The method of the invention comprises a method of melting tin-plated iron type scrap using tin-plated iron type scrap of loose packing as a portion of the iron type scrap and conducting melting while controlling the post combustion ratio of the gas by adjusting the amount of the combustion sustaining gas blown from the secondary tuyeres and a method of melting tin-plated iron type scrap packing the tin-plated iron type scrap prior to the non tin-plated iron type scrap and conducting melting while retaining the tin-melted iron type scrap between the coke packed layer and the non tin-plated iron type scrap packed layer. According to the melting method of the tin-plated iron scrap of the present invention, exhaust gas of high heat generation amount can be recovered while producing pig iron with low Sn content usable for the production of high quality steels by one furnace, without adding a preliminary Sn-removing processing step or molten metal mixing step and without using expensive electric power, by one furnace. Further, an exhaust gas dust in which SnO.sub.2 is concentrated can be utilized effectively as an Sn source. Accordingly, the method according to the present invention can be utilized in the field of melting market scrap such as surface treated steels.

According to the report of Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai, 69th Material Processing Committee, First and Second section Joint Research Meeting (1990, August), generation amount of steel scrap as iron type scrap has increased with accumulation amount of steel materials at a rate of about 1,000,000 tons year by year and it is expected that the generation amount of market scrap (obsolete scrap) will be about 40,000,000 ton/year at the year of 2,000, which amounts to 45% for the production quantity of crude steel.
At present, most of market scrap is melted in electric furnaces. Particularly, in recent years, for making the varied kinds of products and for reducing the cost, a so-called mini-mill method has been adopted in which scrap or direct reduced iron for dilution of impurities are melted in electric furnaces, continuously casted and rolled.
On the other hand, in an integrated steel work, a technique of scrap melting without electric power for melting has been developed in order to cope with the increase of the scrap and to ensure iron sources corresponding to diversification of the production quantity of crude steel in the trend of concentration of blast furnaces.
In recent years, along with the trend of consumption intended for higher quality, market scrap of surface treated steel has increased more and one of them includes tinned iron scrap (referred to "can scrap" as market scrap).
Tin (hereinafter referred as Sn) is an element that can not be removed in the steel making step and if Sn remains by more than about 0.04% in the steel, the hot workability or toughness is reduced, so that several proposals have been made for Sn removing technique upon re-utilizing Sn plated steel sheet scrap as the iron source as described below.
Method A (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 4-198429 and Hei 4-198430)
For removing plated portions on the surface of steel sheets, Sn-plated steel sheet scrap is heated to 300-1200.degree. C. and treated in a sulfurizing atmosphere thereby transforming Sn into SnS and SnS is mechanically separated or evaporated. Then, using a furnace of a top and bottom blowing converter type, slag is formed on an iron bath such that the top blowing oxygen jet is not in direct contact with the iron bath and oxygen is top blown, in which carbon material containing an appropriate amount of S (sulfur) and the Sn-plated steel sheet scrap treated in the sulfurizing atmosphere are continuously charged and melted. Since the S potential at the oxygen blowing point is increased and SnS of a low boiling point (about 1230.degree. C.) is formed, evaporation of Sn preferentially to Fe (iron) is enabled to obtain a molten metal containing less than 0.05% by weight of the Sn content and, subsequently, low Sn molten steel is manufactured by the usual steel making processes.
Method B (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 5-9600)
Using a method of packing coke and scrap or scrap and iron ore in a layerous form into a vertical furnace, blowing a combustion sustaining gas from primary tuyeres and secondary tuyeres to each of packed layers thereby conducting melting and reduction (method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 1-290711), producing molten iron of low impurity content in a vertical furnace charged with scrap containing less impurities, producing molten iron of high impurity contents in another vertical furnace charged with scrap of high impurity contents such as can scrap (for example, 0.63 wt % Sn content). Then, molten iron manufactured by the two furnaces are mixed to obtain pig iron, for example, of 0.06 wt % Sn.
Method C (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 7-207313)
In this method, coke and scrap are packed in a layerous manner into a vertical furnace and a combustion sustaining gas is blown from primary tuyeres and secondary tuyeres to conduct melting. Tin-plated steel sheet scrap is used at least as a portion of the scrap, an average post combustion ratio is controlled to 50% or higher by adjusting the blowing amount of the combustion sustaining gas of the secondary tuyeres, thereby removing Sn in the form of SnO.sub.2 enriched dusts.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 5-9600, Hei 1-290711 and Hei 7-207313 are proposed by the present applicant or the present inventor.
By the way, each of the prior art described above has the following problems.
Method A:
It is necessary to provide a processing device in a sulfurizing atmosphere for removing Sn on the surface of scrap and the preliminary processing step is indispensable prior to the melting step. Furthermore, for suppressing evaporation of iron at the oxygen blowing point, slag has to be formed in a considerable amount in order that the top blowing oxygen jet is not in direct contact with the iron bath. In this case, since the absolute amount of FeO in the slag is increased, the iron yield is decreased and, in addition, a problem such as damage to the refractories may be increased. Further, since slag desulfurization is scarcely conducted but, on the contrary, since the molten iron is sulfurized, desulfurization processing is essential.
Method B:
This is a melting method using a vertical furnace having tuyeres, and this is not a regular Sn removing technique but, so to speak, a dilution method by mixing of two molten metals, so that it requires another furnace capable of simultaneous pig iron tapping. Accordingly, it is not efficient in term of installation cost and operation cost. Further, a post combustion ratio and a latent heat of the exhaust gas are not considered.
Method C:
This is a melting method using a vertical furnace having tuyeres and a regular Sn removing method. However, it is necessary to control the blowing amount of the combustion sustaining gas from the secondary tuyeres and control the average post combustion ratio to higher than 50%. Therefore, reducing of the heat generation amount of the exhaust gas is tending to lower the economical merit.


A pull tab mounting arrangement includes a pull tab, and a coupling device coupled to a slide for a zipper to hold the pull tab, the coupling device has a substantially U-shaped spring wire rod at one end hung on a hanging hole on the slide, and a slotted bottom extension strip coupled to a split ring at one end of the pull tab, the U-shaped spring wire rod having one end pivoted to the body of the coupling device by a pivot pin, and an opposite end terminating in a retainer tip detachably forced by the spring power of the U-shaped spring wire rod into engagement with a retaining hole on the body of the coupling device.

(a) Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to zippers, and more specifically to a pull tab mounting arrangement for a zipper which uses a coupling device to detachably couple a pull tab to the slide of a zipper.
(b) Description of the Prior Art:
A regular zipper is generally comprised of two rows of interlocking metal or plastic teeth that may be closed or separated by a sliding device. The sliding device is comprised of a slide, and a pull tab coupled to the slide. Because the slide and the pull tab are not detachable, the user cannot replace the pull tab with a different design.

Pull tab mounting arrangement for a zipper


In the ozone water treatment process, the silicon wafer is treated with the first ultra-pure water that includes ozone. The first ultra-pure water is refined by the ultraviolet ray sterilization method. The first ultra-pure water includes total organic carbon content of more than 1 μg/liter and not more than 20 μg/liter, so that the silicon wafer of the predetermined degree of cleanliness is obtained. The silicon wafer is treated by using the second ultra-pure water that has a lower TOC value than the first ultra-pure water in the ultra-pure water rinsing process (including the chemical solution cleaning process as required). The second ultra-pure water is refined by the ultraviolet ray oxidization method, and includes total organic carbon content with a concentration of 1 μg/liter or less. Thus the silicon wafer of the predetermined degree of cleanliness is obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for treating a semiconductor wafer and, more particularly, to a semiconductor wafer cleaning technology that involves an ozone water cleaning process and an ultra-pure water rinsing process.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, much attention has been attracted to ozone water made by including ozone gas in ultra-pure water that is used as cleaning water in processes of manufacturing semiconductor wafer and semiconductor chips. Ultra-pure water refers to water having such a level of purity as the content of materials dissolved therein such as sodium, iron, copper and zinc is in a range of one billionth grams per litter (μg/liter) to one trillionth grams (ng/liter). Ozone water produces oxygen trough spontaneous decomposition in a strong oxidation reaction. As a result, use of ozone water to clean the semiconductor wafer makes it easier to process the waste water. Ozone water is made by mixing ozone gas into ultra-pure water.
As the sizes of devices formed on semiconductor chips become increasingly smaller, the semiconductor wafer is required to have higher degree of cleanliness.
Thus the ozone water is made from ultra-pure water of ever higher degree of purity. Such an ultra-pure water includes extremely reduced concentrations of total organic carbon content (TOC) as well as particulate matter and metallic impurities.
The total organic carbon content can be decreased by irradiating the ultra-pure water with ultraviolet ray.
Concentration of ozone gas in ultra-pure water decreases over time through diffusion into the atmosphere and spontaneous decomposition, in addition to being consumed through reaction of the ozone. Rate of decrease in ozone concentration with time may be represented by half life of ozone, that is the period of time over which the concentration of ozone dissolved in ultra-pure water decreases to one half of the original level. Half life of ozone in ultra-pure water is typically from 10 to 30 minutes, while it depends on the liquid surface area (area of gas-liquid interface). In case the ultra-pure water is contained in a container having a large opening such as cleaning bath, half life of ozone becomes about 2 to 5 minutes.
The applicant of the present patent application previously proposed a method of elongating the half life of ozone by adding a trace of organic solvent to ultra-pure water thereby to suppress the spontaneous decomposition of ozone, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-079649.
The method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-4079649 makes it possible to manufacture ozone water having a longer half life of ozone.
The ultra-pure water used to make this ozone water includes particulate matter and metallic impurities in addition to the carbon compounds. Contents of these impurities are higher than in ultra-pure water that does not include ozone gas.
Methods of refining ultra-pure water known in the art include ultraviolet ray sterilization method and ultraviolet ray oxidization method. The ultraviolet ray sterilization method exterminates harmful bacteria included in the raw water by irradiating the water with ultraviolet ray. The ultraviolet ray oxidization method decomposes nitrogen and phosphorus included in the raw water by means of the energy of ultraviolet ray by irradiating the water with ultraviolet ray.
When ultra-pure water treated by the ultraviolet ray sterilization method is used in the chemical solution cleaning process or the ultra-pure water rinsing process to treat the semiconductor wafer, it was found that the degree of cleanliness of the semiconductor wafer is lower than that achieved by using ultra-pure water treated by the ultraviolet ray oxidization method.
The ultra-pure water refined by the ultraviolet ray oxidization method has higher degree of cleanliness than that of the ultra-pure water treated by the ultraviolet ray sterilization method.
Therefore, a higher degree of cleanliness of the semiconductor wafer can be achieved by using the ultra-pure water treated by the ultraviolet my oxidization method in the chemical solution cleaning process and ultra-pure water rinsing process for the treatment of the semiconductor wafer.
However, it is difficult to use the ultra-pure water treated by the ultraviolet ray oxidization method in all cleaning and rinsing processes including the ozone water treatment process, due to the problem of half life of ozone.
It is necessary to make ozone water that includes high concentration of ozone, in order to overcome the problem of half life of ozone in the ozone water cleaning process that uses ozone water made by the ultraviolet my oxidization method.
However, an exclusive manufacturing facility is required to manufacture the ozone water that includes high concentration of ozone, leading to another problem of increasing manufacturing cost.
The inventor of the present application completed the present invention upon the following finding. That is, a semiconductor wafer having a high degree of cleanliness can be obtained at a low cost by using ultra-pure water that has been treated by the ultraviolet ray sterilization method and has a somewhat high TOC value in the ozone water treatment process, using ultra-pure water that has been treated by the ultraviolet ray oxidization method and has a low TOC value in the chemical solution cleaning process where the ultra-pure water of high purity is used as the water to dilute a chemical solution and in the ultra-pure water rinsing process that requires a high degree of cleanliness.

Semiconductor wafer treatment method and apparatus therefor


Method and peptide for regulating cellular activity includes a panel of synthesized peptides that have biological effects on inhibiting or enhancing cellular activity. Selected peptides can be used as therapy to reduce and/or inhibit, or initiate and/or enhance, an inflammatory response in a subject.

The present invention is generally directed to a method and peptide for regulating cellular activity, and more particularly to the identification and use of various peptides derived from vaccinia virus A52R protein that have biological effects by inhibiting or enhancing cellular activity, and particularly toll-like receptors (TLR) induced cytokine secretion in a cell.
The innate immune system, involved in both the detection and control of infection, recognizes conserved motifs from pathogens termed pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) (References 1 and 2). Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize PAMPs, and their interaction triggers a series of intracellular signaling events that culminates in expression of cell-surface molecules, secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and induction of acquired immunity (References 2-9). TLRs are characterized by an extracellular leucine-rich repeat motif and an intracellular Toll/IL-1 receptor (TIR) domain. Pathogens are detected by the innate immune system, with recognition of the bacterial PAMPs LPS, CpG DNA, flagellin, and peptidoglycan mediated by TLR4, TLR9, TLR5, and TLR2 respectively (References 4 and 10-13). Recognition of viral infections are mediated primarily by TLR3 in response to viral dsRNA (Reference 14). Cell activation in response to different PAMPs involves a number of intracellular molecules common to all TLRs, including MyD88, members of the IL-1 receptor-associated kinase (IRAK) proteins, TNF receptor associated factor (TRAF6), and NF-κB (Reference 1).
Vaccinia virus, a member of the poxvirus family, is a DNA virus that has been demonstrated to encode immunomodulatory proteins (References 15-18). One of these proteins, A52R, has been shown to inhibit NF-κB activation following initiation of the TIR signaling cascade (References 15 and 18). Recent studies have demonstrated that A52R inhibits TIR signaling and contributes to the virulence of vaccinia virus. Inhibition of TIR signaling by A52R is mediated by binding of the protein to both TRAF6 and IRAK2 (Reference 18).
The present invention is directed to the identification and characterization of a peptide, derived from the A52R protein, that significantly inhibits in vitro cytokine production in response to both bacterial and viral PAMPs. This peptide has characteristics consistent with a reagent that inhibits intracellular signaling triggered by TLR activation. Cytokine secretion induced by non-TLR stimulation was not inhibited by the peptide. The in vivo activity of this peptide was demonstrated by dramatically reducing middle ear inflammation in mice injected with heat-inactivated Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae). This peptide may have application in the treatment of this and other inflammatory conditions that result from ongoing TLR activation. In addition, we have also identified three distinct A52R peptides that inhibit cytokine secretion and five other distinct peptides that enhance cytokine secretion.

The United States of American as represented by the Department of Veterans Affairs


Time domain duplex (TDD) is contemplated, including controlling switches and/or amplifiers to facilitate signaling between a network and a plurality of end stations (ESs) according to a TDD control strategy. The TDD control strategy may be characterized by preventing simultaneous upstream and downstream communication between the network and one or more of the ESs over a particular frequency band. The TDD control strategy may be limited to a particular frequency range such that signaling outside of frequency range may be simultaneously communicated upstream and downstream.

Frequency domain duplex (FDD) relates to a signaling configuration where a transmitter and a receiver operate at different frequencies for a particular session (the FDD transmitter and receiver pair may simultaneously operate at multiple frequencies for different sessions). The different frequencies allow simultaneous upstream and downstream signaling to take place between the transmitter and the receiver. Time domain duplex (TDD) systems relate to a signaling configuration where the transmitter and a receiver operate at the same frequency for a particular session (the TDD transmitter and receiver pair may simultaneously operate at other frequencies for different sessions). The TDD type of signaling may be preferred over the FDD since it allows a maximum available bandwidth used for the direction needed at any instant in time.

Time domain duplex (TDD) switching system


Exemplary reinforced structures, e.g., panel structures, and methods of making the same are disclosed. A reinforced structure may include a panel support extending along a panel. The panel support may be relatively rigid in comparison to the panel. The structure may further include an expandable support having a body portion mounted on the panel support. The body portion may be formed of an expandable material such that the body portion is configured to engage the panel upon expansion, thereby providing an expanded support acting between the panel and the panel support after expansion.

Panels for vehicle applications, e.g., roof or door panels, are typically relatively thin in order to meet vehicle weight requirements and allow the panels to be shaped as may be desired for aesthetic and manufacturing reasons. The size and generally flat shape typical of these panels makes them susceptible to deformation. For example, sheetmetal panels may expand during vehicle body coating or painting operations under the application of heat. Additionally, the panels may experience deformation during vibration or other stresses imparted to the panel during vehicle operation.
Vehicle panels are therefore often reinforced using additional structural pieces such as a ribbed brace or reinforcement. Generally such braces are bonded directly to the panel with a very stiff structural reinforcing material. For example, adhesives may be applied to a brace or reinforcement in a bead extending along the brace. Since the brace is applied directly to the panel using the adhesive, variances in the thickness of the adhesive bead can create larger problems. Where an adhesive bead is too thin, a gap may be created between the brace and the panel and reduce structural support to the panel. Where an adhesive bead is too thick, excess adhesive may prevent proper coating of the vehicle body, e.g., in a electo-coating process.
Heat application processes typical of vehicle body construction, e.g., paint baking processes, may also cause difficulties for bonding of braces to a panel. For example, gaps between the brace and panel may be exacerbated where the panel and brace are formed of different materials having different thermal expansion rates. Additionally, when rigid structural foams, reinforcing materials, or other adhesives are used to bond braces directly to a panel, local plastic deformations may occur as a result of the different thermal expansion rates or variances in the applied bonding material, causing a permanent visible deformation on the outside of the panel.
FR 2897335 discloses a mastic bead that is expandable. Such mastic materials tends to be very sticky, and are also typically applied in a paste form or are otherwise viscous in nature. Accordingly, a mastic material is generally difficult to apply, and at a minimum may require specialized machinery for applying the mastic material accurately and in the appropriate amount. Additionally, the material properties of the expanded mastic materials may cause similar problems noted above in regard to other known bonding materials, which may cause a permanent visible deformation on the outside of the panel due in part to the rigidity of the expanded material.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved reinforced panel or support structure that provides adequate stiffness to a panel while minimizing the above difficulties.


An o-aminoheteroaryl alkynyl-containing compound has a structure represented by formula (I), and the compound of formula (I) has advantages of a high FGFR and RET double target inhibitory activity and a relatively low KDR activity, and the compound of formula (I) exhibits a strong inhibitory activity in a human lung cancer cell line NCI-H1581 and a gastric cancer cell line SNU16 as well as an RET-dependent sensitive cell line BaF3-CCDC6-Ret and a mutant thereof. Pharmacokinetic data shows that the o-aminoheteroaryl alkynyl-containing compound has druggability, and exhibits significant relevant inhibition of the growth of related tumors in a long-term animal model of drug efficacy and results in favorable animal condition at effective doses.

Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) is a class of transmembrane enzyme-linked receptor whose overexpression or overactivation is closely associated with the occurrence and development of tumors. Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors (FGFRs) and the RET protein encoded by oncogene RET (Rearranged during Transfection) are important members of the RTK superfamily and important targets for tumor therapy.
FGFRs mainly include four subtypes, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3 and FGFR4 (Turner N., Grose R., Fibroblast growth factor signalling: From development to cancer, Nature Reviews Cancer. (2010) 10:116-129; Dieci M. V., Arnedos M., Andre F., Soria J. C., Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors as a Cancer Treatment: From a Biologic Rationale to Medical Perspectives, Cancer Discovery. (2013) 3:264-279.) Overexpression or overactivation of FGFRs by means of gene amplification, mutation, fusion or ligand induction, plays an important role in promoting tumor cell proliferation, invasion, migration and tumor angiogenesis. It is found in the study that FGFRs are overexpressed or overactivated in various tumors such as non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, stomach cancer, bladder cancer, endometrial cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, esophageal cancer, keratinoma, myeloma, rhabdomyosarcoma, etc. (Dieci M V, Arnedos M, Andre F, Soria J C: Fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitors as a cancer treatment: From a biologic rationale to medical perspectives. Cancer discovery, 2013, 3, 264-79; Turner N, Grose R: Fibroblast growth factor signalling: From development to cancer. Nat. Rev. Cancer, 2010, 10, 116-29.) For example, overactivation of FGFR1 signaling pathway in squamous cell carcinoma of non-small cell lung cancer is up to 20%; (Frequent and Focal FGFR1 Amplification Associates with Therapeutically Tractable FGFR1 Dependency in Squamous Cell Lung Cancer (vol 3, 66er5, 2011), Sci Transl Med. (2010); Inhibitor-Sensitive FGFR1 Amplification in Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, PLoS ONE. (2011) 6:e20351) The overactivation of FGFR2 signaling pathway in gastric cancer accounts for 5-10% (Matsumoto K, Arao T, Hamaguchi T, Shimada Y, Kato K, Oda I, Taniguchi H, Koizumi F, Yanagihara K, Sasaki H, Nishio K, Yamada Y: FGFR2 gene amplification and clinicopathological features in gastric cancer. Br. J. Cancer, 2012, 106, 727-32). FGFR3 mutation in bladder cancer accounts for 50%-60% (non-invasive) and 10%-15% (invasive). Various subtypes of FGFR are overexpressed and overactivated in liver cancer, such as FGFR2, FGFR3, FGFR4, etc. (Cheng A L, Shen Y C, Zhu A X: Targeting Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Signaling in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Oncology-Basel, 2011, 81, 372-80).
RET is also a member of RTK family and its normal physiological functions include renal development, development of the nervous system, maintenance and renewal of sperm stem cells, differentiation of myelomonocytic cells, formation of lymphoid tissues, etc. RET is expressed in human intestinal ganglion cells, neuroblastoma, pheochromocytoma, medullary thyroid carcinoma, thyroid C cells, and melanocytes, etc. In recent years, based on intensive study on RET, it has been found that overactivation of RET in tumors significantly promotes proliferation, survival, invasion, metastasis, and tumor inflammation of various tumors (Maria Grazia Borrello, Induction of a proinflammolatory program in normal human thyrocytes by the RET/PTC1 oncogene, PNAS, Oct. 11, 2005). For example, RET point mutation is up to 95% in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma; RET gene rearrangement accounts for 20% to 40% in patients with papillary thyroid cancer; and RET is also overexpressed in adenocarcinoma, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, acute leukemia. (Lois M. Mulligan: RET revisited: Expanding the oncogenic portfolio, Nature Reviews Cancer 14, 173-186 (2014)).

Currently, the marketed drugs as a multi-targeted inhibitor having FGFR and RET inhibitory activity mainly target vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2, also known as KDR), such as Regorafenib. Studies have shown that the strong inhibition of KDR causes cancer patients to have strong cardiovascular side effects, such as thrombotic microangiopathy, hypertension, congestive heart failure, coagulopathy, pancreatitis and so on. Based on current studies, there is few report on RET inhibitors with strong selectivity. Meanwhile, the inevitable drug resistance problem in other kinase inhibitors also exists in RET inhibitors. For example, the classic gatekeeper site mutations—RET V804M and V804L have been discovered. Currently, preclinical studies have shown that few inhibitors have the potential to overcome resistance.
The compounds disclosed in the Boral Sougato's patent must have sulfone imine (US2012196902A1, WO2013062843A1, WO2015089210A1, WO2015089220A1) or tetrazolium (US2016102081A1) as advantageous structure at meta-position of the pyridine ring, and focus on VEGFR. The compounds have low druggability, low exposure in vivo, and fail to achieve anti-tumor effect in vivo.
Kassoum Nacro's patent discloses a series of amino-substituted nitrogen-containing heteroaromatic ring (WO2015108490A2) whose target is tyrosine kinase MNK. However, as for A ring, it doesn't specifically disclose o-amino substituted heterocycle.
CN201310224333.8 disclosed a class of alkynyl heterocyclic compounds and uses thereof. However, o-amino substituted heteroaryl ring is not disclosed either.

O-aminoheteroaryl alkynyl-containing compound, preparation method therefor, and use thereof

SHANGHAI INSTITUTE OF MATERIA MEDICA, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


In an aspect of the present invention, a system and method are provided that detect belt mis-tracking and in response, automatically adjusts. In some implementations, the system and method are implemented in conjunction with a weigh feeder or weigh belt. In other implementations, the system and method are implemented in conjunction with other devices that convey material via one or more belts. The system and method can be implemented by providing one or more sensors that detect belt mis-tracking, a motor for adjusting a belt pulley and one or more controllers that operate the motor in response to signals from the one or more sensors.

The precise metering of materials (e.g., dry solids) is important in many applications, including numerous manufacturing processes in various industries. Usually when material is continuously metered into a process, it must be precisely controlled at a specific feed rate so that the process functions as designed, the product formulation is correct, and the quality of the end product of the process does not suffer. In other applications, it is important to just keep track of the amount of material that has passed through a process, and controlling the feed rate is less important, or not important at all. Many of these applications are automated, and productivity concerns demand that they proceed without human intervention to the greatest extent possible.
Various kinds of weigh feeders have been used for weighing and feeding materials such as sand, gravel, grain, foodstuffs, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, etc. In general, material is provided to a weigh feeder continuously or periodically and the weigh feeder discharges the material at a desired output rate. Different weigh feeders, however, have different capabilities, which depend on the design of the weigh feeder and its principle of operation. Weight-loss and weigh belt feeders are two types of commonly used weigh feeders.
Weigh belt feeders can weigh material as the material is transported by a moving belt and usually receive a continuous supply of material, generally from an overhead storage supply. In one configuration (e.g., the Acrison, Inc., 260 Belt Weigher/Feeder), material travels from a storage supply, down a chute and onto a rear portion of the belt, which is not weighed. As the belt moves, the material on the belt passes over a weighing section, and a weight signal is produced that corresponds to the weight of material traveling across the weighing section. The weight signal is processed in conjunction with another signal, representing the speed of the belt, by the weigh feeder's controller to derive a feed rate signal. The feed rate signal is compared to the feed rate selected by the user, and the weigh feeder's controller continuously adjusts a variable speed drive powering the belt to maintain the desired feed rate.
A weigh belt feeder may also utilize a feeding mechanism to actively feed material onto the belt (e.g., a screw conveyor/feeder, another belt, a vibratory tray device, etc.). Although such active feeding (or prefeeding) is different from the method of gravimetric feeding described above, the material on the belt is weighed in a similar manner. Such active feeding of material onto the weigh belt can provide a greater degree of physical control over the material being fed. In this mode of operation, the weigh belt moves at a fixed constant speed, and the feed rate of the feeding mechanism is variable. Thus, the weigh feeder's controller continuously modulates the output of the feeding mechanism that feeds material onto the belt to maintain a selected feed rate of material discharging off the belt. Material is usually provided to the feeding mechanism directly from a storage supply, for example, a hopper or silo.
A different type of weigh belt feeder (e.g., the Acrison, Inc., 203/210 weigh belt feeders) operates by weighing the entire weigh belt assembly, while a pre-feeder (e.g., a screw conveyor and/or feeder, another belt, or a vibratory type device) meters material onto the weigh belt, which operates at a fixed constant speed. The output of the pre-feeder, which is equipped with a variable speed drive, is continuously modulated by the weigh feeder's controller so that the rate at which material passes across the weigh belt accurately matches the selected feed rate. In such a weigh feeder, material is also usually supplied to the pre-feeder directly from a storage supply.
A weight-loss feeder (e.g., the Acrison, Inc. 400 Series weight-loss feeders) comprises a material supply hopper and a feeding mechanism mounted on a scale. As material is fed out of the scale-mounted metering/supply system, a decreasing weight signal is produced, which is processed by the weigh feeder's controller in conjunction with a time signal to calculate a feed rate. The feeding mechanism of a weight-loss weigh feeder is equipped with a variable speed drive so that its feed rate output can be continuously modulated by the weigh feeder's controller in order to maintain the selected feed rate. The supply hopper of a weight-loss weigh feeder can be periodically refilled.
In other processes, it is desirable to know how much material has been fed, and control of the amount is not necessary. These applications can utilize a weigh belt weigher, which only weighs the amount of material being conveyed by the belt over a given amount of time. Like the two types of weigh belt feeders discussed above, weigh belt weighers convey material via a moving belt. Indeed, many devices employed in industry convey material via a moving belt.


An adjustable armrest having a base and an armrest that are coupled together through an articulating joint assembly. The joint assembly includes a body with a first articulating ball joint and a second articulating ball joint. The first articulating ball joint is coupled to the armrest with the second articulating ball joint being coupled to the base.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates in general to chair components, and more particularly, to adjustable armrest apparatuses which can be adjustable relative to the remainder of the chair. The adjustment mechanisms improve the interaction, movement and/or range of adjustment of an armrest.
2. Background Art
Over the past years, there has been a renewed focus on affording improved comfort to users of chairs and, in particular, office chairs. It is known that users sit in such chairs for many hours per day. Thus, even a slight improvement in posture, comfort and ease of use greatly improves the user experience. In addition, such improvements in user experience can minimize injury, enhance comfort and improve productivity.
Among other areas of focus, the armrest has been a focal point of improvement. Newer standards are being adopted which impose new requirements on armrests for office chairs. Such requirements include an increase in the range of adjustment in multiple directions.
There are many adjustable armrests that include adjustment capabilities toward and away from the back rest, toward and away from each other and also rotative capabilities. There is a need to provide a greater range of movement in each of those directions, as well as to improve the mechanisms used to achieve such movement. For example, current examples typically have limitations that include difficulty of use, difficulty of assembly, difficulty of configuration. Often the adjustment structures are also quite cumbersome and detract from an otherwise sleek chair design.


An appliance circuitry housing is designed so a circuit board can be attached directly to the housing interior with circuit board electric terminals being accessible from the housing exterior. An integral door on the housing exterior can be pivoted to a closed position over the electric terminals and connected plugs. A plurality of housing legs with slots engage in openings in the appliance to secure the housing to the appliance. A resilient latch on the housing exterior holds the housing in its attached position to the appliance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a housing that encloses the electronic control circuitry of an appliance. In particular, the present invention pertains to a housing that protects the motor control circuitry of a household appliance from moisture, dust and dirt where the housing has been specifically designed to facilitate assembly of the motor control circuit board into the housing so that electric terminals of the circuit board are accessible from the exterior of the housing. In addition, the housing is specifically designed to be easily attached into the interior of the appliance and removed if necessary. When attached to the interior of the appliance, the electric terminals of the circuit board are easily accessible from the exterior of the housing for attachment of the appliance wiring plugs to the circuit board electric terminals with the housing being specifically designed to facilitate the attachment of the appliance wiring plugs.
2. Related Art
Home appliances typically have their control circuitry enclosed in a protective housing that isolates the circuitry from moisture, dust and dirt. The control circuitry of the appliance is typically assembled into the housing by the appliance manufacturer. The housing with the installed circuitry is then assembled into the appliance. The wiring of the appliance is then connected to the control circuitry, typically by extending the wiring of the appliance into the interior of the circuitry housing and connecting plugs at the ends of the appliance wiring to electric terminals on a circuit board mounted in the housing. A separate cover is then attached to the housing to protect the electric terminals and the connected plugs from moisture, dust and dirt.
The prior art appliance control circuitry housings have been found to be disadvantaged in that they typically require the control circuit board of the appliance to be mounted on a separate frame before attaching the circuit board to the interior of the housing. The circuit board is typically attached to the frame which in turn is attached to the interior of the housing in securing the control circuit board to the housing. This requires that the housing actually be a two-part structure, the housing itself and the frame for the circuit board. In addition, the separate cover of the housing that covers over the circuit board electric terminals and the appliance wiring plugs connected to those terminals is a third part of the housing. Thus, the three pieces required of prior art control circuit housings increased their manufacturing cost.
In addition, the prior art control circuitry housing is usually attached to the interior of the appliance prior to the appliance wiring plugs being attached to the electric terminals on the control circuit board. With the housing attached to the appliance interior, it is often difficult to access the electric terminals on the circuit board in attaching the appliance wiring plugs to the terminals, making assembly of the appliance difficult.
Furthermore, because a secure attachment of the control circuitry housing to the interior of the appliance is necessary for the housing to remain secured to the appliance when the appliance is shipped, it is often difficult to remove the control circuitry housing from the interior of the appliance when servicing of the circuitry is needed.
What is needed to overcome the disadvantages of prior art appliance control circuitry housings described above is a control circuitry housing that can have the control circuit board assembled to the housing without requiring additional housing parts such as a frame and separate cover, a housing that provides easy access to the electric terminals of the circuitry once the circuit board is attached to the housing to facilitate the attachment of the appliance wiring plugs to the electric terminals, that provides adequate ventilation of the circuit board heat sink to avoid any heat-related failures of the appliance circuitry, that provides protection to the circuit board electric terminals and the attached appliance wiring plugs from moisture, dirt and dust without requiring additional parts of the housing, and a housing that is easily attached and removed from the interior of the appliance when servicing is needed.


A method and system for authenticating IP source addresses by accessing one or more HTTP requests whose source client identifies itself as a legitimate web crawler. One or more IP addresses are detected from the one or more HTTP requests and each detected IP address is authenticated via a probability estimation regarding its association with a legitimate web crawler. A lookup table is preferably compiled for the authenticated IP addresses for reference, publication and authentication purposes.

With advances in integrated circuit, microprocessor, networking and communication technologies, increasing numbers of devices, in particular, digital computing devices, are being networked together. Devices are often first coupled to a local area network, such as an Ethernet based office/home network. In turn, local area networks are interconnected together through wide area networks, such as ATM networks, Frame Relays, and the like. Of particular interest is the TCP/IP based global inter-networks—the Internet.
As a result of this trend of increased connectivity, increasing numbers of applications that are network dependent are being deployed. Examples of these network dependent applications include but are not limited to, email, net-based telephony, world wide web and various types of e-commerce. For these applications, success inherently means a high volume of desirable network traffic for their implementing servers. To ensure continuing success, quality of service through orderly and efficient handling of the large volume of desirable network traffic has become of paramount importance. Various subject matters, such as scalability, distributive deployment and caching of contents as well as regulating network traffic destined for a network node, have become of great interest.
Unfortunately, success also may mean attracting undesirable network traffic designed to disrupt or completely shut down the services offered by the implementing servers. To ensure continuing success, the ability to fend off undesirable network traffic, also known as fending off denial of service (DoS) attacks, has also become of great importance. Various subject matters, including detection and filtering of packets with spoofed web crawler requests, have too become of great interest.
However, to-date, there are limited approaches for detecting and filtering out packets with spoofed web crawler requests. Thus it is desirable to optimize spoofed web crawler detection and filtering techniques.


A semiconductor structure includes a number of semiconductor regions, a pair of dielectric regions and a pair of terminals. The first and second regions of the structure are respectively coupled to the first and second terminals. The third region of the structure is disposed between the first and second regions. The dielectric regions extend into the third region. A concentration of doping impurities present in the third region and a distance between the dielectric regions define an electrical characteristic of the structure. The electrical characteristic of the structure is independent of the width of the dielectric regions width. The first and second regions are of opposite conductivity types. The structure optionally includes a fourth region that extends into the third region, and surrounds a portion of the pair of dielectric regions. The interface region between the dielectric regions and the fourth region includes intentionally introduced charges.

The present invention relates to electronic devices, and more particularly to a semiconductor device adapted to sustain high voltages.
In electronic systems, there is often a need to sustain a relatively high voltage across a pair of nodes. Semiconductor p-n junction diodes are widely used in a reverse-bias mode to sustain high voltages. To sustain a high breakdown voltage across a p-n junction, a lightly doped region is required that is relatively thick and that forms a voltage sustaining layer. Such p-n junctions provide relatively higher breakdown voltage in many semiconductor devices such as MOSFETs, IGBTs and JFETs. Moreover, such semiconductor devices are typically required to have a relatively low on-resistance (Ron) in the on-state and a relatively high breakdown voltage VB under reverse bias conditions. As is well known, achieving both a high breakdown VB and a low Ron poses a number of challenging tasks. In conventional devices, design parameters such as the doping density or layer thickness that can be used to increase the breakdown voltage causes the on-resistance to increase, and vice versa.
One known device used to achieve both a low on-resistance as well as a high breakdown voltage is commonly referred to as the SuperJunction (SJ) device. As is shown in FIG. 1, a SJ device (structure) often includes a number of alternating p-type and n-type layers or pillars that are charge balanced. In a SJ structure, it is desirable to pack as many pillars or cells in a given unit area to lower the specific on-resistance, Rsp, which is defined as Ron*A, where A is the device area.
In a SJ structure, the widths of the n-type and p-type pillars set a limit on the cell pitch and the scaling down of the structure. There are also a number of drawbacks associated with the manufacturing of a SJ structure, such as the requirement to grow multiple epitaxial layers and to perform a number of implant and diffusion steps. A need continues to exist for a semiconductor device that has a high breakdown voltage, a low Rsp, low capacitances and low reverse recovery charge (Qrr), is easily scaled down and is easier to manufacture.


A method includes obtaining a radio frequency (RF) signal magnitude for a plurality of RF signals broadcasted in an environment and generating a digital RF heat map of the environment based on each RF signal magnitude. The method includes determining an RF coverage of the environment based on the digital RF heat map and selecting, for a wireless communication device, a communication channel from among a plurality of communication channels based on the RF coverage and one or more RF probability distribution functions.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In a manufacturing environment, wireless communication devices are utilized in various manufacturing processes. As an example, wireless communication devices may broadcast or receive various types of data (e.g., operational data, status data, among others) to/from a remote computing system, a static/autonomous robot, a machining cell, other wireless communication devices, among others. The wireless communication devices may utilize radio frequency (RF) signals and, more particularly, defined communication channels of an RF spectrum to broadcast or receive the data. However, signal interference and noise pollution can inhibit the transmission or reception of RF signals in the manufacturing environment. These issues with signal interference and noise pollution, among other issues, are addressed by the present disclosure.

Radio frequency spectrum management systems and methods in a manufacturing environment


A head-mounted image display apparatus includes: a light source that emits laser light; a splitter that splits the laser light into first laser light and second laser light having a different optical intensity than the first laser light; an image drawing section that causes the first laser light to be reflected off a mirror and causes the mirror to make pivotal motion to perform image drawing; a controller that controls the pivotal motion of the mirror; and a notification section that notifies other persons by diffusing the second laser light that the image drawing section is performing image drawing.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus.
2. Related Art
An image apparatus mounted on the head of a person is known. JP-A-2009-86365 discloses one form of such an image display apparatus. JP-A-2009-86365 describes that the minimum brightness of a projected display image is lowered to improve the contrast ratio of the projected display image by causing light to pass through an ND filter (neutral density) or shifting the optical axis of an optical fiber.
When the optical axis of an optical fiber is shifted as in JP-A-2009-86365, however, light that has not entered the optical fiber is discarded as being unnecessary light, which means that the light usage efficiency is poor.


Techniques to pollute electronic profiling are provided. A cloned identity is created for a principal. Areas of interest are assigned to the cloned identity, where a number of the areas of interest are divergent from true interests of the principal. One or more actions are automatically processed in response to the assigned areas of interest. The actions appear to network eavesdroppers to be associated with the principal and not with the cloned identity.

A significant concern with electronic commerce and with the proliferation of electronic transactions is that of privacy. Individuals, particularly American citizens, have always been suspect of the motivations and actions of their government and "Big Business." This skepticism has given rise to a variety of privacy laws and rights enjoyed by American citizens, which remains the envy of much of the rest of the world. As electronic commerce has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, users have now become increasingly concerned with confidential information that is being gathered and collected about them. The information is being collected by lawful and unlawful enterprises and the information gathering is not exclusively limited to governments.
In some cases, the electronic information being gathered is used for illegal purposes, such as electronic identity theft. In other cases, the information is gathered for lawful purposes but is extremely annoying to users, such as when targeted and aggressive marketing tactics are used. Users are growing uncomfortable with the amount of information marketers possess today about them and many feel it is an invasion of their privacy even if the marketing is currently considered to be lawful. Moreover, even legitimate and lawful enterprises that collect confidential information about a user runs the risk of having an intruder penetrate their databases and acquiring the information for subsequent unlawful purposes.
Concerns about the government and its knowledge about its citizenry is often referred to in a derogatory sense as actions of "Big Brother" who is omnipresent and gathering information to use to its advantage when needed. The electronic age has given rise to what is now known as thousands of "Little Brothers," who perform Internet surveillance by collecting information to form electronic profiles about a user not through human eyes or through the lens of a camera but through data collection. This form of Internet surveillance via data collection is often referred to as "dataveillance." In a sense, thousands of "Little Brothers" or automated programs can monitor virtually every action of users over the Internet. The data about a user can be accumulated and combined with other data about the user to form electronic profiles of the users.
Even famous authors have foreseen and speculated about the problems associated with invading privacy. Consider Orwell who gave rise to the concept of an Orwellian society from the Big Brother of his novel, 1984. In that novel, Big Brother is the government, which has managed to invade privacy to the point where every dwelling was equipped with a "tele-screen" which, while providing entertainment and information access to the user, also allowed Big Brother to observe visually and audibly the occupants of the dwellings. Of course, Big Brother knew that the observed behavior of the dwelling occupants was not strictly the "true persona" of those being observed, but rather was what the "true persona" Big Brother wanted to observe. This, however, was immaterial to Big Brother because Big Brother knew that if it could foster a set of behavior that was consistently portrayed over a given period of time, then the "true persona" would begin to morph into another person that was, at its core, what the behaviors were designed to foster. Thus, Big Brother was also known as the "Thought Police," which was very successful at conditioning the masses and eliminating the non-conformists.
In fact, users are becoming so concerned about dataveillance that a booming industry has arisen that attempts to thwart the data collection. Some examples include "anonymizers" and "spyware killers." Anonymizers attempt to make transactions anonymous, such as by using a fictitious user name for a given transaction. Spyware Killers detect programs that self-install on a user's device and monitor Internet actions of that user and then report the monitoring information back to a marketer or other entity.
Even without anonymizers and spyware killers, users may still attempt as best they can to deter data collection by taking manually initiated evasive actions. For example, a user may turn off cookies within the browser, may refuse to register for a service that requests an email address or other confidential information, or may refuse to perform a transaction at all when the user is suspect of that transaction.
Yet even if all available techniques are adopted and taken by a user, information about the user is likely to still be successfully collected if the user engages in electronic commerce over the Internet, engages in information gathering over the Internet, or engages in downloading and installing services over the Internet. In a sense if the user engages in any Internet activity, information may be successfully collected about that user. Thus, even the most cautious Internet users are still being profiled over the Internet via dataveillance techniques from automated Litter Brothers.


An adjustable staircase includes an upper stair, a lower stair, a first bar and a second bar. The vertical distance between the upper stair and the lower stair is adjustable. Also, each bar is coupled to each of the upper and lower stairs, and the first bar is configured to function as a guard. As a result, the first bar blocks a pinch point between the first and second bars.

The present invention pertains to adjustable staircases and, more particularly, to eliminating pinch points from such staircases.
By making a staircase adjustable, a single staircase can span gaps of different sizes. This feature is particularly beneficial when the staircase is used at different locations or when the staircase is coupled to a height-adjustable platform, for example. Unfortunately, the structure that provides this adjustability also introduces pinch points, which can injure a user of the staircase. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 298,212 discloses a gangway that includes side bars b and b′. As illustrated in FIGS. 5-7, the gap between side bars b and b′ varies with the relative heights of end platforms a. As a result, anything located between side bars b and b′ during adjustment of the gangway is likely to be damaged. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an adjustable staircase that eliminates such pinch points.

Adjustable staircase and height-adjustable platform with adjustable staircase


The present invention relates to the field of biotechnology, in particular to application of a GPR45 gene. The present invention discloses, for the first time, a correlation between GPR45 and obesity and also discloses that obesity may be caused if the GPR45 gene is knocked out or the expression of the GPR45 gene is reduced. Moreover, an obese mouse model is established by adopting a method of blocking the expression of the GPR45 gene for the first time, which is more similar to the mechanism underlying the obesity of human, is thus an ideal model for obesity basis and clinical application researches and can be well applied in screening of drugs for treating obesity.

Obesity may cause lots of diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, hepatic steatosis, hypertension, coronary heart disease and various tumors, which jeopardizes health and living quality. Obesity of children and teenagers may further influence adolescent development and sexual maturity. According to statistics of WHO (World Health Organization), 35% of adults in the world are overweight (BMI≥25), more than 10% of adults are obese (BMI≥30) and at least 2.8 million people die from obesity or overweight each year. With the change of lifestyles, obese and overweight populations in China increase rapidly. By calculating according to WHO standards, in 2013, about 28% of adults were overweight, 4-5% of adults were obese and the total number of obese populations had taken the second place in the world in China. By predicting according to the current trend, the proportion of obese populations in 2030 in China may reach 12.6%.
The essential mechanism of obesity is imbalanced individual energy metabolism. It is estimated that genetic factors contribute up to 65% of obesity, but only a small fraction of obese patients have been identified as sufferers of defined obese mutations. Therefore, the mechanisms by which energy balance is shifted upon encountering different stimuli remain to be explored and more efforts are needed in the search for genes that regulate energy balance and obesity. Since the understanding about biological knowledge on occurrence and development mechanism of obesity is limited, there is still a shortage in commonly effective obesity intervention methods at present. For example, it is usually difficult to perform diet and behavior correction for a long time, and effects for diet or behavior correction are always quite different individually. Drugs such as Xenical, Lorcaserin and Qsymia have un-expected side effects on gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems, and the effects are yet limited. Therefore, after occurrence of obesity, it will always cause a lifelong influence and brings continuous harm to individuals, families and society.
Disease animal models may be greatly helpful to understand disease occurrence and development mechanisms and investigate disease prevention and intervention methods. Genetic operation and phenotypic analysis technology of mice as mammals is the most mature and plays a leading role in development and researches of various disease animal models. However, for a long time, the selection of obese mouse models is extremely limited. A diet-induced obesity model can better simulate the influence of the environment on obesity. However, obesity caused through induction is closely related to the background of strains of mice and components and sources of fat and carbohydrate in feed, and there is a certain difficult to guarantee the repeatability of working in different laboratories. Compared with the diet-induced obesity model, genetic animal models with spontaneous gene mutation, transgenosis or mutagenesis have higher phenotypic stability and a greater value in researches on disease mechanisms and intervention methods. Commonly used mouse genetic obesity models comprise leptin or leptin receptor mutant ob and db mice, agouti gene mutant Ay mice, MC4R gene knocked-out mice, etc. The ob and db mice gradually become obese around weaning, which leads to insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis. However, the obesity degree varies in different genetic backgrounds. In addition, the ratio of obesity patients with leptin or leptin receptor mutant is extremely low. The lack of leptin signals also contributes to the impossibility to use these two kinds of mice for related signal channel intervention researches. Ay and MC4R gene knocked-out mice have excessive energy intake, yet obesity occurs later than the ob and db mice and the body weight increase is comparatively small. The proportion of obesity patients with MC4R mutation in Northern Europe reaches up to 6%, but it is rare in people in Asia and Mediterranean. When MC4R mutant mice become obese, body length thereof is obviously increased and obesity-related phenotypes such as insulin resistance change greatly with genetic backgrounds of different strains of mice. Mutation agouti protein with an MC4R antagonist function is expressed in brains of Ay mice. It has a similar obesity-related phenotype with MC4R mutant mice. However, the interfere related researches are difficult to perform because of tumors frequently occur in MC4R mutant mice. Therefore, it is always an urgent need to establish novel obesity animal models for disease mechanism and intervention researches in obesity biology obesity animal model.


Method and apparatus for improving the accuracy of a received composite signal s(t) that contains a known reference signal S.sub.d (t) with a known bit transition period .DELTA.tchip and that may contain a multipath signal S.sub.m (t;.chi.;b) with an unknown multipath time delay b and an unknown multipath gain factor .chi. (-1.ltoreq..chi..ltoreq.1). Autocorrelation functions AC(.tau.) and AC(.tau.;d) for the incoming signal and for the reference (direct) signal are determined, dependent upon a time shift variable .tau., and a double difference autocorrelation function .DELTA..DELTA.AC(.tau.)=AC(.tau.)-AC(.tau.-.tau.LE)-AC(.tau.;d)+AC(.tau.-. tau.LE;d) is formed, where .tau.LE is a selected time shift displacement satisfying 0 <.tau.LE.ltoreq..DELTA..tau..sub.chip. Two integrals or sums of .DELTA..DELTA.AC(.tau.) are measured over different selected time shift intervals. The ratio of these two integrals or sums provides a quadratic equation in the time delay variable b that is solved for b. The gain factor .chi. is obtained from a ratio of integrals or sums of another ratio involving .DELTA..DELTA.AC(.tau.). A multipath signal, if present, is approximated by S.sub.m (t;.chi.;b).apprxeq..chi.S.sub.d (t-b) and can be removed from the incoming signal to provide an incoming signal with improved accuracy.

The effects of multipath are well known in communication systems. Multipath is the term used to define the secondary signals that are locally induced reflections of a primary signal that enter the receiver in question a fraction of a second later than the direct path signal, and because of the relatively short time delay between the original signal and the secondary signal, induce a type of destructive interference that results in some type of impairment to the desired signal. In analog FM band automobile receivers, the effects of multipath create an annoying flutter that causes a loss of intelligibility. In television signals, the impairment is called a "ghost" image. A similar impairment occurs in other forms of analog communication. In digital systems, whether for speech or for data transmission for other purposes, multipath basically adds noise to the desired signal, resulting in either outright errors, or at least much noisier data. In spread spectrum receivers, the effects of multipath are generally found in the correlators used to achieve signal timing synchronization. In location determination receivers, which seek to determine location based on triangulation of range distances determined from time delay measurements made from an orbiting constellation of satellites or other original sources, the effect of multipath is to induce comparatively large instantaneous errors in the time of arrival measurements, which translates into large errors in the indicated positions. Removal of these errors is the subject of most of the work done by previous workers in this field. Previous researchers have sought to deal with the effects of multipath by attempting to estimate the magnitude of the error introduced, and to subtract this error or to otherwise compensate for its effects.
The methods employed to acquire and demodulate data from spread spectrum transmissions is well known in the art. See R. E. Ziemer and R. L. Peterson, Digital Communications and Spread Spectrum Systems, Macmillan Publ Co., New York, 1985, pp. 419-447 for a discussion of acquisition and demodulation of spread spectrum signals. A spread spectrum GPS receiver must obtain both code and carrier synchronization in order to demodulate the desired data successfully. Issues associated with tracking and accurately demodulating a spread spectrum signal, once the signal is acquired, are discussed in many references on GPS, such as Alfred Leick, GPS Satellite Surveying, John Wiley & Sons, New York, Second Edition, 1995, and Ziemer and Peterson, op cit.
A GPS signal contains a 50 bit/second navigation message and a unique spreading code (C/A) of length 1,023 kilobits, which is transmitted at a frequency of about 1.023 Mbits/sec. Signal acquisition requires that phase lock first occur with the radio frequency carrier and that the reference or local replica signal be synchronized with the spreading code. In signal synchronization, a local replica of the particular satellite code is synchronized in time with the incoming satellite signal code.
Once the Doppler error in the downlink signal from the satellite is appropriately compensated for and signal synchronization is obtained, the navigation message in the 60 bit/second modulation that forms the composite GPS signal (direct plus multipath) can be demodulated. This navigation message contains data on the satellite ephemerides and time pulses that indicate when the transmission originated from the satellite. By measuring the difference between the local clock time and the indicated satellite time of transmission, the time delay, and thus the instantaneous distance from GPS receiver to satellite, can be obtained by multiplying this time delay by the speed of light in the ambient medium.
Signal synchronization is performed using a signal correlator. The correlator constantly compares the incoming signal with a local replica of the desired signal; a microprocessor adjusts a time shift .tau. of the local replica signal until satisfactory agreement is obtained. Because the incoming signal and the local replica signal are substantially identical, a measure of the degree of agreement of these two signals is often referred to as an autocorrelation function. A variety of auto correlation functions AC(.tau.) are shown in various texts, and an example is shown in FIG. 1A. An autocorrelation function AC(.tau.) is formed according to the prescription ##EQU1## depending upon whether integration or summation of sampled values over a suitable contribution time interval is used to compute the composite signal autocorrelation function. The length T of the contribution time interval used to compute the autocorrelation function in Eq. (1A) or (1B) is often chosen to be N times the chip length .DELTA..tau..sub.chip, where N is a large positive number.
Tracking the composite satellite signal requires maintaining signal synchronization. The peak of the autocorrelation function is rounded, not pointed, due to finite bandwidth effects, so that locating a true peak is difficult. Receiver designers have, therefore, resorted to an "early-minus-late" correlation tracking method, as discussed by W. M. Bowles in "Correlation Tracking," Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, May 1980, by Fenton et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,416, and by Lennen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,402,450 and 5,493,588. In the early-minus-late tracking method, a first correlator measures an equivalent autocorrelation function when the local replica signal is shifted to an "early" time t.sub.E relative to the position (.tau.=t.sub.P) of an ideal or punctual replica, and a second correlator measures a second equivalent autocorrelation function when the local replica signal is shifted to a "late" time t.sub.L. Early and late replicas of the punctual autocorrelation function AC(.tau.;P) (FIG. 2) are illustrated in FIG. 3. By subtracting the late autocorrelation function a correlation tracking function or autocorrelation difference function .DELTA.AC(.tau.) with a zero crossing, corresponding to the autocorrelation function peak can be developed, if the separations of the early and late time shifts from the punctual time shift are chosen to be equal. A representative early-minus-late tracking function .DELTA.AC(.tau.) is shown in FIG. 5.
If the tracking or time shift variable .tau. for the autocorrelation difference function .DELTA.AC(.tau.) lies to the left (to the right) of the zero crossing point, the system uses the presence of positive (negative) values of .DELTA.AC(.tau.) to increase (decrease) the value of .tau. and drive the system toward the zero crossing point for .DELTA.AC(.tau.). The zero-crossing point is thus easily measured and tracked, and the equivalent peak value and peak location for the autocorrelation function is easily determined. At the zero-crossing point on this doublet-like tracking function, maximum correlation occurs between the incoming signal and the local replica signal. The zero-crossing point represents a best estimate of time shift .tau. for signal synchronization. The internal clock time corresponding to the zero crossing point is a good estimate for time of arrival of an incoming signal at the receiver.
Superposition of an equivalent autocorrelation function for the multipath signal (reduced in magnitude and delayed in time) onto the autocorrelation function AC(.tau.) for the desired satellite code signal is a useful model for analyzing the effects of presence of multipath signals, as noted in the Fenton et al patents and in the Lennen patent, op. cit. Superposition of any additional signal onto the desired incoming signal, during the time period when signal correlation occurs, will distort the desired autocorrelation function AC(.tau.;direct) and produce an altered autocorrelation function AC(.tau.;composite) for the composite signal (direct plus multipath). An autocorrelation function for an uncorrupted or "pure" direct signal is shown along with a representative, attenuated and time delayed, multipath autocorrelation function for positive relative polarity, compared to the direct signal, in FIG. 3. The autocorrelation for the composite, corrupted incoming signal is obtained by summing the two autocorrelation functions, and is compared with the uncorrupted autocorrelation function. Similar graphs are obtained for a multipath signal with negative relative polarity, compared to the direct signal. Any such distortion produces errors in the indicated zero-crossing point on the early-minus-late correlation tracking function. These errors in indicated punctual time shift produce errors in the pseudo-range measurements, and will in turn produce an error in the final computed estimate of location coordinates for the receiver.
Another useful and equivalent model for analyzing the effect of presence of a multipath signal computes the autocorrelation functions AC(.tau.;x;d) and AC(.tau.;x;m) (x=E, L) for the pure direct signal (d) and the pure multipath signal (m), forms the early-minus-late difference functions .DELTA.AC(.tau.;d) and .DELTA.AC(.tau.;m) and adds these two difference functions to obtain the autocorrelation difference function .DELTA.AC(.tau.;composite) for the composite signal.
Representative autocorrelation difference functions for a direct incoming signal and a composite incoming signal can be measured for positive relative multipath polarity and negative relative multipath polarity, respectively, compared to the direct signal. The tracking error due to presence of the multipath signal, obtained from the difference in zero crossing points for the direct signal and for the composite signal, is easily identified from a difference signal.
Previous work in the area of multipath amelioration has focused on two approaches: 1) estimating the effects and compensating for multipath-induced errors, and 2) attempting to limit the effects of the estimated multipath errors. In the Lennen patents, op. cit., both approaches are described. The estimation methods seek of model the distortions to the instantaneous autocorrelation function and to create a correction term to subtract from the indicated punctual time. Estimation methods are worthwhile but can never obtain perfection, wherein all multipath effects are removed, because the multipath signals are constantly varying and corrections can only be done after the fact.
A multipath limitation method, such as described in the Lennen Patents op. cit., operates the early-minus-late correlation tracking loop with a shorter delay between the early signal and late signal correlators than previous methods had employed. This limitation method reduces the effects of the presence of multipath substantially. In FIG. 3, the autocorrelation function AC(.tau.) and the corresponding tracking function .DELTA.AC(.tau.) are shown for the case where the early-minus-late time delay is approximately 0.3 times the width .DELTA..tau..sub.chip of a digital signal bit or chip.
Several workers have analyzed correlation functions and/or have used pseudo-random signal sequences in attempting to estimate or suppress the effects of the presence of multipath signals. Examples of these are Winters in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,330, Tomlinson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,529, Bowles et al in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,203,070 and 4,203,071, Guigon et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,414, Dickey et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,569, Liebowitz in U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,164, Borth et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,543, McIntosh in U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,478, Wales in U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,918, Fenton et al in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,101,416, 5,390,207, 5,414,729 and 5,495,499, Cai et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,959, Scott et all In U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,228, Meehan in U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,536, Lennen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,402,450 and 5,493,588, Johnson et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,451, Kuhn et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,503, and Fox et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,662.
In many of these references, incoming signals are sampled, autocorrelation functions and difference functions are formed, and these functions are manipulated to produce modified functions in which the effects of presence of multipath signals are removed or suppressed. However, the particular parameters that identify or characterize a multipath signal usually cannot be determined using these approaches. What is needed is a more direct approach that allows identification of some of the parameters that characterize a multipath signal and that allows subsequent removal of multipath-like signals that are characterized by these parameters. Preferably, the method should provide quantitative estimates of the time delay, the gain magnitude and the relative polarity of an extant multipath signal, relative to the desired direct signal that would be manifest in the absence of multipath signals and other signal noise.

Direct integrated approach to multipath signal identification


A micromachined gyroscope makes use of Coriolis acceleration to detect and measure rotation rate about a plane normal to the surface of a substrate. Specifically, various resonating structures are suspended within a frame. The resonating structures include phase and anti-phase masses that are mechanically coupled in order to produce a single resonance frequency for the entire resonating system. Rotation of the micromachined gyroscope about the plane produces a rotational force on the frame. The frame is suspended in such a way that its motion is severely restricted in all but the rotational direction. Sensors on all sides of the frame detect the rotational deflection of the frame for measuring the change in direction.

Gyroscopes are used to measure the rate at which objects rotate. The information provided by gyroscopes can be used in many applications. For example, the information provided by gyroscopes can be used to trigger automobile airbags during rollover, improve the accuracy and reliability of GPS/navigation systems, and stabilize moving platforms such as automobiles, airplanes, robots, antennas, and industrial equipment.
A surface micromachined gyroscope typically includes various planar structures suspended with anchors and flexures over and parallel to an underlying substrate. Vibratory structures are typically dithered substantially along a dither axis in a plane parallel to the substrate and perpendicular to a sensitive axis that can be in the plane of the body or perpendicular to the planar structures and to the substrate. As is generally known, rotation of the gyroscope about the sensitive axis causes the planar structures move along a Coriolis axis, which is mutually orthogonal to the dither axis and the sensitive axis. This motion can be sensed to derive a signal that indicates the angular velocity of the rotation.

Micromachined apparatus utilizing box suspensions


The present invention is a composition containing a polyester resin containing at least an alicyclic dicarboxylic acid component and an alicyclic diol component, and it is a polyester resin composition which satisfies that a glass transition temperature is 65° C. or more and 90° C. or less, a refractive index at sodium D line is 1.500 or more and 1.570 or less, a titanium element content is 5 ppm or more and 500 ppm or less, a phosphorus element content is 50 ppm or more and 500 ppm or less and a gel fraction is 50% or less. By the present invention, it is possible to obtain a polyester resin composition having a low refractive index and photoelastic coefficient, and in which a thermally degraded foreign substance is reduced.

In recent years, needs for optical functional film are increasing. As a concrete example of the optical functional film, for example, a light reflecting film having a high reflectance, without metal plating, by laminating layers of different refractive index in a multi-layer is mentioned. And, an optically isotropic film having a low photoelastic coefficient suitable for liquid crystal display applications can be mentioned.
For example, in Patent reference 1, a light reflecting film in which a copolymerized polyester resin composition is laminated to a polyethylene naphthalate resin composition (hereafter, PEN), and in Patent reference 2, a multi-layer optical film in which PEN and a copolymerized polyester resin composition are laminated, are proposed. However, in the polyester resin compositions described in Patent references 1 and 2, since polyesters different in Tg are laminated with each other, they are inferior in processability. Furthermore, the polyester described in Patent references 1 and 2 are high in photoelastic coefficient, and cannot be used for a liquid crystal display or the like.
As a copolymerized polyester excellent in thermal resistance which can be used for optical applications, a polyester having cyclic acetal skeleton can be mentioned. For example, in Patent references 3 and 4, at copolymerizing a dicarboxylic acid, a diol or the like having a cyclic acetal skeleton, production methods in which ester exchange reaction is carried out under a high pressure or under a nitrogen atmosphere are described. However, in said production methods, the diol having cyclic acetal skeleton cannot be reacted efficiently, and there are problems such as that, in a condensation polymerization reaction, the diol component having cyclic acetal skeleton is scattered, or a gelation occurs during the polymerization.
In Patent references 5 and 6, it is described that a polymer of which yellowness index is low and sublimate is little can be obtained by copolymerizing an alicyclic component to a polyester resin in presence of a titanium compound in an oligomerization step such as ester exchange. However, although the gelation can considerably be prevented by using the titanium compound, after producing the polyester resin, in a later step such as producing a film for a long time, since an opening or the like of the alicyclic component occurs by thermal degradation, it is insufficient as a prevention of gelation.
In addition, in case where the polyester resin composition containing a spiroglycol shown in these Patent references is used to a multi-layer laminate film constituted together with a polyethylene terephthalate (hereafter, PET) resin layer, since its glass transition temperature (hereafter, Tg) is higher than that of ordinary PET, at molding into a film, a laminate nonuniformity or the like may arise and it is inferior in processability. On the other hand, in case where the Tg is controlled approximately to that of PET by decreasing the content of spiroglycol, it is impossible to sufficiently lower its refractive index, and the light reflectance of the obtained multi-layer laminate film becomes low.
In addition, in Patent reference 7, a production method for obtaining a polyester resin in which a phosphorus-based antioxidant, etc., is compounded by blending/kneading to a polyester resin composition having a cyclic acetal skeleton is shown. However, it cannot deal well with thermal degradation during the polyester resin production, and its effect is insufficient.
[Patent reference 1]: JP-2000-141567A
[Patent reference 2]: JP-H9-506837A (national publication of translated version) (Columns 2 to 6)
[Patent reference 3]: JP-2004-67829A (Columns 1 to 9)
[Patent reference 4]: JP-2003-183422A
[Patent reference 5]: JP-2005-314643A (Columns 1 to 13)
[Patent reference 6]: JP-2006-225621A (Columns 1 to 19)
[Patent reference 7]: JP-2004-67830A (Columns 1 to 4)

Polyester resin composition, production method thereof and laminate polyester film


Accessing privileged objects in a server environment. A privileged object is associated with an application comprising at least one process resource and a corresponding semi-privileged instruction. The association is filed in an entity of an operating system kernel. A central processing unit (CPU) performs an authorization check if the semi-privileged instruction is issued and attempts to access the privileged object. The CPU executes the semi-privileged instruction and grants access to the privileged object if the operating system kernel has issued the semi-privileged instruction; or accesses the entity if a process resource of the application has issued the semi-privileged instruction to determine authorization of the process resource to access the privileged object. Upon positive authorization the CPU executes the semi-privileged instruction and grants access to the privileged object, and upon authorization failure denies execution of the semi-privileged instruction and performs a corresponding authorization check failure handling.

One or more aspects of the present invention relate in general to the field of server environments, and in particular, to accessing privileged objects in a server environment and a corresponding server environment.
Network communication is usually offered by an operating system kernel through a socket interface. All calls for creating and manipulating the sockets as well as inbound and outbound data transfer are handed to the operating system kernel via system calls. The operating system kernel has code to process these requests.
Performance of today's networking communication is impacted by data transfer overhead and system call overhead. Semi-privileged instruction can help to drive traffic from user space, but have a static association with an application at best, e.g. the semi-privileged instruction can identify the application and perform data transfers, but still fails to operate in a parent/child process paradigm, where a socket connection can be used by the parent process or the child process after forking. If kernel operations like splice, sendfile etc. are to be performed, the semi-privileged call from user space does not apply or requires superfluous copies from kernel space to user space and use such instructions from there.
For high speed communication, it is beneficial to use instructions directly from user space to exchange data. While socket creation takes place in the operating system kernel, data can be sent and received without having to call the operating system kernel through expensive system call interfaces. The code to send and receive data is in user space libraries which exploit special hardware instructions to initiate data transfers. This introduces an authorization issue. The data transfer instructions are semi-privileged to prevent that processes can interfere with sockets of other processes. Semi-privileged instructions perform some sort of authorization check in the firmware. For instance, a token could be associated with a socket, and the token is also associated with the current process. The operating system scheduler ensures that the token associated by the process is available to the firmware to perform the authorization checks. For instance, the process identification value could be written to a specific location in memory to which only the kernel has write access, to allow firmware to check whether the current process is authorized to operate on a socket. On System z, an address space control element (ASCE) can be used, too. If the current context is the operating system kernel itself, authorization will always succeed.
This scheme of using semi-privileged instruction for data transfers exhibits several issues. It does not cover the fork paradigm of Unix-like operating systems. Usually, application processes establish connections, then the processes fork and the child process continues to use the established connection. As the operating system does not know whether the child process will really continue to use the connection socket, or the parent process will continue to use it, it does not know, which token should be associated with the socket and usually, only one token is used for authorizing purposes, so a list of tokens for the child process and the parent process is not possible. In the traditional way of handling such cases in the operating system kernel, the connection socket will be open for both processes, so the authorization check of the socket code will succeed. With the use of semi-privileged instructions a blocking transfer (write/read) conflict arises, so the process needs to be put aside. Polling around semi-privileged transfers instructions would greatly increase CPU (Central Processing Unit) consumption. A select call, respectively poll or epoll, is a way for applications to get notification if something like incoming data happens to a connection socket. Several sockets are watched simultaneously, and as soon as one of the observed sockets are worthwhile further consideration, the select call returns, indicating, which of the observed sockets experienced a state change. When semi-privileged instructions are used to operate on sockets, a method is required to enable applications to call select on several sockets, passing on "select" processing to the operating system kernel. Extensions to the networking stack in the operating system, like sendfile and splice operations, transfer data directly from other files or data streams in the kernel space, without having to route data to an application process which passes it back for sending out over the network, greatly reducing CPU consumption. However, when the data transfer takes place in user space through semi-privileged instructions, data has to be read from files or streams and passed on to user space for transmission.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 7,139,832 B2 "DATA TRANSFER AND INTERMISSION BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD PROCESS" by Kameyama et al., which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, a data transfer method is disclosed realizing a function similar to UNIX's fork function. The disclosed data transfer method allows a parent process on a server to issue a request for intermission of communication to a process on a client and allows the process on the client to issue a report of completion of intermission. Further the data transfer method allows the parent process to issue, to a child process created on the server and the process on the client, a request for establishment of a new communication line connection between them. If the parent process has received data from the process on the client before the establishment of the new connection, the data is copied to the child process. According to the disclosed data transfer method a child process cannot access the memory and connection(s) of the parent process. Therefore, a second connection is established. An emulation layer on both sides hides the fact that two connections are used. This approach carries the drawbacks, that code changes are required on both sides of the network, e.g. need to change a client in the Internet which wants to read from an enabled web server. Further two connections need to be established, which results in latency and increased resource consumption. Also coordination of those two connections is additional overhead. The use of two connections adds complexity to diagnostics and its procedures and needs to add changes to diagnostics tools. Even with the use of semi-privileged instructions, two connections will have to be employed, with the above mentioned disadvantages. Also kernel-level operations, such as splice and sendfile are not considered.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The present invention provides a method of decaffeinating green coffee beans without adversely affecting their acidity or the flavor of coffee beverages produced from them. The invention also relates to a method useful with supercritical decaffeination, in particular with caffeine extraction using supercritical carbon dioxide. In accordance with the invention, green coffee beans are subjected to a treatment by contacting them with an acidic fluid containing an organic acid that is not soluble in supercritical carbon dioxide, preferably an aqueous citric acid solution, prior to or simultaneously with decaffeination.

This invention relates to decaffeination of green coffee beans. More particularly, this invention relates to treatment of green coffee beans prior to or simultaneously with decaffeination. Still more particularly, this invention relates to treatment of green coffee beans by contacting them with an aqueous organic acid solution in connection with supercritical extraction of caffeine.
Many processes are known for decaffeination of coffee. One particularly preferred process is supercritical extraction of caffeine, typically performed using supercritical carbon dioxide, perhaps with cosolvents such as water or so-called enhancers. Such processes are disclosed, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,820,537 and 4,260,639. Such processes practiced to the present time have suffered in their ability to produce coffee comparable in flavor and aroma to non-decaffeinated coffee.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,941 to Katz is directed to a method of continuously decaffeinating moistened green coffee beans with supercritical carbon dioxide. The moistened coffee beans are moved through an extraction vessel and are contacted with continuously flowing supercritical carbon dioxide which extracts caffeine from the green coffee beans. The caffeine-laden supercritical carbon dioxide removed from the caffeine extraction vessel is continuously fed to a countercurrent liquid absorber to remove caffeine, but not the non-caffeine solids. The countercurrent absorber exhibits excellent selectivity for caffeine when contacting supercritical fluids containing caffeine and non-caffeine solids. The essentially caffeine free supercritical fluid contains very nearly the same level of non-caffeine solids as it did upon entering the absorber. The Katz patent teaches that if this supercritical fluid (containing non-caffeine solids at substantially the same level as the supercritical fluid contained upon leaving the decaffeinating extraction chamber) is used as the extraction fluid, the supercritical fluid extracts no measurable amount of non-caffeine solids from the green beans as they are decaffeinated.
The wash water from the absorber can be treated by reverse osmosis to recover a caffeine retentate and a permeate stream containing coffee acids which are soluble in supercritical carbon dioxide and other non-caffeine solids. The permeate can be returned to either the extraction vessel or to the absorbing vessel. At best, the Katz patent teaches that a supercritical carbon dioxide which contains non-caffeine solids at a level that is extracted during the normal extraction process is utilized to extract caffeine from moist green coffee beans, that no further extraction of non-caffeine solids would occur.
While supercritical carbon dioxide is an effective decaffeination medium, its solvent action is not specific to caffeine or caffeine precursors. During supercritical decaffeination of green coffee beans, numerous other components are removed including but not limited to waxes, oils and color bodies. It is known that the pH of a coffee beverage contributes to perceived flavor, and that the range of pH for acceptable palatability is from about 4.95 to about 5.15. Others have attempted to control the pH of the final coffee product, i.e., instant or roast and ground coffee, by adding acidic or alkaline substances to the final coffee product to account for unacceptable pH caused by such factors as the botany of the coffee beans, the altitude at which they are grown, the processing method applied to the coffee fruit, the age of the beans when processed and the degree of roasting. See, e.g., Stivetz, How Acidity Affects Coffee Flavor, Food Technology, Vol. 25, No. 5, 1972, pp. 70-77. However, there appears to be no recognition in the art that supercritical decaffeination adversely affects acidity, nor does there appear to be any method disclosed for controlling the acidity of coffee products other than final coffee products.

Supercritical carbon dioxide decaffeination of acidified coffee


The present invention provides a ubiquitous solution for providing charge-related voice service such as voice announcement and interactive voice response in an IP multimedia subsystem. In particularly, an online charging system (10) detects the subscriber account profile of a user terminal (51) to determine whether there is an event for providing an end user with voice announcement or interactive voice response (S203). If there is such voice announcement event or interactive voice response event, the online charging system (10) will enter “redirection state” and send an instruction (S204) to an online charging client (20) for instructing the online charging client (20) to redirect the user terminal to a first server (30) for providing voice announcement or interactive voice response such that the first server (30) provides the user terminal (51) with voice announcement or interactive voice response. The online charging client (20) may comprise network gateway, session initiation protocol application server or media resource function controller, etc.

As the network evolves to next generation network, an IP-based IMS network will provide calling services such as Voice over IP (VoIP). The capability of providing voice announcement and interactive voice response is a very important user experience for end users. For example, a user expects a charging system to provide voice announcement about subscriber account balance, awards and the like and when the balance is too low, to provide interactive voice response for performing recharging by inputting scratch-card number and PIN number, etc.
3GPP TS 32.260 standard defines that the online charging for IMS call is based on Diameter credit control protocol. In particular, an online charging client (also referred to as Diameter client) such as IMS gateway (IMSGW), application server (AS) or media resource function controller (MRFC) etc. request quota for resource usage from an online charging system (OCS) based on Ro interface; the OCS grants the quota, such as allowing the user to call for a period of time, to the user according to account profile such as the balance, and sends the quota to the online charging client via Ro interface; the online charging client controls the charging for calling according to the quota for resource usage received from the OCS.
However, because the interface to the OCS is Ro interface, the OCS cannot control IMS calls to provide voice announcement and interactive voice response to, for example, notify an end user of account profile or operate on the account profile, etc. Moreover, Diameter credit control protocol does not have the capability of providing announcement and interactive voice response, either. Thus, the existing system cannot provide charging-related voice announcement and interactive voice response.
Without voice announcement or interactive voice response, user's experience for IMS call charging is greatly impacted. This will be an obstacle for operators to deploy prepaid voice services over IMS network, such as IMS fixed line calling card solution.

Method and apparatus for providing a user with charging-related voice service