An in-circuit emulator, alternatively referred to as a microcontroller debugging system, has a control processor having I/O ports and a multiplexed address/data bus port, an emulation processor having I/O ports and a multiplexed address/data bus port, an emulation memory having address inputs, a data bus interface and a plurality of two-to-one multiplexers. The in-circuit emulator is configured such that the control processor and the emulation processor each have at least one port directly coupled to the data bus of the emulation memory without the use of external tri-state buffers, this is referred to as the shared bus. An address latch, shared by both processors, has its inputs coupled to the shared bus. The outputs of the address latch form a portion of the emulation memory address input, and are coupled to a corresponding portion of the emulation memory address inputs. The emulation processor is supplied with a clock which is selected from the group consisting of: the same clock input signal used by the control processor, a clock synchronized with the internal clock of the control processor and a clock which is asynchronous with respect to the internal clock of the control processor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an architecture, system and method for in-circuit emulation. More particularly, the present invention relates to an architecture and system for performing in-circuit emulation of microcontrollers and microprocessors having a bus shared by at least two data processing elements and a method of performing in-circuit emulation using a bus shared by at least two data processing elements.
2. Related Art
Soon after the development of the microprocessor, semiconductor process technology advanced to the point where it became possible to integrate enough Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM) on a single chip along with a Central Processing Unit (CPU) to make a useful single-chip microcomputer. These single-chip microcomputers are often referred to as microcontrollers. Typically, a microcontroller includes a ROM for storing one or more software programs, RAM for storage of variables used by the program(s) during operation, a CPU for performing various arithmetic and logical functions and a plurality of Input/Output (I/O) lines. These I/O lines are often viewed in groups of eight and the groups are referred to collectively as I/O ports, or simply ports. Sometimes individual I/O lines are referred to as port pins. Microcontrollers also often include peripheral functions such as timers, counters, serial or parallel communication channels, A/D converters, and D/A converters. Representative examples of microcontrollers described above are the well-known 68HC11 (manufactured by Motorola Corp.) and the 8051 family of microcontrollers (manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., Signetics Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif., and others). As a particular example, the 8052 microcontroller, a member of the 8051 microcontroller family, includes in addition to a CPU, a 256 byte RAM, an 8192 byte ROM, an interrupt controller, a full duplex Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART), three 16 bit timer/counters, and four 8 bit general purpose I/O ports. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the architecture of the 8051.
The unit volume of microcontrollers used each year has generally been increasing over the years since these devices were first introduced. Not only has the unit volume been increasing, but the number of systems, i.e., applications, into which these devices have been designed has also been increasing.
One problem that arises in using these single-chip microcontrollers has to do with debugging systems incorporating these devices. Remembering that the program memory and variable memory are integrated onto the single-chip microcontroller, people skilled in the art will appreciate that access to the internal address and data buses of the microcontroller, which is useful in debugging a new design, is limited by the fact that these signals are not generally accessible outside the chip.
In-circuit emulators (hereafter "emulators") are tools for use in designing systems incorporating microcontrollers. These emulators enable system designers and programmers to determine whether their software is operating as intended. Further, these emulators make it relatively easy to debug software programs. Using these tools, system designers, engineers, programmers and technicians can interactively control and examine the state of the system at any chosen time, as well as control the execution of programs under development. This is essential for reducing the time required for debugging a system design which includes a microcontroller.
Typically, an emulator is a separate hardware/software product that emulates the microcontroller in a target system. The emulator is electrically coupled to a target system by means of a cable and connector that connects to the target system in the same manner that the microcontroller would connect to the target system. The emulator can execute program code stored in the memory of the target system, as well as code which has been stored in its own memory areas. An emulator provides not only the capabilities of the target processor, but a set of debugging capabilities to facilitate and shorten the debugging process. Emulators provide read/write access to all signals and all data to which the microcontroller has access, including information which resides inside the microcontroller. Access to this information enables engineers to effectively control and debug a microcontroller application. Design aspects of an in-circuit emulator for an 8051 type microcontroller manufactured by Metalink Corp. of Chandler, Ariz., are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,637 and that patent is hereby incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference.
One use of an emulator is in software development. The emulator executes the program exactly as the target system would, in real time, and it provides a wide variety of interactive debugging capabilities and facilities. Therefore, software developed using the emulator can be completely debugged, except for the hardware interface, before it is integrated with the system hardware.
A second use of an emulator is in the integration of the target system software and hardware. Even when the target system hardware and software have been individually (i.e., separately) debugged, new problems can, and often do, surface when the target system software and hardware are joined together. In this case the emulator serves to facilitate debugging of the hardware-software combination. Furthermore, after a prototype has been debugged, the emulator can be used to test the compliance of the new hardware-software combination with the design specification. Worst case parametric tests can be developed and tested on the prototype. This provides the designer with valuable information about the limitations of the system. It also provides the capability for test programs which can be used in the manufacturing process.
A third use of an emulator is in product-manufacturing. The same test routines used to develop and debug the prototype, or even more comprehensive test routines, can be used to test the finished products. Non-functioning units can be easily debugged using the debugging capability of the emulator.
A fourth use of an emulator is in field service. Rapid debugging of a product that has failed in the field is a valuable service that can be provided to customers.
Additionally, the growing trend of concurrent engineering, wherein all phases of product development, e.g., electrical design, mechanical design, test, and manufacturing are carried out simultaneously, requires substantially all members of a product development team to have access to development tools.
FIG. 1 shows the internal datapath of a conventional 8051 family in-circuit emulator, designated by general reference numeral 100, designed with two microcontrollers, a control processor 102 for control and interface purposes and an emulation processor 104 for actually executing the target program. Control processor 102, and emulation processor 104 have multiplexed address/data buses and each needs to access an emulation memory 106. (Members of the 8051 family of microcontrollers, PORT0 and PORT2 are active in fetching external instructions and data.) Emulation memory 106 is coupled to an address bus 108 and a data bus 110. In order to achieve a complete 16-bit address for read/write access to emulation memory 106, control processor 102 stores the low-order byte of an address into address latch 112. PORT0 of control processor 102 is coupled onto the inputs of address latch 112 via a tri-state buffer 116. The output of address latch 112 is coupled onto a first portion of address bus 108. PORT0 of control processor 102 is connected to the inputs of tri-state buffer 116 the outputs of which are in turn connected to data bus 110. A tri-state buffer 118 selectively couples the output of PORT2 of control processor 102 onto a second portion of address bus 108. Data read from emulation memory 106 is returned to PORT0 of control processor 102 via tri-state buffer 120 which has its inputs connected to data bus 110 and its outputs connected to PORT0 of control processor 102. Similarly, in order to achieve a complete 16-bit address for read/write access to emulation memory 106 emulation processor 104 stores the low-order byte of an address into address latch 112. PORT0 of emulation processor 104 is connected to the inputs of a tri-state buffer 126, the outputs of which are in turn connected to data bus 110. A tri-state buffer 130 selectively couples the output of PORT2 of emulation processor 104 onto a second portion of address bus 108. Data read from emulation memory 106 is returned to PORT0 of emulation processor 104 via tri-state buffer 128 which has its inputs connected to data bus 110 and its outputs connected to PORT0 of emulation processor 104.
FIG. 1 also shows a wait memory 140 having an output coupled to PORT0 of emulation processor 104 via a tri-state buffer 142. Monitor RAM 150 and monitor ROM 152 are both coupled onto emulation data bus 110 via tri-state buffer 154 and then coupled onto PORT0 of emulation processor 104 via tri-state buffer 128. Address bus 108 is coupled directly to Monitor RAM 150 and Monitor ROM 152.
FIG. 1 also shows an address latch 160 having inputs coupled PORT0 of control processor 102, and having outputs coupled to a first portion of the address inputs of a control processor firmware memory 162. Control processor firmware memory 162 has a second portion of address inputs coupled to PORT2 of control processor 102, and a data bus port coupled to PORT0 of control processor 102.
As shown in FIG. 1, use of the dual processor architecture with the multiplexed address/data buses forces the use of a number of tri-state buffers with their associated control, and corresponding interconnect, as well as separate memories to achieve functions such as waiting.
So, microcontroller use has been increasing not just in volume but in the number applications being designed. In-circuit emulators are a necessary tool for achieving both a high level of confidence in a design and a short time-to-market.
In view of the many uses of an emulator, the growing popularity of concurrent engineering, and the large number of embedded microcontroller applications existing and being developed, it can be seen that there is a need for a large number of emulator systems in this field. Therefore there is a corresponding need to reduce the cost, size, and power consumption of emulators, while simultaneously increasing their reliability. Such goals are desirable to achieve commercial success in this market.

Shared bus in-circuit emulator system and method


A normally-off-type HFET includes: an undoped AlwGa1-wN layer of t1 thickness, an undoped AlxGa1-xN layer of t2 thickness and an undoped GaN channel layer of tch thickness that are sequentially stacked; a source electrode and a drain electrode separated from each other and electrically connected to the channel layer; an undoped AlyGa1-yN layer of t3 thickness formed between the source electrode and the drain electrode on the channel layer; an AlzGa1-zN layer of t4 thickness formed in a shape of a mesa on a partial area of the AlyGa1-yN layer between the source electrode and the drain electrode; and a Schottky barrier type gate electrode formed on the AlzGa1-zN layer, in which conditions of y>x>w>z, t1>t4>t3 and 2wtch/(x−w)>t2>1 nm are satisfied.

In comparison with Si-based semiconductors, GaAs-based semiconductors and the like, nitride semiconductors such as GaN and AlGaN have advantages of higher breakdown voltage and excellent heat resistance as well as higher saturated drift velocity of electrons, and thus are expected to be able to provide electronic devices that are excellent in high-temperature operation and high-power operation.
In the HFET that is a kind of electronic device formed using such nitride semiconductors, it is well known to generate a two-dimensional electron gas layer resulting from a heterojunction included in a nitride semiconductor stacked-layer structure, and control electric current between source and drain electrodes by a gate electrode having a Schottky barrier junction with the nitride semiconductor layer.
FIG. 18 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a typical conventional HFET using an AlGaN/GaN heterojunction. In this HFET, sequentially stacked on a sapphire substrate 501 are a low-temperature GaN buffer layer 502, an undoped GaN layer 503, and an n-type AlGaN layer 504. A source electrode 505 and a drain electrode 506 each including stacked layers of a Ti layer and an Al layer are formed on n-type AlGaN layer 504. A gate electrode 507 including stacked layers of a Ni layer, a Pt layer and an Au layer is formed between source electrode 505 and drain electrode 506. The HFET of FIG. 18 is a normally-on-type in which even when the gate voltage is 0V, a drain current can flow due to high density of two-dimensional electron gas generated in a heterointerface between undoped GaN layer 503 and n-type AlGaN layer 504.
When an HFET is used as a power transistor, there sometimes occur safety flaws, in case of power outage for example, in a circuit including a normally-on-type HFET. Therefore, in order that an HFET is used as a power transistor, it must be a normally-off-type in which a current does not flow when its gate voltage is 0V. To satisfy this requirement, Patent Document 1 of Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-339561 proposes an HFET utilizing a mesa structure and a p-n junction in its gate.

Normally-off-type heterojunction field-effect transistor


A fishing rod comprises: a handle 1 having a reel pedestal fixing device 4 mounted on the lower surface thereof, a fishing rod member 2 having one or more fishing-line-guiding rings 5 mounted on the lower surface thereof, and a strike amplifying elastic subsidary fishing rod 50 which is located below the fishing rod member 2 and which is shorter than the latter. The fishing rod member 2 and the strike amplifying elastic subsidary fishing rod 50 are connected to the leading end of the handle 2. The strike amplifying elastic subsidary fishing rod 50 is spaced apart from and in parallel relationship with the fishing rod member 2, or is spaced apart increasingly little by little from the latter towards the leading end thereof and is also in approximately parallel relationship with the latter. The fishing rod is characterized in that the strike amplifying elastic subsidary fishing rod 50 has one or more fishing-line-guiding rings 5' mounted on the leading end thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fishing rod which is suitable, particularly for fishing on board a ship and whereby a strike by a fish can be detected easily by its amplification of the flexure of the fishing rod.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In case of fishing on board a ship, if it is necessary to cast a fishing line in the distance, a fishing rod having a spinning reel mounted on the lower surface thereof has heretofore been used. Such a fishing rod has, as a matter of course, a plurality of fishing-line-guiding rings mounted on the lower surface of the leading end thereof.
When a fish is hooked, the fishing rod is flexed in response to the tug of the fish transmmited on the fishing line so that a strike can be detected by a fisherman.
However, in case of the publicly known fishing rods having spinning reels mounted on the lower surface thereof, since the flexure of the fishing rod is directly related to a tug of a fish, when the magnitude of the tug is small, the flexure of the fishing rod becomes small so that in many cases it is not easy for fishermen to detect a strike transmmited on a fishing line.


The present invention relates to adsorption membranes, comprising microporous polymer membranes into which are incorporated porous silicon dioxide particles modified with hydrocarbon ligands having 2 to 24 carbon atoms as adsorbent particles. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method of producing the inventive adsorption membranes as well as devices which comprise the inventive adsorption membranes.

The present invention relates to adsorption membranes, including microporous polymer membranes with silicon dioxide particles modified with hydrocarbon ligands having 2 to 24 carbon atoms embedded in them as adsorbent particles. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a method of producing the inventive adsorption membranes as well as devices which include the adsorption membranes.
In the past, a variety of analytical methods have been developed which necessitate removing various substances such as solvents, low molecular ions and impurities from solutions such as peptide solutions which contain macromolecules in order to obtain sufficiently concentrated and purified samples for the respective analysis. Because of the sensitivity of these analytical methods, even small quantities of the aforementioned secondary constituents present in a sample to be analyzed can have a very negative effect on the analytical results.
One possibility of performing the separation described above is by adsorption, where components of a fluid, which may be individual molecules, associates or particles, are bound to the surface of a solid that is brought in contact with the fluid. A solid that is capable of adsorption is called an adsorbent, while the component to be adsorbed is called the adsorbate. Adsorption can be used technically for "adsorptive separation of substances," which is performed in equipment known as adsorbers. An adsorbent with a high percentage of coarse pores running through it is also known as a "perfusion matrix."
The adsorbate is known as the "target substance" when the goal is to recover it from the fluid, but it is called a "contaminant" when it is to be removed from the fluid. In the first case, the adsorption must be reversible, and adsorption is followed as the second process step by "elution" of the adsorbate under altered conditions (composition and/or temperature of the fluid). A target substance may be present as the only component in the fluid, so that the substance separation consists of a simple increase in concentration, or there may be multiple components which are to be separated. In this case, at least one of the two process steps must be "selective," i.e., must take place to a different extent for each of the components to be separated. If the fluid is a liquid, adsorptive separation of substances (not including gas chromatography) is also referred to as chromatography and the fluid is known as the medium. The mass of the adsorbate bound in equilibrium is known as "static capacity," based on the unit of mass of the adsorbent. Its dependence on the concentration of the adsorbate in the fluid is described by the adsorption isotherms. The specific surface area of an adsorbent is also critical in determining its capacity, which is why adsorbents preferably have a high porosity. A distinction is made between "external specific surface", i.e., the geometric surface/mass ratio, and the "internal specific surface", i.e., the pore surface/mass ratio. The prerequisite for the bonding availability of the internal surface is its steric accessibility for the adsorbate, i.e., its "exclusion limit" which is characterized in the case of chromatography, for example, by the molecular weight of globular proteins which just can no longer penetrate into the pores.
Adsorption ability may be inherent in a solid substance, e.g., in the case of activated carbon and hydroxyl apatite, or it may be achieved by "adsorptive modification" of a "base material," i.e., a preferably adsorptively inert solid having a suitable morphology, consisting of covalent bonding of chemical units to superficial "anchor groups" of the base material, these chemical units being referred to as "ligands" which are preferably capable of selective bonding.
With the porous solids considered for use as base materials, a distinction is made between aerogels and xerogels, the former being characterized by a rigid structure which may also have continuous pores, and in most cases a high mechanical strength, which can be promoted in particular by a crystalline structure and whose pore sizes are usually directly accessible by measurement technology, including the BET method, while xerogels usually consist of crosslinked chains of a polymer that is originally soluble in the medium.
There is a large selection of particulate base materials with particle sizes between about 1 μm and several mm, including silica gels (silicon dioxide gels), porous glass, cellulose and organic polymers based on methacrylate and styrene as traditional aerogels, those which approach aerogels and in particular agarose gels as well as dextran gels, polyacrylamide gels and other synthetic polymer gels as traditional xerogels. In addition, there are composite gels in many combinations, where a xerogel is incorporated into the pores of an aerogel.
However, there are a number of disadvantages when such base materials are used to produce an adsorbent:
1. Loading of an adsorber with the corresponding adsorbent is complicated because irregularities, channeling and the like must be prevented. There are also unavoidable deleterious edge effects between the adsorbent and the adsorber housing.
2. There is an antagonism between the pressure drop and the transport kinetics such that the latter is facilitated by smaller particle sizes but the pressure drop is increased at the same time. Particles down to 1 μm in diameter, optionally even in a nonporous form, are therefore above all used for analytical separations in so-called HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography). For applications on an industrial scale, however, relatively large particles must be used in order to limit the pressure drop. The unfavorable transport kinetics in this case can be improved only slightly by using particulate perfusion matrices. In addition, a low pressure drop can be achieved only with approximately monodisperse spherical particles but these are much more expensive to produce in comparison with irregularly shaped particles.
Accordingly attempts have been made to avoid the disadvantages described above by using non-particulate adsorbents. The non-particulate adsorbents which have gained wide acceptance in practice are mainly in the form of compact bodies which are always perfusion matrices and flat configurations. A compact adsorbent is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,457, the object of which is adsorbent bodies produced in situ in pipette tips, said adsorbent bodies consisting of particles of an adsorbent embedded in a porous polymer matrix. However, the production process does not offer good scale-up opportunities any better than those proposed by Svec (T. B. Tennikova et al., Journal of Chromatography, 555, (1991), pages 97 to 107) based on polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated monomers to form structures of a suitable shape and porosity. This latter process is limited by the impossibility of removing the reaction heat generated with larger units.
Flat adsorbents have a thickness of approximately 10 to 1,000 μm and can be processed to yield adsorbers of the desired dimensions. When they are perfusion matrices, they are called "adsorption membranes." The traditional "filtration membranes" may be used as the base materials. These are flat aerogel sheets having average pore sizes from approximately 0.05 μm to 10 μm; they are referred to as asymmetrical when they have a pore size gradient over the thickness. Symmetrical however refers to membranes that do not have a pore size gradient over the thickness. The filtration membranes may come in different forms, e.g., flat membranes, hollow fiber membranes or tubular membranes. Filtration membranes, however, have the following disadvantages for adsorptive modification:
1. Most of the polymers suitable for producing them such as polysulfones, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), etc. do not have an adequate density of suitable anchor groups and they have a rather marked tendency to nonspecific adsorption.
2. In the pore size range which ensures a high hydraulic permeability, there is not a sufficient specific surface area to achieve high capacities.
3. The chemical conversion of sheet materials necessitates mechanically complex equipment for technical implementation and requires the use of large volumes of reaction media.
Adsorption membranes are available commercially under the name Acti-Disc (brand name of FMC Corporation, Philadelphia, and later Arbor Technologies, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.). These membranes are produced from the membranes described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,030 according to the company brochure B405 of Arbor Technologies, Inc. This membrane consists of a synthetic polymer having pores varying irregularly in the size range from 0.01 μm to 100 μm distributed irregularly over its thickness and containing particles. In the manner of a deep bed filter, it is impermeable for particles smaller than the largest pores, so it should even be suitable as a sterile filter. It follows from this that they become clogged sooner or later due to the particulate impurities that are always present in real media when these membranes are used in membrane chromatography, and this blockage cannot be reversed even by reversing the direction of flow ("backwashing"). Furthermore, the silica gel particles whose adsorptive properties have been modified according to the company brochure mentioned above and which are used in the membrane are not porous, which results in a low adsorption capacity. With regard to the production process, reference is made in the company brochure to U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,746, in which adsorptive modification of the particles is performed subsequently, i.e., when they are already in the membrane sheet. As with the product mentioned above, this has the abovementioned disadvantages of chemical reactions on the membrane sheet.
Membranes containing particles are also used in a variety of applications in the medical field. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,519 proposes the use of PTFE membranes containing dextran particles for wound closure but they are not suitable as adsorption membranes because of their lack of adsorption capacity. United States Patent Application Ser. No. A-2002/0,066,699 discloses a membrane consisting of a polymer matrix and adsorptive particles immobilized in the matrix. The membrane has a selectively permeable skin which is provided with openings at irregular intervals on both sides and is capable of remaining organic compounds from a biological fluid. The skin should prevent the penetration of its shaped constituents into the membrane matrix in the intended use of the membrane, namely static adsorption of chemicals from blood. The presence of a skin, in particular when it has large openings, is a disadvantage in adsorption membranes because in those areas where the skin occurs, the hydraulic permeability is reduced, whereas it is not reduced in the area of the openings. This results in irregular flow velocities through the membrane over the membrane area, which results in premature exhaustion of the adsorption capacity in regions of high hydraulic permeability and there is a flow-through of the adsorbate before exhausting the capacity of the entire membrane. U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,432 describes membranes containing adsorptive particles for use in an adsorber according to the principle of tangential separation of substances. In the preferred embodiments, the membrane contains a support with a network structure and has 40–45% free area which makes them unsuitable as an adsorption membrane for the same reasons as given above.

Adsorption membranes, method of producing same and equipment, including the adsorption membranes


Methods and systems are provided for reducing late burn induced cylinder pre-ignition events. Forced entry of residuals from a late burning cylinder into a neighboring cylinder may be detected based on engine block vibrations sensed in a window during an open exhaust valve of the late burning cylinder. In response to the entry of residuals, a pre-ignition mitigating action, such as fuel enrichment or deactivation, is performed in the neighboring cylinder.

Under certain operating conditions, engines that have high compression ratios, or are boosted to increase specific output, may be prone to low speed pre-ignition combustion events. The early combustion due to pre-ignition can cause very high in-cylinder pressures, and can result in combustion pressure waves similar to combustion knock, but with larger intensity. Late burn combustion events wherein the combustion is later than intended can also lead to pre-ignition combustion events. Specifically, the late combustion can lead to high exhaust manifold pressures and temperatures, as well as higher than intended exhaust residuals, which raises the probability of pre-ignition events.
Various strategies have been developed for reducing pre-ignition onset by late combustion events. One example approach is shown by Fujii et al. in US 2010/0217504. Therein, a valve overlap period is increased as a desired engine torque increases by advancing an intake valve timing and/or retarding an exhaust valve timing. In response to a possibility of cylinder pre-ignition, a rate of advancing the cylinder's intake valve is decreased and/or a rate of retarding the cylinder's exhaust valve is increased, the selection based on the desired engine torque.
However, the inventors herein have identified a potential issue with such an approach. While the approach of Fujii et al. may mitigate pre-ignition in the cylinder undergoing late combustion, the approach may be unable to address pre-ignition in other affected cylinders. Specifically, the late combustion event in the given cylinder may raise the likelihood of pre-ignition in the given cylinder as well as in one or more neighboring cylinders. For example, the late combustion event in the given cylinder may introduce high amount of hot exhaust residuals into one or more adjacent cylinders by forcing open the exhaust valve of the adjacent cylinder(s). The excess hot residual received in the adjacent cylinders can increase their propensity for pre-ignition. In addition, the excess hot residual can increase the amount of fresh cylinder charge inducted (via turbine spinning), leading to a further increase in the propensity for pre-ignition in the adjacent cylinders. As such, pre-ignition events can reduce engine performance and cause engine degradation.
Thus in one example, the above issue may be at least partly addressed by an engine method comprising, in response to exhaust temperature of combustion in a first cylinder being above a threshold, performing a pre-ignition mitigating action in a second cylinder receiving exhaust residuals from the combustion in the first cylinder. In this way, late burn induced pre-ignition events may be reduced.
In one example, a late combustion event in a first cylinder may be determined based on crankshaft acceleration, spark plug ionization current, cylinder pressure data, etc. A second, neighboring cylinder that is most likely to receive exhaust residuals from the first cylinder may then be identified based on the identity of the first cylinder, the firing order of cylinders on the engine, as well as a configuration of the engine's exhaust manifold. In response to the amount of exhaust residuals being more than a threshold and/or an exhaust temperature of combustion in the first cylinder being higher than a threshold, a pre-ignition mitigating action may be performed in the second cylinder to reduce the likelihood of pre-ignition being induced in the second cylinder due to the late burn event in the first cylinder. This may include selective deactivation of fuel injection to the second cylinder. Alternatively, fuel injection to the second cylinder may be enriched for a duration. A degree of the pre-ignition mitigating action (e.g., the degree of richness of the rich fuel injection) may be adjusted to bring an exhaust temperature of combustion in the second cylinder (after receiving the exhaust residuals from the first cylinder) below a threshold temperature. The pre-ignition mitigating action may also be extended to further cylinders. For example, a third cylinder that is most likely to receive exhaust residuals from combustion in the second cylinder may also be enriched, with a lower degree of richness, to reduce the likelihood of pre-ignition in the third cylinder due to hot residuals received in the second cylinder, and so on.
In this way, by enriching or deactivating fuel injection to one or more cylinders likely to (progressively) receive exhaust residuals from late combustion in a neighboring cylinder, a temperature and pressure of the exhaust residuals may be decreased. By reducing the temperature and pressure of the residuals, the likelihood of pre-ignition induced in a cylinder due to receipt of hot exhaust residuals from a late burning cylinder may be decreased. In addition, the likelihood of pre-ignition being induced by the cylinder receiving the hot residuals in further cylinders is also reduced. Overall, engine degradation due to pre-ignition can be mitigated.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Method and system for pre-ignition control


An automatic analyzing apparatus of this invention has first and second reaction container holders, a photometric unit, and a control unit. Each of the first and second reaction container holders is movable along a reaction line and has a plurality of reaction containers to which a liquid sample such as blood or urine can be injected. The photometric unit has a function of optically analyzing a concentration of a chemical component of the liquid sample injected in the reaction containers of the first and second reaction container holders when the first and second reaction container holders pass through it. A control unit has a function of stopping only either one of the first and second reaction container holders on the reaction line and moving the other reaction container holder along the reaction line to pass through the photometric unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic analyzing apparatus and an automatic analyzing method for performing quantitative measurement of the concentrations of chemical components of a liquid sample such as blood and urine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a biochemical automatic analyzing apparatus and an automatic analyzing method for performing quantitative measurement of the concentrations of chemical components of a liquid sample have been widely used in medical diagnosis.
Recently, as the number of cases to be processed and the number of measurement items are increased, an increase in processing capabilities of the apparatus and method is demanded.
In order to cope with this demand, Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 59-24380 (to be merely referred to as a cited reference hereinafter) discloses a chemical analyzing apparatus and a chemical analyzing method having characteristic features as follows.
The apparatus of this cited reference has a convey unit (control unit) for rotating or stopping rotating a plurality of reaction containers (capable of containing a liquid sample) arranged in a loop manner and a photometer for optically measuring the reaction process of the liquid sample contained in the reaction containers during rotation of the reaction containers.
More specifically, for example, a liquid sample and a reaction reagent are discharged into a first reaction container located at a discharge position, and thereafter the convey unit is driven to rotate the plurality of reaction containers counterclockwise. During this rotation, the optical characteristic value in the first reaction container which has passed across the optical path of the photometer is measured. The reaction process of the sample is detected on the basis of this optical characteristic value.
Then, when the plurality of reaction containers are stopped, a second reaction container next to the first reaction container is placed at the discharge position, and the liquid sample and the reaction reagent are discharged in the second reaction container.
Reaction containers to which injection of the liquid sample and the reagent, agitation, and measurement have been done are sequentially cleaned with cleaning water sprayed from a cleaning nozzle.
In the apparatus of the cited reference, however, when, e.g., the rotation time of the plurality of reaction containers is decreased (i.e., the rotational speed is increased) in order to improve the analyzing efficiency, the light-measuring time of a reaction containers is decreased. As a result, the light-measuring precision is considerably degraded.
When the stop time of the plurality of reaction containers is decreased in order to improve the analyzing efficiency, the cleaning precision of a reaction container after measurement is degraded. As a result, a newly discharged liquid sample is contaminated by the liquid sample attached to the previous reaction container, and the analyzing precision is considerably degraded.
In order to solve these problems, when the reaction containers are stopped, the photometer may be moved along the array of the plurality of reaction containers to detect the reaction process of the liquid sample and the reagent.
However, when a means for moving a photometric unit having a light source and a spectroscope is provided, the size of the analyzing apparatus as a whole is increased. The moving speed is limited because of the structure of the apparatus.

Automatic analyzing apparatus and automatic analyzing method


Novel herbicidal compounds, compositions containing them, and methods for their use in controling weeds are disclosed. The novel herbicidal compounds are optionally substituted phenylmethoxy or phenylmethylthio heterocycles of the formula: ##STR1## in which Q is selected from: ##STR2## R=halogen; R.sup.1 =lower alkyl, lower alkoxy, lower haloalkyl, lower haloalkoxy, lower alkylthio, lower sulfonyl, or lower alkylsulfinyl; R.sup.2 =lower alkyl, or lower haloalkyl; X=H, halogen, or lower alkyl; W=O or S; Z, Z.sup.1, Z.sup.2 are independently selected from H, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl, lower alkoxy, is lower haloalkoxy, cyano, lower cyanoalkyloxy, or aryl; or Z and Z.sup.1 are adjacent to each other on the benzene ring, and taken together are --(CH.sub.2).sub.4 --; or Z.sup.2 is OA in the 2-, 3-, or 4-position of the phenyl ring; A is a derivative of an alkanoate bonded to the phenoxy oxygen at the alpha carbon; R.sup.3 is H or lower alkyl; R.sup.4 =OH or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof, straight or branched chain lower alkoxy, lower haloalkoxy, alkoxyalkoxy, alkoxyalkoxyalkoxy, amino, lower alkylamino, lower alkylsulfonylamino, or lower (alkyl)(alkylsulfonyl)amino; and R.sup.5 =halogen or lower alkyl ester.

This application claims the benefit of the filing of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/001410 filed Jul. 25, 1995.
The present invention relates generally to novel herbicidal compounds and methods for their use in controlling unwanted plant species in agriculture. In particular, the present invention relates to novel optionally substituted phenylmethoxyphenyl or phenylmethylthiophenyl heterocycles and their use as herbicides.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,165 (Miura et al.) discloses herbicidal (3-substituted phenyl)pyrazole derivatives of formula: ##STR3## wherein: X is halogen;
R.sup.1 is lower alkyl or lower haloalkyl; PA1 R.sup.2 is --A--R.sup.5 wherein R.sup.5 is H, lower alkyl or lower haloalkyl, and A is O or S; PA1 R.sup.3 is H or halogen; and PA1 R.sup.4 is formyl, nitro, --CO--B--R.sup.6 wherein B is O, S or --NR.sup.7 and R.sup.6 and R.sup.7 are the same or different and each denote H, lower alkyl, lower alkenyl, lower alkynyl, lower alkoxycarbonylalkyl, cycloalkyl, lower alkylsulfonyl, lower alkoxyalkyl, or di(lower alkoxy)phosphinylalkyl, and when B is O, R.sup.6 can be an alkali metal atom or a quaternary ammonium salt!, --DR.sup.8 wherein D denotes O, --S(O).sub.n (n being an integer of 0 to 2), or --NR.sup.9 --, and R.sup.8 and R.sup.9 are the same or different and each denote H, alkyl, haloalkyl, lower alkenyl, lower haloalkenyl, lower alkynyl, lower cyanoalkyl, lower cycloalkyl, lower alkoxyalkyl, lower alkylthioalkyl, lower alkoxyalkoxyalkyl, lower alkylsulfonyl, di(lower alkyl)aminosulfonyl, aminosulfonyl having one or more substituents which are the same or different and selected from H, lower alkynyl and lower alkyl, phenylalkyl or phenoxyalkyl optionally having on the phenyl ring, one or more substituents which are the same or different and selected from halogen, lower alkyl, lower haloalkyl and lower haloalkoxy, tri(lower alkyl)silylalkyl, or di(lower alkoxy)phosphinylalkyl!; or --(CHR.sup.10).sub.m --CO--E--R.sup.12 wherein E denotes O, S or --NR.sup.11 wherein R.sup.11 is as defined below; R.sup.10 denotes H or lower alkyl; and R.sup.11 and R.sup.12 are the same or different and each denote H, alkyl, haloalkyl, lower alkenyl, lower haloalkenyl, lower alkynyl, lower haloalkynyl, lower alkoxyalkyl, cycloalkyl, lower cyanoalkyl, lower alkylthioalkyl, alkoxyalkoxyalkoxy, tri(lower alkyl)silylalkyl, di(lower alkoxy)phosphinylalkyl, phenyl optionally having on the phenyl ring, one or more substituents selected from halogen, lower alkyl, lower haloalkyl and lower alkoxy, or phenylalkyl optionally having on the phenyl ring, one or more substituents selected form halogen, lower alkyl, lower haloalkyl and lower alkoxy; or R.sup.11 jointly with R.sup.12 forms piperidino or morpholino, and when E is O, R.sup.12 can be an alkali metal atom or a quaternary ammonium salt; and m is an integer of 0 to 3!. PA1 Q is a heterocycle selected from: 4-difluoromethyl-4,5-dihydro-3-methyl-1,2,4-triazol-5(1H)-on-1-yl, 3,4,5,6-tetrahydrophthalimid-1-yl, 1-(1-methylethyl)imidazolidin-2,4-dion-3-yl, 1,4-dihydro-4-(3-fluoropropyl)-5H-tetrazol-5-on-1-yl, 4-chloro-4,5,6,7-tetrahydroindazol-2-yl, 4-methyl-1,2,4-triazine-3,5-dion-2-yl, 8-thia-1,6-diazabicyclo4. 3.0!nonane-7-on-9-ylimino, or 1-methyl-6-trifluoromethyl-2,4-pyrimidinedione-3-yl; PA1 W is O or S; PA1 X is H, F, or Cl; and Y is H, or X and Y taken together may be --OC(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CH.sub.2 -- to form a 7-substituted-4-benzofuranyl moiety; PA1 R' is H or methyl; PA1 R" is --OR or amino, arylamino, alkylamino, alkenylamino, alkoxyamino, cyano or alkyl-, haloalkyl-, or arylsulfonylamino of the formula --N(lower alkyl)SO.sub.2 R.sup.9, or --NHSO.sub.2 R.sup.9 ; PA1 R is H, M, alkyl, cycloalkyl, lower alkenyl, lower alkynyl, or --CHR.sup.7 (CH.sub.2).sub.m O!.sub.n R.sup.8 ; PA1 Each of R.sup.1 through R.sup.6 are substituents on the heterocycle Q; PA1 R.sup.7 is H or lower alkyl; PA1 R.sup.7 is alkyl; PA1 R.sup.9 is alkyl, haloalkyl, or aryl; PA1 m is 0 to 2; PA1 M is a monovalent, salt-forming group; PA1 Z is H, F, Cl, Br, lower alkyl, phenyl, or methoxy and Z' is H, F, or Cl; or Z and Z' taken together may be --(CH.sub.2).sub.4 -- to form a tetrahydronaphthyl moiety; and the group --OA may be in the 2-, 3- or 4-position of the phenyl ring. PA1 R.sup.2 =lower alkyl, or lower haloalkyl; PA1 X=H, halogen, or lower alkyl; PA1 W=O or S; PA1 Z, Z.sup.1, Z.sup.2 are independently selected from H, halogen, straight or branched chain lower alkyl, lower haloalkyl, lower alkoxy, lower haloalkoxy, cyano, lower cyanoalkyloxy,nitro, aryl, or aryloxy; or Z and Z' are adjacent to each other on the benzene ring, and taken together are --(CH.sub.2).sub.4 --; or Z.sup.2 is OA in the 2-, 3-, or 4- position of the phenyl ring; ##STR7## A is R.sup.3 is H, lower alkyl, halo, or; PA1 R.sup.4 =OH, straight or branched chain lower alkoxy, lower haloalkoxy, alkoxyalkoxy, alkoxyalkoxyalkoxy, alkoxycarbonylalkoxy, amino, lower alkylamino, lower alkoxyamino, lower alkylsulfonylamino, lower haloalkylsulfonylamino, lower (alkyl)(alkylsulfonyl)amino, or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof; and PA1 R.sup.5 =halogen or lower alkyl ester. PA1 R is OH, straight or branched chain lower alkoxy, lower haloalkoxy, alkoxyalkoxy, alkoxyalkoxyalkoxy, alkoxycarbonylalkoxy, amino, lower alkylamino, lower dialkylamino, lower alkoxyamino, lower alkylsulfonylamino, lower haloalkylsulfonylamino, or lower (alkyl)(alkylsulfonyl)amino.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,390 (Theodoridis) discloses herbicidal 2-(4-heterocyclic phenoxymethyl)phenoxy!alkanoates of formula: ##STR4## wherein: A is a derivative of an alkanoate bonded to the phenoxy oxygen at the (.alpha.-carbon;


A novel compound PVD target material, suitable for use in the fabrication of cobalt silicide layers on semiconductor devices is disclosed. The compound material is formed by blending an amount of SiO.sub.z with an amount of CoSi.sub.x to form a blended compound material CoSi.sub.x O.sub.y and then compressing and shaping said blended compound material in a hot powder press into an appropriate shape for use in a PVD sputtering chamber. A polysilicon MOSFET gate stack structure and a source/drain salicide structure incorporating the CoSi.sub.x O.sub.y compound material are described. The addition of a small amount of oxide to the cobalt silicide, when sputter deposited, results in an as-deposited film of CoSi.sub.x O.sub.y having smaller grain size and significantly enhanced thermal stability over conventional CoSi.sub.x, and other characteristics desirable in the fabrication of salicide MOSFET structures.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel material which is useful in the fabrication of polysilicon gate MOS transistors. More specifically, this invention describes a novel target material for use in a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process that deposits a cobalt silicide film on amorphous, polycrystalline, or single crystalline silicon. The novel target material greatly improves the thermal stability of the as-deposited cobalt silicide film while retaining the properties of the cobalt silicide film which are desirable for its use as a polycide of gate electrodes as well as contact material in MOS transistor structures.
2. The Relevant Technology
As is well known in the art, polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) is the preferred material for gate electrodes in MOSFET structures. Polysilicon is advantageous over metal gate electrodes as it can withstand much higher subsequent processing temperatures before eutectic temperatures are reached. Polysilicon is readily deposited on bulk silicon or SiO.sub.2 using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), and the resistivities of doped polysilicon films are less than those of doped epitaxial or bulk silicon layers.
As the drive toward integrating more active devices on a single integrated circuit necessitates the fabrication of increasingly small MOSFET structures, the resistance of the MOSFET gate, source and drain contacts become limiting factors in device performance. It is therefore beneficial to use materials with the lowest possible bulk resistivities for making contacts with the MOSFET gate electrodes. To this end, it is well known that refractory metal silicides can be readily formed on silicon using conventional semiconductor sputtering, deposition, and annealing techniques. The refractory metal silicides have low sheet resistivities after annealing and also form low resistance ohmic contacts with commonly used interconnect metals.
Titanium disilicide (TiSi.sub.2) is known to have a low potential sheet resistivity within the available refractory metal silicides, and is in widespread use as a metallization material in MOSFET structures. TiSi.sub.2 is often unsuitable for use in particular MOSFET integrated circuit designs, however, due to limitations which result from its behavior during high temperature annealing steps wherein agglomeration (decomposition of TiSi.sub.2) occurs. These limitations are well known to those skilled in the art.
Due to the limitations associated with TiSi.sub.2, other refractory metal silicides are being investigated in more detail. In particular, cobalt silicides (CoSi.sub.x) are being increasingly used in sub-micron MOSFET structures. The theoretical minimum resistivity of CoSi.sub.2 is as low as that for TiSi.sub.2 in a crystalline phase. Furthermore, CoSi.sub.x has other desirable properties, particularly those associated with epitaxial source/drain electrodes in self-aligned silicide (salicide) MOSFET structures. CoSi.sub.X is known to exhibit significantly smoother silicide formation during the formation of salicide, which allows for shallower source drain junctions and reduced spacing between the source/drain junctions and the depletion region. This in turn allows for additional reduction in scaling of MOS devices before leakage current problems begin to appear. Furthermore, CoSi.sub.x is known to have properties which make it a superior dopant diffusion source over TiSi.sub.x, particularly when boron or arsenic are used as dopants. CoSi.sub.x is also known as a fine grain material (well below 400.ANG.) that has very small line-width dependent sheet resistance. This puts CoSi.sub.x as a good candidate for deep submicron IC application beyond 0.18 .mu.m technology.
While CoSi.sub.x shows potential as a refractory metal silicide in MOSFET circuit fabrication, shortcomings are known to exist which limit its use. Specifically, the processing of CoSi.sub.2 /polysilicon layers at moderate temperatures has been shown to cause the layer structure to severely deteriorate due to silicon recrystallization and grain growth within the silicide, leading eventually to complete consumption of the polysilicon layer and inversion of the layer order.
CoSi.sub.x films can be readily deposited on silicon substrates using physical vapor deposition, also known as PVD or sputtering. Sputter deposition processes occur in vacuum chambers, and the source material used to sputter deposit onto the substrate is a solid slab known as a target. Sputtering has advantages in that no chemical compositional changes occur during the deposition process, and the exact stoichiometry of the as-deposited material can be precisely regulated by regulating the composition of the target material. Alternately, controlled impurities can be introduced in the chamber during the sputtering process to affect the composition of the as-deposited film. For other silicides such as TiSi.sub.x, much is known about the effect such modifications have on the behavior and interactions of the silicide during further processing stages. Much less is known about the behavior of deposited CoSi.sub.x films, however, so shortcomings in the application of CoSi.sub.x remain.
For CoSi.sub.X to be effective as a metallization material in submicron polysilicon MOSFET fabrication, and for its other superior characteristics to fully utilized, it is clear that improvements are needed in the fabrication and processing of CoSi.sub.x films. More specifically, improvements are needed which will better control the grain size of as-deposited CoSi.sub.x films, and thereby the stability of the films during annealing.

Method for fabricating a structure on a cobalt silicide oxide metalization semiconductor substrate


An electron microscope has a spherical aberration correction system having transfer optics inserted between a spherical aberration corrector and the objective lens. The transfer optics consists of first and second lenses each of which is made of a magnetic lens. Electrons passing across a point located at distance r0 from the optical axis are made to enter the first lens within the multipole element. Electrons are made to enter the second lens at distance r1 of the incident point to the objective lens from the optical axis. The ratio M(=r1/r0) is greater than 1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron microscope having a spherical aberration corrector, such as a transmission electron microscope (TEM) or a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM).
2. Description of Related Art
In a spherical aberration corrector for use in an electron microscope (such as a transmission electron microscope (TEM) or a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM)), a so-called magnetic multipole element consisting of plural (four, eight, twelve, or the like) magnetic bodies around which coils are wound is used, the magnetic bodies being disposed on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-92078.
Spherical aberration corrector and spherical aberration correction systems described below pertain to a spherical aberration corrector that produces a hexapole field by means of a multipole element for a transmission electron microscope (TEM).
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a spherical aberration correction system 50 which uses a multipole element and is used in an electron microscope. As shown in this figure, a condenser lens 51, an aberration corrector 52, transfer optics 53, an objective lens 54, and a specimen 55 are placed in this order in the spherical aberration correction system 50. In the case of a transmission electron microscope (TEM), an image free of aberrations is formed from the specimen toward the aberration corrector. In the cases of scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), an image of the light source is formed from the aberration corrector toward the specimen without producing aberrations.
The transfer optics built in the spherical aberration correction system of the electron microscope acts to make the working surface of the aberration corrector and the aberration introduction surface of the objective lens optically equivalent within the range of the primary orbit. Usually, the transfer optics is made up of two or one magnetic lenses having a principal plane. The transfer optics 53 shown in FIG. 3 consists of two lenses, i.e., first lens 53a and second lens 53b. The transfer optics made are not intended to show magnifying or demagnifying capabilities, which the lenses should intrinsically exhibit. The optics is designed such that the objective lens 54 and spherical aberration corrector 52 together focus light at a magnification of 1. Where the magnification is not 1, the magnification is close to 1.


The present invention provides the process for treating the animal hairs by solubilization wherein the animal hairs can be treated in a short time without any complicated operations and special apparatuses, and the process for recovering the solubilized product of the animal hairs wherein said product can be recovered simply and efficiently from the solution thereof. The former is the process for treating animal hairs by solubilization which comprises solubilizing the animal hairs in a weak alkaline liquid medium in the presence of an oxidizing agent whose concentration is high. The latter is the process for recovering a solubilized product of animal hairs which comprises admixing a solution of said product with an organic acid or an aqueous solution thereof to precipitate said product.

Nowadays, animal hairs focus the spotlight of attention upon the use as a high functional material in the various fields in addition to their rightful use for clothing. For example, the animal hairs have been employed as a trapping agent for heavy metals, an additive for cosmetic and food, a hair tonic, an improver for clothing, an antithrombotic and the like. More extensive uses of the animal hairs have been expected.
For the aforementioned uses as the functional material, fibriform animal hairs must be subjected to pulverization or solubilization because they are unsuitable in themselves.
As a process for pulverizing the fibriform animal hairs, a mechanical pulverization method of the animal hairs themselves, a pulverization method of the pretreated animal hairs with reducing agent, a pulverization method of the frozen animal hairs and the like are exemplified. In these methods, however, a large-scale pulverization apparatus is necessary, sizes of the particulate animal hairs prepared are restricted and complete pulverization of the animal hairs is extremely difficult.
As a process for solubilizing the fibriform animal hairs, the following methods of from (i) to (iii) are exemplified:
(i) A method of extracting protein components after solubilizing the animal hairs by cutting disulfide bond thereof with reducing agent. PA0 (ii) A method of solubilizing the pretreated animal hairs with oxidizing agent in an alkaline solution. PA0 (iii) A method of solubilizing the animal hairs by introducing a hydrophilic group thereinto.
As regards the method (i), use of a solubilizing agent and fairly long solubilization time are necessary because of low solubility of the animal hairs and not only long time is necessary to separate protein gel obtained by dialysis or gel filtration under acidic condition from aqueous phase but also a conservative problem that thiol group of the separated protein gel is reoxidized is brought about because hydrophilicity of the protein gel is considerably high. Concerning the method (ii), it takes long time to solubilize the animal hairs and not only considerable amounts of insoluble animal hairs remain but also long time is necessary to extract the protein. With respect to the method (iii), although solubilization time is relatively short, denaturation of the obtained protein comes into question because said protein is chemically modified by hydrophilic groups.
In connection with the process for solubilizing the animal hairs, a recovery method of the solubilized product of the animal hairs, becomes a subject of discussion. As the recovering method of the solubilized product of the animal hairs, the following methods of (a) and (b) are suggested:
(a) A method of recovering the solubilized product as a gel by adding a volatile inorganic acid such as hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and the like to the solution of the solubilized product of the animal hairs.
(b) A method of recovering the solubilized product as a water insoluble product by subjecting the solution of the solubilized product of the animal hairs to a crosslinking treatment.
With respect to the method (a), there is a drawback that a filtration treatment becomes very difficult because a filter is blocked by a gelled protein. As regards the method (b), there is a disadvantage that a use of the collected product is excessively restricted because the animal hair protein is chemically modified completely by a crosslinking agent.
Although a flocky precipitate can be obtained in the method (a) when the pH of the solution is lowered by increasing a concentration of the inorganic acid, a color of the precipitate is turned to brown when the precipitate is subjected to a drying treatment in an insufficiently dehydrated state because dehydration efficiency of the precipitate is extremely low, said low efficiency of the dehydration being attributable to the occluded water within the precipitate.
In addition to the abovementioned methods, it is known that the gelled protein obtained by the method (a) may be dehydrated by washing said protein with a volatile polar solvent such as alcohol, acetone and the like. However, it is hard to supply the solubilized product of the animal hairs at a low price because a large quantity of the solvent which is relatively expensive must be used and, therefore, it is necessary to utilize an apparatus for recovering the used solvent.


A 2D video to 3D video conversion system includes a video content analysis unit, a depth estimation unit, a post-processing unit, and a stereoscopic video generation unit. The video content analysis unit can analyze a 2D video datum and extract useful information including motion and color from the 2D video datum for depth estimation. The depth estimation unit is adapted for receiving the useful information, calculating motion cue and contrast cue for initial depth estimation, and generating an initial depth map. The post-processing unit is adapted for correcting the initial depth map in spatial domain and temporal domain to increase accuracy in spatial domain and depth continuity between adjacent time instances and for processing the caption in the video to generate a final depth map. The stereoscopic video generation unit is adapted for synthesizing 3D video datum from the final depth map and 2D video datum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the image processing technology, and more particularly, to a system for converting the 2D video photographed by the conventional single-lens reflex (SLR) camera into the 3D video, which can be played by the 3D display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the primary core technologies for converting the 2D video into the 3D video is depth estimation. In the Int'l Pub. No. WO 2008/080156, techniques for complexity-adaptive and automatic 2D to 3D image and video conversion were proposed. In the techniques, each frame of a 2D video is classified and partitioned into flat and non-flat regions. The flat regions (e.g., the background regions) are directly converted by simple depth estimation methods, while the non-flat regions (e.g., the foreground regions) are processed by complex methods. Thereafter, each frame is converted based on methods of adaptive complexity.
In a paper entitled "A block-based 2D-to-3D conversion System with bilateral filter" (published at pp. 1-2 of Int'l. Conf. on Consumer Electronics 2009 (ICCE '09) and co-authored by Chao-Chung Cheng, Chung-Te Li, Po-Sen Huang, Tsung-Kai Lin, Yi-Min Tsai, Liang-Gee Chen), it proposed two depth estimate modules—depth from motion (DOF) and depth from geometrical perspective (DOGP). The DOF module employs motion vector estimate for figuring out the motion of each block which can function as the depth estimation of the block. The DOGP module employs several kinds of user-defined background depth models and selects one proper background model by classification.
As indicated above, each of the aforesaid technologies of converting 2D into 3D is to carry out individual depth estimate based on the image information at one single time point, so the depths between adjacent time instances might be discontinuous to result in wrong perception of depth in the playback process of the 3D video. The above effect may be harmful to viewer's eyes after a long time. Besides, the aforesaid prior art did not apply any analysis to the video-capturing styles (e.g., static or moving camera) of the video content in need of conversion, so it is not applicable to pluralistic household or commercial video. The general commercial film may contain caption and the existing 3D video conversion technology does not process the caption, so it is subject to difficulty or uncomfortableness when the viewer reads the caption in a 3D stereo manner.

System for converting 2D video into 3D video


Provided in the embodiments of the present application are a video watermark generation method and device, and a terminal, the method comprising: determining spatial-domain watermarks and time-domain values corresponding to each video image frame in a video file according to a preset spatial-domain watermark template and a time-domain watermark template, each spatial-domain watermark having the same number of pixel values; determining the edge distribution of each video image frame in the video file; and generating a watermark for the video file according to the spatial-domain watermarks and time-domain values which correspond to the each video image frame and the edge distribution of the each video image frame. The watermark generated by using the video watermark generation solution provided by the embodiments of the present application is better concealed and will not be easily discovered by malicious parties.

At present, in order to protect video copyright, video watermarks are generally embedded into the videos uploaded by users on a video broadcasting platform. Video watermarks can be divided into spatial-domain watermarks and transformation-domain watermarks. Earlier video watermark algorithms are essentially time-domain, and through changing the gray level of some pixels, the watermark information to be concealed is embedded therein. The spatial-domain method has the advantages of simple algorithm, high speed and easy realization, moreover, carrier image and watermark information can be recovered in an almost lossless manner, therefore, the spatial-domain watermarks are used widely.
Specifically, the method of realizing spatial-domain watermarks can be subdivided into the following several methods.
(1) A least significant bit method: in the method, the lowest bits of the raw data are utilized to conceal information, specifically, how many bits should be taken is determined under the principle that the information cannot be perceived by human auditory or visual system, where, the lowest bits of the raw data can mean: several pixels with the lowest gray level in the original video image.
(2) A Patchwork method: the core of the method is to increase the brightness value at one point and reduce the brightness value at another corresponding point to load digital watermarks through arbitrarily selecting N image points.
(3) A document structure fine-tuning method: in the technology in which specific binary information is concealed in the general document graph image, encoding is finished mainly through vertical movement of line spacing, horizontal adjustment of word spacing and adjustment of character characteristics, to embed spatial-domain watermarks.
Although the spatial-domain watermarks have the above advantages, the spatial-domain watermarks are easily recognized and substituted by outlaws maliciously, finally resulting in illegal stealing of video copyrights.

Video watermark generation method and device, and terminal

Beijing Dajia Internet Information Technology Co., Ltd.


A system that employs a third-party accessible application programming interface (API) to generate symbology for a three-dimensional view is disclosed. In embodiments, the third-party accessible API is running on or configured to communicate with at least one controller for an aircraft display system. The third-party accessible API is configured to receive a set of parameters for generating three-dimensional symbology. The controller is configured to receive the three-dimensional symbology from the third-party accessible API. The controller is further configured to generate a three-dimensional view that includes proprietary symbology and the three-dimensional symbology from the third-party accessible API at a display of the aircraft display system.

Open system architecture (OSA) is a key selling point of modern avionics systems, allowing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to self-develop, or contract third-parties, to create functionality which can be seamlessly incorporated into the avionics human-machine interface (HMI). While several application programming interfaces (APIs) and development tool kits exist, there is no such interface for incorporating externally generated symbology into three-dimensional views (e.g., the three-dimensional imagery of a synthetic vision system (SVS), or the like).

Third-party accessible application programming interface for generating 3D symbology


Mechanisms are provided for determining the location of computing assets within an organization. These mechanisms determine first location information identifying a location of at least one first physical asset housing in a predetermined physical area of the organization relative to a predetermined coordinate system, and second location information identifying a location of at least one second physical asset housing within the at least one first asset housing. The mechanisms automatically determine third location information identifying a location of at least one computing asset within the at least one second physical asset housing. In addition, the mechanisms generate an asset location map data structure for the organization based on the first, second and third location information. The mechanisms also perform at least one management operation for managing resources of the organization, based on the asset location map data structure for the organization.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for locating computing assets within an organization.
Mapping assets within a building, or even a room, is a tedious, error-prone, and time consuming process. This is especially true with regard to data centers where large numbers of computing resources may be located within the physical premises of a building or room of a building and it is important for administrators to know the whereabouts of such resources.
Currently, the only solution for obtaining the location of data center resources is for a system administrator, or other human personnel, to manually note the exact location coordinates of the resources for every resource or asset. This is an error prone process which requires frequent manual updates possible only if the data center is faithfully monitored for asset changes such as asset relocation, asset removal, and asset addition. With this manual process, the recorded location of assets is difficult to synchronize with events in the data center; the recorded locations are often stale. Even if bar-coding is used to assist this process, the asset records will not match until an administrator scans the assets' barcodes and updates the location information manually.

Location of computing assets within an organization

International Business Machines Corporation


A pressurized water reactor (PWR) comprises: a nuclear core comprising a fissile material; a cylindrical pressure vessel having a vertically oriented cylinder axis and containing the nuclear core immersed in primary coolant water; and a hollow cylindrical central riser disposed concentrically with and inside the cylindrical pressure vessel. A downcomer annulus is defined between the hollow cylindrical central riser and the cylindrical pressure vessel. The hollow cylindrical central riser has a radially expanding upper orifice that merges into an annular divider plate that separates an upper plenum above the annular divider plate from a lower plenum below the annular divider plate. The upper plenum is in fluid communication with the radially expanding upper orifice and the lower plenum is in fluid communication with the downcomer annulus. A weir may extend away from a bottom wall of the lower plenum into the lower plenum. An emergency core cooling system (ECCS) return line nozzle may be arranged to inject water into the upper plenum. A pump support plate spans the inner diameter of the cylindrical pressure vessel and forms a portion of the pressure boundary of the cylindrical pressure vessel, and reactor coolant pumps (RCPs) are supported by the pump support plate. Alternatively, reactor coolant pumps (RCPs) are supported by an arcuate annular ledge formed in the upper portion of the cylindrical pressure vessel.

The following relates to the nuclear reactor arts, nuclear power generation arts, nuclear reactor hydrodynamic design arts, and related arts.
In nuclear reactor designs of the pressurized water reactor (integral PWR) type, a radioactive nuclear reactor core is immersed in primary coolant water at or near the bottom of a pressure vessel. In a typical design, the primary coolant is maintained in a compressed or subcooled liquid phase in a cylindrical pressure vessel that is mounted generally upright (that is, with its cylinder axis oriented vertically). A hollow cylindrical central riser is disposed concentrically inside the pressure vessel. Primary coolant flows upward through the reactor core where it is heated and rises through the central riser, discharges from the top of the central riser and reverses direction to flow downward back toward the reactor core through a downcomer annulus defined between the pressure vessel and the central riser. This is a natural convection flow circuit that can, in principle, be driven by heat injection from the reactor core and cooling of the primary coolant as it flows upward and away from the reactor core. However, in some reactor designs this natural convection is augmented or supplanted with motive force provided by electromechanical reactor coolant pumps.
To extract power from the PWR the primary coolant is flowed through a steam generator. In some designs the steam generator is external to the pressure vessel and primary coolant is fed to the steam generator through large diameter piping. In so-called "integral" PWR designs the steam generator is disposed inside the pressure vessel, typically in the downcomer annulus, and secondary coolant is flowed through the steam generator. The integral PWR design has substantial safety advantages over non-integral designs insofar as the large diameter piping carrying radioactive primary coolant to the external pressure vessel is replaced by smaller diameter piping feeding non-radioactive secondary coolant (i.e., feedwater) into the internal steam generator and extracting non-radioactive steam from the steam generator.
Some integral PWR designs conforming with the above are described in Thome et al., "Integral Helical Coil Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor", U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0316181 A1 published Dec. 16, 2010 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0316181 A1 describes integral steam generators employing helical steam generator tube geometry; however, other geometries such as vertical tube designs are also known. In various steam generator designs, the primary coolant may flow inside the steam generator tubes and the secondary coolant outside the steam generator tubes, or vice versa.
Operational efficiency of such PWR systems is affected in part by the efficacy with which the upward primary coolant water flow in the central riser is reversed and transferred into downward primary coolant flow through the downcomer annulus (e.g., through a steam generator disposed in the downcomer annulus for steam generation). This flow reversal can introduce substantial flow resistance into the overall primary coolant flow circuit. Moreover, even radial and circumferential distribution of the primary coolant flow into the downcomer annulus facilitates temperature uniformity in the downcomer annulus and in the annular steam generator located therein. Various approaches have been employed for providing even radial and circumferential distribution with low flow resistance. For example, illustrative central riser of the illustrative PWR of U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0316181 A1 has an upper end that includes small openings, or a screen, that facilitates diffusion and lateral flow of primary coolant water exiting the upper orifice of the central riser. Kitch et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,328 discloses another approach in which an entirely internal reactor coolant pump (RCP) submerged in the primary coolant has its discharge connected directly with the inlet of a steam generator so as to drive primary coolant exiting the upper orifice of the central riser downward into the steam generator.
Disclosed herein are improvements that provide various benefits that will become apparent to the skilled artisan upon reading the following.

Pressurized water reactor with upper plenum including cross-flow blocking weir


A method for modifying a rate of temperature change of an epoxy resin composition in a resin container during a resin casting process is proposed. The resin composition has at least one epoxy monomer component and a curing agent. A passivation agent for the curing agent is added to the epoxy resin composition. A resin container arrangement for use in such a resin transfer moulding process, a composite product having an epoxy resin composition, and a use of an organic acid in an epoxy resin casting process as a passivation agent for modifying the rate of temperature change in a resin container containing an epoxy resin composition are proposed.

WO 2009103736 describes a vacuum infusion or vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding process (VARTM) process used for moulding fibre composite mouldings. In such a process uniformly distributed fibres are layered in a first mould part, the fibres being rovings, i.e. bundles of fibre bands, bands of rovings or mats, which are either felt mats made of individual fibres or woven mats made of fibre rovings. A second mould part, which is often made of a resilient vacuum bag, is subsequently placed on top of the fibre material. By generating a vacuum in the mould cavity between the inner side of the first mould part and the vacuum bag, the liquid resin can is drawn in and fill the mould cavity with the fibre material contained in the mould. So-called distribution layers or distribution tubes are used between the vacuum bag and the fibre material in order to obtain as sound and efficient distribution of resin as possible. In most cases the resin applied is polyester, vinyl ester or epoxy, and the fibre reinforcement is most often based on glass fibres or carbon fibres, but may also be plastic fibres, plant fibres or metal fibres.
The liquid resin is provided in a resin container, also called mixing bucket, filled with a resin/curing agent composition prepared in a mixing unit, adapted for mixing the resin monomer components and the curing agent in the respective amounts. As the curing reaction has already been started in the mixing unit, the exothermic polymerisation continuously raises the temperature in the resin container.
During the process of filling the mould, a vacuum, i.e. an under-pressure or negative pressure, is generated in the mould cavity, whereby liquid resin is drawn from the resin container or mixing bucket into the mould cavity via the inlet channels in order to fill said mould cavity. From the inlet channels the resin disperses in all directions in the mould cavity due to the negative pressure as a flow front moves towards the vacuum openings for generating vacuum inside the mould.
In the resin container such as the mixing buckets or the overflow container in such casting processes, e.g. blade casting methods for wind rotor blades, no solution exists for preventing the ignition of fire during the curing process which is caused by the exothermic reaction between the epoxy resin monomers and the curing agent. Conventionally, the mixing bucket is moved outdoors if signs of fire ignition or smoke development are observed in the mixing bucket to avoid any damages of the casting apparatus or the casting facilities and to protect the working environment of the staff around the blade mould.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,323 describes a prepreg containing a resin composition consisting of a polyepoxide, a curing agent, a catalyst for the reaction of the polyepoxide with the curing agent and a Lewis acid cure inhibitor for inhibiting the catalyst by means of forming a catalyst Lewis acid inhibitor complex. Cured and partially cured epoxy resins are used in coatings or laminates, wherein the inhibitor is used for inhibiting the curing reaction of polyepoxide by forming a stable complex between the curing agent and the Lewis acid in the prepreg and releasing the catalyst if a predetermined temperature level has been reached during the curing process. This inhibiting method is used for storing the polyepoxide resin composition in prepregs which are then used in moulding processes of composite parts. However, these prepregs are not used in casting process such as rein transfer moulding processes.

Method of modifying the rate of temperature change of an epoxy resin composition in a resin container during a casting process


A remote client computer performance/compatibility querying and certification system allows a server to remotely gather performance/capability information from a client computer, such as its processor class or family, display resolution capability, installed software components, peripheral devices, or the type and version of its operating system, and determine whether it is capable of accessing and utilizing an on-line service via a communication network. The performance/capability information is gathered using a querying program downloaded from the server and running on the client computer. The querying program queries the system/component registry of the client computer's operating system using, e.g., one or more application program interface function calls. The gathered performance/capability information is used to, e.g., pre-certify the client computer before utilizing the on-line service, determine whether the user desires to purchase software on-line, and/or provide an expert technician information regarding the client computer's installed software/hardware components during an on-line technical support session.

A substantial increase in the use of computers has been seen in recent years, and along with this increase has come an explosion in the use of computer networks, e.g., a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), e.g., the Internet, particularly the world-wide-web (WWW). Nowadays, a plethora of products and services are offered "on-line" over the various computer networks, which act as a communication conduit between a supplier (often referred to as a "server") and a user (often referred to as a "client") of the various products and services.
Often, in order for a user to utilize the information objects and services available on-line, the client computer of the user must have some minimum performance capability. For example, typical on-line services may require the client computer to have a particular processor family or later, a minimum display resolution, a minimum memory capacity, one or more peripheral devices or the like. The client computer may also be required to have installed thereon software components, e.g., a specific version of web browser, one or more plug-in modules, one or more dynamic linked libraries (DLL) or the like. Some on-line services, e.g., a service providing distant learning programs, which may involve transferring of a large amount of multimedia data, may require the client computer to have a minimum communication bandwidth capability. Software products available to be purchased on-line may have a compatibility requirement, e.g., a particular operating system, a particular processor family or the like.
Many of the on-line service providers and on-line software suppliers list the minimum performance/capability and compatibility information, respectively, from which a user may verify whether his or her computer has sufficient performance/capabilities for the particular on-line service, or whether it is compatible with a particular software product the user wishes to purchase on-line.
Unfortunately, a typical user of an on-line service or an on-line purchaser of a software product may not know the performance/capability of, or the software/hardware components installed on, his or her computer, and thus may not be able to accurately determine whether his or her computer is compatible with the on-line service or the software product. A user or purchaser often assumes that his/her computer is compatible, and, if the assumption was incorrect, experiences difficulties in accessing the services or in installing and running the software product. Because the user may be unaware which aspect of the performance/capability/compatibility requirement the user computer does not meet, the user may not be able to remedy the incompatibility problem. The incompatibility problem may even result in a fatal failure of the user computer, rendering it inoperable even after an attempt by the user to restore operability, e.g., by rebooting or the like, and may thus be inconvenient and frustrating to the user.
It is thus desirable for the on-line service and product suppliers to remotely determine the compatibility of a particular user computer directly from the user computer before the user attempts to utilize an on-line service or purchases a software product on-line.
Moreover, one particularly useful service available on-line is what is usually referred to as an on-line "help desk", which provides technical support to a user, who may be experiencing difficulties operating the user computer. Typically, to utilize an on-line help desk service, the user would either ask a specific question, or provide information regarding the difficulties the user is experiencing, either over the telephone or on-line, e.g., through a dialog box provided in the website of the service provider or through an e-mail message or the like, to an expert technician employed by the service provider.
It is often very useful for the expert technician to find out what software and/or hardware components installed on the user computer in order to accurately diagnose the particular problem he or she is trying to solve. A typical user is however technically inept at supplying the necessary or desired information to the technician. It is thus desirable to provide a mechanism through which the expert technician can remotely query the user computer for information regarding the installed components thereon.
Known prior attempts, e.g, the on-line help service provided by Expertcity.com of Santa Barbara, Calif., to remotely query the user computer by an on-line expert technician uses a"screen sharing" program, similar to the well known PCANYWHERE™ sold by the Symantec Corporation of Cupertino, Calif. These so called screen sharing programs while allowing an expert technician to determine the installed components of a user computer, require the user to completely surrender control of the user computer to the expert technician, who may be free to gather information unnecessary for the technical support, and which may be confidential, sensitive or private. That is, through these screen sharing programs, the expert technician may view, copy or alter any of the files stored on the user computer, and, if, e.g., the user computer is connected to a network. e.g., a LAN, any file stored on any of the computers connected to the network. It is thus desirable that the query for the installed component be performed by a computer program written specifically for gathering the installed component information only, rather than turning the complete control of the user computer over to a human technician.
Thus, there is a need for a method and system, which allows an on-line service and software product supplier to remotely determine the performance, capability and/or compatibility of a user computer before the user attempts to utilize the on-line service or purchases the software product on-line.
Thus, there is also a need for a querying program that remotely gathers information regarding the components installed on a user computer, and provides the gathered information to an expert technician of an on-line help desk service.

Remote computer capabilities querying and certification