A mount for supporting a cathode-ray tube is employed in a frit sealing furnace. The frit seal furnace (1) comprises a furnace body (3) and conveyor belts (5) disposed in the furnace body (3) for feeding mounts (21) which each support a panel (31) and a funnel (32) that are superposed one on the other with a frit glass (33) interposed therebetween. Each of the conveyor belts (5) is composed of a pair of chain belts (4a, 4b). The mount (21) is placed on the conveyor belts (5) in the frit seal furnace (1) through a space which comprises a mesh screen (26), so that the mount (21) is suitable for use in the frit seal furnace (1). When the tube body of a cathode-ray tube is broken, glass pieces are prevented from falling onto the furnace floor by the mesh screen. The mesh screen does not obstruct air flows in the furnace.

Process of manufacturing cathode-ray tubes such as color cathode-ray tubes or monochromatic cathode-ray tubes include a step of joining a panel and a funnel to each other while they are passing through a frit sealing furnace, i.e., joining them to each other with a frit seal. Usually, a frit seal furnace comprises a furnace body having a heating means and a conveyor belt extending through the furnace body. On the conveyor belt, there is placed a mount which supports a tube body composed of a panel and a funnel that are superposed one on the other with a frit glass interposed therebetween. The panel and the funnel are joined to each other with a frit seal when they are fed through the furnace body by the conveyor belt.
Heretofore, the conveyor belt in a frit seal furnace is in the form of a mesh belt combined with a helical coil. In the frit seal furnace, a jet nozzle is attached to the neck to bake an intermediate film (primal film) coated in the step of forming a fluorescent surface, and air if caused to flow upwardly for joining the panel and the funnel with a frit seal while replacing air in the tube body.
The mount for supporting the panel and the funnel comprises a base in the form of a frame, a holder connected to the base by a plurality of legs for engaging a round portion (circular portion at the boundary between the neck and the funnel) of the tube body, and abutments for abutting respectively against three sides of the panel and the funnel
In the conventional frit seal furnace, the mesh belt (conveyor belt) of metal is driven in sliding engagement with metal skid rails which support the mesh belt. Therefore, metal particles are scraped off by sliding frictional engagement between the mesh belt and the metal skid rails. These metal particles fly up because of the upward air streams, and tend to be attached to the frit glass. As a result, the completed cathode-ray tube has a deteriorated pressure resistance at the frit seal region.
During long usage of the frit seal furnace, metal particles produced as described above and glass pieces of broken tube bodies are deposited on the floor of the frit seal furnace. When the deposited metal particles and glass pieces are to be removed, the metal belt is cut off to provide a gap, and the furnace floor is cleaned with a cleaner through the gap while moving the metal belt. Consequently, it is time-consuming to clean the furnace floor.
After the furnace floor has been cleaned up, the metal belt is joined again. However, the restored metal belt contacts a drive drum under a different condition, and is liable to become tortuous. As it takes considerable time to make adjustments for reducing such a tortuous condition of the metal belt, the initial process of starting to operate the frit seal furnace is delayed.
In view of the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a frit seal furnace which is capable of suppressing the production of metal particles that would adversely affect the pressure resistance of the frit seal region of a cathode-ray tube, and also of improving the process of cleaning a furnace floor and reducing a tortuous condition of a conveyor belt.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mount for supporting a cathode-ray tube in such a frit seal furnace.

Frit seal furnace and mount for cathode-ray tube


A paper feeder includes a recording-media container, a width regulating member, and a locking mechanism. The recording-media container is attachable to and detachable from a body of an image forming apparatus. The recording-media container stores a recording medium. The width regulating member regulates a position in a widthwise direction of the recording medium stored in the recording-media container. The locking mechanism steplessly changes a movable range of the width regulating member in the widthwise direction. The width regulating member includes a lever configured to cooperate with the width regulating member to hold the locking mechanism so as to bring the locking mechanism into an unlocked state. The locking mechanism in a locked state restricts movement of the width regulating member in the widthwise direction, and regulates wobbling of the width regulating member in a direction orthogonal to the widthwise direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper feeder and an image forming apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
As conventionally known, image forming apparatuses include a paper feeder. The paper feeder loads recording media for image formation and stores the recording media. The paper feeder is capable of being put into and taken out from the body of the image forming apparatus in order to replenish and store recording media. The paper feeder includes a recording-media container and a width regulating member. The recording-media container houses recording media. The width regulating member regulates the width position of the recording media stored in the recording-media container (the width position is a position in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the recording media).
In feeding a recording medium, the width regulating member keeps the recording medium at a proper posture in the recording-media container while conforming to a predetermined conveyance standard position. For example, when the conveyance standard position is center standard position, the width regulating member often used is a pair of side regulating plates aligned in the widthwise direction of the recording media. The pair of side regulating plates are coupled to each other through a rack pinion mechanism and cooperate to move toward and away from each other in the widthwise direction of the recording media. In the rack pinion mechanism, the pinion gear is disposed on the inner bottom surface of the recording-media container. The rack is disposed at each of side regulating plates and meshes with the pinion gear at both sides of the pinion gear.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-7162 discloses a paper feeder that includes this type of side regulating plates. Specifically, a locking mechanism includes a locking pin and a pair of pinching racks. The locking pin is operable to move up and down on one of side regulating plates. The pair of pinching racks are fixed in the recording-media container and have a longitudinal dimension in the widthwise direction of the recording-media container. In order to fix the positions of the width regulating members with respect to recording media of an undefined size, the positions of the width regulating members are steplessly variable in the widthwise direction. Specifically, the pair of pinching racks are arranged to make their rack teeth face each other. Then, the locking pin is moved downward to force its engaging teeth at its lower end into the gap between the facing rack teeth. Thus, the engaging teeth are meshed with the facing rack teeth.
In the locking mechanism disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-7162, the engaging teeth at the lower end of the locking pin are forced into the gap between the facing rack teeth. This ensures a firm mesh of the engagement tooth with both rack teeth. However, the firm mesh (position maintaining function) necessitates a high level of operation force for the up-and-down operation of the locking pin (locking operation and unlocking operation), leaving room for improvement in operability. In addition, the side regulating plates cooperate to move toward and away from each other in the widthwise direction, whereas the locking pin is operated upward and downward orthogonal to the widthwise direction. Thus, in the series of actions, it has been impossible to implement a one-touch action to move the locking pin upward and downward while moving the side regulating plates in the widthwise direction. Instead, it has been necessary to perform the up-and-down operation and the moving operation in the widthwise direction individually, leaving room for improvement in operability.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism of a width regulating member having both the good operability and the good position fixing function.

Paper feeder and image forming apparatus


This invention relates to a method of controlling the spread of dirofilariosis, such as for example heartworm, by administering to at least one non-human animal infested with filarioid nematodes such as Dirofilaria spp or susceptible to have been infested with filarioid nematodes such as Dirofilaria spp, an effective dose of a combination of a neonicotinoid compound and a pyrethroid compound.

Dirofilariosis are widespread diseases caused by filarioid nematodes (superfamily Filarioidea) of the genus Dirofilaria (Dirofilaria spp) that spread from host to host through the bites of mosquitoes. The principal agent of canine dirofilariosis in the Americas is Dirofilaria immitis but it can also infect cats, wolves, coyotes, foxes and other animals, such as ferrets, sea lions and even bovines, equine and humans. The parasite is commonly called "heartworm" because the adult reproductive stage of its life cycle resides primarily close to the heart, in the pulmonary artery of dogs where it can live for many years. Heartworm infection will result in serious disease and possible death for the host. When a mosquito bites an infected and microfilaremic animal, young heartworms called microfilariae enter into the mosquito's digestive system. Within two weeks, the microfilariae develop into infective larvae inside mosquitoes and migrate up to the proboscis; these infective larvae can be transmitted to another animal when mosquitoes take their next blood meals. Upon entering the dogs, the larvae develop and migrate to the dog's heart where they mature and breed. Development of the larvae into adult worms takes about 180 days in dogs. When at least one male and one female adult worms have developed, they can produce offspring called microfilariae. These microfilariae are released in the bloodstream of the host from where they can be ingested by a mosquito that feeds upon the infected hosts. The Dirofilaria. immitis life cycle is completed when the ingested microfilariae mature into infective larvae in the mosquito. Once mature, heartworms can live for 5 to 7 years in dogs and up to 2 or 3 years in cats. Because of the longevity of these worms, each mosquito season can lead to an increasing number of worms in an infected pet.
Dirofilaria. immitis presents as white threadlike round worms reaching up to 20 cm for adult males (12-20 cm) and 31 cm for adult females (25-31 cm), with a mean diameter of 1 mm. They are characterized by a relatively smooth cuticle. Heartworms are primarily found in the pulmonary artery in dogs with low parasitic burden (<50 worms). In infestations with high parasitic burden (>50 worms), they may reach the right ventricle, right atrium, and occasionally vena cava. The initial response includes swelling of small pulmonary arteries and blood clotting. The physical presence of the heartworm parasite in the pulmonary artery and right ventricle of the canine heart, and the resulting destruction of tissue, causes respiratory and circulatory problems which can be fatal under conditions of stress or vigorous exercise. Pulmonary hypertension and right-sided congestive heart failure may result. Because it takes a large number of heartworms to clog up blood flow to a significant degree, heartworms can be present inside the heart for up to 2 or 3 years before causing clinical signs. As the disease progresses, lung tissue can be destroyed leading to a worsening cough and liver and kidney damage can occur due to reduced blood flow to these organs. If left untreated, heartworm disease may result in death. After adult heartworms mate and produce immature heartworms, an infected dog which is bitten by an uninfected mosquito will transmit microfilariae to the mosquito, beginning the cycle again. The life cycle of the heartworm is approximately 6 months. The heartworm parasite has also been shown to be zoonotic and causing focal lung, liver, eye and cutaneous lesions in man (Hamilton, R. G., et al, Exper. Parasitol., 56:298-313 (1983)).
Dirofilariosis and for example heartworm disease is present all over the world and may be also spreading to new regions of the world, notably because of traveling pets and invasive vectors. Stray and neglected dogs and certain wildlife such as coyotes, wolves, and foxes can also be carriers of heartworms. Mosquitoes blown great distances by the wind and the relocation of infected pets to previously uninfected areas also contribute to the spread of heartworm disease.
Heartworm disease due to Dirofilaria immitis continues to cause severe disease and even death in dogs and other animals (cats, bovines, humans, guinea porcine, and ferrets) in many parts of the world, even though safe, highly effective and convenient preventatives have been available for the past two decades. Moreover, the parasite and vector mosquitoes continue to spread into areas where they have not been reported previously. The control of such parasites has long been recognized as an important aspect of human and animal health regimens. Although a number of alternatives to control infestation are in use, these suffer from a variety of problems, including a limited spectrum of activity, the need for repeated treatment (lack of compliance) and, now emerging, resistance by parasites.
Currently for curative treatment, only heart surgery and two arsenic derivatives are available for clinically infested dogs, namely thiacetarsamide (Caparsolate® marketed by Abbott laboratories) and melarsomine dihydrochloride (Immiticide® marketed by Merial). The treatment is expensive, integrated in a complex protocol during which the life of the treated animal is at risk. The protocol requires that the activity of the animal is reduced to a strict minimum. The sudden death of the worms may cause a fatal shock to the animal.
For chemoprophylaxis, two alternatives are possible to prevent heartworm disease in dogs: daily administration of diethylcarhamazine citrate, or monthly administration of macrocyclic lactones.
Number of macrocyclic lactones have been commercialized, as sole active ingredient, such as for example ivermectin (Heartgard® marketed by Merial), doramectin (Dectomax® marketed by Zoetis), moxidectin or abamectin (Avomec® marketed by Merial), milbemycin oxime (Interceptor®, marketed by Elanco) or Selamectin (Revolution® marketed by Zoetis), and some in combination with another active compound, such as for example milbemycin oxime and lufenuron and/or praziquantel (Sentinel® and Sentinel® Spectrum marketed by Virbac), mylbemicin oxime and spinosad (Trifexis® marketed by Elanco), imidaclorpid and moxidectin (Advantage® Multi marketed by Bayer Animal Health), ivermectin and pyrantel pamoate and/or praziquantel (Tri heart marketed by Merck or Iverhart® max marketed by Virbac).
Also, a slow release formulation of subcutaneously injected moxidectin-impregnated lipid microspheres, providing single dose continuous protection in excess of six months, has been marketed by Fort Dodge under the name of Moxidectin SR®, ProHeart 6® or Guardian SR®. However, this product was voluntarily removed from the US market in September 2004 for issues related to safety, and currently has been allowed once again by FDA under a risk minimization and restricted distribution program.
Further the currently marketed ivermectin formulations come with certain precautions for usage. The American Heartworm Society (AHS) recognizes the safety-net (or reach-back effect) and adulticidal properties of some macrocyclic lactones, particularly ivermectin. However, heartworm-positive working dogs might be more at risk to develop severe thromboembolism and death. Worsened radiographic and echocardiographic images with greatly restricted exercise suggest that such treatment is contraindicated. Furthermore, the use of macrocyclic lactones is contraindicated in heartworm positive dogs since this can contribute to select resistant strains of nematodes and because it can be dangerous to the treated animal. That is the reason why, in asymtomatic dogs, macrocylic lactones should be administered with much caution and with regular testing and clinical examination by a veterinarian at least once every 4-6 months. Likewise, ivermectin must be used with caution in collies and related shepherd dogs that are more susceptible to its neurotoxic effects than other dog breeds.
Accordingly, there is a need for a product which could control the spread of heartworm infestation, notably in order to overcome the foregoing problems.
It has been found surprisingly that administration of a combination of a neonicotinoid compound and a pyrethroid compound to an animal prevents the spread of filarioid nematodes such as Dirofilaria spp. to other animals, notably by inhibiting feeding and killing the mosquito vectors exposed to animals with filarioid nematodes.

Methods for controlling the spread of dirofilariosis


An electric door lock interchangeable between fail safe and fail secure modes comprising a housing for receiving a plurality of internal components of the door lock. A window is included in the housing, the window allowing access to the internal components to change the operation of the lock between fail safe an fail secure modes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to door locks, and in particular to electric door locks that can be operated in both the fail-safe and fail-secure mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Security doors to prevent theft or vandalism have evolved over the years from simple doors with heavy duty locks to more sophisticated egress and access control devices. Hardware and systems for limiting and controlling egress and access through doors are generally utilized for theft-prevention or to establish a secured area into which (or from which) entry is limited. For example, retail stores use such secured doors in certain departments (such as, for example, the automotive department) which may not always be manned to prevent thieves from escaping through the door with valuable merchandise. In addition, industrial companies also use such secured exit doors to prevent pilferage of valuable equipment and merchandise.
One type of door lock which has been used in the past to control egress and access through a door is an electromagnetic system which utilizes an electromagnet mounted on a door jamb, with an armature mounted on the door held by the electromagnet to retain the door in the closed position when the electromagnet is actuated. Such locking mechanisms are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,808, to Gillham, U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,910, to Geringer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,028, to Logan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,128 to Logan, Jr., et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,497, to Geringer et al. All of these references utilize an electromagnet mounted in or on a door jamb and an armature on the door held by the electromagnet to retain the door in the closed position. Such electromagnetic locking systems are quite effective at controlling egress and access through the door they are installed on. Unfortunately, however, such systems are quite expensive, and require a fairly complex installation, often with the electromagnet being mounted in the door jamb.
Another type of system which is known in the art is the electric door strike release mechanism, in which a latch bolt located in and extending from a locking mechanism located in a door is receivable in an electrically operable door strike mounted in the frame of the door. The door may be opened either by retracting the latch bolt into the locking mechanism to thereby disengage it from the door strike, or by electrically actuating the door strike mechanism to cause it to open and to thereby release the extended latch bolt from the door strike mechanism. Typically, such electrically operable door strikes pivot to allow the door to close without the door strike mechanism being electrically actuated. Such door strike mechanisms are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,107, to Hanchett, U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,010, to Hanchett et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,180, to Helmar. Like the electromagnet/armature systems discussed above, electrically operated door strike systems are also expensive, and require a significant installation into the door jamb, which must usually be reinforced.
Electrically operable door locks have also been developed that can be installed on a door through which access is to be controlled by an electrically operable security system. Such a lock is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,073 to Geringer et al. The door opening mechanism of the door lock is selectively locked and unlocked by controlling the supply of electricity to the door lock to thereby control access or egress through the door. The electrically operable door lock uses an electromagnetic actuator to drive a locking member between a locked position in which it engages a latch actuating member to prevent it from being rotated to retract a latch bolt to open a door, and an unlocked position in which it is disengaged from the latch actuating member to allow it to be rotated to retract the latch bolt to open the door. By reversing the position of the electromagnetic actuator in the door lock apparatus, the system may operate in either a fail secure mode in which the electromagnetic actuator must be powered to unlock the door, or a fail safe mode in which the electromagnetic actuator must be powered to lock the door.

Fail safe/fail secure lock with quick change access window


A horseshoe utilizes reinforced belting material as padding. In certain embodiments, the reinforced belting material is cut to a certain depth in selected locations and the belting material may be removed along the layers of reinforcing material. A truncated toe portion of a horseshoe is adhesively bonded to the turf side of the toe portion of the pad. The reinforcing material provides lateral stability to the padding allowing a thicker pad with the same stability. A new use is provided for used or seconds belting material for the economical production of improved horseshoes. The padding may also be molded from rubber or plastic with a turf side of the toe portion recessed to accommodate the truncated horseshoe.

The present invention relates to an improved, economical padded horseshoe and the method of making the same.
Today, many horses are utilized on paved surfaces. Horse's trotting on paved surfaces presents a detrement to the horse's skeletal system due to the shock of the horse's hoof hitting the hard surface and presents a problem of road and street damage, particularly to asphalt pavements, due to the steel horseshoes. The steel horseshoes cause significant pavement erosion at a much faster rate than that encountered by rubber tires of vehicles rolling over the road. This pavement erosion presents significant additional expense to municipalities and local governments which are faced with regular repaving operations.
The present invention solves both of these problems in an economical manner.


A combustor for a gas turbine engine operates with high combustion efficiency, and low carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide emissions during low, intermediate, and high engine power operations. The combustor includes a fuel delivery system that includes at least two fuel stages, at least one trapped vortex cavity, and at least one mixer assembly radially inward from the trapped vortex cavity. The two fuel stages include a pilot fuel circuit that supplies fuel to the trapped vortex cavity through a fuel injector assembly and a main fuel circuit that also supplies fuel to the mixer assembly with the fuel injector assembly.

This application relates generally to combustors and, more particularly, to gas turbine combustors.
Air pollution concerns worldwide have led to stricter emissions standards both domestically and internationally. Aircraft are governed by both Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. These standards regulate the emission of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO) from aircraft in the vicinity of airports, where they contribute to urban photochemical smog problems. Most aircraft engines are able to meet current emission standards using combustor technologies and theories proven over the past 50 years of engine development. However, with the advent of greater environmental concern worldwide, there is no guarantee that future emissions standards will be within the capability of current combustor technologies.
In general, engine emissions fall into two classes: those formed because of high flame temperatures (NOx), and those formed because of low flame temperatures which do not allow the fuel-air reaction to proceed to completion (HC and CO). A small window exists where both pollutants are minimized. For this window to be effective, however, the reactants must be well mixed, so that burning occurs evenly across the mixture without hot spots, where NOx is produced, or cold spots, when CO and HC are produced. Hot spots are produced where the mixture of fuel and air is near a specific ratio when all fuel and air react (i.e. no unburned fuel or air is present in the products). This mixture is called stoichiometric. Cold spots can occur if either excess air is present (called lean combustion), or if excess fuel is present (called rich combustion).
Modern gas turbine combustors consist of between 10 and 30 mixers, which mix high velocity air with a fine fuel spray. These mixers usually consist of a single fuel injector located at a center of a swirler for swirling the incoming air to enhance flame stabilization and mixing. Both the fuel injector and mixer are located on a combustor dome.
In general, the fuel to air ratio in the mixer is rich. Since the overall combustor fuel-air ratio of gas turbine combustors is lean, additional air is added through discrete dilution holes prior to exiting the combustor. Poor mixing and hot spots can occur both at the dome, where the injected fuel must vaporize and mix prior to burning, and in the vicinity of the dilution holes, where air is added to the rich dome mixture.
Properly designed, rich dome combustors are very stable devices with wide flammability limits and can produce low HC and CO emissions, and acceptable NOx emissions. However, a fundamental limitation on rich dome combustors exists, since the rich dome mixture must pass through stoichiometric or maximum NOx producing regions prior to exiting the combustor. This is particularly important because as the operating pressure ratio (OPR) of modem gas turbines increases for improved cycle efficiencies and compactness, combustor inlet temperatures and pressures increase the rate of NOx production dramatically. As emission standards become more stringent and OPR""s increase, it appears unlikely that traditional rich dome combustors will be able to meet the challenge.
One state-of-the-art lean dome combustor is referred to as a dual annular combustor (DAC) because it includes two radially stacked mixers on each fuel nozzle which appear as two annular rings when viewed from the front of a combustor. The additional row of mixers allows tuning for operation at different conditions. At idle, the outer mixer is fueled, which is designed to operate efficiently at idle conditions. At higher powers, both mixers are fueled with the majority of fuel and air supplied to the inner annulus, which is designed to operate most efficiently and with few emissions at higher powers. While the mixers have been tuned for optimal operation with each dome, the boundary between the domes quenches the CO reaction over a large region, which makes the CO of these designs higher than similar rich dome single annular combustors (SACs). Such a combustor is a compromise between low power emissions and high power NOx.
Other known designs alleviate the problems discussed above with the use of a lean dome combustor. Instead of separating the pilot and main stages in separate domes and creating a significant CO quench zone at the interface, the mixer incorporates concentric, but distinct pilot and main air streams within the device. However, the simultaneous control of low power CO/HC and smoke emission is difficult with such designs because increasing the fuel/air mixing often results in high CO/HC emissions. The swirling main air naturally tends to entrain the pilot flame and quench it. To prevent the fuel spray from getting entrained into the main air, the pilot establishes a narrow angle spray. This results in a long jet flames characteristic of a low swirl number flow. Such pilot flames produce high smoke, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbon emissions and have poor stability.
In an exemplary embodiment, a combustor for a gas turbine engine operates with high combustion efficiency and low carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and smoke emissions during low, intermediate, and high engine power operations. The combustor includes a fuel delivery system that includes at least two fuel stages, at least one trapped vortex cavity, and at least one mixer assembly radially inward from the trapped vortex cavity. The two fuel stages include a pilot fuel circuit that supplies fuel to the trapped vortex cavity through a fuel injector assembly and a main fuel circuit that also supplies fuel to the mixer assembly with the fuel injector assembly.
During low power operation, the combustor operates using only the pilot fuel circuit and fuel is supplied to the trapped vortex cavity. Combustion gases generated within the trapped vortex cavity swirl and stabilize the mixture prior to the mixture entering a combustion chamber. Because the mixture is stabilized during low power operation, combustor operating efficiency is maintained and emissions are controlled. During increased power operation, the combustor operates using the main fuel circuit and fuel is supplied to the trapped vortex cavity and the mixer assembly. The mixer assembly disperses fuel evenly throughout the combustor to increase the mixing of fuel and air, thus reducing flame temperatures within the combustion chamber. As a result, a combustor is provided which operates with a high combustion efficiency while controlling and maintaining low carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and smoke emissions during engine low, intermediate, and high power operations.

Methods for decreasing combustor emissions


In a fuel cell system which controls an operation of a converter on the basis of a duty command value including a feedforward term, the deterioration of a response of the converter at a time of a rapid increase (a rapid decrease) of a load is suppressed. There is disclosed a fuel cell system comprising a converter disposed between a fuel cell and a load device, and a controller for controlling the operation of the converter on the basis of the duty command value including the feedforward term, wherein the controller calculates the feedforward term by use of a command value of a physical amount concerning the converter in an operation range where a requested power from the load device is in excess of a predetermined threshold value.

Heretofore, there has been suggested a hybrid power supply device where a fuel cell, which receives supply of a reactant gas (a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas) to generate a power, is mounted together with a secondary cell such as a storage battery. For example, in recent years, there has been suggested a hybrid power supply device including a main power source part (a fuel cell), an auxiliary power source part (a battery), and a voltage regulating part (a DC-DC converter or the like) which regulates an output voltage of the main power source part to a predetermined direct-current voltage and outputs the regulated direct-current voltage (see Patent Document 1). The voltage regulating part of such a device is configured to operate in one of a feedforward drive mode and a feedback drive mode in accordance with operation parameters of the main power source part.


A method for forming an isolation region in an integrated circuit is disclosed. The method includes forming a pad layer on a semiconductor substrate, and forming an oxidation masking layer on the pad layer, wherein the pad layer relieves stress from the oxidation masking layer. Next, portions of the oxidation masking layer and the pad layer are patterned and etched. A first oxide layer is thermally grown on the substrate, and a second oxide spacer is formed on a sidewall of the pad layer and the oxidation masking layer. After forming a nitride spacer on a surface of the second oxide spacer, the substrate is thermally oxidized to form the isolation region in the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming isolation regions, and more particularly, to a method of nitride-sealed oxide-buffered local oxidation of silicon (NO-LOCOS).
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art of isolating semiconductor devices becomes one important aspect of modem metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) and bipolar integrated circuit technology. With increasing densities of up to hundreds of thousands of devices on a single chip, improper isolation among devices will cause current leakages. These current leakages can consume significant amounts of power. In addition, improper isolation between devices can exacerbate latchup, which can damage the circuit temporarily or permanently. Still further, improper isolation can result in noise margin degradation, voltage shift or crosstalk.
In MOS technology, isolation is usually practiced by forming isolation regions between neighboring active regions. Typically, an isolation region is formed by ion-implanting a channel stop layer of polarity opposite to the source electrode and the drain electrode of the integrated circuit device, and growing a thick oxide, often referred to as field oxide (FOX). The channel stop and the FOX cause the threshold voltage in the isolation region to be much higher than those of the neighboring active devices, making surface inversion not likely to occur under the field oxide region.
The local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) method is widely used to isolate active regions in silicon. In LOCOS technology, a silicon nitride layer is used as an efficient oxidation mask which prevents the oxidants from reaching the silicon surface covered by silicon nitride. In addition, the silicon nitride layer oxidizes very slowly compared to silicon. However, direct deposition of silicon nitride on silicon can cause stress induced defects when the structure is subjected to oxidation at elevated temperature. These defects can be considerably reduced by forming a thin (100-500 angstroms) pad oxide layer between the silicon and the silicon nitride. The pad oxide reduces the force transmitted to the silicon by relieving the stress. It thus acts as a buffer which cushions the transmission of stress between the silicon and the silicon nitride.
Unfortunately, the pad oxide layer provides a lateral path for oxidation of silicon. This lateral extension of oxidation through pad oxide is frequently referred to as a "bird's beak" because of its form. The extent of the bird's beak can be reduced by decreasing the thickness of the pad oxide, which, however will cause more stress induced defects from the above silicon nitride layer. Therefore, the thickness of the pad oxide and the silicon nitride layer must be optimized to minimize the extent of the bird's beak without generating defects.
Several methods in the prior art have been designed for improving the LOCOS isolation process to minimize the bird's beak. For example, the sealed-interface local oxidation (SILO) process uses an additional thin silicon nitride over the silicon substrate followed by forming a pad oxide layer and then a thick silicon nitride layer. The SILO process can reduce the bird's beak, but at the expense of generating more stress, more crystal defects, and higher leakage currents.
Another improved LOCOS method, called buried oxide (BOX) process, has been devised which uses an aluminum mask to etch a silicon groove and then subsequently remove a plasma deposited silicon dioxide layer. The BOX process can effectively reduce the bird's beak, but at the expense of manufacture complexity.
FIG. 1A shows a schematic cross-section of a conventional poly-spacer LOCOS (PS-LOCOS) structure, wherein polysilicon spacers 12 are formed on the sidewalls of a substrate 10, a pad oxide 16 and a silicon nitride layer 14. This structure is then subject to a thermal oxidation, thereby forming field oxide regions 18 as shown in FIG. 1B. After the polysilicon spacer 12, the pad oxide 16 and the silicon nitride layer 14 are removed, an non-planar topography is disadvantageously generated near the edge of the field oxide regions 18.
FIG. 2 further shows a schematic cross-section of a conventional nitride-spacer LOCOS (NS-LOCOS) structure, wherein nitride spacers 22 are formed on the sidewalls of a substrate 20, a pad oxide 26 and a silicon nitride layer 24. The disadvantage of this structure is its stress-induced defects near the edge of the grown field oxide regions (not shown).

Method of nitride-sealed oxide-buffered local oxidation of silicon


A sound-insulating cap is designed for conventional microphones without EMI protection. In an environment where EMI is likely to affect the performance of a conventional microphone, the cap is used to eliminate a substantial part of the acoustic noise and thus assess whether EMI is present during the measurements using the microphone. The cap has a member snugly fitting over the receptor of a microphone, the member made of a number of layers of acoustically different materials. Venting is provided to prevent a damage to the membrane of the microphone during the installation and removal of the cap.

It is well known that the performance of a conventional microphone or, generally, a sound lever meter or acoustical measuring system may be affected by electromagnetic interference (EMI) which may be present in the area of interest as a result of electromagnetic radiation From various sources. Most of existing sound level meters are affected by EMI. More advanced sound meters are equipped with EMI shields. For conventional meters, lacking such protection, it is desirable to assess the effect of EMI on a sound level meter to minimize the resulting systematic measurement error. The more advanced sound level meters (SLMs) are also much more expensive than conventional SLMs.
To assess the presence of EMI and its effect on a sound level meter that has inadequate EMI protection, the level of sound reception must be significantly reduced if not totally eliminated (which is very difficult). An acoustic insulation is needed which would be practically transparent to electromagnetic interference while removing a significant portion of the acoustic signal bandwidth. For practical considerations, a reduction of at least 30 dB would be sufficient.
Various devices are known for protecting a microphone (SLM) from dust or atmospheric conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,810 is exemplary of such arrangements. They are not designed for sound insulation. On the contrary, the measured sound level should not be significantly reduced by such shields.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an acoustically insulative, EMI transparent device suitable for acoustically insulating a sound level meter, typically a conventional microphone having a membrane transducer.
It is another object of the invention to provide a reasonably simple and inexpensive acoustically insulative, EMI transparent device which would provide acoustic insulation of at least 30 dB for most standard SLMs.

Sound insulating cap for sound level meters


This is a system for controlling the heating of water in the tank, water in tank adapted to be heated by a first heater and a second heater, the system comprises a timer adapted to keep time, and a sensor to monitor the temperature of the water in the tank at a first position and the temperature of the water in the tank at a second position. The system is adapted to set a first set point temperature at a specified time and the first set point temperature is varied by the system over time. The system is also being adapted to set a second set point temperature the second set point temperature also being varied by the system over time. The system has an activator to activate the first heater to maintain the temperature of water in the tank at the first position at about the first set point temperature at a specified time. The system has an activator to activate the second heater to maintain the temperature of water in the tank at the second position at about the second set temperature at a specified time.

Conventional electric domestic hot water heaters typically comprise a tank for water storage and at least one electrical element for heating water stored in the tank. Typically, an electric hot water heater is equipped with two ohmic electrical elements for heating: one near the top of the tank, and one near the bottom of the tank.
Upper and lower thermostats are further typically located in proximity to each element. These thermostats maintain the temperature of the water in the top and bottom regions at a single pre-selected set-point. Often thermostats incorporating bi-metallic switches are used to maintain the tank temperature.
This method of heating water in a hot water tank has numerous disadvantages. From a user's point of view, this type of heater wastes energy. As the temperature of the tank is maintained near a single set-point throughout the day, energy given off by the heater to the environment is constantly replenished. Similarly, the tank may be heated at all hours of title day, even though the end user may not require a full tank of water at all hours of the day.
From an energy provider's point of view, conventional hot water heaters require power at all hours of the day. Accordingly, even though a user has no need for hot water and electric power may be at a premium to the energy provider because of peak energy demands across the entire electric power grid, the elements of a hot water heater may be consuming electrical energy.
From a consumer's perspective, a control system for the heating of an electrical hot water tank which reduces the net energy provided to the tank as compared to the energy provided by a conventional hot water heater is desirable.
From an energy provider's perspective, a control system which allows the majority of the heating of a hot water tank to be heated during times when energy is not in high demand is desirable.
Moreover, if such a system when implemented in multiple households can be used to increase power demand during off peak-energy consumption times (the "off-peak periods") and decrease power demand during peak energy consumption times (the "peak periods"), further benefits may be achieved. These benefits are realized because an electric energy provider is typically equipped to provide a certain minimum load at all times during the day. This minimum load is generated by electric generating stations whose output is difficult to vary. During the peak periods, additional electric energy may be generated by generating stations whose power output may be varied. Accordingly, the cost of producing excess energy during the peak period may be significant. Similarly, during the off-peak periods demand for electricity may fall below the minimum generated output power. Because of the nature of the generating stations used to generate this minimum power, it may difficult if not impossible to reduce the minimum power produced. Therefore, energy providers are desirous of shifting some of the load demanded by their consumers from the peak periods to off-peak periods.
It is known that the use of time shifting the heating of hot water in domestic electric hot water tanks may be used to "shift" energy demand requirements for an electric energy provider.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,024 issued Mar. 5, 1991, naming Kirk as an inventor discloses a domestic hot water heater controller which turns a hot water heater off during peak demand times and activates the hot water heater to maintain a single net point temperature during off-peak periods.
Recognizing that maintaining the temperature at this set-point during off-peak periods may be wasteful, U.S. Pat. No. 2,238,624 issued Apr. 15, 1941 and naming Clark as inventor, discloses a hot water heater controller which does not activate the hot water heater until a critical time during an off-peak period. The critical time is calculated based on the rate at which the water in the tank may be heated and is chosen so as to provide a full tank of hot water at the beginning of the peak period.
These systems, however, do not take into account the electric energy provider's desire to evenly distribute demand during off-peak periods. U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,178 issued May 15, 1984 and naming Blau as inventor discloses a system which varies the power consumed by elements of the hot water heater by varying the duty cycle of the power provided to the elements so that the time required to fully heat a full tank water extends throughout the entire off-peak period. Thus, each hot water heater will consume a fraction of the power consumed by a conventional hot water heater, while remaining energized for a greater portion of the off-peak period.
Similarly, PCT application No. PCT/CA93/00455 naming Munroe et al. as inventors, discloses a system which distributes power consumption of a hot water heater by providing heating at intermittent, random time intervals during the off-peak period.
The known systems, however, do not provide for a flexible programming of the tank temperature at various times of the day, week, month or year. Moreover, the known systems do not provide for the direct and independent control of upper and lower tank temperature during these time intervals. Additionally, the known systems are not adapted to be simply fitted to existing tanks. Instead they require the installation of additional and temperature and control circuitry.


A package (44) for a semiconductor device (10) includes a. ceramic base (46, 146) with a mounting surface (50, 150) for supporting the device (10) and a light-transmissive cover (42, 142). A refractory seal ring (70) is fused to the base (46, 146) and to conductive paths (22) thereon. The upper surface (72) of the seal ring (70) is rendered optically flat with a selected angular relationship to the mounting surface (50). The upper and lower faces (76 & 78) of the cover (42, 142) are rendered optically flat with a selected angular relationship to each other, so that with an outer portion of the lower face (78) resting on the upper surface (72) of the seal ring (70), the faces (76, 78) have a selected angular relationship with the mounting surface (50, 150). The package (44) is expedient where the device (10) includes DMD's (30) having deflectable, light-reflective beams (32). The lower face (78) of the cover (42) includes an annular light-reflective coating (60, 160) surrounding a window (80) overlying the device (10). In some embodiments, the reflective coating (60) is deposited on the walls (56, 58) of a groove (54) formed in the lower face (78) of the cover (42). Facilities (90, 72/78 or 100) seal the cover (42, 142) to the seal ring (70). The reflective coating (60, 160) prevents any unmodulated light which is incident on the beams (32) from entering an optical system associated with the DMD-containing device (10). The sealing facilities (90, 72/78 or 100) include adhesives (90), which may contain microspheres, soft metals (90), glass frits (90), fusion bonding of the cover (42) to the seal ring (70), and solder preforms (100).

The present invention relates to a package for a semiconductor device, and, more particularly, to a protective package for a spatial light modulator ("SLM") which includes an array of active sites, each of which, in turn, includes a deflectable, light-reflecting beam and address circuitry for selectively deflecting the beam.
Numerous processes are known for producing active sites on a first surface of semiconductor wafers. The active sites may comprise one or more transistors and may include an integrated circuit having a variety of other circuit components. Wafers are ultimately separated into a plurality of individual chips, also known as dies or bars, each of which includes an array of active sites and a surface comprising a portion of what was formerly the wafer's first surface. Each active site has associated therewith one or more bond pads on the first surface. The bond pads are rendered electrically continuous with the active site, typically by depositing or otherwise forming the bond pads on top of, and in electrical contact with conductors formed on the wafer. Often some of the same steps used to produce the active sites also produce the conductors, which are themselves electrically continuous with the active sites.
The separation of the wafer into individual chips is produced by an operation which may be referred to as "sawing." Sawing separates the wafer along lines or paths extending between locations whereat adjacent active sites reside or will ultimately reside.
Wafers are often sawed into chips before effecting the processing which produces the active sites. The resulting chips are maintained in a chip matrix after sawing, and the chip matrix is processed to produce the active sites on each one thereof. The active sites may include or be associated with a spatial light modulator ("SLM"), such as that known as a deflectable mirror device or a digital micromirror device (collectively "DMD").
A DMD includes a light-reflective beam or similar mechanical member, which is associated with an active site and is so mounted to, or hinged from, the material of the wafer and the resulting chip as to be deflectable or movable between a normal position and one or more other positions. Deflection of the beam is achieved by attracting the beam toward or to an adjacent electrode which is at a different electrical potential from that of the beam. Deflection of the beam stores energy in the mount or hinge, which stored energy tends to return the beam to its normal position. Movement of the beam, which may be binary or analog, is controlled by the circuit components of the active sites associated with the beams. Deflection of the beam is facilitated by an undercut well which underlies the beam. The well is formed by appropriate etching of the wafer/chip material.
In use, an array or matrix of DMD's is arranged to receive light from a source. The received light which is incident on the reflective beams is selectively reflected or not reflected onto a viewing surface depending on the position of the beam. Such reflected light may be directed by each beam onto the viewing surface only when it is in one of its possible positions. In all other positions of each beam, the incident, reflected light is directed in such a way that it does not fall on the viewing surface. Appropriate energization of the circuit components associated with each beam of each active site permits the beam-reflected light on the surface to be presented as a rasterized array of pixels (as in a typical television) or as a scanning line of pixels (as in a line printer).
Because a DMD includes both circuit components, as well as a microminiature deflectable beam, it is especially sensitive to the environment and is, accordingly, typically sealed in a package which permits light to reach and to be reflected from the beams of the array. The package is desirably inexpensive to manufacture and to emplace and should not adversely affect the operation of the associated DMD's. Moreover, as noted above, unmodulated light is not reflected by the beams to a viewing surface. However, unless care is taken to properly "handle" this unmodulated light its reflection and/or absorption by surfaces in and surrounding the DMD may cause it to act as though it was modulated and to reach the viewing surface. As a consequence, it is also desirable if a DMD package also prevented, or aided in preventing, unmodulated light from reaching the viewing surface.
Accomplishing the above desiderata is one of the objects of the present invention.


An application server provides an application to client devices. Users of the client devices interact with the application to perform a business process. Data regarding user interactions with the application is transmitted from the client devices to the application server. Based on an analysis of the received data, a bot generation server generates a bot to automate a process step. The bot generation server provides a heatmap user interface (UI) that provides information regarding the process steps. Using the heatmap UI, the administrator selects a process step for automation. In response to the selection, the bot generation server identifies, based on the observed behavior, relationships between input fields, typical values for input fields, typical order of data entry into input fields, or any suitable combination thereof. Based on the identified patterns, the bot generation server generates a bot to automate some or all of the process step.

Using current RPA techniques, experts manually build RPA bots that interact with a user interface (UI) in the same manner that a user would. The bots perform routine software interaction tasks such as entering data in forms or looking up data. The design process typically involves experts discussing the process with users to determine which process to automate and how the automation will be most effective for users. Determining whether the automation was successful is determined either by the human experts or by tools that rely on backend data.

Generation of bots based on observed behavior


The present invention is generally related to an apparatus and method for sanitizing a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, in particular the invention relates to a system, method and device that attach to a CPAP device and sanitizes all of the parts of the CPAP device, including the inner areas of the hose, reservoir and face mask most prone for bacteria buildup. The device has an ozone operating system and one or more ozone distribution lines that distributes ozone to a CPAP device and a non-permeable bag for sanitizing a CPAP mask.

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by abnormal breathing during sleep. Pauses in breathing for people with sleep apnea can last from a few seconds to minutes during sleep, often resulting in significant levels of sleep disturbance, which may result in daytime fatigue, impaired reaction time, vision problems, and impaired daytime cognition.
Sleep apnea is often treated with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. CPAP devices prevent reduction of oxygen levels in the blood and sleep loss by delivering a stream of pressurized air through a hose to a nasal pillow or a full face mask surrounding a patient's nose. The CPAP devices work by applying a mild air pressure on a continuous basis to keep a patient's airways continuously open at a prescribed pressure for each patient, to maintain unobstructed breathing throughout a sleep period, with patient initiated breaths.
While CPAP treatment can be a highly effective treatment for sleep apnea, a major downside with CPAP treatment is non-compliance. Patients are often reluctant to continuously use CPAP devices, as cleaning maintenance of CPAP devices have proved to be tiring and difficult for users because of bacterial buildup, which requires continuous cleaning and prevention steps. When users are away from home or traveling, cleaning of CPAP devices is even more difficult and cleaning compliance is less regular for users who are frequently travelling, such as truck drivers, pilots and business people with a heavy travel schedule. Most manufacturers of CPAP devices recommend that users perform daily and weekly cleaning of their machines to prevent bacteria and mold buildup. In this instance, each part of the CPAP device needs to be cleaned individually, including the mask, the hoses and the humidification portion, which is difficult and time consuming for users on a daily or weekly basis particularly when a user is travelling. Other CPAP device cleaning methods include soaking the component parts of a CPAP device in a mixture of vinegar and water to disinfect the component parts. Because of the inherent nature for CPAP devices to collect bacteria and mold, a number of other products are available to consumers to make CPAP machines safer, including but not limited to:    Citrus II Cleaning Spray for masks and tubing, available at www.cpapxchange.com    Contour CPAP cleaning wipes    CPAP tube cleaning brushes, available at www.cpapxchange.com    CPAP Guardian, available at www.cpapguardian.com
Further, several patents and patent applications have been filed on CPAP devices, improvements and the like. The patents in the field of CPAP devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,845,350, 7,676,276, 6,276,304, 7,527,603, 7,767,168, 6,280,633, 7,022,225, 4,787,980 and US application numbers: 20100111792, 20060130834, 20040251125, 20050186108.
While some of the existing products, patents and applications described above refer to CPAP systems, methods and devices, there is no system, method or apparatus shown that covers the need to have an ozone system to sanitize, disinfect and clean a CPAP device and the inside of its component parts in a battery operated compact travel device that is easy to use while travelling, for ease of use and improved compliance of users, as described in accordance with the present invention.
Other systems, methods, apparatus features, and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, apparatus features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Devices, systems and methods for ozone sanitization of continuous positive airway pressure devices


Methods are provided for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. A polynucleotide comprising an immunostimulatory sequence is administered to a individual who has been exposed to or infected by HBV and/or HCV. The polynucleotide is not administered with a HCV or HBV antigen. Administration of the polynucleotide results in amelioration of symptoms of HBV and/or HCV infection.

Hepatitis is a generic term for disease involving inflammation of the liver. A variety of agents can cause hepatitis, including viruses, drugs, toxins, and autoimmune disorders. Additionally, hepatitis can arise secondary to non liver-related disorders. Viral infection is the most common cause of hepatitis.
At least 8 different hepatitis viruses are believed to exist, and include the A, B, C, D, E, F, G and cryptogenic hepatitis viruses. The hepatitis viruses are spread through a number of different virus families. Of these viruses, hepatitis B virus (HBV, a hepadnavirus) and hepatitis C virus (HCV, a flavivirus) pose the greatest public health problem in industrialized countries. Both hepatitis B and C are bloodborne diseases, although both viruses may also be transmitted perinatally and via sexual contact.
Hepatitis B and C can each give rise to acute and chronic infections. A relatively low level of mortality is due to acute B and C hepatitis (primarily due to fulminant hepatitis). However, the chronic forms of each disease pose significant medical issues. HBV is the most prevalent chronic infectious disease in the world, and poses a substantially larger perinatal transmission risk than HCV, with 90% of children born to HBV-infected mothers becoming lifelong carriers. HCV is currently the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States.
Only about half of HBV infections, and even fewer HCV infections, are symptomatic in the acute phase, which typically presents with symptoms such as jaundice, fatigue, abdominal pain and/or loss of appetite. Subclinical infections can be detected using diagnostic testing for viral antigens and/or DNA.
The vast majority (95-98%) of adults infected with HBV resolve their disease and experience no further ill effects, although newborns are at substantial risk of developing a chronic infection, with approximately 80-90% of perinatally infected individuals developing chronic disease. Chronic HBV infection is typically asymptomatic, although some symptoms of acute hepatitis B may be present. The long term sequelae of chronic HBV infection include liver fibrosis/cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure and death.
Chronic HBV infection is a substantial public health issue in Asia, where comparatively large percentages of the population are chronically infected with HBV. Mirroring these high rates of chronic infection are rates of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a liver cancer associated with chronic HBV infection.
In the U.S., acute HCV infections are substantially less common than acute HBV infections, by a factor of approximately ten. However, due to the substantially greater risk of progression to chronic infection (≧85%), the prevalence of chronic HCV infection is two to three times greater than that for chronic HBV infection. Additionally, HCV infection carries a much greater risk of the development of chronic liver disease and liver failure.
Although HBV and HCV are very different viruses, treatments for chronic infections with the two viruses are virtually identical. Currently available treatments for chronic hepatitis B and C infection are limited to interferons. Interferon α-2a, interferon α-2b and interferon alfacon-1 (a recombinant, non-naturally occurring interferon 1 variant) are currently used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis virus infection, although "combination" therapy with ribavirin (an anti-viral drug) and interferon α-2b has also been approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. However, these drugs require frequent administration and are associated with a large number of side effects, including "flu-like" symptoms (e.g., fatigue, fever, myalgia), leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, nausea, vomiting, and arthralgia. One rare complication of interferon administration is hepatotoxicity, which can be fatal. Unfortunately, only about 40% of patients show any improvement with interferon treatment, and may relapse after treatment is completed.
Currently, a number of new drugs are being developed for treatment of chronic HBV infection, including interferon β, interferon γ, interleukin 2, thymosin, acyclovir, lamivudine (3TC), and granulocyte colony factor. These drugs typically require long courses of administration, and most are accompanied by significant side effects.
Administration of certain DNA sequences, generally known as immunostimulatory sequences or "ISS," induces an immune response with a Th1-type bias as indicated by secretion of Th1-associated cytokines. The Th1 subset of helper cells is responsible for classical cell-mediated functions such as delayed-type hypersensitivity and activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), whereas the Th2 subset functions more effectively as a helper for B-cell activation. The type of immune response to an antigen is generally influenced by the cytokines produced by the cells responding to the antigen. Differences in the cytokines secreted by Th1 and Th2 cells are believed to reflect different biological functions of these two subsets. See, for example, Romagnani (2000) Ann. Allergy Asthma Immunol. 85:9-18.
Administration of an immunostimulatory polynucleotide with an antigen results in a Th1-type immune response to the administered antigen. Roman et al. (1997) Nature Med. 3:849-854. For example, mice injected intradermally with Escherichia coli (E. coli) β-galactosidase (β-Gal) in saline or in the adjuvant alum responded by producing specific IgG1 and IgE antibodies, and CD4+ cells that secreted IL-4 and IL-5, but not IFN-γ, demonstrating that the T cells were predominantly of the Th2 subset. However, mice injected intradermally (or with a tyne skin scratch applicator) with plasmid DNA (in saline) encoding β-Gal and containing an ISS responded by producing IgG2a antibodies and CD4+ cells that secreted IFN-γ, but not IL-4 and IL-5, demonstrating that the T cells were predominantly of the Th1 subset. Moreover, specific IgE production by the plasmid DNA-injected mice was reduced 66-75%. Raz et al. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:5141-5145. In general, the response to naked DNA immunization is characterized by production of IL-2, TNFα and IFN-γ by antigen-stimulated CD4+ T cells, which is indicative of a Th1-type response. This is particularly important in treatment of allergy and asthma as shown by the decreased IgE production. The ability of immunostimulatory polynucleotides to stimulate a Th1-type immune response has been demonstrated with bacterial antigens, viral antigens and with allergens (see, for example, WO 98/55495).
Other references describing ISS include: Krieg et al. (1989) J. Immunol. 143:2448-2451; Tokunaga et al. (1992) Microbiol. Immunol. 36:55-66; Kataoka et al. (1992) Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 83:244-247; Yamamoto et al. (1992) J. Immunol. 148:4072-4076; Mojcik et al. (1993) Clin. Immuno. and Immunopathol. 67:130-136; Branda et al. (1993) Biochem. Pharmacol. 45:2037-2043; Pisetsky et al. (1994) Life Sci. 54(2):101-107; Yamamoto et al. (1994a) Antisense Research and Development. 4:119-122; Yamamoto et al. (1994b) Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 85:775-779; Raz et al. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:9519-9523; Kimura et al. (1994) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 116:991-994; Krieg et al. (1995) Nature 374:546-549; Pisetsky et al. (1995) Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 772:152-163; Pisetsky (1996a) J. Immunol. 156:421-423; Pisetsky (1996b) Immunity 5:303-310; Zhao et al. (1996) Biochem. Pharmacol. 51:173-182; Yi et al. (1996) J. Immunol. 156:558-564; Krieg (1996) Trends Microbiol. 4(2):73-76; Krieg et al. (1996) Antisense Nucleic Acid Drug Dev. 6:133-139; Klinman et al. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 93:2879-2883; Raz et al. (1996); Sato et al. (1996) Science 273:352-354; Stacey et al. (1996) J. Immunol. 157:2116-2122; Ballas et al. (1996) J. Immunol. 157:1840-1845; Branda et al. (1996) J. Lab. Clin. Med. 128:329-338; Sonehara et al. (1996) J. Interferon and Cytokine Res. 16:799-803; Klinman et al. (1997) J. Immunol. 158:3635-3639; Sparwasser et al. (1997) Eur. J. Immunol. 27:1671-1679; Roman et al. (1997); Carson et al. (1997) J. Exp. Med. 186:1621-1622; Chace et al. (1997) Clin. Immunol. and Immunopathol. 84:185-193; Chu et al. (1997) J. Exp. Med. 186:1623-1631; Lipford.et al. (1997a) Eur. J. Immunol. 27:2340-2344; Lipford et al. (1997b) Eur. J. Immunol. 27:3420-3426; Weiner et al. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:10833-10837; Macfarlane et al. (1997) Immunology 91:586-593; Schwartz et al. (1997) J. Clin. Invest. 100:68-73; Stein et al. (1997) Antisense Technology, Ch. 11 pp. 241-264, C. Lichtenstein and W. Nellen, Eds., IRL Press; Wooldridge et al. (1997) Blood 89:2994-2998; Leclerc et al. (1997) Cell. Immunol. 179:97-106; Kline et al. (1997) J. Invest. Med. 45(3):282A; Yi et al. (1998a) J. Immunol. 160:1240-1245; Yi et al. (1998b) J. Immunol. 160:4755-4761; Yi et al. (1998c) J. Immunol. 160:5898-5906; Yi et al. (1998d) J. Immunol. 161:4493-4497; Krieg (1998) Applied Antisense Oligonucleotide Technology Ch. 24, pp. 431-448, C. A. Stein and A. M. Krieg, Eds., Wiley-Liss, Inc.; Krieg et al. (1998a) Trends Microbiol. 6:23-27; Krieg et al. (1998b) J. Immunol. 161:2428-2434; Krieg et al. (1998c) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:12631-12636; Spiegelberg et al. (1998) Allergy 53(45S):93-97; Horner et al. (1998) Cell Immunol. 190:77-82; Jakob et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161:3042-3049; Redford et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161:3930-3935; Weeratna et al. (1998) Antisense & Nucleic Acid Drug Development 8:351-356; McCluskie et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161(9):4463-4466; Gramzinski et al. (1998) Mol. Med. 4:109-118; Liu et al. (1998) Blood 92:3730-3736; Moldoveanu et al. (1998) Vaccine 16: 1216-1224; Brazolot Milan et al. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:15553-15558; Broide et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161:7054-7062; Broide et al. (1999) Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 118:453-456; Kovarik et al. (1999) J. Immunol. 162:1611-1617; Spiegelberg et al. (1999) Pediatr. Pulmonol. Suppl. 18:118-121; Martin-Orozco et al. (1999) Int. Immunol. 11:1111-1118; EP 468,520; WO 96/02555; WO 97/28259; WO 98/16247; WO 98/18810; WO 98/37919; WO 98/40100; WO 98/52581; WO 98/55495; WO 98/55609 and WO 99/11275. See also Elkins et al. (1999) J. Immunol. 162:2291-2298, WO 98/52962, WO 99/33488, WO 99/33868, WO 99/51259 and WO 99/62923. See also Zimmermann et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 160:3627-3630; Krieg (1999) Trends Microbiol. 7:64-65; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,663,153, 5,723,335, 5,849,719 and 6,174,872. See also WO 99/56755, WO 00/06588, WO 00/16804; WO 00/21556; WO 00/67023 and WO 01/12223.
There exists a need in the art for effective treatments of acute and chronic hepatitis B and C.
All publications and patent applications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Methods of suppressing hepatitis virus infection using immunomodulatory polynucleotide sequences


A server rack assembly for supporting a receiving bracket accommodating a plurality of electronic components, includes a base, a pair of rails mounted on the base, and at least one pair of securing brackets. The base spacedly protrudes two pairs of opposite stands. At lease one first positioning hole is defined in each stand. Each rail spans between the respective stands and is mounted thereon. One of the securing brackets is securely mounted on a rear end of one of the rails, and the other securing bracket is slidably attached to a front end of the rail. Each securing bracket protrudes at least one positioning member for inserting in the at least one first positioning hole. A sliding member attached to each securing bracket elastically abuts against one corresponding stand for preventing the positioning member being disengaged from the positioning hole of the stand.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a server rack assembly with a mounting assembly suitable for mounting a rail to different server rack bases.
2. Description of Related Art
Server system racks have been provided for housing electronic equipment, such as network server systems, data storage devices, power supplies, and the like. A server rack assembly generally includes a base and a pair of rail structures for attaching a receiving bracket to the base. Conventionally, a rail structure includes an internal rail mounted on the receiving bracket, and an external rail mounted on the base. The internal rail is slidably received in the external rail for mounting the receiving bracket on the base. The external rail is usually mounted on the base by screwing or bolting. However, this method is of a fixed structure where each external rail is only suitable for mounting on one particular kind of base. In actual use, base designs vary, and so costs are higher because a unique rail must be designed and manufactured for each kind of base.
What is needed, therefore, is a mounting assembly suitable for mounting the rail to different bases.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A process for producing a zeolite membrane composite includes a step of obtaining FAU-type seed crystals, a step of depositing the FAU-type seed crystals on a support, a step of forming an AFX-type zeolite membrane on the support by immersing the support in a raw material solution and growing an AFX-type zeolite from the FAU-type seed crystals by hydrothermal synthesis, and a step of removing a structure-directing agent from the AFX-type zeolite membrane. In this way, the AFX-type zeolite membrane can be provided.

Various studies and developments are currently underway on forming an aluminosilicate zeolite membrane on a support so as to obtain a zeolite membrane composite and using the zeolite membrane composite in applications using zeolites, such as specific gas separation or molecular adsorption. As the zeolite membrane, a membrane formed of a DDR-, LTA-, FAU-, MFI-, or CHA-type zeolite is known.
For example, International Publication WO/2012/046545 (Document 1) discloses a technique for forming an FAU-type zeolite membrane on a surface of a porous alumina tube and converting part of a surface of the FAU-type zeolite membrane into a CHA-type zeolite membrane by hydrothermal synthesis. International Publication WO/2015/159986 (Document 2) discloses a technique for depositing an FAU-type zeolite as seed crystals on a porous support and conducting hydrothermal synthesis so as to form a CHA-type zeolite membrane on the support.
Meanwhile, the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,235 (Document 3) discloses a process for producing AFX-type zeolite (SSZ-16) powder by using Y-type zeolite powder as a raw material.
Incidentally, there are no case reports that indicate success in making AFX-type aluminosilicate zeolites in the form of a membrane. Thus, the development of practicable AFX-type zeolite membranes is expected. The production process disclosed in Document 3 relates to AFX-type zeolite powder and is not suited for the production of AFX-type zeolite membranes. If the production method according to Document 3 is used to produce a zeolite membrane on a surface of a support, hydrothermal synthesis is conducted by immersing the support in a synthetic sol containing Y-type zeolite powder. However, because the Y-type zeolite powder is apt to settle out on the bottom of a container that retains the synthetic sol, it is difficult to suitably produce a zeolite membrane.

Zeolite membrane composite and process for producing zeolite membrane composite


A motion compensation device compensates for movement of an optical system of a camera. The motion compensation device includes a motion detection unit to detect motion of the optical system. A drive unit then drives a motion compensation lens in response to the detected motion while a stopping position detection unit detects a stopping position of the motion compensation lens. A centering operation unit moves the motion compensation lens from the stopping position to a first range about the optical axis or a second range greater than the first range about the optical axis. Depending upon whether the camera is in a one-frame photographic mode or a continuous photographic mode, the camera selects between the first or the second range for photographs subsequent to the first photograph.

The present invention relates to motion compensation devices which compensate for blurring motion of an optical image caused by movement of an optical system. More particularly, the present invention relates to motion compensation devices which control a centering operation of a motion compensation lens during rapid photography.
Image blur suppression devices work within an optical system and have as their object the suppression or reduction of blurring in an image projected onto an image plane. A motion compensation device is a type of image blur suppression device which compensates for motion incident upon the optical system. Motion is typically imparted to the optical system by way of vibrations in the optical system itself, or in a surrounding holding member. In general, known motion compensation devices cause a compensation lens to shift counter to the motion of the optical system so as to shift the image projected by the optical system relative to the optical system.
Conventional motion compensation devices detect motion of an optical system, such as a camera, by way of a sensor and move a motion compensation lens perpendicular to an optical axis in accordance with a detected output of the sensor. The motion compensation device then compensates to fix a subject image on an image plane.
FIG. 8 (PRIOR ART) illustrates operation of a conventional motion compensation device. As illustrated in FIG. 8 (PRIOR ART), a photographic image plane 52 moves in response to driving of a motion compensation lens with a conventional motion compensation device. A photographer using a conventional motion compensation device half depresses a shutter button to photograph a subject 51 in photographic image plane 52 and to commence motion compensation by the motion compensation device. If no motion compensation is performed, a blurring motion is present in photographic image plane 52. However, when the motion compensation operation is repeatedly performed for a predetermined period of time, photographic image plane 52 shifts to become photographic image plane 53. When the photographer releases the shutter button, the motion compensation device stops.
Upon completion of the motion compensation, the motion compensation lens is moved to a center of an optical axis through a centering operation to prepare for a next photographic operation. During execution of a next motion compensation operation, the motion compensation lens moves from the center of the optical axis.
The conventional motion compensation device performs the motion compensation operation in response to half depression of the shutter button and sets a center of the motion compensation lens in a position separate from center of the optical axis. When photography is subsequently performed, the center of the motion compensation lens resumes movement from this position, reaches a boundary of a motion compensation range, and is unable to further perform motion compensation.
After the photographer has half depressed the shutter button, and the shutter button is fully depressed, motion compensation is resumed. Once the motion compensation operation is stopped, and after the centering operation has been performed, motion compensation operation may again resume. Then, after an exposure has been performed by opening and closing a shutter, motion compensation operation ends, and a subsequent centering operation is performed such that the camera is ready for a next photographic operation.
As illustrated in FIG. 8A (PRIOR ART), when the conventional motion compensation device commences motion compensation from a rest position, i.e. from a position where motion compensation is not performed, photographic image plane 52 moves to become photographic image plane 53. Thus, when the blurring motion compensation device performs a centering operation, the printed photographic image plane 52 is unexpectedly changed to photographic image plane 54.
In view of the above, when a photographer looks through a viewfinder of an optical system, such as a viewfinder of a single lens reflex camera, upon release of a half depressed shutter button, photographic image plane 52 becomes stationary due to motion compensation, but unexpectedly moves to become photographic image plane 54. In this manner, when motion compensation is performed, there is a problem that a photographic image is poorly set because the photographic image plane unexpectedly changes to a different photographic image plane.
Moreover, through full depression of the shutter button from the half depressed state, when exposure is performed after the centering operation has been performed, there is a problem that a photograph is taken of an unintended location.
In a camera equipped with a film autowind device, a conventional motion compensation device stops motion compensation for each frame of photography and also performs a centering operation between frames. During operation, a photographic frame which is subsequent to photographic image plane 52 subsequently becomes image plane 54. Furthermore, because photographs are taken in rapid succession, a problem is encountered that photographs taken with motion compensation are not intended by a photographer.

Motion compensation device to control a centering operation of a motion compensation lens


A first seal member is formed integrally on both surfaces of a first metal plate. The first seal member is integrally formed on a cooling surface of the first metal plate, except a region corresponding to a reaction surface facing an electrode reaction surface, and except regions of inlet buffers and outlet buffers. The first seal member has an expansion. The position of an end surface of the expansion substantially matches the position of a wall surface of the outermost groove of a coolant flow field to prevent the flow of a coolant around the electrode reaction surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell formed by stacking an electrolyte electrode assembly between a pair of metal separators in a stacking direction. The electrolyte electrode assembly includes a pair of electrodes and an electrolyte interposed between the electrodes. A reactant gas supply passage, a reactant gas discharge passage, a coolant supply passage, and a coolant discharge passage extend through the fuel cell in the stacking direction. Further, a reactant gas flow field for supplying a reactant gas along a reaction surface of the electrode is formed between the metal separator and the electrolyte electrode. Further, a coolant flow field for supplying a coolant is formed between the metal separators.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, a solid polymer fuel cell employs a polymer ion exchange membrane as a solid polymer electrolyte membrane. The solid polymer electrolyte membrane is interposed between an anode and a cathode to form a membrane electrode assembly. Each of the anode and the cathode is made of electrode catalyst and porous carbon. The membrane electrode assembly is sandwiched between separators (bipolar plates) to form the fuel cell. In use, generally, a predetermined number of the fuel cells are stacked together to form a fuel cell stack.
In the fuel cell, a fuel gas (reactant gas) such as a gas chiefly containing hydrogen (hereinafter also referred to as the hydrogen-containing gas) is supplied to the anode. An oxidizing gas (reactant gas) such as a gas chiefly containing oxygen (hereinafter also referred to as the oxygen-containing gas) is supplied to the cathode. The catalyst of the anode induces a chemical reaction of the fuel gas to split the hydrogen molecule into hydrogen ions and electrons. The hydrogen ions move toward the cathode through the electrolyte membrane, and the electrons flow through an external circuit to the cathode membrane, creating a DC electrical energy.
In the fuel cell, for example, a metal plate is used for fabricating the separator. The strength of the metal separator is high in comparison with a carbon separator, and the metal plate is suitable for fabricating a thin separator. Reactant gas flow fields having the desired shapes are formed on the metal separator by press forming in order to reduce the thickness of the metal separator, and to achieve reduction in the overall size and weight of the fuel cell.
Seal members are formed integrally on the metal separator, and the metal is partially exposed on the cooling surface for controlling the temperature of the electrode reaction surface of the membrane electrode assembly facing the metal separator. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-129396 discloses a method of producing a fuel cell separator 3 as shown in FIG. 7. According to the disclosure, a seal member 2 is formed integrally on a metal separator body 1 by injection molding.
The fuel cell separator 3 has a cooling surface and a reaction surface opposite to the cooling surface. On the cooling surface, metal of the separator body 1 is exposed in a central region 4 of the fuel cell separator 3. A coolant flow field 6 is formed by corrugated patterns 5 in the central region 4. The coolant flow field 6 is connected to fluid passages 8a, 8b through channels 7a, 7b at diagonal positions. The reaction surface faces an electrode reaction surface 9 of an electrode (not shown).
In the conventional technique, the surface area of the exposed metal in the central region 4 of the separator body 1 is larger than the surface area of the electrode reaction surface 9. Therefore, temperature distribution in the electrode reaction surface 9 is large. Consequently, variation occurs in the power generation performance of the unit cells (fuel cells) of the fuel cell stack.

Fuel cell having buffer and seal for coolant


A TV graphical user interface (GUI) is provided in a satellite TV system to enable users to create customized channel lists. Everyday, favorite and theme lists may be generated to respectively combine TV channels being watched regularly, favorite TV channels and channels relating to particular subjects. In a regular channel changer mode, the TV GUI displays graphical channel changer composed of channel boxes that show numbers and logos of available TV channels. To create a customized channel list, the TV GUI is switched into a change list content mode, wherein a channel grid is displayed in addition to the channel changer. Using a "drag and drop" procedure, graphical boxes corresponding to selected channel boxes may be moved from the channel changer to cells of the channel grid, to create a customized list of TV channels or to add new channels to an existing list. TV channels may be removed from the list by moving boxes that represent unwanted channels from the grid and placing them outside the grid area. TV channels may be put into the customized list in order of their priority established by the user. The position, graphical configuration and operations of the channel changer that represent the customized channel list remain unchanged compared with the channel changer in the regular channel changer mode.

The growing availability of TV broadcast and interactive services creates a need for a new type of TV control system that would facilitate user access to options offered by TV program providers. For example, direct broadcast satellite services require users to make their selection among about a thousand TV channels with various TV programs and services. Direct television satellite broadcasting is provided via direct broadcast satellites at an uplink frequency of 17.3 to 17.9 GHz and a downlink frequency of 12.2 to 12.7 Ghz.
A digital satellite television system for direct television broadcasting includes a transmitter for transmitting television signals including video and audio components to a satellite. The satellite retransmits the received television signals to an outdoor antenna assembly that includes a dish-like antenna and a block converter. The dish-like antenna directs the received television signals to the block converter that converts the frequencies of the received television signals to respective lower frequencies.
The television signals produced by the block converter are connected via a coaxial cable to an indoor satellite receiver coupled to a TV set. The satellite receiver tunes, demodulates and otherwise processes the received television signals to provide video and audio signals with a NTSC, PAL or SECAM format suitable for processing by the TV set that produces an image on a display screen in response to the video signals, and an audible response by means of speakers in response to the audio signals.
Within the transmitter, analog video and audio signals are converted to respective digital signals compressed according to the Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) encoding standard. The resultant digital signals are represented by a stream of packets including error correction data. The type of packet is identified by a header code. Packets corresponding to control data may also be added to the packet stream.
In the MPEG standard, the video information may be transmitted in the form of a luminance (Y) component and two color difference (U and V) components. For example, the first color difference component may represent the difference between the red image information and the luminance image information (R-Y), and the second color difference component may represent the difference between the blue image information and the luminance image information (B-Y). In addition, the color information is compressed because the two color difference components correspond to more than one picture element. The use of color difference components and the sharing of the color difference components between picture elements reduces the transmission bandwidth.
The digital information resulting from the compression and error correction encoding is modulated on a carrier using Quaternary Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation and transmitted to a satellite for retransmission.
The satellite receiver comprises a tuner for selecting the appropriate carrier signal retransmitted by the satellite and for converting the frequency of the selected carrier to an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. A QPSK demodulator demodulates the IF signal and supplies it to an error-correcting decoder to correct demodulated packets representing video and audio information. An MPEG decoder decodes and decompresses video and audio packets to form digital video and audio signals supplied to a TV set. A TV set-top box serves to deliver compressed digital video and audio signals in real time usable form to one or more TV sets.
A TV graphical user interface (GUI) may be displayed on the screen of a TV set to show a list of TV channels, programs, and services. As the digital satellite television system may provide about 1,000 TV channels with various TV programs and services, it would be convenient to create a customized list of programming with a reduced number of channels. For example, an "everyday", "favorite", or "theme" list may be built. The everyday list would include TV channels that the user wants to watch every day. The favorite list would combine favorite TV channels. The theme list would contain TV channels relating to a specific theme, for example, sport channels.
In a conventional TV GUI, substantial time and efforts are required to customize a list of channels. Users need to perform multiple operations in different GUI environments. For example, screen format for a customized list of channels may differ from the format of a GUI that displays a regular channel list.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a TV GUI that makes it possible to minimize the number of user inputs required to create a customized list of TV channels.
Further, it would be desirable to maintain the same GUI environment for regular GUI operations and for operations with the customized list.

TV graphical user interface that provides customized lists of programming