A resistor type arc welding machine comprises a housing capable of containing a cooling liquid; first and second main resistors serially connected to each other, the free end of the first resistor being connected to the current line of an alternating current source and the free end of the second resistor being connected to a holder for a welding electrode; one or more taps from intermediate points along said first and second main resistors, which taps may be connected, preferably through respective by-pass resistors, to the said holder instead of the free end of said second main resistor, to provide higher amperage outlets; and a direct line whose first end is connected to ground and whose second end is connected to the work piece to be welded, in order to complete the electrical circuit and to produce the welding arc; the above mentioned main resistors being arranged in an open and perforate support fixed in said housing such that the resistors will be continuously and completely submerged in the cooling liquid during operation of the machine.

Arc welding machines are very well known in the prior art and they usually comprise two different types of units, namely, motor-generator type welding machines and transformer type welding machines, both types having very well defined fields of application. The motor-generator type machines are normally utilized for producing very high amperage welding currents, such as 300 amps or more, which are useful when structural metal parts are to be welded to each other with a very high strength, or when a high penetration of the welding metal is required in the work piece. The transformer type machines, on the contrary, are normally utilized for producing electric welding currents of lower intensity, of the type useful in a blacksmith's shop or when the welding metal does not require a high penetration, whereby said types of machines have specific fields of application for which they have proven to be highly efficient.
Particularly referring to the transformer type prior art arc welding machines, which have been used with good efficiency in blacksmith's shop activities or in structures that do not require a high strength, said machines, while showing a performance and efficiency which is reasonably acceptable, present the serious drawback that, as they require a transformer for the single phase current to reduce the voltage and increase the amperage thereof, they also require large amounts of coil wire, as well as very bulky and heavy iron gaps to contain the primary and the secondary windings of the transformer, which produces a very heavey unit that must be mounted in a sufficiently strong housing to support such a weight. Also, this type of transformer type arc welding machine is required to contain within the housing supporting the transformer, a considerable volume of a cooling dielectric liquid, which renders the machine very costly and heavy and presents serious inconveniences for the transportation thereof, regardless of the fact that said machines are considered as portable machines, and are used very widely in blacksmith's shops.
Another serious inconvenience of the transformer type arc welding machine is that, as the cooling dielectric liquid is relatively costly, it is always necessary to load the machine, that is, the receptacle thereof, with a suitable volume of said liquid, which increases initial cost and also considerably increases the dead weight of the machine, that must be necessarily transported from one place to the other with the liquid within the same, inasmuch as said liquid is not easily available and must be acquired in specialized places.
Therefore, it has long been desired to design an arc welding machine that, is highly efficient for use in blacksmith's shops and also for producing welding cords of the same type produced by the transformer type welding machines, but will not have the serious drawbacks and the cumbersome inconveniences of the latter, and have a light-weight and an easy handling property that was not possible with the prior art transformer type arc welding machines.


A printing control device comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive an instruction to perform adjustment of the number of droplets to be ejected from ejection ports of an ejection head on a unit region of a printing medium, the ejection ports corresponding to an energy generation element, the energy generation element using electrical energy to generate energy for ejecting liquid; and a decision control unit configured to decide an amount of the electrical energy to be applied to the energy generation element corresponding to the ejection ports so that each of the ejection ports ejects the droplets; wherein the decision control unit decides whether to decide an amount of the energy in response to the receiving unit's receiving the instruction.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a density correction method, specifically to a printing apparatus having functions of color shift correction and density unevenness correction, and a method thereof.
Description of the Related Art
An inkjet printing apparatus provided with print heads or nozzle arrays having ejection ports (hereinafter, referred to as nozzles) for the same color ink is conventionally known as one of output devices that prints an image on various printing media such as paper. In such a printing apparatus with print heads or nozzle arrays, due to difference in ejection characteristic among respective print heads or respective nozzle arrays, some printed images may not achieve a desired color tone. That is, a desired color tone cannot be obtained partly because of existence or occurrence of difference in ejection characteristic among respective print heads or respective nozzle arrays since difference in ejection characteristic changes a density value of a printed image.
Factors of such difference in ejection characteristic among respective print heads or respective nozzle arrays includes variations in heat generation amount of heaters that eject ink (or film thickness of heaters) and variations in diameter of nozzles that eject ink. A change in heat generation amount of a heater with age and a change in viscosity of ink due to difference in usage environment may cause difference in ink ejection amount, changing a printing characteristic of an image formed on a printing medium.
As a technology to deal with difference in color tone due to difference in ejection characteristic among respective nozzle arrays or print heads as described above, color shift correction processing is known.
For example, color shift correction processing is performed by changing a γ table that is used in γ correction processing as part of image processing for correcting an ejection characteristic of a print head. Specifically, patches are printed on a printing medium by print heads or nozzle arrays, and a table to be used in γ correction processing is reset to be suitable on the basis of the resulting printed patches.
A method of detecting a color shift in printed patches includes a method to use an input device such as a scanner to detect printed patches. For example, there is known a method of correcting color including: printing a patch for each color material of C, M, Y, K; reading each patch by a scanner, a colorimetric device, a densitometer and/or like that is mounted to a printing apparatus; detecting a deviation of a read value from an expectation value of each patch; and changing a value such as a γ value on the basis of the deviation (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-0.167947).
Meanwhile, there is known a method of adjusting a driving pulse width of a print head to be suitable by keeping constant a factor of a ratio of a real input voltage to a critical driving voltage at which a print head can barely eject ink due to deterioration of the print head (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-58529). In this method, a print head is driven while a pulse width is reduced by a predetermined unit, each ejected ink droplet is detected by a photoelectronic sensor, thereby deciding an optimal number of driving pulses. By changing to a driving pulse (hereinafter, referred to as an ejection energy) decided in this way, ink can be stably ejected, thereby lengthening a life of a print head.

Printing control device, printing control method, and storage medium


The present invention provides an animal fibers having improved shrink proofing and pilling resistance properties and method for preparation thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an animal fiber to which shrink proofing and pilling resistance are given, and a method for preparation thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to an animal fiber to which shrink proofing and pilling resistance are given without impairing a superior water repellent property that animal fibers originally possess and a method for preparation thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Animal fiber is peculiar natural fiber having specific hand-feeling texture depending on sheep breeds, revealing bio-degradability, having various excellent properties such as hygroscopicity, moisture-releasing property, heat retaining property, flame retardancy and dyeing property, and further, water-repellency. It is special fiber which has appropriate fiber strength and elongation permissible for wear and higher abrasion resistance, also from the standpoint of fiber mechanical properties, and has been esteemed for long time. However, felting property in aqueous washing and pilling property in wear derived from a cuticle tissue structure of animal fiber are undesirable natures as apparel wear. Therefore, studies for improving the surface have been long effected mainly on shrink proofing, and pilling resistant work has also been conducted along with the studies. However, any of animal fiber obtained like this is an improving method sacrificing the water repellency which is an inherent nature of animal fiber. A water repellent membrane of animal fiber is an organization for exerting an influence on hygroscopicity and moisture releasing property and for controlling heat transfer accompanied by adsorption and desorption of water, and exerts an influence on heat retaining property and comfortability. In other words, the conventional shrink proofing product can prevent shrink by aqueous washing, but lacks in heat retaining property and comfortability.
As a conventional typical shrink proofing work, there is a shrink proofing method using a chlorine agent, and specifically, what is called chlorine-Hercosett shrink proofing method in which a cuticle tissue of animal fiber is hydrophilizated, the tissue is made soft or removed to impart shrink proofing property, and further, the cuticle tissue is coated with a polyamide epichlorohydrin resin (Hercosett resin, manufactured by Dick Herculess) for enhancing the resistance to aqueous washing. Currently, this method is spread around the world, and recognized provisionally as a complete method as a shrink proofing method of wool.
However, from the stand point of environmental conservation spread currently around the world, a shrink proofing work using a chlorine agent and chlorine-containing resin has caused a problem of the discharging amount of an Adsorbable Organic Halides (AOX), and a novel shrink proofing method of animal fiber using no chlorine agent is being studied presently. However, a satisfactory method replacing the chlorine-Hercosett shrink proofing method has not been developed yet.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. 126997/1975 discloses a method in which dyeing property and shrink proofing of wool and pilling resistance of a wool-synthetic fiber blended product are improved without deteriorating hand-feeling and fiber strength of wool according to a procedure in which wool sliver is impregnated with an aqueous solution of acids or acidic salts and drained by squeezing rolls, and is placed in a sealed chamber previously filled with an ozone-containing gas having an ozone concentration of 35.5 mL/L, and further, treated at 50° C. for 10 minutes while feeding a new ozone-containing gas. However, this method carries out only oxidation into a cystine crosslinked bond (—S—S—) which performs main role of wool shrink proofing, and no reduction treatment is conducted. In the case of wool, a —S—S-bond is not cleaved until this reduction treatment and this cleavage gives satisfactory shrink proofing to wool, therefore, sufficient shrink proofing and pilling resistance can not be obtained by the disclosed method. Further, the above-mentioned methods is conducted in a sealed system since the treatment should be conducted in an ozone gas atmosphere, and exposure is effected with the aid of molecular movement of an ozone gas, therefore, when the amount of wool treating is increased, unevenness of an ozone gas exposure can not be avoided, and this directly produces a unevenness treatment and uniform wool shrink proofing and dyeing are not obtained. At the same time, in the above-mentioned method, the productivity is low due to the sealed system treatment, and when an ozone gas leaks directly out of the treating apparatus, deterioration in working environment and environmental charge are large, and industrialization is difficult.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. 142759/1980 discloses a method and an apparatus in which fiber is treated with an ozone-steam mixed material. In this method, worsted knitted fabric made of keratinous animal fiber is suspended on a belt conveyor circulating in a special treatment apparatus equipped with an exhaust apparatus, steam is introduced in this apparatus to increase the temperature to 79° C., a fan is started to introduce an ozone-air mixed gas (ozone introduction amount: 3.4 g/minute) and this mixed gas retained in the apparatus for 8.25 minutes to impart shrink proofing. Also in this method, only ozone oxidation is conducted, and no reduction treatment is effected. Therefore, the imparted shrink proofing is not satisfactory, and further, an ozone gas tends to leak due to the defective construction of apparatus, inviting deterioration in working environment.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. 19961/1991 discloses a method of shrink proofing of animal fiber using ozone as an oxidizer. It describes that an ozone gas is passed through a glass filter to give fine bubbles, in a water bath, and this bubbles are allowed to contact animal fiber. But bubbles generated through a glass filter or the like are too large to render ozone gas bubbles to reach fine portions in a fiber assembly, and treat only the surface of the fiber assembly. It is well known from experience that when a wool product containing about 90% of shrink-proofed wool fiber and about 10% of un-shrink-proofed wool fiber in mixture is washed in water, it is shrunk in the same extent as a un-shrink-proofed wool product, whereas, in the above-mentioned method, an unevenness exposure on wool by an ozone gas makes a unevenness treatment, and sufficient shrink proofing is not obtained due to this unevenness.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. 72762/1998 discloses a method in which fiber is immersed in the form of tow, thread, fabric, knit fabric and the like into a water-dissolved ozone prepared by dispersing in water an ozone-containing gas composed of ozone and oxygen or air in the form of bubbles having a diameter of 0.08 mm or less. It describes a method in which an ozone-containing gas is introduced in water to form bubbles, this bubbles are broken by allowing it to collide against small walls in a line mixer when it passes through the line mixer, to give fine bubbles having a diameter of 0.08 mm or less showing enhanced solubility in water, for obtaining ozone dissolved in water having high concentration. This is merely a method for treating rayon and other fiber using ozone in dissolved in water.

Animal fiber superior in shrink proofing and method for preparation thereof

Abstract: An animal fiber having excellent shrink proofing and pilling resistance and retaining its original water repellency is also provided. A method of treating animal fiber in which a surface layer part of animal fiber is primary-oxidized in advance with an oxidizer, and aqueous treatment liquid containing ozone in the form of ultrafine bubbles of 5μ or less is allowed to collide against the fiber by blowing the liquid on the fiber in the aqueous treatment solution, and then, the fiber is treated with a reducing agent. Particularly, the above-mentioned method for treating animal fiber in which ultrafine bubbles of ozone are formed by using a line mixer. The method in which an apparatus which collects the ultrafine ozone bubbles in aqueous treatment liquid on the fiber is used so that the bubbles are not scattered out of a treatment reaction bowl.


A mounting for a door leaf, a fanlight leaf or the like, particularly for an all-glass leaf, has a plane clamping plate (1) and a plane counter clamping plate (2). The mounting can be attached, in the region of an edge recess (3) in a leaf edge (5) of the leaf, to the two opposite surfaces, and the leaf can be pinched between the clamping plate (1) and the counter clamping plate (2) by means of fastening screws (7) joining the clamping plate and the counter clamping plate. At the clamping plate (1) a web plate (9) is formed extending perpendicular to the clamping plate, which web plate, in the assembled condition, spans over the distance between the clamping plate (1) and the counter clamping plate (2) extending through the edge recess (3). The counter clamping plate is provided with a rectangular recess (17, 41) being adapted to the shape of the free end of the web plate (9), the web plate in the assembled condition engaging by means of its free end with the rectangular recess (17, 41). The clamping plate (1) inclusive of the web plate (9) and the counter clamping plate (2) are formed as extruded profile rails or rolled profile rails.

The invention relates to a mounting for a door leaf, a fanlight leaf or the like, particularly for an all-glass leaf, having a plane clamping plate and a plane counter clamping plate, which, in the region of an edge recess of the leaf in a leaf edge of the leaf, can be attached to the leaf at the two opposite surfaces, and the leaf can be pinched between the clamping plate and the counter clamping plate by means of fastening screws joining the clamping plate and the counter clamping plate.
For example from the DE-OS 24 32 961 it is known a mounting for an all-glass door comprising a clamping plate and a counter clamping plate, between which the door leaf can be pinched in the region of an edge recess. At the clamping plate a lateral extension is formed, which engages in the edge recess. Moreover, the clamping plate and the counter clamping plate comprise a recess open in direction towards the edge face of the door leaf, in which recess an insert assembly is fixed having an opening for receiving a pin, for example, when the door leaf mounting is used as a bottom mounting, an essentially rectangular opening for receiving a pin of a door closing mechanism the pin being rectangular in its cross section.
On the other hand from the DE-GM 94 20 766 a door leaf mounting is known, which is formed as a casting part and which is formed with a web plate extending perpendicular to the clamping plate, at the free edge of the clamping plate. At the outer surface of the web plate a door closing mechanism bearing pin having a rectangular cross section is mounted by means of a fastening screws This door leaf mounting can also be used for door leafs, which do not comprise a recess, but only comprise bores for fastening screws extending through it, wherein the web plate embraces the door leaf edge. The clamping plates comprise parts protruding laterally from the plate plane and having bores for receiving fastening screws.


An input device lock and method for preventing unauthorized access to the computer. The device is a lock switch that selectively enables or disables the line that effectuating data flow between the input device and the computer. Any input device may be selectively disabled using the present invention including a keyboard, mouse, track ball, joy stick, light pen, or other hand-held controller for example. Depending on the computer's configuration, the data flow-effectuating line is known as the data line, input/output line, signal line, or clock line. When the flow-effectuating line is disabled by this device, no data is transmitted from the input device to the computer and therefore access to the computer is controlled. No other wires inside the cable are affected; in particular, the power and ground lines are not broken. The lock switch is the style that allows the key to be inserted or removed only when the lock switch is in the input device disabled state.

This device relates generally to a circuit breaker for a computer cable. More particularly this device relates to a lock switch for enabling and disabling the line that carries data between an input device and a computer, such as a keyboard or mouse, thereby controlling access to the computer while leaving it running.
The use of computers has become increasingly popular. In addition to privately-used computers, computers are now being provided for commercial public use. This satisfies the need for those who do not have their own computers or who need particular software applications that are too costly to purchase for only occasional personal use. As more information and software is stored on computers, a need arises to protect this information from unauthorized access. For example, proprietors desiring to rent computers to users on a time-share basis must be able to limit or monitor the amount of time the computer is in use. A convenient method of controlling this is by limiting access to the computers.
Another situation requiring preventing unauthorized access is in the case of computers used to demonstrate software. Vendors have a need to prevent individuals from accessing, and potentially vandalizing or pirating, demonstration software until a trained attendant is available to assist them. In both these situations it is desirable to leave the computer running while concurrently preventing a user from using it. Leaving the computer on allows the software programs to continue to run, thereby permitting quick start-up when desired. Leaving the computer on also allows messages, instructions, or advertising to show on the monitor. This is particularly desirable for commercial settings.
A variety of devices have been used to prevent unauthorized access to computers. One method of access control is provided by a password system in the computer's software. This approach is disadvantageous, however, in that software passwords can be lost, bypassed, or divulged. Other devices known in the art for controlling access to a computer include mechanical devices that cover the computer's power switch, disk drive, or keyboard. This approach is disadvantageous in that mechanical covers are cumbersome and necessarily unique to the ever-changing physical configuration of the components. Both of these approaches are inconvenient and particularly unsuitable to the commercial use market.
Internal keyboard locks are known in the art and work by employing an electrical switch inside the computer that disables the function of the keyboard. Internal keyboard lock switches using a round, soda machine-style key are common for IBM-compatible personal computers. Such switches allow the key to be removed from the lock in either the enable or disable position. These devices are disadvantageous because users can unlock the keyboard and remove the key from the lock switch, leaving the computer vulnerable to unauthorized access. Furthermore, when these devices are turned to the off position, the computer may not continue to run. Re-start may be time-consuming and may cause unpredictable data loss.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,550 to Panchisin discloses an external keyboard lock that encases the keyboard port of a computer. This device has a housing that mounts to the surface of the computer surrounding the port. A key switch provided on the wall of the housing switches the power supply line to the keyboard, thereby selectively enabling or disabling the keyboard. The Panchisin device is disadvantageous because it must be permanently mounted over the keyboard port to avoid unauthorized users from circumventing access control. As the size of computers and the space between ports decreases, it may not be possible to mount the Panchisin device over the keyboard port without covering other ports on the computer. However, making the device detachable to use adjacent ports destroys the device's functionality.
More importantly, many modern computer operating systems fail to function if a keyboard is not properly attached to the keyboard port. If the power to the keyboard is shut off, the computer may be unable to acknowledge that the keyboard is still attached. By switching the power supply line to the keyboard, the Panchisin device not only disables the function of the keyboard, but the device also disables the function of the computer's operating system. This is disadvantageous because continued unattended operation of the computer, alone or as a server for other computers, may be desired while preventing unauthorized access to the computer via the keyboard.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a security device that will prevent unauthorized access to a computer. It is another object of this invention to provide a security device that disables the input device but allows continued operation of the computer. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a security device that allows a key to be inserted and removed only when the input device is in the disabled state. It is yet a further object of the preset invention to provide a security device that switches only the line effectuating data flow of the input device cable and does not switch the power source. It is a another object of this invention to provide a security device that mounts to the cable of an input device.


A semiconductor chip includes modules configured to transmit transfer data, the transfer data including a lifetime corresponding to a time required to transfer the transfer data, routers including a plurality of input/output controller configured to receive and transmit the transfer data, the routers being configured to add a predetermined value to the lifetimes included in deferred transfer data, transmission of the deferred transfer data being deferred as a result of arbitration for transmitting the transfer data having a largest lifetime among a plurality of the transfer data competing for one of the input/output controller. and channels configured to connect one of the modules to one of the routers, or to connect one of the routers to an adjacent router.

Various technologies have been disclosed which control the order of priority in packet transfer in communication networks.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2012-182807 (hereinafter referred to as "PTL1") discloses the following technology regarding scheduling of priorities in communication networks. First, packets with high priority levels (hereinafter, referred to as high priority packets) are placed at points progressively closer to the head of a queue instead of being placed at the end of the queue. Second, the points progressively closer to the head of the queue are determined on the basis of a predetermined percentage of a delay requirement of the high priority packet or a predetermined percentage of an expected queuing delay for the high priority packets.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2012-239138 (hereinafter referred to as "PTL2") discloses a priority setting device. The priority setting device acquires a plurality of packets. The transmission nodes and reception nodes of the packets are identical. The priority setting device then sets the priorities of the packets in accordance with inter-packet delays between the packets. For example, the priority setting device calculates first delay amounts, which are statistics of inter-packet delays between the packets, on the basis of acquisition times of the plurality of packets acquired in a predetermined period. The priority setting device then sets the priorities of the packets on the basis of differences between the first delay amounts and a predetermined reference delay amount. The priority setting device also calculates a second delay amount, which is a statistic of the first delay amounts, and employs the second delay amount as the above-described reference delay amount.
On the other hand, in recent LSI (Large Scale Integration) design, a network-on-chip technology in which modules in an LSI chip are interconnected by routers and channels has come to be employed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2009-110512 (hereinafter referred to as "PTL3") discloses an example of a network-on-chip. The network-on-chip disclosed in PTL3 includes integrated processor blocks, routers, memory communication controllers and network interface controllers. In the network-on-chip, first, each integrated processor block is coupled with a router through a memory communication controller and a network interface controller. Second, each memory communication controller controls communication between an integrated processor block and memory. Third, each network interface controller controls inter-integrated processor block communication through routers.
When a plurality of communications (transfers of packets) from a plurality of ports to a specific port compete with one another, a router in such a network-on-chip employs, for example, a round-robin scheduling method to arbitrate the plurality of communications.

Semiconductor chip, integrated circuit, and data transfer method


Embodiments described herein provide methods and systems for separating a mixed ethane and CO2. A method described includes generating a liquid stream including ethane and CO2. The liquid stream is flashed to form an ethane vapor stream and solid CO2. The solid CO2 is accumulated in an accumulation vessel and the gas is removed from the top of the accumulation vessel.

Natural gas reservoirs may often contain high levels of acid gases, such as CO2. In these cases, a cryogenic process may provide an efficacious way to separate the acid gases from the methane. The cryogenic process could include a simple bulk fractionation, a Ryan-Holmes process, or a more complex cryogenic fractionation process. The cryogenic processes separate methane from CO2 by condensation and fractionation, and can produce the acid gas in a liquid phase for efficient disposal via pumping. However, in the cryogenic processes heavier hydrocarbons are separated with the CO2 in a single liquid stream. Often, the CO2 will be immediately reinjected for disposal, where the mixture will not cause any problems.
In some locations, a natural gas reservoir contains high levels of CO2. It is advantageous in these cases to use a cryogenic process to separate the CO2 from the methane. The cryogenic process could be simple bulk fractionation, a Ryan-Holmes, or a Controlled Freeze Zone (CFZ™) process. These processes separate methane from CO2 by condensation I fractionation, and can provide the CO2 as a liquid for efficient disposal. However, in these processes all hydrocarbons heavier than methane (C2+ or "ethane plus") are also condensed and separated with the CO2. Normally, the CO2 will be reinjected for disposal, but the hydrocarbons are valuable and it is preferred that they be recovered for sale.
Separation of the heavier hydrocarbons can be performed by fractionation. However, ethane forms an azeotropic mixture with CO2, as discussed with respect to FIG. 1. The azeotropic prevents separation by normal techniques.
FIG. 1 is a temperature—composition phase plot 100 showing the equilibrium concentrations of CO2 in a mixture with ethane at 4,137 kilopascals (kPa, 600 psia). The x-axis 102 indicates the mole fraction of CO2, while the y-axis 104 represents the temperature in degrees Celsius (° C.). The concentration of the CO2 in the vapor phase 106 matches the concentration of the CO2 in the liquid phase 108 at about 70% CO2/30% ethane, as indicated by an arrow 110. This prevents separation-by-fractionation across the azeotrope (left to right, or right to left).
FIG. 2 is a temperature—composition phase plot 200 showing the equilibrium concentrations of CO2 in a mixture with ethane at 689.5 kPa (100 psia). Like numbered items are as described with respect to FIG. 1. As this plot 200 shows, concentration of the CO2 in the vapor phase 106 approaches the concentration of the CO2 in the liquid phase 108 at about 60% CO2/40% ethane, as indicated by an arrow 202. This prevents separation-by-fractionation across the azeotrope (left to right, or right to left). As these plots 100 and 200 indicate, complete separation by fractionation cannot be achieved without some additional separation processes.
Since the vapor and liquid compositions are equal at some point (70% CO2 at 4,137 kPa and 60% CO2 at 689.5 kPa), complete separation by fractionation cannot be achieved without some additional factor. Current practice for CO2 I ethane separation includes various methods. For example, a heavy component (lean oil) can be added, which preferentially absorbs the ethane. This is called "extractive distillation." As another example, two-pressure fractionation can be used to exploit the small difference in the azeotropic composition between different pressures, for example, using two fractionators to fractionate at both 4,137 kPa and 689.5 kPa. This requires very large recycle stream, large fractionation systems, and is very energy intensive. Methods to exploit other physical and chemical properties (not dependent on vapor-liquid equilibria) can be used in conjunction with fractionation to achieve separation. These methods may include the use of amines in a chemical reaction with CO2, gas permeation membranes, or molecular sieves.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,015, to Styring, discloses a method for separating carbon dioxide and ethane based on washing ethane from frozen carbon dioxide. The separation is accomplished by freezing the carbon dioxide in a carbon dioxide and ethane mixture and washing the ethane from the solid carbon dioxide with a liquid hydrocarbon having at least three carbon atoms. The freezing process may be preceded by distillation of a carbon dioxide-ethane mixture to form an azeotropic mixture. A subsequent distillation may be used to separate the wash hydrocarbon from the carbon dioxide. In addition, if desired, the ethane-wash hydrocarbon mixture may be similarly separated in a subsequent distillation stage.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0189443, by McGuire, discloses a method of removing carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide from a high pressure mixture with methane. The high pressure gas is expanded through a flow channel having a convergent section followed by a divergent section with an intervening throat which functions as an aerodynamic expander. The flow channel is operated at temperatures low enough to result in the formation of solid carbon dioxide and solid hydrogen sulfide particles, which increases the efficiency of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide removal.
International Patent Publication No. WO/2008/095258, by Hart, discloses a method for decreasing the concentration on carbon dioxide in a natural gas feed stream containing ethane and C3+ hydrocarbons. The process involves cooling the natural gas feed stream under a first set of conditions to produce a liquid stream of carbon dioxide, ethane and C3+ hydrocarbons and a gas stream having a reduced carbon dioxide concentration. The liquid stream is separated from the gas stream, and C3+ hydrocarbons may be separated from the liquid stream. The gas stream is then cooled under a second set of conditions to produce a sweetened natural gas stream and a second liquid containing liquid carbon dioxide and/or carbon dioxide solids. The sweetened natural gas stream is separated from the second liquid.
International Patent Publication No. WO/2008/084945, by Prast, discloses a method and assembly for removing and solidifying carbon dioxide from a fluid stream. The assembly has a cyclonic fluid separator with a tubular throat portion arranged between a converging fluid inlet section and a diverging fluid outlet section and a swirl creating device. The separation vessel has a tubular section positioned on and in connection with a collecting tank. A fluid stream with carbon dioxide is injected into the separation assembly. A swirling motion is imparted to the fluid stream so as to induce outward movement. The swirling fluid stream is then expanded such that components of carbon dioxide in a meta-stable state within the fluid stream are formed. Subsequently, the outward fluid stream with the components of carbon dioxide is extracted from the cyclonic fluid separator and provided as a mixture to the separation vessel. The mixture is then guided through the tubular section towards the collecting tank, while providing processing conditions such that solid carbon dioxide is formed. Finally, solidified carbon dioxide is extracted.
Each of these methods presents a drawback. For example, using a lean oil contaminates the ethane, and requires large amounts of heat, for regenerating the lean oil. Further, large lean oil circulation rates are needed and the technique does not allow complete ethane recovery. Two-pressure fractionation systems require very large recycle streams and equipment sizes, increasing costs. Techniques that use amines, membranes, and mole sieves all release the CO2 as a vapor at low pressure, increasing the cost of disposal. Finally, the expander separation devices generate the CO2 as a solid. Thus, there is a need for a better method of separating CO2 and ethane.

Separating carbon dioxide and ethane from a mixed stream


A connector unit (30) is configured to be connectable to a mating connector (10). The connector unit (30) includes a plurality of sub-connectors (40, 50, 60) and a frame (32). Each of the sub-connectors (40, 50, 60) includes a connector housing (42, 52, 62) and male terminals (46, 56, 66) held by the connector housing with male terminal portions (47, 57, 67) projecting out from the connector housing. The frame (32) includes a uniting frame portion (34) for holding the plurality of sub-connectors in a united state with the male terminal portions of the plurality of sub-connectors facing in the same direction and a surrounding frame portion (36) for surrounding the male terminal portions of the plurality of sub-connectors.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a technique for collectively connecting a plurality of sub-connectors to another connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H08-106949 discloses a split connector that includes a male frame and a female frame paired with each other and in which male sub-connectors having male terminal fittings mounted therein and female sub-connectors having female terminal fittings mounted therein are accommodated in a plurality of accommodation holes formed in the corresponding frames. The corresponding male and female sub-connectors are fit and connected by displacing the frames in directions toward each other by a connecting member provided between the frames.
The above-described male sub-connector has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape and a fitting recess is formed on the upper surface of the male sub-connector for receiving a fitting protrusion of the mating female sub-connector. Unillustrated cavities are formed in alignment in each male sub-connector, and the male terminal fitting is mounted in each cavity with a tab thereof projecting into the fitting recess.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H08-106949, the fitting recess is formed in each of the male sub-connectors. The fitting recess functions to protect the tabs of the male terminal fittings and guide the fitting protrusion of the female sub-connector.
Further, the assembly of the female sub-connectors, each including the fitting protrusion fittable into the fitting recess, is used as a mating connector. Thus, the mating connector is largely restricted.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable restrictions on a mating connector to be reduced in the case of configuring a connector unit by combining a plurality of sub-connectors including male terminals.

Connector unit, sub-connector with frame and sub-connector with cap


Benzamides are disclosed to be useful for treating and preventing inflammatory bowel disease.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. More specifically, it relates to methods and pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment and prophylaxis of IBD.
2. State of the Art
The term inflammatory bowel disease ("IBD") describes a group of chronic inflammatory disorders of unknown causes involving the gastrointestinal tract ("GI tract"). The prevalence of IBD in the US is estimated to be 200 per 100,000 population (approximately 500,000 people). Patients with IBD can be divided into two major groups, those with ulcerative colitis ("UC") and those with Crohn's disease ("CD").
In patients with UC, there is an inflammatory reaction primarily involving the colonic mucosa. The inflammation is typically uniform and continuous with no intervening areas of normal mucosa. Surface mucosal cells as well as crypt epithelium and submucosa are involved in an inflammatory reaction with neutrophil infiltration. Ultimately this situation typically progresses to epithelial damage with loss of epithelial cells resulting in multiple ulcerations, fibrosis, dysplasia and longitudinal retraction of the colon.
CD differs from UC in that the inflammation extends through all layers of the intestinal wall and involves mesentery as well as lymph nodes. CD may affect any part of the alimentary canal from mouth to anus. The disease is often discontinuous- severely diseased segments of bowel are separated from apparently disease-free areas. In CD the bowel wall thickens which can lead to obstructions. Fistulas and fissures are not uncommon.
Clinically, IBD is characterized by diverse manifestations often resulting in a chronic unpredictable course. Bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain are often accompanied by fever and weight loss. Anemia is not uncommon, as is severe fatigue. Joint manifestations ranging from arthralgia to acute arthritis as well as abnormalities in liver function are commonly associated with IBD. Patients with IBD have an increased risk of colon carcinomas compared to the general population. During acute "attacks" of IBD, work and other normal activity are usually impossible, and often a patient is hospitalized.
Although the cause of IBD remains unknown, several factors such as genetic, infectious and immunologic susceptibility have been implicated. IBD is much more common in Caucasian, especially those of Jewish descent. The chronic inflammatory nature of the condition has prompted an intense search for a possible infectious cause. Although agents have been found which stimulate acute inflammation, none has been found to cause the chronic inflammation associated with IBD. The hypothesis that IBD is an autoimmune disease is supported by the previously mentioned extraintestinal manifestation of IBD as joint arthritis, and the known positive response to IBD by treatment with therapeutic agents such as adrenal glucocorticoids, cyclosporine and azathioprine, which are known to suppress immune response. In addition, the GI tract, more than any other organ of the body, is continuously exposed to potential antigenic substances such as proteins from food, bacterial byproducts (LPS), etc.
Once the diagnosis has been made, typically by endoscopy, the goals of therapy are to induce and maintain a remission. The least toxic agents with which patients are typically treated are the aminosalicylates. Sulfasalazine (Azulfidine), typically administered four times a day, consists of an active molecule of aminosalicylate (5-ASA) which is linked by an azo bond to a sulfapyridine. Anaerobic bacteria in the colon split the azo bond to release active 5-ASA. However, at least 20% of patients cannot tolerate sulfapyridine because it is associated with significant side-effects such as reversible sperm abnormalities, dyspepsia or allergic reactions to the sulpha component. These side effects are reduced in patients taking olsalazine. Neither sulfasalazine nor olsalazine are effective for the treatment of small bowel inflammation. However, other formulations of 5-ASA have been developed which are released in the small intestine (e.g. mesalamine and asacol). Normally it takes 6-8 weeks for 5-ASA therapy to show full efficacy.
Patients who do not respond to 5-ASA therapy, or who have a more severe disease, are prescribed corticosteroids. However, this is a short term therapy and cannot be used as a maintenance therapy. Clinical remission is achieved with corticosteroids within 2-4 weeks, however the side effects are significant and include a Cushing goldface, facial hair, severe mood swings and sleeplessness. The response to sulfasalazine and 5-aminosalicylate preparations is poor in Crohn's disease, fair to mild in early ulcerative colitis and poor in severe ulcerative colitis. If these agents fail, powerful immunosuppressive agents such as cyclosporine, prednisone, 6-mercaptopurine or azathioprine (converted in the liver to 6-mercaptopurine) are tried. For Crohn's disease patients, the use of corticosteroids and other immunosuppressives must be carefully monitored because of the high risk of intra-abdominal sepsis originating in the fistulas and abscesses common in this disease. Approximately 25% of IBD patients will require surgery (colectomy) during the course of the disease.
Oxygen-derived free radicals such as HO.circle-solid., the superoxide anion and other reactive oxygen species such as HOCl, have emerged as a common pathway of tissue injury in a wide variety of diseases whose underlying cause is an inappropriately vigorous and sustained immune response (failure to control or down regulate response to the initial, appropriate stimulus). Examples of other disease, in addition to IBD and arthritis, where this mechanism seems to be the operative cause are ARDS, septic shock, asthma, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, uveitis, etc. Typically both a cytokine-mediated immune response and a nonspecific inflammatory cascade are involved in the primary inappropriate response with both responses mediated through active oxygen species (oxidative stress). The inappropriate secondary response, also mediated through oxidative stress) may involve tissue damaging oxidation by neutrophils and tissue macrophages.
Various approaches have been taken to suppress this inappropriate inflammatory response. The efficacy of small molecule inhibitors of the various leukotriene, PAF and cyclooxygenase pathways have shown only limited efficacy, perhaps because blocking only one of many pathways does not provide a sufficiently large decrease in overall oxidative stress. The other approach has been the use of antibodies or cloned receptor molecules which target specific proteins in the inflammatory cascade such as IL-1, IL-6 or TNF-.alpha.. However, this approach is practical only for acute conditions like septic shock or ARDS where IV administration and antibody formation against the therapeutic protein is less of a concern. For a chronic condition like IBD, an orally active small molecule that is fully active when dosed once-a-day seems to be the ideal candidate.
Another approach to mitigating the oxidative stress resulting from an inflammatory response is to employ nitrone related therapeutics (NRTs). The prototype NRT is .alpha.-phenyl-t-butyl nitrone (PBN) shown below. ##STR1##
NRTs represent a new category of therapeutics with the inherent capacity to overcome the shortcomings of other previously studied compounds. PBN is relieved to trap a free radical (R.circle-solid.) by adding R as shown below with formation of the following more unreactive nitroxyl free radical. ##STR2##
Nitrones were first used as analytical tools capable of reacting with highly reactive radicals to yield free radical adducts that are much less reactive. In many cases, the free radical/NRT adduct complex is stable enough to allow in vivo isolation and quantitation using electron spin resonance (ESR). The concept of using nitrones as therapeutics in neurodegenerative diseases resulted from the observations that NRTs such as PBN trap reactive oxygen species and/or secondary free radicals following ischemia. This may occur by converting highly reactive, toxic radicals into much less reactive, much less toxic products. Certain NRTs have been shown to protect experimental animals from ischemia/reperfusion injury (stroke). NRTs, administered chronically, reverse the age-associated increase in oxidatively damaged protein and the age-associated decrease in the activity of the oxidative-sensitive enzyme, glutamine synthetase, in the brain.
Accompanying the NRT-mediated changes in oxidized protein and glutamine synthetase activity is a significant improvement in the performance of animals in behavioral tests measuring short-term spatial memory. It has been shown that prototype NRTs mitigate the effects of this inflammatory cascade in a number of in vivo models. Of particular interest is the consistent and well documented protection shown by PBN against the lethality induced by LPS in various rodent models of septic shock. Remarkably, PBN has also been shown to increase the life span of senescence accelerated mice by one third, perhaps by mitigating free radical damage. PBN has also been shown to block inducible nitric oxide synthetase ("iNOS"), the enzyme responsible for producing large amounts of the highly damaging NO.circle-solid.. Thus, PBN can both trap HO.circle-solid. and suppress formation of NO.circle-solid., potentially neutralizing the effects of the two agents considered to be the most damaging to tissue.
When evaluating the prospects of using an antioxidant to successfully treat IBD, it is perhaps also useful to consider that the anti-oxidant defense of the human colon is relatively deficient compared to human liver (mucosal levels of SOD, catalase and GSH representing 8%, 4% and 40%, respectively of liver levels), thus leaving the colon particularly sensitive to oxidative stress.
A considerable number of chemical modifications have been made to increase NRTs suitability as therapeutic agents. The effects of intrinsic chemical reactivity and radical trapping ability have been examined by substituting the phenyl ring with electron donating or electron withdrawing substituents. More water soluble analogues were made by, for example, carboxylate or sodium sulfonate substitution of the phenyl ring. Lipophilic analogues were made with functional group substitutions on either the phenyl ring or the nitronyl nitrogen. The alkyl nitrogen substituent was varied through the standard straight chain and branched C.sub.3 -C.sub.5 substituents. Nitrone isosteres and related compounds were also targeted and examined for efficacy. This approach lead to various classes of compounds, such as substituted ureas, amides, thioamides, azoxy derivatives, sulphones, and hydroxamic acids.
In addition, some benzamide compounds substantially similar to these nitrones have recently been shown to have activity in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, HIV dementia, and related conditions.
As a final aspect of background, in evaluating the effectiveness of compounds in the treatment of IBD, an in vivo model based upon trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid ("TNBS") is used.
References relating to these subjects include:
Glickman, R M (1994) Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (McGraw Hill, New York, N.Y.) Chapter 255: 1403-1416. PA1 Calkins, B M, Mendeloff, Al (1986) Epidemiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Epidemiology Review 8: 60-90. PA1 Levin, B. (1992) Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Colon Cancer, Cancer (Supplement), 70: 1313-1316. PA1 Crotty, B. (1994) Ulcerative Colitis and Xenobiotic Metabolism, Lancet, 343: 35-38. PA1 Hanauer, S B, Baert, F. (1994) Medical Therapy of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Med Clin North Am, 78: 1413-1426. PA1 MacDermott, RP (1994) Alterations in the Mucosal System in Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, Med Clin North Am, 78: 1207-1231. PA1 Hanauer, B. (1993) Medical Therapy of Ulcerative Colitis, Lancet, 342: 412-417. PA1 Winrow, V R, Winyard, P G, Morris, C J, Blake, D R (1993) Free radicals in Inflammation: Second Messengers and Mediators of Tissue Destruction, Br Med Bull 49: 506-522. PA1 Floyd, R A and Carney, J., Nitrone Radical Traps (NRTs) Protect in Experimental Neurodegenerative Diseases, in Neuroprotective Approaches to the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Disorders (Olanow, C W, Jenner, P and Youssim E, Eds.) Academic Press, New York, N.Y., in press. PA1 Cao, X. and Phillis, J W (1994) a-Phenyl-N-tert-butyl-nitrone Reduces Cortical Infarct and Edema in Rats Subjected to Focal Ischemia. Brain Res. 644: 267-272. PA1 Zhao, Q., Pahlmark, K., Smith, M.-J., and Siesjo, B. (1994) Delayed Treatment with the Spin Trap a-phenyl-n-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN) Reduces Infarct Size Following Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Rats. Acta Physiol. Scad. 152: 349-350. PA1 Oliver, C N, Starke-Reed, P E, Stadtman, E R, Carney, J M and Floyd, R A (1990) Oxidative Damage to Brain Proteins, Los of Glutamine Synthetase Activity and Production of Free Radicals During Ischemia Induced Injury to Gerbil Brain. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87: 5144-5147. PA1 Carney, J M, Starke-Reed, P E Oliver, C N, Landrum, R W, Cheng, M S, Wu, J F and Floyd, R A (1991) Reversal or age-related increase in brain protein oxidation in enzyme activity, and loss in temporal and spatial memory by chronic administration of the spin-trapping compound N-tert-butyl-.alpha.-phenylnitrone. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 88: 3633-3636. PA1 Novelli, G P (1992) Oxygen Radicals in Experimental Shock: Effects of Spin-Trapping Nitrones in Ameliorating Shock Pathophysiology, Critical Care Medicine, 20: 499-507. PA1 Hamburger, S A, McCay, P B (1989) Endotoxin-Induced Mortality in Rats is Reduced by Nitrones, Circulatory Shock, 29: 329-334. PA1 Progrebniak, H W, Merino, M J, Hahn, S M, Mitchell, J B, Pass, H I (1992) Spin Trap Salvage from Endotoxemia: The Role of Cytokine Down-Regulation, Surgery, 112: 130-139. PA1 McKechnie, K., Furman, B L, Paratt J R (1986), Modification by Oxygen Free Radical Scavengers of the Metabolic and Cardiovascular Effects of Endotoxin Infusion in Conscious Rats, Circulatory Shock 19: 429-439. PA1 Edamatsu, R, Mori, A., Packer, L (1995) The Spin Trap N-tert-.alpha.-phenyl-butylnitrone Prolongs the Life Span of the Senescence Accelerated Mouse, Biochem Biophys Res Comm 211: 847-849. PA1 Miyajima, T., Kotake, Y. (1995) Spin Trapping Agent, Phenyl N-Tert_Butyl Nitrone, Inhibits Induction of Nitric Oxide Synthase in Endotoxin-Induced Shock in Mice, Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 215: 114-121. PA1 Boettner, G R (1987) ESR Parameters of Spin Adducts, Free Radical Biology, 3: 259-303. PA1 Harris, M L, Schiller, H J, Reilly, P M, Donowitz, M, Grisham, M B, Bulkley (1992), Free Radicals and Other Reactive Oxygen Metabolites in Imflammatory Bowel Disease: Cause, Consequence or Epiphenomenom, Pharmacol. Ther., 53: 375-408. PA1 Grisham M B, MacDermott, R P, Deitch E A (1990), Oxidant Defence Mechanisms in the Human Colon, Inflammation, 14: 669-680. PA1 Elson, C O, Startor, R B, Tennyson, G S, Ridell, R H (1995), Experimental Models of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Gastroenterology, 109: 1344-1367. PA1 Yamada, T, Marshall, S, Specian, R D, Grisham, M B (1992) A Comparative Analysis of Two Models of Colitis in Rats, Gastroenterology, 102: 1524-1534. PA1 Wallace, J A, MacNaughton, W K, Morris, G P, Beck P L (1989) Inhibition of Leulotriene Synthesis Markedly Accelerates Healing in a Rat Model of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Gastroenterology, 95: 29-35. PA1 Higa, A. McKnight, G W, Wallace, J L (1993) Attenuation of Epithelial Injury in Acute Experimental Colitis by Immunomodulators, Eur. J. Pharmacol. 239: 171-178. PA1 Castro, G A, Roy, S A, Stockstill, R D (1974) Trichinella Spiralis: Peroxidase Activity in Isolated Cells from the Rat Intestine, Exp. Parasitol., 36: 307-315.

Benzamide therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease


In embodiments of the present invention, the electric field of a focused laser beam induces a dipole in a single-walled carbon nanotube. The single-walled carbon nanotube has one or more resonant frequencies. When the frequency of the laser beam is less than a resonance frequency of the single-walled carbon nanotube, the single-walled carbon nanotube may be trapped and the laser beam may move the single-walled carbon nanotube from a first microfluidic laminar flow to a second microfluidic laminar flow. When the frequency of the laser beam is higher than a resonant frequency of the single-walled carbon nanotube, the single-walled carbon nanotube may be repelled and the laser beam may not move the single-walled carbon nanotube.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to single-walled carbon nanotubes and, in particular, to sorting single-walled carbon nanotubes.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Carbon nanotubes have evoked considerable interest since their discovery in the early 1990s. Potential uses include everything from transistors, digital memory, and miniature electron emitters for displays, to hydrogen gas storage devices for the next generation of environmentally friendly automobiles.
Typically, a batch of single-walled carbon nanotubes available to potential users has a mixture of different types of single-walled carbon nanotubes. For example, in a batch of single-walled carbon nanotubes there may be metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes and semiconductor single-walled carbon nanotubes. Within the semiconductor single-walled carbon nanotubes there may be single-walled carbon nanotubes of different lengths, diameters, and/or chiralities. Each type of single-walled carbon nanotube has different properties (e.g., electrical, chemical, optical, mechanical) that are particularly suitable for different applications. Because they usually come as a mixture not being able to separate the different single-walled carbon nanotubes can be troublesome when attempting to utilize a particular type of single-walled carbon nanotube for a specific application.

Sorting of single-walled carbon nanotubes using optical dipole traps


A tamper proof control system includes a housing, and a cap. The housing includes a housing body defining an interior volume to accommodate an electronic process control device and further includes a first end having a housing threaded portion. The cap includes a cap body that defines an interior volume and further includes a proximal end, a cap threaded portion, an exterior surface, and at least one groove formed on the exterior surface. The proximal end of the cap body defines a coupling portion. Upon threadably securing the cap to the housing, the coupling portion of the cap engages the housing threaded portion to restrict relative rotation between the housing and the cap.

Process control devices are typically used to control, measure, and/or perform other functions within a process such as opening or closing valves and measuring process parameters. For example, some process control devices may control the pressure of control fluid used to position a pneumatically-controlled device, such as a regulator. For example, an electro-pneumatic controller can be used to control a field device associated with the controller, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches, transmitters, and sensors (e.g., temperature, pressure, and flow rate sensors). In some forms, these controllers may control the pressure of control fluid into a pneumatic actuator of a process control valve or regulator to position the process control valve or regulator. For example, a valve may open or close in response to a control output received from a controller, or may transmit to a controller a measurement of a process parameter so that the controller can utilize the measurement as a control input. In some cases, the controllers may be used in hazardous environments that are susceptible to damage. Further, the controllers and regulators may use fluids that are flammable or explosive in nature. In such cases, components that may potentially ignite are contained within explosion proof enclosure in order to contain a spark and/or fire therein, thus protecting the installed, potentially flammable environment as well as other control instruments to ensure proper operation.
These enclosures must be properly closed or secured to ensure a proper seal is obtained. Further, such enclosures are not typically intended to allow access to the components contained therein once the enclosure is properly sealed. Some explosion resistant enclosures may be designed according to varying standards that provide a certification that a flame will not propagate to a region outside of the enclosure. Examples of standards include a minimum treacherous path distance and a minimum quantity of engaged threads when the enclosure is secured using fasteners such as bolts and/or screws. In these arrangements, a secondary securing component such as a set screw or other arrangement may be used to prevent the bolt from loosening. However, these secondary securing components may reduce the number of engaged threads in the fastener, which could result in the arrangement no longer adhering to required standards. Additionally, some existing arrangements may resemble other fasteners that are used in process control environments, and as such, operators may inadvertently attempt to gain access to components within the explosion resistant enclosure, and as a result, may adversely impact the ability of the enclosure to contain the spark and/or fire.

Tamper proof approaches for securing an enclosure


The present invention provides a method of enabling a first user to obtain, using a business card of a second user, authority to transmit electronic mail to the second user, the business card including coded data indicative of the identity of the business card and of at least one reference point of the business card, the method including the steps of: receiving, in a computer system, indicating data from a sensing device regarding the identity of the business card and a position of the sensing device relative to the business card, the sensing device, when placed in an operative position relative to the business card, sensing the indicating data using at least some of the coded data; identifying, in the computer system and from the indicating data a request to authorise the transmission of electronic mail from the first to the second user; and recording, in the computer system, an authority allowing the first user to transmit electronic mail to the second user.

The netpage system is intended to provide a paper-based user interface to published information and interactive services.
On occasion, users will want to provide information about themselves to others. A generally accepted approach to providing information to others, particularly in business, is by way of a business card. It is considered particularly useful if the business card includes the electronic mail address of the user. In some instances, users prefer to select the users from which they will receive electronic mail thereby limiting the amount of electronic mail they might otherwise receive.
Business cards are usually relatively small for convenient handling. However, their size is generally restrictive with respect to providing information about the owner of the business card to others.

Business card as electronic mail authorization token


An electro-mechanical device for accurately retarding or advancing the timing or rotational phase relationship of machine components, such as a pair of shafts, either while the components are in motion or stationary. The device embodies a motor controlled cycloidal gear reducer operable to generate a rotational differential or relative movement between a pair of rotatable gears. Each shaft is coupled to one of the gears for movement therewith. The stator of the motor rotates with one of the gears and the rotor thereof, when energized, rotates relative to the stator and drives a generator for effecting differential rotation of the two gears and thus the two machine components.

Numerous types of production, packaging and printing machinery require accurate synchronization of rotating elements to insure optimum machine performance. Such timing relationships are often accomplished by start and stop, trial and error adjustments. However, this is time consuming and usually produces inexact results A preferred procedure is to make such timing adjustments while the machinery is running and there are various mechanisms available to provide mechanical, while-running rotary position control. Typically, such mechanisms constitute phase controlling transmissions or gear boxes which are capable of adjusting the phase angle relationship of rotatable elements such as input and output shafts. Generally, such transmissions have taken the form of a differential gear train employing a cage moveable about the input and output shafts and coupled to the latter by intervening bevel and pinion gears. Rotatable shifting of the cage serves to rotatably shift the gears to adjust the phase or angular relationship of input and output shafts coupled thereto. Typifying transmissions of this order is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,104 issued Feb. 16, 1971, to Schuster.
Such prior known devices are characterized by a serious drawbacks. Inasmuch as the differential bevel and pinion gear train employed are in constant rotation in order to transmit power between input and output shafts, speed of adjustment and operation are seriously limited accompanied by excessive heat, wear, noise, power loss and limited life span. In addition, the phase controlling transmissions typified by the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,104, for example, are cumbersome structures embodying heavy gear trains.
A more recent development, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,658 issued May 23, 1981 to the assignee hereof, overcomes many of the difficulties of the previously known phase controlling transmissions or gear boxes by eliminating the heavy pinion and bevel gears through the use of unique helical spline connections between input and output shafts that provide a smooth, quiet, cool running, positive acting and long life mechanism in which either shaft may be used as the input shaft and in which the input and output shafts rotate in the same direction at a one to one ratio and are capable of phase adjustment while running or at rest.
Both of the above referred to developments of the prior art, while successful for their intents and purposes, are nevertheless characterized by certain inherent inaccuracies in adjustment due to the presence of back lash in the gear trains involved in their structure, although the helical spline gear train of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,658 is less susceptible to that criticism and defect. Nevertheless it has been a long felt desire of the makers and users of such phase adjusting devices to provide a mechanical, while-running or stationary rotary position control, capable of high torque transmission with essentially zero back lash.

Zero back lash phase adjusting mechanism


Failover processing of a service in a cluster of nodes is disclosed. A node brings up a failover instance of a service in response to an indication of a failure in an initial instance of the service. The failover service executes in the background so as not to be visible to users and thus does not receive user requests. The background service is terminated in response to the failure indication being a false positive. The background service is executed in the foreground in response to detecting that the initial instance of the service has failed and processes user requests.

Modern high availability cluster servers rely on built-in locking mechanisms that are typically present in distributed systems such as cluster file systems, distributed file systems, network file systems, and so on. The locking mechanism is typically lease based, so as to deal with possible server crashes. When a service is running or executing on a server (node), the service holds an exclusive lock on resources (e.g., data files) used by that service. For example, an SQL service running or executing on a Microsoft Windows® server may hold locks on one or more SQL database files. A virtual machine (VM) running on a VMware ESXi® server (host machine) may hold a lock on a VM virtual disk file, and so on. To keep this exclusive lock on the resources, the operating system (OS) kernel on the server sends regular heartbeats to the storage (file) server that contains the resources.
If an instance of a service running or executing on a node in the cluster, or the node itself, dies or otherwise fails, the lock should expire after some time. The storage server allows another node in the cluster to break the lock after the current lock holder fails to renew the lock. The storage server typically provides a grace period, allowing for the possibility that the service has not in fact failed but rather has experienced a delay that it can recover from. Accordingly, the storage server may allow for several missed heartbeats before releasing the lock. Failover to another instance of the service (e.g., on a failover node) can only be initiated after this grace period has passed, since the failover node will not be able to acquire a lock on the resources for the failover service prior to that time.
The grace period differs among systems. In some systems, for instance, the grace period is 35-45 seconds in duration; e.g., three heartbeats with ten seconds between heartbeats and a graceful wait time of about 15 seconds after that for good measure. In other systems, the time is about 15-20 second, at three heartbeats with five seconds between beats and a graceful wait time, and so on. While this delay can seem to be a short amount of time, a 45-second delay can be unacceptable in a high-availability system when access times are typically measured in tens to hundreds of milliseconds.
As slow as the delay may be, the delay is nonetheless important in order to reduce the likelihood of a false positive indication of a failure. For example, the cluster can include a cluster server that monitors each of the services and/or nodes in the cluster to determine whether a service is alive (up and running) or not. If the cluster server determines that the initial instance of a service is no longer alive (indication of a failure) then it can initiate failover processing to bring up failover instance of the service. If the indication is a false positive (false alarm) because the initial instance of the service is actually alive, the service will still have a lock on its resources which will prevent those resources from being opened and modified by the failover service, thus maintaining data consistency of the resources.
On the other hand, if the initial instance of the service is in fact no longer alive, then the failover service will incur a delay equal to the grace period before the storage system will release the lock and grant a lease to the failover service. The delay is further increased due to the startup time of the failover service before it can start servicing requests from the user.

Opportunistic failover in a high availability cluster


Methods of treating a gas field fluid or oil field fluid is provided, the method comprising: a) adding glutaraldehyde to the gas field fluid or oil field fluid in an amount effective to reduce or inhibit microbial activity; and b) after a delay, adding 3,5-dimethyl-1,3,5-thiadiazinane-2-thione to the gas field fluid or oil field fluid.

In the oil and gas industry, the development and operation of the oil field and gas field go through several distinct phases, all of which can be affected by unwanted microbial growth or activity. Microbial contamination may occur during drilling of the well, preparing the well for production, i.e. stimulation, and production itself.
It is desirable for the efficiency and success of any oil or natural gas production operation to protect water-based fluids from microbial contamination. After a well is drilled into a subterranean geological formation that contains oil, natural gas, and water, every effort is made to maximize the production of the oil and/or gas. To increase the permeability and flow of the oil and/or gas to the surface, the drilled wells are often subjected to well stimulation. Well stimulation generally refers to several post drilling processes used to clean the wellbore, enlarge channels, and increase pore space in the interval to be injected thus making it possible for fluids to move more readily into and out of the formation. In addition, typical reservoir enhancement processes such as waterflood and/or chemical-flood need to utilize biocide as part of the waterflood and/or chemical-flood package.
A typical well or field treatment process generally includes pumping specially engineered fluids at high pressure and rate into the subterranean geological formation. The high-pressure fluid (usually water with some specialty high viscosity fluid additives) exceeds the rock strength and opens a fracture in the formation, which can extend out into the geological formation for as much as several hundred feet. Certain commonly used fracturing treatments generally comprise a carrier fluid (usually water or brine) and a polymer, which is also commonly referred to as a friction reducer. Many well stimulation fluids will further comprise a proppant. Other compositions used as fracturing fluids include water with additives, viscoelastic surfactant gels, gelled oils, crosslinkers, oxygen scavengers, and the like.
The well treatment fluid can be prepared by blending the polymer with a fluid, such as an aqueous solution. The purpose of the polymer is generally to increase the viscosity of the fracturing fluid that aids in the creation of a fracture; and to thicken the aqueous solution so that solid particles of proppant can be suspended in the solution for delivery into the fracture.
The polymers used in well treatment fluids are subjected to an environment conducive to bacterial growth and oxidative degradation. The growth of the bacteria on polymers used in such fluids can materially alter the physical characteristics of the fluids. For example, microbial activity can degrade the polymer, leading to loss of viscosity and subsequent ineffectiveness of the fluids. Fluids that are especially susceptible to microbial degradation are those that contain polysaccharide and/or synthetic polymers such as polyacrylamides, polyglycosans, carboxyalkyl ethers, and the like. In addition to microbial degradation, these polymers are susceptible to oxidative degradation in the presence of free oxygen. The degradation can be directly caused by free oxygen or mediated by microorganisms. Thus, for example, polyacrylamides are known to degrade to smaller molecular fragments in the presence of free oxygen. Because of this, biocides and oxygen scavengers are frequently added to the well treatment fluid to control microbial growth or activity and oxygen degradation, respectively. Desirably, the biocide is selected to have minimal or no interaction with any of the components in the well stimulation fluid. For example, the biocide should not affect fluid viscosity to any significant extent and should not affect the performance of oxygen scavengers contained within the fluid. The oxygen scavengers are generally derived from bisulfate salts.
Other desirable properties for the biocide may include: (a) cost effectiveness, e.g., cost per liter, cost per cubic meter treated, and cost per year; (b) safety, e.g., personnel risk assessment (for instance, toxic gases or physical contact), neutralization requirements, registration, discharge to environment, and persistence; (c) compatibility with system fluids, e.g., solubility, partition coefficient, pH, presence of hydrogen sulfide in reservoir or formation, temperature, hardness, presence of metal ions or sulfates, level of total dissolved solids; (d) compatibility with other treatment chemicals, e.g., corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, demulsifiers, water clarifiers, well stimulation chemicals, and polymers; and (e) handling, e.g., corrosiveness to metals and elastomers, freeze point, thermal stability, and separation of components.
Commercially available biocides that are used to control the growth or activity of microorganisms in gas field and oil field applications include e.g. 3,5-dimethyl-1,3,5-thiadiazinane-2-thione, also named tetrahydro-3,5-dimethyl-2H-1,3,5-thiadiazine-2-thione (also commonly referred to as Dazomet or Thione), formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde and tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulfate (THPS).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,906,463 and 7,786,054 (incorporated by reference in their entirety) disclose the use of 3,5-dimethyl-1,3,5-thiadiazinane-2-thione in gas or oil field stimulation fluids.
International Publication No. WO 2009/015089 (incorporated by reference in its entirety) discloses a biocidal mixture of glutaraldehyde and hydroxymethyl-substituted phosphorus compounds.


A method by a terminal, a method by a base station, a terminal, and a base station are provided. The method by the terminal includes receiving system information including first time division duplex (TDD) configuration information; receiving control information via a higher layer signaling; monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a first subframe identified based on the control information; and identifying second TDD configuration information based on the monitoring result. The method by the base station includes transmitting system information including first time division duplex (TDD) configuration information; transmitting control information via a higher layer signaling; transmitting downlink control information on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a first subframe identified based on the control information, wherein the downlink control information is used to identify second TDD configuration information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a data channel transmission method and apparatus for a wireless communication system operating in a dynamic Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a technique for transmitting data using multiple carriers, i.e. a multi-carrier transmission scheme, which converts a serial symbol stream to parallel symbol sets that are transmitted on the orthogonal multiple carriers.
The OFDM technique began in the late 1950's with the Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) for military communication purposes, and OFDM using orthogonal overlapping multiple subcarriers was later developed but initially was not widely used due to the difficulty of implementing orthogonal modulations between multiple carriers. However, with the introduction in 1971 of the use of a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) for implementation of the generation and reception of OFDM signals, by Weinstein, the OFDM technology has rapidly developed. Additionally, the introduction of a guard interval at the start of each symbol and use of cyclic prefix (CP) overcomes the negative effects caused by multipath signals and delay spread.
Due to these technical advances, the OFDM technology is now applied in various digital communications fields such as Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), and Wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode (WATM), based on the introduction of various digital signal processing technologies such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT).
OFDM is similar to FDM but is much more spectrally efficient for achieving high-speed data transmission by orthogonally overlapping multiple subcarriers. Due to the spectral efficiency and robustness to the multipath fading, OFDM has been considered as a prominent solution for improved broadband data communication systems. Other advantages of OFDM are to control the Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) using the guard interval and reduce the equalizer complexity in view of hardware as well as spectral efficiency and robustness to the frequency selective fading and multipath fading. OFDM is also robust to noise impulses and thus may be employed in various communication systems.
In OFDM, modulation signals are located in two-dimensional time-frequency resources, which are divided into different OFDM symbols and are orthogonal with each other. Resources on the frequency domain are divided into different tones, and are also orthogonal with each other. That is, the OFDM scheme defines one minimum unit resource by designating a particular OFDM symbol on the time domain and a particular tone on the frequency domain, and the unit resource is called a Resource Element (RE). Since different REs are orthogonal with each other, signals transmitted on different REs can be received without causing interference to each other.
A physical channel is defined on the physical layer for transmitting modulation symbols obtained by modulating one or more coded bit sequences. In an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system, a plurality of physical channels can be transmitted depending on the usage of the information sequence or receiver. The transmitter and receiver negotiate the RE on which a physical channel is transmitted, which is a process called mapping.
High-speed, high-quality wireless data services are generally hindered by the channel environment, which suffers from frequent changes due to additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and power variation of received signals, caused by such instances as a fading phenomenon, shadowing, a Doppler effect from terminal movement and a frequent change in terminal velocity, and interference by other users or multipath signals. Therefore, in order to support high-speed, high-quality wireless data services, there is a need to efficiently overcome the above channel quality degradation factors.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Dynamic TDD data channel transmission method and apparatus for wireless communication system


A device and system for metering the flow of gas into a gas driven reloading system of a firearm, the device is a gas plate that includes a plurality of openings of differing radii, a plurality of positioning notches formed on an edge of the gas plate, and a series of teeth formed on a surface of the gas plate, where the series of teeth are formed with a pitch configured to correspond with threads of a worm drive, and where at least a partial rotation of the worm drive slidingly positions the gas plate with respect to the adjustable gas regulator. The system includes the device and the adjustable gas regulator having a body configured to receive the device and the worm drive.

Many semi-automatic and automatic rifles utilize a gas-driven reloading system. These systems are often tuned by the rifle manufacturer for optimal performance of the firearm. However, the addition of an accessory (e.g., a suppressor) or the wear of components due to usage alters the firing characteristics of the firearm.
To compensate for such changes, adjustable gas regulators were introduced that allow for the metering (i.e., increasing or decreasing) of the gas flow. The majority of adjustable gas regulators use a screw or piston of some type to partially obstruct a round gas hole in the gas block and gas tube of the firearm/rifle, such as an AR-15. The flaw in this design is that as the screw is turned in and begins to obstruct the gas flow, it has little effect and that effect gets more progressive as the screw approaches the apex/center of the gas hole, and then progressively less as the screw advances into the back side of the hole. This causes inconsistent gas metering as one turn or one click has different effect from the previous adjustment and is unpredictable. Additionally, the gasses on some designs cause the screw to work its way out, and the tip of the screw may be eroded by the flow of hot gasses during operation, or, fouling of the threads of the screw with carbon from the burning gasses and gun powder residue.


The apparatus includes an array of azimuthal current electrodes (Aaz.sub.i) that are circumferentially spaced apart from one another on a body together with two annular guard electrodes (A2) disposed on opposite sides of the array of azimuthal current electrodes (Aaz.sub.i). Measurement currents (Iaz.sub.i) are emitted by the current electrodes (Aaz.sub.i) and focusing currents are emitted by the guard electrodes (A2). Azimuthal monitor electrodes (Maz.sub.i) are associated with respective ones of the azimuthal current electrodes (Aaz.sub.i). Two annular monitor electrodes (M3, M4) are disposed on opposite sides of the array of azimuthal current electrodes (Aaz.sub.i). For focusing purposes, a servo-control system controls the emission of the currents so as to substantially cancel the potential difference detected between the short circuited monitor electrodes (M3, M4) and each of the azimuthal monitor electrodes (Maz.sub.i). In response to the measurement currents (Iaz.sub.i), output signals (Raz.sub.i) are generated representative of the resistivity of the formations in a plurality of directions around the axis of the borehole. A high resolution output signal (Rhr) is also generated as a function of the sum of the measurement currents (Iaz.sub.i).

The invention relates to well logging for evaluating the resistivity of earth formations through which a borehole passes, and more particularly to an electrical logging method and apparatus using electrodes.
A well logging device with electrodes that has been commercially available for many years and that is known under the name "Dual Laterolog" is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,589 (Scholberg). That device comprises an array of annular electrodes used for sending electrical measurement currents into the formations for the purpose of measuring their resistivity. The measurement currents are focused in an annular zone having the form of a disk perpendicular to the borehole axis by means of auxiliary currents emitted by guard electrodes. That device includes measuring deep resistivity of the earth formations (LLd mode) and measuring shallower resistivity of the earth formations (LLs mode) by emitting currents at different frequencies, typically 35 Hz and 280 Hz.
A drawback of that device is that its longitudinal resolution (i.e. in the longitudinal direction of the borehole) is poor, being about one meter. In addition, in some cases and in particular in boreholes that are deviated or horizontal, the annular zone scanned by the device around the borehole comprises different layers of earth formation and gives an average measurement that has little meaning. It is therefore desirable to obtain resistivity measurements in a plurality of azimuthal directions around the borehole.
Logging apparatuses are known that detect the resistivity of formations in a plurality of azimuthal directions around the axis of the borehole. Those devices seek to obtain information about fractures or about the dip of formations. For example, British patent 928 583 (British Petroleum Company Limited) describes an array of azimuthal measurement electrodes distributed circumferentially around the periphery of a logging sonde. A guard electrode which surrounds the measurement electrodes enables an auxiliary current to be emitted for focusing the currents emitted by each of the measurement electrodes.
In such a sonde, measurement current focusing is passive, and this focusing is obtained by emitting the various currents via electrodes that are short-circuited together. Unfortunately, focusing must be particularly effective since the measurement electrodes are disposed on the body of the sonde and thus may be spaced-apart long distances, up to about 10 cm, from the wall of the borehole, such spacing distances being possibly different in different directions when the sonde is not centered in the borehole. A defect of this passive focusing technique is the often inadequate quality of its focusing.
French patent FR 2 611 920 (CNRS) describes a logging sonde in which correction means are proposed acting on the potential of the current electrodes in order to improve focusing. The sonde includes monitor electrodes disposed at a certain distance ahead of the current electrodes and circuits that are responsive to the potentials detected by said monitor electrodes to control the measurement currents. It is difficult and complicated to make such a sonde, which requires concentric rings of electrodes.

Method and apparatus for evaluating formation resistivity using focused annular and azimuthal electrodes


Apparatus usable in the electrolytic treatment of electroactive species in a solution include a porous electrode which is supported across a fluid flow path in such a manner that fluid flowing along the flow path must pass through an effective portion of the electrode.

There are, at present, a variety of so-called "electrochemical" apparatus and processes in which an input of electrical power is employed in order to bring about activity at a working electrode. These electrochemical processes and apparatus are generally employed to treat solutions, such as waste water and plant effluents, in order to reduce the concentration of metal contaminants to levels which are acceptable, particularly in view of the present stringent environmental regulations, and to recover these metal contaminants.
There are two general categories of such electrochemical processes depending on their most significant limiting factor. The first group includes processes whose reaction rates are kinetically controlled, i.e., the reaction rates are limited by the speed of the reactions at a working electrode. In these processes, the solution or electrolyte being treated contains high concentrations of electro-active species. An example of one such process is the electro-refining of zinc, where there is inherently a high concentration of zinc in the electrolyte.
The second group of electrochemical processes includes those in which the reaction rates are controlled by mass transfer considerations, rather than by kinetic requirements, i.e., the reaction rates are limited by how much of the contaminants can be brought into contact with a working electrode in a given time. In contrast to the electrodes used in kinetically controlled processes, the working electrodes used in these mass transfer controlled processes must exhibit characteristics which enhance the obtainable mass transfer rates. One such characteristic is a large surface area to volume ratio. Attempts have been made to achieve acceptable surface area to volume ratios by utilizing packed beds of fibrous or granular material (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,563,903; 3,450,622; 3,457,152; and 3,827,964), as well as active beds which can move in a flow of electrolyte. These attempts have suffered, however, from distinct disadvantages based primarily on the difficulty of providing a uniform and controlled electrical potential throughout the electrode to make full use of the surface area. The use of granular or fibrous beds is also disadvantageous because the electrolyte can channel around the granules or fibers, thereby bypassing the effective portion of the electrode and, consequently, deleteriously affecting the effectiveness of the electrode. Thus, two general disadvantages of the prior art mass transfer controlled processes are low current efficiency and low conversion completeness. As a result of these major drawbacks, none of the prior art mass transfer controlled processes has achieved significant acceptance.
In both the kinetically controlled processes and the mass transfer controlled processes, one of the prime considerations is the method of recovering the electroactive material removed from the electrolyte and deposited on a working electrode. It is generally necessary to conduct a stripping operation to remove the deposited material from the working electrode prior to the subsequent use thereof. The working electrodes used in these processes are sometimes made from the same material that is to be stripped therefrom, so that the resulting product can be used directly. More commonly, however, these electrodes are designed for mechanical stripping. In addition, in other cases, the electrode must meet other requirements, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,312, where the prime consideration is that the electrode be combustible so that silver deposited on the electrode can be recovered by melting during combustion.
More recently electrodes and reactors have been developed which employ carbon fibers in a manner so as to both provide a large surface area to volume ratio and at the same time limit fluctuations in the electrical potential throughout the electrode. Such electrodes and reactors are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,046,663; 4,046,664; 4,108,754; 4,108,755; and 4,108,757. These electrodes and reactors suffer, however, from the same channeling and bypass problems which plaque the granular or fibrous bed electrodes described above.
Carbon fiber electrodes and reactors therefor have also been proposed, at least on a laboratory scale, by D. Yaniv and M. Ariel in an article appearing in the Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Volume 79 (1977), pages 159 to 167. The structure disclosed in this article includes an electrode of graphite cloth positioned in a frame defining an opening having an area of 2.4 cm.sup.2. The article states that the results obtained confirm the feasibility of exploiting graphite cloth as a practical electrode material suited for flow-through configurations. However, the article goes on to indicate that, although the laboratory reactor worked well, it would be necessary to undertake further work to optimize a reactor using a graphite cloth electrode.
A more recent approach to an electrode for use in mass transfer controlled environments, such as in connection with dilute electrolyte solutions, is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 67267/76 which was published on June 10, 1976 and assigned to Mitsui Petrochemical Industries Ltd. This patent discloses the use of a porous carbon electrode in connection with an electrode base material which the patent discloses can be any one of a number of well-known electrode materials, such as platinum, iron, copper, nickel, silver, lead and certain alloys thereof. The patent also discloses the use of carbon fibers in various forms, such as cloths, fabrics, felts and carbon fiber papers, to cover a base material in the form of a plate, tube, mesh or plate with holes therein. Furthermore, in Example 1 of this patent, the cathode employed comprises a titanium plate which is plated with platinum and then covered with a layer of carbon fiber fabric. Thus, in effect, a platinum cathode is provided. This patent does not deal with the question of how metals can be recovered from such electrodes so that the concentration of metallic ions can be reduced to extremely low levels in real time in an economical manner.


An armrest for office chairs includes a pad and a sleeve coupled to the chair structure. A tray, having longitudinal strips with seats at their ends, is integral with the sleeve and houses a play recovery element having externally protruding appendages, and the play recovery element has two central curved portions with opposite concavities. The pad has two internally protruding bands, each having a central opening and forming end seats with the transverse edges of the pad; and a longitudinal relief with grooved side walls and two transverse ribs. The play recovery element has elastically inclined flaps and further has the appendages inserted into the seats of the tray. The side walls of the longitudinal reliefs engage the curved portions, and the two transverse ribs of the pad abut the inclined elastic flaps of the play recovery element to prevent the tray from disengaging when inserted into the pad.

Armrests are known consisting of a substantially L-shaped support bracket, with the end of the horizontal arm secured to the frame of the chair and with the top end of the vertical arm having a pad (armrest) for the arm of the user to rest on.
It is the object of the invention to provide a device for the axial translation of the pad (armrest) which allows to easily and comfortably adjust the position of the pad with respect to the L-shaped bracket.
Such an object is achieved, in accordance with the invention, by means of a device for the axial translation of a chair armrest as described hereinafter

Device for axial translation of armrests, in particular for office chairs