A purpose is to provide a control apparatus capable of advancing performing a paging process when packet arrival occurs while the control apparatus arranged in a core network holds two Temporary IDs regarding a communication terminal. A control apparatus (10) according to the present disclosure includes a communication means (12) for preforming a paging process using extended idle-mode Discontinuous Reception (DRX) (eDRX) and a calculation means (11) for determining a timing for paging using a first temporary identifier allocated to a communication terminal (30) and a second temporary identifier allocated to the communication terminal (30) and different from the first temporary identifier, in which the communication means (12) performs a paging process using the first temporary identifier corresponding to a first timing for initial paging.

In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which defines standards regarding mobile networks, a Tracking Area Update (TAU) procedure is defined. The Tracking Area Update (TAU) procedure is performed in order for a User Equipment (UE), which is a communication terminal, to notify a Mobility Management Entity (MME), which is a control apparatus, of a change of a Tracking Area (TA). The TAU procedure is defined in detail in, for example, Section 188.8.131.52 in Non Patent Literature 1. In the TAU procedure, as an identifier of a UE, a Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity (GUTI), which is a Temporary Identity (ID) allocated to the UE by the MME in advance, is used without using an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), which is an identifier unique to the UE. It is desired that the GUTI is periodically changed in terms of security. Thus, the GUTI is changed in a GUTI Reallocation procedure (see Section 5.3.7 in Non Patent Literature 1) performed in parallel with the TAU procedure. The changed GUTI is notified to the UE in the TAU procedure.
In the TAU procedure, the MME transmits a TAU Accept message containing the changed GUTI to the UE, thereby notifying the UE of the changed GUTI. The UE transmits a TAU Complete message as a response to the TAU Accept message to the MME. The MME receives the TAU Complete message, thereby recognizing that the changed GUTI is notified to the UE.
Next, the packet arrival operation defined in the 3GPP is explained. In, for example, Section 220.127.116.11 in Non Patent Literature 1, a Network (NW) Triggered Service Request procedure is defined as a specific example of the packet arrival operation. In the NW Triggered Service Request procedure, the MME transmits a Paging message to an evolved NodeB (eNB), which is a base station. When receiving the Paging message, the eNB performs paging for the UE. Thus, packet arrival is notified to the UE.
The MME sets a System Architecture Evolution (SAE) Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-TMSI) consisting a part of a GUTI in a Paging message to identify a UE which is the destination of the packet arrival. In the following, the relation between the GUTI and the S-TMSI is explained.
The GUTI contains a Mobile Country Code (MCC), a Mobile Network Code (MNC), an MME Group ID, an MME Code, and an MME (M)-TMSI. Meanwhile, the S-TMSI contains the MME Code and the M-TMSI. That is, the S-TMSI contains the MME Code and the M-TMSI which constitute a part of the GUTI. The M-TMSI is an identifier to be changed in the GUTI Reallocation procedure. That is, by performing the GUTI Reallocation procedure, the S-TMSI containing the M-TMSI is also changed.
Next, the packet arrival operation in a normal case/abnormal case defined in the 3GPP is explained. For example, the MME does not receive, in the TAU procedure, a TAU Complete message to be transmitted from the UE due to signal loss in radios sections in some cases. In such a case, the MME cannot determine whether the UE is notified of the changed GUTI (hereinafter, referred to as a new GUTI). Thus, when the MME does not receive a TAU Complete message in the TAU procedure, the MME temporarily holds the GUTI before the change (hereinafter, referred to as an old GUTI) and the new GUTI. In this situation, when packet arrival occurs in the UE, the MME transmits, to the eNB, a Paging message using the new S-TMSI containing the M-TMSI contained in the new GUTI and the old S-TMSI containing the M-TMSI contained in the old GUTI. Non Patent Literature 2 discloses that when holding the old GUTI and the new GUTI, the MME first performs paging using the old S-TMSI. Non Patent Literature 2 further discloses that when there is no response to the paging using the old S-TMSI, the MME performs paging using the new S-TMSI.

Control apparatus, paging method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium


A capacitor is provided that includes a base having a first main surface and a second main surface opposing each other with a trench formed on a side of the first main surface (110A. Moreover, a dielectric film is disposed in a region that includes an inside of the trench on the side of the first main surface of the base; a conductor film is provided that includes a first conductor layer disposed on the dielectric film, which is the region including the inside of the trench and a second conductor layer disposed on the first conductor layer; and a stress relieving portion is provided in contact with at least a part of the end of the first conductor layer. Moreover, a thickness of the stress relieving portion is smaller than a thickness of the conductor film, outside the trench portion of the first main surface of the base.

With increased functions of electronic devices to be mounted, capacitors need to have an improved performance such as an improved capacitance density or an improved withstand voltage. For example, a current capacitor exists in which a capacitor structure has a trench portion that is formed to improve the capacitance density of the capacitor. In order to stably operate the capacitor at a high operating voltage, a configuration is disclosed in which a dielectric film of the capacitor is thickened. However, when the dielectric film is thickened, the internal stress of the dielectric film, which increases in accordance with the film thickness, may damage the dielectric film, thereby deteriorating the reliability of the capacitor. Particularly, when such capacitors have a trench portion, damage to the dielectric film is likely to occur due to a decrease in the rigidity of the substrate due to the provision of the trench portion, stress concentration on the corners of the trench portion, and the like.
In order to suppress the damage to the dielectric film due to internal stress, Patent Document 1 (identified below) discloses a capacitor in which the deformation of the substrate is reduced by a configuration in which the capacitor has a capacitor structure both in a first main surface region and a second main surface region, or a configuration in which the capacitor has the capacitor structure in the first main surface region and a compensation structure in the second main surface region.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,519.
Incidentally, the internal stress of an upper electrode is concentrated on the end portion of the upper electrode. If the internal stress concentrated on the end portion is transmitted to the dielectric film, the dielectric film can be damaged. However, in the capacitor described in Patent Document 1, the deformation of the substrate is suppressed, but the internal stress itself applied to the first main surface is not reduced. Particularly, the internal stress concentrated on the end portion of the upper electrode is not relieved, and thus there is a possibility that the damage to the dielectric film cannot be sufficiently suppressed.


A carbon dioxide recovery system includes a high-pressure 11, a boiler 15, a carbon dioxide recovery unit 24 that includes a carbon dioxide absorber 21 that absorbs and reduces carbon dioxide in flue gas G emitted from the boiler 15 using a carbon dioxide absorbent and an absorbent regenerator 23 that regenerates a carbon dioxide absorbent having absorbed the carbon dioxide using a regenerating superheater 22 to obtain a regenerated carbon dioxide absorbent, a high-temperature and high-pressure steam extraction line L11 that extracts the high-temperature and high-pressure steam 14 from the boiler 15 before the steam is introduced into the high-pressure turbine 11, an auxiliary turbine 32 that recovers power with the high-temperature and high-pressure steam 14, and a steam supply line L12 that supplies emission steam 33 emitted from the auxiliary turbine 32 to the regenerating superheater 22 to be used as a heat source.

The greenhouse effect of CO2 has been recently pointed out as one factor of the global warming phenomenon and it has become an international urgent issue to take measures in preserving earth environments. All fields of human activities that involve burning of fossil fuels are CO2 generation sources, and needs for CO2 emission limitation are becoming increasingly great. Accordingly, methods that enable to bring flue gas of a boiler into contact with an amine CO2 absorbent to reduce or recover CO2 in the flue gas, and methods that enable to store recovered CO2 without releasing CO2 to the atmosphere have been intensively studied for power-generating facilities such as thermal power plants that use a large amount of fossil fuels. As steps that enable to reduce or recover CO2 from flue gas by using a CO2 absorbent as described above, a step of bringing flue gas into contact with a CO2 absorbent in an absorber and a carbon dioxide recovery system that heats an absorbent having absorbed CO2 in a regenerator to liberate CO2 as well as regenerates the absorbent and circulates the regenerated absorbent again in the regenerator to reuse the absorbent are adopted.
This carbon dioxide recovery system causes carbon dioxide contained in gas in the absorber to be absorbed by the absorbent and then be heated in the regenerator, thereby separating the carbon dioxide from the absorbent, so that the separated carbon dioxide is separately recovered and a regenerated absorbent is cyclically used again in the absorber.
To separate and recover carbon dioxide in the regenerator, the absorbent needs to be heated by a regenerating superheater and heating steam at a prescribed pressure needs to be supplied thereto. When CO2 is to be recovered from flue gas of a practical power plant, a large amount of steam is required to regenerate the absorbent.
To supply the steam, methods that enable to bleed steam from a steam turbine of a power generation system, that enable to bleed steam from each header between a high-pressure turbine (HP) and an intermediate-pressure turbine (MP) or between an intermediate-pressure turbine (MP) and a low-pressure turbine (LP), or that enable to recover power from bled steam using a steam turbine and supply emission to a regenerating superheater in a CO2 recovery system have been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-323339).

Carbon dioxide recovery system and method


A network storage server implements a method to limit simultaneous data transfers and efficient throttle management. The number of processes that can be simultaneously performed in the network storage server is limited. For the processes that do not exceed the limiting number, and are therefore allowed to be simultaneously performed, a throttle control is implemented on each of the processes to limit the amount of system resources that can be allocated to each of the processes. The processes are performed on the network storage server, and a total amount of system resources allocated to these processes does not exceed the available system resources of the network storage server.

A storage server is a computer system that is used to store and retrieve data on behalf of one or more clients on a network. A storage server typically stores and manages data in a set of mass storage devices, such as magnetic or optical storage-based disks or tapes. In conventional network storage systems, the mass storage devices may be organized into one or more groups of drives (e.g., redundant array of inexpensive drives (RAID)).
A storage server may be configured to service file-level requests from clients, as in the case of file servers used in a Network Attached Storage (NAS) environment. Alternatively, a storage server may be configured to service block-level requests from clients, as done by storage servers used in a Storage Area Network (SAN) environment. Further, some storage servers are capable of servicing both file-level and block-level requests, as done by certain storage servers made by NetApp®, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif.
Conventionally, a storage server equally divides its available system resources, e.g., CPU, memory, etc, among processes serving inbound and outbound data requests. For example, assuming a storage server has 1000 kbps (Kilobit per second) throughput available for network communications, if there are 10 simultaneous processes transferring data in or out of the storage server via the network, the storage server may allocate 100 kbps of network bandwidths to each process. When there are 100 simultaneous data transferring processes, then each process can be allocated with 10 kbps of the network bandwidth, which probably would be considered insufficient for network communications. Further, the more simultaneous processes there are, the more task switching the storage server has to perform, which further lowers the performance of the storage server. Thus, when there is no limitation on the number of simultaneous processes that are allowed to run on a storage server, resource bottlenecks tend to occur.
For data protection purposes, data stored in a primary storage server is often backed-up or mirrored to one or more remote secondary storage servers. The replicated data in the secondary storage servers can later be used for restoring data on the primary storage server, if needed. Since these backup and mirroring processes transfer a large amount of data across a network, they typically require a large amount of system resources, and run for a long period of time. However, in a typical system resource arrangement, these data protection processes are not treated any differently from the other processes. Consequentially, a limited number of simultaneous running data protection processes can occupy most, if not all, of the system resources, leaving little to the storage server for serving other data requests. Thus, without limiting allocation of system resource to some of the resource-thirsty processes, resource bottlenecks can become major performance concerns.
Once a system resource becomes bottlenecked, it takes longer for each of the simultaneous running processes that require the resource, especially the ones that are resource-hungry and long durational, to finish using the resource. To further complicate matters, if a backup or mirroring process fails pre-maturely because it cannot finish quickly enough, any data that has already been transferred to the secondary storage servers may no longer be trustworthy, and may be unusable for recovery purposes. Thus, when there is no restriction as to the number of simultaneous processes and to the amount of system resources that can be allocated to each process, a disaster could have a bigger impact on the data reliability provided by the storage servers than there otherwise would be. If the replicated data is corrupted due to lack of resources, the system resources previously allocated for transferring the data have also been wasted.

Limiting simultaneous data transfers and efficient throttle management


A cap assembly for collecting cooling gas from a coolant chamber tube is disclosed. The cap assembly having connecting means and outlet means extending from its side walls being generally shaped and sized for detachable mounting on the body of the cooling gas chamber tube. The cap assembly is also employed in a hot optical fiber process which is being cooled by helium.

Optical fibers are conventionally made from glass rods or preforms having a central core of glass enveloped by a cladding of glass whose refractive index is lower than that of the glass core. The fiber is produced by heating the glass preform to softening temperature in a furnace and drawing the fiber from the softened preform. The fiber is rapidly cooled sufficiently to enable a protective coating of resin material to be applied to the surface of the drawn fiber. The cooling is carried out by drawing the fiber through a heat exchanger wherein it comes into contact with a gaseous coolant.
The gaseous coolant is continuously passed through the heat exchanger in a direction which is cross-flow, counter-flow, co-current-flow, or combination mode thereof relative to the direction of the movement of the glass fiber through the heat exchanger. The gaseous coolant transfers heat from the glass fiber to the walls of the heat exchanger which is cooled by the surrounding atmosphere and/or a cooling medium, usually water, which flows through passages in the heat exchanger. The gaseous coolant is generally helium although other gases or mixtures can be used. Helium is the preferred coolant gas because of its favorable heat transport properties and is safe to use. However, helium is costly relative to other gases so it is desirable to capture the helium and recycle it for reuse in the heat exchanger.
If the exhausted helium gas from the heat exchanger is vented to the atmosphere as what has been done in the current fiber production processes, the fiber production cost would be disadvantageously higher especially as the draw speed of fiber has kept increasing over the last 30 years. In order to reduce the fiber cost associated with helium use in the fiber cooling step, helium recovery systems and apparatuses have been proposed to recover the helium gas. Exhausted helium gas with contaminants such as air and moisture is evacuated from the heat exchanger and purified before being is recycled back to the coolant gas feed stream to the heat exchanger.
However, these helium recovery systems suffer from one or more of the following drawbacks: (1) fiber vibration as a result of the ambient air flow at the fiber inlet or outlet where the helium is collected and vacuum is applied; (2) fluctuation in fiber diameters due to lack of control in the pressure, composition, and flow rate of the recovery system, which would negatively affects the fiber's mechanical and optical quality; (3) lower coolant (such as helium) purity and recovery due the ingress of air into the collected stream and egress of coolant (such as helium) from heat exchanger.
Air infiltration can be reduced significantly by ensuring there is a positive differential pressure between the cooling gas inside the heat exchanger and the surrounding environment. This has a disadvantage in that valuable helium will be lost to the environment through the fiber inlet end opening and/or fiber outlet end opening of the heat exchanger. Efforts have been made to minimize the amount of helium efflux and air influx through the fiber inlet end and outlet openings. For example, controlling the flow of helium into and out of the heat exchangers to limit air infiltration into the heat exchangers. However, operating heat exchangers at atmospheric or superatmospheric pressure results in significant loss of coolant gas from the system. A more economical processes for producing optical glass fiber are constantly sought.
The present invention provides a novel cap assembly for collecting the cooling gas with high purity and high recovery efficiency to reduce the cost of producing optical glass fiber without causing any negative impact on the fiber production process.

Cap assembly and optical fiber cooling process


A front section of a motor vehicle includes a fog light system with indirect lighting. The indirect lighting improves an operator's vision in fog and is obtained by projecting the beams of light of the front fog lights so that they are oriented in such a way as to leave a zone or corridor not directly lit immediately ahead of the motor vehicle. A projection of light beams solely outwardly or upwardly at an angle of 45, 60 or 90 degrees with respect to an axis extending in the direction of travel and through the projecting fog light is preferred. The fog light can be positioned such that the body or roof portion of a vehicle itself acts to prevent any inwardly directing light. A rectangular shield mounted on the vehicle roof with the lower portion axially extending further than the upper portion can be relied upon to block downwardly directed light. Tubular or rectangular shields positioned on the roof act together with the roof portion forward of the fog light or lights to prevent downwardly directing beams of light while allowing for upwardly projected beams at angles which range up to 45, 60 or 90 degrees. The beam of light originates at an axis which is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and intersects the projecting fog light. The fog light can be mounted on the roof so as to be rotatable from a closed, flush position to a pop up position.

This invention relates to a fog lighting system for a vehicle. More particularly, this invention concerns a fog lighting system with indirect lighting, wherein the beams projected by the specially provided lamps or fog lights are so oriented as to supply a better visibility through the fog.
The fog lights usually employed in motor vehicles, as is well known, are, normally, a couple of white or colored low beam headlights, and they aim exclusively at penetrating or piercing the mist which, being between the motor vehicle driver and the route, limits the visibility and hides possible obstacles from the driver's view.
Such fog lights differ from one another by the color or the type of lamp employed, but they all have the common feature of directing the light beam before the vehicle towards the route thereof, thus giving rise to an opalescent wall made of the illuminated fog in front of the driver.
As fog is made of tiny droplets of water suspended in the air, when a direct light beam, e.g., from the headlights of a motor vehicle, impinges on them, said droplets reflect the light, thus giving rise to an illuminated barrier in front of the driver, which barrier is transverse to the route of the motor vehicle. Such barrier prevents the driver from viewing beyond it in order to ascertain the presence of any obstacle on the road.
As a consequence, the attempt at lighting the route directly ahead of the vehicle makes less visible, in the presence of fog, the obstacles immediately close to the motor vehicle itself.


A control system for a clothes dryer is disclosed. A microprocessor monitors the heated inlet air temperature and the exhaust temperature. If the inlet temperature exceeds a high limit value a given number of times, an air blockage indicator is activated. Degrees of dryness are measured by the number of times the inlet temperature has dropped below a threshold value while the heater is off because the exhaust temperature has exceeded a desired value. An estimated drying time is calculated and displayed to the user based on a linear function of the inlet and exhaust temperatures measured at the beginning of the cycle and again a short time later.

The present invention relates to a control system and method for the operation of a clothes dryer.
It is well known to provide clothes dryers with a lint filter to remove lint picked up from the articles or load being dried. If the filter becomes clogged by excessive lint, the airflow through the dryer is restricted and the necessary time to dry the load is increased.
The status of the lint filter may be monitored by means of airflow and pressure sensors that provide indication of blockage during the time air is flowing through the dryer. Typically, serious blockages of airflow result in excessive temperatures in the area of the air heater, resulting in the intermittent opening of a high limit thermostat that deactivates the heater. The sensors or thermostats can be connected to an indicator to apprise the operator of the condition. However, these methods provide an indication of air blockage only during airflow through the dryer.
It is desirable to know the degree of dryness of the load. This is useful for operator removal of the load at a given dryness or for helping the operator predict the time remaining to dry.
The dryness of the load may be monitored by such means as sensing the rapid rise in exhaust temperature when the load is nearly dry and by actual humidity sensors. Unfortunately, the monitoring of exhaust temperature does not provide entirely satisfactory results and humidity sensors represent a substantial increase in sensor costs.


In accordance with the method, system and program of the present invention, authority-designated settings are stored on a portable data storage medium in association with a particular user, wherein the authority-designated settings designate levels of access to particular types of content as determined by multiple authorities to the particular user. Transmittal of a selection of the authority-designated settings is required from the portable data storage medium in a transmittable data format to a particular authority-enabled system from among multiple authority-enabled systems, wherein each of the multiple authority-enabled systems provides access to multiple diverse types of content. The particular user is only allowed access to a selection of the multiple types of content that are enabled according to the authority-designated settings at the particular authority-enabled system.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an electronic chaperone and, in particular, to a method, system and program for electronically monitoring and managing user access to content via a portable data storage medium. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system and program for utilizing a single portable data processing system to manage user access across multiple diverse content access platforms according to access restrictions designated by an authority to the user of the portable data storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the tide is turning towards a paperless world, computers are becoming more prevalent in order to replace many functions previously performed utilizing paper. In particular, computing devices, such as a personal digital assistant, laptop computer and cellular/digital telephone are becoming more commonplace as a personal, portable computer system. Such devices are typically designed to provide reliable and efficient transmittal and storage of data. For example, many digital telephones not only include capabilities to transmit and receive voice data, but to transmit and receive electronic data such as stock quotes, current weather and news. A small display device is typically provided to display the electronic data.
Global positioning systems (GPSs) add to the applications of personal, portable computer systems. In the consumer world, as personal computer systems include GPSs and communicate to a network, personal computer systems may receive regionalized advertising and sale updates. For example, a shopper's eye system, incorporating a personal digital assistant (PDA) equipped with a GPS and wireless Internet Protocol (IP), enables a two-way channel with a central control center through which retailers can present customized offers to nearby shoppers based on their particular interests. In particular, the location of a user, shopping goals, preferences and related history may be detected by a central control center for a mall the user has entered. This information is routed to stores in the mall and as the stores receive this information, they may create a customized offer of bundled goods and services. The offer is transmitted from the central control center to the user's PDA.
Accountability of users for entering a particular store or office, seeing particular images, visiting particular web sites, eating particular foods, etc. has been a long time struggle for parents who cannot attend to their children all the time and companies who cannot personally monitor employees all the time. In particular, accountability for content viewed on a computer or television has led to software applications that allow a parent or employer to lock out certain types of web sites and television stations and/or monitor use. However, while these software applications, associated with the computer or television, monitor and limit access on that computer or television, they do not monitor and limit access on all computers or televisions that a particular user may have access to. In addition, there are typically areas other than content of web sites and television programs that a parent or company would like to monitor.
In view of the foregoing, it would be preferable to provide a portable computer system as an electronic chaperone that includes multiple types of authority-designated settings for multiple diverse events that are transmittable to multiple diverse access platforms in order to universally enforce an authority-designated access policy. In addition, it would be preferable to allow a user to designate multiple diverse preferences. It would be advantageous to transmit the authority-designated settings to multiple diverse locations and/or devices, such as retailers, in order that the retailer can determine and transmit to the electronic chaperone a suitable selection of products and services provided by the retailer or media provider according to the authority-designated preferences. In addition, it would be preferable to transmit the authority-designated settings to a device, such as a television, in order that the authority-designated settings are automatically transferred to the television's parental control application settings, for example.

Monitoring and managing user access to content via a portable data storage medium

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides a system for augmenting ventilation and removing carbon dioxide of a spontaneous-breathing patient and a method of use thereof. The system further allows relaxation of the breathing process thus reducing fatigue of the patient. The system involves providing a high continuous flow of a humidified oxygen/air mixture at a predetermined oxygen content and at a constant flow rate through a transtracheal catheter into the lungs of the patient. The system typically provides an oxygen/air mixture of at least 21 percent oxygen, at a humidity between 80 to 100 percent, and a temperature of 35.degree. to 38.degree. C. The mixture is delivered through the transtracheal catheter at a flow rate of 8 to 20 liters per minute at a back pressure of 2 to 25 psi.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the augmentation of ventilation and the removal of CO.sub.2 for a medical patient and, more particularly, relates to an apparatus and method for the transtracheal augmentation of ventilation and the CO.sub.2 removal through delivery of a high continuous flow of humidified oxygen and air mixture.

Apparatus for high continuous flow augmentation of ventilation and method therefor


A MIM capacitor is formed over one or more metal interconnect layers in a semiconductor device. The capacitor has a lower plate electrode and an upper plate electrode. An insulator is formed between the plate electrodes. Prior to forming the first plate electrode a first insulating layer is deposited over the metal of an interconnect layer. The first insulating layer is planarized using a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process. A second insulating layer is then deposited over the planarized first insulating layer. The first plate electrode is formed over the second insulating layer. An insulator is formed over the first plate electrode and functions as the capacitor dielectric. A second plate electrode is formed over the insulator. Planarizing the first insulating layer and depositing a second insulating layer over the first insulating layer, reduces defects and produces a more reliable capacitor.

One type of capacitor used in integrated circuits is a planar metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor. A planar MIM capacitor includes a MIM dielectric between a top plate electrode and a bottom plate electrode. MIM capacitors are commonly used in decoupling and bypass applications.
Generally, a planar MIM capacitor may be unreliable and subject to premature breakdown when integrated over copper using a typical backend damascene process integration because of defects in the inter-level dielectric (ILD) between the copper and the planar MIM capacitor. Defects arising from, for example, topography, roughness, grain instability, and oxidation of the copper have all been variably identified as causes of the reliability failures. To avoid such issues, the MIM layout has been excluded from directly overlaying copper structures. Unfortunately, this can be a severe penalty against available on-chip MIM area; thus limiting the capacitance which can be created for decoupling and bypass applications. Thus, a need exists to control defects in a MIM capacitor when formed over copper.
Skilled artisans appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve the understanding of the embodiments of the present invention.

MIM capacitor in a semiconductor device and method therefor


A liquid crystal display apparatus includes a viewing-angle controlling liquid crystal layer that, when in a horizontal alignment state, exhibits a slow axis that is parallel to a polarized-light transmitting or absorbing axis of a polarizing layer that is disposed opposite to the displaying liquid crystal layer from the viewing-angle controlling liquid crystal layer.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates a liquid crystal display apparatus and an electronic apparatus, and more particularly, to a construction of a liquid crystal display apparatus suitable for a display apparatus capable of limiting a viewing angle range of a display screen.
2. Related Art
In general, there is a case where an owner of a mobile phone or other portable information terminals with a liquid crystal display apparatus built in intends to see a display screen of the liquid crystal display apparatus while preventing other persons from seeing the display screen. In this case, conventionally, a narrow viewing angle display device has been used, or an optical film for limiting the viewing angle has been attached on the display screen. However, in a case where many persons intend to be allowed to see the display screen, since the viewing angel cannot be widened, the conventional methods are inconvenient.
Therefore, an apparatus having a liquid crystal display apparatus provided with a viewing angel controlling device for controlling the viewing angle and capable of changing the viewing angles between wide and narrow states by switching the viewing angle controlling device is disclosed (for example, see JP-A-2002-297044). For example, a technique for using a chiral nematic liquid crystal, a homogeneous liquid crystal, a randomly aligned nematic liquid crystal, or the like as a liquid crystal mode of a phase difference controlling liquid crystal device is disclosed in JP-A-11-174489.
However, in the liquid crystal display apparatus using the aforementioned phase difference controlling liquid crystal device, although a range where a contrast ratio becomes 10:1 is slightly narrow due to the switching of the phase difference controlling liquid crystal device, there are problems in that a boundary value of a polar angle in the associated range is about 50% to 70% of the before-switching one, a whole change in the contrast is small, and it is difficult to sufficiently control viewing angle. In particular, since sufficient viewing can be generally obtained with a contrast ratio of about 2:1, the aforementioned technique is not a practical display technique for preventing persons existing at left and right side from viewing the display screen by limiting the viewing angle.

Liquid crystal display apparatus and electronic apparatus


The present invention discloses methods and apparatus for implementing a single-transistor cell EEPROM array for analog or digital storage. The single-transistor storage cell is made possible by continuously maintaining a net negative charge on the floating gate of the EEPROM storage transistor. Furthermore, according to the present invention, a dense layout of the single-transistor cells is possible by sharing a common diffusion region between the transistors located in the same row and the transistors located in one adjacent row. This common diffusion region functions as a source in the erase and program modes, and as a drain in the read mode. Moreover, the common diffusion feature of the present invention allows the use of a single level of metal in distributing the various operating voltages to the EEPROM storage transistors. Further, utilizing a single level of metal allows for a simple and dense fabrication and also reduces the parasitic capacitances in the EEPROM storage array. Array operating voltages are chosen such that "program disturbance" is eliminated on cells adjacent to a cell undergoing programming. Finally, the present invention utilizes only a single polarity of operating voltages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of nonvolatile storage arrays. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM) storage arrays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The status of the prior art in the field of electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM) storage arrays is best illustrated by considering the pertinent prior art patents and publications in this field. In that regard, one of the earlier patents in the field is U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,822. This patent describes a Double Polycrystalline Silicon Gate Memory Device. This device is programmed by the "hot electron" injection method, as distinct from the Fowler-Nordheim electron tunneling method of the present invention. The "hot electron" programming mechanism performs poorly above room temperature. This is because, as the ambient temperature increases, the "avalanche breakdown" channel current scatters charge carriers and thus decreases the efficiency of "hot" electron injection.
Another difference between the '822 patent and the present invention is that the avalanche breakdown required for the "hot electron" injection mechanism of the '822 patent requires an undesirably large amount of current, for example, a current of one milliampere. Thus, the '822 patent requires a large amount of current for successful programming. Finally, the memory device of the '822 patent is generally erasable only by exposure to ultraviolet radiation, as distinct from the electrical erasure capability of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,099,196, 4,119,995, 4,314,265, and 4,701,776 all disclose the Fowler-Nordheim electron tunneling mechanism for programming and erasing employed in the present invention. However, each patent is fundamentally distinguishable from the present invention. First addressing the '196 and '265 patents, these patents are fundamentally different from the present invention because, among other things, both patents require one "Control" gate, one "Program" gate, and one "Erase" gate, whereas the present invention replaces all of these three gates with a single Control gate. Furthermore, both the '196 and '265 patents leave a net positive charge on the floating gates of the erased EEPROM transistors. As such, in both patents, the storage device is rendered conductive in the erased condition. By contrast, in accordance with the present invention, a net negative charge is always maintained on the floating gate of the EEPROM transistors. Therefore, the storage transistor of the present invention is not rendered conductive solely because that transistor is in the erased condition.
Next, turning to the '995 patent, this patent requires a select transistor in addition to the programmable storage transistor. This is because according to the '995 patent, a net positive charge is left on the floating gate of an erased storage transistor. Therefore, an additional transistor is needed to prevent the bit line connected to an unselected erased storage transistor from being pulled down to the ground voltage. By contrast, in accordance with the present invention, a net negative charge is always maintained on the floating gate. Therefore, the storage transistor of the present invention is not rendered conductive solely because that transistor is in the erased state. Thus, the present invention does not require any additional transistors to prevent a bit line connected to an unselected erased transistor from being pulled down to ground. It is noted that in a typical digital circuit, the undesirable pulling down of a bit line was a problem. However, as will be described below, the potential problem for analog storage circuits is that the column lines may be undesirably pulled high by deselected cells.
Next, discussing the '776 patent, this patent discloses a two-transistor memory cell. By contrast, the storage array of the present invention is comprised of one-transistor cells. The one-transistor cell constitutes one of the advantages of the present invention.
Further, among the relevant publications are the 1982 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) Digest of Technical Papers, page 108-109, and the 1989 ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, page 132-133. The 1982 a "16K EEPROM" by National Semiconductor. The disclosure of this paper is fundamentally different from the present invention because, among other things, according to this paper each memory cell is comprised of two transistors. By contrast, the present invention utilizes one-transistor cells. As a result, the storage array of the present invention is much smaller and also much less expensive to manufacture than the storage arrays of the prior art.
Furthermore, the 1989 paper discloses a "5V-Only 256K Bit CMOS Flash EEPROM" by Texas Instruments. This paper is also fundamentally distinguishable from the present invention. For example, each cell of the EEPROM disclosed by this paper is composed of two transistors as opposed to the one-transistor cell of the present invention. Further, the EEPROM disclosed by this paper requires both negative and positive polarities of supply voltages. By contrast, the present invention operates on a single positive polarity of supply voltage.
In sum, the above prior art patents and publications have not disclosed a dense one-transistor EEPROM storage array which operates based on the electron tunneling mechanism. Moreover, the present invention is fundamentally different from the above cited prior art and other relevant prior art in many other respects which differences will be explained in the following sections of this document.
Finally, it is noted that the means for determining and generating the operating voltages to program, erase, or read an addressed EEPROM storage transistor of the present invention is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,259. However, the present invention addresses entirely different aspects of the operation of an EEPROM storage array from what is disclosed by the '259 patent. In fact, as stated above, the present invention utilizes the operating voltages generated by the method disclosed in the '259 patent to implement a new EEPROM storage array. Thus, unlike the '259 patent, the present invention does not address methods of determining and generating the various operating voltages required for programming, erasing, or reading a storage EEPROM transistor. Further, the present invention is fundamentally different from the '259 patent because for example, unlike the '259 patent, the present invention addresses the operation of the individual EEPROM storage cells themselves.

Single-transistor cell EEPROM array for analog or digital storage


A thermoplastic resin composition comprising a propylene polymer component, a styrene-containing elastomer component and talc. The propylene polymer component may be an ethylene-propylene block copolymer, polypropylene resin, a mixture of at least two propylene polymers each having different melt flow rate. The styrene-containing elastomer may be an elastomeric styrene-containing block copolymer represented by the following formula (I) or (II): ##STR1## wherein PS is a polystyrene block, PEB is a poly(ethylene-butene) block and m is an integer of 1 or more. Also, the styrene-containing elastomer may be a mixture of the elastomeric styrene-containing block copolymers having different melt flow rates.

The present invention relates to a thermoplastic resin composition comprising a propylene polymer, an elastomeric styrene-containing block copolymer and a talc. The resin composition is excellent, in particular, in injection moldability and provides molded articles having a good mechanical strength.
Polypropylene has a good mechanical strength and a good moldability in spite of its low density, and is widely utilized in various application fields. However, polypropylene is insufficient in the impact resistance and the heat resistance. To improve these defects, various polypropylene resin compositions, for example, those comprising an ethylene-propylene block copolymer produced by a multi-stage polymerization, a rubber component such as an ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber and an ethylene-butene copolymer rubber, and an inorganic filler such as talc have been proposed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-149845 discloses a resin composition comprising (a) 59 to 74 weight % a propylene-ethylene block copolymer, (b) 35 to 20 weight % of an ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber, and (c) 3 to 6 weight % of talc having a specific surface area of 30,000 cm.sup.2 /g or more and an average particle size of 0.5 to 2.0 .mu.m. The propylene-ethylene block copolymer has an ethylene content of 1 to 7 weight % and a melt flow rate of 15 to 50 g/10 min. The propylene-ethylene block copolymer is further specified by containing 5 to 12 weight % of a boiling xylene solubles having an ethylene content of 20 to 60 weight %. The ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber is characterized by a propylene content of 20 to 60 weight % and a Mooney viscosity (ML.sub.1+4 (100.degree. C.)) of 100 to 150. The resin composition contains a fine talc. The fine particles of talc are easily agglomerated together to deteriorate a balance of mechanical strength such as hardness, stiffness, impact strength at low temperature, etc. Also, a great specific surface area of the fine talc makes the fine talc particles highly adherent, and the additives are adhered on the fine particles of talc to fail in exhibiting their ability. To eliminate this problem, it has been proposed to subject the fine talc to a surface treatment by a surface-treating agent of aminosilane type, titanate type, etc. to improve the dispersibility of talc thereby preventing the additives from being adhered to the talc. However, such a proposal is still insufficient.
To improve the impact resistance of the conventional polypropylene, it has been also proposed to increase the content of the ethylene-propylene copolymer block in the ethylene-propylene block copolymer, or to add a rubber component such as an ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber and an ethylene-butene copolymer rubber in an increased amount. However, these modification is not successful because the fluidity of the resultant resin composition is decreased. Also, the addition of the rubber component in a large amount reduces the heat resistance and the surface hardness of the molded articles.
In view of improving the productivity, the demand for making the molded articles large in their size and reducing the thickness of the molded articles. This demand in turn requires to provide a molding material of high performance. To meet such a demand, it is inevitable for the molding material to be further improved in its fluidity and be made more sufficient in its performance. However, the conventional molding material comprising an ethylene-propylene block copolymer and a polyolefin elastomer has failed to meet this demand because the demand exceeds the limit of improvement achieved by the conventional molding material.

Thermoplastic resin composition comprising propylene elastomer, and talc components


A reading device for holographic storage includes a light source, a light-directing component, an optical sensor and a prism. The light-directing component is disposed on the transmission path of the light beam provided by the light source and directs the light beam to get incidence at a holographic storage medium in a reading angle to generate a data beam. The optical sensor is suitable for reading the data beam and reproducing stored data. The prism is disposed between the light source and the holographic storage medium and rotatable about a rotation axis perpendicular to the transmission path of the light beam for fine-adjusting the reading angle. The prism and the light beam satisfy the following formula:√{square root over (n2−sin2I1)}×sin A−cos A sin I1<1

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for holographic storage.
2. Description of Related Art
As one of products of the modern storage technology, an optical disc has superiority in enormous storage capacity, convenience to store, long lifetime of data keeping, low cost and robust from stored data damage, and a user can easily read the data stored in an optical disc by using an optical disc drive. In general speaking, a laser beam is focused on an optical disc by an objective lens to read and record the data stored in an optical disc, and the storage capacity of an optical disc depends on the area thereof. With the same disc area, to increase the storage capacity thereof, it needs to increase the recording density of the optical disc, which however may encounter a diffraction limit as a bottle neck for a development in increasing the storage capacity thereof.
Accordingly, to increase the data-recording density of an optical disc, a holography technique is provided, which adopts a 3-D multi-recording operation and features in a mass storage. A general holographic storage medium mainly makes of a photosensitive material of photopolymer or photorefractive crystal for recording an interference pattern generated by a signal beam and a reference beam.
During reading a holographic storage medium, a reading beam which has the same condition as the reference beam is employed to re-establish the information recorded on the holographic storage medium. It needs to be noted however, during recording, a photosensitive material of photopolymer usually get a variation of volume in addition to the expected variation of optical behavior. Therefore, if the information re-establishment is based on the condition of the reference beam during recording without taking into account that the volume of the photosensitive material gets changed during recording, the light intensity representing the re-established information is reduced accompanying an increased noise, which leads to an increased probability of errors during reading the information. Besides, a holographic storage medium recorded under different conditions has different volume shrinkage factors, which lowers the interchangeability thereof between different reading devices and further causes an inconvenience for use.

Abstract: I1 is the angle of incidence of the light beam, A is the vertex angle between the light incident surface and the light emerging surface and n is the refractive index of the prism.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


The present invention relates generally to amino acid derivatives and to methods of making the same. In particular, the invention relates to compounds bearing a stereochemical identity, that is, the same stereochemistry, with the chiral α-carbon of D-α-amino acids and their use in methods of therapy, including the treatment of inflammatory diseases, and to compositions and enantiomeric mixtures containing them.

Human non-pancreatic secretory phospholipases A2 (sPLA2) are enzymes of 14 kD in size that effect ester hydrolysis of phospholipids at the sn-2 (or 2-acyl) position of 3-sn-phosphoglycerides to release a lysophospholipid and a fatty acid (ruzanski, W., et al, Immunology Today, 1991, 12, 143-146; Dennis, E. A., Trends Biochem., Sci., 1997, 22, 1-2; Murakami, M., et al, J. Biol. Chem., 274, 44, 31435-31444 Predominantly, the fatty acid released is arachidonic acid. When arachidonic acid is produced, it may be acted upon by other enzymes, including cyclooxygenases and lipoxygenases and transformed into inflammatory mediators such as platelet activating factor, prostalgandins, thromboxanes, lipoxins, lysophosphatides and leukotrienes (see Pnizanski supra). The presence of elevated levels of sPLA2 enzymes at sites of injury or inflammation has been demonstrated in a wide range of diseases and inflammatory conditions and the levels of enzyme activity have been correlated with the severity of the pathology (see Pruzanski supra). Compounds that inhibit the activity of sPLA2 might therefore prevent the formation of inflammatory mediators and could potentially alleviate symptoms associated with inflammatory conditions.
There are at least nine published mammalian sPLA2 enzymes including the human enzymes:—
Type IBpancreasType IIasynoviocytes, plateletsType IIdspleenType Vmast cell, macrophage, heart, lungType Xthymocytes, spleen, leukocytes
Recently, abnormally high concentrations of human non-pancreatic secretory PLA2-type IIa (hnpsPLA2) were detected in synovial fluid of humans with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and in the blood of humans suffering from bums, sepsis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute pancreatitis, bacterial peritonitis, asthma, malaria, atherosclerosis, cancer, pregnancy complications and post-operative states. In all cases, the severity of the disease strongly correlated with elevated sPLA2 levels, suggesting a role for sPLA2 in immune defence. Prolonged excessive sPLA2 levels can, however, be deleterious, due to continuous eicosanoid formation and proteolytic activity. Intravenous administration of hnpsPLA2 to rabbits, for example, produces symptoms of arthritis and sepsis.
It has also been shown that types IIa and V produce arachidonic acid from several sources and that endogenous substances, membrane disturbances and disease processes promote such cleavage. There is a growing body of work which suggests that a key finction of hnpsPLA2 (type IIa) is an acute-phase protein, and a major bactericidal component of human tears, that helps eliminate infectious organisms and damaged host cells during the inflammatory response. Interestingly, it is also reported that this enzyme, which has quite a charged hydrophilic surface, normally has little activity in vitro on uncharged phosphatidylcholine vesicles and cell membranes. Mutation of residue 3 to the more hydrophobic residue Trp (Trp3) appears to increase binding by the PLA2 to, and hydrolysis of, such lipid surfaces by 2-3 orders of magnitude, consistent with the notion that the indole side chain of Trp3 helps penetrate the lipid interface of membrane substrates. The interfacial characteristics and membrane processing rates of the Trp3 mutant of hnpsPLA2 resemble those of mammalian pancreatic enzymes that also have a Trp at position 3. In addition to these surface effects on enzymatic function, very recently it has been proposed that some of the physiological functions that are regulated by sPLA2 are mediated by specific interactions between PLA2 surface residues and cellular receptors and, although there is evidence for this, the surface roles for PLA2 are not at all clear. Thus, while enzymatic activity of hnpsPLA2 is believed to stimulate neutrophils to produce superoxide, its surface properties are thought to be responsible for release of elastase and other degradative agents. To summarize, there is mounting evidence, therefore, that sPLA2 enzymes participate extensively in regulating not just phospholipid digestion, but also both transcellular and intracellular conununications involved in diverse physiological functions as well as in disease development.
Purported inhibitors of various phospholipases A2, particularly non-humanPLA2 enzymes have been described. However, it is now recognised that difficulties associated with the assay methods previously used have led to many of these compounds incorrectly being attributed with the desired activity. Many of these compounds are now recognised as not being potent inhibitors and generally do not inhibit human non-pancreatic secretary PLA2 enzymes at submicromolar concentrations (Balsinde, J., Ann, Rev. Pharmacol. Toxiol., 1999, 39, 175-89).
Thus, there exists a continued need for new inhibitors of sPLA2 which may be useful in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and conditions.

Compounds and inhibitors of phospholipases


A signal generating circuit of the invention includes a current polarity switch circuit that receives an output current of a light-sensitive element and outputs a current of which the direction the polarity switch circuit keeps constant regardless of the direction of the received current, a current-to-voltage conversion circuit that converts the current outputted from the current polarity switch circuit into a voltage, and a signal processing circuit that receives the voltage outputted from the current-voltage conversion circuit to generate a signal based on the received voltage. Thus, the signal based on the received current signal can be generated regardless of the direction of the received current signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal generating circuit that receives a current signal to generate a signal based on the current signal. The present invention also relates to an optical pickup device provided with such a signal generating circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
An optical pickup device includes a signal generating circuit. The signal generating circuit receives the output current of a light-sensitive element that receives light reflected from an optical disk, and then generates a servo error signal based on the current signal.
In an optical pickup device incorporated in a CD playback apparatus or the like, the anode of a photodiode used as a light-sensitive element is grounded so as to increase the sensitivity of the light-sensitive element to light of long wavelengths (e.g. red light). FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of a signal generating circuit that receives an output current of a photodiode having the anode thereof grounded and generates a servo error signal.
The signal generating circuit 11 shown in FIG. 6 includes an operational amplifier 12, a resistor 13, and a signal processing circuit 14. The signal generating circuit 11 shown in FIG. 6 receives a current outputted from a photodiode 15 whose anode is grounded. The output current of the photodiode 15 is converted into a voltage by a current-to-voltage converter formed by the operational amplifier 12 and the resistor 13. The signal processing circuit 14 receives the voltage outputted from the current-to-voltage converter, and then generates a servo error signal based on the received voltage.
On the other hand, in recent years, much effort has been spent in the development of DVD playback apparatuses and the like that use blue laser light. In an optical device incorporated in such apparatuses, a constant voltage Vcc is fed to the cathode of a photodiode used as a light-sensitive element so as to increase the sensitivity of the light-sensitive element to light of short wavelengths. FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of a signal generating circuit that receives an output current of a photodiode receiving a constant Vcc at the cathode thereof and generates a servo error signal. In FIG. 7, such components as find their counterparts in FIG. 6 are identified with common reference numerals.
The signal generating circuit 16 shown in FIG. 7 includes an operational amplifier 12, a resistor 13, and a signal processing circuit. 17. The signal generating circuit 16 shown in FIG. 7 receives a current outputted from a photodiode 18 that receives a constant Vcc at the cathode thereof. The output current of the photodiode 18 is converted into a voltage by a current-to-voltage converter formed by the operational amplifier 12 and the resistor 13. The signal processing circuit 17 receives the voltage outputted from the current-to-voltage converter, and then generates a servo error signal based on the received voltage.
The signal generating circuit 11 shown in FIG. 6 and the signal generating circuit 16 shown in FIG. 7 differ from each other in the polarity of the input current, and accordingly in the polarity of the voltage outputted from the current-to-voltage converter formed by the operational amplifier 12 and the resistor 13. This gives the signal processing circuit 14 and the signal processing circuit 17 different circuit configurations.
As a result, whereas the signal generating circuit 11 shown in FIG. 6 cannot process the output current of a photodiode that receives a constant voltage at the cathode thereof, the signal generating circuit 16 shown in FIG. 7 cannot process the output current of a photodiode whose anode is grounded. That is, quite inconveniently, which type of signal generating circuit to use needs to be decided according to how a photodiode is connected.

Signal generating circuit and optical pickup device provided therewith


A method for producing a ceramic material, subsequently including mixing ceramic material, such as oxidic ceramic material, which as a raw material essentially comprises aluminum oxide, zircon oxide and/or titanium oxide, and glass component; melting at least the glass component in the mixture by sintering, where the glass component infiltrates the ceramic material and absorbs raw material of the ceramic material through a reaction at the surface; and bringing the mixture into a shape, such as powder, which is suitable for further processing, such as additional sintering.

The present invention relates to a method for producing ceramic material, said ceramic material itself, a basis for a dental restoration, which is made from said ceramic material, and the method for production thereof, and a dental restoration with said basis and a method for producing said dental restoration.
For ceramic materials often aluminum oxide and/or zirconium oxide is used, i.e. oxidic ceramic. When producing dental restorations, such as crowns, it is known to use ceramic material as a basis therefore in the place of for instance metal, that remains visible after applying cover layers, for instance of porcelain. Ceramic material is preferred, because this results in a better esthetic appearance of the dental restoration to be produced, than metal. The basis of a dental restoration is placed on for instance the remains of a tooth, i.e. a tooth stump, and as such forms the basis or carrier of a dental restoration. In connection with the considerable dental forces, to which the dental restoration is subjected, the basis therefor needs to have a sufficient strength, apart from the visually observable properties in connection with the cover layers to be applied to the basis and made from e.g. porcelain to obtain the aforementioned esthetic effect. Moreover ceramic material is more desirable than metal because of the higher biocompatibility thereof.
Several ceramic materials, especially for the basis of a dental restoration, and methods for producing the ceramic material, the basis and the dental restoration are respectively known.
The American U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,319 relates to flame spraying the ceramic material, which in essence comprises aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, titanium oxide or combination thereof to produce the basis for especially a dental restoration. Here ceramic material in powder form is suspended in a carrier liquid and subjected to a flame spraying process on an underground, having the form of a dental remain, e.g. the form of a tooth stump. According to this method small quantities of material, which is based on silicate, are added to increase the density, which corresponds to the strength of the basis of ceramic material. The strength, which can be obtained is however insufficient in order to apply the ceramic material and the method, when producing the basis of a dental restoration. The density, which is achieved, is too low for this, and the corresponding porousness is too high, such that tear formation, leading to fracture, can occur. As a matter of fact, this porousness of especially the grains of the raw material for the ceramic material is most sensitive for the enormous dental forces, occurring when used as a dental restoration, and can lead to tear formation and fracture, although the tensions in the basis as a whole remain below the desired fracture strength.
Another known technique is the use of massive dental porcelain to produce the entire dental restoration. This however has for a drawback, that this material is hard to process in order to realize the occlusal surfaces accurately as a result of the hardness of this dental porcelain. When the obtained form of the dental restoration is less than optimum, and the restoration inhibits free movement of the jaw, this can lead to occlusal discrepancies and dislocation of the cranio mandibular complex. Therefore, when placing such restorations, often corrections have to be made in order to avoid this problem, which is inhibited by the hardness of dental porcelain. Furthermore this dental porcelain exhibits a high degree of shrink during baking, as a result of which the fit on the underground and therefore later upon the dental remains is unsure and can even vary as a result of variations in the degree of shrink. A bad fit can lead to the dental restoration coming loose or disturbance of the cranio mandibular complex. Further the use of a uniform colored block leads to a restoration with an appearance, which seems considerably less lifelike.
Also essentially pure aluminum oxide can be pressed dry and sintered. However, to obtain a desirable appearance of the restoration addition of pigments is necessary, which disrupt the sintering process. Therefore products based on this known technology have an insufficient strength, when pigments are applied, or an insufficiently natural appearance.
Another known technique is for instance pressing the ceramic material dry onto the underground to form a basis, sintering the material and process it to the desired shape, for instance by milling. The application of ceramic material is for instance by pressing it in a dry form. The ceramic material as raw material essentially comprises aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide and/or titanium oxide or mixtures thereof. These ceramic materials and methods have for a disadvantage, that a considerable and largely unpredictable shrink occurs when sintering or baking. Furthermore the strength of the used ceramic materials is insufficient, in particular for application as a basis for a dental restoration. Also here the porousness of the grains of the powder of the raw materials for the ceramic material is the cause. Moreover the variation in the degree of shrink, which is anticipated by oversize production with an average shrink as a starting point, leads to inaccuracy of the fit and therefore losses in production through rejection of individual products with an incorrect fit. Deviating fit is however only to be detected, after the underground is removed. This inhibits continuous automated production processes, where this underground could be used to be engaged by a processing machine, such as a mill. As certainty about the fit first has to be obtained, the underground, however, needs to be removed. Also for applying the cover layers on the basis for the dental restoration, this necessity to remove the underground is an inhibition.
With the invention it is intended to remedy the problems and disadvantages of all the above mentioned techniques, to which end a method is provided for production of ceramic material, and the ceramic material itself is provided. The ceramic material, that results from the method according to the present application can be used in production of the basis for a dental restoration and therefore in production of the dental restoration itself, but can also be used as a substitute for plastic filling material, which is for instance used to fill cavities. By the absorption of raw material of the ceramic material the glass component is strengthened, where the glass component also infiltrates the porous structure of the ceramic material. Through this process a substantially massive mass is obtained without any porousness, because of which the strength of the products produced with this ceramic material, such as the basis for a dental restoration, exhibit a sufficient strength. The glass component also adheres to grains of the ceramic material, which is for instance in a powder form, so that these grains are among themselves connected by the glass component. As such a massive product is formed, which through supplemental sintering for producing the basis for a dental restoration, is powdered. This can be achieved by grinding. When thereafter this powder is applied to an underground, corresponding to a tooth stump, in an arbitrary manner, by spraying, brushing, or otherwise, the glass component becomes fluid and fluid phase sintering occurs. As a result the shrink when baking the ceramic material while sintering this ceramic material to form for instance the basis for a dental restoration, is overcome by the glass component and the basis securely fits exactly on the underground, where the underground has a shape corresponding exactly to that of the form of the tooth stump. This certainty obviates the need to remove the underground in order to verify the fit, so that the underground can remain in the basis during subsequent processing steps.
The underground is often made from an oven proof material, to which the ceramic material of the basis for a dental restoration adheres. Preferably this oven proof underground can be formed from partially sintered, or chemically bound aluminum oxide and/or zirconium oxide or mixtures thereof in order to ensure, that the basis adheres well thereto. By subsequently removing the underground in a milling manner, it is secured, that the restoration will fit well, so that passages along the sides and further dental decay and cavities under the influence of bacteria will not occur. The ceramic material according to the present invention can, in comparison with known techniques, be sintered very fast, whereby the production process of the actual basis or the dental restoration as a whole is accelerated.

Method for making basis for a dental restoration

Abstract: Also, a basis for the crown, the crown in its entirety having layers of for instance porcelain applied to the basis, and methods for producing the basis and the crown through subsequent processing steps, to which the basis is preferably subjected on the same underground, for instance based on CAD/CAM techniques.


A turbine nozzle support structure supports a ceramic turbine nozzle provided with a flange and disposed at the inlet of a turbine on a nozzle support. Force-multiplying mechanism presses the flange of the turbine nozzle against a nozzle support to support the turbine nozzle on the nozzle support. The force-multiplying mechanisms includes a pressing member having a spring holding part, a fulcrum part and a pressing part, a spring for applying resilient force to the spring holding part, and a fulcrum supporting member having a bearing part for supporting the fulcrum part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a turbine nozzle support structure for supporting the ceramic turbine nozzle of a gas turbine by pressing the turbine nozzle against a nozzle support.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increase of turbine nozzle outlet temperature, namely, turbine inlet temperature, in a gas turbine is effective in improving the efficiency of the gas turbine. A single metal blade or a segment blade formed by integrally combining a plurality of metal blades is used generally as a turbine nozzle for conventional medium and large gas turbines. Since the heat resistance capacity of the metal turbine nozzle limits the increase of the turbine inlet temperature, the turbine nozzle is cooled by compressed air produced by the gas turbine. The compressed air used for cooling the turbine nozzle does not contribute to the combustion of the gas, but decreases the gas temperature after combustion.
Consequently, the combustor outlet temperature needs to be further increased to maintain a predetermined turbine inlet temperature. The increase of the combustor outlet temperature increases NOx produced by combustion. The nozzle blade needs to be provided with a complicated cooling structure and to be formed of a heat-resistant material by precision casting. Therefore, the nozzle blade is expensive and is subject to deterioration due to oxidation and corrosion at high temperatures and is liable to be abraded due to decrease in hardness.
Application of ceramic materials resistant to oxidation, corrosion and abrasion at elevated temperatures to parts, which are exposed to high temperatures, of combustors and turbines has been tried in an attempt to solve those problems in increasing turbine inlet temperature. Gas turbines provided with ceramic parts to be exposed to elevated temperatures, as compared with turbines provided with metal parts to be exposed to elevated temperatures, are able to operate at higher turbine inlet temperatures without requiring cooling or using reduced cooling air, and are able to operate at higher efficiency, cause less environmental pollution, and have longer effective life.
However, ceramic materials, as compared with metals, are brittle and less elastic. If a ceramic part interferes with an adjacent metal part, the ceramic parts will be easily damaged and therefore considerable contrivance is needed to apply ceramic materials to the parts of combustors and turbines. Some medium and large gas turbines are provided with a turbine nozzle having a plurality of ceramic nozzle segments arranged in a circumferential arrangement to solve problems resulting from increase in thermal stress due to increase in their dimensions and problems related with manufacturing techniques. A support structure disclosed in JP-A 2001-317577 for supporting such nozzle segments presses the nozzle segments against support members with coil springs to absorb the difference in thermal expansion between the ceramic nozzle segments and the adjacent metal support members by the coil springs to prevent troubles due to the respective different modes of deformation of the ceramic nozzle segments and the metal support members.
However, only a limited space is available for installing a mechanism for holding the nozzle segments and hence the coil springs must be small. The holding capacity of the small coil springs is insufficient for holding the turbine nozzle consisting of the nozzle segments.


In one aspect, an apparatus for use in a wellbore is provided that in one embodiment includes a sensor having a plurality of spaced conductive contact elements, a sensing member that moves by gravity and contacts at least two contact elements in the plurality of contact elements to create an electrical short between such at least two contact elements and a circuit coupled to the contact elements configured to generate electrical signals in response to the electrical short between the contact elements.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to apparatus and methods for the gravity toolface of a tool downhole and/or other parameters relating thereto, including inclination, orientation and temperature.
2. Background of the Art
Oil wells (also referred to as wellbores or boreholes) are drilled with a drill string that includes a tubular member (also referred to as a "drilling tubular") having a drilling assembly (also referred to as "bottomhole assembly" or "BHA") which includes a drill bit attached to the bottom end thereof. The drill bit is rotated to disintegrate the rock formation to drill the wellbore. The BHA includes devices and sensors for providing information about a variety of parameters relating to the drilling operations (referred to as "drilling parameters"), the behavior of the BHA (referred to as "BHA parameters") and the formation surrounding the wellbore being drilled (referred to as "formation parameters"). A substantial number of currently drilled wellbores are deviated wellbore and horizontal wellbores. The BHA used for drilling such wellbores usually includes one or more devices configured to steer the BHA so as to drill such wellbores along selected well paths. Such devices include magnetometers to provide measurements of the toolface, which measurements are taken when the BHA is rotating and are also unaffected by the BHA vibration. The magnetometer measurements are typically referenced to the gravity toolface measurements taken by other sensors, such as accelerometers, when the when the BHA is stationary.
The disclosure herein, in one aspect, provides apparatus and methods for determining gravity toolface that may be utilized as a reference for the gravity toolface measurement, which apparatus also may be utilized to determine other measurements, such as inclination, orientation and temperature of the BHA.

Apparatus and methods for determining parameters downhole using gravity-affected sensor


Embodiments of the present disclosure include performing one or more oil recovery cycles that recovers oil from an oil containing reservoir. The one or more oil recovery cycles can include providing a flow of supercritical carbon dioxide to the oil containing reservoir, injecting a flow of a surfactant to the flow of supercritical carbon dioxide, where the supercritical carbon dioxide and the surfactant form a mixture, forming an emulsion of the mixture in water within the oil containing reservoir to control mobility of the supercritical carbon dioxide in the oil containing reservoir, reducing the flow of the surfactant to a reduced flow while maintaining the flow of the supercritical carbon dioxide to the oil containing reservoir, and recovering the oil displaced from the oil containing reservoir.

Recovering oil from an oil containing reservoir can include three distinct phases. During a first phase, natural pressure of the oil containing reservoir and/or gravity can drive oil into a wellbore, and combined with an artificial lift technique, such as pumping, bring the oil to the surface. However for some oil containing reservoirs, in the first phase only about 10 percent of the original oil in place is recovered.
A second phase, to extend the productive life of the oil containing reservoir, can increase oil recovery to 20 to 40 percent of the original oil in place. For some applications, the second phase can include injecting water to displace oil and drive it to a production wellbore. In some applications, reinjection of natural gas has been employed to maintain and/or increase reservoir pressure, as natural gas is often produced simultaneously with the oil recovery.
However, with much of the easy-to-recover oil already recovered via the first phase and/or the second phase, a third distinct phase of oil recovery has been developed. The third phase may be referred to as enhanced oil recovery. Enhanced oil recovery techniques offer prospects for producing more of the oil containing reservoir's original oil in place, thus further extending the productive life the oil containing reservoir. Worldwide, one estimate of oil in place that is not recoverable by the first phase of oil recovery or the second phase of oil recovery that could be the targeted by enhanced oil recovery techniques is 377 billion barrels of oil. Enhanced oil recovery can include an injection of fluids other than water, such as steam, gas, alkali, surfactant solutions, various polymers or carbon dioxide (CO2).
For some applications the fluid is miscible with the hydrocarbons in the oil containing reservoir. This fluid injection can help reduce the viscosity of oil present in the oil containing reservoir in order to increase the flow of oil to the production wellbore.
Miscible carbon dioxide injection, however, can be accompanied with a number of drawbacks. One problem encountered is poor sweep of the oil containing reservoir. Poor sweep can occur when carbon dioxide injected into the oil containing reservoir flows through the paths of least resistance (i.e. more permeable zones) due to the low viscosity of the carbon dioxide, thus bypassing significant portions of the oil containing reservoir and the oil located there. In addition, due to the low density of the carbon dioxide, the injected carbon dioxide can rise to the top of the formation and "override" portions of the formation, leading to early breakthrough of the carbon dioxide at the production wellbore, leaving less carbon dioxide within the oil containing reservoir to contact with the oil.
To increase the enhanced oil recovery process effectiveness, a surfactant has been used to generate an emulsion in the formation. An emulsion can generate an apparent viscosity of about 100 to about 1,000 times that of the injected carbon dioxide, therefore, the emulsion can inhibit or slow the flow of the carbon dioxide into the path of least resistance. In other words, the emulsion can serve to block the volumes of the oil containing reservoir through which the carbon dioxide can short-cut, thereby reducing its tendency to channel through highly permeable fissures, cracks, or strata, and direct the carbon dioxide toward previously unswept portions of the oil containing reservoir. As such, the emulsion can help force the carbon dioxide to the recoverable hydrocarbons in the less depleted portions of the oil containing reservoir.


A baby bottle holder provides for the hands free holding of a baby bottle for bottle feeding an infant, thus enabling the person caring for the infant to have both hands free for holding the infant and/or performing other duties as required. The holder comprises several embodiments, each of which has a neck sling removably securable about the neck of the user and a bottle securing strap which secures removably about the neck of the baby bottle adjacent the nipple end of the bottle. Some embodiments comprise a pliable sleeve having a conical section with all diameters greater than that of the bottle, with the bottle being placed in the sleeve with the nipple end toward the larger diameter portion of the sleeve. The nipple of the bottle thus extends downwardly for feeding the infant, with the bottle being secured by the bottle securing strap. The bottle is easily tilted upwardly to preclude leakage from the nipple when not in use, by everting the sleeve over the upper end of the bottle. Other embodiments utilize an elastic strap for the sleeve portion, with a pliable connecting sheet or strap between the sleeve and the bottle securing strap. The bottle may be positioned with the nipple upward by sliding the elastic sleeve toward the nipple end of the bottle, thus positioning the center of gravity of the bottle beyond the sleeve. Each embodiment allows the user to position the bottle easily either nipple downward or nipple upward, as desired.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to supports, straps, and slings providing for the support, carriage, or holding of an article and supported by a person, and more specifically to a baby bottle holder which provides for the hands free support of a baby bottle by an adult, for feeding an infant. The present baby bottle holder includes an adjustable neck sling which secures about the neck of the person holding the baby, with the sling supporting a bottle holder portion which secures around the bottle and automatically suspends the bottle in a nipple downward orientation. The bottle holder portion may be everted or moved relative to the bottle, to reposition the bottle therein to suspend the bottle with the nipple upward when the bottle is not in use. A doubled over band of hook and loop fastener material is used to secure the sleeve or holder portion to the bottle adjacent the nipple end of the bottle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Being the parent of a small infant is a demanding task, and it often seems that the parent or guardian has neither sufficient time nor hands to do an adequate job. This can be particularly true at meal times for the infant, when the adult must cradle the child, hold the bottle, and perhaps perform other chores simultaneously, such as wiping up spills, answering a telephone, etc.
Thus, the need for some means of holding a baby bottle to provide for hands free feeding of an infant, has long been recognized. However, none of the devices known are capable of automatically supporting the bottle at the proper angle for feeding the infant, while also allowing the holder to be adjusted to support the bottle with the nipple raised, to preclude dripping or spillage from the tip of the nipple when the bottle is not in use. A discussion of the prior art known to the present inventor, and its differences from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,494,632 issued on Jan. 17, 1950 to Robert Rodin describes a Nursing Bottle Holder, comprising a fabric pouch which completely and tightly surrounds the bottle, except for the nipple end. A strap is secured to two separated points on the pouch to support it and a bottle contained therein. Elastic is used at the neck of the bottle, adjacent the nipple end, to secure the pouch around the bottle. The bottle is thus immovably installed within the pouch during use, and the only means of tilting the angle of the bottle, is by adjusting the position of the strap about the user's neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,617,105 issued on Nov. 11, 1952 to Frances G. Backman describes an Article For Protecting Clothing, comprising an elongate flat sheet of absorbent material which is sewn together longitudinally at each end, to form a bottle pocket at each end. The device is adapted for use only as a bottle storage means and burping cloth, and not as a device for holding a bottle during the actual feeding process. The device is slung diagonally over a shoulder, rather than being suspended about the neck. Thus, a bottle held in one of the pockets thereof will be supported with the nipple upward, and cannot be used to hold the bottle for feeding, as provided by the present bottle holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,644,623 issued on Jul. 7, 1953 to Gwendolyn S. White describes a Nursing Bottle Holder, comprising a sling with a neck strap secured thereto. One end of the strap extends downwardly into the sling, to form a loop therein. A baby bottle is inserted into the sling through one end thereof, and the base end of the bottle may be suspended within the strap loop within the sling to position the nipple end of the bottle downwardly for feeding. When the feeding has been completed, the base of the bottle is removed from the strap loop within the sling, and allowed to rest within the sling. However, even when the bottle is resting within the sling, the nipple end of the bottle is angled slightly downwardly (col. 4, lines 73--75), thus allowing a bottle even slightly less than half full to drip from the nipple. No means of everting or adjusting the sling to raise the nipple end of the bottle is provided by White, as is provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,944 issued on Nov. 27, 1962 to Georgia R. Liebendorfer describes a Nursing Bottle Holder, comprising a sleeve with an elastic insert which grips the bottle tightly. A neck strap extends from the sleeve. Adjustment of the bottle angle is provided by tying a loop in the strap, to raise or lower one end of the bottle. The configuration is quite similar to that of the Rodin device discussed further above, with no positive means for holding the bottle at a predetermined angle, as provided by the present bottle holder in its various embodiments.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,230 issued on Aug. 11, 1964 to Durward L. Brooks describes a Nursing Bottle Support, comprising an elongate connector formed of wire and having a pair of spaced apart loops formed therein. One end of a neck strap is secured to each loop, with an elastic strap extending from each loop to secure a bottle therein. As in the cases of the Rodin and Liebendorfer bottle holders discussed above, adjustment of the angle of the bottle is accomplished by repositioning the strap around the user's neck, rather than shifting the bottle within the holder, as is done in the case of the present bottle holder invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,099 issued on Jul. 27, 1965 to Inez Doba describes Nursing Bottle Holders formed of a coiled plastic strip configured to surround a baby bottle. The free end of the coil extends to form a larger loop, which serves to suspend the holder from the neck of the user. The fixed angle of the relatively rigid plastic material holds the bottle with the nipple downward, and no raising of the nipple end is provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,977 issued on Jun. 27, 1978 to George W. Barville et al. describes a Device For Anchoring Bottles Or The Like, And Method. The device comprises an open ended harness, which is securable about an infant by means of mating hook and loop fastening material at the ends of the straps. A removable attachment for a baby bottle is provided on the front of the harness, comprising a resilient ring which fits around the relatively narrow neck of a conventional baby bottle. Thus, the bottle would only be suspended by its neck, with the center of gravity of the bottle tilting the bottle to a nipple up position. The bottle would have to be actively tilted to and held in a nipple downward position for feeding, whereas the present holder automatically holds the bottle ar the desired angle. Moreover, the Barville et al. device is not adapted to suspend the bottle from the parent or guardian holding the child, as provided by the present holder.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,302 issued on Sep. 2, 1980 to Jarold L. Hampton et al. describes a Nursing Bottle Holder comprising a shoulder strap with a Velcro (tm) patch thereon. A sleeve securable about a bottle includes a patch of mating Velcro thereon, enabling the bottle to be secured to the strap at any desired angle. The bottle does not automatically hang at the proper angle due to the specific configuration of the bottle sleeve and neck strap, as provided by the present bottle holder.
None of the above inventions and patents, either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


An electrical energy transmission system has a three-phase electric current power source which generates a three-phase electric current having three electric currents, a converting device which converts the three-phase electric current to obtain a common electric current signal formed by summation of three electric currents having the same phases, and a single-line electrical transmission line which transmits further the thusly produced common electric current signal.

An electrical energy transmission system for transmitting a generated three-phase current conventionally includes a three-phase electrical power generator and an electrical transmission line which transmits the generated electrical energy to a load.
There were attempts to carry out the electrical energy transmission by means of one wire. First applications of the single-wire electrical energy transmission were disclosed by Nikola Tesla in U.S. Pat. No. 593,138 and in British Patent No. 8,200. Another single line transmission technique is known as the Goubau line or G-line, which is a type of single wire transmission line used at UHF and microwave frequencies (see Geog Goubau, "Surface waves and their Application to Transmission Lines," Journal of Applied Physics, Volume 21, November, 1950). However, a G-line is a type of waveguide, rather than a wire for an electric circuit. There was also an experiment based on U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,107 to Avramenko et al. All these concepts were based on signal processing, including frequency converting or signal straightening. They however negatively influence the process of transmission of electrical energy and lead to loss of power.
Also an electrical energy distribution method is known with the use of one conductor, however with a return of the electrical current through earth, according to the authors of the proposed method. This method is known as the Single Wire Earth Return (SWER). However, the simplification of the electrical energy transfer in this system is achieved due to the loss of a part of the power produced by the source. One of the reasons for the loss of power is the reactive power caused by the imbalance of the line, and this loss depends on the length of the line.
There are three-phase electrical energy transmission systems which have significant advantages associated with high efficiency of generators and motors. Conventional three-phase electrical energy transmission systems transmit electrical energy through three or four wires. However, the presence of three or four wires and also of large masts in not the only drawback of these systems. Another drawback is a line voltage between two wires in this system at the root of the three phase voltage. This may have negative consequences, such a corona effect and additional losses in the lines. Additional disadvantage of the three phase system is the need to arrange the wires at a distance of several meters from each other. This in turn makes difficult to use underground lines.

Electrical energy transmission system with a single transmission line