A heating system includes a structure to be heated, and a heating apparatus disposed to heat the structure. The heating apparatus includes a housing member, a plurality of resonant frequency power sources, and a plurality of associated controls. The plurality of resonant frequency power sources are attached to the housing member. The plurality of associated controllers is configured to separately operate the plurality of resonant frequency power sources at resonant frequencies matching heating requirements of the structure.

Many applications require the heating of structures. For instance, during the consolidation or molding of thermoplastics to an airplane, such as during repair in the field of a composite airplane or another type of structure, the thermoplastics may need to be heated. There are issues with many of the existing heating devices used to heat structures. One such issue is that it may be difficult to efficiently drive a large area heating device. Another such issue is that it may be difficult to design a flexible and lightweight heating device suitable for the application at hand, such as repair in the field. Yet another such issue is that some power supplies for heating devices require unacceptably high voltages and cumbersome cabling to drive the heating devices. One or more additional issues can also be experienced with the existing heating devices.
A system and method is needed to reduce one or more issues experienced by one or more of the existing heating devices.

Distributed transistor-based power supply for supplying heat to a structure


A cellular phone case in combination with a flexible packet holding an admixture of water and super absorbent material to provide heat dissipation, heat indication, and fire extinguishment properties. The cellular phone case has a translucent rear surface and the packet fits inside the case between the bottom surface of the case and the underside of a cellular phone. The packet dissipates heat during a recharging condition, and provides a fire retardant agent to arrest a lithium battery meltdown.

Cellular phone cases are designed to attach to, support, or otherwise hold a cellular phone. Conventional cellular phone protective cases generally have anti-drop, anti-shatter, anti-scratch, and waterproof properties. All of which can cause the cellular phone to retain heat. It is noted that during use or recharge, a cellular telephone may increase in temperature. This is especially noticeable when the cellular phone is being recharged.
Some cellular phones have an automatic shut-off in the case the internal temperature of the phone exceeds a predetermined temperature leaving the user to wait until the temperature returns to a normal operating level before further usage. It would be advantageous to provide a device that capable of cooling a cellular telephone in instances where it is overheated. It would also be advantageous to provide a device that changes colors to indicate a change in temperature. For example, as the temperature of the cellular telephone rises the device would be able to change color incrementally, thereby allowing the user to know when the temperature of the phone is rising.
Cellular phones have also been reported to have caught fire due to lithium battery explosions. Lithium ion batteries are used to power almost all cellular phone devices but after reports of battery explosions new concerns about their safety have arisen. Several measures were taken in light of the lithium battery explosions. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration instructs passengers to turn off the phones during flights and are contemplating their placement in checked baggage has a preventative measure. Additionally, the Consumer Product Safety Commission advised consumers to stop charging or using the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.
Because of the usefulness of lithium ion batteries, it is unlikely that they will cease to be used in cellular phone devices. Lithium ion batteries are rechargeable, built directly into the cell phone device, and rely on lithium as their primary fuel. Lithium ion batteries work by storing energy and releasing it through controlled chemical reactions. Software inside the cellular phone determines exactly how much the battery should be charged and how fast, if those protocols are set incorrectly, it can destabilize some chemicals inside the battery and cause a chain reaction that researchers call a "thermal runaway" and may lead to fire or explosions.
Thus it would be advantageous to provide a cellular phone case having a device attached to the cellular phone case that can help dissipate heat as well as protect the phone from lithium ion battery failure.
It is further noted that a cell phone is not just a device that connects people and provides media; it has also become a fashion accessory. Color is an important factor people consider when buying mobile devices and cases. Companies have taken advantage of this by offering various colored telephones and associated cases. For example, during the arrival of Valentine's Day colors like chocolate brown and red become popular and cellular phone and case companies advertise these colors to play on the need for new fashion accessories by consumers. Companies have targeted age groups by offering various colors that attract specific age groups as well as genders. Teenage girls like shades of pink, lavender etc. to show their "girly" side. Many girls have wardrobes full of cell phone covers just to match their different dresses. Older boys, on the other hand, like gothic and psychedelic colors. In today's expanding world of cellular phones and accessories, there is a cell phone case color for each person that is an extension of each person's individuality, expression, and personality.
Thus it would advantageous to provide a cellular phone case having interchangeable cooling gel packets that come in various colors to provide an extension of each person's individuality, expression, and personality. Alternatively, a gel pack capable of changing color with the addition of heat provides both an indication of the temperature demands as well as a safety factor should the cell phone battery have a thermal meltdown.


The present invention relates to a surgical manipulator for remotely grasping and manipulating things in response to movements of a human hand controlling the device. Movements of human fingers can be transmitted to mechanical finger-like devices through mechanical cables and linkages. In one embodiment the linkages include a mechanical movement reduction device to translate large hand movements to smaller distal movements. Various structures are provided at the proximal and distal ends for sensing and replicating the movements of a human hand.

In the recent field of endoscopic minimal invasive surgery and also in many technical sectors, it is frequently difficult to work with manual dexterity in inaccessible areas. For that reason many appliances have been developed to execute special gripping and manipulating work. The disadvantage of those special tools is however that the appliances must repeatedly be exchanged as the operation proceeds. It would thus be an advantage if the operator could work with a miniature artificial hand in inaccessible areas.
The invention deals with the problem of providing the operator with a manipulator which
directly takes up the movements of the human arm, hand and fingers and PA1 transmits these movements directly to an identical unit in terms of form and function, which PA1 can be pushed through narrow channels, such as the trocars of modern minimal invasive surgery into the site of operation, where it functions in the same way as a hand and is simultaneously PA1 simply constructed so that it is easy to wear.
Appliances which take up the movement of human movements of the remote control of gripping devices in robots are already known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,138 and French Patent Number 2,416,094 show an appliance which measures the movement of the human hand either directly by electric sensors situated in the hand or via mechanical rods to electric sensors further away from the hand. These sensors pass on the electric signal to control a gripping device.
Appliances which function like a human hand in terms of form and function are already known. None, however, are controlled directly by the human limbs in a purely mechanical fashion. In that respect U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,761 shows an appliance which is operated by means of a system of hydraulically acting pistons and the movement of which is transmitted to the fingers by means of cords (strings) using pulley constructions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,646 shows an appliance powered by servo-motors in which a whole finger of one hand is bent via a double winch construction and stretched via a spiral spring using stretch cords. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,723 the stretch movement is also executed with the aid of a spiral spring and the bending movement with the aid of a pulley. U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,293 also shows fingers moved by means of pulley constructions.
In the aforesaid appliances, the control signals from the control unit are transmitted to the gripping device electrically. Mechanical transmission is known in DE-AS-2048563, in which a firmly installed working arm is moved via pulleys. The movement executed by the appliance arm, however, is not taken up and transmitted from the arm of the operator, but by a control arm which has to be moved by that person. In the case of that appliance, the operator must continually consider how to steer the control arm in order to bring the working arm into the position required.
The same occurs in the idea presented in DE-2939452, which also concerns not a portable but a fixed appliance. Both arms have a direct swivel connection via an axle so that swivelling the control arm leads to a corresponding swivel movement of the secondary arm. Because of that design, however, the appliance cannot be used to control movements through a narrow channel, such as that of a trocar. That, however, is the aim of one of the features of the invention described here. The two parallelograms shown in specification DE-2939452 are integral components of the arms without which no movement whatsoever can be executed. Movement transmission is achieved by pushing or pulling wires or threads. The levers or pantographic elements serve only to correct the path of these wires or threads and are not integral parts of the appliance sections. Movement of the appliance sections is also possible without the above elements, so that they are used only to adjust the Bowden cable movement. That adjustment is important, e.g., if a new and smaller distal hand is to be attached to an existing proximal one. Special movements can thereby be attained in the manner specified below.
All these prior appliances are unsuitable for use in inaccessible areas with small dimensions--such as the human abdominal cavity--owing to their size and complicated structure.


A multi-flame lighter includes a housing, an igniter, a liquid fuel supply, a valve, a vaporizer, a mixing chamber, a nozzle, and a flame chamber. The multi-flame lighter produces clearly visible and forceful flames that are aesthetically pleasing and functional being equivalent to 2 or more of the flames from a conventional tighter as well as being particularly wind resistant. The multiple clearly visible and forceful flames allow a user to easily aim the cigarette or cigar to quickly achieve ignition and easily ignite the cigarette or cigar for ignition and easily ignite the cigarette of cigar with the multiple clearly visible flames.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a lighter that is commonly used to light cigarette and cigars. The lighter of the present invention produces multiple visible flames that are aesthetically pleasing, functional, and wind resistant.
2. Description of Related Art
A lighter is a common tool that replaces matches as a source of fire to ignite cigarettes and cigars. The lighter is easier to carry and safer than matches. The lighter is also more aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, depending on the design, a lighter is generally more wind resistant than a match.
A lighter commonly uses a combustible gas in a liquid state as fuel. The gas is released through valves and ignited with an ignition mean such as the piezoelectric igniter. Once ignited, the visible flame produced can be used to ignite cigarettes and cigars. Generally, the flame produced is a single visible flame that is in the shape of a water droplet. The flame is susceptible to extinguishment by winds. The single flame is often difficult to aim and therefore difficult to ignite cigarettes and, particularly, cigars.
The present invention is a multi-flame lighter which comprises of a housing, an ignition mean, a fuel housing containing combustible liquid fuel, a valve, a connecting tube, an adjustable valve, a vaporizer, a mixing chamber, a nozzle, and a flame chamber. The present invention requires far fewer parts than any existing lighters that can produce multiple clearly visible flames. The manufacturing and parts cost of the present invention is much lower than the existing lighters that can produce multiple flames due to the single valve, connecting tube, single adjustable valve, single vaporizer, single mixing chamber, and single nozzle configuration. The multi-flame lighter produces multiple clearly visible flames that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. The multiple visible and forceful flames are equivalent to 2 or more of the flames from a conventional lighter and are wind resistant. The multiple visible flames may be in various configurations and shapes.


A ship hull microbubble system is adapted to reduce drag on a ship hull traveling through water. The ship hull microbubble system includes a ballast pump, mechanically coupled to a ballast main pipe which is further connected to a forward peak tank with a forward peak tank valve. A venturi injector is joined to the ballast main pipe with a riser pipe. A discharge pipe is joined to the venturi injector and further piercing the ship hull. An air water mixture is formed when water pulled into the ballast pump receives air from the venturi injector. Discharging the air water mixture through the discharge pipe creates a plurality of microbubbles against the ship hull that reduces the drag on the ship hull when travelling through water.

The embodiments herein relate generally to shipboard mechanical systems in a field commonly called marine engineering.
Prior to embodiments of the disclosed invention, power driven marine vessels were inefficient in fuel consumption as a result of drag against the hull of the marine vessel. Embodiments of the current invention solve this problem.


A printed wiring board is formed from two or more layers, one of which has circuit lines formed thereon, and wherein the surfaces of the circuit lines are roughened only in areas that require good copper to laminate adhesion. The remainder of the circuit line surfaces are smooth. Thus, those areas for propagation of the signal on signal lines have the circuit lines smooth to maximize the signal propagation effect, while those areas where the signal propagation is not critical are rough, which improves the adhesion of one layer to another. On the voltage planes, the surface in those regions opposite the smooth surfaces of the signal planes is smooth. Thus, these areas of the voltage planes can be maintained smooth while the other areas of the surface of the voltage planes can be roughened, providing good adhesion to the adjoining dielectric material.

This invention relates generally to printed wiring boards and, more particularly, to a technique and the resultant product for forming printed wiring boards wherein the technique includes laminating at least two layers together to form the printed wiring board.
High frequency applications in the field of printed wiring boards, i.e. one GHz and above, are driving the need for smooth copper features on the surfaces of the signal lines. This need is due to the so-called skin effect where, as frequency increases, the path of the electrical signal tends toward the outer surface of the conductor. Hence, roughness on the surface of the copper in high frequency applications will result in higher surface resistivity and longer effective line length, both of which contribute to higher conductive losses for the signal. Also, signal integrity can be affected by the roughness in the ground or voltage planes that are referenced by a signal line in a composite board structure.
However, conventional printed wiring board processes, such as lamination, depend on roughened copper surfaces in order to provide adequate adhesion of the copper to dielectric laminate in the composite laminated structure. Typically, the exposed surfaces of internal wiring planes and voltage planes of a layer prior to lamination are initially smooth, and then are roughened to promote adhesion. Techniques for roughening the copper include the oxide and oxide replacement processes, as well as the application of brass, or zinc and/or nickel on the copper surface. Conventionally, the roughening treatment is applied to all the exposed copper surfaces prior to, as well as after, personalization of the copper plane. Thus, the two competing problems require different surface roughnesses for optimum benefit; i.e., a very smooth surface of the conductive material is desired for a most efficient signal propagation, while a roughened surface is desired for optimum adhesion of copper to the dielectric material.
It has been found that roughening of the conductors on the printed wiring board structure is critical only in certain regions and not required for the entire length of each of the circuit traces or signal lines. In fact, the mechanical and chemical exposures are greatest where a signal or power plane intersect a plated through hole. Therefore, the need is greater for good copper to laminate adhesion at this intersection than in the open, non-drilled areas of the board. Thus, according to the present invention, a printed wiring board is formed from two or more layers, one of which has circuit lines formed thereon, and wherein the surfaces of the circuit lines or traces are selectively roughened only in those areas that require very good copper to laminate adhesion, whereas the remainder of the surface of the circuit lines or traces are maintained in essentially a smooth condition. This provides a good solution to the conflicting needs for good adhesion and good signal propagation qualities since there is only a limited or relatively small area that requires very good adhesion, and these areas are generally so small that they do not materially affect the propagation of the signals on the signal lines. Thus, those critical areas for propagation of the signal on signal lines or traces can have the circuit lines or traces smooth to maximize the signal propagation effect, while those limited areas where the signal propagation is not critical can be roughened so as to improve the adhesion of one layer to another. Therefore, in the resulting board, adequate adhesion can be obtained while still providing a significantly better signal propagation than is possible with the roughened conductor surface.
It has also been found that on the voltage planes (including power and ground planes) smoothing the surface of the voltage plane in those regions opposite the smooth surface regions of the signal planes improves the performance of the signal propagation. Thus, these limited areas of the voltage planes can be maintained smooth while the other areas of the surface of the voltage planes can be roughened, which provides the necessary adhesion of the voltage plane to the adjoining layer of dielectric material between the voltage plane and the signal plane.
In the case of both signal and voltage planes, the application of selective roughening is not necessarily dictated solely by the location of signal lines and plated through holes, but can be customized for a specific board design by balancing the electrical signal performance characteristics and mechanical requirements of that board. For example, one design may require smooth conductors on every signal line and the respective area of the reference planes, another design may prescribe smooth conductors on the signal lines only and not the reference planes, while still another may have only a few select number of signal lines requiring smooth conductors for optimum electrical performance, allowing all other conductors roughened for maximum mechanical adhesion.

Selectively roughening conductors for high frequency printed wiring boards

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed is a handheld electronic device with positioning function that includes a device body that contains a transceiver circuit module, a positioning element, and a counterpart positioning element that corresponds to the positioning element in order to effect mutual positioning with respect to each other. The positioning element and the counterpart positioning element are both mounted to one side of the device body. Through rotating or putting up-side down one of two handheld electronic devices, the two handheld electronic devices can be positioned with respect to each other through the positioning elements and the counterpart positioning elements so as to have the transceiver circuit modules of the two handheld electronic devices precisely aligning with each other.

Charging of a battery contained in a handheld electronic device has been evolved from wired charging to unidirectional wireless charging, and even bidirectional wireless charging, which means both wireless charging and wireless discharging can be done.
Bidirectional wireless charging employs a transceiver circuit module to effect wireless transmission and wireless reception in order to allow electrical power of a first handheld electronic device to be transmitted to and stored in a second handheld electronic device, or oppositely, to allow the electrical power of the second handheld electronic device to be transmitted to and stored in the first handheld electronic device.
Such bidirectional wireless charging is convenient, but there is always loss of electrical power in the process of wireless transmission and reception. To provide the maximum efficiency of wireless charging/discharging, proper alignment between two transceiver circuits is very critical.
A conventional positioning structure that is used for unidirectional wireless charging comprises a magnetic attraction body mounted to a charger and having the positive pole facing outward and a magnetic attraction body mounted to a handheld electronic device with the negative pole facing outward. To proceed with charging, the positive pole of the magnetic attraction body of the charger is positioned close to the negative pole of the magnetic attraction body of the handheld electronic device to allow positioning to be done by the positive pole of the magnetic attraction body attracting the negative pole of the magnetic attraction body together.
However, such a positioning structure for unidirectional wireless charging is not applicable to bidirectional wireless charging/discharging. For example, the positive pole of the magnetic attraction body of the charger can attract and attach to the negative pole of the magnetic attraction body of a first handheld electronic device for wireless charging, but if the already-charged first handheld electronic device is to wirelessly charge a second handheld electronic device, due to the repulsion induced between poles of identical polarity, the negative pole of the magnetic attraction body of the first handheld electronic device is expelled from attach to the negative pole of the magnetic attraction body of the second handheld electronic device, leading to improper positioning and thus poor charging efficiency due to improper positioning.
Thus, the challenge that the present invention intends to overcome is to provide a handheld electronic device that has a positioning function and the positioning function is applicable to bidirectional wireless charging/discharging.

Handheld electronic device with positioning function


An in-line roller skate is described, which consists of a chassis (2) equipped with at least two rollers (3) and which has two platforms (4, 5) and a boot (1) with a flexible upper resting on the platforms and connected to these platforms by a rigid part consisting of a footbed (17) connected to the inside of the flexible upper. The sole is thus securely held between the rigid footbed and at least the rear platform of the chassis.

The invention relates to an in-line roller skate consisting of a chassis equipped with at least two rollers and having two platforms and with a boot with a flexible upper resting on the platforms and connected to the chassis by a rigid part.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,466 discloses an in-line roller skate the boot of which consists of a flexible upper bonded to a rigid base, itself welded to the chassis or forming an integral part of this chassis. Such a construction does not allow the boot to be detached from the chassis, for example to replace the boot by a boot of a different size.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,752 and U.S. Pat. No. CA 2,101,718 disclose roller skates with releasable boots, consisting of a chassis formed integrally with means of supporting the boot and of a boot with a flexible sole and upper allowing walking. The support means are in the form of a rigid cradle to which a cuff intended to surround the upper part of the boot upper is hinged. As the practice of roller skating is essentially a summer sport, the front part of the cradle, which surrounds and covers the front of the foot, is perforated to allow air to the foot, but in spite of this the ventilation is often insufficient. What is more, while it is true that the flexible boot is pressed against the bottom and sides of the cradle, it can however move and deform in the cradle, which means that the connection between foot and skaters is not as good as it is in a fixed-boot skate.
Published Patent Appliecation DE 30 43 425 discloses a skate in which the flexible upper of the boot is held between a rigid inner sole and a rigid outer piece the assembly being fixed non-releasably to two platforms of the chassis by studs from the inner sole passing through the rigid outer piece and the platforms to which they are fixed by crushing.
The object of the invention is to obtain a roller skate in which the boot, fixed or releasable, has a flexible upper, is well ventilated, and can be fixed to a chassis in a readily detachable or releasable way, particularly to a standard chassis, and in which the connection to the chassis is provided by a rigid part which provides a good interface between the leg and the chassis, with practically no play.
To this end, the roller skate according to the invention is one wherein the rigid part of the boot consists exclusively of a footbed or inside connected to the inside of the flexible upper and extending at least from the heel to about the middle of the sole.
According to an embodiment with a non-releasable but detachable boot, the rigid insole extends from the heel to the front end of the boot and is fixed to the platforms of the chassis by screws resting on the insole. In order to detach the boot from the chassis all that is therefore required is for the comfort sole covering the insole to be removed and the screws unscrewed. It is thus easily possible to replace the boot with a boot of a different size or to replace a damaged boot such a boot can be used with a standard chassis like those available commercially.
According to another embodiment, the insole of two rigid parts which overlap each other between the points at which the insole is fixed to the platforms so as to be longitudinally moveable one with respect to the other and at least one of the platforms and/or one of the parts of the insole is designed in such a way as to allow the insole to be attached with said parts in different relative positions. The boot can thus be adapted to the length of the foot, particularly in the case of skates for children and youths.
The skate will generally be equipped with a heel reinforcement at the rear, to which a bottom of-cuff is hinged. However, there is no rigid part covering the front of the boot, which means that this front part, which tends to perspire, remains well ventilated.
According to a releasable-boot embodiment, the rigid insole extends from the heel to about the middle of the sole and has attachment means for releasably fixing it to the chassis, the latter being equipped with corresponding releasable means of attachment.
According to one embodiment of this releasable-boot skate, the attachment means consist, at the front, of a hook secured to the chassis and engaging longitudinally in or over the rigid footbed and, at the rear, of a pawl secured to the chassis and of a toothed part at the rear of the rigid insole, in which toothed part said pawl engages.

In-line roller skate with detachable boot


A computer-implemented method of obfuscating communication traffic patterns may include detecting, at a first communications device, data communication sessions with a second communications device via the computer server using a network protocol. At the first device, a first traffic pattern is accessed based on the data communication sessions over a first predefined time period. At the first communications device, a second traffic pattern is accessed based on the data communication sessions over a second predefined time period that occurs after the first predefined time period. At the first communications device, based on a randomization process, a dummy data communication pattern is generated for transmission to the second communication devices, whereby the dummy data communication pattern is appended to the second traffic pattern for obfuscating a traffic pattern change between the first and the second traffic pattern at the computer server used to establish the communication sessions.

The present invention generally relates to data communication security, and more particularly, to anonymizing data communications that are associated with one or more communication networks.
With increases in communication speeds and technology, more and more information is exchanged over various communication networks. This increased information exchange has also elevated the unauthorized accessing of such information, thus raising security concerns. For example, when Entity A communicates with Entity B, the unauthorized detection of patterns in the data communications between these two entities can expose various aspects of confidential dealings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Anonymization of traffic patterns over communication networks

International Business Machines Corporation


This invention is a new method for preparing compounds useful as antimalarial agents having the formula; ##STR1## wherein R is hydrogen, a linear, branched or cyclo lower alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms; aminoalkyl; branched aminoalkyl; hydroxyalkyl: alkylcarboxylate or alkylbenzoate groups having 1 to 5 carbon atoms in the alkyl chains; aryl; alkoxy-substituted aryl; heteroaryl; and pyridinium groups. The method comprises treating artemisinic acid with a methylating agent followed by a stereoselective reduction of the methylated compound, subjecting the reduced compound to a Grignard addition followed by chiral photoxidation with subsequent treatment with a cyclization agent.

Malaria is the number one infectious disease in the world today. Notwithstanding that it was believed that malaria was close to becoming eradicated in the 1960's with the use of quinine, chloroquine and DDT, it was not. Rather malaria is an ever growing problem throughout the world. Approximately 200 million people in endemic areas are infected annually. Worldwide, over two million people die each year from malaria. This shocking reality is due in part to the emergence of drug resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal malarial parasite known to date. More specifically, a high percentage of malaria today is caused by chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum.
Artemisinin (Qinghaosu), first isolated by the Chinese from the leaves of Artemisia annua in 1972, is known to be a fast acting, safe and effective drug against chloroquine-resistant and sensitive strains of Plasmodium falciparum, as well as against cerebral malaria. No side effects, common to many synthetic antimalarials, have been reported by the Chinese during the past six years of clinical use of artemisinin. Unfortunately, one of the disadvantages o artemisinin is that the compound is only sparingly soluble in either water or oils and thus not readily absorbable by the gastrointestinal tract. Another disadvantage of the drug resides is the fact that large doses (3.times.400 mg/day per patient) of the drug are required for therapetic efficacy. A more ideal drug with enhanced antimalarial activity and improved physical and bioavailability properties is an urgent need to treat chloroquine-resistant malaria.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,147 to McChesney and Jung, there is described a novel method of preparing deoxoartemisinin comprising essentially a one-step process of directly reducing artemisinin, derived from the leaves of Artemisia annua, with a mild reducing agent followed by refluxing the mixture to yield the deoxoartemisinin.
The structural complexity of artemisinin, particularly the presence of a peroxide bridge which must be preserved for drug efficacy and chemically sensitive lactone ring, has rendered the preparation of derivatives of artemisinin without a carbonyl function extremely difficult. This difficulty is one of the reasons that the method described in the aforementioned patent represents such an advance in the art; however, the yields of deoxoartemisinin produced by the method of the patent is limited by the availability of artemisinin. Moreover, there has not been any practical method of preparing derivatives of (+)-deoxoartemisinin and compounds which are analogues of deoxoartemisinin useful as antimalarial agents. The new compounds are producible in extremely large quantities from the same quantity of-leaves of Artemisia annua required to prepare the small amounts of deoxoartemisinin prepared using the method of the prior art. In accordance with the method of the invention, (+)-deoxoartemisinin may be prepared simply and practically in quantities substantially six times greater than the known method using as a starting material artemisinic acid derived from the leaves of Artemisia annua.

Method of preparing (+)-deoxoartemisinin and selected analogues of (+)-deoxoartemisinin


There is disclosed a process for producing an ethylenic oligomer which comprises subjecting ethylene to oligomerization reaction in an organic solvent in the presence of a Ziegler based catalyst, and recyclingly using for the oligomerization reaction, the organic solvent separated by distilling the resultant oligomerization reaction product, wherein the water concentration in the oligomerization reaction system is at most 8 ppm by weight, or the concentration of olefins which have at least 3 carbon atoms and which are contained in the organic solvent to be recycled in the oligomerization reaction system is at most 2% by weight. The process of the present invention can maintain the catalytic activity of the catalyst at a high level.

The present invention relates to a process for producing an ethylenic oligomer. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a process for producing an ethylenic oligomer which is capable of producing a high quality ethylenic oligomer having enhanced purity, and in which a Ziegler based catalyst can maintain a high catalytic activity, when producing an ethylenic oligomer which is useful as a starting material for high molecular polymers, plasticizers, surfactants and the like by the use of the foregoing catalyst.
An ethylenic oligomer is a useful substance which is widely used as a starting monomer material for olefin polymers, as a comonomer for a variety of high molecular polymers, as a starting material for plasticizers, surfactants and the like. Usually, the ethylenic oligomer is produced by oligomerizing ethylene as the starting material by the use of a Ziegler based catalyst. The production process generally comprises the step of oligomerization reaction, the step of recovering unreacted ethylene, the step of deactivating the catalyst and deashing and the step of fractionating the solvent used therein and ethylenic oligomer.
A production process in which a Ziegler based catalyst is used as a catalyst for oligomerization reaction involves a problem in that a large amount of water, when being mixed in the reaction system, brings about partial deactivation of the catalyst, which as a result, causes deterioration of product quality such as the formation of organochlorine components upon ethylene oligomerization.
Such being the case, the process for producing an ethylenic oligomer by using a Ziegler based catalyst involves a fear of deteriorating the catalytic activity due to water present in the reaction system, particularly the water introduced from a reaction solvent into the reaction system. In particular, in the case of recovering unreacted ethylene from the oligomerization product, deactivating the catalyst and deashing, thereafter recycling the organic solvent separated by distillation through the reaction system and reusing it as a reaction solvent, there has been a fear of a large amount of water being mixed in the reaction system during the operation. Accordingly, it has been desired to decrease the amount of water mixed in the reaction system, particularly the amount of water in the reaction solvent to be recycled and at the same time, to maintain the catalytic activity at a highest possible level.
In the method comprising the above-mentioned process, in the case of recycling the organic solvent finally obtained in a fractionating system through the oligomerization reaction system for the purpose of reuse, considerable amounts of resultant olefins as ethylenic oligomers are mixed in the organic solvent. In general, the ethylenic oligomer produced by the foreging process contains impurities such as paraffin, internal olefin and branched olefin, which impurities cause marked deterioration in the quality of a polyethylene resin and the like as the final products. In particular, it has been proved that in the case of recycling an organic solvent in the oligomerization reaction system for use as a reaction solvent, the foregoing unfavorable result is made remarkable by the existence of an olefin which is other than ethylene and is contained in the organic solvent. Moreover the catalyst, which is formulated in the presence of a solvent, brings about the possibility of causing deterioration in catalytic activity or clogging in a catalyst feed line due to olefin polymerization.
That is to say, the present invention consists in providing a method for maintaining a catalytic activity at a high level in a process for producing an ethylenic oligomer which employs a Ziegler based catalyst and recyclingly uses a reaction solvent.
Moreover, the present invention consists in providing a method capable of affording a highly pure ethylenic oligomer free from an impurity in a process for producing an ethylenic oligomer which employs a Ziegler based catalyst and recyclingly uses a reaction solvent.
In view of the above-mentioned subject, intensive extensive research and investigation were accumulated by the present inventors. As a result, it has been found that the objects of the present invention can be achieved by reducing water present in the reaction system, particularly the water introduced from a reaction solvent into the reaction system, especially from an organic reaction solvent to be recyclingly used thereinto. Further it has been found that the objects of the present invention can be achieved by reducing olefinic components that are other than ethylene and are present in the reaction system, particularly the aforesaid olefinic components introduced from a reaction solvent into the reaction system, especially from an organic reaction solvent to be recyclingly used thereinto. Thus the present invention has been accomplished on the basis of the foregoing findings and information.
Specifically, the present invention provides a process for producing an ethylenic oligomer which comprises subjecting ethylene to oligomerization reaction in an organic solvent in the presence of a Ziegler based catalyst, and recyclingly using for the oligomerization reaction, the organic solvent separated by distillng the resultant oligomerization reaction product, wherein the water concentration in the oligomerization reaction system is at most 8 ppm by weight, in particular the water concentration in the organic solvent to be recycled in the oligomerization reaction system is at most 8 ppm by weight (first aspect of the present application).
In addition, the present invention provides a process for producing an ethylenic oligomer which comprises subjecting ethylene to oligomerization reaction in an organic solvent in the presence of a Ziegler based catalyst, and recyclingly using for the oligomerization reaction, the organic solvent separated by distillng the resultant oligomerization reaction product, wherein the concentration of olefins having at least three carbon atoms in the organic solvent to be recycled in the oligomerization reaction system is at most 2% by weight (second aspect of the present application).

Process for producing low polymer of ethylene


A method is provided for receiving a received data signal including at least one symbol block received and representative of a source signal. The method includes at least one iteration for improving an estimate of the received signal and including the following steps, for a current equalized symbol block: obtaining one or more decided bits, by bit-by-bit decoding a current subset of bits; updating one or more symbols, according to the decoded bit or bits, delivering an updated block of estimated symbols; determining a block of equalized symbols enhanced by canceling interferences, taking account of the updated block of estimated symbols.

A discussion follows here below of the techniques of the prior art with reference to the particular case of MIMO-OFDM systems, i.e. multiple-input and multiple-output multi-antenna communication systems implementing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).
MIMO-OFDM systems can be used especially to implement iterative reception techniques which, as and when the iterations are done, improve the quality of the estimation of the sent signal as a function of the received signal.
As shall be seen here below, these techniques rely on a successive and repeated implementation of elementary modules so that these different modules exchange information on the reliability of the operation performed.
There are very many known techniques of iterative reception for multiple antennas systems in transmission and/or in reception.
These iterative techniques include especially:                receivers implementing an maximum likelihood (ML) type algorithm which have the drawback of inducing high processing complexity;        receivers based on linear filters such as those proposed by M. Sellathurai and S. Haykin in Turbo-blast for wireless communications: theory and experiments, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, Vol. 50, No. 10, pp. 2538-2546, 2002. These receivers rely on MMSE (minimum mean square error) type filtering techniques and interference cancellation. They have the advantage, as compared to maximum likelihood receivers, of being far less complex.
Certain of the algorithms implemented in receivers based on linear filters, and this is the case of an embodiment of the present invention, rely on an approximation in which the estimation of the symbols is considered to be perfect as of the second equalization, for the computation of the coefficients of the equalization filter (also called a total equalization block here below) which are then computed only twice for each block.
Referring to FIG. 1, a description is now made of the classic functional sequence of a transmission device 100 (commonly called a transmitter) of a source signal 10 formed by binary elements in a MIMO-OFDM type transmission context.
The (binary) source signal 10 to be sent undergoes a channel encoding CC11 and then a Π interleaving 12. It then goes through a "mapping module M, 13 intended to convert binary elements or bits into complex symbols: a module of this kind thus associates a group of bits with a complex symbol belonging to a constellation (of a QPSK, 16 QAM or other type). The sequence of symbols output from the mapping module M 13 is commonly called an M-ary signal. A space-time block encoding 14 is then performed for each group of Q symbols which are then modulated in blocks 151, 152 to 15Nt according to an OFDM type multi-carrier modulation technique, and then sent on Nt transmission antennas 161, 162 to 16Nt.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the classic functional chain of a reception device 200 (commonly called a receiver) of a signal sent by the above-mentioned transmission device 100 has two stages, namely a "space-time decoder" 24 (i.e. a converter of symbols into bits) and a channel decoder 26 which exchanges extrinsic or a posteriori information in an iterative loop until the receiver converges. These stages may be separated especially by an interleaver 22i, used to decorrelate the outputs and then give them to the next decoding stage. In other words, the information exchanged will be decorrelated from one stage to another.
Thus, a signal r is received on NR receive antennas referenced 251 to 25NR, then demodulated into blocks 271, 272 to 27NR, according to a demodulation technique which is the reverse of the multi-carrier technique implemented at transmission Each receive antenna 251 to 25NR receives a linear combination of the symbols sent on each of the Nt transmit antennas. The first decoding stage 24 comprises a first space-time linear decoding block 20 (here below also called a total equalization block) according to a criterion, for example an MMSE or "zero forcing>> (ZF) type criterion. The equalized signal {tilde over (s)}(p) output from the space-time decoding block 20 is then fed into a "demapping" module M−1 231, and then undergoes a de-interleaving operation Π−1 221 and then a channel decoding CC−1 21. At output of the second channel decoding stage 26, an estimated flexible binary signal {circumflex over (d)} is obtained on the encoded bits (it may be recalled that the bits used in the iterative process are called "flexible" because their value depends on the probability of the bits).
Since the method is iterative, this estimated flexible binary signal {circumflex over (d)} is subjected to another interleaving Π 222 and another "mapping" M 232, in order to obtain an estimated M-ary signal ŝ(p) that can be re-injected into the space-time decoding block 20 for a following iteration to improve the estimation of the signal received.
At the first iteration, the receiver carries out a classic equalization of the received signal because no estimated signal is available. At the following iterations on the contrary, the previously estimated symbols are used by the equalizer to cancel one or more interferences affecting the received signal.
Classically, receivers based on linear filters implement interference-cancellation mechanisms that rely on the use of blocks of symbols.
According to this iterative reception technique, it is necessary for all the bits that form the symbols of a space-time block to be decoded in order to subtract the interferences affecting the symbols which form the received signal.
More specifically (referring to FIG. 2), the "demapping" module M−1 231, which works symbol by symbol receives a block 201 of equalized symbols formed by Q equalized symbols (corresponding to the equalized symbol {tilde over (s)}(p)) and delivers packets 202 of nb converted bits.
The de-interleaving module Π−1 221 processes all the nb converted bits, bit block by bit block (the bit block having a size equal to the de-interleaving size of the module 221), and delivers blocks 203 of de-interleaved blocks.
The channel decoding module CC−1 21 receives the blocks 203 of de-interleaved bits and, after a certain latency, delivers blocks 204 of decoded bits formed by one or more bits.
The interleaving module Π−1 222 processes all the blocks 204 of decoded bits, bit block by bit block (the bit block having a size equal to the interleaving size of the module 222), and delivers blocks 205 of interleaved bits.
Then, the mapping module M 232, which works by packets of nb bits, receives the blocks 205 of interleaved bits and delivers estimated symbols 206.
Finally, the total equalization block 20 waits to have Q estimated symbols at input to determine a block of equalized symbols improved by interference cancellation.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a description shall be provided of the classic functional chain of an MMSE-IC (MMSE interference canceller according to an MEQM or mean quadratic error minimization criterion) implemented by the above-mentioned reception device 200.
For the sake of clarity, the following notations will be used here below in the document:                H designates a matrix representing the transmission channel of the sent signal 10;        I designates an identity matrix sized Q×Q;        σ2=1/SNR is the variance of the equivalent noise, also equal to the reverse of the mean signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) observed on each receive antenna; and        G=HH·H is a total equalization matrix.
The interference cancellation mechanism 300 receives the estimated M-ary signal ŝ(p) and the received signal r at input. It performs the following operations:                adapted filtering 302 of the received signal r by application of the transconjugate matrix of the channel HH delivering a filtered signal;        creation 301 of the interference from an estimated M-ary signal ŝ(p) by left multiplication of this estimated M-ary signal by an interference matrix J=G−diag(G). More generally, this interference matrix must at least take account of the channel matrix H;        subtraction of the interferences obtained at output of the block referenced 301 from the filtered signal obtained at output of the filtering block 302 to obtain an improved signal;        equalization 303 of the improved signal delivering an equalized M-ary signal {tilde over (s)}(p) by application of the matrix (diag (G)+σ2I)1. More generally, this equalization matrix must at least take account of the channel matrix H.
Thus, according to this technique of iterative reception, a cancellation of interferences is done after the complete estimation of a block of symbols.
One drawback of this prior art technique is that it cannot be used for optimal management of the computing power of the receiver because of the sequential execution of the different elementary modules of the iterative loop. Indeed, a sequencing of this kind consists of the computation, one by one, of the estimated symbols and the rebuilding as and when an estimated symbol becomes available, of a block of estimated symbols to carry out the cancellation of the interference. In other words, for a given block of equalized symbols, it is necessary to await the estimation of all the symbols to execute the operations relating to the cancellation of interference. These operations are therefore distributed non-uniformly in that the cancellation of interference can only be done after retrieval of all the decoded and then re-interleaved bits of the space-time block.
The inventors have furthermore noted that the sequential management of the elementary modules of a receiver may prompt an increase in the processing time at reception when the interference cancellation operations are processed in series or an increase in the complexity of the receiver when they are processed in parallel.

Method and device for receiving a data signal consisting of symbol blocks and corresponding computer program


A thermal transfer sheet of the present invention is used in order to previously form an image in a receptor layer of the intermediate transfer recording medium before the receptor layer is re-transferred to a transfer receiving material, and it comprises: a substrate film, a peelable layer disposed on the substrate film, and a heat fusible black ink layer disposed on the substrate film via the peelable layer, wherein the peelable layer is formed of a material having peelable property to the substrate film while having adhesive property to the transfer receiving material so that the peelable layer is transferred to the receptor layer of the intermediate transfer recording medium together with the heat fusible black ink layer when the image is formed in the receptor layer so as to constitute an uppermost layer of the receptor layer, the uppermost layer being adhesive to the transfer receiving material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal transfer sheet, and in particular to a thermal transfer sheet to be used in order to form an image in a receptor layer of an intermediate transfer recording medium which is one kind of receptor layer-transfer sheets utilized to transfer the receptor layer on a transfer receiving material together with the image previously formed in the receptor layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, there have been known various types of thermal transfer recording methods, in which a thermal transfer sheet, having a substrate sheet on which a coloring material layer is disposed, and a transfer receiving material, on which a receptor layer is disposed, are mutually superposed and pressed between a heating device such as a thermal head and a platen roll, and the heat-generating members of the heating device are selectively heated depending on image information. As a result, the coloring material contained in the coloring material layer of the thermal transfer sheet migrates to the transfer receiving material, realizing the thermal transfer recording. Of these methods, a heat fusion type thermal transfer method and a sublimation type thermal transfer method have been most commonly used.
In the heat fusion type thermal transfer method, a thermal transfer sheet carrying a heat fusible ink layer is heated by the heating device as mentioned above, and softened or molten heat fusible ink is transferred to the transfer receiving material such as a paper made of natural fiber, plastic sheet or the like, thus forming an image. The heat fusible ink layer is composed by dispersing a coloring material such as pigment into heat fusible binder such as wax or resin, and carried on a substrate sheet of the thermal transfer sheet such as plastic film. Images formed by this heat fusion type thermal transfer method have higher density and superior sharpness, and this method is therefore suitable for recording of binary images consisting letters and/or drawings. In addition, it is possible to form a multi-color image by subjecting the transfer receiving material to a transfer process with the use of a thermal transfer sheet having heat fusible ink layers of various colors, for example, three colors comprising yellow, magenta and cyan or four colors further comprising black.
In the sublimation type thermal transfer method as another common method, a thermal transfer sheet carrying a sublimation dye layer is heated by the similar heating device, and the dye is sublimated from the layer and transferred to the transfer receiving material, thus forming an image. The sublimation dye layer is composed by dissolving or dispersing the sublimation dye of the coloring material into a binder resin, and carried on a substrate sheet of the thermal transfer sheet such as plastic film. The sublimation type thermal transfer method is capable of controlling an amount of the transferred dye by each dot depending on extent of energy applied from the heating device such as the thermal head, thus realizing reproduction of gradation via change of density. In addition, since the dye is utilized as the coloring material, the formed image has an improved transparency, thus providing an improved reproducibility of an intermediate color prepared by superposing plural colors with the use of the corresponding dye layers. Accordingly, it is possible to form a full color or natural color image having a high quality, when the dyes of three or four colors are transferred to the transfer receiving material with the respective colors superposed by using the thermal transfer sheet having the plural sublimation dye layers of three colors comprising yellow, magenta and cyan or four colors further comprising black.
When a color image is formed by the thermal transfer method, additional use of the black ink improves sharpness of the image such as letters or the like transferred to the transfer receiving material. The heat fusible black ink has a further feature that a single color image such as letters, symbol or the like formed by thermally transferring the heat fusible black ink is readable by an optical character reader, and it is particularly utilized to print a bar code or the like. In contrast with this, an image formed by the sublimation type thermal transfer method is inferior in readability on the optical character reader, because infrared absorption of the image is relatively small at about 900 nm. Accordingly, when optical character recognition on a machine is required, the heat fusible black ink is utilized in order to form a single color image of black or a multi-color image comprising black and another color even though most of image is formed by the sublimation type thermal transfer method.
Among the above mentioned thermal transfer methods, transferring performance of the sublimation type thermal transfer method is strictly influenced by dyeability of the transfer receiving material to be provided with the image. Therefore in a case where a surface of the transfer receiving material is short in the dyeability, it is almost impossible to form the image insofar as a receptor layer having the dyeability is formed on the transfer receiving material.
In order to solve the problem mentioned above, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 62-264994 discloses a method in which a receptor layer is peelably formed on a substrate film to prepare a receptor layer-transfer sheet, and the thus formed receptor layer of the receptor layer transfer sheet is transferred onto a transfer receiving material having a poor dyebility, and then a dye contained in a dye layer of a thermal transfer sheet is transferred to the receptor layer of the transfer receiving material to form an image. It is possible to form the image on the transfer receiving material having a poor dyebility according to this method. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 3-45390 discloses a thermal transfer sheet applicable to this method, on which respective sublimation dye layers of yellow, magenta and cyan and a heat fusible black ink layer are alternately arranged side by side with a peelable layer interposing under the heat fusible black ink layer. There is also proposed a peelable layer having a improved durability so as to serve as not only the peelable layer as it is but also a protect layer.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 62-238791 discloses another method in which a receptor layer is peelably formed on a substrate film to prepare a receptor layer-transfer sheet, and a dye is transferred from a thermal transfer sheet to the thus formed receptor layer of the receptor layer-transfer sheet to previously form an image, and thereafter the receptor layer provided with the image is transferred from the receptor layer-transfer sheet onto a transfer receiving material. According to this method, it is also possible, whether the transfer receiving material has a good dyeability or not, to form the image in the transfer receiving material even if the transfer receiving material has a surface difficult for operating of the heating device, for example, one having a curved surface such as a tumbler, another one of a fixed structure such as a wall and still another one liable to be thermally fused by heating of the thermal head or the like. A receptor layer-transfer sheet applicable to this method is called as an intermediate transfer recording medium. The above mentioned thermal transfer sheet on which the sublimation dye layers of the respective colors and the heat fusible black ink layer are alternately arranged side by side with the peelable layer interposing under the heat fusible black ink layer is similarly used to previously form the image in the intermediate transfer recording medium.
However, if an image is formed in the receptor layer of the intermediate transfer recording medium by transferring the heat fusible black ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet, The transferred heat fusible black ink layer is accompanied by the peelable layer having a poor adhesive property with respect to the transfer receiving material, thereby forming an uppermost layer having a poor adhesive property. Therefore, when the receptor layer provided with the thus formed image is transferred from the intermediate transfer recording medium to the transfer receiving material, adhesion between the image and the transfer receiving material is partially deteriorated. That is, there is caused a defect that a portion of the receptor layer provided with the image formed of the heat fusible black ink layer is hardly bonded to the surface of the transfer receiving material, and loosened therefrom.

Thermal transfer sheet for intermediate transfer recording medium


A semiconductor memory device includes an address decoder to decode an address specifying pseudo-multiport cells in memory blocks, a first word line driver to output a word line selection signal selecting one of word lines of one of the pseudo-multiport cells based on a row address in the address, and a second word line driver having an output part to output the word line selection signal into one of a pair of the word lines of the pseudo-multiport cell, and a NOR logic part to output NOR of the word line selection signal and a read/write selection signal into the other one of the pair of the word lines, the read/write selection signal selecting writing or reading operations. The second word line driver activates the pair of the word lines for writing data, and activates one of the pair of the word lines for reading data.

There is known in the related art a multiport memory including a read port, a write port, a memory cell array having a plurality of memory cells disposed in an array, and a read/write control circuit. Such a multiport memory generally includes a sub word controller configured to activate a sub word line for selecting a write port memory cell when a write enable signal and a chip enable signal are both valid.
When the related art multiport memory is operated as a single port memory, of a pair of word lines, both word lines are activated when data are retrieved. Hence, power consumption may be increased in this multiport memory case compared to a case where a single port memory fabricated for a single port operation is operated for retrieving data.
Thus, it may be desirable to provide a semiconductor memory device capable of exhibiting reduced electrical power consumption.

Semiconductor memory device and information processing apparatus


A percutaneous absorption preparation which is excellent in the skin penetration of a non-narcotic analgesic buprenorphine and can sustain a high blood level in a stable state over a long period of time is provided. The percutaneous absorption preparation for administrating buprenorphine hydrochloride and/or buprenorphine, which comprises a support having on one surface thereof a plaster layer containing a pressure-sensitive adhesive, buprenorphine hydrochloride and/or buprenorphine, and a penetration enhancer, wherein the penetration enhancer comprises a combination of a monoglyceride of a fatty acid having 6 to 8 carbon atoms and isopropyl myristate, and the plaster layer contains at least 10% by weight of a monoglyceride off fatty acid having 6 to 8 carbon atoms and at least 5% by weight off isopropyl myristate, with the proviso that the content of the whole penetration enhancer ranges from 25 to 50% by weight. The combined use of the fatty acid monoglyceride and isopropyl myristate as a penetration enhancer synergistically elevates skin penetration of buprenorphine hydrochloride and/or buprenorphine.

According to World Health Organization, the total number of patients with cancer in all the countries in the world amounts to about thirty seven millions. At the final stage of cancer, about 80 to 90% of patients suffer from a pain, though the degree of the pain varies from case to case. In terminal cancer, various social and mental distresses make the physical pain further intolerable. Accordingly, it is highly meaningful not only for the patient himself or herself but also for his or her family members to ease the pain to thereby have a humane time at the end of the life.
The final means for relieving the cancerous pain is the administration of morphine. However there is some hesitation in using morphine since it is a narcotic. Thus it has been required to develop a non-narcotic analgesic with a potent efficacy. Under these circumstances, there have been developed buprenorphine hydrochloride and/or buprenorphine (hereinafter called "buprenorphine (hydrochloride)" in some cases). Buprenorphine (hydrochloride) is a non-narcotic analgesic which has an analgesic efficacy about 30 times higher than that of morphine and is used in the form of injections, sublingual tablets and suppositories in order to relieve cancerous pain and postoperative pain.
However buprenorphine provides no solution to the serious problems accompanying the administration of opium analgesics, e.g., the addictiveness and a low bioavailability (BA) achieved in oral administration. For example, the gastrointestinal BA of buprenorphine is only about 10%, while its sublingual BA is only about 50%. That is to say, buprenorphine should be orally administered in a dose about 10 times more than the dose in the case of intravenous administration, which indicates that the use of buprenorphine suffers from a serious problem. This is because respiratory depression caused by the excessive administration of buprenorphine cannot be treated with an antagonist, e.g., nalorphine which is an antidote suitable for opiate intoxication.
On the other hand, injections should be administered in general by physicians or nurses, which makes domiciliary treatment difficult. Also, injections exhibit only a short duration and thus should be administered at short intervals. These characteristics interfere with the emergent treatment for acute pain. Also, suppositories have a disadvantage of a short duration.
On the other hand, percutaneous administration, which has been vigorously studied recently, has a number of advantages as will be described below. (1) It is expected that the percutaneous administration achieves a drug effect lasting for 24 hours or longer, which makes such frequent administration unnecessary as required in the cases of injections, sublingual tablets and suppositories. (2) It is expected that the percutaneous administration makes absorption uniform and thus excessive administration can be avoided. Therefore side effects can be relieved. (3) The percutaneous administration causes neither any unevenness in the absorption/retention in the digestive tracts nor first pass effect in the liver. (4) The percutaneous administration is applicable even to a patient for whom oral administration is impossible.
However, drugs are generally poor in percutaneous absorption and thus can be hardly absorbed in a required dose at a practically available adhesion area, i.e., 100 cm.sup.2 or less. This is seemingly because the horny layer of the skin serves as a barrier. Buprenorphine (hydrochloride) is not an exception but shows extremely poor percutaneous absorption. Therefore attempts have been made to develop a percutaneous absorption preparation of buprenorphine (hydrochloride) which has many advantages as described above (for example, JP-A-2-191214, JP-A-2-191215, JP-A-2-237915, JP-A-3-163014, JP-A-3-193732, JP-A-4-217926, U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,909; the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"). However most of these patents are not usable in practice, since the skin penetration of a drug is discussed in the form of a solution or a penetration enhancer is merely added to a pressure-sensitive adhesive without any special idea and thus a percutaneous absorption preparation can be hardly formed thereby. In addition, penetration enhancers comprising organic acids, which might induce skin irritation, are employed in some of these patents. Thus they involve some problems from the viewpoint of safety.
When a percutaneous penetration enhancer is added in order to improve the percutaneous absorption of buprenorphine (hydrochloride), the penetration enhancer sometimes oozes out to the surface of a plaster thus changing the properties of the preparation. Further, the addition of a plasticizer or a penetration enhancer to the pressure-sensitive adhesive causes a decrease in the cohesive force and, as a result, the pressure-sensitive adhesive remains on the skin surface. To solve this problem, attempts have been made to add silicic acid anhydride (hydrophilic silicic anhydride, hydrophobic silicic anhydride) to thereby enhance the cohesive force (JP-A-3-291218, JP-A-4-299927, JP-A-4-312525). However the addition of silicic anhydride results in a problem that the thixotropic properties of the plaster solution thus elevated interfere with application.
The present invention, which has been completed in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, aims at providing a percutaneous absorption preparation with excellent skin penetration of buprenorphine (hydrochloride). The present invention also aims at providing a percutaneous absorption preparation having excellent skin penetration of buprenorphine (hydrochloride) and an excellent storage stability.
The present inventors have conducted extensive studies in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. As a result, they have found out that the skin penetration of buprenorphine (hydrochloride) can be synergistically elevated by using a combination of a monoglyceride of a fatty acid having 6 to 8 carbon atoms and isopropyl myristate as a penetration enhancer, thus completing the present invention.


A highly storage-stable organopolysiloxane composition capable of the long-term retention of its surface-modifying activities, such as antistatic and anticlouding activities is disclosed. The composition comprises a first polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxane that is free of amino, carboxyl, and epoxy groups, a second polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxane that contains an amino-functional organic group, and water.

Polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxanes have the ability to impart an excellent smoothness and excellent antistaticity to fiber surfaces, and for this reason are useful as fiber treatment agents (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,123 and Japanese Patent Publications Kokai No's. 52-91994, and 54-142400).
When dissolved or homogeneously dispersed in water, polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxanes cause a substantial decline in the surface tension of the solution. Therefore, polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxanes have also been proposed for use as spreaders for insect repellents, insecticides, and agrochemicals and as penetration assistants for fiber treatment agents (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,933,002 and 4,921,622, Japanese Patent Publication (PCT) No. 2-504644, and Japanese Patent Publication Kokai No's. 2-73002, 5-905).
However, when this type of polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxane is dissolved or homogeneously dispersed in water, the polyoxyalkylene group degrades with the passage of time. This timewise degradation results in such problems as a decline in antistatic activity or an increase in the surface tension of the solution and in extreme cases in solution turbidity and/or the production of precipitate.
A polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxane that also carries amino-functional organic groups has been proposed for use as a fiber treatment agent and a hair-control agent (see Japanese Patent Publication Kokai Numbers Sho 57-133279 and 59-179885 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,399,247, 4,459,382, and 4,450,152). A drawback to the use of this type of diorganopolysiloxane has been the manifestation of inadequate activities such as anticlouding and antistatic activities.
The object of this invention is to provide a highly storage-stable organopolysiloxane composition that is capable of the long-term retention of its surface-modifying activities, e.g., antistatic and anticlouding activities. It is a further object of this invention to provide the admixture of a special diorganopolysiloxane into a polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxane, wherein the special diorganopolysiloxane induces long-term retention of the surface-modifying activities that such polyoxyalkylene-functional diorganopolysiloxane imparts, such as antistatic and anticlouding activities.

Highly storage-stable organopolysiloxane composition


A simulated grenade for MILES-type simulations generates a unique RF signal and a unique audio signal. A detector utilizes the time between receipt of the RF signal and the slower-traveling audio signal to determine the distance between the detector and the simulated grenade.

The military and the police must train for situations that involve deadly force. One widely used training system is the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) that equips each participant with vest containing a series of laser light detectors and suitable electronics. Participants use weapons that fire a laser beam along with a blank round. If a participant's detector is illuminated by a weapon's laser beam, the system provides a signal to the participant and a central command that he has been killed or wounded. MILES permits participants to conduct simulations using real weapons ranging from handguns to heavier weapons without subjecting the participants to the obvious danger of using real ammunition in those weapons.
One common military device that has been difficult for MILES to stimulate is the hand grenade. The typical MILES grenade cannot conveniently use a laser to signify a detonation because a grenade detonates in an unpredictable position after being propelled a distance from the user. Furthermore, a grenade is not directional like a bullet or a laser; it can kill or wound multiple people who are unprotected and within a "kill radius" distance of the grenade. Accordingly, the MILES grenade must be able to provide information upon detonation that each participant's receiver will use to determine if that participant is within the kill radius of a prototype grenade.
S. Sampson et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,579,097, discloses a MILES grenade that emits encoded infrared signals on detonation. The system tracks the location of each participant and the location of detonation of the grenade, and 'kills' participants within the fill radius of a detonating grenade.
R. Lynch et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,011, discloses a paintball system where locations are tracked and participants within a predetermined distance of a simulated grenade are designated as 'killed'.
C. Campagnuolo, SIR H1415, discloses a MILES system where the grenade makes a distinct noise and MILES bases damage to a participant on the amplitude of the received noise signal.
The U.S. Department of Energy, in an undated specification for MILES equipment, requires a MILES hand grenade to have an effective kill radius of up to 10 meters, an electronic output to interface directly with the MILES equipment, and an output signal that provides an indication to participants that the grenade exploded. An undated specification sheet by Schwartz Electro-optics Inc. shows a grenade simulator designed to those specifications. The Schwartz simulator is understood to generate an RF signal of sufficient strength to be detected only within the kill radius.
One difficulty with existing grenade simulators based on noise is that battlefield simulations are noisy environments, and a determination of distance based on amplitude of a received audio or electronic signal is not reliable. A difficulty with simulators using multiple laser outputs is possible eye damage to participants from the high output lasers used in some of these devices. A difficulty with grenades that rely on the intensity of an RF signal is that a hand grenade is activated after being thrown by a user, and it may land in any orientation. The uncertain position of the grenade antenna with respect to the receiver provides an uncertainty in the strength of the received signal.


A process for extracting copper from a compact mass, such as bulk metallic copper and/or copper highly contaminated with insoluble substances, in which the mass of metallic copper is leached with a liquor containing Cu.sup.2+ ions and SO.sub.4.sup.2- ions, the liquor being oxidized separately from the leaching stage, e.g. with oxidizing agents including oxygen-containing gases such as air. At least part of the oxidized liquor is recycled to the leaching stage for the metallic copper. The copper sulfate solution which thus results is recovered.

Copper sulfate solutions can be produced from, for example, copper oxide which is dissolved in sulfuric acid (German patent No. 1,007,307) or by leaching metallic copper with a sulfuric acid solution in the presence of oxygen (German patent No. 1,036,240 and Ullmann's Enzyklopadie der Techn. Chemie, 3rd Edition, vol. 11, p. 249; 1960).
Metallic copper can also be leached by passing copper sulfate and sulfuric acid together with air through metallic bulk copper. At least part of the solution which traverses the bulk material is subjected to temperature equilibration and then is recycled to the bulk material while part of the solution is withdrawn as the product if desired (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,245).
Processes in which copper oxide is used as a starting material have the significant disadvantage that the copper oxide must be produced by a separate process step, for example, the atomization and simultaneous oxidation of the metallic copper.
Processes which involve the leaching of metallic copper with sulfuric acid or a sulfuric acid solution containing copper sulfate have the disadvantage that it is difficult to provide and maintain within the bulk material the uniform supply of oxygen which is essential for oxidation.
The difficulties increase as the particle size of the metallic copper decreases.
Increasingly, attention has been directed to the use of sections or particles of wire obtained from shredders as the starting material. Where such sections, pieces and particles of wire are used, it is virtually impossible to ensure a uniform flow of gas therethrough, thereby increasing the problems which have been encountered when oxidation with gaseous oxygen within the body of metallic bulk material is required.

Process for producing a copper sulfate solution


Disclosed are methods, apparatus, systems, and computer readable storage media for retrieving data while scrolling through a list of items in a user interface. A display device can display initial data of at least a first presentation of a first one or more items in a list of items. A user input can be received by the display device to cause scrolling through the list of items in the user interface. An initial scrolling velocity can be calculated responsive to the user input, and a second presentation of a second one or more items in the list of items that corresponds to an anticipated stopping of the scrolling can be predicted in accordance with the initial scrolling velocity and a deceleration rate. Data to be displayed in the second presentation can be retrieved before the stopping of the scrolling.

With increasing consumer demand for access to information over the Internet, efficient retrieval and delivery of information to users have become increasingly important. As data is retrieved over a network, the presentation of such data on user interfaces of electronic computing devices, including touch-sensitive display devices, has met some challenges. Particularly when large amounts of data are being retrieved, not all of the data can fit in a display area on a screen on a computing device such as a smartphone. In some instances, data can be rendered in one or more items in a list of items. If users want to view more data outside the display area, users can navigate through the list of items by scrolling.

System and method for retrieving data based on scrolling velocity


A mobile communication system comprises connection lines as communication lines and a control signal line for transmission/reception of a control signal between base station controllers. In soft-handover control sections arranged within the base station controllers, respectively, the connection lines are established with reference to received electric field strength at a mobile terminal. Switching sections arranged within the base station controllers, respectively, perform path-connection among the communication lines, the soft-handover control sections, a QCELP/PCM conversion section of communicating base station controller, the connection lines, and the control signal line.

This invention relates to a mobile communication system and, in particular, to a soft-handover technique between base station controllers of the mobile communication system.
Conventionally, a handover technique is used in a mobile communication system to prevent the communication from being interrupted when a mobile terminal is moved among cells. A soft-handover technique is known as one type of the handover technique and indispensable to a CDMA communication system.
In general, the soft-handover technique is applied to each mobile service switching center (or mobile communication exchange) of the mobile communication system. In other words, each mobile service switching center independently performs the soft-handover. Thus, a hard-handover technique is used when the mobile terminal moves from an service area covered by the mobile service switching center to another service area covered by another mobile service switching center. The hard-handover brings about problems, such as instantaneous disconnection of the communication, deterioration of speech quality of the communication, etc.
A conventional soft-handover technique for performing of the soft-handover between base stations connected to different mobile service switching centers is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 09-505948. The soft-handover technique is used in a mobile communication system which comprises mobile communication exchanges, base stations, and at least one mobile terminal.
In the mobile communication system, each of mobile communication exchanges can perform the soft-handover both between base stations connected to it and between base stations connected to it and to another mobile communication exchange. Therefore, throughout a whole cellular service area, a seamless soft-handover with a signal diversity synthesis can be achieved between the base stations connected to different mobile communication exchanges.
For example, it is assumed that the mobile terminal is located in a first cell covered by a first base station connected to a first mobile communication exchange and communicates with the other system user (or terminal) through the first base station and the first mobile communication exchange. The first mobile communication exchange receives user information signals sent from the mobile terminal through the first base station and performs the signal diversity synthesis of the received user information signals to form a synthesized user information signal and to send the other system user the synthesized user information. Under this situation, when the mobile terminal moves from the first cell to a second cell adjacent to the first cell and covered by a second base station connected to a second mobile communication exchange, connection between the mobile station and the second mobile communication exchange is established through the second base station. The second mobile communication exchange relays user information signals, which is sent from the mobile station and which is received by the second base station, to the first communication exchange. The first mobile communication exchange carries out signal diversity synthesis of the user information signals received by the first and the second base station to transmit a new synthesized user information signal to the other system user.
However, the conventional soft-handover technique can not applied to a larger mobile communication system, such as a mobile communication system having base station controllers between mobile communication exchanges and the base stations.
Moreover, the conventional soft-handover technique requires a line or channel via the mobile communication exchanges because the handover is performed between the mobile communication exchanges. It is therefore necessary to provide another device for synthesizing speech signal and data signal. This leads to the problem that the system is increased in scale.
Furthermore, each of the mobile communication exchanges must store cell ID analysis information for the whole system.
Another conventional soft-handover technique for performing of the soft-handover between base stations connected to different mobile communication exchanges is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 10-145834. The soft-handover technique is applied to a mobile communication system which comprises mobile communication exchanges, base stations, at least one mobile terminal, and lines each of which connects between two base stations adjacent to each other. The lines are logically independent of the mobile communication exchanges.
In the mobile communication system, traffic information signals are exchanged between two base stations adjacent to each other to carry out the soft-handover when the mobile station moves between two cells covered by the two base stations. The soft-handover can be carried out even if the base stations are connected to different mobile communication exchanges.
However, the leading base station, which is one of the two base stations and leads the soft-handover, is changed from one to the other with the movement of the mobile station, according to the soft-handover technique. This certainly brings necessity of a hard-handover when the soft-handover is carried out between the base stations connected to the different mobile communication exchanges. Consequently, the soft-handover can hardly decrease frequency of the hard-handover.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a mobile communication system capable of achieving soft-handover between base station controllers connected to different mobile communication exchanges.
It is another object of this invention to provide a mobile communication system capable of achieving soft-handover without increasing the scale of the system and without storing cell ID analysis information of the whole system in each of base station controllers.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a mobile communication system capable of decreasing frequency of hard-handover.
Other object of this invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
On describing the gist of this invention, it is possible to understand that a mobile communication system includes a plurality of base stations having cells for being connected to a mobile terminal by radio and a plurality of base station controllers connected between the base stations and a mobile exchange.
According to the gist of this invention, the mobile communication system comprises control signal lines connected among the base station controllers for translating control signals to perform soft-handover and to put concerning base station controllers into a soft-handover state regardless of the mobile exchange when the mobile terminal moves between cells. Connection lines is connected among the base station controllers for keeping communication between the mobile terminal and another terminal in the soft-handover state. Each of the base station controllers keep transmitting/receiving communication signals to/from the mobile exchange regardless location of the mobile terminal, when the communication starts through it.
In the mobile communication system, the base stations broadcast predetermine radio waves over the cells, respectively. The mobile terminal detects the predetermined radio waves to produce a field strength report signal representative of the predetermined radio waves. Each of the base station controllers comprises a soft-handover control section to perform the soft-handover on the basis of the field strength report signal. A conversion section converts the communication signals between a first type for the base stations and a second type for the mobile exchange. A switching section is connected to the soft-handover control section, the conversion section, predetermined base stations of the base stations, the predetermined connections lines of the base stations, and predetermined control signal lines of the control signal lines for switching paths among them.
According to another gist of this invention, a method of performing a soft-handover in a mobile communication system comprises the steps of receiving at a first base station controller a field strength report signal transmitted by a mobile terminal which communicates with another terminal through the first base station controller. A step of establishing establishes a connection on a connection line connected between the first base station controller and a second base station controller which is connected to a base station indicated by the field strength report signal.
According to still another gist of this invention, a mobile communication system includes first and second base stations having first and second cells adjacent to each other, respectively. The first and the second base stations are connected to a mobile terminal by radio. First and second base station controllers is connected to the first and the second base stations, respectively. The first and the second base station controllers connect the first and the second base stations with a first mobile exchange. The mobile terminal transmits/receives communication signals to/from another terminal through the first base station, the first base station controller, and the first mobile exchange when the mobile terminal locates in the first cell. The mobile communication system comprises a control signal line connected between the first base station controller and the second base station controller to perform soft-handover between the first base station controller and the second base station controller without respect to the first mobile exchange and to put the first base and the second base station controllers into a soft-handover state when the mobile terminal moves from the first cell to the second cell. A connection line is connected between the first base station controller and the second base station controller to translate the communication signals between the first base station controller and the second base station controller in the soft-handover state and to keep the first base station signal controller transmitting/receiving the communication signals to/from the first mobile exchange.
In the mobile communication system, the first and the second base stations periodically broadcast predetermined radio waves. The mobile terminal detects electric field strength of the predetermined radio waves to produce a field strength report signal representative of the electric field strength. Each of the first base station controllers comprises a soft-handover control section to perform the soft-handover on the basis of the field strength report signal. A conversion section converts the communication signals between a first type for the first and the second base stations and a second type for the first mobile exchange. A switching section is connected to the soft-handover control section, the conversion section, the first or the second base station, the connections line, and the control signal line to switch paths among them.
According to further still another gist of this invention, a mobile communication system includes a plurality of mobile terminals, a plurality of base stations each of which has a cell and is connected to each of the mobile terminals through radio communication wave, a plurality of base station controllers each of which is connected to predetermined base stations of the base stations through communication lines to carry out transmission and reception of control signals, speech signals, and data signals to and from the predetermined base stations through the communication lines, and a mobile communication exchange which is connected to each of the base station controllers through a communication line and which controls exchanging operation with the base station controllers, the system performing soft-handover between the base station controllers when the mobile terminal is moved between two cells. The mobile communication system comprises a connection line as a communication line and a control signal line for transmission of control signals both of which connect the base station controllers.
In the mobile communication system, each of the base station controllers comprising a soft-handover control section which establishes the connection line with reference to a received electric field strength at said mobile terminal. A QCELP/PCM conversion section synthesizes QCELP signals of the speech signals and the data signals transmitted/received to and from the mobile terminal via the base station to produce a synthesized signal and converting the synthesized signal into a PCM signal. A switching section carries out path-connection between the communication line connected to the base station, the soft-handover control section, the QCELP/PCM conversion section, the connection line, and the control signal line. The soft-handover control section is connected to a soft-handover control section in another base station controller through the switching section and the control signal line.

Mobile communication system capable of performing soft-handover between base station controllers connected to different mobile communication exchanges


To increase the response speed and sensitivity, while providing higher output voltages and permitting higher loading of the electrodes of gas sensors, particularly exhaust gas sensors to determine the transition of exhaust gases from internal combustion engines between reducing and oxidizing state, the sintering activity of the electrode which, typically, a cermet electrode, is selected to be less than that of the solid electrolyte body so that the resulting pore structure will be more open than that of the solid electrolyte body. The electrodes, essentially, consist of finely divided ceramic material, such as zirconium oxide, and finely divided electron conductive material such as platinum. On the pre-sintered solid electrolyte body, a mixture of the ceramic and the electron conductive material is applied in which the ceramic of the lattice support structure for the cermet electrode is less sinter-active than the ceramic of the solid electrolyte body, resulting in the improved pore structure of the cermet electrode layer.

The referenced U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,006 describes a gas sensor which has an ion conductive body on which an electrode layer is applied. This electrode layer is a mixture of a ceramic material and an electron conductive material, applied to the surface of the sensor. The layer of ceramic-ion conductive material and the electrolyte body are then, together, sintered. This method results in sensors eminently suitable to determine whether exhaust gases from internal combustion engines are reducing or oxidizing. When carrying out this process, particularly under mass production conditions, it is desirable to sinter the ceramic material applied to the surface of the sensor body together with sintering of the sensor body itself. The same ceramic material and the same sintering conditions are used. It has been found that sensors made in accordance with this process have a comparatively high electrode polarization, since the cermet electrodes which will result--that is, the ceramic-metal mixtures which form the electron conductive layer--will sinter to substantial density.
The sensors which indicate change in the gas composition as a voltage change can be loaded only lightly, that is, only small loading currents can be applied thereto without masking of the sensor signal itself. This requires, however, a complex sensing electronic network which is connected to the sensor itself in order to be able to distinguish between sensor signals and their characteristics, in dependence on the oxygen content of the gases to which the sensor is exposed. Such sensors are operative only at relatively high temperatures, since the internal resistance of the solid electrolyte body, due to the temperature dependence of the ion conduction, rises rapidly with decreasing temperature. The response sensitivity of such sensors is relatively low, that is, the time of reaction of sensor output with respect to change in the exhaust gas composition is relatively long, since the diffusion of gases through the densely sintered cermet electrode to the solid electrolyte body itself is impeded by the dense composition of the electrode.
Sensors which operate on the basis of current limits, and which indicate a change in the composition of the gases by change of the diffusion limiting current, have been proposed in which an artificial barrier, in form of a diffusion layer, is provided. Such sensors on the basis of current limits must have electrodes which can be loaded efficiently. The diffusion layer must have an acceptable low diffusion resistance in order to obtain current limit or threshold values which are unambiguously dependent on gas concentration. Diffusion layers with desirable diffusion resistance can be reproduced only with difficulty, particularly under mass production commercial conditions, and additionally reduce the sensitivity of the current limiting sensor and also increase its response time.

Method of making an ion conductive gas sensor body with a cermet electrode thereon