Described is a functional layer for high-temperature fuel cells and to a method for the production of functional layers. The functional layer is in particular a low-sintering, electrically conductive, ceramic layer which is formed between an interconnector and a cathode of a fuel cell. The functional layer is formed from a material which has at least two phases. A first phase is a perovskite ceramic material containing bismuth-cobalt and a second phase is a bismuth manganite and/or bismuth cobaltite (Bi—Mn—Co—0).

High-temperature fuel cells are developed for operating temperatures between 650° C. and 1000° C. Different materials are used in dependence on the development goal. Cathodes of an SOFC fuel cell are known which are made of ceramic material. Interconnectors are also known which are made of metal.
A functional layer is to be understood as a layer which has to satisfy a defined function. A contact layer which takes over the electrically conductive function between the cathode and the interconnector within the fuel cell represents an example for such a functional layer. This functional layer on the one hand ensures an electrical contact between the two components with which this layer forms a connection at both sides with material continuity to both components as a consequence of a joining process.
Previously used materials for a functional layer between the cathode and the interconnector made from lanthanum manganite or lanthanum cobaltite are less sinter-active at temperatures of 950° C. or below, i.e. the required diffusion processes are too low to realize a good electrical contact and sufficient adhesion to boundary layers. It is also disadvantageous that the layers which form from these materials are very porous and can thereby not prevent a corrosion of the interconnector by air in the cathode space.
In accordance with DE 19710345 C1, a paste, in which a first phase is made of glass or of a glass ceramic material and a second phase is electrically conductive, is provided for the realization of the connection between the cathode and the interconnector. The paste as a rule comprises a similar material or the same material as the cathode. This paste is first applied to the interconnector. The interconnector and the adjacent cathode are subsequently heated with the paste to a temperature of up to 900° C. Temperatures above 900° C. are, however, damaging in the long term for the material of the interconnector since it is usually formed from a steel.
It is also customary to use a glass solder for the sealing of fuel cells. A glass solder used for this purpose likewise cannot withstand temperatures of 900° C., however.
It is also disadvantageous with this known paste that it is only electrically conductive subsequent to a sintering. As a rule it does not sinter or sinters too little at 900° C. The paste therefore has low electrical conductivity in the operation of a high-temperature fuel cell.
As is described in DE 19749004 C1, an electrically conductive connection was realized between a ceramic component and a metallic component with a sintered, electrically conductive paste between both components. This connection is established in that the paste is applied to a ceramic component (e.g. a ceramic cathode) at least at the points at which the second component (e.g. webs of an interconnector) should contact the ceramic surface. With the electrical conductivity of the paste being able to be improved by sintering. The surface with the sintered paste is ground until a planar surface is produced for the suitable contacting. If the component is an electrode-electrolyte unit with a thin cathode, the cathode is not abraded by the grinding due to the selected thickness of the paste.
The powder can be formed from a glass-metal combination or from a ceramic powder depending on the sintering temperature. For lower sintering temperatures (<800° C.), the paste, on the one hand, contains a powder made from the starting materials for glass and, on the other hand, pulverized silver in a volume ratio of 1:1. Instead of the silver, a silver oxide powder and/or a silver alloy in powder form can be used, in each case also together with silver powder. Since silver is very noble, it can even be used for contact layers in cathode spaces (spaces in which the cathodes are located) of a fuel cell between the interconnector and the cathode although an oxidizing atmosphere is present there due to the supplied air.
The contacts known from DE 19749004 generally have the following disadvantages:                Due to the high vapor pressure of silver at T>800° C., the contact layers on the basis of a silver-glass ceramic material do not have long-term stability.        It is also disadvantageous that the layers which are formed from such pastes cannot prevent poisoning the cathode by Cr evaporation from the interconnector due to the air flowing through the cathode space.
In accordance with DE 19941282 C1, a mixture is used for the realization of an electrically conductive contact between an interconnector and a cathode of a fuel cell which comprises cuprates, CuO/cuprate compounds or silver/cuprate compounds and forms melts or part melts in the temperature range from 800-1400° C. Compounds having the following composition are preferably used as cuprates: (La,Sr)2CuO4−x, (La,Sr)CuO2.4+x, YBa2Cu3O7−x, Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu2O8+x or also Bi2(Sr,Ca)2CuO6+x or (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+x. In addition, mixtures of CuO and cuprates or of Ag and cuprates are also suitable as materials for the contact. In this respect, the proportions of CuO in the mixture can amount to up to 30% by weight or of Ag up to 10% by weight. The contacts known from DE 19941282 have the following disadvantages, however:                The contact layers on the basis of cuprate compounds have no long-term stability due to the high vapor pressure of the copper at T>850° C. (La,Sr)CuO2.4+x, for example, continuously shows phase conversions from the perovskite structure into the K2NiF4 structure after the sintering at temperatures >900° C. This phase conversion can have a very negative influence on the layer properties, which has a particular effect on a thermal cyclization. The K2NiF4 structure has a lower thermal coefficient of expansion, which results in incompatibilities with the other cell layers.        In addition, mechanical influences such as vibrations, pressure changes and tensions can also not always be compensated with the layers or a sufficiently large resistance against such influences cannot be achieved and the electrically conductive connection is also again impaired in an unwanted manner.        It is also disadvantageous that the layers which form from such pastes cannot ensure protection of the cathode from Cr evaporation from an interconnector through the air flowing through the cathode space.

Functional layer for high-temperature fuel cells and method for production

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.


Oligonucleotides are provided which are targeted to nucleic acids encoding human raf and capable of inhibiting raf expression. Methods of inhibiting the expression of human raf using oligonucleotides of the invention are also provided. The present invention further comprises methods of preventing or inhibiting hyperproliferation of cells and methods of treating abnormal proliferative conditions which employ oligonucleotides of the invention.

Alterations in the cellular genes which directly or indirectly control cell growth and differentiation are considered to be the main cause of cancer. The raf gene family includes three highly conserved genes termed A-, B- and c-raf (also called raf-1). Raf genes encode protein kinases that are thought to play important regulatory roles in signal transduction processes that regulate cell proliferation. Expression of the c-raf protein is believed to play a role in abnormal cell proliferation since it has been reported that 60% of all lung carcinoma cell lines express unusually high levels of c-raf mRNA and protein. Rapp et al., The Oncogene Handbook, E. P. Reddy, A. M Skalka and T. Curran, eds., Elsevier Science Publishers, New York, 1988, pp. 213-253. B-raf is strongly activated by oncogenic ras. Marais et al., (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272: 4378-4383.
Oligonucleotides have been employed as therapeutic moieties in the treatment of disease states in animals and man. For example, workers in the field have now identified antisense, triplex and other oligonucleotide compositions which are capable of modulating expression of genes implicated in viral, fungal and metabolic diseases.
Antisense oligonucleotides have been safely administered to humans and clinical trials of several antisense oligonucleotide drugs, targeted both to viral and cellular gene products, are presently underway. The phosphorothioate oligonucleotide, ISIS 2922, has been shown to be effective against cytomegalovirus retinitis in AIDS patients. BioWorld Today, Apr. 29, 1994, p 3. The oligonucleotide drug, ISIS5132/CGP69846A, a phosphorothioate deoxyoligonucleotide targeted to human c-raf, is currently in Phase I clinical trials. This compound has shown potent antitumor activity in a variety of animal models of human tumors. It is thus established that oligonucleotides in general, and those targeted to raf in particular, can be useful therapeutic instrumentalities and can be useful in treatment of cells and animal subjects, especially humans.
Antisense oligonucleotide inhibition of gene expression has proven to be a useful tool in understanding the roles of raf gene products. An antisense oligonucleotide complementary to the first six codons of human c-raf has been used to demonstrate that the mitogenic response of T cells to interleukin-2 (IL-2) requires c-raf. Cells treated with the oligonucleotide showed a near-total loss of c-raf protein and a substantial reduction in proliferative response to IL-2. Riedel et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 1993, 23, 3146-3150. Rapp et al. have disclosed expression vectors containing a raf gene in an antisense orientation downstream of a promoter, and methods of inhibiting raf expression by expressing an antisense Raf gene or a mutated Raf gene in a cell. WO application 93/04170. An antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotide complementary to codons 1-6 of murine c-Raf has been used to abolish insulin stimulation of DNA synthesis in the rat hepatoma cell line H4IIE. Tornkvist et al., J. Biol. Chem. 1994, 269, 13919-13921. WO Application 93/06248 discloses methods for identifying an individual at increased risk of developing cancer and for determining a prognosis and proper treatment of patients afflicted with cancer comprising amplifying a region of the c-raf gene and analyzing it for evidence of mutation.
Denner et al. disclose antisense polynucleotides hybridizing to the gene for raf, and processes using them. WO 94/15645. Oligonucleotides hybridizing to human and rat raf sequences are disclosed.
Iversen et al. disclose heterotypic antisense oligonucleotides complementary to raf which are able to kill ras-activated cancer cells, and methods of killing raf-activated cancer cells. Numerous oligonucleotide sequences are disclosed, none of which are actually antisense oligonucleotide sequences. WO 94/23755.

Antisense oligonucleotide modulation of B-raf gene expression


The present invention provides an improved steam cleaning device, comprising: a hand-held steam generator, a pole, a platform cleaning polygon housing, constructed by an upper lid and a lower lid opposite to each other, a steam-releasing apparatus disposed at the bottom of the platform cleaning polygon housing, indentation of the upper lid pivoted to clips, at least one wheeled body connected to lift said platform cleaning polygon housing off the floor; and a cleaning tool; wherein said hand-held steam generator can be selectively adapted to the pole, the platform cleaning polygon housing or at least one cleaning tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved steam cleaning device, particularly to an improved steam cleaning device that is easy to assemble, operate and sterilize.
2. Description of the Related Art
The U.S. published application No. 20040031506 "Retaining device for a steam swab" disclosed a steam swab firmly secured fabric at all sides and even though a boiler directly added to the steam cleaning machine to provide with high temperature steam. However, the complicated structure of the steam swab is not easy to assemble, and increases unexpected expense with its complexity. Moreover, this conventional steam swab is only suitable for the plain place.
In view of the shortcomings of said known device, the inventor of the present invention studied hard and devised an improved steam cleaning device.


An image forming apparatus includes an image forming part for forming a toner image on an image bearing body based on an image signal, and a density detection part for detecting a density of the toner image on the image bearing body, such that it is determined whether a normal image formed by the image forming part has a density detection area which should be detected, and if it is determined that the density detection area is present, image forming conditions are controlled based on a detection result of the density detection area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile, for forming images according to an image forming process using an electrophotographic system or an electrostatic recording system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, it has been desired that an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or printer using an electrophotographic system should reproduce images from the same image data on a transfer material at a constant density.
To this end, the image forming apparatus forms a specific pattern of developed images (patches) for density detection on an image bearing body such as a photosensitive drum at a preliminary stage prior to the image forming process, that is, during a pre-rotation period upon completion of warm-up operation after startup. The image forming apparatus then reads out the density of the formed pattern, and based on the read density values, changes various parameters for determining the image forming conditions of the image forming apparatus, such as the amount of charge, the amount of exposure, an image information conversion table or so-called lookup table (hereinafter called "LUT"), a development field, and the amount of developer supply. Thus the image forming apparatus performs image control (pre-rotational image control) to stabilize the quality of images being formed.
Even when the tone characteristics of the image forming apparatus have changed due to changes in environmental conditions, this pre-rotational image control can be performed by forming patches on the image bearing body and reading their densities again to feedback the results to the various parameters for determining the image forming conditions, thereby stabilizing image quality in response to the changes in environmental conditions.
In the above-mentioned image forming method, however, the density may vary from image to image, because the image forming apparatus may not be able to respond to characteristics constantly varying due to long hours of image formation in the course of a day's work, such as changes in dark/light potential parts of the image bearing body or photosensitive drum, and changes in the amount of charge of developer. The variations in image density are brought to the fore as variations in color especially in such a color image forming apparatus that is required to carry out high-quality image formation.
In addition, since time-consuming and troublesome work is required for the above-mentioned pre-rotational image control, it is difficult to frequently carry out this control.
As a measure to solve this problem, a method called post-rotational image control is known as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-238341 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,281). In this method, one or more predetermined tone patterns are formed as patches on an image bearing body at intervals of a predetermined number of sheets after repetitions of the image forming process, and the densities of the tone patterns are read to control various parameters according to the read values.
Another method called inter-sheet image control is known as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-202711 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 2,003,128381 and EP-1326426). In this method, one or more tone patterns are formed in the same manner mentioned above on an image bearing body between image forming cycles at the time of continuous image formation at which images are continuously formed on multiple sheets, that is, at an interval between printing sheets, and the densities of the tone patterns are read to control various parameters according to the read values.
However, since the post-rotational image control is performed after image formation on a predetermined number of sheets, no image cannot be formed during the control period, reducing user productivity.
On the other hand, since the inter-sheet image control method forms patches between printing sheets, it requires a longer time to perform the control at an interval between printing sheets, causing a reduction in the number of formed images producible at the same processing rate.
In both of the foregoing image control methods, the image patterns are formed as patches other than images desired by the user to be formed in the image forming process, causing extra consumption of developer and promotion of contamination in the image forming apparatus.

Image forming apparatus with a toner image density feature and related method


Dewaxed fuel and lubricant base stocks are made by (a) producing a synthesis gas from natural gas, (b) reacting the H2 and CO in the gas in the presence of a cobalt Fischer-Tropsch catalyst, at reaction conditions effective to synthesize a waxy hydrocarbon feed boiling in the fuel and lubricant oil ranges, which is hydrodewaxed in a first stage to produce a dewaxed fuel and a partially dewaxed lubricant fraction. The partially dewaxed lubricant fraction is separated into heavy and lower boiling fractions each of which is separately hydrodewaxed, to produce lubricant base stocks. A hydrodewaxing catalyst comprising a hydrogenation component, binder and solid acid component used to hydrodewax at least one, and preferably at least two of the waxy feed and partially dewaxed heavy and lower boiling lubricant fractions.

The relatively pure waxy and paraffinic hydrocarbons synthesized by the Fischer-Tropsch process are excellent sources of diesel fuel, jet fuel and premium lubricant oils with low sulfur, nitrogen and aromatics. When produced by a cobalt catalyst, the sulfur, nitrogen and aromatics content of the waxy hydrocarbons is essentially nil and they can therefore be passed to upgrading operations without prior hydrogen treatment. In a Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis process, a synthesis gas comprising H2 and CO is fed into a hydrocarbon synthesis reactor, in which the H2 and CO react in the presence of a Fischer-Tropsch catalyst to produce waxy hydrocarbons. The waxy hydrocarbon fraction that is liquid at the synthesis reaction conditions and solid at ambient room temperature and pressure conditions, is referred to as Fischer-Tropsch wax, and typically includes hydrocarbons boiling in both the fuels and lubricant oil ranges. However, these fuel and lubricant fractions have cloud and pour points too high to be useful as fuels and lubricant oils and must therefore be further processed (e.g., dewaxed), to acceptably low cloud and pour points. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis using a non-shifting cobalt catalyst produces more of the higher molecular weight hydrocarbons boiling in the lubricant range, than does a shifting catalyst, such as iron. Various processes have been disclosed for catalytically dewaxing these and other waxy hydrocarbons. Some, such as those employing a ZSM-5 catalyst, dewax by hydrocracking the waxy hydrocarbons to products boiling below the lubricant oil range. This results in a substantial loss of lubricant and higher boiling fuel, with concomitant low product yield. Others hydrorefine the wax to remove sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen containing molecules (oxygenates) and aromatics prior to dewaxing, to reduce deactivation of the dewaxing catalyst. The problem of high conversion and concomitant low product yield is exacerbated, when dewaxing a waxy, heavy lubricant oil fraction to an acceptable cloud point. Illustrative, but nonlimiting examples of various catalytic dewaxing processes are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,179,994; 6,090,989; 6,080,301; 6,051,129; 5,689,031 and 5,075,269 and EP 0 668 342 B1. There is still a need for a process that will produce acceptable yields of both fuels and lubricant base stocks, including a heavy lubricant base stock, from Fischer-Tropsch wax.

Production of fuels and lube oils from fischer-tropsch wax

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


Apparatus for heat welding together thermoplastic membranes mounted on a surface includes a frame, a support member connected to the frame, a nozzle mounted on the support member to receive heated air, weld wheels mounted on the support member adjacent to, and immediately following, the nozzle for pushing a heated portion of an upper membrane toward a lower membrane to effect a weld, wherein the support member is adapted to be fixed to the frame member in a first position proximate a first side of the frame for welding the two membranes together, is releasable from the first position, is movable to a second position nearer a second side of the frame, and adapted to be releasably fixed to the frame at the second position for welding a membrane to an underlying edge piece mounted on a free edge of the surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for heat welding two overlapping waterproof membranes to each other, and is directed more particularly to such an apparatus provided with improved structure for welding along outside edges of the area to be covered with the membranes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide an apparatus for heat welding two overlapping waterproof membranes attached to a surface, such as a roof top, deck, terrace, or other surface. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,126, issued Dec. 4, 2001, to James Rubenacker et al.
The '126 patent relates to a machine for effecting continuous heat welds for binding an upper membrane to a lower membrane underlying in part the upper membrane. To effect the welds, the machine described in the '126 patent is provided with nozzle means which directs hot air onto the weld area. The upper overlapping membrane is heat sealed to the lower overlapped membrane along the overlap portion to seal the two membranes together. To effect the weld, the nozzle means is moved by the machine between the two membranes, under an edge of the upper membrane.
The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,126 (commonly owned by the assignee herein) is incorporated herein by reference.
While the apparatus shown and described in the '126 patent effects "field seam welding" quite well, that is, welding two membrane strips together, it is not well suited for welding the outboard-most strip outboard-most edge to an outer edge of the supporting roof, or other structure, that is, "edge welding". Such edge welding is customarily accomplished by a machine devoted wholly to edge welding, or done by hand. There is thus a need for a machine which is adapted for membrane field seam welding and, in addition, for edge welding in a quick and easy fashion.

Apparatus and method for welding overlapping water-proof membranes to each other


A pressure gauge for measuring pressure in a vacuum chamber includes a flange couplable with the vacuum chamber, a pressure sensor configured to measure pressure, an air valve between the flange and the pressure sensor, and a vibration dampening assembly configured to dampen vibration in the pressure gauge. A sputtering system for sputter deposition includes a sputter chamber and the pressure gauge. The flange of the pressure gauge is coupled with the sputter chamber. A method of measuring pressure in a vacuum chamber with the pressure gauge includes coupling the flange with the vacuum chamber, dampening vibration in the pressure gauge with the vibration dampening assembly, and obtaining a pressure measurement from the pressure sensor.

Machines that utilize pressure may include a pressure gauge to monitor pressure. One such machine is a sputter machine for production of magnetic media for hard disk drives. Sputter machines include multiple sputter chambers, which are under pressure during operation (sputter deposition). A conventional pressure gauge may be coupled to a sputter chamber to measure the pressure of the sputter chamber. The pressure sensor may be connected to a manufacturing computer to provide real time pressure measurements. However, during magnetic media production, the sputter chamber can experience vibration. One source of the vibration can be due to a carrier holder traveling from one sputter chamber to the next. Another source of the vibration can be a gate valve assembly opening and closing. This vibration may result in the pressure gauge proving a false reading, which can even lead to stopping the sputter chamber operation.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a pressure gauge for use with a sputter chamber that prevents false readings due to vibration originating from the sputter chamber.

Sputter chamber pressure gauge with vibration absorber


A channel map display module, at least one user interface template and storage for holding information about band and channel assignments, subrate information, provisioned circuit and subrate circuits are used to create a unique channel map that presents the network provisioning information in graphical form that is easy to understand. The channel map display module is coupled to and polls the administrative complex of each node in the network to retrieve and gather the data about the network. The channel map display module combines the with the novel user interface for presentation to the user. The channel map user interface displays all the circuits formed on a sub-network, the band and channel assignments, whether a node perform regeneration, and if the circuit is coupled to multiplexers for other subrate circuit in a single display window. The present invention also includes methods such as a method for generating a channel map display, method for providing additional channel and circuit information, and various methods for updating the channel map display in response to extrinsic network events.

Nodes in a communications network such as an optical network may typically be associated with an administrative complex. The administrative complex includes an administrative node processor module (ANPM) having a processor and a primary database. The administrative complex is concerned with control of administrative functions, examples of which include configuring and monitoring elements of a node and providing a management interface to a user. The administrative functions also include creating paths within a network by provisioning channels or connections between network nodes. A key part of monitoring the network includes the ability to determine the existing band and channel allocations in a network and the status of such bands and channels.
A network may comprise many nodes, and each of the nodes may have an associated administrative complex. Each of the administrative complexes is communicatively coupled to a network management application that is used by personnel at a network operations center (NOC) who are responsible for monitoring and managing the entire network. Typically, information such as the status of a particular channel, the nodes that a channel couples (or circuits that have been provisioned), operations that are performed at a node, alarm states, administrative states of circuits, as well as other detailed information about the network is provided by the administrative complexes to the NOC. Users at the NOC typically formulate requests for information, send those requests to the administrative complexes, and receive responses from the administrative complexes on an as needed basis. In a similar manner, such information can be gathered as the network is configured, periodically once the network is operational, and at times when there are failures in the network.
However, one significant problem is that there are number of different types of information that must be gathered and understood by the network administrator. The administrative complexes provide this information in a piecemeal basis that makes it very difficult to get the correct information to configure the network. Moreover, it causes the NOC to issue repeated requests for the same information. Thus, there is a need for a method to provide information necessary for administration of the network in a more readable and useful manner.
While there have been attempts in the prior art to collect and present such information, such prior art attempts to provide a unified interface have a number of shortcomings. First, the channel allocation information was only available for a single node. Second, the information was limited to channel usage, and has not provided additional administrative information necessary for configuration of the network. Third, information about node pass through information was not available in prior art interfaces.
Therefore, in a network, it would be desirable if there was an interface that provides a channel map for a given sub-network, and also provides information necessary for configuring the network such as pass through information, circuit and subrate circuit information, and additional administrative information in an easily accessible manner. It would also be desirable if the channel map were updated on a real-time basis.

System and method for displaying usage information in a data network


A method and apparatus for providing a masked short message service in a wireless network are disclosed. For example, the method receives a message from a first endpoint device directed to a second endpoint device, wherein the message indicates that the message is a masked short message service message, and forwards the masked short message service message with a code towards the second endpoint device. In one example, the second endpoint device parses the message and executes instructions contained therein, e.g., for sending a regular SMS with content derived from masked SMS, making a call, playing music, finding location by invoking an API, sending a file or a picture and any other functions that the second endpoint device may be capable of doing. The masked short message service provides a method for remotely controlling a 2G/3G mobile device through a computer or another mobile device.

As Internet usage continues to grow, more and more customers are accessing communications services via a mobile device, e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc. For example, a customer may receive, short message service (SMS) messages, multimedia content, voice calls, etc. via his/her smart phone. The smart phone transmits and receives voice and data packets to and from the service provider's network.
However, when a customer forgets his/her smart phone at another location, the customer is unable to access the services.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Providing a masked short message service in a wireless network


A mask assembly and a method of fabricating an organic light emitting display device using the same are provided. The mask assembly includes: a mask frame including a window therein; and a mask which is disposed on the window and fixed to the mask frame, wherein the mask includes a plurality of open parts and a plurality of blocked parts which extend in a column direction. Each open part and each blocked part may alternately be arranged in a row direction. Each open part may include a plurality of pixel openings and a plurality of pixel connection openings, which are alternately arranged in the column direction, and a maximum width of the pixel opening may be larger than a maximum width of the pixel connection opening.

1. Field
Some embodiments relate to a mask assembly and a method of fabricating an organic light emitting display device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among display devices, an organic light emitting display device is a self-emitting display device that has drawn attention as a next generation display device due to a wide viewing angle, excellent contrast, and a rapid response speed.
Such an organic light emitting display device may include an intermediate layer which includes at least a light emitting layer between opposing electrodes. The electrodes and the intermediate layer may be formed by several methods. One such method is a deposition method.
In order to fabricate an organic light emitting display device using a deposition method, a mask having a pattern of an openings corresponding to a pattern of a thin film which will be formed on a substrate, for example, a fine metal mask (FMM), may be closely attached onto the substrate, and a deposition material may be deposited onto the substrate through the mask to form a thin film having a desired pattern.

Mask assembly and method of fabricating organic light emitting display device using the same


A method for measuring a vibration from four or more equidistant points in a chamber, comprising centering a chamber surface around a center point, containing a fluid within the chamber surface, measuring a fluid vibration from at least four measuring points in juxtaposition with the chamber surface, wherein at least two measuring points are located along a first axis passing through the center point and at least two measuring points are located along a second axis passing through the center point.

Determining the direction and/or intensity of vibrations provides valuable information in many diverse technological fields, for example, seismic plotting of an earthquake, locating tunnel activity, and intrusion event detection.
A common prior art vibration sensor comprises a transducer in contact with fluid in a chamber. As the fluid vibrates in response to vibrations that contact the chamber, the transducer produces a signal that is received by a signal interpreter. The interpreter uses the signal to characterize vibrations in magnitude, frequency or vector along an axis passing through the fluid.
To characterize a vibration in multiple axes, multiple sensors, each having a different axis, for example, are coupled together or alternatively, the sensor is rotated and/or moved with respect to the vibration; as seen in the following exemplary patents:
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,819, Hartley, John Edward teaches a geophone transducer that is partially submerged in a fluid and detects horizontal seismic waves.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,296, Hall Jr., Ernest M. teaches a geophone comprising a fluid filled chamber having transducers in flexible top and bottom walls. Multiple geophones are used to provide output signals relating to the direction of the earth's motion.


Included are embodiments of a Multiply-Accumulate Unit to process multiple format floating point operands. For short format operands, embodiments of the Multiply Accumulate Unit are configured to process data with twice the throughput as long and mixed format data. At least one embodiment can include a short exponent calculation component configured to receive short format data, a long exponent calculation component configured to receive long format data, and a mixed exponent calculation component configured to receive short exponent data, the mixed exponent calculation component further configured to received long format data. Embodiments also include a mantissa datapath configured for implementation to accommodate processing of long, mixed, and short floating point operands.

Since the year 2000, fixed function Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are becoming more and more programmable, providing a user with direct and flexible control on the processing primitive, vertex, texture, and pixel streams in graphics chips. Many current GPUs can feature programmability in the form of at least one shader (primitive, vertex, etc.) but generally can process only a few types of data (say 32-bit floating point for vertex and 32-bit integer). The programmable shaders in the graphics pipeline are generally arranged in sequential manner for forwarding data to fixed function units and to each other with a data format conversion if desired.
Also generally involved in the design of GPUs are parallel multiprocessor architecture principles. Application of parallel architecture principles generally utilizes a plurality of same type arithmetic logic units (ALUs) to process different types of stream data in non-uniform program threads. In many circumstances, the ALUs are desired to process different kinds of data for every clock cycle if non-uniform program threads are interleaved.
One of important issues is an implementation of complex mathematical functions (special functions) in such multiprocessor structures. There are generally two ways to implement them: special subroutine executed on general ALU and special hardware unit attached to general ALU which produced result by its request. Software implementation of such functions creates significant performance degradation, which might be unacceptable in case of real-time graphics applications. In the case of multiple ALU combined in SIMD structure such unit should be attached to every ALU which may significantly increase hardware overhead. Such complex functions are not used very often in a shader program and most of the time those special hardware units combined with each general ALU will be idling.
This situation can be partially resolved by sharing the special function unit (SFU) among a plurality of ALUs, but in the case of an SIMD structure, a thread will be stalled until all streams will get their result from shared SFU which will process requests sequentially. It may take several cycles of overhead in each involvement of complex mathematical function in shader program. Special arrangements in the SIMD stream architecture should be made to minimize stall wait cycles and provide smooth stream processing with minimal overhead if non-uniform program threads are interleaved.
While the ALUs used in this multiprocessing manner generally sustain high throughput, the ALUs should be able to process more data streams in short format sharing the same hardware for longer format. Generally speaking, current ALUs for GPUs are configured to process only one format of floating point unit (e.g., 32-bit IEEE format as standard) and generally experience low performance in processing lower accuracy pixel and texture data. Additionally, if another type of data format is supported, the ALU generally works with the same number of streams with little to no throughput improvement nor Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) factor variability regardless of the data format. Further, current ALUs are generally not configured to arbitrarily interleave the flow of instructions (lack of support for non-uniform threads). Additionally, current dual format Multiply Accumulate (MACC) units can generally process only integer data.
Vector machines with a fixed data format and a fixed SIMD factor generally have less of a hardware load and generally process stream data relatively slowly in the case where there are a lesser number of elements in the vector stream than the width of a vector unit. Additionally current graphics shader architecture generally has limited instruction set capabilities in processing different format data in the same instruction.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Dual mode floating point multiply accumulate unit


The present disclosure provides a method for recombinant production of human sRAGE in mammalian cells, as well as a human sRAGE having a mammalian post-translational modification and compositions thereof. The present disclosure also provides a method of treating a vascular disease, injury, or inflammation in a mammal by administering to a mammal with a vascular disease, injury, or inflammation a composition comprising human sRAGE having a mammalian post-translational modification, thereby treating the vascular disease, injury, or inflammation in the mammal.

Arterial restenosis is a serious pathological complication that can follow surgical cardiovascular interventions such as angioplasty. The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a protein implicated in the development of vascular hyperplasia and in atherogenesis. A soluble form of RAGE, designated sRAGE, is used as a therapeutic agent that is believed to act as a decoy to diminish RAGE-dependent signaling, thereby attenuating inflammation and pathogenic consequences. RAGE is a multi-ligand receptor which interacts with advanced glycosylation end products (AGE), and with other molecules implicated in homeostasis, development, inflammation, and certain diseases, such as diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. sRAGE also has been associated with anti-mitotic effects. The administration of sRAGE has been used to treat arterial restenosis and atherosclerosis in animal models.
There is a need for improved methods of preparing sRAGE, as well as a need for sRAGE having an increased potency and a lower therapeutically effective dose.

Human soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE), methods of preparing human sRAGE, and treatment methods using sRAGE

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services


Methods, computer program products, and computer systems for configuration management are disclosed. Such methods, computer program products, and computer systems include determining whether unstructured data or structured data is available for use as a basis to define an associative template, and in response to a determination that unstructured data is available for use as the basis to define the associative template, determining whether the unstructured data is hierarchically organized. In response to a determination that the unstructured data is hierarchically organized, an associative template can then be defined using the hierarchical organization of the unstructured data, where the unstructured data is hierarchically-organized unstructured data (HOUD).

An ever-increasing reliance on information and computing systems that produce, process, distribute, and maintain such information in its various forms, continues to put great demands on techniques for providing data storage, access to that data storage, and management of the data thus stored. Business organizations, government organizations, and other organizations, and even individuals, can produce (and so, need to retain) large amounts of data. While data growth is not new, the pace of data growth has become more rapid, the location of data more dispersed, and linkages between data sets more complex, with each passing day.
As will be appreciated, then, this leaves today's organizations and individuals facing something of a crisis. Many organizations and individuals have been assiduously and comprehensively storing data for years. The problem is, these organizations and individuals are ill-equipped to manage such massive collections of data. In this regard, nowhere is today's rapid growth in data felt more keenly than in the exponential growth of unstructured data.
Unstructured data is a group of data items that is irregular in some way, such that the data items are not described by a pre-defined data model. As such, unstructured data does not reside in a traditional row-column database, spreadsheet, or comparable form, which results in irregularities that make unstructured data difficult to manage. By contrast, structured data is maintained in a strictly regular arrangement of data (e.g., that adheres to a pre-defined data model of some sort). Thus, a fundamental difference between structured and unstructured data is that structured data is organized in a highly regular, mechanical, and manageable manner, while unstructured data is not. Further, while unstructured data can include structured data (e.g., a database or spreadsheet among a number of other files in a filesystem directory), unstructured data will include at least some data that is irregular in some way. Even data that is structured in one or more certain aspects is still characterized as unstructured, particularly if the data's structure is not useful for the processing task at hand.
Compounding such challenges is the fact that unstructured data typically grows in both extent and complexity. It is estimated that somewhere around 80-90% of potentially usable business information exists unstructured form, and that unstructured data makes up 70%-80% of all data in organizations. Even if such unstructured data is not voluminous to begin with, the larger the unstructured data becomes, the worse the problem of managing such unstructured data becomes. In this regard, for such large sets of unstructured data, the management of configure settings on individual data items is typically quite challenging. This is true even where there is only a limited set of configuration patterns to be followed. Complicating matters is the fact that, even if the unstructured data is organized in some fashion (e.g., a directory structure), any such organization will inevitably change over time, and often, will do so quickly.
It is therefore desirable to provide a mechanism by which various configuration settings can be enforced on unstructured data. Further, such mechanisms should provide such functionality in a scalable and efficient manner, despite the need to provide configuration management for large amounts of unstructured data.

Method and system for configuration management of hierarchically organized unstructured data using associative templates


An improved technique generates confounders for KBA questions from personal information management (PIM) data created from within an organization. An enterprise KBA (eKBA) server collects PIM data such as email data for a particular member of the organization. For email data, the eKBA server extracts facts from the headers of emails and generates queries having a corresponding correct answer from a first subset of the facts. Moreover, the eKBA server extracts a set of confounders from a second subset of the facts. The eKBA server then forms a multiple-choice KBA question from the query, the corresponding correct answer, and selected confounders.

Conventional knowledge-based authentication (KBA) involves deriving questions regarding a particular user from facts in a publicly available database, and asking that user one or more of the derived questions to verify the authenticity of the user. For example, conventional KBA accesses facts such as addresses, mortgage payments, and driving records from a LexisNexis® server, a credit bureau or a motor vehicle registry.
Suppose that a user wishes to make a purchase at a store using a store account. In conventional KBA, the store may ask the user a set of questions derived from a set of facts concerning the user in order to complete the purchase. Such questions may include "where did you live in September, 1998?", "what is your current mortgage payment to within 20 dollars?", and "what make and model car did you drive in February, 2001?". If the user answers the questions correctly, the store completes the purchase. On the other hand, if the user answers questions incorrectly, the store may take remedial steps to verify the authenticity of the user. For example, the store may ask for further proof of identity such as a driver's license.
In many scenarios, the questions used in conventional KBA take the form of multiple-choice questions. Such multiple-choice questions include a correct choice and a set of wrong choices. In conventional KBA, software packages such as IBM Smart Analytics System provides the set of wrong choices for a KBA question from data in the publicly available database.

Confounder generation in knowledge-based authentication for an enterprise


A method for controlling flow, through a computer hardware resource, of information to and from computer applications. When a flow of information is initiated from one of the applications, a determination is made whether the resource is being accessed by another one of the applications and, if so, the flow of information from the first application is delayed. If not, then the flow of information is enabled. When a flow of information is initiated toward the applications, a determination is made to which one of the applications the information is flowing, and the flow is directed to that one application. A graphical interface associates, in the mind of a user, a computer hardware resource with a corresponding real office device, the computer resource enabling the computer to function like the consumer device. The graphical interface includes a surrealistic image having physical features which represent functional components of the resource, the physical features of the image resembling corresponding features of the office device; and an animation routine which causes the image to change when the user selects one of the features of the image, thereby invoking the change occurring in a manner which resembles changes to the office device when the corresponding feature of the office device is invoked.

This invention relates to a computer/user interface for computer hardware resources associated with familiar devices.
The proliferation of the personal computer has made it possible to move many familiar office devices off of the desktop and into the computer system. Fax modems, for example, allow the user to not only to transmit and receive data from bulletin board services and computer networks, but also to send and receive facsimile transmissions, as well as place and accept calls over telephone lines. CD-ROM is not only an inexpensive storage medium for large computer programs or vast amounts of electronic data, but also a medium through which the computer may play music or display pictures or graphics. In addition, other office devices, e.g., AM/FM receivers and television tuners, are available as computer system components.
For experienced computer users, existing computer/user interface packages, such as Microsoft Windows, are more than sufficient to enable the user to manipulate these familiar office devices. The experienced user usually has no trouble selecting an office device for use, invoking the appropriate application to operate the device, and configuring the computer system for proper operation of the application and the device.
Novice users, on the other hand, usually have little, if any, understanding of the computer and are often unable or unwilling to perform the tasks necessary to use these otherwise familiar devices. At best, the novice user is confused when trying to operate office devices through the computer.
Experienced users and novice users alike encounter difficulties when a device is used for conflicting purposes. A fax modem, for example, may be used to initiate and answer voice calls as well as to transmit and receive facsimiles. If the modem receives an incoming call, the user must decipher whether it is a voice or facsimile call and then invoke the appropriate application, all before the caller gets tired of waiting and hangs up. In addition, the user may attempt to place a telephone call while unaware that facsimile data is being received by the modem.

Controlling the flow of electronic information through a modem


The invention relates to Hepatitis C virus epitopes which are specific in relation to CD4+ T lymphocytes, in addition to vaccinations which contain said epitopes.

The invention relates to Hepatitis C virus-epitopes, which are specific with respect to CD4+ T-lymphocytes, and to vaccines containing these epitopes.
The Hepatitis C virus, termed HCV in the following, was identified in 1989 and is an RNA virus from the family of flaviviridae. It consists of one single strand of RNA of approx. 9400 nucleotides which code a precursor polyprotein of about 3000 amino acids in length. This polyprotein is translated in an open reading frame and split post-translationally and proteolytically. The virus is highly variable and various virus isolates exist which are designated as genotypes and the geographical distribution of which varies largely. More than six genotypes throughout the world have now been differentiated. These genotypes are in turn subdivided into subtypes. The genetic variability is present inter-individually and intra-individually (within an infected individual). The intra-individual subtypes are the so-called HCV quasi-species which are related but different virus sequences occurring with imprecise replication.
With a prevalence of approx. one to three percent world-wide, Hepatitis C is one of the most important chronic virus infections. At least 180 million individuals are thought to be currently infected. According to calculations by the Center of Disease Control in the USA, due to the long latency period after infection with HCV, there will still be an increase in illness associated with Hepatitis C until the year 2010.
The HCV is primarily transmitted parenterally and, until it was discovered, it was the main cause of post-transfusion hepatitis NonA-NonB. Due to the testing of all blood products on a routine basis with HCV antibody tests of the 2nd and 3rd generation, the number of post-transfusion hepatitis cases has reduced drastically. The so-called sporadic Hepatitis C infections. Currently there are no known measures of effectively preventing new infections along these routes.
The HCV causes a chronic inflammation of the liver (hepatitis) which in the course of many years can lead to other complications such as liver cirrhosis. Within the framework of a liver cirrhosis lasting some years about 5% of all infected persons develop a hepatocellular carcinoma. Consequently, in the western world Hepatitis C takes the first place as the cause of liver transplantations. The costs for the public health service due to these transplantations are substantial.
Although with chronic Hepatitis C antibodies can be found against almost all virus proteins, in contrast to Hepatitis B however, there is no anti-HCV antibody constellation which indicates an immunity to HCV or a cure. Also the presence of antibodies against the HCV during a chronic HCV infection does not alleviate the course of the illness. On the contrary, a successful therapy appears to be linked to a reduction in the antibody titre. Therefore, it is not possible to prevent an infection with Hepatitis C through a conventional, prophylactic vaccination with envelope protein as is successfully carried out with Hepatitis B. A therapeutic vaccination is therefore currently not available.
The only currently approved therapy is a treatment with interferon-alpha alone or in combination with ribavirin for three to twelve months. This form of therapy is very cost-intensive, it often involves side effects and leads to a permanent elimination of the virus in only about 40% of cases.
From the Journal of Virology, Volume 71, pages 6011 to 6019 and Hepatology, Volume 30, No. 4, 1999, pages 1088 to 1098 it is known that through direct peripheral blood T-cell stimulation and specificity analysis of HCV-specific T-cell lines, highly immunogenous T-cell epitopes can be identified within the core and NS3 and NS4 regions of the Hepatitis C virus. Here, T-lymphocytes are isolated from peripheral blood and the CD4+ T-lymphocytes specific to HCV which it contains are enriched to so-called specific T-cell lines by repeated stimulation with the appropriate virus protein in vitro. Through the analysis of the growth behaviour (inclusion of radioactively labelled nucleotides) of these specific T-cell lines after stimulation with HCV protein and/or the smaller subunits, the peptides, the sequence of the T-cell epitope can be narrowed down. In particular the analysis of T-cell lines produces in comparison to T-cell clones inexact results with regard to the sequence specifically recognised by the CD4+ T-lymphocytes due to the cell mixture.
It is therefore the object of this invention to isolate HCV epitopes specific to CD4+ T-lymphocytes and to make available the HCV epitopes identified through the CD4+ T-lymphocytes for a vaccine for the prophylaxis and/or therapy of an HCV infection.


The DNVG includes a digital light sensor, a digital display, and an eyepiece. The digital light sensor is arranged to detect visible and near infrared light from an object and provide a digital signal based on the detected light. The digital display is arranged to provide a digital image of the object based on the digital signal provided by the digital light sensor. The eyepiece is configured to provide the digital image from the digital display to an eye of a user of the night vision goggles. The eyepiece includes a lens assembly and a reflector having a reflector surface, the lens assembly imaging light from the digital image via the reflective surface to the eye of the user. Alternatively, the eyepiece includes waveguide optics transporting imaging light from the digital image to the eye of the user.

Digital night vision goggles (DNVG) can provide full color displays for a user such as a pilot of an airdraft. DNVG provide multi spectral capability, and may fuse detection of Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) radiation, Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) or color cameras with Near Infrared (NIR) sensors, for example.
In use DNVG are often mounted on the head gear of a user. Thus, the DNVG may provide a neck strain on the user due to the weight of the DNVG.


There is provided a fiber that includes a fiber material disposed along a longitudinal-axis fiber length. A porous domain has a porous domain length along at least a portion of the fiber length, within the fiber material. The porous domain includes solid-phase material regions and fluid-phase interstitial regions that are both along the porous domain length and across the porous domain, for multi-dimensional porosity of the porous domain.

This invention relates generally to thermally drawn fibers, and more particularly relates to the control of composition and morphology of the materials in thermally drawn fibers.
The process of thermally drawing a fiber preform into a fiber has been exploited for a wide range of applications, including production of optical fiber, fiber-based sensors, and fiber-based radiation tools. The thermal drawing process is a low-cost and intrinsically scalable fabrication method that enables production of extended lengths of fiber material with well-controlled geometry and electromagnetic transport characteristics over such extended lengths. Beyond conventional optical transmission fibers, thermal fiber drawing has been shown to be capable of producing combined optical and electrical transmission, as well as micro-scale microelectronic and optoelectronic device operation, along a fiber length and/or across a fiber's cross-section. Many optoelectronic applications have been particularly well-addressed by fibers produced with thermal drawing methodology.
Indeed, the ability of the thermal drawing process to produce fibers including intimately interfaced materials having widely disparate electrical conductivities and refractive indices, and to realize arbitrary lateral geometries over extended lengths has enabled the realization of electronic, photonic and optoelectronic device functionalities at length scales and cost of conventional optical fiber thermal drawing, rather than microelectronic fabrication. But in general, preform-based thermal drawing fiber production has been restricted to fibers with internal fiber features that are generally uniform or homogeneous in composition along fiber length. As a result, a wide range of applications that could be addressed with fiber technology cannot be realized by preform-based fiber thermal drawing processes.

Thermally-drawn fiber including porosity


Embodiments are directed to binary phase shift key modulating a first pilot symbol according to a reference sequence, and differentially binary phase shift key modulating a second pilot symbols. The original reference sequence and the delayed differentially modulated sequence are then combined before performing an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform and inserting a guard interval. Receiver operations are an inverse of the transmitter operations, which were just discussed. The receiver does not have to know the reference sequence. Embodiments are directed to specifying a plurality of seeds that are bit patterns each having r bits not all of which have a value of zero, extending the seeds into respective sequences by applying to each seed a recurrence formula; and using one of the sequences as a comb sequence and using the sequences other than the comb sequence as binary phase shift keying patterns.

Digital broadband broadcast networks enable end users to receive digital content including video, audio, data, and so forth. Using a mobile terminal, a user may receive digital content over a wireless digital broadcast network. Digital content can be transmitted in a cell within a network. A cell may represent a geographical area that may be covered by a transmitter in a communication network. A network may have multiple cells and cells may be adjacent to other cells.
A receiver device, such as a mobile terminal, may receive a program or service in a data or transport stream. The transport stream carries individual elements of the program or service such as the audio, video and data components of a program or service. Typically, the receiver device locates the different components of a particular program or service in a data stream through Program Specific Information (PSI) or Service Information (SI) embedded in the data stream. However, PSI or SI signaling may be insufficient in some wireless communications systems, such as Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) systems. Use of PSI or SI signaling in such systems may result in a sub-optimal end user experience as the PSI and SI tables carrying in PSI and SI information may have long repetition periods. In addition, PSI or SI signaling requires a large amount of bandwidth which is costly and also decreases efficiency of the system.

Digital video broadcast service discovery


An edge-fed waveguide luminaire includes a light waveguide having a planar body, a waveguide edge support structure, and an anchor opening in the planar body of the light waveguide, which is displaced from said waveguide edge support structure. A sensor is fixed in the anchor opening of said light waveguide so as to be responsive to conditions in the space below the luminaire. The sensor, which will have minimal impact on the aesthetic qualities of the luminaire, is in communication with light switching means for adjusting the light output from the luminaire in response to changes in conditions in the space below the luminaire.

The present invention generally relates to fixtures for illuminating a space and more particularly to luminaires having built-in activity sensors for controlling the light output from the luminaire.
Luminaires having embedded occupancy sensors to control the levels of the luminaire are well known. Such sensors detect occupancy within the space, such as by detecting motion and/or sound, and are used to control lighting levels in the illuminated spaces based on occupancy levels. Using such embedded sensors, energy savings can be realized by switching the lights off or to lower lighting levels when the space is unoccupied.
Sensors are typically mounted to the structure of the luminaire that houses or supports the luminaire's light source or sources and optical elements, such as lenses, louvers and reflectors used to create a desired light distribution and to control brightness. However, problems in locating and mounting a sensor can arise when the luminaire has insufficient structure on which to mount the sensor or when the supporting structure for the luminaire's optical elements is configured such that the sensor cannot easily be located to provide suitable coverage for detecting occupancy in areas in the vicinity of the luminaire. Furthermore, sensors located on luminaire housings and other support structures can be visually distracting, particularly when the luminaire is a prominent architectural element within a space.
The present invention provides a waveguide luminaire having one or more sensors that can be mounted to the luminaire without the limitations imposed by the sometimes small profile support structures for the luminaire's waveguide or waveguides. The sensor or sensors can be optimally located on the luminaire for effective coverage within the space being illuminated and will have minimal impact on the aesthetic qualities of the luminaire.

Waveguide luminaire with guide imbedded activity sensor


Vehicles equipped with air brake systems and onboard vehicle management computers may be programmed to determine normal operating variables for the air compressor system used for maintaining air brake system pressure. The algorithm used determines normal compressor cut-in and cut-out pressures and actual rise times from cut-in to cut-out by compensating for periods of exogenous air pressure demand.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to air brake systems for motor vehicles and more particularly to providing an air compressor system in which a vehicle body computer is programmed to learn normal operating ranges for air brake systems, including particularly the compressor cut-in and cut-out pressures.
2. Description of the Problem
Air compressors on trucks can supply pressurized air to air brake systems for the truck, to any trailers pulled by the truck and to other vehicle systems such as air suspension systems. The operation of the air compressor system is critical to truck operation for engaging the brakes for stopping. For this reason the periodic verification of operation of the compressor and air brake system is important for insuring safe operation of the vehicle and has been made the subject of government regulations.
The air compressor on a truck is typically under the control of a governor which triggers compressor operation in response to falling system pressure. The point where compressor operation engages is called the cut-in pressure. The governor further responds to pressure in the system reaching an upper limit at which point it causes the air compressor to discontinue supplying pressurized air. This point is called the cut-out pressure.
Air compressor system performance varies by manufacturer, by age of the system and by its state of repair. Systems differ in the number of compressed air tanks and in the capacity of those tanks. Some vehicles are equipped with air suspensions which make independent demands on compressed air. Leakage rates vary from system to system and still other factors may effect operation. When new or in good repair an air compressor system should operate at close to its optimal levels. With age and deterioration of the system, the system may come to fall short of these optimal operating values. Inspection regimens should detect failure of a system to operate close to original specification.
Inspection regimens must be established to comply with government regulations. These regimens check variables such as compressor governor cut-out, governor cut-in and monitor gauge pressure against a clock to determine charge build time. A representative procedure requires a driver or operator to:    "Check Air Compressor Governor Cut-in and Cut-out Pressures. Pumping by the air compressor should start at about 100 psi and stop at about 125 psi. (Check manufacturer's specifications.) Run the engine at a fast idle. The air governor should cut-out the air compressor at about the manufacturer's specified pressure. The air pressure shown by your gauge(s) will stop rising. With the engine idling, step on and off the brake to reduce the air tank pressure. The compressor should cut-in at about the manufacturer's specified cut-in pressure. The pressure should begin to rise."    "Check Rate of Air Pressure Buildup. When the engine is at operating rpm, the pressure should build from 85 to 100 psi within 45 seconds in dual air systems. (If the vehicle has larger than minimum air tanks, the buildup time can be longer and still be safe. Check the manufacturer's specifications.) In single air systems (pre-1975), typical requirements are pressure buildup from 50 to 90 psi within three minutes with the engine at an idle speed of 600–900 rpm."Making these determinations manually and daily is obviously time consuming. In addition, the pressure gauges used in making the tests are frequently imprecise and difficult to read.
It would be desirable to equip vehicles to determine normal compressor system operating variables notwithstanding differences in air pressurization systems from vehicle to vehicle. Operators should not be tempted to provide, or guess at, manufacturer's specifications in implementing an inspection regimen. The possibilities for operator error should be reduced. A system which automatically compensates for the effects of extraneous systems of compressed air availability would be further advantageous.

Air brake system characterization by self learning algorithm

International Truck Intellectual Property Company, LLC


An electronic device attachable to a vehicle, according to various embodiments of the present invention, comprises: a communication interface; a memory for storing instructions; and at least one processor connected to the communication interface and the memory, wherein the at least one processor can be configured so as to execute the stored instructions in order to: acquire, from another device embedded in the vehicle, information on a plurality of objects located within a designated distance from the vehicle; identify, among the plurality of objects, a designated object located within a designated distance from the vehicle; generate configuration information of at least one piece of content to be displayed through a head-up display (HUD), on the basis of a state of the designated object; and display, through the HUD, content for guiding the operation of the vehicle, on the basis of the generated configuration information.

With the development of technology for electronic devices, an electronic device provides convenience to a user in various ways. For example, the electronic device may be connected to an object to provide various pieces of information for making good use of the object. The object may include, for example, a vehicle. When the electronic device is connected to the vehicle, the electronic device may provide information related to driving of the vehicle. Information related to driving of the vehicle may include, for example, information for route guidance. In this case, the electronic device may display information for route guidance on a windshield of the vehicle to prevent diversion of the attention of a user driving the vehicle.

Device and method for displaying content


The aluminum <111> crystal orientation content of an aluminum interconnect layer or the copper <111> crystal orientation content of a copper interconnect can be maintained at a consistently high value during the processing of an entire series of semiconductor substrates in a given process chamber. To provide the stable and consistent aluminum <111> content, or the stable and consistent copper <111> content, it is necessary that the barrier layer structure underlying the aluminum or the copper have a consistent crystal orientation throughout the processing of the entire series of substrates, as well. We have determined that to ensure the consistent crystal orientation content of the barrier layer structure, it is necessary to form the first layer of the barrier layer structure to have a minimal thickness of at least about 150 .ANG., to compensate for irregularities in the crystal orientation which may by present during the initial deposition of this layer. As an alternative to increasing the thickness of the first layer of the barrier layer structure, this first layer can be deposited a low process chamber pressure, so that harmful irregularities in the crystal orientation are eliminated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a method of forming a titanium-comprising or a tantalum-comprising barrier/wetting layer structure. This structure is useful when a series of semiconductor substrates is to be fabricated in a process chamber, as it enables a consistently high degree of <111> crystal orientation in an aluminum interconnect layer or a copper interconnect layer deposited over such a barrier/wetting layer structure, throughout the processing of the series of substrates.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
Titanium nitride layers have been used in semiconductor device structures as barrier layers for preventing the interdiffusion of adjacent layers of materials such as aluminum and silicon, for example. However, the crystal orientation of aluminum deposited over the surface of the titanium nitride barrier layer is typically polycrystalline, and polycrystalline aluminum has poor electromigration resistance.
In the formation of integrated circuit interconnect structures, such as a Ti/TiN/TiN.sub.x /Al stack, electromigration of aluminum atoms within the aluminum layer becomes a problem if the aluminum layer is not formed with a high degree of <111> crystal orientation. Electromigration of the aluminum atoms can result in open circuits within the integrated circuit structure, and therefore, such electromigration must be inhibited or eliminated. Electromigration of aluminum atoms can occur within filled vias as well, impairing the conductivity of the contacts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,961 to Lu et al., issued Jul. 31, 1990, describes a process for partially ionized beam deposition of metals or metal alloys on substrates, such as semiconductor wafers. Metal vaporized from a crucible is partially ionized at the crucible exit, and the ionized vapor is drawn to the substrate by an imposed bias. Control of substrate temperature is said to allow non-conformal coverage of stepped surfaces such as trenches or vias. When higher temperatures are used, stepped surfaces are planarized. The examples given are for aluminum deposition, where the non-conformal deposition is carried out with substrate temperatures ranging between about 150.degree. C. and about 200.degree. C., and the planarized deposition is carried out with substrate temperatures ranging between about 250.degree. C. and about 350.degree. C.
S. M. Rossnagel and J. Hopwood describe a technique of combining conventional magnetron sputtering with a high density, inductively coupled RF plasma in the region between the sputtering cathode and the substrate in their 1993 article titled "Metal ion deposition from ionized magnetron sputtering discharge", published in the J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B. Vol. 12, No. 1, Jan/Feb 1994. One of the examples given is for titanium nitride film deposition using reactive sputtering, where a titanium cathode is used in combination with a plasma formed from a combination of argon and nitrogen gases.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,361 to Cho et al., issued Nov. 16, 1993 describes a method for forming single crystal aluminum films on the surface of a substrate such as silicon (111). The object is to increase the amount of the aluminum (111) crystal orientation, to improve the electromigration resistance of the aluminum. Electrically neutral aluminum is deposited by a vacuum evaporation technique upon a silicon wafer surface at a temperature ranging between about 300.degree. C. and about 400.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,357 to Yamada et al., issued Aug. 6, 1996, describes a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device wherein a titanium film is used as an under film for an aluminum alloy film to prevent the device characteristics of the aluminum alloy film from deteriorating. The thickness of the titanium film is set to 10% or less of the thickness of the aluminum alloy film and at most 25 nm. In the case of the aluminum alloy film containing no silicon, the titanium film is set to 5% of less of the thickness of the aluminum alloy film. The aluminum film is formed at a substrate temperature of 200.degree. C. or less by a sputtering process, and when the aluminum film or an aluminum alloy film is to fill a via hole, the substrate is heated to fluidize the aluminum. The pressure during the aluminum film formation and during the fluidization is lower than 10.sup.-7 Torr. A titanium nitride barrier layer may be applied on an interlayered insulating film (or over a titanium layer which has been applied to the insulating film), followed by formation of a titanium film over the titanium nitride film, and finally by formation of the aluminum film over the titanium film. After formation of the titanium nitride barrier layer, the barrier layer is heated to a temperature of about 600.degree. C. to 700.degree. C. in a nitrogen atmosphere using a halogen lamp so that any titanium which is not nitrided will become nitrided. The titanium nitride barrier layer is said to be a poor barrier layer if un-nitrided titanium is present within the layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,752 to Chen et al., issued Nov. 5, 1996, discloses a method for patterning a submicron semiconductor layer of an integrated circuit. In one embodiment, titanium or titanium nitride having a thickness of between approximately 300 and 2000 .ANG. is formed by sputter deposition to reach the bottom of a contact opening. The barrier layer may be annealed to form a silicide in the bottom of the opening. A conformal conductive layer of a refractory metal or refractory metal silicide is formed over the titanium or titanium nitride using chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Finally, a second conductive layers typically aluminum is applied over the surface of the conformal conductive layer. The aluminum is sputtered on, preferably at a temperature ranging between approximately 100.degree. C. and 400.degree. C. This method is said to make possible the filling of contact openings having smaller device geometry design requirements by avoiding the formation of fairly large grain sizes in the aluminum film.
U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/753,251 of Ngan et al., filed Nov. 21, 1996, describes a method for producing a titanium nitride-comprising barrier layer on the surface of a contact via. For certain contact geometries, when the reactor pressure is reduced during formation of the titanium nitride-comprising barrier layer, the thickness of the barrier layer on the sidewalls of the via increases. This enables an aluminum fill to travel along the sidewalls of the via more easily, resulting in a better fill of the via. In particular, the titanium nitride comprising barrier layer needs to be of a minimum thickness and to have a minimum titanium content so that the barrier layer can react slightly with the Aluminum, to draw the aluminum along the sidewalls of the via.
U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/511,825 of Xu et al., filed Aug. 7, 1995, assigned to the Assignee of the present invention, and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes a method of forming a titanium nitride-comprising barrier layer which acts as a carrier layer. The carrier layer enables the filling of apertures such as vias, holes or trenches of high aspect ratio and the planarization of a conductive film deposited over the carrier layer at reduced temperatures compared to prior art methods.
A "traditionally sputtered" titanium nitride-comprising film or layer is deposited on a substrate by contacting a titanium target with a plasma created from an inert gas such as argon in combination with nitrogen gas. A portion of the titanium sputtered from the target reacts with nitrogen gas which has been activated by the plasma to produce titanium nitride, and the gas phase mixture contacts the substrate to form a layer on the substrate. Although such a traditionally sputtered titanium nitridecomprising layer can act as a wetting layer for hot aluminum fill of contact vias, good fill of the via generally is not achieved at substrate surface temperature of less than about 500.degree. C. To provide for aluminum fill at a lower temperature, Xu et al. (as described in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/511,825), developed a technique for creating a titanium nitride-comprising barrier layer which can act as a smooth carrier layer, enabling aluminum to flow over the barrier layer surface at lower temperatures (at temperatures as low as about 350.degree. C., for example). A typical barrier layer described by Xu et al., is a combination of three layers including a first layer of titanium (Ti) deposited over the surface of the via; a second layer of titanium nitride (TiN) is deposited over the surface of the first titanium layer; finally a layer of TiN.sub.x is deposited over the TiN second layer. The three layers are deposited using Ion Metal Plasma (IMP) techniques which are described subsequently herein. Typically the first layer of titanium is approximately 100 .ANG. to 200 .ANG. thick; the second layer of TiN is about 800 .ANG. thick, and the third layer of TiN.sub.x is about 60 .ANG. thick. Although a good fill of contact vias having 0.25.mu. diameter through holes having an aspect ratio of about 5 was achieved, the crystal orientation of the aluminum was low in {111} crystal orientation content, resulting in poor electromigration (EM) performance for the aluminum interconnect. It was desired to increase the aluminum {111} crystal orientation content for purposes of improving the EM performance.
U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/825,216 of Ngan et al., filed Mar. 27, 1997, discloses various process techniques which can be used to control the crystal orientation of a titanium nitride barrier layer as it is deposited.
U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/824,911 of Ngan et al., filed Mar. 27, 1997 discloses improved Ti/TiN/TiN.sub.x barrier/wetting layer structures which enable the aluminum filling of high aspect vias while providing an aluminum fill exhibiting a high degree of aluminum {111} crystal orientation. In particular, an improved Ti/TiN/TiN.sub.x barrier layer deposited using IMP techniques can be obtained by increasing the thickness of the first layer of Ti to range from greater than about 100 .ANG. to about 500 .ANG. (the feature geometry controls the upper thickness limit); by decreasing the thickness of the TiN second layer to range from greater than about 100 .ANG. to less than about 800 .ANG. (preferably less than about 600 .ANG.); and, by controlling the application of the TiN.sub.x third layer to provide a Ti content ranging from about 50 atomic percent titanium (stoichiometric) to about 100 atomic percent titanium. Preferably the TiN.sub.x third layer is formed at the end of the deposition of the TiN second layer and exhibits a Ti content gradient which begins at a stoichiometric, 50 atomic percent, Ti content and ends at a Ti content of about 100 atomic percent. The thickness of the TiN.sub.x third layer preferably ranges from about 15 .ANG. to about 500 .ANG.. The improved Ti/TiN/TiN.sub.x barrier layer enables the deposit of an aluminum interconnect an aluminum via fill where the aluminum exhibits a high {111} crystallographic content. U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/824,911 is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.
Subsequent to the filing of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/824,911, we discovered that in a production simulation, with a cassette containing a large quantity of semiconductor wafers processed in series in a given process chamber, there were unknown factors present at the beginning of processing which affected the <111> crystal orientation of the aluminum layer. Although the method provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/824,911 enables the deposit of a high <111> crystallographic aluminum content, to ensure a consistently high aluminum <111> content throughout the processing of a large number of semiconductor substrates, it is necessary to either eliminate the unknown factors affecting the crystalline structure or to find a way to compensate for them.

Method of forming a barrier layer which enables a consistently highly oriented crystalline structure in a metallic interconnect


An optical system in a projection television receiver includes: a screen for simultaneously displaying R (Red), G (Green) and B (Blue) images thereon; and a light source part comprising R, G and B cathode ray tubes. The R and B cathode ray tubes project the R and B images on the screen via a reflecting mirror, whereas the G cathode ray tube is set together with the R and B cathode ray tubes in a delta type array and projects the G image directly on the screen.

This application claims priority to an application entitled xe2x80x9cOptical System in Projection Television Receiverxe2x80x9d filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Jul. 24, 1999 and assigned Serial No. 99-30247, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an optical system in a projection television receiver and, more particularly, to an optical system in a projection television receiver in which R, G and B cathode ray tubes are arranged in a delta type array with a view to facilitating control of convergence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unlike general televisions, the projection television receiver has three cathode ray tubes (CRTs) for red (R), green (G) and blue (B) colors and enlarges an image formed on the R, G and B CRTs through an optical system comprised of a plurality of reflecting mirrors and lenses, thereby displaying the enlarged image on a large-sized screen.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams illustrating the operational principle of an optical system in the related art projection television receiver and an array of R, G and B CRTs. Images each projected from R, G and B CRTs 100, 102 and 104 are enlarged at lens parts 106, 108 and 110, reflected by a reflecting mirror 112 and displayed on a screen 114. In the related art projection television receiver, as shown in FIG. 2, the R, G and B CRTs 100, 102 and 104 are arranged in a straight line with respect to the screen 114, i.e., the G CRT 102 is at the center of the screen 114, with the R and B CRTs 100 and 104 being positioned on the left and right sides, respectively, thereof. As the image projected on the screen 114 from the R or B CRT 100 or 104 has an excessively large angle of projection with respect to the image from the G CRT 102, as shown in FIG. 3, the images are out of accord with one another on the screen and thus the images are distorted. Such distortion of the image intensifies at the edges of the screen 114.
FIG. 4 shows distorted R, G and B images displayed on the screen due to straight arrangement of the CRTs. It is shown in FIG. 4 that distortion of the R, G and B images 400, 402 and 404 appear more significant on the left and right sides of the screen 114.
The related art projection television receiver, to overcome such a distortion problem, controls the convergence to make the images projected from the respective CRTs converged on a screen. However, compensation for the distortion of an image on the screen that results from the convergence control has a limitation and an excessive convergence control may incur an overload due to saturation of a power level.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an optical system in a projection television receiver for facilitating control of convergence.
To achieve the above object, there is provided an optical system in a projection television receiver including: a screen for simultaneously displaying R (Red), G (Green) and B (Blue) images thereon; and a light source part comprising R, G and B cathode ray tubes. The R and B cathode ray tubes project the R and B images on the screen via a reflecting mirror, with the G cathode ray tube being set together with the R and B cathode ray tubes in a delta type array and projecting the G image directly on the screen.

Optical system in projection television receiver


The present invention provides a new and novel method for locking software programs to a particular disk. The method includes the steps of creating several files, one with a fixed name and at least one other file having a random name. Saving the head, cylinder and sector information for each of the files in the corresponding file along with use count information, saving the names of all the files in the first file with the fixed name, and encrypting all the files. This program locking method permits the distribution of trial copies of software programs and limits the risk that the program will be copied or used more than the permitted number of times.

Fifteen years ago, computers were used in specialized applications and used programs specifically designed to accomplish a specialized task. The few computer operators were highly trained in the use of computers and there were very few people that had computers in the home. Today, millions of people have computers in their home and office. What was a small market for computer programs is now huge.
Along with the growth in the software programs market has come the need for mass distribution of software programs. As many of the programs developed for personal computers are costly, the prospective buyers want to be able to test the program before they buy it. Further, they want to test the program on their computer in their home or office. The suppliers of software programs would like to widely distribute their software for buyers to test but, of course, there must be some means to prevent people from copying and preventing unlimited use of the program. In addition to protecting the program, purchasing the software must be as convenient as possible for the buyer.
Prior art methods have been developed to try to protect software however they have not meet with acceptance by both the software suppliers and the users. Some of the prior art methods required additional hardware which increased the cost of the product and made the use of the product inconvenient for the user. Other methods required a special floppy disk to be in a disk drive for the software to work. However, users disliked having to keep track of the floppy disk.
What is needed in the industry is a method for distributing trial software to users that allows the users to conveniently test the software while, at the same time, protecting the interests of the software developers. Also, there is a need for a method to allow the buyers to easily purchase the software.

Method for locking software files to a specific storage device


Systems and techniques for providing telecommunications services by receiving a notification forwarded from a wireless device, the notification indicating that a voicemail message intended for a recipient associated with the wireless device was received. The voicemail message associated with the notifications is retrieved and forwarded to an alternate device associated with the recipient and/or converted into a text message representative of the content of the voicemail message.

Telecommunications services are an integral part of business and personal communications, allowing geographically remote users to communicate irrespective of location. Communications messages between users may assume a variety of formats. For instance, users may communicate by various methods include telephone calls, e-mails, messages, instant messages, pages, and voicemail messages.
Most communications systems feature a notification mechanism for altering a user of incoming message. In general, such notifications make it possible for users to realize the exact moment when an incoming communication is received. One common notification is the audible ring of a telephone to signal an incoming call. Another common notification is a representative icon, such as a picture of an unopened envelope, displayed on a graphical user interface (GUI) to indicate that an e-mail message has been received.
At certain times and places, however, it may be inconvenient for a user to receive a notification or receive a message in a particular format. In a business meeting, for example, it may be distracting for a user to hear the audible ring of a telephone or receive a telephone call. To avoid being disturbed, a user may turn off the ringer on the telephone and, in effect, disable communication. During such times, an important channel of communication is severed.
Accordingly, users would benefit from a communications system that enables received messages to be directed to an alternate location and/or rendered in an alternative format.


A simple and inexpensive gas separation device is provided. The gas separation device (100) includes: an adsorption tower (110) having an adsorbent (120) that adsorbs oxygen in a prescribed pressure and temperature environment, with at least one section thereof being exposed to a higher temperature atmosphere than a normal temperature; a first feed passage (132) connected to the adsorption tower for guiding into the adsorption tower air that has been blown from a blower device (130); a second feed passage (136) for guiding air, at a lower flow rate than the first feed passage, into the adsorption tower; a separated gas discharge path (140) connected to the adsorption tower for discharging a separated gas; a first heat exchanging unit (150) for exchanging heat between the separated gas discharged from the adsorption tower and the air guided into the adsorption tower from the first feed passage; an oxygen discharge unit (160) for reducing a pressure inside the adsorption tower, causing oxygen to desorb from the adsorption agent, and discharging oxygen from the adsorption tower; and a second heat exchanging unit (170) for exchanging heat between oxygen and the air guided into the adsorption tower from the second feed passage.

One of conventional and known technologies to separate a desired (predetermined) gas from a mixed gas is a PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) method. The PSA method is a separation method that takes advantage of a fact that an amount of gas to be adsorbed by an adsorbent (adsorption agent) varies with the type of the gas concerned, and a partial pressure of the substance (gas) concerned. When the PSA method is used, a mixed gas is introduced to an adsorption tower, which is filled with an adsorbent, to cause the adsorbent to selectively adsorb a predetermined gas contained in the mixed gas (adsorption step). After the predetermined gas is adsorbed by the adsorbent, the predetermined gas is desorbed from the adsorbent (recovering or regeneration step). In the PSA method, a pressure difference is forcibly created between the adsorption step and the regeneration step to separate the predetermined gas from the mixed gas.
In recent years, a PSA method that uses an adsorbent made from a perovskite-type oxide is disclosed as a PSA method-based technology for efficiently separating oxygen from the air (for example, Patent Literature 1). According to the technology of Patent Literature 1, the adsorption step and the regeneration step need be performed at a high temperature such as 250-900 degrees C. For this reason, the adsorbent (adsorption tower) is heated to a predetermined temperature, and maintained at a prescribed temperature. In order to prevent the temperature drop of the adsorbent, which should be maintained at the prescribed temperature, there is provided a heater in the adsorption tower to heat the normal temperature mixed gas introduced into the adsorption tower such that the heated mixed gas contacts the adsorbent.

KYUSHU UNIVERSITY, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION