Hydrophobic aggregates for use in refractory castables and gunning mixtures and methods of their preparation. The aggregates here are formed by crushing insulating fire brick and coating the resulting particles with a hydrophobic component. The hydrophobic component may be a polydimethylsiloxane having a terminal silanol group. As a result of the coating process, the coated aggregate has very low levels of alkalis. The aggregates may be used to form refractory castables that do not undergo substantial alkaline hydrolysis due to the reduced levels of alkalis. The castables made from these aggregates display superior physical properties, including lower water content, lower permanent linear change, high strength, and superior thermal conductivity/insulation properties, while at the same time possessing lower density and requiring less water to be used during castable formation. These improved properties also are observed in gunning mixtures formed from these aggregates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to refractory castables, and in particular to refractory castables fabricated using aggregate coated with a hydrophobic component.
2. Description of the Background
Refractory castables (a.k.a. heat-resistant concretes) are composed of a heat-resistant aggregate and a heat-resistant hydraulic cement. Generally, refractory castables are formed from ground refractory materials containing a suitable percentage of added bonding agents. Refractory castables range from temperature-graded aggregates and hydraulic cements in proportions formulated to achieve desired properties for the particular end use. In practice, refractory castable mixes require only the addition of clean water during their application, for example, during pneumatic gunning, to form a heat resistant concrete piece or structure. Such refractory castables are utilized in a variety of industries, including metal foundries (e.g., iron, steel, and alumina), hydrocarbon processing, power generation, and mineral processing. Refractory castables are generally engineered to possesses specific properties (e.g., heat resistance, shrinkage, insulating capability, density) depending upon the particular application.
Refractory castable components, including aggregates, are generally shipped in dry form, blended with water, and then poured, cast, tamped, or applied in place by various means. For example, one means of applying refractory castables in place involves spraying the material (via either a dry or wet mix process) through the use of an air gun. The dry mix method involves placing the dry ingredients into a hopper and then conveying them pneumatically through a hose to the nozzle, then adding water at the nozzle as the material is impelled to the receiving surface. Mixing of the dry components with water is completed as the mixture hits the receiving surface. Conversely, the wet mix process involves pumping a previously prepared concrete (i.e., dry components already mixed with water) to the nozzle and introducing compressed air at the nozzle to impel the mixture onto the receiving surface. This wet mix application process is also referred to as "gunning" and castables applied in this manner are often referred to as "gunned" as opposed to cast.
Refractory castables are especially suited for furnace linings of irregular dimensions, for patching brickwork, and for applications that possess special shapes. Refractory castables are commonly used to line a heated chamber to provide heat insulation, thereby reducing heat loss from the chamber and increasing the efficiency of the overall process.
A considerable amount of work has been done over the years to improve the properties of refractory castables. For example, much work has been done to lower the water content required for casting refractory castables. For prior art systems, reduction in water used in casting leads to higher density castables having lower porosity. While these attributes are beneficial for thermal insulation properties, they also represent an engineering challenge as denser castables place a heavier load on the structures in which they are placed or applied.
One strategy for reducing the water content required for casting refractory castables is the use of dispersants and ultrafine particles in combination with particle packing principles. The dispersants minimize formation of flocs that raise water requirements. More optimum particle packing has been achieved by using progressively finer particles to fill in the voids between the coarser aggregates. Without these ultrafine particles, the voids between the coarser aggregates would fill with water during casting, thus, increasing the amount of water needed in the refractory castable. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a substantial reduction in the amount of water required for casting refractory castables was realized with the discovery that ultrafine particles (i.e. particles having a diameter of less than about three microns) could be included in the products when used with appropriate dispersants. The ultrafine particles used for this purpose have been ultrafine refractory materials, namely, oxides, such as for example, microsilica and finely ground alumina being the most common choices. European Patent no. 0742416 discloses a spray operation method for monolithic refractories wherein a fine powder of alumina or fumed silica having a particle size of at most three microns imparts good flowability to the mixed batch of monolithic refractories. U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,745 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,325 disclose a non-slumping, high density, low moisture, low cement sprayable refractory castable composition which can be applied without forms containing a solid flow aid that is microsilica, 1 to 3 micron alumina, or mixtures thereof.
While these approaches achieve lower water requirements for casting, they also introduce drawbacks, particularly as relating to the use of microsilica and ultrafine alumina. For example, microsilica typically reduces high temperature refractoriness of refractory castables. In high alumina and fireclay castables bonded with calcium aluminate cement, for example, the microsilica combines with lime from the calcium aluminate cement when the castable is heated, forming low melting point glasses. These glasses may introduce problems such as making the castable more prone to creep at high temperatures, decreasing the hot strength, and increasing the susceptibility of the castable to chemical corrosion. In an attempt to deal with the problem of glass formation, refractory compositions with either no calcium aluminate cement, or reduced levels of calcium aluminate cement have been developed. The resulting lower lime contents reduce the amount of low melting glass that forms, but refractoriness is still not optimized because the microsilica in the matrix of the castable remain susceptible to chemical alteration and fluxing by constituents commonly found in the environments in which the castables were used.
Further, ultrafine alumina, when used to reduce the water required for casting refractory castables, is a substantial commercial impediment because of its high cost. In addition, ultrafine alumina can have a detrimental effect on the rheology of refractory castables, in particular those that are bonded with calcium aluminate cement. Refractory castables containing calcium aluminate cement and ultrafine alumina can exhibit short working times and poor casting characteristics. While not fully understood, it is believed that the ultrafine alumina provides nucleation sites for precipitation of hydrate phases from solution during mixing and placement of the castables. It is known by those skilled in the art that alumina-lime hydrate phases form on the edges of ultrafine alumina particles in suspensions of ultrafine alumina and calcium aluminate cement in water. It is believed that these hydrate phases affect the morphology of the finest constituents in the refractory castables, thereby adversely affecting rheology and casting characteristics.
Other ultrafine refractory oxides for reducing the amount of water required for casting refractory castables have similar drawbacks. For example, ultrafine chromic oxide is expensive and is undesirable from an environmental standpoint. Ultrafine titanium is also expensive and is generally regarded as a flux in refractory systems. Thus, despite the ability of various ultrafine refractory oxides to reduce the water required for casting refractory castables, no ultrafine refractory material heretofore has been found that is wholly satisfactory from either a technical, environmental, or economic standpoint. Further, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that no ultrafine refractory material heretofore has been found that provides for reducing the amount of conventional ultrafine refractory oxides employed or for eliminating the use of conventional ultrafine refractory oxides to fill in the voids between the coarser refractory aggregates while at the same time maintaining particle packing principles for reducing the water content required for casting.
An additional challenge facing the refractory castable industry is the widespread problem of alkaline hydrolysis. In the presence of water, the calcium aluminate hydrate commonly found in refractory castables may react with alkali components of the castable. Through hydrolysis, the calcium aluminate hydrate breaks down into calcium carbonate and aluminum trihydrate. Depending on the atmospheric humidity and other potential sources of water, alkaline hydrolysis progresses slowly resulting initially in a thin soft surface on the castable. As time goes on, alkaline hydrolysis occurs at greater depths into the surface resulting in significant spalling of the castable and a concomitant degradation in the thermal insulation properties of the castable. When that physical and thermodynamic degradation progresses significantly, the operational life span of the castable is diminished and castable must be replaced. This, of course, requires shutdown of the industrial equipment to allow replacement of the damaged castables or, in some circumstances, replacement of the entire castable ensemble.
To slow down the alkaline hydrolysis reaction, numerous strategies are employed. For example, castable component may be dried extensively prior to shipping to the final plant destinations. The dryness of the castable must be maintained; if moisture is introduced to the dried castable, water penetrates the dry material quickly and alkaline hydrolysis will occur, leading to degradation of large portions of the castable. Another strategy is to apply organic coatings to the surface of the castable. This practice carries additional labor and material costs, and requires careful consideration of the potential of reaction of the organic coating with the interior environment of the industrial equipment that the castables line or coat. Further, the organic coating loses its effectiveness if physically disrupted.
Accordingly, there remains a very real and substantial need for a refractory composition, castable, and spray mix capable of lowering the amount of water required for casting or spraying the refractory castable composition while at the same time reducing or eliminating the undesirable characteristics known to exist in the prior art. These castables should possess exemplary physical and thermodynamic properties and would preferably confront many of the known challenges to castable industry. The present invention addresses this need.

Refractory castables with hydrophobic aggregates


A metal laminate gasket of the invention is basically formed of first and second metal plates, and a sealing device situated around the cylinder bores. The first plate includes first holes corresponding to the cylinder bores, an intermediate area located between the first holes, and two openings situated at the intermediate area. The second plate is situated above the first plate, and includes a second hole for locating therein the first holes and the sealing device. The second plate includes projecting areas with edges located on the intermediate area. When the first and second plates are assembled, the edges of the second plate pass through the openings of the first plate and are located at a side opposite to a side that the second plate is disposed. Thus, the edges of the second plate are fixed to or engaged with the first plate.

The present invention relates to a metal laminate gasket with inner projection connecting mechanisms for securely connecting inner projections of a metal plate to a different metal plate.
In an internal combustion engine, a plurality of metal plates is laminated together to constitute a metal laminate gasket. In case sealing means for sealing around a hole is formed on one metal plate, another metal plate laminating over the one metal plate may not overlap the sealing means (hereinafter called non-overlapping type gasket). Thus, excessive surface pressure is not formed on the sealing means when the gasket is tightened.
In an old engine, the distances between the cylinder bores are spaced apart relatively widely. Thus, even if the above non-overlapping type gasket is prepared, the metal plates may simply have holes for the cylinder bores.
However, lately, engines have been developed to have light weight and high power, so that the distances between the cylinder bores become narrow. Consequently, one of the metal plates in the non-overlapping type gasket can not have independent holes.
As shown in FIG. 1, for example, a gasket 20 is formed of plates 21, 22 laminated together. The plate 21 includes holes for cylinder bores Hc, edges 21a of the holes, an intermediate areas 21b between the holes, and sealing means 21c around the edges 21a. The plate 22 includes one continuous hole with an edge 22a to be situated outside the sealing means 21c, and projections 22b projecting toward the intermediate areas 21b. Namely, the plate 22 does not have independent holes for surrounding the cylinder bores and includes one hole with the projections 22b.
In this engine, since the projections 22b are simply located in the intermediate areas 21b and are not properly connected to the plate 21, in case outer force is applied to the projections, the projections may deform or may be separated from the plate 21.
Accordingly, one object of the invention is to provide a metal laminate gasket, wherein inner projections of one metal plate are securely connected to another metal plate.
Another object of the invention is to provide a metal laminate gasket as stated above, wherein the projections of the metal plate can be easily assembled with another metal plate without deformation.
A further object of the invention is to provide a metal laminate gasket as stated above, which can be easily and economically manufactured.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.

Metal laminate gasket with inner projection connecting mechanisms


A cabin structural component for a transport vehicle, in particular for an aircraft or spacecraft, has a sandwich structure that has a core and a first cover layer, the first cover layer being provided with a heat conductor that is arranged and designed for heating a cabin wall that can be produced using the cabin structural component.

Fibre composite materials in a sandwich construction are often used in structural components for cabins, for example in the casing elements forming a cabin wall. Said materials are characterised by high rigidity at a simultaneously low weight. DE 100 07 373 C1 for example describes a corresponding sandwich component.
In a cabin assembly for an aircraft or spacecraft, a conventional wall structure of a cabin assembly consists of the primary structure of the aircraft that forms an outer shell, the casing elements in a sandwich construction, and an insulation layer that is arranged between the primary structure and the casing elements and is usually formed having glass wool insulation. In this case, the glass wool insulation has inter alia a thermal role, in particular in order to increase the comfort for the passengers in the cabin. For example, the glass wool insulation vehicle that heat can be stored for longer in the aircraft cabin, and that the aircraft cabin is insulated from the cold surroundings present at cruising altitude.
Typically, some degree of lateral spacing is also provided between casing elements and a passenger seat, in order to prevent the passenger from being in direct contact with the colder cabin wall or the casing element and to thus increase comfort.

Cabin structural component, method for producing a cabin structural component, cabin assembly and transport vehicle


A coil unit includes a second resonance coil that has a plurality of unit coils and performs at least one of transmission and reception of electric power to and from a first resonance coil spaced apart from the second resonance coil via electromagnetic resonance with the first resonance coil. The directions of magnetic fields formed by the unit coils are the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a coil unit, a non-contact power transmitting apparatus, a non-contact power receiving apparatus, a vehicle, and a non-contact power supply system.
2. Description of Related Art
As described in Japanese Patent Application Publications Nos. 2003-79597 and 2008-67807 (JP-A-2003-79597 and JP-A-2008-67807), coil units have already been used in magnetic resonance imaging apparatuses. In recent years, focus is placed on pure electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles as an interest in the environment is growing and as a result, charging methods, such as an electromagnetic induction method and a resonance method, in which a coil unit is used, is attracting attention as a candidate of the charging method, in which a battery mounted on a vehicle is contactlessly charged by an external source.
A non-contact power supply system described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-67270 (JP-A-7-67270), for example, includes a primary coil buried in the ground and a secondary coil mounted on a vehicle, in which a battery mounted on the vehicle is charged using a current induced in the secondary coil.
A wireless power transmitting apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-73976 (JP-A-2010-73976) includes a power receiving device that is mounted on a pure electric vehicle and that includes a power receiving communication coil, and a power supply apparatus that includes a power transmitting communication coil and the power receiving device includes a power receiving communication coil. The power transmitting communication coil includes a primary coil and a resonance coil and the power receiving communication coil includes a primary coil and a resonance coil. Between the power receiving communication coil and the power transmitting communication coil, electric power is wirelessly transmitted through a resonant power transmitting method.
The distance between a primary coil and a secondary coil, between which electric power may be transmitted by the non-contact power transmitting method using electromagnetic induction, is small and this method therefore requires that the primary coil and the secondary coil be positioned close to each other. Accordingly, this power transmitting method is unsuitable when electric power is to be transmitted or received beyond a certain distance. However, in the wireless power transmitting apparatus described in JP-A-2010-73976, a resonant power transmitting method is used and therefore, electric power may be transmitted or received over a greater distance than in the case of the electromagnetic induction method.
Even if the power transmitting apparatus employs the resonant power transmitting method, however, when the power transmitting resonance coil and the power receiving resonance coil are misaligned, both power transmission efficiency and power reception efficiency are significantly decreased.

Coil unit, non-contact power transmitting apparatus, non-contact power receiving apparatus, vehicle, and non-contact power supply system

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION NAGOYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY


A rod portion is coupled to a support wire at one end thereof and is rotatably coupled to a base portion of the anchor body portion. The anchor body portion includes the resistance plate body, an inner reinforcing plate, and an outer reinforcing plate, a first hitting portion is provided on the outer reinforcing plate, and a second hitting portion to be hit next to the first hitting portion is provided at a position higher than the first hitting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support wire implanting anchor configured to be implanted by an implanting tool in the case of coupling an aboveground upright member and the ground with a support wire and embedded under the soil in order to prevent the aboveground upright member such as a power pole from falling down, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to prevent an aboveground upright member such as a power pole from falling down, there is proposed a support wire implanting anchor configured to be implanted by an implanting tool and embedded under the soil in the case of coupling the aboveground upright member and the ground by a support wire, for example, a configuration in which a curved resistance plate body and a curved stabilizing plate are hammered in separately after a test drill of an embedding hole, and the resistance plate body and the stabilizing plate are coupled in an intersecting manner at a predetermined depth under the soil to obtain a tension-resistance force (For example, Japanese Examined Utility Model Application Publication No. Hei 7-30746).
However, in the support wire implanting anchor of the related art described in Japanese Examined Utility Model Application Publication No. Hei 7-30746, the resistance plate is curved so as to obtain a sufficient resistance force (tension-resistance force) when being implanted into the soil, and goes into the soil along the curved shape.
Therefore, in particular, when executing this operation in a little space in the case where a cutting surface area of the embedding hole is small, an implanting work on a single implanting surface (hitting surface) becomes gradually difficult, and the resistance plate body cannot be implanted at an acute angle with respect to the ground surface. Therefore, the sufficient resistance force cannot be obtained unless the resistance plate body and the stabilizing plate are coupled in a deployed state.
If a curvature of the resistance plate is increased in order to bring the sufficient resistance force into action, the resistance plate curves into the soil at the large curvature and hence goes into the soil at an acute angle with respect to the ground surface. Therefore, if there is only one hitting surface and the cutting surface area is small, this problem becomes remarkable.
Since the support wire implanting anchor of the related art described in JP-UM-B-7-30746 needs to hammer the curved resistance plate body and the curved stabilizing plate separately, there is a problem of poor workability.
In view of such a problem, it is a first object of the invention to provide a support wire implanting anchor in which an anchor body portion can be implanted at an acute angle with respect to a ground surface more easily and reliably than those of the related art even though a cutting surface area of an embedding hole is small and, in addition, a second object of the invention to provide the support wire implanting anchor with achieves an improvement of workability and higher tension-resistance force without necessity of implanting of a stabilizing plate separately from a resistance plate.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated


The memory device has a plurality of local boost circuits, each connected to a sector of the memory array, and each having a control circuit, at least a respective boost capacitor, and a respective drive circuit. Each drive circuit is only enabled in read mode, on receiving an address-transition-detect signal and a sector enabling signal, for reading memory cells forming part of the respective sector. The boost voltage is only supplied to the final inverter of the row decoder. A clamping diode limits the boost voltage to prevent undesired direct biasing of the PMOS transistors of the final inverters connected to the nonaddressed word lines. And the overvoltage is therefore only supplied locally when and where necessary.

As is known, to read the cells of nonvolatile, and in particular flash, memories, the row to which the cell to be read is connected is so biased as to bring the gate terminal of the cell to the read voltage, and the current flowing through the cell is detected. If the cell is written, its threshold voltage must be higher than the read voltage, so that no current is conducted by the cell. If the cell is erased, its threshold voltage must be such as to let current through. And detecting the current flow provides for discriminating between written and erased cells.
To ensure correct read operation and reliable cycling (multiple cycle operation) of the memory array, certain limits are typically observed in the distribution of the threshold voltages of the cells. More specifically, currently used technologies require that the threshold voltage of the best erased cells be above zero, and the threshold voltage of the worst erased cells be about 2.5 V. The lower limit substantially arises from the need to ensure against read errors caused by depleted cells (cells with a threshold voltage below zero), while the upper limit is due to the intrinsic distribution of the cell threshold voltages according to the fabrication technology used.
Since the read voltage normally coincides with the supply voltage, a supply voltage of over 3 V poses no problems. A problem arises in the case of memories operating at low supply voltages V.sub.CC. In fact, with a supply voltage V.sub.CC of 2.5 V, all the cells with a threshold voltage V.sub.t close to this value conduct little or no current, so that the cell is considered written, thus resulting in a read error.
One solution to the problem consists in boosting the read voltage, i.e., supplying the gate terminal of the cell to be read with a voltage higher than the supply voltage and generated by an appropriate booster stage. At present, two solutions based on this principle are known: continuous and pulsating boost.
In the continuous boost solution, a timed circuit supplied with a clock signal provides for gradually charging a boost capacitor to a voltage higher than the supply voltage. The boost capacitor then provides for maintaining a common (boost) line of the memory at the desired overvoltage. The advantage of this solution lies in the small size of the boost capacitor, due to the overvoltage being reached by means of a series of small increments. But precisely for this reason, initial charging, and hence access to the memory when turned on or on re-entry from standby, is very slow. To eliminate the latter delay, a second smaller boost circuit may be used to keep the boost capacitor charged in standby mode, but only at the expense of increased power consumption.
The pulsating boost solution, on the other hand, employs a very large boost capacitor, which is charged by a single pulse only at predetermined times (upon address switching in read mode, or active switching of the chip enabling signal). While solving the problems of slow access on re-entry from standby (or when the memory is turned on) and increased power consumption in standby mode, the pulsating solution presents other drawbacks of its own, due to the large area required for the capacitor and the necessary drive circuits.

Low-supply-voltage nonvolatile memory device with voltage boosting


A system and method are provided allowing for successive approximation analog to digital conversion. A first differential voltage is sampled and held during a first cycle. The first differential voltage is converted to a differential current. A second differential voltage is generated based on the differential current flowing through parallel-coupled respective first and second variable resistances. First and second portions of the second differential voltage are compared to produce a comparison result therefrom. Successive approximation is used to generate a signal based on the comparison result, the signal being an output signal and being used to control resistances of respective ones of the first and second variable resistances during subsequent cycles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to SAR ADCs.
2. Related Art
In current successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC) implementations, most of digital-to-analog converters (DACs) are implemented capacitively. The problem with capacitive DACs is that they are large in size, and due to their nature of implementation they tend to limit bandwidth, which can translate into high current consumption for high speed. Current mode DACS can also be used, but are limited by noise of the active current sources, and have relatively high current consumption.
Also, due to the nature of the successive approximation search algorithm, traditional SAR ADCs typically use N+1 or N+2 cycles to complete a single conversion from an analog signal to a digital signal. Where N corresponds to the ADC resolution, e.g., 8 bits, the SAR ADC typically would require 8+1=9 cycles to complete 1 cycle of conversion.
Therefore, what is needed is a SAR ADC that alleviates the problems with using capacitive and current mode DACs, and possibly reduces a required number of cycles for conversion.

Successive approximation analog to digital converter


An intra prediction method includes searching for a neighboring block restored prior to a current block from among blocks of an image; checking whether the neighboring block found by the searching is a block restored in an intra mode and whether an intra mode of the current block is also a Combined Intra Prediction (CIP) mode in which only blocks pre-restored in the intra mode are referred to; determining based on a checking result of the checking whether the found neighboring block is a reference block available for intra prediction of the current block; and performing intra prediction on the current block by using sample values of the reference block determined as available for the intra prediction of the current block.

As hardware for reproducing and storing high resolution or high quality video content is being developed and supplied, a need for a video codec for effectively encoding or decoding the high resolution or high quality video content is increasing. In a conventional video codec, a video is encoded according to a limited encoding method based on a macroblock having a predetermined size.
Image data in a spatial domain is transformed to coefficients in a frequency domain by using frequency transformation. A video codec encodes frequency coefficients according to block units by splitting image data into blocks having a predetermined size and performing Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) transformation on each block to quickly compute the frequency transformation. The coefficients in the frequency domain are more easily compressed than the image data in the spatial domain. Specifically, since an image pixel value of the spatial domain is expressed as a prediction error by inter prediction or intra prediction of the video codec, when the frequency transformation is performed on the prediction error, a substantial amount of data may be transformed to 0. The video codec saves a data amount by replacing repeatedly generated data with data having a small size.

Video encoding method with intra prediction using checking process for unified reference possibility, video decoding method and device thereof


An oxygen injection system for a direct reduction process, including: a common circumferential gas injection header adapted to be coupled to an oxygen source and an enrichment natural gas source and adapted to deliver oxygen from the oxygen source and enrichment natural gas from the enrichment natural gas source to a reducing gas stream flowing through a conduit axially disposed within the common circumferential gas injection header through a plurality of circumferentially disposed ports to form a bustle gas stream; wherein the common circumferential gas injection header includes a circumferential oxygen injection header adapted to deliver the oxygen from the oxygen source to the reducing gas stream through the plurality of circumferentially disposed ports and a circumferential enrichment natural gas injection header adapted to deliver the enrichment natural gas from the enrichment natural gas source to the reducing gas stream through the plurality of circumferentially disposed ports.

Referring specifically to FIG. 1, in a conventional direct reduction (DR) process, a heated reducing gas 10, consisting mostly of H2 and CO made by natural gas reforming, (or syngas) is fed into a shaft furnace (SF) through a bustle and tuyere system to reduce iron oxides to metallized iron. Typically, an enrichment hydrocarbon fuel, such as enrichment natural gas (EnNG) 12, and O2 14 are injected into the reducing gas stream 10 before entering the SF. The EnNG 12 acts as a chemical feedstock for in-situ reforming inside the SF, increasing reduction by making more reductant. However, this in-situ reforming consumes a significant amount of heat, which reduces the bed temperature and lowers the kinetics of the reduction reactions in the SF. Combustion of the injected O2 14 with the reducing gas 10 maintains the temperature of the bustle gas at about 900 degrees C. or more before entering the SF and compensates for the heat consumed by the in-situ reforming inside the SF.
Typically, the O2 14 is injected into the conduit 16 used through a single pipe and the EnNG 12 is injected through several pipes laid out circumferentially. These pipes 12,14 are self-cooled by the flowing gas alone, unless water-cooled pipes are used. The O2 14 and EnNG 12 are injected at different locations along the conduit 16 to ensure the stable and safe combustion of the O2 14, as the cooling effect of the EnNG 12 may impair the combustion and/or ignition. An inert gas purge 20 is fluidly coupled to the O2 injection pipe 14. Generally, the single O2 injection pipe 14 incorporates one or two O2 injection nozzles, while the EnNG injection pipe 12 is coupled to a circumferential header 22 that includes four to eight circumferential injection holes, for example.
In general, this configuration suffers from several important problems:                (1) there is limited turn-down capability of the O2 flow 14 through the injection pipe because the O2 flow rate sufficient for self-cooling must be maintain and the O2 supply cannot be depleted;        (2) only a small number of O2 injection pipes 14 can be used because of this reduced turn-down capability of O2 for each pipe and a smaller number of O2 injection points makes it difficult to distribute the O2 14 uniformly in the resulting bustle gas stream 18;        (3) the duct wall around the O2 injection point can develop a hot spot due to the radiation heat of the O2 flame unless the O2 injection pipe 14 projects far enough through the duct wall—this longer projection potentially causing bending of the O2 injection pipe 14, requiring frequent replacing of the O2 injection pipe 14;        (4) to solve the above problems, a water-cooled O2 injection pipe 14 can be used, but this makes the overall system more complex and expensive, and the water cooling of the water-cooled O2 injection pipe 14 could fail; and        (5) although there is minimal chance of the O2 14 reacting with the EnNG 12 since they are injected at different locations, while the EnNG 12 remains mostly unreacted and tends to lower the bustle gas temperature, the O2 14 reacts mainly with the H2 and CO in the reducing gas stream 10 to decrease the amount of reductant and maximize the temperature rise through full oxidation.
Thus, an improved O2 and EnNG injection system that solves these problems is needed for DR processes.

Oxygen injection system for a direct reduction process


A refresh operation at a memory cell array for keeping data stored in memory cells is enabled to be switched whether to be executed based on an external refresh request inputted from external or an internal refresh request generated internally by a refresh control unit, and therefore, when the refresh operation is executed based on the external refresh request, it becomes possible to execute an access operation for the memory cell array in accordance with an access request from external only with a necessary time for executing the operation in accordance with the access request without including a necessary time for executing the refresh operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and an information processing system, and is particularly suitable for use in a pseudo SRAM (Static Random Access Memory).
2. Description of the Related Art
A pseudo SRAM being one of a semiconductor memory device is a memory in which memory cells for storing data are composed of similar cells with a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and an external interface thereof is compatible with an SRAM. The pseudo SRAM has a characteristic of the DRAM which has a large capacity with a low bit cost compared to the SRAM, and an equivalent usability with the SRAM, and the large capacity and an easiness for system designing are realized. For example, a low power (low power consumption) pseudo SRAM is used as a memory (RAM) of, for example, a cellular phone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistants).
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional pseudo SRAM 111. The pseudo SRAM 111 has a memory cell array 112, an array control circuit 113, a refresh control circuit 114, a chip control circuit 115, an address decoder 116, a data signal control circuit 117, and an interface circuit 118.
The memory cell array 112 is composed of a plurality of memory cells disposed in array state in a row direction and a column direction. As stated above, respective memory cells are 1T-1C type (one transistor one capacitor type) memory cells which are similar to the DRAM. The array control circuit 113 executes a data read operation, a data write operation, and a refresh operation for the memory cells within the memory cell array 112.
The refresh control circuit 114 outputs a request of the refresh operation required for keeping data stored in the memory cells in accordance with a value of a timer included inside thereof.
The chip control circuit 115 decodes a command signal CMD from external (external command) supplied via the interface circuit 118, and outputs the decoded result and a control signal based on the refresh request from the refresh control circuit 114, to the array control circuit 113. As stated later, the command signal CMD is composed of a chip enable signal /CE, an address valid signal /ADV, an output enable signal /OE, and a write enable signal /WE (a sign "/" added to each symbol of signal shows that the signal is a negative logic).
Besides, the chip control circuit 115 performs an arbitration (arbitration process) between an access request (data read and write) by the command signal CMD and the refresh request. In this arbitration, the request generated former is processed in preference.
The address decoder 116 decodes an address signal ADD from external supplied via the interface circuit 118, and outputs the decoded result to the array control circuit 113.
The data signal control circuit 117 controls sending and receiving of data signals between internal and external of a memory in the read operation and the write operation executed in accordance with the command signal CMD.
Incidentally, a clock signal CLK for synchronizing an input/output timing of the command signal CMD and a data signal DQ is inputted to the interface circuit 118 from external, and it is supplied to each functional unit within the pseudo SRAM 111.
Operations in the conventional pseudo SRAM are described with reference to FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B. In FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, a core operation is a selection operation of the memory cell array 112, in other words, it is an operation that the array control circuit 113 executes for the memory cell array 112. Besides, a Peri operation is an operation of peripheral circuits such as the chip control circuit 115 and the data signal control circuit 117 concerning the memory cell array 112 (array control circuit 113).
FIG. 12A is a timing chart explaining a data read operation in the conventional pseudo SRAM. First, at the time T31, the chip enable signal /CE making a device (pseudo SRAM) in operation state, the address valid signal /ADV showing that the address signal ADD is valid, and the output enable signal /OE are turned to "L". The chip control circuit 115 decodes the command signal CMD and judges that an access request from external is a data read operation RD (A). Further, the address decoder 116 takes and decodes the address signal ADD.
However, if the refresh request from the refresh control circuit 114 is generated before the time T31 when the access request from external is received, a refresh operation REF is executed at the memory cell array 112 (time T32). Next, the data read operation RD (A) is executed at the memory cell array 112 from the time T33 when the refresh operation REF is terminated, and data 1A, 2A, and 3A of the memory cells corresponding to the decoded results at the address decoder 116 are sequentially read to be outputted as the data signals DQ.
At the time T34, when the chip enable signal /CE is turned to "H", the chip control circuit 115 indicates the termination of the data read operation RD (A) to the array control circuit 113. Herewith, the data read operation RD (A) executed at the memory cell array 112 is terminated (time T35).
Besides, at the time T35, when the chip enable signal /CE and the address valid signal /ADV is turned to "L", the chip control circuit 115 decodes the command signal CMD at this time, and judges that the access request from external is a data read operation RD (B). Besides, the address decoder 116 takes and decodes the address signal ADD.
Next, at the time T36 when a refresh entry term TREN is lapsed from the time T35, the data read operation RD (B) is executed at the memory cell array 112, and the data 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, and 5B are outputted as the data signals DQ. Incidentally, the refresh entry term TREN is provided constantly between the data read/write operations by the access request from external so that the refresh operation at the memory cell array 112 can be executed when the refresh request is generated.
Subsequently, as same as the data read operation RD (A), the chip enable signal /CE is turned to "H" at the time T37, and thereby, the data read operation RD (B) executed at the memory cell array 112 is terminated (time T38).
FIG. 12B is a timing chart explaining a data write operation in the conventional pseudo SRAM. The data write operation shown in FIG. 12B is the same as the data read operation shown in FIG. 12A other than points that the write enable signal /WE is turned to "L" and the output enable signal /OE is kept to "H", and the data 1A to 3A and 1B to 5B supplied as the data signals DQ are written to the memory cells (times T41 to T48 in FIG. 12B are respectively corresponding to times T31 to T38 in FIG. 12A), and therefore, the explanation thereof will not be given.
In the conventional pseudo SRAM, the data read operation, the data write operation, and so on are executed as shown in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B.
Further, in recent years, data communications with a large capacity and in real time are performed concerning moving image data and so on, and therefore, a higher-speed operation is required for the pseudo SRAM used as a memory of data communication devices including a cellular phone and so on.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 11-16346
[Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 98/56004 pamphlet
However, in the conventional pseudo SRAM, as shown in FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, the refresh entry term TREN is constantly provided, and therefore, as a latency, an access time concerning the access request from external is defined so as to include a case when the refresh request is generated in advance which is the worst case.
As a method to realize a high-speed operation (access) in the pseudo SRAM, the method to shorten the latency to cut down the access time is conceivable. However, if the latency is shortened, a time interval between the data read/write operations by the access requests from external becomes shortened, and there is a possibility that the term corresponding to the refresh entry term TREN cannot be secured. Namely, if the latency is shortened, there is a possibility that the refresh operation cannot be executed between the operations concerning the access requests from external even though the refresh request is generated, and therefore, the data stored in the memory cell may be lost.

Semiconductor memory device and information processing system


A circuit arrangement including a data input for applying a data signal, a set input for applying a set signal and an output for providing an output state. The output is coupled to the data input and to the set input in such a manner that the output state provided is set only when an input state of the data signal and the output state differ from one another and the set signal changes to a prescribed state.

Buffers are frequently used in the form of so-called flip-flops in digital circuits. A flip-flop is a clocked memory element having a multiplicity of transistors, which provides a state of an input signal, which is applied to the input, at the output when an edge of a set signal is applied to a set input, which is also referred to as setting. Clocking is usually effected using a periodic clock signal.
If, in the case of the flip-flop, the state of the input signal, which is applied to the input, does not change over a relatively long period of time, the state of an output signal, which is provided at the output, also remains unchanged. However, the state of the signal, which is provided at the output, is reset with each clock pulse. Each setting operation is internally associated with a considerable amount of power consumption since the setting operation is associated with flip-flop-internal switching operations of transistors which the flip-flop comprises.

Circuit arrangement and method for operating a circuit arrangement


Channel activity and subsequent access is determined by antenna selection. A sensing period is allocated into slots, dependent on the number of available antennas. For each slot, a distinct set of antennas is used for sensing for channel activity. Results of channel activity measurements for the slots are combined to form a channel activity report.

In some cognitive radio systems the secondary users need to sense the availability of the spectrum before it can access the spectrum. In such a case, the accuracy of the results of spectrum sensing is critical for both primary and secondary systems. Multi-antenna techniques have been discussed in the literature to enhance the performance (accuracy) of spectrum sensing. However, in many arrangements already set forth in the field, all antennas at the secondary receiver are used for spectrum sensing purposes, indicating that all RF chains at the secondary receiver have to be used.

Radio apparatus and method of operating the same


In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of making a semiconductor device includes simultaneously etching a semiconductor layer and a conductive layer to form a self-aligned diode region disposed on an insulating layer, where the semiconductor layer has a first conductivity type. The method further includes etching through first openings of a mask layer to form first implantation surfaces on the semiconductor layer and to form a plurality of projecting regions including conductive material of the conductive layer over the semiconductor layer. The method further includes using the plurality of projecting regions as a part of a first implantation mask, performing a first implantation of dopants having a second conductivity type into the semiconductor layer, to form a sequence of PN junctions forming diodes in the semiconductor layer. The diodes vertically extend from an upper surface of the semiconductor layer to the insulating layer.

Semiconductor devices may include a variety of active and passive devices integrated on a semiconductor substrate. One type of passive device is a diode. Diodes include a PN junction and are used in many semiconductor applications. Diodes can be fabricated simultaneously with other components such as transistors, capacitors, resistors, and the like.
Diodes may be directly implanted in the semiconductor substrate. A diode that is directly implanted in the semiconductor substrate can include parasitic PN junctions which can impact behavior of a circuit including the diode. For example, effects due to parasitic PN junctions may be seen during starting and/or latching of a circuit. On the other hand, dopant diffusion processes may also be used to fabricate diodes. However, masks used for dopant diffusion can require strict alignment which can be difficult to establish. Defects due to variations in alignments accuracy can result in unpredictability of the characteristics of the diodes.
The compatibility of diode fabrication process flows with other process flows such as complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process flows, capacitor process flows, non-volatile memory (NVM) process flows, and others may be desirable in order to reduce complexity and cost and/or increase throughput. Additionally, it may also be desirable to decrease or eliminate the presence of parasitic PN junctions and improve alignment accuracy so that the predictability and performance of fabricated diodes may be improved.

Structure and method of forming a semiconductor device


A method and apparatus for forming spiral wound rolls from strips of compressible material uses a first endless belt conveyor to deliver the strips of compressible material into a winding space. As the strip enters the winding space, the strip is compressed by a compression and slider plate to the desired thickness for the layers of strip material in the spiral roll. Then, the leading portion of the strip successively contacts: an inclined, second endless belt conveyor, a compression roll, and a third endless belt conveyor which together with the first conveyor define the winding space. The second conveyor extends upwardly at an acute angle to the first conveyor and as the strip of compressible material contacts the second conveyor it maintains the strip in compression and starts to turn the strip back upon itself to form the spiral roll. The strip next contacts the compression roll which is located intermediate the first and second conveyors. The compression roll continues to turn the strip back upon itself and maintains the strip in compression. The strip next contacts the third conveyor which is located intermediate to the compression roll and the first conveyor. The third conveyor maintains the strip in compression and guides leading portions of the strip inside trailing portions of the strip being fed into the winding space by the first conveyor to complete the spiral winding of each layer of the strip in the roll. The compression roll and the third conveyor and compression and slider plate are moved to enlarge the winding space as the diameter of the spiral roll increases during the winding operation.

In the insulation industry, felts of mineral fibers, such as fine diameter glass fibers, are formed into strips which are to be used for the thermal and/or acoustical insulation of buildings and other structures or apparatus. These glass fiber felts are low in density and comprise fine glass fibers which entrap air in dead air pockets to achieve the thermal and acoustical insulating properties desired. The market demand for increasingly greater thermal and acoustical insulation performance has resulted in the production of increasingly thicker strips of insulation felts to achieve the insulation properties desired. For shipping and handling purposes it is desirable to compress these felts and form the strips into rolls for packaging wherein the strips are greatly reduced in volume from their normal uncompressed state e.g. up to a 9 to 1 compression ratio. This reduction in volume saves on freight costs for the product and the resulting smaller diameter packages are easier to handle during shipment and at the job site. However, for insulating purposes, it is important that the strips of insulation recover to substantially their original thickness when released from the packages to thereby retain their insulating properties.
It has been found that the repeated compression, expansion and recompression of these strips of glass fiber felts in the winding and packaging operation damages the felts so that the felts do not recover as fully. Thus, in a winding and packaging operation where the strips are allowed to expand even partially after their initial compression, the recovery will be affected and to obtain a smaller diameter roll with good recovery, it is necessary to minimize any expansion of the strips of felt once the strips have been initially compressed. Otherwise, to retain the desired recovery and insulating properties for the strips, it is necessary to form larger diameter rolls thereby increasing freight costs, requiring more storage space for the product and making the product harder to handle prior to installation.
The formation of the spiral wound roll must be accomplished without the formation of a hard center core or the telescoping of the roll. If the center core is too tightly wound in an attempt to form a smaller diameter roll, the portion of the felt strip forming the core will be excessively damaged affecting its recovery and insulating properties. The smaller diameter roll must also be obtained without causing the roll to telescope at its center thereby making the roll unsuitable for packaging.
It is also important to form a roll of such dimensions that when it is packaged, the roll can be further compressed in one direction to form a readily stackable package when turned on its side. The rolls are packaged in such a way that advertising and other information appears on the circumference of the packaged roll. If the package formed from the roll is too narrow, the packages of the rolled strip insulation will not be stable for stacking and will be less acceptable in the market place where it is desirable to show the advertising and other information appearing on the circumference of the package.
In the winding machines of the prior art such as the winding machine shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,898, the winding space is defined by three members: an infeed conveyor, an inclined conveyor and a compression roll. With this arrangement, the outer layer of the felt strip being wound onto the roll can expand after it passes the compression roll and before it passes inside the trailing portion of the felt strip being fed into the winding space. This results in an additional expansion and recompression of the felt strip which causes damage to the glass fibers in the strip and requires the formation of a larger diameter roll, if the strip is to exhibit proper recovery, than would be required if the additional expansion and recompression were eliminated or minimized. In addition, should an attempt be made to wind a roll too small in diameter with such equipment, the roll can telescope and/or have too hard a core which adversely affects the recovery of the strip of compressible material.

Method and apparatus for forming rolls from strips of compressible material


Provided is a light-emitting element which has high emission efficiency and a long lifetime and is driven at low voltage. The light-emitting element includes an EL layer between a pair of electrodes. The EL layer includes a compound which gives a first peak at a m/z of around 266.10 in a mass spectrum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, for example, a semiconductor device, a display device, a light-emitting device, a driving method thereof, and a manufacturing method thereof. In particular, the present invention relates to a light-emitting element, a light-emitting device, an electronic device, and a lighting device each using a dibenzo[c,g]carbazole compound.
2. Description of the Related Art
A light-emitting element (organic EL element) in which an organic compound is used as a light-emitting substance has been progressed because it has advantages that such a light-emitting element can be formed to be thin and lightweight, has very high response speed for input signals, and has low power consumption.
In a light-emitting element, when a voltage is applied between electrodes with a light-emitting layer interposed therebetween, electrons and holes injected from the electrodes recombine to form an excited state, and when the excited state returns to a ground state, light emission is obtained. Since the wavelength of light emitted from a light-emitting substance depends on the light-emitting substance, use of different types of organic compounds for light-emitting substances makes it possible to provide light-emitting elements which exhibit various wavelengths, i.e., various colors.
Light emitted from a light-emitting substance is peculiar to the substance, as described above. However, important performances as a light-emitting element, such as lifetime and power consumption, are not only dependent on the light-emitting substance but also greatly dependent on layers other than a light-emitting layer including the light-emitting substance, an element structure, properties of a light-emitting substance (a guest material) and a host material, compatibility between them, and the like. Thus, many kinds of light-emitting element materials are necessary. For the above-described reasons, light-emitting element materials with a variety of molecular structures have been proposed (e.g., Patent Documents 1 to 4).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Light-emitting element, light-emitting device, electronic device, and lighting device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The biological effects of the cytokine TNF are mediated by binding to receptors on the surface of cells. This disclosure describes new proteins and polynucleotides that promote enzymatic cleavage and release of TNF receptors. Also provided are methods for identifying additional compounds that influence TNF receptor shedding. As the active ingredient in a pharmaceutical composition, the products of this invention increase or decrease TNF signal transduction, thereby alleviating the pathology of disease.

Cytokines play a central role in the communication between cells. Secretion of a cytokine from one cell in response to a stimulus can trigger an adjacent cell to undergo an appropriate biological response—such as stimulation, differentiation, or apoptosis. It is hypothesized that important biological events can be influenced not only by affecting cytokine release from the first cell, but also by binding to receptors on the second cell, which mediates the subsequent response. The invention described in this patent application provides new compounds for affecting signal transduction from tumor necrosis factor.
The cytokine known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF or TNF-α) is structurally related to lymphotoxin (LT or TNF-β). They have about 40 percent amino acid sequence homology (Old, Nature 330:602-603, 1987). These cytokines are released by macrophages, monocytes and natural killer cells and play a role in inflammatory and immunological events. The two cytokines cause a broad spectrum of effects both in vitro and in vivo, including: (i) vascular thrombosis and tumor necrosis; (ii) inflammation; (iii) activation of macrophages and neutrophils; (iv) leukocytosis; (v) apoptosis; and (vi) shock. TNF has been associated with a variety of disease states including various forms of cancer, arthritis, psoriasis, endotoxic shock, sepsis, autoimmune diseases, infections, obesity, and cachexia. TNF appears to play a role in the three factors contributing to body weight control: intake, expenditure, and storage of energy (Rothwell, Int. J. Obesity 17:S98-S101, 1993). In septicemia, increased endotoxin concentrations appear to raise TNF levels (Beutler et al. Science 229:869-871, 1985).
Attempts have been made to alter the course of a disease by treating the patient with TNF inhibitors, with varying degrees of success. For example, the TNF inhibitor dexanabinol provided protection against TNF mediated effects following traumatic brain injury (Shohami et al. J. Neuroimmun. 72:169-77, 1997). Some improvement in Crohn's disease was afforded by treatment with anti-TNF antibodies (Neurath et al., Eur. J. Immun. 27:1743-50, 1997).
Human TNF and LT mediate their biological activities by binding specifically to two distinct glycoprotein plasma membrane receptors (55 kDa and 75 kDa in size, known as p55 and p75 TNF-R, respectively). The two receptors share 28 percent amino acid sequence homology in their extracellular domains, which are composed of four repeating cysteine-rich regions (Tartaglia and Goeddel, Immunol. Today 13:151-153, 1992). However, the receptors lack significant sequence homology in their intracellular domains, and mediate different intracellular responses to receptor activation. In accordance with the different activities of TNF and LT, most human cells express low levels of both TNF receptors: about 2,000 to 10,000 receptors per cell (Brockhaus et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:3127-3131, 1990).
Expression of TNF receptors on both lymphoid and non-lymphoid cells can be influenced experimentally by many different agents, such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), phorbol myristate acetate (PMA; a protein kinase C activator), interleukin-1 (IL-1), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and IL-2 (Gatanaga et al. Cell Immunol. 138:1-10, 1991; Yui et al. Placenta 15:819-835, 1994). It has been shown that complexes of human TNF bound to its receptor are internalized from the cell membrane, and then the receptor is either degraded or recycled (Armitage, Curr. Opin. Immunol. 6:407-413, 1994). It has been proposed that TNF receptor activity can be modulated using peptides that bind intracellularly to the receptor, or which bind to the ligand binding site, or that affect receptor shedding. See for example patent publications WO 95/31544, WO 95/33051, WO 96/01642, and EP 568 925.
TNF binding proteins (TNF-BP) have been identified at elevated levels in the serum and urine of febrile patients, patients with renal failure, and cancer patients, and even certain healthy individuals. Human brain and ovarian tumors produced high serum levels of TNF-BP These molecules have been purified, characterized, and cloned (Gatanaga et al., Lymphokine Res. 9:225-229, 1990a; Gatanaga et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 87:8781-8784, 1990b). Human TNF-BP consists of 30 kDa and 40 kDa proteins which are identical to the N-terminal extracellular domains of p55 and p75 TNF receptors, respectively (U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,760; EP 418,014). Such proteins have been suggested for use in treating endotoxic shock. Mohler et al. J. Immunol. 151:1548-1561, 1993.
There are several mechanisms possible for the production of secreted proteins resembling membrane bound receptors. One involves translation from alternatively spliced mRNAs lacking transmembrane and cytoplasmic regions. Another involves proteolytic cleavage of the intact membrane receptors, followed by shedding of the cleaved receptor from the cell. The soluble form of p55 and p75 TNF-R do not appear to be generated from mRNA splicing, since only full length receptor mRNA has been detected in human cells in vitro (Gatanaga et al., 1991). Carboxyl-terminal sequencing and mutation studies on human p55 TNF-R indicates that a cleavage site may exist between residues Asn 172 and Val 173 (Gullberg et al. Eur. J. Cell. Biol. 58:307-312, 1992).
There are reports that a specific metalloprotease inhibitor, TNF-α protease inhibitor (TAPI) blocks the shedding of soluble p75 and p55 TNF-R (Crowe et al. J. Exp. Med. 181:1205-1210, 1995; Mullberg et al. J. Immunol 155:5198-5205, 1995). The processing of pro-TNF on the cell membrane to release the TNF ligand appears to be dependent on a matrix metalloprotease like enzyme (Gearing et al. Nature 370:555-557, 1994). This is a family of structurally related matrix-degrading enzymes that play a major role in tissue remodeling and repair associated with development and inflammation (Birkedal-Hansen et al. Crit. Rev. Oral Biol. Med. 4:197-250, 1993). The enzymes have Zn2+ in their catalytic domains, and Ca2+ stabilizes their tertiary structure significantly.
In European patent application EP 657536A1, Wallach et al. suggest that it would be possible to obtain an enzyme that cleaves the 55,000 kDa TNF receptor by finding a mutated form of the receptor that is not cleaved by the enzyme, but still binds to it. The only proposed source for the enzyme is a detergent extract of membranes for cells that appear to have the protease activity. If it were possible to obtain an enzyme according to this scheme, then the enzyme would presumably comprise a membrane spanning region. The patent application does not describe any protease that was actually obtained.
In a previous patent application in the present series (International Patent Publication WO 9820140), methods are described for obtaining an isolated enzyme that cleaves both the p55 and p75 TNF-R from cell surfaces. A convenient source is the culture medium of cells that have been stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). The enzyme activity was given the name TRRE (TNF receptor releasing enzyme). In other studies, TRRE was released immediately upon PMA stimulation, indicating that it is presynthesized in an inactive form to be rapidly converted to the active form upon stimulation. Evidence for direct cleavage of TNF-R is that the shedding begins very quickly (˜5 min) with maximal shedding within 30 min. TRRE is specific for the TNF-R, and does not cleave IL-1 receptors, CD30, ICAM-1 or CD11b. TRRE activity is enhanced by adding Ca++ or Zn++, and inhibited by EDTA and phenantroline.
Given the involvement of TNF in a variety of pathological conditions, it is desirable to obtain a variety of factors that would allow receptor shedding to be modulated, thereby controlling the signal transduction from TNF at a disease site.

Pharmaceutical compositions for treating arthritis and inflammatory disease

The Regents of the University of California


The invention proposes a periodically actuable tappet (1) for a valve train, said tappet (1) comprising a hollow cylindrical skirt (2) that can be arranged through an outer peripheral surface (3) in a guide bore (4) of a surrounding structure (5), said skirt (2) comprising a window-type aperture (6) in which a separate anti-rotation device (8) is arranged through a radially inner portion (7), a radially outer portion (9) of the anti-rotation device (8) extending beyond the skirt (2) for guidance in a longitudinal groove (10) that intersects the guide bore (4), wherein the anti-rotation device (8), as viewed in cross-section, is substantially mushroom-shaped, the inner portion (7) has a rectangular cross-section corresponding to a geometry of the aperture (6) of the skirt (2), into which cross-section, the outer portion (9) merges in the manner of a roof through a fractional cylindrical outer peripheral surface (11), inner legs (12) of the outer portion (9) extend beyond the aperture (6) in peripheral direction and bear against the outer peripheral surface (3) of the skirt (2). Through the measures of the invention, a radially inward directed excursion of the anti-rotation device (8) during operation of the tappet (1) is prevented.

A tappet of the pre-cited type with a separate anti-rotation device is known from DE 195 01 061 A1. This anti-rotation device comprises a needle roller that is retained radially inwards through a sheet metal element arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the skirt. The sheet metal element used as a "counter-holder" for the anti-rotation device unnecessarily increases the complexity and costs of the component. In addition, during operation of the tappet, there exists the danger that, with a widening of the sheet metal element, the anti-rotation device can migrate gradually in radially inward direction. In the worst case, a proper prevention of rotation of the tappet would not be guaranteed.

Periodically actuable tappet for a valve train or a pump drive


A transport floor connected to the transport watercraft. An elevated drilling floor integrally connected to the transport floor; supporting a derrick comprising at least two rails for supporting a traveling top drive supported by a crown block. The crown block is connected to the derrick. The elevated drilling floor has a control panel comprising a power throttle for operating the top drive.

There exists a need for a transport watercraft folds up for transport and unfolds for use, and includes a derrick, a traveling swivel frame assembly and a top drive.
There exists a need for a transport watercraft that saves energy by providing a transport water craft is easier to transport than other mobile rigs, and using less energy.
There exists a need for a transport watercraft that has a top drive and an air braking system that has less weight than a comparable drilling rig. A lighter weigh transport watercraft saves numerous gallons of expensive diesel fuel.
There further exists a need for a transport watercraft, that utilizes air power caliper brakes that do not require an external cooling system, while being easily transportable and easy to use
Additionally, there exists a need for a transport watercraft that requires only a two man crew to rig up the watercraft and operate the rig. Most conventional watercraft rigs require at least a four man crew to transport, set up, and operate the rig.
The embodiments described below meet these needs.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.
Before explaining the present embodiments in detail, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the particular embodiments and that they can be practiced or carried out in various ways
The embodied invention is for a transport watercraft, such as a barge. The detailed description will be better understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings as follows:
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.


In accordance with an embodiment, a method for managing access to a bus shared by interfaces includes: when to the bus is granted to one of the interfaces, triggering a counting having a minimum counting period; and when at least one access request to the bus emanating from at least one other of the interfaces is received during the minimum counting period, releasing the access granted to the one of the interfaces, and creating an arbitration point at an end of the minimum counting period.

In general, when a bus such as a data bus is free, this bus is configured for permitting access to the bus to an interface which has made an access request first received by the bus. Once access is granted to the bus, one or more subsequent access requests emanating from at least one other interface are suspended or denied, until the end of occupation of the access to the bus granted to the interface. In some cases, the bus may be occupied almost permanently, even in bad faith, if the duration of occupation of the access granted to the interface is too long, which is often problematic for real-time applications, e.g. real-time image display applications.
There is a conventional solution which limits the duration of occupation of the access and periodically releases the access granted to the interface for creating arbitration points making it possible to determine another interface to which access to the bus will be granted if other access requests are received in advance of the arbitration points. However, according to this conventional solution, the information interface is forced to release the access granted even if there is no other access request received, which considerably slows the speed of the transaction performed by the interface.
An increase in the duration of occupation of the access proportionally reduces the time spent in the arbitration phases and thus increases the efficiency of the bus. But this strategy generates a longer waiting time (latency) for the other interfaces, while is sometimes unacceptable with regard to real-time constraints of the system. This is why the arbitration points are generally frequent, which greatly reduces the efficiency of the bus.
Thus, there is a need to provide a low complexity technical solution for increasing the efficiency of a bus shared by interfaces while avoiding potential problems for real-time applications.

Method for managing access to a shared bus and corresponding electronic device


A system includes a detachable faceplate. The detachable faceplate includes a casing including an interior surface and an exterior surface; and an environmental sensing device disposed within the casing. The environmental sensing device is configured to acquire data.

To increase efficiently increase comfort within a structure, wireless environmental sensors (e.g., temperature and humidity sensors) are used. In some instances, these sensors are mounted on a wall, and typically require adding holes to the wall. There is therefore a need for an improved device to wall mount wireless environmental sensors without increasing the number of devices visible on the wall, and adding holes to the wall.

Detachable faceplate with wireless environmental sensing devices


Systems and methods are provided to facilitate an integrated display of information to a user. According to some embodiments, a first service and a second service may be registered with a registry. The information stored in the registry might include, for example, indications that the first and/or second services are to receive data from disparate remote sources. According to some embodiments, placement information is received from a user to lay out the first and second services within a pane of an application. Moreover, information from the remote sources may be displayed to the user within the pane.

A user may view information from a number of different sources. For example, FIG. 1 is a block diagram overview of an information environment 100 wherein a user display 120 receives information from a number of different and/or disparate data systems 110. The data systems 110 might comprise, for example, remote information applications that transmit data through a computer network (e.g., a stream of stock prices or batches of news articles). The user display 120 might comprise, for example, a computer monitor.
To display data to the user, a number of different applications might be running at a user device, and each application can be associated with different screens and/or display windows. For example, a user might start a first program that displays stock prices and position a first display associated with the first program on his or her desktop. The user could then start a second program that displays news articles and position a second display associated with the second program on his or her desktop (e.g., along side the first display of stock prices). In this way, a user can manually configure the user display 120. Such an approach, however, can consume a considerable amount of time (especially when a user needs to constantly re-arrange the user display 120).
Moreover, some or all of the data on the user display 120 may depend on a specific context associated with the information. For example, a user might be interested in the price of a particular stock, or group of stocks. Similarly, the user might be interested in viewing news articles associated with a particular company or industry. In some cases, a user can enter context information into each application running at the user display 120. For example, the user might enter "MSFT" into a program that displays stock prices and "microsoft" into a program that displays news articles. This manual approach, however, can also be time consuming. Moreover, the approach can lead to errors (e.g., a user might incorrectly enter "microseft" into an application and, as a result, not receive news articles associated with Microsoft Corp.
Another disadvantage with typical user displays 120 is that it can be expensive to create the systems required to support a number of disparate data systems 110. This can be especially true when there are a substantially number of users and/or a substantial number of data systems 110 (and various combinations of those systems 110). Moreover, it can be difficult to update and maintain those systems (e.g., when a data system 110 alters the way it transmits information or a new data system 110 is added to a user display 120).

Integrated, context passing user display


An ultrasonic flow meter unit, mounted to a fluid passage through which a measurement target fluid flows, comprises a pair of ultrasonic transducers each including a piezoelectric substrate, and an acoustic matching member; a measuring circuit which measures a flow of a target fluid based on time for which an ultrasonic pulse propagates between the pair of ultrasonic transducers; and an insulating damping member unitarily formed to cover at least a portion of each of a portion of each of the pair of ultrasonic transducers, which portion contacts the fluid passage, the piezoelectric substrate, and the measuring circuit.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 9, this type of ultrasonic flow meter unit includes, for example, a measurement passage 50 through which a target fluid flows, and a pair of ultrasonic transducers 51, 52 which are placed at an upstream side and a downstream side of the measurement passage 50, respectively, and which are capable of transmitting/receiving an ultrasonic signal. The measurement passage 50 is formed of a resin. Each of the ultrasonic transducers 51, 52 includes a piezoelectric element 53, a terminal 54 through which a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 53, and an acoustic matching layer 55 bonded to a transmission-side surface of the terminal 54. Each of the ultrasonic transducers 51, 52 is fastened to an ultrasonic transducer mounting section 56 mounted to the measurement passage 50 via a coating material 57 having an elasticity, thereby constituting an ultrasonic flow meter unit 58 (e.g., see Patent Literature 1).

Ultrasonic flow meter unit with an insulating damping member covering the ultrasonic transducers, a measuring circuit and lead wires

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


A tremolo device for static retention of a plurality of musical instrument strings in a stringed instrument. The tremolo device has a body with an upper surface, a neck portion, and a plurality of strings anchored at a first end of the neck and extending over at least a portion and secured to the tremolo device at the other end of the neck portion and the body and possesses an inertia block mechanism with substantially solid construction disposed to receive and securely retain a plurality of raw instrument strings without removal of a ball end from each string. The inertia block has an upper portion, a lower portion, and a plurality of internal, longitudinally displaced, cylindrically shaped, string retaining chambers designed to pass through an entirety of the block mechanism. The string retaining chambers have an upper and lower portion corresponding with the upper and lower portions of the block.

Floyd Rose® retainer systems and similar units regularly require the cutting of the ball end of each of the individual strings and manually clamping the strings to the saddle in order to tune the instrument. In the original Fender® "vintage tremolo" designs and other similar designs, the strings do not enter through the inertia block. These designs also comprise a double locking system without fine tuning mechanisms. In other contemporaneous designs, the ball ends are free to move within the tremolo assembly.
The Floyd Rose® II designs are single locking where the ball end of the string is strung through the bridge plate but is not locked in place, allowing the ball end to move freely within the inertia block or the bridge plate while the tremolo arm was depressed.
These designs were later redesign to include a double locking system. Examples of double locking systems include the Ibanez® Edge, LoPro Edge, EdgePro, EdgePro-II, Edge-III, and EdgeZero. The Ibanez® Zero Resistance is a version of the Ibanez® Edge utilizing a ball-bearing mechanism, instead of a knife-edge, as the fulcrum point and comprises a stop-bar to create consistency in tuning. Other such systems include the Floyd Rose® 7-String, Floyd Rose® Pro, and the Floyd Rose® Speedloader Tremolo.
A variety of tremolo models, such as the Floyd Rose® Speedloader and Steinberger®, required string with two or double ball ends, specifically made for the systems. These strings are manufactured precisely for a given length and use mounted fine tuners to adjust string pitches and tuning.
The Yamaha® Finger Clamp, a variation of the Floyd Rose® system, comprises built-in levers for tuning the instrument. The Fender® Deluxe Locking Tremolo, a double locking system, utilizes locking tuners, a modified Fender® 2-point synchronized tremolo with locking bridge saddles and a special low-friction LSR® Roller Nut, allowing the strings to slide during tremolo use. In this system the second locking point is at the tuning machines instead of the nut.
An apparatus exists that clamps onto a Floyd Rose® to accurately set the intonation of an instrument, alleviating the need to manually adjusting the strings.
The Steinberger® Transposing Tremolo System affords use of the tremolo while maintaining consistent tuning throughout the range of the tremolo. In addition to tuning stability, the system affords the user with instant alternate tunings by manually adjusting the mechanism on the bridge.


Shift code patterns at four continuous phases obtained by dividing 15 shift code patterns given to the respective flip-flops of a linear feedback shift register of degree 4 into four parts are stored in a code memory (11). Besides, mask code patterns to shift a phase of a PN code (PN) to be generated by every four phases, are stored in a code mask memory (12). Next, a logical operation is performed at a phase shift circuit (13) by using the shift code pattern outputted from the code memory (11) and the mask code pattern outputted from the code mask memory (12), to generate a PN code (PN) having a code length of 15 from a random phase.

In a radio communication using a CDMA method, both a transmitting end and a receiving end use a same spread code to process a signal. Consequently, it becomes possible to transmit signals of plural channels by using a same frequency band at the same time at the transmitting end, and also, it becomes possible to extract only signals of intended channel from among the above-described plural channels at the receiving end.
By the way, as the spread code used in the CDMA method radio communication system, there is a PN code (Pseudo Random Code), or a GOLD code. Here, the GOLD code is a code sequence obtained by taking an exclusive OR of the two PN codes. Incidentally, the exclusive OR is referred to as XOR, hereinafter.
FIG. 23 is a view showing a configuration of a conventional PN code generator generating the PN code. Incidentally, in FIG. 23, the case is shown when the PN code generator is applied as a receiver to make a communication with a transmitter at a base station or the like, in the CDMA method.
In FIG. 23, a conventional PN code generator 220 is constituted by flip-flops 221a to 221d connected in series, an XOR circuit 222, and a memory 223. Incidentally, within the above, a linear feedback shift register is constituted by the flip-flops 221a to 221d and the XOR circuit 222. Besides, the PN code generator 220 having such a structure is the PN code generator of an M-sequence (Maximum-length sequence).
Operation of the conventional PN code generator 220 is described.
First, code patterns stored in the memory 223 are set to the respective flip-flops 221a to 221d, as an initial state. After that, the codes of the respective flip-flops 221a to 221c are shifted to the flip-flops 221b to 221d at the right-hand neighbor according to a clock signal CS outputted from a timer 224. At this time, the PN code PN is composed of the code outputted from the flip-flop 221d. Besides, the XOR between the code outputted from the flip-flop 221c and the code outputted from the flip-flop 221d is taken at the XOR circuit 222, and the result is outputted to the flip-flop 221a.
FIG. 24 is a view showing a state transition of the flip-flops 221a to 221d. Incidentally, in the state transition diagram of FIG. 24, FF0 to FF3 are codes given to the flip-flops 221a to 221d at the respective phases. Further, an output code is a code outputted from the flip-flop 221d at each phase, and the PN code PN is composed of this code.
As shown in FIG. 24, the code patterns of the flip-flops 221a to 221d transit sequentially from the code pattern of FF0 to FF2 are zero, and FF3 is one at a first phase to the code pattern of FF0 and FF1 are zero, and FF2 and FF3 are one at a 15th phase. Next, at a 16th phase, it goes back to the state of the first phase, and the same state transition as the state transition from the first phase is repeated from the 16th phase. Namely, in the PN code generator 220 shown in FIG. 23, the PN code PN of "100010011010111" shown by the output code in FIG. 24 is generated repeatedly, and thereby, a cyclic PN code is to be generated.
Incidentally, in a radio communication using the CDMA method, it is required to despread a received data by generating the PN code having the same time waveform as the PN code used to spread the transmission data at the transmitting end. Consequently, in a receiver using the CDMA method such as a cellular phone, the phase where the PN code used at a transmitter of a base station, and so on, starts is detected, and thereafter, the PN code PN is generated from the detected phase.
In the conventional PN code generator 220, the PN code is generated from the detected phase by the following method.
Namely, the code pattern predetermined as an initial state is set to the flip-flops 221a to 221d, and then, the PN code PN is generated after the flip-flops 221a to 221d are operated until the code pattern becomes to be the one at the detected phase.
The operation of the receiver at the time of setting the code pattern at the detected phase is described with reference to FIG. 23.
At first, a synchronous detection circuit 225 detects a beginning phase of the PN code used when the CDMA signal CD is spread, from a signal of a channel for synchronous detection contained in the CDMA signal CD received at a receiving section 226 to output to a comparator 227. Next, the comparator 227 compares the beginning phase of the PN code PN detected at the synchronous detection circuit 225 and a counted value of the timer 224, and when the both value is matched, the comparator 227 outputs an initial value load signal LS to the PN code generator 220.
The PN code generator 220, to which the initial value load signal LS is inputted, sets the code pattern corresponding to the initial value load signal LS (for example, the code pattern at the first phase in FIG. 24) to the flip-flops 221a to 221d by reading out from the memory 223, or the like. After that, the PN code generator 220 starts the operation to shift the codes given to the flip-flops 221a to 221d as stated above.
In this manner, in the conventional PN code generator 220, the predetermined code pattern is set to the flip-flops 221a to 221d, and thereafter, the codes held by the flip-flops 221a to 221d are shifted, and thereby, the code pattern at the detected phase is set.
For example, when the code pattern at a 12th phase shown in FIG. 24 is specified to set, the code pattern at the first phase is set, and then, it is required to shift the codes of the flip-flops 221a to 221d for 11 times.
In FIG. 24, a case when a degree of the linear shift register (number of the flip-flops) is four is shown, but when the degree of the linear feedback shift register is N, the respective flip-flops hold "2N−1" pieces of code patterns repeatedly. The "2N−1" pieces of code patterns taken by the respective flip-flops are in different states respectively, and the same state does not exist. Consequently, the codes given to the flip-flops 221a to 221d must be shifted for the number of times corresponding to the difference between the initial phase and the detected phase, to set the code pattern at the detected phase.
Generally, the degree N of the linear shift register is large (for example, 20), and therefore, the number of times to shift the codes given to the flip-flops becomes very large to obtain the code pattern at the detected phase in the above-stated manner.
As described above, it takes a vast amount of time until the code pattern at the detected phase is set by using the linear feedback shift register to generate the PN code. Namely, in the conventional PN code generator 220, it takes a long time to generate the PN code PN at a random phase.
FIG. 25 is a view showing a configuration of a conventional PN code generator to solve these problems. Incidentally, in FIG. 25, the same reference numerals and symbols are used to designate the same and corresponding elements as in FIG. 23.
In FIG. 25, a PN code generator 240 has a structure that the codes at the respective phases outputted from the flip-flop 221d of the PN code generator 220 shown in FIG. 23 (the output code shown in FIG. 24), namely, the PN code PN is stored in a memory 241 in advance. Here, the codes at the respective phases are stored at continuous addresses of the memory 241 in order.
As an explanation of the concrete operation, at first, a synchronous detection circuit 242 detects a beginning phase of the PN code used at the base station when the CDMA signal CD is spread, from a signal of a channel for synchronous detection contained in the CDMA signal CD received at the receiving section 226, and determines the beginning phase of the PN code PN to be generated at the PN code generator 240. Next, the synchronous detection circuit 242 calculates a time CT representing a timing to generate the PN code PN at the determined phase (code first time), to output to a comparator 243.
The comparator 243 is inputted the code first time CT from the synchronous detection circuit 242, and then, reads out the time counted at the timer 244, and finds a time difference between the code first time CT and the time counted at the timer 244. Next, the comparator 243 outputs an address signal AS representing an address of the memory. 241 corresponding to the calculated time difference to the memory 241. Herewith, the code stored in the address specified by the address signal AS (namely, the PN code PN at the phase detected by the synchronous detection circuit 242) is outputted from the memory 241. Next, the comparator 243 increments the converted address, and outputs the address signal AS representing the incremented address to the memory 241. Herewith, the PN code PN which begins with the code stored in the converted address is outputted from the memory 241.
As stated above, every PN code PN outputted from the linear feedback shift register is stored in the memory 241 in advance, and thereby, the PN code PN can be generated immediately from the random phase, but the number of bits to be stored in the memory 241 becomes large. When the degree of the linear feedback shift register is N, the number of bits to be stored in the memory 241 becomes "2N−1". Consequently, when the PN code PN having a long code length (=2N−1) is to be generated, there is a problem that the number of bits to be stored in the memory 241 becomes large.
The present invention is made in consideration with the above problems, and the object thereof is to minimize the number of bits to be stored in the memory as less as possible, and to generate the PN code immediately from the random phase.

PN code generator, GOLD code generator, PN code despreader, method for generating PN code, method for generating GOLD code, method for despreading PN code and computer program