The present invention provides thermally activated adhesive compositions comprising polymer and polyester wherein the adhesive polymer comprises a polymer having hydroxyl and phenyl groups and adhesive films made from the adhesive compositions.

The present invention relates to thermally activated adhesive compositions that form adhesive films wherein the surface practically does not have adhesive properties and adhesive films made from said adhesive compositions.
Adhesives that have as their main component an adhesive polymer, also called pressure sensitive adhesive (adhesive agent), and it is a material where only by the application of pressure it is easily and strongly adhered. However, because of the fact that it has adhesive properties, the processing properties for punching processing etc., are poor and also the positioning is difficult.
Then, there have been numerous technologies for the control of the adhesive properties of the adhesive films (that have a binding layer that is formed from an adhesive agent). For example, there is the method where onto the adhesive surface, by using an embossing technological process indentations and protrusions are provided and the apparent adhesive properties are reduced, and then by heating these are smoothed out and flattened and by that the adhesive force is increased (disclosed according to the reported in the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Number Hei-Sei 4-309583). Namely, it is a method where at the time of the processing and positioning, the state of protrusions and indentations of the adhesive surface, that has a low adhesive force relative to the material that is the subject of the adhesion, is maintained, and at the state where the adhesion is to be completed, the adhesive surface is smoothed out and flattened and the adhesive force is increased.
Also, as an adhesive film that has an adhesive layer containing a crystalline component, there is a material that has been disclosed according to the reported in PCT Publication WO 97/46633. By the adhesive layer of this adhesive film inside the adhesive polymer material a crystalline acrylate component is incorporated as a continuous phase. Also, by this adhesive layer, it is relatively difficult to lose the adhesive force and to completely lose the adhesive properties and usually, the binding surface (the adhesive surface) has adhesive properties. Consequently, properties of memory of its shape are generated and the adhesive surface that has protrusions and indentations as the secondary shape, is changed to the smooth adhesive surface which is the memory shape state (the primary state), and by that the same way as in the above described the easiness of the processing properties and the positioning properties, is increased.
However, in the case of such adhesive films, after the stage of the processing and the positioning (initial stages) it is not possible to form a smooth binding surface possessing film adhesive. In the case when the binding surface has adhesive properties and not only that but also it has a structure containing protrusions and indentations, the elimination of the impurities that are adhered at the time of the processing and positioning, is difficult. Also, in order to reliably sustain such binding surface with protrusions and indentations, it is necessary to have a specific liner (a material where the release surface also has a structure containing protrusions and indentations, etc.), and the economics are also complicated. Also, the Tg of the adhesive polymer material itself is relatively low, and the thermal resistance properties are also low.
On the other hand, adhesives are also known where adhesive properties are generated or increased by heating, and they are so-called thermally activated adhesive. In the case of the thermally activated adhesive, it is also called hot melt film adhesive, or heat sensitive type adhesive. Also, in order to increase its binding strength, the material is also known where an adhesive polymer material and a thermoplastic resin material are combined.
Regarding the thermoplastic resin materials that are used as thermally activated adhesive, there are many types, for example, it is possible to use polyester material. For example, in the reported in the description of the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Number Showa 56-501131, thermally activated adhesive composition material with improved thermal resistance properties, has been disclosed. Namely, it is a adhesive composition material that contains (i) approximately 100 weight parts of a thermoplastic polymer material, (ii) a cross-adhesive (crosslinking agent), and (iii) approximately from 1 to 100 weight parts of an organic polymer material that has a complex number of functional radicals that can be used for the crosslinking reaction with the above described crosslinking agent. As the above described thermoplastic polymer material, it is possible to use polyester or polyurethane etc., and as the above described organic polymer material, it is possible to use polyalcohol type or polyamine type polymers, etc. Also, as the above described crosslinking agent, it is possible to use diisocyanate or polyisocyanates. In the case of such crosslinked thermally activated adhesive composition materials, it is possible to efficiently increase the thermal resistance properties. Also, in the case of such thermally activated adhesives, usually, they do not have adhesive properties at room temperature, and because of that it is also possible: to increase the ease of processing and positioning properties. However, in this disclosed adhesive composition material, an adhesive polymer is not contained and because of that it is difficult to increase the binding strength.
On the other hand, in the description reported according to the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Number Hei-Sei 8-134428, a hot melt adhesive composition material is disclosed that contains a thermoplastic adhesive, and an adhesive polymer. In this patent report, as the thermoplastic adhesive polyester, and as the adhesive polymer material isooctyl acrylatexe2x80x94acrylic acid type copolymer material, are correspondingly given as the examples. In the case of this composition material also it is necessary that there is a phase separation of the adhesive polymer material and the thermoplastic adhesive. The reason for that is so that the coating properties of the hot melt adhesive agent at the time when it is coated in a liquid state, are increased, and also, so that the adhesive properties are maintained for a relatively long period of time (even when after cooling it is apparently solidified) after the coating technological process. Namely, in the case of this composition material, it is a material that is more appropriate to be used as a adhesive of the type that is liquefied and then used, than the material used as a film adhesive, where by heating the adhesive properties of the binding surface are increased.
In the descriptions reported according to the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Number Hei-Sei 6-256746, Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Number Hei-Sei 5-339556, a thermally activated film adhesive has been disclosed that is formed from a composition material, where as the thermoplastic resin material a phenoxy resin, and then an epoxy resin, and their crosslinking agents are contained. In the case of the above described adhesive acrylic type polymer material, it is preferred that it is a material that contains in its molecule a carboxyl radical, a hydroxyl radical, or an epoxy radical.
Usually, the adhesives in the form of films that are usable in electrical type applications, are used so that after the punching, they are positioned and the electronic part etc., is bonded, and because of that it is good if the adhesive properties (the adhesive properties at room temperature, at approximately 25xc2x0 C.) are as low as possible, and the materials that practically do not have adhesive properties are especially appropriate. Also, regarding the adhesives for electrical applications, there are many cases where thermal resistance properties are required and because of that usually, the pressure sensitive adhesive agents are not appropriate for these types of applications.
On the other hand, in the case of the combination of the usual adhesive polymer material and the thermoplastic resin material, the bonding surface of the film adhesive was not prevented from having adhesive properties. And in the case of film adhesive where the bonding surface has adhesive properties, it is not possible to solve the problems associated with the previously described adhesive film. Also, if an adhesive polymer material is not efficiently used it is difficult to increase the adhesive force.
Consequently, the goal of the present invention is to provide a thermally activated adhesive composition material whereby it is possible to form an adhesive in the form of a film where the surface practically does not possess pressure sensitive adhesive properties (in other words, it is xe2x80x9ctack-freexe2x80x9d), and the problems associated with the previously described adhesive film can be solved, and also, where it is easy to increase the bonding force.
The present invention, in order to solve the above described problems, provides a thermally activated adhesive composition material, characterized by the fact that it is a thermally activated adhesive composition material that is formed from an adhesive polymer, and a polyester, where the above described adhesive polymer material contains in its molecule hydroxyl and phenyl radicals or groups. The invention also provides adhesive films comprising said adhesive composition.
According to the thermally activated adhesive of the present invention, it has as its characteristic the fact. that the adhesive polymer that is used for compounding with the polyester material, is formed so that it contains in its molecule hydroxyl and phenyl radicals. In the case of such adhesive polymer material, the compatibility properties with the polyester are high, and it is a material where the adhesive properties of the adhesive composition material at room temperature, can be practically eliminated, and compared to the usual pressure sensitive adhesive, it has high thermal resistance properties. On the other hand, because at the time when it is heated, it shows high adhesive properties, it is a material whereby a thermal pressure adhesion operation, it is possible to have bonding of the materials subjected to the bonding, to each other, at a high adhesive strength.
Regarding the proportion of the above described polyester that is contained in the total of the adhesive composition material, usually, it is in the range of 5-50 weight %, and preferably, it is in the range of 10-45 weight %. If the amount of the polyester material is too small, it is not possible to practically eliminate the room temperature adhesive properties of the adhesive composition material, and on the contrary, if that contained amount is too large, there is the risk that a high adhesive strength immediately after the pressure adhesion is not obtained. On the other hand, regarding the proportion contained of the above described adhesive polymer material containing two functional radicals (a hydroxyl radical and a phenyl radical) in the total composition of the adhesive material, usually it is in the range of 50-95 or more weight %, and preferably, it is in the range of 55-89 weight %.
Regarding the above described polyester, as long as it is a material that at room temperature (approximately 25xc2x0 C.) it is practically non-adhesive, and also, that has crystalline properties and can be melted upon heating, there are no particular limitations. However, polycaprolactone is preferred. The polycaprolactone is (i) a polyester that is obtained by the polymerization of caprolactone containing starting material, or (ii) it is a polyester where the polymer unit obtained by the caprolactone open ring polymerization (unit), is contained in the molecule. In the case of the composition material that contains the above described adhesive polymer and polycaprolactone, it is a material where because of the crystallization of the polycaprolactone, at room temperature it almost has no adhesive properties, however, by heating, the polycaprolactone is melted and strong bonding strength appears. Such effect is especially increased in the case when the adhesive polymer material that contains in its molecule at the same time a hydroxyl radical and a phenyl radical, is an acrylic type polymer material. This is because of the fact that the compatibility properties between such acrylic type polymer material and polycaprolactone, are especially excellent.
The thermally activated adhesive composition according to the present invention preferably contains a crosslinking agent. By that it is a material where the thermal resistance properties that are required from the adhesives used in electrical type applications, and especially, the solder resistance thermal properties, can be effectively increased.
The thermally activated adhesive composition material according to the present invention can be also used as a type of adhesive that is used as it is liquefied by heating, however, it is preferred that it is advantageously used as a film adhesive where the adhesive properties of the bonding surface are increased by heating. Namely, regarding the first practical implementation of the present invention, a film adhesive is suggested that is formed from the above described thermally activated adhesive composition material and that has the desired thickness. By using such film adhesive, it is possible that at room temperature the adhesive properties are practically eliminated, and compared to the usual pressure sensitive adhesive, it is a material that has high thermal resistance properties. On the other hand, at the time of the heating, it shows high adhesive properties and because of that it is a material whereby because of the high bonding force developed through a thermal and pressure adhesion operation the materials subject to the adhesion can be bonded to each other.
Regarding the adhesive polymer material used according to the present invention, as long as it is a polymer material, that shows adhesive properties at room temperature (approximately 25xc2x0 C.), and that is formed so that it contains a polymer that has in its molecule a hydroxyl radical and a phenyl radical, there are no particular limitations. For example, it is possible to use acrylic type polymers, nitrile - butadiene type copolymer materials (NBR, etc.), styrene - butadiene type copolymers (SBR, etc.), polyurethanes, silicone type polymers, etc. Regarding the adhesive polymer material, it is possible to use one type of these polymer materials individually, and it is also possible that the structure is formed from a mixed material containing 2 or more types of these materials.
Regarding the polymer material that contains in its molecule the above described functional radicals, it is a material that is obtained by polymerization using as the starting monomers, raw materials that contain monomer possessing in its molecule a hydroxyl radical and monomers possessing in its molecule phenyl radical. Or, it is also a good option if after the polymerization, different functional radicals that are contained in the molecule (for example, carboxyl radicals) are reacted and they are changed to a hydroxyl radical and phenyl radical.
Here, one example of the preferred acrylic type polymer that can be used according to the present invention, will be described. It is a material where as the starting monomer material, the raw materials including (A) 1 or 2 and more phenoxy alkyl acrylates, (B) monomers containing in their molecule a hydroxyl radical, and depending on the requirements (C) (meth)acrylic acid alkyl ester, are copolymerized according to the usual methods like for example, emulsion polymerization, solution polymerization, agglomeration polymerization, suspension polymerization, etc., and the material is manufactured.
As the above described component (A), for example, phenoxy ethyl acrylate, phenoxy propyl acrylate, etc., can be used. Also, as the above described component (B), for example, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate, 2-hydroxymethyl acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate, hydroxy-3-phenoxypropylacrylate etc., can be used. Then, as the above described component (C), for example, it is possible to use n-butyl acrylate, isobutyl acrylate, isooctyl acrylate, 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate, etc.
As the above described component (B), hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl acrylate etc., materials are preferred, that are monomers where in the molecule both a hydroxyl radical and a phenyl radical, are contained. By that, it is possible to especially efficiently increase the compatibility properties of the adhesive polymer material relative to the polyester material.
Regarding the proportion (weight ratio) of the monomer unit, that contains the above described two functional radicals, contained in the polymer units of the total material of the adhesive polymer (namely, total monomer units derived from the component (A) and component (B)) usually it is 70 weight % and above, preferably it is 80 weight % and above, and especially preferably, it is 90 weight % and above. If the amount contained of the above described monomer units containing the two functional radicals is too low, there is the risk that the compatibility properties relative to the polyester material are also decreased. Also, regarding the proportion of monomer units derived from the component (B), that is contained in the polymer units of the total polymer material, it is 0.5 mole % and above, preferably, it is 1 mole % and above, and especially preferably, it is in the range of 5-15 mole %. If the amount contained of the monomers derived from the component (B) is too low, there is the risk that it would be ineffective in the generation of sufficiently high adhesive force (for example, 0.5 kg/cm and above) immediately after the pressure adhesion. And if the amount contained of the units derived from the component (B) is too high, there is the risk that the compatibility properties relative to the polyester material would be decreased.
Regarding the adhesive polymer material that is used according to the present invention, as long as the results from the present invention are not hindered, in addition to the above described polymer material containing the two functional radicals (the hydroxyl radical and the phenyl radical), it is also possible that polymer material that does not contain the above described two functional radicals, is also contained. However, the proportion in the total adhesive polymer material, of the above described two functional radicals (hydroxyl radical and phenyl radical) containing polymer is usually 70 weight % and above, preferably, it is 80 weight % and higher, and especially preferably, it is 90 weight % and higher.
Also, regarding the molecular weight of the adhesive polymer material, it is good as long as it is within the range where the desired adhesive strength is generated, and usually, the weight average molecular weight is in the range of 10,000-100,000. Also, the same way as in the case of the pressure sensitive adhesive according to the previous technology, together with the adhesive polymer material, it is also possible to use an adhesion imparting agent. Also, as long as it is within the range where the results from the present invention are not hindered, it is also a good option if the above described adhesive polymer is a material that is crosslinkable by using heat or a radiation beam (ultra-violet beam, electron beam, etc.). The crosslinking of the adhesive polymer material can be done as a crosslinking prior to or after the bonding to the material that is the subject of the adhesion.
On the other hand, regarding the molecular weight of the polyester material, it is a good option as long as it is within the range where the predetermined adhesive strength is generated, and also, as long as the composition material practically does not have adhesive properties at room temperature. And expressed as a weight average molecular weight, it is usually in the range of 500-200,000, and preferably, it is within the range of 1,000-100,000. In the case when the molecular weight is too low, there is the danger that the adhesive force would be decreased, and on the contrary, in the case when it is too high, the compatibility properties relative to the adhesive polymer material are decreased, and there is the danger that the elimination of the adhesive properties of the composition material at room temperature would become difficult.
Regarding the thermally activated adhesive composition material according to the present invention, it can be manufactured as through the usual mixing operations, all the raw materials are homogeneously mixed and combined. For example, adhesive polymer material, polyester, solvent agent, crosslinking agent added depending on the requirements, etc., additives, are mixed and combined by using a mixing equipment like a Homomixer, a planetary mixer, etc., and each of the materials is homogeneously dissolved or dispersed, and by that it is possible to prepare the liquid state composition material.
Regarding this liquid state composition material, usually, it can be prepared as the first solution where the above described adhesive polymer material is liquefied, and the second solution where the above described crystalline polymer is liquefied, are mixed and combined, and the above described adhesive polymer material and it is prepared as the above precursor solution where the above described crystalline polymer material, are homogeneously liquefied, and then this precursor solution is dried, and then the thermally activated adhesive composition material is formed from the dried material obtained from this precursor solution. If this is done, it is possible to form a specific morphology from the crystalline polycaprolactone and the adhesive polymer material that contains a hydroxyl radical and a phenyl radical (mutually continuous structure) and it is possible to especially efficiently demonstrate the above described properties (non-adhesive properties at room temperature and high adhesive strength). Moreover, in the case when a crosslinking agent is added, usually, a third solution containing the crosslinking agent is added to the above described precursor liquid material.
The liquid composition material that has been manufactured according to the above described is coated on the substrate material and dried, and by that the film adhesive from the above described adhesive composition material, can be formed. As the coating measures, it is possible to use a knife coater, a roll coater, a die coater a bar coater, etc., well known measures. As the above described substrate material, it is possible to use a material that is a release material, like a liner etc., and it is possible to use the material that must be bonded, or an adhesive sheet supporting material etc. In the case when a material that has release properties, like a liner etc., is used, it is possible to obtain a material where the film adhesive agent that is formed from the adhesive composition material, is easily and simply removed.
Also, regarding the drying at the time of the formation of the film adhesive, usually, it is conducted at a temperature in the range of 60-180xc2x0 C. And the drying period is usually in the range from several tens of seconds to several minutes. Regarding the thickness of the. film adhesive, it is in the range of 10-1,000 micrometers, and preferably, it is in the range of 20-500 micrometers, and especially preferably, it is in the range of 50-100 micrometers.
The film adhesive according to the present invention can also be used as the adhesive layer of an adhesive (bonding) sheet. Namely, in the case of the present invention an adhesive sheet is suggested, that has a supporting material and an adhesive layer that is formed from a thermally activated adhesive composition material that is fixed on one of the main surfaces of its supporting material. There are no particular limitations regarding the above described supporting material, however, usually, the materials used as the base films in the adhesive sheets according to the previous technology, are used, and such materials that have flexible properties can be used. For example, it is possible to use paper, metal films, plastic films etc. As the plastic films, it is possible to use polyimide, polyvinyl chloride, acrylic type polymers, fluorinated type polymers, polyester (PET etc.), polyurethane etc., synthetic polymer materials.
Regarding the supporting material, it is a good option if it is a material that is visible light and ultra-violet light permeable, and it is also a good option if it is a material that is colored or that is decorated by printing etc.
Also, it is a good option if it is a material where in order to impart an appearance with metal gloss type of properties, it has been provided with a metal vapor deposited layer. Then, in order to impart optical capability to the bonding sheet, it is also possible to use a light polarization film, a dielectric reflective film, a recurrent reflection film, a prism film, a fluorescent light film, a film type electroluminescence element etc., as the supporting materials. On the other hand, in order to increase the soiling resistance properties of the front surface of the supporting material, it is also possible to form an optical catalyst layer on the front surface of the supporting material. Also, it is a good option if the supporting material has a structure that is formed from tow or more different types of layers. Regarding the thickness of the supporting material, usually, it is in the range of 5-500 micrometers, and preferably, it is in the range of 10-300 micrometers. If the thickness is too low, the mechanical strength of the bonding sheet is decreased, and there is the danger that the durability properties would be decreased. And on the contrary, if the thickness is too high, the flexibility properties and the elastic properties of the whole body of the bonding sheet are decreased, and there is the risk that the gluing operation would become difficult.
On the surface of the side of the supporting material where the bonding layer is to be formed it is also possible that a primer layer is provided. Usually, the primer is prepared as a solution that contains the material that forms the primer is prepared, and then this is coated on one of the main surfaces of the supporting material and the primer layer is formed.
The bonding surface of the adhesive is usually protected by a liner. This liner is usually formed from paper, plastic film, or a film that is formed as those two layers are laminated as laminated layers.
Also, in the adhesive composition according to the present invention, as long as it is within the range where the result from the present invention is not hindered, it is possible to add additive agents that are well known from the previous technology. For example, there are the following: viscosity regulating agents, leveling agents, ultra-violet light absorbing agents, anti-oxidation agents, fungus resistant agents, glass beads, etc., fine, microscopic particles, elastic fine microscopic spheres that are formed from adhesive polymer material or from non-adhesive rubber type polymer material, etc.
As it has been described here above, for the adhesive composition material according to the present invention it is preferred that it contains a crosslinking agent. The crosslinking agent is a material that can increase the thermal resistance properties of the adhesive agent composition material. As the crosslinking agents, for example, it is possible to use isocyanate compounds, melanin compounds, epoxy compounds, poly (meth)acrylate compounds, etc. regarding the proportion of the crosslinking agent that is contained in the total material of the adhesive composition, usually, it is 20 weight % or less, preferably, it is in the range of 0.2-10 weight %, and especially preferably, it is in the range of 0.5-5 weight %. If the amount of the crosslinking agent is too small, there is the risk that it would not be possible to increase the thermal resistance properties, and on the contrary, if the amount of the crosslinking agent is too high, there is the risk that the adhesive strength would be decreased.
Moreover, it is possible that the adhesive composition material is activated before or/and after it is bonded to the material that is the subject of the binding. However, in the case when the adhesive composition material is crosslinked prior to its appropriate use on the material subject to the bonding, the adhesive composition material should of such type that it demonstrates sufficient thermal adhesion properties upon heating. Also, regarding the crosslinking of the adhesive composition material, usually, it is conducted as the adhesive polymer material is crosslinked.


Provided herein is a non-Nicotiana transgenic plant comprising an exogenous polynucleotide encoding Nicotiana benthamiana Roq1 or a variant thereof. These plants have enhanced resistance to at least one species of Xanthomonas, Pseudomonas, Ralstonia, and/or another pathogen containing a homolog of XopQ whose recognition is mediated by Roq1.

Plant pathogens are a significant problem for agriculture, resulting in an estimated 10% decrease in crop yields despite control measures (Oerke, 2005). Utilizing genetic resistance to protect plants is generally preferable over chemical methods, which can be more expensive and pose risks to human or environmental health (Jones et al., 2014; Vincelli, 2016); however in many cases genetic resistance is not available. The identification of the genetic basis of disease resistance pathways can allow for the creation of resistant crop varieties either through breeding or transgenic approaches (Dangl et al., 2013; Rodriguez-Moreno et al., 2017). As pathogens may evolve to overcome resistance mediated by a single resistance gene, it's desirable to utilize several independent resistance pathways against the same pathogen to confer durable resistance. The identification of resistance genes, particularly those that have broad specificity across many pathogen species, therefore remains a significant focus of plant pathology research.
Plant bacterial pathogens in the genus Xanthomonas contain a Type III Secretion System, which is used to deliver effector proteins into the plant cell (Rossier et al., 1999). These effector proteins can function to suppress the immune system of the plant or to manipulate the metabolism of the host to promote pathogenesis (Gürlebeck et al., 2006; Block et al., 2008; Toruño et al., 2016). While effector proteins are typically beneficial to the pathogen, if the plant contains a perception pathway capable of detecting a particular effector protein a strong immune response can be triggered, known as Effector Triggered Immunity (ETI) (Alfano and Collmer, 2004; Chisholm et al., 2006; Jones and Dangl, 2006). An ETI response is often associated with a visible cell death response known as the hypersensitive response. Identification of the genes responsible for specific ETI pathways can allow for engineering disease resistance into susceptible crop varieties.
Many ETI responses in plants are mediated by a member of the nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) protein family, with the typical plant genome encoding between 100 and 600 of these proteins (Jones et al., 2016). The recognition of an effector protein by an NLR may be through a direct physical interaction or may involve additional protein components. NLR proteins can be divided into groups based on their domain architecture, as well as genetic dependencies required for their function. The two N-terminal domains common on plant NLR proteins are the Toll-like interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain on TIR-NLRs (TLRs) and the coiled coil domain on CC-NLRs. All NLR proteins appear to depend on the protein SGT1 for function, whereas the TLRs require a functional EDS1 protein and a subset of the CC-NLRs require the NRC proteins (Wiermer et al., 2005; Shirasu, 2009; Wu et al., 2016). These genetic dependencies can be used to help determine which family or clade of genes may be responsible for mediating the perception of a particular effector protein.
The effector protein XopQ from Xanthomonas, and the close-homolog HopQ1 from Pseudomonas, are widely distributed and highly conserved among various species in these genera. XopQ and HopQ1 have been shown to suppress the immune system of the plant and promote pathogen virulence (Li et al., 2013a; Sinha et al., 2013; Hann et al., 2014; Teper et al., 2014; Gupta et al., 2015). The mechanism by which XopQ/HopQ1 suppress immunity is not fully understood and is complicated by the observation that XopQ recognition in N. benthamiana can suppress visible cell death responses independently from the virulence activity of XopQ (Adlung and Bonas, 2017). The protein has homology to nucleoside hydrolases and a structural study suggested that XopQ can hydrolyze a molecule with a ribosyl group (Yu et al., 2014), as demonstrate by in vitro hydrolase activity on the substrate 4-nitrophyenyl β-D-ribofuranoside (Gupta et al., 2015). A recent study demonstrated that HopQ1 can hydrolyze the cytokinin precursor iP-riboside 5′-monophosphate (iPRMP) in vitro and activate cytokinin signaling in vivo, suggesting this as the mechanism for immune suppression (Hann et al., 2014). An alternative hypothesis is that XopQ/HopQ1 virulence function occurs through direct targeting of 14-3-3 proteins. Both HopQ1 and XopQ have been shown to interact with 14-3-3 proteins in vivo following phosphorylation of a 14-3-3 binding site and that this interaction is important for the virulence function (Li et al., 2013a; Teper et al., 2014). As 14-3-3 proteins have a role in the plant immune system (Oh et al., 2010), it has been proposed that one or more of the 14-3-3's are targets of XopQ/HopQ1 and that the virulence function is achieved through modification, degradation or sequestration of these proteins (Teper et al., 2014).
Both XopQ and HopQ1 are recognized in the plants N. benthamiana and N. tabacum and trigger an avirulence response (Wei et al., 2007; Schwartz et al., 2015). The recognition of XopQ/HopQ1 in Nicotiana species is not dependent on interaction with host 14-3-3 proteins, suggesting that 14-3-3 proteins are not involved in the recognition pathway (Li et al., 2013a). Perception of XopQ/HopQ1 in N. tabacum is independent of the putative active site of the protein (Li et al., 2013b; Adlung and Bonas, 2017).

ROQ1 provides resistance to both xanthomonas and pseudomonas in plants

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


A cross-media search method using a VGG convolutional neural network (VGG net) to extract image features. The 4096-dimensional feature of a seventh fully-connected layer (fc7) in the VGG net, after processing by a ReLU activation function, serves as image features. A Fisher Vector based on Word2vec is utilized to extract text features. Semantic matching is performed on heterogeneous images and the text features by means of logistic regression. A correlation between the two heterogeneous features, which are images and text, is found by means of semantic matching based on logistic regression, and thus cross-media search is achieved. The feature extraction method can effectively indicate deep semantics of image and text, improve cross-media search accuracy, and thus greatly improve the cross-media search effect.

With the rapid development of Internet, different types of multimedia data such as images, text, video, and audio have grown rapidly, which often appear at the same time to describe the same thing. The information of different modalities reflects different attributes of things, and people obtain information of different modalities to satisfy the desires to describe things in different forms. For example, for an image, we want to find a description of the text associated with the image. For a piece of text, we like to find an image or a video that matches the semantics of the text. To meet these needs, relevant technologies for cross-media search are required.
Most of the existing search systems are based on single modal text information, e.g., search engines such as Google and Baidu. The function of searching images, audio and video by query request is essentially matching the content on a meta-database composed of text information. This type of search still belongs to the traditional keyword-based search technology. Although keywords can accurately describe the details of a concept, it is difficult to present a picture or a piece of video in a complete and vivid manner, and the text description may carry subjectivity of the labeling person. Subject to this inherent flaw, many scholars turn to the study on content-based search technologies, enabling computers to more accurately understand the content of multimedia information by fully mining the semantic association of multimedia data. However, content-based search generally only focuses on the underlying features of the media and is usually subject to a single modality media object. Query and search results must be in the same modality, and comprehensive search cannot be conducted across various media types. Therefore, the concept of cross-media search was proposed. Cross-media search is a medium that does not rely on a single modality, which can realize mutual search between any modal media. By inputting information of any type of media, one can get related media information through cross-media search and search results that meet the requirements in the huge amount of multi-modalities data more quickly.
Existing cross-media search methods mainly concern three key issues: cross-media metrics, cross-media indexing, and cross-media sorting. Typical methods for these three key problems are cross-media metrics methods based on matching models, cross-media indexing methods based on hash learning, and cross-media sorting methods based on sorting learning as follows:
First, a cross-media metrics method based on matching model. The matching model is trained by the training data of the known category to mine the internal relationship between different types of data, and then the similarity between the cross-media data is calculated, and the search results with the highest correlation are returned. There are two matching methods: one is based on correlation matching, such as the method using Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA); the other is Semantic Matching (SM), such as using multi-class logistic regression for semantic classification.
Second, a cross-media indexing method based on hash learning. Subject to massive amounts of big data on the Internet, people have put forward higher requirements for search speed. Hash index is an effective way to speed up Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) search. The method converts the original feature data into a binary hash code through the learned hash model, while maintaining the neighbor relationship in the original space as much as possible, that is, maintaining the correlation.
Third, a cross-media sorting method based on sorting learning. The purpose of cross-media sorting is to learn a semantic similarity-based sorting model between different modalities. The specific method is to make a better sort of the search results after searching the semantically related cross-media data, so that the more relevant data is more advanced, and the optimization process is continuously iterated until it is convergent to obtain the optimal search results.
Of the above methods, almost all image features and text features used are traditional artificial features, such as SIFT features. With the continuous improvement of computer processing performance and computing capacity, these traditional artificial features have inhibited the improvement of cross-media search performance. In the past year, people began to focus on the combination of related technologies of deep learning and cross-media search. It is shown that the effective application of deep learning can often bring breakthroughs to the effectiveness of searches.

Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School


Apparatus for accurate positioning of a needle guide is disclosed. The apparatus provides a means for taking as input the position vector for the point of insertion of the needle into the body. This point of insertion can be selected from images produced by a Computer Tomography system. Similarly, the apparatus has a means for taking as input the point of target. A controller determines the directional vector between point of insertion and point of target. A guide manipulator accurately positions the needle guide in line with the directional vector, such that the needle can easily be inserted through the guide to the point of target. The positioning of the guide manipulator in accordance with the directional vector is done with the help of motors.

Biopsy is a medical procedure in which cells or tissues are removed from the body for examination. The procedure involves removing specimens of a tissue from part of a body lesion. These specimens are then examined under the microscope to determine the medical condition.
In a typical biopsy procedure, the affected part of the patient's body is scanned to pinpoint the location of the lesion. In order to extract samples from the lesion, a needle is inserted to touch the lesion. The needle is inserted such that it does not puncture any other vital organ or structure in the patient's body. Currently, the biopsy incisions are usually made by hand. The practitioner determines the point of insertion of the biopsy needle through external measurements. For example, the point of insertion can be determined by placing a cotton pellet mixed with contrast or iodine. The area can also be determined by drawing lines on the patient or by marking the area of entry by a marker. The position and angle of the insertion in such cases may not be accurate resulting in repeated insertions in the patient's body.
Image guided interventional procedures are preferred by practitioners. Such procedure shows the path taken by the needle during insertion, thereby reducing the risk to the patients and increasing the accuracy of insertion. Also, image guidance helps to avoid unwanted injury to vital organs and blood vessels. Commonly used imaging systems are Ultrasound, X-Rays, C-Arms, Computed Tomography Scanners, Magnetic Resonance Imaging etc.
Information relevant to attempts to address the limitations inherent in existing methods of needle positioning can be found in U.S. patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,785,572, and 6,246,898; US patent applications US2004152970A1, US2005177054A1, and US2006020279A1; European patent EPI 524626, and WIPO patent application WO03091839A2. However, each one of these references suffers from one or more of the following limitations. Firstly, these devices require real time imaging and tracking of the needle. Therefore, the radiation exposure time to the patient and practitioner is high. Secondly, the cost of such devices as well as the preparation time for setting up these devices is high. Thirdly, existing procedures require repeated punctures in the patient's body for accurate positioning of the needle.
In light of the drawbacks of the existing art, there exists a need for an apparatus and a method for accurate positioning of a biopsy needle. Further, there exists a need for an apparatus and a method for accurate positioning of a needle guide such that the practitioner does not need to perform repeated insertions to reach the lesion of interest. Additionally, there is a need for an apparatus and a method that can allow biopsy insertions to be performed with minimal exposure to radiation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In this method of determining the concentration of a gas to be analyzed in a gas mixture, the value of a characteristic of the gas mixture having predetermined laws of variation as a function of temperature and of the gas concentration is calculated from at least one measured value of the intensity of at least one radiation transmitted through the mixture at ambient temperature, the value of the said characteristic at a reference temperature is determined from the law of variation of the characteristic as a function of temperature and the value of the gas concentration is determined from the law of variation of the said characteristic as a function of the concentration.

In this type of method, the concentration of the gas is determined from its optical absorption characteristics by measuring the intensity of radiation in various wavelength bands transmitted through the gas mixture.
This technique is very sensitive to temperature and gives variable results when the ambient temperature changes, on the one hand because of the resulting modification of the characteristics of the components making up the analyser, in particular the semiconductor-based optical components, and on the other hand because of the variation in the absorption spectrum of the gas to be analysed as a function of temperature, this variation being due in particular to a variation in its density.
In order to compensate for the measurement errors caused by the variation in the sensitivity of the optical components as a function of temperature, it is known to introduce, into the analyser, a thermistor, the temperature coefficient of which is chosen so as to be equal to that of the photoreceiver optical component, associated with an adjusting resistor in order to set the information provided by the analyser to zero in the absence of the gas to be analysed. Thus, the influence of temperature on the photoreceiver is neutralized.
Moreover, in order to neutralize the influence of temperature on the absorption spectrum, a diode is used whose temperature dependence is similar to that of the absorption spectrum of the gas to be analysed. This diode controls a calibrating voltage supplied to the radiation source so as to compensate for the variation in gas density.
This technique requires a prior step of calibrating the analyser, during which an optical analysis cell is filled with a gas at a known concentration N and the calibrating signal is adjusted so that the information provided corresponds to this concentration value.
This technique has a number of drawbacks, especially because the calibration operation must be carried out again when the ambient temperature changes.
Furthermore, these operations are not always able to be accomplished in that it is not possible to determine, using an uncalibrated device, the absence or presence of the gas to be analysed in the environment.
Moreover, the compensating elements, such as the thermistors or diodes, only allow an approximate compensation to be made for the temperature dependence of the sensitivity of the photoreceiver and of the absorption spectrum of the gas to be analysed.
Finally, this type of method does not make it possible to compensate for the variation in the characteristics of the components other than the photoreceiver.
The object of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

Method of determining the concentration of a gas in a gas mixture and analyzer for implementing such a method


According to one embodiment, there is provided a memory system including a non-volatile memory, and a controller. The controller selects one read method from a plurality of read methods with different time required to perform a read operation on the non-volatile memory and issues a first read command according to the selected one read method to the non-volatile memory.

In a memory system that includes a non-volatile memory such as a NAND-type flash memory, a processing of writing and erasing data in or from a memory cell in the non-volatile memory is performed in a manner in which an electron is injected and emitted into and from a charge storage film by applying a high voltage between a channel region and a control gate. When the processing of writing and erasing data in and from the memory cell is performed multiple times, an insulating film around the charge storage film might deteriorate. At this time, it is desired to appropriately maintain a reliability of a read operation on the non-volatile memory.

Memory system and non-volatile memory control method


A technique to assist guidance techniques for a free-flying inspection vehicle for inspecting a host satellite. The method solves analytically in closed form for relative motion about a circular primary for solutions that are non-drifting, i.e., the orbital periods of the two vehicles are equal, computes the impulsive maneuvers in the primary radial and cross-track directions, and parameterizes these maneuvers and obtain solutions that satisfy constraints, for example collision avoidance or direction of coverage, or optimize quantities, such as time or fuel usage. Apocentral coordinates and a set of four relative orbital parameters are used. The method separates the change in relative velocity (maneuvers) into radial and crosstrack components and uses a waypoint technique to plan the maneuvers.

1. Technical Field
The application is related to methods and systems for inspecting satellites with inspection vehicles that travel a path around the satellite to be inspected.
2. Related Technology
Artificial satellites in orbit around the earth can occasionally have problems that require a visual inspection to detect and diagnose. A small vehicle can be sent to move in a path around the satellite to take photographs and inspect or repair the larger satellite.
A satellite (the secondary) circumnavigating another satellite (the primary) in order to inspect it for possible damage or failure will be guided by two goals: first, to avoid collisions with the main satellite, and second, to pass through certain directions (or perhaps, all directions) from the primary from which it is desirable to have a view; a stuck deployable might be imaged for diagnosis and repair on the ground, or perhaps an all-over surface inspection is necessary. If the primary has a protuberance like an antenna or solar panel, and the inspection needs to be at a close distance (on the order of meters), then it may be necessary to have a complicated trajectory in order to meet both conditions. Techniques for planning trajectories for orbital maneuvering have been used successfully for many years, but these techniques do not generally deal with obstacle avoidance. In the last decade, however, spacecraft proximity operations has increased in importance, and consequently techniques for safely operating spacecraft in close proximity to each other have been developed.
Some of these techniques have taken classical astrodynamics as their starting point. Such algorithms typically aim to produce either natural motion trajectories (governed primarily by orbital dynamics) or forced motion trajectories (governed primarily by on-board spacecraft thrusting) that maintain enough distance between the co-orbiting bodies that collisions are impossible. Implicit in this approach is that the co-orbiting bodies' geometry is unimportant; essentially, the bodies are treated as spheres that circumscribe the real geometry of the spacecraft in question. A collision-free trajectory is then one in which the circumscribing spheres do not intersect. This approach has many advantages.
In contrast, the terrestrial robotics community has treated trajectory planning very differently. Robotic trajectory planning is typically concerned with finding collision-free trajectories in highly cluttered or confined environments; one canonical trajectory planning problem in terrestrial robotics entails a mobile vehicle operating inside an office building. Trajectory planning for spacecraft proximity operations based on the classic terrestrial robotics approach thus have the ability to plan much closer maneuvers than those based on classic astrodynamics.
Some approaches are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0179685 to Milam et al. and 2009/0132105 to Paluszek et al.
Relative motion about a primary in circular orbit in terms of centered relative orbital objects is described in L. M. Healy and C. G. Henshaw, "Passively safe relative motion trajectories for on-orbit inspection", AAS 10-265, pp. 2439-2458, (2010), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

System and method for maneuver plan for satellites flying in proximity using apocentral coordinate system

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A combustor cap assembly for a gas turbine includes an outer sleeve (12); an impingement plate (14) fixed to a forward end of the outer sleeve. The impingement plate is provided with a plurality of primary fuel nozzle openings (18) and a single secondary fuel nozzle opening (20). A plurality of open-ended nozzle cups (28) are fixed to the impingement plate (14) in alignment with respective primary fuel nozzle openings (18); and a nozzle collar (32) is fixed to a rearward end of each nozzle cup (28).

Combustor cap assemblies have evolved over the years from a single fuel nozzle configuration to a multi-nozzle dry low NOx configuration with dual burning zone capability. The cost of combustion hardware has increased proportional to the mechanical complexity associated with the enhanced performance and lower emissions goals of modern combustion systems.
The function of the cap primary nozzle cup assembly is to deliver fuel and air from the fuel nozzle and end cover assembly to the primary zone of the combustor. Air and fuel pass axially through each primary nozzle cup. Air passes through the sidewalls of each primary cup in a radially inward direction, providing cooling for the cup wall. Air also passes through multiple apertures in the cap impingement plate thereby cooling the plate and supplementing the total cap airflow.
The current dry low NOx combustor cap configuration consists of many sheet metal and machined parts in a welded and brazed assembly. The disadvantages of this assembly are:
(1) The cost of manufacturing of multiple parts continues to increase;
(2) Assembly costs are high as many processes are involved; and
(3) Manufacturing cycle time is excessive and precludes production of a volume of assemblies in a limited capacity shop.

Combustor cap assembly for a combustor casing of a gas turbine


Input devices having backlighting for associated input mechanisms. The backlighting may be supplied by a light source coupled to a light guide. Both the light guide and light source may be located completely beneath the input mechanism and above a mechanical support for the mechanism. Each input mechanism generally has its own dedicated light guide and light source.

Electronic devices are ubiquitous in society and can be found in everything from household appliances to computers. Many electronic devices include visual display elements that can be selectively or fully illuminated by a light source, often through backlighting. For example, many electronic devices include keyboards or keypads that can be backlit to allow a user to interact with the device in low light settings. Other electronic devices may be configured to illuminate an associated keyboard or keypad for purely aesthetic purposes.
While providing an attractive backlight for a user is useful in many electronic devices, much of the aesthetic and practical appeal of a device can quickly be compromised if the light source does not transmit enough light to be adequately perceived by a user. Additionally, the light source required for many visual display elements can quickly drain the power source of the electronic device. This may be a problem, for example, when the electronic device is running on battery power or some other depletable power source. Likewise, uneven or inadequate lighting may further detract from the aesthetic appeal or functional aspects of a device.
Although many designs for providing illuminated visual display elements on electronic and personal devices have generally worked well in the past, there is a desire to provide new and improved designs or techniques that result in even more aesthetically pleasing and power-efficient visual display elements. In particular, the ability to provide visual display elements on electronic and personal devices in a manner that can generate a sufficient amount of light to fulfill a purpose while conserving space and power is desirable.


A touchscreen system for increasing the dynamic range of the system comprising a touchscreen coupled to an offset cancellation element and a capacitance measuring element. The offset cancellation element is configured to be dynamically changed in capacitance such that it offsets parasitic and sensor capacitances of the touchscreen sensors thereby leaving only touch event capacitance to be measured by the measuring element. The offset cancellation element is able to adjust to the initial unwanted capacitances of each sensor as well as dynamically adjust to changes in the unwanted capacitance due to the environment. In some embodiments, the offset cancellation element is a capacitance digital-to-analog converter that is controlled by a controller for offsetting the unwanted capacitance. As a result, the touchscreen system is able to utilize a small integrating capacitor thereby lowering cost and improving the dynamic range of the system.

Touchscreen systems are interface systems that allow a user to control one or more devices by touching a touch pad or display screen. These systems sense when a user touches the screen such as with single touches, multiple touches, pinches, swipes and other types of touches. The positions and types of these various touches is determined and interpreted by the touchscreen systems so that they can accurately respond to the user commands and input that the touches represent. There are many different methods of sensing these various touches including capacitive sensing (self and mutual), resistance sensing, sound/light wave sensing and vibration sensing. Both types of capacitive sensing systems essentially work by using one or more sensors coupled to a layer of capacitive material adapted to hold an electrical charge. When a user touches the screen it changes the amount of charge stored on the capacitive material at the point or points of contact. This change in the charge will correspond to a change in the capacitance which is measured by the sensors in the system. When there are multiple sensors, they can be used to determine the location of the touch.
One disadvantage of capacitance systems is that capacitance measured by the sensors will include not only the capacitance caused by a user touching the screen, but also the sensor capacitance of each sensor as well as other parasitic capacitances. Furthermore, this sensor and parasitic capacitances can change from sensor to sensor and from touchscreen panel to touchscreen panel. As a result, although exemplary touch events only add 1 pico-Farad of capacitance to the sensors, the charge transfer schemes/integrators used to measure the capacitance must be able to handle the much greater amount of capacitance that represents the touch capacitance added to the sensor and parasitic capacitances. Previously, the problem has been solved by choosing an integrating capacitor that is large enough to not be saturated by the total capacitance/charge received from the sensors. However, using large integrating capacitors undesireably increases cost and size of components, as well as reducing the gain and the resolution of the measurement system.
Another disadvantage of prior capacitance systems is that even if a large enough integration capacitor is chosen to compensate for the initial capacitance added by the sensor capacitance and the parasitic capacitances, these capacitances can change with environmental changes. For example, with increased humidity the added moisture in the air typically increases these unwanted capacitances which can cause an integration cap that was previously large enough to no longer be able to handle the increased measured capacitance due to the environmental changes. In such a case, the measurement system will no longer be able to tell when a sensor is being touched and the touchscreen system will become inoperable until the environment becomes less humid.

Method and apparatus for improving dynamic range of a touchscreen controller


An illuminance sensor detects an illuminance value for an environment in which a display device is placed and provides the illuminance value to a controller. The controller determines whether to cause the display device to make a transition to a power saving mode or not in accordance with the illuminance value inputted thereto. For the transition to the power saving mode, the controller stops the operation of a backlight drive signal generator to turn off a backlight unit, and stops the supply of power and a display signal to a liquid crystal panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device having a power saving feature which controls power consumption in accordance with conditions.
2. Description of the Background Art
At the present time, almost all display devices such as liquid crystal displays used with connection to computer devices have a power saving feature compliant with the DPMS (Display Power Management Signaling) standard established by VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) which is an organization for standardization of standards of graphic equipment associated with computer devices.
The DPMS is a standard relating to the power management of display devices. A DPMS-compliant device automatically makes a transition to a power saving mode from a normal mode and a transition to the normal mode from the power saving mode in accordance with the conditions of a computer device connected thereto.
The term "normal mode" refers to an operating state in which text, graphics and the like are displayed in a user-recognizable manner in response to signals supplied from the computer device by using supplied electric power. The term "power saving mode," on the other hand, refers to an operating state in which power consumption of the display device is reduced by not using supplied electric power (or by reducing the use of the supplied electric power).
The switching between the normal mode and the power saving mode is controlled based on the judgment of the display device as to whether there are signals supplied from the computer device or not.
Concretely, the display device identifies the type of synchronization signals supplied (or not supplied) from the computer device to the display device among horizontal and vertical synchronization signals, and performs the switching between the normal mode and the power saving mode based on the DPMS standard in response to the identified synchronization signal (see the URL http://www.vesa.org).

Display device with power saving mode based on detected illuminance

NEC - Mitsubishi Electric Visual Systems Corp.


The ring has at least two mutually rotatable parts, with a detent mechanism for respectively one of two mutually rotatable parts, and securing means. For improving the detent mechanism and the substantially play-free retention the detent mechanism is respectively provided in the intersecting plane (S) of two mutually rotatable parts and the mutually rotatable parts are secured by at least one springable element. Furthermore, if marks are provided on the surfaces of the ring, the most varied appearances can be altered and obtained by rotating one of the parts. This applies particularly if the surfaces of the parts are not even but wave-shaped.

Such a ring is known from the European Patent Application No. 1,132,017, the ring having a detent mechanism, on one hand, and the ring parts being provided with retention means, on the other hand.
Furthermore, rings are known where parts are mutually displaceable or can be lifted off. As early as in the Middle Ages and later, rings having displaceable or removable or openable parts have existed, thereby allowing either to change the ring and to reveal other aspects or to keep small objects.

Ring having two parts that can be displaced relative to one another


The present invention discloses a flat speaker output device and a method for starting the same. Wherein, a plurality of flat speakers utilizes an initial delay unit and a plurality of intermediary delay units connected in series. The initial delay unit connects with the power controller and a first one of the flat speakers. The intermediary delay units respectively connect with the residual each flat speakers. The power controller controls a power source to the initial delay unit to delay the start of the first one of flat speakers, and outputs the power source to the intermediary delay units to sequentially delay the starts time of the residual each flat speaker. The present invention can sequentially start flat speakers without using a high-output power supply device and thus decrease the required capacity of the external power supply device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat speaker output device and a method for starting the same, particularly to a flat speaker output device whose flat speakers are started sequentially and a method for starting the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
With advance of science and technology, speakers have been very popular in families, theaters, automobiles, amusement places, and other establishments needing sound display. Because of the trend to fabricate slim and compact electronic products, how to miniaturize speakers and control the operation thereof has been the hot subject in the field concerned.
For an environment equipped with a lot of speakers (such as an establishment needing a surround sound effect), all the speakers are connected in parallel with power cables and started simultaneously by a high-output power supply device. However, the power supply device to start a lot of speakers simultaneously is bulky, hard to transport and very power-consuming. Moreover, the power supply is likely to be unstable, which will cause poor sound display quality. Besides, too high an inrush current may damage the speakers or shorten the service life of the speakers while a power supply device outputs high current to start the speakers.
Accordingly, the present invention proposes a flat speaker output device and a method for starting the same to overcome the abovementioned problems.

Flat speaker output device and method for starting the same


The coupling device is an assembly comprising of three congruently shaped axially extending parts with mating wedge-like angular cuts intended to cause said parts to expand in a direction of the minor width when a screw type fastener pulls the two outer members together. those angular surfaces are made so the parts do not permanently lock up, thereby allowing the device to be removed and re-used. The angles should be equal so the parts stay put axially when the screw is tightened. The cross-section of each of the three members is in the form of identical cat-eyes, (e.g. two intersecting circles whose centers do not coincide, and whose minor width is less than the radii. The circles comprising the cat-eye are preferably equal. This is the preferred embodiment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to key locking devices and, more particularly, to expandable key locking devices for locking and coupling a first part to a mating second part.
2. Prior Art
The problem of connecting mating male and female parts, such as for example connecting shafts to mating gears or pulleys, in order to transfer torques and/or axial forces between the mated male and female parts has been one of the immutable engineering problems. Accordingly, many efforts have been expended to find a satisfactory solution to this problem. Some of the solutions tried in the prior art include providing either or both the male and female parts with bolting flanges which are mechanically fastened to surfaces of the mating part seated on the flange. Bolting flanges, however, significantly increase the size and weight of the connection between parts, and thus, are not satisfactory for applications where size, weight, and cost are critical. Another well know attempt at solving the problem of connecting the male and female parts uses keys, such as square keys or Woodruff keys, housed in keyways machined or otherwise formed in both the male and female parts. The keys act in shear to transfer torque and axial loads between mated male and female parts. Use of keyed connections generally does away with the bulk and weight of flanged connections, but in turn requires machining of close tolerance keyways into both the male and female parts which is both costly and time consuming. They are frequently insufficiently accurate and subject to failure, as it is virtually impossible to get zero play. Reversing loads beat up traditional keys and destroy them. Furthermore, the keyways formed into both the male and female parts reduce the effective cross-sectional area of the parts, and have square corners that raise stresses thereby having a weakening effect on the parts. In addition, some keys may have to be fastened to one of the parts with set screws to prevent the keys from exiting the keyways during use. This requires a hub, creating additional size and weight to accommodate the set screw. Fabrication of the set screw holes and installation of the set screw further increases the cost and complexity of the keyed connections. Still another solution of the prior art attempts to eliminate the problems with flanged connections and keyed connections by using keyless bushings or expandable keys to connect the mating male and female parts. The keyless bushings of the prior art generally have inner and outer tapered sections which when clamped together generate radial pressure that locks the mated parts together. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,014 which discloses an expandable hub locking assembly with inner and outer annular hub parts which have slidably engaging frustoconical surfaces interconnected by three screws. Rotation of the screws causes sliding engagement of the frustoconical surfaces which produces radial contraction and expansion of the inner and outer hub parts onto the shaft and bore. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,774 which discloses an expandable shaft key having first and second key parts which slidably engage each other along sloping surfaces and are connected by a threaded rod. The keyless bushing or expanding keys of the prior art are generally large in size in order to provide large contact surfaces for gripping the male and female parts. The keyless bushing is standard in the industry where designers require extremely large clamping forces. Because of their limited ability to grab onto the shaft, and their increased ability to force the hub, the forces have a propensity to split the hub. The keyless bushings also slip or translate axially when tightening the screw. The present invention overcomes the limitations and problems of the prior by providing a small, inexpensive key which may be used without keyways to effectively lock male and female parts together to simultaneously transfer both torques and axial loads therebetween. If keyways are used, modern end-milling methods are far faster, far more economical and far more accurate than those used by traditional keys. The device of the present invention does not suffer from installation play, allows larger tolerances when machining keyways, and has significantly more surface contact. The device of the present invention is vibration proof and easily removed. Also they may be ganged axially or circumferentially. Furthermore, the keyway of the present invention may be readily cut with a standard drill and drill press along with an inexpensive drill jig that has been designed for this purpose.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, a coupling device for coupling a first part to a second mating part is provided. The coupling device comprises a fastener, a distal member, and an intermediate member. The fastener has a support shoulder extending radially from the fastener. The distal member is movably engaged to the fastener to move relative to the fastener along a longitudinal axis of the fastener when the fastener is turned relative to the distal member. The intermediate member is disposed on the fastener between the distal member and support shoulder of the fastener. When the distal member is moved towards the support shoulder on the fastener, the distal member is biased against the intermediate member for effecting outward expansion of the coupling device relative to the longitudinal axis of the fastener. Thus, the coupling device is an assembly comprising of three congruently shaped axially extending parts with mating wedge-like angular cuts intended to cause said parts to expand in a direction of the minor width when a screw type fastener pulls the two outer members together. Those angular surfaces are made so the parts do not permanently lock up, thereby allowing the device to be removed and re-used. The angles may be equal so the parts stay in place axially when the screw is tightened.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, a mechanical connection between a first part and a second mating part is provided. The first part has an inner opening into which a mating portion of the second mating part is located. The mechanical connection between the first and second parts is provided by an expandable coupling positioned between an inner surface of the inner opening of the first part and the mating portion of the second part. The expandable coupling comprises a fastener with a support shoulder thereon. The expandable coupling also has an end member threadably mounted on the fastener, and an intermediate member mounted on the fastener between the support shoulder and the end member. When the fastener is threaded into the end member, the end member is biased against the intermediate member causing an outer surface of the intermediate member to be displaced outward relative to the fastener and effecting expansion of the expandable coupling.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention, a key assembly for connecting a first part to a mating second part is provided. The key assembly comprises a fastener, a first wedge section connected to the fastener, a second wedge section connected the fastener, and a third wedge section connected to the fastener. The third wedge section is disposed between the first and second wedge sections. When the first and second wedge sections are drawn together with the fastener, the third wedge section is cammed outwards relative to the longitudinal axis of the fastener. The fastener holds the first wedge and the second wedge together so that the key assembly is expanded.


A light source device according to the present invention includes a light guide plate, a light source opposed to one end face of the light guide plate, a casing with one face being open, which houses the light guide plate and the light source and a frame member fitted onto an edge of the casing, the casing includes a contact part directly or indirectly being in contact with the one end face of the light guide plate at a side of the light source, and the frame member includes an elastic contact part being in contact with the other end face of the light guide plate while being elastic, at a side opposite to the light source.

A display apparatus comprising a liquid crystal panel as an image display unit is configured to include a backlight device (light source device) at the back side of the liquid crystal panel, and to modulate the light emitted from the light source device at the liquid crystal panel which passes the light therethrough, to display an image on the front face of the liquid crystal panel.
Backlight devices are roughly divided into a direct type and an edge light type, of which back light devices of the edge light type have been widely employed recently in terms of lower power consumption and thinning of the devices.
A backlight device of the edge light type includes a light guide plate and a light source housed inside a backlight chassis having the shape of a shallow box with one face being open.
The light guide plate is a translucent plate made of resin, which is placed on the bottom plate of the backlight chassis.
The light source is fixed to the inner wall of the backlight chassis, and is opposed to one end face of the light guide plate.
A peripheral part of the light guide plate as well as the arrangement position of the light source are covered over an appropriate width by a frame fitted onto the edge of the backlight chassis through the open side.
The light emitted from the light source enters the light guide plate, then progresses while spreading inside the light guide plate, and is distributed across the entire surface of the light guide plate which is exposed to the inner side of the frame, to be output therefrom.
In order to increase the luminance of the light emitted from the light guide plate in this type of backlight device, it is important to assemble the device while maintaining the distance between the light guide plate and the light source that face each other as small as possible so that the light emitted from the light source may effectively enter the opposing end face of the light guide plate.
Meanwhile, the light guide plate may possibly be expanded by the heat generated at the light source, which causes a problem of damaging the light source by the expanded light guide plate touching the light source if the distance between the light source and the light guide plate facing each other is small.
The backlight device disclosed in WO2012/111549 is configured to have a restriction member arranged between a rectangular light guide plate and a light source opposed to one long side of the light guide plate, while a protrusion formed at both short sides of the light guide plate are engaged with a recess formed at the corresponding portions of the backlight chassis, and a leaf spring for applying a bias force toward the light source is interposed at the engaged part.
In the backlight device according to WO2012/111549, the light guide plate is positioned while being pressed against the restriction member by the bias force of the leaf spring, so that the distance between the light source and the light guide plate is maintained to be constant by the restriction member and the thermal expansion of the light guide plate is allowed because of the deflection of the leaf spring, which can increase the luminance and prevent damage to the light source.
The backlight device described in WO2012/111549, however, uses the leaf spring for positioning the light guide plate, which has a problem of the increased number of parts and a cumbersome work of interposing the leaf spring at the position where a recess and a protrusion are engaged.
Moreover, the backlight device in WO2012/111549 requires a wide frame for covering the peripheral edge of the light guide plate because the side wall of the backlight chassis provided with the recess is thick. This has caused a problem of difficulties in responding to the demand for a slim border in a display apparatus.
The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and aims to provide a light source device and a display apparatus capable of reducing the number of parts and of emitting light with high luminance while responding to the demand for a slim border.

Light source device and display apparatus


A transflective liquid crystal display device. A first substrate having viewing and peripheral areas is provided. The viewing area comprises transmissive and reflective regions. A backlight device is disposed under the first substrate, used to provide a backlight passing through the transmissive region. A power management controller connects the backlight device to control an intensity of the backlight. At least one photodetector is formed on the first substrate in the peripheral area, wherein the photodetector detects an intensity of ambient light above the first substrate, and then provides a corresponding signal to the power management controller to control the intensity of the backlight. According to the invention, the intensity of the backlight automatically becomes greater when the intensity of the ambient light becomes lower, and the intensity of the backlight automatically becomes lower when the intensity of the ambient light becomes greater.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transflective liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to self adjustment of display brightness according to ambient lighting in a transflective liquid crystal display device.
2. Desciption of the Related Art
Liquid crystal display (LCD) devices are widely used as displays in devices, such as a portable televisions and notebook computers. Liquid crystal display devices are classified into two types. One is a transmissive type liquid crystal display device using a backlight as a light source, and another is the reflective type liquid crystal display device using an external light source, such as sunlight or an indoor lamp. It is difficult to decrease the weight, the volume, and the power consumption of the transmissive type LCD due to the power required by the backlight component. The reflective type LCD has the advantage of not requiring a backlight component, but it cannot operate without an external light source.
In order to overcome the drawbacks of these two types of LCDs, a transflective LCD device which can operate as both a reflective and transmissive type LCD is disclosed. The transflective LCD device has a reflective electrode in a pixel region, wherein the reflective electrode has a transmissive portion. Thus, the transflective LCD device consumes less than a conventional transmissive type LCD device because a backlight component is not used when sufficient ambient light is present. Further, in comparison with the reflective type LCD device, the transflective LCD device has the advantage of operating as a transmissive type LCD device using a backlight when no external light is available.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a typical transflective LCD device. The transflective LCD device includes upper and lower substrates 10 and 20 opposite to each other, and a liquid crystal layer 50 interposed therebetween. The upper substrate 10 is called a color filter substrate and the lower substrate 20 is called an array substrate. In the upper substrate 10, on a surface opposing the lower substrate 20, a black matrix 12 and a color filter layer 14 including a plurality of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) color filters are formed. That is, the black matrix 12 surrounds each color filter, in the shape of an array matrix. Further on the upper substrate 10, a common electrode 16 is formed to cover the color filter layer 14 and the black matrix 12.
In the lower substrate 20, on a surface opposing the upper substrate 20, a TFT "T" as a switching device is formed in shape of an array matrix corresponding to the color filter layer 14. In addition, a plurality of crossing gate and data lines 26 and 28 are positioned such that each TFT is located near each cross point of the gate and data lines 26 and 28. Further on the lower substrate 20, a plurality of pixel regions (P) are defined by the gate and data lines 26 and 28. Each pixel region P has a pixel electrode 22 comprising a transparent portion 22a and an opaque portion 22b. The transparent portion 22a is made of a transparent conductive material, such as ITO (indium tin oxide) or IZO (indium zinc oxide), and the opaque portion 22b is made of a metal having high reflectivity, such as Al (aluminum).
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a conventional transflective LCD device, which helps to illustrate the operation of such devices. As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional transflective LCD device includes a lower substrate 200, an upper substrate 260 and an interposed liquid crystal layer 230. The upper substrate 260 has a common electrode 240 and a color filter 250 formed thereon. The lower substrate 200 has an insulating layer 210 and a pixel electrode 220 formed thereon, wherein the pixel electrode 220 has an opaque portion 222 and a transparent portion 224. The opaque portion 222 of the pixel electrode 220 can be an aluminum layer, and the transparent portion 224 of the pixel electrode 220 can be an ITO (indium tin oxide) layer. The opaque portion 222 reflects ambient light 270, while the transparent portion 224 transmits light 280 from a backlight device 290 disposed at the exterior side of the lower substrate 200. The liquid crystal layer 230 is interposed between the lower and upper substrates 200 and 260. Thus, the transflective LCD device is operable in both reflective and transmissive modes.
In order to obtain a stable display quality of the transflective LCD, it is desirable for the display brightness to also change when the ambient light of the environment changes. For example, when the ambient light becomes darker, the backlight has to become brighter to maintain the determined total display brightness. Contrarily, when the ambient light becomes brighter, the backlight intensity is decreased to maintain the determined total display brightness and reduce power consumption. Nevertheless, current transflective LCDs require manual adjustment to change the intensity of the backlight. This method of adjustment and is very inconvenient for users.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,525, Eaton et al disclose an LCD device employing a photodetector to compensate for variation in the characteristics of the liquid crystal. The LCD uses a photodetector to detect the transmissivity of liquid crystal elements under the ON and OFF states. According to the signal from the photodetector, the voltage level of the pixel driving element can be adjusted to obtain an optimum contrast and brightness. Though effective, this method, nevertheless, does not disclose how to obtain optimum display brightness when the ambient light of the environment changes.

Transflective liquid crystal display device and method of fabricating the same


The invention relates to a crystalline form of a triethylamine salt of (2Z)-2-(2 -amino-5-chlorothiazol-4-yl)-2-(3-N-tert-butoxycarbonylaminopropoxyimino)acetic acid. The invention also relates to processes and intermediates for preparing the crystalline form. The crystalline form is useful as an intermediate for preparing cross-linked glycopeptide-cephalosporin antibiotics.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel crystalline form of a triethylamine salt of a substituted thiazolylacetic acid compound which is useful as an intermediate for preparing cross-linked glycopeptide-cephalosporin antibiotics. This invention also relates to processes and intermediates for preparing the crystalline form.
2. State of the Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,797 B2 discloses a compound of the formula:
This compound is a synthetic intermediate used in the preparation of a cross-linked glycopeptide-cephalosporin antibiotic. The compound is described as a tan solid which can be purified by extraction to remove residual succinimide (Example A, Step 4; Column 29, lines 07 to 37). This compound is not described as being crystalline.
Although this intermediate compound is useful for preparing cross-linked glycopeptide-cephalosporin antibiotics, it would be advantageous to provide an intermediate compound that is in crystalline form. Crystalline intermediates are advantageous because impurities are typically removed or substantially reduced during the crystallization process thereby resulting in an intermediate having improved purity. Moreover, crystalline materials often have improved storage stability and better handling properties compared to non-crystalline materials. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an intermediate useful for preparing cross-linked glycopeptide-cephalosporin antibiotics which is in crystalline form.

Crystalline form of a substituted thiazolylacetic acid triethylamine salt

THERAVANCE BIOPHARMA ANTIBIOTICS IP, LLC


The invention concerns a multi-layer film element (1) and a process for the production of such a film element. The multi-layer film element (1) has at least one flexible dielectric layer (16) and one or more electrically conductive layers (15, 17) each comprising an electrically conductive material. The layer thickness of the electrically conductive layer or layers is in each case less than 20 μm. The electrically conductive layer or layers are shaped in pattern form for forming two or more conductor structures which are coupled together to afford an antenna structure galvanically connected to an electric circuit (19).

The invention concerns a multi-layer film element comprising at least one flexible dielectric layer and one or more electrically conductive layers each comprising an electrically conductive material and a process for the production of such a film element.
DE 196 01 358 C2 discloses for example a security document in which a chip is introduced into the paper material of a bank note, the chip having an antenna. For reasons of mechanical stability in that case the chip is laminated onto a carrier which can be a metal foil.
Furthermore EP 1 179 811 A1 describes fixing a security element on the paper carrier of a bank note by means of an adhesive layer, the security element having a substrate layer and a metal layer. In that case the metal layer forms a loop-shaped antenna connected to an integrated circuit. Data stored in the integrated circuit can then be read out by means of that arrangement.