A heavy oil hydrotreating system has a prehydrotreating reaction zone, a transition reaction zone, and a hydrotreating reaction zone that are connected in series successively, sensor units, and a control unit. In the initial reaction stage, the prehydrotreating reaction zone includes at least two prehydrotreating reactors connected in parallel, and the transition reaction zone includes or doesn't include prehydrotreating reactors; in the reaction process, the control unit controls material feeding to and material discharging from each prehydrotreating reactor in the prehydrotreating reaction zone according to pressure drop signals of the sensor units, so that when the pressure drop in any of the prehydrotreating reactors in the prehydrotreating reaction zone reaches a predetermined value, the prehydrotreating reactor in which the pressure drop reaches the predetermined value is switched from the prehydrotreating reaction zone to the transition reaction zone.

At present, the demand for oil products, including gasoline, kerosene and diesel oil, especially motor gasoline, in the oil product markets in China and foreign countries, still tends to increase continuously, while the demand for heavy oil products such as heavy fuel oil tends to decrease. At the same time, the properties of crude oil become worse increasingly, but the environmental laws and regulations become stringent increasingly around the world, putting forth increasingly strict requirements for the quality of oil products. Therefore, how to convert heavy oil products into light oil products and upgrade the quality of gasoline and diesel oil products economically at reasonable costs has become a focus of attention in the oil refining industry in China and foreign countries.
The main purpose of heavy oil hydrogenation processes (e.g., residual oil hydrogenation processes) is to greatly decrease the contents of impurities in the residual oil raw material, including sulfur, nitrogen, and metals, etc., through hydro-treatment, convert the non-ideal components in the residual oil raw material, such as condensed aromatics, resin and asphaltene, etc., by hydrogenation, improve the hydrogen-carbon ratio, reduce the content of residual carbon, and significantly improve the cracking performance. The fixed bed residual oil hydrogenation technique is a heavy oil deep processing technique. With the technique, in a fixed bed-type reactor that contains specific catalysts, atmospheric or vacuum residual oil is processed by desulphurization, denitrification, and demetalization, etc., at high temperature and high pressure in the presence of hydrogen, to obtain light oil products as far as possible. The technique is one of important means for converting residual oil into light oil products. The fixed bed residual oil hydrogenation technique is applied more and more widely, owing to its advantages including high yield of liquid product, high product quality, high flexibility of production, less waste, environment friendliness, and high rate of return on investment, etc.
In the existing fixed bed heavy oil hydrotreating process, all reactors are usually connected in series. Therefore, a large quantity of guard catalyst has to be loaded in the first reactor to cause the impurities and scale in the raw material to deposit. Such an operation may cause compromised overall metal compound removing and containing capability of the catalyst because the pressure drop in the reactors is still low in the final stage of operation of the apparatus in some cases owing to low activity and low demetalization load of the catalyst system charged in the first guard reactor. If the catalyst activity is increased, the pressure drop will be increased quickly and the running period will be shortened, but the catalyst performance hasn't been given full play; therefore, it will be difficult to maintain appropriate activity of the catalyst in the first guard reactor. Moreover, there are many factors that must be considered in the entire operation process of the heavy oil hydrogenation apparatus, such as emergent state/stop, fluctuation of properties of the raw material, or sudden increased contents of impurities (e.g., Fe, Ca) in the raw material, etc. Therefore, a common practice is to maintain the catalyst in the first guard reactor in a low reaction activity state, mainly for the purpose of intercepting and depositing the impurities and scale in the raw material and maintaining the demetalization reaction at a low rate; usually, the reaction temperature rise in the reactor is low, and the pressure drop is kept at a low level in the entire running period. To that end, a large quantity of demetalization catalyst has to be charged in the follow-up demetalization reactor mainly for promoting the demetalization reaction and providing enough space for accommodating the metal compound and carbon deposit removed in the hydrogenation. As a result, a great deal of metal is deposited in the demetalization reactor inevitably, and the load of demetalization reaction is high. Usually, the reaction temperature rise in that reactor is the highest. Though the pressure drop in that reactor is low in the early stage, the pressure drop in that reactor is increased first and increased at the highest rate among the reactors in the middle stage or final stage. That fact becomes a major factor that has adverse influences on the running period and stable operation of the apparatus. The patent document CN103059928A has disclosed a hydrotreating apparatus, an application of the hydrotreating apparatus, and a residual oil hydrotreating method. The invention described in the patent document provides a hydrotreating apparatus, which comprises a hydrogenation guard unit and a main hydrotreating unit connected in series successively, the hydrogenation guard unit comprises a main hydrogenation guard reactor and a standby hydrogenation guard reactor, and the volume of the main hydrogenation guard reactor is greater than the volume of the standby hydrogenation guard reactor. In the hydrotreating process, the main hydrogenation guard reactor and the standby hydrogenation guard reactor are used in alternate. The process utilizes the main hydrogenation guard reactor and the standby hydrogenation guard reactor in alternate and can treat residual oil with high calcium content and high metal content, but has a drawback that a reactor is kept in idle state, which causes increased investment and decreased utilization ratio of the reactors; in addition, the problem of increased pressure drop in the lead reactor can't be solved radically.
The patent document CN1393515A has disclosed a residual oil hydrotreating method. In the method, one or more feed inlets are added on the first reactor in the heavy residual oil hydrogenation reaction system, and the original catalyst grading is changed. The next feed inlet is used whenever the pressure drop in the catalytic bed in the first reactor reaches 0.4-0.8 time of the design pressure drop of the apparatus, and the feed inlet that is used originally may be used to feed recycle oil or mixed oil of recycle oil and raw oil. The process can effectively prevent pressure drop in the bed layers and prolong the running period of the apparatus, can increase the processing capacity of the apparatus, and is helpful for improving material circulation and distribution. However, the process has drawbacks such as increased manufacturing cost of reactors, increased initial pressure drop, and lowered utilization ratio of reactor volume.
The patent document CN103059931A has disclosed a residual oil hydrotreating method. In that method, under hydrotreating reaction conditions, the residual oil raw material and hydrogen flow through several reactors connected in series successively; offload operation is performed after the apparatus operates for 700-4,000 h, specifically, the feed rate of the first reactor is decreased or kept unchanged, the feed rate of the reactors between the first reactor and the last reactor is increased, and the increased residual oil raw material is fed via the inlets of the middle reactors. The method alleviates the increase of pressure drop by changing the feed loads of the reactors, but can't change the increase tendency of pressure drop in the lead reactor radically. Viewed from the result of actual industrial operation, the pressure drop will reach a design upper limit quickly once it is increased; moreover, changing the feed rates at the inlets of the reactors is adverse to stable operation of the apparatus.
The patent document CN102676218A has disclosed a fixed bed residual oil hydrogenation process, which comprises the following steps: (1) feeding a mixture of raw oil and hydrogen into a first fixed bed-type reactor, and controlling the mixture to contact with a hydrogenation catalyst for hydrogenation reaction; (2) feeding the mixture of raw oil and hydrogen into the first fixed bed-type reactor and a standby first fixed bed-type reactor when the pressure drop in the first fixed bed-type reactor is increased to 0.2-0.8 MPa, and feeding the resultant of reaction into follow-up hydrogenation reactors. In that process, the first fixed bed-type reactor and the standby first fixed bed-type reactor may be connected in parallel or in series, or configured in a way that one reactor is used separately while the other reactor is kept in a standby state. However, the drawbacks include: the utilization ratio of the reactors is degraded since a reactor is kept in idle state in the initial stage, and the problem of increase of pressure drop in the lead reactor can't be solved radically.
The patent document CN103540349A has disclosed a combined poor heavy oil and residual oil hydrotreating process, which comprises: prehydrotreating heavy oil and/or residual oil raw material in a slurry bed reactor, separating the gas phase from the liquid phase, and then hydro-upgrading the liquid phase product in a fixed bed, wherein, the slurry bed prehydrotreating portion includes a slurry bed hydrogenation reactor and a slurry bed hydrogenation catalyst; the reactors used in the fixed bed hydro-upgrading portion mainly include the following reactors in sequence: two up-flow-type deferrate and decalcification reactors, an up-flow-type demutualization reactor, a fixed bed desulfurization reactor, and a fixed bed denitrification reactor, wherein, the two up-flow-type deferrate and decalcification reactors may be connected in series or in parallel, or configured in a way that one reactor is used separately while the other reactor is kept in a standby state. However, the process has drawbacks such as mismatching among the running periods of the stages, high investment, and high operation difficulties.

Heavy oil hydrotreating system and heavy oil hydrotreating method

FUSHUN RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUM AND PETROCHEMICALS, SINOPEC CORP.


A toner container includes a container main body, a conveying body, at least one first rotating body, and a second rotating body. The container main body has a compartment and an exit port. The compartment contains toner. The exit port allows the toner to be ejected from the compartment. The conveying body is located inside the compartment. The conveying body moves in a direction approaching the exit port while rotating to convey the toner to the exit port. The first rotating body engages with an outer circumferential surface of the conveying body and rotates according to rotation of the conveying body. The second rotating body rotates according to a first driving force generated by rotation of the first rotating body. The first rotating body is located at a prescribed position. The first rotating body rotates in response to the conveying body arriving at the prescribed position.

The present disclosure relates to a toner container and an image forming apparatus.
A known process cartridge is attachable to and detachable from a main body of an image forming apparatus. The process cartridge is an integration of a photosensitive drum, a charger, a cleaner, a development device, and a drive transmission device. The development device includes a toner container, a developing section, and a stirring section. The toner container contains toner. The stirring section stirs the toner inside the toner container. In detail, the stirring section includes a stirring drive shaft and a toner stirring member attached to the stirring drive shaft. The toner stirring member rotates and the toner is stirred through rotation of the stirring drive shaft. The main body of the image forming apparatus includes a drive motor and a control means. The drive transmission device transmits driving force of the drive motor of the main body of the image forming apparatus to the stirring drive shaft of the developing section. The drive transmission device includes a rotation count detecting means. The rotation count detecting means detects a rotation count of the stirring drive shaft. The rotation count detecting means includes a detecting plate and a detecting member. The detecting plate is fixed to the stirring drive shaft. The detecting plate is disk-shaped and has a slit therein. The detecting member detects rotation of the detecting plate. The rotation count detecting means outputs a signal indicating the detected rotation count of the stirring drive shaft to the control means. The control means detects an amount of remaining toner based on the rotation count of the stirring drive shaft detected by the detecting member.

Toner container and image forming apparatus


Pointer information that shows the bit time slot in a frame of low order group signals in which a leading location of substantial data of the low order group signals is placed, is utilised to provide a synchronous terminal station system of a 1:N redundancy configuration type having first to M-th main receiving units and a standby receiving unit which are housed separately. Each main receiving unit has a switching section which receives particular low order group signals demultiplexed in it and standby low order group signals from the standby receiving unit and transfers selected signals to a pointer conversion circuit. The pointer conversion circuit modifies pointer information to make the selected signal comply with a particular signal format of the main receiving unit.

A conventional synchronous terminal receiving station system consists of a large casing frame that is installed on the floor. In side this casing is housed at least one main receiving unit and one standby receiving unit. The main receiving unit receives and demultiplexes high-speed higher order group signals in which a plurality of frame-synchronized low order group signals are multiplexed, through a transmission path. The synchronous terminal station receiving system also has a monitor circuit to monitor the main transmission unit. When the unit fails the main transmission path is switched to the standby transmission path. Such a communication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,028.
However, in cases where a synchronous terminal station system has to receive and demultiplex transmission path signals multiplexed a larger number of low order group signals, it becomes impossible to integrate all of the main receiving units and a standby receiving unit into one casing frame because in this case the scale of the circuits becomes larger. For this reason, it is necessary to provide separate casing frames for each main receiving unit and the standby receiving unit.
An explanation on work of a such conventional main receiving unit is performed as below. In this case, after being demultiplexed, signals inputted from a main transmission path are moved in a pointer conversion circuit section on a clock and a local frame in a casing frame in which the main receiving unit is housed. Also, the main receiving unit modifies the pointer value of the signals corresponding to its pointer value and transmits them to a low order group transmission path. However, when the main transmission path or the main receiving unit fails, the transmission path is switched to a standby transmission path. After being demultiplexed in the standby receiving unit, the signals inputted from the standby transmission path are moved in the pointer conversion circuit section of the standby receiving unit on a clock and a frame within the unit in which the standby receiving unit is housed. Also, the standby receiving unit modifies the pointer value of the signals corresponding to its pointer value and transmits them to the frame in which the main receiving unit is housed. The low order group signals inputted from the standby unit is transmitted to a low order group transmission path. However, as the main receiving unit and the standby receiving unit are housed in frames separately, the clocks in each frame are independent of each other. Therefore, when the low order group signals inputted from the standby receiving unit is switched to be transmitted to the low order group transmission path in an abnormal condition, the clock phase and the frame phase of the low order group signals transmitted to the low order group transmission path are modified. For this reason, in the main receiving unit the clock phase and the frame phase have to be matched to the clock and the frame within the unit in the frame casing in which the main receiving unit is housed in the both cases of transmitting the low order group signals demultiplexed in the main receiving unit to the low order group transmission path and transmitting the low order group signals demultiplexed in the standby receiving unit to the low order group transmission path. To accomplish this, the low order group signals have to be stored in a buffer memory for the time required to adjust the phases. In this case, each buffer memory for each low order group signal must have a memory capacity for one frame of the low order group signals. For example, when STM-1 (STM:Synchronous Transport Module) signals of CCITT Recommendation G.708 are given as the low order group signals, high-speed memories of a large capacity equivalent to 19440 bits for a frame of a STM-1 signal (155,52 Mb/s) are required. This results in the scale of the circuitry becoming extremely large.

Synchronous terminal station receiving system


The metal oxide surface coating of an anodized valve metal may be made conductive under certain conditions so that conductive coatings can be electrolytically deposited on the surface of the oxide. When a dry polar aprotic electrolyte solution is used at a reduced temperature and a relatively high field is applied, the oxide ceases to be insulative. The process is reversible, meaning that there is no permanent change in the oxide.

The insulating nature of anodic oxide films on the so-called valve metals has been known since the mid 1800's. These films were investigated systematically by Guntherschulze during the first 3 decades of the 20th century and the results are described in the work, Electrolytkondensatoren, by Guntherschulze and Betz (published by Verlag Von M. Krayn, Berlin, 1937). A more thorough and up to date work describing the subject is Anodic Oxide Films, by L. Young (published by Academic Press, London and New York, 1961).
When the more ideal examples of the valve metals, such as tantalum, are anodized in appropriate electrolytes, the amount of oxide growth is proportional to the current passed, with very small losses due to electronic leakage current through the anodic oxide. At a fixed electrolyte solution temperature, the thickness of the anodic oxide films on valve metals is proportional to the anodizing voltage. In 1955, Torrisi demonstrated that the anodic oxide film thickness at fixed voltage is proportional to the Kelvin (absolute) temperature of the anodizing solution and that for a given film thickness:(T1)(V1)=(T2)(V2),  (1)where T=Kelvin Temperature and V=Applied Voltage.
This relationship was found to hold over the range of 5–500 volts and 0–200° C. [A. F. Torrisi; Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 102, 176, (1955).]
In 1970, Dreiner and Tripp published a study of the anodizing kinetics of tantalum in aqueous alkali metal anodizing solutions in a pressure bomb over the temperature range of 0–250° C. [R. J. Dreiner and T. Tripp, Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 117, 858, (1970).] These researchers found that the oxide thickness (amount of anodic oxide produced) is proportional to the current passed up to about 170° C. Above 170° C. the anodic oxide was found to exhibit a significant electronic leakage current (i.e., current passing through the film without further, or at least efficient, film growth), probably due to oxygen migration from the oxide film to the tantalum substrate, resulting in a semi-conducting rather than insulating oxide film. The electronic leakage current results from a degradation of the insulating nature of the film In 1997, Melody, Kinard, and Lessner discovered the conditions under which non-thickness-limited (N-T-L) anodic oxide film growth takes place. In N-T-L film growth, the oxide grows thicker at 50+% current efficiency at fixed voltage while producing a non-porous, insulating film at temperatures in excess of about 150° C., N-T-L film growth, which is a major departure from traditional anodizing kinetics, is described in the following publications:                Electrochemical and Solid State Letters, Vol. 1, No. 3, pages 126–129, Title: "The Non-Thickness-Limited Growth of Anodic Oxide Films on Valve Metals", by Brian Melody, Tony Kinard, and Philip Lessner (1998)        Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 148, No. 9, pages B337–342, Title: "Non-Thickness-Limited Growth of Anodic Oxide Films on Tantalum", by Y. -M. Li and L. Young (2001)
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,837,121 , 5,935,408 , 6,149,793 , 6,235,181, and 6,267,861 assigned to the assignee of this invention, are relevant and are hereby incorporated by reference.
The insulating action of anodic oxide films is to act as highly resistive coatings but they are permanently damaged by the passing of current through them at voltages above the so-called withstanding voltage of the films. (The withstanding voltage, or voltage which the anodic oxide is capable of withstanding without permanent damage/high current flow, is usually equal to or less than the anodizing voltage.) Except under very unusual circumstances, such as those found in N-T-L anodizing, the application of voltages below the withstanding voltage of an anodic oxide film results in the passing of only very low currents through the insulating film.
For some applications, it is useful to be able to pass an electric current thorough the insulating anodic oxide film covering a valve metal anode body with the anode body biased with a positive voltage and without destroying the insulating nature of the oxide nor growing significant amounts of new anodic oxide. One useful effect which may be realized by the passage of current from a power supply through the anodic oxide coating on anodized valve metal anode bodies with the anode bodies biased positive is the electrolytic production of intrinsically conductive polymer films such as polypyrrole, polythiophene or polyaniline and derivatives thereof on the surfaces of the anodic oxide coatings. Such conductive polymer coatings covering anodic oxide films on valve metal anode bodies are useful for the production of electrolytic capacitors, resistors, switches, sensors, etc. Alternately, if the anodic oxide coating on the anodized valve metal body is biased positive and the oxide is rendered conductive per the methods of the present invention, then metal salts may be added to the electrolyte system and the anode bodies can be biased negative resulting in the passage of current through the anodic oxide coating on anodized valve metal anode bodies that can be utilized for the electrolytic plating of metals such as silver, gold, copper or zinc onto the surfaces of the anodic oxide coatings using a soluble salt. While the metal cations are attracted to the negatively biased conductive oxide, the halogens or other anions are repelled from the oxide surfaces. In short, the passage of the non-destructive, non-oxide forming current of the present through the oxide coatings on anodized valve metal anode bodies may be useful for various different electrochemical processes known to those in the art.
It is an objective of this invention to render the oxide of a valve metal conductive. It is a second objective of this invention to render the oxide of a valve metal reversibly conductive without denigrating from its insulative characteristics.
It is a third objective of this invention to be able to produce novel and more effective cathodes for capacitors.
It is yet another objective of this invention to produce sensors for specific chemical compounds and temperature sensitive switches.
These and other objectives can be met by placing an anodized valve metal in a solution which is an anhydrous, polar aprotic liquid system at a reduced temperature and using the oxidized valve metal as one electrode.
The paper on non-thickness-limited anodizing by Melody, Kinard, and Lessner, referenced above, establishes the role of hydroxyl groups (present in anodic oxide films) in the stabilization of these films, at least over the temperature range examined by the authors. The reversible nature of N-T-L anodizing, with its dependence on electrolyte solution water content, strongly suggests that the hydroxyl content of anodic oxide films is not constant, but may be reduced by the application of a high electric field (valve metal biased positive) under conditions which do not allow hydroxyl groups to enter the film as quickly as they are eliminated from the film (presumably through dissociation of protons from the oxygen atoms making up hydroxyl groups with rapid removal of the protons from the oxide due to the high electric field).

Method of passing electric current through highly resistive anodic oxide films


An Internet web application interfaces to a machine to give users information about the status of the machine. The information on the status of the machine is constantly changing. This design only dynamically builds a web page when the page is requested for viewing. Once built, the page is retained so that the next time it is requested, if the information it contains has not changed, the page can be served without having to be rebuilt. If the information has changed, the design will not update the page until the page has been requested. In addition, the page is only built in the human language requested.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to a method and system for building web pages, and in particular to a method and system for improving the performance of web applications by building only requested web pages, and building the requested web pages only in the human language in which they were requested.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, Internet web applications that interface with computer systems give information to users about the status of those systems. Since the information on the status of the systems is constantly changing, a typical web application design dynamically builds web pages every time the information changes, regardless of actual current usage. Conventional designs not only constantly build the web pages, but they also build the web pages in every human language that the systems are enabled to support. This latter step of multi-language web page construction also takes place regardless of actual current usage or requests.
For example, an English language-based web application may be accessed primarily by English language-speaking users. However, when new information is available for the web page, the system will automatically update every affected web page and then build all of the web pages in every other supported human language (e.g., eight other human languages such as German, Spanish, Italian, etc.) even though the new information has not been requested by any user, and certainly not in any language other than English. Such systems inefficiently consume valuable machine time by doing much more processing than is necessary, thereby reducing performance for users and the customer satisfaction of the users. Thus, an improved system for reducing the amount of computer time and/or processing work required to support web interfaces would be desirable.

Web interface for providing system-status on-demand

International Business Machines Corporation


An optically isolated current mirror provides an isolated output signal as a function of an input signal. The mirror includes first and second optical isolators and an amplifier. The amplifier is connected to the first and second optical isolators in a voltage follower configuration which supplies the output signal as a function of an isolated control signal and an isolated feedback signal. The first optical isolator is connected between a source of the input signal and the amplifier. The first optical isolator includes a photosensitive np junction which generates the isolated control signal as a function of the input signal. The second optical isolator is connected to the amplifier in a feedback loop. The second optical isolator includes a photosensitive np junction which generates the isolated feedback signal as a function of the output signal.

The present invention relates to an isolated signal source. In particular, the present invention relates to an optically isolated current mirror.
There is a need for analog signal isolation in a wide variety of electronic applications. Historically, transformers have been used to isolate alternating current (AC) signals. For direct current (DC) applications, direct current signals have been isolated by first modulating the DC signal with an AC signal, then isolating the AC signal with a transformer and finally demodulating the DC signal from the AC signal.
The use of a transformer to perform the isolation has several disadvantages for DC applications. First, isolation transformers are relatively large and expensive. Second, modulating and then demodulating the DC signal requires complex circuitry which adds the size and expense of the isolation circuit. Finally, isolation transformers require a separate power supply for each side of the isolation barrier. This increases the power consumption of the isolation circuit.
Recently, circuit designers have started using optical devices for isolation. These designs, however, have been complex and have required a power supply on each side of the isolation barrier. Further, optical isolators have transfer ratios with relatively high temperature coefficients. This reduces the accuracy of the isolated signal and the effectiveness of the overall isolation circuit.

Low-power current mirror having feedback with optical isolation


A decoding method and an apparatus operate by performing error correction on code words of an error correcting code block in one direction selected from a row direction and a column direction, indicating in error flags the remaining code words except at least some code words from code words having uncorrectable errors, and performing error correction on code words in the other direction based on the error flags. Accordingly, errors that have been conventionally considered as being uncorrectable may now be corrected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a decoding method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for correcting an error of an error correcting code (ECC) block read from an information storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data such as an image or sound is stored in discs such as compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs) which are information storage media. A pickup provided in a reproducing apparatus emits a laser beam to a disc and receives the laser beam reflected from the disc to read data stored in the disc.
During operation and use, optical discs are easily scratched, or contaminant such as dust easily sticks to the surface of the optical discs. Accordingly, a probability of error burst is high when data is read from an optical disc. To overcome this problem, during recording, data is encoded into ECC blocks so that errors which may occur while the data is read can be corrected.
A reproducing apparatus performs error correction on ECC blocks read from the disc on row/column code words. Row/column code words on which an error occurs are indicated by error flags, and then error correction is performed on column/row code words based on the error flags.
In a case of a DVD, in which the length of a row code word is 182 bytes, including 10 bytes of parity, if errors occur in more than 6 bytes from the 182 bytes of the row code word, a decoder of a reproducing apparatus indicates the row code word in an error flag. Error correction on a column code word is performed based on the error flag resulting from the error correction on the row code word. When error correction is performed on the column code word, errors are deemed to have occurred in all bytes of the row indicated in the error flag. Since the error flag is generated only if errors occur in more than 6 bytes among the 182 bytes, a number of bytes that are normally read without errors is generally greater than a number of bytes having errors. However, when error correction is performed on the column code word, all of the 182 bytes of the row code word indicated in the error flag are considered to have errors. Accordingly, even if a code word is actually correctable, it is deemed that the code word cannot be corrected, thus decreasing error correction efficiency.


Compositions and methods are provided for converting chitin into N-acetylglucosamine, glucosamine and ethanol. The chitin may be used directly from the environment, for example, as occurs in invertebrate cuticles, fungal cells and/or algae. Mutant bacteria were created by knocking out or inactivating one or more genes preferably resulting in the chitin catabolic sensor maintaining an activated state. Methods are further provided for converting the N-acetylglucosamine into ethanol by means of a genetically engineered yeast strain which can be optionally co-cultivated with the Vibrionaceae to produce significant yields of ethanol.

About 1011 metric tons of chitin are produced annually in the ocean waters, 109 tons from copepods alone, the most abundant animals on earth. Chitin fibrils embedded in a matrix of highly cross-linked, insoluble protein(s) make up a significant fraction of the cuticles of arthropoda, annalida, mollusca, and the cell walls of many fungi and yeasts.
Each chitin fibril molecule consists of a straight chain of over a thousand N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) monomers linked by β,1-4 bonds similar to beads on a string. These fibril molecules are cross-linked via hydrogen bonds to each other, giving enormous strength to the fibers. Native chitin also contains a small percentage of glucosamine (GlcN). Harsh chemical methods (acid and alkali) are used to isolate chitin, thus yielding an increased quantity of glucosamine in the polymer.
The ecological significance of chitin degradation has been recognized for over a century. The carbon and nitrogen cycles would cease if this highly insoluble polysaccharide was not recycled in a biologically useful form. The commercial significance of chitin breakdown has also been recognized in the context of production of bioavailable sugars and in medicine for the treatment of arthritis, and other joint problems.
Although a constant rain of chitin falls to the ocean floors (marine snow), marine sediments contain only traces of the polymer. Zobell and Rittenberg (J. Bacteriol. 35: 275-287 (1937)) demonstrated the existence of chitinivorous bacteria that cause degradation of chitin and are ubiquitous in the marine environment.
Historically, it was thought that only two steps were required to convert chitin to GlcNAc. The first step relied on a chitinase (EC:220.127.116.11) that would yield primarily the disaccharide, (GlcNAc-β,1-4-GlcNAc, or (GlcNAc)2 or N,N′-diacetylchitobiose). The second step was thought to utilize a β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (EC: 18.104.22.168) to hydrolyze the disaccharide to GlcNAc. Further investigation revealed that the chitin catabolic cascade was much more complex involving a minimum of three signaling pathways that rely on many gene products. For instance, using DNA microarray analyses (Meibom et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A 101: 2524-2529 (2004)), some 200 genes have been shown to be involved in the growth of Vibrio cholerae on living copepods.
Traditionally, chitin is purified from invertebrate cuticles by a process that includes using dilute acid to remove the calcium from the cuticles, followed by repetitive hot strong alkali treatment, and acid extraction to remove the highly insoluble protein matrix that surrounds the chitin in the cuticles. Chitin can then be completely hydrolyzed to GlcN by refluxing it with 4N-6N HCl for 16 hours or more. The GlcN, HCl salt must then be purified, which is accomplished by fractional crystallization or ion-exchange chromatography.
Thus, the chemical isolation of GlcN as an HCl or sulfate salt is expensive and is a high energy-consuming chemical procedure presenting ecological problems associated with the disposal of large volumes of waste products. A new method of fermentation that could convert chitin into GlcNAc or GlcN on an industrial scale would facilitate the preparation of medicines and would also provide an alternative bioavailable source of sugars. Additionally, it would be valuable if these sugars could be converted to ethanol.

Conversion of chitin into N-acetylglucosamine, glucosamine and bioethanol


A vehicle heating system comprising: a coolant circuit that circulates coolant between an engine and a heater core; heating device that heats coolant, which is interposed in the coolant circuit; a pump for coolant circulation, which is interposed in the coolant circuit; and a switching valve that switches the coolant flowing through the coolant circuit between a heater-core-side circuit that circuits the coolant among the heater core, the pump and the heating device and an engine-side circuit that circulates the coolant into the engine, wherein the switching valve has a thermo valve that switches channels so that the coolant coming from the engine-side circuit enters either one of the heater-core-side circuit and the engine-side circuit according to temperature of the coolant, and a bypass that delivers the coolant, which comes from the heater-core-side circuit, to the heater-core-side circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle heating system, and more specifically, to a vehicle heating system with coolant-heating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
For the purpose of securing heating performance in vehicles including hybrid vehicles, idling-stop vehicles, etc., vehicle heating systems have been developed, which have a heating device, such as an electric heater, for heating the coolant to be introduced into a heater core.
These vehicle heating systems are equipped with a heating device and an electric pump in a coolant circuit running through the engine and the heater core so that heating may be carried out during engine shutdown. For a quick heating performance during the engine's cold state, some of these systems are further equipped with a four-way valve for switching coolant routes to prevent the coolant circulating the heater core from entering the engine. The four-way valve is actuated by a control unit and is switched on or off according to room or outside temperature (Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-108645).
The four-way valve mentioned in the publication, however, is of an electric type like an electromagnetic valve or a motor-operated switching valve, which is relatively expensive. On top of that, the actuation of the four-way valve requires a control unit and a temperature sensor, and thus overall increases the cost of the heating system. Furthermore, since the four-way valve is designed to switch the coolant routes according to room or outside temperature detected by the temperature sensor, it is difficult to properly grasp engine temperature and reflect the engine temperature to the heating control. For instance, when the room temperature is low, the valve is switched to the route that does not lead the coolant circulating the heater core into the engine. In this case, once the room temperature is increased with a quick heating effect, the coolant circulating the heater core is switched to the route running to the engine side. At this point, if the engine is in a cold state, there is the possibility of loss of heating performance as the coolant refrigerated in the engine circulates into the heater core.

MITSUBISHI JIDOSHA KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA


A bus bridging method, a bus bridge and a bus agent are described. In a bus agent provides to a bus bridge a read data request targeting a data source bridged by the bus bridge. The read data request includes a read address indicating a starting storage location of the requested data, and a read size indicator indicating the size of the requested data. The bus bridge, in response, facilitates provision of the requested data to the bus agent. The facilitation includes streaming buffered ones of the requested data to the bus agent through one or more successive streaming connections to the bus bridge by the bus agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer or digital systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to bus bridging on computer/digital systems.
2. Background Information
To support the high-bandwidth data transfers demanded by modern applications, data are clocked across the buses of today""s computer/digital systems at tremendous rates. To achieve, reliable, high speed data transfer, such system often includes a number of buses arranged in a hierarchy and interconnected by devices call bus bridges.
A bus bridge is basically a load isolating device that allows multiple devices to appear as a single capacitive load to a bus. Although the reduced capacitive loading increases the maximum frequency at which a bus can be operated, the bridge adds a layer of complexity to the design and operation of the computer/digital system. One reason is because requests to transfer data from a requester side of a bridge to a target side of the bridge must often be buffered in the bridge. This is often caused by the bridge having to arbitrate with other devices to gain control of the target-side bus. As arbitration time may vary, it is usually desirable to buffer the requested data transfer, and then cause the device which requested the data transfer to relinquish the requester-side bus. Thus, other transfers may take place on the requester-side bus, while the bus bridge is performing the requested data transfer. If a read operation has been requested, the returned data also must typically be buffered, while the bridge notifies the requester that the data is available (or while the bridge waits for the requester to ask if the data is available) and while the requester arbitrates to re-gain control of the requester-side bus.
It will be appreciated that the above-described buffering of requests and data imposes a latency penalty on any data transfer which must cross the bus bridge. Moreover, because the latency penalty is incurred with each transfer across the bridge, the smaller the quantum of data per bridged transfer, the lower the effective bandwidth of the data transfer.
One technique used to avoid loss of bandwidth due to bus bridging is to speculatively pre-fetch additional data in response to each data transfer request. Assuming that the speculatively pre-fetched data is actually used by the requesting device, pre-fetching effectively increases the quantum of data per bridged transfer and therefore increases the effective bandwidth of data transfer across the bridge. However, if the speculatively pre-fetched data are not used, the discarded pre-fetches waste the bandwidth on the target-side bus consumed for the pre-fetching.
One other problem that may also arise when data is pre-fetched, is that even though the requesting device may need the pre-fetched data, its internal data buffer may be too shallow to read all of the pre-fetched data in the bridge in a single read transaction. Consequently, after retrieving a portion of the pre-fetched data, the requesting device relinquishes control of the requester-side bus (also referred to as logically disconnecting from the bus bridge) while it performs the internal operation of transferring the data from its internal data buffer to its other internal resources. Because of the requesting device relinquishing control of the bus, prior art bridges typically assume that the requesting device has completed its transfer and reallocates the pre-fetch buffer for other data transfer operation. As a result, the pre-fetched data remaining in the pre-fetch buffer is lost, and the bandwidth consumed for the pre-fetch is wasted. Consequently, when the requesting device re-gains control of the requester-side bus and attempts to read data beginning where it left off, the read transaction must now cross the bridge and be handled by target-side devices again. Thus, in cases where the data buffer of the requesting device is substantially shallower than the pre-fetch buffer in the bridge, the bandwidth gains achieved by data pre-fetching can be significantly eroded.
Loss of pre-fetched data may be addressed by the support of split transactions. In a split transaction bus, each transfer request is typically accompanied by an identifier that identifies the requesting device. The identifier allows pre-fetched data to be matched with a requesting device even if the requesting device disconnects and then reconnects. Data is xe2x80x9cre-streamedxe2x80x9d upon reconnection by the requesting device. However, the identifier scheme significantly increases complexity to the design and operation of the system. An alternative solution is to provide a cache memory in the bridge. Experience has shown that too can be an expensive proposition.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/012,775, issued Jan. 2, 2001 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,030 entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Restreaming Data That Has Been Queued In A Bus Bridge Devicexe2x80x9d, filed on Jan. 23, 1998, an improved method for addressing the problem through a set of queue management rules was disclosed. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/266,744, entitled xe2x80x9cComputer System Having Improved Data Transfer Across A Bus Bridgexe2x80x9d, filed on Mar. 12, 1999, another method through xe2x80x9cdecomposedxe2x80x9d fetches was disclosed. Both applications have common assignee as the present application. Each approach has its pros and cons. The present invention provides another approach to address the problem, offering certain advantages otherwise not available in the other approaches.
A bus agent provides to a bus bridge a read data request targeting a data source bridged by the bus bridge. The read data request includes a read address indicating a starting storage location of the requested data, and a read size indicator indicating the size of the requested data. The bus bridge, in response, facilitates provision of the requested data to the bus agent. The facilitation includes streaming buffered ones of the requested data to the bus agent through one or more successive streaming connections to the bus bridge by the bus agent. The bus bridge factors into consideration, the included read size indicator, in managing re-streaming eligibility of remaining buffered ones of the requested data.

Bus bridging method and apparatus including use of read size indicators


A jointing member has a grommet and a pin. The grommet includes a flange portion and a leg portion capable of being opened, in which an insertion hole is formed from the center of the flange portion to the inner portion of the leg portion, and an engagement portion is formed at the inner surface of the leg portion. The pin includes a head portion and a shaft portion to be inserted into the insertion hole, in which an engagement surface and a lock surface each engaging with the engagement portions are formed at the shaft portion. In the jointed and fixed state of panel members, when an unexpected external force is applied to the tip end of the shaft portion of the pin, the engagement portion engages with the lock surface of the pin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a jointing member which is configured from a grommet and a pin, in which two panel members can be at least jointed from one direction to fix the two panel members by one-touch operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, although not shown concretely, a jointing member is configured from a grommet and a pin. Each of these is integrally made of composite resin. The grommet has a flange portion and a leg portion, in which an insertion hole to insert a shaft portion of the pin described later therein is formed from a center of the flange portion to an inner portion of the leg portion. The leg portion is divided into plural pieces through slits so that the pieces can be opened outward, and an engagement portion which engages with a large-diameter groove of the pin described later is formed at an inner surface of each of the divided leg pieces. The pin has a head portion and a shaft portion, in which the large-diameter groove which engages with the engagement portion is formed at an almost center portion of the shaft portion and a small-diameter groove which receives the engagement portion is formed at an insertion end of the shaft portion (see JP-A-8-334109, for example).
At the time of actually using the jointing member, when the shaft portion of the pin is inserted into the insertion hole of the grommet so that each engagement portion of the respective divided leg pieces is received within the small-diameter groove of the pin. The divided leg pieces are prevented from being opened outward and only the pin is provisionally engaged on a grommet side. In this state, after the grommet is attached to attachment holes, which are previously perforated at the two panel members, the pin in the provisionally engaged state is completely pushed into the insertion hole of the grommet. Then, each engagement portion of the divided leg pieces is disengaged from the small-diameter groove and is engaged with the large-diameter groove so that the divided leg pieces are opened outward, whereby the two panel members are jointed and fixed to each other.
JP-A-8-334109 is known as a related art.
However, in the conventional jointing member, when the jointing and fixing procedure of the two panel members is completed, the insertion end of the shaft portion of the pin largely protrudes outward from the end edges of the divided leg pieces. Thus, when another procedure is performed at the rear side of the protruded insertion end, if the worker erroneously pushes the insertion end of the shaft portion of the protruded pin or another part is abutted against the insertion end of the shaft portion of the protruded pin at the time of attaching the another part, the jointing member may be disengaged from the attachment holes of the panel members or the pin may be restored to the provisionally engaged state despite that the jointing member is not disengaged. Therefore, it is required to perform the jointing and fixing procedure of the panel members again or the panel members may be transferred to the next procedure without being noticed that the jointed and fixed state of the panel members is cancelled.

Jointing member for fixing panel members by one-touch operation


A server includes a processor, a memory, and a plurality of interfaces for outputting server status information. A LAN switch includes a first port configured to be coupled to a first LAN, a second port configured to be coupled to a second LAN, and a plurality of interface connection ports. Each interface connection port is configured to be coupled to one of the plurality of interfaces. The LAN switch is configured to selectively connect ports of the switch based on received boot progress information indicating a boot state of the server.

Management (console) communications are used in server systems to send and receive status, control and configuration information. Management communications are typically transmitted and received via a single local area network (LAN) interface (i.e., a LAN that combines management and payload communications), or via a cable to an RS-232 port on the server.
When there is no management LAN, each server typically includes an RS-232 port for management communications. When a large number of servers are to be controlled, a complex, hard-to-manage wiring bundle to each individual server's RS-232 port is typically implemented, which connects each individual server with a complex set of switch networks. Using an RS-232 port for management communications is sufficient for a single stand-alone server, but when the server is integrated with many others, a separate cable for each server is difficult to maintain and configure.
As an alternative to dedicated RS232 ports, some servers will use a LAN interface commonly implemented as a Network Interface Card (NIC) configured and maintained through the operating system. Normally this LAN is used for application and customer payload information, and the management functions are an add-on.
If a single LAN interface is used, there is a security hole in that management information commingles with payload information on a single LAN. This commingling of signals on a single LAN allows for unauthorized snooping, and the potential for unauthorized communications to console devices. For a single LAN interface, a security driven software layer can be used (at additional cost), but there is a possibility that the security layer could be compromised. The mixed data stream is vulnerable to security breaches even if firewalls are used. Unauthorized access by an application user to chassis management functions could lead to permanent data corruption for all users. Similarly, unauthorized access by a chassis administrator to an application could lead to a compromise of secure data.
With the single LAN solution, the content on the LAN can be segregated outside of the system to the two different streams, management and payload. This forces the same solution on all systems in a data center. A system-by-system solution is difficult, to obtain and maintain. In addition, by having the segregation in commercial, sometimes publicly accessible switches, the possibility of hacking is greatly increased. Once the LANs are linked through an external switch, management or information technology (IT) personnel would typically configure the system, and then hand it over to the application users/developers, who would typically change passwords for security reasons to lock out the IT personnel from the system. Only through manual intervention and coordination between the two types of users can full manageability be obtained.
It would be desirable to provide a server with a more convenient, flexible, and secure system for management communications.

Server with LAN switch that connects ports based on boot progress information

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A silicon on insulator (SOI) device and methods for fabricating such a device are provided. The device includes an MOS capacitor coupled between voltage busses and formed in a monocrystalline semiconductor layer overlying an insulator layer and a semiconductor substrate. The device includes at least one electrical discharge path for discharging potentially harmful charge build up on the MOS capacitor. The MOS capacitor has a conductive electrode material forming a first plate of the MOS capacitor and an impurity doped region in the monocrystalline silicon layer beneath the conductive electrode material forming a second plate. A first voltage bus is coupled to the first plate of the capacitor and to an electrical discharge path through a diode formed in the semiconductor substrate and a second voltage bus is coupled to the second plate of the capacitor.

The majority of present day integrated circuits (ICs) are implemented by using a plurality of interconnected field effect transistors (FETs), also called metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs or MOS transistors). The ICs are usually formed using both P-channel FETs (PMOS transistors or PFETs) and N-channel FETs (NMOS transistors or NFETs) and the IC is then referred to as a complementary MOS or CMOS circuit. Certain improvements in performance of MOS ICs can be realized by forming the MOS transistors in a thin layer of semiconductor material overlying an insulator layer. Such semiconductor on insulator (SOI) MOS transistors, for example, exhibit lower junction capacitance and hence can operate at higher speeds.
The MOS transistors formed in and on the SOI layer are interconnected to implement the desired circuit function. A number of voltage busses are also connected to appropriate devices to power those devices as required by the circuit function. The voltage busses may include, for example, a Vdd bus, a Vcc bus, a Vss bus, and the like, and may include busses coupled to external power sources as well as busses coupled to internally generated or internally altered power sources. As used herein, the terms "Vdd bus" and "Vcc bus" as well as "voltage bus" and the like will apply to external as well as internal busses. As various nodes in the circuit are either charged or discharged during the operation of the circuit, the various busses must source or sink current to those nodes. Especially as the switching speed of the integrated circuits increases, the requirement of sourcing or sinking current by a bus can cause significant voltage spikes on the bus because of the inherent inductance of the bus. It has become commonplace to place decoupling capacitors between the busses to avoid logic errors that might be caused by the voltage spikes. For example, such decoupling capacitors can be connected between the Vdd and Vss busses. These decoupling capacitors are typically distributed along the length of the busses. The capacitors are usually but not necessarily formed as MOS capacitors with one plate of the capacitor formed by the same material used to form the gate electrode of the MOS transistors, the other plate of the capacitor formed by an impurity doped region in the SOI layer, and the dielectric separating the two plates of the capacitor formed by the gate dielectric.
One problem that can affect the yield and reliability of the integrated circuit can occur when using such MOS capacitors as the decoupling capacitors between voltage busses. The problem occurs because sufficient charge can build up on a capacitor during fabrication of the IC to cause a destructive discharge through the capacitor dielectric material. This problem becomes more severe as device sizes shrink and especially as the thickness of the gate dielectric layer is reduced. The charge build up results from one or more of the plasma deposition and/or etching steps that are used to deposit and/or etch the interlayer dielectric materials and the metals or other conductors used in the final steps in fabricating the integrated circuits.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an MOS device and methods for fabricating such MOS devices that avoids the destructive effects of charge build up on decoupling capacitors. In addition, it is desirable to provide methods for fabricating an SOI device that incorporates decoupling capacitors and a discharge path for protecting the decoupling capacitors. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

SOI device and method for its fabrication


A cooling system is disclosed that is designed to inhibit coolant flow to a welding-type component if connection of the welding-type component to a coolant outlet is not deemed present.

The present invention relates generally to welding-type systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus of only allowing coolant flow from a coolant source to a welding-type component if the welding-type component is deemed connected to the coolant source.
It is well known that certain welding processes such as heavy-duty TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding generate considerable amount of heat during the welding process. With TIG welding, a welding component or welding torch is commonly used to hold a tungsten electrode that is heated to join metals through heat transfer. Because tungsten is a rare metallic element with an extremely high melting point (approximately 3410° C.), the electrode can withstand a tremendous heat load and use the heat to join metals with filler material. The heat generated, however, can cause the welding torch to become increasingly heated. A cooling system is typically required to prevent overheating of the torch. Generally, the welding torch is liquid-cooled with coolant, such as water, which is supplied from a coolant source remote from the power source. The welding torch may also be air cooled.
One of the drawbacks with these standard cooling systems is that the cooling system is manually operable. That is, a typical cooling system is equipped with an ON/OFF switch that requires an operator to manually turn on the cooling system at the commencement of the welding process. When the cooling system is activated, coolant is unconditionally caused to circulate through the welding torch. It can therefore be problematic if situations arise that inhibit the proper flow of coolant go unnoticed. For example, pressure variations in the cooling system may be indicative of undesirable coolant blockage. If not corrected, the temperature of the torch may quickly rise to an unacceptable level yielding torch breakdown and malfunction.
Another disadvantage of known cooling systems rests in that the operator may turn on the cooling system and cause the flow of coolant without the welding torch being connected to receive coolant. As a result, coolant flow from the coolant source to the ambient may be unrestrictive thereby causing coolant waste and added clean-up time both of which negatively affect welding efficiency.
Therefore, it would be desirable to design a cooling system that determines if a welding-type component is connected to a coolant source and only permits coolant flow if a connection is properly determined. It would be further desirable to design a system whereby cooling parameters are monitored to verify proper coolant flow.

Torch connection detection system and method


The disclosure relates to an array substrate and a method for fabricating an array substrate. The array substrate includes a base substrate, a cover layer on the base substrate, an opening at least partially passing through the cover layer, a stress buffer structure adjacent to the opening and on a side of the cover layer facing the base substrate, wherein the stress buffer structure includes a phase change material, wherein a height of a portion of the cover layer on the phase change material is lower than a height of a portion of the cover layer adjacent to the phase change material.

This disclosure relates to the field of display technology. In particular, the disclosure relates to an array substrate and a fabricating method thereof.
Displays without frames or with narrow frames are getting more and more attention. Displays without frames or with narrow frames usually include profiled screens and non-profiled screens. The non-profiled screen is to change the screen size of the display, leaving space above or below the screen to set up the camera, earpiece, sensor, and other components. Non-profiled screens are relatively easy to implement. The profiled screen is provided with an opening in the screen to place components such as a camera, an earpiece, a sensor, and the like.

Display panel, array substrate, display device and method for fabricating array substrate


A new and improved onboarding process for configuring and activating an email message receiving system (EMRS) to accept and process email messages on behalf of a customer is disclosed. The process comprises generating a customer-account-specific Domain Name Server (DNS) name that identifies a customer of the EMRS and a mail server for accepting and processing email messages for a domain associated with the customer. The process includes providing the customer-account-specific DNS name to the customer, receiving a request to process email messages for the domain associated with the customer and identifying using the customer-account-specific DNS name, the mail server for receiving the email messages for the domain. The process further includes verifying, using the customer-account-specific DNS name, that the customer has permission for receiving the email messages for the domain. The process includes processing the email messages and delivering the messages to a destination system.

Cloud-based email services provide a fast and reliable solution for receiving and processing email messages for individuals or organizations as well as being able to quickly and reliably process high volumes of email messages for delivery to a set of recipients. A cloud-based email receiving service is a service that is primarily responsible for handling the receipt of email messages for one or more domains associated with an organization and may perform various mail-receiving and mail-processing functions such as scanning email messages for spam and viruses, rejecting email messages from entrusted sources and accepting emails for recipients in one or more domains owned by an organization. To utilize the services provided by a cloud-based email receiving service, a customer (e.g., a user) of the email receiving service typically has to configure or activate the cloud-based email receiving service for receiving email messages on behalf of a domain owned by the customer via an onboarding process. The onboarding process is typically a complex process that involves the customer having to perform multiple steps to successfully configure and activate the cloud-based email receiving service to receive and process emails. Existing techniques for onboarding to a cloud-based email receiving service need to be improved to efficiently handle the complexities of the onboarding process.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Email message receiving system in a cloud infrastructure


A peristaltic pump has a rotor supported on a frame that is removable in a radial direction with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotor. The rotor is retained in place on the frame by gravity and the forces applied by the opposing pump components.

Peristaltic pumps are commonly used in applications requiring the fluids being pumped to remain free of contamination or applications requiring the fluid path to remain clean or sterile. Such pumps must be disassembled regularly for cleaning or service, and it is desirable to be able to do so without tools. It is often difficult, however, to clean these pumps because the rotors are not easily removed.


A substrate for a semiconductor package having a reinforcing member that prevents or minimizes distortions is presented. The substrate for the semiconductor package includes a substrate body, an insulation layer, and a reinforcing member. The substrate body has a first region having a plurality of chip mount regions, a second region disposed along a periphery of the first region, a circuit pattern disposed in each chip mount region and a dummy pattern disposed along the second region. The insulation layer covers the first and second regions and has an opening exposing some portion of each circuit pattern. The reinforcing member is disposed in the second region and prevents deflection of the substrate body.

The present invention relates to a substrate for a semiconductor package and a method for fabricating the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a substrate for a semiconductor package having a reinforcing member which substantially prevents or minimizes distortions.
In recent, a semiconductor package including a semiconductor chip capable of storing massive data and processing the massive data and a substrate for mounting the semiconductor chip thereon has been developed.
In recent, the size of the semiconductor packages has become more and more reduced due to thinning of the thicknesses of the semiconductor chip and the substrate included in the semiconductor package.
However, as the thickness of the substrate included in the semiconductor package is reduced, a problem arises in that the rigidity of the substrate is reduced and as a result the shape of the substrate is therefore prone to distortions or deformations.

Substrate for semiconductor package having a reinforcing member that prevents distortions and method for fabricating the same


A thin film organic light emitting diode with edge emitter waveguide comprises, in sequence, a substrate, a waveguide, an anode, a hole transport layer, an electroluminescent layer, and a cathode. Voltage applied between the anode and cathode causes the electroluminescent layer to emit light through the hole transport layer and the anode into the waveguide where the light is internally reflected within the waveguide and propagates through the length of the waveguide to be emitted through the edge of the waveguide. The non-emission edge of the waveguide may be sloped with a conductor layer to the anode and a conductor layer to the cathode forming a reflective surface to the non-emission edge.

This invention relates to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) and, more particularly, to a thin film organic light emitting diode with edge emitter waveguide.
Thin film organic light emitting diodes typically have an organic electroluminescent medium consisting of two extremely thin layers which are less than 1.0 .mu.m in combined thickness separating the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. One thin film is hole transporting and the other thin film is both electron transporting and also acts as the organic luminescent zone of the OLED device. The extremely thin organic luminescent medium offers reduced resistance, permitting higher current densities for a given level of voltage biasing. The reduced resistance and higher current densities allows applied voltages to be reduced into ranges compatible with integrated circuit drivers, such as field effect transistors. At the same time, light emitted at these low driving voltages have been sufficiently bright to permit visual observation under common ambient lighting conditions.
The OLED contains spaced electrodes separated by an electroluminescent medium that emits electromagnetic radiation, typically light, in response to the application of an electrode potential difference across the electrodes. The electroluminescent medium must not only be capable of luminescing but must also be capable of fabrication in a continuous form (i.e. must be pin hole free) and must be sufficiently stable to facilitate fabrication and to support device operation.
Since the organic luminescent medium is quite thin, light is emitted through one of the two electrodes as a surface emitting OLED. The anode or cathode electrode is a translucent or transparent coating, either on the organic luminescent medium or on a separate translucent or transparent support.
Organic light emitting diodes can be constructed employing thin film deposition techniques. Using an anode as a device support, the organic electroluminescent is deposited as a single film or a combination of films followed by the deposition of a cathode. Thus, starting with the anode structure, it is possible to form the entire active structure of an OLED by thin film deposition techniques. As employed herein the term "thin film" refers to layer thicknesses of less than 5 .mu.m, with layer thicknesses of less than about 2 .mu.m being typical.
Surface emitter OLEDs are not very bright in the surface normal direction. An edge emitter OLED would integrate light from a long emitter area and produce gain in the form of enhanced brightness emitted out of the smaller edge direction. An edge emitter OLED will have an increase in brightness of several times over a surface emitter OLED under similar electroluminescence and voltage conditions.
There are two principal problems with thin film edge emitter OLEDs. First, the thin film electroluminescent layer presents a thin edge or facet to emit the light. Second, the layer surfaces within the OLED structure are lossy, absorbing or blocking the emitted light along the relatively long length of the OLED before the light can be emitted from the edge. Both these problems result in a low intensity emitted light from a thin film edge emitter OLED.
Although surface emitters are conventional in organic light emitting diodes, a thin film electroluminescent line emitter (TFEL) can be an edge emitter, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,341 to Kun et al. The thin film edge emitter electroluminescent line emitter has a first dielectric layer, an electroluminescent phosphor layer and a second dielectric layer between a bottom electrode and a top electrode.
The dielectric layers and the phosphor layer have sufficiently different indices of refraction so that light emitted within the phosphor layer will be internally reflected at the first dielectric layer/phosphor layer surface and also internally reflected at the phosphor layer/second dielectric layer surface. The light will eventually be emitted through the edge of the phosphor layer and thus the edge of the OLED.
However, the TFEL has a low propagation efficiency due to grain boundary scattering. The TFEL has waveguiding losses on the order of 400 db/cm. Furthermore, OLEDs operate at a lower voltage than TFELs and may enable a lower loss light emission device with higher overall optical gain.
It is an object of this invention to provide a thin film OLED with edge emission through a waveguide.

Thin film organic light emitting diode with edge emitter waveguide


Embodiments of the present invention provide for raising a background current setting for a biosensor above the actual (measured) background current present (i.e., overestimating the background current), particularly in the hypoglycemic range, to improve sensor accuracy and decrease the chance of glucose value overestimation by the sensor.

In an amperometric enzyme sensor, the background current refers to the small amount of current that exists even in the absence of the analyte that is being measured. This value may be measured in sensors that are specially constructed without enzyme, thus being incapable of a response to an analyte such as glucose or lactate. When such sensors (those lacking an enzyme) have been implanted in animals or in humans, an exemplary background current has been typically between about 0.5 and 2 nA (nanoamperes).
In addition, the accuracy of a glucose biosensor in the hypoglycemic range is quite important from a clinical standpoint. For example, if the true capillary blood glucose is really 65 mg/dl (low) and the sensor estimate is 80 mg/dl, this is a serious error, i.e. true hypoglycemia was missed due to a sensor overestimate. Misdiagnosis of hypoglycemia could lead to coma, seizures, automobile accidents, etc.

Method and apparatus for background current arrangements for a biosensor


A magnetron oscillating apparatus includes a magnetron, power supply unit, and switch circuit. The magnetron oscillates a microwave. The power supply unit applies a power to the magnetron. The switch circuit is connected between the power supply unit and the cathode of the magnetron and turned on/off on the basis of a control signal. When the switch circuit is turned on by the control signal, a voltage is applied between the cathode and the grounded anode of the magnetron to cause the magnetron to pulse-oscillate.

The present invention relates to a magnetron oscillating apparatus and, more particularly, to a magnetron oscillating apparatus which oscillates a microwave by applying a voltage between the cathode and the grounded anode of the magnetron.
In manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits, plasma processing apparatuses are used, which execute processes such as crystal growth, etching, and ashing by the effect of plasma produced by a microwave. In plasma processing apparatuses of this type, a magnetron is often used as a microwave oscillator.
A magnetron forms an electric field between the cathode and the anode and oscillates a microwave by the interaction between electrons emitted from the cathode toward the anode and a magnetic field applied in the direction perpendicular to the electric field. The magnetron is inexpensive and efficient for it.
FIG. 8 shows the arrangement of a conventional magnetron oscillating apparatus. Referring to FIG. 8, a magnetron 1 has a heater/cathode H/K in which a cathode and a heater are integrated, and an anode A. The anode A composed of a plurality of vanes and is provided concentrically with respect to the cathode K. A resonator is formed by spaces partitioned by the vanes.
The heater power supply 3 is connected to the two terminals of the heater/cathode H/K. When the heater power supply 3 supplies a current to the heater/cathode H/K, the heater/cathode H/K is heated and emits electrons.
The anode power supply 2 serving as a power supply unit is connected to one terminal of the heater/cathode H/K. When a negative voltage with respect to the anode A connected to ground is applied from the anode power supply 2 to the heater/cathode H/K, an electric field is formed between the heater/cathode H/K and the anode A. The heater/cathode H/K emits electrons toward the anode A.
The low-pass filter composed of coils L1 and L2 and capacitors C1 and C2 is provided between the heater/cathode H/K and the power supplies 2 and 3 to prevent energy of the microwave generated by the magnetron 1 from flowing into the anode power supply 2 and heater power supply 3. The coils L1 and L2 are connected between the two terminals of the heater/cathode H/K and the capacitors C1 and C2. Feed through capacitors inserted in through holes for formed at the case are used as capacitor C1 and C2 to connect from the heater/cathode H/K to the outside. The capacitors C1 and C2 correspond to capacitors which are connected between ground and the connection points between the coils L1 and L2 and the heater power supply 3.
In the above-described conventional magnetron oscillating apparatus, a voltage is applied from the anode power supply 2 to make the magnetron 1 oscillate. When plasma is produced by a microwave power obtained in this way, high-density plasma can be obtained at a low pressure. This plasma also has an electron temperature lower than plasma produced by a high-frequency which has a frequency lower than the microwave.
However, in a plasma processing apparatus including the conventional magnetron oscillating apparatus, for example, when etching is executed to form a fine contact hole in a silicon oxide film, the selectivity for underlying silicon decreases. Additionally, abnormal side etching or dielectric breakdown occurs due to accumulated charges in etching a gate polysilicon electrode. For this reason, micropatterning for a line width of 1 μm or less is difficult.


In a compressor in the induction tract of an internal combustion engine with a compressor by which combustion air can be compressed to an increased boost pressure and which includes a compressor wheel rotatably mounted in a compressor housing with a main inlet duct in the flow path to the compressor wheel, and an auxiliary inlet duct joining the main inlet duct in the area of the compressor wheel, an adjustable swirl device is provided in the auxiliary intake duct, which comprises two separate, interacting swirl structures with a plurality of guide vanes distributed over the periphery and arranged so that the flow cross-section between the guide vanes of the two swirl structures can be changed by an adjusting motion of at least one swirl structure, the vane height of the guide vanes of the smaller swirl structure being 5% to 35% of the vane height of the guide vanes of the larger swirl structure.

The invention relates to an intake air compressor for an internal combustion engine including a compressor wheel disposed in the air intake duct and an adjustable inlet guide vane structure for controlling the airflow to the compressor.
DE 199 55 508 C1 discloses an exhaust gas turbocharger for an internal combustion engine, which comprises an exhaust gas turbine in the exhaust gas duct and a compressor in the air intake duct of the internal combustion engine. The exhaust gas turbine is driven by the pressurized exhaust gases of the engine, the rotation of the turbine wheel being transmitted by a shaft to the compressor wheel, which compresses combustion air sucked from the environment to an increased boost pressure, at which the combustion air is fed to the cylinders of the internal combustion engine. In order to improve the transient behavior of the exhaust gas turbocharger, the compressor has, parallel to the compressor inlet duct, an auxiliary duct, which joins the compressor inlet duct in the area of the compressor wheel, an adjustable guide vane structure being disposed in the entrance area to the compressor wheel. At low loads and rotational speeds, in particular, the flow cross section in the compressor inlet duct can be reduced or shut off and the combustion air which is to be supplied can be conducted to the compressor wheel via the auxiliary duct. The combustion air passes through the flow guide structure and undergoes a swirl, under which the combustion air strikes the compressor wheel and imparts to the latter a driving momentum. This mode of operation of the compressor is also referred to as cold air turbine operation.
Based on this prior art, it is the object of the present invention to provide a compressor for an internal combustion engine in such a way that the compressor speed can be kept at a high level, even at low engine speeds and engine loads. Expediently, the air flow through the compressor is to be accurately controlled by simple design measures.

Compressor in the induction tract of an internal combustion engine


Disclosed are a magnetic recording medium for a heat-assisted recording device, which has a high SNR at high density, and a manufacturing method thereof. The magnetic recording medium includes a non-magnetic substrate; a magnetic recording layer; a protective layer; and a liquid lubricating layer. The magnetic recording layer has a granular structure formed by magnetic portions and non-magnetic portions that surround the magnetic portions in which the non-magnetic portions between adjacent magnetic portions are recessed with respect to the magnetic portions. The non-magnetic portions have a volume percentage based on total volume of the granular structure ranging from 15 vol % to 30 vol % and include a carbon-based material. The magnetic recording medium has a surface having an arithmetic mean roughness Ra and an average length of roughness curve elements RSm such that Ra/RSm ranges from 0.05 to 0.15.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium for heat-assisted recording devices, and to a method of manufacturing the magnetic recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Perpendicular magnetic recording schemes are used as a technique for achieving magnetic recording media of higher density. Media (perpendicular magnetic recording media) in which magnetic recording is performed according to this scheme comprise a non-magnetic substrate that is formed out of a non-magnetic material, and a magnetic recording layer that is formed out of a magnetic material. The medium may further comprise, for instance, a backing formed of a soft magnetic material and that has the function of concentrating, in the magnetic recording layer, the magnetic flux that is generated by a magnetic head; a ground layer that orients the magnetic recording layer in a target direction; and a protective layer that protects the surface of the magnetic recording layer.
Magnetic recording layers for perpendicular magnetic recording media that have been proposed include, for instance, a magnetic recording layer (granular magnetic layer) having a granular structure resulting from adding a non-magnetic material such as SiO2, TiO2 or the like to an alloy material such as CoCrPt, CoCrTa or the like (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-291230). In a CoCrPt—SiO2 granular magnetic layer, for instance, a SiO2 non-magnetic material segregates so as to surround the periphery of CoCrPt magnetic crystal grains, so that the individual magnetic crystal grains of CoCrPt are magnetically isolated by the SiO2 non-magnetic material.
In recent years, magnetization reversal units have become smaller as a result of a reduction in the size of magnetic crystal grains in granular magnetic layers. Recording bits, as signal units that are recorded by a magnetic head, have also become smaller. This entails a need for higher recording densities in perpendicular magnetic recording media. However, the thermal stability of recording magnetization drops as the size of the magnetic crystal grains decreases. Accordingly, it has been proposed to form magnetic crystal grains, in a granular magnetic layer, out of materials having higher magnetocrystalline anisotropy, in order to compensate for the drop in thermal stability that accompanies a reduction in the size of the magnetic crystal grains.
Herein, L10 ordered alloys are materials having the required high magneto-crystalline anisotropy. Various methods have been proposed for manufacturing thin films of L10 ordered alloys (Japanese Patent No. 3318204). Ordinarily, aluminum or glass-made non-magnetic substrates are used in magnetic recording media from the viewpoint of strength, impact resistance and so forth. A ground layer is important in a case where a L10 ordered alloy layer is formed on the surface of such a non-magnetic substrate. That is because, in order to impart high magnetocrystalline anisotropy to the magnetic crystal grains, the crystals of the L10 ordered alloy must take on a (001) orientation (the [001] axis of the crystals must be perpendicular to the substrate surface). Accordingly, MgO or SrTiO3 are ordinarily used as underlayers, which have appropriate lattice misfit properties (high lattice matching) for L10 ordered alloys.
The thickness of the magnetic recording layer is uniform in the in-plane direction of the medium. Therefore, a smaller magnetization reversal unit translates into a smaller cross-sectional area keeping a constant height of the magnetization reversal unit. As a result, the demagnetizing field that acts on the magnetization reversal unit itself becomes smaller, and the switching field becomes greater. In terms of the shape of the magnetization reversal unit, a greater write magnetic field is required in order to increase the recording density required.
For the problem of writing ability, a recording scheme has been proposed, known as heat-assisted recording, which focuses on a combination of a magnetic recording medium and a head. Heat-assisted recording exploits the temperature dependence of the magnetic anisotropy constant Ku of magnetic materials, i.e., the characteristic whereby Ku becomes smaller at higher temperatures. In heat-assisted recording, the magnetic recording medium is heated to temporarily lower thereby the Ku of a magnetic recording layer and reduce the switching field as a result. Writing is carried out during that temporary interval. Once the temperature reverts (drops) to its earlier value, Ku takes on its original high value. A recording signal can be held stably as a result. In the manufacture of magnetic recording media that are appropriate for heat-assisted recording, the design of the magnetic recording layer mandates that temperature characteristics also be taken into consideration, in addition to conventional guidelines.
The transition width of the recording bit is determined by the size of the magnetization reversal unit of the magnetic recording medium and by the magnetic field gradient and temperature gradient of the head. The transition width of recording bits must be reduced in order to enhance recording density. In particular, it is important that the temperature gradient of a heating spot generated by a laser beam should be steep. Regarding this approach a method has been proposed where, for instance, a heat dissipation layer is provided within a magnetic recording medium (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-182386). The heat dissipation layer must have a thickness according to the heating spot, but, as described above, the heat dissipation effect of the heat dissipation layer is greater the thicker the layer is. A thicker heat dissipation layer, however, entails larger irregularities on the magnetic recording medium surface. Large irregularities in a layer that underlies the magnetic recording layer exert an influence on the fine structure of the overlying magnetic recording layer, in particular on the crystal orientability and size control of magnetic crystal grains, in that crystal orientability becomes poorer, and particle size variation becomes greater. An excessively large heat dissipation layer constitutes therefore an obstacle for achieving a high-density magnetic recording medium.
To deal with this problem, the abovementioned magnetic recording medium has a layer structure such that a soft magnetic underlayer is sandwiched between two heat dissipation layers. Preferably, the layer configuration is such that the heat dissipation layer and the soft magnetic underlayer have each a plurality of layers, and heat dissipation layers and soft magnetic underlayers are stacked alternately with each other. Methods have been disclosed thus wherein the heat dissipation effect is enhanced, the irregularities at the magnetic recording medium surface are reduced, and a higher density is achieved. Further, a magnetic recording medium has been proposed, as a medium compatible with heat-assisted recording, that combines high-density writing with control of the temperature characteristic (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-93780).
As described above, thickening of the heat dissipation layer with a view to enhancing the heat dissipation effect constitutes an obstacle for achieving a magnetic recording medium having higher density. In particular, excessively large irregularities at the magnetic recording medium surface result in unstable flying of the magnetic head, causing fluctuations of gap length during signal writing and reading, and resulting in lowered SNR (signal to noise ratio), among other drawbacks. If a configuration is resorted to wherein a soft magnetic underlayer is sandwiched between two heat dissipation layers, it becomes necessary to provide the number of chambers according to the number of the plurality of heat dissipation layers, during production in a vacuum batch film-formation line, from the bottom layer to the top layer. Thus, equipment costs undesirably increase in proportion to the number of chambers.

Magnetic recording medium for heat-assisted recording device and manufacturing method thereof


In a communication node (10) which comprises switching device (24) operating under control of a clock signal of period T for exchanging information slots carried in external frames of period T' comprising n slots, with each slot comprising a x-bit data byte, between external Time Division Multiplex TDM links (12,14) attached to the communication node, a synchronization device prevents the slippage phenomena due to the asynchronies between T and T' from causing a loss of data slots by generating at the input of the switching means internal frames from the received external frames. These internal frames are synchronous with the clock signal of period T and have a format which allows the slippage to be compensated.

The current communication nodes able to perform circuit switching functions between synchronous link interfaces such as channelized time division multiplex on primary access links have an internal timing clock which is synchronized with the clock of one of the synchronous link interfaces. This prevents synchronous interfaces belonging to different Carriers not synchronized between them from being interconnected.
In such an environment, the internal timing clock of the node is synchronized with the timing clock of one Carrier by means of a phase locked loop, so that the circuit switching functions can be performed between interfaces belonging to this Carrier without any slippage.
However, since the node internal timing clock cannot be synchronized with the timing clocks of the other Carriers, the circuit switching functions between the interfaces belonging to these Carriers cannot be performed without any slippage, which is a major drawback.
In addition, the implementation of the Phase Locked Loop in charge of the synchronization of the internal timing clock of the node with the clock of one of the Carriers is complex and difficult to implement at high speed.

Synchronization device for performing synchronous circuit switching functions thru an asynchronous communication node

International Business Machines Corporation