An exposure control device for a camera having a shutter mechanism, a solenoid serving as an electromagnetic drive, a presser for pressing a solenoid plunger, and a control circuit for conduction control for the solenoid. After the solenoid attracts the plunger to open the shutter, conduction voltage for holding the plunger is controlled within a permissible range and become lower than the conduction voltage utilized for initially attracting the plunger. The heating of the solenoid is thus minimized. This control sequence prevents the breakdown of the solenoid and improved reliability in exposure control. Furthermore, power consumption in the camera is minimized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure control device for a camera using a shutter whose driving source is a solenoid.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional exposure control device using a solenoid, the solenoid serving as a driving source is driven with such a voltage that is invariable even while a plunger is being attracted or after the plunger has been attracted. When the plunger is attracted, the attraction for the plunger surpasses a repulsive spring force.
FIG. 13 is a graph showing the relationships between the attraction for the plunger of a solenoid used in a conventional exposure control device and the repulsive spring force, and the stroke of the plunger. In FIG. 13, curves Fv1 and Fv2 (drawn in solid lines) represent the characteristics of attractions with solenoid conduction voltages V1 and V2, wherein the voltage V2 is larger than the voltage V1. A curve Fs (drawn in a dashed line) represents the characteristic of the force of a repulsive spring.
In the foregoing conventional exposure control device, the solenoid is driven with the conduction voltage V2 in FIG. 13 during exposure control. When the plunger is repulsed, the attraction assumes a sufficiently large required value relative to the repulsive spring force. When the plunger is attracted, the attraction becomes too large relative to the repulsive spring force.
In the foregoing conventional exposure control device using the solenoid as a driving source, however, when the plunger is attracted, the attraction for the plunger is unnecessarily larger than the repulsive spring force. An excess force is therefore imposed on the plunger. In case the conduction voltage is decreased to the voltage V1, when the plunger is attracted, the attraction for the plunger assumes a sufficient required value. When the plunger is repulsed, however, the attraction is weaker than the repulsive spring force and fails to ensure perfect operation. This kind of problem has arisen in conventional solenoid-driven exposure control devices. In the aforesaid conventional exposure control device, when exposure is performed at a low shutter speed, the heating of the solenoid sometimes damages the driving source. Moreover, excess power is consumed because of the application of a voltage much higher than the voltage required when the plunger is attracted. This poses many problems including that the usable frequency of a battery serving as a power supply decreases.
In an exposure control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-194912, the repulsive spring force for a plunger is slightly weaker than the attraction for the plunger and has a non-linear characteristic. A high-precision exposure control mechanism is thus realized with a simple mechanism.
A device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-54131 uses the forces of two repulsive springs to meet the attraction for a plunger, thus improving the precision in exposure control.
In the disclosures of the unexamined publications, similarly to the aforesaid device, a voltage required for attracting a plunger is applied for a prolonged period of time even after attraction is achieved. The plunger is still subject to damage resulting from heating.

Camera having an exposure control device for minimizing heating and power consumption of a driving device


An acoustical mechanical test method prescribes compressing brittle balls in spherical conforming opposing platens producing equatorial bulging, tensile stresses, and resulting in crack or flaw growth with emissions of acoustical sounds for direct identification of brittle balls having a flaw exceeding a maximum allowable size, such as flaws in silicon-nitride balls used in hybrid bearings as well as conventional steel ball bearings.

Over the last decade, silicon-nitride Si3N4 balls have become an important component of advanced bearings used in a wide range of applications. The greatest commercial success for Si3N4 balls has been their use in hybrid bearings that combine the ceramic balls with steel races and that are known as silicon-nitride hybrid bearings. Compared to the steel balls, which the silicon-nitride balls replace, the ceramic balls are harder and less dense and offer higher compressive strength, better corrosion resistance, elevated operating temperature, and reduced lubrication requirements. These benefits make the hybrid bearings ideal for severe high-speed applications such as machine tool spindles, high-speed dental drills, vacuum turbomolecular pumps, and the liquid-oxygen turbomolecular pumps used in the space shuttle main engines. Large diameter ceramic balls recently became the leading technology for hip replacements.
For exemplar future use in the space industry, the hybrid bearings have been proposed for the improved momentum control wheels and flywheels for satellites. Importantly, the hybrid bearings have recently been used in roller blades, an application where the bearings represent a mass marketing opportunity for lightweight rugged bearings. The roller blade market, as well as other commercial applications, provides recreational users and athletes with cost-effective high technology long-lasting bearings with improved performance in high volumes that would lower the price of the hybrid bearings for all applications with increasing overall sales. For machine tool spindles, the market for hybrid bearings was at $35 million in 2000 and is projected to reach $150 million by 2005, and hence there is wide spread usage. The overall sales of hybrid bearings should reach several hundred million by 2010. Hence, there is a significant need for high-volume hybrid bearings subject to repeatable and accurate manufacturing requirements.
Ceramic balls have significant drawbacks and limitations. Like all ceramics, the silicon-nitride balls have a low tensile strength, which is a fundamental material property. Therefore, under applied tension, the balls are prone to crack either at a preexisting manufacturing flaw or at a flaw that develops during service and usage. A closely related fundamental material property is the fracture toughness, which indicates the susceptibility to fracture of the ceramic material. Low fracture toughness is the most important factor determining the ruggedness and usefulness of all ceramics in general as well as the silicon-nitride balls, in particular. Fortunately, highly engineered ceramics have been developed whose fracture toughness can be significantly increased through processing that controls microstructures. Precise manufacturing can control the size and number of preexisting flaws. To produce tougher ceramics is therefore a two-fold task. First, a microstructure is selected that is intrinsically tougher, which reduces the severity of any flaws. Second, the preexisting flaws are eliminated, which ameliorates the low fracture toughness.
In the specific case of silicon-nitride balls, manufacturing processing has been developed that provides, for example, a two-phase microstructure of alpha and beta silicon nitride where the minor second phase is a blocky shape in a matrix of the major phase. As a micromechanism, this microstructure promotes crack deflection and blunting, which raises the intrinsic fracture toughness. In addition, the ceramic balls are manufactured from a starting powder through hot-isostatic pressing that is followed by grinding and lapping to provide precise spherical shapes. Accurate control of the hot-isostatic pressing eliminates sintering voids and inclusions that are potential preexisting flaws leading to potential fracture and failure of the balls. Precise control of the grinding and lapping eliminates surface cracks. Inspection and nondestructive evaluations are also used to screen balls with preexisting flaws from usage especially in critical applications.
Another disadvantage for any brittle material is that any preexisting cracks are atomically sharp. Only a ductile material offers the crack tip blunting needed for a crack to depart from atomic sharpness. In the unloaded state, the opposite faces of an atomically sharp crack are close together and mate almost perfectly with a negligibly perceptible gap between the two faces.
Physically, the negligible gap minimizes the contrast of the crack exploited by conventional inspection methods. Hence, to conventional inspection methods, the atomically sharp crack appears to be healed and appears to be virgin uncracked material. That is, current inspection methods find it difficult to differentiate between cracked and uncracked material in a ceramic. The limit of resolution of current inspection methods is therefore raised when applied to a ceramic, and the smallest identifiable flaw is unfortunately quite high. Of course, the goal of any inspection method is to identify as small a flaw as possible.
The leading inspection technique used by the ball manufacturers is florescent penetrant dye. In this method, the ball is placed in a bath of liquid florescent dye. Any preexisting crack looks like a free surface to the liquid and therefore has a tendency to wick the dye into itself due to surface energy effects. The crack therefore is a potential reservoir for the dye. The ball is removed from the bath, wiped clean and viewed under black light. The preexisting crack will continuously ooze fluid, which will be visible under black light. The method relies upon the human eye to detect the contrast between florescent and unflorescent regions.
The florescent dye technique has physical limits on the smallest crack that can be resolved and detected. One natural limit is the acuity of human vision. Another limit for brittle ceramics is that an atomically sharp crack represents a very small reservoir and therefore a very low driving force to wick dye. Fundamentally, therefore, an atomically sharp crack provides very low contrast. For the florescent dye technique, the limit of resolution of crack depth exceeds 0.1 mm under ideal laboratory conditions. The limit probably exceeds 0.2 mm under practical factory conditions that must depend upon the attentiveness of an operator who becomes fatigued after many hours of inspection.
Other possible techniques rely upon reflective radiation, such as ultrasound, or transmissive radiation, such as x-ray. In the case of ultrasound, the preexisting flaw reflects an anomalous sound wave that is not reflected by the uncracked material. Physically, the reflection from the crack is the source of contrast that must be detected. Unfortunately, an atomically sharp flaw in a ceramic reflects a very small echo because the flaw appears to be almost perfectly closed. Only a relatively deep crack, on the order of 1.0 mm, becomes visible under the ultrasound method.
X-ray techniques rely upon differential absorption across the flaw, which is again very low for an atomically sharp flaw that appears to the X-ray to be closed. Another limitation is the sensitivity of the film or X-ray detector used to measure the differential absorption. The limit of resolution of a crack probably exceeds 1.0 mm for the X-ray method. As additional drawbacks, the ultrasound and X-ray techniques both require a well-trained operator and very expensive equipment. For these reasons, the X-ray and ultrasound techniques are currently not used by the ball manufacturers.
The hallmark of all current inspection methods is that a detector is used to identify a source of contrast possessed by a crack that is not possessed by uncracked material. A new replacement method is obviously needed to overcome the shortcomings of the current state-of-the-art inspection method, so that cracks much smaller than 0.1 mm can be reliably detected. If the new method can qualify the balls as defect-free to this finer limit of resolution, then the balls can be reliably used in new safety-critical applications such as turbine engines. A better inspection method offers two related benefits. First, the predicted lifetime of the ball becomes much longer. Second, the confidence in the lifetime is much greater.
The industrial inspection methods currently used have great difficulty resolving preexisting flaws that are atomically sharp because these flaws appear to be almost perfectly closed under the current methods. Disadvantageously, there is no current known test that can independently measure the fracture toughness of the ceramic balls. The existing inspection methods are disadvantageously not well suited to find cracks in brittle materials that are atomically sharp. Disadvantageously, the existing leading test method, florescent penetrant dye, can only detect surface cracks open to the environment and can not detect subsurface flaws, which are an important class of flaws leading to premature failure in service. All of the current industrial practices are disadvantageously highly labor intensive and rely upon the attentiveness and acuity of a human operator. These and other disadvantages are solved or reduced using the invention.

Ceramic ball bearing acoustic test method


To provide a display device in which parasitic capacitance between wirings can be reduced while preventing increase in wiring resistance. To provide a display device with improved display quality. To provide a display device with low power consumption. A pixel of the liquid crystal display device includes a signal line, a scan line intersecting with the signal line, a first electrode projected from the signal line, a second electrode facing the first electrode, and a pixel electrode connected to the second electrode. Part of the scan line has a loop shape, and part of the first electrode is located in a region overlapped with an opening of the scan line. In other words, part of the first electrode is not overlapped with the scan line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a method for manufacturing the display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as liquid crystal display devices in which viewing angle characteristics and display quality are improved, vertically aligned (VA) liquid crystal display devices are provided. As VA liquid crystal display devices, a multi-domain liquid crystal display device including one pixel provided with a plurality of pixel electrodes and thin film transistors which are connected to the respective pixel electrodes and control the potentials of the respective pixel electrodes is provided. When one pixel is provided with a plurality of pixel electrodes, liquid crystal alignment can be made different in each pixel electrode; therefore, a multi-domain liquid crystal display device can have a larger viewing angle than those of conventional VA liquid crystal display devices (see Patent Document 1).
Moreover, there is a trend in a liquid crystal display device toward a larger screen, e.g. a 60-inch diagonal screen, and further, the development of a liquid crystal display device is aimed even at a screen size of a diagonal of 120 inches or more. In addition, a trend in resolution of a screen is toward higher definition, e.g., high-definition (HD) image quality (1366×768) or full high-definition (FHD) image quality (1920×1080), and prompt development of a so-called 4K Digital Cinema liquid crystal display device, which has a resolution of 3840×2048 or 4096×2180, is also pushed.
In order to reduce afterimages and improve the display quality, the driving rate has been doubled (also referred to as a double-frame rate driving), and further, driving at a quadruple-frame rate or a higher rate than the quadruple-frame rate has been considered. Further, in order to realize a liquid crystal display device with three-dimensional (3D) display, an image for a right eye and an image for a left eye need to be displayed alternately; thus, the liquid crystal display device is required to be driven at the double-frame rate or a higher rate than the double-frame rate.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A methodology is disclosed for processing image data to extract image information of interest from aggregate image information containing other interfering information. Application of the methodology also leads to significant compression in the data, which reduces storage requirements. With the methodology of the invention, an augmented linear decomposition of the image data is performed. Thereafter, components of the image data corresponding to a baseline image, image information introduced by non-regular extraneous factors, and image information related to random noise are removed from the data by suppression of appropriate terms of the linear decomposition. The image data so reduced may contain both image information of interest and image data related to regularly occurring extraneous factors. The image data of interest is removed from such reduced aggregate image data by frequency domain filtering of the reduced aggregate data.

In the art of image processing, it will often be the case that image information of interest is intermixed with, or even masked by other image information which is not of interest. Thus an objective in such cases will be a separation of the image information of interest from the information which is not of interest. An important image processing application in which this objective may come into play is found in the field of non-invasive imaging of anatomical structures and physiological processes. An exemplary such application is Magnetic Resonance Imaging ("MRI"), and particularly the MRI subclass known as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging ("fMRI") which has been shown to be particularly useful in the identification of parts of the brain associated with specific cognitive processes. Hereafter fMRI will be used both to illustrate the problems solved by the invention and as a preferred embodiment of the invention. It will be understood however that the invention is broadly applicable to the processing of image data generally, particularly to such images generated in a medical or clinical environment.
As will be known to those skilled in the art, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the brain holds great promise as a tool to elucidate the functioning of the human brain [See, for example, applications of fMRI described in S. Ogawa et al., "Intrinsic signal changes accompanying sensory stimulation: Functional brain mapping with magnetic resonance imaging", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89 5951 (1992) and K. K. Kwong et al., "Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging of human brain activity 5 during primary sensory stimulation", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89 5675 (1992)]. Changes in the oxygen content in cerebral blood causes small but detectable changes in an MR image. Since the oxygen content of the blood is known to be locally dependent on brain activity, detection of such changes in oxygen content provides a particularly reliable indicator of moment-to-moment brain function. There are, however, problems that limit the full utility of this technique. A major problem is that signal levels for changes in the image related to function are fairly small, and could well be lost among unwanted sources of image fluctuation. Such undesirable variations in the image include incoherent noise, approximately periodic fluctuations arising from physiological sources--e.g., cardiac and respiratory cycles, and motion of the experimental subject. Previous data analysis techniques have generally relied on statistical tests of significance to extract spatial maps of brain regions showing correlations with a stimulus timecourse. [See for example, P. A. Bandettini et al., "Processing Strategies for Time-Course Data Sets in Functional MRI of the Human Brain", Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 30 161 (1993)].
The conventional data analysis approaches generally have three drawbacks:
(i) they do not take into account the complete structure of the signal and the noise, thus preventing optimal detection of the signal; PA1 (ii) such methods essentially produce maps of static brain regions, and it is difficult to assess the full spatio-temporal nature of the image signal in this way; and PA1 (iii) an analysis methodology based on looking for changes correlated to the stimulus time course prevents detection of events that do not appear in synchrony with the stimulus.
As is known, techniques have been suggested in attempts to overcome the above drawbacks. To alleviate (ii), maps have been produced showing correlations with several shifted versions of the stimulus time course [See, E. A. DeYoe et al., "Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Human Brain", J. Neuroscience Methods, 54 171 (1994)]. To avoid drawback (iii), the use of Principal Component Analysis (or equivalently Singular Value Decomposition) has been proposed to extract coherent changes in the signal that are not necessarily locked to the stimulus time course. [See J. R. Baker et al., "Statistical Assessment of Functional MRI Signal Change", 2 626, Proceedings of the Society of Magnetic Resonance, Second Meeting Aug. 6-12, 1994, San Francisco, Calif.] However, such proposals have not led to a comprehensive solution to the full problem.

System and method for processing space-time images


The present disclosure relates to a defoaming substance for defoaming an aqueous solution. The defoaming substance includes a defoaming agent and a carrier material intermixed with the defoaming agent to form a solid mass, the carrier material being at least minimally soluble in the aqueous solution. In one embodiment, the carrier material includes at least one type of organic acid. The defoaming agent may include at least one type of silicon-based defoamer. The present disclosure also relates to a method for making a defoaming substance. The method may include selecting a defoaming agent capable of hindering foam formation and reducing foam build-up in an aqueous solution, selecting a carrier material that is at least minimally soluble in the aqueous solution, combining the defoaming agent with the carrier material, and forming the combined defoaming agent and carrier material into a solid defoaming substance.

In the cleaning industry, cleaning or foaming compounds in the form of an aqueous solution are often applied to dirty surfaces to extract dirt, oil, stains, bacteria, and other contaminants from the surfaces. For example, cleaning compounds, such as soaps, detergents, and surfactants, are used for extracting contaminants from the surface of a textile. Generally, such cleaning compounds are effective because their chemical structures include both polar (hydrophilic) and non-polar (hydrophobic) components. Therefore, cleaning compounds can be combined with a polar solvent, such as water, and are capable of dissolving and extracting non-polar solutes, such as oil, grease, dirt, and other contaminants. Once the contaminants have been extracted from the textile, the solution, now holding the suspended contaminants, can then be lifted from the textile and expelled, thus leaving behind a clean surface.
In conventional cleaning systems, the expelled cleaning solution with the suspended contaminants is often pumped or suctioned into a waste tank for temporary storage until the tank is emptied and the used cleaning solution disposed of. In such conventional systems, the solution often causes foam to build up in the waste tank. As the foam volume within the tank increases, the foam becomes susceptible to being suctioned out of the waste tank and into the vacuum blower, which can damage the blower. Additionally, any foam entering the blower can be blown or discharged out of the blower and into surrounding areas, which can soil and damage to those areas. In order to avoid the complications of foam build-up in conventional cleaning systems, users may have frequently empty the waste tank, thus resulting in bothersome and inefficient delays in the cleaning process.
Conventionally, compounds known as defoamers or defoaming agents have been employed in certain applications to reduce the build-up and formation of foam. Defoaming agents are generally liquids or powders that disperse quickly throughout aqueous solutions. Although effective at knocking-down foam, conventional defoaming agents are not well suited for certain cleaning systems. For example, if a defoaming agent is added to the waste tank of a batch cleaning system, each time the contents of the waste tank are expelled, the dissolved defoaming agent is expelled as well. Accordingly, for some systems, each time the contents of the tank are expelled, more defoaming agent must be added to the waste tank for any subsequent batch. Also, in some continuous cleaning systems, where the waste tank is continuously emptied during the cleaning process, the user must repeatedly add more defoaming agent during a single cleaning operation. Therefore, while the use of defoaming agents in some cleaning systems may be useful for reducing foam build-up, because conventional defoaming agents and systems require users to repeatedly add more defoaming agent, the increased cost, inefficiency, and difficulty of utilizing such conventional defoaming agents in known cleaning systems results in a bothersome, wasteful, and generally ineffective cleaning process.
In response to the drawbacks of conventional defoaming agents, some solid defoaming agents have been engineered to melt at low temperatures. Once the solid defoaming agent with a low melting point is added to the waste tank, the user can controllably heat the waste tank solution to the melting point of the solid defoaming agent and allow the solid defoaming agent to melt into the aqueous solution. Even though such solid defoaming agents have shown to be more effective than conventional defoaming agents because the user has more control over the dispersion rate of the defoaming agent, the additional equipment, expense, and excess energy required to heat the waste tank solution makes the implementation of such solid defoaming agents impractical and inefficient.

Apparatus, system, and method for defoaming a waste tank


The present invention is directed to an adapter device for electronic equipment, which is adapted to have ability to load another electronic equipment at a loading unit of the existing IC card, and comprises a casing (31) loaded at a host equipment (1), a loading portion (35) in which the IC card (10) is loaded, a terminal portion (53) for performing transmission/reception of data to and from the host equipment provided at front surface (31a) side serving as insertion side into the host equipment, an insertion/withdrawal opening (52) for IC card provided in a manner continuous to the loading portion, a connecting terminal (44) electrically connected to a terminal portion and connected to a terminal portion (12) of the IC card, and cut portions (67), (68) having dimensions different from each other, which allow the rear surface side of the IC card formed at surfaces opposite to each other of the rear surface side of the casing to be exposed.

Hitherto, as an electronic equipment loaded at host equipment such as personal computer and/or digital still camera, etc., there are used substantially plate-shaped IC cards within which semiconductor integrated circuit elements are included. The IC card includes a substantially rectangular card body within which, e.g., flash memory is included, wherein terminal portions for electrically connecting to host equipment are provided at one short side of the card body.
There are, e.g., small-sized IC cards which are common to such existing IC cards in the electric specification and are different from the latter in outer appearance. Since such small-sized IC cards are different from the existing IC cards in the physical specification, it is impossible to load such small-sized IC card with respect to loading unit of the existing IC card. In view of the above, there are adapter devices which can load small-sized IC card with respect to the loading unit of the existing IC card. As such adapter device, there is an adapter device described in the International Laid Open pamphlet No. WO 02/059831.
At the adapter device described in this pamphlet, a loading portion adapted so that small-sized IC card is loaded therewithin is provided, an insertion/withdrawal opening for the small-sized IC card is provided at the rear surface side in a manner continuous to the loading portion, and terminal portions for performing electrical connection to the host equipment are provided at the front surface side. At the adapter device, cut portions are provided at both corner portions of the rear surface side where insertion/withdrawal portion is provided. The cut portions provided at both corner portions of the rear surface side where the insertion/withdrawal portion is provided allow both corner portions of the rear surface side of the IC card to be faced to the external when the small-sized IC card is loaded with respect to the loading portion to permit user to grasp the portion faced to the external portion from the cut portions of the IC card, e.g., both side surfaces of the rear surface side to take out the IC card loaded at the loading portion from the loading portion.
At the adapter device described in the pamphlet, since both corner portions of the rear surface side of the small-sized IC card loaded at the loading portion are only faced to the external portion from the cut portions at the time of loading of the small-sized IC card, the area that user can grasp the small-sized IC card is small. When user takes out the small-sized IC card from the loading portion, he draws out the IC card loaded at the loading portion in such a manner to grasp side surfaces opposite to each other of the rear surface side of the IC card faced to the external from the cut portions. Since the area that user grasps the IC card is narrow, it becomes difficult to draw or pull out the IC card.
Moreover, portions of the top face and/or the lower face of the IC card are used as memorandum area for memorizing the content, etc. of data that user preserves onto the IC card. The memorandum area is used as area where memorandum is described directly by using pen on the casing by user, and/or is used as an area where label for describing as memorandum is stuck. Namely, label that user has described as memorandum or user intends to describe as memorandum is stuck. However, at the adapter device described in the pamphlet, when the small-sized IC card is loaded with respect to the loading portion, the entirety of the small-sized IC card is covered by the casing except for both corner portions of the rear surface side where cut portions are provided. Accordingly, when the small-sized IC card is loaded at the loading portion of the adapter device, user cannot visually recognize memorandum areas provided at the top face and/or lower face of the IC card. Accordingly, in order to confirm the memorandum area of the small-sized IC card loaded at the adapter device, it is necessary for user to take out the small-sized IC card from the loading portion. It is impossible to easily perform confirmation thereof.
Further, the top face of the adapter device is the portion noticed for user to the greatest degree, and is extremely important area in design. Accordingly, it is desirable that the configurations indispensable in view of function of the adapter device are provided at the lower face side if possible, and the top face can be freely designed if possible.


Displaying web feed contents into email messages. A web feed manager formats web feed contents from a web feed to allow a user on the email client application to read web feed contents as email messages with all the controls typically provided by the email client application for an email message, such as displays with threading views and folders for saving messages. In one implementation, web feed contents archived by the email client remains linked to the web feed manager such that the archived content is updated with new content as received.

Web feed content, comprising web feed articles or simply "articles" are a means to syndicate contents via the internet Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a web site. To provide a web feed, a site owner publishes a list (or "feed") of recent articles in a standardized, machine-readable syndication format, such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0) or Atom. The feed can then be downloaded either by aggregator web sites that syndicate content from the feed, or by feed reader client applications. Aggregators and feed readers allow users to subscribe to feeds and then check the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading updates and providing a view of their content. A user, however, generally must sift through articles or article summaries to find interesting topics. This can become a particularly onerous task given that it has become common to subscribe to a great number of web feeds. However, web browsers and feed readers generally lack feature-rich interfaces enabling efficient management and navigation of the many articles. Because feature-rich interfaces also come at the expense of a user learning curve, it would be desirable to utilize a feature-rich web feed interface having management and navigation features which a user has already become accustomed to, such as an email client application.
Also, if the user wishes to forward articles to a friend, if using an aggregator or web browser, the user must separately compose an email and include the article or a link to the article. In such a circumstance it would desirable for a user to have the article directly accessible to an email client application.
It is also desirable to have an email client application that can automatically sift through articles and identify topics that the user is particularly interested in. In addition, by providing articles in a form which can be displayed and managed as emails, technologies that are advantageous for email messages such as sorting via Message Rules, adding message To-dos, highlighting segments of a message via Data Detectors, and manually sorting messages by dragging them to other mailboxes may also be advantageously applied to articles. In achieving these goals a great deal of convenience may be provided to the user with out requiring the user to master a new feature-rich application interface.
Furthermore, a method for employing an email application to access web feeds without disclosing to the web feeds a user's email address to a potentially insecure third party aggregator is desirable.

Methods and systems for managing web feed content with an email client application


A new cultivar of Miscanthus, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gold Breeze’, that is characterized by its stiff leaf blades that are densely banded with alternating bands of creamy yellow and apple green with the banding consistent from the base to the tip of the leaf blade, its moderate plant height, its upright plant habit with foliage that is dense and bushy and resists lodging, and its late season bloom of bright purple-red inflorescences in late September to early October in Oregon.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Miscanthus sinensis and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Gold Breeze'. 'Gold Breeze' represents a new cultivar of Japanese silver grass, a cold hardy, perennial ornamental grass grown for landscape use.
The Inventors discovered the new cultivar as a chance seedling in a field planted with stock plants of Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus' (not patented) at their nursery in Scappoose, Oreg. in summer of 1996. The Inventors evaluated 'Gold Breeze' along side other chance seedlings for a period of 10 years before selecting 'Gold Breeze' as a single unique plant of Miscanthus. Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus' (not patented) is considered by the Inventors to be a likely seed parent based on the characteristics of 'Gold Breeze' and its close proximity in the field plot.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by culm division in Scappoose, Oreg. in late winter of 2007 by the Inventors. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A vegetable lipid-based composition which includes a triglyceride or a free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture. The vegetable lipid-based composition has properties that make it advantageous in candle production.

This invention relates to vegetable lipid-based compositions that are advantageous to candle production. More specifically, the invention relates to a vegetable-lipid based composition including a vegetable lipid component and a petroleum wax wherein the composition contains a greater concentration of the vegetable lipid component than the petroleum wax. The vegetable lipid component includes either a triglyceride or a free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture.
Candles have long been used for light as well as for ceremonies and rituals. These candles are typically manufactured from compositions containing solid animal fats and waxes. Suitable waxes include petroleum waxes such as medium paraffin wax and microcrystalline paraffin wax that are derived from petroleum refining processes. The petroleum wax component of these candles is usually present in greater amounts than the solid animal fats.
Candles made from petroleum waxes produce a black smoke upon burning and generally exhibit an unpleasant odor. The black smoke of petroleum-based candles contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metals, and sulfur compounds that may be carcinogenic and/or toxic. Burning these candles in an enclosed environment increases the concentrations of these compounds and could therefore increase the detrimental effects that they may have.
Moreover, the cost of the petroleum wax will likely increase due to its low supply and increasing demand. Petroleum refining processes are constantly being improved to maximize quantities of short chain hydrocarbons and aromatic chemicals and the production of petroleum waxes is being reduced.
In this regard, candles are known that contain greater amounts of butter oil than conventional candles; however, compositions used to make these candles typically contain other ingredients, such as emulsifiers. These extra ingredients add to the complexity of the mixture and generally increase the cost of the candle.
As a result, there is a need for a candle composition that minimizes the risk to human health upon burning, utilizes renewable resources while minimizing or eliminating use of petrochemical-derived products, and has a naturally pleasing odor that does not require additional fragrances. This invention addresses that need.
The present invention provides a vegetable lipid-based composition having properties advantageous for candle production. The vegetable lipid-based composition includes a vegetable lipid component and a petroleum wax. The vegetable lipid component may be a triglyceride or a free fatty acid/triglcyeride mixture. The composition preferably includes a greater concentration of the triglyceride or free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture than the petroleum wax.
In one preferred embodiment, the vegetable lipid-based composition includes about 51% by weight to about 100% by weight of the triglyceride or fatty acid/triglyceride mixture and up to about 49% by weight of the petroleum wax, wherein the free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture includes about 1% by weight to about 99% by weight of the free fatty acid and about 1% by weight to about 99% by weight of the triglyceride. The petroleum wax may include a medium paraffin wax, a microcrystalline paraffin wax or a petroleum wax obtained from crude oil refined to other degrees.
In another embodiment, the vegetable lipid-based composition includes about 83% by weight to about 100% by weight of the triglyceride or the fatty acid/triglyceride mixture and up to about 17% by weight of the petroleum wax, wherein the fatty acid/triglyceride mixture includes about 1% by weight to about 99% by weight of the free fatty acid and about 1% by weight to about 99% by weight of the triglyceride.
In yet another embodiment, the vegetable lipid composition includes only the vegetable lipid component and the petroleum wax. In other embodiments, other components may be added to the composition, including colorants and odorants.
The present invention also provides a candle formed from the vegetable lipid-based compositions.
Accordingly, one object of the invention is to provide a vegetable lipid-based composition, and candles produced with such compositions that, when burned, minimizes the risk to human health, utilizes renewable resources, minimizes or eliminates the use of petrochemical-derived products and has a naturally pleasing odor.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent after reading the following description.
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to certain embodiments thereof and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations, modifications and further applications of the principles of the invention illustrated herein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.
The present invention provides a vegetable lipid-based composition and a candle formed therefrom. The composition includes a vegetable lipid component, including a triglyceride or a free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture, and a petroleum wax. The vegetable lipid component of the composition is preferably present in the composition in a greater concentration by weight than the petroleum wax component.
As known in the art, triglycerides are fatty acid esters of glycerol. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cfree fatty acidxe2x80x9d will refer to a fatty acid that is not covalently bound through an ester linkage to glycerol. Additionally, as used herein, the term xe2x80x9cfatty acid componentxe2x80x9d will be used to describe a fatty acid that is covalently bound through an ester linkage to glycerol.
The triglycerides and free fatty acids are obtained preferably from plant sources, including soybean, cottonseed, corn, sunflower, canola and palm oils. The triglycerides are used after normal refining processing by methods known in the art. For example, plant triglycerides may be obtained by solvent extraction of plant biomass using aliphatic solvents. Subsequent additional purification may involve distillation, fractional crystallization, degumming, bleaching and steam stripping. The triglycerides are also partially or fully hydrogenated. Furthermore, fatty acids may be obtained by hydrolysis of natural triglycerides (e.g., alkaline hydrolysis followed by purification methods known in the art, including distillation and steam stripping) or by synthesis from petrochemical fatty alcohols. The free fatty acids and triglycerides may further be obtained from commercial sources, including Cargill, Archer Daniels Midlands and Central Soya.
The free fatty acids and fatty acid components of the triglycerides are preferably saturated and their chains exhibit varying length. However, the free fatty acids and fatty acid components of the triglycerides may be unsaturated as long as the final candle composition will be a solid at the temperature at which the candle is used. The properties of the free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture, such as melting point, will vary as a function of the chain length and degree of saturation of the free fatty acids and the fatty acid components of the triglycerides. For example, as the degree of saturation decreases, the melting point decreases. Similarly, as the chain length of the fatty acids decreases, the melting point decreases. Preferred free fatty acids are the saturated fatty acids such as palmitic acid and include saturated fatty acids of longer carbon chain length, such as arachidic acid and behenic acid. Stearic acid is further preferred.
Table 1 depicts the preferred fatty acid components of the triglycerides in the present invention along with their preferred maximum percentages by weight.
As seen in Table 1, when unsaturated, the fatty acid components preferably contain about 1 to about 3 double bonds. The preferred chain length of the fatty acid components ranges from about 12 to about 22 carbon atoms. The preferred fatty acid components of the triglycerides include palmitic acid (16:0), stearic acid (18:0), oleic acid (18:1), arachidic acid (20:0) and behenic acid (22:0). For example, in one embodiment of the invention as seen in Table 1, the triglyceride component of the composition preferably contains up to about 74% by weight of the 18 carbon, saturated fatty acid component stearic acid. In another embodiment, the triglyceride preferably contains up to about 73% of the monounsaturated 18 carbon fatty acid component oleic acid. In yet a further embodiment, the triglyceride contains up to about 39% of the fatty acid component palmitic acid.
The vegetable lipid-based composition may include about 51% by weight to about 100% by weight of the vegetable lipid component including a free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture with the remainder including petroleum wax. Moreover, the vegetable lipid component may include only a triglyceride. However, the vegetable lipid-based composition preferably includes about 55% to about 100%, about 65% to about 100%, about 75% to about 100% and, more preferably, about 83% by weight to about 100% by weight of the vegetable lipid component. The free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture includes, on a weight percentage basis, about 1% to about 99% of the free fatty acid and about 1% to about 99% of the triglyceride but preferably includes about 1% to about 75% of the free fatty acid and about 25% to about 99% of the triglcyeride, about 1% to about 50% of the free fatty acid and about 50% to about 99% of the triglyceride, and about 1% to about 25% of the free fatty acid and about 75% to about 99% of the triglyceride. Further preferred free fatty acid/triglyceride mixtures include about 5% to about 95% of the free fatty acid and about 5% to about 95% of the triglyceride, about 5% to about 75% of the free fatty acid and about 25% to about 95% of the triglcyeride, about 5% to about 50% of the free fatty acid and about 50% to about 95% of the triglyceride, and about 5% to about 25% of the free fatty acid and about 75% to about 95% of the triglyceride. Even more specifically, superior candle quality may also be achieved when the free fatty acid/triglyceride mixture includes at least about 5% free fatty acids and about 95% triglycerides. For example, a preferred vegetable lipid composition includes about 5% by weight stearic acid and 95% by weight triglycerides having the following fatty acid components: about 17.2% palmitic acid, about 38.4% stearic acid and about 44.4% oleic acid, all on a weight-percent basis.
The petroleum wax of the present invention is a by-product of the petroleum refining process and may be obtained commercially from suppliers such as Witco. The quality and quantity of the wax obtained from the refining process is dependent upon the source of the crude oil and the extent of the refining. The petroleum wax component of the vegetable lipid-based candle composition includes, for example, a paraffin wax, including medium paraffin wax, microcrystalline paraffin wax or a combination thereof. However, petroleum wax obtained from crude oil refined to other degrees may also be used in the invention.
Although the exact chemical compositions of these waxes are not known as the nature of these by-products vary from one distillation process to the next, these waxes are composed of various types of hydrocarbons. For example, medium paraffin wax is composed primarily of straight chain hydrocarbons having carbon chain lengths ranging from about 20 to about 40, with the remainder typically comprising isoalkanes and cycloalkanes. The melting point of medium paraffin wax is about 50xc2x0 C. to about 65xc2x0 C. Microcrystalline paraffin wax is composed of branched and cyclic hydrocarbons having carbon chain lengths of about 30 to about 100 and the melting point of the wax is about 75xc2x0 C. to about 85xc2x0 C. Further descriptions of the petroleum wax that may be used in the invention may be found in Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd Edition, Volume 24, pages 473-76, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The vegetable lipid-based composition may contain up to about 49% by weight of the petroleum wax but preferably contains up to about 45%, up to about 35%, up to about 25% and more preferably up to about 17% by weight of the petroleum wax with the remainder being the vegetable lipid component. For example, the vegetable lipid-based composition may contain up to about 17% by weight medium paraffin wax. In general, superior candle quality is achieved when the vegetable lipid-based composition contains a greater concentration of the vegetable lipid component than the petroleum wax component. Moreover, even though a vegetable lipid-based composition including up to about 49% by weight of a petroleum wax will function as a suitable candle, superior candle quality may be achieved when the petroleum wax component is minimized. It is preferred that the vegetable lipid-based composition includes at least about 3% by weight of the petroleum wax component.
In a preferred embodiment, the vegetable lipid-based composition only includes the vegetable lipid component and petroleum wax. However, various odorants or colorants may be added to the vegetable lipid-based composition as desired. U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,011, issued to Comstock on Aug. 26, 1986, lists several odorants and colorants which may preferably be added to the vegetable lipid-based composition and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Furthermore, color stabilizing additives, such as ultraviolet light absorbing materials, may be added to prevent pigment color fading.
The vegetable lipid-based composition of the present invention may also include a very low level of an antioxidant, such as about 1 ppm to about 10 ppm of t-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) or butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), to increase shelf life. Sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid may be used in synergistic combination with the TBHQ and/or BHT for metal chelation.
The present invention also provides a candle formed from the vegetable lipid-based composition. The candle can be of any size and shape desired. The candle preferably includes a wick which typically extends longitudinally from one end of the candle to the other end. The wick is preferably made from woven cotton or any other suitable material as known in the art. The candle is preferably placed in a candle holder which is preferably composed of glass or any heat resistant material.
The candles formed from the vegetable lipid-based compositions of the present invention have superior solids content/mechanical stability as compared to commercial paraffin candles at elevated temperatures. For example, when paraffin candles and the vegetable lipid-based candles of the present invention are stored overnight at 55xc2x0 C., the paraffin candles liquify whereas the vegetable lipid-based candles remain solid (as determined by their ability to support a 4 gram marble on their surface). Although the vegetable lipid-based candles begin to soften when stored at 59xc2x0 C., the candles remain solid. Furthermore, soot and smoke formation was subjectively judged to be lower when candles including a vegetable lipid-based composition were burned compared to paraffin wax-based candles under the same conditions. Additionally, combustion tests described in Example 6 show that candles including a vegetable lipid-based composition of the present invention burn approximately 80% longer than paraffin wax-based candles under identical conditions. Therefore, a candle including a vegetable lipid-based composition will last significantly longer than a paraffin wax-based candle.
The crystallization/solidification behavior of the vegetable lipid-based composition of the present invention is significantly different than the behavior of petrochemical products. It is therefore necessary to employ relatively slow process cooling rates in order to obtain smooth candles with no visible crystal formation.
Reference will now be made to specific examples using the compositions and processes above described. All percentages are by weight. It is to be understood that the examples are provided to more completely describe preferred embodiments and that no limitation to the scope of the invention is intended thereby. The following preparatory steps were employed in the Examples.
The components of the candle were weighed and combined in a clean glass container. The composite material was obtained by heating to melt all solid components to a liquid state with sufficient stirring to uniformly mix all components. The temperature range for melting was normally between approximately 75xc2x0 C. to about 110xc2x0 C. Although they are not necessary for the mixing process, higher temperatures may be used. Temperatures in excess of 130xc2x0 C. are to be avoided to minimize degradation of the materials.
After the components were mixed, the composite material was either directly poured into product containers or was allowed to cool at room temperature to approximately 85xc2x0 C. before being poured into product containers. A wick was normally added at this point, while the material is still in the liquid state. The product was then cooled by standing at ambient temperature (room temperature), by the use of air convection (fan) or by the use of a temperature controlled water bath in a temperature range of about 5xc2x0 C. to about 50xc2x0 C. Colder temperatures may also be used if faster cooling is desired. Although several different cooling processes may be used, superior candles were made by minimizing the pouring temperature and cooling rapidly using air convection or a water bath.

Vegetable lipid-based composition and candle


A system for adversarial targeting mitigation is provided, the system generally comprising identifying, using an artificial intelligence and machine learning model engine, a user targeting pattern employed by an entity based on interaction data between the entity and one or more users, based on the identified pattern of targeting, training the machine learning model to identify specific user profile data correlated with specific responses from the entity, identifying, using the machine learning model, a subset of one or more favorable responses from the specific responses, and triggering the one or more favorable responses by altering the user profile data for the one or more users prior to interaction with the specific entity.

With an increase in unique user data stored for individuals by online providers, personalized, dynamic interactions based on user data have become increasingly prominent in order to provide uniquely tailored experiences. However, individualized experiences with online providers do not typically provide insight as to the metrics used by the online providers to tailor individual experiences, and may lead to undetected and unfair outcomes for certain groups of users.

System and methods to mitigate adversarial targeting using machine learning


A calibrated scanner is disclosed. The calibrated scanner includes a sensor board with a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) having two output signals. The sensor board also includes two offset devices, a coarse offset and a fine offset, the coarse offset being connected to the two output signals, the fine offset being connected to one of the output signals. The offsets are adjusted to provide a nonclipping DC bias for the two output signals. The sensor board also includes two gain devices, one gain device being attached to each output signal. The gain devices are adjusted to balance the two output signals. After these adjustments, the saturation level of the CCD is determined. The saturation level information is then used in readjusting the gain and offset devices. After this calibration, a linear correction may be applied to the output signal of the sensor board. The linear correction is accomplished by determining dark and light values of the sensor board. These values, along with ideal dark and light values, are used to solve two linear equations to determine M and b values. The M and b values are then used to provide direct linear correction to the data leaving the sensor board.

A number of difficulties are associated with image scanner technology. Specifically, the transformation of an analog signal of the image into a digital signal of the image is accompanied by a number of difficulties. First, the analog signal is subject to variation with heat, humidity, and other external factors which affect the quality of the resultant digital data. Next, the analog signal includes a noise portion which is transferred into the digital signal in the absence of proper processing. Another problem with analog signal manipulation in slide scanners is the saturation of analog devices within the scanner. These problems often result in a signal which includes erroneous data in a non-linear form. To correct this data requires a great deal of processing power.
By calibrating the sensor board, or analog electronics, on a scanner, an improved signal may be obtained. As a result, subsequent signal processing is reduced, therefore a smaller processor may be employed.
Calibration of a scanner is difficult since many elements associated with the scanner have interdependent relationships. Thus, adjusting one element will result in changes to other elements. Prior art attempts at calibrating scanners have relied upon a one-pass approach to calibrating elements.

Image scanner with calibration mechanism to obtain full dynamic range and compensated linear output


A printing apparatus forms image information and information associated therewith on a print medium. The printing apparatus receives image information from an image file stored in a recording medium, etc., and obtains information associated with the image information. The associated information includes attached information that is read out from the image file based on a file format using tags via an interface unit or added information that is input or selected in accordance with the image information. The image information is printed on the print medium, and the associated information is formed on a film sheet (laminate film), which is disposed over the image-printed surface, as a watermark. The associated information is not visible when the print medium is seen from the front, and can be seen when it is seen at an angle due to the difference in surface glossiness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for printing information associated with a printed image such as date, etc., without degrading the appearance of the image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In photographic records, date information which indicates the date on which a photograph was taken is often important, and sometimes, even valuable. Many cameras using silver salt film have a date function (date impose function), and, when an object is photographed, a date is imposed on the object image in the same frame during the exposure, so that a photograph in which the date overlaps the object image can be obtained. However, since characters representing the date are imposed on the printed image after the development, the appearance of the photograph is significantly degraded.
Due to the development of digital cameras, it has become possible to record and store image information along with associated information such as dates, conditions, names of image files, etc., with a common, standard format. For example, Exchangeable Image Format (Exif), which is common to various manufacturers, defines the kinds of tags with which the information associated with image data is recorded.
When such associated information is printed on a margin outside an image-printing area, the date information, etc., can be printed without degrading the appearance of the image.
However, in known apparatuses, there are problems in printing the associated information such as the date information, etc., as described below.
That is, since the margin is necessary for printing the date information, the image-printing area must be reduced or print paper having a relatively large size must be used. In addition, since the information is printed on the margin outside the image, the area of the margin must be increased as the amount of information to be printed is increased. Accordingly, it may become impossible to print the image at the maximum allowable print size of the print paper.
In addition, in digital-image-data printing, there are requirements for margin-free printouts as there were in the conventional photograph printing using silver salt film. However, if characters, etc., are imposed on an image in order to satisfy such requirements without changing the paper size, the problems of the conventional photograph printing cannot be solved. More specifically, when the date information, etc., is printed along with an image, characters representing the information must be printed with vivid colors (for example, orange, yellow, etc.) at a predetermined position in the image-printing area so that they can be seen clearly. As a result, the appearance of the photograph is degraded.
When the margins, which are used for preventing the characters representing a date, etc., from being imposed on the image, cannot be provided, another way to avoid printing the characters on the image is to print them on the backside. However, in such a case, a double-side printing mechanism is required, so that the size of the apparatus is increased and mechanism and control thereof becomes complex. In addition, high costs are incurred and the printing time is increased.

Apparatus and method for printing image and information associated therewith


A data processing system with a look-up table means for implementing a transfer function with non-uniform resolution comprises a memory to store a plurality of function data; an input to receive external address words for operating on the memory; and an output to provide the function data. The look-up table means comprises a converging means between the input and the memory for mapping specific ones of the external address words onto a specific one of internal address words to access the memory. This greatly reduces memory size. If the transfer function has a symmetry property, a symmetry-handling means further reduces the memory size.

1. Field Of The Invention
The invention relates to a data processing system with a look-up table means for implementing a transfer function with non-uniform resolution, the look-up table means having a memory to store a plurality of function data; an input to receive external addresses for operating the memory; and an output to provide the function data in response to the external addresses.
2. Background Art
Look-up tables are well known devices to implement a predetermined relationship, called a "transfer function" hereinafter, between input data and output data. The look-up table's advantage resides in the fact that substantive real-time processing power is avoided or at least reduced as compared with what would be needed if an algorithm were to be executed in real time. Especially with regard to non-linear transfer functions a look-up table could save a substantial amount of time and/or processing power. Therefore, look-up tables are fast and simple functional building blocks for use in a data processing system.
A look-up table, however, may need a high memory capacity to store large amounts of function data. A large memory in an IC embodiment of a look-up table gives rise to, among other things, a large substrate area, extensive peripheral circuitry such as address decoders and buffers, long supply leads and long signal leads, etc. These aspects degrade system performance and increase the system's size and cost.
A way of reducing a look-up table's memory size is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,797. This prior art document describes a control system to move a load from one position to another position according to a predetermined transfer function, namely a velocity curve. A discrepancy between the current position and the desired position of the load generates an address to access a look-up table. The look-up table thereupon provides a group of digitized values indicative of the velocity curve to be traversed by the load. The domain of the transfer function used, i.e., the range of possible positions, is divided into a sequence of segments. Each next segment is half the size of the preceding segment. For each segment there is stored in the look-up table a fixed number of values for the velocity curve associated with that segment, each segment containing the same fixed number of values. The non-uniform segmentation and the fixed number of velocity values per segment accounts for a non-uniform resolution of the transfer function. The resolution is stepwise increased towards the low velocity portion of the velocity curve. Thus, the memory size is reduced by means of storing a sufficient amount of data distributed non-uniformly over the parameter range in order to omit superfluous data where fine-tuning is not crucial.
The prior art device produces a control signal (a group of digitized values) in two cycles: first the relevant segment and thereupon the segment's relevant portion are to be determined. This constitutes an essentially slower approach than one with a single-cycle operation. Also, the look-up table is based on decreasing the size of each next segment by a constant factor and keeping the number of velocity curve values the same for each segment. Within each segment, the locations (input to look-up table) and velocity values (output of look-up table) are substantially uniformly distributed. Such an architecture is too rigid to implement more general control applications, such as those wherein a transfer function is non-monotonous. Also, the prior art does not explain how to proceed when the transfer function is a function of two or more independent variables or when several control signals are to be produced. Further, the known architecture prescribes an essentially non-uniform input value distribution throughout the whole input signal value range, requiring circuitry operating non-uniformly throughout this range.

Data processing system with reduced look-up table for a function with non-uniform resolution


There is provided a honeycomb structure including a honeycomb base material including a porous partition wall parent material; plugged portions; and a porous collecting layer disposed on the surface of the partition wall parent material in the remaining cells. A melting point of a material constituting the collecting layer is higher than that of a material constituting the partition wall parent material, a pore surface area per unit volume of the collecting layer is 2.0 times or more a pore surface area per unit volume of the partition wall parent material, and a thickness of a portion of the collecting layer which penetrates into pores of the partition wall parent material is 6% or smaller of that of each of partition walls including the partition wall parent material and the collecting layer.

In gases discharged from internal combustion engines such as diesel engines, various types of combustion apparatuses and the like, a large amount of particulate matter (PM) mainly composed of soot is included. When this PM is discharged as it is to the atmosphere, environmental pollutions are caused. Therefore, a diesel particulate filter (DPF) for collecting the PM is mounted on an exhaust system of an exhaust gas.
As such a DPF, there has been used, for example, a honeycomb structure "including porous partition walls to partition and form a plurality of cells which become through channels of a fluid (an exhaust gas and a purified gas) and an outer peripheral wall positioned in an outermost periphery, and further including plugged portions in open frontal areas of predetermined cells in an end surface on an inflow side of the fluid (the exhaust gas) and open frontal areas of the remaining cells in an end surface on an outflow side of the fluid (the purified gas)".
There has been a problem that when the PM in the exhaust gas is collected by using such a honeycomb structure, the PM penetrates into the porous partition walls to clog pores of the partition walls, and a pressure loss rapidly increases sometimes.
A filter has been suggested in which to suppress the increase of a pressure loss, a collecting layer for collecting a PM is disposed on the surfaces of partition walls, and the collecting layer prevents the penetration of the PM into the partition walls, to suppress the rise of the pressure loss (e.g., see Non-Patent Document 1).
Heretofore, as a regulation on an automobile exhaust gas, the regulation by means of a mass of the PM has been performed. In recent years, however, the introduction of the regulation on the number of the PMs has been investigated. In this case, it is necessary to securely collect the PM having small particle diameters. It is known that the PM having the small particle diameters is collected by the surfaces of pores which are present in a filter, mainly by diffusion (e.g., see Non-Patent Document 2).
Heretofore, when the honeycomb structure including the collecting layer is prepared, the collecting layer has been formed by immersing the honeycomb structure into a collecting layer forming slurry (a collecting layer forming raw material) or pouring the collecting layer forming slurry into cells of the honeycomb structure, to coat porous partition walls (a partition wall parent material) with the collecting layer forming slurry, followed by firing. Moreover, when a porous film having smaller pore diameters and smaller thickness than the porous partition walls is formed on the surfaces of the partition walls, it has been necessary to set the particle diameters of ceramic particles constituting the porous film to be smaller than the pore diameters of the partition walls. However, in this method, there has been a problem that the collecting layer forming slurry penetrates into the pores of the partition walls (the partition wall parent material) of the honeycomb structure, and an initial pressure loss in the case of the circulation of the exhaust gas through the obtained honeycomb structure becomes high.
Furthermore, in the case of a honeycomb structure made of cordierite, aluminum titanate or the like, there has been a problem that a slurry penetrates into micro cracks formed in the honeycomb structure or the like, and a thermal expansion coefficient or the like of the obtained honeycomb structure or the like becomes high.
On the other hand, a method has been suggested in which pores of a porous support material are charged with "a substance which can be removed later", the pores are clogged, and then the surface of the porous support material is coated with a slurry including ceramic particles having small particle diameters (e.g., see Patent Documents 1 to 3). Examples of "the substance which can be removed later" can include combustible substances (Patent Document 1). When the combustible substances are used, the combustible substances can be burnt and removed later in a firing step. Moreover, examples of "the substance which can be removed later" can include water and alcohol (Patent Documents 2 and 3). When the water or alcohol is used, the surface is coated with the slurry and then dried, whereby the water or alcohol can be removed.
Moreover, a method has been suggested in which a ceramic porous film (a collecting layer) is formed on the surface of a porous support material by use of fine particles mainly composed of an oxide such as alumina or zirconia (e.g., see Patent Document 4). Specifically in the method, the ceramic porous film is formed on the surface of the porous support material made of a porous ceramic by use of a porous film forming coating material containing the fine particles mainly composed of the oxide having controlled average primary particle diameter, tap bulk density and average secondary particle diameter in the coating material (the average secondary particle diameter when the material is dispersed in a dispersion medium), and containing the dispersion medium mainly composed of water. A viscosity of the material is controlled to be 2 mPa·s or larger and 1000 mPa·s or smaller.
Furthermore, a method has been suggested in which a collecting layer forming slurry prepared by further adding a pore former and water to the same material as that of a honeycomb formed body is sprayed on the honeycomb formed body, to deposit the collecting layer forming slurry on partition walls of the honeycomb formed body, followed by drying and firing, thereby disposing the collecting layer on the honeycomb formed body (e.g., see Patent Document 5).
In addition, a method has been suggested in which a slurry made of a bonding material mainly composed of an inorganic fibrous material longer than pore diameters of porous partition walls and silica or alumina is deposited on the surfaces of the partition walls, followed by drying and firing, thereby forming a porous film (a collecting layer) on surface layers of the partition walls (e.g., see Patent Document 5).

Honeycomb structure and manufacturing method of the same


Methods and systems for purifying phenol. The method can include contacting a feed that includes phenol and an aldehyde containing compound with a first ion exchange material to produce a first treated product. The first treated product can have a pH that is less than a pH of the feed. The first treated product can contain less of the aldehyde containing compound than the feed. The first treated product can be contacted with a second ion exchange material to produce a second treated product. The second treated product can have a pH that is greater than the pH of the first treated product. Each of the first ion exchange material and the second ion exchange material can be a solid, a semi-solid, or a combination thereof.

1. Field
Embodiments described generally relate to methods and systems for purifying phenol containing compositions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Phenol and acetone are produced in various processes, the most common of which are known as the Hock Process, the Hock and Lang Process, and the cumene-to-phenol process, among others. These processes begin with the oxidation of cumene (isopropyl benzene) to form cumene hydro-peroxide ("CHP"). The CHP is then cleaved in the presence of an acid catalyst to form a phenol, acetone, and/or alpha-methyl styrene ("AMS") mixture. The mixture is subsequently neutralized and fractionated to recover the end-products phenol, acetone, and/or AMS.
In the recovered phenol, impurities are removed by contacting the phenol with a cation resin bed to catalyze the impurities into higher boiling components that can be removed by distillation. However, the cation resin bed can result in residual acidity downstream that can catalyze reverse reactions of the higher boiling components under the high distillation temperatures. This residual acidity has been addressed by introducing a caustic solution downstream of the cation resin bed and upstream of the distillation. The addition of the caustic solution, however, results in salt formation that can lead to fouling and reduce product value.
There is a need, therefore, for improved systems and methods for purifying phenol containing compositions.


Provided is a molded article of a composition comprising a polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide is at least one kind selected from the group consisting of natural spider silk protein and polypeptides derived from natural spider silk protein.

For the purpose of weight reduction, cost reduction, the facilitation of forming, and the like, attempts for substituting metallic materials with organic materials are underway. As the above-described organic materials, phenolic resins having a high resin hardness are often used, and a method of adding a phenolic resin fiber to a matrix resin containing a phenolic resin is known since the bending elastic modulus or the bending strength is further increased (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1). In addition, due to a rising demand for environmental protection, bioplastics which are petroleum free materials have been thus far drawing attention, and the fact that formed articles having 4.5 GPa of a bending elastic modulus can be obtained by resinifying silk powder is known (for example, refer to Non Patent Literature 1).

Molded article and method for producing molded article


A focus/exposure matrix comprises a series of patterns disposed on a wafer. The patterns are arranged in rows and columns. The patterns in a row are characterized by having been formed with substantially the same exposure time and an effective focus that increments between successive row patterns by an amount substantially corresponding to half the focus resolution of the photostepper. The patterns in a column are characterized by having been formed with substantially the same effective focus and an exposure time that increments between successive column patterns by a finite amount.

During the past twenty years, the developments in the field of manufacturing very large scale integrated circuits have been phenomenal. Circuits that used to occupy an entire room have been shrunken into a small integrated circuit, which may fit into, for example, a small calculator or computer. And still the aim of many in the industry is to further reduce the size of circuits so as to occupy even smaller areas.
As circuits are reduced in size, each component within each circuit is likewise reduced in size. The problem, however, lies in manufacturing these smaller components without degrading the function and performance of the circuits. This is where each component's line and space definitions are crucial in the production of these integrated circuits. Such line and spacing definitions are approaching dimensions near a tenth of a micron. Therefore, there is a need to have accurate equipment and manufacturing techniques in manufacturing these types of integrated circuits.
One equipment commonly used in manufacturing very large scale integrated circuit is a photostepper. A photostepper is used to expose a layer of resist disposed over a thin-film covered wafer to electromagnetic radiation spatially modulated with a circuit pattern. The photostepper usually steps and repeats the exposure of the resist so as to form images of multiple circuit patterns on the resist. The wafer is subsequently removed and the wafer is subjected to an etching process for removing the resist and part of the thin-film so as to leave a thin-film pattern disposed on the wafer defining the multiple circuit patterns.
The manner in which a photostepper exposes the layer of resist is by projecting an image of the circuit pattern towards the wafer. A reticle or mask having a series of darken images disposed thereon defining the circuit pattern is interposed between a light source and the wafer, and a controllable shutter is interposed between the mask and the wafer. The light source is constantly energized and the photostepper periodically opens its shutter so that electromagnetic energy having the proper wavelength emanating from the light source and propagating through the image on the mask strikes the resist. The shutter is thereafter moved to a different position over the wafer and another exposure is conducted. Generally, this is performed until an array of exposures is formed on the resist.
The exposing of the resist process is a critical step in obtaining well-defined circuit patterns on the wafer. This step becomes more critical as the dimensions of the lines and spacings of the circuit become smaller. In other words, precise exposure time and focus are required in order to optimize the image exposed on the wafer. A photostepper usually has multiple settings of exposure time and focus. One set of exposure time and focus settings being optimal in obtaining best circuit patterns. Therefore, there is a need to determine these precise settings of the photostepper to optimize the definitions of the circuit pattern disposed on the wafer.
The determination of the optimum focus and exposure settings is an on-going process. Usually, this determination should be conducted prior to manufacturing a production run of circuit patterns. The reason for constantly calibrating the photostepper is that various factors that affect the exposure of the resist change over time. For example, changes in barometric pressure or excessive opening of the photostepper's side panel may cause the optimum focus and exposure time settings to change. In addition variation in wafer, thin-film and/or resist also has an effect on the optimum settings of the photostepper. Therefore, there is a need for a technique that can be performed on a regular basis for calibrating the photostepper so that the optimum focus and exposure time settings are obtained prior to manufacturing a lot of production circuit wafers.
One technique used in obtaining these optimized settings is to form a focus/exposure matrix on the wafer. A focus/exposure matrix is a series of patterns disposed on the wafer usually arranged in rows and columns. A pattern may be formed by etching a thinfilm disposed over the wafer, or by etching the top surface of a bare wafer, or preferably, by etching a layer of resist disposed over the wafer. Each pattern having been formed with a distinct focus and exposure time, as for example, the patterns in a row having been formed with substantially the same exposure time and a focus that is incremented between successive row patterns by an amount substantially corresponding to the focus resolution of the photostepper and the patterns in a column having substantially the same focus and an exposure time that is incremented between successive column patterns by a finite amount. By examining the focus/exposure matrix to determine the pattern that has the best defined lines and spacings, an optimal set of exposure time and focus settings may be obtained.
The disadvantage with this method is that the photostepper has a margin of error in its focus. The margin of error may be as high as plus or minus the focus resolution of the photostepper. As a result, there will be an uncertainty as to whether the increment in focus between successive patterns is uniform. For example, if one pattern has an error of plus the focus resolution, and the succeeding pattern has an error of minus the focus resolution, both patterns would be exposed with the same focus, although they were created using different focus settings. The margin of error problem is also applicable to the exposure time. Hence using this method is not reliable for photostepper calibration and checking. Therefore, there is a need to create a focus/exposure matrix that is more reliable.
A technique has been developed in the prior art to create a focus/exposure matrix that is more reliable. This technique uses the concept of overlapping exposures to improve the reliability of each exposed pattern. When exposures are overlapped, it produces an image that has an effective focus that is the average focus of the overlapping exposures. For example, if a first exposure has been created with a focus setting of zero micron and a second exposure has been created with a focus setting of 0.1 micron, then the effective focus of the overlapping of these exposures is the average focus, i.e. 0.05 micron. The margin of error is statistically improved by this averaging effect. For example, if the first exposure has a positive error and the second exposure has a negative error, these errors would cancel out at the overlapping region since the focuses are averaged. The only way that the overlapping region's effective error would equal that of each individual exposure is if both exposures have the extreme error in the same direction, and statistically, this is unlikely. The result is an improvement in the accuracy in the overlapping regions.
A prior art technique of forming a focus/exposure matrix using overlapping regions generally uses a substantially square frame to form each pattern. First, the photostepper is positioned over the wafer at a strategic spot, for example, over a spot near an upper-left corner of the wafer. The photostepper then exposes the resist with an initial focus and exposure time. This exposure may be designated exposure (1,1), for example, since it is the upper-left corner exposure of the focus/exposure matrix. Assume that exposure (1,1) was exposed with an initial focus setting of -0.1 micron. Then the photostepper is moved one-half a frame in the x-direction, and exposure (1,2) is exposed with a 0 micron focus setting. The photostepper again is moved one-half a frame in the x-direction and exposure (1,3) is exposed with a +0.1 micron focus setting. Because the photostepper moves one-half a frame for each exposure, the right-half of exposure (1,1) is overlapped with the left-half of exposure (1,2); and similarly, the right-half of exposure (1,2) is overlapped with the left-half of exposure (1,3). The resulting overlapping regions have an effective focus of -0.05 and +0.05 micron, respectively. The technique may be used to create a row of overlapping regions having an effective focus ranging from, for example, of -2.5 micron to +2.5 micron, in steps of 0.1 micron (i.e. the focus resolution of the photostepper). After a row of exposures is created, the photostepper moves one-half a frame in the y-direction and creates a similar row of exposures with a different exposure time. This process is repeated until a two-dimensional array of exposures is formed.
One disadvantage with this technique is that the effective focus of each overlapping region does not correspond to a focus setting of the photostepper. For instance, in the above example, the photostepper has a focus setting of -0.1, 0 and +0.1 micron. But the overlapping regions have an effective focus of -0.05 and +0.05 micron. The effective focus of each overlapping region always differs from the focus setting of the photostepper by 0.05 micron. It is difficult to determine the optimum focus setting from a focus/exposure matrix such as this one where none of the patterns have been formed with an effective focus corresponding to one of the focus settings. Therefore, there is a need for a technique to form a focus/exposure matrix having patterns formed with effective focuses corresponding to the photostepper's focus settings.
Another disadvantage with this technique is that the difference in effective focus between adjacent overlapping regions is only as good as the focus resolution of the photostepper. For instance, in the above example, the effective focus of the overlapping regions were -0.05 and +0.05 micron, respectively. The difference in effective focus for these regions is 0.1 micron (i.e. +0.05 micron-(-0.05 micron)). The focus resolution of the photostepper, which is defined as the difference in closest focus settings, is also 0.1 micron. To achieve better accuracy in the photostepper calibration process, it is desirable to reduce the difference in effective focus between adjacent overlapping regions.


The present invention relates to proteins or polypeptides, referred to herein as isolated and/or recombinant mammalian (e.g., human) IP-10/Mig receptor proteins designated CXC Chemokine Receptor 3 (CXCR3) and variants thereof, including those characterized by selective binding of one or more chemokines (e.g., IP-10 and/or Mig), and/or the ability to induce a cellular response (e.g., chemotaxis, exocytosis). Antibodies reactive with CXCR3 receptors can be produced using the proteins or variants thereof or host cells comprising same as immunogen.

Chemokines constitute a family of small cytokines that are produced in inflammation and regulate leukocyte recruitment (Baggiolini M. et al., Adv. Immunol. 55: 97-179 (1994); Springer, T. A., Annu. Rev. Physiol. 57: 827-872 (1995); and Schall, T. J. and K. B. Bacon, Curr. Opin. Immunol. 6: 865-873 (1994)). Chemokines are capable of selectively inducing chemotaxis of the formed elements of the blood (other than red blood cells), including leukocytes such as neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, eosinophils, basophils, mast cells, and lymphocytes, such as T cells and B cells. In addition to stimulating chemotaxis, other changes can be selectively induced by chemokines in responsive cells, including changes in cell shape, transient rises in the concentration of intracellular free calcium ions ([Ca2+]i), granule exocytosis, integrin upregulation, formation of bioactive lipids (e.g., leukotrienes) and respiratory burst, associated with leukocyte activation. Thus, the chemokines are early triggers of the inflammatory response, causing inflammatory mediator release, chemotaxis and extravasation to sites of infection or inflammation.
Two subfamilies of chemokines, designated as CXC and CC chemokines, are distinguished by the arrangement of the first two of four conserved cysteine residues, which are either separated by one amino acid (as in CXC chemokines IL-8, γIP-10, Mig, PF4, ENA-78, GCP-2, GROα, GROβ, GROγ, NAP-2, NAP-4) or are adjacent residues (as in CC chemokines MIP-1α, MIP-1β, RANTES, MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3, I-309). Most CXC chemokines attract neutrophil leukocytes. For example, the CXC chemokines interleukin 8 (IL-8), platelet factor 4 (PF4), and neutrophil-activating peptide 2 (NAP-2) are potent chemoattractants and activators of neutrophils. The CXC chemokines designated Mig (monokine induced by gamma interferon) and IP-10 (γIP-10, interferon-gamma inducible 10 kDa protein) are particularly active in inducing chemotaxis of activated peripheral blood lymphocytes. CC chemokines are generally less selective and can attract a variety of leukocyte cell types, including monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. CC chemokines such as human monocyte chemotactic proteins 1-3 (MCP-1, MCP-2 and MCP-3), RANTES (Regulated on Activation, Normal T Expressed and Secreted), and the macrophage inflammatory proteins 1α and 1β (MIP-1α and MIP-1β) have been characterized as chemoattractants and activators of monocytes or lymphocytes, but do not appear to be chemoattractants for neutrophils.
CC and CXC chemokines act through receptors which belong to a superfamily of seven transmembrane spanning G protein-coupled receptors (Murphy, P. M., Annu. Rev. Immunol., 12: 593-633 (1994); Gerard, C. and N. P. Gerard, Curr. Opin. Immunol., 6: 140-145 (1994)). This family of G-protein coupled (serpentine) receptors comprises a large group of integral membrane proteins, containing seven transmembrane-spanning regions. The receptors are coupled to G proteins, which are heterotrimeric regulatory proteins capable of binding GTP and mediating signal transduction from coupled receptors, for example, by the production of intracellular mediators.
The chemokine receptors can be divided into two groups: CC chemokine receptors 1 through 5 (CCR1-5), which bind CC chemokines, and CXC chemokine receptors 1 through 4 (CXCR1-4), which bind CXC chemokines. In general, the CC chemokine receptors occur on several types of leukocytes, and are important for the migration of monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, and T cells (Qin, S., et al., Eur. J. Immunol., 26:640-647 (1996); Carr, M. W., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 91(9):3652-3656 (1994); Taub, D. D., et al., J. Clin. Invest., 95(3):1370-1376 (1995); Neote, K. et al., Cell, 72: 415-425 (1993); Gao, J. -L. et al., J. Exp. Med., 177: 1421-1427 (1993); Charo, I. F. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 91: 2752-2756 (1994); Myers, S. J., et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270: 5786-5792 (1995); Combadiere, C. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270 (27): 16491-16494 (1995); and Correction, J. Biol. Chem., 270: 30235 (1995); Ponath, P. D. et al., J. Exp. Med., 183: 2437-2448 (1996); and Daugherty, B. L. et al., J. Exp. Med., 183: 2349-2354 (1996); Power, C. A. et al., 1995, J. Biol. Chem., 270: 19495-19500 (1995); Hoogewerf, A. J. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 218: 337-343 (1996); Samson, M. et al., Biochemistry, 35: 3362-3367 (1996)). In contrast, the two IL-8 receptors, CXCR1 and CXCR2, are largely restricted to neutrophils and are important for the migration of neutrophils (Baggiolini, M., et al., Adv. Immunol., 55:97-179 (1994)). The IL-8 receptors, CXCR1 (IL-8R1, interleukin-8 receptor type 1; Holmes, W. E. et al., Science, 253: 1278-1280 (1991)) and CXCR2 (IL-8R2, interleukin-8 receptor type 2; Murphy, P. M. and H. L. Tiffany, Science, 253: 1280-1283 (1991)) recognize the NH2-terminal Glu-Leu-Arg (ELR) motif, an essential binding epitope observed in CXC chemokines that induce neutrophil chemotaxis (Clark-Lewis, I. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266: 23128-23134 (1991); Hébert, C. A. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266: 18989-18994 (1991); and Clark-Lewis, I. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90: 3574-3577 (1993)).
In contrast to monocytes and granulocytes, lymphocyte responses to chemokines are not well understood. Notably, none of the receptors of known specificity appear to be restricted to lymphocytes and the chemokines that recognize these receptors cannot, therefore, account for events such as the selective recruitment of T lymphocytes that is observed in T cell-mediated inflammatory conditions. Moreover, although a number of proteins with significant sequence similarity and similar tissue and leukocyte subpopulation distribution to known chemokine receptors have been identified and cloned, the ligands for these receptors remain undefined. Thus, these proteins are referred to as orphan receptors. The characterization of the ligand(s) of a receptor, is essential to an understanding of the interaction of chemokines with their target cells, the events stimulated by this interaction, including chemotaxis and cellular activation of leukocytes, and the development of therapies based upon modulation of receptor function.

Method of inhibiting leukocytes with human CXC chemokine receptor 3 antibody