A recharging system for a battery. The internal resistance of the battery and its leads produce an error voltage when a charging current flows through the battery and the leads. The error voltage combines with the inherent battery voltage to produce an inflated voltage. A filtering circuit receives the inflated voltage. The filter circuit quantifies the error voltage. A subtractor circuit receives the inflated voltage and the error voltage. The subtractor circuit subtracts the error voltage from the inflated voltage to quantify the battery voltage. A voltage comparator is utilized to compare the battery voltage to a voltage set point. A switch is provided that is controlled by the voltage comparator. The switch receives the charging current and directs the charging current to the only while the voltage set point is greater than the battery voltage. Thus, the battery is recharged.

1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to systems and methods used to charge a rechargeable battery. More particularly, the present invention relates to recharging systems that actively monitor specified variables during a recharging cycle.
2. Prior Art Description
Rechargeable batteries come in many shapes and sizes. Small rechargeable batteries are used to power cell phones, toys, cordless tools and a large variety of everyday items. Large rechargeable batteries are used in cars, trucks, boats and the like. Even larger racks of rechargeable batteries are used to store power in electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, commercial airliners, and many buildings that collect power using solar panels.
In order to charge a rechargeable battery, a current must be passed into the battery at a voltage that is greater than the output voltage rating of the battery. For example, in order to recharge a 12 volt battery, current must be supplied to the battery in excess of 12 volts. This voltage differential is required to ensure that electricity is flowing into the battery and not out of the battery. However, determining the best charging voltage for a particular battery or series of batteries is a complicated endeavor.
If a battery is overcharged, it can damage the battery and it can even catch fire. Battery fires due to overcharging have been reported in laptop computers, electric vehicles, and commercial aircraft, even though these applications use sophisticated systems to monitor the status of the rechargeable batteries. The reason for the batteries being overcharged is that prior art recharging systems are designed assuming that the battery and the wiring that leads to the battery have a low and constant resistance. In reality, this assumption is not true. Rechargeable batteries are not static systems. Rather, they are dynamic systems that vary in resistance in response to a variety of variables. For instance, the resistance of a rechargeable battery and its surrounding wiring is dependent upon the temperature of the battery, the age of the battery, the condition of the chemicals within the battery, port corrosion, and internal electrode degradation.
In the prior art, a conditioned DC power source is typically used to recharge a battery. The current is conditioned to a preselected charging voltage and charging current that is fed into the rechargeable battery. The output of the battery charger is monitored using a voltage comparator. The voltage comparator compares the output voltage of the battery charger to a preselected voltage set point. For example, a rechargeable battery may be nominally rated with an output voltage of 12.2 volts. The voltage set point for the comparator may be set at 13.8 volts. Thus, when the output voltage of the battery reaches 13.8 volts, the battery is deemed fully charged and the recharging voltage is stopped.
This prior art recharging methodology, assumes that the output voltage being received at the voltage comparator is exactly equal to the voltage output actually being produced by the rechargeable battery. This is a false assumption that creates significant problems. The wires that lead to and from the rechargeable battery have internal resistances. The battery itself has an internal resistance. The termination between the wires and the battery may be partially corroded and can provide significant resistance. In accordance with Ohm's law, when a current passes through a resistive element, a voltage is developed that varies as a function of the current times the value of the resistance. Consequently, the resistances of the wires, battery and contacts inflate the output voltage of the battery. The inflated voltage is read by the voltage comparator. The voltage comparator, therefore, believes that the battery is outputting more voltage than it actually is. The voltage comparator will, therefore, turn off the recharging current before the battery has become fully charged.
The difference between the inflated voltage and the real voltage of the battery is the error voltage. The recharging system is designed with a voltage set point at the comparator that can be compensated manually for a theoretical error voltage. However, the error voltage varies with time, temperature and battery degradation. Thus, the recharging system may overcharge the battery while attempting not to undercharge the battery. This is what often causes batteries to become overcharged and become damaged and perhaps catch fire.
A need therefore exists for a charging system for a rechargeable battery that dynamically monitors the voltage error inherent in the system. By adjusting the charging system as a function of the voltage error, the rechargeable battery can always be fully charged without the danger of overcharging the battery. This need is met by the present invention as described and claimed below.

Charging system having active error correction for rechargeable batteries


A display-type applicator-containing compact for cosmetics and the like, comprises a shallow jar having a wide neck portion with external screw threads, and a ring-shaped screw cap member that is mounted on and cooperable with the neck portion. The neck portion has an annular sealing lip, and a plastic lens member is disposed in the screw cap member to provide an underside sealing area that engages the sealing lip. A swivel-mounted tray adapted to hold cosmetic material is pivotally mounted in the jar in spaced relation to the jar bottom, providing sufficient space under the tray to store a puff or similar applicator. The underside of the tray is a mirror, for use when the tray is swung up out of the jar, and when the applicator is being used.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to plastic jars, and more particularly to jars of the type commonly used to contain and dispense colored cosmetic materials, or substances of a type where a hermetic seal is required in order to preserve or protect the efficacy of the contained material or substance and the dispensing media which could be a puff, sponge or foam.


A mounting system for an electronic display device includes a display interface having an interface member presenting a display mounting surface and a tilt head assembly defining a substantially horizontal tilt axis oriented generally parallel with, and spaced apart from, the display mounting surface. The tilt head assembly includes a control mechanism for selectively shifting the tilt axis between a first location spaced apart a first distance from the display mounting surface and a second location spaced apart a second distance from the display mounting surface, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.

Flat panel electronic display devices such as LCD and plasma displays offer many advantages over conventional CRT and rear projection displays, such as improved picture resolution, elimination of screen flicker, and greatly decreased physical dimensions. Consequently, flat panel displays are becoming commonplace in business and residential settings.
Often, it is desirable to mount a flat panel display from a fixed structure such as a wall, ceiling, column or other structural feature. Consequently, specialized mounts have been developed to enable displays to be mounted from fixed structures, while also enabling selective positioning of the display for visibility or convenience.
Some prior adjustably positionable mounts include various arrangements of brackets and arms to enable tilting of the display screen. Examples of such tilt mounts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,363 to Boele and U.S. Published Patent Application No. US20020033436A1 by Peng, et. al. A drawback of such simple tilt devices wherein the tilt axis passes through the mount behind the display is that the display tends to tip forward or backward about the tilt axis unless it is held in the desired position with friction or other mechanical locking devices. In that large flat panel display devices, particularly plasma displays, can be quite heavy and unwieldy, it can be difficult for an individual to simultaneously lift the display in the desired position and manipulate the mechanical locking device to fix the display in position.
In other prior mounts, this drawback is overcome by locating the tilt axis of the display within the display itself, preferably proximate the display center of gravity. Such mounting devices are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,905,101 to Dittmer and 7,028,961 to Dittmer, et. al., each hereby fully incorporated herein by reference.
Due to the wide variations in display configuration it can sometimes be difficult to position the display on these prior mounts so that the tilt axis passes through or proximate the center of gravity so that the display is balanced. If the display is not balanced, it will tend to tip up or down on the mount unless restrained by friction or a locking mechanism, thereby presenting the drawbacks of prior art mounts. Although different mounts can be made for each model display so that the tilt axis is properly positioned for that model, this approach adds manufacturing and production cost and leads to complexity of installation.
What is still needed in the industry is a mount for attaching a variety of makes and models of flat panel electronic displays to a fixed structure that also enables the display to be balanced about its center of gravity so as to be easily manipulated by an individual.

Device mount with selectively positionable tilt axis


The present invention provides methods for generating interferometric information. Interferometric information from refractively scanned interferometers can contain errors due to wavelength-dependent refractive indices. The wavelength-dependent refractive indices of elements of the interferometer can produce errors when the OPD at a reference wavelength is different than the OPD at a sample wavelength. The invention can provide correction of interferometric information using relationships between the OPD at the wavelengths of interest, which correction can also be dependent on physical relationships among elements of the interferometer.

A Michelson interferometer in its basic form comprises a beam splitter and two end mirrors, one in each optical path created by the beam splitter. To this basic arrangement is often added a compensator of the same material, thickness, and angle of incidence as the beam splitter substrate. This balances the optical path length in both legs at all wavelengths. A complete spectrometer based on a Michelson interferometer generally includes a light source, a means of limiting the angular subtense of light traversing the interferometer, a means of placing a sample to be tested in the optical path, and a means of detecting the light after it has traversed the two legs of the interferometer and recombined. It also contains some means of varying the optical path length difference (OPD) between the two interferometer legs to produce an interferogram, and a means of measuring this OPD, often with a position encoder based on an auxiliary monochromatic light source. Since the advent of fast Fourier transform algorithms in conjunction with a digital computer the Michelson interferometer and numerous variants of it have been used to measure the spectrum of light sources, either directly or after passing through a material with properties that can be determined by the measurement of spectral absorbance. Several authors have provided detailed reviews of this type of spectrometer and its merits relative to other spectrometers for chemometric measurements. See, e.g., Griffiths and De Haseth, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Wiley Interscience, 1986.
A simple Michelson interferometer with flat end mirrors has several problems and limitations. A Fourier transform spectrometer application typically requires that the OPD be scanned, which can be difficult with current interferometers. Conventionally, one of the end mirrors is translated along the optical axis while keeping the surface strictly perpendicular to the optical axis and constant to within a small fraction of the wavelength of the light being measured. In the long wave infrared region the requirement can be met relatively easily with a mechanical translator but it becomes increasingly difficult at shorter wavelengths. This mechanical stability problem is found to be a critical factor in chemometric applications in which the quantity of an analyte of low concentration and weak spectral features must be determined. In many such applications, high spectral resolution is of secondary importance to such factors as high throughput and spectral response stability with temperature and other environmental perturbations.
Various methods have been tried to alleviate the problem of maintaining alignment while changing OPD. One method involves the use of two retroreflectors instead of the two flat mirrors. See, e.g., Griffiths, pp. 143-147. A retroreflector changes the direction of the light by exactly 180 degrees but not necessarily along the same axis. The use of retroreflectors eliminates the tilt problem (maintenance of perpendicularity to the optical axis) but introduces a problem with shear (maintenance of colinearity of optical axes from the two interferometer branches). An interferometer with either a tilt or shear misalignment will produce a smaller useful signal for a given input light intensity and angular subtense than one in which these errors are not present. Furthermore, the effect of these errors will be wavelength dependent. Generally, conditions are such that the allowable tolerance on shear is much easier to meet than the tolerance on tilt. However, for large throughput designs, involving an extended source, the shear tolerance can still be quite difficult to adjust and maintain in practice, requiring that the retroreflector lateral position be maintained within less than a few wavelengths of the light being measured while it is moved along the optical axis to change the OPD. A retroreflector is constructed from two or more reflective surfaces that must be adjusted and maintained in precise alignment to provide a wavefront quality that does not change by more than a small fraction of a wavelength. Although at least two retroreflector designs, the cube corner and the cat's eye, are in common use, they require precision construction much more difficult to produce than a simple flat mirror.
Another related method is that of Steel (1970). Steel, pp. 48-49 In this method, two flat end mirrors are fixed and precisely aligned. A retroreflector is then added in a double pass arrangement to direct the light onto one of the end mirrors and then back through the retroreflector on the return trip. The advantage of this technique is that the retroreflector can be moved to create the OPD without generating tilt or shear errors, allowing a simple, non-precision mechanism to move the retroreflector. Disadvantages include the requirement for a high quality retroreflector with an aperture size at least twice as large as the beam going through the interferometer. The arrangement also does not preclude the need to adjust the angle of one of the end mirrors to eliminate tilt error. The path length through the system is also substantially increased over that of the basic Michelson, making it more difficult to collect all the light from an extended source. The double pass nature of this design also increases its sensitivity to externally induced vibration.
A second category of interferometer OPD scanning methods is based on the movement of a refractive element or elements. One example method, shown by Steel (1970), uses the movement of a wedged refractive plate into the beam in varying amounts. Steel, p. 49 A fixed plate, wedged at the same angle but in the opposite direction serves to compensate for tilt errors that would otherwise arise as a function of wavelength. Although affording considerable reduction in sensitivity to tilt of the moving component, tilt error is still introduced with tilt in the wedged plate if flat end mirrors are used. This problem is reduced but not eliminated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,938 (Doyle, 1979), where linear motion of a wedged refracting prism is used along with retroreflectors replacing the flat end mirrors. In this arrangement tilt error is avoided by the use of retroreflectors but shear error is still introduced by tilting the prism, especially for off-axis rays. Another embodiment of the refractive scanning technique is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,482,919 (Barringer, 1969). In this patent the compensator plate of a basic Michelson interferometer is rotated to generate the OPD. This method is based on the principle that the optical path length through a window material can be changed by rotating the window about any axis not normal to the window surface. If the two sides of the window are parallel, the OPD is changed without changing the direction of a ray, and thus no tilt error is introduced regardless of the plate position or rotation angle. This allows the OPD to be varied without disturbing the alignment of fixed, critically aligned components, such as the beam splitter and end mirrors. The penalty paid for this simplicity is that the OPD is not a linear function of the rotation angle. Various performance degradations can arise from this, which will be discussed in detail below. U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,530 (Dybwad, 1987) deals with the linearization issue by passing both legs through the same parallel plate but in different directions, so that as the plate is rotated, the OPD increases in one leg while decreasing in the other. It is then found that the net OPD change is much more linear as a function of the rotation angle. The resulting interferogram is also more symmetrical about the center burst. This is all accomplished at the expense of two additional flat mirrors and a substantial increase in total path length. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,756, (Hill, 1989) the same thing is achieved with the addition of only one mirror to the basic Michelson arrangement. This patent also shows an arrangement in which two plane parallel plates are added to the basic Michelson interferometer, one in each leg. By rotating these two plates together the same linearization of the OPD-angle relationship can be accomplished as with the single plate shared by both legs. The refractively scanned interferometer also enjoys a much better immunity to externally induced vibration since it can be made to require much larger physical movement of the scanning element to achieve a given OPD than does the interferometer based on the movement of a mirror. This makes it an ideal candidate for portable use outside the laboratory. A problem that often exists with refractive scanned interferometers is that the allowable extended source size in one direction is smaller than that for a Michelson interferometer and therefore the aperture size must be larger for a given throughput.
Alignment maintenance is another challenging problem with interferometers. Various "self-compensating" designs have been used which involve a number of flat mirrors or mirrors in conjunction with refractive elements. In these designs, the optical arrangement is such that the precision required for maintaining the optical alignment is built separately into each piece or sub assembly and not on the relationship between subassemblies. For an example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,504,614 (Messerschmidt and Abbink), in which the required precision is contained within the parallelism of two faces of two solid refractive components. In European Patent no. 0 681 166 B1 (Turner, 1995) the critical precision is built into two subassemblies consisting of flat components with bonded spacers to keep the subassembly components precisely parallel. One shortcoming common to these designs is that the optical path length through the instrument becomes larger than through the simple Michelson interferometer, often by a rather large factor. The result is that, for an extended source, excessive vignetting cannot be avoided unless the clear apertures are made larger than they would need to be with an interferometer with short optical path length.

Method of generating interferometric information


A contour compensation circuit comprises a first delay circuit to generate a first signal that is the image signal delayed by a first required time, a second delay circuit to generate a second signal that is the result of addition of the input image signal and the signal that is the input image signal delayed by twice the required time, a subtractor circuit that generates a third signal that is the first signal subtracted by the second signal, an adder circuit that adds the first signal and third signal and outputs contour compensation signal, and a control circuit to control the ratio of addition of the third signal in response to the second signal. On the basis of the second signal, the control circuit is configured from a voltage control amplifier (VCA) that controls a voltage gain of a signal so that the higher a level of the second signal is the larger a contour compensation amount becomes.

The present invention relates to an image recording and reproduction apparatus, and more specifically, to a contour compensation circuit (image enhancer) used for a signal processing circuit in a VTR, a video display apparatus, a video camera and the like.
The following is a description of the prior art, with reference to FIG. 1 of the appended drawings. An image signal S.sub.a is inputted to an input terminal 31 and is also inputted to a delay line 33 after passing an input matching resistor 32. The delay line 33 delays the signal by a required time t.sub.d. The signal that has been delayed by the delay line 33 is inputted to the positive input of a subtractor 34 and to one of the input terminals of an adder 35. The output side of the delay line 33 is received by a high impedance and so a reflection action is generated at the output terminal of the delay line 33 and this reflected signal is further delayed and transmitted to the input side of the delay line 33. The input signal and the signal that has been delayed by twice the required time 2t.sub.d are added by the input matching resistor 32 and are inputted to the negative input of the subtractor 34. Moreover, the output of the subtractor 34 is supplied to the other input of the adder 35. And a signal of those input image signals and for which the contour portion is emphasized is outputted from the adder 35 to an output terminal 36. Moreover, FIG. 2 shows the signals at various portions, with FIG. 2 (a) showing the image signal S.sub.a that is inputted to the input terminal 31, FIG. 2 (b) showing the signal S.sub.b that is delayed by a time t.sub.d by the delay line 33, FIG. 2 (c) showing the signal S.sub.c which is obtained by addition at the matching resistor 32 of the input signal S.sub.a and the signal reflected at the output terminal of the delay line 33 and delayed by a time 2t.sub.d. FIG. 2 (d) shows the output signals S.sub.d of the subtractor 34, and FIG. 2 (e) shows the output signals S.sub.e of the adder 35 that adds the signals S.sub.b and the signals S.sub.d.
The problem with this prior art is that the noise in the high-frequency band is also emphasized along with the contour portion of the image signal. As a result, this noise becomes conspicuous when the image signal is of low level. Because of this, the degree of emphasis of the contour portion of the image signal can be controlled in accordance with the level of the image signal, but with the prior art, it is difficult to perform such control so that it seems natural.

Contour compensation circuit for a signal processing apparatus of an image recording and reproduction apparatus


A filter canister assembly for a gas mask comprising a primary canister with a first filter medium adapted to remove aerosols, particulate materials and droplets from air and a second filter medium comprising an adsorbent filter medium adapted to remove toxic gases and arranged in serial communication with the first filter medium in the first canister. A supplementary filter canister has a third filter media adapted to intercept toxic industrial materials and is removably mounted to a first end of the first housing to supplement the ability of the primary filter canister to filter toxic industrial gases.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to gas mask filters. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to a gas mask with removable filtration cartridges. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to multi-stage filtration cartridges with an optional TIM filter. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a gas mask with twist and lock removable filtration cartridges.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is traditional for combination filters such as those used in industry or by the military to have two filter media in sequence: firstly, a particulate filter to remove solid or liquid aerosols, droplets and particulate matter such as dusts, smokes, bacteria and viruses; and secondly an adsorbent layer, usually an activated charcoal to remove gases and vapors. A wide variety of charcoals with or without impregnants are available for particular filtration applications. The charcoal adsorbent may have more than one type of charcoal in intermixed or filled as separate layers into the filter body. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,173, issued Aug. 26, 1997 to Newton.
Military canisters typically have two types of media, particulate and charcoal. The charcoal is impregnated with such metallic salts of Cu, Cr, Ag, Zn, Mo and triethylenediamine in order to broaden the scope of chemical filtration by including both physical adsorption and chemical interaction with the impregnants to remove those chemicals that are poorly adsorbed and retained by physical adsorption alone. See, for example, the Grove et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,239, issued Jan. 23, 2001, which incorporates by reference the U.S. patents to Braun et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,033,465 and 5,078,132.
Attempts have heretofore been made to develop a filter medium that has the capability to remove both particulate matter and to adsorb gases. See, for example, British Specification No. 516,268, published Dec. 28, 1939. These filters are often referred to as "intimate mix" filters. One very good example of this type of filter was the "Cheekpad" design of filters used in the U.S. Military M17 Mask. However, it was found that the filtration efficiency of such media was compromised for both chemicals and for particulates. As a result, these types of filters are not in use today.
Each filter has a lifespan that relates to the amount and type of filter media. When any of the filter types have been saturated, the filter canister must be replaced. Thus, the life of any canister is only as long as the weakest filter medium. It is possible to construct a filter canister with sufficient amounts of each of the filter media to give a long life for all types of gases. However, the cost, size and weight of the canister must be taken into account in selecting the amounts of filter media that is to be incorporated into each canister. In addition, breathing resistance increases as the amount of the filter material increases. For military purposes, the canisters must be relatively small and light in weight. Yet, the canisters must be able protect the soldier from the exotic as well as the ordinary gases to which the average combatant might reasonably be subjected. Ordinarily, military personnel rarely face industrial gases and the addition of filter material to remove significant amounts of industrial gases is for the most part unnecessary. However, these gases must be filtered when they are encountered in the field, however infrequently. Thus, a balance must be struck between maximum protection against all types of gasses, weight, breathing resistance and bulk. These compromises have been made with smaller canisters that are replaceable when spent. The canister must be easily and quickly replaced so that a spent canister can be discarded and a new one added.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,346 to Michel et al. discloses a bayonet-type respirator fitting for a respirator port in a gas mask. The inhalation port includes an inhalation valve formed of a resilient membrane or flap, and mounts a chemical cartridge by a bayonet-type mount. The chemical cartridge can further mount a filter retainer housing a mechanical filter such as a felted fibrous disk.
British Specification No. 516,268 discloses a gas mask cartridge in which the air flows through a felted filtering mass comprising homogeneous mixture of a fibrous material adapted for mechanical filtration and substances capable of absorbtive and adsorbtive removal of noxious components in an air stream passing though the cartridge. The cartridge is made of layers of filter material that are axially stacked with radial passages from a central conduit for parallel axial flow through the filter media.

Multi-stage respirator filter with TIM filter option


The present invention provides compositions comprising synergistically effective amounts of D-chiro-inositol and sulfonylureas. The present invention also provides methods to treat a subject with insulin resistance comprising administration of D-chiro-inositol and sulfonylurea, either as concurrent single agents or as a combined composition. In particular the methods of the present invention are useful in maintaining pancreatic beta cell function/viability and thus delay diabetes progression. The methods and compositions of the present invention are particularly efficacious in treating insulin resistant subjects with a fasting blood glucose level of less than or equal to 180 mg/dL.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides methods to treat a subject with insulin resistance comprising administration of D-chiro-inositol and sulfonylurea, either as concurrent single agents or as a combined composition. The present invention also provides compositions comprising therapeutically effective amounts of D-chiro-inositol and sulfonylureas. The present invention also provides methods to treat a subject with insulin resistance comprising administration of D-chiro-inositol and sulfonylurea, either as concurrent single agents or as a combined composition. In particular, the methods of the present invention are useful in maintaining pancreatic beta cell function/viability and thus, delay diabetes progression. The methods and compositions of the present invention are particularly efficacious in treating insulin resistant subjects with a fasting blood glucose level of less than or equal to 180 mg/dL.
2. Related Art
Non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM, or type 2 diabetes) is a worldwide health problem. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 30 million people worldwide had diabetes in 1985. This number increased to 135 million people by 1995 and the WHO predicts a rise to 300 million people by 2025. The insidious nature of type 2 diabetes progression and medical complications that arise from hyperglycemia extract a heavy toll on the individual, healthcare resources, and society. As such, there is a continuing need for new therapeutic agents and therapeutic regimens that prevent diabetes, prevent or delay the progression of diabetes, or prevent or delay diabetic complications.
It is generally desirable to treat a subject with diabetes or at risk of developing diabetes in ways that reestablish or maintain the balance between insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity. It is highly desirable to employ methods that avoid administration of exogenous insulin. Therefore a regimen of diet and exercise is primarily used to attempt to establish more physiologic glycemic control. Sadly, however, pharmacological intervention becomes necessary. The current xe2x80x9csecond linexe2x80x9d of therapies includes administration of pharmacological agents including sulfonylureas (e.g. GLUCOTROL(copyright)), biguanides (e.g. metformin), and PPAR gamma agonists (e.g. rosiglitazone) alone or in combination, which are used to increase endogenous insulin production, decrease hepatic glucose output, and increase periperial insulin sensitivity (Kobayashi, Diabetes Obes. Metab., 1(Suppl 1): S32-S40 (1999); Brown et al., J. Natl. Med. Assoc., 91(7): 389-395 (1999)). Sulfonylureas are compounds that stimulate insulin secretion from beta cells in islet tissue of the pancreas and are currently the most frequently prescribed oral hypoglycemic drugs. Increased insulin secretion by sulfonylureas may lead to hypoglycemia (Imura, N. Engl. J. Med., 338: 908-909 (1998)). Unfortunately, prolonged use of sulfonylureas results in unfavorable side effects, particularly desensitization and/or apoptosis of the beta cells resulting in decreased insulin production. The effect is particularly manifest in subjects who have more severe insulin resistance in conjunction with less insulin (Kobayashi, Diabetes Obes. Metab., 1(Suppl 1): S32-S40 (1999); Kolterman et al., Diabetes Care, 7(Suppl 1): 81-89 (1984)). Biguanides are compounds that decrease hepatic glucose output, and thus aid in controlling hyperglycemia. PPAR gamma agonists are insulin-sensitizing compounds that increase the cell""s ability to respond to smaller quantities of insulin. Eventually these therapies fail and exogenous insulin is required to maintain a balance of glucose metabolism.
Currently there is intensive investigation into beneficial combinations of therapies that maximize the benefit to the diabetic subject, while minimizing the side effects of the individual therapeutic agents. Generically, one could envision combinations of insulin sensitizer/sulfonylurea; insulin sensitizer/insulin; insulin sensitizer/biguanides; sulfonylurea/biguanide; biguanide/insulin and the like. The term xe2x80x9cinsulin sensitizerxe2x80x9d is a generic phrase that describes any agent that enhances the cell""s ability to respond to insulin. This phrase could encompass any agent that would potentate the insulin signal transduction cascade or any agent that would reduce a negative regulatory component of the insulin signal transduction cascade.
Potentially there are synergistic and/or beneficial combinations of insulin sensitizing drugs with other anti-diabetic agents, particularly anti-diabetic agents that increase the amount of insulin in a mammal. In one example, the thiazolidinedione class of drugs are agonists for the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPAR-xcex3) and are xe2x80x9cinsulin sensitizersxe2x80x9d because upregulation of PPAR-xcex3 activity positively upregulates the insulin signal transduction pathway, presumably because MAP kinase phosphorylates PPAR-xcex3 and influences its activity (Zhang et al., J. Biol. Chem., 271(50): 31771-31774 (1996)). Other synergistic effects of the combination of TZD drugs with insulin have also been described, for example the demonstration TZD drugs enhanced the normal insulin response of glucokinase (GK) mRNA expression in animals (Hofmann et al, Metabolism, 44(3): 384-389 (1995)).
Unfortunately, without undue experimentation, one cannot reasonably expect success with any particular drug combination simply because the drug is generically identified as an insulin sensitizer or an anti-diabetic drug. Such descriptions of combinatorial drug therapies comprising an insulin sensitizer drug and insulin or other anti-diabetic agent fail to enable one of ordinary skill in the art how to practice any particular drug combination. In fact, this generic description could lead to deleterious results for a patient in need of treatment. Insulin sensitizers represent different classes of drugs and drugs that are active against distinct biological targets and therefore must be viewed distinctly in terms of their use alone or in combination with other insulin sensitizer drugs or other anti-diabetic drugs. By analogy both a xe2x80x9croller coasterxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbumper carsxe2x80x9d could be described as xe2x80x9camusement park ridesxe2x80x9d, but they are clearly different and intended for different audiences.
One example of an insulin sensitizer used in combination with another anti-diabetic drug is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,632 at col. 7, lines 4-17. A combination of DAIB-II, also known as V-411, with insulin resulted in the subject experiencing a hypoglycemic state that needed further intervention (i.e. sugar uptake) to prevent deleterious effects to the subject. Other examples of insulin sensitizer/anti-diabetic drugs are also known. Members of the TZD class of drugs, particularly pioglitazone, have also been used in combination with sulfonylurea or insulin. Unfortunately, this combination results in mild to moderate hypoglycemia at a rate of 1-2%. These examples raise safety concerns for the broad use of drug combinations in the diabetic population (Valsamakis et al., Exp. Opin. Pharmacother., 1(7): 1413-1421 (2000)).
There is therefore, a need for new means to control progression of diabetes and prevent or delay the need for administration of exogenous insulin. This need and others are provided in the present invention that describes methods of treating subjects suffering from insulin resistance comprising administration of a therapeutically effective amount of D-chiro-inositol (DCI) and a therapeutically effective amount of a sulfonylurea.
The present invention provides a method of treating a subject in need thereof comprising: (a) administration of a pharmaceutically effective amount of a D-chiro-inositol-like compound; and (b) administration of a pharmaceutically effective amount of a sulfonylurea, wherein the effective amounts of the D-chiro-inositol and the sulfonylurea are administered concurrently.
The combination of D-chiro-inositol and sulfonylurea surprisingly results in amelioration and/or elimination of the undesirable side-effect of pancreatic insufficiency seen when administering sulfonylurea. Thus the combination of D-chiro-inositol and sulfonylurea allows a pharmacological treatment that prevents progression of type 2 diabetes, while simultaneously providing better glycemic control than can be achieved using either D-chiro-inositol and sulfonylurea alone. This beneficial effect is particularly effective in insulin resistant subjects having a fasting blood glucose of less than or equal to 180 mg/dl.
The present invention also provides medicinal compositions comprising (a) a pharmaceutically effective amount of a D-chiro-inositol-like compound; (b) a pharmaceutically effective amount of a sulfonylurea; and (c) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
These compositions are useful in the methods of the present invention because they provide the convenience of a single dosage unit, and therefore increase patient compliance.

Compositions comprising D-chiro inositol and sulfonylureas and methods of treatment thereof


A structure including an oxide semiconductor layer which is provided over an insulating surface and includes a channel formation region and a pair of low-resistance regions between which the channel formation region is positioned, a gate insulating film covering a top surface and a side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer, a gate electrode covering a top surface and a side surface of the channel formation region with the gate insulating film positioned therebetween, and electrodes electrically connected to the low-resistance regions is employed. The electrodes are electrically connected to at least side surfaces of the low-resistance regions, so that contact resistance with the source electrode and the drain electrode is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor element in which an oxide semiconductor is used for an active layer, a method for manufacturing the semiconductor element, and a semiconductor device including the semiconductor element.
In this specification, a "semiconductor element" refers to an element that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics, such as a transistor or a diode. Further, a "semiconductor device" refers to all the devices that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics of the semiconductor element; an electronic display device, an electro-optical device, and a memory device are all included in the category of the semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transistors in which an active layer is formed using a semiconductor thin film which is formed over a substrate having an insulating surface are widely used in electronic devices such as integrated circuits (ICs) and image display devices (display devices).
Conventional thin film transistors mostly have what is called a planar structure, in which a semiconductor layer, an insulating film, an electrode, and the like are stacked over a plane. With advances in manufacturing processes which enables miniaturization of such transistors, various problems such as increases in short-channel effect and leakage current arise. Therefore, in recent years, a transistor having a novel structure which is an alternative to the conventional planar structure has been developed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a fin-type transistor in which a polycrystalline silicon film is used as an active layer (referred to as a semiconductor thin film in Patent Document 1).

Semiconductor element, method for manufacturing the semiconductor element, and semiconductor device including the semiconductor element

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


An illuminated signage has a housing that carries a plurality of signage panels having a photoluminescent area carrying indicia for the signage. The signage panels are carried in a channel extending across a front face of the housing. An electrical circuit controls a plurality of light emitters that are configured to illuminate when the photoluminescent area has been depleted and is no longer producing enough luminescence to illuminate the indicia. The electrical circuit may also be configured to illuminate the LEDs on demand.

The present invention relates to illumination devices, and more particularly to illumination devices for address signage.
Current address signage, particularly those in residential areas, suffer from a lack of visibility at night after the sun has gone down.
The current devices on the market use LED only which have to be powered, Others utilize a solar power source which require more maintenance overtime, particularly when the battery of the solar powered is no longer able to retain a charge.
As can be seen, there is a need for an improved illumination device for address signage.


A luggage device having fully recessed legs that may be selectively engaged to translate and pivot about an axis to facilitate controlled movement from a fully recessed storage position to an operative position for conveniently transporting large heavy objects within the luggage. The fully recessed translation biased cantilever leg luggage device includes a dextral leg recess for receiving a dextral leg, and a sinistral leg recess for receiving a sinistral leg. Each leg recess has an engagement region, a storage region, and a pivot. Additionally, the engagement region includes a leg engagement region storage location, a leg engagement region operative location, and a leg engagement region transition region; through which a portion of the leg pivots about the axis and transitions from the fully recessed storage position to an operative position.

People have been making specialized luggage devices for use when traveling for centuries. Luggage devices for long objects, such as golf clubs, are more awkward to handle than most luggage devices. If the luggage device for long objects is stood on end, it will easily fall over when bumped, so it is usually handled and placed in a horizontal orientation.
An important improvement for luggage devices was the addition of two built-in wheels along one edge of the luggage opposite a built-in handle. For most luggage devices, these edge wheels allow the luggage to be tilted to near a balance point and then pulled or pushed with the handle opposite the wheels. On paved surfaces, this makes it easy for a person to walk while pushing or pulling the luggage.
However, when luggage devices that are much longer than they are high are heavily loaded, such as luggage devices for golf clubs, the system of two edge wheels and an opposite handle does not work very well. When the long luggage device is tilted to its balance point, the tilt angle is too close to vertical to gain adequate control over the weight of the device. Consequently, the user must tilt the luggage device much closer to horizontal than near the balance point and carry much of the weight in the user's hand, which presents a problem when the luggage device is heavily loaded.
For short, heavily loaded, edge-wheeled luggage devices, the problem can be solved by extending the handle so that most of the weight is on the wheels. Such luggage devices with extendable handles are popular. However, if the luggage is long, longer than about 40 inches, and intended to carry significant weight, extending the handle enough to transfer adequate weight to the wheels would make the length of the tilted luggage device plus extended handle too long for maneuvering through travel stations and around other baggage.
A popular luggage device that particularly suffers from this problem is the travel case for golf clubs. The length of its base is more than twice the height of its side opposite the edge wheels. When loaded with golf clubs, it is quite heavy. When raised at a low enough angle to give adequate control, the weight on a user's hand is undesirably tiresome. A solution to this problem without adding an extension on the handle is needed.

Fully recessed translation biased cantilever leg luggage device


An improved method of planarizing a side surface of a partially completed integrated circuit device comprises, in sequence, the steps of depositing on the side surface a spin-on glass coating; partially curing the coating; back etching the coating to remove portions thereof which overlie insulation-encapsulated electrically conductive portions of the device; and then subjecting the remaining coating portions, which are disposed within and level off previously depressed portions of the side surface, to an oxygen plasma final curing process, preferably utilizing a downstream stripper type oxygen plasma generator. By performing the back etching step prior to the oxygen plasma curing step, undesirable cracking of the remaining coating portions is advantageously avoided.

The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of integrated circuit devices and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly relates to surface planarization techniques used in conjunction with such manufacture.
The manufacture of integrated circuit devices is basically a layering process in which successively applied insulative coatings are used to encapsulate and separate two or more "tiers" of metal electrical interconnect structures which are conductively joined at selected locations thereon to collectively define the overall electronic circuitry of the device. Each tier of metal interconnect structures is typically adhered to, and follows the contour of, an outer side surface of a coating (usually an insulative coating) which overlies the previously applied interconnect tier.
Due to the nonplanar topography of each interconnect tier, the outer side surface of the insulative coating directly overlying and contacting the tier has a highly irregular contour normally defined by a spaced apart series of relatively deep depressions positioned adjacent relatively flat, higher topography sections of the coating surface which are positioned over relatively thick components of the underlying interconnect tier. These deep surface depressions are highly undesirable since, if left as they are, they would create sharp bends in the subsequently added metal interconnect portions which are ultimately positioned over the depressions. Accordingly, it is now a common practice in the manufacture of integrated circuit devices to "planarize" the coating surface in which these deep depressions exist prior to continuing the insulation/conductor layering process needed to complete the overall device.
Such surface planarization, which functions to generally fill in and level off the coating surface depressions, is conventionally carried out in a variety of manners utilizing a siloxane based spin-on glass (SOG) material as a filler. For example, one previously proposed surface planarization method entails the steps of depositing over the entire insulative coating surface an SOG coating which is then hot plate baked and nitrogen furnace cured before being back etched to remove essentially all of the SOG coating except those portions disposed within and filling the previously existing surface depressions.
This surface planarization method is undesirable for various reasons. For example, the hot plate bake/nitrogen furnace curing process is not sufficient to essentially completely convert the siloxane structure of the SOG to a desirable silicate, quartz-like structure. Additionally, such pouring process often leaves a portion of the solvents used to manufacture the SOG material in place within the surface depressions. This remaining solvent tends to corrosively attack metal interconnect structures contacting the portions of the SOG coating remaining after etch back. Moreover, the incomplete curing of the SOG coating undesirably reduces its adherence to coatings subsequently applied thereon.
In an attempt to solve these problems, a final curing process, utilizing oxygen plasma, has relatively recently been proposed and has been incorporated in the previously described surface planarization method after the nitrogen furnace cure and before the SOG etch back. While this addition of oxygen plasma final curing of the SOG coating tends to solve the aforementioned problems, it creates one of its own-namely, the creation of relatively large cracks in the portions of the SOG coating remaining in the surface depressions after etch back. This SOG crackage undesirably results in a high rejection rate for the finished devices.
One recently proposed surface planarization method which tends to avoid this SOG cracking includes the step of utilizing highly specialized equipment to initially deposit SOG only into the coating surface depressions, thereby eliminating the need for SOG coating etch back. Under this method the initially deposited "pockets" of SOG filling the previously existing surface depressions are sequentially subjected to a hot plate baking process and a final oxygen plasma cure. This surface planarization process, while producing satisfactory end results, is inordinately expensive (due to the specialized SOG curing equipment required) and is thus not commercially feasible.
From the foregoing it can readily be seen that a need exists for an improved, commercially feasible surface planarization method for use in the manufacture of integrated circuit devices. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide such a method.

Surface planarizing methods for integrated circuit devices


A liquid phase is placed into contact with a steam or gaseous phase to cause a reaction, heat and/or matter transfer, where the contact of the phases occurs within at least one annular chamber formed of two or more concentric and substantially coaxial elongated cylindrical members. The gaseous phase and the liquid phase typically enter the chamber at opposite ends cylindrically rotating in the same direction and in countercurrent, with the gaseous phase and at least a substantial portion of the product formed by the contact between the phases exiting the at one end of the apparatus and the residual liquid phase exiting at the other end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for placing a liquid phase in contact with a vapor or gaseous phase, and more particularly, for placing the liquid phase in contact with the vapor or gaseous phase within an elongated annular chamber, such as to cause a reaction, heat and/or matter transfer and the later separation of the phases.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous processes in which it is desirable to place a liquid phase in contact with steam or a gaseous phase. One well know example is distillation where a gaseous phase or steam is bubbled within a liquid phase. Typically, the bubbling occurs in columns divided by a plurality of bubbling plates, with toothed parts placed on the plates or holes formed through the plates to provide for appropriate introduction of the gas into the liquid, such that steam or other rising gases bubble through falling liquid phases. However, such conventional devices have several disadvantages. In particular, the calculation of column diameter for a given working capacity depends largely upon the speed of the steam going through the column, which results in inflexible design restrictions. In addition, because the increase of steam speed will cause unacceptable alterations, such as foaming, in the operation of the apparatus, the only practical way of increasing capacity of the device is to increase the column area. The spacing between the plates is also largely dependent upon the materials used in the process. Consequently, the height of such a conventional apparatus, which is usually formed of numerous plates, is significantly influenced by the materials used in the process. Furthermore, the substantial volume of liquid and gaseous phases used in such processes usually requires substantial start-up and stop times associated with such processes.
Another well known system is the packing column in which the phase contact is achieved by the phases moving in countercurrent through complicated paths, which are determined by the existence of numerous inaccessible portions that occupy the volume of the column. Various arrangements of the packing column models have been developed that offer the greatest possible area for phase contact. The primary advantage of this approach over the bubbling column is its simpler construction and the substantial inaccessibility of the parts. However, the constant operation of the packing column apparatus is more difficult to maintain and adjust in order to avoid the "flooding problem" within the device. Specifically, there is a delicate equilibrium associated with the packing column that is easily broken upon the unwanted accumulation of liquid. This generally results in more burdensome and complex start-up and stop operations for such an apparatus than those for the bubbling column. In addition, the design of large capacity packing column units is complicated.
In other situations a liquid phase may be sprayed through a gaseous phase, which process may be repeated in successive chambers. Such approaches, however, have been found to be disadvantageous due to the large volume and substantial power requirements.
Still another relatively common approach for contacting a gas with a liquid is to introduce the liquid phase and the gaseous phase in countercurrent within a hollow cylindrical or conical member. Typically the liquid phase rotates downwardly along the sidewall of the member, with the gaseous phase rotating upwardly. In general, there are substantial difficulties associated with increasing the capacity of such systems.

Apparatus and method for contacting a gaseous phase with a liquid phase


An assembling structure for a magnifying glass comprises a magnifying lens element and an annular lens frame. The annular lens frame is formed with a through assembling hole and provided with a guiding portion and a stopping portion. In an inner surface of the annular lens frame is formed an engaging groove. The guiding portion and the stopping portion are located at two opposite sides of the engaging groove. The annular lens frame is made of polypropylene. After being heated, the polypropylene-made annular lens frame can be softened slightly and enhanced in terms of elasticity, so that the magnifying lens element can be placed from the guiding portion and engaged into the engaging portion. By such an arrangement, the installation of the magnifying lens element in the annular lens frame is simple, quick, labor-saving and stable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnifying glass, and more particularly to an assembling structure for a magnifying glass.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional magnifying glass normally consists of a magnifying lens element which is directly adhered in a lens frame or the lens element is fixed therein in a snap-fit manner.
The adhering method includes applying adhesive in an engaging groove in the lens frame, installing the lens element in the engaging groove, cleaning away the unwanted or overflow adhesive, and finally waiting for a period of time until the adhesive dries. Hence, it can be found that the adhering method is too complicated and time-consuming.
The snap-fit method can simplify the fixing process and save time, but if the lens frame is made of material having a relatively small elasticity, it needs to apply a relatively great force to press the lens element into the engaging groove of the lens frame during the installation of the lens element. Hence, it can be found that such a snap-fit method is laborsome and prone to causing the fracture of the lens element. If the lens frame is made of material having better elasticity, the lens element is easy to fall off due to clearance, although it can be installed on the lens frame easily.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

Assembling structure for a magnifying glass


A control circuit of a power converter including a first and a second control modules is provided. The first control module sets sampling points for a ripple signal of an input voltage according to a reference signal. The first control module determines whether a power point is the maximum power point according to ripple voltages of the sampling points. The second control module controls the power converter to output a maximum power according to the maximum power point based on the determination result of the first control module and the reference signal. An embodiment of a method for tracking a maximum power point is provided. The input voltage of the power converter is measured. The sampling points are set for the ripple signal of the input voltage and phase information of the ripple signal is determined, such that the maximum power point is determined by using the ripple voltages.

Today's energy generating system, for example, a photovoltaic system, mainly includes a photovoltaic array, an electric power regulator, a distribution box, a storage battery, etc., in which the electric power regulator, for example, includes a grid-tied protection device, an inverter or a system controller. Divided according to the types of the system, the photovoltaic systems can be divided into a grid-tied type, an independent type, and a mixed type photovoltaic system. Generally, the photovoltaic array is a solar cell module array formed by connecting solar panels in series and parallel, which is used for converting the solar energy into electric energy. However, in case that the solar panels are in a sunshine-shielding state or output voltages and currents of the solar panels are not matched, an output power of the photovoltaic array is decreased. Therefore, a control circuit used for tracking a maximum power point (MPP) is generally added to the system to obtain a maximum power output by the photovoltaic array.

Control circuit of power converter and method for maximum power point tracking

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A wind driven generator may have a first rotating element associated with a first set of vanes distributed so as to be driven by wind in a first rotational direction about an axis of rotation. A second element is associated with a second set of vanes distributed so as to be driven by the wind in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction concentric with the axis of rotation of the first rotating element. The first rotating element has magnetic elements disposed thereon that project a magnetic field towards and onto the second rotating element. The second rotating element has electromagnetic coils disposed thereon, the electromagnetic coils being exposed to the magnetic field projected from the first rotating element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of wind turbines that use environmental air current and winds to generate electrical energy with an electrical generator.
2. Background of the Art
The wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or pumping water, the device is called a windmill or wind pump. Developed for over a millennium, today's wind turbines are manufactured in a range of vertical and horizontal axis types. The smallest turbines are used for applications such as battery charging or auxiliary power on sailing boats; while large grid-connected arrays of turbines are becoming an increasingly large source of commercial electric power. Wind turbines can rotate about either a horizontal or a vertical axis, the former being both older and more common horizontal axes.
Horizontal axis—These are defined as components of a horizontal axis wind turbine (gearbox, rotor shaft and brake assembly) after being lifted into position. Horizontal is nominally in reference to perpendicularity to gravity and/or parallelism with the horizon. Those positions are approximate, and with devices that may also shift with respect to the horizon to adjust for wind speed, that approximation may be significant.
Horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) have the main rotor shaft and electrical generator at the top of a tower, and must be pointed into the wind. Small turbines are pointed by a simple wind vane, while large turbines generally use a wind sensor coupled with a servo motor. Most have a gearbox, which turns the slow rotation of the blades into a quicker rotation that is more suitable to drive an electrical generator.
Since a tower produces turbulence it, the turbine is usually positioned upwind of its supporting tower. Turbine blades are made stiff to prevent the blades from being pushed into the tower by high winds. Additionally, the blades are placed a considerable distance in front of the tower and are sometimes tilted forward into the wind a small amount.
Downwind machines have been built, despite the problem of turbulence (mast wake), because they don't need an additional mechanism for keeping them in line with the wind, and because in high winds the blades can be allowed to bend which reduces their swept area and thus their wind resistance. Since cyclical (that is repetitive) turbulence may lead to fatigue failures, most HAWTs are of upwind design.
Turbines used in wind farms for commercial production of electric power are usually three-bladed and pointed into the wind by computer-controlled motors. These have high tip speeds of over 320 kilometers per hour (200 mph), high efficiency, and low torque ripple, which contribute to good reliability. The blades are usually colored light gray to blend in with the clouds and range in length from 20 to 40 meters (66 to 130 ft) or more. The tubular steel towers range from 60 to 90 meters (200 to 300 ft) tall. The blades rotate at 10-22 revolutions per minute. At 22 rotations per minute the tip speed exceeds 300 feet per second (91 m/s). A gear box is commonly used for stepping up the speed of the generator, although designs may also use direct drive of an annular generator. Some models operate at constant speed, but more energy can be collected by variable-speed turbines which use a solid-state power converter to interface to the transmission system. All turbines are equipped with protective features to avoid damage at high wind speeds, by feathering the blades into the wind which ceases their rotation, supplemented by brakes.
Wind turbines are designed to exploit the wind energy that exists at a location. Aerodynamic modeling is used to determine the optimum tower height, control systems, number of blades and blade shape. Wind turbines convert wind energy to electricity for distribution and typically are not combined with any storage capability. Conventional horizontal axis turbines can be divided into three components.                The rotor component, which is approximately 20% of the wind turbine cost, includes the blades for converting wind energy to low speed rotational energy.        The generator component, which is approximately 34% of the wind turbine cost, includes the electrical generator, the control electronics, and most likely a gearbox (e.g., planetary gearbox, adjustable-speed drive or continuously variable transmission) component for converting the low speed incoming rotation to high speed rotation suitable for generating electricity.        The structural support component, which is approximately 15% of the wind turbine cost, includes the tower and rotor yaw mechanism.
A 1.5 MW wind turbine of a type frequently seen in the United States has a tower 80 meters high. The rotor assembly (blades and hub) weighs 48,000 pounds (22,000 kg). The nacelle, which contains the generator component, weighs 115,000 pounds (52,000 kg). The concrete base for the tower is constructed using 58,000 pounds (26,000 kg) of reinforcing steel and contains 250 cubic yards (190 cubic meters) of concrete. The base is 50 feet (15 m) in diameter and 8 feet (2.4 m) thick near the center.
Above 10 m/s, where power regulation caused blade coning, the early data recorded was erratic and use of these figures would distort further data processing. A cut off point was set at 3500 seconds and the readings taken before this point were not used for the detailed calculations. As the wind speed during the day did not fall below 6 m/s, and regulation cut in at 10 m/s, the final results were based on a narrow band of rotor speeds between 3.1 and 4.4 rev/s
The universal standard to assess the performance of a wind turbine is a plot of the Power Coefficient versus the Tip Speed Ratio performance curve. This curve tells you how efficiently a turbine converts the energy in the wind to electricity. Various methods were used to plot this curve. The results are show in Figure.


One embodiment includes a computer-implemented data labeling platform. The platform provides a confidence-driven workflow (CDW) executable to receive and process labeling requests to label data items. The CDW comprises a set of executable labelers, each labeler in having a dynamically modeled confidence range. The execution path for processing a labeling request to label a data item is dynamically determined. Dynamically determining the execution path comprises dynamically determining a bounded number of candidate paths through the set of labelers using dynamically calculated cost and confidence metrics for the labelers in the set of labelers to estimate a probability of each candidate path to satisfy a set of constraints on cost and final result confidence, selecting a candidate path that minimizes cost for a specified confidence from the candidate paths as a selected path, executing a next labeler consultation according to the selected path to label the data item, and dynamically re-determining the remaining execution path using calculated results arising from executing the completed path steps.

Machine learning (ML) techniques enable a machine to learn how to automatically and accurately make predictions based on historical observation. Training an ML algorithm involves feeding the ML algorithm with training data. For example, training an ML algorithm for classification involves feeding the ML algorithm to build an ML model. For example, training an ML algorithm to classify data may involve training the ML algorithm with training data to build an ML model for mapping an input space to labels in a discrete label set. The accuracy of an ML model often depends on the quantity and quality of the training data used to build the ML model.
An entire industry has developed around the preparation and labeling of training data. A number of companies provide platforms through which example data is distributed to human users for manual labelling. The customer may be charged for the labeling services based on the human expertise required to label the data, the number of rounds of human review used to ensure the accuracy of the labelled data and other factors. The need for people to label the training data can have significant costs, both in terms of time and money. A new paradigm for labeling data is therefore required.

Confidence-driven workflow orchestrator for data labeling


A connection module includes: an insulating protector that holds a plurality of bus bars to connect between electrode terminals; and a flexible printed circuit that is held by the insulating protector, and includes a detection line that is connected to the each of the bus bars and detects a state of the power storage element. The insulating protector includes a protector horizontal part including a holding part which holds each of the bus bars and is formed at one end; and a vertical part that is extended in a vertical direction from the protector horizontal part in at least a part of another end, opposite to the one end, of the protector horizontal part. The flexible printed circuit includes: a substrate horizontal part that is held by the protector horizontal part; and a bent part that is bent perpendicularly to the substrate horizontal part and held by the vertical part.

One of the conventional connection modules to be attached to an upper surface of a power storage element group including a plurality of power storage elements including electrode terminals of a positive electrode and a negative electrode is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This type of connection module is attached to a power storage element group that is mounted in a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle.
The connection module (battery wiring module) according to Patent Document 1 includes: a plurality of bus ban connecting between electrode terminals; flexible printed circuit including a plurality of conductive paths (detection lines) for detecting a state of the power storage elements; and an insulating protector that holds the plurality of bus bars and the flexible printed circuit. By providing a reinforcement plate to the flexible printed circuit, electronic components of an electric circuit configured to process information regarding the power storage elements can be mounted on the flexible printed circuit.


An improved process for the production of a hopped malt beer wherein a processing liquid containing riboflavin is hopped to form the desired beverage. The improvement comprises subjecting that processing liquid to an effective amount of actinic radiation of a wavelength adapted to decompose the riboflavin and thereby reduce the amount thereof, whereby a beer having enhanced light stability is obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hopped malt beverages, especially alcoholic brewery beverages produced at least in part from malt. More particularly, the present invention relates to imparting to hopped malt beverages improved stability against light-induced off flavors.
2. Description of Related Art
As is well known and accepted in the malt beverage brewing art, subjecting a hopped malt brewery beverage, especially an alcoholic hopped malt brewery beverage, such as, lager, ale, porter, stout, and the like (herein generically referred to as "beer") to sunlight or artificial light results in a significantly deleterious effect on the sensory qualities of the beverage by generating a so-called "skunky" flavor, which is sometimes also referred to as "sunstruck" or "light struck" flavor. It is believed that the skunky flavor is due to photochemical changes in the beverage that produce volatile sulfur-containing compounds. These sulfur compounds are thought to be formed at least in part by reaction of other sulfur-containing compounds with photochemically degraded hop components in the beverage. Only very small amounts of these sulfur compounds are required to be present to impart the skunky flavor to the beverage and render it unacceptable. The photochemical reaction is assisted by the presence of riboflavin, one of several photo-initiators in the beverage, the riboflavin emanating mainly from the malt used in the production of beer and to a minor extent via the hops and, according to the common wisdom, the action of yeast during the fermentation (See Tamer et al. Enzyme Microb Technology 10:754–756 (December, 1988)).
Attempts to prevent beverages from becoming skunky involve enclosing the beer bottles made of protective, i.e., colored, glass, brown or amber being most efficient (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,452,968), or in cans. These bottles reduce or eliminate the transmission to the beverage of light of wavelength shorter than about 560 nanometers. Such light is most harmful because it assists the riboflavin in enhancing the production of the undesirable volatile sulfur compounds.
Another method developed to address the problem of "skunky" flavor production uses reduced isohumulones in place of hops or hop extracts (see Verzele, M., et al., U. Inst. Brew. 73:255–257, (1967)). Other methods involve adding light-stabilizing materials to the beverage (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,421). However, in some jurisdictions, the use of such compounds has not been approved and, further, many brewers are reluctant to use any additives at all, but, rather, still use hops or hop extracts in an effort to achieve traditional beer flavor.
The problem of skunky flavor has been the subject of research for many years, and such research continues (see Sakuma, et al., "Sunstruck Flavor Formation in Beer," American Society of Brewing Chemists, Inc. (1991), 162–165). This article also deals with the part believed to be played by riboflavin in the reaction that produces the skunky flavor and suggests that removing riboflavin from the finished beer may solve the problem. However, an acceptable means for achieving that suggestion has not been readily apparent, and the problem persists.
The most favorable context in which light is used in association with malt beverages is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,587. There, an actinic light treatment on finished beer is used to accelerate the "aging" and "maturing" thereof. Moreover, sunlight or artificial light was used as early as 1865 (see U.S. Pat. No. 50,523) to treat the surface of boiling wort to decolorize it. The boiling wort, in keeping with typical brewery practices, would presumably have been hopped and open to a highly oxygenated atmosphere during the boiling treatment. In both of these processes, it is highly probable that skunky beer flavor would ensue in the finished product. This is in keeping with what is well known in the art about photochemical degradation in hopped malt beverages. It is also in keeping with the general view that exposure of beer to light is anathema and should be avoided at all costs in the interest of maintaining product shelf life.
The literature also teaches a process in which sake, a unique Japanese fermented liquor prepared using rice, has been subjected to a light treatment (see Japanese published Patent Application 67667, entitled "Process for Production of Sake Hardly Affected by Microbial Deterioration"). This publication discloses treating finished sake with light in the 200- to 700-micron range—the object being to have the light decompose the riboflavin present in the finished sake, which riboflavin is an essential nutrient for the lactic acid bacteria that are responsible for infectious spoilage in finished sake. As a consequence of the riboflavin destruction, the growth of the bacteria is said to be inhibited and the sake preserved. Sake is, of course, a different product from beer, being an unhopped, non-malt product produced from rice using a starch-digestive enzyme, amylase, obtained from a mold and a special sake yeast to effect the fermentation. In particular, it should be noted that the riboflavin in sake, absent any lactic acid bacterial infection, does not pose the off-flavor development problems that are typically associated with hopped malt-containing products, such as, beer.
The role of light in the production of hopped malt beverages, and especially in brewing, has received a great deal of attention, and it is generally accepted that, in malt brewery beverages, especially those of an alcoholic nature, photochemical reactions produce accelerated aging and, in general, will shorten a malt beverage's shelf life and engender undesirable flavor development.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Hopped malt beverage having enhanced light stability


A method and system for converting intermittent renewable energy and renewable carbonaceous feedstock to non-intermittent renewable electrical and thermal energy, storing it as fuels and chemicals and using it to capture and re-use or dispose of CO2 emissions. The system in a preferred embodiment is realized through the generation of non-intermittent renewable electricity utilizing intermittent renewable energy sources along with gaseous fuel from renewable carbonaceous feedstock, producing oxygen and hydrogen from non-intermittent renewable electricity and utilizing the oxygen and hydrogen as required for gasification of renewable carbonaceous feedstock to produce gaseous fuel stream and gaseous intermediate stream, utilizing the gaseous intermediate stream to produce renewable fuels and renewable chemicals, and utilizing oxygen for oxy-rich combustion for concentrating CO2 emissions for easy processing, re-use and disposal.

The global mean surface temperature increase from the 1860s to 1994 is between 0.3 to 0.6° C. and the temperature rise by the year 2100 is expected to be in the range of 1 to 3.5° C., with a best estimate of 2° C. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that enhances radiative forcing and contributes to this global warming. The concentration of CO2 in Earth's atmosphere prior to industrialization was 270-280 ppmv while in 1994 it had risen to 354 ppmv and is expected to double within the next century. Burning of fossil fuels, the main source of CO2, produces around 21.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, but it is estimated that natural processes can only absorb about half of that amount, so there is a net increase of 10.65 billion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide per year. World energy consumption was growing about 2.3% per year and world carbon dioxide emissions are expected to increase by 1.8 percent annually between 2004 and 2030. Halmann et al. describes the effects of a global temperature increase to include: "(1) a rise in sea level, due to melting of the glaciers and the Antarctic ice caps and (2) increasing desert formation in the tropical zone".
Energy Information Administration estimated that in 2006 primary sources of energy consisted of petroleum 36.8%, coal 26.6%, and natural gas 22.9%, amounting to an 86% share for fossil fuels. The Reserves-to-production ratio (RPR or R/P) is the remaining amount of a non-renewable resource, expressed in years. Based on International Energy Outlook 2009 from EIA, R/P ratios of the world's main fossil energy sources are: Crude oil—40 to 44 years, Natural Gas—55 to 57 years, Coal (2006)—137 years. The R/P ratio might decrease drastically over time as the consumption of many resources typically increases as the population grows and becomes more prosperous. This leaves a huge challenge for mankind to search for alternative energy sources. This trend of rapid consumption of fossil fuels brings two major challenges to mankind—global warming and depletion of fossil energy resources.
Halmann et al. and George Olah et al. proposes 3 main strategies to solve the problems of global warming and diminishing fossil resources: 1) Increase Energy efficiency to reduce CO2 and fossil fuel use 2) Use of renewable energy to replace fossil energy usage in both the fields of electricity generation and liquid fuel utilization 3) Direct reduction of CO2 through capture, storage or re-use. Efficiency of current processes consuming fossil fuels can be improved to increase the amount of useful energy per unit of CO2 emitted. Halmann et al. in 1999 concludes that by 2050 a 60% reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions is possible with improved energy efficiency from mid-1970s. The study does however, not consider the rise in population and thus the foreseeable increase in energy demand. Population rose from 4 billion in 1975 to 6.8 billion by 2008, with expected population rise to 10 billion by 2050. Thus, savings due to increased energy efficiency can only extend the availability of needed and accessible fossil fuels in the relative short term.
Increased utilization of renewable energy is another strategy as it produces very little or zero carbon emissions and is replenished naturally. In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewable energy, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, and 3% from hydro power. The storages and flows of renewable energy on the planet are very large relative to human needs. The amount of solar energy intercepted by the Earth every minute is greater than the amount of energy the world uses in fossil fuels each year. The energy in the winds that blow across the United States each year could produce more than 16 billion GJ of electricity—more than one and one-half times the electricity consumed in the United States in 2000. According to Hoffert et al., stabilization of CO2 at twice the preindustrial concentration in the atmosphere requires that by the year 2050, 100-300% of today's global power (˜10 TW) come from carbon-emission-free sources. Main shortcomings of renewables are their low areal power densities. 10 TW from biomass (power density ˜0.6 W m−2) requires greater than 10% of Earth's land surface, comparable to all of human agriculture. Photovoltaic and wind energy (power density ˜15 We m−2) need less land, but other materials can be limiting. For solar energy, the electrical equivalent of 10 TW (3.3 TWe) requires a surface array of 220,000 sq. km. However, all the PV cells shipped from 1982 to 1998 would only cover ˜3 km2. A massive, but not insurmountable, scale-up is required to get 10 to 30 TW equivalents. Also, energy from most of the renewable sources is harnessed dynamically and will not be as useful as fossil carbon until it can be stored and transported with similar ease. With intermittent renewables such as solar and wind, the output may be fed directly into an electricity grid. At penetrations below 20% of the grid demand, this does not severely change the economics; but beyond about 20% of the total demand, external storage will become important. Current and emerging technologies in the field of energy storage, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of United States, include: batteries, hydrogen, compressed air energy storage (CAES), flywheels, pumped hydropower, super capacitors, and superconducting magnetic energy. Of particular interest to the present disclosure, PCT/EP2008/059866, submitted by Werner Leonhard, discloses a method for achieving energy sustainability by converting energy into hydrogen, and using this gas as the means for energy storage. But hydrogen has very low volumetric energy density which creates problems for physical storage. Also, concerns of safety and the requirement of massive infrastructural changes hinder the use of hydrogen for energy storage. Though much work is also being done on energy storage through batteries, the energy densities of these storage techniques are not sufficient to replace fossil energy sources. For example today's lead acid batteries can store about 0.1 mega-joules per kilogram, or about 500 times less than crude oil. Those batteries, of course, could be improved, but any battery based on the standard lead-oxide/sulfuric acid chemistry is limited by foundational thermodynamics to less than 0.7 mega-joules per kilogram.
One approach to support global warming mitigation is direct reduction of CO2 through Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), a process comprising of the separation of CO2 from industrial and energy-related sources, transport to a storage location and long-term isolation from the atmosphere. In most scenarios for stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations between 450 and 750 ppmv CO2 the economic potential of CCS would amount to 220-2,200 GtCO2 (60-600 GtC) cumulatively, which would mean that CCS contributes 15-55% to the cumulative mitigation effort worldwide until 2100, averaged over a range of baseline scenarios. Uncertainties in these economic potential estimates are significant. For CCS to achieve such an economic potential, several hundreds to thousands of CO2 capture systems would need to be installed over the coming century, each capturing some 1-5 MtCO2 per year. The actual implementation of CCS, as for other mitigation options, is likely to be lower than the economic potential due to factors such as environmental impacts, risks of leakage and the lack of a clear legal framework or public acceptance. CCS is a costly process, leading to reduced plant efficiencies and is not economically favorable unless incentives are provided.
Another approach for direct CO2 reduction is carbon capture and re-use. Commercial applications of CO2 reuse are currently limited to refrigeration for food (PCT/US1999/5974826 Novak et al), carbonated beverages, enhanced oil recovery and chemicals. In 1980, the total US market consumption of 2.3 million tons carbon represents only 0.18% of the US total emission. Halmann et al. concludes that as a sink for CO2 the market demand would have to grow by at least two factors of 10 to become a major factor in reducing man made CO2. Another CO2 reduction scheme is disclosed in PCT/US2001/6237284 by Stewart E. Erickson where CO2 storage and distribution underground to plant soil for enhancing plant growth is proposed. Iceland patent IS 2300, Shulenberger et al., presents a process which combines industrially captured CO2 with H2 from renewable energy driven electrolysis for the production of methanol by means of a low pressure and temperature process. PCT/IT2008/000559, submitted by A.S.T. Engineering s.r.l., presents a system closely modeled on the Carnol Process in which the CO2 from industrial flue gas is separated from other emission components and mixed with H2 from natural gas for methanol production. US 2008/0319093 A1, submitted by George Olah, aims to use industrial CO2, not necessarily from industrial exit stacks, along with methane or natural gas for the production of methanol and methanol byproducts using "bi-reformation", a combination of steam reformation and dry reformation. PCT/BE2003/000016, submitted by Félicien Absil, discusses a method for the recovery of CO2 from industries like cement plants or coal fired power stations for the production of syngas for heat energy and carbon nanotube production. US2008/0072496 A1 submitted by A. Yogev et al. relates to the thermochemical capture of CO2 from gas by reaction with K2CO3 and producing methane or methanol fuel by releasing the captured CO2 and reacting it with hydrogen. Commercial application of these processes is yet to be seen. It is to be noted that in most CCS or CO2 reuse systems, the cost of CO2 capture could be the largest cost component. A number of systems for the removal and recovery of CO2 are described by Halmann et al. including, amine absorption, oxy-combustion, potassium carbonate absorption, molecular sieves, refrigeration, seawater absorption, pressurized, fluidized bed combustor, and membrane separation. On this topic, it is noted that both thermal and electrical energy are needed to remove and recover CO2. PCT/EP2009/050205, PCT/EP2008/068212, PCT/US2008/084463, and PCT/US2008/084457, submitted by Alstom Technology, describe methods for the capture of CO2 either through compressive means, solid materials or specialty systems. PCT/US2008/081998, submitted by Powerspan Corporation, describes a system in which a synergistic system removes CO2 from a flue gas. WO 2008137815 A1 submitted by Clark describes a process where biomass feedstock is converted to synthesis gas streams where one is converted to CO2 and steam for producing electricity and another is converted to fuel in a Fischer-Tropsch reactor.
US2008/0303348A1 submitted by Witters describes a process for continuously generating baseload electrical energy from renewable resources utilizing biomass in boilers and capturing CO2 to produce algae fuel.
Biomass utilization is a natural cycle of CO2 capture and reuse. Biomass provides a potentially CO2-neutral source of energy as the CO2 released during processing and combustion is taken up by the next crop. Biomass is majorly used for transport fuel production through biochemical (fermentation, transesterification, and anaerobic digestion) or thermochemical (gasification, pyrolysis and conversion) methods. At present, the main transportation fuel available from biomass is ethanol. Haroon et al. studies that current ethanol production techniques from fermentation consume fossil carbon for energy and chemical inputs and it is these fossil carbon inputs that result in positive full-fuel-cycle emissions. Each liter of ethanol saves 1.85 kg of CO2 by replacing gasoline, but at the same time releases 1.39 kg of CO2 as produced in the US and 0.24 kg of CO2 in Brazil. Thus the full-fuel-cycle analysis shows that current ethanol fuel systems are only partially successful at recycling CO2 and being CO2-neutral sources of energy. Full-fuel-cycle CO2 emissions from corn ethanol in the USA nearly wipe out all of the CO2 advantage of replacing gasoline. Another disadvantage of this process is that only a fraction of the biomass is converted to the final desired liquid fuels. This problem is also associated with proposed biofuel production from algae, which is currently un-economical and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future due to fundamental thermodynamic constraints (Krassen Dimitrov, 2007 Case Study). Thermochemical production pathways of biofuels from biomass could use biomass with higher efficiency. This process happens through an intermediate called synthesis gas, also known as syngas, which consists of a variable ratio mixture of H2, CO, and CO2. The conventional thermochemical process for liquid fuel production from biomass is presented in FIG. 1. Depending on the type of biomass and the conditions of syngas production, CO2 concentration of the raw syngas output may vary from 6 to 40 mol % on dry basis. To obtain the required ratio of CO/H2, water gas shift reaction is employed in which CO is reacted with H2O to generate more hydrogen thus releasing further CO2. For example, methanol production processes from biomass produce around 600 to 1200 pounds of CO2 per ton of methanol. The Hynol Process is employed for the conversion of carbonaceous materials into methanol via a syngas intermediate. Steam reformation and hydrogasification are performed in parallel in this system, and high conversion efficiency to the production of methanol is achieved. The Hynol Process causes a reduction of CO2 emissions on the order of 30% relative to conventional processes for methanol production, but still causes the emission of approximately 103 pounds of CO2 for each MMBTu of methanol produced (Halmann 249). U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,955B2 by Shaw, US2008/0115415A1 by Agrawal et al., US1995/5416245 by MacGroger et al. further overcome the problem of excess CO2 generation by offsetting the stoichiometric imbalance of syngas with H2 produced from off peak electricity. While Shaw and Agrawal et al. uses Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) to reduce CO2, MacGroger et al. plans to dissociate CO2 to CO with energy generated from a Partial Oxidation (PDX) reactor to reduce CO2. All the three methods use partial oxidation reactor or gasification system for syngas production either to produce methanol or any other liquid synthetic fuels. FIG. 2 depicts these modifications to the conventional prior art in addition to stable electrical power generation from hydrogen and syngas, proposed by Boyapati et al US2004/0265158A1. The success of the above processes to solve the problem of internal CO2 generation and release is dependent on the availability, adaptability and effective utilization of carbon free energy sources for H2 production, which has its own limitations as discussed previously.

Storage of intermittent renewable energy as fuel using carbon containing feedstock


The disclosure relates to an apparatus for reading data from a memory circuit that includes at least two memory banks. The apparatus includes a first multiplexer configured to generate data at a first output from a first selected one of a first set of bit lines of a first memory bank based on a select signal. The apparatus also includes a second multiplexer configured to generate data at a second output from a second selected one of a second set of bit lines of a second memory bank based on the select signal. Additionally, the apparatus includes a gating device configured to gate the data from either the first and second multiplexer outputs based on an enable signal. And, the apparatus includes an interface circuit configured to produce the gated data on a global bit line.

Many memory circuits are arranged in a plurality of memory banks. Typically, each of the memory banks comprises memory cells accessible by word lines and bit lines arranged in a two-dimensional rectangular or square array. Such memory circuits may include common bit lines, often referred to as global bit lines, selectively coupled to corresponding bit lines of the memory banks. A control circuit is typically provided in such memory circuits for receiving an input address associated with a selected memory cell to be accessed. Based on the input address, the control circuit selects the memory bank to which the selected memory cell pertains, selects the word line coupled to the memory cell, and causes the data in the selected memory cell to be outputted to a corresponding global bit line.
Typically, each memory bank includes a circuit, sometimes referred to a local data path (LDP), configured to transfer the data from the bit line associated with the selected memory cell to a corresponding global bit line. The speed on which that data is able to be transferred to the global bit line depends on the capacitive and resistive loading on the global bit line. If the memory circuit includes many memory banks, there may be many LDP circuits coupled to each global bit line. Each LDP circuit produces a capacitive and resistive load on the corresponding global bit line.
Accordingly, there is a need to reduce the capacitive and resistive loading of each global bit line in order to improve the speed on which data may be outputted by the memory circuit. Additionally, there is a further need to reduce the size of the integrated circuit area needed to implement all of the LDP circuits of a memory circuit.

Apparatus and method for reading data from multi-bank memory circuits