Exposure of human skin to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun not only induces the production of enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases) that degrade collagen, but also inhibits the synthesis of new collagen by inhibiting the synthesis of procollagen. This UV-induced inhibition of the synthesis of collagen can be prevented by the topical application of a retinoid or c-JUN inhibitor to the skin prior to exposure to UV radiation.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of photoprotection of human skin. More particularly, the invention relates to compositions and methods for this use by topical application to reduce if not eliminate the inhibition of collagen synthesis in human skin after incidental and/or direct exposure to UV radiation as would occur daily, and as would occur after recreational exposure to UV radiation during a planned, extended period in the sun.
2. The State of the Art.
Human skin is a complex organ which extends over the entire body. There are different types of skin at different portions of the body; for example, facial skin is different from that of the scalp, and even the skin on the front (palm) of the hand is different than that on the back of the hand. Although the type of skin can vary over a person's body, skin is generally composed of two main layers of tissue. The epidermis, the outermost layer, is composed of several layers. The dermis, corium, or cutis vera, the true skin, is composed of a papillary layer above and a reticular layer below.
As far as mammals go, humans are essentially hairless; that is, most of the skin of the human body can be seen without interference from hair. The skin is thus exposed to whatever insults (natural and man-made) the environment harbors. Since it was first understood that the sun caused erythema, people have taken measures to avoid its "harmful rays." There is a difference between the physiology of chronologically-aged or intrinsically-aged skin (old skin) in comparison with that of photoaged skin. Old skin typically maintains a smooth and unblemished appearance, in comparison with the leathery, blotchy, and often fine and deep wrinkling of photoaged skin. The epidermis of old skin is typically thinner than normal, whereas that of photoaged aged skin can often be thicker than normal (acanthotic) and then atrophies over time. See also N. A. Fenske and C. W. Lober, "Structural and functional changes of normal aging skin," J. Am. Acad. Dermatol., 15:571–585 (1986).
Photoaging is a term presently used to describe the changes in appearance and/or function of human skin as a result of repeated exposure to sunlight, and especially in reference to wrinkles and other changes in the appearance of the skin thought to be related to exposure to the sun. The ultraviolet (UV) component of sunlight, particularly UVA and UVB, is generally believed to be the principal causative agent in photoaging. The extent of UV exposure required to cause "photoaging" is not currently known, although the amount sufficient to cause erythema (reddening, commonly seen as sunburn) in human skin is quantified empirically as the "minimal erythemal dose" ("MED") from a given UV source. Repeated exposure to sunlight UV at levels that cause erythema and tanning are, nevertheless, commonly associated with photoaging.
Solar radiation reaching the earth's surface that effects and enables various animals, including humans, comprises ultraviolet (UV) (λ<400 nm), visible (400 nm<λ<700 nm), and infrared (IR) (λ>700 nm). UV radiation is generally divided into UVA (320–400 nm), UVB (290–320 nm), and UVC (<290 nm); UVC radiation is blocked from reaching the earth's surface by stratospheric ozone. UVB doses in the range of 30–50 mJ/cm2 skin cause erythema in most fair-skinned people. Sunlight reaching the surface of the earth when the sun is essentially overhead provides the following amounts of radiation: 0.5% UVB; 6.5% UVA; 38.9% visible light; and 54.0% IR. These radiation types provide the following energy fluxes: 2.11 mJ/cm2·s (21.1 W/m2) for UVB; 8.57 mJ/cm2·s (85.7 W/m2) for UVA; 53.2 mJ/cm2·s (532 W/m2) for visible light; and 72.2 mJ/cm2·s (722 W/m2) for IR.
Photoaging is characterized clinically by coarseness, wrinkles, mottled pigmentation, sallowness, laxity, telangiectasia, lentigines, purpura and relative ease of bruising, atrophy, depigmented areas, eventually premalignant, and ultimately malignant neoplasms. Photoaging commonly occurs in skin that is habitually exposed to sunlight such as the face, ears, bald areas of the scalp, neck, forearms, and hands.
Sunscreens are commonly used to prevent sunburn (erythema) of skin areas that are exposed to sunlight. Sunscreens are topical preparations that contain ingredients that absorb, reflect, and/or scatter UV light. Some sunscreens are based on opaque particulate materials, among them zinc oxide, titanium oxide, clays, and ferric chloride. Because such preparations are visible and occlusive, many people consider these opaque formulations cosmetically unacceptable. Other sunscreens contain chemicals such as p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), oxybenzone, dioxybenzone, ethylhexyl-methoxy cinnamate, octocrylene, octyl methoxycinnamate, and butylmethoxydibenzoylmethane that are transparent or translucent on the skin. While these types of sunscreens may be more acceptable cosmetically, they are still relatively short-lived and susceptible to being removed by washing or perspiration.
As noted above, the generally accepted etiology of photodamage to skin involves an exposure to sunlight sufficient to cause erythema (sunburn or reddening; literally a flush upon the skin), and it is now known that sufficient UV radiation causes erythema. This philosophy dictates that present compositions and methods for inhibiting photoaging include the use of compounds that block or absorb UV, and that such compositions need be used only when there is a sufficient likelihood that exposure to sunlight will result in erythema. More recent sunscreen compositions include combinations of compounds that block both UVA and UVB radiation.
According to Physiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology of the Skin, 2nd Ed., ed. by L. A. Goldsmith (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1991), UVA is considered both melanogenic and erythemogenic and UVA exposure induces synthesis of a 32 kDa stress protein in cultured fibroblasts. This text further describes that after a latent period of several hours after UV irradiation erythema becomes apparent (i.e., "delayed" erythema); "immediate" erythema is described as usually not apparent after UVB or UVC exposures but does occur, in a dose-dependent manner, after exposure to UVA. Goldsmith teaches that 250–290 nm (UVC region) is considered to be the most erythemogenic radiation with one thousand-fold less erythema at 290–340 nm (UVB and UVA1 region); erythema from UVB/C is taught to be a function of the total radiation exposure rather the intensity of the radiation exposure.
Retinoids have been used to retard the effects of photoaging in skin appearing to have been damaged by exposure to the sun. U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,805 describes the treatment of photoaged skin after photoaging has become apparent clinically. This patent indicates there is little point in beginning the application of a retinoid to treat photodamaged skin until the effects of photoaging begin to appear.
On the other hand, our patent applications (based on copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/588,771, filed Jan. 19, 1996, and provisional application 60/048,520, filed Jun. 4, 1997, and 60/057,976, filed Sep. 5, 1997, all related to photoaging of human skin, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes) describe the damage matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) do to skin, that their activity is greatly enhanced after exposure to UV radiation, and that photoaging can and should be treated prior to the unambiguous clinical appearance of photoaging. These patent applications describe treatment of photoaged skin (i.e., skin that has been exposed to solar UV radiation, regardless of whether erythema or the clinical signs of photoaging are apparent) by the topical administration of inhibitors of MMPs (i.e., direct inhibitors of the proteinase) and of transcription factors (e.g., inhibitors of AP-1) that affect MMP expression.
In view of the foregoing, it can be argued that the art adheres presently to the philosophy that sunlight, especially UV radiation, causes erythema, and that repeated episodes of erythema and similarly chronic exposure to the sun result in photoaged skin. This philosophy is based on the observation that people who have spent significant amounts of time in the sun have skin that appears aged, as if these people where chronologically older. As noted above, though, certain physiological differences between old skin and photoaged skin are apparent when histology and similarly direct measurements of the skin are taken.
It can be seen that the art has concentrated on preventing and repairing perceived damage to skin that appears aged because of chronic UV exposure. Sunscreens can prevent erythema, and this is generally considered sufficient for protection from the sun. The aforementioned patents teach treating photodamaged skin (although our patent defines photodamage by the presence of elevated MMPs, whereas Kligman's patent defines photodamage by clinical appearance).
Heretofore, nothing in the art has appeared to address what effect, if any, exposure to sunlight, and particularly the UV portion of the sun's spectrum, has on the production of collagen. Collagen is a polypeptide represented by the repeating peptides [-X-Y-Gly-]n where Gly is glycine and X and Y are other amino acids. About 20% of the remaining amino acids are an equal amount of proline and 4-hydroxyproline; analysis for hydroxyproline, because it is an unusual amino acid, is one method for assaying collagen or procollagen amounts. Collagen also contains other unusual amino acids, such as 3-hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine. Nineteen different types of collagen have been identified. Collagen Types I (85+%) and III (8+%) are the predominant types of collagen in human skin and are present as fibrils. Structurally, three collagen polypeptides wrap around each other in a helix to form a triple helix collagen molecule. These molecules are packed in a five-stranded rope-like structure wherein each collagen molecule is quarter-staggered with respect to the next to form a microfibril. Microfibrils are subsequently wrapped around other microfibrils to form fibrils, which in turn wrap around other fibrils to produce even larger fibers. The production of collagen fibers in vivo requires activation of the collagen biosynthesis pathway by which transcription in the cell nucleus promotes polypeptide synthesis via translation from mRNA, organization of the polypeptides into a procollagen triple helix in the cytoplasm, secretion of procollagen from the cell, and then cleavage reactions, fibril assembly, and cross-linking extracellularly. Unlike many proteins that are stored in secretory granules and then secreted from the cell upon demand, collagen is secreted continuously. According to Goldsmith, op. cit. (at 492), not only do retinoic acid, glucocorticoids, and vitamin D3 derivatives all decrease collagen synthesis, but so do other retinoids.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions for reducing UV-induced inhibition of collagen biosynthesis in human skin

The Regents of the University of Michigan


A method for controlling spark timing in an internal combustion engine. The method includes determining, in response to a knock sensor mounted to the engine, a spark offset to the scheduled spark timing for the engine at relatively low engine speed which is applied to the scheduled spark timing at relatively high engine speeds. This offset is applied in conjunction with a time-varying spark retardation bias. The offset is removed at a rate proportional to the time varying spark retard bias. The bias increases if either a relatively large torque is demanded from the engine or the engine is at the relatively high speed and relatively high air charge condition; otherwise, the bias is decreased with time.

As is known in the art, in a conventional internal combustion engine for automotive vehicles, a fuel and air mixture is provided in correct proportions, usually stoichiometric proportion, and a spark is used for igniting the air/fuel mixture. The spark is timed in relation to the position of the pistons in the engine cylinders to generate maximum torque while avoiding engine knock, which is auto-ignition of the air/fuel mixture occurring ahead of the progressing flame front. The variables that influence the propensity for engine knock include engine speed, manifold pressure, coolant temperature, intake air temperature, ambient pressure, EGR, humidity, dilution, enthalpy of vaporization of the fuel, and fuel octane. The spark timing which delivers maximum torque while avoiding engine knock is based upon the instantaneous values for these variables stored in a look-up table in the memory of a microprocessor, which forms a part of the electronic engine control system.
The engine control system obtains readings from various sensors whose signals are a measure of the engine operating conditions and generates an appropriate address to the look-up table in ROM. The control system then computes the correct spark advance for each cylinder.
Generally, advancing the spark for each cylinder increases the torque until a point at which maximum torque is achieved, termed MBT, minimum spark advance for best torque. At certain operating conditions, the spark cannot be advanced to MBT without encountering engine knock. This is characterized by an abnormally rapid rise in cylinder pressure during combustion. That rapid rise in pressure is followed by pressure oscillations, the frequency of which is specific to a given engine configuration and cylinder dimension.
A relatively low energy level of knock arguably is beneficial to engine performance, but audible knock may result in vehicle operator dissatisfaction, and excessive knock can damage the engine. A typical control strategy will distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable levels of knock. The engine control will advance the spark until the knock level becomes unacceptable. This is determined empirically. At that point, the control system will reduce the spark advance until an acceptable level of knock is achieved.
A control system of this type requires a knock sensor that responds to engine vibration energy and functions in the spectrum of rapid cylinder pressure oscillations. Accurate control of knock permits the engine to be calibrated closer to the optimum ignition timing.
The degree of knock depends upon the amount of energy available and the rate of combustion of the end gas. Factors that have an effect on the degree of knock include cylinder temperature, manifold pressure, residual burned fraction, air/fuel ratio, spark timing, octane, homogeneity of the air/fuel mixture, cylinder geometry, compression ratio, and the amount of end gas, i.e., unburned mixture when auto ignition occurs.
Since many of these variables change from cycle to cycle and from cylinder to cylinder, the level of knock also changes from cycle to cycle and from cylinder to cylinder. Therefore, knock intensity is a random phenomenon. At light knock, the occurrence of knock is random from cycle to cycle and cylinder to cylinder. Any variable that affects the combustion process or changes the mass, pressure, temperature, or composition of the end gas contributes to knock intensity and rate of occurrence. For example, in any given engine, some cylinders run hotter than other cylinders or due to manufacturing tolerances have a higher compression ratio than the average of the cylinders. These factors can cause one cylinder to knock more readily than other engine cylinders.
As is also known in the art, knock detection systems that include audio transducers, such as an accelerometer for converting audio signals indicative of abnormal engine combustion into an output voltage that can be used by a microprocessor in controlling engine timing to eliminate knock. Examples of these prior art devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,347,846 and/or 6,529,817. Typically, an accelerometer is coupled to the engine, such acceleration producing a charge proportional to the level of vibration. This signal is analyzed for occurrence of frequency components that indicate that one or more cylinders are knocking. The vibration sensor (e.g., accelerometer) is mounted on the engine in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine. The signal that is obtained from the transducer is filtered and sampled. The voltage amplitudes of several samples are compared by a comparator circuit. If a sample that is measured at an instant later than a sample measured earlier in the combustion cycle is greater in magnitude by a predetermined amount, it is assumed that auto ignition or knock is occurring and an appropriate signal is distributed to a fuel enrichment control or to a spark retard control, or to both, until the auto ignition is eliminated. In another system, an accelerometer is used to sample a signal that includes a background noise portion and a portion that represents knock. The portion of the signal that represents background noise is used to develop a bias for the gain of a control transistor. A knock threshold detector responds to a predetermined increase in the amplitude of the portion of the signal voltage that represents knock above the value that represents background noise and then develops an output signal that is used by the microprocessor to adjust spark timing or fuel supply.
At high engine speeds, the signal difference between background noise and knock is too small to reliably detect knock. In the past knock sensors have been disabled at these high engine speeds.

Internal combustion engine spark timing control system


A computer-readable storage medium containing machine executable instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to encrypt a virtual disc; wherein the virtual disc comprises a virtual disc image; and wherein execution of the machine executable instructions cause the processor to: receive the virtual disc; increase the size of the virtual disc; write a decryption-master-boot-record and a decryption program to the virtual disc; encrypt at least a portion of the virtual disc image, wherein the decryption program comprises decryption-machine-executable-instructions for decrypting the at least partially encrypted virtual disc image in accordance with a cryptographic key.

Setting up or installing large numbers of servers and computer systems with specific software and applications using conventional physical resources has become more and more costly. In recent years this process has become simplified by the use of virtualization technologies providing virtual discs or operating systems with preconfigured software packages and system configurations.
If a large number of like configured servers is needed, the same virtual disc can be used over and over again. Virtual disc images may be distributed via the internet. However the packets containing the virtual disk image may contain critical data and licenses. In addition, the unauthorized use of virtual disc images needs to be prevented. Currently the entire disc image is encrypted before being distributed.

Encrypting and decrypting a virtual disc

International Business Machines Corporation


A waveform data processing apparatus has a bus that transfers data signals representative of waveform data . A plurality of transmitting nodes transmit the data signals to the bus. A plurality of receiving nodes receive the data signals from the bus. A clock generator generates a word clock signal at each sampling period. A controller is responsive to the word clock signal for conducting a session of transferring the data signals within a sampling period, such that the transmitting nodes sequentially transmit the data signals in an order predetermined by the controller so as to avoid collision of the data signals within the sampling period, and each of the receiving nodes selectively admits a necessary one of the data signals outputted from the transmitting nodes and processes the admitted data signal within the sampling period.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a waveform data processing apparatus with a dedicated data bus suitably used for connection among musical sound processing devices.
2. Prior Art
A sound board mounted on an electronic musical instrument, personal computer or the like is equipped with a plurality of LSIs which processes musical sound signals, and these LSIs are connected by connection lines for transmitting and receiving the musical sound signals, thereby enabling necessary functions. Here, an example of the sound board mounted on the electronic musical instrument is shown in FIG. 1(a). In the drawing, 100 denotes a sound board, on which sound generator LSIs 102, 104 are mounted. The sound generator LSIs 102, 104 comprise, for example, waveform synthesizing sections which generate musical sound signals of a plurality of channels, and mixers which mix the musical sound signals of a plurality of channels as necessary. Further, 106, 108 denote DSPs (digital signal processors), which apply various kinds of effect processing to the generated musical sound signals.
The musical sound signals which have been applied the effect processing are again supplied to the sound generator LSIs 102, 104. In addition, the sound generator LSIs 102, 104 also exchange musical sound signals between them. Then, the musical sound signals to be finally output are supplied from the sound generator LSI 104 to a DA converter 110 where they are converted into analog signals. 114 denotes a plug-in board which can be added optionally and is equipped with an additional waveform synthesizing section, DSP or the like. This plug-in board 114 is plugged into a connector 112 as necessary.
Furthermore, another configuration of the sound board is shown in FIG. 1(b). In the drawing, 120 denotes another sound board, and sound generator LSIs 122, 124 inside therein each synthesize musical sound signals of a plurality of channels. The synthesized musical sound signals are mixed by mixers in the sound generator LSIs 122, 124, and the musical sound signals, which result from the mixing, are supplied to DSPs 126, 128. The DSPs 126, 128 apply effect processing to the supplied musical sound signals. Here, the musical sound signals to which the effect processing is applied by the DSP 126 are supplied to the DSP 128. When a plug-in board 134 is plugged into a connector 132, musical sound signals generated by this plug-in board 134 are also supplied to the DSP 128. These digital signals are further mixed in the DSP 128, and results of the mixing are converted to analog signals by a DA converter 130.
In the examples of FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), even if the sound generator LSIs and DSPs used in the sound boards 100, 120 are completely common parts, they are connected in different states, so that the sound boards 100, 120 themselves are not compatible. In other words, hardware components must be designed and produced for each kind of sound board, depending on the function that the sound board is designed to carry out.
On the other hand, a technique is known in which a hardware common connection state is shared by a plurality of nodes, while a exchanging state of signals is set depending on the function that will finally be needed, thereby setting a logical connection relationship. For example, the applicant has proposed a network standard called mLAN (trademark) wherein an electronic musical instrument or equipment such as a synthesizer or digital mixer, and a computer or the like are connected by serial cables on an IEEE1394 interface, thereby exchanging musical sound signals or music performance information.
In addition, Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. 5-188967 discloses a technique in which an AD converter, hard disk and a waveform memory are connected on a common bus, and waveform data or the like is exchanged among these nodes on a time-divisional basis.
As described above, in the examples of FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), hardware components must be designed and produced for each kind of sound board because the sound boards 100, 120 are not compatible, thus increasing designing costs and making it difficult to lower costs by mass production. Therefore, it is preferable, for example, that sound generator LSIs 142, 144, DSPs 146, 148, a DA converter 150 and a plug-in board 154 (via a connector 152) can be connected on a common bus 156, as shown in FIG. 1(c). That is, if the physical hardware connection relationship is common while logical connection relation can be set as required at the same time, the sound board in FIG. 1(c) can carry out functions equivalent to the sound boards shown in FIG. 1(a) or 1(b), for example.
In this case, it is important that a suitable kind of standard is employed to connect the LSIs to the bus 156. The mLAN (trademark) mentioned above is based on the assumption that independent equipment such as the synthesizer or digital mixer is to be the node, so that signal compositions are complicated and it is impracticable to adapt individual LSIs to the mLAN standards. Moreover, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. 5-188967 allows the specific nodes that are shown in this publication to exchange waveform data or the like, but can not be adapted to various kinds of nodes in a general and multi-purpose manner.

Waveform processing apparatus with versatile data bus


A system performs client wake up for real-time communications (“RTC”). The system closes a connection between a gateway and an RTC application of a device. The RTC application enters a sleeping mode when the connection to the gateway is closed. After closing the connection, the system receives a message intended for the RTC application. The system requests a push notification server to wake up the RTC application, reconnects the gateway with the RTC application, and delivers the message to the RTC application.

Voice communications are increasingly shifting to web and Internet based applications that are outside of traditional telephony networks. Enterprise users desire to access their unified communications applications with their own Internet connected mobile devices, and consumers increasingly prefer Internet based communications channels for accessing contact centers.
Some communications service providers ("CSPs") and enterprises have deployed real-time communications ("RTC") applications based on a technology known as "WebRTC." WebRTC is an open Internet standard for embedding real-time multimedia communications capabilities (e.g., voice calling, video chat, peer to peer ("P2P") file sharing, etc.) into a web browser. For any device with a supported web browser, WebRTC can use application programming interfaces ("APIs") to equip the device with RTC capabilities without requiring users to download plug-ins. By using WebRTC, CSPs may create new web based communications services and extend existing services to web based clients.
Currently, in order to be able to receive incoming calls, a WebRTC application of a user equipment ("UE") maintains a continuous ongoing communications session. This may result in resource utilization issues for the UE and/or the network. For example, on the UE side, a continuous communications session utilizes resources such as battery and data of the UE, and on the server side, a continuous communications session utilizes resources such as network ports of the server to which the UE is connected.


A method of manufacturing a high strength cold rolled steel sheet includes hot-rolling and cold-rolling a steel slab annealing the steel sheet at an annealing temperature of 750° C. to 830° C.; subjecting the steel sheet to first cooling at an average cooling rate of 3° C./sec to 40° C./sec in a temperature range from the annealing temperature to 480° C.; subjecting the steel sheet to second cooling at an average cooling rate of 8° C./sec to 80° C./sec in a temperature range from 480° C. to Tc (° C.) given by formula (6):Tc=435−40×[% Mn]−30×[% Cr]−30×[% V]  (6)wherein [% A] is the content (% by mass) of alloying element A; and subjecting the steel sheet to third cooling at an average cooling rate of 0.3° C./sec to 30° C./sec in a temperature range from Tc (° C.) to 200° C.

Conventionally, 340 MPa class bake-hardenable (BH) steel sheets (hereinafter referred to as "340BH") have been applied to automotive outer panels such as hoods, doors, trunk lids, back doors, and fenders, which require dent resistance.
340BH is a ferrite single-phase steel produced by adding carbide or nitride-forming elements such as niobium and titanium to an ultralow carbon steel containing less than 0.01% by mass of carbon to control the amount of carbon dissolved therein and strengthening the steel with manganese and phosphorus by solid solution strengthening. There has been a growing need for lightweight car bodies. Further research has been conducted on, for example, further increasing the strength of outer panels, to which 340BH has been applied, to reduce the thickness of the steel sheets, reducing the number of reinforcements (R/F; inner reinforcing parts) with the same thickness, and reducing the temperature and time of a bake hardening process.
However, adding larger amounts of manganese and phosphorus to the conventional 340BH for increased strength noticeably degrades the surface distortion resistance of press-formed products because YP increases. The term "surface distortion" refers to a pattern of extremely small wrinkles and waves that tend to appear on a press-formed surface, for example, at the periphery of a doorknob.
Surface distortion noticeably impairs the surface appearance quality of automobiles. Therefore, a steel sheet applied to outer panels requires a low YP close to that of the currently used 340BH as well as increased strength of pressed products.
In addition, steels having higher strengths than 340BH tend to have variations in material properties such as YP, TS, and El, and are therefore liable to surface distortion and breakage. If such steel sheets with high YP have little variation in material properties, surface distortion on design surfaces can be reduced by adjusting the shape of a press die. However, it is extremely difficult to reduce surface distortion if YP and TS vary within a coil in the longitudinal or width direction, or vary between coils. This is because grinding a press die to adjust the surface shape for each coil is impractical in mass production, and adjusting the press conditions such as forming pressure has a little effect of improving surface distortion. Accordingly, there is a need for a high strength steel sheet having low YP and little variation in material properties within a coil or between coils at the same time.
Furthermore, a steel sheet used for automobiles is also required to have excellent corrosion resistance. Since steel sheets are closely in contact with each other at a hem processing portion and a spot welding peripheral portion of body parts such as a door, a hood and trunk lid, chemical conversion films are difficult to form by electrocoating. Hence, rust is easy to form. In particular, in corner portions at a front side of a hood and a lower side of a door at which water is liable to remain and which are exposed to a wet atmosphere for a long time, holes are frequently generated by rust.
Furthermore, in recent years, car body manufactures have been considering on increasing the hole-forming resistant life to 12 years from a conventional life of 10 years by improving corrosion resistance of car bodies. Hence, a steel sheet must have sufficient corrosion resistance.
Against this backdrop, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 6-35619 discloses a technique for producing a cold-rolled steel sheet with high elongation by maintaining a steel containing, in percent by weight, 0.10% to 0.45% of carbon, 0.5% to 1.8% of silicon, 0.5% to 3.0% of manganese, and 0.01% to 0.07% of soluble aluminum in the temperature range of 350° C. to 500° C. for 1 to 30 minutes after annealing to form 5% to 10% or more of retained γ.
In addition, Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 62-40405 discloses a method for producing a high strength steel sheet combining low yield stress (YP), high elongation (El), and high bake hardenability (BH) by adjusting the cooling rate, after annealing, of a steel containing, by weight, 0.005% to 0.15% of carbon, 0.3% to 2.0% of manganese, and 0.023% to 0.8% of chromium to form a dual-phase structure composed mainly of ferrite and martensite.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent No. 3969350 discloses a method for producing a high strength steel sheet having excellent bake hardenability and excellent room-temperature anti-aging properties by adding 0.02% to 1.5% of molybdenum to a steel containing, in percent by mass, more than 0.01% to less than 0.03% of carbon, 0.5% to 2.5% of manganese, and 0.0025% or less of boron and controlling the soluble aluminum, nitrogen, boron, and manganese contents to satisfy sol.Al≧9.7×N and B≧1.5×104×(Mn2+1) to form a microstructure composed of ferrite and a low-temperature transformed phase.
Japanese Patent No. 4113036 discloses that a steel sheet having excellent anti-aging properties at room temperature and excellent bake hardenability can be produced using a steel containing, in percent by mass, 0.2% or less of carbon, 3.0% or less of manganese, 0.0030% to 0.0180% of nitrogen, 0.5% to 0.9% of chromium, and 0.020% or less of aluminum by adjusting the ratio of chromium to nitrogen to 25 or more and the area ratio of ferrite to 80% or more.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-35816 discloses a method for manufacturing a high strength cold rolled steel sheet having low yield stress and little variation in material properties with annealing temperature using a steel containing, in percent by mass, more than 0.01% to less than 0.08% of carbon, 0.8% to less than 1.7% of manganese, and more than 0.4% to 2% of chromium by adjusting the composition ratio of chromium to manganese to Cr/Mn≧0.34 and the heating rate in annealing to lower than 3° C./s.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-233294 discloses a method for producing a steel sheet having excellent bake hardenability using a steel containing, in percent by mass, 0.01% to less than 0.040% of carbon, 0.3% to 1.6% of manganese, 0.5% or less of chromium, and 0.5% or less of molybdenum by cooling the steel to a temperature of 550° C. to 750° C. at a cooling rate of 3° C./s to 20° C./s after annealing and then to a temperature of 200° C. or lower at a cooling rate of 100° C./s or higher.
However, the steel sheet disclosed in JP '619 is difficult to use for outer panels because a large amount of silicon needs to be added to form retained γ, thus degrading surface quality. To form retained γ, additionally, the steel sheet needs to be maintained in the temperature range of 350° C. to 500° C. for an extended period of time. This results in formation of a large amount of bainite which noticeably increases YP and therefore degrades surface distortion resistance, thus making it impossible to use the steel sheet as an outer panel.
The steel sheets disclosed in JP '405, JP '350, JP '036 and JP '816 above, on the other hand, are dual-phase steels having a microstructure composed mainly of ferrite and martensite formed by controlling the composition thereof such as the manganese, chromium, or molybdenum content, to achieve low YP, high elongation, and high BH.
However, it has been demonstrated that, of the steel sheets disclosed in JP '619, JP '405, JP '350, JP '036 and JP '816 above, those containing a large amount of chromium have low yield stress and little variation in material properties, whereas those containing a relatively small amount of chromium have high YP and large variations in material properties.
That is, dual-phase steels having a hard second phase such as martensite as a strengthening structure essentially tend to have variations in material properties as compared to conventional solid solution strengthened steels strengthened with manganese or phosphorus. For example, the volume fraction of the second phase varies noticeably with variations of several tens of ppm in the carbon content of the steel or variations of 20° C. to 50° C. in annealing temperature, and the material properties tend to vary with variation in second phase fraction. This makes it difficult to sufficiently reduce surface distortion of a dual-phase steel sheet.
It has also turned out that it is difficult to form uniform and fine conversion crystals on steels containing large amounts of chromium, molybdenum, and silicon after conversion treatment, where numerous voids where no conversion crystal is deposited (regions where no crystal is deposited after conversion treatment) are found, meaning that they have insufficient conversion treatment properties.
In addition, as a result of detailed research on the corrosion resistance of steel sheets containing a large amount of chromium in actual parts, we found that these steels have insufficient corrosion resistance at a hem of a hood or door or at a spot weld and that the perforation life of a steel decreases by about 1 year if 0.40% of chromium is added thereto and decreases by 2.5 years if 0.60% of chromium is added thereto. That is, while chromium is conventionally believed to have the effect of slightly improving the corrosion resistance in a flat panel atmospheric exposure environment, it has turned out that chromium noticeably degrades the corrosion resistance in an environment such as at stacked portions of steel sheets where the steel is exposed to a wet atmosphere for an extended period of time and a corrosion product accumulates easily, thus requiring the chromium content of steel sheets to be significantly reduced for such applications.
The technique disclosed in JP '294 is difficult to apply without water cooling equipment or air/water cooling equipment because it requires rapid cooling at 100° C./s or higher after annealing, and a sheet subjected to water cooling or air/water cooling cannot be used as an outer panel because the flatness decreases noticeably.
Thus, no dual-phase or multiphase steel has so far been provided that has a low YP comparable to the current level and excellent stability of mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and conversion treatment properties, and there is a strong need for a steel combining these properties among automobile manufacturers.
Accordingly, it could be helpful to provide a high strength cold rolled steel sheet that solves the above problem and a method for manufacturing such a steel sheet.

High strength cold rolled steel sheet and method for manufacturing the same


The purpose of this invention is to provide an aluminum base for a current collector, which enables the production of a secondary battery having excellent cycle properties; and a current collector, a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a secondary battery, each of which is produced using the aluminum base. The aluminum base for a current collector has a surface in which at least two structures selected from the group consisting of a large-wave structure having an average opening size of more than 5 μm but up to 100 μm, a medium-wave structure having an average opening size of more than 0.5 μm but up to 5 μm, and a small-wave structure having an average opening size of more than 0.01 μm but up to 0.5 μm are superimposed on one another, wherein a maximum peak-to-valley height Pt of a profile curve of the surface is up to 10 μm.

In recent years, with the development of portable devices such as personal computers and cellular phones as well as hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and the like, there is an increasing demand for secondary batteries (particularly lithium secondary batteries) as their power supplies.
It is known that a foil-shaped aluminum base is used as the current collector for electrodes (hereinafter referred to simply as "current collector") that may be used in the positive electrode or the negative electrode of such a secondary battery.
It is known that a low adhesion of the current collector to a layer containing an active material (hereinafter also referred to as "active material layer") in the positive electrode or the negative electrode of the second battery causes the active material to come off the current collector during charge/discharge to adversely affect the battery characteristics.
Techniques for roughening the surfaces of aluminum bases have been proposed in order to improve the adhesion between current collectors and active materials (see, for example, JP 11-16575 A, JP 2003-51313 A, JP 2005-2371 A, JP 2008-10419 A and JP 2008-282797 A).

Aluminum base for current collector, current collector, positive electrode, negative electrode, and secondary battery


A shot cartridge is made to contain a projectile system for harmlessly ensnaring a fleeing person. The projectile system employs three or four buckshot paired with an equal number of twinned fish hooks. Each buckshot and fish hook pair is joined by a thin strong line, and all said lines are joined at a single site. The fish hooks are separately housed adjacent the rear of the cartridge. The buckshot are separately housed adjacent the front of the cartridge. The line is housed within the cartridge in a compacted state. When fired, the projectile system deploys with an assured wide pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a shot cartridge, and more particularly relates to a shot cartridge which produces an ensnaring type projectile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A shot cartridge for a barreled weapon may be characterized in general as a form of ammunition containing a rearwardly disposed charge of propellant and a multitude of projectiles disposed forwardly of said propellant. The projectiles are usually maintained in place by forwardly disposed closure means. When the cartridge is fired, as by a percussion primer cap, the expansive gaseous force generated by the propellant causes the projectiles to break through the closure means and thence travel as a group through the barrel toward the target. In view of the multitude of projectiles and their spread pattern once emergent from the barrel, the likelihood of hitting the target is greater than in the case of a rifle that fires a single projectile.
In law enforcement work, it is often necessary to stop a fleeing person while causing minimal harm. U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,737 to Washington discloses a firearm that fires two laterally separated tethered projectiles. The projectiles are intended to separate to a wide distance during flight, and are further intended to wrap around the legs of a fugitive in bolas fashion. Such action is intended to wrap the tether line about the legs of the fugitive, thereby entangling him and preventing escape.
In order for the Washington device to be effective, the projectiles must have significant weight, and this could be injurious. Also, the two projectiles may produce an unpredictable and inaccurate spread. For example, if one projectile has a higher velocity than the other, both travel in a straight line, producing essentially no spread pattern. Once wrapped around the legs of a person, it may be relatively easy for the person to unwind the tether line and continue his escape.
The use of munitions containing fettered or tethered shot is well known, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 347,988; 1,198,035; 1,536,164; 2,373,364; 3,085,510 and 4,664,034. Such munitions are often found to experience tangling of the shot, or other malfunctions causing the pattern of the traveling shot to be unpredictable.
It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a shot shell capable of delivering a projectile that can entangle a person's legs without causing harm.
It is another object of this invention to provide a shot shell as in the foregoing object wherein said projectile is of an integral nature and deployed in a wide, predictable pattern.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a shot shell of the aforesaid nature which functions in a reliable manner and can be used interchangeably with conventional shot shells in conventional shotguns.
These and other beneficial objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description.


Disclosed golf club heads include a body defining an interior cavity, a face, a sole, a crown, a skirt, and a hosel. Some embodiments include one or more of a split mass pad and/or one or more weight ports positioned in a sole portion of the body. Additionally or alternatively, one or more mass pads or weight ports may be positioned adjacent to the periphery of the sole portion. Some embodiments further include an adjustable head-shaft connection assembly configured to adjustably couple the hosel to a golf club shaft.

Much of the recent improvement activity in the field of golf has involved the use of new and increasingly more sophisticated materials in concert with advanced club-head engineering. For example, modern "wood-type" golf clubs (notably, "drivers," "fairway woods," and "utility or hybrid clubs"), with their sophisticated shafts and non-wooden club-heads, bear little resemblance to the "wood" drivers, low-loft long-irons, and higher numbered fairway woods used years ago. These modern wood-type clubs are generally called "metalwoods" since they tend to be made primarily of strong, lightweight metals, such as titanium.
An exemplary metalwood golf club such as a driver or fairway wood typically includes a hollow shaft having a lower end to which the golf club head is attached. Most modern versions of these golf club heads are made, at least in part, of a lightweight but strong metal such as titanium alloy. In many cases, the golf club head comprises a body made primarily of such strong metals.
Some current approaches to reducing structural mass of a metalwood club-head are directed to making one or more portions of the golf club head of an alternative material. Whereas the bodies and face plates of most current metalwoods are made of titanium alloys, some golf club heads are made, at least in part, of components formed from either graphite/epoxy-composite (or other suitable composite material) and a metal alloy. Graphite composites have a much lower density compared to titanium alloys, which offers an opportunity to provide more discretionary mass in the club-head.
The ability to utilize such materials to increase the discretionary mass available for placement at various points in the club-head allows for optimization of a number of physical properties of the club-head which can greatly impact the performance obtained by the user. Forgiveness on a golf shot is generally maximized by configuring the golf club head such that the center of gravity ("CG") of the golf club head is optimally located and the moment of inertia ("MOI") of the golf club head is maximized. CG and MOI can also critically affect a golf club head's performance, such as launch angle and flight trajectory on impact with a golf ball, among other characteristics.
In addition to the use of various materials to optimize the strength-to-weight properties and acoustic properties of the golf club heads, advances have been made in the mass distribution properties provided by using thicker and thinner regions of materials, raising and lowering certain portions of the sole and crown, providing adjustable weight members and adjustable head-shaft connection assemblies, and many other golf club head engineering advances.


The inventive technique includes devices and methods for generating a magnetic field. One such device may include an inductor for generating a magnetic field and a power source for providing power. Such a device may also include a semiconductor switching device that operatively couples the inductor and power source, wherein the semiconductor switching device directs power from the power source to the inductor to generate the magnetic field.

A number of medical ailments are treated and/or diagnosed through the application of a magnetic field to an afflicted portion of a patient's body. Neurons and muscle cells are a form of biological circuitry that carry electrical signals and respond to electromagnetic stimuli. When an ordinary conductive wire loop is passed through a magnetic field or is in the presence of a changing magnetic field, an electric current is induced in the wire.
The same principle holds true for conductive biological tissue. When a changing magnetic field is applied to a portion of the body, neurons may be depolarized and stimulated. Muscles associated with the stimulated neurons can contract as though the neurons were firing by normal causes.
A nerve cell or neuron can be stimulated in a number of ways, including indirectly via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), for example. TMS uses a rapidly changing magnetic field to induce a current in a nerve cell, without having to cut or penetrate the skin. The nerve is said to "fire" when a membrane potential within the nerve rises with respect to its normal negative ambient level of approximately −90 mV, depending on the type of nerve and local ionic conditions of the surrounding tissue.
The use of magnetic stimulation is very effective in rehabilitating injured or paralyzed muscle groups and may prove useful in other therapies involving peripheral nerve stimulation including, but not limited to, pain mitigation, stimulation of neovascularization, wound healing and bone growth.
Magnetic stimulation also has proven effective in stimulating regions of the brain, which is composed predominantly of neurological tissue. One area of particular interest is the treatment of depression. It is believed that more than 28 million people in the United States alone suffer from some type of neuropsychiatric disorder. These include conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorders, and others. Depression is the "common cold" of psychiatric disorders, believed to affect 19 million people in the United States and possibly 340 million people worldwide.
Modern medicine offers depression patients a number of treatment options, including several classes of anti-depressant medications (e.g., SSRI's, MAOI's and tricyclics), lithium, and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Yet many patients remain without satisfactory relief from the symptoms of depression. To date, ECT remains an effective therapy for resistant depression; however, many patients will not undergo the procedure because of its severe side effects.
Recently, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to have significant anti-depressant effects for patients that do not respond to the traditional methods. The principle behind rTMS is to apply a subconvulsive stimulation to the prefrontal cortex in a repetitive manner, causing a depolarization of cortical neuron membranes. The membranes are depolarized by the induction of small electric fields in excess of 1 V/cm that are the result of a rapidly changing magnetic field applied non-invasively.
To generate a magnetic pulse that is capable of providing a therapeutic effect on a patient, TMS, rTMS and Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST) treatments all require a great deal of electrical power, typically in the range of several hundred joules (J) per pulse. Various attempts to optimize the design of the coil used in such treatments have not been able to substantially mitigate the need for a great deal of electrical power. For example, to cause a stimulation coil to generate trains of rapid rTMS pulses, thousands of watts (W) of power are typically delivered to the coil. This amount of power leads to rapid coil heating. The amount of coil heating is so great that the coil often is heated to the point at which it would be uncomfortable or unsafe to use the coil on a patient. Thus, attempts have been made to cool stimulation coils using water, air or oil. Unfortunately, these cooling mechanisms are cumbersome, add complexity to the magnetic stimulation system, are expensive and are sometimes adversely affect the performance of the stimulator. A more advantageous approach would be to reduce the amount of power required by the magnetic stimulation device to generate a therapeutically-equivalent magnetic pulse.


The present invention provides a laser frequency adjustment method and a laser frequency adjustment system. The laser frequency adjustment method includes: (1) providing a primitive laser pulse (10); (2) using a beam splitter (20) to split the primitive laser pulse (10) into a first sub-laser pulse (11) and a second sub-laser pulse (12); (3) using a plurality of reflectors (30) to reflect the first sub-laser pulse (11) to a location where the second sub-laser pulse (12) exits the beam splitter (20) and making the first sub-laser pulse (11) passing through an optical length extension device (40) during the transmission of the first sub-laser pulse (11); and (4) superimposing the first sub-laser pulse (11) and the second sub-laser pulse (12) and using a compensator sheet (50) to adjust the transmission direction of the superimposed laser pulse (13).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flat panel displaying technology, and in particular to a laser frequency adjustment method and a laser frequency adjustment system.
2. The Related Arts
The displaying technology has been undergone fast development recently. A flat panel display device is significantly different from a traditional video image displaying device by adopting totally different displaying and manufacturing technology. The traditional video image displaying device is generally based on a cathode ray tube (CRT), from which a flat panel display device differs primarily concerning changes made in respect of weight and size (thickness). Generally, a flat panel display device has a thickness not greater than 10 centimeters, among the other differences associated with various technical aspects, such as theory of displaying, manufacturing material, manufacturing process, driving for displaying video images.
The flat panel display device possesses features such as being completely flattened, being light and thin, and energy saving and currently undergoes progresses toward high PPI (pixels per inch), low power consumption, and high integration. Amorphous silicon, which is conventionally used, due to inherent limitation, cannot suit the above described needs and poly-silicon is considered the best candidate for substituting amorphous silicon for poly-silicon is fit for the needs for future developments of the flat panel display device.
As links of the technical cores of the low temperature poly-silicon displaying technology, the manufacturing process and material behavior of poly-silicon determine the performance of a display device. The manufacturing processes of poly-silicon that are currently known include: low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), solid phase crystallization, metal induction, and laser annealing. The most commonly used process in the industry is the laser annealing operation, which uses the high temperature generated by a laser beam to melt amorphous silicon for re-crystallization to form poly-silicon. Although adjusting parameters of the laser beam may better the result of crystallization, due to limitation imposed by the specifications of operation machines, parameters and the ranges thereof that can be modulated are limited, such as laser frequency, so that it is impossible to conduct more thorough study of the process of crystallization of poly-silicon and the result thereof.
As shown in FIG. 1, which is a schematic view showing an optical path of a laser pulse used in a prior-art laser annealing process, in the drawing, a primitive laser pulse 100 passes through a beam splitter 200 so that the primitive laser pulse 100 is split into two sub-laser pulses 101, 102. The energy of each of the sub-laser pulses 101, 102 is 50% of that of the primitive laser pulse 100. The sub-laser pulse 101 is subjected to reflection by four reflectors 300 to transmit back to the beam splitter 200 to be superimposed with the sub-laser pulse 102. Since the sub-laser pulses 101, 102, after passing through the beam splitter 200, shows a down-shifting distance in the vertical direction, a compensator sheet 400 is used to adjust the superimposed laser pulse 103 back to the original vertical position. During such a process, compared to the sub-laser pulse 102, the sub-laser pulse 101 has a longer transmission distance so as to show a time delay with respect to the sub-laser pulse 102. The sub-laser pulse 101 and the sub-laser pulse 102 are superimposed to eventually provide the laser pulse 104 illustrated in the drawing. Due to constraints imposed by the specifications of the operation machines, the four reflectors 300 shown in FIG. 1 are all fixed in position, which is not adjustable, so that the laser pulse 104 that is finally formed is fixed, making it not possible to further improve the process and result of crystallization of poly-silicon.

Laser frequency adjustment method and laser frequency adjustment system

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


Respective contact terminals in respective arc-suppressing spaces of respective breakers are opened at a voltage zero point of any phase of three phases, simultaneously among the three phases. If current breaking is carried out for the three phases at the same time, when the breakers of the three phases are opened, the residual magnetic levels of the respective phases of a transformer can be controlled so that the residual magnetic flux level of the phase opened at the voltage zero point is maximum (for example, −2K or +2K) and the residual magnetic flux level of the other two phases are opposite in polarity to the residual magnetic flux level of the phase concerned and equal to substantially the same residual magnetic flux (for example, +K and +K or −K and −K) which is equal to about one half of the residual magnetic flux level of the phase concerned. Accordingly, by throwing the phase broken at the voltage zero point at a first time, the difference in residual magnetic flux between the second throwing phase and the third throwing phase just after the first phase is thrown can be substantially nullified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a phase control switching device for controlling switching time of a switching device for electrical power, such as a breaker, in consideration of residual magnetic flux of the core of a transformation device of electrical energy, such as a transformer or a shunt reactor, whereby occurrence of transient exciting incoming current caused by switching of the switching device, which is harmful to the transformation device connected to a power system, can be suppressed to the minimum level.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a phase control switching device in which when residual magnetic flux exists in the core of a transformer or the core of a shunt reactor, a transitional switch surge phenomenon is suppressed by estimating the residual magnetic flux of each phase of the transformer or shunt reactor and operating a breaker at the optimal throw-in timing corresponding to the residual magnetic flux of each phase (for example, JP-A-2001-218354 (see paragraph numbers [0004], [0007], [0008], FIGS. 1, 24).
In the conventional phase control switching device, it is assumed that breaking is carried out at a current zero point which occurs at an interval of an electrical degree of 60° in commercial frequency every phase when each breaker of three phases is opened, and thus the residual magnetic flux of the first breaking phase is equal to zero while the residual magnetic flux of the second breaking phase or third breaking phase is equal to +K or −K. Therefore, even when the closing operation of the breaker is controlled in consideration of the residual magnetic flux of each phase, there is a difference in residual magnetic flux value between a second throwing phase (for example, a phase of −K in residual magnetic flux) and a third throwing phase (for example, a phase of zero in residual magnetic flux) just after the first phase (for example, a phase of +K in residual magnetic flux) is thrown. Therefore, when the second throwing phase and the third throwing phase is thrown under this state, any one or both of the second throwing phase and the third throwing phase are thrown at an electrical degree at which the residual magnetic flux and the stationary magnetic flux are not coincident with each other. Therefore, a transitional phenomenon of magnetic flux occurs, and a DC magnetic flux is superposed on any one or both of the second throwing phase and the third throwing phase. Accordingly, there is a drawback that transitional exciting incoming current caused by switching of the switching device which is severe to a transformer cannot be suppressed to the minimum level when magnetic saturation occurs.


A fiber architecture in the form of an elongate beam having a hollow polygonal cross section with a plurality of substantially flat exterior sides and a corner between each pair of adjacent exterior sides. The cross section is substantially thicker adjacent each corner. The fiber architecture includes a first fabric layer extending around the beam, a layer of circumferential longitudinal rovings extending around the beam adjacent the outside of the first fabric layer, corner longitudinal rovings coterminous and integral with the outside of the circumferential rovings adjacent each corner, and a second fabric layer extending around the beam adjacent the outside of the corner rovings and adjacent the outside of the circumferential rovings not covered by corner rovings. The fabric architecture may be impregnated with resin to form a composite pole that may be used as a utility pole.

As shown in FIG. 1, a utility pole assembly 20 may be constructed with some or all components of the pole assembly 20 made from a composite material such as a fiberglass reinforced resin. The outer surface of the composite material is typically smooth so that animals may be discouraged from climbing the pole. Such a utility pole may not carry bacteria or generate slivers that can be dangerous to maintenance and repair personnel. The composite material may be a dielectric, which may reduce the amount of current that drains to the ground. The composite pole assembly may be immune to corrosive ambient conditions. The composite pole may be an alternative to wood utility poles that may require treatment with toxic chemicals to provide resistance to insects and fungi.
The pole assembly 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a main pole member 22, a base member 24, and a top cap 26, shown in an exploded view so the parts are easily seen. Also shown is an exemplary cross arm 28 with insulators 30 supporting power lines 32. Of course the base and/or top cap may be of other configurations as desired.
Referring to FIG. 2, a generalized cross section of the main pole member 22 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 may be seen. The cross section as shown in FIG. 2 is characterized as a hollow section formed by various geometric shapes, generally polygons. The outer periphery of the exemplary pole is octagonal, that is, the pole has eight substantially flat exterior surfaces. The eight sides of the external surface of the pole is a convenient number of sides, as it allows mounting of cross arms in a manner orthogonal to each other as well as at 45 degrees, which may accommodate requirements normally found in practice. A lesser or greater number of sides for the outer periphery of the pole may also be used if desired. Poles of lesser or greater numbers of sides may be fabricated in accordance with the present invention, though poles with not less than 6 sides or no more than 12 sides are preferred, poles with 8 sides being most preferable for fabrication, structural and other reasons. The sides may be of equal or unequal lengths. The angles between the sides may be identical or they may vary.
The internal periphery of the exemplary pole member 22 as shown in FIG. 2 may be defined by a plurality of flat regions 36 parallel to the flat sides 38 on the outer periphery of the pole, with the flat sides 36 being joined by circular arcs 40 tangent to adjacent flat regions 36 as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,635, which is assigned to the same owner as the present application. This internal periphery is referred to as a circular-tangere shaped inner channel. Circular-tangere shaped inner channels may be used with poles having other numbers of sides.
The pole may be formed by a pultrusion process using a fiber architecture of high strength filament thoroughly impregnated with a resin compressed and heated to form all or part of the pole structure. The filaments in the fiber architecture may be organized with orientations chosen to provide the desired mechanical properties for the finished pole. The filaments may be provided in various forms such as rovings that arrange all the filaments substantially parallel to each other along the length of the roving and fabrics that arrange the filaments at substantial angles to one another. Rovings are generally cordlike or ropelike arrangements of filaments. The term fabric includes mats in which the filaments are arrange randomly and stitched fabrics in which layers of filaments are joined together by stitching as well as woven and knitted fabrics. The rovings and fabrics may be arranged in layers to produce the fiber architecture for the desired pole structure.
FIG. 3 is a detailed cross-section of a corner portion of the generalized cross section shown in FIG. 2 for a prior art fiber architecture comprised of a number of layers. The layers comprise a surfacing veil 50, corner regions of longitudinal rovings 62, a fabric layer 52, a circumferential layer of longitudinal rovings 54, and another fabric layer 56 for the interior layer of the pole. The layers of the fiber architecture may be brought together in the desired arrangement by guides at the entrance of a pultrusion machine. The filaments of the fiber architecture may be thoroughly impregnated with a resin to bind the filaments together to produce a composite pole 22. As may be seen in FIG. 3, the corner regions of longitudinal rovings 62 are corner regions only, and form no part of the various layers in the flat regions between the corner regions of the fiber architecture.
The fabric regions 52, 56 may comprise fabric sheets that each individually circumscribe approximately one-half of the pole, two side by side sheets being used for each circumferential layer. Accordingly, each of the two fabric layers 52, 56 may have some form of discontinuity 180° apart. These discontinuities have been found to reduce the strength of the pole in bending about certain axes.
In a prior art fabric architecture, the cross-section may be formed as shown in FIG. 9, with an additional fabric strip 58 bridging the butt joint of the fabric sheets 52a, 52b that form the outer layer of fabric. The bridging fabric strip 58 may displace the adjacent roving 54 as suggested by FIG. 9, a bulge (not shown) may be created on the inner surface 36, or both effects may occur. In practice, the ideal joint illustrated in FIG. 9 can only be approximated. In particular, the edges of the fabric sheets 52a, 52b may overlap somewhat in some portions of the fabric architecture, which together with the fabric strip 58 immediately thereabove causes an unintended thickness of fabric in that area. Worse yet, in some regions of the fabric architecture there may in fact be a space between the edges of the fabric sheets 52a, 52b. This creates an even greater local weakness in the pole formed from the fabric architecture. FIG. 11 illustrates a similar intended butt joint in the inner layer of the fabric 56, specifically by way of a strip of fabric 60 adjacent to the butt joint of fabric sheets 56a, 56b that form the inner layer. This joint also is subject to the imperfections hereinbefore referred to, resulting in the reduction in the bending strength of the formed pole.


A stabilizer pad and handle apparatus is provided having a curved substantially C-shaped handle, or U-shaped handle or straight handle with ends of the handle inserted into seating holes extending inwardly from the side walls of the pad. An anchor hole and anchors may be provided extending downward through and perpendicular to the seating holes and through the handle. The pad may be rectangular or square shape or substantially circular in shape. An optional recess is provided in the pad into which the seating holes are provided, and may be angled inwardly away from the side walls, with the handle optionally provided in the recess. In certain embodiments the recess may be square, substantially rectangular, trapezoid, curved or triangular in shape. At least a portion of the top surface of the handle may be aligned with the outer circumference formed by the circular shape of the pad. The circular pad may be rolled on its side wall edge. Multiple handle means may be provided.

Stabilizer pads are used in a variety of settings, and particularly to provide a stabilizing foundation for devices which support heavy loads, including heavy equipment such as truck mounted or similar self-propelled devices, construction equipment, cranes, utility trucks and tree care vehicles, recreational vehicles, trailers or the like, where a jack, outrigger or similar support device provides temporary support extending from the main structure. Such devices are then stabilized by use of a stabilizer pad. By way of example, without intending to be limiting, an outrigger may have a stabilizing arm extending outwardly from the equipment and then downwardly and may be hydraulically operated. The arm may rest on a stabilizer platform to disperse the weight. A support or jack for RVs may extend outward or downward from the vehicle. The stabilizer arm and/or platform and/or jack rests on a stabilizer pad. This prevents the stabilizer arm or jack from breaking through the ground surface, whether soil, asphalt or concrete and prevents damage to the stabilizer arm or jack. The pad prevents movement of the support while protecting the support and preventing tipping or rolling over of the equipment. A stabilizer pad generally has a top wall on which the support device rests and a bottom wall in contact with the ground surface.


Apparatus and method for obtaining a security value (50) that enables a calling module (7) to achieve secure access to a called module (5) within a digital computer (1). A distributive invertible function f is selected. f may be the cyclic redundancy check function modulo p, where p is a prime number. A desired residual value r associated with the application of f and a desired size of the security value (50) are also selected. Space is allocated within the called module (5) for storing the security value (50). A portion of the called module (5) is designated as a test block (51). f is applied to a numerical representation of test block (51) to generate a first challenge value CV1. f is applied to a numerical value of the security value (50) and a number representative of the location of the security value (50) within the called module (5) to calculate a second challenge value CV2. n is the number of bits from the beginning of the security value (50) to the end of the called module (5). CV1 and CV2 are typically calculated by called module (5). Calling module (7) then calculates the security value (50) based upon CV1 and CV2, and using f. Called module (5) uses this calculated value of the security value (50) in function f. If this application of f provides the desired residual value r, then it is known that calling module (7) had proper access to called module (5). At this point, one or more functions accessible by called module (5) may be activated. Access codes may be coded within residual value r itself.

McNamara, John E., Technical Aspects of Data Communication, 2nd Ed. 1982, Digital Equipment Corporation, U.S.A., pp. 110-122, describes a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) function that is useful in the present invention, as described below.
Ore, Oystein, Number Theory and Its History, 1976, Gudrun Ore, U.S.A., pp. 124-129, gives a general introduction to number theory, which provides the mathematical underpinnings of the present invention.


An embodiment may receive a question at a computing device; obtain a search result set in response to the question; identify, using the computing device, one or more entities that are associated with at least one document referenced by the search result set; select, using the computing device, one or more relevant entities identified as being associated with (i) documents referenced by the search result set and (ii) the question; and output, using the computing device, an answer to the question based at least on the selected one or more entities.

User devices, such as mobile telephones, implement a variety of techniques through which users can find information. For example, some user devices implement dialog systems, which may be able to provide answers to questions provided by users. In such systems, the device receives a question from a user. The answers to some questions may include information about an entity, such as a person, a business, a geographical location, or the like. Thus, to respond properly to such a question, the device needs to be able to provide appropriate information about an appropriate entity so as to be responsive to the question.

Using an entity database to answer entity-triggering questions


A device for compacting and consolidating a stack of fibrous plies pre-impregnated with a thermoplastic polymer, configured to be placed in an oven. The device comprises containment blocks, a flexible compacting plate and a vacuum pump. The containment blocks are supported by a board and demarcate the perimeter of the stack. The containment blocks comprise open grooves that open into the perimeter of the stack. The flexible compacting plate has an area equal to that of the stack but is capable of being inserted inside the perimeter demarcated by the containment blocks. The vacuum pump applies a vacuum to the wrapped volume of the stack comprising a plurality of holes in the board that open outside the perimeter of the stack. A method for implementing the device for manufacturing a thick composite panel having a thermoplastic matrix.

Composites with thermoplastic matrices, particularly composites with continuous fiber reinforcements in the form of carbon fibers in a matrix made of polyetheretherketone or PEEK, are known for their combination of mechanical characteristics, resistance to impacts and fire behavior. For demanding structural applications, such as the previous examples of applications, the reinforcement rate in the composite is greater than 50% and can reach 65%. The term 'thick' means panels with thickness above 20 mm, that is to say panels with over 150 reinforcing plies.
The document EP-B-2 064 050 describes a method and device for manufacturing a composite panel having a thermoplastic matrix with thickness between 2 mm and 20 mm. Like the method described in this document of the prior art, the method according to the invention is a method known as a non-autoclave method, which only uses the application of vacuum to the stack of plies to compact and consolidate it. Thus, the method according to the invention is particularly advantageous for manufacturing a large panel having a matrix made of a polymer with a high melting point such as PEEK.
The method of the prior art has been found to be unsuitable for making a panel intended for a structural aeronautic application with a finished thickness above 10 mm, that is to say said panel comprises a stack of over 70 plies. That is because there is a very significant risk that a panel of that thickness made using the method of the prior art could have a porosity rate incompatible with the intended application, leading to scrap rates that increase the cost of the panel manufacturing.

Method and device for compacting and consolidating a thick composite panel having a thermoplastic matrix


A method of fabricating a product of activated carbon fiber supporting silver has the steps of: a) Impregnate activated carbon fibers in a silver acetate solution under a vacuum condition for a predetermined time to deposit silver on surfaces of the activated carbon fibers via a chemical reaction. And then, dry the activated carbon fibers to remove water therein. b) Heat the activated carbon fibers in a stove filled with protective gas to break the silver on the activated carbon fibers into very fine grains, and c) wash the activated carbon fibers to remove redundant sliver from the surfaces of the activated carbon fibers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method of fabricating the product of activated carbon fiber supporting silver, which the activated carbon fibers are impregnated in a silver compound solution to deposit the silver on the surfaces of the activated carbon fibers and the product thereof has a superior antibacterial property.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the present industry, industrial wastewater and home wastewater are increased. Activated carbon has been broadly applied to the treatment of wastewater and drink water for a long time. The carbon material has a well property of bioaffinity to adsorb bacteria and microorganisms. But the activated carbon becomes another pollutant today, as shown in FIG. 2.
Activated carbon fibers are a new adsorbent with a superior performance. The activated carbon fibers, the granulated activated carbon and the powdered activated carbon are the carbon materials with a great amount of pores. They are superior in adsorbent property, antibiotic resistance, hydrophobic property, electron supply and specific surface area and so on. The main differences between the activated carbon fiber and the granulated activated carbon are molecule structure, appearance and surface pores' structure. To compare with the conventional activated carbon, the activated carbon fiber has a less diffusive resistance in adsorption and in separation and can be fabricated into various forms, such as felt or cloth, in second process. The activated carbon fiber has a greater specific surface area and adsorption efficiency than the granulated activated carbon.
To form silver on the activated carbon fibers for the antibacterial property, one had provided silver acetate solution mixed with pitch, and then taking the spinning process and stabilization, and then taking activation under 900° C. via vapor. It gets activated carbon fibers with silver of 0.03% by weight. In aforesaid method, it still has to improve the spinning process and activation to fabricate the activated carbon fibers supporting silver with a greater specific surface area.
Another one had provided the pitch base activated carbon fibers impregnated in a monounsaturated silver acetate solution for twelve hours, and then takes the high temperature degration process in nitrogen gas under 420° C. for 30 minutes to get the pitch base activated carbon fibers supporting silver. This method still has drawbacks of how to average the silver distribution and how to precipitate silver from water.
The present inventor creates a method to overcome aforesaid drawbacks and to fabricate activated carbon with antibacterial property. In the result of washing test, the silver leachability is less than 50 ppb. It conforms to US drink water standard.

Method of fabricating product of activated carbon supporting silver


A workpiece discharge device for a machine tool is provided with a container, which is mounted on a turret and receives a workpiece held by a spindle from a receiving port, and a storage box, which stores the workpiece inside the container by using a revolution of the turret and passing through a chute. The container is mounted on the turret and is capable of swinging around a swinging shaft which is parallel to a revolving axis of the turret, and the receiving port is arranged to direct vertically upward in a predetermined indexing angle range of the container when the workpiece is received.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a workpiece discharge device for a machine tool which discharges a machined workpiece from the inside of the machine to the outside of the machine.
Description of the Related Art
As this kind of discharge device, for example, the following structure is disclosed by Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-40903. A container 6 mounted on a turret 1 is rotatably supported by a pinion shaft 7 in a position between a standby position (discharge position) and a receiving position, and the turret 1 is moved in a X-axis direction and a rack shaft 9 is pushed by contacting a workpiece W. With such rotation of the pinion shaft 7, the container 6 is revolved from the standby position to the receiving position to receive the workpiece W. By further moving the turret 1 in the X-axis direction, the container 6 is revolved in a reverse direction to discharge the workpiece W by rotating a lever 10, and the workpiece W is discharged outside the machine through a workpiece duct 35 by moving the turret 1 in the Z-axis direction (see paragraphs [0022], [0023], and FIGS. 1 and 2 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-40903).
In the conventional device, the workpiece is discharged by revolving the turret and moving the turret in the X-axis direction and the Z-axis direction. Therefore, the structure and these operations easily become complicated, and also, it has a problem of an increase in cost.
Further, the structure in which the container is supported by a ball stopper in each of the receiving position and the discharge position is employed, and therefore, the holding force is not sufficient. It is concerned that for example, when the workpiece is large in size or heavy in weight, it may be difficult to receive and discharge the workpiece.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. For example, certain features of the preferred described embodiments of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages and/or providing certain advantages, such as, e.g., disadvantages and/or advantages discussed herein, while retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.

Workpiece discharge device for machine tool


When a molded portion of a weather strip is molded, a slit, from which a core body is taken out, is formed in a mounting base portion thereof. Also, plural blocking pieces are provided at predetermined intervals along the slit. Each of the blocking pieces has a base piece portion formed in such a way as to extend from a mounting-face side of the mounting base portion, and also has an insertion portion, which is integrally formed with the base piece portion, and a lock portion to be locked on an inner surface of the mounting base portion. After the core body is taken out of a molded portion precursor, the base piece portion of each of the blocking pieces is bent around a part thereof continuously connected to the mounting base portion, so that the insertion portion is fitted into the slit, and that the lock portion is locked on the inner surface of the molded portion precursor, which faces a hollow portion. Thus, the molded portion is obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a weather strip having a molded portion and to a manufacturing method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a weather strip is attached to an opening portion or along a door peripheral edge of a vehicle, such as an automobile. When this kind of a weather strip is manufactured, an extrusion portion is formed like an elongated one by a publicly known extrusion molding method. Then, in a state in which an end part of the extrusion portion is set in a mold apparatus for molding a molded portion, the molded portion is continuously and connectedly molded to an end surface of the extrusion portion.
The mold apparatus used for connectedly molding the molded portion comprises a stationary mold, plural movable molds and a core mold. The core mold comprises a core body for forming a hollow portion, and also comprises an extending plate extending from the core body. When the molded portion is molded, first, an end portion of the extrusion portion having already been molded by a publicly known extrusion molding method is set in the core body by being fitted thereinto. Thus the extrusion portion is attached to the mold apparatus. Subsequently, each of the molds is disposed at a predetermined place and clamped. At this moment, a cavity for molding a molded portion is formed by using each of the molds. Then, unvulcanized rubber is injected and filled into the cavity through a gate (not shown). Subsequently, unvulcanized rubber is vulcanized. Then, each of the molds is opened. A product obtained by integrating the core mold with the vulcanized rubber (or molded portion precursor) is taken out therefrom. At that time, a slit is formed in the molded precursor owing to the presence of the extending plate.
Thus, the molded portion precursor having a hollow portion is obtained by taking the core body from the slit. Thereafter, opposite opening faces of the slit are bonded by adhesive at plural places. Thus, the molded portion is obtained. That is, a weather strip, in which this molded portion is integral with the extrusion portion, is obtained.
However, hitherto, anticipated design has been performed so that the molded portion precursor is molded to be wider than the extrusion portion by width of the slit so as to bond the opening faces of the slit. An operation of bonding the opening faces indispensably needs a step of compressing and holding the molded portion precursor in the direction of width thereof for a predetermined time in a state in which the adhesive is applied thereon. This results in a fear of increase in the number of working manhours, increase in production cost, and reduction in productivity. Additionally, when the opening faces of the slit are bonded directly to each other, width of a mounting base portion is liable to be uneven. Consequently, there has been a fear of drawbacks, such as reduction in sealability of the molded portion.
In recent years, there has appeared a weather strip having a blocking piece, instead of bonding the opening faces directly to each other, so as to counteract the drawbacks (see, for example, JP-A-6-305372).
However, the weather strip described in JP-A-6-305372 is configured so that the blocking piece is simply turned and assembled to the mounting base portion. Thus, this weather strip indispensably needs a step of bonding the blocking piece with adhesive to the mounting base portion. Also, it is difficult to hold bonded parts until the adhesive dries. Consequently, there has been a fear that the bonded parts may be detached from each other by a restoring force of the blocking piece, and that the slit may be opened.

Weather strip and manufacturing method therefor


A reflective type liquid crystal display device includes: a semiconductor substrate; a transparent substrate having a transparent electrodes; a liquid crystal layer interposed between these substrates; switching elements being formed on the semiconductor substrate correspondingly to a pixel-array; and pixel-electrodes disposed in matrix over the switching elements correspondingly to the pixel-array. Each of the pixel-electrodes is made of a metal selected from a group of materials each generating an electric potential which is substantially the same as an electric potential occurring on each of the transparent electrodes. The reflective type liquid crystal display device is capable of preventing the generation of flicker caused by the battery-effect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reflective type liquid crystal display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cross sectional view of a reflective panel in a reflective type liquid crystal display device is shown in FIG. 4. The reflective panel comprises a silicon substrate 1, a glass substrate 6 facing the silicon substrate 1 and a liquid crystal layer 9 interposed and sealed between the silicon substrate 1 and the glass substrate 6. Plural MOS FETs 2 are formed and disposed in matrix on the surface of the silicon substrate 1 in the side of the liquid crystal layer 9. Plural pixel-electrodes 4 of aluminum are formed and disposed in matrix via the insulative layers 3 correspondingly and adjacent to the MOS FETs 2. The pixel-electrodes 4 and the MOS FETs 2 are covered with a protective layer 5. On the other hand, transparent electrodes 7 of ITO i.e., a solid solution of tin oxide (SnO.sub.2) and indium oxide (In.sub.2 O.sub.3) are uniformly disposed on a surface of the glass substrate 6 in the side of the liquid crystal layer 9. Black matrixes or the black stripes 95 are disposed on the transparent electrodes 7 correspondingly to the MOS FETs 2. In this case, the protective layer 5 is made of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, tantalum oxide, or polyimide. In the case that the pixel-electrodes 4 are covered with the protective layer 5 as mentioned above, the driving-voltage for driving the liquid crystal display device is apt to be high. Thus, there a possible way to remove the protective layer 5 in order to reduce such a driving-voltage. If so, the liquid crystal layer 9 will come in contact with the transparent electrodes 7 and the pixel-electrodes 4 resulting in occurrence of the so-called battery-effect. Thus, the difference of the reference electric potentials generated by the transparent electrodes 7 and the pixel-electrodes 4 of aluminum becomes very large. As a result, the driving-voltage is offset in direct current, so that the projected light includes flicker, which is revealed.

Reflective type liquid crystal display device


Methods of using an adsorption medium to remove at least one constituent from a feed stream. The method comprises contacting an adsorption medium with a feed stream comprising at least one constituent and removing the at least one constituent from the feed stream. The adsorption medium comprises a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) matrix and at least one metal hydroxide homogenously dispersed therein. The adsorption medium may comprise from approximately 15 wt % to approximately 90 wt % of the PAN and from approximately 10 wt % to approximately 85 wt % of the at least one metal hydroxide. The at least one metal hydroxide may be selected from the group consisting of ferric hydroxide, zirconium hydroxide, lanthanum hydroxide, cerium hydroxide, titanium hydroxide, copper hydroxide, antimony hydroxide, and molybdenum hydroxide.

Water supplies contaminated with arsenic (As) are a major health and environmental concern in the United States and worldwide. Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that is present in rocks or soils. Over time, the arsenic leaches from the rocks or soils into groundwater, surface water, wells, or other sources of drinking water. This arsenic contamination is referred to as indigenous arsenic contamination. Arsenic-contaminated solutions are also produced in a variety of industries, such as mining, agriculture, semiconductor, or petroleum industries. These arsenic-contaminated solutions include process solutions and waste streams. Arsenic is a known carcinogen that has been shown to cause bladder, kidney, liver, and lung cancer. In 1976, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") established drinking water standards for arsenic at a maximum concentration limit ("MCL") of 50 μg/L or 50 parts per billion ("ppb"). However, even trace amounts of arsenic have been shown to have health risks, which led the EPA to reduce the MCL to 10 ppb. The reduced MCL will be enforced in 2006, which provides only a few years for development and testing of improved technologies for arsenic removal.
Arsenic is present in nature in valence states or oxidation states of −3, 0, +3, and +5. In water supplies, arsenic contaminants typically exist as As(III) compounds and/or As(V) compounds. The As(III) compounds include As(III) oxyanions or oxyacids, such as H3AsO3 or HAsO2, depending on the pH of the water supply. The As(V) compounds include As(V) oxyanions, such as H2AsO4− or HAsO42−, or oxyacids, such as H3AsO4, depending on the pH of the water supply. Under atmospheric conditions or an oxidizing environment, As(V) compounds are predominantly present in water supplies. As(III) compounds are also known as arsenites, while As(V) compounds are known as arsenates.
Numerous techniques for removing arsenic from water supplies have been proposed and developed. For instance, arsenic removal has utilized anion exchange, cation exchange, polymeric anion exchange, liquid-liquid extraction, activated alumina sorption, coprecipitation, sorption by iron oxide coated sand particles, enhanced coagulation with alum or ferric chloride dosage, ferric chloride coagulation followed by microfiltration, pressurized granulated iron particles, iron oxide doped alginate, manganese dioxide coated sand, polymeric ligand exchange, and zero-valent iron. These techniques primarily rely on ion exchange and Lewis acid-base interactions to remove the arsenic.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,346 to Etzel et al., an iron(III)-complexed cation exchange resin is disclosed for removing arsenic from wastewater or drinking water. The iron(III)-complexed cation exchange resin is formed by loading a strong acid cation exchange resin with iron ions. The cation exchange resin is purchased commercially and then loaded with the iron ions. When the iron(III)-complexed cation exchange resin is contacted with a stream of wastewater or drinking water, the iron ions react with arsenate anions to form an iron arsenate salt complex. The iron arsenate salt complex is immobilized on the cation exchange resin, removing the arsenic from the wastewater or drinking water.
While many techniques for removing arsenic from water supplies are known, conventional ion exchange resins do not provide the specificity to economically remove low concentrations of arsenic. Since many water supplies in the United States, such as groundwater, surface water, or wells, have low concentrations of arsenic, these techniques are not effective to remove the arsenic. In addition, many of these techniques are not selective for arsenic over other ions. To improve the selectively of ion exchange resins for arsenic, granules of metal oxides or metal hydroxides, such as ferric hydroxide, have also been investigated. While these metal oxide or metal hydroxide granules are more selective for arsenic, they have a low porosity and, therefore, have a low capacity for arsenic and poor kinetic properties. To improve the performance of ferric hydroxide, ferric hydroxide has been incorporated into organic polymers. For instance, in "Arsenic Removal Using a Polymeric/Inorganic Hybrid Sorbent," DeMarco et al., Water Research 37 (2003) pp. 164-176, a hydrated iron oxide is dispersed into a polymeric, cation exchange bead. The polymeric, cation exchange beads are commercially available and include a polystyrene matrix having sulfonic acid functional groups. A sorbent is prepared by loading Fe(III) onto the sulfonic acid sites on the cation exchange beads. The Fe(III) is then desorbed and Fe(III) hydroxides are simultaneously precipitated within the cation exchange beads using a strong alkaline solution, encapsulating the hydrated iron oxides within the cation exchange beads. The capacity of the sorbent for arsenic is limited by the total number of sulfonic acid sites on the cation exchange beads. In this sorbent, the hydrated iron oxide is loaded at approximately 0.9% to 1.2% by mass. In other words, only 9 mg of iron per gram of sorbent is loaded at saturation.
In further attempts to improve techniques for removing arsenic from water supplies, an ion exchange resin for removing trace amounts of ions is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,969 to Echigo et al. The ion exchange resin includes a phenolic resin and a metal hydroxide. The ion exchange resin is formed by incorporating a metal salt or metal oxide into the phenolic resin, which is prepared by precondensating a phenol compound with an aldehyde compound and an acid catalyst. The mixture of the metal salt or metal oxide and the phenolic resin is then subjected to a suspension polycondensation reaction in halogenated solvents. The ion exchange resin is isolated from the reaction mixture and treated with an alkaline agent to produce a spherical ion exchange resin. However, the foregoing process of preparing this ion exchange resin is problematic because it is complicated and the halogenated solvents used in the process are difficult to dispose of.
It is expected that large cities, which typically have centralized water treatment facilities, will be able to comply with the new MCL for arsenic using existing technologies, such as precipitation or coagulation treatment. However, small and mid-sized municipalities and other communities as well as rural areas do not have centralized water treatment facilities. Rather, they typically use point of origin treatment schemes, such as chlorination, at the well head prior to distribution. It is estimated that over four thousand municipal water supplies and tens of thousand of private drinking water supplies, primarily in the western United States, would not meet the new MCL standard of 10 ppb arsenic. Under existing technologies, these small and mid-sized municipalities and private users would have to build centralized water treatment facilities in order to comply with the new MCL. However, many small and mid-sized municipalities, as well as private users, cannot afford to build such facilities. Therefore, new technologies for removing arsenic need to be developed to meet the new MCL for arsenic.

Methods of using adsorption media for separating or removing constituents