A method of fabricating an array substrate (as well as an array substrate itself) for use in an IPS-LCD device prevents a short-circuit between a data line and a storage capacitor. When fabricating the array substrate for use in the IPS-LCD device, the residues of a third metallic material, which remains in step portions of the double-layered common line, cause a short-circuit between a data line and a storage capacitor. In order to prevent the short-circuit, a plurality of protrusions extending from a first layer of the double-layered common line are formed at both sides of the storage capacitor. The plural protrusions have quadrilateral-shaped holes in their central portions. By forming an etching hole at each corner of the protrusion and eliminating the residues using the etching hole, the short-circuit between the storage capacitor and the data line is obviated. Accordingly, the IPS-LCD device having a high resolution is achieved.

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2000-24965, filed on May 10, 2000, under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7 119, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, and more particularly, to an array substrate for use in an in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device (IPS-LCD).
2. Description of Related Art
In general, liquid crystal display device (LCD) includes a display panel which have upper and lower substrates attached to each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed between the upper and lower substrates. These upper and lower substrates are respectively referred to as color filter and array substrates. Further, the display panel includes retardation films and polarizers on its exterior surfaces. Because the LCD device is selectively comprised of the above-mentioned elements, it converts the state of incident light and changes light refractive index in order to have great brightness and high contrast ratio.
Although the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer are usually twisted nematic liquid crystals, use of the twisted nematic liquid crystal layer in the large-sized display panel is limited because of unstable transmittance of the twisted nematic liquid crystal layer, which depends on viewing angle. Moreover, the light transmittance varies depending on vertical viewing angle and is asymmetrically distributed compared to symmetric distribution in horizontal viewing angle. Thus, a range of reverse-image occurs when the viewing angle is vertically slanted. Thus, the viewing angle becomes narrow.
In order to solve the problem of the narrow viewing angle, in-plane switching liquid crystal display (IPS-LCD) devices have been proposed. IPS-LCD devices typically include a lower substrate where a pixel electrode and a common electrode are disposed, an upper substrate having no electrode, and a liquid crystal interposed between the upper and lower substrates. In this typical structure, the liquid crystal molecules are driven by a horizontal electric field. Contrast ratio is increased and color-shift is prevented. Thus, the characteristics of viewing angle are improved.
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating one pixel of an array substrate of a conventional in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display (IPS-LCD) device. As shown, a plurality of gate lines 14 are transversely disposed on a substrate (see reference element 11 of FIG. 2A). A common line 12 is spaced apart from and disposed parallel with the gate lines 14. A plurality of data lines 13 that are spaced apart from each other are disposed across and perpendicular to the gate and the common lines 14 and 12. Each pair of gate and data lines 14 and 13 defines a pixel area xe2x80x9cPxe2x80x9d.
Near the crossing of the gate and data lines 14 and 13, a switching device, i.e., a thin film transistor that is indicated by a portion xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d, is positioned. As shown in an enlarged view of a portion xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d, gate and source electrodes 21 and 17 are positioned and electrically connected with the gate and data lines 14 and 13, respectively. A drain electrode 19 is spaced apart from the source electrode 17 and overlaps one end of the gate electrode 21. The source electrode 17 also overlaps the other end of the gate electrode 21. An active layer 15 is located over the gate electrode 21 and under the source and drain electrodes 17 and 19. A first pixel-connecting line 25a, which is connected with one end of each respective pixel electrode 25, electrically contacts the drain electrode 19 through a drain contact hole 35, and is disposed parallel with the gate line 14.
Still referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of common electrodes 23 are disposed parallel with the data line 13 and spaced apart from each other. One end of each common electrode 23 is electrically connected to the common line 12, and the other end of each common electrode 23 contacts a common-connecting line 23a. A plurality of pixel electrodes 25 are disposed perpendicular to the first pixel-connecting line 25a, and communicate with the first pixel-connecting line 25a. The pixel electrodes 25 are spaced apart from each other and parallel with the adjacent common electrodes 23. Moreover, each pixel electrode 25 corresponds to an adjacent common electrode 23. The other ends of the pixel electrodes 25 are connected with a second pixel-connecting line 25b that is over the common line 12. The second pixel-connecting line 25b overlaps a portion of the common line 12 such that a storage capacitor xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d is comprised of the common line 12, the second pixel-connecting line 25b and an interposed dielectric layer. Although FIG. 1 shows four common electrodes and three pixel electrodes, the number of the common and pixel electrodes depends on spaces between electrodes.
Still referring to FIG. 1, the gate and common lines 14 and 12 have a double-layer structure, respectively, in order to prevent signal delay of these lines. Moreover, the gate electrode 21 is also a double layer. Namely, the gate line 14 is comprised of first and second layers 14a and 14b and the common line 12 is also comprised of first and second layers 12a and 12b. The first layers 14a and 12a are usually a substance having low electrical resistance, such as Aluminum (Al). However, Aluminum is low in hardness and chemical resistance. So open-circuits and oxidation easily occur during an etching process. To overcome this problem, a second layer is formed on the first layer usually of a substance having high hardness and good chemical resistance, such as Molybdenum (Mo) or Chrome (Cr). Moreover, the first and second pixel-connecting lines 25a and 25b, and the pixel electrodes 25 are a transparent conductive material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO). Each pixel electrode 25 is positioned between the common electrodes 23 so that each pixel and common electrodes 25 and 23 is arranged one after the other. The data line 13 and the source and drain electrodes 17 and 19 are made of the metallic material selected from a group consisting of chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), aluminum alloy (Al alloy), molybdenum (Mo), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), and antimony (Sb), and the like.
However, such a structure has a problem. During a patterning process of the data line 13, the remains of the above-mentioned substance (Cr, Mo, Ta, W or the like) are left in step portions xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d around the common line 12. These remains are not completely removed during the patterning process of the data line 13, and exist in the capacitor xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d such that the short-circuit occurs between the data line 13 and the storage capacitor xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d.
FIGS. 2A to 2D are cross-sectional views taken alone lines IIxe2x80x94II and IIIxe2x80x94III of FIG. 1 and illustrate fabricating processes for the array substrate.
Referring to FIG. 2A, the first gate line 14a (see FIG. 1) is formed on the substrate 11 by depositing and patterning a conductive metal having low electrical resistance, such as Aluminum (Al). The first gate electrode 21a that is extended from the first gate line is formed with the first gate line on the substrate 11. Simultaneously, the first common line 12a is formed when the first gate line and the first gate electrode are formed. Thereafter, the second gate line 14b (see FIG. 1), the second common line 12b and the second gate electrode 21b are formed on the respective first layers of these components by depositing and patterning the conductive metal having the high hardness and chemical resistance, such as Cr, Mo, or the like. Namely, the second gate line 14b (see FIG. 1) is formed to cover the first gate line 14a, the second common line 12b is formed to cover the first common line 12a, and the second gate electrode 21b is formed to cover the first gate electrode 21a. Thus, the double-layered gate line 14 (see FIG. 1) is formed on the substrate 11. The double-layered gate electrode 21 that is extended from the gate line 14 is also formed on the substrate 11. The double-layered common line 12 that is parallel with the gate line 14 is formed.
Still referring to FIG. 2A, when forming the second common line 12b, a plurality of common electrodes 23 and the common-connecting line 23a (see FIG. 1) are formed on the substrate 11. So the common electrodes 23 are extended from the common line 12 and electrically connect the common-connecting line 23a (see FIG. 1) to the double-layered common line 12.
Referring now to FIG. 2B, a gate insulation layer 27 is formed on entire surface of the substrate 11 to cover the conductive layers formed previously. The gate insulation layer 27 is an inorganic substance, such as silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiO2), or an organic substance, such as BCB (benzocyclobutene) or acryl-based resin. Subsequently, the active layer 15 is formed on the gate insulation layer 27, particularly over the gate electrode 21. After that, ohmic contact layer 16 is formed on the active layer 15, and thus the ohmic contact layer 16 is interposed between the active layer 15 and the source and drain electrodes that are formed in a later step. The active layer 15 is formed by depositing and patterning an amorphous silicon layer (a-Si), while the ohmic contact layer 16 is formed by depositing and patterning a doped amorphous silicon layer (n+a-Si).
Referring now to FIG. 2C, the source and drain electrodes 17 and 19 are formed on the ohmic contact layer 16, and are made of the conductive metallic material selected from a group consisting of chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), aluminum alloy (Al alloy), molybdenum (Mo), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), and antimony (Sb), and the like. By depositing and patterning these materials, not only the source and drain electrodes 17 and 19 but also the data line 13 is formed on the gate insulation layer 27 such that the source electrode 17 is extended from the data line 13. The source and drain electrodes 17 and 19 are spaced apart from each other and respectively overlap opposite ends of the gate electrode 21. Moreover, a portion of the ohmic contact layer 16 between the source and drain electrodes 17 and 19 is eliminated to form a channel region. At this time when forming the data line 13 and the source and drain electrodes 17 and 19, the residues of the material forming the data line 13 and the source and drain electrodes 17 and 18 are left in a ridge, or step portion, of the portion xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d. The step is caused by the formation of the two layers 12a and 12b of the common line 12. After forming the data line 13 and the source and drain electrodes 17 and 19, these residues spread over a interval between the storage capacitor xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d (see FIG. 1) and the data line 13, and thus result in the short-circuit between them. A passivation layer 33 is then formed on and over the above-mentioned intermediates by depositing an organic or inorganic insulating material. After that, a drain contact hole 35 that exposes a portion of the drain electrode 19 is formed by patterning the passivation layer 33.
Now, referring to FIG. 2D, on the passivation layer 33 having the drain contact hole 35, a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO) is deposited and then patterned to form the pixel electrodes 25 and the first and second pixel-connecting lines 25a and 25b. Thus, the first pixel-connecting line 25a contacts the portion of the drain electrode 19 through the drain contact hole 35, and the second pixel-connecting line 25b overlaps the portion of the common line 12, thus the second pixel-connecting line 25b and the common line 12 comprise the storage capacitor xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d.
According to aforementioned structure of the array substrate for use in the IPS-LCD device, the residual substances remaining the portions either side of the storage capacitor connect the data line to the storage capacitor. Thus, the residues cause the short in the storage capacitor. The short results in discharge of the electric charge stored in the storage capacitor through the data line. Moreover, the residues deteriorate the driving characteristics of the liquid crystals and bring about the point defect in the display panel.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an IPS-LCD device that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of fabricating an array substrate for use in the IPS-LCD device (as well as the array substrate itself), which eliminates residual substances formed on step portions of a double-layered common line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the method (as well as the array substrate itself) of fabricating the array substrate for use in the IPS-LCD device, which prevents occurrence of a short-circuit between a storage capacitor and the data line. And thus, the point defects are prevented.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an array substrate for use in an IPS-LCD device, including: a plurality of double-layered gate lines on a substrate, wherein the double-layered gate lines are comprised of first and second layers that overlap each other; a plurality of data lines over the substrate, wherein each data line is perpendicular to each double-layered gate line, and wherein each pair of gate and data lines defines a pixel area; a double-layered common line on the substrate, wherein the double-layered common line is parallel with and spaced apart from the double-layered gate line, and wherein the double-layered common line is comprised of first and second layers that overlap each other; a plurality of protrusion extended from first layer of the double-layered gate lines, wherein each protrusion has a hole in its central portion; a plurality of common electrodes extended from the second layer of the double-layered common line and being parallel with the data line; a common-connecting line being perpendicular to and connecting the common electrodes with each other; a plurality of pixel electrodes spaced apart from and being parallel with the common electrodes, wherein each pixel electrode is located between the pair of common electrodes and corresponds to each common electrode; first and second pixel-connecting lines being parallel with the double-layered common line and respectively connecting the pixel electrodes to each other at each end of the pixel electrodes, wherein the second pixel-connecting line overlaps a portion of the double-layered common line to form a storage capacitor; and a switching element electrically located in one corner of the pixel area and connected with the gate and data lines, the switching element contacting the first pixel-connecting line and supplying voltage to the said pixel electrodes.
The array substrate further comprises a gate insulation layer covering the substrate and the double-layered gate and common lines, and a passivation layer formed over the swiching element and having a drain contact hole and a etching hole. The etching hole is formed over a portion of each protrusion. The switching element includes a source electrode that is extended from the data line; a double-layered gate electrode that is extended from the double-layered gate line; a drain electrode that contacts the first pixel-connecting line through the drain contact hole; an active layer that is formed over the double-layered gate electrode; and ohmic contact layer that is interposed between the active layer and the source and drain electrodes.
The source and drain electrodes and the data lines are made of the metallic material selected from a group consisting of chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), aluminum alloy (Al alloy), molybdenum (Mo), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), and antimony (Sb), and the like. The double-layered common line is made of the same material of the double-layered gate lines and formed in the same layer of the double-layered gate lines. The protrusions extended from the first layer of the double-layered common line are located in both sides of the storage capacitor, and each protrusion has a quadrilateral shape, for example, a rectangular or square shape, and a quadrilateral-shaped hole in its central portion. The first layers of the double-layered gate and common lines includes aluminium (Al). The second layers of the double-layered gate and common lines are made of Molybdenum (Mo) or Chrome (Cr).
A method of fabricating an array substrate for sue in an IPS-LCD device according to the present invention includes depositing a first metallic material on a substrate; patterning the first metallic material to form a first gate electrode, first gate and common lines and a plurality of protrusions, wherein each protrusion has a hole in its central portion and is extended from the first common line, and wherein the first gate electrode is extended from the first gate line; depositing a second metallic material on the substrate and on the patterned first metallic material; patterning the second metallic material to form a second gate electrode, second gate and common lines, a common-connecting line and a plurality of common electrodes, wherein the first and second gate electrodes overlap each other to form a double-layered gate electrode, wherein the first and second common line overlap each other to form a double-layered common line, and wherein the first and second gate line overlap each other to form a double-layered gate line; forming a gate insulation layer on the substrate and on the patterned second material; forming an active layer and an ohmic contact layer in series on the gate insulation layer and over the double-layered gate electrodes; depositing a third metallic material on the ohmic contact layer and on the gate insulation layer; forming a data line, a source electrode and a drain electrode by patterning the third metallic material, wherein the source and drain electrodes overlap both ends of the double-layered gate electrodes, and wherein the data line is perpendicular to both the double-layered gate and common lines; forming a passivation layer on the patterned third metallic layer and on the gate insulation layer, wherein the passivation layer has a drain contact hole to the drain electrode, and an etching hole over each protrusion; depositing a transparent conductive material on the passivation layer having the drain contact hole and the etching hole; and forming a plurality of pixel electrodes and first and second connecting lines.
A method of fabricating an array substrate further comprises forming a channel region by patterning a portion of the ohmic contact layer between the source and drain electrodes.
Each pair of double-layered gate and data lines defines a pixel area. The double-layered common line is parallel with and spaced apart from the double-layered gate line. A plurality of the common electrodes is parallel with the data line. The common-connecting line is perpendicular to and connects the plural common electrodes with each other. A plurality of the pixel electrodes are spaced apart from and being parallel with the common electrodes. Each pixel electrode is located between the pair of common electrodes and corresponds to each common electrode. The first and second pixel-connecting lines are parallel with the double-layered common line and respectively connect the pixel electrodes to each other at each end of the pixel electrodes. The second pixel-connecting line overlaps a portion of the double-layered common line to form a storage capacitor. The protrusions extended from the first common line is located in both sides of the storage capacitor. The double-layered gate electrode, the active layer, the ohmic contact layer, the source electrode and the drain electrode comprise a thin film transistor that is located near the crossing the double-layer gate line and data line.
The third metallic material is selected from a group consisting of chromium (Cr), aluminum (Al), aluminum alloy (Al alloy), molybdenum (Mo), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), and antimony (Sb), and the like. The double-layered common line is made of the same material of the double-layered gate lines and formed in the same layer of the double-layered gate lines. Each protrusion has a quadrilateral shape and a quadrilateral-shaped hole in its central portion. The first metallic material includes aluminium (Al). The second metallic material is selected from a group consisting of molybdenum (Mo), chrome (Cr) and tungsten (W).
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

Method of fabricating array substrate for use in an in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device


A device or collar having a matrix into which an interomone is incorporated in an amount from between about 0.001% and about 5% by weight of the device is described for the modification of undesirable or harmful stress-related behaviors or other behaviors of physiology in a variety of vertebrate species over an extended period of time, as well as methods of using the device to modify behaviors of a variety of vertebrate species over an extended period of time.

Pheromones are chemicals released by living organisms that send information to other organisms of the same species via scent. Pheromones are released in response to stress, alarm, danger, sexual fertility, and in other behavioral contexts. Pheromones, by definition and according to evolutionary theory, are species-specific, that is, they are effective in eliciting an innate response only in members of the same species.
One of the best characterized mammalian pheromones is the rabbit nipple "search pheromone." Sensed by rabbit pups via their main olfactory system, the pheromone elicits a characteristic nipple search behavior that quickly results in the location of a nipple. (See Distel, H. and Hudson, R. (1985), "The contribution of the olfactory and tactile modalities to the performance of nipple-search behavior in newborn rabbits." J. Comp. Physiol. [A] 157, 599-605) This guidance cue is particularly important for rabbits, as a doe only nurses her pups for around four minutes once a day and the quick location of a nipple in the face of sibling competition is vital for survival. This "search pheromone" has recently been shown to be a single molecule, 2-methylbut-2-enal (Schaal et al., Chemical and behavioural characterization of the rabbit memory pheromone, Nature, 424:68-72, 2003), which is produced in rabbit milk and is sufficient to elicit full nipple search and grasping behavior when presented on its own at concentrations as low as 10 ng/mL.
Chemicals that provide interspecies communication are called allelochemicals. Some compounds are known to be a pheromone in one species, but have been observed to have strong behavioral effects in other species. For example, chemicals produced and released by one species that affect the behavior or physiology of another species to the benefit of the originator but not the receiver are known in the art as allomones (See Grasswitz, T. R. and G. R. Jones (2002). "Chemical Ecology". Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. doi:10.1038/npg.els.0001716). The production of allomones in natural environments has been mainly observed in plant species, which utilize allomones for example to protect plants against insect herbivores.
A kairomone is another known allelochemical. It is emitted by one species and benefits another species, but does not benefit and often harms the emitter. The production of kairomones in natural environments has been mainly observed in insect species. For example, the Ponderosa Pine tree produces a terpene called myrcene when the Western pine beetle damages the tree. The emission of this chemical then lures more beetles to the tree (See Wyatt, T. D. (2003). Pheromones and Animal Behaviour: Communication by Smell and Taste, First Edition (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press).
A synomone is an allelochemical produced and released by one species that benefits both the emitter and receiver. For example, plants emit odors that work to attract bees. The bees are attracted to the plants to feed and then the bees take the pollen to fertilize other plants/flowers.
Accordingly, the allelochemicals known in the art involve the observation of chemicals produced by one species having an effect on another species to the benefit and/or detriment of the emitting or receiving species. What is described is an allelochemical that affects the behavior and/or physiology of another species (i.e., the receiving species) without additionally having a beneficial or harmful effect on the emitting species and having a novel or unrelated behavioral or physiological effect on the receiving species.
For instance, while domestic dogs are known to bark as part of their normal method of communication, dogs may show excessive barking/jumping/mobbing/begging in response to external cues or due to boredom. Mobbing includes repetitive barking and jumping. Certain dogs will bark and jump in an excitable manner when they hear or see people, animals, vehicles, or machines. One theory is that excessive barking is part of the "mobbing" behavior that pack animals have when they attack a prey species (Lord et al., Barking and mobbing., Behav. Processes, 81:358-368, 2009).
Methods used in the art to stop the barking/jumping/begging syndrome have included shock collars, odor sprays, and loud noises, all of which work by startling or distracting the dog from engaging in the undesirable behavior. Dog appeasing pheromones, including synthetic compositions believed to replicate certain calming pheromones emitted by dogs, have also been used in the art to treat certain behavioral problems in dogs, but to date, have not been successful in alleviating the barking/jumping syndrome exhibited by certain dogs. Moreover, the pheromones used in the art have not been directed for use with animal species other than the species from which the pheromones are emitted.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide methods and compositions comprising a compound known to be a pheromone in one species to positively modify animal behavioral problems in a variety of different vertebrate species. In particular, there is a need in the art for use of an INTEROMONE® to calm, sedate, reduce anxiety, or otherwise positively modify the behavior of a variety of vertebrate species, including the barking/jumping/begging syndrome exhibited by some dogs or to calm anxious dogs or cats or other vertebrate species.
It is an object of the present invention to develop an external device containing an INTEROMONE®, which device can be worn by an animal to be treated with the INTEROMONE® composition and which device is always in the presence of an animal in order to provide a consistent and long-term behavior treatment regimen to an animal exhibiting stress-related behavior disorders.

Method of administering a pheromone composition to an animal to modify the animals behavior over an extended period of time


The present disclosure relates to a process for stabilizing an antimony ammoxidation catalyst in an ammoxidation process. The process may comprise providing an antimony ammoxidation catalyst to a reactor; reacting propylene with ammonia and oxygen in the fluidized bed reactor in the presence of the antimony ammoxidation catalyst to form a crude acrylonitrile product; and adding an effective amount of an antimony-containing compound to the antimony ammoxidation catalyst to maintain catalyst conversion and selectivity; wherein the antimony-containing compound has a melting point less than 375° C. The present disclosure also relates to catalyst compositions and additional processes using the antimony ammoxidation catalyst stabilized by an antimony-containing compound.

Some processes for the production of acrylonitrile by ammoxidation of propylene are known in the art. The reaction is typically conducted over an ammoxidation catalyst. Various suitable catalysts are known as well. Typical metal oxide combinations include molybdenum-bismuth-iron and iron-antimony. In the interest of improving performance certain activators or promoter metals have been included as components of the ammoxidation catalysts. For example, iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese, cerium, uranium, tin, titanium, and copper have been included in the typical ammoxidation catalysts during the production thereof.
Further, for molybdenum-based ammoxidation catalysts, attempts have been made to carry out the reaction while supplying a molybdenum-containing material thereto in an effort to maintain catalyst efficiency. This technique, however, leaves room for improvement.
For example, JP-B-58-57422 discloses a process, wherein a particle formed by supporting a molybdenum-containing material on silica is supplied to a fluidized bed catalyst containing molybdenum, bismuth, iron, cobalt and others, thereby restoring the catalyst efficiency. DE 3,311,521 discloses a process for reactivating molybdenum-containing catalyst is described, in which 0.25-2.5% by weight of a molybdenum compound having a particle size of 4 μm-1 mm is added to the catalyst to be regenerated. In this way it is possible, for example, to increase the yield in the production of acrylonitrile from about 65 to 73%.
WO 97/33863 disclose a process for preparing acrylonitrile or methacrylonitrile which comprises adding a molybdenum compound which is not supported on any carrier and which, during ammoxidation, can be converted to molybdenum oxide in such a manner that the atomic ratio y of molybdenum in an oxide catalyst represented by the general formula:MoyBipFeqAaBbCcDdEeOf is kept between 1.02x and 1.12x (wherein x=1.5p+q+a+c+1.5d+1.5e) as an activating agent to a fluidized bed reaction. These improvements have been effective only to some extent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,920 discloses that antimony-based oxide complex catalysts are improved by adding to these catalysts an antimony-containing compound such as Sb2O3. U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,599 discloses that antimony-containing metal oxide catalysts are produced or activated by dry blending (a) a catalyst or catalyst precursor composed of an antimony-containing metal oxides composition containing antimony and at least one element selected from the group consisting of iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese, cerium, uranium, tin, titanium, and copper, and (b) elemental antimony or an antimony compound, and contacting the components (a) and (b) with each other at about 300° C. to about 1000° C. in a non-reducing gas atmosphere for a period sufficient for the elemental antimony or antimony compound (b) to deposit on the catalyst or catalyst precursor (a).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,599 discloses antimony-containing metal oxide catalysts that are produced or activated by dry blending (a) a catalyst or catalyst precursor composed of an antimony-containing metal oxides composition containing antimony and at least one element selected from the group consisting of iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese, cerium, uranium, tin, titanium, and copper, and (b) elemental antimony or an antimony compound, and contacting the components (a) and (b) with each other at about 300° C. to about 1000° C. in a non-reducing gas atmosphere for a period sufficient for the elemental antimony or antimony compound (b) to deposit on the catalyst or catalyst precursor (a).
Even in view of these references, however, the need remains for processes that improve ammoxidation catalyst stability and provide for improvements in conversion and selectivity over time.

Processes for stabilizing antimony catalysts

Ascend Performance Materials Operations LLC


One or more embodiments of the invention provide a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for collaborating application programs executing on a client such as a personal digital assistant (PDA). A shared database on the client is obtained and used as a common launch parameter stack. One or more program entry records are stored in the database and the last program entry record stored is identified as the top of the stack. Each program entry record may include information regarding an application launched on the client. When the last program identified on the stack has completed execution, the last program entry record is popped off of the stack. Thereafter, control is returned to an application that corresponds to the new program entry record on the top of the stack.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), and in particular, to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for collaborating between application programs executing on a computer or PDA.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior art handheld computing devices (also referred to as palm PCs or personal digital assistants (PDAs)), are often used to access and utilize personal information. Many handheld computing devices are available in today's marketplace. Typically, handheld computing devices are only slightly larger than the size of one's palm (hence, the name palm PC) and have a small display screen for viewing a plethora of items. Software can be installed on a PDA to provide enhanced functionality. For example, a personal productivity tool may be installed to provide access to a calendar, contacts, email, Internet browsing, audio books, and audio recording capabilities. Card slots may also be available to provide additional memory or other functions (e.g., a modem). Additionally, some PDAs have infrared (IR) potts for communication.
Applications executing on a PDA may utilize and work with itself (by calling or launching a second instance of itself) or other applications on the PDA. For example, an information contact application that provides contact information for businesses and individuals may collaborate and work with a delivery application that transmits email or a fax to a listed contact using a wireless modem. In another application, a geographic information system (GIS) that provides for the retrieval and display of geographic information (e.g., maps) may call itself or collaborate with an Internet application (e.g., an application utilized to browse the Internet such as AvantGo™) to retrieve updated geographic information.
In the prior art, application collaboration on a PDA was not possible. For example, Waba (a programming platform that may include a language, virtual machine, class file format, and set of base classes) has no way to call outside itself, nor a way to remember the context it was in when returning from calling an application. Further, on a PDA, two instances of the same application may not be executed in parallel. Additionally, the use of a database to collaborate applications on a desktop workstation or computer was not performed.

Interprocess application programming interface for computer applications


Techniques are provided for managing display layouts for a continuous presence video conference. Each display layout has a fixed number of positions, and one of the display layouts has a maximum number of positions for display to participants in the video conference. The display layouts comprise video display positions for participants in a video conference. When the number of participants is greater than a threshold, one of the positions in that layout is used as a shared position assigned to a video stream of participants not assigned to fixed positions in that layout. The shared position is used in a scanning manner such that video streams of participants not assigned to fixed positions in the layouts are classified as scanning streams and are displayed in the non-fixed (shared) position over a predetermined time interval.

Continuous presence is a video conferencing feature that permits participants in a conference to see multiple other participants simultaneously. Continuous presence features are included in some multi-point control units (MCUs) that manage video presentation to endpoints in a video conference session. Continuous presence enabled MCUs can transmit a composite video stream including two or more individual video streams showing respective conference participants to one or more video conferencing endpoints. The composite video stream can be presented in a video layout structure that includes a respective area for each included individual video stream. An MCU can transmit layout and video position information position for a given individual video stream in a layout can be assigned by an MCU and transmitted along with the composite video to multiple endpoints.

Automatic layout and speaker selection in a continuous presence video conference


An object of the present invention is to provide an agent for preventing or treating a fat-associated disease and/or inflammation. The present invention provides an agent for preventing or treating a fat-associated disease and/or inflammation, the agent comprising a Faecalibacterium bacterium or a processed product thereof.

Eating habits have changed in recent years and today we have an abundance of food. Excessive calorie intake along with a lack of regular physical activity has contributed to rapid increase in those who suffer from metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome, also called "visceral fat syndrome", is associated with various diseases and abnormalities, including lipid metabolic abnormalities and carbohydrate metabolic abnormalities. Those with metabolic syndrome are highly likely to develop symptoms and diseases, such as arteriosclerosis, fatty liver, hyperlipemia, obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus.
The fatty liver is mainly caused by excessive drinking and hypernutrition. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (hereinafter also called NAFLD) displays liver disease-like symptoms not caused by drinking. NAFLD was considered as a benign non-progressive disease and was not regarded as of importance. However, the number of the cases that develop hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancer and other diseases has been increasing, which makes NAFLD non-negligible.
Various types of medicines have been developed to prevent or treat metabolic syndrome, but many of them have strong adverse effects and cannot be continuously used for a long period of time.

Agent for preventing or treating fat-associated diseases and/or inflammation

Public University Corporation Yokohama City University


A speech correction apparatus includes a speaker for generating guidance speech; a microphone set at a hearing position; an acoustic-characteristic setting unit for separating ambient noise from the guidance speech at the hearing position; an operating unit; a speech correcting filter for correcting the sound pressure level of the guidance speech generated by the speaker based on the average power of the guidance speech and the average power of the ambient noise which are separated; a loudness-compensating-gain calculating unit; and a speech-head correcting unit for correcting the average power of the guidance speech corresponding to the speech head at the border between a silent state and a speech state of the guidance speech.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speech correction apparatus for correcting a signal level of guidance speech or the like produced from a car-mounted navigation system in accordance with ambient noise.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, guidance speech produced from a car-mounted navigation system is hard to hear depending on sound pressure levels of sounds generated from a car audio system or engine sound. The guidance speech can be heard more easily by reducing the volume of the audio system when the guidance speech is provided. In this method, however, the volume of sound from the audio system must be reduced every time the guidance speech is frequently produced, and the user will find it inconvenient. Further, such measures cannot be applied for an uncontrollable sound source, such as engine sound. The user will find it convenient if he/she can understand the guidance speech without reducing the volume of sound from the audio system. In order to satisfy such a requirement, a speech correction apparatus using a loudness compensating technique based on an auditory sense theory has been known (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-166835 (pp. 3 to 7 and FIGS. 1 to 10)). In this speech correction apparatus, a microphone is set at a hearing position and the gain of output speech is corrected according to the noise level at the hearing position. Accordingly, the user can clearly understand the speech regardless of the noise level.
In the speech correction apparatus disclosed in the above-identified Patent Document, the sound pressure level of each of guidance speech produced from a navigation system and ambient noise such as sounds from an audio system is detected so as to determine the gain for amplifying the guidance speech. The sound pressure level is actually detected by averaging the power of guidance speech and ambient noise at the time period just before determining the gain over a predetermined time period. Therefore, at the head portion of the guidance speech, the sound pressure level of the guidance speech is averaged over the predetermined time period, the sound pressure level is wrongly detected at a lower value than the actual value, and thus the sound pressure level at the head portion is excessively corrected disadvantageously.
FIGS. 15A and 15B show an example of excessive correction of a speech head. FIG. 15A shows a waveform of guidance speech to be corrected. FIG. 15B shows a waveform of guidance speech whose gain has been corrected by using the known speech correction apparatus disclosed in the above-identified Patent Document. As can be seen in the figures, the head portion of the guidance speech is excessively corrected and a pulse-like waveform appears.
In the speech correction apparatus disclosed in the Patent Document, guidance speech at the microphone position is estimated by using an adaptive filter. Usually, each filter coefficient of the adaptive filter is set at 0 in the initial state just after power-on, and then the filter coefficient is updated. In the initial state or just after the initial state, the power of guidance speech estimated by using the adaptive filter is much smaller than the actual value. Accordingly, the sound pressure level of the head portion corresponding to the filter coefficient in the initial state is excessively corrected disadvantageously.

Apparatus and method for correcting a speech signal for ambient noise in a vehicle


A biosensor for detecting trinitrotoluene (TNT) is disclosed. The biosensor has cells, such as olfactory sensory neurons (or cilia derived therefrom), that preferentially express a TNT-responsive odorant receptor protein.

In mammals, olfactory perception of chemicals in an odor stream is based on the combinatorial activation of specific detectors, called odorant receptors (ORs). These proteins are expressed by olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) that line the nasal cavity of mammals. The olfactory sheet is a broad chemical detector, in which each odorant receptor is equally distributed in the main olfactory epithelium (MOE) and only expressed in 0.1% of all OSNs in rodents. Each OSN expresses only one OR gene in a highly regulated way. Due to the combinatorial activation nature of odorant perception in mammals, each population of OSNs can be activated by various agonists and each agonist can be recognized by various odorant receptors. Expressing functional odorant receptors in vitro using mammalian cell lines has been problematic. Therefore, odor coding has been studied in vivo in the odorant receptor's native environment, i.e., in OSNs in a living animal such as a mouse or a rat.
Trinitrotoluene (TNT), or more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3 and is best known as an explosive material with convenient handling properties commonly used for military, industrial and mining applications. Due to the dangers associated with the legal and illegal uses of explosives, there is an urgent need for sensitive sensors allowing the detection of TNT in a variety of settings (war zones, weapon test grounds, mines, public areas at risk for attacks by terrorists etc.) and by various organizations (e.g. military, law enforcement etc.). In addition to its explosive properties, TNT is toxic to a variety of organism ranging from bacteria to humans. Skin contact with TNT can cause skin irritation, and long-term exposure to TNT may lead to anemia and abnormal liver functions. Since the rising use of TNT has resulted in contamination of soil and water in construction sites and weapon test grounds, the ability to easily and quickly detect TNT is also critical from a public health and environmental perspective.
Dinitrotoluenes (DNT) are highly toxic with a threshold limit value of 1.5 mg per cubic meter, converting hemoglobin into methemoglobin, i.e. a form of hemoglobin that is not able to bind oxygen. Dinitrotolenes are released in the environment primarily from facilities that manufacture or process DNT. Most DNT is used in the production of toluene diisocyanate, which is used to produce flexible polyurethane foams. It is not used by itself as an explosive, but some of the production is converted to TNT. Human exposure to 2,4-DNT and 2,6-DNT occurs through inhalation, dermal contact and incidental ingestion, usually in occupational settings. Human toxicity has been evaluated by the US Environmental Protection Agency in DNT factory workers, munition handlers, and underground mining workers. DNT-related effects have been noted in the central nervous system, heart and circulatory system. Other effects that are possibly due to 2,4-DNT and 2,6-DNT exposure include increased mortality from ischemic heart disease, hepatobiliary cancer, and urothelial and renal cell cancers. Biosensor that detect TNT (or DNT) can as such provide a means for early detection and prevention of DNT exposure contamination.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Biosensor exhibiting sensitivity to trinitrotoluene

Research Foundation of the City University of New York


The present invention provides a manufacturing method of a display device which can decrease the lowering of a yield rate of the display device attributed to the aggregations generated by pseudo single crystallization of a silicon film. A manufacturing method of a display device includes a semiconductor film reforming step which reforms a semiconductor film into a second state in which the semiconductor film possesses elongated crystalline particles by radiating a laser beam to the semiconductor film in a first state, an aggregation detecting step which detects the aggregation of the semiconductor film which is generated in the semiconductor film reforming step, and a defect determination step which determines a product as a defective product when a position of the aggregation is present in the inside of the predetermined region and determines the product as a good product when the position of the aggregation is present outside the predetermined region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a display device which can prevent the lowering of a yield rate of a display device having a semiconductor film. The present invention relates more particularly to a manufacturing method of a display device which can prevent the lowering of a yield caused by a defect attributed to the aggregation which is generated in the pseudo single crystallization of a silicon film by a continuous oscillation laser.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a so-called flat-panel-type display device such as a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL panel, to build in a larger number of peripheral circuits including drive circuits on a substrate which constitutes the panel in addition to pixel circuits of a display region, the development of a high-performance low-temperature poly-silicon thin film transistor (poly-SiTFT (LTPS-TFT)) has been under way. The manufacture of the high-performance low-temperature poly-silicon thin film transistor requires the improvement of the crystallinity of a silicon film, and there has been studied a technique which can make a particle size of the silicon film large (pseudo single crystallization) compared to the crystallization performed using conventional excimer laser annealing (ELA).
As one of techniques for improving the crystallinity, there has been known a method which selectively grows crystals in the specific direction by radiating solid laser beams of continuous oscillation to a silicon film which is formed on a substrate surface by a CVD or the like (hereinafter referred to as SELAX) The selective pseudo single crystallization method referred to as SELAX is disclosed in JP-A-2002-222959 (patent document 1) and JP-A-2003-124136 (patent document 2).

Manufacturing method of a display device


A device, system and method for dilating a patient during a minimally invasive surgical procedure is disclosed. A surgical dilation system includes a dilator having an outer tubular member and an inner tubular member sized to be movably received within an inside diameter of the outer tubular member. The outer tubular member includes a vertical slot running through a side of the outer tubular member. The inner tubular member has an upper portion and a lower portion. The retractor has a proximal end including at least one mounting member protruding outwardly from a side surface of the retractor and a distal end including at least one fanned blade protruding outwardly from the side surface. When the inner tubular member is oriented in a first position the vertical slot is in a closed state, when the inner tubular member is oriented in a second position the mounting member is permitted to travel downwardly a predetermined distance in the vertical slot, and when the inner tubular member is positioned in a third state the mounting member is permitted to freely travel through the vertical slot.

The present invention relates generally to percutaneous surgeries and more particularly, to devices, methods and systems for performing percutaneous, minimally invasive spinal surgeries.
Traditional surgical procedures for pathologies located deep within the body can cause significant trauma to the intervening tissues. These open procedures often require a long incision, extensive muscle stripping, prolonged retraction of tissues, denervation and devascularization of tissue. Most of these surgeries require a recovery room time of several hours and several weeks of post-operative recovery time due to the use of general anesthesia and the destruction of tissue during the surgical procedure. In some cases, these invasive procedures lead to permanent scarring and pain that can be more severe than the pain leading to the surgical intervention.
Minimally invasive alternatives such as arthroscopic techniques reduce pain, post-operative recovery time and the destruction of healthy tissue. Orthopedic surgical patients have particularly benefited from minimally invasive surgical techniques. The site of pathology is accessed through portals rather than through a significant incision thus preserving the integrity of the intervening tissues. In some instances, these minimally invasive techniques require only local anesthesia. The avoidance of general anesthesia reduces post-operative recovery time and the risk of complications.
Minimally invasive surgical techniques are particularly desirable for spinal and neurosurgical applications because of the need for access to locations deep within the body and the danger of damage to vital intervening tissues. For example, a common open procedure for disc herniation, laminectomy followed by discectomy requires stripping or dissection of the major muscles of the back to expose the spine. In a posterior approach, tissue including spinal nerves and blood vessels around the dural sac, ligaments and muscle must be retracted to clear a channel from the skin to the disc. These procedures normally take at least one-two hours to perform under general anesthesia and require post-operative recovery periods of at least several weeks. In addition to the long recovery time, the destruction of tissue is a major disadvantage of open spinal procedures. This aspect of open procedures is even more invasive when the discectomy is accompanied by fusion of the adjacent vertebrae. Many patients are reluctant to seek surgery as a solution to pain caused by herniated discs and other spinal conditions because of the severe pain sometimes associated with the muscle dissection.
In order to reduce the post-operative recovery time and pain associated with spinal and other procedures, micro-surgical techniques have been developed. The objective of any minimally invasive procedure is to accomplish the same clinical objectives as the traditional, open surgery while minimizing soft tissue retraction. Existing sequential dilation processes consist of inserting multiple increasing diameter dilators until the correct diameter is achieved. A tubular retractor is then placed over the dilators and the dilators are then removed. The retractor is left in place with the surrounding muscle and tissue having been dilated out of the working space.
For some applications, it is beneficial to have an alternate blade shape on the distal tip of the retractor to assist in holding back muscle and tissue during the procedure. As such, a need exists for a device that will allow alternate blade shapes to be used during the dilation process.


Map data is managed by being divided into a geometric information data list of pieces of geometric information or a phase information data list of pieces of phase information, an attribute information data list of pieces of attribute information, and a relation information data list of pieces of relation information each indicating a relation between the geometric information or the phase information and the attribute information. The pieces of attribute information in the attribute information data list are arranged in the order corresponding to the pieces of geometric information or phase information which are feature information, and the pieces of relation information are arranged in the order corresponding to the pieces of geometric information or phase information which are feature information.

In a conventional structure of map data to be used for displaying a map in an information terminal device, information on a component of a map and attribute information representing an attribute of this component are held together. In such a map data structure, it is necessary to associate the data on the component of the map with corresponding attribute data by some means.
Conventionally, when associating information on a component of a map with corresponding attribute information, proposed is a method of generating a data list in which pieces of information on the components are arranged and a data list in which pieces of attribute information are arranged so that the pieces of information on the components and the pieces of corresponding attribute information are arranged in the same order in these data lists (for example, in Patent Document 1).


The invention relates to methods, peptides, nucleic acids and cells for use in isolating and expanding human T cell populations in an antigen-specific manner for immunodiagnostic or therapeutic purposes. The invention also relates to professional antigen presenting cells derived from pluripotent human stem cells, and to customizable antigen presentation by the antigen presenting cells.

CD4+ T cells play important roles in adaptive immunity as mediators of inflammation, tolerance, and as facilitators of B cell maturation (Pao et al., 1996; Klein et al, 2010). The human CD4+ T cell repertoire contains millions of different cells that vary in the T cell receptors (TCR) they express. Indeed, many human disorders involve discrete subsets of CD4+ T cells that proliferate in response to highly specific antigens, and the isolation of the small proportion of CD4+ cells that may be relevant to a specific condition is a daunting task. Consequently, the routine isolation or characterization of CD4+ T cells bearing TCRs that respond to a specific peptide have not been available in clinical or therapeutic settings.
The tremendous TCR repertoire represented by the T cell population, is the result of somatic recombination events of the alpha (α) and beta (β), or gamma (γ) and delta (δ) TCR genes of immature T cells residing in the thymus during thymic development. (Haas et al., 1993; Hayday et al., 1995) This recombination process generates a T cell repertoire with millions of different TCR combinations that collectively bind to every possible sequence of amino acids (Haas et al., 1993; Hayday et al., 1995). This repertoire circulates through vascular and lymphatic systems in a quiescent state until a T cell encounters professional APC, such as a dendritic cell (DC), with histocompatibility complexes (HLA class II) that present a peptide that binds to its TCR with appropriate affinity (Wen et al., 1998; Sakaguchi et al., 2000; Huang et al., 2012). An immunological synapse forms between the cells and the CD4+ T cell is stimulated to proliferate, generating dozens to thousands of clones. Newly produced T cells leave the secondary lymphoid organ, circulate through the body and accumulate at sites where the antigen is present. Activated CD4+ T cells release cytokines that act on nearby cells and coordinate adaptive immune responses. Days later, after the source of the antigen has been attenuated, most of the clones are eliminated by activation-induced cell death, except for a small number of that remain as memory cells, ready to trigger a rapid response should that antigen (pathogen) reappear (Wen et al., 1998; Villadangos et al., 2005).
Many CD4+ T cells isolated from fresh whole blood will divide for one or two divisions, but additional cycles of proliferation are required for the performance of clinically useful purposes. For example, the proportion of CD4+ T cells that divide relatively robustly (e.g., more than five times) in an assay period can be used an indicator of responsiveness to a query peptide. Panels that contain different fragment of a single protein or peptide can be used to create a proliferation profile that could correlate with CD4+ T cells responses to that antigen. Information derived from those results can then be used to determine the status and possible courses of action for a variety of human conditions. However, clinical characterizations of CD4+ T cells have been limited by the availability and variability in the preparation of appropriate APCs required for the successful expansion of antigen-specific CD4+ T cell populations.
Further complicating the development of diagnostic and therapeutic methods that isolate or characterize antigen-specific CD4+ T cell populations is the heterogeneity of human HLA-DR receptors in the human population. Briefly, class II HLA complexes contain a heterodimers of HLA-DRB and HLA-DRA receptors that form a binding pocket containing a peptide. The human population contains dozens, perhaps hundreds of different HLA-DRB alleles. Therefore, a large number of HLA class II alleles in the human population, combined with millions of possible TCR combinations, have made it technically difficult to isolate antigen-specific CD4+ T cells in autoimmune disorders driven by pathogenic T cells (Villdangos et al., 2005; Huang et al., 2012), such as type I diabetes (Haskins et al., 2011; Gojanovich et al., 2012; Delong et al., 2012), rheumatoid arthritis (Nikken et al., 2011; Albani et al., 2011), and multiple sclerosis (McFarland et al., 2007; Codarri et al., 2012; Sallusto et al., 2012). Put simply, TCRs that bind to a given peptide in one person may not bind an identical peptide in another because the individuals express different HLA-DRB alleles, thereby making the development of universal probes complicated and somewhat irreproducible. However, there are only two HLA-DRA alleles, one of which is found in 98% of the population. As such, methods of assessing specific CD4+ T cell responses that utilize the widely-expressed HLA-DRA allele will be applicable to the vast majority of the human population.
Accordingly, in view of the foregoing discussion, compositions and methods are described herein for providing platforms for standardizing analyses of CD4+ T cell responses. These methods and compositions include a differentiation protocol that efficiently produces myeloid dendritic cells (DC)s from human embryonic stem cells (hESC)s that can be used to stimulate antigen-specific CD4+ T cells isolated from whole blood. In sum, clinical characterizations of CD4+ T cells have been limited by variability in the preparation of primary dendritic cells (DC), but the use of stem cell-derived DCs circumvents this problem by providing a well-characterized and functionally-modifiable population of APCs for the analysis of T cell responses to any given antigen.

Standardized ex vivo platforms for the antigen-specific expansion of CD4+ T cell populations


A connecting sleeve spring is resiliently mounted in a connecting sleeve of an electrical connecting jack. The connecting sleeve spring has a arcuate sinusoid-like side profile, with its two ends curving in a direction opposite the curve of a center contact portion. The center portion has an inwardly angled tongue. When a plug having a collar is inserted into the electrical connecting jack, the collar comes in contact with the tongue and pushes the central contact portion inward, thus forcing the two ends of the connecting sleeve spring to move outward. The two ends press against the inner periphery of the collar. In this way, the collar makes contact with the connecting sleeve spring at three points; the two ends and the center contact portion. This three point contact arrangement firmly holds and electrically connects the plug to the jack even if there is a gap between the collar and sleeve. The electrical connecting jack also includes a housing with a plurality of contact spring openings. A plurality of contact springs resiliently fit in these openings, electrically connecting the springs to the plug.

The present invention relates to an electrical connector jack. More specifically, it relates to a jack with a plug connecting sleeve spring disposed in the sleeve portion of the jack.
In the prior art, a conventional jack has a cylindrical sleeve portion with an opening into which a plug is inserted. The plug has a collar which fits over the sleeve electrically and mechanically connecting the sleeve to the collar.
A jack using the above plug and collar contact structure is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-73899. The disclosed jack has a cylindrical collar which makes contact with a sleeve portion of a plug,. In order to ensure good electrical and physical contact, the sleeve portion must snugly fit against the collar. This requires accurate manufacturing, increasing the cost of producing the jack. Also, it is more difficult to ensure a snug fit when the jack miniaturized. In a cylindrical jack using the above disclosed snug fit connection, more material is required. This increases the weight of the jack and makes it more difficult to miniaturize.

Electrical connector jack for securely holding a plug


A swing-up loader for a signature machine serves as an extension for the pile feed mechanism. The loader has its own conveyor belts and drive. When placed in its operating position, the loader adjoins the regular infeed of the signature feeder at a junction. A microswitch senses the height of the signature pile at the junction. When the pile height falls due to removal of signatures at the stockplate, the microswitch calls for movement of the loader's drive belts. This movement transfers signatures on the loader across the junction to the regular infeed of the signature feeder. The loader maintains a full infeed to assure a uniform pressure at the stockplate.

This invention relates to signature machines of the type shown in McCain U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,907. Signatures are folded, printed sheets. A signature machine feeds signatures from individual pockets onto a saddle conveyor to create a book. A stack or pile of signatures is loaded into the infeed hopper of a signature machine. An extractor mechanism withdraws individual signatures one at a time from the front of the stack. The extractor may include pile suckers, an extracting cylinder, a lap cylinder and an opening cylinder, as fully set forth in McCain U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,907, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. The extractor deposits the signatures on the saddle conveyor.
An infeed conveyor is mounted in the hopper. A ratchet or one way clutch mechanism drives the infeed conveyor to advance signatures toward the front of the pile. This device can be controlled to advance the pile in very small increments, something approaching the thickness of a signature. An infeed governor pin activates the infeed conveyor motion in response to removal of signatures from the pile. This relatively fine control, however, limits the size of the infeed hopper. The mechanism simply is not powerful enough to handle heavy loads on the infeed conveyor.
The infeed hopper must present signatures to the extractor in a loose condition wherein they are free to settle down and get picked up by the pile suckers. To this end, the infeed hopper has side guides which are angled inwardly to hold back the pile and take excessive pressure off the signatures near the stockplate. But to whatever degree the side guides hold back the pile, the condition of the signatures at the front of the pile will be affected by the pressure of signatures near the back of the pile. The ideal condition results from uniform pressure. The side guides can be adjusted to provide the correct resistance to the pile if the pressure is uniform. However, uniform pressure cannot be ideally attained by hand loading of the hopper. Variable pressure inevitably results as the infeed goes from full to partially empty
The problems of hand loading are further compounded by the size limitations of the infeed hopper. Since the hopper cannot be made very large, an operator must frequently reload it to achieve the desired uniform pressure. A more likely scenario is that the hopper will not get constant attention and the extractor will operate under less than ideal conditions. The swing-up loader of the present invention solves these problems by maintaining a uniform stack or pile in the infeed hopper of the signature feeder.


A boundary-layer-influencing aerodynamic part comprises a carrier element provided with at least one air passage aperture for guiding an air flow through the carrier element, an air guiding layer disposed on the carrier element and a cover layer constituting at least a part of a flow surface and being configured to have air flow there through at least in sections. The air guiding layer is configured to have air flow there through with an air flow supplied to the part, at least in certain operating phases of the part, through the cover layer and flowing in the direction of the carrier element or through the air passage aperture of the carrier element and flowing in the direction of the cover layer. The cover layer is applied directly to the air guiding layer via an additive manufacturing method.

The invention relates to a boundary-layer-influencing aerodynamic part, an aircraft component equipped with such a boundary-layer-influencing aerodynamic part and a method for producing the same.
The suction and ejection of air in the region of a boundary layer flow on an aerodynamic component are known methods of influencing the boundary layer. These methods are used to avoid or delay a flow breakdown along a flow surface of the aerodynamic component, i.e., a transition from a laminar to a turbulent flow, in order to improve aerodynamic properties, in particular a flow resistance or lift coefficient, of the aerodynamic component.
Tangential suction and ejection or slot suction and ejection are currently known methods for influencing the boundary layer flow on an outer skin of an aircraft. For example, GB 25 22 531 A discloses an aircraft wing, the outer skin of which is provided with a slot for ejecting air in the direction of a boundary layer flow along the outer skin. One implementation of this method is found on the Lockheed F-104 "Starfighter" aircraft, which has an outlet slot on an upper side of the landing flaps for ejecting air. Bleed air taken from an engine is supplied to the outlet slot, due to which additionally accelerated air is ejected into the boundary layer flow along the landing flaps in such a way that stabilization of the laminar boundary air flow is achieved. The maximum lift coefficient of the landing flaps is increased by this effect, due to which the landing speed of the aircraft can be reduced.
Furthermore, the method of continuous suction and ejection of air along a porous external surface of an aerodynamic component is known from the prior art. DE 44 14 205 A1 describes an arrangement for boundary layer suction along an outer skin of an aircraft around which air flows. The arrangement comprises a multilayer construction through which air can flow, with a porous carrier layer, which is arranged on a supporting structure and to which a layer of microfiber fabric is applied. A similar arrangement is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,363 A, in which an outer skin of an aircraft around which air flows is formed in some sections with a porous, carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic layer, through which layer air can flow.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,720 B2 further discloses an arrangement for the continuous ejection of cooling air on an external surface of a spacecraft. The arrangement comprises a carrier structure, to which a porous ceramic foam layer is applied, through which cooling air can flow and which guides the cooling air along the carrier structure in the direction of a semi-permeable cover layer. The semi-permeable cover layer comprises a ceramic composite material which is applied to the ceramic foam layer by means of an adhesive. On re-entry of the spacecraft into the earth's atmosphere, cooling air is ejected along the ceramic foam layer from the semi-permeable cover layer to cool the outer skin of the spacecraft.
A commercial application of such methods for influencing the boundary layer to aerodynamic components, such as in passenger airliners, for example, does not currently take place.

Boundary-layer-influencing aerodynamic part and method for producing the same


A system and method for routing data, which includes a switching node, including a plurality of switching elements and plurality of links coupled to the switching elements for providing a routing path for the data; and a virtual circuit identification algorithm in communication with the switching node for providing an even distribution of data traffic through the switching node, wherein the virtual circuit identification algorithm determines a path selection formula.

Data networks use an assortment of switches, routers and traffic links to distribute the transmission of data. Many modern network switches and routers employ interconnection network consisting of multi-staged ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) switching elements (in a switch fabric) to provide fast speed and high bandwidth data transmission capabilities. Each switching element has multiple input and output ports, and a data path controller (DPC) with a configured switch lookup table. When an encapsulated packet arrive on a given input port, the switching element does a table lookup by using the packet header information to decide on which of its output port this packet should be sent out. To increases the number of input/output ports needed by a router system, a switch fabric layout consists of multiple switching elements in several stages, which are interconnected by physical links or buses. Under a physical link, the data packet can utilize multiple virtual circuit paths by putting different virtual circuit identification (VCI) in its encapsulated ATM header.
A challenge in developing such systems is to assign the virtual circuit paths, or the virtual circuit identification (VCI) mapping to each switching element's lookup table to maximize the utilization and throughput of the interconnection network and to satisfy any specific traffic pattern requirements for the network overall. For example, a traffic path conflict may occur within an interconnection network. Such conflicts can occur when input traffic from two different input source ports uses the same physical link on one data path controller (DPC) to two different output destination ports. A conflict means that these two traffic paths, even for different input and output port pairs, cannot be utilized simultaneously to provide full bandwidth because of the contention on the same physical link in the switch fabric.
In one known router configuration, the router has 128 input ports that act as points of "ingress" and 128 output ports that act as points of "egress" of the router. From the ingress side to the egress side of the router, the distribution of the data paths is often allocated such that the data is transmitted unevenly and so that the data traffic will heavier on certain virtual paths. This often results in a bottleneck of the data within the router. Compounding this problem is the inclusion of switching elements with varying data transmission speeds. In addition, these switching elements may require that data be split into various multiple paths for proper operation.
For example, with many modern-day router system architectures, data is routed using an allocation scheme that supports a single-port high-speed board communicating with a multiple-port low-speed board. Thus, data traffic arrived from all the ports of the low speed board may be aggregated into the single-port high-speed board by multiple paths in parallel without conflicts. Similarly, traffic arrived from a high-speed port may be de-aggregated into multiple ports of a given low speed board. Furthermore, to support communications between two high-speed switching elements, the traffic may have to be split evenly into smaller multiple paths (or "stripes") and sent to multiple ports in a first stage. Through multiple non-conflict paths, which are pre-allocated in the interconnection network, traffic must then be aggregated in a last stage to a desired output port. Dividing and reassembling the data into the required multiple paths for the various boards can lead to conflicts in the routing of the data that can result in severe congestion and packet lose.
Therefore, what is needed is a method to design the system in which traffic between source and destination ports is evenly transmitted through multi-staged switching elements in the switch fabric, and no conflict arises during the paths of the transmitted data.

Enhanced virtual circuit allocation methods and systems for multi-stage switching elements


The protective element includes an elastic member firmly adhered through a solder to second conductor layers and current-carrying electrode terminals formed on a prescribed substrate in such a manner to divide a current-carrying path in plural to form an electric current interruption portion. The solder has a liquid-phase point higher than a mounting temperature at which the protective element is mounted to a protection target device. The elastic member is soldered onto the second conductor layers and the current-carrying electrode terminals in a state that the elastic member maintains a level of stress allowing at least one of the current-carrying electrode terminals among the second conductor layers and the current-carrying electrode terminals to be separated from the elastic member by deformation of the solder even in a case where the solder is not completely melted.

The present disclosure relates to a protective element interrupting an electric current in case of an unusual situation of a protection target device, and to a method for producing a protective element.
A related art chip-shaped protective element including a low-melting point metallic body (fuse element) disposed on a substrate has been known to prevent overcurrent associated with an unusual situation of a protection target device. In such a related art protective element, the fuse element blows when overcurrent is applied thereto in case of unusual situations. The blown fuse element is attracted to an electrode by good wettability with respect to an electrode surface on which the fuse element is placed. In the related art protective element, therefore, electric current is interrupted by blowing the fuse element.
Another related art chip-shaped protective element has also been known to prevent not only the overcurrent but also overvoltage. Herein, the related art chip-shaped protective element includes a heat generation resistor and a fuse element which are laminated on a substrate. In such a related art protective element, the electric current is applied to the heat generation resistor in case of the unusual situation, so that the fuse element is blown by heat generated by the heat generation resistor. The blown fuse element is attracted to an electrode by good wettability with respect to an electrode surface on which the fuse element is placed. In such a related art protective element, therefore, the electric current is interrupted by blowing the fuse element.
Each of such related art protective elements is generally mounted on a base circuit board of the protection target device by reflow soldering. Accordingly, the fuse element is made of a material having a high solid-phase point relative to a mounting temperature in order to prevent the fuse element from blowing when the related art protective element is mounted on the base circuit board. In addition, a method for mounting a related art protective element at a mounting temperature has been proposed (e.g., Patent Document 1). Herein, the mounting temperature is lower relative to the liquid-phase point of the fuse element while being higher relative to a solid-phase point of the fuse element.
Moreover, each of Patent Documents 2 and 3 discloses a related art protective element capable of interrupting the electric current using an elastic member in order to prevent the overcurrent or the overvoltage without disposing a fuse element.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-363630    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H9-306319    Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application Publication No. S53-42145

Protective element and method for producing the same


Embodiments herein describe tools, instruments and methods for aseptic loading, dispensing and/or delivering cells into an implantable device and aseptically and selectively sealing a device inside a sterile package as well as and storing and preparing for shipment the cell-filled device.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cellular therapy and means and methods for loading and filling an implantable device with cells and sealing the device with the cells therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Cell replacement therapy for certain diseases can be therapeutically treated by transferring cells, tissues, or organs into a patient having the particular disease. The main hurdles to a commercial cell therapy remain a renewable cell source and an encapsulation source which provides allo-protection against host immunity. Ideally, such an implantable device provides allo-protection and minimizes or eliminates patient use of long term immune-suppressive drugs.
Previously, Applicants have described both a renewable cell source and macro-encapsulation drug delivery system suitable for at least the purpose of pancreatic progenitor cell delivery for production of insulin in vivo in response to glucose stimulation. See, for example, at least U.S. application Ser. No. 12/099,759, entitled METHODS OF PRODUCING PANCREATIC HORMONES, filed Apr. 8, 2008; Ser. No. 12/618,659, entitled ENCAPSULATION OF PANCREATIC LINEAGE CELLS DERIVED FROM HUMAN PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS, filed Nov. 13, 2009; Ser. No. 14/106,330, entitled IN VITRO DIFFERENTIATION OF PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS TO PANCREATIC ENDODERM CELLS (PEC) AND IMMATURE BETA CELLS, filed Dec. 12, 2013; Ser. No. 14/201,630, filed Mar. 7, 2014; and PCT/US2014/026529, IN VITRO DIFFERENTIATION OF PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS TO PANCREATIC ENDODERM CELLS (PEC) AND ENDOCRINE CELLS, filed Mar. 13, 2014; PCT/US2014/022109, 3-DIMENSIONAL LARGE CAPACITY CELL ENCAPSULATION DEVICE, filed Mar. 7, 2014; U.S. Design application Nos. 29/408,366 filed Dec. 12, 2011; 29/408,368 filed Dec. 12, 2011; 29/423,365 filed May 31, 2012; 29/447,944 filed Mar. 13, 2013; 29/484,363, 29/484,359, 29/484,360, 29/484,357; 29/484,356, 29/484,355, 29/484,362 and 29/484,35, titled 3-DIMENSIONAL LARGE CAPACITY CELL ENCAPSULATION DEVICE and filed Mar. 7, 2014; PCT/US2014/034425, TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS FOR USE WITH IMPLANTABLE ENCSAPSULATION DEVICES, filed Apr. 16, 2014; U.S. application Ser. No. 14/254,844, TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS FOR USE WITH IMPLANTABLE ENCSAPSULATION DEVICES, filed Apr. 16, 2014; and 29/488,209 CASE FOR AN ENCAPSULATION DEVICE, filed Apr. 16, 2014 and U.S. Design application No. 29/488,204, DEPLOYMENT TOOL FOR AN ENCAPSULATION DEVICE, filed Apr. 16, 2014; U.S. Design application No. 29/488,191, SIZING TOOL FOR AN ENCAPSULATION DEVICE, filed Apr. 16, 2014; and U.S. Design application No. 29/488,217, FILL POUCH ASSEMBLY FOR ENCAPSULATION DEVICE, filed Apr. 16, 2014, all of which are incorporated herein in their entireties.
The cell replacement therapy described herein and above in Applicant's prior disclosures relate generally to a macro-encapsulated, implantable, cell product ("combination product") for treatment of diabetes that is not commercially available. Hence, aseptic and semi-automated methods and instruments for loading and filling such an implantable device with cells do not exist except for that described in more detail below.

Instruments and methods for loading cells into implantable devices


Particles of mixed oxides of cerium, zirconium, and copper (CeZrCuOX) may be prepared as catalysts and used to preferentially catalyze the oxidation of CO in exhaust streams containing CO and NH3. In one practice, this CeZrCuOX catalyst may be used in combination with a close-coupled PGM catalyst which promotes the formation of NH3 in the exhaust during fuel-rich operation, and at least one under-floor NH3-SCR catalyst, which catalyzes the reduction of NOX in the exhaust stream during fuel-lean operation using NH3 as a reductant. During fuel-rich engine operation, the exhaust stream may be doped with oxygen downstream of the PGM catalyst and passed in contact with particles of the CeZrCuOX catalyst so that residual CO in the exhaust may be oxidized to CO2, without oxidation or other conversion of the NH3.

Gasoline engines on automotive vehicles have been controlled to operate close to a stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio (AFR) so that carbon monoxide (CO), unburned or partially burned hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NOX) in the exhaust stream can simultaneously be converted to carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2), and water when passed in contact with a suitable platinum group metal (PGM) catalyst. In this mode of engine operation, the catalyst is characterized as a three-way-catalyst (TWC). With an ever increasing need for higher fuel economy there is current interest in operating gasoline engines, such as spark-ignition direct-injection (SIDI) engines, at AFR values that are relatively lean of the stoichiometric ratio (i.e., fuel-lean). The direct injection of gasoline into each engine cylinder allows a combustible air-fuel mixture to be formed near the spark plug for initiating combustion with leaner mixtures elsewhere in the combustion chamber. In some limited periods of engine operation, the AFR may be slightly rich of the stoichiometric ratio, but for most periods of engine operation the engine is operated fuel-lean to maximize fuel efficiency.
In comparison to stoichiometric AFR engine operation, fuel-lean engine operation reduces the amount of CO and HC in the exhaust, but increases the amount of NOX, which must be removed. The exhaust from such lean burn engines is still passed through a PGM catalyst-containing flow-through reactor to oxidize much of the CO and HC to CO2 and water. But then a reductant material is added to the exhaust stream that is reactive with NOX to convert it to N2 and water. The reductant material-containing exhaust is further passed through a reduction catalyst-containing flow-through reactor to promote the reduction of NOX to N2 and water. Since the added reductant material and the reduction catalyst must work together in treatment of the exhaust, this practice is called a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) with respect to the removal of NOX.
In a known SCR practice (especially for diesel engines), it is common to store an aqueous solution of urea on the vehicle and to inject a controlled amount of urea solution, as needed, into the exhaust stream. The urea quickly decomposes into ammonia (and carbon dioxide), and the ammonia serves as the reductant material for the NOX reduction reaction. The flowing stream is then passed over a suitable reduction catalyst, such as a particulate copper-exchanged zeolite and/or an iron exchanged zeolite material. This method of NOX reduction is commonly referred to as an NH3-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOX.
The on-vehicle storage of a reductant material, such as urea, and its managed injection into the flowing exhaust from the engine permits flexibility in the management of lean-burn engine operation. The NOX content of the exhaust may be measured with a NOX sensor, and the addition of the reductant material may be computer-controlled in response to the output of the NOX sensor. But the vehicle operator must continually replenish the supply of urea solution, and must also keep the solution from freezing. Ammonia is a suitable reductant for NOX in a vehicle exhaust stream, but there would be a benefit if the reductant or its precursor did not have to be separately stored on the vehicle.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0107605 (the "'605 application"), titled "Passive Ammonia-Selective Catalytic Reduction for NOX Control in Internal Combustion Engines," is assigned to the assignee of this invention and discloses a method of passively generating NH3 in an exhaust stream of a multi-cylinder, spark ignition, direct fuel injection, four stroke, gasoline engine that is primarily operated in a fuel-lean mode. But there are periods during which the "lean-burn" engine operates close to a stoichiometric AFR, or slightly fuel-rich of the stoichiometric ratio. Such periods may include, for example, engine-idle modes and vehicle acceleration modes of operation. The inventors in the '605 application recognized that oxygen-depleted engine exhaust contained NOX, CO, and hydrogen in sufficient quantities and proportions to form ammonia as the exhaust flowed through the PGM flow-through reactor close-coupled to the exhaust manifold of the engine. The inventors further recognized and disclosed practices for utilization of this passively-generated ammonia to reduce NOX in a NH3-SCR catalyst-containing flow-through reactor located downstream of the PGM reactor in the flow of the exhaust. The inventors recognized that, rather than adding urea solution to the exhaust, the passively-generated ammonia may eliminate the need for urea storage and injection.
The downstream NH3-SCR catalyst serves to temporarily store the passively-generated NH3 during fuel-rich operation. During subsequent periods of fuel-lean engine operation, the NH3-SCR catalyst effectively converts NOX in the exhaust stream to N2 and water using the stored NH3. But, this passive NH3 generation method requires the engine's modes of operation to be efficiently managed to provide enough NH3 to the NH3-SCR catalyst during fuel-rich operation so that a suitable supply of NH3 is available on the NH3-SCR catalyst during fuel-lean operation to remove NOX from the exhaust.
It is recognized that NH3 generation on a PGM catalyst is enhanced when the AFR of the engine's combustible mixture is about 14 to 14.2 during fuel-rich operation. However, when the engine is operating in this fuel-rich range, the PGM catalyst may not then serve to effectively oxidize the CO in the exhaust due to the temporarily diminished supply of oxygen. And the CO is not likely to be oxidized in the NH3 selective reduction reactor either.
One method of removing CO from the exhaust stream resulting from these fuel-rich periods includes passing the exhaust stream in contact with a second oxidation catalyst and with an auxiliary air injection, downstream of the PGM catalyst to promote the oxidation of residual CO in the exhaust to CO2 and water. However, this oxidation catalyst must be able to oxidize the residual CO without also oxidizing the NH3 which is to be used by the downstream reduction catalyst-containing flow-through reactor.

Carbon monoxide-selective oxidation catalysts


An impulse sensor comprises a Piezo electric element disposed intermediate a thin end wall and a thick end wall of a container vessel in a pressurized relationship, wherein an impulse transmitting member extends from the thin end wall, which impulse transmitting member transmits impulses exerted onto the extremity thereof to the Piezo electric element.

The measurement technology has been in transition in this decade, wherein measuring instruments detecting digital signals naturally appearing in physical systems such as the vortex shedding flowmeter, the vibrating tube mass flowmeter, and the digital pressure sensor have started to play a dominant role in industrial measurement technology. The level of performance of such instruments directly depends on the sensitivity and accuracy of the sensor detecting the digital signals in the physical systems.

Impulse sensor with mechanical preamplification and noise cancellation