A transceiver circuit for self-test of jitter tolerance is disclosed. The transceiver circuit includes a transmitter circuit having an output coupled to an output terminal of the transceiver and a receiver circuit having in input coupled to an input terminal of the transceiver. The transceiver also includes a loopback path configured to provide a signal transmitted by the transmitter circuit to the input of the receiver circuit. The transceiver also includes a test control circuit that causes jitter to be introduced in the signal transmitted by the transmitter circuit when the test control circuit is operating in a self-test mode, but not when the test control circuit is operating in a non-test mode.

Most integrated circuits are susceptible to signal jitter. Jitter refers to the deviation in, or displacement of, some aspect of the pulses of a digital signal such as frequency, signal amplitude, or phase of a signal. In high-speed communications, jitter present in a transmitted signal can make it difficult to properly sample and decode the signal at a receiver. For instance, if significant jitter is present in the clock signal used by a transmitter to coordinate transmission of symbols, a receiver may not be able to determine the clock signal used for transmission.
Jitter tolerance is a widely used measurement technique to predict the overall performance of a receiver. Jitter tolerance determines the maximum amount of jitter that can be presented at the receiver input without causing the receiver to incorrectly interpret the incoming data. High speed protocols/standards, such as XAUI and PCI Express, specify a maximum amount of jitter that may be present and therefore must be tolerated by receivers. Such protocols/standards may specify individual tolerances for different types of jitter, such as random jitter (RJ), sinusoidal jitter (SJ) or periodic jitter (PJ), duty-cycle distortion (DCD), inter-symbol interference (ISI), and/or bounded uncorrelated jitter (BUJ). Some protocols may also specify different jitter tolerances for various frequency ranges (e.g., jitter tolerance mask).
Due to the multiple types of jitter that may be specified by a protocol, jitter tolerance has typically been tested using a rack having several different test devices for introducing different types of jitter for tolerance testing. The most basic jitter tolerance testing equipment injects SJ by connecting an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) to the delay port of a data generator, and ISI jitter is injected manually by connecting different trace lengths at the output of the data generator. This approach lacks flexibility, is labor intensive and is difficult to apply to multi-channel data collection. In recent years, equipment vendors have integrated different jitter injection capability into one piece of equipment (e.g., Agilent J-BERT). This approach allows a user to inject different types of jitter at amounts specified by the user. However, one limitation of this approach is that the cost per channel is extremely high (˜$300 K/channel for 40 Gbs). In addition to the significant costs, most high speed bench equipment has an upper data rate limit and may not be capable of testing jitter tolerance for higher data rate products (e.g., 28 Gbs).

Circuit and method for testing jitter tolerance


A recording medium includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and an image recording layer with insulating properties provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, the image recording layer containing cells each encapsulating at least one of electrophoretic particles or magnetophoretic particles, a dispersion medium, and at least two kinds of thermoreversible gelling agents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium and an image recording set.
2. Background Art
In recent years, electronic paper has been put into practical use and gained attention because it is visible and portable like paper material, thin, and lightweight requiring no backlight and less power consumption.
Electronic paper is classified into internally-driven paper-like display (hereinafter referred to as PLD) that includes a drive element inside to display images by itself and externally-driven rewritable paper using a recording medium on which writing is performed by a printer.
The rewritable paper includes all recording media such as paper and sheets on which rewriting can be repeatedly performed.
Various systems of electronic paper have been proposed. Of these, as a PLD, an electrophoretic system, that conducts display by changing an optical reflectance by migrating white and/or colored particles charged in a liquid to the surface side or the opposite direction of a display medium by an electric field is known as the most practical system.
As an example of the electronic paper of such system, JP-S50-15115-B discloses a display or recording device, in which an electric field is applied to a mixed multi particle dispersion system containing particles that migrate in opposite directions depending on the electric field, to optically shield certain particles, thereby changing optical reflection characteristics of the dispersion system. In addition, JP-2551783-B1 (JP-H01-086116-A) discloses an electrophoretic display device, in which a large number of microcapsules each encapsulating a dispersion system obtained by dispersing electrophoretic particles in a colored dispersion medium are provided between a pair of counter electrode plates.
Furthermore, JP-4410135-B1 (JP-2005-227795-A) discloses an ink, in which an electric field is applied to microcapsules each containing first particles and second particles having reverse polarity to that of the first particles to thereby migrate either the first particles or second particles to the surface.
As described above, the electrophoretic system, in particular a microcapsule electrophoretic system, has already been put into practical use as electronic paper and become appealing.
Such electrophoretic electronic paper is capable of retaining displayed content without requiring electric power once displaying the content, which is recognized as one of the advantages. However, in fact, image density changes with time unless an electric field is applied or image quality deteriorates by static electricity and pressure from outside.
In attempts to solve these problems, for example, JP-2007-286124-A discloses a method of controlling a solubility parameter in a dispersion medium by making walls of microcapsules formed by a graft copolymer. Also, JP-2010-002933-A discloses a method of dissolving or dispersing a polymer that does not become thick in a fluid suspension.
These technologies are appropriate to improve the image retention (retentiveness) required for PLD.
However, these are not sufficient to retain images on rewritable paper.
This difference lies in the structures and the purposes of use of PLD and rewritable paper.
PLD has a substrates each having an electric conductive layer, as electrodes, at the top and the bottom of a display layer in which electrophoretic particles move and is covered by a housing, so that it is never or little affected from the outside. In addition, a voltage can be applied thereto if desired, thereby retaining an image on PLD.
However, rewritable paper is not covered by a housing and is easily affected from the outside. In addition, a recording medium includes no element or power source to apply a voltage, meaning that retaining an image from outside for a long period of time is impossible.
It is possible to reduce an impact from outside by providing a protective layer to cover rewritable paper in some cases. However, this is not sufficient to enhance image retention. As a result, advantages such as flexibility and low cost of rewritable paper are lost.
Taking into account the purpose of PLD, images are frequently rewritten and demand for image retention is not strict. By contrast, rewritable paper is required to retain records for a long period of time, almost permanently, like paper.
As a technology to significantly enhance image retention, there are a number of methods including controlling the viscosity of a dispersion medium in which electrophoretic particles are dispersed, lowering the viscosity by heating to conduct recording, and thereafter fixing colored particles by cooling-down.
For example, JP-S50-15115-B1 mentioned above discloses a method of using a resin, rubber, waxes, or synthetic waxes that are solid at normal temperatures and softened thermally or chemically.
JP-4168556-B1 (JP-2001-147451-A) discloses a method of forming a uniform liquid phase by dissolving a solid phase of a dispersion medium, which has both solid and liquid phases present at room temperature, during electrophoretic migration in a liquid dispersion containing electrophoretic particles, the dispersion medium, a dye, and a dispersant.
JP-2001-301325-A discloses a method in which a heat-meltable substance that is solid when it is not heated and becomes liquid when it is heated, specifically, waxes, saturated fatty acid, higher alcohols, and electrophoretic fine particles are encapsulated into microcapsules.
JP-2002-365670-A discloses a method using a mixture that has fluidity at an electrophoretic operating temperature, and becomes an optically opaque solid at temperatures lower than the electrophoretic operating temperature, specifically, a mixture of a substance selected among long-chain alcohols, phenols, aromatic ketones, decanes, and dodecanes and a substance selected among paraffin, waxes, and saturated hydrocarbons.
JP-2003-91022-A discloses a method using higher paraffin hydrocarbons, waxes, or aromatic hydrocarbons as dispersion medium that is solid at normal temperatures and becomes liquid by heating.
JP-2007-140367-A discloses a method in which a dispersion medium is composed mostly of rice wax and contains a surfactant.
Thus, a dispersion medium that is solid at normal temperatures and becomes liquid when being heated is very effective for improvement in image retention because electrophoretic particles are fixed by cooling after recording.
However, since these technologies use a dispersion medium to which waxes and saturated aliphatic acids are added, temperature responsiveness is low in transition between the solid state and the liquid state of electrophoretic particles, which causes problems such that rewriting speed decreases, the viscosity of a dispersion medium is not sufficiently lowered even when heated, thereby degrading contrast, or the quality of an image deteriorates over repeated rewriting.
Further, the dispersibility of electrophoretic particles significantly deteriorates when compared to a case where a solvent is used as the dispersion medium. For this reason, electrophoretic properties may be impaired or particles aggregates, thereby degrading image quality.
A method of using a dispersion medium that turns into a gel in a PLD is disclosed. For example, JP-H02-196227-A discloses a thermal writing system which includes a dispersion medium that turns into a gel and a sol (liquid) reversibly depending on temperatures and electrophoretic particles and locally migrates the electrophoretic particles by locally converting the dispersion medium into a sol.
However, with this technology, as a dispersion medium that turns into a gel and a liquid, specifically, a solvent is used for a high-molecular weight substance, resulting in a poor solvent. This high-molecular weight substance is dissolved when the temperature of the solvent is high and the high-molecular substance becomes insoluble and turns into a gel when the temperature is low, so that the high-molecular substance itself does not have thermal reversibility.
Therefore, the temperature responsiveness is low in transition between a gel and a liquid and liquefaction is locally limited, so that display speed and image quality are not satisfactory.
JP-2003-149691-A discloses a display gel for electrophoretic display containing a dispersion medium, white particles, colored particles, and a gelling agent.
However, in this technology, although a gelling agent is contained in the dispersion medium, thermal reversibility is not described. Actually, due to gellation, the dispersion medium is substantially equally divided into continuous and/or discontinuous minute regions and turns into a gel and the particles electrophoretically migrate by the action of an electric field in the dispersion medium in a gel state.
Therefore, the problems regarding rewriting speed and contrast remain unsolved.
JP-2007-11342-A discloses a display medium for electrophoretic display containing a set of a liquid system, a thermoreversible gelling agent, and colored particles for PLD.
With this technology, by containing the thermoreversible gelling agent, the display medium turns into non-gel and is reduced in viscosity at temperature close to or higher than the melting point of the gelling agent, so that images can be formed in a display device. When the display device is cooled after an image is formed, the medium turns into a gel, so that the image is stably maintained without an application of an electric field.
In the method using a thermoreversible gelling agent, the gelling agent itself causes gelatinization, so that the temperature responsiveness is higher and more stable than in the conventional technologies in which waxes and solders are added or gelatinization is controlled by the solubility of a high-molecular substance in a solvent, so that this method is very excellent for enhancing image retentiveness.
However, considering that the thermoreversible gelling agent is also controlled by temperature, the adverse impact on reduction in rewriting speed becomes large for frequent image rewriting.
As described above, since this technology using a thermoreversible gelling agent is used for a display device, that is, a PLD, deterioration of display responsiveness is greater than the advantage of semipermanent image retentiveness demonstrated by using a thermoreversible gelling agent.
In addition, a heating device and a cooling device must be provided inside the device, so that the thickness and weight of the PLD increase, which also creates a large disadvantage. Therefore, the effect of use of the thermoreversible gelling agent has not been sufficiently utilized nor applied to a PLD in reality.
The PLD, mainly used as a conventional display, has currently been largely developed and significantly advanced. However, the advancement of the rewritable paper, which is mainly used as conventional paper, has been slightly delayed as compared with the PLD.
However, there is a need for paper different from that for a display, and the spread of rewritable paper that can be handled in the same manner as paper has been expected.
Problems of rewritable paper lie in image retentiveness, image quality, and rewriting property.
As described above, age retentiveness is a large issue for rewritable paper rather than for PLD.
The PLD is configured as a device for rewriting, so that the frequency of rewriting is naturally high.
Therefore, it does not necessarily require semipermanent image retentiveness.
On the other hand, although the rewritable paper is rewritable, high image retentiveness is required considering that it is used instead of paper.
In addition, since rewritable paper is not covered by a housing, it is more vulnerable to external static electricity and pressures than the PLD, which is covered by a housing, so that enhancing image retentiveness is a big problem for rewritable paper.
Therefore, image retentiveness is a very significant issue for rewritable paper rather than for PLD.
For this reason, a thermoreversible gelling agent is more useful for rewritable paper than PLD.
However, the image quality of rewritable paper is significantly dependent on the kind of a thermoreversible gelling agent so that it is necessary to appropriately select a thermoreversible gelling agent to improve the image quality.
For example, a dispersion medium containing a thermoreversible gelling agent precipitates during gelation unless an appropriate gelling agent is used. Such precipitation leads to production of defective images with beads, which results in low contrast and uneven image density.
In addition, such a dispersion medium has come to be crystallized while repeating solation and gelation, so that the dispersing agent is not solated in the end, which makes it impossible to rewrite images.

Recording medium and image recording set


A device includes a substrate, a pedestal extending from the substrate, and a ring resonator disposed on the pedestal above the substrate. The ring resonator has a resonance wavelength greater than 1.5 μm and includes at least one of silicon and chalcogenide glass. The device can be used as a ring resonator sensor or a light source. The ring resonator is substantially transparent to mid-infrared radiation to reduce optical losses. The pedestal has a narrower width compared to the ring resonator to generate improved interaction between evanescent fields of light in the ring resonator and analytes nearby the ring resonator, thereby increasing sensing sensitivity. In addition, fabrication of the device is compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes and hence is amenable to large scale manufacturing.

A ring resonator can be regarded as a ring-shaped waveguide. The resonance wavelength λ of the mth mode in a ring resonator is λ=2πrneff/m, where r is the resonator radius, neff is the effective refractive index (RI) of the mth mode of the ring resonator, and m is an integer. Light propagating in a ring resonator circulates along the ring resonator and has an evanescent field that can reach several hundred nanometers into the surrounding medium (e.g., liquid, gas, and polymer coatings, etc.), which can contain analytes. Therefore, the light propagating through the ring resonator can interact repeatedly with the analytes on or near the surface of the ring resonator.
When used as sensors, ring resonators can have a long interaction length with small physical sizes. For conventional linear waveguide sensors or fiber sensors, the interaction length between light and analytes is essentially the physical length of the waveguide/fiber. In comparison, ring resonator sensors can create an extremely long effective interaction length by circulating the light multiple times in the resonator. The effective interaction length can be expressed as Leff=Qλ/(2πn), where Q is the quality factor, or Q-factor, of the resonator. Depending on ring resonator configuration, the Q-factor can be about 104 to about 108. Therefore, even with a small physical size (e.g., on the order of microns), the ring resonator sensor can have an effective interaction length of a few tens of centimeters or even longer, resulting in higher sensitivity, smaller footprint, and higher multiplexing capability while using less analyte.
Ring resonator sensors can be used for detecting a variety of chemical and biological species including, but are not limited to, DNA, proteins, viruses, nanoparticles, bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in liquid or gaseous phases.

Methods and apparatus for pedestal ring resonators


A charging system monitors the rate of change in battery voltage, adjusts the rate of charging, and checks the changes in battery voltage following adjustments in the rate of charging to observe a predetermined sequence of voltage changes that signifies when a battery is fully charged. The charging system determines the slope between consecutive battery voltage measurements. The charging system charges a battery at the full battery capacity in response to positive or zero voltage slope measurements and reduces the charging rate in response to negative voltage slope measurements. A nickel-cadmium battery is fully charged when at least one sequence of a negative slope, followed by a decrease in charging rate, then a positive or flat slope, followed by an increase in charge rate, and finally another negative slope is observed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to battery chargers and, more particularly, to battery chargers that control the rate of charging to determine when batteries have reached full charge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rechargeable batteries, such as nickel cadmium batteries, are popular because they provide a ready source of electrical energy and avoid the waste associated with the disposal of batteries that cannot be recharged. When rechargeable batteries are discharged, they are connected to a charging system that restores them to a charged condition. In a conventional fast-charge system, for example, a current that is equal to the battery charging capacity C in ampere-hours is delivered to the battery for one hour. This charging rate leaves the battery with approximately a full charge.
Conventional charging systems can damage batteries by overcharging them, or can waste time and energy by undercharging them. Undercharging is a condition in which the electrical energy delivered to a rechargeable battery is not sufficient for the battery to deliver its rated power. As a result of undercharging, a battery probably will not be capable of operating equipment with which it is used and will have to be recharged more frequently. Repeated recharging takes the battery out of service and is a great inconvenience. Overcharging is a condition in which electrical energy continues to be delivered to the battery after it has reached full charge. As a result of overcharging, the battery cycle life is reduced, and the battery likely will need to be replaced much earlier than anticipated. A number of charging systems are designed to charge batteries without damage, and to provide fast and safe charging up to the full rated power of the batteries, by monitoring indicators of full charging.
Battery temperature and voltage can be used to indicate full charge. Both the temperature and internal resistance of a discharged battery increase as the battery is charged. Some charging systems monitor the temperature of a battery and attempt to prevent overcharging by stopping the charging process when a maximum allowed temperature is reached. This temperature, however, might not correspond to the maximum battery temperature reached during charging. For example, the maximum temperature reached by a charging battery can vary depending on ambient temperature and on the condition and age of the battery. Selecting battery temperature as the charge indicator to be monitored is made more difficult by the need to carefully select and locate temperature sensors to ensure accurate monitoring.
The monitored battery temperatures themselves can be misleading. Fluctuations in the temperature of the battery can occur, resulting in momentarily elevated temperatures in the absence of a full charge. The frequency and magnitude of the fluctuations can vary with the environmental conditions and the condition of the battery. Thus, monitoring the battery temperature for a maximum value can result in premature completion of charging and, therefore, undercharging rather than overcharging.
The battery voltage also increases with the charging of the battery, reaching a peak and then rapidly decreasing. Although monitoring battery voltage avoids the problems of ambient temperature, sensor placement, and influences of adjacent batteries, it still can fall prey to voltage fluctuations and can result in premature completion of charging. The voltage fluctuations occur in a manner similar to the temperature fluctuations and can result in momentarily high voltages that do not represent the peak value. The momentary voltage changes are often interpreted as peak charging values by typical charging systems that monitor voltage. Such charging systems respond to the momentary voltage peaks by quickly halting charging, often resulting in an undercharged condition. On the other hand, a system that does not respond to voltage changes in a sufficiently short time period can overcharge a battery.
Finally, many charging systems can only charge a single battery at a time, and cannot charge a plurality of batteries to their full charge. This is inconvenient, because many devices require multiple batteries for operation, and it is easier to simultaneously remove several discharged batteries from a device and replace them with charged batteries, while simultaneously placing the discharged batteries into a charging system.
From the discussion above, it should be apparent that there is a need for a battery charging system that charges rechargeable batteries to their full charge without overcharging them due to slow response and without undercharging them due to spurious indicators of full charge. The present invention satisfies this need.

Apparatus and method for charging batteries


An exemplary backlight module (30) includes a frame (31), a plurality of light emitting diodes (32) and at least one optical plate (34). The light emitting diodes are regularly disposed on a base of the frame. The optical plate is positioned on sidewalls of the frame. Each light emitting diode includes a light output unit (321), an optical lens (323) having a light input surface (3231), a top surface (3233), and a light output surface (3235); and a reflective sheet (325) including a peripheral flange extending down from an edge thereof for being interference fitted around the top surface of the optical lens. The backlight module can have a thin configuration while still providing good, uniform optical performance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to backlight modules, and more particularly to a direct type backlight module typically used in a liquid crystal display (LCD).
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In a liquid crystal display device, liquid crystal is a substance that does not itself radiate light. Instead, the liquid crystal relies on light received from a light source in order to provide displaying of images and data. In the case of a typical liquid crystal display device, a backlight module powered by electricity supplies the needed light.
Typically, a light source of a backlight module is one of the following two types: a cold cathode fluorescence lamp (CCFL), or a light emitting diode (LED). Disadvantages of a CCFL include high energy consumption, low optical uniformity, and poor purity of white light. In addition, after being repeatedly used over time, a brightness of the CCFL becomes degraded and a color of light emitted by the CCFL tends to shift. In general, the service life of a CCFL is about 15,000 to 25,000 hours. Furthermore, a CCFL only covers 75 percent of color space as defined by the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC). Therefore, using a CCFL cannot satisfy the requirements for a high quality color liquid crystal display. Unlike CCFLs, high powered LEDs can cover as much as 105 percent of color space as defined by the NTSC. In addition, these LEDs have other advantages such as low energy consumption, long service life, and so on. Therefore, high power LEDs are better suited for producing high quality color liquid crystal displays.
FIG. 6 illustrates a conventional backlight module 10 using a plurality of LEDs 12. The backlight module 10 includes a frame 11, an optical plate 14, and the LEDs 12. The frame 11 includes a base 112, and a plurality of sidewalls 114 extending from a periphery of the base 112. Top portions of the sidewalls 114 cooperatively form an opening 116 therebetween. The LEDs 12 are regularly arranged on the base 112 of the frame 11. The optical plate 14 is disposed on the frame 11 over the opening 116. Light rays emitted by the LEDs 12 are diffused in the optical plate 14, so that substantially planar light is outputted from the optical plate 14.
Each LED 12 includes a light output unit 121, and an optical lens 123 coupled to the light output unit 121. The optical lens 123 includes a light input surface 1231, a top surface 1233 opposite to the light input surface 1231, and a peripheral light output surface 1235 generally between the light input surface 1231 and the top surface 1233. Light rays emitted by the light output unit 121 enter the optical lens 123 through the light input surface 1231 and transmit to the top surface 1233. Many or most of the light rays undergo total internal reflection at the top surface 1233, and then exit the optical lens 123 through the light output surface 1235.
However, a significant proportion of the light rays still escapes from the optical lens 123 through the top surface 1233. This would ordinarily cause a bright area to occur in the optical plate 14 above the LED 12. In order to prevent this problem, the backlight module 10 further includes a transparent plate 13 disposed between the optical plate 14 and the LEDs 12. The transparent plate 13 defines a plurality of reflective layers 15 on a bottom thereof. The reflective layers 15 are positioned in one-to-one correspondence with the LEDs 12. However, precisely positioning the transparent plate 15 according to the LEDs 12 can be very problematic and troublesome, due to the small size of the LEDs 12. In addition, the transparent plate 13 makes the backlight module 10 rather heavy, and adds to manufacturing costs.
What is needed, therefore, is a new backlight module which can overcome the above-described shortcomings.

Backlight module with light emitting diodes having reflective sheets


The present invention is directed to a system and method which expands the applicability of subsampling to a larger range of signal repetition rates while reducing the range over which the sample rate must be tuned to accommodate a given signal. The resulting sample sequences are in the correct order, enabling direct display with an ordinary oscilloscope or other instrumentation. In one embodiment, a technique is used such that decimation of the samples also improves the response characteristics of the sensor. The system and method provides for a number of different procedures for sampling a signal of a given length. All other parameters being the same, the system allows more freedom in selecting the sample rate to correctly sub-sample a repetitive signal.

This invention relates to signal sampling and more particularly to a system and method for adjusting the sampling rate for repetitive signals.
A long-running trend in communication and other systems is the use of higher and higher signal frequencies. As signal frequency is increased, the difficulty of characterizing a signal by measuring its time history also increases, to the point that direct acquisition is impractical. However, if the signal of interest is repetitive, its time history can be established by a process known as subsampling, wherein the signal is sampled at a rate that is below the Nyquist sampling frequency for the signal.
For subsampling, the sample rate is chosen such that each successive sample follows the previous sample by some number of signal repetitions plus some time increment. If the time increment is small compared with the period of signal repetition, then the sequence of samples will be a fine-grained time history of the signal, where the equivalent time resolution is equal to the selected time increment. For a repetitive signal, the sequence of samples is identical to that which would be obtained by sampling the signal at a time interval equal to the equivalent time resolution. The sample sequence can be displayed in real-time with a conventional oscilloscope.
Subsampling at a fixed sample rate is only applicable to particular signal repetition rates. Other repetition rates require changes to the sample frequency, and/or the ability to store and reorder the samples.
Digital communications systems, among others, typically utilize binary data streams with fixed data rates. However, it is often desirable to employ test signals of various pattern lengths and therefore various signal repetition rates. But physical limitations of sampling hardware typically constrain the sample rate to a narrow range. If the sample rate cannot be arbitrarily specified, it is not possible to subsample signals of any given repetition rate and thus the range of test signals is limited.
When the required sample rate cannot be realized, the elapsed time between samples will not equal some number of signal repetitions plus some small time increment. Instead, the elapsed time between samples may be equal to some number of signal repetitions plus a significant fraction of the repetition time. Consequently, the samples do not directly represent a time history, but can be reordered to form an equivalent time history. The requirement for data reordering is a severe limitation, because a conventional oscilloscope cannot directly display the samples. Instead the samples must be stored and then reordered according to the relationship between repetition and sample rates, before the display of the samples can take place.
The present invention is directed to a system and method which expands the applicability of subsampling to a larger range of signal repetition rates while reducing the range over which the sample rate must be tuned to accommodate a given signal. The resulting sample sequences are in the correct order, enabling direct display with an ordinary oscilloscope or other instrumentation.
In one embodiment, a technique is used such that decimation of the samples also improves the response characteristics of the sensor. The system and method provides for a number of different procedures for sampling a signal of a given length. All other parameters being the same, the system allows more freedom in selecting the sample rate to correctly subsample a repetitive signal.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.

System and method for establishing a subsampling rate for repetitive signals


This invention relates to methods and compositions for treatment of inv(16) leukemia and particularly to treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Disclosed is a method of treating inv(16) leukemia comprising the step of administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective combination of a) a compound of the formula (1) and b) a chemotherapeutic agent selected from the group consisting of pirarubicin, aclarubicin, mitoxantrone, doxorubicin, daunorubicin, idarubicin, epirubicin, cytarabine, pharmaceutically acceptable salts and mixtures thereof. The therapeutically effective combination synergistically inhibits proliferation of inv(16) leukemia cells. This invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising a therapeutically effective combination of the compound of formula (1) and the chemotherapeutic agent and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common form of adult leukemia. The transcription factor fusion CBFβ-SMMHC (core binding factor β and the smooth-muscle myosin heavy chain), expressed in AML with the chromosome inversion inv(16)(p13q22), outcompetes wild-type CBFβ for binding to the transcription factor RUNX1, deregulates RUNX1 activity in hematopoiesis, and induces AML. Current inv(16) AML treatment with nonselective cytotoxic chemotherapy results in a good initial response but limited long-term survival.
CBF is a heterodimeric transcription factor composed of a DNA-binding RUNX subunit (encoded by one of three genes: RUNX1, RUNX2, or RUNX3) and a non-DNA-binding CBFβ subunit, which increases the affinity of RUNX proteins for DNA. All three RUNX proteins as well as CBFβ have been shown to be critical regulators of specific developmental pathways. RUNX1 and CBFβ are essential for definitive hematopoiesis, where they regulate expression of genes associated with proliferation, differentiation, and survival of stem and progenitor cells. RUNX2 is essential for normal bone formation by way of transcriptional regulation of genes critical for bone development. Both RUNX1 and RUNX3 play key roles in neuronal development.
Based on their critical roles in normal development, RUNX proteins and CBFβ are targets of alteration in a number of cancers. Both RUNX1 and CBFβ undergo chromosomal translocations in a subset of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) patients where the corresponding fusion proteins have clearly been shown to be drivers of disease. For the fusion proteins AML1-ETO and TEL-AML1, the binding of the fusion proteins to CBFβ has been shown to be essential for transformation. RUNX1 is mutated in a subset of AML and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients.
Small molecule inhibitors of protein-protein interactions, particularly in the context of transcription factors, is still a relatively nascent field, in part due to the long and widely held belief that this class of interactions is "undruggable," i.e., targeting such interactions would have a very low likelihood of success. With an increasing number of success stories of small molecule inhibitors affecting protein-protein interactions, including transcription factors, this paradigm is clearly changing. In addition, the recent development of small molecule inhibitors of epigenetic signaling proteins, such as the BRD4 or EZH2 inhibitors, clearly indicate that small molecule modulation of transcription, in particular, is a potentially powerful approach to cancer treatment.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,748,618 and 9,221,764, incorporated herein by reference, report small molecule inhibitors of the protein-protein interaction between CBFβ-SMMHC and the Runt domain of RUNX1 which bind to the CBFβ portion of CBFβ-SMMHC. Dimeric inhibitors disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,748,618 and 9,221,764 show increased potency against inv(16) cell lines and minimal effect on non inv(16) cell lines.
Patients with inv(16) AML usually undergo aggressive chemotherapy regimens involving cytotoxic drugs such as Ara-C and anthracyclines. This treatment is better tolerated by young patients showing a 5 year overall survival of 45% to 65% (Ravandi, et al., 2007; Pulsoni, et al., 2008). However, most patients are older and the 5-year overall survival for patients older than 60 years old is about 20% (Farag, et al., 2006). These data indicate targeted therapies that can improve the therapeutic response for inv(16) AML patients are desired.
Emerging literature suggests that inability to cure cancers with current therapies, including cytotoxic chemotherapy, kinase inhibitors, or monoclonal antibodies, may be attributed to a population of so-called cancer stem cells or cancer initiating cells that are resistant to treatment, are quiescent, have long term self-renewal potential, and can fully recapitulate tumor phenotype at time of relapse. Inv(16) AML is a good example of this failure because inv(16) patients invariably show, at time of relapse, the inv(16) rearrangement, although other mutations detected at diagnosis (RAS, FLT3ITD or KIT) may or may not be detected at relapse (Nakano, et al., 1999; Kottaridis, et al., 2002; Shih, et al., 2008).
Currently, standard cytotoxic chemotherapy is used for the treatment of inv(16) leukemia. While reasonably well tolerated by younger patients, this is not well tolerated by the predominantly older patient population afflicted by this disease. More importantly, approximately 60% of inv(16) patients relapse and die within 5 years, indicating a substantial relapse rate. This is likely the result of not eradicating the leukemia stem cell population when treating with standard chemotherapy, allowing the disease to recur. As it is known that CBFβ-SMMHC changes the gene expression profile of cells to something that is more stem cell like, it is clear that CBFβ-SMMHC is a driver of the leukemia stem cell phenotype. Therefore, it is highly likely that direct inhibition of CBFβ-SMMHC can alter this expression profile and therefore be a more effective therapeutic approach either alone or in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy.
There is a long felt need in the art for compositions and methods useful for preventing and for treating acute myeloid leukemia, particularly involving the inv(16) fusion. The present invention satisfies these needs.

Combination therapies for treating cancer

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PATENT FOUNDATION


An instrument for providing a multidimensional indication of pain includes an elongated base having a series of sensory pain descriptors and emotional pain descriptors displayed thereon. A selection indicator next to each descriptor is adjustable by a person to indicate whether that descriptor accurately describes the pain the person is feeling. The descriptors may be assigned a numerical rank so that the total of the ranks of the selected descriptors affords a quantitative measurement of the sensory and emotional dimensions of a person's pain. A further cognitive dimension of the person's pain can be measured with an elongated pain scale on the instrument. This scale provides a visible indicia symbolizing the range of pain one can experience and a scale indicator slidable on the instrument to a selected position along the scale to indicate the intensity of pain being experienced by the person. A second quantitative scale cooperates with the same scale indicator to afford a ready quantitative reading corresponding to the selected position on the elongated pain scale.

The present invention is directed generally to a tool for providing a multidimensional indication of the pain being experienced by a person, and more particularly to a handheld tool having indicators thereon which may be adjusted by a person to provide a reliable and physical indication of the type and intensity of pain being experienced by a person.
When a person in need of medical treatment first contacts a doctor or a nurse, the person generally attempts to verbally describe his or her pain so that the medical personnel can make at least an initial diagnosis of the patient's condition and plan the appropriate treatment. This presents a significant problem for medical personnel, however, due to the fact that different people experience and, therefore, describe their pain or symptoms in different ways. One person may be stronger than another. A third person may have become accustomed to the ache after a period of time and, therefore, may describe the ache with milder words than he would have used if the ache had recently occurred. The changing expressions for pain which a diagnostician may hear complicates the quick and definite diagnosis of a person's illness or injury.
Devices for measuring pain have previously been proposed, such as that disclosed in United Kingdom Patent Application GB 2 049 431 A, which provides a sliding scale displaying a straight line with "no pain" indicated at one end and "intense pain" indicated at the other end of the line and an indicator slidable on the scale by a person to the position which corresponds proportionately to the pain felt by the person. But this device suffers from the same shortcoming as verbal communication in that it measures pain in only one dimension and based on the person's own very subjective assessment of what he feels.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple device for providing a reliable assessment of the pain experienced by a person so that an accurate diagnosis may be made and early treatment begun.
A primary object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a simple yet effective instrument for providing a reliable multidimensional indication of the pain being experienced by a person.
Another object is to provide such an instrument which is readily adjusted by a person to record the pain experienced by him or her at that time.
Another object is to provide such a device which provides physical indicators of the pain experienced by a person so that its use does not require the assistance of another person to separately record the information and so that the indicated pain reading is preserved until the instrument is altered, reset or reused.
Another object is to provide such a device which affords the patient a visual indication of relative degrees of pain, yet simultaneously affords medical personnel or the person a definite quantitative measurement of the level of pain indicated by the person.
Another object is to provide such an instrument which is simple and rugged in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and efficient in operation.

Apparatus and method for providing a multidimensional indication of pain


The present invention relates to the anhydrous and hydrate forms of N-(3-ethynylphenyl)-6,7-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)-4-quinazolinamine mesylate. The invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing N-(3-ethynylphenyl)-6,7-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)-4-quinazolinamine mesylate and to methods of treating hyperproliferative disorders, such as cancer, by administering N-(3-ethynylphenyl)-6,7-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)-4-quinazolinamine mesylate.

The present invention relates to novel N-(3-ethynylphenyl)-6,7-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)-4-quinazolinamine mesylate anhydrous and hydrate forms. These compounds are useful in the treatment of hyperproliferative disorders, such as cancers, in mammals.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,498, issued May 5, 1998, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, refers to [6,7-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)-quinazolin-4-yl]-(3-ethynylphenyl)amine hydrochloride which, the patent discloses, is an inhibitor of the erbB family of oncogenic and protooncogenic protein tyrosine kinases, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and is therefore useful for the treatment of proliferative disorders, such as cancers, in humans. The mesylate compounds of the present invention are similarly useful for the treatment of proliferative disorders, but they also possess certain advantages over the foregoing hydrochloride compound. One advantage is that the mesylate compounds of the present invention are more soluble in aqueous compositions than the above hydrochloride compound, and thus the mesylate compounds of the present invention are easily delivered according to parenteral methods of administration.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

N-(3-ethynylphenyl)-6,7-bis(2-methoxyethoxy)-4-quinazolinamine mesylate anhydrate and monohydrate


A cellular antenna including a matching transformer section connected to a substantially rectangular member of braid. An off-center feed provides for an omni-polar radiation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an antenna, and more particularly, an antenna for cellular telephones, such as hand-held telephones, briefcase telephones, and portable telephones. The antenna can also be placed onto a window of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art antennas are vertically polarized and flexible which work properly only with a ground plane at the feed point. Other prior art antennas are coaxial dipoles providing for vertical polarization and transmission. These vertically polarized antennas do not respond to randomly polarized signals typically received in portable telephone environments. The whip antennas have less than an ideal efficiency.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an omni-polarized cellular antenna.


A technique is provided for assigning an I/O controller to a host in a cluster. The cluster includes one or more hosts and one or more I/O controllers connected by a cluster interconnection fabric. In an example embodiment, an I/O controller is connected to the cluster interconnection fabric. The I/O controller connected to the fabric is detected and a network address is assigned to the I/O controller. An administrative agent is used to assign the I/O controller to a host that is connected to the cluster interconnection fabric. A message is sent to the host informing the host that the I/O controller is assigned to the host and providing the network address of the I/O controller.

The invention generally relates to computers and more particularly to a technique for assigning I/O controllers to hosts in a cluster.
A cluster may include one or more hosts connected together by an interconnection fabric. In traditional clusters, hosts have locally attached I/O controllers connected to local buses. FIG. 1 illustrates a typical bus-based computer 100, which includes a processor 102 connected to a host bus 103 and an I/O and memory controller (or chipset) 104. A local I/O bus 105 is connected to an I/O bridge 108. Several I/O devices are attached to the I/O bus, including I/O controllers 110 and 112 and a Local Area Network (LAN) Network Interface Card (NIC) 114. The I/O controllers 110 and 112 may be connected to one or more I/O devices, such as storage devices, hard disk drives, or the like. I/O bus 105 is a traditional I/O bus, such as a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI bus) a Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus or Extended ISA (EISA) bus, etc. A traditional I/O bus provides attachment points to which I/O controllers can be attached.
A bus-based computer, such as that shown in FIG. 1, has a number disadvantages and drawbacks. All of the I/O controllers on the I/O bus share the same power and clock domain and share a common address space. Due to the physical and electrical load limitations, only a relatively small number of I/O controllers may be attached to an I/O bus, and must be physically located within the same cabinet. Thus, the entire I/O bus is physically attached to a single computer system. Also, in traditional clusters, I/O controllers are not directly connected to the network or cluster. Thus, the I/O controllers on the I/O bus of a computer system are directly visible (or detectable) and addressable only by that computer system or host, but are not directly visible or addressable to any other host in the cluster. For example, the I/O controllers 110 and 112 are visible only to computer 100, and are not visible or addressable to any other host which may be connected to LAN 120. Therefore, bus-based computer systems provide a very inflexible arrangement for I/O resources.
As a result, there is a need for a technique that provides a much more flexible arrangement for I/O devices for computer systems. In addition, under such a flexible arrangement of I/O resources, a mechanism should be provided that allows for the efficient and effective coordination and assignment between controllers and hosts.

Centralized technique for assigning I/O controllers to hosts in a cluster


In an information appliance system 100, a user device 108 comprises a client platform (200, FIG. 5) that includes a service framework (235, FIG. 5) to discover and connect with a variety of services, both remote and local, transient and persistent, and to disconnect from them when they are no longer of interest or become unavailable. The service framework 235 provides a standard, consistent, simplified way for services to make themselves available and for service-using entities to locate and connect with the services of interest to them. When a service is requested from a remote server, a service frontend (281, FIG. 9) on the client platform attempts to find its corresponding service backend (282, FIG. 9) on a server providing the requested service and, if it finds it, the frontend and backend coalesce in a fully formed service that is made available to a requesting service-using entity. As a result, platform resources and security are maintained. Various methods of operating a service framework are also described.

This invention relates generally to communications systems and, in particular, to methods and apparatus for providing services to wireless equipment in a wireless communications system.
There is an ever increasing demand for wireless communications. Wireless subscribers desire to have access to information at any time and at any place. One of the fastest growing markets for providing wireless services is known as xe2x80x9ctelematicsxe2x80x9d and entails delivering a wide spectrum of information via wireless links to vehicle-based subscribers. The information can originate from multiple sources, such as the Internet and other public, private, and/or government computer-based networks; wireless telecommunications such as cellular, Personal Communication Service (PCS), satellite, land-mobile, and the like; terrestrial and satellite direct broadcasts including traditional AM/FM bands, broadband, television, video, geolocation and navigation via a global position system (GPS), and the like; concierge services providing roadside assistance, emergency calling, remote-door unlocking, accident reporting, travel conditions, vehicle security, stolen vehicle recovery, remote vehicle diagnostics, and the like; advertising services identifying names and locations of businesses such as gas stations, restaurants, hotels, stores, and offices, and the like; tourist services such as points of interest, directions, hours of access, and the like; and many other sources that can provide information of any type. Many of the above services are not universally available, but rather they are transient in both the time and geoposition domains.
Information can be communicated to telematics devices over relatively long wireless links, such as from a satellite or terrestrial node, or from relatively short wireless or wired links, such as from in-vehicle equipment or from hand-held devices like PDAs, portable computers, cellular phones, and the like.
The services provided by telematics systems are not restricted to vehicle-based subscribers, and they can also be provided to subscribers at home, at work, or elsewhere. With so much mobility, the equipment located in the subscriber""s vehicle, or the equipment carried by or otherwise serving a subscriber, needs a way to connect with the plethora of services that are potentially available to it. The equipment needs a way to discover, identify, select, and invoke services that are of interest to it, as well as to disconnect from services that are no longer of interest to it.
It is known in the prior art to utilize certain commercially available software to locate services. However, systems utilizing such software are fixed, not mobile. Mobile systems require connection software that is specifically designed to fulfill requirements that distinguish mobile systems from fixed systems. For example, mobile systems often have limited battery power, limited bandwidth, limited memory, and only stay in any given place for a limited time.
Mobile systems also may have rigorous security requirements in order to protect the identify and location of mobile subscribers, as well as to insure that the mobile equipment, including software, is not involuntarily altered or corrupted, for example, by downloading uncertified software that could replace, infect, or otherwise have an adverse impact upon the software residing in the system. Known systems that dynamically provide access to services typically download software code to the client platform and execute the code on the client platform. Not only does this introduce potentially dangerous security issues, but the downloaded code can overwhelm the mobile system""s limited memory capability.
It is known in the art for potentially all services that could be requested by an application on a client platform to register as available. For example, in the Jini(trademark) connection technology commercially available from Sun Microsystems, Palo Alto, Calif., services register themselves with all lookup servers belonging to the same group, irrespective of demand for the services. However, this can be a significant disadvantage in a mobile platform, because the platform""s communications traffic could be excessive, and further the platform""s resources could be quickly depleted.
Accordingly, there is a significant need for methods and apparatus that are more conserving of resources in the client platform, particularly for mobile platforms.
There is also a significant need for methods and apparatus that do not automatically populate a client platform""s service registry with entries representing remote services but that look up and connect services only when they are requested by a service-requesting entity.
A significant disadvantage of the prior art connection software is that the application must be heavily involved with the service-locating operation at every stage. Further, the application must be heavily involved for every service that it desires access to. Thus, a significant burden is placed upon the application in known prior art connection software. While this burden may be somewhat mitigated on relatively powerful platforms, it quickly becomes a resource drain on mobile platforms that have relatively low processing resources, memory resources, battery resources, and communications bandwidth.
Thus there is further a significant need for methods and apparatus that look for and connect with remote services without substantial involvement of requesting entities.

Service framework supporting remote service discovery and connection


A transdermal drug delivery system comprising a steroid as an active agent, wherein the steroid may be clobetasol propionate, betamethasone dipropionate, amcinonide, or loteprednol etabonate. The transdermal drug delivery system also comprises a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer and a support, wherein the steroid is present in the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, and wherein the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is provided on a support. The transdermal drug delivery system may be applied onto the eyelid of a patient in need thereof, in order to treat a disease of the eyelid, such as chalazion, blepharitis or meibomian gland dysfunction.

Transdermal drug delivery systems, also known as transdermal or skin patches, are medicated adhesive patches that are placed on the skin to deliver medication through the skin by percutaneous absorption, which is the process of absorption through the skin from topical application. The transdermal drug delivery system may deliver the medication systemically, i.e., through the bloodstream, or may deliver the medication topically by placement on the desired treatment site.
Diseases of the eyelid, such as chalazion, blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction, allergic conjunctivitis, vernal keratoconjunctivitis and atopic keratoconjunctivitis are generally recognized as a result of inflammation. There are no FDA approved medications for treatment of chalazion, blepharitis, and meibomian gland dysfunction, although steroid treatment may be used for treatment. Steroid treatment is provided in the form of an ophthalmic steroid ointment as an anti-inflammatory drug.
A chalazion is a chronic, sterile, lipogranulomatous inflammation due to retention of meibomian gland secretion. The lesion usually develops over several weeks, and is more common in the upper eyelid, appearing as a hard, painless immobile mass. Chalazia that fail to respond to conservative management, i.e., topical installation of antibiotic and steroid eye drops, may be treated with an intralesional injection of steroids, where 0.1 to 0.2 ml of triamcinolone acetonide is injected into the center of the lesion. Chalazia typically resolve within two weeks after a single injection of steroid, but larger lesions (>6 mm in diameter) require a second injection. The overall success rate is 77% to 93% after one or two injections. If the chalazion persists after the second injection, surgical excision and curettage are required.
However, there are complications after steroid injection, such as discomfort at the injection site, formation of subcutaneous white (steroid) deposits in the treated area, depigmentation of the eyelid at the injection site, and skin atrophy. Very rarely, retinal and choroidal vascular occlusion after the steroid injection may occur. If, after one or two months of conservative therapy, or two to four weeks of intralesional steroid injection, the chalazion has not resolved, surgical resection may be recommended.
Blepharitis is a common and persistent inflammation of the eyelids. Symptoms include irritation, itching and occasionally red eye. Blepharitis frequently occurs in people who have oily skin, dandruff or dry eyes. Bacteria are on the surface of everyone's skin, but thrive in the skin at the base of the eyelashes in certain individuals. The resulting irritation, which is sometimes associated with over activity of the nearby oil glands, causes dandruff-like scales and particles to form along the lashes and eyelid margins. For some people, the scales or bacteria associated with blepharitis produce only minor irritation and itching, but in others it may cause redness, stinging or burning. Some people may develop an allergy to the scales or to the bacteria which surround them. This can lead to a more serious complication with inflammation of other eye tissues, particularly the cornea.
There are many medications and treatments available for blepharitis, including antibiotic and steroid preparations in the form of drops or ointments. While steroid medications often hasten relief of symptoms, long-term use can cause some harmful side effects. Once the acute phase of blepharitis is overcome (after several weeks), milder medications may be helpful, or no medications may be necessary to control the eyelid inflammation.
Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), also known as posterior blepharitis, is one of the most common physical findings in primary eyecare patients. It is important to treat MGD for several reasons. First, while MGD may not threaten sight, it undermines the patient's quality of life. Second, the abnormal lipids produced by MGD patients have a negative effect on the quality of the tear film, which produces both discomfort and visual acuity problems. Third, MGD can lead to chalazia, which can be painful and unsightly for the patient. MGD is also very highly associated with infections of the lid margins, so it may contribute to bacterial growth in the lids, which can increase the risk of infection following any kind of ocular surgery. Lastly, for many patients, MGD makes wearing contact lenses very difficult.
Topical lid hygiene comprises a first-line therapy. If additional therapy is needed, an oral tetracycline (minocycline or doxycycline) may be added. If additional anti-inflammatory effect is needed, topical cyclosporine (Restasis®; Allergan) and/or a topical corticosteroid may be added.
However, it is reported that ophthalmic steroid ointments can be associated with serious side effects. Steroid ointments are prescribed for long term to chronic diseases, because the penetration (permeation) is poor. Accordingly, the long-term use of an ophthalmic steroid ointment is likely to induce serious adverse events, such as an increase in intraocular pressure (IOP), which may result in ocular hypertension or glaucoma, or induce loss of sight; posterior subcapsular cataracts; retardation of corneal epithelial healing; corticosteroid uveitis; mydriasis and ptosis; infection; and other side effects such as transient ocular discomfort and steroid-induced calcium deposits. Please see Bartlett, Jimmy, et al., Clinical Ocular Pharmacology, Fifth Edition, 2008, pages 229-233, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Some patients are "steroid responders," so they experience increased postoperative IOP as a result of their medications. Withdrawal of the steroid usually results in IOP returning to baseline within two to four weeks. In the case of an elevated IOP, conventional glaucoma medications may also be prescribed to manage this.
Topical steroid use may induce cataract formation, an inhibition of corneal epithelial or stromal healing, punctate staining and worsening of infection and herpes. Moreover, long-term use of topical steroids can lead to secondary infection with fungus or bacteria.
Allergic conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the tissue lining the eyelids, i.e., the conjunctiva, due to an allergy. When the eye is exposed to something to which a patient is allergic, histamine is released and the blood vessels in the conjunctiva become swollen, causing reddening of the eye (mainly due to vasodilation of the peripheral small blood vessels), oedema of the conjunctiva, itching and increased lacrimation (production of tears).
Generally, treatment of allergic conjunctivitis is to avoid the allergen. Additional treatments include administration of topical antihistamines (in the form of eye drops) or systemic antihistamines (in the form of a tablet), anti-inflammatory eye drops, mild steroid preparations applied directly onto the surface of the eye for severe reactions, or eye drops which stabilize mast cells (prevent the cells from releasing histamine). In serious cases of conjunctivitis, a strong steroid is necessary to treat the conjunctivitis as quickly as possible. However, as discussed previously, steroid ointments, as well as steroid eye drops, may result in serious side effects, such as an increase in IOP and cataracts, if employed for long term use.
Keratoconjunctivitis is an inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva. Atopic keratoconjunctivitis is one manifestation of atopy, or a hypersensitive allergy. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis refers to keratoconjunctivitis occurring in the spring season, and is usually a result of allergens.
In view of the above, effective and safe treatments for eyelid diseases such as chalazion, blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction, allergic conjunctivitis, vernal keratoconjunctivitis and atopic keratoconjunctivitis are widely desirable.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/150992 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/036220 disclose a transdermal drug delivery system for treatment of ophthalmic diseases. However, these documents do not mention a method of treatment an eyelid disease, such as chalazion, blepharitis or meibomian gland dysfunction, by administering a steroid to a patient in need thereof.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/209632 discloses a percutaneously absorptive preparation for preventing or treating allergic eye disease, which comprises olopatadine or a salt thereof as an active ingredient, and U.S Patent Publication No. 2009/143359 discloses a percutaneously absorptive preparation for preventing or treating allergic eye disease, which comprises epinastine or a salt thereof as an active ingredient. However, these documents particularly specify the use of olopatadine or epinastine as the active ingredient.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/053964 discloses a percutaneous absorption type ophthalmic preparation comprising a muscarinic receptor agonist. However, this document specifies the use of a muscarinic receptor agonist as an active ingredient.
U.S. Patent Publication 2009/318422 discloses an ophthalmic percutaneous absorption type preparation comprising an ophthalmic drug and a vasoconstrictor in combination. However, this document specifies a combination of an ophthalmic drug and a vasoconstrictor.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/082381 discloses a percutaneously absorbable ophthalmic preparation comprising a heterocyclic spiro compound or a salt thereof, to be administered to the eyelid skin surface to promote lacrimation. However, this document specifies a heterocyclic spiro compound or a salt as an active ingredient.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,714 discloses an ophthalmic adhesive preparation for percutaneous absorption to be used in treating diseases in the posterior parts of eye. However, this document specifies treatment for diseases in the posterior portion of the eye.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/227842 discloses a method of treating blepharitis including administering a glucocorticoid in an ophthalmically acceptable vehicle. However, this document specifies an ophthalmic solution, rather than a patch.
The contents of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/227842, U.S Patent Publication No. 2009/143359, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/209632, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/053964, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/150992, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/036220, U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,714, U.S. Patent Publication 2009/318422 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/082381 are incorporated herein by reference.

Transdermal drug delivery system and method of using the same


A degradation compensating device includes an accumulator configured to accumulate stress data every pixel block, a memory configured to receive the stress data from the accumulator, and to load accumulated data from an external flash memory when a display device power is turned on, the accumulated data being a total sum of the stress data, a compensation factor calculator configured to determine a target compensation factor based on the accumulated data to compensate image data, and to apply an initial compensation factor to the target compensation factor during a wake-up period after loading the accumulated data is completed, the initial compensation factor being changed gradually during the wake-up period, and a data compensator configured to generate image compensation data based on the target compensation factor, and to generate initial image data based on a wake-up factor that is an adjusted target compensation factor based on the initial compensation factor.

1. Field
Aspects of the inventive concept relate to display devices
2. Discussion of Related Art
An organic light emitting display device displays images using organic light emitting diodes. Because degradation of the organic light emitting diodes and differences in the threshold voltage/mobility of driving transistors may occur, luminance variations and image blur may be noticeable by a user. Thus, image data compensations are performed to improve display quality.
The organic light emitting display device or an electronic device having the same includes a flash memory for maintaining an accumulation of pixel stress information (i.e., accumulated data). The organic light emitting display device loads the accumulated data from the flash memory and generates a compensation factor based on the accumulated data. In so doing, an image is displayed, and the compensation factor is calculated after the lapse of a specific display time. Accordingly, a compensated image cannot be immediately displayed at the display turn on. The compensated image is displayed after the lapse of a specific display time. Thus, when the organic light emitting display device power is turned on, dramatic change of the image quality between an image displayed at the beginning and the compensated image on which the target compensation factor is fully applied is noticeable to a user.

Degradation compensating device, organic light emitting display device having the same, and method for driving organic light emitting display device


A method for designing semiconductor light emitting devices is disclosed wherein the side surfaces (surfaces not parallel to the epitaxial layers) are formed at preferred angles relative to vertical (normal to the plane of the light-emitting active layer) to improve light extraction efficiency and increase total light output efficiency. Device designs are chosen to improve efficiency without resorting to excessive active area-yield loss due to shaping. As such, these designs are suitable for low-cost, high-volume manufacturing of semiconductor light-emitting devices with improved characteristics.

1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to the process of designing and fabricating semiconductor light-emitting devices. In particular, embodiments of the invention are directed towards improving the light extraction efficiency and increasing the total light output of these devices.
2. Description of Related Art
The extraction efficiency of semiconductor light-emitting devices (LEDs) is limited by the large contrast between the optical refractive indices of semiconductor materials (ns˜2.2-3.6) and that of the surrounding media, typically air (na˜1.0) or optically transparent epoxy (ne˜1.5). This large difference in refractive indices causes photons within the device to have a high probability of being totally-internally-reflected (TIR) when impinging on interfaces between the semiconductor and the ambient media.
To illustrate, for a cube of GaP (optically transparent for wavelengths>555 nm) surrounded by epoxy, a photon λ>555 nm within the GaP (ns˜3.3) striking one of the six interfaces with epoxy (ne˜1.5) must impinge at an angle less than θc˜27° (relative to normal) to avoid being TIR. This constrained range of angles for which transmission is possible defines an "escape cone" for the photon. If the photon is emitted from within the GaP with an equal probability of emission in any direction within 4π steradians, the probability of striking any of the interfaces within an escape cone is 33%. Accounting for Fresnel reflection, the probability of the photon actually being transmitted into the epoxy is 28.4%.
Commercial LEDs are non-ideal devices that contain many optical loss mechanisms, e.g. active layer re-absorption, absorption within internal epitaxial layers, finite ohmic contact reflectivity, free-carrier absorption within doped regions. In particular, for devices with emission layers of low internal quantum efficiency, the loss mechanisms due to the active layer can limit extracted light to only those photons which escape the device without making a second pass through the active layer after emission. This suggests a limit on the achievable extraction efficiency of such devices to not much more than 28.4% (based on the above calculation). To illustrate, the coefficient of absorption for a band-to-band process at the emission wavelength is on the order of 104 cm−1. A photon making a single pass through an emission layer of typical thickness of 1 μm, has a probability of being absorbed equal to 63%. For low quantum efficiency material, the probability of re-emission as a photon is relatively low, for example ˜10%. Thus the first-order probability of the initial photon being absorbed and converted to a non-radiative process is 57%. The problem is exacerbated by other loss mechanisms and by the fact that a majority of photon trajectories traverse more than just the vertical thickness of the active layer. Thus, much of the light escaping the device is light that is transmitted through the semiconductor/ambient interfaces immediately upon first impinging such an interface. This light is "first-pass" light. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram depicting first-pass light and some of the aforementioned photon loss mechanisms and paths for escape. "Multiple-pass" light is the light which escapes the chip only after multiple encounters with the surfaces of the LED chip.
Some losses can be reduced by decreasing the thickness of the light-emitting active region and any other absorbing layers. However, fundamental limitations in the materials growth and device physics (e.g. carrier confinement, interfacial recombination) limit the minimum thickness of the active layer at which reasonable radiative efficiencies can be achieved. The selection of the active layer thickness (for material of low radiative efficiency) is a trade-off between internal radiative efficiency and extraction efficiency. Devices of the highest attainable extraction efficiencies will arise from semiconductor LED structure designs that provide for much of the internally emitted light being first-pass. Indeed, even in structures of relatively high internal quantum efficiency, loss due to ohmic contacts and free-carrier absorption still compel designs for more first-pass light extraction. One approach to improve light extraction is to modify the shape or geometry of the chip.
One such shape is the inverted truncated cone device, where the p-n junction is located at or close (within several μm) to the plane of truncation, as disclosed by Franklin, et al., in the Journal of Applied Physics vol. 35, 1153 (1964). The device exhibits enhanced forward-directional light emission characteristics and improved external efficiency. The shaped sidewalls of the conical portion redirect light impinging on this surface towards the top surface at near normal incidence. In Infrared Physics 6, 1(1966), Carr determined that there is a minimum top window height beyond which efficiency no longer increases and further suggests an optimal angle, βm=(π/2−θc)/2, where θc is the critical angle for total internal reflection, for maximum efficiency. This analysis neglects internal absorption and secondary reflections. The light measured is emitted only from the top surface of the device. For high-flux applications, these devices (Franklin, et al. and Carr) are sub-optimum in that they do not utilize side-light which can be 40% or more of the total extracted light from an LED. Also, this device does not employ a heterojunction and would suffer reduced injection efficiency at room temperature relative to the published data at T=77 K. Furthermore, the upper extraction window for this homojunction device is not transparent to a substantial portion of the photons generated within the p-n junction active region. With the internal quantum efficiency of GaAs LEDs typically close to 100% (especially at T=77 K), the relatively low measured value of external quantum efficiency (<10% in air) indicates that omission of side-light collection and poor transparency are contributing to significantly reduced extraction efficiency in this device design.
In "Sov. Phys. Tech. Phys. 23, 476 (1978)", Alferov et. al. disclosed another shaped LED using a double-mesa structure that improves extraction efficiency by providing bounce paths that avoid the active region and back surface of the device for multiple-pass light. Mesa etching of the sidewall surfaces does not allow control over the angle of the sidewalls which is an important parameter for light extraction and die cost. Also, the double mesa device exhibits an area-ratio from top surface to active area on the order of 9 or more. This area-ratio is the number of devices that can be yielded per unit area on a wafer. Since the reduction in area yield (˜9×) is significantly greater than the observed gain in extraction efficiency (<3× compared to conventional geometries), this device approach is unsuitable for cost-effective high-volume manufacturing.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,949, issued Feb. 11, 1992, Haitz disclosed an LED with diagonal faces for improved light extraction. The active layer in the LEDs is located nearly adjacent to the larger-area base (away from the imaginary apex of the pyramid shape). Consequently, light-emitting regions near the perimeter of the active layer do not fully benefit from the angled sides as do the central regions of the active layer. Therefore, the effective extraction efficiency gains in such a device are limited.
III-Phosphide and III-Arsenide material systems are suitable for the fabrication of light-emitting devices that generate light having photon energies which range, respectively, from the green to the red spectral wavelength regimes and from the red to the infrared wavelength regimes. III-Phosphide material systems include any combination of group III and group V elements with phosphorous. Example III-Phosphide materials include, but are not limited to, AlP, GaP, InP, AlGaP, GaInP, AlGaInP, GaInPN, and GaInAsP. III-Arsenide material systems include any combination of group III and group V elements with arsenic. Example III-Arsenide materials include, but are not limited to, AlAs, GaAs, InAs, AlGaAs, GaInAs, AlGaInAs, GaInAsN, GaAsSb, and GaInAsP.
III-Phosphide and III-Arsenide based light-emitting devices such as light-emitting diodes and laser diodes may be employed in a variety of applications such as street lighting, traffic signals, and liquid crystal display back-lighting. In such applications, it is advantageous to increase the flux (optical energy/unit time) provided by an individual light-emitting device. Unfortunately, the flux provided by conventional III-Phosphide and III-Arsenide based light-emitting devices can be limited by their conventional vertical geometry.
Referring to FIG. 12, for example, a typical conventional III-Phosphide or III-Arsenide light-emitting device 10 includes a III-Phosphide or III-Arsenide active region 12 disposed between an n-type conductive substrate 14 and p-type layer 16. P-contact 18 and n-contacts 20 are disposed on opposite sides of device 10. A suitable forward voltage applied across contact 18 and contacts 20 causes current to flow vertically through p-type layer 16, active region 12, and conductive substrate 14, and thereby causes active region 12 to emit light.
Typically, the flux provided by conventional light-emitting device 10 is reduced because a portion of the light generated in active region 12 is absorbed by conductive substrate 14. In some prior art devices light generated in active region 12 and incident on substrate 14 is absorbed because the band gap energy of substrate 14 is less than the photon energy of the generated light. In other prior art devices, in which the band gap of substrate 14 is greater than the photon energy of the generated light, substrate 14 still absorbs a portion of the generated light incident on it due to absorption by free-carriers in the substrate. These free carriers, typically generated by dopants, are necessary to support electrical conduction through substrate 14 between contact 18 and contacts 20.
Conductive substrate 14 is sometimes wafer bonded to the rest of conventional light-emitting device 10. The resulting wafer bonded interface lies somewhere between contact 18 and contact 20, and hence must be highly electrically conductive if the device is to operate efficiently. This conductivity requirement limits the material choices for the substrate. Also, the relative crystallographic orientations of the substrate and the device layer to which it is wafer bonded may be critically important to achieving low forward bias voltages (as explained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,66,316 and 5,783,477, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). This complicates the manufacturing process for these devices. In addition, a conventional light-emitting device 10 having a wafer bonded substrate may also include additional layers adjacent to the wafer bonded interface in order to improve the interface's electrical properties. Unfortunately, these additional layers can absorb light emitted by active region 12.
Some conventional light-emitting devices include layers which form a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) located between active region 12 and absorbing substrate 14. In these devices, some of the light emitted by active region 12 is redirected away from substrate 14 by the DBR. Thus, loss due to absorption in substrate 14 is reduced. The reflectivity of the DBR, which is angle dependent, typically decreases for angles away from normal incidence. Consequently, the DBR typically does not reduce absorption in substrate 14 as much as desired.
The placement of contact 18 on top of conventional light-emitting device 10, opposite from contacts 20, also limits the flux provided by device 10. In particular, contact 18 typically either absorbs light generated in active region 12, or reflects it toward absorbing substrate 14. Moreover, contact 18 is typically electrically connected to a package or a submount with a wire bond. Such wire bonds, which can be mechanically fragile and may not handle large electrical currents, also limit the maximum flux that a conventional device can provide.
In addition, active region 12 is typically separated by substrate 14 from any heat sink on which conventional device 10 is mounted. Consequently, heat generated in or near active region 12 may not be effectively dissipated and the performance of conventional device 10 is degraded.

Light extraction from a semiconductor light emitting device via chip shaping


Removable mask films 303 are formed on the both sides of the substrate having the adhesive layer 302 by applying and drying a resin varnish 304 including a ultraviolet-absorbing agent, and fine through holes 306 are formed by using a third harmonics YAG solid-state laser light with a relatively short wavelength not longer than that in the ultraviolet range in such a way that the effects of such a residual strain as the conventional embodiment forming a removable mask film by a laminating process may be decreased as well as the more fine hole drilling compared with conventional embodiment using the carbon dioxide gas laser with a relatively long wavelength may be performed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the manufacturing of a circuit board which interconnects at least two circuit patterns, a removable film suitable for a process for the manufacturing of the circuit board, a substrate with film and a process for forming the removable film.
2. Description of the Related Art
As electronic equipment, in recent years, downsize and become denser starting with information-telecommunication, a circuit board is deeply required to brought to the multilayer not only in the field of the industrial use but also in the field of the consumer use. It is required in multilayered circuit board to develop an interconnection structure contacting through interstitial via hole between a plurality of circuit patterns. Further, it is required to develop a structure and a process with a high degree of reliability in a structure of interstitial via hole contact and a process for preparing its structure.
The present applicant proposed a novelly configured circuit board interconnecting between layers through a interstitial via hole by conductive paste and a novel process for preparing the circuit board.
A process for the manufacturing of the circuit board is composed as follows.
That is, a process for the manufacturing of the circuit board is composed, comprising:
a procedure for pasting removable mask film to porous insulating substrate consisting of a composite material of nonwoven fabric and thermosetting resin and having compressibility and providing a through hole in the substrate;
a procedure for filling conductive paste into said through hole;
a procedure for removing said film from said substrate with film filled with conductive paste;
a procedure for bonding metal foil to a face removed of film of said substrate; and
a procedure for compressing said substrate bonded with said metal foil by heating and pressuring.
In such a process for the manufacturing of the circuit board, carbon dioxide gas laser is generally used in drilling porous insulating substrate including removable mask film for providing through hole.
However, carbon dioxide gas laser is not easy to focus and hard to reduce the focus spot since a wavelength of laser light is relatively as long as 10.6 xcexcm. Furthermore, since a wavelength of laser light exists in a range of infra-red rays, through hole is enlarged due to the thermal effects of laser. Therefore, it is difficult to form through holes, for example, as fine as the diameter of 50 xcexcm and this poses the barrier for realizing a circuit board of fine interconnection design.
Further, in a process for the manufacturing of a circuit board described above, a removable mask films are pasted to the porous insulating substrate by thermal laminating process. Further, hole drilling is performed on a porous insulating substrate with removable mask films by utilizing laser processing and the like. Furthermore, conductive paste is filled into the drilled holes and thereafter the removable the mask film is removed.
In such a process, it is in a condition that strain developed by heat, pressure and film tension in laminating remains in said substrate. When removable film is removed from said substrate under this condition, said residual strain is released from said film and drilled holes result in a deviation from the hole positions at drilling. This causes a significant problem particularly in the case required for narrow hole pitch and fine dimensional accuracy, that is, in realizing a circuit board of fine interconnection design.
Therefor, it is an principal object of the present invention to provide a process for the manufacturing of a circuit board which may realize a circuit board of fine interconnection design as well as to provide a removable film suitable for a process for the manufacturing of the circuit board, a substrate with film and a process for forming the removable film.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a circuit board which protects a drilled hole from being filled together with scraping and dust generated during drilling in filling conductive paste into the drilled hole and enables via hole contact of low initial resistance and high interconnection reliability.
To accomplish objectives described above, the present invention, in short, employs removable mask film absorbing laser light of wavelength not longer than that in the ultraviolet range. Thus, hole drilling may be performed by using laser light of wavelength not longer than that in the ultraviolet range in which laser beam is easy to focus more and fine hole drilling may be performed.
Further, said substrate is preferably a film substrate having optical absorptivity upon laser light of wavelength not longer than that in the ultraviolet range and adhesion or preferably a porous substrate having optical absorptivity upon laser light of wavelength not longer than that in the ultraviolet range and compressibility. Thereby, it becomes that fine hole drilling may be performed on a substrate and removable film at one time by using laser light of wavelength not longer than that in the ultraviolet range.
Further, a removable film preferably contains a ultraviolet-absorbing agent. Thereby, it becomes that a removable film may absorb laser light with a wavelength not longer than that in the ultraviolet range by addition of a ultraviolet-absorbing agent even though a principal material composing a removable film does not have a absorption characteristic of ultraviolet light.
Further, a removable film is preferably cellulosic, such as nitro cellulose, acethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate, cellulose propionate, ethyl cellulose and the like. Thereby, it becomes that a removable film may be formed by using cellulosic having the good ability of the film to be formed and the good solubility into the solvent.
Further, preferably, said removable film is formed by applying and drying a resin varnish, which exerts removability after drying and has optical absorptivity upon laser light in a range of wavelength not longer than that in the ultraviolet range, on the surface of the substrate. In conventional embodiments forming removable mask films on substrates by thermal laminating process, a residual strain develops in the substrate due to heat, pressure and film tension in laminating and the residual strain is thereafter released in removing the films to result in a dimensional deviation. On the contrary, in the present process using a resin varnish, such a dimensional deviation will be improved.
Further, a removable film is preferably polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyamide or polyimide.
Further, said resin varnish preferably contains a solvent not eroding said substrate. Thereby, the removable film will be able to be formed on the substrate without eroding the substrate.
Further, a plurality of removable films are preferably laminated and provided on a substrate. Thereby, a superficial removable film may be removed after hole drilling, and scraping generated in hole drilling and dust deposited during a processing may be removed together with a removable film removed. Thereby, a drilled hole is protected from being contaminated with scraping and dust during filling a conductive element into the drilled hole. Therefore, a circuit board having via hole contact of low initial resistance and high interconnection reliability may be obtained. Furthermore, since at least one removable film is left on the side of the substrate after a superficial removable film is removed, the removable film functions as a mask film in filling the conductive element and therefore a surface of a insulating resin sheet is not contaminated with the conductive element.

Removable film, a substrate with film, a process for forming the removable film and a process for the manufacturing of the circuit board

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A fuel vapor processing apparatus form an internal combustion engine provided with a turbocharger includes a canister and an ejector. The canister is configured to adsorb fuel vapor from a fuel tank. The ejector is configured to generate a negative pressure by supercharged air flowing from an intake passage on a downstream side of the turbocharger to the intake passage on an upstream side of the turbocharger, so that fuel vapor in the canister is purged by the negative pressure. The ejector includes an ejector housing extending in a discharge direction of the supercharged air. The ejector housing is welded to a tubular member defining a passage wall of the intake passage such that the supercharged air is discharged into the intake passage on the upstream side of the turbocharger and that the discharge direction of the supercharged air is parallel to a direction of flow of intake air.

In a supercharged internal combustion engine provided with a supercharging device, there has been proposed a fuel vapor processing apparatus including a canister for adsorbing fuel vapor produced in a fuel tank, and an ejector generating a negative pressure by a supercharged gas flowing from an intake passage on a downstream side of the supercharging device to the intake passage on an upstream side of the supercharging device, so that fuel vapor in the canister is purged by the negative pressure (for example, see JP-A-2014-240621).


A method includes receiving, at a meeting server, a first input from a first computing device associated with a first user; identifying, at the meeting server, a second user who is connected to an in-progress meeting using the first input; transmitting an access request message from the meeting server to a computing device associated with the second user; and in response to receiving a positive response to the access request message at the meeting server from the second computing device, granting the first user access to the in-progress meeting.

Online meetings allow multiple meeting participants to communicate and share information of various types. Online meetings can include features such as audiovisual content. One example is a screencast, in which graphical content (such as webcam video or a screencast) and audio narration from a meeting organizer's computer is transmitted to other participant's computers in real-time. Another example is a video call or video chat in which multiple participants record and transmit real-time video. Online meetings can be implemented using peer-to-peer technologies or server-based technologies.
Typically, an online meeting has one or more organizers, and one or more additional participants. Meetings can be "public," meaning that access is not limited to authorized participants, or can be "private," with access being limited to authorized participants. Known online meeting systems use several methods to allow participants to join an in-progress meeting that has been previously initiated by one of the organizers of the meeting. As one example, meeting invitations can include an alphanumeric code that can be transmitted to the meeting server by the user, such as via a dialog box in a user interface for the meeting server. As another example, meeting invitations can include a hyperlink that allows the user in possession of the hyperlink to join the meeting.

Systems and methods for joining online meetings