An Electronic Commerce system enables corporate purchasers and suppliers to electronically transact for the purchase and supply of goods/services. The system includes three major hardware and software components: buyer, supplier and bank/administration. To enable suppliers to supply goods and services online and process electronic orders, several software components are used for operating a supplier processor server and a supplier catalog server. To enable corporate purchasers to purchase products and services online, preferably over the Internet, from suppliers, software is used for operating a customer server to which multiple users may log-on and access the supplier server. An Automated Clearing House (ACH) server may be used to interface with a bank's (ACH) systems. A service bureau that supplies the hardware and/or software components and assists to administer the system includes a transaction counter, which records transactions and charges the buyers and/or suppliers based on the number of purchase orders and/or invoices issued.. Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations, modifications and other uses will become apparent in those skilled in the art. It is preferred that the present intention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but by the scope of the appended claims.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electronic commerce systems and, more specifically, to a procurement system and method for trading partners which enables a plurality of users within a purchasing organization to procure goods/services from pre-arranged suppliers, consistent with the level of authorization given to each user and enables automated payments to the supplier by a bank after the goods/services have been delivered.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In any business, and particularly within large organizations having hundreds or even thousands of employees, the procurement of "non-production" or "non-custom" products and services in high volume is generally a time consuming process and a costly one. In various industry surveys, companies cite the costs of processing a requisition and a purchase order as anywhere between $25 and $300; a cost that often exceeds the value of the goods being ordered.
Ordering of non-production goods in high volumes, such as office supplies and desktop hardware, can be a time-consuming and expensive process for suppliers as well. For example, suppliers have to be increasingly competitive in today's market as their customers are constantly seeking immediate turn-around on orders and better overall customer service. However, suppliers find that the process of phone or paper purchase orders is costly because of the administration associated with order processing, can cause delays in order fulfillment, and is prone to errors. Additionally, paper-based marketing in the form of catalogs and price lists is expensive and makes it difficult to keep customers up-to-date with the latest product availability and pricing.
Ultimately, all these factors impact buyers through higher prices or poor service. Buyers have to implement time-consuming processes to prevent purchases that exceed employee limits. As a result, the cost of processing requisitions and purchase orders often exceeds the value of the goods being purchased. Buying organizations also find it difficult to prevent employees from purchasing from non-preferred suppliers and thus do not get the advantage of negotiated prices. This adds to buyers' costs and reduces business for their preferred suppliers.
There is, therefore, an extremely large overhead factor associated with the procurement of products and services which, in a large organization, can cost the company thousands or even millions of dollars a year.
There is a need, therefore, for a simple automated procurement system that will reduce the amount of paper needed to be handled and enable the employees within an organization to acquire the goods and services that they require, consistent with their needs to perform their tasks. An automated system must be secure so that it is not abused by employees within the organization or parties outside of the organization.
There have been a number of obstacles in establishing an effective commerce system. Systems disclosed in previously issued patents have sought to address some of these obstacles. One problem is the "user-friendliness" of the systems, or the ease of use of the systems so that each person that needs to requisition a product or service can do so in an easy and efficient way. Another problem has been to develop a system that can be used with existing computer systems. This is an important consideration since many businesses have already made substantial investments in "legacy" systems, including main frames, mini computers, and micro computers. These systems frequently use different operating systems and different data formats. Another problem has been to develop user interface that is secure from abuse from within and from outside the buyer organization.
One example of an on-line system for processing business transactions is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,156 for an Interactive Market Management System. The system discloses a plurality of buyers and a plurality of sellers which can be linked to each other by means of an interactive market management system (IMMS) for interactive communications. Each of the participating entities which is a subscriber to the system must always operate through the IMMS, which serves as a focal point or hub through which all transactions must be funneled. The patent does not address the need or ability of individuals within an organization to be provided with different levels of authorization so that different users within the same organization or "buyer" can access different types and/or spend different amounts on goods and/or services.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,518, a system is described for trusted agents for open electronic commerce. However, this patent involves the use of "money modules" to create a secure transaction environment for both the buyer and the seller of electronic merchandise and services. The primary objective of the patent is to provide a system which allows customers to buy electronic merchandise or services on demand without enrolling in an electronic community. According to this patent, a customer and supplier, trusted agent, establish a secure session. The customer trusted agent communicates with a first money-module and the supplier trusted agent communicates with the second money-module. The supplier trusted agent delivers the electronic merchandise. The first money module transmits electronic money to the second money module. Upon successful completion of the money payment, the first money module informs the customer trusted agent, and the second money module informs the supplier trusted agent. The supplier then logs the sale and the customer may use the purchased electronic merchandise. The patent appears to be restricted to the sale of electronic merchandise.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,542, a system for ordering items using an electronic catalog is disclosed. However, the disclosure is primarily concerned with establishing a private catalog resident on a customer's computer system. The customer can electronically requisition a product based on the information provided in the catalog and route or requisition through the appropriate approval process within the enterprise. However, requisitions must then be processed through the customer's procurement system and transmitted electronically as purchased orders to the supplier. Therefore, aside from establishing private catalogs which may be used by the customer, the system disclosed in the patent does not eliminate many of the inefficiencies and expenses involved with requisitioning products and/or services by many employees in a large organization.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,378, a computerized order entry system and method is disclosed which includes a plurality of servers, data entry devices, back-end systems and data bases. The computer order entry system is intended to permit placement of orders by capturing order information and storing the order information through the data capture mechanism. This is accomplished by a sequence of steps of multiple search categories. The patent does not address the ready accessibility and ease of use by many employees within an organization to requisition goods/services from a pre-arranged trading partner or multiple partners.

Electronic procurement system and method for trading partners


The present invention relates to a system for use in motorized vehicles to provide a vehicle back-up alarm system, intended for mounting on a vehicle, that also incorporates an apparatus for detecting and alarming low battery conditions. Preferably incorporated into a main housing are the electronic components that perform power regulation, system control, voltage sensing, timing, alarm tone generation, sound emitting and, optionally, light emitting. The housing serves to securely fix and retain these components and to protect them from moisture and dirt. The circuitry is connected to the vehicle upon which it is installed by preferably three connection terminals situated on the housing. Distinctive tones and/or lamp sequences alert the operator and those by-standers within proximity to the vehicle to different alarm conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrically operated vehicle back-up alarms. More specifically, this invention relates to a combined back-up and battery low-level alarm for a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of low battery voltage alarm systems are known in the prior art. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,734 to Munson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,777 to Nakamura. et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,697 to Yorksie all disclose battery voltage detection and warning devices.
Separately, there also exist a variety of vehicle back-up safety alarm systems in the prior art. These alarms include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,317 to Gailbreath. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,173,136 to Atkinson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,517,629 to Buys et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,462,532 to Morris, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,431,117 to Hadley. Of particular interest for relevant back-up alarms are those manufactured and distributed by PRECO Electronics, Inc. under its trademark BAC-A-LARM®.
However, none of the prior art discloses a detection and signaling device having the combination of back-up and low-battery alarm features and the distinct advantages of the present invention.

Combined back-up and battery low-level alarm for vehicle


A method, system, apparatus, and computer program product is presented for a location-based legal information service. A subscriber to the service is assumed to have a data device, such as a mobile handheld device, and the location of the data device is determined through a positioning system, such as GPS or E911. Based on the determined location of the data device, legal information is then retrieved, such as a law or a regulation that is applicable to regulating or restricting activities at or near the determined location. The legal information can be displayed on the data device; the position of the data device can be continually monitored so that the legal information can be continually updated. Alternatively, the legal information can be used to restrict the operation of the data device, e.g., if the legal information is related to a privacy law or regulation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved data processing system and, in particular, to an informational system employing position determining equipment, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method and system for a location-based information retrieval service.
2. Description of Related Art
Most residents of a region or country are law-abiding citizens. Interestingly, a typical citizen""s legal knowledge is usually based on common sense with limited knowledge of actual statutes and regulations. Many citizens gain their legal knowledge from friends, family members, co-workers, or colleagues over a long period of time and through a variety of experiences.
At some point in time, most citizens learn about the general legal principle that one""s ignorance of the existence of a law is not a defense when criminally charged with violating the law. Hence, when a typical law-abiding citizen believes that laws may exist that somehow limit his or her freedom of action, he or she often feels compelled to investigate whether or not any such laws exist.
Learning the extent of laws on a self-determined, need-to-know basis is often sufficient for the activities of most citizens. Generally, a citizen has enough time and resources to discover applicable laws prior to participating in an activity when the citizen has any doubts about the existence of applicable laws. For example, public libraries often have legal information resources, and online legal databases may be researched through the Internet. If necessary, a citizen can consult an attorney for an opinion about the existence of applicable laws prior to engaging in a desired activity. When a law is found that somehow limits the citizen""s freedom of action, the citizen can modify the planned activity so that a law is not violated.
The concept that a legal principle can be communicated to a person through an electronic information medium is particularly important herein. A law is a principle governing conduct, actions, or procedures that is prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority. Legal principles are often promulgated in many forms, such as statutes, rules, regulations, and ordinances, but law may also be found in the whole body of legal practices and customs, such as those principles that are said to be found in common law. For the purposes required herein, though, these distinctions for legal principles are somewhat unnecessary, and the terms may be used interchangeably.
Jurisdiction is another legal concept of which most citizens are aware. Jurisdiction can be defined as a geographical area to which a governmental entity is limited in its power, right, or authority to interpret, exercise, or apply law. A conscientious citizen attempts to learn the laws that are applicable to a citizen""s desired activity within the jurisdiction in which the citizen participates in the activity. Even though a given set of laws is only enforceable within certain jurisdictional boundaries, a person who engages in an activity should be aware of the fact that similar laws may exist in different jurisdictions. A conscientious citizen will learn and obey the applicable statutes and regulations when engaging in an activity in different jurisdictions.
In many instances, though, someone may not have sufficient time or resources to initiate a detailed survey of applicable laws prior to participating in an activity in an unfamiliar jurisdiction. Rather than forego the opportunity to engage in the activity, someone may adhere to known laws from a familiar jurisdiction while participating in the activity in the unfamiliar jurisdiction. In this manner, a person engaging in the activity implicitly accepts the risks involved in potentially violating laws within the unfamiliar jurisdiction about which the person has no knowledge.
In fact, the total number of legal infractions that occur tends to increase over time for a variety of reasons. Even if no new statutes or regulations for a given activity are promulgated, the number of legal violations associated with the given activity tends to increase over time. With an ever growing population, if the same percentage of a given population participates in the particular activity, an increasing number of people tend to engage in an activity that was once possibly enjoyed by relatively few people. Hence, an increasing number of people may tend to violate legal restrictions on that activity.
Over time, standards of living tend to be raised, and people have more disposable income to be used on recreational activities. Since recreational activities are inherently performed only occasionally, participators may often be ignorant of applicable laws. Moreover, diverse recreational activities are continually created, and more statutes and regulations may be promulgated to restrict those activities.
In addition, higher standards of living have created a more mobile population, thereby creating an environment in which more people are unaware of the existence of local statutes or local regulations within jurisdictions in which they spend relatively little time and, therefore, have reduced incentive to learn the local laws.
For example, many recreational activities, such as boating, are often restricted in some manner by a set of laws, and boat operators are aware that boating laws may vary among jurisdictions. However, boating is an inherently mobile activity that may carry the boat""s crew from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. While a conscientious crew may attempt to learn local laws concerning local waterways, there may be many obscure local statutes and local regulations of which the crew is unaware and which are difficult to discover in an on-going manner. As the number of boat owners and operators increases within the growing population, jurisdictions may tend to promulgate boating laws to control the activities of more crowded waterways, thereby making it more difficult for many boat owners and operators to remain aware of currently applicable laws.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and a system for providing a legal information service such that conscientious, law-abiding citizens are aware of laws that are jurisdictionally applicable to their activities prior to participating in legally restricted activities.
A method, a system, an apparatus, and a computer program product are presented for a location-based legal information service. A subscriber to the service is assumed to have a data device, such as a mobile handheld device, and the location of the data device is determined through a positioning system, such as GPS or E911. Based on the determined location of the data device, legal information is then retrieved, such as a law or a regulation that is applicable to regulating or restricting activities at or near the determined location. The legal information can be displayed on the data device; the position of the data device can be continually monitored so that the legal information can be continually updated. Alternatively, the legal information can be used to restrict the operation of the data device, e.g., if the legal information is related to a privacy law or regulation.

Method and system for providing a location-based legal information service

International Business Machines Corporation


A display case comprises a first section having a top wall, a bottom wall and a back wall connected between the top and bottom walls, and, a second section having opposed side walls with a front wall connected between them. The second section slides into engagement with the first section to form a closed interior. The bottom wall of the first section is integrally formed with a bracket which includes first and second arms connected in an inverse, L-shape, with one of the arms oriented parallel to and spaced from the bottom wall to form a space within which a shelf is received. A thumb screw or other mounting device extends through the bracket arm to engage the shelf and secure the display case thereto.

Retail outlets have employed a number of different techniques for displaying merchandise and promotional items to customers. Wall and floor cabinets are commonly used as permanent fixtures to display merchandise, and many of these have locking drawers or doors to prevent access to the items on display except by an employee with a key. In some instances, portable cases are used to display promotional items and products which are smaller in size such as watches, jewelry or the like. These portable cases typically rest on top of a base cabinet, or on a shelf.
A number of portable display cases have been proposed in the prior art, but each suffer from one or more deficiency. In one typical design, the display case is formed from a number of individual walls which are slid or otherwise secured together to form a transparent enclosure with a closed interior. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,524,977; 5,263,576 and 2,651,557. The problem with these designs is that most retailers do not have the storage area for cases which require a number of individual parts, or the staff and time to assemble such cases. It is important for the display case to be easily assembled, without special knowledge or tools, and to have a limited number of parts.
Another major issue for retailers is the problem of theft of the contents of a display case, or the entire case itself. As noted above, portable display cases intended for promotional items or other small products are most often positioned atop a base cabinet or on a wall-mounted shelf. It is desirable to secure the display case in position, without allowing access to its closed interior, but in a way which is aesthetically pleasing. The concept of mounting a display to a shelf or other support is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,390,998; 3,744,645; 1,948,049 and 1,645,470. With the exception of the '049 patent, each of these displays include a platform or pedestal which is secured to a support in combination with an enclosure or case mounted to the platform. This type of design is often aesthetically lacking, and the use of a separate platform adds an additional part which must be stored, and paid for, by the retailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,948,049 teaches an arrangement where two side panels of a display have spaced arms which straddle a shelf. A thumb screw extends from one of the arms into engagement with the shelf to mount the display in place. Each side panel of this design is a separate piece which must be mounted to the rest of the display, and the display itself does not have a closed interior which allows any item placed thereon to be stolen.


A securing device for a seatbelt, in particular a motor vehicle seatbelt, includes a receiving device for receiving a plug-in element and a locking device for retaining the plug-in element in the receiving device for the purpose of securing the seatbelt. The securing device, which can be manufactured in a particularly simple manner, enjoys reduced production costs. The locking device reduces manufacturing costs by being formed exclusively of a single-part closure spring that is secured in or on the receiving device.

The present invention relates to a securing device for a seatbelt. In particular, the present invention relates to a securing device for a seatbelt of a motor vehicle.
German Utility Model DE 201 16 939 U1 (incorporated by reference herein) discloses a securing device that is an end fitting lock with which one end of a seatbelt is permanently secured to a vehicle chassis. The securing device of DE 201 16 939 U1 has a receiving device into which a plug-in element is introduced and retained therein, for the purpose of securing the seatbelt. To retain the plug-in element in the receiving device, a locking device is provided with which the introduced plug-in element is permanently locked. The locking device contains a scissor-shaped device that is held under prestress with a separate spring. As a result of the large number of parts (and their complexity) needed to manufacture the aforementioned securing device, the production and installation costs thereof are undesirably high.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in light of the aforementioned problem. Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a securing device that can be manufactured in a particularly simple manner, thereby lowering production costs. Another object of the present invention is to provide a securing device that can be readily installed in a vehicle, thereby lowering installation costs.


The present invention refers to an image scanning module for creating an optical image of a scanned area illuminated by a light source, with light travelling from the scanned area to the optical image along a light path, the image scanning module operating at various resolutions and comprising: a charge-coupled device; at least two lenses, mounted at a mutual transverse distance in front of the charge-coupled device and alternatively brought into the light path, such that the optical image of the scanned area is created on the charge-coupled device; at least two mirror groups, alternatively brought into the light path, with each of the lenses mounted behind one of the mirror groups; and a moving device, moving the lenses and the mirror groups simultaneously between transverse positions; wherein for each of the transverse positions, one of the mirror groups, one of the lenses and the charge-coupled device are aligned and the image scanning module operates at one of the various resolutions, with the light path having various lengths for the various resolutions, in a way that the optical image of the scanned area has a nearly constant intensity for the various resolutions and the image scanning module is of compact size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiple resolution image scanning module, particularly to an image scanning module of compact size, which allows for a scanning signal of nearly constant intensity under various resolutions.
2. Description of Related Art
Image scanning modules mainly comprise a light source, a reflective mirror, a lens, and a charge-coupled device (CCD). The number and size of the pixels of the CCD determine the optical properties of the image scanning module. For instance, flatbed scanners operate with charge-coupled devices which have 2700 pixels in one dimension. As the size of the scanned image is 8.5 inch in this dimension, a resolution of 300 dpi is attained. The resolution is a decisive factor for the quality of the image. For satisfactory quality, different kinds of images, like text, photographs, etc. require different resolutions (like 300 dpi, 400 dpi, 600 dpi, or 1000 dpi). So it is desirable to be able to choose the appropriate resolution on the image scanning module.
Conventional scanners are provided with image scanning modules for fixed resolutions. In a given conventional scanner, there is no way to change the scanned area or the resolution. For more than one resolution, several different image scanning modules have to be used.
In order to provide more flexibility, multiple resolution image scanning modules have entered the market, exemplified by Taiwan patents no. 232398 and 269416. Therein, image scanning modules are disclosed, having a reflective mirror and a constant distance between the scanned object and the charge-coupled device (CCD). Two lenses for two different resolutions are provided. The user switches between the lenses for the desired resolution. However, since the focal lengths of the two lenses are different, the lenses have to be mounted in different positions (as shown in FIG. 27). A large volume is needed, and thus the size of the image scanning module for multiple resolutions is increased. Furthermore, since the distance between the scanned object and the CCD is constant for different resolutions, at a high resolution the scanned area is smaller than at a low resolution, and the light intensity on the CCD becomes lower, leading to a lower signal, which is harder to process.

Multiple resolution image scanning module

No.3, Alley 80, Lane 108, Sec.1, Kuang-fu Road


The invention relates to storage of nucleic acid (particularly mRNA) on a solid support and to using such nucleic acid in nucleic acid synthesis or amplification reactions. In a preferred aspect, the invention provides synthesis of cDNA and cDNA libraries.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of molecular biology. In particular, the present invention relates to the fields of storage, synthesis and amplification of nucleic acids. Specifically the invention relates to storage of RNA (particularly mRNA) on a solid matrix or support and to manipulation of the RNA by a number of molecular biology techniques including RT-PCR and cDNA synthesis (particularly cDNA library synthesis).
2. Related Art
The disclosures of the following applications were incorporated by reference into U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/175,307, filed Jan. 10, 2000, and are incorporated by reference into the present application: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/054,485, filed Apr. 3, 1998, now abandoned, which claims priority of U.S. provisional application 60/042,629, field Apr. 3, 1997, and the continuing application of Ser. No. 09/054,485, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/472,066, filed Dec. 23, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,350, issued Dec. 17, 2002; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/076,115, filed May 12, 1998, which claims priority of U.S. provisional application 60/046,219, filed May 12, 1997; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/354,664, filed Jul. 16, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,750,059, issued Jun. 15, 2004; and U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/122,395, filed Mar. 2, 1999.
Storage of Nucleic Acids
For many projects, generation of numerous DNA samples from biological specimens is routine. Handling and archiving a large collection can become a logistical problem for the laboratory. One solution, used in forensic labs, is the blood-storage medium FTA® Cards. The FTA® GeneCard is a chemically-treated filter paper designed for the collection and storage of biological samples for subsequent DNA analysis (1–3). It is suitable for storage of blood samples, as well as mammalian cells and tissues for PCR analysis and other genomic DNA applications (4). It is useful for recovery of plasmid DNA for PCR and transformation from archived bacterial cultures and colonies (5–6), as well as for storage and recovery of M13 phage for DNA sequencing applications (M. Goldsborough, personal communication).
An FTA® Card can be used to store genomic DNA in the form of dried spots of human whole blood, the cells of which were lysed on the paper. Stored at room temperature, genomic DNA on FTA® paper is reported to be stable at least 7.5 years (Burgoyne, et al., Conventional DNA Collection and Processing: Disposable Toothbrushes and FTA®Paper as a Non-threating Buccal-Cell Collection Kit Compatible with Automatable DNA Processing, 8th International Symposium on Human Identification, Sep. 17–20, 1997). Before analysis of the captured DNA, a few simple washing steps remove the stabilizing chemicals and cellular inhibitors of enzymatic reactions. Since the DNA remains with the paper, the manipulations to purify the DNA are simplified and amenable to automation. DNA samples on FTA® Cards offer a very compact archival system compared to glass vials or plastic tubes located in precious freezer space. Storage of RNA on dry solid medium is also described (see Burgoyne, U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,572).
Reverse Transcription of RNA
The term "reverse transcriptase" describes a class of polymerases characterized as RNA-dependent DNA polymerases. All known reverse transcriptases require a primer to synthesize a DNA transcript from an RNA template. Historically, reverse transcriptase has been used primarily to transcribe mRNA into cDNA which can then be cloned into a vector for further manipulation.
Avian myoblastosis virus (AMV) reverse transcriptase was the first widely used RNA-dependent DNA polymerase (Verma, Biochem. Biophys. Acta 473:1(1977)). The enzyme has 5′→3′ RNA-directed DNA polymerase activity, 5′→3′ DNA-directed DNA polymerase activity, and RNase H activity. RNase H is a processive 5′ and 3′ ribonuclease specific for the RNA strand for RNA-DNA hybrids (Perbal, A Practical Guide to Molecular Cloning, New York: Wiley & Sons (1984)). Errors in transcription cannot be corrected by reverse transcriptase because known viral reverse transcriptases lack the 3′→5′ exonuclease activity necessary for proofreading (Saunders and Saunders, Microbial Genetics Applied to Biotechnology, London: Croom Helm (1987)). A detailed study of the activity of AMV reverse transcriptase and its associated RNase H activity has been presented by Berger et al., Biochemistry 22:2365–2372 (1983).
Another reverse transcriptase which is used extensively in molecular biology is reverse transcriptase originating from Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MLV). See, e.g., Gerard, G. R., DNA 5:271–279 (1986) and Kotewicz, M. L., et al., Gene 35:249–258 (1985). M-MLV reverse transcriptase substantially lacking in RNase H activity has also been described. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,797.
PCR Amplification of RNA
Reverse transcriptases have been extensively used in reverse transcribing RNA prior to PCR amplification. This method, often referred to as RNA-PCR or RT-PCR, is widely used for detection and quantitation of RNA.
To attempt to address the technical problems often associated with RT-PCR, a number of protocols have been developed taking into account the three basic steps of the procedure: (a) the denaturation of RNA and the hybridization of reverse primer; (b) the synthesis of cDNA; and (c) PCR amplification. In the so-called "uncoupled" RT-PCR procedure (e.g., two-step RT-PCR), reverse transcription is performed as an independent step using the optimal buffer condition for reverse transcriptase activity. Following cDNA synthesis, the reaction is diluted to decrease MgCl2 and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) concentrations to conditions optimal for Taq DNA Polymerase activity, and PCR is carried out according to standard conditions (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,195 and 4,683,202). In contrast, "coupled" RT-PCR methods use a common or compromised buffer for reverse transcriptase and Taq DNA Polymerase activities. In one version, the annealing of reverse primer is a separate step preceding the addition of enzymes, which are then added to the single reaction vessel. In another version, the reverse transcriptase activity is a component of the thermostable Tth DNA polymerase. Annealing and cDNA synthesis are performed in the presence of Mn++, then PCR is carried out in the presence of Mg++ after the removal of Mn++ by a chelating agent. Finally, the "continuous" method (e.g., one-step RT-PCR) integrates the three RT-PCR steps into a single continuous reaction that avoids the opening of the reaction tube for component or enzyme addition. Continuous RT-PCR has been described as a single enzyme system using the reverse transcriptase activity of thermostable Taq DNA Polymerase and Tth polymerase and as a two-enzyme system using AMVRT and Taq DNA Polymerase wherein the initial 65° C. RNA denaturation step was omitted.
cDNA and cDNA Libraries
In examining the structure and physiology of an organism, tissue or cell, it is often desirable to determine its genetic content. The genetic framework of an organism is encoded in the double-stranded sequence of nucleotide bases in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) which is contained in the somatic and germ cells of the organism. The genetic content of a particular segment of DNA, or gene, is only manifested upon production of the protein which the gene encodes. In order to produce a protein, a complementary copy of one strand of the DNA double helix (the "coding" strand) is produced by polymerase enzymes, resulting in a specific sequence of ribonucleic acid (RNA). This particular type of RNA, since it contains the genetic message from the DNA for production of a protein, is called messenger RNA (mRNA).
Within a given cell, tissue or organism, there exist myriad mRNA species, each encoding a separate and specific protein. This fact provides a powerful tool to investigators interested in studying genetic expression in a tissue or cell—mRNA molecules may be isolated and further manipulated by various molecular biological techniques, thereby allowing the elucidation of the full functional genetic content of a cell, tissue or organism.
One common approach to the study of gene expression is the production of complementary DNA (cDNA) clones. In this technique, the mRNA molecules from an organism are isolated from an extract of the cells or tissues of the organism. This isolation often employs solid chromatography matrices, such as cellulose or Sepharose, to which oligomers of thymidine (T) have been complexed. Since the 3′ termini on all eukaryotic mRNA molecules contain a string of adenosine (A) bases, and since A binds to T, the mRNA molecules can be rapidly purified from other molecules and substances in the tissue or cell extract. From these purified mRNA molecules, cDNA copies may be made using an enzyme having reverse transcriptase (RT) activity, which results in the production of single-stranded cDNA molecules complementary to all or a portion of the mRNA templates. Incubating the single-stranded cDNA under appropriate conditions allows synthesis of double-stranded DNA which may then be inserted into a plasmid or a vector.
This entire process, from isolation of mRNA to insertion of the cDNA into a plasmid or vector to growth of host cell populations containing the isolated gene, is termed "cDNA cloning." If cDNAs are prepared from a number of different mRNAs, the resulting set of cDNAs is called a "cDNA library," an appropriate term since the set of cDNAs represents the different populations of functional genetic information (genes) present in the source cell, tissue or organism. Genotypic analysis of these cDNA libraries can yield much information on the structure and function of the organisms from which they were derived.
In traditional production methods, the cDNA molecules must be size fractionated and multiple phenol/chloroform extractions and ethanol precipitations performed. Each of these requirements has inherent disadvantages, such as product loss and limitations in cDNA yield due to multiple extractions/precipitations (Lambert, K. N., and Williamson, V. M., Nucl. Acids Res. 21(3):775–776 (1993)).
These disadvantages have been partially addressed in the literature. For example, several investigators have reported methods for the isolation of polyA+ mRNA from cell and tissue samples by binding the mRNA to latex or paramagnetic beads coupled with oligo(dT); single-stranded cDNA molecules may then be produced by reverse transcription of these immobilized mRNA molecules (Lambert, K. N., and Williamson, V. M., Nucl. Acids Res. 21(3):775–776 (1993); Kuribayashi-Ohta, K., et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1156:204–212 (1993); Sasaki, Y. F., et al., Nucl. Acids Res. 22(6):987–992 (1994); Mészáros, M., and Morton, D. B., BioTechniques 20(3):413–419 (1996); Fellman, F., et al., BioTechniques 21(5):766–770 (1996)). Such solid phase synthesis methods are less prone to the yield limitations resulting from the extraction/precipitation steps of the traditional methods.
However, these methods still have several important limitations. For example, each of these methods relies on PCR amplification prior to cloning of the cDNA molecules, often resulting in biased cDNA libraries (i.e., highly expressed sequences predominate over those that are expressed in lower quantities). In addition, these methods often are less efficient than conventional cDNA synthesis methods which use solution hybridization of the primer-adapter to the template (i.e., rotational diffusion is required for increased hybridization rates; see Schmitz, K. S., and Schurr, J. M., J. Phys. Chem. 76:534–545 (1972); Ness, J. V., and Hahn, W. E., Nucl. Acids Res. 10(24):8061–8077 (1982)). Finally, the above-described techniques use heat or chemical denaturation to release the nascent cDNA molecules from the solid phase for further processing, which can result in product loss and/or damage.

Methods for the storage and synthesis of nucleic acids using a solid support


The present invention relates to systems and methods that use separation of time scales to mitigate interaction between unintentional islanding detection schemes and GSFs.

All distributed utility interconnected PV sources must comply with unintentional islanding (UI) standards (run-on-times (ROTs)<2 sec). Unfortunately, the incorporation of advanced inverter capabilities can interfere with conventional UI schemes. These new capabilities include grid support functions (GSFs) like volt/VAr and frequency/watt as well as wider limits on allowable voltage and frequency.
Many UI schemes detect an island by creating signals that attempt to disrupt and destabilize the converter in an islanded state through stimulus signals and positive feedback. Thus, when a substation breaker opens, these disruptions and instabilities cause measurable changes in voltage and/or frequency on the Local Circuit. When these changes are detected, an island is assumed, and the inverter stops delivering power. GSFs allow inverters to tolerate large deviations in voltage and frequency and to provide negative feedback so as to help mitigate deviations in voltage and frequency. These operations create control actions which can thus interfere with those of the UI control to be able to exercise advanced inverter capabilities while maintaining compliance with UI standards, new collaborative controls are needed.

Systems and methods using collaborative controls to maintain unintentional islanding standards

National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC


An exemplary system, method and computer-accessible medium can include receiving information regarding a purchase by a person, receiving financial account information regarding a financial account associated with the person that was used to fund the purchase, generating rewards information associated with the purchase, generating an authentication token(s) based on the financial account information, sending the rewards information and the authentication token(s) over a network, and receiving a confirmation, over the network, that a rewards account associated with the person has been updated.

Rewards or loyalty programs are marketing strategies designed by merchants to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of businesses associated with each program. These programs exist covering most types of commerce (e.g., technology, fashion, groceries, etc.), each one having varying features and rewards-schemes. Rewards programs typically involve generating a unique number associated with a specific rewards account. The number may be printed on a card and provided to the customer. When a consumer makes a purchase, the card is presented at such time, and the rewards account can be updated based on the purchase. For example, a fixed number of points can be assigned for each dollar spent. Rewards can then be spent or used at a later time for discounted or free merchandise or services.
In addition to increasing the number of rewards associated with a rewards account, tiers or levels within a rewards program can be defined, which can provide additional benefits to consumer. For example, once the purchaser earns a certain number of points, they can move from one level to another. Each level can provide better benefits to the purchaser, including, but not limited to, discounts on purchase, upgrades, etc. In many rewards programs, achieving a particular level or status can earn significantly better benefits. For example, in many hotel loyalty programs, achieving higher status levels can provide room upgrades, free food, and many other ancillary benefits.
In many instances, a single purchaser may not make enough purchases to earn a significant amount of rewards, or the purchaser may not make enough purchases to move from one tier to another. Thus, it is common practice for a purchaser to give their rewards number to another purchaser such that the other purchasers purchases get pooled into a single rewards account. If a single rewards number is shared with many purchasers, significant rewards can be earned, the cost of which (e.g., to the rewards issuer) can be significantly higher than if all of the purchasers had a separate rewards account.
While many people have only one rewards program, it is more common for a purchaser to have multiple rewards accounts at different merchants. While it can be possible to monitor one or two rewards accounts, it can be very difficult to keep track of every rewards account at every merchant. Certain apps exist which digitally store the rewards number associated with a merchant. However, the user still needs to separately access each rewards account to determine the number of rewards earned for each merchant.
Thus, it may be beneficial to provide an exemplary system, method, and computer-accessible medium for authentication of rewards information which can overcome at least some of the deficiencies described herein above.

System, method and computer-accessible medium for authentication of rewards information


A method for running application software for a mobile device by virtualizing a mobile device operating system (OS); running a virtual instance of the mobile device OS with the application software on a server on the cloud; and rendering on the server and sending a display image for the mobile device screen to be displayed on the mobile device.

In recent years the market has adapted to the usefulness of cloud computing for the server (backend) and the desktop (frontend, de-velopment, end-user experience) computing. Cloud computing has a strong potential also for mobile computing. Today the gap between mobile computing and desktop computing in terms of usage, usefulness and security threats is very narrow. Mobile computing terminals (like smartphones or tablets) are used every day by millions of people for work, study and for entertain-ment purposes.
Current generation mobile devices are powerful enough to run complex applications, even though they are small and lightweight enough to be carried everyday anywhere in the pocket. Many smartphone owners use their devices for remote banking or as payment terminals, both for sending or receiving payments. Also many people use their mobile device for entertainment activities like, listening to the music, getting pictures or playing games.
Students use their tablets for reading textbooks and getting notes of classes; large and small busi-nesses distribute mobile devices to their employees. Each employee uses it differently, depending on his job function. For example, a carrier can use it to scan of the barcodes of the packages delivered. Many smartphone owners use their devices for remote banking or as payment terminals, both for sending or receiving payments. Also many people use their mobile device for entertainment activities like, listening to the music, getting pictures or playing games.
Based on above described usage scenarios by various categories of people under different usage contexts, there are many security threats while using mobile computing. Quite often a person uses the same de-vice for all the above described use cases, and hence the user runs various varieties of applications, whose category spans across work, study, entertainment. This introduces a big opportunity for malware that tries to steal business or personal information. Also since the mobile devices are small, expensive and powerful, they are stolen frequently. People quite often misplace or lose them. Losing a mobile device doesn't mean just losing an expensive object but the losing data stored in the device can hurt the person or company owns them. Also in general as popularity of mobile devices grows, users demand to run heavier applications on their mobile. As the trend indicates, us-age of desktop PCs decline, users want to run their desktop applications on their mobile devices with little or no modifications. These end user scenarios have requirements that are not possible using hardware resources available in mobile devices.
Cloud computing enables broad range of applications ranging from traditional office applications to 3D applications to the desktop. Even though mobile devices are increasingly becoming popular, they are not as powerful as desktop computers in terms of computing resources. Also end user demand to run heavier applications on mobile devices keeps increasing.

Remote visualization and control for virtual mobile infrastructure


This invention relates to a biological process for deinking of office waste paper, and more particularly the present invention relates to a biological process for deinking of xerographic and inkjet printed paper using a gram-negative coccoid bacterium deposited at the National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 043, India having Accession No. NIO/DI/32 and being deposited at the Agricultural Research Cultural Collection, and International Depository, having Accession Number NRRL B-30638.

Paper manufacturing is a major industry and a continuously growing one. Increased production of paper imposes a severe demand on plant raw material and thus harms the environment. Recycling of used paper is an alternative that can alleviate the stress that is exercised on the environment. The three major sources of raw material for such recycling are newsprint, photocopied paper and inkjet-printed papers. Recycling of paper requires the removal of the printing ink from the used paper, called deinking, so that the processed material is brighter. Printing on paper is accomplished by using two types of inks, the impact and the non-impact inks. In impact inks, used for newsprints, the ink does not fuse with the paper and is, therefore, easy to remove or disperse during the deinking, or recycling process. Such recycling is now well known and has been carried out for years. On the contrary, non-impact inks used in photocopying, ink-jet printing and laser printing results in the ink fusing with the paper and makes it non-dispersible, thus rendering the deinking process much more difficult (Jeffries, 2002). The toners used for photocopying generally contain iron oxide (about 55%0, olefins (about 5%) and plastic or polymer (Website:http://www.eng-tips.com).
Various hydrolytic enzymes such as cellulase, lipase, amylase of bacterial or fungal origin, individually or in combination have been used for deinking of office waste paper.                (i) A reference may be made to a publication wherein, a method for deinking of xerographic and printed paper, collectively called office waste, includes applying deinking solution to the paper to be deinked, the deinking solution being composed of a cleaning solution and a surfactant, abrading the paper to remove the ink from paper, and washing the paper to remove the deinking solution from the paper (U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,423 Bhatia, S. 1996 Method for deinking paper dated 2000-2, Aug.). However, this patent involves using a special device for deinking of whole sheets and cannot be used on pulp.        (ii) Another reference may be made to wherein, a monocomponent cellulase is used for removal of ink and toners from printed paper (U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,193 Neal, E., Steven, B. E., Hans, H. C. 1994. Use of monocomponent cellulase for removing inks, coatings and toners from printed paper). The technique of isolating monocomponent cellulase from microorganisms by various purifications, chromatographic steps is time consuming and expensive.        (iii) A reference may be made to a publication wherein, endogluconases and hemicellulases from several fungi are used effectively for deinking of Xerox and laser-printed paper (Gubitz, G. M., Mansfield, S. D., Bohm, D. Saddler, J. N. 1998. Effect of endoglucanases and hemicellulases in magnetic and flotation deinking of xerographic and laser-printed papers. Journal of Biotechnology. 65:209-215). As mentioned above the enzyme technology is still an expensive one for using on a large scale.        (iv) A reference may be made to a publication, wherein deinking of laser printed or xerographic paper is done using enzyme containing a resistant binder. Enzyme is added in the specified form to improve speck removal (Landley, J. G. Stockwell, J. O. 1997. Enzyme deinking of paper. Patent Number GB 2304741 dated 26 Mar. 1997). As with the above references, the technology to produce enzymes, their purification and application is an expensive process.        (v) A reference may be made to a publication, wherein deinking of office waste paper is carried out by contacting the pulp with a deinking agent containing enzymes cellulase, preferably active at pH 4 to 8. The treated paper is used in the production of newsprint and high quality paper (Jobbins, J. M. Asbrand, Jr. G. R. 1996. Composition and process for deinking office waste paper. Patent Number EP 717144 dated 19 Jun. 1996). As with the above references, the technology to produce enzymes, their purification and application is an expensive process.        (vi) A reference may be made to a publication, wherein deinking of waste paper is achieved by incubating the paper pulp with cellulase at 40° C. for 1 hour under pressure. Following dissociation of ink particles, the resulting washed pulp is brighter (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 1994. Deinking of waste paper. Patent number JP06346390 dated 20 Dec. 1994). As with the above references, the technology to produce enzymes, their purification and application is an expensive process.        (vii) A reference may be made to a publication, wherein deinking is achieved by using lipase to remove ink from used paper. The procedure is carried out under neutral or alkaline conditions which produces regenerated pulp having enhanced brightness (Novo. 1990. Removing ink from used paper. Patent number JP2160984 dated 20 Jun. 1990).        (viii) A reference may be made to a publication, wherein deinking of waste paper is done by using the yeast Hansenula polymorpha, which degrades the ink-based resin (Jeonju-Paper. 1993. Waste-paper deinking. Patent Number KR 9303705 dated 8 May 1993). However, the ink floats on the surface and the pulp has to be extensively washed to remove the detached ink.        (ix) A reference may be made to a publication, wherein decolorization of Indian ink is achieved by using thermostable alkaline cellulase from a Bacillus sp (Kao. 1998. A microbiologically produced thermostable alkaline cellulase and a process for its preparation. Patent number JP10313859).

Process for biological deinking of office waste paper

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research


A spherical bearing used in a rod end housing is modified with an elastomeric member equally precompressed in an amount of about 30% of an unstressed thickness of the elastomeric member to isolate the transmission of vibrations and sound. Such spherical elastomeric bearings can be used in any application where a conventional spherical bearing is used such as cable connections, clutch linkages, etc., in trucks, farm tractors, and various other pieces of equipment.

The present invention is directed to the field of spherical bearings. More particularly this invention is directed to an improved spherical bearing which incorporates an elastomeric member to provide isolation of transmitted vibrations.
Spherical rod ends, that is, rod ends having spherical bearings, are widely used to make various connections including control cables and clutch linkages in class 8 trucks, farm tractors, off highway vehicles and other types of equipment. Such rod ends typically comprise a spherical bearing (a first metal element with an external spherical configuration and a second metal element with a complementary internal spherical surface with a Teflon.RTM. coating or a similarly configured plastic element) in a housing. The housing has i) a cylindrical opening that receives the spherical bearing and ii) a radially extending stud that typically has an internal thread that can be directly threaded onto the end of a cable, or the like. The first outer metal element can be retained in the housing by press fit or other mechanical connection such as staking, or the like. The second inner metallic element of the spherical bearing can be bolted to a bracket or other connector and the pivotability of the spherical bearing permits misalignment and movement of the cable relative to the connector, as needed.
A particular problem with such rod ends is that this rigid construction forms a linking path for the transmission of vibration, some of which takes the form of sound energy, i.e., noise. As efforts are made to make the cabs of these trucks, tractors and off-highway vehicles quieter, something must be done to isolate these transmission paths. The present invention proposes to bond an elastomeric layer to at least one of the inner and outer elements to interrupt (isolate) this direct transmission path. The elastomer may be natural rubber, neoprene, silicon elastomer, fluorocarbon elastomer, EPDM, SBR, PBR or blends thereof. Further, high temperature applications may require the use of other elastomers such as Viton.RTM. polymer, for example. In one embodiment, the elastomer is positioned between the inner and outer elements and bonded to both. In yet another embodiment, the spherical ring inner element is replaced with an elongated stud having a spherical head portion. The opposing end of the stud is externally threaded for bolting through a connector.
Various other features, advantages and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.


A method for applying an anti-corrosion protective layer to the surface of a cylinder for the printing unit of a printing press, the surface having been cleaned and microroughened, includes uniformly applying to the cylinder surface a thermally cross-linkable plastic material dissolved in a solvent, drying and, respectively curing and cross-linking the plastic material layer at an elevated temperature, and then mounting the cylinder in the printing unit without further processing the surface form; and a printing unit cylinder having a surface to which the anti-corrosion layer has been applied.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a printing unit cylinder protected against corrosion, i.e., a corrosion-proof printing unit cylinder, and a method of protecting the printing unit cylinder against corrosion.
Printing unit cylinders installed in modern printing presses, especially rubber blanket cylinders and plate cylinders of web or sheet-fed rotary offset printing presses, are typically coated with protective layers in order to prevent corrosion of the cylinder surface. Simple anti-corrosion layers for gray cast iron or steel cylinders are created by phosphating and subsequent oiling of the cylinder jacket face. It has also become known to create high-quality anti-corrosion layers for printing unit cylinders by electroplating with zinc, nickel and chromium, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,095, for example, or to melt onto the plate cylinder, with the aid of a laser (German Patent 36 08 286), similarly thin metal layers of chromium, nickel, and so forth. Other metal layers, such as high-quality or stainless steel, are applied to the printing cylinder by plasma coating in an argon atmosphere, for example as taught by the published Japanese Patent Document JP 4-238034.
Besides the fact that these conventional methods are relatively complicated and consequently expensive, they often also require post-machining or after-treatment of the cylinder jacket face in order to ensure that dimensional deviations in the cylinder formed after the coating process remain within a tolerance, typically 5 .mu.m, prescribed for the cylinders.
From both the published non-prosecuted European Patent Application EP 0 583 543 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,095, it has also become known to provide the impression cylinder, and not the plate cylinder or rubber blanket cylinder, in the printing unit of a rotary printing press with a layer which, however, is a relatively thick, namely from 0.4 to 1 mm thick, layer of plastic material formed of polyurethane.
The intent in the foregoing references, however, is not to protect the impression cylinder against corrosion but rather to utilize the resilient and elastic properties, respectively, of such a layer in the direct printing process described therein in order to optimize the printing or reproduction performance.
In the published non-prosecuted Japanese Patent Application JP-61-79697, a dampening roller for the dampening unit of an offset printing press is described which carries a hydrophilic layer formed of a mixture of polyurethane and quartz powder and having a thickness of between 50 .mu.m and 150 .mu.m. Besides the fact that neither a printing cylinder nor an anti-corrosion layer is involved in this publication, the surface of the dampening roller described therein is also ground after it has been coated.
Generally, conventional coatings of such plastic materials as polyamides (for example, known under the trade name Rilsan) applied to rollers in the inking or dampening unit of printing presses are not especially well suited as anti-corrosion layers, because these layers adhere rather poorly to the surface of the cylinders and are therefore shrunken relatively thickly onto the cylinder surface so that post-machining or after-treatment of the cylinder surface is then required. Such a shrinkage package is moreover possible only for completely closed cylinder surfaces.

Printing press and method having a printing unit cylinder protected against corrosion


Low temperature, ambient pressure processes are desired for fabrication of transistors on flexible polymer substrates. Lamination of semiconductors is such a process. The semiconductor is deposited on a donor substrate. The donor is positioned over a receiver substrate, which may be patterned with additional transistor elements. The semiconductor is transferred from the donor to the receiver by lamination.

Most active electronics today is done using silicon integrated circuit (IC) technology on crystalline or on other hard surfaces. In recent years, lower cost paths than silicon IC processes have been emerging. Thin film transistors can be fabricated with low-cost flexible plastics as a substrate using low temperature processes. Combining flexible substrates with low cost continuous printing methods is a goal that would allow for the production of inexpensive or large applications that IC silicon technology cannot deliver. Examples of products that would benefit with low cost flexible electronics are disposable tags, sensors or flexible displays. The use of polymer substrates dictates that the thin film transistor fabrication processes operate at low temperature. Additionally, it is desired that transistor fabrication processes operate at ambient pressure so that large areas of polymer substrate can be processed without introduction into a vacuum chamber.
Japanese Patent 2002236286 discloses a colored organic film used as a layer insulation membrane, which is laminated. U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,663 discloses a thin film transistor formed by laminating two substrates together. An interconnect structure is transferred during the lamination. An organic semiconductor is not transferred. In contrast, the present invention describes a process where the semiconductor of a thin film device is transferred to a substrate by lamination as defined herein.


A gearbox device adapted for converting a first torque at a first rotational speed into a second torque at a second rotational speed is provided. The gearbox device includes a hollow gearbox input shaft adapted for inputting the first torque, a transmission unit arranged at least partially within the hollow gearbox input shaft and adapted for converting the first rotational speed into the second rotational speed, and a gearbox output shaft adapted for outputting the second torque.

The present disclosure generally relates to a drive train of a wind turbine, and in particular relates to a gearbox included in a drive train of a wind turbine. Furthermore, present disclosure generally relates to a method for transferring torque.
Wind turbines are of increasing importance as environmentally safe and reliable energy sources. A wind turbine typically includes a rotor having at least one rotor blade and a hub for converting incoming wind energy into rotational, mechanical energy. A rotation of the hub of the wind turbine is transferred to a main rotor shaft which is connected to an input shaft of a mechanical gearbox. An output shaft of the mechanical gearbox is connected to an electrical generator adapted for converting the mechanical rotational energy output from the mechanical gearbox into electrical energy.


A rear glass according to the present invention is a rear glass that is attachable to a resin lift-up back door in a rear of a vehicle, the rear glass including a glass plate, a defogger that is arranged in the vicinity of a center of the glass plate in an up-down direction, and an AM antenna that is arranged upward of the defogger on the glass plate, in which the AM antenna includes a power supply part and an antenna element that extends from the power supply part.

Some automobiles include a door referred to as a back door mounted thereto. This back door is a lift-up door for closing an opening in a rear of a vehicle, and the door and a rear glass are formed as a single body. Such a back door is disclosed in Patent Literature 1, for example. A defogger for removing fog is mounted on the rear glass of the back door disclosed in Patent Literature 1. Also, an AM antenna is arranged on the rear glass to surround the defogger.


An infection control device includes a plurality of air inlets spaced around the device's peripheral skirt. A negative ion ozone generator having a plurality of spaced pointed projections is inwardly of the peripheral skirt with a ground disk inwardly of the generator. Air flows through the inlets to the generator, to the disk and to a catheter exit site.

Various medical practices include inserting a catheter into and below the skin of the patient. If proper care is not taken microorganisms result at the operative site. For example, common bacteria associated with peritoneal catheters include staph aureus, pseudomonas aeruginosa and staph epidermidis. Airborne bacterial such as acinetobacter might also be at the site. It would be desirable if some form of infection control device could be provided in conjunction with the catheter to minimize dangers resulting from such microorganisms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,852 discloses an ion generator as part of a connect/disconnect device for plastic tubes. As disclosed therein when plastic tubes are melted in a connect or disconnect procedure aerosol particles are formed. The aerosol particles are confined or contained by providing an ion generator which imparts an electrical charge to the particles. The charged particles are then collected by a collector plate within the device.


The present invention relates to compositions comprising Wnt antagonists and methods of treating Wnt-associated diseases and disorders, such as cancer, inducing differentiation, and reducing the frequency of cancer stem cells, as well as novel methods of screening for such Wnt antagonists. In particular, the invention discloses soluble FZD, SFRP and Ror receptors and their use.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the developed world, with over one million people diagnosed with cancer and 500,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. Overall it is estimated that more than 1 in 3 people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime. There are more than 200 different types of cancer, four of which—breast, lung, colorectal, and prostate—account for over half of all new cases (Jemal et al., 2009, Cancer J. Clin., 58:225-249).
The Wnt signaling pathway has been identified as a potential target for cancer therapy. The Wnt signaling pathway is one of several critical regulators of embryonic pattern formation, post-embryonic tissue maintenance, and stem cell biology. More specifically, Wnt signaling plays an important role in the generation of cell polarity and cell fate specification including self-renewal by stem cell populations. Unregulated activation of the Wnt pathway is associated with numerous human cancers where it can alter the developmental fate of tumor cells to maintain them in an undifferentiated and proliferative state. Thus carcinogenesis can proceed by usurping homeostatic mechanisms controlling normal development and tissue repair by stem cells (reviewed in Reya & Clevers, 2005, Nature, 434:843-50; Beachy et al., 2004, Nature, 432:324-31).
The Wnt signaling pathway was first elucidated in the Drosophila developmental mutant wingless (wg) and from the murine proto-oncogene int-1, now Wnt1 (Nusse & Varmus, 1982, Cell, 31:99-109; Van Ooyen & Nusse, 1984, Cell, 39:233-40; Cabrera et al., 1987, Cell, 50:659-63; Rijsewijk et al., 1987, Cell, 50:649-57). Wnt genes encode secreted lipid-modified glycoproteins of which 19 have been identified in mammals. These secreted ligands activate a receptor complex consisting of a Frizzled (FZD) receptor family member and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor-related protein 5 or 6 (LRP5/6). The FZD receptors are seven transmembrane domain proteins of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily and contain a large extracellular N-terminal ligand binding domain with 10 conserved cysteines, known as a cysteine-rich domain (CRD) or Fri domain. There are ten human FZD receptors, FZD1, FZD2, FZD3, FZD4, FZD5, FZD6, FZD7, FZD8, FZD9 and FZD10. Different FZD CRDs have different binding affinities for specific Wnts (Wu & Nusse, 2002, J. Biol. Chem., 277:41762-9), and FZD receptors have been grouped into those that activate the canonical β-catenin pathway and those that activate non-canonical pathways described below (Miller et al., 1999, Oncogene, 18:7860-72). To form the receptor complex that binds the FZD ligands, FZD receptors interact with LRP5/6, single pass transmembrane proteins with four extracellular EGF-like domains separated by six YWTD amino acid repeats (Johnson et al., 2004, J. Bone Mineral Res., 19:1749).
The canonical Wnt signaling pathway activated upon receptor binding is mediated by the cytoplasmic protein Dishevelled (Dsh) interacting directly with the FZD receptor and results in the cytoplasmic stabilization and accumulation of β-catenin. In the absence of a Wnt signal, β-catenin is localized to a cytoplasmic destruction complex that includes the tumor suppressor proteins adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) and Axin. These proteins function as critical scaffolds to allow glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) to bind and phosphorylate β-catenin, marking it for degradation via the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway. Activation of Dsh results in phophorylation of GSK3β and the dissociation of the destruction complex. Accumulated cytoplasmic β-catenin is then transported into the nucleus where it interacts with the DNA-binding proteins of the TCF/LEF family to activate transcription.
In addition to the canonical signaling pathway, Wnt ligands also activate β-catenin-independent pathways (Veeman et al., 2003, Dev. Cell, 5:367-77). Non-canonical Wnt signaling has been implicated in numerous processes but most convincingly in gastrulation movements via a mechanism similar to the Drosophila planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway. Other potential mechanisms of non-canonical Wnt signaling include calcium flux, JNK, and both small and heterotrimeric G-proteins. Antagonism is often observed between the canonical and non-canonical pathways, and some evidence indicates that non-canonical signaling can suppress cancer formation (Olson & Gibo, 1998, Exp. Cell Res., 241:134; Topol et al., 2003, J. Cell Biol., 162:899-908). Thus in certain contexts, FZD receptors act as negative regulators of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. For example, FZD6 represses Wnt3a-induced canonical signaling when co-expressed with FZD1 via the TAK1-NLK pathway (Golan et al., 2004, JBC, 279:14879-88). Similarly, FZD2 was shown to antagonize canonical Wnt signaling in the presence of Wnt5a via the TAK1-NLK MAPK cascade (Ishitani et al., 2003, Mol. Cell. Biol., 23:131-39).
The canonical Wnt signaling pathway also plays a central role in the maintenance of stem cell populations in the small intestine and colon, and the inappropriate activation of this pathway plays a prominent role in colorectal cancers (Reya & Clevers, 2005, Nature, 434:843). The absorptive epithelium of the intestines is arranged into villi and crypts. Stem cells reside in the crypts and slowly divide to produce rapidly proliferating cells that give rise to all the differentiated cell populations that move out of the crypts to occupy the intestinal villi. The Wnt signaling cascade plays a dominant role in controlling cell fates along the crypt-villi axis and is essential for the maintenance of the stem cell population. Disruption of Wnt signaling either by genetic loss of TCF7/2 by homologous recombination (Korinek et al., 1998, Nat. Genet., 19:379) or overexpression of Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1), a potent secreted Wnt antagonist (Pinto et al., 2003, Genes Dev., 17:1709-13; Kuhnert et al., 2004, PNAS, 101:266-71), results in depletion of intestinal stem cell populations.
A role for Wnt signaling in cancer was first uncovered with the identification of Wnt1 (originally int1) as an oncogene in mammary tumors transformed by the nearby insertion of a murine virus (Nusse & Varmus, 1982, Cell, 31:99-109). Additional evidence for the role of Wnt signaling in breast cancer has since accumulated. For instance, transgenic overexpression of β-catenin in the mammary glands results in hyperplasias and adenocarcinomas (Imbert et al., 2001, J. Cell Biol., 153:555-68; Michaelson & Leder, 2001, Oncogene, 20:5093-9) whereas loss of Wnt signaling disrupts normal mammary gland development (Tepera et al., 2003, J. Cell Sci., 116:1137-49; Hatsell et al., 2003, J. Mammary Gland Biol. Neoplasia, 8:145-58). More recently mammary stem cells have been shown to be activated by Wnt signaling (Liu et al., 2004, PNAS, 101:4158-4163). In human breast cancer, β-catenin accumulation implicates activated Wnt signaling in over 50% of carcinomas, and though specific mutations have not been identified, upregulation of Frizzled receptor expression has been observed (Brennan & Brown, 2004, J. Mammary Gland Neoplasia, 9:119-31; Malovanovic et al., 2004, Int. J. Oncol., 25:1337-42).
Colorectal cancer is most commonly initiated by activating mutations in the Wnt signaling cascade. Approximately 5-10% of all colorectal cancers are hereditary with one of the main forms being familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), an autosomal dominant disease in which about 80% of affected individuals contain a germline mutation in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene. Mutations have also been identified in other Wnt pathway components including Axin and β-catenin. Individual adenomas are clonal outgrowths of epithelial cells containing a second inactivated allele, and the large number of FAP adenomas inevitably results in the development of adenocarcinomas through additional mutations in oncogenes and/or tumor suppressor genes. Furthermore, activation of the Wnt signaling pathway, including gain-of-function mutations in APC and β-catenin, can induce hyperplastic development and tumor growth in mouse models (Oshima et al., 1997, Cancer Res., 57:1644-9; Harada et al., 1999, EMBO J., 18:5931-42).

Wnt antagonist and methods of treatment and screening


Provided is a photoresist composition including a plasma light absorber and a method of manufacturing semiconductor devices using the same. The photoresist composition may include a developable polymer, a photoacid generator, a plasma light absorber, and an organic solvent. The plasma light absorber may be relatively transmissive to light used with a photolithographic patterning process (e.g., ultraviolet light) to pattern a layer formed with the photoresist composition and be relatively absorptive to light created in a subsequent etching process (such as light generated from a plasma). When forming a semiconductor device, a patterned photoresist layer may be more precisely generated and may better maintain is desired properties when used to etch various target layers of the semiconductor device.

The inventive concept relates to a photoresist composition for deep ultraviolet (DUV) light, a patterning method, and a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device.
A variety of manufacturing methods are proposed to manufacture semiconductor apparatuses. In some methods, and a thick photoresist is desired. However, when a photoresist pattern is thick, the transmittance of the photoresist may become a problem, and thus, efforts to increase transmittance are required. However, efforts to increase transmittance involve various optical problems, and thus various technical problems should be solved simultaneously.

Photoresist composition for deep ultraviolet light patterning method and method of manufacturing semiconductor device


In a method of fabricating a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor and a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor fabricated according to the method, the method comprises: forming an insulating-layer pattern on a semiconductor substrate, the insulating-layer pattern having a plurality of openings that respectively define areas where capacitor cells are to be formed; forming a lower electrode conductive layer on the insulating-layer pattern and on the semiconductor substrate; forming a first sacrificial layer that fills the openings on the lower electrode conductive layer; forming a second sacrificial layer on of the first sacrificial layer; planarizing the second sacrificial layer; exposing an upper surface of the lower electrode conductive layer; removing the exposed lower electrode conductive layer to form a plurality of lower electrodes that are separated from each other, each corresponding to a capacitor cell; and forming dielectric layers and upper electrodes, that are separated from each other, each corresponding to a capacitor cell, on each of the lower electrodes to provide a plurality of MIM capacitor cells constituting one capacitor to which the same electric signal is applied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor and an MIM capacitor fabricated by the method, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating a concave-shaped MIM capacitor and an MIM capacitor fabricated by the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of capacitors such as metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors, PN junction capacitors, polysilicon-insulator-polysilicon (PIP) capacitors, and metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors are used in semiconductor devices. In particular, since a metal is used as an upper electrode and/or a lower electrode of the MIM capacitor instead of a monocrystalline silicon layer or a polycrystalline silicon layer, the MIM capacitor offers reduced electrode resistance.
Accordingly, the MIM capacitor is mainly used in integrated circuits that operate at high-speed. Further, since the capacitance of the MIM capacitor is largely unaffected by variations in voltage and temperature, the MIM capacitor can be used in analog integrated circuits.
As the chip size of a semiconductor device continues to be reduced, it is difficult to obtain the required capacitance for operability of the semiconductor device. To increase the capacitance, several approaches, such as using a dielectric layer material with a high dielectric constant, reducing the thickness of the dielectric layer, and increasing the effective area of the lower electrode, have been employed. In particular, various methods have been developed in order to increase the effective area of the lower electrode. In the various approaches, the lower electrode has been formed in a cylindrical shape, a concave shape, a stacked shape, and so forth. Alternatively, a hemispherical grain (HSG) can be grown on the lower electrode to increase the effective area.
A conventional method of fabricating a concave-shaped MIM capacitor is described below. First, a lower electrode conductive layer is formed on an insulating-layer pattern formed on a semiconductor substrate and having a plurality of openings. Thereafter, a filling material for filling the openings, for example, a photoresist layer or Flowable OXide (FOX) layer, is coated on an upper part of the lower electrode conductive layer and a plurality of lower electrodes (cells) that are separated from each other are then formed through a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process or an etch-back process. Here, the lower electrode is referred to as a lower electrode of a plurality of unit capacitors (hereinafter, referred to as an MIM capacitor cell) constituting a single MIM capacitor.
In particular, the predetermined filling material must have an excellent gap filling characteristic to fully fill the openings on the lower electrode conductive layer. Further, the filling material must be hard enough to resist the laterally directed force applied during the CMP process. When the filling material is removed, the filling material must have such an etch selectivity that the lower electrodes are not removed. However, when the plurality of lower electrodes separated from each other are formed in the conventional MIM capacitor, the height of the lower electrode located in the center of the capacitor can be lower than the height of the lower electrode located at the edge of the capacitor. Accordingly, uniformity in the capacitance between the MIM capacitor cells can deteriorate.

Method of fabricating metal-insulator-metal capacitor and metal-insulator-metal capacitor manufactured by the method


Allocating spectrum to a secondary radio device includes determining a contour separation distance for the secondary radio device. The contour separation distance is a function of a minimum separation distance from protected areas of primary radio devices and an accuracy variance for the secondary radio device. The accuracy variance is specified as a distance and is a function of accuracy information for a reported location of the secondary radio device. If a distance between a contour of a protected area for a primary radio device and the reported location for the secondary radio device is less than the contour separation distance, a channel used by the primary radio device is not available for use by the secondary radio device for wireless communications. Otherwise the channel used by the primary radio device is available for use by the secondary radio device for wireless communications.

Spectrum sharing is one of the most viable ways of improving the amount of spectrum available to wireless networks and other radio devices for conducting wireless communications. An exemplary spectrum sharing technique involves use of television white spaces under regulations set forth by an appropriate regulatory agency. An exemplary regulatory agency that regulates the use of wireless spectrum is the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Other countries may have similar regulatory entities.
In the U.S., for example, the FCC has eliminated analog television (TV) broadcasts in favor of digital TV broadcasts. This has freed spectrum channels for use by unlicensed radio systems to offer various services, such as mobile communications and Internet access. In this context, the freed spectrum is commonly referred to as TV white space (or TVWS) but other types of white spaces are possible. In the case of TV white space, the white space includes unused spectrum that is interleaved with spectrum used by incumbent radio devices in the channel 2 to channel 51 range (corresponding to 54 MHz to 698 MHz). Exemplary incumbent radio devices for TV white space include television broadcasters and other priority users of television channels.
Under FCC regulations, for example, radio devices that use TVWS must contact a central database server (also referred to as a spectrum management server) and receive a channel list (also referred to as a channel map) of available channels for which the radio device may use in a shared environment with other TV band devices (TVBDs). The channel list that is generated for a TVBD by the central database server is based on the location of the TVBD and its radio characteristics. In this manner, the operation of incumbent radio devices having protected areas in which the TVBD is located will be taken into account when determining channel availability.
A concern expressed by the operators of incumbent radio devices is how the incumbent spectrum use will be protected from the potential effects of interference by TVBDs. The solution of choice is a geo-location database (e.g., the above-noted central database server) that is capable of managing the allocation of spectrum in accordance with policies defined in terms of geography, time, frequency and other application parameters, such as transmit power and emissions characteristics. But this methodology is predicated on a radio device being able to accurately report its location and characteristics (such as antenna height, gain, and emissions characteristics). If a device reports a location that is not accurate, the device may gain access to spectrum for which it would not otherwise have been permitted to use. Therefore, inaccurate location reporting may result in a higher likelihood of interference.
The process of spectrum management by a geo-location database system to protect the operation of incumbent radio systems relies on geographic coordinates reported by managed radio devices to be relatively accurate. For example, a geo-location database that operates in accordance with white spaces regulations, such as those promulgated by the FCC in the U.S. under 47 C.F.R. §15.701 et. seq., uses the location reported by a TVBD in a channel allocation request to provide a channel list of available TV white space channels to the TVBD for use in wireless communications by the TVBD. To provide an accurate list of available channels, the reported location is required by the FCC rules to be accurate to ±50 meters.
The accuracy requirement is used to ensure that the geographic coordinates are precise enough to provide effective protection for incumbent spectrum users. Additionally, separation distances between the white spaces radio and the protected radio devices are defined by contours that are specified such that the distances are adequate to provide protection based on the degree of location accuracy (e.g., the above-noted ±50 meters to TVWS). But the FCC regulations for TV white spaces only specify a single accuracy requirement and, correspondingly, only specify one set of separation distances. So if the radio cannot determine its geographic coordinates to the required accuracy, the radio is not permitted to receive a spectrum allocation.
For portable devices, such as mobile telephones, tablet computers, etc., the current location of the device is typically provided by a built-in geo-location determination technology of the device, such as GPS. Fixed location devices also may use this approach. But an incorporated geo-location capability cannot always provide sufficient accuracy. For example, a device located indoors or in a highly obstructed environment may not be able to determine its location using GPS within an accuracy of ±50 meters.
An example of a geo-location determination technique that has relatively low precision (e.g., location accuracy of greater than 50 meters) is GPS with an indicator of precision (e.g., a dilution of precision or DOP) that indicates a relatively low accuracy in the determined location coordinates. Another example is Apple Inc.'s "iOS horizontalAccuracy" (unspecified confidence). Google Inc.'s "Android location.GetAccuracy" (68% confidence) also has location accuracy of greater than 50 meters. Other examples include cellular site triangulation and WiFi access point proximity (e.g., as a service available from Skyhook Wireless, Inc. of Boston, Mass.).

System and method for allocating spectrum using dynamically adjusted separation distances for mitigating interference


A method of inspecting a rotatable shaft for the presence of defects may include continuously rotating a shaft under an applied load. As the shaft is rotated, an ultrasonic signal may be propagated along the length of the shaft. Attenuated or reflected ultrasonic signals may be collected from the shaft as the shaft is rotated. The presence of a defect in the shaft is determined by analyzing the collected ultrasonic signals.

Rotating components such as axles, shafts and the like may be subject to fatigue cracking particularly when the rotating component is subject to unbalanced loading conditions. Left undiagnosed, such cracking may ultimately lead to a catastrophic failure of the rotating component. When the rotating component is a conveyor shaft or similar component employed in a manufacturing operation, failure of the rotating component may shut down the manufacturing operation thereby resulting in significant economic losses.
To prevent failure, the rotating component may be regularly and frequently inspected for fatigue cracks or other damage which may lead to cracking as a matter of routine preventative maintenance. Current methods for inspecting a rotating component for cracks may involve the use of eddy-current inspection devices, meandering-wandering magnetometer inspection devices, x-ray diffraction, mag-particle testing, dye-penetrant inspection, and the like. While such techniques and devices are well suited for identifying the smallest of cracks, none of the techniques and/or devices are particularly well suited for the in situ inspection of the rotating component while the component is actually rotating. More specifically, the above referenced techniques generally require that the rotating component be removed from the apparatus in which it is installed in order for the inspection to be performed which, in turn, may cause costly process down time. In certain situations these preventative maintenance measures may be nearly as costly as the failure of the rotating component.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative methods and systems for inspecting rotating shafts for cracks.

Methods and systems for ultrasonic inspection of rotating shafts

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A semiconductor nonvolatile memory cell array includes a plurality of semiconductor nonvolatile memory cells. Each memory cell has a control electrode (30); a pair of impurity diffusion regions (21, 22) to provide first and second main electrodes; a pair of variable resistance sections (24, 26); and a pair of charge storage sections (50, 52). The array has a word line (33) electrically connected to the control electrodes of the semiconductor nonvolatile memory cells and bit lines provided perpendicular to the word line and composed of the impurity diffusion regions; and layer insulation layers (57, 58) provided between the charge storage sections and the word line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor nonvolatile memory cell array and a process for producing the same and, particularly, to a semiconductor nonvolatile memory cell array composed of semiconductor nonvolatile memory cells that have simple memory operations and are produced at low costs.
2. Description of the Related Art
The semiconductor nonvolatile memory, which needs no power to retain stored information, is used as a memory for a low power device, such as a cell phone. A structure having a metal oxide nitride oxide semiconductor (MONOS) type memory cell with at least two gate electrodes has been proposed. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,408,115 and 6,255,166. The MONOS type memory cell has in the channel forming region a transistor with a gate insulating film or layer made of an oxide nitride oxide (ONO) laminated insulating film or layer in which charge can accumulate in addition to a transistor with an ordinary gate insulating film.
However, in the above semiconductor nonvolatile memory, it is necessary to optimize the respective channel densities in the channel forming regions formed under the ONO laminated insulation layer and the gate insulation layer. Where separate voltages are applied to the two gate electrodes, the corresponding peripheral circuits, such as voltage generators and decoders, are required, resulting in the complicated structure. In addition, the mechanism for operating the memory becomes complicated, and it is difficult to inject charge into the ONO laminated insulation layer in simple and effective manner. Since the memory has at least two gate electrodes and the associated gate insulation layers including the ONO laminated insulation layers, the memory cell structure becomes so complex that the manufacturing cost becomes high.

Semiconductor nonvolatile memory cell array


A collateral generation system generates and sends physical direct mail to one or more users on behalf of an entity with which the users have interacted. The collateral generation system can send physical direct mail to prospects, who may not have a prior relationship with the entity. In general, prospects would not normally be sent mailings because the entity lacks some primary information about the entity, such as an address or sufficient identifying information to obtain an address of the entity. The collateral generation system identifies prospects based on activity online and obtains mailing addresses of the prospects from an identification service while retaining user anonymity of those prospects. The collateral generation system generates collateral, which may be personalized for a defined block group of prospects (e.g., individuals or organizations), and the collateral is sent as physical mail to the prospects on behalf of the entity.

This disclosure generally relates to generating and sending personalized direct mail. A typical process for sending direct mail to a multitude of recipients takes up to 24 weeks and will generally deliver the same piece of mail to each recipient of the direct mail. In many cases, the direct mail is completely designed well in advance of mailing including any creative elements as well as any associated offers or promotions, and is intended to be generic or common to each future recipient of the direct mail. The recipient list is typically a mailing list of known customers. Addresses of the direct mail recipients are stored in the mailing list and can be added to preprinted direct mail items. Currently, traditional direct mail systems separate the printing and addressing of direct mail into two distinct processes, often performed at two different vendors. First, generic templates of the direct mail are printed without addresses or other personalized information. Next, addresses and fixed personalized details, such as unique promotional codes or names, of the customers in the mailing list are added to the already printed templates and subsequently sent for mailing.
However, typical direct mail systems are not set up to produce different mailings to different subsets of a mailing list. Further, traditional direct mail systems do not enable sending direct mail to prospects that are not already known to the mailer. Instead, typical direct mail systems receive a customer list, and can send direct mail only to the known customers included on the received list. Therefore, existing direct mailing systems are slow and inflexible, both in terms of content and in the selection of recipients to receive direct mail. Furthermore, after mail is delivered, there is no way to directly determine the outcome of the mailing, so the available statistics of reception or response rate for mail sent by a traditional direct mail system have limited accuracy.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.