Peptides that bind to the interleukin-1 type I receptor (IL-1RtI) can be used to assay the amount of IL-1R, or an IL-1R agonist or antagonist, in a sample and comprise a sequence of amino acids selected from the group consisting of (1) WXXXGZ.sub.1 W where Z.sub.1 is L, I, A, or Q; (2) XXQZ.sub.5 YZ.sub.6 XX where Z.sub.5 is P or Aze where Aze is azetidine; and Z.sub.6 is S, A, V, or L; and (3) Z.sub.23 NZ.sub.24 SZ.sub.25 Z.sub.26 Z.sub.27 Z.sub.28 Z.sub.29 Z.sub.30 L where Z.sub.23 is D or Y; Z.sub.24 is D or S; Z.sub.25 is S or W; Z.sub.26 is S or Y; Z.sub.27 is D or V; Z.sub.28 is S or W; Z.sub.29 is F or L; and Z.sub.30 is D or L; and where each amino acid is indicated by standard one letter abbreviation; and each X can be selected from any one of the 20 genetically coded L-amino acids or the stereoisomeric D-amino acids. Also provided are peptides which bind to the IL-1RtI, which are 11 to 40 amino acids in length, which comprise the core sequence of amino acids: EQU Z.sub.31 XWZ.sub.32 Z.sub.33 Z.sub.34 Z.sub.35 Z.sub.36 QZ.sub.37 Z.sub.38. where each letter represents the standard one letter abbreviation for an amino acid or an analog thereof; X is selected from the group of natural or unnatural amino acids; Z.sub.37 is a natural or unnatural cyclic amino acid; Z.sub.31 is selected from phenylalanine and acetylated phenylalanine; Z.sub.32 is a natural or unnatural amino acid; Z.sub.33 is selected from proline and pipecolic acid; Z.sub.34 is selected from glycine, d-alanine, d-valine, sarcosine and aminoisobutyric acid; Z.sub.35 is a natural or unnatural amino acid and Z.sub.36 is selected from tyrosine, phosphotyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan; and Z.sub.38 is selected from tyrosinamide and substituted tyrosinamide.

The present invention provides peptides and compounds that bind the interleukin 1 receptor (IL-1R), methods for assaying interleukin 1 (IL-1), and methods for inhibiting the binding of IL-1 to the IL-1R. The invention has application in the fields of biochemistry and medicinal chemistry and particularly provides IL-1 antagonists for use in the treatment of human disease.
IL-1 is a polypeptide hormone, a cytokine, that exists in various forms, the genes for two of which, IL-1.alpha. and IL-1.beta., have been cloned. Unless otherwise noted, "IL-1" refers to either or both IL-1.alpha. and IL-1.beta.. These two genes are both located in chromosome 2; each gene contains 7 exons, and the two genes are homologous in a region of the sixth exon. Both IL-1.alpha. and IL-1.beta. initially exist as 31 kD precursors but are processed by proteases to produce the amino terminus of the 17.5 kD mature proteins. Receptors for IL-1 recognize the .alpha. and .beta. forms, and both forms have similar biological properties. See Dinarello (1991) Blood 77 (8):1627-1652, incorporated herein by reference.
The biological properties of IL-1 include mediating many immunological and inflammatory responses to infection and tissue injury. Because of the role of IL-1 in these important processes, the therapeutic benefits of IL-1 and derivatives of IL-1 have been extensively studied. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,075,288 and 5,077,219, incorporated herein by reference. Inappropriate production or response to IL-1 plays a role in many chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, encephalitis, glomerulonephritis, and respiratory distress syndrome. See Bender and Lee (1989) Ann. Rep. Med. Chem. 25:185-193; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,222, particularly columns 1 to 3, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Because of the important biological properties of IL-1, IL-1 inhibitors have been extensively studied, as reviewed in Larrick (1989) Immunol. Today 10 (2):61-66, incorporated herein by reference. IL-1 inhibitors include the naturally occurring IL-1ra protein and soluble IL-1 receptor, as well as derivatives of IL-1.alpha. and IL-1.beta. produced by recombinant DNA technology, as discussed in Dinarello, supra. See also PCT patent publication Nos. 91/08285, published Jun. 13, 1991, and 91/02127, published Nov. 14, 1991, incorporated herein by reference.
In similar fashion, scientists have studied the IL-1R, as reviewed in Dower and Urdal (1987) Immunol. Today 8 (2):46-51, incorporated herein by reference. Two distinct naturally occurring types of the IL-1R are known to exist, and the corresponding genes have been cloned and expressed, as reported in Dower et al., (1990) J. Clin. Immunol. 10 (6):289-299; PCT patent publication No. 91/00742; U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,607, and McMahon et al.,(1991) EMBO J. 10 (10):2821-2832, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. The type I receptor (IL-1RtI) is 80 kD in size, while the type II receptor (IL-1RtII) is 60 kD in size. A number of studies regarding whether IL-1RtI and IL-1RtII have different affinities for ligands have been conducted; see Slack et al. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268:2513-2524 and Hannum et al., (1990) Nature 343:336-340.
The availability of cloned genes for IL-1RtI and IL1RtII, including a soluble IL-1RtI derivative, facilitates the search for agonists and antagonists of these important receptors. The availability of the recombinant receptor protein allows the study of receptor-ligand interaction in a variety of random and semi-random peptide diversity generation systems. These systems include the "peptides on plasmids" system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,170, the "peptides on phage" system described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 718,577, filed Jun. 20, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,018, and in Cwirla et al., (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:6378-6382, and the "very large scale immobilized polymer synthesis" system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,854; PCT patent publication No. 90/15070, published Dec. 13, 1990; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 624,120, filed Dec. 6, 1990; Fodor et al., Feb. 15, 1991, Science 251:767-773; Dower and Fodor (1991) Ann. Rep. Med. Chem. 26 :271-180; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 805,727, filed Dec. 6, 1991now U.S. Pat. No. 5424,768; each of the foregoing patent applications and publications is incorporated herein by reference.
There remains a need, however, for compounds that bind to or otherwise interact with the IL-1R, both for studies of the important biological activities mediated by this receptor and for treatment of disease. The present invention provides such compounds.

Peptides and compounds that bind to the IL-1 receptor


A hollow fiber membrane made of two coextruded layers A and B, wherein layer B has a non-woven type structure having a mesh size of 0.1 to 10 μm and layer A has a porous structure. A method for producing a membrane according to the invention and the use thereof is also disclosed.

Capillary membranes of different compositions are known in particular because of their increasing use in dialysis or also in plasmapheresis. The use and the production of membranes, in particular of capillary membranes, in dialysis is described for example in the publication by Samtleben and Lysaght in: Hörl et al. Replacement of Renal Function by Dialysis 5th ed., Kluwer, 2004, pp. 709 to 724.
Thus WO 96/37282 describes a membrane, in particular for haemodialysis, which has a separating layer with a cut-off between 500 and 5000000 dalton, a supporting layer and a layer co-determining the hydraulic permeability, wherein the separation limit and hydraulic permeability are set mutually independently. However, it is very expensive to build up the membrane with different pore sizes within the individual layers.
EP 1547628 A1 describes plasma purification membranes and a plasma purification system, and in particular is geared towards specific physical properties, in particular the breaking resistance of the membrane due to the high stress load during plasma purification. This involves in particular protein and immunoglobulin permeability. In the membrane with a sponge-like structure, a gradient of the pore size is set, wherein a larger pore size is to be found on the outer surface than on the inner surface of the membrane.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,782 relates to synthetic polymeric microfiltration membrane materials with high surface porosity which can be obtained by co-casting a sulfone polymer with a hydrophilic polymer, such as polyvinylpyrrolidone. Disadvantages occur with this membrane in particular in relation to the separation of cellular components of the blood from the plasma phase, since the pressure on the blood cells caused by the use of small-pored membranes can lead to damage to the blood cells.
So-called hollow fibre spinnerets are used in most cases to produce such capillary membranes. An overview of this and other techniques for the production of hollow fibre membranes is disclosed in M. Mulder, Basic Principles of Membrane Technology second ed., Kluwer 1996, pp. 71-91.
When a hollow fibre membrane is produced by means of a hollow fibre spinneret, the hollow fibre membrane is produced in a so-called precipitation spinning process, wherein the polymers to be precipitated emerge from an annular slit of a spinneret arrangement, while the corresponding precipitant flows out of a central precipitant bore.
A hollow fibre spinneret of the named type is disclosed for example in DE 10211051 A1.

Hollow fiber capillary membrane and method for the production thereof


A retraction tool for removing the shank of a tool holder from a base block mounting includes an elongate threaded member having a hook threaded on one end thereof. The hook has a hook end for holding to the forward end of a tool holder. A hammer moveable along the length of the elongate member impacts against said stop for pulling said tool holder from said base block mounting.

In the course of resurfacing a concrete or asphalt pavement, the upper surface of the worn pavement is removed by a machine having a rotating drum and a plurality of rotatable tools mounted on the drum. Each tool is mounted by first welding to the drum a base block mounting having a bore suitable for receiving the shank of a removable quick-change tool holder. Fitted into the bore of the base block mounting is the shank of a replaceable quick-change tool holder having a retaining bore at the forward end for retaining the shank of a tool.
Where the tools are used to cut hard surfaces such as asphalt or concrete, the tools retained in the quick-change tool holder must rotate to wear evenly around their circumference and thereby maximize their useful life. A hard surface engaged by such tools nonetheless wears the tool rapidly. When the machine is used to cut hard surfaces it is common to replace the tools at least once a day. The hard surface that causes the tool to become rapidly worn also wears the tool holder that receives the rotatable shank of the tools. Although life expectancy of the tool holders may be several times longer than the life of the tools received therein, extended use of the machine will result in the tool holders becoming worn and requiring replacement.
A quick-change tool holder generally has a tapered forward end and extending axially rearwardly of the tapered forward end is a shank that is received in the complementarily shaped bore of the base block mounting on the machine. Preferably, the quick-change tool holder is the type disclosed in my previously issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,371,567 B1 and 6,585,326 B2, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Ideally, worn quick-change tool holders are removed from the base blocks of the machine using a punch and hammer to withdraw the shank from the bore of the base block mounting. The strong forces that are applied to the tools are also applied to the tool holders and the base block mountings as the machine cuts the hard surfaces, and those forces cause the various parts to become deformed such that the shank and quick-change tool holders cannot be easily extracted from the bore of the base block mounting. The problem becomes more complicated for tool holders mounted near the peripheral edges of the drum because several of such end mounted tool holders are oriented at an angle with respect to the drum that allows little or no access to the rearward end of the shank thereof. It is therefore difficult or nearly impossible to remove such quick-change tool holders from the retaining bore, and it is often necessary to use a torch to cut away portions of the worn tool holder in order to replace it.
In my co-pending patent application filed Dec. 4, 2006 and assigned Ser. No. 11/633,298 I disclosed a retraction device for retracting a quick-change tool holder from the bore of a base block mounting that includes an elongate shaft that extends through the bore of the quick-change tool holder with a nut, or other enlarged object positioned at the distal end of the shaft such that the nut and shank can be used to extract the tool holder from a base block mounting. Where the quick-change tool holder includes a moveable plunger, however, the use of the device of Ser. No. 11/633,298 requires that the plunger be first removed. There is therefore a need for a retraction device for retracting a quick-change tool holder from the bore of a base block mounting without requiring access to the rear end of the shank of the quick-change tool holder. There is also a need for a retraction device that does not require the removal of the plunger from the quick-change tool holder before the tool holder can be removed from the base block mounting.

Device for extracting a quick-change tool holder


Embodiments of the present invention provide plant-derived extracts as a replacement for traditional cryoprotectants used to freeze tissue and cells providing a method to decrease post-thaw damage as created by the cryoprotectant. For example, extracts from the genus Hippophae or other plant sources or compositions may be used as a cryoprotectant or may even be used to replace at least some of a traditional cryoprotectant.

It is well understood that while cryopreservation is generally a good method for preserving cells such as gametes, germ cells, unique cell lines, stem cells, bacterial, fungal, algal cells and the like, unfortunately cryopreservation can negatively affect the integrity of the cells perhaps by causing changes to the lipid bilayer, the proteins within the lipid bilayer, or even oxidative damage to the DNA and organelles. Similarly, aggregated cellular damage can be identified as damage to tissues or organs in vitro. Such changes can be fatal to the cell. For example, in cryopreserving equine and bovine sperm cells, at least 50% of the cells are dead when the cells are thawed. Similarly, in cells such as umbilical cord blood, depending on the technique used, only 40% or less of the cells may be viable.
Cryopreserved cells may be stored at about −20° C., about −80° C. or about −196° C. (liquid nitrogen storage). The transition from about 37° C. to the extreme temperatures cause damage to the membranes including reorganization of membrane lipids, cellular swelling, and the like. For example, phosphatidyl serine, normally only found on the inner leaflet of the membrane bilayer, may be externalized to the outer leaflet of the membrane. In some membranes, such as boar sperm, the plasma membrane, a non-homogeneous entity, with respect to both structure and function, may be particularly sensitive. Interestingly, it is not only mammalian cells that are subject to cryoprotectant challenges. Fish sperm may also be friable with respect to cryopreservation and cryoprotectant use.
Past methods to protect cells from damage of cryopreservation include the use of cryoprotectants such as glycerol, DMSO, methanol, the use of certain proteins, and highly concentrated sugars, or long-chain moieties. However, past cryopreservation solutions, especially when a cryoprotectant may be added, may be far outside of a physiological osmolality and the cryopreserved cell can be damaged by the ensuing osmotic stress (e.g., water efflux) and may require rehydration upon thawing. In addition, cells may experience biochemical toxicity. The effects of toxicity may include cytoskeletal reorganization, suppression of normal metabolism and membrane composition shifts. Upon thawing, if the cell has survived the effects of the toxicity, often the components of the cell can be modified such that the cell is no longer functional. In addition, cryoprotectants may act by increasing the solute concentration inside the cell to help the cell withstand freezing or may work to decrease the effects of ice crystals inside the cell by reducing intracellular water. However, many of the accepted cryoprotectants are toxic on an organismal or even cellular level. It is imperative that biologically relevant cryoprotectants must not be toxic to the cells or tissue. In fact, in most instances the use of a cryoprotectant is a balance between beneficial and inherently detrimental effects.
Generally known are methods to combat some of the biochemical toxicity including adding cryoprotectants such as glycerol in a step-wise manner, gradually increasing the concentration and/or adding cryoprotectants at reduced (e.g., refrigerated) temperatures. An example of the attempt to balance the pros and cons of cryoprotectants may include glycerol. Glycerol may be the most commonly used cryoprotectant in reproductive cells, and indeed was an enabling additive when freezing bull sperm was first developed. However, in many species such as stallion and roosters, glycerol toxicity could impact post-thaw sperm health. In addition, glycerol is a contraceptive for some species; therefore, there is a need for alternatives to glycerol and/or a method to decrease the amount of glycerol required.
In another example, cryopreservation of stem cells requires either the use of cryoprotectants that are compatible with recipient tissues (e.g., biologically inert or even non-irritating), or requires the cells to be washed prior to use. The latter, further exacerbates the damages created during cryopreservation but is the current standard. Therefore, the development of a cryoprotectant that does not require removal, and provides non-irritating functionality, is desirable.
A variety of cryoprotective agents are known to those skilled in the art. Examples of past cryoprotective agents include but are not limited to: acetamide, agaroses, alginates, alanine albumin, ammonium acetate, betaine, butanediol, chondroitin sulfate, chloroform, choline, cyclohexanediol, dextran, diethylene glycol, dimethyl acetamide, dimethyl formamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, erythritol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, monomethyl ether, ficoll, formamide, galactose, glucose, glutamine, glycerol, glycerophosphate, glycerylmonoacetate, glycine, hydroxyethyl starch, inositol, lactose, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, maltose, mannitol, mannose, methanol, methoxypropanediol, methyl acetamide, methyl formamide, methyl urea, methyl glucose, methyl glycerol, milk proteins, peptones, phenol, pluronicpolyos, polyethylene glycol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, proline, propanediol, propylene glycol, pyridine N-oxide, faffinose, ribose, serine, serum proteins, sodium bromide, sodium chloride, sodium iodide, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, sodium sulfate, sorbitol, sucrose, trehalose, triethylene glycol, trimethylamine acetate, urea, valine and xylose. In general, these molecules can be broadly classified as alcohols, amines, sugars, starch, sugar alcohols, diol alcohols, polysaccharide, salts, solvents, polymers, or amino acids. These same agents may be effective in vitrification as well as in slow cool cryopreservation.
Inherent in cryopreservation is the desire for the cryopreserved materials to be viable after the material is thawed. Unfortunately, damage caused by the osmotic pressure changes induced by cryopreservatives is a major event in slow freezing cell injuries. Such injuries may be irreversible. Therefore, there is a desire to find alternative cryopreservative agents that may limit damage to the cells, yet still function to reduce intracellular ice.
Past examples include Roy et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 79,560,098) which may require the addition of a chelating agent in addition to polyethylene glycol (a polyether compound) of two different molecular weights to freeze cells. In protecting organs, Bathurst et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,532) may teach the use of lysophosphotidic acids and a 'potentiating' component such as polyethylene glycol which may increase the effectiveness of lysophosphotidic acid. Polyethylene glycol may not be a naturally occurring biological product as it is derivative from petroleum. Liu et al (Cryobiology (2016) 72:162-167) may teach the use of a singular cryoprotectant which is a sugar for use during vitrification. Monosaccharides and disaccharides may be common cryoprotectants for use in sperm vitrification that may improve post thaw sperm health. There are various mechanisms of action for cryopreservation including penetrating or non-penetrating cryopreservatives and even ice nucleation (Sieme, Oldenhof, and Wolkers 2016). In a recent review of cryoprotectants, Elliott et al. (Elliott, Wang, and Fuller 2017) may speak to the issues associated with cryopreservative toxicity and the composition of cryopreservatives for cryopreservation and vitrification that include glycerol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, Me2SO4, trehelose, sucrose. Matsumura (U.S. Pat. No. 9,603,355) may teach the combination of monothioglycerol, a cryoprotectant, along with a membrane protectant and sperm cells. In this case the membrane protectant may be a proteinaceous compound.
Past attempts at alternatives to traditional cryoprotectants has been less satisfactory. Moreover, the addition of lipids to cell culture media may be known to be toxic to cultured cells because of problems with toxicity of free lipids in solution (D. Barnes and G. Sato (1980) Analytical Biochemistry 102, p 255). The use of general oils and specific lipids and sugars have been met with mixed results.
US Patent Publication No. US2011/0086336 to Herickhoff et al., and U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,202,558 and 7,622,143 both to Herickhoff et al., each hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, discusses use of extracts from the genus Hippophae or other plant sources or compositions. The Herickhoff references relate to use of the genus Hippophae plant extracts, and others, as an antioxidant which can be used in combination with standard freezing and cooling processes for cells. For example, such plant extracts and others may be used in combination with traditional cryoprotective agents. The Herickhoff references may not relate the substitution of these typical cryoprotectants with some or even all of such plant extracts and others.
Unlike existing possible solutions, surprisingly, use of some types of plant extracts or chemical or molecular biological techniques having certain types of characteristics as a partial substitution or even a full substitution of traditional cryoprotective agents has been found to work with the freezing of tissues and cells. Embodiments of the present invention provide a method of combining functionalities of additives thereby minimizing the number of compounds that may be required for cryopreservation. For example, the addition of an antioxidant, plant lipids and plant derived sugars as a method to function, in part, as a cryoprotectant, may enable minimizing the use of detrimental or potentially toxic cryoprotectants such as glycerol or other traditional cryoprotectants. Moreover, embodiments of the present invention may enable the decrease in cryopreservative toxicity as well as the requirement to remove said cryopreservative from the cellular or tissue suspension.

Systems and methods for natural cryoprotectants for preservation of cells


A translator for translating RF signals from one wireless frequency band to another wireless frequency band in a wireless communications system including a base station, a remote antenna, and remote customer premises equipment. The base station is an existing legacy base station, such as a PCS base station, modified to include a translator for translating RF signals in a first wireless frequency band to RF signals in a second wireless frequency band. The base station transmits RF signals in the second band to a remote antenna, which includes a translator for translating the RF signals in the second band back to RF signals in the first band. The remote antenna may be located in a building or neighborhood with a coverage area as small as a picocell. A CPE (such as a mobile phone) communicates with the antenna in a first wireless frequency band, and the antenna communicates with the base station in a second wireless frequency band.

Providers of existing wireless communication systems and wireless services have significant investments in so called "legacy" equipment in order to support one or more wireless infrastructures, such as the broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS). Legacy equipment generally includes base station equipment, customer premises equipment (CPE), such as cellular phones, paging devices, and the like, and other terminal hardware. Due to the widespread use of legacy equipment, the cost of hardware to build such legacy equipment has become relatively inexpensive.
Unfortunately, although legacy equipment may be relatively inexpensive, band licenses for the necessary frequency bands to be used by that equipment are still very expensive. Providers of wireless services are currently scrambling to find additional frequency bandwidth to increase their network capacity, and therefore accommodate more customers or subscribers. The purchase of new licenses for additional frequency bands is, for some providers, a risky proposition. This is due, in part, to substantial capital that must be invested in the new hardware infrastructure to take advantage of the additional band licenses. However, some service providers already own licenses to use such additional bands, yet some of those additional bands are underutilized. For example, the MMDS band has been traditionally used to provide one-way analog wireless "cable" TV broadcast services. However, such use of the MMDS band has had only marginal success.
The base station and CPE equipment for wireless cable services are expensive to manufacture, and there are relatively few subscribers for such services. However, the MMDS band is an attractive band because it has a wider bandwidth than the PCS band, and could therefore support a higher network capacity than the PCS band. For example, a provider might own a license to use 15 MHz of the PCS band, and 200 MHz of the MMDS band in a particular geographic area.
To that end, while using the MMDS band or some other available band may be desirable to increase network capacity, generally, a new hardware infrastructure with associated CPE would be required to support the band.
Therefore, it would be desirable to increase network capacity while still using the existing legacy hardware, such as for an existing PCS infrastructure. Use of existing hardware would reduce the cost of any capacity increase. Thus, there exists a need for a wireless communication system that increases the effective capacity available to a provider of wireless services without a corresponding substantial increase in cost to the provider.
It is also desirable to implement additional bandwidth for increased capacity without a significant change in the existing hardware infrastructure.

Method and apparatus for band-to-band translation in a wireless communication system


In one aspect, a method of stimulating flow of a fluid present in a subsurface reservoir to a wellbore is provided, which method, in one non-limiting embodiment, may include providing a working fluid that includes a heated base fluid and heated nanoparticles, wherein the nanoparticle have a core and a shell; supplying the working fluid into a selected section of the subsurface reservoir; allowing the heated nanoparticles to transfer heat to the fluid in the subsurface reservoir to stimulate flow of the fluid from the reservoir to the wellbore.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to apparatus and methods for stimulating operations for the production of hydrocarbons using injection of fluids that include a selected amount of nano heat transfer elements therein.
2. Background of the Art
Wellbores are drilled in subsurface formations for the production of hydrocarbons (oil and gas). Modern wells can extend to great well depths, often more than 15,000 feet. Some hydrocarbon producing zones in the earth subsurface include heavy oil (high viscosity oil) and bitumen trapped in formation with relatively low mobility. An oil bearing zone also is referred to herein as a "reservoir". Secondary operations are often performed to facilitate the flow of oil through such reservoirs. Secondary operations may include hot water injection, cyclic steam stimulation (CSS), continuous steam injection or steamflooding, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), steam and gas push (SAGP), expanded solvent SAGD (ES-SAGD) and the like. In the cyclic steam stimulation process, a limited amount of steam is injected into the reservoir through the well. The injection period generally lasting one to three weeks is followed by a soaking period of few days during which time the well is shut in to allow heat transfer from the condensing steam to the reservoir fluids and the rock. Finally, the formation fluid is allowed to flow back to the well naturally, which fluid is then pumped to produce hydrocarbons. Production period usually lasts from half a year to one year per cycle. In the CSS process, several (two to three) cycles are performed in the same well, each cycle including injecting fluid and producing formation fluid. In the continuous steam injection process, steam is continuously injected into one or several wells and the formation fluid (oil) is driven to separate production wells. The injection and production wells may be vertical, deviated or horizontal wells. In the SAGD gravity drainage, steam is injected in a horizontal well located a few meters above a horizontal production typically placed or formed near the bottom of the reservoir. Steam has a tendency to rise forming a heated steam chamber while the condensate and warmed oil fall toward the production well. The unique feature of SAGD is the use of gravity as the primary force for moving oil through the formation. The efficiency of SAGD may be enhanced by adding a small amount of non-condensable gases, such as natural gas or nitrogen to steam during the middle or the late stage of the SAGD process (steam and gas push method) or by injecting a solvent in the vapor phase together with steam (ES-SAGD). Thus, in these secondary operations, generally referred to as hot fluid injection processes, heated steam is pumped into the reservoir proximate to a production well drilled into the reservoir, which well may be a vertical, deviated or horizontal well. The hot fluid heats the oil in the reservoir, reduces its viscosity, and enables it to flow from the formation into the well, from which the oil is produced to the surface. In hot fluid injection operations, heat is transferred from the injected fluid to the rock and naturally occurring fluids, including hydrocarbons, in the reservoir. The hot fluid injection applications require great amounts of hot fluids. The effectiveness of such injected fluids (steam, hot water or hot solvent) for stimulation operations depends on the heat capacity of the injected fluid. It is therefore desirable to increase the heat capacity of the fluids utilized for such stimulation applications.
The disclosure herein provides apparatus and methods that increase the heat capacity of the injection fluids by adding heated heat transfer elements or particles in a base fluid and wherein the heat transfer elements transfer heat to the fluid in the formation in addition to the heat transferred by the fluid itself. In one aspect, the heat transfer elements may include nano elements, micro elements or a combination thereof, which elements include a solid shell and an inner core that may melt or undergo another phase transition above a certain temperature.

Apparatus and methods for stimulating reservoirs using fluids containing nano/micro heat transfer elements


A device is provided that in one embodiment includes a substrate having a first region and a second region, in which a semiconductor device is present on a dielectric layer in the first region of the substrate and a resistive structure is present on the dielectric layer in the second region of the substrate. The semiconductor device may include a semiconductor body and a gate structure, in which the gate structure includes a gate dielectric material present on the semiconducting body and a metal gate material present on the gate dielectric material. The resistive structure may include semiconductor material having a lower surface is in direct contact with the dielectric layer in the second region of the substrate. The resistive structure may be a semiconductor containing fuse or a polysilicon resistor. A method of forming the aforementioned device is also provided.

Current semiconductors and other similar devices are often manufactured with a large number of fuse elements which are used to invoke the replacement of failing cells or components, and provide direct alternative current (DAC) trimming, etc. During testing of the device, selected fuses are usually blown by either a laser beam or an electrical current, depending on the design of the fuse/device. In an electrical fuse design, electronically programmable fuses are blown by passing a current through the fuse link. The electrical current then causes a permanent change to the resistance of the fuse. The fuses that are blown are selected by one or more programming methods, which are generally known to those skilled in the art.
Electrically programmable fuses, also called eFuses, have become popular recently, because of the circuit and systems design flexibility that it provides. The eFuse can be programmed even when the chip is mounted in the package and installed in the system. For example, customers can tailor a design to the specific needs of the application after the product is installed in the field. The eFuse also enables the freedom to alter the design, or fix problems that may occur during the life of the product.

Device including high-K metal gate finfet and resistive structure and method of forming thereof

International Business Machines Corporation


A modular personal audio set and related system of use is disclosed. The modular personal audio set has a connector for detachably securing different mating-fittings for engaging jacks of different audio products is disclosed. Preferably, the personal audio set is a headset and the connector is positioned along a wire that extends from the mating fitting to the audio driver of the personal audio set. More preferably, the connector also has a microphone and microphone activation button thereon.

Personal audio-sets, commonly known as headphones, earphones, headsets, and the like, are gaining in popularity. The typical personal audio-set includes a frame containing an audio driver that is usually positioned over or in a wearer's ear. In cases where the audio-set is a headset, a microphone is also typically positioned near the wearer's mouth.
Personal audio-sets are often sold as after-market items for use with audio products that consumers have purchased separately. These audio products usually include a jack or connector that allow for connection of such personal audio-sets. Usually, different manufacturers of a type of audio product have different shaped and/or configured jacks. Accordingly, a purchaser of a personal audio-set usually must purchase an audio-set having the correctly sized and shaped mating fitting to engage the particular jack of their particular audio product.
For example, headsets for use with cellular phones and the like are gaining in popularity. In addition to selecting a headset with the desired style and functions, a purchaser must also limit his or her selection to only those makes and models that have a mating fitting that operably engages the jack of their cellular phone. Since there are a large number of cellular phone models and manufacturers, many of which have different sized and shaped jacks, many stores limit their inventories to only one or two headsets with a particularly shaped and configured mating fitting. Accordingly, a customer's range of available headset choices is often unduly limited.
Moreover, should a customer ever replace their cellular phone with a newer model, and their new cellular phone have a different shaped and/or configured jack than their older phone, a customer must purchase an entirely new headset since their older headset will no longer connect to the new cellular phone. Similarly, a headset customer may not be able to use their headset with other headset-compatible audio products, such as their wired or wireless home telephones, because the headset's mating fitting is incompatible with the other headset-compatible audio products.


A child carrier having a waist belt, an upper torso support, a hammock coupled to the waist belt and to the upper torso support, and a thigh support strap extending to each side of the hammock. Each thigh support strap has an inward end portion proximate to the hammock and an outward end portion configured for selective coupling to the upper torso support in multiple positions. When the thigh support straps are coupled to the upper torso support, the hammock and the thigh support straps form a seat to support a child in an ergonomic spread-squat position in inward and outward facing orientations. The shape of the seat adjusts depending on the positions in which the outward end portions of the thigh support straps are coupled to the upper torso support.

Wearable child carriers afford the wearer freedom of hand and arm movement while transporting a child secured in the carrier. Many carriers do not ergonomically support the child, allowing the child's legs to dangle. Furthermore, many carriers provide limited flexibility, only allowing the child to be properly oriented in a single orientation either facing the wearer or looking away from the wearer.


An oil catching system for an internal-combustion engine, particularly for an opposed cylinder engine, has an oil catching housing arranged below a crankcase. An oil suction space is provided in the oil catching housing from which the lubricating oil is transported by way of a main oil pump equipped with an oil suction pipe to consuming devices. At least one oil collecting space adjoins the oil suction space, in which oil collecting space the lubricating oil coming from the consuming devices is returned by way of an oil pipe. The oil suction space is separated from the oil collecting space by at least one oil separating wall, in which at least one passage opening is arranged which can be controlled by way of a flap, by way of which passage opening the lubricating oil can flow from the oil collecting space into the oil suction space.

This application claims the priority of German Application No. 103 10 179.9-13 filed Mar. 8, 2003, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to an oil catching system for an internal-combustion engine, particularly for an opposed-cylinder engine. Certain preferred embodiments of the invention relate to an oil catching system for an internal-combustion engine, particularly for an opposed-cylinder engine, having an oil catching housing arranged below a crankcase, in which oil catching housing an oil suction space is provided from which lubricating oil is transported to consuming devices by way of a main oil pump equipped with an oil suction pipe, and wherein at least one oil collecting space adjoins the oil suction space, in which oil collecting space the lubricating oil coming from the consuming devices is returned by way of an oil pipe, the oil suction space being separated from the oil collecting space by at least one oil separating wall in which at least one passage opening is arranged which can be controlled by way of a flap, by way of which passage opening the lubricating oil can flow from the oil collecting space into the oil suction space.
In the case of the current water-cooled 6-cylinder horizontally opposed engines of the 911 Carrera Series (Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Corporation), an oil separating case, which is fastened at the oil pan cover is provided in the oil bearing housing or in the oil pan, in which oil separating case the oil sump for the lubricating oil supply of the engine is constructed. The lubricating oil returned from the consuming devices into the oil pan is first guided back outside the oil separating case forming the oil suction space, before it flows by way of openings monitored by flaps in the oil separating case into the actual oil suction space.
It is an object of the invention to further improve the so-called integrated dry sump with respect to its functionality in order to reach a high degree of integration which simultaneously includes a reduction of the extent of the preassembly.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, this object is achieved by providing an oil catching system for an internal-combustion engine, particularly for an opposed-cylinder engine, having an oil catching housing arranged below a crankcase, in which oil catching housing an oil suction space is provided from which lubricating oil is transported to consuming devices by way of a main oil pump equipped with an oil suction pipe, wherein at least one oil collecting space adjoins the oil suction space, in which oil collecting space the lubricating oil coming from the consuming devices is returned by way of an oil pipe, the oil suction space being separated from the oil collecting space by at least one oil separating wall in which at least one passage opening is arranged which can be controlled by way of a flap, by way of which passage opening the lubricating oil can flow from the oil collecting space into the oil suction space, and wherein a wall section is provided which bounds the oil collecting space and is spaced away from the oil separating wall, which wall section, relative to the passage opening in the oil separating wall, extends in a diagonally inclined manner and is used as a flow-off surface for the lubricating oil returned into the oil collecting space.
According to preferred embodiments of the invention, a bevel is provided which is shaped out of a wall section in the oil collection space and which is used as the flow-off surface for the lubricating oil returned into the oil collecting space. This obliquely extending side wall of the oil collecting space advantageously assists the oil return from the cylinder heads to the suction point. The lubricating oil, which is, for example, returned from the cylinder heads, flows onto the obliquely extending flow-off surface and from there by way of the openings provided in the oil separating wall into the oil suction space. Because of the construction of obliquely extending flow-off surfaces, the volume of the oil collecting space can be reduced while the functionality of the pressure lubrication is maintained. Simultaneously, as a result of the approach flow of the returning oil, which is directed in a defined manner, the flow-off surfaces are used for defoaming the lubricating oil. They therefore take over the function of the otherwise normally used oil/air separators, the so-called swirl pots.
Additional advantages and advantageous further developments of the invention are described herein and in the claims.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the wall section, which in the oil collecting space is equipped with the lubricating oil flow-off surface, is advantageously shaped in one piece out of an oil cover closing off the oil catching housing in the downward direction. In certain preferred embodiments the cover is made using plastic and in this case, the plastic part provided for the flow-off surface can be shaped out such that previous dead spaces existing in the oil sump can be considerably reduced. Thus, the internal-combustion engine can be operated by means of a lower lubricating-oil circulating quantity, whereby weight and cost advantages can be achieved.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the obliquely extending flow-off surfaces, which are simultaneously provided for the defoaming of the lubricating oil, may additionally be provided with ribs, naps or similar shaped bodies so that the lubricating oil is correspondingly deaerated on the way into the oil suction space.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the two oil separating walls bounding the oil suction space as well as oil return flow pipes arranged in the oil collecting space are combined in one piece as a sort of preassembly module. The integration of the components belonging to the dry sump is further increased if the oil suction snorkel arranged in the oil collecting space is combined with the two oil return flow pipes in one piece as a joint module.
Two embodiments of the invention will be explained in detail in the following description and drawing.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Oil catching system for an internal-combustion engine, particularly for an opposed-cylinder engine

Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft


Techniques are provided that utilize information on the characteristics of the transmitted signal to improve the accuracy of the I/Q imbalance estimation and correction. These techniques can be used to achieve improved image rejection performance over existing solutions, through the use of signal conditioning, windowing and the use of statistical information on the received signal. A number of techniques aimed at improving the accuracy of the I/Q imbalance estimation/correction are presented, including different modes of I/Q imbalance estimation and I/Q imbalance correction in the presence of a complex IF filter in the transceiver. The processing is performed mostly in the DBB in order to be area/power efficient.

In a wireless receiver, the analog to digital converters (ADC) typically operate at low sampling rates. Hence, the received Radio Frequency (RF) signal must be mixed down to be processed. In a GSM receiver, the quadrature signals are down-converted to an Intermediate Frequency (IF) which can typically be either a zero intermediate frequency (ZIF) or very low intermediate frequency (VLIF).
In theory, the quadrature mixing provides infinite attenuation for the image band. However, in practice, there is always some imbalance between the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) branches, which can be due to amplitude and phase impairments between the local oscillator (LO) paths, mismatches between the respective I and Q branches after the analog down-conversion, as well as temperature variations and component ageing. This I/Q imbalance introduces unwanted spectral images which results in a mixture of the desired signals and interfering images.
When using a VLIF, signals on adjacent carriers can produce very strong interfering images of up to 50-100 dB stronger than the required signal (Valkama, M.; Renfors, M.; "Advanced DSP for I/Q imbalance compensation in a low-IF receiver," IEEE International Conference on Communications, 2000. ICC 2000). However, using a non-zero IF can be beneficial in reducing the influence of flicker noise or 1/f noise. In order to avoid the problems caused by strong interfering images, the receiver requires either a very tight balance between the I and Q branches or some form of I/Q imbalance estimation and correction. Furthermore, it is usually beneficial to implement any I/Q imbalance estimation and correction scheme in the Digital Base-Band (DBB) of the wireless receiver as this will lead to a more power and area efficient solution than one implemented in the analogue domain.
Some of the existing I/Q imbalance estimation and correction solutions for low IF receivers use an adaptive approach as in the papers submitted by Valkama, M.; Renfors, M.; "Advanced DSP for I/Q imbalance compensation in a low-IF receiver," IEEE International Conference on Communications, 2000. ICC 2000, and Elahi, I.; Muhammad, K.; Balsara, P. T.; "I/Q mismatch compensation using adaptive de-correlation in a low-IF receiver in 90-nm CMOS process," IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, February 2006. A low complexity solution is also presented by Mailand, M.; Richter, R.; and Jentschel; H.-J.: "I/Q-imbalance and its compensation for non-ideal analog receivers comprising frequency-selective components", Adv. Radio Sci., 2006.
These existing solutions however do not utilize information on the characteristics of the signal being processed to improve the accuracy of the I/Q imbalance estimation and correction. Moreover, according to the preferred embodiments presented in this document, the I/Q imbalance estimation and I/Q imbalance correction are performed independently and such an approach provides further performance gains as well as enable the implementation complexity to be reduced.

Wireless communication receiver with I/Q imbalance estimation and correction techniques


An imaging parameter recording apparatus and an imaging apparatus are disclosed. The setting states of various parts of an imaging system 1 at the time of imaging are detected by a system controller 9 and routed as imaging parameters to a recording/reproducing system 2. These imaging parameters are recorded along with the imaging data on a video tape 17. This enables not only the picture corresponding to the imaging data but also the imaging parameters at the imaging time to be reproduced at the reproducing time, so that not only the past setting state-can be recognized, but also the past setting state can be newly set so that the picture of the same picture pattern can be imaged.

Nowadays, a video camera apparatus is known, in which the imaging light is received by a so-called CCD image sensor for forming imaging signals which imaging signals are recorded on a video tape.
With such video camera apparatus, the focusing, zooming or the iris is manually set by a user prior to starting the imaging. When the imaging is started, the imaging light is introduced via the imaging lens so as to be received by the CCD image sensor. Thus the electrical charges corresponding to the received imaging light are accumulated in the CCD image sensor.
The system controller reads out the charges accumulated in the CCD image sensor under so-called electronic shutter control at a time interval specified by a manual operation or in response to the received light volume. The electrical charges read out from the CCD image sensor are outputted as imaging signals so as to be fed to a preamplifier.
The preamplifier amplifies the imaging signals at a pre-set gain and transmits the amplified signals to a video amplification circuit (video amplifier).
The video amplifier has its gain, flare correction degree and shading correction degree controlled by control signals from the system controller. Thus the video amplifier performs flare correction and shading correction on the imaging signals and amplifies the corrected signals with a gain variably controlled by the system controller in order to output the amplified signals. The amplified imaging signals from the video amplifier are supplied to an imaging signal processing circuit.
The imaging signal processing circuit clamps the pedestal level (black level) of the imaging signals and processes the imaging signals with gamma correction and contour enhancement, while affording knee characteristics to the processed imaging signals, under control by the system controller, and transmits the resulting imaging signals to an encoder. The encoder digitizes the imaging signals to produce imaging data and encodes the imaging data in a pre-set manner suited to recording in order to output the resulting encoded data. The time code indicating the imaging time and date is superimposed on the imaging data and the resulting data is supplied to a rotary head.
The rotary head digitally azimuth-records the imaging data and the time code on a video tape.
This allows the imaging data and the time code to be reproduced during reproduction so that the imaging data and time by the time code may be displayed on a screen along with the picture corresponding to the imaging data.
In a broadcasting station, it becomes frequently desirable to select a desired picture to be used in a program from among plural images recorded on plural video tapes and to edit the images in their entirety on a single video tape.
However, since the desired selected images were directly joined to one another with the conventional editing, such that the pictures of the same picture pattern produce difference in the display mode at a junction between the images to give the alien feeling to the viewer.
That is, since the plural video tapes are made up of images taken at different places and at different timing, such that, when the pictures, such as the pictures of the sky, imaged under geographically or temporally different conditions and joined to each other by editing, produce an inconvenience such as sudden changes in brightness in the reproduced combined image, with the junction as a boundary. Alternatively, if the pictures ahead and at back of the junction are images indoors and outdoors, the reproduced picture shows sudden change in brightness on both sides of the junction due to changes in indoor and outdoor color temperature.
On the other hand, if there is any reproduced image having a picture pattern suited to the viewer's taste, it may occur that the viewer is desirous to know the setting state of the video camera device in which the image was taken, such as the iris opening degree, video amplifier gain, the level of shading correction or-the level of gamma correction of the imaging signal processing circuit.
However, the setting state of past imaging operations cannot be realized with the conventional video camera device, such that imaging cannot be performed in the manner of re-generating past picture patterns.
While it may be contemplated that the setting state of the pst imaging operation can be recognized if the user records the imaging setting state on a memo, an extremely laborious operation is involved because the setting state needs to be confirmed for each imaging operation. In addition, it is well-nigh impossible to recognize the setting state during the imaging operation.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging parameter recording apparatus, an imaging method and an editing system in which imaging parameters indicating the setting state of various components during the imaging can be recorded along with the imaging signals and in which reproduced image can be edited to a desirable picture pattern by optionally changing the imaging parameter values.

Imaging parameter recording apparatus, imaging method and editing system


The present document relates to a power converter configured to convert an input voltage at an input of the power converter into an output voltage at an output of the power converter. The power converter may comprise a power stage, a voltage controlled voltage source VCVS, a first feedback path and a second feedback path. The power stage may be coupled to the output of the power converter. The VCVS may be configured to generate, at an output of the VCVS, an error voltage by comparing a reference voltage with a feedback voltage indicative of the output voltage. The first feedback path may extend from the output of the power converter, via the VCVS, via the power stage, to the output of the power converter. The second feedback path may extend from the output of the VCVS to the output of the power converter.

In literature, the RHPZ in DC/DC converters is seen as a fundamental limitation of the converter itself. Usually, it is not possible to compensate the RHPZ and the only thing that can be done is limiting the Unity Gain Frequency (UGF) of the gain loop (Gloop) transfer function to frequencies much lower than the RHPZ, in order to have the required phase margin. Doing this, the converter is slow and transient performances are poor. For example, the output voltage may suddenly increase or decrease after a load transient, or the Power Supply Rejection Ratio (PSRR) of the converter may be substantially deteriorated.
In general, the RHPZ frequency may be related to the coil value, the output voltage Vout, and the output current Iout, and may be a frequency much lower than the possible UGF of the same converter, in the same conditions, but without the RHPZ.

Right half plane zero compensation for DC-DC converter circuits


The storage layer (6) is in each case present above a region in which the channel region (3) adjoins a source/drain region (2) and is in each case interrupted above an intervening middle part of the channel region (3). The storage layer (6) is formed by material of the gate dielectric (4) and contains silicon or germanium nanocrystals or nanodots introduced through ion implantation. The gate electrode (5) is widened at the flanks by electrically conductive spacers (7).

U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,523 has described a semiconductor memory cell, which is suitable for storing a plurality of bits. In this cell, two separate floating gate electrodes are located at the ends of a channel region above two adjoining LDD regions of source and drain. A control gate electrode is present for driving purposes. Charges can be stored separately in the two floating gate electrodes, in order in this way to alter the relevant programming state of the cell. In a middle part of the channel region there is only the control gate electrode above a dielectric layer on the semiconductor material.
German Patent No. 100 36 911 C2 has disclosed a method for fabricating a multi bit memory cell which has separate parts of a storage layer which are intended for charge trapping and are in each case present at the boundaries between source or drain and the channel region. In this method, a source region and a drain region are formed by the introduction of dopant in a semiconductor body, and a storage layer which is intended to store charge carriers is arranged between boundary layers above these regions; the storage layer may in particular be a nitride, and the boundary layers may in each case be oxide, and the storage layer may be removed with the exception of regions that are located at the boundary between the channel region and the source region and at the boundary between the channel region and the drain region. Therefore, the storage layer is interrupted above a middle part of the channel region. This structure is fabricated by the production of an auxiliary layer which, in the region of the storage layer, has a cut-out, with spacers produced at the flanks of the auxiliary layer. Then, the middle parts of the storage layer are removed between these spacers. Only then is the gate electrode fabricated and patterned.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,714,766 has described a memory component having a transistor structure with source/drain regions, a channel arranged between them and a storage layer structure between the channel and a gate electrode, wherein the storage layer structure comprises upper and lower barrier layers and nanocrystals arranged between them. The document mentions silicon, germanium, silicon-germanium, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, indium arsenide and other IV, III–V and II–VI semiconductor materials, as well as compound semiconductors formed therefrom, as material for the nanocrystals.
The publication by J. von Borany et al.: "Memory properties of Si+ implanted gate oxides: from MOS capacitors to nvSRAM" in Solid-State Electronics 46, 1729–1737 (2002) describes the properties of memory components in which silicon regions described as nanoclusters have been produced by implantation of Si+ into the gate oxide. The gate electrode is applied direct to a layer of this type.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,335,554 B1 describes a memory cell having a charge trapping layer, which is present above the junctions between LDD regions and the channel region and at the flanks of the gate electrode. Two gate electrodes, which are in each case designed in the form of spacers are present above the charge trapping layer and are connected to the first gate electrode via a top-side conductive layer.

Memory cell with nanocrystals or nanodots


Vertical power MOSFETs having a super junction are devices capable of having a lower on resistance than other vertical power MOSFETs. Although they have the advantage of high-speed switching due to rapid depletion of an N type drift region at the time of turn off in switching operation, they are likely to cause ringing. A vertical power MOSFET having a super junction structure provided by the present invention has, in the surface region of a first conductivity type drift region under a gate electrode, an undergate heavily doped N type region having a depth shallower than that of a second conductivity type body region and having a concentration higher than that of the first conductivity type drift region.

The present application relates to a power MOSFET (a semiconductor device or semiconductor integrated circuit device) which can be applied to, for example, high speed switching device technology.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-216587 (Patent Document 1) or U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011-241111 (Patent Document 2) corresponding thereto relates to a planar type vertical power MOSFET having a super junction. In order to secure a charge balance in a wide range in a depth direction, it discloses the technology of dividing an N type column region configuring a super junction into an upper half portion and a lower half portion at a position sufficiently deeper than a P type body region and making the concentration of the upper half portion relatively higher.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-124346 (Patent Document 3) or U.S. Pat. No. 7,642,597 (Patent Document 4) corresponding thereto relates to a trench gate type vertical power MOSFET having a buried field plate and a super junction. In order to relax electric field concentration at the lower end portion of the buried field plate, it discloses the technology of dividing not a P type body region but an N type column region (N pillar) lying below the lower end of the P type body region into an upper half portion and a lower half portion and making the concentration of the upper half portion relatively higher.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-91450 (Patent Document 5) or U.S. Pat. No. 8,058,688 (Patent Document 6) corresponding thereto relates to a planar type vertical power MOSFET having a super junction. It discloses the technology of dividing not a P type body region but an N type column region (N pillar) present below the lower end of the P type body region into two or more regions and making the concentration of the upper portion relatively higher.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-300034 (Patent Document 7) or U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008-17898 (Patent Document 8) corresponding thereto relates to a trench gate type vertical power MOSFET having a super junction. It discloses the technology of dividing not a P type body region but an N type column region (N pillar) below the lower end of the P type body region into an upper half portion and a lower half portion and making the concentration of an upper part of the upper half portion relatively higher and the concentration of a lower part of the lower half portion relatively higher.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-66421 (Patent Document 9) or U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,245 (Patent Document 10) corresponding thereto relates to a planar type vertical power MOSFET having a super junction. In order to secure a charge balance in a wide range in a depth direction, it discloses the technology of dividing an N type column (N pillar) region configuring a super junction into an upper half portion and a lower half portion at a position sufficiently deeper than a P type body region and making the concentration of the upper half portion relatively higher.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-216587    [Patent Document 2] US Patent Publication No. 2011-241111    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-124346    [Patent Document 4] U.S. Pat. No. 7,642,597    [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-91450    [Patent Document 6] U.S. Pat. No. 8,058,688    [Patent Document 7] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-300034    [Patent Document 8] US Patent Publication No. 2008-17897    [Patent Document 9] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-66421    [Patent Document 10] U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,245


A method and device for monitoring the position of radioactive materials in vehicles relates to a technical field of monitoring of radioactive materials. The method comprises following steps: powering on a monitoring device, after initializing, the device automatically enters into background mode to acquire and process gamma and neutron detection data so as to obtain and update a background count rate in real time, and an image surveillance system enters into surveillance state; occupancy detector detects that a vehicle enters into monitoring channel, meanwhile the monitoring device automatically enters into occupancy mode, and performs data acquisition process for gamma and neutron detection under the occupancy mode in accordance with the time required by an alarm algorithm, so as to obtain respective total count rates; speed detector detects the times T1 and T2 for the vehicle when it reaches two points with a distance L, and then calculates out the vehicle's speed V; obtaining an alarm threshold by using a special algorithm on the basis of alarming algorithm, particularly, the background count rate updated in real time, and sending an alarm signal when the total count rate exceeds the alarm threshold; transmitting the alarm signal to the image surveillance system via a control interface to notify it of starting to record, meanwhile sending an alarm command to an audio and visual alarm system to inform it of giving out an alarm; with the help of the results of radioactivity detection, speed detection and image capturing, a local computer specifies the position where the radioactive material(s) locate(s) with methods of horizontal and vertical positioning. The present invention can easily and quickly specify the very vehicle and the exact position the radioactive material(s) locate(s) so that the radioactive material(s) can be conveniently isolated and processed subsequently. In this way, time spent on detection has been greatly reduced and lots of human power has been saved.

In the existing techniques, e.g., the train radioactive materials monitor YANTAR-1/2ZH of Aspect Corporation, monitoring of gamma rays or/and neutron rays is (or are) realized by detecting the abnormal variation of the system's count rate caused by the gamma rays or/and neutron rays radiated by the radioactive materials. However, this kind of device can not provide position information on where the radioactive materials are located. Once it has been determined that a vehicle is loaded with radioactive material(s), an inspection of the vehicle may be required in order to locate the radio active material. In practice, some containers under monitoring are as long as 18 meters (trains are longer), or can have multiple sections or storage compartments. Thus, individual inspection of the vehicles can require significant time and/or human resources.

Method and device for monitoring position of radioactive materials in vehicles


The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for generating augmented reality representations of recommended products based on style similarity with real-world surroundings. For example, the disclosed systems can identify a real-world object within a camera feed and can utilize a 2D-3D alignment algorithm to identify a three-dimensional model that matches the real-world object. In addition, the disclosed systems can utilize a style similarity algorithm to generate style similarity scores for products in relation to the identified three-dimensional model. The disclosed systems can also utilize a color compatibility algorithm to generate color compatibility scores for products, and the systems can determine overall scores for products based on a combination of style similarity scores and color compatibility scores. The disclosed systems can further generate AR representations of recommended products based on the overall scores.

Digital content providers, digital publishers, and digital marketers increasingly seek techniques for creating targeted content that personalizes communications for users based on available information about the users. Such targeted content comes in various forms. For example, some digital publishers and marketers create targeted content by inserting a user's name (extracted from a user profile) into an email, pop-up advertisement, or another digital message. Other digital marketers create targeted content by, for example, adjusting content of a message based on a device's location data, such as information extracted from a web browser or an IP address connected to the user's device. Still other digital marketers contextualize content by identifying adjectives or adverbs from social media posts and inserting the identified adjectives or adverbs into advertisements.
In addition to extracting information from a device or from software running on the device, digital publishers and marketers commonly create targeted content based on a user's web-browsing data. For example, some conventional techniques of contextualized content delivery include selecting content based on a user's web-browsing history (e.g., URL addresses visited by a user) or prior e-commerce transactions (e.g., products purchased through a website or mobile application). Other conventional techniques of contextualized content delivery include generating a product recommendation based on metadata associated with the product.
While conventional techniques can enable marketers to provide relevant information, conventional techniques often have various drawbacks. For example, users are often wary of providing information on the Internet and often intentionally provide false information. As such, targeted content based on web-browsing data can be inaccurate. Furthermore, techniques that rely upon metadata commonly rely on administrators or others to properly tag or otherwise associate products with metadata, which can be time consuming, expensive, and inaccurate. Because of their reliance on human generated metadata, these conventional techniques can generate inaccurate, ineffective product recommendations that users frequently ignore. Furthermore, such techniques are inflexible and cannot adapt to scenarios where metadata is unavailable. In addition, conventional techniques often fail to target aspects of user's lives, like their physical surroundings, not apparent from their digital footprint.

Generating and providing augmented reality representations of recommended products based on style similarity in relation to real-world surroundings


A power tong (1) or back-up tong has a sliding jaw assembly (6) that may be advanced into the throat (4) of the tong for engagement with a pipe. A camming surface (11) on the inside circumference of the ring gear (10) advances the sliding jaw assembly into full engagement with the well pipe when the ring gear (10) is rotated with respect to the jaw assembly.

In the oil industry power tongs are used to either grasp and hold pipe while threaded joints are being made up, or to rotate pipe in order to make up such joints. In the past, power tongs have been provided with jaws that are mounted to swing about a pivot point in order to bring the jaw into bearing engagement against pipe. Jaws of these designs are constrained by upper and lower cage plates to which the jaws are connected.
Typically, several jaws, e.g. two opposed jaws, are advanced inwardly by rotating an outer encircling camming surface about a set of jaws with the pipe located at the center of rotation. This camming surface is typically formed on the inside of a C-shaped ring gear. Camming rollers on the jaws bear against this camming surface, causing the jaws to advance inwardly in response to the inward urging developed by the cam surface as it rotates past the camming rollers. When the jaws pivot about a pivot axis that is fixed in relationship to the cage plates, the path followed by the jaws as they are displaced inwardly is not perfectly radial. Rather the jaws approach the centrally mounted pipe for engagement following an arcuate path. Alternately, in some jaw designs the jaws advance radially towards the center of the tong.
It would be advantageous to provide a power tong of a simplified design that is more convenient to manufacture and which has a more extended camming surface. The present invention addresses that objective.
The invention in its general form will first be described, and then its implementation in terms of specific embodiments will be detailed with reference to the drawings following hereafter. These embodiments are intended to demonstrate the principle of the invention, and the manner of its implementation. The invention in its broadest and more specific forms will then be further described, and defined, in each of the individual claims which conclude this Specification.


A tape printing device for printing frames with complicated shapes on a label. The device includes a mechanism for inputting a plurality of characters, selecting a frame from a plurality of frames of different shape, and generating print data for the characters and the selected frame. Also, a print head is used for printing the characters and the frames onto the tape according to the generated print data. Only a small amount of memory is required to represent frames, and the operator is offered a large selection of frames. Instead of storing dot patterns for each frame, each frame is represented with a program which can be executed on the tape printing device to generate the pixel pattern corresponding to the selected frame and to print the selected frame on the receiving medium according to the generated pixel pattern. Since the programs generate the pixel pattern dynamically as required by the operator of the device, less memory is required than prior art devices. Also, a larger selection of frames is offered without increasing the cost of the tape printing device.

A tape printing device prints labels that can be used to identify items like files, videotapes and audio cassettes and to facilitate their organization. Some tape printing devices also allow the operator to format the label in accordance with the operator's preferences.
Tape printing devices typically consist of a keyboard with character keys and formatting keys, a controller to create the label with the desired format, spools for holding an image receiving tape, a display for viewing the label prior to printing, a print head to print the label on the tape, a print head driving circuit to control the operation of the print head, a motor to control the movement of tape within the device and a cutting device to cut the label.
Some tape printing devices contain thermal print heads which have a matrix of heating elements. The print head driving circuit selectively activates the heating elements in accordance with the character or symbol to be printed. For example, to print the letter "A" on an image receiving tape, the driving circuit will activate only the heating elements of the matrix on the print head which are located at positions on the matrix corresponding to the letter "A".
An operator of a typical tape printing device types the text with the character keys, selects a format from selections shown on the display, views the label on the display prior to printing and selects a print key on the keyboard to print the label.
Tape printing devices in the prior art provide different formatting features to meet the labelling requirements of the operator. For example, the tape printing device described in EP-A-0 567 233 automatically scales the width of frames and the thickness of underlines according to a detected tape width. The tape printing device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,353 also allows the operator to select the desired width of the frame and thickness of the underlines. Both tape printing devices have a limited formatting ability because they do not offer the ability to print frames with complicated shapes.
Tape printing devices in the prior art also provide more elaborate formatting features. For example, the tape printer described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,041 has the ability to print a frame with a complicated shape around text specified by the operator. The device displays a fixed number of frame portions which the operator selects and combines to produce the desired label. The device represents the frame portions as dot patterns which are stored in memory.
The tape printer has two disadvantages. First, the device requires a large amount of memory to represent each frame portion because the frame portions are represented as dot patterns. Second, the device can only offer the operator a limited number of frame portions to select because of the large amount of memory required to represent the frame portions.

Tape printer capable of printing frames with different shapes


There is provided a method of forming a thin film for providing improved fabrication productivity. The method includes introducing a semiconductor substrate into a process chamber. A process thin film is formed on the semiconductor substrate, in which a chamber coating layer is formed on inner walls of the process chamber while the process thin film is formed. The semiconductor substrate is removed from the process chamber. A stress relief layer is formed on the chamber coating layer. After all of the above operations are repeatedly performed at least one time, an in-situ cleaning is performed on the chamber coating layer and the stress relief layer, which are alternately formed in stack on the inner walls of the process chamber.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to a method of forming a thin film for providing improved fabrication productivity.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The fabrication of semiconductor devices involves many processes for forming various kinds of thin films. For example, a dielectric layer such as a silicon oxide layer (SiO2), a silicon nitride layer (SiN), a hafnium oxide layer (HfO2), an aluminum oxide layer (Al2O3), and the like is used for a gate oxide layer, an insulating spacer, an etch stop layer, a capacitor dielectric layer, and the like. Further, a conductive layer such as a polysilicon layer, a tungsten layer, an aluminum layer, or the like is formed for use in a gate electrode, interconnections, or the like. A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method is widely used for forming the thin film, but the thin film formation process has recently focused on study of an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. The ALD method forms thin films in the unit of an atomic layer, along with alternating chemisorption and surface reaction of reactant materials, and desorption of by-products, and it has many advantages such as an excellent step coverage and the like.
One of the problems associated with the thin film formation process is that an undesired thin film may be formed on the inner walls of a process chamber where the thin film formation process is being performed to form a process thin film on a semiconductor substrate. The thin film formed on the inner walls of the process chamber is peeled off from the inner walls of the process chamber as the thin films increase thickness, and the peeled films serve as particles which affect the thin film fabrication process, and provide one cause for reduction in production yield of semiconductor devices. Therefore, the thin film formation process also needs to include a cleaning process to remove periodically the undesired thin film deposited on the inner walls of the process chamber in order to prevent the above problem. In the conventional technology, a wet cleaning process is often employed to remove the deposited thin film from the inner walls of the process chamber by disassembling the process chamber and exposing it to an appropriate chemical solution. However, this wet cleaning process requires much down time, thereby causing a large loss in the production yield. Further, since the inside of the process chamber is exposed to the atmosphere, it may be contaminated by impurities in the atmosphere.
As one method of solving the above disadvantage of the wet cleaning processes, an in-situ cleaning may be employed, in which an etch gas is supplied into the process chamber without exposing the inside of the process chamber to the atmosphere, and the thin film deposited on the inner walls of the process chamber can be removed in situ state.
FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a conventional method of forming thin films. Referring to FIG. 1, a semiconductor substrate is introduced into a process chamber (step 100). A process thin film is formed on the semiconductor substrate (step 102). During formation of the process thin film, a thin film is also formed on the inner walls of the process chamber. The semiconductor substrate is removed from the process chamber (step 104). Then, an in-situ cleaning is performed (step 106). The in-situ cleaning is carried out by supplying an etch gas into the process chamber, and etching the thin film deposited on the inner walls of the process chamber to remove it. In the conventional method, a plurality of semiconductor substrates can be sequentially treated inside the process chamber before performing the in-situ cleaning, while the number of the treated semiconductor substrates depends on the kinds and the thickness of the process thin films.
For high fabrication productivity, it is preferable to process a larger number of semiconductor substrates before performing the in-situ cleaning. However, if the number of semiconductor substrates that are treated before the in-situ cleaning is small, a process period of the in-situ cleaning is short, which is not preferable from the standpoint of productivity improvement. Further, in the conventional method as described above, if the thickness of the thin films formed on the inner walls of the process chamber is increased, since the thin film serves as particle source, there is a limit to the amount by which the period of the in-situ cleaning can be increased. Therefore, in order to improve the productivity of the thin film formation process, it is necessary to increase the period of the in-situ cleaning, and preferably, it is also necessary to shorten the process time required for the in-situ cleaning. In specific, the thin film formation process by the ALD method has characteristics in that a growth rate of the thin film is very low because of the formation of the thin film in the unit of atomic layer. Thus, a method of overcoming the above problem is further required in order to improve the productivity.
Furthermore, a method of forming an improved seasoning film on the inner walls of a process chamber to increase the cleaning period in the thin film formation process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,589,868.

Method of forming thin film for improved productivity


An anneal of an epitaxially grown crystalline semiconductor layer comprising a combination of group-IV elements. The layer contains at least one of the group of carbon and tin. The layer of epitaxially grown material is annealed at a temperature substantially in a range of 1,000 to 1,400 degrees Celsius for a period not to exceed 100 milliseconds within 10% of the peak temperature. The anneal is performed for example with a laser anneal or a flash lamp anneal. The limited-time anneal may improve carrier mobility of a transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to semiconductor devices and more specifically to annealing an epitaxial layer in a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor devices utilize epitaxially grown material that includes carbon or tin. Examples of such materials include alloys containing two or more of silicon, germanium, carbon, and tin. The addition of tin or carbon to a silicon or germanium layer may present difficulties due to relatively large lattice mismatches and phase diagram differences. For example, a silicon lattice has a spacing of 5.43 Angstroms and a germanium lattice has a spacing of 5.65 Angstroms. Tin has a lattice spacing of 6.49 Angstroms and diamond carbon has a lattice spacing of 3.57 Angstroms.
The lattice constant of relaxed carbon-doped silicon is smaller than that of silicon. Accordingly, a carbon-doped silicon layer epitaxially grown on a silicon layer may be under stress due to lattice constant mismatch. Such a strained layer may be used in semiconductor devices for enhanced performance.
One problem with epitaxial silicon carbon (or other layers having carbon) is that the material is thermally unstable. Thermal annealing at temperatures greater than 900 C may cause the conversion of carbon from substitutional to interstitial lattice sites, thereby increasing the lattice constant. Accordingly, by annealing the layer at a high temperature, the strain of an epitaxially grown silicon carbon alloy layer may undesirably decrease.
What is needed is an improved technique for annealing a carbon or tin alloy material.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted. The Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Anneal of epitaxial layer in a semiconductor device


A cleaning device provided on a rotary printing machine for cleaning the outer cylindrical surfaces of cylinders includes a pressing-on bar for pressing a cleaning cloth on a respective outer cylindrical surface, adjusting elements for engaging the pressing-on bar, and an elastic profile rail to guide and press a cleaning cloth onto an outer cylindrical surface over the entire cylinder width. The elastic profile rail receives a plurality of forces from spring elements. The elastic profile rail and the spring elements allow a uniform cleaning of the outer cylindrical surface despite the presence of uneven or rough portions of the outer cylindrical surface that might be encountered by the cleaning device during cleaning.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cleaning device provided on a rotary printing machine for cleaning the outer cylindrical surfaces of cylinders. The cleaning device can include a pressing-on bar for pressing a cleaning cloth on a respective outer cylindrical surface, adjusting elements for engaging the pressing-on bar and an elastic profile rail, via which elastic profile rail the cleaning cloth can be guided and pressed on the outer cylindrical surface over the entire cylinder width.
2. Background Information
A known cleaning device is disclosed in European Patent No. 0 257 818 B1, wherein the cleaning device is lifted, via a cam device, against the pressure of the contact cylinder. Given a rather high cleaning velocity, the cam follower causes great impacts when coming into contact with the cam. A further disadvantage is the fact that the entire device, together with the cloth rolls, has to be moved so that considerable forces are required to overcome the inertia. The resulting oscillations may affect the cleaning quality over the cylinder length.

Cleaning device provided on a rotary printing machine


When making meals ready for air transport, soiled service and cutlery (24), when arriving in an airport, are sorted, cover-divided in baskets, for use for the next flight. The soiled service is sent into an industrial dishwasher, following which it is provided with food and packed in carts. Large amounts of storage space are saved in this manner in the individual airports, since the cycle time for storage of service and cutlery can be reduced from 26 hours to about 2 hours.

The invention concerns a method of preparing and distributing portioned meals, preferably for use in air transport.
The invention moreover concerns a basket for use in the performance of the method and a cutlery holder for use in the basket.
As will be known, much transport today takes place by air. In connection with air transport, a meal is usually served, which may be composed rather differently according to which airline is in charge of the transport. Generally, however, some form of food is served on the vast majority of flights.
With the many daily flights it is huge amounts of meals that have to be prepared. It is therefore quite natural to try to rationalize all cycles of operations in connection with the preparation of air meals.
FIG. 1 shows a typical sequence in the preparation of meals in connection with flights. As will be seen in FIG. 1, a kitchen for cold dishes and a kitchen for hot dishes receive food products from external suppliers. When the food has been prepared, the meals are made ready, i.e. served on trays, including e.g. saucers, glasses, cups, cutlery, etc. When the meals have been-made ready, they are placed in a trolley, hereinafter called a cart throughout this specification. The cart is driven out to the aircraft, and following departure the meals are served to the passengers. Before the aircraft lands, all service and cutlery are collected and again placed on a cart. Then the soiled service and cutlery are moved to an industrial dishwasher in which they are washed. After washing, service and cutlery are placed in a store, so the entire procedure can be repeated again. As will be appreciated, a store is required in each air kitchen, and this store must be so large as to constantly have enough service and cutlery available for subsequent flights. Cutlery, service, cups and glasses are stored in the individual air kitchens in such a manner that the store is divided according to each type of service for each individual airline. Further, it is not unusual for stores to have to be provided with a capacity of covering the needs for service and cutlery for about 26 hours, which is the cycle time from arrival to departure of service, and with the many daily flights it will be appreciated that air kitchens must have very large stores of service and cutlery.
Accordingly, the object of the invention is to provide a method of preparing and distributing portioned meals which saves storage space.

Method of preparing and distributing portioned meals, preferably for use in air transport


Various implementations disclosed herein enable congestion control systems and methods that are agnostic of the availability of congestion notification types, and are simultaneously responsive to multiple types of network congestion indicators—including both implicit (e.g., loss and delay) and explicit (e.g., marking) congestion indicators. For example, some implementations include a congestion control method that includes obtaining a composite congestion indicator value associated with multiple types of network congestion indicators, and determining a reference rate value based on a function of the composite congestion indicator value. The composite congestion indicator value represents a combination of one or more delay values associated with respective types of network congestion indicators. The reference rate value is representative of a baseline transmission rate from the first device that at least partially mitigates network congestion signaled by the network congestion indicators.

The ongoing development of data networks includes improving low-latency real-time media services such as a video conferencing. The rapid growth in the popularity of video conferencing services is indicative of demand for interactive data rich media services. However, despite extensive research and development in the areas of video encoding and networking technologies, it remains an elusive task to support low-latency interactive video over shared networks (e.g., public portions of the Internet) with satisfactory service quality.
Network congestion is often a factor that limits or deteriorates the perceptual quality of video conferencing services. Network congestion often occurs when a network node transmits a data flow at a rate that is greater than the available capacity of the network to handle the data flow on one or more network links. Network capacity is sometimes limited at data bottleneck points where multiple data flows demand access to a link over which bandwidth is limited relative to the instant demand of the multiple data flows. For example, cable modems serving multiple client devices are frequently bottleneck points. Data queues are used to gate throughput onto the link at such points to regulate traffic and avoid packet collisions. However, queues add delay and can overflow when an incoming rate of a data flow is greater than the output rate of the queue. In turn, the effects of network congestion include queuing delays, packet loss and difficulty in establishing new connections between network nodes. Due to such effects, incremental increases in traffic load can lead either to relatively small increases in network throughput or even to a reduction in network throughput for existing data flows.
Low-latency interactive real-time media services, such as video conferencing, also present additional challenges for congestion control. For example, often to a greater extent than for TCP, performance of a transport mechanism for such services is assessed on how well it: adapts to abrupt changes in available bandwidth; accommodates sluggish responses and output rate fluctuations of a transmit-side live video encoder; and avoids high queuing delays.
In accordance with common practice various features shown in the drawings may not be drawn to scale, as the dimensions of various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. Moreover, the drawings may not depict all of the aspects and/or variants of a given system, method or apparatus admitted by the specification. Finally, like reference numerals are used to denote like features throughout the figures.

Unified congestion control for real-time media support