A purging apparatus for a fuel cell system according to the present invention comprises a steam supply pass 18 and an air supply pass 19. A purging method for the fuel cell system according to the present invention comprises, at a time of causing a fuel reformer 12, a fuel cell body 1 and a fuel supply line 13 to carry out the purging operation, first carrying out the purging operation by steam, and then carrying out the purging operation by air. According to such a structure, there can be provided the purging apparatus for the fuel cell system and the method therefor, which have an easy structure and an easy operation, and enables combustible gas and condensed water remaining in the system to be removed in a reliable manner.

A fuel cell system has recently been thrown as a high-efficiency energy conversion apparatus into the limelight.
Some types of the fuel system have been operated or under research and development. Of these systems, a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell system utilizing proton as electrolyte has a compact structure, and in addition, ensures high power density and can be operated in the form of a simple system, thus receiving attention in use not only as stationary distributed batteries, but also as power supply sources for space, vehicles and home use.
Such a highly expected fuel cell system, especially the proton-exchange membrane fuel cell system has a structure comprising a fuel cell body 1, a fuel reformer 2 and a purging line, as shown in FIG. 13.
The fuel cell body 1 is provided with a membrane electrode composite body in which a proton-conductive solid polymer membrane 4c is for example held between gas diffusion electrodes 4 with catalytic layers. Separators 5a, 5b serving as a collector, which have gas supply grooves and are formed of material having a low gas permeability, are alternatively placed in a stacked state on both the outer sides of the membrane electrode composite body.
The gas diffusion electrode 4 is provided on its one side with a fuel electrode 4a, and on the other side with an oxidizing electrode (an air electrode) 4b. Fuel gas mainly containing hydrogen and air are separately supplied into these electrodes through the gas supply grooves of the separators 5a, 5b.
At this stage, an oxygen ion generated from the oxidizing electrode 4b passes through the solid polymer membrane 4c to react with hydrogen in the fuel electrode 4a, thus emitting an electron. Such an emitted electron is utilized as a direct current electric power.
The fuel reformer 2, which generates fuel gas mainly containing hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuel such as city gas, reforms the hydrocarbon fuel into the fuel gas mainly containing hydrogen by making a chemical reaction of the city gas, from which sulfur contained therein has been removed utilizing a hydrogenation desulfurization, with the use of a catalyst, for example adding steam into it.
The purging line 3, which is provided with an inert gas (for example, nitrogen) supply equipment 6 and an inert gas valve 7, is connected to a downstream side of a fuel valve 10 of a fuel supply line 8. The purging line 3 acts to purge condensed water and unreacted hydrogen gas, which was generated during production of the above-mentioned direct current electric power and still remained, even after termination of operation, in the fuel cell body 1, the fuel reformer 2 and the fuel supply line 8, with the use of the inert gas supplied from the inert gas supply equipment 6 through the inert gas valve 7, and discharged exhaust outside from the system through an exhaust pipe 9.
In the conventional fuel cell system, the purging operation has been carried out in order to cope with an explosion accident due to the unreacted hydrogen and corrosion by the condensed water, in this manner.
In the conventional fuel cell system as shown in FIG. 13, the purging operation has been carried out, when the operation is halted, to purge combustible gas and condensed water outside from the system, with the use of inert gas such as nitrogen, taking into consideration explosibility due to the residual combustible gas caused by unreacted substance from the fuel supply line, corrosiveness of equipment and damage to catalyst with which the equipment is covered, which are caused by the residual condensed water, and deteriorated activity due to oxidation of the catalyst caused by oxygen gas.
However, the inert gas (for example, nitrogen gas) supply equipment has a complicated structure in system, a large size, an increased cost and an increased running cost, and further requires many incidental facilities, thus causing many kinds of inconveniences and problems.
The fuel cell system, which requires the nitrogen supply equipment, has hardly been accepted for home use, thus constituting an obstacle to application or expansion to the home.
An object of the present invention, which was made in view of these circumstances, is to provide a fuel cell system, which include a purging apparatus for reliably removing combustible gas and condensed water, which remain in the system, in a simple structure and an easy operative manner, and a purging method therefore.


The present invention provides an improved coronary stabilizer for use in cardiac surgery, and more particularly during a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery performed directly on a beating heart. The coronary stabilizer is comprised of a body contact member and a handle. An opening or arterial window is provided in the body contact member, in order to allow surgical access to a target coronary artery which is exposed through said arterial window. In a first embodiment, the body contact member is a bifurcated hand comprising first and second body contacting portions, for placement alongside a target artery. Each of said body contacting portions is contoured to provide a coronary stabilizer with a substantially saddle-shaped body contacting surface, thereby tending to promote the extrusion of immobilized myocardium tissue through the arterial window generally disposed between first and second contacting portions. The coronary stabilizer according to this first embodiment preferably has a pull-type handle and is best suited to immobilize a posterior or inferior portion of the beating heart surface, during posterior coronary artery revascularizations. In a second embodiment, a coronary stabilizer with a substantially cup-shaped body contacting surface is provided and preferably configured with a push-type handle. It is best suited to immobilize an anterior portion of the beating heart surface, during anterior coronary artery revascularizations. The coronary stabilizers according to the present invention are preferably configured with an array of surgical wire attachment fittings for engaging an elastic surgical wire, that may be looped about a target artery, in order to create a substantially bloodless surgical field during a beating heart anastomosis. The contact surfaces of the coronary stabilizers preferably have a tread or tissue-engaging texture which may be configured to provide a tractive gradient.

The present invention relates to the field of surgical apparatus, and more specifically to tissue stabilizers such as may be used, for example, to perform cardiac surgery on a beating heart.
The growing interest in less invasive surgery has placed emphasis on cardiac surgery as well. The main difference in heart surgery with respect to other organ surgeries, gall bladder for instance, is that the beating motion of the heart tends to complicate the delicate surgical interventions that are normally performed in cardiac surgery.
Cardiac surgery has been traditionally performed with the support of a cardio-pulmonary machine, whereby the patient""s blood is oxygenated outside the body through extracorporeal circulation (ECC). This allows the surgeon to perform surgical procedures on a perfectly still heart, while the patient""s life support is maintained by cardiopulmonary assistance. During traditional coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, the surgeon or assistant may manually or otherwise manipulate the arrested heart into a position and orientation that yields the best access to a target coronary artery requiring a bypass graft, or coronary artery revascularization.
Recently, in an aim to render CABG surgery less invasive to the patient, beating heart CABG surgery is being developed whereby ECC, one of the most invasive aspects of cardiac surgery, is eliminated and coronary artery revascularization is performed directly on the beating heart. One of the challenges in performing beating heart CABG surgery lies in positioning and orienting the beating heart in order to obtain access to the inferior and posterior artery beds, while aiming to minimize physiologically undesirable effects such as hemodynamic instability, arrhythmia, or a precipitous drop in arterial pressure, that may occur as a result of such beating heart manipulation.
Another challenge lies in locally immobilizing at least a portion of the beating heart surface, or myocardium, in the vicinity of the target coronary artery requiring the bypass graft, or anastomosis, in an attempt to simulate the arrested myocardium normally operated on in traditional CABG surgery. To this end, a variety of movement restraining devices, or coronary stabilizers, have been and continue to be developed. Most coronary stabilizers have a contact member with a substantially planar body contact surface. The contact surface is typically interrupted by an opening, or arterial window, in the contact member in order to obtain access to the target artery exposed within the arterial window. The immobilization load applied by the coronary stabilizer to the heart tends to cause a protrusion or extrusion of myocardium tissue through the arterial window. The tissue extrusion obtained with a substantially planar contact surface applying a modest immobilization load on the heart, is generally quite small. Furthermore, with disposable-type plastic stabilizers, the contact member must be sufficiently thick to provide the required stiffness and rigidity in stabilizer design to adequately immobilize the contacted heart surface. As such, the generally small tissue extrusion through the arterial window may not even extend in height above the top, or exposed surface, of the relatively thick plastic contact member. In an attempt to improve the amount of tissue extrusion to a desired level in height, above the exposed surface of the contact member, a significantly greater immobilization load must be applied to the substantially planar contact member. As a result, this tends to impose restraints on the beating heart that may considerably impede its normal beating function, and induce the onset of the physiologically undesirable effects described above.
In light of foregoing, it would be beneficial to have a coronary stabilizer with an advantageously contoured body contact surface that tends to induce, entrain or promote a considerable extrusion of a portion of immobilized heart tissue through its arterial window. It would be a further advantage if this extrusion could be accomplished while at least a part of said contact surface also substantially conforms to the natural curvature of the heart. It would be yet a further advantage if this extrusion could be achieved with minimum impact to a heart chamber situated below the immobilized myocardium, thereby reducing the potential distortions in heart valvulature, and preserving hemodynamic stability.
In beating heart surgery, the pulsating effect of the heart may tend to induce disengagement or slipping of the contacted myocardium tissue relative to the contact surface of the coronary stabilizer. It would be beneficial to have a coronary stabilizer that has an advantageously contoured body contact surface, whereby this surface is configured with a tread or tissue-engaging texture that tends to enhance its traction on the contacted myocardium tissue.
Tissue stabilizers are typically manipulated through a handle that is connected to the body contact member. Tissue stabilizers may be kept in place by manually grasping and holding fixed said handle. Preferably, however, tissue stabilizers such as coronary stabilizers employed during a beating heart bypass surgery, are kept in place by securing said handle to a substantially stable surgical platform, such as a chest retractor. Said handle is usually engaged with a positioning means which is itself engaged to said retractor. Most coronary stabilizers have a handle extending away in height from the contact member, and from the contacted body tissue when in use. Such a handle may be referred to as a push-type handle because, in operation, said handle will tend to be in compression, when exerting a force against a portion of the heart, with its contact member. As such, surgical access to the arterial window, and to the exposed target coronary artery therein, may be compromised by the presence of said handle located generally within the surgical workspace situated above the arterial window. Based on the foregoing, and especially for posterior coronary artery revascularizations, it would be beneficial to provide a coronary stabilizer with an advantageously contoured contact member, and with a pull-type handle. Said pull-type handle extends away from the target artery in a direction that is generally rearwardly of the portion of heart tissue surface containing the target artery. This may tend to enhance the surgical access to the arterial window, by leaving the working access view of the arterial window unobstructed. It may also tend to permit a surgeon to obtain access to a lower side, or posterior portion of the heart. Finally, it may also help in maintaining the position of the beating heart in a substantially vertical orientation, with the apex directed generally outward of the retracted chest cavity, as may be required in order to access the posterior territory of the heart.
In beating heart CABG surgery, the heart continues to pump blood throughout the surgical procedure since ECC is avoided. As a result, an incision created in a coronary artery tends to cause bleeding within the surgical field. Surgical wires, preferably elastic vascular loops are sometimes used, during at least a part of the surgical procedure, to constrict or ligate a target coronary artery that will be surgically revascularized. A vascular loop is generally placed around a target coronary artery, at a location upstream of the intended arteriotomy and subsequent anastomosis, thereby serving to restrict blood flow through said target artery. Another such vascular loop may be placed at a location downstream of said arteriotomy incision, tending to minimize backflow from collateral arteries. As a result, an arteriotomy and subsequent anastomosis may be performed on said target artery in a substantially bloodless surgical field while the patient""s heart continues to beat. One such vascular loop, with integrally assembled tissue-piercing needle, is commercially available from Quest Medical, Inc. of Allen, Tex., under brand name xe2x80x9cRetract-O-Tape(trademark)xe2x80x9d.
Some coronary stabilizers are configured with anchoring features to secure said vascular loops. These anchoring features generally protrude above the heart contact surface of the coronary stabilizer, and as such, a vascular loop is generally secured to said stabilizer in a location situated in height above the heart contact surface of said stabilizer. Encircling of the target artery with a vascular loop, and subsequently pulling and securing the ends of said vascular loop to the coronary stabilizer, will tend to at least partially constrict the target artery. It may also tend to further extrude, through the arterial window, the portion of myocardium tissue containing the encircled target artery. This further extrusion is generally in addition to the extrusion that results when a coronary stabilizer with an advantageously contoured contact surface is engaged with a myocardium tissue. In light of the foregoing, it would be a further advantage if a coronary stabilizer with contoured contact surface is also provided with an array of surgical wire attachment fittings for engaging a surgical wire.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tissue stabilizer, and more specifically a coronary stabilizer well-suited for performing beating heart CABG surgery, which tends to promote the extrusion of a contacted and substantially immobilized heart tissue, through an arterial window in said coronary stabilizer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a coronary stabilizer with an advantageously contoured body contact surface, that tends to maximize the amount of tissue extrusion through an arterial window, when a given stabilization load is applied by said coronary stabilizer.
It is another object of the present invention to tend to improve surgical access to a coronary artery, especially a deep intramyocardial artery, by providing a coronary stabilizer which tends to extrude said artery through an arterial window in said coronary stabilizer.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present invention and its preferred embodiments which follows.

Coronary stabilizer for performing beating heart surgery


A sheet shaped oxygen absorbing member according to the present invention comprises a lamination in the order of a separator layer, a base layer having an adhesive layer, an oxygen absorbing layer and a gas permeable layer, the gas permeable layer being directly secured to the base layer at the periphery of the lamination, and is structured to be capable of attaching by readily peeling off from the separator layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oxygen absorbing member having an oxygen absorbing property and formed into a sheet like shape, and a method for manufacture thereof. The oxygen absorbing member can be used in the field of a container storing foodstuffs or pharmaceuticals. Oxygen existing in the container can be removed by securing this oxygen absorbing member in the container, and thus deterioration or oxidation of foodstuffs or pharmaceuticals can be prevented.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to maintain quality or freshness of foodstuffs or pharmaceuticals during their storage period, so-called oxygen absorbing packaging, wherein an oxygen absorbing agent is enclosed in the container together with articles to be stored, has been widely used for the purpose of absorbing oxygen existing in a package. This oxygen absorbing packaging may prevent articles from deteriorating due to an influence of oxygen or eroding due to microbes under the existence of oxygen.
Therefore, various packages of articles delivered to general consumers generally contain an oxygen absorbing agent.
The oxygen absorbing packaging can be attained by enclosing foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals or the like to be stored in a container having a property of blocking permeation of a gas together with oxygen absorbing member in which oxygen absorbing agent is contained. Generally, this oxygen absorbing member is supplied in the form of a small bag of gas permeable packaging member containing oxygen absorbing composition in granular or powder shape.
In many cases, it is desired that such a small bag of oxygen absorbing agent (sometimes simply referred to as a "small bag") is secured to an inside surface of a container. Thereby, an oxygen absorbing agent is prevented from being mixed in and eaten with articles (foodstuff), or being accidentally cooked with articles.
Various methods of securing this small bag are proposed. Generally, small bags are attached to an inner wall surface of packaging members, such as packaging bags or containers (carton, box, etc.) by use of an adhesive agent, a hot melt agent or a pressure sensitive adhesive double coated tapes.
However, it is also difficult, in many cases, to sufficiently secure the small bag to a container because the surface of the small bag is often uneven and the small bag is swollen. If a small bag is secured to a container by any chance, it is often secured to a container in part, but not entire surface of a small bag.
As a result, the area of a small bag not in contact with the surface of a container creates a gap. Such a gap causes various problems, namely, stored articles are jammed in or hooked at the gap, and thus smooth handling of the articles can be disturbed or the small bag falls off from the container.
Moreover, a conventional oxygen absorbing member using powdery oxygen absorbing composition has a problem in that the powder sprays in the air when it is to be filled in the gas permeable packaging member and thus a part of the powder adheres to the surface of the small bag.
Then, it was proposed to have a container itself having oxygen absorbing property. In the Japanese Patent (Kokoku) Publication No. 62-1824 and the Japanese Patent (Kokoku) Publication No. 4-6082, manufacturing exterior structure with a film containing an oxygen absorbing agent is disclosed.
However, the oxygen absorbing property in the prior art has been insufficient. The conventional packaging member has further problems in that since packaging of a bag or container itself is manufactured by using a special packaging member, the cost of the container increases which leads to an increase in the price of the articles.
In the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications Nos. 2-86758, 54-114585, 55-44344, 56-26524, the Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 60-10768, the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publications Nos. 55-109428 and 55-109428, forming an oxygen absorbing agent in a sheet like shape is disclosed. The prior art also discloses the prevention of exposure of a surface of the sheet shaped oxygen absorbing agent by covering the agent by a wrapping material. Thus, direct contact of the oxygen absorbing agent and foodstuff is prevented.
Since the sheet shaped oxygen absorbing agent is not a granule or powder, it is advantageous in that no leakage of granule or powder within the package is likely to happen due to destruction of the package, unlike the case of the conventional oxygen absorbing member in a small bag.
When this sheet shaped oxygen absorbing member is attached to a container, the method of cutting the sheet in a predetermined size and then adhering the sheet to a predetermined place in the container by using adhesive agent can be considered. If this method is applied, the side edge of the oxygen absorbing layer is exposed to the atmosphere when the sheet is cut out. In this case, the above-mentioned direct contact occurs, and it is burdensome to apply adhesive to the sheet so cut out. Moreover, the conventional sheet shaped oxygen absorbing agent has a problem in that its oxygen absorbing property is rather weak.

Sheet shaped oxygen absorbing member and method for manufacture thereof


Described herein are techniques for battery management. The techniques include a method comprising initializing a battery management system (BMS) associated with a battery and calculating a degraded battery capacity by charging the battery from a first voltage threshold to a test voltage threshold, discharging the battery from the test voltage threshold to the first voltage threshold, collecting measurements of discharge capacity at predetermined voltage measurement points while discharging the battery from the test voltage threshold to the first voltage threshold, generating a polynomial fit function for discharge capacity as a function of voltage for the battery based on the measuring, and estimating the degraded battery capacity. The method further includes charging the battery based on the degraded battery capacity, the charging resulting in the battery maintaining an updated voltage threshold.

The present disclosure relates to batteries, and, more specifically, to estimating capacity degradation in batteries.
Batteries are devices that convert chemical energy into electrical energy. Batteries can be made up of numerous modules and/or cells. Cells are traditionally the smallest, discrete form a battery can take and can have a range of voltages (e.g., one to five volts). Cells can be combined in series or parallel to form a module. Numerous modules can be assembled to form a battery.

Capacity degradation analysis for batteries

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and an apparatus for using a plurality of antennas to equalize a composite propagation channel of a wideband wireless communication is provided. The method comprises adjusting a corresponding weight associated with at least two of the plurality of antennas to obtain a channel response from the plurality of antennas over a composite propagation channel. The method further comprises equalizing the channel response of the composite propagation channel over a given bandwidth based on the corresponding weights for the wireless communication over a wideband frequency range. By adjusting a complex weight associated with each of the set of transmit antennas, a wireless communication system may obtain a channel response from the plurality of antennas over the composite propagation channel. In this way, the wireless communication system may combine multiple antenna signals from the set of transmit antennas with the complex weights to provide an overall transfer function that is substantially flat over a given bandwidth.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more particularly, to wireless communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a rapid increase in bandwidth consumption by service subscribers on a wireless network, use of multiple transmit and/or receive antennas has grown considerably across a variety of communication devices and systems. In particular, systems that use multiple transmit and receive antennas are sometimes referred to as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Among other things, for example, a typical MIMO system may deploy multiple transmit and/or receive antennas to increase the achievable bit rate for transmission of large data. However, such use of multiple transmit and/or receive antennas in a MIMO system either involves equalization over large bandwidths or operating over sub-bands, such as in orthogonal frequency-domain multiplexing (OFDM) bands.
A conventional MIMO system that uses multiple antennas processes the channel responses in parallel. When using multiple antennas, a conventional beamformer may steer a beam in different directions before selecting the one that results in the "best" channel response. However, for radio frequency (RF) propagation in a MIMO system, a single channel based on a particular antenna orientation or element phasing may provide an exceptional channel response relative to other available channels. Since a conventional beamformer can only tune to a linear wave-front and does not have the flexibility of arbitrary complex weighting of multiple antennas, significant performance degradation may result.
Moreover, in a diverse scattering environment, a transmitter associated with a MIMO system based on the beam steering may cause a receiver to sense signal energy from many paths over different angles-of-arrival. Even though the beam steering may emphasize some paths over others in such a way as to result in a good channel response, in general, many applications of the beam steering are somewhat limiting since individual performance of antennas of the multiple antennas is based on beam directions. Another approach that uses multiple antennas involves diversity combining to maximize signal power even if the channel response over a desired bandwidth may be unacceptable.
A digital wireless communication system may use either a wideband transmission scheme, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) or a narrowband transmission scheme, such as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). A CDMA based wideband transmission may use the channel symbols or chips of a far shorter duration than the maximum delay of the mobile channel. An OFDM based narrowband transmission may use channels (sub-carriers) where many narrowband channels may be transmitted in parallel. The duration of the transmitted symbols over a signal channel may distinguish a wideband wireless digital communication from a narrowband wireless digital communication. For the signal channel, the duration from a first received path to the last received path that has significant power determines the maximum delay of the channel.
However, a radio frequency signal for a wireless digital communication may use multiple paths between a transmitter and a receiver. Such multi-paths may cause signal fading, which may degrade performance of a digital communications system, resulting in lost data or dropped calls in a cellular system. Fading may occur in various forms, including a flat fading. In the flat fading, the same degree of fading takes place for all of the frequency components transmitted through a signal channel and within the channel bandwidth. That is, all the frequency components of the transmitted signal rise and fall together. In contrast, a frequency-selective fading may cause different frequencies of an input signal to be attenuated and phase shifted differently in a channel. An equalizer may provide a desired performance for the channels that may experience frequency-selective fading by restoring the flat fading of the channels. In the time domain, the frequency-selective fading is sometimes called a multi-path delay spread.
One effect of the multi-path fading in the frequency domain is that wideband signals suffer from frequency-selective fading, which means that different parts of the spectrum are faded more than others. Instead, narrowband signals suffer from flat fading where the whole signal spectrum fades. However, if an antenna receives a signal with zero amplitude, the signal is sometimes referred to be in deep fade. Deep fades occur more frequently the faster a mobile station travels, but the duration that the signal is in deep fades decreases as the speed of the mobile increases.
Additionally, a conventional equalizer may use time delay taps. A time delay tap provides a setting with adjustable time delay intervals to trip after a set delay regardless of an input signal state. By varying the delay time tap setting, an equalizer may define handling of transients. However, this use of time delay taps for equalization of a signal propagation channel cannot accommodate deep fades without sacrificing noise immunity.

Composite channel equalization of a wideband wireless communication system


Methods and systems for a networked storage system is provided. One method includes creating a first snapshot for data units stored at a persistent memory of a computing device, the data units managed by a first file system; transferring metadata associated with the data units and the data units stored at the persistent memory to a storage device managed by a second file system using a logical object, the second file system executed by a storage system interfacing with the computing device; and generating a second snapshot of the logical object at the storage device, the second snapshot including data units and associated metadata of the first snapshot.

Various forms of storage systems are used today. These forms include direct attached storage (DAS) network attached storage (NAS) systems, storage area networks (SANs), and others. Network storage systems are commonly used for a variety of purposes, such as providing multiple users with access to shared data, backing up data and others.
A storage system typically includes at least one computing system executing a storage operating system with a file system for storing and retrieving data on behalf of one or more client computing systems ("clients"). The storage operating system stores and manages shared data containers in a set of mass storage devices.
Newly emerging non-volatile or persistent memory (PM) technology may be implemented through a nonvolatile media attached to a central processing unit (CPU) of a computer. PM is characterized by low RAM-like latencies, and is typically substantially faster vis-à-vis flash-based SSD arrays (solid state devices) and HDDs (hard disk drive), respectively. PM is typically implemented using backed-up dynamic random access memory (DRAM, magneto-resistive random-access memory (MRAM) or spin-transfer torque magnetic random-access memory (STT-MRAM) technologies. Other technologies, such as resistive random-access memory (ReRAM and phase-change memory (PCM)) which are very dense, may enable cheaper, though slower, PM components.
File systems are usually block-based and are architected towards using HDDs and/or SSDs, and as such, do not store or cache user data on a PM. Typically, a separate software layer manages memory-based software caching. Emerging PM-aware file systems (e.g. EXT4-DAX) directly access PM, avoiding slow and cumbersome caching and/or memory map services of a virtual file system layer.
Typically, PM based file systems executed out of host computing systems initially store data units at the PM. The data units are later transferred to lower tier storage managed by a storage operating system of a storage system (or storage controller). Continuous efforts are being made to develop computing technology to efficiently protect data that is initially stored by the PM based file system and later moved to lower tier storage devices managed by a storage controller.

Methods and systems for protecting data of a persistent memory based file system


A system and method for generating an electronic document are provided. A request to generate an electronic document associated with a concept is received. Content for the electronic document is suggested based on the concept. A selection of the suggested content is received. An electronic document is automatically generated using the selected suggested content.

With the advent of the Internet, advertising over more interactive media such as websites has become popular and inexpensive. The interactive nature of the Internet enables advertisements to be targeted to users based on highly specific user-requested content, and a successful advertisement can cost as little as a few pennies.
However, despite the initial promise of cheap and efficient website-based advertisements, there remain several problems with existing approaches. Advertisers are generally required to provide their own advertisements to be displayed on websites. Creating a professional advertisement typically requires an advertiser to either maintain an internal marketing department or outsource ad design to an advertising firm. Both options can be costly, particularly for small businesses. Designing graphical advertisements internally is often difficult for small business owners who have little bandwidth to master graphical processing software, find or create attractive graphics that do not violate another's copyright, and layout the ad in a professional-looking format. Even larger firms with dedicated marketing departments must expend considerable resources to maintain an effective and current advertising portfolio.
These and other drawbacks exist with current systems and methods.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for automatically creating an image advertisement


By using a stacked gate transistor including a floating gate in a limiter, a threshold voltage Vth of the stacked gate transistor can be corrected by controlling the amount of charge accumulated in the floating gate of the stacked gate transistor even in the case where there are variations in the threshold voltage Vth of the stacked gate transistor.

A semiconductor device such as an ID chip or an IC card capable of wirelessly communicating data has been put into practical use in various fields, and is expected to further expand its market as a new type of communication information terminal. The ID chip is also called a wireless tag, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag, or an IC tag. The ID chip and the IC card that are in practical use today each has an antenna and an integrated circuit formed by using a semiconductor substrate.
The ID chip or the IC card can communicate with a reader/writer via radio waves. Specifically, an integrated circuit operates using an AC voltage generated in an antenna by radio waves emitted from the reader/writer and a signal outputted from the integrated circuit is used for load modulation of the antenna, thereby a signal can be transmitted to the reader/writer.

Limiter and semiconductor device using the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd


It is an object of the invention to provide a terminal box for a solar cell module in which a positive terminal and a negative terminal are electrically isolated from each other, an occurrence of a short circuit is reduced, and reliability is enhanced, and a solar cell module including the same. In order to achieve this object, a terminal box for a solar cell module contains terminals configured to derive an output from a solar cell panel to the outside, and includes a container and a lid body covering an aperture of the container. The container includes a first region in which a first terminal configured to connect a first output conductor of the solar cell panel is disposed, a second region in which a second terminal configured to connect a second output conductor of the solar cell panel is disposed, and a partitioning portion provided so as to partition the first region and the second region and including a groove on an aperture surface of the container. The lid body includes a projection contained in the groove.

Conventionally, a terminal box which is not sealed with a resin (hereinafter, referred to as without-potting) has been proposed for the purposes of reducing the operating procedures and operating time required for manufacturing a terminal box, or reducing infiltration of moisture generated at the interface between a terminal box and a resin filled into the terminal box due to capillary action (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-63651).

Terminal box for solar cell module, and solar cell module including the same


A generator unit for tractors (1) has a housing (4), which can be non-rotationally mounted on a component of the tractor (1). An input shaft is rotationally supported in the housing (4) and connectable to a power take-off shaft (2) of the tractor (1). An electrical generator (6) is coupled with the housing. The electrical generator (6) has a stator and a rotor, which is drive-wise connected to the input shaft and is driven by the same. The electrical generator (6) serves to driver electrical loads of the tractor 1 or of an agricultural device.

Conventionally these types of working units are driven mechanically. If these attachment devices for a tractor or agricultural devices are pulled by a tractor, the working units are connected by a mechanical drive line to a power take-off shaft of the tractor. The power take-off shaft is driven by the main drive, generally the tractor internal combustion engine.
In self-propelled agricultural working devices, the working units are driven directly by the main drive. Hydraulic drive systems are also known, in which the main drive drives a hydraulic pump, which serves as the hydraulic pressure source. Via hydraulic lines, hydraulic motors are driven, which again drive the working units.
These conventional drive systems have a multitude of mechanical drive components, which are dimensioned according to the to be transmitted torque. This leads to large and heavy drive systems. Therefore, the assembly of the drive components is cumbersome.
Small loads electrical motors have been used to drive self-propelled vehicles. The motors are connected to the vehicle electric system. These vehicle electric systems, however, generally only generate a nominal battery voltage of 12 Volts and a generator nominal voltage of 14 Volts. This voltage, however, is insufficient to drive electrical loads of drive units of agricultural devices. The electrical loads of the agricultural devices are too high.

Generator unit for tractors and electrical drive system for agricultural devices


There is provided a housing including a first housing part including a first side wall, and a second housing part including a second side wall. The first side wall includes a first protruding part on an inner circumferential surface. The second side wall includes, on an outer circumferential surface, a first concave part into which the first protruding part is fitted.

The present disclosure relates to a housing and a housing component.
Various types of housing have been recently developed. For example, there is a housing including a plurality of housing parts. As an example of the housing including a plurality of housing parts, such a housing is disclosed that includes a protruding part on a second-housing-part facing surface of a side wall of a first housing part, the protruding part being fitted into a groove on a side wall of a second housing part (see, for example, JP H11-54950A).


Novel N-acetonylbenzamides and their use in controlling phytopathogenic fungi.

The present invention relates to certain N-acetonyl-substituted benzamides and their use in controlling fungi, particularly phytopathogenic fungi.
It is known that benzamides of the class of N-(1,1-dialkyl-3-chloroacetonyl)substituted benzamides exhibit fungicidal activity, see, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,661,991 and 3,751,239. The practical value of such compounds in the treatment of fungal infections of plants is limited by the substantial phytotoxicity also exhibited by the compounds. It has been recognized that the phytotoxicity of such N-acetonyl substituted benzamides can be reduced by altering the substituents on the terminal carbon to other than only hydrogen or chlorine, see, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,822,902 and 4,863,940.

N-acetonylbenzamides and their use as fungicides


The systems and method for processing scanning data of a scanning object are provided. The method may include acquiring, in a scanning process, at least two target phases of a motion of the scanning object, wherein the scanning process involves multiple data acquisition time points each of which corresponds to a scanning data set; identifying at least two first time periods during the scanning process, each first time period corresponding to one of the two target phases; determining a second time period that encloses the at least two first time periods; and retrieving once, from the multiple scanning data sets, second scanning data sets for reconstructing phase images each of which corresponds to one target phase, the second scanning data sets being acquired at second data acquisition time points of the multiple data acquisition time points within the second time period.

Computed Tomography (CT) has emerged as a key imaging modality in the visualization of anatomy. A CT device typically includes a radiation source to project precisely collimated radiation beams (e.g., X-rays, gamma rays, etc.) through an object (e.g., a patient) being imaged, and a highly sensitive detector to detect the radiation beams passing through the object. The detected radiation beams can then be used for image reconstruction.
At present, prospective image reconstruction of organs and/or tissues (e.g., the heart, the lung, etc.) of an object is mostly used in multi-slice CT scans, especially with ultra-high-slice CT scans (such as 128 slices). Generally, since the prospective image reconstruction can be affected by physiological movements of the object, for example, for cardiac image reconstruction, the physiological movements caused by arrhythmia, tachycardia, etc. As a result, multiple images of different motion phases (or referred to as phase for brevity) may be reconstructed so that a doctor can select the reconstructed image with better image quality for diagnosing the object. Therefore, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for multi-phase image reconstruction to improve the efficiency in the multi-phase image reconstruction.

Systems and methods for scanning data processing

SHANGHAI UNITED IMAGING HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.


A two-part hard top construction for an open passenger car can be deposited in a folded-together manner in a receiving space in a rear area of the vehicle body. A rearward part is constructed as a stable, one-piece component of a transparent material which forms two C-column parts laterally flanking the rear widow, and a forward roof part is constructed as a folding top unit which is supported on the rearward part and, in the unfolded condition, can be fixed on a windshield frame of the vehicle body.

This application claims the priority of German application 196 39 567.4-21 filed in Germany on Sep. 26, 1996.
The invention relates to a roof construction for an open passenger car having a rearward part which is swivellably disposed on the vehicle body and has an integrated rear window as well as having a roof part which is linked to the rearward part and which, by way of joint movement kinematics can be lowered together with the rearward part into a receiving space of the vehicle body. The rearward part is designed as a dimensionally stable component which forms two C-column parts which laterally flank the rear window, and the roof part is constructed as a folding top unit which is supported on the rearward part and which, in the folded-open conditions can be fixed to a windshield frame of the vehicle body.
A roof construction of this type for an open passenger car is known from German Patent Document DE-GM 16 95 169. In this case, a stiff sheet metal construction, which is swivellably fastened on the motor vehicle body, when the folding top is closed, forms a rearward part of the motor vehicle interior as well as a receiving device for the rear window of the motor vehicle. Furthermore, a roof part is provided which is designed as a fabric top and which is fastened on the stiff rearward part and is tensioned in its width by means of several transversely arranged supporting hoops. When the top is closed, the rearward part is swivelled out of the vehicle body and is erected; the roof part is unfolded and is tensioned over the vehicle occupant compartment in that it is fixed in the area of the windshield.
A two-part roof construction for an open passenger car is known on the basis of the Mercedes SLK-Roadster. The roof construction has two hard shells which are swivellably connected with one another and of which one is designed as a roof part and the other is designed as a rearward part. The roof part and the rearward part are painted in the color of the vehicle. A rear window is integrated in the rearward part. The two parts of the roof construction can be lowered into a receiving space in the rearward structure of the vehicle in a folded condition.
A folding top for an open passenger car is also known (German Patent Document DE-AS 1 179 125) which has a support construction covered with a top material. In the rearward area of the folding top, a rear window, which is held in a stable frame, is disposed by means of a lever linkage on the support construction. For the lowering of the folding top into its position exposing the passenger compartment, the rear window can be displaced toward the lateral support rods of the support construction and can be lowered together with the support construction. By holding the rear window in a stable frame which is disposed by means of a separate lever linkage on the support construction, it is possible to design the rear window with a relatively large surface. However, the devices for holding the frame carrying the rear window have a relatively high-expenditure design.
It is an object of the invention to provide a roof construction of the initially mentioned type which, also in the closed condition, ensures a bright passenger compartment.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the rearward part, including the C-column parts laterally flanking the rear window, are at least essentially made of a transparent material. Because of the solution according to the invention, the passenger compartment will be very bright even in the closed condition of the roof construction. In comparison to known top constructions, the driver's view toward the rear is considerably improved since the dead areas at the level of the C-column sections are eliminated which in the case of known fabric top constructions could cause considerable visual defects. The rearward part may also have supporting frame elements made of non-transparent, dimensionally stable materials which, however, in comparison to the large transparent viewing surfaces of the rearward part are arranged such that they do not impair the viewing area toward the rear. In the case of the solution according to the invention, the rearward part carries out the supporting and carrying function for the roof part, specifically the folding top unit. Because of the design of the folding top unit as a dimensionally stable component, the construction of the folding top unit can be simplified in comparison to known full-top units. Essentially, the care for the dimensionally stable component is easier and the component is sturdier than a full-top unit which extends downward also over the rearward area of the roof construction. The design of the roof part as a folding top unit ensures that, in the open condition of the passenger compartment, the roof part can be lowered relatively compactly together with the rearward part and thus, in comparison to a two-part hard top construction, requires a considerably reduced receiving space in the rearward structure of the passenger car. The joint movement kinematics for the folding top unit and the rearward-side component representing the rear window ensure a simple opening and closing of the roof construction at low expenditures and minimal control-type measures. It is particularly characteristic of the solution according to the invention that the rearward part is almost completely made of a transparent material.
As a further development of the invention, the rearward part is provided with joined frame parts for the linking and bearing of the folding top unit as well as for the fastening of a top covering of the folding top unit. The frame parts are advantageously fastened on the rearward part in a detachable manner so that, in the mounted condition, they form a one-piece construction unit together with the rearward part.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Roof construction for an open passenger car


A turbine airfoil with a relatively thick TBC applied over the airfoil surface. The airfoil has a surface contour on the trailing edge region with a forward end having a large amount of taper and a rearward end with less taper such that a substantially constant wall thickness is formed in the rearward end. The TBC is applied over the airfoil surface and tapers off at the trailing edge ends on the pressure side and the suction side walls to produce an ideal surface contour on the airfoil. In another embodiment, the airfoil surface includes a tapered section at the trailing edge region, and the TBC is applied over the taper so that an over-coating is formed. The TBC over-coating is then removed and a smooth and ideal surface contour is produced along the airfoil surface. Small raised bumps each having a height of the desired thickness of the TBC to be applied over the respective bump is used to control the finished thickness of the TBC.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gas turbine engine, and more specifically to a throat formed between adjacent stator vanes.
2. Description of the Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
In a gas turbine engine, the turbine converts the energy of the passing hot gas flow into mechanical energy to drive the rotor shaft. In an aero engine, the turbine provides a majority of the mechanical power to the fan. In an industrial gas turbine (IGT) engine, the majority of power delivered to the rotor shaft is used to drive an electric generator for electrical power production. In either case, the efficiency of the engine is directly related to the efficiency of the turbine.
One method of improving the efficiency of the turbine is to place a row of stator or guide vanes directly upstream from a stage of rotor blades in order to direct the hot gas flow into the rotor blades at the most opportune angle to produce the greatest reaction. The nozzle guide vanes have two principal functions. First, they must convert part of the gas heat and pressure energy into dynamic or kinetic energy, so that the gas will strike the turbine blades with some degree of force. Second, the nozzle vanes must turn this gas flow so that it will impinge on the turbine blades in the proper direction; that is, the gasses must impact on the turbine blade plane of the rotor. The nozzle does its first job by using the Bernoulli theorem. As through any nozzle, when the flow area is restricted, the gas will accelerate and a large portion of the static pressure in the gas is turned into dynamic pressure. The degree to which this effect will occur depends upon the relationship between the nozzle guide vane inlet and exit areas, which, in turn, is closely related to the type of turbine blade used.
Adjacent nozzles form a throat between the suction side wall of one vane and the pressure side wall of the adjacent vane. Making the nozzle area too small will restrict the airfoil through the engine, raise compressor discharge pressure, and bring the compressor closer to stall. Nozzle area is especially critical during acceleration, when the nozzle will have a tendency to choke (gas flowing at the speed of sound). Small exit areas also cause slower accelerations because the compressor will have to work against an increased back pressure. Increasing the nozzle diaphragm area will result in faster engine acceleration, less tendency to stall, but higher specific fuel consumption.
Therefore, a precise control of the throat size of a stator vane set is important in the efficient operation of the turbine. Important dimensions for turbine nozzles are shown in FIG. 1 and include the thickness of the trailing edge A of the stator vanes and the distance from side walls B of adjacent vanes.
Another method of improving the efficiency of the engine is to coat the turbine airfoils with a thermal barrier coating (or, TBC) in order to allow for exposure to higher gas flow temperatures or reduced cooling air allotment and associated losses. In one prior art stator vane set, the nozzles are coated with a TBC around the entire circumference of the airfoil as seen in FIG. 2. Adding a TBC of thickness T to the airfoils will reduce the airfoil throat at the exit end by 2T and increases the trailing edge diameter of the vane by 2T. Recent advances in coating technology have resulted in a TBC thickness increased to levels as great as approximately 1.0 mm thick. This high thickness of the TBC has a significant impact on the critical aerodynamic dimensions of the nozzles as represented in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows a prior art airfoil with a constant taper of the airfoil trailing edge contour C and a TBC applied in which the TBC tapers off from normal thickness to a zero thickness in which the metallic material of the airfoil at the trailing edge is exposed. This produces an airfoil with a surface contour that will be aerodynamically undesirable.
The prior art aerodynamic design accounts for the effect of TBC thickness when setting the airfoil throat dimension B, but tends to accept the increased thickness in dimension A. limitations of the prior art design practice are spallation of TBC results in a significant variation of the throat area over the life of the part, and increased aerodynamic losses associated with high trailing edge thickness.


A sheet feeding mechanism including a singulating assembly and mechanism for accumulating sheets in a stack adjacent the singulating assembly. The singulating assembly comprises a retard roller and a guard adjacent thereto. The retard roller has a first bearing surface at a lower position. A mechanism is provided for feeding single sheets from the stack past the bearing surface of the retard roller and beneath it. The retard roller is adjustable to move the first bearing surface away from its lower position and replacing it with a second bearing surface at the lower position.

The present invention relates to sheet feeding mechanisms and more particularly to an adjustable indexing roller assembly for sheet feeding mechanisms.
In current sheet feeding mechanisms, printed paper sheets are fed from one machine to another or from one portion of a machine to another portion of the machine. In such sheet feeding mechanisms, sheets are accumulated in a stack and then fed one by one from the bottom of the stack to another portion of the machine so that other functions may be performed on the sheets. It is important that the sheets be fed one-by-one so that the mechanism for feeding the sheets one-by-one from a stack must be accurately positioned to feed a single sheet only. In existing machines the mechanism for controlling the feeding of the sheets are complex and difficult to adjust accurately. In addition, the sheets are moved at high speed from the bottom of the stack so that there is danger of smudging the printed sheets.
The present invention avoids these problems and has for one of its objects the provision of an improved adjustable indexing roller assembly which can be easily adjusted to control the feeding of a single sheet from the bottom of a stack.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved adjustable indexing roller assembly the height of which can be easily adjusted to accommodate different thicknesses of paper being fed.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved indexing roller assembly in which a worn bearing surface on the indexing roller may be easily replaced with a new bearing surface without dismantling the indexing roller assembly.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved indexing roller assembly which is simple to operate.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved indexing roller assembly which is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved indexing roller assembly in which the possibility of smudging the printed sheets as they are being fed is minimized or eliminated.
Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.


An amplifying optical electromagnetic wave concentrator includes an amplification focusing device and a receiver. The amplification focusing device focuses an incident optical electromagnetic wave on the receiver. The amplification focusing device is doped with active components and is subjected to an excitation wave that causes the active components to pass to an energy level such that interaction between the incident electromagnetic wave and the active components causes the active components to pass to a lower energy level and causes emission, towards the receiver, of at least one photon having the same wavelength as the incident electromagnetic wave. The focused photon or photons form an amplified wave of the incident electromagnetic wave.

Communications by optical connection, in particular by infrared connection, take place between a transmitter that transmits the optical signal and a receiver that receives it. Because of losses, the energy of the optical signal transmitted by the transmitter is not entirely received by the receiver and the energy of the signal received may be low. In order to compensate for these losses and increase the energy of the received signal, a concentrator is placed in front of the receiver. This concentrator captures the beams that pass in the vicinity of the receiver and redirects them to the latter whilst focusing them, thus affording an increase in the energy of the received signal by concentration on the receiver.
Such an optical electromagnetic wave concentrator is described by Xin Yang in an article published by "SPIE Proceedings" of December 2002 (Proceedings of SPIE—Volume 4873—Optical Wireless Communications V, Eric J. Korevaar, Editor, December 2002, pp 71-78) under the title "Simulation of impulse response on IR wireless indoor channel with concentrator".
The concentrator has the shape of a truncated sphere placed in front of a detector, the radius of which is greater than the radius of the detector, thus making it possible to redirect the incident beams that are outside the field of the detector towards the detector. This type of concentrator gives satisfaction if the energies of the various optical beams received by the concentrator are not too low and if the concentration of the beams makes it possible to achieve a certain energy level affording good detection of the signal; in particular the total energy must make it possible to have an advantageous signal to noise ratio.
One object of the present invention is to propose an amplifying optical electromagnetic wave concentrator that does not have the drawbacks of the prior art.

Amplifying optical electromagnetic wave concentrator


A coating composition is disclosed comprising:. (a) an aqueous medium, PA1 (b) an water-dispersible polyurethane resin that is the reaction product of a mixture comprising: PA1 (c) an aminoplast crosslinking agent.. (1) a hydroxy-functional polyester component that is the reaction product of a mixture comprising a carboxylic acid component comprising at least two carboxylic acid functional groups, a long-chain aliphatic polyol having 18 to 60 carbon atoms, and a short-chain polyol having 12 or fewer carbon atoms, PA2 (2) a multifunctional compound having at least one active hydrogen group and at least one water-stabilizing group, PA2 (3) an active hydrogen-containing capping or chain extending agent, and PA2 (4) a polyisocyanate, and

Multi-layer systems have been utilized to coat automobiles for a number of years, but the early development of these systems necessarily employed organic solvents. As environmental regulations became more stringent, and the cost of organic solvents rose, organic-borne basecoat systems became less desirable. The recent research emphasis in the area of multi-layer systems, especially basecoat systems has focused on the development of water-borne systems for multi-layer coatings.
The shift from organic solvents to water for dispersing and applying resins in multi-layer systems solved many of the environmental and cost problems associated with the use of organic solvents. Water-borne systems, however, have resulted in other problems.
The application of a multi-layer coating to an automobile body, for example, is greatly facilitated by a system that provides for drying of solvent after the application of a coating. This is typically accomplished by flashing underlying coatings such as the basecoat prior to application of the topcoat layer(s). In a flashing operation, the coating is exposed to air, optionally at elevated temperature, for a certain period of time. The time and temperature of the exposure is usually not sufficient to provide any significant curing to the basecoat, but is sufficient to drive enough solvent from the coating to avoid problems caused by excess solvent being trapped under the topcoat layer(s).
By facilitating drying, the time between coatings would be diminished, resulting in manufacturing efficiencies and lower energy costs. In addition, there would be a reduced need for a cool-down zone after drying which would further the manufacturing efficiencies. However, when the solvent for a coating composition is water, the amount of time required for driving off the water is often significantly greater than for organic solvent systems. It is thus desireable to produce a waterborne basecoat composition that could be dried in a period of time short enough to maintain manufacturing efficiency.

Polyurethane coating composition derived from polyester polyol containing long-chain aliphatic polyol


A method of making a double-sided antenna for high frequency devices is discussed. The method includes forming metal patterns on both sides of a substrate having pre-formed connection holes. Preferably, the metal patterns are formed using a printing ink having a precursor and a solvent. In one embodiment, the metal patterns include coils which are formed on both sides of the substrate. In one embodiment, shunt bars are used to speed up the process of making the metal patterns. The shunt bars are punched out at the end of the process to electrically isolate the metal patterns.

High frequency antennas are known in the art. In one method of making such an antenna, electroplating or electroless plating is used to plate one side of a substrate with an antenna pattern. The pattern is printed on one side of the substrate using a seed ink. Upon printing the pattern, the substrate is then electroplated, forming a metallic antenna over the antenna pattern. Since electroplating (or electroless plating) in such antennas is often a one sided operation, a second operation is needed to connect a strap from one end of the antenna to a second end of the antenna. Additionally, electroplating on seed ink is limited by the distance from a supply rail to the furthest point from the rail. Long distances from the supply rail make for long plating times. Moreover, if a double-sided antenna is to be made, the additional operations of printing a pattern on a second side of the substrate and then electroplating that side also need to be performed.
In another method, a conductive line, without loops, may be formed on the second side of the substrate by printing a conductive line pattern on the second side of the substrate using a seed ink and then later electroplating the second side, thus forming the conductive line. A channel may be formed through a hole in the substrate connecting the conductive line with an antenna formed on the first side of the substrate. The hole is punched through the substrate after the seed ink is printed on the second side of the substrate, but before the conductive line is formed through electroplating.
While the conventional solutions for electroplating or electroless plating of electronic devices are advantageous for their intended purposes, a need still exists for a method for double-sided plating of high frequency electronic devices with a plating time that is comparatively less than that of conventional plating. Additionally, a need exists for a simplified method of making a double-sided device, for example, an antenna used for high frequency devices such as HF or RFID tags. Moreover, a need exists for connecting both sides of a substrate for a double-sided electronic device in a minimal number of operations or steps.
The present invention concerns an electronic device (and in particular, a double sided high frequency antenna) and a process for making the same, utilizing a substrate with pre-formed holes, reducing the number of steps required to form the electronic device.

Plated antenna for high frequency devices


Systems and methods associated with origin dodging for a transmitted signal are described. One method includes receiving a transmission sequence for transmission to a receiver. The transmission sequence includes a sequence of transmit symbols and each transmit symbol corresponds to a coordinate pair positioning the transmit symbol's phase on an I-Q plane. The method includes sampling and filtering the transmission sequence to create transition samples and determining whether any transition sample is within a predetermined radius of an origin of the I-Q plane. When a transition sample is positioned within the radius, the method includes generating a dodging symbol and inserting the dodging symbol into the transmission sequence to create a modified transmission sequence. A filtered signal that includes filtered samples of the modified transmission sequence is provided.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Near field communication (NFC), such as Bluetooth, often uses phase-shift keying (PSK) to communicate symbols. A PSK symbol's phase correlates to a particular symbol (e.g, in D8PSK, 45 degrees corresponds to 110, 90 degrees corresponds to 010, and so on). Constellation diagrams are used to represent PSK symbols in the I-Q plane based on the symbols' real and imaginary components. In the constellation diagram, the real component is graphed along the I axis and the imaginary component is graphed along the Q axis. Before a signal corresponding to a succession of PSK symbols is transmitted, the signal is filtered to so that the transmitted signal transitions smoothly from one symbol to the next.


A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for broadcasting information. A change in data used by a number of processors in the data processing system is identified. A message is sent to the number of processors in the data processing system in which the message is sent with a priority level equal to a set of routines that use the data in response to identifying the change. This message is responded to only when the recipient is at an interrupt priority less favored than the priority of the message. A flag is set for each of the number of processors to form a plurality of set flags for the message in which the plurality of set flags are located in memory locations used by the number of processors in which the plurality of set flags remains set until a response is made to the message.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for managing data. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for ensuring that processors accessing data obtain updated values.
2. Description of Related Art
With increasing processing demands, many data processing systems now contain multiple processors. With multiple processors, processing tasks may be split up between these processors. Further, these processors may access information that is accessed by other processors within the data processing system.
It is important for each processor in a multi-data processing system to be able to access updated values. At times, it is desirable to know when each processor has access to selected data. Instructions, such as sync instructions, imply that other processors will obtain updated values for information in memory. A sync instruction is an instruction that forces a flush of all changes to memory that are in a cache local to a CPU into main memory, and invalidates any cache lines that other CPUs may have that are for the same memory. So after a sync, the next time any CPU accesses a changed memory location, it will load the updated value from memory, rather than a stale value from its cache. These instructions, however, do not mean that the processors will not retain a local copy of an old value in a register. Such a situation may result in inaccuracies in calculations.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for ensuring that processors have up-to-date information in their registers.

Method and apparatus for broadcasting messages with set priority to guarantee knowledge of a state within a data processing system


The present invention provides a process for painting a polyolefinic resin component comprising washing the surface of the polyolefinic resin component, directly coating at least one time the surface with the following paint, and forming topcoat on the surface, the paint being a mixture of a main component containing principally a polymer resin having a hydroxyl number of 20-150, which is obtained by polymerizing (A) Chlorinated polyolefin, (B) Acrylic monomer and (C) Polyester prepolymer and a curing agent of (D) polyfunctional isocyanate compound.

The present invention relates to a process for painting polyolefinic resin components.
Hitherto, metal was used in addition to glass for trim parts of automobiles. Recently, resin components were often used for bumpers, door mirror covers, moule, spoilers and the like. As such resin components, polyolefinic resin is often used because it has better cost performance than that of urethane resin.
The painting of the surface of these polyolefinic resin components has many restrictions different from the painting of metal. Namely, 1. since the polyolefinic resin has a small polarity and paints or painting films are difficult to adhere on the surface, only a specified paint can be used. Further, 2. upon heating and drying, the temperature should he below 120.degree. C. In spite of these restrictions, upon painting and coating, the same ability of adherence, visual appearance, weather resistance, chemical resistance, solvent resistance and the like is required as that of the surface of automobiles.
To improve the adherence of paints on the surface of polyolefinic resin components, the surface is pretreated by flame treatment, corona discharge, plasma treatment, chrome sulfate treatment or the like, and then the surface is paintea with a facing material. However, these methods do not always give sufficient adherence because of the complex form.
As a different method, the surface of polyolefinic resin components is washed with a solvent such as trichloroethane, the surface is painted with an exclusive primer having good adherence, and a facing material is used. However, there are problems that many steps are used in this method. Since the primer is expensive, the total cost increases.
To improve the technique, resin or paints having good adherence to the surface of polyolefinic resin are disclosed as follows.
a. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Number 57-200438, a mixture of chlorinated polyolefinic resin and acrylic resin.
b. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Numbers 59-27968 and 62-149734, a resin combining a copolymer of a chlorinated polyolefinic resin and an acrylic monomer with an isocyanate compound.
c. In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Number 62-18434, a resin combining a copolymer of a chlorinated polyolefinic resin, an acrylic monomer and a chlorinated polydiene with an isocyanate compound.

Process for painting a polyolefinic resin component


A method of controlling a seismic vehicle may include estimating at least one orientation parameter for the seismic vehicle and controlling at least one operating parameter in view of the estimated orientation parameter(s). In non-limiting arrangements, the control may relate to re-positioning the seismic vehicle, adjusting value of a hold-down force or target drive force, and/or updating a seismic data acquisition database.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to seismic prospecting and in particular to methods and apparatus for conducting seismic surveys.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the oil and gas exploration industry, geophysical tools and techniques are commonly employed in order to identify a subterranean structure having potential hydrocarbon deposits. Many different techniques are used to generate a seismic signal.
Seismic vibratory energy sources have been used in the field many years. A seismic vibrator in its simplest form is merely a heavy vehicle that has the ability to shake the ground at a predetermined range of frequencies of about 2 to 300 Hz. The vibrator imparts a signal into the subsurface of the earth over a relatively long period of time, which allows for an energy level less than an impulse generator such as dynamite. In some applications, a seismic vibrator may also be used as a surface impulse source.
The imparted energy, known as the seismic source signal or "pilot" signal, travels through the subsurface and reflects some of the energy from certain subsurface geological boundaries or layers. The reflected energy is then transmitted back to the earth's surface where it is recorded using an earth motion detector. The recorded data is processed to yield information about a location and physical properties of layers making up the subsurface. The seismic vibrator source signal is typically a sweep signal, or simply sweep.
Conventionally, the vehicle weight provides an assumed static force load that maintains continuous contact between the base plate and the underlying earth. If the static force, or "hold-down" force, is insufficient, then the base plate may decouple from the earth, which may lead to signal to noise level degradation. If the static force exceeds the effective vehicle weight, then the vehicle may become unstable.
The present disclosure provides methods and devices for improving seismic sweeps by compensating for factors affecting the magnitude of the hold-down pressure applied to the base plate.

Method of optimizing seismic vibrator output force


The present invention discloses an siRNA that inhibits K-RAS gene expression, and the precursor sequences and applications thereof. The K-RAS siRNA and its precursor sequences provided by the present invention can efficiently inhibit the expression of the K-RAS gene, and in vivo experiments have shown that the K-RAS siRNA has a certain inhibitory effect on tumours highly expressing K-RAS. The precursor of the siRNA of the invention and its vector can form a stable siRNA that functions in a host.

RNA interfering (RNAi) is a powerful experimental tool in the laboratory, using double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) having homology to induce the sequence-specific silencing of a target gene, thereby rapidly blocking its activity. The siRNA plays a central role in the RNA silencing pathway and is a guiding element for the degradation of a specific messenger RNA (mRNA). siRNA is an intermediate product in the RNAi pathway and is an essential factor for RNAi to exert effects. The formation of siRNA is mainly regulated by Dicer and Rde-1. Due to RNA virus invasion, transposon transcription, reverse repeat sequence transcription in the genome and other factors, dsRNAs appear in the cell, and the protein encoded by Rde-1 (RNAi deficient gene-1) recognizes the foreign dsRNA. When the level of dsRNA reaches a certain amount, Rde-1 guides the dsRNA to bind to Rde-1 encoded Dicer (Dicer is an RNaseIII active endonuclease with four domains: PAZ domain of the Argonaute family, type III RNase active region, a dsRNA binding region and a DEAH/DEXHRNA helicase active region), forming an enzyme-dsRNA complex. The siRNA forms after cleavage by Dicer, and then, with the participation of ATP, a RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) is formed in the cell. A key step in RNAi is to assembly RISC and synthesize siRNA protein mediating specific reaction. siRNA is incorporated into RISC and then degrades a target gene by fully pairing with the coding region or a UTR of it, thus saying that a siRNA only degrades the mRNA that is in complementary pair with the sequence of the siRNA. The mechanism of its regulation is to silence the expression of the corresponding target gene through complementary pairing, and is thus a typical negative regulation mechanism. The siRNA recognition of the target sequence is highly specific, since degradation occurs first in a relatively central position of the siRNA, and therefore these central base sites are extremely important and the effect of RNAi can be severely inhibited in the event of a mismatch. As an emerging therapeutic technology, siRNA has also entered the clinical trial stage at an unprecedented rate.
K-RAS is one member of the RAS gene family, encoding the K-RAS protein. It is related to the formation, proliferation, migration, metastasis and angiogenesis of tumour.
K-RAS protein has GTPase activity, which is in an activated state when it is bound with GTP and in an inactivated state when it is bound with GDP. The K-RAS protein mainly localizes itself on the cell membrane. After the K-RAS protein is phosphorylated by PKC, this phosphorylation process causes the localization change of K-RAS protein due to the weakening of the binding of K-RAS protein to the cell membrane, and then movement to positions such as the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and mitochondria, and etc. The K-RAS protein serves as a molecular switch and plays an important role in many signalling pathways.
Research has shown that about 30% of human malignancies are associated with RAS gene mutations, and products of mutated RAS can remain in an activated state. K-RAS mutations are common in leukaemia, lung cancer, rectal cancer and pancreatic cancer, with 30%-35% of patients with rectal cancer having the mutations. They are associated with the survival, proliferation, migration, metastasis and angiogenesis of tumour cells. K-RAS genes are divided into mutant types and wild type, and the common mutation sites are codons 12 and 13 on the K-RAS gene exon 2, and codon 61 of the exon 3, wherein there are 7 mutation hotspots: G12C, G12R, G12S, G12V, G12D, G12A, and G13V/D. These 7 types account for 90% or more of the mutations.
The current EGFR targeted drugs on the market are mainly: Gefitinib (Iressa), erlotinib (Tarceva), Cetuximab (ERBITUX), panitumumab (Vectibix). However, EGFR targeted drugs are very ineffective for patients with K-RAS mutations, because even though there is no EGFR signal, K-RAS is still in an activated state to transmit signals downstream, so in personalized medication it is necessary to detect the K-RAS gene state and then select the drug. If K-RAS is of a mutant type, it is not recommended to use EGFR targeted drugs.
Therefore, considering that if the EGFR and K-RAS pathways can be targeted at the same time, then the upstream and downstream of the pathway can be simultaneously inhibited, thereby producing a better therapeutic effect by the EGFR targeted drug on patients with K-RAS mutations. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a treatment method and corresponding drugs that can targetedly inhibit of the K-RAS gene to solve the current problems such as the absence of drugs specific for the K-RAS mutation, and E′GFR targeted drugs are ineffective due to the K-RAS mutation.

K-RAS gene expression-suppressing siRNA, precursor of same, and applications thereof


A system of a at least one computing apparatus in connection with a hardware and software network for creating, sending, storing, and revealing multimedia. The system comprises accessing a program graphical user interface with inputs for triggering operably configured software commands to secure, store, lock, unlock, and transmit multimedia collections according to satisfaction of parameter contingencies.

Digital messaging is widely used in the form of email, social media platform sharing, and direct messaging, and texting. Email is one of the most widely used messaging system in the world where people can send multimedia such as text, portable document files, photographs, movies, and sound clips. Email, therefore, is essentially a digital mailbox.
In traditional multimedia send-and-receive systems, a sender creates message content such as typing a letter in the body of an email graphical user interface. The sender activates or presses a send button. The email program email client sends the message to a mail server. The mail server communicates with a domain name server to locate the recipient's server. The server transfers the message with the multimedia content (text or otherwise) to the recipient's server. The recipient accesses an email program graphical user interface to access the message.
There are some variations on traditional multimedia send-and-receive systems. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok allow senders to create or compile multimedia content. On these platforms, a sender can control how long the content is available to the recipient. Also, with email, messages can be scheduled to be sent to a recipient at a designated time or may be sent with a delay.
Senders using traditional platforms to transmit multimedia content electronically cannot immediately send the multimedia content, securely store the content, and then reveal the content to a recipient on command or at a desired time or date.

Parameter-triggered multimedia sharing system


A trench is etched in a silicon substrate covered with an oxide/nitride stack and a field oxide layer is then grown through oxidation of the silicon in the substrate such that the trench is partly filled. There is reduced oxide encroachment into the active areas under the nitride layer because of the partial field oxide growth. Double oxide layers are deposited over the surface of the field oxide layer and the oxide/nitride stack such that the oxide layers fill the remainder of the trench and produce a nearly planar topology. The double oxide layers are then etched back to the nitride layer through chemical mechanical polishing, leaving the field isolation region. After stripping the oxide/nitride stack, a gate oxide layer is grown. A minimal amount of oxide is required to fill the trench because the trench is already almost filled with the field oxide layer and because of the shallow depth of the trench. Consequently, the etch back step causes minimal dishing. Further, the field oxide layer rounds the corner between the trench and the active area, obviating the need for a thin oxide liner in the trench.

Isolation regions are commonly used in the semiconductor industry to prevent parasitic channels between adjacent devices. Two well-known processes of generating isolation regions are recessed local oxidation isolation ("RLOCOS") and shallow trench isolation ("STI"). However, both RLOCOS and STI processes have disadvantages that limit their respective utility, particularly where device geometry is in the sub-micron range.
A process for forming RLOCOS regions is described by S. Wolf in Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era, Vol. 2, pp. 28-31 (Lattice Press, 1990). Therefore, RLOCOS processing will only be briefly described. A silicon substrate, with a conventional oxide/nitride stack, is etched to form grooves in the silicon. Field oxide is then thermally grown in the etched grooves through oxidation. The field oxide grows both downward and upward, until the etched groove is completely filled with the field oxide. Once the field oxide is grown, the oxide/nitride stack is stripped and a gate oxide layer is thermally grown on the surface of the substrate.
Although RLOCOS is widely used, it has several disadvantages. For example, the scalability of RLOCOS technology in the submicron range is limited. Scalability is limited because a large amount of lateral oxide diffuses under the nitride layer during the field oxide growth, thus creating a structure known as bird's beak. A large bird's beak is undesirable because oxide encroachment into the active area reduces the packing density of devices on the substrate. Another limitation of the scalability of RLOCOS technology is the oxide field-thinning effect, which causes the field oxide thickness in sub-micron isolation regions to be significantly less than the thickness of field oxides grown in wider regions.
Moreover, the growth of the field oxide generates stresses at the bottom corners and the sidewalls of the etched grooves, as well as under the nitride layer because of the bird's beak. These stresses, along with the lack of planarity, can generate stacking fault formation and junction leakage at the bird's beak edge. Further, RLOCOS technology produces a bulge, known as a bird's head, in the field oxide near the nitride layer and, therefore, the RLOCOS isolation regions are not planar.
A shallow trench isolation process is also described by S. Wolf in Silicon Processing for the VLSI Era, Vol. 2, pp. 45-48 (Lattice Press, 1990). Accordingly, STI processing will be described briefly. A silicon substrate with a conventional oxide/nitride stack is etched to form a shallow trench, typically 3,500 .ANG. deep. A high temperature oxide growth forms a thin oxide liner, approximately 200 .ANG. thick. The shallow trench is then filled with an oxide layer through high temperature chemical vapor deposited (CVD). A second oxide layer is then deposited over the surface of substrate. The oxide layers are then etched back in order to planarize the surface. The oxide/nitride stack is then stripped, followed by a thermal growth of a gate oxide layer.
Standard STI technology has several disadvantages. The process itself is complex. For instance, the CVD oxide deposition into the trenches can create voids, particularly where the trenches are narrow. Thus, complex methods are used to prevent voids. Additionally, during the etch back step the field oxide is typically over etched causing "dishing", i.e., the field oxide surface becomes lower than the active area surface. Dishing creates problems because portions of the sidewall of the active areas are exposed, which leads to sidewall and edge-parasitic conduction. To prevent dishing, a reverse active area mask is used to protect the field isolation regions during the etch back step.
Another difficulty occurs at the trench edge, where the gate oxide becomes thin. Thinning of the gate oxide layer degrades the gate oxide reliability as well as increases edge-parasitic effects. The thin oxide layer that is deposited prior to deposition of the field oxide is intended to prevent these problems. The thin oxide layer typically results in a seam between the thin oxide layer and the deposited field oxide.

Modified recessed locos isolation process for deep sub-micron device processes


A process for converting polyurethane foam into reusable polyol composition which comprises glycolyzing the polyurethane foam to yield a glycolysis polyol product containing amines and reacting the glycolysis polyol product with an alkylene oxide in a mole ratio of <1 mole of alkylene oxide per mole of active amine hydrogen atom in the glycolysis polyol product.

It is well known in the art that polyurethane scrap can be converted into a crude liquid polyol product via glycolysis. Representative of the glycolysis technology are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,937,151; 3,708,440; 3,738,946; 3,983,087; 4,044,046 and 4,110,266. Glycolysis is essentially an equilibration of the urethane, urea and isocyanurate bonds in polyurethane material with glycols, such as propylene glycol diethylene glycol and dipropylene glycol, in the presence of catalysts, such as potassium acetate and tin carboxylates, to form a crude liquid polyol product. The process is typically conducted between 180.degree. and 220.degree. C. at atmospheric pressure requiring 2 to 6 hours to reach equilibrium. The glycolysis product contains active hydroxyls from the glycols and the liberated polyols as well as oligoineric amines and aromatic diamines such as toluene diamine (TDA) and methylene dianiline (MDA).
The crude glycolysis polyol is suitable as a partial replacement for virgin polyols which are used in the manufacture of polyurethane foams and other polyurethane products. However, the crude glycolysis polyol product has limitations when used as a replacement for virgin polyols. A crude glycolysis polyol product has a very high reactivity making it difficult to control when reacted at high levels with isocyanates to generate a polyurethane foam or a polyurethane article.
In addition, the crude glycolysis polyol product has high aromatic diamine content generally greater than 1%. Since aromatic diamines such as TDA and MDA are considered suspect carcinogens, this may limit the general use of crude glycolysis polyols.
Nevertheless, there are certain advantages that the crude glycolysis polyol imparts to polyurethane articles when compared to virgin polyols. For example, in certain foam systems the glycolysis polyol increases the compression strength of the foam while at the same time reducing the foam density. The crude glycolysis polyol acts as a crosslinker in the polyurethane article and thus offers a clear advantage when used in certain polyurethane systems.
The high reactivity, the high aromatic diamine content and the improved physical properties which the crude glycolysis polyol imparts to polyurethane articles are caused by the presence of high levels of aromatic primary amines fanned during the glycolysis process. Thus, there is a need to modify the crude glycolysis polyol to reduce the reactivity and the aromatic diamine content while maintaining the improved physical properties which the glycolysis polyol can impart to polyurethane articles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,110,266 discloses a process for decomposing polyurethane using glycols, polyols, amines and/or ammonia and converting the decomposition mixture into a product substantially free of primary and secondary amines and containing an increased amount of polyols by reacting the decomposition mixture with an excess of alkylene oxide with respect to active hydrogen atoms of the amines for a period sufficient to convert the amines to polyols and forming a product mixture substantially free of primary and secondary amines. It is preferred that more than one and up to 3 moles of alkylene oxide is employed per mole of active hydrogen atom of the amines. U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,087 discloses a process for converting scrap flexible polyurethane foam into a homogeneous mixture of polyols by heating the scrap foam with not more than its own weight of an aliphatic diol which has at least one alkyl substituent in the alkylene chain. It is also suggested (Col 4/25-33) that the hydroxyl equivalent weight of the polyol mixture obtained by the process of the invention can be modified, i.e., increased, if desired, by reacting the recovered polyol with an alkylene oxide. However, none of the examples shows such addition of an alkylene oxide to the polyol mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,946 discloses a process for converting scrap polyurethane into a reusable polyol by heating the scrap in the presence of a dihydroxy compound consisting of (i) from 100 to 90 wt. % of an aliphatic diol having a boiling point above about 180.degree. C.; and (ii) from 0 to 10 wt. % of a dialkanol-amine having from 4 to 8 carbon atoms. When the scrap foams are derived from phosphorus containing polyols based on phosphoric acid, the polyol recovered in accordance with the process may contain significant amounts of acid-reacting material. It is recommended that the recovered polyol be treated to reduce the acid number by reacting the recovered polyol with sufficient alkylene oxide to react with all the acid hydroxyls in the recovered polyol. (Col 4/21-39). Example 7 shows the propoxylation of recovered polyol to reduce the acid number.

Process for modifying the glycolysis reaction product of polyurethane scrap