A method and system for providing video content on a data network connected device having a display and a device display controller including a player. The method comprises the steps of a data network connected device, accesses a reference file including a plurality of player control parameter values and linking data for one or more content sources. Play control commands are provided to the player based on the play control parameter values. Content data is acquired by the player from one or more content sources via the data network using the linking data, and the content acquired from each source played on the display in accordance with the player control commands. The reference file may be a pre-existing reference file or a reference file created in response to a request to play the video content data. A reference file compiler is provided for generating the reference file.

It is known to provide content accessible over a network such as the Internet. A common way to access content over the Internet on a device such as a personal computer is by using a web browser and a search engine to locate desired content. Where the content is video content, such as movies or video clips, the content can be viewed using a video player application, also known as a plug-in, provided in the web browser. The play of the video content is controlled through the web site using the plug-in player. Problems with the quality of the viewing experience can include poor resolution of images or pixilation of images, jitter or halting of the moving image, such problems are often due to bandwidth limitations or processing capacity.
A known system attempts to overcome the above problems by compiling and formatting video data in a specific format for providing to users over the Internet which can be played by a special player designed to play the specific format video data files. This system has drawbacks from the user side, due to having to purchase the special player, and from the video content provider side, as it is necessary to re-format any video content for use with the player.
There is a need for a system which provides an improved internet video content access and viewing experience.


A tube-shaped electroconductive member is attached to a shielding casing from the inside of the shielding casing so as to surround an opening formed in the shielding casing, and two slits are formed in an axial direction of the tube-shaped electroconductive member so as to extend from an end position thereof far away from the opening, thereby preventing a noise component having a specific frequency emitted as radiation noise from the opening formed in the shielding casing which functions as an slot antenna.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shielding casing for preventing radiation noise radiated from a printed circuit board or a cable in an electronic product, and to an electronic product.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the increase in operating speed and the improvement in performance of electronic products, radiation noise radiated from an electronic product affects another electronic product and this becomes a problem. The influence of the radiation noise on the another electronic device is called electromagnetic interference (EMI). The radiation noise causes reception interference in wireless products and communication products and malfunctions of electronic products in typical cases. Therefore individual countries enact regulations on radiation noise from electronic products in the frequency band from 30 MHz to 1 GHz or the frequency band from 30 MHz to 2 GHz, and it is necessary for electronic product makers to design and produce products so as to meet the regulations.
There is generally used a method of covering a noise source such as a printed circuit board, a cable or a module in an electronic product with a shielding casing made of a metal, an electroconductive resin or a resin with a plating in order to reduce the above-described radiation noises and malfunctions due to external electromagnetic waves.
However, it is necessary to provide an opening in the shielding casing as shown in FIG. 10 in order to connect the printed circuit board, cable or module placed in the shielding casing to the outside of the shielding casing. That is, in an office machine such as a copying machine or a printer, an opening is required as an optical path through which an optical signal converted from image information is sent to an optical sensor such as a CCD or a CMOS sensor. An opening formed as an optical path through which an optical signal converted by a semiconductor laser is sent to a photosensitive drum is also required. In some case, an opening formed as a paper path through which a sheet of paper is passed is required. As a condition for passage of light and paper, formation of an opening having a size equal to or larger than a certain size is required.
In FIG. 10, reference numeral 1201 denotes a shielding casing, and reference numeral 1202 denotes a rectangular opening formed for passage of light or paper and having two shorter sides and two longer sides. The length of the longer sides of the opening 1202 is D1 and the length of the shorter sides is D2. Radiation noise (electromagnetic waves) radiated from a noise source such as a printed circuit board placed in the shielding casing leaks out of the shielding casing through the opening 1202. Radiation noise (electromagnetic waves) leaking out through the opening 1202 occurs at all frequencies. The radiation level at each frequency is comparatively low and is not a serious problem.
In the case where the opening 1202 is provided in the shielding casing 1201, however, a signal at a specific frequency corresponding to the shape of the opening 1202 resonates and the opening 1202 itself functions as a slot antenna. That is, radiation noise at the specific frequency is emitted out of the shielding casing 1201 through the opening 1202. Radiation noise emitted through the opening 1202 functioning as a slot antenna occurs only at the specific frequency. However, this radiation noise has a considerably high radiation level and becomes a serious problem in meeting radiation noise regulations.
The principle of functioning the opening 1202 as a slot antenna to emit a radiation noise through the opening 1202 at a specific frequency will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B. FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view of the shielding casing 1202 taken in the line 11A-11A of FIG. 10. FIG. 11B is a diagram schematically showing a state in which currents flow in an external surface of the shielding casing 1202 around the opening 1202.
As shown in FIG. 11A, radiation noise 1211 is emitted-from a noise source 1210 such as a printed circuit board. Radiation noise 1211 enters a ground current C2 flowing in an internal surface of the shielding casing 1201, and the ground current C2 becomes a current having a noise component. The ground current C2 having the noise component flows into the external surface of the shielding casing 1201 by taking a tuning path through the shielding casing opening 1202. As shown in FIG. 11B, the ground current C2 flowing into the external surface of the shielding casing 1201 flows through paths R11→R12→R13 in the external surface of the shielding casing 1201 detouring the opening 1202.
At this time, the ground current C2 causes standing waves at such a frequency that the ½ wavelength is equal to the length (D1) of the longer sides of the shielding casing 1201. Along the upper side of the shielding casing opening 1202, a standing wave having a "+" phase is generated. Along the lower side of the shielding casing opening 1202, a standing wave having a "−" phase is generated. That is, standing waves having a phase difference of π are generated close to each other between the upper and lower sides of the shielding casing opening 1202, thereby generating an electric field large in the vertical direction between the upper and lower sides. As a result, a signal having the frequency at which the ½ wavelength is equal to D1 resonates and become radiation noise, which is radiated out of the shielding casing 1201.
The noise component at a specific frequency when becomes a problem is a noise component having a frequency at which the ½ wavelength is equal to the length (D1) of each side of the opening 1201. Conventionally, the generation of radiation noise from the opening 1202 functioning as a slot antenna is prevented by setting the length (D1) of the longer sides of the opening 1202 to a value equal to or smaller than the ½ wavelength at the maximum of frequencies at which a regulation is required.
For example, when the length (D1) of the longer sides of the opening 1202 is 30 cm, radiation noise of 500 MHz at which the ½ wavelength is 30 cm is generated. Therefore, prevention of radiation noise of a frequency equal to or lower than 500 MHz requires setting the length of the longer sides of the opening 1202 to 30 cm or less.
Standing waves are generated along the shorter sides corresponding to the length (D2) of the shorter sides in the same manner as those along the longer sides to emit radiation noise. However, the frequency of radiation noise generated in association with the shorter sides is much higher than that of radiation noise generated in association with the longer sides. Therefore, not radiation noise generated in association with the shorter sides but radiation noise generated in association with the longer sides is a consideration.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-32762 discloses a structure for shielding noise in an optical system. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the structure. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 1301 denotes a shielding casing, and reference numeral 1302 denotes an opening in rectangular form for passage of light or paper having two shorter sides and two longer sides. The length of the longer sides of the opening 1302 is D1 and the length of the shorter sides is D2. A tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303 having substantially the same sectional shape as that of the opening 1302 and having a length D3 is attached inside the opening 1302. The tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303 is capable of preventing a radiation noise leaking from the interior of the shielding casing 1301 through the opening 1302 by utilizing a low-frequency-range shielding characteristic of a waveguide. That is, the radiation noise (electromagnetic waves) leaking out through the opening 1302 is reflected on an internal surface of the tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303, whereby the tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303 thus functions as a noise filter.
The principle of emission of noise in the shielding casing 1301 shown in FIG. 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B. FIG. 13A is a sectional view of the shielding casing 1302 taken in the line 13A-13A of FIG. 12. FIG. 13B is a diagram schematically showing a state in which a current flows in a tube-shaped end portion 1303a of the tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303 far away from the opening 1302 of the shielding casing 1301 shown in FIG. 12.
As shown in FIG. 13A, radiation noise 1311 is emitted from a noise source 1310 such as a printed circuit board. Radiation noise 1311 enters a ground current C3 flowing in an internal surface of the shielding casing 1301, and the ground current C3 becomes a current having a noise component. The ground current C3 having the noise component flows into an outer surface of the tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303 and reaches the tube-shaped end portion 1303a.
As shown in FIG. 13B, the ground current C3 flows through paths R21→R22→R23 in the tube-shaped end portion 1303a. At this time, a noise component of a frequency at which the ½ wavelength is equal to the length (D1) of the longer sides of the shielding casing 1201 in noise components of the ground current C3 causes standing waves corresponding to the shape of the tube-shaped end portion 1303a. Along the upper side of the tube-shaped and portion 1303a, a standing wave having a "+" phase is generated. Along the lower side of the tube-shaped end portion 1303a, a standing wave having a "−" phase is generated. That is, standing waves having a phase difference of π are generated close to each other between the upper and lower sides of the tube-shaped end portion 1303a, thereby generating a large electric field in the vertical direction between the upper and lower sides. A signal having the frequency at which the ½ wavelength is equal to D1 resonates and become radiation noise. This radiation noise passes through the tube-shaped end portion 1303 and the opening 1302 to be radiated out of the shielding casing 1201, because the tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303 has substantially no effect of preventing passage of electromagnetic waves having frequencies equal to or higher than 500 MHz.
A part of the ground current C3 reaching a tube-shaped end portion 1304 flows into the internal surface of the tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303 and into the external surface of the shielding casing 1201 by taking a roundabout path. Ground current C3′ flowing into the external surface of the shielding casing 1201 downstream of the roundabout path flows through paths R11→R12→R13 in the external surface of the shielding casing 1301 detouring the opening 1302, as does the current shown in FIG. 11B. As a result, a signal having the frequency at which the ½ wavelength is equal to D1 resonates and become radiation noise, which is radiated out of the shielding casing 1301.
However, the upper limit of frequencies under noise regulations has been increased year after year. For example, when the necessary maximum shielding frequency is 2 GHz, the corresponding wavelength is 15 cm. It is necessary to set the length (D1) of the longer sides of the opening to a value equal to or smaller than ½ of the wavelength corresponding to the necessary maximum noise shielding frequency, i.e., 7.5 cm or less in the case of the shielding casing shown in FIG. 10. It is not practical to apply this condition to the opening through which light or paper is passed in the above-described office machine, because the opening is made too small to use.
In the shielding casing disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-32762, the tube-shaped electroconductive member 1303 is attached to the opening from the inside of the shielding casing and the low-frequency-range shielding characteristic of a waveguide is utilized to prevent leakage of radiation noise through the opening 1302. The low-frequency shielding characteristic is effective in preventing radiation noise of comparatively longer wavelengths, i.e., frequencies of 500 MHz or less, and the preventing effect is considerably reduced if the frequency is increased. Therefore, substantially no preventing effect can be obtained with respect to radiation noise of 1 GHz or 2 GHz radiated from the slot antenna.

Radiation noise minimizing shielding casing


A semiconductor element is formed in a semiconductor wafer, and a groove is formed by performing half-cut dicing on the semiconductor wafer along a dicing line. A dicing region of the semiconductor wafer is irradiated with a laser beam to melt or vaporize a cutting streak formed by dicing. An adhesive tape is adhered to the semiconductor element formation surface of the semiconductor wafer, and the other side of the semiconductor element formation surface is ground to at least a depth reaching the groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device and an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a dicing step and dicing apparatus for forming semiconductor chips by dividing a semiconductor wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a dicing step in the semiconductor device manufacturing process is performed as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a semiconductor wafer 11 in which elements are formed is cut one way along dicing lines 12-1, 12-2, . . . , by using a diamond blade (rotating blade) 13. The wafer 11 is then rotated 90° and, as shown in FIG. 1C, diced again in a direction perpendicular to the former dicing direction. In this manner, the wafer 11 is divided into individual semiconductor chips 14-1, 14-2, 14-3, . . . .
The above dicing step can be performed by either a full-cut method by which the wafer 11 is completely cut, or a half-cut method by which the wafer 11 is diced to about ½ the thickness of the wafer 11 or to a depth with which the wafer 11 remains by about 30 μm.
The half-cut method requires a dividing operation after dicing; the wafer 11 is sandwiched between flexible films or the like and divided by applying an external force by rollers. When an adhesive sheet is adhered before dicing, the wafer 11 is divided via the sheet by applying an external force by rollers or the like.
In a die bonding step, each of the chips 14-1, 14-2, 14-3, . . . , of the divided wafer 11 is mounted on a lead frame. More specifically, the lower surface of the adhesive sheet of each of the chips 14-1, 14-2, 14-3, . . . , is pushed up by a pickup needle, and the needle is brought into direct contact with the back surface of each chip through the adhesive sheet. Each chip is further raised and removed from the adhesive sheet. The removed chip is conveyed as its upper surface is held by suction by a tool called a collet, and mounted on a die pad of the lead frame.
Subsequently, a wire bonding step is performed to electrically connect pads of the chips 14-1, 14-2, 14-3, . . . , to inner leads of the lead frame. When the chips are to be mounted on a TAB tape, a heated bonding tool is used to electrically connect pads of these chips to leads of the TAB tape.
After that, a packaging step is performed to encapsulate each chip in a resin or ceramic package, thereby completing a semiconductor device.
In the dicing step of the manufacturing method as described above, however, strain or chipping occurs on the side surface of each semiconductor chip owing to cutting streaks, and this lowers the bending strength of the chip. Therefore, if stress is applied which is produced by the pressure applied in the pickup step performed before the step of mounting the chip on the lead frame or TAB tape, or by the difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of the packaging material and chip, this stress concentrates to the strain or chipping, so the chip cracks from this strain or chipping.
Recently, to embed a semiconductor chip in a thin card-like package or the like, a manufacturing method is used by which when a semiconductor wafer is cut, the backside of the pattern formation surface (semiconductor element formation surface) of the wafer is thinned by grinding using a wheel or by polishing using free abrasive grains, and then the wafer is cut by dicing. Also, a technique called DBG (Dicing Before Grinding) is proposed to form thinner chips (e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. S61-112345). In this DBG, a cut (half cut) is formed to a predetermined depth from the element formation surface of a wafer, and the back surface of the wafer is ground to divide the individual chips and decrease the thickness at the same time.
By this technique, chipping on the back surface or on an edge between the side surface and back surface of a chip can be removed by polishing the back surface of a semiconductor wafer. However, strain or chipping caused by cutting streaks formed on the side surface of a semiconductor chip cannot be removed. This inevitably lowers the bending strength when the thickness of a chip is decreased. Consequently, it is impossible to completely solve the problem that semiconductor chips crack in the assembly steps or in the reliability test before they are packaged, and defective products are formed.
In recent years, therefore, a technique which cuts a semiconductor wafer by laser beam irradiation, instead of dicing using mechanical cutting as described above, is attracting attention (e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-144037). This cutting using laser beam irradiation can eliminate streaks or chipping by mechanical cutting. However, a laser beam requires high power, so the side surface of a chip is damaged or roughened by recrystallization after melting. This inevitably lowers the bending strength. Also, a material melted by laser beam irradiation scatters and contaminates the surface of a chip. Furthermore, when a semiconductor wafer is to be cut via an adhesive sheet, the wafer must be irradiated with a laser beam twice by changing the focusing position (in the direction of depth of the wafer) of the laser beam. This complicates the dicing step.

Semiconductor wafer dividing method and apparatus


Pichia methanolica cells in which an alcohol oxidase gene has been disrupted are disclosed. The cells may also be deficient in vacuolar protease activity. The cells are useful as hosts in recombinant protein production methods.

Methylotrophic yeasts are those yeasts that are able to utilize methanol as a sole source of carbon and energy. Species of yeasts that have the biochemical pathways necessary for methanol utilization are classified in four genera, Hansenula, Pichia, Candida, and Torulopsis. These genera are somewhat artificial, having been based on cell morphology and growth characteristics, and do not reflect close genetic relationships (Billon-Grand, Mycotaxon 35:201-204, 1989; Kurtzman, Mycologia 84:72-76, 1992). Furthermore, not all species within these genera are capable of utilizing methanol as a source of carbon and energy. As a consequence of this classification, there are great differences in physiology and metabolism between individual species of a genus.
Methylotrophic yeasts are attractive candidates for use in recombinant protein production systems. Some methylotrophic yeasts have been shown to grow rapidly to high biomass on minimal defined media. Certain genes of methylotrophic yeasts are tightly regulated and highly expressed under induced or de-repressed conditions, suggesting that promoters of these genes might be useful for producing polypeptides of commercial value. See, for example, Faber et al., Yeast 11:1331, 1995; Romanos et al., Yeast 8:423, 1992; and Cregg et al., Bio/Technology 11:905, 1993.
Development of methylotrophic yeasts as hosts for use in recombinant production systems has been slow, due in part to a lack of suitable materials (e.g., promoters, selectable markers, and mutant host cells) and methods (e.g., transformation techniques). The most highly developed methylotrophic host systems utilize Pichia pastoris and Hansenula polymorpha (Faber et al., Curr. Genet. 25:305-310, 1994; Cregg et al., ibid.; Romanos et al., ibid.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,242; U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,467; U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,23 1; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,555).
There remains a need in the art for methods of transforming additional species of methylotrophic yeasts and for using the transformed cells to produce polypeptides of economic importance, including industrial enzymes and pharmaceutical proteins. The present invention provides such methods as well as other, related advantages.

Compositions and methods for producing heterologous polypeptides in Pichia methanolica


An information distribution system include a reporting unit that reports guide information to a user, the guide information showing information to be additionally stored in a storing unit, a receiving unit that receives identification information from the user, the identification information being associated with stored information selected by the user from the stored information shown by the guide information, and a transmitting unit that transmits suitable stored information to the user, the suitable stored information being selected from the stored information based on the identification information as to the stored information selected by the user.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an information distribution system and an information distribution method.
2. Related Art
In recent years, there have been systems that capture conferences and presentations in the form of digital information and record the digital information in servers. To view the data recorded in such systems, each user needs to search the subject server for desired data, and accordingly, the procedures for this search are complicated.

Information distribution system and information distribution method


Provided are vesicles derived from Enhydrobacter bacteria and a use thereof, and the inventors experimentally confirmed that the vesicles were significantly reduced in clinical samples obtained from patients with pancreatic cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lymphoma, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, variant angina, liver cirrhosis, and diabetes, compared with a normal individual, and that when vesicles isolated from the strain were administered, the secretion of inflammatory mediators caused by pathogenic vesicles, such as E. coli-derived vesicles, was significantly inhibited. Therefore, it is expected that the vesicles derived from Enhydrobacter bacteria according to the present invention can be effectively used for a method of diagnosing pancreatic cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lymphoma, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, variant angina, liver cirrhosis, or diabetes, and for developing a composition for preventing, alleviating or treating the diseases.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, acute infectious diseases recognized as epidemic diseases in the past have become less important, whereas chronic inflammatory diseases accompanied by immune dysfunction caused by disharmony between humans and microbiomes have changed disease patterns as main diseases that determine the quality of life and the human lifespan. As an intractable chronic disease in the 21st century, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic lung diseases, metabolic diseases, and neuropsychiatric diseases have become a big problem for public health in the country as main diseases that determine the human lifespan and the quality of life.
It is known that the number of microorganisms coexisting in the human body has reached 100 trillion, which is 10 times more than the number of human cells, and the number of microorganism genes is more than 100 times the number of human genes. A microbiota or microbiome refers to a microbial community including bacteria, archaea and eukarya present in a given habitat.
Bacteria coexisting in our body and bacteria present in the ambient environment secrete nanometer-sized vesicles in order to exchange information on genes, low molecular compounds, proteins, and the like with other cells. The mucosa forms a physical defense membrane through which particles having a size of 200 nanometers (nm) or more cannot pass, so that bacteria coexisting in the mucosa cannot pass through the mucosa, but vesicles derived from bacteria have a size of 100 nanometers or less and are absorbed into our bodies after relatively freely passing through epithelial cells via the mucosa. Bacteria-derived vesicles that are locally secreted from bacteria are absorbed via epithelial cells of the mucous membrane to thereby induce a local inflammatory response, and the vesicles having passed through the epithelial cells are systematically absorbed via lymphatic vessels and thereby distributed in respective organs, and immune and inflammatory responses are regulated in the organs in which the vesicles are distributed. For example, vesicles derived from pathogenic gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli locally cause inflammatory response and cancer, and promote a systemic inflammatory response, and blood coagulation through a vascular endothelial inflammatory response when absorbed into blood vessels, and cause insulin resistance and diabetes when absorbed into insulin-acting muscle cells. On the other hand, vesicles derived from beneficial bacteria may control a disease by controlling immune dysfunction and metabolic dysfunction caused by pathogenic vesicles.
As immune responses to factors such as bacteria-derived vesicles, Th17 immune responses characterized by the secretion of the interleukin (hereinafter, IL)-17 cytokine occur, and IL-6 is secreted when exposed to bacteria-derived vesicles, thereby inducing Th17 immune responses. Inflammation caused by the Th17 immune response is characterized by neutrophil infiltration, and during the process by which inflammation occurs, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (hereinafter, TNF-α) secreted from inflammatory cells such as macrophages plays an important role.
Enhydrobacter bacteria are gram-negative bacteria belonging to the class Alphaproteobacteria. Enhydrobacter aerosaccus is the only species belonging to the genus Enhydrobacter, known as a catalase- and oxidase-positive bacterium. However, the fact that vesicles are not secreted from Enhydrobacter bacteria to the outside of the cells has not been reported yet, and no case in which Enhydrobacter-derived vesicles are applied to diagnosis and treatment of intractable diseases such as cancer, a cardiovascular disease and diabetes has been reported.

Nanovesicles derived from enhydrobacter bacteria, and use thereof


The present invention provides a system for controlling isochronous data admission, within a WLAN system (102) that transports both isochronous and asynchronous data. The system includes an apparatus (300), functioning as an access point within a WLAN system. The apparatus comprises a memory (306) and a transceiver (312) communicatively coupled to the memory. The apparatus further comprises an access coordinator (302), communicatively coupled to the memory, and adapted to: evaluate actual access times of previous isochronous data streams, to determine projected access times needed by a new isochronous data stream, and to decide to admit or reject the new isochronous data stream based on an evaluation of the actual and projected access times.

Increasing demands for data communications have resulted in the development of techniques that provide more cost-effective and efficient means of using communication networks to handle more information, and new types of information. One common technique is to segment the information, which may be a voice or data communication, into packets. A packet is typically a group of binary digits, including both data and control information. Networks, especially multimedia networks, generally carry multiple classes of packet traffic—including voice, image and other framed data. Most networks comprise devices that may source, sink or forward packet-based data. Routing of data is often limited by the processing capacity and physical throughput properties of various functional units and media within the communications network. Such constraints can cause congestion and Quality of Service ("QoS") problems within the system.
A wireless local area network (WLAN) provides an Ethernet-like channel that uses wireless media (e.g., radio frequency transceivers), instead of wires or cables, to enable data communications between or amongst computers, and other types of electronic devices, on the network. While providing mobility and portability, WLANs avoid the effort and costs involved in running and maintaining cables. WLANs are thus becoming increasingly popular as a communication and networking platform. A WLAN typically has a number of stations and an access point (AP). An AP operates to attach or connect respective stations wirelessly to an external network, and to one another. A WLAN generally has several protocol layers—among which are a physical (PHY) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) sub-layer.
A MAC, usually comprising both hardware and software, is typically located at the AP and at each station—controlling access to the wireless medium (e.g., radio frequency transceivers). Transmission from an AP to a station is referred to as downlink. Transmission from a station to an AP is referred to as an uplink. Finally, transmission between stations is referred to as sidelink.
Often, all transmissions within a WLAN must share a single frequency channel or communication medium. Thus, conflicts or collisions of data packets or frames are likely to occur whenever different traffic streams and bursts simultaneously arrive at a given transmission point, and need to access the shared medium for transport to other transmission points. Accordingly, several approaches have been developed to manage access between competing traffic streams and bursts, and to ensure that allowing access will not cause excessive collisions over the medium.
For example, in one conventional approach, known as Distributed Coordinator Function (DCF), a station must sense the medium before a new data frame is sent from that station. If the medium is found to be idle for at least a DCF Inter Frame Space (DIFS) period of time, the frame is transmitted. Otherwise, a back-off time B—measured in a number of time slots—is chosen randomly from within the interval [0-CW), where CW is the contention window. After the medium has been detected as being idle for at least a DIFS, the back-off timer is decremented for each time slot the medium remains idle. When the back-off timer reaches 0, the frame is transmitted. Upon detection of a collision, a new back-off time is chosen, using a CW of double the previous one, and the back-off procedure starts over. Other conventional mediation schemes for determining access include: an enhancement of DCF, referred to as EDCF; Distributed Fair Scheduling; and Blackburst.
In some conventional WLAN access management procedures, isochronous data streams are provided access time during a succession of time or service periods. When a given station has a new data stream, it sends a stream access request to an access coordinator, located at the AP, together with QoS requirements or parameters for the new data stream. When a coordinator decides to admit a new isochronous data stream to schedule access time, provision must be made to ensure that QoS requirements for previously admitted isochronous streams will still be met.
Thus, conventional systems often employ some sort of worst-case or maximum timing scheme to ensure QoS standards are met. For example, consider a system in which the longest possible arrival of an isochronous stream to be transmitted requires an access time on the order of 10 milliseconds. In a conventional system where each successive service period is on the order of 20 milliseconds, only two streams are admitted for access. This is done to ensure that all admitted streams have sufficient access time. On average, however, some of the admitted streams actually have shorter arrival times, while others actually have longer arrivals in a given service period. Thus, much more than two streams could be admitted and given access times. As a result, a great deal of access time for transporting data across the WLAN is unused, and thus wasted, when admission control is based on the maximum temporal needs of individual streams.
As a result, there is a need for a system for controlling WLAN admission access that was readily adaptable to isochronous streams of widely varying interval and arrival times, overcoming the inefficiencies of conventional access systems. Moreover, it would be desirable to provide such a system for controlling WLAN admission access without degrading or diminishing QoS for respective admitted isochronous streams and asynchronous bursts.

WLAN admission control for multimedia service


A system having multiple short-range transmission devices, each of which is assigned a unique identity and is positioned at a respectively different location within a three dimensional space. The assignment of the identity is according to signals broadcast by short-range device(s) as sensed unambiguously by a listening device or devices proximate to the short-range transmission device(s) and further associating the identity with a reference point.

Short-range beacons using technologies such as infrared, ultrasonics, near-field communications (NFC) and Bluetooth® have been used to determine the presence of a device in the transmission range of the beacon. These technologies, may, for example, determine whether one Bluetooth enabled device is detached from another Bluetooth enabled device in order to sound an alarm.

Method for setting up a beacon network inside a retail environment

Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd.


The present invention provides novel benzene compounds presented by the following formulas, and analogs thereof, that exert an ACC activity-inhibiting effect that is effective in the treatment of obesity, hyperlipemia, fatty liver, hyperglycemia, impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes, diabetic complications (diabetic peripheral neuropathy, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic macroangiopathy, hypertension, arteriosclerosis), hypertension, and arteriosclerosis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to benzene compounds, and more particularly, to novel benzene compounds having inhibition activity on acetyl CoA carboxylase ("ACC" hereinafter).
2. Discussion of the Background
It has become clear in recent years that obesity is an important risk factor for arteriosclerosis, particularly coronary artery disease. That is, it has been reported that in obese individuals, various factors such as fatty acids and TNF-α are released from accumulated visceral fat tissue, inducing insulin resistance in skeletal muscle, the liver, and fat tissue, accelerating the synthesis of neutral fat in the liver, and inducing hyperlipemia. Further, the heightened level of insulin in the blood resulting from insulin resistance not only causes impaired glucose tolerance, especially diabetes, but also stimulates renal reabsorption of Na ions and activates the sympathetic nerves, thereby increasing peripheral vascular resistance and finally resulting in hypertensive symptoms. The hyperlipemia, diabetes, and hypertension resulting from obesity cause vascular blockage such as cerebrovascular blockage and coronary artery disease as a result of arteriosclerosis, and are thought to greatly affect an individual's life prognosis.
The foundations for treating obesity are kinetotherapy and dietetic therapy. However, due to conflict with basic human desires, the necessity of striking a balance with time spent working, increased stress, and a variety of other factors, numerous difficulties present themselves when trying to achieve set objectives. Extremely obese persons sometimes undergo surgical treatment such as stomach-reducing operations and stomach bypassing surgery. However, when an obese person undergoes an abdominal operation, complications such as infection and steatolysis often result, a great amount of time is lost, and pain is experienced. Accordingly, it is considered necessary to combine the use of drugs capable of safely and easily complementing exercise and diet therapies. Examples of pharmaceuticals currently employed as anti-obesity agents are central nervous system appetite depressants such as mazindol and sibutramine and pancreatic lipase inhibitors such as orlistat. Drugs acting on the central nervous system sometimes produce severe side effects such as thirst, constipation, stomach discomfort, and on occasion, auditory and visual hallucination. Orlistat has been found to have digestive tract side effects such as diarrhea, incontinence, and flatulence. In general, these anti-obesity drugs are only slightly effective at dosages that do not produce side effects, the safety of these drugs with long-term use has yet to be established, and they have seldom been found to have an advantageous effect with regard to insulin resistance, which is closely linked to obesity.
Treatments employing biguanide agents and agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ("PPAR" hereinafter) γ are widely employed for insulin resistance. Biguanide agents are reported to afford improvement with regard to insulin resistance and have blood-glucose-lowering and hyperlipemia-improving actions, primarily in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes. However, single-drug treatment is not adequately effective, and it has become clear that these drugs present life-threatening side effects such as lactic acid acidosis in addition to digestive organ symptoms such as upper abdominal discomfort, nausea, and diarrhea. Similar to biguanide agents, PPAR-γ agonists afford improvement in insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipemia in non-insulin dependent diabetes patients, but cannot yet be considered satisfactory with regard to side effects (obesity, severe hepatitis).
ACC, an enzyme catalyzing the synthesis of malonyl CoA from acetyl CoA, is a rate-determining enzyme in the synthesis of long-chain fatty acids. The malonyl CoA that is synthesized from acetyl CoA by ACC is known to negatively control carnitine acyltransferase involved in the consumption of free long-chain fatty acids as an energy source. ACC activation is also thought to contribute to fatty acid synthesis in visceral fat tissue. Accordingly, drugs that inhibit ACC may not only block the synthesis of new long-chain fatty acids and neutral fat in the body, but may also serve as treatment agents and preventive agents for obesity symptoms and various illnesses resulting from obesity-induced hyperlipemia and insulin resistance by reducing existing fat tissue. Examples of compounds known to block ACC in mammals are acylsulfonamide derivatives, 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid, and biotin derivatives. It has become clear that acylsulfonamide derivatives promote the glucose uptake by skeletal muscle cells in vitro and have an effect on reducing blood glucose in diabetic model animals. Their usefulness as pharmaceuticals in humans has also been prospective (see, JP-A-11-171847, JP-A-11-171848, JP-A-11-171856, WO02/02517, WO02/02101, WO03/59886, WO03/59871, J. Biol. Chem., vol. 226, pp. 497-509 (1957), J. Biol. Chem., vol. 77, pp 16347-16350 (2002)).


A strap with an applique has a main strap with a hook and loop material on a length of a top side and a material on a bottom side. An applique comprises a decorative ribbon having a width substantially equal to a width of the main strap and a hook and loop material on one side. The main strap for a camera or the like is preferably stretchy and comprises a loop material on substantially an entirety of a top surface of the main strap. The applique comprises a hook material adhered beneath substantially an entirety of a surface of the decorative ribbon for coupling to the hook surface of the main strap. Connector straps are coupled to respective opposing ends of the main strap with a length adjustment mechanism.

1. Technical Field
The present inventions relate to straps and, more particularly, relate to customizable straps for cameras or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Decorative camera straps have been used to hold a camera over a shoulder or arm. Logos, wording and decorative patterns and colors were within the fabric of such straps, often sewn or woven into the strap itself at the time of manufacture. What is needed is a more flexible camera strap where a logo, wording or decorative pattern or color can be chosen after manufacture.

Strap with decorative hook and loop applique


A mobile deflector device of a curved vehicle shield, comprising a central deflector and two lateral deflectors, essentially forming three chords distributed over the entire length of the shield. Each of the three deflectors is mounted such as to be able to pivot between a folded position and a second unfolded position substantially perpendicular to the first position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a motor vehicle whose front shield comprises several deflectors mounted such as to be able to pivot between a folded position under the front shield and a position in which the deflectors project downwards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles comprising such deflectors are described, for example, in French Patents Nos. 2 821 593, 2 927 303 and 2 864 811.
Such deflectors are designed to reduce the drag of the vehicle and its consumption especially at high speed.
When the deflectors are in the folded position under the front shield, they are protected from impacts against obstacles such as curbs.
This folded position under the shield is therefore suitable for low-speed driving in cities or on roads with dips and bumps.
Such deflectors are particularly useful on vehicles with a high ground clearance such as 4-wheel drive vehicles.
These vehicles, in fact, consume a lot of fuel due to the high drag caused by the ground clearance

Deflector device and motor vehicle in which the front shield carries said deflector device


The present disclosure relates to a developing roller having a conductive support base, a surface of which is covered with a resin layer, wherein the resin layer contains conductive fine particles and soluble nylon serving as a binder resin, and the resin layer surface has a surface roughness Ra of at least 0.4 μm, a waviness curve cycle of 50 to 400 μm, and a waviness curve height of 2 to 10 μm.

The present disclosure relates to a developing roller used for image forming apparatuses utilizing an electrophotographic scheme, such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction printer that is a combination of a copier, a printer, and a facsimile machine, and a developing apparatus and an image forming apparatus using the developing roller.
In an electrophotographic process, an electrostatic latent image is formed on a photoreceptor, and the electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by a developing apparatus. The toner image on the photoreceptor is transferred to a sheet, and the toner image on the sheet is fixed by a fixing apparatus. An example of such a developing apparatus used for an image forming apparatus forms and holds a two-component developer containing a magnetic carrier and toner, on a magnetic roller as a magnetic brush, uses the magnetic brush to form a thin toner layer on the developing roller, and feeds the toner to the photoreceptor to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor in a noncontact manner.
It is known that, in a developing apparatus based on this developing scheme, a surface of a developer carrier (developing roller) is provided with roughness to reduce the contact area between the developing roller and toner, thus improving development properties.
As a method for providing the surface of the developer carrier (developing roller) with roughness, for example, the following are known: a method of applying surface roughness by mechanically roughening a surface of a support base providing the roller (sandblasting or the like) and a method of applying surface roughness to a roller with a resin layer formed on the support base and including a binder resin, by adding fine particles s to the resin layer.

Developing roller and developing apparatus and image forming apparatus using the same


Presented herein are methods and systems for providing network access at a slave node based on a signal transmitted by a master BTS. In one example, a pseudorandom code (PN code) selection is described, in which each slave node has a known associated time offset and data is transmitted with a PN code advanced by the known time offset and the propagation delay. Using an example slave base station transceiver architecture (or just slave node for short), the “traditional” BSC can be removed from at least one base station (e.g., “slave nodes”) and a master base station may be configured to control the signal being transmitted from each slave node. Each slave node then may transmit and receive RF signals. The master BTS head end may receive signal portions from the slave nodes and mobile devices, and combine them for relay back into the network.

A wireless communication system typically provides one or more forms of wireless access to mobile access devices, enabling them to engage in voice and data communications with other devices—both wired and wireless—operating in or connected to the system, and to partake in various other communication services provided or supported by the system. The communication path from a mobile access device, such as a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or an appropriately equipped portable computer, for instance, to one or more other communication endpoints generally traverses a radio frequency (RF) air interface to a base transceiver station (BTS) or other form of access point, and on into a core transport network via a base station controller (BSC) connected to a mobile switching center (MSC) or to a packet data serving node (PDSN). The MSC supports primarily circuit voice communications, providing interconnectivity with other MSCs and PSTN switches, for example. The PDSN supports packet data communications, providing interconnectivity with packet-data networks, such as the Internet, via other packet-data switches and routers.
In a cellular wireless system, the BTS and BSC, among possibly other components, comprise the wireless access infrastructure, also sometimes referred to as the radio access network (RAN). A RAN is usually arranged according to a hierarchical architecture, with a distribution of multiple BTSs that provide areas of coverage (e.g., cells) within a geographic region, under the control of a smaller number of BSCs, which in turn are controlled by one or a few regional (e.g., metropolitan area) MSCs. As a mobile device moves about within the wireless system, it may hand off from one cell (or other form of coverage area) to another. Handoff is usually triggered by the RAN as it monitors the operating conditions of the mobile device by way of one or more signal power levels reported by the device to the RAN.
As the demand for wireless services has grown, and the variety of physical environments in which wireless access is provided becomes more diverse, the need for new topologies and technologies for coverage has become increasingly important. Additionally, the increasing prevalence of wireless devices requires an increase in network capacity. However, sometimes network conditions change too rapidly for a physical network build out to occur. Therefore, it may be desirable to have a network than can adapt to changing network conditions. In addition, as wireless access infrastructures of different service providers tend to overlap more and more within smaller spaces, the ability to share common infrastructure offers cost and operational benefits to network owners and operators.

PN selection for RF repeaters, bi-directional amplifiers or distributed antenna systems


A portable foam brush assembly having a base having a soap supply, a water supply, and an electrical supply. A foam brush wand is detachably dockable to the base and in electrical and fluid communication with the foam brush wand having battery pack, a peristaltic pump, a reservoir chamber, a foaming chamber, an air pump, a brush and a momentary release switch. The base water supply and the base soap supply, when activated, are configured to travel by a water supply hose and a soap supply hose to a tee in the base where they are combined in a combined hose to a base quick coupler that is connectable to a reciprocal foam brush wand quick coupler, which has a foam brush wand hose to deliver the water soap mixture to bladder in the foam brush wand.

Foam brushes generate and dispense foam for use in cleaning, such as cleaning of building exteriors and vehicles, including automobiles, boats, and campers. Foam brushes can be used to apply foam during scrubbing of surfaces of the vehicles. The foam is generated by mixing air and soap. The foam and dirt can then subsequently be removed using a pressure washer.
In self-service and commercial car washes foam brushes are often attached using a hose to a source of soap and air. This hose attachment can render the foam brush cumbersome to use. For example, the hose can drag across the floor of the washing bay, picking up grit and other debris, which can then undesirably transfer to the vehicle upon contact. Yet another disadvantage of the use of hose-tethered foam brushes is that the hose can limit the mobility of the foam brush, such as in reaching certain locations on a vehicle. For instance, the hose can become pinched under wheels, or require a user to work in certain orientations.


A boiler in which water is heated by passing through a furnace has a plurality of pipes for carrying water through the furnace. Each pipe is formed from high-carbon steel and is provided with a non-magnetic, electrically conductive inner lining. The lining, which is preferably electrically grounded, may be formed for example from copper metal, copper-filled organosilicon or copper-filled fluoroplastic material. In an alternative, or supplementary, implementation of the invention, the water circulation system of the boiler is provided with a plurality of magnetized granules. The granules, which preferably have a density of between about 0.5.times.10.sup.3 and about 1.0.times.10.sup.3 kg m.sup.-3, are carried through the boiler pipes by the water flow and help to reduce corrosion and scale deposition within the pipes.

The present invention relates to boilers in which water is heated by passing through a furnace and, in particular, it concerns features for minimizing hydrogen embrittlement and scale deposition in heat-exchange pipes of such boilers.
A number of factors limit the operational efficiency of modem steam-generating and hot-water boilers. Amongst the foremost of these factors are the problems of hydrogen embrittlement and of scale deposition.
Firstly, with respect to hydrogen embrittlement, hot water and steam generating pipes of steam-generating and hot-water boilers are conventionally made from expensive, heat-resistant high-carbon steels. The strong magnetic fields generated by flames within the furnace of the boiler result in magnetization of these pipes. Under the high temperature and pressure present within the pipes, partial dissociation of water molecules occurs and hydrogen atoms interact with the surfaces of the magnetized high-carbon pipes displacing the carbon atoms from the metal lattice and causing the effect known as hydrogen embrittlement of the heat-exchange pipes.
As a result primarily of hydrogen embrittlement, the life expectancy of heat-exchange pipes in steam-generating and hot-water boilers is usually no more than 8-10 years. During this period, cracks may develop in the most heat-stressed regions, resulting in down-time of the boiler. This possibility generally requires that an emergency team of repairmen be available at all times, and that frequent inspections are conducted to detect magnetized sections of pipe for their timely replacement.
A second major factor which complicates operation of boilers and lowers their efficiency is the constant formation of scale in heat-stressed regions of the heat-exchange pipes. Scale deposits greatly increase the thermal resistance of the pipes, thereby reducing the efficiency of heat exchange. The deposition of scale also necessitates regular washing out of the tubes, typically once or twice a month, as well as intermittent overhaul. Washing out of the tubes requires significant boiler down-time, thereby reducing profitability. Overhaul is a very expensive process which, for modern large-scale boilers weighing thousands of tons, may take several months.
There is therefore a pressing need for steam-generating and hot-water boilers with features for reducing hydrogen embrittlement and scale accumulation, thereby increasing the lifetime of the boiler and reducing the frequency of service interruptions in the boiler operation. It would also be advantageous to provide a method of operating a boiler to achieve similar goals.

Boiler with conductive pipe lining and containing magnetic granules


A process is disclosed for treating a hydrocarbon stream including flowing the hydrocarbon stream through a hydrocarbon treating vessel, heating a portion of the hydrocarbon treating vessel to a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined amount of time and controlling sensitization of the portion of the interior surface of the hydrocarbon treating vessel.

Oil refineries typically incorporate one or more different processes for treating and/or converting hydrocarbons, such as, for example, those present in crude oil or other naturally occurring source, to produce specific hydrocarbon products with properties that are useful for particular applications.
To carry out the hydroprocessing operations to treat crude oil and other hydrocarbons to form usable products, oil refineries typically include one or more complexes or groups of equipment designed for carrying out one or more particular treating or conversion processes to prepare desired final products. In this regard, the complexes each may have a variety of interconnected units or vessels including, among others, tanks, furnaces, distillation towers, reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, pipes, fittings, and valves.
Many types of hydrocarbon treating operations are carried out under relatively harsh operating conditions, including high temperatures and/or pressures and within various harsh chemical environments. In addition, due to the large demands for hydrocarbon and petrochemical products, the volumetric flow rate of a hydrocarbon stream through various oil refinery complexes is substantial, and the amount of downtime of the processing equipment is preferably small to avoid losses in output.
High temperature hydrocarbon treating operations generally involve heating a hydrocarbon stream to a process temperature and flowing the hydrocarbon stream through one or more hydrocarbon treating vessels forming a refinery complex. Specific process techniques are utilized depending on the feed and the desired products, and may include flowing the hydrocarbon stream in the presence of other materials and/or reactants, including gases and liquids, adsorbents to remove particular components from the product stream, and/or catalysts to control reaction rates. In this manner, the hydrocarbon stream can be treated to, for example, modify one or more components within the hydrocarbon stream, react one or more components with other materials (e.g. gases) within a vessel, and remove components from the hydrocarbon stream either as potential products, sometimes upon further processing, or for disposal.
Traditionally, austenitic stainless steels have been used to fabricate the oil refinery vessels listed above, because these types of alloys are useful in a variety of harsh environments. The addition of 8% nickel to a stainless steel containing 18% chromium produces a remarkable change in microstructure and properties. The alloy solidifies and cools to form a face-centered cubic structure called austenite, which is non-magnetic. Austenitic stainless steels are highly ductile, even at cryogenic temperatures and have excellent weldability and other fabrication properties.
Many metals, including austenitic stainless steels, can be subject to a highly localized form of corrosion known as stress-corrosion cracking (SCC). SCC often takes the form of branching cracks in apparently ductile material and can occur with little or no advance warning. In low pressure vessels, the first sign of stress corrosion cracking is usually a leak, but there have been instances of catastrophic failures of high pressure vessels due to stress corrosion cracking. Stress corrosion cracking occurs when the surface of the material exposed to a corroding medium is under tensile stress and the corroding medium specifically causes stress corrosion cracking of the metal. Tensile stresses may be the result of applied loads, internal pressure in piping systems and pressure vessels or residual stresses from prior welding or bending.
Austenitic stainless steels can be subject to stress corrosion cracking in, for example, hot chloride solutions, hot caustic soda and hot sulfides or polythionates. Specifically, polythionic acid stress corrosion cracking has been found to occur within refinery complex vessels due to the presence of even small quantities of sulfur content that is either added during a refinery process or is present in the feedstock. The risk of polythionic acid stress corrosion cracking generally increases in temperature ranges of between 370 and 815° C.
In order for polythionic acid stress corrosion cracking to occur in austenitic stainless steels, typically the steel must first undergo sensitization and either concurrently or subsequently be subjected to a corrosive agent, such as polythionic acid. For example, unstabilized grades of austenitic stainless steels such as types 304 and 316, traditionally used in the fabrication of oil refinery complexes, have all exhibited sensitization and polythionic acid stress corrosion cracking due to polythionic acid. Even the stabilized grades such as type 321 and 347 can exhibit sensitization and polythionic acid SCC. Typically, chromium within the austenitic stainless steels reacts with oxygen to form a chromium barrier that protects the material from corrosion. At high temperatures, however, usually somewhere at or 370 and 815° C. depending on the stainless steel alloy, chromium-rich carbides precipitate out at the grain boundaries. The precipitation of chromium depletes the chromium content adjacent to the grain boundaries forming chromium depleted zones and drastically reducing the corrosion and/or cracking resistance in corrosive environments in these zones. PTA-SCC requires the combination of sulfide scale formation on the metal surface, sensitized microstructure, tensile stress, moisture and oxygen.
FIG. 1 from D. V. Beggs and R. W. Howe, "Effects of welding and Thermal Stabilization on the Sensitization and Polythionic Acid Stress corrosion Cracking of Heat and Corrosion-Resistant Alloys", NACE Conference 1993, Paper no. 541, illustrates the temperatures and times at which traditional austenitic stainless steels have been found to exhibit sensitization. As can be seen from the figure, the peak temperatures and times for sensitization of austenitic stainless steels are material specific, although they generally occur within a temperature range of between 565° and 650° C. Specifically, type 347 stainless steel exhibits peak sensitization at 565° C., (i.e. exhibits sensitization at this temperature faster than at higher or lower temperatures) but does not sensitize at this temperature until after 1,000 hours of being held at the elevated temperature. Type 347 stainless steel is often used in refinery processing equipment due to the longer time that it can withstand sensitization when compared with other stainless steels as shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, each stainless steel alloy exhibits a different sensitization envelope, i.e., area on a time/temperature diagram where the alloy exhibits sensitization.
One type of harsh corrosive environment to which sensitized stainless steels are particularly susceptible is one that contains polythionic acid (PTA) formed from the decomposition of sulfide scale by moisture in air. Due to the high temperature of operation and the presence of sulfur (S) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in a reducing environment or in a feed stream in many oil refinery complexes and/or processes, an iron sulfide scale can form on stainless steel surfaces. Upon shutdown of the equipment, if the sensitized stainless steel is exposed to moisture and oxygen from the surrounding environment, there is the potential that the metal can crack as a result of polythionic acid stress corrosion cracking (PTA-SCC). In other words, the sulfur and hydrogen sulfide will react with oxygen and moisture from the ambient environment to form polythionic acid. Due to the existence of the chromium depleted zones formed by sensitization, the PTA can attack these zones causing corrosion and ultimately PTA-SCC where the vessel is put under tensile stresses either by being pressurized or by having residual stresses from, for example, welding during fabrication.
Commercially, internal surfaces of refinery complex equipment for carrying out processes at elevated temperatures are usually made of Type 304 and Type 347 austenitic stainless steels, especially for use in sulfur or H2S-containing reducing environments, such as for example hydroprocessing and hydrocracking reactors, heaters and heat exchangers, complexes for converting of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) into aromatics through dehydrocyclodimerization, and processes for catalytic dehydrogenation for the production of light olefins from paraffins. The most widely used stainless steel is probably Type 304, sometimes called T304 or simply 304, because of cost. Type 304 stainless steel is an austenitic steel containing 18 to 20% chromium and 8 to 10% nickel. This and other specialty austenitic stainless steels have been used in these applications due to the high temperature H2S and sulfur corrosion and high temperature hydrogen attack issues that are present in these processes.
In some instances, protective coatings are applied to protect the outside of stainless steel vessels from exposure to chlorides in insulating jackets. In other applications, post welding heat treatment can be used to relieve residual stress in the steel alloys. The risk of PTA-SCC in oil refinery equipment has heretofore primarily been addressed by known processes to either prevent the formation of PTA or to neutralize the PTA in the environment prior to exposure to air.
Preventing PTA formation can be accomplished by either eliminating liquid phase water or oxygen, since these are the components responsible for reacting with the sulfide scale to form the PTA. One approach is to maintain the temperature of the austenitic stainless steel equipment above the dew point of water to avoid condensation of the moisture. Another approach is to purge the equipment with a dry nitrogen purge during any shutdown or startup procedure, when the system is depressurized and the equipment is opened and exposed to air, since this is generally the only time when significant amounts of oxygen might enter the system. The dry nitrogen purge restricts ambient oxygen and moisture from entering the system.
On the other hand, PTA that has or is likely to form within a complex or vessel may be neutralized by an ammoniated nitrogen purge or an aqueous solution of soda ash. In the case of utilizing an ammoniated nitrogen purge, special procedures are utilized to form the ammoniated nitrogen, which is pressurized and blown into the system. On the other hand, a soda ash solution neutralization step involves completely filling the piping or piece of equipment involved with the solution and allowing the equipment to soak for a minimum of two hours prior to exposing the system to air. Each of these processes is time consuming and impractical during the operation of an oil refinery complex as it requires additional materials and additional downtime of the particular equipment to perform the purge or neutralization steps. In addition, due to the presence of the nitrogen, ammoniated nitrogen, or soda ash, special precautions must be taken to protect service workers working on the equipment when these materials are present. Also the removal of these chemicals reduces the need for special handling and waste disposal. If trace levels of the chemicals remain, which is often the case, catalyst in the reactor can be poisoned.
In addition, chemically stabilized austenitic stainless steels like TP321 and TP347 have been used in reactors that process sulfur-containing streams because of their resistance to high-temperature corrosion through desulfurization. However, such austenitic stainless steels are also susceptible to stress corrosion cracking as a result of exposure to polythionic acid, since it is just a matter of time and temperature for them to sensitize, which falls within the operating conditions of many hydrocarbon treatment processes. Although TP321 and TP347 are generally used in applications according to the above methodologies in petroleum refinery industries, the need for post-weld heat treatment and for special procedures during shutdown and startup of a refinery complex affect not only costs but also production time since they take a certain amount of time to carry out.
There is a continuing need, therefore, for improved processes for treating hydrocarbon streams while avoiding expensive, time consuming and inconvenient additional steps for purging or neutralizing the internal environment to avoid forming polythionic acid within hydrocarbon treating vessels and causing PTA-SCC.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for treating hydrocarbon streams


A method, system, and program product is provided for configuring a target device, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a log-in request to connect the target device to a host, wherein the log-in request includes a host designator; accessing a table of host designators and associated O/S types; determining if there is a match of the log-in request host designator to a host designator in the table; and selecting an O/S type protocol associated with the match to the host designator. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the host designator is a worldwide name. In a further embodiment of the present invention, the step is provided of determining if a mode parameter is set for a default O/S protocol; and selecting that default O/S protocol unless there is a match of the log-in request host designator in the table.

As is well known the small computer system interface (SCSI) is a set of evolving ANSI standard electronic interfaces that allow personal computers and other host devices to connect and communicate with peripheral hardware such as disk drives, disk arrays, tape drives, tape arrays, printers, scanners, and various other target devices. As is well known, the ANSI standards and various other standards were defined with certain ambiguities therein. The various operating systems (O/S) handle these ambiguities in different ways, and require different protocols in order to properly communicate. Examples of O/S's with different protocols include WIN NT, HPUX, and the LINUX system. This difference in operating systems causes significant problems for target devices when processing commands from host devices. A target device will not be able to satisfy all host O/S types with a single behavior. Additionally, there is no intrinsic method for determining the correct behavior when processing any given command. The present invention is directed to solving this problem.

Method and system for implementing host-dependent SCSI behavior in a heterogeneous host environment

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


In one example, a method comprises: receiving, at a gateway of a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus on a vehicle and via at least one of a wireless interface or a wired interface of the vehicle, a plurality of messages targeted at electronic control units (ECU) on the CAN bus; generating one or more input vectors based on the plurality of messages; generating, using one or more machine learning models, an output vector based on each of the one or more input vectors, each input vector having the same number of elements as the corresponding output vector; generating one or more comparison results between each of the one or more input vectors and the corresponding output vector; and based on the one or more comparison results, performing one of: allowing the plurality of messages to enter the CAN bus or preventing the plurality of messages from entering the CAN bus.

Modern vehicles are integrated with a number of hardware devices, known as Electronic Control Units (ECUs). Controlled by complicated computer programs, ECUs can control various subsystems of the vehicle, such as the powertrain system, the security system, the infotainment system, etc. The ECUs are typically connected over one or more in-vehicle networks, such as Controller Area Network (CAN) buses. Multiple CAN buses can be connected via a gateway which can route messages among the multiple CAN buses.
Recently, modern vehicles are becoming smarter by equipping automotive networking services, including Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), which altogether are generally referred as (Vehicle-to-Everything) V2X. V2X provides external access to, for example, inspect the internal status of a vehicle, or otherwise access other functionalities provided by the ECUs (e.g., infotainment system), and can have a direct impact on the functionality of ECUs. The ECUs can also be accessible by other wired or wireless network connections, such as Bluetooth connection, Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection, etc.
However, V2X communications, along with other potential network connections such as Bluetooth and USB connections, can pose threats regarding the security of ECUs. Specifically, an adversary would be able to send malicious network packets remotely via the network connections into an ECU, which can then distribute the network packets to each ECU connected to the CAN bus. The malicious network packets can compromise the operations of the ECUs, which can put the passengers of the vehicle in danger or otherwise adversely affect the operation of the vehicle.

Method and system for handling network intrusion


The present technique presents a blade 1 for a gas turbine 10. The blade 1 includes an airfoil 100 having an airfoil tip part 100a and a pressure side 102 and a suction side 104 meeting at a leading edge 106 and a trailing edge 108 and defining an internal space 100s of the airfoil 100. A squealer tip 80, 90 is arranged at the airfoil tip part 100a. The squealer tip 80, 90 comprises a suction side rail 90. The suction side rail 90 comprises a chamfer part 90x and at least one squealer tip cooling hole 99. The chamfer part 90x comprises a chamfer surface 9. An outlet 99a of the at least one squealer tip cooling hole 99 is disposed at the chamfer surface 9.

Gas turbine blades include an airfoil extending radially outwards, with respect to a rotation axis of the gas turbine, from a blade platform. The airfoil has pressure and suction sides extending between the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil. The airfoil also includes a tip part that is disposed at a radially outward end of the airfoil. The tip part, also referred to as the tip of the airfoil, faces a surface of the stator disposed further radially outwards of the airfoil and which generally defines an outer surface of the hot gases or combustion gases path through the gas turbine. The surface of the stator that the tip part of the airfoil faces may be an inner surface of the casing or an inner surface of a turbine shroud, and so on and so forth.
The tip of the airfoil is placed spaced apart, i.e. in a non-contact manner, from the facing stator surface. In other words, a radial clearance or gap is included between the tip of the airfoil and the facing stator surface to avoid chances of collision or rubbing between the tip of the airfoil and the facing stator surface when the gas turbine is operated. However, parts of the hot gases, i.e. the combustion products, flowing through the hot gas path leak through the radial clearance, instead of flowing over the turbine blade airfoil, and thus cause a decrease in efficiency.
Therefore, the radial clearance between the tip of the airfoil and the facing stator surface is desired to be kept as small as possible to minimize the leakage of the hot gases.
To keep the radial clearance small, and to safeguard the airfoil body from structural damage in an event of accidental contact between the tip of the airfoil and the facing stator surface during operation of the gas turbine, it is well known in the art of gas turbines to employ a squealer tip structure disposed at the tip of the airfoil and extending radially outwards towards the facing stator surface.
The squealer tip generally is shaped as a rail positioned at and extending along a periphery of the airfoil tip part, for example the squealer tip may have a suction side rail positioned at and extending along a periphery of the suction side at the airfoil tip part, and a pressure side rail positioned at and extending along a periphery of the pressure side at the airfoil tip part.
Since, the squealer tip is bathed in hot combustion products, i.e. the hot gases, a cooling of the squealer tip is desired, particularly at the suction side rail. However, since the squealer tip is disposed very close to the facing stator surface, an undesired event of accidental contact between the squealer tip and the facing stator surface may occur during operation of the gas turbine—known as a rub event. Thus, any cooling holes that may be disposed at the squealer tip may get damaged or blocked.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism or technique for effectively cooling the squealer tip. Preferably, the technique for cooling the squealer tip is desired to at least partially obviate the damage to cooling of the squealer tip in case of an occurrence of a rub event.

Technique for cooling squealer tip of a gas turbine blade


An interface for displaying icons or input control portions corresponding to a plurality of functions on screen and pointing each icon or input control portion on screen selectively includes display control means which, along with repeatedly changing and displaying the icons or the input control portions in succession on screen, designates at least one icon or input control portion among the icons or the input control portions and displays the designated icon(s) or input control portion(s) on a permanent basis.

This application claims priority based on Patent Application No. 2005-146926 filed in Japan on May 19, 2005 under Article 119(a) of the U.S. Patent Act. Its entire contents are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to an interface for selectively pointing a plurality of icons, etc. on screen.
Conventional interfaces of this type include interfaces, in which a plurality of icons are arranged and displayed on the screen of a display device and the functions of application software etc. corresponding to the icons are activated, for instance, by selecting and pointing the desired icons with the help of a pointing device.
Incidentally, in case of a small screen, multiple icons had to be arranged without gaps, which caused icon visibility to deteriorate and made the operation of the icon selection more difficult.
For this reason, for instance, in Japanese Laid-Open Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-182871 (hereinafter called "Patent Document 1"), both icons and input control portions (buttons, check boxes, etc.) are displayed on screen, thereby efficiently utilizing screen real estate.
Moreover, in Japanese Laid-Open Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-102277 (hereinafter called "Patent Document 2"), a polygon is displayed on screen, with at least one icon positioned on each side of the polygon and the polygon rotated through multiples of 90° by operating a pointing device to display the icons on each side of the polygon in succession, thereby achieving an improvement in terms of ease of use.
However, as described in Patent Document 1, when the number of icons or input control portions increased, the icons or the input control portions had to be reduced in size, which diminished their visibility and operability.
Moreover, because in Patent Document 2 the polygon was rotated through multiples of 90 degrees by operating a pointing device, viewing all the sides of the polygon required multiple operations. In addition, certain operations were required for returning to the desired side after viewing all the sides of the polygon. As a result, operating the pointing device was a complicated task.
Accordingly, the present invention was made with account taken of the problems that existed in the past, and it is an object of the invention to provide an interface which, while being simple to operate, makes it possible to successively display a plurality of icons etc. and to select and point the icons, etc.


An impact shovel is provided comprising a lower extent and an upper extent. The upper extent is in slidable communication with the lower extent such that the upper extent may be extended and retracted with respect thereto. Further provided is a handle coupled to the upper extent. A shovel blade is coupled to the lower extent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an impact shovel and more particularly pertains to inserting a blade of a shovel into earth which is hard to penetrate by the reciprocating motion of a handle of the shovel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of shovels is known in the prior art. More specifically, shovels heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of digging are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. Des. 355,819; U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,281; U.S. Pat.No. 5,383,696; U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,853; U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,493; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 262,259.
In this respect, the impact shovel according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of inserting a blade of a shovel into earth which is hard to penetrate by the reciprocating motion of a handle of the shovel.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved impact shovel which can be used for inserting a blade of a shovel into earth which is hard to penetrate by the reciprocating motion of a handle of the shovel. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

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Embodiment provided herein are directed to microneedle patches for agent application on a mammal skin. The microneedle patch may comprise a patch scaffold having a surface, and a plurality of microneedles disposed on the surface. Each of the microneedles may be capable of piercing the skin 50 μm to 1000 μm deep, and comprises a composite material comprising polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and one or more additional copolymers selected from the group consisting of maltose, leucine, and dileucine.

Many agents (e.g. cosmetic preparations, chemicals, drugs, vaccines, etc.) may cause mild to severe allergic reactions including contact dermatitis in people. If a person suspects a particular agent is responsible for his/her contact dermatitis, a patch test may be utilized to assess the existence of a contact allergy to said agent. Patch tests are simple in concept, and generally comprise a sheet of material coated with the agent to be tested (e.g., the suspected allergen). The patch is applied to the person's skin to introduce the suspected allergen to the immune system of the patient. After removal of the patch, the presence of an allergic reaction at the application site on the skin may be macroscopically determined. Use of such patch tests, however, is associated with several disadvantages. For instance, the patch test may need to be applied to the person's skin for a long period of time to allow the allergen to diffuse into the skin across the strong, horny exterior thereof (i.e., the stratum corneum). Moreover, there are often issues with accuracy in macroscopically determining the degree to which an allergic response occurs at the application site of the allergen.
Intradermal injection of a suspected allergen via a hypodermic needle is another method commonly used to deliver the antigen to a person's skin. However, use of hypodermic needles is painful and inconvenient for self-administration. Further, the manual insertion of the hypodermic needle may be difficult to control, thus making targeted delivery of the allergen to specific sites within the skin difficult.
Microneedle patches (MNPs) represent a recent, non-invasive transdermal delivery system for suspected allergens. The MNPs typically comprise a pedestal to which microneedles containing an allergen are attached. The microneedles are configured to pierce the skin, and subsequently dissolve upon insertion into the skin for the transdermal delivery of the allergen. Such dissolving microneedles may be less prone to breaking in vivo as compared to conventional silicon and metal needles. Microneedles comprised of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) are often used for the transdermal delivery of allergens.
The current MNPs are also associated with several limitations which hinder their clinical application. For instance, the dissolving microneedles have strict mechanical performance requirements. The microneedles need sufficient mechanical strength to perforate the stratum corneum. Incomplete penetration of needles into the skin leads to an ineffective delivery of the allergen thereto and allergen wastage. Recent studies have shown significant variation in skin penetration across current, dissolving microneedles, which may be fabricated from diverse biomaterials. Pure PVP lacks sufficient biocompatibility, and thus is not an effective biomaterial for use in microneedles. Moreover, the low solubility of PVP also reduces the allergen release rate.
There is therefore a need for an improved device for the transdermal delivery of an agent to mammalian skin, and which overcome the limitations and disadvantages associated with the use of current patch tests, hypodermic needles, and MNPs.

Microneedle patches for transdermal delivery

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY


An apparatus and a method which heat an elongated product in at least two pulses including at least one first pulse wherein the product is pressed for at least 10 ms on a first pressure and at least one second heating and smoothing pulse wherein the product is pressed and/or heated at least for 10 ms on a pressure that is higher than the first pressure. The heating elements being arranged to heat the elongated product so that the heating the heating temperature is at least 80° C. on at least one surface of the elongated product.

The invention concerns method and apparatus for producing elongate fiber products, especially from a furnish comprising cellulosic pulp from plant materials. The products may be webs, yarns, fabrics or similar.
Producing webs or other products from fibers is basics of paper and board manufacture. Most manufacturing methods include making a mix of fibers, water and fillers and additives (furnish) and feeding furnish on a permeable surface to remove water and form a web of entangled fibers that are held together by chemical bonds and mechanical forces. Furnish may be foamed to provide specific formation characteristics. The web is usually rather wet after formation and further water removal is needed. This can be done mechanically in a pressing nip or by heating by various methods. Different formation and water removal methods are combined in order to obtain desired end products and designing the manufacturing process defines the product range that can be manufactured.
Various methods and processes for water removal are described in publications WO 2009024186, EP 2722437, EP 2063021, EP 2722434.
Known methods for producing webs, fabrics, yarns and such products from fibers have their characteristic strengths and drawbacks. Some methods are suitable for cellulosic material and others better suitable for artificial fibers or mixtures of these fibers. Therefore, there is need for novel methods for manufacture of these products.

Method and apparatus for producing a fiber web


A computer-implemented data processing system comprises capital management logic accessible to a plurality of users by way of a communication network. The plurality of users include companies, institutional investors, individual investors, and exchanges. The capital management logic is configured to facilitate pre-financing and post-financing interactions between the companies, the institutional investors, the individual investors, and the exchanges throughout one or more rounds of financing of the companies.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of financial management systems. More particularly, this disclosure relates to a multi-faceted capital management system that facilitates interactions among investors, companies, and exchanges and/or other secondary stakeholders in private capital markets.
The public capital markets have been made efficient by frictionless trading mechanisms, continuous valuation opportunities, and transparency of information that underpins the value of publicly traded securities. In contrast, the private capital markets lack a standard process for exchanging securities, transparency of information, continuous valuation opportunities and a critical mass of investors valuing opportunities. For example, without a standard, efficient process for exchanging securities, transactions occur relatively infrequently. When such transactions do occur, information about such transactions is not widely available, resulting in a lack of transparency. These features of the private capital markets result in deadweight loss and uncaptured value. A private capital management system that facilitates interactions among investors, companies, and exchanges and/or other secondary stakeholders in private capital markets would help eliminate such deadweight loss and uncaptured value.

Private capital management system and method


A glove has a palmer portion and finger portions configured for placement of a base layer of the palmer portion in contact with a palm of a hand when the glove is fully engaged.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to sports gloves and more particularly to a glove adapted to the needs of firearms sports. However, the invention is an improvement in the glove technology in general in that it folds in accordance with the mechanics of the human hand and as such is capable of application to the use of tools, gardening, automotive mechanics and a wide range of other applications.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Kiernan D445,996 teaches a design for a sport glove.
Steeley, U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,365 defines a sports glove has a single-piece support insert adapted to be received therein along the top of one or more fingers, the hand and the wrist in order to provide support, protection and performance enhancement to the user. The glove is flexible so it can provide firm yet resilient support in order to maintain the support insert in place during movement. The support insert can be molded or deformed for customized fit.
Chin, U.S. D336,562 teaches a design for a sport glove.
Bowers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,509 defines an improved athletic glove having superior gripping properties generally comprising a palm piece and a back piece joined together to fit the human hand. The palm piece is made of a sheet of leather material prepared by a chrome tanning process or synthetic leather material having a substantially continuous layer of silicone sealant covering the palm side thereof. The layer of sealant is bonded to the palm side and does not penetrate through the palm side to the hand of a wearer.
Miner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,376 defines a sport glove construction and a method of using it, including fastening together sheets of plastic material by a rigid fastening device into a cup-shaped pocket configuration, forming a front ball receiving side and a rear hand receiving side having a cup-shaped pocket therein. A hand securing device is connected to the outer surface of the back side of the glove construction for proper ventilation purposes. A web device interconnects right and left portions of the front and rear sheets, to help define the pocket. Right and left elongated, resilient pads extend in a generally U-shaped configuration at the rim of the pocket, diverging away from one another at the lower portion of the sheets toward the web device. A plurality of pocket rigid fastening devices are arranged in a spaced apart manner within the pocket adjacent to the pads and secure together the front and rear sheets for helping rigidify flexibly the resulting glove construction.
Klein, U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,592 discloses an improved sport glove construction comprising connected inner and outer glove shells of different constructions, each contributing significant and desirable characteristics to the combination. The inner glove is constructed of a highly elastic, stretchable material, so constituted as to be received tightly over the entire hand of the wearer, snugly enclosing and conforming to the individual fingers and thumb, as well as the palm and back areas of the hand. The construction of the elastic inner glove shell is such as to provide a secure yet comfortable feel to the glove. The elastic inner glove is entirely enveloped by a second or outer glove of a material and construction selected to provide appropriate gripping and other characteristics. The outer glove may be of a somewhat elastic material, such as knitted fabric, but may also be of a relatively nonelastic material, such as leather, vinyl or the like, or may be a combination of materials. The inner and outer glove shells are attached in a manner permitting the necessary degree of elastic expansion of the inner glove shell relative to the outer shell when the glove is applied to the hand.
Klein, U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,292 Discloses an improved sport glove construction comprising loosely but securely connected inner and outer glove shells of different constructions, each contributing significant and desirable characteristics to the combination. The inner glove is constructed of a highly elastic, stretchable material, so constituted as to be received tightly over the entire hand of the wearer, snugly enclosing and conforming to the individual fingers and thumb, as well as the palm and back areas of the hand. The construction of the elastic inner glove shell is such as to provide a secure yet comfortable feel to the glove. The elastic inner glove is entirely enveloped by a second or outer glove of a material and construction selected to provide appropriate gripping and other characteristics. The outer glove may be of a somewhat elastic material, such as knitted fabric, but may also be of a relatively nonelastic material, such as leather, vinyl or the like, or may be a combination of materials. The inner and outer glove shells are attached securely but loosely at selected areas, to permit easy donning and doffing of the glove while at the same time accommodating the necessary degree of elastic expansion of the inner glove shell relative to the outer shell when the glove is applied to the hand.
Our prior art search with abstracts described above teaches the construction of various sports gloves, but does not teach the particular glove construction necessary to the sport involving firearms such as rifles, pistols and in particular shotguns. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.

Glove adapted for use in firearms loading, shooting and unloading