A data processing method for an environmental certification program is provided which defines a plurality of predefined criteria which must be met by a participant in the program in order to be provided with a privilege of providing a certification mark for use on goods and in advertising materials of the participant. The data processing method tracks the compliance by the participant with the environmental certification program, and further evaluates the continued certification of a participant in the program. Preferably, continued certification requires achieving additional predefined criteria while maintaining the predefined criteria which led to initial certification. Moreover, compliance with the predefined criteria is preferably ensured with periodic on-site verification. The predefined criteria preferably are distinguished across several categories and including energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, recycling, waste minimization, health and safety, reduction of environmental liabilities, corporate citizenship. The criteria for all participants in the program are uniform. As such, the use of the certification mark by a complying participant has discernable value in the marketplace, and the continued display of the certification mark by a participant on its goods and advertising signifies the participant""s dedication and actions with respect to environmental concerns.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to data processing methods for an environmental certification program. More particularly, the methods relate to environmental certification methods and systems where participants in the environmental certification program are tracked and evaluated for compliance and certified accordingly.
2. State of the Art
Pollution prevention has become an important issue to industry, business and the public. The public is increasingly desirous of knowledge of which companies have maintained a high standard of environmental performance; i.e., minimizing harmful impact on the environment. Moreover, the public is acting upon this knowledge in the marketplace, specifically seeking out model environmental corporate citizens. As a result, companies are finding that it is to their benefit to invest time and money into improving their environmental performance to thereby enhance their public image and consequently reap the financial rewards of the marketplace. In addition, in many circumstances implementing environmentally sound measures may provide cost savings to a company. Moreover, it has been found that companies which are environmentally responsible provide their employees with a source of pride which translates into improved productivity for employees of those companies.
Companies have vied for environmental awards given by the government, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency, and organizations, for the prestige associated with such awards and perceived economic value of the awards. However, these awards are not based on uniform criteria, and award recipients have varying degrees of environmental performance. Furthermore, these awards are typically provided on a one-time basis and do not confer the level to which the recipient has maintained its environmental responsibility after receiving the reward. In fact, many companies after receiving an award decrease their environmental responsibility, thereby diminishing the perceived value of the award in the marketplace. In addition, such awards do not confer to the recipient the privilege of displaying a policed certification mark in conjunction with the recipient""s goods. Therefore, the public is not always aware of the award, and, even if aware, the public often does not confer significant weight to the awards, as the awards are not widely known. Moreover, the criteria for such environmental awards are not tracked in a data processing system which enables the tracking and evaluation of the compliance with such criteria over time.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a data processing method for an environmental certification program.
It is an additional object to provide an environmental certification program.
It is another object of the invention to provide a data processing method which tracks and evaluates the compliance by a participant in the environmental certification program.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a data processing method for an environmental certification program which certifies a participant in the program as being in compliance with the program when the participant complies with predefined criteria.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a data processing method for an environmental certification program which evaluates the continued certification of a participant in the program when the participant complies with additional predefined criteria.
In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, a data processing method for an environmental certification program is provided which defines a plurality of predefined criteria which must be met by a participant in the program in order to be provided with a privilege of providing a certification mark to the participant for use on goods, advertising, press materials, etc. The data processing method tracks the compliance by the participant in the environmental certification program, and further evaluates the continued certification of a participant in the program. Preferably, continued certification requires achieving additional predefined criteria in addition to maintaining the predefined criteria which led to initial certification. Moreover, compliance with the predefined criteria is preferably ensured with periodic on-site verification.
The predefined criteria are distinguished across several categories, including energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, recycling, waste minimization, health and safety, reduction of environmental liabilities, and corporate citizenship. Each category is further refined into a number of xe2x80x9cprofitable environmental measuresxe2x80x9d (or PEMs); i.e., particular implementable measures which are environmentally beneficial and preferably profitable to the participant.
According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the participant must implement (and maintain) a predefined number of PEMs prior to being certified, and thereafter implement a predefined number of PEMs at specified years after certification. Preferably, the PEMs are required to be initially implemented at a single facility, and then during a specified period of time after initial implementation, the PEMs are preferably required to be implemented at additional facilities.
The terms of compliance are the same for all participants, and the number of PEMs that must be implemented for any particular participant, as well as the number (or percentage) of the facilities of the participant in which the PEMs must be implemented are tracked in a database of a computer system. In addition, based upon participant reporting and on-site verification, the database also maintains a list of the type of PEMs which the participant has implemented, and provides an evaluation of compliance by the participant and determines whether the participant is eligible for initial and continued certification in the program. If the participant becomes ineligible for certification due to non-compliance with the requirements of the program, the participant loses the privilege of displaying the certification mark in association with the participant""s goods and advertising until once again being in compliance with the program.
It will be appreciated that the data processing method for an environmental certification program provides uniform criteria for participants in the program. As such, the certification mark provided by the program to a complying participant has discernable value in the marketplace. In addition, the continued display of the certification mark by a participant on its goods and in its advertising and other materials signifies the participant""s dedication to environmental concerns and the willingness of the participant to be a model environmental citizen.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.

Environmental certification system and method


It is shown that CD25-targeted near-infrared photo-immunotherapy causes a unique, rapid and spatially selective depletion of Tregs leading to regression of the treated tumor and inducing systemic immunologic responses in untreated tumors. Based on these observations, provided are compositions and methods of killing immune suppressor cells, for example to treat cancer. Reducing the number of suppressor cells in a subject can remove suppression of effector T cells, for example, to treat cancer using the subject's own immune system. In particular examples, the method includes contacting suppressor cells having a suppressor cell surface protein with an antibody-IR700 molecule, wherein the antibody specifically binds to the suppressor cell surface protein, and in some examples the antibody does not have a functional Fc region. The cell is subsequently irradiated, such as at a wavelength of 660 to 740 nm, for example at a dose of at least 4 J cm−2.

Cancer immunotherapy, which includes the use of immune modulatory antibodies, cancer vaccines, and cell-based therapies, has become an important strategy in the control of cancer (1-4). These therapies, while minimally invasive, still have room for improvement (5, 6). Recently, improved understanding of the interactions between immune cells and cancer cells have led to the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors which have shown remarkable therapeutic efficacy (7-9). A variety of strategies have been developed to inhibit immunosuppressive regulatory mechanisms, thus enhancing anti-cancer immune responses, however, systemic blockade of these same functions in normal organs have led to life-threatening and, therefore, dose-limiting autoimmune side effects (10-13). A method that selectively and locally suppresses regulatory T cells within tumors, but not systemically, could avoid systemic adverse effects.
Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a method of treating cancers that uses activation of an antibody-photoabsorber conjugate activated by near-infrared light to kill cells (14). The antibody binds to the appropriate cell surface antigen and the photo-activatable silica-phthalocyanine dye (IRDye700DX) induces lethal damage to cell membrane after NIR-light exposure. NIR-light exposure (690 nm) induces highly selective, necrotic cancer cell death within minutes without damage to adjoining cells. A phase I human study of NIR-PIT using cetuximab-IR700, targeting tumor EGFR, is currently underway for the treatment of inoperable head and neck cancers. NIR-PIT appears to specifically kill target cells while leaving adjacent normal cells unharmed (15-17).
Within the cancer tissue, T cells and NK cells that recognize cancer cells are often present in large numbers, but their cytotoxic function is suppressed by nearby immune suppressor cells, such as regulatory T cells (Tregs) (21, 22). Thus, controlling tumor infiltrating CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Tregs has been considered an essential step for enhancing anti-cancer immune reactions (23-25). A variety of approaches have been employed to deplete or ablate Tregs but they have met with limited success (22, 26-28). For instance, depletion of Tregs using systemic anti-CD25 antibodies also depletes CD25-expressing anti-tumor effector cells, reducing the therapeutic effectiveness of Tregs depletion (29). In research settings, elimination of Tregs has been achieved with intratumoral injection of anti-CD4 antibodies (30). Alternatively, genetically engineered animal models have been designed to permit transient conditional ablation of Tregs (31-33). However, this method is impossible to translate clinically. Therefore, a practical technique that enables local, selective depletion of tumor-infiltrating Tregs, without depleting other cell types and/or systemic Tregs, is highly desirable.

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) of suppressor cells to treat cancer

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services


A convectively cooled turbine blade has two distinct cooling air passage systems. The first system cools the blade leading edge and emits cooling air through outlet passageways in the leading edge arranged in showerhead array. The second system includes a five-pass series flow passage comprising five cooling passage sections that extend in series through the remainder of the blade. One of the passage sections includes a plurality of recesses near the trailing edge of the turbine blade to retain cooling air flow to the trailing edge adjacent the root portion of the blade.

In gas turbine engines a turbine operated by combustion product gases drives a compressor which furnishes air to a burner. Gas turbine engines operate at relatively high temperatures, and the capacity of such an engine is limited to a large extent by the ability of the turbine blades to withstand the thermal stresses that develop at such relatively high operating temperatures. The ability of the turbine blades to withstand such thermal stresses is directly related to the materials from which the blades are made, and the material's strength at high operating temperatures.
A turbine blade includes a root portion at one end and an elongated blade portion which extends from the root portion. A platform extends outwardly from the root portion at the junction between the root portion and the blade portion. To enable higher operating temperatures and increased engine efficiency without risk of turbine blade failure, hollow, convectively cooled turbine blades are frequently utilized.
Such turbine blades generally have intricate interior passageways which provide torturous, multiple pass flow paths to assure efficient cooling that are designed with the intent that all portions of the turbine blades may be maintained at relatively uniform temperature. However, due to the centrifugal and boundary layer effects on the cooling air as it flows through the interior passageways, areas of the turbine blade which should be convectively cooled may be inadequately cooled. This inadequate cooling can result in local "hot spots" in the turbine blade where the turbine blade material is exposed to temperatures that can damage the turbine blade so as to significantly reduce the useful life of the turbine blade. If such a hot spot should occur in the blade portion of the turbine blade adjacent the root portion of the blade near the blade platform, cracks can begin to develop at the hot spot.
During engine operation, high stresses occur in the turbine blade at the junction of the blade portion and the root portion, and in particular at the trailing edge of the blade portion due to the relatively small thickness of the blade portion at that location. Any crack that occurs in the trailing edge near the root portion may propagate rapidly across the blade portion during engine operation, liberating the blade portion of the turbine blade. A blade portion so liberated can lead to severe damage, or in some cases destruction, of the engine.
What is needed is a turbine blade which prevents such hot spots from developing in the trailing edge of the blade portion at the blade platform.

Turbine blade with trailing edge root section cooling


A circuit with an isolation interface and a remote on/off function is disclosed. The circuit includes a controller included in a primary side of the circuit. The controller is coupled to receive a primary side feedback signal and the controller is configured to enter a shutdown mode when the primary side feedback signal exceeds a feedback signal threshold. The circuit also includes an isolation interface coupled to galvanically isolate the primary side from a secondary side of the circuit. The isolation interface translates a secondary side feedback signal from the secondary side into the primary side feedback signal on the primary side. The isolation interface is configured to adjust the primary side feedback signal to exceed the feedback signal threshold in response to an on/off signal.

Many electrical circuits require galvanic isolation between different areas of the circuit. Galvanic isolation occurs when DC current is unable to flow between these isolated portions. However, feedback signals and other information may still need to be transmitted between the isolated portions of the circuit. One example of such an electrical circuit is a power supply or a power converter. Power supplies may be included in electrical devices such as cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's), laptops, etc. Because power is generally delivered through a wall outlet as high-voltage AC power the power supply or power converter is required to transform the high-voltage AC power into low-voltage DC power which may then be used to power the electrical device.
One of the electronic components often included in a power supply is a transformer. During operation the transformer allows the transfer of energy between an input side (referred to as a primary side) of the power supply and an output side (referred to as the secondary side) of the power supply. The input and output sides of the power supply are typically galvanically isolated. In this example, galvanic isolation occurs when DC current is unable to flow between the input side and output side of the power supply.
In operation, a power supply may use a controller to regulate output power delivered to an electrical device, such as a computer, that may be generally referred to as a load. The controller may also be coupled to a feedback circuit that provides feedback information about the output of the power supply so that the controller may regulate the amount of power delivered to the load.
Another feature that may be included in a power supply is a remote on/off feature. A remote on/off feature allows a device on the output side of the power supply (i.e., a load that is being powered by the power supply) to send a signal to the input side of the power supply to turn off circuitry at the input side to conserve energy. For example, a personal computer receiving power at the output side of a power supply may include an on/off switch which sends a signal to the input side of the power supply for it to turn off.
However, as stated above, the input and output sides of the power supply are galvanically isolated. Thus, the feedback information from the output and the remote on/off signal are also isolated from the input side of the power supply.

Circuit with isolation interface and remote on/off


This invention provides the data network user with an interactive search engine environment that helps him focus on the object of his search. Through a powerful graphical user interface (GUI), the user is provided with terms closely related to what he is looking for, even when he has no prior knowledge of the subject or its terminology. The user is also provided with suggested terms that should be excluded from the search because of the high probability of interfering with the search. The contribution of each term to the search progress is explained to the user. The invention then enables the user to build complex queries combining the related terms in a visual and simple way that facilitates the search process and saves time. This invention allows the user to create a detailed, precise, and longer search query then is customarily executed today.

Today, search engines are a critical and invaluable means of providing access to the vast stores of information available on the internet, including news, online purchasing, information, and research. As such, search engines represent a significant and integral part of all internet tools.
The search engine market enjoys high revenues, about $6 billion yearly, according to 2003 annual reports. The substantial profits are based mainly on providing advertising that matches the search subjects.
Although search engines are widely used, the majority of users have difficulty in retrieving the specific information for which they are looking because of the complexities involved with precisely defining the parameters for each search query, according to the available information in the internet or database.
A major problem faced by users when formulating a search is the user's lack of familiarity with the search subject. Because the user is not familiar with the common terminology of the subject, he is unable to adequately define the necessary search parameters. Another problem facing the average user is that he does not have the tools or resources to create a detailed search query, and once results are returned, does not modify or refine the query in order to narrow the search results.
While existing search engines do provide fast results and wide coverage, only a limited number of the returned results, often numbering in the thousands and even millions, are relevant to the needs of the user. The task of scanning and filtering through all of the results in order to find useful information falls upon the user and feels much like trying to find the proverbial "needle in the haystack".
The resulting bottleneck in the search process prevents access to the sought-after information. In fact, studies show that the average number of results scanned by the user is less then 20. A controlled reduction of the irrelevant search results will facilitate the user's ability to scan for relevant results. Presently, however, there is no appropriate solution to this bottleneck in the search process.
There is a clear need for an effective tool that enables the user to specifically and quickly define the search terms required, according to the methods and terms used by the information providers, in order to reduce the amount of results in a controlled manner. The results of employing such a search system and method would be returning a greater proportion of responses that are relevant to the user, reducing the task of filtering through responses, and enabling quick and easy access to the sought-after information found on the Internet or other database.

System for facilitating search over a network


A neutron detector composed of a matrix of scintillating particles imbedded in a lithiated glass is disclosed. The neutron detector detects the neutrons by absorbing the neutron in the 6Li isotope which has been enriched from the natural isotopic ratio to a commercial ninety five percent. The utility of the detector is optimized by suitably selecting scintillating particle sizes in the range of the alpha and the triton. Nominal particle sizes are in the range of five to twenty five microns depending upon the specific scintillating particle selected.

1. Field of Invention
The field of invention is neutron detectors. More particularly, the present invention relates to a neutron detector having solid absorbers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Neutron detectors are useful in many applications. One such application is the monitoring of fissile material in storage containers, in spent nuclear fuel and in waste. Limiting the unauthorized transfer of fissile material is endorsed by all countries participating in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) program. The purpose of the IAEA program is to limit access to those materials needed for constructing a nuclear weapon of mass destruction.
A major effort is being made to provide robust neutron detection instrumentation systems at all locations where fissile material from spent nuclear fuel and excess plutonium from obsolete nuclear weapons are stored. Quantitative measurements are required for nuclear accountability of the fissile mass placed in criticality-safe storage containers. The 240Pu isotope is present in these materials and is a spontaneous emitter of about 1000 neutrons/second/gram of the isotope. Fissile material emits high energy gamma radiation and this, combined with the measurement of neutrons, allows real-time monitoring of the stored material.
Fissile material containing 235U and 239Pu can be detected by the measurement of excess neutrons when materials containing these isotopes are subjected to an external source of neutrons. The measurement techniques include the differential die-away technique, the Californium shuffler and the AmLi add-a-source. Typical of the art are those techniques described by Phillip Rinard, "Calculating Shuffler Count Rates," LA-13815-MS, August 2001 and Greg Becker et al., "Transuranic and Low-Level Boxed Waste Form Nondestructive Assay Technology Overview and Assessment," INEEL/EXT-99-00121, February 1999. Each technique is principally developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Another industry in which neutron detectors are widely used is the oil industry, in which neutron detectors are used to detect potential oil yielding sites. Oil producing formations deep in the earth emit neutrons at a different rate than water bearing formations or non-fluid bearing rock. A device using neutron detection for logging oil wells is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,028 issued to Taylor et al., on Feb. 3, 1987.
The '028 patent teaches a well logging instrument for use in a cased well bore. The '028 device contains a sealed source of fast neutrons and two identical thermal neutron detectors with a volume of four atmospheres of 3He gas. The formation surrounding the cased well bore is bombarded with high energy neutrons and the two thermal neutron detectors are spaced apart from one another and from the source to receive slowed down or thermal neutrons from the surrounding formations. The epithermal or fast neutrons striking the formation are slowed down by fluids containing great quantities of hydrogen or chlorine atoms, creating thermal or slow neutrons, which the detectors respond to logarithmically and independently. The counting rate of each detector is processed independently to count rate meters and to a recorder to present two outputs of information. The presence or absence of hydrogen and chlorine atoms in the formations is detected by each detector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,482 issued to Stephenson on Jul. 2, 1996, teaches a method for determining a characteristic of an underground formation. The '482 method includes the steps of irradiating the formation with high-energy neutrons and detecting neutrons scattered by the formation. The detected neutrons have energies above epithermal to determine the nature of the formation matrix. Stephenson teaches that epithermal neutrons can also be detected to determine formation porosity. Stephenson utilizes an apparatus having a high-energy neutron source, typically a D-T accelerator producing 14 MeV neutrons, and detectors such as 4He-filled proportional counters for detecting neutrons having energies above epithermal and 3He-filled proportional counters for detecting epithermal neutrons.
In addition to the oil industry, neutron detectors are also commonly used in the medical industry. Neutron detectors are also useful for surveillance in nuclear facilities and weapons storage. While several specific utilities of neutron detectors are mentioned, it is well known to those skilled in the neutron detection art that neutron detectors are useful in many applications.
Neutrons are uncharged particles that can travel through matter without ionizing the matter. Because neutrons travel through matter in such a manner, they are difficult to detect directly. Some other evidence of a neutron event must be detected in order to determine its existence. An indirect method detects the result of a neutron event and not the neutron event itself.
The use of indirect detection of neutrons is known in the art. For example, a neutron detector as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,840 issued to Newacheck et al., on Aug. 2, 1994. The '840 neutron detector detects photons of light emitted by carbon infiltrated boron nitride in its hexagonal form when the compound is bombarded by neutrons. The amount of light detected correlates to the number of neutrons bombarding the boron nitride.
Another neutron detector commercially available utilizes 3He as the neutron absorber, such as in the '028 device described above. When bombarded by neutrons, 3He decomposes into H and H3 having combined kinetic energies of 764 keV. The ionization of the gas electrons can be detected using conventional methods well known in the art and further described below. This type of neutron detector requires a long collection time for the resulting ionization, requiring integrating and differentiating time constants of between 1 and 5 microseconds for the best results.
Other gas mixtures are commercially available that have varying resolution or charge per pulse yields depending on the gases used.
Neutron detection for monitoring the dose of thermal neutrons given to patients receiving boron neutron-capture therapy has used 6Li and a cerium activator in a glass fiber. See M. Bliss et al., "Real-Time Dosimetry for Boron Neutron-Capture Therapy," IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., Vol. 42, No. 4, 639-43 (1995). Hiller et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,328, issued on Oct. 26, 1999, improve this technique by allowing a cerium-activated glass fiber to be coated with fissionable elements. A wet chemistry method of placing radioactive fissile elements into glass—which in the vitrified state does not pose a hazard—as described in the '328 patent using sol-gel based technology, is a significant benefit. M. Ghioni et al., "Compact Active Quenching Circuit for Fast Photon Counting with Avalanche Photodiodes," Rev. Sci. Instr., 67, 3440-48 (1996), describe an avalanche photodiode implementation for detecting neutron induced ionization and optical pulse detection.
The '328 device introduced sol-gel techniques unique in the art of neutron detection. Sol-gel chemistry was first discovered in the late 1800s. This area of chemistry received renewed interest when the process was found useful in producing monolithic inorganic gels at low temperatures that could be converted to glasses without a high temperature melting process. C. J. Brinker et al., "Sol-Gel Science: The Physics and Chemistry of Sol-Gel Processing" (Academic Press, Inc., New York 1990) provide a comprehensive explanation of sol-gel chemistry. Sheng Dai et al., "Spectroscopic Investigation of the Photochemistry of Uranyl-Doped Sol-Gel Glasses Immersed in Ethanol," Inorg. Chem., 35, 7786-90 (1996), provide further detail disclosing uranyl-doped sol-gel glasses.
Emissions detectors such as microchannel plates, channeltrons, and avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are in common use for detecting ultraviolet (UV) light and fissioned charged particles such as electrons or protons. Microchannel plates are commercially available and well known in the art. Typically a microchannel plate is formed from lead glass having a uniform porous structure of millions of tiny holes or microchannels. Each microchannel functions as a channel electron multiplier, relatively independent of adjacent channels. A thin metal electrode is vacuum-deposited on both the input and output surfaces to electrically connect channels in parallel. Microchannel plates can be assembled in stacked series to enhance gain and performance.
The microchannel plates serve to amplify emissions from fissionable material resulting from the bombardment of neutrons. The amplified signal is then detected and recorded. The signal frequency is proportional to the charged particle emissions, which are proportional to the amount of neutrons bombarding the fissionable material.
Typically due to the exotic materials and sensitivity of the equipment, the neutron detectors currently available are expensive and difficult to maintain. For example 3He is an extremely rare stable isotope and must be separated at considerable expense from the radioactive gas tritium. Furthermore, the use of a gas absorber results in a slower response time than a solid absorber as disclosed herein. The '328 device thus incorporates fissionable material into a sol-gel composition in combination with an emission detector.
Neutron scattering is a powerful tool for conducting scientific studies of the physical geometry of molecules important in biology and material science. Protein structure and the structure of superconductors are of immediate practical importance. The detection of the scattered neutrons is an area where advancements are necessary. Specifically of concern are the ability to locate the scattered neutrons and the ability to rapidly process the neutron signals as the detection rate becomes very rapid.
A major research facility using spallation constructed by the Department of Energy is the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Spallation is a nuclear reaction in which incident particles bombard an atomic nucleus to eject particles from the nucleus. The SNS is designed to have an output of pulsed neutrons that is the most intense in the world of its type. The SNS is provided with multiple experimental stations using pulsed neutrons. One such experimental station locates the neutrons diffracted from a target on an x-y plane. The time of the neutron absorption on the x-y plane surface is then referenced to a fiducial timing signal to an accuracy of within 100 nanoseconds of the absorption event.
Mori et al., "Measurement of Neutron and γ-ray Intensity Distributions with an Optical Fiber-Scintillator Detector," Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, A 422, 129-132 (1999), describe a ZnS(Ag) scintillator with 6Li on the tip of an optical fiber for locating neutrons with a position resolution of 1 mm in a 10 minute interrogation and within a volume wherein the tip is extendable one meter. Gorin et al., "Development of Scintillation Imaging Device for Cold Neutrons," Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, A 479, 456-460 (2002), have described using ZnS(Ag) and 6LiF coupled to wavelength-shifting fibers. Gorin et al., employ arrays of fibers in two planes rotated ninety degrees relative to each other such that an absorbed neutron is located in the plane to a resolution of 1 mm.
Wallace et al., Nuclear Instruments and Methods A 483 (2002) 764-773 report the gamma insensitivity of the thin film lithiated glass. This specificity of the lithiated glass for generating a signal in the presence of gamma radiation has application to the monitoring of spent nuclear fuel rods and for the determination of the fissile mass within remotely handled transuranic waste.
Other methods and devices have been developed for neutron detection. Typical of the art are those methods and devices disclosed in the following U.S. patents and patent applications:
Patent No.Inventor(s)Issue Date3,222,521K. EinfeldDec. 7, 19654,365,159C. A. YoungDec. 21, 19824,481,421C. A. Young et al.Nov. 6, 19845,289,510J. T. MihalczoFeb. 22, 19945,336,889K. J. HofstetterAug. 9, 19945,345,084R. C. ByrdSept. 6, 19945,659,177R. L. Schulte et al.Aug. 19, 19975,726,453R. G. Lott et al.Mar. 10, 19985,880,471J. Schelton et al.Mar. 9, 19995,968,425A. Bross et al.Oct. 19, 19995,973,328J. M. Hiller et al.Oct. 26, 19996,134,289A. J. Peurrung et al.Oct. 17, 20006,218,670J. C. Yun et al.Apr. 17, 2001
Of these patents, Einfeld ('521) teaches a method and apparatus for the non-destructive testing of a substance to determine the concentration of two or more fissionable isotopes in the substance. Einfeld teaches generation of first and second neutron spectrums, each having a unique mean energy. Determination of the number of fissions as a function of the neutron spectrum applied follows from the counting of the prompt and/or delayed neutrons produced by the fissions.
Young ('159) teaches a neutron detection apparatus including a selected number of flat surfaces of 6Li foil. A gas mixture is in contact with each of the flat surfaces for selectively reacting to charged particles emitted by or radiated from the lithium foil. A container is provided to seal the lithium foil and the gas mixture in a volume from which water vapor and atmospheric gases are excluded, the container having one or more walls capable of transmitting neutrons. Monitoring equipment in contact with the gas mixture detects reactions taking place in the gas mixture and, in response to such reactions, provides notice of the flux of neutrons passing through the volume of the detector.
Similarly, Young et al., ('421) teach a neutron detection apparatus is provided including a selected number of surfaces of 6Li coated wire mesh in contact with a gas mixture for selectively reacting to charged particles emitted or radiated by the 6Li coated mesh. As in the '159 device, a container is provided to seal the 6Li coated mesh and the gas mixture in a volume from which water vapor and atmospheric gases are excluded, the container having one or more walls capable of transmitting to neutrons. Monitoring equipment in contact with the gas mixture detects the generation of charged particles in the gas mixture and, in response to such charged particles, provides an indication of the flux of neutrons passing through the volume of the detector.
In the '510 patent, Mihalzco teaches nuclear reaction detectors capable of position sensitivity with sub-millimeter resolution in two dimensions. The nuclear reaction detectors include two arrays of scintillation or wavelength shifting optical fibers. Each array is formed of a plurality of optical fibers disposed in a side-by-side relationship. The two arrays are disposed in X- and Y-directions with respect to each other, with a layer of nuclear reactive material disposed between and operatively associated with surface regions of the optical fiber arrays. Each nuclear reaction occurring in the layer of nuclear reactive material produces energetic particles for simultaneously providing a light pulse in a single optical fiber in the X-oriented array and in a single optical fiber in the Y-oriented array. These pulses of light are transmitted to a signal producing circuit for providing signals indicative of the X-Y coordinates of each nuclear event.
The nuclear reactive material of the '510 patent is doped with a phosphor such as calcium tungstate, magnesium tungstate, zinc silicate, zinc sulfide, cadmium tungstate, and cadmium borate. Mihalzco further teaches that a compound such as 6LiF or glass or plastic scintillators containing 235U, 10B, or 238U provides a concentration of the phosphor dopant in the layer of nuclear reactive material sufficient to assure that an adequate distribution of phosphor to be contacted by and react with the energetic particle is produced from each nuclear reaction. Normally, a concentration of the phosphor dopant in the range of about 100 ppm to about 2 percent by volume is adequate for the purposes of the Mihalzco detectors.
Hofstetter ('889) discloses a gamma radiation detector using a radioluminescent composition. The detector includes a radioluminescent composition that emits light in a characteristic wavelength region when exposed to γ radiation. The composition contains a scintillant such as anglesite (PbSO4) or cerussite (PbCO3) incorporated into an inert, porous glass matrix via a sol-gel process. Particles of radiation-sensitive scintillant are added to a sol solution. The mixture is polymerized to form a gel, and then dried under conditions that preserve the structural integrity and radiation sensitivity of the scintillant. The final product is a composition containing the uniformly-dispersed scintillant in an inert, optically transparent and highly porous matrix. Hofstetter describes the resulting composition as chemically inert and substantially impervious to environmental conditions.
In the Byrd ('084) device, a plurality of omnidirectional radiation detectors is arranged in a closely packed symmetrical pattern to form a segmented detector. The output radiation counts from these detectors are arithmetically combined to provide the direction of a source of incident radiation. Output counts from paired detectors are subtracted to yield a vector direction toward the radiation source. The counts from all of the detectors are combined to yield an output signal functionally related to the radiation source strength.
R. L. Schulte et al., ('177) teach a directional thermal neutron detector for detecting thermal neutrons and determining the direction of the thermal neutron source. The directional detector includes an array of individual thermal neutron detector modules, each of which comprises front and back planar silicon detectors between which is disposed a gadolinium foil. The array comprises a plurality of individual detector modules angularly displaced with respect to each other. The direction of the thermal neutron source is determined by comparing the magnitudes of the output signals from the plurality of angularly displaced detector modules. Each thermal neutron detector module is segmented into four quadrants to reduce its capacitance and resultant noise. The thickness of the gadolinium foil in each thermal neutron detector module is at least 15 microns thick, to improve the front-to-back silicon detector counting ratio to ascertain the side (front or back) from which thermal neutrons are arriving at the detector. The thick gadolinium foil makes each detector module substantially opaque to thermal neutrons, and the detector modules are positioned relative to each other in the array to shield one another from thermal neutrons, thereby enhancing the angular resolution of the directional thermal neutron detector. Gamma rays are discriminated against by using coincidence signal processing within the elements of the detector sandwich to reduce the gamma ray contribution to the total signal.
Lott et al., ('453) disclose a radiation resistant solid state neutron detector. The '453 detector uses a neutron converter material such as boron or lithium to react with neutrons to create charged particles that are received in a semiconductor active region of the detector. The active thickness of the detector is smaller than the range of the charged particles. Since most of the radiation damage produced by impinging charged particles occurs near the end of the range of the particles, displacement damage predominantly occurs outside of the active region. Although the charged particles pass through the semiconductor material, the particles cause electron excitation within the semiconductor material, the electron excitation being detected in the form of an electronic pulse. The '453 detector is provided to increase resistance to radiation damage, improve high temperature operation, and to obtain real time measurements of neutron flux in reactor cavities and other previously inaccessible locations.
Schelton et al., ('471) disclose a neutron detector for the detection of thermal neutrons. The '471 neutron detector includes 6LiF layers for the conversion of the neutrons to ionizing radiation. The 6LiF layers are surrounded by layers for detecting the ionizing radiation generated by the neutrons in the 6LiF layers.
The '425 patent issued to Bross et al., discloses methods for the continuous production of the plastic scintillator material. The methods employ either two major steps (tumble-mix) or a single major step (inline-coloring or inline-doping). Using the two step method, the polymer pellets are mixed with silicone oil, and the mixture is then tumble mixed with the dopants necessary to yield the proper response from the scintillator material. The mixture is then placed in a compounder and compounded in an inert gas atmosphere. The resultant scintillator material is then extruded and pelletized or formed. When only a single step is employed, the polymer pellets and dopants are metered into an inline-coloring extruding system. The mixture is then processed under a inert gas atmosphere, usually argon or nitrogen, to form plastic scintillator material in the form of either scintillator pellets, for subsequent processing, or as material in the direct formation of the final scintillator shape or form
Peurrung et al., ('289) teach a system for measuring a thermal neutron emission from a neutron source. The '289 device includes a reflector/moderator proximate the neutron source that reflects and moderates neutrons from the neutron source. The reflector/moderator further directs thermal neutrons toward an unmoderated thermal neutron detector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,328 issued to J. M. Hiller et al., discloses a neutron detector composed of fissionable material having ions of lithium, uranium, thorium, plutonium, or neptunium, contained within a glass film fabricated using a sol-gel method combined with a particle detector. When the glass film is bombarded with neutrons, the fissionable material emits fission particles and electrons. The '328 patent further discloses prompt emitting activated elements yielding a high energy electron contained within a sol-gel glass film in combination with a particle detector. The emissions resulting from neutron bombardment can then be detected using standard UV and particle detection methods well known in the art, such as microchannel plates, channeltrons, and silicon avalanche photodiodes.
Currently pending U.S. Patent Application 2003/0178574 filed by the inventor of the present application, along with A. Stephan, S. Dai and H. J. Im, discloses a neutron detector composed of a matrix of scintillating particles imbedded in a lithiated glass. The neutron detector detects the neutrons by absorbing the neutron in the 6Li isotope which has been enriched from the natural isotopic ratio to a commercial ninety five percent. The utility of the '574 detector is optimized by suitably selecting scintillating particle sizes in the range of the alpha and the triton. Nominal particle sizes are in the range of five to twenty five microns depending upon the specific scintillating particle selected.
Other references of interest in the art of neutron detection include:    H. Krinninger et al., "Pulsed Neutron Method for Non-Destructive and Simultaneous Determination of the 235U and 239Pu Contents of Irradiated and Non-Irradiated Reactor Fuel Elements," Nucl. Instr. Meth. 73, 13-33 (1969);    M. Zanarini et al., "Evaluation of Hydrogen Content in Metallic Samples by Neutron Computed Tomography," IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., 42, 580-84 (1995);    C. M. Logan et al., "Observed Penetration of 14-MeV Neutrons in Various Materials," Nucl. Sci. Eng. 115, 38-42 (1993);    H. Jaeger et al., "Two-Detector Coincidence Routing Circuit for Personal Computer-Based Multichannel Analyzer," Rev. Sci. Instrum. 66, 3069-70 (1995);    E. J. T. Burns et al., "A Solenoidal and Monocusp Ion Source (SAMIS)," Rev. Sci. Instr., 67, 1657-60 (1996);    S. T. Coyle et al., "A Low Cost Preamplifier for Fast Pulses From Microchannel Plates," Rev. Sci. Instr., 66 4000-01 (1995);    Y. G. Kudenko et al., "Extruded Plastic Counters with WLS Fiber Readout," Nucl. Inst. And Meth. A 469, 340-346 (2001);    C1207-97 Standard Test Method for Nondestructive Assay of Plutonium in Scrap and Waste by Passive Neutron Coincidence Counting, ASTM International;    W. Harker et al., "Demonstration Neutron Multiplicity Counter Coincidence Counting Software for Authentication," Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LA-UR-01-4186, July 2001;    R. Hogle et al., "APNEA list mode data acquisition and real-time event processing," 5th Nondestructive Assay and Nondestructive Examination Waste Characterization Conference, January 1-16, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1997;    B. D. Lebedev et al., "Monte Carlo Calculation to Optimize the Neutron Multiplicity Counter for Measurement of Representative Plutonium Items in AT 400 Container," Proceedings of the INMM 43rd Annual Meeting, 2002;    S. Croft et al., "Principles of Fast Neutron Detector Package Design for Differential Dieaway Technique Assay," Proceeding of the INMM 43rd Annual Meeting, 2002;    Yun Chan Kang et al., "Y2SiO5:Ce Phosphor Particles 0.5-1.4 micrometer in Size with Spherical Morphology," J. Solid State Chem., 146 (1999) 168-175;    A. P. Bartkoetal et al., "Observation of dipolar emission patterns from isolated Eu3+:Y2O3 doped nanocrystals: new evidence for single ion luminescence," Chemical Physics Letters 358 (2000) 459-465; and    J. Y. Choe et al., "Cathodluminescence study of novel sol-gel derived Y3-x Al5O12:Tbx phosphors," Journal of Luminescence 93 (2001) 119-128.
The trafficking in fissile material capable of being fabricated into a nuclear weapon of mass destruction is publicized to be so profitable that significant resources are being expended to prevent the diversion of material for clandestine sales. Iraq has been the focus of international attention because that government has actively sought to acquire fissile material. Other nations in the Mid East may want to clandestinely acquire fissile material so as to have the option of developing a nuclear weapon in the future. Such a clandestine hording of material would be virtually impossible to detect if placed in cold storage without the generation of new structures that would be detected by satellite surveillance. Neutron detectors offer the means to observe fissile material using active and passive measurement techniques.
Two attributes are necessarily measured in all systems used for the unambiguous identification of fissile material. These include gamma radiation and the active and passive techniques of measuring for the presence of neutrons.
The development of systems for measuring gamma rays starting at 59.5 keV associated with Americium and extending up to 414 keV for Plutonium is mature. The Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed sodium iodide (NaI) and high purity germanium (HPGE) gamma ray detection systems that are field portable and operator friendly for measuring radiation in the desert. Large neutron detectors have not had as much effort expended in the development of field detectors. Improved technology exists to provide a solid-state neutron detector for field measurement of neutrons using aerial surveys. The same detector can be truck mounted allowing surveys having a standoff from the buildings being observed.
The most useful rapid means of surveying a large area for radiation is an aerial survey using a helicopter. A large volume neutron detector that can be towed below a helicopter allows a rapid survey to be conducted of any facility and the surrounding buildings without a need to place personnel with instruments at risk. However, large neutron detectors have not been developed for this application. The same detectors could be placed into trucks and any activity seen in the air can be confirmed by having surveys made around the perimeter of the hot buildings.
With reference again to the '328 patent, which discloses the means for producing a glass containing a high loading of 6Li, the glass is pipetted upon the surface of a silicon charged particle detector and the triton and alpha particles from neutron absorption enter the detector signaling the presence of neutrons. The enhancement on the technology takes the original technique of generating a lithiated glass using a sol-gel process and couples it with the manufacture of a composite material where micron size organic and inorganic scintillating particles are embedded within the glass. This method has been demonstrated. A further development of the technology is the placement of a thin 1 mm layer of this scintillating composite between two arrays of orthogonal wavelength shifting fibers. The basic 2-D imaging technique using a scintillation layer between wavelength shifting fibers is reported by Gorin, A., et al., Nuclear Instruments and Methods A 479, 456 (2002).
Using high speed coincidence circuitry based upon positron emission tomography the location of neutron absorption can be located on two of the fibers allowing a 1 mm resolution on a tile of one square meter. The scintillation output in the inorganic particles is roughly 100,000 photons. The spherical wave from the ionization trail in the particle couples to a fiber above and a fiber below the glass film and the x-y coordinate is recorded in a high speed data acquisition system. Additionally the time of the detection of a neutron is to be made to within 100 nanoseconds of a fiducial timing signal. Multiple detectors are to be tiles so that at about thirty square meters of detector area are monitored. The final product is a system to be used at the Spallation Neutron Source for making neutron diffraction measurements of cold neutrons.
Specific reference is made to the MINOS neutrino oscillation detector under construction at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In particular, reference is made to http://www-numi.fnal.gov/minwork/info/minos_tdr.html, Chapter 5, Scintillator detector fabrication detailing the MINOS scintillator system. Sections 5.1 through 5.5 which is a detector which uses an extruded plastic scintillator read out by wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers coupled to multi-pixel photodetectors. The polystyrene used for the MINOS detector contains a fluor at a 175 ppm doping concentration.
Coincidence detection of neutrons can be automated into hardware as can be licensed from Los Alamos National Laboratory. In an alternate method, every neutron that is in every neutron detector in a plurality of detectors with respect to fiducial timing markers is recorded. Post-processing the millions of detected neutrons that are taken in making a fissile material mass measurement has been developed for field measurements of transuranic waste destined for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N. Mex. The entire list of events is sorted in a few minutes for tagging the spontaneous neutron events and by use of calibration standards giving the fissile waste mass in a fifty-five gallon waste drum. The same coincidence method is used for small one and five gallon containers used for storing enriched uranium oxide and plutonium oxide. These systems are based upon using 3He tubes containing the gas at a pressure of three or four atmospheres embedded in polyethylene walls surrounding the material being measured for fissile mass. The polyethylene is thermalizing the neutrons which then enter the 3He tubes. The tubes may be concentric layers up to three deep to achieve high capture efficiency. The present invention proposes to replace the polyethylene with polystyrene and the 6Li glass/scintillation particulates for the 3He tubes. A key figure that is a measure of the power of the system to design the dimensions of walls and the placement of the 3He tubes in such a way as to thermalize the neutrons and capture them in the shortest interval after their creation. The use of polystyrene as the matrix for placement of the 6Li glass/scintillating particulates allows great design flexibility in the selection of the density per cubic centimeter to minimize the time for thermalization and neutron capture for differing enclosed volumes.

Neutron detector using neutron absorbing scintillating particulates in plastic


A head driving device of a liquid ejecting apparatus includes a pressure generating element, a bias voltage applying unit which applies a bias voltage to the pressure generating element, a driving voltage generating unit which generates and outputs a driving voltage to the pressure generating element for ejecting a liquid droplet from a nozzle of a liquid ejecting head, and a cutoff unit which cuts off the bias voltage applied to the pressure generating element based on an outputting of a drive stopping signal.

The present invention relates to a head driving device for driving various portions of a liquid ejecting head.
In a related art, there is proposed a circuit for driving a printing head with an object of enabling to eject ink stably from a nozzle opening even when a number of pressure generating elements (for example, piezoelectric elements) to be driven is varied. The related printing head driving circuit applies a predetermined potential (correcting potential) from a first switching speed correcting circuit and a second switching speed correcting circuit to a base of a transistor at a post stage of transistors connected in Derlington connection in a drive signal outputting circuit via a terminal for applying the correcting potential, thereby, it is possible to execute assisting injection of charge to the base of the transistor at the post stage or assisting flow out of charge from the base. As a result, a switching speed of the transistor of the post stage can arbitrarily be corrected in accordance with the potential applied to the terminal for applying the collecting potential (refer to, for example, JP-A-2000-211126).
Meanwhile, according to a related printing head driving circuit shown in FIG. 7, by making a potential of a drive voltage transmitting line 11 for connecting a power amplifying circuit 3 and an analog switch 7 or the like on a side of a printing head 5 (hereinafter, described as "COM potential") coincide with a bias potential of a piezoelectric element 9 when printing is stopped, stability of printing is increased and service life of the piezoelectric element 9 is also prolonged. However, an output voltage from a direct current power source of 42V is applied to a side of a drive voltage generating circuit 1 including the power amplifying circuit 3 as a drive power source. Also, charge charged from a direct current power source of 5V to a capacitor 15 via a resistor 13 is applied to the side of the piezoelectric element 9 as the bias voltage of the piezoelectric element 9. Therefore, a potential difference is produced between the COM potential and the bias potential of the piezoelectric element 9. As a result, a leak current is made to flow to the piezoelectric element 9 through the drive voltage transmitting line 11. Therefore, there poses a problem that a power consumption amount of the printer at standby state is considerable.
Further, in the related printing head driving circuit shown in FIG. 7, a capacitance of an (electrolytic) capacitor 15 for applying a bias voltage to respective piezoelectric elements 9 is far larger than a capacitance of a plurality of pieces of the piezoelectric elements 9 (in FIG. 7, only one piece of the piezoelectric element designated by numeral 9 is illustrated for convenience of illustration and explanation) provided at respective nozzles. This is because whereas a piezoelectric element having a small capacitance equal to or smaller than, for example, 1 μF is used for each of the piezoelectric elements 9, an (electrolytic) capacitor having a large capacity of about, for example, 4000 μF is used for the (electrolytic) capacitor 15.
The reason of using the (electrolytic) capacitor having the capacitance far larger than the capacitance of the piezoelectric elements 9 in this way as the capacitor 15 is that a voltage charged to the capacitor 15 through a resistor 13 (of, for example, 400μΩ) from a direct current power source (of, for example, 5V) is applied from the capacitor 15 to the respective piezoelectric elements 9 as the bias voltage. In other words, since the capacitor 15 achieves a function as a storage battery, the capacitor having the large capacitance needs to use as the capacitor 15. Therefore, a time constant (CR) determined by a product of the capacitance (4000 μF) of the capacitor 15 by a resistance value (4000μΩ) of the resistor 13 is large and therefore, time is taken for charging the capacitor 15 until an output voltage from the capacitor 15 reaches the above-described power source voltage (for example, 5V) (for example, about several second are required).
The printing head driving circuit illustrated in FIG. 7 does not pose a serious problem even when time is taken in charging the above-described capacitor 15 from the above described direct current power source, in the case in which the drive power source is temporarily made OFF to stop printing operation of the printer and thereafter, the drive power source is made ON again to restart the printing operation of the printer. Because normally, the printer needs a time period to some degree until the printing operation can be carried out since the drive power source has been switched on. However, there is a case in which the printer is intended to be brought into a standby state (awaiting state) by temporarily stopping to charge the capacitor 15 from the direct current power source of 5V for saving power or the like. In that case, when time is taken in charging the capacitor 15 as described above, there poses a problem that time is taken for recovering the printer from the standby state to a state of capable of carrying out printing operation.


A suspension superstructure adapted to be mounted to a dune buggy space frame, the space frame having a base frame and configured to support right and left dune buggy wheels at a first track width, the superstructure comprising: right and left frame brackets adapted to be coupled to the base frame; a bridging plate adapted to be connected to the right and left frame brackets; a bumper panel; and right and left wheel control arm supports mounted between the bridging plate and the bumper panel that support control arms of right and left dune buggy wheels so that the wheels have a second track width greater than the first track width.

All terrain recreational vehicles, also known as off-road vehicles, dune buggies, and sand rails were originally, used, often beaten up, conventional road vehicles that typically had outlived their useful lives as acceptable road vehicles and were converted for driving on off road, rough terrain, such as desert sand dunes. The development of off road, all terrain recreational vehicles appears to have begun and gained popularity and public notice with old Volkswagen beetles that were frequently converted to recreational off road vehicles, hence the name "dune buggy". Hereinafter, "dune buggy" may be used generically to refer to recreational rough terrain vehicles or vehicles that share characteristics of recreational rough terrain vehicles.
Today, a large variety of kits are available that provide plans for do it yourself dune buggies, and many automotive manufacturers make and market different brands of dune buggies that may be adapted for different types of off road and on road driving. Among automotive manufactures that market dune buggies are by way of example: Polaris, USA; Honda, Harley Davidson, USA; Kawasaki Motors Corp, Suzuki, Berrien; and Peugeot, France. Dune buggies have also been adopted by the military, and specially designed dune buggies, such as the Advanced Light Strike Vehicle, produced by Chenowth Racing Products Inc, of San Diego USA, is in use by various Special Forces units.
A dune buggy often comprises a frame referred to as a "space frame" formed from welded and/or bolted, rectangular or circular, generally mandrel drawn, steel tubing, having a front wheel frame, a passenger compartment frame, and a rear wheel frame that are constructed on a base frame. The front wheel frame is configured to be mounted with a suspension system having control arms, which may be "A arms", that couple to front wheel bearings to which steerable, front wheels of the dune buggy are mounted. For a dune buggy comprising a water cooled motor, the front wheel frame may be configured to house a radiator for cooling the motor. The rear frame provides mounting for a rear wheel suspension system having control arms that couple to rear wheel bearings to which motor driven rear wheels may be mounted. Often the rear frame houses the dune buggy motor that drives the rear wheels. The base frame is often a ladder frame.
Factory and home kit produced dune buggies are often modified by their users to adapt them to special terrains or to enhance their maneuverability and/or stability. Generally, desired modifications are made to increase a track width and/or change a wheel base of the dune buggies, and various kits and accessories are commercially available to make these modifications.


A glass-ceramic composition contains first ceramic particles principally containing forsterite; second ceramic particles principally containing at least one selected from the group consisting of calcium titanate, strontium titanate, and titanium oxide; and borosilicate glass particles containing about 3% to 15% lithium oxide, about 20% to 50% magnesium oxide, about 15% to 30% boron oxide, about 10% to 45% silicon oxide, about 6% to 20% zinc oxide, 0% to about 15% aluminum oxide, and at least one additive selected from the group consisting of calcium oxide, barium oxide, and strontium oxide on a weight basis. The content of the borosilicate glass particles is about 3% or more; the lower limit of the content of the additive is about 2%; and the upper limit of the additive content is about 15%, about 25%, or about 25% when the additive is calcium oxide, barium oxide, or strontium oxide, respectively, on a weight basis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glass-ceramic composition containing a glass component sinterable at low temperature, a glass-ceramic sintered body prepared by firing the glass-ceramic composition, and a monolithic ceramic electronic component including the glass-ceramic sintered body.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, multifunctional electronic components have been used in order to manufacture compact electronic devices. Examples of such multifunctional electronic components include multilayer ceramic modules.
The multilayer ceramic modules each include a multilayer ceramic substrate. The multilayer ceramic substrate includes wiring conductors, arranged therein, for electrical connection and/or for forming passive elements such as capacitors and inductors. The multilayer ceramic substrate has various electronic components mounted thereon.
The multilayer ceramic modules are small-sized and multifunctional. Hence, the multilayer ceramic modules are useful in manufacturing compact electronic devices.
There are increasing demands for compact electronic devices operating at high frequencies. Therefore, multilayer ceramic modules operating at high frequencies need to include a multilayer ceramic substrate with good high-frequency properties. In particular, insulating ceramic sintered bodies for forming insulating ceramic layers included in this multilayer ceramic module need to have good high-frequency properties.
An insulating ceramic composition for forming the insulating ceramic sintered bodies meeting such requirements is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-344571 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). The insulating ceramic composition disclosed in Patent Document 1 contains three components: forsterite, calcium titanate, and spinel. The insulating ceramic composition has a Qf value of about 38,000 GHz or more and a temperature coefficient of dielectric constant of about −80 to 40 ppm/° C. when the ratio of the components is within a preferable range. The Qf value is determined by dividing the frequency (GHz) by the dielectric loss (tan σ).
The procedure for preparing those multilayer ceramic substrates included in that multilayer ceramic module includes a firing step. During firing step, the wiring conductors arranged in that multilayer ceramic module are also fired.
In order to allow that multilayer ceramic module to operate at high frequencies with no problems, the wiring conductors need to have low electrical resistance. Therefore, the wiring conductors need to be made of a metal, such as copper or silver, which has a low electrical resistance.
However, such a metal has a low melting point. Hence, in order to prepare the multilayer ceramic substrate by firing an insulating ceramic composition for forming the multilayer ceramic substrate together with the wiring conductors, the insulating ceramic composition needs to be sintered at low temperature, for example, about 1,000° C. or less.
Patent Document 1 discloses that the temperature of firing that insulating ceramic composition is about 1,140° C. to 1,600° C. Hence, that insulating ceramic composition cannot be sintered at about 1,000° C. or less.
In order to use that multilayer ceramic substrate for high-frequency applications and in order to densely arrange the wiring conductors, the insulating ceramic layers need to have a low dielectric constant. Patent Document 1 does not disclose the dielectric constant of an insulating ceramic sintered body prepared by sintering that insulating ceramic composition.
PCT Publication No. WO 2005/082806 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2) discloses a glass-ceramic composition that can be sintered at about 1,000° C. or less. The glass-ceramic composition is useful in manufacturing a sintered body having a low dielectric constant and good high-frequency properties. The temperature coefficient of resonant frequency of the sintered body can be controlled so as to be small and the Qf value thereof can be controlled so as to be large.
In particular, the glass-ceramic composition disclosed in Patent Document 2 contains first ceramic particles principally containing forsterite; second ceramic particles principally containing at least one selected from the group consisting of calcium titanate, strontium titanate, and titanium oxide; and particles made of borosilicate glass. The borosilicate glass contains about 3% to 15% lithium in the form of Li2O, about 30% to 50% magnesium in the form of MgO, about 15% to 30% boron in the form of B2O3, about 10% to 35% silicon in the form of SiO2, about 6% to 20% zinc in the form of ZnO, and about 0% to 15% aluminum in the form of Al2O3 on a weight basis.
In recent monolithic ceramic electronic components, the ceramic layers for forming elements included in the components need to have a small thickness although the components are increasingly being used to process high-voltage signals. Therefore, a material for forming the ceramic layers needs to have higher electrical insulation reliability.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Glass-ceramic composition, glass-ceramic sintered body, and monolithic ceramic electronic component


Applicator including a reservoir containing a substance to be applied, a cap intended to close the reservoir and supporting a stopper including an applicator holder supporting a deformable element for applying the substance. The deformable element has a shape memory, i.e., can return to its original shape after being deformed, and a roughened surface. The reservoir holding the substance includes an end-piece having a base equipped with a seat including at least one capillary orifice against which the deformable element deforms when the reservoir is closed by the cap.

The present invention relates to an applicator intended for local treatment of the skin; such a treatment is, for example, treatment for spots or for blotches. The aim of the invention is to provide an applicator which is capable of delivering an infinitesimal dose directly to the skin in a very precise manner and of additionally permitting the massage of the skin.
According to the present invention, such an applicator includes a reservoir which contains a substance to be applied, a cap which is intended to close the reservoir, and an applicator holder supporting a deformable element for applying the substance, the element being made of foam or of low-hardness elastomer, and is characterized by the fact that the deformable element has a roughened surface and is provided with a substantial shape memory, and in that the reservoir holding the substance is limited by a finger-shaped capillary end-piece having a base equipped with a seat which is pierced with at least one capillary orifice against which the deformable element is applied and deformed in the position in which the reservoir is closed by the cap.
The application element advantageously includes a foam with open cells which communicate with one another when the deformable element is not deformed.
By virtue of this arrangement, when the deformable element is compressed on the seat of the base of the capillary end-piece, its surface in contact with the seat is increased; when the applicator is opened, that is to say when the cap is separated from the reservoir, the deformable element recovers its initial shape which it has in the free state and creates a suction effect which draws up the drop of substance, held hitherto by capillary on that face of the base of the capillary end-piece which is opposite the one bearing the seat, on account of the presence of the capillary orifice.
The design of the applicator according to the invention permits, in a simple manner, the provision of several functions. The deformable element compressed on the seat ensures the sealing of the reservoir. The considerable shape memory of the deformable element permits the function of pumping and suctioning of the substance. The flexibility of the deformable element permits a local massage of the skin.
The capillary orifice, of which there is at least one, is advantageously circular and its diameter is between 0.5 and 3 mm; alternatively, the capillary orifice, of which there is at least one, is a slit having a cross-section of between 0.2 and 7 mm2.
The end of the deformable element which cooperates with the seat and the orifice is flat, or in the shape of a conical tip, or round.
The applicator holder supporting the deformable element preferably includes a hollow rod; alternatively, it includes a rigid support sleeve in the shape of an ogive.
According to another alternative, the applicator holder includes, a rigid solid rod; the solid rod is advantageously equipped, at its end, with a stiffening element of elongate shape for guiding the deformable element during its deformation.
The capillary end-piece is supported by a spacer element which is integral with the reservoir and through which the applicator holder passes.
According to a preferred embodiment, the capillary orifice opens into the reservoir along a flared, frustoconical portion which serves as a capillary reservoir. The dimensions of the capillary orifice will be adjusted depending on the viscosity of the substance to be applied.
The capillary end-piece is advantageously made of semi-rigid material; alternatively, the end-piece is made of a rigid material.

Deformable applicator with capillary feed


An electrical and mechanical junction structure for lighting or signage hanging high above the ground is provided. This junction structure is separable into two components by an actuation connector to facilitate the lowering and raising of the lighting or signage for maintenance. The actuation connector is raised and inserted into the junction structure by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

For lighting or signage hanging down from a high ceiling, maintenance or replacement work is performed manually. Workers working at height are costly and not efficient. The only present solution in the market is some electrical devices installed on top of a lighting device to lower or raise it. However, this kind of electrical device requires a strong electric motor and long steel wire to do the job. And they are costly and bulky. It is not cost-effective to install such device for each lighting. Our invention is a simple junction structure installed onto a lighting device or signage. Assisted with an unmanned aerial vehicle, they can perform the duties of lowering and raising the lighting device or signage hanging high above the ground. This junction structure does not have any electric motor or long steel wire. Therefore, it is a simple, cost-effective and reliable solution to perform maintenance or replacement work for lightings or signage without manual working at height.

Junction structure for lowering lighting using unmanned aerial vehicle


The embodiment of the present invention provides a liquid crystal display panel comprising an array substrate and an opposite substrate arranged opposite to each other, and spacers provided between the array substrate and the opposite substrate; the liquid crystal display panel includes a central region and a peripheral region; heights of the spacers within the central region without extending and contracting are set as a first height; heights of the spacers within the peripheral region without extending and contracting are set as second heights; and the first height is larger than the second heights.

A liquid crystal display panel mainly comprises an array substrate and an opposite substrate arranged opposite to each other, and liquid crystal molecules between the array substrate and the opposite substrate. Here, as shown in FIG. 1a, spacers 3 with the same height are provided between the array substrate 1 and the opposite substrate 2 to maintain a certain cell gap between both substrates.
Currently, the liquid crystal display panel is developing towards light, thin, and large-size design, the cell gap in the central region of the liquid crystal display panel is likely to decrease under the action of external pressure and gravity, and as a result, as shown FIG. 1b, the cell gap of the entire liquid crystal display panel becomes non-uniform, which leads to non-uniform brightness of the liquid crystal display panel in a dark state.

Liquid crystal display panel wherein heights of spacers within a central region are larger than heights of spacers within a peripheral region and display device

HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Apparatus for extruding plastic and/or rubber material has a screw extruder, which plasticizes the material and delivers it to a gear pump which develops sufficient pressure for extrusion of the material through an extrusion head. The apparatus is characterized by the fact that the axes of gears of the gear pump and the axis of the screw of the extruder are parallel to one another. The housing of the gear pump has a side opening into which a cylindrical bushing and the screw of the extruder extend so that the material is delivered by the extruder directly to the gear pump as a non-oriented plasticized mass. The extrusion head may be a transverse extrusion head with an axis parallel to the axes of the gear wheels of the gear pump and the axis of the screw of the extruder. A second like extrusion apparatus including a screw extruder and a gear pump may be connected to an opposite side of the extrusion head.

Apparatus of this kind has become known from DE-OS 27 00 003. This known apparatus serves for the production of strand profiles from plastic materials. In the screw extruder of this apparatus the plastic material is melted, then passed through a strainer in order to remove any foreign particles from the molten plastic material whereupon the molten and strained plastic material is led to a gear pump which imparts to the molten plastic material sufficient pressure to force it through an extrusion head secured on the outlet of the gear pump and thereby extrude the desired profile. The advantage of using a gear pump in the extrusion installation is that a very uniform pressure can be produced for the extrusion of the material from the extrusion head. A further advantage of the gear pump in such extrusion installation is that the screw of the extruder can be shorter than usual because the screw serves only for disintegration of the plastic material to a low viscosity homogenous mass and is not required to build up the pressure necessary for the extrusion from the extrusion head. The extrusion installation can hence be made shorter than the usual screw extruder of which the screw serves not only for the disintegration work but also for the work of building up the extrusion pressure. This advantage is not realized by DE-OS 27 00 003 where the construction units are arranged in a straight production line far apart from one another so that a considerable amount of room is needed.
With this known extrusion installation the axes of the gear wheels of the gear pump are arranged perpendicular to (and offset from) the axis of the screw of the extruder. This arrangement is also usual in screw extruder and gear pump extrusion installations for plastic material.
Such extrusion installations consisting of a screw extruder and gear pump have not heretofore been employed in working with rubber mixtures. Rubber mixtures plasticized in a screw extruder exhibit different molecular structure from molten plastic material. They erode gear pumps by reason of their abrasive character and can lead to break downs.
Recent special knowledge attributes this fault to the fact that the strand of the plasticized rubber mixture led into the gear pump leads to damage of the gear pump by its molecular alignment. This knowledge suggests that damage to the gear pump can be avoided by arranging the gear pump directly behind the tip of the screw of the screw extruder so that a gear pump receives from the extruder a plasticized rubber mixture which has not yet been formed into a strand. This arrangement leads also to a very short type of construction of the extruder installation.

Apparatus for extrusion of plastic and/or rubber mixtures


A system for providing an air lubricating layer between a substantially flat bottom (3) of a vessel (1) and the water flowing under the bottom as the vessel is moving through the water, whereby the system includes sidewalls (5,5′) and a top wall (4) defining a cavity (6) with an opening (13) situated in an interface plane that is transversal to the sidewalls (5,5′), at the level of the flat bottom (3), the opening having a front end (9) and a rear end (15) seen in the length direction of the cavity, an air inlet (10) spaced from the opening for introducing air into the cavity, whereby the length of the opening (13) of the cavity (6) is between 2 and 10 m and the distance (H) of the top wall (4) from the interface plane is between 0.2 m and 0.5 m.

WO 2010/064911 describes how to generate a layer of micro bubbles on the hull of a displacement vessel in order to reduce frictional drag, by means of a cavity being provided in a flat bottom area of the hull of a vessel, such that an opening of the cavity is at the flat bottom area. Air is injected into the cavity at such a rate that the water level in the cavity is kept substantially at the level of the hull of the vessel. Due to the forward movement of the vessel, the air in the cavity will move relative to the water at the speed at which the vessel is moving, or seen from the cavity, the water will flow past the cavity at that speed. This difference in velocity between the air and the water causes a so-called Kelvin Helmholtz Instability (KHI) which results in a mixing of air and water at the interface between the water and the air, and in a consequential generation of a layer of small sized air bubbles. The small size of these air bubbles makes them very stable and they tend to stay in the water for a relative long period. The small bubbles generated in the cavity are released there from at the rear edge of the cavity such that they form a stable lubricating layer extending a long distance along the bottom of the hull downstream of the cavity. In this way energy savings in propulsion of a vessel can be achieved.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved system for providing an air lubricating layer between the hull of a vessel and the water flowing under the hull as the vessel is moving through the water, which can more easily be incorporated in the hull of a vessel.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved system for providing an air lubricating layer that can be operated in an efficient and stable manner in wave conditions.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a displacement vessel incorporating such a system.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of operating such a system in a displacement vessel.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method at retrofitting such a system into the hull of an existing displacement vessel, without weakening of the existing hull.
It is another object to provide a method of retrofitting without interfering with the cargo space of the vessel.


Transform coefficients of sample blocks of a macroblock of a video picture are encoded by adaptively encoding in combination, the number of non-zero coefficients before the trailing one coefficients and the number of trailing one coefficients. The transform coefficients may be further encoded by adaptively encoding one or more of the signs of the trailing one coefficients, the level measures of the non-zero coefficients, the total number of zero coefficients interposed in the non-zero coefficients, and the respective run lengths of the zero coefficients. Adaptive encoding of the number and trailing one coefficients may be performed in view of one or more neighboring sample blocks, whereas adaptive encoding of level measures may be performed in view of quantization parameters of a macroblock and previously encoded level measures. Decoding may be performed in an inverse manner.

Advances in microprocessor and video related technologies have led to wide spread deployment and adoption of numerous types of video devices. Examples of such video devices include but are not limited to digital camcorders, digital versatile disk (DVD) players, video enabled laptop and desktop computing devices as well as servers, and so forth.
Advances in networking, telecommunication, satellite and other related technologies have also led to increase in on demand and/or real time online delivery of video, including delivery over public networks, such as the Internet.
Whether videos are delivered offline (e.g. from a DVD player) or online (e.g. from a video server), high quality video inherently requires a high volume of data. Thus, video delivery and rendering often involve encoding and decoding to reduce the amount of data to be stored, retrieved and/or transmitted.
Encoding/decoding of a video often involves processing the video as a stream of pictures. Each picture may be a field or a frame (typically consisting of two interleaved fields), and decomposed into a number of macroblocks. Each macroblock is often sub-divided into blocks of various sizes, which are transformed and quantized into a number of samples, luma and/or chroma samples of various types.
A number of encoding/decoding techniques are known in the art. For example, one technique encodes the various parameters of a macroblock using a single variable length coding (VLC) scheme. The technique is simple to practice, however the amount of reduction in data, i.e. compression, is only moderately effective.
Other techniques, such as Context-based Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC), employ context adaptation and arithmetic coding to improve overall effectiveness. However, techniques such as CABAC are complex, memory demanding, and difficult to practice.
What is needed is a context-adaptive technique that is more effective than conventional non-context-adaptive techniques, but less complex to practice than context-adaptive techniques known to-date.

Context-adaptive VLC video transform coefficients encoding/decoding methods and apparatuses


A first client computer makes an indirect Push communication request for establishing Push communication with a server computer via a second client computer to the second client computer. After establishment of indirect Push communication, a second client computer transfers an instruction given from the server computer to the first client computer by use of Push communication to the first client computer.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for controlling communication between a server on a network and a network device.
Description of the Related Art
In a client/server system under Internet environment, it is impossible to transmit data from a server which is the transmission source of various print services to a client-side image forming device which is the execution source of various print services due to firewall. Accordingly, there has been proposed a polling-type communication method in which the inquiry about the presence or absence of a command is made from a client-side image forming device to a server which is the transmission source of various print services. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-334612 discloses a device management system in which upon receiving an inquiry about the presence or absence of an instruction across a firewall from a managed device, a management device sends the instruction as a reply to the inquiry in a session established upon reception of the inquiry.
A communication method (Push communication method) that performs Push communication from a server (management device) on the Internet to a network device on an intra-network within a firewall, starting from initial communication (Handshake) from a client, is contemplated. The Push communication method is a communication method that allows the provision of an instruction from a management device without an instruction request (HTTP request or the like) from within a firewall. The Push communication method includes, for example, a protocol (RFC 6455) called "WebSocket".
The management device can distribute a command in real time by communicating in the Push communication method, which eliminates the need for a polling inquiry about the presence or absence of a command in a polling scheme from a network device to a management device. In other words, with the aid of Push communication, the time loss caused by the interval of polling, which have been occurred in prior art, can be eliminated.
However, Push communication has a feature which consistently retains communication connection between network devices and management devices. Thus, in the system in which the upper limit of the number of communication connections between network devices and management devices is set from the viewpoint of cost or the like, the number of connections readily reaches the upper limit value. Consequently, there may be a case where Push communication cannot be established (Handshake cannot be started) between network devices and management devices.

Network device, system, method, and storage medium


A system and method packetizes data by fragmenting, with processing circuitry, a data structure into a plurality of data fragments, each data fragment being included in a separate packet, and inserting, with processing circuitry, an offset indicator within each of the packets, each offset indicator indicating an amount of fragment data encapsulated within preceding packets. A system and method decodes packetized data that includes the offset indicator.

The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Transmission of data, such as video data, is typically performed by dividing the data into a plurality of packets that are reassembled upon receipt. However, loss of packets during transmission typically inhibits reassembly and use of data included in packets received from the point of loss onwards.

System and method for improving resilience in transmission of data fragments


A liquid dispensing device for a trash container spray system may be provided. In accordance with at least one embodiment, the liquid dispensing device is activated upon the trash receptacle being lifted and placed back on the ground, moving a piston and actuator component of the liquid dispensing device from a first to second position, back to the first position, and providing the force needed to spray the liquid compound into the interior of the trash receptacle. In accordance with at least one embodiment, a manually activated pump feature may be provided for spraying a liquid compound into the interior of a trash receptacle via the liquid dispensing device. In accordance with at least one embodiment, a float valve feature may be provided for spraying the liquid compound into the interior of the trash receptacle via the liquid dispensing device.

The use of large bins or containers for the deposit of trash and/or garbage from commercial establishments and residential apartments has grown substantially. These trash or garbage containers are usually emptied periodically by a front loading dump truck which carries a pair of forwardly extending lift forks that are insert able into pick up sleeves placed on opposed sides of the containers so that the container can be lifted off the ground and its contents dumped into the body of the truck. Since these containers are quite large, they may not be emptied for a substantial period of time such as a week or more in some instances. Because these containers often receive garbage as well as trash, many municipalities have required that the interior of the container be treated periodically with a treating material such as a disinfectant and/or odor suppressor. Even when not required by statute, such treatment of the containers is a desirable service which users of the containers may request form the company which supplies and services the containers.
Most front loading containers are presently sprayed by the driver of the truck who, after the trash or garbage has been emptied, must leave the cab of the truck, unwind a hose attached to a spray tank of insecticide and/or odor suppressor, spray the interior of the container, rewind the hose, and return to the cab of the truck. A suitable spray tank and hose arrangement for performing this task is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,875 to Torrey. It will be readily apparent that there are a number of drawbacks to the presently available container treatment systems. Since the truck may empty 60 to 100 trash or garbage containers during a single day, the driver must perform this procedure many times. The task soon becomes onerous and often is not performed as thoroughly as it should be. The time involved is also substantial and may consume an additional hour or more which could be spent on servicing other customers. The driver is also subject to repeated exposures to the material being sprayed onto the containers and such exposure is at least unpleasant and may be detrimental to the health of the driver. The customer either must have a spray treatment of the trash containers to comply with local statutes or desires this service for reasons of sanitation, but the driver who must perform the service views it as a time consuming, tiresome, disagreeable chore, thus causing a continuous controversy between the customer and the trash containing servicing contractor over the performance of the service.


Disclosed are methods for preparing pure graphene using chemical bonding between graphite oxide and metal oxide nanoparticles, and graphene and nanoparticles having a quasi metal oxide-graphene core-shell prepared therefrom. The disclosed methods for preparing graphene allow chemical bonding and separation through a simple acid treatment process using inexpensive materials. Also, because the reaction can be carried out at low temperature, the processing cost is low. And, pure graphene with few impurities can be prepared quickly in large scale.

(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for preparing pure graphene using chemical bonding between graphite oxide and metal oxide nanoparticles, and graphene and nanoparticles having a quasi metal oxide-graphene core-shell prepared therefrom.
(b) Background Art
Graphene, a miracle material, has a structure of one-atom-thick planar sheets of carbon atoms. Despite the rather short research period as compared to those for other nanocarbon materials such as carbon nanotube (CNT), fullerene or graphite, graphene is highly valued because of its excellent thermal conductivity and electron mobility and peculiar advantages such flexibility. Potential applications of graphene include the followings.
I) Graphene can replace the indium tin oxide (ITO) used in a transparent electrode of a light-emitting diode (LED), solar cell, or the like. With superior flexibility, it can be used in flexible electronic devices to greatly enhance lifetime and durability without affecting the device characteristics. In addition, graphene may be uses as an electrode material for secondary cells, supercapacitors, or the like.
II) With good thermal conductivity, graphene is esteemed as a new heat-sink material capable of solving problems in the manufacture of high-efficiency, high-brightness III-V GaN-based LEDs.
III) Further, superior dispersibility and good strength resulting from the 2-dimensional planar structure allow it to be used for carbon composite materials.
IV) Since the energy in graphene shows a linear relationship in the energy-wavenumber (E-k) diagram, it acts as if the effective mass of the electron (me*=∂2E/∂k2) is nearly 0. That is, it exhibits an effect as if the electron traveled fast like the massless photon. Accordingly, it has high potential as the next-generation transistor material for ultrafast electronic devices.
V) Besides, graphene can be used as a barrier film material because it has very low water permeability. Thus, it can be used as a barrier film material for flexible electronic devices and for packing and medical applications.
Thus, studies on the preparation of pure graphene are on the increase. The existing methods for preparing graphene include, in addition to the method of physically preparing graphene through exfoliation from graphite using a Scotch tape, a method of preparing graphene using carbon nanotube (CNT) [M. Terrones, Materials science: Nanotubes unzipped, Nature, 458, 845 (2009)], a method of growing graphene by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [K. S. Kim et al., Large-scale pattern growth of graphene films for stretchable transparent electrodes, Nature, 457, 706 (2009); D. H. Lee et al., Versatile carbon hybrid films composed of vertical carbon nanotubes grown on mechanically compliant graphene films, Adv. Mater., 22, 1247 (2010)], and a method of chemical exfoliation from liquid phase [A. A. Green et al., Solution phase production of graphene with controlled thickness via density differentiation, Nano Letters, 9, 4031 (2009)].
However, the known methods are expensive and do not readily give pure graphene. Accordingly, there is a need of a simple method for preparing pure graphene.

Method for producing graphene by chemical exfoliation

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