Monitoring biomolecule separations by mass spectrometry is described. The mixture to be separated is introduced into a first fluidic stream, which then passes through a chromatography column. Small samples are periodically taken from the first fluidic stream as it leaves the chromatography column and injected into a first branch of a second fluidic stream. Low molecular weight components detrimental to the efficient operation of the mass spectrometer are removed by an in-line dialysis cell. A second fraction of the second fluidic stream acts as the dialysate. In a second and preferred system provided in accordance with the present teaching, the first fraction of the second fluidic stream is further split downstream of the sampling mechanism through the use of a three-way connector. Approximately 0.3 to 5 microliters per minute continues through the dialysis cell and thereafter to the electrospray emitter of the mass spectrometer.

Liquid chromatography is a method of separating the components of a mixture. In chemical and biochemical processing, the technique is used to purify a desired product, which may be mixed with by-products, starting materials, and reagents as a result of some previous processing step. In the field of chemical analysis, liquid chromatography is widely employed as a means of identifying and quantifying the components in a sample.
Separation occurs as the mixture is swept by a mobile fluidic phase through a column containing an immobile substrate referred to as the stationary phase. The rate at which any one component passes through the column depends on the nature of the interactions with the stationary phase. In general, the basis of these interactions may be adsorption, chemical bonding, polarity, solubility, or molecular filtration. The transit through a column of a component that interacts strongly with the stationary phase is retarded compared with a component that interacts weakly. Consequently, the components of a mixture emerge from the column at different times, allowing them to be collected or analysed separately.
It is normal practice to pass the fluidic stream through an ultraviolet (UV) absorption cell when it emerges from the column. The fluid within the cell is illuminated with UV light from a lamp, and the absorbance is measured with a photometer. This method of detection is non-destructive, and all of the flow may be passed through the cell without the components of the mixture undergoing any transformation. However, while good detection sensitivity can be achieved using UV absorption, even multiple wavelength or dispersive instruments are rarely capable of determining the chemical identities of the components with any confidence.
Alternatively, a mass spectrometer can be used to detect and identify the separated components. As the technique is destructive, only a small fraction of the fluidic stream should be diverted to the mass spectrometer if the intention is to make further use of the separated components. Those of skill in the art are aware that the molecular weight of a component can be deduced from its mass spectrum, and that this is often sufficient to identify the component with a high level of confidence.
Analysis by mass spectrometer requires that the biomolecules gain an electric charge and are released from solution. The resulting ions may then be separated according to their mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) by electric fields, magnetic fields, or combinations thereof and subsequently detected by an ion detector. Mass analysers are operated in vacuum to ensure that the trajectories of the ions are dominated by the applied fields rather than by collisions with neutral gas molecules. However, widely used methods of soft ionisation (techniques that generate ions without also causing fragmentation) operate at atmospheric pressure. Electrospray ionisation, atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation, and atmospheric pressure photo-ionisation are common examples. When one of these ionisation techniques is used, ions and ambient neutral gas molecules are drawn into the vacuum system housing the mass analyser through a small aperture. This aperture can become contaminated or blocked if high concentrations of involatile solutes are also present in the fluidic stream. While only electrospray ionisation will be considered below, it will be understood that many of the benefits of systems provided in accordance with the present teaching are also applicable when other forms of atmospheric pressure ionisation are employed.
In electrospray ionisation, the fluidic stream is passed through a capillary tube with a sharp tip to which a high voltage is applied. A partial separation of the positively and negatively charged ions in solution occurs in response to the electric field. Ions with the same polarity as the applied voltage become concentrated in an extruded volume at the tip of the emitter known as a Taylor cone. Droplets with an excess charge (an imbalance between the numbers of positive and negative ions) are ejected from the Taylor cone when the applied electric field is sufficient to overcome the surface tension of the fluid. Wholly aqueous solutions do not spray well, as the surface tension of water is high. Typically, an organic solvent that is miscible with water, such as acetonitrile or methanol, is added to the solvent system to reduce the surface tension. The charge density of a free droplet increases as solvent evaporates and its diameter decreases. This continues until such time as the electrostatic repulsion between like charges exceeds the surface tension, and the droplet undergoes fission. The fissioning of successive generations of progeny droplets eventually leads to the excess charge being carried by single ions surrounded by weakly bound shells of neutral solvent molecules.
Mass spectral peak intensities generally increase linearly with analyte concentration up to 10−5 to 10−3 M. At higher concentrations, the response levels-off or saturates. This is a reflection of the fact that the number of free ions produced cannot exceed the available excess charge. The chemical composition of the fluidic stream (the chemical identities of the solutes and their concentrations) is of great importance. The mass spectral peak intensity of an analyte of interest will normally decrease when the concentration of other solute ions is increased, as these compete for the finite amount of excess charge available. This phenomenon is known as ion suppression.
Those of skill in the art are aware that it is important to consider the mechanisms by which ions may be generated in solution prior to the electrospray process. Ionic compounds such as salts yield solvated positive and negative ions on dissolution and often give a strong response. Covalent compounds typically become charged through the addition of an acidic or a basic modifier to the solution. If the analyte has a basic moiety such as an amine, the addition of an acid to the solvent system results in protonation and the generation of positively charged ions. Formic acid at a concentration of 0.1% (v/v) is often used. If the analyte has an acidic moiety such as a carboxylic acid group, the addition of a base results in deprotonation and the generation of negatively charged ions. Biomolecules typically have numerous basic or acidic centres and can consequently become multiply charged. Covalent compounds may also become charged by forming adducts. For example, if NaCl is present, proteins in solution can acquire a positive charge by forming adducts with the Na+ ions. This somewhat complicates the interpretation of mass spectra as peaks due to protonation/deprotonation and adduct formation may be present, depending on the composition of the solution.
In view of the forgoing discussion, characteristics of electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry that are relevant to the analysis of components dissolved in a fluidic stream may be summarised as:
High concentrations of involatile solutes result in contamination of the vacuum interface.
The signal level associated with a component of interest can become suppressed by the presence of other solutes.
The response saturates when the overall concentration of solutes is in excess of 10−5 to 10−3 M.
Wholly aqueous solutions do not spray well as the surface tension is too high.
The ionisation of covalent compounds is promoted by acidic or basic modifiers.
It is therefore clear, and well understood by those of skill in the art, that while the information that can be derived from mass spectrometry is useful, its application in all fields is not trivial and indeed in certain instances, it may not be a suitable analysis tool at all.
In this context it is useful to appreciate that biomolecules require careful handling during chromatographic separations and other processing steps, as they are prone to chemical transformations and modifications that render them biologically inactive, a process known as denaturation. Proteins, peptides, polypeptides, antibodies, enzymes, hormones, oligosaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids, and oligonucleotides are examples of biomolecules. They can be derived from natural sources, or synthesised. While the molecular backbone of a biomolecule may remain intact unless subjected to harsh conditions, changes to the native secondary, tertiary, and quaternary conformations can result in a loss of bioactivity, reduced solubility, and a tendency to aggregate. Elevated temperatures, extremes of pH, organic solvents, and non-physiological concentrations of salt are known to cause denaturation. Consequently, biomolecules are typically stored and processed in solutions that mimic natural physiological environments, for example, tris-buffered saline (TBS), an aqueous solution of 50 mM tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane and 150 mM NaCl adjusted to pH 7.6 with hydrochloric acid. Higher NaCl concentrations are encountered during certain chromatographic techniques, including, for example, affinity chromatography.
Unfortunately, TBS and other similar buffers used in biochemical processing are incompatible with electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry. The high concentrations of buffering agent and NaCl result in strong ion suppression, complex mass spectra dominated by clusters and adducts, and contamination of the vacuum interface with involatile material. Furthermore, the solution is slightly alkaline, resulting in very limited protonation of basic centres. Any attempt to directly acidify the solution in order to promote protonation is initially counteracted by the buffering capacity of the buffer system. It will therefore be apparent that the analysis of biomolecules using mass spectrometry is not necessarily appropriate or feasible, as the carefully tailored aqueous buffers used to preserve the fragile native conformations of biomolecules result in low sensitivity, data analysis difficulties, and a need for frequent servicing of the vacuum interface.
It is known to address these problems using dialysis. Dialysis is a technique used in chemical processing to change the composition of solutions, and is ideally suited to the task of desalting biomolecule samples prior to analysis by mass spectrometry. It is an example of a mass transfer operation, a group of processes that can be employed to effect changes in composition without chemical reaction. In dialysis, two solutions with different compositions are separated by a semi-permeable membrane that allows the passage of molecules through narrow pores. In order to attain thermodynamic equilibrium, molecules diffuse from one side of the membrane to the other until the concentrations in the two solutions are equal. Usually, the aim is to substantially remove one or more unwanted low molecular weight components from a mixture while retaining desired high molecular weight components. This can be achieved if the pores in the membrane are wide enough to allow passage of the smaller molecules, but too narrow to transmit larger molecules.
Manual batch dialysis involves filling an envelope fabricated from semi-permeable membrane (often a section of tubing tied off at each end) with the solution to be dialysed. This is immersed in a bath containing a large volume of the second solution, or dialysate. Over the course of hours or even days, unwanted low molecular weight components diffuse out of the membrane envelope and into the dialysate, leaving behind a purified solution of the high molecular weight components. It is known to prepare biomolecule samples for mass spectrometric analysis using this method.
Flow processing by dialysis can be used for the in-line purification of fluidic streams, a familiar example being the clinical treatment of whole blood by haemodialysis machines. The technique involves pumping the fluidic stream to be purified through a first channel of a dialysis cell, and the dialysate through a second channel of the dialysis cell, the two channels being separated by a semi-permeable membrane. It is known to prepare biomolecule samples for mass spectrometric analysis using flow dialysis. Liu and co-workers have described in Analytical Chemistry vol. 68, 3295-3299 (1996) the clean-up and analysis of a very dilute solution of an oligonuleotide, which was pumped continuously through a flow dialysis cell and thereafter to an electrospray emitter by a syringe pump. The dialysate flow rate was at least sixty-fold greater than the flow rate of the oligonucleotide solution.
While this described process did achieve an analysis of biomolecules by mass spectrometry, there is a continued need for a means of repetitively sampling the effluent from a chromatography column, diluting the sampled material in a solvent system that aids the electrospray process, and efficiently performing dialysis on the resulting solution to remove components that would otherwise suppress the detection sensitivity, complicate the analysis, and contaminate the mass spectrometer. The process is required to be completed promptly so that the biomolecules emerging from the chromatography column can be identified without delay. Minimal dialysate consumption and a low-cost, compact, fluidic pumping arrangement are also desirable.
Liu and Verma have described an apparatus comprising a fluidic pump, a chromatography column, a needle valve splitter, a microdialysis assembly, and an electrospray ionisation mass spectrometer in the Journal of Chromatography A, vol. 835, 93-104 (1999). The needle valve splitter was set such that a minor fraction of the fluidic stream leaving the chromatography column was diverted to the dialysis assembly and thereafter the electrospray emitter. The dead volume of the dialysis assembly, including associated tubing was measured to be approximately 15-20 μL. Consequently, the flow rate through the dialysis system was chosen to be 10-20 μL/min so as to limit the delay to approximately 1 min, i.e. 1 min elapsed before material diverted from the main stream reached the electrospray emitter. A 2% solution of acetic acid in methanol was added to the flow at the electrospray emitter using a syringe pump in order to enhance the signal levels. Earlier introduction was avoided as the semi-permeable membrane used was intolerant of acidic conditions (pH<4), and because the authors believed that the efficiency of the dialysis process would be low in the presence of an organic solvent. The dialysate was separately supplied by gravity feed from a reservoir. Apart from the need for two additional fluidic streams (one to supply the dialysate and one to provide the acetic acid solution), a disadvantage of this configuration is that the flow rate through the dialysis cell is not independent of the flow rate through the chromatography column. If the latter is increased without also altering the needle valve setting, the residence time of the fluid in the dialysis cell decreases, leading to less efficient desalting. A further disadvantage of this configuration is that it is unsuitable for electrospray sources designed to operate at reduced flow. As the flow rate that may be accepted by the electrospray emitter also determines the flow rate through the entire dialysis assembly and associated tubing, the time taken for material diverted from the main stream to reach the electrospray emitter becomes unacceptably long when the operating regime is in the nanoliter to low microliter per minute range.
There therefore remain a number of problems associated with monitoring of biomolecule separations by mass spectrometry when the mobile phase is incompatible with common ionisation techniques and reliable operation of the vacuum interface.

Method and system for monitoring biomolecule separations by mass spectrometry


An open cycle heat engine supplies steam from a steam generator to an ejector in which the moving steam draws in atmospheric air to mix with the steam to make a flowing air-steam mixture. A first nozzle follows the ejector and effects adiabatic expansion of the air steam mixture. A thermal engine, e.g., a turbo-generator, has an input connected to the first nozzle and an outlet, and converts the kinetic energy in the mixture into a useful form, such as electricity. A second nozzle connected to the outlet of said thermal engine effects adiabatic expansion of the mixture leaving the thermal engine, and exhausts it to the atmosphere. The open cycle heat engine exhaust is at a low density, and is carried aloft when it is discharged into the atmosphere. This open cycle can have an energy conversion efficiency of 90%.

This invention relates to heat engines, and is more particularly related to an open-cycle heat engine in which steam is employed as a source of heat. The invention is more specifically concerned with a thermodynamic process employing air and water vapor as the working fluid, which expands and cools to produce work and exhausts from the system at a temperature below the earth's average ambient temperature.
All matter contains energy in the form of heat energy or enthalpy. This energy flows in one direction only, that is, from material at high temperature to material at low temperature. The flow of energy is heat, and can be compared with fluids, such as water, which flows to produce work. In the case of water, potential energy in the form of elevated water is converted to kinetic energy in the form of flowing water. Some of this kinetic energy is converted to useful energy, i.e., work, by an engine such as a water turbine. The rest of the kinetic energy is discarded as waste. In the case of a hot material, which stores energy, i.e., enthalpy, and this energy is converted to kinetic energy by permitting the material, i.e., a gas, to expand and flow. Some of this kinetic energy can be converted to useful work, e.g., in a gas turbine. The remainder of the kinetic energy is discarded as waste heat, and ultimately winds up in the atmosphere.
Every heat engine requires a working medium, which can typically be steam or another working gas. In modem engines, this working medium is usually gaseous or vaporous in form, with the preferred choice being steam. Early steam engines had an energy conversion efficiency of less than 5%, and discarded 95% of their initial energy as waste heat to the atmosphere. By the development of improved engines, including the development of the Rankine Cycle, and with the addition of condensers and water pumps, conversion efficiency was increased to 20% and above. More recently, turbine design improvements, such as feed water heating, higher operating temperatures, superheating, reheat cycles, etc., have further increased conversion efficiency to exceed 35%. However, improvements much above this efficiency level have been elusive in the heat engine arts.


A method for evaluating an efficacy of a chemoradiotherapy against squamous cell carcinoma comprises the following steps (a) to (c):                (a) detecting an expression level of at least one gene selected from a SIM2 gene and genes co-expressed with the SIM2 gene in a squamous cell carcinoma specimen isolated from a subject;        (b) comparing the expression level detected in the step (a) with a reference expression level of the corresponding gene; and        (c) determining that an efficacy of a chemoradiotherapy against squamous cell carcinoma in the subject is high if the expression level in the subject is higher than the reference expression level as a result of the comparison in the step (b).

Squamous cell carcinoma is malignant basal cells of stratified squamous epithelium and the like, and observed mainly in esophageal cancer, head and neck cancer, cervical cancer, lung cancer, and so forth.
Especially, squamous cell carcinoma accounts for 90% or more cases of esophageal cancer among Mongoloid races in East Asia. Among Caucasian races in Europe and the United States also, squamous cell carcinoma occurs more frequently than adenocarcinoma, which is another esophageal cancer. These two types of the cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, differ from each other in the diseased tissue and the origin. However, the two types of esophageal cancer are treated similarly at present. The standard therapy against locally advanced cancers at the stages of II and III is neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT) and definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in Japan, while neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in Europe and the United States. Definitive CRT results in a five-year survival rate of approximately 50%, which is slightly inferior to that of 55% by neoadjuvant CT. Nevertheless, definitive CRT is capable of organ preservation and is very effective for elderly patients and patients associated also with stomach cancer or head and neck cancer, which accounts for approximately 10% of the esophageal cancer patients. Hence, before a treatment, it is strongly desired to predict and select patients for whom neoadjuvant CRT is effective.
There is a method for evaluating an efficacy of such a therapy against breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and so forth, in which gene expression profiles of biopsies are utilized. Particularly, it has been shown that a subtype classification method is effective.
Efforts have been made to identify clinically useful subtypes of esophageal cancer, too. However, while the number of adenocarcinoma samples is large, the number of squamous cell carcinoma samples analyzed is too small to identify CRT-sensitive subtypes thereof. Further, the disease stages also vary among samples (NPLs 1 to 6. Note that the numbers of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples analyzed in NPLs 1 to 6 are respectively 33, 2, 26, 21, 7, and 0). Hence, no reliable results have been obtained which can contribute to predictive medical practice against locally advanced cancers, and a method for predicting chemoradiotherapy sensitivity and prognosis of squamous cell carcinoma has not been developed yet.

Method for evaluating efficacy of chemoradiotherapy against squamous cell carcinoma


Methods for production of carbon black using high temperature feedstock at temperatures exceeding about 300° C. with fouling control are provided. An apparatus for production of carbon black according to these methods also is provided.

The present invention relates to methods for production of carbon black using preheated feedstock with fouling control. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for production of carbon black using preheated feedstock with fouling control. The present invention also relates to carbon black resulting from the processes of the present invention.
Carbon blacks are widely utilized, for example, as pigments in ink compositions, paints and the like, as fillers and reinforcing pigments in the compounding and preparation of rubber compositions and plastic compositions, and for a variety of other applications. Carbon blacks are generally produced in a furnace-type reactor by reacting a hydrocarbon feedstock with hot combustion gases to produce combustion products containing particulate carbon black. In the carbon black literature, this reaction between the combustion gases and the hydrocarbon feedstock is generally referred to as pyrolysis.
A variety of methods for producing carbon blacks are generally known. In one type of a carbon black furnace reactor, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,020 to Kester et al., or U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,964 to Pollock, a fuel, such as hydrocarbonaceous fuel, and an oxidant, such as air, are injected into a first zone and react to form hot combustion gases. A hydrocarbonaceous feedstock in either gaseous, vapor or liquid form is also injected into the first zone whereupon reaction of the hydrocarbonaceous feedstock commences. The resulting combustion gas mixture, in which the reaction is occurring, then passes into a reaction zone where completion of the carbon black forming reaction occurs. In another type of carbon black furnace reactor, a liquid or gaseous fuel is reacted with an oxidant, such as air, in the first zone to form hot combustion gases. These hot combustion gases pass from the first zone, downstream through the reactor, into a reaction zone and beyond. To produce carbon blacks, a hydrocarbonaceous feedstock is injected at one or more points into the path of the hot combustion gas stream. Generally the hydrocarbonaceous feedstock is a hydrocarbon oil or natural gas. The first (or combustion) zone and the reaction zone may be divided by a choke or zone of restricted diameter which is smaller in cross section than the combustion zone or the reaction zone. The feedstock may be injected into the path of the hot combustion gases upstream of, downstream of, and/or in the restricted diameter zone. The hydrocarbon feedstock may be introduced in atomized and/or non-atomized form, from within the combustion gas stream and/or from the exterior of the combustion gas stream. Carbon black furnace reactors of this type are shown, for example, in U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 28,974, to Morgan et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,335, to Jordan et al.
In generally known reactors and processes, the hot combustion gases are at a temperature sufficient to effect the reaction of the hydrocarbonaceous feedstock injected into the combustion gas stream. In one type of reactor, such as the above-indicated U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,020 to Kester et al., feedstock is injected, at one or more points, into the same zone where combustion gases are being formed. In other type reactors or processes, the injection of the feedstock occurs, at one or more points, after the combustion gas stream has been formed. The mixture of feedstock and combustion gases in which the reaction is occurring is sometimes hereinafter referred to, throughout the application, as "the reaction stream." The residence time of the reaction stream in the reaction zone of the reactor is sufficient to allow the formation of desired carbon blacks. In either type of reactor, since the hot combustion gas stream is flowing downstream through the reactor, the reaction occurs as the mixture of feedstock and combustion gases passes through the reaction zone. After carbon blacks having the desired properties are formed, the temperature of the reaction stream is lowered to a temperature such that the reaction is stopped, and carbon black product can be recovered.
Other patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,335 to Jordan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,669 to Casperson; U.S. Pat. No. 6,348,181 to Morgan; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,877 to Green, also show the processes for producing carbon black, including feedstock temperatures. Typical feedstock temperatures at the point of entry to the reactor, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,669, can range, for example, from 250° F. to 500° F. (121° C. to 260° C.).
The present investigators have recognized that hydrocarbonaceous feedstock temperatures in carbon black production that approach or exceed about 300° C. at the point or prior to the point of entry to the reactor would create a high risk of disruptive levels of thermally induced fouling of feedstock supply lines and equipment. Further, the present investigators believe that methods and systems for producing carbon black that can tolerate such hot feedstocks have not been previously developed, nor have the possible benefits of using hot feedstock operation previously been fully realized or attainable, until the development of the present methods and arrangements for carbon black production.

Method for carbon black production using preheated feedstock and apparatus for same


Disclosed is a water circulating device using sunlight which is installed in a park or a lake and circulates water to improve the quality of water. The water circulating device includes an expandable corrugated tube unit for introducing water within a water area to disperse the water to an upper stratum of the water area, a unit frame for supporting the expandable corrugated tube unit, a plurality of barge units for providing buoyancy to the expandable corrugated tube unit and the unit frame, an impeller for dispersing the water in the expandable corrugated tube unit to outside the expandable corrugated tube unit, and a torque provider for providing torque to the impeller.

With the industrial development, industrial water and domestic water have been used more and more. The amount of discharge of various kinds of sewage and wastewater caused by such use has also increased.
Industrial water and domestic water should be treated into clean water and then discharged to rivers. However, this is not in line with the reality. As a result, pollution of rivers or lakes is increasing.
Various organic pollutants flowing into the rivers or lakes cause an abnormal multiplication of various microorganisms including algae. For this reason, a shortage of dissolved oxygen occurs, and the self-purification power of water is lost. As a result, the water becomes foul.
For this reason, various efforts are being made to improve water quality using a water circulating method. However, due to structural limits or power supply limits, commercialization has not yet proceeded favorably. Thus, a countermeasure against this is required.

Water circulating device installed in a park or lake


Ferritic stainless steel is excellent in terms of both oxidation resistance and thermal fatigue resistance without adding expensive elements, such as Mo or W. The ferritic stainless steel, contains: C: 0.015 mass % or lower, Si: 1.0 mass % or lower, Mn: 1.0 mass % or lower, P: 0.04 mass % or lower, S: 0.010 mass % or lower, Cr: 16 to 23 mass % or lower, N: 0.015 mass % or lower, Nb: 0.3 to 0.65 mass %, Ti: 0.15 mass % or lower, Mo: 0.1 mass % or lower, W: 0.1 mass % or lower, Cu: 1.0 to 2.5 mass %, Al: 0.2 to 1.5 mass %, and the balance of Fe and inevitable impurities.

Exhaust components, such as exhaust manifolds, exhaust pipes, converter cases, and mufflers used under the exhaust environment of automobiles, are required to be excellent in terms of thermal fatigue resistance or oxidation resistance (hereinafter, both properties are collectively referred to as "heat resistance"). For applications requiring such heat resistance, Cr containing steels, to which Nb and Si are added, such as Type 429 (14Cr-0.9Si-0.4Nb), are currently used frequently. However, when an exhaust gas temperature increases so as to exceed 900° C. with an improvement in engine performance, the thermal fatigue resistance of the Type 429 becomes insufficient.
To deal with this problem, Cr containing steels whose high temperature proof stress has been improved by adding Nb and Mo, SUS444 (19Cr-0.5Nb-2Mo) specified in JIS G4305, ferritic stainless steels to which Nb, Mo, and W have been added, etc., have been developed (e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-018921). However, due to the unusually steep increase in the price of rare metal raw materials, such as Mo or W, these days, the development of materials having heat resistance equivalent thereto using inexpensive raw materials has been increasingly required.
As materials that are excellent in terms of heat resistance and that do not contain expensive elements, such as Mo and W, for example, WO 2003/004714 pamphlet discloses a ferritic stainless steel for automobile exhaust air passage components in which Nb: 0.50 mass % or lower, Cu: 0.8 to 2.0 mass %, and V: 0.03 to 0.20 mass % are added to 10 to 20 mass % Cr steel, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-117985 discloses a ferritic stainless steel excellent in terms of thermal fatigue resistance in which Ti: 0.05 to 0.30 mass %, Nb: 0.10 to 0.60 mass %, Cu: 0.8 to 2.0 mass %, and B: 0.0005 to 0.02 mass % are added to 10 to 20 mass % Cr steel, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-297355 discloses ferritic stainless steels for automobile exhaust air parts in which Cu: 1 to 3 mass % are added to 15 to 25 mass % Cr steel. The respective steels have improved thermal fatigue resistance by the addition of Cu.
We found that, when Cu is added as in the techniques of the known publications mentioned above, the fatigue resistance improves, but the oxidation resistance of the steel itself decreases and, thus, the heat resistance generally deteriorates.
It could therefore be helpful to provide a ferritic stainless steel excellent in terms of both oxidation resistance and thermal fatigue resistance without adding expensive elements such as Mo or W by developing a technique for preventing reduction in oxidation resistance by the addition of Cu.

Heat-resistance ferritic stainless steel


A ID circuit produces a unique binary identification code (ID) for each integrated circuit in which it is implemented by setting states of each bit of the ID as a function of random variations in material forming the IC that occur at the time the IC is fabricated. The ID circuit includes an ID generating circuit for generating the ID, a non-volatile memory, and a control circuit for writing the ID generated by the ID generating circuit into the non-volatile memory in response to a first occurrence of a write cue event. Thereafter the control circuit responds to each occurrence of a read cue event by reading the ID out of the non-volatile memory and providing it as an IC output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to circuits for generating an identification code, and in particular, to a circuit that generates an identification code that is unique to each integrated circuit in which it is embedded.
2. Description of Related Art
Identification codes (IDs) have many purposes. For example an ID may be provided in printed form (e.g., user-names or bank account numbers), in graphical form (e.g., a picture on a driver license or a barcode on a product), in the form of a magnetic field (e.g., as provided by a magnetic strip on a credit card), as an electronic code conveyed by a signal. An ID can indicate the type of object bearing the ID. For example, a barcode-encoded UPC on a cereal box in a grocery store enables a grocer to determine the price of the goods when all boxes of the same kind of cereal are printed with the same barcode. An ID can distinguish a particular object from a population of similar objects. For example a user-name may distinguish one user of a computer network service from all other users of the service, or a bank account number may uniquely distinguish a customer account from all other bank accounts. An ID can confirm that the bearer of an ID is a genuine member of a population. For example, a photograph on a driver's license is a form of ID used to confirm that the bearer of the driver's license is the individual named on the driver's license.
Signals conveying binary strings are often used as IDs. For example, each instance of a particular type of integrated circuit (IC) chip can be made to generate an output signal conveying a unique binary coded ID. The ID generated by each IC may be used to distinguish that IC from among all other ICs, to verify that the particular IC is a legitimate copy of an IC and not an illegitimate counterfeit. The ID generated by an IC can also be used to identify any larger electronic system in which it is incorporated. "Radio Frequency Identification" tags (RFIDs) are ICs that produce radio frequency signals conveying binary IDs. When the RFIDs are attached to objects, such as for example merchandise in a retail store, packages for delivery, the unique radio frequency ID codes they generate can serve the same identification purposes as barcodes.
There are economic and other incentives for people to misuse IDs. For example, when an ID identifies goods as having been produced by a particular source, a source of counterfeit goods would want to provide the counterfeit goods with IDs that incorrectly identify them as having been produced by that particular source. Thus counterfeiters not only try to counterfeit goods, they also seek to counterfeit IDs that are associated with those goods. Accordingly, efforts have been made to render IDs difficult to copy or counterfeit. For example sophisticated procedures/algorithms and manufacturing processes are sometimes used to make IDs that are difficult for a counterfeiter to copy. A hologram is one example of a difficult to reproduce ID. Sometimes IDs are hidden or encoded in a way that makes it difficult for a would-be counterfeiter to discover them.
One way to foil an ID counterfeiter is to make it hard for the counterfeiter to determine which part of a code is actually used as an ID. U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,148, issued Nov. 22, 1994 to Storch et al., entitled COUNTERFEIT DETECTION USING ID NUMBERS WITH AT LEAST ONE RANDOM PORTION, teaches adding one or more "random" portions (each consisting of one or more digits) to an otherwise straightforward numerical ID, and of purposely using different presentations in the "external" appearance (e.g. as printed on the outside package box) of the ID and the "inner" appearance (e.g. inside the box on a customer return registration card), for detecting counterfeits. U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,638, issued Apr. 3, 2001 to Lee et al., entitled METHOD FOR GENERATING UNPREDICTABLE AUTHENTICATION IDENTIFICATION SYMBOLS, teaches use of special mathematical functions to generate sequences of unpredictable ID symbols, and to employ an unpredictable subset of the symbols from such a sequence for an actual ID.
The IDs described above are "static" in that, once a particular copy of an ID is generated, it stays the same each time the ID is presented. For example a barcode ID, once printed, never changes its appearance. A product serial number, once imprinted on the casing of a product or printed on a customer registration card, never changes its value. A user-name for logging into an on-line service remains the same once assigned.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,213, issued Dec. 12, 2000 to Keith Lofstrom, entitled SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT WITH A UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION, describes a circuit (currently marketed under the trademark "ICID") that may be incorporated into an IC chip for generating a unique ID for each IC in which it is embedded without requiring each IC to be separately processed. The ICID circuit includes an array of identification (ID) cells, and each ID cell controls the state of a separate bit of the ID to be generated based on relative doping levels within channels of transistors forming a part of the ID cell. Since the doping level randomly varies from transistor-to-transistor within an IC as a result of random process variations, the bit sequence of the ID produced by each copy of the ICID circuit is randomly established as the IC is fabricated. When the ID has a sufficiently large number of bits, the ID generated by each copy of the ICID circuit is highly likely to be unique even though a very large number of copies of the ICID circuit are manufactured.
The doping levels of the transistors of one or more of the ID cells of any given copy of an ICID circuit may be so similar that environmental variables such as ambient temperature and supply voltages can influence the ID bit state controlled by those ID cells. Thus, one characteristic of binary IDs produced by the ICID circuit is that a very small percentage of the bits of the ID it generates may not always be of the same state each time the ICID circuit generates the ID; the state of one or more bits of an ID may "drift" in that it changes from instance-to-instance of the generated ID. Thus, the ID that the ICID circuit produces is "dynamic" in that it does not always have exactly the same value each time it is generated. However, Lofstrom teaches that even though a few bits of each individual ID may drift, the ID can still be used to uniquely identify each IC from among a large population of ICIDs producing such IDs if the ID has a sufficiently large number of bits. Lofstrom teaches that two sufficiently long IDs may be considered with a high degree of confidence to have been produced by the same copy of an ICID circuit even though a few of their corresponding bits are not of matching states.
U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0151539 filed Aug. 14, 2003 by Wuidart et al and U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0151942 filed Aug. 14, 2003 by Bardouillet et al also describe a circuit that may be incorporated into an IC for generating an ID. The circuit includes a set of ID cells, each of which produces an output bit of a state that is a function of random parametric variations in the magnitudes of a pair of polysilicon resistors within each ID cell. The resistors are incorporated into a circuit outputting a 1 or a 0 bit depending on which resistor has lowest resistance when power is initially applied to the circuit. The bits produced by all of the ID cells form the output ID. In some cases, the resistance of the two resistors of a ID cell may be so similar that the ID cell's output bit may not always be of the same state every time power is applied to the ID cell. To stabilize the ID, the system temporarily increases the amount of current passing through the ID cell having the lowest resistance when the circuit is first energized, and the increased current permanently lowers the resistance of that resistor so that it will always be lower than that of the other resistor. Thereafter the ID cell will always produce the same output bit. This ID circuit produces an ID in which none of the bits vary in state, but can require a separate pin on the IC to supply high voltage power to the ID circuit to temporarily increase the supply voltage to the ID circuit to permanently reduce the resistance of the lowest resistance resistor in each ID cell.

Circuit for generating an identification code for an IC


An improved method for forming a Bragg grating in a photosensitive, optical waveguiding medium by exposure to an interference pattern formed by overlapping beams of actinic radiation. When Bragg gratings are formed according to methods of the prior art, these gratings tend to exhibit reflectivity spectra having, in addition to a central peak, a generally undesirable series of subsidiary peaks. These subsidiary peaks are caused by a wave interference effect. The inventive method modifies or eliminates the subsidiary peaks by spatially modulating the average refractive index of the grating, or by spatially modulating the grating period.

Certain optical media, including at least some silica-based optical fibers, can be modified by exposure to electromagnetic radiation in an appropriate spectral range. (Such radiation, typically ultraviolet radiation, is referred to below as "actinic" radiation.) That is, exposure of a photosensitive optical fiber (or other optical medium) to actinic radiation may cause the refractive index to change in the exposed portion of the medium. A periodic pattern can be imposed on the impinging radiation by, e.g., superimposing a pair of beams of substantially monochromatic radiation from, e.g., a laser, to create an interference pattern. When such a patterned radiation field impinges on an optical fiber or other optical waveguide having a core of the appropriate photosensitivity, a corresponding pattern is imposed on the core in the form of periodic (or quasiperiodic) fluctuations in the core refractive index. Such a pattern, which is often referred to as a "Bragg grating" or a "distributed Bragg reflector (DBR)" can behave as a spectrally selective reflector for electromagnetic radiation. Bragg gratings formed in this manner are particularly useful as end-reflectors in optical fiber lasers. These Bragg gratings are useful both because they are spectrally selective, and because they are readily incorporated in the same optical fiber that supports the active laser medium.
A technique for creating these Bragg gratings is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,110, issued to W. H. Glenn, et al. on Feb. 16, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,950, issued to W. H. Glenn, et al. on Feb. 28, 1989. An optical fiber laser having a DBR-terminated cavity is described in G. A. Ball and W. W. Morey, "Continuously tunable single-mode erbium fiber laser", Optics Lett. 17 (1992) 420-422.
Bragg gratings are useful as passive optical components for other applications besides end-reflectors in fiber lasers. For example, Bragg gratings are useful as spectral filters for wavelength-division multiplexing and other optical signal-processing applications. An optical filter which comprises a Bragg grating, formed in an optical fiber is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,705, issued to W. W. Morey, et al. on Apr. 16, 1991.
We have observed that when a pair of intersecting laser beams is used to form a Bragg grating in an optical fiber, the resulting gating may exhibit certain optical properties that are generally undesirable. Specifically, the reflectivity spectrum of the grating may exhibit one or two relatively sharp subsidiary peaks, or a regularly spaced sequence of such peaks, to one side of the central peak, generally the short-wavelength side. (These subsidiary peaks are hereafter referred to as "fine structure".) This fine structure is undesirable, for example, in a feedback stabilization system in which the output wavelength of a laser is locked onto the central peak of a Bragg grating. If the grating has subsidiary peaks, it is possible for the tuning of the laser to shift to a subsidiary peak in response to an environmental disturbance. Thus, the presence of fine structure may make a laser system of this kind less robust against environmental disturbances.
By way of illustration, FIG. 1 shows an experimentally measured transmissivity spectrum of a typical Bragg grating formed in an optical fiber. (In the absence of loss, the sum of transmissivity and reflectivity is 100%.) The spectrum includes a broad main peak 10 and a series of subsidiary peaks 15.
We attribute this fine sideband structure to interference effects related to the average axial profile of the refractive index in the grating region. (By the "axial" direction is meant the propagation direction of electromagnetic radiation in the grating.) That is, the refractive index of the fiber (or other waveguiding medium) in the grating region is conveniently described in terms of a perturbation .delta.(z) which represents the difference between this index and the refractive index of the unexposed fiber, and in terms of the variation of the perturbation along the axial direction (i.e., the z-direction). The perturbation varies periodically, in step with the successive light and dark fringes in the interference pattem that created it. However, each of the interfering beams has a spatially varying intensity profile in the plane perpendicular to the propagation direction of the beam. This profile is typically Gaussian in shape. The intensity profiles of the interfering beams define the spatial extent of the Bragg grating, and modulate the amplitude of the periodic refractive index perturbation. As a result, the perturbation .delta.(z) generally takes the form of a periodic series of peaks enclosed by an envelope, typically Gaussian in shape, which is maximal at or near the center of the grating, and falls off to zero at the edges of the grating. If the perturbation is averaged over an axial distance much larger than the grating period, e.g., over ten or more periods, then the resulting average perturbation will of course have the same shape as this envelope.
The existence of such envelopes is well known. In fact, it is well known that an envelope having, e.g., a rectangular shape will give rise to side lobes in the resulting reflectivity spectrum. (See, e.g., H. Kogelnik, "Filter Response of Nonuniform Almost-Periodic Structures", The Bell System Technical Journal 55 (1976) 109-126.) However, the basic reason for this effect is that the grating has a limited spatial extent. By contrast, the fine structure discussed above is a consequence of the spatially averaged perturbation. This average perturbation is effective in certain respects as a "background" perturbation, which has physical significance separate from that of the rapid modulations (i.e., the "lines" ) of the grating. Until now, a full discussion of the effects of the average perturbation on spectral structure has not appeared in the relevant technical literature. In particular, practitioners in the art have hitherto failed to address possible techniques for mitigating (or for enhancing) the resulting fine structure.

Method for forming distributed bragg reflectors in optical media


A cable assembly having a first cable component with a length and at least a first conductive element extending in a lengthwise direction, and a second cable component with a length and at least a second conductive element extending in the lengthwise direction. The first and second cable components are separately pre-formed and thereafter releasably bonded together through a separately applied composition at discrete locations between the first and second cable components at spaced intervals along the lengths of the first and second cable components. The first and second cable components are capable of being drawn, one away from the other, to selectively break the bond between the first and second cable components at at least one of the discrete locations to thereby separate the first and second cable components.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cable assemblies consisting of strategically joined cable components. The invention is also directed to a method of making the cable assembly.
2. Background Art
A multitude of cable assemblies currently exists to transmit a wide range of signals, among which are data, power, voice, etc. These cable assemblies are made up of a plurality of individual cable components, with each separate component typically having one or more conductive elements and/or optical fibers, potentially together with other non-signal conducting elements, encased by a surrounding jacket.
In one basic form, the individual cable components are combined and in turn surrounded by an outer jacket that maintains the individual cable components together to produce an overall consistent cross-sectional shape for the cable assembly. The cable assembly is commonly coiled or wrapped around spools for bulk storage.
The nature of the individual cable components is dictated by the particular application. The cable components may be the same or different. On a particular job all, or potentially less than all, of the cable components may be utilized.
The utilized cable components may terminate at the same location. Alternatively, one or more of the cable components may be branched mid-length to be diverted to a different location.
With the above construction, installers are required to strategically remove portions of the outer jacket to access the desired cable component(s) to effect connection thereof.
The outer jackets may be somewhat durable in nature, thereby potentially requiring a significant effort to remove the same on a particular site. Often, to effect removal of the outer jacket, the outer jacket may be scored or cut through with a sharpened instrument. In so doing, there exists a significant risk that one or more of the jackets on a cable component might be compromised, which could lead to shorting, signal interruption or compromise, introduction of moisture to against a conductive or optical fiber element, etc. This is particularly a problem when the outer jacket is removed at a mid-length location.
The use of the outer jacket has other drawbacks. A significant amount of material may be required to produce the jacket, when ultimately a substantial portion thereof will be removed at the installation site. The inclusion of a jacket also adds significantly to the weight of the cable assembly, which may be packed in lengths that cause the outer jacket to detrimentally add to shipping costs and make handling, between point of manufacture and installation site, more difficult. Further, the removed outer jacket becomes scrap that must be disposed of. While on small jobs this may not be significant, when installations require use of many miles of the cable assembly, the accumulation of scrap becomes significant and has ecological ramifications.
It is known to adhere multiple cable components together without requiring an outer jacket. One conventional method of doing so is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,049,523.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,049,523, a bonding layer is formed continuously over the length of the cable assembly and adhered to each of the wire components. The installer can "peel" the desired length of cable component(s) away from the bonding layer and thus the remaining cable component(s).
While the above system does obviate many of the problems associated with an outer jacket, it introduces additional problems. First of all, the use of the bonding component over the entire running length of the cable assembly adds undesirably to both the weight and manufacturing cost thereof.
Still further, after the cable component(s) is peeled from the remaining component(s), the bonding component remains intact. In some situations, the bonding component may interfere with routing of a particular cable component or cable components to which it remains attached.
The cable manufacturing industry continues to be increasingly more competitive. The ultimate objectives of product designers include, among others, ease of use, weight control, and affordability. With existing designs, these objectives often compete, as a result of which there may be significant limitations with a particular design. The industry continues to seek out new designs in a market that functions with ever-decreasing margins.

Cable assembly and method of making a cable assembly


Provided is a door hinge. The door hinge includes a fixing member, an activating member, a guide pin, and a guide frame. The fixing member is installed at a door frame. The activating member is installed at a door, and connects with the fixing member by a hinge, and opens and closes the door. The guide pin is fitted into guide holes provided at both sides of the activating member, and elastically moves up/down along the guide hole by a tension force of a spring installed inside the activating member. A guide frame is combined to the guide pin, and connects at its lower end with the fixing member by a pin, and rotates about the pin depending on an operation of the activating member. The guide hole is round (R) shaped at its center, and has a curved shape in entirety.

As well known in the art, a door hinge refers to an apparatus designed to allow a door to be opened/closed on a door frame. The door hinge is divided as a door hinge constructed to open and close the door in a left/right opening/closing method starting from one side, and a door hinge constructed to open and close the door in an up/down opening/closing method (that is, a lying down in front and coming out method) starting from an upper end.
The latter door hinge is used for a door of a gas oven or microwave oven that is electric home appliances. A conventional construction of the door hinge is shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional door hinge 150 includes a fixing mount 110 installed at a door frame 100; and an activating mount 112 installed at the door 200, connecting by a hinge 126 with the fixing mount 110, rotating about the hinge 126, and opening and closing the door 200.
A guide unit 114 is provided between the fixing mount 110 and the activating mount 112, and guides an opening/closing operation of the door 200.
The guide unit 114 includes a connection plate 116 installed at the fixing mount 110; a rotation plate 120 connecting by a pin 118 with the connection plate 116 and rotating about the pin 118; and a guide pin 124 combining to a front end of the rotation plate 120 and moving up/down along the guide hole 122 provided at both side surfaces of the activating mount 112.
In the above constructed guide unit 114, when the activating mount 112 is rotated, the guide pin 124 vertically moves down along the guide hole 122 and at the same time, the rotation plate 118 connecting to the guide pin 124 rotates about the pin 118 depending on the movement of the guide pin 124 and guides the rotation of the activating mount 112. Thus, the door 200 can stably perform an opening operation.
However, the conventional door hinge 150 is expected to have drawbacks below in use.
First, there is a drawback in that, if the guide hole 122 is manufactured to have a straight-line shape as shown, a force is much needed in opening the door 200. In other words, due to a characteristic that the door 200 rotates about the hinge 126 and is lain down in front and opened, the door 200 pulls the guide pin 124 in its opening. Owing to the straight-line shape of the guide hole 122, the guide pin 124 strongly contacts with one side surface of the guide hole 122 by a pulling force of the door 200 in its movement, thereby generating a frictional force. This frictional force limits the guide pin 124 in its vertical movement, thereby causing a drawback of much needing the force in opening the door 200.
Further, it is required to open and stop the door 200 at a predetermined angle so as to check food in cooking, but there is a drawback that the conventional door hinge 150 is not provided with means for stopping the door 200 at a predetermined angle.


A contact management method and system is provided. The method includes presenting, by a computer processor via a dashboard of a graphical user interface, a user name icon associated with a user. The computer processor presents a list of names associated with users and receives a selection for a first contact name. A file sharing option between the user and a user associated with the first contact name is enabled. The computer processor receives a selection for a second contact name and in response presents an internal network contacts map comprising the user name icon connected to the first contact name via a first link and the user name icon connected to the second contact name via a second link. The first link comprises an attribute indicating the file sharing option and the second link comprises an attribute indicating that the file sharing option is not enabled.

Managing networks typically comprises an inaccurate process with little flexibility. Network management within a system typically includes a manual process. Manually managing networks may be time consuming and require a large amount of resources. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome at least some of the deficiencies and limitations described herein above.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of measuring a front surface profile and a back surface profile of a target object includes: mounting the target object in such a posture that a first measuring surface (front surface) is measurable by a probe; first measuring a contour of the target object; measuring the first measuring surface of the target object; reversing the target object; second measuring the contour of the target object with the reversed posture of the target object being maintained; obtaining a measurement position of a second measuring surface by comparison of contour data obtained through the first and second measuring of the contour, the measurement position of the second measuring surface corresponding to a measurement position of the first measuring surface at which the measuring of the first measuring surface is conducted; and measuring a profile of the second measuring surface along the obtained measurement position of the second measuring surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of measuring front and back surfaces of a target object. For instance, the method according to an aspect of the invention relates to a method of measuring a front surface profile and a back surface profile of a lens.
2. Description of Related Art
When lenses are manufactured through transfer using metal molds, the optical axis of front surfaces of the manufactured lenses may be misaligned with the optical axis of back surfaces of the manufactured lenses, depending on precision and displacement of the metal molds. Such misalignment may hamper achievement of desired optical characteristics.
In view of the above, various proposals have been made on methods of measuring profiles of front and back surfaces of lenses.
For instance, a document 1 (JP-A-2006-78398) discloses a method and a device of measuring eccentricity and inclination of front and back surfaces.
According to the document 1, a target object-holding jig is used, and a lens (target object) and three reference balls are disposed on the target object-holding jig such that the lens and the three reference balls are exposed to front and back surfaces of the target object-holding jig. Three-dimensional profile data of the lens and coordinates of the centers of the reference balls are measured at the front and back surfaces of the target object-holding jig. Then, based on the coordinates of the center of the reference balls, three-dimensional profile data of front and back surfaces of the lens is synthesized, so that eccentricity and inclination between the front surface and the back surface of the lens are obtained from the synthesized data about the front and back surfaces of the lens.
However, since the above-described method requires high-precision balls to be used as the reference balls, preparation of the jig tends to incur high cost.
In addition, the coordinates of the centers of the reference balls are calculated by partially measuring the exposed potions of the reference balls, which may lead to measurement errors.

Method of measuring front and back surfaces of target object


The present invention is directed to improving the efficiency of removing heat from semiconductor devices. In addition, the method of manufacturing the improved devices has the potential of eliminating a key step in the traditional production process where the chips are highly susceptible to mechanical damage. A semiconductor element includes a semiconductor substrate having a heat removal side and a heat producing region, and at least one superstrate semiconductor layer defining the heat producing region. The heat removal side of the semiconductor substrate includes at least one recess region which extends closer to the heat-generating region than the remainder of the heat removal surface.

Semiconductor devices are abundant today in different forms of electronic and optical systems. Current research and development trends are pushing the data rates of computer semiconductor chips to speeds well in excess of 1 Gigahertz and optical semiconductor laser diodes are being pushed to ever increasing output powers. Many other examples could be cited with similar trends, faster speeds and higher output powers. Semiconductor chips can generate sufficient internal heat to degrade their operational performance and in extreme cases may cause permanent damage to the chip. Typically, these considerations lead to restrictions on the ambient temperature ranges the devices can operate over and limitations on how the devices can be packaged. Given this, techniques have been developed to assist in cooling these devices to increase their operational range and performance. Some semiconductor chips are mounted on active devices such as thermo-electric (TE) coolers, sometimes referred to as Peltier coolers or heat pumps, which are electrically driven and actively remove heat from semiconductor devices. Typically, in the case of laser diodes, the semiconductor chip is metallized on its bottom surface and adhered to a submount, which in turn is mounted via soldering to the TE cooler. In turn, the TE cooler is typically mounted on a physically larger heat sink which dissipates thermal energy received from TE cooler.
Laser diodes have high demands for heat removal from semiconductor devices. This is because the thermal energy is generated in extremely small volumes, the active lasing region may be as small as one micron or so in the cross sectional dimension extending over a length on the order of a millimeter. Given this, the thermal energy density is extremely high and it is important to remove the heat from this region efficiently. In current manufacturing techniques, these devices are fabricated by growing the semiconductor layers on a substrate material via an epitaxial process such as molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth or metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). To maintain mechanical strength and integrity during the manufacturing process, the substrate material during the growth process may be thicker than in the final product. The substrate material is mechanically ground and polished to its final thickness dimension following the growth process. This is done for two reasons.
First, hundreds, maybe even thousands, of these identical semiconductor devices are fabricated on a common substrate wafer which will need to be mechanically cut (cleaved) and separated from one another. Secondly, if the substrate material were left in its thick format the devices would be in danger of overheating and self-destructing due to the large thermal impedance across the substrate. Given this, the substrate material may be mechanically lap polished prior to cleaving. Unfortunately, some popular semiconductor materials (e.g., Indium Phosphide) are extremely brittle and are prone to shattering during the mechanical lapping process.
In view of these problems, there is a need for an improved method for enhancing the removal of heat from semiconductor devices, particularly laser diodes. There is also a need to reduce breakage of semiconductor chips in the final mechanical lapping step of fabrication.

Semiconductor devices with improved heat dissipation and method for fabricating same


A wall-mounted medications cabinet has at least one, and preferably up to four locking drawers, each with a removable bin holding the medications for a given patient. The drawers are each independently openable electronically. This can be accomplished using an incorporated PC with a touch screen monitor, or authorized access can be obtained via a network. The cabinet may be connected using USB or ethernet interface. A key lock can provide access in the event of a power failure.

This invention relates to cabinets or storage facilities for keeping supply articles, and is more particularly directed to a system to modernize supply chain management and track inventory items. The invention is more specifically directed to a cabinet suitable for use in a hospital or health care facility, for providing controlled access to a stock of supply items such as dressings, tape, IV bags, infusion kits, gloves, masks, tissues, and personal items, and more specifically to a controlled access cabinet that facilitates keeping an audit trail of access to the various supply items stored in the cabinet.
In general, pharmaceuticals are delivered to patients when needed, and this typically involves use of a medications cart containing the prescription medications for all the patients on a given floor of the hospital or health care center. This means that the cart is typically loaded in a pharmacy department and then is brought to the particular hospital floor. The cart is wheeled from room to room to deliver each patient his or her drugs at the time that the nurse or other practitioner is to administer them. The use of a cart has been more convenient and more efficient than obtaining each patient's medications individually. However, the current system of using a cart to transport medications room to room is inefficient and awkward. Typically, the nurse has to push or pull the cart, and the cart, being bulky and heavy (typically 125 pounds) can be unwieldy where the floors are out of level or where there is carpet. The medications cart is large and obtrusive, and takes up valuable space in the hallway and corridors. Administration of drugs from the cart involves bending and stooping to obtain the drugs from lower drawers. If the nurse needs a particular drug for one of her patients when another nurse has the cart for her medication rounds, then the first nurse has to spend time hunting the cart down and often it is difficult to find the cart. Also, when the pharmacy staff comes to the floor to restock the cart, the cart is often in use and difficult to find, resulting in wasted time for the pharmacy staff. Often, the cart does not fit into the patient's room. In addition, the portable cart requires periodic charging of its batteries, and this task is often overlooked and forgotten until a failure occurs.
It is more convenient and better use of the nurse's time and efforts to keep the pharmaceuticals at the patient locations, i.e., in the patient's room or ward, or in the cluster of rooms where the patient is located. These medications need to be secured, that is, kept locked with a key lock or other mechanism, with access limited only to persons in the nursing staff and pharmacy staff. A record of access to the pharmaceuticals needs to be maintained, but this currently requires making pen-and-ink entries on a paper record, or separately keying in information on separate computer work station.
It would be desirable to employ pharmacy cabinet at the patient location in which medications that have been prescribed for a patient can be loaded by pharmacy staff and stored securely until administered to the patient, which will automatically keep track of access to the cabinet, and which can be accessed by the nurse staff electronically (e.g., using a passcode, a barcode reader, RFID device, fingerprint scanner or wireless means). It is also desirable to ensure that the medications cabinet is kept secure, and with means to ensure that its drawers are closed and locked after each use. However, no measure exists, up to the present, to carry this out.
The state of art of a portable medications cart can be seen with reference to Shoenfeld U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,591, in which the medications cart can be either a wheeled cabinet or a stationary hallway device.

Wall mounted medications cabinet and system


One or more Zener diodes and a field effect transistor having a drain connected in series with the one or more Zener diodes are integrally formed by a plurality of doped regions in the same P-type semiconductor substrate and separated by a punch through stop region. An N-type region is formed under the one or more Zener diodes.

FIG. 4 depicts a startup circuit used to detect brown in brown out in a rectified AC signal. The circuit includes a normally on transistor (e.g., a JFET) connected in series to a Zener diode ZD1. A Zener diode allows current to flow in the forward direction in the same manner as a conventional diode, but also permits it to flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a certain value, the so-called Zener voltage.
The startup circuit depicted in FIG. 4 is used to detect an input voltage at a drain to thereby generate a detection signal. In this voltage detector, a Zener diode ZD1 has a cathode connected to a terminal that receives the input voltage, a junction field effect transistor (JFET) has a drain acting as an input terminal connected to an anode of the Zener diode ZD1, a source acting as an output terminal and a gate acting as a control terminal, a resistor Rgs is connected between the source and the gate of the JFET, and a switch M2 is connected between the gate of the JFET and ground, and is controlled by a control signal from a JFET control block. When the switch M2 is off, the voltage detector does not detect the input voltage at the input terminal. When the switch M2 is on, if the input voltage at the detect terminal is higher than the breakdown voltage of the Zener diode ZD1, the JFET operates and thereby produces a current ID flowing through the JFET from drain to source. Since the switch is on, the gate of the JFET is grounded, and the current ID will flow through the resistor Rgs to increase the source-gate voltage of the JFET, i.e., the gate-source voltage of the JFET decreases. The gate-source voltage VGS of the JFET will become equal to a pinch-off voltage of the JFET, and thus the voltage drop across the resistor Rgs will be equal to the pinch off voltage.
When the switch M2 is on, if the input voltage is lower than the breakdown voltage of the Zener diode, there will be no current ID flowing through the JFET, and since the gate of the JFET is grounded, the JFET has its source and gate at the same potential, i.e., the voltage drop across the resistor Rgs is zero. Because the leakage current of the JFET is almost zero, the voltage detector has nearly no power loss when detecting the input voltage Vin.
As discussed above, according to the voltage drop across the resistor Rgs, the voltage detector can determine whether the input voltage Vin is higher or lower than the breakdown voltage of the zener diode ZD1, so that a detection signal can be derived from the voltage drop across the resistor Rgs. If the JFET is grounded by the switch M2, the source voltage of the JFET can be directly taken as the detection signal. In this voltage detector, the breakdown voltage of the Zener diode ZD1 is taken as a reference voltage for detection, which may be altered by selecting or adjusting the breakdown voltage of the zener diode ZD1 or by adding more zener diodes connected in series.
It is within this context that embodiments of the present invention arise.

Field effect transistor with integrated Zener diode

ALPHA AND OMEGA SEMICONDUCTOR INCORPORATED


A battery thermal runaway detection sensor system for use within a battery enclosure housing one or more batteries. The system has at least one gas sensor for detecting a venting condition of a battery cell of hydrogen, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, and providing a sensed output in real time. A microcontroller determines power management and signal conditioned output on the concentration of specific battery venting gases based on the sensed output from said at least one gas sensor.

The disclosure relates generally to a detection system for detecting battery failure and more particularly to a detection system for detecting thermal runaway of batteries within enclosures, for example, batteries used with electric vehicles, FIG. 2(a), or stationary battery energy storage systems, FIG. 2(b).
Referring to FIGS. 1(a), 1(b), thermal runaway in lithium based batteries is a process under which an exothermic reaction occurs within a failed cell that increases the internal temperature, which in turn releases energy that sustains the internal degradation reactions and increases the temperature until ultimate failure of the cell, often accompanied by explosive release of the electrolyte, and often resulting in fire. In modern lithium batteries, the risk of explosion can be reduced by design to incorporate a controlled venting location in the cell (see FIG. 4), but risk of fire and explosion due to thermal runaway has not been eliminated in most liquid electrolyte lithium-based batteries.
Turning back to FIGS. 1(a), 1(b), certain triggers and abuse conditions can lead batteries, e.g., lithium-ion cells, to breakdown or failure, which in turn can result in a thermal runaway. Thermal runaway can be caused, for example, by external short circuit, internal short circuit (particle, dendrites, separate failure, impact/puncture), overcharge, over-discharge, external heating, or over-heating (self-heating). With elevated temperatures is the generation of gas. If heat dissipation occurs faster than heat generation, there can be a safe outcome.
If left unhindered, or but if the heat cannot be dissipated faster than it is being generated, this can result in a rapid increase in temperature, release of flammable and hazardous gases during venting, flames, and explosion. This can especially be problematic for vehicles having large format battery systems, as shown in FIG. 3, and in particular battery electric vehicles and stationary storage, where the thermal runaway of a single cell (FIG. 4) can lead to a cascade of thermal runaway events that can engulf the entire pack, resulting in catastrophic fire and release of hazardous gases.
Sensors have been developed to detect thermal runaway. However, simple gas sensors, such as a hydrocarbon sensor, can only detect electrolyte gas concentration, but suffer from cross sensitivity to other gases as well as substantial drift and so make poor long-life thermal runaway detection sensors.
No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinence of any cited documents and information.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Thermal runaway detection system for batteries within enclosures


A foldable rollable golf bag trolley comprising a push handle assembly, a front leg assembly a left rear leg assembly, a right rear leg assembly, a folding mechanism having two universal joint sub-assemblies, a series of hubs and ramp discs, wherein said components of the folding mechanism are aligned about a central axis of a main pivot shaft in a first position. The folding mechanism further comprising a plurality of locking gears and springs wherein the two universal joint sub-assemblies and a left and right ramp disc cause a left rear hub and a right rear hub to move in two dimensions when the folding mechanism is engaged in a second position.

This disclosure relates to a device for carrying individual personal equipment. More specifically, this disclosure relates to foldable golf bag trolley. Many golf bag trolleys, or golf bag push carts and other gear "carts" have various folding characteristics. However, such foldable carts are not always designed with conservation of space in mind when considering storage. Golf bag trolleys can have folding supports to more efficiently fit in a smaller space, such as a trunk of a car, for example, however the size of even the folded cart or trolley may be too large to fit in smaller spaces or compact cars.


Methods and apparatus for treating wastewater are described, one method embodiment including the steps of flowing a stream comprising mixed liquor suspended solids and fixed growth solids to a high rate clarification stage, forming a clarifier effluent, a first waste activated sludge stream, and a return waste activated sludge stream. The high rate clarifier effluent stream then flows to a membrane stage that includes a membrane media, producing a membrane reject (retentate) stream and a treated effluent (permeate) stream. Optionally, the methods include routing a screened raw wastewater to an anaerobic and/or aerated anoxic stage and introducing a gas comprising oxygen to the wastewater during the aerated anoxic stage, and optionally allowing the product of this stage to flow to an aeration stage prior to the high rate clarification stage.

1. Technical Field
The invention is generally related to the field of wastewater treatment. More specifically, the invention relates to novel apparatus and methods of using same which address problems of organic pollutants, nitrogen, phosphorous, and/or coliform bacteria and other microorganism removal from residential, municipal, and/or industrial wastewater.
2. Background Art
A conventional method for reducing organic material, nitrogen and phosphorous in industrial wastewater is presented in FIG. 1. Prior art embodiment 40 comprises a source of screened, raw wastewater 42, a mixed only anoxic stage 44, an aeration stage 46, a clarifier 48, a filter stage 50, and a chlorination stage 52, the process producing a treated effluent at 54. A waste activated sludge holding tank 56 is also represented. Also illustrated in embodiment 40 are conduits 70, 72, and 74. Conduit 70 routes waste activated sludge from clarifier 48 to waste activated sludge holding tank 56, while conduit 74 returns waste activated sludge from clarifier 48 back to the mixed only anoxic stage 44. Finally, conduit 72 routs mixed liquor suspended solids return from an aeration stage 46 back to a mixed only anoxic stage 44. This process and apparatus does not utilize a high rate clarifier or a membrane stage.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,406,629 and 6,485,645 describe a wastewater treatment process for biologically removing phosphates incorporating a membrane filter. The process includes three zones, an anaerobic zone, an anoxic zone and an aerobic zone containing an anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS). Water to be treated flows first into the anaerobic zone. Anaerobic mixed liquor flows to the anoxic zone. Anoxic mixed liquor flows both back to the anaerobic zone and to the aerobic zone. The aerobic MLSS flows to the anoxic zone and also contacts the feed side of a membrane filter. The membrane filter treats the aerobic MLSS to produce a treated effluent lean in phosphorous, nitrogen, COD, suspended solids and organisms at a permeate side of the membrane filter and a liquid rich in rejected solids and organisms. Some or all of the material rejected by the membrane filter is removed from the process either directly or by returning the material rejected by the membrane filter to the anoxic or aerobic zones and wasting aerobic sludge. In a first optional side stream process, phosphorous is precipitated from a liquid lean in solids extracted from the anaerobic mixed liquor. In a second optional side stream process, anaerobic mixed liquor is treated to form insoluble phosphates that are removed in a hydrocyclone. While the patents do describe use of a membrane, there is no provision made for reducing the load of solids to the membrane, and no description of a high rate clarifier. In fact, conventional membrane bioreactors often must recirculate large flows from the membrane zone to the basins holding MLSS to help prevent excessive build-up of the retentate solids. The recirculation flow can be up to four (4) times the plant influent flow. Moreover, the patent does not describe a packaged system including a high rate clarifier.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,068,134; 6,274,044; and 6,454,104 disclose clarifiers useful in wastewater treatment. For example, the 104 patent discloses a clarifier in a sewage treatment process that includes efficient scum removal within the influent well, with discharge of the scum and other floatables as a dedicated waste stream separate from return activated sludge and biological scum collected in the clarifier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,220 discloses recycling of slurries in a wastewater treatment process. None of these patents discloses the use of a membrane or high rate clarifier.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,481 discloses a method and apparatus for cleaning a membrane module, where the module is employed in submerged fashion in a wastewater treatment facility. The membrane module typically has a plurality of porous membranes. The membranes are arranged in close proximity to one another and mounted to prevent excessive movement there between. Means are provided for entraining gas bubbles in a liquid flow such that, in use, the liquid and bubbles entrained therein move past the surfaces of the membranes to dislodge fouling materials there from. The gas bubbles may be entrained into the liquid using a venturi type device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,359 discloses use of a second clarifier in a wastewater treatment facility. A high strength wastewater treatment system having a first tank with an inlet and an outlet, an aerator positioned within the first tank for passing oxygen into wastewater within the first tank, a second tank having a clarifier compartment positioned therein, an aeration device positioned in the second tank for passing oxygen into a liquid within the second tank, and a pipe connected to the first tank and the second tank for passing liquid from the second tank to the first tank. The second is interconnected to the outlet of the first tank. The second tank has an outlet extending from the clarifier compartment. In particular, the pipe has an end opening within the second tank and a diffuser connected to the pipe within the first tank. The diffuser is a venturi diffuser having a narrow section and a wide section. An air pump is connected to the venturi diffuser for injecting air into the narrow section. This delivery of air serves to draw liquid from the second tank through the pipe and into the first tank. The end of the pipe opens below the clarifier compartment in the second tank.
As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,247, microfiltration and ultrafiltration are two recognized types of membrane separation processes. See Membranes: Learning a Lesson from Nature, Koros, W. J., Chemical Engineering Progress, October 1995, pp. 68-80, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. These processes are known for such representative utilities as processing corn-stillage streams, concentrating emulsions and cell suspensions, reducing bacteria and particulate turbidity, recovering paint, removing oil microemulsion and separating biomolecules and virus from aqueous streams.
In microfiltration and ultrafiltration the mechanism for separation involves sieving of primarily liquid feed streams containing suspended species through a microporous membrane. The driving force for separation is a transmembrane pressure differential, i.e., the feed stream side is placed at a higher pressure than the filtrate stream side to force the liquid through the membrane pores. The transmembrane pressure gradient can be created by applying a pressure to the feed and/or by drawing a vacuum on the filtrate. Of course, suspended species of size larger than the membrane pores are rejected which yields a filtrate free of large species and a retentate stream concentrated in the rejected species.
Microfiltration and ultrafiltration suffer from the serious drawback that the membrane tends to foul over time in service. That is, as filtration continues the pores become blocked which reduces and ultimately stops the separation process until the foulant is cleaned if possible, or the fouled membrane is replaced with virgin membrane. Fouling of microporous membranes in microfiltration and ultrafiltration has been studied extensively. While the mechanisms and theories concerning fouling are very complex, two general categories have been identified, namely deposition and adsorption fouling phenomena. Deposition fouling occurs as a result of hydrodynamic forces. The pressure gradient across the membrane actively pushes the foulant species into the pores. Adsorption fouling relates to the adhesiveness between the foulant and the membrane. Generally, suspended species to be separated from the feed liquid that have great affinity for the membrane material tend to adhere to the membrane at the surface and in the pores. The bulk of foulant species settling on and in the membrane prevents further transmembrane flow of liquid.
There is a need in the wastewater treatment art for improved methods of employing membranes in wastewater treatment facilities, which feature reduced load on the membrane while maintaining or increasing the reliability and consistency of the membrane to function as an activated sludge clarifier, a tertiary filter, and to provide acceptable reductions in bacterial counts.

Methods and apparatus for treating wastewater employing a high rate clarifier and a membrane


A rolled sheet dispenser (100) includes a first housing member (601) that is hingedly coupled to a second housing member (602). A pair of feed rollers (501,502) are disposed within the rolled sheet dispenser (100), with one of the feed rollers (501) disposed within the first housing member (601) and the other feed roller (502) disposed within the second housing member (602). A mounting stem (503), which is capable of accommodating both cored and coreless paper rolls of different widths, is disposed within one of the housings. When the first housing member (601) is pivoted to a closed position, the feed rollers (501,502) abut. When the first housing member (601) and the second housing member (602) are pivoted to an open position, the feed rollers (501,502) separate. Also, an end (608) of the mounting stem (503) becomes exposed and accessible.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a rolled sheet dispenser, and more particularly to a dispenser configured to dispense a variety of types and sizes of rolled material.
2. Background Art
Paper towel dispensers are ubiquitous items in public restrooms. There are many different types and styles. Some are automatic and some are manually operated. Automatic styles of dispensers generally include a housing, a roll mount, and a feeding mechanism configured to dispense paper. The feeding mechanism may include a motor, a fixed guide, and/or fixedly mounted rollers for moving the towel material along a path from the roll to an exterior part of the housing.
Prior art dispensers are generally configured to accommodate only a certain type of roll. Additionally, prior art dispenser can be difficult to load. It would be advantageous to have a dispenser configured to dispense various types of rolled material without these limitations.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
Additionally, for simplicity of discussion and brevity of application, one illustrative embodiment of a dispenser has been set forth in FIGS. 1-7. However, it is not intended for FIGS. 1-7 to describe a single embodiment. The description below will highlight various alterations and substitutions that can be incorporated or added to form additional embodiments. Further, dispensers having features described herein can be constructed from a number of materials and in a number of shapes. Other embodiments will also be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. Accordingly, while one illustrative embodiment is shown in FIGS. 1-7, multiple embodiments are described and illustrated in this disclosure.

Universal dispenser for rolled sheet product


This is a description of a filler primer containing no organic solvents, for repair car-refinishing, characterised in that the binder is composed of a polyurethane water-soluble resin. This primer features improved vertical application characteristics and a faster drying speed.

This invention concerns a filler primer for repair car-refinishing, and specifically a primer containing no organic solvents and featuring improved vertical application characteristics and a particularly rapid drying speed.
The purpose of filler primers in repair car-refinishing is to provide a protective coat for the body-work and at the same time to create a suitable undercoat for the enamel.
The composition of these primers is usually rather complex, involving pigments and extenders, binders, solvents and additives.
A primer must incorporate certain definite properties, the most important of which are a good vertical coatability and a relatively fast hardening time.
The binder plays a fundamental role in determining the above properties.
Currently-used primers contain polyacrylate resins as a binder. To create a proper receipe these resins must be dissolved in organic solvents, such as glycols, diacetone alcohol, butanol, or similar substances. The solvent reaches concentrations of between 8-15% in the final composition. Such high solvent concentrations create a serious environmental problem from two points of view, i.e. safety, and the health of the workers exposed to these solvents, not only at the level of preparation but also at the level of the final utilisation.
To this problem can be added further difficulties encountered in the utilisation of known primers, which do not exceed a verticality value of 20 .mu.m at each coat, have unsatisfactory filling power and coverage, are liable to drip during the application, and need at least four hours to dry.
For the above-mentioned reasons, therefore, a primer containing no solvents is highly desirable. There is also a real need for a primer with improved application properties.

Filler primer containing no organic solvents for repair car-refinishing


A drill bit having steel teeth is provided with a combination of hardfacing materials on the teeth. The bases of the teeth are hardfaced with nickel-based materials to significantly reduce any potential cracking therein. Portions of the supporting cones adjacent the teeth also may be fabricated with the nickel-based hardfacing. All other portions of the teeth are hardfaced with iron-based materials.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to drill bits and, in particular, to an improved system, method, and apparatus for a steel tooth drill bit having enhanced tooth breakage resistance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, steel tooth drill bits are great tools for drilling multiple formations due to the ability of their teeth to flex when encountering hard formations. However, this ability to provide flexure can cause cracking at the base of the teeth in the weld deposit and carburized area under the iron-based hardfacing deposits. Moreover, the cracks can grow during service or can aggravate pre-existing thermal cracks from the initial manufacturing process.
The manufacturing cracks can be caused by a variety of sources, but are primarily from the thermal stresses induced during the welding process while using iron-based hardfacing materials at the base of the teeth and subsequent hardening and carburization of the cone. The hardfacing can relieve the stress in the form of a crack. The cracks can propagate directly into the base steel of the teeth and/or the cone shell. The extent of the cracking is dependent upon the thermal management of the cone during the heat-up, welding, and the cooling down of the cone. Another factor affecting the extent of the cracking is how brittle the carburized case is underneath the hardfacing deposit.
During operation, the combination of the flexing of the teeth, formations drilled, operating parameters, and the corrosive environment can cause the cracks to grow while the drill bit is in service. This crack propagation can cause the teeth to eventually break off or cause the cracks to grow into the cone shell, both of which impede performance.
It is known that nickel-based hardfacing minimizes the transport of carbon into the steel substrate and generally does not produce a carburized case in the steel underneath the hardfacing deposit. In addition, the thermal stresses in nickel-based hardfacing are not as great as in iron-based hardfacing, such that nickel-based hardfacing is less likely to have thermal cracks. Nickel-based hardfacing is also very corrosion resistant compared to iron-based hardfacing.

Steel tooth drill bit with improved tooth breakage resistance