A method for inducing or enhancing in a human subject the production of antibodies reactive with the polypeptide subunit of Urinary Tumor Associated Antigen having a molecular weight of about 90 to 100 kD after reduction by .beta.-mercaptoethanol and separation by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is disclosed. The method comprises administering to the subject an effective dose of a composition comprising inactivated tumor cells having Urinary Tumor Associated Antigen on the cell surface and at least one tumor associated antigen selected from the group consisting of GM-2, GD-2, Fetal Antigen and Melanoma Associated Antigen.

This invention relates generally to tumor-associated antigens, specifically to an antigen found in the urine of cancer patients which can be used for immunodiagnosis, immunoprognosis, and therapy of human cancer.
It is well documented in animal models that cells were changed biochemically and morphologically after neoplastic transformation in vivo. Such transformed neoplastic cells in appropriate doses are capable of inducing protective immunity against tumor development in syngeneic animals when subsequently inoculated with adequate number of viable neoplastic (cancer) cells. The protective immunity was determined to be due to emergence of certain new components that were called tumor-specific transplantation antigens. Expression of similar components, so called tumor-associated antigens, by human malignant tumor cells has been identified by serologic analysis using autologous and allogeneic human sera as the source of antibody. Use of sera from animals immunized with human cancer cells and murine monoclonal antibodies developed against human tumors have added to the definition of additional tumor-associated antigens. However, xeno-polyclonal or murine monoclonal antibody defined antigens on human tumor cells are not necessarily immunogenic in humans. While the physico-chemical properties of almost all of the antigens defined by xeno-polyclonal and murine monoclonal antibodies have been elucidated in great detail, such information is available for only a very few tumor-associated antigens defined by autologous and allogeneic antibodies. The reasons for such paucity have been difficulties in solubilizing adequate amount of the antigens for subsequent purification to homogeneity and the polyclonal nature of autologous and allogeneic antibodies. Without the availability of well characterized tumor-associated antigens that are immunogenic in the host, the importance of these antigens is not fully realized in terms of their application for immunodiagnosis, immunoprognosis and treatment of human cancer.
The tumor-associated antigens in human neoplasms that have been defined by autologous and allogeneic antibodies vary in their distributions. Some are expressed only by individual tumor cell lines or tumors; some are shared by histologically dissimilar tumors including organs where the tumor arises and fetal tissues. The antigens that are expressed only by individual tumors are of limited importance for immunodiagnosis and treatment because tumor cell lines generally do not establish from every single tumor and cannot be applied to another patient. On the contrary, tumor antigens that are shared by different tumors of the same histologic type or by histologically dissimilar tumors can be applied for immunodiagnosis, immunoprognosis and treatment of different patients with different types of cancers.
There are well documented instances to suggest that immunity against growing neoplasm in humans can be enhanced by active immunization with antigen bearing tumor cells. The purpose of such active specific immunotherapy is directed at attempts to enhance the level of anti-tumor immunity beyond that which is naturally induced by the growing neoplasm. It is believed that a growing neoplasm does not induce a maximum immune response in the host to the tumor associated antigens it contains. Most immunotherapy attempts have involved vaccines prepared from whole tumor cells, because progress has been slow in the isolation and purification of human tumor associated antigens. The possibility that living autologous tumor cells could result in tumor growth at the inoculation site has inhibited the use of such vaccines in man. However, tumor cells that express high levels of shared common tumor-associated antigens can be used to immunize different patients (Morton, D. L. et al, In Terry, W. D., Rosenberg, S. A. (eds): Immunotherapy of Human Cancer. New York, Elsevier North Holland, pp 245-249 (1982); Livingston P.O., et al., Int. J. Cancer 31:567 (1983)). The advantage of using such an allogeneic vaccine is two-fold: (1) an immune response induced against the foreign HLA transplantation antigens on the allogeneic vaccinated tumor cells would cause their rejection; (2) this immunization should induce a strong immune response against the shared common cross-reacting tumor-associated antigens to which the human leukocyte antigens (HLA) might serve as a helper function.
Most attempts at immunotherapy in man have been with vaccines composed of inactivated tumor cells, crude extracts or preparations from isolated membranes. Although such preparations may be effective in eliminating progressive tumor growth, there is always the great danger of inactivating the tumor-associated antigens during preparation of the vaccine, unless immunologic reagents and sensitive techniques are available for systemically following the isolation-purification procedure.
Cancer patients who are most likely to respond to an active specific immunotherapy are those who are early in their disease and have minimal residual tumor burden following treatment with other therapeutic modalities (Morton D. L., Seminars in Oncology 13:180 (1986)).
Using lyophilized and reconstituted urine samples of cancer patients and autologous serum as the source of antibody in a complement fixation assay, immunologic reactivity has been observed. The reactivity was abolished by absorption of the sera with tumor cells and not by human normal cells. These observations indicated that immunologically similar antigens were present in the urine samples and tumor cells. Furthermore, the observed reactivity in urine samples of cancer patients who were studied sequentially disappeared after surgical ablation of tumor but reappeared before tumor recurrence, (Gupta, R. K. et al., J. Surg. Oncol., 11:65 (1979)). Because many of the test samples were highly anti-complementary, perhaps due to artifacts arising during lyophilization process, a different method was developed for preparing urine samples for testing. In this study, 24 hour urine samples were obtained from larger numbers of cancer patients and normal controls. The urine samples were concentrated 100-fold by centrifugation and ultrafiltration, and tested by complement fixation using autologous serum as the source of antibody. Ninety-two percent (55/60) of cancer patients were positive for the antigens in their urine as opposed to only 7% (2/27) normal controls. Antibody activity of the sera reacting to the urine from cancer patients was removed by absorption with biopsied tumor specimens but not with normal skin or muscle suggesting that the antigens detected in urine of cancer patients were tumor associated (Rote, N. S. et al, J. Surg. Res. 29:18 (1980).
In a subsequent investigation, an allogeneic serum that had high titer to antigens in urine was used as the source of antibody. Use of this antibody source in complement fixation revealed that urine samples of 94.7% of cancer patients and 35.1% of normal controls were positive. Again, absorption of the allogeneic serum with tumor cells (autologous to the urine source) removed the antibody activity. However, human normal lymphocytes, skin and muscle cells were ineffective as absorbents. Furthermore, excretion of antigens into urine appeared to depend on the presence of tumor in the patients, because removal of tumor by curative surgery resulted in cessation of the putative antigens excretion. The urine remained negative as long as the patient was free of tumor (Rote, N. S. et al., Int. J. Cancer 26:203 (1980)). However, presence of the antigens in 35% of normal urine indicated a cross-reacting antigenic system which prevented this test from practical use.
Gel filtration chromatography of the concentrated urine revealed that the antigenic activity was present in the first peak of the elution profile. However, when this procedure was performed in the presence of 6M urea, the antigenic activity was found in three different peaks representing various molecular sizes, the majority of the activity being in the first peak. However, because of the polyclonal nature of the allogeneic serum that was used as the source of antibody, it was impossible to determine if the antigenic activity in different peaks represented disassociation product of a large antigenic complex bearing the same epitope or represented different epitopes. Similar results were observed when lyophilized and reconstituted urine was used (Rote, N. S. et al, supra). Thus the antigens in urine of cancer patients recognized by autologous and allogeneic antibody was actually a macromolecular complex and because of polyclonal nature of the antibody, the nature of the specific epitope could not be determined. However, the majority of the evidence suggested that the excretion of antigenic macromolecular complex into urine of cancer patients was dependent on the presence of tumor in the cancer host. Serial measurements of tumor-associated antigens in the urine of cancer patients who received preoperative chemo- and radiation therapy were made by complement fixation. The level of excretion of the antigens into urine as a result of therapy were compared to pretreatment samples and changes were correlated with clinicopathological evidence of in situ tumor cell destruction. Of the 53 cancer patient studied in this manner, 44 had clinicopathologic evidence of tumor destruction induced by the preoperative therapy, and all 44 patients had four-fold or greater rise in the level of urinary antigens during the treatment period. The other nine patients had no evidence of tumor destruction and the antigen titers in these patients remained unchanged. These results suggested that excretion of tumor-associated antigens in urine could be used to assess the in vivo effectiveness of tumoricidal therapy of nonaccessible tumors (Huth, J. F. et al., Cancer Treat. Rep. 65:1037 (1981)). Similar results were observed in patients with colon carcinoma receiving hyperthermia and chemotherapy. Again, the incidence of antigenic activity in urine of apparently healthy individuals was high, i.e. 10% (2/20). (Fink, S. J. et al., J. Surg. Oncol. 21:81 (1982)).
Because allogeneic serum was used as the source of antibody in the complement fixation assay, the possibility existed that part of the immunologic reactivity with urine samples could be due to histocompatibility antigens. Therefore, the serum was absorbed with pooled lymphocytes to remove as much anti-HLA antibodies as possible from the serum. This often added anticomplementary activity to the serum. This problem was obviated by using the serum at a dilution beyond the anticomplementary activity level. However, this resulted in reduced sensitivity of the assay. Furthermore, some of the test (urine) samples by themselves exhibited the anticomplementary activity rendering them unsuitable for detection of urinary antigens by complement fixation. To circumvent these problems, a competitive inhibition enzyme immunoassay was developed. In this assay, reactivity between known amounts of autologous antibody and tumor-associated urinary antigens was competitively inhibited by allogeneic urine (test) samples only if the test samples contained immunologically similar antigens. The results of the assay correlated very well with the results of complement fixation without having to deal with the problem of anticomplementary activity and reactivity due to HLA present in the test urine samples. However, the test lacked specificity because of reactivity with urine of normal individuals. (Huth, J. F. et al., Cancer 47:2856 (1981)).
Analysis of urinary tumor-associated antigens by gel-filtration chromatography consistently revealed that the antigenic complex recognized by autologous and allogeneic antibodies had a molecular mass of greater than 300 kD. This antigenic mass was clearly too large to pass through the glomerular basement membrane of kidney by simple diffusion. There are several reports in literature concerning the development of nephrotic syndrome in cancer patients. Renal biopsies of these patients often demonstrated the deposition of immune complexes within the glomerular basement membrane (Laughridge, L. W. and Lewis, M. G., Lancet 1:256 (1971); Couser, W. G. et al., Am. J. Med. 57:962 (1974)). Thus, it was logical to assume that antigens shed by tumor cells in vivo into circulation would react with specific antibodies to form circulating immune complexes. These immune complexes might deposit in the glomerular basement membrane and cause membrane damage that would allow the passage of high molecular weight antigenic complex into the urine. A relationship between antigen nonspecific immune complexes in circulation of cancer patients and excretion of urinary antigens was observed. Of 36 cancer patients who were positive for urinary antigens, 28 (78%) were also positive for circulating immune complexes at the time of urine collection. Of 24 patients that were negative for circulating immune complexes, 22 (92%) were also negative for urinary antigens. In a cancer patient whose serum and urine samples were studied sequentially during this course of thermochemotherapy, fluctuations in the levels of circulating immune complexes and excretion of urinary antigens were parallel. These results suggested that excretion of urinary tumor-associated antigens into urine of cancer patients was not an isolated phenomenon; rather, immune complex deposition in kidneys appeared to cause glomerular damage which allowed passage of the antigens into the urine, Huth, J. F. et al., Cancer 49:1150, (1982).
In an attempt to determine the applicability of the urinary tumor-associated antigens for prognostication of cancer patients, the antigenic complex was partially purified and used as target antigen in the competitive inhibition enzyme immunoassay. One hundred-fold concentrated urine samples from normal controls and melanoma patients were used to establish the base line, distribution of the antigens, and early detection of subclinical recurrence. The results were expressed as antigen units (ng antigenic protein/mg creatinine/24 hours) for comparison among individuals. The antigen levels in urine of melanoma patients (median=56.5 units, n=56) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of normal controls (median=1.9 units, n=56). The 90th percentile for the normal group was 34.3 antigen units. Using this value as the criterion for positivity, 64% (36/56) urine samples of melanoma group were positive for the antigens as opposed to 11% (6/56) of normal controls. Subsequently a retrospective analysis of 58 melanoma patients paired on the basis of disease recurrence and no recurrence after lymphadenectomy revealed a median antigen level of 68 units for the recurrent group and 18.9 for the non-recurrent group. Eighteen of 29 (62%) melanoma patients who had recurrence of their disease and 9 of 29 (31%) patients who remained disease free were urinary antigen positive. These incidences were significantly different (p<0.005) (Gupta, R. K. et al., Diagnostic Immunol. 1:303 (1983)). Though the results of the above investigations confirmed previous observations, the utility of urinary antigen detection assay remained uncertain because of the consistent observation that urine of many (11%) normal individuals had considerable levels of the antigen.
Despite significant progress made in developing assays using tumor markers that are not immunogenic in the cancer host, e.g., CEA, alpha-fetoprotein, prostate specific antigen, etc., there exists a need to diagnose and treat tumors using tumor-associated antigens that are immunogenic in the cancer host. This invention satisfies these needs by providing for the detection of various tumors by detecting U-TAA while avoiding the detection of false positives. In addition, this invention provides antigenic subunits of U-TAA and a vaccine which induces cell mediated specificity for individual determinants on the tumor cell surface, as well as anti-U-TAA antibody production.

Tumor associated antigen compositions and methods


A reconfigurable multifunctional optical device has an optical arrangement for receiving an optical signal, each having optical bands or channels, and a spatial light modulator for reflecting the at least one optical signal provided thereon. The optical arrangement features a free optics configuration with a light dispersion element for spreading each optical signal into one or more respective optical bands or channels for performing separate optical functions on each optical signal. The spatial light modulator includes a micro-mirror device with an array of micro-mirrors, and the respective optical bands or channels reflect off respective micro-mirrors. The free optics configuration includes a common set of optical components for performing each separate optical function on each optical signal. The separate optical functions reflect off separate non-overlapping areas on the spatial light modulator. The separate optical functions include optical switching, conditioning or monitoring functions.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to tunable optical devices, and more particularly to a reconfigurable multifunctional optical device including a spatial light modulator to selectively attenuate, condition and/or redirect at least one optical channel of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical signal.
2. Description of Related Art
MEMS micro-mirrors have been widely explored and used for optical switching and attenuation applications. The most commonly used application is for optical cross-connect switching. In most cases, individual micro-mirror elements are used to 'steer' a beam (i.e., an optical channel) to a switched port or to deflect the beam to provide attenuation on a channel-by-channel basis. Each system is designed for a particular 'wavelength plan'—e.g. "X" number of channels at a spacing "Y", and therefore each system is not 'scalable' to other wavelength plans.
Further, dynamic gain equalization (or "flattening") is a critical technology for deployment of next-generation optical network systems. Dynamic gain equalizing filters (DGEF's) function by adding varying amounts of attenuation at different spectral locations in the signal spectrum of optical fiber communication systems. For instance, a DGEF may be designed to operate in the "C-band" (˜1530–1565 nanometers (nm)) of the communication spectrum that is capable of selectively attenuating spectrally concatenated "bands" of some preselected spectral width (e.g., 3 nm). The total number of bands within the DGEF is determined by the width of an individual band.
In the networking systems, it is often necessary to route different channels (i.e., wavelengths) between one fiber and another using a reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) and/or an optical cross-connect device.
One issue with the above optical MEMs device is that it is not "channel plan independent". In other words, each MEMs device is limited to the channel spacing (or channel plan) originally provide. Another concern is that if the absolute value of a channel wavelength changes, a respective optical signal may begin to hit an edge of a corresponding mirror leading to large diffraction losses. Further, since each channel is aligned to an individual mirror, the device must be carefully adjusted during manufacturing and kept in alignment when operated through its full temperature range in the field.
It would be advantageous to provide an optical switching or attenuating device using a spatial light modulator and to combine multiple optical functions using a single spatial light modulator.

Multifunctional optical device having a spatial light modulator with an array of micromirrors


A method for refreshing a flash memory device includes providing first and second refresh fields that include a plurality of memory blocks, and determining, when there is a request for a refresh, a condition of a memory block to be refreshed in accordance with which of the first and second refresh fields includes the memory block to be refreshed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to semiconductor memory devices and, more particularly, to electrically erasable and programmable flash memory devices.
A claim of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 is made to Korean Patent Application No. 2006-90867 filed on Sep. 19, 2006, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices are generally divided into volatile memory devices and nonvolatile memory devices. Nonvolatile memory devices are those which can retain stored data even in the absence of power supply. On the other hand, volatile memory devices are those who lose stored data in the event of a power loss. Flash memories are one kind of nonvolatile memory. There are various types of flash memories such as, for example, programmable read-only memories (PROM), erasable and programmable read-only memories (EPROM), and electrically erasable and programmable read-only memories (EEPROM).
In addition to retaining stored data in the event of a power loss, flash memories are also more resistant to physical shocks and have faster access times for reading as compared to other memory devices. Because of these and other such features, flash memories are widely used as storage units in electronic apparatuses powered up by batteries. Furthermore, data is stored in a flash memory in memory blocks, each block including a plurality of memory cells. Generally, the memory cells are transistors which store data in the form of a voltage level. In addition, in single bit memory cells, each memory cell stores 1-bit data, but in multi-level memory cells, each memory cell includes at least 2-bit data.
In EEPROMs, programming and erasing operations are carried out by performing these operations in a plurality of memory blocks. To this end, generally, an EEPROM is erasable or programmable one memory block at a time. This means that EEPROMs may operate more rapidly and effectively during reading and writing operations by reading and writing data from and to multiple memory blocks in the EEPROM at the same time. The memory blocks in EEPROMs include insulation films. These films enclose charge storage elements. Charge storage elements are components used to retain data stored in the memory blocks. While these films may be used to protect the charge storage elements from undesirable electrical side-effects, these insulation films will wear out at some point as the number of reading and writing operations increase.
Thus, it is important to analyze the reliability of a flash memory device based on the available number of programming/erasing cycles (or endurance by operations), such that there is no degradation in data retention characteristics and data quality. There may be many other problems associated with the number of programming/erasing cycles in a flash memory device. For example, stored charges (or electrons) may easily leak out of the floating gate of a transistor because of various mechanical/electrical failures. These failures may include, for example, emission of thermions, charge diffusion, drifts of ionic impurities, stress by program disturbance, and so on. Furthermore, these failures are likely to decrease the threshold voltage of each memory cell in a memory block.
On the other hand, when the control gate of a transistor is held at a power source voltage, charges accumulate in the floating gate. This may lead to an increase in the threshold voltage of the memory cell. Furthermore, repetitive programming/erasing cycles may stress the oxide films of memory transistors and cause failures such as, for example, breakdowns of tunnel oxide films in the flash memory device. Such a failure may also lead to lower threshold voltages in memory cells. That is, under such conditions, charges would normally leak out of the floating gate of a programmed memory cell. As a result, as noticed by the broken line in FIG. 1, distribution profiles of programmed memory cells may move toward the lower voltages. Thus, there may be memory cells (those belonging to the shadow part) having threshold voltages lower than a program-verifying voltage. A program-verifying voltage is a voltage applied to a memory cell to ensure that the cell has been properly programmed. Because the threshold voltages of some memory cells may be lower than the program-verifying voltage, there may be errors in the program verifying operation. For example, if a memory cell has been programmed and has a program verify voltage of 5 v, if the threshold voltage of the cell drops below 5 v, a program verifying voltage applied to the cell may indicate that the memory cell has not been programmed although, in reality, the cell was programmed.
Thus, there is a need for structures and methods of programming flash memory devices which allow for repeated programming/erasing operations in the memory devices without causing as many electrical/mechanical failures as in conventional flash memory devices.
The present disclosure is directed towards overcoming one or more shortcomings associated with the conventional flash memory devices.

Flash memory device and refresh method thereof


A MEMS sensor includes a micro-electromechanical structure, a detection circuit, and a self-test circuit to test the health of the MEMS sensor during runtime operations. The self-test circuit is configured to inject into the micro-electromechanical structure a plurality of injected test signals that are broad-band frequency-varying frequency signals, which are based on spread spectrum based modulation. The injected test signals may a magnitude that is below an observable threshold of the sensor signal as well as a test-signal bandwidth that overlaps with a substantial portion of the sensor bandwidth, including the stimulus of interest.

Inertial-based MEMS sensors, such as MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers, are generally being used in greater quantities and in greater numbers of controls applications in automotive and vehicle systems. These applications may include, for example, usage in electronic stability controls (ESC), anti-lock braking systems (ABS), and supplemental restraint systems (SRS). Such sensors are also being used in various other applications, for example, in medical systems, such as in mechanized prostheses. In these and other MEMS applications, self-testing capability (also referred to as health monitoring) may be a beneficial if not a necessary feature to ensure that the MEMS sensor is operating properly within the application.
To ensure the proper operations of the MEMS sensor, those in the art have developed MEMS sensors with in-the-field self-testing capability. This self-test function generally entails injecting a known stimulus into the micro-electromechanical structure of a MEMS sensor during the initialization or startup operation of the sensor. As such, such self-test function may not observe a fault during the runtime operation.
Those in the art also have employed test function during the runtime operation of the sensor. The test stimulus of such runtime operation typically consists of an impulse response or a waveform that is applied outside the bandwidth or frequency of the stimulus of interest, which is generally a physical attribute intended to be observed by the MEMS sensors. As such, the test may provide an incomplete test of the MEMS sensor, as a portion of the potential bandwidth for measurement may be allotted for the testing function. Additionally, since the test is applied to a limited frequency range, the self-test function may, for example, fail to detect a defect that manifests in a specific frequency range. In particular, MEMS gyroscopes employed in ESC systems, for example, have been found to have certain linear and torsional vibration frequency that may not be measured concurrently with the operation of the self-test function.
Moreover, the bandwidth of a MEMS sensor is generally constrained by the design limitations and material properties of the micro-electromechanical structures. Thus, increasing the bandwidth of the MEMS sensor may require a redesign of the sensor, which may not be cost effective or possible.

Spread-spectrum MEMS self-test system and method


A digital time domain reflectometer system is provided for performing a measurement process that is useful for calculating a cable length. The measurement process starts with a launch controller periodically generating a sync signal for turning a duration signal on. After a known delay time, the launch controller launches a signal on a cable, and if a reflected signal is detected, a detection circuit turns the duration signal off. A counter counts the number of clock pulses in the duration signal. This system is made more accurate by performing the measurement process multiple times and averaging the results. Using the averaged results, and compensating for the added known delay time, the cable length is calculated. An adaptive threshold may be used to enhance measurement accuracy.

The field of the present invention is electronic test instruments. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices for measuring a cable length using a time domain reflectometry system.
When installing or maintaining a cable system, it is often desirable to measure the length of a cable. For example, an installer may desire to know how many feet of cable are left in a spool of wire. By knowing the length of cable on the spool, the operator may select a length of cable to install that does not have unnecessary splices. In another example, a repairperson may desire to locate a physical fault in a cable. Often times cables are buried underground or hidden within walls, so it is highly desirable to locate the physical disruption in the cable so that demolition and construction damage may be minimized. Further, by accurately locating the fault, the fault may more quickly be found and communication or other service be returned more promptly. It will be appreciated that a fault may be a break, a short, or other disruption to a cable system.
Cable length is often determined using a device called a time domain reflectometer (TDR). A time domain reflectometer is typically configured as a portable hand held device which may be conveniently coupled to one end of a cable. An operator configures the TDR to the parameters of the cable type being measured, and couples the TDR to the cable. Once connected, the time domain reflectometer initiates a measurement cycle by sending a signal pulse onto the cable. When the pulse reaches the end of the cable or a disruption on the cable, the pulse bounces off the end or disruption and is received back at the TDR. The time duration that it took the pulse to travel from the TDR to the end of the cable and from the end of the cable back to the TDR is indicative of the cable length.
A signal traveling on a cable travels at a speed that is a factor of the speed of light in a vacuum. This factor may be different for different cables, and is called the NVP (velocity of propagation). The NVP is typically about 0.7, but depending on cable type they vary between about 0.4 and about 0.9. In this regard the TDR may be calibrated for a particular NVP, and the round trip duration time for the pulse may be used to indicate the cable length.
Many TDRs are analog devices which display a cable length on an analog meter. These analog TDRs give a general indication of cable length, but typically do not have accuracy sufficient to narrowly identify a disruption in the cable or accurately present a cable length. Further, the analog devices are subject to variations due to temperatures and environment, and are subject to degraded performance over time.
It would be desirable to have a digital TDR that could avoid many of the problems present in an analog device. However, known digital TDRs do not provide sufficient accuracy, and typically are only accurate to within about 3 to 4 feet. Although this is more accurate than the typical analog device, it would still be highly desirable to locate disruptions and cable lengths more narrowly. For example, it may be highly desirable to have a digital TDR that could find a disruption to within less than one-foot resolution. In designing such a digital tool, it would be useful for the hypothetical digital TDR to operate on NVPs ranging from about 0.40 to about 0.90, and be able to measure lengths ranging from less than one foot to greater than 3,000 feet with a less than 1-foot resolution. At one extreme, when measuring a 3,000 foot cable at 0.4 NVP with such a hypothetical TDR, the time delay would be in excess of 15 microseconds. At the other extreme when at 1 foot and 0.99 NVP, the time delay would be around 2 nanoseconds. Accordingly, a hypothetical TDR designed to meet these specifications would need to measure duration periods ranging about 2 nanoseconds to greater than 15 microseconds with a time resolution of less than 50 picoseconds. Converting these requirements into a component structure would mean that such a hypothetical device may require a up to 19 bit counter operating at about 20 gigahertz. A digital TDR incorporating such a device, even if available, would be too expensive and draw too much power for current applications.
TDRs also suffer from a problem known as the dead zone problem. The dead zone problem relates to the shortest time delay that the TDR can measure. Typical dead zones for known TDRs are in the range of 10–20 nanoseconds which corresponds to about 3 to 6 feet of cable. If the cable has a disruption in this dead zone then the TDR will not report the disruption, or may report the disruption as being in a different location. It would be highly desirable to have a TDR that could report all the disruptions on the cable including those within a few feet of the TDR.
Accordingly there exists a need for a digital TDR that is accurate, able to measure short cable lengths and is easy and economical to build.

Digital time domain reflectometer system


A method includes communicatively coupling a shared computing resource to core computing resources associated with a first project. The core computing resources associated with the first project are configured to use the shared computing resource to perform data processing operations associated with the first project. The method also includes reassigning the shared computing resource to a second project by (i) powering down the shared computing resource, (ii) disconnecting the shared computing resource from the core computing resources associated with the first project, (iii) communicatively coupling the shared computing resource to core computing resources associated with the second project, and (iv) powering up the shared computing resource. The core computing resources associated with the second project are configured to use the shared computing resource to perform data processing operations associated with the second project. The shared computing resource lacks non-volatile memory to store data related to the first and second projects.

It is often necessary or desirable for high-performance computing resources (such as high-performance servers or graphics processing units) to be used at different times by different parties. For example, the sharing of computing resources may be necessitated by the fact that high-performance computing resources are often expensive to purchase and operate, so sharing the use of the computing resources over time can help to distribute their costs across multiple parties. Also, many parties who require or desire the use of high-performance computing resources do not need to use the computing resources at all times, so sharing the use of the computing resources over time can help to increase the overall usage of the computing resources.

Reservation-based high-performance computing system and method


Method GEDAP (Genotyping Based on Diagnostic Amplification Products) for detecting and/or preventing genotyping errors on the basis of the amplification products of a polymorphic locus. The method is based on the joint analysis of homoduplexes and Diagnostic Additional Products (DAPs) generated from the amplification of a polymorphic locus. The method is highly effective for detecting and/or preventing genotyping errors due to total or partial non-amplifications occurring during amplification procedures such as the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

Genotyping is the mandatory starting point for most genetic analyses, both basic and applied, and has contributed decisively to the development of genetics and its applications. The genotyping of polymorphic DNA loci has recently been facilitated by two fundamental advances: the invention of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (Saiki et al., 1985; Mullis et al., 1986) and the discovery of a fairly even spread of polymorphic DNA sequences throughout genomes (mainly DNA markers composed of tandem arrays of motifs one or more base pairs long) (Dib et al., 1996; Tóth et al., 2000). Both advances have contributed decisively towards understanding of the structure and function of genomes of living organisms, and towards the development of population genetics, genetic epidemiology, genome mapping, genetic therapy, disease diagnosis, preimplantational genetic diagnosis, forensic analysis, tissue and organ transplantation, pharmacogenetics, paternity testing, etc.
The conventional methods used for genotyping polymorphic DNA loci are based on the following strategy: (a) amplifying the locus alleles present in a sample (generally by means of PCR); (b) identifying the amplified alleles (generally by means of electrophoresis); and (c) determining the sample genotype from the amplified alleles.
This genotyping strategy should guarantee that the genotype determined from amplification products is in fact the actual sample genotype. In practice, however, conventional genotyping methods carry associated a percentage of error, which is dependent on the experimental conditions used.
Genotyping errors have very negative consequences in genetic analyses and in the applications derived from such analyses. Obviously, genotyping errors may have serious consequences if they lead to the erroneous identification of human individuals (e.g. in criminal analyses, in paternity testing, etc.). Likewise, genotyping errors may lead to wrong medical diagnoses which may be especially pernicious in disease diagnosis, preimplantational diagnosis, tissue and organ transplantation, etc. On the other hand, it is known that genotyping errors negatively influence the accuracy of genetic analyses, leading to serious drawbacks such as loss of power in gene-mapping studies, significant distortion of map distances and false exclusion of the true location of a disease-predisposing gene (Buetow, 1991; Goldstein et al., 1997; Göring and Terwilliger, 2000). The negative effects of genotyping errors may be even greater in gametic disequilibrium analyses (Zapata et al., 2001a; Zapata et al., 2001b), because a single genotyping error can destroy evidence of past non-recombinant meioses (Terwilliger et al., 1997; de La Chapelle and Wright, 1998; Göring et al., 1997; Göring and Terwilliger, 2000; Akey et al., 2001).
An important source of genotyping errors is the occurrence of problems during amplification that lead to the total or partial absence of the amplification product of, at least, one of the alleles originally present in the sample. The partial absence of the amplification product of an allele, or partial non-amplification, is also known as preferential amplification (Walsh et al., 1992). The total absence of the amplification product of an allele, or total non-amplification, is known as allele dropout (Findlay et al., 1995; Gagneux et al., 1997) or null allele (Pemberton et al., 1995).
The occurrence of this type of problem during the amplification procedure has serious consequences. In the case of heterozygous diploid samples, total non- amplifications and some partial non-amplifications lead to the incorrect genotyping of the sample as homozygous (Demers et al., 1995; Findlay et al., 1995; Pemberton et al., 1995; Fishback et al., 1999; Anderson et al., 2000).
In view of the serious consequences of genotyping errors in genetic analyses and in genetic applications, considerable efforts have been made:
1.—to identify the causes of total and partial non-amplifications;
2.—to detect and/or prevent genotyping errors due to total and partial non-amplifications.
1.Causes of total and partial non-Amplifications
Recent analyses have revealed the common causes of total and partial non-amplification. The partial non-amplification of one allele in diploid samples can result from several factors such as: (a) significant GC% differences between alleles from a heterozygous sample (these differences can allow the denaturation of one allele but not the other, phenomenon known as differential denaturation) (Walsh et al., 1992); (b) between-allele length differences, resulting in the preferential amplification of the shorter allelic product (probably favoured when Taq polymerase is limiting) (Walsh et al., 1992); (c) stochastic fluctuations in the number of copies of each allele (Walsh et al., 1992); (d) mismatches between the primers and one allele (which may result from mutations in the priming region) (Walsh et al., 1992); (e) damage to the DNA template (by ultraviolet irradiation or by monovalent salts such as sodium chloride, sodium acetate or ammonium acetate) (Mutter and Boynton, 1995); (f) low-stringency primer annealing (which may result from the coamplification either of the locus and an internal control for sizing the amplified alleles, or of more than one polymorphic sequence) (Weissensteiner and Lanchbury, 1996).
It has been suggested that total non-amplification may result from extreme partial non-amplification (Findlay et al., 1995; Ronai et al., 2000). Therefore, mechanisms that lead to partial non-amplification can also lead to total non-amplification. In addition, other evidence shows that the total non-amplification rate is especially high when template concentration in the sample is low (Gagneux et al., 1997; Lissens and Sermon, 1997). This is the case when the genotyping is done either from a single cell (for instance, in preimplantational genetic diagnosis), or from biological remains that are degraded and/or retain little DNA (as may occur in several forensic analyses). In these cases, total non-amplification is favoured by factors such as (a) chromosomal mosaicism, and more specifically the presence of haploid cells in an otherwise diploid embryo (Harper et al., 1995); (b) the method used for lysing the cell before PCR (Lissens and Sermon, 1997, and references therein); (c) the denaturation temperature at the start of the first PCR cycle (Ray and Handyside, 1996); (d) DNA breaks produced by endogenous endonucleases (Lissens and Sermon, 1997); (e) suboptimal PCR conditions (Handyside and Delhanty, 1997); and (f) rapid degradation of the target DNA during thermocycling (Handyside and Delhanty, 1997).
2. Detection and/or Prevention of Genotyping Errors Due to Total or Partial Non-Amplifications
Several improvements of conventional genotyping methods have been proposed for detecting and/or preventing genotyping errors due to total and partial non-amplifications. Basically, these may be divided into two categories: (2.1) direct methods and (2.2) indirect methods.
2.1. Direct Methods
Direct methods are based on (a) improvement of amplification conditions for preventing the occurrence of total or partial non-amplifications and (b) improvement of the system for the detection of amplified alleles.
(a) Improvement of amplification conditions
Several optimizations of amplification conditions have been suggested for trying to prevent the occurrence of partial non-amplifications, including: (a) not using either a DNA template concentration higher than 200 ng or an extension time longer than 2 min (Deka et al., 1992); (b) substitution of dGTP either for 7-deaza-2′-dGTP (Mutter and Boynton, 1995) or for 2′-desoxyinosine-5′-triphosphate (dITP) (Ronai et al., 2000); (c) using PNA (Peptide Nucleic Acid) during the amplification procedure (Demers et al., 1995); (d) using double-strand-destabilizing cosolutes such as betaine and glycerol (Weissensteiner and Lanchbury, 1996); (e) increasing the KCl concentration (Fishback et al., 1999).
Optimizations of amplification conditions that have been suggested for reducing the occurrence of partial non-amplifications include: (a) increasing the denaturation temperature (Lissens and Sermon, 1997); (b) carrying out whole-genome amplification by primer extension pre-amplification (PEP) followed by nested PCR (Handyside and Delhanty, 1997); (c) approaches for increasing the DNA-template amount, such as biopsy of more than one embryo cell (Harper et al., 1996), or increase in the number of fetal cells isolated from maternal fluids (Garvin et al., 1998), etc.
(b) Improvement of the System for the Detection of Amplified Alleles
Similarly, improvements in the system for the detection of amplified alleles have been suggested for the detection of genotyping errors due to total and partial non-amplifications. For instance, Findlay et al. (1995) have demonstrated that fluorescent PCR decreases the genotyping error rate due to total and partial non-amplifications. This is because fluorescent PCR, which is much more sensitive than conventional PCR, allows detection of samples which are classified by conventional PCR as homozygotes but which are in fact heterozygous with extreme partial non-amplification.
In this connection, it has been pointed out that the definitive method for high-resolution genotyping is the detection of polymorphisms through fluorescent-automatic-sequencing by the use of automated sequencers based on capillary electrophoresis, such as the ABI PRISM 310 or the ABI PRISM 3100 (Applied Biosystems, 2001). This approach could potentially detect genotyping errors due to partial non-amplifications. Nevertheless, the genotyping problem associated with total non-amplification remains unresolved when automated sequencers such as the ABI PRISM 310 are used (Garvin et al., 1998). In fact, several authors have recently indicated that genotyping errors are inevitable (Douglas et al., 2000; Göring and Terwilliger, 2000) and more difficult or impossible to detect when Mendelian information is unavailable (Weeks et al., 2000).
Consequently, the suggested improvements of amplification conditions or of the detection system do not eliminate all partial or total non-amplifications, and do not ensure detection of all genotyping errors due to these PCR errors.
2.2. Indirect methods
An alternative for detecting genotyping errors due to total or partial non-amplification is to resort to indirect methods such as: (a) replicating the amplification a sufficient number of times to obtain a reliable genotype, and (b) Mendelian analysis.
(a) Amplification replicates
It has been suggested that three replicates of one sample (i.e., repeating the amplification and detection of amplified alleles three times) should detect 95% of genotyping errors due to total or partial non-amplifications (Gagneux et al., 1997). Taberlet et al. (1996) have suggested that this percentage may be increased to 99% when seven replicates are performed, although this remains controversial (Weissensteiner, 1997; Taberlet, 1997).
Nevertheless, this strategy has two main limitations. First, it does not allow a priori identification of the samples with total or partial non-amplification. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out several PCR replicates of all apparent homozygotes, given that conventional genotyping methods do not distinguish between homozygous samples and heterozygous samples with total non-amplification. Obviously, this approach is hardly applicable in studies in which a large number of individuals are analyzed (e.g. in genome scans and in many population and epidemiological analyses). Second, the applicability of this strategy is seriously limited by DNA availability, because the amount of DNA is often very reduced (for instance, in preimplantational genetic analyses, in forensic studies in which samples are degraded or contain very little DNA, as in the case of hairs, etc.).
(b) Mendelian analysis
Another indirect method valuable for detecting a broad range of genotyping errors is Mendelian analysis (Ewen et al., 2000). However, this procedure is not always applicable, because samples biologically related with the sample of interest are not always available. Moreover, genotyping errors may not always be readily detectable as inconsistencies in Mendelian inheritance, especially in studies of small families (Weeks et al., 2000).
In view of the above, it is evident that conventional methods, based on genotyping from amplified alleles, are not effective for detecting and/or preventing genotyping errors due to total or partial non-amplification. Notably, such errors occur even after the use of direct and indirect methods for detecting and/or preventing them specifically. There is thus a clear need for new genotyping methods that are effective for detecting and/or preventing genotyping errors due to total or partial non-amplifications.
Recent evidence suggests that several products generated by PCR during allele amplification (particularly heteroduplexes) may be used as an additional source of information in the identification of heterozygous samples (Wilkin et al., 1993; Neilan et al., 1994; Ardren et al., 1999) and in the detection of homoplasy (Szibor et al., 1996; Haddad et al., 1997; Ardren et al., 1999). As far as we know, however, these reports have not considered the possibility that additional products other than the amplified alleles themselves may be of value in the detection and/or prevention of genotyping errors originating from total or partial non-amplifications.

GEDAP method (genotyping based on diagnostic amplification products) for detecting and/or preventing genotyping errors from amplification products of a polymorphic focus


Methods and cement compositions are provided that utilize treated polyolefin fibers for lost circulation and/or mechanical property enhancement. Disclosed is a method comprising: providing a cement composition comprising: a hydraulic cement; water; and treated polyolefin fibers that are rod-shaped and have a length in a range from about 0.0625 inches to about 0.25 inches, wherein the treated polyolefin fibers have been treated with a surfactant to make the treated polyolefin fibers hydrophilic; placing the cement composition in a selected location; and allowing the cement composition to set.

The present invention relates to cementing operations and, more particularly, in certain embodiments, to methods and cement compositions that utilize treated polyolefin fibers for lost circulation and/or mechanical property enhancement.
In cementing operations, such as well construction and remedial cementing, cement compositions are commonly utilized. Cement compositions may be used in primary cementing operations whereby pipe strings, such as casing and liners, are cemented in well bores. In a typical primary cementing operation, a cement composition may be pumped into an annulus between the exterior surface of the pipe string disposed therein and the walls of the well bore (or a larger conduit in the well bore). The cement composition may set in the annulus, thereby forming an annular sheath of hardened, substantially impermeable material (e.g., a cement sheath) that may support and position the pipe string in the well bore and may bond the exterior surface of the pipe string to the well bore walls (or to the larger conduit). Among other things, the cement sheath surrounding the pipe string should function to prevent the migration of fluids in the annulus, as well as protecting the pipe string from corrosion. Cement compositions also may be used in remedial cementing methods, such as in squeeze cementing for sealing voids in a pipe string, cement sheath, gravel pack, subterranean formation, and the like.
Once set, the cement sheath may be subjected to a variety of shear, tensile, impact, flexural, and compressive stresses that may lead to failure of the cement sheath, resulting, inter alia, in fractures, cracks, and/or debonding of the cement sheath from the pipe string and/or the formation. This may lead to undesirable consequences such as lost production, environmental pollution, hazardous rig operations resulting from unexpected fluid flow from the formation caused by the loss of zonal isolation, and/or hazardous production operations. Cement failures may be particularly problematic in high temperature wells, where fluids injected into the wells or produced from the wells by way of the well bore may cause the temperature of any fluids trapped within the annulus to increase. Furthermore, high fluid pressures and/or temperatures inside the pipe string may cause additional problems during testing, perforation, fluid injection, and/or fluid production. If the pressure and/or temperature inside the pipe string increases, the pipe may expand and stress the surrounding cement sheath. This may cause the cement sheath to crack, or the bond between the outside surface of the pipe string and the cement sheath to fail, thereby breaking the hydraulic seal between the two. Furthermore, high temperature differentials created during production or injection of high temperature fluids through the well bore may cause fluids trapped in the cement sheath to thermally expand, causing high pressures within the sheath itself. Additionally, failure of the cement sheath also may be caused by forces exerted by shifts in subterranean formations surrounding the well bore, cement erosion, and repeated impacts from the drill bit and the drill pipe.
To counteract these problems associated with the fracturing and/or cracking of the cement sheath, fibers may be included in the cement composition. Various types of fibers have been used heretofore, including those formed of polypropylene, polyester, polyamide, polyethylene, polyolefin, glass, iron, and steel. These fibers may function to control shrinkage cracking in the early stages of the cement setting process, and also may provide resiliency, ductility, and toughness to the set cement composition so that it resists cracking or fracturing. Further, if fracturing or cracking does occur, the fibers may function to hold the set cement composition together, thereby resisting fall back of the cement sheath. Additionally, the fibers may act as lost circulation materials. While polyolefin fibers may be the most preferred in that they are readily available, polyolefin fibers tend to be hydrophobic and difficult to dry blend with cement. The fibers tend to agglomerate in dry cement when it is conveyed causing plugging to occur, and when the cement and fibers are combined with mixing water, the fibers form mates which prevent their dispersion into and throughout the cement composition. The lack of dispersion of the fibers in the cement composition can make it difficult to pump. In some instances, hydrophilic polyolefin fibers have been used in an attempt to improve dry blending, but the hydrophilic polyolefin fibers have not be suitable for dry blending on a commercial scale, for example, due to problems with buildup of blockage in the equipment.

Methods and cement compositions utilizing treated polyolefin fibers


A flexible tubular lining material impregnated with a thermosetting resin is folded and bound with binding members to provide a reduced width. Two elastic and rigid strip members are inserted into loop members attached to the lining material and are removably attached so as to sandwich the lining material. During pipeline lining work, the lining material to which the strip members have been attached is first inserted into a lateral pipe from a main pipe. The strip members are then removed from the lining material so that the lining material may remain inside the pipeline. The strip members are extracted from the pipeline, and the lining material is then made to expand via application of pressure from the inside. While kept in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the pipeline, the lining material is heated in order to cure the thermosetting resin thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lining material used to line pipelines in order to repair an aged pipeline, and a pipeline lining method using the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a communications pipe, gas pipe, sewer pipe, water pipe, electrical pipe, or other pipeline buried under ground has aged and a pipe in the pipeline is to be repaired without the pipe being removed from the ground, pipeline lining methods are used in which a tubular pipe lining material impregnated with a thermosetting resin is inserted into the pipeline by pushing or drawing, the lining material is heated while being expanded by air pressure or the like and pressed against an inner peripheral surface of the pipeline, and the thermosetting resin of the lining material is cured to line the pipeline. Air pressure is used to evert and insert the lining material into the pipeline (e.g., Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2006-123547).
However, in the conventional insertion method for a lining material, insertion in pipelines is extremely difficult in sections that are bent at a right angle or close to a right angle. Specifically, with the method in which the material is pushed in while being everted, the eversion does not occur in the sections bent at a right angle or close to a right angle. Furthermore, with a drawing-in method, the contact resistance of the lining material increases as the bent sections increase, and the lining material therefore becomes heavier and is unable to be drawn in. If drawing in continued forcibly, the lining material is stretched and damaged, which dramatically reduces the product quality of the lining material.
An object of the present invention is to provide a lining material capable of being easily and smoothly inserted into a pipeline even where there is a plurality of sections bent at a right angle or close to a right angle, and to provide a pipeline lining method using the same.

Lining material and pipeline lining method


The invention relates to a method for producing electrolyte solutions consisting of trialkylaluminium AlR3, M1AlR4, M2AlR4 and an aromatic hydrocarbon. According to the invention, a mixture of M1OR and M2OR is reacted with trialkylaluminium AlR3 at temperatures below 25° C. in an aromatic hydrocarbon. M1AlR4/M2AlR4 is isolated from the obtained mixture and a ready-for-use electrolyte for the electrochemical deposition of aluminum-magnesium alloys is obtained by the addition of aromatic hydrocarbon.

Organoaluminum complexes have been used in the electrolytic deposition of aluminum for quite some time (Ph.D. Thesis by H. Lehmkuhl, T H Aachen 1954, DE-PS 10 47 450, K. Ziegler, H. Lehmkuhl, Z. Anorg. Allg. Chemie 283, 414 (1956); DE-PS 10 56 377; H. Lehmkuhl, Chem. 1 ng. Tech. 36, 616 (1964); EP-A-0 084 816; H. Lehmkuhl, K. Mehler and U. Landau in Adv. in Electrochem. Science and Engineering (Ed. H. Gerischer, C. W. Tobias) Vol. 3, Weinheim 1994).
There has been rapidly increasing interest in electrolytic coating of metallic materials with aluminum or aluminum-magnesium because such coatings have excellent corrosion protection and are ecologically safe. Therefore, electroplating using organoaluminum electrolytes operating at moderately elevated temperatures of between 60 and 150° C. and in closed systems is of major technical importance.
The PCT/EP application WO 00/32847 describes organoaluminum electrolytes suitable for electrochemical deposition of aluminum-magnesium alloys in technical applications as well. Such electrolytes contain alkali tetraalkylaluminum components, particularly K[AlEt4], and in a preferred embodiment in mixture with Na[AlEt4], the molar ratio of sodium/potassium component being less than 1:3. These electrolytes also contain trialkylaluminum, preferably AlEt3, as well as toluene or liquid xylene as preferred solvent.

Method for producing organoaluminum complexes and the use thereof for producing electrolyte solutions for the electrochemical deposition of aluminum-magnesium alloys

Aluminal Oberflachentechnik GmbH & Co. KG


According to one embodiment, a storage device includes first electrodes, second electrodes, a resistance change layer provided between the first electrodes and the second electrodes, and ion metal particles that are formed in an island form between the first electrodes and the resistance change layer and that contain a metal movable inside the resistance change layer. The first electrodes and the second electrodes are formed of a material which is more unlikely to be ionized as compared to the metal, and the first electrodes are in contact with the resistance change layer in an area around the ion metal particles.

Recently, there has been proposed a storage device which includes a high-resistance film between a metal film and a counter electrode. Metal ions, contained in the metal film, diffuse within the high-resistance film so as to form or eliminate filaments that contain the metal ions, thereby changing the electric resistance of the high-resistance film into either a lower or a higher resistance state. However, conventional storage devices of this type are typically not able to reliably retain the stored data in the high or low resistant states.


Recently, vinylphenol polymers have received special attention as materials for photoresists, since these materials have excellent transmittance of deep ultraviolet light in the neighborhood of 248 nm. Although particularly useful in this regard, vinylphenol polymers usually contain metal impurities, while photoresists must have high transmittance and extremely low metal content. As a result, vinylphenol polymers satisfying these requirements have not been available on industrial scale. In the present invention, a process for producing such purified vinylphenol polymers, both economically and easily, is realized. In the process of this invention, the vinylphenol polymer solution is hydrogenated and the hydrogenated solution is contacted with a strongly acidic cation exchange resin. In this way, substantially metal-free vinylphenol polymers are obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for purifying vinylphenol polymers, and, more particularly, to a process for purifying vinylphenol polymers for obtaining purified vinylphenol polymers having a superior light transmittance and an extremely low metal impurity content required for photoresist materials which are used in fine works for the manufacture of super integrated semiconductor elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The degree of integration in semiconductor elements is infinitely going up so that the lithography technology for processing high integrated simiconductors must endlessly cope with super miniaturization requirements. A specific requirement in the current pattern-forming technology is capability of producing miniature patterns of the order of 0.5 .mu.m or less. In recent years, deep ultraviolet lights having a wavelength shorter than ultraviolet lights conventionally used for exposing photoresists are regarded to be a more favorable exposure means in order to promote the pattern resolving capability. The KrF excimer laser having a wavelength of 248 nm is supposed to be applied to the generation of deep ultraviolet lights. Several types of photoresists to be exposed to the KrF excimer laser lights have been developed. They are a two component type comprising a photosensitive material and a base resin; a three component type comprising a photosensitive material, a dissolution controlling agent, and a base resin; a three component type comprising a photosensitive material, a cross-linking agent, and a base resin; and the like. Here, the base resin means a component forming films when the photoresist is coated onto silicon wafer surfaces and playing a major role in resisting the etching when the silicon wafer substrates are etched after exposure to lights and development. Novolak-type resins have been widely used as base resins for positive-type resists containing a quinone azide photosensitive agent to be exposed to ultraviolet lights. Since novolak-type resins have a strong absorbancy for deep ultraviolet lights in the neighborhood of 248 nm, preventing the short wavelength lights from reaching the bottom of the resist film, they cannot provide a sufficient resolve of minute patterns when applied to a photoresist material to be exposed to excimer laser lights. Because of this, a number of materials have been studied with respect to their applicability to a base resin for short wavelength photoresists. These studies revealed the extreme usefulness of vinylphenol-type polymers, such as poly-p-vinylphenol, etc., as resins satisfying the requirements not only of the light transmittance but also of the solubility in alkaline solution, the plasma resistance, and the like.
Even though vinylphenol polymers inherently exhibit excellent transmittance for deep ultraviolet lights in the neighborhood of 248 nm, such vinylphenol polymers with excellent transmittance cannot be obtained unless special precautions are taken in the manufacturing process, such as sufficient purification of raw monomers, adoption of a low temperature procedure avoiding heating in the polymerization of monomers and isolation of the polymer product from the polymerization reaction mixture, and the like. However, applying these procedures to an industrial production is very difficult and uneconomical because of the unstable nature of vinylphenol monomers which prevents their easy handling and storing.
In order to improve a low transmittance of conventional vinylphenol polymers manufactured from crude vinylphenol monomer as a starting raw material, a process has been proposed, in which the vinylphenol polymers are contacted with hydrogen in the presence of a Group VIII metal catalyst (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 1 (1989)-103604). The process has made it possible to easily manufacture vinylphenol polymers having excellent transmittance for deep ultraviolet lights in the neighborhood of 248 nm in an industrial scale.
One of the important properties other than light transmittance required for photoresists exposed to short wavelength lights from the excimer laser or the like is their low metal content. Metals contained in photoresist materials function as pollutants which inhibit the functions of semiconductor elements by attaching to silicon wafer substrates when the plasma etching is performed after the pattern formation by exposure and development. Therefore, minimizing the metal impurity content in a base resin which is the major component constructing photoresists is demanded as a matter of course. Metal contents allowable in base resins have been markedly lowered along with the progress of miniaturization of pattern sizes; i.e., an extremely low level metal content, for example, several tens ppb to several ppb, is required for each metal, e.g., sodium, iron, etc., for the manufacture of semiconductor elements with a pattern size of 0.5 .mu.m or less. However, the content of each metal, e.g., sodium, iron, etc., in vinylphenol polymers manufactured by conventional processes generally exceeds 100 ppb. There have been no technology known in the art to remove these metals from vinylphenol polymers. Thus, no vinylphenol polymer with a high transmittance for deep ultraviolet lights and a low metal content has been manufactured heretofore.

Process for purifying vinylphenol polymers for use as photoresist materials


A method of controlling a hybrid drive-train of a vehicle having a combustion engine with a driveshaft, a transmission with an input shaft and an output shaft that drives a transfer box. An electric machine has a rotor that is connected to the transmission input shaft. A separator clutch is arranged between the engine driveshaft and the transmission input shaft. For coupling of the engine, the engine is first accelerated, with a rotational speed regulation, toward a target speed until a reference speed is reached or exceeded while the clutch remains disengaged, then, with continuous speed regulation, the engine is adjusted to a corrected target speed while the clutch is engaged until a target torque is obtained, then, with torque control, the engine is adjusted to the target torque while the clutch, with differential rotational speed regulation, is regulated to a target speed difference, and finally the clutch is engaged.

Such a hybrid drive-train of a motor vehicle comprises an internal combustion engine with a driveshaft, an adjustable-ratio transmission with a transmission input shaft and a transmission output shaft in driving connection with an axle transmission or transfer box, an electric machine that can be operated at least as a motor having a rotor that is drive-connected to the transmission input shaft, and a separator clutch in the form of an automated friction clutch arranged between the driveshaft of the internal combustion engine and the transmission input shaft. With such a hybrid drive-train, starting from electrically powered driving operation with the separator clutch open, when increased power is called for the previously started internal combustion engine is accelerated to the rotational speed of the transmission input shaft and then coupled to the transmission input shaft by closing the separator clutch.
A parallel-action hybrid drive-train of the above type is widely known and can be regarded as the standard design of a parallel hybrid drive-train. It has the advantage that the motor vehicle concerned can optionally be driven in purely electrically powered operation with the internal combustion engine switched off, in purely internal combustion engine powered operation with the electric machine power switched off, or in hybrid driving operation with combined drive power from the internal combustion engine and the electric machine. During internal combustion engine driving operation the electric machine can if necessary also be operated as a generator and the current so produced can be used for supplying an on-board electrical system and/or for charging an electrical energy accumulator. In general the electric machine can also be operated as a generator when the motor vehicle is braked and the kinetic energy recovered thereby can be stored in an electrical energy accumulator.
The transmission is preferably designed to be automatically controlled, such that the gear ratio effective between the input and output shafts can be adjusted either in steps or continuously. Thus, the transmission can be an automated variable-speed transmission that can be shifted with traction force interruption, a planetary automatic transmission that can be shifted without traction force interruption, or a continuously variable transmission.
When a hybrid drive-train of this type is operating under electric power and a power increase is called for which can no longer be satisfied by the electric machine alone, the internal combustion engine has to be started and coupled to the input shaft in order, thereafter, to drive the motor vehicle under internal combustion engine power alone or together with the electric machine, i.e. in the hybrid driving mode, with a correspondingly increased traction force.
During accelerator pedal operation of the motor vehicle a higher power output of the drive aggregate, i.e. the electric machine and the internal combustion engine, is called for when the driver depresses the accelerator pedal farther, for example in order to accelerate the motor vehicle in order to overtake. When the vehicle is being operated with an activated speed regulation unit, a power output increase can be called for by the speed regulation unit, for example when driving onto an uphill stretch, in order to be able to maintain the specified desired speed.
A power output of the electric machine which is no longer sufficient for this can occur owing to a maximum torque of the electric machine predetermined by design and/or owing to an electrical energy accumulator which is no longer sufficiently charged. When a power increase is called for, to increase the traction force in particular from the internal combustion engine a downshift or increase of the transmission's gear ratio can also be carried out, and this gear ratio change can be carried out before, during or after the coupling of the internal combustion engine.
When a power increase is called for which triggers the switching on of the internal combustion engine, the internal combustion engine is first started and then, to enable the separator clutch to be closed with as little slip as possible and largely free from jerking, the internal combustion engine is accelerated approximately to the transmission input rotational speed before the separator clutch is substantially closed and the internal combustion engine thereby coupled to the transmission input shaft.
When the separator clutch is open the internal combustion engine can be started by means of a special starter which is permanently drive-connected to the driveshaft of the internal combustion engine. However, the internal combustion engine can also be drag-started in combination with the electric machine by partially closing the separator clutch, during which the electric machine preferably delivers a higher torque, and once a minimum starting rotational speed has been reached and the internal combustion engine has started, the separator clutch is opened again. Furthermore the internal combustion engine can also be impulse-started by the electric machine, but in this case the transmission has to be transiently opened for example by disengaging the currently loaded gear in an automated countershaft transmission or by opening a load-transmitting frictional shifting element of a planetary automatic transmission, and after the electric machine has accelerated the separator clutch is rapidly closed and then opened again once the internal combustion engine has started.
The acceleration of the internal combustion engine to the transmission input rotational speed, i.e. to the synchronous speed at the separator clutch, should take place as quickly as possible so that the drive torque increase usually demanded by the driver begins without significant time delay. When the acceleration of the internal combustion engine takes place automatically, i.e. by virtue of corresponding control or regulation of the operation of the internal combustion engine as such, to produce a high rotational speed gradient the torque produced by the internal combustion engine is first greatly increased and then, to avoid overshooting the target speed, sometimes reduced to zero.
Since the mass moment of inertia that results from the rapid acceleration of the internal combustion engine and acts upon its driveshaft is relatively large and difficult to control, the problem exists of how the internal combustion engine can be synchronized rapidly and as exactly as possible without overshooting the target rotational speed. On the other hand the load reduction of the internal combustion engine after or during the closing of the separator clutch should also take place as quickly as possible, but this conflicts with the sometimes necessary complete reduction of the torque produced in order to terminate the acceleration.
To overcome these problems, in methods for controlling a corresponding hybrid drive-train described in DE 198 14 402 C2 and DE 102 04 981 A1 it is in each case provided that the internal combustion engine is adjusted to the synchronous speed of the separator clutch, i.e. to the transmission input rotational speed, by means of a second electric machine such as a crankshaft-starter-generator connected to its driveshaft.
The method described in DE 198 14 402 C2 provides that by means of the electric machine, the internal combustion engine is accelerated in essence exactly to the current transmission input rotational speed and is then coupled to the transmission input shaft by closing the separator clutch. In this method, however, no account is taken of a possible change of the transmission input speed during the closing process of the separator clutch, caused by an acceleration or deceleration of the motor vehicle.
In contrast, the method according to DE 102 04 981 A1 provides that by means of the second electric machine the internal combustion engine is accelerated to a target speed higher than the current transmission input rotational speed, before the separator clutch is closed. The result is that during the closing of the separator clutch it can transmit a torque from the driveshaft of the internal combustion engine to the transmission input shaft, whereby a load change between overdrive operation and traction operation of the internal combustion engine, which is perceptible as an uncomfortable jerk, is avoided.
In contrast, DE 10 2007 050 774 A1 describes a method for controlling a corresponding hybrid drive-train, in which during rotational speed regulation the internal combustion engine accelerates automatically, i.e. without any assistance from an auxiliary drive, to the current transmission input rotational speed or to a speed higher than this by an offset value, before the separator clutch is closed to its gripping point and then, with farther closing of the separator clutch, the torque control is transferred from the electric machine to the internal combustion engine. From the torque variations in the average time diagram shown in FIG. 3 thereof it can be seen that the acceleration of the internal combustion engine to the transmission input speed and the closing of the separator clutch to its gripping point take a relatively long time, and that the torque produced by the internal combustion engine for acceleration is again reduced to zero in order to limit the speed increase, which delays and makes more difficult the subsequent load build-up of the internal combustion engine.

Method for controlling a hybrid drive train of a motor vehicle


The present invention relates to a retractable seat assembly for a motor vehicle which is fully retractable below the level of the vehicle's floor. Typically, the invention involves a bench-type seat which is located behind the driver and passenger seats of a minivan or other vehicle. In an operative position, the seat has generally upright seatback which cooperates with a lower horizontal member to provide the seating portion. In the non-operative or stored position, the entire seat assembly is positioned below the level of the vehicle's floor. In one application, the forward edge and rearward edge of the seat are interconnected to the body of the vehicle for pivotal movement about translatable and fixed axes, respectively.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to seating systems for motor vehicles and, more particularly, relates to a seat assembly for a motor vehicle which is stored below the surface of the vehicle's floor. The invention also pertains to a related method.
2. Discussion
Automotive vehicles, such as minivans, vans, station wagons, sport utility vehicles and the like, are often purchased for their carrying capacity. This carrying capacity includes both the transportation of passengers and the transportation of various sizes and amounts of cargo. For this reason, many of these vehicles are provided with one or more retractable seats which enable increased storage capacity when there is a limited number of passengers.
To satisfy the conflicting goals of maximizing passenger and cargo capacity, it is known to provide a motor vehicle with a removable seat assembly. For example, many current minivans are equipped with a rear bench seat that can be removed in order to increase cargo capacity. While such arrangements have proven to be commercially successful, they have disadvantages. For example, the weight and awkwardness of the vehicle seat often require that two persons remove the seat. Additionally, it is not always convenient to store the seat assembly once removed from the motor vehicle.
To a more limited extent, it is also known to provide motor vehicles with retractable seats. For example, retractable seat assemblies which fold into a seat storage compartment are known. One such example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,795.
In view of known prior constructions, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a seat assembly that is retractable into a rearward storage area which does not restrict under seat storage.

Seat assembly for a motor vehicle retractable below the vehicle floor


Upon receipt of the hierarchical data structure, a shape tree is constructed corresponding to the hierarchical data structure. The shape tree is an intermediate data structure containing only one unique node for each element of the hierarchical data structure. After the shape tree is constructed, it is annotated with properties describing the hierarchical relationships between elements of the hierarchical data structure. The annotated shape tree is used to create the structure of the flat data structure. Once the shape tree is annotated, the column names for the flat data structure are built utilizing the annotated shape tree. With the column names built, data is emitted from the hierarchical data structure into the proper columns and rows of the flat data structure.

The present invention relates generally to the conversion of highly hierarchical data structures into less hierarchical data structures. More particularly, the present invention relates to receiving an input file in a standard format and converting it into a flat table data structure.
Historically large database users utilized database management programs written for specific applications with little thought to standardization. Through the years as more and more data was added, the databases resulting from these database management programs grew larger and larger and have become known as legacy systems. As the organizations utilizing these large proprietary databases became more automated and computerized, the need to share data between departments, functions, subsidiaries and sister organizations became more and more prevalent. Due to this need, a standard database formats were developed.
One such standard format developed is XML. XML is a very hierarchical data base format, which includes a multitude of data structures which in turn contain data sub-structures, which in turn may contain data sub-substructures. Due to the advent of this standard database format, many computer users have converted the aforementioned proprietary legacy database systems to the standard XML database format.
Along with the advent of the personal computer on the modern business landscape came many useful application programs including those utilizing electronic spreadsheets. Electronic spreadsheets typically operate on data contained in a matrix of cells comprising columns and rows. Generally, this data format is contained in a single table and is a very flat data structure in that the data is not maintained in a hierarchical data structure utilized by XML.
With the ease of availability of the personal computer, many users have become proficient in their use and more specifically, in using electronic spreadsheet application programs. While the electronic spreadsheets offer many advantages over prior conventional means, they utilizes a flat data structure. With huge amounts of data stored in hierarchical formats such as XML, the electronic spreadsheet with its flat data structure had no means to access this wealth of data thus a means for accessing it with a spreadsheet has become desirable. While other programs have parsed data contained in the XML format, none have converted XML formatted data into a flat data structure suitable for the use by an electronic spreadsheet.
Therefore, there remains a need in the art for a method for converting a database structure that is arbitrarily hierarchical into a flat data structure. This flat data structure should be suitable for use in electronic spreadsheet tables.
The present invention fulfills the need in the art for converting a database structure that is arbitrarily hierarchical into a flat data structure suitable for use in electronic spreadsheet tables.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a system and method are provided for converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure. The format of the hierarchical data structure may be XML.
First, the hierarchical data structure is converted into an input data tree comprising nodes. These nodes contain the data elements of the hierarchical data structure and are linked together in a parent-child relationship. This parent-child relationship is derived from the hierarchical data structure.
Next, a shape tree is constructed corresponding to the input data tree by collapsing nodes of the input data tree containing redundant elements into one node. Once the shape tree is constructed, it is then annotated with properties describing the hierarchical relationships between elements of the input data tree. These properties may include, 1) a first property specifying the maximum number of times a given element appears inside its parent across the entire input tree, 2) a second property set equal to false if and only if the node""s first property is greater than zero or if the node has any child nodes and anyone of said child nodes have a second property set to false, and 3) a third property set to true if every occurrence of the element corresponding to the node contains numeric data.
Finally, a list of column names are built for the flat data structure deriving the column names by tracing the shape tree. Once the column names are built, the data is emitted from the input data tree into proper columns and row of the flat data structure. The flat data structure may be readily usable by an electronic spreadsheet.

Converting a hierarchical data structure into a flat data structure


Apparatus for teaching proper tackling technique to a football player includes a number of framework segments pivotally connected at framework segment ends. A latch mechanism in the framework is disengaged during tackling to prevent pivoting between two of the framework segments until a third segment with a tackling pad pivots a predetermined degree.

The use of devices for teaching or training football players to tackle are known. Some of these devices are in the form of sleds pushed by a player or players along the ground while others utilize structural components that are fixed in place on the ground with certain other structural components thereof being movable during tackling training or practice.
The following prior art references are known and are believed to be representative of the current state of the art in this field: U.S. Pat. No. 7,322,893, issued Jan. 29, 2008, U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,917, issued Nov. 7, 2006, U.S. Pat. No. 7,070,521, issued Jul. 4, 2006, U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,290, issued Dec. 12, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,795, issued Dec. 17, 1968, U.S. Pat. No. 2,20,188, issued Dec. 2, 1952, U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. US 2013/0184104, issued Jul. 18, 2013, U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. US 2012/0283047, issued Nov. 8, 2012, and U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. US 2012/0157244, issued Jun. 21, 2012.

Apparatus for teaching tackling technique


A charger with replaceable electrical plugs includes a casing 1 comprising a lower casing 11 and an upper casing 12. An electronic power supply circuit 13 is accommodated inside the casing 1. The lower casing 11 has an opening 111 having a replaceable electrical plug 14 pivotally disposed therein to adapt to different specifications of electrical sockets used in different countries. The power supply circuit 13 may convert ac into low voltage dc for use by small electrical appliances. The upper housing 12 is provided with a tubular recess 122 pivotally provided with a cigarette lighter plug 15 which may fit into a car's cigarette lighter socket. The power supply circuit 13 may transform the car's high voltage dc into low voltage dc to provide electric power outdoors. Different replaceable electrical plugs 14 and 14' allow the charger device to be adapted for use in various different countries, which use various different power outlet structures.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a charger, and more particularly to a charger with a replaceable electrical plug for matching the different specifications of electrical sockets adopted in different countries, the casing of the charger being further provided with a cigarette lighter plug for utilizing the electric power of cars when outdoors.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Portable electrical appliances such as mobile phones, electric shavers, and walkmans have their specific rechargeable batteries or concealed batteries. They are generally used with specific chargers. For travelers, when the power of their batteries is used up, it is often times difficult to directly utilize local electric power to recharge the batteries due to different specifications of electric sockets.
Furthermore, since the standard voltages vary from country to country, even if the travelers have the right type of electrical plugs, the difference in standard voltages may make it impossible to directly utilize the local electric power in recharging. If the output dc voltage is too high, it will damage the electrical appliance. If the voltage is too low, the electrical appliance will not function.
In addition, although some electrical appliances are equipped with chargers or electric plugs to match the specifications of electric sockets or standard voltages of specific countries, generally, they are restricted to larger appliances. Besides, it is unfeasible if not impossible to have various chargers to adapt to the standard voltages of countries around the world for people who travel to various countries.
Moreover, even though some countries may adopt the same standard voltage, the specifications of the electrical sockets are different. It is therefore only necessary to provide a matching connector. However, such connectors are generally large in size and are therefore not suitable for travelers.
As mentioned above, travelers generally use mobile phones. The battery compartment of the mobile phone can store limited electric power and frequent replacement is necessary. For travelers, it is therefore necessary to recharge the batteries when stopping at a hotel. But, as described above, if the right electrical plug is not available or the standard voltage is different, the charger will have no use.
Furthermore, ordinary chargers can convert ac into low voltage dc. In other words, they can only be used indoors. Chargers for utilizing outdoor electric power are not available. Although cars are provided with specific electric plugs and transformers for small electrical appliances, it is necessary to carry a different charger, which is very inconvenient, especially to traveling businessmen.
In consideration of the above-described problems, the inventor of the present invention has conceived a charger with a replaceable electrical plug for matching different specifications of electrical sockets adopted in different countries. The charger is provided with an electronic power supply circuit for converting the standard voltages of different countries into a dc voltage for use by small electrical appliances. The charger may also utilize the electric power of cars when outdoors. According to the present invention, the charger essentially comprises a casing comprised of a lower casing and an upper casing. The lower casing has an opening accommodating an inner casing, which in turn has mounted therein two electrically conductive pieces connected to an electronic power supply circuit. The inner casing is provided with a slide seat with a spring disposed between the inner casing and the slide seat. Both sides of the inner casing are respectively provided with a curved notch, while both sides of the slide seat are respectively provided with a half pivot seat. Both sides of the opening are also respectively provided with a curved pivot seat. The half pivot seats, the curved notches and curved pivot seats together form two pivot holes for mounting thereon a replaceable electrical plug. The electrical plug has a contact terminal which may contact the conductive pieces when the plug is turned outwardly. The slide seat may be pushed so that the half pivot seats may separate from the curved notches and curved pivot seats to allow removal of the electrical plug from the pivot holes. The upper casing is pivotally connected to a cigarette lighter plug whereby the electronic power supply circuit may convert a car's high voltage dc into low voltage dc for use by small electrical appliances.

Charger with a replaceable electrical plug


Tools and techniques are provided to visualize and manage data. A hierarchical pie chart is placed in operational correspondence with a hierarchical table. Slices of a pie chart level correspond to nodes of a table level. When a user causes a change in a node/slice, the software automatically performs a matching change in the corresponding slice/node. This occurs for operational changes such as selection, creation, deletion, expanding (zoom in, drill down), contracting, updating data, and changing a label. The path taken through the table to reach the present data breakdown may also be displayed.

Web site usage via browsers is regularly tracked and analyzed by commercially available web analytics services, which gather detailed data about web page usage, and to some extent about particular web site users. Entities which provide other entities with web analytics services are referred to as "analytics providers". One leading web analytics provider is Omniture, Inc., of Orem, Utah, the owner of the present invention. Omniture provides web analytics technology under its well-known mark SiteCatalyst™. All other marks used herein are property of their respective owners.
At present web analytics data are typically collected from server logs or using web-beacons. Web-beacons are small image requests placed in a web page to cause communication between the user's device and a server. The server may be controlled by the analytics provider, by the vendor whose website contains the web-beacons, or by another party. Web-beacons are also known as clear GIFs, web bugs, image requests, or pixel tags. Web-beacons can be used for advertising, behavioral targeting, and other processes, to gather information a visits to websites. Web-beacons are commonly used by analytics providers to gather analytics data.
Web analytics data is more useful when it is presented in a manner that answers pertinent business questions. Toward that end, Omniture has provided various tools and services which filter, visualize, organize, and otherwise help manage raw analytics data in order to help Omniture clients and partners improve their web sites and services. In particular, Omniture has commercially provided reporting tools which present results in at least tabular form, funnel graphs, conventional pie chart formats, overlays on tracked web pages, bar charts, line graphs, maps, and/or plots. Other data visualization tools are also available.
Other concepts related to the present invention may be known, or become apparent through sources other than this background, including without limitation the references being made of record in connection with the present document.

Data visualization using tables integrated with hierarchical pie charts