A downhole injection apparatus having a sleeve disposed in a tubular housing. The sleeve and housing define an annular orifice through which steam flows prior to injection into the wellbore. Water condensate collects at the orifice or restriction proximate the orifice and is mixed with or entrained into the flow of steam. The sleeve preferably has a plurality of generally radial ports such that steam flows from interior the sleeve to the annulus. Preferably the injection ports and sleeve ports are angled to reduce or eliminate radical changes in direction of the steam flow.

Without limiting the scope of the present invention, its background will be described with reference to producing fluid from a hydrocarbon bearing subterranean formation, as an example. During development of a well traversing a hydrocarbon-bearing subterranean formation, various operations are typically performed and various equipment run-in and pulled from the wellbore. Treatment of a wellbore can include the injection of fluids into the formation, and in particular, the injection of steam or other heated fluid from a work string into the wellbore annulus.
Artificial lifting techniques are used where formations lack adequate pressure to cause hydrocarbons to rise to the surface. Pumps can be used in the wellbore or at the surface to bring fluids to the surface. Gas can be injected into the wellbore to lighten the weight of fluids and facilitate their movement towards the surface. In other instances, a compressible fluid, like pressurized steam, is injected into adjacent wellbores to urge hydrocarbons towards a producing wellbore. The steam, through heat and pressure, reduces the viscosity of the oil and urges it towards a production wellbore. Injection operations are known in the industry and not described in detail here. Selective injection along various intervals of the wellbore is often accomplished with selectively openable valves, such as sliding sleeve valves, and the like, and often in conjunction with isolation devices such as packers, plugs, bridge plugs and the like.
During injection operations, steam (water and vapor) can be lost prior to injection as it condenses into liquid (water). Most water loss occurs along the surfaces of the tubulars through which the steam is injected. Additional losses occur at ports and passageways, especially where the steam must change direction of flow at a sharp angle. Consequently, an operator may inadvertently inject an undesired ratio of water and vapor at a given interval. Further, the condensate water tends to collect near the far end of the injection string, resulting in a high vapor content injection uphole and a low vapor injection content downhole.
Attempts have been made to limit condensation, entrain condensate water back into the steam flow, and to manage water to vapor ratio. For example, it has been suggested that fluid flow be routed through various sizes and arrangements of ports, selectively openable valves, nozzles, throats and diffusers, or that the injection fluid flow be pulsed, oscillated, and modified from axial to rotational patterns. For further disclosure regarding steam injection, see the following references, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes: U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,763 to Howard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,032,675 to Steele et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,909,094 to Schultz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,510 to Bacon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,367,399 to Steele at al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,018 to Schuh. Further, commercial tools are available from Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., such as the Zonemaster (trade name) Injection System.
However, condensation and its control remain a concern. Accordingly, a need exists for a downhole injection tool and method of use to reduce and control condensation.
It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the use of directional terms such as above, below, upper, lower, upward, downward and the like are used in relation to the illustrative embodiments as they are depicted in the Figures, the upward direction being toward the top of the corresponding Figure and the downward direction being toward the bottom of the corresponding Figure. Where this is not the case and a term is being used to indicate a required orientation, the Specification will state or make such clear.

Downhole injection assembly having an annular orifice


A metal fine particle dispersant is obtained by reaction of a polymer (a) containing a first reactive functional group, an ionic group to be absorbed to metal fine particles, and a polyoxyalkylene side chain with a compound (b) containing a second reactive functional group to be bonded to the first reactive functional group and an active energy ray curable group to be cured by an active energy ray. A metal fine particle dispersion liquid containing the metal fine particle dispersant, metal fine particles, and a dispersion medium is prepared. The metal fine particle dispersion liquid is cured, thereby obtaining a cured film.

Conventionally, various metal fine particles are dispersed in various coating agents so as to impart various properties such as mechanical properties, chemical resistance, high refractive index, antistatic properties, ultraviolet ray and infrared ray shielding properties, and excoriation resistance to a cured film obtained by applying the coating agent to be cured, or furthermore as a pigment or the like.
In such a coating agent, the metal fine particles may aggregate, depending on the kind of the metal fine particles, a solvent, a binder resin, or the like, which is blended. Thus, it has been proposed that a dispersant is added to the coating agent so as to excellently disperse the metal fine particles.
To be specific, a pigment dispersing resin having, as an active component, a copolymer obtained by polymerization of (1) 5 to 60 weight % of (meth)acrylate having a saturated alicyclic group composed of two or more rings; (2) 5 to 50 weight % of C10 to C35 alkyl (meth)acrylate; and (3) 0.1 to 30 weight % of polymerizable monomer having at least one functional group selected from a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group, a tertiary amino group, a quaternary ammonium base, a sulfonate group, and a phosphate group, and a coating composition containing the pigment dispersing resin, a binder resin, a solvent, and a pigment have been, for example, proposed (ref: the following Patent Document 1).
Also, a metal oxide fine particle dispersant, which is a reaction product prepared by allowing a polymer of a vinyl compound having, in a molecule, an epoxy group to be subjected to addition reaction with a carboxyl group-containing (meth)acrylic compound and has a (meth)acrylic equivalent of 200 to 360 g/eq., a hydroxyl value of 150 to 270 mgKOH/g, and a weight average molecular weight of 8000 to 50000, has been, for example, proposed (ref: the following Patent Document 2).

Metal fine particle dispersant, metal fine particle dispersion liquid, and cured film


A design diagram representation for an industrial operator interface that combines configuration and presentation aspects is provided. The design diagram representation illustrates state transitions, interlocks, and/or permissives for an industrial process or device as a dataflow diagram, a state diagram, or other such diagrams, and renders live state information for the process or device as numeric indicators, string indicators, color-animated state icons, and the like. Flow lines of the diagram are highlighted based on the displayed state information to convey an overall status of the process. In addition, the design diagram representation includes one or more data fields that allow an operator to modify or set a numeric variable for the industrial process (e.g. a timer, a setpoint, etc.), thereby allowing the industrial process to be viewed and configured using a single interface.

Industrial controllers and their associated I/O devices are central to the operation of modern automation systems. These controllers interact with field devices on the plant floor to control automated processes relating to such objectives as product manufacture, material handling, batch processing, supervisory control, and other such applications. Industrial controllers store and execute user-defined control programs to effect decision-making in connection with the controlled process. Such programs can include, but are not limited to, ladder logic, sequential function charts, function block diagrams, structured text, or other such programming structures. The controller receives any combination of digital, analog, or networked data signals from the field devices indicating current states of the process (e.g., temperature, position, part presence or absence, fluid level, etc.), and executes the control program to automate decision-making for the process based on the received signals. The controller then outputs appropriate digital, analog, or networked control signaling to the field devices in accordance with the decisions made by the control program. These outputs can include device actuation signals, temperature or position control signals, motion control commands, commands to machining or material handling robots, and the like.
To facilitate operator interaction with the industrial controller (and with the processes controlled thereby), industrial control systems often include at least one operator interface (e.g., a human-machine interface or other such visualization system) that communicates with the industrial controller and visualizes data therein on one or more user-developed or pre-configured display screens.
Some industrial processes, such as Proportional+Integral+Derivative (PID) controlled systems, dynamically adjust a control output (e.g., a position of a motion controlled device, a temperature, a flow valve position, etc.) in view of a current state of the controlled variable and one or more other process variables. Other systems or sub-systems operate according to a predefined control sequence, in which certain actions (e.g., motor start-ups) are initiated or allowed to initiate only after a series of process steps take place in a defined order. Such sequence based control may include steps that compare a process variable with a preconfigured setpoint value, or steps requiring a particular process state to have been true for a predefined duration of time before the next step in the sequence is initiated. Such controlled systems typically leverage both measured process variables (e.g., metered values read from field devices, sensor outputs, etc.) as well as user-configured variables such as timer values, alarming setpoints, target setpoints, and the like.
In many systems, configuration of user-adjustable process variables and presentation of real-time process states are separate, non-integrated functions. For example, changes to user-configurable aspects of a PID or sequence-controlled process are made in the industrial controller (e.g., through a controller programming interface.). Once these settings have been configured and the control program has been deployed, the states of the running process—which are often dependent on the previously configured user-settable variables—are rendered on the operator interface. If an operator or developer wishes to modify a process parameter to see the result on the live process, the user must make the adjustment in the controller then return to the operator interface display to see the results of the parameter change. In addition, to learn how the system and its functions are designed and how they behave, the operator or developer must refer to separate online or hardcopy documentation or help files.
The above-described deficiencies of today's industrial control and business systems are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.

Configuration and monitoring via design diagram representation


Compounds of formula (I) as defined herein:

Already known are acylaminothiazole derivative compounds which are described in documents WO03/014095 A and WO2004/033439 A and which inhibit the formation of the β-amyloid peptide (β-A4).
There still exists a need to find and to develop products which inhibit the formation of the β-amyloid peptide (β-A4). The compounds of the invention respond to this aim.

Acylaminothiazole derivatives and use thereof as β-amyloid inhibitors

Abstract: inhibit the formation of the β-amyloid peptide (β-A4) and are, therefore, useful in the treatment of pathologies in which a β-amyloid peptide (β-A4) formation inhibitor provides a therapeutic benefit. Particular such pathologies are senile dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, amyloid angiopathy, cerebrovascular disorders, frontotemporal dementias and Pick's disease, post-traumatic dementias, pathologies linked to neuroinflammatory processes, Huntington's disease and Korsakov's syndrome.


Mobile station communication architectures for supporting circuit and packet modes of operation and methods therefor, for example time division multiple access (TDMA) and general packet radio services (GPRS) in a cellular telephone handset. In one exemplary embodiment, the architecture includes a router and operating mode switch (108) coupled to an RF transceiver (112), a packet stack (102) coupled to the RF transceiver, a circuit stack (104) coupled to the router and operating mode switch and to the packet stack, the RF transceiver, and to the circuit stack coupled to the packet stack, and an interoperability entity (106) coupled to the router and operating mode switch and to the packet and circuit stacks.

The deployment of some digital communication system architectures requires mobile stations that support both packet data and circuit service.
The EGPRS-136 Class B multi-mode communication system architecture, for example, integrates the TIA/EIA-136 standard air interface, also known as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), with the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) standard specified by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
The EGPRS-136 Class B architecture supports circuit service (30 KHz TDMA), packet data services on a 200 KHz air interface, teleservices defined in the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) standards, TIA/EIA-136 teleservices, Intelligent Roaming functions and TIA/EIA-41 short messaging services.
The EGPRS-136 Class B mobile station architecture provides for sequential, but not simultaneous, packet data and circuit mode services. Thus when a circuit call is initiated, either by the network or the mobile station, during a packet data transaction, packet data service is interrupted for execution of the circuit call. Thereafter, packet data service resumes upon termination of the circuit call.
Integration of packet and circuit architectures, including the EGPRS-136 Class B architecture, in multi-mode mobile stations requires packet and circuit switched mode interoperability.
The various aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description of the invention with the accompanying drawings described below.

Mobile station architectures for circuit and packet modes and methods therefor


An ADU is turned around a first hole section that operates as fulcrum and opened by a first angle relative to the lateral side of an apparatus main body when dissolving a jam. The lateral side cover is temporarily taken away from a stationary side plate when maintenance the inside of a color copying machine. Then, a second engaging pin is put into a second hole section to engage the lateral side cover with the stationary side plate. The ADU is turned around the second hole section that operates as fulcrum and opened by a second angle greater than the first angle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer that can provide improved maintenance efficiency for the apparatus main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image forming apparatus such as copying machines and printers include those equipped with an automatic duplex unit (to be referred to as ADU hereinafter). An ADU operates to feed a sheet bearing a fixed toner image at least on one of the opposite sides thereof feed to the image transfer position of the image forming apparatus once again.
In some image forming apparatus of the type under consideration, the ADU is arranged at a lateral side of the apparatus main body at a position adjacent to the sheet conveyance route in the apparatus main body. With this arrangement, the apparatus main body can be downsized and an ADU can be commonly used in a plurality of image forming apparatus manufactured with different sets of specifications.
With conventionally techniques, when an ADU is arranged at a lateral side of the apparatus main body and a jam accident arises, the ADU is turned around the lower end thereof that operates as fulcrum and then the lateral side of the apparatus main body is opened to dissolve the jam. For example Jpn. Pat. Publication (Kokai) No. 2005-115218, Jpn. Pat. Publication (Kokai) No. 2005-31353 and Jpn. Pat. Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-2330 discloses such techniques.
In some image forming apparatus technology in recent years, the lateral side of the apparatus main body where an ADU is arranged provides an access point for not only dissolve the jam but also maintenance the units in the apparatus main body.
However, in such conventional apparatus, the angle by which the ADU can be turned relative to the apparatus main body is limited to such an extent that the inside of the apparatus main body can be accessed only for dissolving the jam. In this reason, the ADU has to be removed from the apparatus main body when the lateral side of the apparatus main body needs to be opened wide for the purpose of maintenance the units in the inside of the apparatus main body, thus the workability of maintenance could have been went down. In this reason, the ADU and the apparatus main body are linked to each other by wires for driving the sheet feeding rollers and other components. Then, it is a cumbersome operation to find an appropriate location for temporarily put the ADU. Additionally, the wires connecting the apparatus main body and the ADU may be subjected to an undesired load.
Therefore, it is desired for image forming apparatus equipped with an ADU that is arranged at a lateral side of the apparatus main body that the ADU can be turned at a large angle relative to the lateral side of the apparatus main body to improve the maintenance efficiency.

Image forming apparatus and opening/closing method of re-conveyance mechanism


An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a method and system for isolating dropped packets in a computer network. A request for network analysis that includes a source node and a destination node is received by the invention. A map of the expected path between the two points, including the probes along the route is then generated. A capture filter profile for each probe along the route is created. A request to perform data collection is transmitted, along with the capture filter profile, to each of the probes along the route. Data is received back from the data collection in the form of a data log. Exception data is generated by comparing the data log to the expected path between the two points. Additional embodiments include a system and storage medium for isolating dropped packets in a computer network.

The ability to rapidly identify and fix transmission errors in network systems has become increasingly important as more businesses have come to rely on applications and data that span multiple networks. Transmission packets in a computer network can be dropped at multiple points in the network resulting in applications that do not respond, experience poor performance as a result of packet retransmits, or behave unexpectedly. Dropped packets can be caused by a failing router or communication controller hardware, as well as by software defects. Isolating dropped packets requires traces to be gathered at multiple points in a network. Once collected, these traces must be correlated and analyzed by multiple experts as dictated by virtue of the various computing and network environments involved. This correlation and analysis process is manual and time consuming, which can result in long and costly problem isolation scenarios.
For example, a mainframe application may not be responding due to a partner application that did not respond, resulting in packets that did not reach their destination. To determine why and where packets were lost, traces would need to be collected on the mainframe, on transactions leaving the mainframe, at retransmission points, and at the target destination. Multiple experts would be required to analyze the packet traces and determine at which point packets were dropped. In another example, a mainframe application, using a mainframe operating system (e.g. OS/390) may stop functioning while communicating with an engineering workstation (e.g. RS/6000) application. Here, the packet flow could include going from the mainframe to a controller (e.g. 3174) then over a token ring LAN (local area network) to reach the engineering workstation. The network protocol could be any one known in the art including SNA (System Network Architecture) and IP (Internet Protocol). Experts would be required on the mainframe, on the controller, on the token ring LAN, and on the engineering workstation in order to fully analyze the problem. In addition, multiple recreations of the network failure would be required to diagnose the problem.

Method and system for isolating and simulating dropped packets in a computer network

International Business Machines Corporation


A menu display apparatus includes a first display screen on which a plurality of first icons, each representing a selectable item, are sequentially disposed on a main circular arc; and a second display screen on which, of the plurality of first icons, the first icon selected by a user is moved and displayed and a plurality of second icons, each representing a selectable item belonging to the selected first icon, are displayed on the main circular arc. The first display screen and the second display screen are selectively displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to menu display apparatuses and methods for displaying, for example, a content selecting menu or a function selecting menu in an in-vehicle apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a menu display apparatus and method for allowing a user to easily and reliably select desired content by switching a display between a first display screen on which a plurality of first icons, each representing a selectable item, are sequentially disposed on a main circular arc and a second display screen on which the first icon selected by the user is moved and displayed and a plurality of second icons, each representing a selectable item belonging to the first icon selected by the user, are displayed on the main circular arc.
2. Description of the Related Art
In known personal computers, various files are managed using a hierarchical structure. By displaying various files using a hierarchical structure and by displaying pull-down menus for selecting files, a user can look at the display and select a desired file.
FIGS. 24A to 24C show examples of various files displayed using a hierarchical structure. FIG. 24A shows a displayed directory structure of an optical disk drive having a compact disk (CD) inserted therein. FIG. 24B shows a displayed directory structure of the optical disk drive having a digital versatile disk (DVD) instead of the CD inserted therein. FIG. 24C shows a displayed predetermined directory structure of a hard disk drive (HDD). In personal computers, subdirectories displayed in such a manner are sequentially opened to select a desired file.
In application programs, when a menu for opening a file is selected, a sub-window is opened by a pull-down menu, and files and folders contained in a predetermined folder are displayed in this window. A button disposed in the window is selected to switch the display to a folder contained in a higher directory. A folder displayed in this window can then be selected to switch the display to a subdirectory. In this case, the user sequentially switches the display to subdirectories to select the desired content.
Display of a content selecting menu by such a known method has practical problems.
Specifically, when selecting content, the user sequentially moves down the hierarchy in order of, for example, a music content folder, an artist name folder, and an album title folder, and the user then selects the desired content. In other words, the user sequentially narrows down the selectable music content to select the desired content.
In known display methods, it is difficult to visually represent to the user this narrowing down of selectable content. Thus, it is difficult for the user to easily and reliably select desired content.
When content is to be selected using a pull-down menu, it is necessary to display a button for switching the display. This reduces the amount of display area for displaying a content menu.

Menu display apparatus and menu display method


Testing radio equipment is described wherein an interfering signal is swept in frequency with a step size that is chosen proportional to the bandwidth of the receive channel of the radio equipment. For example, a respective frequency bandwidth (BCh) is determined of a plurality of receive channels of the radio equipment. A proportionality constant is selected for a frequency step size. For each respective receive channel, interfering radio signals are generated and the interfering radio signals are controlled to stepwise sweep in frequency outside of each respective receive channel. The stepwise sweeping of the interfering frequency is performed with a frequency step size that is a product of the respective bandwidth and the selected proportionality constant. Any spurious response is detected in the respective receive channel.

Out-of-band blocking, OOBB, is a measure of the ability of a radio device to suppress strong interferer signals outside the receive band of the device. Most radio performance requirements and specifications include OOBB requirements. Verification of these requirements is a time consuming and therefore costly process.
For a radio receiver supporting duplex communications, the selectivity (adjacent channel, in-band and out-of-band blocking) of the receive path is tested with the own transmitter at high power. The receiver path must be able to:                1. reject a strong external interferer outside the receive frequency band without receiver saturation, and        2. reject the said external interferer in the presence of another strong signal (the own transmitter) at a frequency different from the external interferer.
Firstly, the receiver may be saturated (blocked) or suffer degraded performance in the presence of a strong interferer. Secondly, intermodulation between the external interferer and other signals internal to the radio device under test, e.g. the own transmitter, may create intermodulation products that fall within the receiver channel. The intermodulation is caused by nonlinearities in the receiver (or transceiver).
FIGS. 1 and 2 depict two interferer scenarios for out-of-band blocking tests. FIG. 1 shows the external interferer at a certain frequency separation, Fseparation, from the receive channel (cross-hatched area) assigned in a certain operating band (un-hatched area). The receiver must be able to withstand a larger interferer power as the frequency separation to the receive channel increases; a measure of the receiver selectivity.
FIG. 2 shows a scenario in which the external interferer and the own transmitter (striped area) generate an intermodulation product (solid black area) that falls within the receiver channel. Then a spurious response is generated. As the skilled person will realize, a spurious response is a measure of the receiver's ability to receive a wanted signal on its assigned channel frequency without exceeding a given degradation due to the presence of an unwanted continuous wave, CW, interfering signal at any other frequency at which a response is obtained, i.e. for which a specified out of band blocking limit is not met.
In this case, this occurs when the separation between the external interferer and the own transmitter is equal to the frequency separation between the own transmitter and receiver: FDuplex (a so called double-duplex interferer). The magnitude of the intermodulation product generating the spurious response depends on the power levels of the external interference and the own transmitter.
An out-of-band blocking (selectivity) test is carried out with the own transmitter at a specified power, typically close to the maximum output power of the radio device tested, and a given wanted signal level close to the minimum power level of the receiver. This means that a larger external interferer power can be tolerated when (a) spurious responses are not generated and when (b) the frequency separation between the external interferer and the receive channel increases. FIG. 3 shows a case where a spurious response is not generated: the receiver can then tolerate a higher external interference power since the wanted signal is not degraded by the intermodulation product.
Spurious responses can also be generated by intermodulation with other internal signals such as harmonics of the local oscillator. During a selectivity test, it is important that the external interference is swept in frequency over a large range, typically from the order of 20 kHz to 10 GHz for commercial radio equipment. The spurious responses generated by various internal signals should be covered. In practice the interferer is stepped in frequency to cover the frequency range, and the test time required is essentially inversely proportional to the step size.
The test time due to capture spurious response and a large frequency range is very long given typical step sizes used. This is exacerbated if the radio device supports features like carrier aggregation (for the air interface of universal terrestrial radio access, UTRA, systems and evolved universal terrestrial radio access, E-UTRA, systems) when several combinations of transmitter- and receive channels must be tested (performed in sequence). For example, when testing E-UTRA (long term evolution, LTE) radio equipment, the step size currently is 1 MHz and the out-of-band blocking tests requires around 8 hours for completion.


A composition and a method of treating a subject with respect to a pathological condition comprised by the subject. The composition comprises a sulfated saccharide conjugated to a polymer. The method comprises administering to the subject a composition comprising a sulfated saccharide conjugated to a polymer or a sulfated saccharide. The sulfated saccharide has a molecular weight less than 5000 Dalton.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to compositions and methods for treatment of wound healing, occlusive peripheral vascular, carotid, coronary disease, neuroprotection, nerve regeneration in spinal cord injury, stroke, Alzheimer, and in diabetic neuropathy are disclosed.
2. Related Art
It is estimated that five million people are afflicted with chronic stable angina in the United States. Each year 200,000 people under the age of 65 die with what is termed "premature ischemic heart disease." Despite medical therapy, many go on to suffer myocardial infarction and debilitating symptoms prompting the need for revascularization with either percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery. Medical researchers have postulated that one way of relieving myocardial ischemia would be to enhance coronary collateral circulation.
Fujita et. al. (Fujita et al., Am. Heart Journal., 122:453 (1991), Fujita et al., Int. J. Cardiol., 40:51 (1993) demonstrated that standard heparin in combination with short-term exercise training improved exercise tolerance as measured by dynamic exercise testing. The researchers, believing this effect was mediated through increased collateral vascular development, examined the effects of heparin in combination with a brief concomitant exercise training protocol on coronary collateral flow. Thallium-201 myocardial perfusion images were obtained in association with the same workload both before and late after combined heparin exercise treatment, which indicated that coronary collateral circulation was enhanced. Such dramatic changes over a short term do not occur naturally, and suggest that angiogenesis has taken place.
Correlations have now been made between the anatomic appearance of coronary collateral vessels ("collaterals") visualized at the time of intracoronary thrombolitic therapy during the acute phase of myocardial infarction and the creatine kinase time-activity curve, infarct size, and aneurysm formation. These studies demonstrate a protective role of collaterals in hearts with coronary obstructive disease, showing smaller infarcts, less aneurysm formation, and improved ventricular function compared with patients in whom collaterals were not visualized.
When the cardiac myocyte is rendered ischemic, collaterals develop actively by growth with DNA replication and mitosis of endothelial and smooth muscle cells. One hypothesis suggests that heparin-binding growth factors are present in the heart, or that biological activity is quiescent under normal physiological conditions. Once ischemia develops, these factors are activated and become available for receptor occupation, which may initiate angiogenesis after exposure to exogenous heparin. Unfortunately, the "natural" process by which angiogenesis occurs is inadequate to reverse the ischemia in almost all patients with coronary artery disease.
During ischemia, adenosine is released through the breakdown of ATP. Adenosine participates in many cardio-protective biological events. Adenosine has a role in hemodynamic changes such as bradycardia and vasodilation, and adenosine has been suggested to have a role in such unrelated phenomena as preconditioning and possibly the reduction in reperfusion injury (Ely and Beme, Circulation, 85: 893 (1992).
Intrinsic adenosine may facilitate the coronary flow response to increased myocardial oxygen demands and so modulate the coronary flow reserve. Ethier et. al. (Am. J. Physiol., H131 (1993) demonstrated that the addition of physiological concentrations of adenosine to human umbilical vein endothelial cell cultures stimulates proliferation, possibly via a surface receptor. They suggested that adenosine may be a factor for human endothelial cell growth and possibly angiogenesis. Angiogenesis appears to be protective for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), but the rate at which blood vessels grow naturally is inadequate to reverse the disease. Thus, strategies to enhance and accelerate the body's natural angiogenesis potential should be beneficial in patients with CAD.
There remains a need for an effective therapy for promotion of angiogenesis and neurogenesis with minimum side effects. Such a therapy would be particularly useful for patients who have myocardial infarctions and could be used prophylactically in patients who have poor coronary circulation, which places them at high risk of ischemia and myocardial infarctions.
During the past decade, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been widely investigated, and reported to have pleiotropic functions in the central nervous system (CNS) and its supporting physiological environment. VEGF is involved in not only such well-known functions as angiogenesis, accentuation of vessel permeability, and glial proliferation, but also more recently acknowledged functions such as neuroprotection and even neurogenesis itself. Most recently, the neurogenesis function has attracted much attention, and a number of research groups have taken up the challenge of elucidating this activity. In keeping with this trend, our knowledge of VEGF receptors has increased, and certain suggestions concerning the mechanisms of neuroprotection have come to light in the course of the ongoing work, though at times what the researchers had to work with was only a tiny percent of the signal transduction of VEGF. Together with flt-1 (VEGF receptor 1) and flk-1 (VEGF receptor 2), neuropilin (NP) is frequently described as being involved in the neuroprotective effects of VEGF. In this review, both the direct and indirect neuroprotective effects of VEGF, including various signaling pathways as well as the neurogenesis induced by this factor, are discussed in the context of the newly emerging insights into the biological mechanisms of VEGF and closely related, interacting molecules (Yasuhara T, et al: Rev Neurosci. 2004; 15(4):293-307).
Degeneration of brain tissue following stroke leads to functional impairment with limited brain self-repair. New evidence suggests that delivery of circulating CD34(+) human umbilical cord blood cells can produce functional recovery in an animal stroke model with concurrent angiogenesis and neurogenesis leading to some restoration of cortical tissue (Peterson D A: J Clin Invest. 2004; 114(3):312-314).

Composition and method for treating occlusive vascular diseases, nerve regeneration, and wound healing


On a silicon layer of an SOI wafer is defined a semiconductor device-forming region to form semiconductor devices thereon and an insulating region to electrically insulate the semiconductor device-forming region. Then, a mask layer is formed of nitride by means of photolithography so as to cover the semiconductor device-forming region. Then, an impurities-removing layer is formed by means of well known technique so as to cover the mask layer and embed the gaps between the adjacent masks of the mask layer. The impurities of the silicon layer of the SOI wafer are absorbed and removed by the distorted layer, the grain boundaries and the lattice defects of the impurities-removing layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for removing impurities of a semiconductor wafer such as a silicon wafer or a SOI wafer, and to a semiconductor wafer assembly which is made during the removing process of the impurities of the semiconductor wafer. This invention also relates to a semiconductor device utilizing the semiconductor wafer cleaned in impurities by the above removing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device made of a semiconductor wafer and various semiconductor components formed on the semiconductor wafer, it was important problem to remove heavy metal impurities of a semiconductor device during the fabricating process because the performance of the semiconductor device is deteriorated if the heavy metal impurities are incorporated in the semiconductor device even in minute amount.
If the heavy metal impurities are incorporated in the semiconductor device to deteriorate the performance thereof, the product yield of IC circuit or LSI circuit composed of many integrated semiconductor devices is decreased conspicuously and thus, the IC circuits or the LSI circuits can not be fabricated profitably.
With the semiconductor device, the fundamental performance depends on the condition of p-n junction thereof. For example, with the I–V characteristic of the semiconductor device, as illustrated in the solid line of FIG. 1, when positive voltage is applied to the p-n junction, the current "I" is increased remarkably, and when negative voltage is applied to the p-n junction, the current I becomes very small up to almost zero. The illustrated characteristic is generally called as a "rectification of p-n junction".
If there is a small amount of harmful heavy metal impurity in the vicinity of the p-n junction of the semiconductor device, as illustrated in the broken line of FIG. 1, when negative voltage is applied to the p-n junction, the current I is increased inversely (that is, a negative current is generated). The negative current is originated from a leak current in the p-n junction due to the heavy metal impurities. If the leak current is increased, the normal rectification of the p-n junction can not be realized, so that semiconductor devices with such p-n junctions as mentioned above are ranked as defective ones.
In order not to deteriorate the fundamental performance of the semiconductor device, it is required to remove the heavy metal impurities from a surface of a semiconductor wafer constructing the semiconductor device before the fabricating process of the semiconductor device or during the fabricating process. The removing operation of heavy metal impurity is called as a "Gettering treatment".
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a polycrystalline silicon film 5 is formed on the rear surface of a semiconductor wafer 3 so that harmful impurities of the surface region 6 on which semiconductor devices are fabricated are removed by the polycrystalline silicon film 5 and the nearby silicon layer. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, minute defects 8 such as precipitated oxides and the related products are created so that the heavy metal impurities are absorbed by the minute defects 8. The latter operation is called as an "Intrinsic Gettering treatment".
The above-mentioned conventional removing methods illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 are available in a conventional semiconductor wafer fabricating process and a conventional semiconductor device fabricating process utilizing the semiconductor wafer.
With a recent state-of-the-art LSI device, a SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) wafer is practically employed as a semiconductor wafer so as to realize the high density integration, high speed and low electric power consumption performance thereof. As illustrated partially in FIG. 4, the SOI wafer is a wafer 13 made of a silicon substrate 10 and a thin silicon layer 12 with a thickness of 1 μm or below formed on the silicon substrate 10 via an insulator 11. Various semiconductor components are provided on the thin silicon layer 12 to fabricate the intended semiconductor device. Since the insulator 11 is generally made of oxide and embedded in the wafer, it is called a "BOX (Buried Oxide) layer".
With the SOI wafer with the BOX layer, it is difficult to remove the harmful heavy metal impurities of the thin silicon layer 12 due to the BOX layer 11 because the diffusion velocities of the heavy metal impurities such as iron and nickel in an oxide film are very small and thus, the heavy metal impurities can not be removed through the BOX layer as an oxide layer by the Gettering treatment. Next, the impediment process of the BOX layer will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, when a polycrystalline silicon film 15 is formed on the rear surface of a semiconductor wafer 14 or minute defects 21 are created to remove the heavy metal impurities of the surface regions of SOI silicon layers 17 and 22, the heavy metal impurities can not be passed through the BOX layers 18 and 23. Therefore, the heavy metal impurities can not be removed by the polycrystalline silicon layer 15 or the minute defects 21 on the conventional removing technique.

Method for removing impurities of a semiconductor wafer, semiconductor wafer assembly, and semiconductor device

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science


An image recorder for converting input bilevel image data to multilevel data, executing various kinds of image processing with the mutlilevel data, and then recording the processed multilevel data. The image recorder converts input bilevel image data to M-level data (M being equal to or greater than 2), then requantized to N-level data, and then fed to a printer capable of recording data in three or more levels. The bilevel-to-multilevel conversion is effected in matching relation to the pattern of the input bilevel data. A plurality of bilevel-to-multilevel conversion means of different kinds are provided. The bilevel-to-multilevel conversion system is changed on the basis of the kind of input bilevel data. The M-level data is subjected to edge enhancement, magnification change, and gamma correction. Color image data produced by color separation are processed color by color and then fed to a printer.

The present invention relates to a digital image recorder and a digital color image recorder capable of handling halftone and, more particularly, to an image recorder of type converting input bilevel image data to multilevel data, executing various kinds of image processing with the multilevel data, and then recording the processed data.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 126778/1989 discloses an image processor including binarizing means for transforming multilevel image data to bilevel data while preserving the densities of the multilevel data. The bilevel data from the binarizing means is written to store means. Quantizing means converts the bilevel data read out of the store means to multilevel data while reproducing the densities. Converting means executes enlargement or reduction with the multilevel data from the quantizing means. Switching means switches the input of the binarizing means to multilevel data from the outside or to the multilevel data from the converting means. The binarizing means is implemented with an error scattering method. When a printer is capable of recording each color in two levels, only eight colors can be rendered.
The problem with the above-described image processor is that since the binarizing means binarizes image data in such a manner as to preserve densities, it is not practicable with bilevel image data generated by ordinary binarizing methods or character pattern data which are originally bilevel or, if practicable, would degrade the image quality. The conventional image processor, which uses a bilevel printer, is not applicable to a printer operable in three or more levels and, therefore, needs the previously mentioned store means or image memory. The quantizing means or bilevel-to-multilevel converting means simply produces a mean value of the densities of a 3.times.3 pixel area and does not reproduce original multilevel data faithfully. Moreover, such quantizing means reduces resolution. In addition, the simple mean value of the 3.times.3 pixel area results in only zero to nine levels, i.e., ten levels in total.

Apparatus for converting and processing input bi-level image data and faithfully rendering tones, colors, and edges


Methods and devices useful in stage cementing operations are provided. One example of an apparatus may comprise a catcher tube assembly and a deformable device. One example of a method is a method of stage cementing a casing string comprising: positioning a catcher tube on top of a float collar; pumping a first fluid through the casing string; placing a first deformable device in the casing string; and pumping a second fluid through the casing string, thereby causing the first deformable device to translate downward in the casing string and into the catcher tube.

The present disclosure generally relates to subterranean cementing operations. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to cementing plugs in stage cementing operations and associated methods of use.
During the drilling and construction of subterranean wells, casing strings are generally introduced into the well bore. To stabilize the casing, a cement slurry is often pumped downwardly through the casing, and then upwardly into the annulus between the casing and the walls of the well bore. One concern in this process is that, prior to the introduction of the cement slurry into the casing, the casing generally contains a drilling or some other servicing fluid that may contaminate the cement slurry. To prevent this contamination, a subterranean plug, often referred to as a cementing plug or a "bottom" plug, may be placed into the casing ahead of the cement slurry as a boundary between the two. The plug may perform other functions as well, such as wiping fluid from the inner surface of the casing as it travels through the casing, which may further reduce the risk of contamination.
Similarly, after the desired quantity of cement slurry is placed into the casing, a displacement fluid is commonly used to force the cement into the desired location. To prevent contamination of the cement slurry by the displacement fluid, a "top" cementing plug may be introduced at the interface between the cement slurry and the displacement fluid. This top plug also wipes cement slurry from the inner surfaces of the casing as the displacement fluid is pumped downwardly into the casing. Sometimes a third subterranean plug may be used, to perform functions such as preliminarily calibrating the internal volume of the casing to determine the amount of displacement fluid required, for example, or to separate a second fluid ahead of the cement slurry (e.g., where a preceding plug may separate a drilling mud from a cement spacer fluid, the third plug may be used to separate the cement spacer fluid from the cement slurry), for instance.
In some circumstances, a pipe string will be placed within the well bore by a process comprising the attachment of the pipe string to a tool (often referred to as a "casing hanger and run-in tool" or a "work string") which may be manipulated within the well bore to suspend the pipe string in a desired sub surface location. In addition to the pipe string, a sub-surface release cementing plug system comprising a plurality of cementing plugs may also be attached to the casing hanger and run-in tool. Such cementing plugs may be selectively released from the run-in tool at desired times during the cementing process. Additionally, a check valve, typically called a float valve, will be installed near the bottom of the pipe string. The float valve may permit the flow of fluids through the bottom of the pipe string into the annulus, but not the reverse. A cementing plug will not pass through the float valve.
When a first cementing plug (often called a "bottom plug") is deployed from a sub-surface release cementing plug system and arrives at the float valve, fluid flow through the float valve is stopped. Continued pumping results in a pressure increase in the fluids in the pipe string, which indicates that the leading edge of the cement composition has reached the float valve. Operations personnel then increase the pump pressure to rupture a frangible device, within the bottom plug. Said frangible device may be in the form of a pressure sensitive disc, rupturable elastomeric diaphragm, or detachable plug (stopper) portion which may or may not remain contained within the bottom plug. After the frangible device has ruptured, the cement composition flows through the bottom plug, float valve and into the annulus. When the top plug contacts the bottom plug which had previously contacted the float valve, fluid flow is again interrupted, and the resulting pressure increase indicates that all of the cement composition has passed through the float valve.
Conventional cementing plugs are formed with wiper fins on their exterior surface, which function to wipe the pipe string as they travel downhole. Conventional cementing plugs used to wipe large diameter casing strings (18⅝ and larger) are by their very nature expensive to make, both heavy and bulky to handle, and require additional time to drill out due to the sheer volume of drillable materials to be removed. Under some conditions it may be advantageous to the well operator to run casing strings consisting of two or more pipe sizes, with the larger pipe size being at the shallowest depth and progressively tapering to the minimum pipe size. These casing configurations are typically known as "tapered strings" and require specially designed cementing plugs to wipe the different pipe diameters involved. Conventional cementing plugs are thus, fairly complex devices that are relatively time-consuming and as a result, expensive to manufacture, difficult to use, and are more costly to drill out due to the increased plug length and/or material content.
In addition, cementing plugs may be required to pass through internal restrictions designed into special tools which may be incorporated into the pipe string, such as the seats in a plug operated multiple stage cementing device. The specially designed cementing plugs required to pass through these types of internal restrictions must both effectively wipe the casing internal diameter and pass through the internal restrictions with minimal pressure increase to avoid prematurely activating the tool. In these instances, it is generally impossible to place the special devices in tapered strings unless the device is located in the largest pipe size due to the increased pressure that would otherwise be required to force the mass of the larger wiper segments through the restrictions.
With the increased sophistication of cementing operations, different types of fluids may need to be displaced through the casing. To prevent contamination and or intermixing of the fluids, multiple cementing plugs or bottom plugs may be advantageous. In these operations, plugs, particularly floppy wiper plugs or darts may be used. As such, there is an increased risk of plugs wedging beside each other, which may increase circulation pressures significantly or could potentially bridge the casing against further fluid displacement.

Multiple bottom plugs for cementing operations


An interferometer comprises a delay element and a phase shift element. The delay element delays an optical DQPSK signal by one-symbol time. The phase shift element shifts the optical DQPSK signal by π/8. A pair of photodiodes converts each of a pair of optical signals output from the interferometer into an electric signal. A photodetector circuit converts differential current obtained by a pair of the photodiodes into voltage and outputs as a detection signal. A first decision circuit outputs one-bit information based on the voltage of the detection signal. A second decision circuit outputs one-bit information based on a squared value of the voltage of the detection signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical receiver for receiving an optical signal modulated by M-ary (M≧4) DPSK, and specifically relates to an optical DQPSK receiver apparatus for receiving an optical signal modulated by DQPSK. The present invention is applicable to optical communications, optical signal processing, and optical measurements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Phase modulation has been in practical use as one of technologies to transmit signals in optical transmission systems. In the phase modulation, data is transmitted by shifting a phase of carrier wave in accordance with transmission data. For example, in Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), respective "θ", "θ+π/2", "θ+π", or "θ+3π/2" is assigned to each of the corresponding symbol "00", "01", "11" or "10" comprised by 2-bit data. Here, "θ" is an arbitrary phase. The receiver equipment recovers transmitted data by detecting the phase of the received signal.
Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DQPSK) is known as a technology to improve receiver sensitivity of a QPSK receiver. In DQPSK, the amount of change in the phase of a carrier wave between two consecutive symbols ("0", "π/2", "π", or "3π/2") is associated with the 2-bit transmission information. Therefore, the receiver equipment can recover transmission data by detecting the phase difference between the adjacent two symbols. By the DQPSK modulation, increase in transmission speed and/or improvement of optical S/N ratio, which is deteriorated due to the increase in speed in the transmission path, can be achieved.
FIG. 1 is a diagram describing the configuration of an existing optical DQPSK receiver apparatus. An optical DQPSK receiver apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a pair of interferometers 1001 and 1002, and an optical DQPSK signal is split by an optical splitter and guided to a pair of the interferometers 1001 and 1002. A one-symbol delay element is provided to one arm of the interferometer 1001, and a π/4 phase shift element is provided to the other arm. A one-symbol delay element is provided to one arm of the interferometer 1002, and −π/4 phase shift element is provided to the other arm. A photo detector circuit 1003 comprises a pair of photodiodes 1003a and 1003b connected in series with each other. A photo detector circuit 1004 comprises a pair of photodiodes 1004a and 1004b connected in series with each other. A pair of optical signals output from the interferometer 1001 is guided to the photodiodes 1003a and 1003b, and a pair of optical signals output from the interferometer 1002 is guided to the photodiodes 1004a and 1004b. Note that "to connect in series" refers to the state of a pair of two photodiodes connected in series when the two diodes are modeled as current sources.
Each of the photo detector circuits 1003 and 1004 outputs a difference in current generated by each of a pair of photodiodes (differential signals). The differential signals generated by the photo detector circuits 1003 and 1004 are amplified by each of preamplifiers 1005 and 1006, and are transmitted to a signal process circuit, not shown in the drawing. The signal process circuit recovers 2-bit data from these differential signals.
FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining operations of the optical DQPSK receiver apparatus shown in FIG. 1. In DQPSK, the phase difference between adjacent symbols is "0", "π/2", "π", or "3π/2". Thus, the phase difference between a pair of optical signals interfering each other in the interferometer 1001 is "π/4", "3π/4", "5π/4", or "7π/4". The phase difference between a pair of optical signals interfering each other in the interferometer 1002 is "7π/4", "π/4", "3π/4", or "5π/4". If the phase differences in the optical signals interfering with each other in the interferometers 1001 and 1002 are defined "Δφa" and "Δφb", respectively, the current generated by each photodiode is as shown in FIG. 2. In other words, if the phase difference between adjacent symbols is "0", for example, the current generated by the photodiode 1003a is "0.15". Note that the current value shown in FIG. 2 is normalized.
Each of the photo detector circuits 1003 and 1004 outputs signal representing the difference between the current generated by a pair of photodiodes. As a result, the output levels of the photo detector circuits 1003 and 1004 becomes "0.7" or "−0.7" in accordance with the phase difference between symbols adjacent to each other. Therefore, by using "threshold=0", 2-bit data corresponding to the phase difference between the symbols can be obtained. In the example of FIG. 2, for example, when the phase difference between symbols is "π/2", the output levels of the photo detector circuits 1003 and 1004 are "−0.7(<0)" and "0.7(>0)", and therefore, "0" and "1" are obtained.
The configuration and the operation of the optical DQPSK receiver apparatus are described in detail in Patent Document 1 (Published Japanese Translation of PCT patent application No. 2004-516743) and Patent Document 2 (WO 03/063515A2), for example.
In the conventional optical DQPSK receiver apparatus shown in FIG. 1, when the amount of phase shift of the phase shift element in an interferometer deviates, reception quality is degraded. For that reason, it is necessary to accurately adjust the amount of phase shift of the phase shift element all the time. However, because the amount of phase shift of the phase shift element changes due to the thermal change and aging degradation etc., the control of the amount of phase shift is complicated.
There is a requirement to reduce the size of the optical DQPSK receiver apparatus. In order to meet the requirement, it is necessary to reduce the number of the parts constituting the optical circuit (mainly interferometers and photo detector circuits).
In addition, when the optical DQPSK receiver apparatus receives high-speed data of several ten Gbps, the frequency characteristics of the photodiode constituting the photo detector circuits 1003 and 1004 have to be superior. However, such a high-speed photodiode is very expensive in general. In other words, if the number of photodiode constituting the photo detector circuit can be reduced, it is possible to keep the cost of the optical DQPSK receiver apparatus low.


The present invention relates to a self-powered, footwear sanitizing system configured to substantially neutralize biological contaminants on the soles of shoes when a wearer of the shoes steps onto the system, the system has a method to generate sanitizing radiation of 254 nm (UVC), a means for delivering sanitizing radiation from the mat to the underside of a wearer's shoes and a piezo-electric or mechano-luminescence generator to power the system.

The embodiments herein relate generally to floor mats. More specifically, embodiments of the invention are directed at a self-powered footwear sanitizing system that substantially neutralizes biological contaminants on the soles of the user's footwear.
A standard of today's society is covering our feet for comfort and protection from items that can cause potential foot injury. The constant use of footwear has also resulted in the footwear coming into contact with biological contaminants found on any public or private area where walking occurs. These biological contaminants are then spread to other locations including the home, schools, stores, etc. which can ultimately infect someone else.
To address the issue of the spread of biological contaminants from footwear, efforts to sanitize footwear prior to an individual entering an establishment or residence have been undertaken. In many cases, these efforts have resulted in large stationary devices that require the user to remove their footwear and place the footwear inside the device for a period of time. Sanitation is done by exposing the contaminants to ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light disrupts the DNA of the biological contaminants making them unable to perform vital cellular functions. To power the ultraviolet lights, these devices require a connection to an external power source; making placement of the device accessibility to potential user's a concern. Alternative devices may use a battery to generate the power required for sanitation. Batteries, however will run out of charge, need to be replaced after time and cause excess waste.
As a result of size limitations, lack of user-friendliness and disposing of batteries that are harmful to the environment, these devices have not been incorporated into the everyday use of the walking/footwear routine. Therefore, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a portable self-powering sanitizing device that has an internal power generator that can sanitize footwear and reduce waste.
The present invention relates to a self-powered, footwear sanitizing system, configured to substantially neutralize biological contaminants on the soles, hooves, paws, or any object. When a wearer of shoes steps on or someone places an object onto the system, the system has a mat configured to support a wearer of shoes that steps onto the mat or an object placed on it. The system has a means for delivering the sanitizing radiation to the mat and to the underside of the wearer's shoes and a generator configured to power the delivering means when a wearer steps onto the mat.

Self-powered footwear, sanitizing system


The method and apparatus feature detecting an interrupt service request; storing into an instruction cache interrupt service instructions in response to detecting the interrupt service request; and fetching instructions from the instruction cache into an instruction stream sequence, the instruction stream sequence including mainline program instructions and the interrupt service instructions resulting in allocating core processor bandwidth between the interrupt servicing and mainline program instructions while executing the instruction stream sequence based on an interrupt priority; and processing instructions within the instruction stream sequence including the mainline program instructions and the inserted interrupt servicing instructions. The method and apparatus further feature recycling of executed micro-ops and detecting imminent context switch for interrupt service instruction preparation.

Interrupts are increasingly irregular inputs to a digital processor that cause high-overhead context switches whereby the processor halts its current program execution, saves its current context or status, services the interrupt, restores the interrupted context or status and resumes execution of the interrupted program. Examples of interrupts are input/output events that are not within the control of the digital processor to predict or to handle as anything other than an exception. Such exception handling is referred to in the computer world as a context switch. A context switch carries with it an especially high overhead in modern processors, which are equipped with instruction pre-fetch queues and look-ahead logic and instruction pipelines and caches that permit high speed computation. Intermediate results of processor operations must be discarded, e.g. by flushing the instruction pre-fetch cache, and much time is wasted in traditional response to an interrupt. Because interrupt processing is controlled by the digital processor hardware, its priority in time is secondary to the regular, streamlined code and data processing performed by the processor.
The trend is toward increased speed and functionality in computers such as personal computers (PCs), workstations, network servers and the like. But part of the increased speed and functionality is an increase in input/output (I/O) bandwidth and variety. Inputs to computers include keyboards, mouses, joysticks, video cards, musical instrument digital interfaces (MIDIs), compact disc read-only memory devices (CD-ROMs), small computer systems interface (SCSIs), disc drives, zip drives, fax-modems, e-mail and Internet downloads. All such inputs generate hardware interrupts to the processor. All such interrupts to a conventional processor requires a context switch in which the processor halts its current instruction flow, flushes the intermediate results of instruction pre-fetched macro-code execution, saves its address counters and status registers, and performs a branch to unrelated interrupt service routine code. After each hardware interrupt, the processor restores its status registers and address counters and resumes what it was doing. Such hardware interrupts are many—a busy mouse may generate hundreds of interrupts per second. Disc drives and video cards may generate thousands of interrupts per second, each. A single Internet application, while running on your personal computer, may generate tens of thousands of interrupts per second. The context switching overhead adversely impacts the performance of conventional processors each and every time one of these hardware interrupts occurs.
A video card generates a relatively low volume of interrupts at fairly regular intervals, e.g. when the video cache expires. A mouse or a joystick generates a high volume of interrupts at fairly regular intervals, at least while the mouse or joystick is in use. A disc drive generates a relatively high volume of interrupts at irregular intervals. A modem that is being used in a network application similarly generates a relatively high volume of interrupts, also at irregular intervals. Because many network applications such as downloading files or page swapping are themselves disc-intensive, the pace of hardware interrupts from disc drives and modems in network applications are the most difficult to predict. Accordingly, network applications represent a significant challenge in the design of computers that are flexible and responsive to hardware interrupt servicing.

Allocation of processor bandwidth between main program and interrupt service instruction based on interrupt priority and retiring micro-ops to cache


The present invention relates to a pressure sensor module for use in catheters having a pressure sensor operable to provide a signal representative of pressure. The pressure sensor includes a sensing side and a pressure reference side. At least one signal transmission media is coupled to the sensor for transmitting the signal representative of pressure. A convex-shaped carrier is provided having a slot formed to expose the sensing side of the sensor. The convex-shaped carrier is adapted for receiving the sensor such that the sensing side of the sensor is adjacent the slot. A bonding material is provided for mounting the sensor to the carrier. The pressure sensing module provides ease of installation and manufacture because the module may easily be bonded and installed within a catheter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure sensing module for use in catheters. More specifically, the present invention relates to a pressure sensing module that lends itself to easy installation and replacement, and provides a very low profile device for installation in a catheter.
2. Related Art
Catheter pressure transducers are long slender flexible tubular catheters with one or more pressure sensors mounted along the length of the catheter. These devices are used for making direct pressure measurements at various locations within a human or animal body by insertion through body orifices or through surgical incisions. The catheter pressure transducer may also be inserted through other catheters previously positioned within the body. These catheters include high fidelity pressure sensors for measuring pressure and pressure gradients. For example, catheter pressure transducers may be used in the various chambers of the heart and throughout the cardiovascular system. These catheters have also been used for measuring peristaltic activity in the intestines, pressure gradients in the urinary tract, rectal pressures, esophageal pressures, and intracranial pressures.
Present catheter pressure sensors typically take the form of photoelectric-type sensors, resistive-type sensors, or capacitive-type sensors. In the case of photoelectric-type transducers, light fibers pass the pressure signals from the sensor through the length of the catheter to a measurement device. Similarly, resistive-type and capacitive-type sensors use insulated electrical wires to pass pressure signals from the sensor through the catheter.
Exemplary sensors include small strain gauge-type pressure sensors that are made from a semiconductor material such as silicon. These semiconductor devices are generally shaped like a brick from which has been machined or etched a hollowed out region behind a diaphragm with diffused strain gauges for sensing the degree of diaphragm distortion under applied pressure. The sensors further include circuitry for providing electrical signals representative of the pressure sensed by the strain gauge to pads that may be connected to external devices. In operation, one side of the strain gauge diaphragm is equalized to a reference pressure, such as atmospheric pressure (the reference side), and the other side of the strain gauge diaphragm is exposed to the body tissues or fluids (sensing side). Such semiconductor strain gauge pressure sensors provide high-fidelity pressure measurements.
Traditionally, to mount the sensor within the catheter, a cavity is molded within the catheter or a premolded carrier is placed within the catheter to accept the sensor. When mounting the sensor, it is important to isolate the pressure sensor from mechanical movement and mechanical stresses that might sufficiently deform the sensor to give false pressure readings. The primary prior technique for mounting a semiconductor pressure sensor to a catheter has been to use a tubular metal casing, such as a portion of a stainless steel hypodermic needle. With this sturdy metal casing surrounding the sensor, the sensor is isolated from catheter movement sensitive only to external pressure. The proximal end of the metal casing is connected to the catheter body and is open to allow electrical connections from the catheter to reach the semiconductor pressure sensor. The proximal end is also open to allow venting of the back of the reference side of the strain gauge diaphragm to an external pressure through a lumen in the catheter body. With such prior devices, a window is generally cut into the side of the tubular metal casing. The sensing side of the strain gauge diaphragm of the sensor is left exposed through the window to applied external pressures from body fluids and tissues.
After mounting the sensor within the catheter, the wires from the sensor are bonded, either with a conductive epoxy or by soldering, to wires that have already been prepared within the catheter by an appropriate scraping or pretinning procedure. Wires within the catheter are typically 0.003″ in diameter, with wires from the sensor being typically approximately 0.001″ in diameter. These are all delicate wires to handle and to bond together. The sensor is usually attached in place with an epoxy resin or with a flexible RTV (room temperature vulcanizing silicone rubber).
When the mounting material has cured, a cleaning process is generally required to remove any flux or materials used in bonding the wires. Then, the wire connections are generally coated with an RTV or epoxy resin and the gap on the edges of the sensor between the sensor and the housing are generally sealed with an RTV. After these materials have been cured, an additional layer of epoxy and/or RTV is added to provide a smooth contour for the sensor area that will be compatible with the requirements for introduction into body vessels.
All these procedures are delicate and time-consuming and require skill, patience, and time to accomplish successfully. Because it is often difficult to apply an absolutely uniform coating of RTV, as required for consistency in pressure measurement, the results of the installation of the new sensor are not always what is required and the RTV may have to be modified or the sensor replaced again to meet stability requirements essential for good performance of a catheter pressure sensor. In addition, these installation procedures are typically performed directly within the catheter. This work is extremely delicate, time-consuming, and expensive.
In addition, prior catheter pressure transducers are either for single use, as sterile disposable items, or for multiple uses, wherein they will be cleaned and sterilized and reused for dozens and perhaps hundreds of times. Because the catheters are often very small in diameter (e.g., 0.5 turn to 3 mm), as for example when introduced into small vessels in the cardiovascular system, the pressure sensors are somewhat delicate devices and can be damaged during use.
Therefore a need exists for a device that lends itself to be easily installed during manufacture of the catheter and to be easily replaced as required. Further, a need exists for a pressure sensor that minimizes the problems and reduces the costs associated with traditional manufacturing procedures.

Pressure sensing module for a catheter pressure transducer


A method and an apparatus for bending and tempering of a glass sheet is disclosed. The means to be used in the method for supporting the glass sheet is a supporting device in two parts, wherein the first supporting device forms a substantially planar supporting surface for the margin of the glass sheet and the second supporting device forms, in a manner known as such, a supporting device for the margin of the glass sheet corresponding to the bending configuration. In the method, the first supporting device supports the glass sheet to maintain its planar configuration at the heating stage required for tempering, wherein the glass sheet is being heated to the tempering temperature. During heating, the glass sheet is further supported by a pressure difference imposed on the opposite surfaces of the glass sheet. After heating, the glass sheet is moved to the second supporting device to bend to the bending configuration determined by the second supporting device, followed by the tempering stage.

In view of the prior art reference is made to publication U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,871 disclosing a bending and tempering method, where in the glass sheet is heated in a roller furnace in which the glass sheet is transported forward on rotating ceramic rollers. When the glass sheet is heated and reaches its softening temperature, its bending downwards between the rollers is prevented by the continuous movement of the glass sheet, wherein the location of supporting points, supporting the glass sheet from below, is continuously changed. In this manner, the glass sheet remains straight.
According to the method, heating of the glass sheet is continued until the glass sheet reaches also the tempering temperature which is approximately 620.degree. C. In the next step of the method, the glass sheet is supported by rollers in the furnace apparatus at a precisely predetermined point, a vacuum mould at said point above the rollers grips the glass sheet and elevates it upwardly apart from the rollers. This step of the method requires very high precision, because the positioning of the glass sheet must be precisely determined both in view of directional displacements and rotation. Positioning errors at this step result in faulty dimensions in the finished bend and tempered glass, particularly at its margins. An excessive position error will naturally damage the whole glass. The glass sheet is elevated by the vacuum mould up from the rollers to such an extent that a bending/tempering frame can be brought under the glass sheet from outside the furnace apparatus. The glass sheet is dropped onto the bending/tempering frame from a certain height, which is usually about 30 mm. After the dropping, the glass sheet is bent by gravity into the mould shape determined by the bending/tempering frame, and it is pulled out from the furnace apparatus. In the next step, the tempering is conducted with air jets. The bending of the glass sheet is relatively quick; with the most common glass thicknesses of 3-4 mm the bending will take about 1 to 3 seconds.
The method known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,871 is advantageous in certain respects, particularly in large-scale production for manufacturing simple bent and tempered glass shapes in large series. However, the method usually involves several disadvantages, the most important of which is the requirement that the glass sheet must be precisely positioned at the elevating step, which is difficult in quick serial production and causes losses, as mentioned above. Another disadvantage is the fact that the vacuum mould must be coated with a soft, heat-resisting coating material to prevent damage to the surface of the hot glass sheet. This coating material must be replaced from time to time, which will naturally cause production losses and replacement costs. Furthermore, application of the method to screencoated glass sheets will reduce the replacement time, because the silk screen ink used will stain the coating material, thus increasing the need for a replacement. Another disadvantage is also the fact that the glass sheet must, in practice, be dropped from a height of at least 20-25 mm, which may cause deformation of the glass sheet particularly at its margins.
Further in view of the prior art, a method is known from Finnish Patent No. 86054 where the glass sheet is first bent by gravity to a desired shape, using an edge mould. Thus the temperature of the glass sheet, particularly in its central areas, is clearly below 600.degree. C. After the bending stage, the glass sheet is supported by a pressure difference effective on its opposite surfaces, wherein the pressure is higher underneath than above the glass sheet, and the temperature of the glass sheet is raised thoroughly to the tempering temperature, i.e. about 620.degree. C. After this the glass sheet is quickly removed from the furnace apparatus to the tempering step. A quick move is necessary to prevent bending of the central areas of the glass sheet before the air jets of the tempering step cool and thus stiffen this area of the glass sheet below the softening temperature, ca. 550.degree. C. The method according to the Finnish Patent No. 86054 has been proved functional in practice, but the critical step in applying the method is the fact that the glass sheet is already bent to its final configuration before final heating. After the final heating and the elimination of a pressure difference supporting the glass sheet, it must be quickly moved to the tempering step. If in the abovementioned steps, for some reason, e.g. adjustments in the temperature or delays, excessive bendings or sags develop that exceed the manufacturing tolerance, these accumulated extra bendings may have the result that the bent and tempered glass deviates too much from the allowed manufacturing tolerances and must be discarded.

Method and apparatus in bending and tempering of a glass sheet


A text analyzing method and device, and a server are provided by the present disclosure. The method includes: acquiring a target text and a first set of texts to be compared, wherein the first set of texts to be compared comprises at least one text to be compared, and each text to be compared is a search text entered by a user in one search; calculating a text similarity between the text to be compared and the target text based on a semantic similarity algorithm for short text, and determining a text to be compared with a text similarity higher than a first threshold as an object to be analyzed; and determining a target user entering the object to be analyzed; and statistically analyzing the target user based on at least one attribute of the target user, to generate and output an analyzing result of the target text respective to the target user.

At present, Internet technology has been widely used on a global scale. People are increasingly participating in various activities over Internet. Network media have also become a non-negligible emerging medium which has been paid more attention.
As compared with traditional a media such as newspaper, radio broadcast and television, network media has various features such as a low entry cost, massive scale of information, rapid information distributing and spreading, a large number of participants, and enhanced real-time interaction. Since the cost for publishing network information is extremely low, there is no clear boundary among providers, spreaders, and readers of the information. Information network has become a "virtual society" with very distinct social group characteristics. Especially when an event occurs, people will participate in discussions the event by means of news commentary, community forums, microblog or the like. Through corresponding analysis on public opinion, people's concern and other important information may be obtained.
A critical object of the analysis on the public opinion is to analyze and determine the audience of the event. An important issue to be solved urgently is how to accurately determine the audience of an event through the analysis on the massive data generated on the network.

Text analyzing method and device, server and computer-readable storage medium

Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.


In the case of a clamping element for connecting a motor shaft to a transmission via a hub (3), in particular transmission component, such as transmission drive shaft, sun wheel, clutch or the like, with at least one fixing element (7) being inserted radially in the clamping element, the fixing element (7) is at the same time to form both a tangential element for securing the clamping element (R1, R2) against rotation and an axial element for securing the clamping element (R1, R2) with respect to the hub (3).

The present invention relates to a clamping element for connecting a motor shaft to a transmission via a hub, in particular transmission component, such as transmission drive shaft, sun wheel, clutch or the like, with at least one fixing element being inserted radially in the clamping element.
Clamping elements of this type are known and customary on the market in extremely diverse forms and designs.
They are used in particular as shaft-hub connections and transmit driving torques from, for example, a motor to a transmission.
A disadvantage of the previous clamping elements is that a clamping ring frequently slips and cannot be easily fixed.
The present invention is therefore based on the object of providing a clamping element of the type mentioned at the beginning which eliminates the above-mentioned disadvantages, with which fixing is facilitated, very high fixing forces are realized and which can be connected directly into a hub.

Clamping element for connecting a motor shaft to a transmission via a hub


The present invention concerns a steering and suspension system of a vehicle and a translational ball joint for use in a steering and suspension system. The system may include a lower joint assembly that employs the translational ball joint to couple a steering knuckle to a strut extension member. The translational ball joint may include a socket having a ball stud mounted therein, with the ball stud including a ball, mounted in the cavity, and a shank, including a cylindrical portion adjacent to the second end that is slidably received in a central bore of the ball and has a retention flange extending radially outward that has a diameter that is larger than a diameter of the central bore to thereby prevent the retention flange from sliding through the central bore.

The present invention relates generally to vehicle steering and suspension systems and, in particular, to a joint for use in a strut-type vehicle steering and suspension system.
Many automotive vehicles today employ a type of front suspension commonly known as a McPherson strut suspension. This type of suspension includes a strut assembly, with an upper strut mount affixed to a vehicle frame or body and a lower end affixed to a steering knuckle. The lower end of the steering knuckle also attaches, via a conventional ball joint, to a lower control arm, which is hinged to the vehicle frame or body. While this conventional suspension works well for many vehicle applications, it creates a spindle length—the distance from the wheel center plane to steer axis along the wheel rotation axis—that is larger than desirable. The steer axis is located away from the wheel center plane due to the fact that, with this suspension, it is defined by the ball joint and upper strut mount location. This large spindle axis undesirably increases steering system loads when tractive forces (front wheel drive), road profile impact forces, or rotating assembly imbalance forces are applied. This undesirable increase in steering system loads is particularly noticeable on front wheel drive vehicles with high-powered engines. On these types of vehicles, traction steer concerns may become apparent during combined acceleration and turn events.
While a different type of suspension may be provided for such high-powered vehicles, this may require substantial changes to the vehicle's frame or body to accommodate this different suspension. The cost to make these changes on an existing vehicle may be prohibitive, leaving one only the choice of the conventional suspension. Consequently, it is desirable to improve the suspension and steering performance on vehicles where the frame or body has already been designed specifically for a McPherson strut suspension without having to substantially modify the frame or body of that vehicle, and while remaining generally within the packaging space of the conventional McPherson strut suspension. Moreover, it is desirable to provide these improvements while also assuring that the fabrication and assembly of the components is relatively straight forward and easy, and while minimizing a need for special tools during assembly.

Joint for vehicle steering and suspension system


A process for removing oil and other organics, especially naphthalenic acid, is disclosed. The process involves use of electrical fields using electrodes in the device, inducing gas bubbles which force contaminants to the surface of the solutions to be skimmed off and recovered.

The process flow to remove salts of naphthalenic acid both soluble and insoluble from aqueous solution and emulsions involves acidification and subsequent removal by a device using electromagnetic fields. The initial process stream is adjusted to pH less than 7. The pH adjusted initial process stream can optionally flow to a decanting device that separates insoluble naphthalenic acid from the remainder of the initial process stream. The process stream is then flowed to a device that causes separation or oxidation of the naphthalenic acid or its salts. The device consists of parallel plates of titanium alternating with titanium plates coated with ruthenium oxide, iridium or combinations of ruthenium oxide and iridium oxide contained in a tank. The plates when connected to direct electric current act to create electromagnetic fields which coalesce emulsion of the acid that then can be skimmed and which creates peroxides or hydroxides or other reactive oxygen species that oxidize any soluble organics.


A blow-by gas treatment device for an internal combustion engine includes: a positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) separator configured to be fastened to the internal combustion engine with a plurality of bolts; and one of a single sealant or a plurality of sealants configured to seal gas leakage of blow-by gas from a gap between the internal combustion engine and the PCV separator; wherein the plurality of bolts includes at least one break head bolt and three or more unbreakable head bolts, the unbreakable head bolt being a bolt in which a bolt head is not separated even when a fastening torque corresponding to a tightening torque applied to the break head bolt is applied to the bolt head.

There is known blow-by gas treatment for treating unburned gas (hereinafter referred to as "blow-by gas") leaked from a combustion chamber to a crankcase through gaps between cylinder inner walls and piston rings during operation of the internal combustion engine, and returning the treated gas to an intake system of the internal combustion engine. It is known that the blow-by gas treatment is implemented using an oil separator (e.g. see Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-150351).
It is known to provide a positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) separator that removes oil mist in the blow-by gas, and to fasten a fastening portion of the PCV separator to a head cover of the internal combustion engine with bolts (e.g. see Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2013-160134). In addition, it is known that a sealant having a diameter slightly larger than each of a plurality of gas holes included in the oil separator is provided only around each of the holes. It is also known that the oil separator is fixedly mounted on an engine block using the bolts (e.g. see Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2018-100608).

Blow-by gas treatment device for internal combustion engine


The present invention relates to a pulse polishing machine. In one embodiment, the machine includes a base frame having protruded vertical supports at longitudinal ends and a rotor assembly placed between the vertical supports through a drive shaft. Rotor assembly having plurality of rotary disks mounted at the ends and centre of the drive shaft and a circular cam assembly fixed on the rotary disks. Further, a sheet basket assembly having plurality of circular shaped segments surrounds the rotor assembly defines the polishing chamber. An inlet means and an outlet means are positioned on the sheet basket assembly at diagonally opposite ends. Segments of split covers are used to cover the polishing chamber from either ends. And the ends of the polishing chamber are covered by a pair of split covers. An electric motor is connected to one end of the drive shaft to impart rotary motion to the rotor assembly for polishing pulses.

Pulses/grains occupy important place in the world food and nutrition economy. Pulses are an important constituent in the diet, and are primary sources of protein. They also provide substantial quantity of minerals and vitamins to the diet. There are different varieties of pulses namely Bengal gram, Green gram, Red lentils, Black gram, Pigeon pea etc. The grains are converted into dal through the process of milling, wherein dal is split into smaller sizes rendering it convenient for cooking.
The cotyledon of dry seeds excluding seed coat is called dal. All dal are consumed with acceptable appearance, texture, palatability, digestibility, and overall nutritional quality. The polishing is one of the important value addition steps in dal processing. Polishing is done to remove dust and to improve the appearance of the dal, which helps in fetching premium price to the processor. Whole pulses such as Bengal gram, Green gram, Red lentil, Black gram, Pigeon pea etc. are polished for value adding. Some consumers prefer unpolished dal, whereas others need dal with attractive colour (polished dal). Accordingly, dal is polished in different ways such as leather (polish), nylon (polish), oil-water (polish), cotton (polish) and so on as polishing media.
Polishing is a process of removal of dust from the surface. The cylindrical roller mounted with hard rubber, leather/roller mounted with brush are used for the purpose. Another type of machinery for this purpose is a set of screw conveyors for repeated rubbings. The shaft here is covered with either a leather or nylon rope or with velvet cloth, where the repeated rubbing adds to the luster of the dal, which makes it more attractive. These polishers are commonly known as leather polisher or nylon polisher/velvet polisher depending upon the polishing material and are available in a set of 2, 3, 4 or 5 screw conveyors.
Although, available machines are effective in polishing pulses, the high friction between dal and polishing material results in wear out of polishing material rapidly. Since, polishing material like leather, hard rubber or nylon comes in direct contact with the dal, and also use of white powder on the surface of dal to increase the shine and smoothness the process is un-hygienic. Other drawback includes need of high power motor for the operation of machine and an increase of about 30° C. temperature of product as it moves from input to output during operation. Hence it is necessary to provide a machine which eliminates all the drawbacks.

Pulse polishing machine and a method thereof