A stressed film applied across a boundary defined by a structure or a body (e.g. substrate or layer) of semiconductor material provides a change from tensile to compressive stress in the semiconductor material proximate to the boundary and is used to modify boron diffusion rate during annealing and thus modify final boron concentrations. In the case of a field effect transistor, the gate structure may be formed with or without sidewalls to regulate the location of the boundary relative to source/drain, extension and/or halo implants. Different boron diffusion rates can be produced in the lateral and vertical directions and diffusion rates comparable to arsenic can be achieved. Reduction of junction capacitance of both nFETs and pFETs can be achieved simultaneously with the same process steps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to high density integrated circuits and, more particularly, to manufacture of field-effect transistors (FETs) at very small size regimes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Performance and economic factors of integrated circuit design and manufacture have caused the scale of elements (e.g. transistors, capacitors and the like) of integrated circuits to be drastically reduced in size and increased in proximity on a chip. That is, increased integration density and proximity of elements reduces the signal propagation path length and reduces signal propagation time and susceptibility to noise and increase of possible clock rates while the reduction in element size necessary for increased integration density increases the ratio of functionality which can be provided on a chip (approaching, if not achieving, a "system on a chip") to the costs of production (e.g. wafer/chip area and process materials) per chip and, potentially, the cost of devices containing the chips by reducing the number of inter-chip and inter-board connections required in a complete apparatus.
Complementary field effect transistors, sometimes referred to as CMOS, have become the switching device technology of choice for all but the highest frequency designs of high density integrated circuits due to extremely low current drive requirements (which diminish at small size regimes since the load represented by the input is substantially capacitive) and other convenient and desirable properties. In this technology, field-effect transistors (FETs) of complementary conductivity type are used in pairs (e.g. a series connection of a pFET and an nFET having a common input) to obtain a complementary and, preferably substantially symmetric switching function. However, to obtain a reasonable degree of symmetry, generally similar electrical properties must be developed in the complementary transistors forming each pair of transistors notwithstanding the different semiconductor conductivity types and majority charge carriers therein.
At extremely small size regimes currently and foreseeably of interest (e.g. about 60 nm channel length and smaller), performance of FETs is often degraded by so-called short channel effects unless special structures such as extension and/or halo implants are employed to maintain acceptable levels of performance. However, the difference in physical behavior of dopants for semiconductors used to produce different conductivity types of transistors presents substantial difficulties in manufacture of FETs, particularly including such structures having acceptable electrical performance at acceptable manufacturing yields. In particular, boron is generally used for extension and source/drain implants in pFETs and in halo implants in nFETs (sometimes with indium) while arsenic (and/or phosphorus) is used for the extension and source/drain implant structures in nFETs and halo implants in pFETs. While arsenic diffuses sufficiently slowly in silicon at annealing temperatures to allow shallow and abrupt junctions to be maintained at the source, and drain of nFETs, boron diffuses at a much faster rate at the same temperatures. The faster diffusion rate of boron causes the tip of the impurity region of extension implants to spread under the transistor gate, shortening the channel further and increasing the junction depth within the silicon, compromising a shallow channel geometry that allows the channel conductivity to be suitably controlled at low gate threshold voltages. Therefore, there is a trade-off between low resistance extensions and source/drain regions which require a high temperature activation annealing process and shallow junctions to maintain suitable switching thresholds and avoid undesirable rolloff effects (e.g. a reduction of switching threshold with reduction of channel length) which can lead to unacceptably low switching thresholds at short channel lengths.
It is known in the art to provide halo implants (e.g. counter doping of the opposite impurity type below the source/drain and extension implant regions) to partially offset poor rolloff characteristics. However, halo implants require substantial process complexity while degrading carrier mobility and transistor reliability. Further, the high diffusivity of boron prevents use of extremely narrow spacers for self-aligned source/drain implants which are important to maintaining a low external resistance for the transistor while a larger spacer also tends to increase overall size of the transistor.
More specifically, current microprocessor and "system on a chip" designs require devices to be made without silicide on source, drain or gate regions. Suitable processes are sometimes referred to as OP processes in which a hard mask of, for example, silicon nitride, is patterned and used to block formation of silicide or salicide. High performance circuits also require high temperature annealing to activate junctions. During such an anneal, boron will diffuse over substantial distances sufficient to substantially degrade transistor performance.
It is also known that the diffusivity of boron in silicon can be reduced by application of a high compressive force thereto. However, mechanical application of stress levels sufficient to significantly affect diffusivity of boron in silicon is difficult to achieve or regulate and may cause damage such as cracking to the wafer. Further, compressive force in the channel region of an nFET is known to reduce electron mobility and compromise device performance if not removed as the transistor is completed. The same is true of tensile force (which may result from compressive force applied elsewhere on the chip or wafer) in regard to hole mobility in pFETs.
It is known to apply compressive force to individual devices on silicon chips by deposition of a material on a surface or in a trench surrounding the device and then reducing the volume of the deposited material as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,069,049 and 6,399,976 which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and fully incorporated by reference herein. However, the force developed in accordance with this technique is persistent and the structure is intended to remain in the completed chip to avoid propagation of crystal lattice defects. The forces produced in this manner may not be suitable in magnitude or location for reduction of boron diffusivity. In particular, the location of forces produced in this manner is not compatible with fabrication of high performance logic transistors, since high performance CMOS does not utilize capacitors in memory cells or random logic circuitry.
Additionally, junction capacitance (Cj) is a major parasitic element which arises from the depletion charge between the source/drain implant and the oppositely doped substrate which contributes to switching delay in CMOS circuits and is a significant part of the output capacitance in bulk CMOS circuits. Limitation of junction capacitance has been approached through use of expensive silicon-on-insulator structures which have an inherently lower junction capacitance than bulk FETs. In bulk FETs, implants have been used to reduce junction capacitance by developing graded junctions. However, at particularly small feature size regimes, boron diffusivity in the horizontal direction increases process parameter criticality in nFETs where boron is used (sometimes with indium) for the halo implants. In pFETs, lateral diffusion of the source/drain implants can reduce the perimeter component of junction capacitance by compensating the halo implant, thereby eliminating the p-n junction between the source/drain and the halo which reduces the overall junction capacitance. However, excessive boron diffusion in the vertical direction can lead to an increase in the area component of junction capacitance. Thus, if the lateral diffusion of boron in the source/drain region can be increased without causing increased overlap capacitance and, simultaneously, the vertical diffusion of boron in the source/drain region can be minimized, then junction capacitance can be significantly reduced. The increase in junction capacitance with increased compressive forces from shallow trench isolation (STI) structures has been reported and attributed to change in band gap in "Stress-Induced Increase in Reverse Bias Junction Capacitance" by V. P. Gopinath et al., IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 23, No. 6, June 2002. This effect is not considered to be fully understood but could possibly be explained by either stress-induced alteration of vertical diffusion of impurities or stress induced band gap change with compressive force as the author of the article proposes or a combination thereof. In any case, the use of STI or other structures providing a compressive force across transistors for the purpose of reducing boron diffusivity compromises transistor performance by increasing junction capacitance.
Another component of parasitic capacitance which may degrade FET switching speed is referred to as overlap capacitance (Cov) which is basically the capacitance between the gate electrode and the extension implants in the area where the former overlaps the latter. As can be readily appreciated in view of the above discussion, overlap capacitance is increased by the increased distance of boron diffusion in pFETs.

International Business Machines Corporation


Improved saddle (53) for stringed musical instruments comprised of a single unitary member configured in a somewhat comblike structure, the backbone portion (60) of which is curved and forms a string-engaging and supporting surface. The teeth-forming portions (61) form a plurality of sound-coupling and supporting pedestals, each of which lies directly beneath a string and terminates in a distal end that is adapted to bear against a bridge plate (57) the soundboard of the instrument.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bridge apparatus for stringed musical instruments, and more particularly to an improved bridge design and combination bridge and saddle which provides for a high degree of transmission of vibratory energy from each string directly to the sound board of the instrument.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention is directed to bridge devices utilized in those types of instruments characterized by a resonant body or bell having a sounding board secured over the upper or outer side of the body with an elongated fingerboard-carrying neck having one end affixed to the body and an opposite end terminating in a head to which the string-tuning keys or pegs are mounted. In such instruments, spaced strings are secured to the head-mounted keys and are extended inwardly therefrom along and over the finger-board and then across the sounding board and a bridge positioned on the board to means for attaching the strings to the board. The sounding board is typically a thin sheet of wood provided with an opening or sound hole underlying the strings to permit the sound waves to enter the interior of the body which, acting as a resonating chamber, enriches the tone of the strings, this tone being further enriched by the vibration of the sounding board itself acting as a kind of diaphragm. Sonic energy is transferred directly from the strings to the soundboard by the bridge which is mounted to the upper surface thereof between the sound hole and the end of the body remote from the neck of the instrument.
Although there are numerous types and configurations of bridge devices known in the prior art, the bridge type toward which the present invention is directed is that which is usually formed of a thin, hand-crafted wooden or plastic slab after sometimes having a set of transverse grooves along one of its edges in which the strings are tautly held. In the case of banjos, and what are commonly referred to as flattop guitars, the bridge is sometimes mounted unattachedly upon the resonant diaphragm or soundboard of the instrument and is held in place by the strings. In six and twelve string guitars, the bridge device often includes a flat base or "bridge" attached directly to the top of the guitar body, and a "saddle" that sits in a slot formed in the top of the bridge and supports the strings.
Heretofore, bridge designs have focused on attempts to limit soundwave energy absorption and dissipation within the bridge itself, and to enhance the tonal clarity of the sounds transmitted by the bridge. Design attempts at achieving this goal have been directed principally at shaping the periphery of the bridge in complex manners on a trial and error basis. Such bridges have been both costly and difficult to reproduce, particularly with consistency.
One example of such a bridge is disclosed in the U.S. Patent of Geiger (No. 4,899,634) which is comprised of a thin wooden body having a base portion adapted to be supported upon the sounding board of an instrument, and a top crown portion that is formed with grooves for holding the individual strings. The base and crown portions have mating edges that are generally parallel with respect to each other. The crown is formed with baffled slits located adjacent the grooves and oriented obliquely with respect to the crown edge for redirecting soundwaves emitted from the strings back to the grooves to produce a ringing effect to the base to reduce sound attenuation within the bridge. In a secondary embodiment, a bridge is formed of a plurality of discrete bridge segments which individually support the several strings of the instrument and are coupled together by safety strings. Although the approach of the principal embodiment of this patent seeks to improve the coupling between the five strings and the soundboard, it uses only three pedestals to do so, with sound from all but the center string being directed laterally to a pedestal rather than directly downward to the sounding board. The alternative embodiment appears to provide a better solution in that it provides single structures for coupling sound from each string to the soundboard. However, such approach suffers from problems relating to stability, maintenance of position, and other unfavorable characteristics.
Ancient attempts at providing solutions somewhat related to Applicants' solution are disclosed in the 1921 German Patent to Lauten et al., the 1961 U.S. Design Patent to Ressler, and the 1899 U.S. Patent to Kohl (No. 30,515). However, although having apparent similarities to the subject invention, none of these references address the same problem or provide the same solution to the problem addressed by the present application; namely, separation and simultaneous maximization of energy transfer from each string to the soundboard with a minimum of coupling between adjacent string support pedestals.

Bridge and saddle for stringed musical instruments


It is an object of the invention to improve wear resistance and an anti-seizure property of a portion , on which a radial load operates owing to tension of a cogged belt or a V-belt, of a plain bearing for an engine. A main shaft portion of a crankshaft is in uneven contact with an upper half bearing owning to tension of the cogged belt and/or the V-belt. A branch groove is formed in a portion forwarder than an oil groove formed on the bearing surface of a upper half bearing of a plain bearing, the branch groove branching off from the oil groove. When an engine stops, lubricant is stored within the branch grooves, and when the engine restarts, the lubricant within the branch grooves is immediately supplied to the uneven contact portion of the main shaft portion though the rotation thereof.

The present invention relates to a main bearing for an engine, which supports a crankshaft on which a radial load always operates in a single direction owing to tension of a belt installed for transmitting rotation, and more particularly to a main bearing for an engine, which improves wear resistance and an anti-seizure property of a portion taking the radial load in a single direction.
In an automobile gasoline engine, for example, a camshaft, an alternator, a compressor for an air conditioner or the like are driven by utilizing the rotation of a crankshaft. The crankshaft is connected with the camshaft through a dogged belt and with the alternator and compressor through V-belts for transmitting the rotation.
On the cogged belt and V-belt, a predetermined tension is applied in order to prevent tooth skipping, slippage, or the like. Because of the tension applied on the cogged belt and V-belt, the crankshaft takes a radial load, and the radial load is received by a main bearing which supports the main shaft portion of the crankshaft.
The direction of the resultant force of the radial loads operating on the crankshaft by the tension applied to the cogged belt and the V-belt or the like is opposite from that of a combustion pressure (normally, downward in a vertical type engine) operating on the crankshaft from a piston through a connecting rod during the run of the engine, whereby a load operating in the same direction with a combustion pressure is eliminated in order to prevent the specific load on the main bearing from growing excessively, so that the bearing service life is lengthened.
Tensions of a cogged belt and V-belt always operate on a crankshaft, and when an engine stops, a main shaft portion of the crankshaft will be pressed against a main bearing owning to a radial load resulting from the tensions of the above described belts. when the engine stops, an oil pump will also stop and then the supply of lubricant to the main bearing will be cut off. By this reason, a film of oil on the main bearing surface is broken by the above described radial load always operating on the crankshaft, and the main shaft portion of the crankshaft will be brought into direct metal contact with the main bearing surface.
When the engine restarts, the oil pump will also start. However, lubricant will be supplied late from the oil pump to the main bearing. Thus, the main shaft portion of the crankshaft will rotate in an incomplete lubricated state, whereby there is a possibility of the seizure as well as the increase of wear of the main bearing.
Especially in recent years, a vehicle which stops the engine when stopping at a crossroad and a hybrid car using both an engine and an electric motor have come into the market in order to prevent the exhaust of combustion gases causing environmental pollution as much as possible. The engine used in such a vehicle frequently repeats a start and a stop, and is also required to rotate at high revolution beyond a range of an idle engine revolution immediately after the start. Moreover, in such an engine which frequently repeats a start and a stop, there is a need to tighten a cogged belt and a V-belt to high tension to prevent tooth skipping and slippage of these belts more reliably. Because of this reason, the main shaft portion of the crankshaft frequently rotates in a metal contact state with the main bearing or in an incomplete lubricated state, and in some cases, these states cause abnormal wear and seizure.
The present invention has been made in view of the above described circumstances. Accordingly, the object of the invention is to provide a main bearing for an engine which can improve wear resistance and an anti-seizure property of a portion of the main bearing which takes a radial load by tension of a cogged belt or a V-belt.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a main bearing is provided with an oil pocket portion for storing lubricant to be supplied to a portion of the bearing surface, against which a crankshaft is pressed by a radial load in a single direction, so that the lubricant stored in the oil storing portion is supplied to the portion against which the crankshaft is pressed by the radial load substantially at the time that the crankshaft starts rotating. Accordingly, a complete lubricated state or almost the same state with that is obtained at the beginning of the start of the engine, and wear resistance and an anti-seizure property of the main bearing are enhanced.
The oil pocket portion may be a plurality of recesses, or may be a plurality of grooves.
Moreover, the oil pocket portion also may be a branch groove formed so as to branch off from an oil groove formed on the bearing surface along its circumferential direction.
Furthermore, in order to achieve the above described object, a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that linear hard portions are formed in parallel with each other in a portion, against which the crankshaft is pressed by the radial load in a single direction, among circumferential portions of the bearing surface.
According to this constitution, a portion between the hard portions becomes in a concave shape since the relatively soft portion other than the hard portions in the portion against which the crankshaft is pressed by the radial load in a single direction is worn away early by the rotation of the shaft at the beginning of use while the hard portions are difficult to be worn away, whereby lubricant is stored in the recess. Thereafter, lubricant stored in the recess is always supplied to the portion against which the crankshaft is pressed by the radial load nearly at the same time as the shaft starts rotating, whereby excessive wear and seizure of the portion are prevented in the same way as the first aspect of the invention.
A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of concave streaks are formed on the bearing surface along its circumferential direction, and a portion, against which the crankshaft is pressed by the radial load in a single direction, of the bearing surface is formed to be harder than the remaining portions.
According to this constitution, a protruding portion between adjacent concave streaks is difficult to be worn away in the hardened portion and thus the concave streaks remain as they are over a long period of time. As a result, lubricant can be supplied over a long period of time to the portion against which the crankshaft is pressed by the radial load in a single direction.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a recess is formed on the bearing surface in a portion, against which the crankshaft is pressed by the radial load in a single direction, and the recess is provided with a solid lubricant therein.
According to this constitution, the same advantageous effect as that of the first aspect of the invention can be obtained since the solid lubricant is supplied to the portion of the main bearing against which the crankshaft is pressed.


A method for fabricating a semiconductor device is characterized by using a mixture chemical comprising ozone gas, anhydrous HF gas and deionized water vapor as an etchant for etching an oxide- and silicon-exposed wafer, whereby the etch selection ratio of oxide to silicon can be controlled according to necessity, so that the production yield and reliability of semiconductor device are improved. During etching of a wafer with exposed thermal oxide and exposed silicon, the etch rate ratio of oxide to silicon is controlled by changing the relative flow rates of the ozone gas, anhydrous HF gas and deionized water vapor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a method for fabricating a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to use of a mixture phase of ozone gas, anhydrous HF gas and deionized water vapor to control the etch selection ratio between oxide film and polysilicon film.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To etch an oxide film, fluorine compounds are typically used as etchants. For example, an aqueous HF or BOE solution is employed in a wet etch process while CF.sub.4 CHF.sub.3 is used in a dry etch (plasma) process.
For polysilicon film, a mix aqueous solution of fluoric acid, acetic acid and nitric acid may serve as an etchant in a wet etch process. Plasma dry etch is also utilized for polysilicon film.
These conventional techniques are highly selective between oxide film and silicon film. That is, during the etching of an oxide film with such etchants as are used in the conventional techniques, a silicon film is little etched and vice versa.
With such fluorine chemicals, low or similar etch selection ratios are difficult to obtain. Thus, when an oxide or silicon film is needed to a certain extent, a composition suitable to moderately etch them cannot be achieved with such fluorine chemicals.

Method for fabricating semiconductor device with control of oxide to silicon etching selectivity

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A novel hook assembly forms two hooks at the end of a single elastic length of wire which spreads the hooks elastically apart in a fish hooking posture. This hook forms the active mechanism of a weedless, self setting fishing lure, where the hooks are compressed for retention weedlessly within a hollow lure in one stable position and are released by a tug on the line from a fish bite to spring the hooks apart and set the hooks in the fish. The novel simplified weedless lure array employs a spring biassed dual-hook assembly and latch permitting the two hooks to be cocked into an elastically biased weed free bistable position inside the lure for automatic triggered release by a tug on the fishline to catch a striking fish by snapping the hooks into a second bistable position with the two hooks forced outside the lure into the fish's mouth.

There are various kinds of weedless fishing lures known in the art having retracted hooks disposed inside a lure body that will be snapped open when a fish bites to hook the fish.
In general some of the problems encountered with these lures include: (a) the tendency for hooks to return to the retracted weedless position after initially opening in response to a fish bite; (b) the inability to use a lure both for surface fishing about brush or weeds and for deeper water diving when retrieved in a trolling mode; (c) complex mechanisms difficult to assemble and keep operative; (d) unfavorable orientation of hooks or barbs for hooking and retrieving fish; and (e) mechanisms that involve moving parts subject to excessive corrosion and maintenance under practical conditions of use for fishing, for example.
Spring biassed two-hook arrays have been proposed by H. Vivieros in U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,752, Feb. 3, 1970 for Hook Mechanism for Capturing Fish and other Animals to operate in a mode where an array of two baited hooks attachable directly to a fish line may be releasably held together by a latch that is released to spring the two hooks apart when a fish takes the bait. However this lure has the deficiencies (a) that the hooks may be released to remove the hooks from a fish's mouth except when a fish chooses to mouth both hooks from a direction axially towards the fish line, (b) that the latching mechanism is so unstable that the array is subject to false triggering and snagging whenever the array lightly contacts, weeds, brush or other obstacles in the water, and (c) that the array is not adaptable to surface trolling since water based forces tend to falsely trigger the array.
Hook arrays on artificial bait fishing lures have been arranged for weed free trolling with various mechanisms that release the hooks for catching a fish that strikes at the lure. Typical is the J. Helfenstein U.S. Pat. No. 2,325,247, Jul. 27, 1943 for Combination Fishhook, wherein a trigger plate movable within the lure must be grasped by a fish to release a pair of separate hooks biased for moving outwardly from a weed free position inside the lure. This lure has the deficiency of a critical triggering mechanism that is subject to corrosion and malfunction and which requires a critical fish to bite that must grasp a trigger on the lure and move it longitudinally within the lure.
It is an objective of the present invention to improve the state of the art for weedless self-setting lures by correction of the foregoing problems.
It is a general objective of the invention to provide weedless fishing lures with simplified, easy-to-assemble fish bite actuated spring hook arrays that more reliably respond to fish strikes at the lure.
Other objects, features and objectives of the invention will be found throughout the following description, the drawings and the claims.

Self-setting hook configuration for weedless fishing lures


A differential signal driver circuit is provided with a driver circuit and a common feedback circuit. The driver circuit is responsive to differential input signals for generating differential output signals from operation currents generated by two current sources. The common feedback circuit controls the current sources to regulate the current levels of the operation currents in response to the differential output signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driver circuit and method for differential signaling, more particularly, to differential signaling using reduced amplitude signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to satisfy the requirement of size reduction, recent portable appliances with a LCD (liquid crystal display) panel, such as cell phones and digital cameras, often adopt LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling), which allows transmitting digital signals to a LCD driver with a reduced number of signal lines while reducing EMI (Electromagnetic Interference). The LVDS is a reduced amplitude interface standardized as the TIA/EIA644 standard by TIA/EIA (Telecommunication Industry Association/Electric Industries Alliance).
The LVDS transmission medium, such as a cable and a PCB (printed circuit board) trace, requires termination with an appropriate impedance to form a complete current loop. This requirement does not depend on whether the LVDS transmission medium is a cable or a PCB trace. Inappropriate termination may cause signal interference due to the signal reflection at the end of the cable or the PCB trace; suitable termination is required for reducing undesired electromagnetic wave emission and improving signal quality. In order to avoid signal reflection, the LVDS transmission medium requires a terminating resistor which matches the differential impedance of the cable or the PCB trace. In general, a 100Ω resistor is used as a terminating resistor of an LVDS transmission medium. The terminating resistor is desirably connected between the two signal lines at a position as close as possible to the inputs of the LVDS receiver.
It is important to feed differential signals with stable voltage levels to an LVDS transmission medium. The differential signal amplitude and the output offset voltage (or common mode voltage), which is the average of the voltage levels of the differential signals, are required to be in predetermined ranges. Specifically, the IEEE standard 1596.3-1996 defines allowed variations in the differential signals; for an output offset voltage Vcm of 1.2V, the allowed variation in the differential signals is ±0.075V. There is a need for a technique to provide an LVDS driver that reduces variations in the differential signal amplitude and the output offset voltage.
International Publication WO 03/049291 A1 (hereinafter, the '291 international publication) and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 7,129,756 disclose a LVDS line driver for generating differential signals with reduced variations. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the disclosed line driver. The line driver shown in FIG. 4 is provided with a driver circuit 10 and a replica circuit 20 for controlling the operation of the driver circuit 10.
The driver circuit 10 includes an output circuit composed of NMOS transistors N11 to N14, and NMOS transistors N15 and N16. The NMOS transistors N11 to N14 each receive a differential signal Vin1 or Vin2 on the gate thereof, and provide switching in response to the received differential signal Vin1 or Vin2. The NMOS transistor N16 is connected between a power line of the power supply level VDD and the drains of the NMOS transistors N11 and N13. The NMOS transistor N15 is connected between a power line of the ground level GND and the sources of the NMOS transistors N12 and N14. A reference voltage Vref2 is supplied to the gate of the NMOS transistor N15 from the output terminal 204 of the replica circuit 20 to control the operating current through the NMOS transistor N15. The gate of the NMOS transistor N16 is connected with the output terminal 203 of the replica circuit 20, and the operation current through the NMOS transistor N15 is controlled depending on the voltage received from the output terminal 203.
The replica circuit 20 is provided with NMOS transistors N17 to N20, and a pair of resistors nRT/2. The size of the NMOS transistors N17 to N20 is 1/n times as large as that of the NMOS transistors N11 to N16. The resistance of the resistors nRT/2 is (n/2) times as large as that of the terminating resistor RT provided for the receiver. The NMOS transistor N20 of the replica circuit 20 and the NMOS transistor N15 of the driver circuit 10 operate as a current mirror circuit, and the amplitude of the current through the transistor N20 is 1/n times as large as that of the current through the NMOS transistor N15.
The resistors nRT/2 are serially connected with each other on the connection node 205, and function as a replica of the terminating resistor RT. The NMOS transistors N18 and N19, corresponding to the NMOS transistors N11 to N14, are connected with the serially-connected resistors nRT/2. It should be noted that the gates of the NMOS transistors N18 and N19 are kept pulled up to the power supply level VDD, and therefore the NMOS transistors N18 and N19 are continuously turned on. The gate of the NMOS transistor N17 is connected with the output terminal of an operation amplifier OP10, and the drain of the NMOS transistor N17 is pulled up to the power supply level VDD. A reference voltage Vref1 is fed to the non-inverting input of the operation amplifier OP10, and the inverting input is connected with the connection node 205 of the resistors nRT/2. The operation amplifier OP10 provides feedback control of the voltage level of the output terminal 203 so as to regulate the voltage level of the connection node 205 to the reference voltage Vref1. The operation current through the NMOS transistor N16 is determined by the voltage level of the output terminal 203. Additionally, the drain currents of the NMOS transistors N15 and N20 are controlled by the reference voltage Vref2. In other words, the operation currents of the driver circuit 10 and the replica circuit 20 are controlled depending on the reference voltage Vref2.
The above-described configuration allows controlling the gate voltage of the NMOS transistor N16, which operates as a current source within the driver current 10, so as to reduce the difference between the voltage level of the connection node 205 and the reference voltage Vref1, thereby controlling the voltage applied across the terminating resistor RT.
However, the inventor has recognized that the line driver disclosed in the '291 international publication suffers from large variations in the amplitudes of the differential output signals and the output offset voltage, due to the manufacture variations of the replica circuit 20 and the interface between the driver circuit 10 and the replica circuit 20.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications Nos. JP-A 2005-303830 (hereinafter, the '830 application) and JP-A 2006-60320 (hereinafter, the '320 application) disclose another driver configuration in which two operation amplifiers receiving different reference voltages respectively control two current sources within a driver circuit to thereby reduce the variations in the differential output signals. More specifically, one of the operation amplifiers receives an intermediate voltage which is generated as the average of the voltage levels of the differential output signals and controls one of the two current sources in response to the comparison of the intermediate voltage with the reference voltage. The other of the operation amplifiers is connected with a selector circuit that provides a connection with a selected one of the two output terminals of the driver circuit in response to the voltage level of the input signal fed to the driver circuit. The other operation amplifier controls the other of the current source in response to the comparison of the voltage received from the selected output terminal and the reference voltage. Controlling the two current sources within the driver circuit effectively reduces the variations in the differential output signals.
However, the inventor has recognized that the driver circuits disclosed in the '830 and '320 applications suffers from a problem that it takes long time to stabilize the voltage levels of the differential output signals within a desired range. In the worst case, the differential output signals may settle at voltage levels out of the desired range. The driver circuits disclosed in the '830 and '320 applications uses a selector circuit to select the voltage fed to the operation amplifier that control the current source within the driver circuit. Therefore, the voltage received by the operation amplifier may largely change. This undesirably increases the duration of time necessary for stabilization of the voltage levels of the differential output signals.

Driver circuit and method for differential signaling with improved signal level control


The visual function is determined with the help of test images, comprising inducing photostress induced by illuminating the eye with an intense light, then measuring the time needed for the recovery of the visual function before the illumination. The test images are periodically moving test images, and the visual function is determined on the basis of detecting the phenomenon of optokinetic nystagmus. According to another process the visual function is determined by measuring critical fusion frequency (CFF) before and after the photostress.

The fact that after intensive illumination (so-called photo-stress) a certain period of time is needed for the visual functions of the eye to return to the level before the illumination is well known from the art. The biological explanation to the phenomenon is that light induces a change in the chemical structure of the visual purple (the photoperceptive material of the eyes) and it temporarily loses its photoperceptive ability. Under normal circumstances the original light sensitivity of the visual purple returns in a fraction of a second. However, as a result of intensive illumination and in the case of certain diseases this recovery time is significantly longer (Magdar J. Am. J. Ophthalmology, 1962, 49:147-150; Forsius H., Eriksson AW, Krause U. Acta Ophthalmologica, 1963, 41: 55-63; Glaser JS, Savino PJ, Sumers KD, McDonald SA, Krighton RW Am. J. Ophthalmology, 1977, 83: 255-260). Diseases resulting in the disturbance of the regeneration of the visual purple and the lengthening of the recovery time of the visual functions are rather common. Such diseases include first of all the senile degeneration of the central part of the retina, retinopathy associated with serious short-sightedness, diabetes and vascular sclerosis. A large number of other eye diseases and the lasting use of certain drugs may also cause visual complaints. Presently not much attention is paid to solving this problem, first of all because no appropriate apparatus is available.
Optokinetic nystagmus is a physiological phenomenon known for decades (Catford, G.V., Oliver, A. Proo 2nd International Orthoptic Congress, Excerpta Medica Amsterdam, 1971). Essentially it means that the eyes involuntarily, automatically follow the movement of objects or images perceived in their visual field. If the movement is periodic, the eyeballs also move there and back with the same frequency as the perceived object (and this pendular oscillation of the eye is called nystagmus). Or the other way round, if the eye moves, it sees the moving object, but if it stays still, then it does not.
Another known phenomenon is that they eye can perceive the flashes of a vibrating light source separately only to a certain frequency. If the frequency of the flashes is higher than this, the eye perceives the vibrating light signals merged, as constant light. This frequency is called critical fusion frequency (CFF).
In the laser surgery of the cornea an instrument called "eye-tracker" is used to follow the position of the eye during the operation. This instrument perceives the position of the eye and controls a laser knife. The laser knife works as long as the eye is motionless, and it stops as soon as the eye moves away from its position called mid-position.
The adaptometer is a known ophthalmologic diagnostic instrument used for measuring the dark adaptation of the eye. When using it, after staying in complete darkness for ten minutes three minutes of continuous illumination is used with white light. The amount of illumination is 2,000-3,000 lux. After this an image of certain brightness just not visible to the examined person occurs periodically in front of the eye. When after a certain period of time the person perceives the picture, another image occurs, which is illuminated less by one logarithmic grade. After some more time the examined person will also recognise this image; then a new image appears, which is illuminated at an even weaker extent. It goes on like this for 45 minutes. The extent of adaptation is the sign or image illuminated at the weakest extent, which the, eye can still recognise in the course of the 45-minute examination (Goldman, M.H.: Un nouvel adaptometre automatique. Bull Soc. Franc Optalmol 1950, 63:4-17). This apparatus is not sensitive enough, it is suitable to indicate only rough differences, Besides the examination is very lengthy, especially if the two eyes are examined separately. It is not a common examination of the everyday practice.
The nyctometer is a known device used for determining the light adaptation of the eye (Hartman E, Wehmeyer K.: Klinische Monatsblatter für Augenheilkunde, 1980, 176:859-863). In this case test images of the same size are used, but they are illuminated in a different way as compared to the background. Eight different variations can be used, where the proportions of the illumination of the background and the image are the following: 1:23, 5; 1:4, 87; 1:2, 71; 1:2, 00; 1:1, 66; 1:1, 46; 1:1, 25; 1:1, 14. The aim of the examination is to determine the image illuminated at the least extent, which the examined person can still recognise. This apparatus has another version with a built-in clock; and it is also suitable for measuring the time needed to recognise the image illuminated at the least extent. This apparataus is not suitable for the objective determination of visual functions, and it has a rather restricted indication field, and for these reasons it is not widely used in practice.
The object of the invention was to create a new process and apparatus, which, by means of examining the visual functions of the eye under standardised.: circumstances, make it possible to recognise the early signs of visual damage of ophthalmologic and non-ophthalmologic origin.

Process and apparatus for examining the visual functions of the eye


A track identification system for a plurality of locomotives moving on defined plurality of tracks of a railway network wherein the system consists of on board computers with track data and identifiable switching locations data and the parameters of movement of the locomotives along the said tracks, the computers receiving reference location signals of the locomotive from a global positioning system and different geographical locations of the locomotives and digitally map the determined geographical locations on the stored route and track data, the computers continuously monitoring the movement of the locomotives with reference to specific parameters to compute the angular velocity change profile to determine switching actions at the said switching locations and generate signals relative to the angular change profile relating to switching actions at the switching locations to determine the tracks on which the movement of each of the locomotives is occurring and the velocity of such movement.

Locomotives are widely used for transportation. Locomotives run on designated tracks. The movement along designated tracks in a defined route is governed by a movement controller generally remotely located from the path of travel. Physically, the movement of locomotives through stations is controlled by a signal system which is well known in the art and is beyond the scope of this invention. However, in mid sections even this is not available and the driver has to rely on eye sight to prevent accidents. However, driver error can cause a serious accident. Again, accidents involving trains and at level crossing gates frequently involve loss of property and life. Accidents, involving locomotives, include locomotives colliding with each other, also referred to as a head on collision. Similarly, there is a possibility of a side collision, rear end collision, collision between locomotives and road vehicles such as cars, carts, animal or persons at manned (interlocked or non-inter locked) as well as unmanned level crossing (LC) gates also referred to as 'grade' crossings. Such accidents may be because of mistakes committed by road users or of the railway staff. Mishaps occur due to the train crew becoming inattentive for to any reason. These accidents may also be as a result of system failure or due to human error. Such incidents caused by human error are not generally preventable with the help of currently available technology. Sophisticated technology such as radar is available, but this is very expensive.
Global Positioning satellites and global positioning systems [GPS] running on them are well known. The GPS is a constellation of satellites traveling in pre determined circular 12 hour orbits approximately 10,900 nautical miles distributed around the earth in three inclined planes at about of degrees from the equator. These satellites transmit location and time reference signals in PRN [pseudo random number] code and triangulate position coordinates. These systems define the position of an object with respect to the center of the earth with respect to its latitude and longitude and altitude, by means of a reference signal receiving device fitted on the object. The signals can be received by GPS receivers, typically having receiving/transmitting antennas. Typical receivers operate in three modes: signal acquisition, signal tracking and position fixing mode. Current generation GPS receivers for civilian use using differential and other techniques are able to pin point an object to which it is fitted with an accuracy of around 5 meters.
Track identification is an integral requirement for automatic railway network management systems. Hitherto, track identification and allocation is set at the beginning a rail journey and is inputted by the rail crew manually at switching locations enroute. This lack of an automatic accurate track identification system has also been the main reason for the lack of a fool proof collision avoidance device. Generally, the GPS location coordinates are not adequate to automatically determine track ID of locomotives moving on assigned tracks. Hitherto, therefore, it is not possible to use the GPS for track identification.


Harmonics, which appear with seismic reflection signals and are responsive to actual vibrations of a land-vibrator for petroleum exploration, are effectively utilized in pulse compression techniques by applying a correlation operator (CO) signal representative of the actual vibrations injected into the earth. In the invention, the CO signal may be acquired by detecting the motion of the baseplate of the land vibrator. Signal correlation procedures are then used to define an inverse filter whose output is pulse-like in response to the CO signal, and the reflected signal is applied to the inverse filter to yield a pulse compressed signal including harmonic energy.

Numerous techniques for exploring the earth to acquire geophysical data are well known. Seismic surveys, however, are the best and most definitive geophysical means of structural representation currently in use. In some instances, seismic data can provide nearly direct indication of oil or gas. These indications, however, are very specialized and are intimately related to very local geological conditions. Reflection type seismic surveys are most common. In these reflection surveys seismic waves are induced in solid earth, reflected back to the surface by subsurface strata where the reflected waves are detected by a group of spaced apart receivers called geophones, and seismic signals representative of the detected waves are processed to form images of the subsurface.
Seismic exploration utilizes an acoustic source such as a dynamite explosion or a land vibrator to induce a seismic wave. The measured travel time of the seismic wave from the source to a receiver is used to produce a field record. Variations in travel time of acoustic waves produce time related field records that indicate the position of reflection surfaces, and correlation of a group of field records from appropriately spaced apart receivers produce a cross section that demonstrates the subsurface structure.
In practice, the detectability of a seismic signal representative of a reflected wave is limited by the energy of the received wave i.e. that is, by the product of its average power and its duration. Accordingly, many seismic systems utilize a relatively long pilot signal such as 3 to 15 seconds to drive a land vibrator to assure that high seismic wave energy is imparted into the earth, and then compress the long reflection signal to a short pulse to assure good resolution. This principle is known as pulse compression, and is achieved through cross-correlation of the received signal against the pilot signal.
Correlation techniques are well described e.g. in N. A. Anstey, "Correlation Techniques--A Review", Geophysical Prospecting, Vol. XII, No. 4, 1964. In simplified terms correlation techniques identify the presence of a seismic reflection in the time domain based on the sum obtained from the well known cross-correlation technique, i.e. solving the equation: ##EQU1## where g (t-.tau.) is an input sweep signal delayed by an amount (.tau.) and where r(t) is the measured reflection signal. In effect the pilot signal is "overlayed" onto the reflection signal at incremental delay times .tau.; at such delay times as the area under the curve representative of the above product is a maximum, the delay time equals the travel time of the reflected signal i.e. a two-way time is identified. Assuming that the wave velocities in the subsurface strata are known, the depth of the associated reflecting subsurface strata interface can be determined.
A land vibrator, 10 in FIG. 1, uses a pulse compressive method of seismic exploration known commercially as VIBROSEIS.RTM.. This system utilizes a reference or so called pilot sweep of sinusoidal signals of varying frequency, of selected band width and of selected time duration as illustrated in FIG. 2(A) to control injection of seismic acoustic waves into the earth. For example the sinusoidal frequency may vary from 10 to 48 hertz during a 4 second period in which the seismic energy is imparted at the surface of the earth.
In operating land vibrator exploration systems, energy is transmitted by vibrating a baseplate 12 in FIG. 1, which is large mass coupled to the solid earth and may be of the type mounted on a land vehicle, such that the vibrating plate 12 placed on the ground 14 is mechanically coupled to the earth by the weight of the entire vehicle. A hydraulic circuit 16 acts on reaction mass 18 causing the baseplate 12 to vibrate. At rest a mechanical system (not shown) serves to put the vehicle close to a limiting position where its supporting wheels leave the ground, at which point the ground 14 beneath the baseplate 12 is subjected to a constant force due to the overall weight of the generator and the vehicle carrying it. Since the vehicle should not be subjected to the vibrations generated by hydraulic circuit 16, the vehicle is decoupled from the baseplate 18 by shock absorbers such as conventional air bags, 20 and 22.
In operation, the pressure of fluid in the hydraulic circuit 16 is modulated as a function of time to comply with variations imposed by a "pilot" signal 24, which is shown in greater detail in the waveform of FIG. 2(a). The pilot signal is an alternating signal having a frequency which is continuously varying between limiting frequencies, and is applied to the hydraulic circuit 16 by any suitable means.
A recording sequence generally begins when emission of the wave starts, and it stops only after a period equal to the duration of the emission plus an idle period corresponding to the time taken for the waves to reach and travel back from the deepest reflector of interest between the emission and reception points. Various schemes have been employed to insure that the energy imparted into the earth is in phase with the long pilot signal used to drive the land vibrator so that the cross-correlation technique is effective for pulse compression. For example phase locking techniques are known where the pilot signal is phase locked to a signal generated by the land vibrator to maintain the seismic energy in phase with the pilot signal.
While these schemes have been generally successful for detecting energy contained in reflected seismic waves, a difficulty is encountered in cross-correlating a slowly varying sine wave that is injected into the earth and the reflected signal, in that harmonic energy may be present in both directions on the time shift axis of the correlation curve. These harmonics, which are in a large part non-repeating, represent a significant portion of the injected energy and in some cases mask small reflection signals. A land vibrator seismic system utilizing a reference signal for correlation against a received signal that does not require phase coherence with the pilot signal and that further could detect reflected harmonic energy would be highly desirable.
As used herein a correlation operator (CO) is a signal representative of the actual dynamics of the transmitted seismic energy injected into the earth by a land vibrator. This signal may be obtained, for example, from transducers which sense the motion of the vibrating baseplate of the land vibrator.
It is an object of this invention to utilize a reference signal for pulse compression of a received signal that does not require maintenance of phase relationship with the pilot signal.
It is another object of this invention to effectively utilize received harmonic energy.
It is a further object of this invention to increase the signal energy that is recovered in seismic systems that employ a long pilot signal.
It is a still further object of this invention to suppress interference caused by harmonic signal energy.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of this invention will be apparent in the description which follows and in the appended claims and in the drawings.

Signal energy enhancement for seismic exploration


An apparatus and method provides dynamic schedule mediation by scheduling and monitoring appointments between a service provider and customers. The apparatus and method uses a statistical analysis to determine a best appointment time based on at least one of: historical performance patterns, the type of service requested during the appointment, geographic location of the customer or the service provider, time of day, time of year, weather, skills of the service provider, and automobile traffic conditions. The system and method continuously monitors changes to the appointment initiated by the customer or the service provider and notifies the other. The statistical information of a service provider may also be used to evaluate the rules of the service provider and to evaluate individual field service personnel of the service provider.

Currently, customers of a broad spectrum of service providers must spend a significant portion of their productive day, skipping hours of work, waiting for scheduled appointments. Customers are often required to take off a full day's work in order to be at home for a 30-minute telephone or cable technician visit. Appointments of this type are often scheduled within a 4-8 hour window, during which the customer has no way of knowing when exactly the service provider's personnel will arrive. This is a source of serious customer aggravation and damage to customer relations.
Service provider personnel, on the other hand (whether delivery personnel, technicians or doctors), waste productive time on inefficient scheduling, missed appointments or late customers. For example, cable technicians often arrive at the customer's door to respond to a problem reported by the customer only to learn that the visit is no longer needed, because the problem "fixed itself." Also, when a customer misses an appointment, such as doctor's appointment, i.e. a "no-show" customer, the service provider looses revenue from the no-show customer, and also has inconvenienced other customers that may have desired to utilize the services during the time of the missed appointment. Likewise, when a customer is late for an appointment, the service provider is often required to shuffle their appointment calendar to accommodate the late customer by rescheduling other customers to accommodate the late customer.
Accordingly, a system and method for dynamically managing, monitoring and scheduling customer appointments is needed.


An information processing device for setting a parameter about objective data, comprising an output unit for outputting the objective data, an operation unit for detecting an instruction of a user, an output control unit for altering the parameter value with time in order and instructing the output unit to output the objective data the parameter value of which is set, and a processing unit for defining the parameter value when the instruction is detected as the parameter value about the objective data.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technology of processing parameters for adjusting a visual effect on still image data and an effect on a sound.
2. Background Arts
This type of technology is exemplified such as a filtering process and an effect process on image data and sound data. Herein, the filtering process connotes a process of filtering, such as smoothing, etc., the still image data and the sound data.
Further, the effect process connotes a process of setting parameters, such as brightness of the image, a contrast thereof, a color, etc., for designating visual effects on the image data. Moreover, the effect process on the sound is exemplified such as a process of adjusting a reverberation effect, and so on.
Hereinafter, the effect process includes the filtering process given above and implies a general category of process of processing the image and the sound in accordance with the parameters. The present invention relates to a user interface (UI) in a system for setting the parameters described above.
According to the prior arts, when executing the effect process on the still image, to start with, the parameter is designated. Then, for confirming a post-processing result, the image is previewed in many cases.
In the effect process, etc., a content of the image as a result of processing differs depending on a value of the parameter. Setting such a parameter to a value desired by a user involves providing a numerical-value-based parameter designating function or scroll-control and sliderwise-control parameter setting functions. Then, it is a general practice that the parameter value is directly inputted, or the parameter is set under control while displaying a degree of the effect so as to be previewed. Herein, the control is defined as a component that can be laid out on the computer screen and provides the user interface.
The conventional parameter designating method was, however, hard to establish a compatibility between a highly-accurate designation and an intuitive input technique. The input of the numerical value has a characteristic of directly designating its value and is therefore capable of designating the highly-accurate parameter value.
If this value is incremented or decremented, however, it is required for confirming how much there is a change in the effect that the value be inputted each time, and the preview and the auditory trial be performed. As a result, these procedures make the user hard to intuitively grasp a relationship between the parameter value and the effect.
On the other hand, there is a method of intuitively designating the value by utilizing the scroll-control. According to this method, however, a visible width of the control itself indicates a range of the values.
Then, on the user interface screen that generally has a limited space, a sufficient control width can not be ensured. As a consequence, there occurs such a phenomenon that one unit of the operation in the scroll-control is equivalent to a unitage of several tens in value.
Accordingly, there might be a case where the highly-accurate input is difficult to perform under the control described above. Further, even if one unit of the control is coincident with a minimum unit in value, when scrolling by a dragging process using a pointing device, a minute shake in hand often makes it difficult to input with a high accuracy.
Moreover, there is also know a user interface that combines the value designation with the scroll-control. Even in the case of utilizing this type of user interface, it is a timing of inputting the value that there appears a variation in effect which depends on an increment and a decrement in value.
Therefore, when the operator increments or decrements the parameter value, there is needed a step of changing the value each time in order to confirm a visual effect and a sound effect. Such a manual input of the operator causes a scatter in timing of designating. It is therefore difficult to exactly conform a degree of transition of the effect in relation to a quantity of variation in value.

System and method for displaying a preview indicating a time-based adjustment of image data or sound data


The invention provides means and methods for producing one or more Ig-like molecules in a single host cell. Novel CH3 mutations enabling the production of monospecific and/or bispecific Ig-like molecules of interest are also provided.

Many currently used biological therapeutics are isolated recombinant, human or humanized monoclonal antibodies that enhance the ability of the body's immune system to neutralize or eliminate cells and/or molecules involved in disease processes or to eradicate invading pathogens or infectious agents. Monoclonal antibodies bind to a single specific area, or epitope, of an antigen and, for use in therapy, are often selected for a desirable functional property such as for example killing of tumor cells, Mocking of receptor-ligand interactions or virus neutralization. Nowadays, there are about 30 FDA approved monoclonal antibodies, which are typically produced at large quantities and their biophysical and biochemical characteristics can be analyzed in great detail to ensure batch-to-batch consistency, which facilitates regulatory acceptability. Despite these favorable characteristics, monoclonal antibodies have several disadvantages, some of which relate to their monospecific nature and the complexity of diseases. Diseases processes are often multifactorial in nature, and involve redundant or synergistic action of disease mediators or up-regulation of different receptors, including crosstalk between their signaling networks. Consequently, blockade of multiple, different factors and pathways involved in pathology may result in improved therapeutic efficacy. By nature of their monospecificity, monoclonal antibodies can only interfere with a single step within the complex disease processes which often does not have an optimal effect. In addition to not fully addressing multiple aspects of a disease process, it has become clear that targeting a single epitope on a single cellular or soluble protein or pathogen often will not suffice to efficiently treat disease because the target epitope may no longer be available for the monoclonal antibody to bind to and exert the desired effect. As an example, tumor cells often escape from monoclonal antibody therapy by down-regulation, mutation or shielding of the target epitope present on a growth factor receptor. By activating alternative receptors and/or their ligands, tumor cells than may exploit a different path leading to continued growth and metastasis. Similarly, viruses and other pathogens frequently mutate and lose or shield the target epitope, thereby escaping monoclonal antibody treatment. Monoclonal antibodies that bind to a single epitope often do not recruit the full spectrum of effector mechanisms evoked by polyclonal antibodies, including, amongst other things, opsonization (enhancing phagocytosis of antigens), steric hindrance (antigens coated with antibodies are prevented from attaching to host cells or mucosal surfaces), toxin neutralization, agglutination or precipitation (antibodies binding several soluble antigens cause aggregation and subsequent clearance), activation of complement and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (antibodies enable the killing of target cells by natural killer cells and neutrophils).
Polyclonal antibodies for therapeutic applications may be obtained from pooled human serum. Such serum-derived therapeutic polyclonal antibodies may for example be used to treat or prevent infections caused by viruses such as the rabies virus, cytomegalovirus and respiratory syncytial virus, to neutralize toxins such as tetanus toxin and botulinum toxin or to prevent Rhesus D allograft immunization. A more widespread use of serum-derived polyclonal antibody preparations has been prevented by the fact that source plasma is only available for a limited range of targets such as infectious diseases and toxins. Moreover, the products are highly dependent on donor blood availability, both in terms of quantity and suitability, resulting in considerable variation between batches. In addition, screening technologies fail to keep up with constantly evolving viruses, thus, immunoglobulin products carry a potential risk of infectious disease transmission. Finally, the long process of blood collection, screening and immunoglobulin purification means plasma-derived immunoglobulins are expensive to produce.
Mixtures of monoclonal antibodies may improve the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies while avoiding the limitations associated with serum-derived polyclonal antibodies. In the art, combinations of two human or humanized monoclonal antibodies have been tested in preclinical models and in clinical trials (for example mixtures of 2 monoclonal antibodies against the HER2 receptor, mixtures of 2 antibodies against the EGFR receptor and, 2 monoclonal antibodies against the rabies virus).
In the art, it has been shown that combinations of 2 monoclonal antibodies may have additive or synergistic effects and recruit effector mechanisms that are not associated with either antibody alone. For example, mixtures of 2 monoclonal antibodies against the EGFR or HER2 were shown to more potently kill tumor cells based on a combination of activities including enhanced receptor internalization, improved blockade of signalling pathways downstream of the receptors as well as enhanced immune effector-mediated cytotoxicity. For combination therapies based on 2 monoclonal antibodies, the component antibodies may be produced separately and combined at the protein level. A drawback of this approach is the staggering cost of developing the 2 antibodies individually in clinical trials and (partially) repeating that process with the combination. This would lead to unacceptable cost of treatments based on antibody combinations. Alternatively, the 2 recombinant cell lines producing the component monoclonal antibodies may be mixed in a fermentor and the resultant mixture of antibodies may be purified as a single preparation (WO 2004/061104). A drawback of this approach is the poor control over the composition and hence reproducibility of the resulting recombinant polyclonal antibody preparation, especially when considering that such compositions may change over time as the cells are being cultured.
During the past decade, bispecific antibodies have emerged as an alternative to the use of combinations of 2 antibodies. Whereas a combination of 2 antibodies represents a mixture of 2 different immunoglobulin molecules that bind to different epitopes on the same or different targets, in a bispecific antibody this is achieved through a single immunoglobulin molecule. By binding to 2 epitopes on the same or different targets, bispecific antibodies may have similar effects as compared to a combination of 2 antibodies binding to the same epitopes. Furthermore, since bispecific antibodies of the IgG format combine 2 different monovalent binding regions in a single molecule and mixtures of 2 IgG antibodies combine 2 different bivalent binding molecules in a single preparation, different effects of these formats have been observed as well. From a technological and regulatory perspective, this makes development of a single bispecific antibody less complex because manufacturing, preclinical and clinical testing involve a single, molecule. Thus, therapies based on a single bispecific antibody are facilitated by a less complicated and cost-effective drug development process while providing more efficacious antibody therapies.
Bispecific antibodies based on the IgG format, consisting of 2 heavy and two light chains have been produced by a variety of methods. For instance, bispecific antibodies may be produced by fusing two antibody-secreting cell lines to create a new cell line or by expressing two antibodies in a single cell using recombinant DNA technology. These approaches yield multiple antibody species as the respective heavy chains from each antibody may form monospecific dimers (also called homodimers), which contain two identical paired heavy chains with the same specificity, and bispecific dimers (also called heterodimers) which contain two different paired heavy chains with different specificity. In addition, light chains and heavy chains from each antibody may randomly pair to form inappropriate, non-functional combinations. This problem, known as heavy and light chain miss-pairings, can be solved by choosing antibodies that share a common light chain for expression as bispecific. But even when a common light chain is used, expression of two heavy chains and one common light chain in a single cell will result in 3 different antibody species, i.e. two monospecific 'parental' antibodies and the bispecific antibody so that the bispecific antibody of interest needs to be purified from the resulting antibody mixture. Although technologies have been employed to further increase the percentage of bispecific antibodies in the mixtures of parental and bispecific antibodies and to decrease the percentage of miss-paired heavy and light chains, there remains a need for bispecific formats that eliminate or minimize some of the disadvantages mentioned above.
Taken together, the art provides a variety of technologies and methods for generating monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, mixtures of monoclonal antibodies, or mixtures of monospecific and bispecific antibodies that can subsequently be used for therapeutic application in patients. However, as discussed above, each of these existing technologies and methods have their drawbacks and limitations. There is thus a need for improved and/or alternative technologies for producing biological therapeutics in the form of mixtures or bispecific approaches for targeting multiple disease-modifying molecules

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and means for the production of Ig-like molecules


The invention relates to a hydraulic drive, especially for two-cylinder thick matter pumps. Said hydraulic drive comprises at least one main pump (10) embodied as a hydraulic variable displacement pump, and two hydraulically actuatable drive cylinders (20, 22) that are each connected to a connection line (16, 18) of the main pump (10) by means of pump connections mounted on one end thereof, forming a closed hydraulic circuit, and communicate with each other at the ends thereof opposing the pump connections (24, 26) by means of a swinging oil line (28). The hydraulic drive also comprises a feed pump (42), by which means pressurized oil is fed from an oil tank to the current low-pressure side into the hydraulic circuit, and a flushing branch (52), by which means a flushing oil flow is branched off from the current low-pressure side under a limited pressure into the oil tank (44). In order to avoid low-pressure influxes during the reversal process of the main pump (10), the flushing oil flow is blocked and then released in a time-delayed manner during each reversal process of the main pump (10), independently of the differential pressure in the connection lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a hydraulic drive, in particular for a two-cylinder thick matter pump of the general type described in the pre-characterizing portion of claim 1.
2. Description of Related Art
Known hydraulic drives of this type include at least one main pump embodied as a hydraulic variable displacement pump as well as two hydraulically actuated drive cylinders embodied as piston cylinder units. The drive cylinders are connected at their one end via pump connections with respectively one of two connection lines of the main pump, forming a closed hydraulic circuit, while on their end opposite to the pump connections they are in communication with each other via an oscillating hydraulic line. The main pump, which is embodied as a reciprocating pump, is further connected with a control mechanism for alternatingly reversing the direction of flow with reciprocal building up of high pressure and a pre-tensioned low pressure in the two connection lines. Further, a hydraulic feed pump is provided, of which the suction inlet is connected to a hydraulic oil tank and the pressure outlet is set to a predetermined low pressure level and communicates with the two connection lines of the main pump via respectively one one-way valve. Since the hydraulic oil heats up during the pumping process, a sump or flushing branch is supplementally provided, which on the outlet side communicates with the oil tank via a pressure limiting valve and on the inlet side is respectively connectable with the low pressure part of the hydraulic circuit. For this purpose there is located in the flushing branch a reciprocating valve pre-controlled by the pressure differential existing between the connection lines of the main pump, which in the case that there is a prevailing pressure differential, directs flow towards the respective low pressure side connection pipe which is accompanied by discharging of a sump stream into the oil sump tank, and in the case that there is no pressure differential is in a blocked intermediate position. The amount of oil discharged during the flushing process corresponds to approximately 50-70% of the oil amount continuously re-supplied from the oil tank by the feed pump. Due to the mass inertia and the compressibility in the system, substantial pressure oscillations result within the hydraulic system during the reversal process of the reversible pump. During the reversing process the pivot angle of the adjustable pump is retracted. Thereby the volumetric displacement of the reversible pump becomes lower. Since the system is still on line, the high pressure drops while in equal value the low pressure increases. This means that the low pressure side experiences a rapid pressure increase so long as the reverse valve in the flushing cycle is not yet redirected. This leads to an extreme discharge of flushing oil from the until now low pressure side of the main circuit so that, in the course of the renewed pressure buildup on the high pressure side, the pressure on the low pressure side can completely collapse within a fraction of a second. The feed pump in this condition is not able to compensate for and re-supply the flushed amount discharged from the flush circuit. Due to the undersupply on the low pressure side, pipe clanging and cavitation is produced both in the feed pump as well as in the main pump, with a danger of an increased wear and tear. In order to avoid this problem, it has already been proposed that the deficit in oil is to be compensated by a pressure reservoir or a larger feed pump. Both solutions however require an undesirably high construction investment.

Hydraulic drive, in particular for two-cylinder thick matter pumps


In some examples, a first computing device of a first entity receives a first digital certificate from a certificate authority computing device and generates a first self-signed certificate associated with the first digital certificate. The first computing device may store the first self-signed certificate associated with the first digital certificate in a repository associated with a repository computing device. Further, the first computing device may receive a notification indicating an update by a computing device of a second entity to contents of the repository. The first computing device receives a copy of the contents of the repository including at least a second digital certificate and a second self-signed certificate associated with the second entity. The first computing device may verify the contents of the repository and generate a genesis block of a blockchain based on a result of the verifying.

A blockchain is a type of distributed data structure that maintains a continuously growing series (i.e., a chain) of records called blocks. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block. The blocks may store transactions or other types of information. The verification process for a block may be performed fairly simply, which reduces the possibility of fraudulent transactions. By storing data distributed in multiple locations across a network, the blockchain reduces or eliminates the risks that come with data being held centrally.
In some examples, a blockchain may be permissionless (e.g., public) in which permission is not required for a participant to participate in the blockchain, for example, or permissioned (e.g., private), in which permission is required for a participant to participate in the blockchain. For example, participation of an entity in a blockchain may mean to participate in block verification, create consensus, create smart contracts, and/or operate peers or applications. Smart contracts, for example, may be computer protocols that facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance of one or more actions, such as based on satisfaction of one or more conditions.

Secure bootstrap for a blockchain network


A technique for reducing downtime that accompanies the execution independently of adjustment processing for maintaining image quality and the execution of finishing processing relating to a printing medium. In order to apply the finishing processing to the printing medium in a finishing processing unit, an image forming apparatus to which this technique is applied sets a time between sheets that extends from end of image formation regarding a first sheet of the printing medium to start of image formation regarding a second sheet of the printing medium transported following the first sheet of the printing medium in the image forming unit, and executes adjustment processing, which is for maintaining image quality in the image forming unit, within the set time between sheets.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an adjusting function for maintaining image quality, and to a method of controlling this apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to maintain image quality in an image forming apparatus, the conventional practice is to execute adjustment processing (also referred to as "maintenance control") automatically during image formation.
The specification of U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,934 proposes suppressing the adjustment of image processing conditions, even when such adjustment becomes necessary, until the image processing job currently being executed ends.
The specification of U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,934 further proposes inhibiting the execution of other image processing jobs, with the exception of the image processing job currently being executed, until adjustment ends if adjustment of image processing conditions becomes necessary. These proposals represent extremely desirable techniques in terms of maintaining image quality.
In order to meet various demands for large-volume printing and the like, a variety of finishing processes such as those that use a finisher or the like have been proposed. In the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-145083, a batch discharge process, staple binding process, folding process and bookbinding process listed as examples of sheet finishing processes in a finishing processing units.
The invention set forth in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,934 is an outstanding invention for the purpose of maintaining image quality. If correction processing is executed, however, it is difficult to avoid the occurrence of downtime. Even though maintenance of a high image quality is the objective, the occurrence of downtime would be undesirable for an operator who wants no delay.
There has been a tendency in recent years to reduce the number of parts in an image forming apparatus in order to lower cost. Generally, when the number of parts is reduced, there tends to be a decline in the stability of image quality. Although it is necessary to increase the number of times adjustment processing is executed in order to maintain image quality, downtime also increases.
In addition, downtime is brought about even by the finishing processes mentioned above. Since the conventional practice is to execute an adjustment process and a sheet finishing process at respective timings that are not related to each other, there is a further increase in downtime.

Image forming apparatus for executing adjustment processing and finishing processing


An information handling system includes at least one microprocessor, a physical memory coupled to the at least one microprocessor, and a physical memory testing subsystem. The physical memory is configured to store an operating system. The physical memory testing subsystem is configured for a) querying the operating system for the size of the physical memory and a number of microprocessors, b) in response to the number of microprocessors, creating memory tester threads equal in number to the number of microprocessors, c) in response to the size of the physical memory, allocating memory chunks of a virtual memory to be on the order of the size of the physical memory, d) dividing the allocated memory chunks equally among the memory tester threads, e) creating a scanner thread, and f) executing the memory tester threads and scanner thread, wherein the scanner thread is configured to increase the probability of maintaining the allocated memory in physical memory for a duration of physical memory testing by the memory tester threads.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for testing physical memory in an information handling system under conventional operating systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In conjunction with information handling systems, one known memory test algorithm employs a four-step process. The process first finds out the size of the physical memory, allocates memory space equal to the size of the physical memory, writes a pattern into the allocated memory space, and then verifies the pattern. During verification, an error is called out if there is a mismatch between the pattern written into the allocated memory space and that read from the same.
Testing physical memory of an information handling system as an application while running under an Operating System (OS) is a challenge. This is because the OS memory manager is managing the physical memory. In a typical information handling system, an application has access to virtual memory pages that are in turn mapped to physical memory pages by the memory manager. The set of virtual pages that a process is currently using is called its working set. While an application is active, the memory manager monitors the application's working set and the virtual memory pages that are not being utilized while a number of "n" consecutive clock ticks are being swapped out to disk. This causes a problem when performing a memory test because the process of swapping pages decreases the probability of testing all of the physical memory.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide method for testing physical memory absent the disadvantages found in the prior methods discussed above.

Method and apparatus for testing physical memory in an information handling system under conventional operating systems


An orthodontic apparatus for treating skeletally based dental malocclusions. The orthodontic apparatus includes cooperating upper and lower surface apparatus for causing a mandibular displacement in a desired direction during an act of biting. An adjustment apparatus sets a relative position of the cooperating upper and lower surfaces.

A malocclusion is a condition where teeth exist in a certain relationship varying from an ideal. A Class 2 malocclusion describes malocclusions that are skeletally as well as dentally based. In a Class 2 malocclusion, various bones, including those of the cranial base, cause positioning of the teeth resulting in a Class 2 molar relationship. In a Class 2 molar relationship, a maxillary first molar lies either directly over or in front of a mandibular first molar. This is in contrast to a "normal" or "ideal" occlusion wherein the maxillary first molar lies slightly behind the mandibular first molar.
Prior art provides a number of devices for the correction of malocclusions. For example, the prior art has used face bows. Face bows are wire springs attached to an appliance in the mouth to provide correcting force to the appliance. Elastic traction is provided by an elastic or retractable member attached to the head or the neck by strap or cap. The limitations of this approach are well known in the art.
An alternative method also well known in the art is a method of using bite blocks to provide restoring force for correcting the malocclusion. FIG. 1 shows an example of the bite blocks of the prior art as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,609 to Clark, issued Oct. 28, 1986. FIG. 1 shows upper and lower bite blocks 17, 21 with a wire retaining mechanism. The prior art provides a means for attachment of an inner bow 10 to an upper dental arch. This attachment means comprises a molded palate plate (not shown) having wire retainers (not shown) for connection of the palate plate to the upper teeth. The wire retainers receive and retain free ends of the inner bow 10, thereby accomplishing positioning of the bow. The palate plate incorporates a bite block 17 at the posterior side. The upper bite block 17 has a rearward and downward angled surface 18. The upper bite block 17 is positioned over the occlusal surfaces of the upper buccal teeth. A lower dental arch (not shown) conforms to the inner profile of the teeth of the central lower dental arch. Molded into the lower dental arch are spring fixing wires, for attachment to the mandibular teeth, as well as rearwardly directed wire hooks 19, for attachment of an elastic traction member 20. The bite blocks 17, 21 act to promote mandibular displacement between the upper and lower dental arches.
Prior art orthodontic appliances used to treat Class 2 malocclusions are designed to correct a malocclusion specific to a patient at a specific time of treatment. As the malocclusion changes over a period of time, the prior art appliance becomes obsolete. Since prior art devices are not adjustable for treatment of such skeletally based malocclusions, the present state of the art requires that new appliances be created and applied during the progression of a given patient's treatment. This necessity of creating multiple appliances precipitates less sensitive and less effective treatment, and contributes to higher costs for orthodontic treatment.
It is therefore the motive of the invention to provide, for treatment of Class 2 malocclusions, an orthodontic appliance that may be adjusted as treatment progresses.


A support member includes first portions. At least one of upstream and downstream guides includes second portions. The first and second portions are arranged in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction. Each of the first and second portions extends in the conveyance direction and includes a support surface for supporting the recording medium. At least one of the first portions is positioned between two second portions of the second portions in the orthogonal direction. The two second portions are adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction. Each of the first portions is at a different position from each of the second portions with respect to the orthogonal direction. Each of the first portions overlaps the second portions with respect to the conveyance direction.

1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus configured to record an image by ejecting liquid onto a recording medium.
2 Description of Related Art
A known recording apparatus includes a support member and a moving mechanism configured to move the support member so as to cause the support member to take an opposing position at which the support member opposes an ejection surface of a head and a retracting position at which the support member does not oppose the ejection surface. The support member is, for example, at the opposing position in recording and at the retracting position in a maintenance operation. The support member may include an upstream support member and a downstream support member both of which are positioned on an upper surface of a frame.


A system and method for placing inline services having multiple instances in a service provider network. In one implementation, a topology of the service provider network and services to be placed therein are defined, wherein a network node may include a data forwarding functionality and a control plane functionality. Using service chaining policy requirements, the number of service instances, etc. as input, services and their multiple instances are placed within the network such that an overall network metric is optimized for all subscriber data flows.

Operators use different middlebox services or appliances, called inline services, such as Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), logging/metering/charging/advanced charging, Firewall, Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP), Network Address Translation (NAT), etc., to manage subscribers' traffic. These services have high requirements on throughput and packet inspection capabilities. They can be transparent or nontransparent to the end users. Inline services can be hosted on dedicated physical hardware or in virtual machines.
Service chaining may be required if the traffic needs to go through more than one inline service. Moreover, if more than one chain of services is possible, the operator needs to configure the networking infrastructure to direct the right traffic through the right inline service path.

System and method for assigning multi-instance services in a provider network


Systems and methods are provided for visually realistic simulation and real-time rendering of natural atmospheric lighting and related phenomena in an outdoor scene represented by an image provided by a simulation environment. The systems and methods of the present invention provide techniques to approximate the visual effects of natural atmospheric lighting and related phenomena that are visually realistic and that can be computed in real-time to render frames of a scene at real-time frame rates per second. The techniques consider the light scattering effects due to sunlight and ambient light in relation to objects, atmospheric particles and other scene elements represented by the image.

Simulated images are used in various applications, such as training simulators, electronic games, and visual planning and modeling tools. Using realistic simulated images in such applications is desirable to visually present and represent real world scenarios as it may be seen by the human eye outside of the application. In particular, it would be desirable to realistically simulate an outside scene including terrain and sky and the naturally occurring effects of atmospheric light on the scene. Although some simulation applications, such as games, provide a believable representation of outside scenes, these applications do not represent natural atmospheric lighting phenomena in a visual or photo realistic manner. For example, it would be desirable in a military training simulator to present training scenarios that realistically simulate an outside natural scene, including terrain, sky and lighting effects. Simulations using realistic outside scenes will make the image synthesis process more intuitive and have a broader scope of applications.
However, the realistic simulation of outdoor scenes presents significant challenges because of the geometry and lighting effects naturally occurring in such environments. The shapes of natural objects found in outdoor scenes and the effect of light and illumination on these natural objects make it particularly challenging to realistically simulate. Outdoor scenes exhibit great geometric complexity, and the sheer scale of outdoor scenes is typically significantly larger than that of indoor scenes. Furthermore, outdoor scenes often contain natural objects that have complex shapes. The geometric representation of the physical features of varying land mass, sky line and other terrain and atmospheric objects can be quite complex. Another challenge with outdoor scenes is the complexity of the illumination itself. The sky essentially surrounds all objects in the outside scene. Natural illumination from the sun and the sky has special and naturally occurring reflective and optical properties. As such, the lighting effects from the natural illumination affect the color and brightness of objects, terrain and atmosphere in the outside scene.
The realistic and efficient simulation of outdoor scenes is even further challenging. In order to create realistic simulations of outdoor scenes, such as a photo realistic simulation of a terrain and sky, simulating and rendering the visual effects from natural atmospheric lighting phenomena is required. The simulation needs to take into account the interaction of atmospheric light with the natural and man-made objects in the outside scene and the dynamics of natural systems. However, the modeling of such natural atmospheric lighting phenomena is difficult. Although accurate mathematical models of atmospheric lighting phenomena exist, the execution of such models in a simulation environment is very time consuming with a heaving computational burden. Moreover, because outdoor scenes are geometrically complex, the execution of accurate models for atmospheric lighting phenomena integrated with the geometric complexity of the scene is even more time consuming. As such, these models are not executed in real-time.
Thus it is desired to realistically simulate and render in real-time natural atmospheric lighting phenomena in outdoor scenes. Systems and methods are needed to realistically simulate and render in real-time the complexity of natural objects in outdoor scenes integrated with the visual effects from atmospheric lighting phenomena.

Systems and methods for the real-time and realistic simulation of natural atmospheric lighting phenomenon