The present invention relates to the use of a compound of formula 1,

Inflammation plays a fundamental role in host defenses and the progression of immune-mediated diseases. The inflammatory response is initiated in response to an injury (e.g. trauma, ischemia, and foreign particles) and/or an infection (e.g. bacterial or viral infection) by, including chemical mediators (e.g. cytokines and prostaglandins) and inflammatory cells (e.g. leukocytes). It is characterized by increased blood flow to the tissue, causing pyrexia, erythema, induration and pain.
A delicate well-balanced interplay between the humoral and cellular immune elements in the inflammatory response enables the elimination of harmful agents and the initiation of the repair of damaged tissue. When this delicately balanced interplay is disrupted, the inflammatory response may result in considerable damage to normal tissue and may be more harmful than the original insult that initiated the reaction. In these cases of uncontrolled inflammatory responses, clinical intervention is needed to prevent tissue damage and organ dysfunction. Diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, Crohn's disease, asthma, allergies, septic shock syndrome, atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease among other clinical conditions are characterized by chronic inflammation.
Several proinflammatory cytokines, especially TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-α) and interleukins (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8) play an important role in the inflammatory process. Both IL-1 and TNF-α are derived from mononuclear cells and macrophages and in turn induce the expression of a variety of genes that contribute to the inflammatory process.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder. RA is a chronic, systemic, articular inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. In RA, the normally thin synovial lining of joints is replaced by an inflammatory, highly vascularized, invasive fibrocollagenase tissue (pannus), which is destructive to both cartilage and bone. Areas that may be affected include the joints of the hands, wrists, neck, jaw, elbows, feet and ankles. Cartilage destruction in RA is linked to aberrant cytokines and growth factor expression in the affected joints.
Osteoarthritis (OA, also known as degenerative arthritis, degenerative joint disease), is the most common type of arthritis involving degradation of joints, including articular cartilage and the subchondral bone next to it. In OA, a variety of potential forces, hereditary, developmental, metabolic, and mechanical, may initiate processes leading to loss of cartilage, a strong protein matrix that lubricates and cushions the joints. When bone surfaces become less well protected by cartilage, subchondral bone may be exposed and damaged, with regrowth leading to a proliferation of ivory-like, dense, reactive bone in central areas of cartilage loss, a process called eburnation. Due to decreased movement because of the pain, regional muscles may atrophy, and ligaments may become more lax. OA is the most common form of arthritis, and the leading cause of chronic disability.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of disorders that cause inflammation of the intestines. The inflammation lasts for a long time and usually relapses. The two major types of IBD are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Crohn's disease occur when the lining and wall of the intestines becomes inflamed resulting in the development of ulcers. Although Crohn's disease can occur in any part of the digestive system, it often occurs in the lower part of the small intestine where it joins the colon. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic auto-immune/inflammatory disease of unknown etiology afflicting the large intestine and affecting millions of people worldwide. It is well-established that a dysfunctional immune-response involving components of normal gastrointestinal gram-negative bacteria and increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, endothelial cell adhesion molecules (ECAMs) and enhanced leukocyte infiltration into colonic interstitium, play a key role in the pathogenesis of colitis. The course of the disease may be continuous or relapsing, mild or severe. The earliest lesion is an inflammatory infiltration with abscess formation at the base of the crypts of Lieberkuhn. Coalescence of these distended and ruptured crypts tends to separate the overlying mucosa from its blood supply, leading to ulceration. Signs and symptoms of the disease include cramping, lower abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, and frequent, loose discharges consisting mainly of blood, pus, and mucus with scanty fecal particles. A total colectomy may be required for acute, severe or chronic, unremitting ulcerative colitis.
Psoriasis is a chronic, non-contagious autoimmune disease which affects the skin and joints. It commonly causes red scaly patches to appear on the skin. The scaly patches caused by psoriasis, called psoriatic plaques, are areas of inflammation and excessive skin production. Psoriasis can also cause inflammation of the joints, which is known as psoriatic arthritis. Ten to fifteen percent of people with psoriasis have psoriatic arthritis. There are many treatments available, but because of its chronic recurrent nature, psoriasis is difficult to treat.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), a pleiotropic cytokine, is produced mainly by macrophages, but other types of cells also produce it. TNF-α demonstrates beneficial as well as pathological activities. It has both growth stimulating effects and growth inhibitory properties, besides being self-regulatory. The beneficial functions of TNF-α include maintaining homeostasis by regulating the body's circadian rhythm, mounting an immune response to bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections, replacing or remodeling injured tissue by stimulating fibroblast growth and, as the name suggests, killing certain tumors. TNF-α is derived from mononuclear cells and macrophages and in turn induces the expression of a variety of genes that contribute to various disorders such as inflammatory disorders.
Although TNF-α plays a critical role in innate and acquired immune responses, inappropriate production of TNF-α produce pathological changes resulting in chronic inflammation and tissue damage. TNF-α has been shown to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of many chronic inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, refractory rheumatoid arthritis, chronic non-rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis/bone resorption, coronary heart disease, vasculitis, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, diabetes, skin delayed type hypersensitivity disorders and Alzheimer's disease.
IL-1 (Interleukin 1) is an important part of the innate immune system, which regulates functions of the adaptive immune system. The balance between IL-1 and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) in local tissues influences the possible development of an inflammatory disease and resultant structural damage. In the presence of an excess amount of IL-1, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders may be developed in joints, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, central nervous system (CNS) or blood vessels.
Cellular adhesion molecules intercellular adhesion molecule1 (ICAM-1), vascular-cell adhesion molecule1 (VCAM-1), and E-Selectin are responsible for the recruitment of inflammatory cells, such as neutrophils, eosinophils, and T lymphocytes, from the circulation to the site of inflammation. The recruitment and retention of leukocyte is a critical event in the pathogenesis of all chronic inflammatory diseases such as RA.
The first line of treatment for inflammatory disorders involves the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) e.g. ibuprofen, naproxen to alleviate symptoms such as pain. However, despite the widespread use of NSAIDs, many individuals cannot tolerate the doses necessary to treat the disorder over a prolonged period of time as NSAIDs are known to cause gastric erosions. Moreover, NSAIDs merely treat the symptoms of the inflammatory disorder and not the cause. When patients fail to respond to NSAIDs, other drugs such as methotrexate, gold salts, D-penicillamine and corticosteroids are used. These drugs also have significant side effects.
Monoclonal antibody drugs such as Infliximab, Etanercept and Adalimumab are useful as anti-inflammatory agents, but have drawbacks such as route of administration (only parenteral), high cost, allergy induction, activation of latent tuberculosis, increased risk of cancer and congestive heart disease.
Although phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitors have been developed for the treatment of asthma, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn's disease, the non-selective inhibition of multiple PDE4s leads to complex physiological responses. The therapeutic potential of PDE4 inhibitors has been hampered by their dose-limiting side effects of nausea and emesis as in the case of Cilomilast (SB 207499, Ariflo™) (Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 2001, 5, 432-438).
Similarly, although p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitors are potential anti-inflammatory agents, the side-effects associated with their use include gastric ulcerations, hepatotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity. For instance, development of 2-[2(S)-Amino-3-phenylpropylamino]-3-methyl-5-(2-naphthyl)-6-(4-pyridyl)pyrimidin-4(3H)-one (AMG 548, Amgen) was suspended due to random liver enzyme elevations that were not dose or exposure dependent. The impact on safety profiles after chronic treatment using p38 MAP kinase inhibitors, needs to be established (Current Medicinal Chemistry, 2005, 12, 2979-2994).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,727 discloses benzopyran-4-one derivatives as antiinflammatory agents. Anti-inflammatory benzopyran-4-one derivative from Dysoxylum binectariferum is described by R. G. Naik et al in Tetrahedron, 1988, 44 (7), 2081-2086.
Notwithstanding the availability of a number of therapies for the treatment of inflammatory disorders, there still exists a continuing need for improved and alternative medicaments for the treatment of inflammatory disorders.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,271,193, Published US application US20070015802, and published PCT application, WO2007148158, all of which are incorporated herewith in all entirety as references, describe pyrrolidine substituted flavones as CDK inhibitors with utility in the treatment of different types of cancers. The present inventors have found that the pyrrolidine substituted flavones designated herein as compounds of formula 1 find use in the treatment of inflammatory disorders. The scope of the present invention is to provide a new anti-inflammatory use of the above-mentioned pyrrolidine substituted flavones.

Pyrrolidine substitute flavones for the treatment of inflammatory disorders

Abstract: a stereoisomer or a tautomer thereof, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or a pharmaceutically acceptable solvate thereof, for the treatment of an inflammatory disorder. The invention further relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of formula 1 and at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, for use in the treatment of an inflammatory disorder. The invention also relates to a method for the treatment of an inflammatory disorder by administering a therapeutically effective amount of the compound of formula 1 to a subject in need thereof.


A fuel cell generator apparatus contains at least one fuel cell assembly module with at least one subassembly containing fuel cells, where the subassemblies are fueled at their base by a fuel feed injector attached to a fuel feed pre-reformer connected to fuel distribution manifolds; and where a module housing encloses the subassemblies and is in turn surrounded by a vessel having two ends providing a purge gas space between the housing and vessel; and where at least one fuel gas feed inlet, gaseous oxidant-purge gas feed inlet, and vessel exhaust gas outlet pass through the vessel; where the vessel can be used for pressurized or non-pressurized operation and is preferably tubular.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to solid oxide electrolyte, fuel cell generator modules, modules disposed in a common pressure vessel for use with a variety of auxiliary components in a power generation system operating in either an atmospheric or pressurized mode.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fuel cell based, electrical generator apparatus utilizing solid oxide electrolyte fuel cells (xe2x80x9cSOFCxe2x80x9d) arranged within a housing and surrounded by insulation are well known, and taught, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,468 (Isenberg) and xe2x80x9cSolid Oxide Fuel Cellxe2x80x9d, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, October, 1992. The tubular type fuel cells can comprise an open or closed ended, axially elongated, self-supporting ceramic tube air electrode material, completely covered by thin film ceramic, solid electrolyte material. The electrolyte layer is covered by cermet fuel electrode material, except for a thin, axially elongated, interconnection material. Flat plate type fuel cells can comprise a flat array of electrolyte and interconnect walls, where electrolyte walls contain thin, flat layers of cathode and anode materials sandwiching an electrolyte. The xe2x80x9ccorrugatedxe2x80x9d plate type fuel cells can comprise a triangular or corrugated honeycomb array of active anode, cathode, electrolyte and interconnect materials. Other fuel cells not having a solid electrolyte, such molten carbonate fuel cells are also well known, and can be utilized in the article and method of this invention.
Development studies of SOFC power plant systems have indicated the desirability of pressurized operations in many instances. This would permit operation with a coal gasifier as the fuel supply and/or use of a gas turbine generator as a bottoming cycle. Integration is commercially possible because of the closely matched thermodynamic conditions of the SOFC module output exhaust flow and the gas turbine inlet flow.
Conventional combustor in a gas turbine system typically exhibits high nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, combustion driven oscillations and instabilities, excessive noise and low efficiencies. Although significant advances have been made to mitigate these problems, it has proved difficult to design a practical, ultra-low NOx, high-turn-down ratio combustor due to poor flame stability characteristics. The combination of all the above factors results in a pressurized SOFC generator module design being suitable as a replacement of conventional gas turbine combustor and applicable to more efficient combined cycle power plants required to meet increasingly stringent emission targets.
A variety of fuel cell uses in power plant systems are described in the literature. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/784,610, filed on Feb. 15, 2001, Holmes et al.) discloses a low-cost atmospheric SOFC power generation system, which provides a simpler, significantly less expensive oxidant/air feed tube support system and an improved power lead design. The inexpensive design minimizes cooling requirements, external ducting to auxiliaries such as air blowers, air pre-heaters and recuperators and provides better utilization of interior insulation. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,731 (Bloomfield et al.), a pressurized fuel cell power plant is described. There, air is compressed by compressor apparatus, such as a compressor and turbine which are operably connected, which is powered by waste energy produced by the power plant in the form of a hot pressurized gaseous medium, such as fuel cell exhaust gases. These exhaust gases are delivered into the turbine, which drives the compressor for compressing air delivered to the fuel cells. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,879 (Domeracki et al.) a SOFC is also integrated into a gas turbine system. There, pre-heated, compressed air is supplied to a SOFC along with fuel, to produce electric power and a hot gas, which gas is further heated by combustion of unreacted fuel and oxygen remaining in the hot gas. This higher temperature gas is directed to a topping combustor that is supplied with a second stream of fuel, to produce a still further heated gas that is then expanded in a turbine. Gillett et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,278 taught a self-cooling, mono-container fuel cell generator design with integral cooling ducts that could be used for both atmospheric and pressurized operation. The atmospheric and pressurized design, however, would be housed in different containment vessels. In U.S. Pat. Specification No. 5,573,867 (Zafred et al.) a pressurized modular design SOFC generator was housed in a transportable, low center of gravity, horizontally disposed pressure vessel which also allowed purge gas passage between the inside of the pressure vessel and the outside of the SOFC modules. That design contained six separate gas entrance/exit lines just on one end of the container contributing to the substantial cost of pressurized systems over atmospheric systems which usually have less complicated external containment design.
Fuel cell pressurization, while advantageous in system performance, presents several practical difficulties to the SOFC generator designer, two of which are: (1) The pressure boundary must be able to withstand pressures up to 20 atmospheres. The pressure boundary of existing generators operating at one atmosphere pressure is the outside SOFC generator wall, which typically operates at temperatures between 600xc2x0 C. and 800xc2x0 C. Construction of a pressure boundary to operate at 20 atmospheres and 800xc2x0 C. is difficult and expensive, therefore, a pressure boundary with reduced wall temperature is required; (2) Because fuel and air are brought together within the SOFC generator, much more care must be taken to avoid the potential of an unstable condition during startup and operation of a pressurized SOFC. This is only a limited concern at one atmosphere. For atmospheric operation, the expected explosive overpressure would be about 115 psi (792 kPA) which existing designs can accommodate by mechanical strength alone. However, the expected explosive overpressure at 20 atmospheres is about 2315 psi (15950 kPA). A protective containment system to prevent the accumulation of an explosive gas mixture is required; (3) the pressurized containment design is usually much more complicated and expensive than that of atmospheric systems. What is needed is a new packaging approach in the overall configuration of a SOFC power generating plant by maintaining a standardized generator module which could be easily reconfigured for inlet and exhaust duct routings in such a way that it can be coupled to a recuperator/duct burner module, to operate as an atmospheric unit, or to a gas turbine, to operate in a pressurized mode.
In view of this, the main objects of this invention are to: (1) provide a standard stack configuration for both atmospheric and pressurized SOFC Modules, (2) provide a common tank design for both systems, (3) reduce assembly time of the generator stack by reducing the number of installed parts, (4) reduce part inventories, (5) improve functionality of the system, (6) improve generator serviceability/maintainability issues, by providing simple means for stack insertion/extraction within the tank, (7) increase the availability of the fuel cell generator, (8) improve the overall efficiency and performance of the power generation system, and (9) ultimately offer a cost-effective solution to the pressing demand for compact, standard, low cost SOFC systems.
The above needs and objects are met by providing a fuel cell generator apparatus characterized by containing at least one fuel cell assembly module comprising at least two side by side subassemblies each containing a plurality of fuel cells, each fuel cell having electrolyte between an oxidant electrode and a fuel electrode; where the subassemblies are each fueled at their base by a common fuel feed injector nozzle attached to a fuel feed pre-reformer which is connected to integral fuel distribution manifolds; a module housing capable of withstanding temperatures over 600 C. enclosing the fuel cell assembly module; an axially-elongated thin wall vessel surrounding the module housing, the vessel having two ends; a purge gas space between the module housing and the pressure vessel; at least one fuel gas feed inlet through the vessel and connecting to the fuel feed injector nozzles; common gaseous oxidant-purge gas feed inlet; exhaust gas outlet through the vessel connecting to a combusted gas exit plenum through a semi-flexible duct; insulation contacting the inside of the vessel within at least part of the purge gas space; where the vessel is adapted to be used for either atmospheric gaseous feed of pressurized gaseous feed. The fuel cells will generally operate at temperatures usually over 650xc2x0 C. and up to about 1100xc2x0 C. The module housing and the fuel cells can operate in the xe2x80x9cpressurizedxe2x80x9d mode, that is over at least about 2 atmospheres, or about 28.5 psi (pounds per square inchxe2x80x94196.4 kPA), preferably at about 2 to 10 atmospheres. During operations, the entire purge area is flooded by the gaseous oxidant which passes around the module housing to provide a uniform temperature distribution and eliminate the need for complicated integral cooling ducts. Preferably the vessel surrounding the module housing is cylindrical.
The invention also resides in a method of operating a fuel cell generator apparatus characterized by the steps of: (1) passing a common gaseous oxidant-purge feed gas and a fuel gas feed through inlets and into at least one fuel cell assembly module, each module comprising at least two side by side subassemblies, each containing a plurality of fuel cells, each fuel cell having electrolyte between an oxidant electrode and a fuel electrode, where the modules are each enclosed by a module housing capable of withstanding temperatures over 600xc2x0 C.; where the module housings are surrounded by an axially-elongated vessel having two ends, such that there is a purge gas space between the module housings and the vessel; (2) passing the common gaseous oxidant-purge gas through the pressure vessel to circulate within the purge gas space, where the gas dilutes any unreacted fuel gas flow from the module; and (3) passing exhaust gas and circulated purge gas and any unreacted fuel gas out of the pressure vessel, where the vessel is adapted to be used for wither atmospheric gaseous feed or pressurized gaseous feed.
The generator apparatus will also have associated with it and will be working in cooperation with well known auxiliaries, such as controls; an oxygen or air pre-heater; a fuel gas compressor; a fuel desulfurizer; an oxygen or air compressor which may be operably connected to a power turbine coupled to an electric generator; a purge gas compressor, which may be the same as the air compressor; a source of fuel gas and purge gas; heat exchangers; a heat recovery unit to recover heat from the hot fuel cell exhaust gases; and a topping combustor, to provide an electrical power generation system. This type power system, in the pressurized mode, could be, for example, part of an integrated, coal gasification/fuel cell-steam turbine combination power plant, featuring a plurality of coal gasifiers and fuel cell generator arrays or power blocks with associated DC/AC conversion switchgear or it could also be part of a natural gas fired combustion turbine system or the like.

Standard package design for both atmospheric and pressurized SOFC power generation system


cDNA clones having a base sequence for human placental plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-2) have been developed and characterized and the amino acid sequence of the PAI-2 has been determined. The PAI-2 protein has then been expressed in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

This invention relates to a plasminogen activator inhibitor and, more particularly, to cDNA clones representing essentially a full size plasminogen activator inhibitor of the placental type and to expression of the recombinant protein in prokaryotic and eukaryotic hosts.
The plasminogen activators are a class of serine proteases that convert plasminogen to the fibrinolytically active enzyme plasmin (fibrinolysin). Upon being thus activated, the plasmin can attack the coagulation proteins of the fibrin clot (thrombus) and thereby disintegrate the clot. Inhibitors normally present in the blood with plasminogen generally retard this reaction.
Human plasma contains two plasminogen activators that are immunologically distinct, namely tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and urokinase (u-PA). t-PA has been demonstrated to have higher affinity for fibrin than u-PA and, therefore, is a preferable agent for degradation of the fibrin clot. The source of the plasma t-PA has been presumed to be the vascular endothelium.
Plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAI) have been obtained from various sources. They are now classified in at least three immunologically different groups: protease nexin-I, the endothelial cell type plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), and the placental type plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-2).
Protease nexin-I was isolated from human fibroblasts and has an apparent M.sub.r 43 kilodaltons (kDa). Scott et al., J. Biol. Chem. 260 (11), 7029-7034 (1985). It is distinguished by its acid lability, its ability to inhibit both plasminogen activators and plasmin, its relatively high pI (7.5-7.8) and by the stimulatory effect of heparin on its activity.
Endothelial cell-type PAI-1 is a glycoprotein of M.sub.r 50-54 kDa that rapidly inactivates both t-PA and .mu.-PA. It is synthesized by endothelial cells and certain hepatoma and fibrosarcoma lines. It is found in platelets and is believed to constitute the major PAI of normal human plasma. See Pannekoek et al., The EMBO Journal 5 (10), 2539-2544 (1986); Andreason et al., FEBS Lett. 209 (2), 213-218 (1986); Ginsburg et al., J. Clin. Invest. 98, 1673-1680 (1986); and Wun and Kretzmer, FEBS Lett. 210, 11-16 (1987).
Placenta-type PAI-2 is a distinct protein of M.sub.r 47,000. Kawano et al., Nature 217, 253-254 (1968); Astedt et al., Thromb. Haemostasis 53, 122-125 (1985); and Wun and Reich, J. Biol. Chem. 262, 3646-3653 (1987). It appears to be immunologically and biochemically identical to a similar activity of human monocytes Chapman et al., Cell 28, 653-662 (1982), and Kopitar et al., Thromb. Haemostasis 54, 750-755 (1985)], and monocytic cell lines [Vassalli et al., J. Exp. Med. 159, 1653-1668 (1984), and Kruithof et al., J. Biol. Chem. 261, 11207-11213 (1986)].
Further background information on the plasminogen activator inhibitors can be had by reference to the recent review article by Sprengers and Kluft, Blood 69(2), 381-387 (1987).
Recent advances in biochemistry and in recombinant DNA technology have made it possible to synthesize specific proteins, for example, enzymes, under controlled conditions independent of the organism from which they are normally isolated. These biochemical synthetic methods employ enzymes and subcellular components of the protein synthesizing systems of living cells, either in vitro in cell-free systems, or in vivo in microorganisms. In either case, the principal element is provision of a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of specific sequence which contains the information required to specify the desired amino acid sequence. Such a specific DNA sequence is termed a gene. The coding relationships whereby a deoxyribonucleotide sequence is used to specify the amino acid sequence of a protein is well-known and operates according to a fundamental set of principles. See, for example, Watson, Molecular Biology of the Gene, 3d ed., Benjamin-Cummings, Menlo Park, Calif., 1976.
A cloned gene may be used to specify the amino acid sequence of proteins synthesized by in vitro systems. RNA-directed protein synthesizing systems are well-established in the art. Double-stranded DNA can be induced to generate messenger RNA (mRNA) in vitro with subsequent high fidelity translation of the RNA sequence into protein.
It is now possible to isolate specific genes or portions thereof from higher organisms, such as man and animals, and to transfer the genes or fragments to microorganisms such as bacteria (e.g., E. coli) or yeasts (e.g., S. cerevisiae). The transferred gene is replicated and propagated as the transformed microorganism replicates. Consequently, the transformed microorganism is endowed with the capacity to make the desired protein or gene which it encodes, for example, an enzyme, and then passes on this capability to its progeny. See, for example, Cohen and Boyer, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,237,224 and 4,468,464. Likewise, mammalian cells (e.g., mouse, bovine, and Chinese hamster ovary) can be used for the expression of mammalian protein by conventional recombinant DNA methods. See, for example, Axel et al., Science 209, 1414-1424 (1980) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,216.
To illustrate, a bacterial plasmid, for example, pSC101 or pBR322 and derivatives thereof, can be used as a cloning vehicle to introduce a foreign or exogenous gene into the host bacteria. An illustrative host bacteria can be, for example, Escherichia coli K-12.sub.x 1776, which is available from the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Md. under accession number ATCC 31244. The plasmid can be cleaved with a restriction endonuclease or other DNA cleaving enzyme, for example EcoR I, to form a linear DNA fragment having an intact replicon and cohesive termini. A second DNA fragment having the desired exogenous or foreign gene and a given phenotypical property and complementary ligatable termini can be obtained from a foreign cell or chemically synthesized. This second DNA fragment is spliced with the first DNA fragment with a DNA ligase or other DNA ligating agent, for example T.sub.4 DNA Ligase, to form a completely closed and recircularized plasmid. The insertion of the second DNA fragment into the EcoR I site of the illustrative plasmid brings the expression of the genetic information under the control elements of the plasmid. The resulting recombinant plasmid is then used for transformation of the bacterial cell and allowed to replicate by growing the bacteria in a suitable culture medium. The desired transformants are then isolated by phenotypical trait differentiation, for example, by resistance to particular growth-inhibiting materials such as antibiotics or by various morphological property differences.

DNA clones of human placental plasminogen activator inhibitor


A two-way paper pickup system in which both a feed tray and a feed cassette can be used, and a printer adopting the same. The paper pickup system includes a feed tray on which paper or a feed cassette is placed, a first pickup assembly that moves the paper placed on the feed tray, a resistance plate that allows the moved paper to be separately transferred, and a second pickup assembly that is moved to a paper exit of the feed cassette so as to move paper included in the feed cassette when the feed cassette is placed on the feed tray. When the feed cassette is inserted into the printer, the first pickup assembly is moved on the feed cassette while being rotated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a two-way paper pickup system and a printer adopting the same, and more particularly, to a two-way paper pickup system in which both a feed tray and a paper cassette are available, and a printer adopting the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, since most inkjet printers are manufactured as low-cost popular types, only a paper tray is adopted as a paper feed mechanism to minimize manufacture costs. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional inkjet printer and a conventional paper feed mechanism adopted by the conventional inkjet printer, respectively. Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional paper feed mechanism includes a feed tray 110 in which paper S is placed, a pickup roller 121 that moves the paper S placed on the feed tray 110, a pickup roller supporter 123 that delivers a driving force to the pickup roller 121 and pressurizes the pickup roller 121 onto the paper S, a resistance plate 140 that allows sheets of the paper S transferred by the pickup roller 121 to be supplied to a feed roller 130 one by one; and the feed roller 130 that supplies the paper S to a printing unit (not shown).
A process of supplying the paper S using the conventional paper feed mechanism will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. First, the pickup roller supporter 123 and the pickup roller 121, fixed by an end of the pickup roller supporter 123, press the paper S on the feed tray 110 with their own weight. In this case, when the pickup roller supporter 123 delivers a driving force to the pickup roller 121, the delivered driving force rotates the pickup roller 121 to transfer the paper S toward the resistance plate 140. A plurality of projections 145 are formed on the resistance plate 140 to separately supply the paper S to the feed roller 130. When the paper S is stopped by the projections 145, only a sheet of the paper S directly contacting the pickup roller 121 is transferred to the feed roller 130. This method is referred to as a paper separation method using a resistance plate.
There is a growing need to develop popular-type printers adopting a paper feed mechanism, such as that shown in FIG. 2, that can use both nonstandard sized paper of various types and sizes and standard sized paper, e.g., A4, B5, or letter sized paper. Accordingly, in a tray-type feed mechanism adopted by a conventional inkjet printer, a paper pickup system that picks up and supplies sheets of paper S one by one has the pickup roller 121 installed at one side of the feed tray 110 as shown in FIG. 3B. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, which are a plan view of and a rear view of the paper pickup system, respectively, the pickup roller 121 is installed at one side of the feed tray 110 rather than at a center thereof, and a paper guide 115 is installed at the opposite side of the feed tray 110 so that the paper S does not sway from one side to another. In particular, the paper guide 115 is installed such that the paper guide 115 can slide on the feed tray 110 along the width direction. Therefore, the location of the paper guide 115 can be adjusted to a size of the paper S.
A reason for locating the pickup roller 121 to one side of the feed tray 110 is to allow paper having various sizes to be transferred toward the resistance plate 140. If the pickup roller 121 is installed at a center of the feed tray 110, it is impossible to move very small sized paper. In general, a minimum width of paper that can be fed in an inkjet printer is about 3 inch.
However, in a case where paper with various types or sizes are fed by only one feed tray, such as the feed tray 110, the performance of feeding paper is lower than when using a feed cassette dedicated to specific sized paper, e.g., A4 sized paper. Further, it is more difficult to feed special type paper, such as overhead transparency paper (OHP), label paper, and photo paper, only using one feed tray. In particular, the performance of feeding paper deteriorates when using low-quality paper to which a large amount of paper powder (paper dust) adheres. In this case, the pickup roller 121 becomes stained with the paper powder, thus considerably lowering the performance of feeding paper.


An integrated device that includes a substrate, a first transistor, and a second transistor. The second transistor is configured to be coupled to the first transistor. The first transistor is configured to operate as a N-type channel metal oxide semiconductor transistor (NMOS) transistor. The first transistor includes a dielectric layer disposed over the substrate; a first source disposed over the dielectric layer; a first drain disposed over the dielectric layer; a first plurality of channels coupled to the first source and the first drain; and a first gate surrounding the plurality of channels. The second transistor is configured to operate as a P-type channel metal oxide semiconductor transistor (PMOS). The second transistor includes the dielectric layer; a second source disposed over the dielectric layer; a second drain disposed over the dielectric layer; a second plurality of channels coupled to the second source and the second drain; and a second gate.

FIG. 1 illustrates a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) structure 100 that includes a P-type channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistor 120 and a N-type channel metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistor 140. The PMOS transistor 120 is formed over a N well 102, while the NMOS transistor 140 is formed over a P well 104. Both the N well 102 and the P well 104 are each formed in a substrate 105. As shown in FIG. 1, the PMOS transistor 120 and the NMOS transistor 140 are located adjacent to each other, in a twin well arrangement. The PMOS transistor 120 and the NMOS transistor 140 are separated by a spacing (S). The spacing (S) may represent the spacing between the N well 102 and the P well 104. An integrated device, such as an integrated circuit (IC) may include a plurality of CMOS structures 100 that each includes a PMOS transistor 120 and a NMOS transistor 140. There is an ongoing need to reduce the size and space that a CMOS structure takes up in an integrated device.

Integrated device comprising a CMOS structure comprising well-less transistors


A method and a system of displaying related keywords are provided. The method includes: receiving a primary keyword inputted by a user and a request for retrieving keywords related to the primary keyword; recording a frequency of the retrieving request corresponding to the primary keyword; selecting a candidate group of related keywords based on the frequency from the groups of related keywords corresponding to the primary keyword; and displaying the related keywords in the candidate group of related keywords. The system includes: an interface unit, a recording unit, an acquiring unit and a displaying unit. The disclosed method and system retrieve different groups of related keywords based on the frequency of the request for retrieving keywords related to a certain primary keyword, and display the retrieved related keywords in a rotating manner and allow a user to obtain the related keywords in an easier and more complete way.

Along with the rapid increase of textual and multimedia contents on the Internet and other data networks and systems, a user has become increasingly dependent on keyword-based search tools to find required information. A user normally enters a keyword of an inquired document into a search tool or search engine, which then performs a search in an indexed database and returns a search result. Generally, existing search tools or search engines may further display, on a current result page, one or more keywords related to the user input keyword (i.e., the primary keyword).
Generally, the following two methods are used in existing technologies to display related keywords.
1. A fixed number of related keywords are displayed according to a static display of the primary keyword.
According to this method, the number of user-selectable related keywords is fixed. For example, Google only displays ten keywords related to a primary keyword on a result page. In practice, a large number of related keywords may be obtained based on the primary keyword. The search methods that have a limited number of related keywords cannot satisfy the needs of a user and two provide effective hints to the user, and result in a poor user experience.
2. An offer for a further search for related keywords is displayed.
According to this method, a further search using related keywords which are not displayed on a current result page is offered. The display of related keywords on Baidu.com is an example. Upon displaying nine keywords related to a primary keyword, an option of "more relevant search" is provided. A user can perform a further search for all related keywords by clicking the links, and go to web page(s) displaying the related keywords. Evidently, this way of displaying related keywords requires a user to go through a number of steps and has complicated operations, and thus do not conform to the habits of the user.
As a result, there is a pressing need for those skilled in the art to obtain related keywords for a user in a simple and comprehensive manner.

Method and system of displaying related keywords


An applicator includes a barrel portion, a nose portion, a pivoting joint, a threaded screw, a cup, and a flexible driveshaft. The nose portion is connected to the barrel portion at the pivoting joint. The threaded screw is disposed in the barrel portion and threadably engages a plurality of threads. The cup is disposed in the nose portion and is adapted to carry a mass or instrument. The cup is rotationally fixed to the nose portion and the threaded screw such that rotation of the nose portion relative to the barrel portion causes axial displacement of the cup and the screw relative to the barrel portion. The flexible driveshaft extends between and is rotationally fixed to the threaded screw and the cup. The flexible shaft extends across the pivoting joint disposed at the connection between the nose portion and the barrel portion.

Various types of mechanical type applicators allow the user to propel a mass or instrument out of a tip portion for application. After the mass or instrument is utilized, the user can then retract the mass or instrument back into the applicator to protect it from becoming damaged. Such applicators conventionally include a barrel portion that contains the majority of the mechanical mechanism for propelling and retracting the mass or instrument, and a nose portion from which the mass or instrument is propelled and retracted. It is common for the nose portion and barrel portion to be rotated relative to each other to effectuate propelling and retraction of the mass or instrument. It is also common for such mechanical type applicators to be generally linear in design.


A method of fabricating a semiconductor structure includes: growing a dielectric layer on a substrate; defining an epitaxial region and a gap region on the dielectric layer; etching a dielectric layer of the epitaxial region to expose the substrate; sequentially growing a gallium nitride buffer layer and an aluminum gallium nitride barrier layer on the exposed substrate. The method of fabricating a semiconductor structure provided by the present application divides the aluminum gallium nitride barrier layer into a plurality of independent portions, thus preventing the microcracks from occurring in the aluminum gallium nitrogen film while increasing the aluminum component, thereby improving the yield rate and reliability of the device.

As a representative of a third-generation semiconductor material, gallium nitride (GaN) has many excellent characteristics, for example, a high critical breakdown electric field, a high electron mobility ratio, a high two-dimensional electron gas concentration and a good high temperature working ability etc. A third-generation semiconductor device based on the gallium nitride, such as a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) and a heterojunction field effect transistor (HFET) etc., has been put into applications, and has obvious advantages especially in the fields such as radio frequency and microwave etc., which require high power and high frequency.
In order to increase the two-dimensional electron gas concentration of a gallium nitride HEMT device, hence obtain a higher power of the device, the conventional method is to use an AlGaN/GaN-based HEMT having a high Al composition. However, increasing the composition of Al causes an AlGaN film to be under more tensile stress, if the tensile stress exceeds a certain extent, microcracks may occur in the AlGaN layer, resulting in a yield rate problem or a reliability problem of the HEMT device.

Method of fabricating semiconductor structure


The present invention is to provide a mobile radio communications method, a mobile radio communications system, base station controlling equipment and a mobile radio terminal device, all of which make it possible to realize reduction of power consumption of the mobile radio terminal device even in the case where the remaining battery capacity of the mobile radio terminal device has become short while the mobile radio terminal device is performing high-speed and large-amount data transmission. In the present invention, the mobile radio terminal device detects the remaining battery capacity, and this information is transmitted to the base station controlling equipment. Then, the base station controlling equipment recognizes the remaining battery capacity of the mobile radio terminal device, and in the case where it is recognized that the remaining battery capacity of the mobile radio terminal device has become insufficient to continue the data transmission with a high rate, the base station controlling equipment changes the data transmission rate to a low speed rate for performing a reducing power consumption mode in the mobile radio terminal device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile radio communications method, a mobile radio communications system, a base station controlling equipment and a mobile radio terminal device. Specifically, the present invention relates to a mobile radio communications method, a mobile radio communications system, a base station controlling equipment and a mobile radio terminal device, all of which make it possible to reduce power consumption of the mobile radio terminal device used in the mobile radio communications system capable of performing high speed and large capacity data transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as advanced radio communications technologies have been disseminated, various kinds of mobile radio terminal devices are widely and generally used. Such mobile radio terminal devices include mobile phones, PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) phones, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or micro-computers each installed with a radio LAN interconnect device. With regard to mobile radio communications system for these mobile radio terminal devices, it is expected that service area will be more and more expanded, and types of service will be increasingly diversified, in the future.
Since such mobile radio terminal devices are small-sized and light-weighted, the mobile radio terminal devices can perform data communications taking their advantages of portability. In addition, unlike wire communications, the radio communications does not require cables to be laid. As long as the mobile radio terminal device is present in the same radio area as a communications network, the mobile radio terminal device can be connected with the communications network through an access point. Thus, the mobile radio terminal device connected to the communications network via the access point can quickly perform data communications with other data processing equipment provided on a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN) and a Personal Area Network (PAN) in the communications network.
Recently in particular, various places, such as railroad station yards, airport lobbies and tea lounges in a town, are furnished with the radio LAN communications equipment which is termed as "a hot spot". By use of this, as long as people have their mobile radio terminal devices with them, they can connect their mobile radio terminal devices to the Internet by use of the radio LAN communications equipment furnished at the hot spot and they can browse home pages, and can transmit and receive electronic mails.
In addition, if such mobile radio communications system is used in corporations, shops, offices and the like, they can reduce labor and expenses for the layout change of floors because a change of laying communication cables, such as LAN cables is no longer required. Moreover, an advantage is brought about, where persons who frequently move from one section to another, or from one building to another, can make communication simply and quickly without doing conventional work of connecting their mobile terminal devices directly to the fixed cable which have been laid and provided in their destinations.
However, in environments where such mobile radio communications system is used, the power supply facilities for mobile radio terminal devices are not provide nearby in many cases. For this reason, basically, mobile radio terminal devices are driven by use of their built-in batteries.
Furthermore, in the case of the conventional mobile radio communications system, a data transmission rate has not been so high, and accordingly the data communications of small capacity with low power has been a mega-trend. However, recent mobile radio communications system can perform data communications at high transmission rate, which is by no means inferior to the wire communications, and accordingly the recent mobile radio communications system has been able to provide radio communications environments in which high speed data transmission with large amounts of data, such as image data, is available. In response to this trend, high speed and large capacity of data communications, power consumption of mobile radio terminal device has become remarkably larger.
Moreover, data transmission errors would occur in the mobile radio communications system if the propagation condition of radio signals is not suitable due to the location of the mobile radio terminal device, particularly on environments where obstacles and noise source of radio signals exist nearby. For this reason, retransmission of data is sometimes required in such a case, and causes data throughput to be degraded. Otherwise, the data throughput is likely to be degraded due to another factor which is causing the data transmission rate to become lower. Even in the case where the data throughput is degraded in this manner, time needed for the data communications is not so largely affected as long as the amount of data to be transmitted is small. However, in a case where the amount of data to be transmitted is large, time needed for the data communications is largely affected by the data retransmission. Also, as it is difficult for the mobile radio terminal device to discriminate the transmission condition of data under current environment, the mobile radio terminal device of the transmitting side transmits a large amount of data to the mobile radio terminal device of the receiving side irrespectively of what condition the receiving side device is placed in. This may cause data: transmission errors, and a data block is likely to be missing. In a case where the missing data block is to be retransmitted once again, if the data block is large in size, it takes long time for the retransmission of the data block. Accordingly, it causes larger power consumption of the mobile terminal device.
In mobile radio communications technologies, there are various schemes, including Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Descriptions will be provided for CDMA, as an example. This communication scheme includes a function of data transmission rate alteration for performing high-speed data communications. This function alters the data transmission rate depending on the transmission condition such as noise levels of the radio zone for the mobile radio communications. Accordingly, alteration of the data transmission rate is controlled with a priority given to performance of high-speed data communications.
In this respect, in a case where the remaining capacity of electricity in the battery of the mobile radio terminal device is enough, it does not matter that the data, transmission rate is controlled with a priority given to the performance of the data transmission speed. However, if the data transmission rate is controlled with a priority given to the performance of the data transmission speed similarly when the remaining capacity of electricity in the battery of the mobile radio terminal device is insufficient, electricity in the battery is consumed by the same large power consumption, and electricity in the battery will run out shortly. As a result, the data transmission by the mobile radio terminal device is no longer continued. Moreover, in almost all cases, the power supply facilities for use of battery recharge are not available nearby. This is a serious problem for use of the mobile radio terminal device, and this is not only a problem with development of batteries, but also a constant problem with mobile radio communications system. That is because, even if small-sized large-capacity batteries are developed, the data communications service by the mobile radio communications system will be expectedly performed at a yet higher speed.
With this taken into consideration, the technology for reducing power consumption of the mobile radio terminal device is one of the important targets to be developed. Especially, the technology, which is able to control the power consumption when the remaining capacity of electricity in the battery has become short while the mobile radio terminal device is performing high-speed and large-amount data transmission, is sought.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazettes mentioned below have disclosed some technologies for reducing power consumption of the mobile radio terminal device.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2002-208887 has disclosed a technology for reducing power consumption of mobile phones which are present out of communication coverage. In the case where a mobile phone is present out of communication coverage, the mobile phone not only can make no communication, but also has no stand-by channel. For this reason, the mobile phone is put in a state of performing channel scan for the purpose of searching for a possible stand-by channel. This makes the mobile phone consume power, and hence electricity in the battery is consumed in a large degree. If the mobile phone is out of the communication coverage for a time longer than a predetermined time, this means that the mobile phone is in a state of being unable to make communication. For this reason, the mobile phone temporarily turns off the power supply, and thus prevents power consumption.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2000-278165 has disclosed a technology for reducing power consumption of the mobile radio terminal device by means of switching a part of functions of the circuit arrangement of the mobile radio terminal device under predetermined conditions. According to this technology, which is a technology of reducing power consumption for the CDMA mobile phone device, different numbers of analog-digital (A/D) conversion bits are used in the analog-digital converter during a stand-by state and a call state respectively. During the stand-by state, the number of A/D conversion bits to be used is smaller than the number of A/D conversion bits to be used during the call state, therefore, power consumption of the A/D converter and the diffusion process calculating unit is decreased, and thus the power consumption of the CDMA mobile phone device during the stand-by state is reduced.
In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2004-048550 has disclosed a technology for preventing unnecessary power consumption due to forgetting a function changeover in a mobile phone complex terminal which combines a plurality of functions in the mobile phone. According to this technology, it is determined whether the position, at which the mobile phone is present, is in, or out of, service areas of the mobile phone. In a case where the mobile phone is out of service areas, the signal receiving unit of the mobile phone function is set in an OFF state. Thereby, reduction of power consumption is realized.
As well, an object of Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2004-172772 has been to acquire a technology for receiving packets in a real-time manner in a case where the mobile radio terminal device has put in an intermittent power consumption reducing mode. According to this technology, the following steps are adopted for the mobile radio terminal. While the mobile radio terminal is being set in the intermittent power consumption reducing mode, the mobile radio terminal periodically detects an annunciation signal for packet transmission from the radio base station with a synchronized period of annunciation signal, and determines whether or not packets have come in. In a case where packets have come in, the mobile radio terminal determines whether or not real-time communication needs to be performed. When the real-time communication for packet receiving is required, the mobile radio terminal is turned to a normal mode all along until reception of the packets is completed.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2000-069107 has disclosed a technology for switching transmission speed on the basis of the remaining capacity of electricity in battery detected by the mobile radio terminal itself.
However, in the cases of the technologies disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazettes Nos. 2002-208887 and 2004-048550, measures to reduce power consumption are taken merely when mobile radio terminal device is out of communication coverage or out of service areas, and measures to reduce power consumption are not taken when the mobile radio terminal device is in communication coverage of in service areas. In the case of the technology disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2000-278165, measures to reduce power consumption are taken by different processes in respective stand-by and call states. However, it is not taken into account whether the remaining capacity of electricity in the battery is enough or short, therefore, the processing depending on the remaining capacity of electricity in the battery is not performed. Additionally, the technology disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2004-172772 is the technology for receiving complete packets even if the mobile radio terminal device is being set in an intermittent power consumption reducing mode. Therefore, it does not disclose measures to reduce power consumption depending on the remaining capacity of electricity in the battery. Moreover, in the case of the technology disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Official Gazette No. 2000-069107, the mobile radio terminal device switches transmission speed by-detecting the remaining capacity of electricity in the battery. For this reason, a host equipment which communicates with the mobile radio terminal device as a counterpart can not recognize the reason why the mobile radio terminal device have changed the transmission speed.
In the case of the conventional technologies as described above, reduction of power consumption has not been realized systematically throughout the entire mobile radio communications system in the case where the remaining capacity of electricity in the battery of the mobile radio terminal device has become short while the mobile radio terminal device is performing high speed and large capacity data transmission.

Mobile radio communications method, mobile radio communications system, base station controlling equipment and mobile radio terminal device


A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product for controlling a wireless access point range. In one embodiment, the process identifies a distance between the client device and the wireless access point in response to a request by a client device to access the wireless access point. The process allows the client device to access the wireless access point if the distance from the client device to the wireless access point is within the selected access range for the wireless access point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related generally to a data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for a wireless access point. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for controlling and calibrating a wireless access point range.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless networking technology enables users to access networks, such as the Internet, from wireless hand held computing devices. Wireless hand held computing devices include, but are not limited to, laptop computers, tablet PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cellular telephones.
A wireless access point (WAP) is a device that provides access to a wireless network, such as a router. A client device, such as a laptop or PDA, that wants to access the wireless network, requests access from the wireless access point. The wireless access range is the range within which a wireless access point can provide a client with access to a wireless network. In other words, access range is the number of feet from an access point within which a wireless network adapter on a client device can see the wireless access point.
Wireless technology is improving very rapidly. Current wireless access points can support a wireless access range of approximately four hundred and ten feet (410 ft) indoors and one thousand eight hundred seventy feet (1,870 ft) outdoors under 802.11 standard wireless access protocols. However, if a client device is outside the wireless access range of the wireless access point, the client device will not be able to access the network through that particular wireless access point without moving into the wireless access range.
A wireless access point can provide open access to client devices. Open access provides access to all requesting client devices within the access range of the wireless access point without requiring a user authentication. However, when a wireless access point is not configured to provide open access, requesting client devices must go through an identification or authentication process to confirm that the user is authorized to obtain access to the network before the wireless access point will grant network access to the client.
Typically, a user or client authentication procedure involves a requesting client providing a user name and password. However, other authentication methods can be used including, but not limited to, an IP address of the requesting client, a private key or public key, a digital signature, a finger print, voice print, retina scan, any other biometric, or any other means for determining whether a user is an authorized user.
Frequently, wireless access point owners want to provide open access to persons on their property. For example, coffee shops, hotels, airports, restaurants, and colleges generally have open access points to draw in customers and students. In another example, a homeowner may have open access points within a home because the owner wants to provide access to friends, family, and house guests without having to deal with reconfiguring security settings on the access point and/or on the client devices trying to connect to the wireless network.
However, wireless access points frequently provide a wireless access range that overlaps onto adjacent or nearby property, allowing users located off of the owner's property to utilize the wireless access point. Using current methods, a wireless access point owner cannot readily control the range of open access. Therefore, users may be unable to avoid providing open access to client devices not located on the wireless access point owner's property. Because users cannot readily adjust wireless access point range, they must implement security settings requiring user and/or hardware authentication to control access to their networks. This method can be inconvenient and burdensome to users.

Controlling and calibrating wireless range

International Business Machines Corporation


In an LCD panel substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, a gate pattern includes a gate line formed on a pixel region and a peripheral region of a transparent insulating substrate and a gate electrode branched from the gate line. A gate insulating film is formed on the substrate having the gate pattern. An active pattern is formed on the gate insulating film and including a first impurity region, a second impurity region, and a channel region therebetween. A data pattern is formed on the active pattern and the gate insulating film. The data pattern includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a data line. A first insulating interlayer is formed on the data pattern and the gate insulating film. The first insulating interlayer includes a first contact hole for partially exposing the first electrode, a second contact hole for exposing the gate electrode of a first drive transistor of the peripheral region and a third contact hole for exposing the first/second electrode of a second drive transistor of the peripheral region. An electrode pattern part is formed on the first insulating interlayer. The electrode pattern part includes a first electrode pattern coupled to the first electrode of the pixel region through the first contact hole, and a second electrode pattern connecting the partially exposed gate electrode of the first drive transistor with the exposed first/second electrode of the second drive transistor through the second and third contact holes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to an amorphous silicon thin film transistor substrate having a gate driver for an LCD panel and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is one of the most popular flat panel displays (FPDs). An LCD generally includes two substrates, each having an electrode formed on an inner surface thereof, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. In an LCD, a voltage is applied to the electrode to re-align liquid crystal molecules and control an amount of light transmitted through the liquid crystal layer.
TFT-LCDs are now the most common type of LCDs. Electrodes are formed on each of the two substrates and thin film transistors (TFTs) are used for switching power supplied to each electrode. The TFT is typically formed on one side of the two substrates.
Generally, an LCD in which TFTs are respectively formed in unit pixel regions is classified as an amorphous type TFT-LCD and a polycrystalline type TFT-LCD. The polycrystalline type TFT-LCD has advantages in that it is capable of speedier operation at low power consumption. It has also an advantage in that TFTs for pixels and semiconductor devices for drive-circuits can be formed together.
On the other hand, the driving circuit for the polycrystalline type TFT-LCD further needs an annealing process for transforming an amorphous silicon into polycrystalline silicon after the amorphous silicon is deposited. In other words, in case that a glass substrate is used, a deformation in the glass substrate may occur during the annealing process. Also, since the gate driver has a structure of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), both of n-channel transistor and p-channel transistor are formed on the same substrate. Thus, as compared with a manufacturing process of the amorphous type TFT-LCD in which a single channel type transistor is formed, a manufacturing process of the polycrystalline type TFT-LCD is more complicated and difficult.
In general, a substrate on which TFTs for an LCD are formed is manufactured by a photolithography process using a plurality of masks, and five or six photolithography process steps are used. Since the photolithography process is expensive, it is desirable to reduce the number of photolithography steps.
There is provided an LCD panel substrate. In the above LCD panel substrate, a gate pattern includes a gate line formed on a pixel region and a peripheral region of a transparent insulating substrate respectively and a gate electrode branched from the gate line. A gate insulating film is formed on the substrate having the gate pattern. An active pattern is formed on the gate insulating film and includes a first impurity region, a second impurity region, and a channel region formed between the first impurity region and the second impurity region. A data pattern is formed on the active pattern and the gate insulating film. The data pattern includes a first electrode in contact with the first impurity region, a second electrode in contact with the second impurity region and a data line coupled to the first electrode. A first insulating interlayer is formed on the data pattern and the gate insulating film. The first insulating interlayer includes a first contact hole for partially exposing the first electrode, a second contact hole for exposing the gate electrode of a first drive transistor of the peripheral region and a third contact hole for exposing the first/second electrode of a second drive transistor of the peripheral region. An electrode pattern part is formed on the first insulating interlayer. The electrode pattern part includes a first electrode pattern coupled to the first electrode of the pixel region through the first contact hole, and a second electrode pattern connecting the partially exposed gate electrode of the first drive transistor with the exposed first/second electrode of the second drive transistor through the second and third contact holes.
Also, there is provided an LCD panel substrate, in which a gate pattern includes a gate line formed on a pixel region and a peripheral region of a transparent insulating substrate respectively and a gate electrode branched from the gate line. A gate insulating film is formed on the substrate having the gate pattern. An active pattern is formed on the gate insulating film and includes a first impurity region, a second impurity region, and a channel region formed between the first impurity region and the second impurity region. A data pattern is formed on the active pattern and the gate insulating film and includes a first electrode in contact with the first impurity region, a second electrode making contact with the second impurity region and a data line coupled to the first electrode. A first insulating interlayer is formed on the data pattern and the gate insulating film. The first insulating interlayer includes a first contact hole for partially exposing the second electrode, a second contact hole for partially exposing the first electrode of the pixel region, a third contact hole for exposing the gate electrode of a first drive transistor of the peripheral region, and a fourth contact hole for exposing the first/second electrode of a second drive transistor of the peripheral region. An electrode pattern part is formed on the first insulating interlayer. The electrode pattern part includes a first electrode pattern coupled to the second electrode of the pixel region through the first contact hole, a second electrode pattern coupled to the first electrode of the pixel region through the second contact hole, and a third electrode pattern connecting the exposed gate electrode of the first drive transistor with the exposed first/second electrode of the second drive transistor through the third and fourth contact holes.
There is also provided a method for manufacturing an LCD panel substrate. In the above method, a gate pattern including a gate line formed on a pixel region and a peripheral region of a transparent insulating substrate respectively and a gate electrode branched from the gate line are formed. A gate insulating film, a non-doped amorphous silicon layer, an impurity-doped amorphous silicon layer, and a metal layer are formed on the insulating substrate having the gate pattern. A photoresist pattern is formed on the metal layer. Here, a portion the photoresist pattern corresponding to a channel region between a source electrode and a drain electrode is thinner than portions corresponding to the source electrode and the drain electrode. The metal layer, the doped amorphous silicon layer, and the amorphous silicon layer are patterned using the photoresist pattern as a mask to remove the metal layer of the channel region and to form a data pattern including the source electrode, the drain electrode spaced apart from the source electrode, and a data line coupled to the drain electrode and substantially perpendicular to the gate line. The photoresist pattern and the impurity-doped amorphous silicon layer of the channel region are removed. An insulating interlayer is formed on a resultant structure of the substrate. The insulating interlayer is partially etched to form a first contact hole for partially exposing the drain electrode of the pixel region, a second contact hole for exposing the gate electrode of a first transistor of the peripheral region, and a third contact hole for exposing the source/drain electrode of a second transistor of the peripheral region. A conductive film is formed on the first insulating layer having the first, second and third contact holes. The conductive film is patterned to form a first electrode pattern and a second electrode pattern. The first electrode pattern is coupled to the drain electrode of the pixel region through the first contact hole, and the second electrode pattern connects the partially exposed gate electrode of the first transistor with the exposed source/drain electrode of the second transistor through the second and third contact holes.
Also, there is provided a method for manufacturing an LCD panel substrate. In the above method, a gate pattern includes a gate line on a pixel region and a peripheral region of a transparent insulating substrate respectively and a gate electrode branched from the gate line. A gate insulating film, a non-doped amorphous silicon layer, an impurity-doped amorphous silicon layer and a metal layer are sequentially formed on the gate pattern and the substrate. A photoresist pattern is formed on the metal layer. Here, a portion of the photoresist pattern corresponding to a channel region between a source electrode and a drain electrode is thinner than portions corresponding to the source electrode and the drain electrode. The metal layer, the doped amorphous silicon layer and the amorphous silicon layer are patterned using the photoresist pattern as a mask to remove the metal layer of the channel region and to form a data pattern including the source electrode and the drain electrode spaced apart from the source electrode. The photoresist pattern and the impurity-doped amorphous silicon layer of the channel region are removed. A first insulating interlayer is formed on a resultant structure of the substrate. The first insulating interlayer is partially etched to form a first contact hole for partially exposing the drain electrode of the pixel region, a second contact hole for partially exposing the source electrode of the pixel region, a third contact hole for exposing the gate electrode of a first transistor of the peripheral region and a fourth contact hole for exposing the source/drain electrode of a second transistor of the peripheral region. A conductive film is formed on the first insulating interlayer having the first, second, third and fourth contact holes. The conductive film is patterned to form a first electrode pattern, a second electrode pattern and a third electrode pattern. The first electrode pattern is coupled to the source electrode of the pixel region through the first contact hole, the second electrode pattern is coupled to the drain electrode of the pixel region through the second contact hole and the third electrode pattern connects the exposed gate electrode of the first transistor with the exposed source/drain electrode of the second transistor through the third and fourth contact holes.
Further, there is provided a method for manufacturing an LCD panel substrate. In the above method, a gate pattern including a gate line on a pixel region and a peripheral region of a transparent insulating substrate respectively and a gate electrode branched from the gate line are formed. A gate insulating film is formed on the substrate having the gate pattern. An active pattern is formed on the gate insulating film. The active pattern includes a first impurity region, a second impurity region and a channel region between the first impurity region and the second impurity region. A data pattern including a drain electrode placed on and making contact with the first impurity region, a source electrode placed on and in contact with the second impurity region and a data line coupled to the source electrode and substantially perpendicular to the gate line is formed. An insulating interlayer is formed on the data pattern and the gate insulating film. The insulating interlayer is partially etched to form a first contact hole for partially exposing the drain electrode of the pixel region, a second contact hole for exposing the gate electrode of a first drive transistor of the peripheral region and a third contact hole for exposing the source/drain electrode of a second drive transistor of the peripheral region. A conductive film is formed on the insulating interlayer having the first, second and third contact holes. The conductive film is patterned to form a first electrode pattern and a second electrode pattern. The first electrode pattern is coupled to the drain electrode of the pixel region through the first contact hole and the second electrode pattern connecting the exposed gate electrode of the first drive transistor with the exposed source/drain electrode of the second drive transistor through the second and third contact holes.
Furthermore, there is provided a method for manufacturing an LCD panel substrate. In the above method, a gate pattern including a gate line on a pixel region and a peripheral region of a transparent insulating substrate respectively and a gate electrode branched from the gate line is formed. A gate insulating film is formed on the substrate having the gate pattern. An active pattern is formed on the gate insulating film. The active pattern includes a first impurity region, a second impurity region and a channel region between the first impurity region and the second impurity region. A data pattern including a drain electrode placed on and making contact with the first impurity region, a source electrode placed on and making contact with the second impurity region and a data line coupled to the source electrode and substantially perpendicular to the gate line is formed. A first insulating interlayer is formed on the data pattern and the gate insulating film. The first insulating interlayer is partially etched to form a first contact hole for partially exposing the source electrode of the pixel region, a second contact hole for partially exposing the drain electrode of the pixel region, a third contact hole for exposing the gate electrode of a first transistor of the peripheral region and a fourth contact hole for exposing the source/drain electrode of a second transistor of the peripheral region. A conductive film is formed on the first insulating interlayer having the first, second, third and fourth contact holes. The conductive film is patterned to form a first electrode pattern, a second electrode pattern and a third electrode pattern. The first electrode pattern is coupled to the source electrode of the pixel region through the first contact hole, the second electrode pattern being coupled to the drain electrode of the pixel region through the second contact hole and the third electrode pattern connecting the exposed gate electrode of the first transistor with the exposed source/drain electrode of the second transistor through the third and fourth contact holes.
Thus, according to the present invention, an area of the gate driving region is minimized and at the same time the number of the masks used for forming the thin film transistor is decreased to four or five sheets.

Thin film transistor substrate for liquid crystal display panel and manufacturing method thereof


A housing for an electronic device includes a ceramic patterned light transmitting portion and a ceramic light resistant portion surrounding the light transmitting portion. A thickness of the light transmitting portion is in a range from 0.2 mm to 1 mm. A thickness of the light resistant portion is at least 0.3 mm thicker than that of the light transmitting portion.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to device housings, and especially to a housing for an electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Commonly used housings for an electronic device often includes manufacturer and identifying graphics on an outer surface thereon. However, the normally printed graphics are easily peeled off or abraded away.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Housing and electronic device using the same

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A medical instrument holder, also referred to as a packaging clip, for supporting disposable medical instruments for cardiology and cardiovascular procedures. The medical instrument holder is a one-piece polymer molded member, including a frictionally engaged tube, in the holder for supporting a guidewire. The holder also includes at least one slot for a medical instrument in the form of a partial circle to prevent axial movement, and preferably two slots for frictionally engaging a dilator and a hemostasis valve introducer, or a needle and a tear-away sheath/dilator assembly. The holder can also include at least one hole for receiving a medical instrument. The one-piece molded member, including the frictionally engaged guidewire tube, provides for disposable packaging in a Tyvek/Mylar pouch which lends itself conveniently to ETO sterilization. The holder, along with its instruments, is compact and minimal in length because the guidewire is looped about itself. The holder is ergonomically designed with an individual's dexterity in mind for convenient handling of the disposable medical instruments supported in the holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a medical instrument holder, also referred to as a packaging clip, and more particularly, pertains to a medical instrument holder for a stopcock, hemostasis valve introducer with a connecting tube, a dilator, and a guidewire with an introducer; alternatively, a tear-away sheath/dilator assembly, needle and guidewire; or alternatively, a sheath, syringe, dilator, guidewire and Seldinger needle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art medical instrument holders have been long, slim plastic trays, especially for instrumentation, including guidewires, hemostasis valve introducers, dilator tear-away sheaths, or needles. The long packages have been difficult to sterilize, to store, to dispose of, and to handle.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a medical instrument holder which provides for a guidewire to loop about itself and provides a package of significant shortness, as well as compactness for storage.


Two resistive elements and a capacitive element are coupled between a first node and each of an inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier, an output terminal of the operational amplifier, and a common node. A resistive element and a capacitive element are coupled between the first node and a signal input terminal. Two capacitive elements and a resistive element are coupled between a second node and each of the inverting input terminal, the output terminal, and the common node. Two capacitive elements are coupled between the second node and each of the signal input terminal, and the common node.

The present disclosure relates to resonators, and more particularly to resonators suitable for continuous-time oversampling ΔΣ converters.
Oversampling A/D converters are widely used for front ends of communication devices and conversion of audio signals, and are essential circuit techniques for present communication, video, and audio signal processing circuits. As a type of oversampling A/D converters, there are continuous-time delta sigma A/D converters (CTDS-ADCs) including continuous-time filters such as integrators and resonators.
In a conventional CTDS-ADC, an input signal passes through a number n of cascade-coupled continuous-time filters, and is quantized by a quantizer. A digital output of the quantizer is converted to analog current signals by a number n of D/A converters, and then fed back to the respective number n of continuous-time filters. Since CTDS-ADCs do not include any switch in an analog circuit, voltages can be lowered. Moreover, CTDS-ADCs do not require any prefilter which is usually needed when using a sampling filter. In these respects, CTDS-ADCs are suited for application of communication systems, and the application has been increasingly researched and developed in recent years.
In order to improve resolution performance and SN characteristics of CTDS-ADCs, the order of a quantization noise transfer function needs to be increased. However, numbers of operational amplifiers are needed to achieve high-order transfer characteristics, thereby causing disadvantages in a circuit size and power consumption. Thus, realization of high-order transfer characteristics with a few operational amplifiers is required. As an example, there is a resonator as shown in FIG. 9, which achieves second-order transfer characteristics with a single operational amplifier. This resonator includes a twin T notch filter between an output terminal and an inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier 10. A signal Vin is input to the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 10 via a resistive element Rin, and a signal Vout is output from the output terminal of the operational amplifier 10. The twin T notch filter includes a first T filter having resistive elements 11 and 12, and a capacitive element 23, and a second T filter having capacitive elements 21 and 22, and a resistive element 13 (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Publication No. H03-216559). Since a signal is not fed back from the output terminal to a non-inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 10 at a resonance frequency of the twin T notch filter, a feedback loop of the operational amplifier 10 is substantially open, thereby obtaining extremely high gain. On the other hand, although it is not a resonator, a second-order filter is known, in which a signal is input not to an inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier but to an intermediate node between a first and second T filters (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,103).
In the above-mentioned second-order resonator, where resistance values of the resistive elements 11-13 are R1, R2, and R3, and capacitance values of the capacitive elements 21-23 are C1, C2, and C3, respectively, the resonance condition is represented as follows.1/R3=1/R1+1/R2 and C3=C1+C2 A transfer function is represented by the following equation. Note that s is the Laplace operator.
                              Vout          Vin                =                  -                                                                                (                                                                  1                                                  C                          1                                                                    +                                              1                                                  C                          2                                                                                )                                                        -                    1                                                                  s                            +                                                                    1                                          R                      1                                                        +                                      1                                          R                      2                                                                                C                    1                                                                          C                    2                                                                                s                2                            +                              Rin                                                      R                    1                                                                          R                    2                                                                          C                    1                                                                          C                    2                                                                                Equation                                                  1
In the transfer function, the capacitance value C1 and the capacitance value C2 are included in all of the first-order and zeroth-order coefficients of the numerator, and the zeroth-order coefficient of the denominator. Thus, when at least one of the capacitance value C1 and the capacitance value C2 is changed to change the first-order term of s, the pole frequency and the zeroth-order term of s change at the same time. As such, in a conventional second-order resonator, coefficients of the transfer function are associated with each other, and thus, great design efforts are needed to realize desired transfer characteristics. It is also difficult to dynamically change the transfer characteristics to desired values in accordance with the type of application.

Resonator and oversampling A/D converter


Interbody cages for spinal stabilization having a frame that surrounds a central compartment suitable for retaining biological material, such as bone graft material. The central compartment acts as a spill-free bone and biologic compartment that allows a surgeon to introduce the interbody cage into the body in an effective manner without spilling the biological material. Methods for introducing the interbody cages are disclosed.

During spinal fusion procedures, a solid bridge is typically formed between the two vertebral segments to limit movement in the section of the spine of the spinal fusion. A common technique for spinal fusion procedures involves the use of interbody cages to fill the gap between the two segments in the spine that are being fused. The addition of bone graft material during the spinal fusion procedure can additionally provide a suitable foundation and environment that allows new bone growth and fuses the area of the procedure over time. Interbody cages can have central cavities that can be packed with bone graft materials. However, packing these central cavities tightly with such material can be difficult because the bone graft materials can fall out of the interbody cage while setting the interbody cage into place since, for example, force can be required to insert the interbody cage into the body.
Others have attempted to solve these problems by constructing interbody cages that are configured to retain bone graft material during spinal fusion procedures. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,635, the disclosed lordotic implant provides a solid cage with a sliding door on the rear face of the device. Even though the configuration disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,635 improves upon standard interbody cages, the disclosed lordotic implant has several disadvantages. One example of a disadvantage is that the top and bottom faces of the device are rigid, and thus the disclosed lordotic implant does not allow for maximum graft packing due to the rigidity of the cage. Another disadvantage is that the sliding door of the lordotic implant is located on the rear face of the cage making it difficult to firmly pack the cavity since, for example, additional bone grafting material cannot be easily added to the cage after insertion into the body.
Another attempt to address the above-mentioned problems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,715,355, wherein a three-sided cage, with removable plates for top and bottom faces is disclosed. Once inserted between two vertebral bodies, the central cavity is packed with bone graft materials. The top and bottom plates can be removed, and the rear face is covered to contain the graft materials. However, the cavity in the disclosed configuration is difficult to pack tightly. Moreover, the surgeon inserting the disclosed cage in the body faces difficulty in determining the total amount of grafting material that should be inserted into the patient before the rear opening is closed.
Even further, packing the cage after insertion can cause problems since the cage may migrate from the desired location. If such migration occurs, a greater risk to the nerves and/or surrounding anatomy exists when packing the cage after insertion since these structures may be inadvertently damaged during the packing process. Accordingly, the known techniques and, devices for spinal fusion procedures have a number of problems.

Interbody cage with spill-free biological material compartment