Thiazole derivatives having pyrazine-2-carbonylamino substituted at the 2-position of the following formula (I):

Important roles of the lower urinary tract are urine storage and voiding, which are regulated by a coordinated action of the bladder and the urethra. That is, during urine storage, the bladder smooth muscle is relaxed and the urethral sphincter is contracted, whereby a state of high urethral resistance is maintained and urinary continence is thus maintained. On the other hand, during voiding, while the bladder smooth muscle is contracted, the urethral smooth muscle is relaxed, and contraction of the external urethral sphincter is also inhibited. Examples of disorders in the lower urinary tract include storage dysfunctions such as overactive bladder in which urine cannot be retained during urine storage and voiding dysfunctions in which urine cannot be drained sufficiently during voiding due to increase in the urethral resistance or decrease in the bladder contractile force. These two dysfunctions may develop simultaneously in some cases.
Voiding dysfunctions are caused by a decrease in the bladder contractile force or an increase in urethral resistance during voiding, and lead to voiding difficulty, straining during voiding, attenuation of the urinary stream, extension of voiding time, an increase in residual urine, a decrease in voiding efficiency, or the like. A decrease in the bladder contractile force during voiding is called underactive bladder, acontractile bladder, or the like. As a factor for decreasing the bladder contractile force during voiding, there are known increasing age, diabetes mellitus, benign prostatic hyperplasia, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, nerve damage caused by pelvic surgery, and the like (Reviews in Urology, 15: pp. 11-22 (2013)).
As a mechanism that induces bladder contraction during voiding, involvement of muscarinic receptor stimulation is known. In other words, the pelvic nerve that is a parasympathetic nerve innervating the bladder is excited during voiding, and acetylcholine is released from nerve terminals. The released acetylcholine binds to a muscarinic receptor in the bladder smooth muscle to cause contraction of the bladder smooth muscle (Journal of Pharmacological Sciences, 112: pp. 121-127 (2010)). The muscarinic receptors are currently divided into five subtypes, M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5, and it is known that a subtype involved in contraction of the bladder smooth muscle is mainly M3 (Pharmacological Reviews, 50: pp. 279-290 (1998), and The Journal of Neuroscience, 22: pp. 10627-10632 (2002)).
As a therapeutic agent for a decrease in the bladder contractile force during voiding, bethanechol chloride which is a non-selective muscarinic receptor agonist or distigmine bromide which is a choline esterase inhibitor is known. However, it is known that these drugs have cholinergic side effects, such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and sweating. Further, cholinergic crisis is sometimes occurred as a serious side effect, therefore carefulness is required for the use (UBRETID (registered trademark) tablet 5 mg package insert, Torii Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Besacolin (registered trademark) powder 5% package insert, Eisai Co., Ltd.).
On the other hand, as a cause of an increase in urethral resistance, a voiding dysfunction associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia is well-known, which is characterized by partial obstruction of the urethra due to nodular hypertrophy of the prostate tissues. Adrenergic α1 receptor antagonists have now been used as therapeutic agents for the voiding dysfunction associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (Pharmacology, 65: pp. 119-128 (2002)). On the other hand, the effectiveness of adrenergic α1 receptor antagonists on voiding dysfunctions not associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia is unclear, as compared with the voiding dysfunction associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (Journal of Pharmacological Sciences, 112: pp. 121-127 (2010)).
Further, in voiding dysfunctions caused by a decrease in the bladder contractile force or an increase in the urethral resistance, residual urine after voiding may be observed in some cases. Increased residual urine may cause a decrease in effective bladder capacity, and thus cause overactive bladder symptoms such as urinary frequency, or severe symptoms, such as hydronephrosis, in some cases.
There is a demand for a therapeutic agent which is more effective on bladder or urinary tract diseases or symptoms thereof caused by a decrease in the bladder contractile force or an increase in the urethral resistance during voiding.
In Patent Document 1, it is described that a compound represented by the following general formula (A), including a compound of the following formula A1 disclosed in Example 315, has a Ba/F3 cell proliferative activity through a human c-myeloproliferative leukemia virus type P (c-Mpl) and has a thrombocyte increasing activity.

(in which R3 represents an aromatic hetero ring which may be substituted. For the other symbols, refer to the patent publication.)
In Patent Document 2, it is described that a compound represented by the following general formula (B), including a compound of the following formula B1 disclosed as the compound 38, has an activating effect on an AMPK pathway.

(in which a ring B represents a heteroarylene or the like, J represents —NR13C(O)— or the like, D1, D2, and D3 represent N, CH, or the like, and E represents —NR1R2 or the like. For the other symbols, refer to the patent publication.)

2-acylaminothiazole derivative or salt thereof

Abstract: are excellent muscarinic M3 receptor positive allosteric modulators, and are useful for treating bladder or urinary tract diseases, related to bladder contraction by a muscarinic M3 receptor. The 2-acylaminothiazole derivatives and salts thereof can be used for treating bladder or urinary tract diseases, related to bladder contraction by a muscarinic M3 receptor, for example, voiding dysfunctions such as underactive bladder.


A novel aluminum nitride material having a low room temperature volume resistivity is provided. The aluminum nitride material has an aluminum nitride main component and includes at least 0.03 mol % of europium oxide. The aluminum nitride material has an aluminum nitride phase and an europium-aluminum composite oxide phase. An aluminum nitride material also provided having an aluminum nitride main component, wherein a total content of europium oxide and samarium oxide is at least 0.09 mol %. The aluminum nitride material has an aluminum nitride phase and a composite oxide phase containing at least europium and aluminum.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an aluminum nitride material and a member for use in the production of semiconductors.
2. Related Art Statement
An electrostatic chuck system utilizing Johnson-Rahbek effect is useful for the adsorption and retention of semiconductor wafers. In such system, the volume resistivity of the substrate of the chuck may preferably be 108 to 1013 Ω·cm for improving adsorption force and speed of response. It is therefore desirable to control the volume resistivity of the substrate within 108 to 1013 Ω·cm in a temperature range intended for use, in the development of an electrostatic chuck.
For example, the assignee filed Japanese patent publication 9-315, 867A and disclosed a method of adding a trace amount of yttrium oxide into aluminum nitride having a high purity to control the volume resistivity at room temperature at a value between 108 to 1013 Ω·cm.
The assignee has further filed U.S. Patent publication 2002-0110709A1 and disclosed an aluminum nitride sintered body containing samarium in a content of 0.04 mole percent or more to generate continuous samarium-aluminum oxide phase. The thus obtained sintered body has a volume resistivity of 1012 Ω·cm or lower at room temperature.

Aluminum nitride materials and members for use in the production of semiconductors


A pacing signal processing method, a system and an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor, the method includes collecting at a high sampling rate the original ECG signal from a surface, obtaining the parameter and position information of a pacing signal according to the sampling points, and displaying the pacing signal morphology and/or parameter information of the pacing signal.

A cardiac pacemaker ("pacemaker") is an electronic therapeutic instrument implanted in the body for treating cardiac dysfunctions caused by certain arrhythmias. In operation, it releases electric pulses energized by a battery by means of a pulse generator to stimulate the cardiac muscles in contact with wired electrodes. For a patient having a pacemaker implanted in his or her heart, it is necessary to check the operational status of the pacemaker. Since the pacemaker can transmit wireless signals, a special test device (e.g., a programmer) may be used to wirelessly receive various operating parameters of the pacemaker and the ECG pacing pulse waveforms in the body, after which an evaluation on the operating state of the pacemaker and an adjustment on the pacemaker's operating parameter may be carried out in conjunction with the conventional surface electrocardiogram (ECG). However, since pacemakers are produced by different manufactures, they are not applicable to a same type of programmers, and thus the pacing morphology, the parameter information, as well as the operating status of the instrument and accessories are not available unless the model of pacemaker is known and then the corresponding programmer detection device is determined. Although this solution can provide evaluation, configuration, and adjustment of operating parameters of a pacemaker and can directly monitor the pacemaker, the process is troublesome and cannot be easily used for screening and monitoring.
Additionally, when ECG monitoring is performed on a patient with a pacemaker implanted in his heart, the electric signals detected on the surface also include the electric signals generated by the pacemaker other than the ECG signals generated by the heart itself. The conventional pacing pulse detection can only show whether the pacemaker has been triggered, and cannot distinguish biatrial or biventricular pacing or gain any more information, such as morphology, width, height, polarity, duration and so on of the pacemaker. Therefore, it is not possible to convincingly distinguish interference from the pacing pulses, causing medical care personnel to sometimes doubt about the accuracy of the information concerning the pacemaker's operating status.
On the other hand, the surface ECG signal from a patient with a pacemaker is mixed with the pacemaker's electrical stimulation signals. After low-pass filtering by a conventional ECG circuit, pacemaker electrical stimulation signals rich in high frequency components would lead to width broadening while attenuating the signal amplitude. The signal broadening may lead to the ECG signals in a longer period being mixed with the pacing signals so as to affect the ECG analysis. Accordingly, there is a need to remove pacing signals from the electric signals detected on the surface. With regard to biatrial or biventricular pacing, the interval between two pacing signals is very short, and the width broadening deformation of the preceding pacing signal may affect the recognition and processing of the subsequent pacing signal, i.e., the pacing detection is affected, which will consequently affect the smoothing process on the pacing signals.

Pacing signal processing method, system and electrocardiogram monitor

SHENZHEN MINDRAY BIO-MEDICAL ELECTRONICS CO., LTD


Methods are provided of inhibiting subterranean groundwater flow through a window in frozen soil including (i) introducing at least one conductor having at least one discharge aperture in proximity to the window; and (ii) discharging a grout material including C-18 alpha olefin or a combination of C-16 alpha olefin and C-18 alpha olefin in a flowable state from the at least one conductor, wherein the grout material, upon being discharged, permeates into surrounding soil materials generally without displacement thereof and wherein the grout forms a barrier to inhibit subterranean groundwater flow through the window.

A major concern with construction work zones such as shafts is the control of groundwater particularly at the junction of water-bearing soils and the underlying rock. Considerable efforts have been made to find means for satisfactorily reducing or minimizing soil erosion when excavation proceeds through such a junction.
Many geotechnical construction techniques exist for forming subterranean barriers that provide a groundwater cutoff and/or supporting excavation for a work zone. These techniques include installing sheet pile walls, cement/soil bentonite slurry trench cut off walls, concrete slurry walls, soil mixed walls, permeation grouted barriers, jet grouted barriers and artificial ground freezing walls (freeze walls).
At certain construction or excavation sites, digging must be conducted sufficiently deep where groundwater is encountered. When no barrier is provided to the groundwater flow, excavation below the groundwater table will result in ground subsidence and flooding of the excavation site. Artificial ground freezing is a technique where a perimetrical artificially frozen wall is created about the excavation site to act as a barrier against groundwater flow into the excavation site. With reference to FIGS. 1-2, an excavation site 10 is shown which extends through the waterbearing strata (zone) 12. The waterbearing strata are formed of soil and rock materials with varying permeability therein prior to freezing of the ground. To achieve artificial ground freezing, a plurality of freeze pipes 14 are disposed about the excavation site 10, prior to excavation. The freeze pipes 14, depending on the specific application, may be provided with sufficient length to extend to or into bedrock 16. Groundwater flow passes through soil material 18 which is located within the groundwater table 12 above the bedrock 16 which is assumed (generally) to provide an impervious barrier to groundwater flow. As such, there are minimal concerns with groundwater flow below frozen ground 26.
The freeze pipes 14 form a continuous circulating path for chilled brine which has a freezing temperature below that of water. A refrigeration unit 20 is provided on-site which allows for the chilling of the brine and pumping thereof through the freeze pipes 14. To artificially freeze the ground, particularly the soil material 18, the chilled brine is continuously passed through the freeze pipes 14. With reference to FIG. 2, with passage of an initial period of time, such as three weeks, some freezing 22 of the soil material 18 located about the freeze pipes 14 is achieved. With passage of additional time, such as six weeks, additional freezing occurs such that a continuous frozen barrier 24 may be defined about the freeze pipes 14. With further passage of time (e.g., 12 weeks), a solid robust barrier of frozen ground 26 may be created which has sufficient thickness and strength to provide support for the excavation in addition to preventing flow of groundwater therethrough. With a sufficiently robust barrier being formed, work may be performed at the excavation site 10 within the robust barrier 26 without ground subsidence or groundwater entering therein. The chilled brine is continuously pumped through the freeze pipes 14 to ensure that the robust barrier 26 is maintained during excavation.
It has been found that the soil material 18 may freeze at different rates. Several factors may contribute to this variation, including the rate of groundwater flow which may vary at different elevations in the soil material 18. In particular, a fairly rapid flow of groundwater may be difficult to freeze using artificial ground freezing techniques. To ensure that the soil material 18 is sufficiently frozen to permit excavation, temperature measurements are taken along the elevation of the soil material 18. For example, with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, isotherms "T" in the soil material 18 may be determined by measuring temperature at various locations about the freeze pipes 14. Where sufficient freezing has been achieved of the soil material 18 with negligible groundwater flow, the isotherms "T" define a fairly regular pattern as shown in FIG. 3A. However, with reference to FIG. 3B, where sufficient freezing has not been achieved, e.g., due to groundwater flow, the isotherms "T" about the freeze pipes 14 are distorted. As shown in FIG. 4, the isotherms "T" may be plotted vertically to evaluate the depth at which insufficient freezing may exist. Where a spot or area of insufficient freezing "A" is identified, an opening (so-called "window") may be located through the frozen wall through which groundwater may pass.
Moving groundwater is generally recognized as the most adversarial condition for ground freezing, resulting in freeze formation (closure) difficulties and, if undetected, freeze failures. Movement of groundwater during freeze formation puts an extra heat load on the freeze pipes and the refrigeration plant, preventing or requiring more time to achieve "closure" and a continuous frozen wall. Where the groundwater velocity is high, groundwater flowing past a single freeze pipe transfers the cooling effect downstream which, in plan view, results in an egg-shaped formation of frozen soil around the pipe, growing more slowly on the upstream side (FIG. 3B). Where the groundwater velocity is sufficiently high, groundwater flowing past a single freeze pipe introduces such a large amount of heat energy that growth of a frozen zone into the stream of the groundwater flow is inhibited.
Generally, a pre-freezing groundwater velocity (Darcy velocity) greater than 1 to 2 m/day may result in a freeze with window(s) which must be closed by other means. For example, via additional refrigeration effort with additional freeze pipes that employ chilled brine or the use of an alternate freezing agent (e.g., liquid nitrogen), reducing groundwater gradients, or most commonly, grouting to reduce the ground permeability.
Where groundwater velocity in excess of 1 to 2 m/day is suspected, periodic temperature profiling of the freeze pipes is performed by measuring the static and stabilized brine temperature approximately every 0.5 m within each of the freeze pipes. Anomalous warm spots may be an indication of a window in the freeze wall. However, as the temperature profiling is obtained from within the freeze pipes themselves, at the time a potential closure problem becomes evidence, the frozen wall will typically be on the order of 2 to 3 m thick with access to the location of the window limited by the presence of frozen ground. Hence, additional boreholes are drilled at least 3 m away from the alignment of the freeze pipes. In some instances, warm spots are well defined and the location of the window can be precisely located, although oftentimes, the window is not well defined and requires application of additional measures such as grouting to a broad area with a "shotgun" type of approach. In short, closure of a window in the freeze wall requires additional measures that not only delay construction but raise the cost associated therewith substantially.
Conventional permeation grouting techniques and materials have several shortcomings. Namely, the setting of conventional grouts (both cementitious and chemical) is significantly delayed at colder temperatures. This renders conventional grouts less effective as they permeate the soil and approach the colder temperatures at and near the window. Also, permeation grouting cannot be performed with a grout which consists of one or more individual components that have a relatively low freezing point as the grout may not set at the temperatures encountered in the window. Additionally, conventional permeation grouts that are aqueous suspensions or solutions and water soluble (e.g., cement-based grouts, silicate grouts and acrylate grouts) are susceptible to dilution by the groundwater flow. Also, such conventional permeation grouts can be adversely affected by groundwater chemistry.
Cementitious grout (e.g., cement grout with bentonite and other additives) is commonly used as it is readily available, easily mixed with standard equipment and the unit cost of material is low. Cementitious grout is pumped into surrounding soil material to form an auxiliary barrier against the groundwater flow and cause the window(s) in the frozen wall to be sealed from the groundwater flow. However, cementitious grout generates a heat of hydration which can be confused with the warmth of flowing groundwater, making it difficult to evaluate the conditions as the work proceeds. Further, the heat of hydration is counterproductive to freezing in that it introduces additional heat to the situation. Under sufficiently cold situations, the cementitious grout may freeze or set (or at least have components thereof set). With the discharge of the cementitious grout into the voids of the surrounding soil materials, slow or no setting may result in a discontinuous grout matrix. Moreover, the groundwater flow may cause non-set grout to wash away. In fact, the quantity of grout required for some projects indicate that in some instances the grout is most likely effective by altering the permeability of the surrounding groundwater regime rather than by directly plugging the window(s).
Thus, there is a need for improved methods of inhibiting subterranean groundwater flow through a window or opening in frozen soil.

Methods of inhibiting subterranean groundwater flow through an opening in frozen soil


A process for recovering at least one precious metal from an ore containing carbonaceous material is disclosed. The process involves the use of promoting amounts of certain metal redox couples and/or metal components, in particular, certain metal complexes with ligands.. Preferred metal compositions comprise at least one of (1) redox cyclable vanadium (5+) ligand complex, (2) redox cyclable iron (3+) ligand complex, and (3) redox cyclable manganese (3+) ligand complex. In the process, the use of at least one regenerable component capable of maintaining the complexed metal in the desired oxidation state provides for integrated process synergy.

This invention relates to a process for recovering at least one metal, e.g., gold, silver, the platinum group metals and the like, from an ore containing reducible manganese and the metal. The invention also relates to a process for recovering at least one metal, e.g., as noted above, from an ore containing metal sulfides and the metal to be recovered. In particular, the invention relates to a process which involves processing a metal-containing ore so as to facilitate the recovery of the metal from the ore.
Reducible manganese-containing ores quite often contain metal values which are difficult to recover because of the "locking" nature of the manganese in the ore. For example, the occurrence of manganese-locked silver ores has long been a problem for ore processors. Conventional smelting can treat small, limited quantities of manganese-locked silver ores when processing conventional ores. The manganese must be properly slagged to prevent attack of the crucibles. This consumes silica, increases energy required, and contributes to metal loss in the slag. Manganese-locked silver ores may be leached with sodium cyanide to recover silver, but such recovery is often limited by the manganese content. Manganese in such ores "locks" the silver in the ore by, for example, blocking access by the sodium cyanide solution to the silver-bearing or silver minerals.
Metal sulfide-containing ores often contain metal values, such as gold, silver, the platinum group metals and the like, which are difficult to recover because of the "locking" nature of the metal sulfide in the ore. For example, the occurrence of insoluble metal sulfide-locked gold ores has long been a problem for ore processors. In addition, electrum-containing ores are also difficult to process for the recovery of precious metal values.
Use of sodium cyanide to remove silver from manganese-locked silver ores or to remove gold from such gold metal sulfide-containing ores is usually uneconomical. Moreover, stringent air pollution control regulations and low metal prices have forced smelters to shut down or select ores from which metal values can be recovered relatively easily. Ores which include "locking" manganese (e.g., containing about 0.5% to about 35% by weight of manganese) are often considered marginal and may not be processed.
Commonly assigned U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 858,056 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,332 and 858,369, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,243 filed Apr. 30, 1986, disclose processes for the recovery of various metal values, e.g., silver, gold, and the platinum group metals, involving the use of reducible manganese components. These applications also include a more detailed discussion of certain prior art references. Also, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 931246, filed Nov. 17, 1986, discloses a process to reduce the sulfur content of coal and petroleum. All of these applications are incorporated in their entireties by reference herein. There continues to be a need for improved processing to recover metal values, in particular from reducible manganese-containing ores and metal sulfide ores.

Precious metal recovery process from sulfide ores


A camshaft assembly includes an inner shaft, an outer tube surrounding and rotatable relative to the inner shaft, and two groups of cam lobes mounted on the outer tube. The first group of cam lobes is fast in rotation with the outer tube and the second group is rotatably mounted on the outer tube and connected for rotation with the inner shaft by means of pins that pass with clearance through slots in the outer tube. A spring is incorporated in the camshaft assembly to bias the inner shaft relative to the outer tube towards one extreme of its angular range.

An adjustable camshaft assembly as set forth above, herein also termed an SCP (single cam phaser) camshaft, allows variable valve timing to be implemented in engines having different valves operated by lobes on the same camshaft. A phaser mounted on one end of the SCP camshaft allows the inner shaft and/or the outer tube to be rotated relative to a crankshaft driven pulley to permit the timing of at least one of the two groups of cam lobes to be altered in relation to the crankshaft timing.
There are numerous known types of phase change mechanisms, or phasers, some of which, for example vane-type phasers, are hydraulically operated. Within such phasers intended for use with a solid camshaft, it is known to incorporate a spring to bias the phaser into an extreme end position, to enable the engine to start and idle correctly while there is still insufficient oil pressure to operate the phaser. An example of such a phaser is described in US 2003/0217718.


A method for user authentication based on feature information includes: judging whether a user to be authenticated belongs to a similar user group, wherein the similar user group comprises at least two similar users, and the similar users are users whose reference feature information meets a preset similarity condition and a preset distinguishability condition; and authenticating the user to be authenticated according to reference feature information in the similar user group if the user to be authenticated belongs to the similar user group.

Face recognition, as a recognition technology with good user experience, is increasingly widely applied in many scenarios. The principle of the face recognition is collecting a face image of a target user, extracting an image feature, comparing the image feature with a picture or image feature pre-stored by the target user in a system, and deciding the identity authenticity of the user according to a comparison result.
However, the existing face recognition technology may not achieve a 100% accuracy rate. For example, a misrecognition may occur in such a special case as similar faces (e.g., identical twins, father and son, mother and daughter, "celebrity faces," and the like), and the misrecognition usually brings trouble to life or work of a user, or even causes an account and funds of the user to be stolen. Therefore, recognition of similar faces is a difficult problem in face recognition.
To prevent the aforementioned misrecognition, risky users who possibly have similar faces are all shielded in the existing art, that is, risky users are not allowed to use face recognition. However, with the wide application of the face recognition technology, the user base of the face recognition technology also grows dramatically, which also causes a rapid increase in the number of users with similar looks. As a result, it is difficult to perform the shielding-based misrecognition prevention method in practical applications. In addition, the shielding method may not solve the misrecognition problem of similar faces fundamentally.

Method and apparatus for user authentication based on feature information


A new method of fabricating a stacked gate Flash EEPROM device having an improved stacked gate topology is described. Isolation regions are formed on and in a semiconductor substrate. A tunneling oxide layer is provided on the surface of the semiconductor substrate. A first polysilicon layer is deposited overlying the tunneling oxide layer. The first polysilicon layer is polished away until the top surface of the polysilicon is flat and parallel to the top surface of the semiconductor substrate. The first polysilicon layer is etched away to form the floating gate. The source and drain regions are formed within the semiconductor substrate. An interpoly dielectric layer is deposited overlying the first polysilicon layer. A second polysilicon layer is deposited overlying the interpoly dielectric layer. The second polysilicon layer and the interpoly dielectric layer are etched away to form a control gate overlying the floating gate. An insulating layer is deposited overlying the oxide layer and the control gate. Contact openings are formed through the insulating layer to the underlying control gate and to the underlying source and drain regions. The contact openings are filled with a conducting layer to complete the fabrication of the Flash EEPROM device.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of fabricating semiconductor memory structures, and more particularly, to the formation of Flash Electically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memories (EEPROM) with a planar stacked gate.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Flash EEPROMs are a well-known class of semiconductor devices in the art. These devices are used in many digital circuit applications where binary data must be retained even if the application system power is removed. Further, theses devices allow the data to be altered, or re-written, during normal operations.
EEPROM memory devices employ floating gates; that is Field Effect Transistor (FET) gates completely surrounded by an isolating layer such as silicon oxide. The presence of charge on these floating gates effectively shifts the threshold voltage of the FET. This effect can be detected by additional circuitry such that the charge state of the floating gate can be used to represent binary information. Specifically, FLASH EEPROM memories employ EEPROM cells in a configuration that allows for the bulk erasing, or flashing, of large blocks of memory cells in a normal circuit application without using any external data erasing source, such as ultra-violet light.
FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view of a partially completed prior art EEPROM memory cell. The cell contains a substrate 11 typically composed of lightly P-doped monocrystalline silicon. Isolation regions 12 extend above and below the substrate surface to effectively isolate this memory cell from surrounding cells. The region defined along the substrate surface between the two isolation regions 12 is called the active region. A tunneling oxide layer 13 overlays the substrate 11 and the isolation regions 12. A polysilicon floating gate 14 overlays the tunneling oxide 13. The tunneling oxide 13 serves as an isolator between the floating gate 14 and the substrate 11. An interpoly dielectric film 15 of oxide-nitride-oxide, or ONO, overlays the floating gate 14. Another layer of polysilicon forms the control gate 16 of the memory cell. The interpoly dielectric film 15 serves as an isolator between the control gate 16 and the floating gate 14. The overlaying layers of control gate 16, interpoly dielectric 15, floating gate 14, and tunneling oxide 13 over substrate 11 form a stacking gate structure. Additional layers that are not shown include the typical N+ buried layer bit lines, metal layers used for connectivity, inter-metal dielectrics, and passivations.
Data is stored in the EEPROM cells by the storage of a charge on the floating gate 14. Because this gate 14 is electrically isolated from both the substrate 11 and the control gate 16, a charge can be stored for indefinite periods without any voltage applied to the gate 14. To charge or write data to the floating gate 14, a voltage must be applied from the control gate 16 to the substrate 11. This voltage is divided across the capacitor formed by the control gate 16, the interpoly dielectric 15, and the floating gate 14, and the capacitor formed by the floating gate 14, the tunneling oxide 13, and the substrate 11. If the voltage from the floating gate 14 to the substrate 11 is large enough, charge movement will occur as electrons tunnel from the substrate 11 to the floating gate 14 through the tunneling oxide layer 13. When the voltage from control gate 16 to substrate 11 is reduced or removed, the charge is trapped on the floating gate 14 and the data is retained in the memory cell. The presence of this charge increases the threshold voltage of the memory cell FET, and this can be detected by a cell sense circuit.
A prominent feature of the prior art is severe topology introduced by the field oxide 12 isolation. Because the polysilicon floating gate 14 overlaps this isolation 12, as well as the tunneling oxide layer 13, all of the subsequent layers of material reflect this topology.
This severe topology affects the stacking gate structure in the several adverse ways. First, the effective thickness L1 of the stacking gate in the center of the active region is different from the effective thickness L2 of the stacking gate near the isolation, region.
Second, the severe topology increases the occurrence and severity of polysilicon residue remaining between polysilicon traces after photolithographic etching. This can cause shorting between adjacent floating gates 14 and between adjacent control gates 16. Polysilicon residue also causes poor interpoly dielectric quality.
The third problem caused by the severe topology is active region trenching. As can be seen in the cross-sectional illustration, a lowered trench is formed over the active region due to the topology of the field oxide, isolation 12.
Prior art attempts to reduce the severe topology in the stacking gate caused by the field oxide isolation, have utilized a Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) process after polysilicon floating gate deposition to plane the polysilicon layer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,813 to Acocella et al discloses a high density Flash EEPROM having an improved floating gate self-aligned process and teaches the use of a nitride layer over a recessed oxide to act as an etch stop for the polysilicon CMP step. U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,525 to Hsu et al shows an EEPROM with an improved coupling ratio. U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,566 to Ota shows a memory cell with self-aligned contacts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,415 to Hong shows a method for forming a buried bit line Flash EEPROM.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an effective and very manufacturable method of fabricating a stacked gate Flash EEPROM device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an effective and very manufacturable method of fabricating a stacked gate Flash EEPROM device having an improved stacked layer topology.
In accordance with the objects of this invention, a new method of fabricating a stacked gate Flash EEPROM device having an improved stacked layer topology is achieved. A semiconductor substrate is provided. Field oxide regions are formed in this substrate. A tunneling oxide layer is provided on the entire substrate surface. A first polysilicon layer is deposited overlying the tunneling oxide layer. This first polysilicon layer is polished away until it is flat, without exposing the tunneling oxide, field oxide, or substrate underlying the first polysilicon layer. The first polysilicon is then etched to define the floating gate. Source and drain regions associated with the floating gate are formed within the semiconductor substrate. An interpoly dielectric is deposited overlying the planar first polysilicon layer and the oxide layer. A second polysilicon layer is deposited overlying the interpoly dielectric. The second polysilicon layer and interpoly dielectric are then etched to define the control gate overlying the floating gate. An insulating layer is deposited overlying the control gate and the oxide layer. Contact openings are formed through the insulating layer to the underlying control gate and to the underlying source and drain regions. The contact openings are filled with a conducting layer to complete the fabrication of the Flash EEPROM device.
Also in accordance with the objects of this invention, a stacked gate Flash EEPROM device having an improved stacked layer topology is described. Field oxide isolations define active areas in the semiconductor substrate. A tunneling oxide overlies the semiconductor substrate. A polysilicon floating gate overlies the tunneling oxide. This polysilicon layer, where defined, has a flat topology. Source and gate regions lie within the semiconductor substrate. An interpoly dielectric overlies the polysilicon layer. A control gate of polysilicon overlies the interpoly dielectric. An insulating layer overlies the semiconductor substrate and the control gate. A patterned metal layer overlies the insulating layer and extends through contact openings in the insulating layer to the underlying control gate and to the underlying source and drain regions to complete the Flash EEPROM device.

Method to fabricate a flash memory cell with a planar stacked gate

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


A toy gun for launching a foam projectile from a launch station that is offset from the axis of the launcher. The gun includes a pneumatic launcher having a retractable plunger that reciprocates in a cylinder to define a compression chamber. One or more air ports are provided to communicate air from the compression chamber to the launch station in order to eject a projectile therefrom. The plunger incorporates a hollow shaft having transparent ends which are aligned with the transparent compression chamber, thus providing a continuous line of sight through said shaft and the compression chamber for aiming the gun toward an intended target.

Toy guns are generally well known in the art. It is widely accepted that the most popular toy guns are those guns which actually launch a projectile because such guns satisfy a child's desire for realism. Of the projectile launching guns, those which launch soft foam projectiles are especially desirable, because the projectiles are durable and extremely safe. These guns typically include a spring-loaded reciprocating plunger which launches the projectile or dart using a blast of air.
However, the attention span of a typical child is relatively limited. Accordingly, many attempts have been made to enhance the play value of toys in general, and toy guns in particular. For example, multi-concept toys are becoming increasingly popular, such as toys that convert from an action figure into a vehicle, or toys that convert from an innocent looking object such as a radio or a camera into a weapon. Some toy guns have been adapted to launch more then one type of projectile, or to launch projectiles in two directions simultaneously. Still other toy guns have been modified to separate into two or more separate weapons.
Today's child apparently is drawn to those toy guns that are increasingly complex and realistic, and which incorporate or appear to incorporate futuristic elements. For example, some toy guns are popular simply because they have a space age appearance, which stimulates the child's imagination into thinking he or she is playing with a laser or ray gun. Some toys guns are popular because they incorporate additional features such as sights, light sources, sound effects, or magazines capable of holding extra ammunition. Accordingly, there is a continuing need for increasingly complex and futuristic toy guns that will enhance the toy's play value and that will stimulate a child's imagination.

Toy gun having an offset projectile launch and transparent viewfinding plunger


A wireline monitor performs the following tasks:. it gives an alarm at a predetermined percentage of cycle life and can give a reading of the percentage of cycle life at any point on the wire; PA0 an alarm sounds when the weight on the wire exceeds the rated weight; PA0 it logs well head pressure; PA0 it monitors the location of the end of the wireline to prevent a blow-out-preventer (b.o.p.) valve from closing and cutting the wireline and to prevent the wireline from being pulled off of a wireline tool when it reaches the top of the hole; and PA0 it can shut down the wireline unit in response to any of the measurements which it is making.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireline units, and more particularly to apparatus for improving the safety and reliability of wireline units.
2. General Background of the Invention
In drilling of oil and gas wells, a wireline is often used to perform tasks such as perforating a casing and setting a gravel pack. Wireline is also used for other tasks, such as logging a well.
With use, wireline wears out and needs to be replaced, or it can break, causing whatever tool is at its lower end to fall into the well bore, along with whatever wireline is below the break. The downtime while the broken wireline and tool are being retrieved can cost an oil company thousands or even millions of dollars. Also, wireline is usually run through a blow-out-preventer (b.o.p.) valve. If there is a problem downhole (e.g., well pressure exceeding mud weight) and a blow out is imminent, the wireline is quickly retrieved and the b.o.p. valve is quickly shut. If the operator of the b.o.p. valve is nervous, he might shut the b.o.p. valve before the lower end of the wireline is above it, causing the wireline to break or possibly preventing the b.o.p. valve from closing.
Currently the use of wireline is counted by hand, as is the amount of wireline downhole. Inaccurate counting can lead to unexpected breaking of the wireline through the wireline wearing out. Also, mistakes in counting the amount of wireline downhole can cause the b.o.p. valve to be closed prematurely, damaging the valve and/or cutting the wireline. Further, if the location of the lower end of the wireline is not properly kept track of, a wireline tool attached to the lower end of the wireline may be pulled off of the wireline if the lower end of the wireline is pulled upward through an obstruction through which the tool cannot pass.


A method for controlling an automatic rotamolding process, the method including the steps of: metering a first prescribed quantity of plastics material powder into a hopper to be delivered to a rotatable mold as a first shot; heating the mold; when the mold reaches a prescribed temperature, delivering the first shot of powder from the hopper to the mold and simultaneously rotating the mold so as to distribute the powder over an interior surface of the mold; heating the mold in accordance with a predetermined temperature-time characteristic; cooling the mold; and ejecting the finished rotamolded product from the mold.

Rotational moulding (or rotamoulding) is a process for manufacturing hollow plastics products in which a powdered thermoplastic material, typically polyethylene and/or polypropylene, is melted in a heated mould and in which there is typically no pressure applied to cause the plastics material to take up the shape of the mould. Plastics powder is placed in one half of a mould which is then closed and rotated in an oven. Typically the mould itself is rotated biaxially about two perpendicular axes, although in some rotamoulding systems the mould is rotated about one axis inside an oven, and the oven itself and/or the mould is pivoted about a second perpendicular axis (the so-called "rock and roll" rotamoulding system).
As the mould rotates in the oven it heats up, typically to around 200.degree. C., and the plastics material powder starts to melt and coat the inner surface of the mould. Due to the biaxial movement of the mould the powder distributes itself substantially uniformly over the entire inner surface of the mould. When all the powder is melted, the mould is cooled to cause the melted plastics material to solidify in the desired shape. Rotation of the mould is then ceased and it can then be opened to remove the plastic product. The advantages of rotamoulding are increasingly being recognised by manufacturers, including the relatively low cost of moulds, the production of stress-free products (always a problem with injection moulding) and the possibility of novel shapes and designs.
Current rotamoulding machines and processes are relatively labour-intensive. Manual intervention is typically required to open and close the mould and to place the powder in the mould. Moving the mould into and out of the oven and into a cooling station may also be performed manually. Furthermore, due to the biaxial rotation of the mould typically very little control can be exercised over the process within the mould and therefore there is a heavy reliance on experience and trial and error procedures. This latter problem of process control has been overcome to some extent with the development of the rotational moulding process control system developed by The Queens University of Belfast and described in WO 91/0564 ("the ROTOLOG system").
The ROTOLOG system monitors the air temperature inside the mould and transmits this information to a remotely located computer. The real time output from the ROTOLOG system allows the machine operators and quality control personnel to identify the time at which all the powder is melted, the maximum internal air temperature within the mould, the time at which the product has solidified and the heating/cooling rates during the rotamoulding process. Whilst the ROTOLOG system has removed much of the guesswork from the rotamoulding process, it has not reduced the level of manual intervention required. Furthermore, because the ROTOLOG system measures the air temperature within the mould, rather than the actual melt temperature or mould temperature it cannot identify temperature variations on the interior surface of the mould which may have a significant impact on the characteristics of the finished product.

Automatic rotamoulding apparatus and method of control


A filter includes an enclosure (10) and a filter core (20) mounted inside the enclosure (10). The filter core (20) includes a support (22) and a filtering element (24) entangled with the support (22). The enclosure (10) is of a spherical form and includes: a main body (12), an inlet passage (14) mounted to an upper portion of the main body (12), an outlet passage (16) mounted to a lower portion of the main body (12), and a ventilation tube (18) mounted to a top of the main body (12). The filtering element (24) is set in a spherically-shaped spiral so that the filter core (20) has reduced filtering areas at a top and a bottom ends thereof and an enlarged filtering area at a middle portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of filtering devices, and in particular to a filter.
2. the Related Arts
Filters have been widely used in various industries and businesses, such as medicine related chemical engineering, food, paper-making, and mineral oil production. All the filters that are used in every industry and application provide the same function of filtering a medium, such as water, oil, gases, and solvents. The most commonly used filters are small-sized equipment for removing a minority of solid particles from a liquid in order to protect the normal operation of facility. When the liquid flows into a filter can in which a filter screen of a predetermined specification is installed, the impurities entraining the liquid will be blocked so that a cleaned liquid is discharged from an outlet port of the filter. To cleanse the filter, the filter can is released and removed and is re-installed after being properly treated. Thus, use and maintenance are both easy.
A liquid crystal display (LCD) has various advantages, such as thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and is thus of wide applications. However, it is commonly known that the liquid crystal display is a passive luminous device, meaning the liquid crystal material itself does not give off light. Thus, most of the liquid crystal displays that are currently available in the market are backlighting type liquid crystal displays, which generally comprise a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight module.
In a manufacturing process of a thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), a filter that is generally of a cylindrical shape or a tub configuration. A filter of such a configuration often suffers, in the use thereof, short lifespan and frequent replacement, this being disadvantageous for cost control. Product switching of a production line often encounters difficulties of cleansing pipe lines of filters (such as an array coater often having the problem that coagulation of photoresist occurs at the bottom of a filter in the switching of product, where the residues of photoresist on an inside surface of the fiber can only be removed through dipping in thinner and rinsing for multiple times), leading to poor efficiency of product switching and waste of solvents.

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


Infant swing has a front leg frame and a rear leg frame pivoting to each other and connecting to a seat assembly via a driving module at the pivot between the front leg frame and the rear leg frame for swinging the seat back and forth. Two protection guards are mounted and connected between the front leg frame and the rear leg frame for preventing the toddler from being harmed when reaching his/her hands out between the frame and the seat as the toddler sits in the seat and swings relative to the frame. A battery assembly that provides power for the driving module is configured at the bottom of the frame for effectively lowering the center of gravity of the infant swing and providing higher stability. Skidproof foot assemblies mounting at the elbows of the front leg frame and the rear leg frame can further provide stability and integrity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an infant swing, and more specifically, to an infant swing having protection guards connecting between front leg frame and rear leg frame and having a battery assembly configured at the bottom of the frame body that increases stability and safety protection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Infant swings at the present time provide extra functional mechanism or devices in addition to the seat assembly. FIG. 1 shows that an infant swing 1 includes a frame body 10 and a seat 50, where the frame body 10 includes a stand comprised by two front legs 11 and two rear legs 12, two connecting devices 17, and a front leg cross rod 13 and a rear leg cross rod 14. The upper ends of the two front legs 11 connect to the upper ends of the two rear legs 12, each via the connecting device 17. The front leg cross rod 13 connects between the two front legs 11 and the rear leg cross rod 14 connects between the two rear legs 12. Additionally, the frame body 11 further includes a driving module and a folding module. The driving module provides the seat 50 with the ability to swing back and forth relative to the frame body 10 and the folding module can simplify the folding operation when the infant swing 1 needs to transport or store. In the embodiment in FIG. 1, both the driving module and the folding module are configured inside the connecting devices 17 and not shown in the figure. For further providing power source for the driving module, a battery assembly is also designed into the frame body 10, or more precisely, in the connecting devices 17 of the embodiment in FIG. 1. The seat 50 can then be propelled to swing by two hanging arms 40 that pivotally connect to the connecting devices 17 and droved by the driving module.
Since the driving module and the battery assembly are some components with heavy mass, the overall center of gravity of the infant swing 1 has been raised to a higher position when the driving module and the battery assembly are configured at the connecting devices 17. Such configuration decreases the stability of the infant swing 1. On the other hand, the infant swing 1 in the prior art shows no proper protection guards between the hanging arms 40 and the front legs 11 and the rear legs 12. An infant seated in the seat 50 may harm himself when reaching his hands out the hanging arms 40 during swinging of the seat 50 relative to the frame body 10.


Methods are presented by which compressed fluids such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and ethane can be admixed with solvent-borne compositions that contain a high concentration of solid polymer, such as coating compositions, whereby precipitation of the solid polymer can be avoided, thereby preventing plugging of the mixing apparatus.

New spray technology has been developed for spraying solvent-borne compositions with markedly reduced solvent emissions by using environmentally acceptable supercritical compressed fluids such as carbon dioxide as a substitute for the solvents that are normally needed to obtain low spray viscosity. For coating compositions, solvent reductions up to 80 percent have been demonstrated, because only enough solvent for film coalescence and leveling is used.
Although the supercritical fluid spray methods have been highly successful, one difficult problem that is created is that the reformulated composition, which is called a concentrate, has much higher solids level and consequently much higher viscosity after the dilution solvent is eliminated, typically being 800 to 5000 centipoise or higher. Only when the concentrate is mixed with supercritical fluid is a low viscosity obtained. This makes material handling much more difficult than with conventional compositions that contain diluent solvents and therefore have a low solids level and low viscosity, typically below 100 centipoise. Nevertheless, a variety of concentrates have been manufactured at high solids levels and then successfully sprayed with compressed carbon dioxide.
Unexpectantly, however, another difficult problem has been discovered for some solvent-borne concentrates that contain a high concentration of solid polymer, such as some air-dry lacquer coating concentrates that contain high molecular weight polymers, so that they form a hard coating film after the solvents evaporate. Compressed fluids such as carbon dioxide and ethane have sometimes been found to frequently and repeatedly cause severe precipitation of the solid polymer when admixed with the concentrate to prepare a spray solution for spraying. The solid precipitate plugs the mixing apparatus and shuts down the spray operation. Coating concentrates containing cellulosic polymer such as nitrocellulose or cellulose acetate butyrate have been found to be particularly problematic. This has hindered implementation of commercial spray operations using these types of materials.
When this plugging problem was discovered, it was believed that the polymer precipitation was caused by the fluid mechanics of the admixing process, that is, by how the viscous concentrate and inviscid compressed fluid were physically contacted and the two fluids were mixed together. Therefore, it was believed that the precipitation could be reduced, at least to a tolerable level, by suitably controlling the fluid dynamics of the mixing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,843 discloses an isocentric low turbulence injector apparatus by which carbon dioxide can be injected as a core of fluid completely surrounded by the flow of concentrate such that turbulence at the interface between the two fluids is minimized and desirably maintained as laminar flow as the carbon dioxide dissolves into the concentrate.
Indeed, these mixing apparatus have been found to reduce precipitation and prolong plug-free operation under carefully controlled conditions. However, their performance has generally been disappointing. They have been found to be sensitive to changes or upsets in flow rates and other operating conditions. Often plugging has simply been delayed instead of prevented, so that plugging remains a serious problem for longer term operation. Furthermore, fluid mechanical principles have been unable to successfully predict operating conditions for which plugging does not occur nor have they been able to explain why plugging has occurred at some times and not others. Therefore, operation has had to be by trial and error.
There is therefore clearly a need for an improved method of admixing solvent-borne concentrates with compressed fluids that is reliable, that does not depend upon the particular design of the mixing apparatus, that is not sensitive to flow rate changes, that can substantially reduce or eliminate precipitation instead of just moderating the amount, and that can predict operating conditions under which precipitation and plugging do not occur.

Methods for admixing compressed fluids with solvent-borne compositions comprising solid polymers

Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation


This present invention discloses a system and method for enhancing images of barcodes and other similar objects taken by the digital camera connected to or embedded in a mobile device. This filter works by converting the image into its equivalent gray scale. The algorithm then computes the mean pixel intensity value of a row of pixels in the image. The row is divided into sections and the mean pixel intensity of each section is also calculated. The pixels in each section are processed according to the relation of the relative mean intensities of the row and the section. Once each pixel has been processed, the image is reassembled from its divided sections.

Barcodes have been utilized for identifying and pricing objects for more than thirty years. Most typically, barcodes are used in retail to identify the item of merchandise. For example, a gallon of milk may contain a barcode that, when scanned, will notify the cashier of the price of the milk.
Yet in recent years, barcodes have acquired new purposes as computers and barcode scanners have become more portable. The circuitry required to scan a conventional one-dimensional barcode can now be housed in a device as small as a typical keychain. As a result, many mobile telephones, personal digital assistants ("PDAs"), and pagers can be retrofitted with or connected to a laser-based scanning device. This allows the mobile device to function as a scanner capable of storing hundreds or thousands of scanned barcodes.
Currently, many cell phones and mobile devices are available with built-in cameras. The explosion of the availability of affordable digital cameras and their inclusion into mobile devices is driven by several factors. One of the most important is the recent availability of inexpensive image sensors based on CMOS technology. The cameras on these devices provide a means for capturing the barcode information which was previously only accessible via a laser-based scanner. Decoding barcode images from digital cameras included in mobile devices presents several difficult problems. These problems go well beyond the challenges addressed in commercial barcode readers. Some of these problems are addressed below:
Lighting:
Most mobile devices with integrated digital cameras do not have built-in flashes and rely solely on the ambient light for illumination. This can cause the image to be underexposed or overexposed depending upon the intensity of the ambient light. Bad lighting may also cause the image to appear shadowy.
Focus:
Digital cameras for portable devices are usually designed to work at a variety of distances. The need for a wider range of focus in cameras results in a trade off between the cost of the lens component and the sharpness of a typical image.
Low-cost lens components:
In order to meet cost constraints of many portable device markets, manufacturers often compromise on the optical quality of camera lenses. This can present decoding technology with a different set of challenges from the simple focal length based focus problem noted above. Low-cost lens components can produce image distortions that are localized to a specific region or form a changing gradient across the image.
Limited resolution:
The cost of a digital imaging CMOS sensor increases as the number of image pixels increases. Although the Asian market has seen the release of general purpose consumer devices like PDAs and cell phones with "megapixel" image resolution, the European and North American markets are now only seeing their emergence. Lower resolution images contain less detail and usually require further processing to be useful.
Based on the aforementioned described problems with mobile digital imaging, there clearly exists a need for an image enhancement algorithm which can compensate for the poor images which result from these shortcomings. Such an algorithm would allow a greater number of images acquired via digital imaging techniques to be decoded.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Group average filter algorithm for digital image processing


A new cultivar of Anthurium plant named ‘Rijn200310’ that is characterized by an upright and outwardly spreading habit, dark green leaves, free flowering, red spathes positioned above the foliage on strong erect scapes, long inflorescence life, large spathe size and white and yellow colored spadices.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Anthurium plant botanically known as Anthurium andreanum and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Rijn200310'.
'Rijn200310' is a hybrid that originated from the hybridization of the female or seed parent a proprietary Anthurium identified as 9513 (not patented) and the male or pollen parent a proprietary Anthurium identified as 9701 (not patented). The cultivar 'Rijn200310' was selected by the inventor in February of 2003 as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross in De Lier, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction by tissue culture of the new cultivar 'Rijn200310' was first performed in May of 2003 in Melsen-Merelbeke, Belgium. Since that time, under careful observation, the unique characteristics of the new cultivar have been uniform, stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A piston ring is made of a titanium alloy, at least an outer peripheral surface and upper and lower surfaces thereof are formed with a nitrogen diffused layer, and at least an outer peripheral sliding surface thereof is coated with a hard film by physical vapor deposition on the nitrogen diffused layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piston ring (including a side rail of a combined oil ring) used for internal combustion engines and compressors, and particularly to a piston ring which is effective for internal combustion engines of high speed and high output and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An implementation of high speed and high output and low friction is intended for recent gasoline engines for automobiles, and the demands of function and quality of piston rings increase accordingly. Thus, it is urgent to solve a problem in that an amount of blow-by abruptly increases when a rotational speed of the engine exceeds a certain limit.
The phenomenon of the abrupt increase of the blow-by is closely related to fluttering of a piston ring. To address this problem, it has been considered to reduce a dimension of a ring width in order to reduce an inertia force of the piston ring or to design a torsion of a top ring.
However, the reduction in the ring width gives rise to the problem of lowering of a rigidity of the piston ring.
On the other hand, as a surface treatment of a piston ring made of steel, attention has been paid to a physical vapor deposition showing wear resistance and scuffing resistance in excess of chrome plating (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 57-57868, 57-65837, 58-35648, etc.)

Nonferrous piston ring with hard surface treatment layer


The present invention provides a stratified waterflooding apparatus, which comprises: a water distribution unit, which comprises two water distributors, the water distributor having an inner side wall and an outer side wall, the inner and outer side walls forming a first annular cavity therebetween and being respectively provided with a water inlet and a water outlet which are communicated with the first annular cavity, the first annular cavity accommodates a driving mechanism and an adjustable blocking member, the adjustable blocking member having a first operating position in which it blocks the water inlet or the water outlet and a second operating position in which it releases the blocking of the water inlet and the water outlet; and a controller in communication connection with the driving mechanism. The stratified waterflooding apparatus can realize intelligent and automatic regulation of an aperture of the water distributors in the stratified waterflooding process.

The description in this part only provides background information related to the disclosure of the present invention, and does not constitute the prior art.
During stratified waterflooding of an oil field, the injection allocation amount can be realized by adjusting an aperture of a water distributor. It is a technical problem to be solved urgently as to how to realize intelligent and automatic regulation of the aperture of a downhole water distributor.
It should be noted that the above introduction to the technical background is set forth only for facilitating a clear and complete description of the technical solutions of the present invention and for ease of understanding by those skilled in the art. The above technical solutions should not be regarded as commonly known by those skilled in the art merely because the solutions are depicted in the background part of the present invention.


Tablet treating system 10 treats a series of pharmaceutical tablets 50T with pulses of laser energy 24P within at least one predetermined treatment site 50S on each tablet. A tablet conveyer 12 continuously moves individual tablets along a tablet path 10P. A Laser 14 provides the pulses of laser energy along a stationary laser path which crosses the tablet path defining a stationary intersection zone 14Z common to both paths. The tablet path has periodic treatment windows 20W during which the treatment sites 50S on the moving tablets pass through the stationary intersection zone. The operation of the laser has periodic laser ready windows 24W during which the laser may be fired. A controller 16 is responsive to the movement of the tablet conveyer and to the operation of the laser for activating the laser and treating the tablets. The controller activates the laser when a tablet is passing through the intersection zone and the tablet treatment window coincides with the laser ready window. The controller does not activate the laser and rejects the tablet when the tablet treatment window does not coincide with the laser ready window. An abort mechanism 18 proximate the collection end 10C of the tablet path is responsive to the controller for separating the treated tablets from the rejected tablets.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,064 issued on Dec. 13, 1977 to Richard, J. Saunders and Wayne S. Mefferd, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,864 issued on May 9, 1978 to Felix Theeuwes, Richard J. Saunders and Wayne S. Mefferd, disclose a tablet treating machine with a single rotating wheel for transporting tablets up from a tablet reservoir to a laser treatment station.
The wheel is inclined and has a set of slots each of which carries a single tablet. The slots have a bottom surface, two side walls, and a back wall formed on the inclined side of the wheel for cradling the tablet during transport. The laser beam accesses the tablet on the front exposed side for drilling a drug release port therein. The tablets may be drilled on one side only. The backside of each tablet rests against the back wall of the slot and is inaccessible to the laser beam.
The energy of the laser pulse in these machines requires about five milliseconds to form the release port in the tablet. A tracking mirror is employed to keep the laser beam trained on the tablet during the laser pulse period. Synchronism between the laser pulse and the sequence of tablets is maintained manually by an operator who monitors the operation of the machine. The shape and size of the laser beam is controlled by laser optics.

Laser tablet treatment system with dual access to tablet


A repair apparatus and method is utilized for repairing leaks, ruptures or weaknesses in ell pipe fittings. An arcuate reinforcement structure conforms to the radius of curvature of the convex side of the fitting and a second arcuate reinforcement structure conforms to the curvature of the concave side of the fitting. One or both of the reinforcement structures urges a sealing member against the fitting, with at least one of the sealing members sealing over the leak, rupture, or weakness. The reinforcement structures may have integral bands which may attach to encircle the fitting.

The disclosed device relates generally to piping systems and making repairs to the same when the piping system requires either patching of a leak or reinforcement of a leaking section. There are tens of thousands of miles of pipelines utilized by a variety of industries for transporting fluids. Because of age and service which may involve transport of abrasive and/or fluids, the inner walls of these pipelines are subject to continual wear. When these lines fail, there is a loss of product, potential environmental damage, and potentially property damage and/or personal injury.
In cases where it is either impractical, inconvenient, or uneconomic to replace the entire pipeline, or the failed section, the leak may be repaired with a pipe patch, which is typically a metal jacket with a rubber gasket which is wrapped around a straight section of pipe and compressed until it stops the product leak until a more permanent solution can be performed such as replacing the leaking section of pipe. However, this type of device is generally only available for relatively straight sections of pipe. There are no comparable devices, which are relatively easy to install and relatively inexpensive, which may be rapidly installed to stop leaks in angled pipe sections, such as pipe 45 and 90 degree elbows (also referred to herein as "ell fittings" or "ells"). That is unfortunate because these types of fittings often experience greater internal wear than straight sections of pipe, particularly on the outward side of the elbow (i.e., on the convex side) where erosional damage and turbulence may be at a maximum because this surface undergoes the greatest of the change in flow direction of the fluid flowing in the line. Once the wear is significant enough, liquid will begin to leak through the pipe wall from the inside to the outside beginning with a dripping pinhole, then escalating to a larger hole leaking the fluids transported within the pipeline into the environment. The release of the material itself may be problematic. For example, if the material is oil, the release can be harmful to the environment and/or to personnel. Some fluids may be hot or toxic, and it almost always desirable to contain the leak as quickly as possible.
Given the nature of the fluid and the services, a pipeline leak can have severe consequences. When these leaks occur within elbows, under the known procedures, it is usually necessary to shut the pipeline down, which can result in plant shutdowns, lost product, delayed deliveries and expensive repairs. For example, various hot-tapping procedures require isolating the leaking pipe segment, thus requiring a system shut-down.
It should be further noted that failures on the inside bend of ell fittings is not uncommon, comprising 5 to 10 percent of ell failures. The availability of effective, fast, and easily installed repair solutions to failures of the inside bend is desirable. It would be desirable to have a fast and relatively inexpensive means of repairing leaks in elbows, where the repair apparatus is reliable and capable of providing service for a relatively extended period of time if necessary. It would also be desirable to have a repair apparatus which can be installed by a single individual without the need for welding apparatus or other specialized equipment.

Apparatus for patching non-linear pipe sections and method of utilizing the same


Particular embodiments establish static redirection of a function that is a member of a class to an alternate implementation of the function. A software tool executing on a computer server receives an executable file for an application and a location for an alternate implementation of the function. The function may be written in Objective C. The software tool can be used to locate a structure for the function by traversing serialized metadata in the executable file. The software tool can then be used to modify the metadata in the executable file by updating the value of a selector indicating the location of a current implementation of the function to indicate a location of the alternate implementation. The selector may be included in a element of the structure for the class method. Finally, the application may provide the modified executable file for installation on client devices.

A user owning a personal mobile device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, etc.) may want to install certain "workplace" mobile applications (e.g., email, calendar, etc.) relating to his work as an employee of a business on his mobile device rather than carry an additional mobile device for work purposes. In situations where an employer permits the user to utilize his personal mobile device to install and run a workspace application, the employer's IT department may need to impose certain security measures or policies on the user's personal device to ensure that enterprise data that is accessed or stored on the personal mobile device is secure. For example, the approaches described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/595,881 filed on Aug. 27, 2012 and entitled "Method and System for Facilitating Isolated Workspace for Applications" (which is hereby incorporated by reference and referred to herein as the "'881 application") utilize a management application locally resident on the mobile device to assist in imposing security policies only around workspace data and applications.
One way of accomplishing this goal is by modifying the workplace application to enforce any such security measures or policies. For example, an application that provides access to workplace email may be modified to require an additional authentication step prior to allowing the user to access such workplace email by asking the user to log in using their work-issued user ID and password. Such modification is a straightforward matter, if the application source code is available to the software developer charged with this task. However, developers typically do not have access to source code to third-party applications of the type that most. In that case, the software developer may find it necessary to modify the executable file for the third-party application.
When modifying an executable file using Objective C, the software developer may use a technique called method swizzling to point to an alternate implementation of a method at runtime. Method swizzling operates by applying introspection to access the default method implementation and then applying reflection to redirect the code to use the alternate implementation of the method. Introspection is a feature of certain programming languages to provide information about objects at runtime, such as names of methods of a class, type information for instance variables of a class, and the actual implementation (code) of methods of a class. Reflection is a feature of certain programming languages that enables a developer to perform a number of operations at runtime, such as adding new classes, adding methods to a class, and adding instance variables to a class. The actual redirection is accomplished by changing the value of a pointer within a structure for the method so that the pointer points to the location of the alternate implementation instead of the location of the default implementation. For example, a third-party developer of an application for the APPLE IOS platform may not have access to the source code for classes provided by the IOS platform, but APPLE IOS currently provides a function to redirect the selector for a method (i.e., the value of the element in the method structure that indicates the location of the implementation of the method) to point to an alternate implementation: method_exchangeImplementations (Method original, Method new)). However, if introspection and reflection are not supported or simply not available, an alternate technique to achieve redirection of method calls at runtime may be desirable.


A slide rail assembly includes first, second, and third rails slidably connected together, a guiding base on the first rail, a first contact member on the second rail, and a second contact member on the third rail. The first contact member extends through an opening of the second rail and corresponds to the guiding base. When the third rail is pulled out, the second contact member, which corresponds to the first contact member, abuts against the first contact member such that the second rail is displaced with the third rail. Once the first contact member is guided by the guiding base to another position and separates from the second contact member, the third rail can be pulled out relative to the second rail.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,997,529 B1 and 7,413,269 B2, both granted to Chen et al. disclose a slide rail assembly featuring simultaneous displacement of two slide rails and are referenced when the present invention was made. As two simultaneously displaceable slide rails provide better support, a slide rail assembly having such slide rails can withstand a higher load and is therefore well received on the market. The present invention aims to provide an improved version of such a slide rail assembly.


A flexible Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID) tag comprises a flexible substrate layer on which is fixed an antenna connected to a RFID chip, and a second flexible layer placed directly over the said chip and antenna but without any direct mechanical connection to them, such that the substrate layer and the second layer form a protective inlay for the chip and the antenna. The said inlay is embedded in a flexible housing.

RFID tags are well known in the art and generally comprise an electrical circuit having an antenna connected to an integrated circuit (RFID chip or module). The transponder is responsive to a received radio frequency signal and produces a radio frequency signal.
Beside the connection of the two electric elements of the electrical circuit, a key step of the manufacture of a transponder is the encapsulation of said electrical circuit in order to protect it from mechanical shocks, from soiling, fluids, heat, . . . to ensure a durable mechanical connection between the two elements and to provide a size that allows for better handling.
To ensure perfect functionality of the transponder, the packaging has to be totally adapted to the nature of the final application and to the specifications defined by the user. The final product can be—but is not limited to—a glass mini-tube, a plastic coin token or a contactless smart card. Due to the popularity of the RFID technology in an increasing number of fields of activity, there are more and more demands for special types of packaging.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an RFID tag with a high resistance to flexion stress. Such tag would be very suitable for example for laundry applications wherein solid un-flexible bodies are not desired.
The applicant has already proposed a flexible tag for laundry application in the patent application DE102004027978. It discloses a smart laundry label wherein the transponder is maintained floating in a soft adhesive between two cover sheets. This structure ensures a very high flexibility as well as a good protection of the chip and antenna as they are freely floating in a semi-liquid material. This solution has however multiple drawbacks. The handling of large quantity of soft adhesive material is not very appropriate for high volume manufacturing (costly and dirty). The fact that the antenna and the chip are also not fixed to any support structure is also a source of weakness for example in regard of extreme bending wherein the entire efforts will directly apply to these active components (or their connection). Such a tag shows also a poor resistance to mechanical impact.


A method of processing a timing synchronization signal includes selecting an initial sequence of complex numbers and modifying the initial sequence based upon a metric applied to the autocorrelation function to enhance its autocorrelation properties within a predetermined window about the main autocorrelation peak determined by the timing uncertainty of the system. This two-step optimization process produces a new complex sequence used for timing acquisition. It is applied by transmitting the sequence through a medium and correlating the received signal against a known error-free sequence. Only correlation within the window of the bounded timing uncertainty is performed, thus saving valuable computational cycles. Also, because the sidelobe levels of the autocorrelated function are significantly lower within the timing uncertainty window than the sidelobe levels of a non-optimized autocorrelation function of a signal, the likelihood of finding a peak for the wrong timing signal is greatly reduced.

The present invention relates generally to a timing acquisition or synchronization method using pseudo-noise (PN) sequences. More particularly, the present invention provides a method for timing acquisition that is based on a bounded timing uncertainty.
Timing acquisition and synchronization is a critical element of many modem electronic systems, such as Digital Communications Systems, Radar Systems, and Digital Signal Processing Systems. The subject of receiver synchronization is discussed in most books on digital communications (see, for example, Sklar, B, Digital Communications, 2nd Ed., Chapter 10, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J., 2001), and, indeed, entire books have been written on the subject of receiver synchronization within digital communications systems (Mengali, U, Synchronization Techniques for Digital Receivers, Springer, New York, N.Y., 1997; Meyr, H. et al, Synchronization in Digital Communications, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, N.J., 1990), all of the foregoing books being hereby incorporated by reference. In many applications, such as the extremely dense signal environment of a cellular phone system, the very low signal-to-noise-ratio communications channel of a deep space probe, or the very narrowband system employed by a digital modem in most personal computers, highly efficient signal synchronization techniques are desired. The act of synchronization within a receiver essentially involves replicating the timing information contained in the transmitted signal within the receiver, so that the data information modulated or encoded within the transmitted signal can be extracted. Without first obtaining synchronization, no data information can be extracted from the transmitted signal, and the communications link will fail. Hence, timing acquisition is one of the first processes that takes place when a communications link between a receiver and a transmitter is established.
A well-known technique employed widely in the systems mentioned above is the use of PN sequences for timing acquisition and synchronization. Additionally, due to improved clocks and the omnipresence of GPS, accurate time references are widely available at receivers for use in timing acquisition. Thus, when sending a PN sequence to achieve timing acquisition for many different applications that also have access to GPS and/or improved clocks, the timing uncertainty of these systems has been greatly reduced, resulting in an a priori bound on the timing uncertainty. Because of this bounded timing uncertainty, it is possible to employ shortened timing acquisition PN sequences, or to transmit signals having less power, or to trade other system resources in order to reduce the system overhead associated with the timing acquisition process as a result of the bounded timing uncertainty.
Although the improved clocks have improved the timing acquisition process and created a bounded timing uncertainty, the timing acquisition process is still far from ideal. Systems incorporating timing acquisition sequences range from military applications such as Low Probability of Interception (LPI) and spread spectrum communications to commercial networking applications such as WiFi. Any method that makes the timing acquisition process more efficient for a system has a direct impact on improving the overall performance of the system.
Current systems that use timing acquisition techniques require computation of the autocorrelation properties of the PN sequence over the entire length of the PN sequence. This autocorrelation requirement results in a need for the system to employ longer PN sequences. Further, in a spread spectrum application, the timing acquisition process for the spreading sequence requires more time, which limits the range of the system, and requires greater signal power. Additionally, it is not possible to separate the PN sequence detection process from the timing acquisition process in these spread spectrum sequences. PN detection requires a certain length PN sequence for the system to obtain the necessary correlation gain for the application. Also, the main autocorrelation peak of the PN sequence must be reliably distinguished from all of the sidelobe peaks of the PN sequence.
Real world systems that use timing acquisition methods include Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technology including I.E.E.E. Standards 802.11(a), (b) and (g). WLAN is a widely used application in which CDMA or spread spectrum techniques use PN sequences to transmit data. Those sequences have unique characteristics that allow synchronization (timing acquisition) via correlation. Advanced forms of these WLAN protocols could benefit from improvement to timing acquisition.
Bluetooth® technology is a short range spread spectrum system for sending audio to headsets or data between closely spaced devices, e.g., a sensor and a laptop computer. It is widely used in "so-called" Bluetooth® headsets for receiving stereo signals wirelessly in a small area (e.g., the inside a car or within a room). Again, advanced forms of the Bluetooth® protocol could benefit from improvements to timing acquisition.
WiMAX is a wide area network protocol similar to the WLAN protocols but for longer distance communications at higher data rates and is designed to compete with cellular technology and last-mile solutions involving fiber. Further, UWB for video transmission uses even more signal spreading in time as well as frequency (up to 500 MHz in bandwidth) than that used by the WLAN and Bluetooth® protocols. UWB operates within the same bands as many other signals and so must be very low in power. Hence synchronization sequences are used in order to synchronize these very low power signals reliably. Again, advanced forms of these protocols could benefit from improved timing acquisition.
All of the previous techniques describe essentially signal synchronization using PN sequences and correlation. PN sequences and correlation can also be used at a higher level within packetized protocols, which are already symbol synchronized. Each frame (or packet) is sent independently in many applications and frame or packet synchronization must be done to find the beginning of each frame or packet. Frame synchronization for packetized systems may also benefit from improved timing acquisition.
Thus, in view of the disadvantages of the current methods and systems, what is needed is a method to reduce the system resources spent in the timing acquisition process.


It has unexpectedly been found that a low alcohol or alcohol-free beverage, with a flavor profile very close to a beer of at least 4% (vol/vol) alcohol, can be produced by using Pichia kluyveri yeast strains. In particular, Pichia kluyveri yeast strains only use the glucose in the wort, and have the ability of converting this substrate into a high concentration of specific flavor compounds, which are normally produced by Saccharomyces ssp. yeast strains used for the brewing of beer. In this way the Pichia kluyveri yeast strains can be used to produce either a low alcohol or alcohol-free beverage, depending on the glucose levels in the wort. The main flavor compounds produced by Pichia kluyveri in the fermentation of wort are isoamyl acetate, isoamyl alcohol, ethyl butyrate, ethyl hexanoate and ethyl octanoate.

Due to the increasing demand for healthier food and beverages, the reduction of ethanol in alcoholic beverages, especially beer and wine, is of considerable commercial interest.
Low-alcohol, alcohol-free or reduced-alcohol beers (also called light beer, no-alcohol, non-alcoholic beer, small beer, small ale, near-beer) are beers with no alcohol or a low alcohol content which aim to reproduce the full flavor of standard beers which normally contain more than 4% (vol/vol) alcohol. In most of the EU countries beers with low alcohol content are divided into alcohol-free beers containing no more than 0.5% (vol/vol) alcohol, and into low-alcohol beers with no more than 1.2% (vol/vol) alcohol. In the United States alcohol-free beer means that there is no alcohol present, while the upper limit of 0.5% (vol/vol) alcohol corresponds to so-called non-alcoholic or near-beer (Montanan et al. 2009).
The conversion of wort into an alcoholic beer is the result of a fermentation process by Saccharomyces ssp. yeast resulting in the production of alcohol and fermentation-derived flavor compounds, such as esters (e.g. isoamyl acetate) and higher alcohols. Isoamyl acetate is a key flavor compound in beer (Saerens et al. 2010). The combination of the flavor of the raw materials, mostly malt and hops, together with the fermentation process, results in the unique flavor and taste of beers (Swiegers et al. 2007, Saerens et al. 2010).
Today beers with low alcohol contents are often made by producing full-strength beer (with an alcohol concentration of above 4% (vol/vol)) and then removing the alcohol by physical processes (boiling off the alcohol/distillation or reverse osmosis). In the case of some non-alcoholic or alcohol-free beers no fermentation takes place and in some cases the beers are produced by simply diluting full-strength beers with water.
As the physical processes result in the evaporation, loss or dilution of fermentation-derived flavor compounds (or a complete lack of fermentation-derived flavor compounds as in the case with unfermented non-alcoholic or alcohol-free beer), these types of beers are often characterized as being less flavorful than full-strength beer or may have an undesirable wort-like taste (Zufall and Wackerbauer. 2000).
German patent DD 288619 A5 describes the use of Pichia farinosa yeast strains to ferment unhopped beer wort to obtain an alcohol-free beverage with fruity aroma.
However, there exists a need for improved methods for preparing a low-alcohol or alcohol-free fermented beverage wherein the presence of desirable flavor compounds, such as esters and higher alcohols, is enhanced.

Production of low-alcohol or alcohol-free beer with


An assembly process of a Halbach magnetic ring component, including an adsorbing each magnetic shoe on the outer surface of a positioning cylinder; sleeving the sleeve on the outer surface of a circular ring; moving the sleeve downwards so that the upper part of each magnetic shoe is exposed; performing first dispensing on the exposed part of the upper part of each magnetic shoe; sleeving the aluminum ring on the outer surface of the exposed part of the upper part of each magnetic shoe, so that the aluminum ring covers the first dispensing area of each magnetic shoe; moving the sleeve downwards until the sleeve is completely separated from the magnetic shoe, and performing second dispensing on the lower region of each magnetic shoe; moving the aluminum ring downwards until the aluminum ring is completely sleeved on the outer surface of each magnetic shoe.

Halbach Array (Halbach permanent magnet) is a magnet structure. In 1979, when Klaus Halbach, an American scholar, made an electronic acceleration experiment, he discovered and gradually improved this special permanent magnet structure, and finally formed the so-called "Halbach" magnet, which is an approximate ideal structure in engineering. The Halbach array uses the arrangement of special magnet units to enhance the field strength in unit direction, with the goal of generating the strongest magnetic field with the least number of magnets. This array is completely made of rare earth permanent magnet material. By arranging permanent magnets in different magnetizing directions according to a certain rule, the magnetic lines of force can be gathered on one side of the magnet, and weakened on the other side, thus obtaining an ideal unilateral magnetic field. This is of great significance in engineering. Among the permanent magnet motors, the permanent magnet motor with the Halbach array structure has an air gap magnetic field closer to sinusoidal distribution than the traditional permanent magnet motor. Under the same amount of permanent magnet material, the Halbach permanent magnet motor has the advantages of higher air gap magnetic density and smaller magnetic loss.
Due to its special polarity arrangement, some magnets repel each other in the assembly process, which increases the manufacturing difficulty. With the increase of the number of magnets, the assembly difficulty will increase correspondingly. The conventional assembly method is suitable for the assembly of a linear Halbach magnet component, but not for the assembly of a circular Halbach component. At present, the assembly method of the circular Halbach assembly is that the magnetic shoes are placed one by one in the inner ring of the aluminum ring. Because the aluminum ring is not magnetically conductive, the magnetic shoes repel each other, the magnetic shoes are not closely arranged, and the magnetic shoes are easily reversed due to the repulsive magnetic force in the assembly process, which affects the working efficiency and the precision of the finished product. The qualified rate is low. Therefore, how to solve the problems that the magnetic shoe is not closely arranged, easy to reverse, low in assembly efficiency, low in finished product accuracy and low in qualified rate due to the lack of supports adsorbing the magnetic shoe when the Halbach magnetic ring is assembled has become a technical problem urgently needed to be solved by those skilled in the art.

Assembly process of Halbach magnetic ring component

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