The present invention: relates to a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet and a double-oriented electrical steel sheet which are used as soft magnetic materials for electrical machinery and apparatus; and is a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet extremely excellent in film adhesiveness, characterized by: containing, in mass, 2.5 to 4.5% Si, 0.01 to 0.4% Ti, and not more than 0.005% as to each of C, N, S and O, with the balance substantially consisting of Fe and unavoidable impurities; and having films comprising compounds of C with Ti or Ti and one or more of Nb, Ta, V, Hf, Zr, Mo, Cr and W on the surfaces of said steel sheet, and a method for producing the steel sheet.

A grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is a soft magnetic material that is industrially used, most commonly, as a material for an iron core incorporated in a transformer, a rotator, a reactor or the like. The features of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet that are distinct from other soft magnetic materials for iron cores are: that a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is an iron-base material that has a body-centered cubic crystal structure capable of securing a large magnetic flux density, the magnetic flux density being an index of energy output in a magnetic instrument; and that a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet has a capability to relatively align crystal grains in the orientations in which the crystal grains are most likely to be magnetized, the orientations being expressed, with reference to crystal lattices, as <100> in terms of Miller indices used in the field of physics, as discovered by Honda and Kaya.
Therefore, a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet, though it is a polycrystalline steel sheet, is excellent in the property of being magnetized in specific directions as if it were a monocrystalline steel sheet, and is a material desirable as an industrial product capable of securing a large magnetic flux density as an outcome of a small magnetizing force.
In a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet, the easy magnetization axes of crystals are aligned in specific directions by utilizing the phenomenon generally called secondary recrystallization. The earliest example wherein the above-mentioned concept is disclosed in public as an industrial technology may be U.S. Pat. No. 1,965,559 (1934) applied by P. N. Goss. According to the technology, secondary recrystallization is elicited by dispersing minute particles mainly composed of the compound of manganese and sulfur in a body-centered cubic iron alloy as the second dispersing phase in a steel containing silicon abundantly and by combining cold rolling with annealing.
The features of a secondary-recrystallized structure thus obtained are: that crystal grains, that are generally bound to be several tens to several hundred microns in size, grow up to several millimeters in size and penetrate a steel sheet in the thickness direction; and that the entire steel sheet is covered solely with the extraordinarily grown crystal grains.
A proposal that gives an academic interpretation to such a metallurgical phenomenon is the paper given by May and Turnbull (Trans. Met. Soc., AIME, Vol.212 (1958), P. 769).
According to the paper, in a steel: the original orientations of crystal grains undergo a change by rolling and annealing; the orientations tend to be well arranged relatively in specific orientations under specific conditions; the well arranged orientations have a specific relation with the orientations of crystal grains having <100> orientations coinciding with the rolling direction; by so doing, the nature of the crystal grain boundaries that divide the crystal grains having the well arranged orientations from the crystal grains having <100> orientations is differentiated from that of the other crystal grain boundaries; as a result, the interaction of only the specific dividing grain boundaries with the compounds of Mn and S finely dispersing in the steel reduces; and thus the dividing grain boundaries become likely to move preferentially at a high temperature.
The paper also proposes the above concept by quantitatively expressing it as numerical formulae. In the proposal, with regard to the phase of the finely dispersing compounds, only the size and number thereof are taken into consideration as parameters and the constituent elements thereof are not particularly specified.
If the concept proposed in the paper is valid, it can be said that the second phase finely dispersing in a steel, the second phase being necessary for eliciting secondary recrystallization, may be composed of any material. It may be said that a paper that verifies the above assumption is the research paper written by Matsuoka et al (Tetsu To Hagane, vol. 52 (1966), No. 10, P. 79, P. 82, and Trans. ISIJ, Vol. 7 (1967), P.19).
In the research paper, the authors make the compounds of Ti, C and N, in addition to the compounds of Mn and S, precipitate in a steel, utilize the precipitates as the second dispersing phase that preferentially moves the specific dividing grain boundaries, and thus elicit the secondary recrystallization. Note that May and Turnbull disclose research wherein the compounds of Ti and S are utilized (J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 30, No. 4 (1959), P. 210S).
In the meantime, attempts to improve the magnetic properties of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet have been continued steadily and Taguchi and Sakakura have invented an industrial product far more excellent in magnetic properties than the invention of P. N. Goss (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No.S33-4710). The gist of the patent is as follows.
In a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet, the orientations, which are expressed as {110}<001> in terms of Miller indices, of the crystal grains are aligned so that the orientations may coincide with the rolling direction. However, the alignment is not perfect and some orientations are dispersed. Taguchi and Sakakura have succeeded in significantly improving the magnetic properties of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet by greatly reducing the dispersion.
The metallurgical production method employed by Taguchi and Sakakura is largely different from the method employed by P. G. Goss. Whereas P. G. Goss uses mostly the compounds of Mn and S as the second phase finely dispersing in a steel, Taguchi and Sakakura use the compounds of Al and N together with the compounds of Mn and S. On the contrary, by only above measures, the magnetic properties rather deteriorate. To cope with the deterioration of the magnetic properties, whereas P. G. Goss uses a hot-rolled sheet as a raw material, employs two-step cold rolling with annealing applied in between, and controls a final reduction ratio to about 60 to 65%, Taguchi and Sakakura employ single-step heavy rolling at a reduction ratio of about 80% or more. As a result, a high quality grain-oriented electrical steel sheet having a magnetic flux density under a magnetizing force of 800 A/m and a frequency of 50 Hz, namely the value of B8, exceeding 1.88 T has been invented.
The technological difference between the above two inventions is clearly understood when the results obtained by measuring the textures of steel sheets subjected to cold rolling and subsequent decarburizing annealing by the X-ray diffraction method, as shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(2), are examined; whereas two groups of {110}<001> and the orientation group wherein the {111} planes are parallel to the rolling plane constitute the main orientations in FIG. 1(a), {111}<112> and the skeleton orientation group ranging from {111}<112> to the orientations close to {100}<012> via {411}<148> constitute the main orientations in FIG. 1(b).
The orientations {110}<001> that cause secondary recrystallization have naturally a different relation with the group of main orientations of a decarburizing-annealed sheet, the main orientations being to be invaded by the orientations {110}<001>. Therefore, it can be estimated that the nature of the grain boundaries that surround {110}<001> orientation grains is different from that of the other grain boundaries and thus the interaction with a minute precipitate phase is also different between them.
Now, the question is, whether the secondary recrystallization by the single-step heavy rolling method employed by Taguchi and Sakakura also depends mainly on the number and size of a minute precipitate phase but does not depend on the constituent elements in the same manner as the secondary recrystallization by the two-step rolling method employed by May and Turnbull.
One of the reasons why the answer to the question is hard to find is presumably that the restrictions relating to the product requirements of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet tend to suppress the activities on the research and development of the phenomenon. Namely, a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet cannot be regarded as a practically applicable magnetic material merely by filled with secondary-recrystallized {110}<001> orientation grains.
Firstly, a minute precipitate phase that has been utilized for secondary recrystallization must be removed from a steel at the stage of a final product. The reason is that the nature of a magnetizing process is the movement of the domain walls that constitute the boundaries of magnetic domains dispersing finely in a steel sheet, and a minute precipitate phase interacts with the domain walls and thus delays the movement thereof, in other words, deteriorates magnetizing capability.
On the other hand, the single-step heavy rolling method, as it is clear from the nature of the technology, requires a minute precipitate phase more abundant than in the two-step rolling method. Therefore, it is estimated that, in the single-step heavy rolling method, the possibility of requiring more processes for removing the minute precipitate phase after secondary recrystallization arises and, from that viewpoint, the restrictions on the composition of a usable precipitate phase also arise.
Meanwhile, it is known that a minute precipitate phase of MnS or AlN formed by a conventional method reacts with an annealing atmosphere after secondary recrystallization and can be removed easily.
Secondly, a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is required to have films with a high electrical resistance on the surfaces thereof. The reason for applying the films is that: the use of an electrical steel sheet as an iron core material for electrical machinery and apparatus is based on the induction principle of electromagnetism; in that case, eddy current is inevitably generated in the steel sheet and causes the deterioration of an energy efficiency and, what is worse, sometimes heat is generated in the steel sheet and causes damage to the electrical machinery and apparatus; and therefore it is at least necessary to prevent the eddy current from transferring between the laminated steel sheets for intercepting the above problems to the minimum.
Meanwhile, in a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet produced by a conventional method, films are formed by the reaction of oxides such as MgO, the oxides being used for preventing sticking of steel sheets which is likely to occur because of a high temperature, with steel components when annealing for secondary recrystallization is applied and play the role of the aforementioned films. Further, insulation coating is sometimes applied when subsequent flattening annealing is applied. In that sense, whether or not precipitates are adaptable to such chemical reaction and do not cause a bad influence determines the practicability.
In particular, an insulating material must not be a metal, therefore it must meet with a severe technological standard for securing good adhesiveness with a steel as a coating film, and moreover the severe standard brings about a severe restriction on the composition of a minute precipitate phase for secondary recrystallization.
Now, in the production processes currently used for producing a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet industrially, decarburizing annealing is employed after cold rolling substantially without exception. Carbon is really an element quite unnecessary solely for advancing secondary recrystallization. However, in the method employed by Taguchi and Sakakura, carbon is a steel component necessary for dispersing and precipitating MnS and AlN adjusted at the stage of melting and refining so that MnS and AlN may have the appropriate size and number, in other words, carbon is an element for the preparation of secondary recrystallization and must be removed from a steel before an annealing process for the secondary recrystallization.
Further, in this method, a steel ingot or a slab must be heated to a high temperature of 1,350° C. or higher prior to hot rolling. To avoid such a big burden, Suga et al have invented a new technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. S59-56522. By this method, the necessity of containing carbon in a steel beforehand may be reduced and a decarburizing annealing process may be avoided. However, in this method, nitrogen must be doped into a steel from outside the steel sheet for the duration from cold rolling to before secondary recrystallization annealing, and, as a result, the necessity of introducing an annealing process of a precise atmosphere for controlling the subtle chemical reaction on the surfaces of the steel sheet cannot be avoided.
In conclusion, in prior art, it is difficult to eliminate a decarburizing annealing process, basically unnecessary from the viewpoint of metallurgical principles of secondary recrystallization, or an annealing process as an independent process between a cold rolling process and a secondary recrystallization annealing process.
With regard to this subject, the inventions by Koumo et al, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. S55-73818 for example, should be studied. They have succeeded in producing a secondary-recrystallized steel sheet by applying a conventional method with carbon not contained in the steel at the stage of melting and refining.
However, an annealing process after cold rolling but prior to secondary crystallization annealing cannot be eliminated in actual production. The reason is that it is necessary for forming films required of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet product to form oxide layers on the surfaces of the steel sheet and make it react to a part of an anti-sticking agent required for secondary recrystallization annealing, and, for doing so, it is technically easy to introduce annealing in a wet atmosphere.
Further, the technology still requires heating a steel ingot or a slab to a high temperature of 1,350° C. or higher prior to hot rolling and thus is still obliged to incur a big burden.
In contrast, as stated above, Matsuoka announced in 1966 through 1967 a secondary recrystallization method wherein precipitates that completely differed from conventional ones, namely TiC, VC, VN, NbC, NbN, ZrC and BN, were used and MnS was not used in the two-step rolling method by Goss.
The technology is an epoch-making one in consideration of the above technological discussions. That is, in the technology, a cold-rolled steel sheet is directly subjected to secondary recrystallization annealing without subjected to decarburizing annealing beforehand and thus secondary-recrystallized grains of {110}<001> orientations fill the entire steel sheet.
In the announcement, though Matsuoka did not disclose the heating temperature of a steel ingot prior to hot rolling, he disclosed that hot-band annealing was applied prior to cold rolling, thereafter cold rolling was applied up to an intermediate sheet thickness, then annealing was applied, and the final cold rolling was finished at a reduction ratio of about 60%.
At that time, the degree of the integration of secondary-recrystallized grains into {110}<001> orientations was evaluated by measuring a magnetic torque in a steel sheet plane, and the results were that most products corresponded to the ones having magnetic flux densities of 1.88 T or less under a magnetizing force of 800 A/m and a frequency of 50 Hz and the products having the state of high grade crystal orientations were few.
Further, the method of Matsuoka is undeniably more complicated than the method of Taguchi and Sakakura or Suga et al and is a technology that cannot make the best use of the advantage of the elimination of decarburizing annealing. Furthermore, Matsuoka did not study even the propriety of the removal of precipitates utilized for film formation and secondary recrystallization required of a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet product and, in that sense, the technology has not reached the level of an inventive technology. In other words, Matsuoka conducted research on secondary recrystallization but did not conduct the development of an electrical steel sheet usable as a practical material.

Grain-oriented electrical steel sheet extremely excellent in film adhesiveness and method for producing the same


According to embodiments of the invention, there are provided a system and method for future delivery of digital content over a data network. Digital content may be obtained at a server over a data network from a client device or from a third party vendor server, the digital content being intended for future delivery to one or more recipients, on or after a designated delivery date. The delivery metadata may include at least one recipient and a delivery date. The digital content may be stored and inaccessible to the recipient user, until the delivery date, at which time, the content may be delivered to the at least one recipient.

Various Internet applications allow users to send messages and multimedia digital content. For example, users can send texts and attached files, such as video or audio files, via email, or they may post content on their own dedicated space, thereby allowing permitted users to view the content, e.g., via a social network such as Facebook®. Other methods for communicating content include instant messaging, in which users can send and receive text and other content substantially in real time. For large multimedia content files, such as video files, users may upload content onto a server, and the content is made available to users over a website, e.g., YouTube®. Some communication services allow archiving of communications for future reference, either on a server for a limited time, or on the client device. In addition, although services exist for uploading content over a network and archiving it, such services are generally directed to allowing the user (and possibly social contacts of the user) the ability to access the content at any time of the user's choosing.

Method, system, and apparatus for future delivery of digital content over a network


For encrypting a string of data elements from a first value range, a respective data element is combined with a key element by a first computing operation. The resulting combination result may lie outside the first value range. From the combination result, an encrypted data element is then derived by a second computing operation that maps onto a second value range, for example printable 1-byte characters. Decryption is accomplished by combining the encrypted data element with the key element using an inverse computing operation to the second computing operation executed iteratively until a result of an iteration step lies within the first value range.

In modern communications and data processing systems, methods for the reliable encryption and decryption of data are becoming increasingly important. Encryption is usually performed with the aid of key data, also referred to in the following text as key for short, with the aim of preventing as reliably as possible a decryption without knowledge of the key.
One known and very secure method of data encryption is based on using pairs of keys, including a public key and a private key in each pair. The private and public keys are related to each other in such a way that data encrypted with the public key can be decrypted again solely using the associated private key. It is therefore possible to transmit a document in encrypted form from a sender to a recipient, after the sender obtains the public key of the recipient, the document is encrypted with the public key and is transmitted in encrypted form to the recipient. The recipient can then decrypt the encrypted document using his private key, and only using the private key. A public transmission of the public key does not jeopardize the security of the transmission since, provided the key is long enough, it is virtually impossible to derive the private key from the public key.
Owing to its complex mathematical structure, however, performance of an encryption method based on public and private keys is very computer-intensive and requires considerable computing capacities, especially given the high data transmission rates common today.
In addition, the calculation of private and public keys also requires a comparatively large amount of computing power, which consequently makes a change or a dynamic assignment of keys much more difficult.

Method for computer-based encryption and decryption of data


A new and distinct cultivar of Phlox plant named ‘Peppermint Twist’, characterized by its upright and compact plant habit; freely basally branching habit and relatively short internodes; dense and bushy growth habit; attractive red purple and white bi-colored flowers; freely and continuous flowering habit; resistance to Powdery Mildew; and good garden performance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Phlox, botanically known as Phlox paniculata and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Peppermint Twist'.
The new Phlox is a naturally-occurring branch mutation of the Phlox paniculata cultivar 'Candy Floss', disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 11/454,068. The new Phlox was discovered and selected by the Inventor in a controlled environment in Haarlem, The Netherlands in 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new Phlox by vegetative cuttings in a controlled environment in Haarlem, The Netherlands since August, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Phlox are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


Electromagnetic wave shielding material including a conductive fiber web with multiple pores and a heat dissipation unit provided in at least some pores that is so excellent in flexibility, elasticity, and creasing/recovery that it can be changed in shape freely and brought in complete contact with a surface where the material is to be disposed even if the surface has a curved shape, uneven portions, or stepped portions, thus exhibiting excellent electromagnetic wave shielding performance and prevent deterioration thereof despite various shape changes. Since heat dissipation performance is excellent, heat generated in an electromagnetic wave source can be rapidly conducted and released. Even if parts are provided in a narrow area at high density, the material can be brought in close contact with mounted parts by overcoming a tight space between the parts and a stepped portion. The invention is employed for light, thin, short, and small or flexible devices.

Electromagnetic radiation is a phenomenon in which energy moves in a sinusoidal waveform while an electric field and a magnetic field cooperate with each other, and the phenomenon is useful for wireless communication or electronic devices such as a radar. The electric field is generated by voltage and is easily shielded due to long distances or obstacles such as a tree while the magnetic field is generated by current and is inversely proportional to a distance but is not easily shielded.
A recent electronic device is sensitive to electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated by an internal or external interference source, and there is a possibility of a malfunction of the electronic device being caused by electromagnetic waves. Also, a user who is using an electronic device may be harmfully affected by electromagnetic waves generated by the electronic device.
Accordingly, there is a growing interest in electromagnetic wave shielding materials for protecting human bodies or components of an electronic device against electromagnetic waves emitted from an electromagnetic wave generation source or from an external source.
Such an electromagnetic wave shielding material is typically formed of a conductive material, and shields electromagnetic waves emitted toward the electromagnetic wave shielding material by reflecting the electromagnetic waves or directing the electromagnetic waves to the ground. An example of the electromagnetic wave shielding material may be a metal case or a metal plate. Here, it is difficult for the electromagnetic wave shielding material to exhibit flexibility and elasticity and it is not easy to change the electromagnetic wave shielding material to various shapes or to recover the electromagnetic wave shielding material once manufactured. Thus, it is difficult for the electromagnetic wave shielding material to be employed in various application fields. In particular, it may be difficult for the electromagnetic wave shielding material such as a metal plate or a metal thin film to fully exhibit electromagnetic wave shielding performance because it is difficult for the electromagnetic wave shielding material to be adhered to a component requiring protection from an electromagnetic wave generating component or an electromagnetic wave source without a gap therebetween and also a crack may be generated due to bending at a stepped portion or an uneven portion.
In order to solve such a problem, an electromagnetic wave shielding material obtained by forming a conductive coating layer on a lightweight supporting member such as a polymer film has been recently produced. However, the electromagnetic wave shielding material has limitation on electromagnetic wave shielding performance in accordance with the limitation of an available area of the supporting member to be coated. Also, a film having a certain thickness or greater is insufficiently flexible, and thus it may be difficult to fully adhere the film to components having a stepped portion or an uneven portion or it may be difficult to freely change the shape of the film once manufactured in a specific shape. Even when the shape change is possible, a crack, a delamination, or the like may frequently be generated in a covered conductive coating layer during the shape change.
Meanwhile, heat as well as electromagnetic waves is typically generated in electronic elements that generate electromagnetic waves. Therefore, when such an element is shielded by an electromagnetic wave shielding material, heat generated from the element is difficult to release to the outside, and thus the function or durability of the element may be deteriorated.

Flexible electromagnetic wave shielding material, electromagnetic wave shielding-type circuit module comprising same and electronic device furnished with same


Componentry is added to a conventional universal remote device to enable it to cooperate with a set to beacon to position a cursor or arrow on a television or other display screen and to allow the remote control to perform the functions of a conventional personal computer xe2x80x9cmousexe2x80x9d in connection with the cursor, such as, for example, xe2x80x9cclickingxe2x80x9d on icons on the screen. A wide angle sensor and a stepped beacon pulse are used to increase range of the device, and the beacon pulse sent to the infrared sensor is automatically disabled upon detection of activity on the universal remote section.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates generally to electronic pointing devices and more particularly to a hand-held universal remote controller employing such a device to provide a xe2x80x9cmousexe2x80x9d function on a television or other display screen.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic pointing devices are known in the prior art. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,387, entitled xe2x80x9cPositioning System Using Infrared Radiation.xe2x80x9d The device disclosed in the ""387 patent employs a hand-held positioning controller which responds to light from an infrared beacon to control positioning of objects on a display screen such as a television.
The positioning controller disclosed in the ""387 patent includes three sensors. The reference sensor is positioned between the other two sensors and is masked to receive light within a predetermined range of acute angles measured from the axis. One of the other two sensors is a vertical angle sensor that is masked to receive a larger quantity of light from a first side of the horizontal plane than from a second side of the horizontal plane. The third sensor is a horizontal angle sensor that is masked to receive a larger quantity of light from a first side of the vertical plane than from a second side of the vertical plane. The positioning controller further includes circuitry for determining an orientation of the positioning controller using the amounts of light received by the reference sensor, the vertical angle sensor and the horizontal angle sensor.
Presently, set-top box technology is emerging which is delivering added programming and Internet access to the home entertainment center of the consumer. The normal configuration is to have a number of separate boxes, such as a TV, a VCR and a cable or satellite receiver. To this combination can be added a DVD player, integrated stereo sound, etc. Usually these devices are not all of the same brand and each has it""s own IR remote control. Most users opt for a single xe2x80x9cuniversalxe2x80x9d remote to operate all of the equipment. Many of the OEM remotes have the capability of being programmed to operate the other devices. Consumers generally are not willing to have 4 or 5 remotes.
Additionally, home display screens are increasingly being used as interfaces to computer systems and the Internet. Accordingly, a need has appeared to provide a xe2x80x9cmousexe2x80x9d function which can interact with a home display screen in the same manner as a conventional personal computer mouse. Attempts have been made to provide mouse devices operable with home television screens, but their performance has been limited and unsatisfactory.
A universal remote control device is modified to include circuitry for communicating with a remote beacon to enable the universal remote to provide a mouse-function in conjunction with a display screen. In one embodiment, the universal remote is provided with infrared sensors, which receive infrared energy from the beacon. The amplitude of the beacon pulse transmitted to the sensors is varied and a wide angle sensor is used in order to increase the range of operation. The beacon is automatically turned off to leave the spectrum open for transmitting universal remote control codes and then automatically re-enabled. In a preferred embodiment, this operation is achieved by detecting activity on the remote section and sending a xe2x80x9cshut-downxe2x80x9d command before outputting TV or other remote control codes.


A device for calibrating a test head of a testing device, where the test head has multiple electric contacts which are positioned in a contact region, has a contacting unit, which is dockable on the test head such that the contacting unit covers the contact region of the test head. The contacting unit includes a contact head, which has at least one measuring contact for contacting the contacts of the test head and is multi-dimensionally movable within the contacting unit using a positioning unit such that the contact head may approach and contact at least multiple contacts of the contact region. The device also has a control unit, which operates the positioning unit in calibration operation such that multiple or all contacts of the contact region to be contacted for calibrating the test head are automatically approached and contacted by the contacting head.

The present invention relates to a device for electrical measurement and/or calibration of a test: head of a testing device for testing electronic components.
Complex electronic components, such as microprocessors, may be tested and/or measured in regard to their proper functioning and performance with the aid of special testing devices. For this purpose, a testing device of this type has a test head, which has multiple electronic contacts arranged in a contact region, which is, in particular, flat. The components to be tested are positioned on a circuit board which has contact zones connected to the terminals of the components to be tested. As the circuit board is placed on the test head, the contacts of the test head may contact the contact zones of the circuit board, so that the test routine may run.
For example the product lines 83000 and 93000 from Agilent Technologies, as disclosed e.g. under http://www.ate.agilent.com/ste/products/intelligent test/SOC test/SOC Tec h Oview.shtml, represent these types of testing devices. Further testing devices are described in, for example, European Patent Application 1092983, European Patent Application 999450, European Patent Application 965845, European Patent Application 859318, European Patent Application 864977, European Patent Application 886214, European Patent Application 882991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,248, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,995.
In order to be able to ensure high quality for the tests of the testing device, it is essential to calibrate the test head electrically or electronically as precisely as possible. The measurement and/or calibration of the test head is performed with the aid of a device of the type initially described, a signal transmission having to be implemented on the more than, for example, 1000 contacts of the test head.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an embodiment for a device of the type initially described which improves the measurement and/or calibration of the test head. This object is achieved by the object of the independent claim. Advantageous embodiments are objects of the dependent claims.
The present invention is based on the idea of equipping the device with a contact head which has one or more measurement contacts for contacting the contacts of the test head and which may, using a positioning unit, automatically approach and contact all contacts necessary for measuring and/or calibrating the test head. In other words, the device is implemented in such a way that its contact head automatically approaches and contacts all contacts necessary for measuring and/or calibrating the test head, so that the device may perform the necessary measurements and/or calibration procedures automatically. The calibration of a test head equipped with a large number of contacts may, for example, last several hours, no interaction of operating personnel typically being necessary during this time; the advantage is obvious.
The device according to the present invention includes a contacting unit which comprises the contact head, including the positioning unit. According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the control unit is housed in a base unit and the contacting unit may be implemented so it is removable from the base unit, the contacting unit being connected to the base unit via a flexible cable arrangement. In order to dock the contacting unit on the test head, the contacting unit may be removed from the base unit, which simplifies the handling of the device. This is because the contacting unit only comprises the components necessary for the automatic contacting of the contacts of the, test head, while the base unit comprises the components necessary for the actual measurements and calibration procedures, such as the computer, control units, power supply unit, and the like. In particular, power is supplied to the contacting unit via a cable arrangement, originating from the base unit.
In a refinement, the contacting unit may be implemented in such a way that it may be set down on the base unit with its docking side, which is attachable to the test head, upward and may also be set down on the base unit with its docking side downward. Through this construction, the spectrum of application of the device may be elevated. When the docking side points upward, the device may be moved under the test head, so that the test head may be set down on the contacting unit with its contact region pointing downward. When the docking side points downward, it is protected, so that damage, particularly fouling of the components of the contacting unit, may be avoided.
For the measurement and calibration of the test head, signal transmissions must be implemented on a large number, particularly on all, of the contacts of the test headxe2x80x94as described above. The measurement and/or calibration procedures typically include multiple individual measurements in this case, for each of which there must only be signal transmission at a comparatively small number of contacts, for example two. To perform the measurement and/or calibration of the test head, it is possible in principle to contact any desired number of contacts simultaneously. The individual measurements are then performed, for example, in that, with the aid of an appropriate relay matrix, the small number of contacts necessary for the respective individual measurement are activated, while all other contacts, which are not necessary for this individual measurement, are deactivated. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the contact head has exactly enough measurement contacts so that in each case only the contacts of the test head necessary for the respective individual measurement are contacted. In this embodiment, electronic activation and deactivation of specific contacts, e.g., using a relay matrix, may be dispensed with. The signal transmission may therefore be performed directly, i.e., not via a selection circuit or relay matrix, and the quality of the transmittable signals, and therefore the quality of the measurements and the achievable calibration, may be improved.

Measuring and/or calibrating a test head


An ignition apparatus includes a blow-off determining unit 5b. The blow-off determining unit 5b determines, when the value ΔI2 of the time derivative of a secondary electric current exceeds a predetermined threshold value Z during a determination period, that blow-off has occurred; the determination period is a predetermined time period ΔT from the start of a spark discharge by a main ignition circuit 3. Further, when it is determined that blow-off has occurred during a main ignition (full-transistor ignition), it is controlled to perform a continuing spark discharge after the main ignition in a next cycle. Moreover, a secondary electric current command value in performing the continuing spark discharge is set to an electric current value that is obtained by adding a predetermined electric current value α to the secondary electric current value I2x immediately before the occurrence of blow-off. Consequently, in the next cycle, it is possible to reliably prevent blow-off, thereby reliably preventing misfire.

As a technique for reducing the burden of an ignition plug, suppressing unnecessary electric power consumption and continuing a spark discharge, the present applicant has devised an energy input circuit (not a publicly known art). The energy input circuit inputs electrical energy, after the start of an initial spark discharge (to be referred to as main ignition) by a well-known ignition circuit, to a battery voltage supply line from a low-voltage side of a primary coil before the main ignition is blown off; with the electrical energy input, the energy input circuit continuously applies electric current in the same direction to a secondary coil (DC secondary electric current), thereby continuing the spark discharge caused by the main ignition for an arbitrary time period (hereinafter, discharge continuation period). In addition, hereinafter, the spark discharge continued by the energy input circuit (the spark discharge following the main ignition) will be referred to as continuing spark discharge.
The energy input circuit controls, by controlling a primary electric current (input energy) in the discharge continuation period, the secondary electric current to sustain the spark discharge. By controlling the secondary electric current in the continuing spark discharge, it is possible to reduce the burden of the ignition plug due to the repetition of blow-off of the spark discharge and re-discharge, suppress unnecessary electric power consumption and continue the spark discharge.
Moreover, since the secondary electric current is applied in the same direction in the continuing spark discharge following the main ignition, it is difficult for the spark discharge to be interrupted in the continuing spark discharge following the main ignition. Therefore, with employment of the continuing spark discharge by the energy input, it is possible to prevent blow-off of the spark discharge even in a lean-burn operating condition where a rotational flow is created in the cylinder.
Next, for the purpose of assisting the understanding of the present invention, a typical example of the energy input circuit (as described above, not a publicly known art), to which the present invention is not applied, will be described based on FIGS. 6-8. In addition, in FIG. 6, functional components identical to those in embodiments which will be described later are given the same reference signs as in the embodiments.
An ignition apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 includes a main ignition circuit 3 that causes the main ignition in an ignition plug 1 by a full-transistor operation (on/off operation of an ignition switching means 13) and the energy input circuit 4 that performs the continuing spark discharge following the main ignition.
The energy input circuit 4 is configured with a boosting circuit 18 that boosts the voltage of an in-vehicle battery 11 (DC power source), an energy input switching means 27 for controlling the electrical energy inputted to the low-voltage side of the primary coil 7, and an energy input driver circuit 28 that controls the on/off operation of the energy input switching means 27.
FIG. 7 shows time charts illustrating the operation of the ignition apparatus in causing the main ignition. "IGT" is a high/low signal of an ignition signal IGT. "IGW" is a high/low signal of a discharge continuation signal IGW. "I2" is the secondary electric current (value of the electric current flowing in the secondary coil).
The main ignition circuit 3 operates based on the ignition signal IGT provided by an ECU 5 (abbreviation of Engine Control Unit). Upon the ignition signal IGT being switched from low to high, the primary coil 7 of the ignition coil 2 is energized. Then, when the ignition signal IGT is switched from high to low and thus the energization of the primary coil 7 is interrupted, a high voltage is generated in the secondary coil 8 of the ignition coil 2, starting the main ignition in the ignition plug.
After the start of the main ignition in the ignition plug 1, the secondary electric current attenuates substantially in the shape of a sawtooth wave (see FIG. 7). In addition, in the time chart of the secondary electric current, the electric current value increases in the direction toward the negative side (downward in the figure).
FIG. 8 shows time charts illustrating the operation of the ignition apparatus in performing the continuing spark discharge after the main ignition.
The energy input circuit 4 operates based on the discharge continuation signal IGW and a secondary electric current command signal IGA provided by the ECU 5; the secondary electric current command signal IGA indicates a secondary electric current command value I2a.
After the main ignition, for inputting energy to the secondary coil 8 before the secondary electric current drops to a "predetermined lower limit electric current value" (electric current value for sustaining the spark discharge) and thereby sustaining the spark discharge, the ECU 5 outputs both the discharge continuation signal IGW and the secondary electric current command signal IGA to the energy input circuit 4.
Upon the discharge continuation signal IGW being switched from low to high, the input of electrical energy from the negative side (low-voltage side) of the primary coil 7 to the positive side (high-voltage side) is started. Specifically, during a time period in which IGW is high, by on/off controlling the energy input switching means 27, the secondary electric current is controlled so as to be kept at the secondary electric current command value I2a (see FIG. 8).

Ignition apparatus for internal combustion engine


The present invention relates to improved anti-CD73 antibodies which, in comparison to prior art anti-CD73 antibodies bind to a membrane-bound form of CD73 protein having cancer-promoting role and inhibit its enzymatic activity, while essentially not inhibiting a soluble form of CD73 protein involved in cardioprotection. The present invention further relates to methods of generation of such specific anti-CD73 antibodies and uses thereof including uses as medicaments and in methods for treatment, amelioration, prophylaxis and diagnostics of cancer.

There is great medical need for effective cancer therapies which provoke less serious adverse side effects. Current therapies usually lack specificity and are often ineffective due to intrinsic or acquired resistance against chemo- und radiotherapy.
The ecto-nucleotidase CD73 is a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked, membrane-bound glycoprotein that converts extracellular adenosine monophosphate (AMP) to adenosine (ADO). A soluble form of CD73 can be shed from the membrane through proteolytic cleavage or hydrolysis of the GPI anchor. CD73 is the rate-limiting enzyme in the decay of ATP to adenosine, which exerts different cancer-promoting modes-of-action. The molecule is expressed on immune effector cells, where it contributes to immunosuppressive effects and hyporesponsiveness, but is also expressed at high levels across various types of cancer. CD73 is also found in a variety of tissues, including colon, brain, kidney, liver, lung, and heart, but also on leukocytes as well as on endothelium. There is evidence that the expression and function of this enzyme are upregulated under hypoxic conditions, as well as by the presence of several pro-inflammatory mediators.
Within the tumor microenvironment, adenosine produced by CD73 promotes tumor growth and survival, while suppressing antitumor immune responses. CD73 was found overexpressed in a broad range of cancer cells and blockade of this enzyme has been shown to alter the immunosuppressive capacity of tumors. Cancer cells induce an immunosuppressive environment to foster their own growth and to evade immune recognition. Therefore, CD73 (also known as NT5E) is a potent immunosuppressor. CD73 is an ectoenzyme, normally expressed on endothelial and immune cells, where it contributes to immune equilibrium. For example, CD73 plays a central role in the regulation of Treg activity (Deaglio et al., 2007, Wang et al., 2011) and the hyporesponsiveness of anergic T cells (Martinez et al., 2012). Thus, CD73 (or ecto-5′-nucleotidase or 5′-NT) having EC 18.104.22.168 enzymatic activity, is a widely expressed ecto-enzyme that catalyzes the dephosporylation of adenosine monophosphate to adenosine, which exerts different immunosuppressive and cancer-promoting modes-of-action (FIG. 1). The molecule is either constitutively expressed or induced on immune effector cells, where it contributes to immunosuppressive effects and hyporesponsiveness.
On the other hand, CD73 is overexpressed across various types of cancer (Stagg et al., 2013) and generally associated with a poor clinical prognosis (Ren et al., 2016). The immunosuppressive tumor milieu contains high levels of ADO, and targeted CD73 blockade promotes anti-tumor immunity by reducing ADO accumulation. In cancer, CD73 presumably exerts a dual function: firstly, it is expressed and exerts enzymatic activity on tumor-infiltrating stromal cells that constitute the neoplastic microenvironment; and secondly, it is highly expressed on cancer cells and directly stimulates their growth in an autocrine fashion (Stagg et al., 2010; Stagg et al., 2012). In addition, CD73 activity blunts tumor-specific Tcell responses (Jin et al., 2010) and interferes with apoptosis and metastasis (Antonioli et al., 2013). In fact, various preclinical models have demonstrated the value of CD73 as therapeutic target for cancer treatment (Zhang, 2010). Accordingly, it has been shown that anti-CD73 mAbs reduce tumor growth and metastasis in animal models (Stagg et al., 2010).
CD73 overexpression is also associated with chemoresistance of cancer cells, including breast cancer (Loi et al., 2013)) colorectal cancer (Cushman et al., 2015) and glioblastoma (Quezada et al., 2013) among others. Notably, CD73 has also been found overexpressed in leukemia cells resistant against TRAIL-induced apoptosis (Mikhailov et al., 2008). Currently, there are efforts towards the clinical translation of anti-CD73 therapy with antibodies, either alone or in combination with other checkpoint inhibitors. CD73-blocking mAbs constitute valuable anticancer tools, which may become an integral part of chemoradiation, molecular targeted therapies and other immunotherapeutic strategies.
For these reasons, CD73 is regarded as promising molecular target for immunotherapeutic (adjuvant) strategies, e.g. with blocking monoclonal antibodies (mAb). However, functional and thus conformation-specific, mAbs against structurally complex membrane proteins like G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) or membrane-tethered enzymes like CD73 are extremely hard to obtain by conventional immunization technologies.
On the other hand, a soluble form of CD73, which can be shed from the membrane through proteolytic cleavage or hydrolysis of the GPI anchor, has been reported to have a cardioprotective role. Accordingly, it is undesirable to block the soluble form of CD73 in order to avoid potential cardio-related adverse side effects. Furthermore, since most of CD73 protein in cells exist in a membrane-bound form, such membrane-bound form constitutes a primary target form for CD73 inactivation in cancer therapy. Several anti-CD73 mAbs are known in art (WO2016081748), neither of which, however, can specifically inhibit membrane-bound form of CD73 protein, while essentially not inhibiting enzymatic activity of a soluble form of CD73 protein.
The present application satisfies this demand by the provision of the antibodies that do not essentially inhibit a soluble form of CD73 protein, while inhibiting enzymatic activity of a membrane-bound form of CD73 as described herein below, characterized in the claims and illustrated by the appended Examples and Figures.
Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are membrane-surrounded vesicles that are released by cells including cancer cells and contain functional proteins of their cell of origin. EVs most probably constitute a mixture of vesicles like exosomes and microvesicles, which differ in the morphogenesis pathways, their composition and probably their biological function. EVs are rich in membranes and membrane proteins and have been described to exert various immunological effects. Furthermore, EVs carry various membrane proteins in their physiological conformation. But EVs also contain various classes of functional nucleic acids which, after EVs are engulfed by the target cells, can be translated into functional protein (in case of mRNAs) or exert regulatory function (in case of e.g. micro-RNAs). Therefore, EVs are nowadays regarded as relevant and potent conveyors of (complex) information from a cell of origin to a target cells.
The inventors of the present invention developed an immunization strategy involving tumor-derived EVs for the generation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with therapeutic and/or diagnostic potential. Using this strategy, the inventors generated a monoclonal antibody termed "22E6" that does not essentially inhibit a soluble form of CD73 protein such that it can inter alia produce adenosine involved in cardioprotection, whereas it binds to a membrane-bound form of CD73 protein and specifically inhibits its enzymatic activity. This 22E6 mAb is contemplated herein to be a superior molecule for use in interference with cancer resistance and further clinical use in mono- and combinational therapies. Furthermore, since it is undesirable to block the soluble form of CD73 due to its reported role in cardioprotection 22E6 mAb is particularly advantageous over the existing CD73 monoclonal antibodies binding and inhibiting both soluble and membrane-bound forms of CD73.
Sequence of the 22E6 mAb according to the present invention clearly differs from those of the sequences of known antibodies. Therefore, 22E6 mAb is the first and only antibody that selectively inhibits the membrane-tethered CD73, but not the soluble form of CD73. Given that both forms of the molecule are structurally similar and only differ by the presence or absence of a GPI-anchor, developing a functional antibody that selectively blocks the membranous form is completely new and unexpected.

Anti-CD73 monoclonal antibody, encoding nucleic acids and method for producing

Helmholtz Zentrum München—Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH)


A touch panel according to the embodiment includes: a cover substrate including an active area and an unactive area; an intermediate layer on the cover substrate; and an electrode on the intermediate layer, wherein the intermediate layer includes an acrylic resin composition.

1. Field
The embodiment relates to a touch panel.
2. Background
Recently, a touch panel, which performs an input function through the touch of an image displayed on a display device by an input device, such as a stylus pen or a finger, has been applied to various electronic appliances.
Such a touch panel may be mainly classified into a resistive touch panel and a capacitive touch panel. In the resistive touch panel, glass is shorted with an electrode due to the pressure of the input device so that a touch point is detected. In the capacitive touch panel, the position of the touch point is detected by detecting the variation in capacitance between electrodes when a finger of the user touches the capacitive touch panel.
The performance of the resistive touch panel may be degraded and the scratch may occur as the resistive touch panel is repeatedly used. Accordingly, the interest on the capacitive touch panel representing superior endurance and a long lifespan is increased.
Such a touch panel may have various types according to the position of the electrode. For instance, the electrode may be formed only on one surface of a cover substrate or may be formed on the one surface of the cover substrate and one surface of a substrate.
When the electrode is disposed on the cover substrate, the strength of the cover substrate may be lowered in the process of forming the electrode. In this case, the overall strength of the touch window may be lowered, thereby deteriorating the reliability.
Therefore, a touch panel having a novel structure capable of solving the above problem is required.


A line retainer includes a bridge portion, a first arm, and a second arm. The first arm extends from the bridge portion and includes a locking portion. The second arm extends from the bridge portion and includes a retaining barb. The retaining barb extends toward the locking portion and is configured to catch the locking portion.

In recent years, retainers have been developed to securely fasten tubing, cables, wiring, etc. to a substrate. For example, vehicles have various tubes (e.g., for fuel, coolant, washer fluid, etc.) and electrical wiring (e.g., for lights, power windows, electronic controls, etc.) routed through the body of the vehicle. The tubes and electrical wiring are secured in a retainer, which is secured to the body. Thus, the tubes and electrical wiring are secured to the body.
Certain known retainers are configured to snap into an opening defined in the substrate and have outwardly-extending posts with inwardly-pointing flexible barbs, sometimes referred to as rabbit ears. When a tube is pushed into the retainer, the flexible barbs flex relative to the posts to accommodate the tube and resiliently snap back to retain the tube.
However, these known retainers require a significant outwardly-extending height relative to the body to keep the flexible barbs at an acute angle relative to the posts to retain the tube and/or wiring.
Other known retainers include a clamping cover pivotably connected to a buckle. The buckle is fastened to the body of the vehicle. Tubes and/or wiring are placed in the buckle and the clamping cover is pivoted relative to the buckle to snap into same to retain the tubes and/or wiring.
However, these other known retainers require the subsequent secondary operation of snapping the clamping cover into the buckle to secure the tubes and/or wiring.
Therefore, a need exists for a retainer that is low profile relative to a substrate into which tubes and/or wiring may be introduced and retained in a single operation.


A high torque driveline coupler is provided for use in the driveline between a drive motor and a wheel drive of a sprinkler irrigation system. The coupler has first and second yoke assemblies with intermeshed pairs of legs, and a floating rubber member with radially extending arms positioned between the intermeshed legs of the yoke assemblies. The legs of the yoke assemblies and the floating rubber member are arranged to allow the coupler to be quickly and easily coupled and decoupled without the use of separate means for securing the yoke assemblies together. The coupler has a unique alignment system for aligning the floating member with the yoke assemblies. The alignment system includes first and second recesses formed in opposite sides of a center portion of the floating rubber member, and first and second projections extending from the first and second yoke assemblies, respectively. The first and second projections are shaped to fit snugly within the first and second recesses to keep the floating rubber member substantially aligned with the yoke assemblies. The alignment system increases the effective maximum torque capacity of the coupler.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to driveline coupler devices for connecting drive train components. In particular, the present invention relates to driveline couplers for connecting driveline components that operate under high torque conditions, such as the tower drivelines of sprinkler irrigation systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sprinkler irrigation systems are widely used throughout the world to provide water for agricultural purposes in arid regions. Typically, such systems include a series of spaced support towers connected by truss sections that support an elevated water distribution pipe between the towers. In center pivot systems, the water distribution pipe extends radially from a central pivot communicating with a pressurized water supply. In linear move irrigation systems, the water distribution pipe extends laterally from a canal feed or hose drag system that provides a pressurized water supply.
Water passing through the distribution pipe is forced out through a number of sprinkler heads, spray guns, drop nozzles, and the like, spaced along the length of the pipe. Each tower in the system is supported on wheels that are driven at slow speeds to move the tower in a circular path about the central pivot, or a linear path in the case of linear move systems, to thereby irrigate a large tract of land.
A number of drive assemblies have been developed for driving the support wheels of sprinkler irrigation systems. The most common drive assembly includes an electric motor connected to a center gear drive assembly, a first wheel gear assembly coupled to the center gear drive assembly by a first drive shaft, and a second wheel gear assembly coupled to an opposite side of the center gear drive assembly by a second drive shaft. Each of the first and second drive shafts typically has a driveline coupler at each end that allows the shafts to be quickly and easily pulled apart and put back together to facilitate field maintenance and/or towing from field to field.
A conventional driveline coupler used by many sprinkler manufacturers is provided by Universal Motion Components, Co. (xe2x80x9cUMCxe2x80x9d) of Costa Mesa, Calif. This conventional driveline coupler has a pair of yoke members secured to opposing ends of two shafts to be coupled together. The yoke members have generally U-shaped ends that mesh with each other in a manner similar to a conventional universal joint assembly. A rubber member having four arms that extend outwardly from a center section is placed between the yoke members. In operation, the rotational torque in the driveline is transmitted through the driveline coupler by the U-shaped ends of the yoke members engaging and being engaged by the arms of the rubber member, respectively.
The conventional driveline coupler described above is now widely used in the drive trains of sprinkler irrigation systems because it provides a flexible, convenient, and reliable system to couple and uncouple a drive shaft. However, this conventional driveline coupler tends to fail under very high loads and extreme duty torque conditions, resulting in downtime and increased maintenance cost of the sprinkler system. Thus, there is a need in the industry for an improved driveline coupler suitable for use in irrigation sprinkler systems and the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved driveline coupler that provides a more reliable, extreme duty connection for drive train components.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved driveline coupler that is capable of transmitting a higher amount of torque than the conventional driveline coupler described above.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an improved driveline coupler that is economical to manufacture, efficient in use, capable of a long operating life, and particularly well suited for use in sprinkler irrigation systems.
According to a broad aspect of the present invention, a high torque driveline coupler is provided, comprising: a first yoke assembly having a first plurality of axially extending legs extending from a base portion; a second yoke assembly having a second plurality of axially extending legs extending from a base portion, the legs of the second yoke assembly being configured to intermesh with the legs of the first yoke assembly to transmit rotational torque through the coupler; a rubber member having a center portion and a plurality of arms extending radially outwardly from the center portion, the rubber member being configured to fit between the first and second yoke assemblies with the arms of the rubber member extending between the intermeshed legs of the yoke assemblies; and an alignment system for aligning the rubber member with the first yoke assembly. The alignment system comprises a first recess formed in the center portion of the rubber member and a first projection secured to the base portion of the first yoke assembly. The first projection is shaped to fit snugly within the first recess to keep the rubber member substantially aligned with the first yoke assembly.
According to another broad aspect of the present invention, a sprinkler irrigation system is provided, comprising: at least one support tower assembly for supporting an irrigation pipe above a field to be irrigated, the support tower assembly having a drive motor, at least one wheel assembly, and a drive connection for transferring rotational energy from the drive motor to the wheel assembly. The drive connection comprises a driveline coupler having first and second yoke assemblies with intermeshed pairs of legs, a floating member with radially extending arms positioned between the intermeshed legs, and an alignment system for aligning the floating member with the yoke assemblies. The alignment system comprises a first recess formed in a center portion of the floating member and a first projection extending from: the first yoke assembly toward the first recess, the first projection being shaped to fit snugly within the first recess.
Numerous other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description wherein there is shown and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, simply by way of illustration of one of the modes best suited to carry out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modification in various obvious aspects without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.


The present invention relates to a PLL circuit and an associated method that allows the PLL circuit to operate at a higher operating frequency with a wider bandwidth and a better out-band noise suppression. The PLL circuit comprises a delay locked loop (DLL), a phase-frequency detector (PFD), a loop filter, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and a frequency divider.

The wavelength of a millimeter wave varies from 10 millimeters to 1 millimeter and the frequency in use may range from 30 GHz to 300 GHz. The characteristics of the millimeter waves, such as anti-interference and anti-interception, make millimeter waves preferable for high data-rate wireless communication. In the millimeter wave communication system, a phase locked loop is an important component, which generates a stable signal at for frequency conversions. By comparing the phase of the signal generated by PLL its own with the phase of another signal from an external source at low frequency, a PLL can adjust the output signal and provide a carrier with high purity at high frequency range.
With reference to FIG. 1, a conventional PLL comprises a phase-frequency detector (PFD) (10), a charge pump (11), a loop filter (12), a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) (13) and a frequency divider (14).
The PFD (10) detects the phase difference between a reference signal (15) and a feedback signal (16).
The charge pump (11) is connected to the PFD (10) and generates a control voltage (17) based on the phase difference between the reference signal (15) and the feedback signal (16).
The loop filter is a low-pass filter that filters out high frequency components of the control voltage (17), which is connected to the charge pump (11).
The VCO (13) generates an oscillating signal (18) based on the control voltage (17).
The frequency divider (14) divides frequency of the oscillating signal (18) into the frequency that the reference signal (15) oscillates at. The divided signal at the output of the frequency divider is the feedback signal (16). The feedback signal (16) is further input to the PFD (10).
Since the oscillation frequency for millimeter wave applications is higher than 30 GHz and the frequency of the reference signal (15) is 200 MHz generated by a crystal oscillator, the division ratio is more than 150.
It is known that the phase noise within the loop bandwidth is dominated by the reference signal (15) and increasing the loop bandwidth can suppress the phase noise contributed by VCO (13). However, if the loop bandwidth is close to the frequency of reference signal, reference spurs may appear in each side band of the desired signal at the output of the PLL with an offset value of the reference frequency. As a rule-of-thumb, the loop bandwidth of a PLL is generally designed around 1/10 frequency of reference signal (15). Therefore in theory, the higher the frequency of the reference signal is, the wider loop bandwidth and the better phase noise of the PLL will be. Unfortunately, there is another constraint to the loop bandwidth of a PLL, which is the upper limit of the operation frequency of the PFD.
A conventional tri-state PFD (2) comprises an AND logic gate (21) and two D Flip-Flops (DFF) (20) as is shown in FIG. 2.
The DFFs (20) respectively receive a reference signal (25) and a feedback signal (26).
The AND logic gate (21) is connected to the DFFs (20). When the phases of the reference signal (25) and the feedback signal (26) are matched (synchronized), the AND logic gate (21) will reset the DFFs (20).
A drawback of such conventional tri-state PFD (2) is its operating frequency limited by the DFFs (20). If the frequencies of the reference signal (25) and the feedback signal (26) are higher than the operating frequency of the DFFs (20), unpredictable errors may occur, which limits the frequency of reference signal as well as the operation frequency of the PFD.
Another kind of conventional PFD (3) is proposed to resolve the issue of conventional tri-state PFD (2) as shown in FIG. 3, which comprises only one D Flip-Flop (DFF) (31) and no reset path. The DFF (31) of this PFD (3) is used to delay the phase of a reference signal (32) by 90 degrees. Nevertheless, the dependence on such 90 degree phase delay makes the design of DFF more complicated when the frequency of reference signal is increased, which also constrains operation frequency of PFD.
To resolve the issues about the limited loop bandwidth of conventional PFDs, a PFD capable to handle high frequency reference signal is proposed, which can provide the PLL with a wider loop bandwidth and a better out-band noise suppression.

Phase-locked loop circuit and an associated method


A method displays a chart that includes visual marks representing a data set, displayed according to contents of displayed shelf regions, which determine characteristics of the chart. The method detects selection of a plurality of visual marks, and visually emphasizes the selected plurality of visual marks. The method also detects a first input on the selected marks, and displays a moveable icon corresponding to the selected visual marks while maintaining display of the visual marks. The method detects a second input on the moveable icon, and moves the moveable icon over a first shelf region. Upon ceasing to detect the input, the method updates the content of the first shelf region based on the selected visual marks, and updates the chart in accordance with updated content of the first shelf region, including applying the characteristic of the first shelf to the selected visual marks distinct from the unselected visual marks.

Data visualization applications enable a user to understand a data set visually, including distribution, trends, outliers, and other factors that are important to making business decisions. Some data sets are very large or complex. Various analytic tools can be used to help understand the data, such as regression lines, average lines, and percentile bands. However, analytic functionality may be difficult to use or hard to find within a complex user interface. In addition, analysis sometimes requires using analytic functions on two or more subsets of data at the same time

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for using displayed data marks in a dynamic data visualization interface


The sequence controller disclosed is a microprocessor based unit having a user programmable sequence of electronic pulses for the control or synchronization of valves, relays, solenoids and timers. The controller is connected to spray nozzles adapted for projecting atomized droplets of liquid between charged electrodes in a timed sequence to cause the charged droplets to be attracted to and impinge against partial areas of a grounded surface to form a continuous substantially uniform film of liquid on the surface.

Sequence control apparatus heretofore employed for controlling bakery Dan oilers have limited capability for applying precisely controlled quantities of liquid to precisely controlled areas on pan or conveyor band surfaces. Consequently, the systems tend to apply excessive quantities of oil or other materials which detracts from the quality of the resulting food produce and requires excessive maintenance and cleaning to operate the systems.
Current systems for the application of oils and other release agents to pans used for commercial baking (commonly referred to as "oilers" or "greasers") provide very limited control of application patterns. Pan sensing is frequently a problem with these systems as well. Consequently, these systems are unable to oil some types of pans and, they give poor results with many other pans. A sequence controller capable of extending the spray pattern capabilities of such systems and adapted to sense the location of a pan without using special sensors is needed.
Commercial pan oilers apply a release agent such as vegetable oil to the baking pan using one or more spray nozzles. The nozzles are usually mounted above a pan conveyor and spray into the pans as they pass below. Most oilers are designed for use with pans that have well defined cavities in a uniform rectangular arrangement. A typical nozzle configuration uses a selected number of nozzles positioned in a row across the pan conveyor. Each nozzle can be moved along a track to match nozzle spacing to the cavity spacing of various pans.
A pan sensor is normally mounted below the conveyor to sense the bottom profile of the pan. When the sensor detects the leading edge of each cavity, it triggers a short spray from all selected nozzles. The position of the spray within each cavity is determined by the position of the pan sensor relative to the nozzle line.
Pan sensor position is usually adjusted to trigger a spray in the center of each cavity. Spray duration is adjusted to control the amount of release agent applied per spray cycle. Since spray tips commonly used give relatively high flow rates, the maximum spray duration is typically less than a tenth of a second and, the pan travels only a few tenths of an inch along the conveyor during the spray cycle. This gives the effect of spraying a single shot or burst of oil into each cavity.
The current systems are limited because they only spray when a signal is received from the pan sensor. This means that a consistently detectable pattern of features must exist on some profile of the pan which exactly matches the desired pattern of sprays.
Most pan sensors in use are either the metal detecting proximity type or the optical proximity type. These sensors are on if they detect a sufficient amount of metal or a sufficient optical path. Because they are either on or off, and because they are only sensitive to a single characteristic of the pan, they are most effective where a high contrast profile exists. Bent pans, which are common in the industry, can cause the sensors to miss sprays. Also, many commercial baking pans have frames, braces, and unusual geometries which will cause misses or extra sprays.
The tremendous variety of baking pans used in commercial baking and the frequent requirement that a single oiler and pan sensor arrangement work with several different pans presents two major challenges. The first is to produce a pattern of sprays which gives a light, evenly distributed coating of release agent only on those portions of the pan which contact the baked product. The second is to consistently synchronize or align the spray pattern with moving pans.
Further, liquid sprayed through nozzles tends to form a very fine mist commonly referred to as "over-spray" which does not adhere to the surface of the pan and results in contamination of the atmosphere in the vicinity of the pan or application of oil to surfaces around the pan.


The present disclosure provides systems and methods to enable significant improvements in display systems utilizing projectors and a retro-reflective (RR) screen through use of transparent or semi-transparent RR material. An aspect of the present disclosure provides methods for optimization of optical properties of the RR material to achieve desired optical transparency parameters. Another aspect of the present disclosure provides methods for specific use cases for flexible, transparent and semi-transparent RR display systems.

Current state-of-the-art augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) systems which display stereoscopic or 3-dimensional (3D) content often require physical calibration and physical adjustment of the head-mounted device (HMD) for each user in order to account for different inter-pupil distances (IPD) and other sizing differences associated with each user. These adjustments are needed due to optical elements such as lenses that may reside between the user's eyes and the display surface. Without the physical calibration, the optical element and display surface will not be in the proper location which can result in poor visual quality and a poor user experience. However, this physical adjustment requirement interferes with an ideal and simple user experience and leaves the AR/VR systems susceptible to poor visuals due to incorrect adjustment and calibration.
Current state-of-the-art display systems generally consist of either flat-panel displays or projector-based displays. The flat-panel displays are generally based on liquid crystal display (LCD) pixels with light emitting diode (LED) backlighting or plasma-based screens. In these display systems, it is difficult to attain screen sizes significantly larger than 80 inches in width due to several considerations. For flat-panel displays, nonlinear increases in cost as the screen size grows, as well as high power consumption, may limit screen sizes to below 80 inches at typical consumer price points. For projection-based displays, many factors limit increases in screen size, including: decreased brightness, increased power consumption, large projector size and projector noise. Additionally, for these types of display systems it is generally not technically feasible, or is prohibitively expensive to implement transparency or semi-transparency into the display system.
An alternative display system has been proposed to use a retro-reflective (RR) display surface to allow for increase display size with high brightness levels. Current state-of-the-art retro-reflective material is opaque sheeting that reflects light back to its source. The typical usage for this system is traffic safety and security. Retro-reflective sheeting used for traffic purposes include signs, asphalt reflectors, wearables and automobiles. Typical source of light is from automobile and motorcycle headlights. Retro-reflective sheeting used for security purposes include: warnings, directions. Typical light sources include airplanes, boats, and cars. Furthermore, current state-of-the-art retro-reflective systems do not engineer the retro reflective material to be semi-transparent or transparent.

Real time algorithmic calibration and compensation of virtual and augmented reality systems and optimized semi-transparent and transparent retroreflective display systems and methods


The disclosure provides compositions and methods for the detection of renal disease and periodontal disease in mammals.

Renal disease is associated with increased water consumption, frequent urination, diminished appetite, weight loss and muscle atrophy. Generally, by the time clinical symptoms of renal disease develop, irreparable kidney damage has occurred. Early detection permits earlier treatment and in turn slows disease progression. Current treatment includes dialysis and a diet low in phosphorous and protein. Early detection is crucial for improved life span and quality of life.
In mammals, renal disease progression is divided into five levels. Current methods for detecting renal disease in mammals, e.g., canines, include kidney ultrasound, biopsy, or measurement of urine protein/creatinine levels. Biopsy is invasive and creatinine measurement is not accurate until stage three of renal failure, which is after significant tissue damage has occurred. Methods for detecting renal disease at earlier stages are needed in the art so that disease progression can be halted.

Methods and compositions for the detection and diagnosis of renal disease and periodontal disease


A process for the reductive alkylation at the C-3 position of an indole compound in which the indole is treated with an aldehyde in the presence of a Lewis acid and a silicon hydride reducing agent. The process is useful for alkylating the C-3 position of indoles that contain acid-sensitive substituents at the N-1 position.

C-3 alkylation of indoles in general is a facile process, as shown in Comprehensive Organic Chemistry, 1979, V. 4, Chapter 17, "Indoles and Related Systems". This alkylation can occur under basic or acidic reaction conditions. The effect of different metal cations, base concentration, and catalysts for the phase transfer alkylation of indoles under basic conditions has been studied. Alkylation of indoles under acidic reaction conditions can often proceed with catalytic amounts of acid catalysts. An examination of the literature reveals a large number of acid catalysts that have been used for the C-3 alkylation of indoles.
It is convenient to achieve both alkylation and reduction transformations simultaneously when indoles with C-3 saturated substituents are desired. Triethylsilane is a convenient reducing agent under acidic reaction conditions, and trifluoroacetic acid and triethylsilane have been used as a reagent combination to accomplish simultaneous alkylation and reduction at the C-3 position of indoles; Steele, et al. Tet Lett 1993, p1529. Unfortunately, trifluoroacetic acid is incompatible with some acid sensitive functional groups, and, in fact, trifluoroacetic acid is well known as a reagent for the cleavage of benzhydryl protecting groups; Greene and Wuts, "Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis" 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1999.

Synthetic methodology for the reductive alkylation at the C-3 position of indoles


Microfeature workpieces having conductive vias formed by chemically reactive processes, and associated systems and methods are disclosed. A method in accordance with one embodiment includes disposing a conductive lining on walls of a via in a microfeature workpiece, so that a space is located between opposing portions of the lining facing toward each other from opposing portions of the wall. The method can further include chemically reacting the lining with a reactive material to form a chemical compound from a constituent of the reactive material and a constituent of the lining. The method can still further include at least partially filling the space with the compound. In particular embodiments, the conductive lining includes copper, the reactive material includes sulfur hexafluoride, and the chemical compound that at least partially fills the space in the via includes copper sulfide.

Microelectronic imagers are used in digital cameras, wireless devices with picture capabilities, and many other applications. Many cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), for example, incorporate microelectronic imagers for capturing and sending pictures. The growth rate of microelectronic imagers has been steadily increasing as they become smaller and produce better images with higher pixel counts.
Microelectronic imagers include image sensors that use Charged Coupled Device (CCD) systems, Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) systems, or other solid-state systems. CCD image sensors have been widely used in digital cameras and other applications. CMOS image sensors are also quickly becoming very popular because they are expected to have low production costs, high yields, and small sizes. CMOS image sensors can provide these advantages because they are manufactured using technology and equipment developed for fabricating semiconductor devices. CMOS image sensors, as well as CCD image sensors, are accordingly "packaged" to protect their delicate components and to provide external electrical contacts.
Many imaging devices include semiconductor dies having image sensors located on a front surface of the die to receive incoming radiation. The dies also include bond pads for electrically coupling the sensors to other circuit elements. In order to prevent the bond pads from interfering with the operation of the sensors, or limiting the size and/or location of the sensors, the bond pads can be positioned on the opposite side of the die from the sensors (e.g., on the back surface of the die). Through-wafer interconnects (TWIs) are used to conduct electrical signals from the sensors and associated internal circuitry, through the die to the bond pads at the back surface. The TWIs are typically formed by making a blind via in the die, filling the via with solder, and then grinding the back surface of the die to expose the blind end of the via, which is used to form the bond pad. A solder ball can then be attached to the bond pad and can be reflowed to couple the die to external devices.
One potential drawback associated with the foregoing approach is that, when the solder ball is later reflowed to electrically attach the die to external devices, the solder within the via may also tend to melt or at least soften. During the ensuing attach process, the solder within the via can be pulled at least partially out of the via, or can otherwise undergo deformations and/or movement that can adversely affect the electrical continuity of the TWI. In some instances, the electrical continuity of the TWI may be disrupted, causing the electrical connection between the image sensor and the external devices to fail.
Another potential drawback associated with the foregoing approach is that the number of steps required to produce the TWI increases the cost of making the associated die. For example, the use of solder in the blind via requires forming a vent hole to allow gases within the via to escape as the solder enters. Even so, the solder may include voids, which can disrupt electrical continuity and in subsequent processes, expand and create electrical shorts. Still further, the processes required to dispose the solder in the via are typically high-temperature processes, which can use up a significant portion of the thermal budget of the die. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved process for forming microfeature workpiece electrical connections, including connections between dies and external devices.

Microfeature workpieces having conductive interconnect structures formed by chemically reactive processes, and associated systems and methods


Extrudable compositions were prepared comprising poly(propylene) and a liquid additive comprising a lactam group. The compositions can comprise other optional additives that include a polyhemiaminal, antioxidants, UV light absorbers, and surfactants. The extruded compositions have higher percent elongation at break and lower Young's modulus compared to extruded poly(propylene) lacking the liquid additive. These and other property improvements make the extruded compositions attractive for forming field joint coatings for undersea pipeline applications.

The present invention relates to extrudable poly(propylene) compositions, and more specifically, to extrudable poly(propylene) compositions for use in pipelines.
Pipeline coatings made of poly(propylene) (PP) are an essential component of undersea applications. However, shortcomings in pipeline coating performance due to cracking, bond failures, adhesion issues, and mechanical failure persist.
The current pipeline coating technologies use PP or a mixture of PP with other polyolefins (e.g., high-density polyethylene or polystyrene) to extrude plastic coatings. Several factors negatively impact the performance of these coating plastics: exposure to sunlight can cause surface oxidation, de-colorization, and bond failure. Moreover, laying and installing pipelines undersea can result in stress cracks. The undersea environment can further degrade pipeline materials. The pipeline coating industry actively seeks alternative materials and formulations that can be extruded at high temperature and provide improved thermal and mechanical properties of the pipeline coatings.

International Business Machines Corporation


A semiconductor device with a recessed L-shaped spacer and a method for fabricating the same. A recessed L-shaped spacer includes a vertical portion and a horizontal portion. The vertical portion is disposed on lower sidewalls of a conductor pattern, exposing upper sidewalls thereof. A top spacer is on the L-shaped spacer, wherein a width ratio of the vertical portion of the L-shaped spacer to the top spacer is at least about 2:1.

The present invention relates in general to semiconductor manufacturing. More particularly, it relates to a semiconductor device with improved sidewall spacers and a method for fabricating the same.
Silicides are commonly used to reduce the gate resistance and the source/drain resistance between adjacent gate electrodes. As the physical geometry of semiconductor devices shrinks, however, the spacing between gate electrodes shrinks as well. The available space for silicide formation shrinks faster than the ground rules for gate-to-gate spacing due to the finite width of the gate spacers. Thus, the formation of silicide in narrow spaces between gates becomes more difficult, leading to an elevated and variable resistance in these regions. Furthermore, dry etching of conventional sidewall spacers is difficult to control and can result in variations in spacer width between adjacent gates. These variations in spacer width further result in poor resistance uniformity.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a cross-section of a partially completed semiconductor device is shown. Two transistor gate patterns 12 are formed overlying the semiconductor substrate 10. The gate patterns 12 include a gate electrode 14 overlying a gate dielectric 16. An oxide liner layer 18 and a silicon nitride layer 20 are deposited in sequence overlying the gate patterns 12 and the semiconductor substrate 10. Note that the silicon nitride layer 20 is much thicker than the oxide liner layer 18. For example, for 80 nm node design rule, the thicknesses of the silicon nitride layer 20 and the oxide liner layer 18 are about 650 Å and 130 Å, respectively.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, conventional spacer etching is performed to provide an L-shaped oxide spacer 18a and a thicker nitride spacer 20a. After formation of source/drain regions 22, silicides 24 are formed on the exposed surface of the gate electrode 14 and the source/drain regions 22. As the available spaced for silicide formation is determined by the spacer widths, the variations in spacer width will result in poor resistance uniformity. With the conventional spacer scheme of FIG. 2, however, large variations in spacer width during spacer etching often necessitates complex process tuning. A novel spacer scheme with better width control is desirable. It is also desirable to reduce the spacer width to enlarge the space for silicide formation.
Another problem associated with conventional spacers is limited top loss. Referring back to FIG. 2, only a trivial sidewall portion of the gate electrode 14 is exposed after the spacer dry etching. With the finite exposed area, silicide is difficult to form to provide a high-performance transistor. It would be advantageous for the gate electrode to have a larger area for silicidation.
FIG. 4 shows yet another problem with conventional spacers. A contact hole 30 is etched though an inter-level dielectric (ILD) layer 28 and a contact etch stop layer 26 to expose the source/drain regions 22. As the stop layer 26 is typically silicon nitride, the nitride spacer 20a is laterally etched during the contact etching process for removal of the stop layer 26, leading to undercut 30a. The lateral etch poses reliability risks especially when the contact hole 30 is misaligned.

Semiconductor device with recessed L-shaped spacer and method of fabricating the same

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A radio-frequency device includes a grounding element, a first antenna including a first parasitic element, a second antenna, a third antenna and a second parasitic element, wherein the grounding element is shared by the first, second and third antennas, the second parasitic element is electrically connected to the grounding element for guiding a first reflected signal from the first antenna to the second parasitic element, and the first parasitic element is electrically connected to the grounding element for guiding a second and third reflected signals from the second and third antennas to the first parasitic element, so as to enhance isolations of the first, second and third antennas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio-frequency device and wireless communication device, and more particularly, to a radio-frequency device and wireless communication device capable of enhancing antenna isolation so as to dispose multiple antennas in a limited space while maintaining preferable antenna efficiency and bandwidth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic products with wireless communication functionalities, such as laptops, tablet PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, wireless base stations, smart meters, and USB dongles, utilize antennas to send and receive wireless signals so as to access wireless networks. In order to let the users access wireless communication networks more conveniently, the antenna bandwidth should be as broad as possible so that more communication protocols can be complied with, while the antenna size should be minimized to meet a demand for smaller and lighter products. In addition, with evolution of wireless communication technologies a wireless communication device may be required to equip more antennas. For example, a modern USB dongle may be equipped with multiple sets of antennas to establish a plurality of antenna channels for spatial diversity and provide multiple antenna patterns, which allows the user to execute different applications using different wireless communication systems (e.g. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) on the same frequency band at the same time. Furthermore, the spectrum efficiency and the transmission speed may be enhanced with multiple sets of antennas, thereby improving the communication quality. Since multiple sets of antennas are disposed in a communication device, the interference problems have become one of the important design considerations for antenna designs.
In general, multiple sets of antennas are respectively disposed on the diagonal positions or are kept in the farthest distance between one another on the longest edge of a wireless communication device so as to minimize the interference between antennas and achieve better complementary antenna characteristics. However, if the overall size of the wireless communication device or the available space for disposing the antennas is very small, careful considerations must be taken when drawing the layout of the antennas.
In addition, the broadband requirement has become a primary item for antenna designs as the evolution of wireless communication technologies. The common broadband antennas, such as planar inverted-F antennas, can meet the requirement of multi-frequency operation; however, the radiation elements of such antennas are too long to be installed in a miniature wireless communication system. Furthermore, the low frequency band of these kinds of antennas is too narrow (only about 110 MHz) so that they cannot meet the broadband requirement of the wireless communication systems.
Therefore, how to design multiple sets of antennas in a limited space which meets all of the antenna requirements for transmission, bandwidth, efficiency, and isolation is an important topic to be addressed and discussed.

Radio-frequency device and wireless communication device for enhancing antenna isolation