A digital picture image signal recording method, in which by sequentially forming tracks on a tape recording medium running at a prescribed speed oblique to its running direction digital picture image signals compressed by a high efficiency encoding technique are recorded using rotary heads and at the same time, and then plural kinds of tracking pilot signals with different frequencies on adjacent tracks are recorded, the method comprises the steps of deriving data which are essential to decoding the recorded digital picture image signals from the high efficiency encoded digital signals, successively establishing record areas in unit of a number of tracks equivalent to a cycle period of the tracking pilot signals that can be distinguished by the pilot signal as one group, and recording data which are essential to the decoding in the recording areas.

Digital recording of picture image data made great progress and has been put in practical use in recent years.
In the digital recording of picture image data, if images are directly digitized, too much information results and high running costs are required for recording or reproducing the signals. In order to solve this problem, a high efficiency encoding technique, such as the international MPEG (Motion Picture Expert Group) standard, is carried out.
However, when such encoded digital picture image data are recorded on a magnetic tape by a helical scanning type video tape recorder (VTR) equipped with rotary heads and the recorded data are reproduced at tape speeds differing from the recording speed, the reproducing heads run across multiple tracks of the tape as the tape feeding speed is changed and picture image data are intermittently obtained. This creates a lack of the continuity in the data. Therefore, if such encoded data are recorded on a tape, the reproduction of data at variable speeds will become extremely difficult.
In order to overcome such a defect, a proposal has been made to limit the number of reproduction speeds and arrange data on tracks that are reproducible by reproducing heads for the particular reproduction speeds.
One tape format for a conventional digital VTR is shown in FIG. 20. Data are recorded or reproduced on or from oblique tracks 2 of a magnetic tape 1 using rotary heads as shown in FIG. 21. Pilot signals F1, F0 and F2, which are required for tracking, are recorded on the tracks 2 in that particular sequence. The tracks 2 are formed so that adjacent tracks form an opposite azimuth and the pilot signals are recorded by superimposing them on picture image data and voice data. The pilot signals are recorded in repetitive cycle periods of 4 signals F0, F1, F0 and F2. Each of the tracks 2 is provided with a picture image data area and a voice data area as shown in FIG. 20. 10 tracks are used per 1/30 sec., which is equivalent to a time of one frame.
The construction of the rotary head is shown in FIG. 21. The rotary head contains a "+" azimuth head 4 and a "-" azimuth head 5. The "-" azimuth head is 180.degree. away from the head 4 on a rotary drum 3.
The construction of one GOP (group of pictures) picture image data in the MPEG standard is shown in FIG. 22. One GOP is comprised of 12 frames. Out of these frames, the I-frame contains only intra-frame encoded data, the frame P contains the intra-frame data and inter-frame predictive encoded data from the preceding I-frame or the intra-frame and inter-frame data from the preceding P-frame, and the frame B contains either the intra-frame and the preceding I-frame or the preceding P-frame and the inter-frame data from the succeeding I-frame data or the succeeding P-frame.
FIG. 23(a) shows the relationship between the track pattern and the scanning loci of the rotary heads during reproduction at +5(-3), +9(-7) and +17(-15) times speeds. The symbol "+" indicates when a tape is run in the same direction as the recording direction while the symbol "-" indicates when a tape is run in the direction reverse to the recording direction and the numerals show the number if times the tape speed is faster than the recording speed.
For simplicity of explanation, the track pattern is shown by mapping the normally oblique tracks onto tracks which are vertical with respect to the longitudinal direction of the tape, in the drawings used for the following explanations. In FIG. 23(b), envelopes of picture image data reproduced at the speeds shown in FIG. 23(a) are illustrated. The envelopes shown in FIG. 23(b) are the envelopes reproduced by the reproducing head having the "+" azimuth at the respective speeds shown in FIG. 23(a).
As shown in FIGS. 23(a) and 23(b), picture image data can be reproduced at respective ends A and B and the center C of the track 2, which are common to all the speeds described above.
Accordingly, when data areas for the particular speed reproduction are provided on a magnetic tape, they are normally provided at respective ends A and B and the center C of the track 2 for carrying out the particular speed reproduction. In the reproduction data areas A, B and C within one track, particular speed reproduction data generated by low frequency components (DC and low frequency components) of DCT (Digital Cosine Transformation) data of a frame equivalent to the upper 1/4 of the I-frame, as shown in FIG. 25, are recorded. Then, the same data are repetitively recorded over the adjacent 17 tracks. Thus, the continuity of data recorded in the reproduction data areas for particular speeds provided at the center and the respective ends of the tracks is maintained. Consequently, even when the repetitive recording causes the picture image data to be reproducible in any track, low frequency component data equivalent to the upper 1/4 of the next I-frame are recorded in the reproduction data areas of the next 17 tracks, and it becomes possible to achieve the particular speed reproduction of picture image data recorded in the reproduction data areas for particular speeds by updating the I-frame by 1/4 at the +5(-3), +9(7) and +17(15) time speeds.
By the way, a VTR which records or reproduces high efficiency encoded picture image data as described above for particular speed reproduction uses limited areas that are traceable by the reproducing heads at a low speed as well as a high speed. Furthermore, the same particular speed reproduction data are used at all speeds, creating deterioration in the video quality that is not conspicuous at a high speeds but is very noticeable at low speeds.
As described above, in a conventional digital VTR, there was a problem with the deterioration in video quality that is not conspicuous at high speeds but is noticeable at a low speed.

Method and apparatus for recording digital picture image signals for multiple speed reproduction


A tool for dilating tunnels in bone, in order to compact the cancellous bone around the tunnel and providing better holding for interference screws and the like, comprises a plurality of elongated segments mounted for radial motion with respect to an axis of elongation. When actuated, the segments move radially outwardly, parallel to the axis of elongation, compacting the bone.

In various surgical procedures it is desired to anchor a structure in bone; for example, in replacement of damaged anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) it is usual to bore tunnels through the opposed bones of the knee joint and anchor a replacement ligament thereto using interference screws. Numerous patents and publications address various aspects of such procedures and provide suggestions to solve various problems connected therewith; see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,645,547 to Coleman and 5,871,504 to Eaton et al. The Eaton patent in particular illustrates the need for a firm and reliable anchoring technique whereby the ends of a replacement ligament are fixed to the inner walls of tunnels in the bones using threaded fasteners.
As is well known, bones, in particular the long bones such as those of the leg, have a composite structure wherein a hard, dense outer cortex encapsulates a mass of cancellous bone. The tunnels within which replacement ligaments are anchored extend through this cancellous bone, which is relatively soft and spongy, and does not provide good holding for threaded fasteners and the like. In order to improve the holding power of the cancellous bone, it is known to compact the bone surrounding the tunnels, forming a denser structure better adapted to hold threaded fasteners. Typically this has been done by successively driving a series of "torpedo"-shaped members through the tunnels using a hammer; this technique can be used to increase the diameter of a tunnel from 6 mm to 10–12 mm using a series of torpedoes of diameters increasing in 0.5 mm increments. However, this technique is rather crude, involves excessive numbers of steps and of tools, and is generally unsatisfactory.
The art shows several varieties of tools for dilating soft tissues, e.g., for creating space within which to carry out a surgical procedure. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,436,119 to Erb et al, and 5,888,196, 5,685,826 and 5,454,365 to Bonutti. Molesworth U.S. Pat. No. 319,296 shows a device described as a combined dilator, drainer, injection and suction syringe. The Molesworth device comprises an outer tubular member which is slit longitudinally from one end so as to form a series of spring prongs defining a segmented outer surface. A tapered inner member can be urged along the lumen of the tubular outer member to force the prongs outwardly, expanding the segments of the outer surface in order to dilate a wound, for example, to enable better irrigation thereof. There is no suggestion in Molesworth that such a device would be of use in compacting cancellous bone in order to better secure an interference screw or the like, and it would seem that friction within the Molesworth device would be excessive in use for such a purpose. Moreover, the Molesworth prongs are not constrained to move outwardly parallel to one another, and so would not be useful in forming a tunnel of regular cylindrical shape in the compacted cancellous bone, as is desired for convenient fixation of anchoring structures.
Accordingly, the art requires a better tool adapted and optimized specifically for dilating and compacting the walls of tunnels formed in cancellous bone to form a tunnel of cylindrical shape.


Methods and apparatus for liquid sample introduction into chemical detectors that require the sample to be transformed from a flowing stream into either gaseous or particulate states. The effluent from either a process stream or a liquid chromatograph is nebulized by combined thermal and pneumatic processes within an inner fused silicon capillary tube heated by conduction from a surrounding electrical resistance heated outer capillary tube composed of a pure metal having a comparatively high linear relationship between temperature and electrical resistance to provide a uniform conduction of heat energy to the inner tube to form a well-collimated, partially or completely desolvated aerosol, with the less volatile solute components of the sample stream remaining in the particulate state. The gaseous components of the aerosol are separated from the solvent-depleted solute particles using either cryotrapping or momentum separation. The enriched solute particles are vaporized, ionized, and/or detected by suitable gas-phase or particle detectors. The device is primarily an interface between the liquid chromatograph or process streams and the mass spectrometer.

Successful liquid sample introduction into gas-phase or particle detectors is dependent upon the interface between the liquid stream and the detector. The co-existence of continuous liquid sample introduction and normal operating requirements of the gas-phase detectors present compatability problems. Difficulties are sometimes encountered in accommodating the mass flow from the liquid stream into the detector. In addition, degradation of thermally labile sample components may occur during the evaporation processes prior to gas-phase detection. In the case of gas-phasedetectors such as mass spectrometers, where detection occurs at a reduced pressures, vacuum locks and pumping requirements may be considerations. General requirements for interfaces between liquid streams and gas-phase detectors are: (1) The sample must be evaporated prior to detection; (2) Minimal thermal degradation should occur during the sample evaporation process; (3) The sample transport efficiency should be sufficiently high so that adequate sensitivity is observed; (4) The normal operating conditions of the detector should be maintained during sample introduction; and (5) The sample's composition should be maintained while being transported to and through the interface (e.g. minimal chromatographic band broadening). Success in interfacing liquid streams to gas-phase detectors depends on how well the foregoing requirements are met.
The principal application of the present device to gas-phase detection of liquid streams is the introduction of the effluent from a liquid chromatograph into a mass spectrometer. The interfacing between liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) is referred to as LC-MS. Although the present invention relates to the general field of liquid sample introduction into gas-phase or particle detectors, most prior work in this area has concentrated on LC-MS because it has presented formidable obstacles to interface design. This background discussion therefore focuses on LC-MS.
Complex gas-phase detectors, mass spectrometers, detect gas-phase ions formed by a variety of mechanisms; electron impact (EI) ionization and chemical ionization (CI) are the most commonly practiced approaches. With EI ionization, the sample gas at 10.sup.-3 -10.sup.-6 torr is bombarded with electrons of sufficient energy (generally 70 eV) to excite electronic energy levels of sample molecules beyond the ionization potential so that an electron is removed from the sample molecule, making it a positive ion. Upon sample ion formation in the EI mode, excess energy imparted to the sample molecule from the bombarding electron causes bond cleavage or fragmentation. It is a characteristic and reproducible nature of EI fragmentation, indicative of molecular structure, that provides this technique with broad utility for the analysis of samples with an unknown composition. In contrast, the CI mode operates at higher pressures relative to EI (typically at one torr), whereby the ionization occurs due to collision of sample molecules with reagent gas ions. The analytical utility of CI is generally found in the presence of molecular weight information. With CI, the limited and irreproducible fragmentation of sample molecules is essentially of no value. It should be stressed that the ionization process ultimately determines the qualitative information obtained with the mass spectrometer. Alternative ionization techniques are atmospheric pressure ionization (API) at 760 torr and field ionization at 10.sup.-4 torr. It is preferable to use a variety of ionization techniques, including EI and CI, to obtain the maximum information for a given sample. LC-MS techniques that place a restriction upon ionization conditions also are limited in the sample information obtained for a given analysis.
Mass spectra of many compounds, usually those ionized under EI conditions, have been compiled in massive computerized data-base libraries for subsequent comparison with acquired spectra (fragment ions) from samples of unknown composition. It would be therefore a significant advantage for LC-MS devices to make use of such spectral libraries because computer comparisons can be made in a matter of seconds. Hence, for the wide use there is a need for LC-MS devices that utilize EI ionization modes. Unfortunately, only few prior art devices are reported to have the capability of producing EI spectra of thermally labile and/or involatile compounds.
Effluent from either a liquid chromatograph or a liquid process stream must be accommodated by the mass spectrometer interfacing techniques. The pressure requirements for ionization, as discussed, are dependent upon the mode of ionization, and limited by the mass flow into the ionization region of the mass spectrometer and the pumping capacity of the mass spectrometer. The evaporation of liquid flowing at 1-2 mL/min may produce as much as a liter per minute of gaseous sample at STP (Standard Temperature and Pressure), which amounts to 10.sup.8 liters per minute of gas at 10.sup.-5 torr (i.e. EI conditions), far exceeding the pumping capabilities of conventional mass spectrometers. Ionization techniques which occur at pressures of one millitorr or higher, such as CI, require less pumping but usually result in significant ion-molecule reaction chemistry which yields little structural fragmentation information. Due to the requirement of low pressure for EI ionization, direct introduction of a continuous stream of liquid from a liquid chromatograph is difficult to attain without extremely large capacity pumping systems such as cryogenic pumping.
The evaporation or desorption process, whereby the sample is transformed into gas, may also result in thermal degradation (pyrolysis), reactions, or rearrangements of the original sample molecules. These sample losses are most prevalent with sample components that are thermally labile and/or involatile, commonly separated by liquid chromatography. Mass analysis of these thermally labile and/or involatile molecules is usually limited by the inability to produce intact gas-phase ions of these species. Therefore, it is important in development of interfaces between the LC and MS to vaporize the sample with minimal degradation or loss of analyte.
There have been a variety of approaches to interfacing the LC with the MS and this work as been extensively reviewed. (1,2,3,4). The common objective of all interfacing techniques is efficiency in the production of gas-phase sample ions.
Direct Liquid Introduction (DLI) is one of the simplest approaches to interfacing LC with MS. With DLI, the effluent from a liquid chromatograph flows through a tiny circular aperture or tube with a diameter on the order of three to ten micrometers. A high velocity cylindrical liquid jet is directed into the ionization chamber. There have been a wide variety of designs using this approach and they all have the same basic configuration (reviewed in 5 and 6). The jet may proceed through a heated desolvation region before entering the ionization region to aid in solvent evaporation. This technique typically had been limited to micro-bore LC flow rates, less than one hundred microliters per minute. To accommodate direct introduction of liquid into ion source, cryogenic pumping has been used to trap the excess sample onto a cold surface of the outside of the ion source. In cases where normal LC flow rates are used, 1-2 mL/min, the effluent has been split, leaving only a fraction of the sample to be sampled into the mass spectrometer. Another limitation of the DLI technique is that the spectra produced yield only CI data. Little or no structural information is thus obtained, in contrast to EI. In addition, more costly differential pumping is required to maintain the mass analyzer pressures sufficiently low. In practice DLI has been plagued by repeated clogging of the micron sized orifices, causing the approach to be cumbersome, with significant downtime. The alignment and the instability of micron sized liquid jets also make DLI experimentally difficult in that data acquired may be noisy and irreproducible. However, the advantage of this technique is the lack of thermal degradation when analyzing thermally labile compounds. Further discussion of this technique may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,997,298 of Dec. 14, 1976 and 4,403,147 of Sep. 6, 1983.
Mechanical Transport (MT) is an LC-MS approach whereby the effluent from the LC is deposited on a moving surface, such as a wire or belt. Heat may be applied to the sample to remove solvent and the desolvated sample is mechanically transported on the wire or belt through a series of vacuum locks into the low pressure ion source of the mass spectrometer. Both EI and CI mass spectra have been obtained with this technique. A limitation of this technique is the requirement that the sample be evaporated or desorbed from the moving surface prior to ionization. Thermal degradation may occur during the thermal evaporation process. Operation of mechanical transport devices is frequently cumbersome due to design complexity and jamming of moving parts. The chromatographic profile of sample may be degraded by the non-uniform application of sample upon the moving surface. This approach is explained in greater depth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,987 of Nov. 1, 1977.
Thermospray (TSY) is a more widely used approach to LC-MS. The effluent from the LC flows through a thermal vaporizer into a heated vaporizer chamber in the ion source region of the MS. The thermal vaporizer transforms the sample into an ion-vapor plasma in a vaporizer chamber. A small fraction of the ion-vapor is sampled into the ion optics region of the mass spectrometer through a small aperture. The efficiency of sampling analyte through the sampling aperture is quite low. The majority of the ion-vapor is evacuated through a roughing line connected to the vaporizer chamber. As with DLI, costly differential pumping between the ion optics region and the mass analyzer region is required to maintain an adequate vacuum. The vaporization process produces gas-phase reagent ions when buffered solutions, such as aqueous ammonium acetate, are pumped through the thermal vaporizer. This ionization process, known as thermospray ionization, produces CI-like spectra. Under normal operation conditions, thermal degradation has been observed with the use of the thermal vaporizer; however, a large number of thermally labile compounds have been analyzed with this technique with minimal degradation. TSY has several limitations, most notably is the lack of structural information such as that obtained under EI ionization conditions. The response of various compounds depends upon the chemical nature of the substance being analysed. Consequently, it is sometimes difficult to predict response for poorly characterized samples. Thermospray processes are described in further detail in Canadian Patent 1,162,331 of Feb. 14, 1984, and U.S. application Ser. No. 527,751, filed Aug. 30, 1985, and a continuation thereof filed Ser. No. 832,743, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,111, to M. Vestal and C. Blakley on Mar. 8, 1988.
Monodispersed Aerosol Generation Interface for Combining liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (MAGIC) is an approach to LC-MS whereby effluent is pumped through a tiny orifice or tube, forming a stable liquid jet. The liquid jet breaks up into uniformly sized or monodispersed droplets. The droplets are dispersed in a near-atmospheric pressure desolvation chamber with a dispersion gas that serves to prevent coagulation of the droplets as well as conduct thermal energy to the droplets a resulting in rapid desolvation. This approach requires a large diameter desolvation chamber at near atmospheric pressure to allow efficient desolvation. The effect of lowering desolvation chamber pressure on the rate of solvent evaporation has theoretically been treated by Fuchs and Sutugen (16). The rate of evaporation of a liquid droplet is significantly reduced with decreases in pressure. In the absence of dispersion gas, the droplets receive insufficient thermal energy which prevents their complete desolvation. Dispersion gas flows of greater than one liter per minute have been used in order to maintain sufficiently high pressure in the desolvation chamber. Subsequent to desolvation, solvent-depleted solute particles are accelerated through a nozzle into a vacuum chamber to form a high velocity aerosol beam. The lighter solvent vapor and dispersion gas, compared to the more massive solute particles, expand outward from the axis of the aerosol beam, leaving a collimated particle beam devoid of gaseous components. The gaseous components of the aerosol beam are removed in a two-stage pressure reduction process, accomplished by directing the particle beam through two successive skimmers that separate two successively lower pressure vacuum chambers. The solute particle beam proceeds through the skimmers into the ion source region where enriched solute is thermally desorbed from surfaces in the ion source region and ionized by conventional CI or EI ionization process.
The magic approach to LC-MS has the advantage of ionizing solute under EI conditions. However, the requirement of near atmospheric pressure desolvation significantly reduces the solute transport efficiency into the low pressure ion source of the mass spectrometer. The addition of high flow rates of dispersion gas creates turbulence at the nozzles and significant loss in transport efficiency is observed due to impact on the surfaces of the skimmers and nozzles as well as walls of the desolvation chamber. The requisite high gas lead also tends to increase the solid angle expansion of the particle beam and to favor the use of a less efficient two-stage separator device. Because of these conditions, transport efficiency of solute into the ion source is generally on the order of five percent. With MAGIC, the mobile phase composition does not affect the response for various analytes as does the thermospray technique which in some cases requires mobile phase additives for sensitive response. Also, no differential pumping is required with this technique when EI ionization is the only mode employed. Additional details on this technique are presented in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 623,711 filed Jun. 22, 1984, by R. Browner and R. Willoughby, which issued Dec. 16, 1986 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,478, and in a continuation-in-part thereof, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 841,314, which issued Aug. 9, 1988, as U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,995.
MAGIC can be considered a particle beam introduction technique. For this discussion, particle beam introduction is considered as a technique of accelerating an aerosol through a nozzle into successive vacuum chambers while skimming the aerosol particles on axis, forming a particle beam, and pumping away gaseous components of the aerosol beam off-axis. The result of this process is the efficient separation of aerosol particles from gaseous material, with the particles being transported more efficiently into lower pressure regions because of the higher momentum of the particle when compared to the gas molecules. Prior particle beam introduction techniques for mass spectrometry have applied to two areas: (1) Real-time aerosol monitoring (7-9); and (2) Liquid sample introduction where an aerosol generation step precedes the particle beam introduction (10-14). The MAGIC technique is an example of the latter. The present invention also includes a particle beam solute enrichment step when applied to sample introduction into the mass spectrometer.
Performance of particle beam introduction techniques is dependent upon the properties of the aerosol. The solid angle dispersion of the particle beam is dependent upon the size of the solute particles, the pressure from the aerosol source, and the geometry of the nozzle. Israel and Friedlander (15) experimentally showed the relationships of these parameters on particle beam dispersion. Their results show: (1) Particle beam angular dispersion increases with aerosol source pressure; (2) Particle beam angular dispersion decreases with increase in particle size; and (3) Particle beam expansion is more uniform with changes in particle size when capillary versus converging nozzles are used. Therefore, the nature of the aerosol generation process in terms of gas flow and pressure, and particle size and distribution ultimately determines the efficiency of the particle beam introduction technique.
A variety of aerosol generators have been used with the particle beam approach to liquid sample introduction into the mass spectrometer. These include the Berglund-Liu monodisperse aerosol generator (8,10-14), the Willoughby-Browner monodisperse aerosol generator (14), and DeVilbiss and ultrasonic nebulizer (10-13). A major limitation of prior particle beam techniques was the difficulty in desolvation of the aerosol droplets subsequent to aerosol generation. Prior techniques required a desolvation chamber or increases gas load to remove solvent from the droplets. The generation of droplets greater than about ten microns in diameter with prior aerosol generation techniques leads to greater likelihood of particle losses in the desolvation chambers and nozzles due to impaction or settling process. The aerosol generation process of the present invention is designed to permit precise control over aerosol properties, including the droplet size, direction, and rate of evaporation. With enhanced control over the aerosol generation and desolvation processes, the efficiency of the particle transport to various detectors is increased.
The solid angle dispersion of particle beams has been shown to in aerosol source pressure (15). Thus, the prior particle beam techniques that require high gas loads for aerosol generation or desolvation tend to have more divergent particle beams. This requires that only part of the particle beam cross-section can be sampled through axial skimmers because pressures in subsequent chambers exceed the upper pressure limitation of the detector. Thus, the entire cross-section of a less divergent particle beam could in theory be collected with the same skimmer diameter while maintaining the same detector pressure. The result of a less divergent particle beam is more efficient sample transport to the detector. Consequently, an objective of the present device is to decrease the gas load from the aerosol generation process to enhance sample transport efficiency.
The use of particle beam techniques for sample introduction into the mass spectrometer has demonstrated the ability to produce spectra under electron impact ionization conditions (7-14). A major objective of the present device is to enhance the ability to volatilize the particles once the particle beam enters the ion source region of the mass spectrometer. The objective is to form intact gas-phase molecular species of substances originating in the particle. But prior particle beam sample introduction devices have experienced difficulty in forming intact molecular ions due to thermal fragmentation of molecules during evaporation from heated surfaces (8). Particle volatilization process depends upon the equilibrium surface vapor pressure of molecules originating from the particles, the temperature and material of the particle beam collection surface, and the presence of other components in the particle matrix. Control of these factors is essential to the performance of the present device.
Other applications of liquid sample introduction into gas-phase or particle detectors have been reported for light scattering (17), flame ionization (18), atomic absorption or emission spectrophotometry (19). The enhanced control of aerosol generation, desolvation and solute enrichment with the present device is applicable to a variety of detectors.
Sources for the above mentioned in the above background history are:
1. P. J. Arpino, J. Chormatogr. 323, 3 (1985). PA0 2. D. E. Games, Adv. Chomatogr. 21, 1 (1983). PA0 3. C. G. Edmonds, J. A. McCloskey, V. A. Edmonds, Biomed Mass Spectrom. 10, 237 (1983). PA0 4. R. C. Willoughby, R. F. Browner, Trace Analysis. Vol. 2, p. 69, ed. J. F. Lawrence, Academic Press (1982). PA0 5. W. M. A. Niessen, Chromatographia, 21, 5 (1986). PA0 6. W. M. A. Niessen, Chromatographia, 21, 5 (1986). PA0 7. J. J. Stoffels, "A direct Air-Sampling Inlet for Surface Ionization Mass Spectrometry of Airborne Particles," presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of ASMS, San Diego, Calif. 1976. PA0 8. M. P. Sinha, C. E. Griffin, D. D. Norris, and S. K. Friedlander, "Analysis of Aerosol Particles by Mass Spectrometry," presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of ASMS, New York, N.Y. 1980. PA0 9. J. Allen and R. K. Gould, Rev. Sci. Instum. 52 (6), June 1981. PA0 10. F. T. Greene, "Particulate Impact Mass Spectrometry," presented at the 23rd Annual Meeting of ASMS, Houston Tex., 1975. PA0 11. F. T. Greene, "Mass Spectrometry of Nonvolatile Materials and Solutions y the Particulate Impact Technique," presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the ASMS, San Diego, Calif. 1976. PA0 12. F. T. Greene, "Further Development of Particulate Impact Mass Spectrometry," presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the ASMS, New York, N.Y. 1980. PA0 13. F. T. Greene, "The Current Status of Particulate Impact Mass Spectrometry," presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the ASMS, Minneapolis, Minn. 1981. PA0 14. R. C. Willoughby, "Studies with an Aerosol Generation Interface for Liquid Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry," PhD. Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1983. PA0 15. G. W. Israel and S. K. Friedlander. J. Colloid Interf. Sci. 24, 330 (1967). PA0 16. N. A. Fuchs and A. G. Sutugen. "Highly Dispersed Aerosols". Ann Arbor Science, Ann Arbor (1970). PA0 17. J. W. Jorgenson, S. L. Smith, and M. Novotny, J. Chromatogr., 142, 233 (1977). PA0 18. E. Haakti and T. Nikkari, Acta Chem. Scand. 17, 2565 (1963). PA0 19. R. F. Browner and A. W. Boorn, Anal. Chem. 56/7, 787A (1984).
The above sources are incorporated by reference herein.

Method and apparatus for introduction of liquid effluent into mass spectrometer and other gas-phase or particle detectors


A location system is configured for determining a magnetic pole position of a motor. The location system includes a motor driver, a current control module, a current feedback apparatus, a speed feedback apparatus, and a magnetic pole position location module. The current control module is configured for set current of the motor via the motor driver. The current feedback apparatus is configured for sensing an actual current of the motor. The speed feedback apparatus is configured for sensing an actual speed of the motor. The magnetic pole position location module is configured for inputting a magnetic pole position of the motor, receiving the actual current from the current feedback apparatus, receiving the actual speed from the speed feedback apparatus, and processing the actual current and the actual speed to obtain an initial magnetic pole position.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to location systems and location methods, and more particularly to a location system and a location method for determining a magnetic pole position of a motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A permanent magnetic synchronous motor includes a rotor and a stator which is a permanent magnet. It is necessary to supply an appropriate current to the stator in accordance with the position of a rotor magnetic pole, and hence a rotor magnetic pole position is fundamentally required for driving the permanent magnetic synchronous motor. Generally, operators measure the magnetic pole position of the rotor before starting the permanent magnetic synchronous motor to adjust parameters thereof, to make sure of a smooth start for the permanent magnetic synchronous motor. However, manually measuring the magnetic pole position may be inaccurate.
Therefore, what is needed, is a location system and a location method which can accurately determine a magnetic pole position of a motor.


A solution is described which provides an airport with the tools to accurately manage all sources of airside revenues, including operational revenues and capital programs. The system of the present invention relies on the acquisition of any and all data related to the operations, property, lease, and revenue management of an airport, including aircraft tracking data. This data is then stored in a central database where it is processed, sorted, and stored for later retrieval. The data may exist in a number of forms including real-time streams, tabular, or in the form of a database. From this data, airport revenue information can be accurately managed.

Most airports derive revenue from a variety of sources, and it is becoming more common for airports to finance operations from a combination of usage fees and to finance capital programs through grants, such as the Federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs). (See, e.g., www.faa.gov). All of these revenue sources are based on the activity at the airport. AIP grant amounts are based on the passenger throughput and landed cargo weight. Approved PFC collection amounts are based on passenger throughput. In order to receive such government revenues or subsidies, however, an airport must be able to accurately track the number of passengers and amount of cargo passing through the airport. Manually tallying such data, or relying upon reported data from airlines can be cumbersome and inaccurate.
Traditional usage fees were generally limited to landing fees based on an aircraft maximum certified gross take-off weight. Airports would like to be able to more accurately bill for actual airport usage, which includes landing fees, use of gates, facilities and parking of aircraft, rather than just using flat fees based on gross aircraft weight. Traditionally, due to lack of technical solutions, airports used an honor system, whereby the airport relied on users to self-report their activity at the airport, such as landings, parking, cargo landed, and the like. However, when such data is carefully audited, many airports have found inadequacies in the honor system. Therefore, it remains a requirement in the art to provide a revenue management system that can track airport usage, passenger flow and landed cargo weight would maximize operational revenues as well as capital financing from AIP/PFC and other sources.
Airports operate using one of two accounting methods; residual costing or compensatory approaches. The main difference is risk allocation. The residual approach places the risk with the airlines, as their usage fees may need to increase to cover costs of airport operations. The compensatory approach may result in insufficient airport operational revenues, which would be an operating loss for the airport. In either case, airports have found that an independent accurate source of revenue management would be beneficial. For cost accounting, it benefits the users, (mainly signatory airlines) and the airport. Regardless of the accounting model used by the airport, an independent revenue management system would enhance operating revenues and capital program financing by more accurately tracking costs and usage.
Although all airports are somewhat different, it is important to point out that the sources of revenue at one of the "average" top 200 airports in the U.S. may be comparable to other, similar airports. For example, airport operational revenues usually may be derived from landing fees, automobile parking, and property management. Automobile parking usually accounts for 20 to 30% of revenue, landing and use fees usually account for 20 to 30%, and the remaining revenue is generally derived from property leases (e.g., for airlines and retail).
By comparison, capital program revenues are generally of the same order. For example, a typical landing fee for passenger aircraft may be in the region of $200-$400. The PFC entitlement, at $3 per paying passenger is therefore $300 for an aircraft carrying 100 or so passengers. Therefore the revenue entitlements being tracked are of similar magnitudes and should be managed appropriately.
With regard to tracking capital program entitlements, in a presentation titled "Optimizing Management of Airport Revenues," one of the present inventors, Mr. A. E. Smith, presented a summary of airport revenues at the 2005 Airport Finance & Administration Conference Sponsored by AAAE and Southeast Chapter AAAE, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2005. This presentation is incorporated herein by reference.
That presentation stated that 3300 airports in the U.S. national system received an average of $12 B per year for planned capital development. The largest source is bonds, followed by AIP, then PFCs, and estimates of airport capital developments range from $9 B-$15 B per year. AIP entitlements are based on cargo activity (landed cargo weight) and the number of enplaned passengers, which is based on a stratification of entitlements, with a minimum total of $1 M and a maximum of $26 M as follows: $7.80 for each of the first 50,000, $5.20 for each of the next 50,000, $2.60 for each of the next 400,000, $0.65 for each of the next 500,000, and $0.50 for each additional enplanement.
PFCs may be used in lieu of 50%-75% AIP entitlements. For more information on the PFC program refer to FAA Order 5500.1 (www.faa.gov), incorporated herein by reference. Other background documents include: AIP101, presented by FAA at the FAA Southwest Region Capital Planning Conference, Oct. 19, 2004, Fort Worth, Tex., and GAO-03-497T, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2003, AIRPORT FINANCE, Past Funding Levels May Not Be Sufficient to Cover Airports' Planned Capital Development, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
There are also many background documents written by Airport Council International (ACI) and the American Association of Airport Executives:                www.aci-na.org/docs/pfcfinaldraft.doc;        www.aaae.org/_pdf/_regpdf/040318pfc.doc;        www.aci-na.org/docs/Hotlights02-16-04.pdf;        www.commerce.senate.gov/hearings/212pla.htm;        www.house.gov/transportation/aviation/04-01-04/barclay.html; and        www.aaae.org/government/200_Regulatory_Affairs/100_What's_New;all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other related information may be found on the websites of the respective organizations, www.aci-na.org and www.aaae.org, both of which are also incorporated herein by reference.
Air carriers must collect and refund PFCs where necessary. PFCs are collected for each one-way trip in U.S. at either $3 or $4.50. PFCs are collected only for revenue passengers. Carriers collect PFCs and manage the money as a trust fund. Airlines are compensated for PFCs remitted (either $0.08/$0.11 per PFC). As of January 2005, the FAA approved over 350 airports, including over 90% of the top 100 airports, to collect PFCs. Over half of the airports are collecting at the higher $4.50 level. By the end of 2004, FAA had approved over $47.5 B in PFCs.
The amount and type of funding varies depending on airport size. For example, as illustrated in the chart of FIG. 1, large- and medium-hub airports depend primarily on bonds, while the smaller airports rely principally on AIP grants. Passenger facility charges are a more important source of revenue for the large- and medium-hub airports because they have the majority of commercial-service passengers.
FIG. 2 is a chart compiled by the General Accounting Office (GAO), illustrating various types of airport projects financed through the PFC programs. The reporting requirements imposed by the Government for PFC programs are fairly onerous. Airports must compile quarterly reports to provide oversight of PFC revenue to the FAA and the airlines. Airlines collecting PFCs from over 50,000 enplanements must conduct annual independent audits. The quarterly reports are monitored to see how well revenues track to the approved program. Excessive revenue accumulation may result in a revision of charge expiration, or a decrease in the PFC fee. For shortfalls, an increase of project total is possible (up to 15%) by extending the program expiration date.
In tracking use fees, airports have been constrained to available technologies and manual procedures that have been on the market. Flight tracking systems and associated systems are now available (see www.rannoch.com) for tracking aircraft in the vicinity of an airport and on the ground. One such system is described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,812,890, entitled "VOICE RECOGNITION LANDING FEE BILLING SYSTEM". The system of that Patent can track takeoffs and landings of aircraft using aircraft tracking data, transponder and other electronic data sources, as well as voice recognition of Air Traffic Control (ATC) communications. The system of that Patent has been installed at various airports with demonstrated success. After installation, billing for landing fees increased by as much as one third, clearly illustrating that previous manual reporting systems were inadequate.
It would be desirable to expand such a system (and it is one object of the present invention) to implement comprehensive billing systems to bill for airport usages, such as: Landing fees, Parking fee management, (By location/time period, and Overnights), Stratified user fees for signatory & non signatory users, FBO and GA fees, De-ice facilities, Ramp/apron/gate use, Maintenance facilities, Noise fee surcharges, Curfew violation fees, and the like. One method to achieve this is by the use of 2-D zones, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in combination with an airport's GIS systems and accurate aircraft tracking and identification. While there are several technologies available for tracking aircraft on the airport surface, none have been used in any real operational capacity to manage billing for usage, such as time on gate.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the Aerobahn system offered by Sensis Corporation of Dewitt New York. (See, e.g., www.sensis.com). KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) will begin an evaluation of Aerobahn Service at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to assess the value of Aerobahn in improving the management of traffic into and out of the apron area. KLM is the second SkyTeam Alliance member to use Aerobahn. Sensis recently announced that Northwest Airlines has contracted for 60 months of Aerobahn Service for its Minneapolis-St. Paul International and Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan hub airports. Aerobahn provides airlines and airports with comprehensive operational information which positions users to more efficiently manage and measure airside operations. At Schiphol, ATC coordinators in KLM's Operations Control Center will use the data to help manage flight status and to closely coordinate movements with air traffic control to maximize efficiency and capacity. While this system may be able to track aircraft, it does not appear to be able to use such aircraft tracking data to manage airport revenue.
Accurate measurement of time on gate by specific aircraft would allow the airport to bill for use. Additionally, it would allow the airport to manage limited assets more efficiently. However, current systems do not utilize this data to enhance airport revenue management. Most existing aircraft billing and revenue management systems are manually intensive and rely on data inputs from disparate sources. Many of the datasets are incomplete, inaccurate, and result in less than perfect solutions.
One example of such a Prior Art system is the system in use at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as illustrated in FIG. 5. The system is called CATER, for Collection and Analysis of Terminal Records System. The system is described in the Port Authority's Request for Proposal 0000007548, Electronic Collection and Analysis of Terminal Records System and Itinerant Aircraft Billing System, dated Jan. 13, 2005.
Data sources include schedule information, such as the Official Airline Guide (OAG), the FAA's flight strips and also Airline Service Quality Performance Reports (ASQP). On first review, the approach appears to be comprehensive, but it lacks several key data items, and many of the data elements are incomplete. For more information on Airline Service Quality Performance Reports (ASQP) refer to http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/www/labs/ICAT/ and Documentation for the Consolidated Operations and Delay Analysis System, September 1997, Office of Aviation Policy and Plans Federal Aviation Administration Washington, D.C. 20591, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The FAA document states that ASQP data are collected by DOT to calculate on-time performance for its monthly Air Travel Consumer Report. Major air carriers are required by regulation to report this information. However, the reporting requirements apply only to air carriers with more than one percent of total domestic scheduled passenger revenues; the 10 carriers that must file include: Alaska Airlines, Northwest Airlines, America West Airlines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines Trans World Airlines, Continental Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and USAir.
However, ASQP does not contain any information on the operations of smaller air carriers, commuters, air taxis, or on general aviation, cargo, military and international flights. The percentage of total operations for which ASQP has data varies depending on the mix of traffic at each airport. At those airports where a significant proportion of operations are not reported, the ground movement and flight times may be biased. In addition, ASQP does not provide any information on the aircraft type used for a flight.
FIG. 6 describes the data fields available from ASQP: FIG. 7 is a screenshot from January 2005 of statistics for the ASQP data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics web site. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the tail number data is missing over 30% of the time. Other variables such as Airtime, TaxiOut, TaxiIn, WheelsOff, WheelsOn, and statistics related to the cause of delay show similar results. Therefore these existing sources of data for airport revenue management, while very useful, are incomplete, inaccurate, and offer a significant delay in data timeliness.
Another area of automation of financial management for airports is in Lease Management Systems. As stated above, a substantial portion of an airport's operating revenue may be derived from leases of property, for example to airlines and retail companies. In the past, most airports had limited facilities ("concessions") for airport travelers. These concession stands were usually badly overpriced and offered limited poor quality goods and services. In recent years, many airports such as the recently renovated and renamed Washington Reagan National Airport have created virtual shopping malls within the airport itself.
Airports have realized that air travelers are willing to spend money in airports on quality services and products, and moreover are unwilling to tolerate the high-priced and poor quality "concession stands" of the past. As such, airports have discovered they are sitting on valuable retail space, which can be leased for a generous profit. However, many airports may not be as comfortable with this new role as retail space landlord, and may be ill equipped to manage such retail leasing operations.
For a retailer operator in an airport, income may depend directly upon the number of flights (and passengers) travelling in and out of a particular gate or section of the airport. Thus, a lease for space in a busy portion of the airport terminal may be worth much more than one in a lesser-used portion of the airport. A retailer may be willing to pay more for retail space where it can be demonstrated that more passengers will be passing by. Similarly, a retailer may be less willing to pay top dollar for retail space in a lesser-used portion of the terminal. Quantifying actual passenger traffic and basing leasing prices for retail space based upon such traffic could optimize revenues for all portions of the airport.
More traditionally, airports have managed leasing of space to airlines for gates, ticket counters, and other space within the airport. Managing leasing of such space traditionally has relied upon flat fees for use of a particular space over a period of time. Traditional leasing techniques may not have correlated costs with income and usage. Gates that are not in use by one airline may sit vacant and could be leased to another airline on an as-needed basis. Tracking such use of airport facilities can be cumbersome and costly. It would be desirable to provide a system for dynamically tracking airport usage for leasing purposes.
An airline at the airport may receive invoices for rent as well as aircraft activity. This can be summarized as static and dynamic billing; where the airline receives bills for rental of space (static) and landing fees (dynamic). There are several existing packages on the market for management of leases at airports—or the static part of the equation. These existing programs include:                AirIT's Propworks (www.airit.com);        Aeroware, (http://www.aeroware.com/property.htm);        Airport Corporation of America, (http://www.airportweb.com);        Kelar (http://www.kelar.com/gis);        the Bowman Group (www.thebowmangroup.com/bgclients2.html); and        Maximo, (www.mrosoftware.co.nz/pdf/SydAir.pdf),        All of which are incorporated herein by reference.
An example of a typical standalone lease management system is described in Official Notice #6064, Invitation to Submit Proposal for Airport Property and Revenue Management Software System, published in February 2005 by General Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee, Wis., and incorporated herein by reference. There are also solutions on the market aimed at capturing airport landing fees, such as Megadata's Passur (www.passur.com) and Lochard's SkyTrac (www.lochard.com), both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Other relevant Megadata references include Published U.S. patent applications 20040243302, System and method to display operational and revenue data for an airport facility; 20040104824, Simplified flight track display system; 20040054550, System and method for the distribution of information during irregular operations; 20030009267, Apparatus and method for providing live display of aircraft flight information; and 20050021221, System and method for the correlation of multiple data feeds, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
However, there are no comprehensive approaches that combine the static lease management with the dynamic aspects including landing fees, taxi usage, and overall facility usage including gates. Thus, it remains a requirement in the art to provide such a system.
When billing automation is introduced into a business, one of the main reasons is to improve the collection of revenue. A system that is more comprehensive in identifying usage may increase amounts collected. Costs may be reduced through automation and reduction of manually intensive activities. More accurate and automated client billing may reduce the cost to some clients, while increasing costs to other clients, but more importantly the system would provide detailed information on usage charges.
Most airports use unsophisticated methods to charge for airport usage. Peak time pricing is based on hourly blocks of time and client fees are assessed based on basic aircraft registration weight. Parking fees are usually charged to the nearest hour and ramp use fees are assessed based on the scheduled use of ramps at the airport. The reason for the approximations and basic rules is because existing (legacy) billing collection techniques are rudimentary and cannot support a more sophisticated set of rules.
With a more sophisticated system, the billing could be exact, and peak pricing could be based on actual landing time, parking time, ramp usage, type of ramp, and departure. Fees could be based on the specific aircraft weight for the individual aircraft, which would be equitable to users with different aircraft configurations. A system with this level of accuracy and fidelity would benefit the airport as well as the airport users. Users could have detailed information as feedback showing the billing accuracy and they could use this information to streamline their operations and planned use of the airport in peak and non-peak periods.
Increasingly sophisticated data feeds and the integration of multiple data streams allow an airport to get closer to the ideal billing methodology, one based on the economic cost of use. Every aircraft and passenger that arrives or departs an airport requires a certain amount of resources be available for that operation. Some aircraft require more resources than others based on their size, weight, and use (cargo vs. passengers). An ideal billing system would charge a fee based on the actual costs associated with accommodating that aircraft at that airport at that time.
For instance, an Airbus A380 will consume more of the airport's resources than a Canadair Regional Jet, but the difference in resources consumed by each of these two aircraft is only grossly approximated by the ratio of their maximum gross weights, which is how most billing systems are configured to charge landing fees. The Airbus carries over 500 people and may require that other gates be closed to accommodate the size of the large aircraft. These additional gates are then denied to other aircraft and have a cost associated with the lost opportunity, even if the Airbus was not using them. The lost opportunity cost represents an economic cost that should be recovered by the airport.
Thus, it remains a requirement in the art to provide an airport revenue management system which can track airport revenues and costs by determining the actual location, track, size, and type of aircraft travelling through the airport, as well as accurately tracking the number of passengers, amount of cargo, and the like, and to do so in an automated fashion, without relying unduly on manually entered data or self-reporting by airlines.

Automated management of airport revenues


A round baler having a main frame, a tailgate pivotally connected to the main frame and an apron extending around a plurality of guide rolls disposed in the main frame and the tailgate. A pair of take up arms, rotatably mounted on the main frame, carry at least one additional guide roll for the apron. A bale forming chamber, including the apron, varies in size from a bale starting position to a full bale position. A pair of levers, connected to rotate with the take up arms, have attached thereto a tensioning mechanism to urge the take up arms to the bale starting position of the apron. The machine is provided with an automated system for wrapping the formed bale with twine including an improved control system for tripping the wrapping apparatus.

Round balers generally have a bale forming chamber defined by an array of side-by-side belts, transverse slats trained on chains, a plurality of rolls or a combination of these various elements, e.g., rolls and belts. During field operation, crop material such as hay is picked up from the ground and fed into a fixed or adjustable diameter chamber. The hay is then rolled into a compact cylindrical package, wrapped with twine, net or the like and ejected onto the ground for subsequent handling.
Many balers of the type mentioned above employ automated or semi-automated systems to control one or more of the operational steps. It is common for these systems to include arrangements for varying the desired size of bales formed in the bale forming chamber. A successful arrangement of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,844, issued Sep. 18, 1979 in the name of John H. Freimuth, et al, wherein an automatic twine wrapping apparatus is contemplated in which a triggering mechanism is actuated in response to a selected bale size in the forming chamber. Upon actuation, control means initiate automated steps of a twine wrapper including application of twine around the bale, severing the twine when the wrapping function is completed and resetting the system for the next wrapping operation.
In the patent mentioned above the apron take up arms move in response to change in bale size, i.e., the arms move as hay is being formed into a cylindrical package in the bale forming chamber. Take up arm position is monitored and used to initiate tripping of the mechanism that controls the wrapping apparatus. Other prior art balers have also used the position of the take up arms to initiate wrapping. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,613, issued May 14, 1991 in the name of John H. Merritt, et al, a round baler of the type that uses rolls and belts to define the bale forming chamber is disclosed in which a twine wrapping trip mechanism is responsive to the position of the belt take up mechanism.
Both of the above mentioned balers are exemplary of prior art twine wrapper trip mechanisms with control systems that utilize linkages for coupling the take up arms to the control for the trip mechanism. Adjusting such systems for selecting bale size requires physical changes of the relationship of the elements.
Although prior art round baler twine wrapper control mechanisms for adjustable bale size have met with varying degrees of success, there is always a need for a less complicated and inexpensive system that enhances the overall operation of the round baler which in turn results in an improvement in overall performance and reliability of the machine.

Round baler twine wrapper control mechanism


Use of IL-18 inhibitors in tumor metastasis is disclosed.

The adhesion of circulating cancer cells to capillary endothelium is a critical step in the genesis of metastasis (1,2). Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, mediates the adhesion of hematopoietic cells and activated leukocytes to proinflammatory cytokine-activated endothelial cells (3-5). However, the adhesive function of VCAM-1 may be usurped by animal and human cancer cells to potentiate experimental metastatic spread (6).
For example, IL-1β and TNF-α are known to potentiate the metastasis of VLA-4-expressing melanoma cells in lung tissue by a mechanism that involves the up-regulation of VCAM-1 expression by endothelial cells (7-9). It has also been demonstrated that IL-1 and TNF-α significantly contribute to hepatic colonization of B16M cells both in normal and lipopolysaccharide-treated mice (7,8,10-20). In addition, mannose receptor-mediated hepatic sinusoidal endothelium (HSE) cell activation involves autocrine IL-1β-mediated HSE cell expression of VCAM-1, leading to increased B16M cell adhesion and metastasis (21). It was also shown that IL-1β-activated HSE cells release VLA-4-stimulating factors, which potentiate B16M cell adhesion to HSE cells (11). Thus, IL-1β induces VCAM-1 expression and VLA-4-stimulating factor release from HSE cells, which may confer upon them an ability to create a prometastatic microenvironment for certain intrasinusoidally-arrested VLA-4-expressing cancer cells.
However, blocking IL-1β and TNF-α led to only a partial metastasis abrogation, indicating that other factors either compensating for their absence, or acting via alternative pathways are also involved. Furthermore, most of metastasizing cancer cells and the target tissues are unable to produce these pro-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, endotoxin or mannose receptor ligand concentration usually does not sufficiently increase to induce proinflammatory cytokine release. Hence, the multiple mediators that evoke VCAM-1 upregulation and its involvement during capillary transit of cancer cells are not well characterized.
IL-18 (IFNγ-inducing factor) is a novel cytokine that shares structural features with the IL-1 family of proteins (22) and functional properties with IL-12 (23). It has been reported that IL-18 production from Kupffer cells activates both TNF-α and FAS ligand-mediated hepatotoxic pathways in endotoxin-induced liver injury (24). More recently, it has been revealed that IL-18 also possesses proinflammatory properties by direct stimulation of gene expression and synthesis of TNF-α from CD3+/CD4+ and natural killer cells with subsequent production of IL-1β and IL-8 from the CD14+ population, thereby revealing an unexpected pivotal position of IL-18 in the cytokine hierarchy (25). However, its possible role in cancer metastasis has not yet been elucidated.
An interleukin-18 binding protein (IL-18BP) was purified from urine by chromatography on IL-18 beads, sequenced, cloned and expressed in COS7 cells. IL-18BP abolished IL-18 induction of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-8 and activation of NF-κB in vitro. Administration of IL-18BP to mice abrogated circulating IFN-γ following LPS. Thus, IL-18BP functions as an inhibitor of the early Th1 cytokine response. IL-18BP is constitutively expressed in the spleen, belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily and has limited homology to the IL-1 type II receptor. Its gene was localized on human chromosome 11q13 and no exon coding for a transmembrane domain was found in an 8.3 kb genomic sequence. Several Poxviruses encode putative proteins highly homologous to IL-18BP, suggesting that viral products may attenuate IL-18 and interfere with the cytotoxic T-cell response (28 and WO 99/09063). As described more particularly in WO 99/09063, IL-18BP and muteins, fused proteins, functional derivatives, active fractions or circularly permutated derivatives and mixtures thereof are capable of binding to IL-18 and/or capable of modulating the activity of IL-18 and/or capable of blocking the activity of IL-18.

Use of interleukin-18 inhibitors to inhibit tumor metastasis


An ambient condition detector includes a sensor for a first ambient condition and a second, sensor which is responsive to a second ambient condition not necessarily correlated to the first condition. Control circuitry, coupled to both sensors, processes an output from the first sensor to reduce transients and/or noise therein which are not correlated to the first ambient condition. Processing characteristics are altered in response to an output from the second sensor. The processing can take place at the detector or, in part, at the detector and, in part, at a displaced, common control element.

Distributed fire alarm systems which incorporate a plurality of ambient condition detectors, such as smoke, heat or gas detectors, are often installed in business or commercial buildings. Such systems often have a common control unit which can be in either unidirectional or bidirectional communication with multiple, spatially separated, ambient condition detectors.
One of the problems associated with transmission of information to or from such detectors is the presence of uncorrelated noise. Noise is uncorrelated wherein it is not related to a selected parameter or parameters which is/are being monitored.
In the event that the parameter being monitored is a level of ambient smoke, an ambient temperature, or a level of an ambient gas, the signals of interest are those which have a high correlation to the particular ambient condition being detected. Other signals, due to electrical or thermal noise which are not correlated to the ambient condition being detected, and which may in fact be random, are undesirable. Various techniques have been used in the past to minimize the effects of such uncorrelated noise signals.
One known type processing or filtering involves sampling the signals from at least one of the ambient condition detectors and calculating a running average based on a predetermined number of prior sample values, such as 6 or 8 or 10, along with the latest sample value. As each new sample value is received, the running average is updated. This technique provides a vehicle for minimizing or suppressing the effects of uncorrelated noise. This process can also be carried out continuously using analog circuits.
Filters can be implemented using analog or digital hardware. Alternately, they can be implemented digitally in software. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,674 entitled High Sensitivity Apparatus and Method With Dynamic Adjustment for Noise assigned to the Assignee hereof and incorporated by reference herein.
While known approaches do provide a vehicle for suppressing or reducing uncorrelated noise in signals from ambient condition detectors, they also introduce delays. In the event that the parameter of interest, such as level of smoke or ambient temperature, does start to increase, the increases are attenuated and only appear in the output filtered signals after a delay interval which is characteristic of the type of averaging or filtering which is used.
As disclosed and claimed in the parent hereto, hereby incorporated by reference, a smoothing or filtering function can be altered in the presence of a fire indicating profile. It would be desirable to be able to start to adjust the degree of smoothing or filtering even before a fire indicating profile can be detected.

System and method of adjusting smoothing


The present invention relates to a hammer union restoration apparatus wherein a main sanding unit is mounted to a base. The main sanding unit including a sander for sanding the four side faces of a lug formed on the hammer union. The sander being resiliently movable in a direction away from a side face of the lug. The sander is movable under control of a motor to rotate the sander relative to the lug around the four faces of the lug with the sander floating across the corner edges of the four faces. The present invention further includes a sander for sanding the end face of the lug.

A hammer union is a device for joining together pipes normally carrying high pressure fluids. The hammer union must be tightened on the pipe because the pipe is under enormous pressures. These hammer unions are tightened by using a hammer to pound on lugs provided on the hammer union. In doing so, the lugs are deformed by continued use creating sharp edges and deformations on the lugs. The present invention is directed to apparatus for restoring the lugs on these hammer unions. Previously, the hammer unions had to be restored manually taking a lot of time and, in some cases, causing injury. With the present invention, these hammer unions are restored quickly and with little chance of injury.


A semiconductor light-emitting device includes at least one light-emitting chip. The light-emitting chip includes plural light-emitting units, which are electrically coupled to each other in series, in parallel or in series-parallel combination; a first-type electrode electrically coupled to an external power source, the first-type electrode being disposed on one of the light-emitting units; a second-type electrode disposed on another of the light-emitting units; and a tapped point for electrically coupling at least one of the light-emitting units to an electronic component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor light-emitting device, and more particularly to a light-emitting chip with a tapped point.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional light-emitting diode (LED) device is packaged by disposing multiple LED chips on a circuit board. Specifically, the LED chips are first connected in series or parallel by interconnecting lines. After bonding to the circuit board, the LED chips are connected to a positive point and a negative point of an input voltage of the circuit board.
The series-connected LED chips are commonly connected to a driving module by conductive lines. According to charge-discharge characteristics of capacitors of the driving module, however, the conventional LED devices have low operating efficiency.
A need has thus arisen to propose a novel LED device with LED chips connected in series or parallel that has enhanced operating efficiency when being connected to a driving module.


A vehicle includes a plurality of wheels; a motor configured to apply a driving force to the plurality of wheels; a rain detector configured to detect a precipitation; a temperature detector configured to detect outside temperature; and a controller configured to control a torque of the motor based on the precipitation detected by the rain detector and the outside temperature detected by the temperature detector.

A vehicle is a mobile machine that drives wheels to move on the road.
The vehicle includes internal combustion engine vehicles (general known as engine vehicles) generating mechanical power by burning fuel such as gasoline or diesel made from oil (e.g., petroleum, etc.) to travel on the road, and eco-friendly vehicles using electricity as a power source to increase fuel efficiency and reduce harmful gas emissions.
Examples of the eco-friendly vehicles are an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, and a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The electric vehicle includes a motor and a rechargeable battery, and drives wheels by using the rotational force of the motor powered by accumulated electricity from the rechargeable battery. The hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a battery, and a motor, and travels by using both mechanical power of the engine and electric power of the motor.

Vehicle and method of controlling the same


Provided is an exposure head, including: an array substrate having a plurality of organic EL elements arranged in an array on one face; and a plurality of circuit chips having a circuit for driving the organic EL element, and in which the forming face of the circuit is serially arranged along the extending direction of the array substrate so as to face one face of the array substrate; wherein the plurality of circuit chips are mutually serially connected by providing a pair of wiring groups for each mutual boundary location of the circuit chips on one face of the array substrate and outside the arrangement area of the organic EL element, bump-bonding one of the adjacent circuit chips to one end of the pair of wiring groups, and bump-bonding the other adjacent circuit chip to the other end of the pair of wiring groups.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure head for forming a latent image with a multi-exposure method on a photoreceptor in an electrophotographic printer or copy machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of image formation devices, various proposals have been made in adopting an organic EL as the light source for exposing the photoreceptor (for example, c.f. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H9-226171).
FIG. 17 is a diagram exemplifying the configuration of an organic EL array print head adopting an organic EL as the light source. As shown in FIG. 17, arranged on a chip-on-board (hereinafter referred to as "COB") substrate 100 are an organic EL array substrate 300 having an organic EL array 200, and a plurality of driver ICs 400 for controlling the emission of each organic EL. The COB substrate 100 and driver IC 400 are electrically connected with a bonding wire 500, and the driver IC 400 and organic EL array substrate 300 are also electrically connected with the bonding wire 500. As described above, as a result of using an organic EL as the light source for exposing the photoreceptor, a single organic EL array substrate 300 can be manufactured collectively, and cost reduction and high densification can be sought in comparison to conventional mounting methods of arranging a plurality of LED chips on a straight line.
Nevertheless, when the organic EL array substrate and plurality of driver ICs are arranged planarly on the COB substrate as described above, there is an inconvenience in that the mounting area will increase, and the COB substrate will become enlarged. Further, a wire bonding process will be required for electrically connecting the organic EL array substrate and the respective driver ICs, and there is an inconvenience in that the wiring between the respective terminals to be wire-bonded to the respective organic EL light emitting units in the organic EL substrate will become complicated and complex. Such inconveniences are especially noticeable when arranging a plurality of rows of organic EL light emitting units against the vertical scanning direction and performing multi-exposure thereto.


An insulation structure is formed in a high-density plasma environment by depositing a first SiO.sub.2 film containing a substantial amount of F without a substrate bias, followed by depositing a second SiO.sub.2 film containing a reduced amount of F with a substantial substrate bias, and further followed by depositing a third SiO.sub.2 film containing a substantial amount of F without a substrate bias.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices and more particularly to a fabrication of a semiconductor device and a semiconductor integrated circuit device that has an interlayer insulation film of low permittivity.
In a semiconductor integrated circuit in which a number of semiconductor devices are integrated monolithically, each of the semiconductor devices are covered by an interlayer insulation film. In the art of semiconductor integrated circuit, it is commonly practiced to provide an interconnection pattern further on such an interlayer insulation film to form a multilayer interconnection structure. In recent miniaturized semiconductor integrated circuits, such interconnection patterns are also miniaturized. In relation to this, there emerges a problem in that the electric signals experience a delay due to the permittivity of the interlayer insulation film.
FIGS. 1A-1C show a conventional process for forming a multilayer interconnection structure.
Referring to FIG. 1A, an SiO.sub.2 film 13 is formed on a substrate 11 by an ordinary plasma CVD apparatus of the parallel-plate type, such that the SiO.sub.2 film 13 covers an interconnection pattern 12 formed on the substrate 11. The SiO.sub.2 film 13 thus formed, while having an advantageous feature of low leakage current, generally suffers from the problem of poor step coverage. Thus, it is practiced to deposit another SiO.sub.2 film 14 on the structure of FIG. 1A under a high-density plasma environment while applying a substrate bias, as indicated in FIG. 1B. As the SiO.sub.2 film 14 is deposited under existence of the substrate bias, the SiO.sub.2 film 14 experiences a sputter etching simultaneously to the deposition by the high-density plasma formed in a reaction chamber. As a result of such a sputter etching that competes with the deposition, the SiO.sub.2 film 14 shows an excellent step coverage.
After the SiO.sub.2 film 14 is thus formed, a chemical mechanical polishing process (CMP) is applied to the SiO.sub.2 film 14 for a planarization thereof as indicated in FIG. 1C.
In the planarized structure thus obtained, however, there arises a problem that the operational speed of the semiconductor device does not increase as is expected from the miniaturization, due to the fact that the interlayer insulation film 13 or 14 has a relatively large permittivity, as noted already.
Meanwhile, it is known that the permittivity can be reduced in an insulation film including therein an Si--O bond such as SiO.sub.2, by introducing F (fluorine) into the insulation film. The interlayer insulation film 13 or 14 also shows a reduced permittivity with increasing F content in the film. Thus, there is a prospect that a maximization is possible for the operational speed of the semiconductor device by introducing F atoms into the insulation film.
However, conventional attempts to incorporate F atoms into the interlayer insulation film, conducted in a conventional parallel-plate type plasma CVD apparatus, although have been successful at reducing the initial permittivity, have failed due to the problem of unwanted increase of hygroscopicity. As a result of increased hygroscopicity, the permittivity of the interlayer insulation film increases with time, and the desired effect of the decrease of the initial permittivity is canceled out ultimately. Further, the interlayer insulation film, after absorbing moisture in the air, has a poor film quality, and various problems such as corrosion or peeling of the interconnection pattern are caused.
While using a conventional parallel-plate type CVD apparatus, it has not been possible to incorporate a sufficient amount of F atoms into the interlayer insulation film while simultaneously maintaining high film quality. Thus, the permittivity of the film could not be reduced below about 3.8.
On the other hand, it is possible to improve the quality of the interlayer insulation film to a certain extent by using a high-density plasma formed by a induction coupling process (ICP) or electron cyclotron resonance (ECR). However, even such an interlayer insulation film formed under the high-density plasma environment shows an increased hygroscopicity when the F content in the insulation film is increased, and the permittivity cannot be reduced below about 3.5. For example, the interlayer insulation film 13 or 14 formed by the process of FIGS. 1A-1C shows a poor film quality due to the hygroscopicity even when the film formation is made under a high-density plasma condition.
Further, such an interlayer insulation film doped with F tends to cause a problem of corrosion when formed directly on a metal pattern such as an Al interconnection pattern. Further, one encounters a problem, when covering a line-and-space pattern by such an interlayer insulation film, such that the part of the interlayer insulation film filling a gap between adjacent line patterns is decomposed by the action of excessive F in the interlayer insulation film. When this occurs, the step coverage of the line-and-space pattern by the interlayer insulation film is deteriorated substantially.
Meanwhile, it is known conventionally that the permittivity of an interlayer insulation film can be reduced to 2.0-3.0 by using a spin-coated SOG (spin-on-glass) for the interlayer insulation film. However, such an SOG film tends to create a tensile stress field on the substrate surface, and the tensile stress field thus created tends to induce a warp in the substrate such that the substrate surface forms a concaved surface. When such a warp is formed, there occurs various problems such as distortion or displacement of various patterns to be formed on the interlayer insulation film during the photolithographic patterning process.
In order to eliminate this problem, it has been practiced to provide a cap layer of F-doped SiO.sub.2 on the interlayer insulation film by using a parallel-plate plasma CVD process or a high-density plasma CVD process. However, the permittivity that can be achieved for such a cap layer by the parallel-plate plasma CVD process is about 3.8 at best. Further, the attempt for further reduction of the permittivity tends to cause the problem of unwanted degradation of the hygroscopicity of the film. Even when the high-density plasma CVD process is used, the permittivity of the obtained cap layer cannot be reduced below about 3.5.

Semiconductor device having an insulation film of low permittivity and a fabrication process thereof


A method to eviscerate poultry, in particular waterfowl such as ducks, having a carcass with a body, neck and head is disclosed. The method involves damaging skin of the poultry at a back side of the neck of the poultry, damaging an esophagus of the poultry at or near the head of the poultry, removing skin from the neck of the poultry in which the esophagus is removed along with the skin, and removing a viscera pack from the poultry along with the esophagus removed from the neck of the poultry. Further, a collector device for collecting a viscera pack of poultry is also disclosed.

The invention relates to a method for eviscerating poultry, in particular waterfowl such as ducks, and devices and systems to carry out such methods or parts thereof.
In a known method, the poultry includes a carcass with a body, neck and head, wherein a collector device is inserted at a vent end of the body to engage with a viscera pack, e.g. including heart, crop, stomach, liver, intestines, etc., inside a body cavity, and wherein the collector device is subsequently retracted to remove said viscera pack from the body cavity.
It is preferred that the esophagus is removed along with the viscera pack from the body cavity, but a disadvantage of the current method is that the esophagus is uncontrollably removed or remains at least partially in the poultry.

Method to eviscerate poultry, a pre-evisceration device, an evisceration system, and a collector device


A layout structure is provided with a conducting line extending in a conducting line direction, the conducting line being arranged within a substrate area, a fill element being arranged within the substrate area at a predetermined distance from the conducting line, the fill element having a fill element axis extending perpendicularly to a side of the fill element in a fill element direction, an angle between the conducting line direction and the fill element direction being greater than 0° and smaller than 90°.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a layout structure with a fill element arranged within a substrate area.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to provide for a uniform metal density distribution across a chip or locally within a chip or substrate area, a fill pattern comprising fill elements influencing the coupling characteristic and further supporting the silicon processing with an impact on the yield and performance may be generated.
Usually, fill elements are formed by conducting elements arranged e.g. in a vicinity of conducting lines. Unfortunately, a conductive fill pattern increases an interconnect (coupling) capacity which leads to an increased cross and noise coupling and therefore reduces the circuit performance and makes a timing sign-off difficult.
In order to achieve a uniform density, smaller fill shapes filling smaller empty areas or a reduced distance of the fill pattern with respect to the layout structure may be used. Unfortunately, the coupling capacity would increase even more in that case. Thus, although a higher density is achievable due to smaller fill shapes, the introduced parasitic capacity may have an impact on a signal's integrity.

Layout structure having a fill element arranged at an angle to a conducting line


An optical transmitter comprising a control loop for stabilizing the bias current which sets a bias level of the amount of light emitted by a laser diode 6. A cascade circuit 5 which includes the laser diode 6, a photodiode 7 and a variable gain control amplifier 8 is connected in the negative feedback path of the control loop. To prevent amplitude modulation of the bias current when a modulation signal occurs at the input of the gain control amplifier, the control loop produces a cancelling signal of a magnitude which cancels the mean value of such modulation signal. The cancelling signal is derived from the modulation signal in a fixed manner, by fixing the transfer factor of the negative feedback path as measured by transmission of an auxiliary signal through such path and adjusting the gain of amplifier 8 in accordance with the result of such measurements.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical transmitter comprising a combination of an electro-optical converter and an opto-electrical converter which are optically coupled, which combination is included in the negative feedback path of a control loop, the input of the electro-optical converter being coupled to the input of the negative feedback path and the output of the opto-electrical converter being coupled to the output of the negative feedback path. The control loop includes a control amplifier, the output of the negative feedback path being coupled to an input of the control amplifier and the output of the control amplifier being coupled to a first input of combining means whose output is coupled to the input of the negative feedback path. Modulation signal is applied to a second input of the combining means.
2. Description of the Related Art
A transmitter of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,976. Transmitters of this type may be used, for example, in optical recording systems and in optical telecommunication systems.
In these systems the electro-optical converter is often desired to be biassed, so that it generates a certain amount of light even when a modulation signal is absent. In optical recording systems this is desired because the light generated when a modulation signal is absent is used to read information from a record carrier. In digital telecommunication systems the bias is desired because it increases the maximum attainable modulation frequency of the electro-optical converter. This is caused by the fact that the switch-on delay of a fully switched-off electro-optical converter is much longer than the delay in the increasing amount of light generated by an electro-optical converter to a given value from a bias level of the converter.
The electro-optical converters used in systems of this type generally have a strong threshold characteristic. This is to say, the current flowing through the electro-optical converter must exceed a specific threshold value before the converter emits light. This threshold is strongly temperature-dependent and furthermore exhibits a large variation per specimen.
Because the threshold of the current flowing through the electro-optical converter exhibits a large variation, it is not readily feasible to bias the amount of light generated by the electro-optical converter by means of a fixed bias current of the converter.
In order to nevertheless obtain a well-determined bias of the generated light, the electro-optical converter is generally included in the negative feedback path of of a control loop together with an opto-electrical converter, a fraction of the light emitted by the electro-optical converter being applied to the opto-electrical converter. Since the opto-electrical converter is included in the negative feedback path, the output signal of the opto-electrical converter and thus also the amount of light generated by the electro-optical converter is maintained at a predetermined value by the control loop.
Generally, the amount of light emitted by the electro-optical converter can be amplitude modulated by coupling the modulation signal to the input of the gain control amplifier. However, this leads to a restriction of the maximum permissible frequency of the modulation signal, because the gain control amplifier preferably has a high gain factor and thus a limited bandwidth.
In the transmitter known from said U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,976, the light emitted by the electro-optical converter is amplitude modulated by coupling the modulation signal directly to the input of the negative feedback path so that the limiting effect of the gain control amplifier on the maximum permissible frequency of the modulation signal is eliminated. A problem is then that the control loop tries to maintain the output signal of the negative feedback path and thus also the amount of light emitted by the electro-optical converter at a constant level, and is thus capable of reducing or even fully cancelling the effect of the modulation signal on the emitted amount of light.
In this known transmitter it is possible to apply a high-frequency modulation signal to the input of the negative feedback path and to arrange the control loop in such a way that it is only active for low frequencies, so that the control loop now no longer affects the relation between the modulation signal and the emitted amount of light. A drawback of this is that the transmitter is then unsuitable for modulation signals which comprise a DC component.

Electro-optical modulator which provides optical bias stabilization during operation


A transferring device installed in an image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member configured to bear toner images on the surface. There is a transferring member configured to contact the image bearing member to form a transferring nip. A lubricant supplying member is configured to supply a lubricant to the surface of the transferring member, and there is a transferring member cleaning member such as a blade configured to remove residual toner and which contacts the surface of the transferring member. There is also a foreign material removing member configured to remove residual foreign material from the surface of the transferring member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transferring device, a method and structure for cleaning the transferring device, and an image forming apparatus that includes the transferring device.
2. Discussion of Background
A transferring device transfers toner images formed on an image bearing member to a sheet at a transferring nip between a transferring member, e.g. a transferring roller, and the image bearing member. In this transferring device, toner residue may be picked up on the back side of a sheet at the transferring nip.
Before the sheet is transferred to the transferring nip, toner on the surface of the image bearing member are transferred to the surface of the transferring member. Next, this toner on the surface of the transferring member is transferred to the back side of the sheet.
Japan Laid-Open Patent Publication no. 2006-003859 shows an image forming apparatus that prevents toner residue.
This image forming apparatus transfers toner on the surface of an intermediate transferring belt, serving as an image bearing member, to the front surface of sheet at the second transferring nip which is formed between the intermediate transferring belt and a second transferring roller, serving as a transferring member.
A cleaning blade contacts the surface of the second transferring roller. The cleaning blade removes the toner on the surface of the second transferring roller after passing the second transferring nip, and it prevents the toner on the surface of the second transferring roller from going into the second transferring nip. Thus, it prevents the toner residue on the back side of sheet.
In addition, in this image forming apparatus, a solid lubricant made of zinc stearate is supplied to the surface of the second transferring roller by a rotating lubricant supplying brush.
By applying the lubricant to the surface of the second transferring roller, the adhesion of the toner to the surface of the second transferring roller becomes weak, and the toner removal characteristics from the surface of the second transferring roller improves.
Recently, spherical toner, which has a relatively small diameter and high average roundness, has been used in place of crushed toner, which has a relatively big diameter and a low average roundness. In image forming apparatuses using spherical toner, the spherical toner easily passes through the nip between the surface of the second transferring roller and the cleaning blade, and it is difficult to prevent the occurrence of toner residue on the back side of sheets.

Transferring device having two devices for cleaning a transferring member, and image forming apparatus


The present invention provides methods of modifying the properties of a subterranean stratum penetrated by a well bore to increase the resistance of the stratum to shear failure. The methods basically include the steps of preparing a hardenable epoxy composition having flexibility upon hardening including an epoxide containing liquid or an epoxy resin and an epoxide containing liquid and a hardening agent. The epoxy composition is pumped into the subterranean stratum by way of the well bore and by way of the porosity of the stratum and then allowed to harden in the stratum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods of modifying the properties of subterranean strata, and more particularly, to methods of increasing the resistance of the strata to shear failure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hydraulic cement compositions are commonly utilized in oil, gas and water well completion and remedial operations. For example, hydraulic cement compositions are used in primary cementing operations whereby a string of pipe such as casing is cemented in a well bore. In performing primary cementing, a hydraulic cement composition is pumped into the annular space between the walls of the well bore and the exterior of a string of pipe disposed therein. The cement composition is permitted to set in the annular space thereby forming an annular sheath of hardened substantially impermeable cement therein. The cement sheath physically supports and positions the pipe in the well bore and bonds the pipe to the walls of the well bore whereby the undesirable migration of fluids between zones or formations penetrated by the well bore is prevented.
In some well locations, the subterranean strata into or through which wells are drilled have high permeabilities and low tensile strengths. As a result, the resistances of the strata to shear are low and they have low fracture gradients. When a well fluid such as a hydraulic cement composition is introduced into a well bore penetrating such a subterranean stratum, the hydrostatic pressure exerted on the walls of the well bore can potentially exceed the fracture gradient of the stratum and cause the formation of fractures into which the cement composition is lost. While light weight cement compositions have been developed and used, subterranean strata are still encountered which have fracture gradients too low for even the light weight cement compositions to be utilized without fractures and lost circulation problems occurring.
Thus, there are needs for methods of modifying the properties of subterranean strata penetrated by well bores to increase their resistance to shear failure, i.e., to increase the fracture gradients of the strata whereby well cements and other conventional well fluids can be utilized therein.

Methods of modifying subterranean strata properties