (hereinafter simply referred to sometimes as an "SiC substrate") by anisotropic etching, by removing the oxide film used for an etching mask, by forming gate insulator films, by filling the trenches with polycrystalline silicon that will work as gate electrodes, and by forming a source electrode and a drain electrode.
The SiC substrate is hard physically and stable chemically. Therefore, the SiC substrate is tough to etch. Therefore, the reactive ion etching (hereinafter referred to as the "RIE") used usually for forming trenches in a Si substrate is not employable for the mass-productive trench formation in the SiC substrate. For the mass-productive trench formation in the SiC substrate, there exists no way but to employ the physical etching (hereinafter referred to as the "dry etching") that bombards the SiC substrate with accelerated plasma ions to etch the surface thereof. As compared with the trench shape control performed by the RIE in the Si substrate, it is not so easy for the dry etching to form trenches having a good profile in the SiC substrate. For example, it is quite hard to form the trench bottom having a U-shape, which is preferable for the breakdown voltage characteristics of the semiconductor device, only using dry etching. It is also quite hard to provide the trench side wall with excellent smoothness only using dry etching. As illustrated in FIG. 6, which shows a cross-sectional view of a trench 2 of about 3 μm in thickness seen obliquely, an edge corner 10 in the opening 3 of the trench 2 is sharp. Protrusions, surface unevenness and such defective shapes are created on the side wall 11 and the bottom 12 of the trench 2. The electric field is liable to localize to the defective shapes formed in the trench 2 as described above, causing a low dielectric breakdown voltage.
The above-described defective shapes and such problems, generated in the process of forming the trenches via physical dry etching that bombards the SiC substrate with plasma particles accelerated at a high frequency under the reduced pressure, can be avoided by thermally treating the trench inner surface in a mixed gas atmosphere containing hydrogen gas (hereinafter referred to as "H2 gas" or simply as "H2") or argon gas (hereinafter referred to as "Ar gas" or simply as "Ar") at 1700° C. or lower. Alternatively, the above-described defective shapes and such problems may be avoided by etching the trench inner surface with H2 at 1300° C. or higher under reduced pressure. The techniques described above for obviating the defective shapes and such problems are disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2005-328013 and 2005-328014 (hereafter References 1 and 2).
It is known to the skilled persons in the art that smooth trench inner surfaces can be obtained in the Si semiconductor device by surface diffusing Si atoms, namely by annealing the Si semiconductor substrate with trenches formed therein in H2. It is quite possible to control the inner surface shape and inner surface properties of the trench in the SiC semiconductor substrate by surface diffusion of the Si atoms. See Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-229479.
References 1 and 2 disclose methods for obviating the defective shapes generated in forming the trenches by employing H2 at a high temperature. In the SiC substrate, not only silicon atoms but also carbon atoms exist in the trench inner surface as the composition elements. The carbon atoms are hazardous for the surface diffusion of Si atoms. Since it is hard to vigorously surface diffuse Si atoms, which is effective for smoothening the Si surface, in the SiC surface, the surface diffusion of Si atoms is not so effective to smoothen the SiC surface.
It has been found that the SiC surface can be etched more vigorously with high temperature H2 than with the surface diffusion of the composition atoms in the SiC substrate. Nonetheless, it has been found that the etching of the SiC surface with high-temperature H2 is hardly more controllable than the surface diffusion of the composition atoms in the SiC substrate. It has been found also that the high temperature treatment with H2 is more influential on the trench shape control. Since the trench shape will be changed excessively if the treatment with high temperature H2 is conducted without any modification, it is hard to employ the high temperature treatment with H2 as a practical manufacturing method for improving the trench shape.
Accordingly, there still remains a need for a manufacturing method for smoothening the inner surface of a trench and for shaping or rounding the opening edge corner and the bottom corner of the trench to prevent the electric field from localizing, in forming the trench in an SiC substrate by dry etching. The present invention addresses this need.

Method of manufacturing silicon carbide semiconductor device

Fuji Electric Device Technology Co., Ltd.


The invention includes a method of distinguishing among oral bacteria species to determine whether a species is orally deleterious. Such method includes contacting at least one bacterium or portion of a bacterium of a species of oral bacteria a gingival cell; and detecting the presence of an indicator compound. The substantial absence of an indicator material signifies that the species of bacteria is not a deleterious species. Also included within the scope of the invention are methods for determining the anti-inflammatory effect of an agent. Such methods include contacting the cell with the agent in the presence of a deleterious bacterium or portion of such bacterium and detecting the presence of an indicator compound. The substantial absence of an indicator material signifies that agent is an anti-inflammatory agent.

The soft tissues of the mammalian oral cavity are known to exhibit the earliest indications of inflammation. This generalized low level of inflammation may lead to gingivitis and/or periodontitis. Such inflammation is generally believed to be the result, at least in part, by the bacteria present in the oral cavity. Further, oral tissue inflammation can be caused by surgery, localized injury, trauma, necrosis, improper oral hygiene or various systemic origins.
It is generally believed that the cellular components implicated by these diseases and conditions include epithelial tissue, gingival fibroblasts, and circulating leukocytes, all of which contribute to the host response to pathogenic factors generated by the bacteria. Some bacterial pathogens implicated in these oral infections are known although many may remain unknown or uncharacterized. Although the infection by certain types of bacteria is often the etiological event in many of these oral diseases, the pathogenesis of the disease state or condition is mediated by the host response. Use of antibacterial agents reduces the bacterial population of a given oral cavity and may result in a reduction of inflammation. However, this approach is disadvantageous as such killing is accomplished indiscriminately (both beneficial oral bacteria and deleterious oral bacteria may perish) and it is dose and time sensitive.
Bacterial infection of the oral tissue stimulates the host's immune response and diminishes the healing process by up-regulating inflammatory mediators that cause significant tissue damage. These metabolites have been implicated as the prime mediators in gingivitis, periodontitis, osteomyelitis and other inflammatory diseases.
It has been reported that one mechanism of inflammation is mediated through certain transmembrane receptors of mammalian cells. For example, toll-like receptors ("TLRs"), are glycosylated transmembrane proteins and once activated by ligand-induced oligomerization initiate an immune response within the cell, ultimately resulting in the expression of cytokines, interleukins, and other molecules that mediate the state of inflammation.
There is a need in the art for agents and techniques useful in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of such inflammatory effects.

Methods of modulating cell surface receptors to prevent or reduce inflammation


A high efficient stirling engine with excellent thermal efficiency, which can increase the heating temperature of a high temperature section, is obtained by preventing the heat from being lost in a member connecting the high temperature section and a low temperature section.

Theoretical thermal efficiency of a stirling engine is determined by the temperature of a high temperature section and of a low temperature section, and the higher the temperature of the high temperature section and the lower the temperature of the low temperature section, the higher the thermal efficiency is. The stirling engine is a closed cycle engine, and heats/cools working gas from the outside, thus heating and cooling of the working gas need to be performed through a wall surface of the high temperature section and of the low temperature section, and further a material of high heat conductivity is required in order to increase heat exchange rate of the high temperature section and of the low temperature section. As the working gas, helium gas or hydrogen gas is normally used. Since the working gas circulates at high pressure, a flow path for the working gas is required to have heat resistance property, pressure tightness, oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance, high creep strength, and high heat fatigue strength. For this reason, as a heater tube configuring a cylinder and high-temperature side heat exchanger, there has been conventionally used heat-resistant alloy steel such as HR30 (Japanese Industrial Standards), SUS310S (Japanese Industrial Standards), Inconel (trademark), Hastelloy (trademark), and the like having excellent corrosion resistance and heat resistance properties, but there is a problem that these alloy steels are extremely expensive. Moreover, in such a case, the members configuring the high temperature section, and the members subjected to high temperatures by receiving heat from the high temperature section are subjected to limitations in heating temperatures, depending on metallic materials. For example, under a high-pressure condition in which the pressure of operation gas reaches 3 MPa, it is considered that the limit of the heating temperature is approximately 700° C. from the perspective of durability, due to the occurrence of a creep of abovementioned metallic materials, hence it is difficult to achieve high efficiency if the heating temperature is increased higher than the limit.
Further, in a conventional stirling engine, it is necessary to create the high temperature section by weldbonding a number of heat-resistant alloy tubes, through which working gas passes, to an expansion space head portion by means of brazing so as to allow the heat-resistant alloy tube to protrude, in order to obtain more heat transmission areas. However, leakage of the working gas may occur due to a seal failure, and, since a number of heat-resistance alloy tubes are required, the structure becomes complicated and the cost becomes high.
On the other hand, in the member for connecting the high temperature section and the low temperature section in the stirling engine, an end of the high temperature section is required to maintain high temperature and an end of the low temperature section is required to maintain low temperature to keep a large temperature difference therebetween, and the high temperature of the high temperature section and the low temperature of the low temperature section are close to each other, thus it is desired that members having high adiathermanous and low heat conductivity be used to configure the stirling engine. However, in the conventional Stirling engine the member for connecting the high temperature section and the low temperature section is integrally configured with a high temperature section composed of high-nickel alloy or a stainless material having excellent heat resistance property and heat conductivity, thus there is a problem that a large heat loss occurs due to conduction of heat through a member wall connecting the high temperature section and the low temperature section.
As described above, the material configuring the high temperature section is required to have excellent heat resistance property, and also required are contradictory characteristics such that the member for connecting the high temperature section and the low temperature section has, on the one hand, high heat conductivity and, on the other hand, low heat conductivity from the perspective of high efficiency. However, in the conventional stirling engine structure it is impossible to satisfy such contradictory requirements simultaneously, thus either one of the requirements has to be sacrificed.
As a method for increasing the thermal efficiency of the stirling engine in view of such technological background, for example, there is proposed a method in which a level difference is applied in a center position of a U-shaped bent portion of each of two adjacent heater tubes of a plurality of U-shaped heater tubes which perform heat exchange between combustion gas and working gas of a combustor, whereby a space of even width between the U-shaped tubes is secured at all times without allowing the U-shaped tubes to interact with each other even if receiving thermal stress or external pressure, and the high-temperature combustion gas can be evenly allowed to contact with the U-shaped tubes to increase the heat exchange efficiency of the high temperature section (see the patent document 1). There is also proposed a method in which a compression space and an expansion space are connected to each other by a plurality of connecting tubes, a low temperature section, a regenerating portion, and a high temperature section are disposed sequentially in each of the connecting tubes, and, by freely changing specification of the regenerating portion and of the low temperature section in accordance with the distribution of the temperatures of the high temperature section, the engine power is improved (see the patent document 2). Furthermore, there is proposed another method in which a high temperature section, a regenerator, and a low temperature section are surrounded by a double shell, and an incompressible heat insulating material such as liquid chlorine is filled into the double shell, whereby operating temperature and pressure are increased, efficiency of the regenerator is improved, and the number of times that heat is transferred in a direction perpendicular to the direction of flow of working fluid is increased (see the patent document 3).                Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H5-172003        Patent document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-280678        Patent document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-505638

Abstract: The high temperature section 5 and the member (a regenerator housing 16) connecting the high temperature section and the low temperature section are formed to have a split configuration by using different materials for the each, in which the high temperature section 5 is formed of a heat resistant/high heat conductive material having high heat resistance property and high heat conductivity, the regenerator housing 16 connecting the high temperature section 5 and the low temperature section 7 is formed of a heat resistant/low heat conductive material having low heat conductivity, and the both are bonded integrally to each other to obtain an integral sealed structure.


A photographing optical system includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, a fourth lens element and a fifth lens element. The first lens element with positive refractive power has a convex object-side surface. The second lens element with positive refractive power has a convex object-side surface and a concave image-side surface. The third lens element with negative refractive power has a concave image-side surface. The fourth lens element has positive refractive power. The fifth lens element with negative refractive power has a concave image-side surface, wherein the image-side surface of the fifth lens element comprises at least one convex shape thereon, and two surfaces of the fifth lens element are aspheric.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a photographing optical system and an image capturing device. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a compact photographing optical system and an image capturing device applicable to electronic devices.
Description of Related Art
In recent years, with the popularity of mobile terminals having camera functionalities, the demand of miniaturized optical systems has been increasing. The sensor of a conventional optical system is typically a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) sensor. As the advanced semiconductor manufacturing technologies have allowed the pixel size of sensors to be reduced and compact optical systems have gradually evolved toward the field of higher megapixels, there is an increasing demand for compact optical systems featuring better image quality.
A conventional optical system employed in a portable electronic product mainly provides the characteristics of large field of view and compact size so as to satisfy the trend of compact electronic products. However, the fine image quality cannot be maintained due to the generated stray light thereof.

Photographing optical system, image capturing device and electronic device


An elevation and traverse control system for a weapon support mounted on a carrier strut, comprising elevation control means (S) and traverse control means (G) for the weapon support with respect to a carrier reference, wherein said means (S, G) are fully integrated into the weapon support said weapon support is fastened to the carrier strut by two hooking elements, and said traverse control means (G) are split into two similar devices (G1, G2) which incorporate the two hooking elements.

The present invention relates to an elevation and traverse control system for a weapon support mounted on a carrier, such system comprising elevation control means and traverse control means for the weapon support with respect to a carrier reference.
A fire arm on-board a carrier such as an aircraft, for example, is mounted on a weapon support which can be fastened under a carrier strut of the aircraft. In this case, the elevation and traverse positions of this support must be known and be able to be controlled with respect to a firing system reference, such as a firing sight, for example.
The aim of the invention is to design an elevation and traverse control system which is easy to implement and to control

System for adjusting in elevation and azimuth a support for a weapon mounted on a carrier


A readily portable device for enabling a vertical columnar structure such as a tree, pole or the like to be climbed without causing damage thereto, this device comprising a pair of rigid, elongate longitudinal members of substantially equal length. These longitudinal members are disposed in a spaced-apart, substantially parallel relationship, with least two step-like members disposed between the longitudinal members, to provide footing to a climber of the vertical structure. A flexible member such as a rope is utilized for tightly encircling the vertical structure, with the flexible member being able to be affixed adjacent the upper end of the device, to form a support therefor. The flexible member is placed in substantial tension at such time as the vertical structure has been encircled and weight is placed on one of the step-like members. The upper end of the device has a structure-contacting portion, with latter portion being brought into a firm, no-slip relationship with the vertical structure at the time of the tensioning of the flexible member, as a consequence of weight being placed upon one of the step-like members.

The present invention relates generally to the art of climbing trees, utility poles or the like, and more particularly to a device that is simple and more convenient to handle than other such devices, while also providing improved safety during use.
Game hunters of deer, for example, often position themselves in tree stands in trees overlying paths followed by the game through the woods. Mature trees in a forested area typically do not include branches down near the ground so as to allow climbing. Accordingly, hunters frequently have a need for climbing aids that will allow them to get up in a tree along the trunk far enough to reach the lower lying limbs, often some 10 to 15 feet above the ground.
Climbing aids are also needed from time to time by employees of utility companies. For reasons of safety and to avoid potential liability from accidents, utility pole footholds for maintenance personnel typically start some 10 to 12 feet above the ground. This approach is designed to discourage and prevent unauthorized people from climbing up the poles. Of course, utility maintenance personnel need safe and effective climbing aids to reach these footholds in order to make repairs as required; for example, to correct power outages following severe thunderstorms.
Recognizing these needs, a number of devices have been developed in the art for climbing utility poles and trees. Examples of such devices are found in Russian Patent No. 369,914 and Swedish Patent No. 224,286.
The Russian patent discloses a linesman climbing device including a chain that is extended around the utility pole to climbed and a complicated conical gear arrangement for automatically controlling the slack in the chain as the weight of the linesman is applied. The Swedish patent discloses a pole climbing device including a band that is extended around the pole. A gear including a series of lugs that extend through apertures in the band is mounted to the housing to tighten and secure the band in position around the poles for climbing.
While these two devices are effective climbing aids, they are not without their disadvantages. Where an individual is required to climb some 10 to 15 vertical feet before reaching a foothold or tree limb, some of the climbing aids of the type described above may be required to be used in series along the pole or tree trunk. When not in use, the Russian and Swedish devices are not compact, since both include extended lengths of chains and bands, respectively, that are free to become twisted and tangled around each other and other objects during storage and transport to the climbing site. The chains or bands could also become separated and lost from the device, making the device useless.
Devices used in the recent past for climbing trees include a device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,983 to Norton. That patent describes a portable multi-section ladder including the use of various V-shaped members which may be assembled to any height. Each section may be secured to a tree by straps having a quick release buckle, but this amounts to a device necessarily expensive as well as being heavy and bulky.
The Bamburg et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,314 teaches a combination ladder and tree stand, but it is far too large to be carried on a backpack, and only a fixed height can be reached.
The Starkey U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,686 teaches a type of rope ladder to be used to reach a tree stand, but this arrangement manifestly lacks both stability and safety.
The present invention was evolved in an effort to provide an exceedingly light yet sturdy device that can be conveniently carried on a backpack to a remote location, and then readily deployed in a particularly stable configuration that enables an outdoorsman to climb in a safe manner for a considerable distance up the trunk of a tree.


Toner particles have a core-shell structure that first resin particles containing a first resin are attached to or cover surfaces of second resin particles containing a second resin. Heat of fusion with differential scanning calorimetry of the second resin satisfies Equations (1) to (2) below. In Equations (1) to (2) below, H1 and H2 represent heats of fusion (J/g) at initial temperature increase and second temperature increase with differential scanning calorimetry of the second resin, respectively.5≦H1≦70  Equation (1)0.2≦H2/H1≦1.0  Equation (2)

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid developer and a method for manufacturing the same, and suitably to a liquid developer useful for various applications such as a liquid developer for electrophotography, a liquid developer for electrostatic recording, an oil-based ink for ink jet printer, or an ink for electronic paper and a method for manufacturing the same.
Description of the Related Art
In using a liquid developer as a liquid developer for electrophotography, a liquid developer for electrostatic recording, an oil-based ink for ink jet printer, an ink for electronic paper, or the like, toner particles dispersed in the liquid developer are transferred together with an insulating solvent and then thermally fixed. Therefore, desirably, the toner particles are sufficiently molten even in such situations that they have been deprived of volatilization heat by the insulating solvent. Among others, from a point of view of energy saving in recent years as well, the toner particles are required to have sharp-melting capability in a low-temperature region. In order to meet the requirement, it is considered that a crystalline resin should be employed as a resin to be contained in toner particles.
Toner particles are also required to have not only sharp-melting capability in a low-temperature region but also heat-resistant preservation stability or the like. For example, according to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-96994, by designing a resin to be contained in toner particles by using resin particles having a core-shell structure, a particle size of the resin particles can be controlled and heat-resistant preservation stability of the toner particles is improved.

Liquid developer and method for manufacturing the same


A device includes a dielectric, wherein a front and a back of the dielectric for reflecting and transmitting an electromagnetic wave are defined by a first surface and a second surface, the first or second surface forming a half mirror, the first surface has a height that changes in spiral as leaving from the second surface, and the second surface has a height that changes in spiral as leaving from the first surface.

In recent years, there have been researches on a technique to improve transmission efficiency of wireless communication and the like by carrying out multiplex communication utilizing orbital angular momentum (OAM) of an electromagnetic wave (for example, refer to Fabrizio Tamburini, et al., "Encoding many channels on the same frequency through radio vorticity: first experiment test", New Journal of Physics 14 (2012) 033001 (17 pp), 1 Mar. 2012, and Edfors, Ove et al., "Is orbital angular momentum (OAM) based radio communication an unexploited area?", IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 2012, vol. 60:2, pp. 1126-1131). Since electromagnetic waves having different modes of orbital angular momentum (OAM) is possible to exist in the same space at the same time, it is considered that a plurality of electromagnetic waves having different modes of orbital angular momentum (OAM) are superimposed to be sent from a sending machine to a receiving machine. The receiving device carries out an opposite process corresponding to that on the sending side, thereby being capable of separating the received electromagnetic wave into electromagnetic waves corresponding to the individual orbital angular momentum (OAM).

Device to reflect and transmit electromagnetic wave and antenna device


A method and reactive treatment fluid for treating a wellbore for filter cake removal, including providing the reactive treatment fluid having a viscoelastic surfactant (VES) into a wellbore in a subterranean formation and attacking the filter cake via the reactive treatment fluid.

Drilling fluid aides the drilling of holes into a subterranean formation in the Earth's crust. The holes may be labeled as a borehole or a wellbore. The drilling fluid may be called drilling mud. The hole may be drilled for the exploration or production of crude oil and natural gas. The hole may be drilled for other applications, such as a water well. During the drilling, the drilling fluid may cool and lubricate the drill bit and also carry and remove rock cuttings from the hole. The drilling fluid may provide hydrostatic pressure to prevent or reduce formation fluids from the subterranean formation entering into the hole during drilling. Drilling fluids (or treatment fluids more generally) can include completion fluids, workover fluids, drill-in fluids, and so on.
Drilling fluids may be mixtures of solid additives present as discontinuous phases spread in a liquid continuous phase. The liquid could be water in the case of the water-based drilling fluids (WBDF) or oil for the oil-based drilling fluids (OBDF). As indicated, the drilling fluids may be designed to achieve different operational objectives including lubrication of the drill bit and drill string, transferring the drilled cuttings out of the hole while drilling, and suspending cuttings when the fluid circulation is stopped. Another objective may be to prevent the formation fluids from invading the wellbore hole. In the drilling operation with the drilling fluid, wellbore stability may be promoted by forming a low-permeability film on the borehole wall labeled as filter cake (also called cake, mudcake, or wall cake). The filter cake may also reduce drilling fluid invasion into the drilled formation.

Viscoelastic-surfactant treatment fluids having oxidizer


A suture anchor system including an anchor, a plug and an inserter. The anchor inserter includes a tubular outer shaft having a cannulation dimensioned to receive an inner shaft. The distal end of the outer shaft cannulation is threaded for engagement with the plug. The anchor includes a longitudinal cannulation formed within the anchor body, including a smooth-sided portion and a threaded portion. An eyelet, dimensioned to receive a suture therein, extends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the anchor and intersects the distal portion of the cannulation. The plug is a generally elongated, tubular threaded rod comprising a cannulation adapted to receive a distal end of the inner inserter shaft.

Arthroscopy surgery is a minimally-invasive surgery that involves the repair of tissue inside or around a joint. In shoulder arthroscopy, for example, common injuries include a torn or damaged cartilage ring or ligaments (causing shoulder instability), a torn rotator cuff, or a torn or damaged biceps tendon. Each of these injuries necessitates the reattachment of soft tissue (that is, the ligaments or tendons) to bone.
Suture anchors and suture anchor systems are useful fixation devices for fixing tendons and ligaments to bone. A typical suture anchor is inserted into the bone by pounding the suture anchor into the bone or by way of a bone hole using an anchor inserter. The suture anchor can be configured as a screw mechanism or an interference fit device and may be made of metal, plastic or bioabsorbable material (which dissolves in the body over time). The suture anchor can include an eyelet that allows one or more sutures to pass therethrough and link the suture anchor and the suture.
During the anchor insertion process, it is difficult for a surgeon to achieve linear stability of the suture anchor while it is coupled to a mating, disposable inserter. Currently, an additional suture which is wrapped through the anchor and cleated to the inserter handle is often used to achieve linear stability. This method creates an additional strand of suture which can gets in a surgeon's way during a procedure. Other suture anchors are couple to inserters with press fits or other suture constructs which also may cause obstruction.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An optical low pass filter includes: a plurality of optical elements formed by bonding together and an adhesion layer of adhesive that is installed at each of interfaces of the plurality of optical elements to be bonded. The transmitted wave aberration is ±1.5λ or less (λ representing incident wavelength).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical low pass filter.
2. Related Art
Solid-state image sensors such as a CCD or a CMOS are widely used in video cameras and digital still cameras to capture optical images produced by a receive lens by converting the images into electronic signals. These solid-state image sensors have a structure in which photodiodes are arranged in a regular manner. Here, if the sampling frequency determined from the arranged spacing is surpassed by the spatial frequency of an optical image, moire or other false signals may occur. In order to prevent such false signals, an optical low pass filter using birefringent plates is placed between the receive lens and the solid-state image sensor. The optical low pass filters that are in use include a two-point separation type using a single birefringent plate and a high-performance four-point separation type in which either a retardation plate or a birefringent plate is sandwiched between two birefringent plates.
In order to form such an optical low pass filter, it is necessary to bond solidly together either birefringent plates with one another or a birefringent plate with a retardation plate, without producing bubbles. This bonding process has been performed manually in the past, causing a lot of burden for workers, and sometimes hampered stable supply of good-quality products because differences in the skill of workers created problems, including variability in the thickness of the bond layers, and prevented production of goods with a stable quality.
Under such circumstances, techniques have been proposed to keep a constant thickness for the bond layers by automating the bonding process and applying a proper amount of bond to optical elements (e.g. JP-A-2003-29035). Also proposed are techniques to enhance the bond strength by using bond and high melting wax (e.g. JP-Y-61-28181).
However, the techniques disclosed in JP-A-2003-29035 and JP-Y-61-28181 both use a curable bond and, thus, have been unable to solve such problems as bubbles being mixed into the bond or the appearance being deteriorated through spillage of the bond from bonded ends.


The aim of the invention is to block the water outflow from a light liquid separator comprising an outflow ascending pipe (1) with a lower inlet (3), and a horizontal output pipe (2). To this end, a blocking element (4) displaced by a float (9) is provided. The float (9) and the blocking element (4) are displaceably guided on a fixing element (11) that can be detachably associated with the water outlet (1).

An apparatus of that kind is to be found for example in AT 407 538. That apparatus not only includes the float, the blocking element and a coupling linkage by way of which the float movement is converted into the closing movement of the blocking element, but also the outlet riser pipe with a horizontal discharge pipe. Fixed to the lower end of the outlet riser pipe are plates on which connecting bars are displaceably guided. Fixed in the upper region of the outlet riser pipe is an outer holding portion on which double-armed levers are mounted, the levers coupling the float to the connecting bars in such a way that the downwardly sinking float lifts the blocking element.
The apparatus is fitted as a complete unit into a separation vessel and includes an installation housing with an outlet riser pipe and the discharge pipe, and with at least one filter wall and a mounting plate which can be fixed in the separation vessel. In the event of troubles, either they have to be rectified in the installed condition in the separation vessel or the entire installation housing has to be removed. Both options are unsatisfactory and therefore the object of the invention is to improve the construction in such a way that it can be easily and simply fitted and broken down into its functional parts.

Device for blocking the water outlet of a light liquid separator


A flowmeter detects a differential pressure of steam as the steam passes through a conduit with a feature shaped to produce changes in velocity and pressure of the steam. Taps used to enable detection of the differential pressure extend from a wall of the conduit upward toward vertical (defined as parallel to the direction of gravitational force) in order to drain liquid water into the conduit from the tap. The differential pressure measured enables calculation of flow rate of the steam.

Conduits in many applications carry steam utilized for its heat or its ability to be converted to mechanical work. These applications often require measuring flow of the steam through the conduits. In one example, such measurements enable determining quantity of the steam purchased. The quantity and cost to generate the steam can make annual value of the steam worth substantial sums of money. Accordingly, proper accounting for these purchases relies on accuracy of metering.
One prior meter design utilizes a differential pressure measured across a restriction in the conduit. However, configurations for such previous steam meters produce results subject to errors. Further, difficult calibration procedures for these meters add to inaccuracy of the results.
Therefore, a need exists for improved meters to measure flow of steam.


An electromagnetic interference reducing circuit is provided. A first random number generator generates a plurality of first random number signals each having a plurality of triangular waves. Each of the triangular waves has a plurality of steps. The first random number generator generates a plurality of first random numbers and modulates each of the first random number signals according to the first random numbers. The first random number generator repeatedly counts, repeatedly removes, or does not count time of the steps of each of the triangular waves of each of the first random number signals according to one of the first random numbers. A first oscillator generates a first oscillating signal. A motor controller circuit controls a plurality of switch components of a motor respectively according to the first random number signals based on the first oscillating signal.

With continuous development of various electronic products, motors have become important components of the electronic products. As higher requirements are placed on the electronic products, higher power performance is also required of the motor. The high power performance of the motor has become an important performance index for testing the electronic products. However, high electromagnetic radiation energy generated by the motor (in particular for a DC brush motor) directly affects an electromagnetic environment of human life and causes serious interference to normal operations of other system circuits in the electronic product.

Electromagnetic interference reducing circuit


A storage device includes a memory for storing data in a plurality of logical volumes; a controlling unit for controlling an access to data in accordance with a process comprising the steps of: generating mapping information indicative of a correspondence between logical volume information and recognition information; generating a pseudo logical volume and pseudo logical volume information associated with the pseudo logical volume, the pseudo logical volume being another of the logical volumes; and upon receipt of a command for canceling an assignment of one of the logical volumes to the corresponding recognition information, modifying the mapping information so that recognition information that has been indicative of said one of the logical volumes becomes indicative of the pseudo logical volume information associated with the pseudo logical volume.

When an operator assigns logical volumes in a storage system to servers, the operator performs assignment (i.e., mapping) of each of the logical volumes to one of the servers. The mapping is performed in accordance with the following procedure: firstly, zones, each of which is a group of gathered LUNs, are created so that the zones correspond to the servers, respectively; and secondly, the logical volumes are mapped to the LUNs, respectively, for every zone created, wherein the LUNs are pieces of identification information, each of which corresponds to a logical volume and allows the server to recognize the corresponding logical volume. By mapping between the LUNs and the logical volumes, respectively, in this manner, it is possible for each of the servers to access, via its own LUNs, respective logical volumes mapped to the LUNs.
A specific example will be hereinafter described with reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.
In FIG. 9, an example of a list of logical volumes managed in a storage system, which is configured to be connected with two servers (i.e., servers 101 and 102), is depicted. Let us denote, hereat, a piece of identification information associated with a logical volume corresponding to a numeric value "xyz" by "LV xyx". Moreover, let us assume, for example, that, in the storage system shown in FIG. 9, there are managed logical volumes corresponding to numerical values from 100 to 115, and further, there are LV 100, LV 101 and LV 110 to LV 112 to be assigned to the server 101, and LV 114 and LV 115 to be assigned to the server 102.
So that the servers 101 and 102 can recognize logical volumes assigned to themselves, it is necessary to perform mapping in the servers 101 and 102, respectively, between device names managed by the servers 101 and 102 and the logical volumes. In FIG. 10, respective correspondence relations ranging from the device names to the logical volumes are depicted. Firstly, in each of the servers 101, 102, correspondences 1011, 1021 between the device names and LUNs are managed in such a manner that, on recognition of a LUN, the server automatically creates a device name corresponding to the LUN; and secondly, in the storage system, correspondences between the LUNs and the LVs (i.e., pieces of identification information associated with the logical volumes) are managed. Moreover, Zone #1 and Zone #2 in the storage system correspond to the server 101 and the server 102, respectively.
Hereinafter, let us denote a LUN corresponding to a numerical value "a" by "LUN a". A management table 103 includes Zone #1 1031 and Zone #2 1032. Then, in Zone #1 1031 of the storage system, LUN 0 and LUN 1 correspond to LV 100 and LV 101, respectively. Similarly, LUN 2, LUN 3 and LUN 4 correspond to LV 110, LV 111 and LV 112, respectively. Further, in Zone #2 1032 of the storage system, LUN 0 and LUN 1 correspond to LV 114 and LV 115, respectively.
On the other hand, it is recognized by the server 101 that device names /sda and /sdb correspond to LUN 0 and LUN 1, respectively, and similarly, device names /sdc, /sdd and /sde correspond to LUN 2, LUN 3 and LUN 4, respectively. In addition, the LUNs of the server 101 correspond to those of Zone #1, respectively. In the case of the server 102, similarly, /sda and /sdb correspond to LUN 0 and LUN 1 of Zone #2, respectively.
In accordance with the correspondence relations described above, for example, when the server 101 accesses data stored in the logical volume LV 110, the server 101 can achieve this access via its own device name /sdc. In this manner, the server 101 can also access logical volumes LV 100 to LV 112 via its own device names /sda to /sde, respectively. Similarly, the server 102 can access logical volumes LV 114 and LV 115 via its own device names /sda and /sdb, respectively.
Further, a process of allowing a user to actually use logical volumes is as follows: firstly, starting-up (or rebooting) of each of the servers is performed by the user, or a dynamic recognition of correspondences between the device names and the LUNs is executed by each of the servers; and secondly, a predetermined command, given by the user, or automatically issued by the server, is executed by each of the servers, and thereby, the logical volumes are incorporated into a file system of each of the servers.
Moreover, in the related art, an information processing system, in which, in the fabric on a storage area network (SAN), in the case where a regular-volume is deleted, or a regular-volume and a sub-volume are interchanged, by providing a virtual server for volumes, it is possible to recognize anew a regular-volume after the interchange, is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2007-102512. Further, a storage apparatus, in which, an exclusive process performed by an upper-level apparatus is made unnecessary, and further, it is possible to retain an exclusive control condition in the storage apparatus, is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2001-249769.
However, once an alteration (i.e., a deletion of a piece of identification information associated with a logical volume) occurs in the mapping information under which a user accesses logical volumes, the correspondence relations in the mapping information are likely to be broken.
For example, in the case where in-operation recognition of LUNs by the server 101 and correspondence relations between the LUNs and the logical volumes are as shown in a table of FIG. 11A, named as "Correspondence Relation at Commencement of Operation", let us assume a case where a user regards LV 101 as being unnecessary because of certain reasons, and tries to remove LV 101 from the target of operation. Then, operations performed by the user under this assumption are as described below.
Firstly, the user removes /sdb from the file system by using a predetermined command or the like, and secondly, the user deletes LV 101 included in Zone #1. (Refer to a table of FIG. 11B, named "Deletion of LV 101")
Moreover, once the restarting of the server 101 is performed by the user, or the dynamic rerecognition is executed by the server 101, subsequently, it results in discrepancies occurring in the correspondences between the device names and the LUNs due to the deletion of LV 101, as shown in a table of FIG. 11C, named "After Restarting or Dynamic Rerecognition". Under such a condition that discrepancies have occurred in the correspondence relations (i.e., under such a condition that discrepancies occur in recognition of LUNs), once a logical volume having any discrepancy in correspondences to a LUN is accessed, it will probably result in data stored in the logical volume accessed being destroyed.
Moreover, even if the user does not delete LV 101, which is now out of use, but leaves it in Zone #1 so as to prevent the discrepancies in recognition of LUNs by the server 101, it does not lead to effective utilization of a logical volume corresponding to LV 101 for other purposes, for example, a utilization by other servers, such as the server 102.


The present invention relates to methods for the production of fresh cured fiber cement products. More particularly, the present invention provides methods for the production of fresh fiber cement products comprising cured fiber cement waste material, at least comprising the steps of: (a) Providing a cured fiber cement waste powder by comminuting cured fiber cement waste material; (b) Providing an aqueous fiber cement slurry comprising water, cementitious binder, natural or synthetic fibers and said cured fiber cement waste powder; (c) Forming a green fiber cement sheet from said aqueous fiber cement slurry; and (d) Autoclave-curing said green fiber cement sheet thereby providing a fresh fiber cement product.

Fiber cement material is a composite material typically comprising cement, cellulose fibers, and at least one of silica sand, synthetic fibers and fillers. It is widely used in construction and can take the form of a plurality of products, such as for example corrugated sheets for roofs, small sheets for tiles (slates), sheets for sidings, cladding, boards, etc.
Cured fiber cement waste material has a chemical composition similar to the corresponding fresh fiber cement products from which the waste is derived, and therefore could, and ideally should, be recycled and reused. Prior art patent documents US20080168927 and US20080072796 relate to methods for recycling fiber cement material waste.
However, recycling waste material from cured fiber cement products, e.g. finished products being out of spec, demolition and/or construction waste and alike, remains a major challenge.
It is for instance very difficult to produce a good comminuted fiber cement material from fiber cement waste, which material is suitable to be used as an ingredient for the production of fresh fiber cement products.
Also, the process features that are necessary for producing qualitatively good fiber cement products from comminuted fiber cement waste material are presently not known. Any attempts in the past to use ground waste material for the production of fresh fiber cement products, resulted in products not fulfilling the quality requirements as prescribed by national regulations. In fact, the use of a certain amount of fiber cement waste in new products resulted in an increased water absorption and/or a low mechanical strength of the end product, which made these products unusable for different reasons (increased risk for molds, extensive hygric movement (including e.g. swelling) and cracking).
Reusing fiber cement waste for various new purposes remains however the main, if not the only, approach to avoid disposal of large fiber cement waste streams.

Methods for producing fiber cement products with fiber cement waste


An audio device arrangement structure for a motorcycle is configured and arranged to provide high-quality sound output. The audio device arrangement structure serves to mount an audio device, which includes an audio unit, an amplifier and at least one speaker, for a motorcycle. The audio unit is mounted at the front of the vehicle inside a top cover, between the top cover and the air cleaner. The amplifier is provided separately from the audio unit, and is arranged at the rear of the vehicle in the inside of a housing provided at a rear portion of a rear fender. The amplifier is supported on the housing by rubber bushings, to isolate the amplifier from vibrations of the vehicle body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio device arrangement structure for a motorcycle. More particularly, the present invention relates to an audio device arrangement structure in which an amplifier is located at a portion of a motorcycle which is separate and spaced apart from a main audio device.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, it is well known to provide a motorcycle with an audio device which generates audio signals, to arrange an audio unit of the audio device in front of a seat and, at the same time, to arrange speakers at left and right sides of an instrument panel display portion, which performs a display of a speed and the like on a front central portion of a vehicle body. Such a vehicle is disclosed, for example, in Japanese published patent document number JP-A-2000-228793.
In the above-mentioned known audio device, in view of the relationship between the audio unit and a mounting space of the audio device, an amplifier is integrally incorporated in the audio unit. Audio data which is read from a media such as a cassette tape is directly output to speakers after being adjusted by the audio unit and, thereafter, is output as sounds from speakers.
In order to permit a rider to enjoy sophisticated music while touring for a motorcycle, it is necessary to provide an audio system, on the motorcycle, which can exhibit at least a predetermined level of performance. However, in the conventional audio device, which integrally incorporates the amplifier in the audio unit, the sound quality which can be produced is limited.

Audio device arrangement structure for a motorcycle, and motorcycle incorporating same


Water heating system and method including a boiler, a combustion chamber, and a burner housed inside the chamber. A conduit fluidly coupled to the combustion chamber to channel gas into the chamber wherein the burner causes combustion of gas. An oxygen sensor is coupled to the chamber and positioned within the chamber to detect an amount of oxygen in the products of combustion. The oxygen sensor outputs data representative of the amount to a control unit. The control unit controls the feedback control of the water heating system and wherein the combustion of the gas in the chamber is controllable by the control unit at least based on the data. A heat exchanger system is coupled to the chamber to heat water in the heat exchanger with the products. At least one flue coupled to the heat exchanger system to channel products out of the heat exchanger system.

In residential and commercial construction, a water heating system is necessary for heating water. However, water heating systems can be complex and inefficient. Known heating systems monitor characteristics about the water heating system to enhance the water heating system. Such characteristics may include monitoring the water temperature exiting the system, monitoring the rate at which gas enters the system, monitoring the amount of energy consumed in heating water, and the like. These heating systems are able to use such information to alter variables of the heating system in order to optimize the output of the system.
One characteristic that can be helpful in optimizing a heating system is the amount of oxygen in products of combustion in the heating system. Some heating systems are able to monitor the amount of oxygen in the products of combustion with non-dispersive Infrared (NDIR) sensors. NDIR sensors are spectroscopic devices often used for gas analysis. However, NDIR sensors are expensive and can cost approximately $30,000. Unfortunately, known heating systems have been unable to monitor the amount of oxygen combusted in the products of combustion effectively and in a cost efficient manner.


A non-aqueous ink not curable by UV radiation includes an organic color pigment and between 12 to 98 wt % of tetraethylene glycol dimethylether based on the total weight of the inkjet ink. Also, a method for preparing a non-aqueous inkjet ink is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to non-aqueous inkjet inks improved for dispersion stability and suitable for use in manufacturing decorative laminates by single pass inkjet printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pigment dispersions are usually made using a dispersant. A dispersant is a substance for promoting the formation and stabilization of a dispersion of pigment particles in a dispersion medium. Dispersants are generally surface-active materials having an anionic, cationic or non-ionic structure. The presence of a dispersant substantially reduces the required dispersing energy. Dispersed pigment particles may have a tendency to re-agglomerate after the dispersing operation, due to mutual attraction forces. The use of dispersants also counteracts this re-agglomeration tendency of the pigment particles.
The dispersant has to meet particularly high requirements when used for inkjet inks. Inadequate dispersing manifests itself as increased viscosity in liquid systems, loss of brilliance and/or hue shifts. Moreover, particularly good dispersion of the pigment particles is required to ensure unimpeded passage of the pigment particles through the nozzles of the print head, which are usually 10 to 50 micrometers in diameter. In addition, pigment particle agglomeration and the associated blockage of the printer nozzles has to be avoided during the standby periods of the printer.
Polymeric dispersants generally contain in one part of the molecule so-called anchor groups, which adsorb onto the pigments to be dispersed, and in a spatially separate part of the molecule, the polymeric dispersants have polymer chains compatible with the dispersion medium, thus stabilizing the pigment particles in the dispersion medium. Typical polymeric dispersants include graft copolymer and block copolymer dispersants.
In aqueous inkjet inks, the polymeric dispersants generally contain hydrophobic anchor groups exhibiting a high affinity for the pigment surface and hydrophilic polymer chains for stabilizing the pigments in the aqueous dispersion medium.
The preparation of good thermally stable dispersions with submicron particles is much more difficult for non-aqueous inkjet inks, such as solvent based, oil based and radiation curable inkjet inks. The pigments are especially difficult to disperse when they have a non-polar surface.
These dispersing problems have lead to the design of very specific polymeric dispersants wherein the anchor groups are pigment derivatives. For example, EP 0763378 A (TOYO INK) discloses a pigment composition including a non-aqueous type pigment dispersing agent having a portion which has a high affinity with a pigment and which has at least one type selected from the group consisting of an organic dye, anthraquinone and acridone only at a terminal end or at both terminal ends of at least one polymer selected from a linear urethane polymer and a linear acrylic polymer, and a pigment.
Another approach for dispersing pigments with non-polar surfaces in non-aqueous dispersion media is changing the surface to a more polar surface by the addition of compounds known as dispersion synergists. A dispersion synergist is a compound that promotes the adsorption of the polymeric dispersant on the surface of the pigment. It is suggested that the synergist should possess the pigment structure substituted by one or more sulfonic acid groups or ammonium salts thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,647 (ICI) discloses a dispersion of a pigment in an organic liquid containing a water-insoluble asymmetric disazo compound including a central divalent group free from acidic and other ionic substituents linked through azo groups to two monovalent end groups characterized in that one end group, the first, is free from acidic and other ionic substituents and the other end group, the second, carries a single substituted ammonium-acid salt group.
Although these dispersion synergists work fine for some pigments, many other pigments cannot be dispersed to an acceptable quality in a non-aqueous medium. This is, for example, the case for diketopyrrolo-pyrrole pigments, for which it is difficult to obtain stable non-aqueous pigment dispersions, especially stable non-aqueous ink-jet inks.
U.S. 2004/0122130 (CHANG ET AL.) discloses a photo-curable pigment type inkjet ink composition containing Pigment Red 254, but the ink requires the presence of water and a reactive surfactant.
No water is used in the radiation curable resin composition containing a solvent having a boiling point of 245° C. or more at normal pressure of EP 1048700 A (SEIKO EPSON) but a certain minimal amount of binder resin is required to have a discharge stability of the color filter resin composition. For certain inkjet applications, the presence of monomers is not desirable because they render porous paper substrates transparent or translucent and also require the presence of radiation curing devices rendering the inkjet printer more complex.
The dispersion quality and stability can also be influenced by the solvent composition of the dispersion medium, however this also influences the behavior of inkjet droplets jetted upon the ink-receiver surface.
Many types of solvents and specific combinations of solvents have been disclosed. EP 1528086 A (SEIKO EPSON) discloses an oil-based inkjet ink including at least 50% of a mixed solvent of a lactone-type solvent and a polyoxyethyleneglycol dialkyl ether. It was discovered by the present inventor that further improvements in dispersion stability and jetting characteristics, such as latency, were required particularly for single pass inkjet printing. For certain inkjet applications, it would also be desirable to make inks lacking a noxious solvent such as lactone.
For consistent image quality, inkjet inks require high dispersion stability capable of dealing with high temperatures (above 65° C.) during transport of the ink to a customer, jetting at elevated temperatures and changes in the dispersion medium of the inkjet ink during use. These changes in the dispersion medium can occur, for example, by evaporation of solvent and increasing concentrations of humectants, penetrants and other additives at the nozzles during the summer or when the printer is not jetting ink for a long time (i.e., latency) and the inkjet print-heads are filled with ink, e.g., over the weekend.
Inkjet printing provides large flexibility in the production of decorative laminates, but high printing speed is required to obtain acceptable productivity. This is possible with single pass inkjet printing if the inkjet printing process is so reliable that during a print job no maintenance is required. Inkjet inks having very high dispersion quality and stability and exhibiting minimal latency problems are therefore required. Aqueous inkjet inks generally exhibit latency problems due to the relative high volatility of water. Diketopyrrolo-pyrrole pigments have been a preferred choice in non-inkjet printing inks, such as, e.g., gravure inks, to print images on a decorative paper used in the manufacturing process of decorative laminates for imitating a wooden floor. These pigments have been dispersed to acceptable dispersion quality and stability in aqueous inkjet inks but not in non-aqueous inkjet inks.


A pew style seating assembly includes a plurality of seat members, each of which is pivotable, independently from all others of the plurality of seat members, between an occupied position and an unoccupied position. Each seat member, when in the occupied position, defines a seating area above a top surface thereof, with the seating areas defined by the plurality of seat members defining a continuous and uninterrupted pew seating area spanning the plurality of seat members. The seating assembly further includes a single, continuous seat back attached to each of the seat support members and spanning the entire pew seating area, such that the plurality of seat members are associated with the single, continuous seat back.

In recent years, church congregations shopping for fixed seating have encountered a growing dilemma in reaching a consensus over the choice of pew style seating versus theater style seating. For the past decade, the number of theater seats purchased by churches has grown significantly each succeeding year. At the same time, the sentiment of many congregation members in favor of pew style seating runs as deep as the roots of church tradition.
One of the strongest appeals that has made theater style seating attractive to churches is the extra egress space achieved by the self-lifting seats. Egress space is the passage room between the rows of seats. Ample egress space provides benefits in not only audience comfort and safety, but also in contributing to ease for maintenance and cleaning purposes.
Pews that are spaced a typical 36″ back-to-back may leave only about 12″ of egress, which is a typical minimum fire code requirement. Theater style seating, utilizing self-lifting seats, increases this exit passage dramatically. The present invention is directed to a seating assembly that embodies all of the important features of both pew style seating and theater style seating in one assembly. The present invention maintains the traditional appearance of pews while offering the benefits of self-lifting seats. In fact, the present invention provides advantage over what is offered by either conventional pews or conventional theater seats.
The egress dimension is just one of the areas where the seating assembly of the present invention is more advantageous than traditional seating. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the present invention can provide 22″ or more of passageway between rows, which can be double that of conventional pews and up to 50% more than most theater seats. This extra passage, while obviously providing greater worship space and traffic flow, also offers benefits in the form of greater seat capacity, lower seating costs, and lower construction costs.
Building codes restrict the length of a conventional pew based on the egress space. A typical code may restrict pew length to between 20′ to 25′ where an egress of 12″ is provided. As egress space increases, it becomes easier for people to maneuver between rows, and thus evacuation time will increase in the case of an emergency. Therefore, various building codes will permit additional seating and longer pews as egress space increases. Generally, an additional three seats are allowed for each one inch increase of egress. Accordingly, by increasing the available egress, the seating assembly of the present invention could be extended to more than three times the allowable length of a conventional pew, without violating code.
The seating assembly of the present invention could increase seating capacity over conventional pews. Longer rows mean that fewer aisles are required throughout the facility and fewer aisles obviously allows for more floor space to be committed to seating, producing additional seating capacity. Even if the initial cost of the seating assembly of the present invention is more than the average pew, the added product cost is far less than the added construction cost would be to expand the worship facility to accommodate the provided seating increase. Thus, the seating assembly of the present invention provides lower seating costs per person.
Moreover, aisle ways often empty into doorways. Because fewer aisles are needed with the present invention, fewer doorways are required in a construction plan, lowering overall construction costs. Similarly, the greater seating capacity eliminates the need for many intermediate steps in balcony related construction where aisles are deleted, further reducing costs.
The seating assembly of the present invention allows for the elimination of arm dividers typical to most theater seats, which arm dividers can be cumbersome. Arm dividers in conventional theater seats occupy 2 to 3 inches of seat width per seating unit, prohibit continuous seating, are a problem for larger people, and add maintenance as well as cost.
The seating assembly of the present invention may also greatly reduce the noise and maintenance often associated with self-lifting seats. The seating assembly of the present invention preferably employs a gravity lift, counter balance seat mechanism free of springs and other mechanics that generally create noise and ongoing maintenance. A preferred means of a self lifting seating assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,834, which patent is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Many additional benefits of such a seating assembly are disclosed therein.
Also, traditional pews must be custom built to reach a desired or specified width. The present invention may employ modularity to its assembly components to allow it to meet any desired or specified length. The use of standardized parts and modular assembly also provides for ease in adjustments in both seating design and assembly. The modular components also allow for ease in repair and maintenance of the seating assembly.
While worship seating does not have a significant influence on worship itself, the combined physical elements of building and seat design stand to maximize stewardship goals and ministry objectives. The goal of the present invention is to partner with the architectural team in bringing these physical elements together in a way that optimizes these common objectives.
What is desired, therefore, is a pew style seating assembly which, in an unoccupied position, provides increased egress as compared to traditional pew seating assemblies and theater seating assemblies, which allows for longer rows, fewer aisles, and greater overall traffic flow as compared to traditional pew seating assemblies and theater seating assemblies, which provides greater seating capacity, offering lower seating costs and lower construction costs as compared to traditional pew seating assemblies and theater seating assemblies, and which employs modularized seating components allowing the seating assembly to be constructed to numerous desired widths without requiring customized construction or components.


In some example implementations, there is provided a method including determining, from a received request, one or more attributes; sending, by a permission controller, a query to a use case database, the query including the determined attributes to enable an identification by the use case database of a matching use case stored in the use case database; approving, by the permission controller, the requested access to the data, when a response to the query indicates the matching use case was found in the use case database; rejecting, by the permission controller, the requested access to the data, when the response to the query indicates the matching use case was not found in the use case database.

Information technology systems have become increasingly complex. Along with that increase in complexity has come also the need to protect information contained in these systems. However, the complexity of some information technology systems makes protecting access to information especially challenging and, as a consequence, complex which increases processing burden on the machines (as well as the user accessing those systems). Although some systems, such as those processing sensitive healthcare or financial information, may require high-integrity permission control, other systems simply do not, but do require some way of controlling data access.


A vehicle for transporting passenger cars has an adjustable loading ramp for loading and unloading passenger cars. The loading ramp can be placed in at least two positions. One position is a travel position and is to be set when the passenger car transport is traveling. The passenger car transport also has an electronic monitoring system that includes at least one monitoring sensor operable to sense whether the loading ramp is in the travel position. The electronic monitoring system employs monitoring electronics configured to evaluate the signals of the monitoring sensor and to transmit to a display device corresponding information indicating whether or not the loading ramp is in the travel position.

Passenger car transport vehicles of the general type under consideration typically have two loading levels for passenger cars—one level located on top of the other. In order to load the upper loading level, a pivotable loading ramp is attached thereto, which can, for example, be pivoted hydraulically. As a result, the loading ramp can be adjusted in at least two positions. For the loading or unloading process, the loading ramp is placed in a first, raised position in which the loading ramp is positioned obliquely such that passenger cars can be driven from the roadway onto the loading ramp (loading) or can be driven from the loading ramp onto the roadway (unloading). In the course of loading or unloading, or thereafter, the loading ramp can be placed in a second, horizontal position in which it is essentially aligned with the upper loading level. The horizontal position is intended in particular also to be assumed in the driving state of the passenger car transport.
When the loading ramp is positioned obliquely, which is also referred to herein as the raised position, part of the loading ramp protrudes upward to a considerable extent over the passenger car transport, with the result that it is not always possible to drive under bridges or overpasses. For this reason, before starting a trip, the driver of the passenger car transport will place the loading ramp in the horizontal position. However, this is unfortunately sometimes forgotten, which can present a hazardous driving situation that can lead to damage being inflicted on the passenger car transport, its cargo and on bridges or overpasses.


A seal is coupled to a movable member in a disk drive for sealing an opening in a chassis over which the movable member passes. The seal comprises a first layer of foam attached to the movable member, and a second layer of low-friction plastic attached to the layer of foam. The foam layer presses the plastic layer against the chassis to seal the opening as the plastic layer slides over a surface of the chassis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disk drives of the type that accept removable disk cartridges, and more particularly, to a disk drive having a seal that blocks airflow between the inside and outside of a disk drive.
2. Related Applications
This application is based on prior provisional application Ser. No. 60/003,758, filed Sep. 14, 1995, from which priority of this application is claimed. This application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,710, issued Dec. 10, 1997, in the names of Nicklos et al., entitled "Disk Drive Having An Automatic Spindle Motor Loading Mechanism," which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.
3. Description of the Prior Art
Removable disk cartridges for storing digital electronic information typically comprise an outer casing or shell that houses a rotatable recording medium, or disk, upon which electronic information can be stored. The cartridge shell often comprises upper and lower halves that are joined together to house the disk. The disk is mounted on a hub that rotates freely within the cartridge. When the cartridge is inserted into a disk drive, a motor-driven spindle in the drive must engage the hub in order to rotate the disk(s) within the cartridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,793, Apr. 20, 1993, Garold Plonczak, "Removable Cartridge Disk Drive With an Integral Head Loading Ramp, Air Filter and Removable Cartridge Door Safety Stop" relates to a removable cartridge disk drive with an integral head loading ramp, air filter and removable cartridge door safety stop. Air filters for reducing contamination in disk drives are known.
The disk drive shown and described in the related application has an opening in the drive which cannot be blocked with air filters of this type. It is an object of the present invention to block airflow into a disk drive. By blocking airflow, the particles that occupy a volume of air are not permitted to enter the internal part of the disk drive. These particles would otherwise damage the head disk interface.

Disk drive seal attached to a motor ring flange


A two-step thermochemical gas reduction process based on poly-cation oxides includes repeatedly cycling a thermal reduction step and a gas reduction step. In the thermal reduction the poly-cation oxide is heated to produce a reduced poly-cation oxide and oxygen. In the gas reduction step, the reduced poly-cation oxide is reacted with a gas to reduce the gas, while reoxidizing the poly-cation oxide. The poly-cation oxide has at least two distinct crystal structures at two distinct temperatures and is capable of undergoing a reversible phase transformation between the two distinct crystal structures. For example, the poly-cation oxide may be an entropy tuned mixed metal oxide, such as an entropy stabilized mixed metal oxide, where the entropy-tuning is achieved via change in crystal structure of one of more of the compounds involved. The gas reduction process may be used for water splitting, CO2 splitting, NOx reduction, and other gas reduction processes.

Metal-oxide-based thermochemical redox reactions have many applications, including water splitting and carbon dioxide splitting for production of hydrogen fuel and/or carbon monoxide precursors for syngas. For example, a two-step thermochemical splitting of H2O or CO2 using metal oxide based redox reactions can be used to produce H2 or CO, respectively. In a first step, metal oxides are reduced at high temperature, producing oxygen gas. In a second step, H2O or CO2 is reduced while the metal oxide is oxidized. The metal oxide then repeats the cycle. The thermodynamic cycle is essentially a redox heat engine.
The most significant barrier for commercialization of current metal-oxide-based thermochemical redox reactions is the requirement of high operation temperatures and high expense that does not allow economies of scale. For example, existing metal oxide-based redox materials such as substituted ceria, two-metal ferrites, and perovskite oxides require temperatures 1300° C. to 1400° C., since they do not produce useful amounts of H2 at thermal reduction temperatures (TH) less than 1100° C. This high temperature requirement is a critical limitation for industrial applications because today's chemical infrastructure relies almost exclusively on thermochemical transformations in the regime less than 1100° C. Operating at higher temperatures causes serious material compatibility issues in practice. Thus, it would be an important and valuable advance to overcome these existing problems with the state of the art.

Thermochemical gas reduction process using poly-cation oxide

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A handle arrangement is disposed at the top end of the support and a base at the bottom end. The handle and the base are spaced from each other by a spacer, and the handle is disconnectably connectable to the spacer at one end while the base is disconnectably connectable to the spacer at the other end. The handle, spacer and base comprise tubular members.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a collapsible support arrangement for running in place exercising. The invention also relates to an improved sporting shoe to be worn when using the arrangement.
2. Description of Prior Art
Running in place exercisers, for example, treadmills or the like, typically are fixed-in-place machines which require an elaborate set-up and a fair amount of space, and which cannot easily be moved from place to place.

Collapsible support for running in place exercising


Disclosed herein is a nano-powder extraction apparatus using the rotation of a hollow impeller, which is configured to extract nano-powder according to particle size thereof by effectively dissolving the nano-powder contained in plasma gas into a surfactant solution, and to prevent the aggregation of nano-powder as the nano-powder is absorbed in and collected by a surfactant of solution, thereby enabling the application of strongly reactive materials.

Generally, in the production of nano-powder using plasma, two representative extraction methods have been employed. The first method extracts the nano-powder using a filter, and the second method extracts the nano-powder by scraping the nano-powder attached to the walls of a cryogenic container.
The conventional methods as stated above, however, have a problem that it is unable to separate the nano-powder according to particle size thereof.
Another shortcoming of the conventional methods is that only non-reactive oxide-based materials (for example, alumina and so on) are applicable due to a hazard inherent in explosive reaction between colliding nano-powder particles.

Nano-powder extraction apparatus using a hollow impeller


Electrodes for electrocautery probes for use with a resectoscope include full loop electrodes wherein the full loop has a working surface which extends below the axis of the cautery probe and a working surface which extends above the axis of the cautery probe, composite full loop electrodes wherein the upper working surface and the lower working surface have different morphology, combined full loop and roller electrodes wherein one of the upper or lower portions of the loop serves as the axle for a roller electrode, and bifurcated full loop electrodes wherein the upper working surface and the lower working surface can be independently energized. The electrodes according to the invention permit resection of upper and lower prostate lobes without requiring inversion of the resectoscope, thereby shortening the time for the procedure. In addition, the full loop electrodes with different upper and lower morphology provide additional treatment options while also reducing the time for the procedure. Furthermore, the bifurcated full loop electrodes provide the ability to use different power settings for the upper and lower working surfaces.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to endoscopic instruments. More particularly, this invention relates to electrodes which are used in electrocautery probes with a resectoscope.
2. State of the Art
Electrosurgical resection is a procedure in which damaged or enlarged tissue is excised with an electrocautery probe. Transurethral resection is an electrosurgical procedure in which a portion of the prostrate is excised by means of an instrument passed through the urethra. Endometrial ablation is an electrosurgical alternative procedure to hysterectomy for women with menorrhagia (abnormal or excessive uterine bleeding). In both procedures, the instrument typically used is called a resectoscope or hysteroscope. Prior art FIG. 1 shows a typical resectoscope 10 with an electrocautery probe 12. The resectoscope 10 includes a distal guide tube 14 and a proximal handle 16. A telescope 18 is inserted through the guide tube 14 and is provided with a proximal eye piece 20 for viewing the interior of the bladder or other operative site. The cautery probe 12 has a distal electrode 22 which is mounted between a pair of arms 23, 25. The arms 23, 25 are joined at their proximal ends to an electrode lead 27 which is coupled via the handle 16 to a wire 24 which is coupled to a source of cautery current (not shown). A mounting sleeve 29 is provided on the probe 12 for slideably coupling it to the guide tube 14. The mounting sleeve 29 is typically located at the point where the arms 23, 25 are joined to the electrode lead 27. The handle 16 is generally capable of axially sliding the probe 12 and its distally mounted electrode 22 relative to the guide tube 14.
The resection procedure involves applying a cauterizing voltage to the electrode 22 and moving the electrode slowly through or over the prostate or endometrium while viewing the tissue through the scope 18. Thermal energy (in the form of an electrical signal) is applied through the electrode to the prostate or the endometrium so that tissue is excised. The resectoscope and cautery probe are also useful in other procedures for resecting the uterus, ureter, or renal pelvis.
Known electrodes for use in resectoscopes are available in many different shapes and sizes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,082 to Grossi et al., for example, discloses several embodiments of a "Resectoscope Electrode" including a coagulating electrode, a knife electrode, a punctate electrode, and a roller electrode, among others. Electrodes for use with resectoscopes are also widely available from Olsen Electrosurgical, Inc., Concord, Calif. They are available as blades, needles, balls, loops, spear tips, flexible wires, semi-circular wires, hooks, spatulas and blunt tips.
Most of the known electrodes extend downward from a pair of probe arms and present a single working surface which is located below the axis of the probe arms and below the axis of the scope. Thus, in order to operate on tissue which is located above the probe arms, the entire resectoscope must be rotated 180.degree. to bring the working surface of the electrode in contact with the tissue. U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,907 to Nishigaki et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,011 to Korth et al. disclose electrodes which are suspended from a single probe arm. Nishigaki et al. discloses a special probe arm which is located above the scope and which has a loop which extends below the axis of the probe arm. Korth et al. discloses an electrode in the shape of a triangle which is suspended at its vertex from a single probe arm. While these patents would appear to show "full loop" electrodes, the electrodes shown do not have upper and lower working surfaces.

Electrodes having upper and lower operating surfaces for electrocautery probes for use with a resectoscope