An image forming apparatus, applicable to copying machines, facsimile apparatuses and printers, controls pixel positions with high precision. An image of color material is formed on the surface of an image holding drum. The surface of the image holding drum divides into a number of pixel areas, and each pixel area has an adhesive-force change portion smaller than the pixel area, where adhesive force to color material changes by a predetermined stimulus. An image-signal input unit forms an image by distribution of adhesive force to the color material on the surface of the image holding drum by inputting a stimulus corresponding to an image signal into the image holding drum. A color material supply unit supplies color material particles to the surface of the image holding drum. A transfer unit transfers an image of the color material particles formed on the surface of the image holding drum, directly or via a predetermined intermediate transfer medium, onto an image print sheet on which the image is finally printed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus applicable to copying machines, facsimile apparatuses, printers and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional electrophotographic image formation process, pixel position shift occurs due to some factors. In a microscopic view, the pixel position shift is positional shift of one toner particle, i.e., scatter of toner, movement faithfully corresponding to electric field of a latent image, or transfer failure; in a macroscopic view, the pixel position shift is a systematic failure as color shift in a copying machine and a printing apparatus.
First, a description will be made on a problem in transfer of toner onto a printing medium by an electric charge q held by the toner and an electrostatic force F=qxc2x7E applied among a photoreceptor body, developing electrodes, a sheet, and an intermediate transfer body.
FIG. 34A shows a spatial electric field caused between a well-regulated rectangular latent image on the photoreceptor body and developing electrodes (The 104th issue of the society of Electrophotography of Japan, Vol. 32 No. 3., 1993). An equipotential line is not completely parallel to the surfaces of the photoreceptor, the developing electrodes and the like, since the photoreceptor body and the developing electrodes are not complete parallel electrodes and an electric force line deflects due to edge effect of edge portions of the rectangular latent image. FIG. 34 shows a profile of contrast potential in case of shift from the center of the latent image in a process direction (photoreceptor-body rotation direction) X and in an object electrode direction (gap) Y. Note that latent images having a uniform charge density of 100 xcexcm in length in the process direction are provided at 100 xcexcm intervals on the photoreceptor body.
FIG. 35 shows the distribution of contrast potential upon scanning in the direction Y. In FIG. 35, a solid line a denotes a position at the center of the central latent image; a dotted line b, an intermediate position between the central latent image and its adjacent latent image; and an alternate long and short dashed line c, the result of scanning at a point 70 xcexcm away from the outer end of the outermost latent image. These calculation results show that the maximum point of the contrast potential lowers as it becomes away from the center of the latent image in the process direction, and the point is becoming shifted between the photoreceptor body and the object electrode. In an actual developing process, development is not started at the latent image center (X=0), but at a point where the potential reaches an effective electric-field threshold value (an effective electric-field threshold value determined by the electric field of the photoreceptor body, the electric charge of toner, and the bias of developing electrode) within a developing nip. Accordingly, the result of development is similar to development shifted in the direction X as shown in FIG. 35.
The toner receives an electrostatic force for transfer and movement, however, as the contrast potential is low and the development is made at the shifted position, the toner cannot be brought to the original pixel position. This is an inherent problem of electrophotographic technique based on the electrostatic dynamics.
On the other hand, in the macroscopic view, the above technique has problems of color shift and color registration. In a low frequency band, color shift occurs, while in a high frequency band, regular stripes (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cbandingxe2x80x9d) occurs in a process direction, greatly depending on the rotation or moving precision (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cmotion qualityxe2x80x9d) of a photoreceptor body, a transfer drum and a sheet conveyance belt generally used in copying machines and printers. The color shift and banding due to bad motion quality appear in a highly precise halftone representation or color characteristic representation as a defect of the image, which greatly degrades the image quality. For this reason, in the conventional copying machines and printers, feedback or feedforward control is performed, or the mechanical precision of constituent parts and assembling is improved so to attain high motion quality in the photoreceptor body and the conveyance belt. Further, various problems of time variation, environmental change, especially change in light quantity of recording-information writing unit due to temperature change, and shift of synchronism among the respective mechanical structures (e.g., in a tandem type copying machine or printer, the ratio between the diameter of a roller for conveying a conveyance belt and the distance between the roller and a photoreceptor body is set to be an integer, however, it changes due to the apparatus frame and temperature expansion of the roller), must be solved. The above problems cause enlargement in apparatus size, complication and a high cost, and poses a limitation on the conventional electrophotographic technique as a printing technique so as not to lower reliability.
However, in the field of printing technique, by solving the problem of pixel position shift, high precision is attained at a cost of high apparatus price. Basically, as a plate is used, pixel position shift in an image writing process as in the electrophotographic printing does not occur. Further, color printing of yellow, magenta, cyan and black is performed in a stable manner from a plate, then a blanket, to a print sheet, by using a physical phenomenon xe2x80x9cthixotropyxe2x80x9d characteristic of printing ink. Further, the plate, the blanket, a sheet support and conveyance member, having high reliability and durability, are driven by high-precision helical gears and the like. Further, the pixel position shift in high quality printing is 15 to 30 xcexcm on an average by performing pixel-position shift regulation by an expert operator. However, as the enlargement of apparatus size and high price cannot be avoided, this printing technique is not sufficiently applicable to on-demand printing as a printing technique for business use or office use.
A printing technique Oce3125C, reported in CeBIT ""96, is known. This technique visualizes toner by bias development without an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor body. FIG. 36 shows a cross section of an imaging drum. Ring electrodes 70 are provided in 400 dpi in an insulating layer 71 in its axial direction. The surface of the imaging drum is covered with a dielectric layer 69.
FIG. 37 shows the construction of the entire apparatus. Alphabets xe2x80x9cKxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cBxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cRxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cGxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cMxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d added to respective reference numerals denote respective colors. When a part is representatively used in the description, such alphabet will be omitted. Each imaging drum 72 has a matrix-arranged fixed electrodes for transmitting printing information from a slip ring (not shown). Toner moves from a developing roller 74, to which an electric field is applied in accordance with the printing information, to the imaging drum 72 and forms an image. The imaging drums 72, i.e., black imaging drum 72B to yellow imaging drum 72Y, are tandem-arranged around a transfer drum 73, and developing rollers 74, i.e., black developing roller 74B to yellow developing roller 74Y, are arranged at the respective imaging drums. A printing process starts with development. The respective seven color toner images are sequentially formed, each in single layer, on the imaging drums 72. Next, the respective color toner is transferred onto the intermediate transfer drum 73 without overlapping the respective color toner, and a print sheet is conveyed from a paper cassette 58, timed with the front end of the image on the intermediate transfer drum 73. The image on the intermediate transfer drum 73 is transferred by a secondary transfer roller 75 onto the print sheet, and the print sheet is discharged onto a discharge tray 62.
However, in this technique, pixel position is not controlled on toner within a 63.5 xcexcm (400 dpi) pixel area. Further, in the printing process, color image formation is made by respective single layer toner, i.e., in a parallel color image structure, positional shift between pixels (color registration) seriously influences degradation of image quality especially in a color space representation area (color gamut).
Further, as another printing technique, toner-jet printing represented by Array Printers AB is known. This technique forms a color image by directly discharging nonmagnetic single-component color toner (black is magnetic single-component toner) on a developing sleeve onto a print sheet. Two-dimensionally-arranged mesh control electrodes are provided between the developing sleeve and the print sheet, and a uniform rear-surface electrode is provided facing the rear surface of the print sheet. The toner is discharged in accordance with print information onto the print sheet by a voltage of 1500 V and a control electrode voltage (275 V in printing and xe2x88x9250 V not in printing) applied between the developing sleeve and the rear-surface electrode. This printing technique has a problem that the hole diameter of the mesh control electrode is about 100 to 150 xcexcm. As toner is discharged in lump, rebound occurs on the print sheet, which results in high background image (the base of the print sheet is stained). This is a weak point of the printing process itself to discharge toner in lump, as well as the rebound phenomenon, and this is the greatest cause of degradation of graininess. The printing technique also has a problem of toner clogging or attachment to the control electrodes. Accordingly, a cleaning unit for the control electrodes is required, which increases the size and price of the apparatus. Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 4-83658 discloses a technique to apply an alternating voltage to the rear surface of an aperture electrode so as to prevent contamination of the rear surface. In any case, in printing technique to insert a control electrode between a developing sleeve with extremely small gaps about 200 xcexcm and rear-surface electrodes and pass toner through the holes of the control electrodes, the problem of contamination of electrode must be solved.
In printing techniques for color image formation, if particles for image formation are transferred to a position shifted from a desired pixel position on a print medium, such pixel position shift causes degradation of image quality including deterioration of graininess due to scatter or drop of particles and the like, reduction of color-space representation region (color gamut), occurrence of color registration and bonding.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has an object to provide an image printing apparatus which prevents the above degradation of image quality by pixel position control with high precision.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing an image forming apparatus comprising: an image holder that forms an image of color material on an image holder surface, the image holder surface dividing into a number of pixel areas each having an adhesive-force change portion smaller than the pixel area where adhesive force to color material changes by a predetermined stimulus; an image-signal input unit that forms an image by distribution of adhesive force to the color material on the image holder surface by inputting a stimulus corresponding to an image signal into the image holder; a color material supply unit that supplies the color material to the image holder surface; and a transfer unit that transfers the image of the color material formed on the image holder surface, directly or via a predetermined intermediate transfer medium, onto an image print sheet on which the image is finally printed.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing an image forming apparatus comprising: an image holder that forms an image of color material on an image holder surface, the image holder surface dividing into a number of pixel areas each having an adhesive-substance reception portion, smaller than the pixel area, having adhesive force to color material, to receive substance which disappears by a predetermined stimulus; an adhesive-substance supply unit that supplies substance having adhesive force to color material to the image holder surface such that the adhesive-substance reception portion holds the substance; an image-signal input unit that forms an image by distribution of adhesive force to the color material on the image holder surface by inputting a stimulus corresponding to an image signal into the image holder; a color material supply unit that supplies the color material to the image holder surface; and a transfer unit that transfers the image of the color material formed on the image holder surface, directly or via a predetermined intermediate transfer medium, onto an image print sheet on which the image is finally printed.
Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the foregoing object is attained by providing an image forming apparatus comprising: an image holder that forms an image of color material on an image holder surface, the image holder surface dividing into a number of pixel areas, each having an adhesive-substance holding portion holding color material supplied to the image holder surface, positioned in each of the pixel areas, and causing change in adhesive force to held color material in accordance with a predetermined stimulus; a color material supply unit that supplies color material to the image holder surface such that the color material holding portion holds the color material; an image-signal input unit that forms an image by distribution of adhesive force to the color material on the image holder surface by inputting a stimulus corresponding to an image signal into the image holder; a color material removing unit that forms an image by distribution of the color material on the image holder surface by removing excessive color material of the color material held on the image holder surface; and a transfer unit that transfers the image of the color material formed on the image holder surface, directly or via a predetermined intermediate transfer medium, onto an image print sheet on which the image is finally printed.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which reference characters designate the same name or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.


Methodologies and apparatuses are provided for producing new anti-cancer compounds and compositions by placing mushrooms or mushroom mycelia in contact with cancer cells or tissues and harvesting secretions produced by the mushrooms or mushroom mycelia which will destroy cancer cells without harming normal cells and tissues. The anti-cancer compounds are administered to humans or other mammals for cancer treatment.

The medicinal properties of mushrooms have been known for thousands of years. China and India have used Reishi and Shiitake mushrooms for the general promotion of immune function and for cancer treatment while cultures in Eastern Europe have used mushrooms for gastrointestinal disorders, cancer, and asthma. Mushrooms have also been used for medicinal reasons throughout Mesoamerica for millennia. The United States has only recently begun to move beyond the exclusive use of mushrooms as food. The past 20 years has seen a great increase in the discovery of uses for mushrooms and mushroom derived compounds.
Some mushroom, extracts have been found to have beneficial anti-tumor, anti-diabetic, anti-viral, hypocholesterolemic, nephroprotective, or immunomodulatory effects when consumed. For example, when consumed, some mushrooms provide immunomodulatory peptides which, while being harmless to the patient, stimulate a robust immune response. This boost in immune response can be beneficial for standard chemotherapy regimens which leave patients in an immunocompromised state.
Although there are numerous published reports describing the purported anti-cancer benefits of certain mushroom extracts, these reports have not involved the engineering, capture, and testing of released compounds. Extraction procedures liberate the intracellular components of mushrooms with the hope that some of these extracts will be medically beneficial. In reality, however, most extraction components are not biologically useful for humans. Rather, the purpose of these internal components is to maintain the viability of the mushroom.
In nature, mushrooms serve to break down organic matter, returning it to a form suitable for plants. Mushrooms filter out toxic waste, protect trees from infection, and transport nutrients much like our cardiovascular system. Mushrooms also form symbiotic relationships with many trees and smaller plants, allowing for the extensive diversity found in tropical rainforests. Although, the topsoil of many rainforests is less than 6 inches deep, this soil is enough to support the diversity of the plant life above.
Mushrooms and other fungi cannot run away from predators and cannot produce their own food. Instead, they have elaborate chemical mechanisms for breaking down and absorbing the organic matter around them. Such mechanisms are the result of epigenetic processes occurring within the fungi wherein, in producing and secreting enzymes and/or other compounds for breaking down and absorbing the available organic material, the genes expressed by the fungi, and any modifications to those genes which may need to occur, are determined by the environment of the organism.
While the genome sequences of many mushrooms have been elucidated, science is far from understanding the regulatory mechanisms which govern their gene expression. Epigenetics is a well-established phenomenon whereby previously silent genes begin to be expressed following changes in the organism's environment. Mushrooms are eukaryotic multicellular organisms which employ a wide range of epigenetic regulators of gene expression. These regulatory mechanisms are not well understood but can have a dramatic impact on gene expression.

Chemotherapeutic compounds, production methods and apparatuses therefor, and methods of cancer treatment


A semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. A semiconductor device includes a contact hole formed over a semiconductor substrate so as to open an active region, a contact plug coupled to the active region in the contact hole and having a height lower than that of the contact hole, and a bit line that is coupled to the contact plug and has the same width as the contact plug. When forming a bit line of a cell region, a barrier metal layer is formed between a bit line contact plug and a bit line conductive layer, such that interfacial resistance is reduced, a thickness of the bit line conductive layer is increased, conductivity is improved, and the height of overall bit line is reduced, resulting in reduction in parasitic capacitance.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor device and a method for forming the same, and more particularly to a semiconductor device, and a method for manufacturing the same, in which a barrier metal layer is formed between a bit line contact plug and a bit line conductive layer when a bit line of a cell region is formed, such that interfacial resistance is reduced, a thickness of the bit line conductive layer is increased, conductivity is improved, and the height of the overall bit line is reduced, resulting in a reduction of parasitic capacitance.
A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device includes a plurality of unit cells each having capacitors and transistors. The capacitor is used to temporarily store data, and the transistor is used to transfer data between a bit line and the capacitor in response to a control signal (word line). The data transfer occurs by using the semiconductor property that an electrical conductivity changes depending on the environment. The transistor has three regions, i.e., a gate, a source, and a drain. Electric charges move between the source and the drain according to a control signal input to the gate of the transistor. The movement of the electric charges between the source and the drain is achieved through a channel region. The semiconductor property is used in the channel.
In a typical method for manufacturing a transistor, a gate is formed in a semiconductor substrate, and a source and a drain are formed by doping impurities at both sides of the gate. In this case, a channel region of the transistor is defined between the source and the drain under the gate. The transistor having a horizontal channel region occupies a predetermined area of the semiconductor substrate. Therefore, the total number of unit cells per a wafer may depend on the size of the transistor.
If a unit cell size is reduce (or the size of each transistor is reduced), the number of semiconductor memory devices per wafer is increased, thereby improving productivity. Several methods for reducing the unit cell size have been proposed. One method is to replace a conventional planar gate having a horizontal channel region with a recess gate in which the recess is formed in a substrate and a channel region is formed along a curved surface of the recess by forming a gate in the recess. In addition, a buried gate has been studied, which can reduce a parasitic capacitance of a bit line by burying the entire gate within a recess.
In the conventional art, if a bit line conductive layer in a cell region is formed to be short (or shallow), resistance of the bit line conductive layer deteriorates. On the other hand, if the bit line conductive layer in the cell region is formed to be tall (or thick), parasitic capacitance between the bit line conductive layer and its neighboring storage node contact becomes severe, and the tall bit line conductive layer is prone to collapse. Furthermore, since a bit line of the cell region and a gate electrode of the peripheral circuit are simultaneously formed, a change in height of the bit line within the cell region affects the height of the gate electrode in the peripheral region. Accordingly, a shadowing effect occurs in a tilt implantation process of the peripheral region and thus makes it difficult or complicated to form a bit line and a peripheral gate at the same time in the cell region and in the peripheral region, respectively, in a subsequent process.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


Reducing latency and power in the transfer of data between a source and destination domain involves the production of a source-enable signal base on a synchronous-pulse signal. The source-enable signal operates to enable a source register to capture data from a source domain. The source-enable signal may be controlled by a source-inhibit signal. The source-inhibit signal prevents the synchronous-pulse signal from producing the source enable signal and capture clock until data is available for transmission.

Transmitting data involves a transfer of data from a source domain to a destination domain. The transfer of data needs to be predictable to ensure that the destination domain receives the proper data from the source domain.
Meta-stability is the ability of a logic component (for example a flip-flop) to possess an indeterminate/unpredictable value for a finite period of time. Meta-stability occurs when the logic component attempts to capture (that is, sample) data before the data (that is, the information intended to occur on the component) is stable.
The probability of meta-stability directly effects the mean-time-between-failure ("MTBF") calculation for a product. As the MTBF increases, the usable duration and desirability of the product decreases. Thus, meta-stability needs to be avoided.
Asynchronous data transfers involve transmitting data from a source domain (for example, a microprocessor) to a destination domain (for example, a memory device) operating (that is, capturing or sampling data) at different clock phases and/or frequencies. Asynchronous data transfers need an interface that compensates for the effects of meta-stability, ensuring the data sent between the two domains is stable before sampling.
Latency is a delay in the transfer of data that an interface introduces to compensate for the effects of meta-stability.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

Reducing latency and power in asynchronous data transfers


A ceramic enamel composition is described which contains a zinc-containing oxide frit, a zinc borate seed material, a pigment, and a vehicle. The zinc borate seed material is preferably crystalline in nature, and promotes crystal growth upon firing. A preferred crystalline zinc borate seed material is selected from the phases Zn.sub.3 B.sub.2 O.sub.6 and Zn(BO.sub.2).sub.2, and mixtures thereof. Upon firing and press-forming a glass substrate coated with the enamel, components of the enamel adhere to the substrate while reducing sticking of the coated region to the forming die. The ceramic enamel is particularly useful in providing a colored border around the periphery of automotive glass and is effective in improving appearance and reducing degradation of underlying adhesives by ultraviolet radiation.

Ceramic enamels can be used for a variety of applications, such as decorative coatings for glassware, chinaware, and the like. They also have found use in recent years as colored borders around glass sheets used for automotive windshields, sidelights and backlights. The colored borders enhance appearance and prevent the degradation of underlying adhesives by UV radiation.
In general, these enamel compositions consist mainly of a glass frit, a colorant and an organic vehicle. They are applied to a glass substrate and subsequently fired to burn off the organic vehicle and fuse the frit to the substrate.
Glass sheets for automotive use are generally coated with the ceramic enamel composition and then subjected to a pressure forming process at elevated temperatures. During this treatment the enamel melts and fuses to the glass substrate and the glass is formed into a desired final shape. However, many prior art coatings exhibit a tendency to adhere to the materials covering the forming die, e.g., a fiberglass or metal fiber covered die, because these conventional enamels have a low viscosity after melting and have a tendency to stick to other materials at high temperature. Accordingly, such previous enamels are not suitable for use in glass forming processes in which the heated glass coated with enamel contacts a forming die.
Various proposals have been made in an effort to facilitate the forming of glass sheets with a ceramic enamel coated thereon, and to resist elevated bending or forming temperatures without the enamel adhering to the forming die. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,596,590 and 4,770,685 propose the addition of a low valent metal oxide powder, e.g., cuprous oxide, to the paint composition to provide a non-stick barrier between the coating and the fiberglass-covered forming die. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,684,389; 4,857,096; 5,037,783 and EP 490,611 (issued to Boaz), propose adding finely divided zinc metal powder for a similar effect. The use of an iron metal powder is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,196 (issued to Stotka).
A purportedly improved anti-stick ceramic enamel composition is proposed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,153,150; 5,208,191 and 5,286,270 (issued to Ruderer et al.) wherein a seed powder containing Zn.sub.2 SiO.sub.4 is introduced into an oxide composition with or without the presence of bismuth oxide (Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3).
A further shortcoming of a number of previous ceramic enamel systems is that they employ a lead-containing glass frit. For environmental considerations it is desirable to avoid the use of any lead-containing system.
Also, while several of the above-mentioned enamel systems may perform satisfactorily in conventional glass forming processes, some may not be suitable for use in the newly-developed "deep bend" processes for forming automotive glass. Moreover, the enamel compositions must resist chemical agents that may come into contact with them.
Previously known or proposed enamel compositions suffer from one or more of the deficiencies noted above. In contrast, the present invention provides a ceramic enamel composition that overcomes these shortcomings.

Partially crystallizing enamel containing crystalline zinc borate seed material


Antibodies that will specifically bind to NBS-1 are described. It is also shown that NBS-1 will interact with p53 responsive elements in a p53 promoter. Thus, NBS-1 can be used in subjects having a p53-dependent tumor to inhibit growth of that tumor.

p53 is the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor protein identified to date in human cancers.(Levine A J, et al., Nature 351:453-456 (1991); Hollstein M, et al, Science 253:49-53 (1991)). The ability of p53 to negatively regulate cell growth is due, at least in part, to its ability to bind to specific DNA sequences and activate the transcription of target genes such as p21Waf1/Cip1 (Haffer R & Oren M. Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 5:84-90 (1995)). Recently, a gene was identified which encodes a protein having a deduced amino acid sequence showing varying levels of homology to certain p53 domains, for example, p53 residues implicated in sequence specific direct DNA binding are conserved in this protein (Science 256:827-829 (1992)).
This gene, called NSB-1 (sometimes also called p73), maps to chromosome 1p36, a region which is frequently deleted in neuroblastomas (Versteeg R, et al., Eur J Cancer 31A:538-41 (1995)). See FIG. 1A. Wild type NSB-1 mRNA is not detectable in these tumors. The protein shows 29% identity with p53 amino acids 1-45 (the transactivation domain) and 63% identity with p53 amino acids 113-290 (the DNA binding domain) and 38% identity with p53 amino acids 319-363 (the p53 oligomerization domain). (FIG. 1A and 1C) Additionally, it has a sequence similar to p53's MDM2 binding domain of TFSDLW (SEQ ID NO:1), namely TFEDLW (SEQ ID NO:2). Although the homology between its N terminus and p53 is not as strong as the above-mentioned homology, there are also residues corresponding to amino acid residues in p53 that are frequently mutated which have been shown to be required for sequence specific DNA recognition by p53 . Namely R175,G245, R248, R249, R273 and R282. There is no significant homology at the carboxy terminal (amino acid residues 364-393). Splice variants of NBS-1 at the carboxy terminus result in two different isoforms referred to as α and β (see FIGS. 1A and B). In addition, other isoforms have been identified.
Surprisingly, despite the homology between the two proteins in the core area where p53 binds to SV40 large T antigen, whereas p53 strongly interacts with SV40 large antigen, NSB-1 does not. For example, in the yeast 2-hybrid system, when p53 is used as the "bait" molecule strong interactions with p53 and SV40T large T antigen are shown (FIG. 1D) but not between NBS-1 and SV40 large T antigen.
In view of the strong correlation between mutations in p53, inactivation of p53 and cancer tumors, it would be important to have a means to supplement p53 function and/or replace p53 function.
Similarly, in view of the correlation between defects in 1p36 chromosomal deletions and neuroblastomas it would be useful to have means for detecting or monitoring the level of that NBS-1 gene product. We report that NBS-1 can activate the transcription of p53 responsive genes and can inhibit cell growth in a p53-like manner.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods of treatment using NBS-1, antibodies and proteins thereto, and uses of the antibodies


Systems and methods of vehicle freight/load distribution are provided to assist in determining optimal freight distribution. Although it is standard practice to fill each vehicle to its maximum limit, due to the non-linear nature of engine fueling maps (that is, fueling maps vary non-linearly as a function of torque and speed), the optimal distribution may not be obtained by the standard practice. Finding a solution for the optimal freight distribution may also need to account for the cost of fueling and operator costs, particularly if the situation involves multiple vehicles not filled to capacity. The benefit is increased freight efficiency in transporting cargo from source to destination amongst a fleet of vehicles.

Vehicle operators generally prefer to load the maximum amount of freight that their vehicle can carry when undertaking a delivery. Many operators adopt this behavior because they are often paid based on the amount of freight delivered within a certain amount of time. Thus, most operators are motivated to traverse their routes as rapidly as possible with as much freight as they can legally carry.
As vehicles traverse a given route, fuel economy can be significantly influenced by the way an operator selects the vehicle speed. An aggressive operator that creates rapid transitions in speed while maintaining the maximum allowable speed limit through the route (legal, fleet owner imposed, etc.), will likely not achieve maximum fuel economy. Such a driver will prefer to maximize fuel load and freight quantity in order to accommodate their driving pattern.

System and method of determining freight/load distribution for multiple vehicles


A process is described for preparing attrition resistant catalyst, particularly vanadium/phosphorus oxide catalyst, having an oxide rich surface layer. The oxide rich surface layer is obtained from a stable oxide-forming mixture which contains both colloidal oxide sol and a soluble oxide precursor.

Preparation of attrition resistant, silica-containing catalysts by the steps of forming a slurry, spray drying the slurry, and calcining and activating the resulting spray-dried microspheres is known in the art. Prior art procedures have involved combining the silica component, in the form of a solution or colloidal sol, with catalyst, catalyst precursor, or catalyst support to form a slurry. The slurry is then spray dried and calcined and activated to form the catalyst. The silica component, which functions as a binder, is normally dispersed throughout the particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,084 to Bergna discloses an improvement in the process of preparing attrition resistant catalysts, in particular mixed oxide catalysts of vanadium and phosphorus (V/P/O) which are used in the oxidation of hydrocarbons. A solution of oxide precursor, such as polysilicic acid, is used to form an oxide shell over particles of catalyst, catalyst precursor or catalyst support. The process includes the steps of forming a slurry of the catalyst, catalyst precursor, or catalyst support particles with a solute of the oxide precursor (polysilicic acid) having a particle size of not greater than 5 nm, spray drying, and calcining. The amount of solute and particles are selected such that the oxide shell which forms comprises 3-15% by weight of the total weight of particles and oxide. The Bergna patent illustrates that a V/P/O catalyst product prepared using polysilicic acid as the oxide source is superior in terms of attrition resistance to a V/P/O catalyst prepared using colloidal silica as the oxide source.
Although the process and product improvements realized using polysilicic acid (PSA) as oxide source in a V/P/O catalyst in accordance with the Bergna teaching are substantial, a significant problem is associated with the use of polysilicic acid as oxide source. Polysilicic acid is normally made by deionizing a sodium silicate solution. Upon deionizing, the polysilicic acid immediately begins to polymerize and ultimately a gel is formed. When the polysilicic acid solution has gelled, it becomes intractable and cannot be further processed. In practice it has been found that the polysilicic acid is less suitable for processing after a relatively short time, and that preferably a PSA/VPO precursor slurry must be entirely spray dried within 3-4 hours after the PSA solution is generated. This places a significant constraint on the process when it is scaled up to commercial production levels.

Process for preparing attrition resistant catalysts


A load portion is engaged in an infeed area and transported from the infeed area to a wrapping area with rotational, horizontal, and vertical carriers. Those carriers move the portion of the load horizontally along two horizontal degrees of freedom and one vertical degree of freedom by rotating a portion of the load about a vertical axis and translating the portion of the load along a generally linear horizontal direction and a generally linear vertical direction. The load is disengaged in the wrapping area and a stretch wrap packaging material dispenser is engaged and is transported to the wrapping area by the same rotational, horizontal, and vertical carriers to wrap the portion of the load with stretch wrap packaging material by using, once again, the same rotational, horizontal, and vertical carriers to rotate the dispenser around the load.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to load building and wrapping devices and more particularly to methods and apparatus for stretch wrapping a load.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various arrangements have been used to build a load and stretch wrap the load with a sheet of stretch wrap packaging material. Robots with grippers, positionable by independent drive motors in multiple degrees of freedom, have been used to stack products in layers in a wrapping area. In some of these arrangements, stretch wrapping devices have been located next to the load building area to rotate the load relative to the dispenser for stretch wrap packaging material.
While these devices effectively build and stretch wrap a load, it is desirable to reduce their cost, size, weight, and complexity.

Method and apparatus for load building and stretch wrapping


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes irradiating a region to be crystallized of a non-monocrystalline semiconductor film with laser beam modulated by an optical modulator to have light intensity distribution having a minimum light intensity line or minimum light intensity spot to crystallize the region, and heating the crystallized region by irradiating light from a flash lamp onto the crystallized region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, including crystallizing at least part of a non-monocrystalline semiconductor thin film.
Generally, even a single crystal involves disturbance of atomic rows (such as dislocation), and it is difficult to distinguish "single crystal" from "crystal close to single crystal," and thus, it should be noted in this specification that "crystal close to single crystal" is also described as "single crystal."
2. Description of the Related Art
The SOI (silicon on insulator) technology for forming a monocrystalline silicon on an insulating material substrate or on an insulating film is known as technology for realizing ULSI (ultra large-scale integrated circuit) integration, low power consumption, and high speed. This technology is classified into (1) a method of forming a single crystal thin film on an insulating film formed on a single crystal semiconductor wafer, for example, a silicon wafer, and (2) a method of crystallizing or re-crystallizing a non-monocrystalline (amorphous or polycrystalline) semiconductor thin film, for example, a non-monocrystalline silicon thin film, formed on an insulating material substrate or an insulating film. In both methods, it is very important to enhance the degree of crystallinity of silicon. Preferably, a region for forming a transistor should be single crystal, the crystal plane orientation should be uniform, in particular, the surface should be (001) plane, and the crystal orientation in the current flowing direction should be (100) plane. Accordingly, the method (1) is widely employed, separation by implanted oxygen (SIMOX) using a monocrystalline silicon wafer or a wafer bonding.
On the other hand, the method (2) is not employed in today's silicon ULSI technology. However, since the substrate material used is not limited, the method (2) can be applied in various electronic elements or electronic devices if a single crystal semiconductor thin film, such as a single crystal silicon thin film, of high quality can be formed. Accordingly, it is earnestly demanded to improve the method (2).
In the 1980s, many studies have been conducted in an attempt to form monocrystalline silicon thin film having uniform plane orientation. Of these, zone melting technology by radio frequency induction heating is an important technology, and is known as a technology capable of forming a monocrystalline silicon rectangular region of which crystal orientation has (001) plane.
As reported by Akira Fukami and Yu Kobayashi in "Journal of Electronic Communications Society" (1986/9 vol. J69-C No. 9, pp. 1089-1095), in the zone melting method, first, a polycrystalline Si thin film is deposited on a quartz substrate by an atmospheric chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, and the thin film is patterned to obtain a pattern in which a number of rectangular regions spaced from each other and arranged linearly are mutually linked by thin necks. Then, an elongated radio frequency induction heater is positioned at the backside of the quartz substrate to heat the linearly arranged rectangular regions sequentially to 1412° C. or more to melt the polycrystalline silicon placed in a position corresponding to the heater, forming molten silicon region. Next, the heater is moved in the array direction of the rectangular regions, whereby the polycrystalline silicons are sequentially melted, and the entire rectangular region is melted. Of the rectangular region, the portion heated by the heater and then cooled has been already monocrystallized, and the other portion is not crystallized. By changing the dimensions (length and width) of the necks, heat flow is changed locally, and the crystal orientation varies depending on the heat flow. By optimizing the length and width of the necks, a crystallized rectangular region having orientation of (001) plane can be formed.
Incidentally, the technology for forming a crystallized silicon thin film on a glass or plastic substrate is applied in a technology for enhancing the performance of a thin film transistor used in a driving element of a liquid crystal display or the like. For example, when a semiconductor layer of the thin film transistor is changed from an amorphous structure to a polycrystalline structure, the mobility of the transistor becomes 100 times or higher.
In this case, however, at the time of crystallization, due attention must be paid to thermal damage on the substrate (for example, heating temperature for crystallization must be 600° C. or less in a general glass substrate, or 150° C. or less in plastics).
In the zone melting method using the radio frequency induction heating, the substrate (quartz substrate) is partly heated to temperature exceeding a melting point of silicon (1410° C.), and therefore, it cannot be applied in the field of liquid crystal display, in which the substrate is formed of a low melting point material such as glass or plastics.
To align the crystallized film in (001) plane orientation, it is required to optimize the shape of the necks connecting the rectangular silicon regions, which limits layout of transistors and circuits to be formed later.
Accordingly, as a method of crystallizing an amorphous silicon thin film without thermally damaging a substrate, an excimer laser crystallization method has been developed. In this technology, excimer laser beam is adjusted by a homogenizing optical system so that the intensity is uniform on the section, and the beam is shaped into a rectangular form (for example, a sectional shape of 150 mm×200 μm) through a metal mask having an opening of elongated rectangular shape. With this shaped laser beam, a surface of an amorphous silicon thin film deposited on a glass substrate is scanned at right angle to the longer side direction of the rectangle, and irradiated with laser in the shorter side direction at intervals of 10 μm. The silicon thin film having absorbed the laser beam is melted, and cooled to be polycrystalline silicon. In this technology, the substrate is not damaged thermally even if a general glass or plastic substrate is used. This is because the excimer laser is a pulse laser having a pulse width of about 20 ns, and the crystallization is complete in about 50 to 100 ns. The obtained crystal grain size depends on the laser energy density, and a polycrystalline thin film formed of crystal grains having grain size of about 0.1 to 1 μm can be formed. As for the plane orientation, it is reported that crystal grains formed by single laser irradiation are not aligned, but that, when laser irradiation is repeated hundreds of times, the surface orientation is aligned to (001) plane or (111) plane (as for the former, see, for example, D. P. Gosain, A. Machida, T. Fujino, Y. Hitsuda, K. Nakano and J. Sato, "Formation of (100)-Textured Si Film Using an Excimer Laser on a Glass Substrate," Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 42 (2003), pp. L135-L.137; as for the latter, see, for example, H. Kuriyama, et al., "Enlargement of Poly-Si Film Grain Size by Excimer Laser Annealing and Its Application to High-Performance Poly-Si Thin Film Transistor," Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 30 (1991), pp. 3700-3703).
However, in the excimer laser crystallization method, the crystallinity in the individual crystal grains may be made monocrystalline, but the thin film as a whole is polycrystalline. Therefore, when multiple transistors are formed, grain boundaries are present in the channel regions, so that the mobility is lowered, and the performances (threshold voltage, sub-shred coefficient, mobility) fluctuate among transistors. To increase the crystal grain size, the laser fluence (energy density) must be set at a level as closer as possible to the critical fluence at which the silicon thin film is totally melted. However, when the laser fluence exceeds the total melting condition, the silicon thin film becomes very fine crystals, which is not preferred. In other words, tolerance of the laser fluence to fluctuations is narrow. Since the crystal grain size is about 1 to 2 μm at maximum, there occurs limitation that the transistor size must be controlled smaller. For example, when a large area substrate for display of about 1 m×1 m is used, an extremely advanced fine processing technology is required. Besides, to align the surface orientation to (001), the laser must be irradiated 200 times or more (or for (111) plane, about 10 times). Hence, a very long processing time is required for crystallization. Even if the orientation of the surfaces of individual crystal grains, which provide the upper side (one face) of the crystallized film, is aligned uniformly at (001), the configuration is a disorderly rotation about the surface axis, and the crystal orientation of the section of the thin film is not aligned. That is, the plane orthogonal to the surface of the crystallized film cannot be oriented to (001) orientation.
Further, crystallization using a flash lamp alone instead of the excimer laser has been attempted. However, when multiple transistors are formed, however, grain boundaries are formed in the channel regions, so that the mobility is lowed, and the performances (threshold voltage, sub-shred coefficient, mobility) fluctuate among transistors, though the crystallinity within the crystal grains can be made monocrystalline as in the case of the excimer laser crystallization method.
As a technology developed through the excimer laser crystallization technique, a technology called sequential lateral solidification (SLS) is also known. This technology is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3204986. In this technology, as shown in FIG. 12A, an excimer laser beam 11 homogenized in light intensity by the homogenizing optical system is passed through a metal mask 12 having a thin gap of about 2 μm to be shaped into a rectangular shape in section. When the fluence (energy density) of the laser having passed through the gap is set such that an amorphous silicon thin film 13 becomes a molten silicon 14 totally melted in the thickness direction, a lateral growth occurs from the outside region of the gap toward the inside, and a crystallized silicon 16 is formed (FIG. 12B). Next, the target structure is moved to the left direction by 2 μm as indicated by an arrow 17, and laser is emitted. Then, the molten silicon 14 grows in the lateral direction, starting from the seed crystal at the right end of the crystallized silicon 16 formed by the previous laser irradiation (FIG. 12C). By repeating this process of laser irradiation and target moving, a polycrystalline silicon thin film of large grain size can be formed. In this case, the plane shape of the mask 12 is made in a checkered pattern mask 19 as in FIG. 12D. In this case, when laser irradiation is repeated, the processing time is improved, and the overlaying region of crystallization is enhanced, so that a uniform laterally grown polycrystalline thin film is formed on the substrate surface.
However, since, in the SLS method, nearly half of the laser beam is shielded by the metal mask, the laser energy cannot be utilized effectively. As a result, it takes a longer time in processing for crystallization. Besides, since the positions of the crystal grains are scattered, the performance fluctuates among transistors as in the case of the excimer laser crystallization. Hence, the plane orientation of the crystal grains is not uniform, which also leads to fluctuation of performance among transistors.
As a technology further developed through the excimer laser crystallization method, a phase-modulated excimer laser crystallization method is also known (see, for example, Masakiyo Matsumura, "Surface Science," Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 278-287, 2000). This method is featured in that, as shown in FIG. 13A, excimer laser beam 21 is passed through an optical component called a phase shifter 22 (for example, a quartz plate processed by forming steps), and therefore, the laser beam intensity distribution is modulated in space as indicated by reference numeral 23 in FIG. 13B. An amorphous silicon thin film 24 is irradiated once by using the thus modulated laser beam, and the irradiated region 25 is crystallized as shown in FIG. 13C.
This method, different from the excimer laser crystallization method or SLS method, does not use a uniform light intensity distribution, and does not require multiple times of laser irradiation. In this method, the modulated light intensity distribution 23 provides an inclined temperature distribution in the thin film irradiated with the laser, and a crystal nucleus is formed at the position 27 of small energy, so that the position of crystal nucleus can be accurately determined. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 13D, crystal grains 26a, 26a of large grain size can be obtained by lateral growth from the crystal nucleus. By this method, crystal grains of large grain size are formed, and the position of crystal nucleus can be also controlled.
However, in the phase modulated excimer laser crystallization technology, crystal grains of large grain size are obtained, but it has been further demanded to form larger crystal grains so as to fabricate a plurality of transistors in one crystal grain, and to relax the restriction on the circuit layout.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device

Advanced LCD Technologies Development Center Co., Ltd.


An apparatus and method for roof ridge construction are provided. Ridge risers are used to securely retain an attachment block above sheathing portions at an elevation sufficient to permit air venting through the ridge. The ridge risers have legs with one or more weakened regions (such as scores) that permit easy folding so that the legs can be attached to the sheathing and/or rafter portions. A set of attachment holes may be positioned below each of the weakened regions. The legs are joined to a cradle in which the attachment block rests. The attachment block is retained within the cradle via a mechanism such as fasteners, retention cleats, and retention assemblies with tabs designed to be driven into the attachment block. Roof covering elements, such as shingles, shakes, tiles, slate units, metal units, and synthetic ridge covering elements, are attached to the roofing block.

The present invention relates to roofing systems and methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing ventilated roof ridge support and superior attachment of a nailer board for securing ridge and hip trim units.
The roof of a home or other building is essential for protecting the interior against the effects of precipitation, heat, and cold. Many types of roof-covering elements, including shingles, shakes, tiles, slate, metal, and synthetic substitutes, are currently used for roofing. Typically, one type of roofing unit will be applied to sloping sides of the roof while the apex of the roof, or the "ridge," receives units that are specially configured to cover the ridge. According to known methods, the ridge-covering elements are typically supported by elongated wooden blocks attached directly to the sloping sides of the roof.
Unfortunately, such a ridge configuration has a number of inherent disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the attachment is unreliable. The wooden blocks are typically nailed or otherwise attached to the edges of the substrate, or "sheathing," of the roof, which is typically constructed of plywood or some other laminated wood-based product. Attachment to the edges of the sheathing is difficult because the nail or other fastening device must be inserted through the wooden block with some precision to properly anchor within the comparatively narrow edge of the sheathing. Hence, the wooden blocks are often inadequately attached to the remainder of the roof, and are therefore easily removed, together with their attached ridge-covering elements, in the event of a windstorm, high wind, hurricane, or other trauma.
Additionally, such a ridge configuration does not generally provide adequate venting for the roof. Radiant heat and warm air from within the building will rise, and will often enter the attic area despite the presence of vapor barriers underneath the attic space. The humid air will often condense against the roof, particularly in cold weather. The resulting moisture tends to cause decay of the building envelope, thereby shortening the life of the roof and building structure and producing potentially dangerous weakened regions of the roof and structure.
Furthermore, if no venting is used, a significant temperature gradient may exist in the roof. For example, the eaves of the roof may not receive as much radiant heat from the interior of the building; hence, the eaves may be colder in cool weather. If the upper portion of the roof is warmer, snow on the upper portion may melt, slide down to the eave, and freeze again. The result is the formation of what is known as an "ice dam," which retains runoff from the upper portion of the roof. The standing water on the roof is unable to drain from the eaves, and therefore may seep into the roof and damage the roof or the building envelope.
Although foam or fiber webbing may be used to elevate the ridge covering elements to permit venting, such materials tend to compress, for example, if a person steps on the ridge. Additionally, such materials provide little structural support for the ridge roofing units.
Furthermore, known ridge configurations generally do not provide a simple method of aligning abutting ends of adjacent wooden blocks with each other. A typical roof ridge requires the use of multiple wooden blocks, which are generally aligned end-to-end by hand in an attempt to provide a straight ridge.
Further, a safety line is often attached to the roof ridge to support a person working on the roof. However, to permit attachment of a safety line, known roof ridge configurations generally require the attachment of a specialized anchoring structure. Attachment of such an anchoring structure adds to the construction time and cost of the roof. It may even be necessary to have multiple anchoring structures distributed along the length of the ridge so that a safety line can be disposed at any desired location on the roof.
Accordingly, a need exists for a roof ridge configuration capable of remedying the problems of the prior art. Such a configuration should preferably provide sturdy support for the ridge covering elements, in a manner that allows for easy and reliable installation of the ridge covering elements. Furthermore, such a configuration should provide for air venting through the ridge to prevent moisture from damaging the substrate or building envelope and to prevent the formation of ice dams over the eaves of the roof.
Preferably, such a ridge configuration is not readily compressible, for example, by a person stepping on the ridge. A need further exists for roof ridge elements capable of aligning ends of adjoining wooden blocks. Yet further, a need exists for roof ridge elements capable of supporting the weight of a person via a safety line without requiring the use of additional anchoring structures. Such a ridge configuration should be obtained through the use of an apparatus and method that is economical, versatile, easy to manufacture, and easy to install.

Roof ridge construction apparatus and method


Methods, systems, and computer program products for flexible call jumping are disclosed. According to one method, an indication is received from a calling phone for initiating a call with a called phone. The call is established between the called and calling phone. During the call, an indication is received from the calling phone to jump the call to a user selected destination. In response to receiving the indication to jump the call, the call is jumped to the destination such that the call continues between the destination and the called phone.

With the emergence of IP application servers, it has become desirable to use such servers to provide advanced features to telecommunications subscribers. One feature that it may be desirable to provide is call jumping. Call jumping refers to the ability to transfer an in-progress call from one phone to another phone without dropping the call. For example, a subscriber who initiates a call from his or her office phone may desire to transfer the call to his or her mobile phone in order to continue to call when the subscriber leaves the office.
Call jumping is currently available for inbound calls. That is, a subscriber who receives a call can elect to jump the call to another phone and continue to call from the other phone. However, it is believed that current networks do not allow call jumping from an outbound call. That is, the calling party does not currently have the capability to jump the call to a new destination.
Another shortcoming of existing services is combining call jumping with other features, such as remote phone. Remote phone is a feature that allows a subscriber to provision one phone, such as the subscriber's mobile phone, to masquerade as another phone. For example, a subscriber may desire to have all calls directed to his or her office phone ring on the subscriber's mobile phone. Outbound calls from the mobile phone will appear to called parties as if the calls are made from the subscriber's office phone. Once the subscriber has the remote phone feature activated, the subscriber may desire to implement inbound or outbound call jumping from the remote phone. It is believed that current call jumping implementations do not provide this capability.
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties associated with existing call jumping solutions, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer program products for flexible call jumping.


An electronic musical instrument includes: an input device that inputs a sound generation instruction to start generating a musical sound and a stop instruction to stop the musical sound; an on-on time timer device that measures a time difference between a first and second sound generation instructions; a gate time timer device that measures a time difference between the second sound generation instruction and a stop instruction; an attack characteristic setting device that sets an attack characteristic of the musical sound to have a shorter attack time as the time difference measured by the on-on time timer device becomes shorter; and a release characteristic setting device that sets a release characteristic of the musical sound generated to have a shorter release time as the time difference measured by the gate time timer device becomes shorter.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to electronic musical instruments, and more particularly, to electronic musical instruments capable of applying to musical sounds specified envelopes that suit each musical performance method.
2. Related Art
Electronic musical instruments that change an envelope of a musical sound to be generated according to a performance method are known. Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2002-32083 (Patent Document 1) describes an electronic musical instrument that measures the time from key depression to key release (i.e., the gate time) in a performance, judges the performance to be a staccato performance when the measured time is shorter than a predetermined value, and makes faster the release characteristic, which is the rate of muting the musical sound being generated, in response to the key release, compared to the release characteristic to be given when the performance is not a staccato performance.
However, there are variations in each performance method, and the performance of a real acoustic musical instrument cannot be faithfully simulated by simply changing the release characteristic in response to the time from key depression to key release. In particular, the characteristics of the time interval between a key depression and another key depression (on-on time) and the attack waveform to be generated when multiple keys are depressed generally simultaneously would not suit each performance method.

Electronic musical instrument using on-on note times to determine an attack rate


A method of forming a golf ball includes forming a core using a 3D printer, and molding a cover in a surrounding position over the core through at least one of compression molding and injection molding. The core may be formed by printing a first core portion, printing a second core portion, and fusing the first core portion with the second core portion to form the core. Each of the first and second core portions may respectively include a plurality of concentric shells that are sequentially constructed.

The game of golf is an increasingly popular sport at both the amateur and professional levels. To account for the wide variety of play styles and abilities, it is desirable to produce golf balls having different play characteristics.
Attempts have been made to balance a soft feel with good resilience in a multi-layer golf ball by giving the ball a hardness distribution across two to five discrete layers in such a way as to retain both properties. A harder golf ball will generally achieve greater distances, but less spin, and so will be better for drives but more difficult to control on shorter shots. On the other hand, a softer ball will generally experience more spin, thus being easier to control, but will lack distance. Additionally, certain design characteristics may affect the "feel" of the ball when hit, as well as the durability of the ball.
Three dimensional (3D) printing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object from a digital model. The printing is an additive process, where successive layers are built upon previous layers to "grow" the object. 3D printing is different from other molding or manufacturing techniques that can rely on filling a mold or removing material such as by cutting or drilling.


A Multi-Purpose Dynamic Simulation and run-time Control platform includes a virtual process environment coupled to a physical process environment, where components/nodes of the virtual and physical process environments cooperate to dynamically perform run-time process control of an industrial process plant and/or simulations thereof. Virtual components may include virtual run-time nodes and/or simulated nodes. The MPDSC includes an I/O Switch which delivers I/O data between virtual and/or physical nodes, e.g., by using publish/subscribe mechanisms, thereby virtualizing physical I/O process data delivery. Nodes serviced by the I/O Switch may include respective component behavior modules that are unaware as to whether or not they are being utilized on a virtual or physical node. Simulations may be performed in real-time and even in conjunction with run-time operations of the plant, and/or simulations may be manipulated as desired (speed, values, administration, etc.). The platform simultaneously supports simulation and run-time operations and interactions/intersections therebetween.

Process or industrial control systems, like those used in chemical, petroleum or other industrial process plants to produce physical products from materials, typically include one or more process controllers communicatively coupled to one or more field devices via analog, digital or combined analog/digital buses, or via a wireless communication link or network. The field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure, level and flow rate sensors), are located within the process environment and generally perform physical or process control functions such as opening or closing valves, measuring process parameters, etc., to control one or more processes executing within the process plant or system. Smart field devices, such as the field devices conforming to the well-known FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol may also perform control calculations, alarming functions, and other control functions commonly implemented within the controller. The process controllers, which may be centrally located but which may also be located within the plant environment in a distributed manner, receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices and/or other information pertaining to the field devices and execute a controller application that runs, for example, different control modules that make process control decisions, generate control signals based on the received information and coordinate with the control modules or blocks being performed in the field devices, such as HART®, WirelessHART®, and FOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices. The control modules in the controller send the control signals over the communication lines or links to the field devices to thereby control the operation of at least a portion of the process plant or system.
Information from the field devices and the controller is usually made available from the controllers over a data highway to one or more other hardware devices, such as operator workstations, personal computers or computing devices, data historians, report generators, centralized databases, or other centralized administrative computing devices that are typically placed in control rooms or other locations away from the harsher plant environment. Each of these hardware devices typically is centralized across the process plant or across a portion of the process plant. These hardware devices execute applications that may, for example, enable an engineer to configure portions of the process or an operator to perform functions with respect to controlling a process and/or operating the process plant, such as changing settings of the process control routine, modifying the operation of the control modules within the controllers or the field devices, viewing the current state of the process, viewing alarms generated by field devices and controllers, simulating the operation of the process for the purpose of training personnel or testing the process control software, keeping and updating a configuration database, etc. The data highway utilized by the hardware devices, controllers and field devices may include a wired communication path, a wireless communication path, or a combination of wired and wireless communication paths.
As an example, the DeltaV™ control system, sold by Emerson Process Management, includes multiple applications stored within and executed by different devices located at diverse places within a process plant. A configuration application, which resides in one or more workstations or computing devices, enables users to create or change process control modules and to download these process control modules via a data highway to dedicated distributed controllers. Typically, these control modules are made up of communicatively interconnected function blocks, which are objects in an object-oriented programming protocol that perform functions within the control scheme based on inputs thereto and that provide outputs to other function blocks within the control scheme. The configuration application may also allow a configuration designer to create or change operator interfaces that are used by a viewing application to display data to an operator and to enable the operator to change settings, such as set points, within the process control routines. Each dedicated controller and, in some cases, one or more field devices, stores and executes a respective controller application that runs the control modules assigned and downloaded thereto to implement actual process control functionality. The viewing applications, which may be executed on one or more operator workstations (or on one or more remote computing devices in communicative connection with the operator workstations and the data highway), receive data from the controller application via the data highway and display this data to process control system designers, operators, or users using the user interfaces, and may provide any of a number of different views, such as an operator's view, an engineer's view, a technician's view, etc. A data historian application is typically stored in and executed by a data historian device that collects and stores some or all of the data provided across the data highway while a configuration database application may run in a still further computer attached to the data highway to store the current process control routine configuration and data associated therewith. Alternatively, the configuration database may be located in the same workstation as the configuration application.
The architecture of currently known process control plants and process control systems is strongly influenced by limited controller and device memory, communications bandwidth, and controller and device processor capability. For example, in currently known process control system architectures, the use of dynamic and static non-volatile memory in the controller is usually minimized or, at the least, managed carefully. As a result, during system configuration (e.g., a priori), a user or configuration engineer typically must choose which data in the controller is to be archived or saved, the frequency at which it will be saved, and whether or not compression is used, and the controller is accordingly configured with this limited set of data rules. Consequently, data which could be useful in troubleshooting and process analysis is often not archived, and if it is collected, the useful information may have been lost due to data compression.
Additionally, to minimize controller memory usage in currently known process control systems, selected data that is to be archived or saved (as indicated by the configuration of the controller) is reported to the workstation or computing device for storage at an appropriate data historian or data silo. The current techniques used to report the data poorly utilizes communication resources and induces excessive controller loading. Additionally, due to the time delays in communication and sampling at the historian or silo, the data collection and time stamping is often out of sync with the actual process.
Similarly, in batch process control systems, to minimize controller memory usage, batch recipes and snapshots of controller configuration typically remain stored at a centralized administrative computing device or location (e.g., at a data silo or historian), and are only transferred to a controller when needed. Such a strategy introduces significant burst loads in the controller and in communications between the workstation or centralized administrative computing device and the controller.
Further, the current architecture of industrial control systems, such as process control systems, is largely hardware driven in that various functions, such as control functions, input/output (I/O) functions, user interface functions, etc. are performed in and are tied to specific pieces of hardware (e.g., user workstations or interface devices, process controllers, safety system controllers, dedicated I/O devices, marshaled I/O devices, field devices, safety logic solvers, etc.) and remain stored in the specific hardware at all times. For example, in current process control systems, interconnections between controllers and I/O devices (e.g., either individual I/O devices, or banks of marshaled I/O devices) are configured based on particular hardware, and consequently, physical I/O relationships are tightly bound, most commonly in a one-to-one manner, e.g., I/O device to controller, another I/O device to another controller, etc. This architectural design limits the resiliency, reliability, availability, responsiveness, and the elasticity of the control system, as these systems are difficult to change or reconfigure quickly, are tightly tied to proprietary hardware used to implement proprietary control software, require hardware redundancy on a device by device basis that can be expensive to implement, and are not easily scalable or able to be upgraded without adding additional hardware that needs to be configured in particular manners, for example, due to size limitations of individual devices such as physical process controllers, particular characteristics and capabilities of I/O devices, etc.
Some attempts at addressing these issues include virtualizing physical controllers; however, controller virtualization has been limited to off-line development and test systems, and has not been widely utilized, if at all, for run-time process control in physical plant and/or production environments. Moreover, both virtualized controllers and physical controllers remain subject to the limitations of physical I/O devices, such as performance, bandwidth, throughput, etc.

Ease of node switchovers in process control systems


An x-ray source that can produce high-brilliance x-rays at a low cost and from a small footprint includes a radiofrequency (RF) photoinjector, an accelerator module (such as a linear superconducting accelerator moducle), a high-power optical laser apparatus, and a passive enhancement cavity. A stream of photons generated by the laser apparatus is accumulated in the enhancement cavity, and an electron stream from the photoinjector are then directed through the enhancement cavity to collide with the photons and generate high-brilliance x-rays via inverse-Compton scattering.

Hard x-ray sources have been available for nearly 110 years, with a well-established and extraordinary impact on science and technology. From the dozen or more Nobel Prizes recognizing their role in fundamental discovery in chemistry and physics to the medical x-ray, which virtually every citizen of modern developed countries has experienced, x-rays have yielded unparalleled benefits to modern society.
In the last thirty years, the production of extremely high brilliance x-ray beams by accelerator-based sources (i.e., synchrotron radiation) has revolutionized the field of x-ray science and technology. The impact of these sources is comparable with that of the original discovery of x-rays. Using these high-brilliance x-ray beams, scientists are able to (a) see single atomic layers, (b) use weak-magnetic scattering routinely, (c) study dynamic phenomena using inelastic and time-dependent techniques with extraordinary resolution, and (d) spectroscopically probe complex molecules with extremely high resolution. Perhaps the largest impact is coming from "structural genomics"—the application of novel synchrotron-radiation-based diffraction methods to solve the full, three-dimensional, atomic-level structure of all known proteins. In the field of imaging science, synchrotron sources have allowed the much-more-subtle angle and energy shifts, which occur as an x-ray penetrates a material, to be the basis for differentiating different material constituents in an image. This method is known as phase-contrast imaging. Remarkable improvements in image resolution and lowering of dose are now well known. Nevertheless, the scientific impact of these sources is now limited by their gigantic size, which leads to their high cost (i.e., over a billion dollars in some cases) and relative scarcity. Virtually everyone who does research at the synchrotron user facilities does so under extremely limiting conditions of travel and available beam time.

Compact, high-flux, short-pulse x-ray source


The present invention relates to a start-stop “mild hybrid” vehicle with a starting system which utilizes traditional engine and transmission architecture. The present invention separates the pinion actuator solenoid from the starter motor power switching circuit. A power relay is provided to switch the starter motor. The pinion gear in the present invention is pre-shuttled to, and held in mesh with, the flywheel ring gear during engine stop conditions. A “prime current” is then applied to the power relay just below that which is required to energize the power relay. Upon request for an engine start, the current will increase to energize the relay and allow the starter motor to spin. A significant amount of time lag is thusly removed from the starting system permitting an expedient restart and launch. The pinion actuator solenoid in this invention may also have two coils which may be selectively energized.

With the current thrust for more fuel efficient and low emission vehicles, many novel solutions for internal combustion engine architectures and operating strategies have been developed. One such strategy is to simply shut off the engine when the engine is operating in an idle mode. Many configurations have been proposed to effect a quick restart of the engine. The simplest and most cost effective systems incorporate a traditional or "off the shelf" starter/pinion gear and flywheel/ring gear configuration. As such, this type of start-stop strategy has minimal impact on engine and transmission architectures compared to other hybrid strategies. The response time of this system may be lengthy, which is an important consideration as automakers try to deliver seamless vehicle restart and launch. The time required to energize the traditional power relay switching and the drive gear engagement mechanisms of the starter account for a significant fraction of the total delay time.
This delay time can be better understood by way of explanation of the operation of a traditional starting system. The typical starter controls found in a vehicle today have the starting contacts contained within a key operated ignition switch. However, a pedal operated ignition switch may be employed for a "mild hybrid" configuration. When the ignition key is turned against spring pressure from the "on" position to the "start" position, the starting contacts close. This in turn connects a starter motor solenoid to the vehicle battery. A solenoid is required since the starter motor needs a massive feed of electrical current from the battery to set its internal components working.
Upon connection, coils contained within the solenoid become energized producing a magnetic field that pulls an armature inward. This armature engages a pinion actuator at one end, which in turn shuttles a pinion gear mounted to the starter motor shaft to engage the ring gear of the engine's flywheel. Located behind the pinion gear is a coil spring that will ensure that the pinion gear meshes with the flywheel ring gear in the event the gear teeth do not mesh properly in a condition referred to as "butting". Simultaneously, the armature movement forces a heavy switch to connect the starter motor to the battery and engine cranking will begin. The coils within the solenoid are of a sufficient magnetic strength to simultaneously shuttle the pinion gear and close the starter motor switch. A spring on the pinion actuator pulls the pinion out of mesh when the current to the solenoid is interrupted upon engine start. Although this method requires a lag time of only seconds, a more responsive method is desirable to ensure seamless operation of a start-stop "mild hybrid".


This invention relates to a turbine for extracting energy from an oscillating working fluid. The turbine includes a housing defining a flow passage for the working fluid. An energy conversion unit is disposed in the housing. Flow control means is selectively movable to occlude a predetermined portion of the flow passage such that the working fluid is directed to act on a certain section of the energy conversion unit.

With an ever increasing concern of the impact traditional energy systems have had or are having on the environment, new methods and systems are currently being developed for reducing the impact such systems have on the environment.
A number of these systems rely on turbines to rotate an electric generator in order to produce electricity. The problem with many such systems proposed to date is that a significant capital outlay is required to set up a new system. The extent of this capital outlay can often act as a deterrent to investors, as the return on investment is limited to some extent by the relationship between the capital outlay and the efficiency of the system.
The turbines currently employed in such systems operate at a relative low efficiency and the energy extraction system as a whole is limited by the efficiency of these turbines.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative.


An apparatus includes: one or more input communicatively coupled to one or more medium storing current treatment plan data and a current image of a patient, the one or more input configured to obtain the current treatment plan data and the current image of the patient, wherein the current treatment plan data is for processing by a treatment machine; and a re-planning decision processor configured to determine a re-plan information based at least in part on the current treatment plan data, the current image, and a re-plan triggering model, the re-plan triggering model based on previous treatment plan data and previous image(s), wherein the re-plan information indicates a recommendation regarding treatment re-planning; wherein the re-planning decision processor is configured to output the re-plan information for reducing a burden, or for obviating a need, for a user of the apparatus to manually decide whether the treatment re-planning is desirable or not.

In radiotherapy treatment, the goal is to deliver a high dose to the cancer area (to kill the tumor cells) while sparing the healthy tissue (especially critical organs). A radiotherapy treatment may include multiple fractions, and it is critical that the radiation is delivered to the correct spot in all of the fractions. However, the daily situation at the time of treatment delivery might differ considerably from the situation predicted in the treatment plan, due to, for examples, internal organ movement (e.g., bladder filling, bowel movement, etc.), patient weight loss, tumor shrinkage, etc. In certain occasions, if the difference between the actual situation at the time of treatment delivery and the predicted situation in the treatment plan is too great, the goal of the treatment may no longer be met. In such cases, a new treatment plan is needed. This is known as adaptive radiotherapy (ART).
The problem with ART is that currently it is not clear when a new treatment plan is needed. Performing a new plan for every treatment fraction is not always desirable as it is a time consuming task for both staff and patient. Moreover, in some cases, the patient geometry has not changed sufficiently to justify a determination of a new treatment plan. Also, a change in the patient's geometry may not be significant enough to benefit from a new treatment plan.
In the current ART setup, for each treatment fraction (or every m fractions) a kV or cone beam CT (CBCT) is taken, and the current patient geometry is analyzed by visual inspection. Based on knowledge and assessment of the situation, the staff then decides if the patient needs a new re-plan or if the current re-plan is good enough. This manual decision is not always straight-forward, and may present many grey areas. Accordingly, different staffs facing the same scenario may come to different conclusions as to whether to perform a re-plan or not.
In one or more embodiments described herein, an apparatus is provided to determine, or to assist a user to determine, whether re-planning of a treatment is desirable or not.

Systems and methods for triggering adaptive planning using knowledge based model


Apparatus and methods are provided for executing a rules-based authentication of an electronic transaction. The method may include receiving first and second payment authorization parameters and second payment authorization parameters. The method may also include receiving from a Point of Sale device a request for payment information and a purchase amount. The method may also include, determining if first or second parameters are satisfied. The first parameters may include a first time range, a pairing of the electronic device to a first apparatus, a first geolocation of the electronic device, and a first maximum transaction value. The second parameters may include a second time range, a pairing of the electronic device to a second apparatus, a second geolocation of the electronic device, and a second maximum transaction value, wherein the second time range does not include the first time range.

Typical credit card transactions are processed using an internet or telephone connection. When a customer desires to make a purchase, a merchant captures the customer's credit card information at a point of sale terminal ("POS") and sends it over an internet or telephone connection to an acquiring bank. The acquiring bank then forwards the information over a credit card network to an issuing bank for processing. Because these methods rely on an external communications network the POS is unable to process credit card transactions when the external network is down. This can be a source of frustration for both the customer and the merchant, interrupting sales until connection has been reestablished.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide systems and methods for approving a credit card transaction at a POS without having to send data over an external communications network such as the internet or a telephone line.
Credit cards are widely utilized payment instruments that customers use to pay for goods and services. Authorizing a credit card transaction with a credit card is a simple process, requiring only insertion of the credit card into a POS and then scribbling a signature onto a screen. Unfortunately, the credit card's ease of use has made it simple for an unauthorized user to complete a purchase using the card.
Today, many people have one or more of a smart phone, smart watch, or other electronic device on their person at all times. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide systems and methods for enhancing a credit card's security by requiring, as a precondition for payment authorization, a pairing of the credit card to one or more of the credit card owner's electronic devices.

Trusted pair authentication with edge-computing devices


The invention relates to a method and a computer program for displaying a plurality of electronic messages in a message system with the electronic messages being called up from one or more directories for electronic messages. In this case, a multidimensional diagram is first of all created on a graphics user interface, after which the electronic messages are converted to graphics symbols, and the graphics symbols are finally displayed on the multidimensional diagram on the basis of at least one characteristic of the respective electronic message.

Nowadays, electronic messages are an elementary means for private and business communication. Users of electronic communication means receive and transmit a large number of electronic messages every day, which they create, transmit, receive, store and manage by means of a communication program, for example by means of an e-mail program such as Microsoft Outlook. When a so-called unified messaging system, or messaging system, is used for communication, not only are the known e-mail messages managed in this way, but also fax messages, voicemails, telephone contacts, etc. The various messages are generally managed with the aid of various files or directories, so-called mail folders, with different categories such as "incoming messages", "outgoing messages", "drafts", etc. normally being used. Within the various categories, the messages can be displayed by means of a list which, for example may be sorted chronologically or on the basis of people (contacts).

Multidimensional visualization of information and messages in a messaging system