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Diesel exhaust after treatment involves the use of a selective catalyst reducer (SCR) and a diesel particulate filter (DPF) along with injection of urea-water solution and diesel fuel into the exhaust gas. The performance, durability and cost of these devices depend strongly on the evaporation and mixing of the injected fluid into the exhaust gas. The injected fluid can be a liquid, gas or a mix of both phases. Therefore, mixers are placed in the exhaust flow to maximize evaporation (if a liquid is being injected) and mixing of the injected fluid (both liquid and vapor phases) with the exhaust gas. However, certain mixers and mixing configurations, in use presently, are insufficient in the vaporization and mixing of the injected fluid, are complex in design and therefore difficult to manufacture and package, costly and/or generate unacceptable backpressure within the exhaust flow, e.g., the backpressure is the additional pressure drop in the exhaust system due to the introduction of the mixing device(s) and its negative consequences for engine performance such as power and fuel economy.
In view of the foregoing, an improved fluid mixer and evaporator having a relatively simple design, is easy to manufacture, has high durability and/or is low in cost while still maintaining relatively low or acceptable back pressure within the exhaust system is desired. | {
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The present invention relates to a dialog system, a dialog system execution method and a computer memory product which permits smooth communication of information between a computer and a user.
With the recent rapid improvement in the processing ability of computers and the popularization of communication environments such as the Internet, the users have increasing opportunities to acquire information through computers, and the computers have increasing opportunities to notify the users of information. Hence, it is urgent to develop dialog interfaces that allow not only engineers having a thorough knowledge of computers but also ordinary home users who are not necessarily familiar with computers to receive various information services while communicating with a computer.
A dialog system for providing various information services sets a dialog procedure corresponding to a specific service. Setting a dialog procedure for each individual service requires the developer of the dialog system to perform complicated work, and consequently the development cost of the dialog system increases. Nowadays, therefore, many dialog systems having a general-purpose dialog scenario applicable to a large number of services have been developed.
For example, user's input information inputted from an input unit and output information (screen or voice information) outputted to an output unit, and the system's processing procedure for the user's input information are written in a dialog scenario. By applying the dialog scenario to a plurality of services, there is no need to set a dialog procedure for each individual service.
Typical examples of languages for writing a dialog scenario include HTML that realizes a dialog using a screen, and VoiceXML that realizes a dialog using voice. Moreover, not only description languages for realizing a single modality, for example, a description language dealing with only the screen or voice, but also description languages such as X+V and SALT for realizing multi-modality including a combination of screen and voice, and description languages such as XISL extendable to applications other than screen and voice are used (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-234789 (1996)).
A dialog scenario is composed of expression data representing expressions to be outputted to the user by the dialog system, recognition data for receiving an input from the user, and execution procedure data that is the procedure of executing an expression and an input. In the case of VoiceXML, for example, a prompt indicating a character string subjected to voice synthesis is written as expression data, a voice recognition grammar is written as recognition data, and the procedure of executing prompt output and voice recognition is written as execution procedure data. | {
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Concerns about the health and materials degradation impacts of ultraviolet (UV) radiation are being raised with increasing frequency. UV radiation from the sun can cause skin cancers, eye problems, and can degrades light-sensitive artifacts. Traditional chemical sunscreens act primarily by binding to skin protein and absorbing UVB (280-320 nm) photons. The majority of these sunscreens are based on para-aminobenzoic acid, cinnamates such as methoxycinnamate, and various salicylates. Although these substances tend to absorb strongly in the UVB range, many of these substances do not absorb sunlight strongly in the UVA range (320-400 nm). Many commercial preparations are weak UVB/UVA absorbers, including benzophenones, dibenzoylmethanes, and anthraline derivatives, which have a limited UVA absorption as well. Octocrylene is a weak but stable UVB absorber used to protect other agents from degrading. Avobenzone (Parsol-1789) is a benzophenone with fair UVA protection, but it degrades readily and tends to cause irritation when applied to the skin. All of these organic sunscreens can cause allergic or irritant contact dermatitis, photoxic, and photoallergic reactions and no single organic agent gives complete protection from UVA and UVB radiation.
In addition to organic agents, inorganic agents, often referred to as sunblocks, act as barriers by reflecting or scattering radiation. These physical blockers include metal oxide compounds such as iron, zinc, titanium and bismuth. Iron oxide pigments are incorporated in many personal care products, and provide protection from not only UV radiation, but visible and IR (infrared) radiation as well. Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) are highly reflective white powders. In the personal care product industry, bulk inorganic UV absorbers such as ZnO and TiO2 have been used for many years to protect people from the effects of UV radiation. Inorganic UV absorbers have many desirable characteristics such as a long history of topical use, low irritancy, broad spectrum absorption and high photo-stability. Zinc oxide, being inorganic, is photostable and thus as opposed to the majority of organic absorbers, its effectiveness as a UV absorber is not lessened over time with sunlight exposure. However, rather than absorbing UV radiation, ZnO, TiO2 and other inorganic components of personal care products are typically used to scatter light. The scattering of light by these inorganic particles causes a whitening effect on a users skin once applied which leads to poor cosmetic appeal. Thus, the recognized value of ZnO as an acceptable UV skin protector is decreased due to this whitening effect.
An additional problem associated with inorganic components of sunscreen is that they often do not disperse well in many personal care ingredients. Additionally, inorganic absorbers due to their relatively large particle size may lead to aggregation.
There is a need for a UV absorber that does not have the whitening effect typical of inorganic UV absorbers and that are soluble in and may be dispersed evenly in oily skin lotions. | {
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In recent years, the number of ways in which users have been able to access, interact with, and record a plethora of media assets has expanded rapidly. Typically, the entirety of a show, movie, or other media asset is recorded at once. However, it is often the case that a user is only interested in a specific portion of a given media asset. | {
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In the semiconductor industry, the use of radio frequency (RF) driven plasma chambers for manufacturing silicon wafers is commonplace. There exists a common need within such applications to monitor the sheath voltage, and specifically how the sheath voltage relates to the direct current (DC) bias potential of the wafer itself.
Currently, there are several techniques to ascertain wafer potential, as well as sheath and bulk plasma potential. With respect to the wafer DC bias potential, one monitoring method includes measuring the self-bias voltage of the wafer by detecting the leakage current between the wafer and the electrostatic chuck (ESC) while varying an applied DC voltage to the ESC. While this technique is used within some current production settings, the computed value is highly dependent upon the magnitude of the leakage current, which is coupled to the type of ESC in the system. The method of detecting leakage current through the wafer to the ESC is also highly dependent upon different types of backside wafer films.
Another method for ascertaining the wafer bias potential is through the use of silicon carbide pins attached to the outer edge of the ESC and in contact with the plasma. However, such pins are consumables and have to be replaced frequently within production environments.
A third method for detecting the DC bias on the wafer is through a RF voltage probe at the ESC and a signal processing unit which computes the wafer voltage from the peak to peak RF voltage. This method provides a means for detecting the wafer DC bias voltage without a probe in direct contact with the plasma by scaling the RF voltage at the ESC to a DC value through the use of a calibrated gain and offset. This method assumes a purely linear relationship to the RF peak to peak voltage and the DC potential of the wafer which is not the case for multi-frequency plasmas. FIG. 1 shows the correlation of wafer bias to RF Vpp. In FIG. 1, when a linear fit is applied, the R-squared value is significantly less than one [e.g., R-sq: 0.90]. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly, to an electronic device with chip-on-film package.
2. Description of Related Art
Ever-advancing wafer fabrication technology has led to rapid development of integrated circuit (IC) industry. ICs fabricated are lighter in weight, smaller in size, more complex and versatile in functions and have higher pin count and higher frequency. Chip-on-film (COF) package satisfies the packing requirements of the ICs fabricated in accordance with this development trend. The COF package can have a fine pitch and good flexibility, which has a good performance in size stability, line high density, flame resistance, and environment protection.
As a result, IC test has been more and more difficult, and workload of IC test is taking a larger proportion in the entire IC fabrication. In the test of high pin count ICs, especially the test of multiple series-connected COF package ICs, the large quantity of input and output terminals has become a bottle neck for the compatibility of testers. System resources of the tester may not be enough to cope with the test of high pin count IC.
If the compatibility of the IC tester cannot keep pace with the IC development, the IC tester is bound to be replaced. However, the fabrication cost is a key factor to obtain competitive advantage in the market. | {
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Portable tables are useful for a variety of applications. For example, caring for an infant, an elderly person, or a sick person is greatly facilitated through the use of a portable table that may be both quickly deployed and removed as necessary. A portable table is particularly useful when the use of a conventional table is unnecessary or impractical. In addition to feeding and eating purposes, a portable table may be utilized for reading, writing, and similar purposes.
The present invention is a portable deployable table that may be quickly mounted to and removed from a surface or structure such as a bedframe or a sofa. The present invention is secured in place in order to ensure stability of the present invention when in use. After the present invention has been mounted, the present invention may be adjusted to accommodate the user's individual space requirements. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to immunologically active, recombinant binding proteins, and in particular, to molecularly engineered binding domain-immunoglobulin fusion proteins, including single chain Fv-immunoglobulin fusion proteins. The present invention also relates to compositions and methods for treating malignant conditions and B-cell disorders, including diseases characterized by autoantibody production.
2. Description of the Related Art
An immunoglobulin molecule is a multimeric protein composed of two identical light chain polypeptides and two identical heavy chain polypeptides (H2L2) that are joined into a macromolecular complex by interchain disulfide bonds. Intrachain disulfide bonds join different areas of the same polypeptide chain, which results in the formation of loops that, along with adjacent amino acids, constitute the immunoglobulin domains. At the amino-terminal portion, each light chain and each heavy chain has a single variable region that shows considerable variation in amino acid composition from one antibody to another. The light chain variable region, VL, associates with the variable region of a heavy chain, VH, to form the antigen binding site of the immunoglobulin, Fv. Light chains have a single constant region domain and heavy chains have several constant region domains. Classes IgG, IgA, and IgD have three constant region domains, which are designated CH1, CH2, and CH3, and the IgM and IgE classes have four constant region domains, CH1, CH2, CH3 and CH4. Immunoglobulin structure and function are reviewed, for example, in Harlow et al., Eds., Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, Chapter 14, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor (1988).
The heavy chains of immunoglobulins can be divided into three functional regions: Fd (fragment comprising VH and CH1), hinge, and Fc (fragment crystallizable, derived from constant regions). The Fd region comprises the VH and CH1 domains and in combination with the light chain forms Fab, the antigen-binding fragment. The Fc fragment is generally considered responsible for the effector functions of an immunoglobulin, such as complement fixation and binding to Fc receptors. The hinge region, found in IgG, IgA, and IgD classes, acts as a flexible spacer, allowing the Fab portion to move freely in space. In contrast to the constant regions, the hinge domains are structurally diverse, varying in both sequence and length among immunoglobulin classes and subclasses. For example, three human IgG subclasses, IgG1, IgG2, and IgG4, have hinge regions of 12-15 amino acids, while IgG3-derived hinge regions can comprise approximately 62 amino acids, including around 21 proline residues and around 11 cysteine residues.
According to crystallographic studies, the immunoglobulin hinge region can be further subdivided functionally into three regions: the upper hinge, the core, and the lower hinge (Shin et al., Immunological Reviews 130:87 (1992)). The upper hinge includes amino acids from the carboxyl end of CH1 to the first residue in the hinge that restricts motion, generally the first cysteine residue that forms an interchain disulfide bond between the two heavy chains. The length of the upper hinge region correlates with the segmental flexibility of the antibody. The core hinge region contains the inter-heavy chain disulfide bridges, and the lower hinge region joins the amino terminal end of the CH2 domain and includes residues in CH2. (Id.) The core hinge region of human IgG1 contains the sequence Cys-Pro-Pro-Cys (SEQ ID NO: 40) which, when dimerized by disulfide bond formation, results in a cyclic octapeptide believed to act as a pivot, thus conferring flexibility. The hinge region may also contain one or more glycosylation sites, which include a number of structurally distinct types of sites for carbohydrate attachment. For example, IgA1 contains five glycosylation sites within a 17 amino acid segment of the hinge region, conferring exceptional resistance of the hinge region polypeptide to intestinal proteases, considered an advantageous property for a secretory immunoglobulin.
Conformational changes permitted by the structure and flexibility of the immunoglobulin hinge region polypeptide sequence may affect the effector functions of the Fc portion of the antibody. Three general categories of effector functions associated with the Fc region include (1) activation of the classical complement cascade, (2) interaction with effector cells, and (3) compartmentalization of immunoglobulins. The different human IgG subclasses vary in the relative efficacies with which they fix complement, or activate and amplify the steps of the complement cascade (e.g., Kirschfink, 2001 Immunol. Rev. 180:177; Chakraborti et al., 2000 Cell Signal 12:607; Kohl et al., 1999 Mol. Immunol. 36:893; Marsh et al., 1999 Curr. Opin. Nephrol. Hypertens. 8:557; Speth et al., 1999 Wien Klin. Wochenschr. 111:378). Complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) is believed to be a significant mechanism for clearance of specific target cells such as tumor cells. In general, IgG1 and IgG3 most effectively fix complement, IgG2 is less effective, and IgG4 does not activate complement. Complement activation is initiated by binding of C1q, a subunit of the first component C1 in the cascade, to an antigen-antibody complex. Even though the binding site for C1q is located in the CH2 domain of the antibody, the hinge region influences the ability of the antibody to activate the cascade. For example, recombinant immunoglobulins lacking a hinge region are unable to activate complement. (Shin et al., 1992) Without the flexibility conferred by the hinge region, the Fab portion of the antibody bound to the antigen may not be able to adopt the conformation required to permit C1q to bind to CH2. (See id.) Hinge length and segmental flexibility have been correlated with complement activation; however, the correlation is not absolute. Human IgG3 molecules with altered hinge regions that are as rigid as IgG4 can still effectively activate the cascade.
The absence of a hinge region, or a lack of a functional hinge region, can also affect the ability of certain human IgG immunoglobulins to bind Fc receptors on immune effector cells. Binding of an immunoglobulin to an Fc receptor facilitates antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), which is presumed to be an important mechanism for the elimination of tumor cells. The human IgG Fc receptor (FcR) family is divided into three groups, FcγRI (CD64), which is capable of binding IgG with high affinity, and FcγRII (CD32) and FcγRIII (CD16), both of which are low affinity receptors. The molecular interaction between each of the three receptors and an immunoglobulin has not been defined precisely, but experimental evidence indicates that residues in the hinge proximal region of the CH2 domain are important to the specificity of the interaction between the antibody and the Fc receptor. In addition, IgG1 myeloma proteins and recombinant IgG3 chimeric antibodies that lack a hinge region are unable to bind FcγRI, likely because accessibility to CH2 is decreased. (Shin et al., Intern. Rev. Immunol. 10:177, 178-79 (1993).)
Unusual and apparently evolutionarily unrelated exceptions to the H2L2 structure of conventional antibodies occur in some isotypes of the immunoglobulins found in camelids (Hamers-Casterman et al., 1993 Nature 363:446; Nguyen et al., 1998 J. Mol. Biol 275:413) and in nurse sharks (Roux et al., 1998 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 95:11804). These antibodies form their antigen-binding pocket using the heavy chain variable region alone. In both species, these variable regions often contain an extended third complementarity determining region (CDR3) to help compensate for the lack of a light chain variable region, and there are frequent disulfide bonds between CDR regions to help stabilize the binding site [Muyldermans et al., 1994 Prot. Engineer. 7:1129; Roux et al., 1998]. However, the function of the heavy chain-only antibodies is unknown, and the evolutionary pressure leading to their formation has not been identified. Since camelids, including camels, llamas, and alpacas, also express conventional H2L2 antibodies, the heavy chain-only antibodies do not appear to be present in these animals simply as an alternative antibody structure.
Variable regions (VHH) of the camelid heavy chain-only immunoglobulins contain amino acid substitutions at several positions outside of the CDR regions when compared with conventional (H2L2) heavy chain variable regions. These amino acid substitutions are encoded in the germ line [Nguyen et al., 1998 J. Mol. Biol 275:413] and are located at residues that normally form the hydrophobic interface between conventional VH and VL domains [Muyldermans et al., 1994 Prot. Engineer. 7:1129]. Camelid VHH recombine with IgG2 and IgG3 constant regions that contain hinge, CH2, and CH3 domains but which lack a CH1 domain [Hamers-Casterman et al., 1993 Nature 363:446]. Interestingly, VHH are encoded by a chromosomal locus distinct from the VH locus [Nguyen, 1998], indicating that camelid B cells have evolved complex mechanisms of antigen recognition and differentiation. Thus, for example, llama IgG1 is a conventional (H2L2) antibody isotype in which VH recombines with a constant region that contains hinge, CH1, CH2 and CH3 domains, whereas the llama IgG2 and IgG3 are heavy chain-only isotypes that lack CH1 domains and that contain no light chains.
Monoclonal antibody technology and genetic engineering methods have led to rapid development of immunoglobulin molecules for diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. Protein engineering has been applied to improve the affinity of an antibody for its cognate antigen, to diminish problems related to immunogenicity of administered recombinant polypeptides, and to alter antibody effector functions. The domain structure of immunoglobulins is amenable to recombinant engineering, in that the antigen binding domains and the domains conferring effector functions may be exchanged between immunoglobulin classes (e.g., IgG, IgA, IgE) and subclasses (e.g., IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, etc.).
In addition, smaller immunoglobulin molecules have been constructed to overcome problems associated with whole immunoglobulin therapy. For instance, single chain immunoglobulin variable region fragment polypeptides (scFv) comprise an immunoglobulin heavy chain variable domain joined via a short linker peptide to an immunoglobulin light chain variable domain (Huston et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 85: 5879-83, 1988). Because of the small size of scFv molecules, they exhibit very rapid clearance from plasma and tissues and are capable of more effective penetration into tissues than whole immunoglobulins. (see, e.g., Jain, 1990 Cancer Res. 50:814s-819s.) An anti-tumor scFv showed more rapid tumor penetration and more even distribution through the tumor mass than the corresponding chimeric antibody (Yokota et al., Cancer Res. 52, 3402-08 (1992)). Fusion of an scFv to another molecule, such as a toxin, takes advantage of the specific antigen-binding activity and the small size of an scFv to deliver the toxin to a target tissue. (Chaudary et al., Nature 339:394 (1989); Batra et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:2200 (1991).)
Despite the advantages that scFv molecules bring to serotherapy, several drawbacks to this therapeutic approach exist. While rapid clearance of scFv may reduce toxic effects in normal cells, such rapid clearance may prevent delivery of a minimum effective dose to the target tissue. Manufacturing adequate amounts of scFv for administration to patients has been challenging due to difficulties in expression and isolation of scFv that adversely affect the yield. During expression, scFv molecules lack stability and often aggregate due to pairing of variable regions from different molecules. Furthermore, production levels of scFv molecules in mammalian expression systems are low, limiting the potential for efficient manufacturing of scFv molecules for therapy (Davis et al, J. Biol. Chem. 265:10410-18 (1990); Traunecker et al., EMBO J. 10: 3655-59 (1991)). Strategies for improving production have been explored, including addition of glycosylation sites to the variable regions (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,773; Jost et al, J. Biol. Chem. 269: 26267-73 (1994)).
An additional disadvantage to using scFv for therapy is the lack of effector function. An scFv that lacks the cytolytic functions, ADCC and complement dependent-cytotoxicity (CDC), which are typically associated with immunoglobulin constant regions, may be ineffective for treating disease. Even though development of scFv technology began over 12 years ago, currently no scFv products are approved for therapy. Conjugation or fusion of toxins to scFV has thus been an alternative strategy to provide a potent, antigen-specific molecule, but dosing with such conjugates or chimeras is often limited by excessive and/or non-specific toxicity having its origin in the toxin moiety of such preparations. Toxic effects may include supraphysiological elevation of liver enzymes and vascular leak syndrome, and other undesired effects. In addition, immunotoxins are themselves highly immunogenic after being administered to a host, and host antibodies generated against the immunotoxin limit its potential usefulness in repeated therapeutic treatments of an individual.
The benefits of immunoglobulin constant region-associated effector functions in the treatment of disease has prompted development of fusion proteins in which immunoglobulin constant region polypeptide sequences are present and nonimmunoglobulin sequences are substituted for the antibody variable region. For example, CD4, the T cell surface protein recognized by HIV, was recombinantly fused to an immunoglobulin Fc effector domain. (See Sensel et al., Chem. Immunol. 65:129-158 (1997).) The biological activity of such a molecule will depend in part on the class or subclass of the constant region chosen. An IL-2-IgG1 fusion protein effected complement-mediated lysis of IL-2 receptor-bearing cells. (See id.) Use of immunoglobulin constant regions to construct these and other fusion proteins may also confer improved pharmacokinetic properties.
Diseases and disorders thought to be amenable to some type of immunoglobulin therapy include cancer and immune system disorders. Cancer includes a broad range of diseases, affecting approximately one in four individuals worldwide. Rapid and unregulated proliferation of malignant cells is a hallmark of many types of cancer, including hematological malignancies. Patients with a hematologic malignant condition have benefited most from advances in cancer therapy in the past two decades (Multani et al., J. Clin. Oncology 16: 3691-3710, 1998). Although remission rates have increased, most patients still relapse and succumb to their disease. Barriers to cure with cytotoxic drugs include tumor cell resistance and the high toxicity of chemotherapy, which prevents optimal dosing in many patients. New treatments based on targeting with molecules that specifically bind to a malignant cell, including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), can improve effectiveness without increasing toxicity.
Since monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were first described in 1975 (Kohler et al., Nature 256:495-97 (1975)), many patients have been treated with mAbs that specifically bind to tumor antigens, or antigens expressed on tumor cells. These studies have yielded important lessons regarding the selection of tumor cell surface antigens that are tumor antigens suitable for use as immunotherapy targets. First, it is highly preferable that such a target antigen is not expressed by normal tissues the preservation of which is important to host survival. Fortunately, in the case of hematologic malignancy, malignant cells express many antigens that are not expressed on the surfaces of stem cells or other essential cells. Treatment of a hematologic malignant condition using a therapeutic regimen that depletes both normal and malignant cells of hematological origin has been acceptable where regeneration of normal cells from progenitors can occur after therapy has ended. Second, the target antigen should be expressed on all or virtually all clonogenic populations of tumor cells, and expression should persist despite the selective pressure from immunoglobulin therapy. Thus, a strategy that employs selection of a cell surface idiotype (e.g., a particular idiotope) as a target for therapy of B cell malignancy has been limited by the outgrowth of tumor cell variants with altered surface idiotype expression, even where the antigen exhibits a high degree of tumor selectivity (Meeker et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 312:1658-65 (1985)). Third, the selected antigen must traffic properly after an immunoglobulin binds to it. Shedding or internalization of a cell surface target antigen after an immunoglobulin binds to the antigen may allow tumor cells to escape destruction, thus limiting the effectiveness of serotherapy. Fourth, binding of an immunoglobulin to cell surface target antigens that transmit or transduce cellular activation signals may result in improved functional responses to immunotherapy in tumor cells, and can lead to growth arrest and/or apoptosis. While all of these properties are important, the triggering of apoptosis after an immunoglobulin binds to the target antigen may be a critical factor in achieving successful serotherapy.
Antigens that have been tested as targets for serotherapy of B and T cell malignancies include Ig idiotype (Brown et al., Blood 73:651-61 (1989)), CD19 (Hekman et al., Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 32:364-72(1991); Vlasveld et al., Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 40: 37-47 (1995)), CD20 (Press et al., Blood 69: 584-91 (1987); Maloney et al., J. Clin. Oncol. 15:3266-74, (1997)) CD21 (Scheinberg et. al., J. Clin. Oncol. 8:792-803, (1990)), CD5 (Dillman et. al., J. Biol. Respn. Mod. 5:394-410 (1986)), and CD52 (CAMPATH) (Pawson et al., J. Clin. Oncol. 15:2667-72, (1997)). Of these, the most success has been obtained using CD20 as a target for therapy of B cell lymphomas. Each of the other targets has been limited by the biological properties of the antigen. For example, surface idiotype can be altered through somatic mutation, allowing tumor cell escape. As other examples, CD5, CD21, and CD19 are rapidly internalized after mAb binding, allowing tumor cells to escape destruction unless mAbs are conjugated with toxin molecules. CD22 is expressed on only a subset of B cell lymphomas, thereby limiting its usefulness, while CD52 is expressed on both T cells and B cells and may therefore generate counterproductive immunosuppression by effecting selective T cell depletion.
CD20 fulfills the basic criteria described above for selection of an appropriate target antigen for therapy of a B cell malignant condition. Treatment of patients with low grade or follicular B cell lymphoma using chimeric CD20 mAb induces partial or complete responses in many patients (McLaughlin et al, Blood 88:90a (abstract, suppl. 1) (1996); Maloney et al, Blood 90: 2188-95 (1997)). However, tumor relapse commonly occurs within six months to one year. Therefore, further improvements in serotherapy are needed to induce more durable responses in low grade B cell lymphoma, and to allow effective treatment of high grade lymphoma and other B cell diseases.
One approach to improving CD20 serotherapy has been to target radioisotopes to B cell lymphomas using mAbs specific for CD20. While the effectiveness of therapy is increased, associated toxicity from the long in vivo half-life of the radioactive antibody increases also, sometimes requiring that the patient undergo stem cell rescue (Press et al., N. Eng. J. Med. 329: 1219-1224, 1993; Kaminski et al., N. Eng. J. Med. 329:459-65 (1993)). MAbs to CD20 have been cleaved with proteases to yield F(ab′)2 or Fab fragments prior to attachment of the radioisotope. This improves penetration of the radioisotope conjugate into the tumor, and shortens the in vivo half-life, thus reducing the toxicity to normal tissues. However, the advantages of effector functions, including complement fixation and/or ADCC that would otherwise be provided by the Fc region of the CD20 mAb, are lost since the Fab preparations lack immunoglobulin Fc domains. Therefore, for improved delivery of radioisotopes, a strategy is needed to make a CD20 mAb derivative that retains Fc-dependent effector functions but which is smaller in size, thereby increasing tumor penetration and shortening mAb half-life.
CD20 was the first human B cell lineage-specific surface molecule identified by a monoclonal antibody, but the function of CD20 in B cell biology is still incompletely understood. CD20 is a non-glycosylated, hydrophobic 35 kDa B cell transmembrane phosphoprotein that has both amino and carboxy ends situated in the cytoplasm (Einfeld et al, EMBO J. 7:711-17 (1988)). Natural ligands for CD20 have not been identified. CD20 is expressed by all normal mature B cells, but is not expressed by precursor B cells.
CD20 mAbs deliver signals to normal B cells that affect viability and growth (Clark et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:4494-98 (1986)), and extensive cross-linking of CD20 can induce apoptosis in B lymphoma cell lines (Shan et al., Blood 91:1644-52 (1998)). Cross-linking of CD20 on the cell surface increases the magnitude and enhances the kinetics of signal transduction, for example, as detected by measuring tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular substrates (Deans et al., J. Immunol. 146:846-53 (1993)). Significantly, apoptosis in Ramos B lymphoma cells can also be induced by FcR cross-linking CD20 mAbs bound to the Ramos cell surfaces, by the addition of Fc-receptor positive cells (Shan et al., Blood 91: 1644-52 (1998)). Therefore, in addition to cellular depletion by complement and ADCC mechanisms, Fc-receptor binding by CD20 mAbs in vivo can promote apoptosis of malignant B cells by CD20 cross-linking. This theory is consistent with experiments showing that effectiveness of CD20 therapy of human lymphoma in a SCID mouse model was dependent upon Fc-receptor binding by the CD20 mAb (Funakoshi et al., J. Immunotherapy 19:93-101 (1996)).
The CD20 polypeptide contains four transmembrane domains (Einfeld et al., EMBO J. 7: 711-17, (1988); Stamenkovic et al., J. Exp. Med. 167:1975-80 (1988); Tedder et. al., J. Immunol. 141:4388-4394 (1988)). The multiple membrane spanning domains prevent CD20 internalization after antibody binding. This property of CD20 was recognized as an important feature for effective therapy of B cell malignancies when a murine CD20 mAb, 1F5, was injected into patients with B cell lymphoma, resulting in significant depletion of malignant cells and partial clinical responses (Press et al., Blood 69: 584-91 (1987)).
Because normal mature B cells also express CD20, normal B cells are depleted during CD20 antibody therapy (Reff, M. E. et al, Blood 83: 435-445, 1994). However, after treatment is completed, normal B cells are regenerated from CD20 negative B cell precursors; therefore, patients treated with anti-CD20 therapy do not experience significant immunosuppression. Depletion of normal B cells may also be beneficial in diseases that involve inappropriate production of autoantibodies or other diseases where B cells may play a role. A chimeric mAb specific for CD20, consisting of heavy and light chain variable regions of mouse origin fused to human IgG1 heavy chain and human kappa light chain constant regions, retained binding to CD20 and the ability to mediate ADCC and to fix complement (Liu et al., J. Immunol. 139:3521-26 (1987); Robinson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,362). This work led to development of a chimeric CD20 mAb, Rituximab™, currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval for therapy of B cell lymphomas. While clinical responses are frequently observed after treatment with Rituximab™, patients often relapse after about 6-12 months.
High doses of Rituximab™ are required for intravenous injection because the molecule is large, approximately 150 kDa, and diffusion is limited into the lymphoid tissues where many tumor cells reside. The mechanism of anti-tumor activity of Rituximab™ is thought to be a combination of several activities, including ADCC, complement fixation, and triggering of signals that promote apoptosis in malignant B cells. The large size of Rituximab™ prevents optimal diffusion of the molecule into lymphoid tissues that contain malignant B cells, thereby limiting these anti-tumor activities. As discussed above, cleavage of CD20 mAbs with proteases into Fab or F(ab′)2 fragments makes them smaller and allows better penetration into lymphoid tissues, but the effector functions important for anti-tumor activity are lost. While CD20 mAb fragments may be more effective than intact antibody for delivery of radioisotopes, it would be desirable to construct a CD20 mAb derivative that retains the effector functions of the Fc portion, but that has a smaller molecular size, facilitating better tumor penetration and resulting in a shorter half-life.
CD20 is expressed by many malignant cells of B cell origin, including B cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). CD20 is not expressed by malignancies of pre-B cells, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. CD20 is therefore a good target for therapy of B cell lymphoma, CLL, and other diseases in which B cells are involved in the pathogenesis and/or progression of disease. Other B cell disorders include autoimmune diseases in which autoantibodies are produced during or after the differentiation of B cells into plasma cells. Examples of B cell disorders include autoimmune thyroid disease, including Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjogrens syndrome, immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), multiple sclerosis (MS), myasthenia gravis (MG), psoriasis, scleroderma, and inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
In view of the foregoing, there is clearly a need for improved compositions and methods to treat malignant conditions in general, and in particular B cell disorders. As described in greater detail herein, the compositions and methods of the present invention overcome the limitations of the prior art by providing a binding domain-immunoglobulin fusion protein that specifically binds to an antigen and that is capable of mediating ADCC or complement fixation. Furthermore, the compositions and methods offer other related advantages. | {
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Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telecommunications network system and, in particular, to the routing of a data signal to a mobile station relocated from a first home location register to a second home location register. | {
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Transceivers comprise both a transmitter and a receiver, and are commonly used in a variety of communication apparatuses. Transceivers can be arranged to be operated in semi-duplex, i.e. the receiver and transmitter operates separated in time to prevent the transmitter signal from concealing the received signal. This approach is therefore commonly referred to as time division duplex (TDD). Transceivers can also be operated in full duplex, i.e. the receiver and transmitter operates simultaneously wherein some special arrangements are provided to prevent the transmitter from concealing the received signal. One approach to achieve this is to assign different frequencies for transmission and reception. This approach is therefore commonly referred to as frequency division duplex (FDD).
Often the receiver and the transmitter use the same antenna, or antenna system which may comprise several antennas, which implies that some kind of circuitry may be desired to enable proper interaction with the antenna. This circuitry should be made with certain care when operating the transceiver in full duplex since the transmitter signal, although using FDD, may interfere with the received signal, i.e. internal interference within the transceiver. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a communication apparatus 100 comprising a transceiver 102, an antenna 104 connected to the transceiver 102, and further circuitry 106 such as processing means, input and output circuitry, and memory means. The transceiver 102 comprises a transmitter 108, a receiver 110, and a duplexer 112 which is connected to the transmitter 102, the receiver 110 and the antenna 104. The duplexer 112 is arranged to direct radio frequency (RF) energy from the transmitter to the antenna, as indicated by arrow 114, and from the antenna to the receiver, as indicated by arrow 116, and can for example comprise a circulator. Duplexers are known in the art and for example described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,140. However, duplexers are not ideal and a leakage of transmitter signals from the transmitter to the receiver, as indicated by arrow 118, is at least to some degree present. Further, duplexers are commonly costly, space consuming and challenging to be implemented on-chip. Therefore, efforts have been made in the art to achieve the similar effects with on-chip solutions. These are based on electrical balance by using a dummy load which is arranged to be equal to the antenna impedance. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of such a structure 200, which is also disclosed in WO 2009/080878 A1, comprising a transmitter 202, a receiver 204, and an antenna 206. The transmitter 202 provides its output signal both to a branch towards the antenna 206, the branch comprising a capacitor 208 and an inductor 210, and to a branch towards a dummy load 212, the branch comprising a capacitor 208′ and an inductor 210′. The dummy load 212 is arranged to mimic the impedance of the antenna 206, and by the achieved symmetry, and, when using a differential input to the receiver 204 via a transformer 214, the contribution at the receiver input from the transmitted signal can be suppressed. However, here it can be seen that transmission energy is lost in heat dissipation in the dummy load.
It is therefore a desire to provide an approach for transceivers where the above discussed drawbacks are reduced. | {
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Medium density polyethylene (MDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) are widely used in polyolefin-based geomembrane applications. Those polyolefin compositions are relatively low cost. They have good physical property balances, chemical resistance, and ultraviolet (UV) weathering performance. They are easily processed in blown film and flat die extrusion processes.
However, an improvement in certain physical properties is often desired. Such properties include flexibility, impact resistance, dimensional stability, environmental stress cracking resistance (ESCR), and temperature resistance. Notably, geomembranes made with MDPE or HDPE tend to lack flexibility and impact resistance, especially in cold climate or cold environment applications.
Highly flexible elastoplastic polymer compositions provide an effective alternative to MDPE and HDPE for polyolefin-based geomembrane applications. Highly flexible elastoplastic polymer compositions provide a unique combination of flexibility, mechanical toughness, dimensional stability, barrier properties, and ESCR.
Highly flexible elastoplastic polymer compositions useful in geomembranes are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,564, U.S. Pat. No. 7,592,393, and United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2010/0305276. They have high flexibility, good chemical inertia, and good mechanical properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,564 describes highly flexible elastoplastic polymer compositions comprising, in parts by weight: A) 10-50 parts of an isotactic propylene homopolymer or copolymer, B) 5-20 parts of an ethylene copolymer fraction, insoluble in xylene at room temperature; and C) 40-80 parts of an ethylene copolymer fraction containing less than 40% by weight of ethylene, the fraction being also soluble in xylene at room temperature, and having an intrinsic viscosity from 1.5 to 4 dl/g; with a percentage by weight of the sum of the (B) and (C) fractions with respect to the total polyolefin composition from 50% to 90%, and a (B)/(C) weight ratio lower than 0.4. The compositions show a flexural modulus of less than 150 MPa and low values of Shore hardness.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,592,393 describes highly flexible elastoplastic polymer compositions comprising the following components, all percent amounts being by weight: A) 8-25% of a propylene homopolymer or copolymer; B) 75-92% of an elastomeric fraction comprising a first and a second elastomeric copolymer of propylene with other alpha-olefin(s), in a weight ratio from 1:5 to 5:1. The copolymers contain 45% or less of such alpha-olefin(s) and having specified values of solubility in xylene at room temperature and of intrinsic viscosity of the xylene-soluble fraction.
Such compositions show lower values of flexural modulus than the compositions disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,564.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0305276 teaches a highly flexible elastoplastic polymer composition having an unusual and favorable balance of flexibility (low flexural modulus), softness and tensile properties, which is obtained when a specific copolymer of propylene with hexene-1 is combined with an ethylene copolymer having a high solubility in xylene at room temperature.
The polyolefin composition comprises the following components, all percent amounts being by weight: A) 15-40%, preferably 21-35%, more preferably 25-35%, in particular 26-35%, of a copolymer of propylene with hexene-1 containing from 2.5 to 10%, preferably from 6 to 10% of hexene-1 and having Melt Flow Rate (MFR, measured according to ISO 1133 at 230 degrees Celsius/2.16 kg) from 0.5 to 100 g/10 min. preferably from 0.5 to 70 g/10 min., more preferably from 2 to 70 g/10 min., in particular from 3 to 70 g/10 min.; B) 60-85%, preferably 65-79%, more preferably 65-75%, in particular 65-74%, of a copolymer of ethylene with propylene or a CH2=CHR alpha-olefin, where R is a C2-C8 alkyl radical, and optionally minor quantities of a diene, or a copolymer of ethylene with propylene and the alpha-olefin, and optionally minor quantities of a diene, the copolymers containing ethylene in a quantity equal to or lower than 40%, preferably from 15 to 40%, more preferably from 15 to 37%, and having solubility in xylene at room temperature greater than 70%, preferably greater than 80%, more preferably greater than 85%.
The amounts of (A) and (B) are referred to the total weight of the polymeric portion of the polyolefin composition.
It is desirable for MDPE- and HDPE-based compositions to be useful in preparing geomembranes and achieve physical property improvements similar to those of fPP-based geomembranes. | {
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This invention relates to a catalyst, to a method of preparing a catalyst and in particular to a method of preparing a microencapsulated catalyst.
Catalysts, such as transition metal catalysts, are widely used in a variety of chemical reactions. Difficulties are frequently encountered however, particularly on the commercial scale, in recovering and re-using the catalyst. This not only results in potential contamination of the product but also represents a significant cost burden in terms of usage of expensive catalyst. Polymer-supported catalysts are well known but suffer from a number of disadvantages such as poor physical stability and low catalyst availability. Furthermore heterogeneous reaction systems used with polymer-supported catalysts are inherently more complex to operate on a commercial scale.
Various attempts have been made to overcome these difficulties. In EP 0940170 for example there is described a process wherein an aromatic substituted polyolefin such as polystyrene is dissolved in an organic solvent such as cyclohexane to which is added osmium tetroxide catalyst. The solution is cooled and the aromatic substituted polyolefin is precipitated, for example by the addition of methanol. The resultant product was shown to be an effective catalyst. The precipitation of the aromatic polymer however is uncontrolled and results in an amorphous and unstructured mass, monolith or matrix of solid polyolefin within which the osmium tetroxide particles are trapped. It is a further drawback of this process that the trapped catalyst system cannot subsequently be used effectively in a reaction medium in which the polymer is soluble or becomes plasticised since the free catalyst will be liberated. This therefore limits the utility of the catalyst. | {
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Devices for brushing or cleaning teeth such as electrical toothbrushes or electrical oral irrigators customarily have a grip or a handle section or handhold to which a variety of cleaning tools such as brush attachments, jet nozzles, interproximal brushes or brush sections are attachable, thus enabling several users to use the dental cleaning device with their own, in particular person-related cleaning tools. Such electrical toothbrushes are known, for example, from DE 19627752 A1 or EP 0624079 B1.
From DE 299 15 858 U1 a dental cleaning device is known in which each of the different toothbrushes can be inserted only into its assigned receptacle in a console. This then starts the program provided for this particular toothbrush. Particularly children find it however difficult to locate the individual opening for insertion of their personal toothbrush and mating engagement of the plug. Furthermore, this console involves high complexity of manufacture, considering that it requires the provision of a plurality of different receptacles and each of the toothbrushes has a different plug assigned to its own receptacle.
In a further device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,959, each hand toothbrush is assigned its own accommodating slot in a housing, so that each toothbrush can be assigned an individual brushing time signal via the housing. This arrangement is very elaborate from the manufacturing point of view without providing for the detection and storage of user-specific data of the tooth cleaning operation.
Such dental cleaning devices are capable of improvement on many counts. One problem encountered is in particular that in storage-battery-operated toothbrushes the storage battery may become depleted prematurely. This may happen, for example, in cases where the toothbrush is not properly stowed away in a travel case or the like, so that the drive mechanism turns on accidentally. Furthermore, it may happen that the handle section is not always coupled with the correct brush attachments, so that as a result of the lack of compatibility the handle section, for example, the coupling portions, may be damaged particularly in the area of the drive train, or a proper cleaning function is not assured, likewise for lack of compatibility.
Furthermore, dental cleaning devices, namely electrically operated toothbrushes comprising a handle section and an attachable brush section in which the handle section has in a recess of its housing a mechanically actuatable switch which, as the case may be, is covered by a water-tight protective foil such that a switching contact of said switch is actuated by means of an extension of the plastic housing of the brush section when the brush section is attached to the handle section, were also launched on the market in the USA in approximately 1992 from the company Bausch & Lomb, model Interplak®, e.g., the PB-6. Once the switching contact has been actuated by an attached brush section, the drive mechanism of the toothbrush can be switched on by means of an ON switch on the handhold. These features are provided presumably for safety reasons because, unlike many other handle sections on electrical toothbrushes, the drive shaft on the previously mentioned toothbrush oscillates back and forth in the direction of the longitudinal axis. The stroke of the shaft is so considerable that switching on the handle section without an attached brush section could lead to risk of injury because the drive shaft makes a stroking movement similar to a sewing needle on a sewing machine.
From DE 28 26 008 C2 there is known a switch for actuating an electrical toothbrush with a permanent magnet arranged on an annular actuating member, said annular actuating member being axially displaceably arranged on the housing. The permanent magnet of the annular actuating member activates or deactivates a magnetically sensitive switch, e.g. a reed relay, which is arranged in the interior of the housing of the toothbrush. The annular actuating member can be pulled off the housing of the toothbrush, enabling the housing and the actuating member to be cleaned with ease after its removal. Removing the actuating member has the simultaneous effect of making it impossible for the electrical toothbrush to be switched on, thus preventing a toothbrush with the actuating member detached from switching on by itself when it is being transported in a case and the batteries or storage batteries becoming depleted accidentally.
The above-mentioned features for providing a certain travel security function have not proven a success in practice however because in the case of the Interplak® solution considerable force is required to attach and detach the brush section to and from the handle section in order to actuate the switching contact provided in the handle section. A further problem is that the switching contacts become dirty and that a great effort is needed to produce a dirt- or water-proof covering over the switching contact. The detachable switching ring in patent specification DE 28 26 008 C2 is intended likewise to perform a security function when traveling, but here there is a problem in that the detached switching ring can get lost, particularly on journeys, and that it is then impossible to set the handhold in operation even with full batteries or storage batteries. Furthermore, these known solutions for providing security when on journeys display little flexibility as regards other comfort functions such as the automatic adaptation of a handle section's operating parameters to a specific brush section or the user-specific collection and storage of cleaning data or the like.
From EP 0 848 921 A1 there is also known a brush for DIY use and a manufacturing method therefor, in which a tag as data memory is irremovably fastened in the brush itself, namely between a bristle carrier and a cup-shaped holding element. It is then intended to use the tag to store data concerning safety standards, maximum speed, country of origin, manufacturer's brand, article number, connection diameter and, for example, a barcode that can be read by an electronic reading system at the cash-desk of a DIY store, for example. The tag can be made in particular of aluminum or a heat-resistant plastic material because the brushes are exposed to very high temperatures during use. This tag is evidently an aluminum or plastic disk that has a surface loaded with optically readable information and is irremovably connected with the brush body. The disadvantage of such codes, however, is that they have a rather small storage capacity and cannot be re-programmed. Their readability also assumes that the code is freely accessible in optical terms, which is not the case in all applications.
Further, there is known a multiplicity of electronic article security systems in which security tags comprising, for example electrical resonant circuits or soft magnetic sensor strips, are affixed to the articles and excited by electromagnetic fields in gates installed in shop exit areas. If the articles have not been paid for, i.e., the security tags are still active, a signal is detected and an alarm emitted. Pertinent details can be found, for example, in the article “Der groβe Lauschangriff auf Ladendiebe” by Gieselher Herzer, Physikalische Blätter 57 (2001), No. 5, pages 43 to 48.
A sub-case of these systems are the systems referred to as RFID (radio frequency identification) systems, which find application on noncontacting chip cards and, more recently, on motor vehicle keys or refuse bins in order, in the latter case, to enable invoices to be issued according to the actual emptying of the bins.
Such systems are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,065, WO 00/42584, U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,870, WO 00/39768, DE 199 53 651 A1 or WO 98/24527, the system disclosed in the last mentioned specification being used in an electronic toy to exchange data between a figure, which is equipped with a transponder, and a base unit, which is equipped with a reader. | {
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The present invention relates generally to chemical mechanical polishing of substrates, and more particularly to a carrier head for chemical mechanical polishing a substrate.
Integrated circuits are typically formed on substrates, particularly silicon wafers, by the sequential deposition of conductive, semiconductive or insulative layers. After each layer is deposited, it is etched to create circuitry features. As a series of layers are sequentially deposited and etched, the outer or uppermost surface of the substrate, i.e., the exposed surface of the substrate, becomes increasingly nonplanar. This nonplanar surface presents problems in the photolithographic steps of the integrated circuit fabrication process. Therefore, there is a need to periodically planarize the substrate surface.
Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one accepted method of planarization. This planarization method typically requires that the substrate be mounted on a carrier or polishing head. The exposed surface of the substrate is placed against a rotating polishing pad. The polishing pad may be either a “standard” or a fixed-abrasive pad. A standard polishing pad has a durable roughened surface, whereas a fixed-abrasive pad has abrasive particles held in a containment media. The carrier head provides a controllable load, i.e., pressure, on the substrate to push it against the polishing pad. A polishing slurry, including at least one chemically reactive agent, and abrasive particles, if a standard pad is used, is supplied to the surface of the polishing pad.
Some carrier heads include a flexible membrane that applies a load to substrate. After polishing, the flexible membrane provides a mounting surface for the substrate while the substrate is vacuum-chucked to the carrier head, lifted off the polishing pad and moved to another location, such as a transfer station or another polishing pad. | {
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Oscilloscopes acquire and display a record of data upon the occurrence of a particular trigger. The trigger event may occur within the signal of interest, or it may be desirable to observe a first signal while being triggered by an occurrence in a second signal. It frequently happens that a particular area of interest that the user wishes to observe, happens to be displaced in time from the trigger event. In order to observe the particular area of interest, the oscilloscope acquisition and display must be delayed by some well-defined time period. The time period is usually set by rotation of a timebase control on the front panel of the oscilloscope. In such a system, the trigger begins a time period, and acquisition and display of the waveform to be observed occurs at the expiration of the time period. This delay function is generally called holdoff and is well-known in the oscilloscope art.
A general-purpose oscilloscope is a versatile test and measurement instrument which has wide-spread application, spanning many technological fields. Notwithstanding the breadth of their application, there are some application specific functions which are commonly found on general-purpose oscilloscopes. One such set of application specific functions relate to acquisition and display of television signals.
Television signals generally comprise a plurality of television lines organized into interlaced fields. Each television line signal includes horizontal synchronizing information, color burst (color synchronizing information), and video information. Each field contains vertical synchronizing information. Two interlaced fields form a complete picture called a frame. In the NTSC television system, odd fields begin a trace at the left end of the top of the frame, and end at the center of the bottom of the frame. Even fields begin at the center of the top of the frame and end at the right end of the bottom of the frame. Thus, each field comprises 262.5 television lines. In NTSC, the fields follow a four field repeating sequence (in the PAL system, the fields follow an eight field repeating sequence). Fields 1 and 3 have the same timing, but differ from each other in that phase of their respective color burst components is offset by 180 degrees. As noted above, fields 2 and 4 differ in timing from fields 1 and 3. Fields 2 and 4 have the same timing with respect to each other, but differ from each other in that phase of their respective color burst components is offset by 180 degrees.
Many oscilloscopes have the capability of selectively triggering on just the odd (i.e., 1 and 3) or even (i.e., 2 and 4) fields. However, some oscilloscopes do not have the capability to distinguish field 1 from field 3, or field 2 from field 4. This inability to distinguish individual fields causes the oscilloscope to trigger on every odd or every even field. This unwanted dual triggering causes an overlapping display of lines from both odd or both even fields. If one is interested in observing the color burst component, what is seen is a mixture of both phases.
A common solution to this problem is to use the holdoff feature of the oscilloscope. The operator sets the trigger to ODD, but sets the holdoff to prevent triggering on the next odd field. For NTSC, the required holdoff is two fields (one frame) or 33.4 ms. For the PAL system, the holdoff is also two fields but the different vertical scan rate causes the time delay to equal 40 ms.
The holdoff resolution is a function of the timebase setting. If the timebase is set at a fast position (e.g., 1 .mu.s), then the holdoff resolution is 200 ns. Disadvantageously, it takes many turns of the holdoff control to reach the required two-field delay. Moreover, "dual standard houses" that do post production work in both NTSC and PAL would need to use a different time delay for each standard.
What is needed is an apparatus and method for quickly and easily selecting a particular television field for display. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing silicon nitride powder suitable for the production of sintered silicon nitride, useful as a superhard heat resisting material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical known method is the so-called imide or amide decomposition method in which a silicon halide is reacted with ammonia and, then, the resulting silicon diimide or silicon tetramide is heated under an inert gas or ammonia gas atmosphere. This method, however, involves disadvantages in that the reaction of the silicon halide and the ammonia is a very vigorous exothermic reaction. Therefore, control of the reaction is very difficult. Further, a large amount of ammonium halide in the form of fumes is formed as a by-product. The deposition of the ammonium halide by-product on the inner surface of the reactor, the supply nozzles of the starting materials, and the tube wall of the gas outlet cause clogging and various other problems.
A technique has been proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 54-145400 to eliminate the above-mentioned defects of the imide or amide decomposition method. According to this proposal, silicon nitride powder having a high purity can be obtained. However, this proposed method involves a disadvantage in that the resultant silicon nitride powder is difficult to handle because of a low tap density, due to the large number of needle crystals formed in the calcination step. Therefore, it is necessary to grind the silicon nitride powder and to increase the tap density before the calcination to obtain the sintered product. | {
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Information systems generate vast amounts and wide varieties of machine data such as activity logs, error logs, configuration files, network packets, application data, virtual machine data database records, etc. This machine data may be useful in troubleshooting systems, detecting operation trends, identifying security problems, and measuring system performance. For example, a system administrator may use error logs to determine that a particular component is experiencing a relatively high number of errors and, thus, may have a problem that needs to be addressed. However, the amount of data obtained from such machine data may be overwhelming and difficult for the system administrator to immediately understand. The different types and volume of data generated from the machine data may also make it difficult to see any types of patterns or trends that may exist in the machine data. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates generally to electronic equipment and specifically to enclosures and racks for holding electronic equipment.
Floor space at datacenters is a limited resource. Consequently, it is desirable to maximize the height of equipment racks and enclosures that hold the servers and other electronics associated with data centers. However, door openings, elevators, and other facility constraints may limit the size of packages that can be brought into a datacenter. Furthermore, shipping companies often restrict the size of packages that they deliver or charge a premium for packages that exceed a certain size. | {
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It has long been recognized that obstructions upstream of a gate, in the molding of tubular parts, such as parisons, about a core or pin, can result in flow lines in the part. In the case of a parison, the flow lines are carried to the blown part. Such flow lines are caused by the parting of the plastic material, such as a polymer, as it flows around an obstruction, such as a core-support pin, positioned upstream of the orifice or gate. At the least, flow lines result in poor appearance of the blown piece. However, such lines can severely impair the strength of a finished part. Strength impairment is particularly critical in the forming of parisons from thermoplastic polymers which have high melt viscosities and which, when parted, do not readily flow or mix together, or rejoin, in a laminar state. While the finished part may present only a slight marring when physically examined, with many such polymer materials it has been found that the finished part is also severely weakened along these lines and can lead to premature failure. Such premature failure is particularly critical in blown automotive bellows and boots which are subject to mechanical as well as environmental stresses.
The problem is particularly acute in the manufacture of boots and bellows and the like from parisons which are formed about cores, where the latter are supported by conventional radially extending core support pins at the inlet end of the mold. There accordingly exists a need for apparatus and method for the remixing of such polymer material on the downstream side of such core support pins to eliminate such weld lines and lines of imperfection or weakness in the completed part. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to optical systems used in semiconductor manufacturing.
2. Background Art
Semiconductor devices are typically manufactured using various photolithographic techniques. The circuitry used in a semiconductor chip is projected from a reticle onto a wafer. This projection is often accomplished with the use of optical systems. The design of these optical systems is often complex, and it is difficult to obtain the desired resolution necessary for reproducing the ever-decreasing size of components being placed on a semiconductor chip. Therefore, there has been much effort expended to develop an optical reduction system capable of reproducing very fine component features, less than 0.25 microns. The need to develop an optical system capable of reproducing very fine component features requires the improvement of system performance.
A conventional optical system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,260 entitled “Catadioptric Optical Reduction System with High Numerical Aperture” issued Jul. 16, 1996 to Williamson, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This reference describes an optical reduction system having a numerical aperture of 0.35. Another optical system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,960 entitled “Optical Reduction System” issuing Sep. 4, 1990 to Williamson, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This reference describes an optical system operating in the range of 248 nanometers and having a numerical aperture of 0.45. | {
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The invention relates to a leadthrough for an electrical high voltage through a wall which separates a process area from an ambient area. The process area has at least in its entrance area an atmosphere which is contaminated by, or includes, liquid droplets (aerosols) and/or carbon or dust particles and which is therefore separated from the environment.
In order to remove such contaminating aerosols or solid particles from the process atmosphere, it is conducted in the process area through cleaning equipment.
Such equipment are for example electrostatic dust collectors or electrostatic wet dust removers. They are generally used for removing contaminants from the air or from gases. The contaminants are removed by being electrostatically charged and then collected on grounded electrodes. To this end, a high electrical voltage must be supplied from a source in the ambient area to the respective high voltage equipment in the process area. Such electrostatic collectors and electrostatically enhanced wet scrubbers remove particles form exhaust gases. In many of the devices developed in the last years, a reduction in size of the devices and increased long-time stability was achieved. Often high voltage leadthroughs extend through the wall or are provided by way of an added structure.
An electrostatic high voltage shield can be used to pre-vent particle deposition on the insulator (see WO 00/30755). In this case, the conductive casing is connected to the same high voltage source as the discharge electrode so that a high voltage electrical field is generated in the area between the casing and the close-by grounded surfaces of the housing. Accordingly, the charged droplets or particles present in the gas are deposited on the grounded surface and not on the high voltage insulators. In order to prevent vapor condensation on the insulators, the insulators are heated since condensation on the insulators could reduce the voltage at the electrical connector. To this end, an electrostatic heater is connected to the insulator in order to maintain it at a temperature of at least 10° C. above the temperature of the surrounding gas. Generally, a few degrees are sufficient to prevent vapor condensation.
The insulators can also be heated by an injection of dry warm cleaning gas into the shield which surrounds the insulators (U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,098 or WO 00/47326. The flow of air around the insulator keeps the surface of the insulator free from moisture and dust deposits so as to keep the insulator clean and generally free from sparking. By the admission of the air by way of a blower or other air pressure generating means to a certain degree air cooling and controlled heating as well as cleaning is provided for in connection with air conditioning in the precipitation device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,863 discloses a self-cleaning venture insulator for an electrostatic precipitator. The insulator consists of a dielectric material into which a spark over can burn only with difficulty. The air flow admitted through a venturi nozzle protects the surface of the insulator from the deposition of impurities from the exhaust gas.
The effectiveness of cleaning the gas depends on a reliable operation of the high voltage supply. Good electrical high voltage insulating materials, which are readily available are important and designs suitable for the ambient area and the process area and particularly the geometries are very important. During operation, the high voltage insulator is exposed to the charged and not charged particles suspended in the gas as well as to the condensed vapors which are possibly present. Over an extended period, the collection of condensed material on the insulator detrimentally affects the insulator. Therefore the insulator must be kept free of impurity deposits so as to avoid sparking. Furthermore, the cleaning intervals must be extended. In addition, the manufacturing costs must be reduced while the insulation properties should be improved.
In this connection, particular attention should be directed to the high voltage leadthrough which is installed in the wall between the ambient and the process area and by way of which the high voltage required for the electrostatic cleaning device can be safely and longtime-reliably provided. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Scientists and clinicians face a number of challenges in their attempts to develop active agents into forms suited for delivery to a patient. Active agents that are polypeptides, for example, are often delivered via injection rather than orally. In this way, the polypeptide is introduced into the systemic circulation without exposure to the proteolytic environment of the stomach. Injection of polypeptides, however, has several drawbacks.
For example, many polypeptides have a relatively short half-life, thereby necessitating repeated injections, which are often inconvenient and painful. Moreover, some polypeptides can elicit one or more immune responses with the consequence that the patient's immune system attempts to destroy or otherwise neutralize the immunogenic polypeptide. Of course, once the polypeptide has been destroyed or otherwise neutralized, the polypeptide cannot exert its intended pharmacodynamic activity. Thus, delivery of active agents such as polypeptides is often problematic even when these agents are administered by injection.
Some success has been achieved in addressing the problems of delivering active agents via injection. For example, conjugating the active agent to a water-soluble polymer has resulted in polymer-active agent conjugates having reduced immunogenicity and antigenicity. In addition, these polymer-active agent conjugates often have greatly increased half-lives compared to their unconjugated counterparts as a result of decreased clearance through the kidney and/or decreased enzymatic degradation in the systemic circulation. As a result of having a greater half-life, the polymer-active agent conjugate requires less frequent dosing, which in turn reduces the overall number of painful injections and inconvenient visits with a health care professional. Moreover, active agents that were only marginally soluble demonstrate a significant increase in water solubility when conjugated to a water-soluble polymer.
Due to its documented safety as well as its approval by the FDA for both topical and internal use, polyethylene glycol has been conjugated to active agents. When an active agent is conjugated to a polymer of polyethylene glycol or “PEG,” the conjugated active agent is conventionally referred to as “PEGylated.” The commercial success of PEGylated active agents such as PEGASYS® PEGylated interferon alpha-2a (Hoffmann-La Roche, Nutley, N.J.), PEG-INTRON® PEGylated interferon alpha-2b (Schering Corp., Kennilworth, N.J.), and NEULASTA™ PEG-filgrastim (Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, Calif.) demonstrates that administration of a conjugated form of an active agent can have significant advantages over the unconjugated counterpart. Small molecules such as di stearoylphosphatidylethanolamine (Zalipsky (1993) Bioconjug. Chem. 4(4):296-299) and fluorouracil (Ouchi et al. (1992) Drug Des. Discov. 9(1):93-105) have also been PEGylated. Harris et al. have provided a review of the effects of PEGylation on pharmaceuticals. Harris et al. (2003) Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 2(3):214-221.
Despite these successes, conjugation of a polymer to an active agent to result in a commercially relevant drug is often challenging. For example, conjugation can result in the polymer being attached at or near a site on the active agent that is necessary for pharmacologic activity (e.g., at or near a binding site). Such conjugates may therefore have unacceptably low activity due to, for example, the steric effects introduced by the polymer. Attempts to remedy conjugates having unacceptably low activity can be frustrated when the active agent has few or no other sites suited for attachment to a polymer. Thus, additional PEGylation alternatives have been desired.
One suggested approach for solving this and other problems is “reversible PEGylation” wherein the native active agent (or a moiety having increased activity compared to the PEGylated active agent) is released. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0079155 describes conjugates using reversible linkages. As described in this publication, reversible linkages can be effected through the use of an enzyme substrate moiety. It has been pointed out, however, that approaches relying on enzymatic activity are dependent on the availability of enzymes. See Peleg-Schulman (2004) J. Med. Chem. 47:4897-4904. Thus, additional approaches that do not rely on enzymatic processes for degradation have been described as being desirable.
One such approach for reversible PEGylation describes a polymeric reagent comprising a fluorene moiety upon which a branched polymer is attached using maleimide chemistry. Id. See Peleg-Schulman (2004) J. Med. Chem. 47:4897-4904 and WO 2004/089280. The synthetic approach used to form the described polymeric reagent is complex, requiring many steps. Consequently, alternative polymeric reagents that do not require such complex synthetic schemes are needed.
Another reversible conjugation approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,491. The structures described in this patent include those wherein a water soluble, non-peptidic polymer is attached to an aromatic group via a single attachment point. Although providing degradable linkages within the conjugate, there is a need to provide still further polymeric reagents that can form degradable linkages with a conjugate.
Thus, further polymeric reagents useful in providing conjugates having a degradable linkage between a polymer and another moiety remains needed. In addition, there remains a need to provide a range of polymeric reagents useful in providing conjugates having a range of release rates. Thus, the present invention seeks to solve these and other needs in the art. | {
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This invention relates to mechanical prosthesis and particularly to a constant torque joint for anatomical braces.
In the past, treatment for various muscular, skeletal or nervous conditions has included the utilization of particular anatomical braces which are applied to a patient's appendage and which either supports that appendage or which provide a rehabilitative measure of resistance to movement of that appendage. In this way, the patient's muscular, skeletal or nervous system can be exercised and used with a view toward rehabilitation.
While a variety of different types of such braces have been provided, the currently available structures have certain inherent disadvantages. For example, while the braces may provide an adequate range of motion, they do not provide for constant resistance or torque over that range of motion; and thus, the maximum rehabilitative benefit of the exercise is not realized. Even where certain springs are utilized in an effort to provide a constant torque or resistance to motion of the joint between two different parts of the brace, the vagaries of spring rates, spring manufacturing, spring materials, and system friction or other forces impede a result of constant torque or resistance.
Accordingly, it has been an object of this invention to provide a constant torque joint for an anatomical brace such that a constant resistance to motion is applied by the joint connecting two different portions of the brace movable with respect to each other throughout the entire range of movement thereof.
It has been another objective of the invention to provide an anatomical brace having a constant torque throughout its full range of motion.
It has been another objective of the invention to provide a compensator for accommodating system foibles toward the goal of producing a constant torque or constant resistance to the joint for use in rehabilitation.
It has been another objective of the invention to provide a constant torque coupling. | {
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Many projectors used to project an image on a screen, such as, for example, in a classroom setting or the like, are provided with a single lens that projects images having a predetermined particular throw ratio. The throw ratio for a projector is a defined as the ratio between the distance between the projector and the screen and the width of the image projected. Where a projector is provided with a zoom lens, the modification of the throw ratio is relatively simple. However, zoom lenses and their associated structures are relatively expensive and when not properly cared for or operated, can become a maintenance problem. Accordingly, there is a need for a structure that permits the inexpensive and reliable modification of the throw ratio of a projector. | {
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1. Field
Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications and, more particularly, to response frame generation for transmissions using packets having increased symbol lengths or cyclic prefix lengths in relation to the preamble of the packet.
2. Background
Several challenges face wireless communications systems, such as WiFi systems. For example, there is a demand for WiFi systems to operate robustly in the outdoor environment.
In typical outdoor environment, the delay spread is much larger than those indoors so it requires the large cyclic prefix (CP or guard interval) in an OFDM symbol. Delay spread generally refers to the difference between the time of arrival of the earliest significant multipath component and the time of arrival of the latest multipath component. To keep the overhead of CP under control, generally a longer CP requires a longer OFDM symbol.
Unfortunately, a longer OFDM symbol can carry multiple times of more information bits than a normal duration OFDM, which may cause a challenge to the receiver to process the increased number of information bits in time to meet a required response timeline. | {
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The present invention relates to the production of tissue heart valves generally and more particularly to fixtures for use in conjunction with fixation of valve tissue.
Tissue heart valves may be fabricated by harvesting a mammalian aortic root including the aortic valve and thereafter fixing the harvested aortic root to crosslink the tissue. Thereafter, the aortic root may be trimmed and employed as heart valve for implantation in human beings. The valve may be mounted to a stent or frame, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,069, issued to Lemole, U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,029, issued to Penney, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,401, issued to Eberhardt, et al. or U.S. Pat. No. RE 30,912, issued to Hancock. Alternatively, the valve may be implanted without an associated stent, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,258, issued to Quintero, et al or U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,419, issued to Healy, et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,060 issued to Christie, et al. and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety describes a process for heart valve fixation, in which the harvested aortic root is subjected to a fixative fluid to provide a first differential fluid pressure across the tubular wall of the outflow section of the aortic root and a second differential fluid pressure across the valve leaflets. As disclosed, the inflow and outflow sections of the aortic root are coupled to fluid couplings that are in turn coupled to sources of fixative fluid under pressure. The entire assembly is also placed in fixative fluid during the fixation process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,239 issued to Toomes and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety describes an improvement to the process of the ""060 patent, in which only the outflow section of the aortic root is mounted to a fluid coupling and the inflow section of the root is blocked by a plug. The plug is provided with a tube or cannula having an inlet portion extending through the valve leaflets and an outlet opening located in the inflow section of the aortic root, allowing fixative fluid to flow through the valve so that fluid may be applied to both sides of the valve and to the inflow and outflow sections of the aortic root. The fluid coupling is coupled to a source of fixative and the entire assembly is placed in fixative during the fixation process. The process disclosed in the ""239 patent substantially simplifies the fixturing process as compared to the ""060 patent.
The present invention is an improvement to the process described in the ""239 patent, providing a way to control axial stretch of the aortic root during the fixation process. Because the stretch of the aortic root is controlled, the fixturing system and process of the present invention is intended to produce an increased yield as compared to the process in the ""239 patent.
The fixturing system of the present invention resembles that as described in the ""239 patent, in that only a single fluid coupling is employed, preferably part of an outflow plug coupled to the outflow section of the aortic root, and in that the inflow section of the aortic root is blocked by an inflow plug. However, in the present invention, the cannula or tube extending from the inflow plug extends through the valve all the way to the outflow plug. The tube smoothly slides into the outflow plug, allowing for adjustment of the relative positions of the inflow and outflow plug. The outflow plug preferably has a setscrew or other mechanism associated therewith for fixing the location of the inflow plug relative to the outflow plug. The tube is provided with a series of holes extending along of the tube and arranged to be located on both sides of the valve leaflets, so that a zero pressure differential across the leaflets can be achieved during fixation.
In use, the outflow section of the aortic root is preferably first coupled to the fluid coupling, which in the preferred embodiment of the invention is part of an outflow plug, around which the outflow section of the aortic root is mounted. The fluid coupling is then coupled to a source of compressed air to close the valve leaflets and a contour ring is placed around the inflow section of the aortic root. The aortic tissue at the end of the inflow section of the aortic root is then folded back over the contour ring and a length of plastic tubing is slid over the tissue and contour ring and is maintained in place, for example, by means of a cable tie. Other mechanisms for restraining the outflow section of the aortic root during fixation may be substituted for the contour ring or the contour ring might, in some embodiments, be attached without prior application of pressure to close the valve leaflets.
The apertured tube or cannula and the attached inflow plug are then inserted into the aortic root with the tube passing through the valve leaflets and engaging the fluid coupling. The inflow plug attached to the tube is located within the plastic tubing and attached to it by means of cable ties or the like, compressing the tubing around the inflow plug. The fluid coupling is then again attached to a source of compressed air, which is used to inflate the aortic root to a desired pressure and the setscrew is employed to fix the outflow plug to the tube, correspondingly stabilizing the relative location of the inflow and outflow sections of the aortic root and preventing excessive longitudinal stressing during fixation. The assembly is then moved to a fixative bath where the outflow plug is coupled to a source of fixative under pressure, and the assembly is placed into the fixative bath during the fixation process. On completion of fixation, the aortic root is removed and trimmed and may thereafter be mounted to an associated heart valve stent. | {
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Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a climate control system for a vehicle interior, with a housing, a cooling device, and a heating device.
Description of the Background Art
Climate control systems are used for conditioning the air in vehicle interiors. It is routinely possible to regulate both the amount of air blown into the interior and the temperature of the blown-in air by these systems. Numerous devices, which enable ventilation, heating, or air conditioning, are known for this purpose from the prior art.
Simple designs of a climate control system envisage providing only one temperature zone, so that there is the same or at least approximately the same temperature in the entire vehicle interior or the vehicle interior is supplied with air that cannot be regulated separately for the different interior areas, however. Only one desired temperature for the entire interior can be specified by the vehicle occupants. Higher-quality climate control systems also offer the possibility of ventilating and tempering a number of zones individually.
In distributor housings of climate control systems, depending on the number of climate-controlled zones, a different number of flow channels and flap elements is provided for this purpose, which allow individual adjustment of the air amount and temperature for the individual zones. The air in this case is released into the interior over different outflow openings, assigned to the particular zones.
DE 103 34 500 A1, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,833, discloses a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system for the independent supplying of four zones within a vehicle interior. The housing of the climate control system has four outlets for this purpose, whereby each of the tempered zones is assigned an outlet. The system has an evaporator that can be used for cooling the air and a heater core that can be used for heating the air.
DE 10 2004 033 402 B4, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 7,478,670, discloses a modular system for constructing a 1-to-4-zone climate control system for vehicles. To this end, a plurality of air distribution devices and a plurality of air tempering devices are provided, which are placed within the same housing.
A disadvantage of the prior art solutions in particular is that the distributor housings used in known climate control systems are adapted specifically to the number of zones to be tempered; this results in a great variety of variants, which is not conducive to the preferred use of interchangeable parts. | {
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Shelving systems and gondolas are used in retail environments to display goods for sale. It is often desirable to provide electrical power to the goods on the shelves or to features such as lighting or electronic vendor displays. This requires running numerous electrical wires to each shelf of the system or gondola, and the wires are typically bundled together. Bundled wires from all of the shelves are cluttered and obvious to the customer when viewing shelves, and present a disorganized and unpleasant appearance.
A solution for generally enclosing wire routings on shelf systems and gondolas is needed. Such a wire routing solution would preferably be quick and easy to install on existing shelf systems and gondolas. | {
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Brake lines comprising a variety of materials have been used for many years in automobile vehicles to transport brake fluid in an automotive brake system. Typically, the brake line is formed of a durable tubing material which is suitable for carrying the brake fluid under operating conditions of the automobile, including extreme testing conditions, e.g., high pressure and a diverse temperature environment. As is known in the art, the braking system includes a master cylinder connected to a number of brake lines which connect individual braking assemblies at each wheel to the master cylinder. Disposed within the master cylinder is brake fluid which is forced through the brake lines into the individual braking assemblies at the car wheels under action of a piston in the master cylinder. This piston actuates the braking assemblies to provide a stopping force. If the motor vehicle contains an antilock brake system, the brake fluid flows from the master cylinder to an electronic brake control module which regulates pulses to the braking assemblies at each wheel depending upon information from the antilock brake system. One of the brake lines of the braking system conventionally runs between the braking assemblies of the rear wheels of an automobile, truck, or the like along the rear axle. Typically, an axle clip assembly is used to secure the brake line to the rear axle to limit undesired movement of the brake line along the rear axle and to route the brake line according to a desired path. The axle clip assembly generally includes a steel clip member welded directly onto the axle along with a bracket subassembly for securing the brake line to the axle. In addition, an armor wrap is preferably applied in the axle clip assembly for protecting the brake line in the area where the brake line contacts the welded axle clip assembly and is routed along the axle itself. To properly align and secure the brake line to the axle, a plurality of these axle clip assemblies are spaced along the axle by welding the same at predetermined locations.
Because the conventional clip assemblies are directly welded onto the axle assembly, the process involves a series of steps at both the axle manufacturer and assembly operations, including the welding process. The number of steps involved in the manufacturing and assembly processes increases the overall complexity of securing the brake line along the axle assembly. Because the welded clip assemblies are spaced apart at a predetermined distance along the axle, the location of the clips is set and is not easily adaptable to change, where necessary or desired. | {
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The introduction of genetic material into a cell can facilitate expression of an encoded protein to complement a deficient or defective protein. The use of such technology allows for the treatment of disease as well as production of certain proteins in an in vitro application.
One method of introducing nucleic acids into a cell is mechanically, using direct microinjection. However this method is labor-intensive and, therefore, only practical for transfecting small numbers of cells such as eukaryotic germline cells for the production of transgenic systems. To be effective in treating a disease, a nucleic acid-based therapy typically must enter many cells.
Gene transfer entails distributing nucleic acids to target cells and then transferring the nucleic acid across a target cell membrane intact and, typically, into the nucleus in a form that can function in a therapeutic manner. In vivo gene transfer is complicated by serum interactions, immune clearance, toxicity and biodistribution, depending on the route of adminstration.
The in vivo gene transfer methods under study in the clinic consist almost entirely of viral vectors. Although viral vectors have the inherent ability to transport nucleic acids across cell membranes and some can integrate exogenous DNA into the chromosomes, they can carry only limited amounts of DNA and also pose risks. One such risk involves the random integration of viral genetic sequences into patient chromosomes, potentially damaging the genome and possibly inducing a malignant transformation. Another risk is that the viral vector may revert to a pathogenic genotype either through mutation or genetic exchange with a wild-type virus.
More recently, cationic lipids have been used to deliver nucleic acids to cells, allowing uptake and expression of foreign genes both in vivo and in vitro. While the mechanism by which cationic lipid carriers act to mediate transfection is not clearly understood, they are postulated to act in a number of ways with respect to both cellular uptake and intracellular trafficking. Some of the proposed mechanisms by which cationic lipids enhance transfection include: (i) compacting the DNA, protecting it from nuclease degradation and enhancing receptor-mediated uptake, (ii) improving association with negatively-charged cellular membranes by giving the complexes a positive charge, (iii) promoting fusion with endosomal membranes facilitating the release of complexes from endosomal compartments, and (iv) enhancing transport from the cytoplasm to the nucleus where DNA may be transcribed. When used for in vivo delivery, the role of the cationic lipid carriers is further complicated by the interactions between the lipid-nucleic acid complexes and host factors, e.g., the effects of the lipids on binding of blood proteins, clearance and/or destabilization of the complexes.
Typically, cationic lipids are mixed with a non-cationic lipid, usually a neutral lipid, and allowed to form stable liposomes, which liposomes are then mixed with the nucleic acid to be delivered. The liposomes may be large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) or small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs). The liposomes are mixed with nucleic acid in solution, at concentrations and ratios optimized for the target cells to be transfected, to form cationic lipid-nucleic acid transfection complexes. Alterations in the lipid formulation allow preferential delivery of nucleic acids to particular tissues in vivo. PCT patent application numbers WO 96/40962, WO 96/40963. Certain preformed cationic liposome compositions are available, such as LIPOFECTIN.RTM. and LIPOFECTAMINE.RTM.. Another method of complex formation involves the formation of DNA complexes with mono- or poly-cationic lipids without the presence of a neutral lipid. These complexes are often not stable in water. Additionally, these complexes are adversely affected by serum (see, Behr, Acc. Chem. Res. 26:274-78 (1993)). An example of a commercially available poly-cationic lipid is TRANSFECTAM.RTM..
While the use of cationic lipid carriers for transfection is now well established, structure activity relationships are not well understood. It is postulated that different lipid carriers will affect each of the various steps in the transfection process (e.g., condensation, uptake, nuclease protection, endosomal release, nuclear trafficking, and decondensation) with greater or lesser efficiency, thereby making the overall transfection rate difficult to correlate with lipid structures. Thus, alterations in either the cationic or neutral lipid component do not have easily predictable effects on activity. For the most part, therefore, improvements to known cationic lipid-mediated delivery systems are dependent on empirical testing. When intended for in vivo transfection, new lipids and lipid formulations should be screened in vivo to accurately predict optimal lipids and formulations for transfection of target cells.
More recently, new cationic lipids have been prepared which exhibit excellent transfection properties when formulated with nucleic acids. See WO 95/14380, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The compositions provided in WO 95/14380 are metabolizable in animal cells to components that are typically endogenous to the cells. Despite the properties associated with the novel cationic lipids, there exists a need for cationic lipids which are more hydrolytically stable and which can be formulated into suitable transfection compositions. The present invention provides such cationic lipids, along with methods for their preparation and use in lipid-based compositions.
Relevant Literature
Cationic lipid carriers have been shown to mediate intracellular delivery of plasmid DNA (Felgner et al., (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), 84:7413-7416); mRNA (Malone et al., (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 86:6077-6081); and purified transcription factors (Debs et al., (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265:10189-10192), in functional form. Literature describing the use of lipids as carriers for DNA include the following: Zhu et al., (1993) Science, 261:209-211; Vigneron et al., (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), 93:9682-9686; Hofland et al., (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), 93:7305-7309; Alton et al., (1993) Nat. Genet. 5:135-142; von der Leyen et al., (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), 92:1137-1141; See also Stribling et al., (1992) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci (USA) 89:11277-11281, which reports the use of lipids as carriers for aerosol gene delivery to the lungs of mice. For a review of liposomes in gene therapy, see Lasic and Templeton, (1996) Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 20:221-266.
The role of helper or neutral lipids in cationic lipid-mediated gene delivery is described in Felgner et al., (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269(4): 2550-2561 (describing improved transfection using DOPE); and Hui et al., (1996) Biophys. J. 71: 590-599. The effect of cholesterol on liposomes in vivo is described in Semple et al., (1996) Biochem. 35(8): 2521-2525. | {
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The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device and, for example, relates to a technique effective to a semiconductor integrated circuit device suitably used for a power supply device.
In recent years, various electronic devices such as cellular phones and digital home appliances are becoming smaller, lighter, and multifunctional. For power supply devices for driving those devices, demands for higher reliability, miniaturization, and higher efficiency are increasing. Since a switching power supply device has advantages such as small size and high efficiency, it is widely used as a DC power supply of various electronic devices.
Two kinds of the control methods often used for a switching power supply device are a linear control method and a non-linear control method. A representative linear control method is a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control method which stabilizes output voltage by adjusting the timing of turning on/off a switching element by using a PWM signal of fixed frequency. On the other hand, a representative non-linear control method is a hysteretic control method in which a deviation of output voltage from a predetermined range (hysteresis width) is detected by a hysteresis comparator, and an output of the comparator controls the on/off state of the switching element. Since the hysteretic control method has an advantage that response speed is higher than that of the PWM control method, attention is being paid to the hysteretic control method.
As the hysteretic control method, an analog control power supply device realized by analog circuits is common. However, in recent years, miniaturization of a power supply device is strongly demanded, so that development of an analog control power supply device is being advanced rapidly. An analog control power supply device performs control by using analog circuits such as an amplifier, a capacitor, and a resistor. On the other hand, a digital control power supply device digitally performs control by using an AD converter and a digital controller.
In a digital control power supply device, since a part of a control circuit is realized by digital process, parts can be reduced, and miniaturization can be expected. In recent years, a plurality of methods each realizing a digital control power supply device having high response speed by using the hysteretic control method are proposed (Non-patent literatures 1 and 2).
A digital control power supply device (non-patent literature 1) will be described. By measuring switching on and off times of the previous switching period and switching cycles, the tilt of inductor current change in the switching on and off periods is obtained as a first measurement result. A sampled inductor current value is obtained as a second measurement result. From the first and second measurement results, time reaching a control threshold is predicted. The digital control power supply device does not require a high-speed AD converter and a high-speed digital controller and realizes low power consumption.
Another digital control power supply device (non-patent literature 2) will now be described. Inductor current is sampled at two points during a switching on period, and is sampled at two points also in a switching off period. By the sampling at four points, the tilt of the inductor current change is obtained. Together with the sampled inductor current values, time reaching the control threshold is predicted. The digital control power supply device does not require a high-speed AD converter and a high-speed digital controller and realizes low power consumption.
Prior art literatures were examined on the basis of the present invention and the following related arts were found.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-125286 (patent literature 1) discloses a switching power supply which predicts a deviation of the following cycle from a deviation corresponding to the voltage value between reference voltage and output voltage and performs PWM control on the basis of the predicted deviation.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-166959 (patent literature 2) discloses a DC/DC converter of PWM control realizing improved response of power supply control by increasing the speed of PID computation by making the PID computation progressed halfway on the basis of an error signal in a plurality of past cycles. | {
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Extensible markup language (XML) has become an industry standard for data exchange between computer systems. XML has also proven to be particularly advantageous for representing a large communications network by describing the elements thereof as well as the relationships between those elements.
Information encoded in XML format always has a tree structure. In particular, for trees represented in XML format, each node of the tree has a) at least a name and it may also have b) at most one value and c) one or more children. Nodes of trees structures without children are known in the art as leaf nodes.
Although XML is text based, due to its formal notation, it is difficult for a human being reading it to comprehend the information represented using XML. This is especially problematic for large XML documents, such as those used to describe a communications network. It has been generally recognized in the art that it would be advantageous for human beings to be readily able to understand the information contained within tree structures such as those represented by XML. To this end, various tools have been developed to convert XML to more human comprehensible formats. However, generally, these tools require customization based on the particular application and/or the nature of the data contained within the XML representation, or they may require a special application to view the human comprehensible format. | {
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It has been discovered that the simple movement of glass articles through a tempering or annealing tunnel provided with heaters or means for the controlled cooling of glass is not satisfactory for many purposes and for a variety of reasons. For example, if the velocity of the glass is too low, the glass object may sag at high temperatures between rollers or a roller conveyor, or the glass may be nonuniformly heated. If the velocity is sufficient to avoid this problem and continuous undirectional movement is provided, then the tunnel must be extremely long. Conveyor systems which do not use rollers and maintain the same support surface in contact with the same region of the object to be transported prevent the contact zone from being heated to the same extent and in the same manner as adjacent noncontact zones.
Consequently, systems have been developed which, during the advance of the glass articles, impose a retrograde motion thereon so that, while the articles progress more or less continuously into the heat treatment chamber and emerge more or less continuously from the heat chamber, at least while the articles are in the heat treatment chamber, they undergo a back-and-forth movement which reduces the length of the chamber required for the desired degree of heat treatment while minimizing prolonged contact between the supporting elements, generally rollers, and the glass.
Roller conveyors for this purpose have been driven in various fashions and in general it has been found to be disadvantageous to utilize the simplest drive mode for the rollers of the conveyor, namely, sprockets on the ends of the support rollers and a continuous chain meshing with all of these sprockets. Hence fairly complex systems have been developed in the art to support and drive the rollers and these too have not proved to be fully satisfactory since they do not allow for effective frictional entrainment with slip control where required or provide a drive substantially without excessive play so that the retrogradal reciprocating action can be generated without imposing response lags.
The rollers structure themselves have left much to be desired since they have not generally been readily replaceable or accessible for repair, assembly or maintenance.
Within the heating chamber truly effective control of the various zones could not be asserted in spite of relatively sophisticated techniques for monitoring and regulating temperatures.
As a consequence, this field has generated a large number of patents some of which have been considered by us and which are listed below:
______________________________________ 3,867,748 3,706,544 4,332,608 4,297,121 3,338,569 4,074,805 4,300,937 3,643,789 4,133,667 4,341,546 3,608,876 4,233,053 4,332,608 4,066,430 4,364,765 3,806,312 3,994,711 4,282,026 4,314,836 4,230,475 4,364,766 4,386,952 ______________________________________
In general, while these systems attack various aspects of the problems discussed above, they have not provided a satisfactory solution to the conveyor operation, heating control and conveyor structure drawbacks mentioned previously. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hollow golf club head.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a golf club head which includes a face member having an extending portion that extends backward from a face portion forming the face has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-6698). This golf club head is designed to increase the distance of a shot by the above-described extending portion. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to telecommunications data. More specifically, the field of the invention is that of comparative evaluation of telecommunications data.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many challenges associated with the successful operation of businesses. One of these challenges includes the efficient utilization of the businesses resources. Competition in one form or another forces business owners to constantly evaluate their business resources and determine whether or not they are being efficiently utilized. There are many historical breakthroughs in business resource utilization that have dramatically affected commerce and changed the way business is done.
For example, in the early stages of the automobile industry automobiles were so costly that they could only be purchased by people having substantial incomes. In these early stages, the primary cost of manufacturing was the labor cost. Automobiles were made one at a time. Workmen would either be responsible for a number of different tasks or they would be called upon to perform a specific task at a specific time. In either of these cases the labor resource was not being completely utilized. In the first instance, workmen who were responsible for a number of different tasks typically were not as efficient as they could be at all of the them. In the later instance, workmen were being paid to move between jobs, a cost that was never recovered.
Henry Ford changed all this when he invented a better way to manufacture automobiles—the assembly line. With the assembly line in place automobiles could be manufactured more efficiently by cutting labor costs. Employees were able to work efficiently at a certain position, do one job, do it well, and do it many times over to produce automobiles that were able to be afforded by people of almost every income bracket. Ford recognized the benefit of complete resource utilization. Basically Ford got more bang for his buck. For every hour he paid a workman on the assembly line, the workman was being utilized. Prior to Ford's assembly line, the workman may have been paid to perform a job inadequately or to wastefully move in between jobs.
To this day, labor and materials are still important resources; however, other resources are playing an even more important role in modem business. In order to effectively compete, modem businesses must rely on telecommunications. Whether companies are making themselves more accessible by providing associates with pagers and cell phones or they are conducting business or advertising over the internet, the costs of providing these services are telecommunication resources. At one point in business the telecommunications cost was the fourteenth or fifteenth highest cost of doing business. In recent years this cost has been ranked as high as third or fourth.
To date no one has completely effectively utilized these telecommunications resources. Typically the extent to which these resources are managed consists of shopping for the lowest rate plan possible. Returning to the early automobile industry for a moment, this is the equivalent of hiring workmen who would work for the least amount of compensation. Clearly this technique does not address the utilization of the resource. What is needed is a method or system that allows businesses to determine the utilization of their telecommunication resource. Only when the utilization is determined can companies alter their present utilization to more effectively utilize their telecommunications resource.
Conventional telecommunications rating and analysis is performed by the telecommunications services provider, or by a third party vendor using data from the telecommunications services provider's billing data. These conventional telecommunications rating analysis vendors attempt to provide business entities a way to analyze telecommunications billing data in an organized and timely manner, but fail to provide a comprehensive business entity cost and usage analysis. What is needed is a better telecommunication data analysis system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A CRT for generating color pictures generally contains an electron gun emitting three coplanar beams of electrons (R, G and B electron beams), to excite on a screen a luminescent material of a given primary color red, green, and blue, respectively. The deflection yoke is mounted the neck of the tube for producing deflection fields created by the horizontal and vertical deflection coils or windings. A ring or core of ferromagnetic material surrounds, in a conventional way, the deflection coils.
The three beams generated are required to converge on the screen for avoiding a beam landing error called convergence error that would otherwise produce an error in the rendering of the colors. In order to provide convergence, it is known to use astigmatic deflection fields called self-converging. In a self-converging deflection coil, the field nonuniformity that is depicted by lines of flux generated by the horizontal deflection coil has generally pincushion shape in a portion of the coil situated in the front part, closer to the screen.
A geometry distortion referred to as pincushion distortion is produced in part because of the non-spherical shape of the screen surface. The distortion of the picture, referred to as North-South at the top and bottom and East-West at the side of the picture, is stronger as the radius of curvature of the screen is greater.
A coma error occurs because the R and B beams, penetrating the deflection zone at a small angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the tube, undergo a supplementary deflection with respect to that of the center G beam. With respect to the horizontal deflection field, coma is generally corrected by producing a barrel shape horizontal deflection field at the beam entrance region or zone of the deflection yoke, behind the aformentioned pincushion field that is used for convergence error correction.
A coma parabola distortion is manifested in a vertical line at the side of the picture by a gradual horizontal direction shift of the green image relative to the mid-point between the red and blue images as the line is followed from the center to the corner of the screen. If the shift is carried out toward the outside or side of the picture, such coma parabola error is conventionally referred to as being positive; if it is carried out toward the inside or center of picture, the coma parabola error is referred to as being negative.
It is common practice to divide the deflection field into three successive action zones along the longitudinal axis of the tube: the back or rear zone closest to the electron gun, the intermediate zone and the front zone, closest to the screen. Coma error is corrected by controlling the field in the rear zone. Geometry error is corrected by controlling the field in the front zone. Convergence error is corrected in the rear and intermediate zones and is least affected in the front zone.
In the prior art deflection yoke of FIG. 2, permanent magnets 240, 241, 242 are positioned in front of the deflection yoke to reduce geometry distortions. Other magnets 142 and field shapers are inserted between the horizontal and vertical deflection coils to modify locally the field to reduce coma, parabola coma, and convergence errors.
When the screen has a relatively large radius of curvature greater than IR, such as 1.5R or more, for example, it becomes more and more difficult to solve the beam landing errors previously described without utilizing magnetic helpers such as shunts or permanent magnets. It may be desirable reduce error such as the coma parabola error, coma error or convergence error by controlling winding distributions of the deflection coils without utilizing magnetic helpers such as shunts or permanent magnets.
Eliminating the shunts or permanent magnets is desirable because, disadvantageously, these additional components may produce a heating problem in the yoke related to higher horizontal frequency, particularly when the horizontal frequency is 32 kHz or 64 kHz and more. These additional components may also, undesirably, increase variations among the produced yokes in a manner to degrade geometry, coma, coma parabola and convergence error corrections. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus, a signal processing method, and a signal processing program that are capable of optimizing an eye opening in an eye diagram of a predetermined signal with high precision.
2. Description of Related Art
In the case of high-speed serial signal transmission, for example, frequency attenuation characteristics of a transmitter or a transmission path may cause a reduction in the area of an eye opening in an eye diagram on a receiver side. For this reason, the receiver is configured to be able to receive data using a function (equalizer function) of widening the eye opening, which is narrowed due to the attenuation characteristics, by using a peaking amplifier or the like. The amount of attenuation varies depending on the characteristics of the transmitter and transmission environments (such as characteristics of a cable). Thus, it is necessary to employ, for example, an adaptive equalizer circuit that detects the amount of attenuation of a transmission path and automatically adjusts the peaking characteristics of an equalizer according to the detected amount of attenuation.
Meanwhile, there is known an adaptive equalizer circuit that detects horizontal jitter characteristics of an eye opening on a receiver side by using a multiphase clock system, to thereby detect the amount of attenuation of a transmission path (e.g., see F. Gerfers et al., “A 0.2-2 Gb/s 6× OSR Receiver Using a Digitally Self-Adaptive Equalizer”, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 43, NO. 6, June 2008). In the adaptive equalizer circuit, a sampler circuit samples an input signal using a six-phase clock system, and performs an exclusive-OR operation on adjacent items of sampled data. Further, in the adaptive equalizer circuit, a counter circuit counts the number of values “1” obtained by the exclusive-OR operation, and a control circuit sums up the numbers of values “1” counted by the counter circuit. Thus, the horizontal jitter characteristics can be detected.
For example, when the eye opening is closed as shown in FIG. 13A, the edge width is large in the count results of the numbers “1” as shown in FIG. 13B. Meanwhile, when the eye opening is opened as shown in FIG. 14A, the edge width is small in the count results of the numbers “1” as shown in FIG. 14B. In this manner, the adaptive equalizer circuit detects the edge width for each amplification level of the equalizer, selects an amplification level of the equalizer at which the edge width is smallest, and fixes the selected amplification level. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a backlight device for illuminating a panel display body, such as a liquid crystal display panel, from its back.
Conventionally, for example, as a backlight device for illuminating a liquid crystal display panel from the back, there is often adopted a backlight device called a side light system, which includes a light guide body along the back of the liquid crystal display panel, and a light emitting element arranged at the side of the light guide body, such as a light emitting diode or a fluorescent lamp, and in which light of the light emitting element is made plane emission through the light guide body. This kind of backlight device is very thin and is suitable for brightly illuminating the liquid crystal display panel having a relatively wide area, however, it is difficult to efficiently use the light of the light emitting element because of the structure, and a high luminance light emitting element or a plurality of light emitting elements are required, and there is a tendency that the cost becomes high.
On the other hand, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2000-47175 or No. Hei. 10-39778, a just under type of illumination system is also widely adopted in which a liquid crystal display panel is illuminated by a light source disposed just under the liquid crystal display panel. This type of backlight device is superior in that light from the light emitting element can be efficiently used, however, especially in the case where a dot-like light emitting element is used, uneven illumination is apt to occur, and in order to obtain uniform plane emission, it is necessary to secure a distance between the light emitting element and the liquid crystal display panel to a certain degree, and it is not suitable for reduction in size.
Under such circumstances, in the backlight device using the just under type of illumination system, for example, one or plural translucent sheets each being milk-white and having light diffusibility are often used to make the illumination uniform. However, the adoption of such a translucent sheet causes a drop in luminance, and under the existing circumstances, the number of light emitting elements must be increased. Then, it is conceivable to adopt a prism sheet as means for compensating an insufficiency of luminance due to the translucent sheet. A prism sheet in which its one surface is a plane surface and the other surface opposite to the plane surface is a prism surface, is put on the market, plural rows of minute prism portions each having a substantially V-shaped section are formed on the prism surface, the prism surface is normally faced toward the front side (side of the liquid crystal display panel), and the prism sheet is superposed on the front of the translucent sheet and is used. By using the prism sheet as stated above, the light which passes through the translucent sheet and is diffused, is refracted in such a direction as approaches the vertical direction with respect to the liquid crystal display panel to the utmost, and the illumination luminance is raised.
However, in the structure in which the prism sheet is disposed on the translucent sheet so that the prism portion is faced toward the front side, although the illumination luminance is certainly improved, it does not contribute to the equalization of illumination very much, and a sufficient effect can not be obtained for the resolution of the uneven illumination. Thus, it is necessary to take such measures that for example, mask printing of dots or the like is performed for the translucent sheet, or the number of light emitting elements is increased, however, there are demerits that the mask printing of the dots or the like needs a bright light emitting element and unevenness of luminance is apt to occur, and the increase of the light emitting elements causes an increase in cost.
The present invention has been made in view of the problem, and provides a backlight device which is bright and has low unevenness of luminance.
A backlight device according to the present invention includes a translucent sheet having light diffusibility, a light emitting element disposed behind the translucent sheet, and a prism sheet disposed between the light emitting element and the translucent sheet and having a prism surface on which a plurality of prism portions each having at least a pair of inclined surfaces intersecting with each other at a top are formed, and a plane surface portion formed on a surface opposite to the prism surface, in which the prism sheet is disposed away from the light emitting element and the translucent sheet so that the prism surface is faced toward the light emitting element.
Besides, a backlight device according to the present invention includes a translucent sheet having light diffusibility, a light emitting element disposed behind the translucent sheet, and a prism sheet disposed between the light emitting element and the translucent sheet and having a prism surface on which a plurality of prism portions each having at least a pair of inclined surfaces intersecting with each other at a top are formed, and a plane surface portion formed on a surface opposite to the prism surface, in which the prism sheet includes a first prism sheet and a second prism sheet disposed away from each other, a prism surface of the first prism sheet is faced toward the light emitting element, and a prism surface of the second prism sheet is faced oppositely from the first prism sheet.
Besides, a backlight device according to the present invention includes a light emitting element, a prism sheet disposed in front of the light emitting element and having a prism surface on which a plurality of prism portions each having at least a pair of inclined surfaces intersecting with each other at a top are formed, and a plane surface portion formed on a surface opposite to the prism surface, and a translucent sheet disposed in front of the light emitting element and having light diffusibility, in which the prism sheet includes a first prism sheet and a second prism sheet disposed away from each other, a prism surface of the first prism sheet is faced toward the light emitting element, a prism surface of the second prism sheet is faced oppositely from the first prism sheet, and the translucent sheet is disposed behind the second prism sheet and away from the first prism sheet.
Besides, in the backlight device according to the present invention, top edge lines of the respective prism portions are extended in parallel with each other to form a row shape.
Besides, in the backlight device according to the present invention, top edge lines of those are concentrically extended to form a row shape.
Besides, in the backlight device according to the present invention, top edge lines of the prism portions of the first prism sheet and top edge lines of the prism portions of the second prism sheet are extended in parallel with each other.
Besides, in the backlight device according to the present invention, the light emitting element is made of a dot-like light source.
Besides, in the backlight device according to the present invention, the light emitting element is made of a light emitting diode. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to crossflow water cooling towers and especially improved drift eliminator construction for effectively removing entrained water particles from generally horizontally directed air currents leaving the tower fill structure. More particularly, it is concerned with such a drift eliminator which serves to remove a significant portion of the entrained water particles in the air leaving the tower fill, while at the same time avoiding undue pressure drops; in addition, the construction of the eliminator allows individual water drainage from the respective diversion paths, so that troublesome water blockage and possible re-entrainment typically associated with crossflow eliminator structure is avoided.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In evaporative water cooling towers of the crossflow variety, thermal energy is removed from initially hot water by causing the latter to gravitate through a surface-increasing fill assembly in crossflowing intersecting relationship to currents of cool air directed through the fill. Drift eliminators are usually provided to remove entrained droplets or particles from the air leaving the tower fill structure. If drift eliminator structures are not employed in such towers, substantial quantities of water can be discharged into the atmosphere. This results in undesirable operating conditions leading to excessive wetting of surrounding areas and corresponding coating thereof with mineral deposits. In addition, icing of adjacent equipment and structures can readily occur during wintertime operations. Thus, adequate drift elimination is very necessary with evaporative type cooling towers, especially when large towers are used in metropolitan areas, as part of a large industrial complex where cold weather occurs, or because of ecological concerns where saline water is circulated through the tower.
Although it is desirable from a theoretical standpoint to remove essentially all water particles from cooling tower discharge air, as a practical matter this is an impossibility. Given this constraint, it is important that the particle size distribution of discharged water droplets be the most desirable from the standpoint of avoiding excessive wetting closely adjacent the tower. If, for example, the entrained water particles are relatively large and hence massive, they will tend to deposit on equipment or structures close to the tower. On the other hand, if the entrained particles are of relatively small size, there is a greater tendency for the water to spread and diffuse over a much larger area. In the latter case, undue icing or damage to adjacent equipment or the like is avoided. Therefore, it is important not only to remove as much water as possible on an absolute basis from fill-derived air, but also to ensure that the water which does escape to the atmosphere be predominantly of small particle size.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,824 describes a dual path drift eliminator structure which is particularly designed for crossflow cooling towers. The drift eliminator described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,824 includes side-by-side cellular drift eliminator sections separated by an elongated, upright, channel or spacing which permits water to drain vertically from the eliminator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,749 describes a triple path drift eliminator structure which is particularly designed for counterflow water cooling towers. The use of a three-path drift eliminator in counterflow water cooling towers has resulted in greatly enhanced drift elimination while avoiding undue pressure drops.
While the dual path drift eliminator structure described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,824 and the three path counterflow drift eliminator structure described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,749 both represent real advances in the art for crossflow and counterflow drift eliminator structures respectively, there has heretofore been no attempt to provide a three-path drift eliminator structure for crossflow cooling towers. This is partially due to the unresolved problem of water blockage in crossflow eliminator structures of extended axial length, as is needed to accommodate three path eliminator structures. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved cellular-type drift eliminator structure which provides the enhanced drift elimination capabilities of a three-path eliminator structure for crossflow water cooling towers, which provides for downward water drainage, without imposing undue pressure drops by the use thereof. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Many health care procedures involve a sequence of medication administrations to complete a specialized protocol. The type of medication and timing of administration are important to record in order to provide healthcare providers real-time information on the conduct of the procedure and the completion of a medical record. Some specialized protocols require quick medication administrations with limited time for documentation and record keeping. Pharmaceutical manufacturers produce many types of medication containers and include prefilled syringes, vials and bags. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a photovoltaic inverter with an inverter housing having at least two chambers separated by a wall, the one chamber, which has a high Ingress Protection (IP) rating, comprising the electronic component parts and the other chamber comprising several plug connectors on the wall to the one chamber.
A photovoltaic inverter of the type mentioned herein above is well known. The inverter hereby possesses two chambers, which are disposed separately in the inverter housing, the one chamber, which has a higher IP rating, and which is more specifically rated IP65, accommodates the power electronic component parts such as the circuit board in particular. In the other chamber, which is separated from the one chamber by a wall, in particular the plug connectors to the alternating current (AC) and also to the direct current (DC) side connection with the mains or the photovoltaic (PV) plant are located on the wall.
As already explained, the circuit board is located in the chamber of higher rating; each plug connector is protected on the circuit board by a fuse. If such a fuse blows, not only must the housing of the inverter be opened as a whole, but the chamber of the inverter housing, which accommodates the power electronic parts and which is associated with the higher IP rating and is more specifically rated IP65, must also be made accessible. This is not only time intensive and expensive as a result thereof, it also involves the risk that humidity and dirt may penetrate in this part of the housing, which affects the operability of the inverter in the long run. This is particularly true if the inverters are located outdoors so that, when the higher rated chamber is being opened, there is the risk that this chamber is directly exposed to environmental influences. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A satellite navigation receiver can obtain a navigation solution (i.e., positioning information) provided that the receiver has reliable signal reception from a number of GNSS satellites to which the receiver is in contact. Reliable signal reception it typically enabled only under certain operating conditions, that is, an open sky environment when there are no obstacles to radio signals propagating from selected navigation satellites to the receiver's antenna. Any antenna blockage by natural or artificial obstacles (e.g., high trees with dense foliage, vertical walls of buildings, bridges, urban canyons, and structural elements of moving vehicles with a mounted GNSS antenna, and so on) will deteriorate the quality of signal reception. As such, the accuracy of these navigation solutions may suffer greatly including a full loss of the ability to accurately provide GNSS positioning in any way. If a GNSS receiver is integrated in a vehicle control system, even short-term GNSS positioning accuracy loss can result in a complete failure of the vehicle's control system and be unacceptable from at least a vehicle and/or human operator safety perspective.
A GNSS receiver with a single antenna measures coordinates and velocity vector components (to the extent the antenna is in motion) only for a single conditional point, the so-called antenna phase center (PC). If the GNSS antenna is fixed onto a body of a movable object, the measured coordinates and PC velocity are taken as coordinates and velocity of this movable object. As such, given the singular nature of the data, any orientation measurements of the movable object using a single antenna GNSS receiver is impossible given the need for multiple coordinates (e.g., roll, yaw, pitch, etc.) to determine orientation.
To determine vehicle orientation using a GNSS system, two or more antennas should be placed at different points on the vehicle body to measure their coordinates (one relative to the other) in the vehicle's body coordinate frame. In this way, orientation parameters can be calculated from simultaneous PC coordinate measurements of using a single-antenna (or one multi-antenna arrangement) GNSS receiver. It should be noted that two antennas allow a further determination to be made with respect to the vehicle's attitude (i.e., up to one turn about the baseline—a line connecting the PC of both antennas). Further, full orientation of the vehicle in the GNSS system can be determined by three or more spaced antennas.
A well-known method of avoiding short-term interruptions in the quality of navigation solutions is the multiplexing of a GNSS receiver and an inertial navigation system (INS). As will be appreciated, INS is capable of measuring coordinates, velocity and orientation of a vehicle irrespective of the availability (or unavailability) of any external information. However, errors with INS-only measurements tend to continuously grow (e.g., increasing drift), and INS navigational data is typically used in a motion control system only during a limited time period. A joint use of GNSS and INS allows for the correction of INS accumulated errors over all measured parameters (i.e., coordinates, velocity vector components, and orientation parameters). In this GNSS-INS joint operation, GNSS measurements are used for the elimination of potentially continuously growing INS errors for those vehicle trajectory paths for which GNSS solutions are fully accessible. During these paths, the INS solution typically has acceptable errors and needs no additional correction. At the beginning of the trajectory paths where there exist poor GNSS conditions (i.e., the GNSS solution itself is unacceptable) or has short-time accuracy degradation, the INS solution will still have acceptable errors with these errors most likely increasing over time. If the GNSS interruption is short in relation to the INS error growth the INS-only solution may be used to continue the entire navigation solution over this short time GNSS degradation interval. In addition, a continuous correction of INS errors with GNSS measurements enables full vehicle orientation to be determined even in case of single-antenna GNSS receiver. When INS is multiplexed with a dual-antenna GNSS system, INS measurements make it possible to permanently determine a rotation angle about the baseline which is impossible for a single dual-antenna system.
A key element of INS is the use of a well-known inertial measuring module (IMU). An IMU consists of a set of inertial sensors (e.g., gyros and accelerometers) rigidly fixed to a common base. A three-dimensional vector basis called an IMU Measurement frame (MF) is associated with the common base and the sensitivity axes of the separate sensors have a constant orientation relative to the MF. As will be understood, the coordinates, velocity vector components, and orientation measured by the INS are MF origin coordinates, MF origin velocity components and MF axes orientation, respectively.
In order to successfully multiplex the INS and GNSS receiver, the antenna's PC coordinates relative to MF should be equal to the pre-set values over the whole period of servicing of the multiplexed system. Further, the origin of MF coordinates needs to be as close to the antenna element's PC as possible. For example, an arrangement having the IMU inside the antenna housing typically satisfies these requirements, and PC coordinates with respect to MF origin can be determined at the design stage of a combined housing for the IMU and antenna.
If any information about physical parameters in proximity to the PC is used in the algorithms of the receiver, sensors of these parameters may be also located inside of the antenna housing. An example of such sensors are magnetic field vector component sensors or atmospheric sensors which measure pressure, humidity level, and ambient temperature directly at the point of receiving a GNSS signal.
In a GNSS navigation system in which the GNSS antenna and GNSS receiver are single modules connected by a RF cable, the distance between the antenna and receiver is limited by signal fading within the RF cable itself and having a range in the area of a few tens of meters. To use measurements from antenna sensors in signal processing algorithms, they need to be sent from the antenna to the receiver, and the measurements taken from all the antenna sensors need to be related to the receiver's time scale (i.e., the same time scale as that of the operating algorithms). This typically requires the transmission of a synchronization signal from the GNSS receiver to the GNSS antenna which can bind the moments of sampling of sensors and receivers in terms of the applicable time scale.
Processing a navigational signal received by a GNSS antenna necessarily requires the consideration of various antenna characteristics. As such, a single GNSS receiver capable of connecting different type antennas needs to determine antenna type and obtain numerical values of antenna parameters. This may be facilitated by reading, just after the antenna has been connected, such numerical values from a memory (e.g., non-volatile memory) resident inside the antenna. In addition, a receiver's firmware must have the capability of adjusting/reprogramming sensors and/or the non-volatile memory module inside the antenna. This means that a two-way information transfer channel is required between the antenna and receiver.
One solution of addressing two-way data exchange between an antenna and receiver is employing an additional cable through which the information is transmitted according to any well-known digital communication protocol. In this case, the antenna and receiver are connected by two cables: one RF cable to transmit GNSS signals and another cable to transmit information, with additional connectors serving to connect the respective communication links to the antenna and receiver housings. If the antenna and receiver are used within an existing cable network (e.g., a built-in RF-cable network as installed by the original manufacturer of a particular transportation means, for example, a car, airplane or boat), such an approach will require extra cable work which is not always possible or practical.
Alternatively, two-way communication between the antenna and receiver is provided using signals whose spectrum is concentrated in the low-frequency portion (i.e., from 0 Hz up to 5 MHz), which is considerably lower than the GNSS spectrum in the range of 1.2 GHz-1.5 GHZ. Such a difference in characteristic frequencies allows for a simple division of GNSS signals and the signals from sensors with the help of well-known frequency-selective techniques in the field of radio engineering. In this way, the two-way data communication between antenna sensors and the navigation receiver can be made through the same RF cable as that of the transmission of the received GNSS signal from the antenna element to the receiver RF path. The use of a common RF cable allows for the use of the available cable network to connect the antenna and receiver and eliminates any possible complication in the mechanical design of the antenna housing due to additional cabling/connectors, for example.
There are a number of known GNSS antenna configurations utilizing additional sensors, non-volatile memory and other additional information sources/receivers inside the antenna. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,446,984 to T. Kelin et al. describes a method of transmitting configuration parameters from a GNSS antenna via a RF cable using additional amplitude modulation of the GNSS signal as transmitted from the antenna module to the receiver. Signal demodulation and extraction of configuration data are performed in the receiver in the background mode during routine automatic gain control (AGC) operations. This technique does not require additional hardware blocks or special cable transceivers to receive and demodulate the additional signal. However, a potential drawback of this solution is principally a low communication rate, and the communication channel operates in one direction (i.e., from GNSS antenna to GNSS receiver).
United States Patent Publication No. 2011/0285584 to H. Le Sage describes a measuring system comprising different sensors integrated into a telecommunication antenna. Information from the sensors is transmitted to external users through a single cable. A main disadvantage of this method is the availability of the additional cable resulting in complicating the cabling system and adding extra mechanical connectors to the antenna and receiver, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,212,921 to M. Jeerage describes a satellite navigation system wherein a measuring unit consisting of a combined GNSS antenna module and IMU is connected to a remote GNSS receiver via a single RF cable. The GNSS signal and IMU measurements are transmitted to the receiver via a single RF cable. The antenna's low noise amplifier (LNA) and IMU are powered from the receiver through the same cable, and the power voltage, GNSS signal, and IMU signal differ in frequency and can be separated by a system of filters.
Chinese Patent Application No. CN 101765787 describes an ultra-tightly coupled GNSS-IMU system comprising an integrated antenna with built-in IMU. One potential drawback of this system is the additional cable to transmit measurements from the IMU to the remote GNSS receiver.
Chinese Patent Application No. CN 102590842 describes an integrated antenna configuration with built-in IMU which includes a transmission of GNSS signal, IMU measurements and IMU power supply through the same RF cable. In this antenna configuration, the IMU signal is modulated for transmission together with the GNSS signal through the RF cable.
As mentioned above, the above-described techniques have certain inefficiencies, for example, with respect to a lack of a channel to transmit data from the GNSS receiver to the GNSS antenna. As such, this makes any synchronization of IMU measurements with the receiver's time scale, as well as, updating of firmware (FW) inside a digital controlling device (which collects data from the IMU sensors) nearly impossible to achieve in any efficient manner.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved GNSS antenna having an integrated antenna element in combination with a plurality of built-in sources and/or receivers of additional information for exchanging the information and transmission of GNSS signals from the antenna element to a receiver over a single RF cable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to detecting biological and chemical material and, more particularly, to systems and methods of hybridizing nucleic acid in experiments in order to analyze a DNA sequence, and to detect biological materials such as proteins and ATPs.
2. Discussion of Background
As the end of human genome sequence research approaches, increasingly more attempts have been made to make full use of gene information in the medical arena. As post genome-sequence researches, gene expression analysis and analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes attract special attention. To elucidate the casual relationship between the functions of genes or genes themselves and diseases or drug sensitivity, the genes expressing under various conditions and gene mutation in the individuals are studied. Now, this accumulated knowledge of genes is used to diagnose diseases.
In diagnosing diseases, typing of the known genes or the presence of their mutation is involved unlike searching for unknown genes. It is preferable that it may be performed at a low cost and to do so, various types of methods have been developed. In the future, a wide range of tests from diagnosing diseases based on single genes to diagnosing diseases developing due to the synergy effect between various genes and the environmental conditions and testing plural genes for identifying drug sensitivity will attract special attention. In this case, it is desirable that many kinds of genes can be tested concurrently instead of individual genes or gene mutation. The system, which enables SNPs to be tested including the process for amplifying the target site of the gene at a low cost, is being sought. The systems applicable to SNP analysis or genetic testing include Invader assay (Science 260, 778 (1993)), Taqman assay (J. Clin. Microbio 1.34, 2933 (1996)), DNA microarray (Nature Gent. 18, 91 (1998), and pyrosequencing (Science 281, 363 (1998)). Among others, the DNA microarray, which allows many sites to be tested, attracts attention as a future gene sequencing technique.
In the microarray technique, various types of oligo DNAs or cDNAs are spotted on slide glass plates coated with poly-L-lysine. Spotting is performed using a device called spotter (or, arrayer), which can form spots with a diameter of several tens to 200 μm at an interval of 100 to 500 μm. The spotted oligo DNAs or cDNAs are post-processed, dried in the room, and stored. A target sample is prepared by extracting RNAs from a sample cell and preparing cDNAs marked with any of fluorescent dyes such as Cyanine3 and Cyanine5. The target sample solution is dropped on the microarray and incubated in a moisture chamber at 65° C. for about 10 hours. After hybridization ends, the microarray is washed with a 0.1% SDS solution and dried at room temperature. To evaluate the microarray, a scanner is used. An argon ion laser, for example, is used for an exiting light source and a photomultiplier tube, for example, is used for a luminescent detector. Any influence of a background irradiated from any other points than a focal point is eliminated using a confocal optics, improving an S/N ratio. To evaluate fluorescence at many spots, the microarray needs to be aligned with a reading optics at a high accuracy. For this,reason, the scanner has an x-y stage, which can move within an error of 10 μm or less.
The method for implementing low-cost measurement by integrating and miniaturizing the sensor and radio communication parts has been proposed (Bult, K., et al.,: Proceedings of International Symposium on Low Power Electronics and Design, IEEE (1996), p 17–22, or Asada, G., et al.,: Proceedings of the European Solid-State Circuit Conference ESSCIRC'98 p 9–16). The method for supplying the power required by the integrated sensor and signal processing circuit using RF (radio frequency) (Huang, Q., Oberle, M.,: IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits vol. 33 (1998) p 937–946 or Neukomm, P., Rencoroni, I. and Quick, H.,: 15th International Symposium in Biotelemetry (1999) p 609–617) or infrared ray (U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,166) has also been proposed. In these conventional examples, one sensor chip is generally installed for each target to be measured such as a single sample or in the apparatus intended to measure one test term. In addition, in these examples, the information on the result of-detection by the sensor is sent by the radio communication part but no description of information communication for identifying the target to be measured is found. In this device the sensor can not be installed for each of plural identified targets to be measured or in the apparatus for measuring plural terms to be tested.
The method for using microparticles to determine the presence and concentration of biological molecules has also been disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,377). In this method, index numbers are assigned to individual particles. The presence and concentration of biological molecules are detected using fluorescence, luminescence, or radiation while index numbers are decoded independently.
To implement the measurement system for biological and chemical samples, which is widely applicable to genetic and protein testing in the medical arena, foods, environmental measurement systems, process control in the chemical plants, and the like, it is required that: (1) the measurement system is small-sized, (2) many items can be tested in a single reaction cell, (3) the, test requires a shorter time, (4) not only biological materials such as nucleic acid and proteins, but also temperature, pressure, pH, and ion concentration can be identified, and (5) a small amount of sample is sufficient for testing.
The microarray is the slide glass plate, on which probe DNAs with diameters of several tens to several hundreds μm have been spotted. To form the spots, the device called a spotter drops a solution containing various probes on the slide glass plate. To ensure that a small amount of sample can be reacted with many probes, the spots must be formed at a high density, and the spots mentioned above are arranged at an interval of several tens to several hundreds μm. For this reason, it is desirable that the spotter has performance, which can form the spots at a high accuracy of position with an error of 10 μm or less. Since spotted amounts and shapes of solution may lead to any variation in measured value for fluorescent intensity during evaluation, the spotter must has performance, which can form the spots at a high uniformity. It has been eagerly sought that the measurement device, which allows the probes to be fixed uniformly and the desired various probes to be easily selected for measurement, avoiding this problem, is developed.
With respect to the device for detecting signals, fluorescent detection is used for the microarray as mentioned above. In this case, a laser as an exciting light source, a confocal optics, a photomultiplier tube, and a high accuracy x and y movable stage are required. Accordingly, it is difficult that the microarray is miniaturized and manufactured at a low cost and an economical and easy detection device has been sought. The microarray is a useful technique in that many items can be tested concurrently while generally, the reaction rate of target DNA hybridization with the probes fixed on the substrate is slow requiring about ten hours in some cases and it is difficult to improve its throughput. For this reason, it has been sought that an easy and speedy testing method is developed.
To not only measure biological materials such as nucleic acid and proteins but also measure physically and chemically temperature, pressure, and ion concentration, a lead line is required to output sensor signals. Measurement of many items, in particular, requires excess space and cost in lead line wiring, line connection, and signal processing. The advent of the measurement system, in which no lead line is required because the detection and measurement parts are not in contact with one another, and which enables many items to be easily tested has been expected. Such a technique is also necessary that the measurement apparatus with a sensor for sensing biological or chemical materials mentioned above and the sensor for measuring physical and chemical amounts are put together in the same reaction cell for concurrent measurement.
Moreover, in prior art disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,377, the detection of captured biological molecules on the microparticles takes time because individual particles are detected and requires the mechanisms for detecting biological molecules and index numbers. To overcome this problem, the measurement system, in which the same mechanism can detect the captured biological molecules on the microparticles and index numbers, has been desired. | {
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Flexible structures having a large number of flexible modes can benefit from adaptive control techniques. These techniques are well suited to applications that have unknown modeling parameters and poorly known operating conditions. However, creating an accurate model of the dynamic characteristics of a structure can be extremely difficult if not impossible.
Most systems requiring closed-loop control have nonlinearities and uncertainties in their system dynamics. Computer simulation models of dynamical systems are very expensive to produce and cannot accurately represent important nonlinear system dynamics. Modern and classical control system design relies on linear plant models, leading to likely problems with unmodeled dynamics that can drive a system to instability. For many applications, it is a lengthy process to create a control system that is robust to unmodeled dynamics while achieving the desired performance. Often, it is only through encountering off-nominal situations that important nonlinear dynamics are understood. Unfortunately, this discovery may come too late, after a system is in use, leading to issues with safety, product integrity, performance, reliability, etc.
Various methods are known in the art for dealing with nonlinear control problems. For example, use of fixed gain controllers with gain scheduling is known for use with aircraft flight control systems, where gains are scheduled for different expected operating conditions around which a linear model is created. Notch filters are known for use with frequencies that can interact with the control system or excite resonant frequencies. For example, flight control systems may use notch filters to prevent commands issued from the control system to excite aircraft wing flexible modes that could lead to destructive behavior, for example, due to resonance. All physical systems experience external disturbances that have varying effects on system behavior. These disturbances can have potentially profound effects on systems, especially when the disturbances are persistent (i.e., continually recurring or slowly decaying). Disturbance rejection is known, where the disturbance must be modeled accurately so that it can be accommodated or rejected from the plant output states and so that it does not enter the feedback loop. However, it is not always possible to know and accurately model the disturbance in advance.
A physical system or “plant” can often be usefully modeled as a linear, time-invariant, finite dimensional system:
{ x . p = Ax p + Bu p + Γ u D y p = Cx p ; x p ( 0 ) = x 0 } ( 1 ) where the plant state xp(t) is an Np-dimensional vector, the control input vector up(t) is M-dimensional, and the plant output vector yv(t) is P-dimensional. A, B, and C are constant matrices of the appropriate dimensions, and the notation (A, B, C) is commonly used to denote a plant modeled by (1). r is a constant matrix related to the disturbance vector, uD(t), which is MD-dimensional and can be thought to come from a disturbance generator:
{ u D = Θ z D z . D = F z D ; z D ( 0 ) = z 0 } ( 2 ) where the disturbance state zD(t) is ND-dimensional. (All matrices in (1) and (2) have the appropriate compatible dimensions.) Eqs. (1) and (2) have been used to describe systems having persistent disturbances having known form but unknown amplitude. The disturbance generator can also be rewritten in a form that is not a dynamical system, but is sometimes easier to use:
{ u D = Θ z D z D = L ϕ D } ( 3 ) where θD is a vector composed of the known basis functions for the solutions of uD=zD, i.e., θD consists of the basis functions which make up the known form of the disturbance, and L is a matrix of dimension ND by dim(θD).
In much of the control literature, it is assumed that the plant and disturbance generator parameter matrices A, B, C, Γ, Θ, F are known. This knowledge of the plant and its disturbance generator allows the separation principle of linear control theory to be invoked to arrive at a state-estimator-based linear controller that can stabilize the plant and suppress the persistent disturbances via feedback. However, in many systems, the plant is poorly known; only the form(s) of the disturbances are known but not the amplitudes, and other methods are required.
A practical and well-accepted representation of flexible structures is based on the finite element method (FEM). The FEM of the lumped model in physical coordinates q, for a linearized actively controlled flexible structure with M control inputs, and P plant outputs is given in matrix form as
{ M 0 q ~ + D 0 q . + K 0 q = B 0 ι y p = C 0 q + E 0 q . ( 4 )
This system can be put into a modal form with the transformationq=Φ0η (5)where
{ I ≡ Φ 0 T M 0 Φ 0 Λ 0 ≡ Φ 0 T K 0 Φ 0 ≡ diag [ ω k 2 ] } ( 6 ) (I is the identity matrix of appropriate dimension.)
Using the transformation (5), the modal form of (4) follows:
{ η _ + D _ 0 η . + Λ _ 0 η = B _ 0 u y p = C _ 0 η + E _ 0 η . } ( 7 )
This system can be put into a modal first-order form with the states
x p ≡ [ η η . ] ( 8 )
Many kinds of systems have modal forms, and the results apply to control of any such system, not just flexible structures. The control of these physical systems or “plants” is straightforward if the plant satisfies the requirement of “Almost Strict Positive Realness,” wherein the matrix product CB is positive definite and the system transfer function from the plant output to the plant input is minimum phase (e.g., all zeros of the numerator are in the left half-plane). | {
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This disclosure relates generally to database management systems, and more specifically, to generating database statistics for a query execution plan based on a transaction state.
Before query execution, database management systems may employ an optimizer engine to determine an efficient or most efficient method to access data requested from a query statement. For example, a cost-based optimizer may generate the best execution plan, which is the plan with the lowest cost among all other candidate plans. When determining an efficient or most efficient plan to access the requested data, the optimizer may utilize various column statistics (e.g., frequent value lists, histograms, cardinality, selectivity, etc.) to track information about column values and data distribution within the columns. These statistics may be foundational for determining whether particular execution plans are implemented.
In some examples, these column statistics may be kept for committed transactions only. A transaction is one or more operations that make up a unit of work performed against a database. For example, an operation to delete a particular database record (i.e., row) from a table and an operation to update another database record may be a transaction. When a transaction is committed, the corresponding operation(s) are executed successfully, (e.g., successfully deleting and updating the database records). When a transaction is uncommitted, the transaction is still in progress and not completed (e.g., a database record is deleted and a database record to be updated has not occurred yet). Queries for data may return database records that are both in a committed and uncommitted transaction state. Alternatively, queries may return database records that are only in a committed transaction state, depending on the locking mechanisms (i.e., isolation levels) utilized within the database. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and system of dynamically managing end-to-end network loss during a phone call.
2. Background Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a fixed-loss system 10 configured to facilitate execution of a phone call between an endpoint 12 of a calling party and an endpoint 14 of a called party where signals are exchanged in a send and receive direction 16, 18 over a network 20. Each time the signals travel from one endpoint 12 to the other 14, a certain amount of loss may be added to the imparted signals to reduce the annoyance caused by echo. This may be done since the primary (non-echoed) audio is attenuated once, whereas the returned echo is attenuated twice (once from talker to listener, and once more from listener back to talker). The loss may also be imparted to reduce signal strength in a manner that facilitates volume control. The loss may also be imparted to control saturation levels and other operating characteristics associated with the phone call. Regardless of the motivation for inserting the loss and the amount of loss inserted, the loss is commonly referred to as end-to-end loss as it represents the amount of loss experienced by signals traveling from one endpoint 12 to the other 14.
Knowing the amount of end-to-end loss in each direction between two endpoints 12, 14 is critical to maintaining a desirable level of quality for the phone call. The amount of end-to-end loss can vary depending on a media connection and network connection. For example, the media connection, generally defined as the phone-to-ear piece connection, can introduce a certain amount of loss, while the network connection, generally defined as the encode-to-decode connection used to carry signaling between the media connections, can introduce another amount of loss.
To insure adequate levels of loss are included within the network 20, the network 20 may be constructed in a manner that fixes the introduced losses at a particular loss value for all phone calls having endpoints 12, 14 within the same network 20. This insures end-to-end loss is proper when both endpoints 12, 14 are on the same network 20, typically by configuring each endpoint to introduce a fixed amount of loss. As illustrated, each of the endpoints introduces −3 dB of loss in both of the send and receive directions 16, 18 such that the total end-to-end loss is −6 dB in each direction 16, 18. (Necessarily, the communications mediums and mechanisms induce additional loss.) The endpoint 12, 14 or devices connected to it may be configured to operate most desirably when the total amount of loss is the same in both directions 16, 18.
While the fixed introduction of −3 db of loss is helpful with respect to calls having endpoints within the same network 20, the fixed loss strategy becomes problematic in maintaining the same amount of loss in both directions 16, 18 if one of the endpoints 12, 14 is outside the network of the other endpoint. FIG. 2 illustrates an inter-network system 30 where execution of a phone call between first and second endpoints 32, 34 requires signals to be carried over first and second networks 36, 38. The first network 36 is shown to operate at an end-to-end loss of −6 dB with the introduction of −3 dB of loss in both of a send and a receive direction 40, 42 while the second network is configured to operate at an end-to-end loss of −4 dB with the introduction of −2 dB of loss in both of the send and receive direction 40, 42.
This inter-network scenario causes sound levels at the first endpoint 32 to be softer than the desired level and at the second endpoint 34 to be louder than the desired level. This type of signal level discrepancy can lead to a number of issues. For example, echo may become an issue if the lower than desired loss at the first endpoint 32 is below that which is required by the first network configuration to eliminate echo. Saturation may become an issue if the stronger than desired loss at the second endpoint 34 causes voice transmissions to interfere with other transmissions, e.g. data. Volume control may become an issue if the lower than desired loss at the first endpoint 32 causes the second endpoint 34 to sound overly quiet.
The fixed-loss configuration shown in FIG. 1 is suitable for endpoints 12, 14 within the first network 20. The inability of the first network 20 to introduce other amounts of loss becomes problematic when one of the endpoints is on a network configured to operate at different loss levels, as described with respect to the inter-network configuration shown in FIG. 2. | {
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There is a close relationship between tides or tidal currents and an amount of fish catch in a fishery. Particularly, in angling, fish schools can be effectively detected and caught by paying attention to a tide or a tidal current to find a good fishery. Since an amount of fish catch depends on a tide or a tidal current in an angling area, it becomes very important in fishing to obtain tide or tidal current data in an expected area and at a day and hour beforehand and to take into account the tide or the tidal current at an area when fish schools are detected.
When a ship proceeds through a strait or the like, tides or tidal currents may become obstructions, or they may help a ship to advance efficiently. Thus, it is important to know beforehand tides or tidal currents along a route the ship proceeds or to know a tide or a tidal current at the present position of the ship.
Conventionally, such tide or tidal current data have been edited by, for example, the Maritime Safety Agency to produce tides or tidal currents table. Thus, it has been possible to know tide or tidal current conditions corresponding to ages of the moon at various points in Japan.
However, the tides and tidal currents table is voluminous, since there are described therein tides or tidal currents data corresponding to ages of the moon at many points throughout Japan. It has taken much energy and a long time to search the relevant tide or tidal current at a desired place and a desired day and hour out of the data in the table. | {
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Most internal combustion engines mounted on vehicles has a cycle of an intake stroke, a compression stroke, an explosion stroke, and an exhaust stroke, and in particular, a very small amount of mixed air is leaked through an aperture between a wall of a cylinder and a piston during the compression and explosion strokes.
The phenomenon is called a blow-by phenomenon, and the mixed air is called a blow-by gas.
Theoretically, if the space between the wall of the cylinder and the piston is sealed, the blow-by gas will not generated, but the blow-by phenomenon occurs in all vehicles because it is practically impossible to completely eliminate an aperture between the wall of the cylinder and the piston.
Most of the components of the blow-by gas is unburned fuels (HC), and the remaining components are burned gases, partially oxidized mixed gases, and a very small amount of engine oil.
Because the blow-by gas significantly contaminates the atmospheric environment, the recent vehicles have been required to recirculate the blow-by gas into the crankcase, and re-burn and discharge the blow-by gas.
Accordingly, the methods of ventilating the interior of a crankcase include positive crankcase ventilation (PCV), and Korean Patent No. 1163786 discloses a method of recirculating and re-burning a blow-by gas by mounting a PCV valve that may control flow rate according to a pressure difference between an intake manifold and a crankcase, in which because the amount of generated blow-by gas increases as the load of an engine rises, an intake system including an air cleaner, an air inflow part, and an intake manifold is contaminated as the blow-by gas flows backwards to a fresh air inflow hose, and the engine deteriorates, sludge is generated, and in severe cases, an engine failure can be generated as the viscosity of the engine oil lowers and smooth lubrication is hampered.
(Patent Document 1) KR 1163786 B1 | {
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Advances in semiconductor processing and circuit design have led to increased component density in very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit arrays. While the individual components comprising such circuits operate at low voltage and draw very low currents, the increased density of the components in such circuits has a consequential increase in heat generated per unit area of semiconductor chip surface. This has necessitated the use of heat conducting pedestals and heat exchangers attached to the chips to facilitate the removal of heat from the chip surface. An overview of state of the art heat removal is contained in the article "High Heat from a Small Package" appearing in the March 1986 edition of "Mechanical Engineering."
Heretofore, a variety of heat exchangers have been suggested as a means for mounting semiconductor devices and additionally serving as the means for transferring the chip heat to a flowing gas or liquid coolant. Examples of such prior art include the Jackson U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,165, the Butt U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,776, the Laermer U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,010, the Klein U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,548, the Pellant U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,996, and others.
A common difficulty with devices of the prior art is their construction which typically does not allow a reliable means for electrical leads and fasteners to pass through the thickness of the fluid passage. Additionally, devices of the prior art are susceptible to fluid leakage due to eventual failure of joints or seams which have been bonded or soldered to prevent fluid leakage to the environment Such failures are likely when the device is operated in a high vibration environment or when the pressure of the working fluid is high. Finally, devices of the prior art are limited to substantially thick cross sections due to the methods of fabrication taught by their inventors. Such thick cross sections impose undesirable weight and space penalties in electronic systems, especially those found in high speed computers and airborne electronic equipment.
With regard to the S. P. Jackson et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,165 entitled "Liquid Cooled Current Rectifiers," it is to be noted that Jackson's pin arrays are discrete pin clusters which can be inserted and removed from the fluid passage. The pin fins in the Jackson device are not integral with the walls of the heat exchanger, and most importantly, the Jackson heat exchanger cannot be drilled through its cross section without breaching the fluid cavity and causing a leak. The Jackson device certainly does not teach a seamless heat exchanger having a very thin cross section, as in the instant invention, nor does Jackson teach inlet and outlet tubes integral with the finned core of the heat exchanger.
The A. G. Butt U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,776 entitled "Heat Exchanger" is constructed from a number of individually fabricated parts, including fins, top, bottom, end plates and mounting columns and the like, and it quite obviously contains many joints and seams requiring effective means for sealing against fluid leaks. The Butt device is of the class of devices sought to be improved upon by the present invention, where no sealing techniques are needed in view of its freedom from seams and joints.
The Haumesser et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,642 is concerned with the cooling of electronics by the use of meltable material, such as sodium. Although at a selected temperature the material in the reservoir melts and absorbs large quantities of heat, after all the material has melted, the temperature of the reservoir and the liquid increases, with the temperature of the electronic components likewise increasing until such ti me as the electronics fail. It is therefore to be seen that the Haumesser et al patent relates to a device with which continuous operation is impossible.
The Chu et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,497 involves the use of relatively large pins protruding into a fluid cavity from one wall, and quite importantly, those pins could not be drilled through without causing a fluid leak. The Chu et al arrangement is to be contrasted with the present invention, wherein seamless pins extend the full distance of the fluid cavity and are permanently joined to the two opposing walls, with no chance of leakage.
The Laermer et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,010 represents a heat exchanger formed from at least two separately machined parts joined together. Presumably the end walls and tubes conveying fluid to and from the core would also be attached by brazing or adhesives. That teaching is to be contrasted with the instant novel method and novel construction involving a single fluid passage taught herein, for the present novel heat exchanger is seamless in that it is formed as a single piece or component, thus not requiring the use of adhesives or brazing.
With regard to the Peck U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,435, it involves a totally enclosed transfer device or "heat pipe" containing a fixed amount of fluid which never passes beyond the boundaries of the device. Peck uses parallel grooves to convey the liquid coolant from one end of the heat pipe to the other, which grooves are covered with a perforated plate. The space above the perforated plate conveys the same coolant in its gaseous state. It is important to note that Peck's unit cannot accommodate electrical leads from any electronic device mounted directly to it, for any hole drilled in the Peck device would create fluid leakage and subsequent failure.
The Ruka et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,101 is somewhat similar to the previously mentioned Haumesser et al patent, as it features a totally sealed heat sink containing a meltable material in a honeycomb structure. It is important to note that, in steady state operation, the amount of heat removable in accordance with the Ruka et al teaching is quite limited inasmuch as the heat exchanger would be in poor thermal contact with the electronic devices. Obviously, this patent cannot be construed as representing a seamless device, or a device in which liquid may flow through it continuously as in the instant invention.
With reference to the Klein et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,548, it teaches a heat exchanger with a single fluid passage with multiple pins extending the height of the passage, with such pins being of a structure integral with the top and bottom walls. Significantly, Klein utilizes a two-piece construction wherein identical halves are soldered together, which of course is to be contrasted with the present invention, which utilizes a single component construction free of seams and therefore not requiring any soldering type efforts.
The Pellant et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,996 is a liquid cooled heat exchanger comprised of two separately fabricated parts, which are subsequently soldered or glued together, with separate tubes for conveying coolant to and from the heat exchanger being attached, presumably by soldering or glueing. Although it might be possible to drill holes through Pellant's device, such drilled holes would necessarily have to pass through a glued or soldered seam, thereby creating a potential for fluid leakage. This is to be contrasted with the present invention wherein there is virtually no chance of leakage of any kind
With regard to the Frieser et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,012, this amounts to a technique for enhancing boiling heat transfer, and this is not really a heat exchanger device. Any electronic devices would need to be mounted inside the fluid cavity in accordance with the Frieser et al teaching, and no fluid flow can take place, which is to be contrasted with the instant invention, wherein a substantial amount of cooling takes place as a result of the flow of a coolant fluid. A further distinction of the instant invention is that it necessitates none of the external fins employed by Frieser et al.
The Parmerlee et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,300 teaches the utilization of a plurality of printed circuit boards in a parallel relationship between two side plates, with the side plates containing a fluid passage for conveying liquid coolant from the printed circuit boards. Many distinctions are apparent here, for Parmerlee utilizes forced air over the electronic components to obtain partial cooling, whereas the instant invention does not rely on air or any other gas for cooling.
Concerning the Tuckerman et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,472, it teaches the cooling of a single semiconductor integrated circuit utilizing a plurality of parallel and closely spaced rectangular channels of microscopic size etched onto one side of a silicon chip, with the integrated circuit being applied to the opposite side of the chip. Cooling liquid is forced through microchannels to cool the integrated circuit. This of course is a construction quite different than the present invention, wherein several chips may be mounted to a separate heat exchanger, rather than the single chip arrangement taught by this patentee.
Regarding the Pease et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,505, it is concerned with a method of attachment between a chip and a heat sink, wherein specially shaped microscopic grooves are formed in the heat sink. The mating surface must be flat and smooth, and a liquid place between the two surfaces partially fills the grooves and, by capillary action, causes a significant attractive force between the two mating surfaces. There obviously is no consequential similarity between the Pease et al patent and the instant invention, for the instant invention teaches a novel heat exchanger construction, whereas Pease is concerned with a method of attachment between a chip and a heat sink.
It was in an effort to overcome the many disadvantages of the prior art devices that the present invention was evolved. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to chairs, and more particularly, to chairs capable of tilting and swivelling.
2. Description of the Related Art
An occupant of a chair, such as an office chair, does not remain stationary throughout the course of the day. The occupant is frequently required to change position, whether to move the occupant's spatial position on the floor, or to rotate to face sideward or rearward, or to reach for an object positioned away from the occupant.
To an extent, modern desk chairs address these mobility concerns by providing caster wheels on the base (allowing spatial positioning) and by providing a swivel means immediately below the seat part of the chair (allowing the occupant to face in different directions). However, chair designers have had difficulty addressing the reach concern without compromising the comfort or safety of the occupant.
The ability to move in place while seated is also an ergonomic issue. Certain recent seating improvements have allowed the occupant to tilt in various directions. This moderate degree of mobility is considered important to improve circulation and accommodate the natural “restlessness” of the body, even while seated. Even in stationary chairs, occupants tend to shift their body weight, by leaning from side-to-side and back-and-forth. Stress on the spine and ischia and reduced blood flow to the legs can result if such natural shifting movement is not accommodated in the chair.
While many chairs provide rearward tilting of the seat pan or seat back (or both) to allow the occupant to partially recline, tilting the entire chair at the base more closely mimics the natural shifting movements of the body, using the ankles as a pivot point. The base tilt also allows the occupant's feet to stabilize the chair. However, there is a concern that, in rearward or, especially, in rear-sideward tilting, the occupant may lose control, tilting back (and to the side) too far for the occupant to correct, which may result in the occupant either tipping the chair or falling off the seat, which may lead to injury. It would be beneficial to allow base tilting of the chair in circumscribed degrees to reduce the likelihood of rear-sideward spills.
Such tilting should be accommodated as an additional feature in harmony with other normal functions of a chair, such as swivelling and spring-based “bouncing”. | {
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Some semiconductor devices comprise an integrated circuit including a plurality of transistors. For example, an integrated circuit that drives a semiconductor memory includes a transistor operating under a high voltage. Such a transistor is provided in a P-type or N-type well of a semiconductor substrate in order to be electrically insulated from a low voltage portion. Thus, it is desired for the integrated circuit operating stably to improve the breakdown voltage of the well. | {
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Ratchet wrenches and bit drivers are known in the art. Similarly, tools having flex heads are known in the art. However, many of these tools have shortcomings including (1) they are not versatile in use; (2) the tools having a ratchet and bit driver on the back side thereof are awkward and cumbersome to use; (3) many of the tools are short and do not provide sufficient leverage; (4) the tools cannot reach “tight” spots; and (5) similar problems.
Accordingly, the known tools while useful for certain applications have various shortcomings. These and other shortcomings of such tools are addressed by the present invention. | {
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Wilms tumor gene (WT1 gene) is a zinc-finger transcription factor-encoding gene. WT1 gene is known to have four isoforms distinguished by the presence or absence of 17 amino acids (17AA) inserted at the 5′-side site of the two alternative splicing sites of the gene, as well as by the presence or absence of three amino acid residues between zinc fingers 3 and 4.
Wilms tumor gene (WT1 gene) was isolated as a causative gene of pediatric kidney tumor (Non-patent Documents 1 and 2). Since some deletions and mutations in this gene have been found in Wilms tumor, it has been believed that this gene is a tumor suppressor gene.
However, a number of reports by the present inventors suggest that WT1 gene exerts an oncogene-like function rather than functions as a tumor suppressor gene. It has been revealed that almost all leukemia cells express high levels of the nonmutated wild type WT1 gene, and the expression level in leukemia is reciprocally correlated with the prognosis of patients (Non-patent Documents 3 and 4); antisense WT1 DNA specifically suppresses the growth of leukemia cells (Non-patent Document 5); forced expression of the WT1 gene results in suppression of the differentiation of mouse normal bone marrow precursor cells and bone marrow precursor cell line 32D C13 into neutrophils, and the cells began proliferating as a result (Non-patent Document 6); etc. These findings suggest that the WT1 gene is involved in the leukemogenic conversion of hematopoietic cells. The present inventors have also reported that the wild type WT1 gene is expressed at high levels in various types of solid cancers (Non-patent Documents 7 to 14).
The present inventors believe that the WT1 gene would be useful for the development of tumor-specific molecular target therapy if expression of the gene can be efficiently suppressed. To date, no tumor-specific molecular target therapy that targets WT1 has been known.
[Non-patent Document 1] Call K M, et al.: Isolation and characterization of a zinc finger polypeptide gene at the human chromosome 11 Wilms' tumor locus. Cell 60: 509, 1990
[Non-patent Document 2] Gessler M, et al.: Homozygous deletion in Wilms tumours of a zinc-finger gene identified by chromosome jumping. Nature 343′. 774, 1990
[Non-patent Document 3] Inoue K, et al.: WT1 as a new prognostic factor and a new marker for the detection of minimal residual disease in acute leukemia. Blood 84: 3071, 1994
[Non-patent Document 4] Inoue K, et al.: Aberrant overexpression of the Wilms tumor gene (WT1) in human leukemia. Blood 89: 1405, 1997
[Non-patent Document 5] Yamagami T, Sugiyama H, Inoue K, Ogawa H, Tatekawa T, Hirata M, Kudoh T, Akiyama T, Murakami A, Maekawa T. Growth inhibition of human leukemic cells by WT1 (Wilms tumor gene) antisense oligodeoxynucleotides: implications for the involvement of WT1 in leukemogenesis. Blood. 1996 Apr. 1; 87(7):2878-84.[Non-patent Document 6] Inoue K, et al.: Wilms' tumor gene (WT1) competes with differentiation-inducing signal in hematopoietic progenitor cells. Blood 91:2969, 1998[Non-patent Document 7] Oji, Y., Ogawa, H., Tamaki, H., Oka, Y., Tsuboi, A., Kim, E. H., Soma, T., Tatekawa, T., Kawakami, M., Asada, M., Kishimoto, T., and Sugiyama, H. Expression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in solid tumors and its involvement in tumor cell growth. Japanese Journal of Cancer Research, 90: 194-204, 1999.[Non-patent Document 8] Oji, Y, Miyoshi, S., Maeda, H., Hayashi, S., Tamaki, H., Nakatsuka, S., Yao, M., Takahashi, E., Nakano, Y, Hirabayashi, H., Shintani, Y., Oka, Y, Tsuboi, A., Hosen, N., Asada, M., Fujioka, T., Murakami, M., Kanato, K., Motomura, M., Kim, E. H., Kawakami, M., Ikegame, K., Ogawa, H., Aozasa, K., Kawase, I., and Sugiyama, H. Overexpression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in de novo lung cancers. International Journal of Cancer, 100: 304-308, 2002.[Non-patent Document 9] Ueda, T., Oji, Y., Naka, N., Nakano, Y, Takahashi, E., Koga, S., Asada, M., Ikeba, A., Nakatsuka, S., Abeno, S., Hosen, N., Tomita, Y, Aozasa, K., Tamai, N., Myoui, A., Yoshikawa, H., and Sugiyama, H. Overexpression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in human bone and soft-tissue sarcomas. Cancer Science, 94: 271-276, 2003.[Non-patent Document 10] Oji, Y., Inohara, H., Nakazawa, M., Nakano, Y., Akahani, S., Nakatusuka, S., Koga, S., Abeno, S., Honjo, Y., Yamamoto, Y., Iwai, S., Yoshida, K., Oka, Y., Ogawa, H., Yoshida, J., Aozasa, K., Kubo, T., and Sugiyama, H. Overexpression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Science, 94: 523-529, 2003.[Non-patent Document 11] Oji, Y, Miyoshi, Y, Koga, S., Nakano, Y, Ando, A., Nakatuska, S., Ikeba, A., Takahashi, E., Sakaguchi, N., Yokota, A., Hosen, N., Ikegame, K., Kawakami, M., Tsuboi, A., Oka, Y., Ogawa, H., Aozasa, K., Noguchi, S., and Sugiyama, H. Overexpression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in primary thyroid cancer. Cancer Science, 94: 606-611, 2003.[Non-patent Document 12] Oji, Y., Yamamoto, H., Nomura, M., Nakano, Y., Ikeba, A., Nakatsuka, S., Abeno, S., Kiyotoh, E., Jomgeow, T., Sekimoto, M., Nezu, R., Yoshikawa, Y., Inoue, Y., Hosen, N., Kawakami, M., Tsuboi, A., Oka, Y, Ogawa, H., Souda, S., Aozasa, K., Monden, M., and Sugiyama, H. Overexpression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in colorectal adenocarcinoma. Cancer Science, 94: 712-717, 2003.[Non-patent Document 13] Oji, Y., Miyoshi, S., Takahashi, E., Koga, S., Nakano, Y., Shintani, Y., Hirabayashi, H., Matsumura, A., Iuchi, K., Ito, K., Kishimoto, Y., Tsuboi, A., Ikegame, K., Hosen, N., Oka, Y., Ogawa, H., Maeda, H., Hayashi, S., Kawase, I., and Sugiyama, H. Absence of mutations in the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in de novo non-small cell lung cancers. Neoplasma, 51:17-20, 2004.[Non-patent Document 14] Oji, Y., Miyoshi, Y., Kiyotoh, E., Koga, S., Nakano, Y., Ando, A., Hosen, N., Tsuboi, A., Kawakami, M., Ikegame, K., Oka, Y., Ogawa, H., Noguchi, S., and Sugiyama, H. Absence of mutations in the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in primary breast cancer. Jpn Clin Oncol, 34:74-7, 2004.[Non-patent Document 15] Oji Y, Suzuki T, Nakano Y, Maruno M, Nakatsuka S, Jomgeow T, Abeno S, Tatsumi N, Yokota A, Aoyagi S, Nakazawa T, Ito K, Kanato K, Shirakata T, Nishida S, Hosen N, Kawakami M, Tsuboi A, Oka Y, Aozasa K, Yoshimine T, Sugiyama H, Overexpression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in primary astrocytic tumors. Cancer Sci. 95:822-7, 2004.[Non-patent Document 16] Oji Y. Yano M, Nakano Y, Abeno S, Nakatsuka S, Ikeba A, Yasuda T, Fujiwara Y. Takiguchi S, Yamamoto H, Fujita S, Kanato K, Ito K, Jomgeow T, Kawakami M, Tsuboi A, Shirakata T, Nishida S, Hosen N, Oka Y, Aozasa K, Monden M, Sugiyama H., Overexpression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in esophageal cancer. Anticancer Res. 24:3103-8, 2004.[Non-patent Document 17] Oji Y, Nakamori S, Fujikawa M, Nakatsuka S, Yokota A, Tatsumi N, Abeno S, Ikeba A, Takashima S, Tsujie M, Yamamoto H, Sakon M, Nezu R, Kawano K, Nishida S, Ikegame K, Kawakami M, Tsuboi A, Oka Y, Yoshikawa K, Aozasa K, Monden M, Sugiyama H. Overexpression of the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Cancer Sci. 95:583-7, 2004. | {
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Enantiomerically pure alcohols are widely used in fine chemical industries such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, perfumes, etc., and thus the studies on the various synthesis methods thereof have been increasing recently. The asymmetric hydrogenation of a prochiral ketone is one of the most important methods in preparing an enantiomerically pure alcohol. This method has gained much attention because of high catalytic activity, quick reaction time, good atom economy, simple product separation, simple post-processing, and less side reactions.
Based on the reasons above, numerous chiral ligands have been developed for the asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral ketones. Among these ligands, the most representative one is BINAP-based ligands invented by Noyori, a Japanese chemist (EP0901997A1), which achieved good selectivity in the asymmetric hydrogenation of various ketone compounds. However, it is not easy to synthesize such ligand, and the costs are relatively high. In addition, the ligand cannot be stably stored. Further, many other chiral ligands have been applied to asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones. For example, Xumu Zhang et al. have mentioned that the asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones is realized by using a complex of a chiral ligand PennPhos with rhodium (Xumu Zhang et al., Highly Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Simple Ketones Catalyzed by a Rh-PennPhos Complex. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 1998, 37, 1100-1103). However, the selectivity of such system is not good, and the ligand is hard to be synthesized and has poor stability. In this respect, it is hard to apply this system in industrial productions. In addition, the use of metal rhodium leads to an increase of the costs. | {
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In the glass industry today the most common glass container manufacturing machine is the Hartford type "I.S." machine. It is estimated that in the United States alone, there are over six thousand "I.S." sections in daily operation. This machine is described in Ingle U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,843,160 and 1,911,119.
A basic "I.S." eight-section machine today costs several hundred thousand dollars. An important advantage of the present invention is that it is applicable to the existing production facilities of the industry.
In the original disclosure of the I.S. machine, the machine was intended to make glass containers by the well-known "blow and blow" process. Subsequently, Rowe U.S. Pat. No. 2,289,046 disclosed the "62" process which could be applied to the basic machine to enable it to make containers by the "press and blow" process which is the preferred method of manufacturing wide mouth ware or jars. This development enabled the glass industry to use one machine for all types of ware instead of having a "narrow neck" machine like the Owens or Lynch machines for making bottles and a "widemouth" machine like the Miller machine for making jars.
The present invention relates primarily to the manufacture of glass containers on the I.S. machine by the well-known "blow and blow" process although there are some instances where it can also be used to advantage in the manufacture of glass containers in the I.S. machine using the "press and blow" process. Although minor variations to the process exist in the industry, the following discussion describes generally the steps which are most common. A gob of molten glass is delivered into an inverted blank mold at the bottom of which is situated a neck ring and a plunger. The gob is blown down into the cavity with compressed air to insure the complete filling of the neck ring. The plunger is then receded, a baffle plate closes the top end of the blank cavity, and compressed air is applied through the orifice created by the withdrawal of the plunger, thereby expanding the glass into intimate contact with the interior surfaces of the blank mold and baffle plate. The glass-to-mold contact is continued long enough to create an "enamel" skin on the outer surface of the resulting glass parison.
The baffle plate is then removed and the blank mold is slightly disengaged from the parison so that the parison is held in a vertical position supported only by the neck ring. At this time, the parison starts to "reheat" which refers to the flow of heat from the interior glass to the outer surfaces of the parison and to the heat reflected from the interior surface of the blank mold to the outer surface of the parison. The step of reheating the parison plays an important role in improving the strength of the final glass bottle. Following this, the neck ring and parison are transferred and inverted to the blow mold position. The blow mold closes around the parison as the neck ring releases its hold, and the parison becomes supported at the top of the blow mold by a finish ring or bead located just below the finish of the parison. The parison, of course, continues to reheat during its transfer to and positioning in the blow mold until the time it is expanded into contact with the interior wall of the blow mold.
After its suspension in the blow mold, compressed air and/or vacuum are applied, at the proper time, to expand the parison to the interior contours of the blow mold. The cooling contact between the blown glass bottle and the blow mold is maintained until the bottle assumes a sufficient degree of rigidity to be capable of standing on its own. Then the blow mold is opened and the glass bottle is removed therefrom and transferred to a cooling plate or conveyor.
As glass bottles have been designed for lighter weights and thinner walls, the length of time required to blow and cool the bottle in the blow mold has decreased significantly. Therefore, in order to maintain the blank side time in the proper relation to the blow side time, it has been necessary to reduce the time available for reheating the parison.
In the ideal production of thin-walled containers, the interval for reheating prior to blowing must exceed a predetermined minimum period of time in order to insure equalization of temperatures in all zones of the parison and to thus achieve uniform viscosity prior to final expansion. Reheating of the parison walls proceeds from the interior zone toward the exterior and, therefore, this step cannot be speeded up appreciably by auxiliary equipment. It also requires more time on containers where the parison has been formed by the "blow and blow" process than as those where the parison has been formed by the "press and blow" process because, in the former there is no plunger contact to cool the interior wall of the parison as there is in the latter process.
Many inventors, recognizing the importance of the "reheat" have proposed means to increase it. These include Wadman U.S. Pat. No. 2,084,285, Wadman U.S. Pat. No. 2,151,876, Becker U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,304, Foster U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,016 and Zappia U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,388. Because none of these disclosures is applicable to the basic "I.S." machine they have not met with commercial acceptance.
It is important to keep the proper relationship between the blank side time and the blow side time to maintain a proper amount of reheating for the parison. In an attempt to improve the reheating time for the parisons additional blow molds have been provided so that the parisons can have additional reheat time without slowing down the parison forming or bottle forming process. The additional blow molds have been added to the bottle forming machine in usually one of two ways in the prior art. An additional set of blow molds can be added to one side of the parison forming equipment so that the parisons can alternately be supplied to each set of horizontally separated blow molds. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,216,813 is one example of this type of prior art system). The additional blow molds add a great deal of width to the bottle forming machine and require an additional parison transfer mechanism to service the additional blow molds. Such a mechanism requires a complete revamping of the forming stations and cannot be used with the standard I.S. machine.
The other prior art solution is to place two sets of blow molds on a horizontally reciprocating mechanism that alternately moves a blow mold set into position to receive parisons (U.S. Pat. No. 2,151,876 is one example of this type of prior art system). Once the first set of blow molds receives parisons the molds are horizontally translated and the second set of blow molds moves into position to receive parisons. The arrangement allows the parisons to have adequate reheat time while the parisons are being transferred to the blow molds and before the parisons are blown or expanded in the blow molds. However, the horizontal movement of the blow molds can cause the parisons to deform or move in the blow molds. Any such movement of the molten glass can produce non-uniformities in the parison that create non-uniformities in the finished blown bottle. Also the parison can deform to an extent, during the horizontal movement, to cause the parisons to contact the surface of the blow molds. Once the parisons contact the surface of the molds heat transfer occurs between the portion of the parison and the mold. The transfer disrupts the reheating of the parison in the area where the parison is in contact with the mold and creates a non-uniform reheating of the parison. The non-uniform reheating of the parison can create weak spots or defects in the finished bottle. The transfer of the parisons from the parison forming molds to the blow molds can also cause the parisons to deform or become off center. The subsequent horizontal movement of the blow molds will tend to magnify any such defects in the parisons and result in unsatisfactory bottles. Accordingly, the prior art solutions to the reheat problems have proven to be inadequate and not adaptable to present machines.
A substantial advantage of the present invention is that it is designed to be used with the Hartford type I.S. bottle forming machines. The Hartford type I.S. machine forming section has a width of under two (2) feet and bottle production facilities are designed to take maximum advantage of this width. The vertically reciprocating blow molds of the present invention can be added to the Hartford type I.S. machine without increasing the width of the bottle forming station of the machine. Thus, the present invention can be used to increase production rate in a bottle forming facility by adding the invention to standard bottle forming machinery. | {
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The present invention relates to a non-volatile variable capacitive device including a resistive memory cell.
Resistive memory cells have generated significant interest recently. Many believe its use as a resistive random-access memory (RRAM) could be an excellent candidate for ultra-high density non-volatile information storage. A typical resistive memory cell has an insulator layer provided between a pair of electrodes and exhibits electrical pulse induced hysteretic resistance switching effects.
The resistance switching has been explained by the formation of conductive filaments inside the insulator due to Joule heating and electrochemical processes in binary oxides (e.g. NiO and TiO2) or redox processes for ionic conductors including oxides, chalcogenides and polymers. Resistance switching has also been explained by field assisted diffusion of ions in TiO2 and amorphous silicon (a-Si) films.
In the case of a-Si structures, voltage-induced diffusion of metal ions into the silicon leads to the formation of conductive filaments that reduce the resistance of the a-Si structure. These filaments remain after the biasing voltage is removed, thereby giving the device its non-volatile characteristic, and they can be removed by reverse flow of the ions back toward the metal electrode under the motive force of a reverse polarity applied voltage.
The non-volatile characteristics and its simple configuration enables the resistive memory cell to be implemented in a wide range of different applications. | {
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The World Wide Web includes a network of servers on the Internet, each of which is associated with one or more HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) pages. The HTML pages associated with a server provide information and hypertext links to other documents on that and (usually) other servers. Servers communicate with clients by using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The servers listen for requests from clients for their HTML pages, and are therefore often referred to as “listeners”.
Users of the World Wide Web use a client program, referred to as a browser, to request, decode and display information from listeners. When the user of a browser selects a link on an HTML page, the browser that is displaying the page sends a request over the Internet to the listener associated with the Universal Resource Locator (URL) specified in the link. In response to the request, the listener transmits the requested information to the browser that issued the request. The browser receives the information, presents the received information to the user, and awaits the next user request.
Traditionally, the information stored on listeners is in the form of static HTML pages. Static HTML pages are created and stored at the listener prior to a request from a web browser. In response to a request, a static HTML page is merely read from storage and transmitted to the requesting browser. Currently, there is a trend to develop listeners that respond to browser requests by performing dynamic operations. For example, a listener may respond to a request by issuing a query to a database, dynamically constructing a web page containing the results of the query, and transmitting the dynamically constructed HTML page to the requesting browser.
Another trend is to expand Internet access to devices other than conventional computer systems. For example, many mobile clients (or mobile devices), such as wireless phones, have been developed that include embedded web browsers. Due to size and cost constraints, the “micro browsers” contained in these devices have very limited functionality relative to the browsers that have been developed for full-fledged computer systems. However, devices with embedded micro browsers are usable in circumstances under which using a conventional computer system is impractical.
The number of device types that are able to display web content, in one form or another, continues to increase. For example, there are desktop, laptop and pocket computers, mobile phones, pagers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) that can be described as “web-enabled” because they are able display web content. As the number of web-enabled device types increases, so does the variation in the capabilities of the devices. For example, general purpose computer systems compensate for their immobility by providing large color screens, sophisticated sound output, significant processing power, ergonomic keyboard input, and an easy-to-use selection device such as a mouse, track ball, or track pad. Conversely, small mobile devices achieve their portability at the expense of screen size and user-input ease-of-use.
Yet another trend is to offer services to clients via a server on a network. Typically the network is the Internet, the client is a user, and the service is available from the server via a website. The service may supply information such as restaurant reviews, weather reports, stock quotations, or news updates. The service may also be more interactive, such as allowing the user to purchase goods, such as books or music, or to purchase services, such as booking travel arrangements. As used herein, the term “service” refers to providing information, functions, or capabilities to a client.
The process by which the user accesses the service depends on the type of client the user has. For example, a desktop computer can connect to the Internet through a dial-up line, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a cable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) connection, or many other available methods. Wireless application protocol (WAP) phones may connect to the Internet over a wireless connection through a WAP-to-HTTP gateway. Generally, the client logs in to the website and is presented with a list of available services, from which the client selects the desired service.
Generally, a service is provided in one of two ways: as a hosted application or as a portal application. With a typical hosted application, a developer creates the application, but a host installs and maintains the application for access by end-users, or customers, on the host network of servers. In contrast, with a typical portal application, the developer both creates the application and deploys it for access by end users, or customers, via one or more servers controlled by the developer. The “developer” referred to herein may be the individual, company, or other entity that provides the service (also referred to as a service provider), or the developer may be another entity providing software development services to the service provider.
A common problem with providing services via applications, whether they are hosted applications or portal applications, is that the application must be designed to work with all devices. However, devices will vary widely in their capabilities based on both the type of device and the particular capabilities of different models of devices of the same type or class of device. For example, a desktop computer will generally have a fully functional web browser, whereas a personal computing device will have a micro browser with limited functionality. Also, some mobile phones may have a limited display that only allows for a single word on each line of the display, while other mobile phones may have a larger display capable of showing several words on each line.
The variation of capabilities can make it difficult for an application developer to support all possible devices. For example, a service may involve the display of graphic images, such as those of products offered for sale, which may be easily viewed on the full function web browser of a desktop computer but which may be incapable of display on a mobile phone. Also, even if the developer is only concerned with a certain type or class of device, the differences in capabilities may be significant. For example, if the application programmer sends output containing multiple words describing several items of information, mobile phones with limited display screens may only be capable of showing the first word of each information item on each line of the display screen, or the output for a single information item will fill multiple lines on the phone display, precluding other information items from being shown simultaneously.
One approach to solving the problem of designing for devices of varying capabilities is to design for the “lowest common denominator.” The lowest common denominator approach involves designing the application to work on the most limited device available. For example, if a menu of options is to be displayed on a client device, such as a mobile phone, an application programmer may select short, one-word labels for each of the options because all devices that will use the application can support one-word labels. For example, the application developer may employ the single word menu item “Return” for a mapping application for the option of generating return directions from a selected destination.
However, a drawback of the lowest common denominator approach is that the output does not take advantage of the superior capabilities of other devices. For example, if a client device is capable of displaying a longer label, such as “Generate Return Directions,” the longer label would be preferred, since “Return” is ambiguous and may be incorrectly interpreted by the user as meaning “Return to Previous Menu.” In addition, the capabilities incorporated into new devices would go largely unused if all applications were targeted to the minimal capabilities of older devices.
An alternative approach to solving the problem of designing for clients or devices of varying capabilities is to design for some intermediate level of capability, such as the most common type of mobile phone. However, an application using this intermediate approach may not function properly on devices with lesser capabilities, and the application will still fail to take advantage of the enhanced capabilities of other devices.
Another problem with providing services via applications is how to support additional devices that become available after the application is developed. For example, several months after release of an application by a service provider, a device manufacturer may release a new device. The new device could be an evolutionary advance over current devices that improves existing features, or the new device could be a more significant advance in that class of device that adds significant new features, or the new device may be a new type of device that adds new capabilities or has a new combination of capabilities.
New devices with improved capabilities can be accommodated by using the lowest common denominator approach, but the enhanced features and capabilities of the new devices, such as larger displays, may go largely unused. For example, if the application only provides one-word menu options, the application will not be taking advantage of an improved device that is able to display multiple word options. Furthermore, with a later released device, the lowest common denominator approach may completely avoid using new capabilities, such as being able to handle voice data or graphics. Even if the application is designed for an intermediate level of capabilities, the application may still fail to fully utilize all of the advances and improvements in future devices that may be created.
Yet another problem with application development is having easy access to the tools available to the developer to create the application. Typically, a developer designing an application for a particular platform (e.g., a combination of hardware, operating system and/or protocols) will utilize a software development kit (SDK). An SDK will generally contain an application programming environment, some commonly used libraries for various features, application programming interfaces, utilities, documentation, a compiler for generating executable code from source code, and a debugger for diagnosing programming problems. To use these tools, the developer obtains the software, documentation, and other materials from an SDK provider, and then the developer installs the software and other tools onto a local computer or network. Later, as the SDK provider makes improvements and upgrades, the developer incorporates such changes into the local installation of the SDK package. Thus, the application developers may have to expend significant resources to install and maintain the SDK. In addition, conventional SDK's typically require significant resources not only for the SDK itself, but also for application development and the infrastructure for the setup, testing, and deployment of the runtime applications.
Individual service providers may want to offer other services that are related to their core services to enhance the overall experience of the customers of the service. For example, if a user seeks out driving directions to a particular destination from one service provider, the driving direction provider may also want to offer the user additional information about the weather or dining options at the particular destination. One way for the driving direction provider to offer such additional information is to create the necessary additional services, which can entail significant additional development resources. Another approach is for the service provider to make arrangements with another service provider to obtain the desired functionality. However, making arrangements with other service providers may involve significant coordination, both in establishing the technical infrastructure to connect the two providers' services and also to establish a means for gauging the level of use by the first provider's customers for billing purposes.
Still another concern with providing services via applications is that the service provider may want to incorporate into the applications durably stored data that is available to the applications when executed. The service provider may then have to incur the burden of establishing and maintaining the stored data so that the data is available when required by the applications.
Based on the foregoing, it is desirable to provide improved techniques for designing applications that more effectively work with all devices. It is also desirable to have improved techniques for creating applications. Further, it is desirable to have improved techniques that allow service providers to offer additional services. Also, it is desirable to have improved techniques for incorporating stored data into an application. | {
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The use of the primary and secondary synchronization channels in the 3GPP WCDMA system allows the user equipment to achieve initial synchronization to the serving cell. Once past this step the synchronization channels are no longer needed, but their presence still generates interference to the other channels.
In the 3GPP wideband CDMA (WCDMA) system, Orthogonal Variable Spreading (OVSF) codes are used to allow multiplexing of different channels and multiple access for sharing of resources among users. Because of their orthogonality, the use of OVSF codes means no inter-code interference is created.
An exception to this however is the Primary and Secondary Synchronization Channels (PSCH and SSCH) which are not scrambled with the cell specific scrambling code (section 5.3.3.5, 3GPP TS 25.211, “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Physical Channels and Mapping of Transport Channels onto Physical Channels (FDD)”, December 2005). All the channels other than the synchronization channels are allocated OVSF codes and then scrambled. The scrambling sequence is a pseudo random sequence designed to randomize the inter-cell interference. Because the OVSF codes are scrambled with the same scrambling code they stay orthogonal. The synchronization channels on the other hand are not scrambled (and also allocated different codes) and hence are not orthogonal. This means the synchronization channels can cause interference with the rest of the channels. | {
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Many types of merchandise are sold in automatic vending machines which use different types of dispensing mechanisms. FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of one type of vending machine 1 which is suitable for storing and dispensing, for example, paper packages of beverages.
Storage chamber S is defined in vending machine 1, and at least one column C is disposed in storage chamber S to store merchandise. Column C includes outer frame 2 with merchandise discharge opening 2a, a plurality of shelves 3 extending backwardly within frame 2, and dispensing mechanism 4 located on the lower portion of frame 2 opposite discharge opening 2a. Dispensing mechanism 4 dispenses merchandise individually through discharge opening 2a. Each shelf 3 is vertically movably connectable with each other. When the merchandise stored on one shelf is sold out, the adjacent shelf 3 vertically translates and replaces the empty shelf.
Dispensing mechanism 4 includes merchandise conveying or pushing device 41 having a pair of pushing elements 411 horizontally movable along shelf 3 by motor 42 through endless chain elements 43, 44. Fall preventing device 45 which operates as a discharge control mechanism prevents the merchandise from falling into discharge opening 2a. Fall preventing device 45 is disposed on discharge opening 2a of column C and, as shown in FIG. 2, includes attachment element 451 fixed on outer frame 2, control plate 452 rotatably supported on attachment element 451 through support shaft 453, and coil spring 454 which biases control plate 452 toward merchandise A. Therefore, merchandise stored on the lowermost shelf 3 is normally held between control plate 452 and pushing element 411, and is dispensed by the movement of pushing element 411.
As explained above, the merchandise positioned for dispensing is held between control plate 452 of fall preventing device 45 and pushing element 411. The merchandise is normally pushed away from the discharge passage and are held in position due to the recoil strength of coil spring 454 on control plate 452. However, if the force of control plate 452 acting against merchandise A is small, merchandise A may fall through discharge opening 2a into the discharge passage of vending machine 1 when vending machine 1 is shaken, hit, or tilted. If the force of control plate 452 is strong, this problem is eliminated. However, if the recoil strength of coil spring 454 is increased, the dispensing force of pushing element 411 must be increased correspondingly to dispense merchandise. If the force of pushing element 411 is too strong, more than one unit of merchandise may be dispensed in one dispensing cycle.
Furthermore, control plate 452 is always unlocked and is rotated easily by external forces. Thus, merchandise may be stolen by pivoting control plate 452 from outside vending machine 1 through merchandise discharge opening 2a. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system and method for distributing one or more digital photographic images from at least one capturing device, such as, for example, a digital camera or other mechanism having digital photographic capabilities, and one or more receiving devices, wherein the receiving device(s) is cooperatively structured to automatically and/or selectively receive the digital photographic image(s) from the capturing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Historically, photography, which includes the capturing of still and/or moving images, has been the source of interest and attention for many individuals, and is commonly employed for a variety of purposes, including, for business, pleasure, and as an art form. Particularly, scientists, artists, police enforcement, advertising agencies, and/or the general public use photography and/or capture still and moving images in a number of different circumstances and for various reasons. In particular, the capturing of photographic images may be used as a source of entertainment, to preserve memories, capture special moments, tell a story, or send a message.
In addition to a device structured for the primary purpose of capturing images, such as a camera, a number of other electronic devices, such as, for example, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (“PDA”), etc., include mechanisms and/or various devices for capturing one or more still and/or moving digital photographic images. These various devices allow users to capture images in virtually any location, at virtually any time, and in virtually any situation, and thus the prevalence of photography in today's society continues to increase.
Oftentimes, groups of individuals appearing in a proximate location to one another find themselves capturing or attempting to capture digital photographic images of the same or similar object(s), scenery, people, etc. Moreover, these groups of individuals are often friends, family, and/or acquaintances that have the desire to share, distribute, and/or obtain copies of the digital photographic images captured by one another.
For exemplary purposes only, weddings, parties, vacations, sporting events, tours, etc., provide an ideal situation where a number of individuals such as, friends, family members, or acquaintances, may be simultaneously taking photographs, attempting to take photographs, or otherwise have the desire to obtain copies of photographs taken by other individuals. In such a situation, it is rather common for one or more of the photographers or individuals capturing the digital photographic image(s) to express his or her intent to share or otherwise distribute the image(s), for instance by e-mailing them directly to the other individuals and/or uploading the image(s) to an accessible location on the World Wide Web. For example, many web sites and/or companies, including, SHUTTERFLY®, KODAK® EASYSHARE®, and SONY® IMAGESTATION®, provide services for uploading and sharing photographs. While this may be one way to share the image, it is not ideal, as oftentimes, the images are in fact never sent, uploaded, or shared as initially intended. In addition, even in the event the digital photographic images are in fact uploaded to the web servers, it may take days, weeks, or even months to do so, and further, use of these third-party services may often lead to excessive, unnecessary frustration and aggravation.
As such, there is a current need in the art for an image distribution system and method which is structured to dispose one or more capturing devices in a communicative relation with one or more receiving devices for instantaneous, automatic, and/or selective distribution of images therebetween. | {
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Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems and, more specifically, to a compound semiconductor field effect transistor including a self-aligned gate.
Background
A wireless device (e.g., a cellular phone or a smartphone) in a wireless communication system may include a radio frequency (RF) transceiver to transmit and receive data for two-way communication. A mobile RF transceiver may include a transmit section for data transmission and a receive section for data reception. For data transmission, the transmit section may modulate an RF carrier signal with data to obtain a modulated RF signal, amplify the modulated RF signal to obtain an amplified RF signal having the proper output power level, and transmit the amplified RF signal via an antenna to a base station. For data reception, the receive section may obtain a received RF signal via the antenna and may amplify and process the received RF signal to recover data sent by the base station.
The transmit section of the mobile RF transceiver may amplify and transmit a communication signal. The transmit section may include one or more circuits for amplifying and transmitting the communication signal. The amplifier circuits may include one or more amplifier stages that may have one or more driver stages and one or more power amplifier stages. Each of the amplifier stages includes one or more transistors configured in various ways to amplify the communication signal. The transistors configured to amplify the communication signal are generally selected to operate at substantially higher frequencies for supporting communication enhancements, such as carrier aggregation. These transistors are commonly implemented using compound semiconductor transistors, such as bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs), high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs), pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistors (pHEMTs), and the like.
Design challenges for mobile RF transceivers include performance considerations for meeting future 5G and 5G+ transmission frequency specifications. These future 5G/5G+ performance specifications mandate a ten-fold transmission frequency increase (e.g., 28 gigahertz (GHz) to 60 GHz) over current standards for supporting future transmission frequency specifications. High-electron-mobility transistors may improve upon heterojunction transistors by supporting substantially higher transmission frequencies.
High-electron-mobility transistors are excellent candidates for meeting future 5G/5G+ transmission frequency specifications. Unfortunately, current compound semiconductor (e.g., gallium nitride GaN) transistors, which are mostly used in base stations, have too high of an operating voltage to be useful in mobile devices. GaAs (gallium arsenide) pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistors have a lower power density, which make them a poor candidate for implementing power amplifiers of mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) that support 5G/5G+ transmission frequency specifications. | {
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As is known in the art, monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) are used extensively in a wide variety of microwave circuit applications. These MMICs have a substrate with a semiconductor layer on the upper surface of the substrate. Active devices are formed with the semiconductor layer and passive devices and interconnecting transmission lines are disposed on the upper surface to form the microwave circuit. In some circuit applications it is necessary include a power dissipating, resistive load.
More particularly, in a radar system, as shown in FIG. 1A, a transmitter section sends radar pulses to an antenna through a circulator, or duplexer and radar return signals are directed by the circulator to a receiver section through a power limiter/load section and low noise amplifier (LNA), as shown. The power limiter/load section is often required to protect the sensitive low noise amplifier (LNA) from permanent degradation or catastrophic failure due to high incident signal levels appearing at the antenna element. Without a limiter, the LNA can usually tolerate signal levels well beyond its input 1 dB gain compression point (P1dB). The gain of the LNA will decrease further beyond the 1 dB point with increasing input levels as its multiple gain stages are forced into saturation. At some point, the input level will be sufficient to induce permanent degradation from excessive voltage breakdown or power dissipation in the 1st stage transistor gate structure depending on the DC biasing approach and other design factors. For a GaAs pHEMT LNA, the damaging power level for a continuous wave (CW) input signal is typically in the range of 0.2-2 W depending on the design while GaN HEMT LNAs survive well above those input power levels. Since most receiver systems are susceptible to input power levels at the antenna well above the pHEMT LNA's damage level, a power sensitive, self-actuating attenuator circuit known as a power limiter/load section is installed ahead of the LNA to reduce incident levels at the LNA input below the damage threshold
The schematic of one power limiter/load section is shown in more detail in FIG. 1B. It is noted that the power limiter/load section has a power level sensing circuit and a power dissipating load. In normal operation, a voltage VLIN is applied to the gates of FET 1 and FET 2 to place the FETs in a non-conducting condition. In such condition, an input microwave signals from a circulator in the radar system of FIG. 1A is fed to the power level sensing circuit. If the power in the input microwave signal is below a predetermined level, set by the power level sensing circuit, the input microwave signal passes to the LNA (FIG. 1A) through a quarter wave transmission line. If, on the other hand, the power level of the input microwave signal exceeds the predetermined power level, the power level sensing circuit produces a signal on the gates of both FET 1 and FET 2 placing both FET 1 and FET 2 in a conducting condition, the output side of the quarter wave transmission line is thereby connected to ground so that the short circuit impedance is transformed to an open circuit at the input side of the quarter wave transmission line therefore blocking the input microwave signal from passing to the LNA and further the input microwave signal passes through the conducting mode FET 1 to the impedance matched resistive power dissipating load. It is noted that in some cases, as during transmit mode, it is desired to have any power entering the power limiter/load section pass to the resistive power dissipating load even if the level of the input signal is less the predetermined power level. In this case, a signal VLIM is fed to the gates of both FET 1 and FET 2 placing them both in a conducting condition with the result that the microwave signal at the input to the circuit is fed to the resistive power dissipating load.
In some applications requiring high levels of power dissipation, a resistive load, such as Tantalum Nitride (TaN), is used. However, because, inter alia, of their relatively large size which would occupy a large portion of a MMIC substrate, two different substrates are used for the power limiter/load section as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C; one substrate is a heat spreading substrate, such as a beryllium oxide (BeO) substrate, with power dissipating load on upper surface, such as TaN and a second substrate, such as a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate is used for the MMIC where a Group III-V layer, such as GaN on the upper surface of the SiC substrate is used for forming active devices, such as Field Effect Transistors (FETs) interconnected to passive devices with microwave transmission lines arranged as the power level sensing circuit. It is noted that the in this example, the resistive loads, here three resistors, R1, R2 and R3 are disposed on the upper surface of the heat spreading substrate, BeO. As is also known in the art, the microwave transmission lines typically have a ground plane conductor on the bottom surface of the substrates, as for example in a microwave transmission line of a coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission line where electrically conductive vias are used to connect the ground plane conductors of the CPW to a ground plane conductor on the back surface of the substrate, as shown for the BeO substrate in FIG. 1D. Unfortunately, because of the large surface area of the resistor, a parasitic capacitance is created between the resistor, the underlying portion of the ground plane conductor, and the BeO there between. In order to compensate for this capacitance and provide a matched impedance to the transmission line, additional capacitors C1, C2 and inductors L1-L4 are arranged to provide an impedance matching network for the high power load section, as shown in FIG. 1E. | {
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This invention relates to vehicle suspension systems, and in particular to racing cars, where it endeavors to continually provide the maximum possible cornering force by each tire.
In order to develop the maximum cornering force, each tire must obtain the maximum traction by obtaining the maximum tire-to-road contact area, and by having the maximum tire-to-road contact time and loading.
In the past, many attempts have been made to achieve a superior suspension system. There have been many designs of suspension layouts and geometries, aimed at obtaining the desired tire inclination or camber for each and every road and vehicle condition, in an effort to obtain the greatest contact area, allowing for tire distortion which occurs during cornering.
Also, there have been many designs of springing and damping systems that attempt to minimize the wheel bounce or vertical displacement, in an effort to achieve firm and continuous tire-to-road contact.
On a race track, there can be differences in camber, surface smoothness and adhesion between the various corners, and conditions can change significantly during a race due to surface damage, rubber and oil accumulation, and other causes. During a race, drivers may have to use different lanes through corners, in order to avoid other race cars, where the parameters affecting the vehicle handling are different. Also, during a race, the handling characteristics of a vehicle will change as the fuel load changes, when new tires are fitted, and if wear or damage to the tires or suspension occurs.
Clearly, a "fixed" suspension system, that is, one that does not compensate for all the variants, cannot possibly achieve the optimum road-holding, hence maximum cornering force. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for regenerating supported iridium-containing hydrocarbon conversion catalysts. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for regenerating a supported iridium-containing hydrocarbon conversion catalyst that has been at least partially deactivated because of the presence of the iridium in the catalyst in a large crystallite, low surface area form.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The deactivation of noble metal-containing hydrocarbon conversion catalysts due to the deposition on the catalyst of carbonaceous residues is a common refinery problem. Catalyst deactivation is particularly acute with respect to supported noble metal-containing catalysts, such as platinum on alumina, employed in the hydroforming of naphtha feed stocks. Platinum containing reforming catalysts are reactivated or regenerated by burning the coke or carbonaceous residues from the catalyst followed by a redispersion operation whereby the platinum contained on the catalyst, which is agglomerated with loss of surface area during the burning operation, is redispersed by treatment with chlorine, HCl or other halogen providing reagents alone or in combination with oxygen at elevated temperatures. The techniques useable for the reactivation of platinum-containing catalysts are not directly applicable for the redispersion of iridium. Unlike platinum, iridium tends to agglomerate at significant rates to crystallites of low surface area when exposed to oxygen at temperatures in excess of about 350.degree.C. Further, unlike platinum, large iridium and iridium oxide crystallites are not readily redispersed to their high surface area state by a simple chlorine treatment immediately following the burning operation used to remove carbonaceous residues.
Several patents exist, namely U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,134,732 and 3,625,860, that have disclosures that bear a superficial resemblance to the procedure employed herein. The disclosures of the patents, which are primarily directed to techniques for the redispersion of platinum contained in a reforming catalyst, relate to procedures wherein the agglomerated noble metal catalyst substituent is redispersed using a single cycle operation involving a reduction of the catalyst metals followed by chlorine treatment in either a reducing atmosphere or in the presence or absence of oxygen. Such single cycle treatment operations are not as effective as the process of the present invention for redispersing agglomerated iridium and restoring catalyst activity to essentially fresh catalyst levels. | {
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The present invention relates generally to an automatic call distribution reporting system and, more particularly, to an automatic call distribution reporting system and method wherein reports are sent via a telephone network to a pager having an electronic display or a telephone having an electronic display.
Automatic call distribution (ACD) systems are increasingly used by businesses to automatically route incoming customer calls to available agents. ACD systems generally include a multiport switch controlled by a central processing unit to interconnect external telephonic units of an external telephonic network with internal telephonic units. An example of such an ACD system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,611 issued to Jones et al. on Aug. 18, 1992, entitled "Pulse Width Modulated Self-Clocking and Self-Synchronizing Data Transmission and Method for a Telephonic Communication Network Switching System".
ACD systems provide for acquiring, processing and reporting information concerning different aspects of activity within the system. Typically, a data display terminal connected directly, or through a designated LAN network, to the automatic call distributor generates visual representations of the information. Based on this information, management and supervisory personnel are able to evaluate the call activity within the automatic call distributor and, if necessary, make changes for more efficient ACD system operation.
Data is collected on each incoming call offered to the ACD system. This data consists of a log of events occurring in the ACD system over time for an incoming call. Typical logged data elements are receipt of call, call offered to an application, call presented to an agent group and call handled or abandoned. The data representing these data elements is then processed to generate reports for use by management or supervisory personnel. The data may be organized in any number of ways, such as by agent, telephone trunk, agent groups and the like.
These prior reporting systems have somewhat limited reporting capabilities since the supervisor must be positioned at the data display terminal to received the reports. Many times a supervisor is unable to be at the data display terminal and, in fact, the supervisor may be miles away. In such a situation, the supervisor is unable to receive the report until physically viewing the data display terminal or printed reports generated by the data display terminal.
It is thus apparent that a need exists for an automatic call distribution reporting system and method wherein reports are transmitting to management or supervisory personnel at remote locations via remote electronic display devices, such a pager, telephone, or any type of conventional personal communicators. | {
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Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is well-recognized as the primary energy currency of living cells, but has also emerged as a significant signaling molecule that can shape physiological and pathophysiological processes by interacting with any of several ‘purinergic’ membrane-associated receptor molecules. The purinergic receptor family comprises both G-protein-coupled (GPCR) receptors (assigned a P2Y nomenclature) and ligand-gated ion channel (P2X) variants. ATP elicits an excitatory effect on afferent sensory nerves via an interaction with receptors of the P2X subfamily. The consequence of such hyperexcitability may be interpreted as pain when the ATP effect is elicited in skin, bone or visceral tissues, as pain and/or cough in airway tissues, or as pain and/or instability when it occurs in the bladder. See Ford, Purinergic Signalling, 8 (Suppl 1), S3-S26, 2012; Ford et al., Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, Volume 7, Article 267, 2013. Two particular receptor variants within the P2X subfamily, designated P2X3 and P2X2/3, have emerged as targets of particular interest in a variety of studies designed to measure nociception, airway or bladder function in rodents, since activation of these receptors by ATP is capable of generating the adverse events cited above.
Accordingly, there is a need for more potent and selective P2X3/P2X2/3 modulators. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame body for use in winding a coil for a deflection yoke mounted on television receivers or display units, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, development of television receivers into high-resolution and highly fine display units, increasingly tend to demand strict specifications relating to color mismatching, i.e., convergence of the cathode-ray tube screen of these apparatus. Under such tendency, it is earnestly desired that a deflection magnetic field be controlled more precisely.
A deflection yoke mounted on a cathode ray tube of a television receiver or display unit is generally composed of a bobbin 2 as a funnel-shaped winding frame body, with horizontal deflection coils attached to the bobbin 2 on its inner side at both top and bottom, and with vertical deflection coils attached to the outside of the bobbin 2.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a bobbin for a saddle type deflection coil for use in a typical deflection yoke. The bobbin 2 is provided with a plurality of coil-winding grooves 5, on which, for example, a coiling wire 11 is wound in layers as shown in FIG. 2, to thereby form a deflection coil. The coiling wire 11 is a conductive wire (such as litz wires for example) with an insulating layer 4. In winding the coiling wire 11 on the aforementioned coil-winding grooves 5, the coiling wire 11 is wound in layers by an automatic winding machine, one by one, or by every some number of wires, thereby producing a deflection coil.
Such prior art deflection coil, however, suffers from drawbacks. Variation in directions of the stretching force acted on coiling wire 11 as it was wound may have caused displacement and biasing as shown in FIG. 2. In other cases, the order of winding of coiling wire 11 can be altered and hence such winding as previously designated by a design instruction cannot be effected. Further, the biased states of coiling wire 11 of deflection coils that are mass-produced differ from one another. Therefore, it would be impossible to regulate a deflection field with high precision. Additionally, mass-production makes variations in winding larger, resulting in lowering of the yield, and hence the prior art winding method is disadvantageous in view of cost. Even in the just-mentioned prior art method, the displacement and biased state of the coiling wire 11 wound can be reduce for satisfy the original design as the width of the coil-winding grooves is narrowed, but this results in coil performance deteriorization because, of the ratio L/R between inductance L and resistance R being reduced.
In order to eliminate such problems, the present applicant has previously proposed a deflection coil which is formed using a wire ribbon in place of winding a single wire one by one as used to be practiced.
Examples of wire ribbon 15 include one that is composed as shown in FIG. 3A by arranging in parallel a plurality of conductive wires 8 of copper, aluminum or the like with an insulating layer 4 coated thereon, and adhering them using an adhesive 6. Another wire ribbon is composed as shown in FIG. 3B by arranging in parallel a plurality of conductive wires 8 with an insulating layer 4 coated thereon, and adhering together the wires on one side of an insulator sheet 7 made of resin, etc., with an adhesive 6. A further wire ribbon is composed as shown in FIG. 3C by arranging and adhering together in parallel a plurality of conductive wires 8 formed with an insulating layer 4 and an adhesive layer 9.
The conductive wires 8 forming the aforementioned wire ribbon 15 are arranged and fixed in parallel with one another in an orderly manner in a row, and therefore, neither will each conductive wire 8 be displaced in wire ribbon 15, nor will the order of the wires be altered. Therefore, when this wire ribbon 15 is used, namely, the wire ribbon 15 is wound in layers, it is possible to produce a deflection coil free from the aforementioned problems such as significant displacement of the conductive wires 8, and the like.
The production of such a deflection coil as described above is achieved by inserting the wire ribbon into a coil-winding groove 5 having a flange 3 so as to wind it in layers along a bottom face 10 of the groove 5.
Meanwhile, the bobbin 2 has a coil-winding frame body on which the wire ribbon 15 is wound, comprising a straight portion S on its neck side N and a curved surface portion R spreading outward from the end of the straight portion S toward its head side H. There are provided a plurality of coil-winding grooves 5 on the inner face of the curved surface portion elongated from the neck side to the head side H. Of these grooves, one particular coiling groove in the straight portion S (to be referred to as a main groove 5e) becomes divided in the curved surface portion R into a plurality of branch grooves (in this example, three branch grooves 5f, 5g and 5h).
In the prior art coil-winding frame body having a structure described above, the branch groove thus divided used to be formed so as to be wider than a wire ribbon used by leaving a margin equal to the dimensional tolerance of the ribbon, and points at which branch grooves branch off the main groove would vary. For this reason, when the wire ribbon 15 were wound in layers onto the coil-winding grooves constructed as above, the wire ribbon 15 would be displaced or biased in the width direction. Further, since the starting points at which the branch grooves 5f, 5g and 5h branch off the main groove 5e were different or unregulated in position, the wire ribbon 15 would come in contact with edges of the groove side walls, etc., at branching points and therefore could not enter the groove smoothly. Accordingly, the wire ribbon could be twisted at the contact point while being wound, thus giving rise to a problem that the dimensional accuracy would be deteriorated. Hence, it has been difficult for the thus constructed deflection coil to control a deflection magnetic field with precision. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a fleet management system and method for managing a fleet of vehicles.
2. Related Art
Fleet management is required in many businesses, such as limousine, trucking, and taxi businesses. The current management systems are not able to track vehicle or chauffeur status in real-time. Driver time-sheets are managed based on honesty, which means either business owner writes fixed hours for drivers or drivers record their working hours by themselves. Either of the two ways may lead to over or under paying drivers, which may lead to unnecessary expense or lawsuits for underpaying employees for business owners.
The current management systems cannot raise alerts automatically before chauffeurs or other drivers reach scheduled pick up locations if any emergencies happen, for example, if a chauffeur oversleeps or encounters bad traffic, or even accidents. The emergencies are often noticed when passengers complain to customer services that the chauffeur or driver did not show up on time. Without pre-emptive action on emergencies, such situations may often lead to poor customer satisfaction, refusal of payment or even compensations to the customers.
Another problem with many current fleet management systems is that they cannot enforce Geo-fencing (meaning enforcing affiliates business territories), which may cause unfair job dispatch. This often leads to bad and unnecessary competition among affiliates and service delay due to over/under estimate on affiliates' capacity.
Many current management systems cannot track vehicle status on battery, mileage, engine, brakes, gas, and the like in real-time, which may cause skips of scheduled maintenance or check-ups and undetected deliberated abuse of vehicles from unhappy employees. This often leads to very expensive and unnecessary vehicle repairs. In some cases, vehicle leases expire with low mileage due to unawareness of mileage usage on each of the vehicles in the fleet.
Current fleet management systems often require chauffeurs to be on the phone for status updates, directions, or urgent requests, which may cause potential hazard due to the distraction and may lead to traffic tickets/fines due to government regulation on cell phone usage while driving. | {
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Heat exchangers are commonly used to remove heat from fluids. In the context of the automotive field, for example, it is well-known to use heat exchangers as oil coolers, to transfer heat from engine oil or transmission fluid to engine coolant.
One known type of oil cooler is constructed from a stack of thin-gauge metal plates. The plates are formed such that, in the stack, interstices are formed, the plates and interstices being disposed in alternating relation. The interstices define a plurality of oil passages and a plurality of coolant passages. The oil passages and the coolant passages are disposed in the stack in alternating relation. Thus, each plate separates a respective oil passage from a respective coolant passage, thereby to conduct heat between any contents of the oil passage and any contents of the coolant passage when a temperature differential exists therebetween. The oil passages are coupled to one another in parallel to provide an oil flow path, and the coolant passages are coupled to one another in parallel to provide a coolant flow path. Thus, when a flow of relatively hot oil is delivered to the oil flow path and a flow of relatively cold coolant is delivered to the coolant flow path, a flow of relatively cool oil and a flow of relatively warm coolant results.
As is well known, the heat transfer efficiencies of such structures is a function of the temperature differential between the fluid inlet and outlet, and the relative direction of flow of the fluids passing through the structures.
Normally, it is necessary to manufacture a variety of heat exchangers of varied dimensions to provide heat transfer performance suitable for a particular application in which it is to be employed. However, this necessitates relatively short production runs, which has an associated cost. As well, flexibility for a given application demands that a variety of heat exchangers be on hand, which has an associated inventory cost. Modern manufacturing is very cost-sensitive, and as such, these costs are disadvantageous.
In United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0129926 A1, (Yamaguchi), published Sep. 19, 2002, it is taught to divide the plurality of oil passages into three groups; connect the oil passages of each group in parallel to form a respective oil flow subpath; and connect the oil flow subpaths in series. This provides a heat exchanger wherein the oil path is three times the length and one third the width than that of a heat exchanger of otherwise identical structure wherein all of the oil passages are connected in parallel, and which therefor has heat exchange characteristics differing therefrom. In this reference, which employs a plurality of plates including apertures for forming manifolds for oil and coolant, such separation is attained by omitting the openings in selected plates. This structure arguably overcomes in part the problem of short production runs, since a variety of heat exchangers can be provided simply by altering the number and position of the plates in which openings are omitted. However, this structure does not overcome the problem of inventory cost associated with flexibility. | {
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A fiber optics infrastructure typically requires an enormous data transfer speed. The transfer speed may be increased to a higher level enabling data transfer for transmission in a binary format using multimode fiber capacity to transfer data with respect to a higher base format such as like hexadecimal etc. to achieve higher transfer rates using a same fiber.
A typical fiber optics system may include tunable multimode laser diode modules. A tunable multimode laser diode module may enable a method for controlling tunable multimode laser diodes, raman pumps, and raman amplifiers. The aforementioned system may not be able to achieve higher data transfer rates
An additional typical fiber optics system may include single cannon light beams. A single cannon light beam only uses a single cannon for data transfer thereby limiting data transfer rates.
Optical communications systems may achieve very high data rates resulting from high bandwidth of optical fibers and the availability of specific high-speed laser systems. However a demand for increasing speed in communications may cause a typical optical fiber to be unable to provide an unlimited bandwidth.
The aforementioned solutions may require the use of a specified type of fiber optic cable thereby limiting the functionality of fiber optic communication systems. Additionally, the aforementioned solutions may result in an increase in the amount of noise introduced into the system thereby reducing a quality of the transmitted signals.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to dynamically adjust to failures in any frequency channel of a fiber optics system. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a light-sensitive copying material containing an O-quinone diazide compound as a light-sensitive component.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that O-quinone diazide compounds decompose at the diazo group upon radiation with active rays to become carboxyl group-bearing compounds. When a copying layer containing an O-quinone diazide compound is imagewise exposed and then treated with an alkaline developer, therefore, the exposed area is removed and the non-exposed area remains as an image. Accordingly, an O-quinone diazide compound has lately become noted as a light-sensitive component of the so-called positive-positive type, in particular, as a light-sensitive copying composition for a printing original or as a photoresist composition for photo-etching, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,461. These compositions comprise generally not only an O-quinone diazide compound but also an alkali-soluble resin such as a phenol-formaldehyde resin and a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer to reinforce the image strength and to increase the film-forming properties, and can preferably be used in the form of a uniform composition, in addition, with additives such as dyes and plasticizers.
However, the O-quinone diazide-containing light-sensitive material of the prior art has the disadvantage that a considerable thickness, for example, 0.5 to 10 microns is necessary in order to obtain a sufficient image strength and thus a large amount of O-quinone diazide compound must be used. As a result the light sensitivity is low as a copying layer. Furthermore, the resin for increasing the image strength should be miscible with O-quinone diazide compounds and only a narrow selection of materials is suitable. Therefore, the reinforcing of an image can not be advantageously carried out. | {
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CD6 is an important cell surface protein predominantly expressed by human T cells and a subset of B cells, as well as by some B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemias and neurons [Aruffo et al., J. Exp. Med. 1991, 174:949; Kantoun et al., J. Immunol. 1981, 127:987; Mayer et al., J. Neuroimmunol. 1990. 29:193]. CD6 is a member of a large family of proteins characterized by having at least one domain homologous to the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich domain (SRCR) of type I macrophages [Matsumoto, et al., J. Exp. Med. 1991, 173:55 and Resnick et al., Trends Biochem. Sci. 1994, 19:5]. Other members of this family include CD5 [Jones et al., Nature. 1986, 323:346]; cyclophilin C [Friedman et al. 1993, PNAS 90:6815]; complement factor I, which binds activated complement proteins C3b and C4b [Goldberger, et al., J. Biol. Chem. 1987, 262:10065]; bovine WC-1 expressed by .tau./.delta. T cells [Wijingaard et al., J. Immunol. 1992, 149:3273] and M130 [Law et al., Eur J. Immunol. 1993, 23:2320], a macrophage activation marker.
Blocking studies using anti-CD6 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) suggest that CD6 plays an important role in T cell development by regulating T cell adhesive interactions with thymic epithelial (TE) cells [Patel et al., J. Exp. Med. 1995 181:1563-1568]. Additional studies have shown that CD6 can function as an important accessory molecule in T cell activation. For example, certain anti-CD6 mAb are directly mitogenic for T cells [Gangemi et al., J. Immunol. 1989, 143:2439 and Bott et al., 1993 Int. Immunol. 7:783], whereas others are able to co-stimulate T cell proliferation in conjunction with anti-CD3, anti-CD2 or phorbol 12 myristate 13 acetate (PMA) [Gangenzi et al., J. Immunol. 1989, 143:2439; Morimoto et al., J. Immunol. 1988, 140:2165-2170; and Osorio et al., Cell. Immunol. 1994, 154:23]. Yet additional evidence of the role of CD6 in T cell activation comes from studies showing that CD6 becomes hyperphosphorylated on Ser and Thr residues [Swack et al., Mol. Immunol. 1989 26:1037-1049 and J. Biol. Chem. 1991, 266:7137; Cardenas et al., J. Immunol. 1990, 145:1450-1455] and phosphorylated on Tyr residues [Wee et al., J. Exp. Med. 1993, 177:219-223] following T cell activation. These and other studies implicate CD6 as an important modulator of both immature and mature T cell function in vivo, affecting both T cell activation and signal transduction.
The extracellular domain of the mature CD6 protein is composed of three SRCR domains (hereinafter designated D1, D2, and D3). D3 corresponding to the membrane proximal SRCR domain followed by a short 33-amino-acid stalk region. These extracellular domains are anchored to the cell membrane via a short transmembrane domain followed by a cytoplasmic domain of variable length [Aruffo et al., J. Exp. Med. 1991, 174:949].
Studies using CD6-immunoglobulin fusion proteins, containing selected extracellular domains of CD6 fused to human IgG.sub.1 constant domains (CD6-Rgs), led to the identification and cloning of a CD6 ligand, designated “activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule” (ALCAM) [Wee, et al., Cell. Immunol. 1994, 158:353-364; Patel, et al., J. Exp. Med. 1995. 181:1563-1568; Bowen et al., J. Exp. Med 1995, 181:2213-2220]. ALCAM binds to domain 3 of CD6 corresponding to the membrane proximal SRCR domain [Whitney, et. al., J. Biol. Chem. 1995, 270: 18187-18190].
Studies of the role of CD6/ALCAM interactions in T cell regulation have shown that this receptor-ligand pair is able to mediate the adhesion of CD6 expressing cells to thymic epithelial cells [Bowen et al., J. Exp. Med. 1995, 181:2213]. This and other evidence suggests that CD6/ALCAM interactions are important for modulating T cell development and activation.
Although the functional characterization of CD6 remains incomplete, an anti-CD6 mAb have been successfully applied in a clinical setting to purge bone marrow of T cells and T cell precursors. The finding that patients receiving anti-CD6-treated allogeneic bone marrow had a low incidence of graft-vs-host disease coupled with high levels of engraftment [Soiffer R J, 1993, Bone Marrow Transplant; 12 Suppl 3:S7-10] led to the discovery of a small subset of peripheral blood T cells (5-6%) that are CD6 negative (Rasmussen. J Immunol 1994. 152: 527-536). Subpopulation of CD6 negative T cells displayed lower alloreactivity in MLRs compared with normal CD6+ T cells. (Rasmussen. J. Immunol 1994. 152: 527-536). Functional characterization of these CD6-negative T cells has also shown that they are unresponsive to allostimulation, but can proliferate when stimulated with phytohemagglutin (PHA). These findings further support the hypothesis that CD6 plays an important role in modulating T cell function in vivo. CD6 is also reported to be part of the immunologic synapse mediating early and late T cell-APC interaction. (Gimferrer I. J. Immunol 2004. 173: 2262-2270).
The CD6 molecule is N glycosylated with a protease sensitive site and possesses intrachain disulphide bonds. Previous reports indicated that CD6 exists in two molecular forms, a phosphorylated form of 105 kDa in resting T cells and a hyperphosphorylated form of 130 kDa in cells after protein kinase C activation by the tumor promoter, phorbol 12 myristate 13 acetate (PMA) (Osorio M, Cellular Immunology, 1994154:123-133).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,372,215 discloses antibodies and other binding agents that bind specifically to SRCR domains 3 (D3) of human CD6 (hCD6) or human CD6 stalk domain (CD6S) and inhibit activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) binding to CD6 the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Cuban patent application CU 250/2006 dated 26 Dec. 2006 titled “Pharmaceutical composition comprising the anti CD6 monoclonal antibody useful for the diagnosis and treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis” discloses that T1h binds to CD6 without inhibiting the binding of CD6 to the ALCAM ligand the contents of this application are herein incorporated by reference.
The CD6 antibody of the current invention prevents the activation of T cells by inhibiting T cell proliferation by binding to a domain independent to the domain interacting with the known ligand to CD6 namely ALCAM.
Earlier publications and patents disclose sequences of the murine anti-CD6 (IOR-T1) monoclonal and the amino acid modifications that were carried out to humanize IOR-T1 to T1h (humanized IOR-T1). U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,120 and its equivalent EP 0699755 disclose specific methods to humanize murine monoclonal antibodies and the sequence of IOR-T1 and T1h. U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,857 and its equivalent EP 0807125 disclose the sequence of IOR-T1 and T1h (humanized IOR-T1). The publication [Roque-Navarro, L., et. al., Hybridoma and Hybridomics 2003.22:245-257] discusses specific methods to humanize murine monoclonal antibodies and the sequence of IOR-T1 and T1h.
Aspects of the present invention relate to amino acid sequences of the variable region of heavy and light chain of T1h. This establishes the T1h nucleotide and amino acid sequence as expressed by the cell line used for manufacturing T1h. The monoclonal antibody of the present invention is capable of binding to domain 1 (D1) of CD6 and inhibits T-cell proliferation without interfering with ALCAM binding. The monoclonal antibody of the present invention does not induce complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), antibody dependent cytotoxicity (ADCC) and apoptosis in vitro. | {
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The invention relates to a bayonet fastening suitable for connecting two pipeline components, in particular connecting elements, wherein the pipeline components to be connected comprise a cylindrical receiving part and the second pipeline component has an insertion part which can be inserted in the receiving part.
Pipelines in particular in the area of drinking water are produced today in many cases from plastics material, with the exception of the connecting elements such as, for example, distributors, valves, etc., these being produced, as a rule, from a metal material. Irrespective of whether the connecting element is produced from a copper alloy, a different metal substance or plastics material, the connecting elements are usually screw-connected to the pipeline, in the case of plastics material threads an additional sealing element such as, for example, an O-ring seal being also incorporated as the plastics material thread itself is not sealing or is not sufficient for sealing. In order to obtain approval for use of the drinking water, the connecting elements have consequently to be connected to the system in accordance with DVGW W 534 (German Association for Gas and Water Applications) and have a sealing connecting thread which meets the prerequisites of DIN Standard EN 10226-1, which does not permit connection to the drinking water system by means of a sealing plastic materials thread. Installation by means of a threaded connection is very expensive as the thread has to be provided with a sealing compound prior to screw-connection in order then to be able to be screw-connected in a sealing manner. In addition, a tool is required for the assembly of a connecting element which has a thread for fastening, as well as also the tightening torque in the case of such connections is always different, which is a further disadvantage of a screw-connection.
In addition, connections also exist between connecting elements and pipelines which dispense with a thread and are connectable together by means of a type of quick acting closure. EP 1 106 896 B1 discloses a plug-in connection which latches-in and is locked by pushing the components together in an axial manner, the plug-in connection being radially resilient or freely rotatable.
DE 10 2005 058 161 A1 describes a quick acting closure for the area of plumbing for connecting a line element and a connecting piece, the connection being generated by an annular body with a modifiable cross section which latches into a groove. The connecting parts are fixed together axially as a result, but cannot be rotated freely in a radial manner with respect to one another.
The disadvantage of the two previously mentioned documents is that the connections are not positionable in a radial manner and consequently do not achieve radial positive locking. In addition, when coupling the plug-in connection from EP 1 106 896 B1, it is not possible to ascertain whether the fastening is correctly latched in. A further weak point of the plug-in connection is that as a result of the lack of radial positive locking, the connection can be opened in an unwanted manner by vibrations.
EP 2 228 582 A1 discloses a liquid distributor made of plastics materials which is connected to the pipeline by means of a slotted ring. Disadvantages of this solution are the high production costs and the inconvenient method of assembly.
It is the object of the invention to propose an apparatus which enables a simple and rapidly mountable connection between the pipeline and the pipeline component as well as provides a reliable, tight connection which corresponds to approval regulations DVG W 534 and also withstands the required pressure and tensile test. | {
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With the vast array of video editing tools available, many people can readily edit existing video and incorporate special effects to customize videos and to produce stylish graphics. These videos may later be published for others to view. In many cases, however, an individual may want a more professional look before sharing the video with friends and family. Use of professional video editing services may not be a feasible alternative in many instances due to cost. Furthermore, traditional off-the-shelf video editing solutions are proving to fall short in meeting the needs of consumers. One common problem with traditional video editing solutions is the amount of time and degree of complexity involved in the overall editing process. Another perceived problem associated with conventional methods is that the original video is typically modified during the editing process. This can present a problem if the video content is under copyright protection. | {
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The invention resides in a drive unit for a wheel or wheels of a vehicle which is operated at least partially by an electric motor.
DE 20 2009 014 347 U1 discloses, for example, a bicycle which, in addition to the pedal crank drive, is provided with an electric motor which drives the rear wheel and which supports the pedal power of the driver. The electric motor is disposed in the rear wheel hub.
Also, DE 602 09 510 T2 which is mainly concerned with the control of an electric motor or a bicycle favors a wheel hub drive.
Although wheel hub drives are a common solution for the implementations of an auxiliary drive or possibly also a main drive, they have a substantial weight and they require either an exchange or a re-spoking of the wheel which is to be provided with a drive unit. They are therefore not particularly suitable for retro-fitting. In particular, a combination of a hub motor with a chain gear shift mechanism as it is provided generally with sporty bikes and which is favored by sport-oriented drives is difficult and possible only within limits.
Especially sport-oriented drivers often own valuable bikes which do not lend themselves to an installation of wheel hub drives of any type. The driver may also find it objectionable that the electric auxiliary drive prevents the wheel from rotating freely when the motor is not energized that is when the motor runs neither as motor nor as generator. This is particularly true for motors with permanent magnet excitation which are generally used because of their high efficiency.
Based hereon, it is the object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary electric drive for a vehicle wheel, in particular a bicycle especially for retrofitting. | {
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The discovery of ceramic compositions having superconducting properties is of recent origin. Orginally, superconductivity was observed in mercury at 4K by the Dutch scientist, Heike Onnes. The term, superconductivity, refers to the property wherein a normally resistive conductor abruptly loses all resistance to electrical flow at a specific temperature, called the critical temperature, T.sub.c. At this point, the resistivity of the normal conductor becomes zero.
In more recent times, Ogg (1946) studied superconductivity in quenched metal-ammonia solutions and proposed that superconductivity arose because of mobile electron-pairs.
Until recently, it was believed that superconductivity above 23K, was not possible. This belief was based on the theoretical work of Bardeen, Cooper and Schieffer (BCS theory-1946) which predicted such a limit. Several theoretical proposals were presented in the 1970's, suggesting that the critical temperature for superconductivity could be increased. However, the lack of any discoveries of superconductivity above 23K solidified the belief that indeed this temperature could not be exceeded.
Thus, in November, 1987, when Bednorz and Muller announced the discovery of a new ceramic superconducting compound based on lanthanum, barium, and copper oxides, whose critical temperature for superconductivity was close to 35K., (G. Bednorz and A. Muller, Z. Phys., B64 189 (1986), the declaration was greeted with considerable scepticism. Nevertheless, by the following month, the critical temperature, T.sub.c, for the onset of superconductivity was raised to nearly 80K by C. W. Chu and coworkers (M. K. Wu, J. R. Ashburn, C. J. Tang, P. H. Hor, R. L. Meng, L. Gao, Z. J. Huang, Y. Q. Wang and C. W. Chu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58 908 (1987). This was achieved by changing the composition to yttrium barium copper oxide, approximated by the formula: EQU Y.sub.1.0 Ba.sub.1.8 Cu.sub.3.0 O.sub.6.3
This formula, determined experimentally, is not exactly stoichiometric. It is believed that this lack of specific stoichiometry contributes significantly to the onset of superconductivity.
The mechanism of superconductivity in such oxide-based ceramic materials is not at all well understood. Ogg's original contribution suggested that superconductivity arose in quenched metal-ammonia solutions because of mobile electron pairs. The concept accepted at present is similar (the BCS theory), and suggests that if a mobile electron propagates through a lattice structure, it will normally interact with the bound electrons of the lattice because of differences in the electron quantum spin number. However, if two such electrons form a pair which are bound through opposite spin-pairing (Cooper pairs), then no quantum interaction of the bound pairs can occur with the electrons of the lattice (which still have an electron moment).
The so-called 1:2:3 compound, composed of Y-Ba-Cu-O atoms, is prepared by the solid state reaction of the requisite oxides, vis: EQU Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 +2BaO+3CuO=2YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.6.5.
It is now established (C. N. Rao et al., Nature, 327 185 (1987) that high T.sub.c superconductivity in the Y-Ba-Cu-O system originates from a compound of stoichiometry: YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7- , where " " is a value less than 1.0. This compound has the structure of the ideal perovskite, TBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.9. Thus, the superconductor YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7- has about 25% fewer oxygen atoms present in the lattice as compared to the idealized cubic perovskite structure. This massive oxygen deficiency means that instead of the conventional three-dimensional crystalline cubic-stacking array of the perovskite, a unique layered structure results. A loss of even more oxygen atoms in this structure gives rise to the semiconductor YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.6. The chain of copper atoms associated with a chain of oxygen atoms is believed to be the key to superconducting behavior. Yet the above description is an idealized one and the actual distinct structural conformation has not yet been delineated. Note that there appear to be extra oxygen atoms in the superconducting unit cell, compared to that of the semiconductor.
To date, most of the high-T.sub.c superconducting ceramic compositions announced to date are based on cuprate compounds having Cu-O.sub.2 layers as part of the structure. Some of these have included:
Bismuth Strontium Calcium Copper Oxide: EQU Bi.sub.2 Sr.sub.3-x Ca.sub.x Cu.sub.2 O.sub.8+y EQU T.sub.c =114K.
Thallium Calcium (Barium) Copper Oxide: EQU Tl Ba.sub.2 Ca Cu.sub.2 O.sub.7 EQU Tl Ba.sub.2 Ca.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.9 EQU Tl Ba.sub.2 Ca.sub.3 Cu.sub.4 O.sub.11 EQU Tl Ba.sub.2 Ca.sub.4 Cu.sub.5 O.sub.13 EQU T.sub.c =120K.
Lead Strontium Lanthanide Copper Oxide EQU Pb.sub.2 Sr.sub.2 (Nd.sub.0.76 Sr.sub.O.24)Cu.sub.3 O.sub.8+x EQU T.sub.c =77K.
In the last compound given, the CuO.sub.2 --sheets are present but there is also a PbO-Cu-OPb sandwich as well, not observed in ceramic superconductors heretofore. The copper ions in this sandwich are monovalent and each is coordinated, above and below, to two oxygen atoms in the PbO layers. The copper atoms in the CuO.sub.2 sheets have an average valence of about 2.25, which is consistent with previously discovered cuprate compounds, given above. However, the presence of Cu.sup.+ atoms lowers the average valence of copper ions in the new structure to below 2.0, which is typical. Indeed, preparation conditions needed to prepare these compounds includes a mildly reducing atmosphere so as not to oxidize Pb.sup.2+ to Pb.sup.4+.
There have also been some compositions announced, based on a copper-free composition, vis: EQU BaO-K.sub.2 O-Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3
This compound is said to become superconducting at about 30K. While copper-oxide superconductors exhibit layered structures that carry current efficiently only along certain planes, this new material is a three-dimensional network of bismuth and oxygen with properties that are much less sensitive to crystallographic direction. It is hoped that compositions will be discovered in this system with temperature properties that rival those of copper-bearing compounds.
The main advantage to superconducting compositions with higher T.sub.c values is that they can operate at liquid nitrogen temperature (78K), thus avoiding the need to use liquid helium. Superconducting ceramic compositions are normally prepared by weighing out specific quantities of selected oxides. The combination is thoroughly mixed by conventional means and then fired at elevated temperatures above about 950.degree. C. The induced solid state reaction causes the formation of the desired ceramic composition and structure. Further annealing in an oxygen atmosphere has been found to improve the superconducting properties of the Y-Ba-Cu-O compound. The produced powder is then processed by convention means to form a bar (by compaction) which is then used as the superconducting medium.
A method to prepare a superconducting film, particularly for use on a silicon substrate as an integrated circuit, has been to deposit thin layers of the appropriate metal oxides in specific order by electron-beam evaporation. Copper is first deposited, then barium, and then yttrium. The sequence is repeated 6-times to obtain an "18-layer" stack of the three ingredients having a total thickness of 0.6-0.7 microns. To complete the process, the specimens are then annealed in oxygen atmosphere for five minutes and then cooled at a rate of about 120.degree. C. per hour.
It is necessary to deposit a buffer layer of inert zirconia on the silicon substrate, before the oxides are deposited, in order to prevent the oxides from reacting with the silicon substrate before the superconducting composition formed. The annealing step was shown to be extremely critical since the oxygen content in the film must be precisely maintained within certain (unknown) limits for the superconductivity state to prevail.
Another approach to preparation of superconducting films has been to employ compounds which are volatile and to cause them to decompose on a hot surface in a partial vacuum. This method is well known for use in the preparation of integrated circuits on a silicon substrate. It is known as vapor phase epitaxy and is capable of producing a superconductive monocrystalline film, using halogen compounds (or others) as the source materials.
Still another method to form a superconducting film is to prepare a superconducting powder of Y.sub.1.0 Ba.sub.1.8 Cu.sub.3.0 O.sub.7-x composition, using conventional means. The initial preparation is checked for superconducting properties by measuring a pressed and sintered pellet. Once the material is found to have the desired properties, a powder slurry is made and the slurry is applied with a spin-coater. The layer is dried and then fired in an oxygen atmosphere. Best films are obtained when fired at 940.degree.-1000.degree. C. If sapphire is used as the substrate, the adherence was such that the films could be ground and polished. One could then etch the film with a laser to obtain a desired geometry of superconducting lines, similar to those of a printed circuit. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wheel suspension system for automobiles, and particularly to an improvement in a wheel suspension system which comprises a pair of upper and lower control arms connected at their leading ends to a knuckle which carries a wheel, each of the base ends of the arms being vertically swingably pivoted respectively at front and rear spaced positions to a vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such wheel suspension systems are well known as a double wishbone type (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 28123/69).
In such conventional wheel suspension system, the upper and lower control arms are pivoted at their base ends respectively through elastic members to horizontal shafts fixedly mounted on a vehicle body. Therefore, the longitudinal compliance and caster rigidity during braking are governed by spring constants of these elastic members.
In general, in order to prevent shocks from being transmitted to the vehicle body to the utmost, such as shocks generated when a wheel gets over a protrusion on a road surface, it is necessary to provide the wheel suspension system with a large longitudinal compliance. And in order to assure a straight advancing property of a wheel during braking, it is necessary to give a large caster rigidity to the wheel suspension system.
In the conventional wheel suspension system, however, if the spring constant of an elastic member is set at a smaller value for providing a larger longitudinal compliance, the caster rigidity is reduced to degrade the straight advancing property of the wheel. On the contrary, if the spring constant of the elastic member is set at a larger value to provide a larger caster rigidity during braking, the longitudinal compliance is reduced, accompanied by an adverse deterioration of the riding comfort. Consequently, it is difficult to satisfy both of the longitudinal compliance and the caster rigidity during braking. | {
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Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major health problem that leads to chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, in a substantial number of infected individuals, estimated to be 2-15% of the world's population. There are an estimated 4.5 million infected people in the United States alone, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 200 million infected individuals worldwide, with at least 3 to 4 million people being infected each year. Once infected, about 20% of people clear the virus, but the rest can harbor HCV the rest of their lives. Ten to twenty percent of chronically infected individuals eventually develop liver-destroying cirrhosis or cancer. The viral disease is transmitted parenterally by contaminated blood and blood products, contaminated needles, or sexually and vertically from infected mothers or carrier mothers to their offspring. Current treatments for HCV infection, which are restricted to immunotherapy with recombinant interferon-α alone or in combination with the nucleoside analog ribavirin, are of limited clinical benefit as resistance develops rapidly. Moreover, there is no established vaccine for HCV. Consequently, there is an urgent need for improved therapeutic agents that effectively combat chronic HCV infection.
The HCV virion is an enveloped positive-strand RNA virus with a single oligoribonucleotide genomic sequence of about 9600 bases which encodes a polyprotein of about 3,010 amino acids. The protein products of the HCV gene consist of the structural proteins C, E1, and E2, and the nonstructural proteins NS2, NS3, NS4A and NS4B, and NS5A and NS5B. The nonstructural (NS) proteins are believed to provide the catalytic machinery for viral replication. The NS3 protease releases NS5B, the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from the polyprotein chain. HCV NS5B polymerase is required for the synthesis of a double-stranded RNA from a single-stranded viral RNA that serves as a template in the replication cycle of HCV. Therefore, NS5B polymerase is considered to be an essential component in the HCV replication complex (K. Ishi, et al, Heptology, 1999, 29: 1227-1235; V. Lohmann, et al., Virology, 1998, 249: 108-118). Inhibition of HCV NS5B polymerase prevents formation of the double-stranded HCV RNA and therefore constitutes an attractive approach to the development of HCV-specific antiviral therapies.
HCV belongs to a much larger family of viruses that share many common features.
Flaviviridae Viruses
The Flaviviridae family of viruses comprises at least three distinct genera: pestiviruses, which cause disease in cattle and pigs; flaviviruses, which are the primary cause of diseases such as dengue fever and yellow fever; and hepaciviruses, whose sole member is HCV. The flavivirus genus includes more than 68 members separated into groups on the basis of serological relatedness (Calisher et al., J. Gen. Virol, 1993, 70, 37-43). Clinical symptoms very and include fever, encephalitis and hemorrhagic fever (Fields Virology, Editors: Fields, B. N., Knipe, D. M., and Howley, P. M., Lippincott-Raven Publishers, Philadelphia, Pa., 1996, Chapter 31, 931-959). Flaviviruses of global concern that are associated with human disease include the Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever viruses (DHF), yellow fever virus, shock syndrome and Japanese encephalitis virus (Halstead, S. B., Rev. Infect. Dis., 1984, 6,251-264; Halstead, S. B., Science, 239: 476-481, 1988; Monath, T. P., New Eng. J. Med. 1988, 319, 641-643).
The pestivirus genus includes bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), classical swine fever virus (CSFV, also called hog cholera virus) and border disease virus (BDV) of sheep (Moennig, V. et al. Adv. Vir. Res. 1992, 41, 53-98). Pestivirus infections of domesticated livestock (cattle, pigs, and sheep) cause significant economic losses worldwide. BVDV causes mucosal disease in cattle and is of significant economic importance to the livestock industry (Meyers, G. and Thiel, H. J., Advances in Virus Research, 1996, 47, 53-118; Moennig V., et al., Adv. Vir. Res. 1992, 41, 53-98). Human pestiviruses have not been as extensively characterized as the animal pestiviruses. However, serological surveys indicate considerable pestivirus exposure in humans.
Pestiviruses and hepaciviruses are closely related virus groups within the Flaviviridae family. Other closely related viruses in this family include GB virus A, GB virus A-like agents, GB virus-B and GB virus-C (also called hepatitis G virus, HGV). The hepacivirus group (hepatitis C virus; HCV) consists of a number of closely related but genotypically distinguishable viruses that infect humans. There are at least 6 HCV genotypes and more than 50 subtypes. Due to the similarities between pestiviruses and hepaciviruses, combined with the poor ability of hepaciviruses to grow efficiently in cell culture, bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is often used as a surrogate to study the HCV virus.
The genetic organization of pestiviruses and hepaciviruses is very similar. These positive stranded RNA viruses possess a single large open reading frame (ORF) encoding all the viral proteins necessary for virus replication. These proteins are expressed as a poly protein that is a co- and post-translationally processed by both cellular and virus-encoded proteinases to yield the mature viral proteins. The viral proteins responsible for the replication of the viral genome RNA are located within approximately the carboxy-terminal. Two-thirds of the ORF are termed non (NS) proteins. The genetic organization and polyprotein processing of the nonstructural protein portion of the ORF for pestiviruses and hepaciviruses is very similar. For both the pestiviruses and hepaciviruses, the mature nonstructural (NS proteins, in sequential order from the amino-terminus of the nonstructural protein coding region to the carboxy-terminus of the ORF, consist of p7, NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B.
The NS proteins of pestiviruses and hepaciviruses share sequence domains that are characteristic of specific protein functions. For example, the NS3 proteins of viruses in both groups possess amino acid sequence motifs characteristic of serine proteinases and of helicases (Gorbalenya, et al., Nature, 1988, 333, 22; Bazan and Fletterick, Virology, 1989, 171, 637-639; Gorbalenyl, et al., Nucleic Acid Res., 1989, 17, 3889-3897). Similarly, the NS5B proteins of pestiviruses and hepaciviruses have the motifs characteristic of RNA-directed RNA polymerases (Koonin, E. V. and Dolja, V. V., Crit. Rev. Biochem. Molec. Biol., 1993, 28, 375-430).
The actual roles and functions of the NS proteins of pestiviruses and hepaciviruses in the lifecycle of the viruses are directly analogous. In both cases, the NS3 serine proteinase is responsible for all proteolytic processing of polyprotein precursors down stream of its position in the ORF (Wiskerchen and Collett, Virology, 1991, 184, 341-350; Bartenschlager et al., J. Virol. 1993, 67, 3835-3844; Eckart et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 1993, 192, 399-406; Grakoui et al., J. Virol. 1993, 67, 2832-2843; Grakoui et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Aci. USA, 1993, 909, 10583-10587; Hijikata et al., J. Virol. 1993, 67, 4665-4675; Tome et al., J. Virol., 1993, 67, 4017-4026). The NS4A protein, in both cases, acts as a cofactor with the NS3 serine protease (Bartenschlager et al., J. Virol. 1994, 68, 5045-5055; failla et al., J. Virol., 1994, 68, 3753-3760; Xu et al., J. Virol., 1997, 71, 5312-5322). The NS3 protein of both viruses also functions as a helicase (Kim et al., Biochem Biophys. Res. Comm., 1995, 215, '160-166; Jin and Peterson, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1995, 323, 47-53; Warrener and Collett, J. Virol., 1995, 69, 1720-1726). Finally, the NS5B proteins of pestiviruses and hepaciviruses have the predicted RNA-directed RNA polymerase activity (Behrens et al., EMBO, 1996, 15, 12-22; Lechmann et al., J. Virol., 1997, 71, 8416-8428; Yuan et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 1997, 232, 231-235; Hagedorn PCT WO 97/12033; Zhong et al., J. Virol., 1998, 72, 9365-9369).
Currently, there are limited treatment options for individuals infected with hepatitis C virus. The current approved therapeutic option is the use of immunotherapy with recombinant interferon-α alone or in combination with the nucleoside analog ribavirin. This therapy is limited in its clinical effectiveness and only 50% of treated patients respond to therapy. Therefore, there is significant need for more effective and novel therapies to address the unmet medical need posed by HCV infection.
A number of potential molecular targets for drug development of direct acting antivirals for anti-HCV therapeutics have now been identified including, but not limited to, the NS2-NS3 autoprotease, the N3 protease, the N3 helicase and the NS5B polymerase. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase is absolutely essential for replication of the single-stranded, positive sense, RNA genome and this enzyme has elicited significant interest among medicinal chemists.
Inhibitors of HCV NS5B as potential therapies for HCV infection have been reviewed: Tan, S. L., et al., Nature Rev. Drug Discov., 2002, 1, 867-881; Walker, M. P. et al., Exp. Opin. Investigational Drugs, 2003, 12, 1269-1280; Ni, Z-J., et al., Current Opinion in Drug Discovery and Development, 2004, 7, 446-459; Beaulieu, P. L., et al., Current Opinion in Investigational Drugs, 2004, 5, 838-850; Wu, J., et al., Current Drug Targets-Infectious Disorders, 2003, 3, 207-219; Griffith, R. C., et al., Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, 2004, 39, 223-237; Carrol, S., et al., Infectious Disorders-Drug Targets, 20-06, 6, 17-29. The potential for the emergence of resistant HCV strains and the need to identify agents with broad genotype coverage supports the need for continuing efforts to identify novel and more effective nucleosides as HCV NS5B inhibitors. Nucleoside inhibitors of NS5b polymerase can act either as a non-natural substrate that results in chain termination or as a competitive inhibitor which competes with nucleotide binding to the polymerase. To function as a chain terminator the nucleoside analog must be taken up by the cell and converted in vivo to a triphosphate to compete for the polymerase nucleotide binding site. This conversion to the triphosphate is commonly mediated by cellular kinases which imparts additional structural requirements on a potential nucleoside polymerase inhibitor.
Despite the existence of efficient vaccines, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major public health problem worldwide with 400 million chronic carriers. These infected patients are exposed to a risk of developing liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (Lee, W. M. 1997, N. Eng. J. Med., 337, 1733-1745). Currently, there are believed to be approximately 1.25 million chronic hepatitis B carriers just in the United States, with 200,000 people newly infected each year by contact with blood or body fluids.
Hepatitis B virus is second to tobacco as a cause of human cancer. The mechanism by which HBV induces cancer is unknown, although it is postulated that may directly trigger tumor development, or indirectly trigger tumor development through chronic inflammation, cirrhosis, and cell regeneration associated with the infection.
Hepatitis B virus has reached epidemic levels worldwide. After a two to six month incubation period in which the host is unaware of the infection, HBV infection can lead to acute hepatitis and liver damage, that causes abdominal pain, jaundice, and elevated blood levels of certain enzymes. HBV can cause fulminant hepatitis, a rapidly progressive, often fatal form of the disease in which massive sections of the liver are destroyed. Patients typically recover from acute viral hepatitis. In some patients, however, high levels of viral antigen persist in the blood for an extended, or indefinite, period, causing a chronic infection. Chronic infections can lead to chronic persistent hepatitis. Patients infected with chronic persistent HBV are most common in developing countries. By mid-1991, there were approximately 225 million chronic carriers of HBV in Asia alone, and worldwide, almost 300 million carriers. Chronic persistent hepatitis can cause fatigue, cirrhosis of the liver, and hepatocellular carcinoma, a primary liver cancer.
In western industrialized countries, high risk groups for HBV infection include those in contact with HBV carriers or their blood samples. The epidemiology of HBV is in fact very similar to that of HIV, which accounts for why HBV infection is common among patients with AIDS or HIV-associated infections. However, HBV is more contagious than HIV.
As is well known, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease that severely compromises the human immune system, and that leads to death. The cause of AIDS has been determined to be the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To ameliorate suffering and to prolong the lives of infected hosts new compounds and methods of treating AIDS and attacking the HIV virus continue to be sought.
The preceding references and all other references cited in the present specification are hereby incorporated herein by reference. | {
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In recent years, consumers have drastically reduced the use of cash payment for goods and services and have more frequently relied on credit cards, debit cards, stored value cards, or electronic transfer of funds associated with a financial account to facilitate financial transactions. Due to the electronic nature of payment, financial institutions are able to track consumer behaviors involved in these transactions.
Financial institutions frequently provide multiple types of products, such as credit cards, debit cards, mortgages, brokerage accounts, and other types of accounts and may offer a number of different options related to the management of each account. Typically, account holders are informed of these options upon opening an account or through special offers that may be made periodically.
Many accounts can be accessed by more than one account holder. For example, multiple account holders may be authorized for use of a single checking account or a credit card account. Multiple account holders may have access both to personal credit accounts and small business credit accounts. Furthermore, mortgages are often held by two customers. In some instances, such as with a credit card account, a main account holder may have control over the account and other account holders may merely have access to the account. Generally, the multiple persons having an association with related accounts may be viewed as forming a financial network.
In existing financial systems, co-account holders are generally provided with the same interface and do not have the ability to interact with one another or to jointly and interactively plan to meet financial goals. Furthermore, any available financial planning tools fail to consider the actions and plans of co-account holders.
Given the increased availability of electronic resources, such as financial institution web sites that are available to account holders over the Internet, it is now possible to provide account holders with a real time display of account activity as well as available account options. Although financial institutions have increased the availability of resources to account holders, these resources remain uniform without regard for individual account holder behaviors, relationships, and preferences.
Accordingly, a solution is needed that leverages data available to financial institutions for each account holder in order to provide valuable up-to-date information about accounts and financial relationships to each account holder in an efficient manner. Furthermore, a solution is needed that provides a main account holder with leverage to control access by other account holders in a systematic manner. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cue/review mode of a tape recorder suitable for use in, e.g., a digital audio tape recorder of the rotary head type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional linear tape recorder, the speed in the fast-forward mode (FF mode) is about 50 to 60 times as fast as the speed in the normal playing mode. As compared to this speed, in a conventional rotary head type digital audio tape recorder (sometimes called a DAT), there is the advantage that the speed in the FF mode can be made extremely high (for example, about 200 times as high as in the normal playing mode) because of the helical recording format. However, since the speed in the FF mode is very fast, it is impractical to search a desired position on a magnetic tape while listening to the reproduced sound or observing the wound diameter of the magnetic tape as in a conventional linear tape recorder. To solve this problem, in the DAT, a high speed search operation and a cue/review operation are used to locate a desired target position on the tape.
In the high speed search, rotary heads come into sliding contact with a magnetic tape fed at a high speed (for example, about 200 times as fast as the speed in the normal playing mode) which is near the speed in the fast-forward mode (FF mode) or the rewind mode (REW mode). A start identification (ID) signal recorded on the tape as a sub code is detected. The tape feeding operation is automatically stopped when the start ID signal is detected. The start ID signal is recorded at the beginning of each music program or the like for about nine seconds as measured at the speed employed in the normal playing mode.
The cue/review operation is then used in a fine search of the tape at positions just before and after the tape position located by the high speed search operation or to search a tape position, for example in the middle of a given music program, where no start ID signal is recorded. In the cue/review operation, the magnetic tape is fed at a speed which is about triple the ordinary reproducing speed in the normal playing mode (the latter being, for example, 8.15 mm/sec) and thus much slower than the speed in the FF/REW mode or in the high speed search mode. In the cue/review operation, all of the information of the sub codes and a part of audio pulse code modulated (PCM) signals are reproduced by the rotary heads. Thus the audio PCM signals are reproduced intermittently. The head search operation can be performed while listening to the reproduced sound.
However, a problem arises in the case of making a search without executing the high speed search operation or in the case of searching a desired tape position where no start ID signal is recorded while listening to the sound reproduced in the cue/review operation. Specifically, when the user of the apparatus wants to feed the tape to a position which is located before or after the current tape position by a few minutes, the tape speed, which is only about triple the ordinary reproducing speed, is so slow that it requires an inordinate length of time to complete the search. | {
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The present invention relates to cache management, and more particularly to determining whether a response to a data request may be retrieved from a cache or retrieved from another resource. Serving a data request from a cache instead of from an other resource can provide improved computer system efficiencies. For example, a central processing unit (CPU) cache is a cache used by the CPU of a computer to reduce the average time to access data from memory, wherein the CPU cache is a smaller, faster memory having a lower retrieval latency than a main memory of the computer, and wherein it is desirable to manage the CPU to cache copies of data frequently used rather than use slower main memory locations for said data. In network computer applications, a cache device or server may be provided to network users to supply lower retrieval latencies, reduce service provider requests and provide other improved system efficiencies with respect to requests served by cache data compared to requests that require service by other network resources, for example by another service provider server or memory device in communication with the network. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron beam exposure apparatus and an electron beam measurement module. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electron beam exposure apparatus that exposes wafer to light with high lithography precision by precisely controlling a current of an electron beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various types of electron beam exposure apparatus have been developed in order to increase throughput and resolution, with miniaturization of semiconductor devices. In order to achieve high throughput, it is effective to enlarge an area exposed by one shot of electron beam, to perform exposure using a plurality of electron beams, or the like. Moreover, in order to achieve high resolution, it is necessary to reduce aberration of an electron lens, to suppress Coulomb effect of the electron beam and the like. In addition, it is important to measure a beam current with high precision so as to accurately control dimensions of lithography. Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 11-214482 discloses a stage device in which a load of wiring in a stage is reduced so as to improve dynamic characteristics of the stage. Japanese Patent Application Laying-Open No. 10-270535 discloses a stage device in which absorption of wafer in the stage is controlled wirelessly so as to improve the precision of the stage control.
However, according to the above-mentioned conventional techniques, it was impossible to precisely measure the current of the electron beam that was used for the exposure of the wafer. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor circuit, a semiconductor device, a line break detection method, and a computer readable medium storing a line break detection program. The present invention particularly relates to a semiconductor circuit, semiconductor device, line break detection method, and computer readable medium storing a line break detection program, for monitoring battery voltages.
2. Description of the Related Art
A battery in which plural batteries (battery cells) are connected in series (as a specific example, a lithium ion battery or the like) is commonly used as a high power output battery with a large capacity, to be used for driving a motor of a hybrid automobile or an electric automobile, or the like. A battery monitoring system for monitoring and controlling voltages of the cells of the battery is known.
A conventional battery monitoring system is provided with a battery cell group, including plural battery cells, and a semiconductor circuit that measures and controls voltages of the battery cells included in the battery cell group.
In the conventional battery monitoring system, cell voltage equalization processing of the battery cell group (to make respective voltage values of the battery cells equal), charge/discharge control processing (control of charging and discharging of the battery cells), and the like, are carried out on the basis of voltage information of the battery cells that is obtained from the semiconductor circuit for measurement. In this battery monitoring system, if there is a line break in a signal line that connects a battery cell with the semiconductor circuit for measurement or suchlike, defect may arise in the battery monitoring system.
Accordingly, technologies for detecting a break in a signal line are known (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 2002-343445, 2001-116776, 2006-29923, 2004-170335, 2005-168118, 2004-104989, 2006-50784 and 2007-225484).
In the technologies recited in JP-A Nos. 2002-343445, 2001-116776 and 2006-29923, a resistance for detecting a line break is connected to between the battery cells, and a current from the battery cells always flows through this resistance. Therefore, in order to suppress a current during standby (a dark current), the resistance value must be made large. However, there are limitations on the resistance value and therefore may be difficult to suppress the dark current.
In the technologies recited in JP-A Nos. 2004-170335, 2005-168118, 2004-104989 and 2006-50784, an operation in which battery cells are short-circuited with a switch is required for detecting a line break. If the battery cells are not in an over-charged condition, this operation causes a discharge operation. As a result, battery voltages may become uneven between the battery cells.
In the technologies recited in JP-A Nos. 2004-170335 and 2007-225484, a battery voltage measurement circuit for measuring battery voltages, and a calculation device for calculating battery voltage differences, are required to determine whether there is a line break. In these technologies, plural voltages must be measured by the battery voltage measurement circuit and calculations performed by the calculation device. Consequently, these technologies may take time to detect a line break, and may be difficult to reduce the duration thereof. Moreover, it may be difficult for a semiconductor circuit in which only one battery voltage measurement circuit is provided to measure the battery cell voltages continuously during a line break detection period. | {
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Internal combustion engines are known to use reciprocating piston and rotary designs. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,429 (the '429 patent), Groves discloses a particular rotary type internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of vanes disposed on ends of lever arms, the vanes compressing combustible fluid in combustion chambers and harnessing energy released during combustion. A plurality of lever arms extend radially from a common center, and force transmits along the lever arms from the vanes to the common center. At the common center, the force transfers through a flexible joint to rotate a shaft.
The engine disclosed in '429 is simple and efficient, having relatively few moving parts and losing no mechanical energy to reciprocation of the pistons. However, the '429 engine relies solely on positive pressure from combustion to exhaust combustion products from the engine, a space in which the combustion products reside being unswept. Moreover, combustion places large lateral forces on the lever arms, which comprise elongate shafts that are relatively ill adapted to withstand lateral stress. | {
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The present invention relates generally to the interfacing with computer and mechanical devices by a user, and more particularly to devices used to interface with computer systems and electronic devices and which provide haptic feedback to the user.
Humans interface with electronic and mechanical devices in a variety of applications, and the need for a more natural, easy-to-use, and informative interface is a constant concern. In the context of the present invention, humans interface with computer devices for a variety of applications. One such application is interacting with computer-generated environments such as games, simulations, and application programs. Computer input devices such as mice and trackballs are often used to control a cursor within a graphical environment and provide input in these applications.
In some interface devices, force feedback or tactile feedback is also provided to the user, collectively known herein as “haptic feedback.”For example, haptic versions of joysticks, mice, gamepads, steering wheels, or other types of devices can output forces to the user based on events or interactions occurring within the graphical environment, such as in a game or other application program.
In portable computer or electronic devices, such as laptop computers, mice typically too large a workspace to be practical. As a result, more compact devices such as trackballs are often used. Currently, a more popular device for portable computers are “touchpads,” which are small rectangular, planar pads provided near the keyboard of the computer. The touchpad senses the location of a pointing object by any of a variety of sensing technologies, such as capacitive sensors or pressure sensors that detect pressure applied to the touchpad. The user contacts the touchpad most commonly with a fingertip and moves his or her finger on the pad to move a cursor displayed in the graphical environment. In other embodiments, the user can operate a stylus in conjunction with the touchpad by pressing the stylus tip on the touchpad and moving the stylus.
One problem with existing touchpads is that there is no haptic feedback provided to the user. The user of a touchpad is therefore not able to experience haptic sensations that assist and inform the user of targeting and other control tasks within the graphical environment. The touchpads of the prior art also cannot take advantage of existing haptic-enabled software run on the portable computer. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to parylene polymer layers, and more specifically to such layers which are disposed between electrically conductive layers in integrated circuits.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Semiconductors are widely used in integrated circuits for electronic products systems such as computers and televisions. These integrated circuits typically combine many transistors on a single crystal silicon chip to perform complex functions and store data. Semiconductor and electronics manufacturers, as well as end users, desire integrated circuits which can accomplish more in less time in a smaller package while consuming less power. However, some of these desires may be in opposition to each other. For example, simply shrinking the feature sizes on a given circuit from 0.5 microns to 0.25 microns can increase power consumption by 30%. Likewise, doubling operational speed generally doubles power consumption. Miniaturization also generally results in increased capacitive coupling, or cross talk, between conductors which carry signals across the chip. This can limit achievable speed and degrade the noise margin used to insure proper device operation.
One way to diminish power consumption and cross talk effects is to decrease the dielectric constant of electrically insulating layers that separate layers of electrically conductive materials within the integrated circuit. In addition, since operational conditions may include high temperatures, it can be advantageous to use materials with relatively high thermal stability to form the insulating layers.
Silicon dioxide is one of the most common materials used in insulating layers for integrated circuits. However, silicon dioxide is non-ideal due to its comparatively high dielectric constant of about 3.9.
Layers formed from parylene polymers have been proposed for use as insulating layers in integrated circuits because these materials have relatively low dielectric constants and comparatively high melting temperatures. Parylene polymers are poly-p-xylylenes which may be prepared starting with a dimer having the structure: ##STR2## wherein X is typically a hydrogen or a halogen. The most common forms of parylene dimers include the following: ##STR3##
Polymer films formed from these parylene dimers may have comparatively low dielectric constants and relatively high melting temperatures. However, these parylene polymer films have relatively high dielectric constants and inferior thermal stabilities, rendering them less attractive for use in integrated circuits.
Typically, a vapor deposition method is used to form parylene polymer layers from parylene dimers. One such vapor deposition method is disclosed in Journal of Applied Polymer Science 13, 2325 (1969). According to this method, commonly referred to as the Gorham process, the parylene dimer is cracked at an elevated temperature to produce parylene monomer having the structure: ##STR4## The parylene monomer is condensed onto a substrate at a temperature of from about room temperature to about -35.degree. C. Under these conditions, the parylene monomer simultaneously polymerizes on the substrate to form a layer of the parylene polymer adhered to the substrate.
A vapor deposition process for forming poly-p-xylylene films from other than parylene dimer materials is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,202 (You). The method disclosed by this reference includes forming the monomer vapor inside the vacuum chamber in which deposition occurs, precluding the purification opportunities afforded by the parylene dimer process prior to deposition on the substrate. Therefore, the resulting poly-p-xylylene layers have relatively high impurity levels. For example, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology Al1(6), 3057 (1993) discloses that poly-p-xylylene films formed by the method of You have zinc impurity levels of about 3%. Such a comparatively high level of zinc impurity results in problems with the poly-p-xylylene film relating to, for example, increased dielectric constant, decreased surface resistivity, ion movement within the layer, film surface charging effects and/or electron storm formation when the poly-p-xylylene film is used within a multi-level structure. As a result, these poly-p-xylylene films cannot be used in integrated circuits.
Hence, it remains a challenge in the art to provide an electrically insulating layer for use in integrated circuits of electronic devices that has a relatively low dielectric constant and comparatively high melting temperature. It is a further challenge in the art to provide such an insulating layer which is formed from a parylene polymer. | {
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Position determination is increasingly important for both commercial and personal applications. Real-time locating systems (RTLS) are used and relied upon for tracking objects, such as determining the location of an object within storage, shipping, retail, and/or manufacturing situations. Wireless transmitters or tags are commonly attached to or embedded in objects to provide wireless position determination signals to one or more wireless receivers or readers. Information about and/or from the wireless position determination signals can be used to determine a location of the object.
Many traditional and more recently developed real-time locating systems are typically challenged by similar problems, including available power, signal strength, interference, and available bandwidth. Generally, increased reliability of the wireless position determination signal from an object tag to a receiver will result in increased accuracy in the information that is available to determine the position of the object. One way to increase the reliability of the wireless position determination signal is to increase the bandwidth of the signal. However, increasing the bandwidth of the signal requires more energy (e.g., battery power), requires that the increased bandwidth be available for use, and typically causes increased interference problems. Many real-time locating systems are also challenged by infrastructure costs. Improving position determination typically has a corresponding cost increase, such as to increase the number of receivers or to use more robust object tags.
Numerous technologies are available to implement different real-time locating systems corresponding to the relevant application of the technology and desired results. And significant improvements have been made to various technologies that can be used for real-time locating systems. However, even in view of available technologies and improvements, it is still desirable to improve upon these existing techniques to address remaining limitations of the various technologies and to provide alternate technologies that may be preferred in certain instances. For example, there is a need in the art for improved architectures, systems, methods, and computer program products for real-time object locating and position determination that decrease and/or avoid problems of existing technologies. Similarly, for example, there is a need in the art for alternate technologies for real-time object locating and position determination that may be preferred in certain instances. | {
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Composite articles comprising an elastomeric base material and reinforcing fibers are known in the art. Reinforcing fibers improve mechanical properties, such as abrasion resistance, tensile strength, compression resistance, and the like in a composite article. Fiber distribution and orientation affect such properties, and controlling fiber orientation is important for providing a composite article having specific mechanical properties.
Known techniques for orienting reinforcing fibers in an elastomeric material are generally methods for orienting fibers in a composite in a direction which is consistent with and parallel to the material flow direction in processing equipment. It is difficult to orient reinforcing fibers in a composite article in a direction which differs from the direction of material flow, and it is especially difficult to orient fibers in a composite in a direction perpendicular to the flow of the material in processing equipment.
One method for orienting fibers in a composite article in a direction which varies from the direction of material flow is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,907 wherein a heated mixture of molding compound (glass) and fibers (carbon) is injected through an elongated injection port into a die. The injection port has a thickness which is purported to be between 30%-70% of the die thickness. The optimum fiber length is 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) for the particular carbon fiber/glass matrix utilized.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,380 discloses a fiber reinforced elastic sheet in which staples are oriented in the vertical direction of the sheet. Staple material, such as Nylon 66, is mixed into thermoplastic material and extruded through a molding die. The molding die includes a weir portion which is said to initially orient the fibers in the flow direction. Downstream from the weir portion is a flow passage which has a dimension at least twice that of the weir portion. After passing through the weir portion, the flow direction is changed, thereby changing the fiber orientation with respect to the sheet surface. The sheet so formed can then be further processed for an intended application.
JP 1304924 A (dated Dec. 8, 1989) describes orientation of short fibers in a rubber matrix using an extruder with an expanding die. An elastomer is extruded through a passage running from a cylindrical inlet space to a cylindrical outlet space to produce a cylinder axis body.
BE 842865 (dated Dec. 12, 1976) describes extrusion dies for balancing flow orientation, causing radial divergence to counter longitudinal orientation of fiber, filers, etc.
RD 186061 A (dated Oct. 10, 1979) describes dispersed fibers in a reinforced strip, for example a bead filler, by extruding the strip through a die which orients fibers mainly in a plane perpendicular to the extrusion axis. The fibers are extruded in a thermoplastic or thermosetting polymer.
In PCT/US96/15237, methods and apparatuses are described for orienting short fibers (fibers having a length of 0.1 microns to 103 microns) in a composite article formed by injection molding a molding compound comprising a fiber/elastomeric material blend. The fibers utilized are known as “short fibers” in the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to combustion fuels. In particular, it relates to a fuel additive composition.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous combustion fuels are known. Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames. Direct combustion by atmospheric oxygen is a reaction mediated by radical intermediates. The conditions for radical production are naturally produced by thermal runaway, where the heat generated by combustion is necessary to maintain the high temperature necessary for radical production
In a complete combustion reaction, a compound reacts with an oxidizing element, such as oxygen or air, and the products are compounds of each element in the fuel with the oxidizing element. For example:CH4+2O2→CO2+2H2O
In the large majority of the real world uses of combustion, the oxygen (O2) oxidant is obtained from the ambient air and the resultant flue gas form the combustion will contain nitrogen:CH4+2O2+7.52N2→CO2+2H2O+7.52N2+heat
As can be seen, when air is the source of the oxygen, nitrogen is by far the largest part of the resultant flue gas.
Traditional combustion processes are never perfect or complete. In flue gases from combustion of carbon (as in coal combustion) or carbon compounds (as in combustion of hydrocarbons, wood, etc.) both unburned carbon (as soot) and carbon compounds (CO and others) will be present. Also, when air is the oxidant, some nitrogen will be oxidized to various nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Rapid combustion is a form of combustion in which large amounts of heat and light energy are released, which often results in a fire. This is used in a form of machinery such as internal combustion engines and in turbines. Sometimes, a large volume of gas is liberated in combustion besides the production of heat and light. The sudden evolution of large quantities of gas creates excessive pressure that produces a loud noise known as an explosion.
In complete combustion, the reactant will burn in oxygen, producing a limited number of products. When a hydrocarbon or any carbon based fuel burns in air, the combustion products will also include nitrogen. Complete combustion is the goal, but almost impossible to achieve.
Turbulent combustion is a combustion characterized by turbulent flows. It is the most used for industrial application (e.g. gas turbines, diesel engines, etc.) because the turbulence helps the mixing process between the fuel and oxidizer.
Combustion of a liquid fuel in an oxidizing atmosphere actually happens in the gas phase. It is the vapor that burns, not the liquid. Therefore, a liquid will normally catch fire only above a certain temperature, its flash point. The flash point of a liquid fuel is the lowest temperature at which it can form an ignitable mix with air. It is also the minimum temperature at which there is enough evaporated fuel in the air to start combustion.
The act of combustion of solid fuels consists of three relatively distinct but overlapping phases:
Preheating phase, when the unburned fuel is heated up to its flash point and then at the fire point flammable gases start being evolved in a process similar to dry distillation.
Distillation phase or gaseous phase, when the mix of evolved flammable gases with oxygen is ignited. Energy is produced in the form of heat and light. Flames are often visible. Heat transfer from the combustion to the solid maintains the evolution of flammable vapors.
Charcoal phase or solid phase, when the output of flammable gases from the material is too low for persistent presence of flame and the charred fuel does into burn rapidly anymore but just glows and later only smolders.
To improve combustion, various additives and catalysts have been developed. These typically vary based on the type of fuel, and whether it is a solid or liquid. For example, chemical compositions are added to fuels and lubricants to control the physical and chemical properties of the fuel to improve engine performance. For example, Shields, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,804, issued Dec. 23, 1980 discloses an additive for hydrocarbon fuels, which are the reaction products of a polyamine and an alkyl ester of acrylic or alkyl acrylic acid particularly suitable for gasoline to reduce the deposition of carbon and other materials in the combustion areas of the engine.
Fuel Cells
Another type of fuel is employed with fuel cells, which extract chemical energy from a mixture to create electricity. A fuel cell creates electricity directly from the energy in chemical fuels without an intermediate conversion into thermal energy. It works similar to a battery. In a battery there are two electrodes separated by an electrolyte. At lease one of the electrodes is generally made of a solid metal, which is converted into another chemical compound during the production of electricity. The electrical energy that a batter can produce in one cycle is limited by the amount of solid metal that can be converted. Conversely, in a fuel cell the solid metal electrodes are replaced by an electrode that is not consumed and a fuel high in ionic radical species that continuously replenishes the fuel cell. This fuel reacts with an oxidant such as oxygen from the other electrode. A fuel cell produces electricity as long as more fuel and oxidant are pumped through it. A typical fuel cell thus reacts oxygen with a fuel to produce electricity and fuel oxide byproducts. The basic core of the fuel cell consists of manifolds, an anode, a cathode, and electrolyte generally called the stack.
Of particular use with the present fuel composition are direct alcohol fuel cells, which have an operated temperature of between 50-100° C., and are particularly suited for powering portable and mobile devices from fuels have many OH groups. Heretofore, these fuel cells typically combine air with alcohol to produce electricity and CO2 byproducts.
Additives
Born et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,062 issued Aug. 31, 1982 discloses a combustion improving additive for liquid fuel consisting essentially of an iron complex soluble in organic media, formed by reacting a sulfonic acid with ferric hydroxide in such proportions as to obtain a ratio of the number of acid gram-equivalents of the sulfonic acid to the number of gram-atoms of the iron in the range from ⅙ to 1/12. The reaction is conducted in the presence of a light aromatic hydrocarbon or a light halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon having a boiling point from 80 degrees to 230 degree C., and an organic liquid containing oxygen, at least partially miscible with water and substantially miscible with hydrocarbons to produce the iron complex. The iron complex provides a combustion adjuvant for liquid fuels to save energy and reduce pollution.
Brennan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,300,477 issued Nov. 27, 2007 discloses another method and fuel additive including iron containing compounds for protecting and improving the operation of diesel fuel combustion systems.
Van den Neste et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,104 issued Aug. 1, 2000 discloses a composition including at least three metals (M1, M2, M3) where the weight ratio of the metal (M3) to metal (M2) is greater than 0.15. The first metal (M1) is selected from the iron group or the manganese group (preferably iron, manganese, cobalt and nickel). The second metal (M2) is selected from the rare earth group (preferably cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and praseodymium). The third metal (M3) is selected from the alkaline or alkaline-earth metal group (preferably barium strontium, calcium and lithium). These mixed organometallic compositions are used as additives to hydrocarbonic liquid fuels to improve combustion. These additives have metallic oxides, which adsorb on asphaltenes and because of their catalytic effect on these asphaltenes they reduce the quantity of solid unburned components released during combustion.
Dodd et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,680 issued Dec. 16, 2003 discloses a fuel which is a hydrocarbon oil-in-water emulsion for gas turbines, which minimizes corrosion of turbine blades by keeping the sodium ion content of the emulsion to less than 1 ppm.
Miyawaki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,322 issued Nov. 6, 1990 discloses a fuel oil additive with at least two kinds of soaps selected from cerium, neodymium and lanthanum, which are added as combustion promoters for heavy oil, coal slurries, or COM.
Cited for general interest is Michelfelder et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,224 issued Jul. 24, 1984 providing a method of minimizing the emission of contaminants from flame combustion via additives added to the combustion chamber by means of a gaseous and/or liquid carrier flow accompanied by the formation of a veil which surrounds the burner flame. Additional additives are then reacted outside of the combustion chamber.
Despite the wide variety of additives available for fuel applications, there still remains a need for improved additives to provide increased deposit control and more efficient burning.
Catalysts
Haskew, U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,606, issued Aug. 17, 2004, is a recent example of a catalyst composition and method for oxidizing fuels. The catalyst composition comprises at least one compound having one of a group III, group IIA or Lanthanide element such as, for example, Aluminum, Magnesium or Cesium, and at least one compound having at least one element selected from group IA, group IVA, group VI, group VII, group VIII, group IB, group IIB, and combinations thereof, such as, for example platinum, rhodium and rhenium. It thus provides a method for oxidizing a fuel, the method comprising providing a fuel and a catalyst mixture; transporting the fuel and the catalyst to the flame zone separately; mixing the fuel and the catalyst; and oxidizing the fuel. The method and catalyst mixture may be used for oxidation of any hydrocarbon based fuel. Improved results from the use of the group III, group IIA or Lanthanide group elements include increase power, reduced harmful emissions, and smoother oxidation process.
Catalysts are expensive, and often require complex apparatus for proper combustion enhancement.
The fuel additive described below provides a sugar based solution suitable for use with liquid as well as solid carbon based fuels to improve combustion burning. It may be used with or without catalysts, and as a stand alone fuel for fuel cells. | {
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This invention relates to a device for successively supplying both the front and rear sides of a sheet to an apparatus such as a copying machine or facsimile in a switching mode so that the apparatus may record on both sides of the sheet.
In a conventional device of this type, sheets which have copied an original on the first side thereof are stacked in a one-side-copied sheet tray one after another, and the sheets thus stacked are delivered out of the tray and are turned over by a reversing mechanism before they reach the copying machine, so that originals are recorded on both sides of each sheet.
In the conventional device, the sheets having an original copied on one side are stacked in the sheet tray one after another as described above. Therefore, it is difficult to successively stack the sheets in the tray, which may be different in paper quality or size according to different copying operations. Even if these sheets are correctly placed in the tray, it is difficult to deliver the sheets out of the tray one after another; sometimes two or more sheets are delivered in a stacked state.
In the case where curled sheets are put in the one-side-copied sheet tray, it is difficult to uniformly stack the sheets.
The conventional device further requires a mechanism for delivering sheets from the one-side-copied sheet tray. Therefore, the conventional device is intricate in construction and high in manufacturing cost. | {
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This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-108620, filed Apr. 6, 2001, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spin valve transistor for use in reading magnetic heads and the like for magnetic recording.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, spin valve transistors (spin tunnel transistors) that have a large magneto-current ratio (MR ratio) have come to attract attention as magnetic sensors for reading data from magnetic discs.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, or a schematic representation of the structure of a conventional spin valve transistor.
The spin valve transistor depicted in FIG. 4 comprises a collector region 1 (semiconductor layer 11), a base region 2 (ferromagnetic layer 12, nonmagnetic layer 13 and ferromagnetic layer 15), a barrier layer 3 (insulating layer 14 for a tunnel (or a semiconductor layer for a Schottky barrier)), and an emitter region 4 (electrode layer 17). As FIG. 4 shows, a metal layer 19 is provided on the ferromagnetic layer 12. The metal layer 19 may be dispensed with, nonetheless.
Of the two ferromagnetic layers 12 and 15 provided in the base region 2, the lower ferromagnetic layer 15 is fixed in magnetization direction. On the other hand, the upper ferromagnetic layer 12 is not fixed in magnetization direction; its magnetization direction changes in accordance with the direction of an external magnetic field emanating from a magnetic disc or the like. The electron current flowing from the emitter region 4 to the collector region 1 through the base region 2 is larger when the upper ferromagnetic layer 12 has the same magnetization direction as the lower ferromagnetic layer 15 than when the layer 12 has the opposite magnetization direction. Hence, the magnetization direction of the magnetic disc or the like can be determined by detecting the magnitude of this current.
The spin valve transistor can acquire an extremely large MR ratio of several hundred percent. However, it is disadvantageous in that the collector current is very small, about 10xe2x88x924 of the emitter current. The small ratio of the collector current to the emitter current is not desirable in view of power consumption, operating speed and noise.
The ratio of the collector current to the emitter current (i.e., current gain) is small, because the hot electrons injected into the base region undergo diffuse scattering in the ferromagnetic layer or at the interface between the ferromagnetic layer and the nonmagnetic layer. Once subjected to diffuse scattering, hot electrons cannot move into the collector region and move from the base region to the outside of the element. Therefore, the diffuse scattering in the ferromagnetic layer or at the interface between the ferromagnetic layer and the nonmagnetic layer should be suppressed in order to increase the collector current.
The diffuse scattering in the ferromagnetic layer can be suppressed by reducing the thickness of the ferromagnetic layer. In the spin valve transistor, however, many interfaces exist since the base layer has two ferromagnetic layers 12 and 15. It is therefore difficult to suppress the diffuse scattering at the interface. The probability of the diffuse scattering exponentially increases with the number of interfaces. Thus, the diffuse scattering at the interface makes a great problem with the spin valve transistor.
Most spin valve transistors must have an antiferromagnetic layer in order to fix the magnetization direction of the ferromagnetic layer. In the conventional spin valve transistor described above, the diffuse scattering in the base region will increase even more if an antiferromagnetic layer is provided on the ferromagnetic layer 15. The collector current will inevitably decrease very much. Conversely, the antiferromagnetic layer may be provided beneath the ferromagnetic layer. In this case, the antiferromagnetic layer must not cover the region through which electrons move into the collector region. Consequently, the magnetization direction of the ferromagnetic layer cannot be firmly fixed, and the transistor cannot exhibit a stable output characteristic.
As specified above, the conventional spin valve transistor cannot have a large current gain or a stable operating characteristic, because any ferromagnetic layer is provided in the base region. It is therefore desired that a spin valve transistor that has a large current gain and a stable operating characteristic.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a spin valve transistor that comprises a collector region made of semiconductor; a base region provided on the collector region and including a first ferromagnetic layer whose magnetization direction changes in-accordance with a direction of an external magnetic field; a barrier layer provided on the base layer and made of insulator or semiconductor; and an emitter region provided on the barrier layer and including a second ferromagnetic layer whose magnetization direction is fixed. | {
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The present disclosure relates to Au-free, low temperature ohmic contacts for III-N power devices on semiconductor substrates and a method of manufacturing thereof.
A GaN-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology offers perspectives for power device performance beyond known Si limitations. However, such devices are today fabricated on small diameter wafers, and often on sapphire or SiC substrates. To reduce fabrication costs, GaN HEMT power devices could be fabricated on standard Si substrates in high-productivity CMOS production facilities.
GaN HEMT device integration in a Si CMOS platform involves, among other challenges, the implementation of Au-free metallization schemes for source/drain ohmic contacts. A typical metallization scheme includes the deposition of a metal stack directly on top of an AlGaN layer, followed by an anneal step at a sufficiently high temperature to form a metal/AlGaN alloy. In addition, prior to the metal stack deposition, one or several treatments (wet clean, exposure to a plasma, recess etching, n-dopant implantation or diffusion, MOCVD regrowth of a highly n-doped layer in the ohmic areas, and the like) can be applied to the AlGaN/GaN HEMT epi layer. Typically, successful metallization schemes have been using Au-containing metal stacks annealed at relatively high temperatures (≧800° C.); achieving typical contact resistance (Rc) values below 1 Ωmm.
In recent years, several Au-free contact schemes have been proposed, aiming at similarly low Rc. Frequently cited metallization schemes are Ti/Al-based ones, such as Ti/Al/W published by H. S. Lee et. al. in IEEE Electron Device Letters Vol. 32, nr. 5, pp. 623-625 (2011) and Ti/Al/Ni published by M. Alomari et al. in ECS Transactions, Vol. 25, nr. 12, pp. 33-36 (2009). In these cases, Rc below 1.0 Ωmm has only been demonstrated at relatively high annealing temperatures (≧800° C.).
Low Rc and low annealing temperature for Au-free schemes have also been published, but typically employ metal schemes not directly compatible with CMOS platforms, for example, using a Ta/Al metal stack, Rc of 0.06 Ωmm has been reported by A. Malmros et al. in Semicond. Sci. Technol. Vol. 26, p. 075006 (2011). The latter is not directly compatible with CMOS platforms, because Ta is only available in aggressively scaled submicron CMOS technologies typically on a shared Ta/Cu metallization platform to reduce the resistance of the CMOS interconnect layers and hence the RC delay. Using Ta in the ohmic metallization would for this reason result in Cu-contaminated wafers and extra process steps would be needed to remove the Cu-contaminants from the wafer backside, thereby enhancing the cost of the product. Alternatively, low Rc values were obtained with introduction of Si doping in the GaN and/or AlGaN layer. This, however, can cause problems for the breakdown voltage of power devices, and Si implantations in GaN-based layers typically require annealing at very high temperatures (>1000° C.), not compatible with the process flow. | {
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The invention relates to the field of electronic design automation (EDA).
Sequential equivalence checking (SEC) may refer to verifying that the outputs of two hardware designs behave equivalently for any inputs sequence. In practice, SEC may be used to efficiently prove correctness of sequential design transformations, such as retiming, finite-state machine (FSM) re-encoding, addition of clock-gating logic, and/or the like.
Over the years, several different methodologies for SEC have been adopted, such as showing equivalence of two designs with respect to a specified initial state, such as the power-on reset state. This technique has attracted a lot of research and highly scalable algorithms are known.
Another example methodology considers completely random initial states. In this case, it is customary to perform an alignability analysis, that is, to look for a reset sequence that brings the random initial state to a deterministic synchronization state after which the designs behave equivalently. If a correct reset sequence is known, then the problem reduces to the previous one.
In general, alignability analysis is significantly less scalable and has several pitfalls. First, there is a risk of false negatives—comparing the design to itself could fail if the reset sequence does not exist. Second, there is a risk of false positives—for example, an automatically computed reset sequence may put a design into a deadlock state, and in this way two very different designs may behave identically. Another possibility is for the designer to specify a mapping file, correlating the initial values of the two designs.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the figures. | {
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It is known that mono-1-olefins (α-olefins), including ethylene, can be polymerized with catalyst compositions employing titanium, zirconium, vanadium, chromium, or other metals, often combined with a solid oxide and in the presence of cocatalysts. These catalyst compositions may be useful for both homopolymerization of ethylene, as well as copolymerization of ethylene with comonomers such as propylene, 1-butene, 1-hexene, or other higher α-olefins. Therefore, there exists a constant search to develop new olefin polymerization catalysts, catalyst activation processes, and methods of making and using catalysts that will provide enhanced catalytic activities and polymeric materials tailored to specific end uses.
Polyethylene (PE) produced by any number of methods generally contains small to moderate amounts of long chain branched molecules. In some instances, long chain branching (LCB) is desired to improve bubble stability during film blowing or to enhance the processibility of resins prepared with metallocene catalysts. However for many uses, the presence of LCB is considered undesirable due to the increased elasticity that it typically imparts to the resins. Therefore the ability to control the LCB level in polyethylene using metallocene-based catalysts is a desirable goal.
One example of this need is seen in the use of bridged or ansa-metallocene catalysts, which are desirable catalysts for some purposes, but which may tend to produce polymer with LCB levels that are detrimental to film performance. Therefore, new catalyst compositions and methods that allow better control of LCB levels within a desired specification range is a desirable goal. | {
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The present invention relates to a cap for closing the mouth of a vehicle fuel tank filler neck, and particularly to a tank filler neck closure cap designed to withstand the application of excessive closure torque and to reset automatically to an installation configuration upon removal from the filler neck. More particularly, the present invention relates to a quick-on filler neck closure cap having a torque-control mechanism that is operative during cap installation and a spring-driven closure member reset mechanism that is operative during cap removal.
Conventional caps for closing the filler neck of a vehicle fuel tank typically include a closure member carrying a seal for closing and sealing the mouth of the filler neck and a handle for turning the closure member to mount the closure member and seal in the filler neck. A typical filler neck cap includes a ring-shaped seal made of a resilient gasket material that is compressed between the cap and a filler neck receiving the cap to establish a sealed connection between the cap and the filler neck when the cap is mounted on the filler neck.
Frequent over-tightening of a filler neck fuel cap can crush or otherwise damage the O-ring gasket which provides the seal between the cap and the filler neck. The torque-control mechanism was developed to limit the amount of torque which could be applied by a user in the cap-advancing direction as the user rotates the cap on the filler neck to its fully seated filler neck-closing position thereon. Thus, a torque-control mechanism helps minimize wear and tear on the O-ring gasket and preserves the sealing capability of the gasket. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,913,303 to Harris and 5,110,003 to MacWilliams, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.
More and more vehicle drivers are using the self-service bays at gasoline stations and filling their own fuel tanks. Some people have found that it is difficult to remove and install a conventional filler neck cap during refueling. A quick-on cap that is readily installable on and removable from a filler neck by a user without a lot of effort and that is configured to establish a sturdy sealed connection between the cap and the filler neck consistently during use would be welcomed by users of such caps.
Many quick-on filler neck caps are configured to be engaged with internal flanges formed in the filler neck to cause the cap to be retained quickly and easily in the filler neck after being rotated, for example, one-eighth or one-quarter of a turn in the filler neck. Quick-on caps are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,395,004 to Griffin and Harris; 5,381,919 to Griffin and Harris; 5,480,055 to Harris and Griffin; and 5,794,806 to Griffin and Harris; and in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/254,516 to Griffin, filed on Mar. 9, 1999, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.
According to the present invention, a filler neck cap includes a closure member adapted to close a filler neck, a handle, and a torque-transmission ring positioned to lie between the handle and the closure member and coupled to the handle to rotate therewith. A connector is positioned to lie between the torque-transmission ring and the closure member. The connector is configured to provide a torque-limited connection between the ring and the closure member during rotation of the handle and the ring in a cap-advancing direction and to provide a direct-drive connection between the ring and the closure member during rotation of the handle and the ring in a cap-removal direction.
An axial spring is provided to yieldably urge the torque-transmission ring in a direction toward the closure member during rotation of the handle and the ring about an axis with and relative to the closure member to maintain the torque-limited connection. The axial spring is positioned to extend between the torque-transmission ring and the handle.
In preferred embodiments, the axial spring includes several spring arms and each spring arm includes a fixed end coupled to an annular inner edge of the torque-transmission ring and a free end arranged to engage and ride on a foundation wall provided on the underside of the handle and arranged to face downwardly toward the underlying torque-transmission ring. The spring arms are made of a spring material and act to "push" the torque-transmission ring downwardly toward the closure member to maintain the torque-limited connection during cap installation in a filler neck whether the handle and torque-transmission ring are cooperating to turn the closure member in the filler neck to assume an installed position therein or whether the handle and torque-transmission ring are rotating together as a unit relative to the closure member after the closure member has been installed in the filler neck during a torque-override condition wherein drive teeth on the ring ramp on and over underlying driven teeth on the closure member to create the familiar "clicking" sound vehicle refuelers associate with the torque-override function of a vehicle fuel cap.
A rotary spring is coupled to the handle and to the torque-transmission ring and arranged to cause the closure member to rotate relative to the handle automatically upon removal of the cap from the filler neck prior to refueling. The cap is configured to provide a lost-motion driving connection during cap removal so that the handle always rotates through a lost-motion angle during initial rotation of the handle about an axis relative to the filler neck in a cap-removal direction. Upon removal of the cap from a filler neck, while the user is still gripping the cap by holding onto the handle, the rotary spring inside the cap functions to rotate the torque-transmission ring and the closure member, which is coupled to the torque-transmission ring by a direct-drive connection established during cap removal, relative to the handle to cause the closure member to be rotated to a predetermined position so that the user can later positively and quickly reinstall the quick-on cap in the filler neck without experiencing any "lost motion" movement between the handle and the closure member.
In preferred embodiments, the rotary spring is a helical clock spring arranged to lie adjacent to an annular outer side wall of the handle. One end of the spring is coupled to a downwardly projecting post appended to an underside of the handle and the other end of the spring is coupled to an upwardly projecting post appended to a top surface of the torque-transmission ring. The helical clock spring is arranged to lie in a radially outward position against the annular side wall of the handle and away from the central axis of rotation to allow an open space to exist in the cup under a center portion of the handle.
In preferred embodiments, the filler neck cap further includes a conductor configured to conduct an electrical charge from the handle to the filler neck during rotation of the handle relative to the closure member and before movement of the closure member to break a seal established between the closure member and the filler neck. The conductor includes an annular band coupled to the torque-transmission ring to rotate therewith and a finger appended to the annular band. The finger is arranged to be moved by a boss on the handle to establish electrical contact between a tip of the finger and the filler neck before the closure member is moved to open the filler neck.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a slide operation device in which a moving block slides on a slide bar manually or electrically in a linear magnetic encoder, and an electrical parameter is set in accordance with a movement amount or absolute position of the moving block as a measurement value.
2. Background Art
This type of slide operation devices include the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-49302. The slide operation device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-49302 is used as a fader of a mixing console, for example, and is configured such that a moving block moves along a guide body by manual operation of a slide operator. The moving block is held slidably by a main movement guide body and an auxiliary movement guide body in parallel with each other. The auxiliary movement guide body comprises a non-magnetic stainless shaft formed by insertion-molding of a magnetic material. And by detecting a magnetic polar pattern formed on the magnetic material by a magnetic sensor provided in the moving block, a position of the slide operator is detected, and the electric parameter is set in accordance with its movement amount as a measurement value.
If the movement guide body holding the moving block is made as a magnetic scale body, the entire movement guide body could be formed from a permanent magnetic material, but actually magnetic alloys are expensive and ferrites are fragile and have a problem in durability. On the other hand, if the movement guide body is mainly constructed by a substantially rod-shape shaft (slide bar) made of a non-magnetic stainless, it would be excellent in durability as a guide body.
However, in the above prior art, since the movement guide body is constituted by embedding a magnetic member (magnetic scale material) in a groove formed along the longitudinal direction of the non-magnetic stainless shaft (slide bar), there is a possibility that a part of the magnetic member is separated from the shaft by use for a long time. Particularly, the magnetic member tends to separate from the end portion of the shaft. Also, if the shaft is firmly fixed at the both ends to a case, there is a problem that the magnetic member is displaced in the longitudinal direction and becomes susceptible to separation due to a difference in linear expansion coefficient between the shaft and the magnetic member. Moreover, if the shaft is firmly fixed to the case at the both ends, there is a problem that the shaft is deformed in a direction crossing the axis due to thermal stress and an appropriate gap between a magnetic sensor and the magnetic member cannot be ensured, which causes lowered accuracy. | {
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Conventional synthetic fertilizer materials such as urea, phosphatic fertilizer, potassium manure, ammonium sulfate and so forth, which are the most commonly used fertilizers, are readily soluble in water. Therefore, they are subject to leaching and their use results in a rapid release of their components. This loss of the fertilizer components will affect the sustained growth of crops and thus results in a decrease in harvest of the crops.
Many proposals have been made for obtaining a fertilizer product with sustained action, the releasing rate of the active components of which product can adequately be controlled.
In general, fertilizers with sustained action have been manufactured by chemical or physical methods. In chemical methods, a fertilizer material is reacted with one or more different compounds to produce another chemical substance, the active portions of which can steadly be degraded and released when the substance is applied to the ground.
The fertilizer products of this type involve urea-formaldehyde condensates disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,830,036 and 3,227,543; crotylidenediurea and urea-acetaldehyde condensates in U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,741 and U.K. Pat. No. 1,041,537; isobutylidenediurea (IBDU) in U.S. Pat. No. 3,054,699 and Japanese Patent Publication No. (Sho) 38-7942; and magnesium ammonium phosphate in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,827,368 and 3,181,943. However, these products require enormous production costs of about 3 to 4 times as compared with those of conventional products, because an additional procedure for reacting a fertilizer material with one or more different chemicals must be accompanied. Therefore, these chemical methods have not been commercially available.
Physical methods are divided into a combination method in which a conventional fertilizer material is entrained in and adsorbed on a proper material, and a coating method in which a thin-layer coating is formed around a granular fertilizer material.
In the combination method, wax, asphalt and petroleum resins (U.S. Pat. No. 3,219,433), high molecular weight compounds such as polyurethane (U.S. Pat. No. 3,232,739), white clay (U.S. Pat. No. 2,991,170) and the like are used as an entraining or adsorbing matrix for fertilizer materials. Although the fertilizer products in accordance with this combination method can be manufactured inexpensively, the products have drawbacks which the releasing rate of the fertilizer components is unequal and the content of the active ingredients per unit weight is lower.
Since, in accordance with the coating method, it is possible to manufacture a long-acting fertilizer product, which can contain higher fertilizer components, by selecting a proper coating material and to easily control the releasing rate of the components, the method has been considered most appropriate for practical use. Wax, high molecular weight compounds and sulfur have been proposed as coating materials useful in the coating method. Among the materials, was (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,096,171 and 3,256,786) possesses physiochemically hydrophobic characteristics but there are some problems that the coating requires a plenty of wax which is apt to be adhered to the inner surfaces of the coating machines and the fertilizer material involved is readily diffused into wax.
A urea-aldehyde condensate (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,214,259 and 3,248,255) among the high molecular weight compounds has been considered as an attractive coating material because it contains a high content of nitrogen. However, it has defects that the coating resulted from using the condensate as a coating material has a bad quality and high water-permeability. As another coating material, a copolymer between dicyclopentadiene and glycerol ester, which is available under the trademark OSMOCOTE from Archer Daniels Midland Company, U.S.A. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,518) is recommendable. By using a solution of the copolymer in a solvent as a coating material, it may be possible to form good multi-layer coatings around fertilizer particles. In practice, however, this material is expensively available and the solvent recovery remains unsolved.
A method for encapsulating a fertilizer material with sulfur is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,950 assigned to T.V.A., U.S.A. In this method, molten sulfur is sprayed on the surfaces of the fertilizer particles in a rotating drum. This method can provide coated fertilizers at lower costs because sulfur is cheaply available. However, the quality of the sulfur coating is poor and the method requires further various additives such as sealing agents for preventing the sulfur coating from being cracked and regulating agents for preventing the product from being coagulated and floating on the water surface. In addition, this sulfur-coated fertilizer product is very poor in views of its property and its storage quality. When the product is applied to the surface of ground, sulfur may easily be degradable by the action of the microorganisms living upon the soil and thus it is difficult to control the releasing rate of the fertilizer components into the soil.
From the foregoing, it will be noted that conventional long-acting fertilizer products have been encountered with many problems such as high production costs, imperfect coating ability and quality, recovery of the solvent used, prevention of the the biodegradation, decrease of the floatability on the water surface, storage quality, use of an excess amount of additivies, accumulation of the coating materials on and in the soil, the result, etc. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to power generation systems and more particularly to steam-augmented gas turbine engines in which the compressor turbine mass flow is nearly constant such that the compressor-turbine performance (isentropic efficiency) remains on design from a Cheng point to a stoichiometric point.
2. Description of the Related Art
In addition to the usual problems and restrictions associated with land-installed power plants such as fuel efficiency, cost, pollution control, and power, shipboard engines have special (i.e., stringent) restrictions as to space and weight. Further, the parameters of fuel efficiency and power are even more important in naval power plants, where conflicting requirements such as long patrolling range and high speed may each be achieved, as required.
To meet the above goals, various engines that have been developed for land-based power plants have been applied to shipboard power facilities. One system is a gas turbine based on a simple-cycle Brayton engine, designated the LM2500 and built by General Electric. Other engines have also been utilized which have serial compressors for increasing performance parameters such as power, fuel efficiency, etc.
Another type of system utilizes steam-augmented gas turbine (SAGT) engines which are extremely efficient and ecologically-benign. Commercial versions of this type of engine utilize steam/water flow rates up to 16% by weight of the airflow rate.
Steam-injected systems generally exhibit higher efficiency and increased specific horsepower than non-steam-injected systems. Such systems include many well-known gas turbines produced, for example, by Allison and General Electric. SAGT engines have been used for land-based applications in power-producing utilities and in manufacturing plants that require process steam. However, there has been only limited interest in shipboard application of the SAGT concept. The high efficiency of SAGT engines presents many potential benefits including a decrease in fuel consumption and extension of ship range and/or the time interval between underway fuel replenishment. Additionally, SAFT technology offers high power-turnup ratios for projected pulse-power weapon systems, and reduced stack weight, vertical moment, and IR signature.
An important concept used frequently in this disclosure is the Cheng point, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,841, issued to Cheng and incorporated herein by reference, which corresponds to a SAGT engine operating at the point of maximum thermal efficiency or peak efficiency point (i.e., the so-called Cheng point). The Cheng point occurs approximately when the steam generated by exhaust gases in a waste-heat boiler becomes saturated.
Another SAGT system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,324 issued to Urbach et al. on Apr. 9, 1985, and incorporated herein by reference. That system is based on a steam-augmented gas-turbine engine which includes a heat-recovery system (boiler), an intercooler, and a water-purification system.
FIG. 9 illustrates some basic concepts of SAGT systems wherein a first compressor 90 receives ambient air at its inlet, compresses the air and discharges the compressed air to an intercooler 91. The compressed air is cooled by the intercooler 91, which receives relatively pure water (i.e., having less than 0.20 parts-per-million solids) at a compatible pressure. The cooled compressed air is discharged from the intercooler 91 to a second compressor 92. The output of the second compressor is input to a combustor 93 and is used to burn fuel in the combustor in the presence of steam produced by a waste-heat boiler 94 and injected into the combustor by a steam injection means (not illustrated). The amount of fuel, steam, and compressed air introduced into the combustor is regulated in a predetermined manner to ensure operation of the engine system at a predetermined point (e.g., the stoichiometric point which is defined as the operating point where fuel and air are joined in a one-to-one chemical ratio so that all oxygen is consumed) and along a predetermined power profile curve. The use of steam in SAGT systems generally yields a specific power that is approximately threefold greater than the specific power of simple-cycle engines because a relatively negligible amount of energy is used to compress water in its liquid state. In the SAGT engine concept described above, steam/water flow rates up to 50% by weight of the air flow rate are utilized.
Thus, using up to 50% steam and/or water mixtures increases gas-turbine engine power by a factor of three or more, while maintaining the same air flow. Thus, at constant power, the total air demands are advantageously reduced and hence the size and number of gas turbine units for a given power requirement may be reduced accordingly.
The output of the combustor drives the compressor turbine 95, which drives the first and second compressors 90, 92, and a power turbine 96, which drives a load (not shown). The exhaust from the power turbine is cooled in the waste-heat boiler 94 which evacuates the exhaust to a stack and ultimately out to the ambient atmosphere. The waste thermal energy from the exhaust is used to generate steam to be input to the combustor. As discussed above, the source of energy for the injected steam and/or steam-water mixture is waste heat extracted from the effluent stack gas.
Since, as mentioned above, the energy required to compress the water is negligible, the available specific power of water is typically about 1000 hp-sec/lbm as opposed to less than 190 hp-sec/lbm for air in a simple-cycle engine. With maximum steam/water augmentation, a threefold increase in power output is achieved without any increment of air flow. At constant power, a threefold reduction in air requirements is realized. Consequently, the stack volume of intake and uptake ducts mentioned above can be substantially reduced in a SAGT engine.
Naval application of SAGT systems demands a large water-purification system, which had been considered a major technical impediment to development of a marinized version of the steam-augmented gas-turbine power plant. However, studies of water purification based on a reverse-osmosis plant have shown that less than 4200 cubic feet of space may be required to operate the SAGT engines for a destroyer with a 100,000-hp propulsion power plant. Thus, this is not a significant problem.
However, because of the wide range of mass flows necessary in the SAGT engine, difficulties arise in the previous disclosed engine from losses incurred by flow regimes which deviate severely from optimum design-point conditions. As a consequence, although the overall thermodynamic efficiency is always better than simple-cycle efficiency, the goal of high efficiency over the entire range of engine power is not always attained. This is a problem.
Further, the intercooler shown in FIG. 9 helps to increase specific power and efficiency by increasing the density of air entering the high-pressure compressor. Therefore, the annular flow area of the high-pressure compressor must be smaller to match the flow requirements. Since these changes significantly alter the characteristics of the new machine, it is very difficult to manufacture the engine from off-the-shelf components.
Further, while some commercial versions of steam-augmented gas turbines accept steam in amounts up to 16% of the compressor air flow, high levels of steam injection are avoided because commercial turbines, originally designed as simple-cycle machines with smaller flows, often undergo surge, hazardous overspeed, and serious off-design losses with greater steam injection. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The invention relates to a device for the discontinuous production of block foam wherein a bridge-like framework, is equipped with a vertically movable mixing unit, which is provided with component feed lines and a stirrer. The mixing unit has as a mixing container a bottomless cylindrical shell which can be mounted to a plate having feed openings for the reaction components. A distributing device is arranged underneath the feed opening for one of the reaction components. The mixing unit is vertically movable into and/or out of a mold placed beneath the mixing container. Equipment of this type is advantageous for the discontinuous production of block foam, when insufficient product requirements make continuous production unprofitable.
The mixing of the components is a particularly critical factor with equipment for discontinuous production techniques. With known equipment the components are simply introduced through a plate at the top of the mixing container and stirred. After each mixing operation, the interior wall of the mixing container has to be cleaned manually. A more refined version has a distribution channel at the upper edge of the mixing container, from the bottom of which an annular gap opens toward the interior wall of the mixing container. The mixing container is provided with a floor which has a lockable opening. In introducing the components through the feed openings into the mixing container, one component is fed in first through the distribution channel. This first component is distributed around the circumference of the interior wall of the mixing container and runs down the wall thereby rinsing it. Only then is the second component fed through the other feed opening, without using the distribution channel. Such a mixing container, therefore, is costly because of the necessary distribution channel and the container floor having a lockable exit opening. The flushing procedure is relatively time consuming, because the annular gap may not exceed a certain maximum width to assure the distribution of the components over the entire ring cavity of the distribution channel so that all wall sections are flushed uniformly. Flushing of the exit opening in the floor results in significant material losses.
It is an object of the invention to safely flush the interior walls of the mixing container within the shortest possible time, using relatively simple means. It is also an object of the invention to avoid flushing and to avoid additional areas which cannot be flushed and where the mixture could settle. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to methods of transferring money in from a sender to a distant recipient.
Conventional bank checking and savings accounts are often not available to minors or persons with poor credit or financial status. Even if those persons have a savings account, generally they will have to visit the savings institution in person at inconvenient times to receive cash.
Often a person away from home in a different city or foreign country on business, vacation, etc. or a student away from home at school has a need for additional money. Where a purchase is to be made, a conventional check or credit card often suffices. However, many establishments do not accept out-of-town checks and not everyone has a checking account. Also, not everyone carries credit cards and not all vendors take credit cards or only accept certain cards. Sometimes, people are at or near their credit limit and cannot use their card. Thus, there is a need for a cash transfer from a source of funds to the person at the distant location.
Various agent-based money transfer services exist, such as those provided by Western Union and MoneyGram. While useful in some circumstances, these require a sender to go to the agent""s facility, have money transferred to a site near the recipient, who then must go to the transfer agent""s site to receive the cash. This is a slow and often inconvenient arrangement.
A number of methods of transferring money have been developed in attempts to alleviate at least some of these problems. For example, pre-paid calling card systems are described by Simson et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,768 and Taskett in U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,748. Upon payment of an amount to be transferred and a fee, a card is xe2x80x9cchargedxe2x80x9d with magnetic information indicating the money value. When the card is used to make a long-distance telephone call or make a purchase, the cost is deducted. The card can be recharged at a terminal with value from a pre-authorized money amount. While quite useful, these cards require pre-payment of a base amount from which the card can be recharged. Thus, one cannot obtain a recharge when an amount beyond the pre-payment is needed. Further, these cards are generally only useful for payment for goods or services, not to obtain cash.
A number of different systems, such as that described by Konya in U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,396, are available for remotely transferring funds between accounts through use of an ATM card. However, these are not usable by those who do not have accounts of the sort accessed by these cards.
Methods of holding and dispensing cash are described by Cucinotta et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,546 and Levine et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,038. In these arrangements, cash is deposited with a holder and an ATM card is issued to the depositor. The ATM card can be used to withdraw cash up to the amount deposited. However, this card system requires pre-deposits of funds and does not conveniently allow others to recharge the account.
Thus, there is a continuing need for a cash transfer system of improved efficiency and convenience, that is useable by minors and those with poor credit histories and those who do not have checking accounts and/or credit cards and that makes the cash available to the receiver promptly without any need to go to a transfer agent""s location.
The above-noted problems, and others, are overcome in accordance with this invention by a method of transferring cash from a sender to a receiver which basically involves a person intending to receive cash (the xe2x80x9creceiverxe2x80x9d) sent from another person (the xe2x80x9csenderxe2x80x9d) initially acquires an unactivated cash card, then contacts an issuing agent for the company operating the system to have the card activated. The card is generally similar to an ATM or debit card, having a unique serial number, a magnetizable strip and indicia identifying the issuing company and agent to contact. Contact may be made in any suitable manner, such as by telephone (usually a toll-free number), by on-line banking methods, via the internet to the company""s website or through an authorized ATM.
When contacted, the issuing agent prompts the receiver to enter the card number, generally through the keypad or keyboard on the telephone, computer or ATM. The receiver then provides a custom passcode (also known as a personal identification number), generally a four-digit number.
The receiver then contacts the sender who is to provide the funds, giving the sender the card account identification number. The sender deposits funds into the card account in any suitable manner. Typically the deposit may be made using online banking via a personal computer, directing his or her bank to transfer funds to the cash card account number. Or, the transfer may be made by the sender contacting the system agent and authorizing transfer to the cash card account number from his or her credit or debit card. Alternatively, the sender may deposit cash or use an alternative payment such as check, credit/debit card personally with a local issuing agent of the operating company.
The funds transfer electronically through a transfer clearing system and appears as a credit available to the cash card account number.
The receiver may now access the funds by using the cash card, with his or her passcode, at any authorized ATM, or may purchase goods from authorized vendors or may receive services from an authorized vendor in the same manner as using a debit card.
The sender (or other senders) may later add additional funds to the cash card, although it may be more convenient to just use a new, free, card. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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