A system and method for converting a pulsed beam of irradiation from a laser operating at a first wavelength to a pulsed beam of irradiation at a second, Stokes, wavelength. The system includes two Raman cells filled with the same Raman-active gas. The second cell receives a backward-propagating Stokes pulse beam from the first Raman cell, with the backward-propagating Stokes pulsed beam entering the second Raman cell in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the incoming laser pulses at the first wavelength. The second Raman cell generates a high intensity output pulsed beam at the second, Stokes, wavelength. The system can produce a high intensity eye-safe pulsed beam.

1. Technical Field
This application is related to generation of eye-safe optical pulses, and more particularly, to generation of eye-safe optical pulses using the Raman-scattering effect to wavelength shift an infrared pulse.
2. Related Technology
Optical pulses are useful for communication, range finding, imaging, and other purposes. Powerful optical pulses can be safely transmitted through the atmosphere in the 1400-2000 nanometer band without harming human eyes. In this wavelength band, the eye's humor absorbs the optical radiation, preventing damage to the retina. Therefore, optical pulses in this band can be much more intense than similar duration pulses in the visible and near-infrared bands below 1400 nanometers. As a result, active optical devices such as Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems and range finders can be safely operated more effectively in the 1400-2000 nm band than in shorter visible and near infrared wavelengths. However, laser processes for producing pulses in the 1400-2000 nm band are limited.
Techniques for shifting the wavelength of optical pulses from powerful near-infrared lasers, such as the Nd:YAG lasers, to the 1400-2000 nm band have been sought.
W. Carnuth and T. Trickl, in "A powerful eye-safe infrared aerosol lidar: Application of stimulated Raman backscattering of 1.06 μm radiation", Rev. Sci. Instrum., Vol. 65, No. 11, pp. 3324-3331, November 1994, discloses using a single backward Raman cell containing deuterium to produce a 1560 nm pulse. The laser pulse is focused into the center of the seed cell. The very short pulses generated with this technique sometimes have damaged optics, and the system appears to have been limited in efficiency to about 20%.
Xu et al., Journal of Modern Optics, Vol. 10., pp 1527-1536, 1999, discloses using a ultraviolet laser pulse at 249 nm with forward scattering from a Raman seed cell to amplify backward scattering in a pump cell, with both cells containing high pressure methane.
Single forward scattering Raman cells with methane have been disclosed in Spinhirne et al., Appl. Optics, Vol. 36, pp. 3475-3490, 1997 and in Mayer and Spuler, Applied Optics, Vol. 43, pp. 3915-3924, 2004. Forward scattering cells filled with methane typically require gas circulating pumps and diode seed lasers operating at the Stokes wavelength.

System and method for generating eye-safe high intensity optical pulses with two backward-shifting raman cells

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The present invention relates to a bipolar plate for fuel cells, comprising at least a shaped, at least partially electrically conductive foil (1), the bipolar plate having a channel structure (5) formed by the shaping of the foil (1), to convey reactants to electrodes of adjacent fuel cells and to carry away reaction products, and a microstructure (4) is integrated into the foil (1) to increase the rigidity of the foil (1). The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing corresponding bipolar plates.

Bipolar plates of this type are packed closely on top of one another in so-called "stacks" and are arranged in series-connected fuel cells as an intermediate layer between the individual fuel cells. Thus they come to abut against respectively an electrode or gas-diffusion layer of two adjacent fuel cells, against an anode and a cathode. The bipolar plate here fulfils a plurality of functions, namely providing an electrically conductive connection for the series-connected fuel cells, conveying reactants to the electrodes of the adjacent fuel cells, carrying away the reaction products, cooling the fuel cells by heat transfer e.g. to an adjacent cooling chamber, and finally sealing connecting points of the fuel cells in a stack.
In order to accommodate as many fuel cells as possible in the smallest possible space and with the lowest possible total weight of the stack, and thus to achieve a high gravimetric and volumetric power density, an attempt is made to produce bipolar plates having as low a weight as possible and as small a thickness as possible. Using thin foils formed from metals such as e.g. stainless steel, aluminium or titanium for this purpose to manufacture bipolar plates is known. These foils are so shaped, e.g. by embossing, that a channel structure is formed which is suitable for conveying reactants to the electrodes of the adjacent fuel cells and for carrying away reaction products. As a result of the required rigidity of a bipolar plate, however, limits are set to the reduction of the thickness of foils of the prior art used; a minimum thickness of roughly 0.1 mm seems to be necessary. Correspondingly, according to the prior art, limits are also set to the gravimetric and volumetric power densities of fuel cell stacks, which in the case of desirable output voltages still lead to stacks of a disadvantageously high weight and large size.

Bipolar plate for fuel cells, which is formed from a shaped foil, and method for manufacturing same


An image heating apparatus, which is configured to heat an image formed on a recording material, includes a cylindrical rotatable member including a conductive layer, and a coil including a helically shaped portion helically wound along a generatrix direction of the rotatable member inside the rotatable member. The coil is configured to produce an alternating magnetic field for causing the conductive layer to generate heat by electromagnetic induction. The image heating apparatus further includes a magnetic core disposed in the helically shaped portion. The magnetic core includes a plurality of divided cores into which the magnetic core is divided in the generatrix direction. The number of turns of the coil per unit length at a region that corresponds to a boundary between the divided cores is larger than the number of turns of the coil at a region that does not correspond to the boundary.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an image heating apparatus mounted on an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an image heating apparatus mounted on an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer heats a toner image formed on a recording material while conveying the recording material bearing the unfixed toner image at a nip portion formed by a rotatable member and a pressure roller in pressure contact with the rotatable member.
In recent years, there has been proposed an image heating apparatus according to the electromagnetic induction heating method that allows a conductive layer included in the rotatable member to directly generate heat. This image heating apparatus according to the electromagnetic induction heating method has advantages of being able to warm up in a short time, and consuming only low power. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-61998 discusses a fixing apparatus that includes a rotatable member containing therein an exciting coil and a magnetic core divided into a plurality of pieces, and supplies a current to the coil to produce an alternative magnetic field to thereby cause the rotatable member to generate heat by Joule heat derived from an eddy current flowing on the rotatable member.
However, when a plurality of magnetic cores is arranged in a generatrix direction of the rotatable member, like Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-61998, in the rotatable member, an amount of generated heat may be reduced at a position of the rotatable member corresponding to a division region between the magnetic cores to generate uneven heat, causing an image defect.


Apparatus, methods and computer program products are disclosed that create an "agent LWP" in a target process. Creation of the agent LWP allows a controlling process to control execution of computer instructions within the target process without co-opting an existing LWP in the target process. The invention thus provides a mechanism that does not unintentionally change the state of the target process because existing partially-completed system calls do not need to be aborted and reissued.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of computer program control applications such as a debugging application. Specifically, this invention includes a method, apparatus, and computer program product for enabling a controlling programmed-process to control a target programmed-process executing in a computer having an operating system that provides programmed-processes with multiple, separately schedulable, threads of execution.
2. Background
Controlling programmed-processes are applications that directly control a target programmed-process without programmed cooperation by the target programmed-process. A controlling programmed-process is often used as a program debugging application. A debugging application provides a programmer with tools for examining, modifying, monitoring, and controlling the execution of the target programmed-process being debugged. The debugging application must not inadvertently change the state of the target programmed-process. The prior art controlling programmed-process controls the target programmed-process by co-opting a thread of execution in the target programmed-process. The prior art in multithreaded operation is discussed in Multithreaded Implementations and Comparisons, by Sun Microsystems, Inc., copyright 1996. A particular implementation of the prior art is discussed in SunOS Multi-thread Architecture, by Powell, Kleiman, Barton, Shah, Stein and Weeks, USENIX, Winter 1991, page 65.
A prior art controlling programmed-process first stops all lightweight programmed-processes (LWPs) owned by the target programmed-process. Once all the LWPs are stopped, the controlling programmed-process co-opts one of the target programmed-process's LWPs to perform debugging operations within the target programmed-process's address space. The controlling programmed-process co-opts the target programmed-process's LWP by specifying where in the target programmed-process the LWP is to execute once the LWP is resumed. Thus, the controlling programmed-process can insert computer instructions within the target programmed-process and cause these inserted computer instructions to be executed by the target programmed-process on behalf of the controlling programmed-process. This operation is subsequently described with respect to FIGS. 1a and 1b. Briefly, the LWP is co-opted by stopping the LWP either before, during, or after execution of an operating system service requested by the target programmed-process. The co-opted LWP is restarted from where it was stopped after the co-opted LWP is used by the controlling programmed-process. The LWP is restarted by adjusting the LWP to reissue the computer instruction that invoked the stopped operating system service (if the LWP was stopped prior to the system providing the requested service) or to execute the computer instruction after the instruction that invoked the stopped operating system service (if the LWP was stopped after the system provided the requested service).
A problem exists when the LWP is stopped during execution of the operating system service when only a portion of the operating system service has been completed (such as during a non-atomic system service). In this circumstance, if the instruction that invoked the operation is not reissued, the LWP will continue without the requested system service operation completing. On the other hand, if the instruction is reissued, portions of the requested system service operation will be duplicated. Both of these conditions cause unexpected side-effects in the target programmed-process and are a result of the operation of a controlling programmed-process operation on the target programmed-process. Thus the controlling programmed-process can cause incorrect operation of the co-opted LWP when the co-opted LWP is restarted.

Method and apparatus for non-damaging process debugging via an agent thread


A method for fabricating a resistive load element for a semiconductor device can be used with standard semiconductor processes. A layer of second level poly is deposited and lightly doped P-type. A resist mask is used to dope selected regions of the poly layer N-type. The poly layer is then patterned to define conductors and resistive load elements. The resistive load elements are formed by back-to-back PN diodes formed at the interfaces between the P-type and N-type regions.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor circuit fabrication, and more specifically to a method for fabricating a resistive load element in polycrystalline silicon.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
In integrated circuit fabrication, some digital circuits require a resistive load. An illustrative circuit which requires such a resistive load is an NMOS static random access memory (SRAM).
The term resistive load is used to means elements which provide a resistance to the flow of electrical current. The voltage drop across such element is not generally required to vary precisely linearly with current in digital circuits. Resistive load elements have been fabricated from Field Effect Transistors (FET) having their gates tied to their drains. Back-to-back diodes have been used to create an element formed of two junctions defining regions having alternating conductivity types. Since some current must flow through a resistive load element, the reverse-biased diode of the pair must be "leaky."
As is known in the art, introducing additional high temperature process steps to the fabrication of an integrated circuit is generally undesirable. High temperature processing cause diffusion of the impurities dopants in the integrated circuit, causing junctions to move. Low temperature processing steps, those below approximately 700.degree. C., generally do not adversely affect the integrated circuit being fabricated. Other steps, such as growing silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) may require temperature of 900.degree. C. or more. Such high temperature steps cause dopant diffusion, which is undesirable, especially in later processing stages. It is generally desirable to minimize the number of such high temperature process steps during the fabrication of an integrated circuit.
It would be desirable to provide a semiconductor fabrication process which provides back-to-back diodes suitable for use as resistive load elements. It would also be desirable for all of the process steps necessary to fabricate such resistive load elements to involve only low temperature processing steps.

Method for fabricating semiconductor circuits


Design optimization methods can be used to design concrete mixtures having optimized properties, including desired strength and slump at minimal cost. The design optimization methods use a computer-implemented process that is able to design and virtually “test” millions of hypothetical concrete compositions using mathematical algorithms that interrelate a number of variables that affect strength, slump, cost and other desired features. The design optimization procedure utilizes a constant K (or K factor) within Feret's strength equation that varies (e.g., logarithmically) with concrete strength for any given set of raw material inputs and processing equipment. That means that the binding efficiency or effectiveness of hydraulic cement increases with increasing concentration so long as the concrete remains optimized. The knowledge of how the K factor varies with binding efficiency and strength is a powerful tool that can be applied in multiple circumstances. A concrete manufacturing process may include accurately measuring the raw materials to minimize variation between predicted and actual strength, as well as carefully controlling water content throughout the manufacturing and delivery process.

1. The Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of concrete compositions, more particularly in the design-optimization of concrete compositions based on factors such as performance and cost. The invention more particularly relates to the design and manufacture of concrete using improved methods that more efficiently utilize all the components from a performance and cost standpoint and minimize strength variability, as well as unique methods for redesigning an existing concrete mix design and upgrading the batching, mixing and/or delivery system of an existing concrete manufacturing plant.
2. The Relevant Technology
Concrete is a ubiquitous building material. Finished concrete results from the hardening of an initial cementitious mixture that typically comprises hydraulic cement, aggregate, water, and optional admixtures. The terms "concrete", "concrete composition" and "concrete mixture" shall mean either the finished, hardened product or the initial unhardened cementitious mixture depending on the context. It may also refer to the "mix design", which is the formula or recipe used to manufacture a concrete composition. In a typical process for manufacturing transit mixed concrete, the concrete components are added to and mixed in the drum of a standard concrete delivery truck, typically while the truck is in transit to the delivery site. Hydraulic cement reacts with water to form a binder that hardens over time to hold the other components together.
Concrete can be designed to have varying strength, slump, and other materials characteristics, which gives it broad application for a wide variety of different uses. The raw materials used to manufacture hydraulic cement and concrete are relatively inexpensive and can be found virtually everywhere although the characteristics of the materials can vary significantly. This allows concrete to be manufactured throughout the world close to where it is needed. The same attributes that make concrete ubiquitous (i.e., low cost, ease of use, and wide availability of raw materials) have also kept it from being fully controlled and its full potential developed and exploited.
Concrete manufacturing plants typically offer and sell a number of different standard concrete compositions that vary in terms of their slump and strength. Each concrete composition is typically manufactured by following a standard mix design, or recipe, to yield a composition that has the desired slump and that will harden into concrete having the desired strength. Unfortunately, there is often high variability between the predicted (or design) strength of a given mix design and the actual strength between different batches, even in the absence of substantial variability in the quality or characteristics of the raw material inputs. Part of this problem results from a fundamental disconnect between the requirements, controls and limitations of "field" operations in the concrete batch plant and the expertise from research under laboratory conditions. Whereas experts may be able to design a concrete mixture having a predicted strength that closely reflects actual strength when mixed, cured and tested, experts do not typically prepare concrete compositions at concrete plants for delivery to customers. Concrete personnel who batch, mix and deliver concrete to job sites inherently lack the ability to control the typically large variation in raw material inputs that is available when conducting laboratory research. The superior knowledge of concrete by laboratory experts is therefore not readily applicable or transferable to the concrete industry in general.
In general, concrete mixtures are designed based on such factors as (1) type and quality of hydraulic cement, (2) type and quality of aggregates, (3) quality of water, and (4) climate (e.g., temperature, humidity, wind, and amount of sun, all of which can cause variability in slump, workability, and strength of concrete). To guarantee a specific minimum strength and slump as required by the customer (and avoid liability in the case of failure), concrete manufacturers typically follow a process referred to as "overdesign" of the concrete they sell. For example, if the 28 day field strength of a particular concrete mix design is known to vary between 2500 psi and 4000 psi when manufactured and delivered, a manufacturer must typically provide the customer with a concrete composition based on a mix design that achieves a strength of 4000 psi under controlled laboratory conditions to guarantee the customer a minimum strength of 2500 psi through the commercial process. Failure to deliver concrete having the minimum required strength can lead to structural problems, even failure, which, in turn, can leave a concrete plant legally responsible for such problems or failure. Thus, overdesigning is self insurance against delivering concrete that is too weak, with a cost to the manufacturer equal to the increased cost of overdesigned concrete. This cost must be absorbed by the owner, does not benefit the customer, and, in a competitive supply market, cannot easily be passed on to the customer.
Overdesigning typically involves adding excess hydraulic cement in an attempt to ensure a minimum acceptable strength of the final concrete product at the desired slump. Because hydraulic cement is typically the most expensive component of concrete (besides special admixtures used in relatively low amounts), the practice of overdesigning concrete can significantly increase cost. However, adding more cement does not guarantee better concrete, as the cement paste binder is often a lower compressive strength structural component compared to aggregates and the component subject to the greatest dynamic variability. Overcementing can result in short term microshrinkage and long term creep. Notwithstanding the cost and potentially deleterious effects, it is current practice for concrete manufacturers to simply overdesign by adding excess cement to each concrete composition it sells than to try and redesign each standard mix design. That is because there is currently no reliable or systematic way to optimize a manufacturer's pre-existing mix designs other than through time-consuming and expensive trial and error testing to make more efficient use of the hydraulic cement binder and/or account for variations in raw material inputs.
The cause of observed strength variability is not always well understood, nor can it be reliably controlled using existing equipment and following standard protocols at typical ready-mix manufacturing plants. Understanding the interrelationship and dynamic effects of the different components within concrete is typically outside the capability of concrete manufacturing plant employees and concrete truck drivers using existing equipment and procedures. Moreover, what experts in the field of concrete might know, or believe they know, about concrete manufacture, cannot readily be transferred into the minds and habits of those who actually work in the field (i.e., those who place concrete mixtures into concrete delivery trucks, those who deliver the concrete to a job site, and those who place and finish the concrete at job sites) because of the tremendous difference in controls and scope of materials variation. The disconnect between what occurs in a laboratory and what actually happens during concrete manufacture can produce flawed mix designs that, while apparently optimized when observed in the laboratory, may not be optimized in reality when the mix design is scaled up to mass produce concrete over time.
Besides variability resulting from poor initial mix designs, another reason why concrete plants deliberately overdesign concrete is the inability to maintain consistency of manufacture. There are four major systemic causes or practices that have historically lead to substantial concrete strength variability: (1) the use of materials that vary in quality and/or characteristics; (2) the use of inconsistent batching procedures; (3) overcementing; and (4) adding insufficient batch water initially and later making slump adjustments at the job site, typically by the concrete truck driver adding an uncontrolled amount of water to the mixing drum. The total variation in materials and practices can be measured by standard deviation statistics.
The first cause of variability between theoretical and actual concrete strengths for a given mix design is variability in the supply of raw materials. For example, the particle size, size distribution, morphology, and particle packing density of the hydraulic cement and aggregates (e.g., course, medium, and fine) may vary from batch to batch. Even slight differences can greatly affect how much water must be added to yield a composition having the required slump. Because concrete strength is highly dependent on the water-to-cement ratio, varying the water content to account for variations in the solid particle characteristics to maintain the required slump causes substantial variability in concrete strength. Unless a manufacturer can eliminate variations in raw material quality, overdesigning is generally the only available way to ensure that a concrete composition having the required slump also meets the minimum strength requirements.
Even if a concrete manufacturer accounts for variations in raw materials quality, overdesigning is still necessary using standard mix design tables. Standardized tables are based on actual mix designs using one type and morphology of aggregates that have been prepared and tested. They provide slump and strength values based on a wide variety of variables, such as concentration of cement, aggregates, water, and any admixtures, as well as the size of the aggregates. The use of standardized tables is fast and simple but can only approximate actual slump and strength even when variations in raw materials are measured. That is because the number of standardized mix designs is finite though the variability in the type, quality and concentration (i.e., ratio) of raw materials is virtually infinite. Because standardized tables can only approximate real world raw material inputs, there can be significant variability between predicted and actual strength when using mix designs from standardized tables. Because of this variability, the only two options are (1) time consuming and expensive trial and error testing to find an optimal mix design for every new batch of raw materials or (2) overdesigning. Manufacturers typically opt for overdesigning, especially in light of factors other than mix design that cause variations between design and actual strength.
The second cause of strength variability is the inability to accurately deliver the components required to properly prepare each batch of concrete. Whereas modern scales can theoretically provide very accurate readings, sometimes to within 0.05% of the true or actual weight, typical hoppers and other dispensing equipment used to dispense the components into the mixing vessel (e.g., the drum of a concrete mixer truck) are often unable to consistently open and shut at the precise time in order to ensure that the desired quantity of a given component is actually dispensed into the mixing vessel. To many concrete manufacturers, the perceived cost of upgrading or properly calibrating their metering and dispensing equipment is higher than simply overdesigning the concrete, particularly since most manufacturers have no idea how much the practice of overdesigning concrete actually costs and because it is thought to be a variable cost rather than a capital cost.
Overdesigning often leads to the third cause of strength variability, which is overcementing. Overcementing involves increasing the amount of hydraulic cement in an attempt to achieve or guarantee a minimum strength by overcoming the effect on strength by randomly adding water after batching to adjust slump. This, however, can lead to increases in strength variability, as hardened cement paste is typically weaker as a structural element compared to the aggregate components. While adding more cement may increase the binding strength provided by the cement paste that holds the aggregates together, more cement can also weaken concrete by displacing stronger aggregate materials with the weaker cement paste as a structural component of the hardened concrete. Strength variability occurs as a result of the foregoing effects working in opposite directions, but in differing amounts between different batches of concrete (e.g., due to differences in the water-to-cement ratio, quality and characteristics of the hydraulic cement, aggregates and water, and how the concrete is handled when delivered to a job site).
Overcementing can also cause microshrinkage, particularly on or near the surface due to water evaporation, which reduces the strength and durability of the concrete surface. Microshrinkage caused by overcementing and poor component distribution can cause cracks and crazing within 1-2 years of manufacture. Overcementing can also cause creep, which is the dynamic (and usually undesirable) growth of concrete masses due to continued long term hydration and growth of hydration products of the cement grains,
The fourth cause of concrete strength variability is the practice by concrete truck drivers of adding water to concrete after batching in an attempt to improve or modify the concrete to make it easier to pour, pump, work, and/or finish. In many cases, concrete is uniformly designed and manufactured to have a standard slump (e.g., 3 inch) when the concrete truck leaves the lot, with the expectation that the final slump requested by the customer will be achieved on site through the addition of water. This procedure is imprecise because concrete drivers rarely, if ever, use a standard slump cone to actually measure the slump but simply go on "look and feel". Since adding water significantly decreases final concrete strength, the concrete plant must build in a corresponding amount of increased initial strength to offset the possible or expected decrease in strength resulting from subsequent water addition. Because strength can be decreased by varying amounts depending on the actual amount of water added by the driver, the manufacturer must assume a worst-case scenario of maximum strength loss when designing the concrete in order to ensure that the concrete meets or exceeds the required strength.
Given the foregoing variables, which can differ in degree and scope from day to day, a concrete manufacturer may believe it to be more practical to overdesign its concrete compositions rather than account and control for the variables that can affect concrete strength, slump and other properties. Overdesigning, however, is not only wasteful as an inefficient use of raw materials, sometimes providing concrete that is substantially stronger than what is required can also be dangerous. For example, because stronger concrete is often more brittle than weaker concrete, it can fail before the weaker concrete when subjected to the forces of an earthquake.
In an effort to more efficiently design concrete compositions and take into account variations in the particle size, particle size distribution, morphology, and packing densities of the various solid components between different batches of cement and aggregates, the inventors previously developed a design optimization process that greatly improved upon traditional methods for designing concrete mixtures. This process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,387 to Andersen et al., entitled "Design Optimized Compositions and Computer Implemented Processes for Microstructurally Engineering Cementitious Mixtures" (hereinafter "Andersen patent"). For brevity, the design optimization process disclosed in the Andersen patent will be referred to as the "DOC program" (the term "DOC" being an acronym for "design optimized concrete").
The DOC program mathematically relates the properties of strength, slump and other aspects, such as cost, cohesiveness and durability, based on the concentrations and qualities of the various raw material inputs. The DOC program is able to design and virtually "test" millions of different hypothetical mix designs in seconds using a computer. This greatly reduces the amount of time required to carry out trial-and-error testing that would otherwise be necessary to identify a concrete mixture that is optimized for strength, slump, cost and/or other desired features. The goal of the DOC program is to identify an optimal mix design, from among a large number of hypothetical mix designs, based on such desired features as slump, strength, and cost. The DOC program fills in gaps inherent in standardized tables, which include a relatively small number of mix designs given the variability of raw material inputs. The DOC program can design and virtually "test" millions of different mix designs, including those falling between the gaps of standardized tables, in much less time than it takes to design and test one mix design using conventional trial-and-error methods.
First, the raw materials are carefully tested to determine characteristics that affect the slump, strength, cost, and/or other desired features of cementitious compositions made therefrom. These include, for example, the particle size and packing density of the various aggregate components (e.g., large, medium and small aggregates) and hydraulic cement particles, and the effect of one or more optional admixtures (e.g., fly ash, water reducers, fillers, etc.). Once the raw materials have been characterized with the required degree of accuracy, their characteristics are input into a computer used to carry out the optimization process of the DOC program.
Thereafter, the DOC program designs a large number of hypothetical concrete mixtures, each having a theoretical slump and strength, by varying the concentrations of cement, aggregate, water, and optional admixtures. The predicted slump and strength of each hypothetical concrete mixture is determined by inputting the variables (e.g., the concentration and characteristics of the raw materials) into a system of interrelated mathematical equations. One of the equations utilized in the DOC program is a variation of Feret's strength equation, which states that the compressive strength of the final hardened concrete composition is proportional to the square of the volumetric ratio of hydraulic cement to cement paste, which consists of cement, water and air:
  σ  =      K    ·                  (                              V            C                                              V              C                        +                          V              W                        +                          V              A                                      )            2
The constant "K" within this equation provides proper strength units and magnitude. The strength equation can be modified as follows to predict the strength of concrete that additionally includes other binders, such as class F fly ash, as part of the cement paste:
  σ  =      K    ·                  (                                            V              C                        +                          0.3                                            V                FA                                                                        V              C                        +                          0.3                                            V                FA                                      +                          V              W                        +                          V              A                                      )            2
The DOC program can be carried out in an iterative manner in which each iteration yields a hypothetical concrete mixture having a predicted slump and strength that is closer to the desired slump and strength than each previous iteration. In addition to slump and strength, the DOC program can optimize concrete for other desired features, such as cost, workability, or cohesion. Thus, in the case where a number of different concrete mixtures may have the desired slump and strength, the DOC program can identify which of the mixtures is "optimal" according to one or more other criteria (e.g., cost, workability and/or cohesion).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the DOC program, when initially invented, was based on the assumption, well-accepted in the art, that the constant K (or "K factor") within Feret's strength equation is a true constant and does not vary as long as the same type of mixing apparatus and source of raw materials are used each time. It has been well-accepted in the art that if such variables are kept constant, the K factor remains constant regardless of variations in hydraulic cement concentration and concrete strength. As a result of this well-accepted assumption, the DOC program required significant post-design corrections, even significant testing and redesign of concrete compositions made using one or more of the "optimal" mix designs generated by the program. Thus, the inability of the DOC program to account for dynamic variability of the K factor limited the practical application of an otherwise powerful design optimization tool.

Methods and systems for manufacturing optimized concrete


A composition is provided which comprises amphoteric polymers comprising, as constituent monomer units, a cationic monomer unit, an anionic monomer unit, and optionally a nonionic monomer unit and having a 0.5% salted viscosity of 10 to 120 mPa·s, wherein said amphoteric polymers comprise a first amphoteric polymer satisfying the following expression (1) and a second amphoteric polymer satisfying the following expression (2) or a third amphoteric polymer satisfying the following expressions (3) and (4):Ca1/An1≧1  (1)Ca2/An2<1  (2)Ca3/An3≧1  (3)|(Ca1−An1)−(Ca3−An3)|≧1.5  (4)wherein Ca1 and An1 respectively represent the total mole number of the cationic monomer units and the total mole number of the anionic monomer units in the first amphoteric polymer on a condition that the total mole number of all the constituent monomer units in the first amphoteric polymer is converted to be 100 mol; on a condition similar to the above, Ca2 and An2, and Ca3 and An3, respectively represent the total mole number of the cationic monomer units and the total mole number of the anionic monomer units in the second and third amphoteric polymers. The composition is excellent in various flocculation and dewatering performances for various types of sludge, in particular, for sludge high in ratio of excess sludge, and can be used for process yield improvement in papermaking process.

Conventionally, cationic polymer flocculants have been used alone for dewatering treatment of sludge; however, in these years, with increase in amount of generated sludge and deterioration of characteristics of the sludge, the sludge is not satisfactorily treated by conventional cationic polymer flocculants because they are still insufficient in capacity for treating the sludge, moisture content of dewatered sludge cake, SS recovery rate, peelability of dewatered sludge cake from filter cloth, or the like; thus there has been a demand for improving these problems.
For the purpose of improving these defects of the conventional cationic polymer flocculants, various amphoteric polymer flocculants and various dewatering methods by use thereof have been proposed.
For example, the following methods have been known: (1) a method of dewatering sludge in which a specific ionic-equivalent cationic-rich amphoteric polymer flocculant is added to an organic sludge that does not contain any inorganic sludge but is supplemented with an inorganic flocculant at a pH of 5 to 8 (Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 5-56199), (2) a method of dewatering sludge in which an acrylate based cationic polymer flocculant and an amphoteric polymer flocculant are added in combination to organic sludge having a pH of 5 to 8 (Japanese Patent No. 2933627), (3) a dewatering method in which an inorganic flocculant is added to sludge to adjust the pH to be less than 5 and then a specific composition of anionic-rich amphoteric polymer flocculant is added (Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 6-239), and (4) a treatment method of waste water of organic nature, in which an inorganic flocculant, an anionic polymer flocculant and a cationic-rich amphoteric polymer flocculant are successively added to the waste water (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.6-134213).
The above described dewatering methods (1) to (4) have their respective advantages; however, these methods cannot necessarily be said to be effective against the tendency for recent waste water to become hard to be dewatered.
More specifically, since the COD value after treatment of waste water has been required to be lowered, proportion of activated sludge to be treated per the whole waste water has become higher. Namely, the sludge subjected to the dewatering treatment has become higher in content of excess sludge. Also, in case of waste water resulting from papermaking, recovery rate of fibrous contents from the waste water is increased whilst fibrous contents in the sludge are lowered, and thus several cases have occurred to which conventional polymer flocculants and dewatering methods cannot be applied.
Meanwhile, in papermaking processes, when or after a filler-containing stuff is diluted to a final concentration for feeding into a papermaking machine, a retention aid is added thereto so that the filler is prevented from flowing from the papermaking machine to whitewater, thereby improving the process yield.
As the retention aid, water-soluble high-molecular-weight cationic polymers are usually used, which include, for example, cationic acrylamide based polymers, partially hydrolyzed products thereof, Mannich modification products thereof, and the like. Recently, the following methods have been noticed: a method for improving retention in paper making process in which a cationic polymer is added to a stuff, and then bentonite is added thereto (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.4-281095) and a method in which an acrylamide based polymer and an anionic aluminum-containing silica sol are added in combination to the stuff (Japanese Patent No. 2945761). The acrylamide based polymer as used above is produced by aqueous solution polymerization or the like with solid content of monomers being set at 10 to 40% by mass, and the polymer obtained by the aqueous solution polymerization is usually in a form of highly viscous paste. Accordingly, when used as a retention aid, the polymer paste is diluted with water so as to be used as an aqueous solution of 0.1 to 0.5% by mass.
The retention aid is essentially different in timing of addition in the papermaking process and molecular weight of useful polymers from paper strength agents that are used for the purpose of enhancing bonding strength between pulp fibers, and accordingly increasing the strength to rupture, stretch and the like. More specifically, as for the timing of addition, the paper strength agent is added after a sizing reagent such as aluminum sulfate has been added to the stuff, while the retention aid is required to be added immediately before the stuff is fed to a papermaking machine so that flocs of the pulp slurry may not be destroyed. As for the molecular weight of useful polymers, the paper strength agent has a molecular weight of hundreds of thousands, while the molecular weight of the retention aid exceeds one million, and otherwise sufficient retention improvement cannot be attained. Because of such a high molecular weight, addition amount of the retention aid ranges from 0.01 to 0. 05% by mass in relation to the pulp, which is a very small amount compared to that of the strength agent which ranges from 0.1 to 0.5% by mass. As can be seen from the above described characteristics, the retention aid is required to have characteristics close to those of the flocculants used in the waste water treatment.
The retention aid is a polymer with a molecular weight exceeding one million as described above, and thus is obtained, after polymerization, as a water-containing polymer in a form that is pasty and extremely low in solubility in water, thereby causing a problem such that an extremely long time is required to completely dilute it for use as an aqueous solution in the actual papermaking process.
Furthermore, conventional retention aids are insufficient in retention, and have significant defects on alkaline papermaking. In these years, the papermaking process is promoted to change to a closed system, and accordingly the recycled water and pulp fibers are contaminated with large amounts of water-soluble inorganic matters and others originating from the fillers so that the conventional retention aids are insufficient in retention.
The present inventors have made intensive researches for the purpose of finding out a composition, a polymer flocculant and a dewatering method, which are excellent in performance of flocculation and dewatering of various types of sludge, in particular, sludge large in proportion of waste sludge, and also finding out a retention aid excellent in solubility in water and in retention in the papermaking process.

Composition comprising amphoteric polymeric flocculants


An image display apparatus includes a liquid crystal panel with a dual-view function to display two different first and second screen-sized images that are visible in a driver-seat direction and a passenger-seat direction, respectively. The first screen-sized image in the driver-seat direction contains a guidance image and a guidance manipulation image; the second screen-sized image in the passenger-seat direction contains a video image and a video manipulation image. When an occupant in the driver seat manipulates an icon within the guidance manipulation image on the liquid crystal display panel, the same guidance manipulation image is also displayed in the passenger-seat direction by replacing the video manipulation image.

[Patent Literature 1] JP 2005-284592 A
Patent Literature 1 describes an in-vehicle image display apparatus of dual-view type. The in-vehicle image display apparatus simultaneously displays, in the screen, a plurality of screen-sized images to be visible from a plurality of visual recognition directions, respectively. That is, a first screen-sized image containing a guidance image for navigation is visible from a driver seat or in a driver-seat direction, whereas a second screen-sized image containing a video image reproduced by a DVD player is visible from a front passenger seat or in a front-passenger-seat direction.
In addition, the in-vehicle image display apparatus displays a first manipulation image for the guidance image in the driver-seat direction and a second manipulation image for the video image in the front-passenger-seat direction. Each manipulation image contains a plurality of icons. To manipulate the icon, a touch panel is provided to be laminated on the screen of the in-vehicle image display apparatus.
However, the touch panel does not determine from which visual recognition direction an icon is manipulated. Therefore, the in-vehicle image display apparatus of Patent Literature 1 displays the icons for the guidance image to be located at positions on the screen as being separate from the positions on the screen of the icons for the video image.
In the image display apparatus of dual-view type, a first manipulation image is visible from a first visual recognition direction but invisible from a second visual recognition direction other than the first visual recognition direction. Even if the icons for the first visual recognition direction are displayed as being separate from the icons for the second visual recognition direction, as mentioned above, a person located in the second visual recognition direction does not understand which icon a person located in the first visual recognition direction manipulates. The person in the second visual recognition direction may touch the screen of the image display apparatus, possibly causing an erroneous manipulation.
In addition, the person in the second visual recognition direction may extend the hand to the image display apparatus during the manipulation by the person in the first visual recognition direction. In such a case, the person in the first visual recognition direction may have an erroneous recognition to suppose that the person in the second visual recognition direction cause an erroneous manipulation.


This invention relates to a device and procedure for the production of a work piece with exact geometry and high surface quality, a form tool in particular. Preferably, the work piece is constructed using a process wherein powder coatings are applied one on top of each other, by means of compaction, said process being computer-controlled. After the powder has been compacted, the surfaces thereof are finely machined in a mechanical manner. During the entire machining process, the work piece to be produced is surrounded with powdery source material.

DE 195 33 960 C2 discloses a method wherein one material layer each is applied on a base in the form of a trace and is subsequently fused or compacted, respectively, by means of a laser beam. Subsequently, a second layer is applied and compacted, and so on, with the number of the layers applied and compacted by means of a laser beam depending on the desired height of the work piece. On applying a new layer, this new layer always combines with the surface of the layer applied before. The powder-metallurgical production of the work piece is followed by a finishing of both the lateral faces and the surface by means of a cutting process. In the case of the known method it is taken care that non-melted powder is always removed from the working area by blowing or sucking it off.
With the method known, comparatively short production times can be achieved for exactly dimensioned work pieces when the radiation device and the mechanical processing device are computer-controlled. A problem of the production method known, however, consists in that in the edge area of the work pieces produced, i.e. in the area of the lateral faces, a non-uniform material consistency is generated and that especially porosities may occur.
For solution of this problem, DE 195 33 960 C2 suggests to fuse material beyond the desired contour dimension and to remove the distinctly projecting edges of the work piece by means of subsequent mechanical processing. By means of this procedure, it is indeed possible to remove so much material in the area of the lateral faces that a homogeneous material consistency can be achieved; this, however, renders the expenses, i.e. the working time and the tool costs, to become undesirably high.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method which substantially reduces the materials expenses with a mechanical finishing of the surface of the outer contour of the work piece and simultaneously ensures a high surface quality of the outer contour.

Method and apparatus for the production of a workpiece of exact geometry


The present invention relates to Li—Ni composite oxide particles for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary cell which have a large charge/discharge capacity, an excellent packing density and excellent storage performance. The Li—Ni composite oxide particles for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary cell which have a composition represented by the formula:LixNi1-y-zCoyAlz02 in which 0.9<x<1.3; 0.1<y<0.3; and 0<z<0.3, wherein the composite oxide particles have a rate of change in specific surface area of not more than 10% as measured between before and after applying a pressure of 1 t/cm2 thereto, and a sulfate ion content of not more than 1.0%, can be produced by mixing Ni—Co hydroxide particles having a sulfate ion content of not more than 1.0% whose surface is coated with an Al compound having a primary particle diameter of not more than 1 μm, with a lithium compound; and calcining the resulting mixture.

With the recent rapid development of portable and cordless electronic devices such as audio-visual (AV) devices and personal computers, there is an increasing demand for secondary cells or batteries having a small size, a light weight and a high energy density as a power source for driving these electronic devices. Also, in consideration of global environments, electric cars and hybrid cars have been recently developed and put into practice, so that there is an increasing demand for lithium ion secondary cells for large size applications having excellent storage performance. Under these circumstances, lithium ion secondary cells having advantages such as large charge/discharge capacity and good storage performance have been noticed.
Hitherto, as cathode materials useful for high energy-type lithium ion secondary cells exhibiting a 4 V-grade voltage, there are generally known LiMn2O4 having a spinet structure, LiMnO2 having a zigzag layer structure, LiCoO2 and LiNiO2 having a layer rock-salt structure, or the like. Among the secondary cells using these cathode materials, lithium ion secondary cells using LiNiO2 have been noticed because of large charge/discharge capacity thereof. However, the materials tend to be deteriorated in thermal stability and charge/discharge cycle durability upon charging, and, therefore, it has been required to further improve properties thereof.
Specifically, when lithium ions are de-intercalated from LiNiO2, the crystal structure of LiNiO2 suffers from Jahn-Teller distortion since Ni3+ is converted into Ni4+. When the amount of Li de-intercalated reaches 0.45, the crystal structure of such a lithium-de-intercalated region of LiNiO2 is transformed from hexagonal system into monoclinic system, and a further de-intercalated of lithium therefrom causes transformation of the crystal structure from monoclinic system into hexagonal system. Therefore, when the charge/discharge reaction is repeated, the crystal structure of LiNiO2 tends to become unstable, so that the resulting secondary cell tends to suffer from poor cycle characteristics or occurrence of undesired reaction between LiNiO2 and an electrolyte solution owing to release of oxygen therefrom, resulting in deterioration in thermal stability and storage performance of the cell. To solve these problems, there have been made studies on materials formed by adding Co and Al to a part of Ni of LiNiO2. However, these materials have still failed to solve the above-described problems. Therefore, it has still been required to provide a Li—Ni composite oxide having a more stabilized crystal structure.
In addition, since the particles of the Li—Ni composite oxide have a small primary particle diameter, in order to obtain a Li—Ni composite oxide having a high packing density, it is required to control properties of the Li—Ni composite oxide such that they are capable of forming densely aggregated secondary particles. However, the Li—Ni composite oxide in the form of secondary particles tends to suffer from breakage of the secondary particles owing to compression upon production of an electrode therefrom and is, therefore, increased in surface area, so that the resulting secondary cell tends to undergo promoted reaction between the composite oxide and an electrolyte solution upon storage in a charged state under a high temperature condition, resulting in formation of a non-conductive material film on a surface of the electrode and, therefore, increase in electric resistance of the secondary cell. Also, when impurities such as lithium sulfate are present in the Li—Ni composite oxide, there tend to arise the problems such as incomplete crystal growth of the Li—Ni composite oxide and formation of a non-conductive material film on a surface of the electrode owing to undesirable decomposition reaction of the impurities during a charge/discharge cycle thereof, resulting in increase in electric resistance of the secondary cell upon storage in a charged state under a high temperature condition. For these reasons, in order to ensure high storage performance of the secondary cell under a high temperature condition, it is required to not only obtain a Li—Ni composite oxide having a less content of impurities, but also suppress change in average particle diameter of the cathode material between before and after compressing the material upon production of the electrode therefrom while maintaining a high electrode density, and prevent the particles thereof from suffering from breakage.
Further, in the process for producing the Li—Ni composite oxide, in order to obtain the Li—Ni composite oxide having a high packing density and a stable crystal structure, it is required to use Ni composite hydroxide particles which are well controlled in properties, crystallinity and contents of impurities, and calcine the particles under the condition which is free from inclusion of Ni2+ into Li sites thereof.
More specifically, it is required to provide Li—Ni composite oxide capable of exhibiting a high packing density, a stable crystal structure and excellent storage performance as a cathode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary cell.
Hitherto, in order to improve various properties such as stabilization of a crystal structure and charge/discharge cycle characteristics, various improvements of LiNiO2 particles have been attempted. For example, there are known the technique of stabilizing a crystal structure of LiNiO2 by adding other kinds of metals to Ni sites thereof (Patent Document 1); the technique of improving a tap density of Ni—Co hydroxide used for production of the Li—Ni composite oxide to reduce a content of residual impurities therein (Patent Document 2); the technique of controlling a cumulative volume-based particle size distribution of the Li—Ni composite oxide to a limited range to obtain a cathode material having a large volume (capacity) density, a high safety, an excellent coating uniformity, an excellent charge/discharge cycle durability and low-temperature performance (Patent Document 3); the technique of not only increasing a rate of occupation of Li sites in the Li—Ni composite oxide but also reducing an amount of change in BET specific surface area upon subjecting the Li—Ni composite oxide to wasting treatment to enhance an initial capacity thereof (Patent Document 4); etc.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (KOKAI) No. 5-242891 (1993)    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (KOKAI) No. 2001-106534    Patent Document 3: PCT Pamphlet WO 01/092158    Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (KOKAI) No. 2004-171961

Li-Ni composite oxide particles for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary cell, process for producing the same, and non-aqueous electrolyte secondary cell


A method for preparing a ternary or higher zeotropic refrigerant mixture comprising components of different volatilities is described. The method comprises: mixing together the less volatile components of the mixture in a pre-blending process; and separately adding the most volatile component to the pre-blended mixture by pressure or mass flow control so that the desired initial liquid composition is attained. The liquid zeotropic refrigerant mixture that is prepared may be transferred from a container in which it is held to another container or to a piece of equipment that is to use the refrigerant mixture. This method comprises the steps of: removing at least a portion of the prepared liquid zeotropic refrigerant mixture from a container in which it is held; charging the liquid zeotropic refrigerant mixture that is removed to another container or to a piece of equipment in which it is to be used; and adding at least the most volatile component of the refrigerant mixture to the holding container to compensate for the removal of liquid refrigerant mixture therefrom.

The majority of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment employed today uses the subcritical vapour compression cycle to transfer heat from a colder region to a hotter region via the low pressure evaporation and high pressure condensation of a refrigerant fluid. The refrigerants in current commercial use are either: single fluids, for example 1, 1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a); azeotropic mixtures, for example the azeotropic mixture of 1,1,1-trifluoroethane (R-143a) and pentafluoroethane (R-125) sold as R-507; or non-azeotropic ("zeotropic") mixtures in which the temperature glide, i.e. the difference between the bubble and dew point temperatures of the refrigerant mixture at atmospheric pressure, is relatively narrow, typically less than about 10° C. Examples of the latter include the 50:50 w/w mixture of difluoromethane (R-32) and R-125 sold as R-410A (glide less than 0.1° C.) and the 23:25:52 w/w mixture of R-32, R-125 and R-134a sold as R-407C (glide 7° C.). It has been found and accepted that all three types of refrigerant can be handled with the same kind of servicing equipment and generally used in a similar manner, with the proviso that mixed refrigerants should be transferred from the cylinder in which they are stored to the equipment as a liquid to preserve the composition.
The fluorocarbon based refrigerants in current use have relatively high Global Warming Potentials (GWP), expressed in terms of their ability to trap heat in the atmosphere on a relative scale where 1 kg of CO2 is taken as having a GWP of 1. For example, using the internationally accepted IPCC AR-4 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—Fourth Assessment Report) values of halocarbon GWPs; R-134a has a GWP of 1430; R-410A has a GWP of 2088; and R-407C has a GWP of 1774.
The environmental impact on the climate of operating a refrigeration, air conditioning or heat pump system can be expressed as an equivalent emission of CO2 greenhouse gas resulting from operation or servicing of the unit. The total equivalent warming impact (TEWI) of a system is a measure of this emission expressed as a sum of direct emission—the equivalent amount of CO2 represented by leakage of a refrigerant having a GWP—and the indirect effect, namely the CO2 emitted as a consequence of generating mechanical or electrical power to operate the unit, either by direct combustion of fuel (e.g. for automobile air conditioning) or by combustion of fuel in a power station to generate electricity.
Reduction of the GWP of the refrigerants used in such vapour compression technology therefore offers a means of reducing the overall TEWI of the technology. This is already mandated in Europe by the European Union MAC Directive for the specific application of refrigerants in automotive air conditioning. Refrigerant R-134a is currently used worldwide in automotive air conditioning systems. Under the MAC directive its use in new cars will progressively be replaced by a fluid or fluid compositions having a GWP of less than 150 over the period 2011-2017.
In the search for alternatives to the currently used refrigerant fluids, it is evident that in at least some applications those fluids will not easily be replaced by single fluids having comparable refrigerant properties without other complications arising from the other properties of the replacement fluids. The most significant of these is flammability—many molecules otherwise suitable for refrigeration applications and having low GWP are flammable.
For example, chlorodifluoromethane (R-22) (an ozone depleting fluid with a GWP of ˜1800) could be replaced from a technical standpoint by propane (GWP of 3), as the key physical properties relevant to refrigeration performance (principally boiling point and vapour pressure) are similar for the molecules. However, propane is extremely flammable whereas R-22 is non-flammable, and its flammability would preclude it from use in many applications serviced by R-22.
Therefore, it is potentially necessary in the search for new refrigerants having lower GWP to contemplate mixing refrigerant components to form a refrigerant blend having the desired balance of properties including: good refrigeration performance in the application, low flammability, low toxicity, low GWP and technical suitability for the application demands.
One class of mixtures, not currently in widespread use, which may offer promise is that of so-called wide-glide zeotropic refrigerant mixtures. These are mixtures having a temperature glide significantly larger than those exhibited by the currently used zeotropic refrigerants, e.g. a temperature glide of greater than 10° C. or perhaps greater than 15° C. Non limiting examples of such mixtures include:                Mixtures of carbon dioxide with hydrofluoroalkene fluids, such as 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (R-1234yf), 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (R-1234ze—E or Z isomers or mixtures thereof), 3,3,3-trifluoropropene (R-1243zf), 1,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropene (R-1225ye—E or Z isomers or blends thereof), 1-chloro trifluoropropene (R-1233zd—E or Z isomers), 2-chloro 3,3,3-trifluoropropene (R-1233xf), hexafluorobutene (R-1336—all isomers), octafluoropentene (R-1438—all isomers and especially 1,1,1,4,4,5,5,5-octafluoro-2-pentene (R-1438m/z)), nonafluoropentene (R-1429—all isomers and especially 1,1,1,2,4,4,5,5,5-nonafluoro-2-pentene (R-1429myz) and 1,1,1,3,4,4,5,5,5-nonafluoro-2-pentene (R-1429mzy) and the like.        Mixtures as above additionally containing other saturated fluorocarbon refrigerant compounds, such as R-125, R-32, R-134a, fluoroethane (R-161), R-143a, 1,1,1-trifluoropropane (R-263fb), 1,1-difluoroethane (R-152a) and 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoroethane (R-227ea), or hydrocarbons, such as propane, propylene, n-butane, isobutane, or dimethyl ether.        Mixtures of low boiling point fluorocarbon or hydrocarbon fluids with hydrofluorocarbon or hydrochlorofluorocarbon fluids having significantly higher boiling points, for example mixtures comprising R-32 (boiling point −51° C.) with other halogenated refrigerant fluids having boding points higher than R-134a.
For zeotropic refrigerant blends, compositional shifts arise as the liquid blend is discharged from the container in which it is stored. As the liquid refrigerant blend is removed from the container, the space above the liquid refrigerant increases allowing it to accommodate more vapour. However, for zeotropic blends, the more volatile refrigerant component evaporates preferentially, so that the vapour space above the liquid becomes occupied with a vapour composition that becomes progressively enriched in the more volatile component. Correspondingly, the liquid refrigerant that remains in the storage container becomes gradually depleted in the more volatile component as more and more of the liquid is removed from the container. This behaviour is known as composition shift.
In automotive air conditioning systems, SAE standard J1658 requires that the performance of a mixed refrigerant be evaluated across the range of compositions that develop during depletion of a cylinder containing the mixed refrigerant from full to empty. This standard requires the change in cooling capacity resulting from the compositional change to be less than 5% over the range.
The zeotropic refrigerant mixtures in use today, such as R-407C, have relatively narrow temperature glides. These mixtures are conventionally manufactured by a batch wise blending operation in which the components are added to a bulk blending tank in reverse order of volatility. Optionally, recirculation of the liquid contents of the tank is used to ensure good mixing of the components. On completion of the blending process the tank contains a liquid refrigerant phase and a vapour refrigerant phase. The compositions of the two phases are different for a zeotropic mixture, with the vapour phase containing more of the more volatile components than does the liquid phase. The relative amounts of each component added in this batch wise blending process are selected to ensure that the liquid phase meets the target composition specification.
Once the bulk blending operation is complete, the refrigerant is transferred into smaller cylinders or tanks by withdrawal of liquid from the bulk blending tank. As explained supra, as this withdrawal occurs, the proportion of the more volatile species in the liquid phase is progressively depleted. This effect is illustrated in European patent EP-B-0,767,348 assigned to Daikin Industries, which deals with the handling and packing of R-407C compositions. For R-407C, the patent attends to the problem of composition shift by initially placing a composition enriched in R-32 in the blending vessel so as to ensure that throughout the process of liquid removal, the content of R-32 in the liquid stays within specification, despite the preferential evaporation of the more volatile R-32 into the increasing vapour space volume as liquid is removed.
This technique may, however, be insufficient to allow zeotropic mixtures having large glides, such as the zeotropic mixture of CO2, R-134a and R-1234ze(E), to be handled so that the liquid composition delivered from a blending vessel stays within specification.
Furthermore, when a zeotropic refrigerant blend is registered with the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), it will have tolerance limits for each component in the blend. For example, for R-407C, there is a ±2 weight % tolerance on each component in the blend. These tolerance limits must be observed during the subsequent use of the blend. This need to observe and control composition specification can present a problem with wide-glide zeotropic refrigerant mixtures, as the compositional shift that results as liquid is removed from the cylinder can eventually take the liquid refrigerant out of specification.

Method for preparing a ternary or higher zeotropic refrigerant mixture


A method for informing about power information and a base station are disclosed in the present document. The method includes: a base station informing a user equipment of at least one of the following types of power ratio information through signalings: ratio information of transmission power for transmitting a second category of control signaling information to transmission power for transmitting dedicated demodulation pilots; and ratio information of transmission power for transmitting data information to transmission power for transmitting dedicated demodulation pilots in a subframe where data transmission occupies only one slot. In the example of the present document, when the second category of control signalings and the data are sent, different transmission layers and transmission powers can be selected, which solves the problem resulted from an inconsistency of Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) powers and avoids a demodulation error.

In the Release (R) 8/9 of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system and the R10 of an LTE-Advanced system, a downlink control signaling is generally configured to be sent on the first N Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols of one Subframe (with reference to a definition with regard to the Subframe in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) TS 36.211), and those N symbols are generally called as a control signaling transmission area of a subframe. Here, in order to distinguish from a control signaling transmission area newly added in the new release, the control signaling transmission area of the R8/9/10 is called as a first control signaling transmission area in the present document.
The available transmission resources of the first control signaling transmission area are divided into multiple Control Channel Element (CCE) resource units, the resources occupied by the control information are allocated with CCE being a unit, a resource unit CCE here also can be further subdivided into multiple Resource Element Groups (REGs), a CCE consists of multiple discontinuous REGs, and normally 9 REGs constitute a CCE, and each REG is further composed of multiple basic resource units.
It can be seen that the control signaling transmission resources allocated by users are discontinuous, this brings a lot of difficulties in implementing the closed-loop precoding technology in a multi-antenna system, which causes that only the diversity technology can be used and the closed-loop precoding technology is difficult to be used in the control signaling area. The main reason is that, when the closed-loop precoding technology is used in the first control signaling transmission area, there exists a great design difficulty in the aspect of demodulation pilots and channel state information feedback, thus all control signalings in the existing releases only support the discontinuous resource transmission and the diversity technology.
In the releases after the R10, in order to enhance the transmission capacity of control channels and support the control signalings of more users, it is to consider to open up new control channel areas, and control signaling transmission resources of the same User Equipment (UE) can be continuous time-frequency resources so as to support the closed-loop precoding technology, thereby enhancing the transmission performance of control information.
Control signaling areas of the new releases (i.e., the releases after the Release 10 (called as the R10 for short)) and the old releases (i.e., the Release 8/9/10) is as shown in FIG. 1.
In this method, in a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmission area of the original R8/9/10, part of transmission resources are set apart to serve as a second control signaling transmission area, such that the closed-loop precoding technology can be supported when the control signallings are transmitted, thereby enhancing the control signalling capacity and supporting transmission of the control signallings of more users.
Here, in the second control signaling transmission area, a dedicated Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) in the R10 can be reused to demodulate the control signalings, which supports the precoding technology well. Due to the appearance of the second control signaling transmission area, the DMRS not only needs to support data demodulation, but also needs to support demodulation of the second category of control signalings transmitted within the first control signaling transmission area, and a new research subject is how to achieve the optimal downlink transmission under this condition.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of distribution of the second category of control signalings and data information transmitted within a transmission resource block. The distributed situation of the second category of control signalings and data information shown in FIG. 2 can be further represented as shown in FIG. 3.
In order to waste no resources and avoid scheduling restrictions, situations where the data information and the second category of downlink control signalings are transmitted in an identical Resource Block (RB) shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 will appear frequently. Only one situation is listed in this example, and of course, other situations are also included in practice.
Scheme 1: the second category of control signalings is demodulated by using DMRSs on the 6th OFDM symbol and the 7th OFDM symbol in FIG. 3, and the data information is demodulated by using DMRSs on the 13th OFDM symbol and the 14th OFDM symbol in FIG. 3.
The scheme 1 is actually equivalent to that the second category of control signalings and the data information are demodulated by using half of the DMRSs respectively, the demodulation performance will be reduced, and the channel estimation has no time-domain interpolation. Secondly, due to the truncation of DMRS, the transmission of data information of the second Slot (referring to a definition for the Slot in the 3GPP TS36.211) cannot support the transmission of layer 5, layer 6, layer 7 and layer 8 anymore, which loses the transmission ability of supporting 8 layers at most of the Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO) when there are 8 antennas, but can only support 4 layers.
Scheme 2: the second category of control signalings is demodulated by using DMRSs on the 6th OFDM symbol, the 7th OFDM symbol, the 13th OFDM symbol and the 14th OFDM symbol in FIG. 3, the data information is also modulated by using the DMRSs on the 6th OFDM symbol, the 7th OFDM symbol, the 13th OFDM symbol and the 14th OFDM symbol in FIG. 3, but it is limited to using the identical DMRS port. Therefore, normal demodulation can be performed without truncating when using the existing DMRSs. However, since the identical DMRS port is used, the method brings certain limitations. For example,
the data and the control signalings are required to use the same transmission layer number and transmission power; or
the data information and the second category of control signalings are required to belong to an identical user.
The defects of the scheme 2 are that, the control signalings are appropriate for being transmitted in less layers, the data may be appropriate for being transmitted in more layers, the same number of layers brings the limitations. The robustness of control signalings is different from the transmission robustness requirements of data information, thus transmission powers may also be different, and the limitation of same power may also bring other problems. In addition, both the data information and the second category of control signaling information are required to belong to an identical user, which will have limitations on the scheduling in practice, go against the flexibility of scheduling, and have a certain extent of loss of scheduling gain.

Method and base station for informing power message


The present invention provides a terminal control method, a protective case, and a terminal. In the method, a terminal may be disposed with two Hall effect sensors for sensing a change of a magnetic field generated by a magnet in a protective case, and identify a forward snap-fit operation, an opening operation, a backward snap-fit operation, and the like of the protective case. When detecting the forward snap-fit operation of the protective case, the terminal performs a screen off operation; or when detecting the backward snap-fit operation of the protective case, the terminal may skip performing screen off operation. In embodiments of the present invention, the protective case can be prevented from turning off a screen by mistake, so as to improve terminal control accuracy.

With rapid development of Internet technologies and computer technologies, various terminals such as smartphones and tablet computers have become indispensable communication, entertainment, and life tools in people's life, and protective cases of terminals such as cases of mobile phones are also widely applied to terminals because the cases are equipped with a drop-proof function, a scratch-resistant function, and other functions. Currently, a protective case of a terminal has another auxiliary function such as a screen locking function in addition to a function of protecting the terminal. The terminal is controlled by using the protective case. For example, when a user closes the protective case of the terminal, a screen of the terminal is locked; or when the user opens the protective case, the screen of the terminal is woken up from a screen locked state, thereby reducing power consumption of the terminal, facilitating a user operation, and improving working efficiency.
A terminal is controlled by using an existing protective case according to the following principle: When a user closes the protective case, a Hall effect sensor in a terminal senses a magnetic field change generated by a magnet in a case, and the terminal performs a screen locking operation; or when the user opens the protective case, the Hall effect sensor in the terminal senses a magnetic field change generated by the magnet in the case, and the terminal performs a screen wakeup operation. However, a position explored by using a conventional terminal control method is not an optimal position, and therefore terminal control may be insensitive.

Preventing protective case from turning off screen by mistake on terminal using Hall effect sensor


The invention relates to a skin cleansing sheet obtained by impregnating (c) a sheet with an aqueous composition containing (a) 1-50 wt. % of a nonionic surfactant having an HLB of 10-16 and (b) 1-30 wt. % of a polyhydric alcohol or glycol ether. The cleansing sheet has high detergency and detergent speed to smears of makeup and sebum, and low irritativeness to the skin, gives users a pleasant feeling upon use, and moreover has good handling property and stability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a skin cleansing sheet which has high detergency to smears of makeup and sebum, low irritativeness to the skin, excellent handling property and good stability.
2. Description of the Background Art
Since makeup cosmetics such as lipsticks, foundations, eye shadows and mascaras contain a great amount of oil and fat, they cannot be sufficiently solubilized or emulsified with a solid or pasty facial soap comprising ordinary soap as a main component. It is therefore difficult to remove a smear of makeup with such a facial soap. In order to remove such a smear of makeup, gelled detergent compositions, cleansing creams, cleansing oils and the like, which are composed mainly of an oily base, have heretofore been used.
However, these cleansing compositions composed mainly of the oily base cannot sufficiently cleanse smears of sebum including a solid smear filled in pores of the skin and also give a feeling of oil. Therefore, it has been necessary to wash the face again with a pasty facial soap or the like after cleansing with the cleansing composition. The cleansing compositions composed mainly of the oily base involve a problem that when they are used at a place of high temperature and humidity, they absorb moisture to deteriorate their stability, and so separation and reduction in detergency are caused.
Detergent compositions for removing oily smears such as smears of makeup and sebum are also required to have low irritativeness to the skin. However, ordinary fatty acid soap and detergent compositions comprising an anionic surfactant as a base generally have high irritativeness to the skin. Even when a nonionic surfactant, which has low irritativeness and good detergency, is used as a base, there have been problems that when a thickening agent is added like detergent compositions on the market at present, the detergent speed of the surfactant is markedly lowered, and the resultant detergent composition has a slimy feel upon use. If the thickening agent is not used for the purpose of avoiding such demerits resulted from the thickening agent, the viscosity of the system becomes low, and so the handling property of the resulting detergent composition is impaired, resulting in its flowing out of a face upon washing the face to stain clothes and/or the like.


The present invention relates to a method for producing artificial skin, comprising: adding a matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor and a heparanase inhibitor to an artificial skin formation culture medium comprising human epidermal keratinocytes and human dermal fibroblasts, culturing the cells in the artificial skin formation culture medium, and forming artificial skin.

Skin covers the entire bodies of various animals, including humans, and is exposed to the formation of wrinkles, hardening, age spots, darkening and decreased elasticity and the like caused by aging and external factors such as sunlight, dryness, oxidation, environmental stress and psychological stress.
Natural skin is broadly composed of two layers consisting of the epidermis and the dermis, and a thin, minute membrane referred to as the epidermal basement membrane is present between the epidermis and dermis. The epidermal basement membrane is an extremely thin structure having a thickness of about 0.1 μm, and is present in the form of a sheet at the junction between the epidermis and dermis. In addition to the epidermal basement membrane having a basic structure comprised of the lamina densa and lamina lucida, it is also composed of keratinocyte hemidesmosomes, anchoring fragments, anchoring fibers and the like, and in particular, the basic structure thereof is composed of, for example, type IV collagen and various types of laminins and proteoglycans. The main component of epidermal basal cells and the basic structure, and particularly the anchoring fragments bound to the lamina densa, is laminin-5, and the basic structure and dermal collagen fibers are connected by anchoring fibers composed mainly of type VII collagen. In addition, the anchoring fragments and anchoring fibers are mutually bound, and form complexes referred to as anchoring complexes. As a result of having such a structure, the skin, which is present on the outermost layer of the body, maintains a degree of strength capable of withstanding external mechanical stress (Encyclopedia of Cosmetics, Society of Cosmetic Chemists of Japan, pp. 405-406).
However, there is a growing demand for artificial skin to be used as a substitute in the case original skin (namely, natural skin) has become damaged for some reason. In addition, it is also extremely important to develop artificial skin for use as an experimental material for testing the action of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics on the skin, and in either of these applications, there is a strong desire for artificial skin that mimics the structure of natural skin as closely as possible.
A known method for producing artificial skin of the prior art consists of culturing normal human epidermal keratinocytes on a shrunken collagen gel containing human fibroblasts to form an epidermal layer. However, in this method, since a basement membrane is not adequately formed between the collagen gel that mimics the dermis and the epidermal layer that mimics the epidermis, in the case of using this artificial skin, reformation of skin basement membrane was promoted by the administration of a matrix metalloproteinase or both a matrix metalloproteinase and a matrix protein production promoter (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-269398). In addition, substances that inhibit serine proteases, type IV or type VII collagen, which is the main constituent of the epidermal basement membrane, or substances that enhance the production output of laminin-5 are known to promote the basement membrane formation promoting effects of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-75661). However, in the case of this artificial skin produced according to the prior art, the formation of higher-order structures of the epidermal basement membrane and the dermis remains undeveloped, thereby preventing adequate communication between the epidermal basement membrane and the dermis.
In addition, although compounds that inhibit heparanase are known to improve basement membrane function in the body and thereby inhibit the formation of wrinkles in the process by which wrinkles are formed in the skin (International Publication No. WO 2009/123215), the combination of these compounds with a matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor is not known to promote the reformation of epidermal basement membrane and dermis in artificial skin.


Golf ball 2 has a center 8, a mid layer 10, a cover 6 and dimples 12. The mid layer 10 includes a styrene block-containing thermoplastic elastomer having a material hardness of less than 10, and an ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymer-based ionomer resin having a material hardness of 50 or greater and 70 or less. This mid layer 10 has a hardness equal to or less than 50, and a thickness of equal to or less than 1.6 mm. The dimple has: a first side wall face 18 that has a curvature radius R1 which is equal to or greater than a phantom curvature radius Rx; a second side wall face 20 that is positioned to the bottom side than the first side wall 18 face and has a curvature radius R2 which is smaller than the phantom curvature radius Rx; and a bottom face 22 that is positioned to the bottom side than the second side wall face 20 and has a curvature radius R3 which is equal to or greater than the phantom curvature radius Rx.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to golf balls. More particularly, the present invention relates to solid golf balls having a core and a cover.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, three-piece golf balls were developed in attempts to accomplish a feel at impact that is comparative to wound balls, and have been supplied on the market. JP-A No. 2000-70408 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,511) and JP-A No. 2003-52855 (US 2003-40378A1) disclose three-piece golf balls having a mid layer that includes a thermoplastic elastomer.
Golf balls have numerous dimples on the surface thereof. In general, golf balls have single radius dimples having a cross-sectional shape with single curvature radius, or double radius dimples having a cross-sectional shape with two curvature radii. The dimples disrupt the air flow around the golf ball during flight to cause turbulent flow separation. By causing the turbulent flow separation, separating points of the air from the golf ball shift backwards leading to the reduction of a drag. The turbulent flow separation promotes the displacement of the separating point on the upper side and the separating point on the lower side of the golf ball, which results from the backspin, thereby enhancing the lift force that acts upon the golf ball. Reduction of drag and improvement of lift force is referred to as a "dimple effect". Excellent dimples disturb the air flow more efficiently.
A variety of proposals with respect to the cross-sectional shape of the dimples in attempts to improve flight performances have been made. JP-A No. H05-96026 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,039) discloses dimples having a shape with the gradient of a slope disposed in the vicinity of the edge being greater than that of a slope at the bottom part. JP-A No. H09-70449 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,757) discloses dimples having a cross-sectional shape given by double radius. JP-A No. 2004-166725 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,643) discloses dimples having a great ratio of the curvature radius of the bottom part to the curvature radius in the vicinity of the edge.
With respect to matching of the dimples and the structure, a variety of proposals have been made. JP-A No. 2003-199846 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,888) discloses a golf ball having a soft mid layer, and having dimples improved with respect to the contour length.
Top concern to golf players for golf balls is the flight distance. In general, golf balls that are excellent in resilience performances are excellent in the flight performance. However, insufficient feel at impact may be experienced according to golf balls on which only the resilience performance was considered. An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball that is excellent in the flight performance and feel at impact.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A testing device comprises a first probe member, a second probe member, and an insulation member. The first probe member comprises a tip portion for contacting a device being tested. The second probe member also comprises a tip portion for contacting the device being tested. The insulation member is located at or can be moved to a location between the tip portions of the first and second probe members.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a testing device for testing circuits, and more particularly to a testing device for testing integrated circuits.
2. Related Art
When high voltage semiconductor devices become smaller, air between pads of a device being tested cannot sufficiently prevent the occurrence of an electrical breakdown. Therefore, currents may flow from one testing probe of a tester to another through air or along the surface between corresponding pads of the device being tested ,and consequently creating an electric arc which causes damage to the device being tested or the tester performing the testing.


A support bracket comprises a first frame and a second frame. The first frame comprises a bottom surface, two first sidewalls extending from opposite edges of the bottom surface, and two second sidewalls arranged between the two first sidewalls, wherein two gaps are formed in the first frame. The second frame comprises a base plate, two first side plates extending from opposite edges of the base plate, and two second side plates arranged between the two first side plates. The second frame slidably covers the first frame, the first side plates extend through the two gaps and slide along the gaps.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to device housing and, particularly, to support bracket for a plurality of electronic fans.
2. Description of Related Art
With developments in electronic technology, components in electronic devices produce increasing levels of heat, requiring prompt dissipation. Heat dissipation devices can help evacuate such heat from the electronic component. However, a commonly used single electronic fan may not furnish sufficient dissipation, and additional electronic fans may be needed.
A commonly used heat dissipation device includes a plurality of electronic fans in a fixed position. When electronic fans are to be added, the heat dissipation device may be repositioned, complicating assembly of the electronic device.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.