A continuous form assembly of self-laminating badges, includes a continuous length of transparent lamina, a lamina of pressure sensitive adhesive adhered to a first surface of the transparent lamina, and a continuous length of carrier paper releasably adhered to the lamina of pressure sensitive adhesive which mounts the transparent lamina. A plurality of spaced apart transverse cuts through the thickness and across the width of the transparent lamina forms a plurality of badges each of which includes, a print field for recording written or printed information disposed on a portion of a second surface of the transparent lamina, wherein a remaining portion of the transparent lamina not covered by the print field includes a lamination portion of sufficient proportion to be folded to cover both forward and rearward surfaces of an area of the transparent lamina covered by the print field. The pressure sensitive adhesive lamina is disposed on at least a portion of the first surface of the transparent lamina in a position to adhere the print field to the lamentation portion such that when the badge is assembled the lamination portion covers and adheres to both.

The use of a transparent lamina of plastic to cover and protect the information on a separately manufactured identification badge is well known. Typically the transparent lamina includes a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive adhered to one side of the lamina which is supported by a sheet of release paper. The badge is manufactured separately from the transparent lamina and typically is marked with information one at a time by hand, by a typewriter or by a printer. The lamina must then be removed from the release paper, carefully aligned with the badge and applied to the badge.
An identification tag that folds and laminates a transparent lamina over an adjacent single sided message surface is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,257.
Current identification badges or certification badges (that evidence the certification of a list of skills of the wearer) often require entry of information on both sides of the badge. The presence of information on both sides of an identification badge makes it desirable to apply a protective cover to both sides of the badge, thus known badges require the careful manipulation of two transparent lamina into alignment and contact with both sides of the badge.
The use of temporary passes or daily issued certification badges by large organizations requires the rapid issuance of a large number of badges, necessitating that the badge issuance and lamination process be as rapid as possible.
Thus, there exists a need in the art for a badge which can be economically manufactured, easily and quickly marked on both sides with the desired information and laminated with a transparent protective lamina to cover and protect both sides of the badge.

Self-laminating identification badge assembly and method of use


A printer system may include a coaxial extruder head that extrudes a core, a bulk, and/or a core and bulk cladding to form complex structures without retooling. The coaxial extruder head may include a distribution channel with an entrance and an exit, a priming chamber that surrounds the distribution channel. The priming chamber may include an outlet and a first inlet, a heating element thermally connected to the priming chamber, and a nozzle connected to the outlet of the priming chamber. Further, the nozzle may converge from the outlet of the priming chamber to an orifice of the nozzle. In addition, the exit of the distribution channel may be disposed at the orifice of the nozzle. This structure facilitates extruding a core and cladding type composite from the extruder head.

Most 3D printers rely on an extruder head to deposit a thin heated bead of material to specified layers to additively form an object. The extruder head moves both horizontally and vertically to guide the placement for each layer of the heated bead of material so that the added material selectively produces a solid object. The properties of the extruded material can significantly affect the speed, precision, and quality of producing a 3D object. As such, the majority of 3D printers limit the extruded material to a single substance. Changing the material at various points of production to form more complex composites, although possible, is not desirable due to the significant time it takes to re-tool the extruder head and make the appropriate adjustments to achieve a high quality composite object. Accordingly, it may be desirable to develop techniques that speed up the process, particularly, an extruder head assembly capable of producing complex composites without re-tooling.

Additive manufacturing techniques and systems to form composite materials


A mixer, which is a single balanced mixer, includes an LO port for inputting an LO signal, an RF port for inputting an RF signal, an IF port for outputting an IF signal, a balun for converting an unbalanced signal into a balanced signal, and a pair of mixer diodes connected in series. The mixer further includes a high-pass filter for blocking LO and IF signals and passing an RF signal and a low-pass filter for blocking LO and RF signals and passing an IF signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mixer and a converter including a mixer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a mixer used for converting frequencies from an RF signal to an IF signal and a converter including such a mixer in a communication apparatus or other apparatus utilizing a microwave band.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, in radio communication apparatuses, a mixer which mixes an RF (radio frequency) signal and an LO (local oscillation) signal has been used to generate an IF (intermediate frequency) signal that is easier to be processed in a circuit at the subsequent stage. As such a mixer, typically, a single balanced mixer or double balanced mixer which can efficiently reduce the leakage of an LO signal toward the output with a simplified circuit configuration is widely used.
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a typical single balanced mixer. A single balanced mixer 50 includes an LO port 51, an RF port 52 for inputting an RF signal, an IF port 53 for outputting an IF signal, a balun 54 for converting an unbalanced signal to a balanced signal, and mixer diodes 55 and 56. The single balanced mixer 50 further includes a high-pass filter 57 for blocking LO and IF signals and for passing only an RF signal and a low-pass filter 58 for blocking LO and RF signals and for passing only an IF signal. An LO signal input from the LO port 51 is converted by the balun 54 into a balanced signal. The balanced signal is then applied to the node between the balun 54 and the mixer diode 55 and to the node between the balun 54 and the mixer diode 56, thereby driving the mixer diodes 55 and 56. An RF signal input from the RF port 52 passes through the high-pass filter 57 and is applied to the mixer diodes 55 and 56, while an IF signal generated by the mixer diodes 55 and 56 passes through the low-pass filter 58 and is output from the IF port 53.
In general, when such a single balanced mixer 50 is used for the microwave band, for example, a mixer (not shown) of the type in which the balun 54 includes microstrip lines in the same plane of a substrate is used.
According to the mixer 50 of the related art, while it is possible to provide a planarized circuit by forming the balun 54 with microstrip lines, there is a problem in that the balun takes up space and is not suitable for miniaturization because of its shape and size.


A circuit and a method for detecting a voltage of a transformer are provided. The circuit includes a current output circuit coupled to a winding of a transformer to generate a current signal. A current-to-voltage circuit is coupled to the current output circuit to generate a voltage signal in response to the current signal. A sample-and-hold circuit generates an output signal by sampling the voltage signal. An input voltage is applied to the transformer. The output signal is correlated to the input voltage of the transformer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a power converter, and more particularly to a control circuit and detecting method of a switching power converter.
2. Description of Related Art
Various power converters have been widely used to provide regulated voltage and current. For the sake of safety reasons, an off-line power converter uses a transformer to provide isolation between its primary side and secondary side. Because a reflected voltage of the transformer can be used for regulations, the control circuit of the power converter normally includes a voltage-detection terminal for detecting the reflected voltage. In recent development, many control schemes have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,853,563 issued to Yang, et al., entitled "Primary-side controlled flyback power converter", and U.S. Pat. No. 7,016,204 issued to Yang et al., entitled "Close-loop PWM controller for primary-side controlled power converters", in which a voltage-detection terminal is used as a feedback input terminal. An object of the present invention is to develop a detection circuit using the voltage-detection terminal to detect the input voltage of transformer. Therefore, no further feedback input terminal is needed.

Detection circuit to detect input voltage of transformer and detecting method for the same


A pick-and-place apparatus (404) for magnetically and vacuum coupling an item (1100) includes a base (516), a magnetic coupler (500), and a vacuum coupler (502). The magnetic coupler (500) includes a vertical member (506) and a magnetic body (504), where the vertical member (506) has a first end (501) coupled to a center (507) of the base (516) and a second end (503) coupled to the magnetic body (504). The vacuum coupler (502) includes a first tubular member (510), a first vacuum cup (508), a second tubular member (514), and a second vacuum cup (512). The first tubular member (510) has a first end (509) coupled to a first end (517) of the base (516) and a second end (511) having the first vacuum cup (508) attached thereto. The second tubular member (514) has a first end (513) coupled to a second end (519) of the base (516) and a second end (515) having the second vacuum cup (512) attached thereto. The vertical member (506) of the magnetic coupler (500) is retractable for decoupling a magnetically coupled item.

A product to be sold to a customer may include several items contained within a complete package. An item inside the complete package may itself have its own packaging. In a distribution center, items are often hand-picked and placed for packaging. Robotic methods used for packaging are also known, and typically involve a positioning system having an attached robotic arm for picking and placing the items.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional pick-and-place apparatus may include a robotic arm 100 having a gripping mechanism 102 for picking and placing an item 104. Here, item 104 must be oriented in a vertical orientation for gripping mechanism 102 to grip item 104, since gripping mechanism 102 typically has a small gripping width 106. The vertical orientation required may result in pickup errors since a gripping area 108 of item 104 may be small and therefore difficult to grip accurately. In addition, when moving item 104 swiftly in a horizontal direction, item 104 may swing or sway, resulting in potential placement errors. If item 104 is moved more slowly to help eliminate this problem, efficiency of the pick-and-place method is reduced.
As shown in FIG. 2, a conventional vacuum pick-and-place apparatus may include a vacuum coupler 200 for picking and placing an item 202. Unfortunately, if item 202 consists of an object 204 within a package 203, where package 203 includes a main housing 206 and a cover 208, package 203 may undesirably open during pickup as shown in FIG. 3. Package 203 may open since vacuum coupler 200 picks up item 202 by cover 208 while the weight of object 204 rests on main housing 206. Package 203 may be sealed, but this adds an additional step to the packaging process, thereby increasing the required packaging time.
Conventional magnetic pick-and-place methods are known for picking and placing items having a ferrous content. However, as the speed of the pick-and-place method is increased, the required size of a permanent magnet to hold the item after pickup becomes quite large and impractical. A large magnet having a strong magnetic strength for pickup and fast positioning becomes a heavy drag on the positioning system and may further become an interference to other items or nearby electrical circuitry. In addition, a smaller item may be positioned inaccurately on a large magnet (since the large magnet may have a large magnetic surface) which may result in placement errors.
Combined vacuum and magnetic pick-and-place tools are known, but with these tools it may be difficult to pick and place items that are small, do not have planar surfaces, or require a high degree of placement accuracy. In addition, such conventional tools are inflexible to the varying shapes, sizes, and pickup needs of different items.
Accordingly, there is a resulting need for an accurate and efficient pick-and-place method and apparatus for picking and placing various items.

Pick-and-place tool for vacuum and magnetic coupling


Improved plant growth is realized especially with turf grasses by using an enhanced plant growth medium prepared by adding a bioefficacious amount of C1-C4 alkyl ether of methyl oxirane-oxirane copolymer that, serendipitously reduces the water repellency of the medium.

The majority of plants obtain most of their nutritional requirements from the plant medium in which they are growing. The plant growth medium, is characterized by its capacity to exchange ions. Plant roots derive their nutrients from the growth medium by the exchange of nutrient ions within the medium to sites on the roots of the plants. In the absence of an aqueous transfer medium, i.e., moisture, plants have not been able to grow well or even survive.
Agriculturalists and agronomists have to work with all types of plant growth media such as sand, natural earth, horticultural soils, and various soil-mimicking, soil-less plant culture substrates, all of which will be generically referred to hereinafter as soil; however, the bane of essentially all who work in the field is water repellent soil (WRS). Water repellent soil retards water infiltration into the soil matrix; often exists as local dry spots (LDS); and can render entire areas of the upper layers of the soil substrate essentially impervious to water penetration. Under rainfall or irrigation conditions, dire environmental consequences can result from the water repellency of the soil, such as surface runoff or leaching into pristine areas and/or potable reservoirs, of water and aqueous compositions containing pesticides and/or fertilizers.
A characteristic of soils, especially field soils, is that during a dry period, i.e., a period of days or weeks with very little to no rain, the moisture content of the soil can reach a very low level at which point the soil becomes unable to be re-wetted by the application of water via rain or irrigation alone and thus the soil becomes no longer an acceptable plant growth medium. It is understood by those in the art that the soil has dropped below the Critical Water Content (CWC).
Water repellency of a soil is not only a function of the initial water content of the soil, but is also a function of soil particle size, e.g., sands are more prone to water repellency than clays, as well as the type of organic matter incorporated in the soil. This organic matter induces water repellency in the soils in various ways, such as by providing hydrophobic organic substances leached from plant litter; organic substances that have been irreversibly dried; and/or hydrophobic microbial by-products.
Before water will evenly infiltrate into or percolate through a soil matrix, there must be a continuous film of water on the soil particles. In other words, the soil must first be wetted before water will flow through it. Agriculturalists have realized that the Critical Water Content level can be modified and the water repellency of these soils can be reduced through the use of wetting agent surfactant compositions; especially compositions containing nonionic surfactants. However, the degree of efficacy among surfactant chemistries and formulations has varied significantly. To ameliorate water repellency and/or to enhance infiltration, high rates of wetting agents are frequently applied; such elevated rates may become injurious to plants. For example, the surfactants being utilized to increase the moisture levels in soil tend to not penetrate deeply into the soil, i.e., they remain in the upper regions of the soil and biodegrade rapidly thus requiring numerous applications. Furthermore, the increase in concentration of the surfactants currently deemed necessary in initially water repellent soil often have a severe, negative impact on the surrounding environment, especially toxicity to plant tissues, and have a negative effect on the plant growth properties of the soil.
"Although an increasing number of researchers are aware of the occurrence and consequences of water repellency in a wide range of soils, it is still a neglected field in soil science." (Dekker et al., International Turfgrass Society Research Journal, Volume 9, 2001, pages 498-505)
Agriculturalists continue to seek a composition which, when applied to a plant growth medium susceptible to unacceptable drying, would i) rapidly and uniformly penetrate deeply into the medium matrix; ii) enable significant re-wetting of the medium, i.e., modify the Critical Water Content especially around the plant rootzone; iii) provide a long lasting effect to reduce the necessity for frequent applications; and iv) be effective at lower concentration levels than surfactants currently being used, thus reducing the negative impacts that any chemicals can have on the environment.
The instant invention provides the above-enumerated advantages and, serendipitously, enhances plant growth, especially plant density, color, and quality without the need for fertilizer applications.

Enhancing plant productivity by improving the plant growth medium environment with alkyl ethers of methyl oxirane-oxirane copolymer surfactants


A shift and scan test tube rack apparatus and method comprised of an array of initially aligned racks each comprised of a row of spaced apart receptacles each having a receptacle window through which a barcode on a received barcode labeled test tube is viewable and each rack further comprised of a plurality of line of sight windows each interposed between two adjacent spaced apart receptacles, and a shifting device for individually shifting any one of the racks in the array of initially aligned racks to a shifted position that allows a plurality of the receptacle windows in the shifted rack to be viewed through the plurality of line of sight windows in the remaining aligned racks for reading barcodes on barcode labeled test tubes received in the shifted rack.

Currently, reading of barcodes on containers such as test tubes and similarly shaped vessels oriented in an array requires movement of an element holding the containers far outside the array for reading barcodes on the containers by a barcode reader. Alternatively, the containers themselves are removed far outside of the array for reading barcodes on the containers by a barcode reader. This process is time consuming, requires complex, and consumes an inordinate amount of lab space.
For example, the MICROLAB/AT instrument line has been available for sale for nearly twenty years by the assignee of the present application, and can be purchased with a barcode reading option that requires barcode labeled containers to be lifted up from a rack in a special holder into a reading zone above the rack. Up to twelve tubes may be lifted at one time. A laser type barcode reader is mounted on an X-Y axis system that moves to read barcodes on the barcode labeled containers. This method requires the instrument volume above the rack to be clear and requires a complex lifter mechanism comprised of thirteen motors and a barcode reader comprised of two motors.
Additionally, The MICROLAB STAR instrument line has been available for sale in the USA for approximately eight years by the assignee of the present application, and can also be purchased with a barcode reading option. In this instrument line, barcode labeled containers are loaded in single column racks that are then loaded onto a tray that protrudes from the front main footprint of the instrument. Barcodes are read by engaging a toothed wheel into a corrugated pattern on the underside of the linear rack, and pulling the rack past a stationary barcode reader while a sensor checks for the presence or absence of a barcode labeled container.
Accordingly, when instruments move barcoded containers past a stationary barcode reading element, the required footprint of the instrument, or height of the instrument essentially doubles, requiring space for un-read test tubes and test tubes that have been read and are in final position. If the "waiting to read" position is outside the normal footprint of the instrument, this may constitute a hazard to passing personnel as test tubes are automatically ejected and read. Additionally, robotically manipulating single tubes (pick/carry/read/replace) is very time consuming and requires complex apparatus including special grippers for the tops of tubes, which may be fouled by the samples they contain, leading to cross-contamination. Pushing up test tubes or containers from below for reading requires large amounts of actuation and requires the volume above to be free of obstruction, as well as specialized tube holders that might obscure the bottom of a barcode label, should that label be applied incorrectly.
Furthermore, a hand-held or stationary commercial reader apparatus has been an available option for many years, but accurate tracking and positioning of containers with this type of apparatus becomes the sole responsibility of the user/operator and is error prone and requires laborious operator interaction.
Hence, there is a need to overcome the significant shortcomings of the known prior art as delineated hereinabove.

Shift and scan test tube rack apparatus and method


A position measuring system to determine the absolute angle position of a rotor of a motor during startup. With this absolute angle position, correct commutation for startup of the motor is provided. During later operation a high-precision incremental angle measurement is possible. For this purpose a switching unit is disposed between a rotary transducer and an evaluation unit, which is driven in such a manner that first the analog signals necessary for the determination of the absolute angle position are input to the evaluation unit and thereafter the analog signals required for incremental angle measurement are input to the evaluation unit. In order to avoid unacceptable incorrect positioning in case of incorrect switching between the first and second modes of operation, all the analog signals have an approximately equal spacing period.

The invention relates to a position measuring system and a measuring process for determining an absolute position.
In a large number of electric motors it is necessary to determine the absolute position of the rotor during startup so that when the rotor is turned on, the ampere-turns of its coils lie at a right angle to the axis of rotation so that the rotor starts up in the desired rotational direction with the desired torque. The range of the angle within which the absolute position must be known is dependent on the setup of the electric motor. In order to be able to install an angle measuring system flexibly, it is customary to determine the absolute position for commutation of an electric motor over one complete revolution. In subsequent operation the angle measuring system should output the position of the rotor with as high a precision as possible.
PCT Publication No. WO 89/11080 discloses a position measuring system with two spacing tracks whose spacing periods differ negligibly. The phase difference between the analog signals generated by scanning the two tracks is determined and from the detected phase differences, signals are generated that serve for commutation of an electric motor.
German Patent Publication No. DE 195 13 692 C1 discloses another position measuring system which outputs signals for commutation of a motor. The device includes a scale that has a first track that has only a single period per revolution of the scale, i.e., a low resolution track, and a second track that has many periods per revolution of the scale, i.e., a high resolution track. In a first operating mode the absolute position of the scale is determined by scanning the low resolution track and evaluating the analog signal generated from scanning the low resolution track. In a second operating mode, the scale is to rotated to a desired position. A switching unit switches the operation of the device from the first mode of operation to the second mode of operation. In the second mode of operation the high resolution track is scanned. In this second operating mode the desired position to which the scale is to be located is specified as a number of increments. An increment is defined in terms of one period or a fraction of one period. As an example, if one increment equals one period and if the desired position requires the scale to be rotated 100 increments in the second mode of operation, then the scale is revolved until such a time as 100 periods have been detected by a counter. If the switching unit has correctly placed the device in the second mode of operation, the scale will have been rotated only a fraction of one revolution because the high resolution track has many periods. However, if the switching unit has not correctly placed the device in the second mode of operation then the low resolution track is still being scanned and because it has only one period per revolution, the scale will be rotated 100 revolutions in order for the counter to count 100 increments. Thus if the switching unit does not properly operate, considerable mispositioning of the scale occurs.
Thus it is desirable to provide a position measuring system and a measuring process in which this type of grossly incorrect positioning is avoided. It is also desirable to provide a position measuring system and measuring process in which only slightly incorrect positioning is able to occur if a malfunction of the switching unit occurs.

Position measuring system and measuring process


An approach is provided for authenticating a payment card. Information is read from the payment card being used for a purchase. The information includes an identifier and data on a chip, in braille cells, and in markings in the payment card. A hash read from the chip, the identifier, and security codes derived from the braille cells and the markings are sent to a payment system. A hash of an (n+1)-th block of a blockchain is received and recorded in the chip in response to validations of the hash as matching a hash of an n-th block of the blockchain, the identifier, and the first and second security codes, and a generation of the hash of the (n+1)-th block. Data about the purchase and the hash of the (n+1)-th block are sent to the payment system.

The present invention relates to authenticating a payment, and more particularly to certifying a payment card as being original.
The use of two-factor authentication to prove one's identity is based on the premise that an unauthorized actor is unlikely to be able to supply both factors required for access. In an authentication attempt, if at least one of the factors is missing or supplied incorrectly, the user's identity is not established with sufficient certainty and access to the asset being protected remains blocked. An authentication factor in a two-factor authentication scheme may include (1) a physical object in the possession of the user, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) stick with a secret token, a bank card, a key, etc.; (2) a secret known to the user, such as a password, personal identification number (PIN), transaction authentication number (TAN), etc.; or (3) a physiological or behavioral characteristic of the user (i.e., biometric identifier), such as a fingerprint, eye iris, voice, typing speed, pattern in key press intervals, etc.
A drawback of known two-factor authentication techniques that use a physical object is their reliance on a possibly false assumption that the original request using the physical object is coming from an authorized entity and the physical object is secure. With the widespread use of wireless, near-field communication (NFC), and radio frequency (RF) technology, the physical object may be easily cloned, which reduces the two-factor authentication to a single authentication factor based on, for example, a knowledge of a PIN number.
Furthermore, a chip and PIN payment card is vulnerable to PIN harvesting via electronic means.
Accordingly, there is a need for an authentication technique that certifies that the physical object that serves as one of the authentication factors is truly the original physical object, and not a digital copy of the physical object (e.g., a copy that was scanned using one of many known duplication technologies).

International Business Machines Corporation


Systems and methods for sending and receiving text, or data, messages between wireless communication devices and wireline-messaging devices utilize a broadband connection to the wireline premises as the signaling channel. A message application server sends messages directly to wireline-messaging devices through a digital network, such as the Internet. Such systems and methods include wireline-messaging devices integrated with premises telephones connected to a PSTN, in which the telephones are adapted with thin client software to send and receive data messages.

Conventional text messaging systems use narrow-band signaling techniques similar to call-number delivery currently in use in the public switched telephone network (PSTN). In such systems, narrow-band exclusion is used as the signaling channel. Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) components are also utilized to send simple, or short, text messages from wireless devices to modified landline, or wireline, terminal devices. One disadvantage of such systems is that modifications must be made to narrow-band analog communication channels to provide the exclusions necessary to simultaneously transmit digital data messages. Another disadvantage is that narrow-band transmissions can accommodate only limited data-file sizes and transmission speeds. In addition, when text messages are transmitted to the home over narrow-band frequencies, a user must either leave a personal computer (PC) on all of the time or experience the inconvenience of having to boot up a PC to check messages.
Another disadvantage of using narrow-band connections for data messaging is that a connection must be made with a user's internet service provider (ISP) through a dial-up service in order to check messages. Often, when there is only one telephone line to a home, a home telephone is in use and one is unable to connect to the ISP for Internet connection.
Given such limitations to text messaging to wireline-messaging devices in the home, an opportunity for exchange of consumer information is lost. Advertisers are unable to quickly and reliably transmit advertising information to potential customers in their homes. Consumers are unable to quickly request and receive product information, sales notifications, and other marketing information in the convenience of their homes through direct data communications using existing telecommunications equipment.
As a result, there is a need for systems and methods of wireless-wireline messaging utilizing a broadband connection to premises such as the home and small business. There is a need for such systems and methods that do not require leaving a personal computer on all the time, or the inconvenience of booting up a PC, to check messages. There is a need for such systems and methods that utilize existing home telephones for sending and receiving data messages.
There is a need for such systems and methods that allow message retrieval without connecting to an ISP through a dial-up service. There is a need for such systems and methods that allow an "always on" connection for quick and reliable delivery of data messages, and that allow transmission of large communications files, such as for video and multi-media. There is also a need for such systems and methods that provide a means for quick and reliable transmission of consumer and advertising information to potential customers in their homes.

Systems and methods for messaging using a broadband connection

AT&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc.


The present invention is directed to a thick film conductive composition comprising: a) electrically conductive silver powder; b) ZnO powder; c) lead-free glass frits wherein based on total glass frits: Bi2O3: >5 mol %, B2O3: <15 mol %, BaO: <5 mol %, SrO: <5 mol %, Al2O3: <5 mol %; and d) organic medium, wherein (the content of ZnO/the content of the silver powder)×100 is more than 2.5.

The present invention can be applied to a broad range of semiconductor devices, although it is especially effective in light-receiving elements such as photodiodes and solar cells. The background of the invention is described below with reference to solar cells as a specific example of the prior art.
A conventional solar cell structure with a p-type base has a negative electrode that is typically on the front-side or sun side of the cell and a positive electrode on the backside. It is well-known that radiation of an appropriate wavelength falling on a p-n junction of a semiconductor body serves as a source of external energy to generate hole-electron pairs in that body. Because of the potential difference which exists at a p-n junction, holes and electrons move across the junction in opposite directions and thereby give rise to flow of an electric current that is capable of delivering power to an external circuit. Most solar cells are in the form of a silicon wafer that has been metallized, i.e., provided with metal contacts that are electrically conductive.
Most terrestrial electric power-generating solar cells currently are silicon solar cells. Process flow in mass production is generally aimed at achieving maximum simplification and minimizing manufacturing costs. Electrodes in particular are made by using a method such as screen printing to form a metal paste. An example of this method of production is described below in conjunction with FIG. 1.
FIG. 1A shows a p-type silicon substrate, 10.
In FIG. 1B, an n-type diffusion layer, 20, of the reverse conductivity type is formed by the thermal diffusion of phosphorus (P) or the like. Phosphorus oxychloride (POCl3) is commonly used as the phosphorus diffusion source. In the absence of any particular modification, the diffusion layer, 20, is formed over the entire surface of the silicon substrate, 10. This diffusion layer typically has a sheet resistivity on the order of several tens of ohms per square (Ω/□), and a thickness of about 0.3 to 0.5 μm.
After protecting one surface of this diffusion layer with a resist or the like, as shown in FIG. 1C, the diffusion layer, 20, is removed from most surfaces by etching so that it remains only on one main surface. The resist is then removed using an organic solvent or the like.
Next, a silicon nitride film, 30, is formed as an anti-reflection coating on the n-type diffusion layer, 20, to a thickness of typically about 700 to 900 Å in the manner shown in FIG. 1D by a process such as plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
As shown in FIG. 1E, a silver paste, 500, for the front electrode is screen printed then dried over the silicon nitride film, 30. In addition, a backside silver or silver/aluminum paste, 70, and an aluminum paste, 60, are then screen printed and successively dried on the backside of the substrate. Firing is then carried out in an infrared furnace at a temperature range of approximately 700° C. to 975° C. for a period of from several minutes to several tens of minutes.
Consequently, as shown in FIG. 1F, aluminum diffuses from the aluminum paste into the silicon substrate, 10, as a dopant during firing, forming a p+ layer, 40, containing a high concentration of aluminum dopant. This layer is generally called the back surface field (BSF) layer, and helps to improve the energy conversion efficiency of the solar cell.
The aluminum paste is transformed by firing from a dried state, 60, to an aluminum back electrode, 61. The backside silver or silver/aluminum paste, 70, is fired at the same time, becoming a silver or silver/aluminum back electrode, 71. During firing, the boundary between the back side aluminum and the back side silver or silver/aluminum assumes an alloy state, and is connected electrically as well. The aluminum electrode accounts for most areas of the back electrode, owing in part to the need to form a p+ layer, 40. Because soldering to an aluminum electrode is impossible, a silver back electrode is formed over portions of the back side as an electrode for interconnecting solar cells by means of copper ribbon or the like. In addition, the front electrode-forming silver paste, 500, sinters and penetrates through the silicon nitride film, 30, during firing, and is thereby able to electrically contact the n-type layer, 20. This type of process is generally called "fire through." This fired through state is apparent in layer 501 of FIG. 1F.
JP-2001-313400A to Fujii et al. teaches a solar cell which is obtained by forming, on one main surface of a semiconductor substrate, regions that exhibit the other type of conductivity and forming an antireflection coating on this main surface of the semiconductor substrate. The resulting solar cell has an electrode material coated over the antireflection coating and fired. The electrode material includes, for example, lead, boron and silicon, and additionally contains, in a glass frit having a softening point of about 300 to 600° C., and one or more powders from among titanium, bismuth, cobalt, zinc, zirconium, iron, and chromium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,197 to Nagahara et al. discloses a solar cell including a semiconductor substrate, a diffused layer provided in the semiconductor substrate by diffusion of dopant impurities, and a contact made of metal paste formed on the diffusion layer. The metal paste includes metal powder, which functions as the main contact material, glass frits, an organic binder, a solvent, and an element belonging to the fifth group of the periodic table.
U.S. Patent Publication 2006-0231801 A1 to Alan et al. teaches a thick film conductive composition comprising: (a) electrically conductive silver powder; (b) zinc-containing additive; (c) glass frit wherein said glass frit is lead-free; dispersed in (d) organic medium. As a preferred glass, the following composition is referred to: SiO2 0.1-8 wt %, Al2O3 0-4 wt %, B2O3 8-25 wt %, CaO 0-1 wt %, ZnO 0-42 wt %, Na2O 0-4 wt %, Li2O 0-3.5 wt %, Bi2O3 28-85 wt %, Ag2O 0-3 wt %, CeO2 0-4.5 wt %, SnO2 0-3.5 wt %, and BiF3 0-15 wt %.
U.S. Patent Publication 2006-0289055 to Sridharan et al. teaches a solar cell comprising a contact made from a mixture wherein, prior to firing, the mixture comprises: solids portion and organics portion, wherein the solids portion comprises (i) from about 85 to about 99 wt % of a conductive metal component, and (ii) from about 1 to about 15 wt % of a glass component, wherein the glass component is lead-free.
Although, as noted, various methods and compositions for forming solar cells exist, there is an on-going effort to provide compositions which are Pb-free while at the same time maintaining electrical performance. The present inventors create a novel composition and method of manufacturing a semiconductor device which provides such a Pb-free system and maintains electrical performance and solder adhesion.

Thick film conductive composition and process for use in the manufacture of semiconductor device


A signal constellation for wireline or wireless multi-carrier communication systems, such as systems using OFDM or MC-CDMA, has points separated from one another by maximizing a distance between conditional probability distributions, such as a Kullbeck-Leibler (KL) distance. Preferably, the constellation points are arranged in concentric circles, with or without a point at the origin, wherein adjacent circles are rotated to maximize an angular distance between points on adjacent circles. Pilot symbols inserted in the transmitted signal are used by a receiver to estimate the channel of the multi-carrier system. Different constellations show optimum performance for different signal to noise ratios, and for different numbers of taps used to estimate the channel, especially in a fast fading environment where there may be fewer pilots per OFDM or MC-CDMA symbol than channel taps.

Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is a technology that transmits multiple signals simultaneously over a single transmission path, such as a cable or wireless system. Each signal travels within its own unique frequency range (termed carrier, sub-carrier, or sub-channel), which is modulated by the data (text, voice, video, etc.). Each signal is a series of bits or symbols mapped from (in the case of a transmitted signal) or to (in the case of a received signal) signal constellation. A signal constellation may be represented graphically as a plurality of points spaced form one another on a two or three dimensional diagram, but the constellation itself is merely the assemblage of points spaced from one another in a particular manner.
An orthogonal FDM (OFDM) spread spectrum technique distributes the data over a large number of carriers that are spaced apart at defined frequencies. This spacing provides the "orthogonality" of the OFDM approach, and prevents the demodulators from seeing frequencies other than their own. The benefits of OFDM are high spectral efficiency, resiliency to RF interference, and lower multipath distortion. This is useful because in a typical terrestrial wireless communications implementation there are multipath channels (i.e., the transmitted signal arrives at the receiver using various paths of different length). Since multiple versions of the signal interfere with each other (inter-symbol interference (ISI), it becomes difficult to extract the original information. Discrete multi-tone modulation and multi-carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) are other multi-carrier techniques. Multi-carrier modulation is stipulated in standards for digital audio and video broadcasting, wireless LANs, asymmetric DSL, and VDSL, to name a few of the wireless and wireline applications already in use.
OFDM has been successfully deployed in indoor wireless LAN and outdoor broadcasting applications. OFDM beneficially reduces the influence of ISI and has also been found to work well in multipath fading channels. These and other advantages render a multi-carrier transmission approach, and especially OFDM, a strong candidate for use in future mobile communication systems, such as one being referred to as 4G (fourth generation).
In a frequency selective fading channel each sub-carrier is attenuated individually. The resultant sub-channel frequency functions are frequency-variant and may also be time-variant, i.e. the channel magnitude maybe highly fluctuating across the sub-carriers and may vary from symbol to symbol. Under favorable conditions, significant amounts of data can be transmitted via the channel reliably. However, as the channel changes in time, the communication parameters also change. Under altered conditions, former data rates, coding techniques and data formats may no longer be possible. For example, when the channel performance is degraded, the transmitted data may experience excessive corruption yielding unacceptable communication parameters, such as excessive bit-error rates or packet error rates. The degradation of the channel can be due to a multitude of factors such as general noise in the channel, loss of line-of-sight path, excessive co-channel interference (CCI), interference from other cellular users within or near a particular cell, and multipath fading, in which the received amplitude and phase of a signal varies over time.
In wireless communications, channel state information (CSI) at the receiver is usually obtained through transmission of a number of known pilot or training symbols to offset channel degradation. Typically, an estimation algorithm at the receiver uses the pilot or training symbols to estimate the unknown channel based on the knowledge of the transmitted symbols. The estimation variance depends on the noise variance, number of the channel components to be estimated, and number of the pilot or training symbols (number of independent measurements). In general, the more the number of channel measurements, the lower the estimation variance will be. For a slowly fading channel where the fading coefficients remain approximately constant for many symbol intervals, the transmitter can send a large number of training or pilot symbols per channel realization without a significant loss in the data rate, and allow the receiver to accurately estimate the fading coefficients. In this case, a system designer can safely use a perfect CSI assumption to design optimal codes and constellations. Prior art signal constellations such as conventional phase shift keying (PSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), which are based on maximizing the minimum Euclidean distance between constellation points, are premised on this assumption. In practice, due to the necessarily finite length of the training sequence, there will always be some errors in the channel estimates. However, prior art communication systems map symbols to signal constellations, such as QAM, that were derived assuming perfect knowledge of channel state at the receiver.
The assumption of perfect CSI at the receiver is especially inappropriate with multi-carrier communication systems. For fast fading channels where the fading coefficients vary too fast to allow a long training period, or for multi-path systems where very long training sequences are required to accurately train all of the possible channels from the transmitter to the receiver, obtaining an accurate estimate of the channel at the receiver may not always be possible.
In fast fading channels, the approach of sending a large number of training or pilot symbols is either infeasible due to the fast variations of the channel, or results in a significant loss in the actual data rate due to the fraction of the bandwidth spent on training. As a result, in high mobility environments, the number of measurements per channel realization is relatively small and the estimation quality is affected by one or both of the following effects:                The number of measurements per channel component is very small, resulting in a larger estimation variance due to the additive noise.        Some of the channel components are not estimated at all (e.g., the paths with small energy in a multipath environment). These components appear as additive terms in the estimation variance, which do not vanish at high SNR and result in an error floor in the performance curves.
In the presence of channel estimation errors due to the above effects, the constellations that are designed for the case of perfect CSI are no longer optimal. Using such prior art constellations often results in poor performances and high error floors, especially in fast fading environments and long delay spreads.
What is needed in the art is a new type of signal constellation that facilitates acceptable error rates over a fast-fading channel environment where only rough estimates of the channel may be available, especially for a multi-channel environment wherein the transmitter and/or receiver employ multiple antennas. Ideally, advancement in the art is best served by a technique for designing such a signal constellation to facilitate further refinements.

Signal constellations for multi-carrier systems


The present invention relates to a medium-pressure hydrocracking process which uses a fresh hydrogen resource and a hydrosaturation catalyst with reduced metals of group VIB and/or group VIII as the active ingredients to selectively and deeply hydrosaturate jet fuel and/or diesel cuts derived in the medium-pressure hydrocracking process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing high quality motor fuels, especially a medium-pressure hydrocracking process, from low quality heavy oils.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the continuous development of the world economy, the demand of the market for the petrochemical products is continuously increasing. However, the resource of low sulfur crude oil in many countries is insufficient. Therefore there is a need to process a great amount of imported high sulfur crude oil. This sets a task in front of most refineries with FCC as the main equipment as to how to reform so as to meet the need of processing high-sulfur crude oil. The experience in processing high-sulfur crude oil in various countries shows that the hydrocracking process is a major means to convert high sulfur heavy oils. However, the high investment resulted from the high-pressure hydrocracking, equipment and the great demand for the hydrogen resource greatly limits the rapid development of the hydrocracking process. Therefore refiners are eager to find out a new process for solving this problem.
Hydrocracking is generally operated at a pressure level of 15.0 MPa and has many advantages such as high operation flexibility, high product quality, etc., but also has such disadvantages as a high investment in the construction and a high consumption of hydrogen. The disadvantages are more severe when there is lack of funds and of cheap hydrogen sources such as natural gas. However, because of the various advantages exhibited by the hydrocracking process in processing high sulfur crude oil, the hydrocracking process still possesses superior status and function to those non-hydrotreating processes, and therefore becomes one of the first choices made by refinery engineers in processing high sulfur crude oil. In order to overcome the shortcomings of the hydrocracking, technology, people started to explore long ago to find out whether it is possible to lower the operation pressure of the hydrocracking process and have made great advances. Medium-pressure hydrocracking or medium-pressure hydroupgrading technologies have been successfully developed (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,680), with an operation pressure being about 8.0 MPa. The product quality is greatly affected in the medium-pressure hydrocracking due to the intrinsic shortcoming of low saturation extent of aromatics limited by the thermodynamic equilibrium. Particularly to the jet fuel, since a great amount of aromatics are transferred during the reaction to such a cut fraction and can not be saturated effectively, its quality specifications such as the smoking point, etc., can not meet the requirements. This greatly limits the scope of the lowering in the operation pressure of the medium-pressure hydrocracking process. Nowadays, the operation pressure industrially adopted in the medium-pressure hydrocracking processes is about 10.0 MPa, and most of the processes can not be directly used to produce jet fuel. Also, the quality of diesel is hard to attain the specifications of the World Standard III for diesel. The improving effect of lowering the operation pressure on the investment and operating cost is not distinct, but the product quality is lowed sharply. Therefore, there has not been a breakthrough in the development and application of the medium-pressure hydrocracking process for a long time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,815 describes a process for producing jet fuel and diesel wherein the tail oil is completely recycled. Heavy cut fractions pass through a hydrocracking reactor, and the jet fuel fraction in the effluent is then fractionated out and partly recycled so that the smoking point of the jet fuel is raised. But this process has obvious disadvantages so that it is only applicable to those process flows wherein the smoking point of the jet fuel is relatively high and therefore an elevation thereof of only 2–3 mm would meet the requirement. However, the smoking point of the jet fuel produced in a medium-pressure hydrocracking process is generally lower than 20 mm, and therefore the use of this process is restricted under medium pressures. Especially, the recycle of a part of the jet fuel will certainly lower its yield and affect the capacity of the hydrocracking equipment or increase the investment in the hydrocracking equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,472 discloses a process, wherein the jet fuel cut and the hydrogen-containing vapor in the effluent of the hydrocracking are separated by adjusting the pressure and temperature of a two stage vapor-liquid separator, and the separated jet fuel and a part of the hydrogen-containing vapor enter into a hydrogenation reactor for hydrogenation of the jet fuel, while the remaining hydrogen-containing vapor enters the hydrocracking reactor. Because of the post-processing of the jet fuel component, a qualified jet fuel product can be produced under a medium to high pressure. But the disadvantages are that the process flow is complex, the amount of high-pressure equipment is great, and the increase in the investment is more, so that the superiority of the medium-pressure can not be materialized. And since the oil vapor entering the refining reactor still contains a great amount of impurities such as H2S, NH3, H2O, etc., the hydrosaturation performance of the catalyst in the hydrogenation reactor of the jet fuel degrades, and the sorts of the applicable hydrogenation catalysts are limited too. For instance, most of the noble metal catalysts or non-noble metal saturation catalysts in reduced states are not applicable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,621 (Hunter) discloses a hydrocracking process which involves an initial hydrocracking step. Hunter discloses that the desired fuel cuts from the hydrocracking step can be further saturated, at a temperature of from 250 to 350° C., a pressure of from about 3 to about 7 MPa, in the presence of a CoMo or NiMo base metal or a noble metal catalyst (see e.g. col. 8, lines 15–20). The elevated pressure employed by Hunter may be consistent with the knowledge of a skilled artisan in the art that the conversion of the hydrogenation reaction of aromatics increases with the increase of the reaction pressure. Nevertheless, due to the employment of the elevated pressure, Hunter requires the use of additional equipment to pressurize the industrial hydrogen source. Specifically, industrial hydrogen is generally supplied at pressure below 3 MPa (e.g. the pressure of the industrial hydrogen produced from light hydrocarbon after purification is generally about 1–2.5 MPa, and the pressure of the by-product hydrogen from the catalytic reforming of naphtha is generally about 0.8–2.5 MPa). In addition, due to the elevated hydrosaturation temperature employed by Hunter, the feed may need to conduct heat-exchange with the effluents from the hydrosaturation reactor and hydrocracking reactor to attain the temperature necessary for the reaction, which apparently cannot meet the desirability of simplifying the process flow and equipments.

Fushun Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemicals


The image editing device is provided with an area specifying portion to associate identification information for identifying an area of interest with each of a plurality of areas into which an image of original data is divided, an image generating portion to generate an edit image by disposing onto the image of the original data a section image enclosing the area of interest for each of a plurality of areas in association with an image indicating the identification information, a transmission portion to transmit a first electronic mail including the edit image, a reception portion to receive a second electronic mail transmitted back in response to the first electronic mail, an editing portion to generate edited data obtained by updating the original data based on an editing instruction included in the second electronic mail, and an output portion to output the edited data generated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image editing device, an image editing method, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with an image editing program, and more specifically to an image editing device which is capable of communicating with a portable information device, an image editing method to be executed by that image editing device, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with an image editing program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some cases in a conference, when discussions are conducted using sheets of a document printed out by a multi function peripheral (MFP), it becomes necessary to make minor alterations to the contents. In such cases, conventionally, an application program such as a word processor had to be executed on a personal computer (PC) to re-edit the original data which is the original of the data formed as an image on the sheets printed out and to print out the edited original data.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-072172 describes an image processing device which analyzes image data generated by photographing a subject to be photographed, thereby categorizing the image data into multiple prescribed classifications based on the subject to be photographed, and thereafter adding a correction according to the classifications, and which is provided with a correction content storage means to store by the classifications the correction content to be added to the image data, a degree-of-congruence detection means to detect the degree of congruence of the image data for each of the classifications by analyzing the image data, a degree-of-congruence modification means to modify the degree of congruence for each of the classifications detected, and an image data correction means to add a correction to the image data by reflecting the correction content stored for each of the classifications in a proportion corresponding to the congruence modified.
However, while a conventional image processing device is able to perform different image processing partially within the image data, there is a problem that multiple parts within the image data cannot be altered.

Image editing device, image editing method, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with image editing program


A universal power amplifier for amplifying and filtering transmit and receive signals has an input switch for switching transmit and receive signals. Transmit paths in the universal power amplifier are connected to the input switch. The transmit paths comprise filters for filtering the transmit signals and amplifiers for amplifying the transmit signals. Receive paths are connected to the input switch. The receive paths filter and amplify the receive signals. A first receive path shares one of the filters a first transmit path to filter a receive signal. A power output stage is connected to the transmit paths for amplifying the transmit signals into high-power transmit signals. A transmit/receive switch is connected to the power output stage and the receive paths for switching the high-power transmit signals and receive signals to an antenna.

This invention relates to communications systems, transmission and amplification of signals, and specifically to a universal power amplifier.
Communications systems frequently require operation over several bands using several different waveforms. These communications systems require varying levels of connectivity and frequently operate simultaneously in receive and transmit modes on several bands. In the past a dedicated channel for each band was implemented. On a typical airborne platform seven or more channels would be implemented with associated transceivers, power amplifiers, and antennas. These multiple channels add to the amount of equipment required with increased weigh and cost with reduced reliability.
What is needed is a system that provides the needed connectivity while reducing equipment quantity and weight. Furthermore such a system requires equipment with new capabilities such as a power amplifier that is able to support the varying system channel requirements while offering reduced weight and cost.


An ESD/EOS protection circuit includes a first protection circuit and a second protection circuit. The first protection circuit is coupled between an I/O pad and a power pad and includes a first P-type transistor. The P-type transistor includes a control node, a floating gate, a first connection node, and a second connection node, wherein the first connection node of the first P-type transistor is coupled to the power pad and the second connection node of the first P-type transistor is coupled to the I/O pad. The second protection circuit is coupled between the I/O pad and a ground pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ESD/EOS protection circuit and related integrated circuit, and more particularly, to an ESD/EOS protection circuit and related integrated circuit with improved EOS (Electrical Over Stress) performance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical charges caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD) effects and Electrical Over-Stress (EOS) effects may destroy internal circuits of an integrated circuit. In order to solve the problem caused by the ESD/EOS effect, an ESD/EOS protection circuit is set to couple with at least an I/O port and a voltage source (VDD/VSS). When the ESD effect occurs, the ESD/EOS protection circuit has to provide a low-resistance discharge path so that the ESD pulses with extremely high peak values can be discharged through the low-resistance discharge path without destroying the internal circuit. An EOS (Electrical Over-Stress) occurs when a voltage greater than the maximum specified voltage is applied to any portion of an electronic device. This excess voltage will often cause excess current to flow along some electrical paths in the electronic device. If the current remains too long, heating of the electronic device will occur and result in a permanent damage. In addition, when the internal circuits of the electronic device normally operate, the ESD/EOS protection circuit should not affect operations and functions of the internal circuits.
The traditional ESD/EOS protection circuit is designed for preventing leakage from the I/O port to the VDD or VSS port in normal usage. But if we use a clamping circuit between the I/O port and the VDD port, a leakage current may occur, which is not allowed in some specifications. Hence, the clamping circuit can be applied between the I/O port and the VSS port only. MOS transistors are generally and widely used in ESD/EOS protection circuits, and the induced snap-back effect can therefore supply a low-resistance static discharge path. However, unstable system power supply would produce unexpected voltage pulse (i.e. EOS) to damage the ESD/EOS protection circuit through the I/O port, especially the MOS transistor's gate oxide.


A method and apparatus for measuring temperature by subjecting, to the temperature to be measured, a light-transmissive body of a material whose dimensions change in response to temperature, directing first rays of light from a light source through a first path including a predetermined distance of travel through the light-transmissive body, simultaneously directing second rays of light from the light source through a second path, parallel to the first path and of a linear length equal to that of the first path, but not including the predetermined distance of travel through the light transmissive body, and measuring the change in phases between the first and second light rays at the ends of the first and second paths, to thereby provide a measurement of the temperature to which the light-transmissive body was subjected.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring temperature. The invention is particularly useful for measuring the temperature of a silicon or other semi-conductor materials during the processing thereof, and is therefore described below with respect to this application, although it will be appreciated that the invention could advantageously be used in other applications as well.
Rapid Temperature Processing (RTP) of silicon or other semi-conductor materials requires accurate measurement and control of temperature. In a typical RTP cycle, heating of the wafer to 1,200.degree. C. takes place in seconds, making accurate control of the wafer temperature very crucial. The needed repeatability of temperature control from wafer to wafer is of the order of 1.degree. C. Present temperature measurement techniques use a pyrometric based technology which has many drawbacks, including the following:
1. The roughness of the wafer surface affects its emissivity; therefore a remote pyrometric measurement depends on the accuracy with which this emissivity is known. Cumbersome calibrations with embedded thermocouples in test wafers are needed to know the wafer emissivity with sufficient accuracy.
2. Deposited, uncontrolled layers of oxides, nitrides, polycrystalline, silicon, etc. affect the emissivity of the wafer surface. Because of interference effects which depend strongly on the thickness of these layers, again cumbersome thermocouple calibrations are needed for each single wafer or for a wafer in a batch, to ensure temperature measurement accuracy.
A so-called "Ripple Technique" has been recently described, Schietinger et al., Mat.Res.Soc. Symp.Proc., Spring 1991, which takes advantage, (while using the pyrometric method), of the AC ripple of heating lamps as the signature of the reflected component of the radiation from the wafer surface to monitor the wafer emissivity. The disadvantage of this method is that its accuracy is a function of temperature: it is more accurate for high temperatures than for low temperatures.

Method and apparatus for measuring temperature


The present invention provides a process for producing .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides which comprises contacting milk raw materials containing .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides having the pH value of 4 or lower with an anion exchanger; collecting by elution of a fraction which adsorbs on the anion exchanger; and concentrating and desalinating the eluted solution to obtain the .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide.

The present invention relates to a process for the simple production of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides having useful physiological activities.
It is known that .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides are sialilated peptides which are produced from .kappa.-casein of cow's milk by the action of proteolytic enzymes such as rennet and pepsin, and they are present in cheese whey.
Hitherto, some methods were reported for the production of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides, for example, a method comprising dissolving .kappa.-casein which is isolated from cow's milk in deionized water, reacting the obtained solution with pepsin, adding trichloroacetic acid to the solution to precipitate a para-.kappa.-casein fraction, dialyzing the obtained supernatant against deionized water for desalting, and freeze-drying the obtained solution (Seo et al., Journal of Food Science 53, 80 (1988)); and a method comprising dissolving the above .kappa.-casein in deionized water, adjusting the pH of the solution to 6.7, reacting the solution with rennet, readjusting the pH to 4.6 to precipitate the para-.kappa.-casein, removing the precipitate, dialyzing the obtained supernatant for desalting, and freeze-drying the obtained solution (Published by Academic Press Company, "Milk Protein", pp 200).
However, these methods are conducted in laboratories and are not suitable for mass production.
On the other hand, since the industrial utilization of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides has been previously unknown, a method for mass producing the compounds has not been studied.
Since it was reported that after taking .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides dogs appetite were reduced (Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 96, 889, (1983)), it has been found that the compounds can be utilized as food materials for the prevention of obesity.
Further, since it was found that .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides were effective to prevent the adhesion of E. coli to cells of the intestines, to prevent infection of influenza virus (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 63-284133) or to protect the adhesion of tartar to teeth (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 63-233911), the demand for the production of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides on a large industrial scale is expected.
Given such conditions, a process for preparing a .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide from rennet casein curd whey has been reported (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 63-284199). Since the reaction of the process may proceed without the trichloroacetic acid of the prior art, the process can be utilized in food fields and in massproduction. However, the method is always associated with the production of large amount of the rennet casein curds which are obtained as a by-product of the rennet casein curd whey. If the rennet casein curds are not utilized, the production cost of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides becomes expensive.
The inventors of the present invention found that the molecular weight of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide changes sharply at pH 4. Using the property, they found a process for producing the .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide at a moderate price (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 276542).
The process for the production of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides comprises adjusting the pH to below 4 of a solution of milk starting materials such as cheese whey, whey protein concentrate and cheese whey from which protein has been removed, treating the solution by ultrafiltration with a membrane having a molecular weight cut-off of 10,000-50,000 to obtain the filtrate of the solution, preferably readjusting the pH of the filtrate to 4 or higher, and concentrating the obtained filtrate with a membrane having a molecular weight cut-off of 50,000 or less to obtain the desalted concentrate.
According to the above invention, the pH value of the solution of milk starting materials such as cheese whey, whey protein concentrate and cheese whey from which protein has been removed is adjusted. Such a simple operation can provide a process for producing .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides on a large scale and at a low cost. The obtained product has high purity.
Moreover, in a factory where the whey protein concentrates have been produced, new equipment is not required because .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides can be produced with the ultrafilter or the reverse osmosis hyperfilter used for preparing the whey protein concentrate. The protein fraction from which the .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides have been removed can be used as the whey protein concentrates.
However, to lower the production cost of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides, the whey protein concentrates should be prepared by desalting and drying after neutralizing the whey proteins which are by-products in the process. Further, when the .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptides are recovered from the whey concentrate obtained by ultrafiltration, the permeation flux is lowered by the protein fouling. As a result, the problem is the necessity of long time operation.
In addition, a method for the mass production of a .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-95686. The method comprises heating a solution containing whey proteins, freezing the solution, thawing the frozen solution, concentrating the obtained supernatant to obtain the desalted concentrate of the .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide. The cost and the operation time are improved by the method, but the purity of the .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide is not increased.
Furthermore, the inventors of the present invention found that the electric charge of .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide was highly negative in comparison with the other milk proteins. Using the property, they found a process for separating the .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide from the other protein admixtures by using a cation exchanger (Japanese Patent Application No. 2-325166).
In the process, a fraction produced as by-products in the process that uses a cation exchanger to produce whey protein isolates (WPI) from cheese whey as raw materials can be used as raw materials to obtain a .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide. It is advantageous to the cost. When the solution containing the .kappa.-casein glycomacropeptide thus obtained is concentrated and desalinated through ultrafiltration membranes, fouling problem of whey proteins on the membranes are minimized. Since permeation flux of the filtrate is increased, the operation time is shortened in comparison with conventional methods.

Process for producing K-casein glycomacropeptides


In-line grinding device for mill rolls and/or pinch rolls, arranged in cooperation with the working surface of the working rolls (11) and/or support rolls (12) and/or intermediate rolls of a rolling stand for sheet, strip and/or wide plate, or in cooperation with pinch rolls placed downstream of the rolling stands and upstream of the winding reels, comprising a plurality of grinding units arranged at intervals on a single support (13) and defined by a grinding tool (17) rotating on a longitudinal axis (14) substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the roll (11, 12) to be ground, the grinding tools (17) covering in their entirety a substantial part of the length of the relative roll, each grinding unit (16) having the specific axis of rotation which is movable independently and autonomously with respect to the other grinding units (16) associated with the same stationary support (13), in a substantially radial direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the roll (11, 12) to be ground.

This invention concerns a device to grind mill rolls and/or pinch rolls in-line.
The invention is applied particularly, but not only, in finishing rolling trains used in plants to produce strip, sheet and/or wide plate.
In rolling plants for strip, sheet and/or wide plate, one of the most important problems which operators in the field complain of is the progresive deterioration, during the rolling cycle, of the surfaces of the working rolls and the support rolls and/or intermediate rolls, and also the surface of the pinch rolls.
For it is well-known that the effect of friction, caused by the rolling process, between the material being rolled and the rolls themselves, causes a progressive wear on the surface of the rolls, both in terms of roughness of the working surface and in terms of the longitudinal profile of the surface.
In hot rolling, apart from the mechanical effect caused by this friction, it is necessary to consider and add the effect of the rapid and ample thermal cycles to which the surface of the rolls is subjected with every revolution of the roll.
The unevennesses which are produced on the surface of the working rolls cause a deterioration in the quality of the surface of the product, both in terms of finish and in terms of the transverse profile obtained which is not the one desired.
This deterioration becomes progressively more marked until it becomes necessary to substitute the worn rolls, whose surface is then ground off-line so that the rolls can be used again.
Since the speed at which the surface of the rolls deteriorates increases in proportion to the progress of the deterioration itself, it becomes necessary to substitute the rolls frequently not only to maintain the surface quality of the product at sufficient and acceptable levels but also to extend the working life of the rolls and therefore limit the wear, as the cost of the rolls is a considerable factor in the total cost involved in the working of the product.
These considerations may be extended to the pinch rolls, which are normally present on the rolling lines downstream of the stands and upstream of the winding reels.
The problem of the progressive deterioration also concerns the support rolls which, in the so-called four high rolling stand, are arranged in cooperation with a relative working roll and in contact with it.
The variation in the longitudinal profile of the support roll caused by wear causes a deformation of the axis of the relative mating working roll, and an unwanted modification of the gap between the working rolls, which causes a further worsening of the quality of the product being rolled in terms of the transverse profile.
From what we have said above, it is clear that the rolls, and particularly the working rolls, need to be replaced frequently, which however requires the line to be stopped and therefore a reduction in production with consequent increases in the cost of working the product.
In order to try to solve these problems various solutions have been proposed to overhaul the surface of the rolls and the pinch rolls by means of so-called in-line grinding, using grinding devices arranged in cooperation with the surface of the various rolls.
Grinding devices known to the state of the art are composed of a plurality of idler grinding wheels set obliquely with respect to the axis of the relative roll. These grinding wheels are made to rotate by the contact with the rolls, generally at a limited speed, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,687.
Another solution is to include a series of coaxial grinding wheels brought into rotation by a common or differentiated drive device as in EP-A-0,672,470.
Other solutions known to the state of the art include grinding wheels or grinding tools thrust against the rolls by autonomous pressure means as in EP-A-0.154.319.
However it must be pointed out that the wear on the rolls is not uniform along the circumference, it has localised depressions; this means that the quantity of material to be removed varies, even considerably, during the grinding step along the same generating line of the roll.
Consequently, in-line grinding devices known to the state of the art have the disadvantage that they do not carry out a differentiated grinding action according to the circumferential areas of the roll on which they are working.
A further disadvantage of the grinding devices known to the state of the art is that the grinding wheels, or parts of the grinding wheels, may have a differentiated wear, as a consequence of the greater or lesser quantity of material removed, and this causes a differentiated reduction in the diameter.
As a consequence, the grinding is not uniform on the circumference of the roll and therefore the final result is unsatisfactory.


The invention provides a vaccine for the prevention and/or the treatment of infection by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, the causative agent of porcine pleuropneumonia, which vaccine contains at least an immunogenic part of at least one cytolytic protein of A. pleuropneumoniae produced by recombinant DNA, and detoxified derivatives thereof. Three of such cytolytic proteins are identified and a vaccine containing these, or parts or derivatives thereof, ensures protection against all known serotypes of A. pleuropneumoniae. The cytolytic proteins are produced by inserting a nucleotide sequence encoding one or more of the proteins or parts thereof in a host cell, cultivating the host cell and recovering the proteins. another vaccine contains the genetic information for one or more of the cytolytic proteins, and a passive vaccine contains antibodies against these proteins. The invention further provides monoclonal antibodies and DNA probes for use in diagnostics.

Pleuropneumonia is a major respiratory disease in pigs and causes severe economic losses in pig farming in many countries including the United States and Canada. The disease is caused by the bacterium Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (previously also referred to as Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae) and is considered to be one of the most important disorders of the bronchial tubes in pigs. Frequently, the disease is fatal. Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is known to exist in twelve infective serotypes.
Since pleuropneumonia can be induced by inoculating pigs with sterile culture supernatants of A. pleuropneumoniae, extracellular toxic proteins are assumed to be involved in the development of the pneumonic lesions. There is growing evidence that qualitative or quantitative differences in toxic activities exist between the twelve serotypes of A. pleuropneumoniae. Hemolytic and cytotoxic activities have been reviewed by T. A. Bertram, Can. J. Vet. Res. 54: 553-556 (1990). Two different hemolytic activities were reported by Frey and Nicolet, J. Clin. Microbiol. 28: 232-236 (1990), whereas four antigenically different activities were distinguished by Kamp and Van Leengoed, J. Clin. Microbiol. 27: 1187-1191 (1989). Whether such activities are functions of one or more molecules is not known.
Vaccines proposed thus far for preventing infections by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae are mostly based on whole live cells, attenuated cells, lysates, culture supernatants, or extracts of A. pleuropneumoniae. WO-A-80,02113 (or Canadian Patent 1,189,790) teaches a vaccine for controlling pleuropneumonia in pigs, containing A. pleuropneumoniae cells, cell fragments etc. and, as an adjuvant, material derived from Bordetella pertussis. EP-A-420,743 proposes a vaccine containing inactivated toxin of serotype 1 and optionally an inactivated toxin of another serotype of A. pleuropneumoniae; it provides protection against serotype 1 and partial protection against other serotypes. EP-A-354,628 discloses a universal vaccine against A. pleuropneumoniae, which contains extracellular proteins from two different serotypes, and is effective against all A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes. Although these known vaccines provide protection against some or even all of the field strains of A. pleuropneumoniae, the active compounds are not known. As a result, control, verification, and standardisation of vaccines is difficult, since the ratio between active components cannot be optimized and inactive and sometimes adverse components are always present in the vaccines.

Nucleic acid encoding Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae cytolytic proteins


A method of flowing hydraulic fluid in a work machine is disclosed. The method includes generating a control signal from an input mechanism and generating a property signal indicative of a viscosity of the hydraulic fluid. The control signal and the property signal are received at a control module. The method also includes determining a desired volume flow rate for the control signal and determining a valve control signal required to achieve the desired volume flow rate for the control signal. The valve control signal is based upon the property signal. The valve control signal is output to a proportional valve to provide the desired volume flow rate through the valve for the command signal.

The properties of hydraulic fluid may be partially dependent on its temperature. For example, when the fluid is cold, it may have a high viscosity, whereas, when the fluid is relatively warmer, the fluid may have a lower viscosity. Work machines, such as skid steer loaders, often use hydraulic fluid to drive actuators and/or hydraulic motors to operate work implements and drive the loader from place to place. For example, a skid steer loader may flow hydraulic fluid through a valve to raise or lower a work implement. When the work machine is started after being idle, the fluid may be cold, and it may take up to an hour for the temperature to rise and stabilize at an operating temperature.
The temperature dependent properties of hydraulic fluid may affect the consistency and responsiveness of the work machine. For a given control signal, a flow-control valve opens a preset percentage, allowing a certain flow rate of fluid volume through the valve. Because the viscosity affects the flow properties of the fluid, for the same given control signal, the volume flow rate of fluid through the valve may be reduced when the fluid is highly viscous than when the fluid is relatively less viscous. Therefore, a command from an operator may cause a work implement to move at one speed when the hydraulic oil is cold and at a second different speed when the hydraulic oil is relatively warmer. Accordingly, the operator must adjust to the differences in responsiveness of the work machine due to the change in viscosity in the hydraulic fluid, which may cause inefficiencies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,323 to Murano et al. discloses a hydraulic control method for a change gear mechanism for a vehicle. This control method includes operating a valve at a frequency to maintain a desired fluid pressure for a clutch system. The frequency of valve operation is incrementally changed as the temperature changes. However, the system disclosed in the '323 patent does not control a proportional flow to control a fluid-operated machine component. Accordingly, the system disclosed in the '323 patent may not provide consistency to a work machine dependent on flow control.
The method and system disclosed herein may provide a more consistent control of a work machine in a variable temperature environment.

System and method for controlling hydraulic fluid flow


A method for forming a semiconductor device includes a plurality of crown-type capacitors in a capacitor-receiving insulating film, wherein bottom electrodes of the capacitors have an insulating spacer between each two of the bottom electrodes. The insulating spacer is formed by removing a hard mask used as an etching mask for forming cylindrical holes receiving therein capacitors including the bottom electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including a crown-type capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Higher integration of memory cells has been desired in a semiconductor memory device, such as DRAM device (Dynamic Random Access Memory). In order to achieve the higher integration of the memory cells, it is necessary to increase the capacitance per the area which each cell capacitor of the memory cells occupies. One of the techniques for obtaining a higher capacitance for the cell capacitors is to form crown-type capacitors in the memory cell area. For forming the crown-type capacitors, a bottom electrode film is formed along the bottom and sidewall of cylindrical through-holes formed in a thick insulated film, referred to as cylinder-receiving film in this text, followed by removing the thick insulation film to thereby leave cylindrical bottom electrodes.
The capacitance of the crown-type capacitors may be increased by increasing the height of the cylindrical bottom electrodes to increase the surface area of the bottom electrodes. However, there occurs a problem in the conventional technique that the bottom electrodes are liable to incline and collapse toward the adjacent bottom electrodes along with the increase of the height of the bottom electrodes, thereby causing a short-circuit failure.
A technique for forming a spacer ring, or insulating spacer, in the vicinity of the top of the bottom electrodes is proposed to solve the above problem of the short-circuit failure. The insulating spacer formed in the vicinity of the top of the bottom electrodes prevents the short-circuit failure even in the case of inclination or collapse of the bottom electrodes. The technique for forming the insulating spacers is described in, for example, Patent Publication JP-2005-150747A.
The process, described in the above publication, for forming the insulating spacers includes the steps of forming a bottom electrode film on the bottom and sidewall of cylindrical holes, and embedding an insulating film in the cylindrical holes with an intervention of the bottom electrode film. After removing the surface portion of the wafer as a whole to divide the bottom electrode film into a plurality of bottom electrodes, the upper portion of the cylinder-receiving film and the embedding insulating film is etched for removal thereof, to form a step difference between the remaining portion of the insulating films and top of the bottom electrodes.
An insulating spacer film is then deposited to cover the step difference on the wafer, followed by etch-back thereof to leave the insulating spacers along the inner and outer surfaces of the bottom electrode. Subsequently, the cylinder-receiving film and embedding insulating film are removed to expose the cylindrical bottom electrode.
The technique as described above provides the insulating spacers on the inner side and outer side of the cylindrical bottom electrodes, because the top portion of both the cylinder-receiving film and embedded film is removed during forming the step difference. The insulating spacers formed inside the cylindrical bottom electrodes reduces the inner diameter of the opening of the cylindrical bottom electrodes, thereby causing an obstacle against forming the capacitor insulator film on the inner surface of the cylindrical bottom electrodes.

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device including a crown-type capacitor