A method and apparatus for supporting a substrate is generally provided. In one aspect, an apparatus for supporting a substrate includes a support plate having a first body disposed proximate thereto. A first pushing member is radially coupled to the first body and adapted to urge the substrate in a first direction parallel to the support plate when the first body rotates. In another aspect, a load lock chamber having a substrate support that supports a substrate placed thereon includes a cooling plate that is moved to actuate at least one alignment mechanism. The alignment mechanism includes a pushing member that urges the substrate in a first direction towards a center of the support. The pushing member may additionally rotate about an axis perpendicular to the first direction.

Thin film transistors (TFTs) are conventionally made on large glass substrates or plates for use in monitors, flat panel displays, solar cells, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones and the like. TFTs are made in a cluster tool by sequential deposition of various films including amorphous silicon, doped and undoped silicon oxides, silicon nitride and the like in a plurality of vacuum process chambers typically arranged around a central transfer chamber. The cluster tool is typically coupled to a factory interface that includes a plurality of substrate storage cassette that holds substrates before and after processing. A load lock chamber is generally disposed between the factory interface and cluster tool to facilitate substrate transfer between a vacuum environment of the cluster tool and an atmospheric environment of a factory interface.
The positioning of glass substrates used for displays in a load lock chamber is difficult as compared to smaller, 200 mm and even 300 mm circular substrates. For example, as glass substrates often have dimensions exceeding 550 mm by 650 mm, with trends towards 1.2 square meters and larger, small deviations in position may result in significant substrate misalignment. A misaligned substrate has high probability of damage, resulting in a costly loss of the substrate. Moreover, a misaligned substrate must be manually removed from the load lock chamber, thereby requiring costly loss of production time and diminished substrate throughput.
Typically, the accuracy of substrate placement is controlled by a robot disposed in the factory interface that is utilized to move substrate's between the cassettes and the load lock. However, many end-users of cluster tools are now providing the factory interface and robot disposed therein. Thus, if the accuracy and repeatability of substrate placement by the user supplied robot is not within the designed specifications of the load lock chamber, substrate damage is likely. It would be desirable for the load lock chamber to be more compatible with regard to substrate placement so that tool components (i.e., user provided factory interfaces) may be used in order to reduce system costs while increasing design flexibility.
Therefore, there is a need for a load lock and substrate support that corrects the orientation and position of substrates placed thereon.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The method and nanocomposite for treating wastewater provides a method of treating aniline-containing wastewater with a magnetic nanocomposite. Nickel nitrate, iron nitrate and citric acid are dissolved in deionized water to form a metal nitrate and citric acid solution, which is then pH balanced. The pH balanced solution is then heated to form a gel, which is then ignited to form powdered NiFe2O4. Nanoparticles of the powdered NiFe2O4 combustion product are then mixed with multi-walled carbon nanotubes to form a magnetic nanocomposite, such that the magnetic nanocomposite includes approximately 75 wt % of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes and approximately 25 wt % of the NiFe2O4. The magnetic nanocomposite may then be mixed into a volume of aniline-containing wastewater for adsorption of the aniline by the nanocomposite. A magnetic field is then applied to the mixture to magnetically separate the magnetic nanocomposite and the adsorbed aniline from the wastewater.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions for treating wastewater, and particularly to a method and nanocomposite for treating wastewater, the nanocomposite being a mixture of multi-wall carbon nanotubes and ferrite nanoparticles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to a wide variety of manufacturing processes, contaminated wastewater has become a great concern, not only to the environment, but as a potential toxin for both human and animal life which may be exposed to the wastewater. Aniline is a particularly toxic byproduct often found in wastewater. Aniline-containing wastewater is presently treated using photo-decomposition, electrolysis, adsorption, oxidation, biodegradation, and combinations of these processes. Each, however, is relatively inefficient and is costly, both in terms of resources and financial costs.
There is great interest in the use of multi-walled carbon nanotubes for the removal of pollutants from water. However, the formation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes composites can be difficult, and the removal thereof from the water being treated is also quite difficult. Magnetic separation is an efficient process for the removal of nanocomposites from water, as well as pollutants seeded with a magnetic material such as magnetite (Fe3O4), using a high gradient magnetic separator. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a nanocomposite with magnetic properties, and which also efficiently adsorbs organic matter, such as aniline, from wastewater.
Thus, a method and nanocomposite for treating wastewater solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Method and nanocomposite for treating wastewater


A resin composition comprising an olefin resin (A), a copolymer of olefin with non-conjugated diene (B) and at least one polymer (C) selected from the group consisting of the following polymers;. C1: diene polymer containing a hydroxyl group or the hydrogenation product thereof, PA0 C2: polymer containing a hydroxyl group, PA0 C3: polymer containing a carboxyl group (including an acid anhydride group), PA0 C4: polymer containing an amino group and/or imino group, and PA0 C5: polymer containing an epoxy group; and optionally an elastomer (D), filler (E) and at least one compound (F) selected from the group consisting of the following compounds; PA0 F1: organotin compound, PA0 F2: tertiary amine compound, and PA0 F3: phosphorus oxy compound.. The moldings prepared from this resin composition have remarkable adhesive properties for paints, adhesives and printing inks. Thus, paints, etc. may be applied directly to the moldings, without surface treatment or washing thereof.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin composition. More specifically, the present invention relates to an olefin resin composition having a surface suitable for the application of coating, bonding and printing.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
In order to wash off and remove hand dirt, machine oil and the like adhered to the surface of a resin molding, prior to the coating of the surface thereof, vapor washing is generally carried out by employing halogen containing organic solvents.
Further, as olefin resins do not contain polar groups in the structure thereof and additionally because such resins have a higher degree of crystallinity, they show extremely poor adhesive property for paints, adhesives, printing inks and the like; in other words, the coating, adhesive and printing properties thereof are insufficient. Therefore, the surface is primarily coated with primers or is subjected to plasma treatment, whereby the surface is modified to improve the adhesive property. Thereafter, paints and adhesives are applied thereto or printing inks are used thereon for printing.
However, such methods have conventionally involved the following problems.
That is, concern has been shown about the vapor washing process using halogen containing organic solvents in the coating and adhesion of resin moldings, because the atmospheric diffusion of halogen containing organic solvents may cause possible damage to the ozone layer. From the standpoint of protecting the global environment, an early switch to alternate methods has been sought.
Also, in accordance with the primer coating method, expensive primer must be used and it involves a great number of processes. Therefore, this method has defects in that it is costly and deteriorates the working environment because of the requirement to evaporate the primer solvents which might also lead to the risk of fire, a safety problem.
On the other hand, the plasma treatment process requires a costly apparatus because it needs a high degree of vacuum and also inevitably involves an escalation of cost because of the batch system. Furthermore, the surface after the plasma treatment is instable and decreases the adhesive properties thereof for coatings, adhesives and printing inks when in contact with foreign matter. Accordingly, the adhesion strength may sometimes vary, which is very inconvenient for the handling thereof. If such primer coating or plasma treatment processes can be omitted, simplification of the coating process, improvement of working environment and cost reduction should be achievable and therefore a great deal of research has been carried out towards solving these problems.
However, this objective has not yet been achieved and currently, such primer coating and plasma treatment process cannot be omitted in the case of olefin resin materials. In many cases, coating, bonding and printing are effected after such processes.
There are reports describing that the adhesive property for coatings, adhesives, printing inks and the like are improved by compounding a copolymer resin containing non-conjugated dienes with an olefin resin, thereby effecting specific surface treatment. For example, a method of surface treatment with cationic halogen compounds (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-64460), a method of surface treatment with an aqueous saturated potassium permanganate solution acidified with sulfuric acid and an aqueous 3% sodium hydrogensulfite solution acidified with sulfuric acid (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-44639), a method of surface treatment with an oxidant (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-59934), a method of surface treatment with ozone (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-197640) and the like are known.
There are also known methods using a specific coating or coated compositions or the like illustrated for example by a method for coating olefin resin moldings using a radical-polymerization cured-type coating (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 57-38825 and 57-59933), a method using a resin-coated composition having a hydrazine group (Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-22896), and the like.
However, these methods have disadvantages in that their application is extremely limited to a very narrow field because they use certain chemical reagents, they require environmental counter measure to counter the toxicity of sulfuric acid, their complex procedures, they are very inconvenient to handle, and they are limited to certain types of paints, coated compositions and the like. It has also been proposed to impart excellent Coating and paint adhesive properties to a polyolefin resin compound, by adding a phosphate compound having a specific structure to the polyolefin resin (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-26537). However, such paint adhesive properties cannot be imparted to the resin if the process of surface modification such as primer coating or plasma treatment process is omitted.
In order to modify adhesive properties with metal, glass and the like, a proposal has been presented such that a hydrocarbon polymer having at least one hydroxyl group is compounded with a polyolefin (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 53-123452). However, the publication only contains an embodiment disclosing ethylene/propylene rubber as the polyolefin.
EP-A 0429236 discloses that a coated resin molding comprising a molding composed of a resin composition comprising a substrate resin comprising at least one propylene polymer selected from the group consisting of propylene/ethylene block copolymers and propylene/ethylene random copolymers and an elastomer, at least one member selected from the group consisting of (A) a 1,3-diene polymer having at least one terminal hydroxyl group or a hydrogenation product thereof, (B) a copolymer of ethylene with an unsaturated compound containing a carboxyl group (including an acid anhydride group) and (C) a copolymer of ethylene with an unsaturated compound containing a hydroxyl group, and a coating formed directly on the surface of said molded body.
According to the proposal immediately described above, however, the molding should be washed preliminarily with trichloroethane and the like in order to produce a resin molding with satisfactory paint adhesive property.


A system and method are described for digitally processing a stationery order and for selecting an optimum fulfillment site for fulfilling the stationery order. For example, a method according to one embodiment of the invention comprises: providing an end user with a set of selectable stationery templates, the stationery personalization engine receiving an indication that an end user has selected a particular one of the stationery templates; collecting personalization data from the user, the personalization data including personalized messages, one or more stationery formatting options selected by the user, and names and addresses of stationery recipients; applying the personalization data to the stationery templates to generate a personalized stationery design; identifying a set of eligible fulfillment sites for printing the stationery design based on a first set of variables; and identifying an optimal fulfillment site from the set of eligible fulfillment sites based on a second set of variables.

Web-based systems for designing stationery such as wedding invitations, birth announcements, thank you cards, birthday party invitations, etc, are currently available over the Internet. One such service, provided by the assignee of the present application, can be found at the Tinyprints website. This online stationery service allows users to select from a variety of different stationery categories. Upon selection of a particular category, multiple stationery design options are provided for that category. The user may then choose a particular stationery design and personalize the design to place a stationery order (e.g., by entering a personalized message, colors, etc).
Once a user has personalized a stationery design and placed an order, the stationery must be printed, either at the online stationery site or at an external printing service. Currently, no mechanism exists for selecting an optimal destination for printing stationery designs and/or for reviewing personalized online stationery orders.
Consequently, what is needed is an automated, efficient system and method for processing and selecting an optimal destination for printing online stationery designs.

System and method for processing personalized stationery designs and selecting fulfillment order sites


This invention relates to a method for the transmission of management data to at least one multimedia unit or a group of multimedia units. This method is characterized in that said management data is sent in the form of at least one authorization message encrypted by means of at least one synchronization key (SK), the sending of said at least one authorization message being repeated cyclically and intended for said multimedia unit or said group of multimedia units, and in that the synchronization key is modified at least during each cycle.

As is well known, in order to be able to access encrypted data such as information, software, games, or to visualise a Pay-TV event, such as a film, a sports event or a game in particular, several streams are broadcast to a set of multimedia units made up of a decoder and of a security module. These streams are, in particular, on one hand the file of the event in the form of an encrypted data stream and on the other hand, a stream of control messages ECM allowing the decryption of the data stream. The content of the data stream is encrypted by "control words" (cw) that are regularly renewed. The second stream is called the ECM (Entitlement Control Message) stream and can be formed in particular in two different ways. According to a first method, the control words are encrypted by a key, called a transmission key TK, which generally pertains to the transmission system between the management centre and a security module associated with the receiver/decoder. The control word cw is obtained by decrypting the control messages ECM by means of the transmission key TK.
According to a second method, the ECM stream does not directly contain the encrypted control words, but rather contains information allowing the determination of the control words. This determination of the control words can be carried out by means of different operations, in particular by decryption, this decryption being able to provide the control word directly, which corresponds to the first method described above, but the decryption can also obtain a piece of data which contains the control word, the latter still having to be extracted from the data. In particular, the data can contain the control word as well as a value associated with the content to be broadcast, and in particular the access conditions to this content. Another operation allowing the determination of the control word can use for example a one-way hashing function of this piece of information in particular.
The security operations are generally carried out in the security module associated with the decoder. This type of security module can be produced in particular according to four different forms. One of these is a microprocessor card, a smart card, or more generally an electronic module (taking the form of a key, of a badge, . . . ). This type of module is generally removable and can be connected to the decoder. The form with electric contacts is the most widely used, but does not exclude a connection without contact, for example of the ISO 14443 type.
A second known form is that of an integrated circuit box, generally placed definitively and irremovably in the decoder. An alternative is made up of a circuit mounted on a base or connector such as a SIM module connector.
In a third form, the security module is integrated into an integrated circuit box also having another function, for example in a descrambling module of the decoder or in the microprocessor of the decoder.
In a fourth embodiment, the security module is not realised as a hardware, but its function is implemented only in software form. Given that in the four cases, the function is identical although the security level differs, we can talk about a security module regardless of the way in which its function is carried out or the form that this module may take.
During the decryption of a control message ECM, it is verified, in the security module, that the right or the key to access the concerned content is present. This right or this key can be managed by authorisation messages EMM (Entitlement Management Message) that load such a type of right or such a type of key into the security module. These authorisation messages can also contain software updates, corrective codes (patch), elements allowing the closing of a security breach or more generally, every information or element allowing the management of the security module or the associated decoder.
The diffusion of conditional access digital data is schematically divided into three modules. The first module is responsible for the encryption of the digital data by control words cw and the diffusion of this data.
The second module prepares the control messages ECM containing the control words cw, as well as the access conditions and diffuses them for the users.
The third module in turn prepares and transmits the authorisation messages EMM which are in particular responsible for defining the reception rights or transmitting the keys to the security modules connected to the receivers. These authorisation messages can also contain management elements of the multimedia unit.
While the two first modules are generally independent from the addressees, the third module manages the set of users and diffuses information to one user, a group of users or all the users.
In order to ensure that all the concerned users, or at least the majority of them have received the authorisation messages EMM which are intended for them, these messages are generally repeated numerous times in an identical way. These messages can be repeated cyclically according to a predefined frequency and during a time period depending on the importance of the message in particular.
Due to the repetition of the messages, ill-intentioned individuals can, by means of the analysis of several messages, obtain information that can be used to try to breach the security of the system. In particular, by analysing the number of messages received between two identical messages, it will be possible to deduce the number of messages contained in a cycle. The ill-intentioned individual can thus discover which quantity of messages must be analysed and which messages it is not necessary to analyse.
Furthermore, in certain present systems, it is possible to send back repeatedly the same message to a multimedia unit. The processing of this same message several times will also allow the deduction of useful data by a person attempting to break the security of the system.
The European Patent Application EP A 1 301 037 describes a process intended for the transmission of content in the encrypted form, in particular of Pay-TV content. According to this process, the content is encrypted with a first encryption key (S-key) before being sent. This first encryption key is itself encrypted with a second encryption key (key 2), then sent in the form of a control message ECM. The second encryption key is then encrypted with a key (key 1) specific to the concerned receiver, then superencrypted with a protection key (SSS). All of this is sent in a management message EMM. The protection key (SSS) is of a particular type. A content encrypted by such a key can be decrypted by several different keys. The knowledge of one of the keys allowing the decryption of the content however does not allow the deduction of another key. Likewise, the knowledge of one of the decryption keys does not allow the discovery of the encryption key or protection key.
In the process described in this document, the sending of the encrypted content and the control messages ECM is similar to the conventional prior art. The use of a protection key for the sending of management messages leads to a supplementary encryption level in relation to conventional systems. This superencryption does not allow, however, the concealing of the characteristics of a message sending cycle. In fact, it is sufficient for the validity duration of a protection key to be greater than the duration of a cycle to make it possible to locate the cyclical characteristic of message sending. In practice, when the protection key changes, it is necessary for the receivers to receive a corresponding decryption key. This change must be made sufficiently in advance so that each receiver disposes of the new key at the moment when the latter is used by the emitter. This generally takes longer than the message sending cycle of the management messages.
This invention intends to avoid the drawbacks of the processes of the prior art by carrying out a process in which it is impossible to obtain data relating to the working of the system from the analysis of the authorisation messages received by a multimedia unit.

Method for the transmission of management data


A new and distinct variety of peach tree, denominated ‘UFSharp’, has a low winter chilling requirement estimated at 325 chill units (cu). The tree is of medium size, has a moderate vigorous and upright growth habit. It has showy, pink flowers, and leaves with globose glands. Trees of ‘UFSharp’ are self-fertile and regularly bear heavy annual crops of early, mid-season fruit that are large for its ripening season. Fruit are uniformly firm and yellow with non-melting flesh which are clingstone. Fruit are oval, and uniform with substantially symmetrical shape, and have an attractive 50 to 70% bright red skin. The fruit of ‘UFSharp’ ripens about 6 days after ‘UF2000’ peach in late May at Gainesville, Fla.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] tree adapted to a subtropical (low chill) winter climate. This new tree, named 'UFSharp', produces highly colored, good eating quality, clingstone and non-melting flesh fruit for fresh market in late May at Gainesville, Fla. Contrast is made to 'UF2000' peach (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,019), a standard variety, for reliable description. 'UFSharp' is a promising candidate for commercial success in that it has large, attractive red skin, sweet fruit that ripen evenly.


A resonator (40) for a filter comprises (i) a cavity (49) having first and second opposing conductive end walls (41, 42) and a conductive side wall (43); (ii) a conductive post (44) extending into the cavity from the first conductive end wall, the end of the conductive post remote from the first conductive end wall being provided or integral with a hollow conductive element (45) which is flared and increases in cross-section in a direction towards the second conductive end wall; and (iii) a load element (47) extending into the cavity from the second conductive end wall, the load element being flared and decreasing in cross-section in a direction away from the second conductive end wall. The end of the load element remote from the second conductive end wall extends into the end of the hollow conductive element remote from the conductive post and forms an annular gap with the hollow conductive element. The resonator has improved power-handling compared to resonators of the prior art.

For medium to high power filtering applications, such as within telecommunications applications for example, and particularly at the lower end of the microwave spectrum (e.g. ˜700 MHz), cavity filters can be used. The performance characteristics of cavity filters dictates their size, and as a result they are typically one of the bulkiest and heaviest components within mobile cellular base stations.
A reduction in physical size of a cavity filter can result in poorer power handling because of a concomitant increase in electric field intensity within the filter during use.

Resonator and filter comprising the same


A counter-ejector and feeder for receiving flexible boxes delivered at a prescribed infeed rate in end-to-end relation along a plane, and a counter-ejector machine, for stacking the boxes in discrete bundles for discharge. The machine includes a general framework mounting a shingling conveyor that provides a working flight leading from an infeed end to a discharge end. The shingling conveyor is positioned with an infeed end below the delivery plane and leads angularly upwardly to a counter-ejector discharge. A driver operates the shingling conveyor to move the working flight at a selected speed less than the delivery rate of boxes to the shingling conveyor. The working flight of the shingling conveyor is inclined upwardly to a counter-ejector discharge end where shingled boxes are fed to a counter-ejector. Successive stacks of boxes are formed by the counter-ejector which includes structure for stacking and maintaining the boxes in a compressed condition. Boxes delivered from the infeed plane are deposited onto the shingling conveyor in a shingled, overlapping configuration, transported at said selected speed to the counter-ejector where counted numbers of the boxes are stacked and discharged.

Sheet material such as that used in corrugated box construction is typically discharged single file and along a plane from a finishing machine in which the sheets are printed (with fast drying inks), shaped, creased, perforated or otherwise treated by the finishing machine. The sheets may be rectangular or of other configurations, but are typically flat and unfolded when leaving the finishing machine as shown at A in FIG. 1 of the drawings.
Forming rails and glue application heads are typically used downstream of the finishing machine to form the sheet material into desired configurations as they move along. A typical configuration is a partially folded box B, the folding process for which is exemplified in FIG. 1 of the drawings.
In existing technology, the boxes are counted and accumulated in bundles by a counter-ejector machine. This is an area where difficulty is experienced, since the boxes being fed along a plane, in end-to-end relation often have a tendency to re-open at the glue lines (see G in FIG. 1) as they leave the folding rails. If a glue line re-opens, the loose flaps F can cause frustrating and costly down-time while the single box is pulled from the counter-ejector.
Another problem with current feed systems for counter-ejectors is encountered when attempts are made to accumulate the boxes fed from a finishing machine, even if the glue joints hold. A finishing machine may operate to discharge partially folded boxes at a rate of up to 1000 feet per minute. The glue applicators and forming rails are capable of operating at a similar rate. However, it becomes difficult to effectively control accumulation of boxes into bundles at such a high feed rate.
One solution to the above problems is to slow down the box feed rate. This is an undesirable solution since the finishing machine should run at or near maximum efficiency, or the printing ink will dry and clog the printing heads.
Another solution to the above problem is to use hold-down devices on the glued boxes and to keep pressure on the glued joints until the glue cures. The problem with this solution is that the formed boxes are moving along at speeds up to approximately 1000 feet per minute. At this rate if the glue sets sufficiently in, say, 15 seconds, the distance from the glue applicator to the counter-ejector should be at least 250 feet. This is not acceptable either in terms of space limitations or in cost of equipment.
A still further problem comes with the nature of the hold-down devices in current use. Rollers have been used to press against the top surfaces of formed boxes as they move along, to hold the glued joints together. But rollers do not engage continuously and can catch a box edge, creating a jam in the machine. Another difficulty with rollers is that the surface contact sometimes causes damage to the engaged box surfaces.
An additional problem is realized when boxes of different dimensions are to be formed and collected. Adjustments must be made to accommodate the different box dimensions. This often takes a considerable amount of time and experimentation.
A still further problem occurs especially with counter-ejectors when stacking box blanks is required. The folded flaps on the boxes usually form a "tent" configuration, creating a difficulty for counter-ejectors to operate without occasional jams, especially as the boxes leave the feed conveyor and are accumulated in a counted stack on the ejector. This is due in large part to a lack of controlled engagement against the box flaps as the boxes leave the feed conveyor. The problem becomes exacerbated in situations where the glue has not completely set and the flaps become loose.
Loss of control also occurs at the point where the successive boxes are discharged from the feed conveyor to the counter-ejector machine. This is due in large part to the unpredictable nature of the partially folded boxes as they fall onto the stack. Guides have been developed to keep the stacks uniform, but little has been done to provide positive control of the boxes as they fall, especially at high feed rates.
Attempted solutions to this perplexing problem have usually involved some form of temporary intermediate support for the incoming boxes, to support the presently building stack while previously formed stacks are removed. Plates or fingers have been used for this purpose, moved into the path of descending boxes to provide temporary support.
Simply sliding a solid plate between falling boxes appears feasible, except that the speed at which the plate must move is prohibitive and dangerous. Further, a box edge is inevitably engaged and crushed by the leading edge of the fingers or plate.
Recognizing the above problems, the box stacking industry has resigned itself to slowing or stopping box infeed flow while formed stacks of the partially formed boxes are removed from below the stacker magazines. Unless slower drying ink is used, increased maintenance is experienced, especially at the printer area when ink dries in the printer machinery due to the stoppage.
From the above problems and inadequate solutions, it may be understood that need remains for a counter-ejector and feed system that can be placed in line with a box former, that will assure consistent and accurate feed of boxes and stacking in the counter-ejector regardless of the curing time required for the formed box joints, that will take up minimum floor space, and that will allow the associated finishing machine to run at efficient speeds. There is also a need for a counter-ejector with capability to accept and stack partially formed boxes. The present invention fills this need, as will be understood from the following description.


A method is provided for making polycarbonate by phosgenating a mixture of bisphenol and phenolic chain-stopper under interfacial reaction conditions in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst. A polycarbonate is obtained which is substantially free of diarylcarbonate.

The present invention relates to a method for making phenolic chain-stopped polycarbonate which is substantially free of diarylcarbonate. More particularly, the present invention relates to the employment of a phase transfer catalyst during the phosgenation of bisphenol to produce chloroformate terminated polycarbonate, followed by the addition of an amount of phenolic chain-stopper substantially equivalent to the chloroformate terminal groups.
Experience has shown that during the preparation of polycarbonates by the phosgenation of bisphenols under interfacial reaction conditions utilizing aromatic hydroxy chain-stoppers, such as phenol, diarylcarbonate is often formed as a by-product. Because diarylcarbonate can plate out during injection molding procedures, it represents an undesirable contaminant in certain polycarbonate applications, such as CD grade polycarbonate.
As shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,737,573, 4,743,676 and 5,043,203, various techniques have been used to minimize the formation of diaryl carbonates during phosgenating procedures for making end-capped polycarbonates. In one procedure, a bischloroformate oligomer is prepared utilizing an excess of 1.1-3.0 moles of phosgene, per mole of bisphenol. A phenolic chain-stopper, such as phenol, and a condensation catalyst can be added to the mixture. In another procedure, a phenolic chain-stopper is added to a bischloroformate oligomer to produce a partially capped bischloroformate, followed by the addition of an interfacial polycarbonate condensation catalyst. A further procedure for making aromatic polycarbonate substantially free of diarylcarbonate is by forming an oligomeric bisphenol monochloroformate, and then incorporating an end-capping phenol, tertiary organic amine and additional alkali metal hydroxide into the mixture.
Although several prior art procedures have been found effective for minimizing diarylcarbonate formation, experience has shown that an excessive amount of phosgene or chloroformate end groups are necessarily consumed before polycarbonate molecular weight build-up can be achieved. It would be desirable therefore to provide a method for making polycarbonates substantially free of diarylcarbonate without excessive consumption of phosgene, chloroformate end groups or both.

Method for making polycarbonate substantially free of diaryl carbonate


An earth-leakage monitoring method for a power distribution system, and in particular a DC 4-rail traction system, incorporating a pair of current-conductors (current rails) and an earth reference (a pair of running rails or an earthing system), comprises measuring the conductor-to-earth voltage for each conductor; forming a ratio of these voltages; connecting a known resistance between one conductor and earth; re-measuring the two conductor-to-earth voltages; forming a new voltage ratio, and calculating the value of leakage resistance existing between each conductor and earth using the known resistance value and the two voltage ratios. An earth-leakage fault method is also disclosed in which the earth-leakage monitoring arrangement is adapted to continuously display the value of conductor-to-earth voltage of the two conductors, the power-distribution system having a number of such monitoring arrangements along its length; the behaviour of this displayed voltage is monitored, and the monitor with the fastest indicated voltage rise time is taken to be the monitor lying in the same section of the distribution system as the fault.

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for monitoring an earth-leakage state of a power distribution system, and in particular of a DC traction system.
Traction systems exist, for example the London Underground rail system, which incorporate a pair of running rails for carrying the rolling stock and a pair of current rails (conductor rails) for supplying power to that rolling stock. Such a scheme is shown very schematically in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which a pair of running rails 10, 12 secured to sleepers 14 resting on ballast 19 (see FIG. 2) are associated with, in close proximity, a pair of current rails 16, 18 insulated from the sleepers by insulators 20. Conventionally, one of the current rails 18 is situated between the running rails, this being the negative DC power rail, and the other--the positive DC power rail 20--is situated outside the running rails.
FIG. 1 shows the power supply arrangement for the DC traction system, consisting of rectifiers 30 each fed from, typically, a 22 kV substation and outputting a DC voltage of 630 V which is fed to the current rails 16, 18 by way of circuit breakers 32. The entire stretch of line is divided into sections, FIG. 1 constituting one of said sections, and each section comprises a number of sub-sections 34 each fed at opposite ends from a pair of rectifiers 30. As illustrated in the diagram, sub-section 34A is supplied on its west side by a rectifier 30A and on its east side by a rectifier 30B, sub-section 34B is supplied on its west side by a rectifier 30B and on its east side by a rectifier 30C, and so on.
In addition, in order to maximise the voltage profile between substations, i.e. minimise I.sup.2 R losses in the system due to the very high supply currents (of the order of 4500 amps) needed to power the rolling stock in view of the low supply voltage employed, parallel tracks on the same section are also fed from the same respective rectifiers by their own circuit breakers, i.e. the current rails of the various parallel tracks are effectively connected in parallel. FIG. 1 shows the current rails 16', 18' of one such parallel track fed from circuit breakers 32'.
Neither of the current rails is directly connected to earth, the DC power distribution system therefore being a floating one (a so-called "isolee terre" ("IT") system), and there is a finite leakage resistance between the current rails 16, 18 (which are, by definition, uninsulated) and the running rails 10, 12 which are at earth potential. This resistance, under ideal service conditions, will be high--e.g. of the order of perhaps 100 k.OMEGA. per kilometre--and will arise, for example, from the finite resistance of the insulators 20, the normal surface condition of the insulators and sleepers and also the finite insulation resistance of the various electrical components on a train that may be standing at any particular instant on the tracks. In practice, however, the leakage resistance may be lowered due to either changed track conditions or a fault on a train present on the track.
Track-based faults may be relatively high-resistance faults due to damaged track insulators 20 or perhaps dampness, or low-resistance faults due to the shunting effect of an electrically conductive object that may have fallen onto the rails. Train-based faults are generally low-resistance faults arising from, for example, a low-slung negative shoe, which is designed to supply current to the train from the negative rail 18, accidentally making contact with a running rail when a set of points is reached, or an earth fault in the motor commutator arrangement of the train, whereby a brush may contact earth as the armature rotates.
This points up a general difference between track-based faults and train-based faults, namely that track-based faults tend to be steady faults giving rise to a constant shift in leakage resistance between the relevant current conductor and earth, whereas the train-based faults described above create by their very nature an oscillatory shift in leakage resistance.
Under no-fault conditions, the relative potentials of the current conductors 16, 18 and earth (the running rails 20) are as shown in FIG. 2, i.e. the positive conductor 16 settles at +420 V and the negative conductor 18 at -210 V relative to earth. The non-symmetrical distribution arises from the construction of the current rails and insulators in relation to the running rails.
When a fault as described earlier occurs as a first fault on a track section or sub-section, the effect is merely to shift the relative potentials between the current rails and the running rails away from their no-fault values, and in an extreme fault condition one of the current rails may be effectively at earth potential leaving the other to carry the full 630 V relative to earth. This by itself is not injurious to the electrical supply equipment since the rectifier outputs merely float with respect to earth, neither does it represent a danger to train personnel or passengers (though it may represent an increased risk to line personnel who will be nominally at earth potential), since the train itself will be at earth potential. However, what does represent a risk to train occupants is the occurrence after the appearance of the first fault of a second fault, this time between the opposite current conductor and earth and arising from a fault on the train. When this occurs there is a low-resistance path between the two current conductors which can lead to severe arcing and heat and smoke generation in equipment located on the train, passengers' lives being thereby put at risk.
Subdivision of a track system into electrically isolated sections has been one attempt to reduce the risk of the occurrence of such a second, opposite-pole, fault, but there has remained the need to detect a first fault state as quickly as possible after its occurrence so that it could be located and remedied before a second, opposite-pole fault occurred.
One well established way of monitoring an earth fault is illustrated in FIG. 3, in which bleed resistors 40 and 42 are connected between the positive and negative conductors, respectively, and earth. Resistor 40 is conventionally 200 .OMEGA. and resistor 42 100 .OMEGA.. Connected across resistor 42 is a chart recorder 44 which records changes in voltage across resistor 42. Bleed resistors of low resistance value are used to swamp the actual leakage resistance between the various points and provide a predictable 2:1 voltage ratio for operating the chart recorder within nominal limits. Two such monitors are employed in each sub-section 34, one driving the chart recorder, as illustrated, in a power control room, and the other driving a lamp as a visual alarm in a line control room.
There are severe drawbacks associated with this known monitoring method. In the first place, the low-value resistors 40, 42 dissipate much power (approximately 1.3 kW total); thus, in a typical rail system comprising of the order of 100 sub-sections, there will be a total power dissipation of 100.times.2.times.2.times.1.3=520 kW. Secondly, because of the low resistances used it is impossible to detect slight changes in leakage resistance resulting from the imposition of a relatively high-resistance leakage shunt path between a conductor and earth. Thus, this system masks the effect of, for example, deteriorated insulation between one of the conductors and earth. A third drawback is that, because the chart recorder 44 measures a voltage which is set by a ratio, the ratio of positive rail to earth and negative rail to earth, it cannot sense the presence of a leakage source which affects both conductors equally. An example of such a source is permanent dampness in the ballast, or flooding.
A second scheme supplements the above bleed resistor arrangement with a so-called "unbalanced current protection" arrangement in which current detectors are installed around each substation to monitor track feeder cables, relays and so forth. When two opposite-pole earth faults occur, the flow of currents in the substation become unbalanced and this imbalance is sensed by the protection arrangement and a signal is sent to trip circuit breakers at the adjacent substation which then isolate the offending sub-section. However, this protection arrangement lacks the necessary sensitivity and stability to detect single-pole faults down to earth and requires the complete isolation of sub-sections in order to arrive at definable current flows for reliable decision-making. A known system employing such current monitoring and detection of residual, fault-caused currents is described in published British patent application GB 2,247,119A.

Apparatus for and method of monitoring an earth-leakage state of a power distribution system


Methods and a system are disclosed for correcting a non-planar region during fabrication of a semiconductor product on a wafer. The invention separates an exposure of at least a portion of a fill pattern on a resist from a product exposure so that the fill pattern can be adjusted to correct the non-planar region. In one embodiment, a determination of whether a fill pattern for a metal level above the non-planar region includes a portion over the non-planar region is made. Where a portion of the fill pattern is to be placed over the non-planar region, a pattern factor for exposure of the portion of the fill pattern on a resist is adjusted to correct the non-planar region.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor fabrication, and more particularly, to a method for correcting a non-planar region by dynamically placing fill patterns separate from the product exposure.
2. Related Art
The ability to achieve and maintain surface planarity is becoming increasingly important for modern semiconductor processing. Processing is separated into two portions: front-end-of-line (FEOL), which includes operations performed on the semiconductor wafer in the course of device manufacturing up to first metallization, and back-end-of-line (BEOL). As semiconductor wafers enter the BEOL processing for copper damascene processing, a certain amount of non-planarity exists from the FEOL processing. Further non-planarity is normally produced by the BEOL processing and is inherent to copper damascene. For example, areas with high copper pattern factors polish at higher rates because less insulator area exists to distribute the force from the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) pad than areas with low copper pattern factors. The production of non-planarity due to these differing polish rates is commonly referred to as "dishing."
If high pattern factor regions are stacked on top of each other for several levels in a row, additive dishing effects can results in a region that is very low with respect to surrounding areas. It has been observed in such cases that long range peak to valley height differences across a chip can be approximately 3000 Å or more. Such severe height differences over a long range prevents sufficient planarization of, for example, anti-reflective coatings (ARC), underlayer resists or photoresist films. This situation has consequences for lithography since 3000 Å is on the order of the depth of focus for thin wire levels on, for example, 90 nm technologies.
Conventional lithography steppers generally scan the image in a slit which runs across the chip, continually reading the spatial position of the top of the resist along the slit with multiple optical sensors (the sensors basically detect the top of the resist). The instantaneous plane of best focus is decided by the stepper's software and the exposure plane is continually adjusted as the image is scanned. Since the image is focused in a plane but the wafer is non-planar across the chip by 3000 Å or more, some areas will be in much better focus than others areas. Poor lithography can result in the areas where the resist was exposed with the most "out of focus" conditions. For example, the poor focus areas can be so bad that the resist is not completely developed away in areas where it should be developed away. In other cases, the focus is not as poor but poor enough to result in (at least) critical dimension differences for minimum dimension features.
A severely dished area caused by cumulative dishing of several levels can also result in a metal "puddle" at the next level, depending on the design at the next level. A "puddle" results where CMP is unable to remove all of the metal without severe overpolish due to the depression. Even if enough metal is cleared to prevent hard shorts, the lines in this region could be taller than nominal, contributing to the spread in resistance tolerance.
The peak to valley topography can vary from run to run because of processing variations. For example, if one lot receives a longer effective liner overpolish (e.g., because liner thickness was at the low end of the specification or because the liner polish rate was at the high end of the specification, etc.), then more dishing can result. Center-to-edge differences in planarity after CMP can be also be significant, resulting either from non-uniformities inherent to CMP or from non-uniformities originating in other sectors such as metal deposition or insulator deposition. These center-to-edge differences can vary from run to run, or even from wafer to wafer within a run. Linewidth variations from run to run can also affect the amount of dishing in a certain region of the chip. For example, consider that a minimum equal line/space array at a second copper metallization level with a pitch of 280 nm and a nominal metal line width of 140 nm may vary from a low of approximately 39% pattern factor to a high of approximately 61% pattern factor over the allowable range of final critical dimension (e.g., approximately 110 to approximately 170 nm).
A number of approaches have been attempted to address the above-identified problems. In one approach, design restrictions are implemented on one level. Typically, this approach is implemented by imposing various design rules to narrow the range of allowable pattern factors. In another approach, design restrictions are applied to multiple levels. In this case, rules which prevent the placement of high pattern factors on top of one another may be imposed. Unfortunately, both of the above-described approaches can decrease design flexibility and circuit density.
In another approach, "holes" are placed in the metal in wide metal lines to reduce dishing. This approach is generally disadvantageous for high performance designs because it increases the resistance of lines, thus necessitating making lines even wider to account for the resistance increase. An analogous approach requires designers to break wide lines into narrower parallel lines, which is essentially another type of design restriction.
Another common technique places metal fill shapes on the product reticle between circuit wiring, where they can fit, to even out the pattern factor. The fill shapes are usually larger than the critical dimension and kept far enough away from circuit wiring so that there is no chance of shorting the fill shapes to circuit wiring. The metal fill helps to even out the pattern factor across the chip. The extent of the "evening out" achievable depends on the design, and also on the size of the pattern factor check box used. An improvement on this approach implements "smart" metal fill. In this case, instead of just placing fill in a standard fill pattern at a set pattern factor everywhere possible, an algorithm is used that examines the design environment and varies the metal fill on the product exposure to achieve better planarity results. One goal of the algorithm may be to even out the pattern factor as much as possible on a single level. Another goal of the algorithm might be to "compensate" for a high pattern factor area on one level by "lowering" the pattern factor directly above it at the next level, i.e., by essentially not placing metal fill there or placing a lower density metal fill there. The algorithm may also modulate the density of the metal fill by making the fill shapes larger or smaller, moving them further apart or closer together, etc. This approach, however, as well as all of the above-described approaches, cannot be used to make any adjustments to account for varying amounts of topography from lot-to-lot, from wafer-to-wafer within a lot or from edge-to-center (chip-to-chip) on a single wafer because once the metal fill pattern is selected, it is set for the particular product exposure and cannot be changed.
Finally, in another approach, planarization by CMP after interlayer dielectric (ILD) deposition can help to some extent, but this method cannot planarize well over very long distances. This approach also adds significant cost, and can cause additional defects.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a way to use metal fill to improve planarization that does not suffer from the problems of the related art.

Dynamic metal fill for correcting non-planar region

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for distributing an electronic content item for consumption with advertisements is provided. In one embodiment, a content provider creates a license identifying one or more slots within an electronic content item at which advertisements are to be inserted. The license specifies one or more types of advertisements that are not permitted to be inserted into the slots, and also specifies criteria for dynamically selecting advertisements to insert into the one or more slots. The content provider securely associates the electronic license with the electronic content item and distributes the electronic content item and the electronic license to a third party for consumption or subsequent transfer to an end user.

As the electronic communications infrastructure improves worldwide, the distribution of digital content is being rapidly transformed, aided by efficient digital media formats, the economies of digital storage technologies, and peer-to-peer and group-oriented social networking. For example, while Internet TV and mobile TV provide new distribution capabilities for video, perhaps the most important aspect of both of these technologies is the ability to link to numerous other Internet-based services. In preferred embodiments of the present body of work, content distribution technologies are linked to advertising services to support the distribution of digital content.
Ad-based content distribution systems offer the hope that ads can fund not only the production of content, but also the services that distribute the content and the devices upon which the content is rendered. However, despite the average consumer's capacity to consume prodigious amounts of content, if ads are to fund a full distribution chain, the ads need to be efficiently delivered and well-matched to the consumer in a highly reliable and measurable way. That is, each opportunity for an ad impression should be optimized to ensure that the ad is well-matched to the current interests of the consumer and that the overhead for delivering the ad and making the match is minimized.
Embodiments of the systems and methods described herein enable the monetization of content distribution by efficiently matching user-targeted ads at the time and/or point of content consumption. Content items and advertisements can be independently super-distributed, or distributed via conventional commercial methods. Efficient mechanisms are employed to ensure that when a consumer uses content, online or offline, that this usage event is funded by advertising that is well-targeted to that consumer, and that the event optimally compensates the content provider or distributor, as well as other stakeholders who participate in adding value to the system. Preferred embodiments provide highly efficient automation, and the ability to scale for use by many content distribution services, ad services, rendering applications, and device types. In some embodiments, efficient feedback mechanisms can be used to allow for optimization of the targeting, real-time matching, and auctioning mechanisms.


The invention relates to an air conditioning system for a motorized vehicle with means for conveying, for cooling, and for heating of air. The air conditioning system comprises a housing with flow guide devices and air vents, an evaporator, and a heat exchanger. The housing is developed with an air distribution element and a range of variation. The flow guide devices of the air vents are arranged within the air distribution element, and the heat exchanger is arranged within the range of variation. With the arrangement of the heat exchanger, it is possible to change the outer dimensions of the range of variation and therefore of the air conditioning system while maintaining unchanged functionality and by using identical components such that the air conditioning system can be adapted to the installation space of different motorized vehicle types.

Due to the increasing number of technical components in motorized vehicles, it is necessary that these components be optimized with respect to the installation space, in order to ensure the desired large number of functionalities by means of accommodating these elements. One requirement is for an air conditioning system of a motorized vehicle for conditioning a supplied air mass flow to split supplied air mass flow up and guide the individual air mass flows into different areas of the vehicle. This requirement consists in the optimal use of the available limited installation space.
When designing the air conditioning systems, their design is adapted to the available space within the motorized vehicles and therefore individually for a particular vehicle model of a model series. Like this, vehicle models and/or vehicle platforms, which comprise at least two differently designed installation spaces for the air conditioning system, traditionally have at least two different versions of the air conditioning system developed. The divergent designs of the air conditioning systems differ both in their exterior form as well as in the components used.
The use of the differently designed air conditioning systems depending on the vehicle models in addition to the high cost of design also results in the same high expense of production and development for the required components in the different versions as well as further added costs, such as for storage and transportation. Depending on the required development of the air conditioning system in the respective motorized vehicle, divergent air conditioning housings must be provided and equipped with components. In addition to the appropriate tools for the divergent air conditioning systems, specially adapted processes are also necessary, for example during the assembly.
Air conditioning systems with modular housings are known in the art. They have variable functionality and components with variable dimensions. European Pat. Appl. Pub. No. EP 1 634 735 A1 thus describes a motorized vehicle air conditioning system in which a part of the housing is designed for different-zoned air conditioning systems, wherein at least the configuration of a blower, an evaporator and a heat exchanger is the same in the different-zoned air conditioning systems. The housing of the air conditioning system is differently designed for the various versions and can be modified with accessories or replacement parts. The changes of the housing and the accessories or replacement parts will vary the functionality of the air conditioning system with respect to the design with different zones.
German Pat. Appl. Pub. No. DE 100 37 384 A1 discloses a heating and air conditioning system for a motorized vehicle with an air conditioning system housing with multiple air vents for the supply of air to the front zones of the motorized vehicle interior. The air conditioning system housing, in which a heat exchanger is arranged, comprises a connecting section provided with an air vent for the connection of a front air conditioning unit that can be optionally connected as a booster module, which can be tightly sealed with a detachable closure component, if not used. The air conditioning housing therefore forms a basic module, to which a corresponding rear passenger compartment air conditioning unit can be allocated as a booster module. The heating and air conditioning system can be used to control the temperature in the front and in the rear compartment, as needed.
European Pat. No. EP 1 705 040 B1 describes an air conditioning apparatus of a passenger compartment of any vehicle in a motorized vehicle model series. The apparatus has a lower housing with a front and a rear part. Within this housing, heat exchangers with a predetermined width and a predetermined tilt in relation to the horizontal are arranged, which are constant and specific for the model series. The heat exchangers moreover have a specific height that can be varied for a particular vehicle, which is between a minimum and a maximum height, which are also specific for the model series.
German Pat. Appl. Pub. No. DE 196 13 345 A1 presents a heating or air conditioning system with a housing, which is easily assembled and is suitable for variable installation in a motorized vehicle in which the instrument panel is arranged on the left or on the right side. The housing consists of a blower segment and a heat exchanger segment, which in each case are symmetrically assembled and which can be reciprocally latched by mechanical components and which makes a mirror image installation possible, relative to the longitudinal axis of the motorized vehicle, wherein the dimensions of the instrument panel components can be designed invariable.
The modular configuration of the blower segment and of the heat exchanger segment facilitates the independent configuration of the segments concerning their outside dimensions.
Something unique with the known systems from the prior art is that the modular configuration with different components and booster modules or expansion features increase the functionality of the air conditioning systems and expand possible applications, such as different multi-zoned air conditioning systems, in connection with different vehicle models of a motorized vehicle model series, and make the location near the instrument panel more variable. However, the known air conditioning systems indicate no possibility of adapting an air conditioning system easily to different installation spaces if the functionality of the system is to remain unchanged and by using identical components.

Air conditioning system for a motorized vehicle


A method and apparatus for providing a free layer having higher saturation field capability and optimum sensitivity (dr/R) is disclosed. The present invention provides a synthetic free layer that includes a first and second free layer, wherein the second free layer is a cobalt alloy that provides higher saturation and optimum sensitivity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to magnetic read sensors, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for providing a free layer having higher saturation field capability and optimum sensitivity (ΔR/R).
2. Description of Related Art
The heart of a computer is typically a magnetic disk drive which includes a rotating magnetic disk, a slider that has write and read heads, a suspension arm above the rotating disk and an actuator arm. The suspension arm biases the slider into contact with a parking ramp or the surface of the disk when the disk is not rotating but, when the disk rotates, air is swirled by the rotating disk adjacent an air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider causing the slider to ride on an air bearing a slight distance from the surface of the rotating disk. When the slider rides on the air bearing the actuator arm swings the suspension arm to place the write and read heads over selected circular tracks on the rotating disk where field signals are written and read by the write and read heads. The write and read heads are connected to processing circuitry that operates according to a computer program to implement the writing and reading functions.
Most GMR devices have been designed so as to measure the resistance of the free layer for current flowing parallel to the film's plane. However, as the quest for ever greater densities continues, devices that measure current flowing perpendicular to the plane (CPP) have begun to emerge. A device that is particularly well suited to the CPP design is the magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) in which the layer that separates the free and pinned layers is a non-magnetic insulator, such as alumina or silica. Its thickness needs to be such that it will transmit a significant tunneling current. The principle governing the operation of the MTJ is the change of resistivity of the tunnel junction between two ferromagnetic layers. When the magnetization of the two ferromagnetic layers is in opposite directions, the tunneling resistance increases due to a reduction in the tunneling probability.
A sensor includes a nonmagnetic electrically conductive or electrically nonconductive material spacer layer sandwiched between a ferromagnetic pinned layer and a ferromagnetic free layer. An antiferromagnetic pinning layer typically interfaces the pinned layer for pinning the magnetic moment of the pinned layer 90. degree to an air bearing surface (ABS) wherein the ABS is an exposed surface of the sensor that faces the rotating disk. The sensor is located between ferromagnetic first and second shield layers. For a CPP sensor, first and second leads are connected to a bottom and a top respectively of the sensor for conducting a current perpendicular to the major thin film planes of the sensor. This is in contrast to a CIP sensor where the current is conducted in plane parallel to the major thin film planes (CIP) of the sensor.
A magnetic moment of the free layer is free to rotate upwardly and downwardly with respect to the ABS from a quiescent or zero bias point position in response to positive and negative magnetic field signals from the rotating magnetic disk. The quiescent position of the magnetic moment of the free layer, which is parallel to the ABS, is when the current is conducted through the sensor without magnetic field signals from the rotating magnetic disk.
When the free layer is exposed to an external magnetic field, the direction of its magnetization is free to rotate according to the direction of the external field. After the external field is removed, the magnetization of the free layer will stay at a direction, which is dictated by the minimum energy state, determined by the crystalline and shape anisotropy, current field, coupling field and demagnetization field. If the direction of the pinned field is parallel to the free layer, electrons passing between the free and pinned layers, suffer less scattering. Thus, the resistance at this state is lower. If, however, the magnetization of the pinned layer is anti-parallel to that of the free layer, electrons moving from one layer into the other will suffer more scattering so the resistance of the structure will increase.
The sensitivity of the sensor is quantified as magnetoresistance or magnetoresistive coefficient ΔR/R where dr is the change in resistance of the spin valve sensor from minimum resistance (magnetic moments of free and pinned layers parallel) to maximum resistance (magnetic moments of the free and pinned layers antiparallel) and R is the resistance of the spin valve sensor at minimum resistance. A spin valve sensor is sometimes referred to as a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor. The sensitivity of a spin valve sensor depends upon the response of the free layer to signal fields from a rotating magnetic disk. The magnetic moment of the free layer or free layer structure depends upon the material or materials employed for the free layer structure. As the magnetic moment of the free layer structure increases the responsiveness of the free layer structure decreases. This means that for a given field signal from the rotating magnetic disk the magnetic moment of the free layer structure will not rotate as far from its parallel position to the ABS, which causes a reduction in signal output. The addition of a cobalt or cobalt based layer increases the stiffness of the free layer structure in its response to field signals and reduces the sensitivity of the spin valve sensor.
Although the layers enumerated above are all that is needed to produce the GMR or MTJ effects, additional problems remain. With longitudinal recording, the field from the media is stronger and thus an increase in the stiffness of the free layer would be desirable to prevent saturation. However, increasing the stiffness of the free layer structure in its response to field signals reduces the sensitivity of the spin valve sensor. Further, in order to meet higher signal requirements it would be desirable to reduce the thickness of the free layer besides improving the GMR ratio itself. However, thinning of the free layer causes a low GMR ratio and poor thermal stability. A synthetic free layer would seem to provide a way to maintain good thermal stability but, in both in CIP and CPP structures, synthetic free layers actually cause a GMR loss due to current shunting in CIP and the subtractive result of the free layers. It has been found that a free layer thickness of approximately 35 Å provides maximum sensitivity, i.e., ΔR/R. However, sensors with a free layer thickness of approximately 35 Å exhibit saturation for perpendicular reading environments.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method and apparatus for providing a free layer having higher saturation field capability and optimum sensitivity (dr/R).

Method and apparatus for providing a free layer having higher saturation field capability and optimum sensitivity

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Inc, Netherlands B.V.


A motor vehicle test device and a motor vehicle test method are described. The motor vehicle test device includes a control unit for controlling a predefined test sequence; an operator interface device; and at least one measuring device for measuring at least one vehicle parameter. The motor vehicle test device has a vehicle communication interface and diagnosis software. The control device is developed in such a way that it is able to communicate with at least one control unit of the motor vehicle via the vehicle communication interface.

A modular wireless diagnosis, testing and information system for a motor vehicle is described in European Patent No. EP 0 754 940 B1.
European Patent No. EP 1 181 521 B1 describes a diagnostic test device for motor vehicles having programmable control units.
German Patent Application No. DE 10 2008 042 024 A1 describes an optical axle-measuring device for motor vehicles.
The technical advances in automotive testing technology have produced a multitude of specific test devices for individual vehicle domains. Measuring, control and regulation technologies adapted to the particular domain, which constitute the core of the specific test devices, have been developed in this context. Pertinent examples are brake test stations, engine testers, chassis-measuring test devices, exhaust-gas testers, test lanes and climate control service devices.
Currently, most functions in the vehicle are assumed by electronic control units, either in part or completely. In addition, the control units in the vehicle also assume various onboard diagnostic functions of the vehicle systems in order to subsequently make the diagnostic functions available to the service facility.
To allow an effective utilization of these control-unit diagnostic functions in the service facility, more and more universal diagnostic testers, which span vehicle domains and allow a communication with the control units installed inside the vehicle, have been developed over the past few years.
The functionality of this communication may differ considerably; for example, it may relate to the readout of stored error codes, the transmission of actual values, the implementation of complex actuator tests, the resetting of service intervals, the calibration of vehicle sensors and the training of spare parts that have been installed.
Integrated in such universal diagnostic testers is a module which provides the vehicle communication function, commonly referred to as VCI (vehicle communication interface).
However, there are also examples in which the VCI is installed in a separate housing (VCI module) and connected to a universal operating and display device such as a laptop, via cable or in wireless manner. The function of the universal diagnostic tester is then ensured by corresponding diagnostic software on the laptop, which, as a minimum, encompasses an operating device and a display, a diagnosis sequence control as well as the required communication with the control units in the vehicle via the connected VCI module.
The developments in the vehicle manufacture increasingly require the shared utilization of a universal diagnostic tester and of different test devices at the individual work station in the service facilities.
One pertinent example is the chassis measuring device, with whose aid the zero point position of the steering angle sensor is recalibrated after the adjustment of the vehicle geometry has been concluded. Another example is the climate control service device, where the focus is on checking for errors possibly stored in the climate control unit, in order to be able to provide comprehensive servicing of the climate control system. A still further example is the engine tester, in which case actual values of control units are acquired in parallel in order to supply the expert with comprehensive information for the error diagnosis.
Two separate devices are thus used in all of these examples, i.e., the universal diagnostic tester and the individual testing device, which are utilized sequentially, one after the other.
To improve the handling of such duplex systems, engine test devices also adopt approaches in which the results of the engine tests and the results of the control unit communication are displayed on two adjacently situated monitors.
The use of a universal diagnostic tester in conjunction with a separate additional specific test device requires skilled personnel experienced in the use of the diverse diagnosis functionality spanning vehicle domains. It may therefore be necessary to use two technicians for one vehicle simultaneously, which, however, is inefficient and increases costs. The separate operation of a test device and a diagnostic tester may cause manual errors in the data input into the individual devices. The test sequences of the two devices are not linked, so that only manual monitoring is possible, which may cause operator errors, e.g., a faulty adjustment of vehicle sensors.
Using the example of the steering angle sensor, for instance, the calibration of the ESP control unit via the diagnostic tester may be carried out incorrectly if a technician accidentally moves the steering wheel of the vehicle after the chassis adjustment has been concluded and before the sensor calibration by the diagnostic tester has been completed.

Motor vehicle test device and motor vehicle test method


A nucleic acid encoding a promoter and comprising a nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, fragments and/or variants thereof, for use in gene therapy derived from the Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) ORF73 (ECLFI) gene. The invention also includes a gene therapy system and an HVS vector system including the promoter.

Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) is a lymphotropic rhadinovirus (γ-2 herpesvirus) which causes persistent infection in its natural host the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) without causing any obvious symptoms of disease. HVS has been subdivided into three groups (A, B and C) on the basis of the sequence of the open reading frame of H. saimiri transformation-associated protein (STP) (Fleckenstein & Desrosiers, 1982; Medveczky et al., 1984). The structure of the HVS genome consists of a unique, low G+C content DNA segment (L-DNA) approximately 110 kb in length, flanked by multiple tandem repeats of high G+C content DNA (H-DNA) (Albrecht et al., 1992; Bankier et al., 1985). Analysis indicates it shares limited homology with other herpesviruses. Examples of such herpesviruses include Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), bovine herpesvirus 4 and murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) (Blubot et al., 1992; 1996; Virgin et al., 1997). The genomes of EBV, BHV, MHV68 and HVS have been shown to be generally co-linear, in that homologous sequences are found in approximately equivalent locations and in the same relative orientation. However, conserved gene blocks are separated by unique genes with respect to each virus (Virgin et al., 1997). Genes which are expressed in HVS in the latent state are currently unknown.
HVS has a number of features which make it an attractive candidate for use as a gene delivery vector. These include the potential to package and deliver in excess of 50 kb of heterologous DNA, the ability to infect non-dividing cells and the maintenance of the viral genome as a stable episome in a latently infected host cell. The ability of herpes viruses to adopt a latent state in infected cells is a particularly attractive feature in terms of their use as gene delivery vehicles. In addition, because HVS is a non-human pathogen, it should not elicit a primary immune response on introduction into a human host. Primary immune response is a fundamental problem associated with human herpesvirus gene delivery systems which reduces the efficency of these vectors.
In our studies, we generated a recombinant HVS based on the non-transforming strain A11, which expresses the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene (Whitehouse et al., 1998b). This virus contains the GFP gene under the control of the constitutive human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) early promoter inserted into the rightmost flanking region of H-DNA. We have demonstrated that this recombinant HVS-GFP was able to infect a wide range of human cancer cell lines, including T-cell (Jurkat), pancreatic (MIAPACA), colorectal (SW480) and lung carcinoma cells (A549). Thus, we have continued investigation of this recombinant HVS as we believe it to be an ideal candidate as a gene delivery vector.
The use of an efficient promoter which can drive stable long term expression of a transgene is a prerequisite for the development of any gene delivery vector. A variety of promoters have been utilised in herpes simplex virus (HSV) vectors including neuronal-specific promoters such as the neurone-specific enolase promoter, the neurofilament promoter and tyrosine hydroxylase promoter, as well as viral promoters such as the HSV thymidine kinase promoter and the HCMV immediate early promoter. Studies showed, however, that these promoters are unsuitable for long term expression in vivo, due to promoter silencing effects (Fink et al., 1996; Glorioso et al., 1992; 1995). There is a need, therefore, to identify viral regulatory regions which can be used to drive stable long term expression of a transgene.
Recently, recombinant HSV-1 viruses have been produced in which expression of the lacZ and lacZ-neo cassettes are driven by the latency-associated-transcript (LAT) promoter (Lachmann & Efstathiou, 1997). Peripheral infection of neurones with these viruses results in stable long-term expression of a β-galactosidase transgene for at least 190 days post-infection. Therefore, we believe that it would be advantageous to identify and characterise HVS regulatory regions associated with latency, if they exist, to drive long term stable expression of heterologous transgenes for the future development of HVS as a gene delivery system. In the course of our investigations to identify viral regulatory regions which can be used to drive stable long term expression of a transgene, we serendipitously identified a cluster of HVS genes which are apparently expressed specifically in the latent state and we provide evidence to this effect. The DNA sequence which unexpectedly drives expression of this series of transcripts has been identified. This sequence provides the advantages as a promoter to drive therapeutic gene expression discussed above.
In this application, we describe the identification of a cluster of genes encoding ORF71–73 which are latently expressed in an A549 cell line stably transduced by HVS-GFP. We have characterised a region of 2000 bp immediately upstream of the coding sequence of ORF73 and demonstrated that this regulatory region, when transfected into a human 293T cell line, is able to drive active expression of the GFP reporter gene. This result demonstrates that the upstream region of ORF73 contains regulatory sequences which may be utilized to drive expression of heterologous transgenes in a range of human cell lines. Therefore we believe that the ORF73 promoter, which drives virus-encoded gene expression whilst the HSV is present in a cell in a latent state, is an ideal choice of regulatory sequence for driving stable long term expression of a transgene in HVS-based gene delivery vectors.
Furthermore, in order to further investigate the possibility of using the ORF73 regulatory region as a promoter to drive long term expression of a heterologous transgene, a number of PCR fragments containing sequence immediately upstream of the ORF73 initiation codon were amplified by PCR and cloned into a reporter plasmid containing the GFP gene. These reporter constructs were transfected into the human 293T cell line and we have demonstrated that some of these fragments contain a regulatory region sufficient to drive heterologous gene expression in a human 293T cell line.
We believe that Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) is an attractive candidate for use as a gene therapy vector as it has the ability to enter a latent mode of infection in which the viral genome is maintained as a stable episome in the host cell. We have generated a recombinant HVS in which the gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP) is expressed under the control of the constitutive human cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter (HVS-GFP). This recombinant virus is able to stably transduce a range of human cell lines including the lung carcinoma cell line, A549, and direct production of GFP. However, it is known that the human CMV promoter is not effective in many circumstances for sustaining transgene expression in gene therapy in vivo. We have therefore sought to identify promoters which might be functional during latent infection with the HVS vectors.
Statement of the Invention
In the broadest aspect of the invention there is provided a gene delivery system/vaccine comprising a promoter which functions in a vector gene delivery system/vaccine during periods when the gene therapy vector is present in the cell in a latent state. The present invention is capable of regulating long term gene expression in the gene delivery system/vaccine and is capable of controling the expression of transgenes in a range of human or animal cells.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a nucleic acid comprising a nucleic acid sequence which encodes a promoter and which hybridises under high stringency conditions to the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, fragments and/or variants thereof, for use in gene therapy.
Preferably, hybridisation occurs under stringent conditions such as 1× SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C.
Preferably, said promoter comprises a nucleic acid sequence of at least 329 bp and up to 2000 bp, more preferably said promoter comprises a nucleic acid sequence of up to a length of 329, 630, 1000 or 1500 bp or any other selected fragment or variant thereof. It will be appreciated that it is possible that the promoter sequence of the invention may be less than 329 bp so long as the effective sequence encoding the promoter is included in the invention.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a recombinant DNA molecule containing at least one insert comprising the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, fragment or variant thereof, encoding a promoter.
Thus it will be appreciated that the invention includes nucleic acids comprising (i) a sequence of up to 2000 bp which encodes the promoter, (ii) fragments of selected bp lengths within the sequence and (iii) variants thereof, as well as recombinant DNA molecules containing insert(s) of the promoter sequence therein.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a gene therapy system comprising a vector which includes a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, and fragments and variants thereof as well as nucleic acid sequences which hybridise under high stringency conditions to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, or a part thereof, wherein said system is capable of driving heterologous gene expression during periods of latent infection by the vector in a target cell population.
Preferably, the gene therapy system further includes any one or more of the features herein before described.
Preferably, said vector additionally comprises at least one therapeutic nucleic acid, whereby the promoter encoded by SEQ ID NO:1 or fragment or variant thereof acts to drive expression of said the at least one therapeutic nucleic acid.
Reference herein to therapeutic nucleic acid is intended to include a therapeutic gene or fragment or variant thereof.
The vector of said gene delivery system may be viral or non-viral.
Preferably, said gene therapy system is capable of long term gene expression.
Reference herein to long term gene expression includes gene expression for at least several hours and optimally at least several months, for example and without limitation, from 2 hours to six months or more.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided use of a gene therapy system as herein before described for long term gene expression.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention comprises a gene therapy system and that, in preferred embodiments the vector may be either viral or non-viral. The expression of a therapeutic gene can be regulated by a promoter, typically of up at least 329 bp and up to 2000 bp, the system being capable of driving heterologous gene expression during periods of latent infection of a target cell population. Thus, foreign transgenes can be controlled by, for example, a natural promoter, which is active in the latent mode of viral infection. The specifics of the gene expression and the nature of the vector is not intended to limit the scope of the application.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided an HVS comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a promoter of SEQ ID NO:1, or fragment or variant thereof or a nucleic acid sequence which hybridises under high stringency conditions to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, fragment or variant thereof, which promoter acts in the latent state, the sequence encoding for the promoter being positioned so as to drive expression of at least one therapeutic nucleic acid which has been inserted in the HVS.
The preferred embodiments of the fifth aspect of the invention include those listed in accordance with the aforementioned first and third aspects of the invention.
Preferably, the HVS of the present invention may be rendered ineffective and its activity terminated by the appropriate co-administration of an anti-herpetic pharmaceutical such as acyclovir.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing an expression vector comprising the promoter of the first aspect of the invention or the gene therapy system of the third aspect of the invention or the HVS vector of the fifth aspect of the invention, the method comprising transfecting a cell with a nucleic acid sequence encoding said promoter of SEQ ID NO:1, or fragment or variant thereof or a nucleic acid sequence which hybridises under high stringency conditions to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 or any part thereof.
The invention includes methods which comprise selecting the promoter and amplifying it and subsequently purifying it prior to transfecting a cell population, preferably a selected target cell population.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention there is provided a method of treatment comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of the promoter of the first aspect of the invention or a gene therapy system of the third aspect of the invention or a HVS gene therapy vector of the fifth aspect of the invention, to an individual requiring treatment.
According to an eighth aspect there is provided the promoter of the first aspect of the invention or the gene therapy system of the third aspect of the invention or the HVS vector of the fifth aspect of the invention for use as a pharmaceutical.
According to a yet further aspect of the invention there is provided a pharmaceutical composition comprising the promoter of the first aspect of the invention or a gene therapy system of the third aspect of the invention or a HVS gene therapy vector of the fifth aspect of the invention, the pharmaceutical additionally comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, diluent or carrier and ideally said pharmaceutical can be formulated as a nasal spray, or for injection or for oral/paraenteral administration into a individual requiring treatment.
According to a yet further aspect of the invention there is provided use of the promoter of the first aspect of the invention or the gene therapy system of the third aspect of the invention or the HVS vector of the fifth aspect of the invention in the manufacture of a medicament for treating cancer.
According to a yet further aspect of the invention there is provided use of the promoter of the first aspect of the invention or the gene therapy system of the third aspect of the invention or the HVS vector of the fifth aspect of the invention in the manufacture of a medicament for treating degenerative disorders.
According to a yet further aspect of the present invention is an isolated nucleic acid encoding a promoter, the nucleic acid may be selected from the group consisting of:                (a) DNA having the nucleotide sequence given herein as SEQ ID NO:1 and which encodes the promoter;        (b) nucleic acids which hybridize to DNA of (a) above (e.g., under stringent conditions) and which encode the promoter; andDNAs of the present invention include those of closely related sequences to, and having essentially the same biological properties as, the promoter disclosed herein, and particularly the DNA disclosed herein as SEQ ID NO:1. This definition is intended to encompass natural allelic variations therein. Thus, DNAs which hybridize to DNA disclosed herein as SEQ ID NO:1 (or fragments or derivatives thereof which serve as hybridization probes as discussed below) and which encode the promoter of the present invention are to be included in the definition.
Conditions which will permit other DNAs which encode the promoter of the present invention and hybridize to the DNA of SEQ ID NO:1 disclosed herein can be determined in accordance with known techniques. For example, hybridization of such sequences may be carried out under conditions of reduced stringency, medium stringency or even stringent conditions (e.g., conditions represented by a wash stringency of 35–40% Formamide with 5× Denhardt's solution, 0.5% SDS and 1× SSPE at 37° C.; conditions represented by a wash stringency of 40–45% Formamide with 5× Denhardt's solution, 0.5% SDS, and 1× SSPE at 42° C.; and conditions represented by a wash stringency of 50% Formamide with 5× Denhardt's solution, 0.5% SDS and 1× SSPE at 42° C., respectively) to DNA of SEQ ID NO:1 disclosed herein in a standard hybridization assay. See, e.g., J. Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning, A Laboratory Manual (2d Ed. 1989) (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory). In general, sequences which code the promoter of the present invention and which hybridize to the DNA of SEQ ID NO:1 disclosed herein will be at least 75% homologous, 85% homologous, and even 95% homologous or more with SEQ ID NO:1.

Latency-associated regulatory region from


Embodiments of the present invention relate to devices, systems, and methods for assembling and/or creating documents with the aid of a computer system. One or more embodiments provide document assembly systems and methods. More specifically, the document assembly system may allow the user to retrieve relevant texts or text segments, which have been previously created, and may allow the user to incorporate such texts and/or text segments into a document.

1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems, methods, and apparatus for creating documents.
2. Background and Relevant Art
In an information-based economy, written documents may be central to many enterprises. Examples of such documents include legal documents, medical reports, law-enforcement (e.g., police) reports, legislative documents, regulatory documents, grant solicitation documents, and grant proposal documents. As a result, professionals in many fields may spend a significant portion of time writing and editing various documents. Typically, documents are reread and edited multiple times to achieve acceptable language and structure in the document. The legal profession is one example of a field where professionals may spend an inordinate amount of time composing and editing written documents, such as contracts, litigation documents, patents, and client letters.
Computers and/or computer systems may enable a drafter to compose and edit documents. For example, the drafter may use word processing software for generating documents. The drafter also may use a document assembly system to create documents. A typical document assembly system may allow the drafter to enter information into a form. Subsequently, such a system may generate a document using preset text blocks and/or a framework based on the information in the information entered by the drafter. Although such document assembly systems may improve the efficiency of document creation processes, typical document assembly systems lack flexibility to create customized documents, which may be desired by the drafter.


A vehicle control system comprising means for implementing a vehicle control multilayer architecture, the vehicle control multilayer architecture comprising: a vehicle level feature layer; an actuator control layer configured to control a plurality of actuators; and a control layer isolating the vehicle level feature layer and the actuator control layer from each other, the control layer comprising a plurality of distinct service control channels, wherein: each of the plurality of distinct service control channels is associated with a vehicle operation; each service control channel is configured to translate vehicle level requests from the vehicle level feature layer to actuator level requests, wherein one or more actuators are assigned to the operation associated with each respective service control channel; and each service control channel is configured to receive vehicle level control requests from one or more vehicle level features and to provide control requests to the actuator control layer to control one or more associated actuators in response to a received vehicle level control request.

Vehicles may comprise one or more vehicle level features, such as cruise control, assisted braking, assisted parking, emergency brakes and so on. The vehicle level features may monitor the status of the vehicle and make one or more vehicle level requests within a software architecture such as to change the speed and/or direction of the vehicle.
In conventional systems the software architecture that deals with such requests comprises controller(s) linked with each feature and appropriate vehicle actuators. The feature's specific controllers can control the actuators to cause the vehicle level effect requested by the particular feature.
The addition of new features and/or actuators or the changing of the features and/or actuators in such a system is difficult to implement and control.
It is an aim of the present invention to address the disadvantages of the prior art.

Vehicle control system, method and computer program for a vehicle control multilayer architecture