The present invention is a folding truck bed cover system that includes a pair of truck bed covers, a pair of bed rails, a pair of supporting braces, and a folding roof cloth. The truck bed covers can rotate flat to cover the truck bed or to a vertical position via a gas strut that is mounted along the front wall of the truck bed. The folding roof cloth can be draped over the truck bed covers when in a vertical position, and therein said folding roof cloth is secured via the bed rails.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of truck bed cover systems, more specifically, a truck bed cover system that can either fold up to create more covered room for the truck bed or can fold down to cover the top of the truck bed.
B. Discussion of the Prior Art
As a preliminary note, it should be stated that there is an ample amount of prior art that deals with truck bed cover systems. As will be discussed immediately below, no prior art discloses a truck bed cover system that can fold up to increate the volume of covered space or flat to cover the truck bed.
The Rios Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,784) discloses a folding utility truck rack with side panels and locking bed cover. However, the truck rack does not include a folding roof cloth that can cover the truck rack when folded up.
The Hather Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,303) discloses a pickup truck cover and hinge construction. However, the truck cover rotates about a pivoting bar, and does not include a folding roof cloth to cover the truck cover when folded up.
The Reardon et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,199) discloses a truck bed cover assembly that folds in half and opens up exposing the entire bed of the truck. However, the cover assembly does not include a bed rail as the means of securing a folding roof cloth over the assembly when said assembly is folded up exposing the truck bed.
The Fletcher Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,890) discloses a structure having a movable roof formed in two sections wherein said sections are pivotally secured to the side walls by hinge elements and to the front and rear walls by control arms, and wherein the roof panels are pivotal from a closed, horizontal position to an open vertical position disposed alongside the side walls. However, the roof is of a solid construction, as opposed to a folding roof cloth that is secured to bed rails.
The Arthur Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,169) discloses a removable cover system for use on a pickup truck bed, the bed having a floor, side walls, a front wall, and a tailgate. However, the gas struts are mounted along the side of the pickup truck bed as opposed to the front wall of the pickup truck bed. Furthermore, the cover system does not include a bed rail for securing a folding roof cloth over the top of the cover assembly.
The Tilton Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,930) discloses a dual purpose truck bed cover that includes a pair of door panels that are hinged respectively to the side walls of a truck bed. However, the truck bed cover requires a lateral member that mounts along the front wall of the truck bed in order to provide struts to move with the covers. Furthermore, the truck bed cover does not include a set of bed rails to secure a folding roof cloth to the top of the truck bed cover when raised in an up position.
The Eckerd et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,078) discloses a container for enclosing the box of a pick-up truck that includes a pair of sidewalls, a front wall, a rear wall and a roof having two panels connected by hinges to the outer side edges of the sidewalls to permit each of the panels to be approximately 270 degrees from a closed position to an open position. However, the roof is of solid construction as opposed to a folding roof cloth that is secured about bed rails that are mounted to the top of the truck bed adjacent the door lids.
The Barry et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,611) discloses a cover for the bed of a truck that moves on a U-rail and can be lifted using a hydraulic lift piston, and that can be moved to one side of the bed or the other. However, the cover does not fold up, and have bed rails for securing a folding roof cloth upon the bed cover when in the up position.
The Andrews Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,118,159) discloses a convertible tonneau cover is positionable between a covering configuration wherein the tonneau covers a pickup truck bed and a rack position wherein the tonneau forms a material handling rack. However, the tonneau does not fold into a vertical, locked position and include a folding roof cloth to cover said cover with the aid of a bed rail on each side of the truck bed.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective and particular objects and requirements, they do not describe a folding truck bed cover system that provides for the advantages of the folding truck bed cover system. In this regard, the folding truck bed cover system departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art.


A nipple clipper is provided for a baby bottle having a nipple which consists of a cap sized to fit over the nipple of the baby bottle. A clip is retained within the cap and is operable from the exterior of the cap for tightly griping the nipple of the baby bottle when the cap is placed thereon, so that liquid within the baby bottle will not spill out.

The instant invention relates generally to baby bottle caps and more specifically it relates to a nipple clipper for a baby bottle, which provides a built-in spillage of liquid therefrom.
There are available various conventional baby bottle caps which do not provide the novel improvements of the invention herein disclosed.


Embodiments of a method for reducing conflict misses in a set-associative cache by mapping each memory address to a primary set and at least one overflow set are described. If a conflict miss occurs within the primary set, a cache line from the primary set is selected for replacement. However, rather than removing the selected cache line from the cache completely, the selected cache line may instead be relocated to the overflow set. The selected cache line replaces a cache line in the overflow set, if it is determined that the selected cache line from the primary set has an estimated age that is more recent than an estimated age for any cache line in the overflow set. Embodiments of the method incorporate various techniques for estimating the age of cache lines, and, particularly, for estimating the relative time since any given cache line was last accessed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a set-associative cache memory system and, more particularly, to a set-associative cache memory system in which each memory address is mapped to both a primary set and at least one other set.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most computer processing systems generally consist of several levels of memory, including at least one relatively small capacity high speed memory storage mechanism referred to as a cache memory. The cache memory may be located in either a section of the main memory or a separate memory storage device. There are several types of cache organization: direct-mapped, associative and set-associative. Direct-mapped caches are characterized by a one-to-one mapping from system address to cache address. Associative-mapped caches are characterized by mapping from any system address to any cache address. Set-associative caches are characterized by a one-to-many mapping from system address to a set address, but not to a particular line within the set. For example, in a four-way set-associative cache, the data corresponding to the system can be found in one of four lines in a set within the cache. There is a direct mapping from system address to set address. However, a tag (e.g., a subset of the upper system address bits) must be compared (e.g., by a comparator) with the tags for each of the four lines of the set to determine which line contains the data.
Some of the main determining factors in computer system processor performance are cache hit ratios. Specifically, it is desirable to obtain as high a cache hit ratio as possible subject to constraints such as minimal access latency and chip area. Cache misses can be categorized as conflict misses, capacity misses, and coherency misses. Conflict misses are an effect arising from set-associative cache designs, in which cache accesses from one process or thread by chance happen to map to the same set as other cache accesses from the same or other processes or threads, causing an excessive number of misses to that set. Typically, there are a number of "hot" sets, which dominate the overall number of cache misses. Here, a "hot" set is used as a generic term to refer to one of the sets in a set-associative cache for which there is an excessive number of conflict misses as compared to a typical set.
Various methods and systems for reducing conflict misses in set-associative cache memories are known. One method is to increase the associativity of the set-associative cache, and in fact there is a trend in recent computer system designs for increased associativity for the system caches. However, there are limits to which associativity can be increased in set-associative cache design. For example, in order to access the cache directory in a K-way associative cache, K tags are simultaneously read from K tag directories and simultaneously compared using K comparators to the tag of the address being accessed. As K increases, there is an increase in power requirements and power density. Additionally, the degree to which K can be increased is limited by wiring area, chip area, and timing constraints.
Another method, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,342, to Stephen J. Walsh, issued Nov. 7, 1995, for "Dynamically Adaptive Set Associativity for Cache Memories" (incorporated herein by reference), incorporates the use of "microcaches" that are dynamically assigned to sets that are identified as hot. There are a number of disadvantages to this and other conceptually similar approaches. Primarily, they require additional hardware complexity for counting misses for each set and for selecting those sets that have excessive miss counts as compared to typical sets.
Another method, disclosed in "The V-Way Cache: Demand Based Associativity via Global Replacement" by Qureshi, Thompson, and Pratt, University of Texas at Austin technical report TR-HPS-2004-003, October, 2004 (incorporated herein by reference), provides a system that reduces conflict misses by using a cache directory containing twice as many entries as the number of cache lines holding data. However, such a cache directory introduces extra chip area cost. A level of indirection is also introduced between the cache directory entries and cache lines via forward and reverse pointers, which may cause additional latency for every cache access.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a set-associative cache memory with reduced conflict misses without increasing the associativity of the cache, without increasing the number of entries in the cache directory, without introducing levels of indirection between the cache directory and the cache, and without introducing additional latency for the most frequently accessed cache data. Specifically, it would be advantageous to provide a method that addresses the issue of conflict misses in set-associative cache memory by mapping a primary set address and at least one overflow (secondary) set address, by selecting a least recently used (LRU) line from within a set if a conflict miss occurs, by sending the selected line to an overflow set, and by replacing a line in the overflow set with the selected line, if the selected line is more recent.

Set-associative cache using cache line decay counts and set overflow

International Business Machines Corporation


A power generating system 10 includes a drive arrangement 12 and a compressor 18 arranged to be driven by the drive arrangement 12 to compress gas, in particular air. The system 10 also includes an underwater storage arrangement 20 for storing compressed gas provided by the compressor 18 and an expander 22 for expanding compressed gas from the underwater storage arrangement 20 and/or the compressor 18 to thereby drive a generator 16 to generate electrical power.

The case for power generation using renewable energy sources is now abundantly clear, and wind-energy converters, such as wind turbines, are commonly employed for this purpose. In many cases, it is appropriate to locate the wind-energy converters and associated generators off-shore.
In the case of most present-day wind-turbines, an electrical generator is mechanically connected to the wind turbine rotor. One problem associated with the use of such wind turbines is that the utilization of the generators associated with the turbines is relatively low because, in times when there is little or no wind, they are not being driven to any significant proportion of their maximum capacity. Consequently, it would be desirable to improve the utilization of the generators to provide more effective and efficient power generation.


A waste can comprises a receptacle having a rim with at least one bag lock located on the rim. The bag lock has a first portion defining a cavity and a second portion movable with respect to the first portion between a first position where it is locked to the first portion and a second position where it is spaced from the first portion. The second portion locks a trash bag in the cavity when in the first position.

Waste cans for waste disposal are known that comprise a container having an open top end into which waste is deposited. The waste cans may be made of plastic, metal or other materials and may include a lid that covers the open top end. To facilitate clean up, disposable trash bags or bag liners made of a thin flexible material are inserted into and line the waste can such that waste is deposited into the trash bag or bag liner. The trash bag or bag liner contains the waste and can be removed from the container to dispose of the waste.


A method for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced hollow structural component includes introducing a mold core and fibers with a matrix material into a molding tool. A first fiber unit is located between the mold core and the molding tool to at least partially form a component wall. The matrix material is cured to form the hollow structural component and the mold core is flushed out of the hollow structural component to form a component cavity. At least one channel may extend through the mold core so that after the matrix material has cured and the mold core has been flushed out, a reinforcing strut is formed. A related hollow structural component is also disclosed.

Fiber-reinforced components comprise reinforcing fibers, in particular carbon fibers, glass fibers, and/or aramid fibers, which are embedded or incorporated in a, in particular, thermoplastic and/or duroplastic matrix. The reinforcing fibers, in particular, give the component the necessary strength and stiffness. The matrix, however, has the primary effect of holding the reinforcing fibers in a desired shape. The reinforcing fibers are therefore aligned, supported, and protected by the matrix.
DE 10 2007 026 453 A1 describes a hollow component comprising a fiber-reinforced stiffening strut. For each stiffening strut in this case, cylinder segment-shaped cores are wrapped with fiber material and are subsequently positioned with respect to each other with the aid of a positioning aid. In order to form an outer contour, a mold core is filament-wound with reinforcing fibers. The described method is extremely complex and requires numerous individual work steps to form the reinforcing struts.

Method for producing a fiber-reinforced structural hollow component


An ink jet recording apparatus in which a UV curable ink is ejected from nozzle holes of an ink jet head. The ejected ink is attached onto a recording surface of a recording medium (recording paper), and is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet light. The ink jet head, or a moving member which moves together with the ink jet head, is provided with a plurality of ultraviolet light emitting diodes that emit the ultraviolet light to the ink attached onto the recording surface of the recording medium to cure the ink.

A technique has been conventionally known, in which a UV-curable ink is ejected from nozzle holes of an ink jet head onto the recording surface of a recording medium, and the ink attached to the recording surface is cured by ultraviolet irradiation so as to prevent the ink from spreading and bleeding on the recording surface (see Japanese Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2002-137375, 2003-11334, 2003-11343, and 2003-127338, for example).
As light sources of the ultraviolet light, discharge lamps such as mercury lamps and metal halide lamps are typically used. Such discharge lamps are attached to the ink jet head, so that ultraviolet light emitted by the discharge lamps is directly applied to the recording surface of a recording medium, as disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2003-11334 and 2003-11343. Alternatively, as disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2002-137375 and 2003-127338, ultraviolet light emitted by discharge lamps is guided through optical fibers to the ink jet head, from which the ultraviolet light is applied to the recording surface of a recording medium.
However, in the conventional examples, in which the ink is cured by the discharge lamps, the distribution of the illumination of the ultraviolet light emitted by the discharge lamps varies significantly on the recording surface of the recording medium. The ink curing rate thus changes from place to place, which may cause the resulting print density to differ between portions where the ink curing rate is high and portions where it is low.
In the cases where the discharge lamps are attached to the ink jet head, the ink jet head increases in size, such that high speed driving of the ink jet head becomes impossible. To enable the high speed driving, a larger driving apparatus is required. This, together with the increased size of the ink jet head, results in an increase in the size of the entire recording apparatus.
Also, the structure in which the discharge lamps and the ink jet head are connected via the optical fibers is indeed difficult to realize, because the optical fibers are made of quartz which is vulnerable to bending. Even if such a structure is obtained, the distance between the discharge lamps and the ink jet head has to be increased very much, which consequently increases the size of the entire recording apparatus.
Furthermore, discharge lamps have a relatively short life, their maintainability is poor, and their power consumption is large. In addition, discharge lamps take a long time to emit ultraviolet light in a stable manner. Thus, certain warm-up time is necessary after the lamps are operated, and even when the lamps do not have to be operated, such as when a recording medium is being carried, the lamps have to remain on.

Ink jet recording apparatus and ink jet recording method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A Bluetooth earphone set, which includes a main unit that houses an auto-reversible first winding mechanism and an auto-reversible second winding mechanism, an earphone cable coupled to the auto-reversible first winding mechanism for voice output, a signal connector cable coupled to the auto-reversible second winding mechanism and connectable to a cell phone, a switch, which is switched between a first position for enabling the earphone cable to output voice signal that is received wirelessly from a cell phone by the main unit and a second position for enabling the earphone to output voice signal that is received from a cell phone through the signal connector cable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an earphone set and more particularly, to a Bluetooth earphone set, which can be selectively set between a first position to receive voice signal from a cell phone wirelessly and a second position to receive voice signal from a cell phone through a cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 11 shows a conventional Bluetooth earphone set, which comprises a main unit 2 and an earphone 21 formed integral with the main unit 2. When in use, the earphone 21 is inserted into the user's ear, and the main unit 2 starts communication with the cell phone wirelessly subject to Bluetooth protocol. According to this design, the user's ear will feel uncomfortable when keeping the earphone 21 in the ear for a long period. Further, keeping the earphone 21 in the ear leaves a very bad impression to the beholder.
FIG. 12 shows another conventional design of Bluetooth earphone set. According to this design, the Bluetooth earphone set comprises a main unit 3, an earphone 32, a cable 31 connected between the earphone 32 and the main unit 3, and a microphone 311 mounted on the cable 31. This design of Bluetooth earphone set is comfortable in use. However, when the earphone 32 is not inserted into the user's ear, the cable 31 tends to be tangled.
Further, when the battery power of the main unit of either of the aforesaid two conventional earphone set designs is low, the Bluetooth earphone set must be recharged. During charging, the Bluetooth earphone set cannot be used. When the user is driving a car and when the Bluetooth earphone set is under charging, the user shall have to hold the cell phone for communication.

Bluetooth earphone set with wire control function


A sheet manufacturing apparatus includes a transfer path through which flows at least a portion of a material for a sheet in air and which has a curved section where the transfer path is curved, and a forming unit configured to form the sheet using the material, and an optical detecting unit configured to detect the material and provided at the curved section or at the transfer path more to a downstream side than the curved section in a material transfer direction.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a sheet manufacturing apparatus and a sheet manufacturing method.
Related Art
In the prior art, there is known a paper recycling apparatus which has a dry-type defibrating unit which crushes and defibrates paper, a first transfer unit which transfers the defibrated material which is defibrated by the dry-type defibrating unit, a classifier unit which classifies using a flow of air and deinks the defibrated material which is transferred by the first transferring unit, a second transfer unit which transfers the defibrated material which is deinked by the classifier unit, and a paper forming unit which forms paper using the defibrated material which is transferred by the second transferring unit (for example, refer to Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-144819).
It is necessary in the apparatus described above that the amount of the defibrated material which is being transferred is constant in order to manufacture sheets with uniform thickness. However, since the defibrated material in the apparatus described above has a fibrous form and is extremely light, it is difficult to measure the transfer weight of the defibrated material. Accordingly, there are problems such that it is not possible to manage the transfer weight of the defibrated material which is being fed in and it is not possible to manufacturing, for example, sheets with uniform thickness.

Sheet manufacturing apparatus and sheet manufacturing method


Operation of a charge pump is controlled to optimize power conversion efficiency by using an adiabatic mode with some operating characteristics and a non-adiabatic mode with other characteristics. The control is implemented by controlling a configurable circuit at the output of the charge pump.

This invention relates to adiabatic power conversion, and in particular to configuration and control for partial adiabatic operation of a charge pump.
Various configurations of charge pumps, including Series-Parallel and Dickson configurations, rely on alternating configurations of switch elements to propagate charge and transfer energy between the terminals of the charge pump. Energy losses associated with charge propagation determine the efficiency of the converter.
Referring to FIG. 1, a single-phase Dickson charge pump 100 is illustrated in a step-down mode coupled to a low-voltage load 110 and a high-voltage source 190. In the illustrated configuration, generally the low-voltage load 110 is driven (on average) by a voltage that is ⅕ times the voltage provided by the source and a current that is five times the current provided by the high-voltage source 190. The pump is driven in alternating states, referred to as state one and state two, such that the switches illustrated in FIG. 1 are closed in the indicated states. In general, the duration of each state is half of a cycle time T and the corresponding switching frequency of the charge pump 100 is equal to the inverse of the cycle time T.
FIGS. 2A-B illustrate the equivalent circuit in each of states two and state one, respectively, illustrating each closed switch as an equivalent resistance R. Capacitors C1 through C4 have a capacitance C. In a first conventional operation of the charge pump 100, the high-voltage source 190 is a voltage source, for example, a twenty-five volt source, such that the low-voltage load 100 is driven by five volts. In operation, the voltage across the capacitors C1 through C4 are approximately five volts, ten volts, fifteen volts, and twenty volts, respectively.
One cause of energy loss in the charge pump 100 relates the resistive losses through the switches (i.e., through the resistors R in FIGS. 2A-B). Referring to FIG. 2A, during state two, charge transfers from the capacitor C2 to the capacitor C1 and from the capacitor C4 to the capacitor C1. The voltages on these pairs of capacitors equilibrate assuming that the cycle time T is sufficiently greater than the time constant of the circuit (e.g., that the resistances R are sufficiently small. Generally, the resistive energy losses in this equilibration are proportional to the time average of the square of the current passing between the capacitors and therefore passing to the low-voltage load 110. Similarly, during state one, the capacitors C3 and C2 equilibrate, the capacitor C4 charges, and the capacitor C1 discharges, also generally resulting in a resistive energy loss that is proportional to the time average of the square of the current passing to the low-voltage load 110.
For a particular average current passing to the load 110, assuming that the load presents an approximately constant voltage, it can be shown than the resistive energy loss decreases as the cycle time T is reduced (i.e., switching frequency is increased). This can generally be understood by considering the impact of dividing the cycle time by one-half, which generally reduces the peak currents in the equilibration by one half, and thereby approximately reduces the resistive energy loss to one quarter. So the resistive energy loss is approximately inversely proportional to the square of the switching frequency.
However, another source of energy loss relates to capacitive losses in the switches, such that energy loss grows with the switching frequency. Generally, a fixed amount of charge is lost with each cycle transition, which can be considered to form a current that is proportional to the switching frequency. So this capacitive energy loss is approximately proportional to the square of the switching frequency.
Therefore, with a voltage source and load there an optimal switching frequency that minimizes the sum of the resistive and capacitive energy losses, respectively reduced with increased frequency and increased with increased frequency.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Charge pump with temporally-varying adiabaticity


To enable the utilization of a definition or definitions once made as the definitions of a similar object, a set of conditions for similarity including one or more conditions is defined and a set of definitions, which explicitly or inexplicitly indicates one or more definitions, of which at least one will be applied, and a similar object is searched for. If the set of definitions is related to an object which was used as the basis for defining the set of conditions for similarity, the set of definitions is applied to the object found. If the set of definitions is related to an object to be found, the set of definitions of the object found is applied to the object which was used as the basis for defining the set of conditions for similarity.

Modeling means that a model is created from the object under design for describing the object to be manufactured. The development of data processing systems and computers has transformed modeling into a computerized process, where a product model is created from the object. For example, the product model of a building is an entity consisting of the product data on the life span of the building and building process. The product model of a building describes the product data of the building outlined in accordance with the product data model. The building product model may be stored as a database of a computer application or as a file suitable for data transfer. Computer applications describe the real-world building elements of the building using building element entities that are processed by the applications.
The modeling by means of computer applications involves two different approaches to modeling: bottom-up and top-down. The bottom-up approach is based on a principle of forming a piece from details; each edge of the piece is drawn in the program and the piece is formed as a sum of all details. The formation of pieces is facilitated by a library where all piece forms included in the design have been stored. A ready-made piece form can be selected from the library and its different parts may be given parameters, whereby several different pieces can be obtained from one piece form. If the number or order of edges changes, a new piece form is stored in the library. The top-down approach is based on the principle of providing a piece with details; a piece is created first and then provided with details. The top-down modeling has been facilitated by dividing an entity into smaller entities, such as separate building elements, joints and details programmed into the modeling program. The most typically used building elements can be created by combining smaller programmed entities known as program snippets. Objects are modeled by parametrizing, i.e. by giving start and end points as well as definitions defining various properties of the piece, such as location, material or type of cross section. Pieces can also be parametrized according to the environment. The top-down approach differs from the bottom-up approach also in that the piece form is not stored in the library but the outcome is only a set of the piece's parameters (set of definitions) in the design. There is no piece form library similar to the one employed in the bottom-up approach. Top-down modeling is described in greater detail in the applicant's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/165,043, where the parametric modeling described represents top-down modeling.
A problem associated with top-down modeling is, in fact, caused by the lack of a piece form library, for which reason there is no link between identical and similar pieces. When a drawing, for example, is made of a piece, the user sets the desired view angles and measures for the drawing and the same drawing, more precisely the drawing template provided by the drawing, could be used for pieces of the similar type. In the bottom-up approach, this is easy in the case of a stored piece form because a drawing can be linked as a drawing template with a library element. In that case, the same drawing template can be used when a drawing is made of a piece created using the same piece form. In the top-down approach, this is not feasible because there is no piece form library, and thus the user has to make the drawing of each piece separately. The same problem comes up both in the top-down and in the bottom-up approach when a drawing is made of an object that is an entity consisting of several pieces or when detailed drawings are made of similar parts of a piece.


A system, method and apparatus providing uninterrupted cleaning of first and second parts of a deployed marine seismic streamer cable using one cleaner apparatus, the first and second parts located to respective sides of a bird attached to the streamer cable. The system comprises a connecting apparatus for connecting by a web or rung the bird to the streamer cable, and the cleaner apparatus provided with a slit open over the full length of the cleaner and adapted to let the web or rung pass from end to end of the cleaner, whereby the cleaner is allowed to pass from the first part to the second part without interrupting its cleaning action.

The problem of fouling and marine growth of seismic streamer cables, and the effects on the characteristics of the marine seismic streamer cables, with regard to at least drag, steerability, positioning and reception of seismic signals, is well known to persons skilled in the art of marine seismic information acquisition.
Several devices for cleaning deployed marine seismic streamer cables, operating by travelling along the deployed cable while removing e.g., fouling and marine growth, are known in the art, and properly disclosed, such as for example devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,145,833 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,409,919.
The need for controlling the position of a deployed marine seismic streamer cable in several directions, typically to a certain depth, and also to follow a particular path as the streamer cable is being towed behind a vessel, is typically met by attaching to the cable, at intervals, steering devices and other devices for communication and control such as e.g., depth control devices often referred to by the term "bird". In this disclosure of the present invention, when referring to a "bird", reference is also made to other devices that typically are attached to the streamer cable, in particular devices that are attached to the streamer cable at locations along the streamer cable that are submerged when the streamer cable is deployed. The typical "bird" is equipped with a wing means and/or body elements, extending also outwards from the streamer cable, to perform the function of e.g., actually move to or hold a corresponding part of the streamer cable in a desired position, is usually removeably attached to the streamer cable. That will allow removal of the "bird" at the time when the streamer cable is recovered from sea and wound up on a drum on the towing vessel, as winding the cable on a drum while still having the "bird" with its sharp edged wing, or rudder, attached to the streamer cable would easily cause serious damage to the relatively fragile streamer cable.
The "bird" typically extends significantly away from the streamer cable, typically a distance that is several multiples of the diameter of the streamer cable itself.
Several arrangements for removably attaching a "bird" to a marine seismic streamer cable are well known in the art, such as e.g., from disclosures provided in patent publication No. U.S. 2003/0226488 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,823.
Accordingly, when a cleaning device travelling along the deployed marine seismic streamer cable arrives at a position along the cable where it encounters a "bird" attached to the streamer cable, it also encounters an obstacle for its further travel along the streamer cable. Known solutions to this problem are considered complex and far from optimal, e.g., either because they required additional, risky operative effort at sea by the crew to bring the streamer cable to the surface for temporarily removing the "bird" to let the cleaning device pass the point of attachment of the "bird" to the streamer cable, or for removing the cleaner temporarily and reattaching it to the next section of the streamer cable, or because existing cleaning devices that are adapted to pass by a "bird" while it is attached to the streamer cable, typically due to their complexity are not as reliable as one would like, or for that same reason are expensive to acquire, operate and maintain.
Hence, there is a need for a solution to the problem of making a substantially full-length cleaning a deployed marine seismic streamer cable having a plurality of "birds" attached thereto, that is at least one of more reliable, involves less risk both to the crew, is less costly, or solves other related problems that are well-known to those involved in the use, handling and operation of marine seismic streamer cables for marine seismic information acquisition.

Apparatus for in-situ cleaning of a seismic streamer cable


Methods and systems are disclosed for performing Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) communications. A TCP packet may be received. An artificial error may be added to the TCP packet to prevent the occurrence of a TCP meltdown.

Communications using satellites have a high latency and a high data error rate. Thus the performance of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is greatly impaired versus non-satellite communications. To improve satellite communications, Performance Enhancing Proxies (PEPs) can be deployed on both ends of the satellite links. However, a PEP cannot be used when the TCP traffic is encrypted. For example, the operation of PEPs is disabled when TCP traffic is encrypted by High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptions (HAIPE). Thus, communicating via satellites using encrypted TCP packets results in very poor performance. Further, previous solutions have significant drawbacks such as additional hardware; sharing the encryption keys, which raises security issues; and compatibility issues with currently used satellite communications. These and other shortcomings are addressed by the disclosure herein.

Methods and systems for transmission control protocol (TCP) communications

The Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education on Behalf of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas


Apparatus and methods relating to a remote control mounting system having a clip and base are disclosed herein. In various embodiments, the clip may be designed for a specific remote control, and/or the clip may be attached to the base in one or more positions, giving the remote control mounting system modularity.

Remote controls for televisions, monitors, and video game consoles are well known. By using such remote controls, a player or user can interact with a television, monitor, video game console, etc., which may be located some distance away so that the user does not need to be near the television or monitor.
These remote controls can be quite expensive. However, these remote controls are often left out after use and/or in anticipation of further use, and may be left out on a table or desk, for example, and/or in a common area. Accidents are prone to occur in common areas and/or on desks or tables, such as, for example, being damaged by a pet, by a roommate, a friend, or an acquaintance, or from a spilled drink, etc.
Moreover, as video gaming technology has advanced, game plots, graphics, level of detail, multi-player compatibility and other features have also advanced. Such advances in game play and/or technology associated with video games have increased interest in game play. With an increased interest in game play, the users and/or players of video games often spend extended periods of time playing video games. This fact, in combination with the fact that such video games are often played with remote controls, has resulted in extended handling and/or use of remote controls.
However, extended use of existing video game controls (or other remote controls) is often not ergonomically pleasing to users and/or players. Over extended periods of time, use of these remote controls can lead to discomfort, fatigue, and/or long term ailments such as carpal tunnel syndrome, for example.
Thus, there is a need in the art for overcoming the issues of existing systems.


A highly effective liquid-liquid extraction process to remove nitrogen compounds and especially basic nitrogen compounds from aromatic light petroleum oils with excellent recovery employs de-ionized water, which can be acidified, as the extractive solvent. The product is an aromatic hydrocarbon with ultra-low amounts of nitrogen poisons that can deactivate acidic catalysts. The extracted oils are suitable feedstock for the subsequent catalytic processes that are promoted with the high performance solid catalysts, which are extremely sensitive to nitrogen poison.

It is well known that the presence of basic nitrogen compounds in petroleum oil can deleteriously affect the performance of the subsequent catalytic processes, especially where acidic catalysts are used. For example, nitrogenous compounds present in the vacuum gas oil or residual oil can deactivate catalysts that are employed in hydrodesulfurization. A variety of chemical and physical treatments for reducing the level of nitrogen compounds in oils have been developed. Chemical methods include, for instance, (i) hydrodesulfurization/hydrodenitrogenation (HDS)/(HDN) processes and (ii) oxidation processes. HDS/HDN techniques for removing nitrogen compounds from high boiling petroleum oils are well established. Oxidation techniques, which have been developed more recently, are usually employed in combination with sulfur removal. The oxidation processes typically include an extraction or adsorption step subsequent to oxidation. Oxidation methods are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,193 to Gore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,785 to Gore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,402,940 to Rappas, U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,616 to Rappas et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,914 to Gore et al., and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0178, 122 to Karas et al.
The most common physical techniques for removing nitrogen compounds are liquid extraction and solid adsorption which are particularly suited for treating high boiling petroleum oils. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,962 to Yao describes a method for removing basic nitrogen compounds (BNCs) from solvent extracted oils by adsorbing the BNCs to solid acidic polar adsorbents. The oils are extracted with common extraction solvents, preferably N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). The resulting raffinate which contains the extracted oil is passed through a solid adsorption unit that contains an acidic adsorbent, such as silica-alumina, high alumina base amorphous cracking catalyst or crystalline zeolite. Depending upon the type of adsorbent and adsorption process conditions employed, the adsorbent can be regenerated by either purging with hydrogen at elevated temperatures and pressures or by washing the BNC saturated adsorbent with extractive solvent, e.g., NMP. In either case, adsorbent regeneration can be expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,230 to Min et al. describes a solid adsorption method for removing natural polar compounds, which are predominantly basic nitrogen compounds, from hydrocarbon fractions that preferably have boiling points that range from 200 to 400° C. in advance of catalytic hydroprocessing. The process is said to significantly improve hydrotreater performance so as to produce cleaner diesel fuels with lower sulfur content. The preferred adsorbent is silica gel which is regenerated with a polar solvent, such as methanol. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,860 to Irvine discloses a method for treating naphtha with high concentrations of polar compounds (including nitrogen compounds) in a counter-current fluidizing adsorption process. The adsorbent is regenerated by contact with a reactivating medium such as hydrogen gas at elevated temperatures.
While adsorption can be very selective in removing nitrogen compounds from hydrocarbons, this method is not commercially feasible for a number of reasons. To begin with, implementing the technique requires a significant initial capital investment followed by substantial operating costs. The high costs are attributable, in part, to the fact that adsorption is normally a batch operation, with respect to the adsorbents, which is divided into an alternating sequence of operation and regeneration cycles. The logistics of the regenerative procedure is itself quite complex and requires complicated plant design in order to implement different fluid patterns into and out of an adsorption column as well as to reverse the flow directions at various stages during the regeneration cycle. Another reason against using adsorption is that absorbents have limited and inconsistent adsorbent capacities and lives. Using absorbents with predictable adsorbent lives is critical to the commercial success of any adsorption process. Often adsorbent life must be determined empirically for a particular application and the experiments entailed may be extensive.
The adsorption process may be suitable for removing nitrogen compounds where the nitrogen content in the hydrocarbon feed stream is extremely low, that is, in the low parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb) levels. At these minute concentrations, the process of removing nitrogen may require only infrequent adsorbent replacement and no adsorbent regeneration is needed. Since no adsorbent regeneration is required, adsorption can be advantageously based on a neutralization reaction between acid and base. Nitrogen adsorption is manifested in the form of a strong non-reversible adsorption of basic nitrogen compounds onto adsorbents with acidic sites.
With respect to prior art extraction techniques, U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,607 to Miller describes a process for upgrading hydrogenated distillate oil by extracting nitrogen compounds from the oil by liquid-liquid extraction using a solution of ferric chloride in furfural. The raffinate (oil) phase is said to be especially suitable for use as feedstock for catalytic cracking or hydroprocessing that employs an acidic catalyst. U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,507 to Evans et al. discloses a two-step extraction process for removing basic heterocyclic nitrogen from petroleum oils whereby an aqueous acidic solvent is used in a first extraction step to remove the bulk of the nitrogen compounds from the oil and an immiscible hydrocarbon solvent is used in a second extraction step to further lower the nitrogen content in the oil. Aqueous acidic solvents include carboxylic acids and halogen-substituted carboxylic acids while immiscible hydrocarbon solvents include C3 to C12 paraffins, C3 to C12 olefins and C3 to C12 ethers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,508 to Evans discloses a similar two-step extraction process for removing basic heterocyclic nitrogen from petroleum oils whereby an aqueous concentrated acidic solvent is used in a first extraction step to remove the bulk of nitrogen compounds from the oil and an aqueous diluted acidic solvent is used in a second extraction step to further lower the nitrogen content. The concentrated acidic solvent comprises an aqueous solution containing 85 to 95 wt % of carboxylic acids, halogen-substituted carboxylic acids and mixtures thereof while the diluted acidic solvent has the same acid mixtures as the concentrated form but at lower concentrations of about 25 to 75 wt %.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,280 to Chen et al. describes a two-step extraction process for removing nitrogen compounds from shale oil that employs formic acid, acetic acid, and mixtures thereof as the extraction solvents. In the initial extraction, the oil is contacted with a low acid strength solvent containing 30 to 50 wt % acids in a first extraction zone and subsequently the oil is contacted with a high acid strength solvent containing 70 to 90 wt % acids in a second extraction zone. U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,763 to Kuk et al. describes an extraction method for removing nitrogen compounds from shale oil using a three-component extraction solvent comprising an organic polar solvent, an acid and water, e.g., a mixture of furfural alcohol, hydrochloric acid and water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,781 to Miller describes an extraction method for removing nitrogen from coal-derived coker oil where the extraction solvent consists of a solution of ferric chloride in furfural.
Light petroleum oils that are used as petrochemical feedstocks in many catalytic processes may contain only very low levels of sulfur and nitrogen. Recent advances in catalyst technology have lead to the developed high activity catalysts that have substantially improved the productivity and economics of many of these processes. Unfortunately, these high activity catalysts are extremely sensitive to sulfur and nitrogen poison; they are particularly sensitive to basic nitrogen compounds. For example, alkylation and isomerization reactions that have been catalyzed by strong inorganic acids, such as hydrofluoric acid, sulfuric acid, and aluminum chloride slurry are now catalyzed by solid zeolitic catalysts that have very active acidic catalytic sites that are vulnerable to poison from basic nitrogen compounds in the feedstock. An example of a commercially significant alkylation reaction is that of benzene with ethylene or propylene to produce ethylbenzene or cumene, respectively. Important isomerization reactions include, for example, the production of paraxylene from othoxylene or metaxylene and the production of cyclohexane from methyl cyclopentane. In this latter synthesis, for example, the benzene feedstock must to be essentially free of nitrogen compounds, preferably less than 30-100 ppb.
There is an urgent need for a cost effective, efficient process for removing nitrogen compounds from hydrocarbon to produce products such as light petroleum oils having ultra-low nitrogen content. The products are feedstock for subsequent processes that are catalyzed by catalysts that are otherwise deactivated by nitrogen compounds and particularly by basic nitrogen compounds. It is desired that the process can be continuous and operates under mild conditions.

Process for producing petroleum oils with ultra-low nitrogen content


Multi-zone, solar cell diffusion furnaces having a plurality of radiant element (SiC) or/and high intensity IR lamp heated process zones, including baffle, ramp-up, firing, soaking and cooling zone(s). The transport of solar cell wafers, e.g., silicon, selenium, germanium or gallium-based solar cell wafers, through the furnace is implemented by use of an ultra low-mass, wafer transport system comprising laterally spaced shielded metal bands or chains carrying non-rotating alumina tubes suspended on wires between them. The wafers rest on raised circumferential standoffs spaced laterally along the alumina tubes, which reduces contamination. The bands or chains are driven synchronously at ultra-low tension by a pin drive roller or sprocket at either the inlet or outlet end of the furnace, with appropriate tensioning systems disposed in the return path. The high intensity IR flux rapidly photo-radiation conditions the wafers so that diffusion occurs >3× faster than conventional high-mass thermal furnaces.

The fabrication of silicon based solar cells requires a number of specialized processes to occur in a specific order. Generally these processes include single crystalline silicon ingots grown in crystal growing furnaces or cast into multi-crystalline blocks in "directional solidification" furnaces. The result of these processes are long "sausage-shaped" single crystal masses called ingots, or multi-crystalline blocks, from which thin slices of silicon are cut transversely with "wire saws" to form rough solar cell wafers. These wafers, whether made up of a single crystal or multiple crystals conjoined together, are then processed to form smooth wafers in the 150 to 330 micrometer range of thickness. Because of the scarcity of suitable silicon, the current trend is towards making the wafers thinner, typically 140-180 micrometers thick.
Finished raw wafers are then processed into functioning solar cells, capable of generating electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Wafer processing starts with various cleaning and etching operations, followed by a 2-stage process called diffusion which creates a semi-conducting "p-n", junction diode, followed by a third process in which Aluminum paste coatings are screen printed on the wafer front and back sides and then fired into the p-n junction or back contact layer, where they act as ohmic collectors and grounds, respectively.
The diffusion process broadly comprises two stages: a first stage of applying (coating) and drying one or more types of dopant materials to the front and/or back side of the wafers, followed by a second stage of heating (firing) the coated wafers in a diffusion furnace, chamber, or heating zone, to cause diffusion of the dopant composition into the Si (or other advanced material) wafer substrate to form the p-n junction layer, or back contact layer. This invention is directed to improved diffusion furnaces and firing processes, schedules and thermal profiles. The following is a summary of the subsequent steps of processing diffusion fired wafers, which puts the invention into context.
Diffusion occurs at high temperatures in the presence of various phosphorous sources such as a sprayed liquid of dilute phosphoric acid or a vapor of phosphorous oxichloride (POCl3) created by bubbling nitrogen, N2, through liquid POCL3. The thus-doped Si forms the "emitter" layer of the photovoltaic cell, that is, the layer that emits electrons upon exposure to sunlight (the normal photon source). These electrons are collected by a fine web of screen printed metal contacts that are sintered into the surface of the cell by a metallization furnace, as mentioned above.
To enhance the ability to form low resistance screen-printed metal contacts to the underlying silicon p-n junction emitter layer, additional amounts of phosphorus are deposited onto the front surface of the wafer. The phosphorous is driven into the wafer via a high temperature diffusion process. Current processes typically last 20-30 minutes. The extra "electrically active" phosphorus enables the low resistance contacts to be formed. However, the formation of such contacts is at the expense of a loss in cell efficiency. The cell efficiency loss arises as a result of electron-hole pairs generated at or near the surface through the absorption of higher energy but short wave length photons. These "blue light" photons quickly recombine and are lost, thereby eliminating their contribution to the power generation of the cell.
After diffusion and various cleaning, laser edge ablation, and etching processes to remove unwanted semi-conductor junctions from the sides of the wafers, the wafers are coated with an anti-reflective coating, typically silicon nitride (SiN3), generally by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Between some of these processes, the wafers are dried in preparation for subsequent processes in low temperature drying ovens.
The SiN3 anti-reflective coating (ARC) is deposited to a thickness of approximately ¼ the wavelength of light of 0.6 microns. After ARC application, the cells exhibit a deep blue surface color (or brown color, depending on the coating material used). The ARC minimizes the reflection of incident photons having wavelengths around 0.6 microns. The ARC SiNx coating is created in the PECVD process by mixing silane, SiH4, ammonia, NH3, and pure nitrogen, N2, gases in various concentrations in a high or low frequency microwave field. The hydrogen dissociates and diffuses very rapidly into the silicon wafer. The hydrogen has a serendipitous effect of repairing bulk defects, especially in multi-crystalline material. The defects are traps where electron-hole pairs can recombine thereby reducing cell efficiency or power output.
During subsequent IR metallization firing, elevated temperatures (above 850° C.) will cause the hydrogen to diffuse back out of the wafer. Thus, short firing times are necessary to prevent this hydrogen from 'out-gassing' from the wafer. It is best that the hydrogen is captured and retained within the bulk material (especially in the case of multi-crystalline material).
The back surface typically is fully covered by an Aluminum-based paste, while the front or top surface is screen printed with a fine network of silver-based lines connected to larger buss conductors to "collect" the electrons generated within the depleted region of the underlying doped Si emitter or near the surface. At the same time, the highest possible open area is left uncovered for the conversion of light into electricity. After these pastes have been dried, they are "co-fired". The back surface Aluminum paste forms alloys while the front surface paste is sintered at high speed and at high temperature in conveyor-type metallization furnaces to form smooth, low ohmic resistance conductors on the front surface of the solar cell.
The instant invention is directed to improved diffusion firing furnaces and diffusion processes. Currently available IR conveyor furnaces for such diffusion firing processes have a long heating chamber in which a plurality of IR lamps are substantially evenly spaced apart (typically 1.5″ apart) both above and below the wafer transport system (wire mesh belt or ceramic roller conveyor). The heating zone is insulated from the outside environment with various forms of insulation, compressed insulating fiber board being the most common. The infra-red (IR) lamps increase the temperature of the incoming silicon wafers to approximately 700° C. to 950° C. This temperature is held for the 30-minute duration of the diffusion process, after which the wafers are cooled and transferred to the next downstream process operation and equipment.
Currently available diffusion furnaces typically employ one of two types of wafer transport systems: 1) a plurality of static (not-longitudinally moving), solid ceramic, rotating rollers; or 2) active (longitudinally moving) wire mesh belts, to convey the wafers through the furnace firing zone. Static, ceramic rotating-roller furnaces currently are preferred in order to minimize or prevent metallic contamination of the back surface of the wafers.
A typical conventional diffusion furnace is on the order of 400″ long, having 160, 36″-wide IR lamps placed above the rollers, with from 100-160 placed below. The total mass of the conveyor rollers is on the order of 800 lbs, and is classified as a high-mass conveyor system.
In such high-mass, static, solid, rotating roller conveyor furnaces, the IR lamps take substantial time to bring the furnace chamber up to diffusion temperature in the range of 700° C. to 950° C. The theory of operation apparently is that the heated roller mass helps keep the furnace at a more even temperature throughout, as a result of the thermal reserve provided by a large, hot mass having a substantial heat capacity. Such furnace systems are touted as being able to compensate, in the short term, for failure of one or several IR lamps, if spread throughout the furnace, since the hot rollers continue to provide heat via conduction and convection. The IR lamps below the rollers maintain the rollers hot, and the contact of the wafers with the rollers help transfer heat to the wafers by thermal contact conduction. Since the rollers at the entrance and exit are not heated by the same number of lamps as those in the center of the furnace, there is a thermal profile of the conveyor, rising at the entrance and descending at the exit.
As the demand for solar cells increases, the rates of production must increase, either by process improvements or adding furnaces into service. With respect to adding furnaces, conventional furnaces have a large footprint and the diffusion process is very slow. In large part, because of the mass of ceramic in the furnace that provides thermal energy, the IR lamps are run at from about 15-20% of maximum power. Running them at greater power levels would easily raise the temperature higher than needed for diffusion, and approach failure of metallic components (e.g., in the roller drive elements secured to the ends of the rollers). Accordingly, the "soak" period to accomplish diffusion is long—on the order of 20-30 minutes. Thus, since the furnaces are large, adding furnaces requires increased capital outlay, for buildings, the furnaces themselves, and related service facilities.
Thus, the need for faster production and greater throughput, while curbing facility capital outlay, is not being met by the current state of the art solid, rotating ceramic roller conveyor furnaces. In order to compensate, furnaces have been made laterally wider, so that multiple lines of wafers can be processed in each furnace zone. This in turn requires longer, more expensive lamps which typically experience a substantially shorter mean time to failure, thus significantly increasing operating costs.
Since there are dimensional and IR lamp cost constraints, increasing lamp density in the furnace is not generally a feasible solution. Likewise, increasing the power to the lamps is not currently feasible because higher output can result in overheating of the lamp elements, as a result of the thermal mass of the furnace, principally in the high mass solid ceramic roller conveyor system. Overheating particularly affects the external quartz tubes of the lamps. Most furnaces are thermocouple controlled. Since the IR lamps are placed side by side, on the order of 1.25″ apart, each lamp heats lamps adjacent to it. When the thermocouples detect temperatures approaching the selected diffusion temperature set point in the 700-950° C. range, they automatically cut back power to the lamps by an amount that depends on the thermal mass of the transport system (rollers or metal mesh belts). This lower power density is accompanied by substantial changes in the spectral output of the IR lamp emissions (hence a lower light flux and energy output). In turn, this reduced light flux results in the need to slow down the conveyor belt speed or lengthen the furnace (while maintaining the original belt speed), thus slowing processing. Overheating of lamps, e.g., due to thermocouple delay or failure, can cause the lamps to deform, sag and eventually fail. Lamp deformation also affects uniformity of IR output delivered to the wafers.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need in the diffusion furnace and diffusion firing process art to significantly improve net effective use of firing zone(s), to provide better control and thermal profiles throughout the entire furnace, to permit improved utilization of firing energy, to improve the speed and uniformity of the diffusion process, to reduce furnace size while retaining or improving throughput, and accomplishing these goals on a reduced furnace footprint, and lower energy, operating and maintenance costs.

Diffusion furnaces employing ultra low mass transport systems and methods of wafer rapid diffusion processing


A composition including diazoxide (7-chloro-3-methyl-2H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine-1,1-dioxide) for the treatment and/or prevention of retinal ischemia and of diseases associated with retinal ischemia. The composition can also contain riluzole, a derivative active in neuroprotection of the latter, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of the latter.

The phenomena leading to the cellular death of the retina and, as a consequence, the loss of visual function are phenomena that occur in processes as varied as ischemias and visible radiation. The chronic development of a state of ischemia in pathologies such as diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy engendered by radiation and damage consecutive to a venous occlusion results in a disturbance of the depolarization of the cellular membrane, which entails, over time, an irreversible destruction of the retina.
Thus, retinal ischemia is observed in the clinic in acute situations such as arterial or venous occlusions of the retina, ocular contusions and also in chronic pathologies such as senile macular degeneration (DMLA), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, premature infant retinopathy, and inflammatory diseases and hemopathies that lead to retinal damage even resulting in a number of cases in a total degeneration of the retina. Glaucoma and senile macular degeneration have become the principal causes of poor vision in Western countries, are related to an increase in life expectancy and therefore constitute a real problem for public health.
On account of the frequency and severity of these ocular afflictions there is a real need for an effective treatment for treating and/or preventing diseases associated with retinal ischemia.
In order to counteract damage following a retinal ischemic reperfusion, several pharmacological approaches have been used in experiments. The trappers of free radicals (Celeci et al., 2002; Szabo et al., 2001), the antagonists of glutamate receptors (Lagreze et al., 2001) and adrenergic receptors (Donello et al., 2001; Chao et al., 2001), but also neurotrophic factors (Fontaine et al., 2002; Seigel et al., 2000; Cuevas et al., 1998), calcium channel blockers (Osborne et al., 2002) and inhibitors of the synaptic release of glutamate (Ettaiche et al., 1000) have been proposed as therapeutic agents for the treatment of retinal ischemia. The use of a releaser of glutamate and, more particularly, reluzole in the treatment of retinal ischemia is disclosed in WO 99/42103.
Ischemia induced by an increase of ocular pressure is the model most frequently used for simultaneously studying the mechanisms and potential therapies of retinal ischemia. The degree of the lesion of the retina is a function of the animal species, the duration and the intensity of the ocular pressure imposed. Contrary to the experimental model of retinal ischemia by ligature of the optic nerve, this technique allows, on the one hand, the avoidance of an intraocular hemorrhage consecutive to the beginning of a reperfusion and, on the other hand, offers the advantage of retaining the extraocular structures intact, thus allowing the realizing of local applications of pharmacological substances.
The various pharmacological approaches, validated on experimental animal models, met with two difficulties, namely, on the one hand, the protective, but non-therapeutic aspect of these molecules (with the exception of riluzole) and, on the other hand, their clinical use, which necessitates an administration devoid of any secondary effect on the other organs. The various administration paths used are intravitreous injection and oral, systemic and local paths. The intravitreous injection used for the growth factors can aggravate the inflammatory reaction consecutive to an ischemia but also induce a cellular proliferation at the injection site. The oral path has the problem of the bioavailability of the active principle at the level of the action site, the systemic injection can induce secondary effects on other organs and, finally, the local application can also induce adverse effects on the other ocular tissues, in particular, the loss of corneal sensitivity and a mydriasis.

Method of treatment of retinal ischemia with diazoxide

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-CNRS


A method of developing a dialog manager for a spoken dialog service is disclosed. The method comprises selecting a top level flow controller based on application type, selecting available reusable subdialogs for each application part, developing a subdialog for each application part not having an available subdialog and testing and deploying the spoken dialog service using the selected top level flow controller, selected reusable subdialogs and developed subdialogs. The method enables a developer to create a dialog manager that has individual reusable dialog modules that operate independent of the dialog model of the other modules. Application dependencies and context shifts are defined independent of the subdialogs to enable them to be reusable. The spoken dialog server manages context shifts in the spoken dialog by transitioning between dialog modules and subdialog modules.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spoken dialog systems and more specifically to a method of providing a modular approach to creating the dialog manager for a particular application.
2. Introduction
The present invention relates to spoken dialog systems and to the dialog manager module within such a system. The dialog manager controls the interactive strategy and flow once the semantic meaning of the user query is extracted. There are a variety of techniques for handling dialog management. Several examples may be found in Huang, Acero and Hon, Spoken Language Processing. A Guide to Theory, Algorithm and System Development, Prentice Hall PTR (2001), pages 886-918. Recent advances in large vocabulary speech recognition and natural language understanding have made the dialog manager component complex and difficult to maintain. Often, existing specifications and industry standards such as Voice XML and SALT (Speech Application Language Tags) have difficulty with more complex speech applications.
Development of a dialog manager continues to require highly-skilled and trained developers. The process of designing, developing, testing and deploying a spoken dialog service having an acceptably accurate dialog manager is costly and time-consuming. As the technology continues to develop, consumers further expect spoken dialog systems to handle more complex dialogs. As can be appreciated, higher costs and technical skills are required to develop more complex spoken dialog systems.
Given the improved ability of large vocabulary speech recognition systems and natural language understanding capabilities, what is needed in the art is a system and method that provides an improved development process for the dialog manager in a complex dialog system. Such improved method should simplify the development process, decrease the cost to deploy a spoken dialog service, and utilize reusable components. In so doing, the improvement method should also enable the author of a dialog system to focus efforts on the key areas of content that define an individual application.

Method for developing a dialog manager using modular spoken-dialog components


A non-twist tape transfer system for interconnecting the trailing edge of tape from a first roll of tape to the leading edge of tape from a second roll of tape includes a first element which is attachable to the trailing edge of the tape on the first roll and a second element which is attachable to the leading edge of the tape on the second roll. A spindle which is attached to the holder the first roll is mounted on rotates with the roll and has a slot which releasably receives the first element in a manner such that the first element rotates with it. The second element attachable to the first element in a manner such that it does not rotate with the first element. When the tape starts to feed from the second roll the first element pulls out of the slot and proceeds with the tape.

In many applications, tape, ribbon and other flat elongate material is dispensed from a roll by pulling it off of the roll, thereby causing the roll to rotate about its central axis. It is desirable to attach the trailing end of tape from the roll of tape being fed to the leading edge of tape from another roll so that the dispensing process can continue indefinitely without having to stop the process each time a roll is emptied. However, because the first roll is rotating and the second roll is not rotating, the tape must be joined in a way which does not cause it to become twisted. A prior art system for accomplishing this is disclosed in Cyr, U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,629. In this system a hole is placed in the leading edge of the tape and a pivot is attached to the trailing edge of the tape either integrally or through an attachable tail piece of tape. The pivot is inserted into the hole to join the tape from two rolls together. The pivot allows the tape ends to rotate relative to one another thereby preventing their becoming twisted. While this system works, the joined ends of the tape tend to bounce around when the tape is being dispensed from the first roll so some twisting can occur.


An in-ground trampoline system configured to provide a ground level jumping surface which consists of a trampoline, a pit, and a segmented retaining wall configured to support the walls of the pit.

Trampolines provide popular recreational opportunities among children and young adults, as well as athletes engaged in competitive gymnastics. Although popular in use, above-ground trampolines are often characterized as unsafe because of a significant number of trampoline-related injuries. Specifically, the most common trampoline-related injuries include sprains, cuts, concussions, and various forms of bodily fractures, including life-threatening fractures to the skull and spine. Many such injuries occur when the trampoline user falls from the above-ground trampoline and sustains injury upon impact with the surface below the trampoline. The extent of the injuries is often exacerbated by the added height of the above-ground trampoline. When combined with the jump height, the added height of the trampoline increases the energy of impact, which, in turn, increases the severity of the injury.
In an effort to reduce the number and severity of trampoline fall-related injuries, medical associations have recommended that the trampoline jumping surface be positioned at ground level, thereby reducing the fall height. Notwithstanding such recommendations, there have been barriers to implementing trampoline systems having a ground-level jumping surface, including cost, non-standard design and construction requirements, difficulties in construction, and/or difficulties in disassembling and relocating the in-ground trampoline unit.
Although recreational users recognize the need for an in-ground trampoline system (i.e., placing the trampoline jumping mat or surface at ground level), there has heretofore not been a cost effective, convenient mechanism for individual homeowners or recreational users to install an in-ground trampoline system. The primary challenge of installing and maintaining an in-ground trampoline is the construction of a retaining wall around the perimeter of pit within which the trampoline is placed. Many of the retaining wall systems available to the homeowner or professional landscaper are expensive, massive, and require highly complex construction such as railroad tie wall systems, concrete pours, timber lattices, or the like. In addition, these conventional retaining walls are difficult to dissemble or remove when the homeowner relocates or desires to make landscaping alterations. Further, these massive retaining walls can represent an additional hazard to the trampoline user who falls from the trampoline and impacts the retraining wall.
Therefore, it is readily apparent that there is a need for an inexpensive, modular in-ground trampoline system and method of installation there of, wherein a user can enjoy the safety and accessibility of an outdoor ground-level trampoline jumping surface without undue expense and/or overly complex construction, and is provided with the further advantages and features described herein below.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar but not necessarily identical elements.


A first amplifier is configured to provide a first variable gain. A selecting module is configured to (i) connect a first antenna to the first amplifier when a selection signal is in a first state, and (ii) connect a second antenna to the first amplifier when the selection signal is in a second state. A second amplifier is in communication with an output of the first amplifier and is configured to provide a second variable gain. An automatic gain control (AGC) module is configured to control each of the first and second variable gains. An antenna selection module is configured to selectively change the selection signal in response to the first variable gain or the second variable gain after a preamble of a data packet and before a payload of the data packet.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Various standards have been developed for implementing wireless networks, such as I.E.E.E. 802.11, I.E.E.E. 802.15, and I.E.E.E. 802.16, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Other standards for implementing wireless networks have also been developed. Generally speaking, a first wireless networking device packetizes blocks of data that are to be transferred and wirelessly transmits the data. A second wireless networking device wirelessly receives the data.
A data packet includes a header and a payload. The header of the data packet precedes the payload and includes a preamble. The header includes control data that enables a receiving device to correctly process the data packet. The payload of the data packet includes a block of user data that is being communicated.

Intra-packet antenna diversity systems and methods


A method implants impurities into well regions of transistors. The method prepares a first mask over a substrate and performs a first shallow well implant through the first mask to implant first-type impurities to a first depth of the substrate. The first mask is removed and a second mask is prepared over the substrate. The method performs a second shallow well implant through the second mask to implant second-type impurities to the first depth of the substrate and then removes the second mask. A third mask is prepared over the substrate. The third mask has openings smaller than openings in the first mask and the second mask. A first deep well implant is performed through the third mask to implant the first-type impurities to a second depth of the substrate, the second depth of the substrate being greater than the first depth of the substrate. The third mask is removed and a fourth mask is prepared over the substrate, the fourth mask has openings smaller than the openings in the first mask and the second mask. Then, a second deep well implant is performed through the fourth mask to implant the second-type impurities to the second depth of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention generally relate to semiconductor transistors and more particularly relate to a dual mask method that forms a shallow well region and a deep well region within transistors, and the resulting structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors utilize transistors that have opposite characteristics depending upon the dopants used. These opposite type transistors are commonly referred to as positive-type (P-type) and negative-type (N-type) transistors.
One issue that exists with such transistors as they are scaled (reduced in size) relates to the spacing between the P-type and N-type transistors. More specifically, as the transistors becomes smaller and smaller, it becomes more difficult to separate the well regions of the different types of transistors. The embodiments described below address this situation using a new methodology that produces a new structure.

Isolation with offset deep well implants


A method is described of operating a working machine which includes a body, a ground engaging structure, and a working arm carrying a working implement, and an operator control for operating hydraulic actuators for effecting operating functions of the machine, the operator control mounting an additional control which is controllable to operate at least one selected actuator for effecting a selected operating function, the additional control providing inputs to a control device which responds proportionally to operate the selected actuator, the method including controlling the additional control to operate the selected actuator, and with the additional control being controlled to provide an input to the control device to achieve a desired operation of the actuator, activating a memory mode whereby the control device memorises the input and continues to operate the selected actuator in accordance with the memorised input.

This invention relates to a method of operating a working machine of the kind having a body, a ground engaging structure, and a working arm carrying a working implement.
It is known for operating functions such as the movement of a working arm of a working machine to be effected by hydraulic actuators which may be linearly acting actuators such as hydraulic rams, or rotationally acting actuators such as hydraulic motors, which are controlled by an operator using controls, usually from within a cab located in or on the body of the machine. It is also known for the operator controls to include proportional controls, so that a hydraulic actuator is operated to effect an operating function in correspondence with the direction and the magnitude of a control input to its operator control.
For example a working implement such as a boring tool may be carried by the working arm, and its operation i.e. speed of rotation of a boring bit, may be proportionally controlled by operating a rotational actuator of the tool in proportion to the direction and extent of movement of an operator control. When carrying out such a task, it can be advantageous for the rotational speed of the boring bit to be maintained at a certain level, but it can be difficult for an operator to control the boring tool rotational actuator for a sustained period to maintain the desired boring bit rotational speed, and/or the task may be interrupted, making it difficult for the operator to re-achieve the desired boring bit rotational speed.


A semiconductor device is provided with a protection circuit, between a terminal and an input/output circuit of the semiconductor device, that protects the input/output circuit and an internal circuit of the semiconductor device against application of a high voltage due to static electricity. Protection is achieved by short-circuiting the terminal via a resistor with a power source voltage line or a reference potential line when a voltage exceeding a predetermined value is applied to the terminal. The semiconductor device is further provided with an across-power-source protection circuit, close to the protection circuit, that short-circuits the power source voltage line with the reference potential line when a difference in potential between the power source voltage line and the reference potential line falls outside a predetermined range, so that partial potential variations in the power source voltage line or reference potential line, which arise from wiring resistances when either of these lines is short-circuited to the terminal by the protection circuit, are suppressed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, particularly to a semiconductor device that is provided with a protection circuit so as to be protected from destruction due to application of a high voltage such as static electricity.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a semiconductor device is brought into contact, for example, with a person or machine that is charged with static electricity having a voltage from tens of volts to tens of kilovolts resulting from friction or other, the electrostatic charge is discharged through the semiconductor device via its terminals and internal circuit in a time as short as several nanoseconds to several microseconds. This often causes the so-called electrostatic destruction, by which the internal elements of the semiconductor device are destroyed, or its functions and characteristics are degraded. Especially, in a CMOS, bi-MOS, or similar type of semiconductor device containing field-effect transistors as its circuit elements, the gate oxide films have relatively low breakdown voltages, and accordingly are easily destroyed by application of an extremely high voltage. For this reason, a semiconductor device is usually provided, at each of its input and output portions, with a protection circuit that protects the semiconductor device from destruction by directing the current arising from a high electrostatic voltage to a low-impedance line such as a power source voltage line (V.sub.DD) or reference potential line (GND).
FIG. 1 shows a conventional semiconductor device 10a. This semiconductor device 10a consists of an input/output portion 1a connected to a terminal T1, and an internal circuit 3 that performs signal processing or other. The input/output portion 1a consists of an input/output circuit 2 for buffering a signal between the terminal T1 and the internal circuit 3, and a protection circuit 4a for preventing an excessively high voltage applied to the terminal T1 from reaching the input/output circuit 2 or internal circuit 3. The protection circuit 4a consists of resistors 11 and 14 connected in series between the terminal T1 and the input/output circuit 2, and diodes 12 and 13 connected in the reverse-biased state from the node between the resistors 11 and 14 to the power source voltage line and to the reference potential line, respectively.
The protection circuit operates as follows. Assume that the power source voltage is V.sub.H (V), the reference potential is V.sub.L (V), and the forward voltage of each diode is V.sub.F (V). When a voltage, due to static electricity or other, exceeding (V.sub.H +V.sub.F) is applied to the terminal T1, the resulting current flows through the resistor 11 and the diode 12 along the path indicated by the broken line I1. Therefore, theoretically, the voltage is lowered from the applied voltage by the register 11, and only the remaining portion, i.e. (V.sub.H +V.sub.F), is applied to the input/output circuit 2 and the internal circuit 3, which are thus protected from destruction due to application of a high voltage. Similarly, when a negative voltage lower than (V.sub.L -V.sub.F) is applied to the terminal T1, the resulting current flows through the resistor 11 and the diode 13 along the path indicated by the broken line I2. Therefore, theoretically, the voltage is lowered from the applied voltage by the resistor 11, and only the remaining portion, i.e. (V.sub.L -V.sub.F), is applied to the input/output circuit 2 and the internal circuit 3, which are thus protected from destruction due to application of a high voltage.
However, such a current that flows in through the diodes may cause variations in the voltages of the power source voltage line and the reference potential line. This is because the power lines such as these lines possess various resistances, for example, the resistance of the wiring itself that is formed of aluminum or other metal and the resistance of the contacts between the wiring and the circuit elements.
Especially, when the input/output portion 1a is located away from the power source voltage line and the reference potential line of the semiconductor device, the wiring resistance of the power lines is accordingly greater. For this reason, even if the current is passed only through either the power source voltage line or reference potential line, it is impossible to sufficiently suppress the variations in the voltages of the power lines. As a result, it often happens that the voltage of the power source voltage line becomes higher than (V.sub.H +V.sub.F) or the voltage of the reference potential line becomes lower than (V.sub.L -V.sub.F).
Moreover, in a semiconductor device formed under common manufacturing conditions, the reverse-biased diodes used in the protection circuit and the input gates such as are used in the inverter circuit 2a generally do not have very high breakdown voltages. For this reason, these elements are easily destroyed by application of a high voltage, and, in addition, the diodes are susceptible to thermal breakdown due to a flow of a large current. As a result, when the voltage between the power lines becomes higher than the breakdown voltage of the input/output circuit 1a or internal circuit 3 as a consequence of the voltage variations as described above, it often happens that the circuit elements of the semiconductor device are destroyed, and thus the semiconductor device fails to provide intended functions.
Therefore, in order to protect the semiconductor device from destruction due to the variations in the voltages of the power lines as a consequence of a current resulting from static electricity or other applied to the terminal T1, it is necessary that the resistor 11 have as high a resistance as possible, e.g. over several hundreds of ohms, and that the wiring width for the resistor 11 be widened to allow more current to flow through the resistor 11, so that a sufficient voltage drop and a current-limiting effect are achieved there Moreover, to accomplish securer protection, it is also advisable that the resistor 14 have as high a resistance as possible. This resistor 14 forms an integrator circuit together with the parasitic capacitance of the input/output circuit 2. However, higher resistances in these resistors lead not only to larger time constants, which makes transmission of high-speed input signals difficult, but also to larger chip sizes and higher costs of the semiconductor device.
Furthermore, even static electricity applied from outside a portable electronic appliance may cause destruction of the input/output portion 1a or internal circuit 3 of the semiconductor device 10a mounted on a circuit board inside the appliance, leading to failure of the appliance as a whole, if the semiconductor device 10a is not given a sufficiently high breakdown voltage. In such a case, troubleshooting and remounting of the semiconductor device usually require much time and costs.
Moreover, in a conventional semiconductor device 10a, when the terminal T1 is connected to a bus line or the like connecting to another semiconductor device (not shown in the figure) to which the power source voltage is applied, even if the power source voltage is not applied to the semiconductor device 10a itself, a voltage lower than the input voltage by the forward voltage of the diode 12 is applied through the diode 12 to the power source voltage line of the device 10a. This results in unnecessary power dissipation in the semiconductor device 10a and makes its operation unstable, thereby affecting other semiconductor devices adversely via the bus line or the like.
This problem may be solved by removing the diode 12. However, simply removing the diode 12 results in the loss of the protection capability against electrostatic destruction. Thus, when an excessively high voltage due to static electricity or other is applied to the semiconductor device 10a, its circuits elements may be destroyed and cause faulty operation.

Semiconductor device having protection circuit


An aftertreatment system configured to reduce constituents of an exhaust gas produced by an engine comprises an aftertreatment component and an optical assembly. The optical assembly comprises an optical emitter configured to emit light onto a face of the aftertreatment component, and an optical detector configured to detect light reflected from the face of the aftertreatment component. A controller is configured to determine at least one of an amount of NOx gases or an amount of ammonia on the face of the aftertreatment component based on an optical parameter of the detected light that has reflected from the face of the aftertreatment component.

Exhaust aftertreatment systems are used to receive and treat exhaust gas generated by IC engines. Generally, exhaust gas aftertreatment systems include any of several different components to reduce the levels of harmful exhaust emissions present in the exhaust gas. For example, certain exhaust gas aftertreatment systems for diesel-powered IC engines include a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system including a catalyst formulated to convert NOx (NO and NO2 in some fraction) into harmless nitrogen gas (N2) and water vapor (H2O) in the presence of ammonia (NH3). Generally in such aftertreatment systems, an exhaust reductant (e.g., a diesel exhaust fluid such as a urea solution) is injected into the SCR system to provide a source of ammonia, and mixed with the exhaust gas to partially reduce the NOx gases. The reduction byproducts of the exhaust gas are then fluidly communicated to the catalyst included in the SCR system to decompose substantially all of the NOx gases into relatively harmless byproducts which are expelled out of the aftertreatment system.
Measuring an amount of NOx gases and/or ammonia in the exhaust gas is desirable for efficient insertion of reductant in aftertreatment systems. The amount of ammonia in the exhaust gas can indicate how efficiently the reductant is decomposing in the exhaust gas, an ammonia capacity, or catalytic conversion efficiency of a SCR catalyst or an ammonia oxidation (AMOx) catalyst, respectively if the ammonia concentration is measured downstream of the catalyst. Similarly, measuring concentration of ammonia or NOx adsorbed on a face of the SCR catalyst or AMOx catalyst can indicate an ammonia absorbing capacity or catalytic conversion efficiency, respectively, of the SCR catalyst, or indicate a catalytic conversion efficiency of the AMOx catalyst. These parameters can be used to control the amount of reductant inserted into the aftertreatment system for reducing reductant consumption, increasing catalytic conversion efficiency, reducing ammonia slip and/or included in system diagnostics to detect any abnormalities in operation of the aftertreatment system.