Novel human phosphatidylserine synthase-like polypeptides, proteins, and nucleic acid molecules are disclosed. In addition to isolated, full-length human phosphatidylserine synthase-like proteins, the invention further provides isolated human phosphatidylserine synthase-like fusion proteins, antigenic peptides, and anti-human phosphatidylserine synthase-like antibodies. The invention also provides human phosphatidylserine synthase-like nucleic acid molecules, recombinant expression vectors containing a nucleic acid molecule of the invention, host cells into which the expression vectors have been introduced, and nonhuman transgenic animals in which a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like gene has been introduced or disrupted. Diagnostic, screening, and therapeutic methods utilizing compositions of the invention are also provided.

The invention relates to novel human phosphatidylserine synthase-like nucleic acid sequences and proteins. Also provided are vectors, host cells, and recombinant methods for making and using the novel molecules.
The membranes of eukaryotic cells contain not only large amounts of cholesterol but a variety of phospholipids. For example, the major phospholipids in the human erythrocyte include phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, and sphingomyelin. The four major phospholipids in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), and phosphatidylserine (PS) (Poole et al. (1986) J. of Bacteriology 168(2):668-672). PS accounts for 4 to 8% of the total membrane phospholipids in S. cerevisiae and is important to overall lipid metabolism (Atkinson et al. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255: 6653-6661). PS is the normal precursor to PE and PC. The synthesis of phospholipids in eukaryotic cells involves both cytoplasmic and membrane-associated enzymes, a number of which are coordinately regulated (Henry et al., (1984) Annu. Rev. Genet. 18:207-231).
Phosphatidylserine (PS) is an essential phospholipid for the growth of mammalian cells, comprising approximately 10% of the total membrane of various mammalian tissues and cultured cells (Kuge et al. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261:5790-5794).
The enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of PS in S. cerevisiae is CDPdiacylglycerol:L-serine O-phoshphatidyl transferase (Phosphatidylserine synthase; EC 2. 7. 8. 8). PS synthase catalyzes the formation of PS and CMP from CDP-diacylglycerol (CDP-DG) and serine by a sequential Bi Bi reaction mechanism (Bae-Lee et al. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259:10857-10862). PS synthase is an integral membrane protein. Detailed biochemical studies have shown that PS synthase activity is present in both the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (Kuchler et al. (1986) J. Bacteriol. 165:901-910).
Phosphatidylserine (PS) synthase in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells (CHO) exists in two formsxe2x80x94(PSS) I and II. PSS I and PSS II are encoded by two genespssA andpssB, respectively (Kuge et al. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272: 19133-19139). PSS I is responsible for the conversion of phosphatidylcholine to phosphatidylserine and PSS II is responsible for the conversion of phosphatidylethanolamine to phosphatidylserine (Saito et al. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273:17199-17205). PS biosynthesis in CHO-K1 cells is inhibited upon the addition of PS to the culture medium suggesting that feedback control is involved in the regulation of PS biosynthesis (Nishijima et al. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261:5784-5789).
Various CHO mutants have been identified which exhibit defective synthesis in PSS I and PSS II. PSS I and PSS II are similar in sequence to each other; there is a 38% amino acid identity between the two PS synthases (Kuge et al. (1997) J Biol. Chem. 272:19133-19139). Results obtained by Kuge et al. indicate that PSS II in CHO-K1 cells is inhibited by exogenous PS and that the activity of over-produced PSS II in CHO-K1 cells is depressed for maintenance of the normal PS biosynthetic rate, probably through molecular mechanisms different from those for the exogenous PS-mediated inhibition. Also, the work of Kuge et al. demonstrated that the ARG-97 residue of PSS II is critical for both the exogenous PS-mediated inhibition of PS II and the depression of overproduced PSS II activity.
Because phospholipids such as PS are important components of eukaryotic membranes their proper biosynthesis is critical to cell homeostasis and function. Defects in PS synthase may yield membranes with altered functionality which could have implications in a wide range of disease states. Accordingly, PS synthases are a major target for drug action and development. Accordingly, it is valuable to the field of pharmaceutical development to identify and characterize novel PS synthases and tissues and disorders in which PS synthases are differentially expressed. The present invention advances the state of the art by providing novel human PS synthase molecules and the uses thereof.
Isolated nucleic acid molecules corresponding to human phosphatidylserine synthase-like nucleic acid sequences are provided. Additionally, amino acid sequences corresponding to the polynucleotides are encompassed. In particular, the present invention provides for isolated nucleic acid molecules comprising nucleotide sequences encoding the amino acid sequences shown in SEQ ID NO:2. Further provided are human phosphatidylserine synthase-like polypeptides having an amino acid sequence encoded by a nucleic acid molecule described herein.
The present invention also provides vectors and host cells for recombinant expression of the nucleic acid molecules described herein, as well as methods of making such vectors and host cells and for using them for production of the polypeptides or peptides of the invention by recombinant techniques.
The human phosphatidylserine synthase-like molecules of the present invention are useful for modulating the biosynthetic pathway involving the synthesis of the membrane phospholipid phosphatidylserine (PS). The molecules may be useful for a wide variety of human disorders as herein described.
Accordingly, in one aspect, this invention provides isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding human phosphatidylserine synthase-like proteins or biologically active portions thereof, as well as nucleic acid fragments suitable as primers or hybridization probes for the detection of human phosphatidylserine synthase-like encoding nucleic acids.
Another aspect of this invention features isolated or recombinant human phosphatidylserine synthase-like proteins and polypeptides. Preferred human phosphatidylserine synthase-like proteins and polypeptides possess at least one biological activity possessed by naturally occurring human phosphatidylserine synthase-like proteins.
Variant nucleic acid molecules and polypeptides substantially homologous to the nucleotide and amino acid sequences set forth in the sequence listings are encompassed by the present invention. Additionally, fragments and substantially homologous fragments of the nucleotide and amino acid sequences are provided.
Antibodies and antibody fragments that selectively bind the human phosphatidylserine synthase-like polypeptides and fragments are provided. Such antibodies are useful in detecting the human phosphatidylserine synthase-like polypeptides.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for detecting the presence of human phosphatidylserine synthase-like activity or expression in a biological sample by contacting the biological sample with an agent capable of detecting an indicator of human phosphatidylserine synthase-like activity such that the presence of human phosphatidylserine synthase-like activity is detected in the biological sample.
In yet another aspect, the invention provides a method for modulating human phosphatidylserine synthase-like activity comprising contacting a cell with an agent that modulates (inhibits or stimulates) human phosphatidylserine synthase-like activity or expression such that human phosphatidylserine synthase-like activity or expression in the cell is modulated. In one embodiment, the agent is an antibody that specifically binds to human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein. In another embodiment, the agent modulates expression of human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein by modulating transcription of a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like gene, splicing of a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like mRNA, or translation of a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like mRNA. In yet another embodiment, the agent is a nucleic acid molecule having a nucleotide sequence that is antisense to the coding strand of the human phosphatidylsenrne synthase-like mRNA or the human phosphatidylserine synthase-like gene.
In one embodiment, the methods of the present invention are used to treat a subject having a disorder characterized by aberrant human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein activity or nucleic acid expression by administering an agent that is a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like modulator to the subject. In one embodiment, the human phosphatidylserine synthase-like modulator is a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein. In another embodiment, the human phosphatidylserine synthase-like modulator is a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like nucleic acid molecule. In other embodiments, the human phosphatidylserine synthase-like modulator is a peptide, peptidomimetic, or other small molecule.
The present invention also provides a diagnostic assay for identifying the presence or absence of a genetic lesion or mutation characterized by at least one of the following: (1) aberrant modification or mutation of a gene encoding a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein; (2) misregulation of a gene encoding a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein; and (3) aberrant post-translational modification of a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein, wherein a wild-type form of the gene encodes a protein with a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like activity.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method for identifying a compound that binds to or modulates the activity of a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein. In general, such methods entail measuring a biological activity of a human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein in the presence and absence of a test compound and identifying those compounds that alter the activity of the human phosphatidylserine synthase-like protein.
The invention also features methods for identifying a compound that modulates the expression of human phosphatidylserine synthase-like genes by measuring the expression of the human phosphatidylserine synthase-like sequences in the presence and absence of the compound.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and claims.

32670, novel human phosphatidylserine synthase-like molecules and uses thereof


A method for displaying an operating parameter for a mobile platform. A plurality of different graphs can be digitized to place them in electronic form. Each graph represents a different operational or environmental characteristic relating to operation of the mobile platform, and each is further related to a common parameter. A first one of the digitized graphs is selected by a user. A user positionable marker is displayed on the first digitized graph at a specific, user selected location on the first digitized graph. Next a second one of the digitized graphs is selected. The second one of the digitized graphs is then overlayed over at least a portion of the first digitized graph, with the marker remaining visible and superimposed on the second digitized graph, and without having moved relative to the first digitized graph. The second digitized graph is then aligned relative to the first digitized graph. The marker is then used to assist in reading information from the second digitized graph.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
With airborne mobile platforms such as aircraft, there is often a need to determine flight related information from a plurality of graphs or charts. Typically the graphs or charts are in paper form. Often the pilot (and/or co-pilot) may need to analyze two, three or more charts or graphs in order to be able to determine needed flight information. Often a first graph or chart must be manually aligned with a curve on a second graph or chart, and while holding the first and second charts in aligned fashion, then sometimes a third graph or chart (and sometimes even further charts or graphs) must be aligned relative to the second chart, before the needed flight information can be obtained.
As will be appreciated, the use paper charts, and especially the need to physically align or position several paper charts relative to one another to determine a needed parameter of operation of the mobile platform, can be quite cumbersome. Such a procedure can also add significantly to the workload of a pilot and/or co-pilot when the mobile platform is a commercial aircraft, and also to the time needed to perform preflight checks. The use of paper charts can sometimes be made even more difficult when trying to physically maneuver and align several pieces of paper in the confines of a space-limited area, for example within a cockpit of an aircraft.


An apparatus for measuring the diffusion of hydrogen atoms from a second surface to a first surface of a ferrous metal body in order to monitor the magnitude of corrosion occurring at the second surface. The apparatus comprises a chamber-defining member which can be sealed to the first surface of the body so as to define with the first surface a sealed chamber. The chamber-defining member is constructed of material sufficiently flexible that upon evacuation of the sealed chamber the chamber-defining member deflects toward the first surface to reduce the chamber volume. The apparatus provides a connection for attaching an evacuating pump which is used to evacuate substantially all of the contents of the chamber. A valve is provided to isolate the evacuated chamber from the evacuation pump so that hydrogen atoms, generated as a result of corrosion of the second surface, migrate through the body and exit the first surface within the chamber and combine to form hydrogen molecules which collect in the chamber. A vacuum gauge is provided to monitoring the decay of the vacuum in the chamber over time.

This invention relates to monitoring the dissipation of hydrogen atoms through a body comprised of material which is permeable to atomic hydrogen, but impervious to gases or liquids. This invention relates particularly to monitoring the accumulation of molecular hydrogen gas in an evacuated chamber resulting from the migration of hydrogen atoms through such a body.
A typical example of an application in which the present invention may be used is to monitor the presence and general magnitude of corrosion occurring at a surface of a ferrous metal body when exposed to a corrodent such as water as further discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,178 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,373.
It is well known that when ferrous metals are exposed to water and corrode that hydrogen atoms are liberated at a rate corresponding to the rate of corrosion activity as a result of the dissociation of water molecules into hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl groups. Some of these hydrogen atoms permeate and migrate through the ferrous metal body. When such atoms resurface they combine to form molecular hydrogen gas and then dissipate.
It is desirable to monitor the magnitude of corrosion occurring on the surfaces of such bodies to provide an indication of expected depletion of the corroding surface, as well as expected hydrogen blistering corrosion as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,996, so that appropriate remedial action may be taken. Hydrogen blistering corrosion consists of hydrogen atoms diffusing through a ferrous metal body until an imperfection in the metal is reached. At this point the hydrogen atoms combine to form molecular hydrogen gas. As ferrous metals are impervious to molecular hydrogen this is a unidirectional process and results in the accumulation of pressures of several thousand psi. Upon attaining sufficient pressure the hydrogen gas causes the metal to deform forming a blister and eventually bursting.
Both the depletion of corroding surfaces and hydrogen blistering corrosion are harmful in that they result in reducing the cross section of the body thereby weakening it. Monitoring the magnitude of corrosion occurring at a surface permits preventative maintenance to be scheduled and conducted as required to maintain the structural integrity of the body.
Various systems have sought to exploit the solubility and dissipation of atomic hydrogen as a means of monitoring the corresponding magnitude of corrosion activity.
One such device uses a ferrous metal probe within which is formed a cavity. The probe is inserted through a wall of a body into a corrodent present therein. The resulting corrosion of the surface of the probe generates hydrogen atoms. Some of these hydrogen atoms dissipate through the wall of the probe and emerge within the cavity to form hydrogen gas.
Various measurement techniques have been used to determine the rate of production of hydrogen gas. One measurement technique used in conjunction with this type of probe measures the accumulation of hydrogen gas within the cavity over time using a pressure gauge attached to the probe remote from the corrodent.
Another measurement technique used with this type of probe continuously vents the hydrogen gas from the cavity into an ionization chamber and detector sensor whose output is measured by a scalar instrument to indicate rate of flow of the hydrogen gas.
Still another measurement technique used with this type of probe continuously vents the hydrogen gas from the cavity through a capillary port into a background liquid to form discrete uniform-dimension bubbles of hydrogen gas which are counted over time to provide the rate of flow of the hydrogen gas.
The probe type of corrosion monitoring device is of limited value because:
1. Installation of the probe requires penetrating a wall of the body to be monitored in order to place the probe within the corrodent. This compromises the integrity of the body's structure which is an important consideration in many applications as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,373. Installation is also labour-intensive and can be a potential safety risk to installers in the event the corrodent comprises pressurized, heated, volatile or radioactive material. PA1 2. Direct monitoring of the magnitude of corrosion of the body can only be achieved if the probe is constructed of the same material as that of the body. A probe constructed of a different material may corrode in a different fashion and at a different rate. No two materials are identical. Even variations in the specifications within the same class of material during its manufacture is normal. Materials may also be non-homogeneous. These factors make an exact match of the body and probe materials very difficult. PA1 3. Heat affected or stressed areas, as well as areas displaying surface anomalies such as mill scale and metallurgical defects, can have a very significant effect on the surface's susceptibility to corrosion. This variance in corrosion susceptibility is a function of the materials and construction techniques used in making the body as well as the body's design. Probe type corrosion monitoring devices are unable to model or duplicate such variable susceptibility to corrosion. The indirect corrosion monitoring technique used in probe type corrosion monitoring devices cannot accurately monitor the magnitude of corrosion activity occurring in such bodies. PA1 4. The sensitivity of the pressure-measuring style of probe is a function of the rat(i of hydrogen gas accumulation within the cavity. This is dependant on the corroding surface area of the probe (where the migrating hydrogen atoms are generated), the interior surface area of the cavity (through which the migrating hydrogen atoms exit to form molecular hydrogen) and the volume of the cavity. Sensitivity of the pressure-measuring style of probe to the detection of hydrogen is limited in that a substantial period of time is required to accumulate a measurable volume of hydrogen gas within the fixed volume of the probe's cavity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,178 discusses that even in very active corrodents the pressure build-up in such probes requires up to 24 hours to reflect gas accumulations within the cavity of 85 psi. In field conditions this may take weeks. PA1 5. Pressure readings of the pressure-measuring style of probe will fluctuate with changes in ambient temperature inside or outside the body resulting in inaccurate indications of the magnitude of corrosion activity within the body. PA1 6. The probe style corrosion monitoring devices are relatively expensive to manufacture and install. In addition, the venting style of probe requires careful calibration and complicated installation and is relatively too delicate for use unattended in industrial field installations. PA1 1. Pressure readings from pressure-measuring hydrogen patch devices will fluctuate with changes in ambient temperature resulting in inaccurate indications of corrosion activity within the body; PA1 2. The sensitivity of a pressure-measuring hydrogen patch device is a function of the rate of hydrogen gas accumulation within its cavity. The sensitivity of hydrogen patch devices may generally be enhanced by maximizing the monitored surface area of the body within the cavity (through which the migrating hydrogen atoms exit to form molecular hydrogen) while minimizing the volume of the cavity. The sensitivity of a pressure-measuring hydrogen patch device is limited in that a substantial period of time is required for the accumulation of a measurable volume of hydrogen within the fixed volume of the cavity. This increases an operator's reaction time in commencing corrective action to limit corrosion-induced damage. PA1 3. Sensitivity of the electrochemical type of hydrogen patch is practically limited by the relatively fixed surface area that they monitor on the body. Such hydrogen patches are not easily adjusted to increase the surf ace area they monitor due to the nature of their construction. PA1 4. The flexibility of hydrogen patch devices to adapt to irregularly shaped body surfaces is also limited by the nature of their construction. PA1 5. The electrochemical patch cell is relatively expensive and complicated to manufacture and to install. PA1 (a) a chamber-defining member; PA1 (b) a steel body in which at least said selected area is impervious to the flow of gasses or liquids; PA1 (c) seal mans extending around the marginal perimeter of the chamber-defining member for sealably securing the chamber-defining member to the first surface so as to define with said selected area of the first surface of the body a sealed chamber which is impervious to the flow of gasses or liquids; PA1 (d) said chamber defining member being adapted to conform closely to the surface shape of said selected area of the first surface so as to lie in close proximity thereto to minimize the volume of the sealed chamber defined between the selected area of the first surface and the chamber-defining member; PA1 (e) means for connecting an evacuating means to the chamber defining member to permit substantial evacuation of the contents of the chamber to establish a partial vacuum therein; PA1 (f) valve means for isolating the chamber form the evacuation means after the partial vacuum has been established to maintain the partial vacuum in the chamber so that hydrogen atoms that are generated as a result of corrosion of the second surface of the body and which diffuse through the material of the body and which exit the first surface within the chamber and which combine to form hydrogen gas molecules, collect in the chamber thus resulting in a decay of the vacuum in the chamber; and PA1 (g) vacuum monitoring means for monitoring the decay of the vacuum in the chamber over time to give an indication of the rate of diffusion of hydrogen atoms through the material of the body and hence an indication of the rate of corrosion of said second surface. PA1 (a) providing a steel body having a first surface and an opposite second surface, wherein the body is impervious to the flow of gasses or liquids between said surfaces at least in a selected area of the body; PA1 (b) providing a chamber defining member capable of conforming closely to the surface shape of said selected area of the first surface so as to lie in close proximity thereto; PA1 (c) sealably engaging the chamber-defining member with the first surface of the body, using a seal means which extends around the marginal perimeter of the chamber-defining member, so as to define with said selected area of the first surface of the body a sealed chamber which is impervious to the flow of gasses or liquids; PA1 (d) substantially evacuating the contents of the chamber using evacuation means to establish a partial vacuum therein; PA1 (e) isolating the chamber from the evacuation means after the partial vacuum has been established to maintain the partial vacuum in the chamber so that hydrogen atoms that are generated as a result of corrosion of the second surface of the body and which diffuse through the material of the body and which exit the first surface within the chamber and which combine to form hydrogen gas molecules, collect in the chamber thus resulting in a decay of the vacuum in the chamber; and PA1 (f) monitoring the decay of the vacuum in the chamber over time to give an indication of the rate of diffusion of hydrogen atoms through the material of the body and hence an indication of the rate of corrosion of said second surface thereof.
Another device, known as a hydrogen patch, is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,373. This style of monitoring device uses a cell mounted upon, and sealed to, the diffusion side of a body being penetrated by hydrogen atoms. The cell and the body define a cavity within which hydrogen gas forms and collects as migrating hydrogen atoms surface within the cavity.
Various measurement techniques have been used to monitor the rate of production of hydrogen within the cavity of such hydrogen patches. One such technique uses a pressure gauge to measure the accumulation of hydrogen gas over time. Another measurement technique, discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,373, electrochemically converts hydrogen atoms to ions. The rate of conversion of hydrogen atoms to ions is monitored electronically to provide a measurement of the magnitude of corrosion occurring inside the monitored body.
These hydrogen patch devices are of limited value because:


A transparent electrically conductive film having a surface resistivity of 10.sup.2 -10.sup.10 .OMEGA./.sup..quadrature., an overall light transmittance of at least 70%, and a haze value of at most 20% comprises an organic or inorganic transparent matrix having dispersed therein 0.01%-1 wt % of hollow carbon microfibers and 1%-40 wt % of an electrically conductive metal oxide powder (such as antimony-doped tin oxide) with an average primary particle diameter of 0.5 .mu.m or smaller. The matrix can be an organic polymer which is thermoplastic, thermosetting, or curable by ultraviolet radiation, or a metal oxide sol which can form an inorganic glass film, a hydrolyzable or heat decomposable organic metal compound, or the like.

An electrically conductive transparent film has conventionally been formed on an electrical insulating substrate either the following process (1) or (2):
(1) a dry process such as PVD (including sputtering and ion plating) or CVD to form a conductive transparent film of a metal oxide type, e.g., antimony-tin mixed oxide or tin-indium mixed oxide on a substrate; PA1 (2) a wet process using a conductive coating composition comprising an electrically conductive powder, e.g., one of the above-described mixed oxides, and a binder.
The dry process (1) produces a film having both good transparency and good conductivity. However, it requires a complicated apparatus having a vacuum system and has poor productivity. Another problem of the dry process is that it is difficult to apply to a continuous or big substrate such as photographic films or show windows.
On the other hand, the wet process (2) is advantageous in that it requires a relatively simple apparatus, has high productivity, and is easy to apply to a continuous or big substrate.
The conductive powder used in the wet process is a very fine powder having an average primary particle diameter of 0.5 .mu.m or less so as not to interfere with the transparency of the resulting film. However, such a fine powder is strong in binding power between particles and tends to re-agglomerate in a coating composition, thereby causing the coating composition to have a low stability.
Furthermore, since electric conductivity results from direct contact between powder particles, it is necessary for the conductive powder to be present in a dry film in a large proportion on the order of more than 50% by weight in order to provide the film with adequate electric conductivity. This increases the costs of a conductive film made by the wet process and leads to losses of physical (mechanical and thermal) properties of the film.
Carbon fibers, particularly graphitized carbon fibers have good electric conductivity and it has been attempted to use carbon fibers as a conductive material. In particular, those carbon fibers prepared by the vapor-phase growth (pyrolysis) method and optionally subjected to graphitization by heat treatment are attractive since they are hollow or solid thin fibers having an outer diameter of 0.1-10 .mu.m and having high electric conductivity.
Recently, carbon fibers much thinner than the above-described fibers by the conventional vapor-phase growth method have been developed. See, Japanese Patent Kokoku Publications Nos. 3-64606 and 3-77288; Japanese Patent Kokai Applications Nos. 1-131251, 3-174018, and 5-125619; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,663,230; 5,165,909; and 5,171,560. Such very thin carbon fibers (hereinafter referred to as carbon microfibers) are hollow fibers having a hollow core and their outer diameter is in the range of several to several ten nanometers (nm). Due to the diameter on the order of nanometers, carbon microfibers are also called nanotubes or carbon fibrils. It has been proposed to use such fibers as a reinforcing material in the manufacture of composite materials, or to utilize their electrical conductivity and employ them in antistatic materials, electrodes, and shields against electromagnetic waves.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,771 describes an electrically conductive coating and ink containing hollow carbon microfibers. In the coating disclosed in that patent, in order to give the coating electrical conductivity, the hollow microfibers are employed in an amount of 1-4 wt % with respect to a binder resin.
An object of the present invention is to provide a transparent electrically conductive film which does not have the drawbacks of the above-described wet-process (2) and a coating composition for forming this transparent electrically conductive film.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transparent electrically conductive film having a reduced content of electrically conductive materials and a coating composition for forming the film.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrically conductive film which contains carbon fibers as an electrically conductive material while maintaining its transparency as well as a coating composition for forming the film.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a novel, transparent antistatic layer.

Electrically conductive transparent film and coating composition for forming such film


The invention relates to optionally solventless two-component polyurethane surfacers containing finely divided fillers in a high pigment volume concentration based on a polyfunctional isocyanate component (B) and a polyol component (A) which is liquid at room temperature and which consists of mixture components containing isocyanate-reactive hydroxyl groups with an at least predominant content of branched-chain polyols (A1) containing ester and ether groups, which contains at least a proportion of the finely divided fillers and, optionally, the additives and which, for application, is mixed with the isocyanate component (B) and applied as a mixture which can still be processed by shaping. To form a substantially waterproof, elastic multipurpose adhesive surfacer which combines high adhesive strength with high volume stability, the polyol component (A) contains oleopolyols having an OH functionality of at least 2 to about 3 as an additional mixture component (A2) and, if desired, low-viscosity monofunctional alcohols of distinctly oleophilic character, which are at least substantially involatile at room temperature, in admixture with component (A1) as another additional mixture component (A3).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optionally solventless two-component polyurethane surfacers containing finely divided fillers in a high pigment volume concentration based on a polyfunctional isocyanate component (B) and a polyol component (A) which is liquid at room temperature and which consists of mixture components containing isocyanate-reactive hydroxyl groups with an at least predominant content of branched-chain polyols (A1) containing ester and ether groups, which contains at least a proportion of the finely divided fillers and, optionally, the additives and which, for application, is mixed with the isocyanate component(B) and applied as a mixture that can still be processed by shaping. The present invention also relates to the use of the surfacers according to the invention.
2. Statement of Related Art
In practice, various surfacers or filling materials are used for repairing structural components of a variety of materials where losses of material have to be replaced. These surfacers or filling materials differ according to the type of binder used. Aqueous polymer dispersions, two-component epoxy resins, two-component polyurethane systems, two-component polyester systems and oxidatively crosslinking oil or alkyd resins are typically used for surfacers of the type in question. Unfortunately, surfacers of this type show inadequate adhesive properties, particularly if the thickness of the joint is of the order of one tenth of a millimeter or more. In addition, they are extremely vulnerable to cracking on account of different expansion coefficients in relation to the material to be repaired and tend to separate or even crack in the event of temperature fluctuations in the flank region.
On the other hand, there are several adhesives, partly based on the binders already mentioned, which--although suitable for joining substrates--can only be used with considerable limitations, if at all, as filling materials. Thus, polyvinyl acetate glues for example are mainly used for bonding wood and wood materials. However, the use of these adhesives presupposes an exact fit of the joint. Gaps cannot be filled with these adhesives, inter alia on account of their considerable shrinkage. In addition, phenol-resorcinol resins are used to a limited extent; although they can readily be filled, they are not suitable as proper surfacers.
Moisture-curing one-component polyurethane systems are also being used to an increasing extent. These products show more or less pronounced foaming and, by virtue of this increase in volume, have gap-filling properties, but are not suitable as surfacers because the necessary strengths cannot be reached on account of the foam structure, besides which the rheology of these systems is generally such that adequate firmness, for example on vertical surfaces, cannot be achieved.
Generally, it may be said that, in contact to adhesives, surfacers have a higher ratio of fillers to binder (pigment volume concentration, PVC), inter alia to avoid high shrinkage. If these surfacers predominantly contain inorganic fillers, they are generally difficult to machine with the tools normally used, for example by grinding, sawing, drilling, etc., and cause heavy tool wear. The effect of the high pigment volume concentration is that, in general, surfacers of the type in question are not good adhesives.
In the woodwork field, there is some incentive to develop filling surfacers having improved adhesive properties, for example based on epoxy resins, as described in DE 26 06 138. In addition, products based on a two-component polyurethane system are available on the market, but are attended by a number of significant disadvantages, beginning for example with poor handling properties during stirring of the two components, i.e., the mixture is very difficult to homogenize. In addition, many products cannot be spread out to thin layers over a homogeneous, non-porous surface. In addition, firmness on vertical or overhead surfaces is inadequate and/or curing is accompanied--through the evolution of CO.sub.2, which in one case is probably caused by reaction of the isocyanate component with the residual moisture in the wood chips present as filling material--by an unwanted increase in volume which, in addition, seriously impairs internal strength through the porous foam structure formed. On the other hand, CO.sub.2 can be formed in undesirably large amounts by reaction with ambient and/or substrate moisture, even when NCO groups are present in a distinct stoichiometric excess, i.e., when the isocyanate component is heavily overdosed. Products such as these are no solution to the problem in cases where losses of material, for example from wood or wood components, have to be replaced and, at the same time, high strength requirements have to be satisfied, as in the repair of broken hinges on doors or in the replacement of heavily stressed components which have been destroyed or functionally impaired by rotting, fungal attack, corrosion, material fatigue or the like. Polyurethane surfacers are not normally used for special substrates, such as metals.
The above-mentioned wood surfacers based on two-component polyurethanes may be produced, for example, from polyether polyols filled with sawdust or wood chips as the polyol component (A) and a polyfunctional isocyanate component (B), for example diphenyl methane diisocyanate (MDI). Processability is often impaired on account of the high filler content and/or the size of the filler particles.
To sum up, it may be said that the various requirements which an adhesive compound on the one hand and a surfacer on the other hand have to meet in one and the same product have not hitherto been satisfied without serious restrictions. Accordingly, there is still a need in industry, commerce, and the workshop for multipurpose products on the one hand, i.e., products which can be used for filling or bonding, and on the other hand for products having wider potential applications, i.e., filling and bonding, as required for example for the replacement of material in heavily stressed structural components.


A sortation system for separating products such as returned cigarette packs. A conveyor system moves the products in a predetermined orientation and minimum spacing past a bar code reader. A turnstile device contains a plurality of diverting bars which are selectively rotatable across the conveyor path in either direction to eject selected products either to the right or left as desired. A processor controls the turnstile device based upon bar code information to separate selected products and to allow the remaining products to remain on the conveyor.

In the tobacco industry, the reclamation of tobacco from unsold cigarette packs, known as returned goods tobacco reclamation, requires the separation of various types of returned goods. For example, in recovering tobacco it is desirable to separate unusable from reusable goods and, with regard to the reusable portion, to separate menthol from non-menthol tobaccos. It may also be desirable to further separate foreign made cigarettes from domestic, in view of the difference in taste characteristics. It may also be desired to separate returned packs by brand, in order to retain the individual taste characteristics of the recovered tobacco. This operation has heretofore required manual separation, resulting in unacceptable separation errors and high labor costs.
At the present time, most packaged goods are sold in containers or packs carrying a universal product code, or UPC bar code, which identifies the goods. These codes can be read by a scanner, and the electronic signal thus produced can be used for various purposes such as inventory tracking and sales transactions.
Proposals have also been made to utilize the UPC code for purposes of sorting products. An example of one proposal in the tobacco industry is set out in Emery et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,875. There, returned cigarette packs are moved along a conveyor and scanned by a UPC bar code reader. Packages are slit open by a water knife, and thereafter pass a series of air nozzles. The air nozzles are selectively activated by solenoid valves to apply pressurized air against the sides of the packs to blow the packs off the conveyor line at the appropriate location.
The Emery et al. system utilizes a first pair of ejector nozzles, followed by a pack sensor, and a second ejector nozzle for ejecting packages selected for ejection which were not ejected by the first ejector nozzles. It would be desirable to have a pack sortation system which does not require a backup ejection system and which does not require multiple air ejectors and associated solenoid controls.

Sortation system for recovering tobacco from cigarette packs


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for solving a system of equations in fixed-point form. During operation, the system receives a representation of the equations in fixed-point form and stores the representation a computer memory. Next, the system reduces the dimension of the system of equations, when possible, by eliminating variables in the system of equations to produce a reduced system of equations. The system then performs interval intersections based on the Fixed Point theorem to reduce the size of a box containing solutions to the reduced system of equations. In a variation on this embodiment, the system additionally applies interval techniques to find solutions to the system of equations, when such solutions exist.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to performing arithmetic operations on interval operands within a computer system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for using a computer system to solve systems of equations in fixed-point form.
2. Related Art
Rapid advances in computing technology make it possible to perform trillions of computational operations each second. This tremendous computational speed makes it practical to perform computationally intensive tasks as diverse as predicting the weather and optimizing the design of an aircraft engine. Such computational tasks are typically performed using machine-representable floating-point numbers to approximate values of real numbers. (For example, see the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 754 for binary floating-point numbers.)
In spite of their limitations, floating-point numbers are generally used to perform most computational tasks.
One limitation is that machine-representable floating-point numbers have a fixed-size word length, which limits their accuracy. Note that a floating-point number is typically encoded using a 32, 64 or 128-bit binary number, which means that there are only 232, 264 or 2128 possible symbols that can be used to specify a floating-point number. Hence, most real number values can only be approximated with a corresponding floating-point number. This creates estimation errors that can be magnified through even a few computations, thereby adversely affecting the accuracy of a computation.
A related limitation is that floating-point numbers contain no information about their accuracy. Most measured data values include some amount of error that arises from the measurement process itself. This error can often be quantified as an accuracy parameter, which can subsequently be used to determine the accuracy of a computation. However, floating-point numbers are not designed to keep track of accuracy information, whether from input data measurement errors or machine rounding errors. Hence, it is not possible to determine the accuracy of a computation by merely examining the floating-point number that results from the computation.
Interval arithmetic has been developed to solve the above-described problems. Interval arithmetic represents numbers as intervals specified by a first (left) endpoint and a second (right) endpoint. For example, the interval [a, b], where a<b, is a closed, bounded subset of the real numbers, R, which includes a and b as well as all real numbers between a and b. Arithmetic operations on interval operands (interval arithmetic) are defined so that interval results always contain the entire set of possible values. The result is a mathematical system for rigorously bounding numerical errors from all sources, including measurement data errors, machine rounding errors and their interactions. (Note that the first endpoint normally contains the "infimum", which is the largest number that is less than or equal to each of a given set of real numbers. Similarly, the second endpoint normally contains the "supremum", which is the smallest number that is greater than or equal to each of the given set of real numbers.)
One commonly performed computational operation is to find the roots of a nonlinear equation. This can be accomplished using Newton's method. The interval version of Newton's method works in the following manner. From the mean value theorem,f(x)−f(x*)=(x−x*)f′(ξ),where ξ is some generally unknown point between x and x*. If x* is a zero of f, then f(x*)=0 and, from the previous equation,x*=x−f(x)/f′(ξ).Let X be an interval containing both x and x*. Since ξ is between x and x*, it follows that ξ∈X. Moreover, from basic properties of interval analysis it follows that f′(ξ)∈f′(X). Hence, x*∈N(x,X) whereN(x,X)=x−f(x)/f′(X).Temporarily assume 0∉f′(X) so that N(x,X) is a finite interval. Since any zero of f in X is also in N(x,X), the zero is in the intersection X∩N(x,X). Using this fact, we define an algorithm for finding x*. Let X0 be an interval containing x*. For n=0, 1, 2, . . . , definexn=m(Xn)N(xn,Xn)=xn−f1(xn)/f′(Xn)Xn+1=Xn∩N(xn, Xn),wherein m(X) is the midpoint of the interval X, and the notation, fI(xn) makes explicit the fact that evaluating f at the point xn must be done using interval arithmetic. We call xn the point of expansion for the Newton method. It is not necessary to choose xn to be the midpoint of Xn. The only requirement is that xn∈Xn to assure that x*∈N(xn, Xn). However, it is convenient and efficient to choose xn=m(Xn). Note that the roots of an interval equation can be intervals rather than points when the equation contains non-degenerate interval constants or parameters.
The interval version of Newton's algorithm for finding roots of nonlinear equations is designed to work best "in the small" when nonlinear equations are approximately linear. For large intervals containing multiple roots, the interval Newton algorithm splits the given interval into two sub-intervals that are then processed independently. By this mechanism all the roots of a nonlinear equation can be found.
The task of solving systems of equations often requires large amounts of computer time and memory. This is especially true for systems of nonlinear equations. These demands depend upon many things, one of which is the size of the domain to be searched for solutions.
What is needed is a method and an apparatus for reducing the domain to be searched for solutions during the process of solving a large system of equations.

Method and apparatus for solving systems of equations in fixed-point form


An oscillation frequency control part includes a voltage-to-current converting circuit converting an input voltage to a current having a value corresponding to the input voltage, and outputting a current in proportion to the current obtained from the voltage-to-current converting circuit. An oscillating circuit part includes a ring oscillator, wherein a current in proportion to the output current of the oscillation frequency control part flows through the ring oscillator so that the oscillation frequency in the ring oscillator is controlled by the output current of the oscillation frequency control part. The voltage-to-current converting circuit has linear voltage-to-current conversion characteristics in a predetermined range of the input voltage including a ground potential.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), a PLL (phase locked loop) circuit, a pulse modulation signal generating circuit, a semiconductor laser modulation device and an image forming apparatus.
2. Background of the Invention
FIG. 40 shows a typical circuit configuration of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) in the prior art used in a PLL circuit or such. Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2002-246899 (patent document #1) discloses a PLL circuit employing a voltage controlled oscillator having the same basic configuration as that shown in FIG. 40, for example. Such a voltage controlled oscillator is, in general, produced in an integrated circuit.
The circuit configuration shown in FIG. 40 includes an oscillation frequency control part 600 and an oscillating circuit part 700. The oscillation frequency control part 600 includes an n-channel MOS-FET 601, a p-channel MOS-FET 603 and a resister 602 which configure a voltage-to-current converting circuit converting an input voltage at an input terminal IN (VCO input voltage) into a current, as well as p-channel MOS-FETs 604 and 605 used for outputting a current in proportion to the above-mentioned current (a drain current of the p-channel MOS-FET 603) output from the voltage-to-current converting circuit. The oscillating circuit part 700 includes an odd number of stages of commonly used CMOS inverters connected to form a ring shape, and further includes p-channel MOS-FETs 701 through 706 and n-channel MOS-FETs 707 through 712. The p-channel MOS-FETs 701 through 703 are used to control a current (VCO ring current) flowing through the respective stages of the inverters, and configure current mirror with the p-channel MOS-FET 603 in the oscillation frequency control part 600 acting as a master thereof. Similarly, the n-channel MOS-FETs 710 through 712 are used to control the VCO ring current, and configure current mirror with the n-channel MOS-FET 605 in the oscillation frequency control part 600 acting as a master thereof.
In this configuration, when the VCO input voltage changes, the output current of the oscillation frequency control part 600 changes so that the VCO ring current changes and thus, a delay time in the inverter in each stage in the ring oscillator changes. As a result, the oscillation frequency in the ring oscillator changes.
Other than the above, a voltage controlled oscillator employing a ring oscillator in which an odd number of stages of differential inverters each having differential input and output terminals are connected to form a ring shape is also known (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Applications Nos. 2002-171165 and 2000-77985 (patent documents #2 and #3), for example).
Further, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 10-21634 (patent document #4) discloses a configuration in which, in a PLL circuit, in order to decrease a gain in a voltage controlled oscillator, a signal obtained from integration of an input voltage by means of a digital integrator or an analog integrator is input to the voltage controlled oscillator.
Furthermore, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 2003-103831 (patent document #5, corresponding to United States Patent Publication No. 2002/0130944 A1) discloses a pulse modulation signal generating circuit converting modulation data into a serial pulse series as a pulse modulation signal, as well as a semiconductor laser modulation device and an image forming apparatus employing the same.

Voltage controlled oscillator, PLL circuit, pulse modulation signal generating circuit, semiconductor laser modulation device and image forming apparatus


Compositions, methods of making, and methods of using nanoclusters in which the nanoclusters comprise a plurality of nanoparticles having a core of nanoparticles arranged such that the surfaces of the nanoparticles contact adjacent nanoparticles, the nanoparticles comprise an active ingredient, and the nanocluster has a mass median aerodynamic diameter of from about 0.25 μm to about 20 μm.

Millions of people worldwide suffer from a wide variety of diseases or conditions that would benefit from the effective delivery of therapeutic or diagnostic agents. Examples of these diseases or conditions include pulmonary diseases, circulatory diseases, muscular diseases, bone diseases, and cancers.
Current drug delivery treatment options can often be ineffective due to inefficient delivery of an active ingredient to a targeted site. The use of nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles has been employed for a variety of indications. Nanoparticles, for example, have been shown to improve the dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs and enhance the transport of drugs both intra- and paracellularly. In addition, literature indicates that plasmid DNA can be effectively delivered by polycationic polymers that form nanoparticles when mixed with DNA resulting in enhanced gene expression. Although nanoparticles offer several advantages for delivering drugs (e.g. improved dissolution of low solubility API, intracellular and transcellular transport, etc.), the use of nanoparticles, for example, can be hindered by the inability to deliver nanoparticles to the site of drug action (e.g. dried nanoparticles are too small to deposit efficiently in the lungs, can avoid detection by APCs, etc.). In addition, nanoparticles are often difficult to handle at an industrial scale.


An injection device includes a housing, a plunger, and a heating unit. The plunger is slidably arranged within the housing thereby performing a plunging movement therein. The heating unit is disposed within the housing for generating a heat energy inside the housing such that a filling material inside the housing can be soften and be transformed into a movable filling material with viscosity by absorbing the heat energy from the heating unit.

According to a research performed by the National Osteoporosis Foundation of USA, spinal compression fracture is the most common complication induced by osteoporosis. At Year 2009, there are about forty-four million people suffered from osteoporosis in U.S.A., and that amount will increase dramatically to sixty-one million at Year 2020. Moreover, there are about one and a half million bone fracture instances that are directly caused by osteoporosis in U.S.A only at Year 2009, and among which seven hundred thousands of that are compression fracture. There are similar conditions happening in Taiwan. In a recent research focused upon the population over the age of 65, there are about five hundred thousands people suffered from osteoporosis which makes the osteoporosis the cause of the second popular chronic disease in Taiwan, and in addition, there are nearly sixty thousands cases of compression fracture are caused directly from osteoporosis.
The common methods for treating osteoporosis include nerve decompression surgery and vertebral fusion surgery of heterogous/autologous bone transplantation. However, such common surgical methods are disadvantageous in that: longer operation time, larger wound incision and longer healing period. Among those common surgical methods, the procedure of autologous bone transplantation is most effective, but it requires one additional wound incision for harvesting a health bone from the patient. On the other hand, for the heterogous bone transplantation, the problems of complication, such as bone graft resorption and infection, can be serious.
In recent years, with the rapid improvement in micro-invasive surgical technique and instrument, there are more and more micro-invasive surgical procedures being developed for treating painful spinal compression fractures, whereas one of the exemplary micro-invasive surgical procedures is the vertebroplasty procedure. Since the pain induced from a spinal compression fracture is generally resulting from the instability and motion of fractured vertebrae, such pain can be relieved when the fractured vertebrae is stabilized by filling the cracks in the fractured vertebrae and enhancing the vertebral strength. In a vertebroplasty the filling of bone cement is performed under the assistance of X-ray imaging, and after the bone cement is cured, the fractured vertebrae can be fixed motionlessly and correctly so that the stability and compression resistance of vertebral body are increased. Moreover, since the vertebroplasty procedure is considered a minimally invasive surgical procedure that can be done through a small puncture in the patient's skin as opposed to an open incision and with less recovery time, most patients receiving the procedure generally experience significant pain relief of more than 80% that allows the patients to return to their normal activity shortly after the procedure.

Injection device and heating unit thereof

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A vessel is provided with a hull that includes left and right side walls, a bottom, and a plurality of decks including a freeboard deck; a plurality of rooms divided back and forth in a longitudinal direction of the hull by a bulkhead inside the hull; and flood control watertight compartments that are disposed inside the plurality of rooms, divide a space from a double bottom upper deck or the bottom below the freeboard deck to the freeboard deck, and are in contact with the side wall of a port side or the side wall of a starboard side and the bulkhead.

For example, in a conventional passenger vessel, in general, a compartment having multilayered decks is provided in a hull, and a ramp way configured to connect between the decks each layer is provided in each compartment. In this case, residence compartments are formed in an upper layer of the hull, and vehicle compartments are formed in a lower layer, and a driver drives a car to enter the deck in the vessel from a quay wall via a shore ramp way, and moves the car to the deck of the lower layer via the ramp way to park at a specified position.
In addition, in such a passenger vessel, apart from the residence compartments and the vehicle compartments, a plurality of rooms such as an engine room and a shaft room are divided in the vessel. In this case, as international rules for vessels, the requirements of damage stability are defined and are also reflected in the Japanese domestic law. In the rules, as requirements of the vessel side damage, securement of residual restoring force after damage, and a hull inclination angle and the like are defined.
In addition, there is a compartment structure of the conventional vessel as described in Patent Literature 1 below. In an automobile carrier described in Patent Literature 1, a watertight deck of a lowest layer forming a void space in a bottom of the vessel is provided with a remotely openable seawater introducing means. Thus, when a vessel side outer plate of the vessel or the like is damaged and seawater enters the vessel, by opening the seawater introducing means provided in the watertight deck of the lowest layer, the seawater entered the vessel is introduced into the void space, the void space is allowed to function as a seawater ballast tank, and thus, it is possible to recover the restoring force of the vessel.


A toner composition comprised of resin, colorant, wax, and an acrylatealkylene polymer compatibilizer.

This invention is generally directed to toner and developer compositions, and more specifically, the present invention is directed to toner compositions, including magnetic, single component, two component and colored toner compositions containing a compatibilizer of, for example, a butyl acrylate/ethylene copolymer primarily for wax component dispersion enhancement, and wherein excellent jetting characteristics are enabled. In embodiments of the present invention, the toner compositions can contain at least two polymers, and in embodiments from about 2 to about 10 polymers comprised, for example, of a first polymer, a second crosslinked polymer or resin, a wax component, and a compatibilizer component. More specifically, in embodiments of the present invention, the toner compositions are comprised of resin particles, especially crosslinked extruded polyester resin particles, colorant particles, a wax component, such as polypropylene wax, and a compatibilizer. There is also provided in accordance with the present invention positively or negatively charged toner compositions comprised of resin particles, colorant particles, a wax component, such as a polypropylene wax, compatibilizer, and a charge enhancing additive. In addition, the present invention is directed to developer compositions comprised of the aforementioned toners, and carrier particles. Furthermore, in another embodiment of the present invention there are provided single component toner compositions comprised of resin particles, magnetic components, such as magnetites, a wax component, such as polypropylene wax, and a compatibilizer. The toner and developer compositions of the present invention are useful in a number of known electrostatographic imaging and printing systems, especially those systems wherein a wax is present in the toner.
The toner compositions of the present invention, in embodiments, possess a wide fusing latitude of, for example about 100.degree. C., which latitude is the temperature range between the minimum toner fixing temperature of, for example, from about 100.degree. C. to about 170.degree.0 C. (Centigrade) of importance for fixing toner particles on paper, and the hot offset temperature, for example from about 180.degree. C. to about 250.degree. C., which is the temperature where molten toner adheres to the fuser roll. The developer compositions of the present invention also can provide toner images with low surface energy and a low frictional coefficient, which properties enable the effective release of paper from a fuser roll and provide for a reduction in image smudging. Further, the toner compositions of the present invention possess stable electrical properties for extended time periods, and with these compositions there is, for example, no substantial change in the triboelectrical charging values. Also, with the toner compositions of the present invention, the wax, which enhances toner release from a fuser roll and increases fusing latitude, is retained therein, and the loss of wax from the toner is eliminated or minimized; and moreover, the toner compositions of the present invention with stabilized wax domains are more easily processed by extrusion, and are easily and superiorly jetted which allows for more rapid toner production and lower toner manufacturing costs. The control of wax concentration also enables the economy of direct recycling of toner fines obtained after particle size classification, which fines would ordinarily be discarded as waste material. The dispersion stabilization of wax by compatibilizers also decreases the minimum fusing and release temperature, thereby improving toner fusing latitude.

Toner and developer compositions with compatibilizers


A mask assembly for a gas turbine engine component includes a second mask that at least partially overlaps a first mask to fit a platform of a gas turbine engine component.

The present disclosure relates to coating processes and equipment for gas turbine engine components, and more particularly, to a method and masking assembly for selectively depositing a coating on a selected portion of a gas turbine engine component.
Gas turbine engines, such as those that power modern commercial and military aircraft, generally include a compressor section to pressurize an airflow, a combustor section to burn hydrocarbon fuel in the presence of the pressurized air, and a turbine section to extract energy from the resultant combustion gases.
Gas turbine engine hot section components such as turbine blades and turbine vanes are subject to high thermal loads for prolonged time periods. Turbine section blades and vanes typically include an airfoil within hot combustion core gases from the upstream combustor section. Because of the high temperatures and corrosive effects of such hot combustion core gases a protective coating such as a thermal barrier coating provides insulation from the high temperatures and corrosive effects therefrom.
One method to coat only the flow path surfaces is to segregate the airfoil with a rectilinear mask that shields a generally rectilinear platform. An operator manually slides the generally rectilinear platform into the mask to surround the platform. The mask may form a gap with respect to a generally rectilinear platform due to component tolerances.
The mask is manufactured of a temperature resistant metallic alloy to survive the thermal barrier coating spray application. Oftentimes the gap may receive overspray from the thermal barrier coating spray application and may glue the mask to the component. Once the thermal barrier coating sets, the component is typically released by tapping the component from the mask. This tapping may undesirably chip the thermal barrier coating and thereby reduce protection of the component.

Split coating mask system for gas turbine engine component


The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device having a matrix electrode structure in which flicker of picture images displayed on a panel is invisible. Scanning electrodes of the matrix are driven by alternating voltages which include voltages for holding picture images displayed on the panel. Refresh pulse voltages higher than the holding voltages are imposed on the scanning electrodes every time the polarity of the holding voltages is reversed, so that the brightness of the picture images does not change before and after the reversing of the holding voltage polarity. In case an anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal is used as the liquid crystal, the refresh pulse voltages which cause transitions of the liquid crystal states between positive ferroelectric and negative ferroelectric states and do not cause the transition from an anti-ferroelectric state to the ferroelectric states are imposed on the scanning electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to liquid crystal display devices, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device which has a matrix electrode structure to drive n.times.m pixels.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei-5-119746 describes a liquid crystal display with a matrix electrode structure. As the liquid crystal for the display, an anti-ferroelectric material is used. The anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal of this kind has at least one anti-ferroelectric state (the first stable state) and two ferroelectric states (the second and third stable states), and each of these states can be attained stably.
According to the disclosure of the above-mentioned publication, voltages applied to the liquid crystal panel are reversed periodically so that a direct current component is not applied to the panel. A transparent state of the panel is realized by using two ferroelectric states alternately, and a non-transparent state is realized by using the anti-ferroelectric state of the anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal.
The anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal panel shows different refractive anisotropies (.DELTA.n) between the two ferroelectric states when it is seen from slanting directions. Therefore, the display will flicker when the switching frequency between the two ferroelectric states becomes lower than, e.g., 30 Hz. The flicker of this kind is referred to as the slanting direction flicker. In order to eliminate the flicker, it is conceivable to choose a switching frequency which is higher than 30 Hz.
However, there is a certain limit in increasing the switching frequency in consideration of a response speed of the anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal, especially when a higher number of scanning electrodes is required to attain high definition of the display.
A proposal to prevent the slanting direction flicker has been made, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei-4-311920. It proposes to switch the polarity of the applied voltage at a frequency which does not show the flicker during a holding period. However, since the holding voltage is switched or reversed at a same value, a brightness of the panel after the switching does not reach the brightness before the switching. This is because the anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal does not respond as quickly as the polarity changes. Therefore, the brightness of the panel changes every time the polarity is switched, and the flicker on the panel caused by the frequency rewriting pictures on the panel cannot be avoided.

Liquid crystal display device with matrix electrode structure


A structure relating to removal of an oxide of titanium generated as a byproduct of a process that forms cobalt disilicide within an insulated-gate field effect transistor (FET). The structure may comprise a layer of cobalt disilicide that is substantially free of cobalt monosilicide, with substantially no stringer of an oxide of titanium on the layer of cobalt disilicide. The structure may alternatively comprise a layer of cobalt disilicide, a patch of an oxide of titanium, and a reagent in contact with the patch at a temperature and for a period of time. The layer is substantially free of cobalt monosilicide. The patch is on the layer of cobalt disilicide. The reagent is adapted to remove the patch within the period of time. The reagent does not chemically react with the layer of cobalt disilicide, and the reagent comprises water, ammonium hydroxide, and hydrogen peroxide.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for removing a formation of an oxide of titanium that is generated as a by product of a process that forms cobalt disilicide within an insulated-gate field effect transistor.
2. Related Art
Integrated circuits constructed on silicon substrates are limited in performance by the resistance of the source, drain, and gate of a field effect transistor (FET). This difficulty may be addressed by forming cobalt disilicide areas within FETs, since the cobalt disilicide areas have low electrical resistance. For example, cobalt disilicide within the source and drain of an FET lowers the total resistance for current flow from a contact, through the FET source, into the FET channel, and out of the FET drain.
In the formation of cobalt disilicide, it is well known to utilize a layer of cobalt as a source for the cobalt disilicide and to use a titanium nitride (TiN) capping layer to protect the cobalt from oxidizing during a subsequent annealing step. After a first annealing step, this sacrificial TiN capping layer is chemically removed by a selective etch with a solution such as one comprising hydrogen peroxide. Discrete portions of the TiN cap are not always removed by this process, however, and a residual configuration, or "stringer," of one or more oxides of titanium, such as titanium dioxide, may remain after the cobalt disilicide is formed in a second annealing step. Unfortunately, the stringer of a titanium oxide is electrically conductive and may cause electrical shorting of adjacent structures. For example, the stringer may cause a short between the gate and the drain of an FET, between the source of a first FET and the drain of a second FET, or between the drain of an FET and external circuitry. The prior art does not disclose a method of removing a stringer of an oxide of titanium that is generated as described above.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for providing a high speed buffer with high gain bandwidth and rail-to-rail operation is disclosed. Resistor-capacitor (RC) filters are added in current mirrors that are in the signal path. The effect of these filters is to create a frequency-dependent impedance that extends the gain bandwidth of the circuit.

In the design and manufacture of ASIC (Application specific integrated circuit) chips and microprocessor chips it is conventional practice to provide the chip designer with a library of conventional circuits from which to chose and generate his/her design. The chip designer chooses from this library the necessary circuits and connects them to form the desired chip configuration. In the case of microprocessors the designs and parameters of the library circuits are fixed thus imposing certain constraints on the chip designer. In the case of ASIC chips not only are the designs fixed but also the rules of wiring are fixed thus imposing additional constraints. Thus the designer is constrained by the circuit design and in the case of ASIC chips the rules in using the various circuits.
One of the library circuits that can be used by a chip designer is a phase locked loop circuit. Phase locked loops (PLLs) are widely used in many different applications. They are used to perform two or three different functions. A principal function is to lock or align the output clock of a circuit with the clock input. Another function is to multiply (i.e. increase) or divide (i.e. decrease) the output frequency of a circuit with respect to the input frequency. Another function of a phase locked loop is to provide clock recovery, i.e. to attenuate the input jitter associated with input signals and recover clock from jittery input data.
Local oscillators are well known devices and have been used in many applications, including PLLs. Most local oscillators are single ended or differential CMOS, e.g., single ended CMOS, differential CMOS and bipolar. As networking and communication systems are playing increasingly more important roles in the present information age, demands for high speed local oscillators are significantly increased to keep up with the speed of these systems.
One of the difficult elements of a PLL is the buffer circuit used to take the outputs from a local oscillator and produce a signal which is nearly rail-to-rail and can drive a load consisting of divider circuits and possibly fan outs to other digital circuits. This means that the circuit requires a high gain bandwidth to support the frequency of operation and also the gain required to get the signal from what is normally much less than full rail to as close to rail-to-rail as possible.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method and apparatus for providing a high speed buffer with high gain bandwidth and rail-to-rail operation.

Method and apparatus for providing an improved high speed buffer


Failover in a clustered system is managed. The clustered system includes sub-clusters connected with one another by a first set of links. Each sub-cluster includes nodes connected with one another by a second set of links. At least one of the second set of links is used to determine that a suspect node within a same sub-cluster has stopped. In response, a lease relinquish message is transmitted on behalf of the suspect node.

The development of information technology provides increasingly rich and powerful applications and services, and at the same time brings forward increasing demands on the computing capacity and storage capability of processing equipment. Therefore, clustered systems can be employed to store and process an immense amount of information and data and to provide services to the clients with high availability. A clustered system includes a group of computing devices that are linked by hardware and software and thus operate together to provide services as a single system image. Such computing devices are referred to as nodes in the cluster.

Managing failover in clustered systems, after determining that a node has authority to make a decision on behalf of a sub-cluster


Apparatus for semiconductor device structures and related fabrication methods are provided. A method for fabricating a semiconductor device structure on an isolated region of semiconductor material comprises forming a plurality of gate structures overlying the isolated region of semiconductor material and masking edge portions of the isolated region of semiconductor material. While the edge portions are masked, the fabrication method continues by forming recesses between gate structures of the plurality of gate structures and forming stressor regions in the recesses. The method continues by unmasking the edge portions and implanting ions of a conductivity-determining impurity type into the stressor regions and the edge portions.

Transistors, such as metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), are the core building block of the vast majority of semiconductor devices. Some semiconductor devices, such as high performance processor devices, can include millions of transistors. For such devices, decreasing transistors size, and thus increasing transistor density, has traditionally been a high priority in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Epitaxial stressor regions are frequently used to increase the mobility of carriers in the channels of the MOS transistors, and thereby achieve a corresponding improvement in performance. However, as device geometries shrink (e.g., in 32 nm technologies and smaller technologies), non-uniformities and variations in the stressor regions at different locations across the wafer have a greater impact on transistor parameters, such as drive current, threshold voltage, and Miller capacitance. Non-uniformity across the wafer can potentially affect the yield, performance, and minimum operating voltage characteristics of the devices on the wafer.

Semiconductor devices having stressor regions and related fabrication methods


The invention provides an apparatus for separating a multiphase mixture into discrete density phases, comprising a circular bowl rotatable about a central axis and having an opening through which the mixture is introduced into the bowl, whereby the rotation of the bowl separates the mixture to form annular columns of the discrete density phases; a delivery conduit inserted into the bowl through the opening for introducing the mixture into the bowl; and a collection assembly for removing the separated discrete density phases, comprising a collection conduit for collecting the annular columns, a waste collecting conduit, and a cleaning conduit. The collection assembly is movable as a single unit with respect to the bowl such that it can be positioned within the bowl to sequentially, selectively and individually remove the annular columns from the bowl while the bowl is rotating substantially without disturbing the remaining annular columns within the bowl.

Multiphase mixtures are generally separated into discrete phases of different density components by using centrifugal separators.
Centrifugal separators generally include a rotor encased in a housing. Attached to the rotor is a number of holders in which a number of small containers, such as test tubes, can be placed. The rotor is rotated and the multiphase mixture in the containers is separated into the separate media of the mixture. Once the rotor stops, the separated media is then able to be removed from each container either by hand or by a robotic arm. This separator processes a large number of small samples in one batch. A problem with this type of separator is the containers on the rotor must be arranged to balance the weight distribution around the rotor prior to the rotation so that the equipment is not damaged by an unbalanced loading.
Another centrifugal separator uses a single rotatable bowl to separate a single sample of the multiphase mixture. However, a problem with this type of separator is that remixing of the separated phases of the multiphase mixture after the rotor has ceased rotating can occur before the separated phases can be collected.
Another centrifugal separator uses a continuous feed of multiphase mixture into a rotating section so that the mixture can be separated into its discrete media. Generally shape of the rotating section is such that the media with higher density is directed to stationary collection points where it is collected. However this continuous action only allows for a large sample of the mixture with known density media to be separated and is unsuitable for samples with unknown phase amounts or densities.
There is therefore a need for a centrifugal separator that continuously processes a number of samples with unknown phase amounts or phase densities in a timely fashion.

Apparatus and method for centrifugal separation utilizing a movable collection assembly


Disclosed herein are tools for repairing articular surfaces repair materials and for repairing an articular surface. The surgical tools are designed to be customizable or highly selectable by patient to increase the speed, accuracy and simplicity of performing total or partial arthroplasty.

There are various types of cartilage, e.g., hyaline cartilage and fibrocartilage. Hyaline cartilage is found at the articular surfaces of bones, e.g., in the joints, and is responsible for providing the smooth gliding motion characteristic of moveable joints. Articular cartilage is firmly attached to the underlying bones and measures typically less than 5 mm in thickness in human joints, with considerable variation depending on joint and site within the joint. In addition, articular cartilage is aneural, avascular, and alymphatic. In adult humans, this cartilage derives its nutrition by a double diffusion system through the synovial membrane and through the dense matrix of the cartilage to reach the chondrocyte, the cells that are found in the connective tissue of cartilage.
Adult cartilage has a limited ability of repair; thus, damage to cartilage produced by disease, such as rheumatoid and/or osteoarthritis, or trauma can lead to serious physical deformity and debilitation. Furthermore, as human articular cartilage ages, its tensile properties change. The superficial zone of the knee articular cartilage exhibits an increase in tensile strength up to the third decade of life, after which it decreases markedly with age as detectable damage to type II collagen occurs at the articular surface. The deep zone cartilage also exhibits a progressive decrease in tensile strength with increasing age, although collagen content does not appear to decrease. These observations indicate that there are changes in mechanical and, hence, structural organization of cartilage with aging that, if sufficiently developed, can predispose cartilage to traumatic damage.
For example, the superficial zone of the knee articular cartilage exhibits an increase in tensile strength up to the third decade of life, after which it decreases markedly with age as detectable damage to type II collagen occurs at the articular surface. The deep zone cartilage also exhibits a progressive decrease in tensile strength with increasing age, although collagen content does not appear to decrease. These observations indicate that there are changes in mechanical and, hence, structural organization of cartilage with aging that, if sufficiently developed, can predispose cartilage to traumatic damage.
Once damage occurs, joint repair can be addressed through a number of approaches. One approach includes the use of matrices, tissue scaffolds or other carriers implanted with cells (e.g., chondrocytes, chondrocyte progenitors, stromal cells, mesenchymal stem cells, etc.). However, clinical outcomes with biologic replacement materials such as allograft and autograft systems and tissue scaffolds have been uncertain since most of these materials cannot achieve a morphologic arrangement or structure similar to or identical to that of normal, disease-free human tissue it is intended to replace. Moreover, the mechanical durability of these biologic replacement materials remains uncertain.
Usually, severe damage or loss of cartilage is treated by replacement of the joint with a prosthetic material, for example, silicone, e.g. for cosmetic repairs, or metal alloys. Implantation of these prosthetic devices is usually associated with loss of underlying tissue and bone without recovery of the full function allowed by the original cartilage and, with some devices, serious long-term complications associated with the loss of significant amount of tissue and bone can include infection, osteolysis and also loosening of the implant.
As can be appreciated, joint arthroplasties are highly invasive and require surgical resection of the entire, or a majority of the, articular surface of one or more bones involved in the repair. Typically with these procedures, the marrow space is fairly extensively reamed in order to fit the stem of the prosthesis within the bone. Reaming results in a loss of the patient's bone stock and over time subsequent osteolysis will frequently lead to loosening of the prosthesis. Further, the area where the implant and the bone mate degrades over time requiring the prosthesis to eventually be replaced. Since the patient's bone stock is limited, the number of possible replacement surgeries is also limited for joint arthroplasty. In short, over the course of 15 to 20 years, and in some cases even shorter time periods, the patient can run out of therapeutic options ultimately resulting in a painful, non-functional joint.
A variety of tools, such as a guide for making one or more surgical cuts, are currently available to assist surgeons. However, these devices are not designed to substantially conform to the actual shape (contour) of the remaining cartilage in vivo and/or the underlying bone. Thus, use and proper alignment of the tool and integration of the implant can be extremely difficult due to differences in thickness and curvature between the patient's surrounding cartilage and/or the underlying subchondral bone and the prosthesis. Thus, there remains a need for tools that increase the accuracy of cuts made to the bone in a joint in preparation for surgical implantation of, for example, an artificial joint.

Patient selectable joint arthroplasty devices and surgical tools