A dual coated fabric that is well suited for producing vehicle airbags. The coated fabric includes a first coating on one side and a second coating on a second and opposite side. The first coating may comprise an elastomeric coating, such as a cured rubber. The second coating on the opposite side, however, may comprise a non-elastomeric coating. The non-elastomeric coating provides dimensional stability and provides an excellent counterbalance to the elastomeric coating.

Within a passenger compartment of a vehicle, many occupant restraint systems can be utilized, such as seatbelts and airbag systems. For instance, airbag systems can supplement the protection offered by seatbelts. Airbag systems typically comprise at least one folded airbag and an inflation gas. The airbag system is designed to inflate the airbag with the inflation gas when a collision between the vehicle and another object is detected.
Traditional airbag systems include driver-side airbags, passenger-side airbags, and side-impact airbags. Driver-side airbags are normally located in the steering column of the vehicle and passenger-side airbags are typically located in the dash board. Side-impact airbags include side cushion airbags, typically mounted in the outboard side of the seat, and side-curtain airbags, which are usually stored in the roof line and connected along the door frame.
Driver-side and passenger-side airbags often include vent holes to expel the inflation gas relatively quickly after inflation. Side-impact airbags including side curtain airbags, in contrast, remain inflated over long periods of time in order to offer prolonged protection in events such as roll-over crashes.
Usually, airbags are made of a woven fabric due to the substantial force the airbag must sustain from the inflating gas during deployment. Many different materials, either coated or uncoated, have been utilized in the manufacture of airbags, for example as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,881,776 and 6,632,753, both of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Airbags in the past have been made using various techniques and processes. For example, in some applications, airbags are made by sewing together various panels. In other applications, instead of being made from separate panels, the airbags are made in a single weaving operation using, for instance, a Jacquard loom. Jacquard looms, for example, are capable of weaving together an airbag including a first side separated from a second side joined by a woven seam in one single operation, in a two dimensional structure. Such airbags are known in the art as "one-piece woven" airbags. One-piece woven airbags, however, are very expensive to produce, due to high levels of off quality in the weaving, coating and/or laminating process. For example, side curtains can require extensive levels of coating to allow for transition in the seams from plain to basket weave in the "binder" seam. One piece woven cushions also have inherent high cost due to high capital costs, overhead, and design support needed. Also, design changes are costly with new patterns and arrangements.
Expensive films of nylon or polyester can be used to produce airbags but are slow in processing and unreliable in adhesion levels.
Multi-piece airbags in the past have typically been made from a coated fabric. For instance, multi-piece airbags have been made from fabrics coated with a silicone or a neoprene. Although such fabrics can meet the permeability requirements needed for an airbag fabric, further improvements are needed.
For example, multi-piece airbags made from coated fabrics have a tendency to become damaged when inflated by an inflating mechanism. Inflating mechanisms used today, for instance, can generate hot gases that subject the airbag to significant forces. These forces can cause elongating or combing of the airbag fabric. Combing results when the yarns begin to fray and gases can leak along the sewn seam lines.
The present disclosure is directed to further improvements in airbag fabrics and in airbags made from the fabrics.

Airbag made from a fabric substrate coated on an exterior side and on an opposite interior side


A method of removing gaseous selenium from a flue gas is disclosed. The method includes injecting an effective amount of ammonia into the flue gas to produce a solid selenium reaction product. The solid selenium reaction product is removed from the flue gas by undergoing deposition in a filter assembly. The filter assembly may then be cleaned through conventional methods.

Selenium is a trace metal found in U.S. coals. It has been estimated that the concentration of selenium in U.S. coals has an overall average value of approximately 4 parts-per-million (ppm) by weight. The range of concentrations throughout coals found in this country is roughly 0.1 to 10 ppm by weight.
At the average concentration of 4 ppm by weight in the coal, combustion will produce a concentration of the oxide, SeO.sub.2, of approximately 0.12 ppm by volume in the flue gas. Alternatively, if the selenium is found as a component of the ash, the concentration in the solid will be about 50 ppm by weight.
Evidence suggests that little of the selenium will be discharged from the furnace in bottom ash and virtually all will be found in some form in the combustion gas, either as a vapor or as a solid component of the fly ash. The relative proportions of selenium in the gas state and in the fly ash will depend upon the temperature. As a general rule, the gaseous state will be predominant at high temperatures, and the solid state will prevail at low temperatures. Thus, the emission of selenium from a furnace operating with a coal having the typical selenium concentration will be something less than 0.12 ppm by volume of vapor and up to 50 ppm by weight in the fly ash.
The literature reveals different viewpoints on the chemical state of selenium in flue gas in the vapor state. Some authors hold that the vapor is the free element, occurring perhaps most abundantly at 150.degree. C. as Se.sub.6. Others argue that the predominant vapor form is selenium dioxide (SeO.sub.2), where the element exists in the IV oxidation state. The invention claimed here pertains to the control of that part of the vapor that occurs as the oxide.
The Clean Air Act of 1990 lists 189 air toxics that may be subject to control under new EPA regulations. Selenium is one of the 189 classes of pollutants. Presently, selenium emissions from power plants are not regulated; however, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is presently reviewing emissions of a broad range of potentially toxic materials, and regulations governing selenium as well as other metallic elements are a possibility in the near future.
Existing devices for particulate control include electrostatic precipitators (ESPs), baghouses, and scrubbers. These devices do not remove gaseous selenium by design. Whatever removal of selenium that occurs in these devices is incidental to the primary operation, which is the removal of fly ash or sulfur dioxide (SO.sub.2). Whatever removal occurs is more likely to involve the elemental state than the oxide of selenium, since the element is less volatile than the oxide. Scrubbers, however, may be more effective for capturing the oxide than ESPs or baghouses since SeO.sub.2 may dissolve along with SO.sub.2 in the scrubber fluid. A measure of the impact of the volatility of selenium on the total emissions of selenium is given by the result of one investigation of trace-metal collection in an ESP; the results of this investigation showed that 93% of the selenium passing the ESP and being emitted to the atmosphere was in the vapor state, largely as the oxide.

Method of removing selenium from flue gases


Injection of a drilling fluid additive into a drilling fluid, as the drilling fluid is being pumped into a bore hole, in direct proportion to the amount of drilling fluid being pumped.

Drilling through the earth is a complex endeavor, requiring sophisticated drilling equipment and drilling fluids, commonly referenced as drilling mud, in order to drill substantial distances through the various types of rock and soil commonly encountered during the drilling of vertical and horizontal bores.
Drilling mud is generally pumped from a reservoir of the drilling mud to the bottom of the bore through a central channel in the drill string. Drilling muds must be capable of performing a number of different functions, including specifically, but not exclusively, (i) cooling and lubricating the drill bit, (ii) delivering hydraulic power to the drill bit, (iii) carry cuttings upward during circulation, (iv) suspending cuttings and preventing appreciable settling when circulation is stopped, (v) preventing blowout, (vi) prevent wash out, and (vii) preventing excessive permeation of water from the bore into the surrounding formations.
A number of different drilling muds have been used over the years. Simple, unadulterated water can be used for some limited applications, but is not generally used due to its limited functionality as a drilling mud. One of the most elementary drilling muds is water mixed with drilled solids, commonly referenced as native drilling mud. Native drilling muds are generally effective for cooling and lubricating the drill bit, delivering hydraulic power to the drill bit, and preventing blowout at shallow depths. However, native drilling mud possesses a limited ability to carry cuttings upward during circulation, suspend cuttings when circulation is stopped, or reduce permeation of water into surrounding formations and washout. Over time, a number of different additives have been developed for native drilling muds in an effort to overcome these limitations.
The standard base drilling mud used today in both vertical and horizontal drilling is an aqueous slurry of bentonite clay (hereinafter "bentonite mud"). The bentonite clay may be modified with any of a number of different organic and inorganic drilling fluid additives such as sodium hydroxide, barium sulfate, lignite, polyacrylamide, and/or carboxymethylhydroxyethyl cellulose in an effort to enhance performance of the drilling mud.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,256, issued to Snead, discloses a method and apparatus for introducing polymer additives, such as a polyacrylamide, into drilling muds by periodically pumping liquid polymer into the conduit used to convey drilling mud from a mud pit to the kelley of a conventional drilling rig. Snead specifically discloses that a convenient method for adding the polymer into the drilling mud is to inject a defined quantity of the polymer each time an additional length of pipe is added to the drill string. While this method of introducing additives into a drilling mud comprises a substantial advance over prior procedures, the method has limited potential for commercial application due to the potential variability in the concentration of polymer within the drilling mud, and the relatively high cost of most additives compared to the cost of standard bentonite mud. In other words, the performance benefits provided by addition of a drilling fluid additive by this method are generally considered insufficient to justify the significant increase in cost.
In order to provide drilling fluids having the appropriate concentration of bentonite and/or additives, drilling fluids are routinely prepared by a batch process wherein the bentonite and/or additives are mixed into a known volume of water and then pumped into the bore. Such a procedure is highly labor intensive and requires either multiple mixing tanks or periodic pauses in drilling to permit another batch of drilling fluid to be mixed.
Accordingly, a substantial need exists for a cost effective method of introducing drilling fluid additives into drilling mud.

Method and apparatus for providing proportional injection of additives into drilling fluids


A disk drive is disclosed having a disk, a head actuated over the disk, a buffer memory for storing control routine op codes and control routine data, and a microprocessor for receiving the control routine op codes and control routine data. Control circuitry within the disk drive services an access request generated by the microprocessor by accessing the buffer memory, and monitors at least one interrupt. If the interrupt occurs while servicing the access request, the control circuitry enables the microprocessor to execute an interrupt service routine corresponding to the interrupt. Enabling the microprocessor to execute the interrupt service routine rather than wait for the access request reduces the latency in servicing the interrupt.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disk drives for computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disk drive implementing shared buffer memory with reduced interrupt latency.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a prior art disk drive wherein one or more disks 2 and heads 3 are housed in a head disk assembly (HDA) 4. The HDA 4 also houses a voice coil motor (VCM) 6 for rotating one or more actuator arms about a pivot in order to actuate the heads 3 over the respective disk surfaces. A printed circuit board (PCB) is mounted to the HDA 4, wherein one or more integrated circuits for controlling operation of the disk drive are mounted on the PCB, including a microprocessor (uP) 8 for executing code segments of a control routine. The microprocessor 8 typically accesses a fast uP cache 10 (e.g., an SRAM) through a uP cache controller 11 which caches control routine op codes being executed as well as control routine data.
The code segments of the control routine are typically stored on the disk 2 and loaded into an external buffer memory 12 (e.g., an SDRAM) when the disk drive is powered on. As the microprocessor 8 executes the control routine, the uP cache controller 11 transfers a burst of corresponding control routine op codes from the external buffer memory 12 into the uP cache 10 for fast access by the microprocessor 8. Since the buffer memory 12 is typically shared with other control components, a buffer controller 14 implements an arbitration algorithm to arbitrate access to the buffer memory 12. Example control components that may share access to the buffer memory 12 include a host interface 16, a disk interface 18, a data cache controller 20, and an ECC controller 22, one or more of which may be integrated with the microprocessor 8 in a system on a chip (SOC), or implemented as separate integrated circuits.
The host interface 16 facilitates data transfer between the disk drive and a host 24 during read and write operations. That is, during read operations data read from the disk 2 is staged in the buffer memory 12 before the host interface 16 transmits the read data to the host 24, and during write operations data received from the host 24 is staged in the buffer memory 12 before being written to the disk 2. The disk interface 18 performs the actual interface functions with the HDA 4 in order to write data stored in the buffer 12 to the disk 2, and store data into the buffer 12 that is read from the disk 2. The data cache controller 20 accesses a data cache area of the buffer memory 12 in order to implement a suitable user data caching algorithm, and the ECC controller 22 implements a suitable error correction algorithm on data read from the disk 4 and stored in the buffer 12.
The buffer controller 14 assigns a priority level to each control component attempting to access the buffer memory 12 so that the more time critical components are granted accesses soonest. For example, the disk interface 18 may be given the highest priority in the arbitration scheme so that disk accesses are serviced in synchronism with the disk 2 rotating. Otherwise there would be an undesirable latency due to slipped revolutions when reading or writing data blocks to the disk. Similarly, the host interface 16 may be given a high priority in order to minimize any perceived access latency by the end user. This means the uP cache controller 11 is given a priority level lower than a number of other control components, and therefore the microprocessor 8 may encounter a long arbitration delay if components of higher priority are attempting a concurrent access to the buffer memory 12.
The microprocessor 8 is held in a wait state while the uP cache controller 11 is waiting to access the buffer memory 12, which prevents the microprocessor 8 from servicing what may be time critical interrupts 26. For example, a servo controller 28 may generate an interrupt at each servo wedge, signaling the microprocessor 8 that it is time to compute an updated VCM 6 control command for positioning the head 3, or a spindle motor command for controlling the rotational speed of the disk 2. Any delay before the microprocessor 8 services these interrupts reduces the performance of the closed-loop servo systems.
There is, therefore, a need to reduce the interrupt latency in a disk drive that employs a shared buffer memory.

Disk drive implementing shared buffer memory with reduced interrupt latency


An invention is described for securely deploying a provable identity for virtual machines (VMs) in a dynamic environment. In an embodiment, a fabric controller instructs a VM host to create a VM and sends that VM a secret. The fabric controller sends that same secret (or a second secret, such as the private key of a public/private key pair) to the security token service along with an instruction to make an account for the VM. The VM presents proof that it possesses the secret to the security token service and in return receives a full token. When a client connects to the deployment, it receives the public key from the security token service, which it trusts, and the full token from the VM. It validates the full token with the public key to determine that the VM has the identity that it purports to have.

It is common for computers to communicate securely. A computer may have a provable identity that another computer can evaluate to determine that the first computer is the computer that it purports to be (e.g. a particular company's login and authorization server).
It is also common for companies or other entities to deploy server farms made up of virtual machines (VMs). In such server farms, multiple VMs may be configured homogenously and serve resources to clients—such as remote desktops or remote applications. In the course of managing such a server farm, VMs may be destroyed and (re)created. A VM may be destroyed and then recreated for a variety of reasons, such as to prevent drift from a known machine state by recreating it with a known machine state.
In these deployments where VMs are destroyed and created, each VM may have a provable identity. There are many problems with establishing a provable identity for a VM of a deployment, some of which are well known.

Secure deployment of provable identity for dynamic application environments


A substrate unit and other substrate unit are mounted with integrated circuits and are connected to a backboard via respective connectors. The substrate unit monitors a signal wave passed between the substrate unit and other substrate unit and detects a delay time and a gain of a reflected wave with respect to a signal wave, performs delay adjustment with respect to a cancellation wave based on the detected delay time, performs gain adjustment with respect to the cancellation wave based on the detected gain, and superimposes the processed cancellation wave on the signal wave thereby canceling the reflected wave.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a technology for connecting a transmission-side unit having integrated circuits and a reception-side unit having integrated circuits with respective connectors to a backboard, and more specifically relates to canceling a reflected wave that generates in the connectors and gets superimposed on a signal wave.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in general, an electronic device is constituted by connecting substrate units mounted with electronic circuits including integrated circuits via a back board. Connectors in which output terminal pins of the substrate units are inserted are arranged on the backboard. When the output terminal pins are inserted in the connectors, the substrate units and the backboard are electrically connected. Communication between the substrate units via the backboard is referred to as backboard transmission.
A repeater of a communication network is explained as an example of the electronic device. According to the increase in traffic, improvement of processing ability of the repeater is attempted. Conventionally, in general, the number of channels of the repeater is increased to improve the processing ability of the repeater. However, when the number of channels is increased, the number of components of the repeater is also increased. As a result, a size of the repeater is increased.
On the other hand, to improve the processing ability without causing the increase in size of the repeater, it is attempted to improve a processing rate of one channel without increasing the number of channels. However, reliability of high-speed communication in the backboard transmission hinders the improvement of a processing rate of a channel.
The substrate units and the backboard are connected by fitting pins in holes called through-holes. However, there are portions where the pins and the through-holes are in contact with each other and portions where the pins and the through-holes are not in contact with each other. Thus, the portions where the pins and the through-holes are not in contact with each other are bypassed in terms of an electric circuit. The portions are called stubs.
In the high-speed communication in the backboard transmission, a delay wave generated in the stubs is superimposed on a direct wave to be noise. A gain of communication signals carried by the direct waves is damaged by this noise. In other words, the noise hinders an increase in speed of the backboard transmission and spoils reliability of the high-speed communication.
To cope with such a problem, for example, a backboard transmission method including connectors for connecting substrate units and a backboard that can prevent stubs from being formed and prevent a delay wave from being generated is disclosed in Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, "Transmission between boards in a repeater at speed of 10 Gbps and a distance of 50 mm was demonstrated for the first time in the world", [online], Oct. 2, 2003, news release, [retrieved Feb. 1, 2006], Internet URL:http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp\news-data/2003/pdf/1002-b.pdf. According to this backboard transmission method, it is possible to prevent noise and a loss of gain of communication signals and secure reliability of the high-speed communication.
However, in the technology represented by the document described above, reliability of high-speed communication at about 10 Gpbs is only secured. The technology is not applicable to high-speed communication at higher speed in recent years. Specifically, in the high-speed communication in the backboard transmission, an influence on reflected waves due to impedance mismatching between the substrate units and the connector sections is a significant problem.
In low-speed communication, the influence of reflected waves occurs in one time slot and the reflected waves affect only a waveform of a pulse of one bit. However, in the high-speed communication, since a time slot is reduced, the reflected waves affect a pulse of a plurality of bits in a plurality of time slots. This makes it impossible to accurately receive the bits of the pulses.
Therefore, there is need of a technology that can eliminate the influence of reflected waves due to impedance mismatching in the connector sections in the backboard transmission at higher speed, accurately receive pulses, and accurately discriminate bits.

Backboard transmission method, backboard transmission apparatus, and substrate unit


To provide an ATM transfer system of data packets wherein transmission efficiency is improved by reducing useless occupation of the ATM network capacity; each of telephones (A and B) sends out a first and a second data packet destined to each of telephones (C and D), a network terminal (10) sends out an ATM cell multi-loaded with the first and the second data packet, the transmitter-side exchange (1) duplicates the ATM cell into a first and a second duplicated ATM cell, a receiver-side exchange (2) extracts only the first data packet and sends out a first new ATM cell loaded only with the first data packet while another receiver-side exchange (3) sends out a second new ATM cell loaded only with the second data packet in the same way, and each of network terminals (20 and 30) processes each of the first and the second new ATM cell into each of the first and second data packet to be sent to each of the telephones (C and D).

The present invention relates to an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) transfer system of data packets for transferring low bit-rate and variable-length data packets such as voice packets making use of an ATM transfer network.
Conventionally, data packets such as voice packets are transferred on ATM cells by way of a VC (Virtual Channel) established between a packet transmitter and a packet receiver when the data packets are transmitted from a terminal to a terminal.
When data packets are to be transmitted from a terminal to a plurality of terminals for a broadcast communication, data packets are duplicated at an ATM layer. An example of the broadcast communication method is disclosed in a Japanese patent application laid open as a Provisional Publication No. 349737/'92, wherein each of ATM cells input to an ATM exchange is duplicated into N ATM cells when the data packets transmitted from a packet transmitter are to be transferred to N (N being an integer more than one) packet receivers regardless of data packets loaded on the ATM cells. By rewriting header information of every duplicated ATM cell with header information indicating each corresponding destination by the ATM exchange at the ATM layer, each of the plurality of ATM cells having the same data is output to be delivered to each of the plurality of packet receivers.
In conventional ATM transfer systems as above described, each one data packet is transmitted loaded on one ATM cell, using ATM circuits with low efficiency. It is because a part of the ATM cell is left useless occupying communication capacity of the ATM network in vain when a data packet such as a voice packet is loaded on the ATM cell having a fixed data length, since the low bit-rate and variable-length coding of the voice packet has been remarkably progressed along with progress of the voice data compression technique. Furthermore, this inefficiency accompanying the low bit-rate and variable-length coding of the voice packet is also duplicated in the above broadcast method wherein the same number of ATM cells to the number of destinations are all duplicated at the ATM layer.
For improving the transfer efficiency of the ATM network, multi-loading of the ATM cell is proposed recently, wherein data packets having different destinations, designated by AAL (ATM Adaptation Layer) header information added to each of the data packets, are multi-loaded on the same ATM cell, which is duplicated at a transmitter-side exchange to be sent out to different receiver-side exchanges. multi-loading refers to the process of multiplexing and packing the data packets on the ATM cell. thus improving efficiency by utilizing more of the communication channel.
However, when the multi-loaded ATM cell is duplicated at the ATM layer, in such a way as performed in the above broadcast method, according to fixed destinations registered when the call is established, there is still left certain inefficiency. This is because data packets such as voice packets may not be generated regularly, and ATM cells having no concerning data packet may be duplicated and transferred in vain to some receiver-side exchanges when data packets concerning to the receiver-side exchanges are not generated.


A tubular body according to the present invention has a pipe joint member attached to the peripheral wall thereof and communicating with the interior of the tubular body. The peripheral wall of the tubular body includes a curved wall portion having a circular-arc cross section and formed with a hole. The joint member has an outward flange at an intermediate portion of its length and a tubular portion positioned beyond the outward flange toward one end of the joint member and has its outer end inserted in the hole in the tubular body curved wall portion. The outward flange of the joint member is brazed to the outer surface of the tubular body curved wall portion with a brazing ring which is fitted around the joint member tubular portion and positioned outside the tubular body. The brazing ring is made of a brazing sheet including cladding of brazing material over each of its opposite surfaces and has one surface joined to the outward flange and the other surface joined to the outer surface of the curved wall portion.

The present invention relates to pipes, headers or like tubular bodies having a pipe joint member, for example, for use in connecting two pipes together in a T-shaped arrangement or in connecting a heat medium feed pipe or discharge pipe to the peripheral wall of the tubular header of a heat exchanger, and a method of producing the same.
The term "aluminum" as used herein includes pure aluminum and aluminum alloys.
For example, when two pipes are to be connected together in a T-shaped arrangement, a pipe joint member having an outward flange at an intermediate portion of its length is attached to the peripheral wall of one of the pipes in communication with the interior thereof, and the other pipe is connected to the pipe with use of the pipe joint member.
Pipes having a pipe joint member attached thereto are already known. The peripheral wall of such a pipe includes a flat portion formed by locally pressing the peripheral wall inward and having a hole. The pipe joint member has an outward flange at an intermediate portion of its length, and a tubular portion positioned beyond the outward flange toward one end of the member and having its outer end inserted in the hole in the peripheral wall of the pipe. The outward flange of the joint member is brazed to the outer surface of the flat portion of the pipe with a brazing ring fitted around the tubular portion of the joint member and positioned outside the pipe. The brazing ring is made of a brazing sheet including a cladding of brazing material over each of its opposite surfaces. To connect the joint member to the pipe, one surface of the ring is joined to the outward flange, and the other surface thereof to the outer surface of the pipe flat portion.
However, the conventional pipe having the pipe joint member attached thereto has the problem that it is cumbersome to form the flat portion on the pipe. Further since the flat portion is formed by locally projecting the peripheral wall of the pipe inward, another problem is encountered in that the flow of fluid through the pipe involves a great pressure loss due to the projected portion.

Tubular body having pipe joint member attached thereto and method of producing same


The present invention provides an image receiving material used for silver complex diffusion transfer process in combination with a photosensitive material. This image receiving material comprises a support and, provided thereon at least an image receiving layer containing physical development nuclei and an uppermost layer containing substantially no physical development nuclei, wherein the uppermost layer contains at least 0.8 g/m.sup.2 of hydrophilic colloid in terms of solid content and ratio of solid content of hydrophilic colloid in the uppermost layer to solid content of hydrophilic colloid in the image receiving layer is more than 1.0. Preferably, the image receiving layer contains substantially no hardener and the uppermost layer contains a hardener.

The present invention relates to a silver complex diffusion transfer material which comprises combination of a photosensitive material and an image receiving material and in particular, to construction of layer of an image receiving material.
Silver complex diffusion transfer process generally comprises use of a photosensitive material comprising a support and, provided thereon, a silver halide emulsion layer as a photosensitive layer, an image receiving material comprising a support and, provided thereon, an image receiving layer containing physical development nuclei, and a processing solution containing a silver halide solvent. Principle of the silver complex diffusion transfer process is as follows: The silver halide of exposed area of a photosensitive layer which has been subjected to exposure is developed with a developing agent contained in the processing solution or in the photosensitive material and simultaneously the silver halide of unexposed area reacts with the silver halide solvent to produce a soluble silver complex salt, which diffuses to the image receiving material and precipitates on the physical development nuclei to form a silver image.
The silver complex diffusion transfer process based on such principle is widely used for copying of documents and for block copies in plate making.
Important properties required for image receiving materials used in silver complex diffusion transfer process are that silver image produced has a high density (reflection density and transmission density) and is superior in color tone (bluish black tone is generally desired); diffusion transfer speed is high; and the image receiving layer has a sufficient film strength.
Especially, the density of silver image (reflection density and transmission density) is a very important property. In general, copies are required to have a high definition of image and copies of high definition can be obtained when density of the silver image is high. Furthermore, for block copy materials, high density of silver image is desired in order to satifactorily reproduce image qualities (qualities of fine line and dot).
Furthermore, recently the bluish black color tone of silver image has become important property.
Generally, enhancement of silver image density is attained by increasing content of physical development nuclei, but there is the defect in the case of single layer structure that when amount of physical development nuclei is increased, color tone of silver image becomes reddish or the silver image has metallic luster.
This undesirable color tone of silver image cannot be sufficiently improved by using the known blackening agents such as 1-phenyl-5-mercaptotetrazole and this blackening agent has no effect on improvement of metallic luster. If amount of physical development nuclei is decreased, color tone can be improved, but density of silver image much decreases.
The reddish color tone of silver image and the metallic luster occur due to concentration of physical development nuclai to the surface of the image receiving layer and in the case of single layer structure, physical development nuclei are present on the surface of the image receiving layer, too and therefore, most of the diffused silver complex salt is converted to physically developed silver on the surface of the image receiving layer to result in the abovementioned undesirable color tone of silver image or metallic luster.
As a general means employed in order that physical development nuclei are not present on the surface of the image receiving material, there is a method of using two or more layers as layer construction of the image receiving material and providing a layer containing no physical development nuclei (hereinafter referred to as "uppermost layer") on a layer containing physical development nuclei (hereinafter referred to as "image receiving layer"). This method is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Kokai No. Hei 1-94344.
By providing the uppermost layer, physical development nuclei are not present on the surface and hence, physically developed silver is not concentrated on the surface and metallic luster of silver image can be inhibited.
However, the conventionally employed uppermost layer can inhibit generation of metallic luster, but there are problems that color tone of silver image is inferior or transfer density is not sufficient.
According to further investigation, it has been found that when the image receiving layer of such image receiving material is hardened with a hardener contained therein, silver image becomes continuous silver (metallic silver) at the interface between the image receiving layer and the colloid layer containing no development nuclei and thus, specular silver is formed and so-called Newton's ring is generated between the specular silver and the layer thereon due to interference of light, resulting in considerable deterioration of image quality.

Image receiving material for silver complex diffusion transfer with uppermost layer


An elongated open top tank containing water, one end being a loading end, and the opposite end being an exit end. Positioned transversely across the tank, spaced generally along the full length above the water line, are water distribution lines each having multiple water outlet nozzles aiming downward and at an angle toward the exit end of the tank. The distribution lines are connected to an output side of a high volume water pump used to circulate the tank water. The water pump draws water from the exit end of the tank so that during pumping, a strong current is created in the tank as the nozzles re-apply the water. Positioned transversely within the tank is a plurality of solid baffles, some positioned high in the water, and some positioned low in the water in a staggered arrangement. Produce deposited at the loading end of the tank is sprayed by the nozzles and drawn by the strong current. The current and nozzle output in conjunction with the high and low baffles forces the produce completely underwater in order for it to move underneath the bottom edge of the high baffles and over the top edge of the low baffles. The produce is moved in an agitating serpentine pattern as it moves toward the exit end of the tank to where an open screen conveyor is located in part in the water to lift the cleaned produce from the tank.

1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to devices for washing foreign matter such as dirt, insects, and chemicals from harvested produce such as radishes, beets and the like prior to the produce being boxed and distributed to grocery stores. The present invention is a high volume washer structured to rapidly and thoroughly wash the produce in a manner which is non-damaging to the produce or leaves on the produce. The present washer is also essentially a non-stop washer in that it may be installed in a continuous linear conveying arrangement where the produce is maintained moving in a single direction once the washing and boxing begins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although there have been other devices and systems for washing produce prior to distribution for sale to the consumers, I am not aware of any prior art which is structurally similar to the present invention. Some prior art techniques which have been employed have been as simple as spraying water over the produce with a garden hose, while other more sophisticated methods and devices have employed tanks of water for soaking the produce prior to a final spraying with a spray nozzle and water. Some produce cleaning systems have employed open chain or screen conveyors upon which the produce is placed, followed by the conveyor moving the produce underneath water spray nozzles.
It is clearly desireable to remove as much debris and foreign matter as possible, and in order to be able to sell the produce, it is also desireable to present the produce in a clean and non-damaged, fresh state. Although the prior art washing methods and structures are certainly better than nothing, they have significant shortcomings. One of the shortcomings is simply inadequate cleaning, leaving dirt on the vegetables or fruits, or on the leaves if left attached, such as with radishes. Another shortcoming is that excessively high water pressures often utilized in an attempt to improve cleaning and the rate of cleaning can often damage the produce, or in the case with radishes and other leafy produce, damage the leaves and thus render the produce less desirable to the consumer. Another shortcoming is simply the rate of processing, wherein a given amount of produce is cleaned and processed per man hour. It is and will continue to be important to be able to properly clean produce in a non-damaging manner, and at the highest possible rate.
It is the shortcomings in the prior art of produce washing which the present invention addresses and solves.


A method for fabricating a semiconductor device employing a salicide (self-aligned silicide) structure is disclosed. The method prevents a junction leakage current from being increased at a portion of a source/drain region which is adjacent to an field oxide, by forming the source/drain region comprised of a relatively deep SID region and a relatively shallow SID region, wherein the deep SID region is formed adjacent to the field oxide and the shallow SID region is formed adjacent to the insulating film spacer. The method comprises the steps of forming a field oxide in a semiconductor substrate, forming a gate oxide and a gate electrode on the semiconductor substrate, forming an LDD region in the semiconductor substrate along a side of the gate electrode, forming a sidewall spacer on each sidewall of the gate electrode, forming a protection layer pattern covering the field oxide and a portion of the LDD region, forming a SEG layer where the protection layer pattern is not covered, removing the protection layer pattern to expose the portion of the LDD region, forming a source/drain region comprised of a deep SID region and a shallow SID region, forming a silicide layer on the gate electrode, the SEG layer and the deep SID region.

1. Technical Field
A method for fabricating a semiconductor device is disclosed. In particular, an improved method for fabricating a high speed semiconductor device is disclosed where the device includes a salicide. In the disclosed method, a shallow and a deep source/drain region are formed simultaneously by forming an insulating film spacer on sidewalls of a gate electrode, forming SEG (selective epitaxial growth) layer in the LDD (lightly doped drain) region adjacent to the insulating film spacer, and then performing an ion implanting process.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the most important function of a transistor of a semiconductor circuit is a current driving function. A channel width of a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is adjusted in consideration of the current driving function. In the most widely-used MOSFET, an impurity-doped polysilicon layer is used as a gate electrode, and a diffusion region formed by doping an impurity on a semiconductor substrate is used as a source/drain region.
A buried channel is formed in a P-type-semiconductor field effect transistor (PMOSFET) which uses an N+ doped polysilicon gate electrode in a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (CMOSFET). Here, because a N-type-semiconductor field effect transistor (NMOSFET) having a channel on its surface and the PMOSFET have different threshold voltages, there are various restrictions in design and fabrication of the device.
That is, in the CMOSFET using a dual gate electrode, the dual gate electrodes are formed by ion-implanting N-type and P-type impurities twice. Therefore, a photolithography process should be performed twice, and this complicates the fabrication process. Accordingly, the device can be easily contaminated due to a wet process, and thus the process yield and reliability thereof are reduced.
In addition, as the sizes of semiconductor devices becomes smaller, the junction depth becomes shallower. However, in high speed devices, large leakage current occurs due to the salicide process in which silicide layers are formed on the source/drain region and the gate electrode.
FIGS. 1A through 1C are cross-sectional diagrams illustrating sequential steps of a conventional method for fabricating a semiconductor device.
First, referring to FIG. 1A, a field oxide 11 defining an active region is formed on a semiconductor substrate 10. A gate oxide 12 and a polysilicon layer (not shown) are formed on the semiconductor substrate 10. Thereafter, the polysilicon layer is etched using a gate electrode mask as an etching mask, to form a gate electrode 13. An LDD region 14 is formed by ion-implanting a low concentration impurity to the semiconductor substrate 10 at both sides of or around the gate electrode 13. An insulating film spacer 15 is formed on side walls of the gate electrode 13.
As shown in FIG. 1B, a first source/drain region 16 is formed by ion-implanting a high concentration impurity to the semiconductor substrate 10 at both sides of or around the insulating film spacer 15. Here, As is ion-implanted for a NMOS, and B11 for a PMOS.
Thereafter, still referring to FIG. 1B, a second source/drain region 17 is formed by implanting a dopant having a high diffusion ratio at a low dose. Here, Ph is ion-implanted instead of As for a NMOS, and B11 instead of BF2 for a PMOS.
As seen in FIG. 1C, a silicide layer 18 is formed on the surfaces of the gate electrode 13, the first source/drain region 16 and the second source/drain region 17.
However, the conventional method for fabricating the semiconductor device has a limit due to shallow junction region resulting from miniaturization of the device. Therefore, increase in the depth of the junction region due to the ion implant process for forming the silicide layer 18 influences the LDD region 14. Especially, when the silicide layer 18 is formed deeply along the rim of the field oxide layer 11, leakage current increases considerably in the junction region of the field oxide 11 and the height of the field oxide 11 is decreased during subsequent processes. In addition, in case of a borderless contact, since the contact is formed along the rim of the field oxide 11, leakage current drastically increases in the junction region of peripheral circuit region.
Accordingly, a method for fabricating a semiconductor device is disclosed which can prevent increase in a junction leakage current and improve a process yield and reliability, by forming a protection film along the rim of the field oxide, forming a SEG layer on the source/drain region, removing the protection film and ion-implanting to form a deep junction in the source/drain region. As a result, the region where the protection film has a deeper junction than the region where the SEG layer is so the ion-implant process has no negative effect on the channel region of CMOS device.
A disclosed method for fabricating a semiconductor device comprises: forming an field oxide defining a active region in a semiconductor substrate; forming a gate oxide and a gate electrode on the active region of the semiconductor substrate; forming an LDD region by ion-implanting low concentration impurities in the semiconductor substrate at both sides of or around the gate electrode; forming an insulating film spacer on each sidewall of the gate electrode; forming a protection film pattern exposing the gate electrode, the insulating film spacer and a portion of the active region of the semiconductor substrate adjacent to the insulating film spacer; forming a SEG layer on the exposed portion of the active region of the semiconductor substrate; removing the protection film pattern; forming a source/drain region comprising a shallow highly dopes source/drain region (xe2x80x9cshallow SID regionxe2x80x9d) and a deep highly doped source/drain region (xe2x80x9cdeep SID regionxe2x80x9d) by ion-implanting high concentration impurities, wherein the shallow SID region is formed beneath the SEG layer and the deep SID region is formed at the exposed active region adjacent to the field oxide where the SEG layer is not formed; forming a silicide layer on the gate electrode, the SEG layer and the active region of the semiconductor substrate.
The protection film pattern may be formed of one or more films selected from a group of silicon oxide film, silicon nitride film, silicon oxynitride film and combinations thereof.
The protection film pattern leaves an exposed portion of the LDD region ranging from about 0.01 to about 1 xcexcm away from the insulating film spacer.
The SEG layer may have a thickness ranging from about 0.01 to about 0.5 xcexcm.
The SEG layer may be a single crystal layer, an amorphous silicon layer or a phosphorous silicon layer.
A novel semiconductor device made in accordance with the disclosed methods is also disclosed.

Method for fabricating semiconductor device


The invention relates to a device for cleaning the filter surface of a filter element, through which the liquid to be filtered flows, during a filtration operation using a pressurised cleaning fluid. According to an improvement of the invention, a distribution device is provided which delivers an essentially even pressure distribution of the cleaning fluid over the entire area of the filter surface to be cleaned.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for cleaning a filter surface of a filter element, through which liquid to be filtered flows during a filtration operation, by means of a pressurized cleaning fluid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such devices are, for example, required for cleaning dust filters used in industrial facilities. The dust filters used for industrial purposes are in many cases approximately in the form of a hollow cylinder wherein at one end of the filter elements an outlet opening for the cleaned fluid such as, for example, flue gas from which dust has been removed, is provided while a cylinder mantle surface of the filter element is formed by a filter substance such as a filter membrane or a filter fleece. This mantle surface of the filter element then forms the filter surface through which during the filtration operation the fluid to be cleaned, such as flue gas, flows, wherein the dust particles contained in the flue gas are retained by the filter substance in order to thus provide the desired cleaning effect. In this connection, the fluid to be cleaned impacts onto the outer surface of the filter element and is then guided away through the hollow space formed by the filter element or the outlet opening provided at one axial end of the filter element.
During the above-mentioned filtration operation a filtration dust cake is formed on the outer side of the filter element or of the filter surface which increases with increasing operating duration the flow resistance of the filter element for the fluid to be cleaned flowing therethrough. This increase of the flow resistance causes a pressure loss of the fluid flow when passing through the filter element which, in turn, impairs the discharge of the cleaned fluid or makes it possible only by means of an expensive and high-energy additional suction device.
Accordingly, the filter surfaces of the filter element must generally be cleaned regularly in order to ensure a disturbance-free operation in this way.
For this purpose, conventionally a pressurized cleaning fluid, such as compressed air, is introduced through the outlet opening into the interior of the filter in order to remove in this way the filtration dust cake formed on the outer side of the filter element or of the filter surface. However, it was found that filter elements cleaned in this way again generate a high-pressure drop of the fluid flow to be cleaned already after a comparatively short operating period. As a solution to this problem it has been suggested already to introduce the compressed air used as the cleaning fluid in the form of individual compressed air pulses into the interior of the filter element. Moreover, it has been suggested to guide the cleaning fluid by means of nozzles into the interior of the filter element wherein the nozzle openings of the nozzles have a smaller diameter than the outlet opening of the filter element in order to thus entrain, in addition to the compressed air acting as the cleaning fluid, also ambient air into the interior of the filter element and to increase the air volume introduced into the filter element.
Even though with the described measures an improvement of the cleaning action of the cleaning fluid can be obtained, it was found that even the introduction of the cleaning fluid into the interior of the filter element in the form of individual pressure pulses and/or by means of a suitable introduction nozzles, in comparison to a disruption-free service life after the first initial start-up of the filter element, a high-pressure loss of the fluid flow to be cleaned occurred again already after a short operating period.
In view of these problems of the prior art, it is an object of the invention to provide a device of the aforementioned kind which makes possible a disruption-free operation as long as possible of the filter element cleaned therewith.
According to the invention this object is solved by a further development of the above discussed cleaning devices which is substantially characterized in that a distribution device is provided with which a substantially uniform pressure distribution of the cleaning fluid in the area of the entire filter surface to be cleaned is promoted.
The solution is based on the recognition that even the use of suitable nozzles for introducing the cleaning fluid into the filter element and the introduction of the cleaning fluid in the form of individual pressure pulses result in a dynamic pressure of the cleaning fluid in the area of the axial end of the filter element facing away from the outlet opening which favors the cleaning action of the filter surfaces in the area of the filter element bottom but results in an incomplete cleaning of the filter surface in the area of the outlet opening. Accordingly, when using the known cleaning devices a satisfactory cleaning action takes place only in the area immediately adjacent to the filter element bottom of the filter surface. Because this area provides lowest flow resistance for the fluid to be cleaned, the fluid flow will concentrate in this area after a new start-up of the cleaned filter element which again favors the formation of a filter cake increasing the flow resistance so that very quickly a degree of soiling requiring a new cleaning action of the filter element is reached.
With the further development according to the invention of the known cleaning devices, a uniform pressure distribution of the cleaning fluid in the area of the entire filter surface to be cleaned is achieved which results in a uniform cleaning of the entire filter surface so that, in turn, the concentration of the fluid flow during the filtration operation onto individual filter surface segments is excluded. Accordingly, the use of the cleaning device according to the invention can effectively prevent the fast deposition of a filter cake on individual filter surface segments and thus also an excessively fast increase of the flow resistance of the filter element during filtration operation for a constant fluid flow, and the service life of the filter element can be increased.
The uniform pressure distribution of the cleaning fluid can, for example, be achieved by using a distribution device with a flow guiding surface for the cleaning fluid exiting from a pressure line. In this connection, on the one hand, the use of flow guiding surfaces is possible with which a laminar flow of the cleaning fluid is generated that ensures the desired uniform pressure distribution. It is however especially advantageous when a turbulent flow of the cleaning fluid flowing into the interior of the filter element is generated by the flow guiding surface because such flow guiding surfaces can be embodied in a particularly simple design that is however very effective. For this purpose, the distribution device has expediently a distribution element that can be inserted into an opening of the filter element providing a discharge for the fluid to be cleaned during the filtration operation. Such a distribution element can be inserted for the cleaning process into the filter element and can be removed again from the filter element for performing the actual filtration process. In addition, the use of distribution elements which remain during the filtration operation in the filter element, for example, in the form of a component that is fixedly connected to the filter element, is however also considered. For example, the distribution element can extend, beginning at the opening arranged at one axial end of the filter element, into the interior of the filter element which is at least substantially delimited by the preferably cylinder mantle-shaped cylinder mantle surface. With this arrangement, a particularly space-saving complete configuration is made possible, in particular, in the case of a distribution element remaining in the filter element during the filtration operation.
The turbulent flow of the cleaning fluid introduced through the opening of the filter element, which turbulent flow effects the desired uniform pressure distribution of the cleaning fluid, can be realized, while simultaneously ensuring a minimal flow resistance during the filtration operation, in an especially simple way when the distribution element has a flow guiding surface that is cylinder mantle-shaped or truncated cone-shaped and extends coaxially to the substantially cylinder mantle-shaped filter surface. For this purpose, the distribution element is preferably as a whole in the form of a cylinder mantle or a truncated cone mantle. In this way, the desired uniform pressure distribution of the cleaning fluid during the cleaning process can be ensured while ensuring at the same time an especially minimal increase of the flow resistance during the filtration operation when the distribution element beginning at the opening extends across 20 to 70%, preferably 20 to 50%, of the axial length of the filter element and the diameter of the distribution element at the end facing away from the opening corresponds to approximately 40 to 95% of the inner diameter of the filter element. At its end facing the opening of the filter element, the distribution element can have a diameter which corresponds to the inner diameter of the filter element or the opening or can have a diameter which is slightly smaller. In the case that for introduction of the cleaning fluid a nozzle is used, it has been found to be particularly expedient when the distribution element has a diameter at the end facing the opening of the filter element which corresponds to the diameter of the nozzle or has a diameter which is slightly greater than the diameter of the nozzle.
In the afore describe embodiment of the distribution element, an especially minimal flow resistance during the filtration operation can be achieved while simultaneously ensuring the desired uniform pressure distribution of the cleaning fluid during the cleaning process, when the dimensions of the distribution element are adjusted such to those of the filter element that the ratio of flow velocity of the fluid within the distribution element, flowing through the filter surface during the filtration operation and being discharged through the distribution element inserted into the opening of the filter element, relative to the flow velocity of the fluid external to the distribution element, flowing through the axial area of the filter surface surrounding the distribution element, is in the range of 0.4 to 2.5. Accordingly, on the one hand, the generation of a high dynamic pressure in the annular gap formed between the distribution element and the filter surface in the interior of the filter element is prevented and, on the other hand, the generation of an excessive dynamic pressure within the distribution element itself is prevented.
In addition or as an alternative to the above described distribution element, the distribution device according to the invention can also have a discharge element for the pressurized cleaning fluid comprising a plurality of discharge openings through which the cleaning fluid for cleaning the filter surfaces supplied via a supply line is discharged or introduced into the interior of the filter element for cleaning the filter element. This embodiment of the device according to the invention is based on the recognition that the use of several discharge openings for the cleaning fluid in general provides a more effective cleaning pulse than the use of only one large discharge opening for the cleaning fluid.
In particular in regard to the last-described embodiment it has been found to be especially expedient when the cleaning device has a line system for the cleaning fluid with which a plurality of filter elements can be cleaned simultaneously. In this connection, expediently at least two discharge elements for discharging the cleaning fluid for cleaning a filter surface of a filter element, respectively, are correlated with the line system wherein an especially uniform cleaning effect for all filter elements to be cleaned by one cleaning process is achieved when the discharge element through which the cleaning fluid supplied by the cleaning system passes first has more discharge openings than the discharge element arranged downstream thereof. The advantage of this arrangement resides in that the cleaning action, favored by the dynamic pressure which is generated at the rear end of the line system, for the filter elements arranged in this area during the cleaning process can be compensated by providing more discharge openings for the filter elements arranged during the cleaning process in the area of the forward end of the line system when viewed in the flow direction.
In the case that the cleaning fluid for cleaning the filter surfaces is to be discharged in the form of individual pressure pulses, such as gas pressure pulses, in particular, compressed air pulses, it was found to be particularly expedient when the line system has only one valve arrangement for generating the pressure pulses and the individual discharge elements are arranged at the outflow side of this valve arrangement. In this connection, it is in particular also considered to discharge the cleaning fluid through a nozzle in the direction toward the filter surfaces or interiors of the filters to be cleaned.


The present invention discloses an antenna radiating element and an antenna, where the antenna radiating element includes a pair of crosswise disposed dipoles and parasitic element assemblies; the parasitic element assembly is disposed in an included angle formed by two neighboring dipole arms of the crosswise disposed dipoles; the parasitic element assembly is fastened to the dipole; and a radiation signal transmitted by the dipole is reflected and converged by using the parasitic element assembly. In embodiments of the present invention, the antenna radiating element has a very simple structure, may be directly formed by sheet metal parts, and is convenient to process and manufacture. Also, the parasitic element assembly achieves an effect of reducing a volume of the entire antenna, and therefore both production costs and maintenance costs are reduced.

An antenna is an energy conversion apparatus in a mobile communications system. An electromagnetic wave signal transmitted by a mobile station is converted, by using an antenna, into an electrical signal for processing by a base station. Reversely, the base station converts, by using the antenna, the electrical signal into the electromagnetic wave signal for propagation in free space, so that the mobile station can randomly receive the electromagnetic wave signal, thereby implementing bidirectional communication of the communications system. An important tendency in development of a base station antenna is miniaturization, but a width of the antenna directly affects control of a beam width on a horizontal plane by the antenna. To reach a specified performance indicator, a particular width and volume are usually required. Therefore, appropriately increasing the width of the antenna better helps the antenna control the beam width on the horizontal plane to an appropriate value, thereby increasing an antenna gain and obtaining a best coverage effect.
An antenna radiating element is generally disposed on an antenna, and signal radiation is performed by using the antenna radiating element. Currently, a commonly used antenna radiating element is a standard opposed element. There are two pairs of dipoles in a radiation direction of the element, and feeding is performed in an equal amplitude and cophase manner. The dipole is a standard half-wave dipole, and uses a coaxial line to perform feeding. The antenna has a large caliber area, and radiation efficiency is relatively high.
In a process of implementing the embodiments of the present invention, the prior art has at least the following problems:
Currently, a structure and composition of a commonly used antenna radiating element are relatively complex. To ensure specific use strength, die-casting integrated forming is usually selected as a forming process of the antenna radiating element, thereby causing a great difficulty in forming the antenna radiating element, a difficulty in processing and manufacturing, and relatively high costs for production and maintenance.


An improved process for producing ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether by reacting ethylene glycol with isobutylene in the presence of a catalyst of strongly acidic cation-exchange material is disclosed which enables the production of ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether in a high yield while suppressing the formation of by-product ethylene glycol di-tert-butyl ether by previously adding ethylene glycol di-tert-butyl ether to the reaction system and conducting the reaction at temperatures of about 60 to 130.degree. C.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for producing ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether from ethylene glycol and isobutylene and, more particularly, to a process of conducting the above-described reaction by adding ethylene glycol di-tert-butyl ether to the reaction system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether is a useful material exhibiting excellent properties as a solvent, dispersing agent, diluent, or the like in the field of paints and ink. It is well known that ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether can be synthesized from isobutylene and ethylene glycol by reacting them in the presence of an acid catalyst. In addition, it is also known from, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,483, 3,170,000, 2,480,940, Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 82004/75 (The term "OPI" as used herein refers to a "published unexamined Japanese patent application") that strongly acidic cation-exchange materials are effective as the catalysts.
However, in producing ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether from isobutylene and ethylene glycol, the use of these catalysts has failed to eliminate formation of an ethylene glycol di-tert-butyl ether by-product. Formation of the by-product ethylene glycol di-tert-butyl ether (abbreviated DBE) results in reduction in the yield of ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether (abbreviated MBE), which is economically disadvantageous for the production of the end product. Thus, it has been desired to develop a process of suppressing formation of the by-product di-tert-butyl ether.
No processes have so far been discovered which effectively suppress formation of the by-product DBE in the etherification reaction between isobutylene and ethylene glycol.
As indicated above, three U.S. Patents teach that ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether can be synthesized from ethylene glycol and isobutylene. Of these, U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,000 relates to a process of producing MBE from an olefin mixture containing isobutylene and alcohol, and selectively separating and recovering tert-olefin by the decomposition of the resulting MBE. This patent describes recycling a mixture of alcohol and MBE obtained in the final step to an etherification reactor in the first step. Also, Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 29413/76 describes the process of producing ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether from ethylene glycol and isobutylene by previously adding ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether to the reaction system. However, these processes suffer from the problem that the amount of by-product ethylene glycol di-tert-butyl ether further increases.

Process for producing ethylene glycol mono-tert-butyl ether


The present disclosure relates to an atomizer assembly for an electronic cigarette and an atomizer thereof. An atomizer assembly for an electronic cigarette comprising an atomizer and a cartridge; the cartridge comprising: a cartridge body defining a reservoir chamber for storing liquid solution, the reservoir chamber comprising an opening which communicates the interior of the reservoir chamber with the exterior of the reservoir chamber; and a sealing member mounted to the cartridge body, the sealing member comprising a first sealing portion for sealing the opening; the atomizer comprising: a base detachably and rotatably connected to the cartridge body; an atomizing device mounted to the base for atomizing the liquid solution; and a piercing device mounted to the base for piercing through the first sealing portion and guiding the liquid solution to the atomizing device.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to products for smokers, and more particularly to a cartridge for an electronic cigarette.
2. Description of Related Art
An electronic cigarette is also known as a virtual cigarette or an electronic atomizer. As a substitute for cigarette, the electronic cigarette is usually used for smoking cessation. The appearance and taste of electronic cigarette are similar to those of a conventional cigarette, while it does not contain tar, suspended particles and other harmful ingredients.
An electronic cigarette in a related art usually includes a housing, a suction nozzle portion with a smoking hole mounted to a top end of the housing, a cartridge which is used for storing liquid solution is connected to the suction nozzle portion, and a heating base is connected to the cartridge. A heating unit inside the heating base generally includes fiber rope and nickel chrome wire. The fiber rope is used to absorb the liquid solution from a chamber of the cartridge and thus the liquid solution atomizes under the heating of the nickel chrome wire. For the traditional refillable electronic cigarette, when the liquid solution is used up, there are two ways to refill the liquid solution: one is taken down the heating base to refill the liquid solution, which is able to be repeatedly multiple times; and the other is taken down the suction nozzle portion to refill the liquid solution, which can also be repeatedly multiple times.
The above-mentioned refillable electronic cigarette needs to allocate liquid solution separately. However, the liquid solution is easily contaminated by bacterial if stored or placed improperly. Furthermore, refilling liquid solution into the cartridge and thus reusing the cartridge, an interior of cartridge is easy to be contaminated when the cartridge is open and refill liquid solution. Long-term storage of the liquid solution may easily breed bacteria or cause deterioration for overdue.

Atomizer assembly for electronic cigarette and atomizer thereof


The present invention provides an osmotic device containing controlled release venlafaxine in the core in combination with an anti-psychotic agent in a rapid release external coat. A wide range of anti-psychotic agents can be used in this device. Particular embodiments of the invention provide osmotic devices having predetermined release profiles. One embodiment of the osmotic device includes an external coat that has been spray-coated rather compression-coated onto the device. The device with spray-coated external core is smaller and easier to swallow than the similar device having a compression-coated external coat. The device is useful for the treatment of depression, anxiety or psychosis related disorders.

This invention pertains to an osmotic device containing venlafaxine. More particularly, it pertains to an osmotic device tablet that provides a controlled release of venlafaxine, and optionally an anti-psychotic agent, following a particularly advantageous release profile.
Clinical depression is a disorder characterized by low self-esteem, guilt, self-reproach, introversion, sadness, despair, sleeping disorders, eating disorders or discouragement. Depression generally causes a lower or decrease of a person""s function. Anxiety is a disorder characterized by responses to anticipation of unreal or imagined danger. It manifests itself as increased heart rate, altered respiration rate, sweating, trembling, weakness, or fatigue. Psychosis is a disorder characterized by gross impairment in reality perception as evidenced by delusions, hallucinations, markedly incoherent speech, or disorganized and agitated behavior without apparent awareness on the part of the person of the incomprehensibility of his behavior.
Major depression and anxiety occur concomitantly in more patients than either one alone. When these disorders occur together, they are associated with more severe symptoms, increased impairment of function, a longer chronic course, poorer outcome, and a higher incidence of suicide.
Antidepressants, such as venlafaxine, have been tested for the treatment of depression and symptoms of anxiety. Anti-psychotic agents, such as risperidone, are used for the treatment of psychosis. On occasion, a person suffering from depression or anxiety and psychosis will be prescribed an antidepressant agent and an anti-psychotic agent. Rather than administration of two different dosages, it would be useful in the art to have available a single dosage containing both an antidepressant and an anti-psychotic.
Venlafaxine is commercially available in an extended release capsule dosage form from Wyeth Ayerst under the trademark EFFEXOR XR(trademark). The capsule is available in 37.5, 75, and 150 mg strengths. The capsule is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,186 and does not contain the venlafaxine in combination with an anti-psychotic agent. Moreover, the EFFEXOR XR(trademark) formulation provides an incomplete release of venlafaxine.
Bymaster et al. (European Patent Application No. EP 0830864 A1) disclose a method, and compositions and dosage forms therefor, of treating psychoses with a combination of a serotonin uptake inhibitor and an anti-psychotic agent. Bymaster et al. do not disclose an osmotic device containing such combination nor the beneficial effects of sequential administration of the two drugs, one rapid release and the other controlled release, from a single dosage form.
Controlled release capsule dosage forms and osmotic device dosage forms are generally known by the skilled artisan to provide different release profiles. Effective therapy with antidepressants and anxiolytic agents is dependent upon a careful control of the blood plasma levels of these agents, and therefore, upon the release profiles of these agents from their respective dosage forms.
Osmotic devices and other tablet formulations are known for their ability to provide a controlled release of a wide range of drugs. Such osmotic devices and other tablet formulations are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,334 to Theeuwes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,604 to Guittard et al., Argentina Patent No. 234,493, U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,405 to Guittard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,879 to Chen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,502 to Ayer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,461 to Hamel et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,584 to Savastano et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,770, U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,582 to Faour et al., and Argentina Patent No. 199,301, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
These references, however, do not disclose osmotic devices that provide the specific plasma profiles or release profiles for venlafaxine (VFX), and an optional anti-psychotic agent, that the present invention provides. Moreover, the prior art does not disclose an osmotic device containing a combination of venlafaxine with an anti-psychotic agent, and generally wherein the venlafaxine and anti-psychotic agent are delivered according to specific release profiles that are advantageous over known formulations.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an osmotic device comprising:
a core comprising a therapeutically effective amount of venlafaxine and at least one osmotic agent or osmopolymer; and
a semipermeable membrane surrounding the core and having a passageway there through;
wherein the core provides a controlled release of VFX, and at least 80% of the VFX is released within 13 hours after exposure of the osmotic device to an aqueous solution.
Another aspect of the present invention provides an osmotic device for the delivery of VFX and an anti-psychotic agent comprising:
a core comprising a therapeutically effective amount of venlafaxine and at least one osmotic agent or osmopolymer;
a semipermeable membrane surrounding the core and having a passageway there through; and
an external coat comprising a therapeutically effective amount of an anti-psychotic agent;
wherein the core provides a controlled release of VFX, and at least 80% of the VFX is released within 13 hours after exposure of the osmotic device to an aqueous solution, and the external coat provides a rapid release of the anti-psychotic agent, and at least 75% of the anti-psychotic agent is released within 1 hour after exposure of the osmotic device to an aqueous solution.
In some embodiments, the external coat is applied by spray coating or compression coating. By spray coating rather than compression coating the external coat, a thinner external coat, and therefore a smaller osmotic device, is formed.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method of treating depression, anxiety and/or psychosis in a mammal, the method comprising the step of administering an osmotic device which provides a controlled release of VFX from its core and a rapid release of an anti-psychotic agent from an external coat, wherein at least 75% of the anti-psychotic agent is released within about 40 minutes, and at least about 60% of the VFX is released within about 12 hours after administration.
In other embodiments, the osmotic device provides: a) a VFX release profile similar to that shown in FIG. 1; or b) a VFX plasma profile similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 or 4. In still other embodiments, the release of VFX and/or the anti-psychotic agent has a delayed onset.
In even other embodiments, the anti-psychotic agent is selected from the group consisting of risperidone, olanzapine, clozapine, sertindole, ziprasidone, quetiapine, sulpiride, pimozide, clothiapine, molindone, loxapine, trifluoperazine, haloperidol, flupenthixol, chlorpromazine, chlorprothixene, clopenthixol, droperidol, perphenazine, fluphenazine, lithium, mesoridazine, spiperone, promazine, prochlorperazine, thioridazine, thiothixene, triflupromazine, and raclopride.
In yet other embodiments, the following anti-psychotic agents are administered in the indicated doses: a) risperidonexe2x80x945 to 10 mg per day; b) olanzapinexe2x80x945 to 20 mg, 0.25-50 mg, 1-30 mg, or 1-25 mg per day; c) clozapinexe2x80x94100 to 400 mg, 12.5-900 mg, or 150-450 mg per day; d) sertindolexe2x80x9415 to 20 mg per day or 0.0001 to 1.0 mg/kg of body weight per day; e) ziprasidonexe2x80x9480 to 160 mg, 5 to 500 mg or 50 to 100 mg per day; f) quetiapinexe2x80x94150 to 600 mg or 1.0-40 mg/kg of body weight per day; g) sulpiridexe2x80x9450 to 100 mg per day; h) pimozidexe2x80x942 to 4 mg per day; or i) clothiapinexe2x80x9440 mg per day.
The venlafaxine, as either its free base or salt form, will be administered once daily in doses ranging form about 10 to 150 mg, 25 to 125 mg, 150 to 300 mg, or 10-500 mg.
The osmotic device generally delivers the anti-psychotic agent to the upper GI tract and the venlafaxine to the middle to lower GI tract.
Other features, advantages and embodiments of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art by the following description, accompanying examples.

Osmotic device containing venlafaxine and an anti-psychotic agent


The present invention provides an apparatus having a sample separation unit, a Raman spectroscopy unit, and a mass spectrometry unit. The present invention further provides a method for specifying a biomolecule and a method for identifying the binding site of the biomolecule and the low-molecular-weight compound, comprising a combination of Raman spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The present invention further provides a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy method with improved sensitivity.

Low-molecular-weight compounds (e.g., drugs) having toxicity or drug efficacy act in vivo on biomolecules such as proteins to exhibit bioactivity. Examining in vivo or intracellular distribution of target biomolecules on which low-molecular-weight compounds act, specifying the target biomolecules, analyzing specific sites at which low-molecular-weight compounds act, as well as elucidating the mechanism for the expression of bioactivity is extremely important for the development of effective therapeutic methods and remedies and life research that underlies such developments.
Regarding methods for examining the in vivo or intracellular distribution of target biomolecules, molecular imaging using radioactive compounds, phosphorescent compounds or fluorescent compounds, and Raman imaging for detecting scattered light of the biomolecule themselves are known. In vivo or intracellular molecular imaging is an important technique for understanding conditions of the disease status and pharmacokinetics and the like, and has recently been undergoing rapid development. Raman imaging involves detecting Raman scattering light from a sample irradiated by a laser and then imaging the distribution, by using the Raman spectroscopy method. Molecular imaging involves the use of radioactive compounds, phosphorescent compounds, or fluorescent compounds. On the other hand, Raman imaging involves the use of low-molecular-weight compounds that are nonradioactive and have only a slight effect on target molecules, and thus enables convenient direct examination of dynamic cell states. It has been reported that when alkyne or the like having a carbon-carbon triple bond is used as a label, imaging with higher sensitivity can be achieved with a minimal effect on target molecules (Non-patent Document 1). Non-patent Document 1 describes incorporating a nucleic acid analog, 5-ethyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) into cells, and confirming the incorporation thereof to cell nuclei by using Raman microscope imaging (see Non-patent Document 1, page 6103, FIG. 2, and FIG. 4). In Non-patent Document 1, Raman images are obtained with wavenumbers, with which a Raman peak unique to label is obtained. Therefore, the thus obtained image corresponds to the spatial intensity distribution of the Raman peak with specific wavenumber.
Regarding the method of searching a low-molecular-weight compound such as a drug and a biomolecule which is the target of the compound and then identifying the binding site, LC-MS combining a liquid chromatograph with a mass spectrometer is used. A sample is fractionated by LC, and then the fractionated sample is subjected sequentially to MS and MS/MS analysis in an exhaustive manner, so as to specify the target biomolecule or identify the binding site. In MS analysis, the target biomolecule is searched for based on a mass shift resulting from the binding of the low-molecular-weight compound. Further, information such as the amino acid sequence of the peptide can be acquired by MS/MS analysis, and thus the binding site can be identified.
In order to identify a target biomolecule within cells by an analytical method such as LC-MS, the following series of steps are required: (1) incorporate a low-molecular-weight compound into cells and bind the low-molecular-weight compound to an intracellular target biomolecule; (2) disrupt the cells, (3) detect the target biomolecule in the cell disruption solution, and (4) analyze and specify the target biomolecule; or, (1) disrupt the cells, (2) mix the cell disruption solution with a low-molecular-weight compound to bind to a target biomolecule, (3) fractionate the cell disruption solution, and (4) analyze and specify the target biomolecule. Moreover, a method for specifying and/or identifying the binding site of a biomolecule and a low-molecular-weight compound requires the following steps: (1) bind a low-molecular-weight compound to a biomolecule, (2) fragment the biomolecule bound to the low-molecular-weight compound, (3) detect the bound fragment, and (4) analyze the bound fragment to identify the binding site.
However, regarding complex samples obtained via the above steps, an exhaustive search for a biomolecule using LC-MS, sequencing, and specifying the binding site requires tremendous time and also errors are likely to arise. In addition, when the binding mode of a low-molecular-weight compound and a biomolecule is unknown, it is, in principal, impossible to search for the target molecule based on a predicted mass shift. A method (CE-MS) using a capillary electrophoretic device instead of a liquid chromatograph has also been devised. However, as with LC-MS, this method requires exhaustive detection and, therefore, an extremely large number of objects must be analyzed, and prolonged and complicated analysis procedures are required.
As a technique for selectively subjecting an intracellular target molecule to analysis such as mass spectrometry, a method comprising affinity purification using a low-molecular-weight compound bound to a carrier in order to separate and purify the target molecule has been developed and is used widely. Moreover, a method for specifying a bound target biomolecule by: generating a covalent bond using a functional group reactive to the target biomolecule; and examining a radioactive, phosphorescent, or fluorescent compound or the like introduced in advance into the low-molecular-weight compound is used. Regarding a technique for specifying and/or identifying a binding site of a target molecule, a method comprising introducing a fluorophore into the low-molecular-weight compound and observing the same is used widely. For example, regarding a method for specifying and/or identifying the binding site of a labeled drug and a protein, a method using a xanthine dye as a fluorophore (rhodamine, fluorescein, or rodol), a cyanine dye, a coumarin dye, or a composite dye as a label for the drug has been reported (Patent Document 1).
When a radioactive compound is used as the low-molecular-weight compound there is no effect on the activity of the target molecule since radio isotopes basically have identical chemical properties. However, facilities in which the method can be used are limited to those in which radiation can be controlled. Further such method strictly restricts the step of identifying the binding site and is not convenient. Unlike methods using radioactive compounds, there are very few restrictions on carrying out methods that involve direct binding of a phosphorescent compound or a fluorescent compound having a large molecular weight to the target molecule. However, since the molecular weight of a fluorophore becomes relatively higher than that of the low-molecular-weight compound, such method is problematic in that the activity or binding properties of the low-molecular-weight compound can be affected. For example, whereas fluorouracil (5-FU), a type of anticancer agent, has a molecular weight of 130, Rhodamine 6G, a typical fluorophore, has a molecular weight of 479. When 5-FU is labeled with Rhodamine 6G, the bioactivity of the anticancer agent, 5-FU, can be affected by the fluorescent label. Further, flavagline, an anticancer agent extracted from an Aglaia plant, inhibits cell growth in a cancer-cell-specific manner and is not likely to cause side effects. Therefore, attempts have been made to elucidate the in vivo mode of action thereof. However, it is reported that when flavagline is labeled with a fluorophore, the drug activity decreases to 1/40 or less of its previous level. Non-patent Document 2 (page 5180, right column) describes that while the IC50 (concentration at which flavagline suppress cell growth by 50%) of flavagline is 3 nM, the IC50 of flavagline labeled with fluorescence decreases to 130 nM. Non-patent Document 3 reports that the molecule 16F16, which binds to a target protein, loses its activity when modified with a fluorophore (Non-patent Document 3, page 901, right column, lines 13-17).
A modified version of the above labeling methods has been reported, which involves binding a low-molecular-weight compound (alkyne) containing an alkynyl group as a functional group to a target biomolecule, introducing a fluorophore via a click reaction, and degrading and fragmenting the target biomolecule using an enzyme and the like (see Non-patent Document 3, page 902, FIG. 3). The use of this method leads to decreased detrimental effects such as dissipation of the activity of a target protein. However, this method is problematic in that procedures are complex, nonspecific binding reactions occur, a catalyst such as copper is needed, and there is loss of the target molecule due to reaction procedures. Therefore, when the amount of a sample is insufficient, there are limits to apply this method in practice. Regarding methods for searching for intracellular post-translational modification of a protein, examples using a click reaction include a report of incorporating a palmitoyl lipid into cells, modifying the same with a fluorophore via a click reaction, and then specifying a protein that binds to the lipid using fluorescence analysis (Non-patent Document 4) and a report of introducing a biotin tag into a farnesyl lipid via a click reaction and then detecting the same with streptavidin (Non-patent Document 5). However, these methods also have the problems above associated with click reactions.
Unlike techniques that involve searching a target molecule via a label such as a radioactive substance or a fluorophore, the Raman spectroscopy method can detect a target molecule without using any label by a based on molecular vibration information. There are no limitations on Facilities to carry out Raman spectroscopy and the method does not affect the activity or the binding properties of the low-molecular-weight compound. Thus, the combination of Raman spectroscopy and LC-MS may constitute a new detection technique that overcomes the various problems described above. To date, an example of analyzing lysozyme using a combination of a Raman spectroscopic apparatus and a matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometer has been reported (Patent Document 2, column 27, FIG. 31 and claim 21). However, the object to be achieved by the invention described in Patent Document 2 is to increase the sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy, and Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for aggregating a sample in an isolated state. The reason a mass spectrometer is used in Patent Document 2 is to re-confirm the results confirmed by Raman spectroscopy using a different method. Therefore, the method of Patent Document 2 is substantially different from that of the present invention for specifying a biomolecule that binds to a low-molecular-weight compound and identifying the binding site.

Method and apparatus for analyzing biomolecules using Raman spectroscopy


A new class of antitumor glycoside antibiotics of the formula (IA): ##STR1## wherein R is hydrogen or hydroxy; and X is ##STR2## These compounds are prepared, using novel intermediates, by condensing the appropriate aglycone and branched-chain aminodeoxy sugar to form the .alpha.-glycosidic linkage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the antitumor glycosides of the anthracycline type, in particular, certain 4'-C-methyl-4'-O-methyldaunomycin (and adriamycin) derivatives, their preparation, intermediates thereof and their use in antitumor therapy.
2. The Prior Art
The present compounds which are derivatives of daunomycin and adriamycin, both of which are known antitumor antibiotics, are prepared from the aglycone of daunomycin, i.e., daunomycinone, a known compound.

Anthracyclines containing branched-chain amino-deoxy sugars


A method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes performing thermal cleaning for a surface of a silicon substrate in an atmosphere including hydrogen under a condition that a thermal cleaning temperature is higher than or equal to 700° C. and is lower than or equal to 1060° C., and a thermal cleaning time is longer than or equal to 5 minutes and is shorter than or equal to 15 minutes; forming a first AlN layer on the substrate with a first V/III source ratio, the forming of the first AlN layer including supplying an Al source to the surface of the substrate without supplying a N source, and supplying both the Al source and the N source; forming a second AlN layer on the first AlN layer with a second V/III source ratio that is greater than the first ratio; and forming a GaN-based semiconductor layer on the second AlN layer.

(i) Technical Field
A certain aspect of the embodiments discussed herein is related to a method for fabricating a semiconductor device. Another aspect of the embodiments is related to a method for fabricating a semiconductor device in which a GaN-based semiconductor layer is formed on a silicon substrate.
(ii) Related Art
Semiconductor devices using a gallium nitride (GaN) based semiconductor are used as a power device operating at high frequencies and outputting high power, and a light emitting diode or a laser diode emitting light of short wavelengths. Particularly, there has been considerable activity in the development of semiconductor devices suitable for amplification in a high-frequency or RF (radio Frequency) band such as a microwave band, a quasi-millimeter band or a millimeter band. Examples of those semiconductor devices are an FET such as a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and light emitting devices such as a laser diode (LD) and a light emitting diode (LED).
Generally, a sapphire substrate or a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate is used as a substrate on which the GaN-based semiconductor layer is grown. Since the sapphire substrate and the SiC substrate are expensive, there has been developed an art of growing the GaN-based semiconductor layer on the silicon (Si) substrate. As Si and Ga react easily, an AlN layer is interposed between the Si substrate and the GaN-based semiconductor layer as a barrier layer (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-166349).
However, a pit-like defect may occur on the surface of the AlN on the Si substrate. In case where the GaN-based semiconductor layer is formed on the AlN layer on which many pit-like defects occur in order to form a HEMT, for example, a process for fabricating the transistor may be affected. For example, electrodes may not be formed reliably. Another problem is a deterioration of the crystal quality of the GaN-based semiconductor layer, which leads to a degradation of the transistor characteristics.

Method for fabricating semiconductor device