The present invention is directed to a method for determining the molecular weight and diffusivity of a sample solute by providing a plus shaped microchannel network on a microfluidic chip, having at least four microchannels intersecting at a cross point; flowing a sample stream comprising a sample solute of unknown diffusivity and a blank stream from separate microchannels through the cross point and out to separate microchannels; creating a sample curve measuring the concentration of the sample solute that diffuses from the sample stream to the blank stream at the cross point while altering the flowrate of one of the blank stream or the sample stream; and determining a diffusion coefficient of the sample solute by extrapolating data from similar curves of at least two solutes having known molecular weights and/or diffusion coefficients created under similar conditions as those generated by the sample solute.

Recent efforts have been directed towards the development of microscale assay methods in which various chemical and biological processes may be examined in rapid succession and with small amounts of material. For example, microfluidic chips, which are chips of glass, silica or plastic contain a network of microscale channels through which fluids and chemicals are moved in order to perform the experiment. These chips use minute quantities of fluids or other materials, controllably flowed and/or directed, to generate highly reproducible and rapidly changeable microenvironments for control of chemical and biological reaction conditions, enzymatic processes, etc.
Microfluidic devices use a small volume of material. A plug of the material of interest, such as a molecule, compound, or biological compound or molecule such as a protein, analyte, or DNA molecule is introduced to a conduit and observed at least at some point along the channel. Several plugs of a variety of compounds are typically introduced into the same conduit separated by sufficient solvent or buffer material to distinguish the two plugs. However, as a plug of material moves along a conduit, a variety of forces causes the material of interest to disperse from a concentrated discrete plug into adjacent volumes of buffer or other solvent that separate the plug of material from adjacent sample plugs introduced into the conduit. Such forces include the laminar or parabolic velocity profile of a plug of material in a conduit and the molecular diffusivity of the particular material within a particular buffer or other solvent. Due to dispersion, a plug of material having a certain length and a certain concentration at the beginning of the conduit will have a longer length and be less concentrated at the end of the conduit.
One advantage of microfluidic devices is that a large variety of small plugs can be introduced and monitored within a conduit in rapid succession. The more plugs of material directed into a conduit at a time, the more tests can be run in a smaller amount of time. If the plugs of material are introduced too closely, however, dispersion may cause the solute in one sample plug to overlap the solute of a second adjacent sample plug by the time the plugs travel to the opposite end of the conduit. Thus, it is helpful to be able to adequately predict how the length of a plug will increase due to dispersion to maximize throughput, i.e., maximize the number of different samples plugs introduced to the conduit in a minimum amount of time, and minimize cross-contamination of adjacent sample plugs. U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,119, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, provides further discussion of maximizing throughput.
Further, in very small microchannels, inertial effect, turbulence and other forces that typically affect streamlines in larger channels become negligible. Fluids flowing through a microchannel experience near laminar flow, or flow in distinct layers or streamlines. With laminar flow, streamlines do not intermix, other than by diffusion, across streamlines or between contacting streams. Thus, an accurate determination of molecular diffusivity for a particular sample is important for optimal development and use of microfluidic devices and techniques, particularly for predicting particle dispersion.
Taylor developed a method to measure molecular diffusion based on the mass flux in a capillary tube. See e.g., Taylor, Sir Geoffery, F. R. S. Conditions of soluble matter in solvent flowing slowly through a tube, Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) 219A:186–203 (1953) and Taylor, Sir Geoffrey, F. R. S., Conditions under which dispersion of a solute in a stream of solvent can be used to measure molecular diffusion, Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) A225: 473–477 (1954). In particular, he determined that the mass flux along the length of a capillary tube is a sum of convection forces and molecular diffusion. Aris developed a formula based on the work of Taylor for calculating the apparent diffusion coefficient, K. Aris, R., On the dispersion of a solute in a fluid flowing through a tube, Proc. Roy. Soc. (London) A235:67–77 (1956). However, the Taylor-Aris formula was useful only for circular tubes and other shaped conduits with a known radius. However, it must be adapted for non-circular tubes, rectangular channels or other irregular shaped conduits, such as microfluidic channels. See Chatwin, P. C., et al., The effect of aspect ratio on longitudinal diffusivity in rectangular channels, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 120:347–358 (1982). Because the Taylor-Aris dispersion formula requires complicated and rigorous viscosity calculations to determine the average velocity and requires making various assumptions in order to calculate the molecular diffusivity, the method is typically effective only for low velocity flow and small radial distances. Nonetheless, the method is still often used today for measuring molecular diffusivities.
Others have tried various other calculations based on the Taylor-Aris formulation. See e.g., Michael S. Bello, et al., Use of Taylor-Aris Dispersion for Measurement of a Solute Diffusion Coefficient in Thin Capillaries, Science 266:773–776 (1994). However, these methods still require extra steps to determine velocity.
Still others have determined molecular diffusivities by measuring a stream of solute in a single microchannel. See e.g., Andrew E. Kamholz, et al., Optical Measurement of Transverse Molecular Diffusion in a Microchannel, Biophys J 80(4):1967–1972 (April 2001). Further, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,872,710 and 6,541,213, both to Weigl et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,932,100 to Yager et al., which are all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, discuss how to manipulate diffusivities in a single microchannel to separate large and small particles, because larger particles diffuse more slowly than small particles. In general, these references teach having a sample solute stream and a blank stream, such as a stream of just a solvent or buffer, flow in distinct streamlines through a single microchannel. Smaller particles diffuse across streamlines creating a diffusion profile along the length of the channel. In order to measure the amount and rate of diffusion, small changes in concentrations must be measured in a single microchannel (generally in the middle of the channel) having a large background signal because the microchannel contains both diffused particles and undiffused particles. Further, these separation methods occur with both the blank stream and the sample stream having the same flowrate.

Method for determining diffusivity and molecular weight in a microfluidic device


A brick tie anchor secures a brick veneer to an underlying structure. The anchor includes a head portion having a shaped body defining a longitudinal axis. The head includes a key portion extending from an end of the body having generally flat sides and an open central area. A shank has an upper shank portion and a lower shank portion. The lower shank portion is threaded for penetration into the underlying structure. The upper shank portion and the lower shank portion are separated from one another by a shoulder. The upper shank portion includes a knurled region extending from the shoulder. A washer is disposed at the juncture of the head portion and the shank. The washer has a diameter greater than a largest measurement across the head portion. The washer includes a resilient sealing element on the side of the washer adjacent to the shank. A driving tool for the anchor is also disclosed.

The present invention relates generally to anchors. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new and improved anchor for anchoring brick to an underlying structure.
Brick is popular as a veneer for buildings and other structure. Many such structures have light gauge steel frame walls, (other) masonry walls and structural steel framing. In light gauge steel framing, typically, the framing is erected, and a gypsum sheathing is attached to the framing. An additional layer of rigid foam can be attached to the gypsum to provide further insulation. A vapor barrier, typically in the form of a thin plastic sheet, is applied over the entire wall assembly.
The brick veneer or facade is applied over the wall assembly. The brick can be positioned (stacked) about 1 inch away from the vapor barrier. A metal tie is used to secure the brick veneer to the steel framing of the wall structure. In present applications a brick tie that is about 5 to 6 inches long (with 2 holes at each end) is fastened over the wall assembly into the steel framing using fasteners, such as self-drilling screws. The straps are located approximately every 5 courses of brick at each steel stud, generally 16 to 24 inches on center. As additional courses of brick are erected additional metal wire loops are fed through the strap, centered on the brick and embedded into the mortar.
Other known ties are used having self-drilling fasteners threaded into a zinc alloyed die-cast head. The head has a slotted opening to receive the metal wire loop. This type of arrangement eliminates one fastener, resulting in reduced labor time and cost compared to the two anchor method.
Accordingly, there is a need for a brick tie anchor that permits securing brick veneer to an underlying structure. Desirably, such an anchor is readily installed in the structure. More desirably, such an anchor readily penetrates the vapor barrier, insulation and gypsum without unduly crushing these materials. Most desirably, such an anchor provides a seal at the vapor barrier so as to maintain a seal at that barrier.


A belt including a first roller is supported by a plurality of rollers, and is driven to rotate in a predetermined direction. An abutting member makes contact with at least one edge of the belt in its width direction. A pressing member applies a pressure on an extended surface of the belt in its thickness direction at a position near a contact portion of the belt with the abutting member and on an upstream side of the contact portion in its moving direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a belt device and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a belt control mechanism for controlling a bias applied to a belt.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, and a printing press, an endless belt is used as a latent-image carrier, a transfer medium, or a conveying member for conveying a recording medium such as a sheet. Such a belt is generally supported by a plurality of rollers, and moves in a predetermined direction in accordance with rotation of any one of the rollers.
Namely, the belt moves by having frictional contact with the rollers. While the belt is moving, it may happen that the belt meanders by the friction in an axial direction of the rollers, a tilt of an axis line, or the like. In this case, the meandering of the belt means that the belt moves by being biased toward either one side of the belt in a width direction parallel to the axial direction of the rollers.
When a full-color image is formed by a color image forming apparatus capable of forming any of a monochrome image and a full-color image selectively, a plurality of different color toner images are transferred onto a transfer belt in a superimposed manner. However, if the transfer belt meanders, each of the toner images cannot be transferred onto a predetermined transfer position on the transfer belt, and thus an error such as a color registration error occurs in a formed image.
To prevent such a meandering of a belt, various methods have been developed. For example, in a conventional technology disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3523503, a blocking member is integrally fixed to a rear surface of the belt at a position close to an end face of a roller. If the belt meanders, the blocking member collides with the end face of the roller. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the belt from being biased toward either one side in the width direction.
Furthermore, for example, in conventional technologies disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. HO5-204199, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-226746, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-161055, in addition to such a blocking member, a belt is pressed so as to prevent the belt from running on to an outer circumferential surface of a roller.
Moreover, for example, in conventional technologies disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3223771 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H05-134486, instead of a blocking member, a flange is provided on both ends of a roller in an axial direction so that a belt is prevented from meandering by the flange.
In this configuration in which the flange is provided on the ends of the roller, although it is possible to avoid an impact caused when the blocking member collides with the end face of the roller, there are some problems as explained below.
If there is a positional tolerance among the rollers supporting the belt or a deviation of the tension applied to the belt in the axial direction of the rollers due to a tilt of an axis line of each of the rollers, an excess bias force in the width direction of the belt occurs. Furthermore, such an excess bias force occurs when each of the rollers differs in a coefficient of friction in the axial direction.
When the belt is excessively biased in the width direction, and struck on the flange, the belt is buckled. If such a state that the belt is buckled is continued for a long time, the durability of the belt is impaired. It is possible to use a high stiffness belt in consideration of the durability of the belt; however, a cost increases.


A data processing system isolates a virtual trusted platform module (vTPM) manager in the processing system from other management software in the processing system. In one example process, the processing system launches a virtual machine monitor (VMM) that includes a memory-mapped input/output (MMIO) trap. The processing system also launches a vTPM manager in a first virtual machine (VM). In addition, the processing system launches a second VM to contain virtual machine management programs other than the vTPM manager and the MMIO trap. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

A data processing system may include hardware resources, such as a central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), etc. The processing system may also include software resources, such as a basic input/output system (BIOS), a virtual machine monitor (VMM), and one or more operating systems (OSs). When the computer system is started or reset, it may load the BIOS, and then the VMM. The VMM may include a root OS, or it may run on top of a root OS. A root OS may also be referred to as a host OS. The VMM may create one or more virtual machines (VMs), and the VMs may boot to different guest OSs or to different instances of the same guest OS. The VMM may thus allow multiple OSs and applications to run in independent partitions.
The CPU in such a data processing system may provide hardware support (e.g., instructions and data structures) for virtualization. Additional details about virtualization may be found in reference manuals such as the following:                Intel® Virtualization Technology Specification for the IA-32 Intel® Architecture, dated April 2005 (hereinafter "the VT-x Specification"); and        IA-32 Intel® Architecture Software Developer's Manual, Volume 2B: Instruction Set Reference, N-Z, dated June 2006.Other manufacturers may produce processors with different features for supporting virtualization. A processing system may also include features referred to as LaGrande Technology (LT), as developed by Intel Corporation. The LT features may provide for the protected measurement and launching of a VMM. Additional details concerning LT are provided in the publication entitled "The Intel Safer Computing Initiative: Building Blocks for Trusted Computing," For purposes of this disclosure, LaGrande Technology may also be referred to as Intel® Trusted Execution Technology (TXT). Additional details concerning Intel® TXT are provided in the publication entitled "Intel® Trusted Execution Technology: Preliminary Architecture Specification" and dated November 2006 (the "Intel® TXT Specification").
In addition to RAM and one or more CPUs, a processing system may include a security coprocessor, such as a trusted platform module (TPM). A TPM is a hardware component that resides within a processing system and provides various facilities and services for enhancing the security of the processing system. For example, a TPM may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC) or semiconductor chip, and it may be used to protect data and to attest to the runtime configuration of a platform. A TPM may be implemented in accordance with specifications such as the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) TPM Specification Version 1.2, dated Oct. 2, 2003 (hereinafter the "TPM specification"), which includes parts such as Design Principles, Structures of the TPM, and TPM Commands. The TPM specification is published by the TCG
In general, a TCG-compliant TPM provides security services such as attesting to the identity and/or integrity of the platform, based on characteristics of the platform. For instance, trusted computing technologies may provide facilities for measuring, recording, and reporting the software configuration of a platform. For instance, the measurements may include load-time measurements of software.

Methods and apparatus for creating an isolated partition for a virtual trusted platform module


It comprises a mask (11) having a first, a second and a third action edge (11a, 11b, 11c), and a drive means for moving the mask (11) relative to a substrate (12) in a uniaxial direction (A) whereby moving the mask at a fixed rate of movement to cause the edges to successively act on an identical substrate region while successively applying different materials thereto forms thin films of three components successively with respective film thickness gradients oriented in three different directions mutually angularly spaced apart by an angle of 120° to allow these films to overlap, thereby forming a ternary phase diagrammatic thin film 13.

In recent years a number of new physical phenomena such as those of high temperature superconducting, giant magnetic resistance, high intensity fluorescence and catalysis have been discovered. Exploring a material and composition that develops such a physical phenomenon is carried out with a combinatorial film forming apparatus in order to reduce the time expended for material investigation. Using a combinatorial film forming apparatus allows forming a library of a group of materials possible of that developing on one substrate in one vacuum process and finding a new material and a new composition from the library or deriving a theoretical prediction from a specific character of the library. It is said that the use of a combinatorial film forming apparatus can shorten the time period of a hundred years thus far spent to a month, for a material exploration.
A combinatorial film forming apparatus makes it essential to include a means for limiting supply of materials electively to a desired portion on a substrate, a film forming means for depositing films of different kind and a structural analysis means for analyzing the structure of films of desired portion on the substrate. For example, an apparatus which uses a ablation laser for film deposition, is equipped with a plurality of masking units, a target switching unit, an ablation laser light lead-in unit, a substrate heating laser unit and a reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) unit.
And, in late years demands to find new materials of binary and ternary systems have been rising. For instance, a fluorescent material for a plasma display, which is required to possess properties different from those of a conventional electron-beam excited fluorescent material, is predicted to be realized by a new material of binary or ternary system.
Materials of binary and ternary systems have so far been investigated using a combinatorial film forming arrangements as shown in FIG. 22. FIG. 22 shows diagrammatically methods of investigating materials of binary and ternary systems with the conventional combinatorial deposition arrangements. As shown in FIG. 22(a), there are prepared a first mask 1 having a number of unmasking apertures for defining a plurality of independent specimens on a substrate, to wit to form pixels on the substrate and a second mask 2 in the form of a masking shield for selectively covering the unmasking apertures to select the pixels to be formed by vapor deposition. The relative position among the substrate, the first mask 1 and second mask 2 is adjusted to select the pixels to be formed, while a material forming the pixel by vapor deposition is selected, and this step is repeated so as to form on the substrate thin films that are of a binary or ternary phase-diagrammatic system which has predetermined ratios of components varied from pixel to pixel. Then, the pixels made are measured as to their specified properties to find out a pixel having particular properties as desired and then to determine from its ratio of components an optimum ratio of components that is required to achieve specific properties as desired.
As shown in FIG. 22(b), there is also used a rotary disk having a plurality of masks thereon, each of which are arranged to select pixels to be formed by vapor deposition, and this rotary disk is successively rotated while a material forming pixels is selected to form pixels on a substrate, which have predetermined ratios of components differing from pixel to pixel to form binary or ternary phase-diagrammatic system. Then, the pixels made are measured as to their specified properties to find out a pixel having particular properties as desired and then to determine from its ratio of components an optimum ratio of components that is required to achieve specific properties as desired.
By the way, there is a material, such as a fluorescent material, which exhibits useful properties only in an extremely narrow rage of its ratio of components. Such a case requires the conventional methods to form an extremely large number of pixels with finely varied ratios of components. In the prior method shown in FIG. 22(a), as the method requires the precise positioning among the substrate, the first mask 1 and second mask 2, however, this in turn requires spending considerable time, and in addition, as a result of which if an extremely large number of pixels are to be formed, then the film depositing conditions tend to change between the first and the last formed pixels. Thus, for example, the substrate temperature distribution and atmospheric composition could change uncontrollably with the lapse of time, giving rise to the problem that reproducible data, or reliable data can no longer be obtained.
And, while in the prior method shown in FIG. 22(b) rotation makes it sufficient to position a given mask in less time-consuming, there the limitation in volume of the vacuum unit limits the number of masks that can be mounted and it is thus difficult to form an extremely large number of pixels with finely varied ratios of components. For this reason, where an extremely large number of pixels with finely varied ratios of components must be formed, the prior art must have relied on a technique as mentioned below as regards a binary system.
FIG. 23 diagrammatically shows a conventional method of making a thin film that is binary phase diagrammatic. As shown at (a) of the Figure, there are used a first mask 1 disposed perpendicular to a flow of vapor of material A or B and having an opening, a second mask 2 in the form of a masking shield movable in a scanning manner parallel to the first mask 1 and a substrate disposed across the opening of the first mask 1. In operation, as shown in (b) the mask 2 is moved in the direction of x while material A is being vaporized. Since moving the mask 2 at a constant speed in the direction of x causes material A vapor-deposited on a region of the substrate to become thicker in proportion to the time in which it is exposed to the flow of vapor of material A, there is obtained a thickness distribution of material A that increases at a given gradient in the direction of movement, namely in the direction of x. Thereafter, if as shown at (c) the material for vapor deposition is replaced with material B and the mask 2 is moved in a scanning manner from the position opposite to that shown in FIG. 23(b) and in the direction of −x, there is then obtained a thickness distribution of material B that increases at a given gradient in the direction of movement, namely in the direction of −x. As shown at the right hand side of (c), there is thus obtained a combined thickness distribution of materials A and B made up of a film of material A whose thickness varies continuously from 0 to 100% and a film of material B whose thickness varies continuously from 100 to 0% in the direction of x. The materials A and B vapor-deposited are each extremely thin in film thickness and when coming into contact with each other are immediately mixed together into a stable state of binary material that is determined by the substrate temperature. Repeating the vapor deposition of A followed by the vapor deposition of B allows forming a thin film that is binary phase diagrammatic of a desired thickness.
This method permits obtaining a binary phase diagramming thin film in which its ratio of components continuously varies or is varied finely in the direction of x and also obtaining reliable data since the thin film can be made in an extremely short period of time. This method in a sense can be said to be a method of forming by uniaxial movement of a single mask having an opening relative to a substrate. Further, it can be said to be a method of forming by uniaxial movement of one side of the opening in the mask, namely uniaxial movement of a edge of the mask relative to the substrate. It will be apparent that this method can be expanded to form a ternary phase diagramming thin film by moving a mask edge triaxially or along three axes mutually intersecting at an angle of 120 degrees.
It is extremely difficult, however, to include such a triaxially operating masking mechanism that must necessarily become considerably large in volume in an apparatus of this type used for material exploration, e.g., in a combinatorial film forming apparatus that makes it essential to be equipped with an ablation laser light lead-in unit, a target switching unit, a substrate heating laser unit and a reflection high-energy electron diffraction unit in a vacuum chamber. This can be done, of course, by making the vacuum chamber in volume to an extent necessary to accommodate them, but so enlarging it requires augmenting the capacity of its vacuum pumping system correspondingly, thus making the apparatus highly costly.

Masking mechanism for film forming apparatus


Alkyl aromatic compounds are prepared by alkylating an alkylatable aromatic compound with a paraffin alkylating agent under alkylation reaction conditions in the presence of catalyst comprising synthetic porous crystalline material characterized by an X-ray diffraction pattern including interplanar d-spacings at 12.36.+-.0.4, 11.03.+-.0.2, 8.83.+-.0.14, 6.18.+-.0.12, 6.00.+-.0.10, 4.06.+-.0.07, 3.91.+-.0.07, and 3.42.+-.0.06 Angstroms.

This invention relates to a process for preparing alkyl aromatic compounds by alkylating an aromatic compound with a paraffin alkylating agent employing an alkylation catalyst comprising synthetic porous crystalline material from a particular class of materials characterized by an X-ray powder diffraction pattern including interplanar d-spacings at 12.36.+-.0.4, 11.03.+-.0.2, 8.83.+-.0.14, 6.18.+-.0.12, 6.00.+-.0.10, 4.06.+-.0.07, 3.91.+-.0.07, and 3.42.+-.0.06 Angstroms.
In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in federal and state mandated changes aimed at altering the composition of liquid fuels. Part of this is a reduction in the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) for gasoline. In order to meet these RVP specifications, refiners will be forced to remove light paraffins, primarily linear butane and pentane, from the gasoline pool. There are a limited number of process technologies which can be utilized to upgrade these light paraffins. Conventional dehydrogenation routes to produce olefins are extremely capital intensive, cracking processes yield lower molecular weight hydrocarbons as by-products, and M2-Forming produces aromatics whose content in the gasoline pool is being reduced. Isomerization upgrades the octane value of paraffins, but this is accompanied by a corresponding debit, i.e., increase, in RVP number.
The primary use of isoparaffins in a refinery would be in the isoparaffin-olefin alkylation process. However, the volume of paraffins that will be required to be backed out of the gasoline pool will greatly exceed the volume that can be handled without large expansions of alkylation units. Clearly there is a need to develop alternative technologies for upgrading light paraffins.
Zeolitic materials, both natural and synthetic, have been demonstrated in the past to have catalytic properties for various types of hydrocarbon conversion. Certain zeolitic materials are ordered, porous crystalline aluminosilicates having a definite crystalline structure as determined by X-ray diffraction, within which there are a large number of smaller cavities which may be interconnected by a number of still smaller channels or pores. These cavities and pores are uniform in size within a specific zeolitic material. Since the dimensions of these pores are such as to accept for adsorption molecules of certain dimensions while rejecting those of larger dimensions, these materials have come to be known as "molecular sieves" and are utilized in a variety of ways to take advantage of these properties. Such molecular sieves, both natural and synthetic, include a wide variety of positive ion-containing crystalline silicates. These silicates can be described as a rigid three-dimensional framework of SiO.sub.4 and Periodic Table Group IIIA element oxide, e.g., AlO.sub.4, in which the tetrahedra are cross-linked by the sharing of oxygen atoms whereby the ratio of the total Group IIIA element, e.g., aluminum, and silicon atoms to oxygen atoms is 1:2. The electrovalence of the tetrahedra containing the Group IIIA element, e.g., aluminum, is balanced by the inclusion in the crystal of a cation, e.g., an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal cation. This can be expressed wherein the ratio of the Group IIIA element, e.g., aluminum, to the number of various cations, such as Ca/2, Sr/2, Na, K or Li, is equal to unity. One type of cation may be exchanged either entirely or partially with another type of cation utilizing ion exchange techniques in a conventional manner. By means of such cation exchange, it has been possible to vary the properties of a given silicate by suitable selection of the cation. The spaces between the tetrahedra are occupied by molecules of water prior to dehydration.
Prior art techniques have resulted in the formation of a great variety of synthetic zeolites. Many of these zeolites have come to be designated by letter or other convenient symbols, as illustrated by zeolite Z (U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,243); zeolite X (U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,244); zeolite Y (U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,007); zeolite ZK-5 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,195);zeolite ZK-4 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,752); zeolite ZSM-5 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,886); zeolite ZSM-11 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,979); zeolite ZSM-12 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,449); zeolite ZSM-20 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,983); zeolite ZSM-35 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,245); and zeolite ZSM-23 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,842), merely to name a few.
The SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio of a given zeolite is often variable. For example, zeolite X can be synthesized with SiO.sub.2 /Al1.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratios of from 2 to 3; zeolite Y, from 3 to about 6. In some zeolites, the upper limit of the SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio is unbounded. ZSM-5 is one such example wherein the SiO.sub.2 /Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio is at least 5 and up to the limits of present analytical measurement techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,871 (Re. 29,948) discloses a porous crystalline silicate made from a reaction mixture containing no deliberately added alumina in the recipe and exhibiting the X-ray diffraction pattern characteristic of ZSM-5. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,061,724, 4,073,865 and 4,104,294 describe crystalline silicates of varying alumina and metal content.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,409 refers to a composition of matter named PSH-3 and its synthesis from a reaction mixture containing hexamethyleneimine. A composition of matter appearing to be identical to the PSH-3 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,409, but with additional structural components, is taught in European Patent Application 293,032. Hexamethyleneimine is also used for synthesis of MCM-22 in U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,325; MCM-35 in U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,663; and a ZSM-12 material in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,141. A composition of matter referred to as zeolite SSZ-25 is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,667 and European Patent Application 231,860, said zeolite being synthesized from a reaction mixture containing an adamantane quaternary ammonium ion.
The alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with an olefin in the presence of a zeolite having uniform pore openings of from about 6 to about 15 Angstrom units is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,607. U.S. Pat. No. 3,251,897 describes the alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons in the presence of X- or Y-type zeolites, specifically such zeolites wherein the cation is a rare earth metal species and/or hydrogen. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,751,504 and 3,751,506 describe the vapor phase alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with olefins, e.g., benzene with ethylene, in the presence of catalyst comprising, for example, ZSM-5.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,631,120 and 3,641,177, describe a liquid phase process for the alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with olefins in the presence of certain zeolites.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,301,316 and 4,301,317 disclose the use of such zeolites as ZSM-4, ZSM-20, ZSM-38, mazzite, Linde Type L and zeolite Beta to catalyze the alkylation of benzene with relatively long chain olefins to produce long chain alkylbenzenes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,962,256; 4,992,606; 4,954,663; 5,001,295; and 5,043,501, each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, teach alkylation of aromatic compounds with various alkylating agents over catalyst comprising a particular crystalline material, such as PSH-3 or MCM-22. U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,256 describes preparing long chain alkylaromatic compounds by alkylating an aromatic compound with a long chain alkylating agent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,606 describes preparing short chain alkylaromatics by alkylating an aromatic compound with a short chain alkylating agent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,663 teaches alkylation of phenols, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,295 teaches alkylation of naphthalene. U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,501 describes preparation of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene. The alkylating agents taught for use in these patents are olefins such as ethylene, propylene, the butenes, and the pentenes; alcohols (inclusive of monoalcohols, dialcohols, trialcohols, etc.) such as methanol, ethanol, the propanols, the butanols, and the pentanols; aldehydes such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, butyraldehyde, and n-valeraldehyde; and alkyl halides such as methyl chloride, ethyl chloride, the propyl chlorides, the butyl chlorides, and the pentyl chlorides, and so forth.


A system includes a private communications network to provide content to a user using a first, base amount of bandwidth, a policy server, coupled to the network, for managing services provided to a user of the communications network and a data center, coupled to the network, for providing online storage to the user by the communications network, wherein the first, base bandwidth of the communication network is increased to a second, increased bandwidth for a data upload made by the user. The use of a private network addresses the security and efficiency issues of transmitting data over a public network and increased bandwidth enables data transmission between a user and a data center to be completed in a timely manner.

Recently, there has been increased pressure to protect, store, and efficiently share data. This increased pressure has facilitated the growth of the storage-as-a-service market. Key players in this technological area are known as storage service providers (SSPs). Analysts predict that the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of online backup services will increase by dramatically in the coming years. As small-to-medium businesses anticipate the need for storage capacity to grow annually, the cost for such businesses to procure, power, and manage their own "data warehouses" becomes prohibitive.
In the hours following any catastrophic network failure of any scale, every business no matter the size could see the benefit of a remote, geographically diverse data backup, storage and restoration service. Particularly vulnerable is the small-to-medium businesses space whose managers may not be fully aware of the risk factors, have the technical expertise, time, or budget to implement their own solution.
Moreover, as the amount of digital data generated annually continues to climb, consumption of external disk capacity used for traditional business data, replicated data, and fixed content combined is expected to expand rapidly. Investments in new technology are focused on gaining efficiencies. However, for the small business the increasing amount of storage required can quickly render brand new hardware at the server and the end-user PC level obsolete. Scalable, and with the ability to increase capacity as the customer's business needs grow, online storage would allows the customer to get more out of their hardware technology investment. The customer would no longer has to contract with an information technology (IT) consultant, procure replacement drives or undergo risky data migrations when the storage space on their hardware reaches capacity.
In the fixed content category alone, small businesses can save many thousands annually by making their product catalogs, brochures, digital photographs, and customer deliverables available for secure download to anyone they grant access. For the small business, saving the ever increasing cost of paper, printing, postage, and overnight couriers makes them more competitive in the marketplace, contributes directly to their bottom line, and for the small business it can make the difference between seeing red and black.
Looking closer at the traditional methods of distribution, beside cost savings an added benefit would be that each time they share these items via their secure server space versus traditional methods the customer would be doing their part in becoming more environmentally responsible. This environmentally responsible approach would be especially appealing to the communities and a great number of customers they serve as the customer would be reducing the "carbon footprint" of their products. The carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are produced and released into the atmosphere when the goods are made, shipped and stored, and then used by consumers.

In-network online storage with increased session bandwidth


The invention is a method for displaying otherwise unseen objects and other data using augmented reality (the mixing of real view with computer generated imagery). The method uses a motorized camera mount that can report the position of a camera on that mount back to a computer. With knowledge of where the camera is looking, and the size of its field of view, the computer can precisely overlay computer-generated imagery onto the video image produced by the camera. The method may be used to present to a user such items as existing weather conditions, hazards, or other data, and presents this information to the user by combining the computer generated images with the user's real environment. These images are presented in such a way as to display relevant location and properties of the object to the system user. The primary intended applications are as navigation aids for air traffic controllers and pilots in training and operations, and use with emergency first responder training and operations to view and avoid/alleviate hazardous material situations, however the system can be used to display any imagery that needs to correspond to locations in the real world.

This invention can be used any time a user needs to "see" an otherwise invisible object placed within the setting in which it would normally appear, and in this case, onto a video stream. This form of image "augmentation" is known as augmented reality (AR), and in this case is considered video-based AR since it uses a video camera, as opposed to a see-through setup (as might be done with partial mirrors). A video-based AR setup has only a few basic components, including (1) a camera with a known field of view (FOV), (2) a means to determine and adjust the position and orientation of the camera, and (3) a computer that creates computer-generated virtual objects that correspond to what the camera is seeing by using the previous two components.
Typically, one of the physically largest components is the second one, wherein a tracking system is used to determine the position and orientation of the camera. In many applications of video-based AR, the camera does not need to change location in the environment. In these scenarios, however, it is often desirable for the camera to be able to change orientation such that it can view an environment larger in scope than its field of view. In this case, it is possible for the camera to be placed on a motion platform such that the camera can be aimed by a computer system with the use of actuators (usually motors connected to a gear train). Such cameras and camera motion platforms are often referred to as "pan-tilt-zoom" systems. Such systems permit the camera to remain in a fixed location, but have variable orientation which may be controlled by an external system. This can eliminate the requirement for a large, expensive tracking system to determine the position and orientation of the camera.
Often, in these kinds of applications, it is desirable to have the camera's field of view follow a real or virtual object appearing in the scene as it moves through the environment without requiring human intervention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for automatically tracking objects in augmented reality


An alias can be used to access address book information across multiple communication applications. The alias can also be a screen name, for example, an instant messenger screen name. However, the alias can be used to access more than just instant messenger contact information; it can be used to access other information, including telephone numbers, SMS, EMS and MMS contact information as well as instant messenger contact information. Additionally, the single alias can be used to access instant messenger contact information across multiple instant messenger services. An alias can be assigned that is easy to remember; for example, it can be a shortened version of the contact's name, or a nickname.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to mobile communication devices and more particularly to managing contact information for a plurality of communication applications running on a mobile communication device.
2. Background Information
Conventional mobile communication devices, such as cellular telephones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) with communication capability, can be configured to support a variety of communication applications, or services, including, for example, voice communication services, Short-Message-Service (SMS), Enhanced Message Service (EMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and Instant Messaging (IM). Conventional mobile communication devices often include an "address book" to keep track of contact information for a plurality of contacts; however, maintaining contact information for a large number of contacts can become unwieldy, making conventional address books difficult to use.
This problem is compounded when a mobile communication device is configured to support multiple communication applications, because each contact can potential be associated with a different contact identifier for each communication application. For example, each contact can have a unique telephone number, SMS address or identifier, IM address or identifier, etc. Accordingly, conventional address books can become filled with enough information that they are difficult to navigate and use.
Conventional address books typically provide several navigation methods. For example, the user can scroll through each entry one entry at a time. Such an approach is generally manageable when the address book is small, but quickly becomes unmanageable, or at least time consuming, as the address book grows. In many cases the user can also enter a letter, for example, the first letter of a last name, to limit the number of entries that must be subsequently searched. This can still be time-consuming for long lists. A user can sometimes enter more characters to further limit the number of entries to be searched, even zeroing in on the precise entry. This can require that several characters be entered to select a contact.
A "speed dial" approach can also be used to allow quick access to entries in an address book. In such an approach, a contact is associated with a defined storage location. For example, a communication device can have perhaps 1 to 99, or more, defined storage locations for this purpose. A user can then access a contact by entering an identifier, such as a number, that identifies the associated storage location. A drawback to this approach, however, is that a typical user can only remember the storage identifier for a relatively small number of contacts. Thus, the user ends up scrolling through the speed dial locations anyway.

Systems and methods for using aliases to manage contact information in a mobile communication device


Memory devices and methods for operating such devices are described herein. A method as described herein includes applying a fixed sequence of voltage pulses across the memory cell of increasing pulse height to change the resistance state from the lower resistance state to the higher resistance state. The fixed sequence of voltage pulses cause increasing current through the phase change memory element until change to the higher resistance state occurs, and after the change the voltage pulses in the fixed sequence causing a voltage across the phase change memory element less than the threshold voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to memory devices based on phase change based memory materials, and to methods for operating such devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Phase change based memory materials, like chalcogenide based materials and similar materials, can be caused to change phase between an amorphous state and a crystalline state by application of electrical current at levels suitable for implementation in integrated circuits. The generally amorphous state is characterized by higher electrical resistivity than the generally crystalline state, which can be readily sensed to indicate data. These properties have generated interest in using programmable resistive material to form nonvolatile memory circuits, which can be read and written with random access.
In phase change memory, data is stored by causing transitions in an active region of the phase change material between amorphous and crystalline states. FIG. 1 is a distribution of the resistance of a number of memory cells comprising a phase change memory element. The memory cells are programmable to a plurality of resistance states including a high resistance reset (erased) state 102 and at least one lower resistance programmed (set) state 100. Each resistance state has a non-overlapping resistance range.
The difference between the highest resistance R1 of the lower resistance state 100 and the lowest resistance R2 of the high resistance reset state 102 defines a read margin 101 used to distinguish cells in the lower resistance state 100 from those in the high resistance state 102. The data stored in a memory cell can be determined by determining whether the memory cell has a resistance corresponding to the lower resistance state 100 or to the high resistance state 102, for example by measuring whether the resistance of the memory cell is above or below a threshold resistance value RSA 103 within the read margin 101.
The change from the high resistance state 102 to the lower resistance state 100, referred to as a set (or program) operation herein, is generally a lower current operation in which current heats the phase change material above a transition temperature to cause transition from the amorphous to the crystalline state. The change from the lower resistance state 100 to the higher resistance state 102, referred to as a reset operation herein, is generally a higher current operation, which includes a short high density pulse to melt or breakdown the crystalline structure, after which the phase change material cools quickly, quenching the phase change process and allowing at least a portion of the phase change material to stabilize in the amorphous state.
In order to reliably distinguish between the high resistance state 102 and the lower resistance state 100, and thus properly determine the data value stored in a memory cell, it is important to maintain a relatively large read margin 101. However, due to variations in materials, manufacturing processes, and the operating environment, the reset current needed to change to the higher resistance state 102 will vary among memory cells in an array. This variation in the reset current is illustrated in the example distribution curve 200 of FIG. 2 which is a distribution in the reset current needed among a number of memory cells.
Previous attempts at addressing this variation in the reset current among memory cells in an array include choosing a single, suitably high reset current IRESET 210 of FIG. 2 capable of resetting each of the memory cells in an array to the higher resistance state 102.
However, using the reset current IRESET 210 for each memory cell in an array results in the memory elements of at least some of the memory cells receiving significantly higher current levels than are necessary to cause a transition to the higher resistance state 102 and is referred to as being "over-reset". Since the phase change material undergoes a phase change as a result of heating, using unnecessarily high current levels can result in electrical and mechanical reliability problems for the memory cell. These problems include the formation of voids at the phase change material/electrode interface due to mechanical stress caused by thermal expansion and material density changes during operation.
Additionally, using significantly higher current levels than necessary can result in problems such as localized heating sufficient to induce diffusion/reaction of electrode and phase change material, and/or cause compositional changes in the phase change material within the active region, resulting in resistive switching performance degradation and possible failure of the memory cell.
It is therefore desirable to provide phase changed based memory devices and methods for operating such devices which provide the current needed to induce a phase change to the high resistance reset state while also avoiding the use of significantly higher levels of current through the phase change material than necessary.

Phase change memory program method without over-reset

International Business Machines Corporation


A vehicle warning system has an obstacle sensor for detecting approach of an obstacle to a vehicle, tactile information-generating elements for notifying a driver of the obstacle information based on information received from the obstacle sensor, and a controller for controlling the actuation of the tactile information-generating elements. The tactile information-generating elements are installed in the cushion of a driver seat, with a fore-and-aft and/or left-right arrangement. The controller controls the tactile information-generating elements based on the information from the obstacle sensor as well as information from one or more of a steering wheel-sensor, a blinker sensor, a brake sensor, and a vehicle speedometer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle warning system for exerting tactile information such as vibration or pressure on a driver when notifying the driver of an approaching obstacle or guiding the driver to a destination by connection with a car navigation system.
2. Prior Art
The conventional system for warning a driver of an approaching obstacle through detection of an obstacle is disclosed in Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 9-164858 (Patent Document 1). The system described in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a sensor for detecting the status of an object to be detected and a plurality of vibrators installed on a vehicle part in contact with a driver. These vibrators issue a warning with vibration and exert the vibration on the driver to notify contents of the warning to the driver. The selection of some vibrators to be actuated or timing of driving the vibrators is controlled according to the result of detection by the sensor.
The conventional system that uses vibration to notify approach of an obstacle including another vehicle from all directions (right/left and back/forth directions) is disclosed in Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-225877 (Patent Document 2). The system shown in Patent Document 2 contains a plurality of obstacle detecting sensors, a pair of vibrators provided on a seat cushion with a left-right arrangement, and a vibrator provided on the back seat. It is designed to actuate the corresponding vibrators out of all vibrators according to the direction of obstacle detection.


A method of imaging a moving object, including the steps of: acquiring radar data reflected by the moving object, determining a motion state of the moving object; and generating a three-dimensional representation of the moving object based on the determined motion state, is disclosed. The motion state may be a complete solution of translational and rotational motion determined based on at least one of the inertia tensor components of the moving object, or solutions of Euler's torque-free equations of motions. The three-dimensional representation may be generated by reconstructing static patterns of the moving object based on estimated initial translational and rotational conditions of the object. A system for imaging the moving object according to this method is also disclosed.

In the field of radar imaging, such as the radar imaging of objects moving through outer space, certain assumptions are often made regarding the motion state of the object. Specifically, the motion of the entire object is often modeled after the straight-line translation of a single point (usually the tip) of the object. More generally, the motion is modeled after the rotation of the object at a constant rate about an axis containing the radar line-of-sight, and for a time that is very short compared to the rotational period. These assumptions are intended to simplify estimation of the motion state of the object in order to ease, or even make possible, the calculations required in subsequent radar data image processing.
For example, in conventional Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar ("ISAR") systems, pulsed, wideband radar bursts are directed at a moving object and reflected back by "scatterers," which may be moving in various directions and speeds relative to the center of mass ("CM") of the object. When using the traditional assumption that scatterers on the object move in linear trajectories and thus have a constant radar phase history, the reflected radar data can be simply modeled as a linear function of time and frequency. The object motion is therefore relatively primitive and only estimates the velocity vector of a single point on the object at a nearly instantaneous moment in time. This is usually referred to in the prior art as "3D snapshot" imaging.
Unfortunately, 3D snapshot imaging, and other known ISAR data processing systems and methods, result in less than optimal resolution images of the object of interest that may be too coarse for a given imaging application (e.g., approximately 15 cm resolution for a radar with 1 GHz of bandwidth). The radar imaging interval must be very short to avoid "smearing" of the image over time, which often results from these conventional motion assumptions. Moreover, known radar imaging methods do not provide users with sufficient information about the true object motion, and more specifically, the rotation, of the object, which may be especially desired in some cases.
For example, in certain circumstances, the precise, combined, orbital-translational motion state, rotational motion state, and image of a projectile or satellite in exoatmospheric trajectory may be desired. In this case, the projectile may be traveling in torque-free motion (i.e., without external forces other than gravity) in an elliptical orbit about the Earth. The precise geometrical motion state (e.g., the precession frequency, spin frequency, half-cone angle, and direction of angular momentum vector) of this trajectory may be valuable for the purposes of discriminating between various types of objects moving through space, such as between randomly-tumbling objects and spin-precessing vehicles.
The systems and methods of the present disclosure solve one or more of the problems set forth above.

Systems and methods for space-time radar imaging


A guided missile with ram jet drive, with an engine occupying the airframe cross section, with two outer air intakes in the lower area of the airframe, which lead to the tail with wake shafts, with a tail plane including four separately pivotable vanes in the form of a diagonal cross. A rigid wing arrangement is provided in or in front of the center of the missile. One drive unit with linear movement is provided for each vane. Two of the drive units are arranged longitudinally offset in the longitudinal and circumferential directions of the guided missile in each wake shaft. A kinematic connection from the drive unit to the lower vane is formed by a coupling rod each with joints at both ends. A kinematic connection from the drive unit to the upper vane is formed by a pivotable double lever each and a coupling rod with ball joints at both ends.

It frequently happens in missiles with ram jet drives for aerodynamic and design reasons that the airframe cross section is not larger or is only insignificantly larger than the maximum cross section of the engine. Thus, it is usually difficult to integrate additional functional elements within the airframe in the area of the engine. If rocket engines that are independent from the outside air are used as drives, these usually have a greatly contracted nozzle throat, i.e., a greatly reduced diameter in the area between the combustion chamber and the thrust nozzle, because of the high operating pressures. Since this area usually coincides with the tail plane area of the missile, it appears logical to integrate vane boosters, linkages, vane bearings, etc., here in the airframe. The cross section of the combustion chamber is sometimes smaller than the thrust nozzle, so that additional possibilities of installation will arise. However, the trend is increasingly toward air-breathing drives for good reasons, e.g., efficiency and range. Ram jet drives are especially suitable for smaller to medium-sized missiles because of their simple, robust and inexpensive design. However, since these operate with relatively low operating pressures, they require relatively large flow cross sections, and the nozzle throat is contracted only slightly. Thus, this type of engine unfortunately leads to extremely crowded installation conditions for the vane kinematics. The airframe contour is frequently also subject to interface requirements on the part of the firing or carrier devices, the carrier airplane itself, etc., especially in the case of the replacement of existing missiles with improved versions, so that even locally limited expansions of the cross section are frequently impossible.
Missiles have been known in which air intakes placed on the airframe contour on the outside are extended in the form of wake shafts to the tail of the missile primarily for fluidic reasons. If not used for other purposes, these wake shafts may be used for the installation of elements of the vane motor.


Provided herein are methods and kits for making a targeted therapeutic for treating a disease or condition. The therapeutic agents can be targeted to patient-specific disease markers. In one of these methods, the method includes obtaining a biological sample from a patient having the disease or condition, or who is at risk for developing the disease or condition. In this particular method, the sample includes a population of diseased cells, screening a library comprising proteins linked to their cognate mRNAs to identify mRNA-protein pairs that bind to the diseased cells, isolating one or more proteins from the identified mRNA-protein pairs, and conjugating the isolated protein(s) to a therapeutic agent. Some of the methods further include preparing a library with proteins linked to their cognate mRNAs. In certain of these methods, the preparation of the library includes providing at least two candidate mRNA molecules in which each of the mRNA molecules includes a cross-linker, translating at least two of the candidate mRNA molecules to generate at least one translated protein, and linking at least one of the candidate mRNA molecules to its corresponding translated protein via the cross-linker to form at least one cognate pair.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for making therapeutics tailored to individual patients or sub-populations of patients, as well as methods of using such therapeutics to treat malignancies, pathogenic infections, and other conditions, and to reduce or prevent transplant rejection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many malignant cells display epitopes that are specific not only to the type of malignancy but also to the individual patient. In some aspects, the present invention is directed to therapeutics that can be targeted to patient-specific epitopes, such as those displayed on malignant lymphocytes.
Lymphocytes are critical to the immune system of vertebrates. Lymphocytes are produced in the thymus, spleen and bone marrow (adult) and represent about 30% of the total white blood cells present in the circulatory system of humans (adult). There are two major sub-populations of lymphocytes: T cells and B cells. T cells are responsible for cell-mediated immunity, while B cells are responsible for antibody production (humoral immunity). In a typical immune response, T cells are activated when the T cell receptor binds to fragments of an antigen that are bound to major histocompatibility complex ("MHC") glycoproteins on the surface of an antigen presenting cell; such activation causes release of biological mediators ("interleukins") which, in essence, stimulate B cells to differentiate and produce antibody ("immunoglobulins") against the antigen.
The etiology of hematological cancers such as lymphomas, leukemias and multiple myelomas varies or is unknown. Suspected causes range from viral and chemical exposure to familial propensities. A common denominator in these cancers however, is that they all begin with a malignantly transformed B-cell or T-cell which divides to form a clone of cells that express the same Fab idiotype on the immunoglobulin proteins they express on their surface. One of the difficulties in treating these cancers is that each cancer expresses a unique idiotype. Developing a therapeutic treatment that effectively and selectively treats all possible idiotypes has therefore been elusive.
Conventional treatments for hematological cancers typically involve procedures that destroy all blood producing cells in the bone marrow, including the malignant clone, followed by bone marrow replacement with stem cells isolated from the patient or bone marrow from a matched donor to reconstruct the blood producing system. These treatments are highly invasive and marginally curative. One approach involves treatment with monoclonal antibody vaccines that recognize cell surface proteins utilized as "markers" for identification. Therapeutics adopting this approach include Compath-H (Alemtuzumab), HLL2 (Epartuzumab), Hu1D10, and Rituximab, (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,043). However, a serious limitation with these monoclonal antibody based therapeutics is that the targeted cell surface antigens are often found on both normal as well as malignant cells. In addition, because of the difficulties in producing human monoclonal antibodies, monoclonal antibody vaccines typically utilize "Chimeric" antibodies, i.e., antibodies which comprise portions from two or more different species (e.g., mouse and human). Repeated injections of such foreign antibodies can lead to the induction of immune responses leading to harmful hypersensitivity reactions. For murine-based monoclonal antibodies, this is often referred to as a Human Anti-Mouse Antibody response ("HAMA" response). Patients may also develop a Human Anti-Chimeric Antibody response ("HACA" response). HAMA and HACA can attack "foreign" antibodies so that they are, in effect, neutralized before they reach their target site(s). A further drawback to monoclonal antibody vaccines is the time and expense required to produce monoclonal antibodies. This is particularly problematic considering that targeted epitopes, such as CD20, CD19, CD52w, and anti-class II HLA can readily mutate to form new tumors that are resistant to previous therapeutics (see e.g., Clinical Cancer Research, 5:611-615, 1999). Thus, there is a need in the art for effective, low cost therapeutics for treating malignancies by selectively targeting an individual's cancerous cells over benign cells.
Like malignant cells, the cells of transplanted tissues and organs display cell-surface epitopes that are differentially expressed in transplanted cells relative to native cells. In some aspects, the present invention is directed to therapeutics that can be targeted to the cells of transplanted tissues or organs by recognition of such variable epitopes. Transplant rejection is caused by an immune response to alloantigens on the transplanted cells, which are proteins specific for an individual patient (including the donor), and which are thus perceived as foreign by the recipient. The most common alloantigens involved in transplant rejections are MHC (major histocompatibility complex) molecules, which are expressed on the surface of transplanted cells and are highly polymorphic among individuals. Foreign MHC molecules are recognized by the recipient's immune system, causing an immune response that leads to rejection of the transplant.
One pathway through which the immune system rejects transplanted tissues is complement-mediated immunity, which can be activated by binding of C1 (a first component of complement) to an immune complex consisting of an MHC antigen on a transplanted cell and the recipient's natural antibody against the MHC antigen. Activation of the pathway results in the assembly of enzymes called C3 convertases, which cleave the complement component C3 to form C3a and C3b. Some of the C3b molecules then bind to the C3 convertases to cleave C5 to C5a and C5b. The biological activities of the complement system, in turn, are derived from the cleavage products of C3 and C5. Another subcomponent of the complement system, C1q, is involved in the initial steps of complement activation. To date, methods for treating transplant rejection by modulating complement-mediated immunity have suffered from side effects associated with non-selectivity, due, for example, to the suppression of all complement-mediated immune responses by a therapeutic agent, which eliminates an important component of the immune system's ability to protect against foreign molecules.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for effective, low cost therapeutics for reducing or preventing transplant rejection by selectively inhibiting the body's immune response against transplanted cells while retaining protection against foreign pathogens, and/or by selectively destroying particular cell types that stimulate a larger immune response.

Method for making targeted therapeutic agents


Disclosed are systems and methods for scoring and separating a glass sheet along a curved trajectory using a laser and optics. The system includes a laser that generates a laser beam, a focusing lens, and a conical optical component, such as a conical lens or a reflective conical mirror. The laser directs the laser beam through the focusing lens and conical lens to create a curved score line that is projected onto a glass sheet to create a curved score line, along which the glass sheet can be separated. Optionally, the laser directs the laser beam through the focusing lens towards a conical mirror, off of which the laser beam is reflected toward the glass sheet to create a curved score line.

In the past, several different methods and techniques have been used to cut glass sheets. The most widely used method is mechanical scoring using a wheel made of a hard material and breaking the glass along the score line. The mechanical scribing and breaking process generates debris that collects on the glass surface and requires thorough cleaning. Therefore, glass technology areas that require high glass quality, such as the LCD industry, cannot reliably use mechanical scribing techniques to form glass sheets.
Other widely used methods include the use of lasers to score and/or separate glass sheets. In one technique, a laser beam is used to score the glass; the glass is then separated by mechanical separation techniques. When the laser beam is moved across the glass sheet, it creates a temperature gradient on the surface of the glass sheet, which is enhanced by a coolant (such as a gas or liquid) that follows the laser beam at some distance. Specifically the heating of the glass sheet by the laser and the rapid cooling of the glass sheet by the coolant creates tensile stresses in the glass sheet. The tensile stresses create a crack (or score vent) in the glass surface. In this manner, a score line is created along the glass sheet. The glass sheet can then be separated into two smaller sheets by separating the glass sheet along the score line. Yet another technique uses a first laser beam to score the glass. A second laser beam of a different configuration is used to accomplish laser separation.
Conventional techniques generally employ an elongated laser beam to provide enhanced scoring speed. Due to the elongation of the laser beam that is needed to achieve higher scoring speeds, these techniques are limited to linear scoring trajectories.
Thus, there is a need in the art for systems and methods to cut glass sheets along curved trajectories.


An apparatus for locating a fault within an optical fiber is disclosed. The apparatus, which can be formed as a part of a fiber-optic transmitter or as a stand-alone instrument, utilizes a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) to generate a test pulse of light which is coupled into an optical fiber under test. The VCSEL is subsequently reconfigured by changing a bias voltage thereto and is used as a resonant-cavity photodetector (RCPD) to detect a portion of the test light pulse which is reflected or scattered from any fault within the optical fiber. A time interval Δt between an instant in time when the test light pulse is generated and the time the reflected or scattered portion is detected can then be used to determine the location of the fault within the optical fiber.

In optical fiber communications there is a need to ascertain the location of any faults within an optical fiber so that these faults can be repaired, if needed. Currently, this must be done by disconnecting the optical fiber from a transmitter/receiver so that the optical fiber can be diagnosed using a separate testing apparatus. Optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) is commonly used to locate any faults (e.g. fiber breaks) in today's fiber-optic networks. The use of a separate testing apparatus to locate faults within an optical fiber is time consuming and costly and requires a trained operator.
The present invention provides an advance over the art of optical fiber fault location techniques and optical fiber communications by providing an optical fault location apparatus which can be built into a fiber-optic transmitter so that there is no need for a separate testing apparatus for locating any faults within an optical fiber. According to the present invention, a single vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) can be used as an optical transmitter to transmit information through an optical fiber, and, when needed, can be quickly and simply converted into an in-situ fault location apparatus to locate any faults within the optical fiber. Then, just as quickly, can be reconverted to transmit additional information through the optical fiber. This dual functionality can allow for automation of the fault location process, and can reduce the cost and time required for fault detection in fiber-optic networks.
Additionally, the present invention can be used to form a stand-alone optical fault location apparatus that is simpler in construction than present-day devices which utilize a separate laser and photodetector.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become evident to those skilled in the art.

VCSEL fault location apparatus and method


An omni-directional, octagonal shaped, camera skate dolly that includes a platform having a generally planar upper surface, a lower surface and a plurality of side surfaces, and a plurality of wheel assemblies attached to the lower surface of the platform, wherein each of the wheel assemblies includes a swivel joint and a wheel. A central hole with a bar extending therethrough is formed in the upper surface, along with a plurality of tripod leg recesses and a pair of hand-hold holes. A detachable push handle assembly can be attached to the platform for movement manipulation. An outrigger assembly having a threaded post can be attached to the platform to fix its position on the ground. A fixed wheel assembly is attachable to the platform with wheels that guide the movement of the platform in a linear manner.

In the world of motion picture and video production, there are many ways to move the camera in an artistic way. One of these ways is to use a camera dolly. Camera dollies come in all shapes and sizes. In film production there are several well known state-of-the-art dollies: the J.L.Fisher dollies (Burbank, Calif.), the Chapman Super Peewee dolly (North Hollywood, Calif.), and the Panther dolly (Munich, Germany). These dollies are massive four-wheel units which are designed to carry a mounted camera (using a fluid or geared head), while also accommodating a camera operator and an assistant cameraman. All these dollies can raise and lower the camera as well. The dolly is operated or steered by an additional person (the dolly grip). There is another state-of-the-art device that is designed to move the camera: the Steadicam. A camera operator wears a vest made of cloth and aluminum, where a spring-loaded arm is attached to the vest at one end and a camera and sled are attached to the other end, allowing the camera to "float." It takes years to master the Steadicam. All of these devices are costly, bulky and have a large footprint.
Most conventional dollies have four wheels with some kind of steering mechanism. In order to change direction, the user must steer the dolly much like a car. This type of steering introduces an arc as the dolly tracks over the ground, which does not allow for free, omni-directional movement. Conventional dollies also require a dolly grip just to operate the dolly itself. In order to make a tracking move with a conventional dolly, the camera operator sits on the dolly and communicates with the dolly grip where he wants the dolly to go. This communication goes on before, or sometimes during a shot. If adjustments are necessary during the shot, the camera operator may not always be able to relate this new information to the dolly grip in time to make those adjustments.
Currently, the most popular way to move a camera without a dolly is simply to put the camera on the operator's shoulder and walk. This method is know as "hand-held." One draw back to the hand-held method is that it is difficult to shoot a low angle shot while walking or running. The lens height is the shoulder height of the camera operator. If he/she wants to move while shooting, he/she walks or runs. If the operator wants to shoot a low angle shot he/she sits down. If the operator wants to shoot a low angle tracking shot, the camera becomes too cumbersome. Crouching down with a 20 lb camera on your shoulder while walking or running can be quite difficult. The camera shakes far more than is desirable in a normal hand-held shot rendering it unusable.
Conventional dollies are not designed for hand-held shots. Their primary function is to mount a camera to the dolly using a fluid head or a geared head. This is why they are so large and heavy and require a dolly grip to operate. What is missing is a means of achieving a low angle hand-held shot without the expense of a Steadicam, or the use of a bulky dolly.


Aspects of the present disclosure describe receiving, from at least one cell of a zone of multiple cells, a zone-specific signal related to the zone of multiple cells, wherein the zone of multiple cells operate using synchronized timing, acquiring, based on the zone-specific signal, a timing synchronization with a cell of the zone of multiple cells, and communicating with the cell based on the timing synchronization.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to wireless communication systems for indicating and discovering physical cell identifiers.
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems.
These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. For example, a fifth generation (5G) wireless communications technology (which can be referred to as 5G new radio (5G NR)) is envisaged to expand and support diverse usage scenarios and applications with respect to current mobile network generations. In an aspect, 5G communications technology can include: enhanced mobile broadband addressing human-centric use cases for access to multimedia content, services and data; ultra-reliable-low latency communications (URLLC) with certain specifications for latency and reliability; and massive machine type communications, which can allow a very large number of connected devices and transmission of a relatively low volume of non-delay-sensitive information. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, however, further improvements in 5G communications technology and beyond may be desired.
For example, for 5G communications technology and beyond, current network-centric media access control (MAC) layer technologies may not provide a desired level of resource utilization and/or efficiency because of the various associated signal broadcasts. Further, these broadcasts consume power and may or may not be received or used by some or all of a cell's UEs. Additionally, a wireless communication system having a network-centric MAC layer also places relatively more of the network processing on user equipment (UE) (e.g., a UE identifies a first serving cell upon initially accessing the network, and then identifies and monitors handover targets (other serving cells) as part of its mobility management).
Thus, improvements in wireless communication systems may be desired.

Discovering physical cell identifiers in wireless communications


Incident support routing is described. The Internet is utilized to distribute the received customer support calls among a plurality of customer support agents who may be remotely located and geographically distributed. Voice data to voice-over-IP (VOIP) data packet conversion and VOIP to voice conversion may be utilized to facilitate a customer support call between a customer's telephone and a customer support agent's computer system.

A large percentage of the cost associated with establishing a call-in customer support service is the cost of the infrastructure, which may include buildings, networks, phone switches, computers, utilities, and so on. To reduce the costs, call centers are frequently implemented in low-cost labor markets (LCLMs), which are typically found in developing countries. While the labor costs may be less than those associated with a domestic call center, other costs may be unpredictable due to, for example, government trade regulations, currency fluctuations, customer privacy and security issues, developing country instability, and so on. Additionally, there is frequently a tangible negative customer impact due to language and cultural barriers between the customer and a foreign customer support agent. Reducing the costs associated with establishing a call center may increase the ability to provide customer support via domestic customer support agents.


This invention provides chromaticity compensation for color filters having nematic liquid crystal tuning elements, as well as fast-transition tuning units for use in combination with chromaticity compensation. The filters of this invention have two stages formed by three linear polarizers in series, as least two of which are color polarizers. Within each stage is a tuning unit comprising a nematic liquid crystal cell switchable between a first state wherein the polarization of light is orthogonally transformed and a second state wherein the polarization is unchanged. In the first state the liquid crystal cell chromaticity introduces significant distortion to the filter stage, but in the second state it does not. Chromaticity compensation is achieved in this invention by optimizing the use of the undistorted normal states and by judicious choice of the design wavelengths of the liquid crystal cells. This invention further provides compound tuning units, for use in the chromaticity compensating filter, that allow the use of fast unenergized-to-energized transitions in switching between three primary colors. A first embodiment of the compound tuning unit uses a half-wave bias retarder oriented at .+-.45.degree. in combination with the nematic liquid crystal cell. A second embodiment of the compound tuning unit uses two nematic liquid crystal cells. A third embodiment of the compound tuning unit uses a half-wave bias retarder oriented at about .+-.67.degree. or .+-.23.degree. in combination with the nematic liquid crystal cell.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to color filters having nematic liquid crystal cells, and to compensating for the chromaticity of the nematic cells and utilizing fast transitions of the nematic cells in switching the color filters.
2. Background of the Invention
Switched-polarizer-filters (SPFs) have one or more stages, each stage consisting of a color polarizer and a two state polarization switch. The color polarizer provides different transmission spectra along orthogonal polarization axes, and the polarization switch is a switchable analyzer which selects which of the two polarizations is transmitted. The SPF is intrinsically binary tunable, such that each filter stage permits switching between two colors. Stages are cascaded in order to provide additional output colors.
Color polarizers used in SPFs are generally dye-type pleochroic color polarizing filters (for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,396 to Bos, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,514 to Plummer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,818 to Vatne and U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,378 to Handschy). Dye-type pleochroic color polarizers are films that function as linear polarizers in specific wavelength bands. They are formed by doping a polymer with long-chain pleochroic dyes. Incident white light polarized along one axis is fully transmitted, but is selectively absorbed along the orthogonal axis. For instance, a cyan color polarizer functions as a linear polarizer by absorbing the red along one axis. A color polarizer that passes a primary color (either additive or subtractive) along each axis can be formed as a composite consisting of two films with crossed axes. Colors are typically selected using crossed complementary color (eg. red/cyan) polarizer films coupled with a switchable polarizer. A full color device can comprise five polarizing films (one neutral), and two switching means.
Recently, polarizer-retarder-stack (PRS) color polarizers have been described (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/447,522, filed May 23, 1995, and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,384, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety). The PRS comprises a linear polarizer in combination with a stack of retarders. The number of retarders in the stack and the retardances and orientations of the retarders are selected such that an additive primary spectrum is transmitted along a first polarization axis and the complementary subtractive primary spectrum is transmitted along the orthogonal polarization axis.
The polarization switch in a SPF can be a liquid crystal (LC) cell in combination with a static polarization analyzer. The switch optimally provides neutral polarization switching. Unfortunately, the performance of these filters is significantly degraded by the chromatic nature of the liquid crystal active element. In general, liquid crystal cells accurately switch between orthogonal polarizations in only one spectral region. Outside of this region the filters are subject to leakage of the blocked bands and reduced throughput of the pass-band.
Smectic liquid crystal polarization switches generally comprise a linear polarizer and a liquid crystal half-wave retarder with fixed retardance and rotatable orientation. Rotating the optic axis of the liquid crystal cell between 0.degree. and 45.degree. with respect to the polarizer switches the polarization between two orthogonal axes. Achromatic smectic liquid crystal polarization switches have recently been described (U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 08/419,593, filed Apr. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,490, and Ser. No. 08/549,963, filed Oct. 30, 1995), and can be used to provide high quality color filters.
Nematic liquid crystal polarizations switches generally comprise a linear polarizer and a nematic liquid crystal cell with fixed orientation and variable retardance. The achromatic polarization switches developed for smectic liquid crystal cells cannot be employed with nematics, leaving nematic liquid crystal color filters beset with leakage and low throughput.
A second drawback to nematic liquid crystal filters is their slow switching speed. Nematic liquid crystal cell typically take a few hundred microseconds to realign in response to an applied electric field and much longer, several milliseconds to reset to the unenergized state. Because of the slow response time, the rate at which the filter can sequence through the three primary colors is limited, which in turn limits the rate at which subframes can be acquired or displayed for camera or display applications.

Chromaticity compensating liquid crystal filter


A matrix pin print head with a print pin guide casing (7) and a print pin drive casing (9) comprises an electromagnetic drive (12). The electromagnetic drive (12) comprises a magnet yoke (13) with an electromagnetic coil (14) disposed on a magnet yoke arm (13a) and with an armature (15). The armature (15) can be pivoted based on a pin bearing (16) and rests in a rearward position against a stop (18) by means of a spring (17). An operating air gap (20) is formed between the armature (15) and a magnet yoke arm front face (19). A recess (22) is disposed in the middle of the magnet yoke thickness (21) to furnish the preconditions for an assembly line production exhibiting the corresponding precision and a correspondingly bundled magnetic flux. A pin driving arm (15a) of the armature is pivotably supported in the recess (22) by way of the hinge pin (23), wherein the hinge pin axis (23a) runs laterally to the region of the magnet yoke arm center (24).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a matrix pin print head, in particular a serial matrix pin print head, which is disposed at a pin stroke distance opposite to a substrate support, where an imprint-receiving substrate rests on the substrate support, and where an ink ribbon is guided in front of the imprint-receiving substrate. The pin print head comprises a print-pin guide casing and a print-pin drive casing, where an electromagnetic drive is disposed in the print-pin drive casing and is coordinated to each print pin or impact pin. The electromagnetic drive comprises a magnet yoke. An electromagnetic coil is disposed at one magnet yoke arm of the magnet yoke. The electromagnetic drive further comprises an armature, which can be pivoted based on a pin bearing and which can rest in a rearward position against a stop based on a spring. An operating air gap is formed between the armature and a front face of the magnet yoke arm.
The invention further relates to a method for the production of an electromagnetic drive for matrix print heads, in particular for serial matrix pin print heads, where the electromagnetic drive comprises in each case a magnet yoke, an electromagnetic coil disposed on one yoke arm of the magnet yoke, and an armature which is pivotable based on a pin bearing.
2. Brief Description of i& Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
In order to generate a high number per unit of time of print dots with the ends of the print pins or impact pins, the armatures of such matrix print heads can be attracted to be positioned in a rapid sequence against the pole faces of the magnet yokes and can be released back into a rest position. The frequency of such matrix print heads has reached by now about 2000 Hz and it is desired to further increase this frequency to at least 3000 Hz for each print element. Because of the high frequencies, such matrix print heads are employed in printers for a high data output furnished by computers.
A matrix print head is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,004, which exhibits the features of the matrix print head recited above. It is further known to attach an impact pin to a spring arm, which allows to obtain a particular kinematic situation in contrast to the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,004. This latter construction, where the impact pin is attached to the spring arm, requires however a very broad armature and is consequently not suitable for the structure of an 18-pin or 24-pin print head. Moreover, the known print head is disadvantageous for a production which requires a reliance on necessary precision and uniformity.

Matrix print head, in particular serial matrix pin print head