Styrenic block copolymers are blended with propylene copolymers to provide polymeric compositions with an improved balance between processability and elasticity. The compositions have improved processability by facilitating the ease with which a rubbery material, usually difficult to melt process, can be processed at high line speeds, which in turn improves the formation of the composition into films or other articles, assisted by a desired level of melt elasticity, i.e., a high elastic extension and recovery.

Many thermoplastic elastomer compositions exhibit a trade-off between processability and physical properties. For example, elastomers with beneficial physical properties such as ethylene-propylene copolymers (EP's), styrenic block copolymers (SBC's), and polyurethanes are difficult to process into useful articles. Among these elastomers, increases in hardness, flexural modulus, and tensile strength are typically accompanied by losses in elastic properties, such as elastic recovery and hysteresis. In particular, SBC's used in elastomeric applications suffer from the disadvantage that they cannot be drawn to desired thicknesses and must be blended with other materials such as ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers, ethylene methacrylate copolymers, or low density polyethylene plastomers to achieve beneficial processability characteristics. However, the use of such processing aids leads to loss of the desirable chemical and mechanical properties of the SBC.
Polyolefin thermoplastic elastomers comprising blends of propylene polymers with non-crystalline ethylene-α-olefin random copolymers or with hydrogenated products of styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymers are disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent application Nos. Sho 50-14742/1975, Sho 52-65551/1977, Sho 58-20664/1983, and Sho 58-215446/1983. However, elastomeric compositions obtained by blending propylene polymers with SBC's and further with hydrocarbon oils for improving flowability, have a drawback that when molded, the mechanical strength properties, e.g. tensile strength and flexural modulus, of the resulting molded products are lower. Further, elastomeric compositions obtained by blending propylene polymers with non-crystalline ethylene-α-olefin random copolymers have good rubber elasticity, but on the other hand, they have high compounding viscosities.
Similarly, Japanese laid-open patent application No. Sho 61-14248/1986 discloses an elastomeric composition obtained by blending propylene-ethylene block copolymers with SBC's, and if necessary, non-crystalline ethylene-propylene rubbers. However these blends suffer from high compound viscosity leading to difficult fabrication and surface marks.
US 20070240605 (also published as EP 1778781 and WO 06020309, incorporated by reference herein) discloses SBC's used in conjunction with propylene dominated elastomers such that the combinations are found to have desirable elastomeric properties, while at the same time exhibiting beneficial processability characteristics. However, none of the example data disclose SBC formulations having simultaneously a melt flow rate of at least 50 dg/min and a flexural modulus less than 100 MPa. Further improvements in balancing the elastomeric properties and processability characteristics of blends containing SBC are desired.
It has been discovered herein that styrenic block copolymers blended with certain low molecular weight polymer materials incorporating propylene-derived units provide polymeric compositions with an improved balance between processability and elasticity. The improved processability of the compositions arising from the use of these propylene copolymers relates to the ease with which a rubbery material, usually difficult to extrude, can be extruded at high line speeds, which in turn influences the draw-down into films from an extrusion die and is assisted by a desired level of melt elasticity, i.e., a high elastic extension and recovery, even after many cycles. More specifically, in certain embodiments, the polymeric compositions described herein provide additional control of processability, softness and service temperature without significantly detracting from underlying tensile and permanent set characteristics. Most importantly, in blends with styrenic block copolymers the propylene copolymers are able to form soft, malleable and easily processable compositions, whereas similar blends, where process oils are substituted for all or part of the propylene copolymers, form powdery or granular mixtures which are neither malleable nor easily processed.
The propylene copolymers have limited crystallinity resulting from a controlled disruption in isotactic propylene sequences of the polymer, which leads to improved processing of the styrenic block copolymers and retention of mechanical and chemical properties. In addition, these blends may be weld bonded to polyolefin substrates, typically polypropylene compounds or fabrications, more readily than the styrenic block copolymer alone. This improved bonding is believed to be due to better processing, as well as similarity of the composition of the polypropylene substrate and the blend of this invention. Moreover, the polymeric compositions of this invention are soft and elastic yet have improved flow properties at processing temperatures that are better than those displayed by previous materials.

Blends of low crystallinity, low molecular weight propylene copolymers and styrenic block copolymers


According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a disk, a head which writes data to the disk and reads data from the disk, and a controller which executes, in a first region segmented in a radial direction of the disk, at least one of conventional recording processing which writes a plurality of tracks with a space in between in the radial direction at a first linear recording density and shingled recording processing which writes a plurality of tracks on top of one another in the radial direction at a second linear recording density which is less than or equal to the first linear recording density.

Recently, magnetic disk devices using technologies which realize high recording density have been developed. As the magnetic disk device which realizes high recording density, there is a magnetic disk device using shingled recording (shingled write magnetic recording: SMR or singled write recording: SWR) which writes a plurality of tracks on top of one another in a radial direction of a disk. There is also a magnetic disk device which can select and execute one of conventional recording, which writes a plurality of tracks with a space in between in a radial direction of a disk, and shingled recording.

Disk device having conventional magnetic recording region and shingled magnetic recording region of different linear density

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation


A robust method of stabilizing a diode laser frequency to an atomic transition is provided. The method employs Zeeman shift to generate an anti-symmetric signal about a Doppler-broadened atomic resonance, and, therefore, offers a large recapture range as well as high stability. The frequency of a 780 nm diode laser, stabilized to such a signal in Rb, drifts less than 0.5 MHz.sub.pk-pk (one part in 10.sup.9) in thirty-eight hours. This tunable frequency lock may be inexpensively constructed, requires little laser power, rarely loses lock, and may be extended to other wavelengths by using different atomic species.

The present invention generally relates to a system and a method for stabilizing a diode laser frequency to an atomic transition. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method that employs Zeeman shift to stabilize a diode laser frequency.
Lasers with stable frequencies are essential in many fields of research. In addition, such lasers are used commercially in precision machining tools, gravimeters, and laser vibrometers. He-Ne lasers have been an industry standard for many years (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,292 to Cutler), but they are generally bulky, energy inefficient and have limited tube lifetimes.
Diode lasers offer an improvement in all these areas and may be stabilized to atomic transitions. Typical methods of stabilization as described in, for example, C. E. Wieman et al., "Using Diode Lasers for Atomic Physics," Rev. Sci. Instrum., 62, 1191, pp. 1-20 and K. B. MacAdam et al., "A Narrow-Band Tunable Diode Laser System with Grating Feedback and a Saturated Absorption Spectrometer for Cs and Rb," Am. J. Phys, 60, 1992, pp. 1098-1111. While these stabilization methods may be practical in some laboratory settings, they are not reliable enough for use in commercial equipment.
The present invention, however, overcomes the deficiencies of previous methods. Using a technique originally demonstrated with an LNA laser in helium (see B. Cheron et al., "Laser Frequency Stabilization Using Zeeman Effect," J. Phys. III, 4, 1994, pp. 401-406), the present invention sets forth a very robust diode laser stabilization scheme that may be useful in both commercial instruments and research laboratories.

System and a method for frequency-stabilizing a diode laser


In a memory cell including an inverter, a capacitor is provided. When the memory cell is not accessed, data stored in the memory cell is copied to the capacitor and then power supply to the inverter is stopped. When the memory cell needs to be accessed, the data is returned from the capacitor to the inverter. In this manner, power consumption when the memory cell is not accessed is reduced. Furthermore, in a memory device including a plurality of such memory cells, backup of the first memory cell and backup of the second memory cell are performed at different timings. Recovery of the first memory cell and recovery of the second memory cell are also performed at different timings. Consequently, power required for backup or recovery can be distributed. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

1. Field of the Invention
One embodiment relates to an arithmetic processing unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
For arithmetic processing units (e.g., central processing units (CPUs)), an architecture called a stored-program system is employed in many cases. In an arithmetic processing unit using a stored-program system, an instruction and data needed for performing the instruction are stored in a memory device (e.g., a semiconductor memory device), and an instruction and data are sequentially read from the memory device and the instruction is performed.
The memory device includes a main memory device for storing data and instructions and a cache memory which can perform data writing and data reading at high speed. In order to reduce access to a low-speed main memory device and speed up the arithmetic processing, a cache memory is provided in an arithmetic processing unit, between an arithmetic unit (also referred to as an operation part) or a control unit (also referred to as a control part) of the arithmetic processing unit and the main memory unit. In general, a static random access memory (SRAM) or the like is used as a cache memory.
The capacitance of a cache memory provided in an arithmetic processing unit increases year after year. Accordingly, the proportion of power consumption of a cache memory to the total consumption of an arithmetic processing unit remarkably increases; thus, various methods have been suggested in order to reduce power consumption of the cache memory.
For example, a method in which a cache memory is divided into several blocks and the less frequently used blocks (also referred to as lines) acquired by historical information are operated with a low voltage has been suggested. Furthermore, a method for stopping power supply to a cache line which is less likely to be accessed has also been suggested.
Standby of data or the like is required for a cache memory when arithmetic operation is rarely performed. In such a case, power consumption can be reduced by saving data to a memory device with less power consumption and stopping power supply to the cache memory. Data is preferably saved to a device inside the arithmetic processing unit to ensure high-speed response.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which in a cache memory using a volatile memory such as an SRAM and a backup memory with excellent data retention characteristics as compared with a volatile memory, data of the volatile memory is saved (backed up) to the backup memory before power supply is stopped and the data is returned to the volatile memory (recovered) after the power supply is restarted.

Method for driving arithmetic processing unit

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A linear measurement apparatus includes a measuring unit including at least one first noncontact distance measuring sensor and one second noncontact distance measuring sensor supported at a frame and aligned on opposite sides of a measured object. The measuring unit measures a plurality of first gap distances to a plurality of first object positions in a plurality of parallel first measurement lines and a plurality of second gap distances to a plurality of second object positions in a plurality of parallel second measurement lines. A distance calculator calculates a plurality of candidate object lengths on the basis of the first and second gap distances, each candidate object length being a distance between one of the first object positions and one of the second object positions. A maximum selector selects a maximum object length from among the plurality of candidate object lengths.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to linear measurement apparatuses for measuring the dimensions of objects.
2. Description of Prior Art
Conventionally, contact measurement tools, such as tape measures and slide calipers, are used to easily measure the dimensions of objects. However, contact measurement tools may cause deformation of measured objects if the measured objects are deformable, so that measurement errors may be induced. The amount of deformation varies depending on the strength of force applied to the measured object, and it is difficult to compensate for such measurement errors.
Measurement apparatuses with noncontact distance measurement devices such as optical displacement sensors have been used industrially. For example, each of the Japanese Patent Applications JP-9-273912 (published in 1997) and JP 2004-294368 (published in 2004) discloses a thickness measurement apparatus that may be used in production lines of factories. The thickness measurement apparatus includes a pair of spaced optical displacement sensors located along a travel path of sheet materials. Sheet or plate materials are transferred through the gap between the sensors one by one, and each sensor measures the distance between the sensor itself and the material currently moving. On the basis of the measurements by the sensors, the thickness of the material is determined. A similar apparatus is disclosed in http://www.ncsfox.co.jp/product/dn/laser_c.html (Nittetsu Hokkaido Control Systems Co.). However, these conventional noncontact measurement apparatuses have been designed for measuring only objects of uniform thickness with simple contours.


A substrate coating is provided for application in association with ink jet ink imaging on the substrate. The coating enhances permanence of black and specialty non-black color ink jet prints. The coating material of the present invention can be applied to any non-porous or semi-porous substrate as a pre-print coating. The coating comprises a combination of two polymers, and DMEA to discourage adverse interaction between the two polymers.

In continuous ink jet printing, ink is supplied under pressure to a manifold region that distributes the ink to a plurality of orifices, typically arranged in a linear array(s). The ink discharges from the orifices in filaments which break into droplet streams. The approach for printing with these droplet streams is to selectively charge and deflect certain drops from their normal trajectories. Graphic reproduction is accomplished by selectively charging and deflecting drops from the drop streams and depositing at least some of the drops on a print receiving medium while other of the drops strike a drop catcher device. The continuous stream ink jet printing process is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,255,754; 4,698,123 and 4,751,517, the disclosures of each of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
Achieving improvement in permanence and darkness of ink jet print remains a top priority in the printing business. For ink jet business to grow in the non-porous and semi-porous substrate arts, such as printing on metals and plastics, significant improvement in water resistance, print quality, and print adhesion of the image must be demonstrated.
Dye-based aqueous inks have not been suitable for printing on metals or plastics, due to their inherent high surface tension and their inability to wet non-porous substrates. Even when the surface tension is lowered enough to improve wetting, the ink does not stick to the surface, due to lack of surface penetration. Non-porous and semi-porous substrates have been resistant to dye-based aqueous inks because the print image is not suitably waterfast, and is not resistant to smudging or bleeding. Only solvent inks can produce rub-fast images on these surfaces, but with the inherent disadvantage of high volatile organic compounds, safety and health concerns.
It is seen then that there is a need for an improved method of optimizing waterfastness and minimizing smudging and bleeding of environmentally safe aqueous, black or non-black, dye-based inks, when printed on non-porous or semi-porous substrates.

Coating material for non-porous and semi-porous substrates


2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 of high purity is produced from 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobutane by a process comprising the steps of dehydrochlorination, chlorination of the reaction product obtained in the dehydrochlorination step and subsequent separation of a 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 composition from the reaction product of the chlorination step.

Polychloroprene is a commercially useful elastomeric polymer of 2-chlorobutadiene-1,3 ("chloroprene") that has found utility for over seventy years in manufacture of rubber belts, hoses, engine mounts, adhesives and rubber profiles. The polymer may be a homopolymer, i.e. a polymer that is made up solely of copolymerized units of chloroprene monomer, or it may be a copolymer that contains copolymerized units of chloroprene and other comonomers. Because of the extremely high reactivity of chloroprene, it tends to homopolymerize. The amount of comonomer that can be introduced into the polymer chain by copolymerization is generally only about 2 mole percent in the case of tetrachlorobutadiene and even less for styrene and isoprene when overall monomer conversion is 65% and the initial level of comonomer present is 10 mole %. 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 is one of the few monomers that is more reactive than chloroprene itself. This characteristic has facilitated its use as a comonomer in the manufacture of a variety of polychloroprene copolymers, most of which have outstanding crystallization resistance and low temperature properties.
Synthesis of 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 may be accomplished by a number of methods that generally involve a dehydrochlorination reaction as a process step. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,078 describes a process for dehydrochlorination wherein the reaction is carried out with an aqueous mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium chloride having the composition of a chlor/alkali cell liquor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,816 discloses a process for dehydrochlorination of 2,3,4-trichlorobutene-1 carried out under conditions where an alkali metal hydroxide solution is added to a mixture of the 2,3,4-trichlorobutene-1, phase transfer catalyst, inhibitor and water, while U.S. Pat. No. 6,380,446 describes the use of an upflow reactor in the dehydrohalogenation of various halogenated alkane and alkene compounds, including chlorinated butenes.
These dehydrohalogenation processes are typically conducted in the liquid phase by mixing the halogenated alkane or halogenated alkene with a strong base in a solvent. Because the base is usually added as an aqueous solution, phase transfer agents (also referred to as phase transfer catalysts) are usually employed to promote contact of the reactants. These catalytic materials promote reaction between reactants located in different phases by transferring one reactant across the interface into the other phase so that the reaction can proceed. The phase transfer agent is not consumed and performs the transport function repeatedly. See, e.g. Starks et al, "Phase-Transfer Catalysis", Academic Press, New York, N.Y. 1978.
Although phase transfer catalysts are very effective at increasing conversion in some dehydrochlorination reactions, these higher conversions can result in increased formation of byproduct isomers that are difficult or impossible to remove from the desired product. In the dehydrochlorination of 3,4-dichlorobutene-1 to produce chloroprene for example, the reaction of some impurities in the organic reactant forms byproduct chlorobutadienes that contain chlorine substituents located at an alpha carbon (i.e. "alpha-chlorine"). As used herein, the term "alpha carbon atom" means a carbon at the end of a carbon chain (either an alkyl or alkenyl chain) generally numbered 1 in the IUPAC naming convention for alkanes and alkenes. By extension, a beta carbon atom is a carbon atom at the penultimate end of a carbon chain ("next to last" or second) generally numbered 2 in the IUPAC naming convention for alkanes and alkenes.
One method of controlling the problem of byproduct formation in dehydrochlorination reactions is by intentionally limiting reactant conversion to a level below that which is otherwise achievable. However, although intentionally limiting reactant conversion allows acceptable product purity to be attained, it also reduces yield and imposes an economic and environmental disadvantage that can be significant. In another example, high conversion conditions in the dehydrochlorination of 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobutane to form 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 results in production of substantial amounts of isomeric dichlorobutadienes that contain alpha-chlorine substituents (i.e. chlorine atoms attached to alpha carbon atoms). The presence of isomeric products that contain alpha-chlorine substituents is objectionable because use of such mixtures as monomer feeds in polymerization reactions of 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3, including copolymerization reactions with chloroprene, can result in formation of relatively high percentages of allylic chlorine in the polymer backbone. This can increase oxidative degradation of the polymer.
Removal of isomers containing alpha-chlorine substituents from desired products such as 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 that contain chlorine exclusively at beta carbons is difficult because the isomers generally have similar volatilities. Attempts made in the past to address this problem have not been completely satisfactory. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,626,964 a method is described for increasing the purity of 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 formed via dehydrochlorination of 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobutane by repressing the dehydrochlorination of 1,2,4-trichloro-2-butene formed in the reaction. Although the purity is increased somewhat, low overall yield and long reaction times detract from the commercial usefulness of this method.
Because of the difficulties associated with separation of isomers, conversion in dehydrochlorination reactions is typically intentionally limited to levels lower than those that are readily achievable in order to reduce formation of isomers containing alpha-chlorine substituents to acceptable levels.
It would be advantageous to have a method available that would permit attainment of high conversion in dehydrochlorination of 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobutane as well as in the dehydrochlorination of compounds that can be used as intermediates in the formation of 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3 while at the same time provide acceptable product purity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for production of 2,3-dichlorobutadiene-1,3


A receiver of a mobile radio terminal in a telecommunication system includes a radio frequency signal generator, a frequency transposer, a high-pass filter which filters a static component and a dynamic component of interference induced by the operation of the radio frequency generator and the frequency transposer, and a digitizer. The high-pass filter has a predetermined cut-off frequency to eliminate the static component and a portion of the dynamic component before the signal enters the digitizer. A residual dynamic component is eliminated by a digital filter placed after the digitizer and a corrector.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a receiver for a mobile radio terminal. The invention therefore relates more particularly to telecommunication systems.
2. Description of the prior art
Analog components in the radio frequency portion of a mobile radio terminal degrade the received signal supplied by the antenna.
This applies to the local oscillator in particular. The local oscillator produces a radio frequency signal that is fed to the frequency changer at the same time as the received signal to eliminate the carrier on which the received signal is transmitted on the propagation channel.
The frequency changer transposes the frequency of the received signal to a lower frequency.
The local oscillator and the frequency changer have inherent defects.
In particular, the local oscillator adds a direct current (DC) component to the received signal, whose frequency is therefore 0 Hz (Hertz). This DC component shifts the received signal upward or downward and its amplitude depends on the integrated circuit and on the isolation of the card.
Leaks from the local oscillator are radiated into the atmosphere after finding their way back to the antenna of the mobile radio terminal and reach the receiver of the mobile radio terminal after being reflected from external obstacles, thus creating an unwanted signal in addition to the received signal. This unwanted signal constitutes the dynamic component of the interference caused to the received signal by the behavior of the local oscillator and the frequency changer.
The frequency of the line that occurs due to the to-and-fro phenomenon described above cannot be controlled, in particular because of the time at which the reflection occurs and the speed at which the mobile radio terminal is moving. The frequency of the dynamic component is therefore related to the Doppler effect and depends on the speed of the mobile radio terminal.
The amplitude of the dynamic component cannot be controlled either.
The operation of the local oscillator and the frequency changer in the receiver of the mobile radio terminal therefore causes interference in the received signal. This interference is reflected in the appearance of a DC or static component at a frequency of 0 Hz and a dynamic component which can have any frequency and amplitude.
The static and dynamic component must be eliminated if the receiver of the mobile radio terminal is to operate correctly.
One prior art solution provides the receiver of the terminal with a filter to eliminate the static component and the dynamic component of the interference to the received signal induced by the local oscillator and the frequency changer.
The filter used is a high-pass filter. It is inserted between the frequency changer and the analog-to-digital converter in the receiver of the mobile radio terminal. This solution is therefore implemented in the analog domain.
However, using this kind of filter in the receiver has serious drawbacks, as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 shows the 0 Hz static component 1, the dynamic component 2, which has a frequency equal to fd, the spectral response 3 of the high-pass filter used, and the wanted signal 4, i.e. the received signal carrying the required information.
The filter is characterized by a slope and a cut-off frequency fc. The cut-off frequency fc is chosen to be sufficiently high to accommodate the maximum shift of the dynamic component 2, so that fc=fdmax. The frequency of the dynamic component 2, which depends partly on the speed at which the mobile radio terminal is moving, as explained above, cannot be controlled and changes as a function of the Doppler frequency. Accordingly, the high-pass filter used is characterized so that the receiver can accommodate a particular range of speeds and therefore high variations in the dynamic component, extending up as far as that range of speeds.
The filter is fixed and cannot be adapted to all situations.
Accordingly, in the FIG. 1 example, although the filter used is able to eliminate the static and dynamic components, it also strongly attenuates the whole of that portion of the modulated wanted signal denoted a in FIG. 1.
The unwanted attenuation of the portion a of the wanted signal seriously degrades the signal. This in turn degrades demodulation performance, which is reflected in a degraded bit error rate (BER), and the reduction in performance is directly related to the characteristics of the high-pass filter used, in particular its cut-off frequency.
A second prior art solution eliminates the static and dynamic components of the interference to the received signal by processing the signal following analog-to-digital conversion using a Least Mean Square (LMS) algorithm. The received signal is then processed entirely in the digital domain.
However, this type of algorithm is very complex to implement and necessitates a very high computing power, which can be unacceptable, and also means that the analog-to-digital converter cannot be optimized.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to eliminate both the static component and the dynamic component of the interference to the received signal induced by the operation of the local oscillator and the frequency changer in a manner that alleviates the drawbacks of the prior art, i.e. without degrading the demodulation performance of the mobile radio terminal and without unreasonable complexity.
To this end, the invention proposes to combine the two solutions previously described.
In accordance with the invention, the processing of the signal to eliminate the static and dynamic components of the interference is divided into two portions.
A first portion is effected in the analog domain and the second portion is effected in the digital domain.
Thus elimination of the static and dynamic components is shared between the analog domain and the digital domain.

TCL Communications Technology Holdings Limited


An apparatus that measures electrical impedance. The apparatus includes a signal generator controlled by a master microcontroller, a plurality of data acquisition channels, each channel containing a microcontroller, a host computer that processes and stores measured values, and a communication line between the host computer and the master microcontroller.

Nondestructive measurements of materials can be performed with a variety of sensors operating on different physical principles, such as electromagnetic, acoustic, or thermal sensors, where the properties of the material influence the response of the sensor. Electrical measurements at the sensor terminal, such as the electrical impedance or admittance, are then used to determine the material properties. These material properties may reflect characteristics of the bulk material condition such as heat treatment, state of cure, fatigue damage, or porosity, surface conditions such as roughness, shot peen intensity, coating thickness, and coating condition, or the presence of defects such as cracks, inclusions, or service-related aging.
In many inspection applications, large surface areas of a material need to be tested. This inspection can be accomplished with a single sensor and a two-dimensional scanner over the material surface. However, use of a single sensor has disadvantages in that the scanning can take an excessively long time and care must be taken when registering the measured values together to form a map or image of the properties. These shortcomings can be overcome by using an array of sensors or an array of elements within a single sensor, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,206, since the material can be scanned in a shorter period of time and the measured responses from each array element are spatially correlated. However, the use of arrays complicates the instrumentation used to determine the response of each array element. For example, in one conventional method, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,513, the response from each element of an array is processed sequentially by using a multiplexer for each element of the array. While this is generally faster than scanning a single sensor element, there is still a significant time delay as the electrical signal settles for each element and there is the potential for signal contamination from previously measured channels. An alternative is to use a separate impedance instrument for each array element. However, this can significantly add to the cost of the system, since the impedance instrumentation tends to be expensive compared to the sensors or array elements.
For nondestructive testing of conducting and/or magnetic materials over wide areas, eddy current sensor arrays may be used. These eddy current sensors excite a conducting winding, the primary, with an electrical current source of a prescribed frequency. This produces a time-varying magnetic field at the same frequency, which in turn is detected with a sensing winding, the secondary. The spatial distribution of the magnetic field and the field measured by the secondary is influenced by the proximity and physical properties (electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability) of nearby materials. When the sensor is intentionally placed in close proximity to a test material, the physical properties of the material can be deduced from measurements of the impedance between the primary and secondary windings. Traditionally, scanning of eddy-current sensors across the material surface is then used to detect flaws, such as cracks. When scanning over wide areas, these arrays may include several individual sensors, but each sensor must be driven sequentially in order to prevent cross-talk or cross-contamination between the sensing elements. Another approach is to use a single drive winding and an array of sense elements, described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,206.
There is also a need for methods that make calibration and measurement procedures self-consistent so that the resulting measurements are robust and reproducible to justify implementation in production or field inspection applications. Conventional eddy current "pencil probes" used for inspection of engine components, for example, are often calibrated using crack standards. For example, the signal from a typical crack might be recorded and then the range on the instrument might be set so that the crack response is at 80% of the total scale. Then, a threshold might be set so that some minimum crack size is detectable on the standard. This is a useful method if the crack standard well represents the actual component that is being inspected for cracks. Unfortunately, standards that are flat and contain simulated flaws (e.g., fatigue cracks grown from EDM notches with the notches later broached and then the surface etched to "reveal" the cracks) are generally used to determine the POD (probability of detection) for a given flaw size. This is a useful method only when the component is well represented by the standard. If, for example, the probe scanning the actual component is at a higher lift-off (e.g., proximity of the sensor to the surface is not as close) than it was on the standard when the thresholds were set, then the actual detectable crack size would be larger (and perhaps much larger) than assumed.


The invention relates to an extended nip roll (5) capable of forming a press nip (N) with a counter roll (7) which press nip (N) has an extension in a machine direction when the extended nip roll (5) cooperates with the counter roll (7). The extended nip roll (5) comprises a flexible jacket; an elastic press body (13) arranged inside the flexible jacket. The top side (14) of the press body (13) is beveled in such a way that, in the machine direction, a working surface (15) of the top side has a downstream end (16) which, in the machine direction, is followed by an exit side surface (17) that diverges from the interior surface (11) of the flexible jacket (10). The press body (13) further has at least a first and a second internal pressure chamber (18, 19). The pressure chambers (18, 19) can be pressurized such that the press body (13) expands. The first internal pressure (18) chamber has an extension in the machine direction that does not extend beyond the working surface (15) and the second internal pressure chamber (19) is located downstream of the first internal pressure chamber (18) and has an extension in the machine direction beyond the downstream end (16) of the working surface (15). The working surface (15) and the exit side surface (17) are made of a material that has a higher shore A hardness than the material in the rest of the press body (13). The invention also relates to an extended nip press and a paper machine in which the extended nip roll is used. The invention further relates to a method of operating the extended nip press.

1. Related Field
The invention relates to an extended nip roll, to an extended nip press that comprises the inventive extended nip roll and to a paper making machine comprising such an extended nip press. The invention also relates to a method of operating the inventive extended nip wherein a wet paper web is passed through the extended nip.
2. Description of Related Art
The invention relates to the field of extended nip presses used in paper making machines. In a paper making machine, an extended nip press is normally used for pressing water out of a newly formed wet fibrous web but an extended nip may also be used for other purposes in a paper making machine, e.g. calendering. Although extended nip presses were first introduced for heavy grades such as paperboard, they later come to be used also for lighter grades such as printing paper. In recent years, such presses have also been used in machines for making tissue paper. In such machines, the extended nip press is often formed by an extended nip roll and a Yankee drying cylinder that acts as a counter roll for the extended nip roll. An extended nip press is typically formed by an extended nip roll that comprises a rigid shoe with a concave surface. The rigid shoe of such an extended nip roll can be made of a material such as, for example, steel or aluminum. U.S. Pat. No. 7,527,708 discloses how an extended nip can be formed by means of a device that does not use a steel shoe but instead a support body which is elastically deformable. The support body disclosed in that document has internal pressure chambers that can be connected to a pressure medium source.
Generally, it is desirable that the pressure in the nip of an extended nip press rises from the beginning of the nip to reach a peak at the end of the nip. Such a pressure profile is advantageous since it reduces re-wetting of the paper web when the web exits from the press nip. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,527,708, it is suggested that different pressure chambers are set under different pressures such that a pressure curve describing a stepped course is obtained.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an extended nip press that is designed in such a way that a suitable pressure profile is obtained.
Another object of the invention is to provide an extended nip press in which the lubrication functions in a reliable way.

Extended nip roll, an extended nip press making use of the extended nip roll, a papermaking machine and a method of operating an extended nip press


A variable image display body and a lenticular image formation method that are capable of displaying a variable image without incongruity are provided. In a variable image display body, lenticular images are composed of arranged image strips obtained by scaling a plurality of images so that subject images appearing in the respective images have the same size, subjecting the scaled images to position adjustment so that reference portions of the subject images in the scaled images are located at the same position, in the superimposed state, trimming a region in which a predetermined number of the scaled images are overlapped and the subject images are included, and extracting image strips in the form of lines from each of the trimmed images.

There is a technique of displaying a variable image, such as a changing or moving image, by switching pictures, depending on a viewing angle, using a lenticular sheet on which a plurality of cylindrical lenses are arranged in parallel. On the lenticular sheet, subdivided images in the form of lines corresponding to the cylindrical lenses, respectively, are arranged on a surface on the opposite side of the lenticular sheet to the cylindrical lenses. Thus, when a user views the images through the cylindrical lenses, the viewed images are switched with a change in the angle of viewing the images, and can be observed like moving images.
With respect to an image display using such a lenticular sheet, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique of reducing cross-talk at the time of observation and allowing clear changing by inserting images obtained by extracting portions where there is no change into the arranged images in a stereoscopic, animated or changing image display system comprising a lenticular sheet equivalent to lenticular lenses, and sampling images synthesized using a plurality of images.


We propose new systems for certificate revocation that are more economical and efficient than traditional ones. We also point out what we believe to be a structural problem in traditional public-key infrastructures, and various ways to solve it.

The present invention relates generally to secure communications and more particularly to schemes for certificate management.
In a digital signature scheme, each user U chooses a signing key SKu and a matching verification key, PKu. User U uses SKu to compute easily his digital signature of a message m, SIGu(m), while anyone knowing that PKu is U""s public key can verify that SIGu(m) is U""s signature of m. Computing the signature SIGu(m) without knowing SKU is practically impossible. On the other hand, knowledge of PKu does not give any practical advantage in computing SKu. For this reason, it is in U""s interest to keep SKu secret (so that only he can digitally sign for U) and to make PKu as public as possible (so that everyone dealing with U can verify U""s digital signatures). Indeed, SKu is often referred to as U""s secret key, and PKu as U""s public key.
Note that, to verify that SIGu(m) really is the digital signature of user U for the message m, not only should a verifier know PKU, but he should also know that PKu really is U""s public key. Thus, to ensure the smooth flow of business and communications in a world with millions of users, users"" public keys are digitally certified by proper authorities to belong to their legitimate users.
At the same time, it is also necessary to revoke some previously issued certificates (e.g., because the secret key corresponding to a given certified public key has been compromised). Unfortunately, this may not be easy. Indeed, a digital certificate cannot just be xe2x80x9ctaken away:xe2x80x9d such a certificate is, in essence, a number, and arbitrarily many copies of it may be made and illegitimately used. Current public-key infrastructures (PKIs) rely on Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) for handling certificate revocation. Unfortunately, CRLs are not very efficient in several scenarios.
A more efficient public-key infrastructure is provided by providing new technologies for convenient, secure, and cost-effective certificate revocation. To do this, we present three types of contributions:
1. We identify a structural problem potentially affecting traditional CRL-based PKIs , and suggesting a variety of ways for fixing it. Essentially we show that, in prior systems, an untrusted Directory cannot answer certain legitimate queries, leaving the systems vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks. Our fixes to this structural problem are quite simple to implement and do not require significant costs.
2. We suggest various improvements to traditional CRL design that yield certificate revocation systems more efficient than the original ones. These improvements do not dismiss CRL constructs, but optimize them (by simply adopting better encodings, utilizing a suitable subset of information, etc.).
3. We put forward totally new systems for certificate revocation that are much more efficient than traditional ones. These systems do not rely on CRLs at all.


A three dimensional residual modeling operator is applied to seismic times that have been preprocessed by application of NMO and velocity independent DMO. The residual operator compensates for vertical velocity variation and anisotropy and its use precludes the need for ray tracing.

1. Field of the Invention
In the realm of 3-D migration of seismic data, this invention is concerned with the correction of a velocity independent dip-moveout (DMO) operator for the effects of earth inhomogeneities such as transverse anisotropy and ray bending due to a variation in wavefield propagation velocity as a function of depth.
2. Related Art
As is well known, DMO is a process for collapsing non-zero offset seismic wavefield ray paths to zero-offset normally-incident ray paths. DMO compensates for dip- and azimuth-dependent stacking velocities. In the presence of a constant velocity medium, the DMO operator is independent of velocity, it is two dimensional and it is oriented along a line between the source and receiver. In the presence of vertical, lateral and angular velocity changes, singly or in combination, the DMO operator becomes a three-dimensional complex surface that is velocity-dependent.
Various authors have addressed the problem by constructing a 3-D DMO operator from isochronal surfaces. An isochronal surface defines the shape of a reflector that will give the same arrival time at a fixed location in a common offset section. The required surface is found by ray-tracing. Having found the requisite surface, the DMO operator is created by performing a modeling experiment assuming coincident source-receiver locations. This and other similar techniques tend to compensate the DMO operator for refraction effects produced by velocity variations. They do not address the problem of conflict of migrated and unmigrated times. That problem arises because velocities for DMO processing need to be defined at the migrated time and location of the reflectors but because during DMO processing the data have not been migrated the energy of the reflectors is located at their unmigrated positions. That creates a velocity conflict among reflectors from different dips and azimuths. A further problem is anisotropy wherein the stacking velocity is different for different azimuths and dips.
Deregowski and Rocca showed that a velocity-independent DMO operator for a common offset section can be expressed as EQU t.sub.1 =t.sub.0 (1-(x.sup.2 /h.sup.2)).sup.1/2, (1)
where t.sub.1 is the zero-offset time, t.sub.0 is the normal moveout (NMO) corrected time, x is the distance along the midpoint section and h is half the source-to-receiver offset. Equation (1) defines a velocity-independent 2-D DMO operator that moves energy in a vertical plane along the source-to-receiver direction. Formulation (1) may be extended to 3-D but only provided a constant-velocity earth exists. It is important to understand that the DMO operator does not attempt to move energy to its final image position. That step is performed by the migration process after stacking. DMO is merely a partial migration to zero offset before stack.
For an inhomogeneous earth wherein the velocity is a function of depth, a 2-D operator may be found which is necessarily velocity dependent. A velocity-dependent 2-D DMO operator is given by EQU t.sub.1 =t.sub.0 (1-(x.sup.2 /.gamma..sup.2 h.sup.2)).sup.1/2,(2)
where EQU .gamma.=(1-(t.sub.0 /v)(dv/dt.sub.0)).sup.1/2, (3)
In a three dimensional inhomogeneous earth, because of ray bending, a 3-D DMO operator becomes a very complicated surface such that expensive ray tracing is necessary.
Rothman et al. introduced the concept of residual migration or the inverse operation which is sometimes referred to as modeling. Their process is valid for a constant velocity but may be extended to the case of a variable velocity. Residual migration is the process of recovering the correct image of the earth after the data have been post-stack migrated with an incorrect velocity. The correct image of the subsurface can be recovered by re-migrating the output of the first migration but using a residual velocity. Migration is a process that is applied when the first velocity is too low; modeling (inverse migration) is a process that is applied when the first velocity was too high. Thus residual migration is a process that is applied to the data but only after DMO has been applied and after the data have been stacked. The step of creating and applying a DMO operator in the presence of an inhomogeneous earth is not the same as the step of performing residual migration.
Rothman et al. did not explore extensions of their concept of residual migration to a 3-D DMO operator. However, Hale and Artley teach construction of a 2-D DMO operator, for use in the presence of a vertical velocity gradient, in their paper "Squeezing dip moveout for depth-variable velocity" in Geophysics, v. 58, n. 2, February 1993, p. 257. Their DMO algorithm is valid for 2-D but not for 3-D; anisotropy remains unaccounted for.
For purposes of this disclosure, the unqualified term "velocity" means the propagation velocity of an acoustic wavefield through elastic media. There is a need for a method for efficiently constructing a velocity-dependent 3D DMO operator that does not require classical ray tracing methods.
This invention fills that need by first processing and sorting the data into common offset gathers and, if needed, additionally sorting into common azimuth gathers. Normal moveout is applied to the sorted data based on the average RMS velocity to flat-lying beds. An intermediate data set is formed by applying a velocity-independent DMO operator to the normal-moveout-corrected common offset gathers according to (1). A residual 3-D DMO operator is defined and applied to the intermediate data set to compensate for inhomogeneities in the subsurface of the earth thereby to create a zero-offset data set. The so-compensated zero-offset data sets are resorted to common midpoint gathers for final processing including stacking and migration.

Method for compensating 3D DMO for the effects of an inhomogeneous earth


An airbag module includes a cover having an I-shaped tear line. The I-shaped tear line has a first tear seam parallel to and spaced apart from a second tear seam. A third tear seam is continuous with and perpendicular to the first tear seam and the second tear seam. When an airbag is inflated the tear line separates and the airbag deploys there through.

The present invention relates to an airbag module that includes a frangible cover.
In general, airbags are employed in vehicles as secondary restraint mechanisms to operate in conjunction with seatbelts in order to provide protection for the vehicle occupant during a collision event. Frontal impact airbags are used typically in the steering column and in the dashboard to protect the driver and the front seat passengers. These airbags are designed to inflate over a 15-20 millisecond time frame and to deflate as the occupants impacts the inflated airbag.
An airbag system normally includes an airbag module that includes an airbag and an inflator. The system may also include a sensor for detecting a collision event and for communicating with the airbag module. Frontal airbags are normally housed within an airbag module located in the steering column or steering wheel of the vehicle and are part of an airbag system. The airbag module also may include an airbag cover, through which the airbag is deployed during a collision event.
The airbag is inflated upon a collision event by the activation of the inflator, which generates a large volume of gas over a period of milliseconds. The frontal airbag must be able to inflate quickly to provide a cushion for the occupant who may be rapidly moving towards the front the vehicle.
Frontal airbags also operate to address the situation where a vehicle occupant is "out of position", i.e. not located squarely in their seat with their back against the seatback. Also, when the vehicle occupant is much smaller or much larger than an average vehicle occupant as they are naturally "out of position" due to their size. One example of which is known in the industry as the five-percent female.


Ayurvedic encapsulated gold nanoparticles, methods of fabrication and methods of treatment are provided. A method of fabrication includes mixing dried gooseberry product or mango peel product or phytochemical existent therein, into a liquid medium to form a reducing agent solution. Gold salts are mixed into the reducing agent solution. Reaction of the gold salts proceeds, in the absence of any other reducing agent, to form a nanoparticle solution of stabilized, biocompatible Ayurvedic encapsulated gold nanoparticles. An Ayurvedic medicine consists of a non-radioactive gold nanoparticle encapsulated with phytochemical existent in mango peal or gooseberry in a capsule with curcumin extract and gum Arabic.

Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient healing modality having roots of its origin in India about 5,000 years ago. This is the oldest medical system in the world, advocating holistic medicine principles aimed at achieving prevention and curative therapies to restore balance in the human body in order to prevent long-term illness and to promote natural wellness. In most countries, Ayurvedic medicine is still considered to be an "alternative" medical modality. However, in the United States, Japan, Germany, and many countries, Ayurveda is gaining prominence because of its inherent power of providing a healing mechanism addressing the entire human body to treat diseases by identifying primary causes of illness—all with minimal or no toxic side effects. Known Ayurvedic medicines are administered in combination with a plethora of herbs, metals and metal ions in the form of ash, referred to as 'Bhasma' in the Ayurvedic literature. Gold ash (Swarna Bhasma), mixed with cocktail of herbs, has been extensively used in the treatment of cancer, arthritis (both Osteo and rheumatoid), various infectious diseases and in clearing blocked arteries in cardiovascular therapy. Gold ash formulations are also used in treating various neurological disorders.
The undefined chemical formulations of gold ash make the preparations unpredictable. Irreproducible chemical species cause high unpredictability in administering well-defined active ingredients through scientifically acceptable measured doses. These challenges have often resulted in high toxicity of metallic species, as well as sub-optimal bioavailability of biologically active species. This results in significant challenges for wider acceptability of Ayurvedic medicines by regulatory agencies such as the US/European Food and Drug Administrations (FDAs).
Patients with localized prostate cancer are often successfully treated via surgery or radiotherapy, while those with metastatic conditions are treated through androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). See, A. J. Chang, K. A. Autio, M. Roach, 3rd and H. I. Scher, "High-risk prostate cancer-classification and therapy," Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 11:308-23 (2014). There is an emerging consensus that current therapies are less effective for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), where the disease manifests from an asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, non-metastatic disease to symptomatic or highly metastatic condition. (depending on the time of diagnosis with significant interpatient variation). The United States FDA has approved several chemotherapeutic agents including docetaxel, cabazitaxel, abiraterone, and enzalutamide for treating such patients. Drug resistance attributable to modulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) is seen in a significant proportion of patients. See, Y. Rong, C. H. Yuan, Z. Qu, H. Zhou, Q. Guan, N. Yang, et al., "Doxorubicin resistant cancer cells activate myeloid-derived suppressor cells by releasing PGE2," Sci Rep. 6:23824 (2016). MDSCs induce an immune suppressive microenvironment and promote M2-polarized tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) that support angiogenesis and metastasis. Numerous studies have shown that tissue and serum exosomes from prostate cancer patients induced high levels of macrophage polarization into an alternatively activated M2 phenotype. See, P. C. Chen, H. C. Cheng, J. Wang, S. W. Wang, H. C. Tai, C. W. Lin, et al., "Prostate cancer-derived CCN3 induces M2 macrophage infiltration and contributes to angiogenesis in prostate cancer microenvironment" Oncotarget, 5:1595-608 (2014). Therefore, a cancer treatment emphasizing personalized therapy through precision medicine, with an immune checkpoint blockade that targets M2 macrophages, would be distinguished from a plethora of "common denominator" treatment approaches in current use. There is an urgent and unmet clinical need that might be met by combining different immunotherapeutic approaches, reaping synergistic therapeutic benefits for cancer patient populations. In developing novel therapies for treating drug resistant CRPC, effective targeting of TAMs assumes a central focus. Experimental results indicate that TAMs are major contributors to drug- and radio-protective effects, and that an elevated number of TAMs and their M2 profiles are correlated with failure of therapy and poor prognosis in prostate cancer patients. See, B. Ruffell and L. M. Coussens, "Macrophages and therapeutic resistance in cancer," Cancer Cell. 27:462-72 (2015).
Prostate and most solid tumors have elevated NF-κB signaling, upregulated by the release of cytokines by M2 macrophages in the tumor microenvironment. Compelling evidence shows that chemotherapeutic treatment of solid cancers in general, and prostate tumors in particular, activates NF-κB, a key transcription factor which plays a critical role in the development and progression of cancer and consequently aiding chemo and multi therapy drug resistance. Upregulated NF-κB activity can upregulate pro-survival pathways, including BCL-2. Mangiferin (MGF) has been shown in independent studies to inhibit both NF-κB and BCL-2 when administered orally. See, F. Gold-Smith, A. Fernandez and K. Bishop, "Mangiferin and Cancer: Mechanisms of Action," Nutrients. 8 (2016). The authors noted that other anti-cancer agents had been encapsulated to improve pharmacokinetic properties. The authors also discussed, on page 19, the need for a "smart vehicle" for mangiferin delivery to tumor cells, while noting that such a vehicle did not exist and that such a vehicle would have to be unique to mangiferin.
Recent studies have shown the relationship of the presence of NF-κB to the survival of cancer cells and the response of immune cells to cancer cells. B. Kuhnemuth, L. Muhlberg, M. Schipper, H. Griesmann, A. Neesse, N. Milosevic, et al., "CUX1 modulates polarization of tumor-associated macrophages by antagonizing NF-kappaB signaling," Oncogene. 34:177-87 (2015). Cancer stem cells also manifest activated NF-κB, thus contributing to the promotion of a pro-inflammatory environment leading to inhibition of apoptosis. Activated NF-κB polarizes macrophages towards the alternatively activated M2 phenotype responsible for catalyzing tumor growth and even bringing about resistance to drug treatment. The direct correlation of NF-κB in triggering M2 macrophages in prostate tumor angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, immunosuppression, and chemotherapeutic treatment resistance singularly and collectively makes a compelling case for the design of NF-κB- and TAM-M2-macrophage-targeting drug.
Increasing evidence from clinical data has lead the present inventors to hypothesize that macrophages in human prostate cancer patients contribute both to the primary tumor growth and to the subsequent development of metastasis. In patients with Gleason Score (GS) 7-10 and pT3a stages, higher density of macrophages found in primary prostate tumor sites were characterized to be of the M2 macrophage phenotype. M2 macrophages within the tumor microenvironment promote angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis ultimately leading to the transition into CRPCa and poor prognostic disease state. Several investigations have concluded that, to achieve effective immunomodulatory effects by immunotherapeutic agents, it is important to develop intratumoral delivery technologies of immunotherapeutic agents to reach the immune-suppressive effector cells, including M2 macrophages, which are localized within the tumor microenvironment. Indeed, there is preclinical and clinical evidence suggesting that therapeutic, systemic, antitumor immune response is improved when immunotherapeutic agents are delivered through intratumoral immunomodulation rather than systemically. See, K. Van der Jeught, L. Bialkowski, L. Daszkiewicz, K. Broos, C. Goyvaerts, D. Renmans, et al., "Targeting the tumor microenvironment to enhance antitumor immune responses" Oncotarget 6:1359-81 (2015). Classical methods such as catheterization for continuous delivery or slow-release of PEGylated drugs intratumorally are re-gaining favor as an approach. Nanomolecule immunotherapeutic platforms, which allow efficient penetration across the tumor vasculature due to their size, as well as active (receptor mediated) and passive (enhanced permeation and retention (EPR)) targeting, are being developed to achieve uptake and retention of optimal doses are being developed.
The present inventors and colleagues have previously developed stabilized gold nanoparticles encapsulated with proteins, peptides and small molecules. See, M. Khoobchandani, K. Katti, A. Maxwell, W. P. Fay and K. V. Katti, "Laminin Receptor-Avid Nanotherapeutic EGCg-AuNPs as a Potential Alternative Therapeutic Approach to Prevent Restenosis," Int J Mol Sci. 17, (2016); R. Shukla, N. Chanda, A. Zambre, A. Upendran, K. Katti, R. R. Kulkarni, et al., "Laminin receptor specific therapeutic gold nanoparticles (198AuNP-EGCg) show efficacy in treating prostate cancer," Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 109:12426-3 (2012). Such nanoparticles were demonstrated to be retained in tumors through measurement of the gamma emission of Au-198 encapsulated nanoparticles, which allowed precise estimation of gold within tumor cells/tumor tissues down to sub nanomolar concentrations through scintigraphic counting techniques.
The present inventors have also previously demonstrated the effects of stabilized gold nanoparticles that were encapsulated with polyphenol—flavonoids. Katti et al US Patent Publication US 2012/0134918 discloses Gum Arabic coated 198Au nanoparticles, a method of making them, and their use as a therapeutic and imaging agent. Katti et al. U.S. Pat. No. 8,333,994 discloses formation of gold nanoparticles via reduction using black tea, turmeric, curcumin or cinnamon, and/or similar naturally occurring polyphenol- or flavanoid-rich plant material. Katti U.S. Pat. No. 9,358,310 discloses stabilized, biocompatible gold nanoparticles that are stabilized with material from epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCg). These patents demonstrate that polyphenol- or flavonoid-rich plant material can be used to reduce gold salts and produce stabilized gold nanoparticles.
Mangiferin (1,3,6,7-tetrahydroxyxanthone-C2-D glucoside) is a xanthonoid that is attached to a sugar. It is a polyphenol functionalized-D-glucoside-xanthone family of phytochemical found in abundance the Anacardiaceae and Gentianaceae family of plant species, especially in mangoes skin and honeybush tea. See, F. Gold-Smith, A. Fernandez and K. Bishop, "Mangiferin and Cancer: Mechanisms of Action," Nutrients. 8 (2016). Mango leaves have been ingested as a natural medicine for centuries in various cultures. Recent in vitro and in vivo broad spectrum antitumor investigations of mangiferin have been noted for its versatile anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, cell cycle arrest, anti-proliferative, anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidative, anti-genotoxic, and anti-viral characteristics. Gold-Smith et al., supra. A study has attributed mangiferin with a reduction in tumor volumes in comparable magnitude, and identified it as a possible D-glucoside-xanthone structural motif for cancer therapy. Gold-Smith et al., supra. Anti-angiogenesis, pro-apoptotic and cumulative antitumor properties have been theorized to result from the immunomodulatroy ability of this phytochemical to inhibit NFκB, and target TAM and downstream signaling pathways responsible for tumor progression and metastases. Gold-Smith et al., supra. Ingestion of mangiferin has been shown to produce mild to non-existent side effects. While a possible cancer therapeutic utility has been recognized for mangiferin, rapid metabolic degradation of this phytochemical in vivo has remained a significant barrier to achieving clinically relevant levels for effective cancer therapy.

Ayurvedic encapsulated gold nanoparticles, fabrication methods and cancer therapeutic methods

The Curators of the University of Missouri


Method for producing a first SOI field effect transistor with predetermined transistor properties by forming a laterally delimited layer sequence with a gate-insulating layer and a gate region on an undoped substrate, forming a spacer layer having a predetermined thickness, on at least a portion of the sidewalls of the laterally delimited layer sequence, and forming two source/drain regions having a predetermined dopant concentration profile, by introducing dopant into two surface regions of the substrate which are adjoined by the spacer layer, the layer sequence and the spacer layer forming a shading structure that prevents dopant from being introduced into a surface region of the substrate between the two source/drain regions, wherein the predetermined transistor properties of the first SOI field effect transistor are set by setting the thickness of the spacer layer and by setting the dopant concentration profile.

Field effect transistors are required for many applications in silicon microelectronics.
In circuit technology, it is often desirable, in modern CMOS processes, to have a plurality of different n-MOS transistors and a plurality of different p-MOS transistors having different threshold voltages (so-called multi-VT technology, where VT denotes the threshold voltage of the transistor). For specific applications, it may be necessary to have transistors with a particularly high switching speed, whereas a minimal leakage current of the transistor is sought in other applications. If the multi-VT technology is combined with the use of different supply voltages VDD of an integrated circuit (multi-VDD/VT technology), then the optimum voltage swing may be selected, depending on the switching activity of a specific transistor of an integrated circuit, in order to achieve maximum boosting of the gate voltage VDD-VT. Examples of transistors having such requirements are transistors in clock circuits with high switching activity, a low voltage swing and a low threshold voltage. In the case of a transistor in a clock circuit, the leakage current is of relatively little relevance on account of the high activity, whereas minimizing the dynamic power loss (which is a function of the square of the supply voltage VDD) is of primary interest. By contrast, in logic circuits with relatively low activity (for example less than 30%), the static power loss on account of electrical leakage currents in the switched-off state is of greater relevance, so that transistors having a higher threshold voltage are advantageous here. In order not to impair the switching speed in the active state (the switching time tD is proportional to 1/[VDD-VT]) and in order to avoid an undesirable reduction of the boosting of the gate voltage, the supply voltage VDD of the logic block is increased correspondingly.
An overview of the multi-VDD/VT circuit technology, in particular with regard to conventional CMOS technology, is found for example in Hamada, M, Ootaguro, Y, Kuroda, T (2001) "Utilizing Surplus Timing for Power Reduction", Proceedings of the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference 2001.
A central problem of conventional integrated circuits is the increasing deterioration of the electrical properties of MOS transistors ("metal oxide semiconductor") with increasing structural fineness, that is to say miniaturization. This is caused for example by the punch-through effect, the latch-up effect and also the parasitic capacitance between the drain/source region and the substrate, the parasitic capacitance greatly increasing more than proportionally in relation to the transistor size. The term punch-through effect refers to an undesirable punch-through of current between adjacent transistors of a transistor arrangement. The term latch-up effect designates the phenomenon wherein a transistor of the p conduction type and a transistor of the n conduction type, when the distance between them falls below a minimum distance, may form a parasitic thyristor at which a high triggering current may flow, which may effect a local destruction of an integrated semiconductor component.
The problems described are alleviated in the case of SOI technology ("silicon-on-insulator"), which uses a silicon layer on a silicon oxide layer on a silicon substrate as basic material for forming an integrated circuit. The problems described can be alleviated particularly with the use of a thin layer of silicon (e.g. having a thickness of 20 nm) on an electrically insulating silicon oxide layer.
Furthermore, using a doped substrate may give rise to the problem that technologically dictated local fluctuations in the dopant concentrations give rise to a variation of the threshold voltage in different transistors of an integrated circuit. This problem is avoided when an undoped substrate is used.
However, if a thin undoped silicon layer is used as a base layer for forming a field effect transistor, then it is not possible to alter the threshold voltage of the field effect transistor by setting the doping of the channel region. In this case, the threshold voltage of a field effect transistor may be defined by defining the work function of the material of the gate region. In this case, a separate gate material is in each case required for each type of transistor (low-power transistor or high-performance transistor, p-MOS transistor or n-MOS transistor), the threshold voltage of the respective transistor being defined by selection of the gate material.
However, the free material selection of the gate regions of different transistors of an integrated circuit may be restricted for technological reasons. Furthermore, it is complicated and therefore expensive to use different gate materials in a method for producing an integrated circuit with different transistors.
Thin-film SOI transistors ("silicon-on-insulator") are of interest particularly in the case of a CMOS technology with dimensions below 50 nm. As discussed for example in Schiml, T, Biesemans, S, Brase, G, Burrell, L, Cowley, A, Chen, KC, Ehrenwall, A, Ehrenwall, B, Felsner, P, Gill, J, Grellner, F, Guarin, F, Han, LK, Hoinkis, M, Hsiung, E, Kaltalioglu, E, Kim, P, Knoblinger, G, Kulkarni, S, Leslie, A, Mono, T, Schafbauer, T, Schroeder, P, Schruefer, K, Spooner, T, Towler, F, Warner, D, Wang, C, Wong, R, Demm, E, Leung, P, Stetter, M, Wann, C, Chen, JK, Crabbe, E (2001) "A 0.13 μm CMOS Platform with Cu/Low-k Interconnects for System On Chip Applications" 2001 Symposium on VLSI Technology, Digest of Technical Papers, in view of the high diversity of components, a plurality of different types of transistor are required for the logic in existing processes of the 130 nm technology. In the case of three different types of transistor with different threshold voltages (high threshold voltage, medium threshold voltage, low threshold voltage) and also in the case of two different types of charge carrier (n-MOS transistor, p-MOS transistor) a total of six different materials result for the gate region. An associated thin-film SOI-CMOS process therefore requires a very high process complexity.
In present-day CMOS technologies, the threshold voltage of the field effect transistors used therein is generally set by doping the channel region. Such implantations include forming LDD regions ("Lightly Doped Drain"), carrying out a pocket doping (localized doping of the region between the source/drain regions or in the channel region, thereby reducing the sensitivity of the transistor to technologically dictated fluctuations in the length of the gate region), and also forming a retrograde well (clearly a highly doped region within the substrate between the source/drain regions). However, these implantations are subject to technologically dictated fluctuations, which result in undesirable fluctuations of the transistor properties. Furthermore, particularly in the case of fully depleted thin-film SOI transistors primarily in the case of technology nodes with feature dimensions of less than 50 nm, it is no longer possible to employ this method for setting the threshold voltage since the doping-dependent contribution to the threshold voltage VTdop is proportional to q*NA*tsi. In this case, tsi designates the thickness of the silicon layer, NA designates the dopant concentration in the channel region, and q designates the electrical elementary charge. For tsi<20 nm and NA<1016 cm−3, VTdop then has hardly any influence on the threshold voltage.
The alternative to setting the threshold voltage by means of targeted doping consists in using a plurality of different gate materials for transistors with different threshold voltages and also different conduction types. However, thin-film SOI-CMOS processes that permit the formation of MOS transistors with different threshold voltages do not exist at the present time.
One possibility for setting the transistor properties in SOI technology is the use of transistors having different lengths of the gate region, since the length of the gate region also has a crucial influence on the threshold voltage of a field effect transistor. A capability for sufficiently exact setting of the threshold voltage of transistors by setting the length of the gate region presupposes a sufficiently good resolution of a masking technique.
FIG. 1A shows an SOI field effect transistor 100 in a technology with a minimum feature dimension that can be achieved of F=150 nm. The SOI transistor 100 has a silicon substrate 101, a silicon dioxide layer 102 arranged on the silicon substrate 101, and an undoped silicon layer 103 arranged on the silicon dioxide layer 102. The layers 101 to 103 form an SOI layer. A first source/drain region 106 is implanted in a first surface region of the undoped silicon layer 103, and a second source/drain region 107 is implanted in a second surface region of the undoped silicon layer 103. A region between the two source/drain regions 106, 107 of the undoped silicon layer 103 forms the channel region 108. In FIG. 1A, the lateral extent of the gate region 104 is determined by the smallest feature dimension that can be achieved in the technology generation, F=150 nm. A typical value for the inaccuracy during patterning is designated by AF in FIG. 1A. An accuracy of approximately ΔF=±20 nm can be achieved with the best patterning methods existing at the present time (electron beam lithography).
FIG. 1B shows a field effect transistor 110 of a technology generation in which the minimum feature dimension that can be achieved is F=50 nm. Assuming that the best resolution achieved at the present time is ΔF=20 nm, then it can be discerned that with conventional masking techniques, when striving for technology generations of 50 nm or less the uncertainties in the accuracy of the mask are too large to set the length of the gate region or the length of the channel region with sufficient accuracy. The relative accuracy when setting the length of the gate region in a technology generation where F=50 nm and with an uncertainty of ΔF=20 nm is 40%.
Therefore, as feature dimensions decrease further, with conventional masking technology, the threshold voltage of a transistor cannot be set with satisfactory accuracy by setting the length of the gate region. Moreover, the costs are very high when using masks. Furthermore, the production time of transistors increases more and more as masks become finer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,175 discloses a method for adjusting a threshold voltage for a semiconductor device on an SOI substrate, in which a threshold voltage adjusting implantation is carried out.
Nuernbergk, D M et al. (1999) "Mache mögen's heiβ—Silicon on Insulator Bauelemente und ihre Besonderheiten", in: "Mikroelektronik und Fertigung", pages 61 to 64, discloses an overview of silicon-on-insulator components and their particular properties.
DE 198 23 212 A1 discloses a semiconductor device in which a field-shielding gate oxide layer is thicker at an edge section of a field-shielding gate electrode below a sidewall oxide layer.
DE 198 57 059 A1 discloses an SOI component and a method for producing it, in which the effect of a body at floating potential is reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,915 discloses a method for producing bipolar junctions and MOS transistors on SOI.

Method for producing an SOI field effect transistor


A multi-axial roll-forming apparatus that is configured to be quickly and efficiently modifiable so as to allow the formation of a variety of differently shaped component pieces from a variety of different shaped pieces of material. A variously adjustable roll-forming device is held in a variety of vertical and horizontal orientations within a variously adjustable frame. The variously adjustable frame allows for various adjustments so as to provide an aperture consistent with the dimensions of the material being processed or the pieces which are to be formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to metal roll-forming machines that are configured to form desired shaped pieces from sheets of metal material and more particularly to a multi-axially adjustable roll-forming machine that is multiply variously adjustable and capable of easy and rapid tooling configuration modifications to allow the production of formed pieces having a variety of different desired shapes and configurations, including pieces in stacked and assembled configurations.
2. Background Information
Shaped metal pieces are utilized in a large variety of consumer and industrial goods, including metal and formed metal pieces from roofing material to trusses, shelving, car parts, and home and garden devices. In order to obtain shaped metal pieces having a desired shape, metal can be pressed or bent. One way that this is done is through the process called press forming wherein a press brake applies a force to a sheet of metal material in order to form that material into a desired shape. One of the major disadvantages with this process is the time involved in obtaining a number of such pieces, since each piece must be pressed and formed.
Another type of forming method that is used particularly when longer pieces are to be formed, is called roll-forming. Roll-forming involves forming pieces by feeding a sheet of material, usually a form of sheet metal, through a series of rolling apparatuses, which sequentially exert bending forces upon the material so as to deform the material and attain the desired profile for the piece. This method works very well if all of the pieces are generally the same width, the same thickness or gauge, and will be formed into generally the same shape or family of shapes.
However, when variations in width, gauge or desired shape occur, the configuration and set up of the roll-forming components must be rearranged to accommodate for these changes. In some situations, the machinery involved is simply incapable of any modification that would be sufficient to bring about these changes. Therefore, new machinery or roller components must be brought in or changed out. This can be a tremendously expensive and a time-consuming ordeal. In other situations, machinery can be modified to achieve the desired result. However to do so requires a substantial amount of time and requires that production of the pieces be stopped while the changeover takes place. As a result of this general inflexibility, most roll-forming machines are limited to primarily forming one or two parts or shapes of a group of pieces or to be uniquely set up for the production of high volumes of one particularly shaped part.
Therefore what is needed is a roll-forming device that provides simple and efficient configuration modification so as to accommodate a variety of shaped and dimensioned pieces and to form these pieces into a variety of desired shapes oriented in a variety of positions. Such a device would allow an operator to variously adjust the receiving aperture portion of the device to provide for variations in the width of the materials to be formed and the thickness of the material. What is also needed is a roll-forming device that has adjustably selectable roll-forming portions that allow an operator to selectively vary the shape and orientation of pieces that are created and formed within the device. What is also needed is a device that accomplishes the aforementioned aims and which is configurable for automatic configuration modification.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a roll-forming device that provides simple and efficient configuration modifications so as to account for variations in widths of materials to be formed, thickness of material to be formed, and/or to vary the shape of pieces to be formed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a roll-forming device that is easily and quickly adjustable thus allowing a greater variety of pieces to be formed than those that can be formed with the devices that currently exist in the prior art. Another object of the invention is to provide a roll-forming apparatus that provides increased bending capabilities. Another object of the present invention is to provide a roll-forming apparatus that produces automatically stacked pieces, which increases the efficiency of the roll-forming apparatus and eliminating the need for the purchase of an additional stacking machine. Another object of the present invention is to provide such a device that is capable of automatically varying the length of all defined areas of the components either manually or automatically. Another object of the present invention is to provide a device that provides all of the above-stated objects and is economical to manufacture, flexible in operation and set up, and affords ease of operation, maintenance, and set up.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.


A method of processing which can include receiving input signals from a plurality of sources, data mining the input signals, interpreting the mined data, optionally providing a set of settings and processing the input signals based on the interpretation of the mined data and, optionally, the set of settings to produce output signals. The input signals can be data mined to identify one or both of unique characteristics and attributes associable with the input signals. The mined data can be interpreted in a manner so as to form association based on one or both of the unique characteristics and attributes. The output signals can correspond to adaptably altered input signals which can be associated with adaptable alteration of one or both of visual perception and audio perception of the input signals.

Generally, an electronic system would require an application programming interface (API) for the purpose of rendering two dimensional (2D) and/or three dimensional (3D) electronic graphics. Open Graphics Library (hereinafter "OpenGL®") is one such example.
OpenGL® is currently an industry standard for computer graphics with defined APIs which is supported by hardware vendors and which is commonly used by software programmers.
For hardware vendors such as device manufacturers, OpenGL® based drivers can be provided for their graphics subsystems. For example, an electronic tablet device may use a graphics processing unit (GPU) which requires an Android® based OpenGL® driver.
Appreciably, with the use of OpenGL®, it is possible to ensure portability of applications across various graphics processors.
To illustrate, FIG. 1 shows a typical processing system 102 which includes a number of operating modules 104 and an input device 106.
As shown, the processing system 102 can include a first operating module 104a, a second operating module 104b, a third operating module 104c and a fourth operating module 104d. The first operating module 104a can be an application layer. The second operating module 104b can be an engine layer. The third operating module 104c can be an API layer. The fourth operating module 104d can be an operating system (OS) layer.
The input device 106 can be coupled to the first operating module 104a. The input device 106 can be configured to receive input signals and process the input signals to produce control signals which can be communicated to the first operating module 104a.
In an exemplary scenario, the processing system 102 can correspond to an electronic device operable to play a game. Further, the processing system 102 can be based on an Android® based OS.
In this regard, the first operating module 104a can be related to a game based application, the second operating module 104b can be a game engine, the third operating module 104c can be related to an OpenGL® based API layer and the fourth operating module 104d can be related to an Android® based OS layer.
Additionally, the input device 106 can, for example, be a touch sensitive screen which is capable of sensing touch from a user. For example, a user can play a game on the electronic device by touching the input device 106. Therefore, user touch sensed by the input device 106 can be considered to be input signals. As mentioned, the input signals can be processed by the input device 106 and communicated to the first operating module 104a. The processed input signals can be communicated to the first operating module 104a to control, for example, game play (e.g., events and/or actions) as the game progresses.
Game based applications (i.e., at the first layer 104a) typically rely on game engines (i.e., at the second layer 104b) for processing tasks which are graphics and/or audio related.
Additionally, if modifications are desired, there may be a need to modify game sourcecode and/or release packages.
Appreciably, conventional processing techniques do not facilitate processing in an efficient and/or user friendly manner.
It is therefore desirable to provide a solution to address at least one of the foregoing problems.

System suitable for one or both of audio processing and graphics processing and a method of processing in association therewith


An arcade game comprising an elevated ally having a first flat planar section to receive rolling game elements and a second alley section having a plurality of targets, wherein the targets are passages though the second alley section and sized to allow the rolling elements to pass through said passages and game has a compressed gas reservoir and a plurality of exit portals and a controller that allows players to release gas and affect the motion of rolling elements on the target section.

Roll down games have been provided at arcades for many years. The games are appealing to all ages and game play involves elements of both luck and skill. In many conventional embodiments multiple machines are attached together to allow for multi-player competition. As soon as a first player meets the object of the game, the play at linked games is stopped and an award is distributed to the winning player.
A conventional Fascination table of the prior art is about 1.3 meters long, 50 centimeters wide and 1 meter high. Typically, a number of tables are arranged next to one another and the games are configured to allow for competitive play among multiple tables.
The players are each positioned at a first end of the table. At the other end of the table is a series of 25 holes, roughly 5 cm in diameter, arranged in a five-by-five square matrix or grid. The player rolls a ball, which may be similar to a racquetball or handball, toward the holes. The ball that is used is only slightly smaller than the target holes. As the ball falls through one of the holes, it is detected and a light on a backboard display corresponding to the target hole lights up. The player can see the pattern corresponding to the holes that the balls have fallen through and which targets are required to complete the objective of hitting five targets in a row. The ball then rolls back to the player on a ramp having a slight incline slanted back from the holes to the player location at the front of the device. The process is repeated until a player lights five lights in a row, either across the matrix, in a vertical column, or on a diagonal, similar to the game of Bingo. In some embodiments, like Bingo, the hole in the center of the matrix is a "free space." A glass plate over the front part of the table keeps players from reaching too far over the table to improve their aim.
Fascination tables are typically installed in groups from 20 to 50, but can be in as small a system of 2, up to any amount without limit, and are interlocked through an electromechanical or electronic system. Players compete against one another, with the first player to complete a row of five being the winner. An interlocking system determining which was first to compete the five ball in arrow and will locking out all others. If two or more players tie, each is declared a winner. Games usually last between 60 and 90 seconds, with a new game starting soon after the end of the previous one.
Winners may receive a tickets, tokens or credits which can be redeemed for prizes. In some embodiments, a bonus may be won by winning with all spots lighted on a certain row marked by colored lights in a display provided above the target field. For example, the top row on the board (the back row of holes) may be displayed in the grid display as "red" and if all the targets are successfully hit, may award a win three to five times the normal rate; A fourth row from the top (the second row of holes from the front) may be designed as "gold" and a successful player would be awarded at double the normal rate.
In some embodiments, an announcer may preside over the game play. The game play is initiated by pressing a button which provide an audible and visual signal and activates all of the linked machines. Balls are them released so they are accessible to the players. Play proceeds until a player achieves the object of the game, namely, rolls a ball through five holes in a line. When a win is detected, a second audible signal is transmitted and the announcer may broadcast the winner. A fee may be paid using a credit activation device or may be manually paid before play begins. The winner can redeem tickets, tokens or credits at a redemption center.
In another roll-down game, referred to as Pokerino, the target holes are associated with playing cards and the object of the game is to the highest five card poker hand. The hands are displayed on a scoreboard. Pokerino uses holes that are designated 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace and different suits in a 6 by 6 matrix.
A third prior art roll-down device is known as the Lite-a-Line game. The Lite-a-Line game can be characterized as a combination of pinball and bingo. The game is similar to pinball because a player uses a plunger device to put a ball into play and is like Bingo because the player must hit five targets in a row to win. As a ball drops through one of 25 holes on the board, a corresponding light on a grid on a five-by-five scoreboard provided at the rear of the game is illuminated. Like the Fascination game, an announcer will manage the collection fees and start the game. Like pinball machines, to put a ball into play, a player pulls back a plunger and releases it to propel the ball up an inclined board past a drop location. If the player doesn't release the ball with enough force, it won't reach the drop point on the board and will roll back down to the plunger. The player can then replay the ball. Balls that are released with too much force, will pass the drop point but may bounce off a surface and return back to the plunger. If the player releases the ball with the correct an amount of force, it will drop down the board toward the 25 target holes. In the Lite-a-Line game the holes are designed into five colors, with five holes per color and each colored set are numbered one to five. Like Fascination, as the ball passes through a hole, it will illuminate a corresponding light on a back display and score board. If the target has already been activated, the display board remained unchanged when the ball passes through. Certain targets may be pre-lit before the game begins. The first player to illuminate five targets in a row, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally, will result in a win and all of the linked games will be locked and play discontinued. Scoring may be provided for different events, for example, a bonus may be paid out for a win with no extraneous marks on the display. Other scoring techniques may allow for second and third place finishes wherein the play is not locked out until the last recognized finisher, or providing payouts to the first player to illuminate four targets in a row.