In a control unit, particularly for use in a motor vehicle, time measurement and time control should be independent of computer-specific cycle times. The control unit includes a quartz-controlled timer with a specified clock frequency and a global timer clocked by the quartz-controlled timer. The global timer furnishes a global timing pulse as a reference time for all the program parts of the computer. A plurality of dynamically managed program-controlled timers, which receive their clock signal from the global timer, are requested by the computer program each for one time measurement associated with a specific task. After the specific task is completed, the timer is available for further tasks.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control unit, in particular for use in a motor vehicle. The control unit has a computer, a program memory, a data memory, and timers generating clock signals serving to execute computer programs.
Such control units are used in motor vehicles, for instance, for transmission control, engine control or the like, but can also be used for other purposes. The control units contain a computer, for instance in the form of a microcontroller or microcomputer, that runs application programs specified by the particular intended use.
In the control unit, times must be measured and sequences over time must be controlled. Given the now typical use of operating systems in microcontroller technology, fixed cycle times are often no longer present, or they change frequently. This makes time measurement and chronological sequence control difficult. In conventional control units, either the cycle times are used as a timing pulse, or internal timers in the computer or external timers are used to generate the timing pulse. Timer-counter variables or timer-counter fields are also used, which are supplied with one of the aforementioned timing pulses. Each application in the programs to be executed requires its own timer variable. Time measurement is also dependent on the cycle time or on the resolution of the timer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,570 to Akiyama et al. describes a control unit--embodied as an ignition control system for motor vehicles--wherein the beginning and end of excitation of ignition coils is determined by a microprocessor at fixed time intervals, in dependence on a plurality of engine operating parameters. The main program can be interrupted by three different interrupts, each of different priority.

Control unit with dynamically managed timers


A method for providing a cruise control warning system including monitoring a cruise control system to determine if the cruise control system is activated or deactivated for a vehicle. The method also includes receiving vehicle operation data for the vehicle. A likelihood that a slippery road condition exists for the vehicle is determined based on the vehicle operation data. A warning message is indicated to a driver of the vehicle when it has been determined that the likelihood that a slippery road condition exists is over a first pre-selected value and the cruise control system is activated.

The present disclosure relates generally to a cruise control warning system and in particular, to a method of warning a driver of a vehicle being operated with cruise control activated when there is a possibility of a slippery road condition.
Many vehicles currently being manufactured contain cruise control systems. Cruise control systems control a vehicle cruising speed to maintain a desired cruising speed of a vehicle. The cruise control systems are operatively connected to the vehicle throttle and operate the throttle automatically in order to maintain the desired cruising speed of the vehicle. A newer generation of cruise control is adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts vehicle speed to maintain a driver-selected distance from the vehicle ahead in the same lane. The adaptive cruise control system can slow the vehicle down when slow moving traffic is encountered and then can return the vehicle to a set speed when the traffic clears. An adaptive cruise control system uses forward-looking radar (to sense traffic ahead), as well as yaw and steering data to determine which targets are in the predicted path of the vehicle.
It is well known that cruise control systems should not be used, or activated, in certain driving conditions, including heavy traffic, winding roads and slippery roads. Winding roads and heavy traffic driving conditions may promote the use of brakes, which in turn will automatically cut off most cruise control systems. Slippery roads can be caused by road conditions such as snow, ice, slush and rain, and may result in a fast change in tire traction on a vehicle. These slippery road conditions can cause low road traction situations to which a driver must react quickly. Although cruise control can manually be cut off by the driver tapping the brake pedal, the driver must first recognize that these slippery road conditions exist and/or that the vehicle has begun to spin or slide, and then the driver must bring his foot up off the floor to the brake pedal to disengage the cruise control. It may be advantageous to either eliminate the ability to use cruise control or to warn the driver about slippery road conditions while using cruise control under a set of certain predetermined vehicle, weather, and road conditions.


A polishing composition comprising an improver of a ratio of a polishing rate of an insulating film to that of a stopper film, wherein the polishing rate of the stopper film is selectively decreased, comprising one or more compounds selected from the group consisting of a monoamine or diamine compound; a polyamine having three or more amino groups in its molecule; an ether group-containing amine; and a heterocyclic compound having nitrogen atom. The polishing composition can be used for removing an insulating film which has been embedded for isolation into a trench formed on a silicon substrate and sedimented outside the trench, thereby planing a surface of the silicon substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improver of a ratio of a polishing rate of an insulating film to that of a stopper film. Further, the present invention relates to a polishing composition comprising the improver, a process for selectively increasing a ratio of a polishing rate of an insulating film to that of a stopper film using the improver, and a process for producing a substrate to be polished using the above-mentioned polishing composition.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Conventionally, an isolation region has been formed by a so-called LOCOS (Local Oxidation of Silicon) method. However, the LOCOS method does not meet the requirement for high-integration of semiconductors in recent years because the isolation region has become too narrow for the LOCOS method. Therefore, recently, there has been employed a so-called STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) method comprising depositing a stopper film such as a silicon nitride film on a silicon substrate, embedding an insulating film such as a silicon oxide film in a trench part, planing an excessive insulating film in the external part of the trench by using chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) to expose the stopper film, and thereafter removing the stopper film by etching. In the STI method, it is desired that a ratio of the polishing rate of the insulating film to that of the stopper film is increased in order to prevent dishing or thinning generated during polishing of the insulating film on a substrate to be polished, thereby achieving planarization of the insulating film.
Presently, a ceria polishing agent used as a polishing agent for STI-CMP exhibits a high polishing rate of an insulating film, and selectively controls a polishing rate of a stopper film, thereby achieving efficient planarization. However, as compared to a silica polishing agent, there arise some problems such that the ceria polishing agent is high in costs, and abrasive grains are not easily dispersed therein. On the other hand, a commercially available polishing agent has a low ratio of a polishing rate of an insulating film to that of a stopper film. Therefore, there arise a problem such that polishing is undesirably progressed at parts where trench portions are closely arranged, as compared to parts where there are fewer trench portions, so that thinning is likely to be generated. In addition, when a stopper film is made thicker in order to prevent thinning, there arise a problem such that an insulating film in the trench part remains in a large amount by removal of the stopper film after CMP, so that there is still yet a great difference in the levels (step height) between a silicon substrate surface and an insulating film surface.
There have been reported that a ratio of polishing rates can be increased by adding triethanolamine as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-330025, or adding tetramethylammonium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-270401. However, in the former method, there arise some problems such that addition of a large amount of triethanolamine so as to have a concentration of 10% by weight or more is needed in order to exhibit its effects, thereby increasing its costs including costs for waste water treatment. In the latter method, hydrogen peroxide is likely to be decomposed, so that its effects, including stability, are not sufficient.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improver of a ratio of a polishing rate of an insulating film to that of a stopper film for stably and selectively increasing the ratio of a polishing rate of an insulating film to that of a stopper film.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a polishing composition comprising the improver, a process for selectively increasing a ratio of a polishing rate of an insulating film to that of a stopper film, and a process for producing a substrate to be polished using the above-mentioned polishing composition.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.


A pulse-width-modulated voltage is applied to an IR emitter during the on-time of a primary drive voltage having a frequency of about 2.5 Hz in order to control the power to a predetermined desired level. The secondary modulation is at about 800 Hz. The lower response time of the emitter will, in effect, filter the higher frequency, and it will appear that an average power is being applied to the emitter during the on-time.

The present invention relates to a circuit and method of controlling the average power delivered to an infrared (IR) source or emitter used in a non-dispersive infrared detection cell (NDIR cell),
An NDIR (non-dispersive infrared) cell is used to measure the quantity of a selected gas by means of IR absorbance. The main components of the cell are the infrared source or emitter, the sample chamber or light tube, a wavelength filter, and an infrared detector.
The IR signal from the emitter is typically modulated in some fashion so that thermal background signals can be removed from the desired measurement signal. Two methods often employed to modulate the emitter are to either mechanically chop the light or alternatively to pulse the electrical power delivered to the emitter. For the pulse modulation case, the electrical power supplied to the emitter is modulated at a frequency that causes the emitter to heat and cool thereby modulating the optical IR power emitted from its surface. The thermal response of the emitter must be sufficiently fast such that the depth of temperature modulation is adequate for the desired sensitivity at the selected modulation frequency.
One means to pulse power to the emitter is to pulse a voltage level to the emitter. This is referred to as the primary modulation. Usually, a 50% primary modulation is used where the emitter on-time and off-time are equal. During the off-time, the applied voltage can be a low voltage or zero volts. Preferably a non-zero voltage is used during the off-time to minimize the stress to the emitter frame during the pulsing. The primary modulation frequency can be selected to optimize signal-to-noise ratio of the NDIR while providing adequate response time for the bandwidth of the expected analyte signal. The instantaneous electrical power during the on-time is dependent upon the voltage applied to and the resistance of the emitter according to the following standard power equation:
  Power  =            Voltage      2        Resistance
Often, the emitter resistance has a wide tolerance due to limitations in the manufacturing process, etc. If a constant voltage is pulsed to the emitter, a correspondingly wide range of power will be experienced. Since the sensitivity of the NDIR cell is dependent, among other things, upon the electrical power delivered to the IR emitter, a wide range of NDIR cell sensitivities will ensue. One means to minimize this variable sensitivity is to control the power to each IR emitter.
Since the resistance cannot be controlled by the end user, one option is to vary the emitter voltage level applied during the on-time to achieve constant power. This solution can be performed either with analog hardware, requiring a hardware control loop to be tuned for adequate response performance and stability, or it can be implemented using a digital control loop with a digital-to-analog (DAC) converter to adjust the voltage level. Because it may also be desirable to set the voltage to a non-zero value during the off-time, some means must be designed to allow the emitter voltage to switch between two voltage levels.

Circuit and method for controlling an IR source for an analytical instrument


A noise reduction system includes a driving device, a sensing device, a first switch, a second switch, and a controller. The driving device has a plurality of drivers for generating touch driving signals. The sensing device has a plurality of sensors for detecting whether there is an external object approached and generating touch sensing signals. The first switch is provided for electrically connecting the plurality of drivers and the plurality of sensors to the capacitive touch panel. The second switch is provided for electrically connecting the plurality of drivers and the plurality of sensors to the capacitive touch panel. The controller configures the first switch and the second switch to perform a first direction driving and second direction sensing, and configuring the first switch and the second switch to perform a second direction driving and first direction sensing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of touch panels and, more particularly, to a noise reduction method and system of capacitive multi-touch panel.
2. Description of Related Art
The principle of touch panels is based on different sensing manners to detect a voltage, current, acoustic wave, or infrared to thereby determine the coordinate of a touch point on a screen as touched by a finger or other medium. For example, a resistive touch panel uses a potential difference between the upper and lower electrodes to compute the position of a pressed point for determining the location of the touch point, and a capacitive touch panel uses a capacitance change generated in an electrostatic combination of the arranged transparent electrodes with the touching part of a human body to generate a current or voltage for detecting the coordinate of the touching part.
Upon the principle, the capacitive touch technologies can be divided into a surface capacitive and a projected capacitive sensing. The surface capacitive sensing has a simple configuration, so that the multi-touch implementation is not easy, and the problems of electromagnetic disturbance (EMI) and noises are difficult to be overcome. Therefore, the popular trend of capacitive touch development is toward the projected capacitive sensing.
The projected capacitive sensing can be divided into a self capacitance and a mutual capacitance sensing. The self capacitance sensing indicates that a capacitance coupling is generated between a touch object and a conductor line, and a touch occurrence is decided by measuring a capacitance change of the conductor line. The mutual capacitance sensing indicates that a capacitance coupling is generated between two adjacent conductor lines when a touch occurs.
A typical self capacitance sensing senses the grounded capacitance on every conductor line. Thus, a change of the grounded capacitance is used to determine whether an object is close to the capacitive touch panel. The self capacitance or the grounded capacitance is not a physical capacitor, but parasitic and stray capacitance on every conductor line. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a typical self capacitance sensing. As shown in FIG. 1, during the first time interval, the driving and sensing devices 110 in a first direction drive the conductor lines in the first direction in order to further charge the self capacitance of the conductor lines in the first direction. During the second period, the driving and sensing devices 110 sense the voltages on the conductor lines in the first direction, thereby obtaining m data. During the third period, the driving and sensing devices 120 in a second direction drive the conductor lines in the second direction in order to further charge the self capacitance of the conductor lines in the second direction. During the fourth period, the driving and sensing devices 120 sense the voltages on the conductor lines in the second direction, thereby obtaining n data. Accordingly, there are m+n data obtained.
The typical self capacitance sensing of FIG. 1 connects both a driver circuit and a sensor circuit on the same conductor line in order to drive the conductor line and sense a signal change on the same conductor line to thereby decide a magnitude of the self capacitance. In this case, the advantages include:
(1) a reduced amount of data since the typical touch panel has m+n data in a single image only, so as to save the hardware cost;
(2) a reduced time required for sensing a touch point since an image raw data can be quickly fetched due to only two sensing operations, i.e., concurrently (or one-by-one) sensing all the conductor lines in the first direction first and then in the second direction, for completing a frame, as well as a relatively reduced time required for converting a sensed signal from analog into digital; and
(3) a lower power consumption due to the reduced amount of data to be processed.
However, such a self capacitance sensing also has the disadvantages as follows:
(1) When there is a floating conductor, such as a water drop, an oil stain, and the like, on the touch panel, it causes an error decision on a touch point.
(2) When there are multiple touch points concurrently on the touch panel, it causes a ghost point effect, so that such a self capacitance sensing cannot be used in multi-touch applications.
Another way of driving the typical capacitive touch panel is to sense a magnitude change of mutual capacitance Cm to thereby determine whether an object is close to the touch panel. Likewise, the mutual capacitance Cm is not a physical capacitor but a mutual capacitance between the conductor lines 230 in the first direction and in the second direction. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a typical mutual capacitance sensing. As shown in FIG. 2, the drivers 210 are located on the first direction (Y), and the sensors 220 are located on the second direction (X). On the touch panel, the conductor lines 230 in the first direction, connected to the drivers 210, are also known as driving lines, and the conductor lines 230 in the second direction, connected to the sensors 220, are also known as sensing lines
At the upper half of the first time interval T1, the drivers 210 drive the conductor lines 230 in the first direction and use the voltage Vy_1 to charge the mutual capacitance (Cm) 250, and at the lower half, all sensors 220 sense voltages (Vo_1, Vo_2, . . . , Vo_n) on the conductor lines 240 in the second direction to thereby obtain n data. Accordingly, the m*n data can be obtained after m driving periods.
Such a mutual capacitance sensing has the advantages as follows:
(1) It is easily determined whether a touch is generated from a human body since a signal generated from a floating conductor is in a different direction than a grounded conductor.
(2) Every touch point is indicated by a real coordinate, and the real position of each point can be found when multiple points are concurrently touched, so that such a mutual capacitance sensing can easily support the multi-touch applications.
Also, there are some disadvantages as follows:
(1) A single image raw data has an amount of n*m, which is relatively higher than the amount under the self capacitance sensing.
(2) A one-by-one scanning is operated in a selected direction. For example, when there are 20 conductor lines in the first direction (Y), the sensing operation is performed 20 times for obtaining a complete image raw data. Also, due to the large amount of data, the time required for converting a sensed signal from analog into digit is relatively increased.
(3) Due to the large amount of data, the power consumption is thus increased on data processing.
Whether the self or the mutual capacitance operation is used, the obtained touching data is likely to be influenced by noises, so that errors may appear on determining the position when the capacitive touch panel is touched, resulting in that the sensing resolution of the capacitive touch panel is influenced.
To overcome this problem, in the U.S. Pat. No. 7, 643, 011 granted to O'Connor, et al. for a "Noise detection in multi-touch sensors", three stimulus waves, each having a different driving frequency, are output by a manner of mutual capacitance, so as to responsively obtain three touch images, and one with the minimum noise is selected from the three touch images. Thus, the driving frequency corresponding to the touch image with the minimum noise is selected as the active frequency for extracting the touch image and calculating the coordinate or position.
However, in actual application of the mutual capacitance sensing, when there is a touch on the touch panel, the sensing lines involved in the touch position are changed in signals and also influenced by noises from human body, resulting in that the position that is not touched by finger may be erroneously determined to be a touched position.
FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the noise influence on a prior touch panel. As shown, when a finger touches position A of the touch panel, touch noise generated therefrom influences signals on the sensing lines involved in the touched position. That is, during time period Tx, the drivers drive the driving lines, in which voltage Vy_1 is employed to charge the mutual capacitance (Cm). At this moment, the voltage detected by the sensors includes the voltage generated from the finger touching position A of the touch panel and the voltage of the noise caused by the finger touching position A of the touch panel. Due to that the voltage detected by the sensors includes the voltage generated from the finger touching position A of the touch panel, the capability to resist noises is relatively high at this moment.
During time period Ty, the voltage detected by the sensors 220 includes only the voltage of the noise caused by the finger touching position A of the touch panel. At this moment, due to that the voltage detected by the sensors does not include the voltage generated from the finger touching position A of the touch panel, the touch data obtained at position B is likely to be influenced by noises, so that errors may appear on determining the position when the capacitive touch panel is touched, resulting in that the sensing resolution of the capacitive touch panel is influenced. That is, noises caused by finger touching will be distributed and diffused along the direction of the sensing lines.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved noise reduction method and system of capacitive multi-touch panel to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Noise reduction method and system of capacitive multi-touch panel


A bundler, un-bundler and sequencer for use in controlling and driving opposing sets of logical or physical modems to drive multiple-subscriber lines with multiple communication channels. The sequencer determines subscriber requirements such as maximum and minimum bandwidth and quality of service. The sequencer also determines bandwidth availability and status of multiple subscriber lines from which a bundle may be formed. The bundler couple to the sequencer and implement header or headerless insertion of multiple channels in round robin sequence into the X-DSL frames at data rates which correspond with subscriber requirements. The un-bundler reverses the process of the bundler and passes the appropriate packet data onto the corresponding network.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for multi-line bonding of digital subscriber line communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
North American Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) Standard, defined by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI), regulates the protocol of information transmissions over telephone lines. In particular, the ISDN standard regulates the rate at which information can be transmitted and in what format. ISDN allows full duplex digital transmission of two 64 kilo bit per second data channels. These data rates may easily be achieved over the trunk lines, which connect the telephone companies' central offices. The problem lies in passing these signals across the subscriber line between the central office and the business or residential user. These lines were originally constructed to handle voice traffic in the narrow band between 300 Hz to 3000 Hz at bandwidths equivalent to several kilo baud.
Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) technology and improvements thereon including: G.Lite, ADSL, VDSL, HDSL all of which are broadly identified as xDSL have been developed to increase the effective bandwidth of existing subscriber line connections, without requiring the installation of new fiber optic cable. An xDSL modem operates at frequencies higher than the voiceband frequencies, thus an xDSL modem may operate simultaneously with a voiceband modem or a telephone conversation.
Currently there are over ten discrete xDSL standards, including: G.Lite, ADSL, VDSL, SDSL, MDSL, RADSL, HDSL, etc. Within each standard there are at least two possible line codes, or modulation protocols, discrete multi-tone (DMT) and carrierless AM/PM (CAP). A typical DMT system utilizes a transmitter inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) and a receiver fast Fourier transform (FFT). The following patents are related to DMT modems: U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,322 relates to bit allocation in the multicarrier channels; U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,447 relates to bandwidth optimization; U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,596 relates to echo cancellation; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,474 relates to equalizers. The following patents are related to CAP modems: U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,492 relates to multidimensional passband transmission; U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,358 relates to echo cancellation; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,000 relates to equalizers. Each of these patents is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
XDSL modems are typically installed in pairs, with one of the modems installed in a home and the other in the telephone companies central office (CO) switching office servicing that home. This provides a direct dedicated connection to the home from a line card at the central office on which the modem is implemented through the subscriber line or local loop.
Modems using CAP or DMT or other line codes, essentially have three hardware sections: (a) an analog front end (AFE) to convert the analog signals on the subscriber line into digital signals and convert digital signals for transmission on the subscriber line into analog signals, (b) digital signal processing (DSP) circuitry to convert the digital signals into an information bitstream and optionally provide error correction, echo cancellation, and line equalization, and (c) a host interface between the information bitstream and its source/destination. Typically all of these components are located on a highly integrated single line card with a dedicated connection between one or more AFE's and a DSP.
Each installation represents a sizeable expense in hardware and service labor to provision the central office. The expense may not always be amortized over a sufficient period of time due the relentless introduction of new and faster xDSL standards each of which pushes the performance boundaries of the subscriber line in the direction of increasing bandwidth and signal integrity. As each new standard involves, line cards must typically be replaced to upgrade the service.
What is needed is a less rigid signal processing architecture that supports scalability of resources, and allows a more flexible hardware response to existing and evolving XDSL standards.

Method and apparatus for dynamic multi-line bonding in communication systems


A method for producing a semiconductor structure including preparing a semiconductor substrate, and generating a lower first, a middle second and an upper third masking layer on a surface of the semiconductor substrate. The method further includes forming at least one first window in the upper third masking layer, structuring the middle second masking layer using the first window for transferring the first window, structuring the lower first masking layer using the first window for transferring the first window, and enlarging the first window to form a second window. The method for further includes restructuring the middle second masking layer using the second window for transferring the second window, structuring the semiconductor substrate, using the structured lower third masking layer, restructuring the lower first masking layer using the second window, and restructuring the semiconductor substrate using the restructured lower third masking layer.

Although in principle applicable to any integrated circuits, the present invention and the problems on which it is based are explained with reference to semiconductor structures in silicon technology.
The patterning of semiconductor structures in silicon technology is effected by alternate production of masks, e.g. by exposing and developing photoresist layers, and dry-chemical or wet-chemical isotropic or anisotropic etching. Each lithography step or each lithography level is expensive and complex. Therefore, the aim of semiconductor fabrication is to minimize the number of lithography steps or lithography levels. As well as costs and feature size, another limiting factor in lithographic patterning is the accuracy of the vertical alignment of two or more lithography levels located above one another.
Hitherto, it has been customary for a new photoresist layer to be applied for each level which is to be lithographically patterned and for this photoresist layer to be exposed via a mask and then developed after alignment. Then, after the exposed or unexposed photoresist regions have been removed in the developing process, the semiconductor layer beneath the photoresist mask is patterned by means of a suitable etching process, for example by means of reactive ion etching.

Method for production of a semiconductor structure


A hub-and-spoke communication arrangement is provided, in which the “hub” includes a server computer system. The “spokes” are other computers that act as message originators and/or destinations. All internal-to-external messages, and vice versa, are routed through the server computer system to reduce the number of proprietary connections needed between the internal and external entities. In addition, the server computer system provides protocol conversion, message payload conversion, encryption conversion, message broadcast, and/or message archival functionality, so that the “spoke” computers need not be concerned with providing such functionality on their own.

With reference to FIG. 1, organizations often are comprised of multiple lines of businesses ("LOBs") 101, 102, 103. Commonly, these LOBs need to transmit digital information to one or more external entities 104, for example, to conduct business. For instance, in the securities-trading industry, LOBs need to transmit information to the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), an external entity, pertaining to the trades they have conducted for settlement of the trades. In many cases, communication between the LOBs 101, 102, 103 and an external entity 104 occurs over proprietary connections 105, such as leased lines. The LOBs 101, 102, 103 are charged a fee for using the proprietary connections 105.
In conventional arrangements, because the LOBs 101, 102, 103 often are unaware of what other LOBs are doing, each LOB 101, 102, 103 would establish its own proprietary connection 105 with the external entity 104. However, because fees are associated with each proprietary connection 105, such conventional arrangements are fiscally inefficient. Accordingly, a way to reduce the number of proprietary connections 105 is needed in the art.


A process for producing tris(tribromophenoxy)-s-triazine. The process is characterized in that cyanuric chloride and an aqueous tribromophenolate solution are subjected to reaction in the presence of a tertiary amine. According to this process, the reaction goes to completion in a short time and the yield and purity of the product are high.

This invention relates to a process for producing tris(tribromophenoxy)-s-triazine.
Tris(tribromophenoxy)-s-triazine compounds as such are known from French Patent 1566675. It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 3843650 and Japanese Kokai Patent Publication No. 47-25232 that these compounds have very satisfactory properties for application as flame retardant additives to synthetic resins. However, tris(tribromophenoxy)-s-triazine compounds as described in French Patent 1566675 were of low purity and could be made available only in low yield.
The technology for production of tris(tribromophenoxy)-s-triazine, thus far known from Japanese Kokai Patent Publication No. 47-25232 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,650, comprises dissolving cyanuric chloride in a ketone or cyclic ether solvent and adding an aqueous or ethanolic solution of a tribromophenolate. An alternative process, disclosed in JP Kokai No. 53-116390, comprises an alkali treatment in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst in a heterogeneous solvent system consisting of water and an organic solvent.
However, in the production system employing a hydrophilic solvent, solvent recovery entails the azeotropic inclusion of water in the recovered solvent and this water can hardly be removed from the solvent. If the recovered solvent is reused in the reaction, the charge cyanuric chloride is hydrolyzed and the resulting hydrolyzate contaminates the reaction system. This causes a decreased purity of the product compound and, when such product is added to synthetic resin, both the physical properties and flame resistance of the resin are adversely affected.
In the production system employing a non-hydrophilic solvent, as described in Japanese Kokai Patent Publication No. 3-34972, tris(tribromophenoxy)-s-triazine of high purity can be obtained in high yield but prolonged aging was essential for carrying the reaction to completion. However, when the tribromophenolate-cyanuric chloride reaction system involves an extended period of aging, cyanuric chloride is hydrolyzed by water in its reaction with the tribromophenolate so that the product tris(tribromophenoxy)-s-triazine cannot be of high purity. To overcome this disadvantage, in the production process employing a non-hydrophilic solvent, it might be contemplated to use a phase transfer catalyst in an increased amount. However, the phase transfer catalyst is so expensive that it is uneconomical to use it in a large amount and actually an increase in the amount of a phase transfer catalyst contributes little to a reduction in reaction time.

Process for production of tris(tribromophenoxy)-s-triazine


A multimedia computerized literacy system providing for and enhancing the teaching of Literacy Skills to enable people to function more effectively in schools, society, and the workplace. The design of the system is based on the identification and understanding of the structures, contents, and strategies which underlie prose, document, and quantitative literacy. In particular, the system's design is based, in part, on the Knowledge Model Procedure, which builds upon a unique taxonomy of document structures, contents, and strategies in a way that facilitates the transfer of Literacy Skills across the wide array of document types, as well as across quantitative and prose Literacy Skills. In accordance with the Knowledge Model Procedure, the computerized literacy system, through a series of structure and use lessons, provides students with the skills to perform document, prose, and quantitative tasks of increasing complexity. The system uses specially designed exercise and practice tasks to enhance students' abilities to perform literacy tasks commonly required of adolescents and adults in modern society.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computerized multimedia prose, document and quantitative literacy system ("Computerized Literacy System"). The Computerized Literacy System may be used by a teacher in a small group setting (e.g., from three to twenty students), or operated by students without the presence of a teacher, either alone or in small groups. The system teaches students skills for using printed information, and how to think critically about the organization of that information. In one preferred embodiment, the system teaches students to understand and use "documents," i.e., structured information such as schedules, tables, charts, graphs and forms. That embodiment of the present invention provides students with a computerized, systematic approach for understanding the basic structure of documents found most often in our society.
B. Description of the Prior Art
People are required many times every day to identify and use information available in printed material. Printed material includes words and numbers which are visible, regardless of whether they appear on a piece of paper or on a computer screen. In accordance with the present invention, printed material can be broken down into three general types: prose, documents, and quantitative material. Prose is printed material that is typically organized in paragraph format, such as that found in newspaper articles, magazines, brochures, poems and books. Documents are printed material that is typically organized in matrix format, such as tables, schedules, indexes, forms, charts, graphs, maps, recipes, labels and television listings. Quantitative material is printed material containing numerical information that can be presented in either prose or document format, such as menus, checkbooks, or advertisements.
In 1985, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, under a grant to Educational Testing Service of Princeton, New Jersey ("ETS"), applicants' assignee, developed and conducted a household survey of the literacy skills of young adults, ages 21 to 25. In order to consider the many points of view that exist regarding literacy, ETS convened panels of experts who helped set the framework for this assessment. Their deliberations led to the adoption of the following definition of "Literacy Skills," used herein: Using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.
The survey reported on the Literacy Skills of young adults in terms of three scales representing distinct and important kinds of Literacy Skills, one for each type of printed material. Prose Literacy Skills involve the skills and strategies needed to understand and use information contained in prose. Document Literacy Skills involve the knowledge and skills required to locate and use information contained in documents. Quantitative Literacy Skills involve the knowledge and skills needed to apply arithmetic operations, either singly or sequentially, that are imbedded in either prose or document format, such as balancing a check book, figuring out a tip, completing an order form, or determining the amount of interest from a loan advertisement.
The results of the survey were, in brief, that although more than half of young adults were estimated to have attained low and moderate levels of proficiency, relatively few young adults were estimated to have reached levels of proficiencies associated with the most complex and demanding tasks encountered in modern society. In addition, the survey found that minority group members as well as those persons who have terminated their education at an early point are disproportionately underrepresented at the moderate to high proficiency levels. The survey concluded that coordinated efforts seem to be needed both to develop and to apply appropriate intervention strategies that will allow individuals to take advantage of their existing skill levels in upgrading their proficiencies. The present invention was designed, in part, to provide this much needed new approach to teaching. Before it can be understood, some additional background information about each of the three types of printed material must be provided.
1. Prose
There are three qualitatively different types of skills involved in Prose Literacy Skills. The first is locating information in text, which requires a reader to match information sought with the identical or corresponding information stated in the text. An example of this type of skill is finding the answer to a question in textual material. The second type of skill is producing and interpreting text information. This requires a reader to use background knowledge or a combination of background and text information to produce a response that supports a given statement or idea, for example, writing a job description. The third type of skill is generating a theme or organizing principle from text information. This requires a reader to synthesize information to generate a theme or organizing principle that is consistent with the arguments provided in a text, for example, determining the theme of a poem or the main argument of a newspaper column.
2. Documents
The amount of time people spend reading and using documents may vary according to background characteristics such as occupation, gender, and level of education. Independent of these characteristics, though, people spend more time reading and using documents than any other type of printed material. People must therefore possess the skills needed to obtain information from documents.
Although people spend much of their reading time reading documents, little attention has been given to how they may be taught to systematically understand and use them. In elementary schools, students are taught to read using narratives. In secondary and postsecondary schools, they are taught to read using exposition. After school, however, people read documents to accomplish specific goals. To help people accomplish their goals and improve their Document Literacy Skills, they need to be taught how to understand the structures of the materials they read. They also need to be taught strategies for finding and dealing with the necessary information in those structures. The inventors believe that if people can learn to infer structures in documents, they can use what they have learned about those structures to find the information they need.
Prior art approaches to teaching typically have failed to consider the underlying structural organization of documents. They also have failed to consider how different purposes for using documents require people to process the information contained in them differently. One such prior art example is found in Singer and Donlan (1989), which focused on graphs, charts and scales such as those found in reading in the content areas.
Beginning in October 1989, two of the inventors of the present invention, Kirsch and Mosenthal, coauthored a series of articles in the Journal of Reading about understanding documents. The purpose of the articles was to explore the nature of documents, the different purposes for using them, and the various strategies used to process them. The articles analyzed various document types and considered how different purposes for using documents require readers to process these structures differently. The articles did not disclose a computerized multimedia document literacy system. See the Bibliographic References section attached hereto for a list of the articles.
According to Kirsch and Mosenthal, as set forth in the articles, substantially all documents can be classified into a reasonably limited number of types, and each document type has a substantially limited number of uses. The document types are: (a) the four kinds of matrix documents: simple lists, combined lists, intersecting lists, and nested lists; (b) the three kinds of graphic documents: pie charts, bar graphs, and line graphs; (c) entry documents or forms; (d) the two kinds of maps: general reference maps and thematic maps; and (e) the four kinds of mimetic documents: pictures, diagrams, process schematics, and procedural schematics. Each of these document types will be discussed briefly in turn.
a. Matrix Documents
In each of the four matrix document types, information is arranged in rows and columns. Simple lists, the most basic of the document types, consist of a single list of items in which each item shares a minimum of one feature with all other items in the list. An example of a simple list is a shopping list. Combined lists are a concatenation or combination of two or more simple lists in which the items in the lists are related as a predicate to a subject. An example of a combined list is a restaurant menu, in which the price list is the predicate to the list of food items. Intersecting lists consist of three simple lists, of which two contain information which is redundant with respect to the third. An example of an intersecting list is a television listing, in which the list of programs predicates both the list of times and the list of channels. Nested lists, the most complicated of the matrix document types, contain at least two pairs of lists of predicate information, with each pair sharing the same label or title. An example of a nested list is a table depicting imports and exports for the years 1987 and 1988. In this case, the pair of lists "1987" and "1988" are nested under the pair "imports" and "exports". The labels "1987" and "1988" are repeated.
All the other types of documents are built on the foundation principles of the matrix documents. Prior art approaches to teaching students how to understand and use matrix documents typically have failed to consider their structures, how the structures of the different kinds of matrix documents are related to one another, and how the strategies used for extracting information from matrix documents depends upon the particular document structure.
b. Graphic Documents
Graphic documents organize quantitative information by representing it visually, as pictures. One kind of graphic document, pie charts, represents a quantitative feature or characteristic of some object differentiated into two or more pieces. The structure of pie charts is generally similar to the structure of a single row of intersecting lists. The other kinds of graphic documents, bar and line graphs, generally have structures which are similar to combined, intersecting or nested lists, in which at least one predicate list contains quantitative information. Because, unlike matrix documents, graphic documents are designed to make a visual impression, they provide a quick general look at numbers in relation to each other. They do not, however, provide for the close examination of many numbers in detail, as matrix documents do.
Although graphic documents have been in use for over 200 years, few people have understood how their structure relates to that of the matrix documents. Therefore, prior art teaching methods typically have failed to take into account that graphic documents are actually special cases of the matrix document structures, and that people can therefore apply many of the strategies for accessing information in matrix documents to graphic documents.
c. Forms
Forms are entry documents that must be filled in by someone. They are one of the most common and important document types which people must know how to use because people are usually affected by information they enter into forms. In modern society, after a person fills out an incomplete entry form, the form, now a completed document, is usually entered into a database with hundreds of other similar documents. This database, which has the structure of a combined list, is then filed, used or sold. Through the use of these databases, individuals are drafted, called for jury duty, sent junk mail, given paychecks, and called by the IRS. Some of the difficulty people have in using forms comes from the fact that the designers of the forms often have the database-makers in mind rather than the form-filers. Prior art approaches to teaching students how to fill out and use forms typically have failed to take this into account, and have failed to show how forms are related to the matrix and graphic documents.
d. Maps
Maps pictorially represent geographical areas of varying sizes. Using a combination of lines, words, symbols, and colors, maps represent a selected set of features and their distribution within a geographical area. General reference maps show features of the earth's surface that are easily recognized by most people. These include buildings, parks, roads, rivers, oceans, mountains, and political boundaries. In contrast, thematic maps focus on a particular topic as it relates to a given geographical area, such as daily weather patterns, annual rainfall or population density.
To date, most discussions on how to teach maps have focused on concerns associated with representing some geographic area. For instance, most "content area" texts list the essential map skills as: determining directions, interpreting a map's legend, applying a map's scale, understanding latitude and longitude, understanding common map terms, and understanding projections. While these skills are certainly important, little attention has focused on how to teach concepts for understanding structures of map content. Prior art approaches have also failed to relate the structures of maps to the structures of the other document types.
e. Mimetic Documents
Mimetic documents are visual representations which depict a phenomenon as it is observed or believed to exist. These representations include photographs or drawings that are typically found in illustrated dictionaries, encyclopedias, content area texts, and "how to" manuals. Two kinds of mimetic documents, pictures and diagrams, provide visual instances of an object phenomenon, which is a person, place, or thing viewed from a single perspective at a single point in time. As such, pictures and diagrams serve to portray a particular state of an object viewed from a fixed perspective. The other two kinds, process and procedural schematics, provide a visual instance of an event phenomenon, which involves changing states associated with persons, places, or things over time. These changes may involve processes such as weather cycles, steps in manufacturing a product, and blood circulating through the body, as well as procedures such as carrying out a recipe, following a set of assembly or operating instructions, and following the directions on a medicine label.
Mimetic documents are similar to graphic documents and maps in that they portray information visually. Mimetic documents differ from graphic documents, however, in that they focus on portraying a phenomenon's critical and variable features whereas graphic documents deal only with the quantitative characteristics of many objects. Mimetic documents differ also from maps in that they deal with phenomena independent of geographical area whereas maps portray phenomena, or characteristics of phenomena, only in the context of a particular geographical area. Prior art approaches to teaching students how to use mimetic documents typically failed to take these differences into account, and failed to relate the structures of mimetic documents to those of the other document types.
Although much attention in prior art literacy instruction has focused on teaching information organized as prose, little attention has focused on teaching information organized in document format. This is problematic given the importance and pervasiveness of documents. Therefore, the focus of one embodiment of the present invention is on teaching people to improve their Document Literacy Skills.
In addition, although the importance of prose material has been widely recognized in the prior art, the increasing importance of documents has not been so recognized. Documents are important, in part, because they serve a variety of functions. They enable people to: perform important actions (e.g., apply for a loan, secure medical reimbursement, cast a vote, and repair a disposal); make informed decisions (e.g., how much medicine to dispense to a child, determine the fat content of a particular food, and identify which brand of food is the cheapest per unit price); record actions and thoughts (e.g., maintain a check balance, make a list of food to buy, indicate responses on a standardized test, and remember birthdays); and organize and extract large amounts of information in relatively small amounts of space (e.g., bus schedules and income tax tables).
Documents are important also because they are extremely pervasive in modern society. To illustrate, over a decade ago, it was estimated that the total number of different British government forms was well over 100,000. The Associated Press estimated that in the mid-1970's, the United States government issued some 98,000 different forms per year and received over 500 million responses. During this period, the Internal Revenue Service alone sent out over 3,500 different forms. The pervasiveness of documents in elementary and secondary reading materials and achievement tests has also been noted.
The importance and pervasiveness of documents is also evidenced by the fact that the average North American adult spends more time reading documents than any other type of material. This has been confirmed by a variety of studies. For instance, in one study of over 100 households within a community of 6,000 residents, it was found that individuals--independent of occupational group, gender, and level of education--reported they spent more time reading short documents than any other type of material (including the categories of news and business, society and science, recreation and sports, fiction and viewpoint, and reference).
This pervasiveness of documents has only recently been recognized such that, in addition to a prose scale, a document scale has been included on many of the major national assessments, including the NAEP young adult literacy survey, mentioned above, the DOL workplace literacy assessment, the National Adult Literacy Survey, the NAEP reading assessment, and the International Education Assessment. In addition, many standardized tests (such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills) now include documents as part of their measures of reading and math abilities.
However, despite this recent recognition of the importance and pervasiveness of documents, few instructional methods have been developed which teach documents using a systematic framework. Most instructional recommendations for teaching documents to date have been comprised of little more than providing practice in answering one or more tasks created for understanding a single aspect of a single document (e.g., signing one's name on a job application or ordering merchandise from a specific catalogue). Under this approach, each task and its concomitant document is treated as a unique activity, and no attempt is made to teach the underlying structure, content, and strategies of documents in such a way to facilitate the transfer of skills across the universe of Document Literacy Skills.
This instructional limitation is further compounded by the lack of consistency, in current document pedagogy, for labeling and classifying different document structures, contents, and strategies. In many cases, the nomenclature of documents in various instructional practices varies from one approach to another. For instance, in some instructional approaches, a "chart" is defined as a "map" and a "graph" is defined as a "diagram." In turn, a "diagram" is defined as a "schematic" and a "schematic" is defined as a "picture." As instructional designers have demonstrated, without a consistent framework by which teachers, as well as students, can consciously understand and discuss the dimensions of a problem, students have no basis for solving document-related problems effectively. In terms of completing document tasks, this means that, without a common rhetoric for identifying and describing the underlying structures, contents, and strategies of documents, teachers have few universal tools for equipping themselves and their students to understand and master Document Literacy Skills.
3. Quantitative Material
Quantitative material can be presented in varying degrees in several possible formats, including prose, document, or a combination of prose and document. This material requires a reader to perform mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, either singly or in combination. The level of proficiency at reading, understanding and using quantitative material is a function of several factors, including the level of proficiency at understanding and using the underlying prose or document, the particular operation required, the number of operations needed to get a result, and the extent to which the numerical task is embedded in the printed material. Therefore, there is some overlap in the skills and strategies required to use quantitative material with those needed to use prose and documents. One embodiment of the present invention uses this correlation between the teaching of Quantitative Literacy Skills and the teaching of Prose and Document Literacy Skills to teach students in a more efficient and effective manner.

Computerized method and system for teaching prose, document and quantitative literacy


A system of operating a wireless device in a wireless communication network includes selecting, by the wireless device, a preferred operating mode for use by the wireless device, the selection being made from at least a full duplex operating mode in which the wireless device can transmit and receive simultaneously on the same frequency band and a non full duplex operating mode; and transmitting a signal indicating the selected preferred operating mode to a network entity.

Current wireless communication systems are typically either Frequency-Division Duplex (FDD) systems or Time-Division Duplex (TDD) systems. In FDD operation there are two carrier frequencies, one for uplink transmissions (user terminal to base station) and one for downlink transmissions (base station to user terminal). Hence, in FDD systems, uplink and downlink transmissions occur simultaneously but in different frequency bands. In TDD operation there is a single carrier frequency only and the uplink and downlink transmissions are separated in the time domain (e.g. occur in different system time slots). Hence, in TDD systems, uplink and downlink transmissions occur in the same frequency band but not simultaneously.
The respective standards that define cellular wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) systems (so called 3G systems) and cellular long term evolution (LTE) systems (so called 4G systems) specify system variants based on both FDD and TDD. Wireless local area networks (WLAN), for example WiMAX, tend to be TDD systems only.
Herein, communication systems in which it is not possible to transmit and receive simultaneously in the same frequency band will be referred to as half-duplex or non full-duplex systems. In contrast, communication systems in which it is possible to transmit and receive simultaneously in the same frequency band (e.g. with no frequency duplex spacing between the transmission and reception bands) will be referred to as full-duplex systems. A frequency band refers to a frequency allocation assigned to a baseband signal after being up-converted on a certain carrier frequency.
Full-duplex communication has been recognized as a candidate technique for improving spectral efficiency in local area communications, in full-duplex communication systems techniques must be applied to reduce strong 'self-interference' that would otherwise occur as a result of the large power imbalance between the simultaneously transmitted signal and received signal. Typically, the transmitted signal can have a signal strength that is a few orders of magnitude larger than that of the intended received signal strength with the result that the intended received signal can be severely degraded by the transmitted signal.
Known techniques for reducing self interference at a full duplex transceiver can be broadly categorised as techniques that rely on the linear processing of antenna arrays at the transceiver to create a transmission null at the transceiver's receiver (referred to herein as linear space domain interference processing techniques) as discussed for example in references [1] or techniques that don't rely on the linear processing of antenna arrays at the transceiver but various other techniques (referred to herein as non-linear interference processing) such as those disclosed in references [2] to [6] listed below:    [1] Riihonen, T.; Werner, S.; Wichbman, R.; "Mitigation of Loopback Self-Interference in Full-Duplex MIMO Relays." Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on wireless communications, vol. 59, no. 12, pp. 5983-5993. December 2011.    [2] Jung Il Choiy, Mayank Jainy, Kannan Srinivasany, Philip Levis, Sachin Katti, "Achieving Single Channel, Full Duplex Wireless Communication", In the Proceedings of the 16th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (Mobicom 2010).    [3] Melissa Duarte and Ashutosh Sabharwal, "Full-Duplex Wireless Communications Using Off-The-Shelf Radios: Feasibility and First Results", in the proceedings of the 44th annual Asilomar conference on signals, systems, and computers 2010.    [4] Melissa Duarte, Chris Dick and Ashutosh Sabharwal, "Experiment-driven Characterization of Full-Duplex Wireless Systems". Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, July 2011.    [5] Evan Everett, Melissa Duarte, Chris Dick, and Ashutosh Sabharwal, "Empowering Full-Duplex Wireless Communication by Exploiting Directional Diversity" accepted to the 45th annual Asilomar conference on signals, systems, and computers 2010.    [6] Achaleshwar Sahai, Gaurav Patel and Ashutosh Sabharwal, "Pushing the limits of Full-duplex: Design and Real-time Implementation", Rice university technical report TREE1104.
LTE and WiMAX communication systems, amongst others, employ Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) techniques to enhance data rates (throughput) and spectral efficiency. As is well known, MIMO refers to the use of multiple antennas at the receiver and multiple antennas at the transmitter. Different modes of MIMO are known, including spatial multiplexing, transmit diversity, and beam forming.
Spatial multiplexing allows the transmission of different independent layers or streams of data simultaneously on the same downlink (or, as the case may be, uplink) resources to increase data rates for a given channel bandwidth. Transmit diversity schemes increase the resilience of a propagation channel, rather than increasing data rates, and are often used when channel conditions do not permit spatial multiplexing. Beam forming techniques provide for the shaping of the overall antenna beam in the direction of the target receiver and again are often used when channel conditions do not permit spatial multiplexing.
In a MIMO system, each receive antenna may receive the signal transmitted from each transmit antenna and the channel between the transmitter and the receiver can be described by a channel matrix H including the matrix elements hij, where hij is the channel gain from transmit antenna j to receive antenna i. If spatial multiplexing is employed, the number of independent data layers or streams that can usefully be transmitted in parallel over a MIMO channel is at most the minimum of the number of receive antennas and the number of transmit antennas, and is further limited by the rank (i.e. the minimum number of linearly independent rows and columns) of the channel matrix H. In certain known communications systems, for example, LTE systems, spatial multiplexing relies upon a user device (i.e. a mobile user equipment) providing periodic feedback to the base station (i.e. Node B) serving it. The feedback includes a so called Rank Indication (RI) determined by the user device, based on channel and interference conditions, which indicates a suggested number of layers for transmission on the downlink to the user device. The base station may or may not follow the suggestion provided by the user device.
In environments where the transmission antennas are not sufficiently de-correlated, for example in a low scattering environment (i.e. where there are few or no objects to reflect signals from the different antennas to the different receive antennas along different paths), the rank of the channel matrix H is low and the potential throughput advantages of spatial multiplexing cannot be utilized effectively. Typically, an environment is not sufficiently scattering enough to warrant the use of spatial multiplexing if a Line of Sight (LOS) exists between the transmitter and the receiver in a MIMO system which can result in the rank of the channel matrix reducing to 1. In known systems it is possible to switch between MIMO modes in response to changing channel conditions, and typically, for rank 1 channels, transmit diversity or beam forming is used instead of spatial multiplexing. It is well-known that for rank one channels the maximum throughput of a half duplex system is limited by the performance of the rank one transmit diversity or beam forming pre-coding performed at the transmitter, power allocation to the channel and the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) selected for the channel.
Wireless systems have been proposed in which it is possible to selectively use a full duplex operation mode instead of a half duplex mode, under certain channel conditions, in order to improve throughput. It is desirable to provide a system in which the signalling schemes used to configure devices in a full duplex operation mode or a half duplex operating mode and/or schedule the devices are straightforward.

Methods and apparatus for operating wireless devices


The present invention is generally directed to compositions useful in preventing and/or treating disease due to infection by any of a variety of biologically active pathogenic microorganisms. The compositions include nanoparticles formed of a hydrophobic polymeric core, hydrophilic linking agents bound to the core, and biofunctional materials bound to the linking agents. The biofunctional materials are functionally identical to receptors on host cell surfaces that can be recognized and bound by adhesins on the surface of the targeted pathogenic adhesin-bearing microorganisms. In one embodiment, the binding action between the nanoparticles and the microorganisms can lead to the formation of large agglomerated complexes, which can then be easily removed from an area, including the digestive tract of an infected individual. The compositions of the present invention can also be utilized in preventing enteric infections via the ability to purge animals of enteropathogens prior to transport and processing for human consumption.

The biological sources of infection to humans are wide and varied. For instance, bacteria in the genera Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella, Shigell and Vibrio, as well as various protozoa such as Giardia intestinalis, and Entamoeba histolytica have long been known to cause enteric infections. More recently, bacteria in the genera Aeromonas, Escherichia and Helicobacter as well as rotaviruses and Norwalk-like viruses have been identified as causative agents of enteric infections. Recently, concern has been raised that biological pathogens, including viruses and spores, may be utilized by bioterrorists to cause widespread infection through introduction into food, water, or air.
Enteropathogens are spread via contaminated food or water, and are some of the most virulent and easily communicated pathogens. Symptoms of enteropathogenic infections can range in severity from mild transient diarrhea, cramping and nausea to life-threatening dehydration, toxemia and circulatory collapse. Improved food sanitation, municipal water purification and personal hygiene have greatly reduced the incidence of enteric infection in the developed world. These diseases still pose a dangerous threat, however, especially in the developing world, particularly for children, as infection often leads not only to disease, but often to death.
Attempts have been made to develop antibiotics and vaccinations against some of the pathogens that cause enteric infections, but these attempts have met with limited success. Such agents tend to be quite expensive, both in development and production costs. In addition, the sheer variety of pathogenic microorganisms, combined with the ability of the pathogens to quickly develop resistance to antibiotics and vaccines, makes the prospect of developing long lasting, inexpensive preventatives and/or treatments for these diseases by such methods dim. Added to these problems, even in those instances when the immunity gained from an inoculation is accurate for the actual pathogen encountered by the individual, the mucosal immunity gained is short lived (only six months in the case of the cholera vaccine).
As such, what is needed in the art is a method of preventing such infections before they begin. What are needed in the art are products and methods that can prevent the initial attack of a host by a biological pathogen. In addition, what are needed in the art are products that can be utilized to label pathogens in, for example, identification procedures.

Adhesin-specific nanoparticles and process for using same


A covered electrical wire including a conductor and an insulating coating layer covering the outer periphery of the conductor, in which the conductor is a twisted wire obtained by twisting together a plurality of elemental wires constituted by copper or a copper alloy, and the covered electrical wire includes a metallically bonded portion where the elemental wires that are adjacent to each other are metallically bonded to each other.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose wire harnesses used in automobiles. A wire harness is typically a bundle of terminal-equipped electrical wires that include covered electrical wires provided with insulating coating layers on the periphery of conductors thereof, and terminal portions attached to end portions of the covered electrical wires. Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a copper alloy twisted wire as the above-described conductor.

Covered electrical wire, terminal-equipped electrical wire, and twisted wire


A cover locking device for a bait cast reel for easily detaching the cover which is assembled at one side of the reel body so as to rotatably receive one end of the spool shaft of a spool on which a fishing line is wound. The cover locking device comprises a first spring located in a first recess formed in the reel body, a locking member received in the first recess and biassed by the first spring to protrude outwardly from the first recess, and a button received in a second recess formed in an outer surface of the cover. A pressing member projects from the button and is inserted in a guide hole to contact the locking member which extends into a third recess in the cover. The guide hole connects the second and third recesses. A stopper on the pressing member prevents the pressing member from escaping from the third recess. When the button is pressed, the locking member is displaced from the third recess to unblock rotation of the cover and enable its unlatching from the reel body.

The present invention relates to a cover locking means for a bait cast reel, and more particularly to a cover lock for a bait cast reel for easily detaching the cover which is assembled to one side of the reel body so as to support one end of the spool shaft of a spool on which a fishing line is wound.
Conventionally, a reel for fishing includes a spinning reel using bait, for example a paste bait or an earth worm, and a bait cast reel using artificial bait having the shape of a fish or a worm.
Such a bait cast reel includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a reel body(100), a rotation handle(110) assembled at one side thereof, a spool(120) having a spool shaft(122) one end of which is supported in the reel body(100), a fishing line being wound onto the spool as the rotation handle(110) rotates, and a cover(130) assembled to the reel body(100) to support the other end of the spool shaft(122).
When fishing with this bait cast reel, an artificial bait is put on the fish hook, and thrown into the water, and then the rotation handle is rotated slowly to hook a fish. The fishing line is wound onto the winding portion of the spool(120) such that the artificial bait moves in the winding direction of the fish line, to induce the fishing to take the artificial bait.
Accordingly, the fishing line wound on the spool(120) frequently becomes tangled when the fishing line is wound repeatedly onto the spool(120) after being thrown into the water. Therefore, the cover(130) should be detachable from the reel body(100) to untangle the tangled fishing line.
FIG. 1 also shows a cover locking means for attaching and detaching a cover on the reel body. The cover locking means includes a protrusion(140) extending from one side of the reel body(100), the cover(130) being assembled on the protrusion(140), a locking member(150), a slant face(151) being formed at one end of the locking member so as to be slidable into a groove(131) formed inside the cover(130) when the cover(130) is rotated to assemble the reel body(100) and the cover, the other end of the locking member being supported by a spring(152), and a hook(142) provided in the cover(130) so as to block a further rotation of the cover(130) and prevent the cover(130) from being separated from the reel body(100) when the cover(130) is rotated to be assembled to the reel body(100).
To detach the cover(130) when assembled with the reel body(100), one may grip the reel body(100) with one hand, preferably with the right hand, and push the locking member(150) backward with the thumb, whereby the one end of the locking member(150) is retracted, and thus is unlocked from the groove(131). At the same time, the cover(130) is rotated downwards with the other hand, preferably with the left hand. Therefore, the protrusion(140) is unlocked from the hook(142), whereby the cover(130) can be detached from the reel body(100). However, to detach the cover from the reel body, one has to unlock the locking member while gripping the reel body. After this, it is possible to rotate the cover. However, the is a difficult operation, since one has to do the manipulation for unlocking the locking member located backside of the reel body with one hand while rotating the cover at the same time using the other hand.

Locking means for a cover of a bait cast reel in which a button is pressed to unlock the cover and enable its separation


A mechanism is provided for storing user identifications and passwords in a mobile device, such as a personal digital assistant. A modified keyboard device driver may be installed on each platform the user accesses. When the user is prompted for a password from a functioning terminal, the user may select the appropriate account on the mobile device. The mobile device then may send the user identification and password for the account to the terminal. The modified keyboard device driver receives the user identification and password from the mobile device and converts it into keyed text. The accounts with user identifications and passwords may be protected by a password. Thus, the user must only remember the one mobile device password to access a plurality of resources and computer systems. Furthermore, the communications between the mobile device and terminal may be encrypted to prevent snooping.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to data processing and, in particular, to password management. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method, apparatus, and program for managing passwords using a mobile device.
2. Description of Related Art
Passwords are necessary but are an inconvenience in current technology. The average person must use identifications (IDs) and passwords to access many resources, including but not limited to personal computer applications, online services, electronic mail, Web sites, and automatic teller machines (ATM). Within a personal computer, a user may require a password to log into the computer or network and access certain protected files or directories. Furthermore, a typical person today uses a plurality of computers, for example a home computer and a work computer. Therefore, the number of user IDs and passwords becomes increasingly difficult to remember.
Some users write down all user IDs and passwords in case they are forgotten. However, this creates a security risk if the paper on which the user IDs and passwords is lost or stolen. Other users simply forget their passwords, placing a burden on support personnel who must answer support calls and repeatedly change passwords for users. One solution is a single sign on system that allows a user to log on with a single user ID and password to access a plurality of resources. However, a single sign on system does not relieve the user of the burden of remembering user IDs and passwords for a plurality of computer systems, e.g., work computer, home computer, television Web appliance, and ATM.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a secure mechanism for managing passwords for multiple resources and computer systems.

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention provides a method for preparing microparticles comprising mixing a first cross-linkable reagent in aerosol form with a second cross-linking reagent in aerosol form to thereby to form microparticles.

Microencapsulation is a process in which thin films or coatings or solid/gel matrix surround tiny particles or droplets that could be of any state of matter (solids, liquids or gases). Resultant sealed minicapsules are known as microcapsules or microspheres collectively termed as microparticles, which are typically spherical in shape and contain active material or core material surrounded by continuous wall or trapped in the solid or gel matrix. The active material that is encapsulated is known as the core, internal phase, fill, payload, or nucleus, whereas the material encapsulating is known as shell, coating, membrane, or wall material. Microcapsules may vary in size ranging from sub-micrometer to several millimeters. Typically, the average particle size is in the ranges from 5-300 micron in diameter. Most microcapsules have diameters between a few micrometers and a few millimeters.
The aim of microencapsulation is to provide a substance (active) in a finely divided state, to preserve it from degradation by limiting its exposure to the external environment (e.g. heat, moisture, acid, air, light) and to release it at a controlled rate under specific conditions on demand. It also helps the manufacturers cost effectiveness by having control of the optimal usage of the active. Further, by encapsulation volatile, sensitive, and reactive compounds can be turned into stable ingredients. Thus, microencapsulation itself not only is an added-value technique but also produces ingredients with numerous features. Moreover, masking the flavour of an active and providing uniform dispersion are also salient features of micro encapsulation.
Hydrocolloid micro-particles can be prepared, for example, by the emulsification method, or by the dripping method. One shortcoming of the emulsification method is that of residual organic solvent left in the microparticles, while the dripping method has been found to be unsuitable for scale-up and subsequent applications. Large-scale preparation methods for hydrocolloid particles, such as alginate particles, have been previously disclosed. However, residual organic solvent remaining in the microparticles is constantly a concern. An air-atomisation technique has been investigated to produce alginate-polylysine micro-capsules of Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG). This method is based on batch processing, of spraying sodium alginate into a calcium chloride bath, from which micro-gels are then separated.
A variety of techniques exist for microencapsulation of active ingredients. The techniques have associated benefits but also drawbacks.
For example, in spray drying material to be encapsulated is dissolved thoroughly with a carrier material (such as modified starch, maltodextrin, gum etc) and this solution is then fed into spray drier and atomised with a nozzle/spinning wheel. Hot air in the drier evaporates water and particles are collected at the bottom of the drier. Whilst an economical process, with this method there is a limited choice of coating material available, as mostly aqueous feed is used so that the resultant wall material is soluble in water. Heat can also cause degradation and/or oxidation of some active materials during drying and subsequent loss. Adherence of the core materials to the surface of the particles also increases the risk of oxidation. Spray dried capsules are water-soluble and therefore, the integrity of the capsules can be lost during rehydration.
Extrusion techniques can be used for volatile and unstable flavours in carbohydrate matrices. In this method carbohydrates, mixture of sucrose and maltodextrin are fed and melted by heat and sheared in an extruder so that crystalline structure is changed into amorphous form. Carbohydrates like sugar, starch hydrolysate are mostly used as encapsulating matrix. The encapsulant (active) is added through another opening at a cool side of the extruder near the extruder die. Core material dissolves in carbohydrate matrix and then forced through series of dies which enable its shape. The coating material hardens when it comes into contact with the liquid and causes encapsulation. This technique can provide excellent stability against oxidation and heat sensitive materials like Lactobacillus acidophilus can be encapsulated. However, extrusion methodology typically produces large particle size (500-1000 μm) which limits its sensory use. Moreover this method is expensive, sophisticated and complex to perform. Extruded granules may also show stickiness and clumping, and pay load concentrations can be low.
In co-crystallization, sucrose is used as a matrix for the coating and entrapment of a core material. Sucrose syrup is first concentrated to a super saturated state at high temperature (above 120° C.) and low moisture (95-97° Brix) to prevent crystallization. Active material is then added to the concentrated syrup with vigorous agiatation. As the temperature continuously increases, the syrup reaches a temperature where transformation and crystallization starts and heat is emitted. Encapsulated material is discharged and dried. In this approach the load of active material is generally very low and the process cannot be used for encapsulating heat sensitive materials.
Gel encapsulation involves the encapsulation of an active material in a gel (usually an alginate) matrix. The gel is formed by cross-linking of a polymer in which the core materials are suspended or dissolved. The microparticles can be formed by a variety of techniques including includes extrusion, emulsification, air atomization, electrostatic atomization, jet break-up, spinning disk atomization and by using a micro-nozzle array. However, none of these approaches is without practical difficulties as noted below.
Extrusion is a non-continuous process which tends to produce microparticles of only large size, and scale up can be problematic.
With the emulsification process, the gel particles produced have oil attached and removal of oil, or separation of oil from the aqueous phase of the gel particles, is required. This can be messy, difficult and time-consuming. The process is also not continuous.
With air atomization a coating material (e.g. sodium alginate) is extruded through a syringe pump into an air atomizer device and sprayed into a reagent bath (e.g. calcium chloride). Divalent calcium ions cross link the sodium alginate droplets and form microgel particles. Scaling up can be a problem as large number of beads cannot be formed due to limited interfacial surface of the calcium bath. It is a non-continuous method and there is difficulty in separating the beads.
In electrostatic atomization (electrospray or electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA)) electrified liquid is dispersed to fine droplets where electrostatic force is working on the charged surface of a liquid. Coating material is supplied to a nozzle electrode by using a micro syringe pump and dc high voltage is applied to the nozzle against an earth electrode. The droplets are dropped down into aqueous calcium chloride. It is a non-continuous method and has less scale up potential. It also tends to be a complicated operation.
The jet break-up approach is further divided into two methods, i.e vibration nozzle technology and jet-cutter technology. With the vibration nozzle method a suspension solution is forced through a small orifice. The liquid jet breaks into equally sized droplets by a superimposed vibration and solidified to form particles. Beads are produced that are spherical in shape with diameter range of 0.1-3.0 mm. This is a non-continuous method used only for small scale production of beads as beads are formed one after the other.
With jet cutter technology a fluid suspension is passed at high velocity through a nozzle in the form of a jet. The nozzle jet is cut into small pieces by rotating cutting wires. These cut at regular intervals forming same sized drops which are gelled in a bath of crosslinking reagent. Though the production rate can be increased by up to five fold when compared with the vibrating nozzle method, a still higher production rate would be preferred.
Spinning disk atomization is mostly used in biotechnology and medical fields. This technology permits production capacities from grams/min when using a single disc up to tons/day for a multi disk system. In this method alginate solution is delivered on the disk via a peristaltic pump with variable flow rates. Alginate droplets of desired sizes are collected in a CaCl2 bath. This tends to be a non-continuous method.
Use of a micronozzle array involves feeding a coating solution (e.g. alginate) into a stream of oil (soybean oil) through a MN (micro-nozzle) array in an upper stream and a cross-linking agent (CaCl2) through the downstream area of the oil from another MN array. The alginate and CaCl2 droplets collide with one another in the oil and reaction takes place resulting in the form of gel particles. This tends to be a complex method and there is limited scale up potential.
With a Voretx-Bowl Disk Atomizer System coating material is fed onto a rotating disk through a distributor present at the center above the disk. A vortex bowl is attached to the top of the shaft. Gelation solution (CaCl2) is fed to the centre of the bowl underneath the disk. All disks are rotating. Centrifugal force creates a wall along the inner side of the bowl. Alginate ejecting through the disk collides the wall and gel particles are formed and collected from a vat of CaCl2. This process can be difficult to operate however.
The present invention seeks to provide a microgel encapsulation technique that does not suffer the drawbacks associated with the various techniques. Thus, the present invention seeks to provide a process that can be operated in a continuous manner and that is cheap and easy to operate. The present invention also seeks to provide a process that can produce a small size microparticle (for example of less than 50 μm) and that lends itself to scale up for microparticle production.

Device and method for preparing microparticles


The invention relates to a method for localizing a drilling device of an earth drilling apparatus, wherein a localization signal is emitted by the drilling device, said signal being received by an external receiver and evaluated for determining the position of the drilling device, wherein an output signal, which is converted into the localization signal, is fed to the drilling device via a connection line, which is connected to the drilling device.

The invention relates to a method for localizing a drilling device of an earth drilling apparatus.
When introducing boreholes in the soil, it is typically necessary to control the exact drilling path. This requires localizing the drilling device within the soil to check if the drilling device follows the prescribed drilling path by comparing the actual position of the drilling device with its nominal position.
Control of the drilling path is particularly important when producing a horizontal borehole. In particular, horizontal boreholes are introduced in the soil in the context of trench-less installation and trench-less exchange of supply lines, for example freshwater and sewage lines, telecommunication cables, etc., and frequently extend from a starting pit to a destination pit. However, it is also known to introduce horizontal boreholes into the soil by initially drilling into the soil from the ground surface at an angle, whereafter the borehole is deflected into the horizontal direction, with the borehole continuing over the predetermined distance, until the drilling device again reaches a destination pit; alternatively, the drilling device can also be redirected after the horizontal section of the drilling path, this time towards the ground surface, so that the drilling device again exits the soil at the ground surface. It is evident that controllable drilling devices are required for producing a drilling path that is not straight. However, the use of controllable drilling devices may also make sense when a straight borehole should be drilled from the starting pit towards the destination pit; the drilling device frequently hits an obstacle during advance of the drilling device, for example a rock which cannot be penetrated, or an already existing supply line (e.g., water, gas or electricity line) which must not be damaged. In this situation, the obstacle must be "driven around" by diverting the earth drilling apparatus. However, this maneuver requires a precise localizing of the drilling device and in particular of the drilling head of this drilling device.
Several systems are known in the art which can be used to localize a drilling device of an earth drilling apparatus in the soil. The conventional systems have each a transmitter arranged inside the drilling head or in another section of the drilling device of the earth drilling apparatus, wherein the transmitter should be localized as closely as possible near the drilling head. The transmitter transmits a localization signal which is received by a receiver arranged above ground. The receiver evaluates the received localization signal to determine the position of the sensor and hence of the drilling head in the soil.
In one conventional system for localizing a drilling device, the drilling device has a magnetic dipole in the region of the drilling head which is rotatively driven together with the drilling device of the earth drilling apparatus. The magnetic field emitted by the magnetic dipole is measured by a receiver unit arranged above ground as a changing magnetic field, from which the position of the magnetic dipole and its orientation can be determined; the position and orientation of the drilling head can be directly determined due to the fixed arrangement between the magnetic dipole and the drilling head.
Other conventional systems based on the same principle for localizing a drilling device use a separate drive for the magnetic dipole, so that a localizing function can also be attained when the drilling device does not rotate.
Still other conventional systems use for producing the time-dependent magnetic field instead of a rotating magnetic dipole one or several coils to which an AC voltage is applied.
In the conventional systems, the transmitters arranged in the drilling devices are designed as active transmitters, i.e., they generate the corresponding localization signal either permanently without supply of an external signal or from energy (e.g., the aforedescribed system based on a permanent magnet), or the transmitters are supplied with electric energy and produce the localization signal by way of a corresponding conversion of the electric energy. The transmitters are typically supplied with energy from batteries. To eliminate the maintenance costs associated with changing the batteries, it has also been proposed to drive a mini-generator arranged in the drilling head with the flushing fluid which is provided anyway and introduced into the soil to improve the advance of the drilling device and to flush the drilling debris out of the borehole.
The conventional systems are technically complex and can retrofitted into existing drilling devices of earth drilling apparatuses either not at all or only at significant costs. Systems including electrical components (e.g., the rotary drive for the magnetic dipole, a coil, etc.) are frequently also susceptive to malfunction, because the electrical components can be damaged by the vibrations and impacts that are present during the drilling operation.
Based on this state-of-the-art, it was the object of the invention to provide an improved method for localizing a drilling device of an earth drilling apparatus which ameliorates these disadvantages. In addition, a corresponding system for localizing a drilling device of an earth drilling apparatus is provided.

Method for localizing a drilling device of an earth drilling apparatus


in particular for a motor vehicle, includes a high pressure chamber containing a gas cushion acting as a spring, and a working cylinder which is filled with damping medium under pressure of the gas cushion. A working piston carried by a hollow piston rod divides the working cylinder into two working spaces, wherein one of the working spaces is connected to the high pressure chamber to drive the piston under the pressure of the gas cushion, the piston having at least one non-return valve which permits flow from the one working space to the other working space. A piston pump has a pump cylinder formed by the hollow piston rod and a hollow pump rod received in the piston rod, the pump rod having a bore with one end connected to a low pressure chamber and another end carrying a non-return valve which permits flow from the low pressure chamber into the hollow piston rod, and a cut-off orifice which connects the one working space to the low pressure chamber as a function of the position of the piston in the working cylinder. An adjustable damping valve is connected to a duct running from the other working space, the valve having an actuating element acted on by the pressure in the high pressure chamber and the pressure in the low pressure chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a selfpumping hydropneumatic spring strut with internal level control, in particular for motor vehicles, with a working cylinder filled with damping medium under the pressure of at least one gas cushion arranged in a high-pressure chamber and acting as a spring, which working cylinder is subdivided into two working spaces by a working piston carried by a hollow piston rod. A piston pump which is driven by means of the spring movements and conveys damping medium out of a low-pressure chamber into the working space connected to the high-pressure chamber has a pump cylinder formed by the hollow piston rod, into which penetrates a hollow pump rod which is fastened to the working cylinder and at its front end carries a suction valve and the bore of which is connected to the low-pressure chamber. A cut-off orifice in the pump rod can be closed as a function of the position of the working piston in the working cylinder and connects the working space connected to the high-pressure chamber to a cut-off duct issuing into the low-pressure chamber. The damping medium flows through the working piston in one direction via at least one nonreturn valve, a duct running from one working space to an adjustable damping valve.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spring struts of this type are known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,693), in which the working cylinder is subdivided into two working spaces by a working piston carried by a piston rod and in which nonreturn valves are arranged in such a way that the flow of the damping medium runs in the same direction. This means that the damping medium constantly flows in one direction, irrespective of the direction of movement of the working piston, the damping medium in each case flowing from one working space via a duct, past an adjustable damping valve, directly into the high-pressure space or, with the piston rod extended under corresponding pressure conditions, into the other working space. Since the hollow pump rod is connected to the low-pressure space via a bore, in such a configuration both an internal level control of the system and an externally activatable, continuously adjustable damping-force control can be brought about.
Furthermore, spring struts are known (GB 2,035,511, U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,444), in which the working cylinder is subdivided into two working spaces by a working piston carried by a piston rod and in which the working piston is provided with valves for generating a damping force. In this case, a corresponding damping valve is provided for each direction of movement of the working piston. These damping valves serve for generating a specific predetermined damping force in the respective piston speed range and/or load range.

Selfpumping hydropneumatic spring strut with internal level control