A vertical calender arrangement comprises a controllable-deflection top roll, a controllable-deflection bottom roll and intermediate rolls arranged between top and bottom rolls. The top roll and the bottom roll are each provided with a power drive.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a calender arrangement.
2. Description of the Background Art
In vertical calenders having a plurality of rolls, one of the intermediate rolls is provided with a main drive and transmits the torques to all the other rolls frictionally, by means of tangential forces, from one roll to the next and via the web to be treated and the roll covers. This leads to undesired horizontal deflections, that is to say to deformations of the intermediate rolls. In addition, the web structure and the roll covers are impaired. FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a known off-line calender, in which an intermediate roll 2, that is the drive roll with a main drive, is driven.
In an on-line calender, before the paper web is threaded, and with the nips open, all the rolls in contact with the paper web are accelerated by their auxiliary drives, and the drive roll with the main drive is accelerated to a rotational speed at which the respective circumferential speed corresponds to the web speed of the paper, which can be 1000 m per minute and much higher. After the nips have been closed, power is introduced only by the main drive of a single drive roll. This is illustrated schematically in FIG. 2, in which the main drive 4 is represented by a large drive symbol and the auxiliary drives 6 are represented by a small drive symbol. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the horizontal deflections at the centre of the roll are drawn schematically as a centre offset.
In modern calenders, the top roll and the bottom roll of the roll stack are designed as controllable-deflection rolls. Because of their internal frictional losses, necessitated by their functioning, these two rolls need a greater drive force than the remaining calender rolls. In addition, the most extreme deformation of the paper web takes place in the first nip. In conventional calenders having a main drive, these two power components have to be dragged through the entire roll stack and, in so doing, stress the paper web and the roll covers in a damaging way as a result of frictional transmission of the tangential forces. This results in increased wear of the roll surfaces and a reduction in the service life of the rolls.
According to an earlier proposal in DE-196 50 576.3, all the rolls are provided with their own (power) drives, and the powers of the individual drives are coordinated with one another in such a way that the horizontal roll deformations are minimized.

Eduard Küsters Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG


Methods and compositions are provided for specific binding assays in which specific binding reagents are immobilized on a solid phase. Immobilization is facilitated by covalently coupling specific binding assay reagents such as polypeptide receptors or analytes with water soluble polymers. Such water soluble polymers, for example star polymers such as dendrimers, provide production advantages of lot-to-lot uniformity and homogeneity, and can enhance sensitivity due to low non-specific binding to the solid phase.

In vitro diagnostic assays may be used to measure amounts of an analyte found in a body fluid sample or tissue sample. The analyte must be distinguished from other components found in the sample. Analytes may be distinguished from other sample components by reacting the analyte with a specific receptor for that analyte. Assays that utilize specific receptors to distinguish and quantify analytes are often called specific binding assays.
The most common receptors are antibodies and specific binding proteins such as Intrinsic Factor or Folate Binding Protein. Receptors are characterized by having a reversible specific binding affinity for an analyte or an analogue of that analyte. The analogue generally is an analyte derivative carrying a detectable marker such as an enzyme, fluorescent molecule or other known label but which binds to a receptor with about the same specificity and affinity as the analyte.
In heterogeneous specific binding assays described in the technical and patent literature, the receptor or other assay reagent of the specific binding reaction is often immobilized on a solid phase. Immobilization of these reagents is required to separate the bound components (for example analyte bound to the solid phase through a receptor) from the unbound components.
The various methods by which a receptor or other reagent can be immobilized on a solid phase include adsorption, absorption or covalent bonding. However, many of the solid phase supports used in such assays are not inert, and may sequester proteins and other substances from the sample by non-specific binding. Although glass is a relatively inert substrate, generally it has been found to be unsatisfactory for use in solid phase binding assays. See, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,653 for a discussion of inadequacies of glass substrates.
Recently, however, procedures have been described for immobilizing an essentially soluble immunocomplex of a reagent and an antiserum to the reagent on an inert glass fiber solid phase support. These procedures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,288, incorporated by reference herein.
In these immunological immobilization procedures, soluble immunocomplexes are prepared by combining at least two immunochemically reactive substances with one another in solution. At least one of such immunochemically reactive materials is selected for its immunochemical specificity for an analyte of interest. For example, if the soluble immunocomplex is to be used in an immunoassay for the detection of TSH, then one component of the immunocomplex is selected for its immunochemical specificity for TSH. A typical example would be an antibody with specificity for TSH, i.e., an anti-TSH antibody. The second component of the immunocomplex could comprise an antibody preparation directed against the anti-TSH antibody. Antiserum to anti-analyte antibodies, for example to mouse anti-TSH antibodies, can be prepared by injecting purified mouse IgG into a host animal (i.e., goat), and thereafter harvesting the antiserum to the mouse IgG. The mouse anti-TSH antibody and the goat antiserum to mouse IgG are thereafter worked up as standard stock solutions.
Once having prepared these stock solutions, a portion of each is combined with the other by addition to a buffered medium. The resulting immunocomplex, in an appropriate volume of buffer, is thereafter spotted onto a delimited area of a glass fiber filter. Alternatively, the two components of the immunocomplex may be applied to the filter as separate buffered solutions and allowed to react in situ. In both instances, the point of application of the immunocomplex defines a reaction zone within the solid phase. The applied immunocomplexes become adsorbed and entrapped within the interstices of the beds of fibers within the glass fiber filter. The method of application can include dispensing of the immunocomplex solution with a manual or automated pipette, or with other automated equipment including assay analyzer instruments. Subsequent to application of the immunocomplex to the solid phase and the elapse of a suitable incubation period, the solid phase is dried under controlled conditions thereby yielding a stable reactive reagent which can be used in any one of a number of solid phase specific binding assay protocols.
Immunological immobilization, although useful in a variety of assay formats, has been noted to include a number of inherent disadvantages. The presence of the additional immunoglobulins on the filter (e.g., antiserum to anti-analyte antibodies) can lead to nonspecific binding of proteinaceous and other biological materials. This can significantly decrease assay sensitivity. Moreover, given the inherent variability of IgG preparations from separate immunizations of the same or different host animals, lot-to-lot variability in titer, purity, specificity and affinity of IgG preparations must be accounted for in manufacturing procedures. Similarly, variability in production of solid phase reagents may be encountered due to the tendency of immunocomplexes to become inhomogeneously distributed within stock solutions. That is, such immunocomplexes, while substantially soluble, may not remain completely soluble and may undergo some settling out of solution over time. Even with periodic mixing of stock solutions, gravitational influences, temperature gradients and other physical influences can cause subtle inhomogeneities within solutions applied to the solid phase reagents.
Starburst dendrimers (manufactured by The Dow Chemical Company) are polymers of spherical or other three-dimensional shapes that have precisely defined compositions and that possess a precisely defined molecular weight. Such dendrimers can be synthesized as water soluble macromolecules through appropriate selection of internal and external moieties. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,507,466 and 4,568,737, incorporated by reference herein. Dendrimers may be conjugated with various pharmaceutical materials as well as with various targeting molecules that may function to direct the conjugates to selected body locations for diagnostic or therapeutic applications. See for example, WO 8801178, incorporated by reference herein. Starburst dendrimers have been used to covalently couple synthetic porphyrins (e.g., hemes, chlorophyll) to antibody molecules as a means for increasing the specific activity of radiolabeled antibodies for tumor therapy and diagnosis. Roberts, J. C. et al., Using Starburst dendrimers as Linker Molecules to Radiolabel Antibodies, Bioconjug. Chemistry 1: 305-308 (1990).

Immobilization of specific binding assay reagents


The present invention relates to a power converter, using input voltage provided by a fuel battery and processing an electrical characteristics transformation on the input voltage to output an output voltage to loading. The power converter comprises: a multiple-phase PWM controller to output multiple PWM control signals in accordance with the voltage level of output voltage; a multiple phase bridge converter to input and output the input voltage in accordance with the multiple PWM control signals; and a transformer to input and process an electrical characteristics transformation on the input voltage from the multiple phase bridge converters to output the output voltage. The multiple-phase PWM controller further comprises a PWM generator and at least one phase shifter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power converter for a fuel battery.
2. Description of Related Art
A fuel battery is a type of new power supply that is of high efficiency and low pollution. The fuel battery can supply 48V and over 100 A power to a loading. When using the fuel battery as the power supply, it requires a full-bridge inverter, a transformer and a rectifier between the fuel battery and the loading to process the transform of the electrical characteristics. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional power converter 10 that can provide electrical transform of 5 KW comprises a full-bridge inverter 12, a transformer 16, and a rectifier 18. Moreover, the full-bridge inverter 12, the transformer 16, and the rectifier 18 are connected in sequence to form the power converter 10. The power converter 10 can process the transform of electrical characteristics of the power from the fuel battery 20. For example, it can convert the 48V direct current into 400V direct current to provide the power consumption of loading 30.
Due to the power transistor 13 of the full-bridge inverter 12 not being able to pass a peak drain current over 70 A, every switching circuit 14 adopts two parallel power transistors 13 to reduce or balance the drain current that every power transistor 13 needs to pass. The two parallel power transistors 13 also alternatively enable/disable the switching circuit 14 to provide the power transistors 13 sufficient time for radiating the heat to avoid the depreciation of the full-bridge inverter 12 due to excessive heat.
However, the conventional power converter 10 has the following defects: the volumes of a filtering capacitor C1 of the full-bridge inverter 12, power transistors 13, transformer 16, filtering inductance L1 and filtering capacitor C2 of the rectifier 18 are all non-reducible which will cause the limitation of the application of the power converter 10.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a power converter for a fuel battery to alleviate or mitigate the aforementioned problem.


A wheel servicing machine has a bead loosener arm powered by an actuator attached to a machine base. The actuator includes a moveable actuator rod coupled to the bead loosener arm at a pivoting joint. The pivoting joint includes a joint having two or more angular degrees of freedom, such as a ball joint, in some embodiments. The pivoting joint allows the actuator rod end to pivot both in a major plane of rotation substantially parallel to the movement of the bead loosener arm as well as in one or more minor vertical planes. In some embodiments, the pivoting joint includes a socket positioned around a ball, forming a ball joint. The socket is coupled to the actuator rod, and a pin is disposed through a passage in the ball to pivotally secure the ball joint to the bead loosener arm.

The present invention relates generally to wheel servicing machines. More particularly, this invention pertains to tire changing machines with bead removal arms configured for releasing a bead from its seated position on a wheel rim.
Conventionally, tire changing machines are equipped with a movable arm to engage and loosen the tire bead so that the tire can be removed from the wheel rim. Conventional bead removal arms typically include an arm that pivots relative to a machine base. A shoe is positioned on the arm to engage the tire sidewall to loosen the tire bead from the wheel rim. Conventional bead loosener arms are actuated using an actuator such as a powered pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder. An actuator rod extends from the base to the bead loosener arm.
The actuator rod may connect to the actuator rod at a pivoting joint. A conventional pivoting joint 130 is shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. During use, an operator places a wheel and tire assembly in a space between the shoe 24 and the base 12. The operator controls the powered cylinder to retract the actuator rod 28. The actuator rod 28 extends through a pivot pin 132 on the bead loosener arm 20. The rod also includes a rod retainer 134 on the side of the pivot pin 132 opposite the machine base. During operation, the rod 28 pulls the bead loosener arm 20 toward the base 12, thereby causing the shoe to engage the side wall of the tire to loosen the tire bead.
In some conventional tire changing machines, the actuator rod 28 is slidable through a hole 136 in the pivot pin 132 in the bead loosener arm 20. When the actuator rod 28 is retracted toward the base, the retainer 134 engages the pivot pin 132, limiting the linear travel of the rod 28 relative to the bead loosener arm 20, causing the bead loosener arm 20 to be pulled toward the base in the direction of retraction of the actuator rod 28. As the bead loosener arm 20 is pulled toward the base 12, the shoe 24 eventually engages and depresses the side wall of the tire, causing the bead to be loosened from the wheel rim. After the bead has been loosened, an operator typically controls the powered cylinder to move the rod 28 back toward the bead loosener arm 20 to release the shoe from the tire side wall. This may cause the actuator rod 28 to slide through the hole 136. In such configurations, the user is required to manually pivot the bead loosener arm 20 away from the base.
One problem with conventional wheel servicing machines having bead loosener arms is that the bead loosener arm must be manually pivoted away from the base following a bead loosener operation. This can be burdensome for an operator. Another problem with conventional wheel servicing machines having bead loosener arms is that the actuator rod is coupled to the bead loosener arm at a pivoting joint having a limited range of angular motion. For example, as seen in the conventional embodiment in FIGS. 2-3, when rod 28 is pulled toward base 12, rod 28 is pivotable relative to bead loosener arm 20 in a substantially horizontal plane via the rotation of pivot pin 132 relative to bead loosener arm 20 in one angular direction. However, rod 28 is not pivotable relative to bead loosener arm 20 in any vertical plane. During use, the bead breaker arm 20 may encounter stress in a non-horizontal force vector, causing the bead loosener arm 20 to have a tendency to move in an upward or downward direction other than the substantially horizontal pull direction of rod 28. Such movement of the bead loosener arm puts strain on the actuator rod, the pivoting joint, and the actuator in conventional pivoting joints, such as those shown in FIGS. 2-3. The pivoting joint 130 in such conventional configurations does not allow the actuator rod 28 to pivot in a vertical plane relative to the bead loosener arm 20. Conventional bead loosener arm pivoting joints of this nature also fail to accommodate sag of the bead loosener arm in non-horizontal directions during extended use.
What is needed then are improvements in wheel servicing machines having bead loosener arms.

Tire changing machine with bead loosener arm


Methods of forming MOS transistors include forming lightly and heavily doped source/drain regions adjacent to one another in a substrate and a gate electrode with a sidewall spacer thereon. A salicide process is performed on a surface of the heavily doped source/drain region to provide a first suicide layer self-aligned to the sidewall spacer. At least a portion of the sidewall spacer is removed to expose a portion of the lightly doped source/drain region adjacent to the first silicide layer. A salicide process in performed on the exposed portion of the lightly doped source/drain region to provide a second silicide layer adjacent to the first suicide layer. Related devices are also disclosed.

Self-aligned silicide (Salicide) processes have been widely used to lower resistances of gate and source/drain regions of transistors. Generally, a Salicide process is a method of simultaneously forming a silicide layer on a polysilicon gate electrode and on an active region of a silicon substrate. A Salicide process can lower the contact resistance and the sheet resistance.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional MOS transistor having a lightly doped drain (LDD) region. Referring to FIG. 1, field regions 4 are formed on a semiconductor substrate 2 to define an active region therebetween. A gate stack, including a gate insulation layer 6, a gate electrode 8, and a gate silicide layer 16a, are formed on a predetermined region of the active region. A gate spacer 12 is formed on both sidewalls of the gate stack. A lightly doped region 10 is formed in the semiconductor substrate 2 under the gate spacer 12 by, for example, implanting ions into the substrate 2 prior to formation of the gate spacer 12. A heavily doped region 14 is formed in the active region of the semiconductor substrate 2 adjacent to the gate spacer 12. A silicide layer 16b is formed on a surface of the heavily doped region 14.
The lightly doped region 10 can be self-aligned to the gate stack between a channel region that underlies the gate stack and the heavily doped region 14. The lightly doped region 10 allows an electric field between the source/drain region and the channel region to be decreased which may prevent or reduce the rapid acceleration of carriers emitted from the source (i.e., hot carrier effects).

Methods of forming silicide layers on source/drain regions of MOS transistors


A pulse width modulation circuit is provided with a signal generating circuit generating a reference clock signal and a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to a digital data input signal, a delay quantity generating circuit delaying the reference clock signal by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal from the signal generating circuit, a delay quantity controller controlling a delay quantity of the delay quantity generating circuit, and a modulated signal generator generating a modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal from the delay quantity generating circuit and the reference clock signal.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Applications No.11-293717 filed Oct. 15, 1999 and No. 2000-090475 filed Mar. 29, 2000, in the Japanese Patent Office, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to pulse modulation circuits, optical write units, image forming apparatuses and optical write methods, and more particularly to a pulse width modulation circuit which is used to control an optical output of a light source in a laser printer, a LED printer, an optical disk unit, a digital copying machine, an optical communication unit and the like, and to an optical write unit which uses a modulated signal output from such a pulse width modulation circuit. The present invention further relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer, a LED printer, a digital copying machine and a facsimile machine, which uses such an optical write unit, and to an optical write method which carries out an optical write operation by employing a pulse width modulation technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
As techniques for modulating an optical output of a light source, there are the power modulation technique which modulates the light quantity itself, the pulse width modulation technique which modulates the ON-time of the light source, and the power-pulse width mixed modulation technique which combines the power modulation technique and the pulse width modulation technique. According to a first pulse width modulation technique, a triangular wave or a sawtooth wave is generated at a corresponding pulse generation period, and is compared with an analog video signal in a comparator so as to generate a pulse width modulated signal. On the other hand, according to a second pulse width modulation technique, a high-frequency clock is digitally frequency-divided so as to generate a delayed pulse, and a pulse width modulated signal is generated by obtaining a logical sum or a logical product of the high-frequency clock and the delayed pulse.
For example, a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.6-284276 proposes an image forming apparatus which makes a gradation representation of an image by the pulse width modulation. This proposed image forming apparatus is provided with a means for determining a delay quantity from an input image signal based on a predetermined reference clock, and a means for generating a signal having a predetermined pulse width which is delayed by a delay time set by the determined delay quantity, and the pulse width modulation is carried out according to the signal having the predetermined pulse width.
On the other hand, a Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.9-183250 proposes an image forming apparatus which is provided with a scanning means for scanning a rotary photoconductive body by a light from a light source modulated based on an image signal, a scanning light detecting means for detecting a scanning light from the scanning means at a predetermined position with respect to the rotary photoconductive body, and a reference oscillator. An electrostatic latent image which is dependent on the image signal is formed by scanning the rotary photoconductive body at a predetermined timing based on a detection signal from the scanning light detecting means and an oscillation output of the reference oscillator, and an image dependent on the electrostatic latent image is formed on a recording medium. This proposed image forming apparatus is further provided with a high-frequency clock generating means for generating a high-frequency clock having a frequency n times the oscillation output of the reference oscillator, where n is an integer satisfying nxe2x89xa72, an image processing clock generating means for generating an image processing clock signal which is synchronized to the detection signal from the scanning light detecting means based on the high-frequency clock and the detection signal, and a modulating means for modulating the image signal based on the high-frequency clock and generating an image modulated signal, so as to drive the light source based on the image modulated signal.
In image forming apparatuses, there are demands to increase the operation speed. However, in the image forming apparatus which employs the first pulse width modulation technique, it is impossible to realize both the high operation speed and the linearity and reproducibility of the triangular or sawtooth wave. In addition, in the image forming apparatus which employs the second pulse width modulation technique, a maximum operation frequency depends on a device used, and it is impossible to realize both the high operation speed and the high gradation representation of the image.
For example, if a pixel clock has a frequency of 50 MHz and the pulse width modulation is to be carried out using 256 values, it is difficult to obtain satisfactory linearity and swing of the triangular or sawtooth wave at a period of 20 ns of the triangular or sawtooth wave in the case of the first pulse width modulation technique. Furthermore, in the case of the second pulse width modulation technique which digitally frequency-divides the high-frequency clock, it is difficult to realize a circuit structure which generates a clock having a frequency of 12.8 GHZ (=50 MHzxc3x97256).
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful pulse modulation circuit, optical write unit, image forming apparatus and optical write method, in which the problems described above are eliminated.
Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a pulse modulation circuit, optical write unit, image forming apparatus and optical write method, which can cope with a high operation speed, and realize a high gradation representation of an image, compact size, low cost and low power consumption.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a pulse width modulation circuit comprising signal generating means for generating a reference clock signal and a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to a digital data input signal; delay quantity generating means for delaying the reference clock signal by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal from the signal generating means; delay quantity control means for controlling a delay quantity of the delay quantity generating means; and modulated signal generating means for generating a modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal from the delay quantity generating means and the reference clock signal. According to the pulse width modulation circuit of the present invention, it is possible to cope with a case where the operation speed is high by use of a high-speed analog delay circuit, so that a high gradation representation of an image is possible, for example.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, the signal generating means may comprises a digital-to-analog converter circuit converting the digital data input signal into an analog signal; and a division circuit generating the predetermined signal based on the analog signal from the digital-to-analog converter circuit. In this case, a high-speed pulse width generation is possible. Hence, it is possible to cope with a case where the operation speed is high by use of a high-speed analog delay circuit, so that a high gradation representation of an image is possible, for example.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, the modulated signal generating means may set a reference time width of pulse width modulation to a value less than a period of the reference clock signal. In this case, it is possible to realize a high resolution without deteriorating the gradation representation of an image.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, the modulated signal generating means may switch a reference time width of pulse width modulation between a value less than a period of the reference clock signal and a value equal to the period of the reference clock signal. In this case, it is possible to realize a high resolution without deteriorating the gradation representation of an image depending on the modulation target.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, a plurality of systems may be provided with respect to the modulated signal generating means, and each of the systems may include the signal generating means and the delay quantity generating means. In this case, it is possible to cope with even higher operation speeds.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, the digital data input signal may be made up of image data, and a writing phase within one dot may be controlled with reference to a non-inverted or inverted clock signals of the reference clock signal. In this case, it is possible to vary the density of the pulse width modulation, and improve the gradation representation at a highlighted part of the image, for example.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a pulse width modulation circuit comprising first signal generating means for generating a high-frequency clock signal synchronized to a reference clock signal by frequency-multiplying the reference signal, and generating a plurality of pulse signals having mutually different phases from the high-frequency clock signal; pulse selecting means for selecting one of the plurality of pulse signals based on upper bit data of a digital data input signal which is synchronized to the reference clock signal; second signal generating means for generating a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to lower bit data of the digital data input signal; delay quantity generating means for delaying the one of the plurality of pulse signals from the pulse selecting means by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal; delay quantity control means for controlling a delay quantity of the delay quantity generating means; and modulated signal generating means for generating a modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal from the delay quantity generating means and the one of the plurality of pulse signals. According to the pulse width modulation circuit of the present invention, it is possible to cope with a case where the operation speed is high by use of a high-speed analog delay circuit, so that a high gradation representation of an image is possible, for example.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, the second signal generating means may comprise a digital-to-analog converter circuit converting the digital data input signal into an analog signal; and a division circuit generating the predetermined signal based on the analog signal from the digital-to-analog converter circuit. In this case, a high-speed pulse width generation is possible. Hence, it is possible to cope with a case where the operation speed is high by use of a high-speed analog delay circuit, so that a high gradation representation of an image is possible, for example.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, the modulated signal generating means may set a reference time width of pulse width modulation to a value less than a period of the reference clock signal. In this case, it is possible to realize a high resolution without deteriorating the gradation representation of an image.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, the modulated signal generating means may switch a reference time width of pulse width modulation between a value less than a period of the reference clock signal and a value equal to the period of the reference clock signal. In this case, it is possible to realize a high resolution without deteriorating the gradation representation of an image depending on the modulation target.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, a plurality of systems may be provided with respect to the modulated signal generating means, and each of the systems may include the second signal generating means and the delay quantity generating means. In this case, it is possible to cope with even higher operation speeds.
In the pulse width modulation circuit, the digital data input signal may be made up of image data, and a writing phase within one dot may be controlled with reference to a non-inverted or inverted clock signals of the reference clock signal. In this case, it is possible to vary the density of the pulse width modulation, and improve the gradation representation at a highlighted part of the image, for example.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical write unit which drives a light source by an image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on input digital multi-level image data, and forms an electrostatic latent image by scanning a photoconductor body by scanning means using a scanning light emitted from the light source, the optical write unit comprising a pulse width modulation circuit outputting the image modulated signal; and a light source driver driving the light source by the image modulated signal output from the pulse width modulation circuit, wherein the pulse width modulation circuit comprises a signal generating circuit generating a reference clock signal and a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to the input digital multi-level image data; a delay quantity generating circuit delaying the reference clock signal by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal from the signal generating circuit; a delay quantity controller controlling a delay quantity of the delay quantity generating circuit; and a modulated signal generator generating the image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal from the delay quantity generating circuit and the reference clock signal. According to the optical write unit of the present invention, it is possible to realize a high gradation representation of an image even when the operation speed is high.
The optical write unit may further comprise a sensor detecting the scanning light from the scanning means at a predetermined position and outputting a detection signal; and a clock generator generating the reference clock signal in synchronism with the detection signal, where the clock generator, the light source driver and the pulse width modulation circuit are integrated within a single integrated circuit chip. In this case, the operation is stable with respect to electromagnetic interference (EMI), and the size, cost and power consumption of the optical write unit can all be reduced.
The optical write unit may further comprise character region recognizing means for recognizing a character region from the input digital multi-level image data and outputting a character region signal; and a write data generator generating write data based on the character region signal, wherein the pulse width modulation circuit carries out a pulse width modulation with respect to a non-character region using one period of the reference clock signal as corresponding to one pixel, and carries out a pulse width modulation with respect to the character region using one-half period of the reference clock signal as corresponding to one pixel, in response to the character region signal. In this case, it is possible to obtain a sharp image in the character region, and a smooth image having a high fidelity with respect to the original image in the non-character region of the image.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus comprising an optical write unit outputting an image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on input digital multi-level image data; a light source driven by the image modulated signal; and means for forming an electrostatic latent image by scanning a photoconductor body by scanning means using a scanning light emitted from the light source, the optical write unit comprising a pulse width modulation circuit outputting an image modulated signal; and a light source driver driving the light source by the image modulated signal output from the pulse width modulation circuit, wherein the pulse width modulation circuit comprises a signal generating circuit generating a reference clock signal and a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to the input digital multi-level image data; a delay quantity generating circuit delaying the reference clock signal by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal from the signal generating circuit; a delay quantity controller controlling a delay quantity of the delay quantity generating circuit; and a modulated signal generator generating the image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal from the delay quantity generating circuit and the reference clock signal. According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to realize a high gradation representation even when the operation speed is high.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical write unit which drives a light source by an image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on input digital multi-level image data, and forms an electrostatic latent image by scanning a photoconductor body by scanning means using a scanning light emitted from the light source, the optical write unit comprising a pulse width modulation circuit outputting the image modulated signal; and a light source driver driving the light source by the image modulated signal output from the pulse width modulation circuit, wherein the pulse width modulation circuit comprises a first signal generating circuit generating a high-frequency clock signal synchronized to a reference clock signal by frequency-multiplying the reference signal, and generating a plurality of pulse signals having mutually different phases from the high-frequency clock signal; a selector selecting one of the plurality of pulse signals based on upper bit data of the input digital multi-level image data which is synchronized to the reference clock signal; a second signal generating circuit generating a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to lower bit data of the input digital multi-level image data; a delay quantity generating circuit delaying the one of the plurality of pulse signals from the selector by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal; a delay quantity controller controlling a delay quantity of the delay quantity generating circuit; and a modulated signal generator generating the image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal from the delay quantity generating circuit and the one of the plurality of pulse signals. According to the optical write unit of the present invention, it is possible to realize a high gradation representation even when the operation speed is high.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus comprising an optical write unit outputting an image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on input digital multi-level image data; a light source driven by the image modulated signal; and means for forming an electrostatic latent image by scanning a photoconductor body by scanning means using a scanning light emitted from the light source, the optical write unit comprising a pulse width modulation circuit outputting the image modulated signal; and a light source driver driving the light source by the image modulated signal output from the pulse width modulation circuit, wherein the pulse width modulation circuit comprises a first signal generating circuit generating a high-frequency clock signal synchronized to a reference clock signal by frequency-multiplying the reference signal, and generating a plurality of pulse signals having mutually different phases from the high-frequency clock signal; a selector selecting one of the plurality of pulse signals based on upper bit data of the input digital multi-level image data which is synchronized to the reference clock signal; a second signal generating circuit generating a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to lower bit data of the input digital multi-level image data; a delay quantity generating circuit delaying the one of the plurality of pulse signals from the selector by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal; a delay quantity controller controlling a delay quantity of the delay quantity generating circuit; and a modulated signal generator generating the image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal from the delay quantity generating circuit and the one of the plurality of pulse signals. According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to realize a high gradation representation even when the operation speed is high.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an optical write method for an image forming apparatus which drives a light source by an image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on input digital multi-level image data, and forms an electrostatic latent image by scanning a photoconductor body by scanning means using a scanning light emitted from the light source, the optical write method comprising the steps of (a) outputting the image modulated signal; and (b) driving the light source by the image modulated signal obtained by the step (a), wherein the step (a) includes (a1) generating a reference clock signal and a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to the input digital multi-level image data; (a2) delaying the reference clock signal by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal; (a3) controlling a delay quantity used in the step (a2); and (a4) generating the image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal obtained in the step (a2) and the reference clock signal. According to the optical write method of the present invention, it is possible to realize a high gradation representation even when the operation speed is high.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical write unit method for an image forming apparatus which drives a light source by an image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on input digital multi-level image data, and forms an electrostatic latent image by scanning a photoconductor body by scanning means using a scanning light emitted from the light source, the optical write method comprising the steps of (a) outputting the image modulated signal; and (b) driving the light source by the image modulated signal obtained by the step (a), wherein the step (a) includes (a1) generating a high-frequency clock signal synchronized to a reference clock signal by frequency-multiplying the reference signal, and generating a plurality of pulse signals having mutually different phases from the high-frequency clock signal; (a2) selecting one of the plurality of pulse signals based on upper bit data of the input digital multi-level image data which is synchronized to the reference clock signal; (a3) generating a predetermined signal which is approximately inversely proportional to lower bit data of the input digital multi-level image data; (a4) delaying the one of the plurality of pulse signals obtained by the step (a3) by a desired phase delay to output a pulse signal, based on the predetermined signal; (a5) controlling a delay quantity used in the step (a4); and (a6) generating the image modulated signal which is pulse-width-modulated based on the pulse signal obtained by the step (a4) and the one of the plurality of pulse signals. According to the optical write method of the present invention, it is possible to realize a high gradation representation even when the operation speed is high.

Pulse width modulation circuit, optical write unit, image forming apparatus and optical write method


A computer-implemented method for finding related datasets includes, for each reference dataset from multiple reference datasets, determining domains and geographies for a user dataset and the reference dataset, obtaining a weighted domain coefficient and a weighted geography coefficient using the determined domains and geographies for the user dataset and the reference dataset, calculating a correlation coefficient between the user dataset and the reference dataset and calculating a semantic filtering coefficient for the user dataset and the reference dataset using the calculated correlation coefficient, the weighted domain coefficient and the weighted geography coefficient.

A user may have a dataset and desire to find other relevant and related datasets. Other relevant and related datasets may enrich the user's dataset and provide analytical insights not possible without such data enrichment. In the process of finding other relevant and related datasets, it is possible that irrelevant and unrelated datasets may be found and included in the results. It may be desirable to eliminate and/or reduce the number of irrelevant and unrelated datasets from the results.


To identify a domain in HIF-1α protein, which participates in stabilization of a fused protein, DNA encoding the following polypeptide (A) or (B) is provided:

The partial pressure of oxygen in a solid tumor is not uniform, and tumor cells are exposed to various oxygen environments. This results from the fact that the scattering distance of oxygen molecules from a blood vessel to the tissue of a tumor is limited. In the field of radiobiology, the inside of a solid tumor is divided into three regions, that is, 1) an aerobic region, 2) a dead region and 3) an hypoxic region according to the amount of oxygen supplied to each tumor cell.
1) Since an extremely large number of oxygen molecules are supplied to each tumor cell at a distance from a capillary vessel of up to 70 μm, this region is called "an aerobic region". Oxygen molecules are indispensable for the acquisition of the effect of radiotherapy for solid tumors. Therefore, it is known that the aerobic region rich in oxygen molecules literally is a region having extremely high radiation sensitivity. The treatment effect of chemotherapy for the aerobic region is considered to be high because an anti-cancer drug is easily scattered from a blood vessel system to the aerobic region when chemotherapy is performed.
2) Oxygen molecules released from the blood vessel are consumed by tumor cells in the aerobic region while the molecules are scattered. Therefore, oxygen molecules required for survival of tumor cells existent in a region far from the capillary vessel are not supplied to the cells. As a result, tumor cells far from the blood vessel system at a distance of 70 μm or more die, thereby forming a dead region.
3) A hypoxic region composed of hypoxic cells is existent between the aerobic region and the dead region. The minimum amount of oxygen molecules required for the survival of tumor cells is supplied to the hypoxic region. However, oxygen molecules enough to obtain the effect of radiotherapy are not supplied. Therefore, the hypoxic region in the tumor has extremely low radiation sensitivity, which is considered to be one of the causes of the re-proliferation of tumor cells after the end of radiotherapy. Since the amount of an anti-cancer drug scattered from the blood vessel system to the hypoxic region is limited when a chemical treatment is performed, a satisfactory treatment effect cannot be expected in fact.
It has been difficult to confirm the existence of such a hypoxic cell. This is because there has been substantially no means of monitoring the existence of oxygen in a cell. Known as means of monitoring the hypoxic cells are a method of measuring an oxygen voltage of a cell using micro-electrodes, immunocytostaining using Pimonidazole (Hypoxyprobe-1) known as a hypoxic cell indicator, immunocytostaining using a gene product whose expression is induced in a cell under hypoxic conditions as a label, and the like. However, the above methods are technically difficult, and at present, also apparatuses for carrying out these are complex and not generally used. That is, the development of general-purpose means of detecting hypoxic cells has been desired.
As described above, in cancer treatment, the existence of hypoxic cancer cells hinders the treatment by radiotherapy or chemotherapy drug. Means of removing these cells effectively has been desired. Although only the use of a combination of a hypoxic cell radiation sensitizer and radiotherapy has been known to cope with the hypoxic cells, only one drug is now in a clinical trial stage and there does not currently exist a hypoxic cell radiation sensitizer which has been put to practical use. This results from the fact that 2-nitroimidazole which is the mother nucleus of the hypoxic cell radiation sensitizer is neurotoxic and it is difficult to control its toxicity and medical effect. That is, the development of means of getting rid of a hypoxic cancer cell effectively has been desired.
By the way, the expression of physiologically important genes such as a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and erythropoietin (EPO) is induced in a cell under a hypoxic environment. The expression of these genes is induced by hypoxia-inducible factor-1 complex (hereinafter, referred to as HIF-1) in a transfer level.
HIF-1 is a heterodimer consisting of HIF-1α protein and HIF-1β protein. These sub-units each have a domain for binding to DNA called "basic-helix-loop-helix domain (bHLH domain)" and a domain for forming a heterodimer called "PER-aryl hydrocarbon nuclear translocator (ARNT)-SIM (PAS) domain" at N termini. It has been found that the HIF-1α protein has two transactivation domains, that is, N- and C-transactivation domains (N-TAD, C-TAD).
The activation mechanism dependent on the oxygen concentration of HIF-1 has recently been clarified. The transfer and translation of HIF-1β mRNA are always activated and its gene product (protein) is always expressed non-dependent on the partial pressure of oxygen in the outside world. Although the transfer and translation of HIF-1α mRNA are also always activated, the biosynthesized HIF-1α protein is positively degraded under aerobic conditions and is existent stably only under hypoxic conditions.
It has thus been found that the stability of the HIF-1α protein is controlled dependent on the concentration of oxygen in the outside world and that the transfer activity of HIF-1 is controlled dependent mainly on the amount of the protein.
To date, it has been reported that the 401a.a.-603a.a. domain is important for the stabilization of HIF-1α under hypoxic conditions in experiments using a partially deleted mutant of HIF-1α (Huang L E, Gu J, Schau M and Bunn H F. 1998. Regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha is mediated by an O2-dependent degradation domain via. the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 95:7987-7992: document 1). This domain is called "an Oxygen Dependent Degradation domain" (ODD domain).
It has been known that the oxygen dependent stability of HIF-1α suggests that amino acid residues in this domain be modified dependent on oxygen under aerobic conditions, be ubiquitinated in the end, and be degraded by proteasome (Huang, L. E., Gu, J. Schau, M. and Bunn, H. F. Regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α is mediated by an O2-dependent degradation domain via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 95: 7987-7992, 1998).
Therefore, it has also been known that HIF-1α can obtain the same stability as that under hypoxic conditions by culturing HIF-1α in a medium containing a proteasome inhibitor such as N-carbobenzoxyl-L-leucinyl-L-leucinyl-L-norvalinal (to be abbreviated as "Cbz-LLL" hereinafter) (Rock, K. L., Gramm, C., Rothstein, L., Clark, K., Stein, R., Dick, L., Hwang, D. and Goldberg, A. L. Inhibitors of the proteasome block the degradation of most cell proteins and the generation of peptides presented on MHC class I molecules. Cell 78: 761-771, 1994: document 3). And this is disclosed (Sutter, C. H., Laughner, E. and Semenza, G. L. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1α protein expression is controlled by oxygen-regulated ubiquitination that is disrupted by deletions and missense mutations. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 97: 4748-4753, 2000: document 4). Through this fact, it has been assumed that the degradation of a fused protein containing the polypeptide is carried out through a degradation mechanism by ubiquitin-proteasome like HIF-1α and that the fused protein is stabilized under hypoxic conditions and in a medium containing Cbz-LLL.
It has been reported that the Gal-4 protein fused with 530a.a.-652a.a. of the HIF-1α protein is controlled to be positively degraded in a cultured cell only when the concentration of oxygen is high (Vickram Srinivas, Li-Ping Zhang, Xiao-Hong Zhu and Jaime Caro. 1999. Characterization of an Oxygen/Redox-Dependent Degradation Domain of Hypoxia-Inducible Factora (HIFα) Proteins. Biochem. Biophy. Res. Com. 260: 557-561: document 5). It has also been reported that when HIF-1α561a.a.-568a.a. in a gene fused with Gal-4 and 529a.a-826a.a. of HIF-1α is substituted by the alanine residue, the above control is lost. It is presumed, from this fact, that the domain around 561a.a.-568a.a. of HIF-1α where the HIF-1α of a mouse and human HIF-1α are well kept takes part in the oxygen concentration dependent stabilization of a protein. It is also discussed whether the 557a.a.-571a.a. domain of HIF-1α plays an important role in the control of the stability of the HIF-1α protein (above document 5).
However, the inventors of the present invention have found it impossible to make the stabilization of a fused protein dependent on the concentration of oxygen only with the 557a.a.-571a.a. domain. It cannot be said that the domain taking part in the stabilization of a fused protein of the HIF-1α protein is identified.
It was reported in 1988 that a protein called "TAT" derived from a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has the activity of transducing a protein through cell membrane (Cell; 55, 1179 (1988), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA; 91, 664 (1994)). After that, it was elucidated that a domain consisting of only 11 amino acids of TAT protein (TAT protein transduction domain) has the above activity. At the same time, it was also reported that β-galactosidase protein fused with this TAT protein transduction domain is introduced into a cell.
However, the relationship between the above HIF-1α and TAT and the relationship between HIF-1α and a protein having protein transduction activity through membrane have been unknown so far. Therefore, it has been unknown that when the HIF-1α protein having a specific region for controlling the stabilization of the HIF-1α protein, a protein having protein transduction activity through membrane and other protein are fused together, making use of the specific region, the obtained fused protein can be introduced into a cell and that in the cell harboring the fused protein, oxygen-dependent stability can be imparted to the fused protein.

Polypeptide for unstabilizing protein in cells under aerobic conditions and DNA encoding the same

Abstract: (A) a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1

Abstract: (B) a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence comprising at least 16 amino acid residues in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1, and imparting stability dependent on an oxygen concentration to other protein in a cell harboring a fused protein, when the polypeptide is fused with a nuclear localization signal and the other protein to form the fused protein.


A satellite dish mounting system for mounting indoors and extending outdoors through a window. The device includes a vertical support member having a lower end mounted indoors on a supporting surface, a horizontal support member having a first end affixed to the vertical support member and extending from the vertical support member through a window and outside the building, and having a second end outside the building, and a satellite antenna dish mounted on the second end of the horizontal support member.

The present invention relates to a satellite mounting device which enables the satellite antenna dish to be mounted through a window of a building.
Portable satellite antenna systems are well known, see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,061,945, 5,526,010, 5,576,722 and 5,363,116. These generally include support legs for mounting in an outdoor environment, as by staking a mounting means to the ground. In addition, satellite dish actuators are known, as, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,145, but these also involve outdoor mounting.
In addition, a variety of rotating brackets are known, as, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,932,620, 1,682,180, 2,543,221 and 4,892,278. But these are not responsive to problems associated with satellite mounting.
Accordingly, it is a principal objective of the present invention to provide an improved satellite mounting device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a satellite mounting device as aforesaid for mounting the satellite dish through a window of a building, with mounting means located indoors.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a satellite mounting device as aforesaid which is inexpensive, simple and convenient to assemble and display, and simple and convenient to disassemble.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinbelow.

Rosa E. Carrero DBS Hispanic Media & Marketing Specialists


A method for guaranteeing Quality of Service (QoS) using bandwidth reservation in a switch includes: establishing a MAC table including MAC addresses of terminals connected to each port of the switch and an identifier indicating whether or not the corresponding terminal is a VoIP terminal; calculating a VoIP bandwidth necessary for each port based on information of the MAC table, calculating a ratio of an entire bandwidth to a bandwidth equal to the entire bandwidth minus the VoIP bandwidth, and setting the ratio as a port ratio of the switch; determining whether or not the corresponding packet is a VoIP packet by filtering the MAC address of the corresponding packet upon an arbitrary packet of the switch being input; and passing the corresponding packet upon a determination that the corresponding packet is a VoIP packet, and passing the corresponding packet only when the bandwidth of the corresponding packet is within a permissible limit of the set port ratio by performing port ratio control upon a determination that the corresponding packet is not a VoIP packet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to guaranteeing Quality of Service (QoS) in a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for guaranteeing QoS of a VoIP by reserving a bandwidth in a layer 2.
2. Description of the Related Art
QoS is a service level required for a specific application program. Since an Internet network based on an IP provides a best-effort data service, it does not guarantee a high QoS. However, it is necessary to guarantee QoS on the IP network in order to embody the VoIP.
In the conventional technology to guarantee the QoS, there are two protocols, that is, a Diffserv (Differentiated Services) protocol that uses priority queuing via various queuing methods in a layer 3 and a RSVE (Resource Reservation) protocol that guarantees a bandwidth.
Meanwhile, a layer 2 is a scheme used to guarantee the QoS, which introduces only a priority scheme utilizing IEEE 802.1p and does not introduce a QoS guarantee scheme via a guarantee of the bandwidth.
It is necessary to guarantee a sufficient bandwidth in order to guarantee an optimum quality of sound in the case of VoIP. However, a minimum bandwidth for the VoIP service is sometimes not guaranteed due to a bandwidth congestion phenomenon in a service in which the bandwidth is variably used by sharing a general data service and a bandwidth in the VoIP.
Such a problem does not occur when VoIP terminals exist in the same switch since the switch has a property of guaranteeing a wire speed between the VoIP terminals. However, such a problem sometimes occurs when the VoIP terminals exist in different switches since the switch has an uplink bandwidth limitation between the VoIP terminals.
In the case of using a hub, of course, such a problem also occurs between the VoIP terminals positioned in the same hub. In this case, the loss and delay of a VoIP packet increases due to a bandwidth loss, and the jitter increases due to the variable data service so that it has a serious effect on the VoIP sound quality.
In an LAN system, a backbone switch is connected to a number of switches, that is, a switch a, a switch b, a switch c, a switch d, . . . , a switch x. The backbone switch is also connected to a data terminal, such as a Personal Computer (PC).
The switch a and switch b are connected to various data terminals. These data terminals can include an IP phone, a PC, a PDA, and so on.
The switch a is also connected to other switches, a switch a′ and a switch b′, and the switch a′ is connected to a switch a″ and a switch b″.
One switch is connected to a number of switches and those switches are connected to other switches, and such a process can be continuously expanded.
When the uplink of the switch a supports a bandwidth of 100M and each of the switch a′ and switch b′ also has a bandwidth of 100M for their uplinks, a problem can occur when a large quantity of data is transmitted from a PC#5 connected to the switch a″ to a PC#1 connected to the switch a.
Since the uplinks of the switch a″ and switch a′ are limited to a bandwidth of 100M, respectively, a severe data congestion phenomenon occurs when a data transmission service is performed between terminals connected to the switch a and switch a′ and other terminals connected to the switch a″ or the switch b″.
This is due to a lack of bandwidth, which has a serious effect on a quality of sound when VoIP service is provided between an IP Phone #1 and an IP Phone #3.
In particular, a window size is changed for flow control for a data service that uses a TCP protocol, where the bandwidth is variably used, which causes a problem of increasing the jitter that has the most noticeable effect on a quality of sound in the VoIP service.

Guaranteeing quality of service (QoS) using bandwidth reservation in switch


The present invention provides a unique fiber optic sensor which is able to provide a visual examination of a sample and its surrounding environment concurrent with the ability to conduct chemical sensing and detection of at least one ligand of interest. The present invention also provides apparatus for making precise optical determinations and measurements for the ligand of interest which can be correlated with specific parameter or other ligands for specific applications and purposes.

The use of optical fibers and optical fiber strands in combination with light energy absorbing dyes for medical, biochemical, and chemical analytical determinations has undergone rapid development, particularly within the last decade. The use of optical fibers for such purposes and techniques is described by Milanovich et al. "Novel Optical Fiber Techniques for Medical Application", Proceedings of the SPIE 28th Annual International Technical Symposium on Optics and Electro-Optics, Volume 494, 1980; Seitz, W. R., "Chemical Sensors Based on Immobilized Indicators and Fiber Optics" in C.R.C. Critical Reviews In Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 19, 1988, pp. 135-173; Wolfbeis, O. S., "Fiber Optical Fluoresensors in Analytical Chemistry" in Molecular Luminescence Spectroscopy, Methods and Applications (S. G. Schulman, editor), Wiley & Sons, New York; Angel, S. M., Spectroscopy 2(4): 38 (1987); and Walt et al., "Chemical Sensors and Microinstrumentation", ACS Symposium Series, Volume 403, 1989, p. 252.
The optical fiber strands typically are glass or plastic extended rods having a small cross-sectional diameter. When light energy is projected into one end of the fiber strand (conventionally termed the "proximal end"), the angles at which the various light energy rays strike the surface are greater than the critical angle; and such rays are "piped" through the strand's length by successive internal reflections and eventually emerge from the opposite end of the strand (conventionally termed the "distal end"). Typically bundles of these strands are used collectively as optical fibers in a variety of different applications.
For making an optical fiber into a sensor, one or more light energy absorbing dyes are attached to the distal end of the optical fiber. The sensor can then be used for both in-vitro and/or in-vivo applications. As used herein, light energy is photoenergy and is defined as electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength. Accordingly, terms "light energy" and "photoenergy" include infrared, visible, and ultraviolet wavelengths conventionally employed in most optical instruments and apparatus; the term also includes the other spectral region of x-ray and microwave wavelengths (although these are generally not used in conjunction with optical fibers).
Typically, light from an appropriate energy source is used to illuminate what is chosen to be the proximal end of an optical fiber or a fiber bundle. The light propagates along the length of the optical fiber; and a portion of this propagated light energy exits the distal end of the optical fiber and is absorbed by one or more energy absorbing dyes. As conventionally used, the light energy absorbing dye may or may not be immobilized; may or may not be directly attached to the optical fiber itself; may or may not be suspended in a fluid sample containing one or more analytes of interest to be detected; and may or may not be retainable for subsequent use in a second optical determination.
Once the light energy has been absorbed by the dye, some light energy of varying wavelength and/or intensity returns through the distal end of the optical fiber and is conveyed through either the same fiber or a collection fiber or fibers to a detection system where the emerging light energy is observed and measured. The interactions between the light energy conveyed by the optical fiber and the properties of the light absorbing dye--in the presence of a fluid sample containing one or more ligands or analytes of interest and in the absence of any ligands or analytes whatsoever--provide an optical basis for both qualitative and quantitative determinations. Merely illustrating the use of optical fiber sensors presently known in a variety of conditions, apparatus, dyes and applications are U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,746; 4,144,452; 4,495,293; and Re. 31,879.
Most light detection systems employ a photosensitive detector such as a photodiode or photomultiplier tube. Spatial resolution of light is possible with two dimensional detectors such as video cameras and charge coupled devices. Moreover, in view of the microcircuitry and enhanced television technology presently available, a variety of light image processing and analytical systems have come into existence in order to both enhance, analyze and mathematically process the light energies introduced to and emerging from the absorbing dyes in such optical analytical techniques. Typically, these systems provide components for photon measurement and include image capture; data acquisitions; data processing and analysis; and visual presentation to the user. Commercial systems available today include the QX-7 image processing and analysis system sold by Quantex, Inc. (Sunnydale, CA); and the IM Spectrofluorescence imaging system offered by SPEX Industries, Inc. (Edison, N. J.). Each of these systems may be combined with microscopes, cameras, and/or television monitors for automatic processing of all light energy determinations.
Of the many different classes of light absorbing dyes which conventionally are employed with bundles of fiber strands and optical fibers for different analytical purposes are those compositions which emit light energy after absorption, termed "fluorophores"; and those which absorb light energy and internally convert the absorbed light energy rather than emit it as light, termed "chromophores." Fluorophores and fluorescent detection methods employing optical fibers are recognized as being markedly different and distinguishable from light energy absorbance and absorption spectroscopy.
Fluorescence is a physical phenomenon based upon the ability of some molecules to absorb light energy (photons) at specified wavelengths and then emit light energy of a longer wavelength and at a lower energy. Such emissions are called fluorescence if the emission is relatively long-lived, typically 10.sup.-11 to 10.sup.-7 seconds. Substances able to fluoresce share and display a number of common characteristics: the ability to absorb light energy at one wavelength or frequency; the reaching of an excited energy state; and the subsequent emission of light at another light wavelength and energy level. The absorption and fluorescence emission spectra are thus individual for each fluorophore; and are often graphically represented as two separate curves which are slightly overlapping. Also, all fluorophores demonstrate the Stokes' Shift--that is, the emitted light is always at a longer wavelength (and at a lower energy level) relative to the wavelength (and energy level) of the exciting light absorbed by the substance. Moreover, the same fluorescence emission spectrum is generally observed irrespective of the wavelength of the exciting light and, accordingly, the wavelength and energy of the exciting light may be varied within limits. Finally, fluorescence may be measured as the quantum yield of light emitted. The fluorescence quantum yield is the ratio of the number of photons emitted in comparison to the number of photons initially absorbed by the fluorophore. For more detailed information regarding each of these characteristics the following references are recommended: Lakowicz, J. R., Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Plenum Press, New York 1983; Freifelder, D., Physical Biochemistry, second edition, W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 1982; "Molecular Luminescence Spectroscopy Methods and Applications: Part I" (S. G. Schulman, editor) in Chemical Analysis, Vol. 77, Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1985; The Theory of Luminescence, Stepanov and Gribkovskii, Iliffe Books, Ltd., London, 1968.
In comparison, substances which absorb light energy and do not fluoresce usually convert the light energy into heat or kinetic energy. The ability to internally convert the absorbed light energy identifies the dye as a "chromophore." Dyes which absorb light energy as chromophores do so at individual wavelengths of energy and are characterized by a distinctive molar absorption coefficient at that wavelength. Chemical analyses employing fiber optic strands and absorption spectroscopy using visible and ultraviolet light wavelengths in combination with the absorption coefficient allow for the determination of concentration for specific analytes of interest by spectral measurement.
Many of the recent improvements employing optical fiber sensors in both qualitative and quantitative analytical determinations concern the desirability of depositing and/or immobilizing various light absorbing dyes at the intended distal end of an optical fiber using a given technique or apparatus. In this manner, a variety of different optical fiber chemical sensors and methods have been reported for specific analytical determinations and applications such as pH measurement, oxygen detection, and carbon dioxide analyses. These developments are exemplified by the following publications: Freeman et al., Anal. Chem. 53:98 (1983); Lippitsch et al., Anal. Chem. Acta. 205:1, (1988); Wolfbeis et al., Anal. Chem. 60:2028 (1988); Jordan et al., Anal. Chem. 59:437 (1987); Lubbers et al., Sens. Actuators (1983); Munkholm et al., Anal. Chem. 58:1427 (1986); Seitz, W. R. Anal. Chem. 56:16A-34A (1984); Peterson et al., Anal. Chem. 52:864 (1980); Saari et al., Anal. Chem. 54:821 (1982); Saari et al., Anal. Chem. 55:667 (1983); Zhujun et al., Anal. Chem. 56:2199 (1984); Collison, M. E. and M. E. Meyerhoff, Anal. Chem. 62:425A (1990); Demas, O. N. and B. A. DeGraff, Anal. Chem. 63:809A (1991); Seitz, W. R., CRC Crit. Rev. Anal. Chem. 19:135 (1988); Kopelman et al., Science 258:778 (1992); Janata, J., Anal. Chem. 64:196R (1992); and Orella et al., Anal. Chem. 64:2210 (1992).
Despite these many innovations and developments, and without regard to whether the application is intended for in-vitro or in-vivo use, it has been nearly impossible to both view the sample or the surrounding environment and concurrently measure and detect a ligand or analyte of interest in a fluid sample using a single optical fiber sensor. Fiber sensors are usually single fibers, thereby precluding their use for imaging. On the other hand, imaging fibers and arrays have been employed only for their intended purpose--viewing. Thus, if viewing is desired, a separate optical fiber coherent bundle which is unencumbered and unobscured would be required in order to view the sample and its surroundings directly. Each of these chemical sensing fibers and visualization fibers markedly increases the size and complexity of the overall system such that no apparatus or system presently exists which both chemically senses and provides viewing capability concurrently. Accordingly, the development of a single imaging fiber optical sensor able to utilize a dye reagent for optical determinations of different ligands of interest, concurrently with a capability of viewing the sample and its environment at will, would be recognized as a major advance and substantial improvement.

Thin film fiber optic sensor array and apparatus for concurrent viewing and chemical sensing of a sample


A bumper beam structure for a vehicle includes a height-raising wall provided on an upper portion of a beam body to be fixedly on left and right frames of a vehicle body. The height-raising wall includes: a bottom wall portion fixed to the upper portion of the beam body; a running-up preventing wall portion extending upwardly from the bottom wall portion; a first reinforcing wall portion connecting to the respective one end of the running-up preventing and bottom wall portions; and a second reinforcing wall portion connecting to the respective other ends of the running-up preventing and bottom wall portions. With such a height-raising wall, the bumper beam structure can interfere with another vehicle of a higher height to prevent the other vehicle from running up onto the vehicle provided with the bumper beam structure.

Automotive vehicles include bumpers at the front and rear ends of the vehicle body, so as to deal with any possible impact applied thereto (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-271734).
FIG. 5 hereof shows an impact absorbing structure disclosed in the 2005-271734 publication. The disclosed impact absorbing structure 201, which is a front bumper, includes front bumper reinforcing members 202 and 203 and crash box 204 that have an upper flange portion 205 and upper edge portion 206, respectively. Thus, the impact absorbing structure 201 has a large height from the ground surface.
Although the disclosed impact absorbing structure 201 can effectively absorb an impact by means of the upper flange portion 205 and upper edge portion 206 as well as the front bumper reinforcing members 202 and 203, it would undesirably have an increased weight due to the provision of the upper flange portion 205 and upper edge portion 206. Further, whereas the provision of the upper flange portion 205 and upper edge portion 206 can enlarge the shock absorbing range upwardly, the disclosed impact absorbing structure 201 can not achieve desired impact absorption.


The invention is directed to a peptide comprising the amino acid sequence substantially as denoted by SEQ ID NO:1 and biologically functional homologues and derivatives thereof.

Throughout this application, various publications are referred to by Arabic numerals in parentheses. These publications are incorporated herein in their entireties and constitute part of the description.
Adjuvant Arthritis (AA) is an experimental model of autoimmune arthritis which can be induced in susceptible strains of rats such as inbred Lewis or Wistar strains upon vaccination with heat-killed Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MT) in complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) [1-3]. The disease cannot be induced in resistant strains of rats (e.g., Brown-Norway; Fisher [5, 6], and Lewis rats develop resistance to re-induction of the disease after recovery from arthritis.
The inventors have previously show that resistance to AA can be transferred to a susceptible strain of rats by intravenous infusion of immunoglobulins from the resistant strains, and that resistance is associated with the presence of antibodies against the 65 kD MT heat shock protein (HSP 65) [4].
Heat shock proteins are a family of highly conserved proteins. There is ˜50% amino acid identity between the Mycobacterial HSP 65 and the mammalian HSP 60 [21]. The role of the 65 kD heat shock protein (HSP 65) of MT in the pathogenesis of autoimmune arthritis, both in experimental animals [7, 8] as well as in humans [9-11], has been investigated intensively in the past several years. For example, Barker et al. [32] describe the suppression of arthritogenic immune responses in mice given HSP65 and pristane. The antigen used to elicit the response was full-length HSP65, and no attempt was made to investigate the effect of specific sub-domains or peptides deriving from this protein.
AA can be passively transferred by a T-cell clone reactive to residues 180-188 of the MT HSP 65, and in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an association between T-cell responses to HSP 65 and early stages of joint inflammation has been found [7, 12-14]. Paradoxically, pre-immunization with the mycobacterial HSP 65 leads to resistance to induction of the disease by MT, and this protective effect is believed to be mediated by T cells specific for HSP 65 [7, 15-16]. Likewise, although arthritic rats develop vigorous T cell responses to self-HSP and to peptide 180-188 of the MT HSP, neither of these is arthritogenic when injected to arthritis-susceptible rats [15, 17]. These results and other suggest that HSP may contain epitopes that are disease-related and other epitopes that confer resistance [5, 19, 20]. Both the pathogenic immune response as well as the protective effect were attributed to anti-HSP T-cells. The following Examples illustrate the fine epitope specificity of the anti-HSP antibodies of arthritis-susceptible and resistant rats.
In addition, the inventors have found that naive Lewis rats lack antibodies to certain epitopes of the mycobacterial HSP 65 which are found naturally in young BN and old naive Lewis rats, and that are acquired by young Lewis rats after recovery from the disease. Analysis of the primary and tertiary structure of the whole MT HSP 65 kD molecule indicated that these "protective" epitopes are potential B-cell epitopes with a non-conserved amino acid sequences that are found on the outer surface of the molecule.
Pre-immunization of Lewis rats with one of the "protective" epitopes prior to induction of the disease induced antibodies against the whole molecule as well as resistance to disease induction. This peptide corresponds also to the self-HSP 60 epitope to which antibodies were found in the arthritis-resistant rats, but not in the arthritis-susceptible naive Lewis rats.

Amino acid sequences, DNA encoding the amino acid sequences, antibodies directed against such sequences and the different uses thereof

Hadasit Medical Research Services & Development Ltd.


A method for operating a mirrored disk storage system, comprises a determiner component for determining a repair characteristic of a pair of mirrored disks, a comparator for comparing said repair characteristic of a first of said pair with said repair characteristic of a second of said pair, and a cancelling component for cancelling a repair action for said one of said first or said second of said pair that is not selected by said selector.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for recovery control in mirrored disks, and in particular to a technology for improving recovery time of mirrored disks when read stability is in doubt.
Description of the Related Art
In storage systems an array of independent storage devices can be configured to operate as a single virtual storage device using a technology known as RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks—earlier known as Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). A computer system configured to operate with a RAID storage system is able to perform input and output (I/O) operations (such as read and write operations) on the RAID storage system as if the RAID storage system were a single storage device. A RAID storage system includes an array of independent storage devices and a RAID controller. The RAID controller provides a virtualised view of the array of independent storage devices—this means that the array of independent storage devices appear as a single virtual storage device with a sequential list of storage elements. The storage elements are commonly known as blocks of storage, and the data stored within them are known as data blocks. I/O operations are qualified with reference to one or more blocks of storage in the virtual storage device. When an I/O operation is performed on the virtual storage device the RAID controller maps the I/O operation onto the array of independent storage devices. In order to virtualise the array of storage devices and map I/O operations the RAID controller may employ standard RAID techniques that are now well known in the art.
In a non-RAID computer system, if a disk drive fails, all or part of the stored customer data may be permanently lost (or possibly partially or fully recoverable but at some expense and effort). Although backup and archiving devices and procedures may preserve all but the most recently saved data, there are certain applications in which the risk of any data loss and the time required to restore data from a backup copy is unacceptable. Therefore, RAID ("redundant array of inexpensive disks") storage subsystems are frequently used to provide improved data integrity and device fault tolerance.
Storage subsystems thus aim to provide continuous data availability and data integrity. One solution that aims to increase availability is RAID-1 which is also commonly known as mirroring. Mirroring maintains two or more copies of the data and when one copy is unavailable then the other, or another, copy is used to allow I/O to continue thus improving availability over the case where only a single copy exists and is unavailable.
To maintain the mirror each write I/O must be performed to each copy. An I/O failure could occur before all write I/Os to all copies have completed which could result in the mirror having different data on different copies. In these situations it is important that the storage system maintains read stability (which is defined to mean that every read I/O to the same area should return the same data if no intervening writes have occurred) which means that the copies must be restored to a state where they have identical data.
RAID-1 mirroring solutions typically have methods to store metadata to record writes in flight that can be used to replay write I/Os after a system failure (such as a reset). After the writes in flight have been replayed read stability is restored.
More severe system failures can mean all ability to replay writes in flight has been lost. In these situations there is no way to determine what part of the mirror copy data is identical. In these circumstances read stability can be restored by choosing any one mirror copy as a source and copying all its contents to the other target copies (commonly referred to as synchronizing the copies). This situation when the mirror read stability is in doubt is different from the case where one copy has the correct data and another copy does not contain the same data (because it could not be written to for some reason), recovery from this situation using synchronisation is provided by systems known in the art.
As soon as the source copy is available data availability can be restored as this copy has the correct data that can be read. When the source and all target copies are available and after the synchronisation process has successfully completed, read stability across the mirror copies has been restored and therefore all mirror copies are usable and mirror redundancy has been restored.
However, until the source copy is available the mirror is unavailable and the synchronisation process to restore the mirror redundancy cannot be started. This means existing solutions can take a considerable time to recover the mirror availability and its redundancy.
It would thus be desirable to have an improved technological means for recovery control in mirrored disks, and in particular to have a technology for improving recovery time of mirrored disks when read stability is in doubt.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Techniques for predicting an offsite entity interaction rate are provided. One approach involves using a first machine-learned model that includes a first plurality of features that correspond to entity and campaign attributes. The approach also involves training a second machine-learned model that includes a second plurality of features that includes a particular feature corresponding to predicted entity interaction rates. Thus, output of the first machine-learned model is input to the second machine-learned model. The second machine-learned model includes multiple weights that include a particular weight for the particular feature. A content request is received and a set of campaigns is identified based on an entity identifier associated with the content request. Scores are generated based on the first and second machine-learned models. Based on the scores, a campaign is selected and campaign data associated with the campaign is transmitted over a computer network.

A content delivery system publishes electronic content to users of the content delivery system. The electronic content may also be published as sponsored content through many third-party web applications and third-party mobile applications to users of the content delivery system. In some cases, users that are active onsite (the content delivery system) can be widely different from offsite users (such as users of third-party web applications or third-party mobile applications).
It can become a resource-intensive task to collect all the user data associated with active offsite users when a content request is received at the content delivery system from an offsite third-party system. Specifically, it may create delay in collecting the user data, selecting target content based on the user data, and serving the target content during runtime. Therefore, a comprehensive and efficient method of aggregating and utilizing the onsite data to predict offsite user interaction rates before serving the content is desired to better serve the content that meets the criteria.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Machine-learning techniques to predict offsite user interactions based on onsite machine- learned models


A dome light housing of the type adapted for fitting within a school bus interior. The housing includes a base defining a well having an enclosed bottom, an enclosed end and an end with aperture, together with an open top. A peripheral ledge and support surface extends around the top of the well, as a seat for a covering lens. A seat for a plug insert is defined at the open end of the well. A covering lens is removably supported upon the support surface within the peripheral ledge and a plug insert is fitted within the end with aperture, so as to support an illuminating bulb and wiring assembly within the well and adjacent the covering lens.

1. Field of the Invention
Dome lights of the type adapted for fitting within the ceiling of a vehicle, such as school buses, trucks, and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
______________________________________ DASHNER 2,116,750 McCAIN 3,671,739 KAMINSKI et al. 4,628,417 DYKSTRA et al. 4,686,609 PENG 4,760,500 ______________________________________
The aforelisted patents suggest various dome light configurations. However, none suggest a tamper-proof dome light which is readily installed and grounded within the ceiling of a school bus.


A claw pole motor stator includes teeth for N phases (N being a natural number of 3 or more), for example, U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase teeth juxtaposed in an axial direction, return paths for interconnecting the U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase teeth, and (N−1) annular slots formed between the U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase teeth. A U-phase coil and one V-phase coil are housed in one annular slot, and another V-phase coil and a W-phase coil are housed in the other annular slot. In this way, only N sets of teeth and N−1 annular slots are provided for N phases, and thus it is possible to minimize the thickness in the axial direction of the stator compared with a conventional stator which requires 2N sets of teeth and N annular slots for N phases.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a claw pole motor stator in which teeth for N phases juxtaposed in an axial direction have coils for N phases wound therearound within a plane perpendicular to an axis.
2. Description of Related Art
A type of claw pole motor stator is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-227075. The stator is provided with three stator units that correspond to each of a U-phase, a V-phase, and a W-phase. Each stator unit is formed with a U-shaped cross-section having two sets of teeth spaced from each other in the axial direction, and a return path to connect the teeth at radially outer ends thereof. By energizing an annular coil housed within the U-shaped cross-section stator unit, an independent magnetic path is generated, which magnetizes two types of poles having different polarities. The poles are projectingly provided at radially inner ends of the two sets of teeth of the stator unit and face a rotor.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional arrangement, the stator is formed by stacking the U-phase, V-phase, and W-phase stator units in the axial direction. Since each stator unit has an annular slot housing a coil therewithin and is further provided with two teeth sets and two types of poles, the axial thickness of the stator unit is disadvantageously large, and the axial dimensions of the stator are disadvantageously increased.
In particular, when a claw pole motor is disposed between an engine and a transmission of a hybrid vehicle, it is desirable that the thickness of the motor be as thin as possible. Because the above-mentioned conventional claw pole motor uses a relatively thick stator, it is rather difficult for the conventional motor to meet this objective.


Provided are an Aspergillus mutant strain which can dramatically enhance production of a heterologous enzyme when a saccharifying enzyme gene is transferred into the strain to perform transformation and a transformant having a saccharifying enzyme gene transferred into the Aspergillus mutant strain. The Aspergillus mutant strain has been completely or partially deficient in three genes of Aspergillus oryzae strain HO2 (accession number: NITE BP-01750): a prtR gene coding for a transcription factor; a pepA gene coding for an extracellular acid protease; and a cpI gene coding for an extracellular acid carboxypeptidase.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an Aspergillus mutant strain suitable for solid culture and also suitable as a host for genetic transformation and a transformant obtained from the Aspergillus mutant strain.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a method for manufacturing alcohol such as ethanol by saccharizing lignocellulosic biomass, such as rice straw and corn stover, as a substrate using a saccharifying enzyme and fermenting the resulting sugars by microorganisms (alcohol-fermenting microorganisms) is known.
It is known that transformants into which a saccharifying enzyme gene has been introduced into Aspergillus strains such as Aspergillus oryzae are used when the lignocellulosic biomass is saccharized with a saccharifying enzyme. For example, the transformants are solid cultured by using the lignocellulosic biomass to produce the saccharifying enzyme, so that the lignocellulosic biomass is saccharized with the saccharifying enzyme.
However, because Aspergillus oryzae has protease genes and produces proteases, it has a problem in that a heterologous enzyme produced by the transformant may be degraded by the proteases.
To solve the problem, it is known that deletion of protease genes of Aspergillus oryzae will enhance production of the heterologous enzyme (see e.g., Disruption of ten protease genes in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae highly improves production of heterologous proteins, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol (2011) 89: 747-759).
However, an Aspergillus oryzae deficient in one or more protease genes cannot sufficiently enhance production of the heterologous enzyme. Therefore, further improvements are desired.

Aspergillus mutant strain and transformant thereof


A printed circuit board and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. The printed circuit board includes an insulating layer including a first resin layer and a second resin layer, circuit layers disposed on upper and lower surfaces of the insulating layer, and a via configured to connect the circuit layer formed on the upper surface to the circuit layer formed on the lower surface, and the second resin layer extends from an upper surface of the first resin layer to a lower surface of the first resin layer by passing through the first resin layer as to contact a side surface of the via.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a printed circuit board and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
With the widespread use of electronic devices with greater capabilities and smaller sizes, demands exist to produce circuit boards for mounting components that exhibit increased circuit density and a reduced manufacturing cost.
However, there is a limitation in manufacturing fine circuits and reducing via sizes in order to form high density interlayer connections in printed circuit boards.

Printed circuit board and method of manufacturing the same