A bulk seed cart includes a seed bin with sloping sides converging at a bottom mounted discharge hopper to which a conveyor is removably connected for unloading seed from the cart. The conveyor is supported by a telescoping boom mounted on the side of the cart and the boom, and attached conveyor, can be raised or lowered via an attached hydraulic lifting cylinder. The boom can be pivoted from side to side and the conveyor is attached to the boom via a swivel assembly, which, once the conveyor is detached from the seed cart, allows the conveyor to be swiveled 180 degrees and attached to a nearby source of seed, such as another seed cart, a stationary bin, a truck or railroad car, etc., with the conveyor being directed toward the seed bin in the seed cart. Seed can thus be unloaded from the source and loaded into the seed cart via the conveyor. The lifting cylinder, the telescoping boom and the conveyor motor are all controllable via a single remote control module.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a bulk seed cart of the type used to transport and discharge bulk certified seed and other particulate agricultural products. The inventive cart is equipped with a belt-type conveyor which is detachably coupled to a discharge hopper positioned proximate the bottom of the seed cart. The conveyor is supported by a swivel attached to the end of a telescoping boom assembly. The conveyor can thus be pivoted from side to side and lifted or lowered via the boom assembly. In addition, the conveyor can be removed from its connection to the seed cart, swiveled 180 degrees, and used to load seed into the seed cart.
2. Description of the Related Art
Seed for agricultural operations has traditionally been sold and distributed in relatively small quantities, such as 50 lb. bags. As modern agricultural operations have increased in size and demands for efficiency have increased, seed producers have started delivering seed in larger, bulk quantities. A number of manufacturers have produced specialized carts for handling this bulk seed. These carts typically include a conveyor attached proximate the bottom of the seed cart for off-loading the seed. While grain carts typically use auger-type conveyors, some seed carts, due to the rather fragile nature of the seed, have incorporated belt-type conveyors instead. One version of bulk seed cart is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,893 to Sevits. The Sevits cart includes a frame designed to receive and dispense large bulk bags of seed by dropping them downward into a chute from a spout formed in the bottom of the bag. A built-in auger conveyor then collects the seeds from the chute and conveys them up the conveyor to a destination, such as to bins in a planter or seed drill. The auger convey can be pivoted from side to side to vary the dispensing angle of the seeds.
A problem with seed carts such as that described in the Sevits patent, as well as with more conventional carts which resemble grain carts, but with specialized features for accommodating and dispensing loose bulk seed, is the loading of seed into the cart. For example, in the case of the Sevits cart, heavy bulk bags must be loaded mechanically via a fork lift, crane or the like, which, for field operations, can be impossible, and is, at best, inconvenient for many other operations. In the case of more conventional carts, loose seed must typically be loaded from above the cart, or, if from ground level, via a separate belt or auger-type conveyor attachable to seed sources such as storage bins, trucks, etc. Again, such a conveyor is not always readily available, particularly for field operations.
Accordingly, it is clear that a need exists for an improved bulk seed cart with a self contained conveyor which can be used both for loading and for unloading the seed cart. Such a conveyor should be capable of both pivoting side to side to change unloading angles, and should be capable of being removed from the seed cart, swiveled at least 180 degrees, and attached to a seed source such that it can be used to load seed into the cart as well as unload seed out of the cart.

Seed cart with loading/unloading conveyor system


A method and host device for packing and dispatching read and write commands are provided. In one embodiment, a host device receives commands from at least one application, wherein the commands include read commands and write commands. The host device stores the commands in the memory. The host device then selects the read commands from the memory and packs them together but separately from the write commands. The same thing is done for the write commands. The host device then sends the packed read commands and the packed write commands to the storage device. In another embodiment, the host device determines when to send the packed commands to the storage device based on at least one parameter.

Storage devices, such as an embedded multimedia card (eMMC), can be used in consumer electronic devices to store data. While a host device can send a storage device a read or write command as such commands are received from various applications on or external to the host device, such a process can introduce delay. To help reduce such delays, commands can be packed together, but read and write commands may need to be packed separately. If a host device sends commands to the storage device in the order in which they are received from the applications, every time there is a transition from read command to a write command or vice versa, the host device generates a new package of commands. This may result in an inefficient use of the packing mechanism.

Method and host device for packing and dispatching read and write commands


The microwave spent catalyst decoking method is a method for regenerating petrochemical catalysts by removing coke deposited in the catalyst using a 2.45 GHz microwave oven. The spent catalyst is heated in air or pure oxygen in the presence of a susceptor. The susceptor is made of silicon carbide-based composite material that absorbs 2.45 GHz microwave energy fast and efficiently. In one embodiment, the susceptor material is formed into pellets that are preferably four to five millimeters in diameter. The susceptor pellets are mixed with the spent catalyst and loaded into a thermally shielded refractory tube that rotates about its central axis. In a another embodiment, the apparatus is a thermally shielded tower or vertical tube made of refractory material that is transparent to microwave radiation and supports rows of susceptor rods that are aligned horizontally.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the regeneration of spent catalysts, and, more particularly, to a microwave spent catalyst decoking method for regenerating petrochemical catalysts using microwave energy.
2. Description of the Related Art
Certain petroleum refining processes, such as hydrotreating, hydrocracking, catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming and isomerization are carried out at elevated temperatures in the presence of a catalyst, such as silica, alumina, zeolites, etc. In some of these processes coking of the catalyst occurs, which blocks the pores of the catalyst where the catalytic reactions can take place. Coke is deposited onto the catalyst, with the result that over a period of time the catalyst gradually loses its activity. To restore the activity of the catalyst, the catalyst must be periodically regenerated, which is usually accomplished by combustion the coke at elevated temperatures in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas, such as air or oxygen-enriched air.
The catalytic process may be carried out by any one of various procedures. For example, the process may be a fixed bed process, in which case the catalytic reaction and catalyst regeneration are conducted in a single vessel, or it may be one of the moving catalyst processes, such as a transport bed process or a fluidized bed process, in which case the catalytic reaction is carried out in one vessel and catalyst regeneration is carried out in another vessel. A major advantage that moving catalyst processes have over fixed bed processes is that in moving bed processes, the reaction can be carried out continuously, whereas in fixed bed processes, the catalytic reaction must be terminated periodically to regenerate the catalyst.
In moving catalyst systems, the hydrocarbon feed and hot freshly regenerated catalyst, and perhaps steam, are continuously introduced into the reactor. The hot catalyst causes the hydrocarbon feed to react, thereby producing an array of valuable hydrocarbon products that may be of lower molecular weight than the hydrocarbon feed. During the course of the reaction the catalyst becomes fouled with coke deposits and loses its catalytic activity. The hydrocarbon products and fouled catalyst are separated, and each leaves the reactor. The hydrocarbon products are sent to downstream hydrocarbon separation units to recover the various products, and the fouled catalyst is transported to a catalyst regenerator for removal of coke from the catalyst.
The effectiveness of the regenerator in burning coke off the catalyst directly determines the quality of performance of the hydrocarbon reaction (e.g., cracking) step. The regeneration step provides reactivated catalyst and heat for the endothermic hydrocarbon-cracking step. The catalyst is heated during the regeneration step and the hot catalyst is transported to the reactor, where it contacts the hydrocarbon feed and causes the reactions to occur.
The amount of oxygen-containing gas present in the regenerator determines the amount of coke that can be burned off the catalyst. The kinetics and efficiency of the combustion process also determines the steady-state concentrations of coke returned to the reactor on the reactivated catalyst, and the amount of coke on the spent catalyst entering the regenerator. In general, the more efficiently the catalyst is reactivated, the better its hydrocarbon reaction activity and selectivity will be, and the greater its ability to process heavier, poorer quality feedstock will be.
The rate of coke combustion is usually controlled by regulating the amount of oxygen entering the coke combustion zone during catalyst regeneration. Traditionally, catalyst regeneration has been carried out using air as the oxygen-containing gas. The nitrogen in air serves to remove heat from the reaction zone, thereby moderating the combustion. If it is desired to increase the rate of combustion, the follow of air through the regeneration zone is increased. This will have the sometimes undesirable effect of increasing the velocity of gas flowing through the combustion zone, which can cause excessive attrition and loss of the catalyst and excessive wear on equipment. To avoid these effects, some recent improvements have centered on the use of other oxygen-inert gas mixtures, such as oxygen-carbon dioxide mixtures, for catalyst regeneration. Carbon dioxide has a greater heat capacity than nitrogen. Accordingly the same amount of heat transfer can be affected with a lower volume of carbon dioxide than would be required using nitrogen, which means that the feed gas can be richer in oxygen.
However, there is a need for a process that can regenerate petroleum refining catalysts quicker and more efficiently than conventional thermal treatment. Thus, a microwave-spent catalyst decoking method solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Microwave spent catalyst decoking method

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals


Methods for controlling the fouling potential of macroinvertebrates are provided. An effective controlling amount of a polymer comprising a tannin and a cationic monomer is added to an aqueous system suffering from the fouling potential of macroinvertebrates.

Cooling systems for both industrial plants and utilities are subject to fouling by macroinvertebrates (i.e., mollusks, barnacles, bryozoans, sponges, tunicates, hydroids, annelids) whether the system is using cooling water on a once-through basis or of the recirculating type. Once-through systems operate by drawing cooling water through the process to be cooled on a one-time basis with a short residence time (usually minutes to hours) and discharging the water directly to a receiving body whereas, recirculation cooling systems require the addition of only a fraction of the system volume as makeup water. Additionally, service water systems such as waste, safety and auxiliary cooling which are often part of these cooling systems are also quite vulnerable to macroinvertebrate fouling, primarily because they do not run continuously, and the conduits are of a small diameter.
The extent and type of macroinvertebrate fouling will depend upon many factors such as the source of the cooling water, the season, the water temperature, the growth rate of the macroinvertebrate, and the linear velocity of the cooling water. Further, because of the large quantities of cooling water used, the locality of the plant will dictate the water's source. A fresh water cooling system will be drawing from a river, a lake, or a well, whereas plants situated along coastal areas will most likely utilize brackish or marine water for their cooling purposes.
Both once-through and recirculating types of cooling water are treated prior to entering the system by screening to remove objects which are large enough that they could damage pumps and heat exchange equipment. This screening does not, however, prevent the passage of early, microscopic life stage or larval stages of the macroinvertebrates, which are the precursors to fouling as growth conditions are usually favorable within these systems. These early life stages of the macroinvertebrates will settle out or attach in low flow areas within the cooling system and grow and accumulate to a fouling size.
For example, mollusks are common macroinvertebrates which can cause fouling problems to marine and fresh water cooling systems. Macrofouling by mollusks, like other groups of fouling mcaroinvertebrates-barnacles, bryozoans, sponges, hydroids, tunicates and annelids-is initiated by the settlement or attachment of larval and/or juvenile stages that are easily entrained into cooling water systems. Fouling caused by the settlement, attachment and/or biogrowth of the macroinvertebrates in the cooling systems and associated service water systems of the industrial plants and utilities which utilize large quantities of water is a major problem causing a variety of deleterious effects to the structure, operation and safety of these systems.
As indicated in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1984 Report entitled "Bivalve Fouling of Nuclear Power Plant Service-Water Systems", the safe operation of a nuclear power plant is a concern because of fouling caused by the Asiatic clam (Corbicula fluminea), the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and the American oyster (Crassostrea virginica). This report describes the correlations between the biology of these bivalve mollusks and the design and operation of power plants that allow bivalves to enter and reside within their cooling water systems.
One of the macroinvertebrates controlled by the method of this invention is the mollusk Asiatic clam, Corbicula spp. As indicated in the article entitled "Freshwater Macrofouling and Control with Emphasis on Corbicula" in the December 1983 Proceedings of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Asiatic clam has caused significant incidents of macrofouling to fresh water cooling systems of power plants. Another freshwater mollusk, the Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorph) causes fouling problems to cooling systems in a similar manner as the Asiatic clam. both Dreissena polymorph, causes fouling problems to cooling systems in a similar manner as the Asiatic clam. Both Dreissena and Corbicula have free floating planktonic veliger larvae which allow easy penetration into cooling systems. Similar macrofouling problems plague cooling systems using estuarine, brakish, or marine waters, but with different species of macroinvertebrates.
Fouling control of macroinvertebrates, such as mollusks has been attempted using physical/mechanical and chemical techniques (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,638), but no truly foolproof combination has been developed.
Chlorine, a commonly used biofouling inhibiting agent, has several limitations with respect to treatment to control macroinvertebrates. Chlorine is very toxic to microorganisms and readily kills them at 1 or 2 mg/liter levels; however, mollusks can survive for a considerable period of time in water containing a much higher level of chlorine because of their anatomic and physiological development relative to microorganisms. Microorganisms must accept the environment they find themselves in and live or die depending upon the nature of the environment. On the other hand, higher animals such as mollusks, and other macroinvertebrates when they find themselves in an environment that is inhospitable, can either more or utilize defense systems to exclude the hostile environment. For example, bivalve mollusks can close their shells to exclude the hostile environment. Bivalve mollusks have very sensitive chemosensors in the mantle lining the edge of their shells and, even when their shells are tightly closed, they can continuously sample the environment to determine when it is safe to open up their shells and start siphoning again. A mollusk immersed in chlorine containing water so that its shell is bleached while will open up after the chlorine level drops and resume its life. As a result, biocides that are sensed by the bivalve mollusk's chemoreceptor organs as life threatening are not effective simply because the mollusk will close its shell until the threat passes. Mollusks can remain closed for days and still live and resume normal activity. For these reasons prolonged exposure to chlorine is required to achieve efficacy. Other limitations of chlorine treatment include the chlorine demand of the cooling water which reduces the potency of chlorine, and the strict environmental regulations being imposed which act to severely limit the discharge of chlorine residues, and in some cases seek to eliminate the use of chlorine entirely.
In addition to chlorine, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,462,914 and 5,192,451 disclose the use of a high density cationic polymer to control Asiatic clams, Corbicula and Zebra Mussels, respectively. While the polymer appears to be efficacious toward these two mollusks after a six day exposure period, it suffers from some of the same drawbacks as chlorine.
The above-mentioned concerns over the potential environmental impact of biocides is well described by the following excerpt from the December 1983 Proceedings of the Electric Power Research Institute: "Chemical controls have an inherent liability. What can kill inside the power plant may also impact the receiving water body; chemical toxicants are not specific. The perfect chemical would be stable enough to be effective inside the plant, but become non-toxic, via chemical reaction or decay, before or as it entered the receiving water body. So far, no chemical meets these specifications: chlorine and bisulfate/sulfide, which have actually been used in an attempt to control macroinvertebrate fouling, have not been effective alone, or have been successful only under limited conditions. Such a chemical may not exist, but scheduling of application of a chemical at the beginning of scheduled outages may offer a less stringent alternative, because of the possibility of extending holdup times."
U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,983 discloses the use of nitrostyrene compound to control the fouling potential of mollusks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,665 discloses the use of a nitrostyrene compound and an alkyl thiocyanate compound to control mollusk fouling potential.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,163 discloses a method for controlling the fouling potential of macroinvertebraes, especially mollusks, in an aqueous system which comprises adding to the system an effective controlling amount of a water-soluble alkyl guanidine salt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,209 discloses a method for controlling the fouling potential of macroinvertebraes, especially mollusks, in an aqueous system which comprises adding to the system an effective controlling amount of a water-soluble quaternary ammonium salt with detergent properties.

Methods for controlling macroinvertebrates in aqueous systems


The instant invention pertains to a flexible needle cover which surrounds a hypodermic needle on a syringe so that when the syringe is used the flexible needle cover retracts to expose the needle and after use the flexible needle cover returns back to its original shape covering the needle. The flexible needle cover of the instant invention is a bulb shaped elastomeric material that is capable of retracting during use with the application of slight pressure and returning to its original shape after the release of the pressure.

Exposure to and contact with syringes contaminated with bodily fluid has become highly dangerous, resulting in the potential transmission of diseases through such contact. Thus, it has become desirable to cover the needle on the syringe to prevent accidental contact with the needle both before and after use. Procedures have been established for either capping of the syringe or disposal in such a manner to reduce accidental contact. However, even with these procedures, accidental contact continues to occur. Various caps have been designed to meet this need. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,05,240 to Soproni et al. there is shown a collapsible sheath covering the needle. However, this collapsible sheath is quite complex in design containing numerous bellows which allow it to retract. It also must be made of transparent material to enable one to properly maneuver the needle through the sheath for use of the syringe. Further, use of the syringe is complicated by the misalignment of the tip of the sheath with the tip of the needle.
It is an object of this invention to provide a protective needle cover which automatically shields the needle both before and after use and requires no action on the part of the user to remove or replace the protective shield for use.


A planar imaging sensor is provided. The planar imaging sensor comprises a plurality of photo detectors, wherein the plurality of photo detectors are divided into at least a first group and a second group. The number of photo detectors in the second group is larger than the number of photo detectors in the first group. The photo detectors of the first group are configured to have a first detection window, while the photo detectors of the second group are configured to have a second detection window. The second detection window is configured to start later in time than the first detection window.

Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) is commonly used to detect shapes of objects. A LiDAR sensor emits light pulses, which are then reflected from surfaces in surroundings of the LiDAR sensor. When reflections of the emitted light pulses return to the LiDAR sensor, corresponding signals are recorded.
Typically, the intensity of the reflected light is inversely proportional to a square of a distance between the LiDAR sensor and a surface from which the light reflected back to the LiDAR sensor.
For illustration purposes, there will now be considered an example environment in which a LiDAR sensor is implemented. In the example environment, let us consider that blocks having a height of 20 meters are placed on a planar ground surface. Let us also consider that the LiDAR sensor views the blocks from a height of 50 meters above the ground surface. Let us also consider that the blocks and the ground surface have equal reflective (and refractive) properties towards the direction of light pulses emitted by the LiDAR sensor.
A light source associated with the LiDAR sensor emits light pulses, some of which are reflected back to the LiDAR sensor from the blocks and the ground surface. The intensity of light reflected from a top surface of a given block is approximately calculated to be A/(30×30), while the intensity of light reflected from the ground surface is approximately calculated to be A/(50×50). It is evident that the intensity of the light reflected from the ground surface is merely 36% of the intensity of the light reflected from the top surface of the given block.
As an additive noise component is the same for all the signals, a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of the signals degrades significantly when the distance between the LiDAR sensor and the surface increases. Consequently, objects that are far away from the LiDAR sensor cannot be detected easily.
One conventional method of improving an SNR involves collecting multiple measurements, and averaging the multiple measurements. The multiple measurements can be collected from a same measurement point over time. However, this requires a lot of time. Alternatively, the multiple measurements can be collected over a spatial area using multiple sensors. However, this requires collecting a large number of measurements repeatedly.

Planar imaging sensor having plural photo detector groups with different detection windows


A holder for securing receptacle plugs of electrical extension cords at selected positions. The holder has a base having an engagement portion extending therefrom to engage the receptacle plug to hold it, and a support engagement portion extending therefrom to engage a selected support structure to become affixed to that structure, or at least temporarily affixed thereto subject to removal.

The present invention relates to holders for plugs which can be conveniently attached to a nearby support and, more particularly, to holders for electrical extension cord plugs.
Electronically controlled machines and electrical appliances have become ubiquitous in both the home and the office. Similarly, many toys are available which are often provided with substantial electronic control and display arrangements for use in various electrical operation therewith. Special electrical lighting and various communication devices are also often found at these locations.
This proliferation of electrical and electronic devices has become so great as to often result in insufficient numbers of electrical wall receptacles being provided to supply the necessary electrical power, or such receptacles have been positioned in such a manner as to not take sufficiently into account the need for electrical power in locations other than where provided. As a result, there has been and remains a substantial need for electrical extension cords to make available electrical power to these various devices as needed.
Often, even with the use of an extension cord, use of the electrical appliance or special lighting or the like will remain inconvenient or difficult. If the appliance is being moved by the user, such as with an electrically powered iron during the ironing of clothes, the appliance cord and extension cord at least in part hang below the ironing board and so are dragged across it during movement of the iron. This adds to the effort required to complete the ironing, and at times leads to entanglements with the clothes being ironed draped over the ironing board. Similarly, use of an electric carving knife is often complicated by the risk of the power cord being dragged during use on the serving dishes, plates, etc.
In other situations, the appliance or machine is provided with a very short power cord and is used a relatively long way off the floor. In those circumstances, a substantial fraction of an extension cord used therewith must be more or less vertical to reach the power cord, and so much of the extension cord weight hangs on the power cord, sometimes leading to disconnection of the power cord plug from the extension cord receptacle plug. A typical situation in which this difficulty arises is in the electrical lighting of Christmas trees where the light string often has a short power cord which ends well up in the Christmas tree a significant distance from the floor.
In these, and in other circumstances, the inconvenience or the difficulty encountered could be substantially alleviated if an electrical receptacle for supplying electrical power was at a different location than they usually are. That is, most electrical receptacles are installed about 12 inches above the floor in most residences and offices, but many of these appliances or much special lighting or the like are used several feet above the floor. Thus, there is a substantial need for a means to effectively position a source of electrical power which is at a significant distance from the wall receptacle where such power is available.


An insurance program for funding benefits by maintaining assets in the insurance program that includes an employer or employee owned trust account and at least one life insurance contract or non-cancelable accident and health insurance contract obtained directly or indirectly from a captive insurance company. The life insurance contract or non-cancelable accident and health insurance contract is purchased with assets from the trust account and the captive insurance company is at least partially owned by the employer. When paying or reimbursing benefits, the employer or the trust may pay the benefit and if the employer pays the benefit, the trust may reimburse the employer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to facilitating and/or providing benefits to employees and retirees. More specifically, the present invention relates to a computer implemented system and method for configuring, optimizing, managing and tracking alternative funding of employee and retiree benefits and benefit plans.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, employers have provided benefits to employees and retirees and have paid for these benefits using employer's funds. More recently, benefits, including medical costs, have become very expensive and as a result, employers have scaled their benefit offerings and, in some cases, insisted that the employees pay a portion of the cost for these benefits. Some corporations have also required that employees rely entirely on self funded retirement.
Additionally, commonly accepted accounting practices have essentially forced employers to reflect these benefits to employees and retirees as liabilities on corporate financial statements.
This trend has put a substantial strain on employers, on employees and their families, and on retirees and their families that were promised benefits after retirement. Employers appear to carry costly liabilities and employees are having to pay more for fewer services. Accordingly, a system is needed to assist employers in controlling the cost of their programs and to ensure that employers are financially able to provide the maximum affordable benefits to employees and retirees and that the employees and retirees get an appropriate level of benefits.

Program for alternative funding of employee and retiree benefits


In a power source circuit device used for a non-volatile semiconductor memory, by erasing data with a gate voltage of a memory cell set to V, an external high voltage power source connected to the memory cell is replaced with a charge pump, and a charge pump circuit, a boost circuit consisting of a power source switch circuit, and a boost circuit consisting of a charge pump are provided in a semiconductor device.

The present invention relates to a power source circuit device used for a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, an EEPROM, or the like.
FIG. 1 shows a structure of a conventional power source circuit used for a flash memory, in which an external power source VPP of, for example, 12V used for writing and erasing data on a memory cell is provided in addition to a VDD power source (not shown) used for normal reading operation.
A reference potential generation circuit VREF 5 generates a reference potential and supplies the potential to input terminals of a stepdown circuit WL Reg. 3 and a stepdown circuit PBL Reg. 4.
The input terminal of the stepdown circuit 3 is supplied with output potentials of the high voltage power source potential VPP and the reference potential generation circuit VREF 5. An output of the stepdown circuit 3 is supplied to an input terminal of a power source switch circuit WL SW 6.
The stepdown circuit 3 directly outputs a high voltage power source potential VPP without lowering this power source potential VPP when writing or erasing data on a memory cell 15. When verification is performed, the high voltage power source potential VPP is stepped down to, for example, 6V which is outputted.
The input terminal of the power source switch circuit 6 is supplied with the output potential of the stepdown circuit 3 and the power source potential VDD, and the output terminal of the circuit 6 is connected to the power source terminal VWL of the row decoder circuit 10.
The power source switch circuit 6 selects and outputs either one of the output potential or the power source potential VDD in accordance with the state of the memory cell 15, i.e., the state in which data is written, the state in which data is erased, or the state in which data is verified.
The row decoder circuit 10 supplies a potential supplied from the power source switch circuit 6, to a selected word line.
In addition, the power source terminal of a cell source decoder circuit 9 is supplied with a high voltage potential VPP. The cell source decoder circuit 9 supplies a high voltage source potential VPP to a source of the memory cell 15 when erasing data on the memory cell 15.
Further, an input terminal of a power source switch circuit Col. SW 7 is supplied with a high voltage power source potential VPP and a power source potential VDD (not shown), while an output terminal of the power source switch circuit Col. SW 7 is connected with a power source terminal VCOL of a column decoder circuit 11. The power source switch circuit Col. SW 7 selects and outputs either a high-voltage power source potential VPP or a power source potential VDD in accordance with the state of the memory cell 15, i.e., the state in which data is written into the memory cell 15, the state in which data is erased therefrom, or the state in which data is read therefrom or the state in which data is verified.
In addition, an output terminal of the column decoder circuit 11 is connected to a gate of a column select transistor 14 and outputs a potential to be supplied to the power source terminal VCOL of the column decoder circuit 11.
In addition, an input terminal of a stepdown circuit PBL Reg. 4 is supplied with a high-voltage power source potential VPP and an output potential of a reference potential generation circuit 5. The stepdown circuit 4 steps down a high voltage power source potential VPP to generate a potential of, for example, 8.5V to be applied to a gate of a write transistor 13 when writing data into a cell, and the stepdown circuit 4 supplies the potential to an input terminal of the power source switch circuit PBL SW 8.
The input terminal of the power source switch circuit 8 is supplied with an output potential VPB of the stepdown circuit 4 and the power source potential VDD. An output terminal of the power source switch circuit 8 is connected to a power source terminal VPBL of a write transistor decoder circuit 12. The power source switch circuit 8 selects and outputs either an output potential of the stepdown circuit 4 or an external power source potential VDD, in accordance with the state of the memory cell, i.e., the state in which data is written into the memory cell, the state in which data is erased therefrom, or the state in which data is read therefrom.
The write transistor decoder circuit 12 outputs a potential supplied from the power source switch circuit 8, to a gate of the write transistor 13.
In addition, a drain of the write transistor 13 is supplied with a high voltage power source potential VPP.
In a power source circuit used in a non-volatile semiconductor memory such as a conventional flash memory as described above, it is necessary to prepare an external high voltage power source VPP for a high potential to be used for writing and erasing, in addition to a power source VDD used for normal reading operation. Therefore, there is a problem that costs must be raised, and therefore, developments in a power source circuit device which is capable of reading or verifying data on a memory cell without using an external high voltage power source VPP have been waited for.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,691 discloses a structure from which an external high-voltage power source is omitted and in which an external high-voltage power source connected to a memory cell is replaced with a charge pump. However, this structure is limited to a case where data is erased with a negative gate voltage, and therefore, the memory cell itself must be improved in order to maintain a constant erasing characteristic and a retaining characteristic of data processing of the memory cell.

Power source circuit device used for a semiconductor memory


An automatic wet pet food dispenser and method are provided. The dispenser includes a cutting surface onto which at least one sealed container of wet pet food is securable. A cutting blade is contactable with and movable with respect to the container placed on the cutting surface to thereby cut open the container. When the blade cuts open the container, the wet pet food inside the container falls out. A container shaking mechanism shakes the container to facilitate the wet pet food falling out of the cut open container without substantially moving the container from the cutting surface. A logic and timing module is provided to enable programming of the dispenser in advance, and a communication module is provided to enable the dispenser to receive commands remotely from a pet owner and send messages to the pet owner confirming successful food deployment and eating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to pet feeding devices. More specifically, the invention is directed to an automatic wet pet food dispenser which holds one or more sealed containers such as pouches of wet pet food. At selectable times or intervals, the device automatically cuts open each pouch and provides the wet food to the pet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pet ownership has grown dramatically in recent decades. By 2012, 62% of American households included at least one pet (including 90 million cats and 80 million dogs). American pet owners spend over $20 billion annually to feed their pets, and over $4 billion annually to board their pets when they travel.
To care for his or her pet an owner must daily provide fresh drinking water, an adequate quantity of palatable food, and an opportunity for the animal to excrete—a clean litter box for a cat, multiple 'walks' each day for a dog. Owners generally integrate these obligations into their daily routines, e.g., feeding the pet each morning before the owner leaves for work or school and cleaning a litter box each evening, but sometimes these tasks are difficult to execute, e.g., when all members of the household are traveling for an afternoon or a weekend.
To address a pet's bodily needs when the owner is traveling, owners employ a diverse variety of strategies. Some owners travel with their pets. Other owners ask neighbors or professional "pet sitters" to care for their pets in the owner's home. Still other owners "board" their pets at animal "day care" facilities. In the case of cats, which do not require walks, each of the animal's bodily needs may be met by a separate automated device—an electric watering fountain, an automated dry food dispenser, and a self-cleaning litter box. Each of these approaches to caring for a pet when the owner is traveling has a number of advantages and disadvantages. Some of these strategies are expensive, some are unreliable, and some may unduly distress a pet already stressed by the owner's absence.
One source of stress, particularly for cats, is that their usual diet may consist of wet cat food, which typically comes in cans or vacuum-sealed pouches. Commercially available automated pet food dispensers invariably dispense dry food.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,059, Grant teaches a cat feeder that has a plurality of spaced feed positions, and a top containing a feeding opening. The feeding opening is indexed sequentially with respect to the successive feed positions. A pair of tension springs are wound and rotate the cover upon release by a time-actuated solenoid. This invention is adequate to dispense dry pet food, and a number of products of similar design are commercially available to pet owners. Such devices can only be used with dry food, as wet food, once exposed to the air, rapidly spoils without refrigeration. A few commercial devices similar to the Grant patent purport to work for wet food, as they add a cavity under each feed position in which a small frozen ice pack may be placed. Such devices, even in principle, cannot preserve wet cat food for more than a few hours. Such ice packs rapidly melt and provide no protection against food spoilage. Even in the short term, when the ice pack is still cold, experience with such feeders shows that cats frequently reject wet food whose underside is colder than room temperature and whose top side is beginning to spoil.
A few devices attempt to meet the need for a safe wet pet food dispenser. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0247829 to Taneja shows an elaborate system comprising a robotic arm and a conventional electric can opener that removes the lid of a cylindrical, hermetically sealed rigid can of wet pet food, transports the can to a location above a nearby food bowl, inverts the can, and finally shakes the can to dispense its contents. This device is too large and complex for reliable home use and risks injuring the pet which may get entangled in the device's moving parts. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,360, Figlia shows a wet pet food dispenser that incorporates a conventional can opening mechanism for removing the lid of a cylindrical, hermetically sealed rigid can of wet pet food. This device risks injury to the pet's tongue or mouth by presenting the opened can with sharp edges rather than dispensing the can's contents into a conventional cat food bowl.
Thus, there is a long-felt need to provide a method of and device for dispensing wet pet food in a manner that does not require the pet owner to be present for every feeding, and in a manner that a pet owner is provided with confirmation of preferably both delivery of wet food to the pet and eating of the food by the pet.

Method and apparatus for automatically dispensing wet pet food


The subject-matter of the invention is a method for controlling the control surfaces of a projectile and the associated projectile comprising incidence steerable control surfaces and comprising at least two control surfaces, each one being rotatable with respect to the projectile around a pivot axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X of the projectile, wherein the projectile comprises central means for controlling the control surfaces having at least a spherical shape, a control arm secured to the spherical shape and adapted to rotate the spherical shape, for each control surface a transmission member cooperating with the spherical shape and adapted to transmit to the control surface the rotation movements of the spherical shape, and means for positioning the arm.

The invention relates to the technical field of projectiles guided by incidence steerable control surfaces.
To guide a projectile up to its target, it is known to use control surfaces (or fins) arranged on the periphery of the projectile, either at the empennage or in front position (control surfaces known as foreplane or canard control surfaces). The incidence of the control surfaces is adapted while airborne according to the desired trajectory for the projectile. The incidence piloting is most often performed by electrical motors. The U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,539 discloses a piloting device of control surfaces of a projectile comprising four control surfaces as well as gear trains associated with motors enabling to set the incidence of the control surfaces.
This type of device requires to know the exact angular position, both for incidence and rolling, of each control surface to make the control surface adopt the suitable position to make the projectile follow the desired trajectory. The projectile undergoing a rolling which can be very important, particularly if it is fired from a rifled canon weapon, it is thus necessary to perform continuous corrections on the incidence of the control surfaces.
These corrections have to be performed extremely quickly, requiring fast calculating means and fast movements of the control surfaces. These fast movements generate current peaks in motors, causing a control in fits and starts of the motors. These current peaks are also the cause of intense and irregular magnetic fields in motors. These fields affect the projectile guiding means such as homing devices or other sensing devices. Furthermore, the solution suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,539 is complex in terms of number of gear trains and movement transmission parts.

Projectile with steerable control surfaces and control method of the control surfaces of such a projectile


A pigment dispersant contains the following component (a) alone or the following components (a) and (b) in combination:

Nowadays, color filters for use in a liquid crystal display or the like are each fabricated mainly by applying a colored composition, which is formed of a photoresist and a pigment dispersed therein, onto a substrate by a spin-coating method, coating method or transfer method, exposing the thus-applied colored composition to light, radiation or the like through a photomask, and then performing development to form pixels. Upon fabrication of such color filters, a diketopyrrolopyrrole pigment is generally used as a pigment for the formation of red pixels. Mere dispersion of this pigment together with a resin, a solvent and the like by a conventional disperser, however, cannot bring the pigment into a fully-dispersed form. When the thus-prepared dispersion is used for the formation of color pixels for the color filters (hereinafter simply called "color pixels"), the resulting red pixels lack transparency and have insufficient transmission as pixels for color filters. The red pigment is, therefore, dissatisfactory as a pigment for use in a colored composition for color filters. It is to be noted that the dispersion may mean a "colored composition for color filters" in some instances.
As resins for use in photoresists, acrylic polymers of high acid value are mainly adopted because an aqueous alkali solution can be used as a patterning developer. In a pigment dispersion composed of the above-described pigment and an acrylic resin of high acid value, however, the particles of the pigment undergo flocculation, so that the viscosity of the pigment dispersion tends to rise. Further, the pigment dispersion becomes thicker with time, and therefore, has poor storage stability in many instances.
When fabricating a color filter with such a pigment dispersion as accompanied by such difficulties as described above, the pigment dispersion is applied onto a substrate by a spin-coating method to form a colored film, and the colored film is then formed into pixels. When the viscosity of the pigment dispersion is high or when the pigment particles flocculate and the colored composition of color filters shows thixotropic viscosity, the coated layer rises at a central part thereof prior to its formation into pixels. When a large-size color filter is fabricated, this rise becomes a cause for the occurrence of differences in hue and density between the pixels formed at the central part and the pixels formed at the peripheral part of the substrate.
A colored composition for color filters (pigment dispersion) generally has a pigment concentration in a high range of from 5 to 20 wt. %. Nonetheless, the colored composition must be in a state dispersed without flocculation of pigment particles themselves, must have a viscosity (e.g., 5 to 20 mPa·s or so) lower than general room-temperature drying coating formulations or baking coating formulations, and must also be excellent in storage stability.
To meet the above-described requirements, it has conventionally been proposed that, when a red pigment is a diketopyrrolopyrrole pigment (for example, C.I. Pigment Red 254), one or more diketopyrrolopyrrole sulfonic acids, each having a degree of sulfonation of 1 or higher, be added to the pigment or the pigment be treated with the sulfonated product (JP-A-2000-160084).
On the other hand, the utility of liquid crystal displays has expanded from monitors for personal computers to color displays in color television sets, leading to a demand for further improvements in the performance of color filters. A need has, therefore, arisen for an improvement in the transparency of pixels, an increase in the contrast of light transmitted through pixels, and an increase in the concentration of pigment in pixels.
With the above-described methods which make use of the sulfonated product, however, it is difficult to improve the transparency of pixels by relying upon an improvement in the dispersibility of the pigment or to avoid an increase in the viscosity of the pigment dispersion or a reduction in its storage stability due to a rise in the pigment concentration. Further, it is difficult to control the reaction upon sulfonating the diketopyrrolopyrrole pigment. When a sulfonated product with many sulfonic groups introduced therein is used as a dispersant, foreign matter may occur in the resulting pigment dispersion. There is also an outstanding desire for improvements in these respects.

Abstract: Component (a): a composite pigment formed of a diketopyrrolopyrrole pigment having a sulfonic group and another diketopyrrolopyrrole pigment having no sulfonic group, wherein the number of sulfonic group per molecule of the diketopyrrolopyrrole pigments in the composite pigment is from 0.05 to 0.5; and

Abstract: Component (b): a pigment other than the component (a), wherein the pigment has a sulfonic group or its metal salt, ammonium salt or amine salt.

Abstract: Also disclosed are a colored composition for color filters, a process for the fabrication of a color filter, the color filter fabricated by the process, an image display device including the color filter, and an information communication equipment including the image display device. These colored composition, process, color filter, image display device and information communication equipment all make either direct or indirect use of the pigment dispersant.

Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.


A display rack mountable on a shelf of a store for showcasing first and second display boxes and wound flexible tubing. The display rack comprises front and rear support members. The display rack further comprises first, second, and third open sidewall support members each having a first end engaged with the front support member and a second end engaged with the rear support member. The display rack further comprises a first stall formed between the first and second open sidewall support members. The first stall is adapted to receive the first display box. The display rack further comprises a second stall formed between the second and third open sidewall support members. The second stall is adapted to receive the second display box. The front and rear support members support the front and rear portions of the first and second display boxes, respectively.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,817 discloses a box for storing, displaying, and dispensing flexible tubing or other items that can be wound upon a spool such as ropes or chains. Such conventional boxes are mounted directly on a shelf of a retailer's store. Conventional boxes of this type have enjoyed wide commercial success but are not without drawbacks. For example, the product contained in the box is not substantially visible to the consumer. A consumer must look thru a window to determine what type of product is contained in the box. Further, the box has edges that may cut a person's finger's when the product is removed from the box. Further, the box may move side-to-side or back-to-front as a customer unwinds the product from the box. Movement of one box may also cause adjacent boxes to move thereby rendering the entire shelf unattractive to consumers. The retailer must then re-align the boxes to make the shelf space attractive. Further, the box is made from cardboard. As such, the sidewalls of the box tend to become worn as the product is dispensed. Still further, the box uses a substantial amount of cardboard material which increases the overall cost of the box.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Display rack for showcasing a plurality of boxes that dispense a product stored therein


Impurities in exhaust gas from oxyfuel combustor are removed using simple equipment to reduce installation cost. Compressor-based impurity removal system for compressing exhaust gas mainly composed of carbon dioxide from combustor before supply to carbon dioxide liquefier for removal of impurities in exhaust gas has impurity separators with compressors for compressing exhaust gas from combustor stepwisely to target pressure for liquefaction of carbon dioxide and with aftercoolers for cooling exhaust gas compressed by compressors, water condensed by cooling being discharged as drain, and alkaline agent supply unit for supplying alkaline agent to at least upstream side of aftercooler in first impurity separator. Impurities in exhaust gas are discharged through drain including alkaline agent.

Recently, an oxyfuel combustor has been studied as one of techniques for reducing emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) which is said to be one of factors for global warming; and attention has been attracted to, for example, a coal-fired boiler for oxyfuel combustion of pulverized coal. It has been conceived in such coal-fired boiler that oxygen is used as an oxidizing agent in lieu of air to produce combustion exhaust gas mainly composed of carbon dioxide (CO2) and such exhaust gas with high CO2 concentration is compressed, cooled and recovered as liquefied carbon dioxide for disposal. It has been conceived as one of ways of disposal that the liquefied carbon dioxide is stored in the ground. Such exhaust-gas treatment system for a coal-fired boiler for oxyfuel combustion is disclosed in Patent Literature 1.
As shown in Patent Literature 1, the exhaust gas from the coal-fired boiler for oxyfuel combustion of coal is known to contain not only carbon dioxide (CO2) but also impurities derived from coal feedstock such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), hydrargyrum (Hg), hydrogen chloride (HCl) and dust.
Among the above-mentioned impurities, sulfur oxides (SOx) may be contacted with and dissolved in water into sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and hydrogen chloride (HCl) may be dissolved in water into hydrochloric acid. Thus, such water-soluble sulfur oxides and hydrogen chloride may be disunited through contact with water.
Meanwhile, among the nitrogen oxides (NOx) as the above-mentioned impurities, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may be contacted with and dissolved in water into nitric acid (HNO3); however, the exhaust gas from the coal-fired boiler has less oxygen (O2) so that nitrogen exists substantially in the form of nitrogen monoxide (NO) which is water-insoluble and thus is unremovable by water spraying or the like.
The above-mentioned sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and nitric acid are known to have a problem of eroding equipment in the exhaust gas treatment device; and hydrargyrum, which is trace metal, is known to hurt low-temperatured aluminum members constituting a heat exchanger. It is thus preferable that these impurities in the exhaust gas are removed at early stages. There is also a problem that admixture of the impurities into the exhaust gas lowers a degree of purity of the carbon dioxide, which makes troublesome the liquefaction through compression and cooling and requires increase in size of equipment. It is further feared that any sulfur oxides admixed to the carbon dioxide liquefied and stored in the ground may cause a reaction of the same with calcium in the ground, leading to failure in sealability of the underground storage. Thus, in a coal-fired boiler for oxyfuel combustion or other system where an exhaust gas mainly composed of carbon dioxide is produced and the carbon dioxide is disposed, it is extremely important to remove impurities in the exhaust gas.
Thus, as shown in Patent Literature 1, it has been conducted in the coal-fired boiler or the like for oxyfuel combustion that a spray-column- or packed-column-type or other wet desulfurizer used in a conventional air-fired boiler or the like is provided to remove sulfur oxides. Moreover, nitrogen and nitrogen oxides derived from coal feedstock are produced in the exhaust gas from the coal-fired boiler for oxyfuel combustion or the like, so that it has been conducted that a catalyst-type or other denitrator is arranged upstream of the desulfurizer to remove the nitrogen and nitrogen oxides.
It is known in the wet desulfurizer as mentioned in the above that water-soluble sulfur oxides and hydrogen chloride as well as dust contained in the exhaust gas are removed and that nitrogen oxides are partly removed and hydrargyrum, which is inherently low in content, is slightly removed. It has been conceived that if hydrargyrum in the exhaust gas is still high in concentration even after the above-mentioned exhaust gas treatment is conducted, a hydrargyrum-removing column is arranged to remove the hydrargyrum by adsorbent or the like.


Mechanisms, in a data processing system comprising an input/output subsystem implementing an industry standard optical bus, for handling a failure of an optical channel in an optical bus are provided. The mechanisms detect, by failure detection logic of the input/output (I/O) subsystem, failure of an optical channel of the optical bus. The mechanisms send, by a controller of the I/O subsystem, a control signal to channel routing logic of the I/O subsystem to control a routing of data signals between active bus lanes of the data processing system and optical channels of the optical bus in response to detecting the failure of the optical channel. The mechanisms control, by the channel routing logic, routing of data signals between the active bus lanes and the optical channels so as to remove the failed optical channel from further use and use a spare optical channel instead of the failed optical channel.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for dynamic segment sparing and repair in an input/output subsystem.
Overall computer system performance is affected by each of the key elements of the computer structure, including the performance/structure of the processor(s), any memory cache(s), the input/output (I/O) subsystem(s), the efficiency of the memory control function(s), the main memory device(s), and the type and structure of the memory interconnect interface(s). Extensive research and development efforts are invested by the industry, on an ongoing basis, to create improved and/or innovative solutions to maximizing overall system performance and density by improving the input/output system/subsystem design and/or structure. High-availability systems present further challenges as related to overall system reliability due to customer expectations that new computer systems will markedly surpass existing systems in regard to mean-time-between-failure (MTBF), in addition to offering additional functions, increased performance, increased storage, lower operating costs, etc. Other frequent customer requirements further exacerbate the system design challenges, and include such items as ease of upgrade and reduced system environmental impact (such as space, power and cooling).

Dynamic optical channel sparing in an industry standard input/output subsystem

International Business Machines Corporation


A set of input conditions is obtained. A plurality of potential decisions is obtained based at least in part on the set of input conditions. A rule-based system is used to process the plurality of potential decisions and obtain a set of one or more updated potential decisions, wherein: the rule-based system specifies a plurality of rules; a rule specifies a rule condition and a corresponding action, wherein when the rule condition is met, the corresponding action is to be performed; and using the rule-based system to process the plurality of potential decisions includes: for a selected potential decision in the plurality of potential decisions, determining whether the rule condition is met for a selected rule among the plurality of rules, wherein the selected rule condition is dependent on, at least in part, the selected potential decision; and in response to the selected rule condition being met, performing the corresponding action. The set of one or more updated potential decisions to be executed is output.

Automated decision making occurs in a variety of applications. As a simple example, a heating system may need to decide whether to turn on the furnace or not. In this simple example, a simple rule can be specified as: "if the temperature is lower than configured, turn the furnace on, else not." The rule can be elaborated further to provide for hysteresis, so the furnace is not turned on and off rapidly right around the configured temperature. Using traditional rules to implement complex automated systems such as autonomous vehicles, however, has proven to be challenging because of the great number of variables involved in making decisions.

Incorporating rules into complex automated decision making


The present invention provides a fluidized bed catalyst for the synthetic reaction of organic compounds which has a reduced catalyst loss. A fluidized bed catalyst for organic compound synthetic reaction, characterized in that 90% or more of the catalyst particles is in the range of 5-500 .mu.m on the weight-based particle size distribution and 90% or more of the 20-75 .mu.m particles has a crushing strength which satisfies the following equation: EQU CS>A.multidot.d.sub..alpha.. wherein CS represents a crushing strength g-weight/particle!,. A represents a constant 0.001, PA1 d represents a particle diameter .mu.m!, and PA1 .alpha. represents a constant 2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a particulate catalyst for use in a fluidized bed in a vapor phase reaction, which catalyst is endowed with an extensively reduced loss of catalyst particles, particularly, those having a smaller particle size, and can suppress the reduction of the yield of a desired product due to the deterioration of the fluidized state of a fluidized bed.
2. Background Art
Particulate catalysts employed in reactions of a vapor phase in a fluidized bed are generally required to be excellent in catalyst strength as well as catalyst activity. As the test of the strength of a fluidized bed catalyst, a test method of attrition-resistant properties in accordance with the ACC method (American Cyanamid Co. Ltd. 6/31-4m-1/57, "Test Method for Synthetic Fluid Cracking Catalyst") has been used. The values of the attrition-resistant properties according to this test method have been used as a standard for judging the applicability of a catalyst to a fluidized bed reaction, that is the degree of catalyst loss in a reactor. In their applications to practical reactor, the attrition-resistant properties, however, do not always correspond to the loss of a catalyst.
Furthermore, there have been proposed a variety of explanations for the main cause of loss of particulate catalysts. None of these explanations have become established theory. Among them, there have been proposed, as the main cause of catalyst loss, the crushing or attrition of catalyst particles due to the jet gas flow at spargers of a reactor, or the collision or attrition between catalyst particles with each other, and between catalyst particles and a reactor wall or internal components.
However, irrespective of the causes, it is the inventors' belief that catalyst particles in a fluidized bed reactor tend to be crushed or worn more easily if the particles have a finer particle size, so that the strength of particles having a smaller diameter is particularly important and has to be taken into consideration in order to reduce the catalyst loss. However, as far as the present inventors know, no improvements of techniques have been proposed regarding this point.
By way of example, while the strength of a single catalyst particle alone is referred to in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 262753/1993, nothing is indicated about the strength of the finer particles or the catalyst loss with only exception of the breaking load of particles having a particle size of 88 to 150 .mu.m. Also, only the crushing strength of a catalyst is described in Examples of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 144132/1995.
The object of the present invention is to provide such a particulate catalyst for use in a fluidized bed that the catalyst loss can be reduced whereby the particle size distribution can be maintained in an appropriate range and the reaction can also be maintained at a high level without lowering the contact efficiency.

Particulate catalyst for use in a fluidized bed


The present invention relates to a novel use of actin depolymerizing agents, particularly cytochalasins or derivatives thereof for inhibiting or reversing actin polymerization. Therefore, the present invention provides a method for preventing or treating anxiety disorders and/or alleviating the symptoms thereof, comprising administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of an actin depolymerizing agent or a derivative thereof.

Fear is the most profoundly understood emotion in terms of the brain structure and neural circuits involved. Because fear memory expression plays a key role in various anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic attacks, and phobias, understanding its molecular mechanism is essential (Parsons 2013, Izquierdo 2016).
Various paradigms have been used to study fear memory formation; the most widely used is classical fear conditioning (Izquierdo 2016). Fear conditioning is a form of associative learning, and the freeze response to conditioning contexts and cues is conserved across species, including humans (Izquierdo 2016). Excess expression of fear memory, indicated by enhanced freezing behavior in mouse models, has been considered a type of PTSD-like symptom. The brain structures involved in fear memory include the cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala (Critchley 2002, Alvarez 2008, Izquierdo 2016). Memory formation involves various cellular and molecular changes including structural alteration of dendritic spines for synaptic plasticity. Dendritic spines, a cellular-level change responsible for synaptic plasticity, are small actin-rich protrusions on the neurites (Niesmann 2011). The organization, dynamics, and density of spines are associated with the strength of synaptic transmission and indicate the efficiency of memory formation (Niesmann 2011, Moczulska 2013).
Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) is induced under stress conditions and is predominantly expressed in the hippocampus. Stress signals induce ATF3 through multiple pathways and in a cell type dependent manner. Cumene hydroperoxide activates JNK signal and phosphorylate ATF2 and c-Jun, which subsequently binds to the ATF3 promoter and activate its expression (Hai 1991). Cisplatin is a chemotherapy medicine that induces expression of ATF3 through the p38, ERK and JNK signaling (St Germain C 2010). When human colorectal carcinoma cells are exposed to ultraviolet (UV) or proteasome inhibitor MG132, ATF3 is upregulated via p53 signaling (Chun Zhanga 2002). Moreover, ATF3 is also induced by extracellular signals including serum, fibroblast growth factor (FGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and cytokines (Goldberg 2011). In animal models, ATF3 is induced in the heart by myocardial ischemia and myocardial ischemia coupled with reperfusion (ischemia-reperfusion) (Brooks 2014). In the liver, ATF3 can be activated by hepatic ischemia (Rao 2015) and partial hepatectomy (Sandnes 2010). In addition, chemicals including alcohol (Kim 2014), carbon tetrachloride (Chen B P 1996), and acetaminophen (Hai 1997, Hai T 1999) can upregulate expression of ATF3. ATF3 can also be activated in the brain by seizure (Pernhorst 2013), in the kidney by renal ischemia-reperfusion (Takumi Yoshida 2008), in the skin by wounding (Harper 2005), in the peripheral nerves by axotomy (Tsujino H 2000), and in the thymocytes by CD31 (Wu Z Y 2014). ATF3 is also expressed in injured neurons, such as the peripheral nerve (Tsujino H 2000, Isacsson A 2005), optic nerve (Takeda M 2000), post-seizure brain (Chen B P 1996, Francis J S 2004), and the CNS glia (Hunt D 2004).
Changes in the number and morphology of dendritic spines involve molecular-level mechanisms. Studies have described how the involvement of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP) responsive element binding protein (CREB) transcription manipulates the morphology and number of dendritic spines (Sargin 2013, Serita 2017). CREB activation leads to enhanced hippocampal-dependent learning in trace fear conditioning and increased dendritic spine density, indicating the vital role of CREB transcription factors in dendritic spine density (Serita 2017).
ATF3 belongs to a large family of transcription factors including CREB and inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER). The ATF/CREB/ICER transcription factors contains the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) domain that often function as dimers using two extended α-helices to bind DNA and regulate gene expression (Chen B P 1996). In the hippocampal neurons, ATF3 has been proved to be a direct target of the CREB. Induction of ATF3 expression by CREB is initiated by calcium entry through synaptic NMDA receptors (Zhang S J 2011). This stress-induced transcription factor can form homodimers or heterodimers to regulate gene transcription. ATF3 homodimer is a transcription repressor, while forming a heterodimer with other proteins becomes a transcription activator (Hai T 2001). ATF3 is involved in various physiological and pathological functions, acting as a tumor suppressor or oncogenic gene in various cancers (Yin 2008, Tanaka 2011, Taketani 2012) and regulating glucagon and insulin levels (Lee 2013). It also regulates arterial dilation during cardiac development (Kehat 2006) and is associated with inflammation (Gilchrist, Henderson et al. 2008, Tanaka 2011, Hunt 2012, Wang 2012) as well as endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-induced stress responses (Hunt 2012). Furthermore, it has been reported to perform several vital roles in the nervous system, including neuronal growth (Hunt 2012), nerve cell protection (Hunt 2012, Ahlgren 2014) and neurodegeneration (Song 2008).
ATF3 is upregulated in age-related cognitive decline and neurodegeneration models caused by deficient DNA repair (Nils Z. Borgesius 2011). Previous studies also showed that ATF3 is required for neuron protection (Zhang S J 2011), neuron regenerating (Campbell G 2005) and axon growth (Lindwall C 2004). Though the role of ATF3 in stress condition is well studied, its function in fear-induced stress condition and memory formation remains unclear.
Cytochalasins are fungal metabolites that have the ability to bind to actin filaments and block polymerization and the elongation of actin. As a result of the inhibition of actin polymerization, cytochalasins can change cellular morphology, inhibit cellular processes such as cell division, and even cause cells to undergo apoptosis. Cytochalasins are microfilament-directed agents most commonly known for their use in basic research to understand cytoskeletal mechanisms. Research has shown that cytochalasins could be used to supplement current chemotherapeutic measures to improve efficacy rates, as well as decrease the prevalence of drug resistance in the clinical setting (see Anticancer Agents Med Chem. 2015 March; 15(3): 327-335).
KR 20130048354 A discloses a composition comprising cytochalasin B as an active ingredient for treating and preventing cancer disease. CN 103816149 A discloses the application of the cytochalasin H in preparation of Parkinson's disease resistant nerve-protective drugs. CN 101416962 A and CN 1568974 A disclose the use of cytochalasin D in preparing anti-tumor medicine for treating cancer, such as esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer. WO 90/13293 A1 discovers that the administration of cytochalasins including cytochalasin B (CB) produces transient immunosuppression which is controllable by dose or route of administration and is reversible spontaneously or with the use of IL-2, and thus proposes a therapeutic regimen of cytochalasins to treat the undesirable hyperimmunity of transplant patients and patients with autoimmune disease and anti-tumor therapy utilizing the combination of CB and other cytochalasins, and optionally antineoplastic agents other than cytochalasins to enhance the administration of these agents with effective amounts of IL-2 or other lymphokines for reversing the immunosuppression produced during administration of cytochalasins with other antineoplastic agents. KR 20180022416 A discloses that cytochalasin D can be used as a novel skin-whitening agent. There are no prior art references disclosing the use of actin depolymerizing agents, such as cytochalasins, for treating mental disorders or alleviating the symptoms thereof.
Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders and affect nearly 30 percent of adults at some point in their lives. Given the prevalence and impact of anxiety disorders, there is a need for treatments that address these issues. Therefore, the aim of the present invention is to provide a new treatment for anxiety disorders.

Use of actin depolymerizing agents for the treatment of anxiety disorders


An automatic vehicle interior temperature control system and control method wherein control system outlet air temperature can be controlled automatically using a processor with stored control algorithms that rely upon data including virtual ambient air temperature and virtual sun load heat flux.

Automotive vehicle temperature control systems known in the art typically use ambient temperature sensors and sun load sensors to obtain information on exterior air temperature and solar energy load. The sensors typically are located at various locations in the vehicle. The information gathered from the sensors is used in a logic control system to establish airflow data and outlet temperature for the temperature control system in the vehicle passenger compartment.
The outside ambient air temperature sensor must be strategically placed so that it is positioned away from heat sources, such as the engine of the vehicle. A common location for the ambient temperature sensor is behind the forward radiator grille. This provides fair performance at high vehicle speeds but rather poor performance at lower vehicle speeds, especially if the vehicle is traveling in the direction of surface winds.
A typical location for a sun load sensor usually is in the upper vehicle dash surface where it may be subjected to shadows. It also, when so positioned, has poor directional sensitivity. That is, the sensitivity of the sun load sensor is variable depending upon the sun angle, which varies seasonally as well as hourly.
U.S. Pat No. 5,832,990, filed Nov. 30, 1995, discloses a temperature control system that takes into account airflow, as well as interior temperature, outlet temperature of the system and general comfort parameters while managing the total heat flux. It uses thermodynamic interaction of the comfort parameters, the interior temperature, the outlet temperature and airflow, as well as other control variables, in accordance with a control logic. As in the case of the prior art temperature control systems, the control system of the co-pending application requires a solar load sensor and an ambient temperature sensor.

Automatic temperature control method and apparatus for an automotive vehicle


In a multi-bank semiconductor memory device, if only one bank is in the active state, a bank drive signal generating circuit supplies, operation mode designation signals corresponding to an operation mode instruction signal supplied from a command decoder according to array activation signals from bank driving circuits provided corresponding to banks respectively, to the bank driving circuit provided for the bank in the active state. The state of the bank address signal is arbitrary. Accordingly, control of bank designation in the multi-bank semiconductor memory device is simplified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, relates to a multi-bank semiconductor memory device having a plurality of banks which can be driven into an active/inactive state independently of each other. The invention more specifically relates to a structure for bank control of a synchronous semiconductor memory device which operates in synchronization with a clock signal.
2. Description of the Background Art
A synchronous semiconductor memory device having data input/output synchronously with a clock signal has been known. In the synchronous semiconductor memory device, a clock signal determines the data input/output rate, and data can be transferred according to a high speed clock signal which is a system clock, for example. As a result, necessary data can be provided to a processor operating at a high speed in a short time. The waiting time of the processor is thus reduced and the performance of a processing system is improved.
One such synchronous semiconductor memory device is a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). The SDRAM includes a dynamic memory cell of one transistor/one capacitor type as a memory cell. In SDRAM, external signals or a control signal and an address signal as well as write data are taken into the device at, for example, a rising edge of a clock signal, and read data attains a defined state at the rising edge of the clock signal. In the SDRAM, an instruction on an operation mode is supplied as a combination of logic states of a plurality of external control signals. The operation mode instruction is generally referred to as "command". By giving an instruction as to an operation mode in the form of a command, an operation mode instruction can be given every clock cycle, so that a plurality of memory arrays can be internally driven independently of each other. A plurality of banks are generally provided internally in the SDRAM. Concerning 16 M-bit SDRAM, for example, a specification according to which 2 banks are internally provided is standardized by JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council).
FIG. 25 shows states of external signals at the time of data reading in a conventional SDRAM.
In clock cycle #0, an external row address strobe signal ZRAS is set to an L level and a column address strobe signal ZCAS and a write enable signal ZWE are set to an H level at a rising edge of an external clock signal extCLK. The state of the signals referred to as an active command designates array activation. "Array activation" is an operation of driving a row in a memory cell array into a selected state and carrying out detection, amplification, and latching for data in a memory cell connected to the selected row by a sense amplifier. When the active command is issued, a row selecting operation is carried out for a bank designated by a bank address signal BA using an address signal ADD concurrently applied as a row address signal X. With two bank structure, bank address signal BA is an 1-bit signal, and bank address signal BA is set to the H level to designate a bank #A in the clock cycle #0. Accordingly, the bank #A is driven into an active state.
In a clock cycle #1, at a rising edge of external clock signal extCLK, row address strobe signal ZRAS and write enable signal ZWE are set to the H level and column address strobe signal ZCAS is set to the L level. This state referred to as a read command designates reading of data. When the read command is given, a column selecting operation is carried out for the bank #A designated by the current bank address signal BA, using address signal ADD concurrently applied as a column address signal, and data in a selected memory cell is read.
A clock cycle period required from the supply of read command to output of valid data in the SDRAM is referred to as CAS latency. Valid data is output when the CAS latency has passed. In FIG. 25, a data reading operation with the CAS latency of 2 is represented. In this case, data in a memory cell addressed by a column address signal Y in the bank #A attains a defined state at a rising edge of clock signal extCLK in a clock cycle #3 (shown as data a0).
In the SDRAM, a column address signal is internally generated according to a prescribed sequence with an address signal at the time of the supply of the read command as a leading address, and a selecting operation for a memory cell is successively carried out according to the internally generated column address signal (burst address signal). Accordingly, data a1, a2, and a3 are successively read from the bank #A in clock cycles #4, #5 and #6.
In parallel with reading of data from bank #A, an active command is supplied in clock cycle #4. At this time, bank address signal BA is set to the L level to designate another bank #B. As a result, in clock cycle #4, bank #B is activated, current address signal ADD is used as a row address signal X, and a row selecting operation is carried out.
In clock cycle #5, bank #B is designated by setting bank address signal BA to the L level again, and a read command is issued. The read command allows a column selecting operation to be carried out for bank #B, and data in a memory cell on a selected column is read out.
As the CAS latency is 2, data is read out in bank #B in clock cycle #6, and memory cell data b0 from bank #B attains a defined state at a rising edge of an external clock signal extCLK in clock cycle #7. A burst address signal is also internally generated in bank #B, memory cells are successively selected and data in a selected memory cell is read. The number of data read out successively when one read command is supplied is referred to as a burst length. FIG. 25 represents a data reading operation when the burst length is 4.
On the other hand, row address strobe signal ZRAS and write enable signal ZWE are set to the L level and column address strobe signal ZCAS is set to the H level to supply a precharge command in clock cycle #6. The precharge command is a command which drives a bank in an active state to an inactive state. The precharge command allows a bank addressed according to bank address signal BA to be precharged. Therefore, bank address signal BA is at the H level at a rising edge of external clock signal extCLK in clock cycle #6, bank #A is designated, and bank #A is inactivated.
In parallel with a reading operation for data b1, b2 and b3 from bank #B, in clock cycle #8, bank address signal BA is set to the H level again to supply an active command to bank #A. Bank #A is thus activated again. Next in clock cycle #9, a read command is supplied for bank #A. Data from bank #A is read after reading of the last data b3 of the burst length data from bank #B (shown as (a) in FIG. 25).
When two banks are provided as described above, the banks are alternately activated/inactivated. Even if different rows (word lines) are accessed, the RAS precharge time in a standard DRAM is unnecessary to achieve a high speed data reading.
FIG. 26 is a timing chart showing states of external signals at the time of data writing. Referring to FIG. 26, a data reading operation is described. FIG. 26 shows an operation sequence when two banks are provided and data are alternately written into the banks with the burst length of 4.
In clock cycle #0, bank address signal BA is set to the H level and an active command is issued. Bank #A is thus activated and a row selecting operation is carried out using a concurrently applied address signal ADD as row address signal X.
At a rising edge of external clock signal extCLK in clock cycle #1, row address strobe signal ZRAS is set to The H level, column address strobe signal ZCAS and write enable signal ZWE are set to the L level, and a write command is given. Bank address signal BA supplied at the same time as the write command is set to the H level, and an instruction of data writing into bank #A is given. When the write command is supplied, a column selection is carried out using the concurrently applied address signal ADD as a column address signal, and data writing is performed.
When data is written, data applied in a clock cycle in which a write command is supplied is taken into the SDRAM to perform the writing. In other words, data c0 supplied in clock cycle #1 is taken into the memory device. Column address signals are generated internally according to a prescribed sequence with address signal ADD supplied in clock cycle #1 in bank #A as a leading address, as when data is read out. In clock cycles #2, #3 and #4, column selecting operations are respectively carried out, and data c1, c2 and c3 supplied currently are successively written into selected memory cells in a prescribed sequence.
In parallel with the data writing operation for bank #A, in clock cycle #4, bank address signal BA is set to the L level and an active command is supplied. In this case, an instruction of activation of bank #B is supplied, and a row in a memory cell is selected using address signal ADD currently applied as row address signal X in bank #B. In the next clock cycle #5, bank address signal BA is set to the L level again and a write command is given. Accordingly, data b0 supplied in clock cycle #5 is taken into the SDRAM, and a data writing operation for bank #B is carried out. Burst address signals are thereafter internally generated according to a prescribed sequence in bank #B and a column selecting operation is internally performed. Data d1, d2 and d3 respectively supplied in clock cycles #6, #7 and #8 are taken into the memory device, and data is written into selected memory cells according to a prescribed sequence.
In parallel with the data writing operation for bank #B, in clock cycle #6, bank address signal BA is set to the H level and a precharge command is supplied. Bank #A is thus inactivated and a memory cell array returns to a precharge state.
In clock cycle #8, bank address signal BA is set to the H level again to supply active command. Bank #A in the inactive state is again activated and a memory cell row is selected. Next in clock cycle #9, bank address signal BA is set to the H level and a write command for bank #A is issued. From clock cycle #9, data writing for bank #A is carried out. After that, data c4, c5 . . . are written into selected memory cells in bank #A according to a prescribed sequence.
When data is written as above, banks #A and #B are alternately activated/inactivated and data are written. As a result, the RAS precharge time (a time required from returning of a memory cell array to the precharge state to driving thereof into the active state again) which is necessary for returning a selected or activated memory cell array to the precharge state at the time of the page switching never affects an external access. Data can be successively written in each clock cycle and a high speed data writing is achieved.
FIG. 27 shows a structure of a main portion of the conventional SDRAM. Referring to FIG. 27, the conventional SDRAM includes: a bank address input buffer 1 which takes in an externally supplied bank address signal BA at a rising edge of internal clock signal CLK generated synchronously with external clock signal extCLK and generates internal bank address signals BAi and /BAi that are complimentary to each other; a command decoder 2 which incorporates externally supplied control signals ZRAS, ZCAS and ZWE at a rising edge of internal clock signal CLK, determines the states of those signals and generates an operation mode instruction signal .phi. according to the result of the determination; and a bank control circuit 3 which outputs an operation mode designation signal for bank #A and bank #B according to operation mode instruction signal .phi. supplied from command decoder 2 as well as internal bank address signals BAi and /BAi supplied from bank address input buffer 1. Although operation mode instruction signals from command decoder 2 are generated corresponding to respective commands shown in FIG. 25 and 26, one signal .phi. represents the signals in FIG. 27.
Bank control circuit 3 includes an AND circuit 3a receiving internal bank address signal BAi and operation mode instruction signal .phi., and an AND circuit 3b receiving internal bank address signal /BAi and operation mode instruction signal .phi.. Operation mode instruction signal .phi.A is output for bank #A from AND circuit 3a, and operation mode instruction signal .phi.B is output for bank #B from AND circuit 3b.
One of internal bank address signals BAi and /BAi generated by bank address input buffer 1 is at the H level, and the other is at the L level. As a result, an operation mode designation signal according to an operation mode instruction signal from command decoder 2 is output for only a bank designated by bank address signal BA, the operation mode instruction signal for the addressed bank attains an active state (H level), and the designated operation is carried out.
As shown in FIG. 27, if a command is supplied to SDRAM, bank address signal BA designating a bank for which an operation is carried out should be supplied. The reason is that an operation mode for a bank in the active state should be designated without fail since there is a case in which two banks are simultaneously being activated.
However, there is a case in which a high-speed access in such a bank interleave manner is not required but an access is made by always activating only one bank. In the field of the image processing, for example, if a memory device is structured such that pixel data on even fields are stored in one of two banks and pixel data on odd fields are stored in the other bank, only one bank is accessed during one field period so that one bank is successively accessed. In this case, if a bank to be activated according to a bank address signal is designated when an active command is given, an operation mode instruction is issued for the activated bank and a bank is not particularly required to be designated using a bank address signal when the read command, write command and precharge command are supplied. However, in the conventional SDRAM, once a bank is activated, an operation mode instruction for the bank should be thereafter issued concurrently with a bank address signal. In this case, the bank address signal would be unnecessarily driven, the electric power for driving the bank address signal is unnecessarily consumed, and the consumed power of the entire system cannot be decreased. Further, even if the banks are not simultaneously being activated, a bank address signal has to be supplied with a command. Even. if a bank in which some operation is carried out is apparent, an external controller should supply a bank address signal, resulting in increase of the load of the external controller.

Multi-bank synchronous semiconductor memory device


Described herein is a MEMS force sensor with stress concentration design. The stress concentration can be performed by providing slots, whether through or blind, and/or selective thinning of the substrate. The MEMS force sensor is in chip scale package with solder bumps or metal pillars and there are sensing elements formed on the sensor substrate at the stress concentrate area. The stress concentration can be realized through slots, selective thinning and a combination of both.

The state of the art of MEMS force sensor design are in two major categories. One is a seal cavity sensor with the stress concentration already built-in. The other is single piece of substrate relying on the solder bumps arrangement to provide stress concentration. The latter is very easy for mass production and the cost is low, however the sensitivity of such MEMS force sensor is not optimal. At some extreme cases, the sensitivity may not be sufficient to functionalize a thick sensing substrate or through very soft material such as foam.


A vaporizing device which can vaporize fuel stably includes: a liquid absorbing member to allow liquid to move from one end portion to the other end portion of the liquid absorbing member under influence of a capillary action; and a heater to heat a side of the other end portion of the liquid absorbing member to vaporize the liquid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vaporizing device to vaporize liquid, and a liquid absorbing member used therein.
2. Background of the Invention
In recent years, there have been seen vigorous studies and developments for fuel batteries to realize high energy use efficiency. The fuel battery makes fuel react with oxygen contained in ambient air electrochemically and takes out electric energy directly from chemical energy. The fuel batteries have been placed as a promising energy source. As for a fuel for used in the fuel battery, hydrogen can be mentioned. However, there is a problem that since hydrogen takes a gaseous state at ambient temperatures, it has difficulty in handling and storage. When a liquid fuel such as alcohols and gasoline is used, a system for storing the liquid fuel can be made comparably small in size, but the fuel and water vapor must be heated to a high temperature for reaction to create hydrogen which is used to generate electricity.
For example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Specification No. 2004-18357, in order to create hydrogen from the liquid fuel and water, a technique in which the liquid fuel and water are vaporized in an evaporating apparatus, and a gas mixture of the liquid fuel and water supplied from the evaporating apparatus is reformed into hydrogen in a reformer, is disclosed.
However, as a vaporizing apparatus is made smaller in size, it becomes more difficult to vaporize fuel steadily or quantitatively.

Vaporizing device and liquid absorbing member