The corrosion inhibitor blend of at least one corrosion inhibitor base (which may be a Mannich reaction product), a solvent selected from the group consisting of C1 acids and ester and salt derivatives thereof, and optionally a surfactant, has been found to be effective as a corrosion inhibitor for metals in acid media, particularly fluids containing halogen acids. The corrosion inhibitor has improved performance over similar or identical corrosion inhibitor compositions where an alcohol such as methanol is used as a solvent. Suitable, non-limiting possibilities for the solvent include, but are not necessarily limited to formic acid, formate salts, methyl formate, ethyl formate, benzyl formate, formate salts of amines, inorganic formate, and mixtures thereof.

It is well known that steel surfaces will corrode in the presence of acid environments. While the rate at which corrosion will occur depends on a number of factors, such as the steel alloy itself, the strength and type of acid, the temperature of the environment, the length of contact, etc., some sort of corrosion invariably occurs. Alloy technology has provided materials to withstand the incidental contact of steel with acid, but the corrosion problem is particularly aggravated when there is no choice but to contact steel with acid, as in the case of chemical processing where acids are employed. In instances where the acid is not required to remain pure and where the contact is inevitable, attention has turned toward providing corrosion inhibitors in the acid medium itself to prevent corrosion of the steel surfaces that it must come into contact with, yet still deliver the acid to its ultimate destination. It would be advantageous if a new corrosion inhibitor were discovered that would be an improvement over the presently known systems. For example, a corrosion inhibitor providing a large corrosion inhibiting effect for a small proportion used would be advantageous.
Specific environments in which an improved corrosion inhibitor would be appreciated include industrial cleaning and hydrocarbon recovery operations. With respect to oil and gas production, it is well known that during the production life of an oil or gas well, the production zone within the well may be chemically treated or otherwise stimulated to enhance the economical production lifetime of the well. A common way of doing this is by acid fracturing or matrix acidizing, whereby a highly acidic solution, generally having a pH of less than about 1, but which may be as high as about 6.9 is injected into the well. Spent acid in return fluids may have a pH of around 3 to 6.9. Because of the acidic nature of the treatment fluid, the production or workover conduit which is utilized in the well in such applications encounters considerable acidic corrosion, in the forms of surface pitting, embrittlement, loss of metal component and the like. Halogen acids are commonly used in these fluids.
In earlier years of producing subterranean wells, the vast majority of production and workover conduits comprised carbon steels. These steels were utilized either temporarily or permanently in the well, and treatment and/or stimulation fluids were introduced through them into the well. Recently, due primarily to the drilling and completion of many subterranean wells through formations which contain high concentrations of corrosive fluids such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, brine, and combinations of these constituents, the production and workover conduits for use in the wells have been made of high alloy steels. The high alloy steels include chrome steels, duplex steels, stainless steels, martensitic alloy steels, ferritic alloy steels, austenitic stainless steels, precipitation-hardened stainless steels, high nickel content steels, and the like.
Various corrosion inhibitors are known, to which are added other components, such as intensifiers, surfactants, oil wetting components, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,758,970 describes derivatives of rosin amines, which are represented by the formula:
where R is a radical selected from the group consisting of abietyl, hydroabietyl, and dehydroabietyl, Y is the group CH2R1, X is a radical selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and CH2R1, and R1 represents alpha ketonyl groups. These rosin amines are noted as useful in reducing the rate of corrosion of metals such as magnesium, aluminum and zinc when they are exposed to the action of a corrosive material such as hydrochloric acid.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,454 describes compositions for inhibiting corrosion made by combining certain active hydrogen containing compounds with organic ketones having at least one hydrogen atom on the carbon atom alpha to the carbonyl group and an aldehyde selected from the group consisting of aliphatic aldehydes containing from 1 to 16 carbons, and aromatic aldehydes of the benzene series, having no functional groups other than aldehyde groups, and a fatty acid.
Additionally, Mannich base and thiourea inhibitor compositions and methods of inhibiting the acid attack by aqueous hydrofluoric acid on ferrous metal surfaces, and in particular highly reactive ferrous metal surfaces, are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,992,313 and 4,104,303.
There remains a need for new corrosion inhibitor and methods of use therefore which would work in halogen acid environments for a wide variety of metals, particularly iron alloys such as steels.


A method of fabricating an active matrix LED array includes forming layers of material on a substrate, which layers cooperate to emit light when activated. Row and column dividers are formed in the layers to divide the layers into an array of LEDs arranged in rows and columns. One FET is formed on the row dividers in association with each LED and a source of each FET is connected to an anode of the associated LED. Row and column buses are formed on the row and column dividers, respectively, and the drain of each FET is connected to an adjacent row bus with the gate of each FET being connected to an adjacent column bus. A cathode for each LED is connected as a common terminal for all of the LEDs in the array.

Displays utilizing two dimensional arrays, or matrices, of pixels each containing one or more light emitting devices are very popular in the electronic field and especially in portable electronic and communication devices, because large amounts of data and pictures can be transmitted very rapidly and to virtually any location.
Light emitting device (LED) arrays are becoming more popular as an image source in both direct view and virtual image displays. One reason for this is the fact that LEDs are capable of generating relatively high amounts of light (high luminance), which means that displays incorporating LED arrays can be used in a greater variety of ambient conditions. For example, reflective LCDs can only be used in high ambient light conditions because they derive their light from the ambient light, i.e. the ambient light is reflected by the LCDs. Some transflective LCDs are designed to operate in a transmissive mode and incorporate a backlighting arrangement for use when ambient light is insufficient. In addition, transflective displays have a certain visual aspect and some users prefer a bright emissive display. However, these types of displays are generally too large for practical use in very small devices.
Also, organic light emitting diodes or organic electroluminescent devices and arrays thereof (hereinafter included as LEDs) are emerging as a potentially viable design choice for use in small products, especially small portable electronic devices, such as pagers, cellular and portable telephones, two-way radios, data banks, etc. Organic LED arrays are capable of generating sufficient light for use in displays under a variety of ambient light conditions (from little or no ambient light to bright ambient light). Further, organic LEDs can be fabricated relatively cheaply and in a variety of sizes from very small (less than a tenth millimeter in diameter) to relatively large (greater than an inch) so that organic LED arrays can be fabricated in a variety of sizes. Also, organic LEDs have the added advantage that their emissive operation provides a very wide viewing angle.
A major disadvantage in the use of LED arrays is the complexity of the manufacturing process. In passive arrays, for example, each LED requires two contacts, generally an anode and a cathode, connected to column and row buses. The arrays are generally manufactured by depositing materials on a supporting substrate and addressing/driver connections to row and column buses are made around the edges, which means that additional power (current for organic LEDs) is required for LEDs farther from the source. Another problem complicating the fabrication of LED arrays is the fact that the fill factor (the ratio of the emitting surface to the total surface) is limited by the data addressing metal lines. For example, in LED passive arrays, as the number of pixels in an array is increased to increase the resolution, the column metal line width increases to prevent electromigration effect. Thus, if the LED emitting area is fixed, the fill factor decreases as the array resolution increases, e.g. 1/8 Video Graphics Array (VGA) has a 25% fill factor, 1/4 VGA has a 16% fill factor, and VGA has an 8% fill factor. Further, the pixel pitch increases as the array resolution increases, e.g. 1/8 Video Graphics Array (VGA) has a 20 .mu.m pitch, 1/4 VGA has a 25 .mu.m pitch, and VGA has a 35 .mu.m pitch. Also, the driving current increases as array resolution increases, e.g. 1/8 Video Graphics Array (VGA) has a driving current of 7.2 mA, 1/4 VGA has a driving current of 12 mA, and VGA has a driving current of 24 mA.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide an LED array and driving apparatus which overcomes these problems.
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved active LED array and driving apparatus.
It is also purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved active LED array and driving apparatus which requires less manufacturing steps and is simpler to manufacture.
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved active LED array and driving apparatus with reduced metal line widths and a reduction in addressing current
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved active LED array and driving apparatus with a reduced pitch and a higher fill factor.
It is still another purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved active LED array and driving apparatus which is easier and less expensive to fabricate and use.
It is a further purpose of the present invention to provide a new and improved active LED array and driving apparatus in which the LED, active circuits and drivers are integrated onto a single substrate.

Method of manufacture of active matrix LED array


System and method for simultaneous display of multiple images using a single light modulator array. A preferred embodiment comprises a light source that produces a light with desired spectral characteristics, a color filter optically coupled to the light source, and an array of light modulators optically coupled to the color filter. The color filter filters light from the light source to produce light of desired wavelengths and the array of light modulators simultaneously displays multiple images onto a display plane. Portions of the array of light modulators are designed so that each portion can independently display an image and the light source provides needed light to display the image.

In certain applications, there is a desire to display two (or more) images onto a single display plane of a display system. For example, in the projection of three dimensional (3-D) images using stereoscopy, two component images of a single three dimension image are displayed on the single display plane using polarized light with orthogonal polarizations. Audiences using special optical devices, such as 3-D glasses, can cancel out one of the two images per eye can then see a single 3-D image on the display plane. Additionally, it is possible to reduce color flicker and color banding on a display system if two (or more) images, each being displayed with a different colored light, were displayed simultaneously on a single display plane. Each of the images contains color image data from a single image being displayed by the display system. For example, at a given time, a first image may contain green color image data and a second image may contain blue color image data, whereas at some other time the images displayed may contain blue and red color image data or red and green color image data. In a three-color display system, it may be possible to display image data for all three colors.
With reference now to FIG. 1, there is shown a diagram illustrating a display system 100, wherein the display system can display two images simultaneously on a single display plane 105. In order to display two images onto the single display plane 105, the display system 100 can make use of two arrays of light modulators, with spatial light modulators (SLM) being used as light modulators. The diagram shown in FIG. 1 illustrates the display system 100 making use of a particular implementation of the array of light modulators referred to as a digital micromirror device (DMD). A DMD is an array of positional micromirrors that can reflect light from a light source onto the display plane 105 with the position (state) of the individual micromirrors being dependent upon the value of the image data being displayed. For example, if the image data being represented by a positional micromirror indicates that light should be placed onto the display plane 105, then the positional micromirror will be moved into a position so that light from a light source will reflect off the positional micromirror onto the display plane 105.
The diagram shown in FIG. 1 illustrates two DMDs, a first DMD 110 and a second DMD 111 in the display system 100. A light source 115 and a light source 116 can be used to provide the light needed to project the image data onto the display plane 105. A color filter 120, used in conjunction with the light source 115, and a color filter 121, used in conjunction with the light source 116, can be used to filter light provided by the light source 115 and light source 116 to provide necessary colors, such as red, blue, and green in a three-color display system. Although shown in FIG. 1 as being two distinct light sources, similar lighting performance can be achieved by using a single light source and a light splitter (not shown) that can split the light from the single light source into two light beams. The display system 100 shown in FIG. 1 displays significant components used in the display system 100, but for simplicity purposes, may leave out components that are required for proper operation, such as integrating rods, relay optics, beam shapers, and so forth.
If the display system 100 is to be used to project 3-D images using stereoscopy, the light source 115 and the light source 116 can be configured to produce light with orthogonal polarizations with respect to one another. If the display system 100 is to be used to project images with reduced color flicker and banding, then the light source 115 and the light source 116 can be configured to produce different colored lights.
The display system 100 can be formed from two separate projector systems, with the DMD 110 and the light source 115 forming one projector system and the DMD 111 and the light source 116 forming another projector system. Alternatively, both the DMD 110 and DMD 111 and the light source 115 and the light source 116 can be contained within a single projector system. Although shown as a display system comprised of two separate projector systems or a single projector system with two DMDs, it is possible to make use of more than two separate projector systems or DMDs. For example, in a display system that makes use of three component colors, such as red, green, and blue, it is possible to create three separate projector systems with one separate projector for each of the three component colors. This can be extended to an even larger number of projectors, such as in a display system that makes use of more than three component colors.
One disadvantage of the prior art is that with more than one separate projector or DMD, maintaining good alignment of the individual pixels can be very difficult. A small bump to the display system can result in misalignment of the images produced by the display system. Therefore, expensive optical components and regular calibration must be done regularly to ensure that the images remain aligned. Furthermore, since separate projectors or DMDs are used, differences in thermal expansion may result in a misalignment of the images that occurs only after the display system has been powered for a period of time.
Another disadvantage of the prior art is that the optics required to combine the images from the separate projectors or DMDs can be prohibitively expensive. Therefore the display systems that make use of separate projectors or DMDs are typically too expensive for all but high-end and commercial installations.


A system for acoustically detecting dielectric breakdown of, or partial discharge within, or on, an electrical device includes at least one electroacoustic (EA) transducer configured to detect an acoustic vibration of the electrical device, and a controller electrically connected to the at least one EA transducer. The controller is configured to receive a signal from the at least one EA transducer, and analyze the signal to determine whether the signal includes data associated with an acoustic vibration in a frequency range of dielectric breakdown and/or partial discharge of the electrical device. The applicability of such a system includes, but is not limited to, electronic parts or assembly screening, life characterization testing for materials and processes, diagnostic methods or aides, augmenting testing of components, assemblies or systems, and in service monitoring to support preventative or condition based maintenance to avert an in-service issues.

At least some known methods for testing an electrical component, such as a dielectric substrate of a printed circuit board or printed wiring board, include subjecting the component to a high direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) electric field and waiting a predetermined time (e.g., 60 seconds) for dielectric breakdown to occur. During this type of test (generally referred to as a "withstand test"), if no electrical current is detected within the component above a leakage current, the component may be deemed acceptable for use, in that the component may be deemed to exclude physical imperfections or defects that may tend to cause dielectric breakdown during normal operation. One disadvantage of this method is that dielectric breakdown, or even a "partial discharge" that doesn't fully result in a breakdown of the dielectric insulation, may not occur until and unless a cosmic ray (or other ionizing or free-electron producing event) is incident upon an imperfection (e.g., a void or cavity) within the dielectric of the component. As a result, even under test, imperfections may not be detected.
Another technique for testing an electrical component may include the application of a large alternating current (AC) electric field to the component. During this type of test, the component may be observed, over a period of time, for current spikes indicative of dielectric breakdown and/or partial discharge within the component. One disadvantage of this method is that the component under test may be subject by the test procedure itself to electrical stress in excess of a typical operational range, thereby shortening the operational life of the component. Another disadvantage is that the test procedure may be time consuming, in that the component must be observed for some period of time.
This Background section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

Systems and methods for acoustically detecting dielectric breakdown and partial discharge events in electrical devices


Areas 11—1a, being in contact with an O-ring 13, of an outer peripheral surface of a taking lens 11—1 and an area 12a, being in contact with the O-ring 13, of an inner surface of a lens frame 12 are formed in taper shapes having slopes with respect to an optical axis of the taking lens 11—1 in a section taken along a plane including the optical axis. The O-ring 13 is disposed in contact with the areas 11—1a and 12a, which are formed in the taper shapes, of both of the outer peripheral surface of the taking lens 11—1 and the inner surface of the lens frame 12. Also, the O-ring 13 is pressed in directions of arrows P and P′ by the outer peripheral surface of the taking lens 11—1 and the inner surface of the lens frame 12.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a lens assembly equipped with a lens for forming an image using subject light on an imaging device and to an imaging apparatus having the lens assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, cameras become mounted in vehicles. Cameras provided in vehicles are used as surveillance cameras or as driving-assistance cameras. Since display screens have been provided on driver's seats as navigation systems have become popular, the latter case is intended to display an image taken by the camera on the display screen.
In such on-board cameras, most of those are required to have waterproof performance since those are mainly used outside of vehicles. In order to achieve sufficient waterproof performance without an increase in camera size in accordance with the requirement, it has been attempted to provide, in the on-board cameras, small-sized lens assemblies excellent in waterproof performance.
FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a section of a related-art lens assembly taken along an optical axis of a taking lens. FIG. 7 is an enlarged section view illustrating a part, in which an O-ring is disposed, of the lens assembly shown in FIG. 6.
FIG. 6 shows a lens assembly 100 including a taking lens 101_1 of a first group, a taking lens 101_2 of a second group, a taking lens 101_3 of a third group, and a taking lens 101_4 of a fourth group in order from an incident side of subject light A. Furthermore, FIG. 6 shows a lens frame 102 housing these taking lenses 101_1, 101_2, 101_3, and 101_4 and an O-ring 103 disposed between the taking lens 101_1 and the lens frame 102. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the taking lens 101_1 includes an object-side outer peripheral surface 101_1a and an image-side outer peripheral surface 101_1b having a diameter smaller by one step than that of the outer peripheral surface 101_1a. On the other hand, the lens frame 102 includes an inner surface 102a. The O-ring 103 is fitted to the image-side outer peripheral surface 101_1b, and the O-ring 103 is disposed with being pressed in directions of arrows P and P′ by the outer peripheral surface 101_1b and the inner surface 102a. The O-ring 103 is a rubber member that exhibits waterproof performance after the taking lens 101_1 is housed in the lens frame 102. Also, examples of a material of the O-ring 103 include an ethylene propylene based rubber, a silicon rubber, and the like.
Also, JP 2002-90603 A (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,507,700) has proposed a lens assembly in which a protrusion of a leading end of the lens frame is caulked on the front surface side of the taking lens in the way of thermal adhesion in a state where the O-ring disposed between the outer peripheral surface of the taking lens and the inner wall surface of the lens frame is pressed.
The above-described O-ring, which is a rubber member exhibiting waterproof performance, is molded by jointing two molds. Hence, the molded O-ring has parting lines incidentally formed on a boundary part between these two molds. Protrusion shaped burrs are easily formed on the parting lines. The O-ring is disposed so that the protrusion shaped burrs are located on the outer peripheral surface side of the taking lens and on the inner surface side of the lens frame. Therefore, if the O-ring is pressed by the outer peripheral surface of the taking lens and the inner surface of the lens frame, the O-ring main body is pressed from above the protrusion shaped burrs. In this case, the protrusion shaped burrs may be embedded in the O-ring main body or the O-ring may get twisted. Accordingly, since it is hard to uniformly press the O-ring, it is hard to secure close contact between the outer peripheral surface of the taking lens and the O-ring and close contact between the inner surface of the lens frame and the O-ring. As a result, it is hard to sufficiently secure waterproof performance between the taking lens and the O-ring and waterproof performance between the lens frame and the O-ring.


The invention provides a method for controlling a vehicle with a braking system including a modulator pump. A first fluid line can communicate brake fluid from the master cylinder to a brake caliper. An isolation valve including a pressure bypass can be disposed along the fluid line between the master cylinder and the brake caliper. A second fluid line can extend from a first position along the first fluid line between the master cylinder and the isolation valve to a second position along the first fluid line between the isolation valve and the brake caliper. A modulating pump is disposed along the second fluid line to pump fluid to the brake caliper during a controlled brake event. The modulator pump is engaged to pump fluid to the brake caliper until the pressure in the first fluid line reached slightly below the predetermined pressure to prevent the isolation valve from opening in response to excessive pressure.

A braking system of a vehicle can include a control unit for exercising control over the braking system of the vehicle under certain conditions. For example, during movement of the vehicle the control unit can receive signals from various sensors and, based on a control program stored in memory, control the operation of various parts of the braking system including pumps and valves. Specifically, the controller can receive signals from sensors, wherein the signals correspond to existing driving conditions. The controller can receive the signals and quantify the existing driving conditions. These quantified conditions are compared to predetermined values by a processor of the control unit and command signals are emitted in response to these comparisons. Reasons for taking control of the braking system generally relate to enhancing or optimizing vehicle dynamics.
The braking system can include a modulator or modulating pump to apply fluid pressure to a controlled wheel. When the modulator is used to apply pressure to the controlled wheel, prime and isolation valves are energized and the pump motor is turned on. Excess fluid that is pulled from the master cylinder must be relieved in some manner. This normally occurs through the isolation valve when pumping forces overcome the force of the isolation valve and fluid returns to the master cylinder. The forced opening of the isolation valve may cause noise, especially when the master cylinder is generating pressure on the opposite side of the isolation valve, as during driver braking.

Modulator noise reduction via motor control


A water-resistant electric motor includes a housing for receiving an electric motor armature therein and an end cap for closing an open end of the housing. The housing includes a drive shaft aperture within a cylindrical recess that receives a journal bearing and a ring seal. The end cap includes a wire access hole for receiving power supply wires. Surrounding the wire access hole is a ridge with cut-outs. A wire cover plate is seated on top of the ridge and includes cut-outs that correspond to the cut-outs in the ridge so that the power supply wires are accommodated therein when the cover plate is secured to the ridge. The wire access hole includes a grommet to seal the hole.

The present invention relates to a casing for an electric motor, and more particularly to an improved casing that reduces or eliminates the potential for water intrusion into the motor.
Many electric motors are subjected to conditions where water is present, either through splashing, raining or even being submerged. An example is an all-terrain vehicle ("ATV") that may be used to cross creeks or streams. In many cases, electric motors of the ATV will be under water. The potential for water intrusion is particularly high when a motor and housing with an elevated temperature is submerged in cold water. If water enters a motor casing, it can have devastating effects on the ability of the motor to operate properly. Thus, there is a need for an improved electric motor and housing to minimize the risk for water intrusion.


An apparatus and method for focus error detection operable to receive light reflected from an inspected object and to determine a focus error on a surface of the inspected object, the focus error detection apparatus including optics and at least one detection apparatus, whereas the optics and the at least one detection apparatus define at least a first focus error detection path and a second focus error detection path, the first focus error detection path detects focus errors with a greater sensitivity than the second focus error detection path, while the second focus error detection path detects focus errors over a greater focus error range than the first focus error detection path.

This invention is in the field of auto-focusing techniques and relates to a method and an apparatus for determining focus error and for correcting focus errors.
There are a great variety of optical systems used for inspection/measurements of articles, reading/recording information in an information carrier, etc. These systems typically comprise an illumination means equipped with suitable light directing optics, and a detection means equipped with light collecting optics. A system of this kind always utilizes a focus error correction technique to ensure that the article under inspection (or an addressed layer of the information carrier) is located in a focal plane defined by the light directing optics.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,924 of Feldman et al. (which is incorporated by reference) describes a method and apparatus for maintaining a desired position of an article, the apparatus includes: (a) an illumination apparatus generating a light beam for illuminating an elongated region of the article and producing light returned from the illuminated region; (b) a focusing optics for focusing the beam onto a focal plane and collecting at least a portion of the returned light; (c) a focus detection apparatus comprising an imaging optics and a detector, having a sensing surface responsive to light impinging thereon for generating data representative thereof, the imaging optics receiving at least a part of the collected returned light and forming first and second images on said sensing surface, wherein the first and second images are formed by first and second spatially separated substantially identical light components of the collected returned light, respectively, propagating symmetrically relative to an optical axis of said focusing optics, a position of the first image relative to the second image being indicative of the position of the article relative to the focal plane.
The apparatus of Feldman et al. offers a compromise between the focus error dynamic range and focus error sensitivity. The focus error dynamic range is limited by the size (actually height) of the sensing surface and a ratio between the focus error and the relative distance between the first and second images that result from the focus error. The focus error sensitivity is inversely proportional to the focus error dynamic range. An increase in the focus error dynamic range must be compensated by a corresponding decrease in the focus error sensitivity. The dynamic range may also be increased by increasing the sensing surface, but this may increase the size and complexity of the apparatus.
There is a need to provide a focus error detection apparatus that is characterized by large dynamic range and high sensitivity.
The invention provides a focus error detection apparatus operable to receive light reflected from an inspected object and to determine a focus error on a surface of the inspected object, the focus error detection apparatus including optics and at least one detection apparatus, whereas the optics and the at least one detection apparatus define at least a first focus error detection path and a second focus error detection path, the first focus error detection path detects focus errors with a greater sensitivity than the second focus error detection path, while the second focus error detection path detects focus errors over a greater focus error range than the first focus error detection path.
The invention provides a focus error detection method that includes the steps of: (i) receiving light that was reflected from an inspected object located at a inspected object plane; (ii) passing a first light component of the reflected light through a first focus error detection path and passing a second light component of the reflected light through a second focus error detection path; and (iii) determining a focus error in response to detection signals generated by the first and second focus error detection paths. Wherein the first focus error detection path detects focus errors with a greater sensitivity than the second focus error detection path, while the second focus error detection path detects focus errors over a greater focus error range than the first focus error detection path.
The focus error is determined in response to a location of either a first image or a second image that are formed by the first or second light component passage through the first and second focus error correction paths. Conveniently, a reference image reflecting the position of the first and second images in case of in-focus is also imaged upon the detection apparatus, and the distance between the reference image and the image reflects the focus error.
Conveniently, the first focus error detection path has a lower xcex94Z/xcex94xcex8 ratio, whereas xcex94Z reflects the distance between an image and a reference image and xcex94xcex8 reflects the orientation of the first light component to an optical axis of the focus error detection apparatus. When in-focus both xcex94Z and xcex94xcex8 are substantially zero.

Focus error detection apparatus and method having dual focus error detection path


A method and system for determining pump cavitation is disclosed. In accordance with the principle of the invention, changes in dynamic fluid pressure within a pump are monitored and compared to a determined cavitation alarm pressure. The determined cavitation pressure is determined as a known percentage of a known non-cavitation pressure. Fluid cavitation is determined when the change in dynamic fluid pressure falls below the determined cavitation alarm pressure. In a further aspect of the invention, a remaining mechanical seal operational life can be determined by maintaining a total time of fluid cavitation and reducing the expected life by the known operational time of the pump and the time the pump is in cavitation.

This invention relates to fluid flow through pumps. More specifically, this invention relates to determining fluid cavitation and an estimate of mechanical seal failure caused by such cavitation.
Fluid pumps and their associated technology are well-known in the art. Pumps typically are incorporated into fluid transport systems to change the direction of the fluid flow or to increase rate or pressure of the fluid flow. Ideally, fluid transport systems require little or no maintenance. One feature of fluid pumps is that the fluid being pumped is used as a lubricant to reduce the wear on the pump""s internal components. For example, the pumped fluid provides a liquid surface boundary layer, which prevents the components of mechanical seals from coming into contact.
When a low pressure condition occurs in a pump, vapor bubbles exit the pumped fluid and begin a process, i.e., cavitation that can cause failure in the pump. In one case, vapor bubbles impact with, and implode on, the impeller blades of the pump. Because of the high speed of the impeller blades, the continuous impact of vapor bubbles can damage the impeller blades. Furthermore, the vapor bubbles have an insufficient consistency to maintain a boundary layer between mechanical seal components. Thus, the mechanical seal components can come into contact, which generates heat and wear.
Methods of determining cavitation are well known in the art. One method, for example, measures the pump""s suction pressure and pump temperature. From these measurements and known vapor pressure/temperature curves, a Net Positive Suction Head Available (NPSHa) is computed. The NPSHa is then compared to an NPSHr (Net Positive Suction Head Required) for the measured pump speed. When NPSHr is greater than NPSHa, the fluid in the pump is deemed to be cavitating. A second method identifies high frequency noise, which is indicative of cavitation, in a pump bearing housing, a suction flange case or a mechanical seal chamber. A third method is to measure pressure and temperature in the mechanical seal chamber and infer vaporization across the mechanical seal face. Each of these methods had known disadvantages. The first method requires measurements of at least four variables, which imposes additional hardware costs on the pump. The second method can falsely indicate cavitation as other conditions can create high frequency noises. The third method provides an indication of vaporization across the mechanical seal face and not pump fluid cavitation.
Hence, there is a need to provide a simple and reliable method of determining pump cavitation and when possible an estimate of the degradation in seal life caused by cavitation and the remaining useable life of the seal.
A method and system for determining cavitation in a pump having a known non-cavitating dynamic pressure measure, is disclosed. In accordance with the principles of the invention, fluctuations of the pressure with the pump, i.e., the dynamic pressure, are recorded and compared to a known cavitation alarm dynamic pressure. The cavitation alarm dynamic pressure is a known percentage of the non-cavitating pressure measurement. When measured dynamic pressure is determined to be less than the cavitation alarm pressure, an indicator is made available, i.e., output, to indicate the occurrence of cavitation. In a further aspect of the invention, remaining seal life can be determined by maintaining the time cavitation is present and determining a seal degradation time relating to the pump cavitation time and a seal degradation factor. The seal degradation time can then be removed from the expected operational seal life to determine the remaining usable seal life.

Method and system for determining pump cavitation and estimating degradation in mechanical seals therefrom


A liquid to air membrane energy exchanger (LAMEE) can be used as part of a heating and cooling system to transfer heat and moisture between a liquid desiccant and an air stream to condition the temperature and humidity of the air flowing through the LAMEE. The membrane can be a non-porous film having selective permeability for water, but not for other constituents that form the liquid desiccant. The non-porous membrane can allow for use of liquid desiccants, such as glycols, that had been previously determined to be unacceptable or undesirable in these types of applications. In an example, the membrane can be an ion-exchange membrane or pervaporation membrane.

A liquid to air membrane energy exchanger (LAMEE) transfers heat and moisture between a liquid desiccant and an air stream in order to condition the temperature and humidity of the air flowing through the LAMEE. LAMEEs can be employed in a number of different applications, including, for example, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, dehumidification systems, evaporative cooling, industrial applications requiring treated air, etc. In another application, the exchanger transfers heat and moisture between the desiccant and air in order to condition the temperature and concentration of the desiccant by both releasing or gaining heat and releasing or gaining moisture in the desiccant in any combination.
Existing LAMEEs use micro-porous hydrophobic membranes to contain a liquid desiccant, including, for example, a halide salt. In these membranes a micro-porous structure is created in a thin film of a low surface energy polymer such as PTFE, polypropylene or polyethylene. The hydrophobic membrane resists penetration by the liquid due to surface tension, while freely allowing the transfer of gases, including water vapor, through the membrane pores. In the LAMEE application, the membranes are typically about 20 microns thick with a mean pore size of 0.1-0.2 micron. Micro-porous membranes however, are subject to two potential problems which can directly affect their function. Firstly, the membrane pores could become blocked by mineral deposition, dust accumulation, etc., which would degrade the moisture vapor transfer rate of the membrane and require cleaning to restore performance. Secondly, the membrane pores could become contaminated by a surfactant, oil, or other compound, which lowers the surface tension of the desiccant and allows penetration of the liquid through the pores. The susceptibility of micro-porous membranes to surfactants may require prevention or inhibition of environmental exposure to these compounds.
Liquid desiccants used in HVAC and drying applications are typically solutions of halide salts (such as lithium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, or lithium bromide) and water. These solutions have two important properties: they are strongly hygroscopic and the salt is non-volatile. The hygroscopic property allows the solution to either release or absorb water vapor from an air stream depending on the water vapor pressure of the solution compared to that of the air. High concentration salt solutions (for example a 40% LiCl solution) can have very low vapor pressures, which produces a large potential for dehumidification of the air stream encountering the solution. Traditionally, liquid desiccant systems designed for industrial and commercial drying applications have used direct contact exchangers, in which a media wetted with desiccant (such as a cellulose honeycomb matrix) is exposed directly to an air stream. These exchangers require a salt that is non-volatile under the temperatures and pressures used for air treatment so that the salt does not evaporate into the air. The salt charge remains in the system and does not have to be replenished over time. Membrane exchangers with micro-porous membranes have the same requirement, since a gas phase can freely move through the membrane.
The main disadvantage of salt-based desiccants is that they are very corrosive to metals. For example, lithium chloride (LiCl) causes rapid corrosion of most ferrous and nonferrous metals with example exceptions including titanium and some copper-nickel alloys. Direct contact exchangers have not been widely used in HVAC applications because of the potential for desiccant droplet carryover into the air stream and corrosion of downstream metal ducting, fans and other air handling equipment. The membrane exchanger provides separation of the desiccant from the air, preventing droplet carryover; however, in the event of a membrane failure or liquid circuit leak, some local corrosion may occur if the desiccant is not detected and cleaned up. The corrosive desiccant also contributes to an increased cost for the exchanger and liquid pumping circuit because corrosion resistant materials may need to be used in portions of the circuit that may encounter the desiccant. Corrosion resistant sensors, pumps, heat exchangers, etc. may all contribute to increased cost for the circuit vs. components mass produced from non-corrosion resistant metals. In addition, secure containment of the desiccant is required in the event of a circuit leak or spill to prevent migration of corrosive desiccant into the air handling unit cabinet, mechanical room or building structure. This can further add to system cost and complexity. The lithium salts can also be relatively expensive, and costs may continue to rise due to pressure on the global lithium supply from lithium-ion battery production.
Glycols are another type of liquid desiccant that have been used in some drying applications. Glycols, however, are volatile and will steadily evaporate into an air stream when used in a direct contact exchanger or a membrane exchanger with micro-porous membranes. The steady consumption of glycol and the impact on air quality has made this desiccant unacceptable for most HVAC and dehumidification applications. Other potential strong hygroscopic fluids that are low cost, non-toxic and non-corrosive also may not be used in existing liquid desiccant systems because of either volatility, reactivity with air or air pollutants or production of odors. Therefore, current liquid desiccant systems are sometimes restricted to using halide salts with their inherent drawbacks.

Liquid to air membrane energy exchangers


A sensor apparatus and methods for facilitating combustion of a gaseous fuel are provided. The sensor apparatus comprises a combustion apparatus defining a combustion chamber therein. The combustion apparatus is configured to combust a fuel-air mixture within the combustion chamber to produce at least one combustion product. At least one optical diagnostic apparatus is coupled to the combustion apparatus for measuring at least one property of the at least one combustion product within the combustion chamber. A controller is coupled to the at least one optical diagnostic apparatus, and is configured to determine the Wobbe index of the fuel in real-time based on the measured at least one property of the at least one combustion product and pre-determined combustion state data stored within the controller.

The field of the disclosure described herein relates generally to monitoring gas turbine engine systems, and more specifically, to methods and systems for measuring fuel Wobbe index.
Industrial turbines are often gas-fired and commonly used to drive electrical generators in power plants. Such gas turbines are designed to burn a specific range of fuels, wherein the rate of fuel consumed may depend on the fuel's chemical composition. Nevertheless, the precise chemical composition of the fuel being burned is not immediately known due to pipeline variability and fuel-gas processing (e.g. regasification of liquid natural gas (LNG). Burning fuel of unknown composition can lead to degraded gas turbine system performance. Many problems associated with burning an unknown fuel can be abated by robust control over the gas turbine if fuel properties are measured prior to combustion, particularly if these properties are varying quickly. In addition to fuel constituent concentrations, fuel heating value and specific gravity are key fuel properties for gas turbine operation. Both are represented by the fuel Wobbe number.
The Wobbe number, or the Wobbe index, is the quotient of the volume-based lower heating value and the square root of the specific gravity of the gas. The Wobbe index is used in industry to control or maintain the amount of energy supplied to fuel gas consumers. Operation of a turbine engine at a Wobbe index outside the design range may result in undesired gas turbine combustor dynamics, such as flame flashback, low equivalence ratio (resulting in flame blowout), and high equivalence ratio or over-firing. These undesired dynamics may result in hardware distress or, possibly, a reduction in component life of the combustion system and/or a potential for power generation outage.
One of the commonly used systems for determining Wobbe index is a gas chromatograph system. The GC system includes a glass capillary system to separate fuel constituents and a thermal conductivity detector or a flame ionization detector (FID) to quantitatively identify the fuel composition. The gas chromatograph system provides measurements that are slow when compared to the time scales associated with fuel variability issues. Further, the system is relatively expensive and difficult to operate. Another commonly used system to determine fuel quality is a calorimeter, wherein the energy of fuel combustion is directly measured. Calorimeters are sensitive to both the fuel composition and the ambient temperature so that large measurement errors are common, especially when ambient temperature varies significantly.
Known methods of measuring fuel Wobbe index are costly, tedious, and slow—i.e. lacking sufficient response time for many industrial applications—particularly when robust control and fuel regulation are required. An improved system is needed for determining the fuel Wobbe index in real-time that may address one or more problems set forth above.

Methods and apparatus for rapid sensing of fuel wobbe index


A method for treating a substrate includes a substrate treating step of treating the substrate by dispensing a treating liquid onto the substrate supported on a support plate in a processing space of a processing vessel and a vessel cleaning step of cleaning the processing vessel by dispensing a cleaning solution onto a jig supported on the rotating support plate. In the vessel cleaning step, the jig is located such that the center of the jig is offset from the center of the support plate.

Embodiments of the inventive concept described herein relate to an apparatus and method for treating a substrate, and more particularly, relate to a substrate treating apparatus and method for cleaning a processing vessel.
Various processes, such as photolithography, etching, ashing, thin-film deposition, cleaning, and the like, are performed to manufacture semiconductor devices or flat display panels. Among these processes, the photolithography, etching, ashing, and cleaning processes include a process of treating a substrate with a treating liquid by dispensing the treating liquid onto the substrate.
The photolithography process includes a coating step, an exposing step, and a developing step. The coating step is a coating process of coating a substrate with a light-sensitive liquid such as photoresist, and part of the light-sensitive liquid used is recovered through a processing vessel.
Referring to FIG. 1, a substrate coating apparatus in the related art includes a liquid dispensing member 2, a housing 3, a substrate support member 4, and a processing vessel 5. The substrate support member 4 supports and rotates a substrate W, and the processing vessel 5 surrounds the substrate support member 4. A light-sensitive liquid is dispensed onto the substrate W, and the light-sensitive liquid used is recovered through a recovery line of the processing vessel 5. The light-sensitive liquid, which is a chemical with viscosity, adheres to the inner side of the processing vessel 5 in the recovery process. Due to this, a cleaning process for cleaning the inner side of the processing vessel 5 has to be performed after the performance of the coating process on the substrate W.
The cleaning process is performed by dispensing a cleaning solution toward the center of a rotating substrate W and allowing the dispensed cleaning solution to collide with the processing vessel 5 while being scattered outside the substrate W. However, in this case, cleaning efficiency may be deteriorated due to a relatively long distance 6 between the substrate W and the inner side of the processing vessel 5. To solve this problem, a method of increasing the size of a substrate W that is used to clean the processing vessel 5 has been proposed in the related art. However, the increase in the size of the substrate W that is used to clean the processing vessel 5 has an influence on a substrate treating equipment system that is optimally set for the size of a substrate W that is used to perform a treating process.

Apparatus and method for treating substrate


A semiconductor device fabrication method includes irradiating a first surface of a substrate with a radiation beam. While irradiating the first surface of the substrate, a precursor gas is introduced near the first surface to deposit a layer including a first material. The precursor gas is removed from near the first surface after the depositing the layer. After the removing the precursor gas and prior to forming another layer over the layer, while irradiating a second surface of the layer, a cleaning gas is introduced near the second surface of the layer to transform the first material into a second material.

In semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry, technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of IC processing and manufacturing.
For example, focused ion beam or focused electron beam induced deposition has been used for thin film deposition. In such a method, a precursor gas is introduced near a substrate held in a sealed chamber and a focused ion or electron beam causes the precursor gas to undergo molecular dissociation. Dissociated molecules adsorb onto the surface of the substrate, forming a thin film thereon. Film impurity has been one main disadvantage associated with these techniques. Such impurity results in degradation of finally deposited thin films, and therefore should be avoided.
Therefore, what is needed is an improved focused radiation beam induced deposition method.

Focused radiation beam induced deposition

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A method of eliminating cat urine odor. A CO2 generating mixture of carboxylic acid and a base is placed into a container and cat litter that is comprised of an absorbent material is placed over the top. During the deodorizing process of the cat urine, carbon dioxide is generated to enhance the deodorizing effect of the absorbent material.

This invention is directed toward an odor elimination system. More specifically, this invention relates to a method of eliminating cat urine odor utilizing carbon dioxide.
Cats are domestic animals that individuals have as pets. Unlike other domesticated animals such as dogs that will stay close to a home or dwelling and/or can be fenced in, cats tend to roam and are able to climb. As a result in heavily populated areas cats must be kept indoors to avoid the hazards of vehicles, larger animals, and the like that can pose a danger to cats.
As a result of cats being house bound, litter boxes have been used for many years in order to keep a cat from going to the bathroom throughout a home or dwelling. In particular, litter is typically made of a material that is sand-like and additionally has a scent that attracts cats. Thus, as a result of a cat's natural instinct they will utilize the litter box preventing cat excrement from being all over the interior of a house.
While the invention of cat litter in a cat box has allowed cats to be easily domesticated, problems remain. In particular, cat urine has an extremely pungent odor. This odor is believed to be linked to the lack of water that cats drink. Typical cat urine consists of chemicals such as ammonia, sulphate, phosphate, chloride, sodium, creatinine, uric acid, urea and water. As a result of the ammonia, uric acid, urea and water a plurality of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms are presented within the urine. As cat urine dries the urea and other chemicals are broken down by bacteria to form ammonia providing a very distinct smell. As time further passes the urine continues to decompose and thiols are formed emitting an even more pungent and unpleasant smell.
Cat litter currently used in the market is made of various materials that can include clay, bentonite, granulated bentonite clay, quartz or diatomaceous earth, zeolite, diatomite and sepiolite. Alternatively, biodegradable litters such as pinewood pellets, recycled newspaper, clumping sawdust, barley, dried orange peel, and the like can also be utilized. In particular, most of these cat litters have properties that allow the cat urine to be absorbed and cat feces to be covered to retain the urine the feces. Other materials take a further step such as zeolite that absorbs nitrogen and other chemicals and compounds within the cat urine in order to prevent the formation of ammonia and thiols as the cat urine breaks down.
While improvements to cat litter have been provided in order to cover up the smell and deodorize the cat litter itself, problems remain because after a period of time a cat litter box becomes saturated with urine and excrement leaving an undesirable odor associated therewith. In particular, even if the excrement is scooped from the cat litter, the cat urine still leaves a pungent smell causing the litter box to need to be changed within a week or two of initial use. Changing litter boxes is not only time consuming but additionally can be expensive. Thus, a need in the art exists for longer lasting cat litter.
Thus, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a method of eliminating cat urine odor.
Yet another object of the present invention is to sustain the life of litter materials without odor.
These and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparent from the specification and claims.


The present invention relates to methods of treating a tumor or treating cancer in a subject having a p53 DNA contact mutation that involve administering, to the subject, a ROCK inhibitor. Also disclosed is a method of identifying a subject as a candidate for such treatment.

The evolutionarily conserved Hippo pathway plays a key role in tissue homeostasis and organ size control by regulating cell survival, proliferation and differentiation (Harvey et al., "The Hippo Pathway and Human Cancer," Nature Reviews Cancer 13:246-257 (2013)). This inhibitory pathway is comprised of a core kinase cascade, in which the mammalian sterile 20-like kinases MST1/2 and SAV1 form a complex that phosphorylates and activates the large tumor suppressor kinases LATS1/2, which in turn phosphorylate and inhibit the activities of the transcriptional co-activators YAP and TAZ (Oh et al., "Yorkie: The Final Destination of Hippo Signaling," Trends in Cell Biology 20:410-417 (2010); Pan, "The Hippo Signaling Pathway in Development and Cancer," Developmental Cell 19:491-505 (2010)). When liberated from Hippo pathway inhibition, YAP and TAZ accumulate in the nucleus where they drive gene expression by binding to TEAD, the DNA binding transcription factor regulated by the Hippo pathway as well as possibly other transcription factors, to promote cell proliferation and inhibit apoptosis (Harvey et al., "The Drosophila Mst Ortholog, Hippo, Restricts Growth and Cell Proliferation and Promotes Apoptosis," Cell 114:457-467 (2003); Udan et al., "Hippo Promotes Proliferation Arrest and Apoptosis in the Salvador/Warts Pathway," Nature Cell Biology 5:914-920 (2003); Pantalacci et al., "The Salvador Partner Hippo Promotes Apoptosis and Cell-cycle Exit in Drosophila," Nature Cell Biology 5:921-927 (2003); Wu et al., "Hippo Encodes a Ste-20 Family Protein Kinase that Restricts Cell Proliferation and Promotes Apoptosis in Conjunction with Salvador and Warts," Cell 114:445-456 (2003)). In fact, persistent nuclear localization of YAP and/or TAZ due to genetic alterations in the Hippo pathway has been linked mechanistically to oncogenesis (Moroishi et al., "The Emerging Roles of YAP and TAZ in Cancer," Nature Reviews Cancer 15:73-79 (2015); Steinhardt et al., "Expression of Yes-associated Protein in Common Solid Tumors," Human Pathology 39:1582-1589 (2008)).
The Hippo pathway can be modulated by a variety of stimuli, including G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling (Yu et al., "Regulation of the Hippo-YAP Pathway by G-protein-coupled Receptor Signaling," Cell 150:780-791 (2012)), actin cytoskeleton changes, cell-cell contact, and cell polarity (Dupont et al., "Role of YAP/TAZ in Mechanotransduction," Nature 474:179-183 (2011); Schroeder et al., "Regulation of the Hippo Pathway by Cell Architecture and Mechanical Signals," Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 23:803-811 (2012)). Various tumors have been shown to exhibit loss of function of LATS2 (Murakami et al., "LATS2 is a Tumor Suppressor Gene of Malignant Mesothelioma," Cancer Research 71:873-883 (2011)) or NF2 (Evans, "Neurofibromatosis 2 [Bilateral Acoustic Neurofibromatosis, Central Neurofibromatosis, NF2, Neurofibromatosis Type II]," Genetics in Medicine: Official Journal of the American College of Medical Genetics 11:599-610 (2009)), whose functions enforce Hippo negative regulation, or YAP amplification/overexpression (Xu et al., "Yes-associated Protein is an Independent Prognostic Marker in Hepatocellular Carcinoma," Cancer 115:4576-4585 (2009); Zhang et al., "The Hippo Pathway Transcriptional Co-activator, YAP, is an Ovarian Cancer Oncogene," Oncogene 30:2810-2822 (2011); Wang et al., "Overexpression of Yes-associated Protein Contributes to Progression and Poor Prognosis of Non-small-cell Lung Cancer," Cancer Science 101:1279-1285 (2010)). However, these alterations are relatively infrequent compared to aberrations afflicting oncogenes such as Ras or Raf or tumor suppressors such as p53 (Samatar et al., "Targeting RAS-ERK Signalling in Cancer: Promises and Challenges," Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 13:928-942 (2014); Muller et al., "p53 Mutations in Cancer," Nature Cell Biology 15:2-8 (2013); Selcukbiricik et al., "The Role of K-RAS and B-RAF Mutations as Biomarkers in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer," Journal of B.U.ON.: Official Journal of the Balkan Union of Oncology 18:116-123 (2013); Gast et al., "B-RAF Mutations in Tumors from Melanoma-breast Cancer Families," International Journal of Cancer. Journal International du Cancer 113:336-337 (2005)). Nonetheless, increasing interest in Hippo deregulation as an oncogenic driver has led to increased efforts to identify new activating mechanisms, most recently Gq11 activating mutations that up-regulate TEAD/YAP transcription in ocular melanomas (Yu et al., "Mutant Gq/11 Promote Uveal Melanoma Tumorigenesis by Activating YAP," Cancer Cell 25:822-830 (2014); Feng et al., "Hippo-independent Activation of YAP by the GNAQ Uveal Melanoma Oncogene Through a Trio-regulated Rho GTPase Signaling Circuitry," Cancer Cell 25:831-845 (2014)).
In efforts to identify new mechanisms of Hippo deregulation in human tumors, a large panel of human tumor lines was surveyed for activated TEAD/YAP transcription. By searching genomic data bases to identify alterations that might account for the high levels of TEAD activity detected in some, it was noted that a number contained p53 missense mutations, which result in a high level of expression of p53 protein unable to exert normal p53 tumor suppressor functions (Goh et al., "The Role of Mutant p53 in Human Cancer," The Journal of Pathology 223:116-126 (2011)). The dominant negative potential of mutant p53 when heterozygous with the wild-type allele has been proposed as an underlying basis for the high preponderance of p53 missense mutations in tumors (Bougeard et al., "Molecular Basis of the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome: an Update From the French LFS Families," Journal of Medical Genetics 45:535-538 (2008); Capponcelli et al., "Evaluation of the Molecular Mechanisms Involved in the Gain of Function of a Li-Fraumeni TP53 Mutation," Human Mutation 26:94-103 (2005); Hanel et al., "Two Hot Spot Mutant p53 Mouse Models Display Differential Gain of Function in Tumorigenesis," Cell Death and Differentiation 20:898-909 (2013); Lang et al., "Gain of Function of a p53 Hot Spot Mutation in a Mouse Model of Li-Fraumeni Syndrome," Cell 119:861-872 (2004); Olive et al., "Mutant p53 Gain of Function in Two Mouse Models of Li-Fraumeni Syndrome," Cell 119:847-860 (2004)). In fact, in Li-Fraumeni patients, germline missense mutations in TP53 consistently show an association with an earlier age of onset when compared with germline deletions. Moreover, mouse genetic models have revealed that some hotspot missense mutations generated as knock-in alleles produce an altered tumor spectrum and/or more metastatic tumors as compared to the loss of one or both wild type p53 alleles.
p53 missense mutants have also been reported to induce various biological effects (Muller et al., "Mutant p53 in Cancer: New Functions and Therapeutic Opportunities," Cancer Cell 25:304-317 (2014)). Such phenotypes are generally referred to as gain of function ("GOF"), although it is unclear whether all GOF mutant p53 share the same properties or how many specific GOF mechanisms may exist. Thus, increased understanding of mechanisms by which p53 missense mutations may acquire GOF could be important for prognosis and conceivably for therapy given that p53 missense mutations occur so frequently and in diverse tumor types (Petitjean et al., "TP53 Mutations in Human Cancers: Functional Selection and Impact on Cancer Prognosis and Outcomes," Oncogene 26:2157-2165 (2007)). Recently, one research group reported, based on expression array analysis, the upregulation of mevalonate pathway genes by the p53 mutant R273H (Freed-Pastor et al., "Mutant p53 Disrupts Mammary Tissue Architecture Via the Mevalonate Pathway," Cell 148:244-258 (2012)). Subsequent evidence indicated that the mutant p53 R280K was able to regulate YAP activity through modulation of the mevalonate pathway in MDA-MB-231 cells, which exhibit NF2 loss of function and constitutive activation of Yap (Sorrentino et al., "Metabolic Control of YAP and TAZ by the Mevalonate Pathway," Nature Cell Biology 16:357-366 (2014)). To illustrate the lack of clarity in mechanistic understanding of p53 mutant gain of function, these same p53 DNA contact mutants were more recently reported to cooperate with members of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex to regulate VEGFR2 in breast cancer cells (Pfister et al., "Mutant p53 Cooperates With the SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complex to Regulate VEGFR2 in Breast Cancer Cells," Genes and Development 29:1298-1315 (2015)).
The present invention is directed to overcoming deficiencies in the art.

Methods of treating tumors and cancer, and identifying candidate subjects for such treatment


The present invention relates to a method for producing a transgenic plant in which a transforming agent such as a recombinant Agrobacterium or an isolated DNA molecule capable of conferring a desired phenotypic trait is injected into plant tissues using a needleless injection device. A preferred embodiment of the method provides the precise delivery of the transforming agent to floral tissues of a plant, allowing the direct insertion of the DNA of the transforming agent into germline cells of the plant that develop into seeds. This embodiment provides a more efficient method of transformation and subsequent regeneration of a transgenic plant.

Current research in plant molecular biology is directed toward the development of improved plant varieties through the use of genetic engineering. Historically, improved plant varieties have been developed using classical genetic techniques to identify, preserve and crossbreed plants having desired traits. However, the genetic traits available to the classical breeder are limited to those that can be identified in the particular plant species the breeder is seeking to improve.
Advances in the application of the techniques of molecular biology to plants now allow for the introduction of new traits isolated from entirely different species into the plant of interest, particularly major crop plants such as cotton, maize, sorghum, soybeans, alfalfa, tobacco, and brassicas, such as rape. Traits that have been successfully transferred include insect resistance, herbicide resistance, stress tolerance, drought resistance, and disease resistance. Present day recombinant DNA technology has made it possible to identify new genes which effect the properties of plants and of products made from plants when they are transformed into new plant species. For example, a number of insect resistant varieties of cotton are presently being grown. Crop plants resistant to the herbicides Roundup, Buctril, and Liberty Link are now available, as are tomatoes which can be left on the vine longer than normal tomatoes, making mechanical harvesting of tomatoes easier and cheaper.
A variety of techniques have been used to introduce foreign genes into plant cells. However, most of these techniques are limited to use with plant tissues that must be regenerated into whole plants and require a period of time in tissue culture. Methods of regenerating whole plants from cells or tissues include, micropropagation of apical and lateral meristems, organogenesis, and somatic embryogenesis. Transformation of apical meristems, lateral meristems and organogenesis produce chimeric plants, i.e., plants which have the gene encoding the newly introduced trait in only a few cells, which may or may not be in the gene in germline tissue. Plants regenerated through somatic embryogenesis are rarely chimeric. Somatic embryos are usually derived from a single cell.
One common method used to introduce foreign genes into plant cells is transformation with Agrobacterium, a relatively benign natural plant pathogen. Agrobacterium actively mediates transformation events--the integration of a gene providing a desired phenotypic trait--as part of the natural process it utilizes when it infects a plant cell. Methods for transferring foreign genes into plant cells and the subsequent expression of the inserted genes in plants regenerated from transformed cells are well known in the prior art. See for example, M. De Block et al., The EMBO Journal (1984) 3:1681; Horsch et al. Science (1985) 227:1229; and C. L. Kado (Crit. Rev. Plant. Sci. (1991) 10:1.
The technique known as microprojectile bombardment has been used to successfully introduce genes encoding new genetic traits into a number of crop plants, including cotton, maize, tobacco, sunflowers, soybeans and certain vegetables. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,050, issued to Sanford; Sanford et al., Trends in Biotechnology (1988) 6:299; Sanford et al., Part. Sci. Technol. (1988) 5:27; J. J. Finer and M. D. McMullen, Plant Cell Reports (1990) 8:586-589; and Gordon-Kamm, The Plant Cell (1990) 2:603). Transformation by microprojectile bombardment is less species and genotype specific than transformation with Agrobacterium, but the frequencies of stable transformation events achieved following bombardment can be quite low, partly due to the absence of a natural mechanism for mediating the integration of a DNA molecule or gene responsible for a desired phenotypic trait into the genomic DNA of a plant. Particle gun transformation of cotton for example, has been reported to produce no more than one clonal transgenic plant per 100-500 meristems targeted for transformation. Only 0.1 to 1% of these transformants were capable of transmitting foreign DNA to progeny. See WO 92/15675. Cells treated by particle bombardment must be regenerated into whole plants, which requires labor intensive, sterile tissue culture procedures and is generally genotype dependent in most crop plants, particularly so in cotton. Similar low transformation frequencies have been reported for other plant species as well.
The inability to control the site of wounding of a plant tissue and thus the site to which the transforming agent is delivered is a significant disadvantage of microprojectile bombardment. The inability to target germline tissues accounts in part for the low transformation efficiencies achieved by microprojectile bombardment. In addition, bombardment frequently results in the delivery of more than one copy of the transforming DNA or gene into the genome of the transformed plant cell, which can cause deleterious effects to other agronomically important traits of the regenerated, transformed plant. Fragmentation of the DNA to be inserted can also occur when bombardment is used as the transformation method, resulting in transgenic plants which carry only a portion of the gene that is being inserted.
Attempts to improve the efficiency of microprojectile bombardment have been described. For example, tissues which have been bombarded are subsequently treated with an Agrobacterium carrying the gene of interest, as described in EPA 0486 233. The high velocity impact of the dense microprojectile particles has been hypothesized to generate an array of microwounds, creating an environment particularly conducive to infection by the Agrobacterium. However, these procedures provide transformed plant cells which must still be regenerated into whole plants and the fertile, stably transformed plants must be selected from the total population of regenerated plants.
Organogenesis, the development of plantlets from specific plant structures such as leaf disks or root tips, has been used to regenerate plants following transformation. However, organogenesis frequently produces plants which have originated from a group of cells, not just a single cell, and results in a chimeric plant containing both transformed and nontransformed cells. If the desired trait is to be passed on to subsequent generations of the plant, the introduced DNA must be incorporated into the genetic material of germline cells of the regenerated plant. If a mixture of transformed and nontransformed cells are involved in the regeneration of a new plant, only a portion of its cells will contain the gene encoding the transferred characteristic. The regenerated plant will be chimeric, and its germline cells may not be transformed at all. Successful transformation of plants requires that germline cells of the plant be transformed in such a way that progeny of the plant inherit the inserted gene. Otherwise, the introduced trait will be lost from progeny of the transformed plantlet.
Somatic embryogenesis, the development of embryos from somatic tissue, has been the method of choice for regenerating plants from transformed tissue. Somatic embryogenesis is superior to organogenesis in that the resulting regenerated plant is not chimeric. Somatic embryos are derived from a single cell thus all cells in the embryo contain the introduced DNA. Unfortunately, somatic embryogenesis is highly genotype dependent in most crop plants.
Methods for in planta transformation have been attempted to circumvent the time and expense of existing transformation techniques. Feldman has shown that it is feasible to vacuum infiltrate the floral meristems of small plants, or in the case of Arabidopsis, the entire plant with Agrobacterium and obtain transgenic progeny. See K. A. Feldman et al., "Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation of Germinating Seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana: A Non-Tissue Culture Approach," Mol. Gen. Genet. (1987) 308:1-9.) Unfortunately, this technique is not feasible for large crop plants such as cotton, maize and soybeans.
Efforts have been made to develop transformation methods that deliver naked DNA to the germinating pollen tube of a plant, and subsequently to the egg cell in the floral tissue. Although expression of the inserted foreign genes has been observed, the transformants have proven to be unstable in future generations. The selection of stable, transformed plants produced by such procedures is extremely difficult due to the magnitude of the selection work involved in identifying the few transformants among the large numbers of plants that must be screened. Unlike the selection of transformed cells and tissues, which can be carried out under laboratory conditions, selection of transformed plants germinated from seed requires growth of sufficient numbers of plants in a green house or in an open field to allow identification of transformants.
Direct injection of floral tissues with a transforming agent has been attempted using ordinary syringes having needles. Direct injection with a needle results in excessive tissue damage, and provides little control of placement of the transforming agent. While direct injection with a needle places the transforming DNA within the plant, it must still be taken up by individual cells and it must be incorporated into the plant's genome. Again, since transformation frequencies of these methods are expected to be extremely low, selection of transformed plants is difficult.
Therefore, there still exists a need for a procedure that will allow the delivery of a transforming agent or DNA to germline tissues such that the agent or DNA will be incorporated directly into the DNA of the cells in these tissues, particularly into the DNA of the egg cells of the plant. A method which effectively and directly targets germline tissues would greatly improve the frequency with which the transforming agent is inserted into the genomic DNA of the germline tissues of the plant and is thus passed on to the progeny of the transformed plant.
The present invention provides an improved method for delivering transforming agents to germline tissues such that the agent or DNA will be incorporated directly into the DNA of the cells in these tissues, particularly into the DNA of the egg cells of the plant. A method which effectively and directly targets germline tissues would greatly improve the frequency with which the transforming agent is inserted into the genomic DNA of the germline tissues of the plant and is thus passed on to the progeny of the transformed plant.
The present invention further provides an improved method for delivering transforming agents to plant tissues, which overcomes deficiencies of the prior art methods by providing for the precise injection of a transforming agent, without causing excessive injury to the injected tissues. The method is particularly useful for delivering a transforming agent to developing floral tissues of a plant prior to or during seed development. The transforming agent may be a genetically engineered or recombinant Agrobacterium carrying a gene capable of conferring a desired phenotypic trait, or even a naked DNA molecule capable of conferring the desired trait. The method uses a needleless-injection device that is capable of injecting a small high pressure stream of a solution through the many cell layers of plant tissue. In one preferred embodiment of the invention the transforming agent is delivered to a plant's floral tissues, thereby facilitating delivery of a transforming agent comprising a gene of interest into germline cells of the plant. The high pressure stream provided by the injection device insures that the Agrobacterium culture or the DNA solution penetrates the many cell layers of the plant floral tissue without causing massive tissue damage, such as that caused by direct injection with a syringe having a needle or by particle bombardment. One of skill in the art of plant molecular biology will understand that the method of the present invention can also be adapted for transformation of plant cells and tissues, including embryonic tissue culture cells, meristematic tissues and plant callus, which can be regenerated into whole plants. They will also recognize that the method can be adapted for introducing DNAs conferring phenotypic traits into plant tissues and cells to be used in transient transformation assays and in other assays used in plant research.

In planta method for the production of transgenic plants


A computer-implemented method is for identifying the presence of an image trigger in a digitally captured scene. The method includes, at a component installed on a client device and upon commencement of an image trigger matching operation:

Quick Response (QR) codes are a well-known example of an optically machine readable code. QR codes are often positioned in public places, for example at restaurants or tourism sites, as a means to quickly deliver content to a consumer's mobile device. Conventional "scannable" codes such as QR codes have a number of drawbacks however. In particular, QR codes are generic in appearance, and the ways in which they can be customised for aesthetic, marketing, or other purposes while preserving functionality are severely limited.
It is therefore desirable to achieve the functionality of QR codes using images of a user's choice, referred to hereinafter as "image triggers", for example an image of a product, or images associated with a marketing campaign.

Abstract: a) obtaining, from a multiplicity of image triggers, a subset of image triggers;

Abstract: b) subdividing the subset of image triggers into a plurality of image trigger sub-subsets; and

Abstract: c) for each sub-subset of image triggers in turn, and at predefined time intervals, submitting the sub-subset of image triggers to an Augmented Reality (AR) core Application Programming Interface (API), to cause the client device to cache the received sub-subsets of image triggers, search the digitally captured scene for the presence of one or more of the cached image triggers, and identify a positive match of an image trigger to said component using said AR core API.


The purpose of the present invention is to describe a novel approach for converting 3-dimensional, synthetic micro- and nano-templates into different materials with a retention of shape/dimensions and morphological features. The ultimate objective of this approach is to mass-produce micro- and nano-templates of tailored shapes through the use of synthetic or man-made micropreforms, and then chemical conversion of such templates by controlled chemical reactions into near net-shaped, micro- and nano-components of desired compositions. The basic idea of this invention is to obtain a synthetic microtemplate with a desired shape and with desired surface features, and then to convert the microtemplate into a different material through the use of chemical reactions.

The worldwide research and development effort on microdevices (e.g., electromechanical, hydromechanical, thermomechanical, electrochemical, thermoelectrical, etc.) has increased dramatically over the past decade. Such devices have found significant use as sensors in automotive and medical applications, with estimates of the global MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) market ranging from $12-14 billion in 2000. However, a far larger untapped potential exists for the use of new micromechanical devices in a variety of advanced applications, such as in: i) medicine (e.g., targeted drug or radiation delivery, rapid clinical and genomic analyses, in vitro sensors, microtools for surgery, micropumps and microvalves, microreactors, etc.), ii) transportation and energy production (e.g., new sensors and actuators for pollution control, enhanced energy utilization, and improved engine performance; microcomponents for automotive, diesel, jet, or rocket engines; microcomponents for turbines used in energy conversion or generation; microreactors, micropumps, microbearings, etc.), iii) communications and computing (e.g., micro-optical devices, microactuators, microswitches, microtransducers, etc.), and iv) the production/manufacturing of food, chemicals, and materials (e.g., microrobotics, rapid on-line microsensors, microreactors, micropumps, microdies, etc.).
Despite the recognized technological and economic significance of new microdevices, the fabrication methods used to date have been largely limited to techniques developed within the microelectronics industry. The micromachining of silicon may be done by one or a combination of methods, including but not limited to: photolithography (e.g. UV, x-ray, e-beam, ion-beam), dry physical etching (e.g. ion etching/sputtering, laser ablation), dry chemical etching (e.g. with a reactive gas), combined dry physical and chemical etching (e.g. reaction ion etching), wet chemical etching and LIGA. Furthermore, the properties of silicon (room temperature brittleness, poor creep resistance at □600° C., high thermal conductivity, modest melting point, biochemical incompatibility, etc.) make silicon-based microdevices unattractive for a number of potential applications. New fabrication methods capable of yielding self-assembled, non-silicon microdevices in a massively parallel fashion are needed to allow for a much wider range of commercial applications.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel approach for converting 2- or 3-dimensional, synthetic (non-naturally-occurring) micro- and nano-templates into new materials with a retention of shape/dimensions and morphological features. The ultimate objective of this approach is to mass-produce micro- and nano-templates of tailored shapes through the use of synthetic or man-made micropreforms, and then chemical conversion of such templates by controlled chemical reactions into near net-shaped, micro- and nano-components of desired compositions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Shaped microcomponents via reactive conversion of synthetic microtemplates


A fan with integrated vibration absorbing structure includes a fan frame, a hub-blade assembly, and at least one vibration absorber. The fan frame includes a base and at least one side wall formed around the base, and the hub-blade assembly is arranged in the fan frame. The at least one vibration absorber is provided on the at least one side wall to project therefrom for absorbing vibration produced by the fan during the operation thereof. Therefore, with the vibration absorbers integrated into the fan frame, it is no longer necessary to provide any additional vibration-absorbing member while upgraded vibration-absorbing effect can be achieved. Meanwhile, the fan can be more conveniently mounted at reduced mounting cost.

Thanks to the progress and development in the information technological fields, electronic products with high performance, high frequency, high operating speed and slim profile have been constantly introduced into the market. However, the heat produced by these electronic products during the high-speed operation thereof also increases to threaten the reliability and service life of the electronic products. Therefore, it has become a very important issue as how to dissipate the heat produced by the operating electronic products.
Currently, the cooling fan is one of the common heat dissipating structures for use with the heat-producing electronic products. Most of the currently available electronic products are internally equipped with a cooling fan to remove the produced heat from the electronic products, so that the electronic products can always operate within a specific operating temperature range. Due to the constantly increased demands of the electronic products for heat dissipation, the demands for enhanced air volume of the cooling fan also correspondingly increase. The most direct way to increase the cooling fan's air volume is to increase the rotational speed thereof.
A fan tends to produce vibration during the operation thereof. Such vibration increases with the rotational speed of the fan and might cause resonance of the system using the fan to thereby adversely affect the structural safety of the system. The vibration also brings noise and reduces the system stability. When two or more fans are parallelly or serially connected together in an attempt of providing increased air volume, the vibration produced by these parallelly or serially connected fans during their operation is further increased. Please refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B. A prior art fan 11 usually requires at least one additionally externally provided vibration absorbing member 12 for attaching to between the fan 11 and an electronic device, to which the fan 11 is mounted, so that the vibration absorbing member 12 absorbs the vibration produced by the fan 11 during the operation thereof. The vibration absorbing member 12 is mainly attached to one side wall of a fan frame of the fan 11 to reduce the vibration against the electronic device. In the case of using two or more parallelly or serially connected fans 11 (not shown), the externally provided vibration absorbing member 12 is also frequently provided between two adjacent fans 11 for absorbing the vibration.
Generally, the currently available slim type electronic products all have very limited internal space, which causes limitation and inconvenience in mounting the vibration absorbing members 12 to between the fan 11 and the electronic product. Thus, the cost for mounting the fan 11 and the vibration absorbing members 12 will increase while the probability of defective mounting is high to adversely affect the effect of suppressing vibration.
In brief, the prior art fan has the following disadvantages: (1) requiring increased mounting cost; (2) tending to cause the problem of poor installation thereof; and (3) providing only limited effect in suppressing the vibration produced by the fan during the operation thereof.

Fan with integrated vibration absorbing structure


A stringed instrument including an arm extending besides the strings from the body to the headstock such that said arm supports the tensions of the tuned strings, thereby eliminating the need for a neck to support this tension, and allowing for the use of fingerboards of a wide range of shapes which greatly improves ergonomic properties of the instrument.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of musical instruments, and more particularly to electric guitars and electric basses, wherein such instruments are made with a variety of ranges of pitches that can be produced with varying numbers of strings, typically as few as four or as many as twelve. The present invention applies to all of these variations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, such instruments as an electric guitar include a body and headstock that connect on opposite ends of a strong neck connecting the body and headstock. The typical electric guitar also includes a fingerboard having a plurality of strings attached which comprises either the upper surface of the neck or a separate piece fastened securely to the upper surface of the neck. In either case, the neck bears the tension of the strings, which is quite considerable, and therefore necessitates the use of a neck having sufficient thickness and strength to bear this tension. In addition, it is generally necessary to install one or more adjustable truss rods within the neck to counter the tension of the strings, which otherwise would force the neck to bend unacceptably.
Thus, in the above-mentioned design of an electric guitar, the shape of the neck is constrained by the necessity to bear the tension of the strings. Moreover, even adjusting the distance between the strings and the fingerboard, which is an important characteristic to a player, is cumbersome. Furthermore, a user wishing to change to a different neck, on the electric guitar, to enjoy different playing styles, using either a fretted or fretless fingerboard, will encounter a nearly impossible situation without having to partially rebuild the instrument.
Some of the prior art cited below addresses part of these problems, but these references do so in relatively cumbersome ways, requiring at a minimum an individual to detach the strings from the neck and retuning to the instrument when the replacement is complete.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,081,575, to Pieper, Jr., discloses a stringed instrument that has a neck attached to the instrument body using a locking system which allows the neck to be detached and reattached.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,012,180, to Koeppe, Jr., discloses an apparatus and method for extending and retracting frets of a stringed musical instrument comprising a fret cylinder which engages a slidable rod which extends from the head stock through the neck to the instrument body. The rod is slidable, allowing the frets to be extended and retracted, by a handle attached to a gear shaft attached to a gear which engages the rod teeth on the rod. Moving the handle causes the gear to rotate which moves the rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,965,066, to Lace, discloses an elongated string support for a stringed instrument that reduces the stress on the player's wrists.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,431, to Norman, discloses a stringed instrument including extending body portions which extend lengthwise pass the neck and attach to the strings to prevent the neck from being stressed by the strings.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,756, to Beckmeier, discloses a stringed musical instrument with a neck with designed grooves to allow fingerboards to be switched on the instrument without removing the strings.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,175, to Lasner, discloses a neck having a composite material that can withstand the entirety of the tension of the strings without deformation or need for reinforcement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,038, to Turner, discloses a neck structure for a stringed instrument which contains a graphite composite t-bar element.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,813, to Stone, discloses a stringed instrument with a neck with designed grooves to allow fingerboards to be switched on the instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,143, to Stone, discloses a stringed instrument with a neck with designed grooves to allow different tonal scale fingerboards to be switched on the instrument.
One disadvantage of the aforementioned devices is that none of them claim that their design allows the fingerboard and/or neck to have any shape desired, within practical limits, due to the lack of tension on it.
Many of the devices mentioned above are constructed such that the neck must support the string tension in the above-described conventional way, while other devices do not possess removable fingerboards, allowing for quick and simple switching between fretted and fretless modes of play.
What is needed is the removal of the neck from the conventional electric guitar, and instead, simply constructing the fingerboard to be ergonomically ideal for each player. The removal of the neck brings in the use of an arm and an optional tension rod which can remove the tension-bearing use from a typical neck, leaving simply the fingerboard which may be adjusted to varying ergonomic properties allowing easy switching between fretted and fretless modes of play.