A first constant voltage circuit includes an operational amplifier having a reference voltage applied to a first input terminal thereof and a voltage obtained as a result of an output voltage being divided applied to a second input terminal thereof, and controls an output transistor with an output of its operational amplifier. A second constant voltage circuit includes an operational amplifier having a reference voltage applied to a first input terminal thereof and a voltage obtained as a result of the output voltage being divided applied to a second input terminal thereof, and controls the output transistor with an output of its operational amplifier, a current consumption of the second constant voltage circuit being smaller than a current consumption of the first constant voltage circuit. A switching part is provided for each of those operational amplifiers and makes connection and disconnection between an output terminal of the operational amplifier and the output transistor. A switching logic circuit controls the switching units so that the first constant voltage circuit is connected to the output transistor when the load is in the operation condition but the second constant voltage circuit is connected to the output transistor when the load is in the standby condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a constant voltage power supply, and, in particular, to a constant voltage power supply supplying power to a loading having an operation condition and a standby condition switched to one another.
2. Description of the Related Art
A constant voltage power supply having a constant voltage circuit (Voltage Regulator, referred to as a VR, hereinafter) and supplying power in a stable voltage is used in a cellular phone or the like. Such a constant voltage power supply has a constant voltage circuit (high-speed VR) having a large power (current) consumption in order to improve a PSRR (ripple removal rate) and a load transient responsivity. Therefore, when such a constant voltage power supply is applied to a device such as a cellular phone which has an active mode (operation condition) and a sleep mode (standby condition), useless power (current) consumption is large in the sleep mode in which high PSRR and load transient responsivity are not needed.
In order to solve such a problem, a constant voltage power supply is considered which has the high-speed VR and also another VR (low-speed VR) having lower PSRR and load transient responsivity but having a smaller power (current) consumption and has function of switching VRs in accordance with the condition of a load. Although the low-speed VR has the PSRR and load transient responsivity lowered as a result of having the smaller power (current) consumption, there is no problem when the load is in the sleep mode.
A configuration shown in FIG. 1 is considered for configuring a constant voltage power supply having the high-speed VR and low-speed VR.
In order to supply power to a load 3 from a power-source voltage applying terminal 1 stably, a high-speed VR 5a and a low-speed VR 5b are provided. For example, the high-speed VR 5a and low-speed VR 5b have transistors having different sizes but having the same configuration. Specifically, the size of the transistor of the high-speed is such as to have a large current supply capability. The high-speed VR 5a and low-speed VR 5b have input terminals (Vbat) 7a and 7b to which the power-source voltage applying terminal 1 is connected, reference voltage parts (Vref) 9a and 9b, operational amplifiers (OPAMP) 11a and 11b, output transistors (P-channel MOS transistors: DRV) 13a and 13b, voltage-dividing resistors R1, R2 and R3, R4, and output terminals 15a and 15b, respectively.
In the high-speed VR 5a, the output terminal of the operational amplifier 11a is connected to the gate electrode of the output transistors 13a, the reference voltage Vref is applied to the inverted input terminal of the operational amplifier 11a by the reference voltage part 9a, the voltage obtained as a result of the output voltage Vout being divided by the resistors R1 and R2 is applied to the non-inverted input terminal of the operational amplifier 11a, and control is performed such that the voltage obtained as a result of the output voltage Vout being divided by the resistors R1 and R2 is equal to the reference voltage.
The high-speed VR 5a and low-speed VR 5b enclosed by broken lines, respectively, are formed on separate chips, respectively.
The output terminals 15a and 15b of the high-speed VR 5a and low-speed VR 5b are connected to the load 3 through a switching unit 17. The load 3 has an active mode in which the power consumption is tens of mA and a sleep mode in which the power consumption is tens of μA switched to one another. A switching logic circuit (switching LOGIC) 19 which outputs switching signals to the switching unit 17 is connected to the load 3. The switching logic circuit 19 outputs to the switching unit 17 a switching signal "H" when the load 3 is in the active mode but a switching signal "L" when the load 3 is in the sleep mode. The switching unit 17 connects the output terminal 15a of the high-speed VR 5a to the load 3 when having the switching signal "H" input thereto, but connects the output terminal 15b of the low-speed VR 5b to the load 3 when having the switching signal "L" input thereto. Thus, the high-speed VR 5a or low-speed VR 5b is selected in accordance with the condition of the load 3.
Each of the high-speed VR 5a and low-speed VR 5b enters a standby condition when not being selected, and have the power (current) consumption equal to or smaller than 1 μA.
Thus, the high-speed VR 5a is selected when the load 3 is in the active mode, but the low-speed VR 5b is selected when the load 3 is in the sleep mode. Thereby, the power (current) consumption is appropriately controlled.
However, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, when the high-speed VR 5a, low-speed VR 5b and switching unit 17 are mounted on one chip (semiconductor chip), the two output transistors 13a and 13b need large areas thereon. Further, because the switching unit 17 needs to have a capability of having a current flowing therethrough equivalent to the output transistors 13a and 13b, and thus to have a low resistance, it also needs a large area. Thus, when this configuration is achieved on one chip including the switching unit 17, the chip area is considerably large.

Constant voltage power supply with normal and standby modes


A modular conveyor belt with a self-adjusting edge for bearing against a conveyor side rail. An edge pad, which can be made of a durable material for long wear life, pivotably attaches to the side edge of a belt row. The pivotable attachment allows the pad to adjust itself to maximize its contact area with the side rail.

This invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and, more particularly, to modular conveyor belts that engage a conveyor side rail as they advance along a conveying path.
Modular conveyor belts are constructed of a series of rows of belt modules linked by hinge pins through the interleaved hinge eyes of consecutive rows. Conveyor belts are supported in a conveyor frame that defines the belt's conveying path. In some applications, the conveying path includes turns. Modular belts that can negotiate turns typically bear against a side rail at the inside of the turns as the belt advances. The inside edge of the belt rubs on the side rail. Usually the side rail provides a vertical surface against which the parallel vertical side edge of the belt can bear. But, in many situations, the side edge of the belt at the inside of a turn is not parallel to the vertical side rail. If the plane of the belt at the inside edge is not aligned perpendicular to the side rail, the contact between the side rail and the edge of the belt is not distributed across the entire side edge of the belt. Instead, only a corner of the belt's inside edge contacts the side rail. The concentrated force at the corner digs into and scores the side rail. The friction heats the belt at the edge and, especially in the case of plastic belts, causes the belt material to deteriorate, which shortens the belt's useful lifetime.
Thus, there is a need to prevent modular conveyor belts from prematurely aging because of the misalignment of the bearing edge of a conveyor belt relative to a conveyor side rail.

Conveyor belt and module with a self-adjusting edge


A method and device for presenting a prediction model, and a method and device for adjusting a prediction model. The method for presenting a prediction model includes: obtaining at least one prediction result of a prediction model for at least one prediction sample; obtaining at least one decision-making tree training sample for training a decision-making tree model according to the at least one prediction sample and the at least one prediction result, the decision-making tree model being used for fitting the prediction model; training the decision-making tree model by using at least one decision-making tree training sample; and visually presenting the trained decision-making tree model. By means of the method, a prediction model hard to understand can be approximated to a decision-making tree model, and the approximated decision-making tree model is presented, so that a user better understands the prediction model according to the presented decision-making tree model.

In conventional data mining methods, statistical methods are often used to perform regression analysis or factor analysis on historical data, so as to analyze cause of formation of historical data, and use obtained rules to build a decision engine. In statistical learning theory, structural risk is equal to the sum of empirical risk and confidence risk. Among them, the empirical risk is an error of knowledge acquired through learning with respect to a given set of samples, and the confidence risk is an error of the knowledge with respect to unknown samples. Therefore, a conventional statistical method only achieves minimizing the risk in known samples, but cannot guarantee suppression of the confidence risk in the unknown samples. That is to say, from the point of view of the statistical learning, this method only achieves statistics, but does not really learn the knowledge from the historical data effectively.
In recent years, with the development of technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, etc., machine learning has been widely used to mine, from massive data, useful information hidden therein.
There has been much discussion about differences between the statistical learning and the machine learning. To a great extent, it is believed that the machine learning focuses on target prediction, while the statistical learning focuses on interpretability of the model. A more intuitive understanding is that the statistical learning focuses on describing data generation mechanism from probability distributions, and cares about checking for results (parameter assumption and error distribution assumption) in addition to the prediction, while the machine learning focuses on describing the data generation mechanism from the perspective of function fitting, and its basic purpose is to fit and predict, but it lacks strict checking mechanisms for parameters and errors.
In general, the machine learning is mainly divided into supervised learning, unsupervised learning and semi-supervised learning. The supervised learning is the most commonly used modeling paradigm. Many specific models such as regression models, classification models and so on may be obtained based on the supervised learning. By the supervised learning, one model composed of functions and parameters is learned from a given set of training samples, and when a new data sample arrives, a corresponding prediction result may be given based on this model. It is required that the set of training samples for the supervised learning includes input and output, that is, a feature variable and a target output. Here, the target is a sample label that has been labeled. Compared with the supervised learning, there is no labeled target result in a training set for the unsupervised learning. Clustering is a common unsupervised learning algorithm. In addition, the supervised learning and the unsupervised learning may also be combined into the semi-supervised learning, that is, a part of the training samples in the set of the training samples have labels, while other training samples do not have the label.
As described above, the machine learning itself focuses on the prediction but lacks the interpretability of the data generation mechanism, accordingly, a trained machine learning model may be represented as a set of functions with different parameters and forms, and, with continuing rise of data scale in different industries, dimensions of sample features used for training (especially after discretization) are growing at a high rate, all these cause that it is difficult for an ordinary user to understand the composition of the machine learning model, for example, it is impossible to understand how respective features interact in the machine learning model and what kind of role they play in common.
For example, deep learning is a branch of the machine learning, and its system includes a multi-layer network consisting of an input layer, hidden layers (multi-layers), and an output layer. There is a connection only between nodes (or referred as "neurons" or "cells") of adjacent layers, while there is no connection between nodes of the same layer and between cross-layer nodes. Each neuron node of each layer may be considered as a logistic regression model, and the layered structure is similar to the structure of a human brain, but it is difficult to be understood as a model.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a deep learning model and its neurons. It can be seen that the deep learning model represented by (a) in FIG. 1 is composed of a large number of nodes coupled to each other. Each node represents a specific output function, called as an activation function. The connection between every two nodes represents a weighted value for a signal passing through the connection, called as a weight, which is equivalent to memory of an artificial neural network. The output of the network differs depending on connection manner of the network, the weight value, and the activation function. The network itself is usually an approximation to a certain algorithm or function in nature, or may also be an expression of a logic strategy.
(b) in FIG. 1 shows an example of a single neuron in which:                a1˜an are respective components of an input vector;        w1˜wn are the weight values of respective synapses of the neuron;        b is offset;        f is a transfer function, which is usually a non-linear function. There are generally a sigmoid( ), a traingd( ), a tansig( ) and a hardlim( );        t is an output of the neuron whose mathematical representation is t=f({right arrow over (W)}{right arrow over (A)}′+b);        {right arrow over (W)} is a weight vector;        {right arrow over (A)} is the input vector, {right arrow over (A)}′ is the transpose of {right arrow over (A)};        b is offset;        f is the transfer function.
It can be seen that the function of one neuron is to obtain a scalar result through a nonlinear transfer function after solving inner product of the input vector and the weight vector. In other words, the function of a single neuron is to divide an n-dimensional vector space (n is an integer) into two parts (called as a judgment boundary) with a hyperplane. Given an input vector, the neuron can determine which side of the hyperplane the vector is located on. An equation of the hyperplane is {right arrow over (W)}{right arrow over (p)}+b=0, where {right arrow over (p)} is the vector on the hyperplane.
The above is merely an example of a neural network algorithm for the deep learning. In fact, it is difficult for even a person skilled in the field of the machine learning to intuitively understand, from a mathematical expression of the machine learning model, how the machine learning model solves a problem. That is to say, compared with a conventional data mining model being capable of interpreting and decomposing of the model using the statistical method, it is difficult to effectively interpret and analyze the machine learning model now, thereby resulting in that it cannot be better interpreted and understood by a user (for example, a business expert, a business executive, etc.). For example, because the machine learning model itself related to disease diagnosis is difficult to be understood, people may question reliability of the diagnosis, thereby making the model difficult to be spread.
In reality, the above defects exist not only for a simple machine learning model, the problem of being difficult to be interpreted also exists for many other types of models (the models getting answers of the problem based on many rules or factors, such as an expert system) with integration between machine learning and statistical learning. People's lack of understanding of the model will hinder practical application of the model, for example, it is difficult for the user to understand the model well, resulting in that it is very difficult to effectively use the model to solve a business problem.

Method and device for presenting prediction model, and method and device for adjusting prediction model

THE FOURTH PARADIGM (BEIJING) TECH CO LTD


The present invention relates to methods of manufacturing multiple metal propionates in a single reaction using sodium hydroxide as initiator and propionic acid as solvent. The method provides up to 95% conversion with greater than 60% yield. In addition, the method significantly reduces the cost or production by shortening reaction time, eliminating secondary mixing process, and providing simultaneous drying and micronization steps.

Trace minerals are essential components of animal feed for normal function, reproduction, immunity and production. A mineral must become soluble before it can readily dissociate. As such, minerals with low solubilities, such as metal oxides and carbonates, have a relatively less chance for eventual cellular uptake. Alternatively, if too much of a mineral dissociates in the rumen or dissociates before reaching the intestinal binding sites, the mineral may be recompiled to form tightly bound complexes with anti-nutritional elements present in the feed that may simply wash through the system without the mineral being utilized. In addition, some minerals, even after absorption, may not be utilized by the animal and may excrete through the urine or feces.
Metal propionate minerals are highly soluble, dissociate at a rate that is approximately equal to the need or availability of the respective metal transport sites through the gastrointestinal tract. Further, metal propionate minerals are highly absorbed and maximally retained.
Current processes of manufacturing metal propionates produce individual minerals, and mainly include acid-base catalyzed reaction at 110±5° C. for six to twelve hours using carbonates and oxide as metal source, propionic acid as ligand and sodium hydroxide as initiator, as set forth below:

The rate of formation of product is different for each metal propionate. The production cost of metal propionates using these methods, including energy cost, labor cost, cost of switchover between batches and secondary blending process, accounts for approximately 30% of the cost of the final formulated products. There is therefore a continued need to develop a cost-effective process of preparing metal propionates.

Methods for preparing metal carboxylates in one-pot reaction


Techniques are used to detect and identify analytes. Techniques are used to fabricate and manufacture sensors to detect analytes. An analyte (810) is sensed by sensors (820) that output electrical signals in response to the analyte. The electrical signals may be preprocessed (830) by filtering and amplification. In one embodiment, a plurality of sensors are formed on a single integrated circuit. The sensors may have diverse compositions.

The field of the invention relates to sensor arrays and techniques for the detection of analytes, and in a specific embodiment, electronic techniques and devices for olfaction.
Human beings have at least five sensesxe2x80x94sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. Since the earliest times, humankind has sought techniques and devices for enhancing and extending these senses. Many of the devices and instruments that have been developed to extend human perception are considered among of the most revolutionary inventions in history. These inventions have had a profound impact on human civilization and have led to many additional breakthroughs and discoveries. Just a few of the many instruments developed to extend the reach of human perception include the telescope, microscope, stethoscope, X-rays, phonograph/radio/audio amplifier, scanning electron microscope, night vision goggles, and many, many others.
As would be expected, there has been considerable interest in developing a device or instrument for the general detection of analytes in a fluid, vacuum, air, or other medium. A specific instance of an analyte detector is a device for sensing smell or odors (i.e., analytes in air). It is well recognized that some animals like dogs have a keener sense of smell than human beings. Because of their xe2x80x9cnoses,xe2x80x9d dogs have been utilized for many tasks including, for example, the detection of bombs, mines, drugs, poison gases, and illegal contraband; dogs also aid in the search and rescue of humans. Devices for sensing smell would be useful for the traditional applications where animals are used, as well as for a multitude of uses where animals are impractical or inappropriate.
Moreover, a device for the general detection of analytes has potentially many more applications than a specific device for detecting smells. For example, the uses for a device for analyte detection include the detection of chemical leaks, quality control in food processing, medical diagnosis and testing, fabrication and manufacture of commercial and industrial goods, pharmaceutical production, testing or evaluating any odorant or analyte in any medium (e.g., fuel, oil, wine, solvents), and many other applications. An instrument for analyte detection would be highly desirable in industries and applications such as the chemical and petrochemical sectors, food, fragrance, medical, automotive, military, environmental, health and safety, and indoor air quality. Therefore, it is desirable to develop techniques and devices for the detection of analytes.
An approach for sensing smells is to use surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators. However, the signal transduction mechanism for SAW devices involves relatively complicated electronics, and are thus somewhat costly. Furthermore, SAW devices are generally extremely sensitive to both mass and acoustic impedance changes, and may not be suitable for use in all environments.
Therefore, there is a need for techniques and systems for analyte detection, especially ones that are low cost, easy to manufacture, provide rapid response, and produce accurate differentiation between different analytes and different concentrations of the same analyte.
The present invention provides techniques and a system for detecting and identifying analytes in fluids. The present invention also provides techniques for fabricating and manufacturing sensors to detect analytes in fluids. Analytes may include smells, tastes, vapors, odors, gases, liquids, and chemicals, among others. The fluid may be liquid or gaseous in nature. In the present invention, an analyte is sensed by sensors that output electrical signals in response to the analyte. The electrical signals may be preprocessed by filtering and amplification. This preprocessing may also include adapting the sensor and electronics to the environment in which the analyte exists. The electrical signals may be further processed to classify and identify the analyte.
There are many possible embodiments of an analyte detection system of the present invention. For example, the present invention may be used to implement an electronic olfaction system or xe2x80x9celectronic nose.xe2x80x9d Such a system may reveal the identification and concentration of vapors in a manner similar to the mammalian olfactory system. Another embodiment for the analyte detection system of the present invention may also be used to implement a device for tasting. This device would function similarly to a tongue. There are many other possible embodiments of the present invention, too numerous to name in this application.
In one embodiment, sensors of the present invention are fabricated using semiconductor processing techniques and formed on a single integrated circuit. The integrated circuit or chip may contain a plurality of sensors, each at a sensor site. The sensor sites are formed on a substrate such as silicon, and may be arranged in rows and columns. Structures or other means may be constructed on the substrate to constrain a sensor material at each sensor site. For example, the sensor sites may be a plurality of sensor wells that could hold the sensor material.
The sensor material applied to or formed at one sensor site may have a different composition from the sensor material at a different site. For example, each sensor in the analyte detection system may have a different composition from every other sensor. For example, the sensor material may consist of regions of a nonconductive organic insulating material and a conductive material such as carbon black; the composition of carbon black may vary for each sensor on the chip. By providing a system of diverse sensors, each sensor may have a different response characteristic for a given analyte.
The integrated circuit may also include an electrical connection at each sensor site to route the electrical signals from the sensor material to other circuitry. This circuitry may further process the electrical signals. The circuitry may be on the same chip (on-chip) with the sensors, or may be off the chip (off-chip) carrying the sensors, such as on a different integrated circuit. For example, an analyte detection system of the present invention may include two or more integrated circuits, making up an analyte detection chipset.
In a specific embodiment of the present invention, electronic circuitry resides on the same integrated circuit as the sensor site. In particular, there is circuitry associated with each sensor site, and this circuitry may be formed beneath or interspersed with the sensor sites.
The signals from the sensors may be further processed by classifying the response to the analyte. For example, each analyte may have a particular xe2x80x9cfingerprint.xe2x80x9d The analyte may be identified based on this fingerprint. The signal processing for the identification and classification of the analyte may be performed by on-chip or off-chip circuitry. For example, classification may be performed using a computer or other instrument, among other techniques. Therefore, using the techniques and system of the present invention, an analyte may be distinguished and identified.
An aspect of the present invention is the use of an array of sensors to detect analytes. A further aspect of the present invention is the use of an integrated circuit having an array of sensors to detect analytes. A still further aspect of the present invention is the use of a semiconductor process to fabricate an integrated circuit having an array of sensors for identifying an analyte.
In a specific embodiment, the present invention is an integrated circuit including a plurality of sensor sites formed on a semiconductor substrate, each sensor site for constraining the sensor material. The integrated circuit further includes an electrical terminal formed to measure an electrical property of the sensor material. The electrical property may be a resistance, capacitance, inductance, or other electrical property. The sensor material may be a material consisting of a nonconductive organic insulating material and a conductive material. The sensor site may be a sensor well.
In a further embodiment, the integrated circuit of the present invention includes an array of sensors for detecting chemical analytes, each sensor having a first and second output terminal. There are plurality of adaptive electronic circuits, each circuit associated with one of the sensors and coupled to the first and second output terminals of the associated sensor.
To fabricate a semiconductor structure, a plurality of layers are formed on a silicon substrate. A plurality of wells is created in the plurality of layers. The sensor material is deposited into each well. Further, the composition of the sensor material in each well may be different from the sensor material at another well on the silicon substrate.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which like reference designations represent like features throughout the figures.

Techniques and systems for analyte detection


A method and apparatus are provided for communicating network information among network devices using protocols based on Universal Resource Locators. In one embodiment, an apparatus for retrieving RADIUS, SNMP or video information in a network, or carrying out remote network access, comprises a first URL interface executed by a client; a second URL interface executed by a server having a plurality of stored values; and means distributed among the first URL interface and the second URL interface for creating and storing a URL that includes an identifier of one or more of the stored values, retrieving that value from the server based on the identifier, and transporting the value from the server to the client. In another embodiment, a method comprises creating and storing a URL that includes a request for the value; communicating the URL to the server; extracting the request from the URL; and communicating a responsive URL, which includes the value of the attribute and an identifier of the attribute, from the server to the requesting client.

A computer network generally includes a number of devices, including switches, routers and hubs, connected to allow communication among the devices. The devices within a network are often categorized into two classes: end stations such as workstations, desktop PCs, printers, servers, hosts, fax machines, and devices that primarily supply or consume information; and network devices such as gateways, switches and routers that primarily forward information between the other devices.
Each device has one or more circuit boards, a microprocessor and a memory, and runs a control program. In general, networks often include several different types of data switching and routing devices. These network devices may have different physical characteristics. New devices, with characteristics that are presently unknown, are constantly being developed. The characteristics of many network devices may change over time. For example, characteristics of the network devices change when subsystems like boards, network interface modules, and other parts are added or removed from a device. Further, network devices ordinarily operate on a continuous basis. Accordingly, many networks are managed, supervised and maintained by a network administrator or network manager.
To properly maintain a network, the network administrator needs to have up-to-date information available about the devices in the network and how the devices are interconnected. A network management system or network management software may be used to automate these tasks. To obtain information about the network, the network management system may communicate with network devices using an agreed-upon network management protocol. An example of a network communication protocol that facilitates network management is Simple Network Management Protocol ("SNMP"), which is described in "Introduction to SNMPv3," available on the Internet in the document "v3white.hmtl" of directory "snmpv3" at the World Wide Web domain "snmp.com", and "Internetworking Technologies Handbook," published by Cisco Systems, Inc.
SNMP is an asynchronous protocol that operates using a request-response model. A significant limitation of SNMP is that it may be used only for communications over networks that use Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) for communication at lower network layers. There is a need for a way to use SNMP communications over networks that use other types of transport protocols such as IPX, SPX, and AppleTalk.
Certain network servers and other network devices communicate using the Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) protocol. RADIUS is useful for controlling access, authentication, and accounting for remote users who dial in to a server to obtain network services. RADIUS is defined in, for example, "RADIUS: Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service: Remote Network Access Security in an Open Systems Environment," available on the Internet as document "radius.html" at World Wide Web domain "kmi.com." RADIUS operates below the application layer and tends to implemented in a network device in a way that is tightly coupled to the functions carried out by the device. In addition, because RADIUS is a lower-level protocol, obtaining and displaying management information in a human-perceivable manner requires use of an intermediate computer. Due to the limitations of RADIUS, some network management systems require one server for carrying out RADIUS access, authentication, and accounting (AAA) functions, and a second server that obtains RADIUS information, formats it, and generates one or more HTML pages containing the information.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network management system in which Gateway 112 controls access by one or more Users 118 to a Managed Network 116. All network traffic directed from User 118 to Managed Network 116 must pass through Gateway 112 and is blocked unless the User is authenticated. Gateway 112 executes a Radius agent 114. For example, a system of this type may be used to configure a network using the 6510 Service Selection Gateway that is commercially available from Cisco Systems, Inc., San Jose, Calif. The Cisco 6510 contains three Fast Ethernet ports. A first port is connected to receive user traffic directed at a managed network; a second port is connected to the managed network; and the third port may be connected to a RADIUS server and a Service Selection Dashboard server on a separate subnet or the same network as the network side.
Gateway 112 communicates with Managed Network 116 and its devices using SNMP. A software application that provides user interface functions, DashBoard 108, executes in an HTTP Server 106 and communicates with the Gateway using a Radius host 110 complementary to Radius agent 114. HTTP Server 106 is coupled to Network 104 by a network link. A Client 100, which executes a Browser 102, is also coupled to Network 104 and may be located logically or physically remote from the Network, HTTP Server, and Gateway. Client 100 is a computer device such as a workstation, personal computer, server, or other equivalent network element. Network 104 in this embodiment is contemplated to be a global, packet-switched network that uses open protocols, such as the Internet. However, Network 104 may comprise any communication network. Browser 102 is an application program that may send and receive network information. Examples of commercial products that are suitable for use as Browser 102 are Microsoft Internet Explorer® and Netscape Navigator®.
In this arrangement, HTTP Server 106 communicates with Gateway 112 using RADIUS protocol messages, and communicates with Browser 102 using HTML over an HTTP network. This arrangement is functional, however, it would be simpler and less expense to provide a way to directly query and display RADIUS information using a client or server that can communicate using HTML. In addition, the foregoing arrangement requires the Gateway 112 or the DashBoard application 108 to store state information so that HTML transactions can be correlated with RADIUS transactions.
Another problem in this field is that streaming video information cannot be communicated efficiently over every network element. For example, there are now several different streaming video client programs available, such that streaming video is becoming ubiquitous. The video clients are capable of executing on a variety of platforms and can receive video information that is transported over many different network protocols. There is also increasing interest in the use of programs written in the Java® language to carry out network processing functions. However, at present Java® applets require the use of TCP/IP as a transport protocol.
A related problem is that using conventional streaming video clients and transport protocols, when a video stream is carried through the network, certain internetwork elements may not be set immediately to the best available quality of service. Delivery of streaming video requires network elements having high bandwidth and throughput to be continuously available. However, the network elements and the software that manages them may take considerable time to recognize the nature of the stream and set each internetwork element to an appropriate quality of service.
The Universal Resource Locator (URL) provides a way to identify a multimedia resource in a network. The URL is defined in T. Berners-Lee, "Uniform Resource Locators (URL): A Syntax for the Expression of Access Information of Objects on the Network," Mar. 21, 1994. However, in the past, the use of URLs for locating information in a network has required a network that communicates using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). This protocol is not available in all network devices. Many devices, such as switches and routers, cannot respond to control messages that are communicated using HTTP. In addition, HTTP works only at OSI Layer 4. Thus, there is a need for a system that use URLs to address network information at devices that do not use HTTP.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Communicating network information using universal resource locators


A system for producing gas and water from a gas bearing strata during and after drilling completion. The system includes a directional drilling system, a main bore and pump. The directional drilling system includes a drill and a drill string. The main bore intersects the gas bearing strata and has an upper vertical portion, a lower horizontal portion and a curve portion connecting the vertical portion and the horizontal portion. Waste material collects temporarily until pumped to the surface by the pump installed in the bore.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for the recovery of subterranean deposits, and, more particularly, relates to systems and methods for the removal of inseam water, drilling effluent and the production of gas, typically methane, from a gas bearing strata.
2. Background of the Invention
Coal is a large energy source. It has been mined from the earth for many years. Deposits of coal beneath the ground surface are positioned in generally horizontal coal seams and include substantial quantities of methane gas entrained in the coal deposits. In underground coal mining, methane gas poses a significant safety risk to the miners. In the past, the methane gas entrained in the coal deposits was simply liberated from the coal, mixed with air in the mine which diluted it to a safe concentration, and the mixture was ventilated to the outside environment. The methane was simply dissipated into the environment and provided no meaningful resource. However, in recent years, this entrained methane gas has been an efficient energy source and is sold commercially. Typically the methane gas is used as a driving source for energy-producing equipment, such as generators or the like, or can be added to natural gas pipelines.
Utilizing the gas as an energy source requires that the gas be extracted in a concentrated state and captured. Extracting methane from the coal seams in a concentrated state has been achieved by drilling boreholes generally horizontally into the coal seam that can extend several thousands of feet.
During and after the methane drilling process, dewatering must occur. Since coal seams may have a significant amount of subterranean water associated with them, water must be drained from the coal seam in order to produce the methane. Further, during the drilling process, water may be used at the drilling tip, creating a slurry of drill cuttings, which also must be removed from the borehole. Water and drill cuttings can block the migration of gas through the coal seam to the borehole and therefore must be removed to permit degasification. Additionally, some of the water used in the drilling process can be forced under pressure into the coal seam, further saturating the gas reservoir, which impedes the migration of gas to the borehole. Therefore, dewatering must occur both during the drilling process and after drilling has been completed.
Long, generally horizontal boreholes that remain in the coal seam are the most effective manner to extract and capture the gas entrained in the coal seam providing the suitable reservoir and material strength characteristics exist in the coal seam. Horizontal and generally horizontal boreholes can be effective in a suitable coal seam because they remain in contact with the gas reservoir (the coal bed) for long distances. Typical generally horizontal directional boreholes are drilled from inside the coalmine, which are relatively easy to dewater. This is due to the ability of the gas to purge water from the borehole because the boreholes are generally level with the end of the borehole, therefore, the gas does not have to overcome substantial hydraulic head to purge the water from the borehole. However, the horizontal directional boreholes drilled from inside the coal mine create several safety concerns, require the use of specialized equipment, and usually have limited borehole productive life. Transportation of gas in a pipeline, inside an underground coalmine, requires considerable maintenance and safety inspections due to the explosive nature of gas. Although directionally drilled inseam boreholes can reach several thousand feet, the boreholes do not always provide complete degasification before the coal seam is mined. Oftentimes the coal mining operator must mine the coal in an area before maximum degasification has been achieved. Therefore, a method to maximize coal bed gas recovery while reducing the safety risks to the coal operators is desirable. Furthermore, in areas not associated with current or future coal mining, the dewatering methods described herein, both during and after drilling will maximize coal seam methane recovery.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the deficiencies inherent in the prior art. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for producing gas from a coal seam yielding increased operator safety. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for producing gas from a coal seam while simultaneously producing in-situ water, water induced in the coal seam, and drill cuttings while drilling by the drill mechanism during the directional drilling operation. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of simultaneously producing gas and water from a coal seam after drilling is complete to allow for increased gas exploitation of a coalfield.

Method and system for production of gas and water from a coal seam using well bores with multiple branches during drilling and after drilling completion


Dilute solutions of fermentation sales may be concentrated by extracting water using low-miscibility, low-molecular-weight secondary and tertiary amines, e.g. triethylamine (TEA), diisopropyl amine (DIA), N,N-diethylmethylamine (DEMA), and mixtures thereof. At 30.degree. C.-55.degree. C., which corresponds to typical fermentation temperatures, these low-molecular-weight amines or their mixtures, can extract large amounts of water from dilute aqueous solutions containing fermentation salts. Thus, dilute fermentation salt solutions can be concentrated by selectively removing water. At these low temperatures, the amine phase contains 20-35% water and a much reduced quantity of fermentation salt. When the temperature is raised, water phases out of the amine, allowing the amine to be recycled and reused to extract additional water. Using this approach, about 82.5% of water can be removed from a 3% dilute solution using conventional multistage, countercurrent extraction, thus providing a 15% concentrated fermentation salt solution.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new and novel technology for isolating fermentation salts from aqueous solution. The method of this invention extracts water from the solution to concentrate fermentation salts, in particular, carboxylate salts such as calcium acetate.
2. Review of Related Art
Numerous manufacturing processes produce aqueous wastes or process streams containing carboxylic acid. These include the manufacture of cellulose acetate, aspirin, camphor, and RDX explosives, as well as semi-chemical wood pulping and other processes that use acetic acid as a raw material or solvent. In addition, there are many manufacturing methods for acetic acid involving recovery of acetic acid from aqueous solution. For example, the principal methods to produce acetic acid are carboxylation of methanol, liquid-phase oxidation of hydrocarbons such as butane and oxidation of acetaldehyde. Earlier processes, such as alcohol fermentation and the destructive distillation of wood, yielded dilute aqueous solutions.
More recently, processes have been proposed to produce acetic acid, or other carboxylic acids, from biomass employing rumen microorganisms that produce dilute aqueous solutions. The concentration of acid in these processes must, of necessity, be dilute, because high acid concentrations inhibit microbial growth.
Several processes have been developed to recover acetic acid from aqueous solutions. These methods include liquid-liquid solvent extraction, azeotropic distillation, and extractive distillation. Simple distillation is not appropriate because (1) the relative volatility between water and acetic acid is close to unity and becomes worse for dilute aqueous acetic acid solutions, and (2) water is the more volatile component, compared to acetic acid; this means all the water has to be vaporized from dilute acetic acid solutions, leading to a large energy cost per unit of acetic acid recovered.
Extractive distillation was used for years in the Suida process to recover acetic acid from pyroligneous acid which contains 6-7% acetic acid. Recycled wood oils were used as the extractant. In acetic acid synthesis plants, azeotropic distillation was used for higher concentration streams. Methyl and ethyl acetates, diisopropyl ether, and benzene are commonly used entrainers for azeotropic distillation, although other esters and ethers, ketones, chlorinated hydrocarbons and alcohols have also been used.
In specific applications of acetic acid manufacturing, other processes might be used. For example, freeze concentration has been used for years as a backyard process for concentrating vinegar. Adsorption with carbon or anion exchangers and chemical derivatization, followed by separation and regeneration of the chemical derivatives, are also available. A conventional derivatization method is the calcium acetate process for recovering acetic acid from pyroligneous acid.
In the calcium acetate derivation process, calcium hydroxide reacts with the acid to form calcium acetate, which is concentrated by evaporation. Then a strong acid, such as sulfuric acid, is added to liberate the free acid. This approach consumes chemicals such as lime and sulfuric acid and produces gypsum as a waste aqueous salt by-product.
Recovery of carboxylic acids from water is one of the oldest applications of solvent extraction. Solvent extraction of carboxylic acid was proposed a century ago. With the development of more sophisticated extraction techniques, such as countercurrent extraction, recovery of residual solvent from the raffinate phase by distillation, and the use of azeotropic distillation to remove coextracted water from the recovered acid, solvent extraction of carboxylic acids from aqueous solutions has replaced the calcium acetate derivation process.
In general, extraction from aqueous solutions has heretofore been the most favored approach to recover acetic acid, except for feeds (aqueous solutions) above about 80% (w/w) acetic acid content, where azeotropic distillation is preferred. Based on the development of new extractants, extractive processes, and the change in the economic structure, extraction is now favored for feeds containing acetic acid below 30% (w/w); extractive distillation is preferred for feeds in the 30-80% (w/w) range; and azeotropic distillation and simple fractionation (distillation) are appropriate for more concentrated feeds.
In the literature, solvent extraction has been the main theme for recovering carboxylic acid from dilute aqueous solutions. Because the solvents tend to be partially water soluble, a unit operation is required to remove or recover residual solvent from the raffinate. Typical extraction processes recover carboxylic acid from water using three unit operations: the extractor, a solvent regenerator, and a process to recover free carboxylic acid. In a conventional extraction process, one first extracts acid into the organic phase, followed by back-extracting acid into an aqueous phase, thus regenerating the organic phase. In the regeneration process, the aqueous phase used to back extract acid from the extract is usually an aqueous solution containing a low-boiling alkaline solvent (e.g. trimethylamine) which can be easily evaporated. Using this process, carboxylic acid can be separated and recovered.
Among the extractants used to recover carboxylic acid are reactive, basic extractants (e.g. tertiary amines or phosphine oxides) that can be used to gain greater solvent capacity and selectivity with respect to water and carboxylic acid. Although solvent extraction is a potentially attractive process for carboxylic acid recovery, it is usually deterred by the high affinity of these acids for water. Previous workers have characterized some extractants that provide a relatively high equilibrium distribution coefficient for extracting carboxylic acid from aqueous solution. A high equilibrium distribution coefficient allows the use of lower solvent-to-feed flow rates.
Primary amines are too soluble in water to be used with aqueous solutions. Secondary amines are subject to amide formation upon regeneration by distillation. Consequently, long-chain tertiary amines have become the most favored extractant for recovering carboxylic acid from dilute aqueous solutions. With the use of appropriate diluents and swings of temperature or pH, tertiary amine extractant systems have become more powerful agents for carboxylic acid recovery.
Desalination
Solvent extraction has also been proposed as a method to recover potable water from sea water or brackish water. Extracting sea water with an amine solvent produced a concentrated brine (raffinate) and an extract containing a mixture of water and amine. Clear water was recovered by heating the water-laden extract to a higher temperature at which the solubility of solvent in water was greatly reduced. Previous discussions concerning the solvent extraction of water have been published by Davison et al. (see Davison, et al., "Structure and Amine-Water Solubility in Desalination by Solvent Extraction," J. Chem. Eng. Data 1960, 5, 420-423; Davison, et al., "Thermodynamic Cycles For Recovery of Water by Solvent Extraction," I&EC Process Design and Development, 1964, 3, 399-404; Davison, et al., "Phase Equilibria of Desalination Solvents: Water-NaCl-Amines," J. Chem. Eng. Data. 1966, 2, 304-309; Davison, et al., "A Solvent Extraction Desalination Pilot Plant," Desalination, 1967, 3, 17-26; Davison and Hood, U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,909; and Davison and Hood, U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,675.)
Carboxylic acids from biomass
There has been increasing interest in using anaerobic bacteria to produce organic acids from biomass. A dilute aqueous stream of carboxylic acid can be produced by fermenting lignocellulosic biomass. The concentration in the fermentation broths is limited by the autotoxicity of the acid to acetogenic fermentation bacteria. It may be as high as 6% (w/w), but concentrations of 2-4% are more typical. Product inhibition can be reduced by continuously removing the acid.
Extractive fermentation has been proposed to remove the inhibiting acid in situ and thus increase the bioreactor productivity. However, at the pH where the microbes grow (about 6.8), only 1% is undissociated acid; the rest is salts that will not be extracted, especially by tertiary amines. Most extractants work efficiently only at acidic pH, yet acidogenic anaerobes generally have poor growth rates below pH 6. Thus, extractive fermentation is not viable to remove acid product in situ.
Moreover, after solvent-extracting carboxylic acid from the aqueous fermentation broth using high-molecular-weight tertiary amines, the acid-amine complexes must be broken to recover the free acid and recycle the amine extractant, either by azeotropic distillation or back-titration. For recovering carboxylic acid from dilute aqueous solutions, the extraction-regeneration process requires both acid addition to adjust the pH and an extra solvent-extraction process to regenerate the primary extractant. Furthermore, the tertiary amines extractant (or phosphine oxide extractant) must necessarily have a high molecular weight to make it immiscible in water. However, it is impossible to make these extractant amines perfectly immiscible in water, so some extractant is always present in the aqueous phase. Because of their high molecular weight, these extractants are non-volatile and cannot be recovered by stripping in a distillation column. Therefore, additional extractants must be added to replace that which is lost, thus incurring additional expense.
Necessarily, when produced by fermentation, the acid product is primarily present as a carboxylate salt. The pH of an aqueous solution of carboxylic acids is ordinarily low because the acids dissociate releasing hydronium ions in aqueous solution. To sustain active fermentation, it is necessary to add a neutralizing agent (i.e., lime or limestone) that reacts with the hydronium ion and maintains a pH near to neutrality where microbial activity is greatest. Near neutrality, only about 1% of the product is carboxylic acid; the remainder is present as the carboxylate salt. Therefore the traditional technologies for recovering carboxylic acids are not easily applied, and a need exists for developing of alternative technologies.

Recovery of fermentation salts from dilute aqueous solutions


A crystallization apparatus includes an illumination system which applies illumination light for crystallization to a non-single-crystal semiconductor film, and a phase shifter which includes first and second regions disposed to form a straight boundary and transmitting the illumination light from the illumination system by a first phase retardation therebetween, and phase-modulates the illumination light to provide a light intensity distribution having an inverse peak pattern that light intensity falls in a zone of the non-single-crystal semiconductor film containing an axis corresponding to the boundary. The phase shifter further includes a small region which extends into at least one of the first and second regions from the boundary and transmits the illumination light by a second phase retardation with respect to the at least one of the first and second regions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a crystallization apparatus, crystallization method, and phase shifter applied to a non-single-crystal semiconductor film such as a polycrystalline or amorphous semiconductor film, particularly to a crystallization apparatus, crystallization method, and phase shifter for modulating a phase of laser light to be applied to the non-single-crystal semiconductor film in the crystallization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Materials of thin film transistors (TFT) for use as switching devices for controlling voltages to be applied to pixels, for example, of a liquid crystal display (LCD) have heretofore been roughly divided into amorphous silicon and poly-silicon.
The mobility of the poly-silicon is higher than that of the amorphous silicon. Therefore, when the poly-silicon is used to form thin film transistors, a switching speed increases and the display responds more quickly as compared with the use of the amorphous silicon. Such thin film transistors are also usable as components of peripheral LSI circuits. Furthermore, there is an advantage that design margins of other components can be reduced. When peripheral circuits such as a driver circuit and DAC are integrated on the display, these peripheral circuits are operable at a higher speed.
Although the poly-silicon includes a number of crystal grains, the mobility thereof is lower than that of single-crystal silicon. When the poly-silicon is used to form a small-sized transistor, this raises a problem that the number of crystal grain boundaries fluctuates within a channel region. In recent years, crystallization methods for producing single-crystal silicon grains of a large diameter have been proposed in order to improve the mobility and reduce the fluctuation in the number of crystal grain boundaries within the channel region.
For this type of crystallization method, "phase-modulated Excimer Laser Annealing (ELA)" has heretofore been known that applies excimer laser light to a non-single-crystal semiconductor film via a phase shifter (phase-shift mask) disposed in parallel with and in the proximity of the semiconductor film to produce a crystallized semiconductor film. Details of the phase-modulated ELA are disclosed, for example, in "Applied Surface Science Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 278 to 287, 2000".
In the phase-modulated ELA, the light intensity distribution of the light applied to the non-single-crystal semiconductor film is controlled in a zone corresponding to a phase-shift section of the phase shifter to have an inverse peak pattern (that is, a pattern in which the light intensity significantly increases according to an increase in the distance from the center of the zone). As a result, a temperature gradient is generated in the semiconductor film of a molten state according to the light intensity distribution, and a crystal nucleus is created at a part of the semiconductor film which first coagulates according to the light intensity of substantially 0. Then, a crystal grows in a lateral direction toward the outside from the crystal nucleus (lateral growth), thereby forming a single-crystal grain of a large diameter.
Conventionally, the phase shifter for general use is a so-called linear phase shifter, which includes pairs of rectangular regions having a phase retardation π (180 degrees) therebetween and repeatedly arranged in one direction. In this case, a straight boundary between two regions serves as the phase-shift section, and therefore the light intensity on the non-single-crystal semiconductor film is controlled to have an inverse peak pattern in which the light intensity is substantially 0 at a location of an axis corresponding to the phase-shift section and one-dimensionally increases according to an increase in the distance from the location.
In the conventional art in which the aforementioned linear phase shifter is used, a temperature distribution is lowest on an axis corresponding to the phase-shift section, and a temperature gradient is generated in a direction perpendicular to the axis corresponding to the phase-shift section. That is, the crystal nucleus is created on the axis corresponding to the phase-shift section, and crystallization proceeds from the crystal nucleus in the direction perpendicular to the axis corresponding to the phase-shift section. As a result, the crystal nucleus is created on the axis corresponding to the phase-shift section, but a position on the axis where the crystal nucleus is created is indefinite. In other words, in the conventional art, it has been impossible to specify the creation point of the crystal nucleus, and it has also been impossible to two-dimensionally control a region where the crystal grain is formed.

Crystallization apparatus, crystallization method, and phase shifter

Advanced LCD Technologies Development Center Co., Ltd.


Methods for producing plastic scintillating material employing 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.

This invention relates to improved methods for producing plastic scintillator material. Simply stated scintillator is a material that converts energy into light. Energy is deposited into the scintillator by penetrating radiation. This energy is then converted into ultra-violet or visible light which can then be detected with the use of a photodetector such as a photomultiplier tube. Generally, incident penetrating radiation includes high energy particles and ionizing radiation such as x-rays, gamma-rays, alpha particles, beta particles, thermal neutrons, etc.
Standard plastic scintillator consists of a polymer matrix typically doped with two fluorescent organic compounds, a primary dopant and a secondary dopant. Solutions of a polymer and an efficient fluorescent dopant can give a system with close-to-unity quantum yield, a high-efficiency scintillator. The term quantum yield is defined as the probability that an excited state in the polymer leads to the emission of a photon by a dopant, which is generally an organic compound. In Forster's theory of nonradiative energy transfer between molecules in solution, the energy transfer is described by a dipole-dipole interaction in which nonradiative energy transfer occurs between the first excited .pi.-singlet state of the solvent and the solute(dopant) in the ground state. The strength of this interaction is a function of the natural fluorescence lifetime of the solvent and the mean separation between the solvent and the solute molecule. Fluorescence is defined as the emission of a photon by a molecular transition from the molecule's first excited singlet state to its ground state. At high dopant concentrations (approximately 1% by weight), this process can dominate the emission or quenching process of the solvent. If the dopant's radiative quantum yield is close to unity, the number of photons emitted per solvent-molecule .pi.-electron excitation can approach one even though the radiative quantum yield of the solvent is small (in the case of polystyrene, for example, 0.07).
Dopants that couple to the primary excitation of the solvent are called primary dopants. The primary dopant serves to raise the photon yield of the solvent plus dopant(s) combination (the number of photons emitted per unit energy deposited in the solvent) and to shift the mean wavelength of the final fluorescence of the scintillator to longer wavelengths. The addition of secondary dopants, in low concentrations (approximately 0.01% to 0.2% by weight), to the binary system of solvent and primary dopant results in the shifting of the fluorescence wavelength further to the red portion of the spectrum. Secondary dopants do not increase the intrinsic photon yield of the scintillator. However, by shifting the fluorescence emission to a longer wavelength, more photons escape from the scintillator since self-absorption by the scintillator is reduced. The term "technical quantum yield" is often applied to scintillators of finite size. In this case, effects of self-absorption are included in the determination of quantum or detected photon yield of the scintillator.
The most commonly used polymer bases in plastic scintillator are polystyrene and poly(vinyltoluene). Monomeric styrene is a liquid which polymerizes on heating to form the solid plastic polystyrene. When doping of the polystyrene or some alternate polymer matrix is required, several methods are available including:
1. dissolving the dopant in molten polystyrene, PA1 2. polymerizing a styrene-dopant solution at a low temperature (50.degree. C.) with a benzoyl peroxide catalyst, PA1 3. polymerizing a styrene-dopant solution at a medium temperature (125-140.degree. C.) over several days without a catalyst, PA1 4. polymerizing a styrene-dopant solution at a high temperature (200.degree. C.) without a catalyst for a period of 12-15 hours. PA1 1. purification of the monomer by vacuum distillation; PA1 2. addition of dopants to monomer; PA1 3. removal of dissolved gasses, notably oxygen; PA1 4. complete polymerization in an inert atmosphere or under vacuum; and PA1 5. careful annealing.
Method 2 was found to impair the transparency and to reduce the efficiency of the scintillator.
The size of the plastic scintillator frequently dictates the production method used. For small samples, the monomer is generally subjected to numerous vacuum distillation processes to remove inhibitors. The monomer is then transferred to a vial containing the dopant. The vial is connected to a vacuum system, and the dissolved gas is removed by repeated freeze-pump-thaw cycles. The evacuated vial is sealed, shaken to insure the complete dissolution of the dopant in the monomer, and then placed in an oil bath at 125.degree. C. for several days. For larger specimens, a generally employed technique is to bubble nitrogen through the monomer to expel the oxygen and then mix in the dopant. The solution is then heated and the polymerization is carried out in a nitrogen atmosphere. For high temperature polymerization, the vacuum-distilled monomer and the dopant are placed in a reaction flask fitted with a reflux condenser and flushed with nitrogen for approximately thirty minutes after which the container is evacuated and sealed. The container is then heated in a bath to over 200.degree. C. for a period of from eight to ten hours.
Typically, the technique for the preparation of plastic scintillators is:
Applicants produce plastic scintillator using two new methods. In the first method, the plastic scintillator material is produced by combining polystyrene pellets, which have been purged with an inert gas, with oil, and then mixing in the dopants. Mineral oil was used with some success; however, significantly better results were achieved when silicone oil was used as a plasticizing agent to coat the polymer with dopant during mixing. The preferred silicone oil is an aromatic-substituted silicone. The pellet-oil-dopant combination is compounded or processed in an inert gas atmosphere, argon or nitrogen, to generate plastic scintillating material that can then be pelletized. These scintillator pellets can subsequently be extruded, injection molded and/or exposed to other plastic molding processes to form a scintillator piece of a particular shape or form. This process can also directly extrude or scintillating fibers, sheet, or film from the melt, thus avoiding the pelletizing of the new scintillating plastic. By purging the initial polymer pellet stock with argon, the water and oxygen are driven out of the pellets. This and the subsequent use of argon or nitrogen in the processing of the mixture eliminate or reduce the need for a vacuum.
In the second method for producing plastic scintillator material, the need for pre-mixing a polymer-pellet oil dopant combination is eliminated by using an inline coloring and compounding extrusion process. In this method the polymer pellets and all additives (dopants, silicone oil if desired, etc.) are metered into the processing device and again a plastic scintillator material is produced. The use of an inert gas purge is also incorporated in this method. Scintillator profiles, sheet, film, fiber can be directly produced by this method or the scintillator material can be pelletized for subsequent plastic forming operations.
Applicants' processes produce a plastic scintillating material which exhibits a very uniform distribution at the molecular level; essentially, a uniform solution of the solutes "dopants" in the solvent "polymer". The uniform distribution at the molecular level is necessary for the scintillation mechanism to function reliably.
Until now, the production of high light yield scintillators was limited to relatively slow methods as described by the prior art; however, applicants' methods produce plastic scintillating material using a continuous process that can operate over a wide range of production rates.
Thus, one object of this invention is to produce a plastic scintillating material with uniform solute-solvent distribution at the molecular level using commercial processes that can accomplish this at high rate (hundreds of pounds per hour) and in a continuous process as opposed to a bulk or batch process.
Another object of this invention is to employ an inert gas blanket before and during extrusion to expel the water and oxygen, and to prevent unwanted interactions with the polymer and the resulting scintillator reducing, thus, the need for a vacuum.
Another object of this invention, in the first method, is the implementation of silicone oil as the plasticizing agent to uniformly and homogeneously disperse the scintillation dopants into the polymer. When mineral oil is used, it tends to discolor the scintillator and consequently reduces the light yield of the scintillator.
Additional advantages, objects and novel features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and by practice of the invention.

Methods for the continuous production of plastic scintillator materials

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


A suspension system including: (a) a suspension spring; (b) a shock absorber; and (c) a generator for generating a displacement force forcing sprung and unsprung members of a vehicle to be displaced toward or away from each other. The generator includes (c-1) an elastic body connected one of the sprung and unsprung members and (c-2) an actuator disposed between the elastic body and the other of the sprung and unsprung members. The actuator includes a motor, and is operable to generate an actuator force based on a motor force generated by the motor, such that the generated actuator force acts on the elastic body and such that the generated actuator force is transmitted to the sprung and unsprung members via the elastic body so as to act as the displacement force. The suspension system further includes (d) a controller for controlling operation of the motor so as to control the displacement force. The controller performs a damping-force control for controlling the displacement force as a damping force for damping vibration of the spring member and/or the unsprung members.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suspension system equipped with a displacement force generator that is configured to generate, by activating an electrically-operated actuator, a displacement force causing sprung and unsprung members of a vehicle to be displaced toward or away from each other, in a manner that enables the generated displacement force to be controllable.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In recent years, there have been begun studies on a vehicle suspension system as disclosed in JP-2002-218778A, JP-2002-211224A and JP-2006-82751A, specifically, a system including a displacement force generator which is provided in parallel with a suspension spring and a shock absorber. The displacement force generator is operable to generate, based on actuation of the electrically-operated actuator, a displacement force causing the sprung and unsprung members to be displaced toward or away from each other, in a manner that enables the generated displacement force to be controllable. In this system, the generated displacement force acts as a roll reduction force for reducing roll of a body of the vehicle. That is, in this system, the roll of the vehicle body can be reduced by the displacement force generated by the displacement force generator.


An image processing apparatus that comprises a plurality of read out rows in an imaging unit of the apparatus. The imaging region comprises of a plurality of pixels which are equipped with color filters of the red, blue and green type. The apparatus comprises a controller configured to set a frame rate for a first row scanning unit and a second frame rate for a second row scanning unit. The apparatus is further configured to perform image interpolation and perform the auto focus, auto exposure, auto black white or the like functions and display an image with a high resolution on a display unit.

Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a terminal device provided with an image pick-up element that performs line exposure of a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Image Sensor) sensor, and an imaging method for the terminal device.
Description of the Related Art
Mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets are examples of devices that are adapted to display an image on a display panel disposed thereon the device.
Conventionally, when displaying images on such devices, the preview mode depicts the image captured by an image pick-up element of the device. The raw image data (hereinafter referred to as simply as raw data) captured by the pick-up element is not preserved (saved) in a memory module but rather directly transferred to the display unit of the device. In such scenarios, it is not uncommon for the resolution of the display unit to be lower than the resolution of the raw data captured by the image pick-up element. Thus a process commonly referred to as "thinning-out" is performed while displaying an image on the display screen, wherein the pixels of the raw data captured by the pick up element are reduced in resolution (in the row and/or column direction) and outputted to the display unit.
Commonly used functions with such devices are Auto Exposure (AE), Auto White Balance (AWB), Auto Focus (AF) and the like. While executing such functions, it is desirable to employ a control unit within the device that is configured to generate statistical data from the raw data captured by the image pick-up element in a fast manner. However, when the generation and transfer of raw data for a statistical data generation occurs in a certain time period (wherein the generation and transfer of the raw data occurs from the image pick-up element to the display unit), the response speed of a control loop cannot be made faster than the time-period. Note that if the thinning rate of the raw data transferred to a control unit from the image pickup element is made higher, a higher frame rate and a higher speed of operation for the control loop can be achieved. However, in doing so, the resolution of the image displayed on the display becomes very low.
Accordingly, the objective of the present disclosure is to achieve at least two different frame rates while ensuring that the resolution of the image is not compromised.

Image processing device and imaging method for obtaining a high resolution image and efficient speed for a feedback control signal


A wire/fiber ring having two layers applied in four clock positions. Each layer includes a first material strand having a first diameter and a second material strand having a second diameter different from the first diameter. A second or any subsequent layer is disposed such that there is unambiguous nesting between strands in adjacent layers. After the array is built-up, wire is over-wrapped around the array to hold it in place during subsequent consolidation steps, which take place after the built-up array is sealed in an air-tight container and evacuated. After heating and application of pressure a wire/fiber array having a void content of about 12% and a fiber content of between about 0% to 70% and preferably between about 30% and 45% can be achieved.

Titanium matrix composite (TMC) rings are useful in high temperature rotating parts, such as turbine engines, where specific stiffness and strength are critical to design. While affordability issues generally have hampered the use in production of these materials, one TMC fabrication method has shown promise. According to this method titanium wire and silicon carbide (SiC) fiber are combined to form a hoop reinforcement array. Methods for fabricating TMC rings in this way have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,763,079 to Hanusiak et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,774 to Bachelet. These two patents describe different approaches to achieve the same end. However, both also restrict manufacturing flexibility in ways critical to design.
The method described by Hanusiak et al. is illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C. In this approach, the combination of wire 3 and fiber 4 is restricted to a one-to-one ratio, but the wire diameter and the fiber diameter can be different as long as the wire 3 diameter is greater than that of the fiber 4. The selection of wire and fiber diameter establishes the fiber fraction in the resultant composite. For example, using a 0.007 inch diameter wire and a 0.0056 diameter fiber results in a composite with a fiber fraction of 30%. In accordance with Hanusiak et al., the assembly consists of one tape containing all wire elements and one tape containing all fiber elements combined to form two layers per ply. Each tape is made up of equal-sized elements, but the elements in the first tape do not have to be the same size as the elements in the second tape. The assembly is built up using alternate tapes of each type applied to a winding core in such a way that adjacent fibers 4 do not come in contact with each other. The advantage of the structure according to Hanusiak et al. is that the ratio of wire-to-fiber diameters can be varied such that composites with fiber fractions between 35% and 45% can be readily fabricated. Such a range of fiber fractions is particularly desirable for effective ring construction. The disadvantage of the structure according to Hanusiak et al., however, is that the assembled array contains about 20% void, which is particularly detrimental in thick parts because it allows for undesirable cusp formation during metal movement. Moreover, the structure according to Hanusiak et al. has been shown to be organizationally unstable during a consolidation cycle to remove the void content of the TMC part.
FIG. 1A shows a cross-section of a composite ring structure 1 according to Hanusiak et al. wherein there is maximum fiber spacing such that wires 3 touch in the height direction only. FIG. 1B shows an embodiment in accordance with Hanusiak et al. wherein there is median fiber spacing such that the fibers are spaced equally in width and in height. FIG. 1C depicts yet another configuration of a structure in accordance with Hanusiak et al. wherein there is minimum fiber spacing and wires 3 touch each other in the lateral or width direction only.
The method described by Bachelet is illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2C. According to Bachelet, the wire/fiber combination is restricted to a two-to-one or a three-to-one ratio. Additionally, in all of the examples disclosed by Bachelet, the wire diameters are limited to the same dimension as the fiber diameters. All assemblies utilize two layers per ply and fall into three types as shown in FIGS. 2A-2C.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2A, each layer is made up of fibers 4 separated by two equivalent-diameter wires 3, and the second layer is laterally indexed so that the fibers 4 nest between the two wires 3 in the layer below.
In other variations of the Bachelet structure, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, one layer is made up of fibers 4 separated by one equivalent-diameter wire 3. The second layer is made up of all wires 3 of the same diameter as the fibers 4 in the first layer. The advantage to the Bachelet approach is that the void content is only about 10%, and the array apparently is organizationally stable during subsequent consolidation steps. Furthermore, the Bachelet approach, because of the resulting relatively low void fraction, may be desirable for thick parts since there is a lower tendency for cusp formation along the TMC perimeter. The disadvantage, however, of the Bachelet approach is the limitation in the examples to equal diameters for the wires and fibers, which limits the fiber fraction to 25% or 33%. These fiber fractions are not in the most desirable range from a design standpoint. That is, in many designs, a 40% fiber fraction is desirable to achieve a useful performance increase.
Additionally, all examples disclosed in the Hanusiak et al. and Bachelet patens are limited to equal-sized elements in any single layer. Although those references do not specifically exclude the case where elements in a layer may have different diameters, neither reference addresses the special problems associated with such a structure. Namely, when dissimilar-sized elements are provided in a single layer and all elements in a layer are applied to the winding core simultaneously there occurs an inherent stacking, or organizational, instability.
It is noted that simultaneous application of all elements in any single layer is a specific requirement of Bachelet. Bachelet apparently applies this constraint to control the element spacing in the first layer, since the reference fails to describe any other method for spatially controlling elements in the first layer on a winding mandrel. This also implies that the elements in the first layer are touching in order to effectively fulfill the positioning goal. Subsequent layer element positions are thus defined by gaps created between elements in the first layer. Given a first layer with touching elements, and dissimilar wire and fiber diameters, subsequent layer elements will typically lose their track due to nesting site ambiguity and the assembly will fall into disarray. FIGS. 3A-3C depict how a second layer of non-equal sized elements might be disposed on a first layer of non-equal sized elements and how, ultimately, after several layers have been applied, substantially all order is lost (FIG. 3C). That is, the non-equal element size in a given layer creates competition for nesting sites if the subsequent layer elements arrive at the same time.
Thus, there is a need for an improved method for achieving low void content in a stable array, concurrently with flexibility in fiber fraction between about 0% to 70% and preferably between about 30% and 45%.

Wire/fiber ring and method for manufacturing the same


An improved bicycle saddle having a shell which supports at least one battery operated vibrator. When the vibrator is energized, its vibration causes the shell and therefore the bicycle seat to vibrate. The vibrator has an on/off switch so that it may be turned on periodically by the rider to improve the comfort of the bicycle saddle. The bicycle saddle is preferably supported by a rail which has two arms which extend from the front of the underside of the shell to near the back of the shell. A bearing is affixed about the end of each of the arms so that the arms may move inwardly and outwardly along the underside of the shell as the shell is flexed. The shell preferably has a central, angled valley and the saddle is flexible to provide further comfort.

The field of the invention is saddles and the invention relates more particularly to saddles for bicycles, although such saddles may also be used on motorbikes, car seats, chairs, truck seats, seats for gym equipment or for any seat for human use. The invention will be described by way of a bicycle saddle, but the design criteria, of course, can be used for other saddles.
There has always been a desire to provide bicycle saddles which are comfortable for the rider. In addition, there is a desire for the bicycle saddle to be light in weight and small in size which tends to make it more challenging to create a comfortable saddle.
One way of increasing comfort is to provide a longitudinal opening along the saddle as shown in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,647.


A mid-span fall protection system including a remotely attachable fall protection latching mechanism for attachment to an elevated horizontal strand. The fall protection latching mechanism may be used with an elongated rigid structure for extending between a support surface and the elevated horizontal strand, where the fall protection latching mechanism is attached to an upper end of the elongated rigid structure. The fall protection latching mechanism includes a hook portion for engaging over the elevated horizontal strand to provide a support for the fall protection latching mechanism, and a fall protection line coupling structure attached to the hook portion for providing a direct connection between the hook portion and a fall protection line. A fall protection line is also provided having an upper end attached to and supported by the coupling structure, and includes a lower end located adjacent a lower end of the elongated rigid structure at the support surface. The fall protection line provides a connection between the fall protection latching mechanism and a worker moving vertically along the elongated rigid structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety devices, and more particularly, to a fall protection system for providing fall protection to persons working mid-span on horizontal structures, such as a horizontal strand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Workers, such as linemen, employed to perform operations on horizontally extending lines typically prop a ladder adjacent a location of the line requiring work, where the line is used as an upper support for the ladder. The danger inherent in climbing and working on lines using a ladder is well known, in that the ladder may shift while in use, and particularly when the worker is ascending or descending the ladder. In addition, such lines are subject to oscillating movement which can cause instability in the ladder and increased danger to a worker due to movement of the line.
Generally, the prior art has recognized the importance of providing a secure connection between a ladder and a line providing a support for the ladder. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,054,581 and 5,529,145. Further, it should be noted that some known worker support constructions rely on a connection to the ladder to support the worker, and thus the degree of safety provided to the worker will vary with the integrity of the ladder construction and will further depend on the reliability of the connection between the ladder and the supporting elevated line.
Although several prior art devices suggest constructions for maintaining a desired position for ladders utilized in combination with elevated lines, and devices for attachment to workers for securing the worker in various ways to the ladder structure, there remains a need for providing fall protection to a worker in situations where the worker is climbing a ladder, as well as when the worker is in position to perform a task at an elevated location. In particular, there is a need for a fall protection system which directly associates a worker with the elevated support line and which ensures that the connecting components of the fall protection system connecting the worker to the elevated line meet or exceed fall protection standards, such as the ANSI Z.359 or ANSI A-14.3 standards, which relate to loads applied against the system in the event a fall by the worker is arrested by the system. There is a further need for providing a fall protection system which can be secured prior to the worker ascending to the elevated work location, such that the fall protection system may be implemented throughout the time a worker is at risk.


A multi-media data processing device has a visual display, storage, and a user interface with voice input and a manually actuatable remote control. In particular, the remote control and the voice input device are physically integrated to a hand-sized unit. Combining discrete manipulatory control signals and voice input signals allows to select and annotate transiently displayed pictures. Advantageously, the hand-sized unit is wireless.

The invention relates to a multi-media data processing device having visual display means, storage means, user interface means including voice input means and manually actuatable remote control means. Multi media implies a selected combination among character-based text, film material, graphics, graphs, photographs, audio sequences, and possibly other elements that are suitable for producing human sensory experience. Those elements are in some way stored in storage of appropriate type, such as electrically, optically, or magnetically, and may be selectively accessed for temporary or transient display. Various fields of application have seen the need for audio annotation, and also for remote control according what is colloquially called the zap! mechanism. A particular field is the viewing of medical pictures produced by technology such as nuclear magnetic resonance, computer tomography, infrared scanning, dynamic physiological cinema, and various others. However, many other fields of use would see similar interactivity features. A relevant publication is EP 402,911, corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 149,628/89, priority 890614 to Hitachi, Ltd, herein incorporated by reference. Now, the combination of remote control means and audio inputting means puts appreciable inconvenience on the human user, in particular, when the two mechanisms are used in frequent alternation, because one hand of the operator is needed to hold the remote control unit, whereas it is also necessary to keep his head close to the microphone and vice versa: if the microphone is in a fixed position, this would detract from the remote control ergonomy, whereas, if the microphone is hand-held, this will occupies the second hand of the operator as well. By itself, it is known to have necklace and buttonhole-worn microphones, but the provision of a second, physically separate peripheral device causes much confusion and inconvenience.

Multi-media data processing device with remote control device that also has voice input means and hand-sized unit for use in such data processing device


The object of the present invention is to achieve excellent reforming ability even at lower temperatures, with a dimethyl ether steam reforming catalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reforming catalyst capable of steam-reforming a fuel such as dimethyl ether to produce hydrogen, and especially, to a reforming catalyst prepared by a sol-gel method and excellent particularly in low temperature activity.
2. Description of Related Art
Dimethyl ether (hereinafter, referred to as DME) is a fuel comparatively safer and having higher calories than methanol and the like, therefore, there is envisaged utilization of DME as a fuel of a fuel cell power generation system of small output used in a mobile power source for automobiles and the like. Fuel cell generation is actuated using hydrogen and oxygen as a fuel, therefore, when a DME fuel is used, a DME reforming catalyst producing hydrogen efficiently from DME is necessary.
Conventionally, Cu—Zn-based catalysts are widely known as a catalyst for obtaining a mixed gas rich in hydrogen by steam-reforming of methanol and DME. However, with these catalysts, a mixed gas after reforming has low hydrogen concentration and manifests low reforming efficiency.
As a method for preparing a reforming catalyst using a solid acid, an impregnation method as described in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2001-96159 is listed. However, in an impregnation method in which a carrier made of an inorganic oxide such as alumina (Al2O3) or silica (SiO2) is impregnated in a catalyst metal solution to support a catalyst metal, a catalyst metal is supported only on the surface of a catalyst layer, showing poor dispersion. Furthermore, in the impregnation method, decrease in a reforming ability is a caused sometimes by sintering (aggregation) of an active metal by heat.
In a co-precipitation method general as a catalyst preparation method, a catalyst is prepared by precipitation of a metal oxide or metal hydroxide by adding an acid or alkali to an aqueous solution of an inorganic metal salt. However, in the co-precipitation method, there occur sometimes problems where impurities contained in a raw material can not be excluded easily, that salts used in precipitation are liable to be incorporated as impurities and that a homogeneous catalyst can not be prepared easily due to irregularity in the pH in growth of a precipitation.
Furthermore, the present inventors have disclosed a Cu/Al2O3-based catalyst prepared by a sol-gel method in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2002-263504. This catalyst shows an excellent reforming ability at temperatures of 275° C. or more, however, further improvement has been required at lower temperatures 200° C. to 275° C.

Dimethyl ether steam reforming catalyst and method for producing the same

Abstract: According to the present invention, there is provided a dimethyl ether steam reforming catalyst capable of steam-reforming dimethyl ether to obtain hydrogen, comprising active alumina, Cu, and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mn and Fe, the catalyst being prepared by a sol-gel method, and the catalyst having a porous structure.


Systems and methods are described for image reconstruction. A set of conical integrals are calculated to satisfy a completeness condition and are related to a distribution of radioactivity.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of imaging. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and systems for image reconstruction using cameras, such as Compton cameras.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In vivo imaging methods, such as Single Positron Emitting Computed Tomography (SPECT), use gamma radio tracers to track biochemical, molecular, and/or physiopathological processes of various human diseases. Further, such imaging methods may provide detection of contaminates in a nuclear facility and nuclear waste sites as well as serve as a defense utility by imaging radiation activity on missiles, planes, etc. Radiation emitted from the target of interest are detected by a gamma ray camera device of the imaging system which forms an image of the target based on the concentration and distribution of the radioactive material, e.g., gamma radio tracers within the target.
Conventional gamma ray cameras usually include a plurality of detectors For example, the Anger camera includes collimators within the detectors to limit radiation trajectories observed by the detector. In addition, conventional gamma cameras are stationary within an imaging system, allowing only one view of the target to be observed. However, conventional cameras are inefficient because the cameras lack the ability to image two or more isotopes at the same time.
Recently, Compton cameras have been integrated into imaging systems as an alternative to the conventional gamma cameras to further enhance and improve upon the quality of images being reconstructed. For example, the Compton camera can detect one to two orders more radiation emissions, such as photons emitted from a target, than a conventional camera. In addition, the Compton camera can readily image a relatively wide range of energies. Generally, Compton cameras include two semiconductor detectors configured in parallel with one another. The first detector may be capable of measuring the radiation emitted from a target, such as a photon emission. In particular, the first detector measures the point in which the photon contacts the first detector as well as the amount of energy lost by the photon when the photon goes through Compton scattering within the detector. As a result of the scatter, the photon travels in a new direction and interacts with the second detector, in which the second detector can measure the point at which the photon contacts the second detector.
Current methods for image reconstruction utilizes the cone projection data collected from the Compton camera and convert the data into plane projection data. Such methods may include using an infinite series expansion to calculate the plane projection data. However, such methods require an a large number of calculations to be performed, and therefore requires a greater number of resources to be utilized and may produce poor quality images.
The referenced shortcomings are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are among many that tend to impair the effectiveness of previously known techniques concerning image reconstruction however, those mentioned here are sufficient to demonstrate that methodology appearing in the art have not been altogether satisfactory and that a significant need exists for the techniques described and claimed in this disclosure.

Method and system for improved image reconstruction and data collection for compton cameras

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System