A disclosed capacitor sheet attached to an electronic apparatus comprises: a laminated body; a first penetration electrode penetrating the laminated body, the first penetration electrode being electrically connected to a terminal electrode of the electronic apparatus; a second penetration electrode disposed at an arrangement position different from that of the first penetration electrode on the laminated body, the second penetration electrode being electrically insulated from the first penetration electrode and penetrating the laminated body; at least one first conductor thin film electrically connected to the first penetration electrode and insulated from the second penetration electrode; and at least one second conductor thin film disposed so as to face the first conductor thin film via a dielectric layer, the second conductor thin film being electrically connected to the second penetration electrode and insulated from the first penetration electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a capacitor sheet and an electronic circuit board and especially to a capacitor sheet and an electronic circuit board for removing noises from LSI and the like on an electronic circuit board of general electronic devices including communication devices.
The present invention is used to remove high-frequency and low-frequency noises from electronic components such as LSIs mounted on electronic devices. Such noises may cause not only the generation of malfunctions in the electronic components but also negative influences on peripheral electronic components, so that a method for removing noises in which compatibility between performances and costs is ensured has been required.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a communication apparatus requiring the removal of noises from LSIs and the like. A communication apparatus 101 shown in the drawing includes plural plug-in units 102 having an electronic circuit board 102a in which an LSI is mounted and a subrack 103 into which the plug-in units 102 are inserted for installation. The subrack 103 is stored in a subrack installation rack 104.
In the communication apparatus 101, the plug-in unit 102 is inserted into the subrack 103, a connector 102b of the plug-in unit 102 is connected to a backplane connector (omitted in the drawing) disposed in the subrack 103 and the plug-in unit 102 is electrically connected to the subrack 103.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing the plug-in unit 102 to which the conventional electronic circuit board 102a is applied. FIG. 2A is a rear view of the plug-in unit 102 and FIG. 2B is a front view of the plug-in unit 102. FIG. 3A is an enlarged view showing an area indicated by an arrow A of FIG. 2A and FIG. 3B is an enlarged view showing an area indicated by an arrow B of FIG. 2B.
As shown in each diagram, conventionally, a large number of capacitors 106 for removing noises (capacitor chips for high frequency and capacitor chips for low frequency) are mounted in the vicinity of an area where an LSI 105 of the electronic circuit board 102a is disposed and on a reverse side of the area where the LSI 105 is disposed.
With the acceleration of processing speed of the LSI 105, dealing with high-frequency noises of an LSI electrode has posed a problem. Conventionally, such a problem is handled by mounting a chip capacitor with good high-frequency characteristics on the vicinity of a terminal electrode of a power source of the LSI 105.
However, due to a high density of mounting in an electronic circuit on the electronic circuit board 102a, the mounting of a sufficient number of capacitors 106 with sufficient capacity has become difficult. Further, the mounted capacitor 106 has a long connection wiring distance to the terminal electrode of the LSI 105 due to a peripheral electronic circuit mounted in a high-density manner, leading wiring, through-holes, and the like in the vicinity of the power source of the LSI 105 and a terminal electrode for grounding. Thus, resistance components and inductance components of the connection wiring cannot be ignored and it is difficult to obtain sufficient electric characteristics.
In practice, an area in the vicinity of the LSI 105 is allocated to the capacitors 106 as large as possible so that many capacitors 106 are mounted using a minimal wiring. However, when the number of mounted capacitors is increased, a cost of members to be mounted and a processing cost thereof are increased. This may lead to high costs and an increase of failure rate, thereby degrading reliability.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the frequency characteristics of a capacitor. Usually, a capacitor for high-frequency noises has a high resonance frequency and small ESR and ESL. As described above, when a connection wiring distance between the capacitor 106 and the terminal electrode of the LSI 105 is increased, the effects of resistance components (ESR) and inductance components (ESL) of the connection wiring are added. Thus, it is difficult to obtain electric characteristics as originally expected.
In recent years, the use of a capacitor sheet as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 has been proposed as a method for solving such problems.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-25856
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-83892
However, conventional capacitor sheets as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are problematic in that such sheets are for exclusive use dependent on the pin arrangement (arrangement of terminal electrodes of signals, power source, and grounding) of each LSI and versatility cannot be provided. Further, conventional capacitor sheets have a sheet configuration such that the capacitor is formed between a single specific power source and a single specific ground. Thus, such sheets are problematic in that they cannot support an LSI with plural power sources.

Capacitor sheet and electronic circuit board


A local area network (LAN) connection method runs an existing LAN application in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network to connect LANS. The LAN connection method includes the steps of (a) in a LAN emulation (LANE) protocol which operates an existing network in the ATM network, connecting LAN emulation servers (LESs) which mainly cope with addresses from medial access control (MAC) addresses to ATM addresses in emulated LANs (ELANs) by a virtual channel connection (VCC) for transferring a LAN emulation address resolution protocol (LE ARP) which inquires the ATM address from the MAC address, and (b) transferring a LE ARP request with respect to a LAN emulation client (LEC) in a second ELAN to a LES in the second ELAN when a LES in a first ELAN receives the LE ARP request from a LEC in the first ELAN.

The present invention generally relates to local area network (LAN) connection methods, and more particularly to a LAN or inter-LAN connection method which runs an existing LAN application in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network and connects LANs.
As a means of structuring a LAN using the ATM technology in a broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN), a LAN emulation (LANE) protocol has been announced from the ATM Forum. The LANE inserts a media access control (MAC) protocol of the data link layer between the network layer protocol and the ATM protocol, similarly to the existing LAN such as the ethernet, so as to enable ATM communication without the need to modify the network layer protocol.
In order to run an existing LAN application in the ATM network which is based on a 1:1 (or point-to-point) communication, it is necessary to provide a mechanism to realize a broadcast function and the like which are characteristics of the LAN. The LANE protocol is characterized in that a plurality of connections are combined in the ATM network that provides a connection type communication which makes the communication by connecting subscribers, so as to make it look as if a connectionless type LAN communication were realized.
According to the LANE protocol, the MAC protocol of the data link layer is provided between the network layer protocol and the ATM protocol, similarly to the existing LAN, so that the ATM communication is realized without modifying the network layer protocol. A communication between LAN emulation client (LEC) terminals within an emulated LAN (ELAN) is realized by the following 3 servers, namely, a LAN emulation configuration server (LECS), a LAN emulation server (LES) and a broadcast and unknown server (BUS).
The LECS controls a LAN emulation address resolution protocol (LE ARP) and mainly copes with the address from a MAC address to an ATM address. The LES has a function of linking the individual LEC to a specific ELAN. The BUS transmits traffic with unknown destination, multicast traffic, and broadcast traffic to all the LECs within the segment.
When the end user terminal, that is, the LEC, transmits data, the LEC must known the network layer address (IP address) and the MAC address of the LEC at the other end, similarly as in the case of the conventional LAN. Further, the LEC must also know the ATM address (VPI/VCI) of the LEC at the other end. The LES notifies the ATM address of the LEC at the other end to the LEC, and the LECS notifies the address of the LES.
FIG. 1 generally shows a conventional system including LECs 1A and 1B, an ATM switch 2 connecting the LECs 1A and 1B, a LES 3, a LECS 4, a BUS 5, and a buffer 5d provided within the BUS 5. A connection L1 is made between the LEC 1A and the LECS 4, a connection L2 is made between the LEC 1A and the LES 3, a connection L3 is made between the BUS 5 and the LECs 1A and 1B, and a connection L4 is made between the LEC 1A and the LEC 1B. A connection procedure with respect to the ELAN of the system having the above described construction is as follows.
First, when the power of the LEC 1A is turned ON, the LEC 1A recognizes its own TM address and the ATM address of the LECS 4. The LEC 1A makes the connection L1 between the LEC 1A and the LECS 4, and obtains the ATM address of the LES 3 from the LECS 4. Next, the LEC 1A makes the connection L2 between the LEC 1A and the LES 3, and obtains the ATM address of the BUS 5 from the LES 3. Then, the LEC 1A makes the connection L3 between the LEC 1A and the BUS 5.
Next, a description will be given of the communication procedure. In order to know the ATM address of the LEC 1B at the other end, the LEC 1A issues a LE ARP request with respect to the LES 3 using the connection L2 so as to request notification of the MAC address of the LEC 1B at the other end. The LEC 1A sends the data to be transmitted with respect to the BUS 5 using the connection L3 even while waiting for a response to the LE ARP request from the LES 3. The data to be transmitted are successively stored in the buffer 5a.
Even if the BUS 5 does not know the ATM address of the LEC 1B at the other end, the BUS 5 transfers the data to the LEC 1B at the other end by broadcasting the data within the ELAN. The data transmission is made before the direct connection L4 between the LECs 1A and 1B is acquired, so as to eliminate a delay when acquiring the connection, and to make it look as if a connectionless communication is being made. When the LEC 1A receives the response (the ATM address of the LEC 1B at the other end) to the LE ARP request from the LES 3, the LEC 1A acquires the connection L4 between the LEC 1A and the LEC 1B at the other end. When this connection L4 is acquired, the LEC 1A sends the data directly to the LEC 1B at the other end without going through the BUS 5.
One LES and one BUS are set up in the ELAN, and both the LES and the BUS only manage the ATM address of the LECs in the ELAN to which the LES and the BUS belong. For this reason, according to the conventional LANE protocol, it is only possible to carry out a communication within the LAN. In order to make a communication (inter-LAN communication) between the LECs belonging to different ELANS, it becomes necessary to carry out a routing in the network layer by use of a router or the like.
FIG. 2 generally shows a conventional connection of ELANs. More particularly, FIG. 2 shows a case where a communication is made between LECs of an ELAN 101 and an ELAN 102. In FIG. 2, the LEC 1A, a LES 3-1, an ATM switch 2A and a BUS 5-1 are provided within the ELAN 101. On the other hand, the LEC 1B, a LES 3-2, an ATM switch 2B and a BUS 5-2 are provided within the ELAN 102. A router 6 connects the ELAN 101 and the ELAN 102.
Each of the LECs 1A and 1B is made up of a network layer, a MAC layer, a LANE and an ATM layer, starting from the upper layer. The router 6 is made up of a network layer, a MAC layer, a LANE and an ATM layer, starting from the upper layer.
In the system shown in FIG. 2, the LEC 1A issues a LE ARP request with respect to the LES 3-1 so as to know the ATM address of the LEC 1B at the other end, and attempts to recognize the MAC address of the LEC 1B at the other end. However, since the LES 3-1 does not know the ATM address of the LEC 1B at the other end, the LES 3-1 instead notifies the MAC address of the router 6 to the LEC 1A. During this time, the LEC 1A sends the data with respect to the BUS 5-1. Because the BUS 5-1 does not have a connection with the LEC 1B at the other end, the BUS 5-1 transfer broadcast data to the router 6. Then, the LEC 1A makes a connection between the LEC 1A and the router 6.
On the other hand, the router 6 receives the data from the LEC 1A and stores the received data in an internal buffer thereof. This router 6 transfers the data to the BUS 5-2 in place of the LEC 1A, and transfers the data to the LES 3-2 in place of the LEC 1A. When the router 6 recognizes the ATM address of the LEC 1B at the other end in response to the LE ARP request from the LES 3-2, the router 6 makes a connection between the touter 6 and the LEC 1B. Hence, the LEC 1A and the LEC 1B exchange the data via the router 6.
Therefore, according to the conventional system, it is not possible for make a direct connection (virtual channel connection: VCC) when making the communication between the LECs 1A and 1B in the different ELANs 101 and 102, and a complicated routing process is required by the router 6 in the network layer. As a result, a high-speed communication cannot be realized due to the need to carry out the complicated routing process in the router 6, and there was a problem in that the capabilities of the ATM network cannot be utilized efficiently when making an inter-LAN communication.


A unique high performance digital video recorder having a number of novel features. The recorder's electronics are all on a unitary printed circuit board. The recorder also requires at least one hard disk drive and audio and video input analog signals (from a source such as video camera or broadcast media) as well as a suitable monitor for receiving output audio and video analog signals. A external time code generator (i.e., VITC digital clock) is also required for synchronization. Also required are various manual control devices (i.e., panel controls) for mode selection. The electronics of the preferred embodiment comprise A-to-D and D-to-A converters, a hard disk interface, a JPEG compression encoder/decoder, a multi-port DRAM and DMA subsystem, a microprocessor with RS-232 and RS-422 access ports, various working memory devices and bus interfaces and a 16-bit stereo digital audio subsystem. Novel features of the preferred embodiment include use of an index table for disk addresses of recorded frames, a multi-port memory controller in the form of a field programmable gate array (FPGA), loop recording using dual channels, and dynamic JPEG compression compensation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to certain improvements in digital video recording.
2. Background Art
Compressed video frames are variable in size depending on the complexity of the picture. Therefore, the recorder must maintain a directory of video frame disk addresses to support cueing (jumping to an arbitrary frame), random access playback (switching seamlessly without hesitation or interruption among material recorded at different physical locations on disk), and "feature" playback (fast forward and reverse scan).
Typically, this frame directory is kept on disk. With this approach, when a user submits a cue command, the recorder must read the directory first to determine the disk address, then read the frame from disk. This latency results in a visible hesitation or requires that the cue command be received some period in advance of the required cue. There is a need to overcome such latency.
Conceptually, recording and playing motion video to and from hard disk is simply performing the conversion from its analog (or uncompressed digital) format to a continuous compressed data stream and managing this continuous stream of data as a series of "writes" or "reads to" or "reads from" hard disk.
The hard disk is the slowest component in the system. To achieve the performance threshold that broadcast quality playback requires, it is necessary to interface to the hard disk at maximum efficiency. The data transfer method must be tailored to the hard disk's characteristics. With modern hard disks, the highest performance interface is achieved with burst data transfers of a size that matches the disk's cache memory. There is a need to implement burst data transfers appropriate for video data at maximum efficiency.
The user configures a recorder to record video at a specified compression ratio, for example, 4:1. The disk may not be able to sustain this specified data rate when the user has installed a low performance disk or if the image data frequency changes from simple pictures (black frames, for example) to complex ones. For example, one may watch MTV for a few minutes for excellent examples of video that stress JPEG compression rate-averaging algorithms. If the disk falls far enough behind, the result is catastrophic: The record stream skips frames, losing them irretrievably. There is a need to control compression so that such catastrophic results are averted.
Certain applications benefit from the ability to record continuously. In surveillance, for example, it is useful to record until an alarm occurs, then to stop some time after the alarm. The recorder has captured time before, during, and after the alarm, which can be useful in determining the cause of the alarm. There is a need to provide support for such a loop recording mode.


A strap assembly capable of engagement with an object (101) includes a strap (110) having a first end (111) and a second end (112), and further includes a buckle (120, 190) coupled to the strap. The buckle includes a cover (210) and a base (220) adjacent to the cover, and the base includes a slot (221) and an engagement aperture (122). The object with which the strap assembly is engaged has coupled thereto an attachment piece (102), which may take the form of a post (141) topped with a cap (142). The strap extends through the slot, the engagement aperture is capable of engaging the attachment piece, and the buckle is capable of rotating about the attachment piece when the engagement aperture is engaged with the attachment piece.

Wearable protective gear such as helmets and goggles are often fitted with straps that serve to hold the protective gear in place on the body. Similar straps serve as handles on luggage, briefcases, or other items intended to be carried or manipulated by hand. The manner in which such straps are connected to and interact with the foregoing and similar items determines to a large degree how comfortable the items are, and how easy they are to use. Existing straps for carrying an object or for retaining an object on the body are connected to the object rigidly and permanently. Such rigid and permanent connections tend to be fairly secure and long-lasting but also tend to make the object uncomfortable, hard to use, and/or difficult to repair. Accordingly, there exists a need for a strap assembly that is easily attached to and removed from an object and that promotes comfort and ease of use by providing a rotatable connection.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprise," "include," "have," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.
The terms "left," "right," "front," "back," "top," "bottom," "over," "under," and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. The term "coupled," as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical, mechanical, or other manner.

Strap assembly capable of rotational engagement with an object and method of manufacturing same


Polymeric multilayer optical films, and laminate bodies that include such films, are provided with a melt zone that extends between a first and second portion of the multilayer optical film. If a shearing operation or other external influence acts on the film in the first portion that causes delamination of individual layers of the multilayer optical film, the melt zone is effective to prevent the delamination from propagating from the first portion to the second portion. The melt zone is characterized at least in part by a deformation of individual layers of the multilayer optical film. The melt zone can be positioned to extend along and proximate to some or all of a periphery of the multilayer optical film.

Multilayer optical films, i.e., films that provide desirable transmission and/or reflection properties at least partially by an arrangement of microlayers of differing refractive index, are known. It has long been known to make such multilayer optical films by depositing a sequence of inorganic materials in optically thin layers ("microlayers") on a substrate in a vacuum chamber. Typically, the substrate is a relatively thick piece of glass, limited in size due to constraints on the vacuum chamber volume and/or the degree of uniformity possible by the deposition process.
More recently, multilayer optical films have been demonstrated by coextrusion of alternating polymer layers. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,610,724 (Rogers), 4,446,305 (Rogers et al.), 4,540,623 (Im et al.), 5,448,404 (Schrenk et al.), and 5,882,774 (Jonza et al.), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. In these polymeric multilayer optical films, polymer materials are used predominantly or exclusively in the makeup of the individual layers. Such films are compatible with high volume manufacturing processes, and can be made in large sheets and roll goods.
Many product applications, however, require relatively small and numerous pieces of film. Filters for individual photodiode detectors is one such application. Windows, reflectors, and/or filters for fiber optic devices and other small-scale photonics devices are additional applications. For these applications, small pieces of multilayer optical film can be obtained from a larger sheet of such film by subdividing the sheet by mechanical means, such as by cutting the sheet with a shearing device (e.g., a scissors), or slitting the sheet with a blade. However, the forces exerted on the film by the cutting mechanism can produce layer delamination in a region along the cut line or edge of the film. This is particularly true for many polymeric multilayer optical films. The delamination region is often discernable by a discoloration relative to intact areas of the film. Because the multilayer optical film relies on intimate contact of the individual layers to produce the desired reflection/transmission characteristics, the delamination region fails to provide those desired characteristics.
In some product applications, the delamination may not be problematic or even noticeable. In others—particularly where it is important for substantially the entire piece of film from edge to edge to exhibit the desired reflection or transmission characteristics, or where the film can be subjected to mechanical stresses and/or wide temperature variations that could cause the delamination to propagate in the film over time—the delamination can be highly detrimental. Also in some cases some amount of delamination may be difficult to avoid due to a need to mechanically cut or sever at least a portion of a periphery of a piece of multilayer optical film.
There exists, therefore, a need for controlling delamination in multilayer optical films. Preferably, the approach would be compatible with automated and/or continuous manufacturing processes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multilayer optical film with melt zone to control delamination


An electric stringed instrument having a device for sustaining the vibration of the string including an electromagnetic pickup for converting the vibration of the string to an electric signal, an amplifying device for amplifying the electric signal, and an electromagnetic driver for converting the amplified signal to a driving force to thereby drive the string. The electromagnetic pickup and the electromagnetic driver are placed at a right angle or a predetermined angle of inclination relative to each other so that induced electromotive forces caused by magnetic flux from the electromagnetic driver negate each other or do not occur in the electromagnetic pickup to thereby reduce the magnetic feedback in the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric stringed instrument having means for detecting the vibration of a string by an electromagnetic pickup, e.g., an electric guitar, an electric bass guitar and an electric piano, and more particularly to an electric stringed instrument having a device that drives the string by an electromagnetic driver to sustain the vibration of the string detected by the electromagnetic pickup.
A guitar or a piano differs from a violin in that after the string of a guitar or a piano is excited, the magnitude of the vibration of the string will become half within about a half second and die within about 7 seconds. Particularly, for example, in the case of an electric guitar, it seems that attenuation speed of the vibration of the string is shorter than that of an acoustic guitar because of the electric characteristics of an amplifier. Thus, an effector, which is a device for adding several sound effects, i.e., Delay, Reverb, Compressor and Overdrive, etc. to the sound of the guitar is often used to enable more sustained sound to be heard acoustically.
The effector using the Delay or the Reverb adds reverberations to a musical sound, and the sound is produced by recording and playing back the sound on a magnetic tape or by delaying the tone by a spring arrangement. Recently, simple electronic devices using BBD (Bucket Brigade Device) have been utilized for the Delay or the Reverb. The effector using the Compressor increases the amplitude of a music signal by an amplifier in reverse proportion to attenuation characteristics of the vibration of the string, and the Overdrive amplifies the signal beyond a permissible level so as to obtain a long tone. A longer tone is available by using these effectors, although the effectors cannot maintain the tone after the vibration of the string has stopped.
Now, musicians investigate various sounds and develop the art of musical performance in order to play said various sounds in response to their individual artistic impression. For example, a style using a loudspeaker feedback is one that produces the sound of a guitar at high volume so as to sustain the vibration of the string on the guitar for a long time without attenuation by way of sympathetic vibration in cooperation with air vibration emitted from the loudspeaker. As described above, the feedback can maintain the vibration of the string for a long time, but in order to maintain the sound, the player must utilize a skilled and high-grade technique to overcome several limitations, i.e., a sound of volume, location of the amplifier, length of the strings and musical interval etc. Further, there is a weak point in that the tone of the first string on the treble side, which is most significant for musical expression, cannot be easily sustained. Therefore, a device that easily sustains the vibration of the string for an extended period is in demand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Several prior arts disclose means for sustaining the vibration of the string in relation to an electric stringed instrument. For example, Patent KOKAI 52- 151022 and Utility Model KOKAI 53-139836 (Both applicants are Roland Ltd.) disclose such a type of an electric guitar such that the strings of the guitar are connected with an electric driving circuit mounted within the guitar, and a positive feedback current output from the circuit flows through the strings as a part of the circuit when detecting the vibration of the strings at a pickup on the guitar and then the strings, in which the positive feedback current is flowing, vibrate in cooperation with a magnet attached to a surface of the guitar. This type of guitar has no use of an electromagnetic driver that converts an electric signal into a magnetic driving force utilizing a variation of magnetic flux corresponding to the signal and drives the metal string by the driving force. Thus, the guitar has the advantage of having no generation of so-called "magnetic feedback" which is introduced by a leakage of flux fed back from the electromagnetic driver to an electromagnetic pickup. The electromagnetic pickup converts a variation of magnetic flux produced by the vibration of the metal string into an electric signal, but the guitar needs an outside powder supply to provide power for the self-driving strings. Further it must have a strong magnet to drive the strings, in which the positive feedback current flows, and also the system becomes large by connecting the strings to the circuit. Therefore, said type of electric guitar needs to be designed as an exclusive instrument, and consequentially it is not practical to manufacture it on a commercial basis.
Further, the other disclosure is described in Utility Model KOKAI 55-152597 (YAMAHA Ltd.). The pickup shown in the specification and the drawings uses a light-emitting element and a light-intercepting element, and thus, there is no need to consider the said magnetic feedback. However, this type of electric guitar does not use an electromagnetic pickup as described above so that a tone generated from said guitar is different from the tone of an electric guitar having a common electromagnetic pickup.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,388 (Hoover, et al.) discloses an arrangement that has an electromagnetic pickup and an electromagnetic driver in order to sustain vibration of the strings of an electric guitar without using the deformation type described above. The arrangement has an unbalancing device for putting the magnetic balance between the electromagnetic pickup and the electromagnetic driver out of balance so as to reduce the magnetic feedback, and as a particularly effective method, an embodiment using a shunting plate is disclosed. An electric guitar having a device for reducing the magnetic feedback by using the shunting plate is put into practical use and a device by the name of "Sustaniac" is available on the market. However, even if the shunting plate is used, a part of the magnetic feedback that cannot be completely absorbed into the shunting plate remains. In order to reduce the magnetic flux from the electromagnetic driver to the electromagnetic pickup as much as possible, the design of the shunting plate is limited to match magnetic characteristics precisely and an orientating winding pole pieces of the electromagnetic pickup and the electromagnetic driver, and further the shunting plate needs to utilize the only so-called hum-bucking pickup.

Electric stringed instrument having a device for sustaining the vibration of the string


A method for preparing a composition of metal oxide nanocrystals from at least one organometallic precursor in an aprotic solvent in the presence of at least one PEG ligand including a carbon chain having at least one end functionalized by a coordinating group containing at least one heteroatom, and at least one [—OCH2CH2]n, group, such that it is soluble in both the aprotic solvent medium and in water. The resulting water-compatible and organocompatible composition of metal oxide nanocrystals is also described.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the preparation of a composition of nanoparticles, called metal oxide nanocrystals, of at least one metal oxide in the crystalline state, from at least one organometallic precursor in an aprotic solvent medium and in the presence of at least one ligand chosen from the group of organic compounds which have at least one carbon chain and are soluble in said aprotic solvent medium. It also relates to a composition of nanoparticles, called metal oxide nanocrystals, obtained in this way.
2. Description of the Related Art
Throughout the text, the following terminology is adopted:                nanoparticle: any particle of whatever shape having at least a width and thickness which are both less than 100 nm, typically of between 1 nm and 20 nm;        metal oxide nanocrystals: nanoparticles made up of at least one compound chosen from metal oxides in the crystalline state, each nanoparticle having the structure of the metal oxide(s), that is to say being formed from atoms of metal(s) and oxygen bonded to one another as in bulk metal oxides;        organometallic precursor: any coordination molecule or compound containing at least one organic group bonded to at least one metal atom (transition metal or compound of the main groups, that is to say, in particular, zinc, cadmium, boron, aluminum, gallium, indium, thallium, germanium, tin, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, the lanthanides (Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu), scandium, yttrium, silicon, bismuth and the other transition metals) by a carbon atom or a hetero atom (chosen in particular from N, P, As, Si, S, Se, Te) of this organic group;        organometallic precursor which is spontaneously reactive to oxidation: organometallic precursor which is converted in an exothermic manner into an oxide in which the metal atom has a degree of oxidation greater than or equal to 1 when placed in the presence of at least one oxidizing agent (such as water, oxygen, ambient air . . . );        oxidizing agent: any agent allowing the conversion of an organometallic precursor into an oxide;        carbon chain: any aliphatic chain, saturated or unsaturated, straight or branched, substituted or unsubstituted, which may contain hetero atoms;        aprotic solvent medium: any composition which is not protogenic, does not have a hydrogen atom capable of forming hydrogen bonds, and in which water which may be present in traces does not act as a solvent agent; such a composition is capable of forming a liquid solution when brought into contact with at least one compound such as an organometallic precursor; it can be in the initially liquid state or, on the other hand, can pass into the liquid state only after contact with the compound(s) to be solubilized; it can be simple, that is to say formed by a single compound, or on the other hand complex and comprise several compounds; in particular, it can comprise not only one or more compound(s) which act as the solvent agent, but also any other compound which is not consumed by the formation reaction of metal nanocrystals—in particular in an oxidation reaction—is substantially neutral with respect to the dissolution of the organometallic precursor(s), and possibly plays a role in the formation reaction of metal nanocrystals—in particular in an oxidation reaction; such an aprotic solvent medium is, in particular, non-aqueous;        colloidal solution: any clear liquid composition of solid nanoparticles dispersed in a liquid; a liquid colloidal solution has several but not all of the properties of a true liquid solution, the nanoparticles remaining in the solid state; colloidal suspension or dispersion is also sometimes referred to;        water-compatible composition of nanoparticles: any composition of nanoparticles which can be dispersed at least in an aqueous medium, in particular any composition which can form a colloidal solution (liquid dispersion) in an aqueous medium;        organocompatible composition of nanoparticles: any composition of nanoparticles which can be dispersed in at least an organic—in particular non-aqueous—protic or aprotic medium, in particular any composition which can form a colloidal solution (liquid dispersion) with at least such an organic—in particular non-aqueous—protic or aprotic liquid medium;        coordinating group: any chemical group which can form a covalent, dative, hydrogen or electrostatic bond with metal atoms, metal ions, oxygen and metal oxides.
WO 2004/092069 describes a method for the preparation of nanoparticles of at least one crystalline metal oxide, in which at least one organometallic precursor which is spontaneously reactive to oxidation is chosen, a liquid solution of each organometallic precursor in a non-aqueous solvent medium in the presence of at least one ligand which is soluble in said solvent medium is prepared, and this liquid solution is brought into contact with at least one oxidizing agent under reaction condition suitable for resulting directly in the production of metal oxide nanocrystals.
This method is satisfactory and enables the shape and size of the nanoparticles and their properties to be controlled. In addition, the thesis of Carole Pagès, University of Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier UFRPCA Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, Dec. 17, 2007 pages 120 to 149 demonstrates in particular that the ligands which must be used for the preparation of such nanoparticles must necessarily have an aliphatic alkyl chain. Thus, it was not possible to obtain any composition of metal oxide nanocrystals by such a method in simple solution in an aprotic solvent medium in the presence of a ligand which does not have such an aliphatic alkyl chain.
This known method can be applied to any metal compound for which there is an organometallic precursor which is spontaneously reactive to oxidation and which can be solubilized in an aprotic solvent medium, or to any combination of such metal compounds. Among these metal compounds, there may thus be mentioned: zinc, cadmium, boron, aluminum, gallium, indium, thallium, germanium, tin, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, the lanthanides (Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu), scandium, yttrium, silicon, bismuth and the other transition metals.
All these known methods for the synthesis of metal oxide nanocrystals from organometallic precursors in an aprotic solvent medium have the disadvantage of producing compositions of nanocrystals of metal oxides which are organocompatible, but which on the other hand are not water-compatible.
In this respect, it is to be noted that although the presence of traces of water in the solvent medium are known to be able to play a role in the context of the oxidation reaction (cf. "Size- and Shape-Control of Crystalline Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: A New Organometallic Synthetic Method", Myrtil L. Kahn et al., Adv. Func. Mater. 2005, 15, no. 3, March), the presence of a significant and uncontrolled amount of water is strictly incompatible with the control of an organometallic decomposition reaction. Indeed, in the organometallic technical field, water is systematically considered to be detrimental, and even dangerous. More particularly, in the case of an oxidation reaction starting from an organometallic precursor, it is considered that the presence of a significant and uncontrolled amount of water in the medium would necessarily have the consequence at the very least of considerably disturbing and even preventing the functioning of the reaction. Indeed, it is known that any uncontrolled presence of water unavoidably leads to the formation of metal hydroxides (destructive and exothermic decompositions of the Zerewitinoff type) and is destructive and detrimental in the context of the preparation and use of organometallic compounds. Needless to say, reactions in the presence of organometallics are most often carried out in the presence of a water trap in order to work in a dry atmosphere.
This is all the more true in the case of an oxidation reaction such as is mentioned in WO2004/092069, in which a significant and uncontrolled amount of water would additionally necessarily lead to a disturbance in the functioning of the oxidation reaction itself. It is thus out of the question to carry out this type of reaction in the presence of an uncontrolled amount of water, or even in the presence of a hydrophilic compound which is capable of introducing a significant and uncontrolled amount of water into the reaction medium.
It would therefore be useful to enable such compositions of metal oxide nanocrystals which are water-compatible, and more particularly both organocompatible and water-compatible, that is to say which can be dispersed both, and as required, in aprotic—in particular organic non-aqueous—media and in protic media—in particular water and aqueous media—to be obtained. In particular it is important to obtain such water-compatible compositions to enable them to be used in numerous applications, in particular in physiological media, for therapeutic use or for medical imaging, and in all applications for which the aim is to avoid the use of organic solvents which are toxic and/or polluting volatile organic compounds (VOC), the use of which must be limited and even suppressed taking account environmental awareness regulations.
Various methods have already been proposed to enable compositions of nanocrystals of metal oxides which are initially not water-compatible to be rendered water-compatible.
A first approach could consist of exchanging the hydrophobic ligands for ligands which are analogous but have hydrophilic groups, such as polymers derived from PEG (thiol-PEG, amino-PEG, carboxy-PEG). However, this approach would necessitate a relatively complex second stage, the yield of which is not very good. In addition, it would not result in metal oxide nanocrystals doped exclusively with hydrophilic ligands, the exchange reaction never being total.
A second approach consists of incorporating into the composition obtained amphiphilic ligands which are capable of interacting with the hydrophobic ligands resulting from the preparation of the nanoparticles, without replacing these hydrophobic ligands, forming bilayer structures around the nanoparticles. The compositions obtained with this approach may have a certain toxicity (due to the release of amphiphilic compounds) and a poorly controlled stability, which is a disadvantage in particular in biological and therapeutic applications.
In certain very specific cases, another approach can consist of choosing, for carrying out the preparation of the nanoparticles, a ligand having, at one of the ends of the aliphatic alkyl chain a group which subsequently enables chemical reactions for grafting of a hydrophilic group to be carried out. But, there again, an additional stage is necessary, and this approach is only possible in very particular cases which are of little use in practice.
In addition, these various approaches also most often have the disadvantage that the compositions of nanoparticles which have been modified to be water-compatible subsequently are no longer organocompatible under satisfactory conditions.

Method for preparing a water-compatible composition of metal oxide nanocrystals and the water-compatible composition obtained

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (C.N.R.S.)


A pulsed eddy current pipeline inspection device is provided. The pulsed eddy current pipeline inspection device comprises a plurality of stages longitudinally spaced apart from each other and adapted to move between a contracted position and an expanded position, and a plurality of sensors disposed around at least a portion of a circumference of each of the plurality of stages in the contracted position with at least one gap between sensors in each of the plurality of stages in the expanded position, the plurality of sensors being arranged such that the at least one gap in a first one of the plurality of stages is aligned with a portion of a second one of the plurality of stages that has sensors disposed thereon.

This invention relates generally to non-destructive evaluation of pipelines and more particularly to a method and apparatus for inspecting electrically conductive structures using pulsed eddy current.
Pipelines are widely used in a variety of industries, allowing a large amount of material to be transported from one place to another. A variety of fluids such as oil and/or gas are transported cheaply and efficiently using pipelines. Particulate matter, and other small solids suspended in fluids may also be transported through pipelines. Underground and underwater (deep sea) pipelines typically carry enormous quantities of oil and gas products that are important to energy-related industries, often under high pressure and at extreme temperatures and at high flow rates.
Flaws in constituent pipes may cause pipeline integrity degradation as the pipeline infrastructure ages. Corrosion of a pipeline can be caused by small spots of weakness, subsidence of the soil, local construction projects, seismic activity, weather, and simply wear and tear caused by normal use, and can lead to defects and anomalies in the pipeline. Thus, flaws or defects and anomalies can appear in the surface of the pipeline in the form of corrosion, mechanical damage, fatigue, crack, stress, corrosion cracks, hydrogen induced cracks, or distortion attributable to dents or wrinkles.
Maintaining and protecting existing pipeline networks is proving to be a challenge. Current state-of-art inline inspection systems employ devices known as pipeline inspection gages (PIGs) to traverse sections of pipe in situ and provide data that may be evaluated to identify structural defects. Such PIGs acquire data from multiple sensors while traveling inside the pipeline. A typical single run for the PIG may be more than 100 km long. The use of PIGs allows evaluation of the integrity of a pipeline section without costly excavation and insulation removal to get access to the outer wall and conduct nondestructive inspection of the pipeline section.
PIGs may employ a wide range of sensor technology to collect information about pipelines. Examples of technologies that may be used include magnetic flux leakage (MFL), ultrasound (UT) or eddy current (EC). Each of these methodologies has its limitations. For instance, MFL systems rely on high field permanent magnets, which are bulky, heavy and have significant dragging force. As a result, PIGs employing MFL technology are suitable for inspecting pipelines that have relatively smooth bends. The UT method requires mechanical coupling with pipe walls and is not suitable for gas pipes or contaminated walls. Existing EC pigs are typically employed to inspect non-magnetic metal piping. In carbon steel pipes, the depth of penetration is of eddy currents is relatively small because of magnetic permeability which leads to a low frequency solution using large inductive coils for deep penetration and large area integration to prevent local variations of magnetic permeability. The need for deep magnetic penetration and large area integration makes EC pigs not suitable for restrictive pipeline environments that have relatively sharp bends.
Remote field EC and transient EC technologies have been developed to overcome some of the aforementioned problems. However, remote field EC and transient EC technologies do not facilitate the inspection of large diameter, thick carbon steel pipelines with high spatial resolution to detect areas of pitting corrosion with a moving PIG. Since remote EC systems use a spatial separation between exciting and sensing elements, large areas adjacent to sharp turns and valves are left uninspected. Additionally, remote field EC and transient EC technologies do not facilitate low power consumption for automatic PIGs. A PIG adapted to facilitate internal inspection of pipelines that have sharp turns and valves with reduced clearance is desirable.

Pulsed eddy current pipeline inspection system and method


A method for disposing of carbon dioxide is provided. According to the invention, CO2 is dissolved in seawater and the salinity of the seawater is increased to produce CO2-containing brine. The CO2-containing brine is denser than the seawater from which it is made. Therefore, when it is released into the ocean, the CO2-containing brine sinks to depth and sequesters the carbon dioxide. The brine may be produced by forming CO2 hydrate, which extracts fresh water from the seawater. Alternatively, the brine may be produced by forming water ice from the seawater and injecting CO2 into the seawater either before or, more preferably, after the water ice has been formed.

Gas hydrate forms when a hydrate-forming gas such as methane or any of the hydrocarbon gases, carbon dioxide, or chlorine, amongst others, is introduced into water (or where water vapor is introduced into hydrate-forming gas) to appropriate concentrations under suitable conditions of pressure and temperature and in suitable manner so that hydrate crystal nucleation and growth take place. Hydrate may also be formed when an appropriate hydrate-forming gas and water solution that is at pressures suitable for hydrate formation is chilled. Hydrate growth is not only dependent on sufficient pressures and temperature conditions; proper levels of concentration of the dissolved hydrate-forming materials (HFM's) must also be maintained.
So far as is known to me, previous attempts by others to use hydrate for seawater desalination and water treatment, which attempts introduced gas directly into the water to be treated (henceforth referred to as seawater, although other water may be treated), always ultimately resulted in the production of a slurry formed from tiny shards of relatively pure hydrate. (The shards were formed when hydrate shells formed around HFM gas bubbles would fracture.) Thus far, it has not been possible to purify such slurries sufficiently for the direct injection of HFM into seawater to be a viable process for commercially producing fresh water because too much low-salinity water had to be consumed washing the slurry.
In contrast, growth of larger masses of solid hydrate as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,444, which facilitates separation of the hydrate and the residual, enhanced-salinity water, requires that HFM concentration as well as pressure and temperature in the water mass in which it is desired to nucleate and grow hydrate be maintained at appropriate levels. Published hydrate growth models and experimentation that have been described in Chapter 2 of Max et al., "Economic Geology of Natural Gas Hydrate," Springer, Berlin, Dordrecht, 2006, demonstrate that growth of solid hydrate can be best achieved by maintaining an appropriately high concentration of HFM dissolved in water and then lowering temperature. Seawater desalination, for instance, can take place where a metered supply of dissolved HFM can be brought into the presence of hydrate in a seawater matrix, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,890,444, and where pressure/temperature conditions remain suitable for hydrate growth, even where such suitable conditions are very localized.
As taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,008,544 and 7,013,673, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety, gas hydrate can be induced to form in an oceanic or artificially pressurized environment in which pressure and HFM concentration are suitable for hydrate to form but in which temperature is generally too high for it to do so. In particular, within environments such as these, hydrate can be induced to form on a surface (also referred to as a "restraint") by chilling the surface so that the pressure and temperature conditions for forming hydrate are produced locally on and near the surface. The surface may have pores or penetrations which constitute porosity of the restraint. Hydrate will grow on and outwardly away from the surface when the chilled surface is immersed in a body of water under suitable pressure and having appropriate concentrations of hydrate-forming material (HFM) dissolved therein (or in a gaseous atmosphere of HFM with appropriate concentrations of water vapor dissolved therein). Lowering temperature of the chilled surface causes hydrate to form on it and in its vicinity, thus filling the pores and blocking permeability.
In such processes, hydrate growth takes place through mass transfer of reactants from the region of hydrate instability to the narrow region of hydrate stability near the chilled porous restraint. The hydrate growth front advances into the water (or gas in the case of a gaseous atmosphere) and away from the porous restraint as water immediately at the hydrate face is cooled to the point at which hydrate is stable. Growth is sustained by the chilling of the porous restraint, which compensates for the heat of exothermic crystallization of the hydrate.
Sealing the pores of the restraint allows a pressure differential to be established and maintained across the restraint. In particular, lowering the pressure of the environment on the side of the restraint across from the hydrate (the "downstream" side) causes the hydrate closest to the porous restraint to dissociate or melt, which allows water and gas that have been contained in the solid hydrate crystal lattice to pass through the restraint into a collection region where they separate. The water derived in this process is low in salinity and is collected and concentrated for use. The process of water desalination through hydrate formation/dissociation can be steady-state, in which case hydrate growth and dissociation proceed simultaneously and at about the same rate, or cyclic, in which case there are alternating periods of predominantly hydrate growth or predominantly hydrate dissociation.


A refrigerating device is provided that includes a body, a door and a carrier for refrigerated products, the carrier being supported on adapters anchored on movable rails of telescopic extensions and displaceable between an inserted and a pulled-out position. The movable rails of the telescopic extensions are hidden under a tray and the tray of each telescopic extension is clamped between the movable rail thereof and the adapter anchored thereon.

The present invention concerns a refrigerating device having a body, a door and a carrier for refrigerated products, the carrier being supported on adapters anchored on movable rails of telescopic extensions and displaceable between an inserted and a withdrawn position. Such a device is known from DE10 2005 021591 A1.
The purpose of the adapter is to give a certain mobility to the carrier in relation to the telescopic rails, which is necessary due to manufacturing tolerances of the body and carrier and different thermal expansion coefficients of the materials being used, but on the other hand to ensure a reliable support for the carrier on the movable rails of the telescopic extensions, in spite of a narrow overlapping surface between these rails and the carrier.
During the operation of such a refrigerating device it can occasionally be necessary to completely remove a carrier for cleaning, for example. After disassembly of the carrier, the telescopic extensions freely project out of the body and there is a considerable risk of a user being injured on sharp edges of the rails, or soiling his/her clothing with lubricants adhering to the rails.

Refrigerating device with telescopic extension


A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program product for managing redundant array of independent drives. In response to a failure of a hard disk in a first RAID array, the process calculates an amount of free capacity available across a set of remaining hard disks in the first RAID array. The set of remaining hard disks comprises every hard disk associated with the first RAID array except the failed disk. In response to a determination that the amount of free capacity is sufficient to re-create the first RAID array at a same RAID level, the process reconstructs the first RAID array using an amount of space in the set of remaining drives utilized by the first RAID array and the free capacity to form a new RAID array without utilizing a spare hard disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related generally to a data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for data storage. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for reconstructing redundant array of independent drive (RAID) arrays on single storage systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
A storage subsystem is comprised of one or more storage controllers and one or more disk drives. The storage system controllers provide access to attached disk drives and support features, such as caching, copy services, and various levels of reliability.
Redundant array of independent drives (RAID), also referred to as redundant array of independent disks, is a type of data storage system that divides and/or duplicates data among multiple hard drives. In a RAID array, data is stored across multiple disk drives. In addition to user data parity, information is stored on portions of one or more disk drives across the RAID array.
Various RAID levels are used to provide reliability in a wide range of storage systems. For example, in a level one RAID, a single hard drive is used for primary data storage and a second hard drive is used for mirroring and/or copying the data on the first hard drive. In a level five RAID array (RAID5), block-level striping is used with parity data being distributed across all disks of the array. When a disk failure is detected, data blocks stored on the failed disk can be "recovered" by using the corresponding parity block and data blocks in the same stripe. Depending on the RAID level, one or more disk failures can be tolerated without any loss of data.
Furthermore, some storage systems support hot spare disks which can replace failing disk drives. When spare disks are used in a storage subsystem, the hot spare disks are not utilized with respect to capacity and head bandwidth, until a disk drive failure occurs. If the storage system supports hot sparing and a hot spare disk drive is available, the hot spare disk becomes part of the array when any array disk in the RAID array fails. When the RAID disk failure occurs, data from the failed disk drive is reconstructed and stored onto the hot spare disk.
The more spare disks are available, the more disk failures can be tolerated by the storage subsystem, assuming that another failure does not occur while the spare disk is being constructed and added to the RAID array. However, as more hot spare disks are provided to the storage subsystem, less user data can be stored because the hot spare disks are not used until a disk drive failure occurs. Hot spare disks also result in increased costs and decreased efficiency in utilization of available disks.

Storage redundant array of independent drives

International Business Machines Corporation


A corrosion-resistant alloy metal tube sheet used to construct a shell and tube heat exchanger (50) for cooling fluids with sea water passing through corrosion-resistant alloy tubes (25) contained in a horizontal carbon steel outer shell (1) that are supported and sealed at each end by passing them through holes (27, 30) in a carbon steel tube sheet (28, 31) and axially aligned holes (36, 37) in alloy tube sheets (34, 35) that cover and protect the adjacent interior carbon steel tube sheets from sea water corrosion. The walls of the holes (27, 30, 36, 37) have at least one annular groove (45, 46) and the ends of each tube are radially expanded to form circumferential ridges (40, 41) on the outside of each tube at a mating location with each of said annular grooves (45, 46) where they are forcibly driven into the grooves to form a circumferential joint having good mechanical strength and water tightness, thereby eliminating the need for welding the external joint between the alloy tube sheets and alloy tubes.

Sea water heat exchangers are commonly utilized in the oil and gas processing industry and in refineries where fresh water supplies may be limited. Design details of shell and tube type heat exchangers are described in Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook; 7th ed., McGraw-Hill. Reference is also made to the publications of the Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA).
In chemical plant and refinery locations where sea water is plentiful and cheap, it is economically desirable to use sea water as the cooling medium in coolers for gases and liquids. However, because of its corrosivity, sea water has been used only as a coolant in coolers made from expensive corrosion-resistant alloys.
The alloy tube sheet protective cover duplicates the configuration and number and placement of the tube receiving holes in the carbon steel tube sheet. The alloy and carbon steel tube sheets are mechanically sealed at their periphery by means described below.
It is common practice to weld the extended end portion of the tube to the outside of the alloy tube sheet for sealing purposes. Welding is a time-consuming and costly manufacturing process for tube sheets with hundreds of tubes. Highly skilled and motivated welders are required to produce a quality product. Low quality welded joints can result in sea water leaks and the hidden corrosion of the carbon steel base plate. This problem is increased with passage of time when corrosive sea water coolant at high temperature is in contact with the carbon steel. Further, it is an expensive and time-consuming process to remove a tube with a welded end sealing joint from the alloy tube sheet. By eliminating welding, manufacturing and maintenance costs of such coolers would be reduced.
It is also known in the construction of shell and tube heat exchangers to insert the tubes into the holes in the tube carbon steel sheet and radially expand each of the tubes to secure it in place in a groove formed in the interior surface of the hole. There must be good mechanical bond strength and water tightness in the resulting joint between the tube sheet and each tube.
A method and apparatus for expanding a tube into a groove in the wall of a hole in a tube sheet is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,581. However, this disclosure is not directed to the use of a sea water coolant and no sea water-resistant alloy tube sheet covering is present to protect the carbon steel tube sheet. There is also no corrosion-resistant alloy metal joint between the tubes and the tube sheet for sealing purposes and for corrosion protection of a carbon steel tube sheet.
The subject invention, produces a mechanically strong joint having chemical corrosion resistance to sea water. This joint permits the use of comparatively low cost method for protecting the carbon steel parts for the cooler, e.g., the shell and tube sheets.
Existing welding practices can now be replaced by the subject invention. In such case, there will be a savings in weld material, working time and speed up in the heat exchanger repair cycle. Also, the removal of tubes from the tube sheet will be easier in the absence of a welded seal.

Anti-corrosion protection for heat exchanger tube sheet and method of manufacture


Electrically erasable and programmable non-volatile memory cell, which is formed with only one MOS transistor which is formed by a source-channel-drain junction, semi conductor substrate (1) of a first conductivity type has a drain region (2) and a source region (3) of a second conductivity type with a polarity opposite to that of the first conductivity type. A gate electrode (4), which is at a floating potential, is electrically insulated from the drain area (2) by a tunneling oxide (5) and from a channel region (9), which is located between the drain area and the source area (2, 3), by a gate oxide (5; 10). It and extends at least over a part of the channel region (9) and a part of the drain region (2) in the source-channel-drain direction. A control electrode (7) is electrically insulated from the gate electrode (4) by a coupling oxide (8).

In applications for general control tasks, but in particular in smart cards, microcontrollers require non-volatile memories as program memories and data memories. Particularly when used in battery-operated portable data media, for example in the case of mobile data transmissions and data processing, or with wire-free power supply, for example in the case of contact-free smart cards, only programming and erasing methods having a low power consumption are acceptable, in particular for the data memory. In the same way, the supply voltages should be less than 3 V. Since controllers and smart cards are subjected to high pricing pressures, it is important for widespread use that the production process complexity for the non-volatile memories is low.
The FLOTOX-EEPROM cells which are widely used in smart cards nowadays, as are known for example from "Mikroelektronische Speicher" Microelectronic memory! by Dietrich Rhein and Heinz Freitag, Springer Press, Vienna 1992, in particular on page 122, are distinguished by low power consumption since they are programmed and erased via Fowler-Nordheim tunnel currents. In consequence, the programming voltages can also easily be produced on the chip from low supply voltages, which may be less than 3 V. Such memories can be reprogrammed byte by byte so that FLOTOX-EEPROM cells are particularly suitable for data memories which are reprogrammed in operation. These FLOTOX-EEPROM cells comprise a selection transistor and a storage transistor and therefore require a large cell area, so that only small-memories can be implemented on a chip. In addition, as a result of the high required programming voltage of 15 to 20 V, the implementation of the high-voltage transistors to allow this programming voltage to be switched is costly.
In contrast to EEPROMs, flash memories are implemented with-only one transistor per memory cell so that considerably more complex memories than with FLOTOX-EEPROM cells are possible here. However, they are programmed with hot charge carriers (channel hot electron: CHE). This type of programming requires high programming currents, which limit the minimal supply voltage to about 5 V. They cannot therefore be used as data memories, which are intended to be reprogrammed in operation from low supply voltages or via contact-free power supplies. A split-gate flash EEPROM cell which is usual nowadays, is likewise illustrated and described on page 126 of the book "Mikroelektronische Speicher" Microelectronic Memories!.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,819 also shows a one-transistor EEPROM cell, which is formed with only one MOS transistor, which is formed by a source-channel-drain junction in which there are constructed in a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type a drain region and a source region of a second conductivity type and having a polarity opposite to that of the first conductivity type. The cell has a gate electrode which is at a floating potential and is electrically insulated from the drain area by a tunneling oxide and from a channel region, which is located between the drain area and the source area, by a gate oxide, and extends at least over a part of the channel region and a part of the drain region in the source-channel-drain direction, and a control electrode which is electrically insulated from the gate electrode by a coupling oxide.
There, both erasing and programming are carried out by means of tunneling currents, although use is made only of a high positive voltage which is applied either to the control gate or to the drain terminal of the transistor, in order to bring electrons to the control gate or take them away. Owing to the use of only a high positive voltage, the latter must have a large absolute value of approximately 18 volts, resulting in the high outlay for insulation on the semiconductor chip.
Patent Abstracts of Japan, Vol. 15, No. 241 and Japanese reference JP-A-3,074,881 likewise show a non-volatile memory cell having the design described above. There, a negative voltage is applied to the control gate and a low voltage is applied to the drain electrode in order to remove electrodes from the memory gate. However, it is not disclosed how the electrons are brought to the memory gate.

Electrically erasable and programmable non-volatile storage location


A horse blanket has a back portion and side portions that extend down from the back portions. The side portions couple to each other at a front chest area. The straps that couple the chest area side portions together are elasticized. A neck opening above the chest area is elasticized around the entire circumference. The areas of the blanket near the horse's front legs are also elasticized. The elastic portions allow the blanket to fit snuggly around the horse's neck and front area, while allowing flexibility for the horse to exercise. In another embodiment, the blanket has a notch in the neck opening at the mane and another notch at the rear for the dock of the tail. The notches reduce the wear of the blanket on the mane and tail.

During the winter months, horses are turned out to pasture to feed on grass and hay and to exercise. In order to keep their horses warm and dry, many owners provide turnout blankets (also known as European or English-style blankets). The blanket covers the back of the horse, from the neck to the tail and drapes down along the sides of the horse. The belly of the horse typically remains exposed, while the chest area, beneath the front of the neck, is typically covered. The horse blanket has an opening for receiving the horse's neck. A horse wearing a turnout blanket has some freedom of movement and can comfortably exercise in a pasture.
In addition, in some locales, a blanket is provided for a horse in a barn or stable as many barns are unheated. These are known as stable blankets and are contoured or tailored to fit the horse more snuggly than a turnout blanket. A stable blanket typically has a seam along the back.
Conventional horse blankets are sized according to the length of the horse, from the center of the chest to the dock, or root, of the tail. Thus, a size 80 blanket would fit a bigger horse than, say, a size 75 blanket. However, the neck openings are sized to fit the biggest horse upon which the blanket would fit. Some horses, such as quarter horses, have stocky necks. The neck opening of the blanket is sized to fit around such stocky necks.
Unfortunately, some horses, such as thoroughbreds, are more delicate and have thinner necks. Consequently, the neck openings of the blankets fit more loosely around a thoroughbred's neck. A loose fitting neck allows wind to blow air and rain inside of the blanket through the neck opening, defeating the purpose of the blanket.
Furthermore, turnout blankets are subject to wear and tear by the horse. As the horse exercises and moves, the blanket is stressed at certain points or areas, namely the areas of attachment to the horse. The blanket tears at these attachment areas, resulting in an ill-fitting blanket or a blanket that completely falls off the horse.
Still another problem with horse blankets involves show horses. Show horses are carefully groomed to enhance their appearance in competition. A horse tends to add hair in the winter, as part of a natural adaptation to the cold. This winter coat detracts from the appearance of the horse in competition.
The customary measure to prevent a horse from putting on a winter coat is to put a blanket on a horse. Show horses are typically provided with a stable blanket.
Conventional blankets, and in particular, conventional stable blankets, cause wear to occur on a horse's mane and tail. The neck opening of the blanket rides on the lower part of the mane, while the back end of the blanket rides on the dock, or root, of the tail. A horse's mane and tail have coarse hair, which hair is worn away. This detracts from the appearance and show value of the horse.


The invention relates to a bracket-mounting assembly for mounting a bar bracket to a vehicle frame, the bar bracket being adapted to carry vehicle accessories such as a mudflap. The bracket-mounting assembly attaches to a vehicle frame via a single bolt passed through a penetration in the vehicle frame and threadably connected to the bracket-mounting assembly by a central threaded hole in the bracket-mounting assembly. The bracket-mounting assembly further includes a generally vertically-oriented shaft opening for receiving a portion of the bar bracket and supporting the bar bracket with respect to the vehicle frame. The bracket-mounting assembly includes a rotation-resisting connector for inhibiting rotation of the bracket-mounting assembly relative to the vehicle frame about the axis of the bolt.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a bracket mount for mounting a bar bracket to al vehicle frame, the bar bracket being adapted to carry vehicle accessories such as a mudflap.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bar brackets are typically mounted to a vehicle frame with a mount comprising a flat plate mated to the vehicle frame, and secured thereto with, typically, two or four mechanical fasteners, requiring an equal number of properly aligned penetrations through the vehicle frame. A body extending from the flat plate, and having a square aperture passing therethrough, is adapted to receive the square cross-section of the typical solid bar bracket.
According to the invention, a bracket-mounting assembly for mounting, a mudflap bracket to a vehicle frame comprises a body having a frame-mounting portion and a bracket-mounting portion, the frame-mounting portion having a frame face at one side of the frame-mounting portion adapted to abut the vehicle frame and a lateral hole transverse to the frame face and the bracket-mounting portion having a vertically-extending shaft opening extending at least a portion of the way through the body for removably mounting the mudflap bracket; at least one pin mounted in the frame-mounting portion and projecting from the frame face for impinging on a surface of the vehicle frame to resist relative rotation of the body with respect to the vehicle frame; and a bolt received in the lateral hole in the frame-mounting portion for securing the body to the frame.
In one embodiment, the lateral hole is tapped and the bolt is threadably received in the lateral hole. Preferably, the vertically-extending shaft extends through the bracket-mounting portion. In a preferred embodiment, there are multiple pins mounted in the frame-mounting portion and the pins are spaced about the lateral hole.
In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a bracket-mounting assembly for mounting a mudflap bracket to a vehicle frame comprising a body having a frame-mounting portion and a bracket-mounting portion, the frame-mounting portion having a frame face at one side of the frame-mounting portion adapted to abut the vehicle frame and a tapped lateral hole transverse to the frame face and the bracket-mounting portion having a vertically-extending shaft opening extending at least a portion of the way through the body for removably mounting the mudflap bracket; a bolt threadably received in the tapped lateral hole in the frame-mounting portion for securing the body to the frame; and a rotation-resisting connector on the frame-mounting portion adapted to interface with the vehicle frame to resist relative rotation of the body with respect to the vehicle frame about the axis of the bolt.


A method of forming a semiconductor structure includes providing a semiconductor substrate comprising a first region and a second region, forming a first PMOS device in the first region wherein a first gate electrode of the first PMOS device has a first p-type impurity concentration, forming a stress memorization layer over the first PMOS device, reducing the stress memorization layer in the first region, performing an annealing after the step of reducing the stress memorization layer in the first region, and removing the stress memorization layer. The same stress memorization layer is not reduced in a region having an NMOS device. The same stress memorization layer may not be reduced in a region including a second PMOS device.

The scaling of VLSI circuits is a constant effort. With circuits becoming smaller and faster, improvement in device drive current is becoming more important. When device dimensions are reduced to 130 nm and lower, particularly 65 nm and lower, conventional methods for improving device drive current, such as shortening gate length and increasing gate capacitance, become difficult to implement. Further methods such as increasing carrier mobility have thus been explored.
Among efforts made to enhance carrier mobility, forming a stressed silicon channel is a known practice. Stress, sometimes referred to as strain, can enhance electron and hole mobility. The performance of a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device can be enhanced through a stressed-surface channel. This technique allows performance to be improved at a constant gate length, without adding complexity to circuit fabrication or design.
Typically, it is preferred for NMOS devices to have tensile stresses in their channel regions, while it is preferable for PMOS devices to have compressive stresses in their channel regions. Stresses in channel regions can be applied by forming stressed source/drain regions, stressed gate electrodes, stressed contact etch stop layers, etc. One of the methods for applying a tensile stress to a gate electrode of an NMOS device is to form a stress memorization layer, wherein a typical formation process includes blanket forming a stress memorization layer having an inherent stress, performing an annealing, and then removing the stress memorization layer. A tensile stress is thus "memorized" by the gate electrode, and is imparted to the channel region of the NMOS device.

Selective formation of stress memorization layer

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Techniques for detecting narcotics such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or other aerosols such as cannabinoids, opioids, etc., in an exhaled breath using infrared spectroscopy are provided. An example of an apparatus for sensing THC according to the disclosure includes a tunable laser source, at least one photodetector, a sample cell disposed between the tunable laser source and the at least one photodetector, and at least one processor operably coupled to the tunable laser source and the at least one photodetector and configured to provide a control signal to the tunable laser source, determine a spectral absorption line or group of absorption lines associated with THC based on an intensity of infrared light detected by the at least one photodetector, and determine a THC concentration value based on the spectral absorption line intensity. A laser-based apparatus for sensing narcotics in exhaled breath may include a single, dual, or multi-optical frequency comb spectrometer.

The increasing use of narcotics such as opioids and marijuana is creating severe issues for medical and law enforcement organizations. The misuse of and addiction to opioids, including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, presents a global crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. The legalization of marijuana is also creating issues for law enforcement officials that are tasks with ensuring public safety.
Simulator and laboratory studies have found that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the chemical primarily responsible for most of marijuana's psychological effects, and that it is this chemical that is associated with intoxication resulting in impairment of memory, coordination and time perception, leading to potentially dangerous behavior such as diminished automobile driver performance. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) this chemical acts much like the cannabinoid chemicals made naturally by the human body. Cannabinoid receptors are concentrated in certain areas of the brain associated with thinking, memory, pleasure, coordination and time perception. According to NIDA documents, THC attaches to these receptors and activates them and thereby affects a person's memory, pleasure, movements, thinking, concentration, coordination, and sensory and time perception. THC is one of many chemical compounds found in the resin secreted by glands of the marijuana plant. More of these glands are found around the reproductive organs of the plant than on any other area of the plant. Other compounds unique to marijuana, called cannabinoids, are also present in this resin. Among the reasons for increasing public support for the legalized use of marijuana is the fact that studies have shown that cannabinoids downregulate cytokine and chemokine production and, in some models, upregulate T-regulatory cells (Tregs) as a mechanism to suppress inflammatory response. The endocannabinoid system is also involved in immunoregulation. For example, administration of endocannabinoids or use of inhibitors of enzymes that break down the endocannabinoids, has been shown to result in immunosuppression and recovery from immune-mediated injury to organs such as the liver. Manipulation of endocannabinoids and/or use of exogenous cannabinoids in vivo can constitute a potent treatment modality against inflammatory disorders. There is strong evidence supporting the potential use of cannabinoids as a new class of anti-inflammatory agents against a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases that are primarily triggered by activated T-cells or other cellular immune components. Because of these and a range of other apparently beneficial medicinal effects of marijuana, it can be expected that continued public advocacy for legalization of marijuana will eventually result in its widespread use. This will pose an ever increasing problem for public safety and law enforcement officials. In addition to THC, other intoxicating and mind-altering narcotics including opioids are known to be contained in the exhaled breath of users in the form of aerosols. These mind-altering narcotics also pose potentially serious safety hazards among their users, and are therefore of great interest in being capable of being detected in the exhaled breath of their users.

Sensing cannabis and opioids in exhaled breath by infrared spectroscopy


The present invention relates to compounds, compositions, and methods are provided for covalently linking a cargo molecule, such as a therapeutic or a diagnostic agent, to a glycan in the Fab region of an antibody. Also provided are methods of modeling and producing antibodies having de novo Fab glycosylation sites. Also provided are antibody carrier conjugates, methods of using the conjugates.

Antibody conjugates are useful for delivering a cargo, including but not limited to therapeutic and/or diagnostic agents, to specific targets.
Manufacture of antibody conjugates using conventional chemistry approaches nonselectively links cargo to antibodies by electrophilic modification of lysine or cysteine residues using N-hydroxysuccinimide ester or maleimide-activated drugs, respectively (Ducry et al., Bioconjug. Chem. 2010, 21: 5-13). These conjugation methods yield heterogeneous mixtures of products that differ in the sites and stoichiometry of modification. Nonspecific incorporation of the cargo on the antibody can result in a conjugate that has reduced targeting as compared to antibody alone if the incorporation happens in a region of the antibody involved with binding of the epitope or reduced Fc effector function if the incorporation is in a region involved with the Fc effector function. In addition, production of a heterogenous product may lead to difficulties obtaining an optimal cargo to antibody ratio. Finally, the resulting heterogeneous mixture can significantly impact the pharmacokinetic properties of ADCs and efficacy in vivo (Panowski et al., MAbs 2014, 6: 1-12). Therefore there is a pressing demand for the development of site-specific conjugation methodologies.
The selectivity of site specific incorporation of the cargo on the antibody allows for the production of a more homogeneous product and may avoid potential interference with binding to the antibody target epitope, or reduced Fc effector function, due to conjugations at or near the CDRs or Fc region, which can happen with less specific conjugation protocols. Site-specific conjugates may also be selected to improve the biophysical properties (like aggregation propensity), physicochemical properties that impact on stability and phamacokinetic properties, such as half-life in the circulation. Furthermore, site specific incorporation may be used to refine cargo to antibody ratio and/or to generate higher stoichiometry cargo containing antibodies when site-specific conjugations at different sites are combined. Homogeneous ADCs have been obtained by genetic engineering of antibodies to incorporate additional cysteines, (Junutula et al., Nat. Biotechnol. 2008, 26: 925-932.), unnatural amino acids (a) Hutchins et al, Mol. Biol. 2011, 406: 595-603. b) Axup et al., PNAS USA. 2012, 109: 16101-16106) or tags for transamination reactions (Strop et al., Chem. Biol. 2013, 20:161-167).
Non-genetic methods for generating antibody conjugates (i.e. that rely on the native mAb sequence) have been developed by modifying naturally occurring glycan residues for the purpose of attaching payloads. In one approach, consecutive enzymatic glycan trimming of antibodies at Asn 297 to core GlcNAc residues and subsequent chemoenzymatic addition of azido-modified sugar introduces an attachment point for copper-free click conjugation with a payload (van Geel et al., Bioconjug. Chem. 2015, 26: 2233-2234; US Patent Application 2016/0257764). However, this method suffers from an inability to conjugate more than one payload per N-linker glycan (i.e. with a maximum drug to antibody ratio (DAR) of 2. Li et al. incorporated a functionalized sialic acid by contacting the antibody containing at least one N-linked glycan with functionalized CMP-Neu5Ac9N3 and the sialytransferase ST6 beta-galactoside alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase 1 (ST6Gal1) which targets both Fc and Fab glycans and covalently attaching a cargo to the functionalized sialic acid (Li et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2014, 53: 7179-7182, WO2015/157446). However, in all the above-mentioned cases, the enzymes used for enzymatic remodeling of glycans will modify the naturally occurring glycan residues found at Asn-297 which may impact Fc dependent effector functions in this region.

Antibody glycoconjugates and methods of production and use


A semiconductor device includes a first-type internal stress film formed of a silicon oxide film over source/drain regions of an nMISFET and a second-type internal stress film formed of a TEOS film over source/drain regions of a pMISFET. In a channel region of the nMISFET, a tensile stress is generated in the direction of movement of electrons due to the first-type internal stress film, so that the mobility of electrons is increased. In a channel region of the pMISFET, a compressive stress is generated in the direction of movement of holes due to the second-type internal stress film, so that the mobility of holes is increased.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including an MISFET and a method for fabricating the same, and more particularly relates to a measure for increasing the mobility of carriers.
When a stress is generated in a semiconductor crystal layer, a crystal-lattice constant varies and a band structure is changed, so that the mobility of carriers is changed. This phenomenon has been known as the "piezo resistivity effect". Whether the carrier mobility is increased or reduced differs depending on the plane direction of a substrate, the direction in which carriers move, and whether the stress is a tensile stress or a compressive stress. For example, in an Si (100) substrate, i.e., a silicon substrate of which the principal surface is the {100} plane, assume that carriers move in the [011] direction. When carriers are electrons, with a tensile stress generated in the direction in which electrons in a channel region move, the mobility of the carriers is increased. On the other hand, when carriers are holes, with a compressive stress generated in the direction in which holes in a channel region move, the mobility of the carriers is increased. The increase rate of carrier mobility is proportional to the size of a stress.
In this connection, conventionally, there have been proposals for increasing carrier mobility by applying a stress to a semiconductor crystal layer to increase the operation speed of transistors and the like. For example, in Reference 1, an entire semiconductor substrate is bent using an external device, thereby generating a stress in an active region of a transistor.

Semiconductor device having internal stress film

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An object of the present invention is to provide an ignition coil for use in an internal combustion engine, offering improved water drainage performance, while achieving high waterproof performance with controlled entry of water in a plug hole. A high-voltage generating section 3 that generates a high voltage is housed inside a coil case 4. A plug hole seal 5 closes an opening in a plug hole 2 in which an ignition plug 21 is mounted. The ignition coil further includes a space portion 6 placed on an outer side portion of the high-voltage generating section 3 and an air path 9 for venting air between the space portion 6 and the plug hole 2. The space portion 9 has an open lower surface (an entirely open surface facilitates demolding).

In conventional ignition coils for use in internal combustion engines, the inside of a plug hole communicates with an outside atmospheric pressure side via an air path disposed at a boundary between an outer periphery of the ignition coil and a plug hole seal. This is done to discharge/take air from/to the inside of the plug hole to facilitate removal of the ignition coil, the air being produced when the temperature inside the plug hole changes or the ignition coil is removed or reinstalled. A change in ambient temperature or the internal combustion engine being splashed with water, however, causes the temperature of the plug hole to be reduced, resulting in a change in pressure inside the plug hole. Thus, to achieve equilibrium with the outside air, a negative pressure is created to draw the outside air in. Then, the negative pressure may cause water to enter the plug hole from the outside via an opening in the air path on the atmospheric side.
A known arrangement includes a pool section (water retention chamber) for storing therein water that enters the air path (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Water entering from the outside is retained in the pool section and thus prevented from entering the plug hole.

Ignition coil for internal combustion engine


We characterized a total of 175 HLA-DR-associated phosphopeptides using sequential affinity isolation, biochemical enrichment, mass spectrometric sequencing and comparative analysis. Many were derived from source proteins which may have roles in cancer development, growth and metastasis. Most were expressed exclusively by either melanomas or transformed B cells, suggesting the potential to define cell type-specific phosphatome “fingerprints”. We generated HLA-DRβ1*0101-restricted CD4+ T cells specific for a phospho-MART-1 peptide identified in two melanoma cell lines. These T cells showed specificity for phosphopeptide-pulsed antigen presenting cells as well as for intact melanoma cells. MHC II-restricted phosphopeptides recognizable by human CD4+ T cells are potential targets for cancer immunotherapy.

Immunotherapies directed against currently defined tumor-associated or tumor-specific antigens can enhance anti-tumor immunity in patients, as detected with in vitro immune monitoring, and yet have had limited clinical success (1). One reason may be the nature of the targeted antigens, the majority of which are proteins overexpressed in tumor cells but not essential to maintaining their malignant phenotype.
Phosphorylation is the most common and ubiquitous form of enzyme-mediated post-translational protein modification, and transient phosphorylation of intracellular signaling molecules regulates cellular activation and proliferation (2). Phosphorylation cascades are often dysregulated during malignant transformation, leading to uncontrolled proliferation, invasion of normal tissues, and distant metastasis (3, 4). Limited but growing evidence has shown that tumor-associated phosphoproteins processed intracellularly through an endogenous pathway can give rise to phosphopeptides complexed to MHC I molecules which are displayed on the cell surface (5, 6). CD8+ T cells immunized to specifically recognize these phosphopeptides are also capable of recognizing intact human tumor cells, suggesting that phosphopeptides may represent a new class of targets for cancer immunotherapy (5, 6) (ALZ and VHE, unpublished data). In these studies and others, T cell discrimination of the phosphopeptide versus its non-phosphorylated counterpart was observed, indicating that phosphorylation can influence peptide immunogenicity (5-13). Recent crystal structural definition of phosphorylated peptide-HLA-A2 complexes demonstrated direct and indirect interactions of the phosphoresidue with the MHC molecule, often significantly increasing the affinity of the phosphopeptide for MHC I. Additionally, phosphoresidues were solvent-exposed, suggesting the potential for direct interactions with the T cell receptor (TCR) (14, 15).
Mounting evidence indicates that MHC II-restricted CD4+ T lymphocytes are a critical component of anti-tumor immunity, and that their activation and recruitment may be required to optimize cancer immunotherapies (16, 17). A variety of post-translational modifications have been identified on naturally processed MHC class II-associated epitopes. These include N- and O-linked glycosylation, N-terminal acetylation, nitration, deamidation, and deimination/citrullination (18). Although an early attempt to detect phosphorylation on class II MHC peptides met with failure (5), new technology has now made it possible to observe this modification as well (19). Here we demonstrate the existence of MHC II-associated phosphopeptides on human melanoma cells and EBV-transformed B (EBV-B) lymphoblasts, and we define and compare the sequences of phosphopeptides complexed to HLA-DR molecules on two autologous pairs of melanoma and B cell cultures. Furthermore, we show for the first time the ability of human CD4+ T cells to specifically recognize phosphoepitopes displayed in the context of MHC II molecules, using the example of an HLA-DRβ1*0101-restricted phospho-MART-1 peptide isolated independently from two melanoma cell lines. These findings suggest that tumor-associated phosphopeptides provide targets for CD4+ as well as CD8+ T cells, potentially enabling the development of new immunotherapeutic strategies.
There is a continuing need in the art to identify new therapeutic targets and new markers of disease.

University of Virginia Patent Foundation