The present invention relates to a transgenic plant which comprises a recombinant gene encoding one of the subunit proteins of adenosine diphosphoglucose pyrophosphorylase (xe2x80x9cADPG PPasexe2x80x9d). In plants, functional ADPG PPase holoenzyme is a heterotetrameric protein composed of two subunits, each encoded by a different gene. The present invention shows that the activity of ADPG PPase in the cell of plants can be increased by expressing only one of the two subunit proteins required to make an active enzyme.

This invention relates to the modification of starch content of plants, and in particular, to the increase of starch content in plants.
Starch is a complex polymer of glucosyl residues. It is the major form in which carbohydrate is stored in the tissues of most species of higher plants. It is accumulated in the leaves of plants during the day as a result of photosynthesis and is used to supply the needs of the plant for energy and biosynthesis during the night. Starch is also accumulated in non-photosynthetic tissues, especially those involved in reproduction such as seeds, fruits and tubers. Therefore, starch is of great importance to the productivity of the plant and its survival.
Starch is also highly significant to man. Firstly, it forms a major component of animal diets, supplying man and his domestic animals with a large portion of their carbohydrate intake. Secondly, the type of starch in a plant affects the quality of the processed plant product. Thirdly, starch is used industrially in the production of paper, textiles, plastics and adhesives, as well as providing the raw material for some bio-reactors. Starch from different species have preferred uses. On a world scale, starch producing crops are agriculturally and economically by far the most important, and these crops include wheat, maize, rice and potatoes. The quantity of starch present in the harvested organ of a plant will affect the gross yield and the processing efficiency of the crop. In addition, the type of starch will affect the quality of a processed product and the profitability of the process.
Starch is synthesised in amyloplasts in plants from glucose-1-phosphate (Glc-1-P) as shown below.
[EC.184.108.40.206] (ADPG PPase) catalyses the first committed step of the pathway of starch biosynthesis in plants. A similar enzyme catalysing the same reaction is found in bacteria and cyanobacteria.
The quaternary structure of the enzyme is similar in all organisms investigated in that the functional enzyme is composed of a tetramer of subunit proteins. In bacteria the protein subunits are identical and the product of a single gene, e.g. in E. coli the GlgC gene. In plants, however, the enzyme is composed of two each of two different protein subunits. While these different protein subunits display sequence similarities, they are the product of two distinct genes.
There are many mutants of plants that have a lower starch content in particular tissues compared to that of wild-type plants. These mutant plants are deficient in the expression of one of the genes coding for the subunits of ADPG PPase. Two particular mutations seen in maize endosperm are the mutants shrunken-2 and brittle-2. It is argued that the wild-type genes for these code for the two subunit proteins of the enzyme. Both mutations cause decreased enzyme activity of ADPG PPase in the endosperm. It is argued from this information that both subunits of the enzyme are required for full activity and that lack of a particular type of subunit cannot be compensated for by the other subunit.
This invention is based on the fact that one only of the genes for one of the subunit proteins of an enzyme catalysing starch production is required to increase enzyme activity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for increasing the activity of an enzyme catalysing starch synthesis.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a plant having an increased starch content when compared with a control plant not treated in accordance with the inventive method.
It is also an object of the invention to increase the rate of starch synthesis under conditions which do not lead to a compensating increase in the rate of starch breakdown.
The present invention provides a method of increasing the enzyme activity in a plant comprising introducing into a plant one of the genes of one of the subunit proteins of an enzyme catalysing starch synthesis, thereby causing expression of the subunit gene in the plant to produce the subunit protein, and an increase in the enzyme activity in the plant cells.
The present invention further provides a plant into which has been introduced one of the genes of one of the subunit proteins of an enzyme catalysing starch synthesis, which plant expresses the gene to produce a subunit protein, and increases the enzyme activity in the plant cells.
The method may also include introducing one of the genes of one of the subunit proteins of a plurality of other enzymes catalysing starch synthesis.
The present invention also provides a plasmid incorporating one of the genes of one of the subunit proteins of an enzyme catalysing starch synthesis in plants.
A plasmid or plant according to the invention may also contain one of the genes of one of the subunit proteins of one or more other enzymes catalysing starch synthesis in the plants.
The present invention also provides a plant cell harbouring a plasmid described above.
Preferably the gene is the brittle-2 gene or a homologue thereof. Advantageously the ;gene is the wheat brittle-2 gene.
Preferably the plant is grown commercially and is any one of maize, wheat, rice, potato, cassava, peanut, beans, carrots, tomato or tobacco crop for example.
Preferably ADPG PPase activity is increased by the method of the invention.
An increase in starch content, especially in potatoes, may be measured as an increase in specific gravity (S.G.) of the plant or tuber, for example.
Preferably the plasmid incorporates a homologue of the brittle-2 gene of an enzyme catalysing starch synthesis. Alternatively, the plasmid may incorporate a homologue of the shrunken-2 gene of an enzyme catalysing starch synthesis.
In order that the present invention may be easily understood and readily carried into effect reference will now be made to the following Example and the drawings,

Modification of starch content in plants

Advanced Technologies (Cambridge) Limited


A method of preparing a culture medium, including the steps of milling entrails of an aquatic product selected from fishes, shells and cephalopods; diluting the milled product with water; and hydrolyzing the diluted product. The culture medium is used for proliferating microorganisms.

This invention relates to a method of preparing a culture medium from entrails of fish, shellfish or cephalopods and to a culture medium obtained thereby. The present invention is also directed to a process of growing a microorganism using the culture medium.
Nutrients such as inorganic salts, vitamins and proteins are needed for the proliferation of microorganisms. Thus, yeast extracts and peptone are generally incorporated into a culture medium. In a large scale proliferation method such as lactic fermentation, however, the use of such known nutrients which are not inexpensive brings about a problem of costs.

Process for obtaining a microbial culture medium from the entrails of fish, shellfish or cephalopods and culturing microorganisms using same

Agency of Industrial Science and Technology


A cross-flow fan (10) including a plurality of impellers (11a to 11g) connected in a direction of a rotation axis, each of the impellers (11a to 11g) including: a plurality of blades (12a to 12r); a first connection portion (13) having at least one projection; and a second connection portion (14) having concavities in a larger quantity than the projection, wherein, in a connection between the first connection portion (13) of one of the impellers (11a to 11g) and the second connection portion (14) of another one of the impellers (11a to 11g), the projection of the one of the impellers (11a to 11g) and one part of the concavities of the other one of the impellers (11a to 11g) are fitted to each other in one fitted state among N (N is an integer not smaller than two) ways of fitted states of having a matched rotation axis.

Various fans are used for electronic devices for the purpose of providing blast or internal cooling, for example. Among these fans, a cross-flow fan that is cylindrical, long, and thin provides an effect of being capable of providing a large air pressure for a certain blade diameter, and therefore, is widely used for air conditioners, image forming apparatuses, and the like. A cross-flow fan tends to generate a large wind noise when the volume of blast increases. Therefore, various types of cross-flow fans need to be produced according to usage or specification of electronic products.
For example, a technology of configuring a long and thin cross-flow fan by connecting a plurality of relatively short impellers in the direction of a rotation axis has been known as a related technology (see Patent Literature 1, for example).

Cross-flow fan, electronic device including cross-flow fan, and impeller used for cross-flow fan


An electrochemical gas sensor and a method for determining the concentration of gaseous components in a gas mixture, particularly of NOx in exhaust gases of internal combustion engines. The gas sensor includes a first measuring-gas compartment which is in communication with the measuring gas, and two additional measuring-gas compartments which are connected to the first measuring-gas compartment via diffusion barriers. The first measuring-gas compartment contains a first pump cell which, with the aid of pump electrodes arranged on a solid electrolyte, transports oxygen into and out of the measuring-gas compartment. The second and third measuring-gas compartments contain further pump cells, the second measuring-gas compartment being used for measuring the oxygen concentration of the mixture, and the third measuring-gas compartment being used for measuring the sum of the oxygen concentration and the concentration of the gaseous component in the gas mixture. The pump current measured between two pump electrodes arranged on a solid electrolyte is used by both amperometric measuring pump cells as a measured quantity, and a measuring signal proportional to the concentration of the gaseous component to be determined is obtained through subtraction of both pump currents.

The present invention relates to an electrochemical gas sensor and a method for determining gaseous components.
The European Patent Application No. 0 678 740 discusses a gas sensor for determining the NOx concentration in a gas mixture, in which two measuring-gas compartments, each having a pump cell, are arranged one behind the other in one layer plane of a planar, oxygen-ion-conducting, ceramic carrier. The measuring gas streams via a first diffusion opening into the first measuring-gas compartment in which a first inner pump electrode is arranged. An outer pump electrode is exposed directly to the exhaust-gas compartment. The first inner pump electrode and the outer pump electrode form the first pump cell. A predetermined oxygen partial pressure is adjusted in the first measuring-gas compartment by pumping oxygen in and out with the aid of the first pump cell. A concentration cell (Nernst cell) has a measuring electrode and a reference electrode in communication with an air atmosphere, the measuring electrode being disposed in the first measuring-gas compartment. To set a constant oxygen partial pressure in the first measuring-gas compartment, the electric voltage (electromotive force) of the concentration cell is adjusted to a constant value by a pump voltage of the first pump cell. The first and second measuring-gas compartments are connected with a connecting duct which represents a further diffusion opening, the atmosphere that is set to a constant oxygen partial pressure being diffused into the second measuring compartment via the connecting duct. Disposed in the second measuring-gas compartment is a further inner pump electrode which cooperates with the reference electrode arranged in the air-reference duct and forms the second pump cell. The further inner pump electrode is constructed of a material, e.g., of rhodium, which produces a decomposition of NO to N2 and O2. The reduced oxygen obtained at the further inner pump electrode is pumped in ion form via an applied pump voltage to the reference electrode and is released there into the air atmosphere. Since the atmosphere in the first measuring-gas compartment is retained at a constant oxygen partial pressure, the pump current for evacuating the reduced oxygen from the second measuring-gas compartment is proportional to the NOx concentration.
The sensor-element design is believed to be relatively complicated and the measuring accuracy is believed to be dependent on many factors, such as the exact adjustment of the measuring temperature and the oxygen partial pressure.
The exemplary gas sensor and the exemplary method of the present inventions are believed to have the advantage that, because of the sensor design and the measuring method utilized, the concentration of the gaseous component to be measured is yielded in a very simple manner which is nevertheless sufficiently accurate. The exemplary gas sensor according to the present invention includes a first pump cell and two additional measuring pump cells likewise functioning according to the amperometric measuring principle. Since both measuring pump cells are operated according to the same amperometric measuring principle, a particular advantage of the exemplary device and exemplary method of the present inventions is believed to involve the fact that a measuring signal proportional to the concentration of the gaseous components to be determined is obtained with great accuracy through simple subtraction of the pump currents of both amperometric measuring pump cells.
In other exemplary embodiments, the spatially confined arrangement of the two electrochemical measuring pump cells allows a simple and temperature-compensated measurement. Furthermore, the common outer pump electrode of the two measuring pump cells can be arranged in direct contact with the ambient air, but for that purpose, the integration of an air-reference duct into the layer system of the sensor element may be necessary. However, the measuring based on determining pump currents also permits the arrangement of the outer pump electrode in the same atmosphere as the measuring-gas, and consequently allows for the omission of an air-reference duct. It is believed that this should simplify the design of the sensor element substantially, and should represent a great cost savings.

Electrochemical gas sensor and method for determining gas components


A method for determining the rotor flux vector of an electrical machine, the method comprising the steps of controlling the electrical machine with an inverter, forming an equation for the reactive power (Qinv) at the output of the inverter, forming an equation for the consumed reactive power ({circumflex over (Q)}mot) in the electrical machine, forming a reactive power balance equation (Qerr) between the reactive power (Qinv) at the output of the inverter and the reactive power ({circumflex over (Q)}mot) consumed in the electrical machine, determining the stator resistance ({circumflex over (R)}s) of the electrical machine from the balance equation (Qerr), determining the stator flux estimate ({circumflex over (ψ)}s) using the determined stator resistance ({circumflex over (R)}s) and the balance equation (Qerr), and determining the rotor flux estimate ({circumflex over (ψ)}R) using the determined stator flux estimate ({circumflex over (ψ)}s).

In modern electrical machine control systems, it is known to use a mathematical model of the machine as a basis for the control. These models, which comprise accurate mathematical equations and parameters of the machine, produce information concerning the electrical state of the machine for the control system. Many such models require accurate parameter values from the electrical machine. These parameters should be identified before use for every machine, since the values can differ greatly from machine to machine. One of these values that should be identified before or during the use of the machine is the value of stator resistance Rs.
The importance of the correctness of the estimation of the stator resistance arises from the fact, that the stator resistance is used in connection with the estimation of the stator flux. The stator flux is in turn used together with the rotor flux in various control topologies as controlled variables which should be as accurate as possible. The stator flux is usually calculated using a stator differential equation in the form ofψs=∫us−Rsisdt.  (1)
If the estimate for the stator resistance is not accurate, the calculation using integral drifts and causes erroneous results for the stator flux and rotor flux. This will in turn influence on the reliability of the whole control of the machine.
The stator resistance can be directly measured from stator windings before the start-up of the machine. There are also numerous methods for estimating the resistance during the use of the machine. Since the stator resistance is temperature dependent, the value of the resistance should be estimated quite often.
Document M. Aktas, H. I. Okumus: Neural network based stator resistance estimation in direct torque control of induction motor, IJCI Proceedings of Intl. XII Turkish Symposium on Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks, Vol. 1, No: 1, July 2003, discloses a method for determining the stator resistance using active power balance equation. The balance equation is used in the document as an input to a resistance adaptation mechanism which is implemented as a neural network. The use of the active power produces results which are not satisfactory especially in the regenerating mode.
The problem in the known methods for determining the rotor flux is the inaccuracy which results mostly from inaccurate determination of the stator resistance and thus from erroneous stator and rotor fluxes.

Method for determining rotor flux vector of AC electrical machine


Embodiments of this application provide a method for transmitting positioning assistance data and a device. The method includes: receiving, by a network device, at least one positioning assistance data message sent by a positioning server, where the at least one positioning assistance data message is used to carry positioning assistance data; and broadcasting, by the network device, a system message to a terminal device, where the system message is used by the terminal device to obtain the positioning assistance data. According to the embodiments of this application, the network device broadcasts the system message to broadcast the positioning assistance data.

In an existing 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) positioning technology, a point-to-point protocol is usually used to support a positioning service. For example, the point-to-point protocol is the Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP). In the LPP protocol, a positioning server provides positioning assistance data for a terminal device in point-to-point unicast mode.
In a scenario in which there are a large quantity of connections or a large quantity of positioning requests, using the solution of transmitting the positioning assistance data in point-to-point unicast mode causes relatively low efficiency of transmitting the positioning assistance data.
Therefore, how to improve the efficiency of transmitting the positioning assistance data has become a problem that urgently needs to be resolved.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for transmitting positioning assistance data and device


Automated processes that dynamically control rate of delivery of molten metal to a mold during a casting process. Such automated processes can use dynamic metal level variation, control pin pulses and/or oscillation during the mold fill and transient portion of the cast. It has been found that such pulses keep metal flowing in a manner that addresses problems, particularly at the beginning of an ingot cast, associated with metal meniscus contracting and pulling away from the mold on the short faces and corners.

At the beginning of an ingot cast, such as in an aluminum casting process, it is common in the first 300 mm of the cast for metal meniscus to contract and pull away from the mold on the short faces and corners. This phenomenon can occur for various reasons.
First, there can be inadequate metal flow into the corner and short face, which allows the metal to cool and pull away from the mold surface. Typically this inadequate flow is rectified by designing metal distribution systems which preferentially redistribute metal into these areas or by minimizing butt curl, which has in a roundabout way the tendency to restrict metal flow to the corner and short face.
Second, there can be excessive liquid molten-to-mold interface surface tension, which is typically an aspect of the alloy being cast. Alloys which can experience this problem include Aluminum alloys of Magnesium and/or Lithium. In some cases these alloys can be modified by surface active elements, such as, for example, Strontium, Calcium and Beryllium.
Third, there can be excessively tight corner radii. This problem can sometimes be resolved by using more liberal radii, but with a compromise of ingot scalping and hot line edge recovery. Generally, compromises made for start of the cast dynamics and recovery affect the total ingot recovery negatively in the hotline, where millions and millions of pounds are lost each year.
If such compromises are not made, overall ingot recovery is affected along with the inherent EHS aspect of metal dribbling into the mold to meniscus gap that can potentially create a butt hang-up, which can in turn cause a severe ingot explosion.
In some conventional processes, during curl, 150-250 mm into the cast, operators are continually on the casting table to make sure that the mold to meniscus gap is continually filled. From time to time they intervene and mechanically pull the metal control pin, or shake the pin-bag, to allow a sudden disruption to the metal level system to statically overcome the surface tension effect and "fill in" the corner or short face gap.


The semiconductor device comprises a substrate, a first conductive layer formed on the substrate with a first insulating layer inserted therebetween, thereby to constitute a first gate electrode, a second conductive layer selectively formed on the first gate electrode with a second insulating layer inserted therebetween, and a third conductive layer formed on the first and second conductive layer, thereby to constitute first and second electrodes respectively connected to the first and second conductive layers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a semiconductor device having a transistor (or an HEMT element) and the manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional method of forming a fine small element of an HEMT element adopting modulation doping as shown in FIG. 1, there is a well-known method in which gate electrodes are formed in a layered-structure on a plane, resist material is photo-sensitized by direct drawing with use of electron beams, and the resist material is etched after developing (which is called EB direct drawing).
As shown in FIG. 1, a p-type GaAs layer 22 is formed on an n-type GaAs substrate 21 by a molecular beam epitaxial growth method. Next, an n-type GaAs layer 23 whose side surface is used later as a gate is formed by the molecular beam epitaxial growth method. Further, a p-type GaAs layer 24 is formed, and an HEMT structure consisting of a normal barrier layer 28, a GaAs well layer 29, and a doping layer 30 is formed. Thereafter, the n-type GaAs layer is provided with a contact wiring 31 by a lithography technique.
However, to form a fine small element, and particularly, to form an element having an extremely reduced channel width which is called a quantum small line, this channel width called a quantum small line is too small in relation to an electron beam diameter generally used (e.g., 0.1 .mu.m).
Supposing that electrons have an energy level expressed by x in one-dimensional small line direction and y in the thickness direction, En=Ex+Ey+h.sup.2 k.sup.2 /2.multidot.m must be set to be about 3kT/2 or less (where k is a Boltzman constant and T is an absolute temperature). Therefore, the small line width is, for example, approximately 5 nm which is as 1/100 time small as a generally used electron beam diameter. In laboratories, line width reduction is carried out by controlling the developing time and the likes. However, since changes in line width due to time-based changes in currents of electron beams and changes in line width due to local dispersion in resist film thickness are greater than an allowable value, it is difficult to stably form a number of elements on one same substrate.
To overcome this problem, developments have been made to a method of using a highly accurate film formation technique such as a molecular beam epitaxial growth method or the like which is capable of controlling an atom first layer, and of etching a layered film formed by this method at right angles or at a certain angle, and of using a side surface of the layered film as a gate controlled at a high accuracy.
However, this method results in a structure in which gate electrodes are layered and embodied. Therefore, to independently provide a plurality of gates with contact wirings, when a plurality of elements are formed on one same substrate, for example, it is necessary to open contact holes by etching from their upper side and to form wirings.
In this kind of wiring method, when a wiring is connected to a layer formed at a deep position, this wiring may be short-circuited with a wiring layer positioned at a shallow position. In addition, the thickness of layered films is extremely small, and it is therefore very difficult to end at any one of the layered films with a high controllability. For these reasons, it is difficult to provide independent contacts and wirings to respectively apply a plurality of gate electrodes with independent voltages, when a plurality of elements are formed. Actually, it is very difficult to form a plurality of transistors which use the side surface of layered films as gates, on one same substrate. For these reasons, a fine small integrated circuit cannot be obtained.
Meanwhile, a MOS electric field effect transistor (MOSFET) having a source, a drain, and a gate has been known as a semiconductor switching element. This transistor is variously used in semiconductor memories and other elements. In accordance with recent progress of semiconductor processing technology, down-sizing of MOSFETs and high integration have been developed more and more. In this kind of switching element, as down-sizing and high integration of MOSFETS are progressed, changes in punch-through and threshold voltage have come to occur due to short channel effects and narrow channel effects, thereby causing a problem of parasitic transistors.
To solve the above problem, lowering of temperature at which impurity doping and reduction in film thickness of gate insulating films must be taken into consideration, and therefore, the processing step for forming a semiconductor switching element is lengthened and complicated.
In addition, as an electronic device using the quantum tunnel effects of electrons, a device made by modulating the electric potential of a quantum well of a resonance tunnel diode thereby to form a transistor, and to a single electronic transistor.
FIG. 2 shows a conceptual view of the single electronic transistor. This device has a structure in which a charge storage conductive region 3 is tunnel-connected with a source or a drain electrode 1, and a tunnel current flows between the source and drain. Further, current control is performed in such a manner in which the electric potential of the charge storage conductive region 3 is changed by the voltage of the gate electrode 2, thereby to modulate the tunnel provability. In this case, since the tunnel provability has an indexical dependence on the thickness of the barrier layer 4, a tunnel barrier layer 4 having a controllability approximately equivalent to an atomic layer must be formed in order to realize an element with a high reproducibility.
Here, in case of a single electronic transistor in which a tunnel barrier layer 4 is formed by lithography, it is difficult to control the tunnel barrier to be approximately equivalent to an atomic layer. In addition, if the gate electrode 2 is not formed to match with the electrically conductive region 3, the capacities of them are changed, thereby making it difficult to form a single electronic transistor with a high reproducibility.
On the other hand, if a molecular beam epitaxial growth method (MBE) or an organic metal CVD method (MOCVD) is used, it is possible to layer a tunnel barrier at an accuracy approximately equivalent to an atomic layer. However, in case of a single electronic transistor adopting these layering methods, lithography is used to process a gate electrode in a direction perpendicular to the layering direction, and therefore, it is difficult to provide a distance between the gate electrode and the electrically conductive region 3 with a high controllability. This results in difficulties in control of the capacity of the electrically conductive region 3 by the gate electrode 2, and therefore, it is difficult to form a single electronic transistor with a high reproducibility.
As shown in FIG. 4, a method has been proposed in which a layered structure is formed on a semiconductor substrate by epitaxial growth, a mesa 15 is further formed thereon, and a gate insulating film 9 and a gate electrode 2 are formed on the mesa. However, in this method, the mesa 15 exposed on the surface before formation of a gate insulating film becomes channel regions 3 and 5 of a transistor, and therefore, the transistor is easily influenced by defects on an interface, thus resulting in a drawback that the reproducibility of the carrier density of a channel is low. The GaAs layer 13 and the AlGaAs layer 14 form the mesa.
The above problem occurs not only in a single electronic transistor but also in a device which uses quantum tunnel effects and controls the electric potential of the conductive region in contact with a tunnel barrier, by means of an insulating gate.
As has been explained above, in a plane type gate structure, there are difficulties in super down-sizing and in size control caused by lithography techniques, the side surface. Meanwhile, in a method of using the side surface of layered films as gates, there are difficulties in making contacts with gates and forming wirings thereto. Due to these difficulties, it is very difficult to form and integrate a plurality of transistors having super fine small gates, on one same substrate.
In case of a semiconductor switching element, there is a limit in super down-sizing and high integration of an element due to restrictions in a processing step.
In a device in which quantum tunnel effects are used and the electric potential of the conductive region in contact with a tunnel barrier is controlled by an insulating gate, it is difficult to form a tunnel barrier with a high reproducibility and realize a distance between a gate and a conductive region with a high reproducibility.

Semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof


The primary storage sub system writes a marker that includes the sequence number and that indicates a completion of the data copy into the journal storage area of the first primary group when the data copy from a first primary data volume to a second primary data volume is completed. The primary storage sub system transmits a journal of the first primary group to a first secondary group corresponded to the first primary group and transmits a journal of a second primary group to a second secondary group corresponded to a second primary group. The secondary storage sub system reflects a journal of the first secondary group to a secondary data volume, terminates the reflection based on the marker, switches a volume that makes a volume pair with the secondary data volume from the first primary data volume to the second primary data volume, modifies a belonging of the secondary data volume from the first secondary group to the second secondary group, and reflects a journal in the journal storage area of the second secondary group to the secondary data volume.

In recent years, countermeasures to large-scale disasters of a data center have been required for corporate enterprises. As a countermeasure to large-scale disasters, a remote copy is carried out in which data in a data center is copied to a remote location. For the remote copy, a storage apparatus of a primary data center (hereafter referred to as a primary storage apparatus) receives a write request of data from a host computer, stores the data, and transmits the data to a storage apparatus of a secondary data center of a remote location (hereafter referred to as a secondary storage apparatus).
There are a synchronous type and an asynchronous type for the remote copy. In the case in which data is copied to a secondary storage apparatus of a remote location, an asynchronous remote copy is used generically. For a synchronous remote copy, after a primary storage apparatus that has received a write request from a host computer transmits write data to a secondary storage apparatus, the primary storage apparatus executes a write response to the host computer. Consequently, it takes a long response time to the host computer depending on a distance between the primary storage apparatus and the secondary storage apparatus, therefore deteriorating a response performance.
For an asynchronous remote copy, to a write request from a host computer, the primary storage apparatus stores write data into a data volume (data VOL), stores a journal into a journal volume (JVOL), and transmits a write response to the host computer. After that, the primary storage apparatus transmits a journal to the secondary storage apparatus at a predetermined moment. At this time, in order to maintain the consistency of write data, it is necessary to ensure that a sequence of write data that is written to a data VOL of the secondary storage apparatus based on a journal is equivalent to a sequence of a reception of a write request from the host computer to the primary storage apparatus. Therefore, a sequence number that indicates a sequence of a write request from the host computer is imparted to a journal.
For the asynchronous remote copy, since a load to store a journal is concentrated on the JVOL, a response performance from the host computer to an I/O (Input or Output) is deteriorated unfortunately. Consequently, in an environment containing a plurality of primary storage apparatuses in a primary data center, it is required that a load to treat a journal of the asynchronous remote copy is dispersed to other storage apparatuses in the same data center to be leveled.
In the case in which writing occurs to a plurality of data VOLs in the primary storage apparatus, a journal in which a series of sequence numbers are imparted to the write data that is stored into a plurality of data VOLs is stored into the JVOL. A group for ensuring a write sequence of the write data among a plurality of data VOLs is referred to as a journal group (JNLG). A plurality of data VOLs and the JVOL for storing a journal in which a series of sequence numbers are imparted to the write data that is written to the plurality of data VOLs belong to the JNLG.
As the conventional technology, PTL 1 discloses an asynchronous remote copy system in which all volumes that belong to the JNLG are switched at once and a remote copy is restarted with a subsequent sequence number between a second primary storage apparatus and a secondary storage apparatus during a failure of a first primary storage apparatus by synchronizing sequence numbers of journals in the JNLG of each storage apparatus between a first primary storage apparatus and a second primary storage apparatus for instance.

Storage system with primary and secondary data storage groups and control method thereof


A system and method for storing and retrieving file system log information in a cluster computer system is provided. In response to an aborted takeover operation, a surviving storage system stores a set of file replay log information on storage devices associated with the surviving storage system. When the failed storage system re-initializes, it retrieves the file replay log information from the surviving storage system and utilizes the file replay log information to render its disks consistent.

A storage system is a computer that provides storage service relating to the organization of information on writeable persistent storage devices, such as memories, tapes or disks. The storage system is commonly deployed within a storage area network (SAN) or a network attached storage (NAS) environment. When used within a NAS environment, the storage system may be embodied as a file server including an operating system that implements a file system to logically organize the information as a hierarchical structure of data containers, such as directories and files on, e.g. the disks. Each "on-disk" file may be implemented as a set of data structures, e.g., disk blocks, configured to store information, such as the actual data for the file. A directory, on the other hand, may be implemented as a specially formatted file in which information about other files and directories are stored.
The storage system may be further configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many client systems (clients) to access shared resources, such as files, stored on the storage system. Sharing of files is a hallmark of a NAS system, which is enabled because of semantic level of access to files and file systems. Storage of information on a NAS system is typically deployed over a computer network comprising a geographically distributed collection of interconnected communication links, such as Ethernet, that allow clients to remotely access the information (files) on the storage system. The clients typically communicate with the storage system by exchanging discrete frames or packets of data according to pre-defined protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
In the client/server model, the client may comprise an application executing on a computer that "connects" to the storage system over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link, shared local area network, wide area network or virtual private network implemented over a public network, such as the Internet. NAS systems generally utilize file-based access protocols; therefore, each client may request the services of the storage system by issuing file system protocol messages (in the form of packets) to the storage system over the network. By supporting a plurality of file system protocols, such as the conventional Common Internet File System (CIFS), the Network File System (NFS) and the Direct Access File System (DAFS) protocols, the utility of the filer may be enhanced for networking clients.
A SAN is a high-speed network that enables establishment of direct connections between a storage system and its storage devices. The SAN may thus be viewed as an extension to a storage bus and, as such, an operating system of the storage system enables access to stored information using block-based access protocols over the "extended bus". In this context, the extended bus is typically embodied as Fibre Channel (FC) or Ethernet media adapted to operate with block access protocols, such as Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) protocol encapsulation over FC (FCP) or TCP/IP/Ethernet (iSCSI). A SAN arrangement or deployment allows decoupling of storage from the storage system, such as an application server, and some level of storage sharing at the application server level. There are, however, environments wherein a SAN is dedicated to a single server. When used within a SAN environment, the storage system may be embodied as a storage system that manages data access to a set of disks using one or more block-based protocols, such as SCSI embedded in Fibre Channel (FCP). One example of a SAN arrangement is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/215,917, entitled MULTI-PROTOCOL STORAGE APPLIANCE THAT PROVIDES INTEGRATED SUPPORT FOR FILE AND BLOCK ACCESS PROTOCOLS, by Brian Pawlowski, et al.
It is advantageous for the services and data provided by a storage system to be available for access to the greatest degree possible. Accordingly, some storage system environments provide a plurality of storage systems in a cluster, with a property that when a first storage system fails, the second storage system ("partner") is available to take over and provide the services and the data otherwise provided by the first storage system. When the first storage system fails, the second partner storage system in the cluster assumes the tasks of processing and handling any data access requests normally processed by the first storage system. One such example of a storage system cluster configuration is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/421,297, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSPORT-LEVEL FAILOVER OF FCP DEVICES IN A CLUSTER, by Arthur F. Lent, et al. An administrator may desire to take a storage system offline for a variety of reasons including, for example, to upgrade hardware, etc. In such situations, it may be advantageous to perform a user-initiated takeover operation, as opposed to a failover operation. After the takeover operation is complete, the storage system's data will be serviced by its partner until a giveback operation is performed.
In a typical storage system cluster configuration, each storage system within the cluster contains a nonvolatile log (NVLog) that is stored in nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM). Each storage system stores ("logs") received data access operations directed to the storage system in its NVLog. In addition, each storage system forwards received data access operations to its partner storage system for storage in the partner's NVLog. Thus, during a failover operation, the surviving storage system may flush (write) the data associated with operations stored in the NVLog to storage devices, such as disks, associated with the failed storage system to bring those disks to a consistent state before initiating the processing of newly received data access operations, thereby enabling transparent failover operations while providing data consistency guarantees.
One scenario that may cause noted disadvantages in known cluster environments arises when a first storage system suffers an error condition that results in it entering a degraded mode. For example, a disk may fail, thereby resulting in the storage system initiating a RAID parity recomputation to recover the data contained on the failed disk. A subsequent error condition of the first storage system results in a failover operation of its data containers to a second partner storage system, which then suffers an error condition within a relatively short time period. However, the second storage system may have serviced data access requests directed to the data containers, with the appropriate logging of data in its NVLog. The rapid error condition of the second storage system causes that system to perform a giveback operation of the data containers to the first storage system prior to the containers being cleanly "shut down" by the second storage system i.e., before parity recomputation to recover any lost data. As noted, the NVLog data, including parity information, only exists on the second storage system; thus, when the first storage system re-initializes, it marks the data containers as dirty. If all of the storage devices associated with the data containers are present, the first storage system may perform appropriate parity computations to render the data containers as "clean". However, if one or more storage devices are missing and/or inoperative, the first storage system must perform a complete file system check, resulting in considerable downtime and data unavailability, which may be on the order of hours and/or days depending on the size of the file system.

System and method for storing and retrieving file system log information in a clustered computer system


Generally the present invention comprises a decorative holder for an electrically powered candle emulation device comprising an outer, substantially transparent/translucent hollow cylindrical member. The holder further comprises a second member comprising a flexible cylindrical segment of an etched plastic material with a longitudinal slit along its entire length. The outer circumference of the cylindrical segment is slightly larger than the inside circumference of the outer cylindrical member and is of a dimension whereby it can be radially compressed to fit into the outer cylindrical member into juxtaposition with the inner walls for the fixed positioning of the second member within the first member. The holder further comprises a third member comprising a transparent colored film of essentially the same outer dimensional area of the second member. The third film colored member is positioned between the first and second members in order to provide decorative coloring to the cylindrical holder. The third member is provided with a longitudinal slit similar to that of the second member for permitting the placement thereof in a wrap around fashion on the second member. Appropriate candle emulation electronics are placed into the holder to provide the effect of a wax candle contained within an etched and colored decorative holder.

Wax candles with open flames are often used for various decorative and religious purposes. A common use is that of votive candles which are arranged in tiers and rows on special stands, in churches. However, candles alone, if used in quantity or without visual supervision, can pose hazard risks of conflagration. Accordingly, the votive candles are often enclosed within cylindrical decorative holders such as partially transparent or translucent colored glasses, in cup form, for the peripheral protection thereof and for the providing of an aesthetic lighted appearance. The colored glasses are available in a large variety of etched appearances and colors. Recently, the wax candles used with actual flames have been giving way to lower heat and safer electrical light emulations of candles within plastic containers. However in order to fully emulate the decorative nature of the colored and etched glasses used with the wax votive candles it is necessary to maintain large stockpiles of varying plastic containers of different etchings and colors.

Electronic candle with appearance simulation


Computer processing methods and/or systems for minimizing and/or optimizing data strings in accordance with rules and options. Minimized data strings can represent data sequences important in certain biologic analyses and/or syntheses. In specific embodiments, a request is generated by a user at a client system and received by a server system. The server system accesses initial data indicated or provided by the client system. The server system then performs an analysis to minimize the data needed for further reactions. In specific embodiments, a server can use proprietary methods or data at the server side while protecting those proprietary methods and data from access by the client system.

Various directed evolution, recombination, or diversity generation operations, synthesis, and/or analysis, have proven useful in a variety of chemical and biologic research and development settings. Thus, there is an increasing interest among diverse institutions to utilize such methods.
Effectively performing such methods, however, generally requires a specialized knowledge and skill in the selection and preparation of materials to enable the reactions. Methods requiring significant amounts of human skill and/or trial and error merely to select effective initial compounds are expensive to run in house and are not easily provided as a service to outside institutions. Thus, there remains a continuing need for novel methods and/or systems for more easily and/or automatically determining initial compounds that will enable various recombination, directed evolution, or diversity generation processes.
Communication Using Networked Information Appliances
The Internet comprises computers, information appliances, and computer networks that are interconnected through communication links. The interconnected computers exchange information using various services, such as electronic mail, ftp, the World Wide Web ("WWW") and other services, including secure services. The WWW service can be understood as allowing a server computer system (e.g., a Web server or a Web site) to send web pages of information to a remote client information appliance or computer system. The remote client computer system can then display the web pages. Generally, each resource (e.g., computer or web page) of the WWW is uniquely identifiable by a Uniform Resource Locator ("URL"). To view or interact with a specific web page, a client computer system specifies a URL for that web page in a request. The request is forwarded to a server that supports that web page. When the server receives the request, it sends that web page to the client information system. When the client computer system receives that web page, it can display the web page using a browser or can interact with the web page or interface as otherwise provided. A browser is a logic module that effects the requesting of web pages and displaying or interacting with web pages.
Currently, displayable web pages are typically defined using a Hyper Text Markup Language ("HTML"). HTML provides a standard set of tags that define how a web page is to be displayed. An HTML document contains various tags that control the displaying of text, graphics, controls, and other features. The HTML document may contain URLs of other Web pages available on that server computer system or other server computer systems. URLs can also indicate other types of interfaces, including such things as CGI scripts or executable interfaces, that information appliances use to communicate with remote information appliances or servers without necessarily displaying information to a user.
The Internet is especially conducive to providing information services to one or more remote customers. Services can include items (e.g., music or stock quotes) that are delivered electronically to a purchaser over the Internet. Services can also include handling orders for items (e.g., groceries, books, or chemical or biologic compounds, etc.) that may be delivered through conventional distribution channels (e.g., a common carrier). Services may also include handling orders for items, such as airline or theater reservations, that a purchaser accesses at a later time. A server computer system may provide an electronic version of an interface that lists items or services that are available. A user or a potential purchaser may access the interface using a browser and select various items of interest. When the user has completed selecting the items desired, the server computer system may then prompt the user for information needed to complete the service. This transaction-specific order information may include the purchaser's name or other identification, an identification for payment (such as a corporate purchase order number or account number), or additional information needed to complete the service, such as flight information.
NCBI Databases and Software
Among services of particular interest that can be provided over the internet and over other networks are biological data and biological databases. Such services include a variety of services provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NCBI is charged with creating automated systems for storing and analyzing knowledge about molecular biology, biochemistry, and genetics; facilitating the use of such databases and software by the research and medical community; coordinating efforts to gather biotechnology information both nationally and internationally; and performing research into advanced methods of computer-based information processing for analyzing the structure and function of biologically important molecules.
NCBI holds responsibility for the GenBank DNA sequence database. The database has been constructed from sequences submitted by individual laboratories and by data exchange with the international nucleotide sequence databases, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the DNA Database of Japan (DDBJ), and includes patent sequence data submitted to the U.S. patent office. In addition to GenBank, NCBI supports and distributes a variety of databases for the medical and scientific communities. These include the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), the Molecular Modeling Database (MMDB) of 3D protein structures, the Unique Human Gene Sequence Collection (UniGene), a Gene Map of the Human Genome, the Taxonomy Browser, and the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP), in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute. Entrez is NCBI's search and retrieval system that provides users with integrated access to sequence, mapping, taxonomy, and structural data. Entrez also provides graphical views of sequences and chromosome maps. A feature of Entrez is the ability to retrieve related sequences, structures, and references. BLAST is a program for sequence similarity searching developed at NCBI for identifying genes and genetic features that can execute sequence searches against the entire DNA database. Additional software tools provided by NCBI include: Open Reading Frame Finder (ORF Finder), Electronic PCR, and the sequence submission tools, Sequin and BankIt. NCBI's various databases and software tools are available from the WWW or by FTP or by e-mail servers. Further information is available at www|.|ncbi|.|nlm|.|nih|.|gov.
CHIME
Some biologic data available over the internet is data that is generally viewed with a special browser "plug-in" or other executable code. One example of such a system is CHIME, a browser plug-in that allows an interactive virtual 3-dimensional display of molecular structures, including biological molecular structures. Further information regarding CHIME is available at www.mdlchime.com/chime/.
Online Oligos, Gene, or Protein Ordering
A variety of companies and institutions provide online systems for ordering biological compounds. Examples of such systems can be found at www|.|genosys|.|com/oligo_custinfo.cfm or www|.|genomictechnologies|.|com/Qbrowser2_FP.html. Typically, these systems accept some descriptor of a desired biological compound (such as an oligonucleotide, DNA strand, RNA strand, amino acid sequence, etc.) and then the requested compound is manufactured and is shipped to the customer in a liquid solution or other appropriate form.

Method and apparatus for codon determining


Systems and methods for adaptive OTA (over-the-air) synchronization of RF (radio frequency) base stations are described herein. Using these systems and methods, base stations in wireless audio systems can automatically identify externally sourced base station clocks and merge overlapping clock system domains, thereby eliminating the need for complex base station management and network configuration.

Audio conferencing has grown in popularity. Commonly, audio systems use a tabletop microphone to detect input from conference participants. Participants must therefore gather relatively close to the microphone in order to assure audio quality, and also must always be aware of the direction in which they are speaking. As a result, such systems intrude on the meeting. In addition, as the microphones are omni-directional and located on the tabletop, they can pick up and transmit to the remote participants undesirable ambient noise. Common sources of unwanted ambient noise include table noise, sidebar conversations, laptop keyboard clicks, coffee cup clinks, etc. These undesired audio sources can be very damaging to the efficiency, focus, and productivity of conference meetings, especially for far-end (remote) participants in the conference.
Applicants have disclosed novel systems and methods for overcoming these problems by using multiple wireless microphones in communication with a base station. Exemplary devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0217162 to Bodley et al. As more wireless microphones are introduced into a conference environment, however, additional base stations must also be deployed to communicate with the microphones. The growing number of devices (both microphones and base stations) can introduce problems by crowding the available RF (radio frequency) spectrum, especially where, for example, time division encoding of signals is employed.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple system that can synchronize a plurality of base stations in a given conferencing environment so as to optimize the use of available RF spectrum and more efficiently support multiple wireless devices.

Systems and methods for synchronizing wireless audio base stations


A semiconductor apparatus includes a semiconductor substrate, an insulating film provided on the semiconductor substrate, and a semiconductor film provided on the insulating film. The semiconductor substrate includes a region of a first current path including at least one diode, the semiconductor film includes a region of a second current path including at least one diode, the first current path and the second current path are connected in parallel to each other, the region of the first current path includes at least part of an area directly below the region of the second current path, and the first current path has a higher resistance than the second current path.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor apparatus, and more particularly to a semiconductor apparatus including a protection device.
2. Background Art
With the recent increase in speed and capacity in the information processing technology, there has been a growing demand for frequency enhancement and downsizing on semiconductor apparatuses. In this context, MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) transistors widely used for e.g. fast switching devices or voltage converter circuits also undergo device downsizing and thinning of the gate insulating film, causing concern about the decrease of ESD (electrostatic discharge) capability. Hence there is also a rapidly growing demand for the enhancement of electrostatic breakdown capability on semiconductor apparatuses.
In a semiconductor apparatus including a MOS transistor, when the MOS transistor is formed in a silicon substrate, an ESD protection diode is often formed simultaneously. For example, in the technique disclosed in JP-A 2000-091344(Kokai), a polycrystalline silicon layer is formed on a silicon substrate. P-type layers and N-type layers are alternately arrayed in the polycrystalline silicon layer to form six stages of PN diodes connected in series in opposite direction to each other, which are connected between the gate and the source of a MOS transistor. When a surge voltage due to ESD is applied between the gate and the source of the MOS transistor, avalanche breakdown occurs in the diodes, which then become conducting, and a surge current flows through the diodes. Consequently, because the electric energy of the surge current can be consumed in the diodes, the surge voltage is prevented from being applied to the gate oxide film of the MOS transistor, and the breakdown of the gate oxide film can be prevented. This technique of forming PN diodes in the polycrystalline silicon layer is widely used because of its high flexibility in the device manufacturing process.
However, according to the inventors' investigation, it has been found that such a structure cannot sufficiently achieve the effect of the protection diode. More specifically, in the PN diode formed in the polycrystalline silicon layer, the transport of electrons or holes is greatly inhibited by electron traps or hole traps existing at the crystal grain boundary. Consequently, the mobility of these carriers in polycrystalline silicon decreases to a fraction of the mobility in single-crystal silicon. Thus the so-called snapback effect does not occur, and current increases monotonically relative to voltage. That is, there is no case where the resistance abruptly decreases and results in an increased current when the voltage exceeds a certain value, but the current increases only with the increase of voltage. Thus the operating voltage of the protection diode increases. Hence the current transport capability decreases, and the energy of the surge current cannot be sufficiently consumed. Furthermore, the amount of heat generated in the polycrystalline silicon layer upon application of ESD reaches even several 10 to 100 W. However, an oxide film is formed directly below the polycrystalline silicon layer and has an extremely high thermal resistance. Hence this protection device cannot rapidly dissipate the generated heat and is susceptible to thermal breakdown. Thus, although the above technique for forming PN diodes in the polycrystalline silicon layer is effective in simplifying the manufacturing process, its protection effect is insufficient.
To avoid such problems, PN diodes can be formed in the single-crystal silicon constituting the substrate rather than in the polycrystalline silicon layer provided on the substrate. For example, in the technique disclosed in JP-A 7-122712(Kokai) (1995), an N-type epitaxial layer is formed on an N-type silicon substrate, a P-type layer is locally formed on the surface of the N-type epitaxial layer, and a plurality of N-type regions are locally formed inside the P-type layer. Thus an NPN structure can be formed in the single-crystal silicon substrate. This NPN structure is operable as a pair of Zener diodes connected in opposite direction to each other (i.e., an NPPN structure). Alternatively, it can be regarded as the operation of an NPN transistor with the base open.
When a surge voltage is applied to this NPN structure, the resistance decreases by the snapback effect, allowing a surge current to flow. Thus a device connected in parallel to this NPN structure, such as the gate oxide film of a MOS transistor, can be protected from ESD breakdown. Furthermore, because this NPN structure is formed in the substrate, the generated heat can be dissipated through the substrate, and the thermal breakdown is less likely to occur. Thus, by forming an NPN structure in the single-crystal silicon substrate, a protection device allowing a large current flow and also being resistant to heat can be realized. However, such a protection device occupies a certain area in the substrate surface and inhibits the downsizing of the semiconductor apparatus.


Techniques are provide for linking actions in an online fantasy sports game to a currency balance associated with a user of the game. The techniques adjust the balance by a first quantity in response to a sports player action, where the first quantity is based upon the player action, and adjust the balance by a second quantity in response to transfer of a sports player to or from a fantasy sports team associated with the user, where the second quantity is based upon a value of the sports player; and, prevent transfer of the sports player to the fantasy sports team in response to the second quantity being greater than the balance. The currency balance may be increased by the first quantity in response to the sports player action. The sports player action may include scoring a number of game points, and the first quantity may be based upon the number of game points.

1. Field
The present application relates generally to online games, and more particularly to fantasy sports games.
2. Related Art
Online fantasy sports games are known in the art. These games may be played by users who interact with the game via user interfaces that allow the users to select real-life players to associate with the user, i.e., to be members of the user's fantasy sports team. Users may bid on players in an initial bidding phase, which closes before the start of game play. Users may also trade or transfer players to and from other users. Users accumulate points as the players on their team(s) score points in the game. Actions of the players in the real life games such as scoring points or becoming injured are used as a basis for corresponding actions in the fantasy sports game.
In one example, the objective of a fantasy sports game is to select and acquire a group, e.g., team, of one or more players that correspond to real-life players, with the goal of maximizing the number of game points scored by the corresponding real-life players in real-life games over some period of time, e.g., a sports season. Multiple users participate in the game, and each user is associated with one or more players that form a team. The user's players correspond to real-life players, but the user's team, i.e., set of players, is defined by the user's choice of players, which may be selected from different real-life teams. Therefore, the user's team need not correspond to a real-life sports team.
At the beginning of the game, during an acquisition phase, users select players for teams. Users may be restricted to acquiring a particular number of players, e.g., the number of players on a team for the particular sport plus some additional backup players. The players available for acquisition may be divided into classes, and users may be further restricted to acquiring a particular number of player from each class. For example, the star players who are known to consistently perform well may be in one class, and players who perform at an average level or are regarded as less desirable may be in a second class. The user may be allowed to select two players from the first class, three players from the second class, and so on for other classes.
Once a user has selected a player to be added to the user's team, the user submits a request to acquire the player. A user is said to "own" a player if the player has been allocated to that user, i.e., has become a member of that user's team, or, in other words, is "on" that user's team.
The winning user is the user whose team has the largest sum of game points at the end of the time period or sports season. The sum of game points for each user is calculated by adding up the point scored in real life by the players on the user's team. Users may be, for example, humans interacting with the game via computer program code such as a web browser executing on a client computer, which communicates with server computers that provide the game features.

Using currency in online fantasy sports games


A containerized refuse collection truck that generally includes a cab having a chassis extending rearwardly therefrom, a compactor unit attached to a rear end of the chassis and a refuse container removably attached to the chassis between the cab and the compactor unit. The refuse container includes a door hingedly connected to a rear end of the container for swinging downwardly into the compactor unit in an open position. The door is driven by a piston of the compactor unit from its open position for receiving refuse on said door to a closed position for compacting the refuse within the container. The removable refuse container also preferably includes a removable ejector assembly positioned within the container at a front end thereof for ejecting refuse within the container out through the rear end of the container.

The present invention relates generally to a refuse collection vehicle and more particularly to a refuse collection truck having a removable refuse container for separate dumping of the refuse apart from the truck.
The conventional practice for municipal refuse collection services is to collect curbside garbage into a refuse collection truck where it is compacted into the body of the truck. When the truck is full it travels to a common refuse dumping site where the truck is emptied. The dumping site may be an intermediate dumping site, such as a dock for an open barge, or a final dumping site, such as a landfill. In either case, the site is typically remote from the truck""s collection route. At intermediate sites, large payloaders often scoop up the deposited garbage and transfer it into large earthmover type trucks, which in turn convey the garbage or refuse to a barge or directly to the final dumping site.
One of the several disadvantages of the conventional system is the xe2x80x9cdown timexe2x80x9d of the collection truck while the collection truck is in transit between its collection route and the common dumping site. In other words, the collection truck is no longer in service for collection while it is traveling to the dumping site. Furthermore, should a loaded truck break down for any reason, the refuse contents of the truck would have to be unloaded, often manually, before repairs could be undertaken. Another disadvantage of the conventional practice is the typical requirement for an intermediate dumping site for the individual collection trucks and the rather expensive equipment required for the intermediate dumping site to transfer the garbage to the next link of the disposal chain. Open dumping of refuse at common dumping sites also has the added unsanitary drawbacks of odors, spillage and the congregation of seagulls and vermin.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a refuse collection system, which minimizes the down time of the collection truck, eases loading and unloading of the truck and eliminates the problems associated with open intermediate dumping sites.
The present invention is a containerized refuse collection truck including a conventional refuse collection truck cab and chassis but having a removable refuse container. When the collection truck of the present invention is full, the refuse container may be removed at a local transfer station and replaced with a new refuse container in a minimal amount of time so that the truck may continue its collection route with a minimum of down time. The full refuse containers may be then transported from the local transfer station to a landfill or barge by container carrying trucks or by rail. If transported to a barge, the container itself may be loaded onto the barge and conveyed to the final dumping site where it is emptied and returned to the local transfer station. When transporting containerized refuse, the problems associated with intermediate dumping sites and open barges are eliminated.
The containerized refuse collection truck of the present invention generally includes a cab having a chassis extending rearwardly therefrom, a compactor unit attached to a rear end of the chassis and a refuse container removably attached to the chassis between the cab and the compactor unit. The refuse container includes a door hingedly connected to a rear end of the container for swinging downwardly into the compactor unit in an open position. The door is driven by a piston of the compactor unit from its open position for receiving refuse on said door to a closed position for compacting the refuse within the container. The piston of the compactor unit may be removably connected to the door for driving the door directly or it may be connected to a driver door upon which the door is seated for driving the door between its open and closed positions.
In a preferred embodiment, the container door is hingedly connected to an outward swinging rear wall of the container, wherein the swinging rear wall of the container allows for emptying of the container. The refuse container also preferably includes an ejector assembly positioned within the container at a front end thereof for ejecting refuse within the container out through the rear end of the container. The ejector assembly preferably comprises a frame, an ejector piston connected at one end to the frame and an ejector blade connected to an opposite end of the ejector piston for pushing refuse rearwardly out through the rear end of the container. The frame is releasably fastened to the container such that the ejector assembly is removable from the container.
Preferably, the chassis further includes at least one lock cooperating with at least one correspondingly sized key-hole provided on the container for alternately securing and releasing the container. The container door further preferably includes upstanding walls forming a pocket for receiving the refuse on the door. The two upstanding side walls increase in height in a direction away from the hinged connection of the container door for aiding in the compaction of the refuse within the container.
A preferred embodiment of a containerized refuse collection truck, as well as other features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description which is to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A viscosity-torsional vibration damper or absorber for a crankshaft of a combustion engine includes an annular damping or absorbing arrangement which can be fastened to the crankshaft. The damping or absorbing arrangement is fastened in an outer diameter region to a holding device which, on the other hand, can be fastened to the crankshaft and can be sprung in the axial direction of the crankshaft, but is inherently rigid radially with respect to the crankshaft.

The present invention relates to a viscosity-torsional vibration damper or absorber for a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine, with a ring-like damping or absorbing arrangement which can be fastened on the crankshaft.
Viscosity-torsional vibration dampers or absorbers of the generic type are known in a wide range of embodiments.
Such torsional vibration dampers or absorbers are used to reduce the effect of torsional vibrations.
In modern engine manufacturing, increasingly higher gas pressures are produced in the cylinders in order to improve efficiency and comply with the relevant exhaust gas standards, moreover reductions in the crankshaft dimensions are produced to achieve a lightweight design and weight saving.
This combination of more pronounced vibration generation and more flexible, lighter systems which are capable of vibrating leads to ever more critical vibrational properties of the crankshafts. This applies both to torsional vibrations and also to axial vibrations and bending vibrations of the crankshafts.
The torsional vibrations can be reduced by increasingly efficient torsional vibration dampers or absorbers.
Damping is the conversion of movement energy (kinetic energy) into forms of energy which are ineffective for the considered system which is capable of vibrating. The dampers perform a conversion of kinetic energy into heat as a result of internal or external friction processes. Damping is therefore energy dissipation. Damping brings about a reduction in the resonances of a system and does not reduce the rotational irregularity of a system capable of torsional vibration. One example is the viscosity-torsional vibration damper. In contrast, the principle of vibration absorption is based on a concentration of inertial force—the absorber mass vibrates in phase opposition to the exciting force. The number of degrees of system freedom is increased by at least one by an absorber additionally fitted on a system which is capable of vibration. Absorber adjustment can be performed in various ways depending on requirements.
Axial and bending vibrations are in practice not yet taken into account in the case of the hitherto known constructions of torsional vibration dampers or absorbers.
The axial and bending vibrations of the crankshaft are transmitted via a torsional vibration damper or absorber which can be fastened, for example, via a flange on the crankshaft and have the following negative effects:
On one hand, tensions are caused at the damper flange and at the housing of the torsional vibration damper or absorber, which was hitherto prevented by expensive and heavy larger wall thicknesses.
In the case of viscosity-torsional vibration dampers or absorbers, the tensions can also lead to increased wear of the bearing of the flywheel in the housing, moreover a reduced efficiency of the torsional vibration damping or absorption can also arise as a result of superimposition with the torsional vibrations.
The object on which the present invention is based is to largely avoid the above-mentioned disadvantages of a viscosity-torsional vibration damper or absorber.
This object is achieved in that the damping or absorption arrangement is arranged, in particular fastened, in an outer diameter region on a holding apparatus, which on the other hand can be arranged, in particular fastened, on the crankshaft and which is formed to be capable of being sprung in the axial direction of the crankshaft, but inherently rigid radially with respect to the crankshaft. The invention furthermore relates to a crankshaft with such a damping or absorption arrangement.
As a result of this, it is achieved that potentially occurring axial vibrations are largely isolated, while torsional vibrations are damped as before by the action.
According to one preferred variant, the damping or absorption arrangement can have a ring-like housing which can be fastened on the crankshaft with a flywheel which is mounted rotatably therein in a silicon oil or the like relative to the housing.
As a result of this, it is achieved that potentially occurring axial vibrations are largely isolated, while torsional vibrations are damped as before by the action.
It is expedient if the housing is fastened on at least one end surface and in its outer diameter region on one holding apparatus which on the other hand can be fastened on the crankshaft and is capable of being sprung in the axial direction of the crankshaft, but is formed to be inherently rigid radially with respect to the crankshaft.
As a result of this, it is achieved that potentially occurring axial vibrations are largely isolated, but torsional vibrations are damped as previously by the action.
One advantageous further development of the invention provides that the housing is fastened on both end surfaces on in each case one of the holding apparatuses which project in the direction of the crankshaft beyond the housing and in this protruding region are connected to one another by a spacer sleeve and can overall be fixed on the crankshaft.
This construction has in particular the advantage that the damper housing, as is already known in many other applications, can act as a belt pulley and the bending moment introduced by the belt can be taken up by the two holding apparatuses without deformation.
Further advantageous features of the invention are the subject matter of further subordinate claims.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are represented in the enclosed drawings and are described in greater detail below.

Viscosity-torsional vibration damper or absorber for a crankshaft of a combustion engine


Disclosed is a CMOS image sensor that controls a reset voltage to reduce reset noise caused by a reset operation of the CMOS image sensor, fixed pattern noise caused by different characteristics of detection circuits, and image lag caused by the influence of a previous image signal upon the current output signal, thereby achieving a high signal to noise ratio.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a CMOS image sensor, and more particularly to a CMOS image sensor that controls a reset voltage to reduce reset noise caused by a reset operation of the CMOS image sensor, fixed pattern noise caused by different characteristics of detection circuits, and image lag caused by the influence of a previous image signal upon the current output signal, thereby achieving a high signal to noise ratio.
2. Description of the Related Art
A CMOS image sensor uses PN-junction photodiodes, which can be formed by a CMOS manufacturing process, to convert the intensity of incident light to an electrical signal. One of the most important requirements of the CMOS image sensor is a high sensitivity to the incident light.
As well known in the art, unlike the CMOS image sensor, a conventional Charge Coupled Device (CCD) image sensor detects an optical signal through charge coupling, instead of transistor switching. A photodiode, which is provided for each pixel, serves to detect light incident on the pixel, does not output an optical detection current immediately after the detection, but instead outputs the detection current after accumulating it for a certain accumulation time, so that the detection signal voltage can be raised proportional to the certain accumulation time, thereby increasing light sensitivity and decreasing noise.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating the configuration of each pixel circuit in a general CMOS image sensor.
A reset operation of the CMOS image sensor is a process in which a reset switch 10 is turned on to remove a photo-induced charge accumulated on a photodiode PD.
After the reset operation, a new photo-induced charge according to incident light is accumulated for a certain time, and then a selection switch 12 is turned on so that a voltage determined based on the accumulated photo-induced charge is read out through an amplifier 11 and the selection switch 12.
Three main types of noise occurring during the operation of the CMOS image sensor are reset noise, image lag noise, and fixed pattern noise. The reset noise is caused when the initial voltage becomes unstable or uncertain due to a photo-induced charge left unstably or uncertainly in the photodiode since the activation of the reset switch has failed to completely remove the photo-induced charge from the photodiode. The image lag is a phenomenon in which a residual image of the previous pixel image is left after a reset operation is completed since part of a photo-induced charge accumulated until the reset operation is started is left after the reset operation is completed. The fixed pattern noise is caused by different detection voltages of the pixels due to different characteristics (typically, different threshold voltages) of amplifier transistors when the photo-induced charge accumulated in each pixel is detected through the amplifier transistor provided in each pixel.
On the other hand, general image capturing and processing devices employ an analog-to-digital converter for converting an analog output voltage of each pixel to a digital value.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a general CMOS image sensor that includes an analog-to-digital converter in each column of pixels.
As shown in FIG. 2, the CMOS image sensor includes an array of pixels 8, each of which includes a photodiode and an amplifier, a row controller 2 and a column controller 4. In addition, an analog-to-digital converter 6 is provided for each column of pixels to convert an analog voltage output of a pixel 8 in the column and in a row selected by the row controller 2 to a digital value. An optical detection signal of a pixel 8 in a column selected by the column controller 4 is output after being converted to a digital image signal through an analog-to-digital converter 6 corresponding to the selected column.
When compared to a CMOS image sensor including a single analog-to-digital converter for signal conversion of all pixels, the CMOS image sensor of FIG. 2 configured as described above is advantageous in that the analog-to-digital converter is easy to design and the conversion speed is high.
However, since the columns provide different pixel outputs under the same conditions due to different characteristics of the analog-to-digital converters 6, there is a need to provide a method for compensating for the pixel output difference.
One conventional compensation technique employs Correlated Double Sampling (CDS) that uses a pin diode to reduce the reset noise as well known in the art. However, this technique requires an additional design and manufacturing process for forming the pin diode and also requires a high driving voltage.
Another compensation technique employs a circuit for controlling a reset voltage in a general photodiode-based pixel to reduce the reset noise. An example of this technique is "active reset readout" proposed by Fowler et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,424,375), which controls a reset voltage through feedback amplification in each pixel to reduce the reset voltage.
B. Pain et al have also proposed a method for attenuating the noise voltage through the feedback operation in a paper "Reset noise suppression in two-dimensional CMOS photodiode pixels through column-based feedback-reset" in 2002 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting.
The conventional methods described above may be effective in reducing the reset noise and the image lag. That is, since the conventional methods do not perform the compensation after the analog-to-digital conversion, the conventional methods reduce the reset noise or noise factors such as the image lag, but they require a decrease by at least a threshold voltage in the final reset voltage, as compared to the conventional reset voltage, thereby reducing the range of output signals, and also cannot simultaneously suppress the fixed pattern noise that may subsequently occur in the analog-to-digital converter, etc.

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


The present invention provides a method for estimating breaking energy of a rubber material, in particular breaking energy of a surface of a rubber material. The present invention also provides to a rubber composition excellent in crack resistance. The present invention relates to a method for estimating breaking energy of a rubber material, including determining a carbon-carbon double bond content in the rubber material.

To analyze the initial performance of rubber products or the performance of aged rubber products, the following method is widely used: dumbbell specimens cut out of the products are broken to measure the elongation at break (%) and tensile strength (MPa) using a tensile tester according to JIS-K 6251 "Rubber, vulcanized or thermoplastic-Determination of tensile stress-strain properties", and the breaking energy (the area below a stress-elongation curve) is then calculated from the resultant values.
A typical tensile test requires the preparation of a specimen of 35 to 120 mm in width, 6 to 25 mm in length, and 2 mm in thickness without any cracks and the like to provide accurate test results. This requires cutting a sheet-shaped specimen out of a product and then cutting the specimen into a dumbbell shape, which is greatly time-consuming. Moreover, though the initial performance can be analyzed according to this method, it is impossible in practice to perform the tensile test on deteriorated samples because many of such deteriorated samples have cracks and thus are difficult to prepare to obtain evaluable specimens. Thus, determination of the breaking energy in accordance with JIS-K 6251 has various disadvantages.
Meanwhile, since high breaking energy is generally considered to be important for the securement of good deterioration resistance, in particular crack resistance, rubber compositions excellent in crack resistance have been developed on the basis of their breaking energy values. However, the breaking energy varies depending on the formulation or vulcanizing conditions though it is an important parameter. Therefore, it is considered to be further important to determine the breaking energy of aged rubber materials in accordance with JIS-K 6257 "Rubber, vulcanized or thermoplastic—Determination of heat ageing properties" for evaluation of crack resistance.
However, the tensile test cannot be performed on deteriorated samples due to the difficulty in preparing evaluable specimens therefrom as described above. Therefore, it is also difficult to develop a rubber composition excellent in crack resistance referring to the breaking energy as an indicator.

Method for estimating breaking energy and rubber composition


A submersible pump gas separator for a well pump has a housing with a rotatable shaft. A separating section in the housing separates heavier well fluid components into an area radially outward from the lighter components. A crossover member rotates with the shaft. The crossover member has a helical liquid passage having an inlet in fluid communication with the separating section for receiving the heavier components and an outlet in fluid communication with a liquid outlet of the housing. The crossover has a gas passage having an inlet in fluid communication with the separating section for receiving the lighter components and an outlet in fluid communication with a gas outlet of the housing.

A common type of well pump for petroleum production has a submersible centrifugal pump and an electrical motor. The pump has a plurality of stages, each stage having an impeller and a diffuser. The motor rotates a shaft extending through the pump, which causes the impellers to rotate to pump the well fluid up the well. Another type of well pump, called a progressive cavity pump, rotates a helical rotor within a stator having a double helical cavity. In both types of pumps, if the well fluid contains gas, the gas is detrimental to the pumping efficiency.
Down hole gas separators are commonly employed with down hole pumps to remove as much gas as feasible from the well fluid flowing into the intake of the pump. In standard down hole gas separators for centrifugal pumps, fluids are drawn into the intake of the separator and spun by way of various components that are intended to propel and separate the lighter gaseous well fluid components from the heavier liquid components. The heavier component is spun to the outer surface of the chamber while the lighter component remains in the central part of the chamber.
In prior art down hole separators, both fluids are propelled into a passive or static crossover. The crossover has a liquid passage that directs liquids back to the center and toward the inlet of the pump. The lighter components are direct back by gas passages toward the exterior of the gas separator for discharge into the casing annulus. Friction losses hinder the movement of the fluids through these passages and reduces the efficiency of the separation.

Gas separator fluid crossover for well pump


A fire extinguishing apparatus for use in collecting and extinguishing relatively lightweight Class A material includes a vacuum with an associated hopper, a conduit extending from the vacuum, and extinguisher connected to the conduit. Also, provided is a method of collecting and extinguishing relatively lightweight Class A material, which includes the steps of (a) causing the Class A material to be forcibly moved through a contained passageway and (b) extinguishing the Class A material as it passes through the contained passageway.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of a fire extinguishing apparatus and a method of use therefor. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the invention relates to a fire extinguishing apparatus and a method of use for collecting and extinguishing loose and relatively lightweight Class A material.
2. Prior Art
Presently, there exist many types of apparatus and methods for extinguishing building fires. Most commonly, building fires are dowsed with water using conventional fire truck and associated equipment.
Once the building fire has been sufficiently contained, there remains a great deal of potentially lightweight Class A material, such as blown insulation, paper, or grain with storage bins for example, wherein burning embers may exist. The removal of such material is presently a cumbersome and lengthy process. It requires use of buckets wherein firemen set up a removal line such that the insulation passes out of the building by hand. Once removed from the building, each bucket of material is further extinguished.
There remains a need to provide an apparatus and method which obviate the present apparatus and methods for removal of Class A lightweight material, such as insulation. The fire extinguishing apparatus and method of the present invention solve these problems.


A method for detecting loss of SF6 gas from electrical utility apparatus determines a molar ratio of gas in a container at an initial time and of gas in the container at a subsequent time. Measurement of temperature is determined by averaging ambient temperature and temperature of the surface of the container. The initial values of pressure and temperature define the initial value of n as follows:no=Pgas o/Tgas oThe value at a subsequent time isnn=Pgas n/Tgas nThe molar ratio can be defined asnn/no or as no/nn.

High voltage circuit breakers are used in the transmission and distribution of electrical energy. These circuit breakers are located inside of tanks which contain SF6 gas. The SF6 gas acts as an electrically insulating gas to prevent arcing. The purpose of the gas is to control arcing across electrical contacts during opening of closing of contacts in the breaker.
SF6 gas monitors are known in the art as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,592 Pacanowski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,370 EerNisse et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,451 Stendin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,914 Meyer et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,483 Meyer et al. In the above referenced patents, SF6 density in a container which houses electrical switch gear is monitored by observing density and comparing the measurement to an industry standard. Monitoring of density change necessarily involves computations of the quantity of gas present in the container. The quantity of gas present in the container is determined by measuring gas pressure and gas temperature and applying the perfect gas equation.PV=nRT
In the prior art, the temperature inside of the electrical apparatus container has been measured from the outside. Measurement from the outside is necessary when a temperature measuring transducer is not incorporated in the container at the time of manufacture. Because of arcing considerations, and conditions inside the container, it is generally impractical to measure temperature of the gas directly inside of the container, especially in the case where it is desired to provide SF6 monitoring on an existing tank which does not include a provision for temperature measurement inside the tank. For this reason, the prior art measures temperature of the tank skin, and attempts to estimate the true temperature inside the tank in order to as closely as possible estimate the true temperature of the gas inside the tank.
In the prior art devices, measurements are made only at specific times, and information relating to density loss as a function of time or trends of density loss are not made.
Daily variations of SF6 pressure due to temperature change, preclude using pressure measurements alone in detecting smaller leaks. The ideal gas law is used to adjust for pressure measurements alone. Under the ideal gas law, the ideal pressure temperature relationship of SF6 is linear.
In electric utilities, several hundred thousand pounds of SF6 per year are lost due to faulty seals. The loss of this expensive dielectric gas is an environmental concern and is subject to routine pressure inspections to determine leakage. Since SF6 is a potent greenhouse gas, early detection of leaks can prevent environmental degradation, reduce replacement costs and allow maintenance staff to implement repair before an emergency condition develops. Slow leaks from mechanical seals are difficult to detect and current technology in the electrical industries lack the requisite sensitivity.

Method and apparatus for monitoring SF6 gas and electric utility apparatus


A multilayer ceramic electronic component may include: a multilayer ceramic capacitor including a ceramic body in which a plurality of dielectric layers are stacked, a pair of first external electrodes and a pair of second external electrodes formed on both side surfaces of the ceramic body and extended to portions of a mounting surface of the ceramic body, and first and second internal electrodes alternately stacked, having the dielectric layer therebetween, exposed through at least one side surface of the ceramic body, and connected to the first and second external electrodes, respectively; and an interposer substrate including an insulation substrate bonded to the mounting surface of the multilayer ceramic capacitor, and first and second connection terminals formed on the insulation substrate and connected to the first and second external electrodes, respectively.

The present disclosure relates to a multilayer ceramic electronic component and a board having the same mounted thereon.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors, multilayer chip electronic components, are a chip type condensers mounted on circuit boards of several electronic products such as display devices, for example, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), and the like, computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones, and the like, to serve to charge or discharge electricity therein or therefrom.
The multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) may be used as a component of various electronic devices due to advantages such as a small size, high capacitance, and easiness of mounting.
The multilayer ceramic capacitor may have a structure in which a plurality of dielectric layers, and internal electrodes having different polarities, to have a dielectric layer therebetween, are alternately stacked.
Since the dielectric layer has piezoelectric and electrostrictive properties, a piezoelectric phenomenon may occur between the internal electrodes when a direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) voltage is applied to the multilayer ceramic capacitor, such that vibrations may be generated.
The vibrations may be transferred to a circuit board on which the multilayer ceramic capacitor is mounted through external electrodes of the multilayer ceramic capacitor, such that the entire circuit board acts as a sound reflective surface to generate vibration sound, noise.
The vibration sound may correspond to an audio frequency in a range of 20 to 20,000 Hz, causing listeners discomfort. The vibration sound causing listeners discomfort as described above is referred to acoustic noise.

Multilayer ceramic electronic component and board having the same mounted thereon