The present invention provides a process for preparing a catalyst and the same for use in production of methacrylic acid, which is characterized by molding a raw material including a powder containing phosphorus and molybdenum at the specific pressure. The invention also provides a process for preparing methacrylic acid by gas phase oxidation and/or oxidative dehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid in the presence of the catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process of preparing a catalyst for use in production of methacrylic acid and the catalyst and also relates to a process of preparing methacrylic acid in the presence of the catalyst, more particularly, to the process of preparing the catalyst and the same which is suitable for preparing methacrylic acid by gas phase oxidation and/or oxidative dehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid and the process for preparing methacrylic acid in the presence of the catalyst.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been many proposals concerning a catalyst for preparing methacrylic acid by gas phase oxidation of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and unsaturated aldehyde and a process thereof. For example, in the case of using methacrolein, there have been also many proposals about improving a catalyst such as heteropoly-acids. These proposals were divided into two categories. One is concerning a composition of a catalyst and the choice of the composition and another is concerning a regulation of catalyst properties and a process thereof with good reproducibility. According to the later, for example, it is described that the preferred specific surface area of a catalyst ranges from 0.01 to 5 m2/g and 0.01 to 50 m2/g in Japan Open-Laid No.49-116022 and Japan Open-Laid No.50-37710, respectively. In spite of these specification, this catalyst is not suitable for industrial use because of excessively high reaction temperature and low selectivity.
Many proposals concerning the control of pore structure of a catalyst have been one. For example, Japan Open-Laid No.51-136615 and Japan Open-Laid No.55-73347 propose a catalyst which is achieved by adding organic substances such as ultivalent alcohol and polyvinyl alcohol and then curing them. However, the organic substances, which is used as additive and has a high decomposition temperature, will bum by heat treatment and thereby cause sintering and reduction of a catalyst and a problem such as low reproducibility of a catalyst still remains. Japan Open-Laid No.4-367737 proposed a process, wherein an organic polymer such as polymethylmethacrylate and polystyrene, which decomposes into a monomer and vaporizes at a relatively low temperature, is added, this method is also insufficient in the reproducibility of a catalyst.
In addition, a molding process, where a dried powder containing catalytic composition with the particle size adjusted in the range of 1 to 250 xcexcm is used as a raw material, was proposed for the preparation of a catalyst in Japan Open-Laid 8-10621. However this process is not insufficient for industrial use, since this process has a problem of low reproducibility and also needs a more complicated drying process.
A catalyst for industrial use is generally used as a molded article. A molded article is produced by the process such as press molding, extrusion molding, rolling molding, Marumerizer molding, fluidized granulation, centrifuge fluidized coating process and the like. However, it is very hard to mold without lowering performance of a catalyst, and performance of the obtained catalyst is usually insufficient in reproducibility. For example, examples using press molding process were disclosed in Japan Open-Laid No.63-315148, Japan Open-Laid No.8-10621, Japan Open-Laid No.10-258233 and Japan Patent Gazette No.3-58776. According to all examples of them, a process of a press molding was not investigated in detail and these disclosures were insufficient from the view point of the reproducibility.
An object of the invention is to provide a process of preparing a catalyst for use in production of methacrylic acid and the catalyst. Another object of the invention is to provide a process for preparing methacrylic acid in the presence of the catalyst. The present inventors found that the above mentioned object can be achieved by molding a raw material including a powder containing phosphorus and molybdenum at the specific range of pressure and have accomplished the invention.
In other words, this invention provides a process for preparing a catalyst and the same for use in production of methacrylic acid by gas phase oxidation and/or oxidative dehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid. The process comprises:
molding a raw material including a powder containing phosphorus and molybdenum at the pressure of 50 kgf/cm2 to 5000 kgf/cm2 into an article; and
calcining the molded article to obtain a catalyst
The invention also provides a process for preparing methacrylic acid characterized by gas phase oxidation and/or oxidative dehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid with molecular oxygen or a gas containing molecular oxygen in the presence of the catalyst produced by a method of the invention.
The process for preparing the catalyst of the invention is characterized by molding a raw material including a powder containing phosphorus and molybdenum as an essential component at the pressure of 50 to 5000 kgf/cm2 into an article and calcining the molded article to obtain a catalyst.
First, the raw material used for the invention will be described. The raw material includes a powder containing phosphorus and molybdenum(hereinafter referred as P/Mo containing powder).
The P/Mo containing powder may contain other elements, for example vanadium, copper, zinc, silver, arsenic, antimony, zirconium, cerium, alkali metal, alkaline earth metal and the like besides phosphorus and molybdenum.
Preferably, a weight of the P/Mo containing powder is reducible from 0 to 40%, preferably 2 to 35%, more preferably 4 to 30% by weight with respect to the weight of the P/Mo containing powder while the P/Mo containing powder is heated at 300xc2x0 C. in the atmosphere or an inert gas. The weight of the P/Mo containing powder will be substantially constant after an elapse of 2 hours of heat treatment. The weight loss of the P/Mo containing powder can be determined at that time if a weight of the P/Mo containing powder will be substantially constant after an elapse of 30 mins. or an hour. When a weight of the P/Mo containing powder is reduced over 40% by weight with respect to the weight of the powder, the fluidity of the powder deteriorate because the powder becomes sticky.
Preferably the P/Mo containing powder substantially comprises of particles having a diameter of 150 to 1500 xcexcm, preferably 250 to 1000 xcexcm, more preferably 250 to 800 xcexcm. In the case of particle size below 150 xcexcm, the fluidity of the P/Mo containing powder and runnability of molding conducted by the following molding process deteriorate and the selectivity for COx of the resultant catalyst is liable to increase because a pore size of the molded article becomes smaller. On the other hand, in the case of particle size over 1500 xcexcm of the P/Mo containing powder, the amount of the P/Mo containing powder sucked into the mortar of a molding apparatus is variable and it causes to vary the molding pressure. As a result, mechanical properties of the resultant molded article and performance of the catalyst therefrom are liable to be lower because a pore size of the molded article becomes larger.
The P/Mo containing powder is prepared by a conventional method for a catalyst known to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, compounds which contain phosphorus and molybdenum respectively are dissolved and dispersed into the medium usually into water to obtain a solution or slurry (hereinafter referred to as suspension).
The suspension is condensed, dried and calcined where necessary to prepare a powder. The suspension can be prepared by a conventional method such as evaporating concentration process, oxide mixing process and coprecipitation process and the like known to those skilled in the art, as long as the composition of the suspension is not remarkably uneven. Specifically, the suspension containing phosphorus and molybdenum can be prepared from the compounds such as oxide, nitrate, carbonate, hydride, chloride and ammonium salt of each element. For example, the following compounds can be used for the preparation of the suspension. Examples of compounds having molybdenum include molybdenum trioxide, molybdic acid and ammonium paramolybdate and the like. Examples of compounds having phosphorus include orthophosphoric acid, phosphorus pentoxide and ammonium phosphate and the like. Examples of compounds having vanadium include vanadium pentoxide, ammonium metavanadate and the like. Examples of compounds having copper, zinc, silver, arsenic, antimony, zirconium and cerium and the like include oxide, nitrate, carbonate, hydride, chloride, ammonium salt of each element. Examples of compounds having alkali metal and alkaline earth metal include nitrate, carbonate, hydride, chloride. Molybdophosphoric acid, molybdovanadophosphoric acid and ammonium salt of these acids and alkali metal salt also can be used.
The suspension can be dried by a well known methods such as evaporation drying, spray drying, drum drying, flash drying, drying under a reduced pressure, freeze drying and the like. Spray drying, drum drying and flash drying are preferable among them because these methods can simplify a process of pulverizing and screening particles with the desired diameter, preferably between 150 to 1500 xcexcm.
In addition to the P/Mo containing powder described above, the raw material used for the invention further comprises a lubricant and/or a reinforcement. Examples of the lubricant include graphite, talc, starch, palmitic acid, stearic acid and stearate. Examples of the reinforcement include inorganic fiber such as glass fiber and any type of whisker which are known for improving the mechanical properties of a catalyst and an attrition resistance. A lubricant and/or a reinforcement can be mixed with the P/Mo containing powder to obtain the raw material.
The raw material of the invention is molded at the pressure of 50 to 5000 kgf/cm2, preferably 200 to 3500 kgf/cm2, more preferably 600 to 2500 kgf/cm2 into an molded article. In the case of molding below the pressure of 50 kgf/cm2, mechanical properties of the resultant molded article falls and performance of the catalyst therefrom is getting lower because a pore size of the catalyst becomes large. In the case of molding over the pressure of 5000 kgf/cm2, the selectivity for COx of the resultant catalyst is liable to increase because a pore size thereof becomes too small. An excellent performance and a good reproducibility of the catalyst can be achieved by molding at the range of the pressure of 50 to 5000 kgf/cm2.
The raw material can be molded into a molded article by any molding apparatus. The molded article has no limitation on its shape. Examples of the shape of the molded article include pellet, sphere, ring and tablet. The preferred shape of the molded article is a ring, because the shape of a ring expands surface area of a catalyst and thereby enables oxidation more effectively. The molded article also has no limitation on its size and usually has the size of 1 to 20 mm, preferably 3 to 5 mm in the average diameter.
The molded article is calcined to obtain a catalyst at a temperature preferably between 300xc2x0 C. to 600xc2x0 C., more preferably 350xc2x0 C. to 500xc2x0 C. The preparation of the catalyst may be carried out in the presence of a nitrogen containing heterocyclic compound such as pyridine and quinoline. In this case, N containing heterocyclic compound may be removed by heat treatment after molding.
According to the process of preparing the catalyst of the invention, the catalyst with excellent performance can be produced with good reproducibility. The catalyst prepared by the process of the invention has no limitation on its composition, as long as the catalyst contain phosphorus and molybdenum and can be used for preparing methacrylic acid by oxidation and/or oxidative dehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid. The preferable composition of the catalyst may be shown by the following equation(1).
PaMobVcAdBeCfOxxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
wherein P is phosphorus, Mo is molybdenum, V is vanadium, A is at least one element selected from the group consisting of copper, zinc and silver, B is at least one element selected from the group consisting of arsenic, antimony, zirconium and cerium, C is at least one element selected from the group consisting of alkali metal and alkaline earth metal, O is oxygen and a, b, c, d, e, f and x denote the ratio of atom of P, Mo, V, A, B, C and O, respectively and a=0.5 to 4, b=12, 0 less than cxe2x89xa64, 0 less than dxe2x89xa63, 0xe2x89xa6exe2x89xa65, f=0.01 to 4 and x is the number determined by the valance states of the other elements.
According to the invention, the process for preparing methacrylic acid by gas phase oxidation and/or oxidative dehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid with molecular oxygen or a gas containing molecular oxygen is characterized by the oxidation and oxidative dehydrogenation being carried out in the presence of the catalyst which is produced by the process of the invention.
In the invention, the term xe2x80x9cpreparing methacrylic acid by oxidation and/or oxidative dehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acidxe2x80x9d denotes the general term of preparing methacrylic acid by oxidation of methacrolein, preparing methacrylic acid by oxidation and oxidative dehydrogenation of isobutyraldehyde, preparing methacrylic acid by oxidative dehydrogenation of isobutyric acid and the combination of these processes.
The gas phase oxidation and oxidative dehydrogenation for preparing methacrylic acid of the invention is not restricted in terms of the condition and an apparatus except for using the catalyst of the invention and can be carried out by a conventional method known to the skilled in the art.
A raw material supplied to oxidation and oxidative dehydrogenation(hereinafter referred as a raw material for methacrylic acid) is preferably a mixed gas including at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid, molecular oxygen and an inert gas as diluent. The mixed gas preferably contains 1 to 10 volume % of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid. The mixed gas contains molecular oxygen and the volume of molecular oxygen is usually 1 to 10 times as much as that of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid. The mixed gas also contains an inert gas as diluent and examples of an inert gas include nitrogen, carbon dioxide and steam and the like. Especially, steam is preferable because steam inhibits generation of by-product and is suitable for improving yield of methacrylic acid. Gas phase oxidation is carried out by reacting the mixed gas at 200 to 400xc2x0 C. under normal pressure to 10 atm. at the space velocity of 100 to 5000 hrxe2x88x921(STP) in the presence of the catalyst of the invention. When methacrolein is used as a raw material for methacrylic acid, methacrolein is not necessarily pure. A gas containing methacrolein which is obtained by contact catalytic reaction of isobutylene, t-butanol and methyl-t-butylether can be used. Especially this gas can be preferably used for the industrial process of preparing methacrylic acid.
According to the process for preparing methacrylic acid of the invention, ethacrylic acid can be produced in high yield by gas phase oxidation and/or oxidative ehydrogenation of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methacrolein, isobutyraldehyde and isobutyric acid.

Process for preparing a catalyst for use in production of methacrylic acid and process of preparing methacrylic acid


A method of making a logic gate array includes providing a substrate; forming an array of first conductive lines with plurality of first pads disposed on each of the first conductive lines on the substrate wherein the array of first conductive lines is disposed in a first direction; forming an array of isolation lines over the first conductive lines wherein the isolation lines are not disposed on the first pads; forming an array of second conductive lines with plurality of second pads disposed on each of the second conductive lines on the substrate wherein the array of second conductive lines is disposed in a second direction and wherein orientation of the second direction is different than the orientation of the first direction; and printing one or more conductive ink dots at least one intersection of the first conductive lines and the second conductive lines by connecting the corresponding first pads and corresponding second pads.

Most of the electronic circuits includes a bare-board and electronic devices. Generally the bare-board includes more than two layers and is fabricated by a printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer. Many different devices are collected and assembled on that bare-board. Boolean logic circuits such as the AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, NOR2 gates are well known and are used for implementing digital circuits in such as PCB logic.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,903,428 (Liu et al.) discloses an intra-connection layout for an array. An alterable area is disposed between the devices of a device array. The alterable area includes an insulation layer, a group of conductive wires and another group of conductive wires. The first conductive wires are disposed within the alterable area along a first direction for selectively connecting electrical paths in the first direction between different devices. The second conductive wires are disposed within the alterable area along a second direction for selectively connecting electrical paths in the second direction between different devices. The insulation layer is disposed within the alterable area and between the above-mentioned first conductive wires and second conductive wires, wherein the insulation layer has an opening to allow one of the first conductive wires and one of the second conductive wires to be contacted with each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,903,428 discloses openings 217, 218 in the insulation layer which are formulated according to the design of the circuit. Moreover, the second conductive wires are disposed over the insulation layer on previously exposed openings to comply with a specific design. It appears that the openings 217, 218 are made by cutting off parts of the previously disposed insulation layer. The conductive wires are printed with plurality of pads and the insulation bands are printed on the paths before the second conductive wires are printed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,903,428, the openings 217, 218 are formed in the insulation layer. It would be desirable to provide a matrix wherein there is no need to cut off openings in the insulation layer.


A transmitting method and transmission system using the same is applied to selectively use a space block-coding module to transmit a transmitted data. Each data stream of the transmission data is transmitted using the transmitting paths, and the transmission qualities of the transmitting paths are detected to decide whether the space-block encoding module works or not.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to a transmitting method for a wireless communication and method thereof and, in particular, relates to a transmitting method and transmission system using the same.
2. Related Art
In order to fulfill the needs for wireless broadband and high-speed data transmission, how to effectively utilize spatial resources becomes an important direction of development of the wireless communication technology.
Since wireless communication systems using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology has many advantages, new generation wireless communication system, such as WLAN (IEEE 802.11a/g/n Wireless Local Area Network), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), DVB-T/H (Digital Video Broadcasting system for Terrestrial/Handheld), UWB (Ultra Wide Band system), 3GPP-LTE (3rd Generation Partner Project for Long-Term Evolution), etc., is usually applied with multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technology.
Space-time block-coding (STBC) is a type of transmit diversity block coding, and is suitable for MIMO-OFDM communication systems. In STBC, each data stream is transmitted via multiple transmitting paths, and the power consumption of the wireless communication system is relatively increased.
Consequently, for battery operated communications systems utilizing STBC technique, balancing the transmission performance and the power consumption is an important concern to be addressed.

Transmitting method and transmission system using the same


A manufacturing method of an activated-carbon filter element has the steps of preparing a non-woven cloth, spreading activated-carbon powders, combining the activated-carbon powders with the non-woven cloth, and winding. In the step of spreading the activated-carbon powders, the activated-carbon powders are scattered onto the non-woven cloth by a scattering device. In the step of combining the activated-carbon powders with the non-woven cloth, the non-woven cloth is hot pressed by a hot pressing cylinder, and is melted. The activated-carbon powders are securely combined with the non-woven cloth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method and, more particularly, to a manufacturing method of an activated-carbon filter element to increase the amount of activated-carbon powders attached to a non-woven cloth.
2. Description of Related Art
With reference to FIG. 7, a conventional manufacturing method of an activated-carbon filter element has the steps of:
A. Preparing a non-woven cloth:
A non-woven cloth is manufactured by a non-woven cloth apparatus.
B. Immersing:
The non-woven cloth is immersed in a solvent having activated-carbon powders and water, such that the activated-carbon powders are attached onto the non-woven cloth.
C. Drying:
The non-woven cloth is dried by a dryer to form an activated-carbon non-woven cloth.
D. Winding:
The activated-carbon non-woven cloth is wound to form an activated-carbon filter element.
However, the conventional manufacturing method of the activated-carbon filter element has the following drawbacks:
1. Low Amount of the Activated-Carbon Powders:
Because the activated-carbon powders are attached onto the non-woven cloth by immersion, instead of pressing, the activated-carbon non-woven cloth cannot receive many activated-carbon powders, and the activated-carbon powders fall easily off the activated-carbon non-woven cloth. Accordingly, the activated-carbon non-woven cloth has a low amount of the activated carbon powders, and does not filter the water very well.
2. Bad Distribution:
The activated-carbon powders are not evenly distributed in the solvent, so the activated-carbon powders cannot be evenly attached onto the non-woven cloth immersed in the solvent.
3. Easily Falling:
In the step of drying, the activated-carbon powders easily blow off by the dryer. Consequently, the fallen activated-carbon powders float in the air and cause air pollution.
4. Great Energy Consumption:
The dryer consumes lots of energy, so the conventional manufacturing method is costly.
In another conventional manufacturing method of an activated-carbon filter element, plastic resin and activated-carbon powders are prepared and then fused together to form an activated-carbon filter element. However, most of surface areas of the activated-carbon powders are covered by the resin, and the exposed surface areas, which are in contact with water, of the activated-carbon powders are small. The exposed surface areas may be lower than one-third of the total surface areas of the activated-carbon powders. Consequently, the filtering effect of the activated-carbon filter element is bad. More activated-carbon powders are necessarily added into the resin to increase the effective total exposed areas, and this costs a lot.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a manufacturing method of an activated-carbon filter element to mitigate the aforementioned problems.

Manufacturing method of an activated-carbon filter element


A data cache platform maintains pre-computed database query results computed by a computation platform based on data maintained in the computation platform and is configured to determine probabilities of the cached database query results being outdated, to automatically issue re-computation orders to the computation platform for updating cached database query results on the basis of the determined probabilities of the pre-computed database query results being outdated and to receive the updated pre-computed database query results as results of the re-computation orders. The probability determination depends on a probabilistic model and on the occurrence of asynchronous real-time events. The real-time events are indeterministic with regard to the expiration of the cached database query results and only have a probabilistic influence on the discrepancies between the cached database query results maintained in the data cache platform and presumed actual database query results.

A common problem in database technology is to ensure short response times to database queries which require processing large volumes of data. For example, such computing-power consuming processing has to be performed in response to so-called "open queries" which contain only little input information (e.g. only one or two parameters out of a dozen possible parameters are specified and/or the specified value ranges of the parameters are broad) and, consequently, lead to a large number of results in general. Possibilities to speed up data processing by increasing hardware performance are limited. Thus, attention is drawn to improving the mechanisms underlying the processing of large data volumes.
One general approach to shorten query times is to pre-compute expected queries and to maintain the corresponding query results in a cache system. Queries are then actually not processed on the large data basis, but are directed to the cache system.
Another issue, however, which comes along with such caching approaches, is to keep the pre-computed query results up-to-date in order to ensure that queries responded by the cached results correctly reflect the status of the corresponding large data basis. In case the underlying data changes, the cached query results get outdated and the cache system would return incorrect results. Thus, strategies are needed how the cache system can be kept up-to-date.
Various relatively simple update strategies are known in the prior art like, for example, re-computing the entire data domain frequently, establishing and maintaining re-computation schedules manually and re-computing data when they are getting too old.
Somewhat more sophisticated update strategies have been developed, as e.g., described by WO 01/33472 and WO 02/25557.
WO 01/33472 concerns an availability system used in a travel planning system. The system includes a cache having entries of availability information regarding airline seats. A cache manager manages entry information in the cache in order to keep information in the cache correct, current, complete or otherwise as useful as possible. In response to a query directed to the cache, the cache manager determines if a stored answer is stale and, if this is the case, sends an availability query to a source of availability information. Cache entries to be modified are obtained by asynchronous notifications from external systems and determined by a deterministic, predictive or statistical model.
Similarly, WO 02/25557 pertains to an information retrieval system wherein information received from information sources is cached for future use, such as for future client requests. Proactive queries can be generated to populate a cache and/or to update presently cached information. In an airline information system, proactive queries are ordered on the basis of statistics or predictive indications such a nearness of departure time, the age of cached data, remaining seats in an aircraft, holidays or special events or equipment type. In addition, updates are received by external notifications from airlines such as AVS messages.


An embodiment system for authenticating a user of a robotaxi includes a smart phone configured to request an authentication of the user based on a digital key, an authentication server configured to create a first authentication number, transmit the first authentication number to the smart phone, receive a second authentication number from the robotaxi when the authentication using the digital key fails, and request unlocking of a door to the robotaxi when the first authentication number and the second authentication number match, and the robotaxi configured to receive the second authentication number from the user, transmit the second authentication number to the authentication server, and unlock the door in response to the request from the authentication server.

The 'MOTIONAL', Hyundai Motor Company's US autonomous driving joint venture, is speeding up preparations for commercialization of autonomous driving.
The 'MOTIONAL' is recently allowed, by the state of Nevada in the United States, where Las Vegas is located, to conduct an autonomous driving test for traveling on a regular road without a driver. The 'MOTIONAL' is the first in Nevada to conduct the autonomous driving test in a state in which the driver is not on board. The 'MOTIONAL' plans to put a person in a passenger seat for safety, but plans to check an autonomous driving technology of a level 4 in an actual road situation while leaving a driver's seat empty. The level 4 is an autonomous driving stage in which the person does not intervene in driving although there is the driver's seat in case of an emergency. A Chrysler's Pacifica minivan is put in the test.
With this test, the 'MOTIONAL' has taken a step closer to commercialization of an autonomous taxi (a robotaxi) in 2022. The 'MOTIONAL' is the joint venture to which Hyundai Motor Company and Aptiv, which is a US autonomous driving company, invested $2 billion each in September 2019, and has launched a robotaxi pilot business in Singapore, Las Vegas, and the like.
A conventional technology for authenticating a user of the robotaxi is in a scheme using a smart phone on which a digital key application is installed. When the user calls the robotaxi using the smart phone and then requests unlocking of a door of the robotaxi to a server, the server authenticates the user. When the server commands a door lock/unlock controller equipped in the robotaxi to unlock the door, the door lock/unlock controller unlocks the door.
Such a conventional technology has a problem in that the user of the robotaxi is not able to be authenticated when an authentication error occurs despite a normal digital key, or when the smart phone dies after calling the robotaxi.
The matters described in this background are written to enhance an understanding of the background of the invention, and may include matters other than the prior art already known to those of ordinary skill in the field to which this technology belongs.

System and method for authenticating user of robotaxi


A pharmaceutical composition containing a mixed polymeric micelle and a drug enclosed in the micelle, in which the mixed polymeric micelle, 1 to 1000 nm in size, includes an amphiphilic block copolymer and a lipopolymer. Also disclosed are preparation of the pharmaceutical composition and use thereof for treating cancer.

Mixed polymeric micelles have been extensively studied as effective vehicles for delivering poorly water-soluble drugs. Subjected to site-specific delivery, they can improve biopharmaceutical and pharmacokinetic properties of the drugs, thereby enhancing drug efficacy.
While conventional microparticles or nanoparticles are formed via a complicated emulsion process requiring use of surfactants for stabilization, mixed polymeric micelles less than 1 micrometer in size are typically prepared via a simplified self-assembling process that does not require surfactants or other agents for achieving stability.
Currently, mixed polymeric micelles are formed from various types of polymers, including copolymers and lipopolymers. For example, see Lee et al., Journal of Controlled Release, 2003, 91, 103-113, and Vakil et al., Langmuir, 2006, 22, 9723-9729. Compositions containing these polymeric micelles still need improvement in stability, drug loading, and encapsulation efficiency.
There is a need to develop mixed polymeric micelle-containing compositions that have improved properties.

Pharmaceutical compositions containing mixed polymeric micelles


A harness for receiving a special effects squib charge includes: a substantially planar base bound by opposing first and second surfaces joined at a perimeter; a tubular sidewall extending from the first surface of the base to form a tubular receptacle; an inward extension from the tubular sidewall defining a receiving aperture, the receiving aperture sized to be elastically deformed to allow insertion of the squib charge; and the distance between the base and the inward extension sized to be substantially equal to the axial length of the squib charge. A bullet hit device includes the harness, and a kit is for assembly and/or use of the harness as a bullet hit device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to special effects technology, and more particularly mechanical special effects for controlled and illusory explosions or bursts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, SPFX, or simply FX) are illusions used in staged settings or productions such as film, television, theatre, video game, simulator industries, and the like to simulate imagined events in a story or virtual world.
Mechanical special effects (also known as physical special effects) use tangible compounds, compositions, machines and devices such as mechanized props, makeup, prosthetics, scenery, scale models, animatronics, pyrotechnics, atmospheric effect machines, explosive charges and the like to create a controlled illusion of physical phenomenon such as wind, rain, fires, explosions, shootings, injuries, crashes and the like. Furthermore, mechanical special effects are distinguishable from in-camera photographic special effects or computer generated special effects in that mechanical special effects accomplished during live-action filming or live-action productions can be apparent to the actors and other participants, and pose a safety risk to these actors and other participants.
An illusory bullet hit device is a mechanical special effects device that provides an illusory explosion or burst of a flowable material such as a liquid, paste, granulated solid or powdered solid to mimic the impact of a bullet shot hitting a base surface such as a human, a wall, a road, etc. A common technique for creating an illusion of a bullet hitting a base surface is to attach an electrically ignited detonator also known as a squib (such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,117 issued 3 Aug. 1965) to the base surface and coupling a rupturable pouch filled with flowable material to an exposed surface of the detonator/squib so that when the detonator/squib is triggered by a pyrotechnic controller the explosion ruptures the pouch and splatters or sprays the flowable material away from the base surface. In a more specific example, using an illusory bullet hit device to create an illusion of a bullet impact puncturing an actor's skin comprises attaching the detonator/squib to a desired location on an under garment worn on the actor's body with the detonator/squib backed by a metal plate to shield the actor's body from explosive force, and coupled on its outward face to a pouch containing fake blood. The actor's costume is worn over these components and coupled to the pouch containing fake blood so that when the detonator/squib is electrically triggered the resulting explosion ruptures the pouch splattering the fake blood contents away from the actor's body and onto and/or through the actor's costume resulting in staining of the actor's costume. Optionally, the actor's costume may be pre-scored or distressed in alignment with the detonator/squib so that in addition to splattering the fake blood, the explosion produces a hole in the actor's costume allowing the fake blood to eject through the hole, thereby creating an illusion of skin puncture and a bullet hole in the actor's costume. Such techniques have been previously described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,246 (issued 21 Jun. 1960), U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,372 (issued 17 Apr. 1990), and US Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0070476 (published 20 Mar. 2008).
During use of illusory bullet hit devices safety and consistency have been long held concerns: safety of actors and other participants wearing or surrounding the devices during detonation; and consistency, reproducibility or predictability of a splatter or burst effect. Despite the recognition of these concerns many bullet hit devices continue to be hand-made and constructed in an ad-hoc fashion, and do not sufficiently address safety and consistency concerns.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for alternative devices for special effects explosions or bursts.

Device for a special effect explosion or burst


A method of searching a data page in a table space of a database for inserting a data record to a first table, wherein the table space comprises space map pages and sets of data pages, wherein each space map page comprises information about the available storage space of one set of data pages, wherein each space map page and the corresponding set of data pages is further assigned to a table range for each table to which at least one data page in the set of data pages belongs to, wherein the database further comprises a clustering index for the first table in the database management system, wherein the database management system comprises a space usage information database, and wherein the space usage information database holds space usage information for each table range.

A database system consists of a database and a database management system (DBMS). A database is an organized collection of data. A special type of a database is a relational database. In a relational database, the collection of data is organized into tables that consist of rows and columns of data. A row of data in a table is also referred to as a data record. The table columns can have a fixed length or a varying length. If at least one of the columns of a table has a varying length or if the table is compressed, then the data records can also have a varying length. A relational database typically consists of many tables and each table generally contains multiple rows and columns. Tables are the logical objects that applications that access a database perceive.
A database management system is a computer program which is employed to manage and query a database. A relational database management system is a special kind of database management systems which is used to manage and administrate a relational database. It is a database management system that employs relational techniques for storing data in and retrieving data from a relational database.
Table spaces are the physical objects in which the data is stored. A table space contains one or more tables and is typically divided into a plurality of data pages and into several space map pages. Each data page belongs to a single table only. In a multi-table table space, each space map page may cover data pages that belong to different tables. However, for a single-table table space, each space map belongs to a single table only. In many cases the data pages of a table are co-located in so-called segments, which contain data pages of a single table only. A space map page covers data pages of one or more segments. All data pages within a single table space are characterized by the same page size. Data in form of data records is stored in one of the data pages, usually on a single data page. A data page can contain one or more data records. Each space map page of the table space relates to a fixed number of data pages. The fixed number of data pages to which a space map page relates to is also called a set of data pages. A space map page maintains free space information on the corresponding set of data pages. Database systems exploit the space map pages in order to identify data pages that provide enough storage space for additional data records to be inserted. In order to avoid excessive updates of the space map pages and in order to maximize the number of data pages covered by a single space map page, each space map page maintains only a small number of values that approximate the amount of available storage space of a data page. Thus the space information provided by the space map page is not completely accurate. In a table space, a space map page usually precedes the data pages that it covers. Instead of a single space map page, a set of data pages may also be covered by a space map that spans multiple pages, which conceptually does not make a difference.
When an application requests the database management system to insert a data record into a table of the database, one or more space map pages that cover the table are accessed for choosing a suitable data page for insertion of the data record. Some database management systems as for example the DB2 database management system from IBM Corporation use a so called clustering index in order to identify a data page into which a data record should be stored. The database management system attempts to insert the data record in the data page where adjacent key values already reside. Maintaining data records in the clustering key order enables more efficient data retrieval when the clustering index is used to retrieve a set of data records within a key range.
If there is no storage space available on the data page that is identified by use of the clustering index, it is preferable to insert the data record within close range of this data page. If the table is later accessed by use of a blocked read technique such as sequential prefetch, the inserted record would then still be read in the same input/output operation. If all data pages within close range cannot accommodate the new data record, allocated space is reused for insertion of the new data record if possible in order to avoid the growth of a table space. If the allocated space is optimally reused, insertion operations can often result in a scan of many if not all space map pages of the table space which is usually very time consuming.
The approach disclosed in the patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,263 basically describes a method which remembers the last set of space map pages that have been searched and limits the total amount of space searched when inserting a new record. In this way it is ensured that the performance of the database does not degrade too much. However, data pages with sufficient free space are found only if they are covered by the last set of space map pages that has been searched previously.
In the patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,134, a method for insertion of a data record in a parallel database system is disclosed. Distinct page ranges are assigned to the different instances of the database system. Each instance of the parallel database system inserts a new data record on those data pages only that are assigned to this instance and ignores the clustering index. It thereby avoids an overhead of the synchronization between the instances comprised in the parallel database system. However, the method does not provide an improved method for finding data pages that could accommodate new data records.
There is therefore a need for an improved method and data processing system for efficiently searching a data page that provides sufficient storage space for inserting a new data record.

Method for searching a data page for inserting a data record

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided herein are methods for assessing risk of infection or cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a subject with an inflammatory disease, e.g., rheumatoid arthritis. The methods include performing immunoassays to generate scores based on quantitative data for expression of biomarkers relating to inflammatory biomarkers with or without additional clinical variables to assess infection and CVD risk. Also provided are uses of inflammatory biomarkers for guiding treatment decisions.

This application is directed to the fields of bioinformatics and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, with methods of assessing risk of cardiovascular disease or myocardial infarction, and serious infection in patients with inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis ("RA"). RA is an example of an inflammatory disease, and is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disorder. It is one of the most common systemic autoimmune diseases worldwide. The immune system of the RA subject targets the subject's joints as well as other organs including the lung, blood vessels and pericardium, leading to inflammation of the joints (arthritis), widespread endothelial inflammation, and even destruction of joint tissue.
There exists a close association between RA and cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is estimated that almost one half of RA-related deaths are a result of CVD and its underlying atherosclerosis, which itself is an inflammatory disorder. The pathogenic features common to both RA and atherosclerosis include pro-inflammatory cytokines, elevated levels of acute phase reactants, neo-angiogenesis, T-cell activation, and leukocyte adhesion molecules, as well as endothelia cell injury. Myocardial infarctions (MI), heart failure, and stroke occur in RA patients at 2 to 4 times the rates as in unaffected individuals.
The most established risk tool developed to estimate an individual's future risk for a CVD event are the Framingham and Reynolds scores. These scores generate 10-year risk scores based on algorithms containing age, gender, cholesterol, blood pressure, and smoking. The Reynolds score further evaluates C-reactive (CRP) in generating its 10-year risk score. However, these scores are less effective in predicting individual risk in women and younger individuals, which are groups that are highly represented in RA.
Another issue that complicates the management of RA is the high risk in patients with RA of developing a serious infection(s), especially if the patient is also being treated with corticosteroids. That is, some RA patients are vulnerable to serious infections. Although physicians are cognizant of the risk of serious infection in RA patients in general terms, the high frequency of serious infections in RA patients is not fully appreciated, partly because it is only over a long period of time that this becomes apparent (3-10 years) and more importantly because increasingly the prescribing physician is no longer the physician who takes direct responsibility for the actual treatment of the infections. Often the infection is treated by a general physician or an infectious diseases expert or an internist if the infection is so serious that intensive care unit expertise is required. In the case of serial infections, often it is different generalists or specialists who treat each serious infection episode and thus there is no continuity of care and hence diminished appreciation of the serial or recurrent nature of some infections. Hard decisions about whether to continue immunosuppressive or biologic therapies may not be taken by the treating Rheumatologist or primary care physician as a result of diminished appreciation of the impact of a serious infection. Thus there exists a need to develop a test to assess the vulnerability of a patient with RA to developing a serious infection.
Population-based research in RA studying hard endpoints including hospitalized infection and myocardial infarction (MI) is challenging because the relatively low prevalence of RA and outcome event rates limits statistical power. Administrative data from health plans and payers have high validity for studying large cohorts of patients with RA. While these data sources often lack clinical assessments of RA, results of lab tests that measure RA disease activity may provide objective measurements that can augment claims data.
The MBDA score is a validated tool that quantifies 12 serum protein biomarkers to assess disease activity in adult patients with RA (Curtis J R, et al., Arthritis Care Res. 64:1794-803 (2012)). Derivation of these 12 biomarkers is described fully in U.S. Pat. No. 9,200,324, which is hereby fully incorporated by reference in its entirety. Biomarkers can sometimes also be influenced by variables including race, sex, genetics, body mass index, hormones, and environmental factors. The present teachings provide methods for assessing risk of infection and CVD utilizing an RA multi-biomarker disease activity score or a combination of a multi-biomarker disease activity score and other clinical variables.

Biomarkers and methods for assessing myocardial infarction and serious infection risk in rheumatoid arthritis patients


A method of making an EPROM transistor in a high density CMOS integrated circuit having a poly to poly capacitor and including two layers of polysilicon. The EPROM transistor is made using only the steps used to make the other components of the high density CMOS integrated circuit. The EPROM transistor is programmable at the low voltages which high density CMOS transistors can handle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a CMOS integrated circuit having an EPROM incorporated therein, and to a method of making the same. More particularly, this invention relates to an EPROM structure that is manufacturable using precisely the same process steps that are used to make a small geometry, i.e., high density, CMOS integrated circuit. In other words, no steps need be added to or subtracted from those used in making the small geometry CMOS integrated circuit. Accordingly, the EPROM can be made on the same chip as the small geometry CMOS transistors without compromising the CMOS transistors in any way, especially their speed of operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As indicated above, this invention relates to a high density CMOS integrated circuit having an EPROM (electrically programmable read only memory) device. The term "CMOS" is used in its usual context, but is also hereinafter defined for completeness of disclosure. An "EPROM" is a nonvolatile memory integrated circuit unit. It is thus an integrated circuit that has a memory that remains without the need of a power source. Hence, it is a lasting, or permanent, memory. As indicated by its name, an EPROM nonvolatile memory unit can be electrically programmed after manufacture. In addition, the programming, i.e., also the memory, can be erased as a single block by exposing the EPROM chip to ultraviolet light.
The EPROM is not to be confused with an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory) device. An EEPROM is thus a nonvolatile memory integrated circuit unit. However, its programming can be selectively changed, i.e., erased, at each of its MOS transistor memory gates. Moreover, the EEPROM programming is changed electrically, not by the application of ultraviolet light. This requires additional process steps on an integrated circuit chip, which increases its cost significantly.
The EPROM and EEPROM nonvolatile memory integrated circuits are comprised of special types of MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) transistors that are often arranged in arrays. As is known, MOS transistors are also referred to as insulated gate field effect transistors (IGFETs). An IGFET has a control gate electrode that is disposed over a channel region that extends between spaced but adjacent source and drain regions embedded in a semiconductor surface. IGFETs of an EPROM and EEPROM memory array are a special form of IGFET in that they also have a second gate electrode. We sometimes herein refer to such IGFETs as EPROM transistors. The second gate electrode of such transistors is an electrically floating electrode that is disposed above the IGFET channel region but below the control gate electrode hereinbefore mentioned. It is electrically floating because it is electrically insulated from the control gate above it and the channel region below it, and has no electrical conductor for accessing it. An electrical charge is normally placed on the floating gate by the effects of tunneling or avalanche injection. Once an electrical charge is placed on the floating gate, the charge is trapped there until it is deliberately removed in some way. The trapped charge on the IGFET floating gate raises the threshold voltage of the underlying channel region of that IGFET. This raises the "turn on" voltage of that IGFET to a value above the voltage usually applied to turn that IGFET "on". Accordingly, that IGFET stays "off" even when a normal turn on voltage is applied to its gate. A floating gate IGFET memory unit of an EPROM or EEPROM memory array is thus "programmed" from a "one" to a "zero" by charging its floating gate. Selected floating gate IGFETs in an EPROM or EEPROM memory array which have been so programmed, will not turn on when the usual "turn on" voltage is applied to them. So programming the selected IGFETs of an EPROM or EEPROM memory array, is also referred to herein as programming the EPROM or EEPROM memory. Such programming can be erased, i.e. removed, by exposing the EPROM or EEPROM memory array to ultraviolet light, which allows the trapped charge on the floating gate of each programmed IGFET to escape. Such "programming" of an EEPROM can more conveniently be erased electrically by applying an appropriate electrical potential between the control (or "charging") gate and the channel of each programmed IGFET.
The related U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,098 relates to forming an EEPROM in a CMOS integrated circuit. It discusses the difficulties of the past in including nonvolatile memory devices in high density CMOS integrated circuit applications. In order to achieve high packing density, the cell size of the nonvolatile memory was minimized. One convenient way to reduce the cell size was to use a high programming voltage, allowing the capacitance between the control (or "charging") gate and the floating gate to be small. For Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, the tunnel oxide current equation dictates an absolute value of voltage required to pass tunnel current through it for a given tunnel oxide thickness. To obtain this voltage on the floating gate, the control gate voltage has to be increased when the control gate/floating gate to floating gate/substrate capacitance ratio is small. Also, for such tunneling to occur, a portion of the oxide between the floating gate and the channel must be thinner than is ordinarily used in the high density CMOS transistors.
The voltage applied to the floating gate (to achieve programming) is determined by the voltage applied to the control gate, and the ratio of (a) the control gate to floating gate capacitance to (b) the floating gate to substrate capacitance. This is what we mean by programming capacitance ratio. As the programming capacitance ratio increases, the programming voltage reduces. In other words, with a higher programming capacitance ratio, a lower control gate voltage can be used to trap enough charge on the floating gate to noticeably raise IGFET threshold voltage.
The capacitance ratio is primarily affected by the layout of the cell, i.e., a larger cell size will typically have a larger capacitance ratio. U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,098, shows that the floating gate and the control gate can be laid out with integral mutually overlapping plate-like enlargements that extend up onto field oxide adjacent the channel region of the EEPROM IGFET from which they extend. This increases the capacitance between the two gates without significantly increasing the floating gate to substrate (i.e., channel) capacitance.
There are many applications where it is desirable to combine nonvolatile memory with CMOS logic circuits. CMOS logic circuits are formed of complementary MOS transistors, or IGFETs. By complementary, we mean that the MOS transistors include both n-channel and p-channel MOS transistors. If one desires to make such logic circuits in high density (for high performance logic), the high density, i.e., small geometry, nonvolatile memory must be designed with relatively deep source and drain junctions and thick field oxides, to accommodate high voltage programming. On the other hand, high density CMOS ideally should have shallow junctions, thinner gate oxides, and thinner field oxides, because it would operate at 5 volts or less. Attempts to integrate even small amounts of such high density nonvolatile memory circuity with a high density CMOS logic circuitry, necessitates that the entire integrated circuit be dominated in some key respects by the requirements of the nonvolatile memory high voltage circuitry. The nonvolatile memory requirements tend to degrade the performance and reliability of the high density and low voltage CMOS logic, which typically has shallow source and drain junctions, thinner gate oxides, and thinner field oxides. The high voltage junctions used in the nonvolatile memory devices require deeper diffusions, which leads to longer channel lengths for the CMOS logic, to avoid short channel effects. This is undesirable since it results in slower logic devices. The thick field oxide of the nonvolatile memory devices increases the lateral encroachment, or "birds beak", in the CMOS logic. Hence, a greater limitation is present in the minimum pitch of doped regions. Another, and longer range, result of this is the limited shrinkability of such an integrated circuit device and process with a high density/high voltage nonvolatile memory device included.
At present, when forming a CMOS logic circuit with an EPROM or EEPROM device in a stacked polycrystalline silicon FLOTOX technology, i.e., polycrystalline silicon gates and a thin insulator for electron tunneling, compromises are required in order to insure that one of the polycrystalline layers of the nonvolatile memory device can be shared with the logic devices. This is usually done in one of two ways. One method is to first define the floating gate of the EPROM or EEPROM. A high temperature dielectric oxide is then grown which also serves as the gate oxide of the CMOS devices and the control gate dielectric of the nonvolatile memory device. Then the second layer of polycrystalline silicon is used to form the CMOS gates and the nonvolatile memory control gate. Thus, the same layer of polycrystalline silicon is shared for the control gate of the nonvolatile memory device and the CMOS gates. In this method, formation of the high temperature dielectric oxide for the CMOS and control gate tends to degrade the characteristics of the tunnel oxide in the nonvolatile memory device. This high temperature also shifts the implants in the CMOS devices, and thus creates a shift in the electrical characteristics of the resultant CMOS devices from what the original CMOS process would produce without inclusion of the nonvolatile memory device processing. Also, it is difficult to make a reliable gate dielectric from the silicon dioxide grown between the floating gate and the control gate of the nonvolatile memory device.
The second method is to grow the gate oxide and then mask and etch the windows for the tunnel oxide. A pre-cleaning step for growth of the tunnel oxide then follows. The tunnel oxide is then grown, followed by a polycrystalline silicon deposition step. The first polycrystalline silicon layer is shared between the CMOS devices and the floating gate of the nonvolatile memory device. In this latter prior art method, the steps required between the gate oxidation and polycrystalline silicon deposition degrade the gate oxide and thus the performance of the CMOS circuit. The gate oxide is degraded by placing photoresist on it for the tunnel mask, the pre-tunnel oxide clean, and the tunnel oxidation itself. These steps may introduce contaminants into the gate oxide, and will certainly alter the thickness of the gate oxide during the tunnel oxidation.
It is therefore desirable to have a high reliability CMOS logic circuit in which a nonvolatile memory device can be included with negligible impact on both the CMOS circuit and the nonvolatile memory device. The related U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,098 shows how an EEPROM can be so included by adding process steps to the usual CMOS process that only have negligible impact on the CMOS devices. On the other hand, it is to be noted that additional process steps do in fact have to be included, which increases cost of the process, and might slightly reduce yields. In addition, the added conductor pattern needed for electrically erasing an EEPROM, significantly expands the size an EEPROM nonvolatile memory unit over that of an EPROM nonvolatile memory. This can increase cost significantly.
As indicated above, the nonvolatile memory device that is made in the related U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,098 is an EEPROM, not an EPROM. An electrical charge can be put on its floating gate by any one of several techniques, including the Fowler-Nordheim Tunneling action shown in the related U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,098. However, Fowler-Nordheim Tunneling requires that a spot of the gate oxide on the channel region be thinner than normal gate oxide. As also indicated above, this requires adding special steps to the process used to make the CMOS integrated circuit, to form the thinner oxide. However, the addition of the extra steps is offset by the benefit that the thinner oxide also permits electrical erasing by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, as disclosed in the related U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,098. Hence, Fowler-Nordheim tunneling permits easy, fully electrical, reprogramming of the EEPROM on a selective IGFET basis.
We have now recognized that electrical erasing of a PROM is often not needed. In fact, no erasing at all may be needed, or that erasing prior to encapsulation is all that might be needed. In addition, we have recognized that block erasing, as opposed to selective IGFET erasing, may be satisfactory in many applications. Accordingly, we have recognized that an EPROM nonvolatile memory may be as useful as an EEPROM nonvolatile memory in many applications. Further, we have recognized that avalanche injection can be used to charge the floating gate of an EPROM using normal "gate" oxide thicknesses, i.e., oxide thickness between the floating gate and its underlying channel region. Still further, we have recognized that avalanche injection into the floating gate of an EPROM can be done at low voltages if the control gate/floating gate to floating gate/substrate capacitance ratio is about two or greater. Still further, we have found that an EPROM can be included in a high performance CMOS integrated circuit unit using exactly the same process steps as are used to make the high performance CMOS transistors in such a unit. In other words, no steps need to be added to or subtracted from the high performance CMOS process in order to also make the EPROM on the same chip. All that is needed is to include our special EPROM structure features in selected ones of the masks used to make the CMOS circuitry. Accordingly, in our invention, a nonvolatile memory unit can be included in a CMOS integrated circuit made with two micron or less design rules, without any penalties or compromises at all in the CMOS circuitry.


A vehicle seat latching system having four anchor mounting points wherein three of the four points define an engagement plane with respect to a vehicle floor. The fourth mounting point is located in a non-planar orientation to the engagement plane. A compensating latch is provided as part of the fourth mounting point to engage a mating element in a non-planar orientation. The compensating latch has a reduced engagement and release force characteristic.

This invention relates in general to systems for releasably securing an apparatus to a support surface. In particular, this invention relates to an improved latch system for releasably securing a seat to a floor, such as in a vehicle.
Virtually all vehicles are provided with one or more seats that are secured to a support surface, such as a floor, for supporting passengers thereon during operation of the vehicle. In many instances, it is desirable to use the vehicle to transport cargo in addition to or in lieu of passengers. Most vehicles are provided with a predetermined amount of cargo space for this purpose. Unfortunately, when the cargo to be transported is relatively large in size, it may not fit conveniently within the cargo space that is provided within the vehicle. To address this, it is known to releasably secure one or more of the seats to the floor of the vehicle. Such releasable securement allows some or all of the seats to be removed from the vehicle, thereby significantly increasing the amount of cargo space that is available for use.
A variety of latch systems are known in the art for releasably securing the seat to the floor of the vehicle. In some instances, the seat is provided with a pair of hooked-shaped pivot mechanisms on a first end of the seat and a pair of releasable latch mechanisms on a second end of the seat. To install the seat within the vehicle, the seat is initially oriented at an angle relative to the floor and moved such that the pivot mechanisms provided on the first end of the seat engage a corresponding first pair of generally inverted U-shaped striker pins provided on the floor of the vehicle. Then, the seat is tilted downwardly such that the latch mechanisms provided on the second end of the seat engage a corresponding second pair of generally inverted U-shaped striker pins also provided on the floor of the vehicle. The latch mechanisms are then engaged to positively secure the seat to the floor of the vehicle. When so secured, the seat can be reliably used to support passengers within the vehicle during operation. To remove the seat from the vehicle, the latch mechanisms are disengaged, and the installation process is reversed.
Although latch systems of this general type have functioned effectively, it has been found that the pivot mechanisms and the latch mechanisms provided on the bottom of the seat are not always precisely positioned relative to the associated striker pins provided on the floor of the vehicle. Such imprecise relative positioning can occur as a result of manufacturing tolerances associated with manufacture of both the seat and the vehicle. In some instances, this imprecise relative positioning can result in an undesirable misalignment between the one or more of the pivot mechanisms and the latch mechanisms provided on the bottom of the seat and the associated striker pins provided on the floor of the vehicle. As a result of these misalignments, an undesirably large amount of force may be required to engage and disengage the latch mechanisms because some rigid portion of either the seat or the floor of the vehicle must be deformed in order to engage and disengage the latch mechanisms.
To minimize the undesirable effects of these misalignments, it is known to provide each of the latch mechanisms with a resilient structure, such as a rubber cushion, that engages the associated striker pin. When the latch mechanisms are engaged, rigid portions thereof extend about the associated striker pins with relatively small clearances therebetween. At the same time, however, the resilient structures are compressed against the associated striker pins to take up these clearances. Consequently, the amount of force that is required to engage and disengage the latch mechanisms is reduced, even when the pivot mechanisms and the latch mechanisms provided on the bottom of the seat are not precisely positioned relative to the associated striker pins provided on the floor of the vehicle.
Unfortunately, because they are constantly subjected to compressive forces when the seat is installed within the vehicle, it has been found that these rubber cushions can lose their resiliency after a period of use and, as a result, become permanently deformed. When this occurs, relatively small clearances are again created between the latch mechanisms and the associated striker pins. Such clearances can allow undesirable movement of the seat relative to the vehicle, resulting in the generation of rattling noises during operation of the vehicle. This situation is particularly problematic when the seat is unoccupied or only lightly loaded. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an latch system for releasably securing a seat to a floor, such as in a vehicle, that addresses these issues.

Latch system for releasably securing a seat to a floor


A method for the continuous treatment of particulate material, such as cement raw meal, in an apparatus comprising a stationary reactor (6) configured as a conical spouted bed, to which the material is fed and treated in a suspended bed by means of gas which, via a centrally arranged gas inlet (21), is injected at the bottom of the reactor (6) and flows upwards through the reactor (6), and wherefrom the material is discharged via an opening (21) at the bottom of the reactor (6). The dimensions, operating parameters of the reactor (6, 21) or the volumes of the connected apparatuses (8a) are selected and regulated in such a way that during operation the bed pulsates up and down in the reactor (6) at such an amplitude that a quantity of the bed material which corresponds to the quantity of flesh feed material, when the bed is situated in its lowermost position, is brought into a zone (22) in which the gas flow velocity is lower than the minimum velocity required for suspending the bed particles, and thereby drops through the gas flow out of the reactor (6).

The invention relates to a method for the continuous treatment of particulate material, such as cement raw meal, in an apparatus comprising at least one stationary reactor configured as a spouted bed, to which the material is fed and treated in a suspension bed by means of gas which, via a centrally arranged gas inlet, is injected at the bottom of the reactor and flows upwards through the reactor, and wherefrom the material is discharged via the gas inlet under gravity against the gas flow at the bottom of the reactor. The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the method.
A method of this kind (hereinafter referred to as of the kind described) is known from our EP-B-0380878. According to this patent specification, the continuous discharge of the product from the stationary reactor takes place in a way whereby finish-burned clinker particles which have attained a size which exceeds a pre-determined limit passes through the gas inlet in counter-current to the suspension gas, under the influence of gravitational force.
A disadvantage of this known method of discharge is that it does not ensure that a desired amount of material is constantly maintained in the reactor since a change in the material feed rate does not automatically lead to a corresponding change in the material discharge rate. In an apparatus utilizing this method of discharge it will, therefore, be difficult to obtain optimum retention time of the clinker in the reactor in terms of reaction and energy characteristics. Practical experience with the aforementioned method indicates that, subject to certain operating conditions, all of, or an undesirably great portion of, the bed is either pulled downwards all at once, resulting in a complete or partial discharge of the reactor, or is expanded upwards in the reactor. A further disadvantage of the method is that it can only be utilized for reaction processes in which a continuous increment in the weight of the particles in the bed takes place.

Method and apparatus for continuous treatment of particulate material


The invention concerns a method for coating of a moving base, such as the face of a back-up roll, paper or board web, or equivalent, with a coating agent. In the method, a blade coater is employed in which a coating blade included in the blade coater and installed in a blade holder is loaded in the area between the blade holder and the tip of the coating blade toward the moving base by means of a loading member. The coating blade forms a substantially small angle in relation to the moving base. The coating quantity applied onto the moving base is regulated by adjusting the blade angle and/or the loading of the coating blade. The coating blade is loaded towards the moving base, in the area between said loading member and the tip of the coating blade. The coating blade is additionally loaded by a second loading member so that the loading produced by the second loading member prevents separation of the tip of the coating blade from the layer of coating agent formed on the moving base so as to prevent cavitation in the area of the tip of the coating blade. The invention also concerns a device that makes use of the method.

In the case of blade coaters, substantially two running modes of different types are known. On one hand, the so-called large-angle coating is known, in which the coating blade normally forms an angle of several dozens of degrees with the moving base to be coated. On the other hand, the so-called small-angle coating is known, in which the coating blade forms an angle of just a few degrees (normally from about 0.degree. to about 10.degree. ) with the moving base to be coated.
The present invention is related to the latter, small-angle blade coating and in particular to a zero-angle application of the small-angle blade coating, i.e., to a case in which the blade angle at the tip of the coating blade is less than 0.degree., i.e., the tip of the coating blade has been bent over from 0.degree., so that the smallest gap between the blade and the coating base is placed before the tip of the blade.
In view of the profile of the coating quantity and in view of keeping the blade tip clean, the best results have been obtained exactly with the zero-angle blade coating, especially when the coating base is a roll face in a size press. A drawback of this prior art method has, however, been a highly limited range of operation with respect of the range of coating quantity to be controlled for if the blade has been loaded excessively in an attempt to reduce the coating quantity, the blade tip has been bent excessively apart from the coating base, which has resulted in streaks in the coating. Such a coating device that makes use of the prior art coating method is illustrated schematically in FIG. 6. In this figure, the coating device is denoted generally with the reference numeral 30. The coating device 30 as shown in FIG. 6 is a so-called short-dwell coating device, which comprises a pressurized coating-agent chamber 31, which is defined by the coating blade 32, by a front seal 33, and by lateral seals (not shown). The coating blade 32 is installed in a blade holder 34, and the coating blade 32 is loaded against the moving base B, such as the face of a roll in the size press, by means of a loading hose 35 in the area between the blade holder 34 and the tip 39 of the coating blade. The loading hose 35 is installed in a loading-hose holder 37, with which an adjusting device 36 is also connected, by whose means the loading-hose holder 37 can be adjusted in the coater. In FIG. 6, the coating distance, i.e., the coating zone, is denoted with the reference S1 and the zone is defined in the area between the coating blade 32 and the front seal 33, in which the coating agent is in direct contact with the moving base B to be coated. The direction of movement of the moving base B is denoted with an arrow and with the reference D.
In the prior-art solution shown in FIG. 6, the loading of the coating blade 32 has been increased to such a high level that the tip 39 of the coating blade has been bent apart from the base B to be coated, which has produced cavitation at the tip 39 of the coating blade, as a result of which streaks have been formed in the layer of coating agent formed on the face of the moving base B.

Method and device for coating of a moving base


A cassette for blood smear slides has a holder portion for supporting slides in a stack and an alignment surface for orienting a bottom slide with respect to a slide egress window. A force plate member is urged against the top slide in the stack with a constant force spring to align the bottom slide and to retain the slide stack. A slide extraction device is constructed to enter the cassette and has follower pins which ride on cam surfaces of the cassette to precisely position detent edges vis a vis an edge of a bottom slide of the stack. The cassette also has structure for signaling an empty condition.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to cassettes for holding and dispensing a plurality of microscope slides, such as are used for blood smear specimens, and more particularly to improved constructional features of such cassettes and of a cooperative slide ejection assembly of apparatus for automatically producing blood smear slides.
2. Background Art
The above-noted U.S. application Ser. No. 08/557,226, describes apparatus for automatically producing a plurality of blood smear specimens respectively upon a succession of glass microscope slide elements supplied to the apparatus. In order to operate in a reliable fashion, this apparatus requires a system for reliably providing a plurality of slides seriatim into a predetermined ingress orientation for precise pick up and handling by the operative stations of the automated slidemaker. Such slides are marketed in a plurality of different packages. To assure proper slide supply, it is desirable to have a cassette that is conveniently loadable with a large number, e.g. 100, of slides from those packages, and that will safely store those slides during handling and insertion into the slidemaker apparatus. The cassette also should interfit and cooperate with the automated slidemaker in: (i) assuring reliable, single-slide ejections to provide an unbroken succession of slides and (ii) signaling the apparatus promptly upon the cassette becoming empty.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,903 describes one cassette construction that is intended to achieve safe slide storage, reliable feed and empty detection capabilities. This cassette has a bottom outlet passage for slide feed; and, in order to prevent slides from falling out of this passage, provides a cassette shutter member that must be opened by the slidemaker apparatus. However, the slide stack remains loose within the cassette, necessitating careful handling of the cassette. The '903 patent system utilizes special slides, having a frosted area for data printing, and a photodetector on the slide ejection mechanism senses such frosted area to determine a cassette-empty condition. While the cassette and slide ejection system of the '903 patent appears quite functional, it would be desirable to have a system which retains and controls a slide stack more effectively and which does not require special slide characteristics to signal a cassette-empty condition.

Cassette for blood smear slides and cooperative slide ejection assembly

by Patricia M. Krause, legal representative


A mobile communication system for communicating data with various priorities is provided. The system comprises a transmitting device for transmitting data having a transmission priority, an object mobile communication terminal designated for receiving the data; and a plurality of intermediate mobile communication terminals, wherein at least one of said plurality of intermediate mobile communication terminals receives the data from the transmitting device, determines the priority of the data, and forwards the data to the object mobile communication terminal via a particular communication path based on the priority of the data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an opportunity driven multiple access (ODMA) system and, particularly, to a data transmission method for the ODMA system which controls transmission power according to data priority in the ODMA system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, interest and demand for mobile communication services have dramatically increased. Various mobile communication services are provided to users having mobile communication terminals. Some mobile communication service include multimedia services such as data and motion picture information, as well as voice information. Accordingly, much research in the area of communication technologies and mobile communication terminals is being performed.
Generally, a cellular system divides a large service area into a plurality of small cells, covered by base stations for managing the cells. The base stations are installed in respective cells not to interfere with each other. The base stations are disposed at a distance so that radio waves do not interfere. Same frequency is not used for adjacent cells.
Since respective base stations are connected to a central control station and to a switching station, when a mobile terminal crosses over a cell boundary, this cross over can be detected and speech status can be monitored by transmitting/receiving connection control information of mobile terminals in other cells, as well as the mobile terminal in its cell. When the mobile terminal moves to another cell, the active traffic channel is changed to a frequency channel corresponding to the new cell, to compete a hand-off.
A cell centering around a base station can be divided into a high speed data area and a low speed data area. When a mobile terminal in the cell moves further away from the base station and reaches the cell boundary area, a lot of path loss occurs. Therefore, when the mobile terminal has moved at a certain distance from the base station, it is difficult to transmit the data with high speed and the speech quality is lowered due to the path loss.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a mobile communication system according to the conventional art, and illustrating a method for providing a mobile terminal near the cell boundary with the data service in a cellular environment.
Dotted line A shows the data transmission in a general cellular mobile communication system, wherein the base station transmits the data directly to an object terminal. Since the mobile terminal in the cell boundary area is far away from the base station, much transmission loss is generated during data transmission, and thereby data transmission rate is lowered and error rate is increased. Therefore, it is difficult to provide high speed data service to a mobile terminal which is far away from the base station, and accordingly, only low speed data service can be provided.
In addition, when the mobile terminal receives the data, the terminal requires a received power more than a certain degree. Accordingly, when the base station transmits the data to the mobile terminal which is far away from the base station, the base station should use a strong transmission power to correspond the received power. Unfortunately, a strong transmission power may interfere with a mobile terminal connected to an adjacent base station, and may affect the speech quality.
Since resources are limited in a radio environment, minimum transmission power should be used, when possible. However, when the mobile terminal requiring multimedia service at high receiving rate and low error rate moves to the cell boundary area, the interference for the other users in the cell may be increased and the speech quality may be lowered. Therefore, a more efficient and effective method for managing radio link resources is needed.
In order to solve the problems of general cellular system, many researches for providing multimedia service of high speed in an IMT-2000 system are being performed, for example, an opportunity driven multiple access (ODMA) system has been introduced.
The ODMA system is a system made by applying concepts of ad-hoc network to a mobile communication system, and transmits the data through various hops for increasing efficiency of universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), and thereby, constructing a larger high speed data service area. The ODMA is a protocol for relaying communication information between terminals so that the data communication at high speeds can be maintained even in the cell boundary area.
Referring to FIG. 1, line B illustrates a method for transmitting data in an ODMA system according to the conventional art. As shown therein, when the base station transmits the data to the mobile terminal in the cell boundary area, the base station transmits the data through a plurality of hops. In the ODMA system, the high speed data service area can be expanded with a small transmission power, and therefore, the ODMA system is effective in view of power consumption comparing to the conventional cellular system transmitting the data directly to the distant mobile terminal.
Generally, the multimedia data transmitted between the mobile terminals has various attributes such as delay-sensitive voice and picture communication requiring real-time transmission, and file transmission which does not require the real-time transmission.
However, the conventional ODMA system uses uniform transmission power regardless of the delay sensitivity or the traffic attributes of the data transmitted/received between terminals, and thereby it is difficult to provide multimedia data services having various attributes.

Data transmitting method for opportunity driven multiple access (ODMA) system


A semiconductor device that can suppress noise transmission through a seal ring provided between two device regions. The semiconductor device includes a logic unit and an analog unit. The semiconductor device further includes a silicon substrate, an insulating interlayer, a seal ring surrounding the outer periphery of the logic unit composed of a conductive film buried in the insulating interlayer, a well provided on the silicon substrate, and an N well guard ring that blocks conduction of a path from the logic unit, through the seal ring to the analog unit. The N well guard ring is disposed between the seal ring region 106 and the logic unit or the analog unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and more particularly to a semiconductor device having plural device regions and seal ring.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to protect a circuit-forming region in a semiconductor chip effectively from moisture, a protective structure referred to as a "seal ring" is provided so as to surround the semiconductor device (chip). The seal ring is formed with a wiring layer as in the circuit-forming region and a via (or contact).
Generally, however, the seal ring is electrically connected to a semiconductor substrate, so that noise that is apt to be generated in the device region of a digital circuit chip or the like is often transmitted to another device region through the seal ring, thereby causing malfunction of the elements provided in another region.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-147668 discloses a conventional method for suppressing such noise transmission. According to the method, a nonconducting part is provided in a seal ring forming region so that the nonconducting region blocks the conduction of a path from a logic unit, through the seal ring to an analog unit.


A mobile robot for a cable includes a first gripper unit including a first main body, a first driving wheel unit disposed over the first main body and configured to have its wheels changed up and down, and a first support wheel unit disposed under the first main body; a second gripper unit including a second main body, a second driving wheel unit disposed over the second main body and configured to have its wheels changed up and down, and a second support wheel unit disposed under the second main body; and a link unit including first links fixed to the first gripper unit, second links fixed to the second gripper unit, and a link driving unit configured to control the angle of the first links and the second links that are fixed together by a main hinge unit so that they rotate at an angle.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mobile robot for a cable and, more particularly, to a mobile robot for a cable, which has a specific structure that enables the mobile robot to overcome obstacles installed in a cable and to move on the cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cables installed at high places are used in modern buildings or structures, such as skyscrapers, grand bridges, and steel towers for transmission lines. For example, cables may be used in structures installed outside skyscrapers, suspension bridges, and transmission lines installed by steel towers for transmission lines.
Furthermore, the state of such cables used in buildings or structures need to be tested and repaired for safety test or maintenance and repair purposes after the cables are constructed.
In a conventional task for testing or repairing the state of such a cable, a worker must directly reach the cable and perform the task. Such a method, however, is attended with danger because the safety of the worker is not guaranteed. Furthermore, in order to perform a task for testing a transmission line, many social costs are generated because power of a transmission line must be blocked in order to guarantee the safety of workers.
In order to solve the problems, a method of checking, by a worker on the ground, cables, transmission lines, and parts installed in the cables using a high magnification telescope is used. If cables, transmission lines, and parts installed in the cables are checked using a high magnification telescope, there is a problem in that a correct check is not performed because the opposite side is unable to be seen.
Other methods used to solve such problems may include a method of checking, by a worker who gets on a helicopter, cables, transmission lines, and parts installed in the cables using a high magnification telescope and a method of using an unmanned control helicopter on which a high magnification telescope is mounted. However, those methods are problematic in that they have low work efficiency.
In order to solve such problems, a mobile robot capable of moving on a cable has recently been developed and used.
A conventional mobile robot for a cable can move on a cable and check the state of the cable because it is equipped with a gripper apparatus having a specific structure and a plurality of drivers and a plurality of posture controllers.
The conventional mobile robot for a cable, however, has problems in that the mobile robot is very complicated to implement a moving mechanism because it includes the plurality of drivers and the plurality of posture controllers and the mobile robot has low mobility because it has heavy weight.
Furthermore, the conventional mobile robot for a cable is problematic in that it does not overcome a cable in which various types of obstacles are installed and does not move on the cable.

INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION YONSEI UNIVERSITY


An earth-boring bit has a bit body. At least one cantilevered bearing shaft depends inwardly and downwardly from the bit body and a cutter is mounted for rotation on the bearing shaft. The cutter includes a plurality of cutting elements, at least one of which has a generally cylindrical element body of hard metal. A pair of flanks extend from the body and converge to define a crest. The crest defines at least one sharp cutting edge at its intersection with one of the flanks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to earth-boring bits of the rolling cutter variety. Specifically, the present invention relates to the cutting structure and cutting elements of earth-boring bits of the rolling cutter variety.
2. Background Information
The success of rotary drilling enabled the discovery of deep oil and gas reserves. The rotary rock bit was an important invention that made that success possible. Only soft formations could be commercially penetrated with the earlier drag bit, but the original rolling-cone rock bit invented by Howard R. Hughes, U.S. Pat. No. 939,759, drilled the hard caprock at the Spindletop field, near Beaumont Texas, with relative ease.
That venerable invention, within the first decade of this century, could drill a scant fraction of the depth and speed of the modern rotary rock bit. If the original Hughes bit drilled for hours, the modern bit drills for days. Bits today often drill for miles. Many individual improvements have contributed to the impressive overall improvement in the performance of rock bits.
Rolling-cutter earth-boring bits generally employ cutting elements to induce high contact stresses in the formation being drilled as the cutters roll over the bottom of the borehole during drilling operation. These stresses cause the rock to fail, resulting in disintegration through near-vertical penetration of the formation material being drilled. When cutters are offset, their axes do not coincide with the geometric or rotational axis of the bit and a small component of horizontal or sliding motion is imparted to the cutters as they roll over the borehole bottom. While this drilling mode prevails on the borehole bottom, it is entirely different in the corner and on the sidewall. The corner is generated by a combined crushing and scraping or shearing action, while the borehole wall is produced in a pure sliding and scraping (shearing) mode. In the corner and on the sidewall of the borehole, the cutting elements have to do the most work and are subjected to extreme stresses, which makes them prone to break down prematurely, and/or wear rapidly.
Recently, there has been a general effort to introduce the improved material properties of natural and synthetic diamond or super-hard materials into earth-boring bits of the rolling-cutter variety. Super-hard materials have been used in fixed-cutter or drag bits to good effect for many years. Fixed-cutter bits employ the shearing mode of disintegration discussed above almost exclusively. Although diamond and other super-hard materials possess excellent hardness and other material properties, they generally are considered too brittle for most cutting element applications in rolling-cutter bits, an exception being the shear-cutting gage inserts discussed above.
Recent attempts to introduce diamond and similar materials into rolling cutter bits have relied on a diamond layer or table secured to a substrate or backing material of fracture-tough hard metal, usually cemented tungsten carbide. The substrate is thought to supplement the diamond or super-hard material with its increased toughness, resulting in a cutting element with satisfactory hardness and toughness, which diamond alone is not thought to provide.
One problem with the diamond/substrate inserts is the tendency of the diamond or super-hard material to delaminate from the substrate. The cause of this delamination is thought to be forces acting parallel to the interface between the diamond layer or table and the substrate superimposed on the high residual stresses at this interface. These stresses shear the diamond table off of its substrate.
Several attempts have been made to increase the strength of the interface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,106, to Hall et al. discloses a transition layer interface that gradually transitions between the properties of the super-hard material and the substrate material at the interface between them to resist delamination. Although this method appears to yield satisfactory results, it requires expensive and time-consuming fabrication techniques. Other patents, such as commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,772, Oct. 4, 1994 to Smith, provide a non-planar interface between the diamond table and substrate. U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,969 to Hardy et al. is another example of the non-planar interface between the super-hard and substrate.
At any rate, most attempts to incorporate diamond or other super-hard materials into the cutting structures of earth-boring bits of the rolling-cutter variety employ a non-diamond substrate material in addition to the super-hard material.
A need exists, therefore, for earth-boring bits of the rolling-cutter variety having super-hard cutting elements that are relatively easily manufactured with a satisfactory combination of material properties.

Rolling-cutter earth-boring bit having predominantly super-hard cutting elements